On May 10,2018 Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc. ("Checkpoint") (NASDAQ:CKPT), a clinical-stage, immuno-oncology biopharmaceutical company focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of novel treatments for patients with solid tumor cancers, reported financial results and recent corporate highlights for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 (Press release, Checkpoint Therapeutics, MAY 10, 2018, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/10/globe-newswire-checkpoint-therapeutics-reports-first-quarter-2018-financial-results-and-recent-corporate-highlights.html [SID1234526473]).

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James F. Oliviero, President and Chief Executive Officer of Checkpoint, said, "In the first quarter of 2018, Checkpoint continued to execute on milestones to advance the development of our lead immuno-oncology and targeted therapy clinical programs, while also strengthening our financial position. Notably, we completed an underwritten public offering in March, raising net proceeds of $20.8 million to continue to fund our development programs, and initiated the first dose expansion cohorts in the Phase 1 trials of CK-301, our fully human anti-PD-L1 antibody, and CK-101, our third-generation EGFR inhibitor. We look forward to reporting initial data from these expansion cohorts in the second half of 2018, and are targeting the initiation of our first registration trial for CK-301 in first-line non-small cell lung cancer in the first quarter of 2019."

Financial Results:

Cash Position: As of March 31, 2018, Checkpoint’s cash and cash equivalents totaled $34.9 million, compared to $19.2 million at December 31, 2017, an increase of $15.7 million.
R&D Expenses: Research and development expenses for the first quarter of 2018 were $6.9 million, compared to $3.7 million for the first quarter of 2017, an increase of $3.2 million.
G&A Expenses: General and administrative expenses for the first quarter of 2018 were $2.2 million, compared to $1.4 million for the first quarter of 2017, an increase of $0.8 million.
Net Loss: Net loss attributable to common stockholders for the first quarter of 2018 was $8.8 million, or $0.35 per share, compared to a net loss of $4.4 million, or $0.20 per share, for the first quarter of 2017.
Recent Corporate Highlights:

In March 2018, Checkpoint completed an underwritten public offering that raised net proceeds of $20.8 million.
Also in March 2018, Checkpoint completed the dose escalation portion of the ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of CK-301, a fully human anti-PD-L1 antibody, in selected recurrent or metastatic cancers, and initiated the first dose expansion cohort, which is evaluating an 800 mg dose of CK-301 administered every two weeks.
In April 2018, Checkpoint presented preclinical data on BET inhibitor CK-103 at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting. CK-103 demonstrated combinatorial effects in an in vivo model with anti-PD-1 antibodies, which may support its development as an anti-cancer agent alone and in combination with Checkpoint’s anti-PD-L1 antibody CK-301.