On March 23, 2023 Xenetic Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: XBIO) ("Xenetic" or the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on advancing innovative immune-oncology technologies addressing hard to treat cancers, reported its financial results for the full year 2022 and provided a business update (Press release, Xenetic Biosciences, MAR 23, 2023, View Source [SID1234629253]).

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"2022 represented a transformational year for the Company. We expanded our oncology pipeline and bolstered our potential for key inflection points. We have continued to execute on our development plans for the DNase platform and are encouraged by our progress towards creating a near-term clinical development opportunity. We believe that our DNase platform, comprising multiple treatment modalities, has the potential to generate much needed therapies for pancreatic carcinoma and other locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors, and we are excited to unlock the full potential of our assets," commented Jeffrey Eisenberg, Chief Executive Officer of Xenetic.

DNase Oncology Platform: Targeting Neutrophil Extracellular Traps ("NETs") to improve cancer therapies with a focus on advancing systemic DNase program into the clinic as an adjunctive therapy for pancreatic carcinoma and other locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors.

Program Highlights:

· Systemic DNase program initially targeting multi-billion-dollar indications.
· Advancing toward planned first-in-human study to evaluate DNase combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors or chemotherapy.
· Notice of allowance received in January 2023 for Canadian patent covering use of DNase enzyme for preventing or ameliorating toxicity associated with chemotherapy.
· Appointed globally recognized oncology and NETs experts Allan Tsung, MD and Jonathan Spicer, MD, PhD to the Scientific Advisory Board for advancement of the DNase oncology platform.
· In August 2022, entered into a research and development collaboration agreement with VolitionRX Limited to develop NETs-targeted adoptive cell therapies potentially targeting multiple types of solid cancers.
· In June 2022, entered into a development and manufacturing agreement with Catalent Pharma Solutions LLC, which will include cGMP manufacturing of Phase 1 clinical supply.

PolyXen Platform Technology: Patent-protected platform technology designed for protein or peptide therapeutics, enabling next-generation biological drugs by prolonging a drug’s circulating half-life and potentially improving other pharmacological properties.

Program Highlight:

· Royalty payments of approximately $1.7 million were received from our sublicense with Takeda in the year ended December 31, 2022, representing an approximate 47.1% increase over the year ended December 31, 2021.

Summary of Financial Results for Fiscal Year 2022

Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2022 was approximately $6.6 million. Research and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2022 increased by $1.6 million, or 50.8% to $4.8 million from $3.2 million in the comparable period in 2021 primarily due to in-process research and development expense of $1.8 million. General and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $3.7 million, a 2.4% decrease compared to the same period in the prior year. The decrease was primarily due to a decrease in consulting and legal costs associated with our intellectual property portfolio substantially offset by an increase in legal costs related to the licensing of the DNase oncology platform from CLS during the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the same period in 2021.

The Company ended the year with approximately $13.1 million of cash.