On February 18, 2025, Arcus Biosciences, Inc. (the "Company") reported that, as of December 31, 2024, it had approximately $992 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities (Press release, Arcus Biosciences, FEB 18, 2025, View Source [SID1234650330]). This estimate of its cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities balance is preliminary and subject to completion of its financial closing procedures, including the completion of management’s reviews. Accordingly, the unaudited preliminary cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities balance set forth above reflects its preliminary estimate with respect to such information, based on information currently available to management, and may vary from its actual financial position as of December 31, 2024. Further, this preliminary estimate is not a comprehensive statement or estimate of its financial results or financial condition as of December 31, 2024.

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Item 8.01 Other Events.

The contents of Item 2.02 above are also incorporated by reference into this Item 8.01.

Gilead Opt-in Decision

On February 18, 2025, the Company announced that the time-limited exclusive option of Gilead Sciences, Inc. ("Gilead") to the casdatifan program has expired without exercise by Gilead. As a result, Gilead has no future rights to casdatifan; the Company retains full global development and commercial rights, subject to Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.’s option right for its territory, which is limited to Japan and certain other Asian countries (excluding China).

ARC-20 Data Release

On February 15, 2025, the Company reported new data from three cohorts of its ARC-20 study for casdatifan in patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma, most of whom had progressed on at least two prior lines of therapy, including both an anti-PD-1 and a VEGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy. The new data include median progression-free survival and overall response rate ("ORR") for the cohort evaluating 50mg of casdatifan twice a day ("BID"), and ORR for the cohorts evaluating 50mg of casdatifan once daily ("QD") and 100mg QD. The patient population was heavily pretreated; more than half (52-59%) of subjects received at least three prior lines of therapy and approximately one quarter (24-29%) had received at least four prior lines of therapy. Most patients (70-76%) had an International Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Database Consortium risk factor of intermediate or poor.

With a data cut-off of January 3, 2025 (the "DCO"), most patients (81-87%) experienced disease control with either a partial response or stable disease. The median duration of response had not been reached, with all but two of the 26 responders across all three cohorts still on treatment.

No unexpected safety signals were observed at the time of the DCO, and casdatifan had an acceptable and manageable safety profile across all doses. Across all three cohorts, one patient discontinued treatment as a result of anemia and two due to hypoxia. A summary of the efficacy and safety results is below:

50mg BID
(n=32) 50mg QD
(n=28) 100mg QD Tablet
(Go-forward dose)
(n=27)
Efficacya

Median Follow-up 15 months 12 months 5 monthsb
Median Progression-Free

Survival [95% CI]

9.7 months
(5.5, NE)

NE
(6.8, NE)

NE
Confirmed ORR per

RECIST v1.1 [95% CI]

25% (8)c
[11.5, 43.4]

32% (9)c
[15.9, 52.4]

33% (9)
[16.5, 54.0]

Best Overall Responsed:

Complete Response

Partial Response

Stable Disease

Progressive Disease

31% (10)
0

31% (10)

50% (16)

19% (6)

32% (9)
4% (1)

29% (8)

54% (15)

14% (4)

33% (9)
0

33% (9)

52% (14)

15% (4)e

Median Time to Response 2.8 months 4.1 months 1.6 months
Disease Control Rate

[95% CI]

81%
[63.6, 92.8]

86%
[67.3, 96.0]

85%
[66.3, 95.8]

Safetyf

Any Serious Treatment-Emergent

Adverse Events (TEAEs)

related to casdatifan

3% (1) 10% (3) 7% (2)
Grade ≥3 TEAEs related to

casdatifan

Anemia

Hypoxia

42% (14)
9% (3)

32% (10)
7% (2)

17% (5)
10% (3)

CI=confidence interval, NE=not estimable

a Efficacy-evaluable population for this expansion cohort is defined as all eligible participants who received any study treatment and have at least one post-baseline efficacy assessment, or who discontinue study treatment due to progressive disease or death.

b Majority of patients (n=21) were still on treatment at time of DCO.

c In the 50mg BID cohort, one unconfirmed responder remains on treatment. In the 50mg QD cohort, one unconfirmed responder became a confirmed responder after the DCO, increasing the cORR to 32%.

d Unconfirmed best overall response.

e Includes two patients with radiological progressive disease and two patients who had clinical progression before the first scan.

f The safety-evaluable population included all dose expansion enrolled patients who received any amount of any study treatment.

