adma_10k.htm
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020
For the transition period from _________ to _________
Commission File Number: 001-36728
ADMA BIOLOGICS, INC.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (201) 478-5552
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class Trading Symbol Name of each exchange on which registered
Common stock, par value $0.0001 per share ADMA Nasdaq Global Market
Preferred Share Purchase Right - Nasdaq Global Market
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
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 ☐ Accelerated Filer ☐
Non-accelerated Filer ☒ Smaller Reporting Company ☒
Emerging Growth Company ☐
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 pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
The aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates was $184,142,642 as of June 30, 2020 (the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter), based on a total of 62,847,318 shares of common stock held by non-affiliates and a closing price of $2.93 as reported on the Nasdaq Global Market on June 30, 2020.
As of March 16, 2021, there were 121,275,357 shares of the issuer’s common stock outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the ADMA Biologics, Inc. definitive proxy statement to be filed pursuant to Regulation 14A within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and certain documents are incorporated by reference into Part IV.
ADMA BIOLOGICS, INC.
PART I
Item 1. Business 3
Item 1A. Risk Factors 21
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 51
Item 2. Properties 51
Item 3. Legal Proceedings 51
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 51
PART II
Item 6. Selected Financial Data 52
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 65
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 65
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 66
Item 9B. Other Information 66
PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 67
Item 11. Executive Compensation 67
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services 67
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules 68
i
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about our plans, objectives, representations and contentions and are not historical facts and typically are identified by use of terms such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “project,” “continue,” or the negative thereof, or other variations or comparable terminology, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently. The forward-looking statements included herein represent management’s current judgment and expectations, but our actual results, events and performance could differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These statements include statements about:
· our ability to continue as a going concern;
· the potential indications for our products and product candidates;
· potential investigational new product applications;
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· possible or likely reimbursement levels for our currently marketed products;
· future domestic and global economic conditions or performance; and
· expectations for future capital requirements.
In addition to the foregoing, you should also consider carefully the statements under the section entitled “Risk Factors” and other sections of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, which address additional factors that could cause our actual results to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in our expectations or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law.
This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes our trademarks, trade names and service marks, such as “BIVIGAM®,” “ASCENIVTM” and “Nabi-HB®,” which are protected under applicable intellectual property laws and are the property of ADMA Biologics, Inc., or its subsidiaries. Solely for convenience, trademarks, trade names and service marks referred to in this Annual Report may appear without the ® or TM symbols, but the absence of such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the right of the applicable licensor to these trademarks, trade names and service marks. We do not intend our use or display of other parties’ trademarks, trade names or service marks to imply, and such use or display should not be construed to imply, a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, these other parties.
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PART I
Item 1. Business
Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this Business section to “ADMA,” “ADMA Biologics,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to ADMA Biologics, Inc., a Delaware corporation, as well as its wholly-owned and indirectly-owned subsidiaries, ADMA Plasma Biologics, Inc., a Delaware corporation, ADMA BioCenters Georgia Inc., a Delaware corporation (“ADMA BioCenters”) and ADMA BioManufacturing, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“ADMA BioManufacturing”).
Overview
We are an end-to-end commercial biopharmaceutical company dedicated to manufacturing, marketing and developing specialty plasma-derived biologics for the treatment of immunodeficient patients at risk for infection and others at risk for certain infectious diseases. Our targeted patient populations include immune-compromised individuals who suffer from an underlying immune deficiency disorder or who may be immune-suppressed for medical reasons.
We currently have three products with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) approval, all of which are currently marketed and commercially available: (i) BIVIGAM (Immune Globulin Intravenous, Human), an Intravenous Immune Globulin (“IVIG”) product indicated for the treatment of Primary Humoral Immunodeficiency (“PI”), also known as Primary Immunodeficiency Disease (“PIDD”), and for which we received FDA approval on May 9, 2019 and commenced commercial sales in August 2019; (ii) ASCENIV (Immune Globulin Intravenous, Human – slra 10% Liquid), an IVIG product indicated for the treatment of PI, for which we received FDA approval on April 1, 2019 and commenced first commercial sales in October 2019; and (iii) Nabi-HB (Hepatitis B Immune Globulin, Human), which is indicated for the treatment of acute exposure to blood containing HBsAg and other listed exposures to Hepatitis B. We seek to develop a pipeline of plasma-derived therapeutics, including a product based on our most recently approved patent application under U.S. Patent No. 10,259,865 related to methods of treatment and prevention of S. pneumonia infection for an immunoglobulin manufactured to contain standardized antibodies to numerous serotypes of S. pneumoniae. Our products and product candidates are intended to be used by physician specialists focused on caring for immune-compromised patients with or at risk for certain infectious diseases.
We manufacture these products at our FDA-licensed, 400,000-liter annual capacity plasma fractionation and purification facility located in Boca Raton, Florida (the “Boca Facility”). Based on current production yields and our ongoing supply chain enhancement and capacity expansion initiatives, we believe this facility has the potential to produce quantities of our immune globulin (“IG”) products of more than $250 million in annual revenue beginning in 2024 as well as achieving profitability during the first quarter of 2024, as we ramp-up production over the next three to five years.
Through our ADMA BioCenters subsidiary, we currently operate as an FDA-approved source plasma collection organization in the U.S. This business unit, which we refer to as our Plasma Collection Centers business segment, provides us with a portion of our blood plasma for the manufacture of our products and product candidates, and also allows us to sell certain quantities of source plasma to customers for further manufacturing. As a part of our planned supply chain robustness initiative, we opened two new plasma collection centers during 2020, and we now have seven plasma collection centers in various stages of development and approval, including three that are fully operational and collecting plasma. With respect to our fully operational plasma collection centers, two hold FDA licenses and the third has a Biologics License Application (“BLA”) pending an FDA decision expected in the fourth quarter of 2021. In addition, one of our FDA-approved plasma collection centers also has approvals from the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (“MFDS”), as well as FDA approval to implement a Hepatitis B immunization program. After giving effect to the progress we made in 2020 with our plasma collection network expansion, we believe we remain on track to achieve our goal of having 10 or more plasma collection centers in operation by 2024. A typical plasma collection center, such as those operated by ADMA BioCenters, can collect approximately 30,000 to 50,000 liters of source plasma annually, which may be sold for different prices depending upon the type of plasma, quantity of purchase and market conditions at the time of sale. Plasma collected from ADMA BioCenters’ facilities that is not used to manufacture our products or product candidates is sold to third-party customers in the U.S. and in other locations outside the U.S. where we are approved under supply agreements or in the open “spot” market.
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We sell plasma-derived intermediate fractions to certain customers, which are generated as part of our FDA-approved manufacturing process for IG and IVIG products. In January 2020, we announced our entry into a five-year manufacturing and supply agreement to produce and sell these intermediate by-products, which are used as the starting raw material to produce other plasma-derived biologics. In addition, from time to time we provide contract manufacturing and testing services for certain third-party clients.
We also provide laboratory contracting services to certain customers and anticipate providing contract filling, labeling and packing services upon FDA approval and implementation of our in-house fill-finish capabilities through our Vanrx SA25 Workcell aseptic filling machine.
Recent Developments
On August 5, 2020, we entered into an Open Market Sale Agreement (the “Sale Agreement”) with Jefferies LLC (“Jefferies”), pursuant to which we could offer and sell, from time to time, at our option, through or to Jefferies, up to an aggregate of $50 million of shares of the Company’s common stock (see “Liquidity and Capital Resources”). On November 5, 2020, we and Jefferies amended the Sale Agreement to provide for an increase in the aggregate offering amount under the Sale Agreement such that, as of November 5, 2020, the Company could sell shares having an additional aggregate offering price of up to $20 million. On February 3, 2021, we entered into an additional amendment to the Sale Agreement to provide for an additional increase in the aggregate offering amount under the Sale Agreement to allow us to sell shares having an additional aggregate offering price of up to $35.4 million.
Our Products
BIVIGAM
BIVIGAM is a plasma-derived IVIG that contains a broad range of antibodies similar to those found in normal human plasma. These antibodies are directed against bacteria and viruses, and help to protect PI patients against serious infections. BIVIGAM is a purified, sterile, ready-to-use preparation of concentrated human Immunoglobulin G antibodies indicated for the treatment of PI, a group of genetic disorders. This includes, but is not limited to, the humoral immune defect in common variable immunodeficiency, X-linked agammaglobulinemia, congenital agammaglobulinemia, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome and severe combined immunodeficiency. These PIs are a group of genetic disorders. Based on recent estimates, these disorders are no longer considered to be very rare, with as many as one in every 1,200 people in the United States having some form of PI.
On May 9, 2019, the FDA approved the Prior Approval Supplement (the “PAS”) for the use of our IVIG manufacturing process, thereby enabling us to commence commercial sales of this product in the United States. We resumed production of BIVIGAM during the fourth quarter of 2017 and commercial production is ongoing, using our FDA-approved IVIG manufacturing process under FDA License No. 2019. Commercial sales for this product commenced in August of 2019.
ASCENIV
ASCENIV is a plasma-derived IVIG that contains naturally occurring polyclonal antibodies, which are proteins that are used by the body’s immune system to neutralize microbes, such as bacteria and viruses, and prevent against infection and disease. We manufacture ASCENIV under FDA License No. 2019 using a process known as fractionation. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) has issued a permanent, product-specific J-code for ASCENIV. Under the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (“HCPCS”), the J-code (J1554) will become effective April 1, 2021 and will replace the currently issued C-code for ASCENIV (C9072), which can continue to be utilized in the interim for reimbursement purposes. As part of our proprietary manufacturing process for ASCENIV, we leverage our unique, patented plasma donor screening methodology and tailored plasma pooling design, which blends normal source plasma and plasma from donors tested to have high levels of neutralizing antibody titers to respiratory syncytial virus (“RSV”) using our proprietary microneutralization testing assay. We are able to identify the high titer or “hyperimmune” plasma that meets our internal and required specifications for ASCENIV with our patented testing methods and assay. This type of high titer plasma is typically found in less than 10% of the total donor collection samples we test.
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ASCENIV is approved for the treatment of Primary Immune Deficiency Disorder (“PIDD”), a class of inherited genetic disorders that causes a deficient or absent immune system in adults and adolescents (12 to 17 years of age). Our pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial in 59 PIDD patients met the primary endpoint of no Serious Bacterial Infections reported during 12 months of treatment. Secondary efficacy endpoints further demonstrated the benefits of ASCENIV in the low incidence of infection, therapeutic antibiotic use, days missed from work/school/daycare and unscheduled medical visits and hospitalizations. We believe this clinical data together with the FDA approval for the treatment of PIDD better positions ADMA to further evaluate ASCENIV in immune-compromised patients infected with or at-risk for RSV infection or potentially other respiratory viral pathogens. We plan to work with the FDA and the immunology and infectious disease community to design a clinical trial to evaluate the use of ASCENIV in this patient population in the near future. Commercial sales of ASCENIV commenced in October of 2019.
Nabi-HB
Nabi-HB is a hyperimmune globulin that is rich in antibodies to the Hepatitis B virus. Nabi-HB is a purified human polyclonal antibody product collected from plasma donors who have been previously vaccinated with a Hepatitis B vaccine. Nabi-HB is indicated for the treatment of acute exposure to blood containing HBsAg, prenatal exposure of infants born to HBsAg-positive mothers, sexual exposure to HBsAg-positive persons and household exposure to persons with acute Hepatitis B virus infection in specific, listed settings. Hepatitis B is a potentially life-threatening liver infection caused by the Hepatitis B virus. It is a major global health problem. It can cause chronic infection and puts people at high risk of death from cirrhosis and liver cancer. Nabi-HB has a well-documented record of long-term safety and effectiveness since its initial market introduction. The FDA approved Nabi-HB on March 24, 1999. Production of Nabi-HB at the Boca Facility has continued under our leadership since the third quarter of 2017. In early 2018, we received authorization from the FDA for the release of our first commercial batch of Nabi-HB for commercial distribution in the U.S. and we continue to manufacture Nabi-HB under FDA License No. 2019. We are currently working on bringing fill-finish capabilities for Nabi-HB in-house and anticipate a potential FDA decision during 2021.
Evaluation of ASCENIV in PIDD Patients
PIDD or PI, a genetic disorder that causes a deficient or absent immune system, is caused by hereditary or genetic defects and can affect anyone regardless of age or gender. PIDD patients are more vulnerable to infections and more likely to suffer complications from these infections. IVIG is a plasma-derived product that is used to prevent serious infections in patients with PIDD. It is comprised of polyclonal antibodies, which are proteins produced by B-cells that are used by the body’s immune system to neutralize foreign objects such as bacteria and viruses. It is estimated that there are about 250,000 diagnosed PIDD patients in the U.S., approximately half of whom are treated with IVIG regularly. As reported in industry journals, the U.S. sales of immune and hyperimmune globulin products for all its uses were reported to be approximately $8.1 billion in 2019 and are expected to reach approximately $13.9 billion in 2025 based upon an anticipated compounded annual growth rate of approximately 11%.
