On May 27, 2021 AnPac Bio-Medical Science Co., Ltd. ("AnPac Bio," the "Company" or "we") (NASDAQ: ANPC), a biotechnology company with operations in China and the United States, reported its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (Press release, Anpac Bio, MAY 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234580678]). The Company’s financial statements and related financial information for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 are unaudited or have not been reviewed by the Company’s independent registered accountant. These financial results could differ materially if they were reviewed by the Company’s independent registered accountant.

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Financial highlights for the First Quarter 2021

Total revenue was RMB2.2 million (US$0.3 million) for the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 137.2% from RMB0.9 million for the first quarter of 2020.

Gross profit margin was 58.4% for the first quarter of 2021, representing an increase of 25.7 % from 32.7% for the first quarter of 2020, primarily due to higher selling prices charged for CDA-based tests and improved operational efficiency as well as higher volume of CDA-based tests performed during the first quarter of 2021.

The average selling price ("ASP") of CDA-based tests was RMB401.0(US$61.2) for the first quarter of 2021, an increase of RMB20.0, or 5.0% from RMB381.0 in the same period of 2020, primarily due to a broader product offering of more comprehensive multi-cancer detection tests at higher price points.

Net loss was RMB29.3 million (US$4.5 million) for the first quarter of 2021, compared to a net loss of RMB21.2 million for the first quarter of 2020. The net loss for the first quarter of 2021 was mainly attributable to RMB3.2 million (US$0.5 million) changes in the fair value of the convertible debts, RMB3.9 million (US$0.6 million) of selling and marketing expenses, RMB3.4 million (US$0.5 million) of research and development expenses and RMB 19.2 million (US$2.9 million) of general and administrative expenses.

Short-term debt was RMB22.4 million (US$3.4 million) as of March 31, 2021, an increase of 171.9% from RMB8.2 million at the end of last fiscal year (December 31, 2020). The increase in short-term debt was mainly due to issuance of additional convertible debentures with a fair value of USD$2.5 million.
As of March 31, 2021, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of RMB9.0 million (US$1.4 million), compared to RMB3.0 million as of December 31, 2020.
Business Highlights for the First Quarter of 2021

The Company reached a record high number of commercial CDA tests for the 1st Quarter versus any previous Q1 in the Company’s history.

The Company has developed and completed testing at the end of February 2021 of a new generation of multi-cancer detection sensor named CDA Pro Sensor (CDAPS) which is a technology breakthrough with improved performance over the previous generation cancer detection sensors in a number of areas, including detection signal stability, sensor device yield, and detection sensitivity and specificity. The Company expects that CDAPS will extend the competitiveness for AnPac in the space of cancer screening.

On January 25, 2021, the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), the regulatory agent for medical products in China, approved the Company to start registration testing of AnPac Bio’s class III lung cancer auxiliary diagnosis medical device at its designated medical device testing laboratory, which is a major progress and step towards obtaining a Class III medical device registration certificate.

The Company continued to receive validation on the efficacy of CDA testing through follow-up studies. As of March 31, 2021, AnPac Bio had contacted 23,857 individuals tested using CDA packages in China and received substantive feedback regarding health conditions and disease development from 14,127 individuals.

As of March 31, 2021, the Company filed 237 patent applications globally, among which 142 patents had been granted, including 20 patents granted in the United States, 65 in greater China (including eight in Taiwan), and 57 in other countries and regions.

The Company continued to build a cancer risk assessment database, which totaled approximately 222,200 samples as of March 31, 2021, including approximately 178,300 samples from commercial CDA-based tests and approximately 43,900 samples from research studies.
Dr. Chris Yu, AnPac Bio’s Chairman and CEO commented: "We are very pleased with our strong Q1 performance results, including (1) a 137.2% in revenue increase over the same period last year, (2) development and final evaluations of our next generation of multi-cancer detection sensor technology which includes significant performance improvements, and (3) receiving approval from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) to start registration test of AnPac Bio’s class III lung cancer auxiliary diagnosis medical device. We are going into Q2 with strong momentum. Our continued focus in completing our Class III medical device registration and our new product development pipeline is showing great progress. We have also worked closely with our customers and commercial partners to achieve accelerated revenue growth."