On February 18, 2025 Plus Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: PSTV) (the "Company," or "Plus Therapeutics"), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing targeted radiotherapeutics with advanced platform technologies for central nervous system (CNS) cancers, reported that it has closed a private placement with aggregate initial upfront proceeds of approximately $3.7 million and received a $2.0 million advance payment from CPRIT as part of its existing $17.6 million grant award (Press release, Plus Therapeutics, FEB 18, 2025, View Source [SID1234650348]). The funding from the private placement and the CPRIT advance will support the Company’s clinical development of Rhenium (186Re) Obisbemeda for leptomeningeal metastases (LM), as well as further development of the Company’s CNSide LM diagnostic test as a pivotal trial endpoint.

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"We are grateful for the enthusiasm and ongoing support from both existing investors and key funding agencies, including CPRIT, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Department of Defense," said Marc H. Hedrick, M.D., Plus Therapeutics’ President and Chief Executive Officer. "This capital, along with expected grant allocations later in 2025, is expected to fully support the completion of two planned LM trials, strategically positioning the company for a pivotal trial in 2026."

Private Placement Financing

The private placement comprised the issuance and sale of secured convertible promissory notes, or Funding Notes, in the aggregate amount of $3,362,251 and common stock purchase warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 3,002,009 shares of the Company common stock at an exercise price of $1.12 per share. The notes have a maturity date of one year from the closing of the financing and are convertible in future financings of the Company or into common stock at the election of the investors. The financing includes participation from AIGH Capital Management LLC with additional participation from existing healthcare-focused institutional investors.

The accompanying Warrants will be exercisable until the five-year anniversary of the closing of the financing.

The Notes are convertible, under certain circumstances, to shares of common stock of the Company at an exercise price of $1.12 per share. The Notes are senior, secured obligations of the Company. The Notes bear interest at the rate of ten percent (10%) per annum, payable on the last business day of each quarter, except as provided therein.

The gross proceeds to the Company from the private placement were approximately $3.7 million, before deducting offering expenses payable by the Company. The Company currently intends to use the net proceeds from the private placement for general corporate and working capital purposes.

The securities offered in the private placement and described above were offered in transactions not involving a public offering under Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and/or Rule 506(b) of Regulation D promulgated thereunder and have not been registered under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws. Accordingly, the securities in the private placement may not be reoffered or resold in the United States except pursuant to an effective registration statement with the SEC or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and such applicable state securities laws.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities, nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state. Any offering of the securities under the resale registration statement will only be made by means of a prospectus.

CPRIT Funding Advance

In addition to the $3.7 million private placement financing from existing investors, the Company announced a $2.0 million advance payment from CPRIT as part of its existing $17.6 million grant award. The funding will support and accelerate the Company’s clinical development of Rhenium (186Re) Obisbemeda for the ReSPECT-LM P2a single-dose expansion trial and further develop the Company’s CNSide LM diagnostic test as a key pivotal trial endpoint.

To date, the Company has received multiple disbursements under its CPRIT grant. Following this $2.0 million advance payment, approximately $5.2 million remains from the original $17.6 million grant award.

Exchange and Financing Waiver

On February 13, 2025, the Company also issued secured convertible promissory notes, or Exchange Notes, in the aggregate amount of $3,188,922 in exchange for existing investors agreeing to cancel 3,543,247 Series A common stock purchase warrants issued by the Company in May 2024 and waive certain existing restrictions on the Company’s ability to raise capital. The terms of the Exchange Notes are substantially similar to the terms of the Funding Notes.

Additional information on the terms of the Funding Notes, Warrants, Exchange Notes and related matters can be found in the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K that is being filed by the Company on February 18, 2025.

About Leptomeningeal Metastases (LM)

LM is a rare complication of cancer in which the primary cancer spreads to the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and leptomeninges surrounding the brain and spinal cord. All malignancies originating from solid tumors, primary brain tumors, or hematological malignancies have this LM complication potential with breast cancer as the most common cancer linked to LM, with 3-5% of breast cancer patients developing LM. Additionally, lung cancer, GI cancers and melanoma can also spread to the CSF and result in LM. LM occurs in approximately 5% of people with cancer and is usually terminal with 1-year and 2-year survival of just 7% and 3%, respectively. The incidence of LM is on the rise, partly because cancer patients are living longer and partly because many standard chemotherapies cannot reach sufficient concentrations in the spinal fluid to kill the tumor cells, yet there are no FDA-approved therapies specifically for LM patients, who often succumb to this complication within weeks to several months, if untreated.

