Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:XENE) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Chris Kenney: Go ahead.

Laura Chico: I guess I was also going to ask, does — X-TOLE4 does not need to be complete to file basically an open-label extension?

Chris Kenney: Absolutely not.

Laura Chico: Okay. That’s–

Chris Kenney: X-TOLE2 is gating for that point in time.

Laura Chico: Got it. Thank you.

Sherry Aulin: And Laura, just to touch on your question about OpEx for 2023. So, as you know, we don’t give specific OpEx guidance, but I’m happy to provide some color directionally I mean, obviously, we’re going to see an increase in 2023 relative to 2022 in overall spend. And in particular, on the R&D side, we’re going to see an increase, and that’s largely driven by the fact that we are now well underway with our Phase 3 1101 epilepsy program, and we’re going to have three studies running in parallel as well as the open-label extension for the Phase 3. And then remember as well that the X-TOLE open-label extension is also ongoing because that continues for a five-year period from start to finish. With respect to G&A costs, I think you can expect that G&A costs will stay relatively flat relative to what we saw for Q4 of 2022, so that you can roll forward the Q4 costs, and that’s roughly what we’ll plan to spend in 2023.

And on the R&D side, maybe another piece to add is that we do continue to — we’ll continue to see probably an increase in our personnel costs as we continue to expand our resources internally to support our ambitious development funds and the rest of our pipeline.

Laura Chico: Thanks very much guys.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Mohit Bansal from Wells Fargo. Please proceed.

Unknown Analyst: Hi, this is Serena on for Mohit. Thanks much for taking our question. I wanted to go back to the development path in MDD. Since you guys have talked about having other opacity modulators and preclinical development, potentially entering Phase 1 in early 2024 and was just wondering like what would give you guys the confidence that 1101 is worth developing for MDD versus the preclinical compounds? And then could you have multiple programs going on in tandem for MDD? Thank you.

Ian Mortimer: Yes, I think if we were going to develop 1101 in MDD, and we kind of walked through earlier on the call, some of the scenarios that we’re working through right now. But if we made a decision based on a whole bunch of factors that we were going to move ahead with 1101 in additional clinical development in MDD, then I think, obviously, the backup molecule or another CV molecule, we may still bring into the clinic. I think that’s just — we have a very valuable asset and to continue to build out our development in KV, I think, is important. But I think it would be less about taking another molecule necessarily into running major depressive disorder and not having two KV drugs being developed in MDD. I think if we made a decision that we wanted some therapeutic differentiation based on chemistry, then that will be a situation where we may want to take one of the molecules that we have preclinically into depression or into other therapeutic areas.

Unknown Analyst: Got it. Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Rohit Bhasin from Needham & Company.

Rohit Bhasin: Can you just talk to us about your expectations from the trial with Neurocrine that’s going to read out later this year? And can you also talk about any remaining milestone payments from the collaboration? Thanks.

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