Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

1. NATURE OF BUSINESS

v3.19.1
1. NATURE OF BUSINESS
9 Months Ended
Jan. 31, 2019
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 and preparing to commercialize cellular therapies for cancer and diabetes based upon a proprietary cellulose-based live cell encapsulation technology known as “Cell-in-a-Box®.” The Company intends to use the Cell-in-a-Box® technology as a platform upon which treatments for several types of cancer and diabetes will be developed.

 

The Company is developing therapies for solid tumor cancers involving the encapsulation of live cells placed in the body to enable the activation of cancer-killing drugs at the source of the cancer. The Company is also developing a therapy for Type 1 diabetes and insulin-dependent Type 2 diabetes based upon the encapsulation, using the Cell-in-a-Box® technology, of a human cell line genetically engineered to produce, store and secrete insulin at levels in proportion to the levels of blood sugar in the human body. The Company is also working on an alternative route to bring a biological treatment for diabetes into the clinic. The Company is exploring the possibility of encapsulating human insulin-producing islet cells or stem cells and transplanting them into a diabetic patient. In addition, the Company is examining ways to exploit the benefits of the Cell-in-a-Box® technology to develop therapies for cancer based upon the constituents of the Cannabis plant, known as “Cannabinoids.”

 

Cancer Therapy

 

Targeted Chemotherapy

 

The Company is using the Cell-in-a-Box® technology to develop a therapy for solid cancerous tumors through a form of targeted chemotherapy. For pancreatic cancer, the Company is encapsulating genetically engineered live human cells that produce an enzyme designed to convert the prodrug ifosfamide into its cancer-killing form. The capsules containing these cells will be implanted in a patient in the blood supply as near as possible to the pancreas tumor. The ifosfamide will then be given intravenously at one-third the normal dose. In this way, it is believed that the ifosfamide will be converted at the site of the tumor in addition to the liver where it is normally converted. The Company believes placement of the Cell-in-a-Box® capsules near the tumor enables the production of optimal concentrations of the “cancer-killing” form of ifosfamide at the site of the tumor. The cancer-killing metabolite of ifosfamide has a short half-life, which the Company believes will result in little to no collateral damage to other organs in the body.

 

Pancreatic Cancer Therapy

 

The Company believes that a critical unmet medical need exists for patients with locally advanced, inoperable non-metastatic pancreatic cancer (“LAPC”) whose pancreas tumor no longer responds after 4-6 months of treatment with either Abraxane® plus gemcitabine or the 4-drug combination known as FOLFIRINOX (both combinations are the current standards of care). The Company believes that these patients have no effective treatment alternative once their tumor no longer responds to these therapies. Two commonly used treatments for such patients are 5-fluorouiracil (“5-FU”) or capecitabine (a prodrug of 5-FU) plus radiation (chemoradiation therapy). Both treatments are only marginally effective in treating the tumor and result in serious side effects. More recently, radiation treatment alone is being used at some cancer centers in the United States (“U.S.”) The Company is developing a therapy comprised of Cell-in-a-Box® encapsulated live cells implanted near the pancreas tumor followed by treatment with low doses of the cancer prodrug ifosfamide. The Company believes that its treatment can serve as a “consolidation therapy” with the current standards of care for patients with LAPC and thus address this critical unmet medical need.

 

The Company is currently working on an Investigational New Drug Application (“IND”) to submit to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) to begin a clinical trial with patients who have LAPC. Subject to the FDA’s acceptance of the IND following submission to the FDA, the Company plans to commence a clinical trial involving patients with LAPC to test the hypothesis articulated above. The trial would take place in the U.S. with possible study sites in Europe.

 

Malignant Ascites Fluid Therapy

 

The Company is also developing a therapy to delay the production and accumulation of malignant ascites fluid that results from many types of abdominal tumors. Malignant ascites fluid is secreted by abdominal 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.

 

Malignant ascites fluid must be removed by paracentesis on a periodic basis. This procedure is painful and costly. There is no therapy that prevents or delays the production and accumulation of malignant ascites fluid. The Company has been involved in a series of preclinical studies conducted by Translational Drug Development (“TD2”) to determine if the combination of Cell-in-a-Box® encapsulated cells plus ifosfamide can delay the production and accumulation of malignant ascites fluid. The Company plans to conduct another preclinical study in Germany to determine if its conclusions from the TD2 studies are valid. If the preclinical study in Germany is deemed successful and the Company receives approval to do so from the FDA, the Company plans to conduct a clinical trial in the U.S. to determine if its therapy for pancreatic cancer can prevent or delay the production and accumulation of malignant ascites fluid. It also plans to have additional study sites in Europe if the Company receives approval to do so from the European Medicines Agency.

