Arvinas to Present at the 2020 Wedbush PacGrow Virtual Healthcare Conference

On August 7, 2020 Arvinas, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARVN), a clinical-stage biotechnology company creating a new class of drugs based on targeted protein degradation, reported that Ron Peck, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, will participate in a fireside chat at the 2020 Wedbush PacGrow Virtual Healthcare Conference on Tuesday, August 11 at 10:20 a.m. ET (Press release, Arvinas, AUG 7, 2020, View Source [SID1234563157]).

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A live audio webcast of the presentation will be available here and on the Company’s website at www.arvinas.com. A replay of the webcast will be archived on the Arvinas website for 30 days following the presentation

Replimune Reports Fiscal First Quarter Financial Results and Provides Corporate Update

On August 7, 2020 Replimune Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: REPL), a biotechnology company developing oncolytic immuno-gene therapies derived from its Immulytic platform, reported financial results for the fiscal first quarter ended June 30, 2020 and provided a business update (Press release, Replimune, AUG 7, 2020, View Source [SID1234563156]).

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"In the past few months, we have made important progress in demonstrating the power of our Immulytic platform to deliver meaningful new treatment options for a range of cancers," said Philip Astley-Sparke, CEO of Replimune. "In June, we provided an interim update from the Phase 2 portion of the Phase 1/2 clinical trial of RP1 in combination with Opdivo, establishing clinical proof of principle for RP1 in immune-responsive tumor types, including in patients with anti-PD1 refractory disease. In particular, we believe the data generated bode well for our registration directed programs already underway with RP1 in CSCC and anti-PD1 refractory melanoma. Following a successful follow-on offering, Replimune is now well-financed to advance and expand our pipeline with many exciting milestones ahead of us. We look forward to providing an initial data readout from RP2 later this year, as well as initiating clinical development with RP3 as we seek to establish our products more broadly, beyond immune-responsive tumor types, as a cornerstone of immuno-oncology."

Recent Events and Corporate Updates

Presented interim clinical data from the Phase 2 portion of the Phase 1/2 clinical trial of RP1 in combination with Opdivo in non-melanoma and melanoma skin cancers that continue to support the clinical programs in both cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) and anti-PD1 refractory melanoma.

In CSCC, six of seven evaluable patients demonstrated ongoing response, with four of these six patients having ongoing complete responses (CRs).

Provided interim data evaluating treatment with RP1 in combination with Opdivo in 16 patients with anti-PD1 refractory cutaneous melanoma. Five of the 16 patients at the data cut-off had met the formal criteria for response, including four who had previously failed both anti-PD1 and anti-CTLA4 therapies, providing for a final response rate from this cohort of at least 31%.

Announced promising data of RP1 in combination with Opdivo in patients with anti-PD1 naïve cutaneous melanoma, mucosal melanoma and uveal melanoma.

Announced plans to enroll a new 30 patient cohort of anti-PD1 refractory NSCLC patients into the Phase 2 portion of the clinical trial of RP1 combined with Opdivo.

A link to the data presented can be found here.

Strengthened management team with the appointment of Andrea Pirzkall, M.D. as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Pirzkall brings to Replimune a track record of drug development success in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, particularly in immuno-oncology, together with multi-disciplinary clinical experience at the intersection of radiology and oncology. Dr. Pirzkall previously served as Executive Director of Clinical Development at BeiGene, Ltd., a publicly traded commercial-stage biotechnology company with responsibility for the development of tislelizumab (anti-PD1) and led successful pivotal trials in squamous and non-squamous cell lung cancer, prior to which Dr. Pirzkall spent 10 years at Genentech in roles of increasing responsibility.

Extended anticipated cash runway to mid-2023. In June 2020, the Company raised gross proceeds of $115 million through a public offering of common stock and pre-funded warrants. The Company believes that the existing cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments, along with a limited use of debt, will enable the Company to fund additional studies and the overall operating plan to mid-2023.

