On March 12, 2020 INOVIO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: INO), a biotechnology company focused on rapidly bringing to market precisely designed DNA medicines to treat, cure, and protect people from diseases associated with HPV, cancer, and infectious diseases, reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2019 (Press release, Inovio, MAR 12, 2020, View Source [SID1234555518]). INOVIO’s management will host a live conference call and webcast at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time today to discuss financial results and provide a general business update.
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INOVIO Highlights
VGX-3100: Cervical, vulvar, and anal HSIL
REVEAL 2 Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating VGX-3100 for treatment of HPV-related cervical high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) has a total of 43 sites opened globally for recruitment, which includes newly opened sites in Brazil and South Africa, along with four new U.S.-based sites. Top-line efficacy data from REVEAL 1 Phase 3 clinical trial is expected to be reported by the fourth quarter of 2020.
INOVIO is also evaluating VGX-3100 in two Phase 2 trials for the treatment of vulvar HSIL and anal HSIL. Preliminary efficacy and safety data are planned to be presented later this month at The American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP) 2020 Scientific Meeting on Anogenital & HPV-Related Diseases.
INO-3107: Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP)
In February 2020, INOVIO announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted its Investigational New Drug (IND) application to evaluate INO-3107 in a Phase 1/2 trial for treatment of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP). The Phase 1/2 trial is expected to enroll approximately 63 subjects in the United States and will evaluate the efficacy, safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of INO-3107 in subjects with HPV 6 and/or 11-associated RRP who have required at least two surgical interventions per year for the past three years for the removal of associated papilloma(s). As RRP is a rare, orphan disease, INOVIO plans to work with the FDA’s Office of Orphan Products Development (OOPD) in an effort to attain Orphan Disease designation for INO-3107.
INOVIO and its collaborators published data from a pilot, compassionate use clinical trial for the treatment of RRP in the scientific journal Vaccines (MDPI). The article, entitled "Immune Therapy Targeting E6/E7 Oncogenes of Human Papillomavirus Type 6 (HPV-6) Reduces or Eliminates the Need for Surgical Intervention in the Treatment of HPV-6 Associated Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis," detailed the clinical efficacy observed in the pilot study of two patients with RRP.
INO-4800: COVID-19
In January 2020, INOVIO was awarded a grant of up to $9 million from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to develop a vaccine against COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. This initial CEPI funding is anticipated to support INOVIO’s preclinical and clinical development through a Phase 1 clinical trial of INO-4800, INOVIO’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate, in the United States.
Subsequent to the grant from CEPI, INOVIO announced a collaboration agreement with Beijing Advaccine Biotechnology Co. to advance the development of INO-4800 in China. The goal of this collaboration is to leverage Beijing Advaccine’s expertise to run a Phase 1 trial in China in parallel with INOVIO’s ongoing clinical development efforts in the United States.
In March 2020, INOVIO received a new $5 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation anticipated to fund accelerated testing and scale up of INOVIO’s CELLECTRA 3PSP proprietary smart device for the intradermal delivery of INO-4800, in order to support large scale manufacturing of INO-4800 doses by end of 2020.
INO-5401: Newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM)
In November 2019, INOVIO reported positive interim data for INO-5401 from its ongoing Phase 2 trial in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) 2019 Annual Meeting. The Phase 2 trial is evaluating INO-5401, a T cell-activating immunotherapy candidate encoding for three tumor-specific antigens (hTERT, WT1, and PSMA), and INO-9012, an immune activator encoding IL-12, in combination with Libtayo, a PD-1 blocking antibody produced by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in collaboration with Sanofi.
