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ARC520 -Updates on the Phase2a study

Arrowhead Reports Fiscal 2014 Third Quarter Financial Results and Provides Update on ARC-520


- Conference Call Today at 4:30 p.m. EDT

PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Arrowhead Research Corporation (NASDAQ: ARWR), a biopharmaceutical company developing targeted RNAi therapeutics, today announced financial results for its fiscal 2014 third quarter ended June 30, 2014 and provided an update on the Phase 2a study of ARC-520, its RNAi-based candidate for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B infection. The company is hosting a conference call at 4:30 p.m. EDT to discuss results. Conference call and webcast details can be found below.

ARC-520 Phase 2a Study Update

    Completed dosing of 1 mg/kg and 2 mg/kg dose cohorts
    Initial blinded data suggest that the magnitude of HBsAg knockdown is similar to non-human primate studies, including the chronically infected chimpanzee reported on previously
    Duration of knockdown appears to be substantially more sustained than in non-human primates, with patients in the 2 mg/kg group still demonstrating substantial knockdown after 8 weeks, which is the most recent time point available
    HBsAg levels appear to continue to decline in a number of patients at the 8 week time point in the 2 mg/kg group
    Based on initial review, dosing less frequent than once monthly will be explored in Phase 2b
    ARC-520 continues to be well tolerated, with no dropouts or serious adverse events reported
    The overall rate of AEs has been lower in the Phase 2a than in the Phase 1 normal volunteer study and safety labs continue to show no indication of end organ toxicity
    Enrolled and dosed additional subjects at 3 mg/kg in the still open normal volunteer study and the dose performed well, without detected differences from safety and tolerability results at the other doses. Overall AEs do not appear to be increasing in frequency or severity with dose
    Received IRB and DSMB approvals to proceed and began enrolling an additional dose cohort at 3 mg/kg in the Phase 2a patient study

Fiscal 2014 Third Quarter and Recent Company Highlights

    Nominated a second clinical candidate using our DPC delivery system, ARC-AAT, for the treatment of a rare liver disease associated with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and hosted an analyst day to present preclinical data
    Signed an agreement with The Alpha-1 Project (TAP), the venture philanthropy subsidiary of the Alpha-1 Foundation. Under the terms of the agreement, TAP will partially fund the development of ARC-AAT. In addition, TAP will make its scientific advisors available to Arrowhead, assist with patient recruitment for clinical trials through the Alpha-1 Foundation Patient Research Registry, and engage in other collaborative efforts that support the development of ARC-AAT
    Initiated the final steps required to file an IND or equivalent application for ARC-AAT, including necessary toxicology studies
    Expanded intellectual property protection with U.S. Patent Application number 13/535,454 covering ARC-520's siRNA component, being recently allowed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
    Presented data on advancements made to the DPC delivery system at multiple scientific meetings
    Arrowhead added to the broad-market Russell 3000 index and small-cap Russell 2000 index

Selected Fiscal 2014 Third Quarter Financial Results

Net loss attributable to Arrowhead for the quarter was $11.6 million, or $0.22 per share based on 51.9 million weighted average shares outstanding. This compares with a net loss attributable to Arrowhead of $6.1 million, or $0.23 per share based on 26.1 million weighted average shares outstanding, for the quarter ended June 30, 2013.

Total operating expenses for the quarter were $12.7 million, compared to $6.4 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2013. Research and development related expenses were $6.4 million and general and administrative expenses were $1.6 during the quarter.

Net cash used in operating activities for the first nine months of fiscal 2014 was $24.5 million, compared with $13.6 million in the prior year period.

The company's cash and investments of cash were $188.5 million at June 30, 2014, compared to $29.8 million at September 30, 2013. The increase in the cash balance reflects financings completed in October 2013 and February 2014, plus cash inflow from exercise of warrants and stock options of $12.4 million.

Common shares outstanding at June 30, 2014, were 52.9 million, and 58.5 million assuming conversion of preferred stock outstanding.

Conference Call and Webcast Details

To participate in the conference call, please dial 855-215-6159 (toll free from the US) or 315-625-6887 (for international callers) and enter Conference ID 82825377. Investors may also access a live audio webcast of this conference call on the Company's website at http://ir.arrowheadresearch.com/events.cfm.

A replay of the webcast will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call and will remain available for 90 days. An audio replay will also be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call and will be available for 7 days. The audio replay can be accessed by dialing 855-859-2056 (toll free from the US), or 404-537-3406 (for international callers) and entering Conference ID 82825377.

