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MEI Pharma Reports First Quarter Fiscal Year 2021 Results and Operational Highlights

November 10, 2020

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MEI Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: MEIP), a late-stage pharmaceutical company focused on advancing new therapies for cancer, today reported results for the quarter ended September 30, 2020

"As we move through fiscal year 2021, we are well-positioned and well-capitalized to achieve our goals across our pipeline. Importantly, we remain focused on advancing zandelisib toward commercialization with our partner Kyowa Kirin and establishing its potential as an important treatment option in multiple lines of treatment across various B-cell malignancies," said Daniel
P. Gold, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of MEI Pharma. "Our immediate focus is the completion of enrollment in the TIDAL study evaluating patients with follicular lymphoma, a study intended to support our accelerated approval strategy with FDA. TIDAL enrollment is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2021 subject, of course, to developments in the global COVID-19 pandemic."  

Dr. Gold continued: "Beyond TIDAL we are broadening our development activity for zandelisib, including the addition of a marginal zone arm to TIDAL to support an opportunity for potential expansion of our accelerated approval strategy if successful, the initiation of a Phase 3 study in second line follicular and marginal zone lymphomas sometime in mid-2021, and plans to support select investigator-initiated trials, initially in first-line DLBCL. Additionally, we are continuing ex-U.S. development efforts led by Kyowa Kirin, including the start of the Japan Phase 2 study to support marketing authorization in Japan. Finally, we will continue to advance the clinical development of our other wholly owned programs, voruciclib and ME-344."

First Quarter Fiscal Year 2021 Corporate Highlights

  • In September 2020, MEI announced the appointment of
    Brian T. Powl as senior vice president, marketing, a new role reporting to
    David Urso, chief operating officer and general counsel.
    Mr. Powl joined MEI from Celgene Corporation where he served as vice president, global commercial CAR T lead.

First Quarter Fiscal Year 2021 Financial Results

  • As of September 30, 2020, MEI had $176.1 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments with no outstanding debt. Additionally, MEI had a receivable of $20.4 million from the Japanese taxing authorities that was withheld from the $100 million paid by Kyowa Kirin Co. under the terms of the April 2020 global license, development and commercialization agreement. This receivable was received in October 2020.
  • For the quarter ended September 30, 2020, cash used in operations was $9.1 million compared to $14.1 million for 2019.
  • Research and development expenses were $13.0 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2020, compared to $9.0 million for 2019. The increase was primarily related to increased development costs associated with zandelisib, including increased activity in the TIDAL study and start-up costs related to the Phase 3 study, as well as increased personnel costs to support clinical trial activities.
  • General and administrative expenses were $5.9 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2020, compared to $4.1 million for 2019. The increase primarily relates to personnel costs and general corporate expenses incurred during the quarter ended September 30, 2020.
  • MEI recognized revenues of $3.8 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2020, compared to $1.2 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2019. The increase in revenue primarily related to the license agreement with Kyowa Kirin and included the recognition of fees allocated to research and development obligations, including a portion of Kyowa Kirin's share of zandelisib costs which were $4.9 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2020. Revenue also includes recognition of fees allocated to performance obligations in accordance with the Helsinn License Agreement.
  • Net loss was $2.1 million, or $0.02 per share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2020, compared to net loss of $3.0 million, or $0.04 per share for 2019. The Company had 112,522,001 shares of common stock outstanding as of September 30, 2020, compared with 73,654,927 shares as of September 30, 2019.
  • The adjusted net loss for the quarter ended September 30, 2020, excluding non-cash expenses related to changes in the fair value of the warrants issued in connection with the May 2018 financing (a non-GAAP measure), was $15.3 million, compared to an adjusted net loss of $12.3 million for 2019.

About MEI Pharma

MEI Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: MEIP) is a late-stage pharmaceutical company focused on developing potential new therapies for cancer. MEI Pharma's portfolio of drug candidates contains four clinical-stage assets, including zandelisib, currently in an ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial which may support an accelerated approval marketing application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Each of MEI Pharma's pipeline candidates leverages a different mechanism of action with the objective of developing therapeutic options that are: (1) differentiated, (2) address unmet medical needs and (3) deliver improved benefit to patients either as standalone treatments or in combination with other therapeutic options. For more information, please visit www.meipharma.com.

