Begins 2015 with $232 Million in Cash
Potential Milestones from Existing Partnerships in 2015/2016 Projected at Over $150 Million
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Jan. 12, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:OMED), a clinical-stage company developing novel therapeutics that target cancer stem cells (CSCs), or tumor-initiating cells, pre-announced its 2014 year-end cash balance and provided top-line financial guidance for 2015, including anticipated cash spend and additional detail around several key potential financial milestones from existing collaborative partnerships.
"We ended 2014 with a very strong balance sheet, having advanced multiple programs to the next stages of clinical development and maintaining highly productive cancer stem cell and immuno-oncology discovery research," said Paul J. Hastings, OncoMed's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We begin 2015 with six OncoMed-discovered drugs in the clinic, including multiple randomized Phase 2 clinical trials, as well as new pathways and targets being discovered and developed internally. Several significant future milestone payments from our partners may continue to enable our progress through commercialization without additional financing."
2015-2016 Key Financial Milestones
Potential milestones from OncoMed's collaborations with Celgene, Bayer and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) anticipated in the 2015-2016 timeframe include:
2015 Pipeline Progress
OncoMed also outlined anticipated pipeline progress for 2015:
OncoMed plans to hold an R&D Day for investors and analysts during the first half of 2015 to discuss its research and development programs in greater detail.
Additional Financial Milestone Information about OncoMed's Collaborations:
Overall, in future years, beginning in 2015 under its collaboration agreements with Celgene, Bayer, and GSK, OncoMed is eligible for over $4 billion in total potential milestone and option payments from its partners, including up to the following amounts for individual programs:
To date, OncoMed has received over $373 million from its existing partners.
Reminder: OncoMed Chairman and CEO Paul J. Hastings will present at the 33rd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco on Thursday, January 15, 2015 at 7:30 am Pacific Time. The presentation will be webcast live and available for replay from the OncoMed website in the Investor Relations section.
About OncoMed Pharmaceuticals
OncoMed Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage company focused on discovering and developing novel therapeutics targeting cancer stem cells (CSCs). OncoMed has six anti-cancer product candidates in clinical development, including demcizumab (anti-DLL4, OMP-21M18), tarextumab (anti-Notch2/3, OMP-59R5), anti-Notch1 (OMP-52M51), anti-DLL4/VEGF bispecific antibody (OMP-305B83), vantictumab (anti-FZD7, OMP-18R5), and ipafricept (FZD8-Fc, OMP-54F28), which each target key cancer stem cell signaling pathways including Notch and Wnt. OncoMed plans to file an Investigational New Drug application in early 2015 for anti-RSPO3 (OMP-131R10), an antibody targeting a third key cancer stem cell signalling pathway called R-spondin-LGR. OncoMed is also pursuing discovery of additional novel anti-CSC and cancer immunotherapy product candidates. OncoMed has formed strategic alliances with Celgene Corporation, Bayer Pharma AG and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Additional information can be found at the company's website: www.oncomed.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
To the extent that statements contained in this press release are not descriptions of historical facts regarding OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, they are forward-looking statements reflecting the current beliefs and expectations of management made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including OncoMed's expectations regarding the ability of OncoMed to advance its research and development pipeline, including its discovery and preclinical pipeline and its six product candidates in clinical trials; the timing of the initiation of randomized Phase 2 clinical trials for demcizumab and the interim safety analysis associated with those trials; the timing of an Investigational New Drug application filing and initiation of a Phase 1a clinical trial for anti-RSPO3; OncoMed's ability to achieve its milestones in the future, including successful completion of the Phase 2 interim safety analysis for demcizumab and enrollment in the anti-Notch1 Phase 1 expansion cohort, as well as the timing of achievement of such milestones; the safety profile of demcizumab at Phase 2 doses; the timing and availability of data from preclinical studies and ongoing clinical trials, including Phase 1 anti-Notch 1 data sufficient for GSK to determine whether to exercise its option and Phase 1b vantictumab and ipafricept data sufficient for Bayer to determine whether to exercise its options; the timing and likelihood of any decision by GSK and Bayer to exercise their respective options on OncoMed's programs; and OncoMed's guidance regarding projected expenses for 2015, year-end cash for 2015, potential milestone and option fee payments from partners, and the period in which cash will be available to fund its operating expenses and capital expenditures. Such forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause OncoMed's clinical development programs, future results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainties inherent in the preclinical and clinical development process; the risks and uncertainties of the regulatory approval process; OncoMed's dependence on its collaboration partners, including Celgene, GSK and Bayer, for the funding of its partnered programs; OncoMed's ability to raise additional capital to support the development of its unpartnered programs; OncoMed's dependence on the development and marketing efforts of its partners for the commercial success of its partnered product candidates; OncoMed's reliance on third parties to conduct certain preclinical studies and all of its clinical trials; OncoMed's reliance on single source third-party contract manufacturing organizations to manufacture and supply its product candidates; OncoMed's ability to validate, develop and obtain regulatory approval for companion diagnostics; OncoMed's ability to achieve market acceptance and commercial success of its product candidates once regulatory approval is achieved; OncoMed's ability to discover, develop and commercialize additional product candidates; the ability of competitors to discover, develop or commercialize competing products more quickly or more successfully; OncoMed's dependence on its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, its Chief Scientific Officer, its Chief Medical Officer and other key executives; risk of third party claims alleging infringement of patents and proprietary rights or seeking to invalidate OncoMed's patents or proprietary rights; and the ability of OncoMed's proprietary rights to protect its technologies and product candidates. OncoMed undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to OncoMed's business in general, see OncoMed's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 18, 2014, OncoMed's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2014, filed with the SEC on May 8, 2014, OncoMed's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2014, filed with the SEC on August 7, 2014, and OncoMed's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2014, filed with the SEC on November 4, 2014.