 Lumos Pharma sells Priority Review Voucher PRV, valued at 100 million - Lumos Pharma to receive 60 million for its 60 interest in PRV Lumos Pharma reaffirms its expectation of the initiation of its Phase 2b LUM-201 trial in Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency PGHD prior to the end of 2020 AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 13, 2020 GLOBE NEWSWIRE -- Lumos Pharma, Inc. NASDAQ:LUMO, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on therapeutics for rare diseases, announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020 and provided an update on clinical activities.The second quarter continued to be a busy and productive one for Lumos Pharma, commented Rick Hawkins, Chairman, CEO and President. Most notably, the efforts of our team during this period culminated in the sale of our Priority Review Voucher in line with our expectations, further strengthening our balance sheet. With a Study May Proceed letter from the FDA in hand, we are progressing toward our goal of initiating the Phase 2b trial of LUM-201, our oral therapeutic candidate for PGHD, prior to the end of this year. In addition, we continue to engage in activities to expand our pipeline through the licensure of other rare disease assets. With our strong balance sheet and non-dilutive funds from the monetization of our PRV, we believe Lumos Pharma is well positioned to execute on our clinical and business development plans.Corporate UpdateSale of Priority Review Voucher PRV - On July 27, 2020, Lumos Pharma announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to sell its PRV to Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. The PRV was granted in conjunction with the approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration FDA of ERVEBO, a vaccine developed by the Companys licensee, Merck, for the prevention of the Zaire Ebola virus disease.Under the terms of the original license agreement, Lumos Pharma is entitled to retain 60 of the value of the PRV. Based upon an agreed valuation of 100 million, Merck will pay Lumos 60 million. The 60 million will be received in two non-contingent payments, 34 million anticipated in the third quarter of 2020, and 26 million in the first quarter of 2021. The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions including anti-trust review. The non-dilutive funds from this transaction will provide additional capital to support the expansion of the Companys pipeline through the in-licensing or acquisition of another novel therapeutic candidate for those suffering from rare diseases.Clinical Update and COVID-19 ImpactPhase 2b trial of LUM-201 in PGHD - Lumos Pharma continues to prioritize the clinical development of LUM-201, its orally administered therapeutic candidate for a significant subset of children with PGHD. The Company continues to anticipate the initiation of its Phase 2b trial in PGHD prior to the end of 2020. This trial will evaluate three dose levels of LUM-201 in PGHD patients against a comparator arm of standard-of-care injectable growth hormone therapy. Dosing will be administered over six months, with annualized growth height velocity as the primary clinical outcome measure. The purpose of this trial will be to prospectively confirm our Predictive Enrichment Marker strategy and to identify the optimal dose of LUM-201 to be used in a registration trial.While the coronavirus pandemic initially caused pervasive interruptions to clinical trials industrywide, clinical sites have begun to reopen, and numerous trials have restarted. A resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic may cause further delays or shutdowns of clinical trials, including our own. Our Phase 2b site selection, however, spans a broad geographic base across the US and multiple other countries and includes both private clinics and academic centers, which we believe should help mitigate the impact of a resurgence of this pandemic.PharmacokineticPharmacodynamic Study of LUM-201 in PGHD - Lumos also plans to initiate a second concurrent trial of LUM-201 in PGHD by Q1 2021. This trial is intended to further explore the effects of the mechanism of action of LUM-201 in amplifying the natural pulsatile secretion of growth hormone. The study will focus on pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic endpoints at two different doses in a limited number of children with PGHD, corroborating the amplified pulsatile secretion demonstrated in prior LUM-201 studies in adults. The trial will be conducted at a single specialized pediatric center with the capacity to conduct the more frequent sample acquisition and monitoring required for these types of clinical trials. This study will run in parallel with our announced Phase 2b trial with the intention that the data will be supportive in any future regulatory filings.Pipeline Expansion - The Company continues to pursue business development opportunities to expand its rare disease portfolio. With a team possessing deep experience in the rare disease sector, we believe we are well-positioned to be successful in our pursuit of opportunities to expand our pipeline and build shareholder value.Financial Results for the Three-Month Period Ended June 30, 2020 and Updated Cash GuidanceCash Position: Lumos Pharma ended the quarter on June 30, 2020, with cash and cash equivalents totaling 72.7 million compared to Lumos Pharma prior to its merger with NewLink Genetics cash of 5.0 million on December 31, 2019 and pro forma cash, including NewLink Genetics, of 95.5 million on December 31, 2019. The Company expects its cash on hand will be sufficient to fund current operations through the Phase 2b LUM-201 trial read-out.RD Expenses: Research and development expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2020 were 2.8 million, an increase of 882,000 from 1.9 million for the same period in 2019. The increase is primarily due to an increase of 877,000 in personnel-related and stock compensation expense, an increase of 480,000 in clinical trial expense and an increase of 310,000 in supplies and other expense, offset by a decrease of 430,000 in contract manufacturing expense, and a decrease of 355,000 in legal and consulting expense.GA Expenses: General and administrative expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2020 were 4.1 million, an increase of 3.4 million from 714,000 for the same period in 2019. The increase was due primarily to increases of 1.2 million in personnel-related and stock compensation expense, 1.2 million due to increased operating expenses for insurance, rent, supplies and depreciation, and 969,000 in legal and consulting expense.Net Loss: The net loss for the three months ended June 30, 2020 was 5.4 million compared to a net loss of 2.6 million for the same period in 2019.Lumos Pharma ended Q2 2020 with 8,293,312 shares outstanding.Conference Call and Webcast DetailsThe Company has scheduled a conference call and webcast for 4:30 p.m. ET today to discuss its financial results and to give an update on clinical and business development activities. There will also be a question and answer session following managements prepared remarks.Access to the live conference call is available five minutes prior to the start of the call by dialing 855 469-0612 U.S. or 484 756-4268 international. The conference call will be webcast live and a link to the webcast can be accessed through the Lumos Pharma website at in the Investors Media section under Events and Presentations or through this link: To ensure a timely connection, it is recommended that users register at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled webcast. A replay of the call will be available approximately two hours after the completion of the call and can be accessed by dialing 855 859-2056 U.S. or 404 537-3406 international and using the passcode 9585725. The replay will be available for two weeks from the date of the call.About Lumos PharmaLumos Pharma, Inc. is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for rare diseases. Lumos Pharma was founded and is led by a management team with longstanding experience in rare disease drug development and received early funding from leading healthcare investors, including Deerfield Management, a fund managed by Blackstone Life Sciences, Roche Venture Fund, New Enterprise Associates NEA, Santé Ventures, and UCB. Lumos Pharmas lead therapeutic candidate is LUM-201, an oral growth hormone stimulating small molecule for the treatment of Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency PGHD. If approved by the FDA, LUM-201 would provide an orally administered alternative to daily injections that current PGHD patients endure for many years of treatment. LUM-201 has received Orphan Drug Designation in both the US and EU. For more information, please visit Note Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements of Lumos Pharma, Inc. the Company that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All such statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words forecast, projected, guidance, upcoming, will, would, plan, intend, anticipate, approximate, expect, potential, imminent, or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. 