UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM
(Mark One)
For
the quarterly period ended
OR
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Table of Contents
i
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. We make such forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and other federal securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, including statements regarding our strategy, future preclinical studies and clinical trials, future financial position, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “seek,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “target,” “aim,” “should,” ‘will” “would,” or the negative of these words or other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties.
The forward-looking statements in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q include, among other things, statements relating to:
● | the potential advantages of our RADR® platform in identifying drug candidates and patient populations that are likely to respond to a drug candidate; |
● | our strategic plans to advance the development of any of our drug candidates; |
● | our strategic plans to expand the number of data points that our RADR® platform can access and analyze; |
● | our research and development efforts of our internal drug discovery programs and the utilization of our RADR® platform to streamline the drug development process; |
● | the initiation, timing, progress, and results of our preclinical studies or clinical trials on any of our drug candidates; |
● | our intention to leverage artificial intelligence, machine learning and genomic data to streamline the drug development process and to identify patient populations that would likely respond to a drug candidate; |
● | our plans to discover and develop drug candidates and to maximize their commercial potential by advancing such drug candidates ourselves or in collaboration with others; |
● | our expectations regarding our ability to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements with our existing cash and cash equivalents; |
● | our ability to secure sufficient funding and alternative sources of funding to support our existing and proposed preclinical studies and clinical trials; |
● | our estimates regarding the potential market opportunity for our drug candidates we or any of our collaborators may in the future develop; |
● | our anticipated growth strategies and our ability to manage the expansion of our business operations effectively; |
● | our expectations related to the use of proceeds from our initial public offering, which closed on June 15, 2020, and the use of proceeds from our follow-on public offering, which closed on January 20, 2021; |
● | our ability to keep up with rapidly changing technologies and evolving industry standards, including our ability to achieve technological advances; |
● | the potential impact the COVID-19 pandemic may have on our business plans; |
● | our ability to source our needs for skilled labor in the fields of artificial intelligence, genomics, biology, oncology and drug development; and |
● | the impact of government laws and regulations on the development and commercialization of our drug candidates. |
ii
We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions, and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements we make. We have included important factors in the cautionary statements included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in the Risk Factors section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K (“2020 Form 10-K”), for the year ended December 31, 2020 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, on March 10, 2021, and have identified other factors such as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the results of our clinical trials, and the impact of competition, that we believe could cause actual results or events to differ materially from the forward-statements that we make. Furthermore, we operate in a competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all risks and uncertainties that could have an impact on the forward-looking statements contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
You should read this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and the documents that we file with the SEC with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, those listed elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and those listed under the Risk Factors section of our 2020 Form 10-K. You may access our 2020 Form 10-K under the investor SEC filings tab of our website at www.lanternpharma.com or on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Given these uncertainties, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The forward-looking statements contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are made as of the date of this Quarterly Report, and we do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
In addition, statements that “we believe” and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete. Our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements.
Unless the context requires otherwise, references to the “Company,” “Lantern,” “we,” “us,” and “our” in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q refer to Lantern Pharma Inc., a Delaware corporation, and, where appropriate, its wholly-owned subsidiary.
iii
PART I – FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1. Financial Statements.
Lantern Pharma Inc. and Subsidiary
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
June 30, | December 31, | |||||||
2021 | 2020 | |||||||
(Unaudited) | ||||||||
CURRENT ASSETS | ||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents | $ | $ | ||||||
Marketable securities | ||||||||
Prepaid expenses and other current assets | ||||||||
Total current assets | ||||||||
Property and equipment, net | ||||||||
Deferred offering costs | ||||||||
Operating lease right-of-use assets | ||||||||
Other assets | ||||||||
TOTAL ASSETS | $ | $ | ||||||
CURRENT LIABILITIES | ||||||||
Accounts payable and accrued expenses | $ | $ | ||||||
Insurance payable | ||||||||
Operating lease liabilities, current | ||||||||
Total current liabilities | ||||||||
Operating lease liabilities, net of current portion | ||||||||
PPP loan payable | ||||||||
TOTAL LIABILITIES | ||||||||
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (NOTE 4) | ||||||||
STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | ||||||||
Preferred Stock | Par Value (||||||||
Common Stock – Par Value ( | ||||||||
Additional paid-in capital | ||||||||
Accumulated deficit | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
Accumulated other comprehensive loss | ( | ) | ||||||
Total stockholders’ equity | ||||||||
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | $ | $ |
See accompanying Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
1
Lantern Pharma Inc. and Subsidiary
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
Three Months Ended | Six Months Ended | |||||||||||||||
June 30, | June 30, | |||||||||||||||
2021 | 2020 | 2021 | 2020 | |||||||||||||
Operating expenses: | ||||||||||||||||
General and administrative | ||||||||||||||||
Research and development | ||||||||||||||||
Total operating expenses | ||||||||||||||||
Loss from operations | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||
Interest income | ||||||||||||||||
Other income, net | ||||||||||||||||
NET LOSS | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||||
Net loss per share of common shares, basic and diluted | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||||
Weighted-average
number of common shares outstanding, basic and diluted |
See accompanying Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
2
Lantern Pharma Inc. and Subsidiary
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss (Unaudited)
Three Months Ended | Six Months Ended | |||||||||||||||
June 30, | June 30, | |||||||||||||||
2021 | 2020 | 2021 | 2020 | |||||||||||||
NET LOSS | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||||
Other comprehensive loss, net of tax | ||||||||||||||||
Unrealized loss on available-for-sale securities, net of tax | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||
Other comprehensive loss, net of tax | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||
Comprehensive loss | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) |
See accompanying Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
3
Lantern Pharma Inc. and Subsidiary
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit) (Unaudited)
Preferred Stock Number of Shares | Preferred Stock Amount | Common Stock Number of Shares | Common Stock Amount | Additional Paid-in-Capital | Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income | Accumulated Deficit | Total Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Three and Six Months Ended June 30, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance, December 31, 2019 | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Common stock issued | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stock-based compensation | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net loss | - | - | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance, March 31, 2020 | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Common stock issued, net of issuance costs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preferred stock conversion to common stock and fractional shares adjustments from stock split and conversion | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stock-based compensation | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net loss | - | - | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance, June 30, 2020 | - | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Three and Six Months Ended June 30, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance, December 31, 2020 | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Common stock issued in equity financing, net of issuance costs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Common stock issued from warrant and option exercises | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stock-based compensation | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net Loss | - | - | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance, March 31, 2021 | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Common stock issued from warrant exercise | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stock-based compensation | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net loss | - | - | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other comprehensive loss | - | - | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance, June 30, 2021 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ |
See accompanying Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
4
Lantern Pharma Inc. and Subsidiary
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited)
Six Months Ended June 30, |
||||||||
2021 | 2020 | |||||||
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES | ||||||||
Net loss | $ | ( |
) | $ | ( |
) | ||
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to cash used in operating activities: | ||||||||
Depreciation and amortization | ||||||||
Non-cash lease expense | - | |||||||
Stock based compensation | ||||||||
Gain on loan forgiveness | ( |
) | ||||||
Changes in assets and liabilities: | ||||||||
Prepaid expenses and other current assets | ( |
) | ( |
) | ||||
Accounts payable and accrued expenses | ||||||||
Other assets | ( |
) | ||||||
Net cash flows used in operating activities | ( |
) | ( |
) | ||||
INVESTING ACTIVITIES | ||||||||
Purchase of property and equipment | ( |
) | ( |
) | ||||
Purchase of marketable securities | ( |
) | ||||||
Net cash flows used in investing activities | ( |
) | ( |
) | ||||
FINANCING ACTIVITIES | ||||||||
Proceeds from issuance of common and preferred stock | ||||||||
Issuance costs | ( |
) | ( |
) | ||||
Proceeds from stock option and warrant exercises | ||||||||
Borrowings from notes payable | ||||||||
Payments on notes payable | ( |
) | ||||||
Borrowings on loan payable | ||||||||
Net cash flows provided by financing activities | ||||||||
CHANGE IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS FOR THE PERIOD | ||||||||
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, BEGINNING OF PERIOD | ||||||||
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, END OF PERIOD | $ | $ | ||||||
Non-cash investing and financing activities | ||||||||
Application of deferred offering costs to public offering proceeds | $ | ( |
) | $ | ( |
) | ||
Amounts owed related to fractional shares adjustment, included in accounts payable and accrued expenses | ( |
) | ||||||
Unrealized losses on debt securities | ( |
) |
See accompanying Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
5
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Note 1. Organization, Principal Activities, and Basis of Presentation
Lantern Pharma Inc., and Subsidiary (the “Company”) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focused on leveraging artificial intelligence (“A.I.”), machine learning and genomic data to streamline the drug development process and to identify the patients that will benefit from its targeted oncology therapies. The Company’s portfolio of therapies consists of small molecule drug candidates that others have tried, but failed, to develop into an approved commercialized drug, as well as new compounds that it is developing with the assistance of its A.I. platform and its biomarker driven approach. The Company’s A.I. platform, known as RADR®, uses big data analytics (combining molecular data, drug efficacy data, data from historical studies, data from scientific literature, phenotypic data from trials and publications, and mechanistic pathway data) and machine learning. The Company’s data-driven, genomically-targeted and biomarker-driven approach allows it to pursue a transformational drug development strategy that identifies, rescues or develops, and advances potential small molecule drug candidates.
