On November 12, 2025 Cypherpunk Technologies Inc., previously known as Leap Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:LPTX), a company developing novel therapies for patients with cancer and implementing a digital asset treasury strategy focused on Zcash, reported financial results for the third quarter of 2025 and a corporate update.
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As announced earlier today, the Company has changed its name to "Cypherpunk Technologies Inc." from "Leap Therapeutics, Inc." to reflect the strategic focus on acquiring the digital asset, ZEC, participating in the development of Zcash, and the values of privacy and liberty. The Company will begin trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol "CYPH" at the market open on November 13, 2025. The Company’s ongoing cancer research and development operations will be conducted under a wholly-owned subsidiary that will take the name "Leap Therapeutics, Inc."
"This past month has been transformative for the Company, marked by closing a $58.88 million private placement led by Winklevoss Capital and successfully deploying $50 million to build a digital asset treasury designed to create long-term shareholder value focused on active participation in the development of Zcash and acquiring ZEC," said Douglas E. Onsi, President and CEO of Cypherpunk Technologies. "In our drug development business, we presented the final data from our randomized controlled Phase 2 trial of sirexatamab plus bevacizumab and chemotherapy in patients with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) (Free ESMO Whitepaper) Congress. In addition, we will be engaging with regulatory authorities to seek a registrational pathway for sirexatamab and optimizing the DKK1 biomarker assay that could be used to identify CRC patients at risk of poor outcomes and who may benefit from sirexatamab."
Cypherpunk Highlights:
Closed a $58.88 million private placement in cash led by Winklevoss Capital
In October 2025, the Company raised $58,888,888 in cash led by Winklevoss Capital to initiate the digital asset treasury strategy. In the transaction, the Company issued: (i) 15,212,311 shares of common stock, (ii) pre-funded warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 80,768,504 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.001 per share, and (ii) warrants to purchase an additional 71,985,605 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.5335 per share.
Successfully established a digital asset treasury strategy focused on Zcash (ZEC), acquiring more than 203,775.27 ZEC to date at an aggregate purchase price of approximately $50 million, or $245.37 per ZEC
The Company believes that privacy-protecting assets and related technologies will be critical in an increasingly digital world. The Company intends to acquire and hold ZEC, the native coin of Zcash, as its primary digital asset and to be an active participant in the Zcash community. As of November 11, 2025, the Company has acquired 203,775.27 ZEC at an aggregate purchase price of approximately $50 million, or $245.37 per ZEC.
Zcash functions much like Bitcoin, and it was created from the original Bitcoin code base. Like Bitcoin, Zcash is a digital currency that can be transmitted over a peer-to-peer payment system, except that Zcash uses a protocol called "zero-knowledge proofs" that allows users to engage in blockchain transactions while maintaining greater privacy. This cryptographic technology allows parties to decide whether or not to reveal sensitive information and enables private, public, shielding, and deshielding transactions on the Zcash blockchain. For example, the owner of a specific address is able to choose to disclose an address and transaction details to a trusted third party, potentially for compliance or audit reasons. Alternatively, transacting can work in a similar manner to the Bitcoin blockchain, where the sender and receiver addresses and value of the transfer are all publicly visible.
Appointed digital asset executives Khing Oei as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Will McEvoy as a member of the Board of Directors and Chief Investment Officer
On November 11, 2025, the Company appointed Khing Oei as Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Will McEvoy as Chief Investment Officer and a Board member. In conjunction with these appointments, Christopher Mirabelli stepped down from his role as Chairman of the Board of Directors, while remaining a Board member.
Leap Therapeutics Highlights:
Presented final clinical data from Part B of the DeFianCe study of sirexatamab plus bevacizumab and chemotherapy in CRC patients at ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper) Congress 2025.
In a Mini Oral session at the ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper) Congress in October 2025, the Company presented the final results from Part B of the DeFianCe study, a Phase 2 study of sirexatamab, an anti-DKK1 monoclonal antibody, in combination with bevacizumab and chemotherapy (Sirexatamab Arm) compared to bevacizumab and chemotherapy (Control Arm) in patients with microsatellite stable CRC who have received one prior systemic therapy for advanced disease. Sirexatamab demonstrated a statistically significant benefit on overall response rate (ORR) and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with high levels of DKK1, along with a positive trend on ORR and PFS in the full intent-to-treat population.
Across the DKK1-high (upper median) patients (n=88):
ORR was 38.0% in the Sirexatamab Arm compared to 23.7% ORR in the Control Arm.
mPFS was 9.03 months in the Sirexatamab Arm compared to 7.06 months in the Control Arm, Hazard Ratio (HR) 0.61, p-value = 0.0255.
mOS was not reached in the Sirexatamab Arm compared to 14.39 months in the Control Arm, HR 0.42, p-value = 0.0118.
Across the DKK1-high (upper quartile) patients (n=44):
ORR was 44.0% in the Sirexatamab Arm compared to 15.8% ORR in the Control Arm.
mPFS was 9.36 months in the Sirexatamab Arm compared to 5.88 months in the Control Arm, HR 0.46, p-value = 0.0168.
mOS was not reached in the Sirexatamab Arm compared to 9.66 months in the Control Arm, HR 0.17, p-value < 0.001.
In the full intent-to-treat population (n=188):
ORR was 35.1% in the Sirexatamab Arm compared to 26.6% ORR in the Control Arm.
mPFS was 9.2 months in the Sirexatamab Arm compared to 8.3 months in the Control Arm, HR 0.84, p-value = 0.1712.
Event-free rate favors Sirexatamab Arm beginning at month 9 (53 vs 47%) with further separation at month 12 (34 vs 23%).
Advancing DKK1 biomarker diagnostic test and engaging with regulatory authorities.
The Company is in the process of engaging with regulatory agencies in the United States and Europe to discuss the registrational pathway for sirexatamab in CRC. The Company is also working with a leading diagnostics research laboratory to optimize the DKK1 biomarker diagnostic test that could be used to identify CRC patients with poor prognosis and to select patients for treatment with sirexatamab. The Company expects to provide an update on the next steps in sirexatamab development and on the registrational pathway in the first quarter of 2026.
Selected Third Quarter 2025 Financial Results
Net Loss was $3.3 million for the third quarter 2025, compared to $18.2 million for the third quarter 2024. The decrease was primarily due to a decrease in research and development and general and administrative expenses as a result of a reduction in force and the completion of the clinical trials.
Research and development expenses were $1.2 million for the three months ended September 30, 2025, compared to $14.9 million for the three months ended September 30, 2024. The decrease of $13.7 million in research and development expenses during the three months ended September 30, 2025 was primarily due to a decrease of $5.3 million in clinical trial costs and a decrease of $3.7 million in manufacturing costs. There was also a decrease of $3.3 million in payroll and other related expenses due to a decrease in headcount of our R&D full-time employees, a decrease of $0.7 million in stock based compensation expense, and a decrease of $0.7 million in consulting fees.
General and administrative expenses were $1.9 million for the three months ended September 30, 2025, compared to $2.9 million for the three months ended September 30, 2024. The decrease of $1.0 million in general and administrative expenses during the three months ended September 30, 2025 was due to a $0.5 million decrease in payroll and other related expenses due to a decrease in incentive based compensation expense for our general and administrative employees and a decrease in headcount of our general and administrative employees. There was also a decrease of $0.3 million in stock based compensation expense and a $0.2 million decrease in professional fees.
Cash and cash equivalents totaled $9.7 million on September 30, 2025, prior to the completion of the $58.88 million private placement that closed in October 2025.
(Press release, Leap Therapeutics, NOV 12, 2025, View Source [SID1234659852])