Q4 2025 PDS Biotechnology Corp Earnings Call

March 30, 2026

Speaker #1: Greetings and welcome to the PDS Biotech fourth quarter 2025 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation.

Speaker #1: If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

Speaker #1: I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Mike Moyer with LifeSci Advisors. Thank you. You may begin.

Speaker #2: Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to PDS Biotech's fourth quarter 2025 results and clinical programs update call. I am joined on the call today by the following members of the company's management team.

Speaker #2: Dr. Frank Bedu, Chief Executive Officer; Dr. Kirk Shepherd, Chief Medical Officer; and Lars Boesgaard, Chief Financial Officer. Dr. Bedu will begin with an overview of the company's recent highlights in its clinical development program.

Speaker #2: Dr. Shepherd will review the data and rationale behind the amendment the company recently adopted to its Phase 3 VERSATILE-003 trial, and Mr. Boesgaard will review the financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2025.

Speaker #2: Following management's prepared remarks, we will open the call to questions from covering analysts. As a reminder, during this call we will be making forward-looking statements, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from these statements.

Speaker #2: Any such statements should be considered in conjunction with cautionary statements in our press releases, and risk factors discussed in our filings with the SEC.

Speaker #2: Including our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and annual report on Form 10-K, and cautionary statements made during this call. We assume no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements or information.

Speaker #2: Now, I'd like to turn the call over to Dr. Bedu. Frank?

Speaker #3: Thank you, Mike, and good morning, everyone. It's our pleasure to speak with you again and to provide this brief update on our progress in advancing our clinical programs.

Speaker #3: The fourth quarter of 2025 capped a period of important progress for PDS Biotech, marked by meaningful advances across our clinical programs, along with financial discipline and expansion of our intellectual property portfolio.

Speaker #3: Building on the compelling top-line data from our versatile-002 phase two trial, we believe the versatile-003 protocol amendment we've adopted has the potential to create a more efficient path to accelerated approval.

Speaker #3: Short trial durations, reducing costs, and accelerating our timeline to regulatory submission, while preserving overall survival as the basis for full approval. For patients living with HPV-16 positive head and neck cancer—a disease with significant and growing unmet need—we believe PDS0101 represents a genuinely promising treatment option.

Speaker #3: And we remain focused on advancing it as efficiently as possible. In recent weeks, we also announced early results from a National Cancer Institute-led trial investigating PDS 01 ADC, our investigational IL-12 tumor-targeted immunocytokine, at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Special Conference on Prostate Cancer Research.

Speaker #3: In patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, the majority of whom had filled at least two prior treatments, the combination of PDS01 ADC and standard-of-care docetaxel demonstrated encouraging and durable median progression-free survival, or PFS, of 9.6 months, and a median prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, decline of 40%.

Speaker #3: Six of 16 patients achieved greater than 50% PSA decline. These findings reinforce the potential of PDS01 ADC as an immunocytokine that may be used to activate the immune system against multiple solid tumor types.

Speaker #3: We are encouraged by the progression-free survival and PSA declines observed in this difficult-to-treat population, and we remain focused on advancing PDS 01 ADC as a key component of our immuno-oncology pipeline.

Speaker #3: Since we last spoke with you, we also strengthened the intellectual property estate for PDS0101 with new patents granted in the United States and Japan.

Speaker #3: The new US patents, combined with anticipated biologics exclusivity for PDS 0101, extend our market protection into the 2040s. The Japanese patent adds broad composition of matter claims to existing protections across major markets.

Speaker #3: To elaborate on progress with our Versatile-003 trial in particular, the data and rationale behind the decision to amend the study protocol, I'll turn the call over to Dr. Kirk Shepherd, our Chief Medical Officer.

Speaker #3: Kirk?

Speaker #2: Thanks, Frank. And good morning, everyone. As most of you know, last August we completed our VERSATILE-002 trial, with the final data further supporting the durable clinical benefit of PDS0101 in HPV-16 positive recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck cancer.

Speaker #2: The strength of this final data, and of the data in the sub-analysis we announced in September, led to our strategic decision to seek an amendment to our versatile 003 trial to include progression-free survival, or PFS, as a primary endpoint.