COVID-19 potential impact on milestones: Enrollment into our clinical trials, such as the Company’s clinical trial of RP1 in solid organ transplant patients with CSCC, representing a highly immunocompromised patient population, has been slower than expected, which the Company attributes to the global pandemic. As the clinical sites continue to evaluate their capacity to treat patients, the Company could see additional impact in the second half of 2020 across its programs. The Company has not yet experienced delays that would require an update to previous guidance.
Program Highlights

Replimune is currently developing three oncolytic immuno-gene therapies derived from its Immulytic platform. The Company’s first clinical product candidate, RP1, is a proprietary new strain of herpes simplex virus armed with a gene encoding a potent fusogenic protein (GALV-GP-R), intended to enhance tumor killing potency, immunogenic cell death and the activation of systemic anti-tumor immune responses and a gene encoding the cytokine GM-CSF. In addition to expressing GALV-GP-R and GM-CSF, the Company’s second clinical candidate, RP2, also expresses a genetically encoded anti-CTLA-4 antibody-like molecule intended to block the inhibition of the initiation of immune response caused by CTLA-4. RP3 is a further armed oncolytic immuno-gene therapy which additionally expresses two immune co-stimulatory activating ligands – CD40L and 4-1BBL – together with anti-CTLA-4 and GALV-GP-R. CD40L activates CD40, with the goal of achieving broad activation of both innate and adaptive immunity, and 4-1BBL activates 4-1BB (CD137), intended to promote the expansion of cellular and memory immune responses.

RP1 in combination with Libtayo in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC): The Company is actively enrolling patients into the 240-patient registration-directed Phase 2, randomized, controlled clinical trial in the US and Australia, with clinical trial sites in Canada and Europe expected to open later in the year.

RP1 in combination with Opdivo in melanoma, non-melanoma skin cancers, and MSI-H/dMMR tumors: The clinical trial remains on track with enrollment and accrual of the initial melanoma cohort completing in the first half of 2020 and patients expected to be fully accrued from the non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) cohort by the end of 2020. The Company is accumulating data from the MSI-H/dMMR cohort to inform a decision as to whether to pursue MSI-H/dMMR tumors into registration-directed development in 2021.

RP1 in combination with Opdivo in anti-PD-1 refractory melanoma: The Company initiated recruitment into a new registration-directed 125-patient cohort in the Phase 2 clinical trial of RP1 in combination with Opdivo in February 2020 and is currently enrolling patients.

RP1 in anti-PD1 refractory patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): In June 2020, the Company announced its plans to add a 30 patient cohort of anti-PD1 refractory patients with NSCLC to the RP1 combined with Opdivo clinical trial. The Company plans to initiate enrollment into this cohort later this year.

RP1 as monotherapy in solid organ transplant recipients with CSCC: The Company initiated enrollment into a 30 patient Phase 1b clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of RP1 in liver and kidney transplant recipients with recurrent CSCC in May 2020.

RP2 alone and in combination with Opdivo: The Company plans to present initial safety and efficacy data from the ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating RP2 alone and in combination with Opdivo by the end of 2020.

RP3 alone and in combination with anti-PD-1 therapy: The Phase 1 clinical trial of RP3 alone and in combination with anti-PD-1 therapy remains on track to initiate in 2020.
Financial Highlights

Cash Position: As of June 30, 2020, cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments were $261.8 million, as compared to $168.6 million as of March 31, 2020. This increase was primarily related to $109.5 million in net proceeds from financing activities offset by cash utilized in fiscal quarter one operating activities largely associated with advancing our expanded clinical development plan.

The Company believes that the existing cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments, along with a limited use of debt, will enable the Company to fund additional studies and the overall operating plan to mid-2023.
R&D Expenses: Research and development expenses were $12.2 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2020, as compared to $7.5 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2019. This increase was primarily due to increased clinical and manufacturing expenses driven by the Company’s lead programs and increased personnel expenses. Research and development expenses included $1.0 million in stock-based compensation expenses for the first quarter ended June 30, 2020.

G&A Expenses: General and administrative expenses were $5.7 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2020, as compared to $3.5 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2019. The increase was primarily driven by personnel-related costs, professional fees, and facility expansion. General and administrative expenses included $1.5 million in stock-based compensation expenses for the first quarter ended June 30, 2020.

Net Loss: Net loss was $17.5 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2020, as compared to a net loss of $9.5 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2019.
About RP1

RP1 is Replimune’s lead Immulytic product candidate and is based on a proprietary new strain of herpes simplex virus engineered to maximize tumor killing potency, the immunogenicity of tumor cell death and the activation of a systemic anti-tumor immune response.

