CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and NEW YORK, May 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Black Diamond Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: BDTX), a precision oncology medicine company pioneering the discovery and development of small molecule, MasterKey therapies, today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 and provided a corporate update.

“The first quarter of 2021 has been marked by meaningful progress across Black Diamond’s pipeline of MasterKey inhibitor therapies, each of which is designed by leveraging our proprietary MAP platform to address an unmet need for patients with a range of genetically defined cancers,” said David M. Epstein, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Black Diamond Therapeutics. “We look forward to presenting initial clinical data for our lead program, BDTX-189, at the ASCO Annual Meeting later this quarter, as well as to continuing to report on progress across the pipeline throughout the year.”

Recent Developments

BDTX-189:

BDTX-1535:

Early-Stage Pipeline:

Corporate:

Financial Highlights

Upcoming Events

About BDTX-189

BDTX-189 is an orally available, irreversible, and ATP competitive small molecule inhibitor that is designed to block the function of a family of oncogenic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and ErbB-2 (epidermal growth factor receptor 2 [HER2]) proteins across a range of tumor types. BDTX-189 is designed as a MasterKey inhibitor targeting a family of previously undrugged and functionally similar oncogenic mutations in a tumor-agnostic manner. These mutations include extracellular domain allosteric mutations of HER2, as well as EGFR and HER2 kinase domain Exon 20 insertions, and additional activating oncogenic drivers of ErbB. The ErbB receptors are a group of receptor tyrosine kinases involved in key cellular functions, including cell growth and survival. BDTX-189 is also designed to spare normal, or wild-type, EGFR, which we believe has the potential to improve upon the toxicity profiles of current ErbB kinase inhibitors. Currently, there are no medicines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to target all of these oncogenic mutations with a single therapy.

BDTX-189 is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial (MasterKey-01) in adult patients with advanced solid tumors expressing a range of alterations of ErbB receptors, including oncogenic MasterKey mutations, HER2-WT amplification, HER3 mutation, EGFR exon 19 deletion, and L858R mutation who have no standard therapy available or for whom standard therapy is considered unsuitable or intolerable. In July 2020, the FDA granted Fast Track designation to BDTX-189 for the treatment of adult patients with solid tumors harboring an allosteric HER2 mutation or an EGFR or HER2 Exon 20 insertion mutation who have progressed following prior treatment and who have no satisfactory treatment options.

About Black Diamond Therapeutics

Black Diamond Therapeutics is a precision oncology medicine company pioneering the discovery of small molecule, MasterKey therapies. Black Diamond targets undrugged mutations in patients with genetically defined cancers. Black Diamond is built upon a deep understanding of cancer genetics, protein structure and function, and medicinal chemistry. The Company’s proprietary technology platform and drug discovery engine, Mutation-Allostery-Pharmacology, or MAP, platform, is designed to allow Black Diamond to analyze population-level genetic sequencing data to identify oncogenic mutations that promote cancer across tumor types, group these mutations into families, and develop a single small molecule therapy in a tumor-agnostic manner that targets a specific family of mutations. Black Diamond was founded by David M. Epstein, Ph.D., and Elizabeth Buck, Ph.D., and, beginning in 2017, together with Versant Ventures, began building the MAP platform and chemistry discovery engine. For more information, please visit www.blackdiamondtherapeutics.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the continued development of BDTX-189 and the timing for completing the dose escalation portion, initiating the safety expansion cohort, or starting the Phase 2 portion of the ongoing clinical trial of BDTX-189 and the expected announcement of initial Phase 1 clinical pharmacokinetic, safety, and preliminary efficacy data, the continued development and advancement of BDTX-1535 in IND-enabling studies, including expectations for filing an IND and entering the clinic, and the development of the BRAF and FGFR programs, including timing for filing Initial New Drug applications in each program, and the Company’s expected cash runway. Any forward-looking statements in this statement are based on management’s current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Risks that contribute to the uncertain nature of the forward-looking statements include: the success, cost, and timing of the Company’s product candidate development activities and planned IND-enabling and clinical trials, the Company’s ability to execute on its strategy, regulatory developments in the United States, the Company’s ability to fund operations, and the impact that the current COVID-19 pandemic will have on the Company’s clinical trials and pre-clinical studies, supply chain, and operations, as well as those risks and uncertainties set forth in its 2020 annual report on Form 10-K filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and its other filings filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made.

Black Diamond Therapeutics, Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet Data (Unaudited)
(in thousands)

 March 31,
2021		 December 31,
2020
Cash, cash equivalents, and investments$290,055    $315,067   
Total assets$313,259    $329,670   
Accumulated deficit$(148,525)  $(118,224) 
Total stockholders’ equity$280,753    $307,758   

Black Diamond Therapeutics, Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
(in thousands, except share and per share data)

 Three Months Ended
March 31,
 2021 2020
Operating expenses:   
Research and development$22,820    $7,354   
General and administrative7,893    5,525   
Total operating expenses30,713    12,879   
Loss from operations(30,713)  (12,879) 
Other income (expense):   
Interest income1,152    744   
Other (expense) income(740)  (10) 
Total other income (expense), net412    734   
Net loss$(30,301)  $(12,145) 
Net loss per share, basic and diluted$(0.84)  $(0.51) 
Weighted average common shares outstanding, basic and diluted36,123,083 23,699,255

Contacts:
For Investors:
Natalie Wildenradt
investors@bdtx.com

For Media:
Kathy Vincent
(310) 403-8951
media@bdtx.com