Centessa Pharmaceuticals Plc - CNTA STOCK NEWS

Centessa Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CNTA) has appointed Stephen Kanes, MD PhD, as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Kanes, a neuropsychiatrist with over 30 years of experience in neuroscience, clinical psychiatry, and drug development, joins the company as it advances its orexin receptor 2 (OX2R) agonist portfolio.

Dr. Kanes previously served as CMO at Sage Therapeutics (2013-2021), where he led the development of ZULRESSO®, the first approved treatment for Postpartum Depression. He was most recently CEO of EmbarkNeuro and previously held positions at AstraZeneca and the University of Pennsylvania. The appointment comes as Centessa progresses Phase 2a clinical studies of ORX750, targeting sleep-wake, neurological, neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals (CNTA) reported Q3 2024 financial results and announced positive interim data from its Phase 1 study of ORX750, showing significant increased wakefulness in sleep-deprived volunteers. The company initiated a Phase 2a study for narcolepsy and hypersomnia treatments, with data expected in 2025. Financial highlights include $518.4M in cash and equivalents, R&D expenses of $33.9M, and a net loss of $42.6M. Centessa discontinued SerpinPC development, reallocating approximately $200M savings to expand their OX2R agonist franchise. The company's cash runway extends into mid-2027.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CNTA) has announced its management team's participation in three upcoming investor conferences. The company will attend the Guggenheim Healthcare Innovation Conference in Boston on November 13, 2024, with a fireside chat at 9:00 AM ET, the Jefferies London Healthcare Conference on November 19, 2024, at 1:30 PM GMT, and the 7th Annual Evercore HealthCONx Conference in Miami on December 5, 2024, at 10:00 AM ET. Live webcasts and recordings will be accessible through the company's investor relations website.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CNTA) presented preclinical data for ORX142, a novel orexin receptor 2 (OX2R) agonist, at the 27th Congress of the European Sleep Research Society. The data from non-human primate (NHP) studies support ORX142 as a potential treatment for excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in select neurological, neurodegenerative, and psychiatric disorders.

Key findings include:

• ORX142 showed significant activity in promoting wakefulness at very low doses (0.03 mg/kg)
• It potently activated human OX2R with an EC50 of 0.069 nM and >13,000-fold selectivity over human OX1R
• Induced sustained increases in wakefulness, suppressing NREM and REM sleep
• Associated with normal physiological arousal and EEG power spectra signatures of enhanced alertness

ORX142 is currently in IND-enabling studies as Centessa's second OX2R agonist drug candidate.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CNTA) has announced the pricing of an upsized public offering of 15,254,237 American Depositary Shares (ADSs) at $14.75 per ADS. The offering is expected to raise approximately $225 million in gross proceeds. Centessa has also granted underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2,288,135 ADSs. The offering is anticipated to close around September 16, 2024, subject to customary conditions. Goldman Sachs & Co. , Leerink Partners, Evercore ISI, Guggenheim Securities, and BMO Capital Markets are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. The ADSs are being offered pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-3 filed with the SEC on September 11, 2024.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc (Nasdaq: CNTA), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, has announced a proposed public offering of $150 million of American Depositary Shares (ADSs). The company plans to grant underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $22.5 million of ADSs. Goldman Sachs & Co. , Leerink Partners, Evercore ISI, Guggenheim Securities, and BMO Capital Markets are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. The offering is subject to market conditions, and there is no guarantee of its completion or final terms. A registration statement on Form S-3 has been filed with the SEC, and a preliminary prospectus supplement will be available.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CNTA) has announced positive interim data from its Phase 1 trial of ORX750, a highly potent and selective orexin receptor 2 (OX2R) agonist, in acutely sleep-deprived healthy volunteers. The 2.5 mg dose of ORX750 restored normative wakefulness with a mean sleep latency of 32 minutes, showing significant improvements compared to placebo. The drug demonstrated a favorable safety and tolerability profile with no observations of common adverse events associated with other OX2R agonists.

Based on these promising results, Centessa plans to rapidly advance ORX750 into Phase 2 studies for narcolepsy type 1 (NT1), narcolepsy type 2 (NT2), and idiopathic hypersomnia (IH) starting in Q4 2024. The company believes ORX750 has the potential to be a best-in-class treatment for sleep-wake disorders, supporting once-daily oral dosing.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CNTA) announced a late-breaking poster presentation at Sleep Europe 2024 for ORX142, their novel orexin receptor 2 (OX2R) agonist. The presentation will showcase non-human primate data demonstrating ORX142's ability to promote wakefulness at low doses in a highly predictive model. This data is significant for ORX142's potential in treating excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in select neurological, neurodegenerative, and psychiatric disorders.

The poster, titled "ORX142, an Oral, Highly Potent and Selective Orexin Receptor 2 Agonist, Promotes Wakefulness in Non-Human Primates," will be presented on September 26, 2024. Centessa's CEO, Saurabh Saha, expressed enthusiasm about ORX142 being their second drug candidate showing significant wakefulness-promoting activity at very low doses in preclinical models.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CNTA), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, has announced its participation in the Morgan Stanley 22nd Annual Global Healthcare Conference in New York, NY. The company's management team is scheduled for a fireside chat on Wednesday, September 4th at 1:05 PM ET.

Investors and interested parties can access a live audio webcast of the event, as well as an archived recording, through the "Events and Publications" tab on the investor relations section of Centessa's website at https://investors.centessa.com/events-presentations. This participation provides an opportunity for Centessa to showcase its progress in discovering and developing transformational medicines for patients.