On August 9, 2022 Revolution Medicines, Inc. (Nasdaq: RVMD), a clinical-stage oncology company developing targeted therapies for RAS-addicted cancers, reported its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2022, and provided an update on corporate progress (Press release, Revolution Medicines, AUG 9, 2022, View Source [SID1234617910]).

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"We continue making progress in the development of innovative medicines on behalf of patients with RAS-addicted cancers, highlighted particularly by the advancement into clinical development of the first two drug candidates from our extensive RAS(ON) Inhibitor portfolio," said Mark A. Goldsmith, M.D., Ph.D., chief executive officer and chairman of Revolution Medicines. "We began dosing patients in a Phase 1/1b trial evaluating RMC-6236 in patients with tumors bearing various KRASG12 mutations, and study site activation is underway for a Phase 1/1b trial of RMC-6291 that shortly will begin dosing patients with tumors specifically bearing a KRASG12C mutation. We expect these exciting clinical-stage compounds will be followed by additional groundbreaking RAS(ON) Inhibitor drug candidates from our collection, including RMC-9805, which we believe is the first oral, covalent inhibitor of KRASG12D, the most common RAS variant causing human cancer.

"Additionally, data from Amgen’s CodeBreaK 101c study presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) demonstrated the combination of RMC-4630 and sotorasib is safe and tolerable and provided encouraging initial evidence of promising and durable clinical activity in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) bearing a KRASG12C mutation. These exploratory findings support our goal of evaluating the potential benefit of combining RMC-4630 with our own RAS(ON) Inhibitors in development. Further, RMC-4630-03, our Phase 2 study evaluating this drug combination, continues enrolling patients with NSCLC bearing the KRASG12C mutation who have not previously received a KRASG12C inhibitor.

"To support our growing pipeline of development-stage programs, Revolution Medicines recently completed an upsized public equity financing, raising gross proceeds of $265 million. These funds extend the company’s operating runway and enable us to continue executing our robust product development strategy to combat RAS-addicted cancers."

Second Quarter 2022 Clinical and Development Highlights

RAS(ON) Inhibitors

RMC-6236 (RASMULTI)

RMC-6236 is an oral RAS(ON) Inhibitor designed to treat patients with cancers driven by a variety of RAS mutations, including KRASG12D, KRASG12V and KRASG12R. Initially being evaluated as monotherapy, it may also be deployed as a RAS Companion Inhibitor in combination with mutant-selective RAS(ON) Inhibitors.

The company dosed the first patient in its Phase 1/1b monotherapy clinical trial of RMC-6236 and continues enrolling patients. The Phase 1/1b trial (NCT05379985) is a multicenter, open-label, dose-escalation and dose-expansion study of RMC-6236 in patients with advanced solid tumors harboring selected KRASG12 mutations, including KRASG12D, KRASG12V and KRASG12R. To the company’s knowledge, RMC-6236 is the first oral, direct RAS inhibitor to be deployed against a tumor harboring the KRASG12D variant. The company anticipates providing evidence of first-in-class single agent activity for RMC-6236 in 2023.
In April 2022, the company delivered an oral presentation at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) 2022 Annual Meeting demonstrating that RMC-6236 induced significant monotherapy regressions in mouse clinical trials in diverse models of KRASG12-mutant NSCLC, colorectal cancer (CRC), and pancreatic cancer. It further showed that RMC-6236 deployed as a RAS Companion Inhibitor in combination with RMC-6291 demonstrated enhanced anti-tumor activity in KRASG12C NSCLC and CRC models that were refractory to single agent treatments.
RMC-6291 (KRASG12C)

RMC-6291, an oral, selective, covalent inhibitor of KRASG12C(ON) designed to treat patients with cancers driven by the KRASG12C mutant, is the first of the company’s mutant-selective RAS(ON) Inhibitors to enter clinical development.

Study site activation is ongoing under an investigational new drug (IND) application for a Phase 1/1b trial (NCT05462717) of RMC-6291. The trial is a multicenter, open-label, dose-escalation and dose-expansion study of RMC-6291 monotherapy in patients with advanced KRASG12C-mutant solid tumors. The company expects to announce dosing of the first patient in a monotherapy dose-escalation study of this compound in the second half of 2022 and to provide preliminary evidence of superior activity for this compound in 2023.
In April 2022, the company delivered an oral presentation at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) showing that RMC-6291 demonstrated superior preclinical efficacy over adagrasib (MRTX849), Mirati’s KRASG12C inhibitor, in a head-to-head mouse clinical trial in models of KRASG12C NSCLC.
RMC-9805 (KRASG12D)

RMC-9805 is an oral, selective, covalent inhibitor of KRASG12D(ON), the most common driver of RAS-addicted human cancers, predominantly among patients with CRC, pancreatic cancer or NSCLC. The company believes RMC-9805 is the first oral, covalent inhibitor of KRASG12D.

