Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

NATURE OF BUSINESS

v3.21.2
NATURE OF BUSINESS
6 Months Ended
Oct. 31, 2021
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
NATURE OF BUSINESS

NOTE 1 – NATURE OF BUSINESS

 

PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc. (“Company”) is a biotechnology company focused on developing cellular therapies for cancer and diabetes based upon a proprietary cellulose-based live cell encapsulation technology known as “Cell-in-a-Box®”. The Cell-in-a-Box® technology is intended to be used as a platform upon which therapies for several types of cancer, including locally advanced, inoperable pancreatic cancer (“LAPC”) will be developed. The current generation of the Company’s product candidate is referred to as “CypCaps™”. On September 1, 2020, the Company submitted an Investigational New Drug Application (“IND”) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for a planned Phase 2b clinical trial in LAPC. On October 1, 2020, the Company received notice from the FDA that it had placed the IND on clinical hold. On October 30, 2020, the FDA sent a letter to the Company setting forth the reasons for the clinical hold and specific guidance on what the Company must do to have the clinical hold lifted. To lift the clinical hold, the FDA has informed the Company that it needs to conduct several additional preclinical studies and assays. The FDA also requested additional information regarding several topics, including DNA sequencing data, manufacturing information and product release specifications. The Company is also in the process of conducting these studies and assays and gathering additional information to submit to the FDA. See “The Investigational New Drug Application and the Clinical Hold” below.

 

The Cell-in-a-Box® encapsulation technology potentially enables genetically engineered live human cells to be used as a means to produce various biologically active molecules. The technology is intended to result in the formation of pinhead sized cellulose-based porous capsules in which genetically modified live human cells can be encapsulated and maintained. In a laboratory setting, this proprietary live cell encapsulation technology has been shown to create a micro-environment in which encapsulated cells survive and flourish. They are protected from environmental challenges, such as the sheer forces associated with bioreactors and passage through catheters and needles, which the Company believes enables greater cell growth and production of the active molecules. The capsules are largely composed of cellulose (cotton) and are bio inert.

 

The Company is developing therapies for pancreatic and other solid cancerous tumors by using genetically engineered live human cells that it believes are capable of converting a cancer prodrug into its cancer-killing form. The Company encapsulates those cells using the Cell-in-a-Box® technology and places those capsules in the body as close as possible to the tumor. In this way, the Company believes that when a cancer prodrug is administered to a patient with a particular type of cancer that may be affected by the prodrug, the killing of the patient’s cancerous tumor may be optimized.

 

In addition, the Company has been exploring ways to delay the production and accumulation of malignant ascites fluid that results from many types of abdominal cancerous tumors. Malignant ascites fluid is secreted by abdominal cancerous tumors into the abdomen after the tumors have reached a certain stage of growth. This fluid contains cancer cells that can seed and form new tumors throughout the abdomen. This fluid accumulates in the abdominal cavity, causing swelling of the abdomen, severe breathing difficulties and extreme pain. On November 30, 2021, the Company announced the commencement of a pre-clinical study to determine if the treatment the Company uses for LAPC can also delay the rate of production and accumulation of malignant ascites.

 

 

The Company has also been developing a potential therapy for Type 1 diabetes and insulin-dependent Type 2 diabetes. The Company’s product candidate for the treatment of diabetes consists of encapsulated genetically modified insulin-producing cells. The encapsulation will be done using the Cell-in-a-Box® technology. Implanting these cells in the body is designed to function as a bio-artificial pancreas for purposes of insulin production.

 

The Company has also been considering ways to exploit the benefits of the Cell-in-a-Box® technology to develop therapies for cancer that involve prodrugs based upon certain constituents of the Cannabis plant (“Cannabis Program”); these constituents are of the class of compounds known as “cannabinoids”.

 

Until: (i) the FDA allows the Company to commence a clinical trial in LAPC described in its IND for which the FDA has placed a clinical hold; and (ii) the Company validates its Cell-in-a-Box® encapsulation technology in its planned Phase 2b clinical trial in LAPC, the Company is not spending any further resources developing the Cannabis Program.

 

The Investigational New Drug Application and the Clinical Hold

 

On September 1, 2020, the Company submitted an IND to the FDA for a planned Phase 2b clinical trial in LAPC. Shortly thereafter, the Company received Information Requests from the FDA related to the IND. The Company timely responded to all Information Requests.

  

On October 1, 2020, the Company received notice that the FDA had placed the Company’s IND on clinical hold.

 

On October 30, 2020, the FDA sent a letter to the Company setting forth the reasons for the clinical hold and providing specific guidance on what the Company must do to have the clinical hold lifted.