 

Diabetes Therapy

 

Bio-Artificial Pancreas for Diabetes

 

The Company plans to develop a therapy for Type 1 diabetes and insulin-dependent Type 2 diabetes. The Company is attempting to develop a therapy that involves encapsulation of human liver cells that have been genetically engineered to produce, store and release insulin on demand at levels in proportion to the levels of blood sugar (glucose) in the human body. The Company is also exploring the possibility of encapsulating human-insulin producing cells (beta islet cells) and/or insulin-producing stem cells. All three types of cells will be encapsulated using the Cell-in-a-Box® encapsulation technology. After appropriate animal testing has been successfully completed, the Company will seek the FDA’s approval to transplant encapsulated insulin-producing cells into diabetic patients. The goal for these approaches is to develop a bio-artificial pancreas for purposes of insulin production for diabetics who are insulin dependent.

 

Cannabis Therapy

 

Cannabinoids

 

The Company plans to use Cannabinoids (chemical constituents of the Cannabis plant) to develop therapies for cancer, with the initial target being brain cancer. The Company is focusing on developing specific therapies based on carefully chosen molecules rather than using complex Cannabis extracts. Targeted cannabinoid-based chemotherapy utilizing the Cell-in-a-Box® technology offers a “green” approach to treating solid-tumor malignancies. Here, the methodology of placing the encapsulated cells in close proximity to the tumor so that a cancer prodrug can be activated near the site of the cancerous tumor mimics the Company’s efforts with LAPC except that in this case the cancer prodrug will be Cannabinoid-derived.

 

To further its Cannabis therapy development plans, the Company entered into a Research Agreement with the University of Northern Colorado. The initial goal of the ongoing research was to develop methods for the identification, separation and quantification of constituents of Cannabis (some of which are prodrugs) that may be used in combination with the Cell-in-a-Box® technology to treat cancer; this has been accomplished. Subsequent studies have been undertaken to identify the appropriate cell type that can convert the selected Cannabinoid prodrugs into metabolites with anticancer activity. Once identified, the genetically modified cells that will produce the appropriate enzyme to convert that prodrug will be encapsulated using the Cell-in-a-Box® technology. The encapsulated cells and Cannabinoid prodrugs identified by these studies will then be combined and used for future studies to evaluate their anticancer effectiveness.

 

Company Background and Material Agreements

 

The Company is a Nevada corporation incorporated in 1996. In 2013, the Company restructured its operations to focus on biotechnology. The restructuring resulted in the Company focusing all its efforts upon the development of a novel, effective and safe way to treat various types of cancer and diabetes. On January 6, 2015, the Company changed its name from Nuvilex, Inc. to PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc. to reflect the nature of its business.

 

In 2011, the Company entered an Asset Purchase Agreement with SG Austria Private Limited (“SG Austria APA”) to purchase 100% of the assets and liabilities of SG Austria Private Limited (“SG Austria”). Austrianova Singapore Pte. Ltd. (“Austrianova”) and Bio Blue Bird AG (“Bio Blue Bird”), then wholly-owned subsidiaries of SG Austria, were to become wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Company on the condition that the Company pay SG Austria $2.5 million and 100,000,000 shares of the common stock of the Company’s common stock. The Company was to receive 100,000 shares of common stock of Austrianova and nine bearer shares of Bio Blue Bird representing 100% of the ownership of Bio Blue Bird.

 

Through two addenda to the SG Austria APA, the closing date of the SG Austria APA was extended twice by agreement between the parties.

 

In June 2013, the Company and SG Austria entered a Third Addendum to the SG Austria APA (“Third Addendum”). The Third Addendum changed materially the transaction contemplated by the SG Austria APA. Under the Third Addendum, the Company acquired 100% of the equity interests in Bio Blue Bird and received a 14.5% equity interest in SG Austria. In addition, the Company received nine bearer shares of Bio Blue Bird to reflect its 100% ownership of Bio Blue Bird. The Company paid: (i) $500,000 to retire all outstanding debt of Bio Blue Bird; and (ii) $1.0 million to SG Austria. The Company also paid SG Austria $1,572,193 in exchange for the 14.5% equity interest in SG Austria. The Third Addendum required SG Austria to return the 100,000,000 shares of common stock held by SG Austria and for the Company to return the 100,000 shares of common stock of Austrianova held by the Company.

 

Effective as of the same date of the Third Addendum, the parties entered a Clarification Agreement to the Third Addendum (“Clarification Agreement”) to clarify and include certain language that was inadvertently left out of the Third Addendum. Among other things, the Clarification Agreement confirmed that the Third Addendum granted the Company an exclusive, worldwide license to use, with a right to sublicense, the Cell-in-a-Box® technology for the development of treatments for cancer and use of Austrianova’s Cell-in-a-Box® trademark and its associated technology.

  

With respect to Bio Blue Bird, Bavarian Nordic A/S (“Bavarian Nordic”) and GSF-Forschungszentrum für Umwelt u. Gesundheit GmbH (collectively, “Bavarian Nordic/GSF”) and Bio Blue Bird entered into the Bavarian Nordic/GSF License Agreement in July 2005 whereby Bio Blue Bird was granted a non-exclusive license to further develop, make, have made (including services under contract for Bio Blue Bird or a sub-licensee), by Contract Manufacturing Organizations, Contract Research Organizations, Consultants, Logistics Companies or others, obtain marketing approval, sell and offer for sale the clinical data generated from the second pancreatic cancer clinical trial which contained proprietary information from the 1st Interim Analysis of the trial that used the cells and capsules developed by Bavarian Nordic/GSF (then known as “CapCells”) or otherwise use the licensed patent rights related thereto in the countries in which patents had been granted.

