On August 3, 2018 vTv Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq:VTVT) reported financial results for the second quarter that ended June 30, 2018, and provided an update on recent achievements and upcoming events (Press release, vTv Therapeutics, AUG 3, 2018, View Source;p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2361982 [SID1234528671]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

"Since our announcement regarding the topline results from Part B of the STEADFAST Study, we have continued to analyze the results from Parts A and B and are encouraged by our findings," said Steve Holcombe, chief executive officer, vTv Therapeutics. "In addition, our other programs, including our glucokinase activator currently in clinical development for type 1 diabetes and our GLP-1R program that is being developed in partnership with Huadong Medicine for type 2 diabetes, continue to make steady progress."

Recent Achievements and Outlook

Azeliragon data analysis continues in order to move development of the therapy forward in consultation with our scientific advisory board and the FDA.
SimplicT-1 Study enrolling patients with type 1 diabetes. The adaptive Phase 1/2 SimplicT-1 Study has begun dosing patients with type 1 diabetes in a 12 week study to evaluate TTP399 as an add-on to insulin therapy. TTP399 has previously demonstrated statistically significant reductions in HbA1c levels in the AGATA Study, a phase 2 study in type 2 diabetes.
Advancing PDE4 program with Newsoara. During the second quarter, vTv licensed rights to its PDE4 program to Newsoara Biopharma Co., Ltd. to further its development and potential commercialization in China and other Pacific Rim countries. Newsoara is developing vTv’s PDE4 compounds as a potential therapeutic for COPD, a chronic illness affecting nearly 100 million people in China.
Additional Investment by MacAndrews & Forbes Incorporated. MacAndrews & Forbes provided vTv an additional $10 million capital line.
Upcoming Events

vTv will participate in the following upcoming investor conferences:

H.C. Wainwright Annual Healthcare Conference, September 4-6, New York.
vTv will also participate in the following upcoming scientific conferences:

11th Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD), October 24-27, Barcelona.
Second Quarter 2018 Financial Results

Cash Position: Cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2018, were $1.2 million compared to $6.5 million as of March 31, 2018.
R&D Expenses: Research and development expenses were $8.6 million in the second quarter of 2018, compared to $8.9 million in the first quarter of 2018. The decrease in research and development expenses was primarily driven by the termination of the STEADFAST and open label extension studies during the second quarter of fiscal 2018.
G&A Expenses: General and administrative expenses were $2.7 million and $2.3 million, for the second quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2018, respectively. The change in general and administrative cost was driven by lower incentive compensation costs in the first quarter of 2018 related to a reduction in the expected probability of payment of the remaining amount of fiscal 2017 incentive bonuses.
Net Loss Before Non-Controlling Interest: Net loss before non-controlling interest was $9.6 million for the second quarter of 2018 compared to net loss before non-controlling interest of $10.0 million for the first quarter of 2018.
Net Loss per Share: GAAP net loss per share was $0.31 and $0.30 for the three months ended June 30, 2018 and March 31, 2018, respectively, based on weighted-average shares of 10.0 million and 9.7 million for the three month periods ended June 30, 2018 and March 31, 2018, respectively. Non-GAAP net loss per fully exchanged share was $0.29 and $0.30 for the three months ended June 30, 2018 and March 31, 2018, respectively, based on non-GAAP fully exchanged weighted-average shares of 33.1 million and 32.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2018 and March 31, 2018, respectively.

On August 3, 2018 IMPACT Therapeutics, Inc. (IMPACT), a China-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of "best-in-class" medicine for the treatment of cancer and other life-threatening diseases, reported the completion of $30 million in series C financing (Press release, Impact Therapeutics, AUG 3, 2018, View Source [SID1234528890]). The series C round was led by Decheng Capital (Decheng), with participation from existing investor Lilly Asian Ventures (LAV). Proceeds from the series will be used for the clinical development of IMP4297, a potential best-in-class PARP inhibitor, and to advance IMPACT’s integrated programs targeting DNA Damage Response (DDR).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

PARP inhibitors are targeted therapies for cancer patients with defects in DNA repair mechanisms, such as with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations. Three PARP inhibitors, which have been shown to be tolerable and effective in clinical studies, have already been approved for marketing outside of China. IMP4297 has demonstrated an excellent safety profile and good preliminary efficacy in phase I clinical trials in Australia and China, which is consistent with the high potency and large therapeutic window found in pre-clinical studies.

