Photocure ASA: Results for the first quarter of 2025

On May 9, 2025 Photocure ASA (OSE: PHO) reported Hexvix/Cysview revenues of NOK 125.3 million in the first quarter of 2025 (Q1 2024: NOK 116.8 million), and an EBITDA of NOK 1.8 million (7.9) for the company (Press release, PhotoCure, MAY 8, 2025, View Source [SID1234652785]). 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 milestone payments this year.

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"We delivered another quarter of growth and positive EBITDA, driven by the strong performance from our European franchise. In parallel, our North American team continues the solid business development with an increasing number of accounts adopting upgrades and new tower placements expecting to drive future revenue growth. We are able to offset the expected decline in flexible cystoscopy kits and expect the U.S. unit growth to accelerate in 2025 onwards. The completion of our share buy-back programme also highlighted our capital discipline commitment as the company continues to grow," says Dan Schneider, President & Chief Executive Officer of Photocure.

Photocure reported total group revenues of NOK 125.3 million in the first quarter of 2025 (NOK 118.0 million), and an EBITDA of NOK 1.8 million (7.9). The cash balance at the end of the period was NOK 259.5 million.

The company continued to execute on its plan to expand blue light cystoscopy use in Q1 2025 with the installation of 21 new Saphira towers in the U.S. — 8 new accounts and 13 blue light tower upgrades. There are now 337 active accounts in the U.S., an increase of 17% versus the first quarter of 2024.

In Europe, Photocure announced during the quarter that the availability of an Interim Flexible BLC solution to centers in all countries where System blue and Richard Wolf reusable flexible cystoscopes are cleared. The co-development with Richard Wolf for state of the art, HD Flexible cystoscope is progressing on plan. Photocure is also collaborating closely with Olympus on their recently launched high-definition Olympus Visera Elite-III equipment featuring blue light cystoscopy.

"30 Olympus systems have already been upgraded since launch, and we fully expect this new state-of-the art equipment to fuel Hexvix growth in the Nordic region and throughout continental Europe this year and beyond," 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.

"Following an adequate stock of units already landed in the U.S, we have enough inventory to carry us through most of the year. Given our low cost of goods sold, tariffs represent a very limited impact on our U.S. profit and loss statement. Meanwhile, we remain focused on the growth of our business and investing in opportunities that can take us to the next level in 2025. In all, we delivered another quarter of growth and solid business development and reiterate our guidance of a product revenue growth in the range of 7% to 11% and year of year EBITDA improvement in 2025," Schneider concludes.

Please find the full financial report and presentation enclosed.

EBITDA* and other alternative performance measures (APMs) are defined and reconciled to the IFRS financial statements as a part of the APM section of the first quarter 2025 financial report on page 25.

The quarterly report and presentation will be published at 07:00 CEST and will be publicly available at www.photocure.com. Dan Schneider, CEO and Erik Dahl, CFO, will host a live webcast at 14:00 CEST.

The presentation will be held in English and questions can be submitted throughout the event. The streaming event is available through https://channel.royalcast.com/landingpage/hegnarmedia/20250508_10/

The presentation is scheduled to conclude at 14:45 CEST.

Aptose Reports First Quarter 2025 Results

On May 8, 2025 Aptose Biosciences Inc. ("Aptose" or the "Company") (TSX: APS and OTC: APTOF), a clinical-stage precision oncology company developing a tuspetinib (TUS)-based triple drug frontline therapy to treat patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML), reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025, and provided a corporate update (Press release, Aptose Biosciences, MAY 8, 2025, View Source [SID1234652721]).

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"Our TUSCANY clinical trial of tuspetinib in combination with venetoclax (VEN) and azacitidine (AZA) for frontline treatment of newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) continues to deliver robust safety and response data, with support and enthusiasm from our clinical investigators," said William G. Rice, Ph.D., Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aptose. "We recently escalated the TUS dose to 80 mg from the initial dose of 40 mg in the TUS+VEN+AZA triplet therapy. Three patients receiving the initial dose of 40 mg and three patients receiving the 80 mg dose all have achieved complete remissions (CRs*) and continue on treatment. We are especially encouraged that two patients having highly adverse TP53 mutations have achieved objective responses and remain on treatment."

