On August 13, 2019 Altimmune, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALT), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, reported financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019 and provided a business update (Press release, Altimmune, AUG 13, 2019, View Source [SID1234538730]).

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"2019 continues to be a transformative year for Altimmune, as we have met important strategic milestones through the acquisition of our NASH drug candidate, ALT-801, by successfully completing a pre-IND meeting with the FDA on HepTcell, and by obtaining encouraging data on NasoShield," said Vipin K. Garg, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer. "These milestones solidify our value proposition as a biotech company with a diversified product pipeline poised to address large unmet medical needs. We are keenly focused on advancing the development of our product candidates to achieve meaningful inflection points in the near future."

Recent Highlights

Acquisition of Spitfire Pharma, Inc. with NASH Candidate ALT-801
The Company acquired Spitfire Pharma, Inc. including the product candidate ALT-801, a potent GLP-1/Glucagon receptor dual agonist for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). ALT-801 is a peptide-based therapeutic candidate with balanced agonist activity on the GLP-1 and glucagon receptors and a differentiated PK profile. ALT-801 is designed to treat the underlying metabolic dysfunction that leads to NASH, the most severe form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), by acting upstream to block disease progression. The Company is preparing for an IND submission in 2020, with data readouts from a Phase 1 clinical trial anticipated during 2021.
HepTcell Successful Pre-IND Meeting with FDA
The Company successfully completed a pre-IND (Investigational New Drug) meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding its Phase 2 trial design and manufacturing plans for HepTcell. The FDA provided no objection to the planned study design and patient populations, or plans for manufacturing and product testing, and did not recommend any additional studies for an IND submission and initiation of Phase 2 trials. A recently completed Phase 1 study in chronically infected subjects was performed in the United Kingdom and South Korea where clear evidence of anti-HBV T cell activation in the highly immune-tolerized study population was noted. Altimmune intends to conduct a Phase 2 study in the United States in 2020 and the pre-IND meeting was held to obtain feedback from the FDA on the Company’s intended development path.
NasoShield Investigation Results Point Toward Improved Clinical Performance
An investigation into the lower than expected Phase 1 immunogenicity of NasoShield has provided compelling data that may resolve the disparate results obtained from the previous preclinical and clinical studies with the intranasal anthrax vaccine. The key finding was that induction of rapid and robust immunity was significantly impacted by the dosing position. In the investigation, nearly 80% of the vaccinated animals survived a lethal challenge when dosed in the standard supine position, compared to 0% survival following dose administration in a sitting position similar to the dosing position used in the Phase 1 study. Based on these results, the Company believes that a simple adjustment to the dosing position in humans will result in significantly higher immunogenicity similar to what was observed during the preclinical development of NasoShield. The Company is in discussions with Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority ("BARDA") about next steps for the program. NasoShield is funded through a contract with BARDA (HHSO100201600008C) with a total potential value of $130 million if all options in the contact are exercised.
ALT-702 Preclinical Development Update
During Q2, the Company received a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for patent application No. 15/968,839, entitled "Immunogenic Compound" related to its immunostimulant product candidate, ALT-702, which, when granted, will be the second issued patent for this product. This candidate is based on a new synthetic peptide conjugate technology platform and represents a new approach in immuno-oncology that can act alone or improve the effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors, oncolytic viruses and other approaches in immuno-oncology. The Company is currently conducting experiments on ALT-702 in murine tumor models and expects to provide an update on the results of these experiments later this year.
Financial Results for the Second Quarter Ended June 30, 2019

The Company had cash, restricted cash and cash equivalents of $41.7 million at June 30, 2019. Subsequent to quarter end, the Company collected $1.5 million in accounts receivable from U.S. government contracts representing payment on outstanding invoices from Q2.

Revenue in the second quarter was $1.6 million compared to $2.4 million in the prior year period. The change was due to a decrease in billings under the Company’s U.S. government contracts due to timing of manufacturing and clinical trials.

Research and development expenses in the second quarter were $2.9 million compared to $4.9 million in the prior year period. The decrease was attributable to lower manufacturing and clinical trial costs on its programs offset by transaction costs recognized related to the acquisition of Spitfire Pharma, Inc.

General and administrative expenses in the second quarter were $2.2 million compared to $2.9 million in the prior year period. The decrease was due primarily to a reduction in labor, legal and professional costs.

Net loss attributed to common stockholders for the second quarter was $3.4 million, or ($0.26) per share, compared to $9.8 million, or ($10.29) per share in the same period of 2018. The lower net loss is attributable to a $5.2 million charge related to the warrant liability in 2018, in addition to the changes in revenue, research and development expense, and general and administrative expense described above.
Conference Call Details
Date: Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Time: 8:30am Eastern Time
Domestic: 877-423-9813
International: 201-689-8573
Conference ID: 13692577
Webcast: View Source
Following the conclusion of the call, the webcast will be available for replay for 30 days on the Investor Relations page of the Company’s website at www.altimmune.com.