Speaker #2: As you will recall, the Versatile-002 trial evaluated PDS0101 plus Keytruda, or pembrolizumab, in patients with HPV-16 positive head and neck cancer. A total of 53 patients were enrolled.

Speaker #2: The final data showed median overall survival was 39.3 months in patients with PD-L1 combined positive score, or CPS, of greater than or equal to 1.

Speaker #2: The lower limit of the 95% confidence interval was 23.9 months, and the upper limit was not yet estimable. The VERSATILE-002 trial is the first in patients with recurrent metastatic head and neck cancer to report a median overall survival of almost 40 months.

Speaker #2: The PFS and survival results had important implications for the original design of our Phase 3 VERSATILE-003 trial. In the original trial protocol, as recommended by the FDA, median overall survival was the primary endpoint, and progression-free survival was a secondary endpoint.

Speaker #2: It should be noted that the median overall survival relies on the occurrence of death events, and that if a drug works well enough to prevent patient death, it may take a long time to get to the critical data readout.

Speaker #2: With further increase of the final median overall survival readout, from 30 months to 39.3 months in the Versatile-002 trial, and demonstration of the robustness of the PFS results, we felt we had an opportunity to revise the clinical design to enable a potentially faster readout and opportunity for accelerated approval using PFS as a primary endpoint.

Speaker #2: To address the potential for an extended duration, while also abiding by the FDA's recommendation to use median overall survival as a primary endpoint, we approached the FDA to amend the protocol to convert PFS to an earlier interim primary endpoint.

Speaker #2: Following a productive dialogue with the FDA, we were pleased to announce that, following the FDA's standard 30-day wait period since filing, the FDA raised no objections and we are cleared to proceed with the amended protocol.

Speaker #2: We believe this amendment provides us with an important opportunity to potentially shorten the time to regulatory submission, while maintaining median overall survival as the endpoint for full FDA approval.

Speaker #2: Additionally, we also believe this approach may accelerate the availability of this promising treatment to the rapidly growing population of HPV-16 positive patients in dire need of effective therapy.

Speaker #2: For added context, I'll point out that some additional factors help explain why we and our investigators are so excited about our current path forward.

Speaker #2: First, PDS0101 is the only subcutaneous injection product currently in late-stage development for recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, which is more convenient for the patient.

Speaker #2: Additionally, PDS 0101, in combination with Keytruda, is the only late-stage head and neck squamous cell carcinoma therapy that requires only five doses. Most therapeutic approaches require over 20 doses.

Speaker #2: Our approach also presents convenient dosing intervals of three weeks and six months after the fourth dose. These characteristics of PDS 0101, together with the reported tolerability and survivability, make PDS 0101 a compelling option for patients.

Speaker #2: It is therefore not surprising that several KOLs and investigators involved in our study, and many at the institution—such as the Mayo Clinic, Dana-Farber, and Yale Cancer Institute—continue to voice their strong support for our approach.

Speaker #2: HPV-16 positive cancers are rapidly increasing in the US and EU due to the poor uptake of the human papillomavirus vaccine and other factors. Along with the unique pathogenesis and physiology of HPV-16 positive cancers and the absence of approved targeted therapies, there is a significant unmet need we believe that PDS0101 is uniquely positioned to address.

Speaker #2: With that, I'll turn the call back over to Frank.

Speaker #1: Thank you, Kirk. To Kirk's comments, I would add that, as stated by Merck, the subcutaneous version of Keytruda, which was recently approved by the FDA, can be administered by a healthcare provider in as little as one minute.

Speaker #1: Though a potential combination with subcutaneous PDS0101 may shorten administration time and be more convenient for patients, we are excited about the potential of this therapy for head and neck cancer patients.

Speaker #1: We are therefore confident in the potential of our HPV-16 tailored approach and the potential of PDS0101 to provide a well-tolerated treatment, without chemotherapy, as an option for the growing population of HPV-16 positive patients who currently have no effective therapies for this deadly disease and who will soon become the majority of head and neck cancer patients.

Speaker #1: Now, I will turn it over to Lars for a review of our financial results for the 2025 fiscal year. Lars.

Speaker #3: Thanks, Frank. And good morning, everyone. Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2025, was approximately $34.5 million, or $0.74 per basic and diluted share.

Operator: Greetings, and welcome to the PDS Biotech Q4 2025 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Mike Moyer with LifeSci Advisors. Thank you. You may begin.