Lantern Pharma Inc. was incorporated under the laws of the state of Texas on November 7, 2013, and thereafter reincorporated in the state of Delaware on January 15, 2020. The Company’s principal operations are located in Texas. The Company formed a wholly owned subsidiary, Lantern Pharma Limited, in the United Kingdom in July 2017.
Since inception, the Company has devoted substantially all its activity to advancing research and development, including efforts in connection with preclinical studies, clinical trials and development of its RADR platform. This now includes four drug candidates and an ADC program directed towards seven disclosed therapeutic targets:
● | LP-100 (irofulven), in a phase II trial for the treatment of prostate cancer; |
● | LP-300 (Tavocept) in preparation to launch a phase II trial for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer; |
● | LP-184 in preclinical studies for treatment of solid tumors including pancreatic, prostate, and liver cancers and glioblastoma; |
● | LP-284, the stereoisomer (enantiomer) of LP-184, that has shown promising in-vitro anticancer activity in a range of indications that are distinct from LP-184; and |
● | An Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) program that was initiated in early 2021. |
The Company’s fiscal year ends on December 31 of each calendar year. The accompanying interim condensed consolidated financial statements are unaudited and have been prepared on substantially the same basis as the Company’s annual consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. In the opinion of the Company’s management, these interim condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) considered necessary for a fair statement of the Company’s financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the condensed consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ from these estimates.
The December 31, 2020 year-end condensed consolidated balance sheet data in the accompanying interim condensed consolidated financial statements was derived from audited consolidated financial statements. These condensed consolidated financial statements and notes do not include all disclosures required by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2020 and the notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, dated March 10, 2021, on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
6
The results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods included in these condensed consolidated financial statements are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for any future period or the entire fiscal year.
Any reference in these notes to applicable guidance refers to Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) and Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”). To date, the Company has operated its business as one segment. The Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiary, Lantern Pharma Limited. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Note 2. Liquidity
The
Company incurred a net loss of approximately $
Note 3. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Use of Estimates and Assumptions
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The significant areas of estimation include determining research and development accruals and the inputs in determining the fair value of equity-based awards and warrants issued. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Risks and Uncertainties
The Company operates in an industry that is subject to intense competition, government regulation and rapid technological change. Operations are subject to significant risk and uncertainties including financial, operational, technological, regulatory, and other risks, including the potential risk of business failure.
The extent of the impact and effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on the operation and financial performance of the Company’s business will depend on future developments, including the duration and spread of the outbreak and varying virus mutations, related travel advisories and restrictions, the recovery time of disrupted research services, the consequential staff shortages, and research and development delays, or the uncertainty with respect to the accessibility of additional liquidity or capital markets, all of which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted. If the Company’s operations are impacted by the outbreak for an extended period, the Company’s results of operations or liquidity may be materially adversely affected.
Deferred Offering Costs
In conjunction with the Company’s public offerings, costs incurred related to the public offerings were capitalized as deferred equity issuance costs in other non-current assets until the time of completion of the public offerings. Upon completion of the public offerings, these costs have been offset against proceeds received. Offering costs include direct and incremental costs related to the offering such as legal fees and related costs associated with the public offerings.
As
of December 31, 2020, the Company recorded deferred offering costs of approximately $
7
Research and Development
Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. These expenses primarily consist of payroll, contractor expenses, research study expenses, costs for manufacturing and supplies, and technical infrastructure on the cloud for the purposes of developing the Company’s RADR platform and identifying, developing, and testing drug candidates. Development costs incurred by third parties are expensed as the work is performed. Costs to acquire technologies, including licenses, that are utilized in research and development and that have no alternative future use are expensed when incurred.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The
Company considers money market funds with a short-term maturity of less than one year to be cash equivalents. Cash equivalents at June
30, 2021 and December 31, 2020 were approximately $
Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets
Prepaid
expenses and other current assets as of June 30, 2021 totaled approximately $
Leases
The Company determines whether
an arrangement contains a lease at inception. Operating leases are included in operating lease right-of-use (“ROU”) assets,
current portion of operating lease liabilities, and net of current portion of operating lease liabilities on our consolidated balance
sheets. ROU assets represent the Company’s right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and lease liabilities represent an
obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. Lease ROU assets and lease liabilities are recognized based on the present value
of the future minimum lease payments over the lease term at the commencement date. As the Company’s leases do not provide an implicit
rate, an incremental borrowing rate is used based on the information available at the commencement date in determining the present value
of lease payments. The Company does not include options to extend or terminate the lease term unless it is reasonably certain that the
Company will exercise any such options. Rent expense is recognized under the operating leases on a straight-line basis.
Marketable Securities
The Company’s marketable securities consist of government and agency securities, corporate bonds, and mutual funds. We classify our marketable securities as available-for-sale at the time of purchase and reevaluate such classification as of each balance sheet date. We may sell these securities at any time for use in current operations even if they have not yet reached maturity. As a result, we classify our investments, including securities with maturities beyond twelve months as current assets in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. Available-for-sale debt securities are recorded at fair value each reporting period. Unrealized gains and losses are excluded from earnings and recorded as a separate component within “Accumulated other comprehensive income” on the consolidated balance sheets until realized. Interest is reported within “Interest income” and dividend income is reported within “Other income, net” on the consolidated statements of operations. We evaluate our investments to assess whether the amortized cost basis is in excess of estimated fair value and determine what amount of that difference, if any, is caused by expected credit losses. Allowance for credit losses are recognized as a charge in “Other (expense) income, net” on the consolidated statements of operations, and any remaining unrealized losses are included in “Accumulated other comprehensive income” on the consolidated balance sheets. There were no credit losses recorded for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021. There was no impairment charge for any unrealized losses for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021. We determine realized gains and losses on the sale of marketable securities based on the specific identification method and record such gains and losses in “Other (expense) income, net” on the consolidated statements of operations. The Company purchased all marketable securities during the three months ended June 30, 2021 and as a result, there was no impact on prior periods.
