On August 7, 2019 Lipocine Inc. (NASDAQ: LPCN), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on metabolic and endocrine disorders, reported financial results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2019, and provided a corporate update (Press release, Lipocine, AUG 7, 2019, View Source [SID1234538314]).
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Second Quarter and Recent Corporate Highlights
·Filed a New Drug Application ("NDA") for TLANDO as testosterone replacement therapy ("TRT") in adult males for conditions associated with a deficiency of endogenous testosterone, also known as hypogonadism.
oFDA has assigned November 9, 2019 as the Prescription Drug User Fee Act ("PDUFA") goal date.
·Received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") to clinically investigate LPCN 1144 in an expanded target population of adult male non-alcoholic steatohepatitis ("NASH") patients.
oFDA has waived the limitation of only testing in NASH subjects with total testosterone levels below 300 ng/dL (threshold for hypogonadism).
·Initiated the LiFT ("Liver Fat intervention with oral Testosterone") LPCN 1144 Phase 2 clinical study, a paired-biopsy study in confirmed pre-cirrhotic NASH subjects.
·Filed suit against Clarus Therapeutics, Inc. ("Clarus") in the United States District Court ("Delaware") alleging that Clarus’s JATENZO product infringes six of Lipocine’s U.S. patents.
·Joined the Russell Microcap Index effective July 1, 2019 as a result of the Russell indexes annual reconstitution.
"During the second quarter, we continued to advance our pipeline, with important milestones achieved for both TLANDO and LPCN 1144," said Dr. Mahesh Patel, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lipocine. "The acceptance of the NDA for TLANDO for treating hypogonadism in males puts us on track for potential approval of this product in the fourth quarter of 2019. TLANDO is designed as a fixed dose oral TRT. For LPCN 1144, we were excited to initiate the LiFT study in biopsy confirmed NASH subjects, and based on our observed meaningful liver fat reduction in hypogonadal males, receive FDA clearance to expand our target patient population in adult NASH males regardless of their hypogonadal status. We believe this increases LPCN 1144’s potential utility in a broader NASH population who reportedly have low testosterone."
Second Quarter Ended June 30, 2019 Financial Results
Lipocine reported a net loss of $3.4 million, or ($0.14) per diluted share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2019, compared with a net loss of $3.3 million, or ($0.15) per diluted share, in the quarter ended June 30, 2018.
Research and development expenses were $2.0 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2019, compared with $1.5 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2018. The increase in research and development expenses was primarily due to increases in outside service costs related to the second quarter initiation of the LiFT LPCN 1144 Phase 2 clinical study in confirmed pre-cirrhotic NASH subjects and increased contract research organization and outside consulting costs for TLANDO in connection with completion of the ABPM study and the filing of the NDA.
General and administrative expenses were $1.4 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2019, compared with $1.7 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2018. The decrease in general and administrative was primarily due to decreased personnel costs, a decrease in severance compensation, a decrease in stock compensation expense and a decrease in bonus expense. The decreases were offset by increases in other general and administrative expenses including an increase in professional fees, an increase in corporate insurance and an increase in marketing expenses.
As of June 30, 2019, the Company had total cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities aggregating $19.5 million, compared to $20.3 million at December 31, 2018. Of the total cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities balances, $5.0 million is restricted under our agreement with Silicon Valley Bank until TLANDO receives approval.
Six Months Ended June 30, 2019 Financial Results
Lipocine reported a net loss of $6.7 million, or ($0.28) per diluted share, for the six months ended June 30, 2019, compared with a net loss of $6.0 million, or ($0.28) per diluted share, in the six months ended June 30, 2018.
Research and development expenses were $3.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019, compared with $2.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018. The increase/decrease in research and development expenses was primarily due to increased contract research organization and outside consulting costs for TLANDO in connection with completion of the ABPM study and the filing of the NDA, increased manufacturing costs for TLANDO, increased outside service costs related to the second quarter initiation of the LiFT LPCN 1144 Phase 2 clinical study in confirmed pre-cirrhotic NASH subjects, increased outside contract research organization costs and sample storage costs related to TLANDO XR (LPCN 1111) offset by decreased contract manufacturing costs for LPCN 1107 and decreased personnel costs.
General and administrative expenses were $2.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019, compared with $3.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018. The decrease in general and administrative was primarily due to decreased personnel costs, which includes a decrease in salaries and related benefits mainly from the elimination of our commercial sales and marketing team in 2018, a decrease in severance compensation, a decrease in stock compensation expense and a decrease in bonus expense of $12,000. The decreases were offset by increases in other general and administrative expenses including an increase in professional fees and an increase in corporate insurance.