The company expects to announce dosing of the first patient in a monotherapy dose-escalation study of RMC-9805 in mid-2023.
In April 2022, the company delivered an oral presentation at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) demonstrating that RMC-9805 produced profound and durable tumor regressions, including complete regressions, in diverse preclinical models of KRASG12D CRC and pancreatic cancer.
RMC-8839 (KRASG13C)

RMC-8839 is an oral, selective, covalent inhibitor of KRASG13C(ON). The company believes RMC-8839 is the first compound to directly inhibit KRASG13C, an important therapeutic target primarily for NSCLC and select CRC patients unserved by a targeted RAS inhibitor.

For 2022 and 2023 the company currently intends to concentrate its development resources on its three most advanced RAS(ON) Inhibitors (RMC-6236, RMC-6291 and RMC-9805) and two RAS Companion Inhibitors that are in the clinic (RMC-4630 and RMC-5552) and therefore expects to determine the timing for announcement of initiating clinical evaluation of RMC-8839 at a future date.
In April 2022, the company delivered an oral presentation at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) demonstrating that RMC-8839 induced profound and durable tumor regressions in models of KRASG13C NSCLC. The results also showed that normal RAS proteins contribute to oncogenic signaling in KRASG13C tumor lines, providing the rationale to pursue combination strategies featuring RMC-8839 and RMC-4630, the company’s SHP2 inhibitor capable of inhibiting normal RAS.
RAS Innovation Engine

The company is leveraging its innovative tri-complex inhibitor platform and advanced cancer discovery capabilities to identify additional oral RAS(ON) Inhibitors to target RAS variants driving RAS-addicted cancers that are unserved by a targeted RAS inhibitor.

The company is conducting multiple pipeline expansion programs focused on RAS mutation hotspots G12 (e.g., G12V and G12R), G13 (e.g., G13D) and Q61.
The company expects to nominate a fifth RAS(ON) Inhibitor development candidate in the second half of 2022.
RAS Companion Inhibitors

RMC-4630 (SHP2)

RMC-4630 is a clinical-stage oral inhibitor of SHP2, which contributes to tumor survival and growth in many RAS-addicted cancers. RMC-4630 (also known as SAR442720) continues development under the company’s global SHP2 development and commercialization partnership with Sanofi.

RMC-4630 and KRASG12C Inhibitor Lumakras (sotorasib)

CodeBreaK 101c: Amgen recently reported preliminary results from its CodeBreaK 101c trial, an exploratory Phase 1b study evaluating the combination of RMC-4630 with the KRASG12C inhibitor sotorasib in patients with advanced KRASG12C-mutated solid tumors, at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2022 World Conference on Lung Cancer. These results demonstrated that the combination was safe and tolerable, and showed promising early clinical activity in NSCLC patients with KRASG12C mutations, particularly in patients who were KRASG12C inhibitor-naïve.
RMC-4630-03: Revolution Medicines continues enrolling patients in its global Phase 2 trial RMC-4630-03 (NCT05054725), a Phase 2 multicenter, open-label study of RMC-4630 in combination with sotorasib for patients with NSCLC with a KRASG12C mutation who have failed prior standard therapy and who have not previously been treated with a KRASG12C inhibitor. The company is sponsoring the RMC-4630-03 study under its global SHP2 partnership with Sanofi and conducting the trial in collaboration with Amgen, which is supplying sotorasib to trial sites globally. Revolution Medicines currently expects to provide topline data from this study in 2023.
RMC-4630 and KRASG12C Inhibitor adagrasib

Sanofi is recruiting patients in a Phase 1/2 dose escalation and expansion study under its SHP2 partnership with Revolution Medicines, and in collaboration with Mirati. The study will evaluate RMC-4630 in combination with adagrasib (MRTX849) in patients with previously treated NSCLC bearing a KRASG12C mutation.
RMC-4630 and PD-1 Inhibitor KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab)

Sanofi is conducting a Phase 1 trial evaluating RMC-4630 in combination with pembrolizumab, a PD-1 inhibitor, as first-line treatment for patients with PDL-1 positive NSCLC.
RMC-5552 (mTORC1/4EPB1)

RMC-5552 is a first-in-class, bi-steric mTORC1-selective inhibitor designed to suppress phosphorylation and inactivation of 4EBP1 in cancers with hyperactive mTORC1 signaling, including certain RAS-addicted cancers. The company intends to combine RMC-5552 with RAS(ON) Inhibitors in patients with cancers harboring RAS/mTOR pathway co-mutations.

