Contineum Therapeutics Announces Q3 2024 Financials and Business Highlights

Contineum Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CTNM), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company based in San Diego, reported its financial results for the third quarter ending September 30, 2024, while also detailing recent progress in its corporate activities. Focused on developing innovative oral small molecule therapies to address neuroscience, inflammation, and immunology (NI&I) conditions, the company continues to advance its clinical programs.

During the third quarter of 2024, Contineum concentrated on the clinical development of its lead assets, PIPE-307 and PIPE-791, both targeting significant market opportunities in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), depression, and multiple sclerosis (MS). The company made substantial progress in patient enrollment for its Phase 2 VISTA trial of PIPE-307, a selective M1 receptor inhibitor aimed at treating relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Contineum is on track to begin a Phase 1b open-label PET trial of PIPE-791, an LPA1 receptor antagonist, in the fourth quarter of 2024, focusing on IPF and progressive multiple sclerosis.

CEO Carmine Stengone emphasized the company's strong financial position, with a cash balance of $214 million as of the end of September 2024. This robust financial footing is expected to facilitate significant clinical milestones in 2025 and enable the potential expansion of Contineum’s pipeline to encompass additional high-value NI&I indications.

By the end of September 2024, Contineum had reached two-thirds enrollment in its VISTA trial, well ahead of its initial projections. This multi-center, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled Phase 2 clinical trial is a proof-of-concept study for PIPE-307 in RRMS. The company anticipates completing enrollment for the VISTA trial in the first half of 2025.

In a notable development in September 2024, Contineum submitted a Clinical Trial Authorization (CTA) to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to initiate a Phase 1b trial for PIPE-791. This trial aims to understand the pharmacokinetics and receptor occupancy relationship in both healthy volunteers and patients with progressive multiple sclerosis and IPF. Assuming prompt MHRA authorization, Contineum plans to enroll the initial two healthy volunteers in December 2024 and expects to have the complete dataset from this trial in the first half of 2025.

Additionally, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, a Johnson & Johnson company, confirmed their plans to start a Phase 2 trial of PIPE-307 for treating depression, demonstrating external validation of Contineum’s therapeutic approach and potential.

Financially, Contineum reported a significant increase in research and development expenses, which rose to $9.7 million for the three months ending September 30, 2024, compared to $6.5 million for the same period in 2023. This increase of $3.2 million is primarily attributed to higher costs related to the ongoing VISTA Phase 2 clinical trial for PIPE-307, toxicology studies for PIPE-791, personnel-related expenses, and stock-based compensation. These increases were partially offset by a reduction in manufacturing expenses for PIPE-791.

General and administrative expenses also saw a rise, reaching $3.3 million for the three months ending September 30, 2024, compared to $1.6 million in the same period the previous year. This $1.7 million increase was mainly due to higher consulting and legal expenses, stock-based compensation, and personnel-related costs.

Contineum Therapeutics remains focused on its mission to discover and develop novel therapies for NI&I indications with a high unmet need. With a strong pipeline and solid financial foundation, the company is well-positioned to achieve its clinical and corporate milestones in the coming years.