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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 7, 2018.
Registration No. 333-226999
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Amendment No. 1 to
Form S-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
Y-mAbs Therapeutics, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
State of Delaware (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
2834 (Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number) |
47-4619612 (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) |
Y-mAbs Therapeutics, Inc.
230 Park Avenue
33rd Floor
New York, NY 10169
Tel. 917-817-2992
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number,
including area code, of registrant's principal executive offices)
Thomas Gad
Founder, Chairman, President and Head of Business Development
Y-mAbs Therapeutics, Inc.
230 Park Avenue
33rd Floor
New York, NY 10169
Tel. 917-817-2992
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone
number, including area code, of agent for service)
Copies to: | ||
Dwight A. Kinsey, Esq. Michael D. Baird, Esq. Rina R. Patel, Esq. Satterlee Stephens LLP 230 Park Avenue New York, NY 10169 Tel: (212) 818-9200 |
Ilir Mujalovic, Esq. Shearman & Sterling LLP 599 Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10022 Tel: (212) 848-4000 |
Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public:
As soon as practicable after the effective date of this registration statement.
If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act, check the following box. o
If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. o
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. o
If this form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company" and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (check one)
Large accelerated filer o | Accelerated filer o | Non-accelerated filer ý (Do not check if a smaller reporting company) |
Smaller reporting company o Emerging growth company ý |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ý
CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
|
||||||||
Title of Each Class of Securities to be Registered |
Amount to be Registered(1) |
Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price Per Share |
Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price(1)(2) |
Amount of Registration Fee(3)(4) |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Common Stock, $0.0001 par value per share |
6,133,333 | $16.00 | $98,133,328 | $12,218.00 | ||||
|
The registrant hereby amends this registration statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this registration statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.
The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.
Subject to Completion
Preliminary Prospectus dated September 7, 2018
PROSPECTUS
5,333,333 Shares
Common Stock
This is Y-mAbs Therapeutics, Inc.'s initial public offering. We are selling 5,333,333 shares of our common stock.
We expect the public offering price to be between $14.00 and $16.00 per share. Currently, no public market exists for the shares. After pricing of the offering, we expect that the shares will trade on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol "YMAB."
We are an "emerging growth company" under federal securities laws and are subject to reduced public company disclosure standards. See "SummaryImplications of Being an Emerging Growth Company."
Investing in the common stock involves risks that are described in the "Risk Factors" section beginning on page 15 of this prospectus.
|
Per Share
|
Total
|
|||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Initial public offering price |
$ | $ | |||||
Underwriting discount(1) |
$ | $ | |||||
Proceeds, before expenses, to us |
$ | $ |
The underwriters may also exercise their option to purchase up to an additional 800,000 shares from us, at the public offering price, less the underwriting discount, for 30 days after the date of this prospectus.
Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Certain of our existing stockholders, including certain of our directors and entities affiliated with certain of our directors, have indicated an interest in purchasing an aggregate of up to approximately $30.0 million in shares of our common stock in this offering at the initial public offering price. However, because indications of interest are not binding agreements or commitments to purchase, the underwriters may determine to sell more, fewer or no shares in this offering to any or all of these stockholders, or any or all of these stockholders may determine to purchase more, fewer or no shares in this offering. The underwriters will receive the same underwriting discount on any shares purchased by these stockholders as they will on any other shares sold to the public in this offering.
The shares will be ready for delivery on or about , 2018.
Joint Book-Running Managers
BofA Merrill Lynch |
Cowen |
Lead Manager
Canaccord Genuity
Co-Manager
BTIG
The date of this prospectus is , 2018.
Neither we nor the underwriters have authorized anyone to provide you with any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus, any amendment or supplement to this prospectus or in any free writing prospectus we may authorize to be delivered or made available to you. Neither we nor the underwriters take responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. We are offering to sell, and seeking offers to buy, shares of our common stock only in jurisdictions where offers and sales are permitted. The information contained in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date on the front cover of this prospectus, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or any sale of shares of our common stock. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since that date.
This prospectus includes statistical and other industry and market data that we obtained from industry publications and research, surveys and studies conducted by third parties or us. Industry publications and third-party research, surveys and studies generally indicate that their information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, although they do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information. While we believe these industry publications and third-party research, surveys and studies are reliable, all of the market data used in this prospectus involves a number of assumptions and limitations, which are necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty, change and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described in the section titled "Risk
i
Factors." These and other factors could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the estimates made by the independent parties and by us.
FOR INVESTORS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES
We have not, and the underwriters have not, done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the United States. Persons outside the United States who come into possession of this prospectus must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of the shares of common stock and the distribution of this prospectus outside the United States.
ii
This summary highlights, and is qualified in its entirety by, the more detailed information and financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. This summary does not contain all of the information that may be important to you in making your investment decision. You should read and carefully consider this entire prospectus, including the sections titled "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and our financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before deciding to invest in our common stock.
Except as otherwise indicated herein or as the context otherwise requires, references in this prospectus to "Y-mAbs," the "company," "we," "us" and "our" and similar words refer to Y-mAbs Therapeutics, Inc. and our wholly owned Danish subsidiary, Y-mAbs Therapeutics A/S.
Overview
We are a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel, antibody-based therapeutic products for the treatment of cancer. We have a broad and advanced product pipeline, including two pivotal-stage product candidatesnaxitamab and omburtamabwhich target tumors that express GD2 and B7-H3, respectively. We are developing naxitamab for the treatment of pediatric patients with relapsed or refractory, or R/R, high-risk neuroblastoma, or NB, and radiolabeled omburtamab for the treatment of pediatric patients with central nervous system, or CNS, leptomeningeal metastases, or LM, from NB. NB is a rare and almost exclusively pediatric cancer that develops in the sympathetic nervous system and CNS/LM is a rare and usually fatal complication of NB in which the disease spreads to the membranes, or meninges, surrounding the brain and spinal cord in the CNS.
We expect to submit a Biologics License Application, or BLA, for each of our two lead product candidates in 2019, with a goal of receiving approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, in 2020. We plan to commercialize both of our lead product candidates in the United States as soon as possible after obtaining FDA approval, if such approval occurs. We have two additional omburtamab follow-on product candidates in pre-clinical development, omburtamab-DTPA (diethylenetriamine pentaacetate) and huB7-H3, each targeting indications with large adult patient populations. We are also advancing an early-stage, novel pipeline of bispecific antibodies, or BsAbs. We believe our BsAbs have the potential to result in improved tumor-binding, longer serum half-life and significantly greater T-cell mediated killing of tumor cells without the need for continuous infusion. Our mission is to become the world leader in developing better and safer antibody-based pediatric oncology products addressing clear unmet medical needs and, as such, have a transformational impact on the lives of patients. We intend to advance and expand our product pipeline into certain adult cancer indications either independently or in collaboration with potential partners.
Naxitamab is a recombinant humanized immunoglobulin G, or IgG1k, monoclonal antibody that targets ganglioside GD2, which is highly expressed in various neuroectoderm-derived tumors and sarcomas. Naxitamab is currently being studied in several clinical trials, including pivotal-stage development (Study 201) and a Phase 1/2 clinical trial (Study 12-230) for the treatment of pediatric R/R high-risk NB, a Phase 2 clinical trial (Study 16-1643) in front-line NB, a pilot study (Study 17-251) of chemoimmunotherapy for high-risk NB and a Phase 2 clinical trial (Study 15-096) for relapsed osteosarcoma. We believe that naxitamab has multiple potential advantages over other GD2-targeting antibody-based therapies. In particular, its modest toxicity allows for doses two-and-a-half times greater than existing GD2-targeting antibody-based therapies. Unlike currently approved GD2-targeting therapies for NB, which require 10 to 20 hours of infusion and hospitalization for several days, naxitamab is administered in approximately 30 minutes in an outpatient setting. We believe this significantly shorter administration time is an important advantage considering the overall pain associated with treatment.
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In the dose escalation part of Study 12-230 for naxitamab, which together with Study 201 is expected to form the primary basis of our BLA submission, we achieved an overall response rate, or ORR, of 57% in 23 patients with pediatric R/R high-risk NB who at study entry had evaluable tumors and no evidence of progression of disease, or PD. Based on our discussions with the FDA, the profile of the non-PD R/R high-risk NB pediatric patients in Study 12-230 is representative of the intended patient population for naxitamab's target indication. The corresponding ORRs will form the primary objective of our pivotal study (Study 201). Additionally, based on our discussions with the FDA, we believe that naxitamab may qualify for accelerated approval if we can demonstrate a 30% ORR (which is significantly different from a 20% ORR at a 95% confidence interval, or CI) with a minimum 12-week duration of response. We have proposed to the FDA that, pending comparability between the study population in Study 12-230 and Study 201, the data from the two studies may be pooled for analysis. Naxitamab has been administered to more than 200 patients to date, who will form the safety portion of our planned BLA submission. In May 2018, we reported topline results from the Phase 2 part of Study 12-230. The endpoints of this part of the study were complete or partial tumor response. Complete tumor response is the total disappearance of a tumor and partial tumor response is a decrease in the size of a tumor, or in the extent of cancer in the body, in response to the treatment. No statistical significance was observed, as this data continued to show response rates at the same levels as in the dose escalation part of the study with 13 of 15, or 87% of, primary refractory patients responding and 7 of 23, or 30% of, secondary refractory patients responding. We expect to submit the BLA for naxitamab for R/R high-risk NB in 2019. Currently, there are no FDA-approved therapies for primary refractory or second-line pediatric NB patients. Naxitamab has also received orphan drug designation, or ODD, and rare pediatric disease designation, or RPDD, from the FDA, in each case, for the treatment of NB. In addition, on August 20, 2018, naxitamab received breakthrough therapy designation, or BTD, in combination with GM-CSF, for the treatment of high-risk NB refractory to initial therapy or with incomplete response to salvage therapy in patients greater than 12 months of age with persistent, refractory disease limited to bone marrow with or without evidence of concurrent bone involvement. While our current clinical efforts for naxitamab are focused on rare pediatric cancers, we believe that we can potentially expand its application to the treatment of adults with cancers that express GD2. We estimate that there were more than 200,000 new adult patients diagnosed with GD2-positive cancers in the United States in 2017.
Omburtamab is a murine monoclonal antibody that targets B7-H3, an immune checkpoint molecule that is widely expressed in tumor cells of several cancer types. 131I-omburtamab, which is omburtamab radiolabeled with Iodine-131, is currently being studied in several clinical trials including pivotal-stage development (Study 101) and a Phase 1 clinical trial (Study 03-133) for the treatment of pediatric patients who have CNS/LM from NB. As of August 2017, 93 patients with pediatric CNS/LM from NB had been treated with 131I-omburtamab in Study 03-133. An analysis of these 93 patients demonstrated a median overall survival, or OS, of 47 months (including an estimated five-year OS of approximately 43%), as compared to historical median OS of approximately six months. We have proposed to the FDA that, pending comparability between study population and the pharmacokinetics analysis in Study 03-133 and Study 101, data from both studies may be pooled for analysis for our planned BLA submission. 131I-omburtamab has received ODD and RPDD from the FDA, in each case, for the treatment of NB, and BTD for the treatment of pediatric patients who have CNS/LM from NB. In 2019, we expect to submit the BLA for 131I-omburtamab for CNS/LM from NB.
124I-omburtamab, which is omburtamab radiolabeled with Iodine-124, is currently being studied for the treatment of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, or DIPG. 131I-omburtamab is currently being studied for the treatment of Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors, or DSRCT. Both DIPG and DSRCT are rare, and often fatal, cancers. While our current clinical efforts are focused on rare pediatric cancers, we believe we can potentially expand omburtamab's application to the treatment of CNS/LM resulting from other adult and pediatric solid tumors expressing B7-H3 and the underlying solid systemic tumors. We estimate that, in the United States in 2017, there were more than 30,000 new
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patients diagnosed with cancer that has metastasized to the CNS/LM, of which the vast majority express B7-H3.
We have initiated Study 101 and Study 201 to form the primary basis for our planned BLAs, to establish comparability of study population and pharmacokinetics analysis with Study 03-133 and Study 12-230, respectively, and to satisfy the confirmatory study and post-marketing requirements by the FDA. If the results from Study 101 and Study 201 fail to demonstrate comparability to the satisfaction of the FDA and other comparable regulatory authorities, this may lead to a delay in, or otherwise adversely affect, such clinical trials, including the timing of submission of BLAs. For a more detailed discussion of Study 101 and Study 201 see the sections entitled "BusinessStudy 101" and "BusinessStudy 201."
We have two additional B7-H3 targeting product candidates in pre-clinical development, omburtamab-DTPA, a Lutetium-177 conjugated antibody, and huB7-H3, a humanized version of omburtamab, each targeting indications with pediatric and large adult patient populations where we believe there is a significant unmet medical need. We are also advancing a pipeline of novel BsAbs through late pre-clinical development, including our huGD2-BsAb product candidate for the treatment of refractory GD2-positive adult and pediatric solid tumors and our huCD33-BsAb product candidate for the treatment of hematological cancers expressing CD33, a transmembrane receptor expressed on cells of myeloid lineage. In pre-clinical studies, huGD2-BsAb has demonstrated the potential for improved tumor-binding, longer serum half-life and significantly greater T-cell mediated killing compared to existing bispecific constructs.
We currently have three active INDs related to our product candidates. The table below sets forth the product candidate, date of the initial submission of the IND to the FDA, as well as the current sponsor, the subject matter and the current status of each such IND.
Product Candidate
|
Date of Initial Submission |
Current Sponsor |
Subject Matter of IND | Current Status | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Naxitamab | June 14, 2011 | MSK | Treatment of NB and other GD2 positive tumors | Clinical trials ongoing | ||||
Omburtamab (131I-Omburtamab and 124I-Omburtamab) |
September 22, 2000 |
Y-mAbs (MSK original sponsor) |
CNS/LM from NB, DSRCT, DIPG and other B7-H3 positive tumors |
Clinical trials ongoing |
||||
Naxitamab |
September 5, 2017 |
Y-mAbs |
Pediatric NB |
Clinical trials ongoing |
In October 2017, the FDA issued a partial clinical hold on our IND for naxitamab. A partial clinical hold, as opposed to a full clinical hold, is a delay or suspension of only a specific part of the clinical work requested under the IND, which allows otherwise unaffected parts of the clinical work to proceed under the IND. The FDA stated that the proposed acceptance criterion for the ADCC-CD16, ADCC-CD32, and CDC assays were too wide to provide sufficient control over these attributes, which are critical for safety and efficacy. ADCC and CDC refer to antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity and complement-dependent cytotoxicity, respectively. We submitted a response to the FDA in March 2018, and met with the FDA on April 24, 2018. Subsequently, we submitted a complete response to the partial clinical hold to the FDA in May 2018 and the partial clinical hold was removed on June 7, 2018.
We have exclusive rights to MSK's rights in all of our current product candidates under our 2015 license agreement, or the MSK License, with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, or MSK. The MSK License also provides us with non-exclusive access to technology that involves the creation of a novel human protein tag that can potentially dimerize, or link together, bispecific T-cell engagers, or BiTEs. We refer to this technology as the MULTI-TAG technology. We plan to create a broad platform of dimerized BiTEs using the MULTI-TAG technology and are currently collaborating with MSK on
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several MULTI-TAG product candidates. We believe that our strong relationship with MSK, one of the world's leading cancer treatment centers, and our access to certain of MSK's technologies and substantial research capabilities affords us several competitive advantages. In addition, we believe that our relationship with MSK may help us with respect to patient recruitment for clinical trials. Under a separate 2017 CD33 license agreement with MSK, or the MSK CD33 License, we have a worldwide, sub-licensable license to MSK's rights in certain patent rights and intellectual property rights related to certain know-how to develop, make, and commercialize licensed products and to perform services for all therapeutic and diagnostic uses in the field of cancer diagnostics and cancer treatments in connection with certain CD33 antibodies developed in the laboratory of a specific principal investigator at MSK and constructs thereof.
Our management team has substantial public company experience and extensive knowledge in the field of antibody oncology drug development, manufacturing and commercialization. Thomas Gad, our Founder, Chairman, President and Head of Business Development, co-founded Singad Pharma ApS, a Danish pharmaceutical and distribution company, where, as part of senior management, he gained more than 12 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including in business development, financing and licensing negotiations and manufacturing site qualification. In 2006, Mr. Gad's then two year old daughter was diagnosed with high-risk NB and was treated at MSK with the murine version of naxitamab. In 2009, she relapsed with CNS/LM from NB and again was treated at MSK, this time with 131I-omburtamab. Since then, she has been disease free and is now 13 years old. Our Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Claus Juan Møller San Pedro, co-founded Genmab A/S, or Genmab, one of the largest public biotechnology companies in Europe, where he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for approximately 10 years. Our Chief Financial Officer, Bo Kruse, served as Genmab's Chief Financial Officer and was directly involved in several of Genmab's financing rounds including Genmab's initial public offering. In addition, since our inception in April 2015, we have raised approximately $120.0 million from our founding investors and prominent biotechnology institutional investors, including HBM Healthcare Investments (Cayman) Ltd. and funds advised by or affiliated with Scopia Capital Management LP and Sofinnova Ventures, Inc., among others, and as of June 30, 2018 we had cash and cash equivalents of $70.2 million.
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The following table sets forth our product candidates and their current development stages, estimated development timelines and anticipated milestones.
Key elements of our strategy are:
5
Risks Associated with Our Business
Our business is subject to a number of risks of which you should be aware before making an investment decision. These risks are discussed more fully in the "Risk Factors" section of this prospectus immediately following this prospectus summary. These risks include the following:
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other adverse finding occurs in one or more of our clinical trials of our lead product candidates, such event could adversely affect our other clinical trials of our lead product candidates.
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Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company
As a company with less than $1.07 billion of revenue during our last fiscal year, we qualify as an "emerging growth company" as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, as amended, or the JOBS Act. We may remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (i) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (ii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have more than $1.07 billion in annual gross revenue, (iii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we are deemed to be a "large accelerated filer" as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, which would occur if the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeded $700.0 million as of the last business day of the second fiscal quarter of such fiscal year, or (iv) the date on which we issue more than $1 billion of non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. For so long as we remain an emerging growth company, we are permitted and intend to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure and other requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. In particular, as an emerging growth company, in this prospectus, we (i) will have provided only two years of audited financial statements, with correspondingly reduced "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" disclosure, (ii) may avail ourselves of the exemption from the requirement to obtain an attestation and report from our auditors on the assessment of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (iii) have not included all of the executive compensation-related information that would be required if we were not an emerging growth company and (iv) we may not require stockholder non-binding advisory votes on executive compensation or golden parachute arrangements. Accordingly, the information contained herein may be different than the information you receive from other public companies in which you hold stock.
We have chosen to opt out of the extended transition periods available to emerging growth companies under the JOBS Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. Section 107 of the JOBS Act provides that our decision to opt out of the extended transition periods for complying with new or revised accounting standards is irrevocable.
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We were incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware on April 30, 2015. Our executive offices are located at 230 Park Avenue, 33rd Floor, New York, NY 10169 and our telephone number is (917) 817-2992. Our website address is www.ymabs.com. The information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website is not a part of this prospectus and is not incorporated by reference herein. We have included our website address in this prospectus solely as an inactive textual reference.
"Y-mAbs" is our common law trademark. Any other trademarks or service marks of our company appearing in this prospectus are the property of Y-mAbs Therapeutics, Inc. All other trademarks, trade names and service marks appearing in this prospectus are the property of their respective owners. Solely for convenience, the trademarks and trade names in this prospectus are referred to without the ® and symbols, but such references should not be construed as any indicator that their respective owners will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, their rights thereto. We do not intend our use or display of other entities' trade names, trademarks or service marks to imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, any other entity.
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Common stock offered by us |
5,333,333 shares. | |
Common stock to be outstanding immediately following this offering |
32,626,999 shares (33,426,999 shares if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional share of common stock in full). | |
Option to purchase additional shares |
The underwriters have the option to purchase up to an additional 800,000 shares of common stock from us, at the public offering price, less the underwriting discount. The underwriters may exercise this option at any time within 30 days from the date of this prospectus. | |
Use of proceeds |
We estimate that the net proceeds to us from the sale of 5,333,333 shares of our common stock in this offering will be approximately $70.0 million, assuming an initial public offering price of $15.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. If the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares, we estimate that the net proceeds from this offering will be approximately $81.2 million. | |
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We currently estimate that we will use the net proceeds from this offering, together with our existing cash and cash equivalents, as follows: (i) to fund our ongoing pivotal stage development through regulatory submission, and other clinical development and expansion into new indications of one of our lead product candidates, naxitamab, (ii) to fund our ongoing pivotal stage development through regulatory submission, and other clinical development and expansion into new indications of another of our lead product candidates, omburtamab, (iii) to fund through a Phase 2 clinical trial of our omburtamab-DTPA product candidate, (iv) to fund through the submission of INDs and through Phase 1 clinical trials of our BsAb product candidates, (v) to fund additional pre-clinical research and clinical development activity related to our other product candidates and programs, and (iv) the remainder for working capital and other general corporate purposes, which may include funding for additional research, hiring additional personnel, capital and commercialization expenditures and the costs of operating as a public company. See "Use of Proceeds." | |
Risk factors |
You should carefully read the "Risk Factors" section of this prospectus and other information included in this prospectus for a discussion of factors to consider carefully before deciding to invest in shares of our common stock. |
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Reserved share program |
At our request, the underwriters have reserved for sale, at the initial public offering price, up to 5% of the shares offered by this prospectus for sale to some of our directors, officers, employees, business associates and related persons. If these persons purchase reserved shares it will reduce the number of shares available for sale to the general public. Any reserved shares that are not so purchased will be offered by the underwriters to the general public on the same terms as the other shares offered by this prospectus. We have agreed to reimburse the underwriters for certain fees and expenses in connection with this reserved share program, including the fees and disbursements of counsel to the underwriters, up to an amount not to exceed $25,000. | |
Dividend policy |
We currently intend to retain all of our future earnings, if any, to finance the growth and development of our business. We do not intend to pay cash dividends in respect of our common stock in the foreseeable future. | |
Proposed Nasdaq Global Market symbol |
"YMAB." |
The number of shares of our common stock to be outstanding after this offering of 32,626,999 is based on (i) 26,749,666 shares of common stock outstanding as of June 30, 2018, (ii) 448,000 shares of common stock that were issued on August 20, 2018 pursuant to stock grant agreements, (iii) 96,000 shares of common stock that will be issued upon completion of the offering pursuant to a stock grant agreement, and (iv) 5,333,333 shares of our common stock we are selling in this offering.
Unless otherwise indicated herein, the number of shares of our common stock to be outstanding after this offering excludes:
Unless otherwise indicated herein, all information in this prospectus assumes or gives effect to:
Certain of our existing stockholders, including certain of our directors and entities affiliated with certain of our directors, have indicated an interest in purchasing an aggregate of up to
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approximately $30.0 million in shares of our common stock in this offering at the initial public offering price. However, because indications of interest are not binding agreements or commitments to purchase, the underwriters may determine to sell more, fewer or no shares in this offering to any or all of these stockholders, or any or all of these stockholders may determine to purchase more, fewer or no shares in this offering. The underwriters will receive the same underwriting discount on any shares purchased by these stockholders as they will on any other shares sold to the public in this offering.
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SUMMARY CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA
The following tables set forth our summary consolidated financial data for the periods indicated. We have derived the consolidated statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2017 from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. We have derived the selected financial data for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2018, and the balance sheet data as of June 30, 2018, from our unaudited consolidated financial statements, which have been included elsewhere in this prospectus and have been prepared on the same basis as the audited financial statements. In the opinion of management, the unaudited data reflects all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair statement of the financial information in those statements. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that should be expected for any future period. You should read the following summary consolidated financial data together with the more detailed information contained in "Selected Consolidated Financial Data," "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.
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Year Ended December 31, | Six Months Ended June 30, |
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2016 | 2017 | 2017 | 2018 | |||||||||
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(in thousands, except per share data) |
(in thousands, except per share data) |
|||||||||||
Consolidated Statement of Operations Data: |
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Revenue |
$ | | $ | | $ | | $ | | |||||
Operating expenses: |
|||||||||||||
Research and development |
13,855 | 14,307 | 4,606 | 14,497 | |||||||||
General and administrative |
3,184 | 4,937 | 1,521 | 3,240 | |||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Total operating expenses |
17,039 | 19,244 | 6,127 | 17,737 | |||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Loss from operations |
(17,039 | ) | (19,244 | ) | (6,127 | ) | (17,737 | ) | |||||
Interest and other income (expense) |
(18 | ) | 83 | 46 | (51 | ) | |||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net loss |
$ | (17,057 | ) | $ | (19,161 | ) | $ | (6,081 | ) | $ | (17,788 | ) | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net loss attributable to common stockholders |
$ | (17,057 | ) | $ | (19,161 | ) | $ | (6,081 | ) | $ | (17,788 | ) | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net loss per share attributable to common stockholdersbasic and diluted(1) |
$ | (1.21 | ) | $ | (0.99 | ) | $ | (0.34 | ) | $ | (0.66 | ) | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Weighted-average common shares outstanding used in computing net loss per share attributable to common stockholdersbasic and diluted(1) |
14,087,456 | 19,397,506 | 17,644,530 | 26,749,666 | |||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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|
As of June 30, 2018 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Actual | As Adjusted(2)(3) | |||||
|
(in thousands) |
||||||
Consolidated Balance Sheet Data: |
|||||||
Cash and cash equivalents |
$ | 70,152 | $ | 140,152 | |||
Working capital(1) |
66,002 | 136,002 | |||||
Total assets |
73,298 | 143,298 | |||||
Total liabilities |
7,777 | 7,777 | |||||
Accumulated deficit |
(59,349 | ) | (59,349 | ) | |||
Total stockholders' equity |
65,521 | 135,521 |
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Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. Before you decide to invest in our common stock, you should consider carefully the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, including "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation" and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes. The risks and uncertainties described below are the risks that we believe are material to us as of the date of this prospectus. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently believe are not material, may also become important factors that affect us. If any of the following risks occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations and future growth prospects could be materially and adversely affected. In these circumstances, the market price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Related to Our Financial Condition and Need for Additional Capital
We have a limited operating history and have incurred significant losses since inception. We have no products approved for commercial sale and we expect to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future. We may never achieve or maintain profitability, which may cause the market value of our common stock to decline significantly.
We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a limited operating history. Since our inception in 2015, we have incurred significant losses each year. Our net losses were $17.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, $19.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 and $17.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018. As of June 30, 2018, we had an accumulated deficit of $59.3 million. We have financed our operations principally through private placements of our common stock. To date, we have devoted substantially all of our efforts to research and development of our lead product candidates. While our lead product candidates are in pivotal clinical trials, we cannot assure you that we will receive regulatory approval for the sale of these or other product candidates in the near term, if at all. Our other product candidates are in the early stages of clinical development or pre-clinical research. As a result, we expect that it will be a number of years, if ever, before we have any of these other product candidates approved and ready for commercialization. We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and increasing operating losses for the foreseeable future. The net losses we incur may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter.
We have no product candidates approved for commercial sale, have not generated any revenue from product sales, and do not anticipate generating any revenue from product sales until sometime after we receive regulatory approval for the commercial sale of a product candidate. We cannot assure you that we will ever receive regulatory approval for any of our product candidates.
Our ability to generate revenue and achieve profitability depends significantly on our success in many factors, including:
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Even if one or more of the product candidates that we develop is approved for commercial sale, we anticipate incurring research, development, clinical trial, manufacturing and marketing costs associated with commercializing any approved products. Our expenses could increase beyond expectations if we are required by the FDA or other regulatory agencies, domestic or foreign, to change our manufacturing processes or assays, or to perform clinical, non-clinical, or other types of studies in addition to those that we currently anticipate. If we are successful in obtaining regulatory approvals to market one or more of our product candidates, our revenue will be dependent, in part, upon the size of the markets in the territories for which we gain regulatory approval, the accepted price for the product, the ability to obtain reimbursement at any price, and whether we own the commercial rights for that territory. If the number of our addressable disease patients is not as significant as we estimate, the indication approved by regulatory authorities is narrower than we expect, or the reasonably expected population for treatment is narrowed by competition, physician choice or treatment guidelines, we may not generate significant revenue from sales of such products, even if approved. If we are not able to generate sufficient revenue from the sale of any approved products, we may never become profitable.
Our limited operating history may make it difficult for you to evaluate the success of our business to date and to assess our future viability.
We were incorporated and began our operations on April 30, 2015. Our operations to date have been limited to organizing and staffing our company, business planning, raising capital, conducting clinical trials of our lead product candidates, conducting pre-clinical studies of our other product candidates, and identifying additional potential product candidates. We have not yet demonstrated our ability to successfully complete any clinical trials, including large-scale, pivotal clinical trials, obtain marketing approvals, manufacture a commercial-scale drug or arrange for a third party to do so on our behalf, or conduct sales and marketing activities necessary for successful drug commercialization. Typically, it takes about six to 10 years to develop a new drug from the time it is in Phase 1 clinical trials to when it is approved for treating patients, but in many cases it may take longer. Consequently, any predictions you make about our future success or viability may not be as accurate as they could be if we had a longer operating history or a history of successfully developing and commercializing pharmaceutical products. In addition, as a business with a limited operating history, we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other known and unknown factors as we continue to develop and commercialize our product candidates. As we continue to build our business, we expect our financial condition and operating results to fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year due to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. Accordingly, you should not rely upon the results of any particular quarterly or annual periods as indications of future operating performance.
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Our payment obligations to MSK may be a drain on our cash resources, or may cause us to incur debt obligations or issue additional equity securities to satisfy such payment obligations, which may adversely affect our financial position and results of operations.
Under the MSK License, we have committed to funding scientific research as well as conducting certain clinical trial activities at MSK through 2020. As licensed product candidates progress through clinical development and commercialization, certain milestone payments will come due, and we will owe MSK customary royalties on commercial sales of our approved products, if any, including, unless such royalties become due earlier, an annual fixed minimum royalty of $80,000 over the royalty term starting in 2020. These milestone payments become due upon achievement of the related clinical, regulatory or sales-based milestone set forth in the MSK License. Certain of the clinical and regulatory milestone payments become due at the earlier of completion of the related milestone activity or the date indicated in the MSK License, whether or not the milestone activity has been achieved. Total clinical and regulatory milestones potentially due under the MSK License are $2,450,000 and $9,000,000, respectively. There are also sales-based milestones that become due should we achieve certain amounts of sales of licensed products with total sales-based milestones potentially due of $20,000,000. Under the MSK CD33 License, we are obligated to make potential payments of $550,000, $500,000 and $7,500,000 for clinical, regulatory and sales based milestones, respectively. In addition, we have committed to acquire certain personnel and laboratory services at MSK under a Master Data Services Agreement, or MDSA, and two separate Core Facility Service Agreements, or CFSAs. We have also entered into an Investigator-Sponsored Master Clinical Trial Agreement, or MCTA, under which we will provide drug product and funding for certain clinical trials at MSK under separate appendices to be executed. Additionally, we entered into a Sponsored Research Agreement, or the SRA, with MSK pursuant to which we agreed to pay MSK to conduct certain research projects over a period of five years related to the intellectual property licensed under the MSK License. We also entered into a Sponsored Research Agreement, or the CD33 SRA, in connection with the MSK CD33 License, pursuant to which we committed to provide aggregate research funding to MSK annually for a term of two years. We entered into a Manufacturing Agreement with MSK's Radiochemistry and Molecular Imaging Probes Core Facility, or RMIP, pursuant to which RMIP will complete specified manufacturing activities related to 131I-omburtamab in connection with our Phase 2 trials for Study 101. Additionally, we entered into a Sublicense Agreement, or the MabVax Sublicense, with MabVax Therapeutics Holdings, Inc., or MabVax, pursuant to which MabVax granted us all of the exclusive rights granted to MabVax under its license agreement with MSK, or the MabVax-MSK License, for a bi-valent ganglioside based vaccine intended to treat NB, or the NB vaccine. In addition to the upfront payment of $700,000 that we have made under the terms of MabVax Sublicense, if we decide to move forward with the development of the vaccine, we have agreed to make an additional payment of $600,000 on the first anniversary of the MabVax Sublicense, provided that no notice of termination has been made by us before such date. We will also be responsible for any potential downstream payment obligations to MSK related to the NB vaccine that were specified in the MabVax-MSK license agreement. This includes the obligation to pay development milestones totaling $1,400,000 and mid single-digit royalty payments to MSK.
