Alumis Inc._December 31, 2025
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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025
OR
For the transition period from to
Commission file number: 001-42143
Alumis Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
280 East Grand Avenue
South San Francisco, CA94080
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)
(650) 231-6625
(Registrant’s telephone number)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
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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.
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Based on the closing price as reported on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, the aggregate market value of the registrant’s voting and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates on June 30, 2025 (the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter) was approximately $183.2 million. Shares of common stock held by each executive officer and director and by each stockholder affiliated with a director or an executive officer have been excluded from this calculation because such persons may be deemed to be affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes. As of March 12, 2026, the registrant had 123,139,425 shares of voting common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, and 4,059,908 shares of non-voting common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, outstanding.
Documents Incorporated by Reference
None.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
PART I
Item 1. Business 7
Item 1A. Risk Factors 31
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 94
Item 1C. Cybersecurity 94
Item 2. Properties 95
Item 3. Legal Proceedings 95
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 96
PART II
Item 6. [Reserved] 97
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 116
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 118
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 161
Item 9B. Other Information 162
PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 163
Item 11. Executive Compensation 170
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services 185
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules 187
Signatures 189
In this Annual Report on Form 10-K, unless otherwise stated or as the context otherwise requires, references to “Alumis,” “the Company,” “we,” “us,” “our” and similar references refer to Alumis Inc.
This Annual Report on Form 10-K also contains registered marks, trademarks and trade names of other companies. All other trademarks, registered marks and trade names appearing in this report are the property of their respective holders. We do not intend our use or display of other companies’ trade names, trademarks or service marks to imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, these other companies.
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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including statements regarding our future financial condition, business strategy and plans, and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “ongoing,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “would,” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words.
These forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that we have a reasonable basis for each forward-looking statement contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we caution you that these statements are based on a combination of facts and factors currently known by us and our projections of the future, about which we cannot be certain. Forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K include, but are not limited to, statements about:
● the timing of our topline readout in our LUMUS Phase 2b trial;
● our plans relating to the research and development of our product candidates;
● details regarding our strategic vision and planned product candidate pipeline;
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● our ability to commercialize any approved products;
● the rate and degree of market acceptance of any approved products;
● our ability to attract and retain key personnel;
● regulatory developments in the United States and foreign countries;
You should refer to the section titled “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A. of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a discussion of other important factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. As a result of these factors, we cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K will prove to be accurate.
In addition, statements that “we believe” and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and although we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted a thorough inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain, and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements.
Furthermore, if our forward-looking statements prove to be inaccurate, the inaccuracy may be material. In light of the significant uncertainties in these forward-looking statements, you should not regard these statements as a representation or warranty by us or any other person that we will achieve our objectives and plans in any specified time frame, or at all. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
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RISK FACTORS SUMMARY
Below is a summary of the material factors that make an investment in our securities speculative or risky. This summary does not address all of the risks that we face. Additional discussion of the risks summarized in this Risk Factors Summary, and other risks that we face, can be found below under the heading “Risk Factors” under Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and should be carefully considered, together with other information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, before making investment decisions regarding our securities.
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PART I
Item 1. Business
Overview
Our mission is to significantly improve the lives of patients by replacing broad immunosuppression with targeted therapies. Our name, Alumis, captures our mission to enlighten immunology, and is inspired by the words “allumer”—French for illuminate—and “immunis”—Latin for the immune system.
We are a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with an initial focus on developing our two Tyrosine Kinase 2 (“TYK2”) inhibitors: envudeucitinib (“envu”), formerly known as ESK-001, a second-generation inhibitor that we are developing to maximize target inhibition and optimize tolerability, and A-005, a central nervous system (“CNS”) penetrant allosteric TYK2 inhibitor. Envu is currently being evaluated in an ongoing Phase 2 open-label extension (“OLE”) trial, as well as a Phase 3 long-term extension (“LTE”) trial in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis (“PsO”), and we plan to submit a New Drug Application (“NDA”) for envu in PsO to the FDA in the second half of 2026. Envu completed enrollment in the pivotal Phase 3 ONWARD1 and ONWARD2 clinical trials in patients with PsO, and we reported positive topline results in the first quarter of 2026. In addition, envu is currently being evaluated in a Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (“SLE”), for which we expect to report topline results in the third quarter of 2026. We are currently evaluating additional immune-mediated disease indications for envu, beyond PsO and SLE, and for A-005 in CNS and peripheral diseases. In April 2024, we initiated our Phase 1 program of A-005 in healthy volunteers and reported initial results in December 2024. In addition, in connection with the ACELYRIN Merger (as defined below), we acquired lonigutamab, a subcutaneously delivered, monoclonal antibody targeting IGF-1R for the potential treatment of Thyroid Eye Disease (“TED”). We are continuing to evaluate the development program for lonigutamab and its potential differentiation in a capital efficient manner.
Alumis was incubated by Foresite Labs and incorporated on January 29, 2021, as a Delaware corporation under the name FL2021-001, Inc. FL2021-001, Inc.’s name was changed to Esker Therapeutics, Inc. in March 2021, and to Alumis Inc. in January 2022.
We utilize our proprietary precision data analytics platform, biological insights and team of experienced research and development experts to deepen our understanding of disease pathologies, accelerate research and development and increase the probability of clinical success. Our collective insights informed our selection of TYK2 as the target for our two lead programs. Beyond TYK2, our proprietary precision data analytics platform and drug discovery expertise have led to the identification of additional preclinical programs that exemplify our precision approach.
We recognize that patients living with immune-mediated diseases need alternatives to currently available therapies. Despite recent advances and innovations in the treatment of immune-mediated diseases, many patients continue to suffer, cycling through currently approved therapies while looking for a solution that alleviates the debilitating impact of their disease without life-limiting side effects.
Addressing the needs of these patients is why we exist. We are pioneering a precision approach that leverages insights derived from powerful data analytics to select the right target, right molecule, right indication, right patient, right endpoint and right combination to dramatically improve patient outcomes. We believe that combining our insights with an integrated approach to drug development will produce the next generation of treatments to address immune dysfunction.
ACELYRIN Merger
On February 6, 2025, we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger, and, on April 20, 2025, we entered into an Amendment to Agreement and Plan of Merger (collectively the “Merger Agreement”) with ACELYRIN, Inc. (“ACELYRIN”) and Arrow Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and our direct wholly owned subsidiary (“Merger Sub”). Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, Merger Sub merged with and into ACELYRIN, with ACELYRIN continuing as our direct wholly owned subsidiary (the “ACELYRIN Merger”). The Merger Agreement was approved by the disinterested directors on our board of directors and the board of directors of ACELYRIN and was approved by the
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stockholders of each company on May 13, 2025. On May 21, 2025 (the “Closing Date”), we completed the ACELYRIN Merger in a common stock transaction valued at approximately $238.1 million settled through the issuance of 48,653,549 shares of our common stock to acquire net assets with a fair value of $426.0 million. See Note 3 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.
Our Product Candidates and Pipeline
We are building a pipeline of molecules with the potential to address a broad range of immune-mediated diseases as monotherapy or combination therapies. Within our TYK2 franchise, we are developing our most advanced product candidate, envu, an allosteric TYK2 inhibitor for the treatment of PsO and SLE. We are developing our second TYK2 product candidate, A-005, as a CNS-penetrant allosteric TYK2 inhibitor, to offer the therapeutic benefit of TYK2 inhibition within the CNS for a broad range of neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. In connection with the ACELYRIN Merger, we acquired lonigutamab, a subcutaneously delivered, monoclonal antibody targeting IGF-1R for the potential treatment of TED.
Our Strategy
Our mission is to significantly improve the lives of patients by replacing broad immunosuppression with targeted therapies. As our driving principle, we are using our precision approach focused on the important drivers of immune dysfunction. We use our key insights to pursue our mission of significantly improving outcomes for patients. We select drug targets that have been previously validated by strong human genetic evidence and human clinical data.
The core components of our business strategy include:
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Immune Dysfunction Overview
The immune system is a highly regulated and balanced system that has evolved to protect us from infection, recognize and neutralize harmful agents from the environment and fight disease. Dysfunctional immune responses, whether directed towards self or non-self or through unbalanced activation or regulation, can lead to inflammation, allergy, autoimmunity and development of chronic immune-mediated diseases. We are building immune insights from patient samples, incorporating genetic, genomic and proteomic learnings, and translating preclinical findings in an effort to therapeutically target dysfunctional immune mechanisms to improve outcomes for patients with immune-mediated diseases.
Role of TYK2 in Immunology
TYK2 is an intracellular tyrosine kinase protein within the broader Janus kinase (“JAK”) family shown to play an essential role in mediating cytokine receptor signaling pathways in both innate and adaptive immunity. Cytokines are a group of proteins in the body that play an important role in boosting the immune system. TYK2 associates with a defined set of cytokine receptors expressed primarily on immune cells, such as IL-23, IL-12 and type I interferon (“IFN”) receptors, distinct from other JAK family members. TYK2 functions to relay signals into the cell through phosphorylation of signal transducing and activators of transcription (STATs), to initiate a cascade of protein-signaling interactions resulting in cytokine-responsive gene transcription and cell activation, which drives downstream immune responses including Th17, IL-17 pathways, and type I IFN responsive genes that are known drivers of inflammation and immune mediated disease. Therapeutic inhibition of TYK2 and associated cytokine pathways, in particular IL-23/IL-17 and type I IFN, have been broadly validated to address immune dysfunction in immune-mediated diseases, such as psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and SLE. TYK2 is expressed in circulating and tissue-resident immune cells, and is also active in CNS-resident immune cells, such as microglia, which are thought to play a key role in neuroinflammation.
Human genetic studies of TYK2 strongly validated it as a therapeutic target. An identified loss-of-function mutation (“P1104A”) in the TYK2 gene, present in approximately 3% to 5% of European populations, is protective against an array of immune-mediated disorders, including SLE, psoriasis, sarcoidosis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative conditions, such as MS. Importantly, this TYK2 variant does not appear to significantly increase susceptibility to serious infections. We believe that TYK2 inhibition as a targeted therapy may have an improved risk to benefit profile as compared to broad immune suppression.
TYK2 inhibition represents a breadth of opportunity, and there have been or are ongoing clinical trials of TYK2 inhibitors in multiple indications such as psoriatic arthritis, SLE, cutaneous lupus, alopecia areata, Sjogren’s disease, vitiligo, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
Our TYK2 Franchise
Envu: Our Allosteric TYK2 Inhibitor
Envu is a potent, highly selective, allosteric TYK2 inhibitor.
Key Differentiating Features
We believe envu is differentiated from first-generation TYK2 inhibitors for the following reasons:
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Strategic Indication Selection
TYK2-mediated cytokine signaling is involved in a broad range of immune-mediated diseases. TYK2 loss-of-function mutations have been shown to be protective for several conditions including psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and MS. Therefore, envu has the potential to provide benefit in a large number of indications. We have selected PsO and SLE as our initial indications.
Combination Potential
Despite significant advances in the treatment of immune-mediated disease, in many diseases, only a minority of patients achieve disease remission or nearly complete response with current therapies. Because of the complexity, overlap and redundancy of inflammatory pathways, combination approaches targeting complementary pathways may be needed to achieve high-hurdle endpoints such as remission. We believe that envu’s pharmacological properties, including its lack of drug-drug interaction potential and its clinical profile, positions it well as a partner for future combination therapies.
Development
Envu is currently being evaluated in an ongoing Phase 2 open-label extension trial, as well as a parallel Phase 3 LTE trial in patients with PsO, as well as in a Phase 2b clinical trial in SLE.
Envu for the Treatment of PsO
Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated skin disease characterized by abnormal epidermal growth, usually presenting as red, scaly patches, papules or plaques (plaque psoriasis). Patients with psoriasis are also at increased risk of developing other co-morbid conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, insulin resistance, uveitis, arthritis and thyroid dysfunction. According to the World Health Organization, psoriasis significantly impacts quality of life—physical and emotional challenges of disfiguration, low self- esteem, loss of productivity and depression.