Dose optimization continues in the company’s ongoing Phase 1/1b clinical trial evaluating RMC-5552 monotherapy (NCT04774952). This study is expected to enable combination studies in RAS-addicted cancers. The trial is a multicenter, open-label, dose-escalation study of RMC-5552 monotherapy in patients with refractory solid tumors.
Previously, the company reported preliminary evidence of clinical activity, and reported updated data from this trial at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting in June 2022. The data reported at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) demonstrate marked anti-tumor activity by RMC-5552 in combination with the company’s RAS(ON) Inhibitors in preclinical NSCLC models. The company anticipates disclosing additional evidence of single agent activity in 2023.
Second Quarter 2022 Corporate Highlights

Financing

In July 2022, the company completed an upsized public offering of common stock, raising gross proceeds of $264.5 million before deducting underwriting discounts, commissions and offering expenses. This included the exercise in full by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional shares of common stock. These funds will be used to strengthen the company’s balance sheet and overall financial position to support the continued development and expansion of its product pipeline.

Board Appointments

The company announced two new members to its Board of Directors, Lorence Kim, M.D. and Sushil Patel, Ph.D., who bring their expertise to the Board as the company’s development-stage portfolio continues to mature.

Lorence Kim, M.D. is an accomplished healthcare industry leader who has made significant contributions across the biotechnology and financial industries during his career at Moderna and Goldman Sachs. Dr. Kim brings extensive operational expertise and an extraordinary track record in raising capital for high-growth health care companies.

Sushil Patel, Ph.D. is a seasoned operating executive who brings more than twenty years of experience in the biotech industry, focused on commercialization strategy and execution in U.S. and global oncology markets. During his previous tenure with Genentech, he led lifecycle management of Tecentriq (atezolizumab) in lung cancer and helped lead more than eight product launches across more than twenty different indications.

Second Quarter 2022 Financial Highlights

Cash Position: Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities were $461.4 million as of June 30, 2022, compared to $577.1 million as of December 31, 2021. The decrease was primarily attributable to net loss for the quarter ended June 30, 2022.

Revenue: Total revenue, consisting of revenue from the company’s collaboration agreement with Sanofi, was $9.1 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2022, compared to $8.7 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2021.

R&D Expenses: Research and development expenses were $61.0 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2022, compared to $45.9 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2021. The increase was primarily due to an increase in research expenses associated with the company’s pre-clinical research portfolio, an increase in personnel-related expenses related to additional headcount, an increase in RMC-6236 expense as a result of commencing clinical trials and an increase in stock-based compensation.

G&A Expenses: General and administrative expenses were $10.2 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2022, compared to $7.3 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2021. The increase was primarily due to an increase in stock-based compensation, an increase in personnel-related expenses related to additional headcount and an increase in legal and accounting fees.

Net Loss: Net loss was $61.2 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2022, compared to net loss of $44.3 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2021.

2022 Financial Guidance

Revolution Medicines is updating its projected full year 2022 GAAP net loss to be between $260 million and $280 million, including estimated non-cash stock-based compensation expense of $30 million to $35 million. With current cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, including proceeds from the July public offering, the company projects it can fund planned operations through 2024.

Conference Call and Webcast

Revolution Medicines will host a conference call and webcast this afternoon, August 9, 2022, at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time (1:30 p.m. Pacific Time).

To listen to the conference call, please dial (800) 715-9871 (U.S. toll free) or (646) 307-1963, provide conference ID: 6539267 and request the Revolution Medicines conference call. To listen to the live webcast, or access the archived webcast, please visit: View Source Following the live webcast, a replay will be available on the company’s website for at least 14 days.

On August 9, 2022 Allogene Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALLO), a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of allogeneic CAR T (AlloCAR T) products for cancer, reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2022 (Press release, Allogene, AUG 9, 2022, View Source [SID1234617909]).

