Chemomab Therapeutics Ltd. (NASDAQ:CMMB) Q2 2022 Earnings Conference Call August 12, 2022 8:00 AM ET
CompanyParticipants
Barbara Lindheim – Consulting Vice President Investor & Public Relations
Dale Pfost – Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
David Weiner – Interim Chief Medical Officer
Conference Call Participants
Operator
Greetings Welcome to Chemomab Therapeutics 2022 Second Quarter Earnings Call. At this time all participants are in listen only mode. And Question-and-Answer session will follow the formal presentation. [Operator Instructions] Please note this conference is being recorded.
I will now turn the conference over to Barbara Lindheim, Consulting Vice President of Chemomab Therapeutics. Barbara, you may now begin.
Barbara Lindheim
Welcome to the Chemomab Therapeutics 2022 second quarter earnings call. Thank you for attending. I am Barbara Lindheim, Consulting Vice President of Strategic Communications at Chemomab. With me today are Dale Pfost, our Chairman and CEO; Don Marvin, CFO, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President; Dr. David Weiner, Interim CMO; and Dr. Adi Mor, our Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer.
Before turning the call over to Dale, please take note of our forward-looking statements. Today’s call may contain forward-looking statements, which may be identified by words such as may, could, will, expect, intend, plan and other similar words and expressions. All forward-looking statements may today are based on management’s current expectations, assumptions and beliefs about our business and the environment in which we operate. The statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to materially differ from those expressed or implied on today’s call. Listeners should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and are encouraged to review our earnings press release that we issued this morning. Together with our SEC filings for more complete discussion of factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements.
You can read a comprehensive list of those factors under the heading Risk Factors contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, together with factors under similar headings in the other reports and materials, we file with the SEC. Exceptions required by Federal Security Laws Chemomab does not undertake to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements subsequent to the date made as a result of new information, future events, changing circumstances or for any other reason.
Let me now turn the call over to Dale. Dale?
Dale Pfost
Welcome to the Chemomab Conference Call covering the Second Quarter of 2022. I am pleased to report we have continued to make good progress on multiple fronts since our last call. These include first advancing our clinical programs for CM-101, our first in class monoclonal antibody that neutralizes CCL-24, a novel disease targets at the confluence of fibrosis and inflammation.
Second, adding to the intellectual property portfolio of CM-101. Third, presenting important new preclinical data at major scientific meetings. And fourth, adding a number of highly experienced staff essential for the progression of our scientific and clinical programs. On the clinical development front, we continue to make good progress in our CM-101 on one clinical programs, as Interim CMO, Dr. David Weiner will discuss in greater detail shortly.
In summary, we concluded the treatment phase of our Phase 2 Liver Fibrosis study. We finalized plan revisions and initiated global regulatory filings supporting expansion of our Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis or PSC Phase 2 trial, and we made significant progress on delineating the design of our upcoming Phase 2 trial in Systemic Sclerosis, or SSc.
Turning to our Intellectual Property, I’m pleased to report that in June, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued Chemomab, a new method of use patent. It covers the use of CM-101 and other anti CCL-24 antibodies in binding fragments for the treatment of a range of fibro inflammatory liver diseases, including PSC and other cholestatic related disorders. Liver diseases are an important target for CM-101, which is currently in a Phase 2 trial for treatment of PSC, a potentially lethal disease affecting the bile ducts of the liver. And as I noted, a Phase 2 liver fibrosis study in NASH patients that is nearing completion.
In addition, there are a number of other liver diseases where CM-101 might have therapeutic value. So we believe that this new patent may be significant. This new patent adds to the protections provided by CM-101 core composition of matter patents that has already issued in the US, Europe and other global markets. The new patent extends Chemomab intellectual property protections for CM-101 in the US for another three years through at least 2038 with additional extensions possible.
We’ve also filed and intend to continue to file additional patents as warranted in an effort to assure the optimal protection for this key asset, which we believe may have wide applicability in a variety of fibro inflammatory diseases.
In June, the company made a number of presentations at important European Scientific Meetings. These are good examples of our ongoing preclinical research designed to further elucidate and validate our CCL-24 target and its role in disease and to better understand how CM-101 affects disease pathways.
Additionally, by sharing this research at major scientific meetings, our scientists are helping further educate the broader scientific and medical communities about the role of CCL-24, in fiber inflammatory disease, the therapeutic potential for CM-101 and interesting and robust science underlying our approach.