Forward-Looking Statements 

Under U.S. law, a new drug cannot be marketed until it has been investigated in clinical studies and approved by the FDA as being safe and effective for the intended use. Statements included in this press release that are not historical in nature are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You should be aware that our actual results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, which are based on management's current expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, our failure to successfully commercialize our product candidates; costs and delays in the development and or FDA approval, or the failure to obtain such approval, of our product candidates; uncertainties or differences in interpretation in clinical trial results; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our industry and individual companies, including on our counterparties, the supply chain, the execution of our clinical development programs, our access to financing and the allocation of government resources; our inability to maintain or enter into, and the risks resulting from our dependence upon, collaboration or contractual arrangements necessary for the development, manufacture, commercialization, marketing, sales and distribution of any products; competitive factors; our inability to protect our patents or proprietary rights and obtain necessary rights to third party patents and intellectual property to operate our business; our inability to operate our business without infringing the patents and proprietary rights of others; general economic conditions; the failure of any products to gain market acceptance; our inability to obtain any additional required financing; technological changes; government regulation; changes in industry practice; and one-time events. We do not intend to update any of these factors or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements.

 

MEI PHARMA, INC.

CONDENSED BALANCE SHEETS

(In thousands, except per share amounts)

       
 

September 30,

 

June 30,

 

2020

 

2020

 

(unaudited)

   

ASSETS

Current assets:

     

Cash and cash equivalents

$              10,956

 

$              12,331

Short-term investments

165,179

 

170,299

Total cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments

176,135

 

182,630

Receivable for foreign tax withholding

20,420

 

20,420

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

7,375

 

5,594

Total current assets

203,930

 

208,644

Operating lease right-of-use asset

8,420

 

-

Property and equipment, net

1,659

 

1,084

Total assets

$            214,009

 

$            209,728

       

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

Current liabilities:

     

Accounts payable

$                 6,375

 

$                 2,437

Accrued liabilities

5,537

 

6,090

Deferred revenue

18,972

 

14,777

Operating lease liabilities

602

 

-

Total current liabilities

31,486

 

23,304

Deferred revenue, long-term

64,864

 

67,723

Warrant liability

27,259

 

40,483

Operating lease liabilties, long-term

8,072

 

-

Total liabilities

131,681

 

131,510

       

Stockholders' equity:

     

Preferred stock, $0.01 par value; 100 shares authorized;

     

     none outstanding

-

 

-

Common stock, $0.00000002 par value; 226,000 shares

     

     authorized; 112,522 and 111,514 shares issued and outstanding

     

     at September 30, 2020 and June 30, 2020, respectively

-

 

-

Additional paid-in-capital

361,654

 

355,452

Accumulated deficit

(279,326)

 

(277,234)

Total stockholders' equity

82,328

 

78,218

Total liabilities and stockholders' equity

$            214,009

 

$            209,728

 

 

 

MEI PHARMA, INC.

CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(In thousands, except per share amounts)

(Unaudited)

         
 

Three Months Ended
September 30

 
 

2020

 

2019

 
         

Revenue

$          3,834

 

$           1,157

 
         

Operating expenses:

       

Cost of revenue

509

 

688

 

Research and development

12,996

 

8,962

 

General and administrative

5,915

 

4,130

 

Total operating expenses

19,420

 

13,780

 
         

Loss from operations

(15,586)

 

(12,623)

 
         

Other income (expense):

       

Change in fair value of warrant liability

13,224

 

9,269

 

Interest and dividend income

275

 

374

 

Other expense

(5)

 

(14)

 

Net loss

$       (2,092)

 

$         (2,994)

 
         

Net loss:

       

Basic

$       (2,092)

 

$         (2,994)

 

Diluted

$     (15,316)

 

$         (2,994)

 

Net loss per share:

       

Basic

$          (0.02)

 

$           (0.04)

 

Diluted

$          (0.13)

 

$           (0.04)

 

Shares used in computing net loss per share:

       

Basic

112,435

 

73,628

 

Diluted

114,957

 

73,628

 

 

 

 

MEI PHARMA, INC.

Reconciliation of GAAP Net Loss to Adjusted Net Loss

(In thousands)

(Unaudited)

 
   

Three Months Ended September 30,

 
   

2020

 

2019

 
           

Net loss

 

$          (2,092)

 

$          (2,994)

 

Add: Change in fair value of warrant liability

 

(13,224)

 

(9,269)

 

Adjusted net loss

 

$        (15,316)

 

$        (12,263)

 

 

 

MEI Pharma Logo. (PRNewsFoto/Marshall Edwards, Inc.)

 

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SOURCE MEI Pharma, Inc.

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