These payments could be significant and in order to satisfy our obligations to MSK, if and when they are triggered, we may use our existing cash, incur debt obligations or issue additional equity securities, which may materially and adversely affect our financial position and results of operations.
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If we engage in future acquisitions or strategic partnerships, this may increase our capital requirements, dilute our stockholders if we issue equity securities, cause us to incur debt or assume contingent liabilities, and subject us to other risks.
We may evaluate various acquisitions and strategic partnerships, including licensing or acquiring complementary products, intellectual property rights, technologies, or businesses. Any potential acquisition or strategic partnership may entail numerous risks, including:
In addition, if we undertake acquisitions, we may issue dilutive securities, assume or incur debt obligations, incur large one-time expenses and acquire intangible assets that could result in significant future amortization expense. Moreover, we may not be able to locate suitable acquisition opportunities, which could impair our ability to grow or obtain access to technology or products that may be important to the development of our business.
We will need substantial additional funding for our product candidates. If we fail to obtain additional funding for our product candidates, we may be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate our research and drug development programs or future commercialization efforts and our license and other agreements may be terminated.
Developing pharmaceutical products, including conducting pre-clinical studies and clinical trials, is a very time-consuming, expensive and uncertain process that takes years to complete. We expect our expenses to increase in connection with our ongoing activities, particularly as we conduct clinical trials of, and seek marketing approval for our lead product candidates and our other product candidates. In addition, if we obtain marketing approval for any of our product candidates, we expect to incur commercialization expenses, which may be significant, related to product sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution to the extent that such sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution are not the responsibility of any collaborator that we may have at such time for any such product candidate. Furthermore, commencing upon the closing of this offering, we expect to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company. Accordingly, we will need to obtain substantial additional funding in connection with our continuing operations. If we are unable to raise sufficient amounts of additional capital when needed or on attractive terms, we may be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate our research and drug development programs or our future commercialization efforts.
As of June 30, 2018, we had approximately $70.2 million in cash and cash equivalents. We estimate that the net proceeds from this offering will be approximately $70.0 million after deducting the
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estimated offering expenses payable by us. We believe that such proceeds, together with our existing cash and cash equivalents, will be sufficient to fund our operations through the fourth quarter of 2020. However, changing circumstances may cause us to increase our spending significantly faster than we currently anticipate, and we may need to spend more money than currently expected because of circumstances beyond our control. We will require additional capital for further development and commercialization of our product candidates and may need to raise additional funds earlier if we choose to expand more rapidly than we presently anticipate.
In addition, we cannot be certain that additional funding will be available on acceptable terms, or at all. We have no firmly committed source of additional capital and if we are unable to raise additional capital in sufficient amounts or on terms acceptable to us, we may have to significantly delay, scale back or discontinue the development or commercialization of our product candidates or other research and development initiatives. Our licenses and other agreements may also be terminated if we are unable to meet the payment obligations under the agreements. We could be required to seek collaborators for our product candidates at an earlier stage than otherwise would be desirable or on terms that are less favorable than might otherwise be available or relinquish or license on unfavorable terms our rights to our product candidates in markets where we otherwise would seek to pursue development or commercialization ourselves. Any of the above events could significantly harm our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations and cause the price of our common stock to decline.
Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our stockholders, including purchasers of common stock in this offering, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our product candidates on terms unfavorable to us.
We expect our expenses to increase in connection with our planned operations. Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial revenues from the sale of our product candidates, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of cash on hand, equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations, strategic alliances and/or licensing arrangements. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms of these securities could include liquidation or other preferences and anti-dilution protections that could adversely affect your rights as a common stockholder. In addition, debt financing, if available, would result in fixed payment obligations and may involve agreements that include restrictive covenants that limit our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures, creating liens, redeeming stock or declaring dividends, that could adversely impact our ability to conduct our business. In addition, securing financing could require a substantial amount of time and attention from our management and may divert a disproportionate amount of their attention away from day-to-day activities, which may adversely affect our management's ability to oversee the development of our product candidates.
If we raise additional funds through collaborations, strategic alliances or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights related to our intellectual property, future revenue streams or any of our future product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds when needed, we may be required to delay, reduce and/or eliminate our product development or future commercialization efforts or grant rights to develop and market product candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves.
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We may expend our resources to pursue a particular product candidate or indication and fail to capitalize on other product candidates or indications that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.
We intend to focus our efforts and managerial resources on specific product candidates and on specific indications. As a result, we may forgo or delay pursuit of opportunities with other product candidates or for other indications that may prove to have greater commercial potential. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities. Failure to properly assess potential product candidates for indications could result in focusing on product candidates for indications with lower market potential, which could harm our business and financial condition. Our spending on current and future research and development programs and product candidates for specific indications may not yield any commercially viable product candidates. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular product candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through partnering, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to such product candidate or product.
It has been determined that we have material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. If our remediation of these material weaknesses is not effective, or if we experience additional material weaknesses or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls in the future, we may not be able to accurately or timely report our financial condition or results of operations, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and, as a result, the value of our common stock. In addition, because of our status as an emerging growth company, our independent registered public accounting firm is not required to provide an attestation report as to our internal control over financial reporting for the foreseeable future.
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. As a result of becoming a public company, we will be required, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, to furnish a report by our management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for the first fiscal year beginning after the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. This assessment will need to include disclosures of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting. A "material weakness" is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. We are in the very early stages of the costly and challenging process of planning the activities necessary to perform the evaluation needed to comply with Section 404.
In connection with the audit of our financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2017, it was determined that we lack a sufficient number of trained professionals with an appropriate level of accounting knowledge, training and experience to: (a) design and maintain formal accounting policies, procedures and controls over the fair presentation of our financial statements; (b) analyze, record and disclose complex accounting matters timely and accurately, including share-based compensation arrangements and accounting for license arrangements; and (c) design and maintain controls over the preparation and review of account reconciliations, journal entries and financial statements, including maintaining appropriate segregation of duties.
Each of these control deficiencies could result in a misstatement of these accounts or disclosures that would result in a material misstatement of our annual or interim consolidated financial statements that would not be prevented or detected, and accordingly, it was determined that these control deficiencies constitute material weaknesses.
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We have begun evaluating and implementing additional procedures to address these material weaknesses, however, we cannot assure you that these or other measures will fully remediate the material weaknesses described above in a timely manner. We intend to begin addressing the material weaknesses identified above by hiring additional finance and accounting personnel and increasing the oversight and review procedures with regard to financial reporting, financial processes and procedures and internal control procedures. Nevertheless, we cannot assure you that we will be able to remedy our current material weaknesses. If we are unable to remediate the material weaknesses, or otherwise maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to report our financial results accurately, prevent fraud or file our periodic reports in a timely manner. If our remediation of these material weaknesses is not effective, or if we experience additional material weaknesses or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls in the future, we may not be able to accurately or timely report our financial condition or results of operations, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and, as a result, the value of our common stock. We cannot assure you that all of our existing material weaknesses have been identified, or that we will not in the future identify additional material weaknesses.
Our independent registered public accounting firm will not be required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 until the later of the year following our first annual report required to be filed with the SEC, or the date we are no longer an "emerging growth company" as defined in the JOBS Act, if we take advantage (as we expect to do) of the exemptions contained in the JOBS Act. We will remain an "emerging growth company" for up to five years, although if the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700.0 million as of June 30 of any year before that time, we would cease to be an "emerging growth company" as of December 31 of that year. At such time, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our controls are documented, designed or operating. Our remediation efforts may not enable us to avoid material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting in the future.
If we are unsuccessful in building an appropriate accounting infrastructure, we may not be able to prepare and disclose, in a timely manner, our financial statements and other required disclosures, or comply with existing or new reporting requirements. Any failure to report our financial results on an accurate and timely basis could result in sanctions, lawsuits, delisting of our shares from the Nasdaq Global Market or other adverse consequences that would materially harm to our business. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, our business and results of operations could be harmed and investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information. Any of the foregoing occurrences, should they come to pass, could negatively impact the public perception of our company, which could have a negative impact on our stock price.
Risks Related to Product Development and Commercialization
Our product candidates and related technologies are novel approaches to cancer treatment that present significant challenges, and our ability to generate product revenue is dependent on the success of one or more of our lead product candidates, which will require additional clinical testing before we can seek regulatory approval and begin commercial sales.
Our product candidates and related technologies represent novel approaches to cancer treatment generally, and developing and commercializing our product candidates subjects us to a number of challenges. We currently generate no revenues from sales of any products, we have never obtained marketing approval for a product candidate and we may never be able to develop a marketable product. Our ability to generate product revenue is highly dependent on our ability to obtain regulatory approval of and successfully commercialize one or more of our lead product candidates, which will require additional clinical and non-clinical development, regulatory review and approval in each jurisdiction in which we intend to market them, substantial investment, access to
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sufficient commercial manufacturing capacity, and significant marketing efforts before we can generate any revenue from product sales. We cannot be certain that any of our product candidates will be successful in clinical studies and they may not receive regulatory approval even if they are successful in clinical studies.
The success of our product candidates, including our lead product candidates, will depend on several factors, including the following:
We do not have complete control over many of these factors, including certain aspects of clinical development and the regulatory submission process, potential threats to our intellectual property rights and the manufacturing, marketing, distribution and sales efforts of any future collaborator.
In addition, because our lead product candidates are our most advanced product candidates, and because our other product candidates are based on similar technology, if our lead product candidates encounter safety or efficacy problems, developmental delays, regulatory issues, or other problems, our development plans and business could be significantly harmed. Further, competitors who are developing products with similar technology may experience problems with their products that could identify problems that would potentially harm our business.
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Drug development is a lengthy and expensive process, with an uncertain outcome. If clinical trials of our product candidates fail to demonstrate safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of regulatory authorities or do not otherwise produce positive results, we may incur additional costs, experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the development of our product candidates or be unable to obtain marketing approval. We may encounter substantial delays in our clinical trials, or may not be able to conduct our trials on the timelines we expect.
Before obtaining marketing approval from regulatory authorities for the sale of our product candidates, we must complete pre-clinical development and then conduct extensive clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our product candidates. Clinical testing is expensive, difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete and is uncertain as to outcome. Failure of one or more clinical trials can occur at any stage of testing. The outcome of pre-clinical studies and early-stage clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of later clinical trials, and interim results of a clinical trial, such as the results of our ongoing clinical trials of our lead product candidates, do not necessarily predict final results. Moreover, pre-clinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses, and many companies that have believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in pre-clinical studies and clinical trials have nonetheless failed to obtain marketing approval of their drugs.
We cannot guarantee that any clinical studies will be conducted as planned or completed on schedule, if at all. In addition, we cannot be sure that we will be able to submit INDs for any of our product candidates in the future and we cannot be sure that submission of an IND will result in the FDA allowing clinical trials to begin. Moreover, even if these trials begin, issues may arise that could suspend or terminate such clinical trials. A failure of one or more clinical studies can occur at any stage of testing, and our future clinical studies may not be successful.
The market opportunities for our product candidates may be limited to those patients who are ineligible for or have failed prior treatments and may be small. If we encounter difficulties enrolling patients in our clinical trials, our clinical development activities could be delayed or otherwise adversely affected.
Our current potential patient population is based on our beliefs and estimates regarding the incidence or prevalence of certain types of cancers that may be addressable by our product candidates, which is derived from a variety of sources, including scientific literature, surveys of clinics, patient foundations, or market research. Our projections may prove to be incorrect and the number of potential patients may turn out to be lower than expected. Even if we obtain significant market share for our product candidates, because the potential target populations are small, we may never achieve profitability without obtaining regulatory approval for additional indications, including use of our product candidates for front-line and second-line therapy.
We expect to initially seek approval of some of our product candidates as second or third-line therapies for patients who have failed other approved treatments. Subsequently, for those product candidates that prove to be sufficiently beneficial, if any, we would expect to seek approval as a second-line therapy and potentially as a front-line therapy, but there is no guarantee that our product candidates, even if approved for third-line therapy, would be approved for second-line or front-line therapy. In addition, we may have to conduct additional clinical trials prior to gaining approval for second-line or front-line therapy.
The timely completion of clinical trials in accordance with their protocols depends, among other things, on our ability to enroll a sufficient number of patients who remain in the trial until its conclusion. We may experience difficulties in patient enrollment in our clinical trials for a variety of reasons, including:
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In addition, our clinical trials will compete with other clinical trials for product candidates that are in the same therapeutic areas as our product candidates, and this competition will reduce the number and types of patients available to us, because some patients who might have opted to enroll in our trials may instead opt to enroll in a trial being conducted by one of our competitors. We expect to conduct some of our clinical trials at the same clinical trial sites that some of our competitors use, which will reduce the number of patients who are available for our clinical trials at such clinical trial sites. Moreover, because our product candidates represent a departure from more commonly used methods for cancer treatment, potential patients and their doctors may be inclined to only use conventional therapies, such as chemotherapy and radiation, rather than enroll patients in any future clinical trial.
Even if we are able to enroll a sufficient number of patients in our clinical trials, delays in patient enrollment may result in increased costs or may affect the timing or outcome of the planned clinical trials, which could prevent completion of these trials and adversely affect our ability to advance the development of our product candidates.
Our product candidates may cause serious adverse events, or SAEs, undesirable side effects or have other properties that could halt their clinical development, prevent, delay, or cause the withdrawal of their regulatory approval, limit their commercial potential, or result in significant negative consequences, including death of patients. If any of our product candidates receives marketing approval and we, or others, later discover that the drug is less effective than previously believed or causes undesirable side effects that were not previously identified, our ability, or that of any potential future collaborators, to market the drug could be compromised.
As with most biological drug products, use of our product candidates could be associated with undesirable side effects or adverse events which can vary in severity from minor reactions to death and in frequency from infrequent to prevalent. Undesirable side effects or unacceptable toxicities caused by our product candidates could cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay, or halt clinical trials. To date, there have been no significant long-term toxicities among patients treated with our lead product candidates.
Treatment-related undesirable side effects or adverse events could also affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled subjects to complete the trial, or could result in potential product liability claims. In addition, these side effects may not be appropriately or timely recognized or managed by the treating medical staff, particularly outside of the research institutions that collaborate with us. We expect to have to educate and train medical personnel using our product candidates to
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understand their side effect profiles, both for our planned clinical trials and upon any commercialization of any product candidates. Inadequate training in recognizing or managing the potential side effects of our product candidates could result in adverse effects to patients, including death. Any of these occurrences may materially and adversely harm our business, financial condition and prospects.
Clinical trials of our product candidates must be conducted in carefully defined subsets of patients who have agreed to enter into clinical trials. Consequently, it is possible that our clinical trials, or those of any potential future collaborator, may indicate an apparent positive effect of a product candidate that is greater than the actual positive effect, if any, or alternatively fail to identify undesirable side effects. If one or more of our product candidates receives marketing approval and we, or others, discover that the drug is less effective than previously believed or causes undesirable side effects that were not previously identified, including during any long-term follow-up observation period recommended or required for patients who receive treatment using our products, a number of potentially significant negative consequences could result, including:
Any of the foregoing could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the particular product candidate, if approved, and could significantly harm our business, results of operations, and prospects, and could adversely impact our financial condition, results of operations or the market price of our common stock.
The outcome of pre-clinical studies and early clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of later clinical trials, interim results of a clinical trial do not necessarily predict final results, and the results of our clinical trials may not satisfy the requirements of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities, and if an adverse safety issue, clinical hold or other adverse finding occurs in one or more of our clinical trials of our lead product candidates, such event could adversely affect our other clinical trials of our lead product candidates.
Success in pre-clinical studies and early-stage clinical trials does not mean that future larger registration clinical trials will be successful because product candidates in later-stage clinical trials may fail to demonstrate sufficient safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of the FDA and non-U.S. regulatory authorities despite having progressed through pre-clinical studies and early-stage clinical trials. Product candidates that have shown promising results in pre-clinical studies and early-stage clinical trials may still suffer significant setbacks in subsequent clinical trials. Additionally, the outcome of pre-clinical studies and early-stage clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of later-stage clinical trials.
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From time to time, we may publish or report interim or preliminary data from our clinical trials. Interim or preliminary data from clinical trials that we may conduct may not be indicative of the final results of the trial and are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data become available. Interim or preliminary data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the interim or preliminary data. As a result, interim or preliminary data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available.
In addition, the design of a clinical trial can determine whether its results will support approval of a drug and flaws in the design of a clinical trial may not become apparent until the clinical trial is well advanced. We may be unable to design and conduct a clinical trial to support marketing approval. Further, if our product candidates are found to be unsafe or lack efficacy, we will not be able to obtain marketing approval for them and our business would be harmed. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical industry, including those with greater resources and experience than us, have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials, even after obtaining promising results in pre-clinical studies and earlier clinical trials.
In some instances, there can be significant variability in safety and efficacy results between different clinical trials of the same product candidate due to numerous factors, including changes in trial protocols, differences in size and type of the patient populations, differences in and adherence to the dosing regimen and other trial protocols and the rate of dropout among clinical trial participants. We do not know whether any clinical trials we may conduct will demonstrate consistent or adequate efficacy and safety sufficient to obtain marketing approval to market our product candidates. We have multiple clinical trials of our lead product candidates currently ongoing. In the event that an adverse safety issue, clinical hold or other adverse finding occurs in one or more of our clinical trials of our lead product candidates, such event could adversely affect our other clinical trials of our lead product candidates.
In October 2017, the FDA issued a partial clinical hold on our IND for naxitamab. A partial clinical hold, as opposed to a full clinical hold, is a delay or suspension of only a specific part of the clinical work requested under the IND, which allows otherwise unaffected parts of the clinical work to proceed under the IND. The FDA stated that the proposed acceptance criterion for the ADCC-CD16, ADCC-CD32, and CDC assays were too wide to provide sufficient control over these attributes, which are critical for safety and efficacy. ADCC and CDC refer to antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity and complement-dependent cytotoxicity, respectively. We submitted a response to the FDA in March 2018, and met with the FDA on April 24, 2018. Subsequently, we submitted a complete response to the partial clinical hold to the FDA in May 2018 and the partial clinical hold was removed on June 7, 2018. One or more clinical trials of our lead product candidates may be subject to additional clinical holds in the future, which may ultimately delay or otherwise adversely affect the clinical development of our lead product candidates.
In addition, we have initiated Study 101 and Study 201 to form the primary basis for our planned BLAs, to establish comparability of study population and phamacokinetics analysis with Study 03-133 and Study 12-230, respectively, and to satisfy the confirmatory study and post-marketing requirements by the FDA. If the results of these studies fail to demonstrate comparability to the satisfaction of the FDA and other comparable regulatory authorities, this may lead to a delay in, or otherwise adversely affect, such clinical trials, including the timing of submission of BLAs.
Further, our product candidates may not be approved even if they achieve their primary endpoints in Phase 3 trials or other pivotal trials. The FDA or non-U.S. regulatory authorities may disagree with our trial design and our interpretation of data from pre-clinical studies and clinical trials. In addition, any of these regulatory authorities may change requirements for the approval of a product candidate even after reviewing and providing comments or advice on a protocol for a pivotal clinical
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trial that has the potential to result in approval by the FDA or another regulatory authority. In addition, any of these regulatory authorities may also approve a product candidate for fewer or more limited indications than we request or may grant approval contingent on the performance of costly post-marketing clinical trials. The FDA or other non-U.S. regulatory authorities may not approve the labeling claims that we believe would be necessary or desirable for the successful commercialization of our product candidates.
Before obtaining marketing approvals for the commercial sale of any product candidate for a target indication, we must demonstrate with substantial evidence gathered in pre-clinical studies and well-controlled clinical studies, and, with respect to approval in the United States, to the satisfaction of the FDA, that the product candidate is safe and effective for use for that target indication. There is no assurance that the FDA or non-U.S. regulatory authorities will consider our future clinical trials to be sufficient to serve as the basis for approval of one of our product candidates for any indication. The FDA and non-U.S. regulatory authorities retain broad discretion in evaluating the results of our clinical trials and in determining whether the results demonstrate that a product candidate is safe and effective. If we are required to conduct additional clinical trials of a product candidate than we expect prior to its approval, we will need substantial additional funds and there is no assurance that the results of any such additional clinical trials will be sufficient for approval.
Research and development of biopharmaceutical products is inherently risky. We may not be successful in our efforts to create a pipeline of product candidates and develop commercially successful products. If we fail to develop additional product candidates, our commercial opportunity will be limited.
The product candidates and related technologies we have licensed have not yet led, and may never lead, to approved or commercially successful products. Even if we are successful in continuing to build our pipeline, obtaining regulatory approvals and commercializing our product candidates will require substantial additional funding beyond the net proceeds of this offering and are prone to the risks of failure inherent in medical product development. Investment in biopharmaceutical product development involves significant risk that any potential product candidate will fail to demonstrate adequate efficacy or an acceptable safety profile, gain regulatory approval, and/or become commercially viable. We cannot provide you any assurance that we will be able to successfully advance any of these additional product candidates through the development process. Our research programs may initially show promise in identifying potential product candidates, yet fail to yield product candidates for clinical development or commercialization for many reasons, including the following:
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If any of these events occur, we may be forced to abandon our development efforts for a program or programs, or we may not be able to identify, discover, develop, or commercialize additional product candidates, which would have a material adverse effect on our business and could potentially cause us to cease operations. Even if we receive approval to market our product candidates from the FDA, the EMA, or other regulatory bodies, whether for the treatment of cancers or other diseases, we cannot assure you that any such product candidates will be successfully commercialized, widely accepted in the marketplace or more effective than other commercially available alternatives.
Even if any of our product candidates receive marketing approval, they may fail to achieve the degree of market acceptance by physicians, patients, healthcare payors and others in the medical community necessary for commercial success.
If any of our product candidates receive marketing approval, they may nonetheless fail to gain sufficient market acceptance by physicians, patients, healthcare payors and others in the medical community. For example, current cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation therapy are well-established in the medical community, and doctors may continue to rely on these treatments. If our product candidates do not achieve an adequate level of acceptance, we may not generate significant revenues from sales of drugs and we may not become profitable. The degree of market acceptance of our product candidates, if approved for commercial sale, will depend on a number of factors, including:
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We currently have no marketing and sales organization and have no experience in marketing products. We may not be successful in commercializing our product candidates if and when they are approved unless we are able to establish sales and marketing capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to sell and market such approved products.
We do not have a sales or marketing infrastructure and have no experience in the sale or marketing of pharmaceutical drugs. We are not currently a party to a strategic collaboration that provides us with access to a collaborator's resources in selling or marketing drugs. To achieve commercial success for any approved drug for which sales and marketing is not the responsibility of any strategic collaborator that we may have in the future, we must either develop a sales and marketing organization or outsource these functions to other third parties. In the future, we may choose to build a sales and marketing infrastructure to market or co-promote some of our product candidates if and when they are approved, or enter into collaborations with respect to the sale and marketing of our product candidates.
There are risks involved with both establishing our own sales and marketing capabilities and entering into arrangements with third parties to perform these services. For example, recruiting and training even a small sales force can be expensive and time-consuming and could delay any commercial launch of a product candidate. If the commercial launch of a product candidate for which we recruit a sales force and establish marketing capabilities is delayed or does not occur for any reason, we would have prematurely or unnecessarily incurred these commercialization expenses. This may be costly, and our investment would be lost if we cannot retain or reposition our sales and marketing personnel.
Factors that may inhibit our efforts to commercialize our drugs on our own after obtaining any regulatory approval to gain market acceptance include:
If we enter into arrangements with third parties to perform sales and marketing services, our revenues from the sale of drugs or the profitability of these revenues to us are likely to be lower than if we were to market and sell any drugs that we develop ourselves. In addition, we may not be successful in entering into arrangements with third parties to sell and market our product candidates or may be unable to do so on terms that are favorable to us. We likely will have little control over such third parties, and any of them may fail to devote the necessary resources and attention to sell and market our drugs effectively. If we do not establish sales and marketing capabilities successfully, either on our own or in collaboration with third parties, we will not be successful in commercializing our product candidates.
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A variety of risks associated with operating our business internationally could materially adversely affect our business.
We plan to seek regulatory approval of our product candidates outside of the United States and, accordingly, we expect that we, and any potential collaborators in those jurisdictions, will be subject to additional risks related to operating in foreign countries, including:
These and other risks associated with our planned international operations may materially adversely affect our ability to attain or maintain profitable operations.
We face significant competition from other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and our operating results will suffer if we fail to compete effectively.
The biopharmaceutical industry, and the market for developing antibody-based products in particular, is characterized by intense competition and rapid innovation. Our competitors may be able to develop other compounds or drugs that are able to achieve similar or better results. Our potential competitors include major multinational pharmaceutical companies, established biotechnology companies, specialty pharmaceutical companies, universities, and other research institutions. Many of our competitors have substantially greater financial, technical and other resources, such as larger research and development staff and experienced marketing and manufacturing organizations as well as established sales forces. Smaller or early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large, established companies. Mergers and acquisitions in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries may result in even more resources being concentrated in our competitors. Competition may increase further as a result of advances in the
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commercial applicability of technologies and greater availability of capital for investment in these industries. Our competitors, either alone or with collaborative partners, may succeed in developing, acquiring or licensing on an exclusive basis drug or biologic products that are more effective, safer, more easily commercialized, or less costly than our product candidates or may develop proprietary technologies or secure patent protection that we may need for the development of our product candidates and related technologies.
Specifically, MacroGenics, Inc. and Daiichi Sankyo Co. are developing antibodies against B7-H3. United Therapeutics Corporation has commercialized Unituxin (dinutuximab), an antibody against GD2, in the United States. In addition, naxitamab may face competition from dinutuximab beta, a similar antibody product against GD2 developed by Apeiron Biologics AG, or Apeiron, that was approved in Europe in May 2017 to treat high-risk NB. Apeiron has announced that it has plans to file for registration of dinutuximab beta in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2019. In October 2016, EUSA Pharma (UK) Ltd., or EUSA, announced that it had acquired global commercialization rights to dinutuximab beta, which is currently being commercialized under the name Qarziba® in Europe.
Even if we obtain regulatory approval of our product candidates, we may not be the first to market and that may affect the price or demand for our product candidates. Additionally, the availability and price of our competitors' products could limit the demand and the price we are able to charge for our product candidates. We may not be able to implement our business plan if the acceptance of our product candidates is inhibited by price competition or the reluctance of physicians to switch from existing methods of treatment to our product candidates, or if physicians switch to other new drug or biologic products or choose to reserve our product candidates for use in limited circumstances. Additionally, a competitor could obtain orphan product exclusivity from the FDA with respect to such competitor's product. If such competitor product is determined to be the same product as one of our product candidates, that may prevent us from obtaining approval from the FDA for such product candidate for the same indication for seven years, except in limited circumstances.
We have entered into several agreements with MSK that are important to our business. We may also form or seek other collaborations or strategic alliances or enter into additional licensing arrangements in the future but may not realize the benefits of such collaborations or strategic alliances. If we are unable to enter into future collaborations, or if such collaborations are not successful, our business could be adversely affected.
We currently have in place several agreements with MSK that are important and we may form or seek strategic alliances, create joint ventures or collaborations, or enter into additional licensing arrangements with third parties that we believe will complement or augment our development and commercialization efforts with respect to our product candidates and any future product candidates that we may develop. Any of these relationships may require us to incur other charges, increase our near and long-term expenditures, issue securities that dilute our existing stockholders, or disrupt our management and business. In addition, we face significant competition in seeking appropriate strategic partners and the negotiation process is time-consuming and complex. Moreover, we may not be successful in our efforts to establish a strategic partnership or other alternative arrangements for our product candidates because they may be deemed to be at too early a stage of development for collaborative effort and third parties may not view our product candidates as having the requisite potential to demonstrate safety and efficacy.
Further, arrangements with third parties, such as our arrangement with MSK, or any potential future collaborations we may enter into involving our product candidates, are subject to numerous risks, including the following:
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As a result, if we are unable to maintain current arrangements or enter into and maintain future arrangements and collaborations, or if such arrangements or collaborations are not successful, our business could be adversely affected. If we enter into certain arrangements or collaboration agreements and strategic partnerships or license our products or businesses, we may not be able to realize the benefit of such transactions if we are unable to successfully integrate them with our existing operations and company culture, which could delay our timelines or otherwise adversely affect our business. We also cannot be certain that, following a strategic transaction or license, we will achieve the revenue or specific net income that justifies such transaction. Any delays in entering into new
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collaborations or strategic partnership agreements related to our product candidates could delay the development and commercialization of our product candidates in certain territories for certain indications, which would harm our business prospects, financial condition, and results of operations.
If we or third parties, such as contract research organizations, or CROs, or contract manufacturing organizations, or CMOs, use hazardous and biological materials in a manner that causes injury or violates applicable law, we may be liable for damages.
Our research and development activities may involve the controlled use of potentially hazardous substances, including chemical and biological materials, by us or third parties, such as CROs and CMOs. The use of Iodine-131, Iodine-124 and Lutetium-177-labeled antibody treatments involves the inherent risk of exposure from gamma ray emissions, which can alter or harm healthy cells in the body. We and such third parties are subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations in the United States and Europe governing the use, manufacture, storage, handling, and disposal of medical and hazardous materials. Although we believe that our and such third-parties' procedures for using, handling, storing, and disposing of these materials comply with legally prescribed standards, we cannot completely eliminate the risk of contamination or injury resulting from medical or hazardous materials. As a result of any such contamination or injury, we may incur liability or local, city, state, or federal authorities may curtail the use of these materials and interrupt our business operations. In the event of an accident, we could be held liable for damages or penalized with fines, and the liability could exceed our resources. Compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations is expensive, and current or future environmental regulations may impair our research, development and production efforts, which could harm our business, prospects, financial condition, or results of operations. We currently maintain insurance coverage for injuries resulting from the hazardous materials we use; however, future claims may exceed the amount of our coverage. Also, we do not have insurance coverage for pollution cleanup and removal. Currently the costs of complying with such federal, state, local and foreign environmental regulations are not significant, and consist primarily of waste disposal expenses. However, they could become expensive, and current or future environmental laws or regulations may impair our research, development, production and commercialization efforts.
Our internal computer systems, or those used by our third-party research institution collaborators, CROs or other contractors or consultants, may fail or suffer security breaches.
