On March 24, 2025 Bolt Biotherapeutics (Nasdaq: BOLT), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer, reported financial results for the third quarter ended December 31, 2024, and provided a business update (Press release, Bolt Biotherapeutics, MAR 24, 2025, View Source [SID1234651370]).
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"2024 was a transformational year for Bolt as we focused the company on efficient development of the programs that could be most impactful for patients," said Willie Quinn, Chief Executive Officer. "BDC-4182, our next-generation ISAC, is poised to enter the clinic in the second quarter. As the only ISAC targeting the validated tumor target claudin 18.2, we believe that BDC-4182 has the potential to offer a better option for patients with stomach and other claudin 18.2-expressing cancers. We are particularly excited about BDC-4182 as validation for our Boltbody ISAC approach. We’ve also completed enrollment and have cleared the DLT window for the highest dose level in the BDC-3042 Phase 1 dose escalation trial and will provide a data update next quarter at a medical meeting. BDC-3042 is our first-in-class dectin-2 agonist, and has potential across a broad range of solid tumors with high unmet medical need."
Recent Highlights and Anticipated Milestones
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Completed enrollment of the Phase 1 study of BDC-3042 in patients with advanced cancers. BDC-3042 is a proprietary agonist antibody that targets dectin-2, an immune-activating receptor expressed by tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). This single-agent, dose-escalation Phase 1 clinical study is evaluating BDC-3042 in patients with metastatic or unresectable solid tumors including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). BDC-3042 has been well tolerated with no dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs) and evidence of biological activity. Results from the trial will be presented at an upcoming medical meeting in the second quarter of 2025.
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Finalizing preparations for first-in-human trial of BDC-4182 in patients with gastric cancer. BDC-4182 is a next-generation BoltbodyTM ISAC clinical candidate targeting claudin 18.2, a clinically validated target in oncology with expression in gastric/gastroesophageal junction cancer, pancreatic cancer, and other tumor types. BDC-4182 has advanced into IND-enabling activities, supported by in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrating potent anti-tumor activity in multiple preclinical models. BDC-4182 was tolerated in non-human primates at the highest dose tested (12mg/kg) with an acceptable safety profile. BDC-4182 outperformed cytotoxic claudin 18.2 ADCs, using MMAE or TOPO1, in syngeneic models. Key learnings were presented at SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) 2024 and the dose escalation trial is planned to start in Australia in the second quarter of 2025.
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Collaborations with Genmab and Toray continue to progress. The Company continues to work with Genmab to discover and develop next-generation ISACs for the treatment of cancer. Genmab and the Company are working together to advance the collaboration’s first development candidate, and the collaboration also continues research and development on additional programs. The Toray collaboration combines the Company’s immunostimulatory linker-payloads with Toray antibodies targeting Caprin-1, a tumor-specific antigen that is strongly expressed on the cell membrane in multiple solid tumor types.
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Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $70.2 million as of December 31, 2024. Cash on hand is expected to fund multiple milestones and operations through mid-2026.
Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Financial Results
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Collaboration Revenue – The Company recently reassessed its expected future performance obligations under the Genmab Agreement, and as a result reported no collaboration revenue for the quarter. Total collaboration revenue was $7.7 million for the fourth and full year ended December 31, 2024, respectively, compared to $2.1 million and $7.9 million for the same quarter and year in 2023,, respectively. Revenue in the comparative periods was generated from services performed under the R&D collaborations as we fulfill our performance obligations.
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Research and Development (R&D) Expenses – R&D expenses were $11.7 million for the quarter and $57.5 million for the full year ended December 31, 2024, respectively, compared to $16.3 million and $61.5 million for the same quarter and year in 2023, respectively. The decrease between the comparable periods was mainly due to a decrease in salary and related expenses primarily as a result of the May 2024 restructuring partially offset by an increase in contract manufacturing expenses.
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General and Administrative (G&A) Expenses – G&A expenses were $3.9 million for the quarter and $18.5 million for the full year ended December 31, 2024, respectively, compared to $5.5 million and $22.5 million for the same quarter and year in 2023, respectively. The decrease between the comparable periods was mainly due to a decrease in salary and related expenses primarily as a result of the May 2024 restructuring.
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Loss from Operations – Loss from operations was $16.9 million for the quarter and $73.0 million for the full year ended December 31, 2024, respectively, compared to $19.8 million and $76.2 million for the same quarter and year in 2023, respectively.
About the Boltbody Immune-Stimulating Antibody Conjugate (ISAC) Platform
Bolt Biotherapeutics’ Boltbody ISAC platform harnesses the precision of antibodies with the power of the innate and adaptive immune system to generate a productive anti-cancer response. Each Boltbody ISAC candidate comprises a tumor-targeting antibody, a non-cleavable linker, and a proprietary immune stimulant. The antibody is designed to target one or more markers on the surface of a tumor cell and the immune stimulant is designed to recruit and activate myeloid cells. Activated myeloid cells initiate a positive feedback loop by releasing cytokines and chemokines, chemical signals that attract other immune cells and lower the activation threshold for an immune response. This increases the population of activated immune system cells in the tumor microenvironment and promotes a robust immune response with the goal of generating durable therapeutic responses for patients with cancer.