On May 8, 2018 OncoCyte Corporation (NYSE American:OCX), a developer of novel, non-invasive liquid biopsy tests for the early detection of cancer, reported that it will release its financial and operating results for the first quarter of 2018, ended March 31, 2018, on Tuesday, May 15, 2018, after the close of the U.S. financial markets (Press release, Oncocyte, MAY 8, 2018, View Source [SID1234526200]). The Company will host a conference call on Tuesday, May 15, 2018, at 4:30 pm ET / 1:30 pm PT to discuss the results along with recent corporate developments.

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The dial-in number in the U.S./Canada is 800-263-0877; for international participants, the number is +1-323-794-2094. For all callers, please refer to Conference ID 6365614. To access the live webcast, go to the investor relations section on the Company’s website, View Source

A replay of the conference call will be available for seven business days beginning about two hours after the conclusion of the live call, by calling 888-203-1112 toll-free (from U.S./Canada); international callers dial 719-457-0820. Use the Conference ID 6365614. Additionally, the archived webcast will be available at View Source

On May 8, 2018 BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 (Press release, BioCryst Pharmaceuticalsa, MAY 8, 2018, View Source [SID1234526199]).

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"We are off to a strong start in 2018 as we continue to make progress advancing all our HAE development programs and remain on track to read out top line data from APeX-2 in the first half of next year," said Jon P. Stonehouse, BioCryst’s President and Chief Executive Officer. "We remain excited about our proposed merger with Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which we believe will create greater and more sustainable value for the benefit of our stockholders and our patients. We look forward to positive data readouts from Idera in early June, which would reinforce the value creation potential in combining our synergistic discovery engines and creating a more robust and diversified late-stage pipeline."

First Quarter 2018 Financial Results

For the three months ended March 31, 2018, total revenues were $4.0 million, compared to $9.4 million in the first quarter of 2017. The decrease in revenue was primarily associated with infrequent revenue events that occurred in 2017 that did not recur in 2018. Those 2017 events were the recognition of $4.1 million of royalty revenue from Japanese government stockpiling of RAPIACTA and a $2.0 million payment for the Canadian regulatory approval of RAPIVAB.

Research and Development ("R&D") expenses for the first quarter of 2018 increased to $18.4 million from $16.8 million in the first quarter of 2017, primarily due to additions in R&D personnel and increased spending on our hereditary angioedema ("HAE") and preclinical programs. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in the Company’s peramivir and galidesivir development spending in 2018.

General and administrative ("G&A") expenses for the first quarter of 2018 increased to $7.6 million, compared to $3.1 million in the first quarter of 2017. The increase was primarily due to approximately $4.7 million of merger-related costs associated with the Company’s pending merger with Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Idera").

Interest expense was $2.2 million in the first quarter of 2018, compared to $2.1 million in the first quarter of 2017. Also, a $1.8 million mark-to-market loss on the Company’s foreign currency hedge was recognized in the first quarter of 2018, as compared to a $1.5 million mark-to-market loss in the first quarter of 2017. These changes result from periodic changes in the U.S. dollar/Japanese yen exchange rate.

Net loss for the first quarter of 2018 was $25.8 million, or $0.26 per share, compared to a net loss of $14.2 million, or $0.19 per share, for the first quarter 2017.

Cash, cash equivalents and investments totaled $137.5 million at March 31, 2018, and reflect a decrease from $159.0 million at December 31, 2017. Net operating cash use for the first quarter 2018 was $22.9 million.

Clinical Development Update & Outlook

On February 28, 2018, BioCryst announced the dosing of the first patient in APeX-S, a long-term safety trial evaluating two dosage strengths of BCX7353 administered orally once-daily as a preventive treatment in patients with HAE. APeX-S is an open label two-arm trial to evaluate the safety of two dose levels of BCX7353 (110 mg once daily and 150 mg once daily) over 48 weeks in patients with Type I and II HAE. The trial will enroll approximately 160 patients.