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"We feel confident that we could soon initiate the industry’s first Phase 2 pivotal trial for an allogeneic CAR T product, thereby paving the road not just for ALLO-501A, but our entire portfolio," said David Chang, M.D., Ph.D., President, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Allogene. "As the use of autologous CAR T therapy increases, we are seeing a greater need for an off-the-shelf, allogeneic CAR T option. We are keenly aware of the devastating consequences patients face when only a minority are able to access the curative potential of CAR T therapy. Clinicians have been forced into the unfathomable position of needing to choose which of their patients will receive this potentially life-saving therapy. As patients face access bottlenecks, we are determined to transform CAR T therapy from a complex individualized procedure to an off-the-shelf, on demand pharmaceutical product."

Pipeline Updates

CD19 Program

In the coming weeks, the Company expects to receive clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to initiate a potential Phase 2 pivotal clinical trial for ALLO-501A in relapsed/refractory (r/r) large B cell lymphoma (LBCL). This includes meeting Chemistry Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) requirements to use ALLO-501A from its manufacturing facility, Cell Forge 1.

In June, the FDA granted Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation to ALLO-501A in r/r LBCL. RMAT designation was based on data demonstrating the potential of ALLO-501A to address the unmet need for patients who have failed other therapies. Previously presented data support the potential of ALLO-501A to provide a safe and durable alternative to approved autologous CAR T therapies in CAR T naïve patients, including manageable safety with no dose limiting toxicities (DLTs) or graft-vs-host disease (GvHD) and minimal Grade 3 Immune Effector Cell-Associated Neurotoxicity Syndrome (ICANS), or Grade 3 cytokine release syndrome (CRS). In the Phase 1 ALPHA2 study, nearly all enrolled patients were able to receive therapy with the median time from enrollment to initiation of treatment of two days.

Allogene anticipates providing an update on the Phase 1 portion of the ALPHA and ALPHA2 trials toward the end of 2022. This update will include a few additional patients enrolled in ALPHA2 and will focus on longer-term follow up of patients previously treated in the ALPHA and ALPHA2 trials.

The EXPAND trial is expected to begin in 2022 and is planned to support registration of the lymphodepleting agent ALLO-647. This trial is intended to demonstrate the contribution of ALLO-647 to the lymphodepletion regimen.

BCMA Program

Allogene plans to explore its pivotal study approach and timing for its BCMA program by year end. In parallel, the Company intends to work within the framework afforded by its RMAT designation for ALLO-715 to facilitate FDA interactions and determine the best course forward.

Enrollment continues in the Phase 1 UNIVERSAL trial on ALLO-715 in r/r multiple myeloma (MM). Toward the end of 2022, Allogene intends to provide a clinical update that will focus on the longer-term follow up of patients in UNIVERSAL treated with a single dose of ALLO-715. Allogene has made the decision not to advance ALLO-715 in combination with nirogacestat from SpringWorks Therapeutics into dose expansion cohorts. There was no clear indication that the combination would meaningfully improve the benefit-risk profile of ALLO-715 as a monotherapy. Allogene’s Clinical Trial Collaboration Agreement with SpringWorks is expected to remain in effect until the data from the combination study are fully analyzed.

The IGNITE trial on TurboCAR candidate ALLO-605 continues to enroll patients in the dose escalation portion of this Phase 1 study.

Solid Tumor Programs

ALLO-316, which targets CD70, is the Company’s first AlloCAR T candidate for solid tumors. The ongoing Phase 1 TRAVERSE trial is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, anti-tumor efficacy, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of ALLO-316 in patients with advanced or metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

The FDA previously granted ALLO-316 Fast Track Designation (FTD) based on its potential to address the unmet need for patients with difficult to treat RCC who have failed standard therapies. Metastatic solid tumors have historically been a challenge regardless of treatment modality, and the five-year survival rate for patients with advanced kidney cancer is less than 15%, highlighting the need for innovation.

Corporate Highlights
CF1, Allogene’s commercial scale manufacturing facility located in Newark, California is fully operational and producing GMP material with the intent of supplying ALLO-501A for the planned pivotal study as well as other clinical trials. CF1 is projected to have the ability to manufacture approximately 20,000 ALLO-501A AlloCAR T doses annually at scale. CF1 recently earned a LEED Interior Design and Construction Gold designation from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBS), a non-profit dedicated to sustainable building design and construction.