About ARC-520

Arrowhead's RNAi-based candidate ARC-520 is designed to treat chronic HBV infection by reducing the expression and release of new viral particles and key viral proteins. The goal is to achieve a functional cure, which is an immune clearant state characterized by hepatitis B s-antigen negative serum with or without sero-conversion. The siRNAs in ARC-520 intervene at the mRNA level, upstream of where nucleotide and nucleoside analogues act. In transient and transgenic mouse models of HBV infection, a single co-injection of Arrowhead's Dynamic Polyconjugate (DPC) delivery vehicle with cholesterol-conjugated siRNA targeting HBV sequences resulted in multi-log knockdown of HBV RNA, proteins and viral DNA with long duration of effect. The company is conducting a single dose Phase 2a study in chronic HBV patients, and expects to follow with a multi-dose, multi-national Phase 2b program. Approximately 350 million people worldwide are chronically infected with the hepatitis B virus. Chronic HBV infection can lead to cirrhosis of the liver and is responsible for 80% of primary liver cancers globally.

69 Responses
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Avatar universal
Thanks Stephen.

I was just curious over the interpretation of 0.5% ie what it really means in layman terms. I think your coin exeample is a good one.



Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
This is a difficult question to answer because we do not know his precise definition of "annual risk". For example, every time we toss a coin, we have a 50% chance of getting "head". Does it meaning toss twice, we will get 100% "head"?
Secondly, such statistics are meaningless, we all know risks of getting HCC vary with age, HBV, fibrosis, cirrhosis, our genetic makeup, "fault in our stars",... etc.
Treatments for HBV have been shown to reduce our risks for HCC, but cannot eliminate it completely.
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Avatar universal
Newlydiscovered you asked a very good question that no one like to answer I will repost your question

"Generally speaking, the risk of development of liver cancer among hepatitis B carriers is about 0.5% per year."

Does it mean after 40y, one has 20% chance of HCC?

If so, does treatment actually lowers that risk much?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
"Generally speaking, the risk of development of liver cancer among hepatitis B carriers is about 0.5% per year."

Does it mean after 40y, one has 20% chance of HCC?

If so, does treatment actually lowers that risk much?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hear, hear!

"Take Hepatitis B Seriously

Hepatitis B is a prevalent disease in Asia, including Singapore. Hepatitis B-related complications, such as liver cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer, continue to be major problems in our healthcare system. All hepatitis B carriers should undergo regular and routine screening with their family doctors, and they should consult a hepatologist if there is abnormality in the routine tests. Effective treatments against hepatitis B are available, and early liver cancers that are discovered on routine screening are usually curable.

I have witnessed many hepatitis B carriers live a normal life – starting a family, getting a job, living until old age, and I wish all hepatitis B carriers to take their disease seriously."
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Just to share an online article I just came across, written by a liver specialist in Singapore.

http://www.ezyhealth.com/magazine/serious-and-dangerous/

Nothing new, but Gives me comfort that currently available treatments are effective, even if they do not cure. We can live normal lives if we treat our condition seriously, despite the cost/stress/inconvenience associated with it.
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Avatar universal
Something good must be cooking because ARWR stock has been on the upswing. I assume investors are seeing profits in the updates.
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Avatar universal
Yes, from 100 to 10, 1000 to 100, 10,000 to 1,000 etc.
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Avatar universal
Thank you, Stephen.

So a 1 log reduction for a baseline hbasg level of 1000 means an end reading of roughly 100?
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Avatar universal
1 log reduction is 90% reduction, 2 log reduction is 99%, 3 log reduction is 99.9%, etc.
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Avatar universal
I am sure I have seen the illustration somewhere in this forum a while ago.

But can you kindly illustrate  a 0.8 log knockdown?

Thanks.9
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Avatar universal
That is my understanding as well, however they may also publish the 1 and 2 mg/kg data at the end if this month when it gets unblinded. I am expecting the 2 mg/kg to be in the .8-.9 log knockdown range given the continuing decline they are seeing. Either way we will know a lot more come mid November
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Avatar universal
Arrowhead can update anytime, being a public listed company, they are obliged to inform the market. The CEO did indicate they may present a late-breaking paper at the coming AASLD Conference in November after they unblinded their Phase2a clinical trial data. I think their Phase2b clinical trials will commence in Q4 with results expected in 2015.