On March 15, 2018, BioCryst announced the dosing of the first patient into APeX-2, a Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating two dosage strengths of BCX7353 administered orally once-daily as a preventive treatment to reduce the frequency of attacks in patients with HAE. APeX-2 is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, three-arm trial testing two doses of BCX7353 (110 mg and 150 mg) for prevention of angioedema attacks. The trial is expected to enroll approximately 100 patients with Type I and II HAE in the United States, Canada and Europe. The primary efficacy endpoint of APeX-2 is the rate of angioedema attacks over 24 weeks of study drug administration.

Enrollment in both the 750 mg and 500 mg cohorts of the ZENITH-1 proof-of-concept Phase 2 clinical trial liquid formulation of BCX7353 for treatment of acute angioedema attacks in HAE have been completed, and the 250 mg cohort is enrolling. We expect to report top-line results from the first cohort in the second half of 2018.

On May 1, 2018, BioCryst announced that the European Medicines Agency ("EMA") has approved peramivir with the brand name of ALPIVABTM, a single intravenous infusion for the treatment of uncomplicated influenza in adults and children from the age of 2 years. The EMA approval of ALPIVAB under the centralized licensing procedure provides marketing authorization for all 28-member states of the European Union, Norway and Iceland.

BioCryst has a license agreement with Seqirus regarding peramivir. As previously disclosed, BioCryst and Seqirus are engaged in a formal dispute resolution process involving many items under the contract including, but not limited to, the EMA approval milestone of $5 million, which BioCryst maintains is due.

In April 2018, the Therapeutic Goods Administration approved RAPIVAB (peramivir injection), an intravenous treatment for acute influenza, for commercial sale in Australia.
Financial Outlook for 2018

Based upon development plans and awarded government contracts, on a stand-alone basis, BioCryst continues to expect its 2018 net operating cash use to be in the range of $67 to $90 million, and its 2018 operating expenses to be in the range of $85 to $110 million. With merger-related costs and the aggressive advancement of programs thus far, it is expected the Company will trend to the upper-end of both ranges. The Company’s operating expense range excludes equity-based compensation expense due to the difficulty in reliably projecting this expense, as it is impacted by the volatility and price of the Company’s stock, as well as by the vesting of the Company’s outstanding performance-based stock options.

Conference Call and Webcast

BioCryst’s leadership team will host a conference call and webcast Tuesday, May 8, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss these financial results and recent corporate developments. To participate in the conference call, please dial 1-877-303-8027 (United States) or 1-760-536-5165 (International). No passcode is needed for the call. The webcast can be accessed live or in archived form in the "Investors" section of the Company’s website at www.BioCryst.com. An accompanying slide presentation may also be accessed via the BioCryst website. Please connect to the website at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the conference call to ensure adequate time for any software download that may be necessary.

Special Meetings of Stockholders

On April 10, 2018, BioCryst and Idera jointly announced that they have each rescheduled their respective Special Meetings of Stockholders to vote on the proposed merger of BioCryst and Idera to July 10, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

The BioCryst Board of Directors unanimously recommends that BioCryst stockholders vote "FOR" the proposed merger at the BioCryst Special Meeting.

About BCX7353

Discovered by BioCryst, BCX7353 is a novel, oral, once-daily, selective inhibitor of plasma kallikrein currently in development for the prevention and treatment of angioedema attacks in patients diagnosed with HAE. BCX7353 has been generally safe and well tolerated in the Phase 2 APeX-1 clinical trial. BioCryst is currently conducting the Phase 3 APeX-2 clinical trial and the long-term safety APeX-S clinical trial, both evaluating two dosage strengths of BCX7353 administered orally once-daily as a preventive treatment to reduce the frequency of attacks in patients with HAE. BioCryst is also conducting the ZENITH-1 clinical trial. ZENITH-1 is a proof-of-concept Phase 2 clinical trial testing an oral liquid formulation of BCX7353 for the treatment of acute angioedema attacks.

On May 8, 2018 AVEO Oncology (NASDAQ:AVEO) reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 and provided a business update (Press release, AVEO, MAY 8, 2018, View Source;p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2347579 [SID1234526198]).