Speaker #3: Which compares to a net loss of $37.6 million, or $1.03 per basic and diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2024. Research and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2025, were $19 million.

Speaker #3: Compared to $22.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, the decrease of $3.6 million was primarily attributable to decreases in manufacturing costs of $2.5 million and personnel costs of $1.8 million.

Mike Moyer: Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to PDS Biotechnology's Q4 2025 results and clinical programs update call. I'm joined on the call today by the following members of the company's management team: Dr. Frank Bedu-Addo, Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Kirk Shepard, Chief Medical Officer, and Lars Boesgaard, Chief Financial Officer. Dr. Bedu-Addo will begin with an overview of the company's recent highlights in its clinical development program. Dr. Shepard will review the data and rationale behind the amendment the company recently adopted to its Phase 3 VERSATILE-003 trial. Mr. Boesgaard will review the financial results for the quarter ended 31 December 2025. Following management's prepared remarks, we will open the call to questions from covering analysts.

Mike Moyer: Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to PDS Biotechnology's Q4 2025 results and clinical programs update call. I'm joined on the call today by the following members of the company's management team: Dr. Frank Bedu-Addo, Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Kirk Shepard, Chief Medical Officer, and Lars Boesgaard, Chief Financial Officer. Dr. Bedu-Addo will begin with an overview of the company's recent highlights in its clinical development program. Dr. Shepard will review the data and rationale behind the amendment the company recently adopted to its phase 3 VERSATILE-003 trial. Mr. Boesgaard will review the financial results for the quarter ended 31 December 2025. Following management's prepared remarks, we will open the call to questions from covering analysts.

Speaker #3: And those decreases were partially offset by an increase in clinical costs of $0.7 million. General and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2025, were $12.5 million, compared to $13.8 million for 2024.

Speaker #3: The $1.3 million decrease was primarily attributable to a decrease in personnel costs. Total operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2025, were $31.5 million, compared to $36.3 million for 2024.

Mike Moyer: As a reminder, during this call, we will be making forward-looking statements which are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from these statements. Any such statements should be considered in conjunction with cautionary statements in our press releases and risk factors discussed in our filings with the SEC, including our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and annual report on Form 10-K and cautionary statements made during this call. We assume no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements or information. Now I'd like to turn the call over to Dr. Bedu-Addo. Frank.

Speaker #3: Net interest expense was $4.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to $2.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. The change was primarily due to non-cash expenses related to the extinguishment of debt, as well as lower interest income on our cash balances.

Speaker #3: The company's cash balance as of December 31, 2025, was $26.7 million. And with that, operator, we can open the call to any questions.

Speaker #4: Thank you. If you’d like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue.

Frank Bedu-Addo: Thank you, Mike, and good morning, everyone. It's our pleasure to speak with you again and to provide this brief update on our progress in advancing our clinical programs. The Q4 2025 capped a period of important progress for PDS Biotechnology, marked by meaningful advances across our clinical programs, along with financial discipline and expansion of our intellectual property portfolio. Building on the compelling top-line data from our VERSATILE-002 Phase 2 trial, we believe the VERSATILE-003 protocol amendments we've adopted has the potential to create a more efficient path to accelerated approval, shortening the trial's duration, reducing costs, and accelerating our timeline to regulatory submission, while preserving overall survival as the basis for full approval.

Speaker #4: You may press star two if you'd like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset.

Speaker #4: Before pressing the star keys, we ask that you each keep to one question and one follow-up. Thank you. Our first question comes from the line of Joe Pantinas, with H.C.

Speaker #4: Wainwright, please proceed with your question.

Speaker #5: Hi, this is Josh on for Joe. Thanks for taking our questions. So, now that you have the amended protocol cleared, could you share what the revised enrollment target is going to look like, and how that reduction compares to the original design?

Speaker #1: Hey, Josh. Thanks a lot. I'll hand it over to Kirk. I'll see if there are any questions.

Speaker #3: Yes, certainly. With the revised protocol, and also the increased median survival and robustness of the PFS in 002, we had a meeting with the FDA, which was a very good dialogue.

