On May 13, 2019 Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRNX), a clinical stage pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapeutics for rare endocrine diseases and endocrine-related tumors, reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2019 and provided an update on its corporate activities and product pipeline (Press release, Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, MAY 13, 2019, View Source [SID1234536245]).

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"Crinetics continues to make strong clinical progress in 2019, as we dosed the first acromegaly patients in our Phase 2 EVOLVE and EDGE trials for our lead product candidate, CRN00808," said Scott Struthers, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Crinetics. "Looking forward to the remainder of the year, we will continue enrolling the ACROBAT trials and will initiate our Phase 1 trial for CRN01941 aimed at neuroendocrine tumors during the second quarter while continuing to advance additional molecules in our growing pipeline of endocrine product candidates."

First Quarter Highlights

Dosed first patients in Phase 2 clinical trials of CRN00808 for acromegaly. In March 2019, Crinetics dosed the first patients in the ACROBAT EVOLVE and ACROBAT EDGE trials for CRN00808 in patients with acromegaly. The EVOLVE trial is a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized withdrawal study designed to evaluate the safety, efficacy, and pharmacokinetics of CRN00808, an oral selective nonpeptide somatostatin receptor type 2 biased agonist, in patients with acromegaly that respond to octreotide LAR or lanreotide depot monotherapy. The EDGE trial is an open label exploratory study designed to evaluate the safety, efficacy, and pharmacokinetics of CRN00808 in patients with acromegaly that are treated with somatostatin analog based treatment regimens but do not respond completely to monotherapy.

Expanded management team. In March 2019, Crinetics appointed Gina Ford, RPh, MBA, as Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Commercial Planning.

Presented at ENDO2019. In March 2019, Crinetics made four poster presentations relating to the company’s pipeline at ENDO2019, the Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society, in New Orleans.

First Quarter 2019 Financial Results

Research and development expenses were $7.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019, compared to $4.7 million for the same period in 2018. The increases were primarily attributable to development and manufacturing activities for CRN00808 as well as the advancement of the company’s preclinical programs and higher personnel costs.

General and administrative expenses were $3.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019, compared to $1.2 million for the same period in 2018. The increases were primarily due to costs to operate as a public company, as well as personnel costs to support the company’s growth.

Net loss for the three months ended March 31, 2019 was $9.0 million, compared to a net loss of $5.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018.

Cash, cash equivalents and investments totaled $157.2 million as of March 31, 2019, compared with $163.9 million as of December 31, 2018.

As of April 30, 2019, the company had 24,138,177 common shares outstanding.