On May 11, 2020 Fate Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FATE), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of programmed cellular immunotherapies for cancer and immune disorders, reported business highlights and financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020 (Press release, Fate Therapeutics, MAY 11, 2020, View Source [SID1234557488]).
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"We are encouraged by the resilience of our employees, our clinical trial investigators and participating patients, and our collaboration partners in the face of the challenge posed by the global pandemic. Like others, we have been affected by COVID-19, which has impacted clinical site initiation, slowed the cadence of new patient enrollment, and changed how we conduct our day-to-day business," said Scott Wolchko, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fate Therapeutics. "Nevertheless, we have continued to enroll patients across our three Phase 1 clinical programs, expanded the clinical footprint of our FT596 program into relapse prevention following autologous HSCT, and submitted our IND application to the FDA for FT538, the first-ever CRISPR-edited, iPSC-derived cell therapy, in multiple myeloma. Additionally, we entered into a transformative collaboration with Janssen that leverages our iPSC product platform and Janssen’s proprietary tumor-targeting antigen binders to develop novel CAR NK and CAR T-Cell product candidates for hematologic malignancies and solid tumors, supporting our fundamental goal of bringing off-the-shelf, iPSC-derived cell-based cancer immunotherapies to patients."
Clinical Programs
First Patient Treated with FT596 Monotherapy for Advanced Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma. FT596 is the industry’s first investigational cellular immunotherapy engineered with three active anti-tumor modalities to be evaluated in patients. The Company is currently conducting an open-label Phase 1 clinical trial of FT596 in patients with relapsed / refractory B-cell malignancies and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. FT596 is an off-the-shelf, multi-antigen targeted, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) natural killer (NK) cell cancer immunotherapy derived from a clonal master induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line engineered to express a proprietary CD19-targeting CAR, a novel high-affinity 158V, non-cleavable CD16 (hnCD16) Fc receptor, and a unique interleukin-15 receptor fusion (IL-15RF). The hnCD16 Fc receptor enables concurrent targeting of additional tumor-associated antigens bound by therapeutic antibodies to overcome antigen escape and promote multifaceted tumor cell killing, and IL-15RF is a potent cytokine complex that promotes survival, proliferation and trans-activation of NK cells and CD8 T cells without the need for exogenous cytokine support.
Second FT596 IND Application Allowed by FDA for Relapse Prevention after Autologous HSCT. The open-label Phase 1 study, which is sponsored by investigators from the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, is intended to assess the potential of FT596 to prevent relapse in patients undergoing autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) for the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The clinical trial is expected to enroll up to 18 patients considered high risk for early relapse based on failure to achieve complete or partial remission on, or relapse within twelve months of, prior therapy. Up to three dose levels of FT596 will be administered in combination with rituximab approximately 30 days following HSCT.
FT500 Phase 1 Dose-Escalation Stage Successfully Completed for Advanced Solid Tumors. Three patients have been treated in the dose-escalation stage of the FT500 Phase 1 study at 300M cells per dose in combination with checkpoint inhibitor therapy. There were no dose-limiting toxicities, no FT500-related Grade ≥3 adverse events (AEs) or serious adverse events (SAEs), and no incidents of cytokine release syndrome, neurotoxicity, or graft-versus-host disease reported by investigators. Enrollment into the dose-expansion stage of the FT500 Phase 1 study is proceeding in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are refractory to, or have relapsed following, checkpoint inhibitor therapy. The Company intends to treat up to 15 patients in the outpatient setting, administering three once-weekly doses of FT500 at 300M cells per dose over up to two 30-day cycles with IL-2 cytokine support and the same checkpoint inhibitor on which the patient failed or progressed.
FT516 Clinical Investigation Expanded to Solid Tumors. In January, the Company announced that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) allowed its second IND application for FT516, the Company’s off-the-shelf NK cell cancer immunotherapy derived from a clonal master iPSC line engineered to express hnCD16 Fc receptor, enabling clinical investigation in combination with PDL1-, PD1-, EGFR- and HER2-targeting monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapies across a broad range of solid tumors. The Company intends to initially evaluate FT516 in combination with avelumab in patients with advanced solid tumors who are refractory to, or have relapsed following, at least one line of anti-PDL1 mAb therapy. The multi-dose treatment course consists of three once-weekly doses of FT516 over up to two 30-day cycles. The Company is currently conducting an open-label, multi-dose Phase 1 clinical trial of FT516 as a monotherapy for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia and in combination with CD20-directed monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of advanced B-cell lymphoma.
IND Application Submitted for FT538, the First CRISPR-edited, iPSC-derived Cellular Immunotherapy. FT538 is derived from a clonal master iPSC line engineered with hnCD16 and IL-15RF and edited for elimination of CD38 expression (CD38KO) to mitigate anti-CD38 antibody-mediated fratricide. The Company has recently submitted an IND application to the FDA for the clinical investigation of FT538 in combination with anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody therapy for the treatment of multiple myeloma.
