Management to host conference call today at 3 p.m. CEST / 9 a.m. EDT
August 24, 2017
Breda, the Netherlands / Ghent, Belgium - argenx (Euronext & Nasdaq: ARGX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a deep pipeline of differentiated antibody-based therapies for the treatment of severe autoimmune diseases and cancer, today announced its second quarter business update and half-year financial results for 2017.
The half-year results will be discussed during a conference call and webcast presentation today at 3 p.m. CEST/ 9 a.m. EDT. To participate in the conference call, please select your phone number below, and use the confirmation code 3427020. The webcast may be accessed on the homepage of the argenx website at www.argenx.com or by clicking here.
“The first half of 2017 has been a period of momentous growth for argenx. We completed our U.S. public offering on Nasdaq, which not only broadened our U.S. shareholder base, but also provided us with additional capital to push forward the development of our two lead drug candidates ARGX-113 and ARGX-110. ARGX-113 is progressing in both MG and ITP studies. ARGX-110 is continuing to show encouraging signs of biological activity and a promising safety profile in CTCL patients and is being tested in a combination trial in newly diagnosed AML patients. We expect to have top-line data from the Phase 2 studies in 2018,” commented Tim Van Hauwermeiren, CEO of argenx. “We also furthered our commitment to our antibody pipeline, which we continue to grow through our strategic collaborations. We announced two new partnerships this year with Staten Biotech and Broteio in very exciting therapeutic areas and made progress with our ongoing collaborations with AbbVie and Leo resulting in two milestone payments in the second quarter. Through both our wholly-owned and partnered programs, we are driving our mission forward to develop differentiated antibody candidates for patients in need.”
SECOND QUARTER 2017 AND RECENT BUSINESS HIGHLIGHTS
Products in clinical development:
ARGX-113
- Reached 50% enrollment in Phase 2 clinical trial of ARGX-113 in myasthenia gravis (MG). The double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 study is enrolling up to 24 MG patients with confirmed generalized muscle weakness.
ARGX-110
- Launched Phase 2 study of ARGX-110 as a monotherapy in relapsed/refractory cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) patients. The goal of the study is to further evaluate the intrinsic activity of the drug in CTCL patients and to broaden the safety and efficacy database.
- Presented updated data from Phase 1b expansion study of ARGX-110 in patients with CTCL at the International Conference of Malignant Lymphoma (ICML). Data continue to show evidence of clinical and/or biological anti-tumor activity across different CTCL subtypes and different disease stages.
ARGX-111
- Met safety endpoints in the Phase 1 clinical trial. Complete data set presented from ARGX-111 Phase 1b study in patients with advanced cancers over-expressing the MET protein at Best of ASCO Asia 2017 (Singapore).
Collaborations:
- Received first of two preclinical milestone payments from AbbVie under our collaboration for ARGX-115, triggering a $10 million payment from AbbVie.
- Received second preclinical milestone payments in collaboration with LEO Pharma for ARGX-112. argenx is responsible for conducting ARGX-112 research and development activities up to a first filing by LEO Pharma for clinical trial application (CTA) approval.
- Announced publication of new preclinical data in ‘Nature Medicine’ on ARGX-116 inhibiting ApoC3, a metabolic target correlated with blood lipid levels, that provide further rationale for the therapeutic potential of ARGX-116 for the treatment of dyslipidemia.
Corporate:
- Continued execution of intellectual property strategy with multiple grants and notices of allowance for SIMPLE AntibodyTM platform (U.S. and EU), ARGX-110 (U.S., EU, and Japan) and ARGX-111 (Japan and EU). argenx now has 128 patents granted and 68 pending patent applications.
- Increased headcount to 67 persons in support of the expansion of the business.
