Rainier Therapeutics to Participate in the SVB Leerink Global Healthcare Conference

On February 21, 2019 Rainier Therapeutics, Inc., a privately-held clinical stage drug development company, reported that Scott Myers, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, will present at the 8th Annual SVB Leerink Global Healthcare Conference on Wednesday, February 27, 2019 at 1:30 p.m. ET (10:30 a.m. PT) at the Lotte New York Palace in New York City (Press release, Rainier Therapeutics, FEB 21, 2019, View Source [SID1234533554]).

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Array BioPharma to Present at the 8th Annual SVB Leerink Partners Global Healthcare Conference

On February 21, 2019 Array BioPharma Inc. (Nasdaq: ARRY) reported that its Chief Executive Officer, Ron Squarer, will speak at the SVB Leerink Partners 8th Annual Global Healthcare Conference in New York (Press release, Array BioPharma, FEB 21, 2019, View Source [SID1234533536]). The public is welcome to participate in the conference through a webcast on the Array BioPharma website.

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Event: SVB Leerink Partners 8th Annual Global Healthcare Conference
Presenter: Ron Squarer, Chief Executive Officer, Array BioPharma
Date: Thursday, February 28, 2019
Time: 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time
Webcast: View Source

A replay of the presentation will also be accessible under the "Investors/Investor Calendar" section of the website at www.arraybiopharma.com.

UroGen Pharma to Report Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2018 Financial Results on Thursday, February 28, 2019

On February 21, 2019 UroGen Pharma Ltd. (Nasdaq:URGN) reported that it will report fourth quarter and full year 2018 financial results on Thursday, February 28, 2019, prior to the open of the market (Press release, UroGen Pharma, FEB 21, 2019, View Source [SID1234533555]). The announcement will be followed by a live audio webcast and conference call at 8:30AM Eastern Time.

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Audio Webcast

The webcast will be made available on the Investors section of the Company’s website at View Source Following the live audio webcast, a replay will be available on the Company’s website for approximately two weeks.

Dial-In Information

Live (U.S. / Canada): 1 (888) 771-4371
Live (International): 1 (847) 585-4405
Confirmation number: 48205742

EMERGENT BIOSOLUTIONS REPORTS FOURTH QUARTER AND FULL YEAR 2018 FINANCIAL RESULTS

On February 21, 2019 Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) reported financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2018 (Press release, Emergent BioSolutions, FEB 21, 2019, View Source [SID1234533538]).

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2018 FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

(I) Quarter Ended December 31, 2018 (Unaudited)

Revenues

Total Revenues
For Q4 2018, total revenues were $270.7 million, an increase of 40% over 2017. Total revenues reflect a significant increase in product sales due to the contribution of recently acquired products.

Product Sales
For Q4 2018, product sales were $217.4 million, an increase of $55.7 million or 34% as compared to 2017. The increase primarily reflects sales of NARCAN (naloxone HCl) Nasal Spray, Vivotif (Typhoid Vaccine Live Oral Ty21a) and Vaxchora (Cholera Vaccine, Live, Oral), all acquired in October 2018.

Contract Manufacturing
For Q4 2018, revenue from the Company’s contract manufacturing operations was $26.9 million, an increase of $10.7 million or 66% as compared to 2017. The increase primarily reflects increased manufacturing services for existing commercial customers at the Company’s Camden site.

Contracts and Grants
For Q4 2018, revenue from the Company’s development-based contracts and grants was $26.4 million, an increase of $10.5 million or 66% as compared to 2017. The increase primarily reflects increased R&D activities related to certain ongoing funded development programs, most notably NuThrax (anthrax vaccine adsorbed with CPG 7909 adjuvant).