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"We continue to work toward reporting topline results from our Phase 3 TIVO-3 Study, which we now anticipate will occur in the third quarter of 2018. We are working closely with our contract research organization (CRO) to shorten the time required to do the data cleaning and analysis upon reaching the requisite number of events. Together with the TIVO-1 study, the TIVO-3 study has been designed to serve as the basis for a potential U.S. approval of tivozanib as a first- and third-line treatment for advanced renal cell carcinoma (aRCC)," said Michael Bailey, president and chief executive officer of AVEO. "This important milestone, if achieved, would add to the continued commercial progress of FOTIVDA which is approved in Europe, with launches currently underway in Germany, the U.K. and Austria. We finished the quarter with $27 million in cash, cash equivalents and investments as of March 31, 2018. Under our agreement with our partner EUSA, we have double-digit royalty payments due to us on net sales of FOTIVDA in Europe, potential milestone payments including $8 million related to reimbursement approvals for France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, and $20M in potential R&D reimbursement for access to TIVO-3 data in the event of a positive study."

Mr. Bailey added, "As we work toward our goal of commercialization in the U.S., we also continue to aggressively pursue the third pillar of our tivozanib strategy, combinations with immunotherapy. We were pleased to present results from the ongoing Phase 2 portion of the TiNivo study of tivozanib and nivolumab (OPDIVO) in aRCC at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) GU. These early results demonstrated a combination of a favorable safety profile and activity that we believe hold significant promise for patients with aRCC and potentially other tumor types such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)."

Tivozanib TIVO-3 Study North America Update

Update on Anticipated Timeline to Topline Data from Phase 3 TIVO-3 Study. AVEO reported that the pre-specified number of progression free survival (PFS) events required to trigger data analysis of the Phase 3 TIVO-3 trial have not been reached at this time and, as such, the Company is amending its guidance for the anticipated topline data readout from the second to the third quarter of 2018. In collaboration with the CRO conducting the TIVO-3 study, AVEO has taken measures to shorten the data cleaning and analysis period following the pre-specified events trigger from 8-10 weeks down to 6-8 weeks. Together with the previously completed TIVO-1 trial of tivozanib in the first line treatment of aRCC, TIVO-3 is designed to support regulatory approval of tivozanib in the U.S. as a first- and third-line treatment for aRCC.

Tivozanib (FOTIVDA) European Union Updates

Tivozanib (FOTIVDA) Launched in Austria for the Treatment of aRCC. In April 2018, FOTIVDA was launched in Austria for the treatment of adult patients with aRCC. This follows the February 2018 publication by the United Kingdom’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) of a Final Appraisal Determination recommending FOTIVDA for the first line treatment of adult patients with aRCC, which triggered the commercial launch in the UK as well as a $2M milestone payment to AVEO from EUSA Pharma, the licensee for tivozanib in Europe. FOTIVDA is now available in the Germany, the U.K., and Austria.

FOTIVDA was granted European Commission (EC) approval in August 2017 for the treatment of adult patients with aRCC in the European Union plus Norway and Iceland.
Additional Tivozanib Updates

Long-term Follow-up Results from TIVO-1 Extension Study (Study 902), Published in the European Journal of Cancer. In March 2018, AVEO announced the publication of long-term follow-up results from Study 902, where patients were treated with tivozanib (FOTIVDA) as second-line treatment for aRCC, in the European Journal of Cancer. Findings from the study underscore the activity of tivozanib in the refractory setting, with evidence of encouraging clinical responses, disease control and overall survival outcomes in patients previously treated with a VEGFR TKI and support the rationale for the ongoing Phase 3 TIVO-3 study. The publication, titled "Efficacy of Tivozanib Treatment after Sorafenib in Patients with Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma: Crossover of a Phase 3 Study," is available on our website at www.aveooncology.com.
Results from Phase 2 Portion of the TiNivo Study of Tivozanib and Nivolumab (OPDIVO) in mRCC Presented at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) GU. In February 2018, Bernard Escudier, M.D., from the Institute Gustav Roussy in Paris, France presented results from the ongoing Phase 2 portion of the TiNivo study at the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper)’s Genitourinary Cancers Symposium (ASCO GU). TiNivo is a Phase 1b/2 multi-center trial of oral tivozanib in combination with intravenous nivolumab (OPDIVO, Bristol-Myers Squibb), an immune checkpoint, or PD-1, inhibitor, for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). The presentation noted the favorable safety profile and promising preliminary anti-tumor activity observed to date. These results continue to support the potential advantages of using a high-specificity VEGF inhibitor TKI in building upon the benefit of immune checkpoint therapy in renal cancer. AVEO and EUSA Pharma expect to present further updates to the TiNivo study at upcoming medical meetings in the second half of 2018.
Phase 1b/2 Study Results of Tivozanib in Patients with Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Presented at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) GI. In January 2018, AVEO announced the presentation of data from a multi-center, Phase 1b/2 study of tivozanib in previously untreated patients with advanced, unresectable HCC at the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (ASCO GI). Findings from the study suggest that tivozanib has the potential to yield comparable PFS and a favorable response rate when compared to current first-line standards of care for HCC patients, and demonstrated a favorable safety profile which may enable therapeutic combinations with immunotherapy. The Phase 1b/2 study was led by Renuka Iyar, M.D., from the Roswell Park Cancer Center and was one of several studies funded by a grant provided to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network by AVEO.
Ficlatuzumab Update

