On May 19, 2020 Cue Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: CUE), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engineering a novel class of injectable biologics to selectively engage and modulate targeted T cells within the body, reported a business update for the first quarter 2020 (Press release, Cue Biopharma, MAY 19, 2020, View Source [SID1234558278]).
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"We have successfully maintained momentum in meeting our business goals and clinical trial objectives for the first quarter and early second quarter of 2020, despite the rapid onset of COVID-19 and the many challenges it has presented," said Daniel Passeri, chief executive officer of Cue Biopharma. "I am grateful for the dedication of the Cue Biopharma team during this pandemic as we continue to work together and safely execute on our mission of bringing novel therapies to patients with serious diseases."
According to Kerri-Ann Millar, vice president of finance and principal financial and accounting officer of Cue Biopharma, "We successfully navigated the beginning of the pandemic and finished the first quarter of 2020 in a solid financial position which was further strengthened by the successful deployment of an ATM facility in April that enabled us to boost our cash position by an additional $34.3 million."
First-Quarter 2020 Financial Results
The Company reported collaboration revenue of approximately $0.9 million and $0.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Research and development expenses were $9.9 million and $8.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. The increase in research and development expenses of $1.5 million was primarily due to clinical trial costs related to our on-going CUE-101 mono-therapy trial that was initiated in the latter part of the third quarter of 2019. During the first quarter of 2020, we initiated the manufacturing of CUE-101 to supply our recently announced combination trial of CUE-101 with Merck’s KEYTRUDA which also contributed to the increase in research and development costs.
General and administrative expenses were $3.9 million and $3.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. The increase in general and administrative expense of $0.5 million was primarily due to an increase in stock-based compensation expense and legal and accounting fees incurred in the first quarter of 2020 as compared to the same period in 2019.
Recent News & Business Updates
Extended cash runway through an ATM equity offering sales agreement for aggregate proceeds of $34.3 million, net of commissions paid, with Stifel, who acted as sales agent. As of April 30, 2020, the Company had sold 1,824,901 shares of common stock under the sales agreement.
Completed our first analysis of clinical biomarker samples from the CUE-101 Phase 1 clinical trial and the early data provides favorable insights into clinical metrics that bolster our confidence in CUE-101 and our entire IL-2-based CUE-100 series.
Completed a clinical collaboration agreement with Merck in April 2020 to evaluate the combination of CUE-101 with Merck’s KEYTRUDA, an anti-PD-1 biologic agent, as a first-line therapy in patients with advanced HPV16+ head and neck cancer in a planned dose-escalation Phase 1 study to be called KEYNOTE-A78.