On August 13, 2020 Repare Therapeutics Inc. ("Repare") (Nasdaq: RPTX), a leading precision oncology company enabled by its proprietary synthetic lethality approach to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics, reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020, as well as recent operational highlights (Press release, Repare Therapeutics, AUG 13, 2020, View Source [SID1234563590]).
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!
"We set out in 2016 to become the leading precision oncology company focused on synthetic lethality in genomic instability and DNA damage repair, and have since built a strong pipeline of product candidates based upon our proprietary genome-wide, CRISPR enabled SNIPRx platform," said Lloyd M. Segal, President and Chief Executive Officer of Repare. "With the successful completion of our initial public offering in June and our entry into a strategic collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb in May, we have established a strong cash position to advance our pipeline. I am proud of our entire team and the remarkable progress they have made."
Operational Highlights:
Initiated a phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluating RP-3500 as a monotherapy and in combination with Pfizer’s PARPi, talazoparib. In July 2020, the Company received acceptance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of an investigational new drug (IND) application and commenced dosing for the first patient in the Phase 1/2 clinical trial of RP-3500.
Completed initial public offering (IPO). In June 2020, Repare closed an upsized IPO of 12,650,000 of its common shares, including the exercise in full of the underwriters’ option to purchase up to an additional 1,650,000 common shares, at a public offering price of $20.00 per share. The net proceeds to Repare, after deducting underwriting commissions and offering expenses, were $232 million.
Bristol Myers Squibb collaboration. In May 2020, Repare entered into an exclusive, worldwide target discovery collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb. Repare received an upfront payment from Bristol Myers Squibb of $65 million in Q2 2020, which included a $15 million equity investment in Repare in the form of a warrant that automatically exercised into 750,000 common shares at the public offering price of $20.00 per share upon IPO. In addition, Repare will be eligible to receive additional contingent payments of up to approximately $3 billion in the form of license fees, discovery, development, regulatory and sales-based milestones, in addition to royalty payments on net sales of each product commercialized by Bristol Myers Squibb.
Appointed new director. In June 2020, Repare appointed Ann D. Rhoads to its Board of Directors and as Chairperson of its Audit Committee.
Second Quarter 2020 Financial Results:
Cash and restricted cash: Cash and restricted cash as of June 30, 2020 were $370.1 million.
Research and development expenses, net of tax credits (Net R&D): Net R&D expenses were $9.0 million and $17.6 million for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2020, respectively, as compared to $4.9 million and $8.6 million in the same periods in the prior year, respectively. Increases in R&D for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2020 were primarily due to increases in development costs related to Repare’s RP-3500 and CCNE1-SL programs, as well as increases in personnel related expenses and certain other R&D expenses.
General and administrative (G&A) expenses: G&A expenses were $3.4 million and $5.4 million for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2020, respectively, as compared to $1 million and $2.1 million in the same periods in the prior year, respectively. Increases in G&A for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2020 were due to increases in payroll and personnel costs as well as increases in legal, professional and D&O insurance costs, which in turn increased as a result of our recent IPO.
Net loss: Net loss was $11.8 million, or $2.45 per share in the second quarter of 2020 and $24.4 million, or $7.56 per share, in the first half of 2020.
About Repare Therapeutics’ SNIPRx Platform
Repare’s SNIPRx platform is a genome-wide CRISPR-based screening approach that utilizes proprietary isogenic cell lines to identify novel and known synthetic lethal gene pairs and the corresponding patients who are most likely to benefit from the Company’s therapies based on the genetic profile of their tumors. Repare’s platform enables the development of precision therapeutics in patients whose tumors contain one or more genomic alterations identified by SNIPRx screening, in order to selectively target those patients most likely to achieve clinical benefit from resulting product candidates.