ASCENIV, formerly known as RI-002, contains polyclonal antibodies against various infectious agents, such as streptococcus pneumoniae, H. influenza type B, CMV, measles and tetanus, including standardized antibodies against RSV. RSV is a common respiratory virus that often presents during the winter months. Nearly all children will have been infected with RSV by three years of age; however, the immune systems of most healthy children prevent significant morbidity and mortality. Conversely, in patients who are immune-compromised, such as those with PIDD or who have undergone a hematopoietic stem cell or solid organ transplant and may be on immunosuppressive drugs or chemotherapy, RSV infection can be associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Immune-compromised patients historically have a 5% to 15% rate of RSV infection, and, if left untreated, lower respiratory tract RSV infections in immune-compromised patients can result in a mortality rate of up to 40% of infected patients. In hematopoietic stem cell transplant (“HSCT”) patients, a subset of the immune-compromised patient population with approximately 25,000 transplants being performed annually in the U.S., it is estimated that about 25% of patients treated with the current standard of care (aerosolized Ribavirin) will progress to Lower Respiratory Tract Infection (“LRTI”) while 41% of patients untreated with the current standard of care will progress to LRTI.
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The RI-002 pivotal Phase III clinical trial was conducted as a single arm study in which patients were treated approximately once per month for a period of 12 months plus 90 days for follow up. Fifty-nine patients were enrolled in nine treatment centers in the U.S. The pivotal Phase III primary endpoint followed published FDA industry guidance, which provides for a reduction in the incidence of serious infections to less than one per year in each subject receiving IVIG. The secondary outcome was safety and included other pharmacokinetic (“PK”) data collection points including antibody titers for certain agents, including RSV antibody levels at various time points after infusion.
RI-002 demonstrated positive results in the Phase III study in patients with PIDD, meeting its primary endpoint of no SBIs reported. RI-002 was administered in a total of 793 infusions with zero serious adverse events to 59 patients in nine treatment centers throughout the U.S. These results, included in our BLA, exceed the requirement specified by FDA guidance of ≤ 1 SBI per patient-year.
On February 22, 2015, at the 2015 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Meeting, scientific investigators reported on the secondary outcomes that included: a total of 93 days, or 1.66 days per patient per year lost from work or school due to infection; one hospitalization due to an infection of only five days duration in the entire study and Immune Globulin (“IgG”) trough levels above those required by the FDA for IVIG products. Additionally, there was a marked increase in all of the measured specific anti-pathogen antibodies in PK subjects (n=31). The mean of maximum fold increases in specific antibody levels after infusion of RI-002 ranged from 1.9 fold (S. pneumonia type 19A) to 5.3 fold (RSV), which were statistically significant fold increases from the pathogen's specific measured baselines. The safety profile of ASCENIV is comparable to that of other immunoglobulins.
Evaluation of ASCENIV in RSV-Infected Patients
RSV is a common virus that ordinarily leads to mild, cold-like symptoms in healthy adults and children. In high-risk groups, such as the PIDD population and other immune-compromised populations, RSV can lead to a more serious infection and may even cause death. The polyclonal antibodies that are present in ASCENIV are expected to prevent infections in immune-compromised patients.
In October 2019, we announced the successful treatment of ASCENIV in two children suffering with RSV through our compassionate use program. The two immunocompromised children admitted to the Mayo Clinic each were diagnosed with T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma. Both patients were undergoing delayed intensification chemotherapy and each were diagnosed with RSV Lower Respiratory Tract Infection (“LRTI”). Both children were treated with ASCENIVTM under an emergency United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) Investigational New Drug protocol.
We previously conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase II clinical trial to evaluate RI-001, RI-002’s predecessor product candidate, in immune-compromised, RSV-infected patients. This trial was conducted with 21 patients in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The Phase II dose-ranging trial demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in the change from baseline RSV titers to day 18 in the high dose and low dose treatment groups when compared with placebo (p=0.0043 and p=0.0268, respectively). The mean fold increase for high dose was 9.24 (95% CI 4.07, 21.02) and the observed mean fold increase for low dose was 4.85 (95% CI 2.22, 10.59). The mean fold change for placebo treated patients was 1.42 (95% CI 0.64, 3.17). In addition, more patients in the high dose (85.7%) and low dose (42.9%) groups experienced greater than a four-fold increase from baseline to day 18 in RSV titer levels compared to placebo (0%). There were no serious drug-related adverse events reported during the trial.
From April 2009 through February 2011, RI-001 was also administered to 15 compassionate use patients where physicians requested access to the product for treating their patients with documented lower respiratory tract RSV infections due to the fact that these patients had failed conventional therapeutic interventions. Serum samples were obtained from 13 patients. Samples showed that patients demonstrated a four-fold or greater rise in RSV antibody titers from baseline. Serum samples were not obtained from two patients that received Palivizumab. All 11 surviving patients received RI-001 within an average of 4.4 days after the onset of the diagnosis of RSV. The drug was well-tolerated in all 15 patients and there were no reports of serious adverse events attributable to RI-001. Data from our Phase II clinical trial, compassionate use experience and data obtained from the evaluation of RI-002 in the infected cotton rat animal model has been presented at various conferences the past several years.
Based on these results, we intend to evaluate ASCENIV for the treatment of RSV or other respiratory viral pathogens in immunocompromised patients.
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Plasma Collection Operations
ADMA BioCenters has seven source plasma collection facilities in various stages of operations or development. We are actively operating and collecting plasma at three source plasma collection facilities located in the U.S., two of which have an FDA license (of which one facility has received approvals from MFDS and FDA approval to implement a Hepatitis B immunization program), while a BLA for our third facility is pending FDA approval. In addition, we have four additional plasma collection facilities that are under various stages of construction and development. Source plasma that is collected from our FDA-licensed facilities provides us with a portion of our blood plasma for the manufacture of our products and product candidates. After giving effect to the progress we made in 2020 with our plasma collection network expansion, we believe we remain on track to achieve our goal of having 10 or more plasma collection centers operating in the U.S. by 2024. A typical plasma collection center, such as those operated by ADMA BioCenters, can collect approximately 30,000 to 50,000 liters of source plasma annually, which may be sold for different prices depending upon the type of plasma, quantity of purchase, and market conditions at the time of sale. Plasma collected from ADMA BioCenters’ facilities that is not used to manufacture our products or product candidates are sold to third-party customers in the U.S. and other international locations where we are approved under supply agreements or in the open “spot” market.
Acquisition Transaction with Biotest Pharmaceuticals Corporation
On June 6, 2017, we completed the acquisition of certain assets (the “Biotest Assets”) of the Therapy Business Unit (“BTBU”) of BPC Plasma, Inc. (formerly Biotest Pharmaceuticals Corporation (“BPC”), together with Biotest AG, “Biotest”), which included two FDA-licensed products, Nabi-HB and BIVIGAM, and the Boca Facility (the “Biotest Transaction”). Immediately following the acquisition, the Biotest Assets were contributed into ADMA BioManufacturing.
Upon the completion of the Biotest Transaction, we gained control over the regulatory, quality, general operations and drug substance manufacturing process at the Boca Facility. In April 2018, we completed an FDA inspection and as a result of the inspection, our Boca Facility’s regulatory compliance status improved from Official Action Indicated (“OAI”) to Voluntary Action Indicated (“VAI”), allowing us to submit regulatory applications to the FDA for review. During the second quarter of 2019, we received FDA approval of the respective submissions for both ASCENIV and BIVIGAM, and the transfer of the BIVIGAM and Nabi-HB licenses from BPC to us was completed on July 2, 2019.
Our Strategy
Our goal is to be a leader in manufacturing, marketing and developing specialized, targeted, plasma-derived therapeutics that are intended to extend and enhance the lives of individuals who are naturally or medically immune-compromised. The key elements of our strategy for achieving this goal are as follows:
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Primary Immunodeficiency Disease
PIDD is a class of hereditary disorders characterized by defects in the immune system, due to either a lack of necessary antibodies or a failure of these antibodies to function properly. According to the World Health Organization, there are over 150 different presentations of PIDD. As patients suffering from PIDD lack a properly functioning immune system, they typically receive monthly, outpatient infusions of IVIG therapy. Without this exogenous antibody immune support, these patients would be susceptible to a wide variety of infectious diseases. PIDD has an estimated prevalence of 1:1,200 in the U.S., or approximately 250,000 people. Of these 250,000 people diagnosed with PIDD in the U.S., approximately 125,000 receive monthly infusions of IVIG and it is estimated that over 300,000 patients worldwide receive monthly IVIG infusions for PIDD. Industry reports indicate the U.S. market for IG in 2019 was $8.1 billion and is expected to grow to $13.9 billion by 2025 based upon a compounded annual growth rate of 11%.
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As most patients with PIDD present with infections, the differential diagnosis and initial investigations for an underlying immune defect are typically guided by the clinical presentation. In subjects with PIDD, individual infections are not necessarily more severe than those that occur in a normal host. Rather, the clinical features suggestive of an immune defect may be the recurring and/or chronic nature of infections with common pathogens that may result in end organ damage, such as bronchiectasis. In addition, subjects with PIDD will often respond poorly to standard antimicrobial therapy or they may have repeated infections with the same pathogen. The virulence of the infecting organism should also be considered, and a subject’s immune competence should be questioned when invasive infections are caused by low virulence or opportunistic pathogens. For example, infection with the opportunistic pathogens Pneumocystis jiroveci (previously Pneumocystis carinii) or atypical mycobacteria should prompt an investigation for underlying immunodeficiency. Typical clinical presentations for subjects with PIDD are:
· antibody deficiency and recurrent bacterial infections;
· T-lymphocyte deficiency and opportunistic infections;
· other lymphocyte defects causing opportunistic infections;
· neutrophil defects causing immunodeficiency; and
· complement deficiencies.
PIDD can present at any age from birth to adulthood, posing a considerable challenge for the practicing physician to know when and how to evaluate a subject for a possible immune defect. Subjects with marked antibody deficiencies are generally dependent on IVIG therapy for survival. Benefits of adequate IVIG therapy in subjects not able to produce antibodies normally include a reduction of the severity and frequency of infections, prevention of chronic lung disease and prevention of enteroviral meningoencephalitis. Several immune globulin products have already been approved by the FDA.
Plasma - Background, Composition and Manufacturing
Human blood contains a number of components including:
· Red blood cells – Used to carry oxygen from the lungs to the body;
· White blood cells – Used by the immune system to fight infection;
· Platelets – Used for blood clotting; and
Plasma is the most abundant blood component, representing approximately 55% of total blood volume. Plasma, which is 90% water, is rich in proteins used by the human body for blood clotting and fighting infection. These proteins account for approximately 7% of plasma’s volume. As plasma contains these valuable proteins, plasma collection and the manufacturing of human plasma-derived therapeutics provide therapeutic benefits for ill patients.
In order to produce plasma-derived therapeutics that can be administered to ill patients, raw material plasma must be collected from human donors and then manufactured into specialized products. Plasma is collected from healthy donors at FDA-licensed plasma donation centers. To ensure safety of the collected plasma, all plasma donations are tested using FDA-approved methods of Nucleic Acid Testing for various infectious diseases, such as HIV or HCV.
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Plasma is collected using a process known as “plasmapheresis.” During plasmapheresis, a donor’s blood is drawn into a specialized medical device that separates the plasma component through centrifugation, and then returns the other blood components back into the donor’s bloodstream. Plasmapheresis is performed utilizing an FDA-approved, automated device with a sterile, self-contained collection kit. The plasma that is collected is known as “normal source plasma.” There are over 900 plasma donation centers in the U.S. As noted in a variety of plasma industry trade reports and related conferences, approximately 45 million liters of source plasma were collected in the U.S. in 2019. In the U.S., a donor may donate plasma a maximum of two times during any seven-day period, with at least two days in between donations. Plasma donation centers in the U.S. typically pay donors $50 to $100 per donation and some donors with rare or high antibody levels can be paid more.
In order to isolate the desired therapeutic elements in normal source plasma, it must initially go through the fractionation process. The process of fractionation was invented in the 1940’s by E.J. Cohn and is referred to as the Cohn method or cold ethanol fractionation. First, the source plasma undergoes a process called pooling, in which the individual plasma donations are combined into a pooling tank. Second, the Cohn fractionation method, which is a combination of time, temperature, pH, alcohol concentration and centrifugation, is used to separate the desired plasma protein components, or “fractions.” After fractionation, the separated proteins are then re-suspended and are treated with a solvent detergent treatment process for viral inactivation. Next, other forms of filtration, such as nanofiltration, are performed as an additional viral removal and viral reduction step. Finally, with the various components separated and purified, the bulk product is formulated and filled into final, finished vials. During these various steps of manufacturing, each lot is reviewed and tested for potency and purity prior to being approved for release. The biologics manufacturing process is time consuming and complex. The time for collection, manufacturing and release of a batch of IG is estimated at 7 to 12 months, which is not unique to just ADMA as other fractionators report similar production timelines.
The proteins in human plasma fall into four categories: albumin (60% of protein volume), immune globulins (15% of protein volume), coagulation factors (1% of protein volume), and other proteins (24% of protein volume) such as alpha-1 proteinase inhibitor, C1 esterase inhibitor, fibrin sealants and fibrinogen. Many of the other proteins in plasma have yet to be developed into commercial therapies. In the U.S., not only are the plasma collection centers subject to FDA licensure, but each plasma protein product that is derived and fractionated from plasma must undergo an approval process with FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (“CBER”).
