Kronos Bio Announces Q1 2024 Financial Results

Kronos Bio, Inc., a clinical-stage company based in San Mateo, Calif., and Cambridge, Mass., has provided an update on its recent business progress and financial performance for the first quarter of 2024. The company, which focuses on developing small molecule therapeutics for cancers and other diseases driven by deregulated transcription, has announced several key developments and financial metrics.

Nobert Bischofberger, Ph.D., President and CEO of Kronos Bio, emphasized the ongoing advancements in the company's goals. He highlighted the anticipation of presenting clinical updates for the drug candidate KB-0742 at the upcoming American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in June. Furthermore, Bischofberger stated that IND-enabling studies for the candidate KB-9558 are expected to conclude by the end of 2024, with the first patient dosing planned for the first half of 2025. He also mentioned the continued progress in their collaboration with Genentech and internal discovery programs.

At the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in April 2024, Kronos Bio showcased three posters, marking the first public presentation of data from its p300 program. The posters discussed various studies, including:
1. The selective targeting of IRF4 oncogenic activity in multiple myeloma through p300 catalytic inhibition.
2. A dose escalation and cohort expansion study of the CDK9 inhibitor KB-0742 in relapsed, refractory, and transcriptionally addicted solid tumors.
3. Preclinical activity of KB-0742, an oral highly selective CDK9 inhibitor, in transcription factor fusion-driven adenoid cystic carcinoma patient-derived models.

Moreover, Kronos Bio announced that it will present updated data from the ongoing Phase 1/2 trial of KB-0742 at ASCO. The presentation, led by Brian A. Van Tine, M.D., Ph.D., from Washington University in St. Louis, will focus on the oral CDK9 inhibitor KB-0742 in advanced solid tumors. The session is scheduled for June 1, 2024, in Chicago, Illinois.

Financially, Kronos Bio reported that it had $152.0 million in cash, cash equivalents, and investments as of March 31, 2024. This financial position is expected to support the company’s operations into the second half of 2026. Research and development expenses for the first quarter of 2024 were $14.2 million, including $1.2 million in non-cash stock-based compensation. General and administrative expenses amounted to $7.5 million, with $2.2 million attributed to non-cash stock-based compensation. The company also reported expenses for impairment of long-lived assets and restructuring, totaling $6.6 million and $6.2 million, respectively. The net loss for the first quarter of 2024 was $30.0 million, or $0.50 per share, which included $7.7 million in non-cash stock-based compensation.

Kronos Bio continues to leverage its proprietary discovery engine to decode transcription factor regulatory networks and identify druggable cofactors. This approach has resulted in a preclinical pipeline and two internally developed drug candidates: KB-0742, which targets CDK9 for addressing MYC deregulation in solid tumors, and KB-9558, which targets p300 to manage IRF4 dependence in multiple myeloma.

In summary, Kronos Bio has made significant strides in its clinical and research initiatives and is on track with its financial and operational goals. The company remains focused on advancing its therapeutic candidates and looks forward to sharing further progress in the coming months.