Chimeric Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:CHM) ended FY2021 in a healthy financial position with $22.4 million in cash and equivalents as it moves ahead with its Chlorotoxin CAR T (CLTX CAR T) cell clinical trial.
Promisingly, Chimeric, on the back of successful raises through the issue of convertible notes and initial public offerings, increased its net assets up to $25.1 million compared to $63,908 the previous corresponding year.
During the financial year, the company completed the first patient cohort in the CLTX CAR T phase 1 clinical trial and initiated dosing in the second patient cohort.
Successful IPO
Chimeric received strong interest in an IPO from institutional and sophisticated investors for its ASX listing on January 18, 2021, surpassing its target raising of $25 million.
The company’s executive chairman Paul Hopper said the original target was upped to $35 million after increasing interest from investors led to more than $90 million of bids received.
CLTX CAR T trial
CLTX CAR T recently reached a key safety milestone with all patients dosed in the first patient cohort in phase 1 clinical trial progressing beyond the 28-day follow up period without experiencing dose-limiting toxicities
Achievement of this safety milestone enables the trial to progress to the second dosing level, which will introduce dual CLTX CAR T administration (ICT administration and intracranial intraventricular (ICV) administration) at a dose of 88 X 106 CAR T cells. This will also enable patient dosing without a mandated stagger.
Key appointments
Chimeric made three key appointments during FY 21, including distinguished executive Cindy Elkins as a non-executive director, Dr Eliot Bourk as incoming vice president, Business and Corporate Development to lead the company’s therapies pipeline and associate professor Dr Yvonne Chen to the company’s Scientific Advisory Board.
Events after reporting period
Chimeric entered into an agreement on July 22, 2021, with the University of Pennsylvania to exclusively develop and commercialise CDH17 chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T) therapy.
The company has agreed to pay upfront licence fees in the form of cash, and annual maintenance fees which are credited against future royalty payments, performance-based consideration linked to the achievement of certain value-inflection development milestones and commercial outcomes, as well as net sales-based royalty payments and sublicensing fees.
Notably, on August 30, 2021, Chimeric appointed its chief operating officer Jennifer Chow, an industry veteran with cell therapy expertise, as its new chief executive officer and managing director.
- Ephrems Joseph