8
New Accounting Pronouncements, Not Yet Adopted
Current Expected Credit Loss
In June 2016 the FASB issued Accounting Standard Update (ASU) 2016-13, Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments (Topic 326). This introduces new methodology for recognition of credit losses - the current expected credit loss (“CECL”) method. The CECL method requires the recognition of all losses expected over the life of a financial instrument upon origination or purchase of the instrument, unless the company elects to recognize such instruments at fair value with changes in profit and loss. CECL is effective for the Company on January 1, 2023. The Company does not anticipate a material impact from the adoption of this new standard on its financial statements.
Note 4. Commitments and Contingencies
General.
The
Company has entered into, and expects to enter into from time to time in the future, license agreements, strategic alliance agreements,
assignment agreements, research service agreements, and similar agreements related to the advancement of its product candidates and research
and development efforts. Significant agreements are described in detail below (collectively, the “License, Strategic Alliance,
and Research Agreements”). During the three and six months ended June 30, 2021, the Company expensed a total of approximately $
During
the three and six months ended June 30, 2021, the Company made payments of approximately $
Approximately
$
Approximately
$
BioNumerik Pharmaceuticals
In
January 2018, the Company entered into an Assignment Agreement (the “Assignment Agreement”) with BioNumerik Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. (“BioNumerik”), pursuant to which the Company acquired rights to domestic and international patents, trademarks and
related technology and data relating to LP-300 (Tavocept) for human therapeutic treatment indications. The Assignment Agreement replaced
a License Agreement that was entered into between the Company and BioNumerik in May 2016. The Company made upfront payments totaling
$
9
If the Company enters into a third party transaction for LP-300, the Company is required to pay the BioNumerik-related payment recipients a specified percentage of any upfront, milestone, and royalty amounts received by the Company from the transaction, after first recovering specified direct costs incurred by the Company for the development of LP-300 that are not otherwise reimbursed from such third party transaction.
In addition, the Assignment Agreement provides that the Company will use commercially diligent efforts to develop LP-300 and make specified regulatory filings and pay specified development and regulatory costs related to LP-300. The Assignment Agreement also provides that the Company will provide TriviumVet DAC (“TriviumVet”) with (i) specified data and information generated by the Company with respect to LP-300, and (ii) an exclusive license to use specified LP-300-related patent rights, trademark rights and related intellectual property to support LP-300 development in non-human (animal) treatment indications.
The
Company is also required to pay all patent costs on covered patents related to LP-300. These patent costs are included in general and
administrative expenses in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations. These patent costs are fully recoverable
at the time of any net revenue from LP-300, with up to
In
addition to the recovery of patent costs, the Company has the right to recover the $
AF Chemicals
In January 2015, the Company entered into a Technology License Agreement to exclusively license domestic and international patent rights from AF Chemicals, LLC (“AF Chemicals”) for the treatment of cancer in humans for the compounds LP-100 (Irofulven) and LP-184. In February 2016, the Company and AF Chemicals entered into an Addendum (the “Addendum”) providing for additions and amendments to the Technology License Agreement. In December 2020, the Company and AF Chemicals entered into a Second Addendum (the “Second Addendum”) providing for further additions and amendments to the Technology License Agreement. The Technology License Agreement, Addendum and Second Addendum are collectively referred to as the “AFC License Agreement”.
Pursuant to the Second Addendum, the Company made specified payments to AF Chemicals within 10 days after signing and prior to March 31, 2021. The Second Addendum also provides that, from December 30, 2020 until January 15, 2025, the Company will have no obligation to pay annual licensing fees, development diligence extension payments, or patent maintenance fee payments to AFC under the AFC License Agreement.
As part of the Second Addendum, the Company has agreed to apply for specified orphan drug designations for LP-184 in the US and EU. The Second Addendum also amends and clarifies other provisions of the Technology License Agreement, and provides the Company with the ability to recover a portion of initial payments made under the Second Addendum from sublicense fees or royalty payments that may be made to AFC by the Company or third parties prior to January 15, 2025.
10
Pursuant to the AFC License Agreement the Company made annual licensing fee payments to AF Chemicals during the six months ended June 30, 2020 relating to LP-184. Such amounts are included in research and development expenses in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations. In addition, the Company is obligated to make milestone payments to AF Chemicals at the time of an Investigational New Drug Application (“IND”) filing relating to LP-184 and also upon reaching additional specified milestones in connection with the development and potential marketing approval of LP-184 in the United States, specified countries in Europe, and other countries.
The AFC License Agreement also provides that the Company will pay AF Chemicals a royalty of at least a very small single digit percentage of specified net sales of LP-184 and other analogs. In addition, the AFC License Agreement contains specified time requirements for the Company to file an IND, enroll patients in clinical trials, and file a potential NDA with respect to LP-184, with the ability for the Company to pay AF Chemicals additional amounts ranging up to an amount in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars for each one, two, three and four year extension to such development time requirements, with additional extensions beyond four years to be negotiated by the Company and AF Chemicals.
Pursuant to the Second Addendum, no additional payments of annual licensing fees or development diligence extension payments are required to be made by the Company until January 15, 2025, at which time these obligations will resume. The Company will also be obligated to make annual licensing fee payments to AF Chemicals relating to LP-100 beginning January 15, 2025, as described below under Allarity Therapeutics.
In the event of a sublicense of the LP-184 rights, the Company is obligated to pay AF Chemicals (a) a low double digit percentage of the gross income and fees received by the Company with respect to the United States in connection with such sublicense, and (b) a lower double digit percentage of the gross income and fees received by the Company with respect to Europe and Japan in connection with such sublicense.
Allarity Therapeutics (formerly known as Oncology Venture)
In May 2015, the Company licensed various rights to LP-100 to Oncology Venture (now known as Allarity Therapeutics) pursuant to a Drug License and Development Agreement. In February 2016, the Company and Allarity Therapeutics entered into an addendum and an amendment providing for additions and amendments to the Drug License and Development Agreement. In connection with the Drug License and Development Agreement, as amended (collectively, the “Allarity License and Development Agreement”), Allarity Therapeutics agreed to directly pay to AF Chemicals on behalf of the Company certain amounts to satisfy the Company’s milestone obligations to AF Chemicals with respect to LP-100 under the AFC License Agreement. Amounts paid by Allarity Therapeutics to AF Chemicals on behalf of the Company are then deducted from amounts owed by Allarity Therapeutics to the Company. On July 23, 2021, the Company entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement to reacquire global development and commercialization rights for Irofulven (LP-100) from Allarity (See Note 11).
The amounts to be paid to AF Chemicals with respect to LP-100 under the AFC License Agreement are in many ways similar to the amounts to be paid with respect to LP-184 as described above under “AF Chemicals”.
In addition, the AFC License Agreement contains specified time requirements for the Company to enroll patients in clinical trials, and file a potential NDA with respect to LP-100. Extension fees may be paid by the Company to AF Chemicals from time to time related to these requirements. Pursuant to the Second Addendum with AF Chemicals, no additional payments of annual licensing fees or development diligence extension payments are required to be made by the Company with respect to LP-100 until January 15, 2025, at which time these obligations will resume.
