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Description of Business and Liquidity
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2022
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Description of Business and Liquidity

Note 1 – Description of Business and Liquidity

 

Nature of Operations

 

Hillstream BioPharma, Inc. (“HBI”) was incorporated on March 28, 2017, as a Delaware C-corporation. At September 30, 2022, Hillstream BioPharma, Inc. had two wholly-owned subsidiaries: HB Pharma Corp. (“HB”) and Farrington Therapeutics LLC (“Farrington” and together with HBI and HB, the “Company”).

 

The Company is a pre-clinical biotechnology company developing novel therapeutic candidates targeting ferroptosis, an emerging new anti-cancer mechanism resulting in iron mediated cell death (“IMCD”) for treatment resistant cancers. The Company’s most advanced product candidate is HSB-1216, an IMCD modulator, targeting a variety of solid tumors. The active drug in HSB-1216 was found to reduce tumor burden in a clinical pilot study in Germany in treatment resistant cancers, including triple negative breast cancer and epithelial carcinomas. The Company’s goal is to file an investigational new drug application (“IND”) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) in 2023 and start a clinical study with HSB-1216 in 2023; however, no assurance can be provided that the Company’s IND will be accepted by the FDA in 2023, if at all. If the IND is accepted by the FDA, the HSB-1216 clinical study will focus on expanding upon the clinical pilot study conducted in Germany. If the Company is able to start the clinical study with HSB-1216 in 2023, the Company anticipates that initial data from such trial will be released either at the end of 2023 or early 2024. The Company uses Quatramer™, the proprietary tumor targeting platform, to enhance the uptake of HSB-1216 in the tumor microenvironment with an extended duration of action and minimal off-target toxicity. The discovery of regulated cell death processes, such as apoptosis and autophagy, has enabled novel target discovery for drug development. Ferroptosis, a form of IMCD, is an emerging regulated cell death process which decreases intracellular iron or the Labile Iron Pool (“LIP”). Cancer cells increase the LIP leading to unregulated cell growth and metabolism. Decreasing the LIP, induces iron-led reactive oxygen species production and lipid peroxidation, two key hallmarks of ferroptosis/IMCD. HSB-1216 binds iron in the cytoplasm of cancer cells and decreases the LIP, thereby inducing ferroptosis/IMCD, leading to regulated cell death. Areas of interest for the development of HSB-1216 are as a treatment of solid tumors, including small cell lung cancer, metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer, triple negative breast cancer, uveal melanoma, glioblastoma multiforme, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and other treatment resistant cancers with high unmet need.

 

Liquidity

 

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the basis that the Company is a going concern, which contemplates, among other things, the realization of assets and satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. For the nine months ended September 30, 2022, the Company incurred operating losses in the amount of approximately $5.1 million, expended approximately $5.5 million in cash in operating activities, and had an accumulated deficit of approximately $13.6 million as of September 30, 2022. The Company financed its working capital requirements through September 30, 2022 primarily through the issuance of common stock in its initial public offering (“IPO”). Net proceeds to the Company from the IPO were approximately $13.0 million. See Note 5 to the condensed consolidated financial statements for details regarding the IPO. The shares of the Company’s common stock began trading on The Nasdaq Capital Market on January 12, 2022 under the ticker symbol “HILS”.

 

The Company believes its cash on hand as of September 30, 2022 is sufficient to meet its operating obligations and capital requirements for at least 12 months from the filing date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Thereafter, the Company may need to raise further capital through the sale of additional equity or debt securities or other debt instruments, strategic relationships or grants or other arrangements to support its future operations. If such funding is not available, or not available on terms acceptable to the Company, the Company’s current development plan may be curtailed.

 

 

Other Risks and Uncertainties

 

There can be no assurance that the Company’s products, if approved, will be accepted in the marketplace, nor can there be any assurance that any future products can be developed or manufactured at an acceptable cost and with appropriate performance characteristics, or that such products will be successfully marketed, if at all. The Company is subject to risks common to biopharmaceutical companies including, but not limited to, the development of new technological innovations, dependence on key personnel, protection of proprietary technology, compliance with government regulations, product liability, uncertainty of market acceptance of products and the need to obtain additional financing. The Company is dependent on third party suppliers. The Company’s products require approval or clearance from the FDA prior to commencing commercial sales in the United States. Approvals or clearances are also required in foreign jurisdictions in which the Company may license or sell its products. There can be no assurance that the Company’s products will receive all of the required approvals or clearances.

 

COVID-19 Considerations

 

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak of a novel strain of coronavirus (“COVID-19”) as a pandemic, prompting many national, regional, and local governments to implement preventative or protective measures, such as travel and business restrictions, temporary store closures and capacity limitations, and wide-sweeping quarantines and stay-at-home orders. As a result, COVID-19 and the related restrictive measures have had a significant adverse impact upon many sectors of the economy.

 

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company had to delay the start of its IND enabling studies for over a year. As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, the Company intends to closely monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on all aspects of its business, including, but not limited to, impacts on third-party contractors, suppliers, vendors and employees. The Company believes that the ultimate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on operating results, cash flows, and financial condition is likely to be determined by factors which are uncertain, unpredictable, and outside of the Company’s control. The situation surrounding COVID-19 remains fluid, and if disruptions arise, they could have a material adverse impact on the Company’s business.