On August 5, 2022 Caladrius Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLBS) ("Caladrius" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies designed to treat or reverse disease, reported financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022 and provided a business update (Press release, Caladrius Biosciences, AUG 5, 2022, View Source [SID1234617687]).
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"The second quarter of 2022 was a transformative and energizing quarter for Caladrius with the announcement of our proposed merger with Cend Therapeutics ("Cend"). The merger process, which, when completed, will result in the change of our name to Lisata Therapeutics ("Lisata"), is progressing well and, subject to the approval by our stockholders, remains on track to close in the third quarter of 2022," stated David J. Mazzo, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Caladrius. "Following the closing of the proposed merger, Lisata will focus on maximally exploiting the full potential of Cend’s CendR Platform technology in a range of solid tumor cancer settings while progressing Caladrius’ current product candidate development programs to their next development milestone. CEND-1, the lead product candidate from the CendR Platform, has the potential to be combined with a myriad of chemo and immunotherapeutic agents that could become an integral part of a revised standard-of-care therapy for many difficult to treat cancers."
"In June, Cend announced the first patient had been treated in the Phase 2b ASCEND study of CEND-1 in combination with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel for the treatment of first-line, metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma ("mPDAC"). This 125-patient study is a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial being conducted at up to 40 sites in Australia and New Zealand led by the Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Cancer Trials Group in collaboration with the NHMRC Clinical Trial Centre at the University of Sydney. In addition, The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology recently published groundbreaking data from the Phase 1b study of CEND-1 in combination with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel for the treatment of first-line mPDAC."
Dr. Mazzo continued, "While we continue to make progress on our current Caladrius programs, a tremendous amount of work already has been conducted under our collaboration agreement with Cend. This is an exciting time for the Company and the future Lisata. We look forward to providing additional updates in the coming weeks and months."
Proposed Merger with Cend Therapeutics
As previously disclosed, the Company entered into a definitive merger agreement with Cend Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held, clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on a novel approach to enable more effective treatments for solid tumor cancers, under which Cend will merge with a wholly owned subsidiary of Caladrius in an all-stock approximate "merger of equals" transaction unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of each company. Following closing, the combined company is expected to be renamed Lisata Therapeutics, Inc. and is expected to trade on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol "LSTA". The merger is currently expected to close in the third quarter of 2022 subject to the approval of Caladrius and Cend stockholders as well as the satisfaction of certain other customary closing conditions and applicable approvals. In the interim, Caladrius has made an investment of $10 million in Cend in connection with a collaboration agreement to maintain development momentum of the Cend pipeline.
Ongoing Development Portfolio Update
HONEDRA (CLBS12) for the treatment of critical limb ischemia ("CLI")
HONEDRA is the Company’s SAKIGAKE-designated product candidate for the treatment of CLI and Buerger’s disease in Japan which is now in the pre-consultation phase of the registration process with the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency ("PMDA") in Japan. Data from the follow-up of all patients completed in the registration-eligible clinical trial in Japan has been compiled and will be reviewed by PMDA during the third quarter of 2022, after which the PMDA will provide important perspective to be considered in preparation for the formal consultation meetings which precede the Japanese new drug application. Concomitantly, the Company will focus its efforts to secure a Japanese partner to complete the remaining steps to produce registration in Japan.
