We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a novel disease-modifying approach to target what we believe to be a key underlying cause of Alzheimer’s Disease, or AD. Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease of the brain that leads to loss of memory and cognitive functions and ultimately results in death. Our scientific founders pioneered research on soluble amyloid-beta oligomers, or AβOs, which are globular assemblies of the Aß peptide that are distinct from Aß monomers and amyloid plaques. We are currently focused on advancing a targeted immunotherapy drug candidate, ACU193, through clinical proof of mechanism trials in early AD patients. We initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial of ACU193 in 2021, which we named
“INTERCEPT-AD.”
This trial is enrolling patients with mild dementia or mild cognitive impairment due to AD, conditions referred to as “early AD.”
INTERCEPT-AD
is a U.S.-based, multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial with overlapping single ascending dose, or SAD, and multiple ascending dose, or MAD, cohorts involving a total of approximately 62 patients with early AD. The overall objective of the trial is to evaluate the safety and tolerability and establish clinical proof of mechanism of ACU193 administered intravenously. The primary trial endpoints are focused on safety and immunogenicity. An important safety measure will be the use of magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, to assess the presence or absence of amyloid-related imaging abnormalities. Secondary endpoints include pharmacokinetics in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid, or CSF, and target engagement as evidenced by detection of ACU193 bound to AßOs in CSF. Clinical scales typically used in AD trials as well as computerized cognitive testing are included as exploratory measures. In October 2021, we announced the initial dosing of the first patient in the
INTERCEPT-AD
trial and the subsequent successful sentinel safety review of the first two patients. Due to delays in clinical trial site activation and patient enrollment that we believe are principally related to the effects of the
COVID-19
pandemic, we are expanding the anticipated number of trial sites to support our enrollment objectives and anticipated timelines. Clinical trial site activation and patient recruitment and enrollment is ongoing. Based on current site activations and enrollment rates, we anticipate reporting our topline data from the
INTERCEPT-AD
trial in the first half of 2023.
We have incurred net losses and negative cash flows from operations since our inception. Our net losses were $9.1 million and $27.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. As of March 31, 2022, we had an accumulated deficit of $136.7 million. Our net losses and cash flows from operations may fluctuate significantly from
and
depending on the timing of nonclinical studies, clinical trials and our expenditures on other research and development activities. We expect our expenses and operating losses will increase substantially for the foreseeable future as we advance ACU193 in clinical trials, seek to expand our product candidate portfolio through developing additional product candidates, grow our clinical, regulatory and quality capabilities, and incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company. It is likely that we will seek third-party collaborators for the future commercialization of ACU193 or any other product candidate that is approved for marketing. However, we may seek to commercialize our products at our own expense, which would require us to incur significant additional expenses for marketing, sales, manufacturing and distribution.
We will not generate revenue from product sales unless and until we successfully complete clinical development and obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates. In addition, if we obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates and do not enter into a third-party commercialization partnership, we expect to incur significant expenses related to developing our commercialization capability to support product sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution activities.