Califia Pharma
In December 2020, the Company entered into an Evaluation and Limited Use Agreement (the “Evaluation Agreement”) with Califia Pharma, Inc. (“Califia”). The Evaluation Agreement provides for the Company and Califia to collaborate on the in vitro and in vivo testing and evaluation of novel Califia payloads conjugated to a Lantern targeting entity. The Evaluation Agreement also provides the Company with the right to negotiate with Califia for exclusive license rights to use LP-184 and related analogs as the payload with an affinity drug conjugate or small molecule drug conjugate targeting entity supplied by the Company. The Company also has the right under the Evaluation Agreement to negotiate for non-exclusive license rights to use a targeting entity from the Company with a payload and linker combination selected from novel specified Califia payloads and linkers.
11
Patheon API Services
The Company has entered into agreements with Patheon API Services, Inc. (“Patheon”) for the manufacture and supply of cGMP material to support the Company’s planned Phase II clinical trial for its product candidate LP-300. In addition to producing LP-300 API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) under cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practices) conditions, Patheon is transferring previously validated manufacturing processes and analytical methods for LP-300 and is producing non-GMP material that can be used to support non-clinical studies for LP-300. The agreements provide for payments in stages as specified process and manufacturing milestones are achieved. Patheon, a part of Thermo Fisher Scientific, has previously developed and/or manufactured more than 700 pharmaceuticals for biopharma clients and has more than 55 locations around the world, providing access to a fully integrated global network of facilities. The Company expects to pay additional amounts to Patheon in future periods in accordance with specified process and manufacturing milestones under the Patheon agreements.
Southwest Research Institute
As part of the Company’s research and development activities, the Company has engaged Southwest Research Institute (“SwRI”) from time to time to assist with compound synthesis and manufacturing related activities for the Company’s product candidates. The Company has entered into agreements with SwRI for the non-GMP synthesis of LP-184 material and related analytical development to assist with preclinical studies. The Company expects to pay additional amounts to SwRI in future periods as synthesis and analytical work is conducted by SwRI under the agreements.
The Research Institute of Fox Chase Cancer Center
In September 2020, the Company entered into a research agreement with the Research Institute of Fox Chase Cancer Center (“FCCC”) as part of the Company’s research and development activities, with a focus on advancing the targeted use of LP-184 in molecularly-defined sub-types of pancreatic cancer. The Company expects to pay additional amounts to FCCC in future periods in accordance with the payment schedule specified under the FCCC agreement.
Piramal Pharma Solutions
In January 2021, the Company entered into an agreement with Piramal Pharma Solutions (“Piramal”) for the fill and finish manufacture of LP-300 drug product at Piramal’s Lexington, Kentucky site in support of future Phase II clinical testing. Piramal will complete activities to support the cGMP manufacturing of LP-300, conduct a transfer project, manufacture a cGMP clinical batch, and perform stability studies on the cGMP batch of LP-300 drug product. The Company expects to pay additional amounts to Piramal in future periods in accordance with the payment schedule specified under the Piramal agreement.
Other Research and Service Provider Agreements
In addition to the agreements described above, the Company has entered into other research and service provider agreements for the advancement of its product candidates and research and development efforts. The Company expects to pay additional amounts in future periods in connection with existing and future research and service provider agreements.
EU Grant
In
September 2018, Lantern Pharma Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lantern Pharma Inc., was awarded a grant by the UK government in
the form of state aid under the Commission Regulations (EU) No. 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 (the “General Block Exemption”),
Article 25 Aid for research and development projects, state aid notification no. SA.40154. The grant was awarded to conduct research
and development activities for the prostate cancer biomarker analysis of the LP-184 drug candidate. Following the Company’s
research and development activities in Northern Ireland, the grant will reimburse the Company
12
Actuate Therapeutics
In
May 2021, the Company entered into a Collaboration Agreement with Actuate Therapeutics, Inc. (“Actuate”), a clinical stage
private biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of compounds for use in the treatment of cancer, and inflammatory diseases
leading to fibrosis. Pursuant to the agreement, the Company and Actuate will collaborate on utilization of the Company’s RADR®
platform to develop novel biomarker derived signatures for use with one of Actuate’s product candidates. As part of the collaboration,
the Company received
The
restricted shares of Actuate stock had a nominal value when acquired and, therefore, were recorded at a cost of $
Note 5. Leases
The operating lease cost recognized
in general and administrative expenses in our consolidated statements of operations was approximately $
The following provides balance sheet information related to leases as of June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020:
June 30, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | |||||||
Assets | ||||||||
Operating lease, right-of-use asset, net | $ | $ | ||||||
Liabilities | ||||||||
Current portion of operating lease liabilities | $ | $ | ||||||
Operating lease liabilities, net of current portion | ||||||||
Total operating lease liabilities | $ | $ |
At June 30, 2021, the future estimated minimum lease payments under non-cancelable operating leases are as follows:
2021 (remaining 6 months) | $ | |||
2022 | ||||
2023 | ||||
Total minimum lease payments | ||||
Less amount representing interest | ||||
Present value of future minimum lease payments | ||||
Less current portion of operating lease liabilities | ||||
Operating lease liabilities, net of current portion | $ |
13
In April 2021, we entered into two operating leases for office space that commenced in May 2021. The leases expire in April 2023 and automatically renew month-to-month unless we provide three-months written notice to the landlord prior to initial expiration. The exercise of lease renewal options is at our sole discretion and is assessed as to whether to include any renewals in the lease term at inception. The following table provides a reconciliation for our right of use assets and lease liabilities:
Right-of-Use Asset | Operating Lease Liability | |||||||
Balance at March 31, 2021 | $ | $ | ||||||
Additions | ||||||||
Amortizations and Reductions | ( | ) | ||||||
Balance at June 30, 2021 | $ | $ |
Other supplemental information related to operating leases is as follows:
As of June 30, | ||||||||
2021 | 2020 | |||||||
Weighted average remaining term of operating leases (in years) | ||||||||
Weighted average discount rate of operating leases | % | - | % |
The
Company also leased office space in Dallas, Texas under month-to-month lease arrangements during the three and six months ended June
30, 2021. In August 2019, the Company entered into a leasing agreement for office space in New Jersey. Monthly rent was approximately
$
Note 6. Stockholders’ Equity
Common Stock
On
June 15, 2020, the Company received net proceeds of $
14
The
Company made payments of approximately $
During
the three and six months ended June 30, 2020, the Company issued
On
January 20, 2021, the Company closed a public offering of
During
the three and six months ended June 30, 2021, the Company issued
During
the three and six months ended June 30, 2021, the Company issued
As
of June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, the Company had
Warrants
The
Company had warrants to purchase
Options
The
Company recorded stock-based compensation of approximately $
15
A summary of stock option activity under the Lantern Pharma Inc. 2018 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended and restated (the “Plan”) during the six months ended June 30, 2021 is presented below:
Options Outstanding | ||||||||
Number
of Shares | Weighted- Average Exercise Price Per Share | |||||||
Outstanding December 31, 2020 | $ | |||||||
Granted | ||||||||
Exercised | ( | ) | ||||||
Cancelled or expired | ||||||||
Outstanding June 30, 2021 | $ |
Options
were exercisable for
During
the six months ended June 30, 2020, options to purchase
Note 7. Marketable Securities
At June 30, 2021, marketable securities consisted of the following:
Amortized Cost | Unrealized Gains | Unrealized Losses | Aggregate Fair Value | |||||||||||||
Government & Agency Securities | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||
Corporate Bonds | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||
Mutual Funds – Fixed Income | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||
Mutual Funds – Alternative Investments | ||||||||||||||||
Marketable Securities | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ |
The contractual maturities of the investments classified as Government & Agency Securities and Corporate Bonds are as follows:
As
of June 30, 2021 | ||||
Due within one year | $ | |||
Due in one to two years | ||||
Due in three to five years | ||||
$ |
16
The following table presents gross unrealized losses and fair values for those marketable securities that were in an unrealized loss position as of June 30, 2021, aggregated by investment category and the length of time that individual securities have been in a continuous loss position:
As of June 30, 2021 | ||||||||
Less than 12 months | ||||||||
Fair Value | Unrealized Loss | |||||||
Government & Agency Securities | $ | $ | ( | ) | ||||
Corporate Bonds | ( | ) | ||||||
Mutual Funds – Fixed Income | ( | ) | ||||||
$ | $ | ( | ) |
We do not believe the unrealized losses represent credit losses based on our evaluation of available evidence as of June 30, 2021, which includes an assessment of whether it is more likely than not we will be required to sell the investment before recovery of the investment’s amortized cost basis.