About Rhenium (186Re) obisbemeda

Rhenium (186Re) obisbemeda is a novel injectable radiotherapy specifically formulated to deliver direct targeted high dose radiation in CNS tumors in a safe, effective, and convenient manner to optimize patient outcomes. Rhenium (186Re) obisbemeda has the potential to reduce off target risks and improve outcomes for CNS cancer patients, versus currently approved therapies, with a more targeted and potent radiation dose. Rhenium-186 is an ideal radioisotope for CNS therapeutic applications due to its short half-life, beta energy for destroying cancerous tissue, and gamma energy for real-time imaging. Rhenium (186Re) obisbemeda is being evaluated for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma and leptomeningeal metastases in the ReSPECT-GBM and ReSPECT-LM clinical trials. ReSPECT-GBM is supported by an award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), and ReSPECT-LM is funded by a three-year $17.6M grant by the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT).

On February 18, 2025 Celyad Oncology (Euronext: CYAD) (the "Company"), reported the publication of the preclinical data of the non-gene edited allogeneic CYAD-211 and clinical data from the Phase I IMMUNICY-1 clinical study which evaluated CYAD-211 in relapsed or refractory (r/r) multiple myeloma (MM) patients (Press release, Celyad, FEB 18, 2025, View Source [SID1234650331]). The findings were published in the International Journal of Molecular Science (IJMS).

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CYAD-211 is the Company’s first allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell candidate, engineered to co-express a B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-specific CAR and a microRNA-based single shRNA which interferes with the expression of the CD3ζ component of the T-cell receptor (TCR) complex, evaluated clinically.

The IJMS publication includes preclinical data which showcases the knockdown of CD3ζ efficiently removed the TCR complex from the cell surface, and inhibited TCR mediated activation in vitro and in vivo. The publication also presents clinical data of the dose-escalation segment of the IMMUNICY-1 phase-I clinical trial (NCT04613557) in patients with r/r MM. Importantly, data highlighted an overall good safety profile and some clinical responses, with no signs of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), demonstrating the effectiveness and safeness of the technology to abrogate the risk of GvHD.

Overall, these data provides the proof-of-concept of the safe administration of CAR T-cells engineered using a miRNA-based shRNA technology. CYAD-211 is the first allogeneic CAR T-cell candidate using a non-gene edited approach to achieve allogenicity. This differentiated strategy provides key advantages by being easily implemented, safe, efficient, tunable, and with the possibility to modulate multiple target genes simultaneously.

On February 18, 2025 Photocure ASA (OSE:PHO) reported Hexvix/Cysview revenues of NOK 128.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 (Q4 2023: NOK 114.2 million) and EBITDA of NOK 8.5 million (NOK 29.9 million) (Press release, PhotoCure, FEB 18, 2025, View Source [SID1234650349]). Photocure expects product revenue growth in the range of 7% to 11% and year-over-year EBITDA improvement in 2025. While the company is not providing a specific EBITDA guidance range, Photocure expects continued operating leverage flow-through in its core commercial business and significant growth in milestones this year.

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"We delivered strong performance in the fourth quarter of 2024 with 13% growth in Hexvix/Cysview revenue, 11% unit sales growth, and EBITDA of NOK 8.5 million. For the full-year 2024, we grew product revenue by 10% and generated EBITDA of NOK 49.2 million. We continue to execute on growing our Hexvix/Cysview business and have consistently produced positive EBITDA over the last 7 quarters," says Dan Schneider, President & Chief Executive Officer of Photocure.

Photocure reported total group revenues of NOK 141.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 (NOK 142.5 million), and EBITDA* of NOK 8.5 million (Q4 2023: NOK 29.9 million), while Hexvix/Cysview revenues grew to NOK 128.6 million in the quarter (NOK 114.2 million). The EBIT was NOK 1.2 million (NOK 22.5 million) and the cash balance at the end of the period was NOK 293.8 million (NOK 259.5 million).

