TOVX Theriva Biologics Inc

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 8-K

 

CURRENT REPORT

 

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): August 2, 2023

 

THERIVA BIOLOGICS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Nevada		001-12584		13-3808303
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)		(Commission File No.)		(IRS Employer Identification No.)

 

9605 Medical Center Drive, Suite 270

Rockville, Maryland 20850

(Address of principal executive offices and zip code)

 

(301) 417-4364

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code

 

N/A

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

 

¨

Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

 

¨

Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

 

¨

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

 

¨

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Common stock, par value $0.001 per share	TOVX	NYSE American

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (17 CFR §230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (17 CFR §240.12b-2 of this chapter).

 

Emerging growth company ¨

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by checkmark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨

 

 

Item 7.01. Regulation FD Disclosure.

 

On August 2, 2023, Theriva Biologics, Inc. (the “Company”) issued a press release announcing that patient dosing has initiated in the U.S. and with four sites open in the U.S. and eight sites open in Spain, the trial remains on track to be fully-enrolled in the first quarter of 2024. Dosing in Spain initiated in January 2023 and the first patients have now received their second doses of intravenous VCN-01, which were well tolerated and demonstrated the expected VCN-01 safety profile .

 

A copy of the press release is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.

 

The information in this Item 7.01 and in the press release furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K shall not be deemed to be “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section or Sections 11 and 12(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and shall not be incorporated by reference into any filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission made by the Company, whether made before or after the date hereof, regardless of any general incorporation language in such filing.

 

The press release furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K includes “safe harbor” language pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, indicating that certain statements contained therein are “forward-looking” rather than historical.

 

Item 8.01. Other Events. 

 

On August 2, 2023, the Company issued a press release announcing that patient dosing has initiated in the U.S. and with four sites open in the U.S. and eight sites open in Spain, the trial remains on track to be fully-enrolled in the first quarter of 2024. Dosing in Spain initiated in January 2023 and the first patients have now received their second doses of intravenous VCN-01, which were well tolerated and demonstrated the expected VCN-01 safety profile.

 

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

 

(d)

Exhibits.

 

Exhibit Number		Description
99.1		Press Release issued by Theriva Biologics, Inc., dated August 2, 2023
104		Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the XBRL document)

 

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

Dated: August 2, 2023	THERIVA BIOLOGICS, INC.
	By:	/s/ Steven A. Shallcross
		Name:	Steven A. Shallcross
		Title:	Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer

  

 

Exhibit 99.1

 

 

Theriva™ Biologics Announces Key Progress in VIRAGE, an Ongoing, Multinational Phase 2b Trial of VCN-01 in Combination with Chemotherapy in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

 

- Initiated dosing at U.S. sites for VIRAGE -

 

-Second doses of intravenous VCN-01 administered to patients in Spain and were well tolerated -

 

-VIRAGE remains on track to complete enrollment in the first quarter of 2024-

 

Rockville, MD, August 2, 2023 – Theriva™ Biologics (NYSE American: TOVX), (“Theriva” or the “Company”), a clinical-stage company developing therapeutics designed to treat cancer and related diseases in areas of high unmet need, today announced key progress in VIRAGE, a multinational, Phase 2b, randomized, open-label, controlled clinical trial evaluating VCN-01 in combination with standard-of-care chemotherapy (gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel) as a first-line therapy for patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Patient dosing has initiated in the U.S. and with four sites open in the U.S. and eight sites open in Spain the trial remains on track to be fully-enrolled in the first quarter of 2024. Dosing in Spain initiated in January 2023 and the first patients have now received their second doses of intravenous VCN-01, which were well tolerated with a safety profile consistent with prior clinical trials.

 

VCN-01 is Theriva’s systemic, selective, stroma-degrading oncolytic adenovirus. VCN-01 has been granted Orphan Drug designations from the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

 

“Initiating dosing in the U.S., and the completion of the second VCN-01 doses for the first patients in Spain, are important accomplishments that add to the strong momentum for VIRAGE, which remains on track to complete enrollment in the first quarter of 2024,” said Steven A. Shallcross, Chief Executive Officer of Theriva Biologics. “With a dearth of novel therapies available and a five-year survival rate for metastatic PDAC of only 3%, pancreatic cancer is an indication that is ripe for innovation. Through VIRAGE’s advancement, we aim to demonstrate VCN-01’s ability to address the unmet needs of pancreatic cancer patients by synergistically combining with standard-of-care chemotherapy. We are extremely encouraged by the favorable safety profile following the advancement to the second dose that further differentiates and positions VCN-01 as a leading oncolytic adenovirus. More broadly, this trial will enable us to determine the feasibility of repeated dosing of VCN-01, which could shift the paradigm for standardized treatment cycles that are well established in cancer chemotherapy and immunotherapy, and thereby lead to improved clinical outcomes for patients with PDAC and other solid cancers.”

 

About VIRAGE

 

VIRAGE is a two-arm Phase 2b open-label, randomized, controlled, multicenter clinical trial in patients with histologically confirmed, newly-diagnosed metastatic PDAC. VIRAGE is expected to enroll up to 92 adult participants at up to 25 sites across the US and Spain. In both the control and treatment arms, patients will receive gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel standard-of-care chemotherapy over 28-day cycles. In the treatment arm only, patients will also receive systemically administered VCN-01 seven-days prior to the first and fourth cycles of gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel treatment. Primary endpoints for the trial include overall survival and VCN-01 safety/tolerability. Additional endpoints include progression free survival, objective response rate, and measures of biodistribution, VCN-01 replication, and immune response. Since this is an open-label trial, progress will be monitored very closely and steps to accelerate the clinical program may be implemented if supported by the emerging data. More information about the trial is available on Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05673811), through the Spanish Clinical Trials Registry and European Union Drug Regulating Authorities Clinical Trials Database (EudraCT Number: 2022-000897-24).