Operating Expenses

Cost of Product Sales and Contract Manufacturing
For Q4 2018, cost of product sales and contract manufacturing was $113.2 million, an increase of $46.7 million or 70% as compared to 2017. The increase primarily reflects the impact of an increase in sales of NARCAN (naloxone HCl) Nasal Spray, which was acquired in the fourth quarter of 2018, and raxibacumab, which was acquired in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Research and Development (Gross and Net)
For Q4 2018, gross R&D expenses were $52.0 million, an increase of $23.5 million or 82% as compared to 2017. The increase primarily reflects an increase in costs associated with contract development services associated with NuThrax (anthrax vaccine adsorbed with CPG 7909 adjuvant).

For Q4 2018, net R&D expense, which reflects investments made in development programs that are not currently funded in whole or in part by third-party partners and is calculated as gross research and development expenses minus contracts and grants revenue, was $25.6 million, an increase of $13.0 million or 103% as compared to 2017. The increase primarily reflects investment in process improvements related to ACAM2000, (Smallpox (Vaccinia) Vaccine, Live) at the Canton site and increased costs associated with the Phase 2 clinical trial for the FLU-IGIV program. The Q4 2018 net R&D expense was 10% of net revenue (total revenue less contracts & grants) compared to 7% of net revenue in Q4 2017.

Selling, General and Administrative
For Q4 2018, selling, general and administrative expenses were $81.0 million, an increase of $39.2 million or 94% as compared to 2017. The increase primarily reflects higher transaction and integration related costs associated with the PaxVax and Adapt Pharma acquisitions.

Amortization of Intangible Assets
The Company has elected to reclassify amortization of intangible assets for Q4 2018 from cost of product sales and contract manufacturing to amortization of intangible assets, and therefore the Q4 2017 amounts have also been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation on the Company’s consolidated statements of operations.

For Q4 2018, amortization of intangible assets was $13.3 million versus $3.9 million as compared to 2017. The increase entirely reflects higher non-cash intangible asset amortization costs associated with the PaxVax and Adapt Pharma acquisitions, which both closed in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Income Taxes
For Q4 2018, the provision for income tax expense in the amount of $7.0 million includes the impact of non-deductible acquisition transaction costs and other permanent items. The effective tax rate for Q4 2018 is not meaningful given the low level of pre-tax income for the quarter.

Net Income (Loss) & Adjusted Net Income
For Q4 2018, the Company recorded a net loss of $3.4 million, or $0.07 per diluted share, versus net income of $33.9 million, or $0.67 per diluted share, in 2017. (2)

For Q4 2018, the Company recorded adjusted net income of $38.3 million, or $0.75 per diluted share, versus adjusted net income of $37.8 million, or $0.74 per diluted share, in 2017. (1) (2)

EBITDA & Adjusted EBITDA
For Q4 2018, the Company recorded EBITDA of $36.1 million versus $65.2 million in 2017. (1)

For Q4 2018, the Company recorded adjusted EBITDA of $75.0 million versus $67.1 million in 2017. (1)

(II) Year Ended December 31, 2018 (Unaudited)

Revenues

Total Revenues
For full year 2018, total revenues were $782.4 million, an increase of $221.5 million or 39% over 2017. Total revenues reflect significant increases in both product sales due to the contribution of recently acquired products and contract development and manufacturing services revenue.

Product Sales
For full year 2018, product sales were $606.5 million, an increase of $185.0 million or 44% as compared to 2017. The increase primarily reflects a full year of sales of ACAM2000, (Smallpox (Vaccinia) Vaccine, Live) and raxibacumab, both acquired in the fourth quarter of 2017, and NARCAN (naloxone HCl) Nasal Spray, which was acquired in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Contract Manufacturing
For full year 2018, revenue from the Company’s contract manufacturing operations was $98.9 million, an increase of $30.0 million or 44% as compared to 2017. The increase primarily reflects the completion of a milestone related to the expansion of certain contract manufacturing capabilities at the Company’s Lansing site, fill/finish services provided to third parties, and increased manufacturing services for commercial customers at the Company’s Canton site.