Trials in Progress Poster for Phase 1b Study of Ficlatuzumab in Combination with Gemcitabine and Nab-paclitaxel in Pancreatic Cancer to be Presented at the 2018 ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting. An ongoing, investigator-sponsored Phase 1b study to test the safety and tolerability of ficlatuzumab when combined with Nab-paclitaxel and Gemcitabine in previously untreated metastatic pancreatic ductal cancer (PDAC) will be presented as a trials in progress poster (Poster Board: #330b, Abstract TPS4152) at the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL. The study, which is being conducted under the direction of Kimberly Perez, M.D. at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, is currently enrolling, with an expected total enrollment of approximately 30 patients.
Corporate Updates

Refinanced Debt Facility, Extending Cash Runway into 2019. In January 2018, AVEO announced that it completed the refinancing of its existing $20.0 million debt facility with Hercules Capital, Inc. and its affiliates, the terms of which enable approximately an additional $12.1 million in cash flow over 2018 and 2019, when compared to the prior loan. The new $20.0 million facility has a 42-month maturity from closing, no financial covenants, a lower interest rate and an interest-only period of no less than 12 months, which could be extended up to a maximum of 24 months, assuming the achievement of specified milestones relating to the development of tivozanib. Extension of the interest-only period is expected to enable the Company to extend its cash runway into the first quarter of 2019. Proceeds of the new facility were used to retire the Company’s previous $20.0 million of secured debt with Hercules.
Strengthened Board of Directors. In February 2018, AVEO announced the appointment of John H. Johnson to the Company’s Board of Directors. Mr. Johnson brings to AVEO over three decades of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceuticals industries, having held commercial and executive management roles at leading global corporations that have a focus on oncology.
First Quarter 2018 Financial Highlights

AVEO ended Q1 2018 with $27.0 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as compared with $33.5 million at December 31, 2017.
Total revenue for Q1 2018 was approximately $1.0 million compared with $2.5 million for Q1 2017.
Research and development expense for Q1 2018 was $5.4 million compared with $8.0 million for Q1 2017.
General and administrative expense for Q1 2018 was $2.6 million compared with $2.3 million for Q1 2017.
Net loss for Q1 2018 was $9.0 million, or a loss of $0.08 per basic and diluted share, compared with net loss of $8.8 million for Q1 2017, or a loss of $0.12 per basic and diluted share. Approximately $1.5 million of the Q1 2018 net loss was a non-cash loss attributable to the increase in the fair value of the warrant liability that principally resulted from the increase in the stock price that occurred within the quarter. In Q1 2017, the non-cash loss attributable to the increase in the fair value of the warrant liability was $0.5 million.
Financial Guidance

We believe that our $27.0 million in cash resources would allow us to fund our planned operations into the first quarter of 2019. This estimate assumes no receipt of additional milestones from our partners or related payment of potential licensing milestones to third parties, no additional funding from new partnership agreements, no additional equity or debt financings, and no sales of equity through the exercise of our outstanding warrants issued in connection with our 2016 private placement.