"We are grateful for the faith our new and existing investors have shown in us, and for sharing our vision of developing the best potential treatments for cancer patients with DNA repair defects," commented Dr. Ye Edward Tian, CEO of IMPACT. "Decheng and LAV are renowned global VC firms in the biomedical industry. With the capital and resources provided by Decheng and LAV, we will be able to advance the clinical development of IMP4297 and enrich our pipeline."

"IMPACT is committed to the discovery and development of best-in-class therapeutics to treat cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Our data indicates that IMP4297 could be more efficacious and/or less toxic than other PARP inhibitors currently in the market, making it a potential best-in-class drug," added Dr. Sui Xiong Cai, SVP and CTO of IMPACT. "With this series C financing, we are well-positioned to achieve key data milestones as we accelerate the clinical development of IMP4297, in the hope of bringing it to market and patients soon."

"IMP4297 has shown potential to be a best-in-class drug in both pre-clinical studies and clinical trials. IMPACT is an excellent Chinese company with products that can compete globally," said Dr. Xiangmin Cui, Founder and Managing Director of Decheng. "We are very happy to collaborate with the IMPACT team and to support IMPACT’s growth."

"IMPACT is advancing its IMP4297 program steadily," said Dr. Fei Chen, Managing Partner of LAV. "We have seen excellent results from the clinical trials of IMP4297. As an existing investor from the previous two rounds of financing, LAV will continue to support IMPACT with capital and resources."

About Decheng Capital

Founded in 2012, Decheng is a leading VC firm investing in the biomedical and healthcare sectors. With more than $1 billion in capital under management, Decheng provides financial and strategic support to entrepreneurs, innovators and startup companies to take advantage of opportunities in China’s fast-growing healthcare, biomedical and pharmaceutical industries. Well placed to capitalize on revolutionary breakthroughs in life-science innovation worldwide, Decheng has offices in Shanghai and Silicon Valley.

About Lilly Asia Ventures

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Shanghai, LAV is a leading VC firm investing in the biomedical, pharmaceutical and medical devices/diagnostics industries. LAV provides early-to-growth-stage companies with capital, professional expertise and valuable resources. LAV has offices in northern California, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

On August 2, 2018 Genprex, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNPX), a clinical stage gene therapy company developing a new approach to treating cancer based upon a novel proprietary technology platform, reported that it has amended its agreement with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to resume patient enrollment in its Phase I/II clinical trial evaluating the combination of the company’s investigational drug Oncoprex and erlotinib (Tarceva) for the treatment of Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (Press release, Genprex, AUG 2, 2018, View Source [SID1234529159]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Oncoprex is a TUSC2 gene encapsulated in a positively charged nanovesicle made from lipid molecules and injected intravenously, which can specifically target cancer cells and insert wild-type TUSC2 into cellular DNA, effectively increasing expression of the TUSC2 protein and promoting tumor cell death.

Previously announced interim data from nine patients from the Phase II portion of this Phase I/II clinical trial showed a disease control rate of 78%, with seven out of nine patients achieving stable disease or better, including one complete response. In a previous Phase I clinical trial at MD Anderson evaluating Oncoprex as a monotherapy, five of 23 patients with late-stage NSCLC achieved stable disease or better, with one durable metabolic response.

"We look forward to completing the Oncoprex/erlotinib trial and expanding the study of Oncoprex in combination with other targeted and immunotherapies in the future," said Rodney Varner, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Genprex. "We believe the data from the more than 50 late-stage NSCLC patients treated to date provide persuasive evidence of Oncoprex’s anti-tumor effects and favorable safety profile."