About RP2 & RP3

RP2 and RP3 are derivatives of RP1 that express additional proteins. RP2 expresses an anti-CTLA-4 antibody-like molecule and RP3 additionally expresses a pair of optimized immune co-stimulatory pathway ligands. These therapeutics are intended to provide targeted and potent delivery to the sites of immune response initiation in the tumor and draining lymph nodes, with the goal of focusing systemic immune-based efficacy on tumors and limiting off-target toxicity.

Heat Biologics Provides Second Quarter 2020 Business Update

On August 7, 2020 Heat Biologics, Inc. ("Heat") (NASDAQ:HTBX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing first-in-class therapies to modulate the immune system, including multiple oncology product candidates and a novel COVID-19 vaccine, reportedfinancial, clinical and operational updates for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020 (Press release, Heat Biologics, AUG 7, 2020, View Source [SID1234563155]).

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Jeff Wolf, Chief Executive Officer of Heat Biologics, commented, "This quarter we achieved significant milestones in advancing our unique COVID-19 vaccine program, which we are developing in collaboration with researchers at University of Miami. Specifically, our latest pre-clinical studies demonstrated immunogenicity proof-of-concept, validating that the selected vaccine antigen may be appropriate for human testing. Preclinical testing demonstrated expansion of antibody-supporting CD4+, and virus killing CD8+ T-cells in the lungs of the animals, a major site for COVID-19 infection. We believe this platform may play an important role as a standalone vaccine or in combination with other antibody-generating vaccines to provide broad cellular T-cell and humoral protection against COVID-19, particularly for elderly patients and those with underlying health conditions who have an increased risk of complications and death from COVID-19."

"Additionally, we established a partnership with Waisman Biomanufacturing to manufacture our COVID-19 vaccine for anticipated Phase 1 trials in humans. We believe that the unique capabilities and previous expertise gained working with Waisman on our cancer programs, HS-110 and HS-130 that are based upon the same gp96 platform, will help shorten the development timeline for our COVID-19 vaccine."

"We recently presented our latest data for HS-110 in combination with Nivolumab in our Phase 2 lung cancer trial at the 2020 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting. Importantly, this data demonstrated a strong survival benefit in a cohort of previously treated checkpoint inhibitor (CPI) naïve patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and further reinforced the potential utility of HS-110 in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor as a frontline treatment for NSCLC."

"We also continue to accelerate PTX-35, our potential first-in-class T-cell co-stimulatory antibody, through clinical development. Specifically, we announced patient enrollment in our first-in-human clinical trial in multiple solid tumors following FDA clearance of our Investigational New Drug (IND) application. This study is expected to enroll up to 30 patients with advanced solid tumors refractory to standard of care."

"We have continued to strengthen our balance sheet, and now have over $100 million in cash and short-term investments as of August 6, 2020, which should provide us with the resources to significantly advance our clinical programs," concluded Mr. Wolf.

Second Quarter 2020 Financial Results

Recognized $0.6 million of grant revenue for qualified expenditures under the CPRIT grant compared to $0.3 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2019. The increase in grant revenue in the current-year period primarily reflects the expected timing of completion of deliveries under the current phase of the contract. As of June 30, 2020, we had deferred revenue of $1.9 million for CPRIT proceeds received but for which the costs had not been incurred or the conditions of the award had not been met.
Research and development expenses decreased approximately 17.6% to $2.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020 compared to $3.4 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2019.
General and administrative expense was $1.8 million and $1.9 million for the quarters ending June 30, 2020 and 2019. General and administrative expenses primarily consist of personnel costs, including stock-based compensation expense, and consulting expenses to manage the business.
Net loss attributable to Heat Biologics was approximately $4.5 million, or ($0.05) per basic and diluted share for the quarter ended June 30, 2020 compared to a net loss of approximately of $4.8 million, or ($0.14) per basic and diluted share for the quarter ended June 30, 2019.
As of June 30, 2020, the Company had approximately $47 million in cash, cash equivalents and short investments.

Aclaris Therapeutics Reports Second Quarter 2020 Financial Results and Provides R&D and Business Highlights

On August 7, 2020 Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACRS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel drug candidates for immuno-inflammatory diseases, reported its financial results for the second quarter of 2020 and provided research and development (R&D) and business highlights (Press release, Aclaris Therapeutics, AUG 7, 2020, View Source [SID1234563154]).