Note 8. Fair Value Measurements
We determine the fair values of our financial instruments based on the fair value hierarchy, which requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The fair value assumes that the transaction to sell the asset or transfer the liability occurs in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability and establishes that the fair value of an asset or liability shall be determined based on the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. The classification of a financial asset or liability within the hierarchy is based upon the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The fair value hierarchy prioritizes the inputs into three levels that may be used to measure fair value:
Level 1 - Inputs are unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.
Level 2 - Inputs are quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets or inputs that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly through market corroboration, for substantially the full term of the financial instrument.
Level 3 - Inputs are unobservable inputs based on our assumptions.
Financial Assets
When available, our marketable securities are valued using quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets. If we are unable to value our marketable securities using quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets, we value our investments using broker reports that utilize quoted market prices for comparable instruments. As of June 30, 2021 our available-for-sale debt securities were valued through use of quoted prices for comparable instruments in active markets and are classified as Level 2, and our mutual funds – alternative investments were valued using NAV, net asset value per share, under the practical expedient methodology.
Based on our valuation of our marketable securities, we concluded that they are classified in either Level 2 or NAV, and we have no financial assets measured using Level 1 or 3 inputs. The following table presents information about our assets that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis using the above input categories.
Fair Value Measurements as of June 30, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Description | Total | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | NAV* | |||||||||||||||
Government & Agency Securities | ||||||||||||||||||||
Corporate Bonds | ||||||||||||||||||||
Mutual Funds – Fixed Income | ||||||||||||||||||||
Mutual Funds – Alternative Investments | ||||||||||||||||||||
$ | $ | $ | $ | $ |
* |
17
Note 9. Notes and Loan Payable
In
January 2020, the Company entered into a financing arrangement for commercial insurance with First Insurance Funding. The total amount
financed was approximately $
On
May 1, 2020 (the “Origination Date”), the Company received $
Note 10. Loss Per Share of Common Shares
Basic loss per share is derived by dividing net loss applicable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during each period. Diluted loss per share includes the effect, if any, from the potential exercise or conversion of securities, such as warrants and stock options, which would result in the issuance of incremental shares of common stock unless such effect is anti-dilutive. In calculating the basic and diluted net loss per share applicable to common stockholders, the weighted average number of shares remained the same for both calculations due to the fact that when a net loss exists, dilutive shares are not included in the calculation. Potentially dilutive securities outstanding that have been excluded from diluted loss per share due to being anti-dilutive include the following:
Outstanding at June 30, | ||||||||
2021 | 2020 | |||||||
Warrants to purchase Common Stock | ||||||||
Stock options | ||||||||
Note 11. Subsequent Events
On July 23, 2021, the Company entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement to reacquire global development and commercialization rights for Irofulven (LP-100) from Allarity Therapeutics A/S (“Allarity”), formerly known as Oncology Venture. The transaction includes global rights to the clinical stage drug candidate Irofulven (LP-100), as well as the developed clinical protocol for an intended study in bladder and prostate cancer patients who have a mutation in the ERCC2/3 genes. The Company also received an exclusive license to use Allarity’s companion diagnostic in future development and commercialization of LP-100. As a result of this transaction, the Company will have full authority to manage and guide future clinical development and commercialization of LP-100.
Under
the terms of the Asset Purchase Agreement, the Company paid an initial upfront amount of US $
18
Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and plan of operations together with our condensed consolidated financial statements and the related notes appearing elsewhere in this Quarterly Report. In addition to historical information, this discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Our actual results may differ materially from the plans, intentions, expectations and other forward-looking statements included in the discussion below. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those identified below, and those factors discussed in the Risk Factors section of our 2020 Form 10-K on file with the SEC.
Overview
We are a clinical stage biotechnology company, focused on leveraging artificial intelligence (“A.I.”), machine learning and genomic data to streamline the drug development process and to identify the patients that will benefit from our targeted oncology therapies. Our portfolio of therapies consists of small molecules that others have tried, but failed, to develop into an approved commercialized drug, as well as new compounds that we are developing with the assistance of our proprietary A.I. platform and our biomarker driven approach. Our A.I. platform, known as RADR®, currently includes more than 4.6 billion data points, and uses big data analytics (combining molecular data, drug efficacy data, data from historical studies, data from scientific literature, phenotypic data from trials and publications, and mechanistic pathway data) and machine learning to rapidly uncover biologically relevant genomic signatures correlated to drug response, and then identify the cancer patients that we believe may benefit most from our compounds. This data-driven, genomically-targeted and biomarker-driven approach allows us to pursue a transformational drug development strategy that identifies, rescues or develops, and advances potential small molecule drug candidates at what we believe is a fraction of the time and cost associated with traditional cancer drug development.
Our strategy is to both develop new drug candidates using our RADR® platform, and other machine learning driven methodologies, and to pursue the development of drug candidates that have undergone previous clinical trial testing or that may have been halted in development or deprioritized because of insufficient clinical trial efficacy (i.e., a meaningful treatment benefit relevant for the disease or condition under study as measured against the comparator treatment used in the relevant clinical testing) or for strategic reasons by the owner or development team responsible for the compound. Importantly, these historical drug candidates appear to have been well-tolerated in many instances, and often have considerable data from previous toxicity, tolerability and ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion) studies that have been completed. Additionally, these drug candidates may also have a body of existing data supporting the potential mechanism(s) by which they achieve their intended biologic effect, but often require more targeted trials in a stratified group of patients to demonstrate statistically meaningful results. Our dual approach to both develop de-novo, biomarker-guided drug candidates and “rescue” historical drug-candidates by leveraging A.I., recent advances in genomics, computational biology and cloud computing is emblematic of a new era in drug development that is being driven by data-intensive approaches meant to de-risk development and accelerate the clinical trial process. In this context, we intend to create a diverse portfolio of oncology drug candidates for further development towards regulatory and marketing approval with the objective of establishing a leading A.I.-driven, methodology for treating the right patient with the right oncology therapy.
19
A key component of our strategy is to target specific cancer patient populations and treatment indications identified by leveraging our RADR® platform, a proprietary A.I. enabled engine created and owned by us. We believe the combination of our therapeutic area expertise, our A.I. expertise, and our ability to identify and develop promising drug candidates through our collaborative relationships with research institutions in selected areas of oncology gives us a significant competitive advantage. Our RADR® platform was developed and refined over the last four years and integrates billions of data points immediately relevant for oncology drug development and patient response prediction using artificial intelligence and proprietary machine learning algorithms. By identifying clinical candidates, together with relevant genomic and phenotypic data, we believe our approach will help us design more efficient pre-clinical studies, and more targeted clinical trials, thereby accelerating our drug candidates’ time to approval and eventually to market. Although we have not yet applied for or received regulatory or marketing approval for any of our drug candidates, we believe our RADR® platform has the ability to reduce the cost and time to bring drug candidates to specifically targeted patient groups. We believe we have developed a sustainable and scalable biopharma business model by combining a unique, oncology-focused big-data platform that leverages artificial intelligence along with active clinical and preclinical programs that are being advanced in targeted cancer therapeutic areas to address today’s treatment needs.