On January 6, 2026 we announced positive topline results from our Phase 3 ONWARD1 and ONWARD2 global Phase 3, multi-center, randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trials, evaluating envu in patients with PsO. Envu met all primary and secondary endpoints with high statistical significance in both trials. In each of these trials, envu achieved superior skin clearance compared with placebo (p < 0.0001) on the co-primary endpoints of Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (“PASI”) 75, and static Physician’s Global Assessment (“sPGA”) 0/1 at Week 16. On average across both ONWARD1 and ONWARD2, 74% of patients achieved PASI 75 and 59% of patients achieved sPGA 0/1, with responses
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deepening over time. Rapid responses were observed, with clear separation from placebo on PASI 90 as early as Week 4. At Week 24, on the higher hurdle skin clearance measures, approximately 65% of patients achieved PASI 90 and more than 40% achieved PASI 100, on average across both trials. In addition, consistent and clinically meaningful improvements across patient-reported outcomes relating to itch and quality of life were observed. Envu also achieved superior skin clearance compared with apremilast in each trial (p<0.0001) on all PASI endpoints at Week 24. We also announced that treatment with envu was generally well tolerated through Week 24 in both trials, with a safety profile consistent with our Phase 2 trial for envu in PsO, including the LTE trial. Treatment-emergent adverse event (“TEAE”) frequency and severity were similar across ONWARD1 and ONWARD2, with the majority being mild to moderate, transient, and responding to standard therapy, if required. The most common TEAEs were headaches, nasopharyngitis, upper respiratory tract infections, and acne. No safety signals were observed. See “—Safety Profile of Envu” below for further information.
We plan to submit an NDA for envu in PsO to the FDA in the second half of 2026.
Envu for the Treatment of SLE
SLE is a chronic autoimmune disease predominantly affecting women at childbearing age. Clinical manifestations are highly heterogeneous, and the disease typically waxes and wanes, with flares and periods of relative remission. Certain loss-of-function variants of TYK2 significantly decrease the risk of SLE. While mortality in SLE has decreased since the mid-20th century as a result of improved treatments, the disease remains associated with increased disability and loss of social and occupational functioning and high utilization of health care resources.
We are currently conducting LUMUS, a Phase 2b, 48-week, global, placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized, clinical trial evaluating envu in patients with moderate-to-severe active SLE, in the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom (“UK”), Latin America and Asia-Pacific (“APAC”) countries. The primary endpoint in Part A of such trial is BILAG-Based Composite Lupus Assessment response (a validated composite measure of lupus disease activity) at Week 48. Eligible patients may enroll in Part B (an OLE) or participate in a four-week follow-up period.
Safety Profile of Envu
Envu has been administered to more than 2,000 participants and in some cases administered for up to three years. Envu has been generally well-tolerated in our Phase 2 STRIDE and OLE and Phase 3 ONWARD clinical trials to date, with the majority of AEs observed in such clinical trials having been graded mild-to-moderate in severity. As of December 31, 2025, the most common AEs reported by patients across active (envu) trial arms were headaches, upper respiratory tract infections, nasopharyngitis and acne, and the most common AEs deemed related to study drug by the principal investigator included headaches, upper respiratory tract infections, nasopharyngitis, rash and nausea. The safety profile of envu continues to be evaluated in our ongoing Phase 2 OLE in PsO, Phase 3 LTE trial in PsO, and our Phase 2b trial in SLE.
Envu is an allosteric inhibitor of TYK2. TYK2 is an intracellular tyrosine kinase protein shown to play an essential role in mediating cytokine receptor signaling pathways in both innate and adaptive immunity. Cytokines are a group of proteins in the body that play an important role in boosting the immune system. Other TYK2 inhibitors, such as deucravacitinib (marketed as Sotyktu which is approved for the treatment of adults with PsO), have shown AEs such as hypersensitivity reactions, infections, tuberculosis, malignancy and rhabdomyolysis. The label for deucravacitinib includes a warning concerning the potential for JAK-related adverse events, such as cardiovascular and thrombotic events. Given our similar mechanism of action, we closely monitor and characterize these potential safety risks in our clinical studies. We have observed and expect to continue to observe that additional AEs and SAEs, consistent with known side effects of TYK2 inhibition, may emerge in our ongoing and future clinical trials of envu, and we have also observed and expect to continue to observe trial participant withdrawals or discontinuations due to AEs.
A-005: Our CNS-Penetrant Allosteric TYK2 Inhibitor
The second clinical product candidate in our TYK2 franchise, A-005, is a highly differentiated, CNS-penetrant, allosteric TYK2 inhibitor that has potential applications in multiple sclerosis and other neurological diseases. as well as peripheral diseases. A loss-of-function mutation in the TYK2 gene has been shown by our proprietary genetic data set as well as scientific literature, to reduce the risk of developing MS. We are currently evaluating indications for our A-005 program
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and intend to provide an update on an A-005 Phase 2 trial commencement following completion of this evaluation.
Role of TYK2 in Neuroinflammatory and Neurodegenerative Diseases
TYK2 pathways are active in CNS-resident immune cells and may play a localized role in the CNS contributing to the pathology of several CNS inflammatory disorders, including MS. Genome-wide association studies (“GWAS”) have shown the loss-of-function TYK2 genetic variant, P1104A, has a protective effect for the development of MS. An additional missense variant in TYK2, Rs35018800, has the largest effect on MS risk of any variant outside the MHC/HLA region discovered to date. In addition to its genetic association with MS, TYK2 is known to be expressed and functionally active in CNS-resident microglia. Microglia express IL-23 and interferon receptors and IL-23/IL-12 cytokines have been shown to localize to MS lesions. Activated microglia are associated with disease worsening in MS, and TYK2 inhibitors with adequate CNS exposure may provide an opportunity to target neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. We believe TYK2 inhibition has the potential to treat the neuroinflammatory component of other neurodegenerative diseases where activated microglia and/or TYK2 proinflammatory cytokines including interferon are implicated such as Alzheimer’s disease, ALS, optic neuritis, neuromyelitis optica, and Parkinson’s disease.
Development
A-005 for the Treatment of MS
MS is a chronic immune-mediated disease of the central nervous system. This condition causes a wide range of physical and cognitive challenges for those afflicted, often resulting in neurological symptoms and disabilities. Despite available treatments to manage symptoms and slow disease progression, treatments are limited for progressive disease and a definitive cure remains elusive. Agents directly targeting the CNS pathology and CNS resident cells, including activated microglia, are of increasing interest as these are thought to impact progressive neurological impairment. The unmet need lies in finding safe and more effective targeted therapies that can halt or reverse disease progression, alleviating the burden on patients and their families and improving their overall quality of life.
In December 2024, we announced positive data from a Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating the safety, tolerability and PK of single- and multiple-ascending doses of A-005 in healthy participants. In the clinical trial, A-005 was well tolerated with no SAEs reported.
Our Lonigutamab (IGF-1R Monoclonal Antibody) Program
Lonigutamab is a subcutaneously delivered, monoclonal antibody targeting IGF-1R for the treatment of TED, a potentially vision-threatening progressive autoimmune ocular disease in which the eye muscles, eyelids, tear glands and fatty tissues behind the eye become inflamed.
ACELYRIN announced data from its Phase 1/2 dose ranging trial of lonigutamab in TED in March 2024 and January 2025. We are continuing to evaluate the development program for lonigutamab and its potential differentiation in a capital efficient manner.
Our Discovery Programs
We are building a pipeline of molecules with the potential to address a broad range of immune-mediated diseases. We pursue drug targets that have been previously validated by strong human genetic evidence or human clinical data. Our drug discovery efforts for our selected targets take advantage of structure-guided approaches built from public or proprietary crystallographic structures to enable use of advanced computational methods. These approaches enable optimization of traditional protein modulators, protein degraders, and targeted covalent inhibitors as appropriate. In addition, we have chosen targets that could be complementary for use in combination with our existing TYK2 franchise and to each other.
For example, IRF5 is a transcription factor that mediates signaling of several cytokines including type I IFN, IL-6, IL-12, IL-23, and TNF. It is a genetically supported target across multiple immune indications with known functional roles in
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both innate and adaptive immunity. IRF5 has been implicated in macrophage polarization, cell growth regulation, and apoptosis. It acts on innate immune responses via recognition of upstream self-nucleic acid-containing immune complexes and pathogens by toll like receptors (“TLR”), specifically: TLR7, TLR8 and TLR9 in the endosome via MyD88. Translocation of IRF5 to the nucleus following phosphorylation by IKKβ is critical to the pathogenesis of many immune mediated diseases. Genome-wide association studies have identified several functional genetic variants in IRF5 that predispose patients to immune-mediated diseases including, but not limited to SLE, systemic sclerosis, and primary sclerosing cholangitis.
We are actively engaged in lead generation activities to identify small molecules that can precisely bind and block IRF5 function. These efforts are aided by our proprietary crystal structure of our compounds bound to IRF5, which enables computational approaches to optimize binders for either IRF5 inhibition or degradation. We have developed several proprietary assays including a biochemical dimerization assay that has been used in conjunction with high-throughput screening to identify leads. In addition, we have applied an orthogonal method to identify small-molecule binders that may target allosteric pockets providing inhibition directly or as a component in a proteolysis-targeting chimera. We will pursue multiple mechanisms of inhibition and use our extensive pharmacology expertise to guide the final selection of clinical candidates.
Foresite Labs Services Agreement
Foresite Labs, LLC (“Foresite Labs”) was an original stockholder in, and actively involved in our incubation. We and Foresite Labs have had an ongoing services agreement since our inception, with Foresite Labs originally providing incubation services, development assistance and oversight, and data analytics services; currently, Foresite Labs provides data analytics services related to our TYK2 franchise, our discovery programs and to our business development activities. The original Services Agreement between us and Foresite Labs was entered into in January 2021, was amended and restated in August 2021, was amended and restated for a second time in December 2023, and expires in December 2026, unless terminated earlier by the parties. Work under the Services Agreement is memorialized in a series of Statements of Work and we pay Foresite Labs for the estimated costs of its services in advance on a quarterly basis, with a true-up to actuals at the end of each quarter.
Intellectual Property
We strive to protect and enhance the proprietary technology, inventions and improvements that are commercially important to our business, including by seeking, maintaining, enforcing and defending patent rights. Our policy is to seek to protect our proprietary position by, among other methods, filing patent applications in the United States and in jurisdictions outside of the United States related to our proprietary technology, inventions, improvements and product candidates that are important to the development and implementation of our business. We also rely on trade secrets and know-how relating to our proprietary technology, assays and product candidates, and may in the future rely on in-licensing opportunities, to develop, strengthen and maintain our proprietary position in our field. Our commercial success will depend in part on our ability to obtain and maintain patent and other proprietary protection for our technology, inventions and improvements; to preserve the confidentiality of our trade secrets; to obtain and maintain any future licenses to use intellectual property owned by third parties; and to defend and enforce our proprietary rights, including our patent rights.
As of December 31, 2025, our solely owned patent portfolio included five issued U.S. patents, three pending U.S. provisional patent applications, over ten pending non-provisional U.S. patent applications, and over twenty granted foreign patents.
Envu and A-005
In regard to envu and A-005, we own one patent family with claims directed to composition of matter and methods of use that includes five issued U.S. patents, one pending U.S. patent application, over fifteen granted foreign patents in Europe (each validated in over 35 countries), and certain other countries, and over 10 foreign patent applications pending in various jurisdictions, such as Europe and Japan. Not accounting for any patent term adjustment or extensions or terminal disclaimers, and assuming that all applicable annuity and/or maintenance fees are paid timely, the issued patents, and, if granted, the pending patent applications in this family, are expected to expire in 2039.