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"As the pandemic evolves, our team has continued to work hard to make the appropriate business adjustments, advance our pipeline and execute through these uncertain times," said Dr. Neal Walker, President and CEO of Aclaris. "In the second quarter, we dosed the first subject in our Phase 2a trial of ATI-450 as a potential treatment for moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. We are also proud to be participating in the effort to find effective therapeutics for COVID-19 by supporting an investigator-initiated clinical trial of ATI-450 for cytokine release syndrome in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and the first subject has been dosed in this trial. In addition, we are progressing with the first-in-human trial of ATI-1777 in patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis. We look forward to continuing to execute on our clinical development plans."

R&D Highlights:
The global outbreak of COVID-19 continues to rapidly evolve and has caused and may continue to cause Aclaris to experience disruptions that could impact the timing of its regulatory and research and development activities listed below.

ATI-450, an investigational oral small molecule MK2 inhibitor compound:
ATI-450-RA-201: An ongoing Phase 2a trial to investigate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of ATI-450 in subjects with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis.
This trial was initiated in March 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Aclaris temporarily paused enrollment. Aclaris resumed enrolling subjects, and the first subject was dosed, in May 2020. At this time, Aclaris is actively recruiting for this trial. Given the continuing evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic, Aclaris now anticipates reporting data from this trial in the first half of 2021.
ATI-450-CAPS-201: Aclaris expects to initiate a Phase 2a clinical trial of ATI-450 in cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome (CAPS), an IL1β-driven disease, in the second half of 2020.
IIT-2020-ATI-450-COVID-19: An ongoing investigator-initiated Phase 2a, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to investigate the safety and efficacy of ATI-450, when used in addition to standard of care therapy, as a potential treatment for cytokine release syndrome in 36 hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Aclaris is providing funding and clinical drug supply to the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC), the sponsor of the trial. The primary endpoint in this trial is the proportion of subjects who are free from respiratory failure by day 14.
The first subject was dosed in August 2020.
ATI-1777, an investigational topical "soft" Janus Kinase (JAK) 1/3 inhibitor compound:
Aclaris submitted an Investigational New Drug (IND) Application for ATI-1777 for the treatment of moderate to severe atopic dermatitis (AD) in June 2020 and now plans to progress to the first-in-human trial of ATI-1777 in subjects with moderate to severe AD.
ATI-1777-AD-201: Aclaris expects to initiate a Phase 1/2a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, vehicle-controlled trial to investigate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and efficacy of topically applied ATI-1777 in subjects with moderate to severe AD in the second half of 2020. The primary endpoint will assess efficacy at four weeks.
ATI-2138, an investigational oral ITK/TXK/JAK3 (ITJ) inhibitor compound:
Aclaris is developing ATI-2138 as a potential treatment for psoriasis and/or inflammatory bowel disease and expects to submit an IND for ATI-2138 in 2021.
Business Development Highlights:

Aclaris continues to pursue strategic alternatives, including seeking partners for:
A-101 45% Topical Solution: to obtain regulatory approval and commercialize A-101 45% Topical Solution, an investigational compound, as a potential treatment for common warts (verruca vulgaris);
ATI-501 & ATI-502: to further develop, obtain regulatory approval and commercialize ATI-501 (oral) and ATI-502 (topical), investigational JAK 1/3 inhibitor compounds, as potential treatments for alopecia; and
ESKATA: to commercialize ESKATA (hydrogen peroxide) topical solution, 40% (w/w).
Financial Highlights:

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of June 30, 2020, Aclaris had aggregate cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $68.1 million compared to $75.0 million as of December 31, 2019. For the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2020, net cash used in operating activities was $10.8 million and $17.6 million, respectively. As of June 30, 2020, Aclaris had approximately 42.7 million shares of common stock outstanding.

Aclaris anticipates that its cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of June 30, 2020 will be sufficient to fund its operations through the first quarter of 2022, without giving effect to any potential business development transactions or financing activities.