Our current portfolio consists of four compounds and an Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) program: two drug candidates in clinical phases, one in preclinical studies and one candidate and our recently initiated ADC program in research optimization. One of the two drug candidates in clinical development, LP-100, was previously out-licensed by us to Allarity Therapeutics A/S. In July 2021, we entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement to reacquire global development and commercialization rights for LP-100 from Allarity. All of these drug candidates and our ADC program are leveraging precision oncology, A.I. and genomic driven approaches to accelerate and direct development efforts. We currently have two drug candidates in clinical development, LP-100 and LP-300, where we are leveraging data from prior preclinical studies and clinical trials, along with insights generated from our A.I. platform, to target the types of tumors and patient groups that would be most responsive to the drug. Both LP-100 and LP-300 showed promise in important patient subgroups, but failed pivotal Phase III trials when the overall results did not meet the predefined clinical endpoints. We believe that this was due to a lack of biomarker-driven patient stratification. LP-300 has been studied in multiple randomized, controlled, multi-center non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC, trials that included administration of either paclitaxel and cisplatin and/or docetaxel and cisplatin, and we are currently preparing LP-300 for the launch of a targeted phase II trial, in non or never smoking patients with NSCLC in combination with chemotherapy, under an existing investigational new drug application. LP-100 is in a Phase II clinical trial in metastatic, castration-resistant, prostate cancer that was previously managed by Allarity Therapeutics. As a result of the Asset Purchase Agreement we entered into with Allarity in July 2021, we will have full authority to manage and guide future clinical development and commercialization of LP-100.
Additionally, we have one new drug candidate, LP-184, in preclinical development for multiple potentially distinct indications where we are leveraging machine learning and genomic data to streamline the drug development process and to identify the patients and cancer subtypes that will best benefit from the drug, if approved. Our drug candidate, LP-284, the stereoisomer (enantiomer) of LP-184, has shown promising in-vitro anticancer activity in a range of indications that are distinct from LP-184. Our antibody drug conjugate (ADC) program commenced in early 2021 is aimed at identifying targeted or therapeutic antibodies, utilizing a unique library of linkers to conjugate with LP-184 and other compounds.
Our development strategy is to pursue an increasing number of oncology focused, molecularly targeted therapies where artificial intelligence and genomic data can help us provide biological insights, reduce the risk associated with development efforts and help clarify potential patient response. We plan on strategically evaluating these on a program-by-program basis as they advance into clinical development, either to be done entirely by us, or with licensing partners, to maximize the commercial opportunity and reduce the time it takes to bring the right drug to the right patient.
20
To date, except for a prior research grant, we have not generated any revenue, we have incurred net losses and our operations have been financed primarily by sales of our equity securities. Our net losses were approximately $2,317,000 and $4,769,000 for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021 and $833,000 and $1,311,000 for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020, respectively.
Our net losses have primarily resulted from costs incurred in licensing and developing the drug candidates in our pipeline, planning, preparing and conducting preclinical studies, early stage clinical testing and general and administrative activities associated with our operations. We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and corresponding increased operating losses for the foreseeable future as we continue to develop our pipeline. Our costs may further increase as we conduct preclinical studies and clinical trials and potentially seek regulatory clearance for and prepare to commercialize our drug candidates. We expect to incur significant expenses to continue to build the infrastructure necessary to support our expanded operations, preclinical studies, clinical trials, commercialization, including manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution functions. We have experienced and will continue to experience increased costs associated with operating as a public company.
As of the date of this report, we believe we have effectively managed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operations. The timing of non-clinical research studies for our drug candidates by collaborators and service providers slowed during 2020 in connection with the pandemic. In addition, Allarity Therapeutics informed us that enrollment in the Phase II clinical trial for LP-100 slowed during the pandemic. While we believe we have been able to manage the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to date, there can be no assurance that our operations, including the development of our drug candidates, will not be disrupted and materially adversely affected in the future by the COVID-19 pandemic, or an epidemic or outbreak of an infectious disease like the outbreak of COVID-19.
Components of Our Results of Operations
Revenues
We did not recognize revenues for any of the three or six month periods ended June 30, 2021 and June 30, 2020.
General and Administrative
General and administrative expenses consist of our operating expenses that are not included in the direct costs of production or cost of goods sold which include:
● | corporate office overhead expenses such as salaries of administrative staff and corporate officers; |
● | legal expenses; |
● | accounting expenses; and |
● | rent, utilities, insurance, information systems, and supplies. |
Research and Development
Research and development expenses consist primarily of costs incurred for the research and development of our preclinical and clinical candidates, which include:
● | expenses incurred for employees, consultants, research studies, laboratories and investigators for the conduct of our preclinical or clinical research activities; and |
● | the cost of acquiring and developing preclinical study materials and lab supplies. |
We expense research and development costs to operations as incurred.
21
Our research and development costs by project category for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021 are as follows:
Three Months Ended June 30, 2021 | Six
Months Ended June 30, 2021 | |||||||
LP-300 | $ | 275,620 | $ | 810,205 | ||||
LP-184 | 591,851 | 1,055,801 | ||||||
RADR® Platform | 152,159 | 293,737 | ||||||
Other | 145,262 | 284,186 | ||||||
Total research and development expenses | $ | 1,164,892 | $ | 2,443,929 |
We did not track our research and development costs by project prior to our initial public offering (“IPO”) in June 2020. We have tracked and allocated our research and development costs by project category since the second quarter of calendar 2020.
The category designated as “Other” in the above table includes expenses for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021 associated with our ADC program, which commenced in early 2021, and expenses related to our compound known as LP-284.
We expect that our research and development expenses will continue to increase as we progress toward our commencement of clinical trials of LP-300 and LP-184, advance clinical development of LP-100, and advance our other programs and drug candidates. We expect this increase to include additional expenses associated with research and service provider agreements for the advancement of our drug candidates and research and development efforts.
Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with product development, we cannot determine with certainty the duration and completion costs of these or other current or future clinical trials of LP-300, LP-184, LP-100 or our other drug candidates. We may never succeed in achieving regulatory approval for LP-300, LP-184, LP-100 or any of our other drug candidates. The duration, costs and timing of clinical trials and development of our drug candidates will depend on a variety of factors, including the uncertainties of future clinical and preclinical studies, uncertainties in clinical trial enrollment rate and significant and changing government regulation. In addition, the probability of success for each drug candidate will depend on numerous factors, including competition, manufacturing capability and commercial viability.
General and Administrative
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries and related costs for employees in executive, finance and administration, corporate development and administrative support functions, including stock-based compensation expenses and benefits. Other significant general and administrative expenses include accounting and legal services, the cost of various consultants, occupancy costs and information systems costs.
We expect that our general and administrative expenses will increase as we continue to operate as a public company. We expect increased administrative costs resulting from our anticipated clinical trials and the potential commercialization of our drug candidates. We believe that these increases will likely include increased costs for director and officer liability insurance, hiring additional personnel to support future market research and future product commercialization efforts and increased fees for outside consultants, attorneys and accountants. We also expect to continue to incur increased costs to comply with corporate governance, internal controls, investor relations and disclosures and similar requirements applicable to a public company.
