Business
Forte Biosciences, Inc. Announces Second Quarter 2020 Results and Provides General Business Update
TORRANCE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Forte Biosciences, Inc. (www.fortebiorx.com) (NASDAQ: FBRX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced
About this update from Forte Biosciences, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":" TORRANCE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nForte Biosciences, Inc. (www.fortebiorx.com) (NASDAQ: FBRX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced the second quarter 2020 financial results and provided a general business update.\n\n\n“We are very happy to have concluded the reverse merger on June 15th and in that process, brought on a very well-respected group of investors, including Alger, BVF Partners, Franklin Templeton and OrbiMed to support Forte as we continue to grow the company. Our lead program, FB-401, developed in collaboration with the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), has shown great potential in the initial Phase 1/2a study in mild, moderate and severe atopic dermatitis patients, including adults and children as young as 3 years old.” said Paul Wagner, Ph.D., CEO of Forte Biosciences “We look forward to further validating FB-401’s potential with the randomized trial in mild to moderate atopic dermatitis patients, including adults and children 2 years of age and older, which will be initiating shortly. There is a particular need for safe and effective atopic dermatitis therapies for children.”\n\n\nSecond Quarter 2020 Financial Results\n\n\nMerger\n\n\nOn June 15, 2020, Forte merged with Tocagen, a publicly traded biotechnology company, with Forte being the surviving entity. As part of the merger, each share of Forte common stock outstanding was converted into the right to receive 3.1624 shares of Tocagen common stock following a 15:1 reverse split of Tocagen’s common stock. Post-merger and post-reverse split, Forte had approximately 10.8 million shares of common stock outstanding, with prior Forte stockholders collectively owning approximately 84.7% of the combined company and prior Tocagen stockholders owning approximately 15.3%. Forte’s common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol “FBRX.” Prior to the Merger, Forte was a privately-held company incorporated in Delaware.\n\n\nFinancing\n\n\nDuring the second quarter of 2020, Forte raised $24 million in equity financing associated with the merger that closed on June 15, including a $4.6 million financing that closed on June 16. Forte Biosciences ended the quarter with approximately $28 million in cash which the company believes is sufficient to fund ope...