ProMIS Neurosciences Announces Third Quarter 2017 Results

TSX: PMN

TORONTO and CAMBRIDGE, MA, Nov. 13, 2017 /CNW/ - ProMIS Neurosciences, Inc., a company focused on the discovery and development of precision treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, today announced its operational and financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017.

Commenting on the update, Elliot Goldstein, M.D., ProMIS President and CEO stated: "With the successful private placement in Q3 2017 supporting a cash runway into the second half of 2018, we continue to focus on the company's top priorities.  In this regard, we look forward to further advancing the development of our lead product candidates for Alzheimer's disease with particular emphasis on the ongoing preclinical program to differentiate our leads compared to competitive antibody products in development. We remain confident that our monoclonal antibody program focused on selectively targeting the toxic, prion-like forms of amyloid beta may lead to best in class therapies and significant long-term value creation."

Recent Corporate Highlights

• In August 2017, the Company completed a brokered private placement offering (the Offering) through the issuance of 19,164,306 units at a price of $0.25 per unit for gross proceeds of $4,791,076 ($4,142,465 net of issuance costs). Each Unit consists of one common share and one-half of a common share purchase warrant. The issued common shares are subject to a four-month hold period from the date of issuance. Each whole warrant is exercisable into one share at a price of $0.30 per share for a 60-month exercise period.
• On September 13, 2017, the Company announced a significant development milestone by demonstrating that PMN330, directed against a different target on toxic amyloid beta oligomers (AβO) compared to PMN310 and PMN350, also displays an optimal target product profile of selective binding to toxic AβO. PMN330 was designated third validated lead product candidate having demonstrated in vivo data and biologic evidence of neuronal protection against toxic AβO.
• In Q3 2017 the Company initiated its preclinical program to evaluate the potential best in class profile of PMN310, PMN350 and PMN330 in direct comparison to other antibodies targeting amyloid beta.
• In Q3 the Company generated monoclonal antibodies against a recently identified epitope target on TDP43 for ALS and frontotemporal dementia and initiated preclinical evaluation.
• Using the ProMIS proprietary discovery platform the Company is pursuing identification of specific targets on alpha synuclein (Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia) and tau (Alzheimer's disease, other dementias)

Financial Results

Results of Operations – Three months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016

The net loss for the three months ended September 30, 2017 was $1,618,681, compared to a net loss of $859,371 for the three months ended September 30, 2016.  The increased loss in the current period reflects the costs associated with operating the Company's AD therapeutics program, supporting its patent portfolio, associated general corporate expenditures and higher stock-based compensation.  

For the three months ended September 30, 2017, the Company recognized $9,008 in royalty revenue related to its preclinical AD diagnostic assay as compared to $0 for the three months ended September 30, 2016.

Research and development expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2017 were $1,317,893 as compared to $492,717 in the three months ended September 30, 2016.  Costs are higher in the current period due to higher research program costs for the AD therapeutics program and increased headcount. 

General and administrative expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2017 were $307,533 as compared to $366,654 in the three months ended June 30, 2016.  The decreased expenditures in the current period reflect Foreign exchange gain on USD denominated expenses and decreased legal and professional fees, offset by higher investor relations expenses and higher salaries related to expansion of the senior management team. 

Results of Operations – Nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016

The net loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 was $4,894,280, compared to a net loss of $2,243,874 for the nine months ended June 30, 2016.  The increased loss in the current period reflects the costs associated with operating the Company's AD therapeutics program, supporting its patent portfolio, associated general corporate expenditures and higher stock-based compensation.  

For the nine months ended September 30, 2017, the Company recognized $9,666 in royalty revenue related to its preclinical AD diagnostic assay as compared to $2,486 for the nine months ended September 30, 2016.

Research and development expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 were $3,303,962 as compared to $1,169,228 in the nine months ended September 30, 2016.  Costs are higher in the current period due to higher research program costs for the AD therapeutics program, supporting its patent portfolio and increased headcount 

General and administrative expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 were $1,592,881 as compared to $1,063,710 in the nine months ended September30, 2016.  The increased expenditures in the current period reflect higher investor relations expenses, higher salaries related to expansion of the senior management team, higher professional fees, and higher stock-based compensation offset by foreign exchange gain on USD denominated expense and reduced legal expenses. 

Outlook

The Company's priorities for the next year are to identify and develop precision medicine therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and ALS.

The Company's plan is to further advance its AD portfolio, with a focus on competitive differentiation versus other antibody therapies in development for AD that target amyloid beta. Furthermore, the Company plans to continue on-going development of effective AD diagnostics for detection of toxic prion strains targeted by ProMIS antibody therapeutic candidates in either cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or blood. Technology refinement and optimization are ongoing to create highly sensitive assays for this purpose.

The Company will continue to expand its intellectual property (IP) estate relating to novel epitope targets and antibodies targeting toxic forms of tau for AD, misfolded forms of  TDP43 for ALS and  toxic strains of alpha synuclein for Parkinson's disease. The Company's complementary proprietary platform technologies, ProMIS^TM and Collective Coordinates, will be employed to identify and confirm such novel targets.

About ProMIS Neurosciences, Inc.

ProMIS Neurosciences is a Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) listed biotechnology company (trading symbol: PMN.TO), headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, with offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Company's mission is to discover and develop precision medicine therapeutics for effective treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The Company's proprietary target discovery engine is based on the use of two complementary techniques. The Company applies its thermodynamic, computational discovery platform—ProMIS™ and Collective Coordinates — to predict novel targets, known as Disease Specific Epitopes (DSEs) on the molecular surface of misfolded proteins. Using this unique precision medicine approach, the Company is developing novel antibody therapeutics and specific companion diagnostics for Alzheimer's disease and ALS.

The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This information release contains certain forward-looking information. Such information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by statements herein, and therefore these statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. All forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to it as well as other factors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Due to risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties identified by the Company in its public securities filings, actual events may differ materially from current expectations. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For further information please consult the Company's website at:
www.promisneurosciences.com

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SOURCE ProMIS Neurosciences Inc.

For media inquiries, please contact: Scott Santiamo, RussoPartners/LLC, [email protected], Tel. [phone]; David Schull, RussoPartners/LLC, [email protected], Tel. [phone]; For Investor Relations please contact: Alpine Equity Advisors, Nicholas Rigopulos, President, [email protected], Tel. [phone]; Dr. Elliot Goldstein, President and Chief Executive Officer, ProMIS Neurosciences Inc., Tel. [phone], [email protected]