On May 10, 2022 Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACRS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel drug candidates for immuno-inflammatory diseases, reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2022 and provided a corporate update (Press release, Aclaris Therapeutics, MAY 10, 2022, View Source [SID1234614099]).

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"We have continued to progress our clinical programs, including activating multiple clinical sites in our Phase 2b trial of ATI-1777 in subjects with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis," said Dr. Neal Walker, President and CEO of Aclaris. "We look forward to advancing all of our clinical and preclinical programs."

Research and Development Highlights:

Clinical Programs

Zunsemetinib, an investigational oral small molecule MK2 inhibitor:
Currently being developed as a potential treatment for immuno-inflammatory diseases

ATI-450-RA-202: This Phase 2b dose ranging trial to investigate the efficacy, safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of multiple doses (20 mg and 50 mg twice daily) of zunsemetinib in combination with methotrexate in subjects with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is ongoing.
Aclaris expects topline data in 2023.

ATI-450-HS-201: This Phase 2a trial to investigate the efficacy, safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of zunsemetinib (50 mg twice daily) in subjects with moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is ongoing.
Aclaris expects topline data in the first half of 2023.

ATI-450-PsA-201: Aclaris expects to activate clinical sites in the coming weeks in this Phase 2a trial of zunsemetinib (50 mg twice daily) in subjects with moderate to severe psoriatic arthritis.
ATI-1777, an investigational topical "soft" Janus kinase (JAK) 1/3 inhibitor:
Currently being developing as a potential treatment for moderate to severe atopic dermatitis (AD)

ATI-1777-AD-202: Aclaris activated multiple clinical sites in May 2022 in this Phase 2b trial to determine the efficacy, safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of ATI-1777 in subjects with moderate to severe AD. In this trial, Aclaris will explore multiple concentrations of twice daily treatment with ATI-1777 and a single concentration of once daily treatment with ATI-1777, in patients 12 years and older.
Aclaris expects topline data in the first half of 2023.
ATI-2138, an investigational oral ITK/TXK/JAK3 (ITJ) inhibitor:
Currently being developed as a potential treatment for T cell-mediated autoimmune diseases

ATI-2138-PKPD-101: This Phase 1 single ascending dose (SAD) trial to investigate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of ATI-2138 in healthy subjects is ongoing.
Aclaris expects topline data in 2022.

If the Phase 1 SAD trial is successful, Aclaris currently plans to initiate a two-week Phase 1 multiple ascending dose trial of ATI-2138 in subjects with psoriasis in 2022. Aclaris is also currently exploring alternative indications to the planned indication that are relevant to the mechanism of action.
Preclinical Programs

ATI-2231, an investigational oral MK2 inhibitor compound:
Currently being explored as a potential treatment for pancreatic cancer and metastatic breast cancer as well as in preventing bone loss in patients with metastatic breast cancer

Second MK2 inhibitor generated from Aclaris’ proprietary KINect drug discovery platform and designed to have a long half-life.

IND-enabling studies are underway, and Aclaris expects to submit an IND by the end of 2022.
Discovery Programs

Currently developing oral gut-biased JAK inhibitors with limited systemic exposure as potential treatments for inflammatory bowel disease.
Central nervous system (CNS) kinase inhibitor targets:
Currently engaged in research to identify brain penetrant kinase inhibitor candidates and assess their impact on neuronal pro-inflammatory cytokine production, microglia growth and survival, and neurodegeneration.
Other Highlights

Aclaris continues to expand its senior R&D team and recently appointed Ian Anderson, Ph.D., as Executive Vice President, Translational Research & Development, and Rob Ortmann, M.D., as Vice President, Clinical Development. Dr. Anderson brings more than 30 years of immunology research experience in drug development, from discovery through Phase 2. He previously held senior scientific leadership roles at Flame Biosciences, Janssen Pharmaceutical, MedImmune and Cambridge Antibody Technology. Dr. Ortmann is a board-certified rheumatologist with more than 10 years of clinical research experience in autoimmune-related therapeutic areas. He previously held clinical development positions at Horizon Therapeutics and Eli Lilly and Company.

Financial Highlights:

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of March 31, 2022, Aclaris had aggregate cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $204 million compared to $226 million as of December 31, 2021. Additionally, in April 2022, Aclaris sold approximately 4.8 million shares under its ATM facility for aggregate net proceeds of $73 million.

Aclaris now anticipates that its cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of March 31, 2022 in combination with the $73 million in net proceeds from the April 2022 ATM sale will be sufficient to fund its operations through the end of 2025, without giving effect to any additional potential business development transactions or financing activities.