 

In order to address the clinical hold, the FDA has requested that the Company:

 

  · Provide additional sequencing data and genetic stability studies;

 

  · Conduct a stability study on the final formulated drug product candidate as well as the cells from its Master Cell Bank;

 

  · Evaluate the compatibility of the delivery devices (the prefilled syringe and the microcatheter used to implant the CypCaps) with the Company’s drug product candidate;

 

  · Provide additional detailed description of the manufacturing process of the Company’s drug product candidate;

 

  · Provide additional product release specifications for the Company’s encapsulated cells;

 

  · Demonstrate comparability between the 1st and 2nd generation products and ensure adequate and consistent product performance and safety between the two generations of the Company’s drug product candidate:

 

  · Conduct a biocompatibility assessment using the final finished capsules after the entire drug product candidate manufacturing process (but without cells);

 

  · Address insufficiencies in Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls information in the cross-referenced Drug Master File;

 

  · Conduct an additional nonclinical study in a large animal (such as a pig) to assess the safety, activity, and distribution of the drug product candidate; and

 

  · Revise the Investigators Brochure to include any additional preclinical studies conducted in response to the clinical hold and remove any statements not supported by the data.

 

The FDA also requested that the Company address the following issues as an amendment to the IND:

 

  · Provide a Certificate of Analysis for pc3/2B1 plasmid that includes tests for assessing purity, safety, and potency;

 

  · Perform qualification studies for the drug substance filling step to ensure that the drug product candidate remains sterile and stable during the filling process;

 

  · Submit an updated batch analysis for the drug product candidate for the specific lot that will be used for manufacturing all future drug product candidate;

 

  · Provide additional details for the methodology for the Resorufin (CYP2B1) potency and the PrestoBlue cell metabolic assays;

 

  · Provide a few examples of common microcatheters that fit the specifications in the Company’s Angiography Procedure Manual;

 

  · Clarify the language in the Pharmacy Manual regarding proper use of the syringe fill with the drug product candidate; and

 

  · Provide a discussion with data for trial of the potential for cellular and humoral immune reactivity against the heterologous rat CYP2B1 protein and potential for induction of autoimmune-mediated toxicities in our study population in the LAPC.

  

The Company assembled a scientific and regulatory team of experts to address the FDA requests. That team is working to complete the items requested by the FDA. The Company is in varying stages of addressing the studies and acquiring the information requested by the FDA.

 

The following provides a summary of the activities in which the Company is engaged to have the clinical hold lifted:

 

  · The Company completed a 3, 6, 9, 12 and 18-month product stability study of our clinical trial product (CypCaps™), including container closure integrity testing for certain timepoints. The next time point in this ongoing study will be at 24 months of product stability.

 

  · The Company is involved in various additional studies required by the FDA. These include (i) a stability study on the cells from its Master Cell Bank (“MCB”) used to make the CypCaps™, which are already at the 3-year stability timepoint; (ii) further sequence analysis of the DNA encoding of the Cyp2B1 gene in the cells in the CypCaps™; and (iii) collated existing information on the reproducibility and quality of the filling of the MCB cells into vials ready for CypCaps™ manufacturing.

 

  · The Company is also involved in a (i) Subchronic and Chronic Toxicity study (ii) a Skin Sensitization study; (iii) an Acute Systematic Toxicity study; (iv) an Ames test (Genotoxicity Bacteria and Reverse Mutation tests); (v) an Intracutaneous test; (vi) a Complement Activation test; (vii) a Hemolysis test; and (viii) an In Vitro Cytotoxicity test. Some of the data being generated by these studies will also be used to demonstrate comparability with the CypCaps™ that were used in the two earlier German clinical trials over twenty years ago conducted by Bavarian Nordic.

 

  · To enable the biocompatibility studies to be performed, the Company had Austrianova manufacture and deliver an additional 400 syringes of empty capsules.

 

  · The Company has commenced studies to show that CypCaps™ are not in any way adversely affected by the catheters used by interventional radiologists to deliver them, nor by the contract media used to visualize the blood vessels during implantation of the CypCaps™.

 

  · The Company has commenced studies to demonstrate how robust the CypCaps™ are during delivery and use as well as to document that the syringes used to deliver the CypCaps™ will allow delivery consistently, smoothly, and safely.

 

  · With the Company’s support, Austrianova is providing additional detailed confidential information to the FDA on the manufacturing process, including information on the improvements made to the live cell encapsulated product since the last clinical trials with respect to reproducibility and safety of the CypCaps™.

 

  · The Company plans to update its IND submission documents to include: (i) more pre-clinical data as discussed above, (ii) some additional parameters for release of the CypCaps™, (iii) a recommendation of the catheters and contrast medium to be used to deliver the CypCaps™; and (iv) an extensive discussion of the potential for cellular and humoral immune reactivity against the heterologous rat CYP2B1 protein and potential for induction of autoimmune-mediated toxicities in our study population in the LAPC.

 

  · The Company has designed an abbreviated study in pigs to address biocompatibility and long-term implantation of the capsules. This animal study will complement the data already available from the previous human clinical trials conducted by Bavarian Nordic showing the safety of CypCaps™ implantation for up to two years in humans.