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We also own three patent families with claims directed to crystalline and salt forms of envu, which includes three pending U.S. applications, and over 30 foreign patent applications pending in various jurisdictions such as Europe and Japan. Not accounting for any patent term adjustment or extension and assuming that all applicable annuity and/or maintenance fees are paid timely, the patent applications, if issued, and any patent applications claiming the benefit of these PCT applications, if issued, will be expected to expire in 2043.
We own one patent family with claims directed to methods of treating a TYK2-mediated disease using envu, that includes a pending U.S. application and over 10 foreign applications pending in various jurisdictions such as Europe and Japan. Not accounting for any patent term adjustment or extension and assuming that all applicable annuity and/or maintenance fees are paid timely, any patent applications, if issued, will be expected to expire in 2043.
We own three additional patent families that disclose and/or contain claims directed to methods of treating various diseases with envu that include two pending U.S. non-provisional applications, four pending foreign applications and one pending U.S. provisional application. Not accounting for any patent term adjustment or extension and assuming that all annuity and/or maintenance fees are paid timely, patent applications from these patent families, if issued, will be expected to expire between 2044 and 2046.
We own three pending PCT applications and three additional foreign applications with claims directed to crystalline and salt forms of A-005, one pending PCT application and one additional foreign application with claims directed to methods of treating various diseases with A-005, one pending PCT application and one additional foreign application with claims directed to processes for making envu, and one pending PCT application and one additional foreign application with claims directed to formulations of envu. Not accounting for any patent term adjustment or extension and assuming that all applicable annuity and/or maintenance fees are paid timely, any patent applications claiming priority to the provisional applications, if issued, will be expected to expire in 2045.
We intend to pursue, in the normal course of business and when possible, composition, method of use, process, dosing and formulation patent protection for the product candidates we develop and commercialize. We may also pursue patent protection with respect to manufacturing and immunotherapy development processes and technology. When available to expand market exclusivity, we intend to strategically obtain or license additional intellectual property related to current or contemplated product candidates.
Lonigutamab
As of December 31, 2025, we exclusively in-licensed from Pierre Fabre Medicament SAS (“Pierre Fabre”) two issued U.S. patents, over 55 corresponding foreign patents and 5 foreign patent applications directed to composition of matter. Such issued patents are expected to expire in 2035, without taking into account any possible patent term adjustment or extensions and assuming payment of all appropriate fees. The portfolio further includes 12 pending patent applications directed primarily to formulations and methods of use. Patents, if issued from these pending applications are expected to expire in 2043 or 2045, respectively, without giving effect to any potential patent term extensions and patent term adjustments, and assuming payment of all appropriate fees.
For more information regarding the risks related to our intellectual property, see Item 1A. “Risk Factors — Risks Related to Intellectual Property.”
Sales and Marketing
Given our stage of development, we have not yet established a full commercial organization or distribution capabilities. We have stage-appropriate commercial capabilities and we intend to build a commercial infrastructure to support sales of any approved products. We also intend to continue evaluating opportunities to work with partners that enhance our capabilities with respect to the development and commercialization of our product candidates, if approved. In addition, we intend to commercialize our product candidates, if approved, in key markets in the United States, the European Union (“EU”) and APAC, either alone or with partners in order to maximize the worldwide commercial potential of our programs.
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Manufacturing
We do not own or operate, and currently have no plans to establish, any manufacturing facilities. We currently rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties for the manufacture of our product candidates for clinical testing, as well as for manufacture of any products that we may commercialize, if approved. To date, we have obtained active pharmaceutical ingredients (“API”) for envu and A-005 for our preclinical and clinical testing from different third-party API manufacturers and bulk drug product from other third-party manufacturers. We obtain our preclinical and clinical supplies from these manufacturers on a purchase order basis and currently do not have long-term supply arrangements in place. Our principal suppliers of critical raw materials are located in India and in Taiwan. We are in the process of implementing a redundant supply chain for envu API, drug product and critical raw material. For all our product candidates, we intend to identify and qualify redundant manufacturers to provide the API and drug product and prior to submission of the NDA to the FDA and/or a marketing authorization application to the European Medicines Agency (“EMA”) and/or other health authorities. envu and A-005 are compounds of low molecular weight, generally called small molecules. Envu can be manufactured in reliable and reproducible processes from readily available starting materials. A-005 has been produced in small quantities to support our preclinical studies and is currently being manufactured at larger quantities for clinical testing. The chemistries for envu and A-005 are amenable to scale-up and do not require unusual equipment in the manufacturing process. Additional contract manufacturers are used to package, label, and distribute investigational drug products. This strategy allows us to maintain a more efficient infrastructure, avoid depending on our own manufacturing facility and equipment while simultaneously enabling us to focus our expertise on developing our products. We expect to continue to develop product candidates that can be produced cost-effectively at contract manufacturing facilities.
Competition
The biopharmaceutical industry is characterized by intense competition and rapid innovation. Our potential competitors include large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, specialty pharmaceutical companies and generic drug companies. Many of our potential competitors have greater financial and technical human resources than we do, as well as equal or greater experience in the discovery and development of product candidates, obtaining FDA and other regulatory approvals of products and the commercialization of those products. Accordingly, our potential competitors may be more successful than us in achieving regulatory approvals and commercializing their drugs. We anticipate that we will face intense and increasing competition from existing, approved drugs, as well as new drugs entering the market and emerging technologies that become available. Finally, the development of new treatment methods for the diseases we are targeting could render our product candidates non-competitive or obsolete.
We believe the key competitive factors that will affect the development and commercial success of our product candidates, if approved, will be efficacy, safety, tolerability profile, convenience of dosing, price and coverage by governmental and third-party payors.
We are currently developing envu for the treatment of PsO and SLE, with multiple other potential indications to follow. Other emerging and established life sciences companies have been focused on similar therapeutics. If approved, envu would compete with several currently approved or late-stage oral clinical therapeutics in each such indication as well as other drugs used to treat such patients.
Our second TYK2 product candidate, A-005, is a highly differentiated CNS-penetrant allosteric TYK2 inhibitor that has a potential application in MS and other neuroinflammatory diseases. In MS, there are a large number of therapies available for the treatment of relapsing forms of MS, including interferon beta regulators, monoclonal antibodies, synthetic immunomodulatory drugs, and S1P receptor modulators.
Coverage and Reimbursement
Successful sales of approved drug products in the U.S. market will depend, in part, on the extent to which such drugs will be covered by third-party payors, such as government health programs or private health insurance (including managed care plans). Patients who are provided with prescriptions as part of their medical treatment generally rely on such third-party payors to reimburse all or part of the costs associated with their prescriptions and therefore adequate coverage and reimbursement from such third-party payors are critical to new and ongoing product acceptance. Coverage and
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reimbursement policies for drug products can differ significantly from payor to payor as there is no uniform policy of coverage and reimbursement for drug products among third-party payors in the United States. There may be significant delays in obtaining coverage and reimbursement as the process of determining coverage and reimbursement is often time consuming and costly. Further, third-party payors are increasingly reducing reimbursements for medical drugs and services and implementing measures to control utilization of drugs (such as requiring prior authorization for coverage).
Additionally, the containment of healthcare costs has become a priority of federal, state and foreign governments, and the prices of drugs have been a focus in this effort. The U.S. government, state legislatures and foreign governments have shown significant interest in implementing cost-containment programs, including price controls, restrictions on reimbursement and requirements for substitution of generic drugs. For example, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) imposes rebates on many Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D products to penalize price increases that outpace inflation on an annual basis. HHS has also been empowered to negotiate the price of certain single-source drugs that have been on the market for at least seven years and biologics that have been on the market for at least 11 years covered under Medicare as part of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. Each year up to 20 products will be selected by HHS for the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. Products subject to the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program are expected to experience a significant reduction in reimbursement from the Medicare program on a per unit basis. Adoption or expansion of price controls and cost-containment measures could further limit manufacturers’ net revenue and results. Decreases in third-party reimbursement for a manufacturer’s drug products or a decision by a third-party payor to not cover its drug products could have a material adverse effect on the manufacturer’s sales, results of operations and financial condition.
General legislative cost control measures may also affect reimbursement for drug products. Manufacturers that obtain approval to market a drug candidate in the United States may be subject to spending reductions affecting Medicare, Medicaid or other publicly funded or subsidized health programs and/or any significant taxes or fees.
Government Regulation
Government authorities in the United States, at the federal, state and local level, and in other countries and jurisdictions extensively regulate, among other things, the research, development, testing, manufacture, quality control, approval, packaging, storage, recordkeeping, labeling, advertising, promotion, distribution, marketing, post-approval monitoring and reporting, and import and export of pharmaceutical products. The processes for obtaining regulatory approvals in the United States and in foreign countries and jurisdictions, along with subsequent compliance with applicable statutes and regulations and other regulatory authorities, require the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources.
U.S. Drug and Biologic Development Process
In the United States, pharmaceutical products are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”) and its implementing regulations. Biologics are additionally subject to the Public Health Service Act and its implementing regulations. The process required by the FDA before a drug may be marketed in the United States generally involves the following:
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● submission to the FDA of an NDA or Biologics License Application (“BLA”);
Nonclinical tests include laboratory evaluation of product chemistry, formulation and toxicity, as well as animal trials to assess the characteristics and potential safety and efficacy of the product. The conduct of the nonclinical tests must comply with federal regulations and requirements, including GLPs, where applicable. The results of nonclinical testing are submitted to the FDA as part of an IND along with other information, including information about product chemistry, manufacturing and controls (“CMC”), and a proposed clinical trial protocol. Long-term preclinical tests, such as animal tests of reproductive toxicity and carcinogenicity, may continue after the IND is submitted. An IND automatically becomes effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA, unless before that time the FDA raises concerns or questions related to one or more proposed clinical trials and places the trial on clinical hold. In such a case, the IND sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns before the clinical trial can begin.
Clinical trials involve the administration of the investigational product to healthy volunteers or patients under the supervision of a qualified investigator. Clinical trials must be conducted: (i) in compliance with federal regulations; (ii) in compliance with GCPs, which are standards meant to protect the rights and health of patients and to define the roles of clinical trial sponsors, administrators and monitors; as well as (iii) under protocols detailing the objectives of the trial, the parameters to be used in monitoring safety, and the effectiveness criteria to be evaluated. Each protocol involving testing on U.S. patients and subsequent protocol amendments must be submitted to the FDA as part of the IND.
The FDA may order the temporary, or permanent, discontinuation of a clinical trial at any time, or impose other sanctions, if it believes that the clinical trial either is not being conducted in accordance with FDA requirements or presents an unacceptable risk to the clinical trial patients. The study protocol and informed consent information for patients in clinical trials must also be submitted to an IRB for approval before a clinical trial commences at the relevant institution. An IRB may also require the clinical trial at the site to be halted, either temporarily or permanently, for failure to comply with the IRB’s requirements, or may impose other conditions on the conduct of the study.
Human clinical trials are typically conducted in three sequential phases, but the phases may overlap. In Phase 1, the initial introduction of the investigational product into healthy subjects or patients, safety, dosage tolerance, metabolism, pharmacokinetics, pharmacological actions, side effects and, if possible, to early evidence on effectiveness are assessed. Phase 2 usually involves trials in a limited patient population with the specified disease or conditions to evaluate the effectiveness of the investigational product for a particular indication, to determine optimal dose and regimen, and to identify common AEs and safety risks. If preliminary evidence of effectiveness and an acceptable safety profile is obtained in Phase 2 evaluations, Phase 3 trials are conducted. Phase 3 trials are undertaken to obtain additional information about clinical efficacy and safety in an expanded patient population, typically at geographically dispersed clinical trial sites, to permit the FDA to evaluate the overall benefit-risk relationship of the investigational product and to provide adequate information for labeling.
In most cases, the FDA requires two adequate and well-controlled Phase 3 clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of a product. A single Phase 3 trial may be sufficient (1) where the study is a large, multicenter trial demonstrating internal consistency and a statistically very persuasive finding of a clinically meaningful effect on mortality, irreversible morbidity or prevention of a disease with a potentially serious outcome and confirmation of the result in a second trial would be practically or ethically impossible or (2) when the single trial is supported by confirmatory evidence.
