X
LinkedIn
Glassdoor
Wave Life Sciences Reports Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2018 Financial Results and Provides Business Update
Outlines plans for building a fully integrated genetic medicines company
“Our achievements throughout 2018 established a strong foundation upon which we are building a world-class and fully integrated genetic medicines company,” said
Building a
Wave is committed to building upon its discovery, clinical development and manufacturing capabilities and continuing its rapid transformation to become a fully integrated genetic medicines company aspiring to deliver best-in-class medicines. To achieve this ambition, the company is focused on the following priority objectives:
- Urgently advancing suvodirsen (WVE-210201) toward global commercial launches, including a potential accelerated approval in
the United States : Currently, suvodirsen, the company’s investigational therapy for boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) who are amenable to exon 51 skipping, is being studied in an ongoing open-label extension (OLE) study and Wave expects to deliver an interim analysis of dystrophin expression from this study in the second half of 2019. Data from the OLE interim analysis are intended to be an important component of the company’s submission to theU.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA ) for accelerated approval inthe United States . Also this year, Wave anticipates initiating a global, placebo-controlled Phase 2/3 efficacy and safety clinical trial of suvodirsen. The planned Phase 2/3 trial, which is the first program to be selected for theFDA pilot program for complex innovative trial designs (CID), is designed to measure clinical efficacy and dystrophin expression, and Wave intends to use the results of this trial to seek regulatory approvals globally.
Wave also intends to make initial investments in commercial capabilities to support the company’s transition to a fully integrated, commercial-stage genetic medicines company.
- Delivering on the PRECISION-HD clinical trials and progressing the pipeline in neuromuscular and central nervous system (CNS) diseases: The PRECISION-HD program, which consists of two global Phase 1b/2a clinical trials evaluating investigational therapies WVE-120101 and WVE-120102 for patients with Huntington’s disease, remains on track to deliver topline data in the first half of 2019. WVE-120101 and WVE-120102, which selectively target the mutant allele of the huntingtin (HTT) gene, have been shown to reduce levels of mutant HTT mRNA and protein, while leaving wild-type or healthy HTT mRNA and protein largely intact in in vitro studies with patient-derived cell-lines.
In addition, Wave is developing programs in neuromuscular diseases, including WVE-N531 targeting DMD exon 53 and programs targeting DMD exons 44, 45, 52, 54 and 55, as well as conducting research to identify potential targets for other neuromuscular diseases.
The company is also advancing WVE-3972-01 in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia and a lead candidate for spinocerebellar ataxia 3.
As part of its collaboration with Takeda, Wave is advancing preclinical programs for the treatment of additional CNS diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Under the terms of the agreement, Wave may collaborate with Takeda on up to six preclinical programs at any one time, during a four-year term. Takeda is funding at least$60 million of Wave’s preclinical activities and will reimburse Wave for agreed-upon additional expenses. Takeda is entitled to exclusively license multiple preclinical programs during the term. Wave is eligible for precommercial and commercial milestone payments as well as tiered high single-digit to mid-teen royalty payments on global commercial sales of each licensed program.
- Selecting first candidate in ophthalmology: Wave is advancing stereopure oligonucleotides for the potential treatment of inherited retinal diseases. Wave’s research in ophthalmology is assessing four inherited retinal diseases, which typically begin in childhood or adolescence and commonly lead to progressive vision loss: retinitis pigmentosa due to a P23H mutation in the RHO gene, Stargardt disease, Usher syndrome type 2A and Leber congenital amaurosis 10. Wave data presented in
October 2018 demonstrated that a single intravitreal injection of stereopure oligonucleotide in the eye of non-human primates resulted in greater than 95% knockdown of a target RNA in the retina for at least four months. Based on these data, the company is working to design clinical candidates that could achieve a therapeutic effect with only two doses per year. The company expects to announce its first ophthalmology candidate in the second half of 2019.
- Evolving Wave’s discovery and drug development platform, PRISM™: The company recently branded its proprietary discovery and drug development platform as PRISM. PRISM combines the company’s unique ability to construct stereopure oligonucleotides with a deep understanding of how the interplay among oligonucleotide sequence, chemistry and backbone stereochemistry impacts key pharmacological properties. By leveraging artificial intelligence-driven predictive modelling, the company is continuing to explore these interactions to develop an expanding set of design principles that can be applied to a variety of programs across various therapeutic areas.