Despite the implementation of security measures, our internal computer systems and those of our future CROs and other contractors and consultants are vulnerable to damage from computer viruses and unauthorized access. Although to our knowledge we have not experienced any such material system failure or security breach to date, if such an event were to occur and cause interruptions in our operations, it could result in a material disruption of our development programs and our business operations. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from completed or future clinical trials could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. Likewise, we rely on our third-party research institution collaborators for research and development of our product candidates and other third parties for the manufacture of our product candidates and to conduct clinical trials, and similar events relating to their computer systems could also have a material adverse effect on our business. To the extent that any disruption or security breach were to result in a loss of, or damage to, our data or applications, or inappropriate disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, we could incur liability and the further development and commercialization of our product candidates could be delayed.
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Business disruptions could seriously harm our future revenue and financial condition and increase our costs and expenses.
Our operations, and those of our third-party research institution collaborators, CROs, CMOs, suppliers, and other contractors and consultants, could be subject to earthquakes, power shortages, telecommunications failures, water shortages, floods, hurricanes, typhoons, fires, extreme weather conditions, medical epidemics, terrorist activities, and other natural or man-made disasters or business interruptions, for which we are predominantly self-insured. In addition, we rely on our third-party research institution collaborators for conducting research and development of our product candidates, and they may be affected by government shutdowns or withdrawn funding. The occurrence of any of these business disruptions could seriously harm our operations and financial condition and increase our costs and expenses. We rely on third-party manufacturers to produce and process our product candidates. Our ability to obtain clinical supplies of our product candidates could be disrupted if the operations of these suppliers are affected by a man-made or natural disaster or other business interruption. Damage or extended periods of interruption to our third-party collaborators', including MSK's, corporate, development or research facilities due to fire, natural disaster, power loss, communications failure, unauthorized entry or other events could cause us to cease or delay development of some or all of our product candidates. Although we intend to maintain property damage and business interruption insurance coverage on these facilities, our insurance might not cover all losses under such circumstances and our business may be seriously harmed by such delays and interruption.
If product liability lawsuits are brought against us, we may incur substantial liabilities and may be required to limit commercialization of our product candidates.
We face an inherent risk of product liability as a result of the clinical testing of our product candidates and will face an even greater risk if we commercialize any products. For example, we may be sued if our product candidates cause or are perceived to cause injury or are found to be otherwise unsuitable during clinical testing, manufacturing, marketing or sale. Any such product liability claims may include allegations of defects in manufacturing, defects in design, a failure to warn of dangers inherent in the product, negligence, strict liability or a breach of warranties. Claims could also be asserted under state consumer protection acts. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against product liability claims, we may incur substantial liabilities or be required to limit commercialization of our product candidates. Even successful defense would require significant financial and management resources. Regardless of the merits or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:
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Our inability to obtain sufficient product liability insurance at an acceptable cost to protect against potential product liability claims could prevent or inhibit the commercialization of products we develop, alone or with collaborators. Although we carry $5.0 million of clinical trial insurance, the amount of such insurance coverage may not be adequate, we may be unable to maintain such insurance, or we may not be able to obtain additional or replacement insurance at a reasonable cost, if at all. Our insurance policies may also have various exclusions, and we may be subject to a product liability claim for which we have no coverage. We may have to pay any amounts awarded by a court or negotiated in a settlement that exceed our coverage limitations or that are not covered by our insurance, and we may not have, or be able to obtain, sufficient capital to pay such amounts. Even if our agreements with any future corporate collaborators entitle us to indemnification against losses, such indemnification may not be available or adequate should any claim arise.
Risks Related to Our Dependence on Third Parties
Third parties have sponsored all clinical trials of our lead product candidates so far, and our ability to influence the design and conduct of such clinical trials has been limited. We have incurred significant expenses and are obligated to make significant payments in the future with respect to such clinical trials. We plan to assume control over the future clinical and regulatory development of such product candidates, including obtaining sponsorship of existing INDs or filing new company-sponsored INDs, which will entail substantial additional expenses and may be subject to delay. Any failure by a third party to meet its obligations with respect to the clinical and regulatory development of our product candidates may delay or impair our ability to obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates and result in liability for our company.
We have sponsored only a limited number of clinical trials relating to our lead product candidates. Instead, faculty members at our third-party research institution collaborators, or those institutions themselves, have sponsored most of the clinical trials relating to these product candidates, in each case, under their own INDs. We have incurred significant expenses and are obligated to make significant payments in the future with respect to such clinical trials. To date, we have assumed control of only a limited number of such clinical trials and plan to assume control of the overall clinical and regulatory development of our lead product candidates for future clinical trials and obtain sponsorship of the INDs or file new company-sponsored INDs, all of which will cause us to incur substantial additional expenses and may be subject to delay. Failure to obtain, or delays in obtaining, sponsorship of INDs or in filing new company-sponsored INDs for these or any other product candidates we determine to advance could negatively affect the timing of our potential future clinical trials. Such an impact on timing could increase research and development costs and could delay or prevent obtaining regulatory approval for our most advanced product candidates, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Further, even in the event that the IND sponsorship is obtained for existing and new INDs, we did not control the design or conduct of the previous trials. It is possible that the FDA will not accept these previous trials as providing adequate support for future clinical trials, whether controlled by us or third parties, for any reason, including the safety, purity, and potency of the product candidate, the degree of product characterization, elements of the design or execution of the previous trials or safety concerns, or other trial results. We may also be subject to liabilities arising from any treatment-related injuries or adverse effects in patients enrolled in these previous trials. As a result, we may be subject to unforeseen third-party claims and delays in our potential future clinical trials. We may also be required to repeat in whole or in part clinical trials previously conducted by our third-party research institution collaborators, which will be expensive and delay the submission and licensure or other regulatory
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approvals with respect to any of our product candidates. Any such delay or liability could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Moreover, we have so far been dependent on contractual arrangements with our third-party research institution collaborators and will continue to be until we assume control. Such arrangements provide us certain information rights with respect to the previous trials, including access to and the ability to use and reference the data, including for our own regulatory filings, resulting from the previous trials. However, if the data prove to be inadequate compared to the first-hand knowledge we might have gained had the completed trials been corporate-sponsored trials, then our ability to design and conduct our planned corporate-sponsored clinical trials may be adversely affected. Additionally, the FDA may disagree with the sufficiency of our right to reference the pre-clinical, manufacturing, or clinical data generated by these prior investigator-sponsored trials, or our interpretation of pre-clinical, manufacturing, or clinical data from these clinical trials. Moreover, the FDA may require us to obtain and submit additional pre-clinical, clinical, manufacturing, clinical, toxicology or other in vivo or in vitro datas before we may begin our planned trials and/or may not accept such additional data as adequate to begin our planned trials.
We will rely on third parties to conduct our clinical trials. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or meet expected deadlines or comply with regulatory requirements, we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval of or commercialize our product candidates.
We will rely on third parties to conduct our clinical trials under agreements with MSK, universities, medical institutions, CROs, strategic partners, and others. Nevertheless, we are responsible for ensuring that each of our studies is conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol and legal, regulatory, and scientific standards, and our reliance on third parties does not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities. We and these third parties are required to comply with current good clinical practices, or cGCPs, which are regulations and guidelines enforced by the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities for product candidates in clinical development. Regulatory authorities enforce these cGCPs through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, principal investigators, and trial sites. If we or any of these third parties fail to comply with applicable cGCP regulations, the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable and the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may require us to perform additional non-clinical or clinical trials before approving our marketing applications. We cannot be certain that, upon inspection, such regulatory authorities will determine that any of our clinical trials comply with the cGCP regulations. In addition, our clinical trials must be conducted with biologic product produced under cGMP regulations and will require a large number of test patients. Our failure or any failure by these third parties to comply with these regulations or to recruit a sufficient number of patients may require us to repeat clinical trials, which would delay the regulatory approval process. Moreover, our business may be implicated if any of these third parties violates federal or state fraud and abuse or false claims laws and regulations or healthcare privacy and security laws.
If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or obligations or meet expected deadlines, if they need to be replaced, or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is compromised due to the failure to adhere to our clinical protocols or regulatory requirements or for other reasons, our clinical trials may be extended, delayed, or terminated and we may not be able to complete development of, obtain regulatory approval of or successfully commercialize our product candidates. We may also rely on investigator-reported interim data in making business decisions. Independent review of the data could fail to confirm the investigator-reported interim data, which may lead to revisions in disclosed clinical trial results in the future. Any such revisions that reveal more negative data than previously disclosed investigator-reported interim data could have an adverse impact on our business prospects and the trading price of our common
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stock. Such revisions could also reduce investor confidence in investigator-reported interim data that we disclose in the future.
If any of our relationships with these third-party CROs terminate, we may not be able to enter into arrangements with alternative CROs or do so on commercially reasonable terms. Switching or adding additional CROs involves additional cost and delays and requires management time and focus. Though we intend to carefully manage our relationships with our CROs, there can be no assurance that we will not encounter similar challenges in the future or that these challenges will not have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and prospects.
We will rely on third parties to manufacture our product candidates for our pre-clinical studies, and in the case of our lead product candidates, our ongoing clinical trials, as well as any additional clinical trials of our other product candidates we may conduct. We also expect to rely on third parties for the manufacturing process of our product candidates, if approved. Our business could be harmed if those third parties fail to provide us with sufficient quantities of product supplies or product candidates, or fail to do so at acceptable quality levels or prices.
We do not currently own any facility that may be used as a clinical-scale manufacturing and processing facility and we intend to rely on outside vendors to manufacture supplies and process our product candidates for pre-clinical studies and clinical trials under the guidance our management team. Our lead product candidates have only been manufactured or processed on a limited basis and we may not be able to continue doing so for any of our product candidates. Our manufacturing process may be more difficult or expensive than the approaches currently in use. We may make changes as we work to optimize the manufacturing process, and we cannot be sure that even minor changes in the process will not result in significantly different products that may not be as safe and effective as any product candidates deployed by our third-party research institution collaborators.
To date, we have obtained the active pharmaceutical ingredient, or API, of our lead product candidates from a limited number of third-party manufacturers. We have engaged a separate third-party manufacturer to conduct fill-and-finish and labeling services, as well as for the storage and distribution of our lead product candidates to clinical sites. We do not have a long-term supply agreement with any of these third-party manufacturers, and we purchase our required drug supplies on a purchase order basis.
We expect to rely on third-party manufacturers or third-party collaborators for the manufacture of our product candidates for commercial supply of any of our product candidates for which we or any of our potential future collaborators obtain marketing approval. We may be unable to establish any agreements with third-party manufacturers or to do so on acceptable terms. Even if we are able to establish agreements with third-party manufacturers, reliance on third-party manufacturers entails additional risks, including:
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remain in the contract manufacturing business for the time required to supply our clinical trials or to successfully produce, store, and distribute our products;
Each of these risks could delay or prevent the completion of our clinical trials or the approval of any of our product candidates by the FDA, result in higher costs or adversely impact commercialization of our product candidates. For example, we recently experienced a shortage in the supply of Iodine-131, one of the components of our 131I-omburtamab product candidate, from our single source supplier. We have established a relationship with an additional supplier which we believe will be able to provide us with adequate supplies of Iodine-131. While we have not yet experienced any delays in the research and development of our 131I-omburtamab product candidate to date, any such shortages in the supply of such raw materials used in the manufacture of our product candidates could delay or prevent the completion of our clinical trials or the approval of any of our product candidates by the FDA, result in higher costs or adversely impact commercialization of our product candidates. In addition, we will rely on third parties to perform certain specification tests on our product candidates prior to delivery to patients. If these tests are not appropriately done and test data are not reliable, patients could be put at risk of serious harm and the FDA could place significant restrictions on our company until deficiencies are remedied.
The facilities used by our contract manufacturers to manufacture our product candidates must be approved by the FDA pursuant to inspections that will be conducted after we submit our BLA to the FDA. We do not have complete control over all aspects of the manufacturing process of, and are dependent on, our contract manufacturing partners for compliance with cGMP regulations for manufacturing both active drug substances and finished drug products. Any product candidates that we may develop may compete with product candidates of other companies for access to manufacturing facilities. There are a limited number of manufacturers that operate under cGMP regulations and that
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might be capable of manufacturing for us. Our failure, or the failure of our third-party manufacturers, to comply with applicable regulations could result in sanctions being imposed on us, including fines, injunctions, civil penalties, delays, suspension or withdrawal of approvals, license revocation, seizures or recalls of product candidates or drugs, operating restrictions and criminal prosecutions, any of which could significantly and adversely affect supplies of our drugs and harm our business and results of operations.
Any performance failure on the part of our existing or future manufacturers could delay clinical development or marketing approval. We do not currently have arrangements in place for redundant supply of our lead product candidates and we only currently use a different single third-party manufacturer for fill-and-finish services for our lead product candidates. If our current contract manufacturers cannot perform as agreed, we may be required to replace those manufacturers. Although we believe that there may be potential alternative manufacturers who could manufacture our product candidates, we may incur added costs and delays in identifying and qualifying any such replacement.
We are and will continue to rely in significant part on outside scientists and their third-party research institutions for research and development and early clinical testing of our product candidates. These scientists and institutions may have other commitments or conflicts of interest, which could limit our access to their expertise and adversely affect the timing of our IND filings and our ability to conduct future planned clinical trials.
We currently have no internal research and development capabilities and we have not and are not currently conducting any independent clinical trials. Therefore, we currently rely on third-party research institutions for both capabilities.
Currently, MSK is conducting clinical trials to address pediatric R/R high-risk NB and a clinical trial to address relapsed osteosarcoma using our naxitamab product candidate. We are also conducting a clinical trial at MSK for CNS/LM from NB and clinical trials for DIPG and DSRCT for our omburtamab product candidate. Under the terms of the MSK License, we are obligated to pay for the costs associated with these clinical trials.
We have agreed to fund certain research and development costs under both the MSK License and the MSK CD33 License. However, the research we have agreed to fund constitutes only a small portion of the overall research of MSK. Other research being conducted by MSK may receive higher priority than research on the programs we may fund.
The outside scientists who conduct the clinical testing of our current product candidates, and who conduct the research and development upon which our product candidate pipeline depends, are not our employees; rather they serve as either independent contractors or the primary investigators under research and other agreements that we have entered into with MSK. Such scientists and collaborators may have other commitments that would limit their availability to us. Although our scientific advisors generally agree not to do competing work, if an actual or potential conflict of interest between their work for us and their work for MSK or another entity arises, we may lose their services. These factors could adversely affect the timing of our IND filings and our ability to conduct future planned clinical trials. It is also possible that some of our valuable proprietary knowledge may become publicly known through these scientific advisors if they breach their confidentiality agreements with us, which would cause competitive harm to, and have a material adverse effect on, our business.
Our existing agreements with MSK may be subject to termination by MSK upon the occurrence of certain circumstances as described in more detail in the section of this prospectus captioned "BusinessIntellectual PropertyMSK License." If MSK terminates the MSK License, the MSK CD33 License or its other agreements with us, the research and development of the relevant product candidates would be suspended, and we would not be able to research, develop, and license our existing and future product candidates as currently contemplated. We may be required to devote
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additional resources to the development of our product candidates or seek a new collaboration partner, and the terms of any additional collaborations or other arrangements that we establish may not be favorable to us. Switching or adding third parties to conduct our clinical trial would involve substantial costs and delays and require extensive management time and focus, which can materially impact our ability to meet our desired clinical development timelines.
Our product candidates are biologics and the manufacture of our product candidates is complex. We, or any of our third-party manufacturers, may encounter difficulties in production, particularly with respect to process development or scaling-up of our manufacturing capabilities. For some reagents, equipment, and materials, we rely or may rely on sole source vendors or a limited number of vendors. Such difficulties may result in an inadequate supply of our product candidates for clinical trials or our products for patients, if approved, could be delayed or stopped, or we may be unable to maintain a commercially viable cost structure.
Our product candidates are biologics and the process of manufacturing them is complex, highly-regulated and subject to multiple risks. As a result of the complexities, the cost to manufacture biologics is generally higher than traditional small molecule chemical compounds, and the manufacturing process for biologics is less reliable and is more difficult to reproduce. In addition, manufacturing our product candidates will require many reagents, which are substances used in our manufacturing processes to bring about chemical or biological reactions, and other specialty materials and equipment, some of which are manufactured or supplied by small companies with limited resources and experience to support commercial biologics production. Our manufacturing process may be susceptible to product loss or failure due to interruptions in the manufacturing process variability in product characteristics, quality control, contamination, equipment or reagent failure, improper installation or operation of equipment, product testing, vendor or operator error, availability of qualified personnel, logistics and shipping as well as compliance with strictly enforced federal, state and foreign regulations. Even minor deviations from normal manufacturing processes could result in reduced production yields, product defects, and other supply disruptions. If microbial, viral, or other contaminations are discovered in our product candidates or in the manufacturing facilities in which our product candidates are made, such manufacturing facilities may need to be closed for an extended period of time to investigate and remedy the contamination. We cannot assure you that any stability failures or other issues relating to the manufacture of our product candidates will not occur in the future.
Further, as product candidates are developed through pre-clinical to late-stage clinical trials towards approval and commercialization, it is common that various aspects of the development program, such as manufacturing methods, are altered along the way in an effort to optimize processes and results. Such changes carry the risk that they will not achieve these intended objectives, and any of these changes could cause our product candidates to perform differently and affect the results of planned clinical trials or other future clinical trials. Moreover, as we develop and/or scale-up our manufacturing process, we expect that we will need to obtain rights to and supplies of certain materials and equipment to be used as part of that process. We may not be able to obtain rights to such materials on commercially reasonable terms, or at all.
In addition, the manufacturing process for any products that we may develop is subject to FDA, EMA and other foreign regulatory authority approval process, and we will need to contract with manufacturers who can meet all applicable FDA, EMA and other foreign regulatory authority requirements on an ongoing basis. If we, or our CMOs, are unable to reliably produce products to specifications acceptable to the FDA, EMA or other foreign regulatory authorities, we may not obtain or maintain the approvals we need to commercialize such products. Even if we obtain regulatory approval for any of our product candidates, there is no assurance that either we or our CMOs will be able to manufacture the approved product to specifications acceptable to the FDA, EMA or other foreign regulatory authorities, to produce it in sufficient quantities to meet the requirements for the
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potential launch of the product, or to meet potential future demand. Any of these challenges could delay completion of clinical trials, require bridging clinical trials or the repetition of one or more clinical trials, increase clinical trial costs, delay approval of our product candidate, impair commercialization efforts, increase our cost of goods, and have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. Although we are working to develop commercially viable processes, our manufacturing capabilities could be affected by cost-overruns, unexpected delays, equipment failures, labor shortages, natural disasters, power failures and numerous other factors that could prevent us from realizing the intended benefits of our manufacturing strategy and have a material adverse effect on our business. We may ultimately be unable to, among another things, develop a manufacturing process and distribution network that will, reduce the cost of goods for our product candidates to levels that will allow for an attractive return on investment if and when those product candidates are commercialized.
Although we currently plan to retain all commercial rights to our product candidates, we may enter into strategic collaborations for the development, marketing and commercialization of all or some our product candidates. If those collaborations are not successful, or if we are unable to establish any such collaborations, we may have to alter or delay our development and commercialization plans.
As we further develop our lead product candidates, we may build a commercial infrastructure with the capability to directly market it to a variety of markets and territories. Although we currently plan to retain all commercial rights to our product candidates, we may enter into strategic collaborations for the development, marketing and commercialization of all or some of our product candidates. Our likely collaborators for any collaboration arrangements include large and mid-size pharmaceutical companies, regional and national pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies. We would face significant competition in seeking appropriate collaborators. Whether we reach a definitive agreement for a collaboration will depend, among other things, upon our assessment of the collaborator's resources and expertise, the terms and conditions of the proposed collaboration and the proposed collaborator's evaluation of a number of factors. If we do enter into any such arrangements with any third parties, we will likely have limited control over the amount and timing of resources that our collaborators dedicate to the development, marketing and/or commercialization of our product candidates. Our ability to generate revenues from these arrangements will depend on our collaborators' abilities to successfully perform the functions assigned to them in these arrangements. In addition, any future collaborators may have the right to abandon research or development projects and terminate applicable agreements, including funding obligations, prior to or upon the expiration of the agreed upon terms.
Collaborations involving our product candidates pose risks to us, including the following:
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Collaboration agreements may not lead to development or commercialization of product candidates in the most efficient manner, or at all.
We may not be able to negotiate collaborations on a timely basis, on acceptable terms, or at all, if and when we seek to enter into collaborations. If we are unable to do so, we may have to curtail the development of a product candidate, reduce or delay its development program or one or more of our other development programs, delay its potential commercialization or reduce the scope of any sales or marketing activities, or increase our expenditures and undertake development or commercialization activities at our own expense. If we elect to increase our expenditures to fund development or commercialization activities on our own, we may need to obtain additional capital, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. If we do not have sufficient funds, we may not be able to further develop our product candidates or bring them to market and generate revenue from sales of drugs.
Reimbursement decisions by third-party payors may have an adverse effect on pricing and market acceptance. If there is not sufficient reimbursement for our products, it is less likely that our products will be widely used.
Even if our product candidates are approved for sale by the appropriate regulatory authorities, market acceptance and sales of these products will depend on reimbursement policies and may be affected by future healthcare reform measures. Government authorities and third-party payors, such as private health insurers and health maintenance organizations, decide which drugs they will reimburse and establish payment levels and, in some cases, utilization management strategies, such as tiered
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formularies and prior authorization. We cannot be certain that reimbursement will be available for any products that we develop or that the reimbursement level will be adequate to allow us to operate profitably. Also, we cannot be certain that reimbursement policies will not reduce the demand for, or the price paid for, our products. If reimbursement is not available or is available on a limited basis, or if the reimbursement amount is inadequate, we may not be able to successfully commercialize any of our approved products.
Risks Related to Government Regulation; Market Approval and Other Legal Compliance Matters
Even if we complete the necessary pre-clinical studies and clinical trials, the FDA regulatory approval process is lengthy, time-consuming, and inherently unpredictable, and we or any of our potential future collaborators may experience significant delays in the clinical development and regulatory approval, if any, for the commercialization of our product candidates. As a result, we cannot predict when or if, and in which territories, we, or any of our potential future collaborators, will obtain marketing approval to commercialize a product candidate.
The research, testing, manufacturing, labeling, approval, selling, import, export, marketing, and distribution of drug products, including biologics, are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA and other regulatory authorities in the United States. Even if we complete the necessary pre-clinical studies and clinical trials, we will not be permitted to market any biological drug product in the United States until we receive a Biologics License from the FDA. We plan to begin additional clinical trials with our lead product candidates in 2018 and 2019. We intend to conduct each of these clinical trials in the United States and Europe. We intend to discuss with the FDA and EMA submission of BLAs for respective approval of such product candidates as treatments for indications that currently lack FDA-approved treatments.
The FDA standard for regular approval of a BLA generally requires two well-controlled Phase 3 studies or one large and robust, well-controlled Phase 3 study in the patient population being studied that provides substantial evidence that a biologic is safe, pure and potent. Phase 3 clinical studies typically involve hundreds of patients, have significant costs and take years to complete. However, product candidates studied for their safety and effectiveness in treating serious or life-threatening illnesses and that provide meaningful therapeutic benefit over existing treatments may be eligible for accelerated approval and may be approved on the basis of adequate and well-controlled clinical trials establishing that the product candidate has an effect on a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit, or on a clinical endpoint that can be measured earlier than irreversible morbidity or mortality, that is reasonably likely to predict an effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical benefit, taking into account the severity, rarity or prevalence of the condition and the availability or lack of alternative treatments. As a condition of accelerated approval, the FDA may require a sponsor of a drug or biologic receiving accelerated approval to perform post-marketing studies to verify and describe the predicted effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical endpoint, and the drug or biologic may be subject to withdrawal procedures by the FDA that are more accelerated than those available for regular approvals. We believe our accelerated approval strategy is warranted given the currently limited alternative therapies for patients with pediatric relapsed or refractory, or R/R, from neuroblastoma, or NB, but the FDA may not agree. The FDA may ultimately require one or multiple Phase 3 clinical trials prior to approval.
We have not previously submitted a BLA to the FDA, or similar approval filings to comparable foreign authorities. A BLA must include extensive pre-clinical and clinical data and supporting information to establish that the product candidate is safe, pure, and potent for each desired indication. The BLA must also include significant information regarding the chemistry, manufacturing, and controls for the product, and the manufacturing facilities must complete a successful pre-license inspection. We expect the novel nature of our product candidates to create further challenges in obtaining regulatory approval from the FDA and other regulatory authorities. The FDA may also
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require a panel of experts, referred to as an Advisory Committee, to deliberate on the adequacy of the safety and efficacy data to support licensure. The opinion of the Advisory Committee, although not binding, may have a significant impact on our ability to obtain licensure of the product candidates based on the completed clinical trials. Accordingly, the regulatory approval pathway for our product candidates may be uncertain, complex, expensive, and lengthy, and approval may not be obtained.
The process of obtaining marketing approvals, both in the United States and abroad, is a lengthy, expensive and uncertain process. It may take many years, if approval is obtained at all, and can vary substantially based upon a variety of factors, including the type, complexity and novelty of the product candidates involved. Securing marketing approval requires the submission of extensive pre-clinical and clinical data and supporting information to regulatory authorities for each therapeutic indication to establish the product candidate's safety and efficacy. Securing marketing approval also requires the submission of information about the product manufacturing process to, and inspection of manufacturing facilities by, the regulatory authorities. The FDA or other regulatory authorities have substantial discretion and may determine that our product candidates are not safe and effective, only moderately effective or have undesirable or unintended side effects, toxicities or other characteristics that preclude our obtaining marketing approval or prevent or limit commercial use. Any marketing approval we ultimately obtain may be limited or subject to restrictions or post-approval commitments that render the approved product not commercially viable.
In addition, clinical trials can be delayed or terminated for a variety of reasons, including delays or failures related to:
Patient enrollment is a significant factor in the timing of clinical trials and is affected by many factors. See the risk factor above "The market opportunities for our product candidates may be limited to those patients who are ineligible for or have failed prior treatments and may be small. If we encounter difficulties enrolling patients in our clinical trials, our clinical development activities could be delayed or otherwise adversely affected." for additional information on risks related to patient enrollment. Further, a clinical trial may be suspended or terminated by us, the IRBs for the institutions in which such trials are being conducted, the Data Monitoring Committee for such trial, or the FDA or other regulatory authorities due to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial site by the FDA or other regulatory authorities resulting in the imposition of a
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clinical hold, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a product candidate, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial. If we experience termination of, or delays in the completion of, any clinical trial of our product candidates, the commercial prospects for our product candidates will be harmed, and our ability to generate potential future product revenue will be delayed. In addition, any delays in completing our clinical trials will increase our costs, slow down our product development and approval process and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenue.
Our third-party research institution collaborators may also experience similar difficulties in completing ongoing clinical trials and conducting future clinical trials of product candidates. Many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of our product candidates.
Our product candidates could fail to receive marketing approval for many reasons, including the following:
This lengthy approval process as well as the unpredictability of clinical trial results may result in our failing to obtain marketing approval to market any of our product candidates, which would significantly harm our business, results of operations and prospects.
In addition, changes in marketing approval policies during the development period, changes in or the enactment or promulgation of additional statutes, regulations or guidance or changes in regulatory review for each submitted drug application may cause delays in the approval or rejection of an application. Regulatory authorities have substantial discretion in the approval process and may refuse to accept any application or may decide that our data are insufficient for approval and require
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additional pre-clinical studies, clinical trials, toxicology or other in vivo or in vitro data to support the initiation of other studies and testing. In addition, varying interpretations of the data obtained from pre-clinical studies and clinical trials could delay, limit or prevent marketing approval of a product candidate. Any marketing approval we, or any collaborators we may have in the future, ultimately obtain may be limited or subject to restrictions or post-approval commitments that render the approved drug not commercially viable.
Any delay in obtaining or failure to obtain required approvals could materially adversely affect our ability or that of any collaborators we may have to generate revenue from the particular product candidate, which likely would result in significant harm to our financial position and adversely impact our stock price.
The European Medicines Agency, or the EMA, or comparable foreign regulatory authorities, may disagree with our regulatory plans, including our plans to seek accelerated approval, and we may fail to obtain regulatory approval of our product candidates, which would prevent our product candidates from being marketed abroad. Any approval we are granted for our product candidates in the United States would not assure approval of our product candidates in foreign jurisdictions.
In order to market and sell our drugs in the European Union and many other jurisdictions, we, and any collaborators we may have in the future, must obtain separate marketing approvals and comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements. The approval procedure varies among countries and can involve additional testing. The time required to obtain approval may differ substantially from that required to obtain FDA approval. The marketing approval process outside of the United States generally includes all of the risks associated with obtaining FDA approval. In addition, in many countries outside of the United States, it is required that the drug be approved for reimbursement before the drug can be approved for sale in that country. We, and any collaborators we may have in the future, may not obtain approvals from regulatory authorities outside of the United States on a timely basis, if at all. Approval by the FDA does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions, and approval by one regulatory authority outside of the United States does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions or by the FDA.
As part of its marketing authorization process, the EMA may grant marketing authorizations on the basis of less complete data than is normally required, when, for certain categories of medicinal products, doing so may meet unmet medical needs of patients and serve the interest of public health. In such cases, it is possible for the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, or CHMP, to recommend the granting of a marketing authorization, subject to certain specific obligations to be reviewed annually, which is referred to as a conditional marketing authorization. This may apply to medicinal products for human use that fall under the jurisdiction of the EMA, including those that aim at the treatment, the prevention, or the medical diagnosis of seriously debilitating diseases or life-threatening diseases and those designated as orphan medicinal products.
A conditional marketing authorization may be granted when the CHMP finds that, although comprehensive clinical data referring to the safety and efficacy of the medicinal product have not been supplied, all the following requirements are met:
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The granting of a conditional marketing authorization is restricted to situations in which only the clinical part of the application is not yet fully complete. Incomplete non-clinical or quality data may only be accepted if duly justified and only in the case of a product intended to be used in emergency situations in response to public-health threats.
Conditional marketing authorizations are valid for one year, on a renewable basis. The holder will be required to complete ongoing studies or to conduct new studies with a view to confirming that the benefit-risk balance is positive. In addition, specific obligations may be imposed in relation to the collection of pharmacovigilance data.
The granting of a conditional marketing authorization will allow medicines to reach patients with unmet medical needs earlier than might otherwise be the case and will ensure that additional data on a product are generated, submitted, assessed and acted upon. Although we may seek a conditional marketing authorization for one or more of our product candidates by the EMA, the EMA or CHMP may ultimately not agree that the requirements for such conditional marketing authorization have been satisfied.