First, in an oral presentation of the 2022 EASL International Liver Conference represented data from a preclinical PSC model that used advanced technologies to reveal unique liver macrophage subpopulations as the major source of CCL-24 production in the area of the bile duct that is damaged in PSC. Our scientists also demonstrated in this model that the treatment with CM-101 interfered with the core PSC disease pathways in a way that is potentially associated with therapeutic activity.
Second, at the First International Extracellular Matrix or ECM Pharmacology Conference, Chemomab researchers presented a poster that included both preclinical and early clinical data demonstrating that CM-101 attenuates biomarkers associated with ECM expression. This is noteworthy because ECM expression is involved in PFC pathophysiology, and is closely related to CM-101 mechanism of action. Importantly, this dataset supports our efforts to translate preclinical biomarker findings on ECM remodeling and deliver to the use of similar serum biomarkers in patients.
Third, earlier in June, we presented data supporting the role of CCL-24, as a therapeutic target for systemic sclerosis and a poster at the 2020 to use our European Congress of Rheumatology. This study which was conducted by our collaborator Professor Francesco Delgado of Leeds University in the UK, examined the role of CCL-24, in longitudinal cohorts of diffuse cutaneous SSc patients.
The study reported elevated serum levels of CCL-24 in these patients, and showed that high circulating CCL-24 levels were correlated with disease activity and worse prognosis, as reflected by high fibrotic activity and the deterioration of lung function over time. The findings further support the role of CCL-24, as a potential therapeutic target for SSc. Researchers received positive feedback on these presentations and we look forward to further conference participation over the rest of the year.
Since it started the second quarter, we added a director and several senior level executives we view as critical to our continued success. Jill Quigley JD, a highly accomplished biotechnology executive with broad experience in Public Company, Executive Management, Global Operations, Legal Affairs and Finances, joined our Board of Directors. We’re also welcoming Christina Crater, MD, as our new Vice President of Clinical Development, who will be joining us at the end of August. Dr. Crater brings an extensive background in medical affairs and clinical trial design and execution across a broad range of therapeutic indications. We expect the addition of Dr. Crater to significantly augment our medical and clinical capabilities.
Additionally, during the quarter, we appointed Dylan Backman, PhD as Vice President of Research and Development. Dr. Backman is a terrific addition to Chemomab bringing more than 20 years of highly relevant experience in Immunology, Antibody Development, Translational Research and Biomarker Development, including more than a decade in Senior Science roles at Compugen.
Renting out the Science and Clinical team are several highly experienced mid-level professionals bringing vital skills to enhance our capabilities in clinical trial operations and planning. We feel competent, we now have most of the right personnel in place to execute on our clinical programs.
Let me now turn the call over to Dr. David Weiner, who has been leading our efforts to advance our clinical development program for CM-101.
David Weiner
Good morning. Today we will be providing updates on three key elements of our CM-101 Clinical Development Program. One, we will provide additional details on the status of our Phase 2 Safety Pharmacokinetics Biomarker study in Liver Fibrosis Patients. Two, we will provide additional details on the revisions to our randomized placebo-controlled dose findings study in primary sclerosing cholangitis patients. And three, we will update our progress towards finalizing the design of our Planned Phase 2 Biological Proof of Concept trial of CM-101 in Systemic Sclerosis.
We continue to prudently manage our cash and currently expect our runway to last through the end of 2023 as we indicated in our last call, which is six months longer than our previous guidance last year. Last month, we renewed our existing ATM facility with Cantor Fitzgerald, with a current cap of about $18 million, a reduction from the $75 million cap in our original ATM facility. We consider this renewal to be a matter of prudent financial housekeeping and do not plan to draw on the facility at this time.
We appreciate your continued support. And I invite you to reach out if you would like to communicate with us directly. I will now turn the call back to the Dale. Dale?
Dale Pfost
We remain excited about the progress we’ve outlined today. I believe our team is doing an outstanding job of developing and implementing practical and achievable plans to strengthen our clinical programs and our company. We see CM-101 as a true pipeline and a product with its ability to act at the confluence of inflammation and fibrosis that is implicated in a variety of indications with high unmet need and strong commercial potential. We believe we are on the prudent and right path to building value in Chemomab. We look forward to sharing more details with you in the next few months and appreciate your continued support.
Operator, we’re ready now to open the floor questions.
Question-and-Answer Session
End of Q&A
Thank you. This concludes today’s conference call. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.
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