Contracts and Grants
For full year 2018, revenue from the Company’s development-based contracts and grants was $77.0 million, an increase of $6.5 million or 9% as compared to 2017. The increase primarily reflects an increase in R&D activities related to SIAN, the Company’s drug-device combination product candidate (antidote spray device) for the treatment of known or suspected acute cyanide poisoning as well as work related to ACAM2000, (Smallpox (Vaccinia) Vaccine, Live), which was acquired in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Operating Expenses

Cost of Product Sales and Contract Manufacturing
For full year 2018, cost of product sales and contract manufacturing was $322.3 million, an increase of $134.6 million or 72% as compared to 2017. The increase primarily reflects the impact of an increase in Other product sales associated principally with a full year of sales of both ACAM2000, (Smallpox (Vaccinia) Vaccine, Live) and raxibacumab, which were acquired in the fourth quarter of 2017, and NARCAN (naloxone HCl) Nasal Spray, which was acquired in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Research and Development (Gross and Net)
For full year 2018, gross R&D expenses were $142.8 million, an increase of $45.4 million or 47% as compared to 2017. The increase primarily reflects an increase in costs associated with development programs related to the Company’s recently acquired product candidates.

For full year 2018, net R&D expense was $65.8 million, an increase of $38.9 million or 145% as compared to 2017. The increase primarily reflects investment in manufacturing development activities related to ACAM2000, (Smallpox (Vaccinia) Vaccine, Live) and the FLU-IGIV program. The full year 2018 net R&D expense was 9% of net revenue (total revenue less contracts & grants) compared to 5% of net revenue in 2017.

Selling, General and Administrative
For full year 2018, selling, general and administrative expenses were $202.5 million, an increase of $59.6 million or 42% as compared to 2017. The increase primarily reflects an increase in acquisition-related costs (transaction and integration) associated with the PaxVax and Adapt acquisitions, compensation related costs from increased headcount and share-based compensation expense, and infrastructure improvement initiatives primarily related to IT systems.

Amortization of Intangible Assets
The Company has elected to reclassify amortization of intangible assets for full year 2018 from cost of product sales and contract manufacturing to amortization of intangible assets, and therefore the 2017 amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation on the Company’s consolidated statements of operations.

For full year 2018, amortization of intangible assets was $25.0 million versus $8.6 million as compared to 2017. The increase entirely reflects higher non-cash intangible asset amortization costs associated with the PaxVax and Adapt Pharma acquisitions, which both closed in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Income Taxes
For full year 2018, the provision for income tax expense in the amount of $18.8 million includes the impact of state taxes, GILTI (Global Intangible Low Income Tax), acquisition transaction costs and other non-deductible items. These are partially offset by the benefit relating to finalizing the impact of Tax Reform and the stock option deduction, resulting in an effective tax rate of 23%.

Net Income & Adjusted Net Income
For full year 2018, the Company recorded net income of $62.7 million, or $1.22 per diluted share, versus net income of $82.6 million, or $1.71 per diluted share, in 2017. (2)

For full year 2018, the Company recorded adjusted net income of $119.6 million, or $2.33 per diluted share, versus adjusted net income of $95.7 million, or $1.90 per diluted share, in 2017. (1) (2)

EBITDA & Adjusted EBITDA
For full year 2018, the Company recorded EBITDA of $152.7 million versus $166.0 million in 2017. (1)

For full year 2018, the Company recorded adjusted EBITDA of $198.8 million versus $175.7 million in 2017. (1)

The company’s financial forecast for 2019 includes the impact of the following items:

continued deliveries of BioThrax to the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) under the current procurement contract with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), (the contract and the SNS are now managed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR));

initial deliveries of NuThrax (anthrax vaccine adsorbed with CPG 7909 adjuvant) to the SNS following expected Emergency Use Authorization pre-approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the company’s current development and procurement contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA);

full year sales of NARCAN Nasal Spray, Vaxchora (Cholera Vaccine, Live, Oral), and Vivotif (Typhoid Vaccine Live Oral Ty21a), all of which were acquired in the fourth quarter of 2018;

completion of deliveries of ACAM2000 to the SNS under the prior contract as well as initiation of new deliveries to the SNS under the anticipated follow-on procurement contract with the ASPR;

deliveries of raxibacumab to the SNS under the current procurement contract with BARDA;

domestic and international sales of the other medical countermeasures that comprise Other Product sales;

continued CDMO services revenue;

increased Contract & Grant revenue due to anticipated increased work related to development projects funded by third parties; and

continued investment in discretionary development projects funded by the company targeting opportunities in medical countermeasures for existing and emerging infectious diseases, opioid overdose and other public health threats.