Second Quarter 2020 and Year-to-Date Financial Results

The accompanying consolidated statements of operations and selected consolidated balance sheet data have been recast for all periods presented to reflect the assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses related to Aclaris’ commercial products as discontinued operations.
Net loss was $11.6 million for the second quarter of 2020, compared to $49.9 million for the second quarter of 2019, and was $27.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020, compared to $87.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019.
Total costs and expenses from continuing operations for the second quarter of 2020 were $13.4 million, compared to $44.5 million for the second quarter of 2019, and were $30.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020, compared to $72.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019.
Total costs and expenses in the second quarter of 2020 included non-cash stock-based compensation expense of $3.3 million, compared to $4.6 million in the prior year period.
Total costs and expenses for the six months ended June 30, 2020 included non-cash stock-based compensation expense of $6.8 million, compared to $8.9 million in the prior year period.
Recorded a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $18.5 million for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2019. There were no impairment charges in either period in 2020.
R&D expenses were $6.5 million and $15.9 million for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2020, respectively, compared to $17.5 million and $37.2 million for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2019, respectively.
The quarter-over-quarter decrease of $11.1 million was primarily the result of the substantial completion of Aclaris’ various Phase 2 clinical trials of ATI-501 and ATI-502 and two pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials of A-101 45% Topical Solution in 2019, and the corresponding reduction in personnel costs to support these programs.
General and administrative expenses were $5.6 million and $11.8 million for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2020, respectively, compared to $7.5 million and $14.9 million for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2019, respectively.
The quarter-over-quarter decrease of $1.9 million was primarily the result of lower personnel costs resulting from the Company’s decision to discontinue commercial operations in September 2019.
Loss from continuing operations was $11.6 million and $26.9 million for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2020, respectively, compared to $43.7 million and $71.0 million for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2019, respectively. Loss from discontinued operations was $27,000 and $0.3 million for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2020, respectively, compared to $6.2 million and $16.5 million for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2019, respectively.

Jounce Therapeutics Reports Second Quarter 2020 Financial Results

On August 7, 2020 Jounce Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: JNCE), a clinical-stage company focused on the discovery and development of novel cancer immunotherapies and predictive biomarkers, repoted financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020 and provided a corporate update (Press release, Jounce Therapeutics, AUG 7, 2020, View Source [SID1234563153]).

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"We made great strides in the second quarter and this year as a whole has proven to be a time of execution and important foundational work in advance of important future milestones. Of note, we completed EMERGE enrollment to support the interim analysis despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, and are on track for the interim analysis of efficacy and biomarker data in early 2021. We also expect to initiate enrollment this year of the Phase 1 trial for JTX-8064, an inhibitor of the LILRB2 receptor (or ILT4) on macrophages," said Richard Murray, Ph.D., chief executive officer and president of Jounce Therapeutics. "We continue to build a leading immuno-oncology company, focusing on the importance of deeply rooted science, translational analyses and well-informed clinical trial design. We look forward to continuing to execute on our milestones as we progress our broad pipeline of clinical and preclinical programs to bring the right immunotherapies to the right patients."

Pipeline Update:
Clinical Programs: Vopratelimab and JTX-4014
•Completed enrollment to support interim analysis of Phase 2 EMERGE trial: Enrollment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have progressed on or after both a platinum-based regimen and a PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitor to support the interim analysis of the Phase 2 EMERGE trial is complete. Jounce is on track to complete this analysis of preliminary efficacy and biomarker data on more than 40 evaluable patients at different doses in early 2021.
•Phase 2 SELECT trial initiation on track: Jounce remains on track to initiate the randomized Phase 2 SELECT trial to evaluate vopratelimab in combination with JTX-4014, a PD-1 inhibitor, versus JTX-4014 alone in immunotherapy naïve TISvopra biomarker selected, second line NSCLC patients. Jounce expects to enroll approximately 75 patients outside the U.S. and expects to report clinical data in 2021.
•Presented vopratelimab translational data at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper): In June 2020, Jounce presented new translational data on vopratelimab at the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Virtual Annual Meeting detailing important characteristics of ICOS hi CD4 T cells associated with vopratelimab treatment that may contribute to durable clinical responses in monotherapy and combination. The ICOS hi CD4 T cell population within peripheral blood of ICONIC responders is comprised of Th1, T central memory (Tcm) and T follicular helper (Tfh) subsets, which may

contribute to direct anti-tumor effects as well as durability of clinical responses. Jounce has found that the generation of these functionally specialized subsets of CD4 cells does not occur with PD-1 inhibitors. The T cell central memory cells are consistent with a role for vopratelimab in durable clinical benefit.