Post-approval trials, sometimes referred to as Phase 4 studies, may be conducted after initial marketing approval. These
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trials are used to gain additional experience from the treatment of patients in the intended therapeutic indication. In certain instances, the FDA may mandate the performance of Phase 4 clinical trials as a condition of approval of an NDA or BLA.
Concurrent with clinical trials, companies usually complete additional animal studies and must also develop additional information about the chemistry and physical characteristics of the product and finalize a process for manufacturing the product in commercial quantities in accordance with cGMPs. The manufacturing process must be capable of consistently producing quality batches and, among other things, the manufacturer must develop methods for testing the identity, strength, quality and purity of the finished product. In addition, appropriate packaging must be selected and tested, and stability studies must be conducted to demonstrate that the product does not undergo unacceptable deterioration over its shelf life.
U.S. Review and Approval Process
After completion of the required clinical testing, the sponsor prepares and submits an NDA or BLA to the FDA. FDA approval of the application is required before marketing and distribution of the product may begin in the United States. The application must include, among other information, the results of all nonclinical, clinical, and other testing along with descriptions of the manufacturing process, analytical tests conducted on the product, and proposed labeling. The cost of preparing and submitting an application is substantial. The submission of most applications is additionally subject to a substantial user fee. Under an approved NDA or BLA, the applicant is also subject to an annual program fee. These fees are typically increased annually.
The FDA has 60 days from its receipt of an NDA or BLA to determine whether the application will be filed based on the FDA’s threshold determination that it is sufficiently complete to permit substantive review. Once the submission is filed, the FDA begins an in-depth review. Under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, as amended (“PDUFA”), the FDA has agreed to certain performance goals. The FDA’s goal is to review and act on applications granted Standard Review within ten months of the date the FDA files the application. For applications granted a Priority Review, the FDA’s goal is to review the application within six months from the date the FDA files the application. The FDA may extend its PDUFA goal date for reviewing both standard and priority-review applications for three additional months to allow the FDA to consider certain late-submitted information or information intended to clarify information already provided in the submission.
The FDA may also refer applications for novel products, as well as those that present difficult questions of safety or efficacy, to an advisory committee—typically a panel that includes clinicians and other experts—for review, evaluation and a recommendation as to whether the application should be approved. The FDA is not bound by the recommendation of an advisory committee, but it generally follows such recommendations.
Before approving an NDA or BLA, the FDA will typically inspect one or more clinical sites to assure compliance with GCP. Additionally, the FDA will generally inspect the facility or the facilities at which the product is manufactured. The FDA will not approve a product unless the facility at which it is manufactured has a satisfactory cGMP compliance status.
After the FDA evaluates the NDA or BLA and completes any clinical and manufacturing site inspections, it issues either an approval letter or a complete response letter. An approval letter authorizes commercial marketing of the product with prescribing information for specific indications. A complete response letter indicates that the review cycle of the application is complete, and the application will not be approved in its present form. A complete response letter generally outlines the deficiencies in the application and may require substantial additional testing or information that must be provided in order for the FDA to reconsider the application for approval. If, or when, those deficiencies have been addressed to the FDA’s satisfaction in a resubmission of the application, the FDA will issue an approval letter. The FDA has committed to reviewing such resubmissions in two or six months from the date of receipt, depending on the type of information included.
As a condition of approval, the FDA may require a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (“REMS”) to help ensure that the benefits of the product outweigh the potential risks. REMS can include medication guides, communication plans for healthcare professionals, and elements to assure safe use (“ETASU”). ETASU can include, but are not limited to, special training or certification for prescribing or dispensing, dispensing only under certain circumstances, special monitoring,
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and the use of patient registries. The requirement for a REMS can materially affect the potential market and profitability of the product. Moreover, the FDA may require substantial post-approval testing and surveillance to monitor the product’s safety or efficacy.
FDA Expedited Development and Review Programs
The FDA has a number of programs intended to expedite the development or review of a marketing application for an investigational product. For example, the Fast Track designation program is intended to expedite or facilitate the process for developing and reviewing drug products that meet certain criteria. Specifically, investigational drugs and biologics are eligible for Fast Track designation if they are intended to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical needs for the disease or condition. The sponsor of a Fast Track designated investigational product has opportunities for more frequent interactions with the applicable FDA review team during product development and, once an NDA or BLA is submitted, the application may be eligible for priority review. The FDA may consider for review sections of the NDA or BLA on a rolling basis before the complete application is submitted, if the sponsor provides a schedule for the submission of the sections of the application, the FDA agrees to accept sections of the application and determines that the schedule is acceptable, and the sponsor pays any required user fees upon submission of the first section of the application.
A drug biologic intended to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition may also be eligible for Breakthrough Therapy designation to expedite its development and review. Breakthrough Therapy designation is provided if preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the drug or biologic, alone or in combination with one or more other drugs or biologics, may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints, such as substantial treatment effects observed early in clinical development. The designation includes all of the Fast Track program features, as well as more intensive FDA interaction and guidance beginning as early as Phase 1 and an organizational commitment to expedite the development and review of the product, including involvement of senior managers.
Any drug or biologic product submitted to the FDA for approval may also be eligible for Priority Review. An NDA or BLA is eligible for Priority Review if the product is designed to treat a serious condition, and if approved, would provide a significant improvement in safety or efficacy compared to available therapies. The FDA will attempt to direct additional resources to the evaluation of an application designated for priority review.
Fast Track designation, Breakthrough Therapy designation, and Priority Review do not change the standards for approval but may expedite the development or approval process. Even if a product candidate qualifies for one or more of these programs, the FDA may later decide that the product no longer meets the conditions for qualification or decide that the time period for FDA review or approval will not be shortened.
Disclosure of Clinical Trial Information
Sponsors of clinical trials of FDA-regulated products, including investigational drugs, are required to register and disclose certain clinical trial information on ClinicalTrials.gov. Information related to the product, patient population, phase of investigation, study sites and investigators, and other aspects of the clinical trial is then made public as part of the registration. Sponsors are also obligated to disclose the results of their clinical trials after completion. Disclosure of the results of these trials can be delayed in certain circumstances for up to two years after the date of completion of the trial. Competitors may use this publicly available information to gain knowledge regarding the progress of development programs.
Pediatric Information
Under the Pediatric Research Equity Act, NDAs, BLAs or supplements thereto must contain data to assess the safety and effectiveness of the product for the claimed indications in all relevant pediatric subpopulations and to support dosing and administration for each pediatric subpopulation for which the product is determined by the FDA to be safe and effective. The FDA may grant full or partial waivers or deferrals for submission of data. A deferral may be granted for several reasons, including a finding that the product is ready for approval for use in adults before pediatric clinical trials are complete or that additional safety or effectiveness data needs to be collected before the pediatric clinical trials begin. The
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FDA must send a non-compliance letter to any sponsor that fails to submit the required assessment, keep a deferral current or submit a request for approval of a pediatric formulation.
The Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (“BPCA”) provides NDA and BLA holders a six-month extension of any exclusivity—patent or nonpatent—for a product if certain conditions are met. Conditions for exclusivity include the FDA’s determination that information relating to the use of the product in the pediatric population may produce health benefits in that population, the FDA making a “written request” for pediatric studies, and the applicant agreeing to perform, and reporting on, the requested studies within the statutory timeframe. Applications or supplements to an approved application that propose a labeling change as a result of pediatric studies conducted pursuant to the BPCA are treated as priority applications or supplements, with all of the benefits that designation confers.
Post-Approval Requirements
Any products manufactured or distributed pursuant to FDA approvals are subject to pervasive and continuing regulation by the FDA, including, among other things, requirements relating to record-keeping, reporting of adverse experiences, periodic reporting, product sampling and distribution, and advertising and promotion of the product. After approval, many changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications, certain manufacturing changes and additional labeling claims, are subject to further FDA review and approval.
Drug and biologic manufacturers and certain of their subcontractors are required to register their establishments with the FDA and certain state agencies. Registration with the FDA subjects entities to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA, during which the FDA inspects manufacturing facilities to assess compliance with cGMP. Changes to the manufacturing process are strictly regulated, and, depending on the significance of the change, may require prior FDA approval before being implemented. Accordingly, manufacturers must continue to expend time, money and effort in the areas of production and quality-control to maintain compliance with cGMP.
The FDA may withdraw 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 AEs of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in revisions to the approved labeling to add new safety information; imposition of requirements for post-market studies or clinical studies to assess new safety risks; or imposition of distribution restrictions or other restrictions under a REMS program. Other potential consequences include, among other things:
● warning or untitled letters;
● clinical holds on clinical studies;
● injunctions, fines or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.
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The FDA strictly regulates marketing, labeling, advertising and promotion of drugs and biologics that are placed on the market. Advertising and promotion of drugs and biologics must be in compliance with the FDCA and its implementing regulations and only for the approved indications and in a manner consistent with the approved labeling. The FDA and other agencies actively enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses, and a company that is found to have improperly promoted off-label uses may be subject to significant liability, including investigation by federal and state authorities.
Foreign Drug Development Processes
In addition to regulations in the United States, we are and will continue to be subject to a variety of regulations in other jurisdictions governing, among other things, clinical trials, authorization, and any commercial sales and distribution of our products. Whether or not we obtain FDA approval of a product, we must obtain the requisite approvals from regulatory authorities in foreign countries prior to the commencement of clinical trials or marketing of the product in those countries. Many countries outside of the United States have a process similar to that in the United States that requires the submission of a clinical trial application (“CTA”) much like the IND prior to the commencement of human clinical trials.
Although in countries outside of the EU, such as countries in Eastern Europe, Latin America or Asia, the requirements governing the conduct of clinical trials, product licensing, pricing and reimbursement vary from country to country in all cases, the clinical trials must be conducted in accordance with GCP and the applicable regulatory requirements and the ethical principles that have their origin in the Declaration of Helsinki.
If we or our potential collaborators fail to comply with applicable foreign regulatory requirements, we may be subject to, among other things, fines, suspension, variation or withdrawal of regulatory approvals, product recalls, seizure of products, operating restrictions and criminal prosecution.
Clinical Trials in the EU
Similarly to the United States, the various phases of non-clinical and clinical research in the EU are subject to significant regulatory controls.
In the EU, clinical trials are governed by the Clinical Trials Regulation (EU) No 536/2014 (the “CTR”), which entered into application on January 31, 2022, repealing and replacing the former Clinical Trials Directive 2001/20 (the “CTD”).
The CTR is intended to harmonize and streamline CTA, simplify adverse-event reporting procedures, improve the supervision of clinical trials and increase transparency. Specifically, the regulation, which is directly applicable in all EU member states, introduces a streamlined application procedure through a single-entry point, the “EU portal”; the Clinical Trials Information System (“CTIS”); a single set of documents to be prepared and submitted for the application; as well as simplified reporting procedures for clinical trial sponsors. A harmonized procedure for the assessment of applications for clinical trials has been introduced and is divided into two parts. Part I assessment is led by the competent authorities of a reference member state selected by the trial sponsor and relates to clinical trial aspects that are considered to be scientifically harmonized across EU member states. This assessment is then submitted to the competent authorities of all concerned member states in which the trial is to be conducted for their review. Part II is assessed separately by the competent authorities and ethics committees in each concerned EU member state, i.e., all EU member states in which a clinical trial is to be conducted. Individual EU member states retain the power to authorize the conduct of clinical trials on their territory.
The CTR foresaw a three-year transition period that ended on January 31, 2025. Since this date, all new or ongoing trials are subject to the provisions of the CTR.
Medicinal products used in clinical trials must be manufactured in accordance with the guidelines on GMP and in a GMP certified facility, which is subject to GMP inspections.
