Calliditas Therapeutics AB

SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Lipocine Inc. (NASDAQ: LPCN), a biopharmaceutical company leveraging its proprietary technology platform to augment therapeutics through effective oral delivery, today announced financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2024 and provided a corporate update. Neuroactive Steroids LPCN 1154, oral brexanolone, is being developed as a treatment for postpartum depression (PPD). It is targeted to be a highly effective, oral, fast-acting and short duration treatment option. The Company has completed labeling studies such as a food effect study and PK profiling in women with PPD, and is targeting NDA submission for LPCN 1154 by the end of 2024. In October, Lipocine announced positive results from a quantitative electroencephalogram (qEEG) study conducted in healthy subjects administered single doses of LPCN 1154. The results indicated robust central nervous system (CNS) activity of LPCN 1154, with concentration- and time-dependent post-dose changes in qEEG. The study confirmed GABAA positive allosteric modulation and supports future development of LPCN 1154 in neuropsychiatric indications. LPCN 2401 for obesity management LPCN 2401 is an oral formulation comprised of a proprietary anabolic androgen receptor agonist targeted for once daily regimen. In October, Lipocine hosted a virtual key opinion leader (KOL) event on LPCN 2401. The event highlighted positive data from the Phase 2 study of LPCN 2401 and the data support the potential for the product to be used as an adjunct with incretin mimetics (GLP-1/GIP agonists) or as a monotherapy, including post incretin mimetic discontinuation. Frank Greenway, MD (Professor and Chief Medical Officer at Pennington Biomedical Research Center) discussed the unmet needs and current treatment landscape in obesity management with a focus on fat loss and lean muscle mass preservation for patients on incretin therapies. A poster "Oral LPCN 2401 Reduces Fat Mass and Increases Lean Mass in Men With Obesity" featuring the Phase 2 data was presented by Dr. Greenway at the Obesity Society's Annual ObesityWeek® conference on November 5, 2024 in San Antonio, TX. Lipocine plans to meet with the FDA to discuss the study design for a proof-of-concept Phase 2 study for LPCN 2401 and expansion to the female population. LPCN 1148 Management of Cirrhosis Lipocine is evaluating LPCN 1148 for the management of decompensated cirrhosis and has conducted a successful Phase 2 study that met its primary endpoint. The Company plans to request a Type C meeting with the FDA to discuss the clinical development plan for LPCN 1148. TLANDO® In October, Lipocine signed an exclusive supply and distribution agreement with Pharmalink to commercialize TLANDO, its oral testosterone replacement therapy, in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries consisting of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman. In September, Lipocine signed an exclusive distribution and license agreement with SPC Korea to commercialize TLANDO in South Korea. The company continues to pursue opportunities for partnering and/or development arrangements for the continued development and/or marketing of our remaining pipeline candidates. Third Quarter Ended September 30, 2024 Financial Results Lipocine reported a net loss of $2.2 million, or ($0.44) per diluted share, for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024, compared with a net loss of $6.7 million, or ($1.27) per diluted share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2023. There were no revenues recorded during the third quarter ended September 30, 2024. In the third quarter of 2023, the company recorded a non-cash revenue reversal of variable consideration for minimum guaranteed royalties of $3.1 million related to the termination of the Antares License Agreement. Research and development expenses were $1.6 million and $2.9 million, respectively, for the quarters ended September 30, 2024 and 2023. The decrease was a result of a decrease in TLANDO related costs, a decrease in contract research organization expense and