On November 10, 2022 Atreca, Inc. (Atreca) (NASDAQ: BCEL), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing novel therapeutics generated through a unique discovery platform based on interrogation of the active human immune response, reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2022 and provided an overview of recent developments (Press release, Atreca, NOV 10, 2022, View Source [SID1234623828]).
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"The third quarter was a productive period, as we continue to enroll patients in the Phase 1b trial of ATRC-101," said John Orwin, Chief Executive Officer of Atreca. "We remain encouraged by the association we see between clinical activity and target expression, the durability of the clinical activity observed and the tolerability demonstrated in the study. We are making progress toward accelerating enrollment and are now planning to present data in early 2023, once we’ve treated enough participants to provide a meaningful update."
"An NHP toxicity study to evaluate ATRC-301, an ADC candidate in our anti-EphA2 program, revealed safety signals, including bleeding, and as a result, we are discontinuing the development of ATRC-301; however, we continue to evaluate our anti-EphA2 antibodies in multiple weaponized formats," said Stephen Gould, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Atreca. "While this will delay the timing of our next IND in oncology, our preclinical pipeline is otherwise progressing well, and in early 2023 we expect to provide updates on both an ADC targeting a novel tumor glycan and a bispecific T-cell engager targeting another RNA-binding protein."
"In addition, the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute continues to advance MAM01/ATRC-501, an antibody clinical candidate generated by the Atreca platform that is in development for the prevention of malaria, for which they expect to file an IND early next year," said John Orwin.
Recent Developments and Highlights
Atreca continued enrolling patients in its ongoing Phase 1b study of ATRC-101 based on ATRC-101 target expression in archival or newly obtained biopsies. To-date, 67 participants have been enrolled across the monotherapy and pembrolizumab combination cohorts of the study. The Company has taken steps to accelerate enrollment in the trial, including initiating additional trial sites and streamlining enrollment criteria. Atreca now expects to present updated monotherapy and combination data from the trial in the first quarter of 2023.
An non-human primate (NHP) toxicity study to evaluate ATRC-301, an antibody drug conjugate (ADC) candidate in our anti-EphA2 program, revealed safety signals, including bleeding, and as a result, Atreca is discontinuing the development of ATRC-301. The Company continues to evaluate its anti-EphA2 antibodies in multiple weaponized formats and advance its other lead-stage oncology programs, including APN-497444, an ADC against a novel tumor glycan target, and APN-346958, a CD3 bispecific T-cell engager against an RNA-binding protein target. Atreca is now targeting one additional Investigational New Drug (IND) application per year in oncology beginning in 2024.
A IND for MAM01/ATRC-501, an Atreca-discovered antibody clinical candidate licensed to the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute ("Gates MRI") for the prevention of malaria, is expected to be filed by Gates MRI in the first quarter of 2023, and they expect to commence clinical development by the second half of 2023. Atreca retains commercial rights in the U.S., Europe and parts of Asia, and potential product development opportunities in those regions include prevention of malaria for those traveling to malaria endemic regions.
In October 2022, Atreca announced the presentation of two posters at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) Annual Meeting, a trial-in-progress update on the Phase 1b clinical study of ATRC-101, and a poster on the discovery and preclinical development of its novel EphA2-targeted antibodies. Poster sessions began today, November 10th, at 9 a.m. ET.
Third Quarter 2022 Financial Results
As of September 30, 2022, cash and cash equivalents and investments totaled $85.7 million.
Research and development expenses for the quarter ended September 30, 2022, were $16.0 million, including non-cash share-based compensation expense of $1.9 million.
General and administrative expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2022, were $7.2 million, including non-cash share-based compensation expense of $2.0 million.
Atreca reported a net loss of $23.1 million, or basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders of $0.60, for the three months ended September 30, 2022.