Review and Approval Process of Medicinal Products in the EU
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In the EU, medicinal products can only be commercialized after a related marketing authorization (“MA”) has been granted. To obtain an MA for a medicinal product in the EU, an applicant must submit a Marketing Authorization Application (“MAA”), either in accordance with a centralized procedure administered by the EMA, or one of the procedures administered by the competent authorities of EU member states (decentralized procedure, national procedure or mutual recognition procedure). An MA may be granted only to an applicant established in the EU.
A successful application in accordance with the centralized procedure results in the grant of a single MA by the European Commission that is valid throughout the EU. Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 726/2004, the centralized procedure is compulsory for specific products, including for (i) medicinal products derived from biotechnological processes, (ii) products designated as orphan medicinal products, (iii) advanced therapy medicinal products (“ATMPs”), and (iv) products with a new active substance indicated for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, auto-immune and other immune dysfunctions and viral diseases. For products with a new active substance indicated for the treatment of other diseases and products that are highly innovative or for which a centralized process is in the interest of patients, authorization through the centralized procedure is optional on related approval.
In accordance with the centralized procedure, the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (the “CHMP”), conducts the initial assessment of an application for authorization of a medicinal product. The CHMP is also responsible for several post-authorization and maintenance activities, such as the assessment of variations or extensions to an existing MA. The maximum timeframe for the evaluation of an MAA under the centralized procedure is 210 days, excluding clock stops during which additional information or written or oral explanations are provided by the applicant in response to questions of the CHMP. Accelerated assessment may be granted by the CHMP in exceptional cases, when a medicinal product that targets an unmet medical need is expected to be of major interest from the point of view of public health and, in particular, from the viewpoint of therapeutic innovation. If the CHMP accepts a request for accelerated assessment, the time limit of 210 days will be reduced to 150 days (excluding clock stops). The CHMP can, however, revert to the standard time limit for the centralized procedure if it considers that it is no longer appropriate to conduct an accelerated assessment.
Unlike the centralized authorization procedure, the decentralized MA procedure requires a separate application to, and leads to separate approval by, the competent authorities of each EU member state in which the product is to be marketed. This application is identical to the application that would be submitted to the EMA for authorization through the centralized procedure. The reference EU member state prepares a draft assessment and drafts of the related materials within 120 days after receipt of a valid MAA. The resulting assessment report is submitted to the concerned EU member states who, within 90 days of receipt, must decide whether to approve the assessment report and related materials. If a concerned EU member state cannot approve the assessment report and related materials due to concerns relating to a potential serious risk to public health, disputed elements may be referred to the Heads of Medicines Agencies’ Coordination Group for Mutual Recognition and Decentralized Procedures — Human (“CMDh”) for review. The subsequent decision of the European Commission is binding on all EU member states.
The mutual recognition procedure allows companies that have a medicinal product already authorized in one EU member state to apply for this authorization to be recognized by the competent authorities in other EU member states. Like the decentralized procedure, the mutual recognition procedure is based on the acceptance by the competent authorities of the EU member states of the MA granted in relation to a medicinal product by the competent authorities of other EU member states. The holder of a national MA may submit an application to the competent authority of an EU member state requesting that this authority recognize the MA delivered by the competent authority of another EU member state.
An MA has, in principle, an initial validity of five years. The MA may be renewed after five years on the basis of a re-evaluation of the risk-benefit balance by the EMA or by the competent authority of the EU member state in which the original MA was granted. To support the application, the MA holder must provide the EMA or the competent authority with a consolidated version of the Common Technical Document providing up-to-date data concerning the quality, safety and efficacy of the product, including all variations introduced since the MA was granted, at least nine months before the MA ceases to be valid. The European Commission or the competent authorities of the EU member states may decide on justified grounds relating to pharmacovigilance, to proceed with one further five-year renewal period for the MA. Once subsequently definitively renewed, the MA shall be valid for an unlimited period. Any authorization which is not followed by the actual placing of the medicinal product on the EU market (for a centralized MA) or on the market of the authorizing
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EU member state within three years after authorization ceases to be valid (the so-called sunset clause) unless, in justified circumstances, authorization is extended.
Innovative products that target an unmet medical need and are expected to be of major public health interest may be eligible for a number of expedited development and review programs, such as the PRIority MEdicines (“PRIME”) scheme, which provides incentives similar to the breakthrough therapy designation in the U.S. PRIME is a voluntary scheme aimed at enhancing the EMA’s support for the development of medicinal products that target unmet medical needs. Eligible products must target conditions for which there is an unmet medical need; i.e., where there is no satisfactory method of diagnosis, prevention or treatment in the EU or, if there is, the new medicinal product will bring a major therapeutic advantage. The products must demonstrate the potential to address the unmet medical need by introducing new methods of therapy or improving existing ones. Benefits accrue to sponsors of product candidates with PRIME designation, including but not limited to, early and proactive regulatory dialogue with the EMA, frequent discussions on clinical trial designs and other development program elements, and potentially accelerated MAA assessment once a dossier has been submitted.
In the EU, a “conditional” MA may be granted in cases where all the required safety and efficacy data are not yet available. The European Commission may grant a conditional MA for a medicinal product if it is demonstrated that all of the following criteria are met: (i) the benefit-risk balance of the medicinal product is positive; (ii) it is likely that the applicant will be able to provide comprehensive data post-authorization; (iii) the medicinal product fulfils an unmet medical need; and (iv) the benefit of the immediate availability to patients of the medicinal product is greater than the risk inherent in the fact that additional data are still required. The conditional MA is subject to conditions to be fulfilled for generating the missing data or ensuring increased safety measures. It is valid for one year and must be renewed annually until all related conditions have been fulfilled. Once any pending studies are provided, the conditional MA can be converted into a standard MA. However, if the conditions are not fulfilled within the timeframe set by the EMA and approved by the European Commission, the MA will cease to be renewed.
An MA may also be granted “under exceptional circumstances” where the applicant can show that it is unable to provide comprehensive data on efficacy and safety under normal conditions of use even after the product has been authorized and subject to specific procedures being introduced. These circumstances may arise in particular when the intended indications are very rare and, in the state of scientific knowledge at that time, it is not possible to provide comprehensive information, or when generating data may be contrary to generally accepted ethical principles. Like a conditional MA, an MA granted in exceptional circumstances is reserved to medicinal products intended to be authorized for treatment of rare diseases or unmet medical needs for which the applicant does not hold a complete data set that is required for the grant of a standard MA. However, unlike the conditional MA, an applicant for authorization in exceptional circumstances is not subsequently required to provide the missing data. Although the MA “under exceptional circumstances” is granted definitively, the risk-benefit balance of the medicinal product is reviewed annually, and the MA will be withdrawn if the risk-benefit ratio is no longer favorable.
Pediatric Development in the EU
In the EU, Regulation (EC) No 1901/2006 provides that all MAAs for new medicinal products must include the results of trials conducted in the pediatric population, in compliance with a pediatric investigation plan (“PIP”) agreed with the EMA’s Pediatric Committee (“PDCO”). The PIP sets out the timing and measures proposed to generate data to support a pediatric indication of the medicinal product for which MA is being sought. The PDCO can grant a deferral of the obligation to implement some or all of the measures provided in the PIP until there are sufficient data to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of the product in adults. Further, the obligation to provide pediatric clinical trial data can be waived by the PDCO when these data are not needed or appropriate because the product is likely to be ineffective or unsafe in children, the disease or condition for which the product is intended occurs only in adult populations, or when the product does not represent a significant therapeutic benefit over existing treatments for pediatric patients. Once the MA is obtained in all EU member states and study results are included in the product information, even when negative, the product is eligible for a six-month extension to the Supplementary Protection Certificate (“SPC”), if any is in effect at the time of authorization or, in the case of orphan medicinal products, a two-year extension of orphan market exclusivity.
Data and Market Exclusivity in the EU
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The EU provides opportunities for data and market exclusivity related to MAs. Upon receipt of an MA, innovative medicinal products (i.e., reference products) are generally entitled to benefit from eight years of data exclusivity and an additional two years of market exclusivity. Data exclusivity, if granted, prevents generic and biosimilar applicants from relying on the preclinical and clinical trial data contained in the dossier of the reference product when applying for a generic or biosimilar MA in the EU during a period of eight years from the date on which the reference product was first authorized in the EU. The market exclusivity period prevents a successful generic or biosimilar applicant from commercializing its product in the EU until ten years have elapsed from the initial MA of the reference product in the EU. The overall ten-year period may, occasionally, be extended for a further year to a maximum of 11 years if, during the first eight years of those ten years, the MA holder obtains an authorization for one or more new therapeutic indications which, during the scientific evaluation prior to their authorization, are held to bring a significant clinical benefit in comparison with existing therapies. However, there is no guarantee that a product will be considered by the EU’s regulatory authorities to be a new chemical/biological entity, and products may not qualify for data exclusivity.
In the EU, there is a special regime for biosimilars, or biological medicinal products that are similar to a reference medicinal product but that do not meet the definition of a generic medicinal product. For such products, the results of appropriate preclinical or clinical trials must be provided in support of an application for MA. Guidelines from the EMA detail the type of quantity of supplementary data to be provided for different types of biological product.
Manufacturing Regulation in the EU
In addition to an MA, various other requirements apply to the manufacture and placing on the EU market of medicinal products. The manufacture of medicinal products in the EU requires a manufacturing authorization. Moreover, import of medicinal products into the EU requires a manufacturing authorization allowing for import. The holder of a manufacturing authorization must comply with various requirements set out in the applicable EU laws, regulations and guidance, including GMP standards. Similarly, the distribution of medicinal products within the EU is subject to compliance with applicable EU laws, regulations and guidelines, including the requirement to hold appropriate authorizations for distribution granted by the competent authorities of EU member states. MA holders and/or manufacturing and import authorization, or MA holders and/or distribution authorization holders may be subject to civil, criminal or administrative sanctions, including suspension of manufacturing authorization, in case of non-compliance with the EU or EU member states’ requirements applicable to the manufacturing of medicinal products.
Post-authorization Requirements in the EU
Where an MA is granted in relation to a medicinal product in the EU, the holder of the MA is required to comply with a range of regulatory requirements applicable to the manufacture, marketing, promotion and sale of medicinal products. Similar to the United States, both MA holders and manufacturers of medicinal products are subject to comprehensive regulatory oversight by the EMA, the European Commission and/or the competent regulatory authorities of the individual EU member states. The holder of an MA must establish and maintain a pharmacovigilance system and appoint an individual qualified person for pharmacovigilance who is responsible for oversight of that system. Key obligations include expedited reporting of suspected serious adverse reactions and submission of periodic safety update reports (“PSURs”).
All new MAAs must include a risk management plan (“RMP”), describing the risk management system that the company will put in place and documenting measures to prevent or minimize the risks associated with the product. The regulatory authorities may also impose specific obligations as a condition of the MA. Such risk minimization measures or post-authorization obligations may include additional safety monitoring, more frequent submission of PSURs, or the conduct of additional clinical trials or post-authorization safety studies.
In the EU, the advertising and promotion of medicinal products are subject to both EU and EU member states’ laws governing promotion of medicinal products, interactions with physicians and other healthcare professionals, misleading and comparative advertising and unfair commercial practices. General requirements for advertising and promotion of medicinal products, such as direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicinal products are established in EU law. However, the details are governed by regulations in individual EU member states and can differ from one country to another. For example, applicable laws require that promotional materials and advertising in relation to medicinal products comply with the product’s Summary of Product Characteristics (“SmPC”), which may require approval by the competent
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national authorities in connection with an MA. The SmPC is the document that provides information to physicians and other healthcare professionals concerning the safe and effective use of the product. Promotional activity that does not comply with the SmPC is considered off-label and is prohibited in the EU.
The aforementioned EU rules are generally applicable in the European Economic Area (which is comprised of the 27 EU member states plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein).