Key Corporate Highlights

Tuspetinib Data Reported from First Two Cohorts of TUSCANY Phase 1/2 Trial – Tuspetinib based TUS+VEN+AZA triplet therapy is being advanced in the TUSCANY Phase 1/2 trial with the goal of creating a one-of-a-kind frontline therapy for newly diagnosed AML patients that is safe and active across diverse AML populations (mutation agnostic triplet frontline therapy), including patients without FLT3 mutations (wildtype FLT3). Data from the first two cohorts, with a 40 mg or 80 mg dose of tuspetinib in the TUS+VEN+AZA combination, reveal promising clinical safety and antileukemic activity (press release here).
In the first cohort, our newly diagnosed AML patients received the initial 40 mg dose of TUS as part of the TUS+VEN+AZA combination. No safety concerns or dose limiting toxicities (DLTs) were observed. Three patients experienced rapid bone marrow blast reductions to achieve CRs; one having biallelic mutated TP53, complex karyotype (CK) chromosomal abnormalities, and wildtype FLT3; one having an IDH2 mutation wildtype FLT3; and one having FLT3-ITD and mutated NPM1. Clinical sites or central labs reported all these patients also achieved MRD-negative status. The fourth patient at the 40 mg dose of TUS, did not achieve a complete remission and discontinued the study. The first three patients continue on treatment.

In the second cohort, three newly diagnosed AML patients having diverse mutation profiles have received the 80 mg dose of TUS, as part of the TUS+VEN+AZA combination. To date, no safety concerns or DLTs have been reported. All patients at the 80 mg dose of TUS rapidly achieved CRs; one patient with biallelic TP53 mutations and a complex karyotype and wildtype FLT3 status, a second patient having mutated DDX41 and wildtype FLT3 status, and a third patient having FLT3-ITD and NPM1 mutations. All three patients at the 80 mg dose of TUS are early in their course of treatment, are expected to achieve normal blood count recovery as their leukemia is resolved, and MRD status will be monitored as the patients move through their courses of therapy.

OTC Exchange – Aptose common shares ("the Common Shares") are now listed for trading on the OTC Markets (OTC) under the ticker "APTOF," in addition to the Company’s continued listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol "APS". This significantly expands Aptose accessibility for U.S.-based investors and enhances overall share liquidity by enabling trading through U.S. broker-dealers. Listing on the OTC Markets is part of Aptose’s strategy to align with TSX capital markets while increasing visibility and participation from the U.S. investment community. Aptose’s Common Shares were delisted from The Nasdaq Stock Market effective April 2, 2025 because of non-compliance with the Exchange’s equity requirements.
Completed and Planned Value-Creating Milestones

2025: 1H

Reported safety and efficacy with 40mg TUS+VEN+AZA
Reported safety and efficacy with 80mg TUS+VEN+AZA
2025: European Hematology Association (EHA) (Free EHA Whitepaper)

Report maturing data from TUS+VEN+AZA triplet study
2025: American Society of Hematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper)

Report response rate and durability of TUS+VEN+AZA triplet
Select TUS dose for TUS+VEN+HMA triplet Ph 2/3 PIVOTAL trials
Prepare for initiation of Ph 2/3 PIVOTAL program

FINANCIAL RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Aptose Biosciences Inc.
Statements of Operations Data
(unaudited)
($ in thousands, except for share and per share data)

Quarter ended
March 31,
2025 2024
Expenses:

Research and development $ 2,364 $ 6,445
General and administrative 3,097 3,315
Operating expenses 5,461 9,760
Other (loss) income, net (82 ) 120

Net loss $ (5,543 ) $ (9,640 )

Net loss per share, basic and diluted $ (2.61 ) $ (22.02 )
Weighted average number of
common shares outstanding used in
computing net loss per share, basic
and diluted
2,126,287 437,750

Net loss for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 decreased by $4.1 million to $5.5 million, as compared to $9.6 million for the comparable period in 2024.

Aptose Biosciences Inc.
Balance Sheet Data
(unaudited)
($ in thousands)

March 31,
2025 December 31,
2024
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash
equivalents $ 4,743 $ 6,707

Working capital 651 5,053
Total assets 7,467 10,127
Long-term liabilities 8,542 10,193
Accumulated deficit (546,510 ) (540,967 )

Shareholders’ deficit (7,393 ) (4,543 )

Total cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash equivalents as of March 31, 2025 were $4.7 million. Based on current operations, the Company expects that cash on hand and available capital provides the Company with sufficient resources to fund planned Company operations including research and development until the end of May 2025. The Company is proactively implementing financing and cost reduction efforts to extend its cash runway.
As of May 1, 2025, we had 2,552,429 Common Shares issued and outstanding. In addition, there were 38,736 Common Shares issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options and there were 1,267,585 Common Shares issuable upon the exercise of the outstanding warrants.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT EXPENSES