Frank Bedu-Addo: For patients living with HPV-16 positive head and neck cancer, a disease with significant and growing unmet need, we believe PDS-0101 represents a genuinely promising treatment option, and we remain focused on advancing it as efficiently as possible. In recent weeks, we also announced early results from a National Cancer Institute-led trial investigating PDS-01ADC, our investigational IL-12 tumor-targeted immunocytokine, at the American Association for Cancer Research, AACR, Special Conference on Prostate Cancer Research. In patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, the majority of whom had failed at least two prior treatments, the combination of PDS-01ADC and standard of care docetaxel demonstrated encouraging and durable median progression-free survival or PFS of 9.6 months and a median prostate-specific antigen or PSA decline of 40%. 6 of 16 patients achieved greater than 50% PSA decline.

Speaker #3: And at that, we were able to shorten the trial to as much as a year as far as getting the final results. And, of course, the PFS will be the interim analysis that will first be available, most likely in a period of about a year and a half.

Speaker #3: That will allow us, if we get an accelerated review, as you know, to make the drug available to patients. So with the decrease in the N, as well as the increased results from the final analysis of Versatile-002, we were able to shorten the duration with the smaller N for the trial.

Speaker #5: Great, thank you. And so now, with this amended protocol, how should we expect R&D to be for 2026? Do you expect that to be a little bit lower than 2025 now, with the smaller trial design?

Frank Bedu-Addo: These findings reinforce the potential of PDS-01ADC as an immunocytokine that may be used to activate the immune system against multiple solid tumor types. We are encouraged by the progression-free survival and PSA declines observed in this difficult to treat population, and we remain focused on advancing PDS-01ADC as a key component of our immuno-oncology pipeline. Since we last spoke with you, we also strengthened the intellectual property estate for PDS0101 with new patents granted in the United States and Japan. The new US patents, combined with anticipated biologics exclusivity for PDS0101, extends our market protection into the 2040s. The Japanese patent adds broad composition of matter claims to existing protections across major markets. To elaborate on progress with our VERSATILE-003 trial, in particular, the data and rationale behind the decision to amend the study protocol, I'll turn the call over to Dr. Kirk Shepherd, our Chief Medical Officer. Kirk?

Speaker #1: Lars, I'll hand over to you.

Speaker #3: Yeah, so I think as far as the R&D expenses, we're not providing financial guidance per se. However, of course, once we reinitiate the trial, we do expect costs to pick up.

Speaker #3: The pickup will be commensurate with the amount of sites that we open and patient enrollment and so forth. So it's tricky to forecast right now.

Speaker #5: Okay. Thank you so much.

Speaker #4: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Mayank Mantani with B-Rider Securities. Please proceed with your question.

Speaker #6: Yes. Good morning, Dean. Thanks for taking our questions. Could you touch on your plans to handle patients already enrolled prior to the 003 pause?

Speaker #6: Part of your internal analysis, and I wonder if you remain blinded to those sort of patients? I assume they're continuing to dose on active drug and placebo.

Speaker #6: And then my follow-up question to the prior question was, anything you've learned last year from the execution of Phase 3 that could inform the enrollment pace from here?

Kirk Shepard: Thanks, Frank, and good morning, everyone. As most of you know, last August, we announced completion of our VERSATILE-002 trial with the final data further supporting the durable clinical benefit of PDS0101 in HPV-16 positive recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck cancer. The strength of this final data and of the data in the sub-analysis we announced in September led to our strategic decision to seek an amendment to our VERSATILE-003 trial to include progression-free survival or PFS as a primary endpoint. As you will recall, the VERSATILE-002 trial evaluated PDS0101 plus Keytruda or pembrolizumab in patients with HPV-16 positive head and neck cancer. A total of 53 patients were enrolled. The final data showed median overall survival was 39.3 months in patients with PDL1 combined positive score or CPS of more than or equal to one.

Speaker #6: And sorry if I missed that. Did you say what the sample size—what the new sample size for the Phase 3 is—and are you willing to share any more details on the two?

Speaker #6: It looks like you have the two PFS internal analyses. So, I don't know what they're designed to hit on the first versus the second. If you can give any more details, that would be great.

Speaker #1: Thanks, Mayank. Kirk, do you want to start?

Speaker #3: Yeah, certainly. They were setting questions to ask there. Well, first, the patients who were started on the trial—they were all continued their treatment as indicated by the protocol.