Immune Globulins
In June 2008, the FDA published the FDA Guidance for Industry outlining the regulatory pathway for the approval of IVIG for the treatment of PIDD (Guidance for Industry: Safety, Efficacy, and Pharmacokinetic Studies to Support Marketing of Immune Globulin Intravenous (Human) as Replacement Therapy for Primary Humoral Immunodeficiency).
Immune globulins can be administered in three ways: intramuscularly, intravenously or subcutaneously. IVIG principally contains antibodies and, as such, provides passive immunization for individuals who are immune-deficient or who have been exposed to various infectious agents. IVIG is used therapeutically in a variety of immunological diseases/deficiencies, such as PIDD, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, Guillain-Barré syndrome, Kawasaki disease, bone marrow transplant, and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. We are aware that other companies are also evaluating IVIG in a clinical trial for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Additionally, IVIG is also used as therapy in a variety of other diseases that do not involve primary or secondary immune deficiencies, such as multiple sclerosis, skin disease, and asthma. These latter uses are referred to as “off-label” or evidence-based uses because the FDA has not approved their use in these indications and promotion of such uses is not permitted by FDA unless a BLA or BLA supplement with additional data is approved. Among the various IVIG products, there are only 14 labeled indications approved by the FDA. However, medical literature identifies at least 150 evidence-based uses for IVIG, of which approximately 60 are currently included on lists of reimbursable uses by Medicare and other healthcare plans. This provides opportunities for new product development and submissions to potentially expand the label for our existing products.
There are two types of immune globulins; standard and hyperimmune. The difference between standard immune globulins and hyperimmune globulins is that the latter are manufactured using plasma obtained from donors who have elevated amounts (high-titers) of specific antibodies. These high-titer products can be used to treat and prevent diseases that present those specific antigens that are reactive with the high-titer antibodies. Hyperimmune products currently available include Hepatitis B, tetanus, rabies, CMV and RhoD immune globulins.
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As reported in industry journals, the U.S. sales of immune and hyperimmune globulin products for all its uses were reported to be approximately $8.1 billion in 2019, and are expected to reach approximately $13.9 billion in 2025 based upon an anticipated compounded annual growth rate of approximately 11%. IVIG products are used to treat primary immune deficiencies, certain autoimmune diseases, and other illnesses for immune-compromised patients and certain neuropathy indications. New research and data, secondary immune deficiencies, additional labeled indications, an aging population and emerging countries with new markets are all adding to the worldwide demand and growth of IVIG utilization.
Manufacturing and Supply of Our Products
In order to produce plasma-derived therapeutics that can be administered to patients, raw material plasma is collected from healthy donors at plasma collection facilities licensed by the FDA. When stored under proper conditions, this plasma may have a shelf-life of up to 10 years. Source plasma is collected at any one of over 900 FDA-licensed donation centers located throughout the U.S., using a process known as automated plasmapheresis. This sterile, self-contained, automated process separates red blood cells and other cellular components in the blood, which are then returned to the donor. Source plasma obtained by plasmapheresis is tested and must be negative for antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus types 1 and 2 (HIV-1/2), HBsAg and Hepatitis C virus (“HCV”), using FDA-approved serological test procedures.
After receipt of the source plasma, the frozen plasma is thawed and pooled and goes through the fractionation process. This process is referred to as the Cohn method or cold ethanol method of fractionation. During cold ethanol fractionation, classes of proteins are precipitated and removed by centrifugation or filtration. The fractionation process includes the following steps; precipitation and absorption, depth filtration, centrifugation and chromatography. Because of the human origin of the raw material and the thousands of donations required in the fractionation process, a significant risk associated with plasma products is the transmission of blood-borne infectious pathogens. These purification processes have the potential to reduce the viral load. The manufacturing process also utilizes a multistep viral removal/inactivation system, which further increases the safety of the products. The following manufacturing processes have been validated for their capability to eliminate or inactivate viruses: precipitation during cold ethanol fractionation, solvent/detergent treatment and nanofiltration. We incorporate these processes into the manufacturing process, which ensures that our products comply with the requirements of the FDA and are safe and efficacious.
Once our drug-substance is produced in the Boca Facility, the product is further processed by certain third- party fill-finish providers as well as through labeling, packaging and DSCSA serialization requirements. The end-to-end production cycle can take approximately nine to 12 months for a batch of FDA released drug product. During 2020, we successfully implemented several manufacturing and supply chain enhancements, including the purchase and installation of a new Vanrx SA25 Workcell aseptic filling machine and the manufacturing of four conformance batches of BIVIGAM at an increased scale. These initiatives are designed to reduce operating costs, improve margins and provide for faster production cycle turnaround time, ultimately providing increased control and independence from third-party vendors and contractors. ADMA submitted the appropriate applications to the FDA during the fourth quarter of 2020 and upon FDA approval expects to begin benefitting from these initiatives as early as mid-2021.
ADMA BioCenters operates two FDA-licensed source plasma collection facility located in the U.S. which provides us with a portion of our blood plasma for the manufacture of our current products and product candidates. We also have a third plasma collection facility where we currently collect plasma for which a BLA is pending with the FDA. In addition, we have four additional plasma collection facilities that are under various stages of construction and development. After giving effect to the progress we made in 2020 with our plasma collection network expansion, we believe we remain on track to achieve our goal of having 10 or more plasma collection centers in operation by 2024. In addition, we intend to enter into additional third-party contracts to procure normal source and high-titer plasma.
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Pursuant to the terms of a plasma purchase agreement with BPC, dated as of November 17, 2011 (the “2011 Plasma Purchase Agreement”), we have agreed to purchase from BPC an annual minimum volume of source plasma containing antibodies to RSV to be used in the manufacture of ASCENIV. We must purchase a to-be-determined and agreed upon annual minimum volume from BPC, but may also collect high-titer RSV plasma from up to five wholly-owned ADMA plasma collection facilities. During 2015, we amended the 2011 Plasma Purchase Agreement with BPC to allow us the ability to collect our raw material RSV high-titer plasma from other third-party collection organizations, thus allowing us to expand our reach for raw material supply for ASCENIV. Unless terminated earlier, the 2011 Plasma Purchase Agreement expires in June 2027, after which it may be renewed for two additional five-year periods if agreed to by the parties. As part of the closing of the Biotest Transaction, we amended the 2011 Plasma Purchase Agreement to extend the initial term through the ten-year anniversary of the closing date of the Biotest Transaction. On December 10, 2018, BPC assigned its rights and obligations under the 2011 Plasma Purchase Agreement to Grifols Worldwide Operations Limited (“Grifols”) as its successor-in-interest, effective January 1, 2019. On January 1, 2019, Grifols and ADMA entered into an additional amendment to the 2011 Plasma Purchase Agreement for the purchase of source plasma containing antibodies to RSV from Grifols. Pursuant to this amendment, until January 1, 2022, we may purchase RSV plasma from Grifols from the two previously-owned ADMA plasma collection facilities which we transferred to BPC on January 1, 2019 at a price equal to cost plus five percent (5%) (without any additional increase due to inflation).
On June 6, 2017, we entered into a Plasma Supply Agreement with BPC pursuant to which BPC supplies, on an exclusive basis subject to certain exceptions, to ADMA BioManufacturing an annual minimum volume of hyperimmune plasma that contain antibodies to the hepatitis B virus for the manufacture of Nabi-HB. The Plasma Supply Agreement has a 10-year term. On July 19, 2018, we entered into an amendment to the Plasma Supply Agreement with BPC to provide, among other things, that in the event BPC elects not to supply in excess of ADMA BioManufacturing’s specified amount of Hepatitis B plasma and ADMA BioManufacturing is unable to secure Hepatitis B plasma from a third party at a price which is within a low double digit percentage of the price which ADMA BioManufacturing pays to BPC, then BPC shall reimburse ADMA BioManufacturing for the difference in price ADMA BioManufacturing incurs. On December 10, 2018, BPC assigned its rights and obligations under the Plasma Supply Agreement to Grifols, effective January 1, 2019.
On June 6, 2017, we entered into a Plasma Purchase Agreement with BPC (the “2017 Plasma Purchase Agreement”), pursuant to which ADMA BioManufacturing purchases normal source plasma from BPC at agreed upon annual quantities and prices. The 2017 Plasma Purchase Agreement has an initial term of five years after which the 2017 Plasma Purchase Agreement may be renewed for two additional terms of two years each upon the mutual written consent of the parties. On July 19, 2018, we entered into an amendment to the 2017 Plasma Purchase Agreement with BPC to, among other things, provide agreed upon amounts of normal source plasma to be supplied by BPC to ADMA BioManufacturing in calendar year 2019 at a specified price per liter, provided that ADMA BioManufacturing delivers a valid purchase order to BPC. Additionally, pursuant to the amendment to the 2017 Plasma Purchase Agreement, BPC agrees that, for calendar years 2020 and 2021, it shall supply no less than a high double-digit percentage of ADMA BioManufacturing’s requested NSP amounts, provided that such requested normal source plasma amounts are within an agreed range, at a price per liter to be mutually determined. Furthermore, pursuant to the amendment to the 2017 Plasma Purchase Agreement, in the event BPC fails to supply ADMA BioManufacturing with at least a high double-digit percentage of ADMA BioManufacturing’s requested normal source plasma amounts, BPC shall promptly reimburse ADMA BioManufacturing the difference in price ADMA BioManufacturing incurs due to BPC’s election not to supply NSP to ADMA BioManufacturing in such amounts as requested. On December 10, 2018, BPC assigned its rights and obligations under the Plasma Purchase Agreement to Grifols, effective January 1, 2019.
Sales and Commercialization of Our Products
Currently, BIVIGAM, ASCENIV and Nabi-HB are sold primarily through independent distributors, drug wholesalers acting as sales agents, specialty pharmacies servicing both acute and ambulatory infusion centers and the home health infusion setting and other alternate site providers. In the U.S., independent distributors or third-party drug wholesalers ship our products through their distribution centers. These centers are generally stocked with adequate inventories to facilitate prompt customer service. Sales and distribution methods include frequent contact by sales and customer service representatives, automated communications via various electronic purchasing systems, circulation of catalogs and merchandising bulletins, direct-mail campaigns, trade publication presence and advertising.
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We market and sell our products through our specialty sales force, distribution relationships and other customary industry methods. We focus our efforts specifically on the easily identifiable treatment centers which specialize in the care and management of immune compromised individuals. We estimate that there are approximately 500 leading specialty programs in the U.S. which have significant patient populations for PIDD, suitable for treatment with ASCENIV. We are in the process of expanding our current specialty sales force consisting of account managers, medical science liaisons and other normal and customary scientific, medical and detail representatives. Our management and Board have substantial prior direct marketing, sales and distribution experience with plasma-derived drugs, specialty immune globulins and other biological products. As is customary in the plasma products industry, we may also use a network of national distribution organizations that have specialty divisions that focus on plasma products to fulfill orders for ASCENIV.
Subject to restrictions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, commercialization efforts to generate increased market awareness for Nabi-HB include attending and presenting at medical conferences, as well as sponsoring medical education symposiums. We have also hired a small, specialty sales force to market BIVIGAM and ASCENIV to hospitals, physician offices/clinics, and other specialty treatment organizations as applicable. In addition, we have been staffing our Company with additional personnel for patient support, medical affairs, quality assurance, regulatory affairs, scientific affairs, third-party reimbursement, inventory and logistics, human resources and financial and operational management. We may also use a network of national and regional distributors to assist with order fulfillment for BIVIGAM and ASCENIV for use by healthcare professionals and hospitals
Pursuant to our Manufacturing, Supply and License Agreement effective as of January 21, 2017, we granted Biotest an exclusive license to market and sell RI-002 in Europe and in selected countries in North Africa and the Middle East (the “Territory”), to have access to our testing services for testing of BPC’s plasma samples using our proprietary RSV assay, and to reference (but not access) our proprietary information for the purpose of Biotest seeking regulatory approval for the RI-002 in the Territory. As consideration for the license, Biotest provided us with certain services at no charge and also compensated us with cash payments upon the completion of certain milestones. Biotest was also obligated to pay us an adjustable royalty based on a percentage of revenues from the sale of RI-002 in the Territory for 20 years from the date of first commercial sale.
Pharmaceutical Pricing and Reimbursement of Our Products
All sales in the U.S. of BIVIGAM, ASCENIV and Nabi-HB depend in part upon the availability of reimbursement from third-party payers. Third-party payers include government health programs, managed care providers, private health insurers and other organizations. BIVIGAM and Nabi-HB are reimbursed or purchased under several government programs, including Medicaid, Medicare Parts B and D, the 340B/Public Health Service program, and pursuant to an existing contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Medicaid is a joint state and federal government health plan that provides covered outpatient prescription drugs for low-income individuals. Under Medicaid, drug manufacturers pay rebates to the states based on utilization data provided by the states. CMS has issued a permanent, product-specific-J-code for ASCENIV. Under the HCPCS, the J-code (J1554) will become effective April 1, 2021 and will replace the currently issued C-code for ASCENIV (C9072), which can continue to be utilized in the interim for reimbursement purposes.
