On May 13, 2019 Forty Seven Inc. (NASDAQ:FTSV), a clinical-stage, immuno-oncology company focused on developing therapies to activate macrophages in the fight against cancer, reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019 and provided a business Update (Press release, Forty Seven, MAY 13, 2019, View Source [SID1234536217]).

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"Our achievements year-to-date reflect our commitment to maximizing the potential of 5F9 as a novel, first-in-class therapeutic for the treatment of cancer," said Mark McCamish, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Forty Seven, Inc. "Building on the promising results observed in our Phase 1b NHL trial, we recently entered into additional clinical collaborations to evaluate 5F9 as part of two triplet regimens for patients with the most aggressive forms of the disease. With these partnerships, we continue to cost-efficiently explore the full therapeutic potential of 5F9 across multiple treatment modalities. Looking ahead, we are eager to report updated data from our Phase 1b/2 trial of 5F9 plus rituximab in r/r NHL at the EHA (Free EHA Whitepaper) and ICML meetings, as well as new clinical data from our Phase 1b trial of 5F9 in combination with azacitidine in AML and MDS at the ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) and EHA (Free EHA Whitepaper) medical meetings. These data will provide key insights as we chart our long-term development plan for 5F9.

First Quarter and Recent Business Highlights:

Pipeline:

In May 2019, Forty Seven entered into a collaboration with Acerta Pharma, AstraZeneca’s hematology research and development center of excellence, to evaluate 5F9 in combination with rituximab plus AstraZeneca/Acerta Pharma’s Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, acalabrutinib (CALQUENCE), in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). This approach aims to optimize the treatment of DLBCL patients by inhibiting BTK. In B-cells, BTK signaling results in the activation of pathways associated with B-cell proliferation, trafficking, chemotaxis and adhesion, and BTK inhibition is a proven strategy for inducing the regression of B-cell lymphomas.

In April 2019, Forty Seven extended its existing collaboration with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, to include a third clinical trial evaluating 5F9 in combination with rituximab plus Genentech’s anti-PD-L1 antibody, atezolizumab (TECENTRIQ), in patients with DLBCL. This approach aims to optimize the treatment of DLBCL patients whose tumors are associated with high levels of macrophages expressing PD-L1.

Upcoming Presentations:

Forty Seven plans to present updated data from the Phase 1b/2 trial of 5F9 in combination with rituximab in patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (r/r NHL), including safety, efficacy and duration of response across various dosing cohorts, at the 24th Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) (Free EHA Whitepaper) and the International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML) meetings in June 2019.

Forty Seven plans to present safety and initial efficacy data from the Phase 1b trial evaluating 5F9 as a monotherapy and in combination with azacitidine in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting and the 24th Congress of the EHA (Free EHA Whitepaper) in June 2019.

Key Milestones:

Additionally, the company expects to achieve the following milestones by the end of 2019:

Report data from the Phase 1b trial of 5F9 in combination with avelumab in patients with ovarian cancer in the fourth quarter.

Report data from the Phase 1b trial of 5F9 in combination with cetuximab in patients with colorectal cancer in the fourth quarter.

Report preclinical data and complete investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies for FSI-174, an anti-cKIT antibody with potential use as a novel conditioning regimen for bone marrow transplantation, in the second half.

Complete IND-enabling studies for FSI-189, an anti-SIRPα antibody with therapeutic potential for cancer and other indications, in the second half.

First Quarter 2019 Financial Results:

Cash Position: As of March 31, 2019, cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments were $113.6 million, as compared to $139.0 million as of December 31, 2018. This decrease reflects cash used to fund operating activities, including approximately $7.7 million in an advance payment for contract manufacturing, in the first quarter of 2019. The company expects that its cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments will fund operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through the first half of 2020.

R&D Expenses: R&D expenses were $19.1 million for the first quarter of 2019, as compared to $11.2 million for the first quarter of 2018. The increase was primarily due to a $3.7 million increase in third-party costs related to advancing the company’s clinical development programs for 5F9 and associated contract manufacturing costs Additionally, there was an increase of $2.8 million in costs associated with the advancement of the company’s preclinical and discovery programs, and an increase of $1.4 million in personnel-related costs, including stock-based compensation.

G&A Expenses: G&A expenses were $4.6 million for the first quarter of 2019, as compared to $3.8 million for the first quarter of 2018. The increase was primarily due to a $0.9 million increase in personnel-related costs driven by an increase in headcount and a $0.2 million increase in directors and officers insurance expense, partially offset by a $0.4 million decrease in accounting and consulting expenses incurred in connection with operating as a public company.

Net Loss: Net loss was $23.0 million for the first quarter of 2019, or a net loss per share of $0.74, as compared to $14.8 million for the first quarter of 2018, or a net loss per share of $2.24.

Conference Call Information:

Forty Seven will host a live conference call and webcast at 4:30 p.m. ET today to discuss first quarter 2019 financial results and recent business activities. The conference call may be accessed by (866) 953-0780 (domestic) or (630) 652-5854 (international), and by referring to conference ID 4283836. A webcast of the conference call will be available in the Investors section of the Forty Seven website at View Source The archived webcast will be available on Forty Seven’s website approximately two hours after the conference call and will be available for 30 days following the call.