22
Summary Results of Operations for the Three and Six Months Ended June 30, 2021 and June 30, 2020 (unaudited)
Three Months Ended | Six Months Ended | |||||||||||||||
June 30, | June 30, | |||||||||||||||
2021 | 2020 | 2021 | 2020 | |||||||||||||
Operating expenses: | ||||||||||||||||
General and administrative | $ | 1,314,201 | $ | 676,399 | $ | 2,487,459 | $ | 1,016,571 | ||||||||
Research and development | 1,164,892 | 157,023 | 2,443,929 | 294,127 | ||||||||||||
Total operating expenses | 2,479,093 | 833,422 | 4,931,388 | 1,310,698 | ||||||||||||
Loss from operations | (2,479,093 | ) | (833,422 | ) | (4,931,388 | ) | (1,310,698 | ) | ||||||||
Interest income | 47,889 | - | 47,889 | - | ||||||||||||
Other income, net | 114,723 | - | 114,723 | - | ||||||||||||
NET LOSS | $ | (2,316,481 | ) | $ | (833,422 | ) | $ | (4,768,776 | ) | $ | (1,310,698 | ) |
Comparison of the Three Months Ended June 30, 2021 and June 30, 2020
Revenues
To date, except for a prior research grant, we have not generated any revenue since our inception.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses increased approximately $638,000, or 94%, from approximately $676,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2020 to approximately $1,314,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2021. The increase was primarily attributable to increases in labor expense of approximately $25,000, increases in business and corporate development expense of approximately $158,000, increases in legal and patent related fees of approximately $114,000, increases in general and administrative related stock option expense of approximately $25,000, corporate insurance expense increases of approximately $296,000, and a net increase in other expenses of approximately $20,000.
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development expenses increased approximately $1,008,000, or 642%, from approximately $157,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2020 to approximately $1,165,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2021. The increase was primarily attributable to increases in product candidate manufacturing related expenses of approximately $320,000, increases in research and development employee associated expenses of approximately $279,000, increases in research study expenses of approximately $280,000, increases in licensing fees of approximately $39,000, and increases in research and development related stock option expense of approximately $116,000. This was partially offset by a decrease in consulting expenses of approximately $26,000.
Interest and Other Income
Interest income increased approximately $48,000 from zero for the three months ended June 30, 2020 to approximately $48,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2021. This increase was attributable to investment in marketable securities entered into during the three months ended June 30, 2021. Other income, net increased approximately $115,000 from zero for the three months ended June 30, 2020 to approximately $115,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2021. This increase was primarily attributable to a gain on loan forgiveness attributable to the PPP Loan of approximately $110,000 and dividend income of approximately $5,000.
Comparison of the Six Months Ended June 30, 2021 and June 30, 2020
Revenues
To date, except for a prior research grant, we have not generated any revenue since our inception.
23
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses increased approximately $1,471,000, or 145%, from approximately $1,017,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2020 to approximately $2,488,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2021. The increase was primarily attributable to increases in labor expense of approximately $77,000, increases in business and corporate development expense of approximately $271,000, increases in legal and patent related fees of approximately $205,000, increases in other professional fees of approximately $30,000, increases in general and administrative related stock option expense of $136,000, corporate insurance expense increases of approximately $737,000, and a net increase in other expenses of approximately $15,000.
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development expenses increased approximately $2,150,000, or 731%, from approximately $294,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2020 to approximately $2,444,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2021. The increase was primarily attributable to increases in product candidate manufacturing related expenses of approximately $872,000, increases in research and development employee associated expenses of approximately $568,000, increases in research study expenses of approximately $460,000, increases in licensing fees of approximately $74,000, and increases in research and development related stock option expense of approximately $231,000. This was partially offset by a decrease in consulting expenses of approximately $55,000.
Interest and Other Income
Interest income, net increased approximately $48,000 from zero for the six months ended June 30, 2020 to approximately $48,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2021. This increase was attributable to investment in marketable securities entered into during the six months ended June 30, 2021. Other income, net increased approximately $115,000 from zero for the six months ended June 30, 2020 to approximately $115,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2021. This increase was primarily attributable to a gain on loan forgiveness attributable to the PPP Loan of approximately $110,000 and dividend income of approximately $5,000.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
We incurred net losses of approximately $2,317,000 and $4,769,000 for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021 and net losses of approximately $833,000 and $1,311,000 for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020, respectively. As of June 30, 2021, we had working capital of approximately $79,443,000 and as of December 31, 2020 we had working capital of approximately $19,685,000.
On January 20, 2021, we closed a public offering of 4,928,571 shares of common stock at a public offering price of $14.00 per share, which amount included 642,856 shares sold upon full exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option. Total gross proceeds from the offering were approximately $69,000,000, and net proceeds from the offering were approximately $64,167,000.
We have not yet generated any revenues from operations, other than revenues from a research grant, and we have not yet achieved profitability. We expect that general and administrative expenses and our research and development expenses will continue to increase and, as a result, we will need to generate significant product revenues to achieve profitability. We may never achieve profitability.
Sources of Liquidity
Since our inception, our operations have been financed primarily through the sale of equity securities, and, to a much lesser extent, funds received by us from the PPP Loan and a 2017 grant from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. We plan to apply for grant funding in the future to assist in supporting our capital needs. We may also explore the possibility of entering into commercial credit facilities as an additional source of liquidity.
As of June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, we had cash and cash equivalents of approximately $61,354,000 and $19,229,000, respectively. Based on our anticipated expenditures and capital commitments as of the date of this report, we believe that our existing cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2021 will enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements for at least 12 months from the date of this Quarterly Report.
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Cash Flows
The following table summarizes our cash flow for the periods indicated:
For the Six Months ended June 30, |
||||||||
2021 | 2020 | |||||||
(Unaudited) | ||||||||
Net cash flows used in operating activities | $ | (3,869,927 | ) | $ | (1,193,918 | ) | ||
Net cash flows used in investing activities | (18,294,119 | ) | (7,821 | ) | ||||
Net cash flows provided by financing activities | 64,288,931 | 23,768,052 | ||||||
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents | $ | 42,124,885 | $ | 22,566,313 |
Operating Activities
For the six months ended June 30, 2021, net cash used in operating activities was $3,869,927 compared to $1,193,918 for the six months ended June 30, 2020. The increase in net cash used in operating activities was primarily the result of the increase in the net loss for the six months ended June 30, 2021.
Investing Activities
For the six months ended June 30, 2021, net cash used in investing activities was $18,294,119 compared to $7,821 for the six months ended June 30, 2020. The increase in net cash used in investing activities was primarily due to investments in marketable securities during the six months ended June 30, 2021.
Financing Activities
Net cash provided by financing activities was $64,288,931 during the six months ended June 30, 2021, attributable primarily to net proceeds from our equity financing in January 2021. Net cash provided by financing activities during the six months ended June 30, 2020 was $23,768,052, attributable primarily to net proceeds from our initial public offering.
Operating Capital and Capital Expenditure Requirements
We expect to continue to incur significant and increasing operating losses at least for the next several years as we commence our clinical trials of LP-184 and LP-300, advance clinical development of LP-100, pursue development of our other drug candidates, and seek potential future marketing approval for our drug candidates which could be several years in the future, if at all. We do not expect to generate revenue, other than possible license revenue, unless and until we successfully complete development and obtain regulatory approval for our therapeutic candidates. Our net losses may fluctuate significantly from quarter-to-quarter and year-to-year, depending on the timing of our planned clinical trials and our expenditures on other research and development activities.