outside consulting costs related to the wind down of the LPCN 1148 study in 2024, and a decrease in costs related to LPCN 1154 clinical studies, offset by increases in personnel related costs and other research and development related costs and supplies. General and administrative expenses were $1.0 million in each of the quarters ended September 30, 2024 and 2023. As of September 30, 2024, Lipocine had $19.8 million of unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and marketable investment securities compared to $22.0 million at December 31, 2023. Nine Months Ended, September 30 2024, Financial Results Lipocine reported a net loss of $1.8 million, or ($0.33) per diluted share, for the nine months ended September 30, 2024, compared with a net loss of $14.1 million, or ($2.72) per diluted share, for the nine months ended September 30, 2023. Revenues for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2024 were $7.7 million, primarily consisting of licensing revenue received from our Verity License Agreement, in addition to TLANDO royalty revenue of $206,000. During the nine months ended September 30, 2023, the company recognized a non-cash revenue reversal of variable consideration for minimum guaranteed royalties of $3.1 million relating to the termination of the Antares License Agreement offset by licensing revenue of approximately $55,000 for payments received related to the Spriaso license agreement. Research and development expenses were $6.3 million and $8.5 million, respectively, for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023. The decrease was a result of a decrease in contract research organization expense and outside consulting costs related to the wind down of the LPCN 1148 study in 2024, a decrease in TLANDO related costs, a decrease in personnel related costs, and a decrease in other research and development related costs. These decreases were offset an increase in costs related to the LPCN 1154 clinical studies. General administrative expenses were $4.1 million and $3.8 million respectively, for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023. The increase in general and administrative expenses was a result of increases in business development expenses, corporate legal fees and director fees, offset by decreases in corporate insurance expense, professional fees, other administrative consulting fees, personnel related costs, and travel related costs. For more information on Lipocine's financial results, refer to Form 10-Q filed by the Company with the SEC. About Lipocine Lipocine is a biopharmaceutical company leveraging its proprietary technology platform to augment therapeutics through effective oral delivery to develop differentiated products. Lipocine has drug candidates in development as well as drug candidates for which we are exploring partnerships. Our drug candidates represent enablement of differentiated, patient friendly oral delivery options for favorable benefit to risk profile which target large addressable markets with significant unmet medical needs. Lipocine's clinical development candidates include: LPCN 1154, oral brexanolone, for the potential treatment of postpartum depression, LPCN 2101 for the potential treatment of epilepsy, LPCN 2203 an oral candidate targeted for the management of essential tremor, LPCN 2401 an oral proprietary anabolic androgen receptor agonist, as an adjunct therapy to incretin mimetics, as an aid for improved body composition in obesity management and LPCN 1148, a novel androgen receptor agonist prodrug for oral administration targeted for the management of symptoms associated with liver cirrhosis. Lipocine is exploring partnering opportunities for LPCN 1107, our candidate for prevention of preterm birth, LPCN 1154, for rapid relief of postpartum depression, LPCN 2401 for obesity management, LPCN 1148, for the management of decompensated cirrhosis, and LPCN 1144, our candidate for treatment of non-cirrhotic NASH. TLANDO, a novel oral prodrug of testosterone containing testosterone undecanoate developed by Lipocine, is approved by the FDA for conditions associated with a deficiency of endogenous