The outlook for 2019 does not include estimates for potential new corporate development or other M&A transactions.

Q1 2019 REVENUE FORECAST (Reaffirmed)
For Q1 2019, the company reaffirms its expectation of total revenues of $185 to $205 million.

FOOTNOTES

See "Reconciliation of Net Income (Loss) to Adjusted Net Income, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA" for a definition of terms and a reconciliation table.

See "Calculation of Diluted Earnings Per Share."

CONFERENCE CALL AND WEBCAST INFORMATION
Company management will host a conference call at 5:00 pm (Eastern Time) today, February 21, 2019, to discuss these financial results. This conference call can be accessed live by telephone or through Emergent’s website:

Live Teleconference Information:
Dial in: [US] (855) 766-6521; [International] (262) 912-6157
Conference ID: 2299983

Live Webcast Information:
Visit View Source for the live webcast feed.

City of Hope Awarded Lymphoma Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) Grant from National Cancer Institute

On February 21, 2019 City of Hope reported that it has received its third lymphoma Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), one of four current NCI-supported lymphoma SPOREs (Press release, City of Hope, FEB 21, 2019, View Source [SID1234533556]). The grant covers a five-year period and totals $12.5 million.

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SPOREs – a cornerstone of the NCI’s efforts to promote collaborative, interdisciplinary translational cancer research – involve both basic and clinical/applied scientists working together to support projects that will result in new and diverse approaches to the prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment of human cancers. This interdisciplinary research is currently advanced in the Toni Stephenson Lymphoma Center, which is the foundation of City of Hope’s Hematologic Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplantation Institute.

"For many years now, City of Hope has led the way in pioneering bone marrow transplantation, immunotherapy and other innovative treatment options for lymphoma patients, both those who are being diagnosed with the disease for the first time and those who have experienced a relapse," said Stephen J. Forman, M.D., City of Hope Francis & Kathleen McNamara Distinguished Chair in Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation and leader of the Hematologic Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplantation Institute. "This renewal of lymphoma SPORE will make it possible for us to continue developing leading-edge therapies in our laboratories that will ultimately reach a patient’s bedside."

"City of Hope will do this by developing novel therapeutics and prognostics representing the forefront of knowledge gained from observations in molecular biology and cellular immunology at City of Hope," said Larry W. Kwak, M.D., Ph.D., vice president/deputy director of City of Hope’s comprehensive cancer center, director of the Toni Stephenson Lymphoma Center and the Dr. Michael Friedman Professor in Translational Medicine. "Six clinical trials are proposed in this grant, five of which utilize agents (cellular products, small molecules, radiolabeled antibodies) that will be produced at City of Hope in its Good Manufacturing Practice Manufacturing Core and have been developed from the institution’s preclinical laboratory studies."

The grant is led by Forman and Kwak as multi-principal investigators. This is the 11th year City of Hope has received funding from the NCI for a lymphoma SPORE grant.

The Toni Stephenson Lymphoma Center has helped to create the collaborative, fast-paced culture in which the projects in the new SPORE will be advanced. It is home to many of the accomplished faculty and leading experts who are conducting clinical trials that have come about with SPORE funding, and has a track record of developing new therapies for many types of lymphoma.

