Lantern Pharma Inc (LTRN) Q4 2024 Earnings Call Highlights: Navigating Growth and Challenges

GuruFocus News

Tue, Apr 1, 2025, 7:01 PM 4 min read

General and Administrative Expenses (Q4 2024): Approximately $1.6 million, up from $1.3 million in Q4 2023.
R&D Expenses (Q4 2024): Approximately $4.3 million, up from $3.6 million in Q4 2023.
Net Loss (Q4 2024): Approximately $5.9 million or $0.54 per share, compared to $4.2 million or $0.39 per share in Q4 2023.
R&D Expenses (Full Year 2024): Approximately $16.1 million, up from $11.9 million in 2023.
General and Administrative Expenses (Full Year 2024): Approximately $6.1 million, up slightly from $6 million in 2023.
Net Loss (Full Year 2024): Approximately $20.8 million or $1.93 per share, compared to $16 million or $1.47 per share in 2023.
Cash Position (End of 2024): Approximately $24 million in cash equivalents and marketable securities.
Shares Outstanding (End of 2024): 10,784,725 shares of common stock, with a total fully diluted shares outstanding of approximately 12.1 million shares.

Warning! GuruFocus has detected 1 Warning Sign with LTRN.

Release Date: March 27, 2025

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Positive Points

Lantern Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:LTRN) has made significant progress in its clinical pipeline and AI platform, with three AI-driven drugs advancing into clinical trials at a rapid pace and lower cost.
The company's LP 300 drug has shown promising preliminary results in the harmonic trial, achieving an 86% clinical benefit rate and a 43% objective response rate in never smoker non-small cell lung cancer patients.
Lantern Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:LTRN) received two FDA fast track designations for LP 184 in glioblastoma and triple negative breast cancer, indicating regulatory validation and potential for expedited clinical development.
The company's AI platform, RADar, has expanded to over 100 billion oncology-specific data points, enhancing its ability to identify non-obvious relationships and potential combination strategies.
Lantern Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:LTRN) has a strong cash position with $24 million in cash equivalents and marketable securities, providing a runway to fund operations for at least 12 months.

Negative Points

Lantern Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:LTRN) reported a net loss of approximately $20.8 million for the full year 2024, an increase from the previous year's loss of $16 million.
The company anticipates needing substantial additional funding in the near future to continue its operations and development programs.
R&D expenses increased significantly, from $11.9 million in 2023 to $16.1 million in 2024, primarily due to research studies and clinical trial support.
The enrollment in clinical trials has been slower than expected, with dose levels for LP 184 reaching higher than anticipated, extending the timeline for results.
Lantern Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:LTRN) faces challenges in securing partnerships and collaborations, as potential deals often break down over financial and resource allocation issues.

Q & A Highlights

Q: How is the pace and quality of enrollment in Asia compared to the US? A: The pace of enrollment in Asia is about 2 to 4 times faster than in the US. The sites in Asia ramped up faster, and in the past few months, the output from Asia has matched that of the US, with a much quicker timeline from onboarding to first patient. This trend is expected to continue, potentially reaching 3 to 4 times faster enrollment this year due to the Asian sites. - Panna Sharma, CEO

Q: What are the opportunities for ADCs that substitute the toxic payload with another immunotherapy? A: Substituting the toxic payload with another immunotherapy, such as an immunomodulating agent, is possible and is an area of interest. There is potential for innovation in designing multi-payload ADCs, which could include both immunomodulating and toxic payloads. However, testing these complex architectures, especially in non-human primates, remains a challenge. This area is well-suited for AI-driven precision biology and data collection. - Panna Sharma, CEO

Q: Can you provide an update on the harmonic trial data expected later this year? A: We have enrolled a significant number of patients in Asia and the US, and we continue to see positive clinical benefit trends. We expect to have a mid to late Q2 readout, with a key update at 30 events, likely closer to the end of the year. This will help decide whether to proceed to a larger trial and potentially partner the asset. - Panna Sharma, CEO

Q: What should we look for next in your ADC programs? A: We have exciting pre-clinical data, particularly in HER2 low and medium expressing cancers, showing higher potency than existing FDA-approved agents. We are also working on new payloads that are significantly more potent. Expect more pre-clinical data and announcements of partnerships using our ADC AI platform as an analytical tool. - Panna Sharma, CEO

Q: Why was the LP 184 data delayed, and when can we expect results? A: The delay was due to higher dose levels being reached in the trial, which extended the timeline. We are now in cohort 11 or 12, with each cohort taking about a month. We have not seen significant adverse events and are beginning to see therapeutic levels of efficacy. Results are expected once these higher dose levels are fully evaluated. - Panna Sharma, CEO

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Terms and Privacy Policy

Your Privacy Choices

Utah Privacy Notice

More Info