In July, Allogene announced the appointment of Stephen L. Mayo, Ph.D., a world-renowned expert in computational protein design, to the company’s Board of Directors. Dr. Mayo is the Bren Professor of Biology and Chemistry and Merkin Institute Professor at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. Dr. Mayo also serves on the Board of Directors of Merck & Co. and Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc.

Second Quarter Financial Results

Research and development expenses were $57.2 million for the second quarter of 2022, which includes $13.0 million of non-cash stock-based compensation expense.
General and administrative expenses were $19.5 million for the second quarter of 2022, which includes $9.9 million of non-cash stock-based compensation expense.
Net loss for the second quarter of 2022 was $74.8 million, or $0.52 per share, including non-cash stock-based compensation expense of $22.9 million.
The Company had $686 million in cash, cash equivalents, and investments as of June 30, 2022.
Updated 2022 Financial Guidance
While the Company anticipates spending to increase in the second half relative to the first half of 2022, it now expects full year GAAP Operating Expenses to be at the low end of the previous range of $360 million and $390 million. This includes estimated non-cash stock-based compensation expense of $90 million to $100 million and excluding any impact from potential business development activities. Cash burn for 2022 is now expected to be approximately $250 million.

Conference Call and Webcast Details
Allogene will host a live conference call and webcast today at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time / 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss financial results and provide a business update. To access the live conference call by telephone, please dial 1 (800) 715-9871 (U.S.) or 1 (646) 307-1963 (International). The conference ID number for the live call is 7832993. The webcast will be made available on the Company’s website at www.allogene.com under the Investors tab in the News and Events section. Following the live audio webcast, a replay will be available on the Company’s website for approximately 30 days.

On August 9, 2022 Bio-Path Holdings, Inc., (NASDAQ: BPTH) a biotechnology company leveraging its proprietary DNAbilize antisense RNAi nanoparticle technology to develop a portfolio of targeted nucleic acid cancer drugs, reported that it will host a live conference call and audio webcast on Tuesday, August 16, 2022 at 8:30 a.m. ET to report financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022 and to provide a business overview (Press release, Bio-Path Holdings, AUG 9, 2022, View Source [SID1234617908]).

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To access the live conference call, please call (833) 630-1956 (domestic) or (412) 317-1837 (international) at least five minutes prior to the start time. A live audio webcast of the call will also be available on the Presentations section of the Company’s website, www.biopathholdings.com. An archived webcast will be available on the Bio-Path website approximately two hours after the event.

On August 9, 2022 The leaders of Case Western Reserve University and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) reported that signed an agreement today to accelerate their efforts in shared areas of excellence (Press release, Case Western Reserve University, AUG 9, 2022, View Source [SID1234617907]).

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After three years of steadily growing institutional collaboration in such areas as energy, materials science and polymer processing, Case Western Reserve President Eric W. Kaler welcomed Livermore Director Kim Budil to the university’s campus.

"Both of our teams have embraced opportunities to partner with enormous enthusiasm and ingenuity," President Kaler said. "We are grateful to Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur for helping to catalyze this connection, and very much look forward to building on our strong progress to date."

Located less than an hour’s drive from San Francisco, the Livermore Lab is one of 17 laboratories around the country operating under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy. Their mission is "to push the boundaries of science, engineering and technology" to advance aspects of the energy department’s mission.

"We’re pleased to continue our successful collaboration with Case Western Reserve," said LLNL Director Kim Budil. "This agreement provides an important framework as we partner to advance some of today’s most transformative science and technology."

In the document signed Tuesday, the two institutions agreed to:

Exchange and share science and technology ideas;
Enable student opportunities and internships; and
Pursue research activities in areas of joint interest and benefit.
Conversations to collaboration
The two organizations began discussions 2019 at the suggestion of U.S. Rep. Kaptur (D-Ohio) and then National Nuclear Security Administration leader Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, said Grant Goodrich, executive director of the university’s Great Lakes Energy Institute.

Case Western Reserve and LLNL officials said the university and lab have benefitted over the last several years as their relationship has grown. LLNL has provided funding and expertise to advance research at the university, and CWRU provided a talent pipeline to LLNL, beginning with five internships over the last few years and the hiring of an employee in 2020.

CWRU and LLNL representatives also visited their counterpart’s campus or held virtual meetings nearly a dozen times over the last several years, including for technical presentations and seminars.