A subset of NSCLC patients (approximately 10% of NSCLC patients of North American and European descent and approximately 30% to 50% of NSCLC patients of Asian descent) carry an EGFR mutation that makes their tumors sensitive to tyrosine kinase inhibitors, or TKIs, such as erlotinib. However, even for these patients, tumor resistance to TKIs frequently develops within two years, resulting in eventual disease progression. While next generation TKIs show promise in targeting resistant EGFR positive tumors that carry a mutation known as T790M, only about one-half of EGFR positive patients (5% to 7.5% of all NSCLC patients of North American and European descent and 15% to 25% of NSCLC patients of Asian descent) carry the T790M mutation. This leaves a significant majority of NSCLC patients—those who are EGFR negative and those who are EGFR positive but have become resistant to erlotinib and do not have the T790M mutation—without a targeted therapy for their cancer.

Combination therapies targeting multiple anti-cancer pathways represent a promising approach to achieving greater response rates, and may also allow the expanded use of targeted therapies and immunotherapies in a larger population of cancer patients who are not currently candidates for these treatments.

About Lung Cancer

According to the World Health Organization, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, and is the second most common type of cancer. Each year, there are over 1.8 million new lung cancer cases and 1.6 million deaths from lung cancer worldwide, and in the United States there are over 225,000 new cases and more than 150,000 deaths from lung cancer per year. NSCLC represents 80% of all lung cancers. According to a 2016 American Cancer Society report, the five-year survival rate for Stage IV (metastatic) NSCLC is about 1%, and overall survival for lung cancer has not improved appreciably in the last 25 years.

On August 2, 2018 Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRIS), a biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, reported its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2018 (Press release, Curis, AUG 2, 2018, View Source [SID1234528309]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

"Our second quarter has been marked by continued progress in advancing our three clinical drug candidates further in their respective development," said Ali Fattaey, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Curis. "We continue to assess and hold productive discussions with the FDA to identify a path to register fimepinostat, which could provide much-needed benefit for patients with R/R DLBCL, and in particular those whose disease have MYC alterations. CA-170, our orally available small-molecule checkpoint inhibitor, continues to progress in Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical studies with a planned update in the second half of 2018. Patient enrollment continues for our recently initiated Phase 1 study of precision oncology candidate CA-4948, currently the only IRAK4 kinase inhibitor in clinical development for cancer. In addition, we recently welcomed Dr. Robert Martell into his new role as Head of Research and Development. Dr. Martell is a practicing oncologist whose extensive experience in drug development will help strengthen Curis’s oncology portfolio. We believe Curis remains on track to advancing multiple attractive candidates with potential to substantially impact current oncology care."

Second Quarter 2018 Financial Results

Curis reported a net loss of $8.7 million, or $0.26 per share on both a basic and diluted basis for the second quarter of 2018, as compared to a net loss of $14.1 million, or $0.49 per share on both a basic and diluted basis for the same period in 2017. Curis reported a net loss of $19.4 million, or $0.59 per share, on both a basic and diluted basis for the six months ended June 30, 2018, as compared to a net loss of $29.8 million, or $1.04 per share on both a basic and diluted basis for the same period in 2017.

Revenues for the second quarter of 2018 were $2.4 million, as compared to $2.1 million for the same period in 2017. Revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2018 were $4.8 million, as compared to $4.2 million for the same period in 2017. Revenues for both periods comprise primarily royalty revenues recorded on Genentech and Roche’s net sales of Erivedge.

Operating expenses were $10.2 million for the second quarter of 2018, as compared to $15.2 million for the same period in 2017. Operating expenses for the six months ended June 30, 2018 were $22.6 million, as compared to $32.4 million for the same period in 2017, and comprised the following:

Costs of Royalty Revenues. Costs of royalty revenues, resulting from payments to third-party university patent licensors associated with Genentech and Roche’s Erivedge net sales, were $0.1 million for both the second quarter of 2018 and 2017. Cost of royalty revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2018 were $0.3 million, as compared to $0.2 million for the same period in 2017.

Research and Development Expenses. Research and development expenses were $6.5 million for the second quarter of 2018, as compared to $11.3 million for the same period in 2017. The decrease was primarily driven by decreased costs related to clinical activities for fimepinostat and CA-170, partially offset by increased costs related to CA-4948. Research and development expenses were $14.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018 as compared to $24.8 million for the same period in 2017.