Financial Results

First Quarter 2022

Net loss was $18.8 million for the first quarter of 2022 compared to $28.8 million for the first quarter of 2021.
Total revenue was $1.5 million for the first quarter of 2022 compared to $1.8 million for the first quarter of 2021.
Research and development (R&D) expenses were $14.3 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 compared to $7.8 million for the prior year period.
The $6.5 million increase was primarily the result of:
Higher zunsemetinib development expenses, including costs associated with clinical activities for a Phase 2b trial for RA and a Phase 2a trial for HS.
Higher ATI-1777 development expenses related to drug candidate manufacturing and other preclinical activities and start-up costs associated with a Phase 2b clinical trial.
Higher preclinical development activities related to ATI-2231.

General and administrative (G&A) expenses were $6.1 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 compared to $4.8 million for the prior year period.
The $1.3 million increase was primarily the result of higher compensation-related costs, including stock-based compensation, due to increased headcount and the impact of new equity awards granted during the first quarter of 2022.
Revaluation of contingent consideration resulted in a $1.2 million credit for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 compared to a contingent consideration charge of $16.4 million for the prior year period.

On May 10, 2022 Imvax, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing personalized, whole tumor-derived immunotherapies, reported that Chief Executive Officer John P. Furey will be presenting at the following upcoming investor conferences (Press release, Imvax, MAY 10, 2022, View Source [SID1234614131]):

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2022 RBC Capital Markets Global Healthcare Conference
Date: May 18, 2022 Time: 2:05 p.m. ET
Location: New York City, NY

UBS Global Healthcare Conference 2022
Date: May 24, 2022 Time: 12:15 p.m. ET
Location: New York City, NY

On May 10, 2022 CARsgen Therapeutics Holdings Limited (Stock Code: 2171.HK), a company focused on innovative CAR T-cell therapies for the treatment of hematologic malignancies and solid tumors, reported that the phase I trial interim results of an investigator-initiated trial of CT041 have been published in Nature Medicine (View Source), which is one of the top international medical journals in the Nature Portfolio (2-year Impact Factor of 53.44) (Press release, Carsgen Therapeutics, MAY 10, 2022, View Source [SID1234614148]).

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The publication, titled "Claudin18.2-specific CAR T cells in gastrointestinal cancers: phase I trial interim results" presented results from a multi-center, open-label Phase I clinical trial conducted in China to explore the safety, efficacy, and cellular pharmacokinetics of CT041 in patients with advanced CLDN18.2-positive gastrointestinal cancers. The interim trial results showed that among 37 patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancers, CT041 was well tolerated with a manageable safety profile including no dose-limiting toxicity in 28 days post infusion, no grade ≥3 cytokine release syndrome, no neurotoxicity, and no treatment-related death. The objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) in patients with gastrointestinal cancers were 48.6% and 73.0%, respectively. In patients with gastric cancer or gastroesophageal junction cancer (GC/GEJ), the ORR and DCR reached 57.1% and 75.0%, respectively.

As of the date of this announcement, CT041 is the world’s first and only CAR T-cell candidate for the treatment of solid tumors entering a confirmatory Phase II clinical trial.

The corresponding author for the article, Professor Lin Shen of Beijing Cancer Hospital, said, "CAR T-cell therapy has successfully treated a variety of hematologic malignancies, while few breakthroughs have been made in solid tumors. CT041 is the first-in-class CAR T-cell product candidate against Claudin18.2. In this clinical trial, CT041 showed promising efficacy and manageable safety for patients with gastrointestinal cancers, particularly gastric cancer, who have failed prior lines of conventional therapies. As the largest clinical trial for solid tumors to date, the CAR T-cell therapy showed unprecedented efficacy against solid tumors. The publication of the interim trial results in Nature Medicine enables us to better share the results with our peers and advance CAR T-cell therapy in solid tumors. It also demonstrates the potential for more innovative, China-developed medicines to reach and benefit patients in global markets."

"This study is made possible by the joint efforts of CARsgen’s research and development team and our investigators, as well as the support and trust from the patients and their families. For CT041, the world’s first solid tumor CAR T-cell product candidate that has entered a confirmatory Phase II clinical trial, we will spare no efforts to advance the clinical trials and benefit patients as soon as possible," added Shen.

Dr. Zonghai Li, Founder, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Scientific Officer of CARsgen Therapeutics Holdings Limited, said, "Congratulations to the research team led by Prof. Shen. We thank the patients participating in the trial for their trust and thank all the researchers for their dedication. Publication of the interim CT041 trial results in Nature Medicine demonstrates the high quality and value of this trial. The development of innovative therapies has always been an arduous journey, particularly for effective CAR T-cell therapies against solid tumors. Despite these challenges, we started to collaborate with our investigators in 2015 for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma and glioblastoma. Since then, we have continued to explore innovative technologies and products. I am very glad to see the breakthrough interim results of CT041 in the research led by Prof. Shen. We will continue the joint efforts with our investigators in the global CT041 clinical development."