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, the installed base of rigid blue light cystoscopy (BLC) systems in the U.S. was 390, up 11% since the same period in 2023. This includes 18 ForTec Medical mobile towers. Photocure estimates that 25 flexible BLC towers remain in the U.S. market.

During the quarter, Olympus launched its high-definition blue light cystoscopy upgrade for its state-of-the-art Viscera Elite III endoscopic platform, which Photocure believes will increase the use of Hexvix in certain Nordic countries and elsewhere in Europe. Also, subsequently in February, Photocure provided an update from its collaboration with Richard Wolf disclosing that a flexible BLC interim solution is now available in Europe.

"We remain focused on the growth of our business and investing in opportunities that can take Photocure to the next level in 2025. Supporting our expected growth this year, our U.S. business is performing well as we continue to increase the base of active accounts using BLC, and mobile tower adoption is anticipated to outweigh remaining declines in flexible BLC usage. New therapeutics entering the market to treat NMIBC** are expected to continue raising the awareness of precision bladder cancer management and emphasizing the importance of better detection with BLC and Hexvix/Cysview. Additionally, the launch of Olympus’ upgraded BLC equipment in Europe is now underway, and our partnership with Richard Wolf is progressing well with a flexible BLC interim solution available sooner than expected," Schneider adds.

Photocure believes that the benefits of Blue Light Cystoscopy with Hexvix/Cysview offering superior detection and management of bladder cancer will continue to be adopted and become the standard of care. Photocure expects product revenue growth in the range of 7% to 11% and YoY EBITDA improvement in 2025. While the Company is not providing a specific EBITDA guidance range, Photocure expects continued operating leverage flow-through in its core commercial business and significant growth in milestones this year.

"We reported our strongest revenue ever in Q4 2024, and our full year revenue and EBITDA results demonstrate Photocure’s ability to execute through headwinds, generate growth and create significant opportunities for the Company," Schneider concludes.

On February 18, 2025 Cidara Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CDTX), a biotechnology company using its proprietary Cloudbreak platform to develop drug-Fc conjugate (DFC) immunotherapies designed to save lives and improve the standard of care for patients facing serious diseases, reported that Frank Karbe has been appointed Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective February 24, 2025 (Press release, Cidara Therapeutics, FEB 18, 2025, View Source [SID1234650332]). Mr. Karbe will succeed Preetam Shah, Ph.D., MBA, who is departing to pursue other professional opportunities. Dr. Shah will serve as a consultant to the Company.

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"We are pleased to welcome Frank to the team as we advance our long-acting influenza antiviral drug CD388 through the end of this flu season in the Phase 2b NAVIGATE study and plan for Phase 3 and beyond." said Jeffrey Stein, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Cidara. "We expect that Frank’s extensive experience as a leader in the biopharma industry and proven track record for transitioning companies to multi-billion-dollar commercial organizations will prove invaluable to the strategic vision of Cidara. On behalf of the entire Cidara team, I thank Preetam for his guidance and dedication which helped position Cidara for success. We wish him luck in his future endeavors."

Mr. Karbe added, "Cidara is at an important stage in the company’s evolution, with its novel DFC candidate, CD388, showing immense potential as a universal influenza preventative. Influenza continues to drive significant morbidity and mortality despite the availability of vaccines and antiviral treatments. I am excited to join the Cidara team and look forward to leveraging my experience to drive the company’s growth and bring CD388 to the tens of millions of patients who can benefit from it."

Mr. Karbe is a widely experienced senior executive with over 25 years of leadership experience in life sciences, healthcare, and technology. Most recently, he served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Better Therapeutics, where he led the company to the first-ever FDA authorization of a digital therapeutic for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Previously, as President and Chief Financial Officer of Myovant Sciences, Mr. Karbe played a pivotal role in scaling the company from a startup to a publicly listed company with 500+ employees and two FDA approved products in under five years, raising over $2 billion in capital and securing a $4 billion partnership with Pfizer. He also served for over a decade as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Exelixis, where he drove the company’s transformation from discovery to commercialization. Earlier in his career, he worked as an investment banker for Goldman Sachs, focusing on corporate finance and mergers & acquisitions in the life sciences industry.