Major Customers
For the year ended December 31, 2020, three customers, BioCARE, Inc. (“BioCare”), Reliance Life Sciences Pvt Limited (“Reliance”) and Biolife Plasma Services, L.P. (“Biolife”), represented an aggregate of 82% of our consolidated revenues.
As of December 31, 2020, three customers, BioCare, Reliance and Priority Healthcare Distribution, Inc. (“Curascript”), represented a total of 92% of our consolidated accounts receivable.
Competition
The plasma products industry is highly competitive. We face, and will continue to face, intense competition from both U.S. based and foreign producers of plasma products, some of which have lower cost structures, greater access to capital, greater resources for research and development, and sophisticated marketing capabilities.
These competitors may include but are not limited to: CSL Behring, Grifols Biologicals, Takeda, Octapharma, Kedrion and BPL. There are four producers of plasma-derived products in the U.S. consisting of: CSL Behring, Grifols Biologicals, Takeda and ADMA Biologics. In addition to competition from other large worldwide plasma products providers, we face competition in local areas from smaller entities. In Europe, where the industry is highly regulated and healthcare systems vary from country to country, local companies may have greater knowledge of local healthcare systems, more established infrastructures and existing regulatory approvals or a better understanding of the local regulatory process, allowing them to market their products more quickly. Moreover, plasma therapy generally faces competition from non-plasma products and other courses of treatments. For example, recombinant Factor VIII products compete with plasma-derived products in the treatment of Hemophilia A.
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Intellectual Property
We rely on a combination of patents, patent applications, copyrights and trademarks, as well as contracts, such as confidentiality, material data transfer, license and invention assignment agreements, to protect our intellectual property rights. We also rely upon trade secret laws to protect unpatented know-how and advancing technological innovation.
We have intellectual property (patents, know-how, etc.) related to our immunotherapeutic compositions, manufacturing processes, immunotherapeutic treatment, and related methods and formulations.
Patents related to our immune globulin product ASCENIV include U.S. Patent No. 9,107,906, which covers compositions comprising pooled plasma, as well as immunoglobulin prepared therefrom, that contains a standardized, elevated titer of RSV neutralizing antibodies and elevated levels of antibodies specific for one or more other respiratory pathogens, as well as methods of making and using the compositions. U.S. Patent Nos. 9,714,283, 9,815,886, 9,969,793 and 10,683,343, encompassing immunotherapeutic compositions and immunotherapeutic methods proprietary to us, also relate to ASCENIV. Corresponding foreign patents and patent applications also pertain to this technology.
We also hold intellectual property, including patents and patent applications, related to immunotherapeutic compositions and immunotherapeutic methods for the treatment and prevention of S. pneumonia infection. U.S. Patent No. 10,259,856, issued in April 2019, pertains to various aspects of this technology. Additional U.S. and numerous corresponding foreign patent applications also relate to this technology.
We continue to prepare, file, and prosecute patent applications to provide broad and strong protection of our proprietary rights, including applications focused on existing and future products.
We rely on a combination of patents, trademarks, trade secrets and nondisclosure and non-competition agreements to protect our proprietary intellectual property and will continue to do so. We also seek to enhance and ensure our competitive position through a variety of means, including our unique and proprietary plasma donor selection criteria, our proprietary formulation methodology for plasma pooling and the proprietary reagents, controls, testing standards, standard operating procedures and methods we use in our anti-RSV microneutralization assay. While we intend to defend against threats to our intellectual property, litigation can be costly and there can be no assurance that our patent will be enforced or that our trade secret policies and practices or other agreements will adequately protect our intellectual property. We seek to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our data and trade secrets by maintaining physical security of our premises and physical and electronic security of our information technology systems. These processes, systems, and/or security measures may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies as a result of any such breaches. Third parties may also own or could obtain patents that may require us to negotiate licenses to conduct our business, and there can be no assurance that the required licenses would be available on reasonable terms or at all.
In addition, our trade secrets may otherwise become known or be independently discovered by competitors. We also seek to protect our proprietary technology and processes, in part, by confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, scientific advisors and contractors. Although we rely, in part, on confidentiality, nondisclosure and non-competition agreements with employees, consultants and other parties with access to our proprietary information to protect our trade secrets, proprietary technology, processes and other proprietary rights, there can be no assurance that these agreements or any other security measures related to such trade secrets, proprietary technology, processes and proprietary rights will be adequate, will not be breached, that we will have adequate remedies for any breach, that others will not independently develop substantially equivalent proprietary information or that third parties will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or proprietary knowledge. To the extent that our consultants, contractors or collaborators use intellectual property owned by others in their work for us, disputes may arise as to the rights in related or resulting know-how and inventions. We have filed for other provisional patent applications with the U.S. which are pending related to expanded hyperimmune globulin products.
We currently hold multiple trademarks, including but not limited to ASCENIV, BIVIGAM and Nabi-HB. We have spent considerable resources registering the trademarks and building brand awareness and equity of the ADMA Biologics trade name, which has been used in commerce since 2006. We expect to maintain and defend our various trademarks to the fullest extent possible.
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Government Regulation and Product Approval
The FDA and comparable regulatory agencies in state and local jurisdictions and in foreign countries impose substantial requirements upon, among other things, the testing (preclinical and clinical), manufacturing, labeling, storage, recordkeeping, advertising, promotion, import, export, marketing and distribution of our products and product candidates. If we do not comply with applicable requirements, we may be fined, the government may refuse to approve our marketing applications or allow us to manufacture or market our products and we may be criminally prosecuted. We and our manufacturers may also be subject to regulations under other federal, state and local laws.
U.S. Government Regulation
In the U.S., the FDA regulates products under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the “FDCA”) and related regulations. Our current and anticipated future product candidates are considered “biologics” under the FDA regulatory framework. The FDA's regulatory authority for the approval of biologics resides in the Public Health Service Act. However, biologics are also subject to regulation under the FDCA because most biological products also meet the FDCA’s definition of “drugs.” Most pharmaceuticals or “conventional drugs” consist of pure chemical substances and their structures are known. Most biologics, however, are complex mixtures that are not easily identified or characterized. Biological products differ from conventional drugs in that they tend to be heat-sensitive and susceptible to microbial contamination. This requires sterile processes to be applied from initial manufacturing steps. The process required by the FDA before our product candidates may be marketed in the U.S. generally involves the following (although the FDA is given wide discretion to impose different or more stringent requirements on a case-by-case basis):
· submission of a BLA to the FDA;
The testing and approval process requires substantial time, effort and financial resources, and we cannot be certain that any approvals for our product candidates will be granted on a timely basis, if at all.
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Prior to commencing the first clinical trial at a United States investigational site, we must submit manufacturing and analytical data, pre-clinical data from studies conducted in accordance with Good Laboratory Practices (“GLPs”), and clinical trial plans, among other information, to the FDA as part of an IND application. Subject to certain exceptions, an IND becomes effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA, unless the FDA, within the 30-day time period, issues a clinical hold to delay a proposed clinical investigation due to concerns or questions about the product or the conduct of the clinical trial, including concerns that human research subjects will be exposed to unreasonable health risks. In such a case, the IND sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns before the clinical trial can begin. Clinical holds also may be imposed by the FDA at any time before or during trials due to safety concerns or non-compliance.
Our submission of an IND, or those of our collaboration partners, may not result in the FDA allowance to commence a clinical trial. A separate submission to an existing IND must also be made for each successive clinical trial conducted during product development. The FDA must also approve certain changes to an existing IND, such as certain manufacturing changes. Further, an independent institutional review board (“IRB”) duly constituted to meet FDA requirements for each medical center proposing to conduct the clinical trial must review and approve the plan for any clinical trial before it commences at that center and it must monitor the safety of the study and study subjects until completed. The FDA, the IRB or the sponsor may suspend a clinical trial at any time on various grounds, including a finding that the subjects or patients are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk. Clinical testing also must satisfy extensive Good Clinical Practice requirements and regulations for informed consent, and must be conducted with product meeting cGMPs.
Clinical Trials
For purposes of BLA submission and approval, clinical trials are typically conducted in the following three sequential phases, which may overlap (although additional or different trials may be required by the FDA as well):
In addition, under the Pediatric Research Equity Act of 2003, a BLA application or supplement for a new active ingredient, new indication, new dosage form, new dosing regimen, or new route of administration must contain data that is adequate to assess the safety and effectiveness of the drug for the claimed indications in all relevant pediatric subpopulations, and to support dosing and administration for each pediatric subpopulation for which the product is safe and effective, unless the applicant has obtained a waiver or deferral. In 2012, the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act amended the FDCA to require that a sponsor who is planning to submit such an application submit an initial Pediatric Study Plan (“PSP”) within 60 days of an end-of-phase 2 meeting or as may be agreed between the sponsor and the FDA. The FDA may, on its own initiative or at the request of the applicant, grant deferrals for submission of data or full or partial waivers. The FDA and the sponsor must reach agreement on the PSP.
In some cases, the FDA may condition continued approval of a BLA on the sponsor’s agreement to conduct additional clinical trials, or other commitments. Such post-approval studies are typically referred to as Phase IV studies.
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Biologics License Application
The results of product candidate development, preclinical testing and clinical trials, together with, among other things, detailed information on the manufacture and composition of the product and proposed labeling, and the payment of a user fee, are submitted to the FDA as part of a BLA. The FDA reviews all BLAs submitted before it accepts them for filing and may reject the filing as inadequate to merit review or may request additional information to be submitted in a very short time frame before accepting a BLA for filing. Once a BLA is accepted for filing, the FDA begins an in-depth review of the application. Before approving a marketing application, the FDA typically will inspect the facility or facilities where the product is manufactured, referred to as a Pre-Approval Inspection, as well as one or more clinical trial sites.
During its review of a BLA, the FDA may refer the application to an advisory committee of experts for their review, evaluation and recommendation as to whether the application should be approved, which information is taken into consideration along with the FDA’s own review findings.
The FDA may refuse to approve a BLA and issue a Complete Response Letter (“CRL”) if the applicable regulatory criteria are not satisfied or the FDA has additional open questions for which it requires clarification. A CRL may also require additional clinical or other data, including one or more additional pivotal Phase III clinical trials. Even if such requested data are submitted, the FDA may ultimately decide that the BLA does not satisfy the criteria for approval and issue a denial of the BLA. Data from clinical trials are not always conclusive and the FDA may interpret data differently than we do. If the FDA’s evaluations of the BLA and the clinical and manufacturing procedures and facilities are favorable, the FDA may issue an approval letter; if the evaluations are not favorable the FDA will issue a CRL, which may contain the conditions that must be met in order to secure final approval of the BLA. If a CRL is issued, a company has up to twelve months to resubmit or withdraw the BLA, unless the FDA allows for an extension as requested by a sponsor. If a CRL is issued, resubmissions for original applications and supplements of different types are subject to varying agency review procedures and review timing goals. For example, upon the resubmission of an original BLA application or efficacy supplement, CBER’s written Standard Operating Policy and Procedure (SOPP) 8405.1 states that it will classify the resubmission as either Class 1 (triggering a two-month review goal for the FDA) or Class 2 (triggering a six-month review goal for the FDA) depending on the circumstances, and in this SOPP CBER stated goal for review of manufacturing and labeling supplement resubmissions for Prescription Drug User Fee Act (“PDUFA”) BLAs is (using the timeframes referenced in 21 C.F.R.§ 314.110(b)(1)(iii)) to review them within the same timeframe as the initial review cycle for the supplement (excluding any extension due to a major amendment of the initial supplement) (for example, under the FDA’s published PDUFA goals for fiscal years 2018 – 2022, a goal of acting on 90% of manufacturing PASs within four months of receipt). In practice, FDA reviews may take longer than the stated goals.
If and when the items identified in a CRL have been resolved to the FDA’s satisfaction, the FDA will issue an approval letter, authorizing commercial marketing of the product for certain indications. The FDA may withdraw product approval if ongoing regulatory requirements are not met or if safety problems occur after the product reaches the market. In addition, the FDA may require testing, including Phase IV post-approval clinical trials, and surveillance programs to monitor the effect of approved products that have been commercialized, and the FDA has the power to prevent or limit further marketing of a product based on the results of these post-marketing programs. Even if the FDA approves a product, it may limit the approved indications or populations for use of the product, require that contraindications, warnings, or precautions be included in the product labeling, including a boxed warning, require testing and surveillance programs to monitor the product after commercialization, or impose other conditions, including distribution restrictions or other risk management mechanisms under a REMS which can materially affect the potential market and profitability of the product. The FDA may also not approve label statements that are necessary for successful commercialization and marketing. Products may be marketed only for the FDA-approved indications and in accordance with the FDA-approved label. The FDA does not allow drugs to be promoted for “off-label” uses – that is, uses that are not described in the product’s approved labeling and that differ from those that were approved by the FDA. Furthermore, the FDA generally limits approved uses to those studied in clinical trials. If there are any modifications to the product, including changes in indications, other labeling changes, or manufacturing processes or facilities, we may be required to submit and obtain FDA approval of a new BLA or BLA supplement, which may require us to develop additional data or conduct additional preclinical studies and clinical trials, and/or require additional manufacturing data.