Fourth Quarter Highlights and Business Update
- Suvodirsen Phase 2/3 trial chosen for
FDA complex innovative trial designs pilot program
InJanuary 2019 , Wave announced that the planned Phase 2/3 efficacy and safety trial of suvodirsen was selected for the FDA CID pilot program. Through this program, Wave intends to reduce the number of patients required to deliver conclusive clinical efficacy results, thereby minimizing the number of patients required in the placebo treatment arm and potentially accelerating study completion. As a participant in the program, the company will also have additional opportunities to meet with FDA staff to discuss the design elements of the trial, including the use of Bayesian methods to adapt the trial and allow for more efficient and productive clinical determinations.
- Suvodirsen Phase I results support initiation of Phase 2/3 clinical trial for suvodirsen in DMD
InDecember 2018 , Wave announced that the safety and tolerability data from the suvodirsen Phase 1 clinical trial in boys with DMD who are amenable to exon 51 skipping support the initiation of a Phase 2/3 clinical trial. Based on results from the Phase 1 clinical trial and pending final analysis, Wave selected a dose for its planned Phase 2/3 clinical trial of suvodirsen. The company plans to present the results from the Phase 1 clinical trial at upcoming scientific meetings.
- Hepatic collaboration with Pfizer moving toward candidate selection
In 2018, Pfizer completed the selection of targets under the terms of the collaboration agreement between the two companies to develop genetically targeted therapies for the treatment of metabolic hepatic diseases, such as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Pfizer has selected five targets, the maximum number of targets permitted under terms of the agreement. Wave is currently advancing programs toward the selection of clinical candidates, at which point Pfizer may elect to exclusively license the programs and undertake further development and potential commercialization.
Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2018 Financial Results and Financial Guidance
Wave reported a net loss of
Research and development expenses were
General and administrative expenses were
Wave ended 2018 with
On
Wave expects that its existing cash and cash equivalents, together with expected and committed cash from existing collaborations, will enable Wave to fund its operating and capital expenditure requirements to the end of 2020.
About PRISM™
PRISM is Wave Life Sciences’ proprietary discovery and drug development platform that enables genetically defined diseases to be targeted with stereopure oligonucleotides across multiple therapeutic modalities. PRISM combines the company’s unique ability to construct stereopure oligonucleotides with a deep understanding of how the interplay among oligonucleotide sequence, chemistry and backbone stereochemistry impacts key pharmacological properties. By exploring these interactions through iterative analysis of in vitro and in vivo outcomes and artificial intelligence-driven predictive modeling, the company continues to define design principles that are deployed across programs to rapidly develop and manufacture clinical candidates that meet pre-defined product profiles.
About
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning our goals, beliefs, expectations, strategies, objectives and plans, and other statements that are not necessarily based on historical facts, including statements regarding the following, among others: the anticipated commencement, patient enrollment, data readouts and completion of our clinical trials, and the announcement of such events; the protocol, design and endpoints of our ongoing and planned clinical trials; the future performance and results of our programs in clinical trials; future preclinical activities and programs; the progress and potential benefits of our collaborations with partners; the potential of our in vitro and in vivo preclinical data to predict the behavior of our compounds in humans; our identification of future candidates and their therapeutic potential; the anticipated therapeutic benefits of our potential therapies compared to others; our ability to design compounds using multiple modalities and the anticipated benefits of that model; the anticipated benefits of our proprietary manufacturing processes and our internal manufacturing facility; our future growth and anticipated transition to a fully integrated commercial-stage company; the potential benefits of PRISM and our stereopure oligonucleotides compared with stereorandom oligonucleotides; the benefit of nucleic acid therapeutics generally; the strength of our intellectual property; and the anticipated duration of our cash runway. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including the following: our ability to finance our drug discovery and development efforts and to raise additional capital when needed; the ability of our preclinical programs to produce data sufficient to support our clinical trial applications and the timing thereof; our ability to continue to build and maintain the company infrastructure and personnel needed to achieve our goals; the clinical results of our programs, which may not support further development of product candidates; actions of regulatory agencies, which may affect the initiation, timing and progress of clinical trials; our effectiveness in managing future clinical trials and regulatory processes; the effectiveness of PRISM; the continued development and acceptance of oligonucleotides as a class of medicines; our ability to demonstrate the therapeutic benefits of our candidates in clinical trials, including our ability to develop candidates across multiple therapeutic modalities; our dependence on third parties, including contract research organizations, contract manufacturing organizations, collaborators and partners; our ability to manufacture or contract with third parties to manufacture drug material to support our programs and growth; our ability to obtain, maintain and protect intellectual property; our ability to enforce our patents against infringers and defend our patent portfolio against challenges from third parties; and competition from others developing therapies for similar uses, as well as the information under the caption “Risk Factors” contained in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the
UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(In thousands, except share amounts)
| December 31, 2018 | December 31, 2017 | |||||||
| Assets | ||||||||
| Current assets: | ||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 174,819 | $ | 142,503 | ||||
| Current portion of accounts receivable | 10,000 | 1,000 | ||||||
| Prepaid expenses and other current assets | 17,454 | 6,985 | ||||||
| Total current assets | 202,273 | 150,488 | ||||||
| Long-term assets: | ||||||||
| Accounts receivable, net of current portion | 50,000 | — | ||||||
| Property and equipment, net | 39,931 | 27,334 | ||||||
| Restricted cash | 3,625 | 3,610 | ||||||
| Other assets | 111 | 411 | ||||||
| Total long-term assets | 93,667 | 31,355 | ||||||
| Total assets | $ | 295,940 | $ | 181,843 | ||||
| Liabilities, Series A preferred shares and shareholders’ equity | ||||||||
| Current liabilities: | ||||||||
| Accounts payable | $ | 13,089 | $ | 7,598 | ||||
| Accrued expenses and other current liabilities | 14,736 | 8,898 | ||||||
| Current portion of capital lease obligation | — | 16 | ||||||
| Current portion of deferred rent | 115 | 60 | ||||||
| Current portion of deferred revenue | 100,945 | 1,275 | ||||||
| Current portion of lease incentive obligation | 1,156 | 344 | ||||||
| Total current liabilities | 130,041 | 18,191 | ||||||
| Long-term liabilities: | ||||||||
| Deferred rent, net of current portion | 5,132 | 4,214 | ||||||
| Deferred revenue, net of current portion | 68,156 | 7,241 | ||||||
| Lease incentive obligation, net of current portion | 9,247 | 3,094 | ||||||
| Other liabilities | 2,142 | 1,619 | ||||||
| Total long-term liabilities | 84,677 | 16,168 | ||||||
| Total liabilities | $ | 214,718 | $ | 34,359 | ||||
| Series A preferred shares, no par value; 3,901,348 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2018 and 2017 |
$ | 7,874 | $ | 7,874 | ||||
| Shareholders’ equity: | ||||||||
| Ordinary shares, no par value; 29,472,197 and 27,829,079 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively |
375,148 | 310,038 | ||||||
| Additional paid-in capital | 37,768 | 22,172 | ||||||
| Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) | 153 | 116 | ||||||
| Accumulated deficit | (339,721 | ) | (192,716 | ) | ||||
| Total shareholders’ equity | 73,348 | 139,610 | ||||||
| Total liabilities, Series A preferred shares and shareholders’ equity | $ | 295,940 | $ | 181,843 | ||||
UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS
(In thousands, except share and per share amounts)
| For the Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||
| 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | ||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 14,414 | $ | 3,893 | $ | 1,092 | ||||||
| Operating expenses: | ||||||||||||
| Research and development | 134,428 | 79,309 | 40,818 | |||||||||
| General and administrative | 39,509 | 26,975 | 15,994 | |||||||||
| Total operating expenses | 173,937 | 106,284 | 56,812 | |||||||||
| Loss from operations | (159,523 | ) | (102,391 | ) | (55,720 | ) | ||||||
| Other income (expense), net: | ||||||||||||
| Dividend income | 3,368 | 1,578 | 255 | |||||||||
| Interest income (expense), net | 22 | 6 | 337 | |||||||||
| Other income (expense), net | 9,549 | (331 | ) | (50 | ) | |||||||
| Other income (expense), net | 12,939 | 1,253 | 542 | |||||||||
| Loss before income taxes | (146,584 | ) | (101,138 | ) | (55,178 | ) | ||||||
| Income tax benefit (provision) | (69 | ) | (842 | ) | (482 | ) | ||||||
| Net loss | $ | (146,653 | ) | $ | (101,980 | ) | $ | (55,660 | ) | |||
| Net loss per share attributable to ordinary shareholders—basic and diluted |
$ | (5.06 | ) | $ | (3.85 | ) | $ | (2.44 | ) | |||
| Weighted-average ordinary shares used in computing net loss per share attributable to ordinary shareholders—basic and diluted |
28,970,404 | 26,513,382 | 22,800,628 | |||||||||
| Other comprehensive income (loss): | ||||||||||||
| Net loss | $ | (146,653 | ) | $ | (101,980 | ) | $ | (55,660 | ) | |||
| Foreign currency translation | 37 | 407 | (332 | ) | ||||||||
| Comprehensive loss | (146,616 | ) | (101,573 | ) | (55,992 | ) | ||||||
Investor Contact:
781-686-9600
gmorrell@wavelifesci.com
Media and Patient Contact:
José Juves
617-949-4708
jjuves@wavelifesci.com
Source: Wave Life Sciences