Failure to comply with EU and member state laws that apply to the conduct of clinical trials, manufacturing approval, MA of medicinal products and marketing of such products, both before and after grant of the MA, manufacturing of pharmaceutical products, statutory health insurance, bribery and anti-corruption or with other applicable regulatory requirements may result in administrative, civil or criminal penalties. These penalties could include delays or refusal to authorize the conduct of clinical trials, or to grant MA, product withdrawals and recalls, product seizures, suspension, withdrawal or variation of the MA, total or partial suspension of production, distribution, manufacturing or clinical trials, operating restrictions, injunctions, suspension of licenses, fines and criminal penalties.
Pricing, Coverage and Reimbursement in the EU
In the EU, pricing and reimbursement schemes vary widely from country to country. Some EU member states may approve a specific price for a product, or they may instead adopt a system of direct or indirect controls on the profitability of the company placing the product on the market. Other EU member states allow companies to fix their own prices for products but monitor and control prescription volumes and issue guidance to physicians to limit prescriptions.
In addition, some EU member states may require the completion of additional studies that compare the cost-effectiveness of a particular medicinal product candidate to currently available therapies. This Health Technology Assessment (“HTA”), process is the procedure according to which the assessment of the public health impact, therapeutic impact and the economic and societal impact of use of a given medicinal product in the national healthcare systems of the individual country is conducted. The outcome of HTA regarding specific medicinal products will often influence the pricing and reimbursement status granted to these medicinal products by the competent authorities of individual EU member states.
On January 12, 2025, Regulation No 2021/2282 on Health Technology Assessment (the “HTA Regulation”) entered into application through a phase implementation. The Regulation initially applies to new active substances for oncology and ATMPs. It will be expanded to orphan medicinal products in January 2028, and to all centrally authorized medicinal products as of 2030. Select high-risk medical devices also came into scope in 2026. The Regulation is intended to boost cooperation among EU member states in assessing health technologies, including new medicinal products, and establishes the framework for EU level joint clinical assessments, joint scientific consultations, and the early identification of emerging health technologies. The HTA Regulation is intended to harmonize the clinical benefit assessment of HTA across the EU. The Regulation permits EU Member States to use common tools, methodologies, and procedures and requires them to rely on EU-level joint clinical assessment reports for the clinical components of their national HTA evaluations. Individual EU Member States will continue to be responsible for assessing non-clinical (e.g., economic, social, ethical) aspects of health technologies, and making decisions on pricing and reimbursement.
UK Regulation
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”) is the United Kingdom’s standalone regulator for medicinal products and medical devices.
While the UK regulatory framework in relation to clinical trials was historically based on the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004, which implemented the former EU Clinical Trials Directive, this has been significantly reformed by the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) (Amendment) Regulations 2024. The new legislation, which was adopted in April 2025, modernizes the United Kingdom's approach to make it a more attractive location for research, and includes key features such as: (i) a risk-proportionate approach, including a notification scheme for lower-risk trials; (ii) a combined review process integrating ethics committee and regulatory approvals into a single, streamlined pathway; (iii) enhanced transparency requirements mandating registration of clinical trials in a public registry and publication of trial results within 12 months of trial completion (with scope for deferrals in certain circumstances); (iv) greater flexibility
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to support innovation in clinical trial design; and (v) measures to promote patient and public involvement. The amendments will become applicable on April 28, 2026 following a one-year transition period.
Marketing authorizations in the UK are governed by the Human Medicines Regulations (SI 2012/1916), as amended. To obtain a UK MA to commercialize products in the UK, an applicant must be established in the UK and must follow one of the UK national authorization procedures or one of the remaining post-Brexit international cooperation procedures. Applications are governed by the Human Medicines Regulations (SI 2012/1916) and are made electronically through the MHRA Submissions Portal. The MHRA has introduced changes to national licensing procedures, including procedures to prioritize access to new medicines that will benefit patients, a 150-day assessment (subject to clock-stops) and a rolling review procedure. The rolling-review procedure permits the separate or joint submission of quality, non-clinical, and clinical data to the MHRA which can be reviewed on a rolling basis. After an application under the rolling-review procedure has been validated, the decision should be received within 100 days (subject to clock-stops).
In addition, since January 1, 2024, the MHRA may rely on the International Recognition Procedure (“IRP”), when reviewing certain types of MAAs. Pursuant to the IRP, the MHRA will take into account the expertise and decision-making of trusted regulatory partners (e.g., the regulatory in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Singapore, Japan, the United States and the EU). The MHRA will conduct a targeted assessment of IRP applications but retain the authority to reject applications if the evidence provided is considered insufficiently robust. The IRP allows medicinal products approved by such trusted regulatory partners that meet certain criteria to undergo a fast-tracked MHRA review to obtain and/or update a MA in the UK. Applications should be decided within a maximum of 60 days if there are no major objections identified that cannot be resolved within such 60-day period and the approval from the trusted regulatory partner selected has been granted within the previous two years or if there are such major objections identified or such approval hasn’t been granted within the previous two years within 110 days. Applicants can submit initial MAAs to the IRP, but the procedure can also be used throughout the lifecycle of a product for post-authorization procedures including line extensions, variations and renewals.
Japanese Regulation
Manufacturers and sellers of drugs, quasi-drugs, cosmetics, medical devices and regenerative medical products (“Designated Products”) in Japan are subject to the supervision of Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (“MHLW”) primarily under the Act on Securing Quality, Efficacy and Safety of Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices, Regenerative and Cellular Therapy Products, Gene Therapy Products, and Cosmetics of Japan (“PMDA” or “PMD Act”). Under the PMD Act, the relevant licenses must be obtained from the MHLW in order to conduct the business of manufacturing, marketing or selling Designated Products.
Applications for the approval of new products are made through the PMDA. The clinical trial data and other pertinent data must be attached to the application for approval. If the drugs, medical devices or regenerative medical products under application are of types designated by ministerial ordinance of the MHLW, the attached data mentioned above must be obtained in compliance with the standards established by the minister of the MHLW (“Minister”), such as the Good Laboratory Practice and the Good Clinical Practice. Once an application for approval is submitted, a review team is formed, which consists of specialized officials of the PMDA, including experts on chemistry/manufacturing, non-clinical, clinical, and biostatistics. Team evaluation results are passed to the PMDA’s external experts, who then report back to the PMDA. After a further team evaluation, a report is provided to the Minister; the Minister makes a final determination for approval and refers this to the Council on Drugs and Foods Sanitation, which then advises the MHLW on final approvability. Marketing and distribution approvals require a review to determine whether or not the product in the application is suitable as a drug to be manufactured and distributed with which a manufacturing and distribution business license for the type of drug concerned has been obtained, and to confirm that the product has been manufactured in a plant compliant with the GMP.
Once the MHLW has approved the application, the company can make the new drug available for physicians to prescribe. After that, the MHLW lists its National Health Insurance price within 60 days (or 90 days at the latest) from the approval, and physicians can obtain reimbursement. For some medications, the MHLW requires additional post marketing studies (Phase 4) to further evaluate safety and/or to gather information concerning the quality, efficacy, and safety of the product under specified conditions, in addition to post marketing surveillance including Early Post-marketing Phase Vigilance
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(“EPPV”) based on the RMP for all new medications. The MHLW also requires the drug’s sponsor to submit periodic safety update reports. Within three months from the specified re-examination period, which is designated at the time of the approval of the application for the new product, the company must submit a re-examination application to enable the drug’s quality, efficacy, and safety to be reassessed against approved labeling by the PMDA.
The PMD Act also provides for special regulations applicable to drugs, quasi-drugs, cosmetics and medical devices made of biological raw materials. These regulations impose various obligations on manufacturers and other persons in relation to manufacturing facilities, explanation to patients, labeling on products, record-keeping and reporting to the Minister.
Under the PMD Act, the Minister may take various measures to supervise manufacturing and marketing license holders of Designated Products. The Minister has the authority to order manufacturing and marketing license holders to temporarily suspend the marketing, leasing or providing of the Designated Products to prevent risks or increases in risks to the public health. Also, the Minister may revoke a license or approval granted to a manufacturing and marketing license holder or order a temporary business suspension under certain limited circumstances such as violation of laws relating to drugs.
The Hatch-Waxman Amendments
Orange Book Listing
Under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, commonly referred to as the Hatch Waxman Amendments, NDA applicants are required to identify to FDA each patent whose claims cover the applicant’s drug or approved method of using the drug. Upon approval of a drug, the applicant must update its listing of patents to the NDA in timely fashion and each of the patents listed in the application for the drug is then published in the FDA’s Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations, commonly known as the Orange Book.
Drugs listed in the Orange Book can, in turn, be cited by potential generic competitors in support of approval of an abbreviated new drug application (“ANDA”). An ANDA provides for marketing of a drug product that has the same active ingredient(s), strength, route of administration and dosage form as the listed drug and has been shown through bioequivalence testing to be therapeutically equivalent to the listed drug. An approved ANDA product is considered to be therapeutically equivalent to the listed drug. Other than the requirement for bioequivalence testing, ANDA applicants are not required to conduct, or submit results of, preclinical or clinical tests to prove the safety or effectiveness of their drug product. Drugs approved under the ANDA pathway are commonly referred to as “generic equivalents” to the listed drug and can often be substituted by pharmacists under prescriptions written for the original listed drug pursuant to each state’s laws on drug substitution.
The ANDA applicant is required to certify to the FDA concerning any patents identified for the reference listed drug in the Orange Book. Specifically, the applicant must certify to each patent in one of the following ways: (i) the required patent information has not been filed; (ii) the listed patent has expired; (iii) the listed patent has not expired but will expire on a particular date and approval is sought after patent expiration; or (iv) the listed patent is invalid or will not be infringed by the new product. A certification that the new product will not infringe the already approved product’s listed patents, or that such patents are invalid, is called a Paragraph IV certification. For patents listed that claim an approved method of use, under certain circumstances the ANDA applicant may also elect to submit a section viii statement certifying that its proposed ANDA label does not contain (or carves out) any language regarding the patented method-of-use rather than certify to a listed method-of-use patent. If the applicant does not challenge the listed patents through a Paragraph IV certification, the ANDA application will not be approved until all the listed patents claiming the referenced product have expired. If the ANDA applicant has provided a Paragraph IV certification to the FDA, the applicant must also send notice of the Paragraph IV certification to the NDA-holder and patentee(s) once the ANDA has been received by the FDA for review (referred to as the “notice letter”). The NDA and patent holders may then initiate a patent infringement lawsuit in response to the notice letter. The filing of a patent infringement lawsuit within 45 days of the receipt of a Paragraph IV certification automatically prevents the FDA from approving the ANDA until the earlier of 30 months from the date the notice letter is received, expiration of the patent, the date of a settlement order or consent decree signed and entered by the court stating that the patent that is the subject of the certification is invalid or not infringed, or a decision in the patent case that is favorable to the ANDA applicant.
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The ANDA application also will not be approved until any applicable non-patent exclusivity listed in the Orange Book for the referenced product has expired. In some instances, an ANDA applicant may receive approval prior to expiration of certain non-patent exclusivity if the applicant seeks, and FDA permits, the omission of such exclusivity-protected information from the ANDA prescribing information.
Hatch-Waxman Exclusivity
Market exclusivity provisions under the FDCA can delay the submission or the approval of certain marketing applications. For example, upon NDA approval of a new chemical entity (“NCE”), which is a drug that contains no active moiety that has been approved by FDA in any other NDA, that drug receives five years of non-patent data exclusivity during which FDA cannot receive (1) any ANDA seeking approval of a generic version of that drug or (2) an NDA submitted under Section 505(b)(2) of the FDCA (505(b)(2) NDA) by another company for another drug based on the same active moiety, regardless of whether the drug is intended for the same indication as the original innovative drug or for another indication. However, an ANDA or a 505(b)(2) NDA may be submitted after four years if it contains a certification of patent invalidity or non-infringement to one of the patents listed with the FDA by the innovator NDA holder (i.e., a Paragraph IV certification).
