SELLAS Life Sciences Group Inc. (NASDAQ:SLS)has announced that on December 16, 2020, it closed a registered direct offering of its common stock for net proceeds of $14.9 million after deduction of agent placement fees and offering expenses.
SELLAS to use offering proceeds to fund GPS programs
The company announced the exercising of outstanding warrants as of December 16 for net profits of around $8.1 million. After the issuance of the company’s common shares in the direct offering and following the exercising of the warrants, Sells currently has 14.194 million outstanding common shares. The company has previously announced the signing of an Exclusive License Agreement to grants 3D Medicines Inc. rights for the development and commercialization of its lead clinical candidate, galinpepimut-S (GPS), and the next generation heptavalent immunotherapeutic, GPS+ in China, Taiwan, Macau, and Hong Kong. According to agreement terms, SELLAS will receive a non-dilutive license fee of around $7.5 million.
SELLAS plans to use direct offering and warrant exercise proceeds as well as the upfront fee from 3D medicines in funding its development programs for GPS. The programs include the current pivotal phase 3 clinical study of GPS in acute myeloid leukemia patients that have attained second complete remission and regulatory-and CMC reared projects supporting possible BLA application for GPS.
SELLAS report final VADIS study data
Recently the company also announced final data with around 6 months follow-up from a phase 2 randomized study (VADIS Study) for its nelipepimut-S (NPS) in combination with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. The company is evaluating the combination in treating ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast in women who are HLA-A2+ or V3+ positive expressing HER2 at IHC 1+, 2+, or 3+ levels that are post or pre-menopausal. The study randomized patients to receive either GM-CSF alone or GM-SCF followed by NPS after two weeks.
Previously reported preliminary data indicated that a single NPS dose treatment can newly induce NPS-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes in peripheral blood in DCIS patients. Updated data showed persisting CD8+ T-cell responses after NPS treatment and patients retained antigen-specific immune response.