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Satisfaction of the FDA regulations and approval requirements or similar requirements of foreign regulatory agencies typically takes several years, and the actual time required may vary substantially based upon the type, complexity and novelty of the product or disease. Typically, if a product candidate is intended to treat a chronic disease, as was the case with ASCENIV, safety and efficacy data must be gathered over an extended period of time. Government regulation may delay or prevent marketing of product candidates for a considerable period of time and impose costly procedures upon our activities. The FDA or any other regulatory agency may not grant approvals for changes in dose form or new indications for a product candidate on a timely basis, or at all. Even if a product candidate receives regulatory approval, the approval may be significantly limited to specific disease states, patient populations and dosages. Further, even after regulatory approval is obtained, later discovery of previously unknown problems with a product may result in restrictions on the product or even complete withdrawal of the product from the market. Delays in obtaining, or failures to obtain, regulatory approvals for any of our product candidates would harm our business. In addition, we cannot predict what adverse governmental regulations may arise from future U.S. or foreign governmental action.
Other Regulatory Requirements
Biological drug products manufactured or distributed pursuant to FDA approvals are subject to extensive and continuing regulation by the FDA, including, among other things, requirements related to recordkeeping (including certain electronic record and signature requirements), periodic reporting, product sampling and distribution, advertising and promotion and reporting of certain adverse experiences, deviations, and other problems with the product. After approval, most changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications or other labeling claims, are subject to prior FDA review and approval. There also are annual user fee requirements for any marketed products, as well as new application fees for supplemental applications with clinical data.
Manufacturers must continue to comply with cGMP requirements, which are extensive and require considerable time, resources and ongoing investment to ensure compliance. In addition, changes to the manufacturing process generally require prior FDA approval before being implemented and other types of changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications and additional labeling claims, are also subject to further FDA review and approval.
Manufacturers and certain other entities involved in the manufacturing and distribution of approved products are required to register their establishments with the FDA and certain state agencies, list the manufactured products, and are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and certain state agencies for compliance with cGMP and other laws. The cGMP requirements apply to all stages of the manufacturing process, including the production, processing, sterilization, packaging, labeling, storage and shipment of the product. Manufacturers must establish validated systems to ensure that products meet specifications and regulatory standards, and test each product batch or lot prior to its release. Recently, the information that must be submitted to FDA regarding manufactured products was expanded through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES)” Act to include the volume of drugs produced during the prior year. For biologics products in particular, for each product lot the applicant must submit materials related to that lot to the FDA before the lot can be released for distribution.
Changes to the manufacturing process are strictly regulated and often require prior FDA approval before being implemented. FDA regulations also require investigation and correction of any deviations from cGMP and impose reporting and documentation requirements upon the sponsor and any third-party manufacturers that the sponsor may decide to use. Accordingly, manufacturers must continue to expend time, money, and effort in the area of production and quality control to maintain cGMP compliance.
The FDA may impose a number of post-approval requirements as a condition of approval of an application. The FDA may withdraw a product approval if compliance with regulatory requirements is not maintained or if problems occur after the product reaches the market. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with a product, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, problems with manufacturing processes or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in restrictions on the product or even complete withdrawal of the product from the market. Failure to comply with the statutory and regulatory requirements can subject a manufacturer to possible legal or regulatory action, such as warning letters, suspension of manufacturing, sales or use, seizure of product, injunctive action or possible fines and other penalties. We cannot be certain that we or our present or future third-party manufacturers or suppliers will be able to comply with the cGMP regulations and other ongoing FDA regulatory requirements. If we or our present or future third-party manufacturers or suppliers are not able to comply with these requirements, the FDA may halt our clinical trials, require us to recall a product from distribution, or withdraw approval of our BLA for that product.
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The FDA closely regulates the post-approval marketing and promotion of products, including standards and regulations for direct-to-consumer advertising, off-label promotion, industry-sponsored scientific and educational activities and promotional activities involving the Internet. A company can make only those claims relating to safety and efficacy that are approved by the FDA. Failure to comply with these requirements can result in adverse publicity, warning and/or other regulatory letters, corrective advertising and potential major fines and other penalties.
The commercial distribution of prescription drugs (including biological drug products) is subject to the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (“DSCSA”), which regulates the distribution of the products at the federal level, and sets certain standards for federal or state registration and compliance of entities in the supply chain (manufacturers and repackagers, wholesale distributors, third-party logistics providers, and dispensers). The DSCSA preempts previously enacted state pedigree laws and the pedigree requirements of the Prescription Drug Marketing Act (“PDMA”). Trading partners within the drug supply chain must now ensure certain product tracing requirements are met, and are required to exchange transaction information, transaction history, and transaction statements. Further, the DSCSA limits the distribution of prescription pharmaceutical products and imposes requirements to ensure overall accountability and security in the drug supply chain. The distribution of product samples continues to be regulated under the PDMA.
From time to time, legislation is drafted, introduced and passed in Congress that could significantly change the statutory provisions governing the approval, manufacturing and marketing of products regulated by the FDA. In addition to new legislation, FDA and other agency regulations, guidance, and policies are often revised or reinterpreted in ways that may significantly affect our business and our product candidates. It is impossible, especially in light of the recent change to the U.S. administration, to predict whether further legislative or FDA regulation or other regulatory policy changes will be enacted or implemented and what the impact of such changes, if any, may be. It is possible that certain prior regulatory requirements may be postponed or frozen.
Regulation of ADMA BioCenters
With some limited exceptions, all blood and blood product collection and manufacturing centers which engage in interstate commerce must be licensed by the FDA. In order to achieve licensure, the organization must submit a BLA and undergo pre-licensure inspection. ADMA BioCenters has completed these requirements and holds an FDA license for its existing plasma collection facility. In order to maintain an FDA license, each such facility operated by ADMA BioCenters will be inspected at least every two years and must meet certain regulatory requirements. ADMA BioCenters is also required to submit annual reports to the FDA.
Blood plasma collection and manufacturing centers are also subject to the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments, state licensure and compliance with industry standards such as the International Quality Plasma Program. Compliance with state and industry standards is verified by means of routine inspection. We believe that our existing ADMA BioCenters facilities are currently in compliance with state and industry standards. Delays in obtaining, or failures to maintain, regulatory approvals for any facilities operated by ADMA BioCenters would harm our business. In addition, we cannot predict what adverse federal and state regulations and industry standards may arise in the future.
Foreign Regulation
In addition to regulations in the U.S., if we choose to pursue clinical development and commercialization in the European Union, we will be subject to a variety of foreign regulations governing clinical trials and commercial sales and distribution of any future product. Whether or not we obtain FDA approval for a product, we must obtain approval of a product by the comparable regulatory authorities of foreign countries before we can commence clinical trials or marketing of the product in those countries. The approval process varies from country to country, and the time may be longer or shorter than that required for FDA approval. The requirements governing the conduct of clinical trials, product licensing, pricing and reimbursement vary greatly from country to country.
Under European Union regulatory systems, marketing authorizations may be submitted either under a centralized or mutual recognition procedure. The centralized procedure provides for the grant of a single marketing authorization that is valid for all European Union member states. The mutual recognition procedure provides for mutual recognition of national approval decisions. Under this procedure, the holder of a national marketing authorization may submit an application to the remaining member states. Within 90 days of receiving the applications and assessment report, each member state must decide whether to recognize approval, refuse it or request additional information.
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Product Coverage, Pricing and Reimbursement
Significant uncertainties exist as to the coverage and reimbursement status of any products for which we may obtain regulatory approval. In the U.S., sales of any products for which we may receive regulatory approval for commercial sale will depend in part on the availability of coverage and reimbursement from third-party payers. Third-party payers include government authorities, managed care providers, private health insurers and other organizations. The process for determining whether a payer will provide coverage for a drug product may be separate from the process for setting the reimbursement rate that the payer will pay for the drug product. Third-party payers may limit coverage to specific drug products on an approved list, or formulary, which might not include all of the FDA-approved drugs for a particular indication. Moreover, a payer’s decision to provide coverage for a drug product does not imply that an adequate reimbursement rate will be approved. Adequate third-party reimbursement may not be available to enable us to maintain price levels sufficient to realize an appropriate return on our investment in product development.
Third-party payers are increasingly challenging the price and examining the medical necessity and cost-effectiveness of medical products and services, in addition to their safety and efficacy. In order to obtain coverage and reimbursement for any product that might be approved for sale, we may need to conduct expensive pharmacoeconomic studies in order to demonstrate the medical necessity and cost-effectiveness of any products, in addition to the costs required to obtain regulatory approvals. Our product candidates may not be considered medically necessary or cost-effective. If third-party payers do not consider a product to be cost-effective compared to other available therapies, they may not cover the product after approval as a benefit under their plans or, if they do, the level of payment may not be sufficient to allow a company to sell its products at a profit.
The U.S. government and state legislatures have shown significant interest in implementing cost containment programs to limit the growth of government-paid healthcare costs, including price controls, limitations on coverage, restrictions on reimbursement and requirements for substitution of generic products for branded prescription drugs. For example, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) and the companion Healthcare and Education Reconciliation Act (which together are referred to as the “Healthcare Reform Law”) contains provisions that may reduce the profitability of drug products, including, for example, increased rebates for drugs reimbursed by Medicaid programs, extension of Medicaid rebates to Medicaid managed care plans, mandatory discounts for certain Medicare Part D beneficiaries and annual fees based on pharmaceutical companies’ share of sales to federal healthcare programs. By further example, on November 27, 2020, CMS issued an interim final rule implementing a Most Favored Nation payment model under which reimbursement for certain Medicare Part B drugs and biologicals will be based on a price that reflects the lowest per capita Gross Domestic Product-adjusted (GDP-adjusted) price of any non-U.S. member country of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) with a GDP per capita that is at least sixty percent of the U.S. GDP per capita. These and any additional healthcare reform measures could further constrain our business or limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in additional pricing pressures. Adoption of government controls and measures, and tightening of restrictive policies in jurisdictions with existing controls and measures, could limit payments for pharmaceuticals.
The marketability of any products for which we receive regulatory approval for commercial sale may suffer if the government and third-party payers fail to provide adequate coverage and reimbursement. In addition, an increasing emphasis on cost containment measures in the U.S. has increased and we expect will continue to increase the pressure on pharmaceutical pricing. Coverage policies and third-party reimbursement rates may change at any time. Even if favorable coverage and reimbursement status is attained for one or more products for which we receive regulatory approval, less favorable coverage policies and reimbursement rates may be implemented in the future.
Federal price reporting laws also require manufacturers to calculate and report complex pricing metrics used to determine prescription rebates, ceiling prices charged, and provider reimbursement under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, Medicare Parts B and D, the Veterans Healthcare Act programs, the 340B program, and the Tricare Retail Rebate program. Various state health care programs similarly obligate us to report drug pricing information that is used as the basis for their reimbursement of pharmacies and other health care providers and the negotiation of supplemental rebates. Payment for a manufacturer’s drugs by these programs is conditioned on submission of this pricing information. Recently, the Part D Medicare coverage gap rebate manufacturer percentage increased to 70%. Rebates under these programs can also increase when commercial prices increase. Failure to comply with the rules for calculating and submitting pricing information or otherwise overcharging the government or its beneficiaries may result in criminal, civil, or administrative sanctions or enforcement actions, and expose us to U.S. False Claims Act, or the False Claims Act, liability.
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Employees
As of December 31, 2020, we had a total of 407 employees, comprised of 406 full-time employees and one part-time employee. Over the course of the next year, we anticipate hiring additional full-time employees devoted to sales and marketing, medical and scientific affairs, general and administrative, as well as hiring additional staff as part of the build-out of our plasma collection centers as appropriate. We intend to use Clinical Research Organizations (“CROs”), third parties and consultants to perform our clinical studies and manufacturing, regulatory affairs and quality control services in addition to corporate marketing, branding and commercialization activities.
Corporate Information
ADMA Biologics, Inc. was founded on June 24, 2004 as a New Jersey corporation and re-incorporated in Delaware on July 16, 2007. We operate through our wholly-owned subsidiaries ADMA Plasma Biologics, ADMA BioManufacturing and ADMA BioCenters. ADMA BioManufacturing was formed in January 2017 to facilitate the acquisition of BTBU. ADMA BioCenters is the Company’s source plasma collection business which operates in the U.S. Each operational ADMA plasma collection center, once approved, will have a license with the FDA and may obtain additional certifications from other regulatory agencies.
We maintain our headquarters at 465 State Route 17, Ramsey, NJ 07446. Our telephone number is (201) 478-5552. Our Florida campus is located at 5800 Park of Commerce Boulevard, Northwest, Boca Raton, FL 33487. The Florida telephone number is (561) 989-5800. We maintain a website at www.admabiologics.com; however, the information on, or that can be accessed through, our website is not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This Annual Report and all of our filings under the Exchange Act, including copies of Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to those reports, are available free of charge through our website on the date we file those materials with, or furnish them to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Such filings are also available to the public on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Summary of Risk Factors
Below is a summary of the principal factors that make an investment in our common stock speculative or risky. This summary does not address all of the risks that we face. Additional discussion of the risks summarized in this risk factor summary, and other risks that we face, can be found below under the heading “Risk Factors” and should be carefully considered, together with other information in this Form 10-K and our other filings with the SEC, before making an investment decision regarding our common stock.
