On November 3, 2022 Selecta Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: SELB), a biotechnology company pioneering precision immune tolerance with its clinically validated ImmTOR platform to develop tolerogenic therapies for autoimmune diseases, unlock the potential of gene therapies and amplify the efficacy of biologic therapies, reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2022 and provided a business update (Press release, Selecta Biosciences, NOV 3, 2022, View Source [SID1234623010]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

"We are pleased with the steady progress seen across our clinical and pre-clinical pipelines. With expected financial runway into mid-2024 we believe we are well-positioned to execute on our key priorities and achieve multiple near-term value driving inflection points," said Carsten Brunn, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Selecta. "Clinically, we remain on track to initiate the Phase 1 trial of SEL-302, our wholly owned gene therapy in combination with ImmTOR for the treatment of MMA in Q4 2022, and expect to report joint topline data from the Phase 3 DISSOLVE clinical program investigating SEL-212 in chronic refractory gout, in Q1 2023. Preclinically, with our external partners we continue to drive toward candidate selection for an IgA protease to treat IgA nephropathy, as well as progress IND-enabling studies and manufacturing scale-up for Xork, our proprietary IgG protease developed as a pre-treatment to enable AAV gene therapies. Finally, building on the recently presented data at ESGCT, we continue our work in identifying a proprietary IL-2 to combine with ImmTOR, which we anticipate announcing by year-end. We believe ImmTOR- IL, based on the synergistic effects we have observed preclinically, has the potential to be a generational leap forward for our precision immune tolerance platform."

Recent Program Highlights and Anticipated Upcoming Milestones:

Tolerogenic Therapies for Autoimmune Disease:

ImmTOR-IL: Preclinically, Selecta has observed synergistic activity when ImmTOR is combined with engineered IL-2 molecules that are selective for Tregs (ImmTOR-IL). Furthermore, when ImmTOR-IL was co-administered with an antigen of interest, the resulting data suggested that ImmTOR-IL may have profound synergistic effects in expanding antigen-specific Tregs when compared to ImmTOR alone, positioning ImmTOR-IL as a potential first-in-class antigen-specific therapy for the treatment of autoimmune disease.
Selecta continues to work with its partners to develop a next generation IL-2 molecule to combine with ImmTOR and still anticipates selecting an IL-2 candidate by year-end 2022.
Selecta continues internal work on identifying additional target indications in autoimmune disease. Selecta plans to adopt a staged development approach, starting first with diseases driven by a single pathogenic antigen, such as Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC), then accelerating development across related indications.
Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC): Selecta intends to co-administer ImmTOR-IL with PDC-E2, the autoantigen implicated in PBC and continues IND-enabling work for this combination.
Gene Therapies:

SEL-302 for MMA: Selecta remains on track to initiate a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of SEL-302, an AAV gene therapy combined with ImmTOR for the treatment of MMA, in the fourth quarter of 2022.
SEL-018 IgG Protease (Xork): In collaboration with Genovis, Selecta continues to advance Xork, a next-generation IgG protease, to help address disease in patients who are ineligible for gene therapies due to pre-existing anti-AAV antibodies. Selecta believes the novel combination of Xork and ImmTOR has the potential to address two of the key hurdles in gene therapy today: pre-existing immunity to AAVs and the inability to re-dose AAV gene therapies due to the immune response to AAV capsids.
IND-enabling studies and manufacturing scale-up activities are ongoing.
ImmTOR-IL: In October 2022, we presented preclinical data at the 29th Annual European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ESGCT) Conference further supporting the potential therapeutic utility of ImmTOR in enabling safe repeated vector dosing and mitigating unwanted immune responses. Additionally, we presented data in which we observed the potential of ImmTOR-IL in driving antigen-specific Treg expansion while synergistically inhibiting formation of anti-AAV antibodies at high vector doses.
Biologic Therapies:

SEL-212 for chronic refractory gout: Selecta continues to advance DISSOLVE, the Phase 3 development program of SEL-212, which has been licensed to Sobi.
In Q3 2022, Selecta received a $10 million milestone payment from Sobi following the completion of enrollment of DISSOLVE II in June 2022.
DISSOLVE I & II trials are on track for completion in Q1 2023 with joint topline readout expected in Q1 2023.
ImmTOR with IgA protease for IgA nephropathy: Selecta continues to work with its partners to identify and develop a next generation IgA protease to combine with ImmTOR, and consistent with prior guidance anticipates selecting an enzyme candidate by year-end 2022.
Further Corporate and Partnership Updates:

In Q3 2022, and as previously disclosed, Selecta received a $2 million payment from Sarepta relating to the extension of its Research License and Option Agreement for ImmTOR in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) and certain Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophies (LGMD) for an additional nine months to Q1 2023, and an additional $4 million payment from Sarepta for achievement of certain preclinical milestones.
Third Quarter 2022 Financial Results

Cash Position: Selecta had $148.0 million in cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities, and restricted cash as of September 30, 2022, as compared to cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities, and restricted cash of $129.4 million as of December 31, 2021. Net cash used in operating activities was $19.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022, as compared to $28.9 million of cash used in operating activities for the same period in 2021. Selecta believes its available cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and marketable securities will be sufficient to meet its operating requirements into mid-2024.

Collaboration and License Revenue: Collaboration and license revenue for the third quarter of 2022 was $20.7 million, as compared to $24.4 million for the same period in 2021. Revenue was primarily driven by the shipment of clinical supply and the reimbursement of costs incurred for the Phase 3 DISSOLVE clinical program under the license agreement with Sobi.

Research and Development Expenses: Research and development expenses for the third quarter of 2022 were $16.5 million, as compared to $21.0 million for the same period in 2021. The decrease in cost was primarily the result of a decrease in expenses incurred for the SEL-212 clinical program, preclinical programs, and the AskBio collaboration.

General and Administrative Expenses: General and administrative expenses for the third quarter of 2022 were $5.8 million, as compared to $5.4 million for the same period in 2021. The increase in costs was primarily the result of expenses incurred for stock compensation and personnel expenses.

Net loss: For the third quarter of 2022, Selecta reported net loss of $7.9 million, or basic net loss per share of $0.05, compared to net loss of $17.9 million, or basic net loss per share of $0.16, for the same period in 2021.

Conference Call and Webcast Reminder
Selecta management will host a conference call at 8:30 AM ET today to provide a business update and review the company’s third quarter 2022 financial results. Individuals may participate in the live call via telephone by dialing (844) 845-4170 (domestic) or +1 (412) 717-9621 (international) and may access a teleconference replay for one week by dialing (877) 344-7529 (domestic) or +1 (412) 317-0088 (international) and using confirmation code 10157874. Investors and the public can access the live and archived webcast of this call and a copy of the presentation via the Investors & Media section of the company’s website, www.selectabio.com.