Our clinical trial results may also not support approval, whether accelerated approval, conditional marketing authorizations, or regular approval. The results of pre-clinical and clinical studies may not be predictive of the results of later-stage clinical trials, and product candidates in later stages of clinical trials may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy despite having progressed through pre-clinical studies and initial clinical trials. In addition, our product candidates could fail to receive regulatory approval for many reasons, including the following:
Additionally, on June 23, 2016, the electorate in the United Kingdom voted in favor of leaving the European Union, commonly referred to as Brexit. On March 29, 2017, the country formally notified the European Union of its intention to withdraw pursuant to Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. Since a
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significant proportion of the regulatory framework in the United Kingdom is derived from European Union directives and regulations, the referendum could materially impact the regulatory regime with respect to the approval of our product candidates in the United Kingdom or the European Union. Any delay in obtaining, or an inability to obtain, any marketing approvals, as a result of Brexit or otherwise, would prevent us from commercializing our product candidates in the United Kingdom and/or the European Union and restrict our ability to generate revenue and achieve and sustain profitability. If any of these outcomes occur, we may be forced to restrict or delay efforts to seek regulatory approval in the United Kingdom and/or European Union for our product candidates, which could significantly and materially harm our business.
Failure to obtain regulatory approval to market any of our product candidates would significantly harm our business, results of operations, and prospects.
We may seek BTD for one or more of our other product candidates. We may not receive such designation, and even if we do, such designation may not lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process.
In 2012, the FDA established BTD, which is intended to expedite the development and review of products that treat serious or life-threatening diseases when "preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints, such as substantial treatment effects observed early in clinical development." The designation of a product candidate as a breakthrough therapy provides potential benefits that include more frequent meetings with FDA to discuss the development plan for the product candidate and ensure collection of appropriate data needed to support approval; more frequent written correspondence from FDA about such things as the design of the proposed clinical trials and use of biomarkers; intensive guidance on an efficient drug development program, beginning as early as Phase 1; organizational commitment involving senior managers; and eligibility for rolling review and priority review.
If the FDA determines that a product candidate offers a treatment for a serious condition and, if approved, the product would provide a significant improvement in safety or effectiveness, the FDA may designate the product candidate for priority review. A priority review designation means that the goal for the FDA to review an application is six months, rather than the standard review period of 10 months. We may request priority review for our product candidates. The FDA has broad discretion with respect to whether or not to grant priority review status to a product candidate, so even if we believe a particular product candidate is eligible for such designation or status, the FDA may decide not to grant it. Moreover, a priority review designation does not necessarily mean a faster development or regulatory review or approval process or necessarily confer any advantage with respect to approval compared to conventional FDA procedures. Receiving priority review from the FDA does not guarantee approval within the six-month review cycle or at all. BTD does not change the standards for product approval.
In June 2017, 131I-omburtamab received BTD for the treatment of pediatric patients with R/R NB who have CNS/LM from NB. In addition, on August 20, 2018, naxitamab received BTD in combination with GM-CSF, for the treatment of high-risk NB refractory to initial therapy or with incomplete response to salvage therapy in patients greater than 12 months of age with persistent, refractory disease limited to bone marrow with or without evidence of concurrent bone involvement. We may seek BTD for some or all of our other product candidates, but we may never receive such BTD, or, if received, the development of our product candidates may not be expedited or benefited by such designation.
Designation as a breakthrough therapy is within the discretion of the FDA. Accordingly, even if we believe that one of our product candidates meets the criteria for designation as a breakthrough therapy, the FDA may disagree and instead determine not to make such designation. Even if we
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receive BTD, the receipt of such designation for a product candidate may not result in a faster development or regulatory review or approval process compared to drugs considered for approval under conventional FDA procedures and does not assure ultimate approval by the FDA. In addition, even if one or more of our product candidates qualify as breakthrough therapies, the FDA may later decide that the product candidates no longer meet the conditions for qualification or decide that the time period for FDA review or approval will not be shortened.
Our product candidates may not be able to obtain ODD or RPDD or obtain or maintain orphan drug exclusivity. We will not be eligible to receive PRVs in the event that our product candidates are not approved before October 1, 2022.
Regulatory authorities in some jurisdictions, including the United States and the European Union, may designate drugs for relatively small patient populations as orphan drugs. Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may designate a product as an orphan drug if it is a drug intended to treat a rare disease or condition, which is generally defined as a patient population of fewer than 200,000 individuals annually in the United States, or a patient population greater than 200,000 in the United States where there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing the drug will be recovered from sales in the United States. In August 2016, the FDA granted ODD to omburtamab for the treatment of NB. In April 2017, the EMA granted ODD to omburtamab for the treatment of CNS/LM from NB.
In the United States, ODD entitles a party to financial incentives such as opportunities for grant funding towards clinical trial costs, tax advantages and user-fee waivers. In addition, if a product that has ODD subsequently receives the first FDA approval for the disease for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to orphan drug exclusivity. Orphan drug exclusivity in the United States provides that the FDA may not approve any other applications, including a full BLA, to market the same drug for the same indication for seven years, except in limited circumstances. The applicable exclusivity period is 10 years in Europe. The European exclusivity period can be reduced to six years if a drug no longer meets the criteria for ODD or if the drug is sufficiently profitable so that market exclusivity is no longer justified.
In 2012, the United States Congress effectuated a Rare Pediatric Disease Priority Review Voucher Program, or PRV Program, to incentivize pharmaceutical sponsors to develop drugs for rare pediatric diseases. A sponsor who obtains approval of a New Drug Application or BLA for a rare pediatric disease may be eligible for a Priority Review Voucher, or PRV, under this program, which may be redeemed by the owner of such PRV to obtain priority review for a marketing application. A PRV is fully transferrable and can be sold to any sponsor, who in turn can redeem the PRV for priority review of a marketing application in six months, compared to the standard timeframe of approximately 10 months. The terms of our MSK License provide that MSK is entitled to receive 40-50% of any income generated from the sale of first such PRV, and 33% of any income generated from the sale of any subsequent PRV or the sale of other comparable incentives provided by any non-U.S. jurisdiction. Additionally, the terms of our MSK CD33 License provide that MSK is entitled to receive 25% of any income generated from the sale of any PRV or the sale of other comparable incentives provided by any non-U.S. jurisdiction. In December 2016, the 21st Century Cures Act, or the Cures Act, became effective, which, among other initiatives, reauthorized the PRV Program until 2020. Under the Cures Act, a drug that receives RPDD before October 1, 2020, will continue to be eligible for a PRV if the drug is approved before October 1, 2022.
Even if our other product candidates obtain ODD or RPDD in the future, they may not be able to obtain or maintain orphan drug exclusivity, priority review or expedited regulatory approval for that product candidate. We may not be the first to obtain marketing approval of any product candidate that has obtained ODD for the orphan-designated indication due to the uncertainties associated with developing pharmaceutical products. In addition, exclusive marketing rights in the United States may be
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limited if we seek approval for an indication broader than the orphan-designated indication or may be lost if the FDA later determines that the request for designation was materially defective or if we are unable to assure sufficient quantities of the product to meet the needs of patients with the rare disease or condition. Further, even if we, or any future collaborators, obtain orphan drug exclusivity for a product, that exclusivity may not effectively protect the product from competition because different drugs with different active moieties may be approved for the same condition. Even after an orphan drug is approved, the FDA can subsequently approve the same drug with the same active moiety for the same condition if the FDA concludes that the later drug is clinically superior in that it is shown to be safer, more effective or makes a major contribution to patient care or the manufacturer of the product with orphan exclusivity is unable to maintain sufficient product quantity. ODD neither shortens the development time or regulatory review time of a drug nor gives the drug any advantage in the regulatory review or approval process.
Even if we, or any collaborators we may have in the future, obtain marketing approvals for our product candidates, the terms of approvals and ongoing regulation of our drugs could require substantial expenditure of resources and may limit how we, or they, manufacture and market our drugs, which could materially impair our ability to generate revenue.
Once marketing approval has been granted, an approved drug and its manufacturer and marketer are subject to ongoing review and extensive regulation. These requirements include submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration and listing requirements, requirements relating to manufacturing, quality control, quality assurance and corresponding maintenance of records and documents, requirements regarding the distribution of samples to physicians and recordkeeping. We, and any collaborators we may have in the future, must also comply with requirements concerning advertising and promotion for any of our product candidates for which we or they obtain marketing approval. Promotional communications with respect to prescription drugs are subject to a variety of legal and regulatory restrictions and must be consistent with the information in the drug's approved labeling. Thus, we, and any collaborators we may have in the future, may not be able to promote any drugs we develop for indications or uses for which they are not approved.
The FDA may also impose requirements for costly post-marketing studies or clinical trials and surveillance to monitor the safety or efficacy of a drug. For example, the approval may be subject to limitations on the indicated uses for which the drug may be marketed or to the conditions of approval, including the requirement to implement a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, which could include requirements for a restricted distribution system. Manufacturers of approved drugs and those manufacturers' facilities are also required to comply with extensive FDA requirements, including ensuring that quality control and manufacturing procedures conform to cGMPs, which include requirements relating to quality control and quality assurance as well as the corresponding maintenance of records and documentation and reporting requirements. We, our contract manufacturers, our future collaborators and their contract manufacturers could be subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA to monitor and ensure compliance with cGMPs.
Accordingly, assuming we, or our potential future collaborators, receive marketing approval for one or more of our product candidates, we, and our potential future collaborators, and our and their contract manufacturers will continue to expend time, money and effort in all areas of regulatory compliance, including manufacturing, production, product surveillance and quality control.
If we, and our future potential collaborators, are not able to comply with post-approval regulatory requirements, we, and our potential future collaborators, could have the marketing approvals for our drugs withdrawn by regulatory authorities and our, or our potential future collaborators', ability to market any future drugs could be limited, which could adversely affect our ability to achieve or
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sustain profitability. Further, the cost of compliance with post-approval regulations may have a negative effect on our operating results and financial condition.
The FDA's and other regulatory authorities' policies may change and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit or delay regulatory approval of our product candidates, which would impact our ability to generate revenue.
In December 2016, the Cures Act was signed into law. The Cures Act, among other things, is intended to modernize the regulation of drugs and spur innovation, but its ultimate implementation is unclear. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any marketing approval that we may have obtained and we may not achieve or sustain profitability, which would adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
We also cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative or executive action, either in the United States or abroad. For example, certain policies of the Trump administration may impact our business and industry. Namely, the Trump administration has taken several executive actions, including the issuance of a number of Executive Orders, that could impose significant burdens on, or otherwise materially delay, the FDA's ability to engage in routine regulatory and oversight activities such as implementing statutes through rulemaking, issuance of guidance, and review and approval of marketing applications. Notably, on January 30, 2017, President Trump issued an Executive Order, applicable to all executive agencies, including the FDA, which requires that for each notice of proposed rulemaking or final regulation to be issued in fiscal year 2017, the agency shall identify at least two existing regulations to be repealed, unless prohibited by law. These requirements are referred to as the "two-for-one" provisions. This Executive Order includes a budget neutrality provision that requires the total incremental cost of all new regulations in the 2017 fiscal year, including repealed regulations, to be no greater than zero, except in limited circumstances. For fiscal years 2018 and beyond, the Executive Order requires agencies to identify regulations to offset any incremental cost of a new regulation and approximate the total costs or savings associated with each new regulation or repealed regulation. In interim guidance issued by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within OMB on February 2, 2017, the administration indicates that the "two-for-one" provisions may apply not only to agency regulations, but also to significant agency guidance documents. In addition, on February 24, 2017, President Trump issued an Executive Order directing each affected agency to designate an agency official as a "Regulatory Reform Officer" and establish a "Regulatory Reform Task Force" to implement the two-for-one provisions and other previously issued Executive Orders relating to the review of federal regulations; however, it is difficult to predict how these requirements will be implemented, and the extent to which they will impact the FDA's ability to exercise its regulatory authority. If these executive actions impose constraints on FDA's ability to engage in oversight and implementation activities in the normal course, our business may be negatively impacted.
Any of our product candidates for which we, or our potential future collaborators, obtain marketing approval in the future will be subject to substantial penalties if we, or they, fail to comply with regulatory requirements or if we, or they, experience unanticipated problems with our drugs following approval.
Any of our product candidates for which we, or our potential future collaborators, obtain marketing approval in the future, will be subject to continual review by the FDA and other regulatory authorities.
The FDA and other agencies, including the Department of Justice, or the DOJ, closely regulate and monitor the post-approval marketing and promotion of drugs to ensure that they are manufactured, marketed and distributed only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved labeling. The FDA imposes stringent restrictions on manufacturers'
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communications regarding off-label use and if we, or our potential future collaborators, do not market any of our product candidates for which we, or they, receive marketing approval for only their approved indications, we, or they, may be subject to warnings or enforcement action for off-label marketing. Violation of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938, or FDCA, and other statutes, including the False Claims Act, relating to the promotion and advertising of prescription drugs may lead to investigations or allegations of violations of federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws and state consumer protection laws.
In addition, later discovery of previously unknown adverse events or other problems with our drugs or their manufacturers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may yield various results, including:
Current and future legislation, and a change in existing government regulations and policies, may increase the difficulty and cost for us and our potential future collaborators to obtain marketing approval of and commercialize our product candidates and affect the prices we, or they, may obtain.
In the United States and some foreign jurisdictions, there have been and continue to be a number of legislative and regulatory changes and proposed changes regarding the healthcare system that could prevent or delay marketing approval of our product candidates, restrict or regulate post-approval activities and affect our ability, or the ability of our potential future collaborators, to profitably sell any drugs for which we, or they, obtain marketing approval. We expect that current laws, as well as other healthcare reform measures that may be adopted in the future, may result in more rigorous coverage criteria and additional downward pressure on the price that we, or our potential future collaborators, may receive for any approved drugs.
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In the United States, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, or the MMA, changed the way Medicare covers and pays for pharmaceutical products and could decrease the coverage and price that we, or our potential future collaborators, may receive for any approved drugs. While the MMA only addresses drug benefits for Medicare beneficiaries, private payors often follow Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their own reimbursement rates. Therefore, any reduction in reimbursement that results from the MMA may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors.
In March 2010, then-President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, or collectively the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, which substantially changes the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers. The provisions of the Affordable Care Act of potential importance to our product candidates are the following:
In addition, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the ACA was enacted. These changes included the Budget Control Act of 2011, which, among other things, led to aggregate reductions to Medicare payments to providers of up to 2% per fiscal year that started in 2013 and, due to subsequent legislative amendments to the statute, will stay in effect through 2024
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unless additional Congressional action is taken. The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which, among other things, reduced Medicare payments to several providers and increased the statute of limitations period for the government to recover overpayments to providers from three to five years. These new laws may result in additional reductions in Medicare and other healthcare funding and otherwise affect the prices we may obtain for any of our product candidates for which we may obtain regulatory approval or the frequency with which any such product candidate is prescribed or used. More recently, President Trump has suggested that he plans to seek repeal of all or portions of the ACA, and he has indicated that he wants Congress to replace the ACA with new legislation. We cannot predict whether these challenges will continue or other proposals will be made or adopted, or what impact these efforts may have on us. Further, here has been heightened governmental scrutiny over the manner in which manufacturers set prices for their marketed products, which has resulted in several recent Congressional inquiries and proposed bills designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, reduce the price of drugs under Medicare and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for drug products. We expect that additional state and federal healthcare reform measures will be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand for our product candidates or additional pricing pressures.
We expect that the ACA, as well as other healthcare reform measures that may be adopted in the future, may result in additional reductions in Medicare and other healthcare funding, more rigorous coverage criteria, new payment methodologies and additional downward pressure on the price that we receive for any approved product and/or the level of reimbursement physicians receive for administering any approved product we might bring to market. Reductions in reimbursement levels may negatively impact the prices we receive or the frequency with which our products are prescribed or administered. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors.
Some of the provisions of the ACA have yet to be implemented, and there have been legal and political challenges to certain aspects of the ACA. Since January 2017, President Trump has signed two executive orders and other directives designed to delay, circumvent, or loosen certain requirements mandated by the ACA. Moreover, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, or the Tax Reform Bill, was enacted on December 22, 2017, and includes a provision repealing, effective January 1, 2019, the tax-based shared responsibility payment imposed by the ACA on certain individuals who fail to maintain qualifying health coverage for all or part of a year that is commonly referred to as the "individual mandate." Congress may consider other legislation to repeal or replace additional elements of the ACA. We continue to evaluate the effect that the ACA, the repeal of the individual mandate, and any additional possible repeal and replacement efforts may have on our business but expect that the ACA, as currently enacted or as it may be amended in the future, and other healthcare reform measures that may be adopted in the future could have a material adverse effect on our industry generally and on our ability to maintain or increase sales of our existing products that we successfully commercialize or to successfully commercialize our product candidates, if approved. In addition to the ACA, there will continue to be proposals by legislators at both the federal and state levels, regulators and third party payors to keep healthcare costs down while expanding individual healthcare benefits.
Additional changes that may affect our business include the expansion of new programs such as Medicare payment for performance initiatives for physicians under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, which will be fully implemented in 2019. At this time, it is unclear how the introduction of the Medicare quality payment program will impact overall physician reimbursement. The costs of prescription pharmaceuticals in the United States has also been the subject of considerable discussion in the United States, and members of Congress and the Administration have stated that they will address such costs through new legislative and administrative measures. This focus has resulted in
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several Congressional inquiries and proposed bills designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to product pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for drug products.
We expect that these and other healthcare reform measures that may be adopted in the future may result in more rigorous coverage criteria and in additional downward pressure on the price that we receive for any approved product. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability, or commercialize our product candidates. We expect that additional state and federal healthcare reform measures will be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand for our drug candidates or additional pricing pressures.
The cost of prescription pharmaceuticals in the United States has also been the subject of considerable discussion in the United States, and members of Congress and the Administration have stated that they will address such costs through new legislative and administrative measures. The pricing of prescription pharmaceuticals is also subject to governmental control outside the United States. In these countries, pricing negotiations with governmental authorities can take considerable time after the receipt of marketing approval for a product. To obtain reimbursement or pricing approval in some countries, we may be required to conduct a clinical trial that compares the cost-effectiveness of our product candidates to that of other available therapies. If reimbursement of our products is unavailable or limited in scope or amount, or if pricing is set at unsatisfactory levels, our ability to generate revenues and become profitable could be impaired.
Legislative and regulatory proposals have also been made to expand post-approval requirements and restrict sales and promotional activities for pharmaceutical products. We cannot be sure whether additional legislative changes will be enacted, or whether the FDA regulations, guidance or interpretations will be changed, or what the impact of such changes on the marketing approvals of our product candidates, if any, may be. In addition, increased scrutiny by the Congress of the FDA's approval process may significantly delay or prevent marketing approval, as well as subject us and any future collaborators to more stringent drug labeling and post-marketing testing and other requirements.
Government price controls or other changes in pricing regulation could restrict the amount that we are able to charge for our lead product candidates, if approved, or any of our other product candidates that may be approved in the future, which would adversely affect our revenue and results of operations.
We expect that coverage and reimbursement of pharmaceutical products may be increasingly restricted both in the U.S. and internationally. The escalating cost of health care has led to increased pressure on the health care industry to reduce costs. In particular, drug pricing by pharmaceutical companies recently has come under increased scrutiny and continues to be subject to intense political and public debate in the U.S. and abroad. Government and private third-party payors have proposed health care reforms and cost reductions. A number of federal and state proposals to control the cost of health care, including the cost of drug treatments, have been made in the U.S. Specifically, there have been several recent U.S. Congressional inquiries and proposed bills designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for drugs. In some international markets, the government controls the pricing, which can affect the profitability of drugs. Current government regulations and possible future legislation regarding health care may affect coverage and reimbursement for medical treatment by third-party payors, which may render our product candidates, if approved, not commercially viable or may adversely affect our anticipated future revenues and gross margins.
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We cannot predict the extent to which our business may be affected by these or other potential future legislative or regulatory developments. However, future price controls or other changes in pricing regulation or negative publicity related to the pricing of pharmaceutical drugs generally could restrict the amount that we are able to charge for our future products, which would adversely affect our anticipated revenue and results of operations.
Our relationships with healthcare providers, physicians and third-party payors will be subject to applicable anti-kickback, fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations, which could expose us to penalties, including criminal sanctions, civil penalties, contractual damages, reputational harm and diminished profits and future earnings.
Our relationships with healthcare providers, physicians and third-party payors will subject us to additional healthcare statutory and regulatory requirements and enforcement by the federal government and the states and foreign governments in which we conduct our business. Our future arrangements with healthcare providers, physicians and third-party payors and patients may expose us to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations that may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we market, sell and distribute our products for which we obtain marketing approval. Restrictions under applicable federal and state healthcare laws and regulations include the following:
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Some state laws require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the pharmaceutical industry's voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government and require drug manufacturers to report information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians and other healthcare providers or marketing expenditures and pricing information. State and foreign laws also govern the privacy and security of health information in some circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts.
Efforts to ensure that our business arrangements with third parties will comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. It is possible that governmental authorities will conclude that our business practices may not comply with current or future statutes, regulations or case law involving applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of these laws or any other governmental regulations that may apply to us, we may be subject to significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, imprisonment, exclusion of drugs from government funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations. Although effective compliance programs can mitigate the risk of investigation and prosecution for violations of these laws, these risks cannot be entirely eliminated. Any action against us for an alleged or suspected violation could cause us to incur significant legal expenses and could divert our management's attention from the operation of our business, even if our defense is successful. If any of the physicians or other healthcare providers or entities with whom we expect to do business is found to be not in compliance with applicable laws, it may be costly to us in terms of money, time and resources, and they may be subject to criminal, civil or administrative sanctions, including exclusions from government-funded healthcare programs.
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Coverage and reimbursement may be limited or unavailable in certain market segments for our product candidates, which could make it difficult for us to sell our product candidates profitably.
Successful sales of our product candidates, if approved, depend on the availability of adequate coverage and reimbursement from third-party payors. In addition, because our product candidates represent relatively new approaches to the treatment of cancer, we cannot accurately estimate the potential revenue from our product candidates.
Patients who are provided medical treatment for their conditions generally rely on third-party payors to reimburse all or part of the costs associated with their treatment. Adequate coverage and reimbursement from governmental healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and commercial payors are critical to new product acceptance.
Government authorities and third-party payors, such as private health insurers and health maintenance organizations, decide which drugs and treatments they will cover and the amount of reimbursement. Coverage and reimbursement by a third-party payor may depend upon a number of factors, including the third-party payor's determination that use of a product is:
In the United States, no uniform policy of coverage and reimbursement for products exists among third-party payors. As a result, obtaining coverage and reimbursement approval of a product from a government or other third-party payor is a time-consuming and costly process that could require us to provide to each payor supporting scientific, clinical and cost-effectiveness data for the use of our products on a payor-by-payor basis, with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be obtained. Even if we obtain coverage for a given product, the resulting reimbursement payment rates might not be adequate for us to achieve or sustain profitability or may require co-payments that patients find unacceptably high. Additionally, third-party payors may not cover, or provide adequate reimbursement for, long-term follow-up evaluations required following the use of our products, if approved. Patients are unlikely to use our product candidates unless coverage is provided and reimbursement is adequate to cover a significant portion of the cost of our product candidates. Because our product candidates have a higher cost of goods than conventional therapies, and may require long-term follow up evaluations, the risk that coverage and reimbursement rates may be inadequate for us to achieve profitability may be greater.
We intend to seek approval to market our product candidates in both the United States and in selected foreign jurisdictions. If we obtain approval in one or more foreign jurisdictions for our product candidates, we will be subject to rules and regulations in those jurisdictions. In some foreign countries, particularly those in the EU, the pricing of biologics is subject to governmental control. In these countries, pricing negotiations with governmental authorities can take considerable time after obtaining marketing approval of a product candidate. In addition, market acceptance and sales of our product candidates will depend significantly on the availability of adequate coverage and reimbursement from third-party payors for our product candidates and may be affected by existing and future health care reform measures.
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Our employees, independent contractors, consultants, commercial partners and vendors may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements.
We are exposed to the risk of fraud, misconduct or other illegal activity by our employees, independent contractors, consultants, commercial partners and vendors. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional, reckless and negligent conduct that fails to: comply with the laws of the FDA and other similar foreign regulatory bodies; provide true, complete and accurate information to the FDA and other similar foreign regulatory bodies; comply with manufacturing standards we have established; comply with healthcare fraud and abuse laws in the United States and similar foreign fraudulent misconduct laws; or report financial information or data accurately or to disclose unauthorized activities to us. If we obtain FDA approval of any of our product candidates and begin commercializing those products in the United States, our potential exposure under such laws will increase significantly, and our costs associated with compliance with such laws are also likely to increase significantly. These laws may impact, among other things, our current activities with principal investigators and research patients, as well as proposed and future sales, marketing and education programs. In particular, the promotion, sales and marketing of healthcare items and services, as well as certain business arrangements in the healthcare industry, are subject to extensive laws designed to prevent fraud, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, structuring and commission(s), certain customer incentive programs and other business arrangements generally. Activities subject to these laws also involve the improper use of information obtained in the course of patient recruitment for clinical trials, which could result in regulatory sanctions and cause serious harm to our reputation. It is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct by employees and other parties, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to comply with these laws or regulations. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business, including the imposition of significant fines or other sanctions.
If we fail to comply with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, we could become subject to fines or penalties or incur costs that could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We are subject to numerous environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, including those governing laboratory procedures and the handling, use, storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous materials and wastes. Our operations involve the use of hazardous, radioactive and flammable materials, including chemicals and biological materials. Our operations also produce hazardous waste products. We generally contract with third parties for the disposal of these materials and wastes. We cannot eliminate the risk of contamination or injury from these materials. In the event of contamination or injury resulting from our use of hazardous materials, we could be held liable for any resulting damages, and any liability could exceed our resources. We also could incur significant costs associated with civil or criminal fines and penalties.
Although we maintain workers' compensation insurance to cover us for costs and expenses we may incur due to injuries to our employees resulting from the use of hazardous materials, this insurance may not provide adequate coverage against potential liabilities. We do not maintain insurance for environmental liability or toxic tort claims that may be asserted against us in connection with our storage or disposal of hazardous and flammable materials, including chemicals and biological materials.
In addition, we may incur substantial costs in order to comply with current or future environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. These current or future laws and regulations may impair our research, development or commercialization efforts. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations also may result in substantial fines, penalties or other sanctions.
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Laws and regulations governing any international operations we may have in the future may preclude us from developing, manufacturing and selling certain product candidates outside of the United States and require us to develop and implement costly compliance programs.
We currently have operations in the United States and Denmark and we maintain relationships with CMOs in other parts of Europe as well as in the United States for the manufacture of our product candidates. If we further expand our operations outside of the United States, we must comply with numerous laws and regulations in each new jurisdiction in which we plan to operate. The creation and implementation of international business practices compliance programs is costly and such programs are difficult to enforce, particularly where reliance on third parties is required. We cannot assure you that our compliance policies and procedures are or will be sufficient or that our directors, officers, employees, representatives, consultants and agents have not engaged and will not engage in conduct for which we may be held responsible, nor can we assure you that our business partners have not engaged and will not engage in conduct that could materially affect their ability to perform their contractual obligations to us or even result in our being held liable for such conduct.
The FCPA prohibits any U.S. individual or business from paying, offering, authorizing payment or offering of anything of value, directly or indirectly, to any foreign official, political party or candidate for the purpose of influencing any act or decision of the foreign entity in order to assist the individual or business in obtaining or retaining business. The FCPA also obligates companies whose securities are listed in the United States to comply with certain accounting provisions requiring the company to maintain books and records that accurately and fairly reflect all transactions of the corporation, including international subsidiaries, and to devise and maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls for international operations. The anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA are enforced primarily by the DOJ. The Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, is involved with enforcement of the books and records provisions of the FCPA.
Compliance with the FCPA is expensive and difficult, particularly in countries in which corruption is a recognized problem. In addition, the FCPA presents particular challenges in the pharmaceutical industry because, in many countries, hospitals are operated by the government, and doctors and other hospital employees are considered foreign officials. Certain payments to hospitals in connection with clinical trials and other work have been deemed to be improper payments to government officials and have led to FCPA enforcement actions.
Various laws, regulations and executive orders also restrict the use and dissemination outside of the United States, or the sharing with certain non-U.S. nationals, of information classified for national security purposes, as well as certain products and technical data relating to those products. If we expand our presence outside of the United States, it will require us to dedicate additional resources to comply with these laws, and these laws may preclude us from developing, manufacturing, or selling certain drugs and product candidates outside of the United States, which could limit our growth potential and increase our development costs.
The failure to comply with laws governing international business practices may result in substantial penalties, including suspension or debarment from government contracting. Violation of the FCPA or other export control, anti-corruption, anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism laws or regulations can result in significant civil and criminal penalties. Indictment alone under the FCPA can lead to suspension of the right to do business with the U.S. government until the pending claims are resolved. Conviction of a violation of the FCPA can result in long-term disqualification as a government contractor. The termination of a government contract or relationship as a result of our failure to satisfy any of our obligations under laws governing international business practices would have a negative impact on our operations and harm our reputation and ability to procure government contracts. The SEC also may suspend or bar issuers from trading securities on U.S. exchanges for violations of the FCPA's accounting provisions.
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The impact of the Tax Reform Bill could have a negative effect on us or our stockholders.
On December 20, 2017, Congress passed the Tax Reform Bill and on December 22, 2017, President Trump signed the Tax Reform Bill into law. The Tax Reform Bill makes significant changes to the U.S. federal income tax rules applicable to both individuals and entities, including corporations. There is significant uncertainty as to the impact of the Tax Reform Bill on us, including, but not limited to, our ability to utilize our net operating loss carry forwards, and on any investment in our common stock. For losses arising in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, the amount of net operating losses that we can use to offset taxable income is limited to 80% of our taxable income. You should consult with your tax advisor with respect to the status of U.S. federal tax reform and its potential effect on your investment in our common stock.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property
Our success depends in part on our ability to protect our intellectual property. It is difficult and costly to protect our proprietary rights and technology, and we may not be able to ensure their protection.
Our commercial success will depend in large part on obtaining and maintaining patent, trademark and trade secret protection of our product candidates, products and related proprietary technologies, their respective components, formulations, methods used to manufacture them and methods of treatment, as well as successfully defending these patents against third-party challenges. Our ability to stop unauthorized third parties from making, using, selling, offering to sell or importing our product candidates or products and related proprietary technologies is dependent upon the extent to which we have rights under valid and enforceable patents or trade secrets that cover these activities.
The patenting process is expensive and time-consuming, and we may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner. In addition, we may not be able to pursue or obtain patent protection in all relevant markets. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our research and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection. Our pending and future patent applications may not result in issued patents that protect our product candidates, products or related technologies, in whole or in part. In addition, our existing patents and any future patents we obtain may not be sufficiently broad to prevent others from using our technology or from developing competing product candidates or products and related technologies.
We currently depend on proprietary technology licensed from MSK and may depend on other third party licensors in the future. If we lose our existing licenses or are unable to acquire or license additional proprietary rights from MSK or other third parties, we may not be able to continue developing our products.
We currently in-license certain intellectual property from MSK. In the future we may in-license intellectual property from other licensors. We rely on certain of these licensors to file and prosecute patent applications and maintain patents and otherwise protect the intellectual property we license from them. We have limited control over these activities or any other intellectual property that may be related to our in-licensed intellectual property. For example, we cannot be certain that such activities by these licensors have been or will be conducted in compliance with applicable laws and regulations or will result in valid and enforceable patents and other intellectual property rights. We have limited control over the manner in which our licensors initiate an infringement proceeding against a third-party infringer of the intellectual property rights, or defend certain of the intellectual property that is licensed to us. It is possible that the licensors' infringement proceeding or defense activities may be less vigorous than had we conducted them ourselves.