Research and development expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 were as follows:

Quarter ended
(in thousands) March 31,
2025 March 31,
2024
Program costs – Tuspetinib $ 1,479 $ 3,923
Program costs – Luxeptinib 98 208
Program costs – APTO-253 - 22
Personnel related expenses 646 1,924
Stock-based compensation 141 328
Depreciation of equipment - 10
Total $ 2,364 $ 6,445

Research and development expenses decreased by $4.1 million to $2.3 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, as compared to $6.4 million for the comparable period in 2024. Changes to the components of our research and development expenses presented in the table above are primarily as a result of the following events:

Program costs for tuspetinib were $1.5 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, compared with $3.9 million for the comparable period in 2024. The lower program costs for tuspetinib in the current period are attributable to reduced activity in our APTIVATE clinical trial, reduced manufacturing activity, and related expenses.
Program costs for luxeptinib decreased by approximately $0.1 million primarily due to lower clinical trial and manufacturing activities.
Program costs for APTO-253 were zero. This was due to the Company’s decision to discontinue further development of APTO-253.
Personnel-related expenses decreased by $1.3 million due to lower headcount for research and development personnel in the current quarter.
Stock-based compensation decreased by approximately $0.2 million in the quarter ended March 31, 2025, primarily due stock options forfeited and/or vested in prior periods that are no longer being expensed resulting in lower expense in the current period.

Intellia Therapeutics Announces First Quarter 2025 Financial Results and Highlights Recent Company Progress

On May 8, 2025 Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTLA), a leading clinical-stage gene editing company focused on revolutionizing medicine with CRISPR-based therapies, reported operational highlights and financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025 (Press release, Intellia, MAY 8, 2025, View Source [SID1234652747]).

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"Intellia is full steam ahead and making excellent progress across its clinical programs," said Intellia President and Chief Executive Officer John Leonard, M.D. "Two key achievements in the first quarter were dosing the first patients in two of our Phase 3 studies: the HAELO study for hereditary angioedema and the MAGNITUDE-2 study for hereditary ATTR amyloidosis with polyneuropathy. Additionally, our Phase 3 MAGNITUDE study for ATTR with cardiomyopathy continues to enroll rapidly. Upcoming catalysts include longer-term data from the ongoing Phase 1 study of NTLA-2002 at the upcoming EAACI Congress in addition to updated data from the Phase 2 study of NTLA-2002 and longer-term Phase 1 data of nex-z in the second half of 2025."

First Quarter 2025 and Recent Operational Highlights

Hereditary Angioedema (HAE)

NTLA-2002: NTLA-2002 is a wholly owned, investigational in vivo CRISPR-based therapy designed to knock out the KLKB1 gene in the liver, with the goal of lifelong control of HAE attacks after a single dose.
Intellia will present additional data from the ongoing Phase 1/2 study in an oral presentation at the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) Congress 2025 on Sunday, June 15 in Glasgow, United Kingdom. The presentation will include longer-term durability data from patients in the Phase 1 portion of the Phase 1/2 study.
Enrollment is progressing in the global Phase 3 HAELO study and the Company expects to complete enrollment in the third quarter of 2025.
Intellia expects to present new and longer-term data from the Phase 2 portion of the ongoing Phase 1/2 study in the second half of 2025. The data will include patients who initially received a 25 mg dose or placebo and were subsequently given the 50 mg dose of NTLA-2002 selected for the Phase 3 study.
The Company is on track to submit a Biologics License Application (BLA) in the second half of 2026.
Transthyretin (ATTR) Amyloidosis