 

 

 

About VCN-01

 

VCN-01 is a systemically administered oncolytic adenovirus designed to selectively and aggressively replicate within tumor cells and degrade the tumor stroma that serves as a significant physical and immunosuppressive barrier to cancer treatment. This unique mode-of-action enables VCN-01 to exert multiple antitumor effects by (i) selectively infecting and lysing tumor cells; (ii) enhancing the access and perfusion of co-administered chemotherapy products; and (iii) increasing tumor immunogenicity and exposing the tumor to the patient’s immune system and co-administered immunotherapy products. Systemic administration enables VCN-01 to exert its actions on both the primary tumor and metastases. VCN-01 has been administered to over 80 patients in Phase 1 and investigator-sponsored clinical trials of different cancers, including PDAC (in combination with chemotherapy), head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (with an immune checkpoint inhibitor), ovarian cancer (with CAR-T cell therapy), colorectal cancer, and retinoblastoma (by intravitreal injection).

 

About Theriva™ Biologics, Inc.

 

Theriva™ Biologics (NYSE American: TOVX), is a diversified clinical-stage company developing therapeutics designed to treat cancer and related diseases in areas of high unmet need. The Company’s wholly-owned Spanish subsidiary Theriva Biologics, S.L., has been developing a new oncolytic adenovirus platform designed for intravenous (IV), intravitreal and antitumoral delivery to trigger tumor cell death, improve access of co-administered cancer therapies to the tumor, and promote a robust and sustained anti-tumor response by the patient’s immune system. In addition to VCN-01, the Company’s clinical-stage candidates include: (1) SYN-004 (ribaxamase) which is designed to degrade certain commonly used IV beta-lactam antibiotics within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract to prevent microbiome damage, thereby limiting overgrowth of pathogenic organisms such as VRE (vancomycin resistant Enterococci) and reducing the incidence and severity of acute graft-versus-host-disease (aGVHD) in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients); and (2) SYN-020, a recombinant oral formulation of the enzyme intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP) produced under cGMP conditions and intended to treat both local GI and systemic diseases. For more information, please visit Theriva Biologics’ website at www.therivabio.com.

 

 

 

Forward-Looking Statement

 

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “may,” “should,” “potential,” “continue,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” and similar expressions, and include statements regarding the Virage trial remaining on track to be fully-enrolled in the first quarter of 2024, the  trial enabling the Company to determine the feasibility of repeated dosing of VCN-01, the feasibility of repeated doses shifting the paradigm for standardized treatment cycles that are well established in cancer chemotherapy and immunotherapy, and the trial leading to improved clinical outcomes for patients with PDAC and other solid cancers. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations and assumptions from those set forth or implied by any forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among others, the Company’s ability to complete enrollment in the Virage trial when anticipated and anticipated results, the Company’s ability to address the unmet medical needs for treatment of PDAC, the Company’s ability to take advantage of the potential benefits of orphan drug designation, the Company’s ability to reach clinical milestones when anticipated, the Company’s ability to successfully operate the combined US and Spanish business entities , the Company’s product candidates demonstrating safety and effectiveness, as well as results that are consistent with prior results; the ability to complete clinical trials on time and achieve the desired results and benefits, continuing clinical trial enrollment as expected; the ability to obtain regulatory approval for commercialization of product candidates or to comply with ongoing regulatory requirements, regulatory limitations relating to the Company’s ability to promote or commercialize their product candidates for the specific indications, acceptance of product candidates in the marketplace and the successful development, marketing or sale of the Company’s products, developments by competitors that render such products obsolete or non-competitive, the Company’s ability to maintain license agreements, the continued maintenance and growth of the Company’s patent estate, the ability to continue to remain well financed and other factors described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 and its other filings with the SEC, including subsequent periodic reports on Forms 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K. The information in this release is provided only as of the date of this release, and Theriva Biologics undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release on account of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

 

For further information, please contact:

 

Investor Relations:

 

Chris Calabrese

 

LifeSci Advisors, LLC

 

ccalabrese@lifesciadvisors.com

 

917-680-5608

 

 

v3.23.2

Cover	Aug. 02, 2023
Cover [Abstract]
Document Type	8-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Aug. 02, 2023
Entity File Number	001-12584
Entity Registrant Name	THERIVA BIOLOGICS, INC.
Entity Central Index Key	0000894158
Entity Tax Identification Number	13-3808303
Entity Incorporation, State or Country Code	NV
Entity Address, Address Line One	9605 Medical Center Drive
Entity Address, Address Line Two	Suite 270
Entity Address, City or Town	Rockville
Entity Address, State or Province	MD
Entity Address, Postal Zip Code	20850
City Area Code	301
Local Phone Number	417-4364
Written Communications	false
Soliciting Material	false
Pre-commencement Tender Offer	false
Pre-commencement Issuer Tender Offer	false
Title of 12(b) Security	Common stock, par value $0.001 per share
Trading Symbol	TOVX
Security Exchange Name	NYSEAMER
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false

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