The growth of our business may depend in part on our ability to acquire or in-license additional proprietary rights. For example, our programs may involve additional product candidates that may require the use of additional proprietary rights held by third parties. Our product candidates or
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products may also require specific formulations to work effectively and efficiently. These formulations may be covered by intellectual property rights held by others. We may develop products containing our compounds and pre-existing pharmaceutical compounds. These pharmaceutical compounds may be covered by intellectual property rights held by others. We may be required by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities to provide a companion diagnostic test or tests with our product candidates. These diagnostic test or tests may be covered by intellectual property rights held by others. We may be unable to acquire or in-license any relevant third-party intellectual property rights that we identify as necessary or important to our business operations. We may fail to obtain any of these licenses at a reasonable cost or on reasonable terms, if at all, which would harm our business. We may need to cease use of the compositions or methods covered by such third-party intellectual property rights, and may need to seek to develop alternative approaches that do not infringe on such intellectual property rights which may entail additional costs and development delays, even if we were able to develop such alternatives, which may not be feasible. Even if we are able to obtain a license under such intellectual property rights, any such license may be non-exclusive, which may allow our competitors to access the same technologies licensed to us.
Additionally, we sometimes collaborate with academic and other institutions, such as MSK, to accelerate our pre-clinical research or development under written agreements with these institutions. In certain cases, these institutions provide us with an option to negotiate a license to any of the institution's rights in technology resulting from the collaboration. Regardless of such option, we may be unable to negotiate a license within the specified timeframe or under terms that are acceptable to us. If we are unable to do so, the institution may offer the intellectual property rights to others, potentially blocking our ability to pursue our program. If we are unable to successfully obtain rights to required third-party intellectual property or to maintain the existing intellectual property rights we have, we may have to abandon development of such program and our business and financial condition could suffer.
The licensing and acquisition of third-party intellectual property rights is a competitive practice, and companies that may be more established, or have greater resources than we do, may also be pursuing strategies to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights that we may consider necessary or attractive in order to commercialize our product candidates, products and related proprietary technologies. More established companies may have a competitive advantage over us due to their larger size and cash resources or greater clinical development and commercialization capabilities. There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully complete such negotiations and ultimately acquire the rights to the intellectual property surrounding the additional product candidates that we may seek to acquire.
We are a party to license agreements with MSK and others, pursuant to which we in-license key patent and patent applications for our product candidates, products and related proprietary technologies. These existing licenses impose various diligence, milestone payment, royalty, insurance and other obligations on us. If we fail to comply with these obligations or otherwise materially breach a license agreement, our licensors may have the right to terminate the license, in which event we would not be able to develop or market the products covered by such licensed intellectual property. In addition, any claims asserted against us by our licensors may be costly and time-consuming, divert the attention of key personnel from business operations or otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business.
Uncertainty as to the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and value of patents, and the potential for future changes in patent and other intellectual property protections, may result in inadequate protection of our as well as in-licensed intellectual property or may result in alleged or actual infringement of the intellectual property rights of third parties.
The patent position of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies generally is highly uncertain and involves complex legal and factual questions for which many legal principles remain
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unresolved. In recent years patent rights have been the subject of significant litigation. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of our patent rights and in-licensed patent rights are highly uncertain. Our pending and future patent applications and in-licensed patent applications may not result in patents being issued in the United States or in other jurisdictions which protect our product candidates, products or related technologies or which effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive technologies and products. Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States and other countries may diminish the value of our and in-licensed patents or narrow the scope of our patent protection. In addition, the laws of foreign countries may not protect our rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. Publications of discoveries in the scientific literature often lag behind the actual discoveries, and patent applications in the United States and other jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after filing, or in some cases not at all. Therefore, we cannot be certain that we were the first to make the inventions claimed in our patents or pending patent applications, or that we were the first to file for patent protection of such inventions. In addition, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, might require that the term of a patent issuing from a pending patent application be disclaimed and limited to the term of another patent that is commonly owned or names a common inventor. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of our as well as in-licensed patent rights are highly uncertain.
Recent or future patent reform legislation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our and in-licensed patent applications and the enforcement or defense of the issued patents. In March 2013, under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, or America Invents Act, the United States moved from a "first to invent" to a "first-to-file" system. Under a "first-to-file" system, assuming the other requirements for patentability are met, the first inventor to file a patent application generally will be entitled to a patent on the invention regardless of whether another inventor had made the invention earlier. The America Invents Act includes a number of other significant changes to U.S. patent law, including provisions that affect the way patent applications are prosecuted, redefine prior art and establish a new post-grant review system. The effects of these changes are currently unclear as the USPTO only recently developed new regulations and procedures in connection with the America Invents Act and many of the substantive changes to patent law, including the "first-to-file" provisions, only became effective in March 2013. In addition, the courts have yet to address many of these provisions and the applicability of the act and new regulations on specific patents discussed herein have not been determined and would need to be reviewed. However, the America Invents Act and its implementation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition. We may become involved in opposition, interference, derivation, inter partes review or other proceedings challenging our patent rights or the patent rights of others, and the outcome of any proceedings are highly uncertain. An adverse determination in any such proceeding could reduce the scope of, or invalidate, our and in-licensed patent rights, allow third parties to commercialize our products, product candidates and related technologies and compete directly with us, without payment to us, or result in our inability to manufacture or commercialize products without infringing third-party patent rights.
Intellectual property rights do not necessarily address all potential threats.
Even if our or in-licensed patent applications issue as patents, they may not issue in a form that will provide us with any meaningful protection, prevent competitors from competing with us or otherwise provide us with any competitive advantage. Our competitors may be able to circumvent our owned or licensed patents by developing similar or alternative technologies or products in a non-infringing manner. The issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its scope, validity or enforceability, and our owned and in-licensed patents may be challenged in the courts or patent offices in the United States and abroad. Such challenges may result in the patent claims of our owned or
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in-licensed patents being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable, which could limit our ability to stop or prevent us from stopping others from using or commercializing similar or identical technology and products, or limit the duration of the patent protection of our product candidates, products and technology. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized. As a result, our and in-licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours or otherwise provide us with a competitive advantage.
The degree of future protection for our proprietary rights is uncertain because legal means afford only limited protection and may not adequately protect our rights or permit us to gain or keep our competitive advantage. For example:
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In addition, during the course of business we have decided not to pursue certain products or processes and we may do so again in the future. If it is later determined that our activities or product candidates infringe this intellectual property we may be liable for damages, enhanced damages or subjected to an injunction, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We also may rely on trade secrets to protect our technology, especially where we do not believe patent protection is appropriate or obtainable. However, trade secrets are difficult to protect, and we have limited control over the protection of trade secrets used by our licensors, collaborators and suppliers. Although we use reasonable efforts to protect our trade secrets, our employees, consultants, contractors, outside scientific collaborators and other advisors may unintentionally or willfully disclose our information to competitors or use such information to compete with us. Moreover, our competitors may independently develop equivalent knowledge, methods and know-how. If our confidential or proprietary information is divulged to or acquired by third parties, including our competitors, our competitive position in the marketplace will be harmed and this would have a material adverse effect on our business.
If any of our owned or in-licensed patents are found to be invalid or unenforceable, or if we are otherwise unable to adequately protect our rights, it could have a material adverse impact on our business and our ability to commercialize or license our technology and product candidates. Likewise, our current owned and in-licensed patents covering our proprietary technologies and our product candidates are expected to expire on various dates from 2021 through 2031, without taking into account any possible patent term adjustments or extensions. Our earliest in-licensed patents were only filed in the United States and may expire before, or soon after, our first product achieves marketing approval in the United States. Upon the expiration of our current patents, we may lose the right to exclude others from practicing these inventions. The expiration of these patents could also have a similar material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects. We own or in-license pending patent applications covering our proprietary technologies or our product candidates that if issued as patents are expected to expire from 2021 through 2035 (2038 assuming the future filing of a priority claiming Patent Cooperation Treaty application), without taking into account any possible patent term adjustments or extensions. However, we cannot be assured that the USPTO or relevant foreign patent offices will grant any of these patent applications.
We may incur substantial costs as a result of litigation or other proceedings relating to patents, and we may be unable to protect our rights to our product candidates, products and technologies.
If we or our licensors choose to go to court to stop a third party from using the inventions claimed in our owned or in-licensed patents, that third party may ask the court to rule that the patents are invalid and/or should not be enforced against that third party. These lawsuits are expensive and would consume time and other resources even if we or they, as the case may be, were successful in stopping the infringement of these patents. In addition, there is a risk that the court will decide that
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these patents are not valid and that we or they, as the case may be, do not have the right to stop others from using the inventions.
There is also the risk that, even if the validity of these patents is upheld, the court will refuse to stop the third party on the ground that such third party's activities do not infringe our owned or in-licensed patents. In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court has recently changed some legal principles that affect patent applications, granted patents and assessment of the eligibility or validity of these patents. As a consequence, issued patents may be found to contain invalid claims according to the newly revised eligibility and validity standards. Some of our owned or in-licensed patents may be subject to challenge and subsequent invalidation or significant narrowing of claim scope in proceedings before the USPTO, or during litigation, under the revised criteria which could also make it more difficult to obtain patents.
We, or our licensors, may not be able to detect infringement against our owned or in-licensed patents, as the case may be, which may be especially difficult for manufacturing processes or formulation patents. Even if we or our licensors detect infringement by a third party of our owned or in-licensed patents, we or our licensors, as the case may be, may choose not to pursue litigation against or settlement with the third party. If we, or our licensors, later sue such third party for patent infringement, the third party may have certain legal defenses available to it, which otherwise would not be available except for the delay between when the infringement was first detected and when the suit was brought. Such legal defenses may make it impossible for us or our licensors to enforce our owned or in-licensed patents, as the case may be, against such third party.
If another party questions the patentability of any of our claims in our owned or in-licensed U.S. patents, the third party can request that the USPTO review the patent claims such as in an inter partes review, ex parte re-exam or post-grant review proceedings. These proceedings are expensive and may result in a loss of scope of some claims or a loss of the entire patent. In addition to potential USPTO review proceedings, we may become a party to patent opposition proceedings in the European Patent Office, or EPO, or similar proceedings in other foreign patent offices, where either our owned or in-licensed foreign patents are challenged. The costs of these opposition or similar proceedings could be substantial, and may result in a loss of scope of some claims or a loss of the entire patent. An unfavorable result at the USPTO, EPO or other patent office may result in the loss of our right to exclude others from practicing one or more of our inventions in the relevant country or jurisdiction, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We may incur substantial costs as a result of litigation or other proceedings relating to intellectual property rights other than patents, and we may be unable to protect our rights to our product candidates, products and technologies.
We may rely on trade secrets and confidentiality or nondisclosure agreements to protect our proprietary technology and know-how, especially where we do not believe patent protection is appropriate or obtainable. Where we enter into agreements imposing confidentiality or nondisclosure obligations upon employees or third parties to protect our proprietary technology and know-how, these confidentiality obligations may be breached or may not provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets or proprietary technology and know-how. Furthermore, despite the existence of such confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements, or other contractual restrictions, we may not be able to prevent the unauthorized disclosure or use of our confidential proprietary information or trade secrets by consultants, vendors, former employees or current employees. In addition, adequate remedies may not be available in the event of an unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of our trade secrets or know-how.
Enforcing a claim that a third party illegally obtained and is using any of our trade secrets is expensive and time consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, courts outside the
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United States may be less willing to protect trade secrets effectively or to the same extent as the laws of the United States. If we choose to go to court to stop a third party from using any of our trade secrets, we may incur substantial costs. These lawsuits may consume our time and other resources even if we are successful.
Third parties may obtain knowledge of our trade secrets through independent development or other access by legal means. The occurrence of such events could limit or preclude our ability to produce or sell our products in a competitive manner or otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business.
If we are sued for infringing patents or other intellectual property rights of third parties, it will be costly and time consuming, and an unfavorable outcome in that litigation may have a material adverse effect on our business.
Our commercial success depends upon our ability to develop, manufacture, market and sell our product candidates or products and use our proprietary technologies without infringing the proprietary rights of third parties. U.S. and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications, which are owned by third parties, exist in the fields relating to our product candidates or products. As the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries expand and more patents are issued, the risk increases that others may assert that our product candidates or products infringe others' patent rights. Moreover, it is not always clear to industry participants, including us, which patents cover various types of drugs, products or their methods of use or manufacture. Thus, because of the large number of patents issued and patent applications filed in our fields, there may be a risk that third parties may allege they have patent rights encompassing our product candidates or products, technologies or methods.
In addition, because some patent applications in the United States may be maintained in secrecy until the patents are issued, patent applications in the United States and many foreign jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after filing, and publications in the scientific literature often lag behind actual discoveries, we cannot be certain that others have not filed patent applications for technology covered by our owned and in-licensed issued patents or our pending applications, or that we or, if applicable, a licensor were the first to invent the technology. Our competitors may have filed, and may in the future file, patent applications covering our products or technology similar to ours. Any such patent application may have priority over our owned and in-licensed patent applications or patents, which could require us to obtain rights to issued patents covering such technologies. If another party has filed a U.S. patent application on inventions similar to those owned by or in-licensed to us, we or, in the case of in-licensed technology, the licensor may have to participate in an interference proceeding declared by the USPTO to determine priority of invention in the United States. If we or one of our licensors is a party to an interference proceeding involving a U.S. patent application on inventions owned by or in-licensed to us, we may incur substantial costs, divert management's time and expend other resources, even if we are successful.
There is a substantial amount of litigation involving patent and other intellectual property rights in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries generally. We may be subject to, or threatened with litigation by third parties having patent or other intellectual property rights alleging that our product candidates or products and/or proprietary technologies infringe, misappropriate or violate their intellectual property rights.
If a third party claims that we infringe its intellectual property rights, we may face a number of issues, including, but not limited to:
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Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of complex patent litigation more effectively than we can because they have substantially greater resources. In addition, any uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of any litigation could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our operations or could otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.
We may choose to challenge the patentability of claims in a third party's U.S. patent by requesting that the USPTO review the patent claims in an ex-parte re-exam, inter partes review or post-grant review proceedings. These proceedings are expensive and may consume our time or other resources. We may choose to challenge a third party's patent in patent opposition proceedings in the EPO, or other foreign patent office. The costs of these opposition proceedings could be substantial, and may consume our time or other resources. If we fail to obtain a favorable result at the USPTO, EPO or other patent office then we may be exposed to litigation by a third party alleging that the patent may be infringed by our product candidates or products or proprietary technologies.
We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights with patents throughout the world.
Filing, prosecuting and defending patents on all of our product candidates or products throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive. Competitors may use our technology in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop their own products and, further, may export otherwise infringing products to territories where we have patent protection but where enforcement is not as strong as in the United States. These products may compete with our product candidates or products in jurisdictions where we do not have any issued patents and our patent claims or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from so competing. Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to biopharmaceuticals, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents or marketing of competing products against third parties in violation of our proprietary rights generally. The initiation of proceedings by third parties to challenge the scope or validity of our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial cost and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business.
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Obtaining and maintaining our patent protection depends upon compliance with various procedural, document submission, fee payment and other requirements imposed by governmental patent agencies, and our patent protection could be reduced or eliminated for non-compliance with these requirements.
The USPTO and various foreign governmental patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other provisions during the patent prosecution process and following the issuance of a patent. Our failure to comply with such requirements could result in abandonment or lapse of a patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. In such an event, competitors might be able to enter the market earlier than would otherwise have been the case if our patent were in force, which would have a material adverse effect on our business.
We may be subject to claims that our licensors, employees, consultants or advisors have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of their former employers or their clients.
As is common in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, we employ individuals who were previously employed at other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. Although no claims against us are currently pending, we may be subject to claims that these employees or we have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed trade secrets or other proprietary information of their former employers. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property claims may cause us to incur significant expenses, and could distract our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments, and, if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the price of our common stock. This type of litigation or proceeding could substantially increase our operating losses and reduce our resources available for development activities. We may not have sufficient financial or other resources to adequately conduct such litigation or proceedings. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of such litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can because of their substantially greater financial resources. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other intellectual property related proceedings could adversely affect our ability to compete in the marketplace.
We have not yet registered our trademarks in the United States. Failure to secure such registrations could adversely affect our business.
We have not yet registered our trademarks in the United States. If we do not successfully register our trademarks, we may encounter difficulty in enforcing, or be unable to enforce, our trademark rights against third parties, which could adversely affect our business and our ability to effectively compete in the marketplace. We have also not yet registered trademarks for any of our product candidates in any jurisdiction. When we file registration applications for trademarks relating to our product candidates, those applications may be rejected, and registered trademarks may not be obtained, maintained or enforced. During trademark registration proceedings in the United States and foreign jurisdictions, we may receive rejections. We are given an opportunity to respond to those rejections, but we may not be able to overcome such rejections. In addition, in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in comparable agencies in many foreign jurisdictions, third parties may oppose pending trademark registration applications or seek to cancel registered trademarks. Opposition or cancellation proceedings may be filed against our trademarks, and our trademark registrations may not survive such proceedings.
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In addition, any proprietary name we propose to use with any of our product candidate in the United States must be approved by the FDA, regardless of whether we have registered, or applied to register, the proposed proprietary name as a trademark. The FDA typically conducts a review of proposed product names, including an evaluation of potential for confusion with other product names. If the FDA objects to any of our proposed proprietary product names, we may be required to expend significant additional resources in an effort to identify a suitable proprietary product name that would qualify under applicable trademark laws, not infringe the existing rights of third parties and be acceptable to the FDA.
If our trademarks and trade names are not adequately protected, then we may not be able to build name recognition in our markets of interest, which may have a material adverse effect on our business.
We rely on our trademarks, trade names, service marks, domain names and logos, as appropriate, to market our brands and to build and maintain brand recognition. We rely on trademark protections to protect our business and our products and services. We generally seek to register and continue to register and renew, or secure by contract where appropriate, trademarks, trade names and service marks as they are developed and used, and reserve, register and renew domain names as appropriate. Our registered trademarks, if any, or unregistered trademarks, trade names or service marks may be challenged, infringed, circumvented or declared generic or determined to be infringing on other marks. Effective trademark protection may not be available or may not be sought in every country in which our products are made available and contractual disputes may affect the use of marks governed by private contract. Similarly, not every variation of a domain name may be available or be registered, even if available. We may not be able to protect our rights to these trademarks, trade names, service marks and domain names, which we need to build brand name recognition in our markets of interest. And while we seek to protect the trademarks we use in the United States and in other countries, we may be unsuccessful in obtaining registrations and/or otherwise protecting these trademarks. If that were to happen, we may be prevented from using our names, brands and trademarks unless we enter into appropriate royalty, license or coexistence agreements. Over the long term, if we are unable to establish name recognition based on our trademarks, trade names, service marks and domain names, then we may not be able to compete effectively, resulting in a material adverse effect on our business.
Risks Related to Employee Matters and Managing Growth
We have a limited number of employees and depend heavily on our executive officers and consultants. Our future success depends on our ability to retain our senior management and other key executives and to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel. The loss of their services could materially harm our business.
We are highly dependent on Thomas Gad, our Founder, Chairman, President and Head of Business Development; Dr. Claus Juan Møller San Pedro, M.D., Ph.D., our Chief Executive Officer; Bo Kruse, our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Treasurer; Joris Wiel Jan Wilms, our Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer; Dr. Torben Lund-Hansen, Ph.D., our Senior Vice President and Head of Technical Operations; and Dr. Steen Lisby, M.D., DMSc, our Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, as well as the other principal members of our management and scientific teams. Our agreements with our executive officers do not prevent them from terminating their employment with us at any time. We do not maintain "key person" insurance for any of our executives or other employees. The loss of the services of any of these persons could impede the achievement of our research, development and commercialization objectives.
Recruiting and retaining qualified scientific, clinical, manufacturing and sales and marketing personnel will also be critical to our success. We intend to conduct our operations in the New York City metropolitan area, in a region that is headquarters to many other biopharmaceutical companies and many academic and research institutions. Competition for skilled personnel is intense and the
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turnover rate can be high, which may limit our ability to hire and retain highly qualified personnel on acceptable terms or at all. We expect that we will need to recruit talent from outside of our region, and doing so may be costly and difficult.
To induce valuable employees to join and remain at our company, in addition to salary and cash incentives, we have provided, and intend to continue to provide, stock option and/or restricted stock grants that vest over time. The value to employees of these equity grants that vest over time may be significantly affected by movements in the fair market value of our capital stock that are beyond our control, and may at any time be insufficient to counteract more lucrative offers from other companies. Although we have employment agreements with our key employees, these employment agreements provide for at-will employment, which means that any of our employees could leave our employment at any time, with or without notice.
In addition, we rely on consultants and advisors, including scientific and clinical advisors, to assist us in formulating our research and development and commercialization strategy. Our consultants and advisors may be employed by employers other than us and may have commitments under consulting or advisory contracts with other entities that may limit their availability to us.
We expect to expand our development and regulatory capabilities and our sales and marketing capabilities, and as a result, we may encounter difficulties in managing our growth, which could disrupt our operations.
We expect to experience significant growth in the number of our employees and the scope of our operations, particularly in the areas of drug development, clinical operations, regulatory affairs and, potentially, sales and marketing. To manage our anticipated future growth, we must continue to implement and improve our managerial, operational and financial systems, expand our facilities and continue to recruit and train additional qualified personnel. Due to our limited financial resources and the limited experience of our management team in managing a company with such anticipated growth, we may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations or recruit and train additional qualified personnel. The physical expansion of our operations may lead to significant costs and may divert our management and business development resources. Any inability to manage growth could delay the execution of our business plans or disrupt our operations.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock and This Offering
After this offering, our executive officers, directors and principal stockholders will maintain ownership of a significant percentage of our stock and will be able to exercise significant influence over matters subject to stockholder approval.
Upon the closing of this offering, our executive officers and directors and our existing stockholders, which own more than 5% of our outstanding common stock before this offering, will, in the aggregate, beneficially own shares representing approximately % of our common stock, not including any shares purchased by these stockholders in this offering. As a result, if these stockholders were to choose to act together, they would be able to control all matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, as well as our management and affairs. For example, these persons, if they choose to act together, would control the election of directors and approval of any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. This concentration of voting power could delay or prevent an acquisition of our company on terms that other stockholders may desire. Certain of our existing stockholders, including certain of our directors and entities affiliated with certain of our directors, have indicated an interest in purchasing an aggregate of up to approximately $30.0 million in shares of our common stock in this offering at the initial public offering price. However, because indications of interest are not binding agreements or commitments to purchase, the underwriters may determine to sell more, fewer or no shares in this offering to any or all of these stockholders, or any or all of these stockholders may determine to purchase more, fewer or no shares in this offering. The underwriters
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will receive the same underwriting discount on any shares purchased by these stockholders as they will on any other shares sold to the public in this offering. The foregoing discussion does not give effet to any potential purchases by these stockholders in this offering.
Provisions in our corporate charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of us, which may be beneficial to our stockholders, more difficult and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws that will become effective upon the closing of this offering may discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or other change in control of us that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which you might otherwise receive a premium for your shares. These provisions could also limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock, thereby depressing the market price of our common stock. In addition, because our board of directors is responsible for appointing the members of our management team, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors. Among other things, these provisions:
Moreover, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, or DGCL, which prohibits a person who owns in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock from merging or combining with us for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person acquired in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock, unless the merger or combination is approved in a prescribed manner.
If you purchase shares of common stock in this offering, you will suffer immediate dilution of your investment.
The initial public offering price of shares of our common stock is substantially higher than the as adjusted net tangible book value per share of our common stock. Therefore, if you purchase shares of our common stock in this initial public offering, you will pay a price per share of common stock that substantially exceeds our as adjusted net tangible book value per share of common stock after this
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initial public offering. To the extent shares of our common stock are issued under outstanding options, you will incur further dilution. Based on the initial public offering price of $15.00 per share of common stock, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover of this prospectus, you will experience immediate dilution of $10.78 per share of common stock, representing the difference between our as adjusted net tangible book value per share of common stock after giving effect to this offering and the assumed initial public offering price per share of common stock. In addition, purchasers of shares of our common stock in this offering will have contributed approximately 39% of the aggregate price paid by all purchasers of shares of our common stock but will own only approximately 16% of our common stock outstanding after this offering.
An active trading market for our common stock may not develop and, as a result, it may be difficult for you to sell your shares of our common stock.
Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our common stock. The initial public offering price for our common stock will be determined through negotiations with the underwriters. Although we plan to list our common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market, an active trading market for our shares may never develop or be sustained following this offering. If an active market for our common stock does not develop or is not sustained, it may be difficult for you to sell shares you purchase in this offering without depressing the market price for the shares, or at all.
If securities analysts do not publish research or reports about our business or if they publish negative evaluations of our stock, the price of our stock could decline.
The trading market for our common stock will rely in part on the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about us or our business. We do not currently have and may never obtain research coverage by industry or financial analysts. If no or few analysts commence coverage of us, the trading price of our stock would likely decrease. Even if we do obtain analyst coverage, if one or more of the analysts covering our business downgrade their evaluations of our stock, the price of our stock could decline. If one or more of these analysts cease to cover our stock, we could lose visibility in the market for our stock, which in turn could cause our stock price to decline.
The price of our common stock may be volatile and fluctuate substantially, which could result in substantial losses for purchasers of our common stock in this offering.
Our stock price is likely to be volatile. The stock market in general and the market for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in particular have experienced extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. As a result of this volatility, you may not be able to sell your common stock at or above the initial public offering price. The market price for our common stock may be influenced by many factors, including:
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We could be subject to securities class action litigation.
In the past, securities class action litigation has often been brought against a company following a decline in the market price of its securities. This risk is especially relevant for us because pharmaceutical companies have experienced significant stock price volatility in recent years. If we face such litigation, it could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management's attention and our resources, which could harm our business.
We have broad discretion in the use of the net proceeds from this offering and may not use them effectively.
Our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds from this offering and could spend the proceeds in ways that do not improve our results of operations or enhance the value of our common stock. The failure by our management to apply these funds effectively could result in financial losses that could have a material adverse effect on our business, cause the price of our common stock to decline and delay the development of our product candidates. Pending their use, we may invest the net proceeds from this offering in a manner that does not produce income or that loses value.
We are an "emerging growth company" and the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies may make our common stock less attractive to investors.
We are an "emerging growth company" as defined in the JOBS Act. We may remain an emerging growth company for up to five years, or until such earlier time as we have more than $1.07 billion in annual revenue, the market value of our stock held by non-affiliates is more than $700.0 million or we issue more than $1 billion of non-convertible debt over a three-year period. For so long as we remain an emerging growth company, we are permitted and intend to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. These exemptions include not being required to comply with the auditor
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attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or Section 404, not being required to comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor's report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements, being permitted to present only two years of audited financial statements and a correspondingly reduced "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" disclosure in this prospectus, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. In this prospectus, we have not included all of the executive compensation related information that would be required if we were not an emerging growth company. We cannot predict whether investors will find our common stock less attractive if we rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile.
In addition, the JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards. This allows an emerging growth company to delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have irrevocably elected not to avail ourselves of this exemption from new or revised accounting standards and, therefore, we will be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies.
We will incur increased costs as a result of operating as a public company, and our management will be required to devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives.
As a public company, and particularly after we are no longer an "emerging growth company," we will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. In addition, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and rules subsequently implemented by the SEC and Nasdaq have imposed various requirements on public companies, including establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls and corporate governance practices. Our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives. Moreover, these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly. For example, we expect that these rules and regulations may make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance.
Pursuant to Section 404, we will be required to furnish a report by our management on our internal control over financial reporting, including an attestation report on internal control over financial reporting issued by our independent registered public accounting firm. However, while we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to include an attestation report on internal control over financial reporting issued by our independent registered public accounting firm. To achieve compliance with Section 404 within the prescribed period, we will be engaged in a process to document and evaluate our internal control over financial reporting, which is both costly and challenging. In this regard, we will need to continue to dedicate internal resources, potentially engage outside consultants and adopt a detailed work plan to assess and document the adequacy of internal control over financial reporting, continue steps to improve control processes as appropriate, validate through testing that controls are functioning as documented and implement a continuous reporting and improvement process for internal control over financial reporting. There is a risk that neither we nor our independent registered public accounting firm will be able to conclude within the prescribed timeframe that our internal control over financial reporting is effective as required by Section 404. This could result in an adverse reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of confidence in the reliability of our financial statements.
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Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.
Utilization of net operating loss carry forwards depends on many factors, including our future income, which cannot be assured, and the impact of the Tax Reform Bill. Under Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, if a corporation undergoes an "ownership change" (generally defined as a greater than 50-percentage-point cumulative change (by value) in the equity ownership of certain stockholders over a rolling three-year period), the corporation's ability to use its pre-change net operating loss carryforwards and other pre-change tax attributes to offset its post-change taxable income or taxes may be limited. As a result of our current and planned fund raising activities, including this offering, we may experience such an "ownership change." We may also experience ownership changes in the future as a result of subsequent shifts in our stock ownership, some of which changes are outside our control. As a result, our ability to use any pre-change net operating loss carryforwards and other pre-change tax attributes to offset post-change taxable income or taxes may be subject to limitation and may harm our future operating results by effectively increasing our future tax obligations.
Because we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our capital stock for the foreseeable future, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be your sole source of gain.
We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock. We currently intend to retain all of our future earnings, if any, to finance the growth and development of our business. In addition, the terms of any future debt agreements may preclude us from paying dividends. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be your sole source of gain for the foreseeable future.
A significant portion of our total outstanding shares are restricted from immediate resale but may be sold into the market in the near future, which could cause the market price of our common stock to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market could occur at any time. These sales, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of our common stock. After this offering, we will have outstanding 32,626,999 shares of common stock, which is based on (i) 26,749,666 shares of common stock outstanding as of June 30, 2018, plus (ii) 448,000 shares of common stock that were issued on August 20, 2018 pursuant to stock grant agreements, (iii) 96,000 shares of common stock that will be issued upon completion of the offering pursuant to a stock grant agreement, and (iv) 5,333,333 shares of our common stock we are selling in this offering. Of these shares of our common stock, 5,333,333 shares to be sold in this offering, plus any shares sold upon exercise of the underwriters' option to purchase additional shares, will be freely tradable, without restriction, in the public market immediately following this offering, unless purchased by our affiliates. All of the remaining shares are currently restricted as a result of securities laws or lock-up agreements but will be able to be sold after the offering as described in the "Shares Eligible for Future Sale" section of this prospectus, including with the prior written consent of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and Cowen and Company, LLC during the term of the lock-up agreements. Moreover, after this offering, holders of an aggregate of shares of our common stock will have rights, subject to certain conditions, to require us to file registration statements covering their shares or to include their shares in registration statements that we may file for ourselves or other stockholders. We also intend to register all shares of common stock that we may issue under our equity compensation plans. Once we register these shares, they can be freely sold in the public market upon issuance, subject to volume limitations applicable to affiliates and the lock-up agreements described in the "Underwriting" section of this prospectus.
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Our certificate of incorporation that will become effective upon the closing of this offering designates the state courts in the State of Delaware or, if no state court located within the State of Delaware has jurisdiction, the federal court for the District of Delaware, as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could discourage lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and employees.