On May 8, 2018 Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATRA), a leading off-the-shelf, allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy company developing novel treatments for patients with cancer, autoimmune and viral diseases, today reported financial results for the first quarter of 2018 and recent operational highlights (Press release, Atara Biotherapeutics, MAY 8, 2018, View Source [SID1234526197]).

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"During the first quarter of 2018, we continued to advance our T-cell immunotherapy pipeline and platform," said Isaac Ciechanover, M.D., Chief Executive Officer and President of Atara Biotherapeutics. "Our two Phase 3 pivotal studies of tab-cel are progressing, and we remain focused on building Atara’s global commercial and operational capabilities in anticipation of the first tab-cel Phase 3 results and submission of an EU conditional marketing authorization application in the first half of 2019. We are also excited to have recently expanded our collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to develop next generation chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T) technologies, marking our entry into genetically engineered T-cells and furthering our leadership position in off-the-shelf, allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy. I am pleased with our strong operational and strategic execution in the first quarter and look forward to both continuing this momentum and updating you on our progress throughout the rest of the year."

Recent Highlights and Anticipated Upcoming Milestones

Two Phase 3 clinical studies are underway (MATCH and ALLELE) to evaluate tab-cel (tabelecleucel) in patients with Epstein-Barr virus associated post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (EBV+ PTLD) who have failed rituximab following hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) or solid organ transplant (SOT).
9 clinical sites for the MATCH and 12 for the ALLELE studies are now open for enrollment in the U.S. with additional sites expected to open in the U.S. and other geographies.
Continued to expand research and development, operational and commercial leadership as we advance our pipeline, leverage the potential of our technology platform and prepare for the expected tab-cel CMA submission in the EU and potential launch.
Biotech industry veteran Dietmar Berger, M.D., Ph.D., most recently a senior R&D leader at Roche/Genentech, joined Atara as Global Head of Research and Development.
Appointed Mina Kim as Senior Vice President and General Counsel, who has nearly 20 years of corporate legal experience.
Expanded commercial leadership team with the appointment of Manuela Maronati as General Manager, Europe, who brings extensive European commercial launch and operations experience in the oncology and rare disease areas.
Expanded T-cell immunotherapy collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) to advance next-generation CAR T technologies in oncology, autoimmune and other diseases.
Gained access to several of MSK’s innovative enabling technologies, including a novel CAR T construct that Atara believes has physiologic T cell activation properties, as well as methods for designing CAR T immunotherapies.
Entered into an exclusive research collaboration for multiple targets with Michel Sadelain, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Center for Cell Engineering at MSK, to employ next-generation technologies in developing novel CAR T immunotherapies.
Plan to rapidly advance novel gene-edited CAR T development programs leveraging our existing off-the-shelf T-cell immunotherapy technology platform, manufacturing expertise and research and development capabilities.
Strengthened cash position with the completion of two underwritten public offerings in the first quarter of 2018 with net proceeds of approximately $293.3 million. Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments as of March 31, 2018 totaled $407.3 million, which we believe enable us to expand our near-term pipeline and accelerate pre-commercial activities as well as fund our previously planned operations to mid-2020.

Partnered with TrakCel, an industry-leading software provider for cell and gene therapy supply chain tracking and orchestration, to develop Atara MatchMe, the first commercial product delivery solution designed to achieve streamlined supply and delivery of an off-the-shelf, allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy.
Atara MatchMe is being designed to provide a compelling customer experience across a diverse range of treatment centers, partners, systems and geographies to ensure tab-cel is safely and effectively ordered and delivered, globally to patients in the minimum possible time.

At the 44th Annual Meeting of the European and Marrow transplantation (EBMT) in March 2018, Atara and its collaborating investigator at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill presented findings from a comprehensive literature review of the mortality burden of PTLD following HCT.
Based on a review of studies published since 2005, the research showed that 42.5% of PTLD patients diagnosed following HCT died as a result of the disease, and in the patients who died, the median time from initial diagnosis of PTLD to death for children and adults was under 8 weeks.
A multinational Phase 1 clinical study to evaluate ATA188 in patients with progressive or relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis is also underway across clinical sites in the U.S. and Australia.
The primary objective of the Phase 1 study is to assess the safety of ATA188 in patients followed for at least one year after the first dose. Key secondary endpoints in the study include measures of clinical improvement such as expanded disability status scale (EDSS) and annualized relapse rate (ARR), as well as MRI imaging.
The first interim results from the ongoing ATA188 Phase 1 study in patients with progressive MS are expected in the first half of 2019.
Atara plans to initiate a Phase 1/2 clinical study of tab-cel in combination with Merck’s anti-PD-1 (programmed death receptor-1) therapy, KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), in patients with platinum-resistant or recurrent EBV-associated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in the second half of 2018.