Among the other highlights:

LLNL awarded four research grants totaling more than $2 million to CWRU faculty since 2020 from its research and development arm. It funded or collaborated on research being conducted by Dustin Tyler, the Kent H. Smith II Professor of Biomedical Engineering; Rohan Akolkar, the Milton and Tamar Maltz Professor of Energy Innovation and the Ohio Eminent Scholar in Advance Energy Research at the Case School of Engineering; Matthew Willard, professor of materials science and engineering; and Laura Bruckman, associate professor of materials science and engineering.

The lab awarded a $1.1 million grant to a broad-based team led by Roger French, the Kyocera Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Case School of Engineering and a team of researchers to investigate material degradation and lifetime extension of advanced materials. The lab is also a member of the National Science Foundation-funded Materials Data Science for Reliability Center at CWRU, a joint project with the University of Pittsburgh—also led by French.

Shared research projects among Akolkar and LLNL researcher Scott McCall; and João Maia, a professor of macromolecular science and engineering and director of the Center for Advanced Polymer Processing and LLNL researcher Fei Zhou.

On August 9, 2022 Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: RNA), a biopharmaceutical company committed to delivering a new class of RNA therapeutics called Antibody Oligonucleotide Conjugates (AOCs), reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022 and highlighted recent corporate progress (Press release, Avidity Biosciences, AUG 9, 2022, View Source [SID1234617906]).

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"We are very pleased with the team’s execution on our ambitious goal of having three AOC programs addressing three distinct rare diseases in the clinic by the end of this year," said Sarah Boyce, president and chief executive officer. "Our AOC 1001 program for DM1 is progressing with patients from the MARINA trial now enrolling in the recently initiated MARINA-OLE trial. We remain on track to report a preliminary assessment from MARINA in the fourth quarter. We also continue to collaborate with the FSHD and DMD communities as we work to advance AOC 1020 and AOC 1044 into the clinic by the end of this year."

"Our strong cash balance of over $400 million, inclusive of additional funds raised subsequent to June 30th, positions us to be well funded through 2024. This allows us to meaningfully advance our DM1, FSHD and DMD programs, as well as other programs in skeletal muscle and expand the platform into other tissues and cell types," said Mike MacLean, chief financial and chief business officer.

Recent Highlights
Commenced enrolling patients from the MARINA study into a Phase 2 open-label extension study (MARINA-OLE) of AOC 1001 in adults with DM1. Click here for more information on the MARINA-OLE or visit www.clinicaltrials.gov and search for NCT05479981.
Presented data supporting Avidity’s approach of directly targeting DUX4 with AOC 1020 at the 29th Annual FSHD Society International Research Congress. Key highlight from the conference:
Data from a FSHD mouse model showed that a single intravenous dose with the murine version of AOC 1020 prevented development of muscle weakness demonstrated by three functional assays – treadmill running, in vivo force and compound muscle action potential.
Second Quarter 2022 Financial Results
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Marketable Securities: Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaled $398.2 million as of June 30, 2022, compared to $405.5 million as of December 31, 2021. In addition, subsequent to June 30th, we have raised $18.7 million through our "at the market" program.

Collaboration Revenue: Collaboration revenue, including reimbursable expenses, primarily relates to Avidity’s partnership with Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) and totaled $2.2 million for the second quarter of 2022 compared with $2.6 million for the second quarter of 2021, and $4.0 million for the first six months of 2022 compared with $5.3 million for the first six months of 2021. The decrease was primarily due to timing of reimbursable collaboration-related research and development expenses resulting in the recognition of lower corresponding revenue under the collaboration with Lilly.

Research and Development (R&D) Expenses: R&D expenses include external and internal costs associated with research and development activities. These expenses were $39.8 million for the second quarter of 2022 compared with $22.7 million for the second quarter of 2021, and $67.5 million for the first six months of 2022 compared with $43.4 million for the first six months of 2021. The increase was primarily driven by the advancement of AOC 1001, AOC 1020 and AOC 1044, as well as internal and external costs related to the expansion of the company’s overall research capabilities.

General and Administrative (G&A) Expenses: G&A expenses primarily consist of employee-related expenses, professional fees, insurance costs, and patent filing and maintenance fees. These expenses were $8.7 million for the second quarter of 2022 compared with $6.3 million for the second quarter of 2021, and $17.3 million for the first six months of 2022 compared with $12.2 million for the first six months of 2021. The increase was primarily due to higher personnel costs and professional fees as well as facilities costs to support the company’s expanded operations.