Key interim data from the 52-patient clinical trial showed that 80% (16 of 20) of MGMT gene promoter methylated patients and 75% (24 of 32) of unmethylated patients were progression-free at six months measured from the time of their first dose, substantially exceeding historical standard-of-care data (approximately 60% of MGMT promoter methylated patients and 40% of unmethylated patients historically were progression-free at six months). INOVIO expects to report 12-month overall survival data in June 2020, followed by 18-month overall survival data in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Dr. J. Joseph Kim, INOVIO’s President & CEO, said, "The company remains well-positioned for 2020 to be a transformational year for INOVIO. Following our very encouraging, albeit early, positive data for INO-5401 in our GBM study, we look forward to presenting 12-month overall survival data next quarter. We also continue to expand our capabilities in treating HPV-associated diseases, with IND acceptance from the FDA for a Phase 2 trial evaluating INO-3107 for the rare, orphan disease RRP. We also look forward to sharing interim efficacy and safety data from our Phase 2 study in HPV-associated vulvar HSIL and anal HSIL at ASCCP later this month."
"The evolving situation following the outbreak of COVID-19 has allowed us to further showcase INOVIO’s technology capabilities and versatility in fighting emerging infectious diseases. We are very grateful for both the financial and moral support from CEPI to take steps toward tackling this global pandemic. Our DNA medicine platform has been selected among a small group of important vaccine technologies for rapidly impacting emerging infectious diseases outbreaks such as COVID-19, having already advanced INO-4700, our vaccine candidate against MERS-CoV, another coronavirus, to a Phase 1/2a clinical trial. We look forward to sharing more on INO-4800’s development along with our broader pipeline initiatives and achievements in the future."
Fourth Quarter 2019 Financial Results
Total revenue was $279,000 and $4.1 million for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2019, respectively, compared to $2.5 million and $30.5 million for the same periods in 2018, respectively. Total operating expenses were $30.7 million and $115.2 million for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2019, respectively, compared to $32.0 million and $124.6 million for the same periods in 2018, respectively.
INOVIO’s net loss for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2019 was $37.7 million, or $0.38 per basic and diluted share, and $119.4 million, or $1.21 per basic and diluted share, respectively, as compared to $33.0 million, or $0.34 per basic and diluted share, and $97.0 million, or $1.05 per basic and diluted share, for the same periods in 2018, respectively.
Revenue
The year-over-year decrease in revenue under collaborative research and development (R&D) arrangements was primarily due to the recognition of a one-time upfront payment of $23.0 million form ApolloBio during the second quarter of 2018.
Operating Expenses
R&D expenses for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2019 were $22.0 million and $88.0 million, respectively, compared to $26.4 million and $95.3 million for the same periods in 2018, respectively. The year-over-year decrease in R&D expenses was primarily due to decreases in employee compensation expense and drug manufacturing expense related to our partnership with AstraZeneca, among other variances. These decreases were offset by an increase in expenses related to clinical trials and a personnel-related restructuring charge in connection with the one-time employee termination costs incurred during the third quarter of 2019.
General and administrative expenses were $8.7 million and $27.2 million, respectively, for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2019 versus $5.6 million and $29.3 million, respectively, for the same periods in 2018.
Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2019, cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments were $89.5 million compared to $93.8 million as of September 30, 2019. As of December 31, 2019, the Company had 101.4 million common shares outstanding and 132.1 million common shares outstanding on a fully diluted basis, after giving effect to outstanding options, restricted stock units and convertible preferred stock.
During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company sold 3,340,678 shares of common stock under its "at-the-market" (ATM) common stock sales agreement for aggregate net proceeds of $9.1 million.
From January 1, 2020 through March 11, 2020, the Company sold 43,148,952 shares of common stock under its ATM agreement for net proceeds of $208.2 million. The sales were made at a weighted average price of $4.92 per share. As of March 11, 2020, there is no remaining capacity under the ATM agreement.
INOVIO’s balance sheet and statement of operations are provided below. Additional information is included in INOVIO’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, which can be accessed at: View Source
Conference Call / Webcast Information
INOVIO’s management will host a live conference call and webcast at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time today to discuss INOVIO’s financial results and provide a general business update.
The live webcast and a replay may be accessed by visiting INOVIO’s website at View Source Telephone replay will be available approximately one hour after the call at 877-344-7529 (US toll-free) or 412-317-0088 (international toll) using replay access code 10139836.