Nexiguran ziclumeran (nex-z, also known as NTLA-2001): Nex-z is an investigational in vivo CRISPR-based therapy designed to inactivate the TTR gene in liver cells, thereby preventing the production of transthyretin (TTR) protein for the treatment of ATTR amyloidosis. Nex-z offers the possibility of halting and reversing the disease by driving a deep, consistent and potentially lifelong reduction in TTR protein after a single dose. Nex-z has been generally well tolerated across all patients and at all dose levels tested. The most common treatment-related adverse events have been mild or moderate infusion reactions; all patients were able to receive the intended dose of nex-z. Intellia leads development and commercialization of nex-z in collaboration with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
ATTR Amyloidosis with Cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM):
In March, Intellia announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) to nex-z for the treatment of ATTR-CM.
Enrollment in the global Phase 3 MAGNITUDE trial is progressing ahead of the Company’s target projections and anticipates enrollment to exceed 550 total patients by year-end.
Hereditary ATTR Amyloidosis with Polyneuropathy (ATTRv-PN):
In April, the Company announced the first patient was randomized and dosed with nex-z in the global Phase 3 MAGNITUDE-2 study. Intellia expects enrollment to be completed in 2026.
In May, the Company will present data at the European Society of Cardiology Heart Failure (ESC-HF) Congress and Peripheral Nerve Society (PNS) Annual Meeting. At ESC-HF, Intellia will show wildtype vs. variant data in patients with ATTR-CM. At PNS, the Company will present interim Phase 1 extended data in patients with ATTRv-PN.
Intellia expects to present longer-term data from both ATTR-CM and ATTRv-PN patients in the Phase 1 study in the second half of 2025. The data will include updated measures of clinical efficacy and safety.
Platform Update

Intellia is pioneering novel technologies, such as CRISPR-based gene editing technologies and lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery technologies, to create highly differentiated, future in vivo and ex vivo product candidates. The Company’s proprietary platform technologies are being researched and developed to expand therapeutics opportunities to support the mission of transforming lives of people with severe diseases, including the possibility of curative genome editing therapeutics.
Upcoming Events

The Company will participate in the following events during the second quarter of 2025:

Bank of America Securities Health Care Conference, May 13, Las Vegas
ESC Heart Failure Congress, May 17, Belgrade
PNS Annual Meeting, May 18, Edinburgh
RBC Capital Markets Global Healthcare Conference, May 21, New York
EAACI Congress, June 15, Glasgow
First Quarter 2025 Financial Results

Cash Position: Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities were $707.1 million as of March 31, 2025, compared to $861.7 million as of December 31, 2024. The decrease in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities was primarily driven by first quarter operations and approximately $51 million of non-recurring cash payments associated with the Company’s previously announced portfolio prioritization, workforce reduction, and real estate consolidation. The Company’s cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of March 31, 2025 are expected to fund operations into the first half of 2027.
Collaboration Revenue: Collaboration revenue was $16.6 million during the first quarter of 2025, compared to $28.9 million during the first quarter of 2024. The $12.3 million decrease was mainly driven by a decrease in collaboration revenue under the AvenCell license and collaboration agreement.
R&D Expenses: Research and development (R&D) expenses were $108.4 million during the first quarter of 2025, compared to $111.8 million during the first quarter of 2024. The $3.4 million decrease was primarily driven by employee-related expenses, stock-based compensation, research materials and contracted services offset by an increase in the advancement of our lead programs. Stock-based compensation expense included in R&D expenses was $12.6 million for the first quarter of 2025.
G&A Expenses: General and administrative (G&A) expenses were $29.0 million during the first quarter of 2025, compared to $31.1 million during the first quarter of 2024. The $2.1 million decrease was primarily related to lower employee-related expenses due to a workforce reduction in January 2025 and lower stock-based compensation, partially offset by increases related to severance expenses recorded in the first quarter. Stock-based compensation expense included in G&A expenses was $9.2 million for the first quarter of 2025.
Net Loss: Net loss was $114.3 million for the first quarter of 2025, compared to $107.4 million during the first quarter of 2024.
Conference Call to Discuss First Quarter 2025 Results

The Company will discuss these results on a conference call today, Thursday, May 8 at 8 a.m. ET.
To join the call:

U.S. callers should dial 1-833-316-0545 and international callers should dial 1-412-317-5726, approximately five minutes before the call. All participants should ask to be connected to the Intellia Therapeutics conference call.
Please visit this link for a simultaneous live webcast of the call.
A replay of the call will be available through the Events and Presentations page of the Investors & Media section on Intellia’s website at intelliatx.com, beginning on May 8 at 12 p.m. ET.

Sutro Biopharma Reports First Quarter 2025 Financial Results and Business Highlights

On May 8, 2025 Sutro Biopharma, Inc. (Sutro or the Company) (NASDAQ: STRO), an oncology company pioneering site-specific and novel-format antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2025 and recent business highlights (Press release, Sutro Biopharma, MAY 8, 2025, View Source [SID1234652763]).