XOWNA (CLBS16) for the treatment of coronary microvascular dysfunction ("CMD")
XOWNA is an experimental regenerative therapy for the treatment of CMD. It was the subject of a positive Phase 2a study (the "ESCaPE-CMD trial") reported in 2020 and is currently being evaluated in a U.S. Phase 2b study (the "FREEDOM Trial"). The FREEDOM Trial was originally designed as a 105-patient double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial to further evaluate the efficacy and safety of intracoronary delivery of autologous CD34+ cells (XOWNA) in subjects with CMD and without obstructive coronary artery disease and was expected to complete enrollment in approximately 12 months. As previously communicated, enrollment in the FREEDOM Trial initially proceeded as planned with the first patient treated in January 2021; however, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., coupled with supply chain issues associated with the catheters used for diagnosis of CMD and/or administration of XOWNA, as well as with a contrast agent typically used in many catheter laboratories, have made and continue to make enrollment much slower than originally predicted and challenging to accelerate. As a result, and as previously disclosed, the Company has suspended further enrollment activities and is conducting an interim analysis of the data during the third quarter of 2022 to determine the next steps for the program, which may require a discussion with and guidance from FDA. The Company expects to have a decision on next steps for the program by the end of 2022.
CLBS201 for the treatment of diabetic kidney disease ("DKD")
Progressive kidney failure is associated with attrition of the microcirculation of the kidney. Preclinical studies in kidney disease and injury models have demonstrated that protection or replenishment of the microcirculation results in improved kidney function. Based on these observations, the Company recently initiated a Phase 1b, open-label, proof-of-concept trial evaluating CLBS201, a CD34+ regenerative cell therapy investigational product for intra-renal artery administration in patients with DKD. Patients selected for the study are in the pre-dialysis stage of kidney disease and exhibit rapidly progressing stage 3b disease. The protocol provides for a cohort of six patients overseen by an independent Data Safety Monitoring Board with the objective of determining the tolerance of intra-renal cell therapy injection in DKD patients as well as the ability of CLBS201 to regenerate kidney function. A key read-out of data will occur at the 6-month follow-up visit for all patients. The Company treated the first patient in April 2022 and completed treatment for all six subjects during the third quarter of 2022. Top-line data is anticipated from all subjects by the first quarter of 2023.
Second Quarter 2022 Financial Highlights
Research and development expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2022 were $3.2 million, compared to $4.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2021, representing a decrease of $1.1 million or 25%. This decrease was primarily due to a decrease in expenses associated with HONEDRA in Japan, revenue received from the collaboration agreement and one-off recruiting expenses in the prior year. Research and development activities in the current year period focused on the advancement of our ischemic repair platform and related to:
execution of the FREEDOM Trial including preparation for an interim analysis;
execution of the Phase 1b proof-of-concept trial of CLBS201 as a treatment for DKD, which commenced in the first quarter of 2022 with the first patient in the study treated in April 2022; and
study close out activities and preparation for the pre-consultation meetings with the PMDA for HONEDRA in CLI and Buerger’s disease in Japan.
General and administrative expenses, which focus on general corporate related activities, were $3.5 million for the three months ended June 30, 2022, compared to $2.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2021, representing an increase of 24%. This increase was primarily due to an increase in professional fees associated with the proposed merger with Cend Therapeutics, Inc.
Overall, net losses were $6.6 million and $5.7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2022 and June 30, 2021, respectively.
In order to provide Cend with capital for its development programs prior to the closing of the merger, the Company made an investment of $10 million in Cend in connection with a collaboration agreement to maintain development momentum of the Cend pipeline.
Balance Sheet Highlights
As of June 30, 2022, the Company had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of approximately $73 million, which is net of our $10 million investment in Cend and which we believe positions us well relative to the projected capital obligations for our existing development programs as well as our cash and investments balance target at the time of the closing of the merger with Cend.
Conference Call Information
Caladrius will hold a live conference call today, August 4, 2022, at 4:30 p.m. (EDT) to discuss financial results, provide a business update and answer questions.
The Company is utilizing a new conference call service. Those wishing to participate must register for the conference call by way of the following link: CLICK HERE TO REGISTER. Registered participants will receive an email containing conference call details for dial-in options. To avoid delays, we encourage participants to dial into the conference call fifteen minutes ahead of the scheduled start time.
A live webcast of the call will also be accessible under the Investors & News section of the Caladrius website and will be available for replay beginning two hours after the conclusion of the call for 12 months.