Speaker #3: It was discussed with the FDA, and they said it was up to us as far as whether to include or not include these patients in the trial.

Speaker #3: They just wanted to be stated ahead of the protocol restart. But these patients will be on the trial as their treatment indicated. They will most likely be put in a special subset of the data that will be included for safety in the intent-to-treat data trial.

Kirk Shepard: The lower limit of the 95% confidence interval was 23.9 months, and the upper limit was not yet estimatable. The VERSATILE-002 trial is the first for patients in the recurrent metastatic head and neck cancer population to report a median overall survival of almost 40 months. The PFS and survival results had important implications for the original design of our phase 3 VERSATILE-003 trial. In the original trial protocol, as recommended by the FDA, median overall survival was the primary endpoint, and progression-free survival was a secondary endpoint. It should be noted that the median overall survival relies on the occurrence of death events, and that if a drug works well enough to prevent patient death, it may take a long time to get to the critical data readout.

Speaker #3: So they will continue to receive their therapy. Let's see. The other parts of the study... Sorry. Could you repeat something else, or Frank?

Speaker #1: Yes.

Speaker #6: Enrollment pace based on what you saw last year, and I believe there's no competitive trial now enrolling. Given the other trials that were accepting HPV-16 positive are fully enrolled, maybe.

Speaker #6: And then, if you can share with us the sample size of the new study, and the interim analysis PFS analysis—what are the underlying assumptions of separation between the two arms?

Speaker #3: Yeah, so the enrollment pace was very good, and will continue to be good, because we've had a very positive response from the sites that we've gone to to run the study.

Kirk Shepard: With further increase of the final median overall survival readout from 30 months to 39.3 months in the VERSATILE-002 trial and demonstration of the robustness of the PFS results, we felt we had an opportunity to revise the clinical design to enable a potentially faster readout and opportunity for accelerated approval using PFS as a primary endpoint. To address the potential for an extended trial duration while also abiding with the FDA's recommendation to use median overall survival as a primary endpoint, we approached the FDA to amend the protocol to convert PFS to an earlier interim primary endpoint. Following a productive dialogue with the FDA, we were pleased to announce that following the FDA's standard 30-day wait period since filing, the FDA raised no objections, and we are clear to proceed with the amended protocol.

Speaker #3: As you've mentioned, there's less competition now than there was when we first began the trial. So, we have a robust recruitment of sites, and we're happy to say, even with the pause we had while talking to the FDA, we didn't lose one site.

Speaker #3: They're all excited by this therapy and ready to begin again, so we're very happy about that. Also, the fact that we figured out our timelines by looking at the VERSATILE-002 study.

Speaker #3: This was done at a certain rate, and now we expect an even increased rate because most of the sites came back. So, the versatile 002 sites are now going to be involved in a 003 study, which is good because they know the workings of the protocol and the product, and we expect to have pretty brisk recruitment of the patients.

Kirk Shepard: We believe this amendment provides us with an important opportunity to potentially shorten the time to regulatory submission while maintaining median overall survival as the endpoint for full FDA approval. Additionally, we also believe this approach may also accelerate the availability of this promising treatment to the rapidly growing population of HPV-16-positive patients in dire need of effective therapy. For added context, I'll point out that some additional factors that help explain why we and our investigators are so excited about our current path forward. First, PDS0101 is the only subcutaneous injection product currently in late-stage development for recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, which is more convenient for the patient. Additionally, PDS0101, in combination with Keytruda, is the only late-stage head and neck squamous cell carcinoma therapy that requires only 5 doses. Most therapeutic approaches require over 20 doses.

Speaker #1: Got it.

Speaker #2: Mayank, I hope that answered your questions.

Speaker #6: I'm sorry to push you. If you can, share with us the powering assumptions for the interim PFS and the new sample size for the phase three.

Speaker #3: No. So we haven't made the sample size public yet. But the PFS—again, how high power to detect changes in statistically significant changes in PFS.

Speaker #3: One at completion of recruitment, and the other about later. So, both provide high power to detect statistically significant differences between the two arms.

Speaker #1: Okay. Great. Thank you, Frank.

Speaker #3: You're welcome.

Speaker #4: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that will conclude our question-and-answer session. I'll turn the floor back to Dr. Bedu Adu for any final comments.

Speaker #1: Thank you.