FT516 Investigator-initiated Clinical Trial for COVID-19 Opened to Enrollment. Sponsored by investigators from the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine, University of Minnesota, the open-label Phase 1 study is designed to assess the clinical safety and tolerability of FT516 for the treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (NCT04363346). The study is evaluating three FT516 dose-escalating strategies (90M cells on Day 1; 90M cells on Day 1 and 300M cells on Day 4; and 90M cells on Day 1, 300M cells on Day 4, and 900M cells on Day 7) in up to 20 patients at a high risk of developing critical life-threatening illness. Secondary objectives of the study include time to elimination of viral shedding, to discontinuation of supplemental oxygen support, and to hospital discharge.
Corporate Highlights
Strategic Collaboration Formed with Janssen for Novel iPSC-derived Cell-based Cancer Immunotherapies. In April, the Company entered into a global collaboration and option agreement with Janssen Biotech, Inc. (Janssen), one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, to develop iPSC-derived chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) NK and CAR T-cell product candidates targeting up to four tumor-associated antigens for which Janssen is contributing proprietary antigen binding domains. The Company is eligible to receive payments of up to $3.0 billion upon the achievement of certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones, plus tiered double-digit royalties on worldwide net sales of products targeting the antigens. In addition, the Company has the right to elect to co-commercialize each product candidate in the U.S. and share equally in profits and losses in the U.S., subject to its payment of certain clinical development costs and adjustments in milestone and royalty payments. The Company received $100 million upon entering into the collaboration, including $50 million in an upfront cash payment and $50 million from the purchase by Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. of newly issued shares of the Company’s common stock at a price per share of $31.00.
Lease Executed for New Corporate Headquarters with cGMP Cell Manufacturing Facility. In January, the Company entered into a lease agreement for the entirety of the Scripps Northridge Corporate Center, a 200,000-square-foot life sciences complex in San Diego, CA that is designed to include a 40,000 square foot cGMP cell manufacturing facility. The Company intends to move its corporate headquarters to the campus in the middle of 2021.
Upcoming Scientific Presentations
IND-enabling Data for FT819 iPSC-derived CAR T-cell to be Presented at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) II. IND-enabling data for FT819, which is derived from a clonal master iPSC line engineered with a novel 1XX CAR targeting CD19 inserted into the T-cell receptor alpha constant (TRAC) locus and edited for elimination of T-cell receptor (TCR) expression, is scheduled to be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Virtual Annual Meeting II (June 22-24). In the second quarter of 2020, the Company intends to submit an IND application to the FDA for clinical investigation of FT819, the Company’s first off-the-shelf, iPSC-derived CAR T-cell product candidate.
FT576 Master iPSC Line Engineered with Four Anti-Tumor Modalities to be Highlighted at ASGCT (Free ASGCT Whitepaper). FT576 is the Company’s off-the-shelf, iPSC-derived, multi-antigen targeted CAR-BCMA NK cell product candidate for multiple myeloma that is currently undergoing preclinical development. At the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) (Free ASGCT Whitepaper) Virtual Annual Meeting (May 12-15), the Company will highlight an innovative paradigm to generate new clonal master iPSC lines for next-generation product development. Starting with an existing clonal master iPSC line engineered with three anti-tumor modalities (hnCD16; IL15-RF; and CD38KO) as a cell backbone, a CAR-BCMA transgene was engineered into the backbone, followed by single-cell selection and generation of a new clonal master iPSC line incorporating CAR-BCMA as a fourth functional element.
New iPSC-derived CAR MICA/B Solid Tumor Program to be Presented at ASGCT (Free ASGCT Whitepaper). The Company plans to present initial preclinical data for its new off-the-shelf, iPSC-derived CAR MICA/B cancer immunotherapy program at ASGCT (Free ASGCT Whitepaper). MICA and MICB are pan-tumor associated stress proteins induced by malignant transformation, and proteolytic shedding of MICA/B by cancer cells is a common mechanism of immune cell evasion broadly observed across solid tumors. The Company’s proprietary CAR MICA/B program targets a specific protein region which prevents shedding to overcome tumor escape.
First Quarter 2020 Financial Results
Cash & Investment Position: Cash, cash equivalents and investments as of March 31, 2020 were $219.4 million. The Company’s cash, cash equivalents and investments exclude the receipt of $100.0 million in April 2020 in connection with entering into the Janssen collaboration.
Total Revenue: Revenue was $2.5 million for the first quarter of 2020, which was derived from the Company’s collaboration with Ono Pharmaceutical.
R&D Expenses: Research and development expenses were $29.3 million for the first quarter of 2020, which includes $4.3 million of non-cash stock-based compensation expense.
G&A Expenses: General and administrative expenses were $7.7 million for the first quarter of 2020, which includes $2.7 million of non-cash stock-based compensation expense.
Shares Outstanding: Common shares outstanding were 76.0 million, and preferred shares outstanding were 2.8 million, as of March 31, 2020. Each preferred share is convertible into five common shares. Common shares outstanding excludes the issuance of 1.6 million shares in April 2020 in connection with entering into the Janssen collaboration.
Today’s Conference Call and Webcast
The Company will conduct a conference call today, Monday, May 11, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. ET to review financial and operating results for the quarter ended March 31, 2020. In order to participate in the conference call, please dial 877-303-6235 (domestic) or 631-291-4837 (international) and refer to conference ID 8623509. The live webcast can be accessed under "Events & Presentations" in the Investors & Media section of the Company’s website at www.fatetherapeutics.com. The archived webcast will be available on the Company’s website beginning approximately two hours after the event.