On November 6, 2024 Nuvation Bio Inc. (NYSE: NUVB), a late clinical-stage, global biopharmaceutical company tackling some of the greatest unmet needs in oncology, reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024, and provided a business update (Press release, Nuvation Bio, NOV 6, 2024, View Source [SID1234647872]).

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David Hung, M.D., Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Nuvation Bio, reflected on the quarter and stated: "In the third quarter, we continued to execute on our goal of bringing taletrectinib to people living with ROS1-positive NSCLC as quickly as possible, which has been our focus since we closed the acquisition of AnHeart Therapeutics earlier this year. In October, we completed the rolling submission of our NDA for line agnostic full approval of taletrectinib in advanced ROS1-positive NSCLC, which was supported by the pooled data from the pivotal Phase 2 TRUST-I and TRUST-II studies that we presented at ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper). We believe that these data – a confirmed objective response rate of 89% and median duration of response approaching four years in the TKI-naïve setting – are the strongest data seen to date in the ROS1 space and increase taletrectinib’s potential to become a best-in-class treatment option. Additionally, we are excited about the momentum of our overall pipeline, including safusidenib, our mutant IDH1 inhibitor for both low- and high-grade diffuse IDH1-mutant glioma, where we plan to make meaningful clinical progress next year, and NUV-1511, our first drug-drug conjugate, which we continue to dose escalate in the clinic."

Recent Pipeline Updates:

Taletrectinib, ROS1 inhibitor: Advanced ROS1+ NSCLC

Completed submission of an NDA for taletrectinib to the U.S. FDA for the treatment of advanced ROS1+ NSCLC (line agnostic) in October, in alignment with feedback from the U.S. FDA as part of a pre-NDA meeting.
Company expects the U.S. FDA to accept its NDA submission for full approval as early as year-end 2024, which, if approved, will allow Nuvation Bio to launch taletrectinib in the U.S. as early as mid-2025.
Taletrectinib is the only ROS1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) currently in development that has received Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the U.S. FDA for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic ROS1+ NSCLC who either have or have not previously been treated with ROS1 TKIs (line agnostic).
Pooled data from the pivotal Phase 2 TRUST-I and TRUST-II studies were presented at the 2024 ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper) Congress in September. The pooled analysis supported the Company’s NDA submission for taletrectinib.
Key highlights from the pooled analysis include:
Confirmed objective responses in 89% of taletrectinib-treated patients with advanced ROS1+ NSCLC who were tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)-naïve and 56% of those who were TKI-pretreated in the study.
Taletrectinib demonstrated durable responses and prolonged disease control with long-term follow up; median duration of response (DOR) and median progression-free survival (PFS) in TKI-naïve patients were 44 months and 46 months, respectively.
Taletrectinib’s safety and tolerability profile appeared favorable, including a low treatment discontinuation rate of 7%.
Data from the global, pivotal Phase 2 TRUST-II study were presented at the 2024 World Conference on Lung Cancer in September as part of the press program.
Safusidenib, mIDH1 inhibitor: Diffuse IDH1-mutant glioma

Safusidenib is a potentially best-in-class, novel, oral, brain penetrant inhibitor of mutant IDH1.
Phase 2 study of safusidenib in patients with diffuse IDH1-mutant glioma remains ongoing.
NUV-1511, drug-drug conjugate (DDC): Advanced solid tumors

NUV-1511, the Company’s first clinical-stage DDC, fuses a targeting agent to a widely used chemotherapy agent.
Phase 1/2 dose escalation study of NUV-1511 in patients with various advanced solid tumors remains ongoing.
NUV-868, BD2-selective BET inhibitor: Advanced solid tumors

As previously announced, the Company is evaluating next steps for the NUV-868 program, including further development in combination with approved products for indications in which BD2-selective BET inhibitors may improve outcomes for patients.
Corporate Updates:

Appointed Philippe Sauvage as Chief Financial Officer in October. Mr. Sauvage brings over 20 years of global leadership experience in finance, operations, and commercialization within healthcare and biopharmaceutical organizations.
Appointed David Hung, M.D., Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Nuvation Bio, as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Additionally, the Company appointed Robert Bazemore as lead independent director.
Third Quarter 2024 Financial Results

As of September 30, 2024, Nuvation Bio had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $549.1 million.

For the three months ended September 30, 2024, research and development expenses were $27.7 million, compared to $18.5 million for the three months ended September 30, 2023. The increase was primarily due to a $6.7 million increase in personnel-related costs driven by the acquisition of AnHeart, stock-based compensation and other benefits, $2.4 million increase in third-party costs related to research services and drug manufacturing as a result of clinical trial expense for taletrectinib and $0.1 million increase in amortization of assembled workforce.

For the three months ended September 30, 2024, general and administrative expenses were $19.6 million, compared to $7.8 million for the three months ended September 30, 2023. The increase was due to a $5.3 million increase in personnel-related costs as a result of the acquisition of AnHeart, $4.2 million increase in sales and marketing expense, $1.8 million increase in professional fees, $0.7 million increase in legal fees, and $0.4 million increase in occupancy expense offset by $0.4 million increase in foreign currency impact and $0.2 million decrease in insurance expense.

For the three months ended September 30, 2024, Nuvation Bio reported a net loss of $41.2 million, or $(0.15) per share. This compares to a net loss of $19.6 million, or $(0.09) per share, for the comparable period in 2023.

About Taletrectinib

Taletrectinib is an oral, potent, central nervous system-active, selective, next-generation ROS1 inhibitor specifically designed for the treatment of patients with advanced ROS1+ NSCLC. Taletrectinib is being evaluated for the treatment of patients with advanced ROS1+ NSCLC in two Phase 2 single-arm pivotal studies: TRUST-I (NCT04395677) in China, and TRUST-II (NCT04919811), a global study.

Taletrectinib has been granted Orphan Drug Designation by the U.S. FDA for the treatment of patients with ROS1+ NSCLC and other NSCLC indications, and Breakthrough Therapy Designations by both the U.S. FDA and China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic ROS1+ NSCLC. Based on pooled results of the TRUST-I and TRUST-II clinical studies, Nuvation Bio submitted an NDA for taletrectinib to the U.S. FDA for the treatment of patients with advanced ROS1+ NSCLC (line agnostic, full approval). Based on results of the TRUST-I clinical study, China’s NMPA has accepted and granted Priority Review Designations to New Drug Applications for taletrectinib for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic ROS1+ NSCLC who either have or have not previously been treated with ROS1 TKIs.