The FDCA also provides three years of marketing exclusivity for an NDA or supplement to an existing NDA if new clinical investigations, other than bioavailability studies, that were conducted or sponsored by the applicant are deemed by the FDA to be essential to the approval of the application, for example new indications, dosages or strengths of an existing drug. This three-year exclusivity covers only the modification for which the drug received approval on the basis of the new clinical investigations and does not prohibit the FDA from approving ANDAs or 505(b)(2) NDAs for drugs containing the active moiety for any other indication or condition of use. Five-year and three-year exclusivity will not delay the submission or approval of a full NDA. However, an applicant submitting a full NDA would be required to conduct, or obtain a right of reference to, all of the nonclinical studies and adequate and well-controlled clinical trials necessary to demonstrate safety and effectiveness.
Patent Term Extension
The Hatch Waxman Amendments permit a patent term extension as compensation for patent term lost during the FDA regulatory review process. Patent term extension, however, cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the product’s approval date. After NDA approval, owners of relevant drug patents may apply for the extension. The allowable patent term extension is calculated as half of the drug’s testing phase (the time between IND application and NDA submission) and all of the review phase (the time between NDA submission and approval) up to a maximum of five years. The time can be reduced for any time FDA determines that the applicant did not pursue approval with due diligence.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) in consultation with the FDA, reviews and approves the application for any patent term extension or restoration. However, the USPTO may not grant an extension because of, for example, failing to exercise due diligence during the testing phase or regulatory review process, failing to apply within applicable deadlines, failing to apply prior to expiration of relevant patents or otherwise failing to satisfy applicable requirements. Moreover, the applicable time period or the scope of patent protection afforded could be less than requested.
The total patent term after the extension may not exceed 14 years, and only one patent can be extended. The application for the extension must be submitted prior to the expiration of the patent, and for patents that might expire during the application phase, the patent owner may request an interim patent extension. An interim patent extension increases the patent term by one year and may be renewed up to four times. For each interim patent extension granted, the post-approval patent extension is reduced by one year. The director of the USPTO must determine that approval of the drug covered by the patent for which a patent extension is being sought is likely. Interim patent extensions are not available for a drug for which an NDA has not been submitted.
Other U.S. Regulatory Matters
Manufacturing, sales, promotion and other activities following drug approval are also subject to regulation by numerous
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regulatory authorities in addition to the FDA, including, in the United States, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”), other divisions of HHS, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and state and local governments.
The failure to comply with regulatory requirements subjects manufacturers to possible legal or regulatory action.
Data Privacy and Security Laws
Numerous state, federal and foreign laws, regulations and standards govern the collection, use, access to, confidentiality and security of health-related and other personal information. In the United States, numerous federal and state laws and regulations, including data breach notification laws, health information privacy and security laws and consumer protection laws and regulations govern the collection, use, disclosure, and protection of health-related and other personal information. For example, the federal 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 privacy, security and breach notification obligations on certain health care providers, health plans, and health care clearinghouses, known as covered entities, as well as their business associates that perform certain services that involve creating, receiving, maintaining or transmitting individually identifiable health information for or on behalf of such covered entities. Entities that are found to be in violation of HIPAA may be subject to significant civil, criminal and administrative fines and penalties, and/or additional reporting and oversight obligations if required to enter into a resolution agreement and corrective action plan with HHS to settle allegations of HIPAA non-compliance. Further, entities that knowingly obtain, use, or disclose individually identifiable health information maintained by a HIPAA covered entity in a manner that is not authorized or permitted by HIPAA may be subject to criminal penalties. In addition, certain state laws govern the privacy and security of personal information, including health-related information, in certain circumstances. Failure to comply with these laws, where applicable, can result in the imposition of significant civil and/or criminal penalties and private litigation. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) imposes certain data privacy obligations for covered companies and provides certain privacy rights to California residents. Other states have also enacted, proposed, or are considering proposing, data privacy laws. In addition, certain foreign laws govern the privacy and security of personal information, including health-related information. Privacy and security laws, regulations, and other obligations are constantly evolving, may conflict with each other to complicate compliance efforts, and can result in investigations, proceedings, or actions that lead to significant civil and/or criminal penalties and restrictions on data processing.
Other U.S. Healthcare Laws
Pharmaceutical manufacturers are subject to numerous federal and state laws and regulations including, without limitation, state and federal anti-kickback, fraud and abuse, false claims and transparency laws, such as the following:
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Violations of such laws may result in significant penalties, including criminal, civil and administrative penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, imprisonment, exclusion from participation in government healthcare programs, contractual damages, reputational harm, integrity oversight and reporting obligations, diminished profits and future earnings, and the curtailment or restructuring of operations.
U.S. Healthcare Reform
The U.S. government, state legislatures, and foreign governments have shown significant interest in implementing cost-containment programs to limit the growth of government-paid healthcare costs, including price-controls, restrictions on reimbursement, and requirements for substitution of generic products for branded prescription drugs. For example, in March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (collectively, the “ACA”) was passed which substantially changed the way healthcare is financed by both the government and private insurers and continues to significantly impact the U.S. pharmaceutical industry. Since its enactment, there have been amendments and judicial, Congressional and executive branch challenges to certain aspects of the ACA. For example, on July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (the “OBBBA”) was signed into law, which narrowed access to ACA marketplace exchange enrollment and declined to extend the ACA enhanced advanced premium tax credits that expired at the end of 2025, which, among other provisions in the law, are anticipated to reduce the number of Americans with health insurance. The OBBBA also is expected to reduce Medicaid spending and enrollment by implementing work requirements for some beneficiaries, capping state-directed payments, reducing federal funding, and limiting provider taxes used to fund the program. Congress is considering proposed legislation intended to further reduce healthcare costs with alternatives to replace the expired ACA subsidies. We expect that additional U.S. federal healthcare reform measures will be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that the U.S. federal government will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand for our product candidates or additional pricing pressures.
The current administration is pursuing policies to reduce regulations and expenditures across government agencies including at HHS, the FDA, CMS and related agencies. These actions, presently directed by executive orders or memoranda from the Office of Management and Budget, may propose policy changes that create additional uncertainty for our business. For example, the current administration has announced agreements with several pharmaceutical companies that require the drug manufacturers to offer, through a direct-to-consumer platform, U.S. patients and Medicaid programs prescription drug Most-Favored Nation pricing equal to or lower than those paid in other developed nations, with additional mandates for direct-to-patient discounts and repatriation of foreign revenues. Other recent actions, for
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example, include (1) directing agencies to reduce agency workforce and cut programs; (2) directing HHS and other agencies to lower prescription drug costs through a variety of initiatives, including by establishing Most-Favored-Nation pricing for pharmaceutical products and launching an online clearinghouse, referred to as TrumpRx, for patients to purchase certain products from manufacturers on a cash pay basis; (3) ongoing trade tensions between the United States and other jurisdictions that have resulted in multiple rounds of tariffs and potential tariffs affecting pharmaceutical products; and (4) as part of the Make America Healthy Again Commission’s Strategy Report released in September 2025, working across government agencies to increase enforcement on direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising. Additionally, the current administration recently called on Congress to enact “The Great Healthcare Plan,” to codify and expand Most-Favored Nation pricing, lower government subsidies to private insurance companies, increase healthcare price transparency, expand pharmaceutical drugs available for over-the-counter purchase, and enact restrictions on pharmacy benefit manager payment methodologies, among other things. These actions and policies may significantly reduce U.S. drug prices, potentially impacting manufacturers’ global pricing strategies and profitability, while increasing their operational costs and compliance risks. In June 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision greatly reduced judicial deference to regulatory agencies, which could increase successful legal challenges to federal regulations affecting our operations. Congress may introduce and ultimately pass health care related legislation that could, among other things, impact the drug approval process and make changes to the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program.
At the state level, legislatures have increasingly passed legislation and implemented regulations designed to control pharmaceutical product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access, and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and in some cases, designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing.
Employees and Human Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2025, we employed 221 full-time and 3 part-time employees, consisting of clinical, scientific, development, regulatory, finance, legal and operational personnel. We also retain independent contractors to support certain organizational needs. None of our employees is subject to a collective bargaining agreement. We consider our relationship with our employees to be good.
We recognize that our culture is central to the productivity, agility, scalability and competitiveness of our operation, and is essential to our success. We are clear and consistent in our company values and we communicate and support an employee value proposition. Our proposition is centered with unique and impactful professional development opportunities within an environment of inclusive representation and diverse thinking as a unifying force and business differentiator. Our employees are critical to our long-term success and are essential to helping us meet our goals. Among other things, we support and incentivize our employees in the following ways:
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. Before deciding to invest in shares of our common stock, you should carefully consider the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including in the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and
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Results of Operations” and in our audited consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We cannot assure you that any of the events discussed below will not occur. These events could adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. If that were to happen, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Related to Our Financial Position and Need for Capital
We are a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with a limited operating history and no products approved for commercial sale, and have incurred substantial losses since our inception and anticipate incurring substantial and increasing losses for the foreseeable future.
We are a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with a limited operating history on which to base your investment decision. We have no product candidates approved for commercial sale and have not generated any revenue. Biopharmaceutical product development is a highly speculative undertaking. It entails substantial upfront capital expenditures and significant risk that any product candidate will fail to demonstrate adequate efficacy or an acceptable safety profile, gain regulatory approval or become commercially viable.
Our most advanced candidate is envu, an oral, small molecule allosteric inhibitor of TYK2. We are currently conducting a Phase 2 open-label extension trial, as well as a Phase 3 LTE trial of envu in PsO and a Phase 2b clinical trial of envu in SLE. In addition, we are advancing A-005, an investigational CNS penetrant allosteric inhibitor of TYK2 that has a potential application in multiple sclerosis and other neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases, currently in Phase 1 clinical development. Our ability to achieve profitability in the future is dependent upon obtaining regulatory approval for and successfully commercializing our most advanced candidate, envu, either alone or with third parties. However, our operations may not be profitable even if envu is successfully developed, approved and thereafter commercialized.
We have and will continue to incur significant development and other expenses related to our research and clinical development programs and ongoing operations. For the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, our net losses were $243.3 million and $294.2 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2025, we had an accumulated deficit of $901.9 million. Substantially all of our losses have resulted from expenses incurred in connection with the acquisition and development of our pipeline and from general and administrative costs associated with our operations. We expect to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future, and we expect these losses to increase as we continue our development of our product candidates.
We anticipate that our expenses will increase substantially if, and as, we:
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● add and maintain operational, financial and information management systems;
● address any competing therapies and market developments;
● incur costs associated with operating as a public company.
Even if we succeed in commercializing one or more product candidates, we expect to incur substantial development costs and other expenditures to develop and market additional product candidates. We may also encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other unknown factors that may adversely affect our business. The size of our future net losses will depend, in part, on the rate of future growth of our expenses and our ability to generate revenue or raise additional capital. Our prior losses and expected future losses have had and will continue to have an adverse effect on our stockholders’ equity and our working capital.
We could also encounter delays if a clinical trial is suspended, put on clinical hold or terminated by us, the IRBs or ethics committees of the institutions in which such trials are being conducted, the FDA, or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities, or if a clinical trial is recommended for suspension or termination by the Data Safety Monitoring Board for such trial. A suspension, clinical hold or termination may be imposed due to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols, failure by our contract research organizations (“CROs”) or clinical trial sites to perform in accordance with GCPs, or applicable regulatory guidelines in other countries, inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial site by the FDA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to establish or achieve clinically meaningful trial endpoints, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial. Clinical trials may also be delayed or terminated as a result of ambiguous or negative interim results. For example, we discontinued our proof-of-concept Phase 2a clinical trial of envu in patients with non-infectious uveitis in June 2024 based on the efficacy results of a data analysis prepared for a scheduled monitoring committee meeting, which efficacy results did not meet our clinical threshold for success despite safety results consistent with envu’s safety profile in psoriasis patients. Many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of our product candidates. Further, the FDA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with our clinical trial design and our interpretation of data from clinical trials, or may change the requirements for approval even after they have reviewed and commented on the design for our clinical trials.