We have based our projections of operating capital requirements on assumptions that may prove to be incorrect and we may use all of our available capital resources sooner than we expect. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with research, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products, we are unable to estimate the exact amount of our operating capital requirements. We anticipate that our expenses will increase substantially as we:
● | continue the development of our drug candidates; | |
● | initiate preclinical studies and clinical trials for any additional indications for our current drug candidates and any future drug candidates that we may pursue; |
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● | continue to build our portfolio of drug candidates through the acquisition or in-license of additional drug candidates or technologies; | |
● | continue to develop, maintain, expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio; | |
● | pursue regulatory approvals for those of our current and future drug candidates that successfully complete clinical trials; | |
● | ultimately establish a sales, marketing, distribution and other commercial infrastructure to commercialize any drug candidate for which we may obtain marketing approval; | |
● | hire additional clinical, regulatory, scientific and accounting personnel; | |
● | incur additional legal, accounting and other expenses in operating as a public company; and | |
● | continue to develop, maintain, and expand our RADR® platform. |
We expect that we will need to obtain substantial additional funding in order to complete our clinical trials. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of common stock, convertible securities or other equity securities, the ownership interests of our existing stockholders may be materially diluted and the terms of these securities could include liquidation or other preferences that could adversely affect the rights of our existing stockholders. In addition, debt financing, if available, would result in increased fixed payment obligations and may involve agreements that include restrictive covenants that limit our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends, that could adversely impact our ability to conduct our business. If we are unable to raise capital when needed or on attractive terms, we could be forced to significantly delay, scale back or discontinue the development or commercialization of LP-184, LP-300, LP-100 and/or other drug candidates and programs, seek collaborators at an earlier stage than otherwise would be desirable or on terms that are less favorable than might otherwise be available, and relinquish or license, potentially on unfavorable terms, our rights to LP-184, LP-300, LP-100 and/or other drug candidates and programs that we otherwise would seek to develop or commercialize ourselves.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
We did not have during the periods presented, and we do not currently have, any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined under SEC rules.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
There have been no changes to our critical accounting policies during the three months ended June 30, 2021. Critical accounting policies and the significant accounting estimates made in accordance with such policies are regularly discussed with the Audit Committee of the Company’s board of directors. Those policies are discussed under “Critical Accounting Policies” in our “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included in Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, as well as in our consolidated financial statements and the footnotes thereto, included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Accounting Pronouncements
The Company considered the applicability and impact of recent accounting pronouncements and determined them to be either not applicable or expected to have minimal impact on our condensed consolidated balance sheets or statements of operations.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
See Note 3 of the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure About Market Risk
Our primary exposure to market risk is interest expense sensitivity, which is affected by changes in the general level of U.S. interest rates. Fixed rate securities may have their market value adversely affected due to a rise in interest rates. Accordingly, our future investment income may fluctuate as a result of changes in interest rates, or we may suffer losses in principal if we are forced to sell securities that decline in market value as a result of changes in interest rates.
Historically, we have raised capital through the issuance of equity securities. We had no long-term debt outstanding as of June 30, 2021, and as of December 31, 2020 we had no long-term debt outstanding, other than our PPP Loan Agreement entered into in May 2020. In April 2021 we received notice that the Small Business Administration (SBA) had authorized full forgiveness of the PPP Loan.
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We do not believe that our cash and cash equivalents have significant risk of default or illiquidity. Our cash and cash equivalents consist primarily of cash and money market funds. Our exposure to market risk for changes in interest rates is limited because our cash and cash equivalents have a short-term maturity and are used primarily for working capital purposes. While we believe our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities do not contain excessive risk, we cannot provide absolute assurance that in the future our investments will not be subject to adverse changes in market value. In addition, we maintain significant amounts of cash at one or more financial institutions that are in excess of federally insured limits.
We do not participate in any foreign currency hedging activities and we do not have any other derivative financial instruments.
Inflation generally affects us by increasing our cost of labor and clinical trial costs. We do not believe that inflation has had a material effect on our results of operations during the periods presented.
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Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
As a Smaller Reporting Company we are exempt from the requirements of Item 3.
Item 4. Controls and Procedures.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer (our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, respectively), evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of June 30, 2021. The term “disclosure controls and procedures,” as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, means controls and other procedures of a company that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the company’s management, including its principal executive and principal financial officers, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives and management necessarily applies its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures.
Based on the evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of June 30, 2021, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that, as of such date, our disclosure controls and procedures, as defined above, are effective.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the three-month period ended June 30, 2021 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
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PART II – OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
As a Smaller Reporting Company we are exempted from the requirements of Item 1A.
Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds.
Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities.
Exercise of Warrants
In June 2021, a warrant holder acquired 2,592 shares of common stock pursuant to the cashless exercise of a warrant to purchase 3,258 shares. The warrant was exercisable at an exercise price of $3.13 per share of common stock. The issuance of common shares was exempt from registration pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. The recipient of the shares represented their intention to acquire the securities for investment only and not with a view to or for sale in connection with any distribution thereof, and appropriate legends were placed regarding the stock issued in this transaction. The sale of these securities was made without any general solicitation or advertising.
Use of Proceeds.
Use of proceeds from our initial public offering of common stock
On June 15, 2020, we closed our IPO of 1,750,000 shares of common stock, at a public offering price of $15.00 per share, pursuant to our registration statement on Form S-1, as amended (File No. 333-237714), declared effective by the SEC on June 10, 2020. There has been no material change in our use of the net proceeds from the IPO as described in our final prospectus filed with the SEC on June 12, 2020.
Item 5. Other Information.
On July 23, 2021, we entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement to reacquire global development and commercialization rights for Irofulven (LP-100) from Allarity Therapeutics A/S (“Allarity”), formerly known as Oncology Venture. The transaction includes global rights to the clinical stage drug candidate Irofulven (LP-100), as well as the developed clinical protocol for an intended study in bladder and prostate cancer patients who have a mutation in the ERCC2/3 genes. We also received an exclusive license to use Allarity’s companion diagnostic in future development and commercialization of LP-100. As a result of this transaction, we will have full authority to manage and guide future clinical development and commercialization of LP-100.
Under the terms of the Asset Purchase Agreement, we paid an initial upfront amount of US $1.0 million to Allarity, and future escrow payments that have the potential to deliver an additional US $1.0 million to Allarity based on drug manufacturing and trial enrollment milestones within the next 24 months. Allarity is also eligible to receive up to US $16.0 million in additional milestone payments over the life of the program based on IP license milestones and regulatory filings and approvals in the US and EU, and low- to mid-single-digit royalties on future commercial net sales.
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Item 6. Exhibits.
Exhibit No. | Exhibit Description | Method of Filing | |||
3.1 | Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation | Incorporated by reference from the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed June 17, 2020 | |||
3.2 | By-Laws | Incorporated by reference from the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed April 16, 2020 | |||
31.1 | Certification of Principal Executive Officer Pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. | Filed electronically herewith | |||
31.2 | Certification of Principal Financial Officer Pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. | Filed electronically herewith | |||
32.1 | Certification of Principal Executive Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. | Furnished electronically herewith | |||
32.2 | Certification of Principal Financial Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. | Furnished electronically herewith | |||
101.INS | XBRL Instance Document | Filed electronically herewith | |||
101.SCH | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema | Filed electronically herewith | |||
101.CAL | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase | Filed electronically herewith | |||
101.DEF | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase | Filed electronically herewith | |||
101.LAB | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase | Filed electronically herewith | |||
101.PRE | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase | Filed electronically herewith | |||
104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101) | Filed electronically herewith |
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
Lantern Pharma Inc., | ||
A Delaware Corporation | ||
Dated: July 29, 2021 | By: | /s/ Panna Sharma |
Panna Sharma, Chief Executive Officer | ||
Dated: July 29, 2021 | By: | /s/ David R. Margrave |
David R. Margrave, Chief Financial Officer |
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