About CT041

CT041 is an autologous CAR T-cell product candidate against the protein CLDN18.2 that has the potential to be the first-in-class globally. CT041 targets the treatment of CLDN18.2-positive solid tumors with a primary focus on GC/GEJ and pancreatic cancer (PC).

In addition to the investigator-initiated trials in China, CARsgen has initiated a Phase Ib clinical trial for advanced GC/GEJ and PC, confirmatory Phase II clinical trial for advanced GC/GEJ in China and initiated a Phase 1b clinical trial for advanced gastric or pancreatic adenocarcinoma in North America. CARsgen also intends to initiate a pivotal Phase 2 clinical trial in North America in 2022.

CARsgen plans to submit an NDA to the NMPA in China in the first half of 2024 and to submit the BLA to the U.S. FDA in 2024.

In 2020 and 2021, CT041 received Orphan Drug designation from the U.S. FDA for the treatment of GC/GEJ and Orphan Medicinal Product designation from the EMA for the treatment of advanced gastric cancer. In November 2021, CT041 was granted PRIME Eligibility by the EMA for the treatment of advanced gastric cancer. In January 2022, CT041 was granted Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) Designation by the U.S. FDA for the treatment of advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma with CLDN18.2-positive tumors.

As of the date of the announcement, CT041 is the only CLDN18.2-targeted CAR T-cell product candidate globally that is being studied in clinical trials with IND/CTA approvals from the FDA, the NMPA, and Health Canada.

On May 10, 2022 Orion Biotechnology Canada Ltd, a drug discovery and development company unlocking the therapeutic potential of G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCRs), reported that it will be presenting important new data at both LSX World Congress and TIDES USA 2022 conference, taking place this week – May 10-12, 2022 (Press release, Orion Biotechnology, MAY 10, 2022, View Source [SID1234614180]).

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Dr. Oliver Hartley, Orion’s Vice-President Drug Discovery, will present Orion’s novel technology for targeting undrugged peptidergic GPCRs. His presentations will describe Orion’s drug discovery platform, one of the fastest drug discovery solutions in the industry for targeting peptidergic GPCRs. Dr. Hartley will also present new data on Orion’s CCR2 antagonist, OB-004, demonstrating the ability of this powerful platform to rapidly identify best-in-class GPCR drug candidates.

"Development of a best-in-class molecule in 6 months is an extraordinary accomplishment and validates the effectiveness of our drug discovery platform." said Dr. Hartley. "I am excited to be sharing new results that illustrate how the best-in-class potency, that can be achieved using our approach, can translate into superior activity in stringent and relevant preclinical models. It also validates our decision to further advance preclinical development of OB-004 during 2022 ".

Mark Groper, CEO of Orion Biotechnology added "This exciting new data showcases our ability to rapidly and effectively target peptidergic GPCRs and is another example of how Orion’s innovative approach is able to target this valuable, undrugged group of GPCRs."

On May 10, 2022 BIOASIS TECHNOLOGIES INC.. (TSXV:BTI.V; OTCQB:BIOAF), (the "Company or "Bioasis") a biopharmaceutical company developing its proprietary xB3TM platform technology for the delivery of therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier (the "BBB") reported that it has entered into a research collaboration and license agreement with Neuramedy Co Ltd ("Neuramedy") of Seoul, Korea (Press release, biOasis, MAY 10, 2022, View Source [SID1234614207]).

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Neuramedy is a biotech company researching and developing innovative solutions for neurodegenerative diseases. The company aims to provide disease modifying treatments for Parkinson’s disease and other synuclein related diseases.

Under the terms of the agreement, Neuramedy has obtained worldwide rights to research, develop and commercialize an xB3TM version of its antibody, Tomaralimab, directed at the Toll-like receptor 2. Tomaralimab is currently in development for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and Multiple System Atrophy.

Bioasis will receive an upfront payment and may receive an additional US$72 million in milestone payments and a royalty on net sales.

"We are excited to have entered into this agreement with Bioasis. We expect the xB3TM platform will improve the efficacy and safety of our Tomaralimab. Through the collaboration with the companies like Bioasis, we hope to provide solutions that can improve the lives of patients with neurodegenerative disorders," said Seung Jae Lee, Ph. D., Neuramedy’s CEO.

"We are very pleased to have entered into this agreement and excited to be working with Neuramedy on this new target for Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Forming innovative partnerships with companies such as Neuramedy is an important part of our strategy to see the broadest possible uptake of promising technology. Our xB3TM BBB drug delivery platform has the potential to significantly advance the treatment of neurogenerative diseases, solving a major unmet clinical need and improving the lives of patients, said Deborah Rathjen, Ph.D., Bioasis’ Executive Chair.