Speaker #3: Thank you, operator. Combined with early data from our PDS0180C program and expanded patient protections extending into the 2040s, we believe we have meaningful opportunities ahead as we continue to execute against our priorities in 2026.

Kirk Shepard: Our approach also presents convenient dosing intervals of three weeks and six months after the fourth dose. These characteristics of PDS0101, together with the reported tolerability and survival reported to date, make PDS0101 a compelling option for patients. It is therefore not surprising that several KOLs and investigators involved in our study and many at the institutions such as the Mayo Clinic, Dana-Farber, and Yale Cancer Center, continue to voice their strong support for our approach. HPV-16 positive cancers are rapidly increasing in the US and EU due to the poor uptake of the human papillomavirus vaccine and other factors. Along with the unique pathophysiology of the HPV-16 positive cancers and the absence of approved targeted therapies, there's a significant unmet need we believe that PDS0101 is uniquely positioned to address. With that, I'll turn the call back over to Frank.

Speaker #3: We look forward to updating you on our progress. Thank you very much.

Frank Bedu-Addo: Thank you, Kirk. To Kirk's comments, I would add that as stated by Merck, the subcutaneous version of Keytruda, which was recently approved by the FDA, can be administered by a healthcare provider in as little as 1 minute. A potential combination with subcutaneous PDS0101 may shorten administration time and be more convenient for patients. We are excited about the potential of this therapy for head and neck cancer patients. We are therefore confident in the potential of our HPV-16 tailored approach and the potential of PDS0101 to ultimately provide a well-tolerated treatment without chemotherapy as an option for the growing population of HPV-16 positive patients who currently have no effective therapies for this deadly disease and who will soon become the majority of head and neck cancer patients.

Frank Bedu-Addo: Now I will turn it over to Lars for a review of our financial results for the 2025 fiscal year. Lars.

Lars Boesgaard: Thanks, Frank, and good morning, everyone. Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2025 was approximately $34.5 million or $0.74 per basic and diluted share, which compares to a net loss of $37.6 million or $1.03 per basic and diluted share for the year ended December 31, 2024. Research and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2025 were $19 million, compared to $22.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. The decrease of $3.6 million was primarily attributable to decreases in manufacturing costs of $2.5 million and personnel costs of $1.8 million. Those decreases were partially offset by an increase in clinical cost of $0.7 million.

Lars Boesgaard: General and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2025 were $12.5 million, compared to $13.8 million for 2024. The $1.3 million decrease was primarily attributable to a decrease in personnel costs. Total operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2025 were $31.5 million, compared to $36.3 million for 2024. Net interest expense was $4.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to $2.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. The change was primarily due to non-cash expenses related to extinguishment of debt as well as lower interest income on our cash balances. The company's cash balance as of December 31, 2025 was $26.7 million.

Lars Boesgaard: With that, operator, we can open the call to any questions.

Operator: Thank you. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you'd like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. We ask that you each keep to one question and one follow-up. Thank you. Our first question comes from the line of Joseph Pantginis with H.C. Wainwright. Please proceed with your question.

Josh: Hi, this is Josh on for Joe. Thanks for taking our questions. Now that you have the amended protocol cleared, could you share what the revised enrollment target's gonna look like and how that reduction compares to the original design?

[Analyst] (H.C. Wainwright): Hi, this is Josh on for Joe. Thanks for taking our questions. Now that you have the amended protocol cleared, could you share what the revised enrollment target's gonna look like and how that reduction compares to the original design?

Frank Bedu-Addo: Hey, Josh. Thanks a lot. I'll hand it over to Kirk to answer your questions.

Kirk Shepard: Yes, certainly. With the revised protocol, and also the increased median survival and robustness of the PFS in VERSATILE-002, we had a meeting with the FDA, which was a very good dialogue. At that we were able to shorten the trial to as much as a year as far as getting the final results. Of course, the PFS will be the interim analysis that will first be available, most likely in a period of about a year and a half. That will allow us to get an accelerated review, as you know, to make the drug available to patients.

Kirk Shepard: With the decrease in the N, as well as the increased results, from the final analysis of the VERSATILE-002, we're able to shorten the duration, with a smaller N for the trial.