Our certificate of incorporation that will become effective upon the closing of this offering provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if the Court of Chancery does not have jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware) will be the sole and exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or employees to our company or our stockholders, any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or any action asserting a claim against us governed by the internal affairs doctrine. This exclusive forum provision may limit the ability of our stockholders to bring a claim in a judicial forum that such stockholders find favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and employees.
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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND INDUSTRY DATA
This prospectus contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, contained in this prospectus, including statements regarding our strategy, future operations, future financial position, future revenue, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management and expected market growth are forward-looking statements. The words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "target," "would" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words.
These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements about:
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We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements we make. We have included important factors in the cautionary statements included in this prospectus, particularly in the "Risk Factors" section, that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements that we make. Our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, mergers, dispositions, collaborations, joint ventures or investments that we may make or enter into.
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We estimate that the net proceeds to us from the sale of 5,333,333 shares of our common stock in this offering will be approximately $70.0 million, assuming an initial public offering price of $15.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. If the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares, we estimate that the net proceeds from this offering will be approximately $81.2 million.
A $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $15.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease our net proceeds from this offering by approximately $5.0 million, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. We may also increase or decrease the number of shares we are offering. An increase or decrease of 1,000,000 shares in the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease our net proceeds from this offering by approximately $14.0 million, assuming no change in the assumed initial public offering price per share and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.
As of June 30, 2018, we had cash and cash equivalents of $70.2 million. We currently estimate that we will use the net proceeds from this offering, together with our existing cash and cash equivalents, as follows:
This expected use of the net proceeds from this offering and our existing cash and cash equivalents represents our intentions based upon our current plans and business conditions, which could change in the future as our plans and business conditions evolve. The amounts and timing of our actual expenditures may vary significantly depending on numerous factors, including the progress of our development and commercialization efforts, the status of and results from clinical trials, any collaborations that we may enter into with third parties for our product candidates and any unforeseen cash needs. Moreover, our estimates of the costs to fund our clinical trials are based on the current designs of the trials. If we were to modify the design of any of these clinical trials, for instance, to increase the number of patients in the clinical trials, our costs to fund the clinical trials could increase.
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As a result, our management will retain broad discretion over the allocation of the net proceeds from this offering.
Based on our current plans, we believe that our existing cash and cash equivalents, together with the net proceeds from this offering, will be sufficient to enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through the fourth quarter of 2020. We have based this estimate on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could use our available capital resources sooner than we currently expect. We expect that the net proceeds from this offering and our existing cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to enable us to complete each of our ongoing pivotal stage clinical trials for our lead product candidates, naxitamab and omburtamab. However, we do not expect that the net proceeds from this offering and our existing cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to enable us to conduct through completion any additional clinical trials of our lead product candidates for other indications or to otherwise conduct and complete the development of our other product candidates. Accordingly, we will need to raise substantial additional funds for these purposes. We do not currently have any committed external sources of funds.
Pending our use of the net proceeds from this offering, we intend to invest the net proceeds in a variety of capital preservation investments, including short-term, investment-grade, interest-bearing instruments and U.S. government securities.
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We have never declared nor paid cash dividends on our common stock. We currently intend to retain all available funds and all of our future earnings, if any, to finance the growth and development of our business. We do not intend to pay cash dividends in respect of our common stock in the foreseeable future. In addition, future debt instruments may materially restrict our ability to pay dividends on our common stock. Payment of future cash dividends, if any, will be at the discretion of the board of directors after taking into account various factors, including our financial condition, operating results, current and anticipated cash needs, the requirements of then-existing debt instruments, if any, and other agreements and other factors the board of directors deems relevant.
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The following table summarizes our cash and capitalization as of June 30, 2018:
Our capitalization following the closing of this offering will be adjusted based on the actual initial public offering price and other terms of the offering determined at pricing. You should read this table together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes appearing elsewhere in this prospectus and the "Selected Consolidated Financial Data" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections of this prospectus.
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As of June 30, 2018 |
||||||
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|
Actual | As Adjusted | |||||
|
(in thousands) |
||||||
Cash and cash equivalents |
$ | 70,152 | $ | 140,152 | |||
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
Stockholders' equity: |
|||||||
Common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, 50,000,000 shares authorized, 26,749,666 shares issued and outstanding, actual; 100,000,000 shares authorized, 32,626,999 shares issued and outstanding, as adjusted |
3 | 3 | |||||
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value per share, 5,500,000 shares authorized, no shares issued or outstanding, actual; 5,500,000 shares authorized, no shares issued or outstanding, as adjusted |
| | |||||
Additional paid-in capital |
124,955 | 194,955 | |||||
Accumulated and other comprehensive income |
(88 | ) | (88 | ) | |||
Accumulated deficit |
(59,349 | ) | (59,349 | ) | |||
| | | | | | | |
Total stockholders' equity |
65,521 | 135,521 | |||||
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
Total capitalization |
$ | 65,521 | $ | 135,521 | |||
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
The as adjusted information above is illustrative only, and our capitalization following the completion of this offering will be adjusted based on the actual initial public offering price and other terms of this offering determined at pricing. A $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $15.00 per share of common stock, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease the as adjusted amount of each of cash and cash equivalents, additional paid-in capital, total stockholders' equity and total capitalization by $5.0 million, assuming that the number of shares of common stock offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. An increase or decrease of 1,000,000 shares of common stock in the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease the as adjusted amount of each of cash and cash equivalents,
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common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, additional paid-in capital, total stockholders' equity and total capitalization by $14.0 million, assuming no change in the assumed initial public offering price per share and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.
The table above is based on the number of outstanding shares of our common stock as of June 30, 2018, and excludes:
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If you invest in our common stock in this offering, your ownership interest will be diluted immediately to the extent of the difference between the public offering price per share of our common stock and the as adjusted net tangible book value per share of our common stock after this offering.
Our historical net tangible book value (deficit) as of June 30, 2018 was $65.5 million, or $2.45 per share of our common stock. Our historical net tangible book value (deficit) is the amount of our total tangible assets less our total liabilities. Historical net tangible book value (deficit) per share represents our historical net tangible book value (deficit) divided by the 26,749,666 shares of our common stock outstanding as of June 30, 2018.
After giving effect to receipt of the net proceeds from the sale of 5,333,333 shares of our common stock in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $15.00 per share of common stock, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, our as adjusted net tangible book value as of June 30, 2018 would have been $135.5 million, or $4.22 per share. This represents an immediate increase in as adjusted net tangible book value per share of $1.77 to existing stockholders and immediate dilution of $10.78 in as adjusted net tangible book value per share to new investors purchasing common stock in this offering.
Dilution per share to new investors is determined by subtracting as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering from the assumed initial public offering price per share paid by new investors. The following table illustrates this dilution on a per share basis:
Assumed initial public offering price per share |
$ | 15.00 | |||||
Historical net tangible book value (deficit) per share as of June 30, 2018 |
$ | 2.45 | |||||
Increase in as adjusted net tangible book value per share attributable to new investors purchasing shares in this offering |
1.77 | ||||||
| | | | | | | |
As adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering |
4.22 | ||||||
| | | | | | | |
Dilution per share to new investors purchasing shares in this offering |
$ | 10.78 | |||||
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
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A $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $15.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease our as adjusted net tangible book value by $5.0 million, our as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering by $0.16 and dilution per share to new investors purchasing shares in this offering by $0.84, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. An increase of 1,000,000 shares in the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase the as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering by $0.30 and decrease the dilution per share to new investors participating in this offering by $0.30, assuming no change in the assumed initial public offering price and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. A decrease of 1,000,000 shares in the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would decrease the as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering by $0.31 and increase the dilution per share to new investors participating in this offering by $0.31, assuming no change in the assumed initial public offering price and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.
If the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full, our as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering would be $4.46 per share, representing an immediate increase in as adjusted net tangible book value per share of $2.01 to existing stockholders
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and immediate dilution in as adjusted net tangible book value per share of $10.54 to new investors purchasing common stock in this offering, assuming an initial public offering price of $15.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. If any shares are issued upon exercise of outstanding options, you will experience further dilution.
The following table summarizes as of June 30, 2018, on the as adjusted basis described above, the number of shares of common stock purchased from us, the total consideration paid to us and the average price per share paid by existing stockholders and by new investors purchasing shares of common stock in this offering. The calculation below is based on an assumed initial public offering price of $15.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, before deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us:
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Shares Purchased | Total Consideration | |
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Number | Percent | |
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Weighted Average Price Per Share |
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% | Amount | Percent | |||||||||||||
Existing stockholders |
26,749,666 | 83 | % | $ | 124,788,000 | 61 | % | $ | 4.67 | |||||||
New investors |
5,333,333 | 17 | 80,000,000 | 39 | 15.00 | |||||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Total |
32,082,999 | 100.0 | % | $ | 204,788,000 | 100.0 | % | $ | 6.38 | |||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
A $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $15.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease the total consideration paid by new investors by $5.3 million and, in the case of an increase, would increase the percentage of total consideration paid by new investors by two percentage points and, in the case of a decrease, would decrease the percentage of total consideration paid by new investors by two percentage points, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same. An increase or decrease of 1,000,000 shares in the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease the total consideration paid by new investors by $15.0 million and, in the case of an increase, would increase the percentage of total consideration paid by new investors by four percentage points and, in the case of a decrease, would decrease the percentage of total consideration paid by new investors by five percentage points, assuming no change in the assumed initial public offering price.
The table above assumes no exercise of the underwriters' option to purchase additional shares in this offering. If the underwriters' option to purchase additional shares is exercised in full, the number of shares of our common stock held by existing stockholders would be reduced to 81% of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding after this offering, and the number of shares of common stock held by new investors participating in the offering would be increased to 19% of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding after this offering.
The number of shares purchased from us by existing stockholders is based on 26,749,666 shares of our common stock outstanding as of June 30, 2018, and excludes:
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Furthermore, we may choose to raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities due to market conditions or strategic considerations even if we believe we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans. New investors will experience further dilution if any of our outstanding options or warrants are exercised, new options are issued and exercised under our equity incentive plans or we issue additional shares of common stock, other equity or convertible debt securities in the future. See the section herein entitled "Risk FactorsIf you purchase shares of common stock in this offering, you will suffer immediate dilution of your investment."
Certain of our existing stockholders, including certain of our directors and entities affiliated with certain of our directors, have indicated an interest in purchasing an aggregate of up to approximately $30.0 million in shares of our common stock in this offering at the initial public offering price. However, because indications of interest are not binding agreements or commitments to purchase, the underwriters may determine to sell more, fewer or no shares in this offering to any or all of these stockholders, or any or all of these stockholders may determine to purchase more, fewer or no shares in this offering. The underwriters will receive the same underwriting discount on any shares purchased by these stockholders as they will on any other shares sold to the public in this offering. The foregoing discussion does not give effect to any potential purchases by these stockholders in this offering.
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SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA
The following tables set forth our selected consolidated financial data for the period indicated. We have derived the consolidated statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2017 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2017 from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. We have derived the selected financial data for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2018, and the balance sheet data as of June 30, 2018, from our unaudited consolidated financial statements, which have been included elsewhere in this prospectus and have been prepared on the same basis as the audited financial statements. In the opinion of management, the unaudited data reflects all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair statement of the financial information in those statements. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that should be expected for any future period. You should read the following selected consolidated financial data together with the more detailed information contained in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.
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Year Ended December 31, | Six Months Ended June 30, |
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2016 | 2017 | 2017 | 2018 | |||||||||
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(in thousands, except per share data) |
(in thousands, except per share data) |
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Consolidated Statement of Operations Data: |
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Revenue |
$ | | $ | | $ | | $ | | |||||
Operating expenses: |
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Research and development |
13,855 | 14,307 | 4,606 | 14,497 | |||||||||
General and administrative |
3,184 | 4,937 | 1,521 | 3,240 | |||||||||
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Total operating expenses |
17,039 | 19,244 | 6,127 | 17,737 | |||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Loss from operations |
(17,039 | ) | (19,244 | ) | (6,127 | ) | (17,737 | ) | |||||
Interest and other income (expense) |
(18 | ) | 83 | 46 | (51 | ) | |||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net loss |
$ | (17,057 | ) | $ | (19,161 | ) | $ | (6,081 | ) | $ | (17,788 | ) | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net loss attributable to common stockholders |
$ | (17,057 | ) | $ | (19,161 | ) | $ | (6,081 | ) | $ | (17,788 | ) | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net loss per share attributable to common stockholdersbasic and diluted(1) |
$ | (1.21 | ) | $ | (0.99 | ) | $ | (0.34 | ) | $ | (0.66 | ) | |
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Weighted-average common shares outstanding used in computing net loss per share attributable to common stockholdersbasic and diluted(1) |
14,087,456 | 19,397,506 | 17,644,530 | 26,749,666 | |||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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As of December 31, | |
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As of June 30, 2018 |
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|
2016 | 2017 | ||||||||
|
(in thousands) |
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Consolidated Balance Sheet Data: |
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Cash and cash equivalents |
$ | 16,875 | $ | 90,483 | $ | 70,152 | ||||
Working capital(1) |
14,286 | 83,430 | 66,002 | |||||||
Total assets |
17,261 | 92,127 | 73,298 | |||||||
Total liabilities |
5,200 | 9,975 | 7,777 | |||||||
Accumulated deficit |
(22,400 | ) | (41,561 | ) | (59,349 | ) | ||||
Total stockholders' equity |
12,061 | 82,152 | 65,521 |
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MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL
CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our accompanying financial statements and related notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus. Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis or set forth elsewhere in this prospectus, including information with respect to our plans and strategy for our business and related financing, includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. As a result of many factors, including those factors set forth in the "Risk Factors" section of this prospectus, our actual results could differ materially from the results described in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in the following discussion and analysis. For convenience of presentation some of the numbers have been rounded in the text below.
Overview
We are a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel, antibody-based therapeutic products for the treatment of cancer. We have a broad and advanced product pipeline, including two pivotal-stage product candidatesnaxitamab and omburtamabwhich target tumors that express GD2 and B7-H3, respectively. We are developing naxitamab for the treatment of pediatric patients with R/R high-risk NB, and radiolabeled omburtamab for the treatment of pediatric patients with CNS/LM, from NB. NB is a rare and almost exclusively pediatric cancer that develops in the sympathetic nervous system and CNS/LM is a rare and usually fatal complication of NB in which the disease spreads to the membranes, or meninges, surrounding the brain and spinal cord in the CNS.
We expect to submit a BLA for each of our two lead product candidates in 2019, with a goal of receiving approval by the FDA in 2020. We plan to commercialize both of our lead product candidates in the United States as soon as possible after obtaining FDA approval, if such approval occurs. Additionally, we have two omburtamab follow-on product candidates in pre-clinical development, omburtamab-DTPA and huB7-H3, a humanized version of omburtamab, each targeting indications with large adult patient populations. We are also advancing a pipeline of novel BsAbs through late pre-clinical development, including our huGD2-BsAb product candidate for the treatment of refractory GD2-positive adult and pediatric solid tumors and our huCD33-BsAb product candidate for the treatment of hematological cancers expressing CD33, a transmembrane receptor expressed on cells of myeloid lineage. We believe our BsAbs have the potential to result in improved tumor-binding, longer serum half-life and significantly greater T-cell mediated killing of tumor cells without the need for continuous infusion. Our mission is to become the world leader in developing better and safer antibody-based pediatric oncology products addressing clear unmet medical needs and, as such, have a transformational impact on the lives of patients. We intend to advance and expand our product pipeline into certain adult cancer indications either independently or in collaboration with potential partners.
Since our inception in April 2015, we have devoted substantially all of our resources to organizing and staffing our company, business planning, identifying potential product candidates, conducting pre-clinical studies of our product candidates and clinical trials of our lead product candidates, raising capital, and acquiring and developing our technology platform among other matters. We do not have any products approved for sale and have not generated any revenues from product sales. To date, we have financed our operations primarily through private placements of our securities. We have received aggregate gross proceeds of $119.6 million through June 30, 2018 from the sale and issuance of our common stock.
As of June 30, 2018, we had an accumulated deficit of $59.3 million. Our net losses were $17.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, $19.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, $6.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and $17.8 million for the six months ended
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June 30, 2018. We have incurred significant net operating losses in every year since our inception and expect to continue to incur increasing net operating losses and significant expenses for the foreseeable future. Our net losses may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year. We anticipate that our expenses will increase significantly as we:
We believe that our cash on hand together with the net proceeds from this offering will be sufficient to fund our operations through the fourth quarter of 2020. We do not expect to generate revenues from product sales unless and until we successfully complete development and obtain regulatory approval for a product candidate, which is subject to significant uncertainty and may never occur. Although no assurance can be given, our goal is to complete the development of our lead product candidates, naxitamab for the treatment of pediatric R/R high-risk NB, and omburtamab for the treatment of CNS/LM from NB, by the end of 2019. Additionally, we currently use CROs and CMOs to carry out our pre-clinical and clinical development activities and we do not yet have a sales organization.
Moreover, pursuant to the MSK License, we have obtained exclusive rights to MSK's rights in our current product candidates. Under the MSK License, we have committed to funding scientific research and conducting certain clinical trial actitivities at MSK through 2020. As these product candidates progress through clinical development, regulatory approval and commercialization, certain milestone payments will come due either as a result of the milestones having been met or the passage of time even if the milestones have not been met. Also, we will owe MSK customary royalties on commercial sales of our approved products, including a fixed minimum royalty starting in 2020 whether or not product sales are ever achieved. In addition, we have committed to obtain certain personnel and laboratory services at MSK under our MDSA, and two separate CFSAs. Also under our MCTA with MSK, we will provide drug product and funding for certain clinical trials at MSK. These MSK agreements are important to our business. For a more detailed discussion of the terms and conditions of these agreements, see the section herein entitled "BusinessIntellectual PropertyMSK Agreements."
If we obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates, we expect to incur significant commercialization expenses related to product sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution. Accordingly, we may continue to fund our operations through public or private equity or debt financings or other sources, including strategic collaborations. We may, however, be unable to raise additional funds or enter into such other arrangements when needed on favorable terms or at all. Our failure to raise capital or enter into such other arrangements as and when needed would have a negative impact on our financial condition and our ability to develop our current product candidates, or any additional product candidates, if developed. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties
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associated with the development of our existing product candidates and any future product candidates, our platform and technology and because the extent to which we may enter into collaborations with third parties for development of any of our product candidates is unknown, we are unable to estimate the amounts of increased capital outlays and operating expenses associated with completing the research and development of our product candidates. If we raise additional funds through collaborations, strategic alliances, or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs, product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us and could have a negative impact on our financial condition.
Components of Our Results of Operations
Revenue
To date, we have not generated any revenue from product sales and do not expect to do so in the near future. We expect that we will experience increasing losses as we continue our development of, and seek regulatory approvals for, our product candidates and begin to commercialize any approved products. Our ability to generate revenue for each product candidate for which we receive regulatory approval, if any, will depend on numerous factors, including reimbursement, coverage, competition, commercial manufacturing capability and market acceptance of such approved products.
Operating Expenses
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development expenses consist of expenses incurred in connection with the discovery and development of our product candidates. We expense research and development costs as incurred. These expenses include:
The successful development of our product candidates is highly uncertain. At this time, we cannot reasonably estimate or know the nature, timing and costs of the efforts that will be necessary to complete the remainder of the development of, or when, if ever, material net cash inflows may commence from naxitamab and omburtamab or any future product candidates we may develop. This
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uncertainty is due to the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with the duration and cost of clinical trials, which vary significantly over the life of a project as a result of many factors, including:
Our expenditures are subject to additional uncertainties, including the terms and timing of regulatory approvals. We may never succeed in achieving regulatory approval for naxitamab, omburtamab or any other product candidates we may develop.
A change in the outcome of any of these variables with respect to the development of a product candidate could mean a significant change in the costs and timing associated with the development of that product candidate. For example, if the FDA or another regulatory authority were to require us to conduct clinical trials beyond those that we anticipate will be required for the completion of clinical development of a product candidate, or if we experience significant delays in our clinical trials due to patient enrollment or other reasons, we would be required to expend significant additional financial resources and time on the completion of clinical development.
Research and development activities are central to our business model. Product candidates in later stages of clinical development, like naxitamab and omburtamab, generally have higher development costs than those in earlier stages of clinical development, primarily due to the increased size and duration of later-stage clinical trials. We expect our research and development expenses to increase significantly over the next several years as we increase personnel costs, including stock-based compensation, conduct clinical trials and potentially prepare regulatory filings for naxitamab and omburtamab.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of employee related expenses, including salaries, bonus, benefits, and stock-based compensation expenses for personnel in executive, finance and administrative functions. Other significant costs include facility costs not otherwise included in research
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and development expenses, legal fees relating to corporate matters, and fees for patent, accounting, tax, and consulting services.
We anticipate that our general and administrative expenses will increase in the future to support continued research and development activities, potential commercialization of our product candidates and increased costs associated with operating as a public company, including expenses related to services associated with maintaining compliance with exchange listing and the SEC requirements, regulatory expenses, director and officer insurance costs and investor and public relations costs. These increases will likely include increased costs related to the hiring of additional personnel and fees to outside consultants, lawyers and accountants, among other expenses. Additionally, if and when we believe a regulatory approval of a product candidate appears likely, we anticipate an increase in payroll and other employee-related expenses as a result of our preparation for commercial operations, especially as it relates to the sales and marketing of that product candidate.
Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Judgments and Estimates
Our management's discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our financial statements, which we have prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. We believe that several accounting policies are significant to understanding our historical and future performance. We refer to these policies as critical because these specific areas generally require us to make judgments and estimates about matters that are uncertain at the time we make the estimate, and different estimateswhich also would have been reasonablecould have been used. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and judgments, including those described in greater detail below. We base our estimates on historical experience and other market-specific or other relevant assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
While our significant accounting policies are described in more detail in the notes to our financial statements appearing elsewhere in this prospectus, we believe the following accounting policies to be most critical to the judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our financial statements.
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development costs are charged to operations when incurred and are included in operating expenses. Research and development costs consist principally of compensation cost for our employees and consultants that perform our research activities, the fees paid to maintain our licenses, the payments to third parties for manufacturing and clinical research organizations and additional product development, and consumables and other materials used in research and development. We record accruals for estimated ongoing research costs. When evaluating the adequacy of the accrued liabilities, we analyze progress of the studies or clinical trials, including the phase or completion of events, invoices received and contracted costs. Actual results could differ from our estimates. We are obligated to make certain milestone and royalty payments in accordance with the contractual terms of the MSK License based upon the resolution of certain contingencies. Certain of these milestone payments are due and payable with the passage of time whether or not the milestones have actually been met. We record the milestone and royalty payment when the achievement of the milestone (including the passage of time) or payment of the milestone or royalty is probable and the amount of the payment is reasonably estimable.
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Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Significant estimates and assumptions reflected in these financial statements include, but are not limited to, the accrual for research and development expenses, the accrual of milestone and royalty payments, the valuation of shares of common stock and stock options. Estimates are periodically reviewed in light of changes in circumstances, facts and experience. Changes in estimates are recorded in the period in which they become known. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Income Taxes
We account for income taxes under the asset and liability approach for the financial accounting and reporting of income taxes. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to net operating loss carry forwards and temporary differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. These assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which the temporary differences are expected to reverse. A valuation allowance is established when management determines that it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized.
We prepare and file tax returns based on its interpretation of tax laws and regulations. In the normal course of business, our tax returns are subject to examination by various taxing authorities. Such examinations may result in future tax and interest assessments by these taxing authorities. In determining our tax provision for financial reporting purposes, we establish a reserve for uncertain tax positions unless such positions are determined to be more likely than not of being sustained upon examination based on their technical merits. We consider many factors when evaluating and estimating our tax positions and tax benefits, which may require periodic adjustments and which may not accurately anticipate actual outcomes. Accordingly, we will report a liability for unrecognized tax benefits resulting from any uncertain tax positions taken or expected to be taken on a tax return.
Our policy is to recognize, when applicable, interest and penalties on uncertain tax positions as part of income tax expense.
Stock-Based Compensation
We measure stock options granted to employees and directors based on the fair value on the date of the grant and recognize compensation expense of those awards, over the requisite service period, which is the vesting period of the respective award. Forfeitures are accounted for as they occur. We issue stock options to employees and directors with only service-based vesting conditions and record the expense for these awards using the straight-line method over the requisite service period.
For share-based awards granted to non-employees, compensation expense is recognized over the period during which services are rendered by such non-employees until completed. At the end of each financial reporting period prior to completion of the service, the fair value of these awards is remeasured using the then-current fair value of our shares of common stock and updated assumption inputs in the Black-Scholes option-pricing model.
The fair value of each stock option grant is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. Historically, we have been a private company and lack company-specific historical and implied volatility information for our shares. Therefore, we estimate our expected share price volatility based on the historical volatility of a group of publicly-traded peer companies and we
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expect to continue to do so until such time as we have adequate historical data regarding the volatility of our own traded share price. The expected term of our stock options has been determined utilizing the "simplified" method for awards as we have limited historical data to support the expected term assumption. The expected term of stock options granted to non-employees is equal to the contractual term of the option award. The risk-free interest rate is determined by reference to the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant of the award for time periods approximately equal to the expected term of the award. The expected dividend yield is based on the fact that we have never paid cash dividends on shares of our common stock and do not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.
Determination of the Fair Value of Common Stock
As there has been no public market for our common stock to date, the estimated fair value of our common stock has been determined by our board of directors as of the date of each award grant, with input from management, considering our most recently completed or ongoing private placement activities and most recently available third-party valuation of our common stock. Third-party valuations were performed in accordance with the guidance outlined in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' Accounting and Valuation Guide, Valuation of Privately-Held-Company Equity Securities issued as Compensation. This process resulted in estimated fair value of our common stock of $0.20 per share as of June 6, 2015; $4.38 per share as of May 20, 2016; $4.38 per share as of October 21, 2016; $4.38 per share as of August 22, 2016; $8.50 per share as of December 14, 2016; $9.35 per share as of September 13, 2017; $9.35 per share as of December 5, 2017 and $11.16 per share as of April 24, 2018. In addition to considering the results of such recently completed or ongoing private placements, our board of directors considered various objective and subjective factors to determine the fair value of our common stock as of each grant date including:
The assumptions underlying these valuations represent management's best estimates, which involve inherent uncertainties and the application of management judgment. As a result, if factors or expected outcomes change and we use significantly different assumptions or estimates, our stock-based compensation expense could be materially different.
Following the completion of this offering, the fair value of our common stock will be determined based on the quoted market price of our common stock.
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Stock Options Granted
The following table sets forth by grant date the number of shares of common stock subject to options granted in 2016 and 2017, the per share exercise price of the options, the fair value per share of common stock on each grant date, and the per share estimated fair value of the options:
Grant Date
|
Type of Award |
Number of Shares |
Per Share Exercise Price |
Estimated Fair Value Per Share on Grant Date |
||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
May 20, 2016 |
Option | 220,000 | $ | 4.38 | $ | 2.66 | ||||||
August 22, 2016 |
Option | 20,000 | $ | 4.38 | $ | 2.58 | ||||||
October 21, 2016 |
Option | 571,000 | $ | 4.38 | $ | 2.63 | ||||||
December 14, 2016 |
Option | 48,000 | $ | 8.50 | $ | 5.26 | ||||||
September 13, 2017 |
Option | 40,000 | $ | 9.35 | $ | 5.58 | ||||||
December 5, 2017 |
Option | 20,000 | $ | 9.35 | $ | 5.62 | ||||||
April 24, 2018 |
Option | 520,373 | $ | 11.16 | $ | 6.42 - $8.09 | ||||||
July 10, 2018 |
Option | 60,000 | $ | 13.11 | $ | 7.54 |
Fair Value of Stock Options
The fair value of each stock option grant is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model.
The assumptions that the Company used to determine the fair value of the stock options granted to employees and directors were as follows, presented on a weighted average basis:
|
Year Ended | Year Ended | Period Ended | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
December 3l, 2017 |
December 3l, 2016 |
June 30, 2018 |
|||||||
|
|
|
(unaudited) |
|||||||
Risk-free interest rate |
2.10 | % | 1.77 | % | 2.95 | % | ||||
Expected term (in years) |
7.0 | 7.0 | 6.3 | |||||||
Expected volatility |
58.9 | % | 60.6 | % | 58.2 | % | ||||
Expected dividend yield |
0 | % | 0 | % | 0 | % |
The assumptions that the Company used to determine the fair value of the stock options granted to non-employees were as follows, presented on a weighted average basis:
|
Period Ended June 30, 2018 |
|||
---|---|---|---|---|
|
(unaudited) |
|||
Risk-free interest rate |
3.00 | % | ||
Expected term (in years) |
10.0 | |||
Expected volatility |
62.7 | % | ||
Expected dividend yield |
0 | % |
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Results of Operations
Comparison of the Six Months Ended June 30, 2017 and 2018
The following table summarizes our results of operations for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2018:
|
Six Months Ended June 30, |
|
||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2017 | 2018 | Change | |||||||
|
(in thousands) |
|
||||||||
Operating expenses: |
||||||||||
Research and development |
$ | 4,606 | $ | 14,497 | $ | 9,891 | ||||
General and administrative |
1,521 | 3,240 | 1,719 | |||||||
Total operating expenses |
6,127 | 17,737 | 11,610 | |||||||
Loss from operations |
(6,127 | ) | (17,737 | ) | (11,610 | ) | ||||
Interest and other income (expense) |
46 | (51 | ) | (97 | ) | |||||
| | | | | | | | | | |
Net loss |
$ | (6,081 | ) | $ | (17,788 | ) | $ | (11,707 | ) | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
Research and Development Expenses
We do not record our research and development expenses on a program-by-program or on a product-by-product basis as they primarily relate to personnel, research, manufacturing, license fees, non-cash expense in connection with equity issuances to strategic partner and consumable costs, which are simultaneously deployed across multiple projects under development. These costs are included in the table below.
|
Six Months Ended June 30, |
||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2017 | 2018 | |||||
|
(in thousands) |
||||||
Outsourced manufacturing |
$ | 1,709 | $ | 4,719 | |||
License Agreements (milestone and royalty obligations) |
150 | 700 | |||||
Clinical Trials |
84 | 2,246 | |||||
Outsourced research and supplies |
1,824 | 4,014 | |||||
Personnel costs |
250 | 1,259 | |||||
Professional and consulting fees |
438 | 477 | |||||
Stock based compensation |
74 | 709 | |||||
Other |
77 | 373 | |||||
| | | | | | | |
|
$ | 4,606 | $ | 14,497 | |||
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
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Research and development expenses increased by $9.9 million from $4.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017, to $14.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018. This was primarily due to a $4.4 million increase in clinical trial costs and outsourced research and supplies for our lead product candidates, naxitamab and omburtamab. In addition, outsourced manufacturing expenses increased by $3.0 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018, due to our increased need for clinical trial supply. Employee-related costs including salary, benefits and non-cash stock-based compensation for personnel related to our research activities, increased by $1.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018, due to our expanding work force. Fees paid under license agreements increased by $0.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses increased by $1.7 million, from $1.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017, to $3.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018. The increase in general and administrative expenses was primarily attributable to a $0.9 million increase in fees for auditors, legal advice and other consultancy services. In addition, employee related costs, including salary, benefits and non-cash stock-based compensation for personnel related to our business activities increased by $0.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018. The increase in general and administrative expenses primarily relates to the infrastructure and administrative costs of becoming a public company.