 

Bavarian Nordic/GSF and Bio Blue Bird amended the Bavarian Nordic License Agreement in December 2006 to reflect: (i) the license granted was exclusive; (ii) the royalty rate was increased from 3% to 4.5%; (iii) Bio Blue Bird assumed the patent prosecution expenses; and (iv) the license would survive as a license granted by one of the licensors if the other licensor rejected performance under the Bavarian Nordic License Agreement due to any actions or declarations of insolvency.

 

In June 2013, the Company acquired from Austrianova an exclusive, worldwide license to use the Cell-in-a-Box® technology and trademark for the development of a therapy for Type 1 and insulin-dependent Type 2 diabetes (“Diabetes Licensing Agreement”).

 

In October 2014, the Company entered into an exclusive, worldwide license agreement (“Melligen Cell License Agreement”) with the University of Technology, Sydney (“UTS”) in Australia to use insulin-producing genetically engineered human liver cells developed by UTS to treat Type 1 diabetes and insulin-dependent Type 2 diabetes. These cells, named “Melligen,” were tested by UTS in mice and shown to produce insulin in direct proportion to the amount of glucose in their surroundings. In those studies, when Melligen cells were transplanted into immunosuppressed diabetic mice, the blood glucose levels of the mice became normal.

 

In December 2014, the Company acquired from Austrianova an exclusive, worldwide license to use the Cell-in-a-Box® technology in combination with genetically modified non-stem cell lines which are designed to activate Cannabinoid prodrug molecules for development of therapies for diseases and their related symptoms using of the Cell-in-a-Box® technology and trademark (“Cannabis Licensing Agreement”). This allows the Company to develop a therapy to treat some solid cancers through encapsulation of genetically modified cells designed to convert Cannabinoids to their cancer killing form using the Cell-in-a-Box® technology. The Company paid Austrianova $2.0 million to secure this license.

 

In July 2016, the Company entered into a Binding Memorandum of Understanding with Austrianova (“Austrianova MOU”). Pursuant to the Austrianova MOU, Austrianova will actively work with the Company to seek an investment partner or partners who will finance clinical trials and further develop products for the Company’s therapy for cancer, in exchange for which the Company, Austrianova and any future investment partner will each receive a portion of the net revenue of the sales from the parties’ cancer products.

 

In October 2016, the parties amended the Bavarian Nordic/GSF License Agreement to include the right to: (i) reflect ownership and notification of improvements; (ii) clarify which provisions survive expiration or termination of the Bavarian Nordic/GSF License Agreement; (iii) provide rights to Bio Blue Bird to the clinical data after expiration of the licensed patent rights; and (iv) change the notice address and recipients of Bio Blue Bird.

 

In May 2018, the Company entered into agreements with SG Austria and Austrianova to amend certain provisions of the SG Austria APA, the Diabetes Licensing Agreement, the Cannabis Licensing Agreement and the Vin-de-Bona Consulting Agreement (“Amendments”). The Amendments provide that the Company’s obligation to make milestone payments to Austrianova will be eliminated in their entirety under the Cannabis License Agreement and the Diabetes License Agreement, as amended. The Amendments also provide that the Company’s obligation to make milestone payments to SG Austria pursuant to the SG Austria APA, as amended and clarified, will be eliminated in their entirety. One of the Amendments also provides that the scope of the Diabetes License Agreement will be expanded to include all cell types and cell lines of any kind or description now or later identified, including, but not limited to, primary cells, mortal cells, immortal cells and stem cells at all stages of differentiation and from any source specifically designed to produce insulin for the treatment of diabetes.

 

In addition, one of the Amendments provides that the Company will have a 5-year right of first refusal from August 30, 2017 in the event that Austrianova chooses to sell, transfer or assign at any time during this period the Cell-in-a-Box® tradename and its Associated Technologies; provided, however, that the Associated Technologies subject to the right of first refusal do not include Bac-in-a-Box®. Additionally, for a period of one year from August 30, 2017 one of the Amendments provides that Austrianova will not solicit, negotiate or entertain any inquiry regarding the potential acquisition of the Cell-in-a-Box® and its Associated Technologies.

 

The Amendments further provide that the royalty payments on gross sales as specified in the SG Austria APA, the Cannabis License Agreement and the Diabetes License Agreement will be changed to 4%. They also provide that the royalty payments on amounts received by the Company from sublicensees’ gross sales under the same agreements will be changed to 20% of the amount received by the Company’s sublicensees, provided, however, that in the event the amounts received by the Company from sublicensees is 4% or less of sublicensees’ gross sales, Austrianova or SG Austria (as the case may be) will receive 50% of what the Company receives up to 2%. In addition, Austrianova or SG Austria (as the case may be) will receive 20% of any amount the Company receives over a 4% royalty payment from sublicensees.

 

The Amendments also provide that Austrianova will receive 50% of any other financial and non-financial consideration received from the Company’s sublicensees of the Cell-in-a-Box® technology.