On May 10, 2016 BioTime, Inc. (NYSE MKT and TASE: BTX), a clinical-stage regenerative medicine company with a focus on pluripotent stem cell technology, reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016 and provided a corporate update (Press release, BioTime, MAY 10, 2016, View Source;p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2167228 [SID:1234512255]). The Company also announced that management will host a conference call with investors to discuss the recent operating progress and corporate developments on Tuesday, May 17, 2016 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern / 1:30 p.m. Pacific. Details on how to access the call are provided later in this news release.
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"We are off to a strong start in 2016 as we continue to make progress with BioTime’s key clinical therapeutic programs, Renevia in medical aesthetics and OpRegen in dry AMD," said Adi Mohanty, Co-Chief Executive Officer. "We are also pleased with the significant operating progress achieved by our non-core assets as these companies mature towards standalone businesses. In particular, we are excited to see our digital health subsidiary, LifeMap Solutions, gaining more traction with clients and partners, including best-in-class institutions. Meanwhile, we in the BioTime organization continue to sharpen our focus on clinical progress and simplifying our corporate structure and seeking ways to unlock the value of our more mature revenue-generating subsidiaries for BioTime shareholders."
First Quarter and Recent Highlights
Clinical Progress
OpRegen (retinal pigment epithelial cells)
The first cohort was successfully dosed earlier this year in a Phase I/IIa clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of OpRegen for the treatment of the advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The trial is evaluating three different dose regimens. BioTime expects the Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), an independent group of experts established for the Phase I/IIa trial, will complete its review of the initial safety data from the first cohort and recommend dose escalation to the second cohort during the second quarter of 2016. The second cohort will receive a higher, more clinically significant, dose of OpRegen. The Company expects to complete enrollment in the second cohort in 2016 and, if the data are positive, anticipates DSMB approval to proceed to the third cohort by the end of 2016. OpRegen has received Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of dry AMD, which occurs in approximately 90% of those afflicted with AMD.
Renevia (adipose cells + cell delivery matrix)
The Company expects to complete enrollment for its Renevia pivotal clinical trial in Europe in the second half of 2016 with top line data availability in early 2017. If the data are positive, BioTime plans to submit an application for CE Mark approval in the first half of 2017. The objective of the trial is to assess the efficacy of Renevia, which consists of BioTime’s HyStem hydrogel cell-transplantation delivery matrix combined with the patient’s own adipose cells, in restoring normal skin contours in patients whose subcutaneous fat, or adipose tissue, has been lost due to antiviral drug treatment for HIV. Positive data from the pivotal trial is expected to provide the foundation for studying Renevia in the much broader applications of fat tissue deficits in various medical aesthetics applications, such as for age-related and trauma related facial fat loss.
AST-VAC1 (antigen-presenting autologous dendritic cells)
In February, BioTime’s subsidiary Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc. completed the End-of-Phase 2 meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for AST-VAC1, the company’s lead clinical program targeting maintenance of relapse-free-survival in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. Asterias is planning for the initiation of a single pivotal Phase 3 trial that could support an accelerated development pathway towards a potential future biologic license application (BLA) filing.
Asterias presented data from the Phase II clinical trial of its cancer immunotherapy AST-VAC1 in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) at the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) (Free ASGCT Whitepaper) 19th Annual Meeting on May 5, 2016.
AST-OPC1 (oligodendrocyte progenitor cells)
Asterias Biotherapeutics presented an overview of the AST-OPC1 therapeutic development program that is currently in a Phase I/IIa dose escalation clinical trial in spinal cord injury at the Stem Cell Summit 2016 meeting on April 27, 2016.
Cancer Diagnostics
OncoCyte Corporation, the cancer diagnostics subsidiary of BioTime and developer of novel, non-invasive blood and urine based tests for the early detection of cancer, announced that its bladder cancer abstract has been selected for presentation in a poster session, including a live panel discussion on the results, at the 2016 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois to be held on June 3-7, 2016. The study to be presented at the upcoming ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) annual meeting is based on the continued development of the diagnostic first reported at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) 2015 Annual Meeting. At AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper), OncoCyte presented interim clinical study data for the non-invasive detection of bladder cancer that demonstrated a high level of sensitivity and specificity in the detection of urothelial carcinoma, the most common type of bladder cancer.