Interest and Other Income (Expense)
Other Income for the six months ended June 30, 2017 were $46,000 as compared to Other Expenses of $(51,000) for the six months ended June 30, 2018. Our interest income has not been significant due to low investment balances and low interest earned on those balances.
Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2016 and 2017
The following table summarizes our results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2017:
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2016 | 2017 | Change | |||||||
|
(in thousands) |
|
||||||||
Operating expenses: |
||||||||||
Research and development |
$ | 13,855 | $ | 14,307 | $ | 452 | ||||
General and administrative |
3,184 | 4,937 | 1,753 | |||||||
Total operating expenses |
17,039 | 19,244 | 2,205 | |||||||
Loss from operations |
(17,039 | ) | (19,244 | ) | (2,205 | ) | ||||
Interest and other income (expense) |
(18 | ) | 83 | 101 | ||||||
| | | | | | | | | | |
Net loss |
$ | (17,057 | ) | $ | (19,161 | ) | $ | (2,104 | ) | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
Research and Development Expenses
We do not record our research and development expenses on a program-by-program or on a product-by-product basis as they primarily relate to personnel, research, manufacturing, license fees, non-cash expense in connection with equity issuances to strategic partner and consumable costs, which
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are simultaneously deployed across multiple projects under development. These costs are included in the table below.
|
Year Ended December 31, |
||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2016 | 2017 | |||||
|
(in thousands) |
||||||
Outsourced manufacturing |
$ | 6,007 | $ | 5,931 | |||
License agreements (milestone and royalty obligations) |
2,875 | 700 | |||||
Non-cash expense in connection with equity issuance to strategic partner |
2,280 | | |||||
Clinical Trials |
| 634 | |||||
Outsourced research and supplies |
2,064 | 5,063 | |||||
Personnel costs |
321 | 892 | |||||
Professional and consulting fees |
310 | 884 | |||||
Stock based compensation |
93 | 167 | |||||
Biotechnology tax credit |
(200 | ) | (167 | ) | |||
Other |
105 | 203 | |||||
| | | | | | | |
|
$ | 13,855 | $ | 14,307 | |||
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
Research and development expenses increased by $0.4 million, from $13.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, to $14.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. This was primarily due to a $3.0 million increase in outsourced services and supplies, primarily obtained from MSK and CROs for our lead product candidates, naxitamab and omburtamab. Other clinical trial costs increased by $0.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. Employee-related costs including salary, benefits and non-cash stock-based compensation for personnel related to our research activities, increased by $0.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. Professional and consulting fees increased by $0.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. These increases were partly offset by $2.3 million of non-cash expense in connection with equity issuance to MSK in 2016 and a $2.2 million decrease in milestone and royalty obligations expensed under the Company's license agreements.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses increased by $1.7 million, from $3.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, to $4.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. The increase in general and administrative expenses was primarily attributable to a $0.6 million increase in employee-related costs, including salary, benefits and non-cash stock-based compensation for personnel related to our business activities. In addition, fees for auditors, legal advice and other consultancy services increased by $1.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2017.
Interest and Other Income (Expense)
Other Expenses for the year ended December 31, 2016 were $(18,000) as compared to Other Income of $83,000 for the year ended December 31, 2017. Our interest income has not been significant due to low investment balances and low interest earned on those balances.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Overview
Since our inception we have incurred significant net operating losses and expect to continue to incur increasing net operating losses and significant expenses for the foreseeable future. Our net losses may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year. We do not currently have any approved products and have never generated any revenue from product sales. We have financed our
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operations through June 30, 2018 primarily through gross proceeds of $119.6 million from the sale of our common stock. As of June 30, 2018, we had cash and cash equivalents of $70.2 million. We will need additional capital to continue funding our operations, which we may obtain from additional equity or debt financings, collaborations, licensing arrangements, or other sources.
Cash Flows
The following table provides information regarding our cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2017 and the six months ended June 30, 2017 and June 30, 2018:
|
Year Ended December 31, |
Six Months Ended June 30, |
|||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2016 | 2017 | 2017 | 2018 | |||||||||
|
(in thousands) |
||||||||||||
Cash used in operating activities |
$ | (11,166 | ) | $ | (15,870 | ) | $ | (6,882 | ) | $ | (18,464 | ) | |
Cash used in investing activities |
| | | (124 | ) | ||||||||
Cash provided by financing activities |
18,972 | 89,586 | 10,137 | (1,768 | ) | ||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents |
$ | 7,806 | $ | 73,608 | $ | 3,180 | $ | (20,331 | ) | ||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net Cash Used in Operating Activities
The use of cash in all periods resulted primarily from our net losses adjusted for non-cash charges and changes in components of working capital.
Net cash used in operating activities was $11.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2016, as compared to $15.9 million during the year ended December 31, 2017. The $4.7 million increase in net cash used in operations was primarily due to an increase in our net loss of $2.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. This increase was primarily due to an increase in our operating expenses in connection with the development of our lead product candidates, naxitamab and omburtamab, and the expansion of our other business activities. The net loss for the year ended December 31, 2016 included a $2.3 million non-cash expense in connection with an equity issuance to MSK. Non-cash expenses also included stock-based compensation to employees, which increased by $0.4 million. Adjustment of working capital reflects changes in other assets, accrued expenses, accounts payable, and other non-current liabilities of $2.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, as compared to $3.4 million the year ended December 31, 2016.
Net cash used in operating activities was $6.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017, as compared to $18.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018. The $11.6 million increase in net cash used in operations was primarily due to an increase of $11.7 million in our net loss for the six months ended June 30, 2018. This increase was primarily due to our operational expenses in connection with the development of our lead product candidates, naxitamab and omburtamab, and the expansion of our other business activities. Non-cash expenses also included stock-based compensation to employees, which increased by $0.8 million. Adjustments to working capital reflect changes in other current assets, other assets, accrued liabilities, accounts payable and other non-current liabilities of $1.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017, as compared to $1.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018.
Net Cash Used in Investing Activities
Net cash used in investing activities was $0.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018, as compared to no investment activities for the six months ended June 30, 2017. The $0.1 million increase in net cash used in investing activities was primarily caused by a $0.1 million investment in furniture for our new office facilities.
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Net Cash Provided by Financing Activities
Net cash provided by financing activities was $19.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2016, as compared to $89.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2017. The increase in cash provided by financing activities was attributable to net proceeds of $89.9 million related to the issuance of common stock from private placements in the year ended December 31, 2017.
Net cash provided by financing activities was $10.1 million as net proceeds from a private placement of common stock during the six month period ended June 30, 2017, as compared to a cost of $1.8 million for the six month period ended June 30, 2018. The cash used in financing activities in the six month period ended June 30, 2018, was attributable to payment of common stock offering costs and payment of offering costs in connection with this offering.
Funding Requirements
We expect our expenses to increase in connection with our ongoing activities, particularly as we complete clinical development of our lead product candidates, naxitamab and omburtamab, and potentially initiate our planned BLA submissions for both product candidates. In addition, we plan to advance the development of other pipeline programs, initiate new research and pre-clinical development efforts and seek marketing approval for any additional product candidates that we successfully develop. If we obtain marketing approval for any of our product candidates, we expect to incur commercialization expenses, which may be significant, related to establishing sales, marketing, manufacturing capabilities, distribution and other commercial infrastructure to commercialize such products. Furthermore, upon the closing of this offering, we expect to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company. Accordingly, we might need to obtain substantial additional funding in connection with our continuing operations. If we are unable to raise capital when needed or on attractive terms, we would be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate our research and development programs and/or future commercialization efforts.
We believe that the anticipated net proceeds from this offering, together with our existing cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2018, will enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through the fourth quarter of 2020.
We have based our projections of operating capital requirements on assumptions that may prove to be incorrect and we may use all of our available capital resources sooner than we expect. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with the development and commercialization of naxitamab and omburtamab, and the research, development and commercialization of other potential product candidates, we are unable to estimate the exact amount of our operating capital requirements. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:
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Identifying potential product candidates and conducting pre-clinical studies and clinical trials is a time-consuming, expensive and uncertain process that takes many years to complete, and we may never generate the necessary data or results required to obtain marketing approval and achieve product sales. In addition, our product candidates, if approved, may not achieve commercial success. Accordingly, we will need to continue to rely on additional financing to achieve our business objectives. Adequate additional financing may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all.
Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial product revenues, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations, strategic alliances and licensing arrangements. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest in our company may be materially diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a common stockholder. Debt financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends.
If we raise funds through additional collaborations, strategic alliances or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates or to grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds through equity or debt financings when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development or future commercialization efforts or grant rights to develop and market product candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
We did not have during the periods presented, and we do not currently have, any off-balance sheet arrangements, as defined under the applicable regulations of the SEC.
Contractual Obligations and Commitments
There were no contractual obligations as of December 31, 2017 that require disclosure in the contractual obligations table.
We enter into contracts in the normal course of business with CROs, CMOs, clinical sites and other third parties for clinical trials, pre-clinical research studies and testing, professional consultants for expert advice and other vendors for clinical supply, manufacturing and other services. These
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contracts are not considered contractual obligations, as they provide for termination upon prior notice, and, therefore, are cancelable contracts and do not include any minimum purchase commitments. Payments due upon cancellation consist only of payments for services provided or expenses incurred, including non-cancellable obligations of our service providers, up to the date of cancellation. These payments are not included in the table of contractual obligations and commitments above.
As further described below, under various licensing and related agreements with third parties, we have agreed to make milestone and royalty payments to third parties. We have not included the contingent payment of certain milestones in the table above, which timing cannot be determined because they are not date certain. In addition, we have other contingent payment obligations, such as such as royalties or other third party milestones, which are not included in the table above as the amount, timing and likelihood of such payments are not known.
We have entered into two license agreements and certain other agreements with MSK. The license agreements are further described below as the MSK License and the MSK CD33 License.
Under the MSK License and MSK CD33 License we are obligated to (i) make certain payments to MSK, which become due based upon the achievement of the related milestone activities or the passage of time in the event such milestone activities are not achieved, as well as certain sales-related milestones, (ii) pay mid to high single-digit royalties to MSK, on a product-by-product and country-by-country basis, of a mid-to-high single-digit royalties based on net sales of products licensed under the applicable agreement and (iii) pay to MSK a percentage of any sublicense fees received by us. Under the MSK License, we are also obligated to pay annual minimum royalties of $80,000 over the royalty term, starting in 2020. Under the MSK CD33 License, we are obligated to pay annual minimum royalties of $40,000 over the royalty term beginning in 2027, increasing to $60,000 once a patent within the licensed rights is issued. These amounts are non-refundable but are creditable against royalty payments otherwise due under the respective agreements. Total expensed minimum royalty payments in 2016 under the MSK License were $1,200,000, upon determination that the payment of such minimum royalties was probable and the amount was estimable in 2016. We are also obligated to pay MSK certain clinical, regulatory and sales-based milestone payments under the MSK License and MSK CD33 License. Certain of the clinical and regulatory milestone payments become due at the earlier of completion of the related milestone activity or the date indicated in the MSK License. Total clinical, regulatory and sales based milestones potentially due under the MSK License are $2,450,000, $9,000,000 and $20,000,000, respectively. In addition, under the MSK CD33 License, we are obligated to make potential payments of $550,000, $500,000 and $7,500,000 for clinical, regulatory and sales based milestones, respectively. We record milestones in the period in which the contingent liability is probable and the amount is reasonably estimable. Research and development is inherently uncertain and, should such research and development fail, the MSK License and MSK CD33 License are cancelable at our option. We have also considered the development risk and each party's termination rights under the two license agreements when considering whether any contingent payments, certain of which also contain time-based payment requirements, were probable. In addition, to the extent we enter into sublicense arrangements, we are obligated to pay to MSK a percentage of certain payments that we receive from sublicensees of the rights licensed to us by MSK, which percentage will be based upon the achievement of certain clinical milestones. To date, we have not entered into any sublicenses related to the MSK License or MSK CD33 License. Our failure to meet certain conditions under such arrangements could cause the related license to such licensed product to be canceled and could result in termination of the entire respective arrangement with MSK. In addition, we may terminate the MSK License or MSK CD33 License with prior written notice to MSK. Total milestones expensed in 2017 and 2016 under the MSK License were $150,000 and $1,675,000, respectively, all of which related to clinical milestones, which become due either based upon the passage of time or achievement of the related milestone activities. Total milestones expensed in 2017 under the MSK CD33 License was
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$550,000, all of which related to clinical milestones, which become due either based upon the passage of time or achievement of the related milestone activities.
On June 27, 2018, we entered into the Sublicense Agreement, or the MabVax Sublicense, with MabVax Therapeutics Holdings, Inc., or MabVax, pursuant to which MabVax granted us all of the exclusive rights granted to MabVax under its license agreement with MSK, or the MabVax-MSK License, for a bi-valent ganglioside based vaccine intended to treat NB, or the NB vaccine. MSK originally developed the NB vaccine and licensed to MabVax as part of a portfolio of anti-cancer vaccines. Under the terms of the Mabvax Sublicense, we paid MabVax an upfront payment of $700,000, and, if we decide to move forward with the development of the vaccine, we have agreed to make an additional payment of $600,000 on the first anniversary of the MabVax Sublicense, provided that no notice of termination has been made by us before such date. We will also be responsible for any potential downstream payment obligations to MSK related to the NB vaccine that were specified in the MabVax-MSK license agreement. This includes the obligation to pay development milestones totaling $1,400,000 and mid single-digit royalty payments to MSK. In addition, if we obtain FDA approval for the NB vaccine, then we are obligated to file with the FDA for a PRV. If the PRV is granted and subsequently sold, MabVax will receive a percentage of the proceeds from the sale thereof. The MabVax Sublicense will terminate upon the termination or expiration of the MabVax-MSK License.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Refer to Note 3, "Summary of Significant Accounting Policies," in the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements for a discussion of recent accounting pronouncements.
Internal Controls and Procedures
We will be required, pursuant to Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or Section 404, to furnish a report by management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for the year following our first annual report required to be filed with the SEC. This assessment will need to include disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by management over our internal control over financial reporting. However, our independent registered public accounting firm will not be required to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404(b) until the later of the year following our first annual report required to be filed with the SEC, or the date we are no longer an "emerging growth company" if we take advantage of the exemptions contained in the JOBS Act.
Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP. Prior to this offering, we were a private company and we are currently planning a process for reviewing, documenting and testing our internal control over financial reporting. Certain material weaknesses have been identified in our internal control over financial reporting. See the section herein entitled "Risk FactorsIt has been determined that we have material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. If our remediation of these material weaknesses is not effective, or if we experience additional material weaknesses or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls in the future, we may not be able to accurately or timely report our financial condition or results of operations, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and, as a result, the value of our common stock. In addition, because of our status as an emerging growth company, our independent registered public accounting firm is not required to provide an attestation report as to our internal control over financial reporting for the foreseeable future." If we fail to maintain an effective system of disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be impaired. If we are unable to remediate these identified material weaknesses, or if we experience additional material weaknesses in the future or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may
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not be able to accurately or timely report our financial condition or results of operations, or comply with the accounting and reporting requirements applicable to public companies, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and, as a result, the value of our common stock.
We have not performed an evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, nor have we engaged an independent registered public accounting firm to perform an audit of our internal control over financial reporting as of any balance sheet date or for any period reported in our financial statements. Presently, we are not an accelerated filer, as such term is defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act, and therefore, our management is not presently required to perform an annual assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. This requirement will first apply to our second Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our independent public registered accounting firm will first be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the first year we are no longer an "emerging growth company."
We are in the very early stages of the costly and challenging process of compiling the system and processing documentation necessary to perform the evaluation needed to comply with Section 404. We may not be able to complete our evaluation, testing or any required remediation in a timely fashion. During the evaluation and testing process, if we identify one or more material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, we will be unable to assert that our internal controls are designed and operating effectively, which could result in a loss of investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports. This could cause the price of our common stock to decline, and we may be subject to investigation or sanctions by the SEC.
Emerging Growth Company Status; The JOBS Act
The JOBS Act permits an "emerging growth company" such as us to take advantage of an extended transition period to comply with new or revised accounting standards applicable to public companies until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have irrevocably elected to "opt out" of this provision and, as a result, we will comply with new or revised accounting standards when they are required to be adopted by public companies that are not emerging growth companies.
For so long as we are an emerging growth company we expect that:
We will remain an emerging growth company for up to five years, although we will cease to be an "emerging growth company" upon the earliest of: (i) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of this offering, (ii) the last day of the first fiscal year in which our annual gross revenues are $1.07 billion or more, which amount is periodically updated, (iii) the date on which we have, during the previous rolling three-year period, issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible
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debt securities or (iv) the date on which we are deemed to be a "large accelerated filer" as defined in the Exchange Act.
Qualitative and Quantitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Interest Rate Risk
We are exposed to market risk related to changes in interest rates. As of December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2017, we had cash and cash equivalents of $16.9 million and $90.5 million, respectively, maintained primarily with financial institutions in federally insured accounts and held in an unrestricted escrow account. We currently have, and may, from time to time in the future, cash in banks in excess of FDIC insurance limits. We have not experienced any losses to date resulting from this practice. We mitigate our risk by maintaining the majority of our cash and equivalents with high quality financial institutions. Our exposure to changes in the general level of U.S. interest rates is considered immaterial, particularly because our cash equivalents are primarily held in day-to-day bank accounts. Due to short-term nature of such balances, an immediate 100 basis point change in interest rates would not have any effect on the fair market value of cash balances.
Foreign Currency Exchange Risk
Our primary exposure to market risk is foreign exchange rate sensitivity to the Danish Kroner (DKK), the currency used in the Kingdom of Denmark, where our wholly owned subsidiary, Y-mAbs Therapeutics A/S, is located. As of December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2017, we had cash and cash equivalents denominated in DKK of $0.6 million and $0.6 million, respectively, and an immediate 5% change in DKK exchange rate would not have any material effect on the fair market value of cash balances with the subsidiary.
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Overview
We are a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel, antibody-based therapeutic products for the treatment of cancer. We have a broad and advanced product pipeline, including two pivotal-stage product candidatesnaxitamab and omburtamabwhich target tumors that express GD2 and B7-H3, respectively. We are developing naxitamab for the treatment of pediatric patients with relapsed or refractory, or R/R, high-risk neuroblastoma, or NB, and radiolabeled omburtamab for the treatment of pediatric patients with central nervous system, or CNS, leptomeningeal metastases, or LM, from NB. NB is a rare and almost exclusively pediatric cancer that develops in the sympathetic nervous system and CNS/LM is a rare and usually fatal complication of NB in which the disease spreads to the membranes, or meninges, surrounding the brain and spinal cord in the CNS.
We expect to submit a Biologics License Application, or BLA, for each of our two lead product candidates in 2019, with a goal of receiving approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, in 2020. We plan to commercialize both of our lead product candidates in the United States as soon as possible after obtaining FDA approval, if such approval occurs. We have two additional omburtamab follow-on product candidates in pre-clinical development, omburtamab-DTPA and huB7-H3, a humanized version of omburtamab, each targeting indications with large adult patient populations. We are also advancing an early-stage, novel pipeline of bispecific antibodies, or BsAbs. We believe our BsAbs have the potential to result in improved tumor-binding, longer serum half-life and significantly greater T-cell mediated killing of tumor cells without the need for continuous infusion. Our mission is to become the world leader in developing better and safer antibody-based pediatric oncology products addressing clear unmet medical needs and, as such, have a transformational impact on the lives of patients. We intend to advance and expand our product pipeline into certain adult cancer indications either independently or in collaboration with potential partners.
Naxitamab is a recombinant humanized immunoglobulin G, or IgG1k, monoclonal antibody that targets ganglioside GD2, which is highly expressed in various neuroectoderm-derived tumors and sarcomas. Naxitamab is currently being studied in several clinical trials, including pivotal-stage development (Study 201) and a Phase 1/2 clinical trial (Study 12-230) for the treatment of pediatric R/R high-risk NB, a Phase 2 clinical trial (Study 16-1643) in front-line NB, a pilot study (Study 17-251) of chemoimmunotherapy for high-risk NB and a Phase 2 clinical trial (Study 15-096) for relapsed osteosarcoma. We believe that naxitamab has multiple potential advantages over other GD2-targeting antibody-based therapies. In particular, its modest toxicity allows for doses two-and-a-half times greater than existing GD2-targeting antibody-based therapies. Unlike currently approved GD2-targeting therapies for NB, which require 10 to 20 hours of infusion and hospitalization for several days, naxitamab is administered in approximately 30 minutes in an outpatient setting. We believe this significantly shorter administration time is an important advantage considering the overall pain associated with treatment.
In the dose escalation part of Study 12-230 for naxitamab, which together with Study 201 is expected to form the primary basis of our BLA submission, we achieved an overall response rate, or ORR, of 57% in 23 patients with pediatric R/R high-risk NB who at study entry had evaluable tumors and no evidence of progression of disease, or PD. Based on our discussions with the FDA, the profile of the non-PD R/R high-risk NB pediatric patients in Study 12-230 is representative of the intended patient population for naxitamab's target indication. The corresponding ORRs will form the primary objective of our pivotal study (Study 201). Additionally, based on our discussions with the FDA, we believe that naxitamab may qualify for accelerated approval if we can demonstrate a 30% ORR (which is significantly different from a 20% ORR at a 95% confidence interval, or CI) with a minimum 12-week duration of response. We have proposed to the FDA that, pending comparability between the
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study population in Study 12-230 and Study 201, the data from the two studies may be pooled for analysis. Naxitamab has been administered to more than 200 patients to date, who will form the safety portion of our planned BLA submission. In May 2018, we reported topline results from the Phase 2 part of Study 12-230. The endpoints of this part of the study were complete tumor response (also known as complete remission), or CR, or partial tumor response, or PR. Complete tumor response is the total disappearance of a tumor and partial tumor response is a decrease in the size of a tumor, or in the extent of cancer in the body, in response to the treatment. This data continued to show response rates at the same levels as in the dose escalation part of the study with 13 of 15, or 87% of, primary refractory patients responding and 7 of 23, or 30% of, secondary refractory patients responding. We expect to submit the BLA for naxitamab for R/R high-risk NB in 2019. Currently, there are no FDA-approved therapies for primary refractory or second-line pediatric NB patients. Naxitamab has also received orphan drug designation, or ODD, and rare pediatric disease designation, or RPDD, from the FDA for the treatment of NB. In addition, on August 20, 2018, naxitamab received breakthrough therapy designation, or BTD, in combination with GM-CSF, for the treatment of high-risk NB refractory to initial therapy or with incomplete response to salvage therapy in patients greater than 12 months of age with persistent, refractory disease limited to bone marrow with or without evidence of concurrent bone involvement. While our current clinical efforts for naxitamab are focused on rare pediatric cancers, we believe that we can potentially expand its application to the treatment of adults with cancers that express GD2. We estimate that there were more than 200,000 new adult patients diagnosed with GD2-positive cancers in the United States in 2017.
Omburtamab is a murine monoclonal antibody that targets B7-H3, an immune checkpoint molecule that is widely expressed in tumor cells of several cancer types. 131I-omburtamab, which is omburtamab radiolabeled with Iodine-131, is currently being studied in several clinical trials including pivotal-stage development (Study 101) and a Phase 1 clinical trial (Study 03-133) for the treatment of pediatric patients who have CNS/LM from NB. As of August 2017, 93 patients with pediatric CNS/LM from NB had been treated with 131I-omburtamab in Study 03-133. An analysis of these 93 patients demonstrated a median overall survival, or OS, of 47 months (including an estimated five-year OS of approximately 43%), as compared to historical median OS of approximately six months. We have proposed to the FDA that, pending comparability between study population in Study 03-133 and Study 101, data from both studies may be pooled for analysis for our planned BLA submission. 131I-omburtamab has received ODD and RPDD from the FDA for the treatment of NB, and BTD for the treatment of pediatric patients who have CNS/LM from NB. In 2019, we expect to submit the BLA for 131I-omburtamab for CNS/LM from NB.
124I-omburtamab, which is omburtamab radiolabeled with Iodine-124, is currently being studied for the treatment of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, or DIPG. 131I-omburtamab is currently being studied for the treatment of Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors, or DSRCT. Both DIPG and DSRCT are rare, and often fatal, cancers. While our current clinical efforts are focused on rare pediatric cancers, we believe we can potentially expand omburtamab's application to the treatment of CNS/LM resulting from other adult and pediatric solid tumors expressing B7-H3 and the underlying solid systemic tumors. We estimate that, in the United States in 2017, there were more than 30,000 new patients diagnosed with cancer that has metastasized to the CNS/LM, of which the vast majority express B7-H3.
We have initiated Study 101 and Study 201 to form the primary basis for our planned BLAs, to establish comparability of study population and pharmacokinetics analysis with Study 03-133 and Study 12-230, respectively, and to satisfy the confirmatory study and post-marketing requirements by the FDA. If the results from Study 101 and Study 201 fail to demonstrate comparability to the satisfaction of the FDA and other comparable regulatory authorities, this may lead to a delay in, or otherwise adversely affect, such clinical trials, including the timing of submission of BLAs.
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We have two additional B7-H3 targeting product candidates in pre-clinical development, omburtamab-DTPA (diethylenetriamine pentaacetate), a Lutetium-177 conjugated antibody, and huB7-H3, a humanized version of omburtamab, each targeting indications with pediatric and large adult patient populations where we believe there is a significant unmet medical need. We are also advancing a pipeline of novel BsAbs through late pre-clinical development, including our huGD2-BsAb product candidate for the treatment of refractory GD2-positive adult and pediatric solid tumors and our huCD33-BsAb product candidate for the treatment of hematological cancers expressing CD33, a transmembrane receptor expressed on cells of myeloid lineage. In pre-clinical studies, huGD2-BsAb has demonstrated the potential for improved tumor-binding, longer serum half-life and significantly greater T-cell mediated killing compared to existing bispecific constructs.
We currently have three active INDs related to our product candidates. The table below sets forth the product candidate, date of the initial submission of the IND to the FDA, as well as the current sponsor, the subject matter and the current status of each such IND.
Product Candidate
|
Date of Initial Submission |
Current Sponsor |
Subject Matter of IND | Current Status | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Naxitamab | June 14, 2011 | MSK | Treatment of NB and other GD2 positive tumors | Clinical trials ongoing | ||||
Omburtamab (131I-Omburtamab and 124I-Omburtamab) |
September 22, 2000 |
Y-mAbs (MSK original sponsor) |
CNS/LM from NB, DSRCT, DIPG and other B7-H3 positive tumors |
Clinical trials ongoing |
||||
Naxitamab |
September 5, 2017 |
Y-mAbs |
Pediatric NB |
Clinical trials ongoing |
In October 2017, the FDA issued a partial clinical hold on our IND for naxitamab. A partial clinical hold, as opposed to a full clinical hold, is a delay or suspension of only a specific part of the clinical work requested under the IND, which allows otherwise unaffected parts of the clinical work to proceed under the IND. The FDA stated that the proposed acceptance criterion for the ADCC-CD16, ADCC-CD32, and CDC assays were too wide to provide sufficient control over these attributes, which are critical for safety and efficacy. ADCC and CDC refer to antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity and complement-dependent cytotoxicity, respectively. We submitted a response to the FDA in March 2018, and met with the FDA on April 24, 2018. Subsequently, we submitted a complete response to the partial clinical hold to the FDA in May 2018 and the partial clinical hold was removed on June 7, 2018.
We have exclusive rights to MSK's rights in all of our current product candidates under our 2015 license agreement, or the MSK License, with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, or MSK. The MSK License also provides us with non-exclusive access to technology that involves the creation of a novel human protein tag that can potentially dimerize, or link together, bispecific T-cell engagers, or BiTEs. We refer to this technology as the MULTI-TAG technology. We plan to create a broad platform of dimerized BiTEs using the MULTI-TAG technology and are currently collaborating with MSK on several MULTI-TAG product candidates. We believe that our strong relationship with MSK, one of the world's leading cancer treatment centers, and our access to certain of MSK's technologies and substantial research capabilities affords us several competitive advantages. In addition, we believe that our relationship with MSK may help us with respect to patient recruitment for clinical trials. Under a separate 2017 CD33 license agreement with MSK, or the MSK CD33 License, we have a worldwide, sub-licensable license to MSK's rights in certain patent rights and intellectual property rights related to certain know-how to develop, make, and commercialize licensed products and to perform services for all therapeutic and diagnostic uses in the field of cancer diagnostics and cancer treatments in
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connection with certain CD33 antibodies developed in the laboratory of a specific principal investigator at MSK and constructs thereof.
Our management team has substantial public company experience and extensive knowledge in the field of antibody oncology drug development, manufacturing and commercialization. Thomas Gad, our Founder, Chairman, President and Head of Business Development, co-founded Singad Pharma ApS, a Danish pharmaceutical and distribution company, where, as part of senior management, he gained more than 12 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including in business development, financing and licensing negotiations and manufacturing site qualification. In 2006, Mr. Gad's then two year old daughter was diagnosed with high-risk NB and was treated at MSK with the murine version of naxitamab. In 2009, she relapsed with CNS/LM from NB and again was treated at MSK, this time with 131I-omburtamab. Since then, she has been disease free and is now 13 years old. Our Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Claus Juan Møller San Pedro, was the co-founder of Genmab A/S, one of the largest public biotechnology companies in Europe, where he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for approximately 10 years. Our Chief Financial Officer, Bo Kruse, served as Genmab's Chief Financial Officer and was directly involved in several of Genmab's financing rounds including Genmab's initial public offering. Our Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Joris Wiel Jan Wilms, has extensive industry experience in clinical development, primarily within oncology and hematology indications, and was responsible for overseeing several first-in-human studies and pivotal clinical trials, leading to the approval of two monoclonal antibody-based products while at his previous positions as Vice PresidentClinical Trial Services and Pharmacovigilance at KLIFO A/S, and Associate Director of Clinical Development at Genmab. Our Senior Vice President of Technical Operations, Dr. Torben Lund-Hansen, has substantial experience in antibody process development and manufacturing. Dr. Lund-Hansen held similar positions at Genmab where he was responsible for sourcing clinical and commercial drug substance and product manufacturing. Our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Steen Lisby, also comes from Genmab where he was Genmab's Chief Medical Officer until July 2017 when he joined our company. Dr. Lisby also has substantial experience in antibody drug development. In addition, since our inception in April 2015, we have raised approximately $120.0 million from our founding investors and prominent biotechnology institutional investors, including HBM Healthcare Investments (Cayman) Ltd. and funds advised by or affiliated with Scopia Capital Management LP and Sofinnova Ventures, Inc., among others, and as of June 30, 2018, we had cash and cash equivalents of $70.2 million.
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Our Pipeline
The following table sets forth our product candidates and their current development stages, estimated development timelines and anticipated milestones.
Our Business Strategy
Our mission is to become the world leader in developing better and safer antibody-based pediatric oncology products addressing clear unmet medical needs and, as such, have a transformational impact on the lives of patients. We intend to advance and expand our product pipeline into certain adult cancer indications either independently or in collaboration with potential partners.
