On November 3, 2022 Corvus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Corvus or the Company) (Nasdaq: CRVS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2022 (Press release, Corvus Pharmaceuticals, NOV 3, 2022, View Source [SID1234622962]).
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"We anticipate several important milestones for all three of our clinical programs in the near-term, headlined by the continued advancement of CPI-818 for T cell lymphoma and the initiation of studies for CPI-818 in autoimmune disease," said Richard A. Miller, M.D., co-founder, president and chief executive officer of Corvus. "We look forward to sharing new data on CPI-818 at the ASH (Free ASH Whitepaper) meeting in December, which will provide an update on its activity in patients with T cell lymphoma along with data on its effects on normal T cell function related to its potential in autoimmunity and allergy. CPI-818 continues to be well positioned as the most advanced program targeting ITK inhibition and we are increasingly confident in its biologic activity and potential broad applications in immune mediated diseases."
"We also continue to advance ciforadenant, our adenosine 2a receptor inhibitor, with the recent initiation of a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial in first line renal cell cancer. This study is partnered with the Kidney Cancer Research Consortium and has the potential to provide near-term clinical data. Outside of the United States, our Chinese partner Angel Pharmaceuticals intends to initiate a Phase 1/1b trial evaluating mupadolimab as a monotherapy and together with pembrolizumab in patients with lung cancer and head and neck cancer. Altogether, our portfolio is positioned to deliver clinical results in multiple diseases in the coming year."
Business Update and Strategy
CPI-818 (selective ITK inhibitor)
Corvus and Angel Pharmaceuticals are enrolling patients with relapsed T cell lymphomas (TCL) in a Phase 1/1b clinical trial evaluating single agent therapy with CPI-818. A 200 mg dose of CPI-818 given orally twice per day has been identified as the optimal dose and the companies are enrolling additional patients with TCL in a 200 mg dose cohort of the clinical trial. Angel Pharmaceuticals is responsible for all expenses related to conducting the clinical trial in China. Recent developments include:
Monitoring of immune modulation of normal T cells as well as safety and anti-tumor activity are being assessed in the clinical trial, with new data to be presented at the 64th American Society of Hematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper) Annual Meeting and Exposition in December 2022.
As of July 22, 2022, 12 patients were enrolled in the 200 mg cohort and eight were evaluable for response. In this group, there was one complete response (CR) lasting 25 months; one nodal CR lasting 16 months; one partial response (PR) ongoing at two months follow up. Five patients had stable disease (SD), two of the patients with SD had been on treatment for approximately 12 weeks and continued on study. Two additional patients were on treatment and had not yet had their disease monitoring assessments. An additional patient in the 600 mg cohort also had a PR.
Analysis of blood in four of four patients treated in the 200 mg cohort showed increases in Th1 cells compared to baseline and increases in terminally differentiated T effector memory cells; these are T cells that are antigen primed and capable of destroying tumor cells. Tumor biopsy from one patient taken during response demonstrated an increase in these cells in the tumor.
Three of three patients in the 200 mg cohort with high baseline, pretreatment eosinophil counts demonstrated reductions in circulating eosinophils during treatment with CPI-818. Eosinophils are white blood cells that play a key role in allergic and autoimmune diseases, and they are often elevated in patients with TCL.
Corvus is also developing CPI-818 for autoimmune and allergic diseases and is preparing to initiate clinical trials for certain autoimmune diseases in the near term.
CPI-818 has demonstrated activity in various animal models of autoimmunity including models of systemic lupus erythematosus, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease, lung fibrosis and graft versus host disease. Some of this research was presented at the annual meetings of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper) in 2020 and 2021.
Corvus’ research and development team has been working to prioritize and prepare protocols for new CPI-818 clinical studies in autoimmune diseases, with the announcement of next clinical program anticipated in the near-term.
Ciforadenant (adenosine 2a receptor inhibitor) for first line renal cell cancer
Corvus is collaborating with the KCRC in an open-label Phase 1b/2 clinical trial evaluating ciforadenant as a first line therapy for metastatic RCC in combination with ipilimumab (anti-CTLA-4) and nivolumab (anti-PD-1). The clinical trial is expected to enroll up to 60 patients and is intended to evaluate the potential for ciforadenant to generate increased complete responses and deep responses in the first line setting.
The KCRC is comprised of a group of leading cancer centers in the United States led by investigators at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The trial design is based on Corvus’ preclinical research published in 2018 in Cancer Immunology Research that demonstrated impressive antitumor control and complete tumor elimination in several animal models using ciforadenant in combination with anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1.
Mupadolimab (anti-CD73)
In September 2022, the Center for Drug Evaluation of the China National Medical Products Administration approved an IND application to initiate a Phase 1/1b clinical trial with mupadolimab alone and together with pembrolizumab in patients with relapsed refractory non-small cell lung cancer and head and neck squamous cell cancers. Corvus anticipates that the study will be initiated by Angel Pharmaceuticals in the near-term.
R&D Conference Call and Webcast on December 12, 2022
The Company will host a conference call on Monday, December 12, 2022 from 4:30 – 5:30 pm ET to provide an overview of the CPI-818 data that will be presented at the ASH (Free ASH Whitepaper) meeting, along with providing an update on the Company’s development programs. A webcast of the event will be available on the Corvus website at www.corvuspharma.com.
Financial Results
As of September 30, 2022, Corvus had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaling $49.6 million. This compared to cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $69.5 million as of December 31, 2021. Consistent with last quarter, Corvus expects full year 2022 net cash used in operating activities to be between $27 million and $29 million, resulting in a projected cash balance of between $40.5 million and $42.5 million as of December 31, 2022. Based on its current plans, Corvus expects its cash to fund operations into early 2024.
Research and development expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2022 totaled $10.4 million compared to $7.0 million for the same period in 2021. The increase of $3.4 million was primarily related to a $5.5 million increase in drug manufacturing costs, which was partially offset by a $2.2 million reduction in clinical trial costs.
The net loss for the three months ended September 30, 2022 was $14.8 million compared to a net loss of $10.7 million for the same period in 2021. Total stock compensation expense for the three months ended September 30, 2022 was $0.7 million compared to $1.1 million for the same period in 2021 and the non-cash loss from the Company’s equity method investment in Angel Pharmaceuticals was $2.7 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 compared to $1.7 million in the same period in 2021.
Conference Call Details
Corvus will host a conference call and webcast today, Thursday, November 3, 2022, at 4:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. PT), during which time management will provide a business update and discuss the third quarter 2022 financial results. The conference call can be accessed by dialing 1-844-825-9789 (toll-free domestic) or 1-412-317-5180 (international) and using the conference ID 10170960. The live webcast may be accessed via the investor relations section of the Corvus website. A replay of the webcast will be available on Corvus’ website for 90 days.