On November 13, 2019 Gamida Cell Ltd. (Nasdaq: GMDA), an advanced cell therapy company committed to finding cures for blood cancers and serious blood diseases, reported financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2019 (Press release, Gamida Cell, NOV 13, 2019, View Source [SID1234551177]). The company also highlighted continued progress in advancing its clinical development candidates: omidubicel, an advanced cell therapy in Phase 3 clinical development as a potential life-saving treatment option for patients in need of bone marrow transplant, and GDA-201, an investigational, natural killer (NK) cell-based cancer immunotherapy in Phase 1 development in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma.
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
Gamida Cell provides a company update and reports financial results for the third quarter of 2019. Webcast at 4:30pm ET here: View Source
Tweet this
"During the quarter, we made important progress toward our goal of developing next-generation cell therapies with the potential to redefine standards of care for patients with blood cancers and rare, serious hematologic diseases," stated Julian Adams, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Gamida Cell. "We are nearing completion of patient enrollment in our multi-center, randomized Phase 3 study of omidubicel and are on track to report topline data from the study in the first half of 2020. Positive data from the study would enable us to file our first biologics license application next year."
"Our second cell therapy program, GDA-201, is also advancing, and next month we will report additional data from the ongoing Phase 1 study at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper)," Dr. Adams continued. "During the meeting, we will also show new gene expression data that reinforce our understanding of the mechanism of action underlying our NAM technology platform which enabled the generation of both of our development candidates."
Program Highlights
Announced presentation of new data at the 61st Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper): Last week, Gamida Cell announced that additional data from the ongoing Phase 1 clinical study of GDA-201 will be presented during an oral session at the ASH (Free ASH Whitepaper) 2019 Annual Meeting, which is being held December 7 – 10 in Orlando, FL. The presentation, "Results of a Phase 1 Trial of GDA-201, Nicotinamide-Expanded Allogeneic Natural Killer Cells (NAM-NK) in Patients with Refractory Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) and Multiple Myeloma (MM)" (Abstract #777), will take place on Monday, December 9, at 3:15 p.m. ET.
Additionally, new research on the mechanism of action of Gamida Cell’s NAM-based cell expansion platform, which is designed to enhance the number and functionality of allogeneic donor cells, will also be shared during the meeting. The poster presentation, "Nicotinamide (NAM) Modulates Transcriptional Signature of Ex Vivo Cultured UCB CD34+ Cells (Omidubicel) and Preserves Their Stemness and Engraftment Potential" (Abstract #3718), will take place on Monday, December 9, from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. ET.
Advanced the Phase 3 clinical study of omidubicel: Patient enrollment continued to progress in the Gamida Cell’s Phase 3 study of omidubicel in patients with high-risk hematologic malignancies. The international, randomized, multi-center study is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of omidubicel compared to standard umbilical cord blood for allogeneic bone marrow transplant in approximately 120 patients with no available matched donor. The company anticipates completing patient enrollment by the end of this year with topline data anticipated in first half of 2020.
Initiated health outcomes research for omidubicel: In September, Gamida Cell and the CIBMTR (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research) announced a research agreement to evaluate outcomes of patients with hematological malignancies who undergo allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (bone marrow transplant) from various donor sources. The recently launched observational study includes both retrospective and prospective data contemporaneous to the Phase 3 study of omidubicel. The goal of this real-world, observational study is to better understand the variables that influence the health outcomes of patients receiving a transplant from a source other than a fully matched family donor.
Continued to focus on activities required to successfully bring omidubicel to patients: Gamida Cell is continuing to advance key activities required to bring omidubicel to patients in a commercial setting, including building out manufacturing infrastructure, assembling an experienced commercial team with expertise in cell therapy and transplant, establishing hospital services and patient assistance programs, and exploring coverage and reimbursement models to enable access.
Progressed enrollment in the Phase 1/2 study of omidubicel in patients with severe aplastic anemia: Enrollment is ongoing in a Phase 1/2 clinical study of omidubicel in patients with severe aplastic anemia, a rare, life-threatening bone marrow failure disease. Earlier this year, encouraging data from the first cohort of patients were reported at the 2019 Transplantation & Cellular Therapy (TCT) Meeting that demonstrated that all three patients in the cohort successfully underwent a bone marrow transplant consisting of omidubicel plus a haploidentical stem cell graft. The rapid engraftment, sustained hematopoiesis and accelerated immune recovery observed enabled the initiation of a second cohort, where patients will be treated with omidubicel as a stand-alone graft.