Key elements of our strategy to achieve this goal are:
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is a significant unmet medical need by exploring additional indications, as well as expanding the target population within existing indications. For example, we are developing naxitamab for the treatment of front-line NB and relapsed osteosarcoma and we intend to discuss our BLA strategy in these indications with the FDA after completing the BLA submission for naxitamab in pediatric R/R high-risk NB. We are also currently developing radiolabeled omburtamab for the treatment of pediatric patients with DIPG and DSRCT, both currently in Phase 1/2 clinical trials. After completing the BLA submission for 131I-omburtamab for pediatric CNS/LM from NB, we intend to discuss with the FDA the protocol for the continuation and expansion of the ongoing DIPG and DSRCT clinical trials. We believe that we may qualify for a supplemental BLA, or sBLA, in each of these indications assuming positive pivotal data.
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Current Approaches to the Treatment of Cancer
Cancer Overview
Cancer is a broad group of diseases in which cells divide and grow in an uncontrolled fashion, forming malignancies that can invade other parts of the body. Cancers can subsequently spread throughout the body by processes known as invasion and metastases. Cancer cells that arise in the lymphatic system and bone marrow, or BM, are referred to as hematological malignancies. Cancer cells that arise in other tissues or organs are referred to as solid tumors.
Cancer is a major public health problem in the United States and worldwide. The American Cancer Society, or ACS, estimated that approximately 40% of all men and women in the United States will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime (based on 2011-2013 data). According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, cancer is currently the second leading cause of death in the United States, and is expected to surpass heart disease as the leading cause of death in the next several years. Although progress has been made in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, the ACS estimates that over 1.6 million new cancer cases will be diagnosed in the United States and over 600,000 people will have died from cancer in 2017. Thus, there remains a significant need for novel and improved treatment options for cancer patients.
Cancer treatment has traditionally included chemotherapy, radiation, hormone therapy, surgery or a combination of these approaches. While small molecule chemotherapy agents and cytotoxic agents have demonstrated efficacy in treating certain types of cancers, they can also cause toxicities that may lead to life-threatening consequences, lower quality of life or untimely termination of treatment. Furthermore, these treatments are only partially effective in solid tumors, in part because the maximal achievable doses are limited by systemic toxicity, which consequently hinders the prospects of long-term remission in patients. In the last 20 years, cancer research and treatment has shifted to more targeted therapies, such as monoclonal antibodies, and immuno-oncology, a new field of cancer therapy focused on enhancing antitumor immune responses.
Advances in understanding the immune system's role in treating cancer have established immunotherapy, or the practice of harnessing immune system functions to combat malignant cell growth, as an important treatment approach. Cancer immunotherapy began with treatments that nonspecifically activated the immune system and had limited efficacy and/or significant toxicity. In contrast, new immunotherapy treatments can activate specific, key immune cells, leading to improved targeting of cancer cells, efficacy, and safety.
Cancer therapies are sometimes characterized as front-line, second-line, or third-line, and the FDA often approves new therapies initially only for third-line use. When cancer is detected early enough, front-line therapy is sometimes adequate to effectively treat the cancer or prolong life. Whenever front-line therapy, usually chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery, or a combination of these, proves unsuccessful, second-line therapy may be administered. Second-line therapies often consist of more chemotherapy, surgery, antibody drugs, tumor-targeted therapies such as monoclonal antibodies and small molecule inhibitors, or a combination of these. Third-line therapies can include bone marrow transplantation, antibody and small molecule targeted therapies, more invasive forms of surgery, and new technologies.
Immune System and Introduction to Antibodies
The immune system is often described as having two main branchesinnate (non-specific) and adaptive (acquired) immunity. It defends against invading pathogens such as viruses, parasites, and bacteria, and provides surveillance against cancers. The innate immune system is the initial response to an infection, and the response is the same every time regardless of prior exposure to the infectious
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agent. The adaptive immune system includes B-cells, which secrete antibodies and T-cells, which can be either helper T-cells, supressor T-cells or cytotoxic T-cells.
An antibody, also known as an IgG, is a large, Y-shaped protein produced mainly by plasma cells in response to foreign substances, such as viruses or cancer cells. Antibodies circulating in the bloodstream function by binding to the target or antigen they are generated to fight. The binding process involves a lock-and-key mechanism in which the paratope region of the antibody, analogous to a lock, binds to one particular epitope of a specific antigen, analogous to a key. This allows the antibody to bind to a specific antigen with precision, thereby attacking only its intended target.
Different types of antibodies include: (i) Monoclonal Antibodieslaboratory-made antibodies typically derived from immune cells of mammals that have been immunized with a desired antigen and are all clones of a unique parent; (ii) Humanized/Chimeric Antibodiesantibodies with both mouse and human antibody proteins that are humanized (i.e., engineered to replace mouse components with more human components) to reduce the immune system response against antibodies identified as foreign (i.e., from a different species) in nature; (iii) Naked Monoclonal Antibodiesantibodies without any drug or radioactive material attached and which are the most common type of antibodies in treating cancer; (iv) Antibody Drug Conjugates, or ADCsmonoclonal antibodies that are joined to a chemotherapy drug, a radioactive particle or cancer cell killing agent, in which the monoclonal antibody is used as a homing device to deliver these substances directly to the cancer cell; and (v) Bispecific antibodies comprised of two different monoclonal antibody constructs, which allows the antibody to bind to two specific therapeutic targets at the same time, typically one target on the tumor cell and one target on an immune system cell.
Antibodies may function through multiple mechanisms simultaneously, including binding to cancer cells and flagging for B-cells and T-cells to more easily detect the target, or delivering radiation treatment by acting as a vehicle to transfer small radioactive particles directly to the cancer cells and to minimize the effect of radiation on normal cells. Other mechanisms include triggering cell-membrane destruction, preventing cell growth or blood vessel growth, blocking immune system inhibitors, directly attacking cancer cells and delivering chemotherapy or binding cancer cells and immune cells simultaneously.
Studies have shown that, as a drug class, antibodies have transformed oncology treatment and include some of the best-selling therapies on the biopharmaceutical market. Drugs derived from antibodies were the fastest growing subsegment of the global biopharmaceutical market in 2016 with $81.9 billion in sales, representing approximately 42% of total biopharmaceutical sales and 10% of the global market for prescription drugs.
Our Product Candidates
We have a broad and advanced product pipeline including two late-stage and clinically validated product candidates, naxitamab and omburtamab, which target tumors that express GD2 and B7-H3, respectively. Naxitamab and omburtamab are currently in pivotal stage development for pediatric R/R high-risk NB and pediatric CNS/LM from NB, respectively, both rare and life-threatening pediatric cancers for which no FDA approved products currently exist. We expect to submit a BLA for each of our two lead product candidates in 2019, with a goal of receiving approval by the FDA in 2020. We plan to commercialize both of our lead product candidates in the United States as soon as possible after obtaining FDA approval, if such approval occurs. Naxitamab and omburtamab are also in mid-stage clinical development for additional cancers, and we have initiated clinical development for both product candidates in several other indications. Furthermore, we have two additional B7-H3 targeting product candidates in pre-clinical development, omburtamab-DTPA and huB7-H3, a humanized version of omburtamab, each targeting indications with large adult cancer patient populations where there is a significant unmet medical need. We are also advancing a pipeline of novel
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BsAbs through late pre-clinical development, including our huGD2-BsAb product candidate for the treatment of refractory GD2-positive adult and pediatric solid tumors and our huCD33-BsAb product candidate for the treatment of hematological cancers expressing CD33, a transmembrane receptor expressed on cells of myeloid lineage. We have exclusive worldwide commercial rights to all of our current product candidates.
Naxitamab Overview
Naxitamab is a humanized monoclonal antibody being evaluated for the treatment of R/R NB and other GD2-positive tumors, including osteosarcoma. Naxitamab targets GD2, which, based on our research, is expressed on almost all of NB cancer cells regardless of disease stage and in almost all osteosarcomas. Naxitamab is currently in pivotal stage development for patients with pediatric R/R high-risk NB and was granted BTD in this indication in 2018. Naxitamab has also received ODD and RPDD from the FDA for the treatment of NB in 2013 and 2017, respectively. The RPDD qualifies us for receipt of a PRV upon approval of naxitamab for treatment of NB, if such approval occurs. Naxitamab has been administered to more than 200 patients in several clinical trials conducted at MSK since 2011. In the dose escalation part of Study 12-230, of the 23 patients with pediatric R/R high-risk NB, with evaluable tumors and who did not have PD at study entry, 13 patients, or 57%, achieved a clinical response. In May 2018, we reported topline results from the Phase 2 part of Study 12-230. This data continued to show response rates at the same levels as in the dose escalation part of the study with 13 of 15, or 87% of, primary refractory patients responding and 7 of 23, or 30% of, secondary refractory patients responding.
In pediatric R/R high-risk NB, we believe that naxitamab has multiple potential advantages over other GD2 targeting antibody-based therapies. In particular, the modest toxicity it exhibits allows for doses 2.5 times greater than the other GD2 targeting antibody-based therapies. Naxitamab also has a significantly shorter infusion time (approximately 30 minutes compared to 10 to 20 hours for other GD2 targeting antibody-based therapies being used in front-line therapy, which we believe is important given the pain associated with the therapy) and the ability to be administered in an outpatient setting (compared to hospitalization stays of four days or longer for other GD2 targeting antibody-based therapies).
Based on our discussions with the FDA, profile of the non-PD pediatric R/R high-risk NB patients in Study 12-230 is representative of the intended patient population for our target indication. The corresponding ORRs will form the primary objective of our pivotal study (Study 201). Additionally, based on our discussions with the FDA, we believe that a 30% ORR (which is significantly different from a 20% ORR at a 95% confidence interval, or CI) with a minimum 12-week duration of response may qualify naxitamab for accelerated approval. We have proposed to the FDA that, pending comparability between the study population in Study 12-230 and Study 201, the data from the two studies may be pooled for analysis for our planned BLA submission. In addition, naxitamab is currently being evaluated in a Phase 2 clinical study (Study 16-1643) in front-line NB, a pilot study (Study 17-251) of chemoimmunotherapy for high-risk NB and a Phase 2 clinical study (Study 15-096) in second-line relapsed osteosarcoma patients.
GD2 Overview
We believe that monoclonal antibodies such as naxitamab that target ganglioside GD2 are one of the most promising cancer immunotherapy approaches. Gangliosides, including GD2, GM2, GD3, NGcGM3 and OAcGD2, have been shown to be expressed at very high levels in tumor cells of several types of cancers.
As a potential target molecule for anti-tumor therapy, GD2 has certain advantages when compared to other tumor-associated gangliosides because it is highly expressed in tumor cells of several
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types of cancers and is not expressed at all, or expressed at very low levels, in normal cells. The National Cancer Institute pilot program for the prioritization of the most important cancer antigens ranks GD2 as number 12 out of 75 potential targets for cancer therapy based on therapeutic function, immunogenicity, role of the antigen in oncogenicity, specificity, expression level and percent of antigen-positive cells, stem cell expression, number of patients with antigen-positive cancers, number of antigenic epitopes, and cellular location of antigen expression. GD2 ranks as number six when compared to antigens that are directly targetable on the cell surface. Antibodies directed against GD2 have been shown to effectively induce cell death through a combination of both apoptosis and tumor cell necrosis in GD2-positive tumors.
GD2 Expression in Various Cancer Types
Studies have shown that GD2 is highly expressed on neuroectoderm-derived tumors and sarcomas, including NB, retinoblastoma, melanoma, small cell lung cancer, brain tumors, osteosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, Ewing's sarcoma in children and adolescents, as well as liposarcoma, fibrosarcoma, leiomyosarcoma and other soft-tissue sarcomas in adults. These cancers have a high mortality rate ranging from 20-80% depending on the tumor type.
We believe there is a large market opportunity for the treatment of solid tumors that express GD2. Based on our own research and our review of published research, we believe GD2 expression occurs in approximately 60-100% of tumor samples from various cancer types, and in substantially all NB and osteosarcoma tumor samples. We estimate that there were more than 200,000 new patients diagnosed with GD2-positive cancer in the United States in 2017. While our clinical development efforts for naxitamab are currently focused on rare pediatric cancers, we believe we have the potential to expand naxitamab's application beyond pediatric cancers to the treatment of adults with cancers that express GD2.
NaxitamabMechanism of Action
Our pre-clinical studies have shown that naxitamab binds to GD2 molecules on tumor cells with high affinity and a slow off-rate, which indicates naxitamab's strong binding ability. In mice that have been transplanted with human NB tissue, naxitamab demonstrated dose-dependent inhibition of tumor growth (i.e., the effect of naxitamab varied with dosage) and generally increased survival. In vitro studies show that when naxitamab binds to tumor cells, it induces tumor cell death through antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity and complement-dependent cytotoxicity. Naxitamab may also inhibit tumor cell migration through its inhibitory effect on GD2 molecules, which are involved in tumor cell adhesion and migration. In vitro studies also show that Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor, or GM-CSF, enhances the activity of naxitamab in a dose-dependent manner and is therefore generally combined with naxitamab in our clinical trials.
Naxitamab for the Treatment of Pediatric Relapsed or Refractory High-Risk Neuroblastoma
Naxitamab is currently in pivotal stage development (Study 201) for the treatment of pediatric R/R high-risk NB and was granted BTD in this indication in 2018. Naxitamab has also received ODD and RPDD from the FDA for the treatment of NB in 2013 and 2017, respectively. The RPDD qualifies us for receipt of a PRV upon approval of naxitamab for treatment of NB by the FDA, if such approval occurs. In the dose escalation part of Study 12-230, we achieved an ORR of 57% in patients with pediatric R/R high-risk NB who had evaluable tumors and who did not have PD at study entry. Patients with these characteristics are the intended patient population for our first potential indication for treatment with naxitamab. Based on our discussions with the FDA, we believe that a 30% ORR (which is significantly different from a 20% ORR at a 95% CI) with a minimum 12-week duration of response may qualify for consideration of an expedited approval of naxitamab. We have proposed to the FDA that, pending comparability between the study population in Study 12-230 and Study 201, the
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data from the two studies may be pooled for analysis. There would also be a post-marketing commitment to provide data on progression free survival, or PFS, supporting the efficacy of the product. We believe naxitamab has multiple potential advantages over other GD2 targeting antibodies such as higher doses administered on an outpatient basis.
In our studies to date, naxitamab has demonstrated relatively modest toxicity, which allows for 2.5 times greater dosing as compared to other GD2 targeting antibody-based therapies. This results in fewer doses per cycle and a significantly shorter infusion time (approximately 30 minutes versus 10 to 20 hours for dinutuximab). Notably, since severe pain is one of the most common side effects of treatment with GD2 targeting antibody-based therapies, we believe that the ability to reduce infusion time to approximately 30 minutes is very important for patients and may result in a significant reduction in demand for pain medication such as morphine. These factors allow naxitamab to be administered in an outpatient setting whereas other GD2 targeting antibody-based therapies require hospitalization which usually lasts for four days or more. In addition, unlike other GD2 targeting antibody-based therapies, we have not observed any life-threatening side effects with naxitamab to date.
Overview of Neuroblastoma
NB is a rare and almost exclusively a pediatric cancer that develops in the sympathetic nervous system, a network of nerves that carries messages from the brain throughout the body. It is the third most common childhood cancer, after leukemia and brain tumors, and is the most common solid extracranial tumor in children. NB is a life-threatening disease associated with poor long-term survival. It accounts for approximately seven percent of all childhood cancers and approximately 15% of pediatric cancer deaths. Nearly 90% of patients with NB are diagnosed by age five and NB is very rare in people over the age of 10 years. The average age of children when they are diagnosed with NB is one to two years.
The stage of NB, which describes how far the cancer has spread, is based on results of physical exams, imaging tests, and biopsies. The International Neuroblastoma Staging System stages the disease from Stage 1 to Stage 4. Other factors that also affect prognosis of NB include age and amplification of MYCN oncogene.
NB patients can also be placed into different risk groups from low, intermediate to high based on the stage and other prognostic factors. High-risk NB is defined as MYCN amplified Stage 2, 3, 4S and 4 in patients of any age and MYCN non-amplified Stage 4 in patients over 18 months of age.
Naxitamab is initially being evaluated for the treatment of pediatric R/R high-risk NB. There are approximately 700 children diagnosed with high-risk NB in the United States each year. We believe the European market is at least one and a half times the size of the U.S. market and that there are approximately 1,050 patients diagnosed with high-risk NB in Europe each year. We believe the current addressable market for naxitamab consists of approximately 960 new front-line high-risk NB patients each year and 675 primary or second-line eligible R/R NB pediatric patients each year, representing approximately 40% of all pediatric patients diagnosed with NB in the United States and Europe, combined. Moreover, based on the protocol we have developed with MSK, between treatment and maintenance therapy, we believe that typically patients will receive five to 10 treatment cycles of naxitamab, each cycle consisting of 3 doses.
Naxitamab for Pediatric Relapsed or Refractory High-Risk NeuroblastomaCurrent Treatment Landscape and Associated Limitations
Currently front-line treatment for pediatric NB patients usually occurs in three stages: induction, consolidation, and maintenance. During the induction phase, patients receive chemotherapy, radiotherapy and possibly surgery to eliminate as much tumor tissue and as many tumor cells as possible. Commonly used agents for induction treatment include cisplatin, etoposide, doxorubicin,
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cyclophosphamide, and vincristine. Following surgery and/or radiotherapy, most patients enter into consolidation therapy with the goal of eliminating any residual tumor usually with single dose myeloablative agents (e.g. carboplatin-etoposide-melphalan) with stem cell support or an autologous stem cell transplant or repeated transplants with thiotepa-cyclophosphamide followed by cyclophosphamide, etoposide, and ranimustine. Many treatment centers also use immunotherapy as part of the consolidation stage of treatment.
Relapse is a frequent occurrence after consolidation. Although there are no approved therapies in the United States for R/R NB patients, treatments typically include chemotherapy, radiotherapy and other experimental therapies.
In 2015, the FDA and the European Medicines Agency, or the EMA, approved Unituxin (dinutuximab), a monoclonal GD2 targeting antibody developed by United Therapeutics Corporation, or United Therapeutics, and administered in combination with GM-CSF, interleukin-2, or IL-2, and isotretinoin, also known as 13-cis-retinoic acid, for the treatment of pediatric patients with high-risk NB who achieve at least a partial response, or PR, to prior front-line multiagent, multimodality therapy. The marketing authorization for Unituxin was voluntarily withdrawn by United Therapeutics in the European Union in 2017. Recently, the EMA approved Dinutuximab beta Apeiron (also known as dinutuximab beta, ch14.18/CHO, Isqette), a monoclonal GD2 targeting antibody, for the treatment of high-risk NB in patients aged 12 months and older, who have had some improvement with previous treatments or patients whose NB has not improved with other cancer treatments or has relapsed.
Naxitamab for Pediatric Relapsed or Refractory High-Risk NeuroblastomaClinical Development Program
An earlier murine version of naxitamab was studied in 17 clinical trials at MSK with a total of more than 800 patients over 25 years. Naxitamab has been studied in several clinical trials for the treatment of pediatric R/R NB and other diseases, of which Study 201, Study 12-230, Study 11-009, Study 15-096 and Study 16-1643 are currently ongoing. We expect to receive topline data from our ongoing pivotal trial (Study 201) in pediatric R/R high-risk NB and submit the BLA in 2019.
Based on our discussion with the FDA, ORR will form the primary objective for our pivotal Study 201. We have proposed to the FDA that, pending comparability analysis between study population in Study 12-230 and Study 201, the data from the two studies may be pooled to form the primary basis of our BLA. Based on our discussions with the FDA, we believe that a 30% ORR (which is significantly different from a 20% ORR at a 95% confidence interval) with a minimum 12 week duration of response may qualify for accelerated approval. Thirty-seven patients are expected to be included in Study 201. We expect that the safety portion of our planned BLA submission will be comprised of more than 200 patients treated with naxitamab across multiple indications.
Study 12-230: Phase 1/2 Study of Combination Therapy of Antibody Naxitamab with Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor (GM-CSF) in Patients with Relapsed/Refractory High-Risk Neuroblastoma
Phase 1 Portion of Study 12-230
Primary Objective
Secondary Objectives
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Patient Population
In addition to satisfying certain other criteria, patients must be over one year of age and must have been diagnosed with NB as defined by a) histopathology, or b) BM metastases or Meta-iodobenzylguanidine, or MIBG, avid lesion(s) plus high urine catecholamine levels.
Patients must have R/R high-risk NB (including MYCN-amplified Stage 2, 3, 4, or 4S of any age and MYCN-non amplified Stage 4 in patients over 18 months of age) resistant to standard therapy. Standard therapy for these types of patients includes intensive induction chemotherapy, followed by a variety of consolidation or salvage therapies, depending on response.
Patients will be mainly children and adolescents.
Treatment Protocol
The Phase 1 portion of Study 12-230 assessed dose escalation of intravenous, or IV, naxitamab (days one, three, five) in the presence of subcutaneous GM-CSF (days minus four through five). These three doses of naxitamab and 10 days of GM-CSF constituted a single treatment cycle. Patients were eligible for up to five cycles in the initial part of this treatment. The diagram below depicts the treatment schedule per cycle in Study 12-230:
Results of Phase 1 Portion of Study 12-230
A total of 57 patients were enrolled in the Phase 1 portion of Study 12-230 between December 2012 and May 2016. A summary of patient characteristics is provided in the table below.
Study 12-230 patient characteristics (Phase 1)
Measure
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Value | |
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Years from diagnosis | 0.6 - 9.0 (median 3.1) | |
Age at study entry (years) | 2.4 - 31.3 (median 6.8) | |
Prior anti-GD2 immunotherapy | 47/57 (82%) | |
Autologous stem-cell transplantation | 24/57 (42%) | |
131I-MIBG therapy | 17/57 (30%) |
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All 57 patients were heavily treated prior to entering the study as indicated by the high number of patients previously receiving 131I-MIBG (n=17) and anti-GD2 mAbs (n=47).
Safety Results
MTD was not reached. The maximum dose used was 9.6 mg/kg per cycle. This dose was more than 2.5 times greater than the doses that can be given when using the earlier murine version of naxitamab or dinutuximab, and manageable acute side effects allowed treatment to occur in an outpatient setting. Dose limiting toxicities, or DLTs, occurred in four of 57 patients. These DLTs did not show any consistent pattern, ranging from elevated liver enzymes, anaphylactic reactions, acute renal failure, and hypertension. Thirty-three patients experienced a total of 150 SAEs, of which 27 SAEs were treatment-related, and none were fatal. Two patients experienced Grade 4 toxicity that necessitated withdrawal from the study. One patient developed an anaphylactic reaction at cycle 7. Another one patient developed Grade 4 angioedema immediately after completing the second cycle. All 57 patients experienced at least one Treatment Emergent Adverse Event, or TEAE, which is defined as "an event that emerges during treatment, having been absent pretreatment, or worsens relative to the pretreatment state" of any grade. Most frequent observed TEAEs were pain, hypotension, fever, pruritus, and urticaria. Most TEAEs were low-grade adverse events. The only TEAE occurring in greater than five percent of the patients was hypoxia. In addition to pain, neuropathic side effects included Adie's pupil in five of 57 (9%) subjects in the study, which has also been noted with other anti-GD2 antibodies.
Pharmacokinetic Results
The protocol requires patients to be administered naxitamab at dose levels from 0.3 to 3.6 mg/kg per dose on days one, three, and five of a cycle (0.9 to 10.8 mg/kg per cycle).
Human Anti-human Antibody (HAHA) Results
Of the 57 patients, 10 patients developed human anti-human antibody, or HAHA, response. Of the same 57 patients, 47 patients had previously been exposed to anti-GD2 based therapies, including the earlier murine version of naxitamab.
Efficacy Results
Evidence of anti-NB activity was observed at all dose levels; however, a dose-response relationship was not possible due to intra-patient dose escalation after two cycles as permitted by the protocol.
After excluding two patients with early DLT, 55 of 57 patients were included in the overall analysis of efficacy. Of these 55 patients at study entry, 25 patients had no evidence of disease, or NED, and 30 patients had evaluable disease. Of the 30 patients with evaluable disease, seven patients had PD at study entry.
Of the remaining 23 non-PD patients with primary or secondary refractory disease, 13 patients achieved either a complete response (also known as complete remission), or CR, or a PR, which resulted in an ORR of 57% (13/23). Further, one patient had SD, another six patients had PD and two patients were only available for short term follow-up (long term data not available).
As shown in the table below, eight of 11 primary refractory patients achieved an ORR of approximately 73%, and five of 12 secondary refractory patients achieved an ORR of approximately 42%.
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Study 12-230 efficacy results among non-PD patients (Phase 1)
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Patient group | CR/PR | SD | PD | Short f/u | | |||||||
Primary refractory (n = 11) | 8 (72.7%) | 1 (9.1%) | 1 (9.1%) | 1 (9.1%) | ||||||||
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Secondary refractory (n = 12)* | 5 (41.7%) | 0 (0%) | 5 (41.7%) | 1 (8.3%) | ||||||||
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All patients with non-progressive evaluable disease (n = 23) |
13 (56.5%) | 1 (4.3%) | 6 (26.1%) | 2 (8.7%) | ||||||||
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CR = complete response; PR = partial response; SD = stable disease (cancer that is neither decreasing nor increasing in extent or severity); PD = progressive disease (cancer that is growing, spreading
or getting worse); Short f/u = Short-Term follow-up |
The scan on the left below shows multiple 123I-MIBG hot spots (NB lesions) localized to the bone and BM. In the scan on the right below, taken after naxitamab and GM-CSF treatment, nearly all the metastatic lesions have disappeared. Although not every patient will experience similar results, we believe these scans are indicative of a patient that has responded favorably to naxitamab and GM-CSF treatment.
Among the 25 patients with NED, it was not possible to classify response by International Neuroblastoma Response Criteria, or INRC criteria, including with 123I-MIBG. These patients, who had one to five prior relapses and therefore had a poor prognosis, showed an encouraging two-year event-free survival, or EFS, of 24%.
Treatment in Study 12-230 with naxitamab in patients previously exposed to other anti-GD2 antibodies (dinutuximab or earlier murine version of naxitamab)
A large proportion of the patients (n=47) had previously been treated with anti-GD2 mAbs. We have also demonstrated that naxitamab has efficacy when used following front-line treatment with dinutuximab. A survival analysis was completed in all 16 patients with prior exposure to dinutuximab.
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Phase 2 Portion of Study 12-230
The Study 12-230 protocol was amended in May 2016 to include an expansion Phase 2 portion. In May 2018, topline results from the first 71 patients in this Phase 2 study were presented, which continued to show response rates at the same levels as in the dose escalation part of the study with 13 of 15, or 87% of, primary refractory patients responding and 7 of 23, or 30% of, secondary refractory patients responding.
The expansion Phase 2 single-arm portion of Study 12-230 was designed to assess the anti-NB activity of naxitamab and GM-CSF in patients who presented with lesions that could be objectively measured and/or monitored by 123I-MIBG scans and who were deemed to have measurable disease and be eligible for response classification by the INRC classification incorporating 123I-MIBG scans. These patients were classified as having evaluable disease and consisted of patients that were primary refractory patients or secondary refractory patients. Another group of patients included those with NED but with a high risk of relapse.
Patient Population
In addition to satisfying certain other criteria, patients must be over one year of age and will be mainly children and adolescents.
Primary Objectives
Secondary Objectives
Safety Results
HAHA developed in 11 out of 71, or 15% of the, patients. Nine out of the 11 HAHA-positive patients were previously treated with anti-GD2 antibody.
Treatment was outpatient, without unexpected toxicities.
Efficacy Results
Group 1 included 29 patients 0.9-to-17.8 (median 3.3) years post-diagnosis, 2.2-to-24.5 (median 6.3) years old, 25/29 prior-treated with ³1 anti-GD2 antibody, and status-post 1 (n=18) or ³2 (n=11) relapses; 12-month EFS was 74%.
Group 2 included 17 patients with 15 evaluable for response 5-to-19 (median 6.6) months post-diagnosis, 2.9-to-10.9 (median 5.1) years old, and 9/15 with Curie scores 7-to-23 plus marrow(+). Thirteen out of 15, or 87% of the, patients achieved CR/PR.
Group 3 included 25 patients 0.9-to-10.6 (median 3.5) years post-diagnosis, 2.6-to-23.6 (median 6.5) years old, 23/25 prior-treated with ³1 anti-GD2 antibody, and status-post 1 (n=15) or
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2-to-6 (n=10) relapses; 12-month PFS was 55%, and seven out of 23, or 30% of the, patients evaluable for response achieved CR/PR.
Study 201: A Phase 2 Trial of Antibody Naxitamab and Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor (GM-CSF) in High-Risk Neuroblastoma Patients with Primary or Secondary Refractory Osteomedullary Disease
Study 201 is a single-arm multi-center pivotal study using current Good Manufacturing Practices, or cGMP, manufactured naxitamab, which commenced recruitment in the second quarter of 2018. We expect to enroll a total of 37 patients with recruitment ongoing in four sites.
Patient population
In addition to satisfying certain other criteria, patients must have high-risk NB with primary or secondary refractory osteomedullary disease. Primary refractory disease is defined as no prior relapse but incomplete response to treatment in BM as documented by histology and/or 123I-MIBG scan. Secondary refractory disease is defined as prior relapse and incomplete response to salvage therapy in BM as documented by histology and/or 123I-MIBG scan. Patients must be older than one year of age.
Treatment Protocol
Study 201 will follow the same treatment protocol as previously described for Study 12-230 above.
Primary Objective
Secondary Objectives
We have initiated Study 201 to form the primary basis for our planned BLA, to establish comparability of study population with Study 12-230 and to satisfy the confirmatory study and post-marketing requirements by the FDA. If the results from Study 201 fail to demonstrate comparability to the satisfaction of the FDA and other comparable regulatory authorities, this may lead to a delay in, or otherwise adversely affect, such clinical trials, including the timing of submission of the BLA.
In October 2017, the FDA issued a partial clinical hold on our IND for naxitamab. A partial clinical hold, as opposed to a full clinical hold, is a delay or suspension of only a specific part of the clinical work requested under the IND, which allows otherwise unaffected parts of the clinical work to proceed under the IND. The FDA stated that the proposed acceptance criterion for the ADCC-CD16, ADCC-CD32, and CDC assays were too wide to provide sufficient control over these attributes, which are critical for safety and efficacy. ADCC and CDC refer to antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity and complement-dependent cytotoxicity, respectively. We submitted a response to the FDA in March 2018, and met with the FDA on April 24, 2018. Subsequently, we submitted a complete
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response to the partial clinical hold to the FDA in May 2018 and the partial clinical hold was removed on June 7, 2018.
Study 16-1643: Naxitamab/GM-CSF Immunotherapy Plus Isotretinoin for Consolidation of First Remission of Patients with High-Risk Neuroblastoma: A Phase 2 Study
Study 16-1643 is a Phase 2 single-arm clinical trial where patients with high-risk NB in first CR/VGPR undergo consolidation with naxitamab and GM-CSF for five cycles and isotretinoin for six cycles. The primary objective of the study is to determine relapse-free survival following treatment with naxitamab combined with GM-CSF and isotretinoin. As of October 2017, 12 patients had been enrolled in the study.
Patient population
In addition to satisfying certain other criteria, patients must have diagnosis of NB as defined by a) histopathology, or b) BM metastases or MIBG-avid lesion(s) plus high urine catecholamine levels. Patients must have high-risk NB (MYCN-amplified Stage 2, 3, 4, and 4S of any age and MYCN-nonamplified Stage 4 in patients above 18 months of age). Patients must be in first CR/VGPR.
Patients will mainly be children and adolescents.
Treatment protocol
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