On May 27, 2021 Spectrum Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGS: SPPI), a biopharmaceutical company focused on novel and targeted oncology therapies, announced today that management will present an overview of the company’s business strategy and development-stage programs at two upcoming virtual investor conferences (Press release, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, MAY 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234580675]):

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Jefferies Virtual Healthcare Conference 2021. A fireside chat presentation is scheduled for Thursday, June 3, 2021, at 9:30 a.m. ET.
JMP Securities Life Sciences Conference 2021. A fireside chat presentation is scheduled for Wednesday, June 16, 2021, at 1:30 p.m. ET.
A live webcast of each presentation will be available from the Investor Relations section of the company’s website at View Source with a replay available shortly after each event.

On May 27, 2021 SELLAS Life Sciences Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SLS) ("SELLAS" or the "Company"), a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel cancer immunotherapies for a broad range of indications, reported that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a Notice of Allowance in a patent application covering the use of galinpepimut-S (GPS), the Company’s Wilms Tumor-1 (WT1)-targeting peptide immunotherapeutic, in combination with checkpoint inhibitor therapies for treatment of WT1-expressing cancers (Press release, Sellas Life Sciences, MAY 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234580674]).

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"These new patent claims add to SELLAS’ growing intellectual property (IP) estate for GPS and continue to support the Company’s clinical studies of GPS in combination with checkpoint inhibitors in patients with advanced ovarian cancer and malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) who had exhausted their current standard therapy options," said Angelos Stergiou, President and Chief Executive Officer, SELLAS. "This additional IP protection for GPS is a major milestone as we look to further advance our clinical pipeline. We look forward to providing further data from our study of GPS in combination with pembrolizumab in patients with 2nd or 3rd line relapsed/refractory metastatic ovarian cancer, as well as the study of GPS in combination with nivolumab in relapsed/refractory MPM later this quarter."

The allowed claims of the patent application cover the use of GPS in combination with any antibody checkpoint inhibitor that blocks or inhibits programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), such as nivolumab and pembrolizumab. The allowed claims of the patent application also cover treating, reducing the incidence of, or inducing an immune response against any WT1-expressing cancer, such as ovarian cancer and MPM.

This patent application covering the use of GPS in combination with checkpoint inhibitors will be the first granted within a patent family filed in several countries and will have a term that extends to at least 2036. The patent application is expected to be granted on June 15, 2021, as U.S. Patent No. 11,033,613.

On May 27, 2021 OPKO Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPK) reported that management will be participating in the Jefferies Virtual Healthcare Conference being held June 1-4, 2021 (Press release, Opko Health, MAY 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234580673]). Management will be interviewed in a fireside chat on Wednesday, June 2 at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time and will also be holding one-on-one virtual meetings with investors throughout the day.

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The fireside chat will be webcast live and archived in the Investors section of OPKO Health’s website and will be available here.

On May 27, 2021 Oasmia reported that Interim report for the period January 1, 2021 – March 31, 2021 (Press release, Oasmia, MAY 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234580672])

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SIGNIFICANT EVENTS DURING THE FIRST QUARTER
In January, Oasmia appointed Dr. Heidi B. Ramstad as Chief Medical Officer.
In March Fredrik Järrsten took up the position as Chief Financial Officer. Robert Maiorana, who has been acting CFO since December 2020, will continue as Head of Accounting for the company.
In March, Oasmia signed an agreement with Kazia Therapeutics, an Australian oncology-focused biotechnology company, to acquire exclusive global development and commercialization rights for Cantrixil, a product candidate in development intended for the treatment of ovarian cancer.
In March Oasmia entered into a collaboration agreement with Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. The collaboration will generate new information for the potential development of new therapeutic APIs in various cancer indications.
In March, an arbitral tribunal in Stockholm upheld Oasmia’s right to record assignment of its patents and patent applications in its own name, which enables a faster re-registration process.
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS AFTER THE REPORTING PERIOD
In April, Oasmia appointed Dr Reinhard Koenig as Chief Scientific Officer.
In April, Oasmia presented Cantrixil final Phase I data at the 2021 AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting.
In April, a Phase 1b trial of Oasmia’s Docetaxel Micellar in advanced prostate cancer was granted ethical committee approval by Swissmedic.
In April, Andrea Buscaglia was proposed as a new Board member by the Nomination Committee.
FIRST QUARTER: JANUARY 1, 2021 – MARCH 31, 2020
Consolidated net sales amounted to TSEK 37 (201,220)
Operating profit/loss was TSEK –40,843 (128,607)
Net profit/loss after tax amounted to TSEK –41,209 (124,706)
Earnings per share was SEK –0.09 (0.36)
CEO REVIEW – WELL POSITIONED FOR FUTURE GROWTH
Oasmia achieved several key goals in the first quarter, making further important progress in implementing the strategic transformation initiated when I joined last year.

