ASLAN PHARMACEUTICALS REPORTS THIRD QUARTER 2018 FINANCIAL RESULTS AND PROVIDES CORPORATE UPDATE
Singapore, – ASLAN Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ASLN, TPEx:6497), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company targeting cancers that are both highly prevalent in Asia and orphan indications in the United States and Europe, today reported financial results for the quarter ended 30 September 2018 and provided an update on its clinical activities.
Dr Carl Firth, Chief Executive Officer, ASLAN Pharmaceuticals, said: “We made further progress across our clinical development programs in the third quarter with the completion of enrolment in the phase 2 part of our gastric cancer study for varlitinib, our pan-HER inhibitor, and the dosing of our first subject in a phase 1 study for ASLAN004, our IL-4/IL-13 receptor antibody. In addition, we were pleased that the US FDA granted ASLAN003 Orphan Drug Designation for the potential treatment of AML and we continued our outreach to the scientific community with a number of poster presentations at key medical meetings. We also recently took the step of strengthening our board with the addition of Robert E. Hoffman as a director of the company. Looking ahead, we have a number of potentially value-creating milestones in the near term, including readouts from our AML, biliary tract and gastric cancer programs.”
Third quarter 2018 and recent business highlights
- Completed recruitment of 52 patients for the phase 2 part of global phase 2/3 study investigating varlitinib as first line therapy in HER1/HER2 co-expressing advanced or metastatic gastric cancer patients.
- Presented new data on varlitinib showing promising results in heavily pre-treated biliary tract cancer (BTC) and colorectal cancer patients, and a poster on ASLAN003 at the 2018 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Munich, Germany.
- Presented two posters on varlitinib at Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.
- Provided update on timelines for single-arm trial of varlitinib in BTC in China.
- Granted US Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) by the US FDA for ASLAN003 as a treatment for acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).
- Dosed the first subject in a phase 1 study investigating ASLAN004 as a therapeutic antibody for atopic dermatitis.
- Appointed Robert E. Hoffman, an experienced pharmaceutical industry leader, as an Independent Non-Executive Director.
Anticipated upcoming milestones
- Presentations of preliminary phase 2a results in AML showing early signs of activity and preclinical data for ASLAN003 at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting on December 2 and 3, 2018.
- Topline data from pivotal global phase 2 study on varlitinib in gastric cancer in fourth quarter of 2018.
- Interim phase 1b data on varlitinib as first line treatment for biliary tract cancer in fourth quarter of 2018.
- Complete patient enrolment in global pivotal trial (TREETOPP) with varlitinib as second line treatment for biliary tract cancer in early 2019.
- Topline data from TREETOPP in 2019.
Third quarter 2018 financial highlights
- Cash used in operations for the quarter ended 30 September 2018 was US$9.9 million compared to US$8.9 million in the same period in 2017.
- Research and development expense was US$8.7 million and general and administrative expense was US$2.7 million for the third quarter of 2018, compared to US$5.6 million and US$2.2 million respectively in the same period in 2017.
- Net loss for the third quarter of 2018 was US$11.2 million compared to a net loss of US$8.0 million for the third quarter of 2017.
- Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaled US$34.8 million as of 30 September 2018 compared to US$50.6 million as of 31 December 2017.
ASLAN Pharmaceuticals Limited
Consolidated Balance Sheet1
(in US dollars, unaudited)