Josh: Great. Thank you. Now with this amended protocol, how should we expect R&D to be for 2026? Do you expect that to be a little bit lower than 2025 now with the smaller trial design?

[Analyst] (H.C. Wainwright): Great. Thank you. Now with this amended protocol, how should we expect R&D to be for 2026? Do you expect that to be a little bit lower than 2025 now with the smaller trial design?

Frank Bedu-Addo: Lars, I'll hand over to you.

Lars Boesgaard: Yeah. I think, as far as the R&D expenses, we're not providing, you know, financial guidance per se. However, of course, once we reinitiate the trial, we do expect costs to pick up. The pickup will be commensurate with the amount of sites that we open and patient enrollment and so forth. It's tricky to forecast right now.

Josh: Okay. Thank you so much.

[Analyst] (H.C. Wainwright): Okay. Thank you so much.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Mayank Mamtani with B. Riley Securities. Please proceed with your question.

Mayank Mamtani: Yes, good morning, team. Thanks for taking our questions. Could you touch on your plans to handle patients already enrolled prior to the 003 pause as part of your interim analysis? I wonder if you remain blinded to those some patients. I assume they're continuing to dose on active drug and placebo. Then, my follow-up question to the prior question was anything you've learned last year from the execution of Phase 3 that could inform the enrollment phase from here, and sorry if I missed that. Did you say what the new sample size for the Phase 3 is? Are you willing to share any more details on, you know, the two.

Mayank Mamtani: It looks like you have the two, PFS interim analysis, so I don't know what they're designed to hit on the first, versus the second. If you can give any more details, that would be great.

Frank Bedu-Addo: Thanks, Mayank. Kirk, do you want to start?

Kirk Shepard: Yeah, certainly. There's many questions asked there. As far as the patients who were started on the trial, they will all continue their treatment, as indicated by the protocol. It was discussed with the FDA, and they said, it was up to us as far as whether to include or not include these patients in the trial. They just wanted it stated ahead of the protocol restart. These patients will be on the trial as their treatment indicated. They will most likely be put in a special subset of the data that will be included for safety, in the intent to treat data trial. They will continue to receive their therapy. Let's see the other parts of the study. Sorry, could you repeat something else or Frank-

Mayank Mamtani: Yeah. Enrollment pace based on what you saw last year and, I believe there's no competitive trial now enrolling, you know, given the other trials that were accepting HPV-16 positive, you know, are fully enrolled, maybe. Then if you can share with us the sample size of the study, and the interim analysis, PFS analysis that, you know, what are the underlying assumptions of separation between the two arms.

Kirk Shepard: Yeah. The enrollment pace was very good, and will continue to be good because we've had a very positive response from the sites that we've gone to to run the study. As you've mentioned now, there's less competition than was when we first began the trial, so that we have a robust recruitment of sites. We're happy to say, too, even with the pause we had while talking to the FDA, we didn't lose one site. They're all excited by this therapy and ready to begin again. We're very happy about that.

Kirk Shepard: Also, the fact that we figured out our timelines by looking at the VERSATILE-002 study, which was done at a certain rate, and now we expect even increased rate because most of the sites came back so that the VERSATILE-002 sites are now gonna be involved in a VERSATILE-003 study, which is good because they know the workings of the protocol and the product, and we expect to have pretty, you know, brisk recruitment of the patients.

Mayank Mamtani: Got it. Thank you.

Frank Bedu-Addo: Mayank, I hope that answered your questions.

Mayank Mamtani: Sorry to push you. If you can share with us the powering assumptions for the interim PFS and the new sample size for the phase 3.

Frank Bedu-Addo: No. We haven't made the sample size public yet, but the PFS, again powered with high power, to detect statistically significant changes in PFS, one at completion of recruitment and the other about six months later. Both provide high power to detect statistically significant differences between the two arms.

Mayank Mamtani: Okay, great. Thank you, Frank.

Frank Bedu-Addo: You're welcome.

Operator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that will conclude our question and answer session. I'll turn the floor back to Dr. Frank Bedu-Addo for any final comments.

Frank Bedu-Addo: Thank you. Thank you, operator. Combined with early data from our PDS01ADC program and expanded patient protections extending into the 2040s, we believe we have meaningful opportunities ahead as we continue to execute against our priorities in 2026. We look forward to updating you on our progress. Thank you very much.

Operator: Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

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