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"In the first quarter, we announced a strategic decision to shift Sutro’s product candidate focus from luvelta to our pipeline of wholly-owned novel exatecan and dual-payload ADCs. As part of this review, we selected STRO-004—a next-generation Tissue Factor-targeting exatecan/Topo 1 ADC—as our lead clinical candidate, supported by strong preclinical data that point to its best-in-class potential," said Jane Chung, Sutro’s Chief Executive Officer. "At AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper), we presented on STRO-004’s potent, dose-dependent anti-tumor activity and favorable safety profile across multiple dose levels and highlighted the unique capabilities of our XpressCF+ cell-free platform to develop novel dual-payload ADCs—an approach that holds significant promise for some of the most difficult-to-treat cancers. Additionally, next week, we have the opportunity to present preclinical data on STRO-006 for the first time, demonstrating encouraging pharmacokinetics (PK) and anti-tumor activity."

Ms. Chung continued: "We currently are on track to deliver three new INDs over the next three years, starting with STRO-004, which is expected to enter clinical studies in the second half of this year. Our rich pipeline, made possible by our optimized cell-free platform, is designed to engage complex, hard-to-drug targets with next-generation single- and dual-payloads. We are also already seeing the extraordinary capabilities of our platform yield important advances in our collaboration with Astellas, with the recent initiation of an IND-enabling toxicology study for the first dual-payload immunostimulatory ADC program under our collaboration, triggering a milestone payment to Sutro. Our team remains inspired by the immense potential of our platform and pipeline, and the substantial benefit it can bring to patients and to our partners."

Corporate and Program Updates


In March, Sutro announced completion of a strategic portfolio review resulting in the prioritization of its wholly-owned next-generation ADC programs. While Sutro will not continue the development of luveltamab tazevibulin (luvelta) on its own, it remains open to partnership opportunities.

Wholly-Owned Pipeline


STRO-004: Sutro’s novel exatecan Tissue Factor ADC has been prioritized as the Company’s lead program, with an initial focus on solid tumors. The Company is preparing to submit an IND and initiate a first-in-human study in the second half of 2025.

STRO-006: Sutro’s differentiated integrin beta-6 (ITGB6) ADC is expected to enter clinical development in 2026, aimed at multiple solid tumors.

Dual-Payload Program: An IND for Sutro’s first wholly-owned dual-payload ADC is anticipated to be filed in 2027.

Existing Collaborations for Next-Generation ADCs


Ipsen: A drug development program is ongoing with Ipsen for STRO-003, a ROR1 ADC.

Astellas: Two research and development programs are ongoing with Astellas for dual-payload immunostimulatory ADCs (iADCs), one of which has initiated an IND-enabling toxicology study triggering a milestone payment to Sutro.

These collaborations remain a strategic priority given their long-term value creation potential and the increasing relevance of specialized ADCs in the treatment of cancer.

Medical Conferences


21st Annual PEGS Boston: The Essential Proteins Engineering & Cell Therapy Summit: In May, Sutro will present promising preclinical data with STRO-006, highlighting its superior anti-tumor activity compared to first generation ITGB6 ADCs at clinically relevant dose levels, as well as its favorable PK and tolerability profile.

2025 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting: In April, Sutro presented encouraging preclinical results with STRO-004 and its dual-payload ADC programs. Among the highlights, a single dose of STRO-004 led to promising overall response and disease control rates in Tissue Factor-positive patient-derived xenograft models spanning multiple cancer types. Additionally, STRO-004 has a favorable safety profile in cynomolgus monkeys up to 50 mg/kg, the highest dose tested.

Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer: In March, expanded data were presented in a late-breaking oral presentation from the dose-optimization portion of the REFRαME-O1 trial with luvelta in patients with platinum resistant ovarian cancer. In the study, luvelta demonstrated encouraging antitumor activity in patients with late-stage ovarian cancer across all levels of Folate Receptor-α expression of 25% or greater, including an improved overall response rate, a low discontinuation rate, and a consistent safety profile across dose levels.

Upcoming Investor Conferences

Management will participate in the following upcoming healthcare investor conferences. Webcasts of the presentations will be accessible through the News & Events page of the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website at www.sutrobio.com. Archived replays will be available for at least 30 days after the event.


