Matinas BioPharma Q1 2024 Financial Results and Business Update

Matinas BioPharma Holdings, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, has announced its financial results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2024, and provided a business update. The company is leveraging its lipid nanocrystal (LNC) platform delivery technology to develop groundbreaking therapies.

CEO Jerome D. Jabbour highlighted the company's progress in securing partnerships to advance MAT2203, an oral formulation of the broad-spectrum antifungal drug amphotericin B, into the Phase 3 ORALTO trial. This trial aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of MAT2203 as an oral step-down therapy for patients with invasive aspergillosis, following initial treatment with liposomal IV-amphotericin B (AmBisome®). The trial will be a randomized, multicenter, open-label study comparing MAT2203 with the standard of care in patients with limited treatment options.

Recent in vivo studies have shown promising results for MAT2203, demonstrating prolonged survival and reduced fungal burden in immunosuppressed mice with pulmonary mucormycosis. The company has also enrolled 22 patients with severe fungal infections in its Compassionate/Expanded Use Access Program, treating infections caused by various microorganisms, including Aspergillus, Mucorales species, Candidiasis, Fusarium, Histoplasmosis, and suspected Coccidioides at multiple sites of infection. Most of the patients enrolled are post-transplant or are undergoing treatment for underlying malignancies.

Matinas is also expanding its LNC platform into inflammation and oncology. The company has presented favorable data from ex vivo, in vitro, and in vivo studies at the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy’s (ASGCT) 27th Annual Meeting. These studies evaluated the use of the LNC platform for the oral targeted delivery of small oligonucleotides. Additionally, a new formulation of LNC-miriplatin, an insoluble platinum chemotherapeutic approved in Japan for hepatocellular carcinoma, has demonstrated strong cellular uptake and tumor cell-killing capabilities in vitro. The next steps involve assessing this formulation in vivo.

Financially, Matinas reported no revenue for the first quarter of 2024, compared to $1.1 million in the same period in 2023, which was generated from research collaborations with BioNTech SE and Genentech Inc. Total costs and expenses for the first quarter of 2024 were $5.9 million, down from $6.7 million in the first quarter of 2023. This decrease was primarily due to lower clinical development expenses, personnel costs, and administrative expenses. The net loss for the first quarter of 2024 was $5.8 million, or $0.03 per share, compared with a net loss of $5.5 million, or $0.03 per share, in the first quarter of 2023.

As of March 31, 2024, Matinas had cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities totaling $8.1 million, down from $13.8 million as of December 31, 2023. However, the company raised $10.0 million in gross proceeds through a registered direct offering in April 2024. Based on current projections, Matinas believes its cash position is sufficient to fund planned operations into the second quarter of 2025.

Matinas BioPharma will host a conference call and webcast to discuss these updates. The company's lead LNC-based therapy, MAT2203, aims to provide an effective, targeted, safer, and more convenient treatment for invasive fungal infections, positioning it as a potentially preferred next-generation intracellular oral drug delivery platform. The company continues to explore the potential of its LNC technology to address various medical challenges, including the safe and effective intracellular delivery of both small molecules and larger, more complex molecular cargos.