A critical goal for Oasmia is to significantly expand our pipeline of development-stage oncology assets through M&A and in-licensing opportunities that we believe will fit with our strategic goals. This ambitious ’string of pearls strategy’ will capitalize on our proven oncology development and regulatory skills and expertise. We have a solid cash position to execute on the current strategy as laid out, with the possibility to reevaluate the financing need when these opportunities occur and with the progress of our development projects.

The acquisition of global development and commercialization rights for Cantrixil from Kazia Therapeutics in March was an exciting development for Oasmia and represented the first stage in this pipeline expansion – the first "pearl" added to our portfolio. The acquisition brings to us a promising clinical program in late-stage ovarian cancer, an area we know exceedingly well. In April, we presented final Phase I results for Cantrixil at the prestigious American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) 2021 Annual Meeting. These highly promising results underscore our optimism about this program. Cantrixil is believed to target a wide spectrum of cancer cells, including chemotherapy-resistant tumor-initiating cells that are thought to be responsible for disease relapse. In addition to its promise as stand-alone therapy, Cantrixil has the potential to complement Oasmia’s lead product for ovarian cancer, Apealea, through treatment protocols to be developed.

Since acquiring the rights to Cantrixil, we have been working to establish an advisory board of experts to provide input on the clinical development plan and have initiated discussions with regulators at the EMA and FDA. We have also made progress towards securing drug supply for forthcoming clinical trials.

Apealea (paclitaxel micellar), a non-Cremophor based formulation of paclitaxel, is Oasmia’s most advanced development program, approved in Europe and in development elsewhere for advanced ovarian cancer. Since it was out licensed to Elevar Therapeutics last year, we’ve been working closely with Elevar and its partners to support development and commercialization activities. Post period , in April, Elevar received notification from the FDA authorizing a pharmaco-kinetic study in the US. In parallel, preparations are being made for an additional clinical study. Both studies are intended to support an NDA application in the US.

We’re also pleased to report that Docetaxel micellar, a solvent-free formulation of docetaxel to avoid the need for solubility enhancers and mandatory high-dose steroid premedication, has been granted ethical committee approval in Switzerland, paving the way for the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research (SAKK) to initiate a Phase Ib trial in advanced prostate cancer.

Our technology platforms remain an important part of our business and complement our development and regulatory expertise. During the period we signed a collaboration agreement with the world renowned Karolinska Institutet here in Stockholm. The goal is to generate additional data to help us gain a deeper understanding of the potential of our proprietary XR-17 platform technology, with a focus on niche cancer indications. Over the longer term this will help us generate new pipeline candidates.

A vital part of our transformation is building a leadership team with the experience to drive our future growth. I’m pleased to say that with Fredrik Järrsten joining as CFO, and Heidi B. Ramstad and Reinhard Koenig’s appointments as CMO and CSO, we have completed our leadership team. This greatly strengthens our ability to execute our strategy and thrive as a business in the future.

Business transformations take time to achieve, but in 12 months we have put in place the right leadership team supported by a stronger Board with new expertise to take us to the next level of success. We have clearly defined and started executing on our strategy to become a leading cancer biopharma company with an emerging oncology pipeline. Thank you for your continued support during this period as we transition to an exciting future