Continued to prepare for the next clinical study of GDA-201: The company is continuing its work to enable a Phase 1/2 multi-dose, multi-center study of GDA-201 in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which is expected to begin in 2020. The decision to focus the next clinical study on non-Hodgkin lymphoma is based on the encouraging clinical data reported at the 2019 TCT Meeting which demonstrated the GDA-201 was generally well tolerated and clinically active, with multiple complete responses observed.
Third Quarter 2019 Financial Results
Research and development (R&D) expenses in the third quarter of 2019 were $7.4 million compared to $5.1 million for the same period in 2018. R&D expenses were higher in the third quarter of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018 due to the advancement of omidubicel and GDA-201.
General and administrative expenses were $4.6 million for the third quarter of 2019, compared to $2.4 million for the same period in 2018. The difference was attributable mainly to a $1.2 million increase in activities related to commercial readiness, as well as $1.0 million increase in professional services and other expenses, including an increase in expenses associated with being a publicly-traded company.
Finance income, net, was $1.7 million for the third quarter of 2019, compared to finance expenses, net, of $2.2 million for the same period in 2018. The net increase was primarily due to non-cash income resulting from the re-valuation of warrants, offset by non-cash expenses from the re-valuation of the Israeli Innovation Authority royalty-bearing grant liability.
Net loss for the third quarter of 2019 was $10.1 million, compared to a net loss of $9.8 million for the same period in 2018.
As of September 30, 2019, Gamida Cell had total cash, cash equivalents and available-for-sale assets of $68.1 million, compared to $60.7 million as of December 31, 2018.
2019 Financial Guidance
Gamida Cell continues to expect cash used for ongoing operating activities in 2019 to range from $35 million to $40 million, reflecting anticipated expenditures to advance the company’s clinical programs.
Gamida Cell expects that its current cash, cash equivalents and available-for-sale securities will support the company’s ongoing operating activities into the fourth quarter of 2020. This cash runway guidance is based on the company’s current operational plans and excludes any additional funding that may be received or business development activities that may be undertaken.
Conference Call Information
Gamida Cell will host a conference call today, November 13, 2019, at 4:30 p.m. ET to discuss these financial results and company updates. A live webcast of the conference call can be accessed in the "Investors" section of Gamida Cell’s website at www.gamida-cell.com. To participate in the live call, please dial 866-930-5560 (domestic) or 409-216-0605 (international) and refer to conference ID number 8653335. A replay of the webcast will be available approximately two hours after the event, for approximately 30 days.
About Omidubicel
Omidubicel (formerly known as NiCord), the company’s lead clinical program, is an advanced cell therapy under development as a potential life-saving allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell (bone marrow) transplant solution for patients with hematologic malignancies (blood cancers). Omidubicel is the first bone marrow transplant product to receive Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and has also received Orphan Drug Designation in the U.S. and EU. In a Phase 1/2 clinical study, omidubicel demonstrated rapid and durable time to engraftment and was generally well-tolerated.1 A Phase 3 study evaluating omidubicel in patients with leukemia and lymphoma is ongoing in the U.S., Europe and Asia.2 Omidubicel is also being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical study in patients with severe aplastic anemia.3 The aplastic anemia investigational new drug application is currently filed with the FDA under the brand name CordIn, which is the same investigational development candidate as omidubicel. For more information on clinical trials of omidubicel, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov.
About GDA-201
Gamida Cell applied the capabilities of its NAM-based cell expansion technology to develop GDA-201 (formerly known as NAM-NK), an innate natural killer (NK) cell immunotherapy for the treatment of hematologic and solid tumors in combination with standard of care antibody therapies. GDA-201 addresses key limitations of NK cells by increasing the cytotoxicity and in vivo retention and proliferation in the bone marrow and lymphoid organs of NK cells expanded in culture. GDA-201 is in Phase 1 development through an investigator-sponsored study in patients with refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma.4
Omidubicel and GDA-201 are investigational therapies, and their safety and efficacy have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or any other health authority.