Preclinical Development Programs: JTX-8064 and JTX-1811
•Regained worldwide rights to JTX-8064 and on track to initiate Phase 1 clinical trial: In June 2020, Jounce announced that it regained the worldwide rights to JTX-8064 from Bristol Myers Squibb. JTX-8064 is a highly-selective, potential first-in-class antibody that targets the Leukocyte Immunoglobulin Like Receptor B2 (LILRB2 or ILT4) on macrophages, and was previously licensed to Celgene in July 2019. As part of its Celgene integration process, Bristol Myers Squibb has streamlined its pipeline and addressed areas of overlap. As a result, Bristol Myers Squibb notified Jounce that the JTX-8064 License Agreement was being terminated. JTX-8064 is the first tumor-associated macrophage candidate to emerge from Jounce’s Translational Science Platform. When LILRB2 (ILT4) binds to HLA molecules, including HLA-G, on cancer cells and macrophages, it induces an immunosuppressive state in the macrophages. JTX-8064 inhibits this immunosuppressive interaction, reprogramming the macrophages to a more immuno-stimulatory state. Jounce expects to begin enrollment in the Phase 1 dose escalation trial of JTX-8064 in 2020.
•Presented new JTX-1811 preclinical data at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper): In June 2020, Jounce introduced its JTX-1811 program at the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Virtual Annual Meeting with preclinical data demonstrating that by selectively eliminating tumor infiltrating T regulatory cells (T regs), Jounce believes it can eliminate the immunosuppressive effect of these cells. Importantly, this biology may be independent of PD-1. In mouse tumor models, targeting and eliminating CCR8 positive T regs in the tumor showed single agent activity for JTX-1811 where PD-1 inhibitors did not, and showed an ability to restore PD-1 inhibitor responsiveness. Evaluation of T regs in human tumors versus blood showed the enriched expression of CCR8, allowing the establishment of an optimal window for depletion of T regs in the tumor. Jounce plans to continue IND-enabling activities for JTX-1811 and remains on track to file an Investigational New Drug, or IND, in the first half of 2021.

Second Quarter 2020 Financial Results:
•Cash position: As of June 30, 2020, cash, cash equivalents and investments were $127.2 million, compared to $170.4 million as of December 31, 2019. The decrease in cash, cash equivalents and investments was primarily due to operating expenses incurred during the period.
•License and collaboration revenue: Jounce did not recognize any revenue in the second quarter of 2020. License and collaboration revenue recognized during the second quarter of 2019 was comprised solely of non-cash revenue recognition related to the original strategic collaboration with Celgene which ended in July 2019.
•Research and development expenses: Research and development expenses were $21.0 million for the second quarter of 2020, compared to $18.1 million for the same period in 2019. The increase in research and development expenses was primarily due to increased external clinical and regulatory costs associated with the EMERGE and SELECT clinical trials and increased employee compensation costs, partially offset by decreased IND-enabling expenses.
administrative expenses were $7.2 million for the second quarter of 2020, compared to $7.3 million for the same period in 2019. The decrease in general and administrative expenses was primarily due to decreased professional service fees.
•Net loss: Net loss was $28.0 million for the second quarter of 2020, resulting in basic and diluted net loss per share of $0.82. Net loss was $7.0 million for the same period in 2019, resulting in a basic and diluted net loss per share of $0.21. The increase in net loss and net loss per share was primarily attributable to a decrease in license and collaboration revenue and an increase in operating expenses.

Financial Guidance:
Based on its current operating and development plans, Jounce continues to expect gross cash burn on operating expenses and capital expenditures for the full year 2020 to be approximately $80.0 million to $95.0 million.
Jounce expects its existing cash, cash equivalents and investments to be sufficient to enable the funding of its operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through the end of 2021.

Conference Call and Webcast Information:
Jounce Therapeutics will host a live conference call and webcast today at 8:00 a.m. ET. To access the conference call, please dial (866) 916-3380 (domestic) or (210) 874-7772 (international) and refer to conference ID 3898328. The live webcast can be accessed under "Events & Presentations" in the Investors and Media section of Jounce’s website at www.jouncetx.com. The webcast will be archived and made available for replay on Jounce’s website approximately two hours after the call and will be available for 30 days.