TD Cowen’s 6th Annual Oncology Innovation Summit, May 27-28, 2025, Virtual

Jefferies 2025 Global Healthcare Conference, June 3-5, 2025, in New York

Organization


As part of the restructuring, Jane Chung, President and Chief Operating Officer, assumed the responsibilities as Chief Executive Officer and was appointed as a member of the Sutro Board. The Company is also reducing its organizational headcount by nearly 50 percent and decommissioning its manufacturing facility by year-end 2025. Manufacturing capabilities to support the next-generation ADC pipeline have been fully established and scaled up externally.

First Quarter 2025 Financial Highlights

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Marketable Securities

As of March 31, 2025, Sutro had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $249.0 million, as compared to $316.9 million as of December 31, 2024. Cost reductions subsequently realized from the restructuring, combined with refocused clinical development priorities give the Company an expected cash runway into early 2027, excluding additional anticipated milestones from existing collaborations.

Revenue

Revenue was $17.4 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, as compared to $13.0 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, with the 2025 amount related principally to the Astellas collaboration. Future collaboration and license revenue under existing agreements, and from any additional collaboration and license partners, will fluctuate as a result of the amount and timing of revenue recognition of upfront, milestones, and other agreement payments.

Research & Development (R&D) and General & Administrative (G&A) Expenses

Total R&D and G&A expenses for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 were $64.9 million, as compared to $69.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2024. The 2025 period includes non-cash expenses for stock-based compensation of $5.5 million and depreciation and amortization of $1.9 million, as compared to $6.1 million and $1.8 million, respectively, in the 2024 period. For the quarter ended March 31, 2025, R&D expenses were $51.6 million and G&A expenses were $13.3 million.

Restructuring and Related Costs

Restructuring and related costs for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 were $21.0 million. Sutro will continue to recognize restructuring and related costs in future periods for the deprioritization of the luvelta program, of which it expects to recognize a significant portion in 2025. The ultimate amount of expense will be affected by the timing to complete Sutro’s cost commitments to its third-party CROs and CMOs and the full wind-down of the clinical trials. Sutro will revise its estimates of the costs to deprioritize these studies for the luvelta program and the amount of severance and benefits paid to employees as new information becomes available to the Company in future periods.

Cellipont Bioservices and Optieum Biotechnologies Partner to Advance cGMP Manufacturing of Groundbreaking CAR-T Therapy for Glioblastoma

On May 8, 2025 Cellipont Bioservices, a leading cell therapy Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO), and Optieum Biotechnologies (Optieum), a preclinical stage company dedicated to the discovery and development of innovative Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell therapies, reported a partnership for cGMP manufacturing of OPTF01, Optieum’s novel CAR-T therapy for glioblastoma treatment, a product derived from their proprietary Eumbody System (Press release, Optieum Biotechnologies, MAY 8, 2025, View Source [SID1234652786]).

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OPTF01 specifically targets Fibroblast activation protein-alpha (FAPα) a protein expressed on both tumor cells and the surrounding pericytes and Cancer-associated Fibroblasts (CAFs). Hence, OPTF01 can potentially disrupt the immunosuppressive microenvironment around the tumor while simultaneously attacking the malignant cells within the tumor. Successful development of this therapeutic approach would address a critical unmet medical need for patients with refractory glioblastoma who currently face limited treatment options with poor prognoses, as well as various other solid tumor indications.

Under this collaboration, Cellipont Bioservices will provide the technology transfer, process development, and cGMP manufacturing of Optieum’s novel OPTF01 CAR-T product. "Glioblastoma remains one of the most aggressive and difficult-to-treat cancers, demanding urgent innovation beyond traditional approaches," said Darren Head, CEO of Cellipont Bioservices. "Our collaboration with Optieum presents an exciting opportunity to leverage advanced CAR-T technologies and bring meaningful solutions to patients in need. We are honored to be part of this critical mission."

Shun Nishioka, CEO of Optieum added, "At Optieum, we are committed to redefining the future of CAR-T therapy through relentless innovation and scientific rigor. Partnering with Cellipont’s team of experts ensures that our groundbreaking therapies are manufactured to the highest standards, accelerating our progress toward delivering next-generation therapies for glioblastoma and other solid tumors."

OPTF01 is derived from the Eumbody System, a proprietary platform representing a significant advancement in CAR-T cell therapy development. This platform leverages rapid and expansive functional screening to identify and optimize CAR constructs in unprecedented fashion. By dynamically harmonizing single-chain variable fragment (scFv) sequences to enhance the functional capabilities of T cells, the Eumbody System sets a new standard in CAR-T innovation.