Established by Emmet and Toni Stephenson, and their daughter Tessa Stephenson Brand, the Toni Stephenson Lymphoma Center brings together physicians and scientists in a highly-interdisciplinary infrastructure to accelerate City of Hope’s research on the biological mechanisms of lymphoma, identify new molecular targets and produce immunotherapies to treat the disease. In addition, the Stephenson Pilot Grant program funds new ideas for lymphoma or treatment platforms that can be innovatively applied across disease sites, including lymphoma. The cores in the SPORE award are also supported in part by Stephenson funds.

Over the next five years, City of Hope doctors and researchers, as well as scientists from other institutions, will focus on the following projects for the SPORE grant:

CAR T therapy and vaccine combination for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

After patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) have received a blood stem cell transplant with their own stem cells or that of a donor, there could still be enough cancerous cells not killed by the procedure for the disease to relapse. City of Hope is on a quest to improve current treatment for these patients, as well as those with NHL who are unable to receive a transplant. A treatment option for these patients is combining a transplant with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy; during the last round of lymphoma SPORE funding, City of Hope started a clinical trial for NHL patients that used a treatment combining a transplant with CD19 CAR T cells. (Researchers published the positive treatment results in the journal Blood and also presented on the research at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper) conference.) The therapy works by taking a person’s immune cells – T cells – and adding a CAR that helps target and wipe out cancerous cells. The institution is now looking for new ways to improve the treatment.

One option that will be tested is adding CD19-specific CAR, which targets the CD19 protein in cancerous B cells, to a virus-specific T cell that can be stimulated to multiply using a vaccine. One such example is the well-studied cytomegalovirus (CMV) – it has the greatest number of T cells in the human body targeting the virus. City of Hope researchers plan to add the Triplex vaccine – developed at City of Hope – to the CAR T cells. Triplex already has been shown to be safe in a City of Hope phase 2 trial in transplant patients. Because Triplex can stimulate T cells to multiply, researchers hope that the vaccine will boost the number and longevity of CMV-CD 19 CAR T cells in these trials in patients’ bodies so they may better fight against their disease.

NHL patients will be able to enroll in three trial designs. In the first trial, patients will receive chemotherapy followed by the Triplex vaccine. For a second trial, patients will receive a hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) with their own stem cells and the vaccine. In the third trial, patients will undergo HSCT with stem cells from a donor followed by the Triplex vaccine.

The team leading these City of Hope clinical trials includes Forman, who is also scientific director of City of Hope’s T Cell Immunotherapy Laboratory; City of Hope doctors Tanya Siddiqi, M.D., assistant clinical professor of hematology and hematopoietic cell transplantation, and Leslie Popplewell, M.D., associate clinical professor of hematology and hematopoietic cell transplantation, who will lead the autologous transplant trial, and Ryotaro Nakamura, M.D., associate professor of hematology and hematopoietic cell transplantation, who will lead the allogeneic trial. Don J. Diamond, Ph.D., a City of Hope professor in the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, developed Triplex, and Xiuli Wang, Ph.D., a City of Hope research professor in the same department, developed the CAR T cells for this project.

Two trials for relapsed/treatment-resistant Hodgkin’s lymphoma

Patients with high-risk Hodgkin’s lymphoma who have relapsed or resisted treatment currently only have a 20 to 50 percent chance of achieving a cure. City of Hope is leading two compatible clinical trials for these patients; the therapies are expected to treat the disease that would then enable them to receive a bone marrow transplant. Led by Alex Herrera, M.D., City of Hope assistant professor in hematology and hematopoietic cell transplantation, the first is a phase 2 trial of response-adapted sequential therapy using a combination therapy – nivolumab, an immunotherapy drug known as a PD-1 inhibitor, and ICE (ifosfamide, carboplatin, etoposide phosphate) chemotherapy. Nivolumab works by preventing the PD-1 protein from doing its job, which is to suppress the immune system from fighting cancerous cells. By putting PD-1 in check, a person’s immune system can better fight Hodgkin’s lymphoma. This approach, which utilizes an innovative PET response-adapted treatment sequence, is designed to increase the proportion of patients who have achieved a complete response before they receive a transplant. The trial also gauges the impact of PD-1 inhibitors on a Hodgkin’s lymphoma tumor microenvironment, the area surrounding tumor cells, by using new methods to better evaluate what’s occurring in that area.