testosterone, also known as hypogonadism, in adult males. For more information, please visit . Forward-Looking Statements This release contains "forward-looking statements" that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and include statements that are not historical facts regarding development and commercialization of TLANDO and TLANDO XR by our licensees, the amount of the license fee, milestone payments, and royalty payments we will ultimately receive, the ability of our licensees to grow the TLANDO franchise, our product development efforts, the application of our proprietary platform in developing new treatments for CNS disorders, our product candidates and related clinical trials, our development of our product candidates and related efforts with the FDA, including with respect to LPCN 1148 and LPCN 2401, the timing of our submission of a NDA with the FDA for LPCN 1154, and the potential uses and benefits of our product candidates. Investors are cautioned that all such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, the risks that we may not be successful in developing product candidates to treat CNS disorders, we may not have sufficient capital to complete the development processes for our product candidates, we may not be able to enter into partnerships or other strategic relationships to monetize our non-core assets, the FDA will not approve any of our products, risks related to our products, expected product benefits not being realized, clinical and regulatory expectations and plans not being realized, new regulatory developments and requirements, risks related to the FDA approval process including the receipt of regulatory approvals and our ability to utilize a streamlined approval pathway for LPCN 1154, the results and timing of clinical trials, patient acceptance of Lipocine's products, the manufacturing and commercialization of Lipocine's products, and other risks detailed in Lipocine's filings with the SEC, including, without limitation, its Form 10-K and other reports on Forms 8-K and 10-Q, all of which can be obtained on the SEC website at . Lipocine assumes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements contained in this release, except as required by law. SOURCE Lipocine Inc. WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM? 440k+ Newsrooms & Influencers 9k+ Digital Media Outlets 270k+ Journalists Opted In GET STARTED

Dive Brief:Jade Biosciences, a privately held developer of immune disease drugs, will combine with Aerovate Therapeutics in a reverse merger that gives Jade a fast pass to trade on public markets.Prior to the merger, which the companies announced Thursday, Jade expects to raise $300 million via a private financing involving more than a dozen life sciences investors, among them Fairmount, Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, RA Capital Management and Samsara BioCapital.The combined company, which will be almost entirely owned by pre-merger Jade stockholders, will operate with Jades name and trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker JBIO. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2025.Dive Insight:Jade is the fourth spinout of Paragon Therapeutics to go public via a reverse merger and the third this year, following Oruka Therapeutics and Crescent BioPharma. (A fifth, Apogee Therapeutics, conducted an initial public offering last year.)Founded by Fairmount in 2021, Paragon specializes in discovering promising new antibody drugs, which it then licenses to newly created companies to advance their development.In Jades case, Paragon designed an antibody the companies believe could be a best-in-class treatment for a kidney disease called IgA nephropathy. The drug targets a protein known as APRIL thats thought to play a major role in the development of the disease, which over time erodes kidney function.JADE-001 is engineered to deliver superior potency and an extended half-life compared to other anti-APRIL monoclonal antibodies in development, optimizing efficacy with convenient, infrequent dosing, Andrew King, Jades chief scientific officer, said in a Thursday statement.Specifically, Jade aims