Expect to present updated tab-cel results in patients with EBV+ cancers in the second half of 2018.

Expect operations to commence at Atara T Cell Operations & Manufacturing (ATOM) facility in the second quarter of 2018, with completion to support clinical production in 2019.
First Quarter 2018 Financial Results

Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments as of March 31, 2018 totaled $407.3 million, which includes $293.3 million in net proceeds from the two underwritten public offerings completed in the first quarter of 2018.
The Company reported net losses of $41.4 million, or $1.05 per share, for the first quarter of 2018, as compared to $25.7 million, or $0.88 per share, for the same period in 2017.
Research and development expenses were $28.5 million for the first quarter of 2018, as compared to $17.5 million for the same period in 2017. The increase in the first quarter of 2018 was due to costs associated with the Company’s continuing expansion of research and development activities, including:
clinical trial, manufacturing and outside service costs related to the initiation of the two tab-cel Phase 3 clinical studies in patients with EBV+ PTLD who have failed rituximab;
clinical manufacturing and the initiation of the Phase 1 clinical study of allogeneic ATA188, which was initiated in October 2017;
higher payroll and related costs from increased headcount, and
an increase in allocated facilities and information technology expenses.
Research and development expenses include $2.9 million and $2.1 million of non-cash stock-based compensation expenses in the first quarters of 2018 and 2017, respectively.
General and administrative expenses were $14.0 million for the first quarter of 2018, as compared to $8.6 million for the same period in 2017. The increase in the first quarter of 2018 was primarily due to increases in payroll and related costs driven by increased headcount to support the Company’s expanding operations and higher professional services costs. General and administrative expenses include $4.1 million and $3.2 million of non-cash stock-based compensation expenses in the first quarters of 2018 and 2017, respectively.

On May 8, 2018 Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATRA), a leading off-the-shelf, allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy company developing novel treatments for patients with cancer, autoimmune and viral diseases, reported the Company has expanded its collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) to develop the next generation of genetically engineered chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T) immunotherapies (Press release, Atara Biotherapeutics, MAY 8, 2018, View Source [SID1234526196]). This agreement is the next step in Atara’s strategy to leverage the potential of the Company’s technology platform to develop genetically modified off-the-shelf, allogeneic T-cell immunotherapies to transform the lives of patients with serious medical conditions.

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Under the agreement, Atara will gain access to several of MSK’s innovative enabling technologies, including a novel CAR T construct that Atara believes has physiologic T-cell activation properties, as well as methods for designing CAR T immunotherapies. Atara is also entering into an exclusive research collaboration for multiple targets with Michel Sadelain, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Center for Cell Engineering at MSK, to employ next-generation technologies in developing novel CAR T immunotherapies with applications in oncology, autoimmune and infectious diseases.

Dr. Sadelain stated, "We are eager to work with Atara to continue advancing promising allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy technologies that originated at MSK. The new CAR T technologies seek to overcome persistent therapeutic challenges, such as safety and tolerability, durability of treatment response, and activity in areas of significant unmet medical need that are underserved by the current generation of CAR T immunotherapies."

"Our earlier MSK collaboration has been highly productive, highlighted by tab-cel, Atara’s off-the-shelf, allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy currently in Phase 3 development," said Isaac Ciechanover, M.D., Chief Executive Officer and President of Atara Biotherapeutics. "The deepening of our collaboration with MSK allows us to rapidly advance novel gene-edited CAR T development programs leveraging our existing off-the-shelf T-cell immunotherapy technology platform, manufacturing expertise and research and development capabilities. Going forward, we plan to continue to assemble complementary genetic engineering technologies to grow our pipeline and realize the full potential of our platform."