On November 14, 2019 Trillium Therapeutics Inc. ("Trillium" or the "Company") (NASDAQ/TSX: TRIL), a clinical stage immuno-oncology company developing innovative therapies for the treatment of cancer, reported financial results for the nine months ended September 30, 2019, and provided a corporate update (Press release, Trillium Therapeutics, NOV 14, 2019, View Source [SID1234551310]).
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"Over the past two months, we have conducted an intensive review of our development programs and resources," said Jan Skvarka, President and Chief Executive Officer of Trillium. "As a result of this review, we plan to focus our near term clinical development efforts on the intravenous administration of TTI-621, our anti-CD47 product that has shown promising preliminary evidence of activity in a number of hematologic malignancies. We continue to make progress in the ongoing dose escalation trial of TTI-621, with the goal of identifying the recommended phase 2 dose. As the only anti-CD47 molecule that has demonstrated complete responses in patients receiving study treatment as a monotherapy, TTI-621, we believe, has the potential to be the best-in-class molecule."
"Our recently announced corporate restructuring is intended to extend our runway and enable the focus on intravenous TTI-621," continued Mr. Skvarka. "In addition, we are exploring a number of strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value."
STING Agonist Program Update
The Company presented updated preclinical data from its STING program at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) annual meeting in Washington, D.C, on November 9, 2019. The data demonstrate that TTI-10001, the Company’s lead small molecule STING agonist, is well tolerated in mice by intravenous and oral administration, and induces durable complete regressions of tumors and immunologic memory by both routes of administration. These data highlight the potential of TTI-10001 to achieve best-in-class status among next generation (non-cyclic dinucleotide) STING agonists. The Company is currently seeking a partner for further development of this molecule.
Third Quarter 2019 Financial Results:
As of September 30, 2019, Trillium had a combined cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities balance of $36.2 million, compared to $45.4 million at December 31, 2018. The September 30, 2019 working capital balance was $23.4 million, compared to $34.2 million at December 31, 2018. The decrease in cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities, and the decrease in working capital were due mainly to cash used in operations, partially offset by the cash received from the February 2019 public offering.
Net loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 of $29.8 million was lower than the loss of $33.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2018. The net loss was lower due mainly to a net warrant liability revaluation gain of $6.6 million and lower clinical trial related expenses, which were partially offset by a net foreign currency loss of $0.8 million in the current year compared to a net foreign currency gain of $1.5 million in the prior year and higher manufacturing costs. The Company also incurred an impairment loss in the three months ended September 30, 2019 of $3.9 million on the write down of the intangible asset related to the Fluorinov small molecule legacy programs acquired in 2016, as a result of the discontinuation of discovery research activities in the October 2019 restructuring and revised expected realization from Fluorinov legacy products.