On May 12, 2020 SpringWorks Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: SWTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing life-changing medicines for patients with severe rare diseases and cancer reported first quarter financial results for the period ended March 31, 2020 (Press release, SpringWorks Therapeutics, MAY 12, 2020, View Source [SID1234557583]).

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 are pleased with our execution in the first quarter of 2020, which included building upon our existing intellectual property portfolio by extending the patent protection for our lead product candidate, nirogacestat, to 2039, while continuing to advance our diversified pipeline of targeted oncology programs," said Saqib Islam, Chief Executive Officer of SpringWorks. "Our focus for the remainder of the year continues to be on enrolling patients in our ongoing clinical trials, advancing nirogacestat as a cornerstone of BCMA combination therapy for patients with multiple myeloma, and further expanding our portfolio through additional business development activities."

Recent Business Highlights

In March 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a new composition of matter patent that covers the polymorphic form of nirogacestat that is currently in clinical development. This patent expires in 2039.

In March 2020, MapKure LLC, a clinical-stage company that is jointly owned by SpringWorks and BeiGene, Ltd., announced that the first patient was dosed in Australia in a Phase 1 clinical trial of BGB-3245, a selective RAF dimer inhibitor. This ongoing Phase 1 trial is enrolling adult patients with biomarker-defined advanced or refractory solid tumors that may benefit from BGB-3245 treatment. The companies also announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has allowed the Investigational New Drug application submitted for BGB-3245 to proceed, which will enable this study to expand to U.S. sites as well.

In January 2020, SpringWorks entered into a clinical collaboration agreement with Allogene Therapeutics to evaluate nirogacestat in combination with ALLO-715, an investigational anti-B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) allogeneic CAR T cell therapy, in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. A Phase 1 study is expected to commence in the second half of 2020.

COVID-19 Update

To date, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a relatively modest impact on SpringWorks’ business operations, in particular on SpringWorks’ clinical trial programs, and the company is undertaking considerable efforts to mitigate the various challenges presented by this crisis. For further details and descriptions of the risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, please see the Risk Factors in SpringWorks’ Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 12, 2020 and refer to the Forward-Looking Statements section in this press release.

First Quarter 2020 Financial Results

 Research and Development (R&D) Expenses: R&D expenses were

$9.7 million for the first quarter, compared to $8.4 million for the comparable period of 2019. The increases in R&D expenses were primarily attributable to growth in employee costs, including non-cash share-based compensation associated with increases in the number of R&D personnel.

 General and Administrative (G&A) Expenses: G&A expenses were $6.4 million for the first quarter, compared to $3.3 million for the comparable period of 2019. The increases in G&A expenses were primarily attributable to growth in employee costs, including non-cash share-based compensation associated with increases in the number of G&A personnel, and increases in consulting and professional services related to the expansion of our business activities.

 Net Loss Attributable to Common Stockholders: SpringWorks reported net loss of $15.3 million, or a loss of $0.37 per share, for the first quarter of 2020. This compares to net loss of $11.4 million, or a loss of $5.41 per share, for the comparable period of 2019.

Cash Position: Cash and cash equivalents were $311.1 million as of March 31, 2020.