On August 10, 2021 Alpine Immune Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALPN), a leading clinical-stage immunotherapy company focused on developing innovative treatments for cancer and autoimmune/inflammatory diseases, reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021 (Press release, Alpine Immune Sciences, AUG 10, 2021, View Source [SID1234586223]).
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"We have had a highly productive second quarter with substantial progress made across our portfolio highlighted by the initiation of Synergy, our international Phase 2 trial of ALPN-101, or acazicolcept, in lupus patients, the achievement of $45 million in development milestones as part of our AbbVie agreement, and the first presentation of clinical data from ALPN-202 highlighting the potential differentiation of safely agonizing CD28. Alpine has evolved into a global development company with clinical programs in both Immunology and Oncology and two strong pharmaceutical partners in AbbVie and Merck," said Mitchell H. Gold, M.D., Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alpine. "Looking forward, we plan to initiate our Phase 1 study for ALPN-303 by the fourth quarter and look forward to providing other updates as we progress on all our clinical studies."
Second Quarter 2021 and Recent Corporate and Clinical Updates
Acazicolcept: Dual CD28/ICOS inhibitor
Initiated Synergy, an international, double-blind placebo-controlled Phase 2 study of acazicolcept in patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE).
Achieved $45 million in pre-option exercise development milestones as part of the 2020 Option and License Agreement with AbbVie, with the potential of an additional $30 million in pre-option exercise development milestones.
ALPN-202: Conditional CD28 costimulator and dual checkpoint inhibitor
Presented initial dose escalation experience with ALPN-202 monotherapy in the NEON-1 clinical trial at the 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting. ALPN-202 was well-tolerated to date, with evidence of peripheral T cell modulation consistent with CD28 agonism, and clinical benefit observed in the majority of participants, despite the population consisting of heavily pre-treated, advanced tumor types traditionally considered unresponsive to immunotherapies.
Entered a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Merck and initiated enrollment in NEON-2, a dose escalation and expansion study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ALPN-202 in combination with KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab).
ALPN-303: Dual APRIL/BAFF inhibitor
Presented an oral abstract at the 2021 European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) virtual meeting demonstrating superior preclinical activity of ALPN-303 compared to multiple comparators, including wild-type TACI-Fc fusion proteins.
Targeting completion of activities to support initiation of a Phase 1 healthy volunteer study with ALPN-303 in the fourth quarter of this year.
General Corporate
Appointed Zelanna Goldberg, M.D., M.A.S. as Chief Medical Officer: Dr. Goldberg brings over 20 years of industry and clinical practice experience, including strategic and/or operational responsibility for multiple therapeutic products. Most recently Dr. Goldberg was Senior Vice President of Clinical Science at Iovance Biotherapeutics.
Added to the Russel 3000 Index.
Second Quarter 2021 Financial Results
As of June 30, 2021, we had cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and investments totaling $100.4 million, which does not include the $45.0 million in achieved milestones from the AbbVie collaboration expected to be received in the third quarter. We recorded net losses of $11.0 million and $9.9 million for the quarters ended June 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Collaboration revenue for the quarter ended June 30, 2021 was $7.2 million compared to $0.7 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2020. The increase was primarily attributable to the revenue recognized under our AbbVie Agreement.
Research and development expenses for the quarter ended June 30, 2021 were $14.6 million compared to $7.1 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2020. The increase was primarily attributable to contract manufacturing and process development of our product candidates, personnel-related expenses, clinical trial activities, and direct research activities.
General and administrative expenses for the quarter ended June 30, 2021 were $3.3 million compared to $3.3 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2020. While the costs remained relatively constant, decreases in professional and legal services were partially offset by increases in personnel-related expenses to support the growth and expansion of our business.
Alpine expects that its current cash resources, combined with the $45 million in achieved milestones and the potential additional $30 million in pre-option exercise milestones payable under its option and license agreement with AbbVie, for the development and commercialization of acazicolcept, are sufficient to fund Alpine’s planned operations through 2023.
Second Quarter 2021 Conference Call and Webcast Details
Alpine will host a conference call and live webcast to discuss the second quarter performance today, August 10, 2021 at 4:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. PT.
To access the live call by phone, dial (800) 816-3005 (domestic) or (857) 770-0069 (international) and reference conference ID: 8145346. A live webcast of the presentation will be available online in the investor relations section of the company’s website at View Source A replay of the presentation will be available on the company website for 90 days following the webcast.