On May 16, 2022 CohBar, Inc. (NASDAQ: CWBR), a clinical stage biotechnology company leveraging the power of the mitochondria and the peptides encoded in its genome to develop potential breakthrough therapeutics targeting chronic and age-related diseases, reported its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022 and highlighted recent corporate progress (Press release, CohBar, MAY 16, 2022, View Source [SID1234614636]).
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"I am optimistic about the year ahead and the opportunity we have at CohBar to develop therapies for difficult to treat, multi-factorial diseases. In 2022, we remain focused on execution and with a strong team in place, we are well positioned to advance our mitochondrial programs and deliver on our focused strategy," stated Dr. Joseph Sarret, Chief Executive Officer. "During the first quarter we made steady progress across key areas of our business. We aligned our resources to focus on three main areas – the advancement of our IPF program toward the clinic, the discovery and development of additional novel peptide families with our Mito+ platform, and securing a potential partner for CB4211."
Recent Corporate Updates and First Quarter Highlights
Expanded Patent Coverage for CB4211: The company announced today that on May 17, 2022 the United States Patent and Trademark Office will issue a patent, U.S. No. 11,332,497, covering methods of use of CB4211, CohBar’s most advanced candidate, for treating obesity. This patent is expected to be eligible for listing in the FDA Orange Book upon approval of CB4211 as a therapeutic for obesity in the United States. Additionally, the company announced progress in its international patent prosecution strategy, with the issuance of a Japanese patent covering CB4211 and related compositions, as well as a CB4211 medicine for treating NASH.
Received Extension from Nasdaq to Comply with Listing Requirements: On May 12, the company announced that Nasdaq has granted CohBar’s request for a 180-day extension, to November 7, 2022, to achieve compliance with the $1.00 bid price requirement for continued listing on Nasdaq.
Advanced CB5138-3 for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF): CohBar is advancing CB5138-3 through IND-enabling studies and is working to optimize drug delivery to increase the likelihood of success in the clinic for this hard-to-treat patient population. CohBar expects to submit an Investigational New Drug Application for this program to the US Food and Drug Administration in the second half of 2023.
Increased Investment in Mito+ Platform: CohBar is investing further resources in its novel platform to discover and develop additional peptide families and identify new product candidates. CohBar’s scientific research team is mining the mitochondrial genome to identify the peptide families that show the most promise to treat multi-factorial diseases involving inflammation, fibrosis and/or metabolic dysregulation.
Strengthened Leadership with Appointment of Nick Vlahakis, MBBS, as Acting Chief Medical Officer: In March, CohBar announced the appointment of Nick Vlahakis, MBBS as acting Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Vlahakis is an experienced pulmonary and critical care clinician and clinical drug developer, having led molecule development strategy and early and late-stage trials in both large and small companies across a wide range of therapeutic areas, including IPF.
First Quarter 2022 Financial Highlights
Cash and Investments: The company had cash and investments of $23.5 million as of March 31, 2022, compared to $26.2 million as of December 31, 2021. The cash burn for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 was approximately $3.1 million.
R&D Expenses: Research and development expenses were $1.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, compared to $2.7 million in the prior year quarter. The decrease in research and development expenses was primarily due to lower preclinical and clinical trial costs primarily due to the timing of those expenses.
G&A Expenses: General and administrative expenses were $1.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, compared to $1.4 million in the prior year quarter. The increase in general and administrative expenses was primarily due to higher stock-based compensation costs and legal fees associated with protecting the company’s intellectual property portfolio.
Net Loss: For the three months ended March 31, 2022, net loss, which included $0.5 million of non-cash expenses, was $3.3 million, or $0.04 per basic and diluted share. For the three months ended March 31, 2021, net loss, which included $0.4 million of non-cash expenses, was $4.0 million, or $0.07 per basic and diluted share.
Details for the Conference Call:
A simultaneous webcast of the call will be accessible via the Investors section of the CohBar website at www.cohbar.com.
For individuals participating in the Investor Call or webcast, please call or login to the conference audio approximately 10 minutes prior to its start.
An audio replay of the call will be available beginning at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on May 16, 2022, through 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on June 6, 2022. To access the recording please dial (844) 512-2921 in the U.S. and Canada, or (412) 317-6671 internationally, and reference Conference ID No. 13728737. The audio recording will also be available at www.cohbar.com during the same period.