 

  · The Company has completed a complement activation study. The study results demonstrated that the capsule material the Company uses does not activate a major line of the human body’s innate defense – the complement system.

 

  · Another positive result from a completed biocompatibility showed that the empty capsule material is “non-hemolytic.”

 

  · Finally, the Company completed a biocompatibility study which showed that the empty capsule material is not “mutagenic.”

 

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Company’s Operations

 

The coronavirus SARS-Cov2 pandemic (“COVID-19”) is causing significant, industry-wide delays in clinical trials. Although the Company is not yet in a clinical trial, the Company has filed an IND with the FDA to commence a clinical trial in LAPC. While the IND has been placed on clinical hold by the FDA, the Company has assessed the impact of COVID-19 on its operations. Currently, many clinical trials are being delayed due to COVID-19. There are numerous reasons for these delays. For example, patients have shown a reluctance to enroll or continue in a clinical trial due to fear of exposure to COVID-19 when they are in a hospital or doctor’s office. There are local, regional, and state-wide orders and regulations restricting usual normal activity by people. These discourage and interfere with patient visits to a doctor’s office if the visit is not COVID-19 related. Healthcare providers and health systems are shifting their resources away from clinical trials toward the care of COVID-19 patients. The FDA and other healthcare providers are making product candidates for the treatment of COVID-19 a priority over product candidates unrelated to COVID-19. As of the date of this Report on Form 10-Q (“Report”), the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact upon the Company’s operations, although the Company believe that impact is not material. The impact primarily relates to delays in tasks associated with the preparation of the Company’s responses to the clinical hold, including all requested preclinical studies. There may be further delays in generating responses to the requests from the FDA related to the clinical hold.

 

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, commencement of the Company’s planned clinical trial to treat LAPC may be delayed beyond the lifting of the clinical hold by the FDA should that occur. Also, enrollment may be difficult for the reasons discussed above. In addition, after enrollment in the trial, if a patient contracts COVID-19 during his or her participation in the trial or is subject to isolation or shelter in place restrictions, this may cause him or her to drop out of our clinical trial, miss scheduled therapy appointments or follow-up visits or otherwise fail to follow the clinical trial protocol. If a patient is unable to follow the clinical trial protocol or if the trial results are otherwise affected by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on patient participation or actions taken to mitigate COVID-19 spread, the integrity of data from the clinical trial may be compromised or not be accepted by the FDA. This could further adversely impact or delay the Company’s clinical development program if the FDA allows it to proceed.

 

It is highly speculative in projecting the effects of COVID-19 on the Company’s proposed clinical development program and the Company generally. The effects of COVID-19 may quickly and dramatically change over time. Its evolution is difficult to predict, and no one is able to say with certainty when the pandemic will subside.

 

Company Operations

 

Background

 

The Company is a Nevada corporation incorporated in 1996. In 2013, the Company restructured its operations from being a nutraceutical company to being a biotechnology company. The restructuring resulted in the Company focusing all its efforts upon the development of a novel, effective and safe way to treat cancer and diabetes. In January 2015, the Company changed its name from Nuvilex, Inc. to PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc. to reflect the nature of its current business. In October 2021, the Company moved its office to Las Vegas, Nevada.

 

Increase in Authorized Shares

 

On July 2, 2021, pursuant to stockholder approval at the Annual Meeting of Stockholders, the Company filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Nevada a Certificate of Amendment to its Articles of Incorporation, as amended, to increase the number of authorized shares to fifty billion ten million (50,010,000,000) , of which fifty billion (50,000,000,000) shares, with a par value of $0.0001 per share are designated as common stock and of which ten million (10,000,000) shares, with a par value of $0.0001 per share, are designated as preferred stock. The reverse stock split described below reduced the number of authorized shares to thirty-three million three hundred thirty-three thousand three hundred thirty-four (33,333,334). See Reverse Stock Split.

 

Nasdaq Listing

 

The Company’s common stock began trading on Nasdaq on August 10, 2021, under the symbol “PMCB.” Prior to that, the Company’s common stock was quoted on the OTCQB Market under the symbol “PMCB.” Following the reverse stock split (discussed below) of the Company’s common stock on July 12, 2021, and until August 6, 2021, the OTCQB Market Symbol for the Company’s common stock had temporarily been “PMCBD.”

 

Reverse Stock Split

 

Effective July 12, 2021, pursuant to the approval by the Company’s Board of Directors (“Board”), the Company filed with the Secretary of State of Nevada a Certificate of Change to the Articles of Incorporation, to cause a 1-for-1,500 reverse stock split of the Company’s common stock. The reverse stock split decreased the number of authorized shares of common stock from fifty billion (50,000,000,000) shares to thirty-three million three hundred thirty-three thousand three hundred thirty-four (33,333,334) shares, with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Any fractional shares resulting from the reverse stock split were rounded up to the next whole share. Except as otherwise indicated, all share and per share information in the accompanying consolidated financial statements and related footnotes gives effect to the reverse stock split of the Company’s common stock.