CytomX slumps ~15% amid FY22 miss, AbbVie pulls plug on CX-2029 studies
gorodenkoff
CytomX Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CTMX) stock fell ~15% on Tuesday after FY22 results missed estimates and the company said that AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) will not advance cancer drug CX-2029 into additional clinical studies.
CytomX said that on March 21 AbbVie notified the company that it would not advance CX-2029 into additional clinical studies and will terminate their CD71 license and collaboration agreement signed in 2016.
CytomX will regain full rights to CD71 and has an exclusive option to re-acquire full rights to CX-2029.
CytomX added that it will evaluate potential next steps for CX-2029 and pursue strategies for targeting CD71.
The two companies also concluded their research activities under a 2016 discovery license and collaboration agreement.
"These accomplishments underscore our leadership in conditionally activated, localized biologic therapies and we look forward to a year of strong execution in 2023 that will also include a reassessment of our CX-2029 and CD71 strategy following AbbVie’s decision not to further advance the program," said CytomX's Chairman and CEO Sean McCarthy.
According to the company, CX-2029 is a conditionally activated ADC directed toward CD71, the transferrin receptor.
In January, CytomX' reported updated phase 2 data from the cohort expansion study which included squamous esophageal cancer, squamous non-small cell lung cancer (sqNSCLC), and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).
GAAP EPS narrowed to -$1.51, compared to -$1.81 in FY21. Meanwhile, revenue grew +42.4% Y/Y to $53.16M. However, both top and bottom line missed analysts estimates.