· Our auditor’s report contains a going concern statement.
· We are currently not profitable and may never become profitable.
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· Business interruptions could adversely affect our business.
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Risk Factors
Described below are various risks and uncertainties that may affect our business. These risks and uncertainties are not the only ones we face. You should recognize that other significant risks and uncertainties may arise in the future, which we cannot foresee at this time. Also, the risks that we now foresee might affect us to a greater or different degree than expected. Certain risks and uncertainties, including ones that we currently deem immaterial or that are similar to those faced by other companies in our industry or business in general, may also affect our business. If any of the risks described below actually occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. You should carefully consider the following risk factors and the section entitled “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” before you decide to invest in our securities.
Risks Relating to our Business
To date, we have generated limited product revenues, have a history of losses and will need to raise additional capital to operate our business, which may not be available on favorable terms, if at all.
Prior to the second half of 2019, we generated a substantial portion of our revenues from the sale of plasma by our plasma collection facilities. Following completion of the Biotest Transaction in June 2017, we began generating revenues from the sale of our plasma-derived immune globulins which include: BIVIGAM, ASCENIV, Nabi-HB, intermediate fractions and the contract manufacturing of plasma-derived products for a third-party. On May 9, 2019 we received approval from the FDA for BIVIGAM, and we commenced commercial sales of this product in August 2019. On April 1, 2019, the FDA approved ASCENIV, formerly referred to as RI-002, and the first commercial sales of this product took place in October 2019. In October 2019, we generated initial sales of our plasma-derived intermediate fractions.
Our long-term liquidity depends upon our ability to grow our commercial programs, expand our commercial operations at the Boca Facility, improve our supply-chain capabilities, improve production yields, provide more control and visibility for timing of commercial product releases, raise additional capital, fund and successfully implement our research and development and commercial programs, establish and build out a commercial sales force, medical affairs organization and commercial infrastructure and meet our ongoing obligations. In addition, our end-to-end production cycle from procurement of raw materials to commercial release of finished product can take between seven and 12 months or potentially longer, requiring substantial investments in raw material plasma and other manufacturing materials.
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We currently anticipate, based upon our projected revenue and expenditures, as well as the additional proceeds we expect to receive in connection with sales of our common stock pursuant to the Sale Agreement (as amended to date), that our current cash, cash equivalents and accounts receivable, will be sufficient to fund our operations into the fourth quarter of 2021. This time frame may change based upon how quickly we are able to execute on our commercialization efforts and operational initiatives. However, if the assumptions underlying our estimated revenues and expenses prove to be incorrect, we may have to raise additional capital sooner than we currently expect. We anticipate that we will not be able to generate a sufficient amount of product revenue to achieve profitability until the beginning of 2024 and, as a result, we anticipate that we will need to continue to finance our operations through additional equity or debt financings or corporate collaboration and licensing arrangements. If we are unable to raise additional capital as needed, we will have to delay, curtail or eliminate our commercialization efforts as well as product development activities. Even if we are able to raise additional capital, such financings may only be available on unattractive terms, resulting in significant dilution of stockholders’ interests and, in such event, the value and potential future market price of our common stock may decline. In addition, if we raise additional funds through license arrangements or through the disposition of any of our assets, it may be necessary to relinquish potentially valuable rights to our product candidates or assets or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us.
In addition, the auditor’s report on our financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020 includes a going concern paragraph. To date, our products have not generated significant revenue. As a result, we have suffered recurring losses and require significant additional cash resources to execute our business plan. These losses are expected to continue for an extended period of time. These factors raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern beyond one year from the date of filing this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The accompanying financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, which contemplates the realization of assets and the satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. The financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability and classification of asset amounts or the classification of liabilities that might be necessary should we be unable to continue as a going concern within one year after the date the financial statements are issued.
We recognize that we will need to raise additional capital in order to continue to execute our business plan in the future. Historically, the major source of our cash has been from proceeds from various public and private offerings of our common stock. The actual amount of cash that we will need is subject to many factors. There can be no assurances that additional financing will be available when needed or that management will be able to obtain financing on terms acceptable to us or that we will become profitable and generate positive operating cash flow. If we are unable to raise sufficient additional funds, we will have to scale back our operations.
We are currently not profitable and may never become profitable.
We have a history of losses and expect to incur substantial losses and negative operating cash flows into fiscal 2022, and we may never achieve or maintain profitability. For the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, we incurred net losses of $75.7 million and $48.3 million, respectively. From our inception in 2004 through December 31, 2020, we have incurred an accumulated deficit of $340.5 million. We expect that we will not be able to generate a sufficient amount of product revenue to achieve profitability until the beginning of 2024 and, as a result, we expect that we will need to continue to finance our operations through additional equity or debt financings or corporate collaboration and licensing agreements. We also expect to continue to incur significant operating and capital expenditures and anticipate that our operating expenses will increase substantially in the foreseeable future as we:
· expand commercialization and marketing efforts;
· implement additional internal systems, controls and infrastructure;
· hire additional personnel;
· expand and build out our plasma center network; and
· expand production capacity at the Boca Facility.
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As a result, we will need to generate significant revenues in order to achieve and maintain profitability. We may not be able to generate these revenues or achieve profitability in the future. These factors raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our failure to achieve or maintain profitability could negatively impact the value of our securities.
The COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to reduce its spread has significantly affected worldwide economic conditions, and could have a material adverse impact on our business, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations
The COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to adversely impact several aspects of each of our business segments, our commercial manufacturing operations and plasma collection facilities, including but not limited to potential disruptions to our supply-chain operations, including procurement of raw materials and packaging materials, a portion of which are sourced internationally, and the testing of finished drug product that is required prior to its availability for commercial sale. Such testing has historically been performed by contract laboratories outside the United States. While we do not believe that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected operations and immunoglobulin production at our Boca Facility or our ADMA BioCenters plasma collection operations at this time, we may experience adverse effects in the future, particularly in light of the recent increase in COVID-19 cases in the State of Florida. For example, our employees becoming ill, the imposition of additional mandatory remote working environments and federal, state and local responses to the pandemic could materially affect the efficiency and pace of our operations and manufacturing at our Boca Facility. Employee or donor illness, if not properly managed, could also impact the quality of our products and product candidates. In addition, travel and other restrictions that have been implemented in the United States could impact our commercial efforts with respect to any of our products, including BIVIGAM and ASCENIV, as trade shows, industry and medical conferences and other events we had been planning to utilize and exhibit and attend with our staff to increase awareness of our products by physicians and payers are subject to limitations, rescheduling or outright cancellation in response to the pandemic. Also, due to previous state and local “shelter-in-place” orders, as well as ongoing requirements around physical and social distancing, we have experienced, and may experience in the future, lower than expected donor collections at our FDA-licensed plasma collection centers. We were also subject to delays in shipments of source plasma from our contracted third-party suppliers, as well as delays in deliveries or price increases for personal protective equipment, reagents and other non-plasma raw materials and supplies used in the manufacture and distribution of our products. We have also experienced supply chain delays as a result of significant resources being diverted towards the rapid development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
In the future we may continue to experience pandemic related challenges with respect to obtaining and manufacturing a sufficient amount of supplies, raw materials, and finished product to meet our need for commercial and clinical product supply. If we or any of our suppliers or manufacturers are adversely impacted by the pandemic or the restrictions resulting from the outbreak, if they or we cannot obtain the necessary supplies, or if third parties need to prioritize other products or customers over us, including under the Defense Production Act, we may experience future delays or disruptions in our supply chain, which could have a material and adverse impact on our business. Moreover, we, our suppliers, and any third-party manufacturers may also need to implement measures and changes, or deviate from typical requirements, because of the pandemic that may otherwise adversely impact our supply chains or the quality of the resulting products or supplies. Depending on the change, we may need to obtain FDA pre-approval or otherwise provide FDA with a notification of the change.
To the extent that we or our partners are conducting clinical trials, the pandemic could cause delays or disruptions in these or future development programs. By example, the pandemic may result in slower enrollment, the need to suspend enrollment into studies, patient withdrawals, postponement of planned clinical or preclinical studies, redirection of site resources from studies, study modification, suspension, or termination, the introduction of remote study procedures and modified informed consent procedures, study site changes, direct delivery of investigational products to patient homes requiring state licensing, study deviations or noncompliance, and changes or delays in site monitoring. The foregoing may require that we consult with relevant review and ethics committees, IRBs, and the FDA. The foregoing may also impact the integrity of our study data. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic may also increase the need for clinical trial patient monitoring and regulatory reporting of adverse effects. The pandemic could further impact our ability to interact with the FDA or other regulatory authorities and may result in delays in the conduct of inspections or review of pending applications or submissions. Due to the potential impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on clinical trials, drug development, and manufacturing, FDA issued a number of guidances specifically concerning COVID-19, including guidances with respect to blood and blood components. FDA’s guidance is continually evolving.
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Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a noticeable decline in certain medical prescriptions attributed to lower incident rates for illnesses, fewer RSV, influenza and other respiratory viral pathogen-infected patients, hospital admissions and a reduction in doctor visits. In addition, physical and social distancing guidelines issued by public health authorities and the resulting global changes in human behavior have resulted in an observed reduction in infection transmission rates and spread of bacterial and viral infections, resulting in lower rates of infection across all patient populations, which, if continued, could potentially negatively impact the use of our IVIG products by patients.
The COVID-19 pandemic may also result in changes in laws and regulations. By example, in March 2020, the U.S. Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, which includes various provisions regarding FDA drug shortage reporting requirements, as well as provisions regarding supply chain security, such as risk management plan requirements, and the promotion of supply chain redundancy and domestic manufacturing. This and any future changes in law may require that we change our internal processes and procedures to ensure continued compliance.
The ultimate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is highly uncertain and subject to change. We do not yet know the full extent of potential delays or impacts on our business, operations, or financial condition, or on healthcare systems or the global economy as a whole. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has not adversely affected our capital and financial resources to date, the pandemic’s effects could have a material impact on our ability to access the capital markets as needed and on our operations and business, including those of the third parties on which we rely. Because we are unable to determine the ultimate severity or duration of the pandemic or its effects on, among other things, the global, national or local economies, the capital and credit markets, our workforce, our customers or our suppliers, at this time we are unable to predict whether COVID-19 will have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations.
We contract with third parties for the filling, packaging, testing and labeling of the drug substance we manufacture. This reliance on third parties carries the risk that the services upon which we rely may not be performed in a timely manner or according to our specifications, which could delay the availability of our finished drug product and could adversely affect our commercialization efforts and our revenues.
Third-party fill/finish providers may not perform as agreed or in accordance with FDA requirements. Any significant problem that our fill/finish providers experience could delay or interrupt our supply of finished drug product until the service provider cures the problem or until we locate, negotiate for, validate and receive FDA approval for an alternative provider (when necessary), if one is available. Failure to obtain the needed fill/finish services could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results from operations.
Although we have built our own fill/finish suite within the Boca Facility, we also intend to continue to utilize third parties to supplement our fill/finish process for final drug substance. In addition, our recently completed fill/finish suite has yet to be validated and approved by the FDA. Our anticipated reliance on a limited number of third-party manufacturers exposes us to the following risks:
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Each of these risks could delay or prevent the completion of our finished drug product and the release of finished drug product by the FDA, which could result in higher costs or adversely impact the commercialization of our products. These risks could also result in the delay in obtaining clinical supply, which would delay our development programs. In addition, our contract fill/finishers and our other third-party vendors may source their materials and supplies globally, and are therefore subject to supply disruptions in the event of fire, weather related events such as hurricanes, wind and rain, other acts of God or force majeure events or global health occurrences and emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
The estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market and revenue growth included in our filings may prove to be inaccurate, and even if the markets in which we compete achieve the forecasted growth, our business could fail to grow at similar rates, if at all.
Market opportunity estimates and growth forecasts are subject to significant uncertainty and are based on assumptions and estimates that may not prove to be accurate, including as a result of changing circumstances during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the size and growth of the overall U.S. IVIG and source plasma markets are subject to significant variables that can be difficult to measure, estimate or quantify. Our business depends on, among other things, successful commercialization of our existing products, market acceptance of such products and ensuring that our products are safe and effective. Further, there can be no assurance that we will be able to generate the revenue that we believe our products and plasma facilities are capable of generating. As a result, we may not be able to accurately forecast or predict revenue. For these reasons, the estimates and forecasts in our filings relating to revenue generation and growth may prove to be inaccurate. Even if the markets in which we compete meet our size estimates and forecasted growth, our business could fail to grow at similar rates, if at all.
Both of our business segments and our facilities, as well as our suppliers and contractors, are subject to periodic inspections by the FDA, which, depending on the outcome of such inspection, could result in certain FDA actions, including the issuance of observations, notices, citations or warning letters.