A second aim of the project, led by Eileen Smith, City of Hope associate director of the Clinical Research Program, Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, is to start a phase 2 trial that uses an anti-CD25 antibody immunoconjugate, a targeted therapy that uses a CD25 antigen to kill tumorous cells. The antibody will augment high-dose chemotherapy, an autologous stem cell transplant and radiation targeting a tumor’s microenvironment; preliminary data from a similar phase 1 trial showed that the regimen is feasible, remarkably well tolerated and has promising efficacy.

David M. Colcher, Ph.D., City of Hope professor in molecular imaging and therapy, is also a scientific principal investigator.

Fighting STAT3 in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) is the sixth most common cancer in the United States, with more than 70,000 estimated new cases each year. Growing evidence links B cell NHLs to persistent activation of STAT3, a gene that drives tumor cell growth and anti-tumor immune suppression. But there is currently no drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that stops the activation of STAT3. Hua Yu, Ph.D., City of Hope’s Billy and Audrey L. Wilder Professor in Tumor Immunotherapy and co-leader, of the Cancer Immunotherapeutics Program, and Marcin Kortylewski, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Immuno-Oncology, and team have already demonstrated that an immunotherapy developed at City of Hope (CpG-STAT3siRNA) turns off STAT3, and stimulates the immune system to attack tumors, in addition to killing B cell lymphoma tumor cells and making radiation therapy more effective in animal models.

The new lymphoma SPORE grant – as well as funding from The Marcus Foundation – makes it possible for City of Hope to start a phase 1 trial for that drug in patients. The trial will test its safety in patients, and whether the therapy can be injected within tumors; patients will also receive low-dose radiation therapy to augment the new drug.

A more effective, second generation therapy will also be tested in animal models – the goal is to also develop that drug for a clinical trial. That drug is also expected to have a two-pronged effect – attack lymphoma cells and spur the immune system to fight cancer, a crucial step because cancerous cells stop the immune system from killing them.

"B cell lymphomas can be very difficult to treat, which is why City of Hope continues to develop and produce innovative targeted therapies for lymphoma that can also restore the immune system to fight cancer," Yu said. "Our new therapies would be the first drugs to both kill tumor cells and activate the immune system."

In addition, STAT3 is common in other cancers – Yu hopes that the new therapy will be effective, so it can also be used against leukemia, pancreatic and other cancers.

Elizabeth Budde, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation at City of Hope, is the project’s clinical principal investigator.

Understanding a serious complication for Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients receiving an autologous stem cell transplant

Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) patients who receive stem cell transplantation can develop a deadly complication that may arise after the procedure. Between 6 to 8 percent of HL/NHL transplant patients can develop therapy-related myelodysplasia/acute myeloid leukemia (t-MDS/AML), which is more common in older adults and is the leading cause of nonrelapse mortality in this group. It is generally believed that blood stem cells exposed to high doses of chemotherapy and other cytotoxic therapies suffer genetic damage that leads to t-MDS/AML but some patients could also have a genetic predisposition to the disease.

Researchers at University of Alabama at Birmingham, City of Hope, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute are developing a prediction model that includes clinical and genetic details to determine the probability of a patient’s risk of developing t-MDS/AML. The research will help identify which patients are at risk for developing t-MDS/AML and what a medical team can do to personalize treatment and help prevent a patient from developing the disease.

Smita Bhatia, M.D., M.P.H., and Ravi Bhatia, M.D., both at University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Stephen J. Forman, M.D., of City of Hope are leading the research. Mukta Arora, M.D., M.S. (at University of Minnesota), Julie Vose, M.D. (at University of Nebraska), Ben Ebert, M.D., Ph.D. (at Dana Farber Cancer Institute), and Yutaka Yasui, Ph.D. (at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital) are also working on the project.