General and Administrative Expenses. General and administrative expenses were $3.6 million for the second quarter of 2018 as compared to $3.8 million for the same period in 2017. The decrease in general and administrative expenses was primarily driven by lower personnel and stock-based compensation expense partially offset by higher legal services for the period. General and administrative expenses were $7.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018, as compared to $7.4 million for the same period in 2017.

Other Expenses. Net other expense for the second quarter 2018 totaled $0.8 million as compared to $1.0 million for the same period in 2017. Net other expense primarily consisted of interest expense related to Curis Royalty’s (a wholly owned subsidiary of Curis) debt obligations. Other expense, net was $1.6 million and $1.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

As of June 30, 2018, Curis’s cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities and investments totaled $40.4 million and there were approximately 33.2 million shares of common stock outstanding.

Recent Operational Highlights

Precision oncology, fimepinostat (formerly CUDC-907):

Fimepinostat received Fast Track designation from the FDA for development in adult patients with relapsed or refractory DLBCL after two or more lines of systemic therapy.
Immuno-oncology, CA-170 (PDL1 / VISTA antagonist; Aurigene collaboration):

Patient enrollment remained on track for the Phase 1 dose escalation trial evaluating CA-170 in patients with advanced solid tumors or lymphomas.
Curis collaborator Aurigene continued to enroll patients in a Phase 2 clinical study of CA-170 at select trial sites in India.
Investigators have recently identified that mesothelioma tumor samples express high levels of VISTA immune checkpoint protein. We are extending our current Phase 1 trial to enroll a cohort of patients with mesothelioma.
Precision oncology, CA-4948 (IRAK4 Kinase Inhibitor; Aurigene collaboration):

Curis continued to enroll patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma in a Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating CA-4948, a novel oral, small molecule IRAK4 kinase Inhibitor that has shown potent in vivo anti-tumor activity in preclinical animal models.
We have recently generated non-clinical data that demonstrate CA-4948 is active in in vivo models of AML. We are extending our current Phase 1 clinical trial to enroll a cohort of patients with AML.
Recent Corporate Highlights

Robert Martell, M.D., Ph.D., a practicing oncologist and experienced drug developer, was appointed Head of Research and Development and will directly manage the day-to-day operations of clinical development and research.
Curis announced a 1-for-5 reverse stock split reducing the number of Curis’s outstanding common stock from approximately 165.6 million to approximately 33.1 million on March 29, 2018, the date of the reverse split.
Upcoming Activities

Curis anticipates providing an outline of the clinical development path for fimepinostat in 2H 2018.
Curis and collaborator Aurigene expect to provide additional updates in 2H 2018 on the clinical progress of CA-170, which is currently being evaluated in one Phase 1 and one Phase 2 study.
Curis expects to provide an update in 2H 2018 on the progress of CA-4948, which is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1 trial in patients with advanced lymphomas.
Conference Call Information

Curis management will host a conference call today, August 2, 2018, at 8:30 a.m. EDT, to discuss these financial results, as well as provide a corporate update.

To access the live conference call, please dial 1-888-346-6389 (United States) or 1-412-317-5252 (International), shortly before 8:30 a.m. EDT. The conference call can also be accessed on the Curis website at www.curis.com in the Investors section. A replay of the call will be available on the Curis website shortly after the commencement of the meeting.

On August 2, 2018 OPKO Health, Inc.(NASDAQ: OPK) reported its operating and financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 after the close of the U.S. financial markets on Tuesday, August 7, 2018 (Press release, Opko Health, AUG 2, 2018, View Source [SID1234528325]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

OPKO’s senior management will provide a business update and discuss its financial results in a live conference call and audio webcast beginning at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, August 7, 2018.

Conference Call & Webcast Information

WHEN: Tuesday, August 7, 2018 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time
DOMESTIC DIAL-IN: (866) 634-2258
INTERNATIONAL DIAL-IN: (330) 863-3454
PASSCODE: 9243717
WEBCAST: View Source

For those unable to participate in the live conference call or webcast, a replay will be available beginning August 7, 2018 two hours after the close of the conference call. To access the replay, dial (855) 859-2056 or (404) 537-3406. The replay passcode is: 9243717. The replay can be accessed for a period of time on OPKO’s website at View Source.