On April 4, 2016, OncoCyte and the Wistar Institute, an international biomedical research leader in cancer, immunology and infectious diseases, announced positive research results for a lung cancer diagnostic test being developed at Wistar. This study of 620 subjects replicates a previous study that was carried out at Wistar, which was presented at the American Thoracic Society conference in May 2015. The results of this study are being further evaluated by OncoCyte and mark a successful transition of the assay platform from Illumina microarrays to a Nanostring nCounter machine, which is the platform that OncoCyte intends to use for commercialization. OncoCyte has exclusive commercial rights to the lung cancer diagnostic test developed by Wistar. OncoCyte must now independently validate these results in its own follow-up study based on the results of Wistar’s latest study. OncoCyte will attempt to finalize and lock down both the assay and the classifier or algorithm that interprets test results, and if successful, will initiate an internal analytical validation study.
Non-core Assets
LifeMap Solutions, the digital health subsidiary of BioTime and co-developer of ResearchKit-enabled app Asthma Health, launched its new mobile health app design and development service to help research institutions and health companies worldwide develop custom smartphone apps and research studies. Through the new service, LifeMap offers clients its deep expertise in medical science, consumer behavior, app analytics, and design. LifeMap’s innovative, data-driven mobile health (mHealth) apps are designed to recruit clinical study participants, obtain patient consent through the iPhone, and passively collect participants’ health information. LifeMap Solutions has developed innovative digital health apps in collaboration with leading research institutions including the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Stanford University School of Medicine, and National Jewish Health, as well as with strategic partners like 23andMe.
Corporate Developments
On May 10, 2016, Asterias finalized the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 5,147,059 units at a public offering price of $3.40 per unit. Each unit consists of one share of common stock and 0.5 of a warrant to purchase a share of common stock at an exercise price of $4.37 per share. The warrants are immediately exercisable and expire on the fifth anniversary of the date of issuance. The offering is expected to close on May 13, 2016, subject to customary closing conditions. If completed, Asterias would receive net proceeds of $16,275,000 after underwriting discounts but before paying other costs of the offering. Asterias has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 772,059 shares of common stock and/or additional warrants to purchase up to 386,029 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any. If the over-allotment option is exercised in full, net proceeds of the offering after underwriting discounts but before other expenses are expected to be approximately $18.7 million.
On April 28, 2016, Howard I. Scher, M.D., one of the world’s leading oncology experts, was appointed to the Board of Directors of Asterias Biotherapeutics.
In February, pharmaceutical industry veteran Stephen L. Cartt was appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer of Asterias, and member of the company’s Board of Directors. Mr. Cartt previously served as Chief Operating Officer of Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. until its sale in 2014 to Mallinckrodt, plc for $5.6 billion. In addition, Don M. Bailey was appointed to Asterias’ Board of Directors and named Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Bailey previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Questcor until its sale in 2014 to Mallinckrodt.
First Quarter Financial Results
Cash (and available-for-sale securities) Position: Cash and cash equivalents totaled $27.1 million as of March 31, 2016, compared to $42.2 million as of December 31, 2015. The cash on hand as of March 31, 2016 includes $16.4 million held by subsidiaries. As of March 31, 2016, BioTime held $829,000 in available-for-sale securities. As of March 31, 2016, BioTime owned 21.7 million shares of Asterias common stock and 14.7 million shares of OncoCyte common stock, which represented an aggregate market value of $170 million as of that date.
Revenues: BioTime’s operating revenues are currently generated from research grants, licensing fees and advertising from the marketing of online database products. Total consolidated revenues were $2.1 million for the first quarter, compared to $1.3 million in the first quarter of 2015. The increase was primarily due to increases in grant revenue and subscription and advertising revenues.
R&D Expenses: Research and development expenses were $13.7 million for the first quarter, compared to $9.3 million for the comparable period in 2015. The increase is in part a result of increased expenses primarily related to regulatory and clinical trials of Asterias’ AST-OPC1 program, and OncoCyte’s cancer diagnostics.
G&A Expenses: General and administrative expenses were $11.9 million for the first quarter, compared to $5.2 million for the first quarter of 2015. The increase is in part a result of $3.1 million in non-cash expense for the estimated fair value of the distribution of 3,331,229 warrants to purchase Asterias common stock to Asterias shareholders other than BioTime declared by the Asterias board of directors on March 30, 2016, increased staffing needed to advance programs under development at BioTime, including non-cash stock-based compensation from BioTime, Asterias, and OncoCyte.
Net Loss attributable to BioTime: Net loss attributable to BioTime was $17.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016, or $0.19 per share. There was no deferred income tax benefit recorded in the three months ended March 31, 2016. For the first quarter of 2015, net loss attributable to BioTime was $10.2 million, or $0.13 per share including deferred income tax benefits of $1.2 million. Net loss attributable to BioTime includes losses from BioTime’s majority owned and consolidated subsidiaries based upon BioTime’s percentage ownership of those subsidiaries.