Just my understanding.
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Avatar universal
How long do we likely have to wait before the next update from Arrowhead?
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Avatar universal
That is what I am telling you folks that they have cures for HBV. With today technology the principles work across many viruses. What they did with Ebola can be done with HBV. And you I Stephen and everyone else can forget about HBV.

But instead of writing everywhere demanding cures NOW. Exposing the corruption in medical industry. You attack people that are right!

You bet there is pressure on FDA! People are tired of dying so special interest groups in the medical community continues to profit.

So please all of you folks. Spend some time  each day and write to news media exposing the truth. We have to get HBV cures released and abolish ridiculous laws FDA goes by.  
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Avatar universal
Thank you Stephen for updating this information :)
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Avatar universal
Just as you mentioned. We may benefit from the dreadful Ebola outbreak.

Tekmira ($TKMR), which had its gene-silencing Ebola treatment put on hold recently only to get a sudden green light on potential production, touted the latest primate results demonstrating that its experimental drug protected monkeys infected with the Marburg virus, a close cousin of Ebola.

"These positive findings build upon our extensive work in anti-viral RNAi therapeutics and provide further validation of our strong LNP product platform, which includes RNAi therapeutics addressing chronic Hepatitis B infection and lethal hemorrhagic fever viruses," said Dr. Mark Murray, Tekmira's CEO, in a statement.

Tekmira's stock, which has soared 85% in the past month, was up about 5% in premarket trading today--proving once again that there's nothing like an outbreak to rev up a biotech company's share price. The death toll currently stands at about 1,350.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
My understanding is that FDA partially releases a total clinical hold on TKM-Ebola, thus allowing its clinical studies to proceed further. It is by no means an approval. It is certainly not available as a treatment.

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Avatar universal
As overwhelming pressure on FDA and US government, they gave green light for TKM-Ebola from Tekmira. The same company, which is testing a drug candidate for HBV.

TKM-Ebola just finished only Phase I, safety testing with healthy participants, thereby I can not imagine what is going on with Ebola patients in Africa :(
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Avatar universal
There is NO CURE FOR EBOLA. I don't know why you persisted in spreading misinformation. Tow persons treated with your so called cure, one person died after treatment.
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Avatar universal
Maybe it is like with clinical trials they do. It is there also for a profit. :)

Of course it is all a watered down information. Hbv is made more difficult to treat then it is really is. Ebola cure release proves it. Blew up right in their face.

If Stephen C does not see it or pretends it is not so dont take it personal man. Some folks here are not patients but medical students that gather data for research paid by big pharma to their professors.

We shed a lot of real life data here on how these drugs affect us.  
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Avatar universal
This is my last comment on this topic. Do I agree? Did you hear anyone else  with the exception of yourself Stephen agree NO.

Also all I was doing was agreeing with luckyman that most of the news HBV advocate delivers is negative data in my opinion. Further more HBF can't update all info how would that be humanly physically possible but you you behave like HBF & HBV advocate are our only source of accurate info! Which is not true  considering there is over 7billion people on earth. To be quite honest I haven't even read most of your other post because you don't deserve that much of my mr "OLIVER TWIST"!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I see lots of frustration. Let's not hi jack a thread and start a bickering war...take it to private messages.
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Avatar universal
Let me print below what you posted just recently:

==============================================

HBF recently posted

"HBF would like to congratulate Joan Block for her exemplary leadership in furthering the goals of the Viral Hepatitis Action Plan "
  

Do you agree?
Watch this discussion


makeadifferencenow
Blank

Aug 07, 2014
To: all
Not so long ago alot of us sufferers asked Joan Block to take meaningful action and petition for Replicor technology to be made available to end our suffering. We were told no!

They claimed they invited Replicors scientist to meet with them. Never heard anything more on that.

Joan Block didn't even respond to our petition request! Nor did Christine Kukka!

Things are in a  very sad state and us as sufferers best interests are not being served.

So my answer is NO I don't agree!

===============================================

For the record:
1. Christine Kukka nominated the discovery of REP9AC as one of her top stories of the year.
2. When she had not heard further news on REP9AC from Replicor, she personally took the trouble to contact the CEO of Replicor and elicited the news from Replicor that a new trial will be conducted in Europe in early 2014.

Is this the same person as you tried to portrait? Didn't you conduct a smear campaign against Christine Kukka and Joan Block on HBF's Facebook wall? It wasn't a petition as you stated.
Helpful - 0
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