to dose its drug every two months, compared to anti-APRIL antibodies being developed by Otsuka and Novartis that are dosed once per month or once every two weeks. (Otsuka last week said its antibody, sibeprenlimab, succeeded in a Phase 3 trial, while Novartis expects data for its drug, zigakibart, in 2026.)More broadly, IgAN has become a competitive area of drug development. Along with zigakibart, Novartis acquired another treatment for the disease in its acquisition of Chinook Therapeutics last year. Biogen and Vertex Pharmaceuticals bought IgAN developers in deals of their own this year. Travere Therapeutics and Calliditas Therapeutics have both launched new therapies for the disease in the U.S.Jade is much further behind. Its lead asset is set to enter the clinic in the second half of next year, with results to follow in 2026.But it will be well-funded, with enough cash from its pre-merger financing to run operations through 2027. Prior to closing the merger, Aerovate intends to distribute a cash dividend of $65 million to its pre-merger shareholders; the company had $99 million in funds available to it as of March 31 and raised $24 million in April.Aerovates fortunes nosedived in June, however, when a Phase 2 study of its experimental therapy for pulmonary arterial hypertension missed its main goal. The companys share price collapsed and, in July, it announced plans to consider strategic alternatives, like a sale or reverse merger.Pre-merger Jade shareholders will own just over 98% of the combined company, while pre-merger Aerovate stockholders will own 1.6%.Tom Frohlich, currently CEO of Jade, will lead the combined company, which will be advised by a board of directors that includes representatives from Samsara BioCapital, Oruka Therapeutics and Fairmount, among others. '

云顶新耀（HKEX 1952.HK）是一家专注于创新药研发、临床开发、制造和商业化的生物制药公司，今日宣布耐赋康®（布地奈德肠溶胶囊，NEFECON®）最新真实世界研究数据在2024美国肾脏病协会肾脏周（ASN Kidney Week 2024）上公布。结果表明，轻度肾功能受损的IgA肾病患者使用耐赋康®治疗超过9个月可以减少肾功能衰退，保护肾脏，并且耐受性良好。ASN-Kidney Week 2024 是肾脏病领域权威的全球性会议，于10月23-27日在美国圣地亚哥举行。 此次研究旨在真实世界中评估接受≥9个月的耐赋康®治疗在亚裔美国患者中的安全性和有效性。研究共纳入符合标准的30例IgA肾病患者，平均年龄为46岁，57%为男性，100%为亚裔美国人。患者平均接受耐赋康®治疗11.7个月，并自耐赋康®开始治疗以来平均随访了14.6个月。耐赋康®开始治疗时eGFR为68.4 ml/min/1.73m2，比首次就诊时低6.7 ml/min/1.73m2。耐赋康®开始治疗后，eGFR在9个月内平均增加了3.6 ml/min/1.73m2。对于治疗时间超过9个月的患者亚组初步结果（n=23，平均耐赋康®治疗持续时间为12.5个月）显示，耐赋康®持续保护肾功能，且未增加严重不良事件的发生率。 谢静远教授 上海交通大学医学院 附属瑞金医院肾脏科主任 此次ASN大会上耐赋康®最新真实世界数据的公布，进一步证实了耐赋康®在亚洲IgA肾病患者中具有广泛的临床适用性和良好的耐受性。研究显示，在轻度肾功能受损的亚裔美国患者接受9个月及以上的耐赋康®治疗后，不但能够保护患者的肾功能，同时展示了良好的耐受性，再次证明，IgA肾病患者如果能够尽早使用对因治疗药物，可以避免或推迟肾功能的进一步恶化。IgA肾病在亚洲高发，亚洲人群进展为终末期肾病的风险相较于其他人群高56%，且疾病进展更快。尤其在我国IgA肾病患者数量十分庞大，期望更多患者可以尽早诊断尽早开启对因治疗，延缓肾病进展。 耐赋康®在博鳌先行先试期间，治疗了一百多名患者，随访中发现，该药物能较有效地稳定肾功能，降低蛋白尿、血尿，并且患者对其耐受性良好。同时也期待未来在中国能够开展高质量临床研究，为更多患者尽早使用及延长疗程带来科学依据。 耐赋康®于今年5月在中国大陆开出首张处方，并相继在中国澳门、中国香港、新加坡与中国台湾获批。今年7月，中国国家药品监督管理局正式受理耐赋康®最终临床试验阶段完整数据的补充申请，耐赋康®有望成为国内首个且唯一获得完全批准的IgA肾病对因治疗药物。 关于耐赋康®（NEFECON®） 耐赋康®(NEFECON®)是布地奈德肠溶胶囊，作为全球首个对因治疗IgA肾病的药物，是靶向肠道黏膜B细胞的免疫调节剂，能减少50%肾功能下降1，在中国人群中能延缓肾功能衰退达66%2，预计将疾病进展至透析或肾移植的时间延缓了12.8年3。同时布地奈德首过代谢程度达90%4，具有良好的安全性。耐赋康®专为IgA肾病患者研制，每颗胶囊含布地奈德4mg，通过特殊的迟释及缓释双重制剂工艺，将布地奈德靶向释放于回肠末端的黏膜B细胞（包括派尔集合淋巴结），胶囊溶解后，三层包衣微丸持续稳定释放布地奈德，高浓度覆盖整个靶区域，从而减少诱发IgA肾病的半乳糖缺陷的IgA1抗体（Gd-IgA1）产生，进而干预发病机制上游阶段，达到治疗IgA肾病的作用。 2019年6月，云顶新耀与Calliditas Therapeutics 签订独家授权许可协议，获得在大中华地区和新加坡开发以及商业化耐赋康®的权利。该协议于2022年3月扩展，将韩国纳入云顶新耀的授权许可范围。 关于云顶新耀 云顶新耀是一家专注于创新药和疫苗研发、临床开发、制造和商业化的生物制药公司，致力于满足亚洲市场尚未满足的医疗需求。云顶新耀的管理团队在中国及全球领先制药企业从事过高质量研发、临床开发、药政事务、化学制造与控制（CMC）、业务发展和商业化运营，拥有深厚的专长和丰富的经验。云顶新耀已打造多款疾病首创或者同类最佳的药物组合，公司的治疗领域包括肾科疾病、感染性和传染性疾病、自身免疫性疾病。有关更多信息，请访问公司网站：www.everestmedicines.com。 前瞻性声明 本新闻稿所发布的信息中可能会包含某些前瞻性表述，乃基于本公司或管理层在做出表述时对公司业务运营情况及财务状况的现有看法、相信、和现有预期，可能会使用“将”、“预期”、“预测”、“期望”、“打算”、“计划”、“相信”、“预估”、“确信”及其他类似词语进行表述。这些前瞻性表述并非对未来业绩的保证，会受到风险、不确定性及其他因素的影响，有些乃超出本公司的控制范围，难以预计。因此，受我们的业务、竞争环境、政治、经济、法律和社会情况的未来变化及发展等各种因素及假设的影响，实际结果可能会与前瞻性表述所含资料有较大差别。本公司及各附属公司、各位董事、管理人员、顾问及代理未曾且概不承担更新该稿件所载前瞻性表述以反映在本新闻稿发布日后最新信息、未来项目或情形的任何义务，除非法律要求。 参考文献 1.Lafayette R, et al. Lancet. 2023 Sep 9;402(10405):859-870. 2.2023ASN. Oral presentation. 3.Jonathan Barratt, et al. 2023 ASN. Poster no. SA-PO886. 4.Edsbäcker S, et al. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 1999 Feb;13(2):219-24.