Full Press Release Details
Reports First Quarter 2014 Financial Results
to host conference call beginning at 11 a.m. ET today
LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 8, 2014--Agenus Inc.
(NASDAQ:AGEN), an immuno-oncology company developing a portfolio of
checkpoint modulators (CPMs), heat shock protein vaccines and adjuvants,
today announced its financial results and business highlights for the
first quarter ended March 31, 2014.
"I am very pleased to report that shortly following the announcement of
the 4-Antibody AG acquisition, we selected our first checkpoint
modulator antibody candidates to advance into investigational new
drug-enabling studies and raised funding to advance our programs to
important value inflection points," said Garo H. Armen, PhD, chairman
and CEO of Agenus. "In addition, we consummated our first major
corporate collaboration in the checkpoint antibody field with Merck, a
leader in immuno-oncology."
First Quarter and Recent 2014 Highlights
Completed the acquisition of 4-Antibody AG, a private European-based
biopharmaceutical company.
Entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Merck for the
discovery of fully human antibodies against two undisclosed Merck
checkpoint targets using the Retrocyte Display
platform. Agenus is eligible to receive approximately $100 million in
potential milestone payments as well as worldwide royalties on product
Identified three check point modulator (CPM) candidates to advance
into investigational new drug-enabling development. These include two
GITR agonists and a CTLA-4 antagonist which are the result of a
research collaboration with Ludwig Cancer Research.
Completed an underwritten registered public offering resulting in net
proceeds of approximately $56 million.
Announced initiation of a randomized Phase 2 trial with Prophage and
Yervoy (ipilimumab) for the treatment of Stage III
and IV metastatic melanoma.
Announced GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) Phase 3 MAGE-A3 cancer
immunotherapeutic trial for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) did not
show benefit in the overall study population.
Appointed Robert B. Stein, MD, PhD, to the newly-created position of
Chief Scientific Officer (CSO).
First Quarter Results
The company reported a net loss attributable to common stockholders of
$409,000, or $0.01 per share, basic and diluted, for the first quarter
of 2014, compared with a net loss attributable to common stockholders in
the first quarter of 2013 of $8.8 million, or $0.35 per share, basic and
diluted. In the first quarter of 2014, the company recorded other
non-cash income of $9.9 million related to the impact of the termination
of GSK's Phase 3 MAGE-A3 trial in NSCLC. In the first quarter of 2013,
the company's preferred stock restructuring, which reduced the dividend
requirements for its Series A-1 preferred securities, resulted in a
non-cash deemed dividend of $2.9 million.
Cash and cash equivalents were $73.5 million as of March 31, 2014.
Checkpoint Antibody Platform
Through the company's 4-Antibody subsidiary, Agenus has developed a
powerful fully-human antibody drug discovery and optimization technology
platform which it is utilizing to generate a novel pipeline of antibody
therapeutic drug candidates. The Retrocyte Display
platform uses a high-throughput approach incorporating IgG format human
antibody libraries expressed in mammalian B-lineage cells.
Saponin Platform: QS-21 Stimulon
Agenus' QS-21 Stimulon adjuvant is one of the most widely tested vaccine
adjuvants in clinical development. QS-21 Stimulon is designed to
strengthen the body's immune response to a vaccine's antigen, thus
making it more effective. QS-21 Stimulon is a key component in the
development of investigational preventive vaccine formulations across a
wide variety of infectious diseases, and appears to play an important
role in several investigational therapeutic vaccines intended to treat
cancer and degenerative disorders. Licensees of QS-21 Stimulon include
GSK and Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy. Agenus is generally entitled to
receive milestone payments as QS-21Stimulon-containing programs advance,
as well as royalties for 10 years after commercial launch, with some
Heat Shock Protein Platform( HSP): Prophage Series Cancer
Derived from each individual's tumor, Prophage Series vaccines contain
the antigenic fingerprint' of the patient's particular cancer and are
designed to reprogram the body's immune system to target only cancer
cells bearing this fingerprint. Prophage Series vaccines, based on our
HSP platform technology, are intended to leave healthy tissue unaffected
and limit the debilitating side effects typically associated with
traditional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation
therapy. The Prophage Series vaccines are currently being studied in
both newly diagnosed and recurrent glioblastoma.
Heat Shock Protein Platform (HSP): Recombinant Series HerpV
HerpV is a recombinant therapeutic vaccine candidate for the treatment
of genital herpes, which is caused by the herpes simplex virus-2
(HSV-2). HerpV consists of recombinant human heat shock protein-70
complexed with 32 distinct 35-mer synthetic peptides from the HSV-2
proteome. It is one of the most clinically advanced HSV-2 therapeutic
vaccines and is in a Phase 2 study. Initial Phase 2 data were reported
during the fourth quarter of 2013 with post-booster viral shedding
results, along with immune response data, anticipated in the second
quarter of 2014. The vaccine is based on Agenus' HSP platform
technology, and contains Agenus' proprietary QS-21 Stimulon adjuvant.
Conference Call and Web Cast Information
Agenus executives will host a conference call at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time
today. To access the live call, dial 647-426-1845. The call will also be
webcast and will be accessible from the company's website at www.agenusbio.com/webcast/.
A replay will be available approximately two hours after the call
through midnight Eastern Time on July 8, 2014. The replay number is
416-915-1035, and the access code is 571716. The replay will also be
available on the company's website approximately two hours after the
Agenus is an immuno-oncology company developing a portfolio of
checkpoint modulators (CPMs), heat shock protein vaccines and adjuvants.
Agenus' checkpoint modulator programs target GITR, OX40, CTLA-4, LAG-3,