We and our suppliers and contractors may be unable to comply with our specifications, cGMP requirements and with other FDA, state, and foreign regulatory requirements for commercial and clinical supply. The FDA is authorized to perform inspections of our and our suppliers’ facilities, including the Boca Facility. The FDA also must inspect and approve our and our third-parties’ facilities before they may be used for commercial production. At the end of such an inspection, the FDA could issue a Form 483 Notice of Inspectional Observations, which could cause us to modify certain activities identified during the inspection and may not approve the use of the facility. Following such inspections, the FDA may issue an untitled letter as an initial correspondence that cites violations that do not meet the threshold of regulatory significance of a warning letter. FDA guidelines also provide for the issuance of warning letters for violations of “regulatory significance” for which the failure to adequately and promptly achieve correction may be expected to result in an enforcement action. FDA also may issue warning letters and untitled letters in connection with events or circumstances unrelated to an FDA inspection.
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We may not be able to timely resolve concerns raised by the FDA as a result of an inspection or without expending significant resources. We are unable to control the timing of FDA inspections, responses, meeting requests, teleconference requests, requests for clarifications and similar regulatory communications, as well as whether or not the FDA will change its requirements, guidance or expectations. If the FDA determines that we have not remediated the issues identified in a warning letter or any other inspection issues and deficiencies, any failure of ours to address or provide requested documentation of corrections for these issues could disrupt our business operations and the timing of our commercialization efforts and could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and operating results.
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 the success of 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 commercial manufacturing and any research and development activities involve the use of biological and hazardous materials and 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, which could cause an interruption of our commercialization efforts, research and development efforts and business operations, environmental damage resulting in costly clean-up and liabilities under applicable laws and regulations governing the use, storage, handling and disposal of these materials and specified waste products. Although we believe that the safety procedures utilized internally and by our third-party manufacturers for handling and disposing of these materials generally comply with the standards prescribed by these laws and regulations, we cannot guarantee that this is the case or eliminate the risk of accidental contamination or injury from these materials. In such an event, we may be held liable for any resulting damages and such liability could exceed our resources and state or federal or other applicable authorities may curtail our use of certain materials and/or interrupt our business operations. Furthermore, environmental laws and regulations are complex, change frequently and have tended to become more stringent. We cannot predict the impact of such changes and cannot be certain of our future compliance. 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 commercial manufacturing, research and development, or production efforts. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations also may result in substantial fines, penalties, or other sanctions.
Business interruptions could adversely affect our business.
Our operations, including our headquarters located in Ramsey, NJ, the Boca Facility and our plasma collection facilities, are vulnerable to interruption by fire, weather related events such as hurricanes, wind and rain, other acts of God or force majeure events, electric power loss, telecommunications failure, equipment failure and breakdown, human error, employee issues, global health occurrences such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and emergencies, product liability claims and events beyond our control. While we maintain several insurance policies with reputable carriers that provide partial coverage for a variety of these risks, including replacing or rebuilding a part of our facilities, these policies are subject to the insurance carriers’ final determination of compensation to us and we may not have adequate coverage if we need to rebuild or replace our inventory, infrastructure, business income or our entire facility. In addition, our disaster recovery plans for our facilities may not be adequate and we do not have an alternative manufacturing facility or contractual arrangements with other manufacturers in the event of a casualty to or destruction of any of our facilities. If we are required to rebuild or relocate any of our facilities, a substantial investment in improvements and equipment would be necessary. We carry only a limited amount of business interruption insurance, which may not sufficiently compensate us for losses that may occur. As a result, any significant business interruption could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
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If we are unsuccessful in obtaining regulatory approval for any of our product candidates or if any of our product candidates do not provide positive results, we may be required to delay or abandon development of such product, which would have a material adverse impact on our business.
Product candidates require extensive clinical data analysis and regulatory review and may require additional testing. Clinical trials and data analysis can be very expensive, time-consuming and difficult to design and implement. The conduct of preclinical studies and clinical trials is subject to numerous risks and results of the studies and trials are highly uncertain.Human clinical trials are very expensive and difficult to design and implement, in part because they are subject to rigorous regulatory requirements. The clinical trial process is also time-consuming. Furthermore, delays or setbacks can occur at any stage of the process, and we could encounter problems that cause us to abandon our product development programs and related INDs or BLAs, or to repeat clinical trials. The evolving COVID-19 pandemic may directly or indirectly affect the pace of enrollment in clinical trials as patients may be restricted in traveling to and accessing healthcare facilities and physicians’ offices. Additionally, such healthcare facilities and offices have their limited resources directed towards treating patients with COVID-19 symptoms. The commencement and completion of clinical trials for any current or future development product candidate may be delayed by several factors, including:
· unforeseen safety issues;
· determination of dosing issues;
· lack of effectiveness during clinical trials;
· slower than expected rates of patient recruitment;
· inability to monitor patients adequately during or after treatment
· temporary suspension resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
We cannot be certain as to what type and how many clinical trials the FDA, or equivalent foreign regulatory agencies, will require us to conduct before we may successfully gain approval to market any of our product candidates that still require FDA approval. Prior to approving a new drug or biologic, the FDA generally requires that the effectiveness of the product candidate (which is not typically fully investigated until Phase 3) be demonstrated in two adequate and well-controlled clinical trials. However, if the FDA or an equivalent foreign regulatory authority determines that our Phase 3 clinical trial results do not demonstrate a statistically significant, clinically meaningful benefit with an acceptable safety profile, or if a relevant regulator requires us to conduct additional Phase 3 clinical trials in order to gain approval, we will incur significant additional development costs and commercialization of these products would be prevented or delayed and our business would be adversely affected.
In addition, the FDA or an independent institutional review board may not permit us to commence a clinical trial, may require amendments to our clinical trial protocols, or may suspend our clinical trials at any time if it appears that we are exposing participants to unacceptable health risks or if the FDA or IRB finds deficiencies in our IND submissions or the conduct of these trials. Therefore, we cannot provide any assurance or predict with certainty the schedule for future clinical trials. In the event we do not ultimately receive regulatory approval for our product candidates, we may be required to terminate development of such product candidates. If we fail to obtain regulatory approval to market and sell our product candidates, or if approval is delayed, we will be unable to generate revenue from the sale of these products, our potential for generating positive cash flow will be diminished and the capital necessary to fund our operations will increase.
If the results of our clinical trials do not support our product candidate claims, completing the development of such product candidate may be significantly delayed or we may be forced to abandon development of such product candidate altogether.
We cannot be certain that the clinical trial results of our product candidates will support our product candidates’ claims. Success in preclinical testing and early clinical trials does not ensure that later clinical trials will be successful, and we cannot be sure that the results of later clinical trials will replicate the results of prior clinical trials and preclinical testing.
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The clinical trial process may fail to demonstrate that our product candidates are safe for humans and effective for indicated uses. This failure would cause us to abandon a product candidate and may delay development of other product candidates. Any delay in, or termination of, our clinical trials will delay our ability to commercialize our product candidates and generate product revenues.
Other issues that may impact our clinical trials and that could delay or prevent our ability to receive marketing approval or commercialize our product candidates, include:
In addition, our clinical trials involve a relatively small patient population. Because of the small sample size, the results of these clinical trials may not be indicative of future results. In addition, certain portions of our clinical trials and product testing for our product candidates may be performed outside of the U.S., and therefore, may not be performed in accordance with standards normally required by the FDA and other regulatory agencies.
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If we do not obtain and maintain the necessary U.S. or international regulatory approvals to commercialize a product candidate, we will not be able to sell that product candidate, which would make it difficult for us to recover the costs of researching and developing such product candidate.
If we are not be able to generate revenue from our products and product candidates, our sources of revenue may continue to be from a product mix consisting only of plasma collection and sales revenues, revenues generated from sales of our FDA-approved commercial products, revenues generated from ongoing contract manufacturing for third parties and revenues generated from the sales of manufacturing intermediates. We cannot assure you that we will receive the approvals necessary to commercialize any product candidate we may acquire or develop in the future. In order to obtain FDA approval of any product candidate requiring FDA approval, our clinical development must demonstrate that the product candidate is safe for humans and effective for its intended use, and we must successfully complete an FDA BLA review. Obtaining FDA approval of a product candidate generally requires significant research and testing, referred to as preclinical studies, as well as human tests, referred to as clinical trials. Satisfaction of the FDA’s regulatory requirements typically takes many years, depends upon the type, complexity and novelty of the product candidate and requires substantial resources for research, development and testing. We cannot predict whether our research and clinical approaches will result in products that the FDA considers safe for humans and effective for indicated uses. The FDA has substantial discretion in the product approval process and may require us to conduct additional preclinical and clinical testing or to perform post-marketing studies or may require additional CMC or other data and information, and the development and provision of this data and information may be time-consuming and expensive. The approval process may also be delayed by changes in government regulation, future legislation, diversion of resources for FDA review during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic or administrative action or changes in FDA policy that occur prior to or during our regulatory review. Delays in obtaining regulatory approvals may:
· impose costly procedures on us; and
· diminish any competitive advantages that we may otherwise enjoy.
Even if we comply with all FDA requests, the FDA may ultimately reject our product candidate’s BLA. In addition, the FDA could determine that we must test additional subjects and/or require that we conduct further studies with more subjects. We may never obtain regulatory approval for any future potential product candidate or label expansion activity. Failure to obtain FDA approval of any of our product candidates will severely undermine our business by leaving us without the ability to generate additional accretive revenues. There is no guarantee that we will ever be able to develop or acquire other product candidates. In foreign jurisdictions, we must receive approval from the appropriate regulatory authorities before we can commercialize any products or product candidates outside the U.S. Foreign regulatory approval processes generally include all of the risks and uncertainties associated with the FDA review, inspection and approval procedures described above. We cannot assure you that we will receive the approvals necessary to commercialize any product candidate for sale outside the U.S.
Although we have received approval from the FDA to market ASCENIV as a treatment for PIDD, our ability to market or seek approval for ASCENIV for alternative indications could be limited, unless additional clinical trials are conducted successfully and the FDA approves a BLA or other required submission for review.
The FDA and other governmental authorities strictly regulate and monitor marketing, labeling, advertising and promotion of prescription drugs. These regulations include standards and restrictions for direct-to-consumer advertising, industry-sponsored scientific and educational activities, promotional activities involving the Internet and off-label promotion. The FDA generally does not allow drugs to be promoted for “off-label” uses — that is, uses that are not described in the product’s labeling and that differ from those that were approved by the FDA. The FDA limits approved uses to those studied by a company in its clinical trials. In addition to the FDA approval required for new formulations, any new indication for an approved product also requires FDA approval. Although we have received approval from the FDA to market ASCENIV as a treatment for PIDD, we cannot be sure whether we will be able to obtain FDA approval for any desired future indications for ASCENIV.
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While physicians in the U.S. may choose, and are generally permitted, to prescribe drugs for uses that are not described in the product’s labeling, and for uses that differ from those tested in clinical studies and approved by the regulatory authorities, our ability to promote our products is narrowly limited to those indications that are specifically approved by the FDA. “Off-label” uses are common across medical specialties and may constitute an appropriate treatment for some patients in varied circumstances. Regulatory authorities in the U.S. generally do not regulate the behavior of physicians in their choice of treatments. Regulatory authorities do, however, restrict communications by pharmaceutical companies on the subject of off-label use. If the FDA determines that our promotional activities fail to comply with the FDA’s regulations or guidelines, we may be subject to warnings from, or enforcement action by, these authorities. In addition, our failure to follow FDA rules and guidelines related to promotion and advertising may cause the FDA to issue warning letters or untitled letters, bring an enforcement action against us, suspend or withdraw an approved product from the market, require a recall or institute fines or civil fines, or could result in disgorgement of money, operating restrictions, injunctions or criminal prosecution, among other consequences, any of which could harm our reputation and our business.
With the approval of ASCENIV, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in developing and expanding commercial operations or balancing our research and development activities with our commercialization activities.
Since receiving FDA approval for ASCENIV, we have been commercializing this product while also continuing our research and development activities. There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully manage the balance of our research and development operations with our commercialization activities. Potential investors and stockholders should be aware of the problems, delays, expenses and difficulties frequently encountered by companies balancing development of product candidates, which can include problems such as unanticipated issues relating to clinical trials and receipt of approvals from the FDA and foreign regulatory bodies, with commercialization efforts, which can include problems related to managing manufacturing and supply, including supply chain constraints directly or indirectly caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and government responses thereto, reimbursement, marketing challenges, development of a comprehensive compliance program, and other related and additional costs. For example, the raw material plasma we collect and procure to manufacture ASCENIV using our patented proprietary microneutralization assay is comprised of plasma collected from donors which contains high titer antibodies to RSV. This high titer plasma which meets our internal specifications for the manufacture of ASCENIV that we are able to identify with our patented testing assay amounts to less than 10% of the total donor collection samples we test. Our product candidates will require significant additional research and clinical trials, and we will need to overcome significant regulatory burdens prior to commercialization in the U.S. and other countries. In addition, we may be required to spend significant funds on building out our commercial operations. There can be no assurance that after the expenditure of substantial funds and efforts, we will successfully develop and commercialize any of our product candidates, generate any significant revenues or ever achieve and maintain a substantial level of sales of our products.
We depend on third-party researchers, developers and vendors to develop, manufacture or test products and product candidates, as well as for other pre-and-post approval services, and such parties are, to some extent, outside of our control.
We depend on independent investigators and collaborators, such as universities and medical institutions, contract laboratories, clinical research organizations, contract manufacturers, contract fill/finishers and consultants to conduct our preclinical activities, clinical trials, CMC testing and other activities under agreements with us. These collaborators are not our employees and we cannot control the amount or timing of resources that they devote to our programs or the impact that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will have on such third parties. These investigators may not assign as great a priority to our programs or pursue them as diligently as we would if we were undertaking such programs ourselves. If outside collaborators fail to devote sufficient time and resources to our product-development programs, or if their performance is substandard, our trials may be repeated, extended, delayed, or terminated, the approval of our FDA application(s), if any, and our introduction of new products, if any, will be delayed. We or they may also be subject to regulatory enforcement actions and we may not be able to meet commercial demand. These collaborators may also have relationships with other commercial entities, some of whom may compete with us. If our collaborators assist our competitors at our expense, our competitive position would be harmed. Additionally, any change in the regulatory compliance status of any of our vendors may impede our ability to receive approval for our product candidates.
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We may be unable to successfully expand our manufacturing processes to fulfill demand for our products or increase our production capabilities through the addition of new equipment, including if we do not obtain requisite approval from the FDA.
We currently anticipate expanding the manufacturing capacity of our Boca Facility by approximately 50% or more. We also anticipate expanding our production capabilities through the addition of our fill-finish machine at our Boca Facility. Following the expansion of any of our manufacturing processes or the addition of new equipment, such as our fill-finish machine, we will need to validate the expanded facility and equipment and have it inspected by the FDA. Given the significant delays that may result during the validation process, including due to any diverted FDA attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, we may experience a significant supply shortage of our products or our production capabilities may be limited until completion of and validation of our facility expansion and new manufacturing equipment.
Our products, and any additional products for which we may obtain marketing approval in the future, could be subject to post-marketing restrictions or withdrawal from the market and we could be subject to substantial penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or if we experience unanticipated problems with our products following approval.
Our products, and any additional products for which we may obtain marketing approval in the future, could be subject to post-marketing restrictions, new FDA guidance, or other regulatory actions, such as withdrawal from the market. Such products, as well as the manufacturing processes, post-marketing studies and measures, labeling, advertising and promotional activities for such products, among other things, are subject to ongoing regulatory compliance requirements, and oversight, review, and inspection by the FDA and other regulatory authorities. These requirements include submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration and listing requirements, adherence with labeling and promotional requirements and restrictions, requirements relating to manufacturing, quality control, quality assurance and corresponding maintenance of records and documents, requirements regarding safeguarding the drug supply chain as well as the distribution of samples to physicians and recordkeeping. For example, the FDA’s approval of our PAS to allow for the commercial relaunch of BIVIGAM requires us to conduct specified post-marketing studies related to our manufacturing controls and processes, and submit specified post-marketing reports to the FDA. If, during the post marketing period (after marketing approval) previously unknown adverse events, discovery that the product is less effective than previously thought, or other potential concerns regarding our products or their manufacturing processes emerge, or we are observed in any way to fail to comply with the numerous regulatory requirements to which we are subject, those circumstances may yield various results, including:
· restrictions on such products or manufacturing processes;
· restrictions on the labeling or marketing of a product;
· restrictions on product distribution or use;
· clinical holds or termination of clinical trials;
· warning letters or untitled letters;
· withdrawal of the products from the market;
· recall of products;
· restrictions on coverage by third-party payers;
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· fines, restitution or disgorgement of profits or revenues;
· suspension or withdrawal of marketing approvals;
· refusal to permit the import or export of products;
· product seizure or detention; or
· injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.
Historically, a few customers have accounted for a significant amount of our total revenue and accounts receivable and the loss of any of these customers could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
For the year ended December 31, 2020, three customers, BioCare, Reliance and Biolife, represented an aggregate of 82% of our consolidated revenues. For the year ended December 31, 2019, three customers, BioCare, Biolife and Sanofi Pasteur S.A. (“Sanofi”), represented an aggregate of 70% of our consolidated revenues.
As of December 31, 2020, three customers, BioCare, Reliance Curascript, represented a total of 92% of our consolidated accounts receivable. At December 31, 2019, two customers, BioCare and McKesson Corporation (“McKesson”), represented 89% of our consolidated accounts receivable.
The loss of any key customers or a material change in the revenue generated by any of these customers could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Moreover, we anticipate deriving increased revenue from some of these customers over the next few years. Factors that could influence our relationships with our customers include, among other things:
· our ability to sell our products at competitive prices;
Additionally, an adverse change in the financial condition of any of our key customers could negatively affect revenue derived from such customer, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Issues with product quality and compliance could have a material adverse effect upon our business, subject us to regulatory actions and cause a loss of customer confidence in us or our products.
Our success depends upon the quality of our products. Quality management plays an essential role in meeting customer requirements, preventing defects, improving our products and services and assuring the safety and efficacy of our products. Our future success depends on our ability to maintain and continuously improve our quality management program. A quality or safety issue may result in failure to obtain product approval, adverse inspection reports, warning letters, product recalls or seizures, monetary sanctions, injunctions to halt manufacture and distribution of products, civil or criminal sanctions, costly litigation, refusal of a government to grant approvals and licenses, restrictions on operations or withdrawal of existing approvals and licenses. An inability to address a quality or safety issue by us or by a third-party vendor in an effective and timely manner may also cause negative publicity or a loss of customer confidence in us or our current or future products, which may result in the loss of sales and difficulty in successfully commercializing our current products and launching new products.
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If physicians, payers and patients do not accept and use our current products or our future product candidates, our ability to generate revenue from these products will be materially impaired.
Even if the FDA approves a product made by us, physicians, payers and patients may not accept and use it. Acceptance and use of our products depends on a number of factors including, but not limited to:
· cost-effectiveness of our products relative to competing products;
The failure of our current or future products to find market acceptance would harm our business and could require us to seek additional financing or make such financing difficult to obtain on favorable terms, if at all.
Our long-term success may depend on our ability to supplement our existing product portfolio through new product development or the in-license or acquisition of other new products, product candidates and label expansion of existing products, and if our business development efforts are not successful, our ability to achieve profitability may be adversely impacted.
Our current product development portfolio consists primarily of label expansion activities for Nabi-HB, BIVIGAM and ASCENIV, as well as expanding our IP estate with patents issued for S. Pneumoniae hyperimmune IG. We have initiated small scale preclinical activities to potentially expand our current portfolio through new product development efforts or to in-license or acquire additional products and product candidates. If we are not successful in developing or acquiring additional products and product candidates, we will have to depend on our ability to successfully commercialize ASCENIV, as well as our ability to generate revenue from Nabi-HB, BIVIGAM, contract manufacturing, intermediate fractions and plasma attributable to the operations of ADMA BioCenters, to support our operations.
Our ADMA BioCenters operations collect information from donors in the U.S. that subjects us to consumer and health privacy laws, which could create enforcement and litigation exposure if we fail to meet their requirements.
Consumer privacy is highly protected by federal and state law. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (“HITECH”), and their respective implementing regulations, impose, among other things, obligations, including mandatory contractual terms, with respect to safeguarding the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information held by covered entities and business associates. A “covered entity” is the primary type of HIPAA-regulated entity. Health plans/insurers, healthcare providers engaging in standard transactions (insurance/health plan claims and encounters, payment and remittance advice, claims status, eligibility, enrollment/disenrollment, referrals and authorizations, coordination of benefits and premium payments), and healthcare clearinghouses (switches that convert data between standard and non-standard data sets) are covered entities. A “business associate” provides services to covered entities (directly or as subcontractors to other business associates) involving arranging, creating, receiving, maintaining, or transmitting protected health information (“PHI”) on a covered entity’s behalf. In order to legally provide access to PHI to service providers, covered entities and business associates must enter into a “business associate agreement” (“BAA”) with the service provider PHI recipient. Among other things, HITECH made certain aspects of the HIPAA’s rules (notably the Security Rule) directly applicable to business associates – independent contractors or agents of covered entities that receive or obtain protected health information in connection with providing a service on behalf of a covered entity. HITECH also created four new tiers of civil monetary penalties, amended HIPAA to make civil and criminal penalties directly applicable to business associates, and gave state attorneys general new authority to file civil actions for damages or injunctions in federal court to enforce the federal HIPAA laws and seek attorney’s fees and costs associated with pursuing federal civil actions. The HHS Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) has increased its focus on compliance and continues to train state attorneys general for enforcement purposes. OCR has recently increased both its efforts to audit HIPAA compliance and its level of enforcement, with one recent penalty exceeding $5.0 million.
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While we are not a covered entity or business associate subject to HIPAA, even when HIPAA does not apply, according to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”), failing to take appropriate steps to keep consumers’ personal information secure constitutes unfair acts or practices in or affecting commerce in violation of Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C § 45(a). The FTC expects a company’s data security measures to be reasonable and appropriate in light of the sensitivity and volume of consumer information it holds, the size and complexity of its business, and the cost of available tools to improve security and reduce vulnerabilities. Medical data is considered sensitive data that merits stronger safeguards. The FTC’s guidance for appropriately securing consumers’ personal information is similar to what is required by the HIPAA Security Rule. In addition, states impose a variety of laws protecting consumer information, with certain sensitive information such as HIV/Sexually Transmitted Disease status subject to heightened standards. In addition, federal and state privacy, data security, and breach notification laws, rules and regulations, and other laws apply to the collection, use and security of personal information, including social security number, driver’s license numbers, government identifiers, credit card and financial account numbers. Some state privacy and security laws apply more broadly than HIPAA and associated regulations. For example, California recently enacted legislation – the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA – which went into effect January 1, 2020, and will be amended by the California Privacy Rights Act, effective January 1, 2023. The CCPA, among other things, creates new data privacy obligations for covered companies and provides new privacy rights to California residents, including the right to opt out of certain disclosures of their information. The CCPA also creates a private right of action with statutory damages for certain data breaches, thereby potentially increasing risks associated with a data breach. It remains unclear what, if any, modifications will be made to this legislation or how it will be interpreted. We could be subject to enforcement action and litigation exposure if we fail to adhere to these data privacy and security laws.
The Perceptive Credit Facility is subject to acceleration in specified circumstances, which may result in Perceptive taking possession and disposing of any collateral.
On February 11, 2019 (the “Perceptive Closing Date”), we entered into the Perceptive Credit Agreement with Perceptive Credit Holdings II, LP, as the lender and administrative agent (“Perceptive”). The Perceptive Credit Agreement, as amended, currently provides for a senior secured term loan facility in the principal amount of $100.0 million (the “Perceptive Credit Facility”), comprised of (i) a term loan made on the Perceptive Closing Date in the principal amount of $45.0 million, as evidenced by our issuance of a promissory note in favor of Perceptive on the Perceptive Closing Date (the “Perceptive Tranche I Loan”), (ii) a term loan in the principal amount of $27.5 million evidenced by our issuance of a promissory note in favor of Perceptive on May 3, 2019 (the “Perceptive Tranche II Loan”), (iii) a term loan in the principal amount of $12.5 million evidenced by our issuance of a promissory note in favor of Perceptive on March 20, 2020, (the “Perceptive Tranche III Loan”); and (iv) a term loan in the principal amount of $15 million evidenced by our issuance of a promissory note in favor of Perceptive on December 8, 2020 (the “Perceptive Tranche IV Loan,” and together with the Perceptive Tranche I Loan, the Perceptive Tranche II Loan and the Perceptive Tranche III Loan, the “Perceptive Loans”). The Perceptive Loans each have a maturity date of March 1, 2024, subject to acceleration pursuant to the Perceptive Credit Agreement, including upon an Event of Default (as defined in the Perceptive Credit Agreement). The Perceptive Loans are secured by substantially all of our assets, including our intellectual property. Events of Default include, among others, non-payment of principal, interest, or fees, violation of covenants, inaccuracy of representations and warranties, bankruptcy and insolvency events, material judgments, cross-defaults to material contracts and events constituting a change of control. In addition to an increase in the rate of interest on the Perceptive Loans of 4% per annum, the occurrence of an Event of Default could result in, among other things, the termination of commitments under the Perceptive Credit Facility, the declaration that all outstanding Loans are immediately due and payable in whole or in part, and Perceptive taking immediate possession of, and selling, any collateral securing the Perceptive Loans.
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Developments by competitors may render our products or technologies obsolete or non-competitive.
The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are intensely competitive and subject to rapid and significant technological change. Our current products and any future product we may develop will have to compete with other marketed therapies. In addition, other companies may pursue the development of pharmaceuticals that target the same diseases and conditions that we are targeting. We face competition from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the U.S. and abroad. In addition, companies pursuing different but related fields represent substantial competition. Many of these organizations competing with us have substantially greater financial resources, larger research and development staffs and facilities, longer product development history in obtaining regulatory approvals and greater manufacturing and marketing capabilities than we do. These organizations also compete with us to attract qualified personnel and parties for acquisitions, joint ventures or other collaborations.
If we are unable to protect our patents, trade secrets or other proprietary rights, if our patents are challenged or if our provisional patent applications do not get approved, our competitiveness and business prospects may be materially damaged.