We may also, in the future, conduct preclinical and clinical research in collaboration with other academic, pharmaceutical and biotechnology entities in which we combine our research or development efforts with those of our collaborators. Such collaborations may be subject to additional delays because of the management of the trials, contract negotiations, the need to obtain agreement from multiple parties and may increase our future costs and expenses.
Our product development costs will increase if we experience delays in clinical testing or regulatory approvals. We do not know whether any of our clinical trials will begin as planned, will need to be restructured or will be completed on schedule, or at all. Significant clinical trial delays also could shorten any periods during which we may have the exclusive right to commercialize our product candidates and may allow our competitors to bring products to market before we do, potentially impairing our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates. Any delays or increase in costs in our clinical development programs may harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Enrollment and retention of participants in clinical trials is an expensive and time-consuming process and could be made more difficult or rendered impossible by multiple factors outside our control, including difficulties in identifying
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patients, the availability of competitive products and significant competition for recruiting participants in clinical trials.
Participant enrollment, a significant factor in the timing of clinical trials, is affected by many conditions, including the size and nature of the patient population, the number and location of clinical sites we enroll, the proximity of participants to clinical sites, the eligibility and exclusion criteria for the trial, the design of the clinical trial, the inability to obtain and maintain participant consents, the risk that enrolled participants will drop out before completion, competing clinical trials and clinicians’ and patients’ perceptions as to the potential advantages of the product candidate being studied in relation to other available therapies, including any new drugs or biologics that may be approved for the indications being investigated by us. Risks related to patient enrollment are heightened in longer clinical trials, including the 48-week trial period contemplated by our ongoing Phase 2b clinical trial of envu in SLE. In particular, this trial has been and may continue to be challenging to enroll due to the fact that patients must be experiencing active disease at the time of screening to be eligible for enrollment. In addition, our clinical trials will compete with other clinical trials for product candidates that are in the same areas as our product candidates, and this competition will reduce the number and types of participants available to us, because some participants who might have opted to enroll in our trials may instead opt to enroll in a trial being conducted by one of our competitors, or to use currently marketed therapies. Additionally, participants, including participants in any control groups, may withdraw from the clinical trial if they are not experiencing improvement in their underlying disease or condition or if they experience other difficulties or issues. Additionally, we could encounter delays if treating clinicians encounter unresolved ethical issues associated with enrolling participants in clinical trials of our product candidates in lieu of prescribing existing treatments that have established safety and efficacy profiles.
We have in the past experienced and expect to continue to experience participant withdrawals or discontinuations from our trials. For example, as long-term treatment with envu continues to be evaluated in our STRIDE OLE, ONWARD3 LTE study and LUMUS Part B OLE, we expect to see discontinuation rates rise over time. Withdrawal of participants from our clinical trials may compromise the quality of our data. Even if we are able to enroll a sufficient number of participants in our clinical trials, delays in enrollment or small population size may result in increased costs or may affect the timing or outcome of our clinical trials. Any of these conditions may negatively impact our ability to complete such trials or include results from such trials in regulatory submissions, which could adversely affect our ability to advance the development of our product candidates.
We will require substantial additional financing to achieve our goals, and failure to obtain additional capital when needed, or on acceptable terms to us, could cause us to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development or future commercialization efforts.
Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial product revenue, we expect to finance our cash needs through equity offerings, debt financings, or other capital sources, including potential collaborations, licenses and other similar arrangements. For example, in March 2026, we entered into a Controlled Equity OfferingSM Sales Agreement (as amended from time to time, the “Sales Agreement”) with Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. (“Cantor”), pursuant to which we may offer and sell, from time to time through Cantor, at our option, shares of our common stock having an aggregate offering price of up to $300.0 million. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, including pursuant to sales under the Sales Agreement, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a holder of our common stock. Any future debt financing and preferred equity financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, selling or licensing our assets, making capital expenditures, declaring dividends or encumbering our assets to secure future indebtedness. Such restrictions could adversely impact our ability to conduct our operations and execute our business plan. We could also be required to seek collaborators for product candidates at an earlier stage than otherwise would be desirable or on terms that are less favorable than might otherwise be available or relinquish or license on unfavorable terms our rights to product candidates in markets where we otherwise would seek to pursue development or commercialization ourselves.
Based on our current operating plan, we will need to raise additional financing to continue our products’ development for the foreseeable future, and until we become profitable, if ever. Any additional fundraising efforts may divert our management from our day-to-day activities, which may adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize product candidates. We cannot be certain that additional funding will be available on acceptable terms, or at all. If we are unable to obtain funding when and as needed on a timely basis, we may be required to significantly curtail, delay or discontinue
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one or more of our research or development programs or the commercialization of any product candidate, or be unable to expand our operations or otherwise capitalize on our business opportunities, as desired, which could materially affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Any of the above events could significantly harm our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations and cause the price of our common stock to decline.
Risks Related to Product Candidate Development and Commercialization
Preclinical and clinical development involves a lengthy and expensive process, with an uncertain outcome, and results of earlier studies and trials may not be predictive of future trial results. We may incur additional costs or experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the development and commercialization of our current product candidates or any future product candidates.
Our product candidates are either in clinical or preclinical development, and their risk of failure is high. It is impossible to predict when or if our product candidates will receive regulatory approval. To obtain the requisite regulatory approvals to commercialize any product candidates, we must demonstrate through extensive preclinical studies and lengthy, complex and expensive clinical trials that our product candidates are safe and effective in humans for their intended uses. Before obtaining approval from regulatory authorities for the commercialization of any of our product candidates, we must conduct extensive clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the product candidate in humans. Before we can initiate clinical trials for any product candidates, we must submit the results of preclinical studies to the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities along with other information, including information about product candidate chemistry, manufacturing and controls and our proposed clinical trial protocol, as part of an IND application or similar regulatory submission. The FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may require us to conduct additional preclinical studies for any product candidate before allowing us to initiate clinical trials under any IND or similar regulatory submission, which may lead to delays and increase the costs of our preclinical development programs.
Once initiated, clinical testing can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. The results of preclinical studies and early clinical trials of our product candidates may not be predictive of the results of later-stage clinical trials and results in one indication may not be predictive of results to be expected for the same product candidate in another indication. For example, while we plan to continue to evaluate the development program for lonigutamab, which was ACELYRIN’s lead product candidate, and its potential differentiation in a capital efficient manner, lonigutamab’s potential to improve on the safety and side-effect profile of the sole currently-approved therapy in the United States for the treatment of TED is unproven. In particular, if lonigutamab is shown to have similar adverse events or side effects as the existing therapy, or other safety or tolerability concerns, such as hearing impairment, then our opportunity to disrupt the current standard of care in TED will be limited or precluded altogether. In this regard, ACELYRIN observed certain adverse events in its Phase 2 clinical trial of lonigutamab including, without limitation, headache, tinnitus and injection site reactions. If we determine that, whether due to emerging clinical data or otherwise, any of our drug candidates will be unable to improve on the current standard of care in the indications we are pursuing, we may decide to modify, suspend or abandon such development program. Differences in trial design between early-stage clinical trials and later-stage clinical trials make it difficult to extrapolate the results of earlier clinical trials to later clinical trials. A number of companies in the biopharmaceutical industry have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials due to lack of efficacy or unfavorable safety profiles, notwithstanding promising results in earlier trials, and we have experienced and may experience setbacks in our programs in the future. For example, we discontinued our proof-of-concept Phase 2a clinical trial of envu in patients with non-infectious uveitis in June 2024 based on the efficacy results of a data analysis prepared for a scheduled monitoring committee meeting, which efficacy results did not meet our clinical threshold for success despite safety results consistent with envu’s safety profile in psoriasis patients. Moreover, clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses, and many companies that have believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in clinical trials have nonetheless failed to obtain regulatory approval of such product candidates.
Commencing any future clinical trials is subject to finalizing the trial design and submitting an application to the FDA or a comparable foreign regulatory authority. Even after we make our submission, the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities could disagree that we have satisfied their requirements to commence our clinical trials or disagree with our study design, which may require us to complete additional trials or amend our protocols or impose stricter conditions on the commencement of clinical trials. There is typically a high rate of failure of product candidates proceeding through clinical trials, and failure can occur at any time during the clinical trial process. Most product candidates that commence
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clinical trials are never approved as products and there can be no assurance that any of our current or future clinical trials will ultimately be successful or support the approval of our current or any future product candidates.
We expect to continue to rely on our CROs and clinical trial sites to ensure the proper and timely conduct of our clinical trials, including the participant enrollment process, and we have limited influence over their performance. We or any future collaborators may experience delays in initiating or completing clinical trials due to unforeseen events or otherwise, that could delay or prevent our ability to receive regulatory approval or commercialize our current and any future product candidates, including:
● clinical trial sites may deviate from trial protocol or drop out of a trial;
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In addition, we have historically leveraged our extensive analyses of immune-relevant GWAS results from both the public domain and the UK Biobank biomedical resource to identify the right therapeutic target on which to focus our preclinical and clinical development efforts. If our access to GWAS results from the public domain or the UK Biobank biomedical resource were to be restricted, including as a result of any potential future legislative policies or regulations that may seek to restrict the sharing of genetic data, our ability to efficiently identify additional therapeutic targets may be limited.
In addition, the FDA’s and other regulatory authorities’ policies with respect to clinical trials may change and additional government regulations may be enacted. In the EU, the EU Clinical Trials Regulation (“CTR”) became applicable on January 31, 2022, repealing and replacing the Clinical Trials Directive (“CTD”). The CTR permits trial sponsors to make a single submission to both the competent authority and an ethics committee in each EU member state, leading to a single decision for each EU member state. The assessment procedure for the authorization of clinical trials has been harmonized as well, including a joint assessment of some elements of the application by all EU member states in which the trial is to be conducted, and a separate assessment by each EU member state with respect to specific requirements related to its own territory, including ethics rules. Each EU member state’s decision is communicated to the sponsor through a centralized EU portal, the Clinical Trial Information System. The CTR foresaw a three-year transition period that ended on January 31, 2025. Since this date, all new or ongoing trials are subject to the provisions of the CTR.
Moreover, following a public consultation that began in 2022, the United Kingdom government has enacted new legislation to overhaul the clinical trials regulatory framework. In April 2025, the UK adopted an amendment to the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004 intended to support a more streamlined and flexible regulation of clinical trials, remove unnecessary administrative burdens on trial sponsors, and protect the interests of trial participants. It also intends to bring the UK regulatory framework for clinical trials into closer alignment with the CTR. The amendment will become applicable on April 28, 2026 following a one-year transition period. While these changes introduce efficiencies and align with some principles of the EU’s CTR, divergence between the United Kingdom and EU regulatory systems remains. Any significant divergence could affect the cost and complexity of conducting clinical trials in the United Kingdom and may impact the acceptability of United Kingdom-based trial data for seeking marketing authorizations in the EU, and vice versa.
Our clinical trials may reveal SAEs and AEs and may result in a safety or tolerability profile that could delay or prevent regulatory approval or market acceptance of envu, A-005 or any future product candidates.
Undesirable or clinically unmanageable side effects observed in our clinical trials for our product candidates could occur and cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt our clinical trials and could result in a more restrictive labeling or the delay or denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities.
We have observed SAEs and AEs in our trials of envu, and as more patients become exposed to envu over longer periods of time, we expect to see additional SAEs and AEs emerge. Further, long term treatment with envu continues to be evaluated in an OLE trial, and additional AEs and SAEs will continue to accumulate. Certain conditions occur more
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frequently in patients with psoriasis compared to the general population. Examples include obesity, cardiovascular disease, psoriatic arthritis and depression. Immune modulating treatments including envu may result in increasing susceptibility to various infections, including serious or life-threatening infections, and there is a theoretical risk with immune-modulating agents that dampening immune responses could increase the risk of malignancies.
Other TYK2 inhibitors, such as deucravacitinib (marketed as Sotyktu), which is approved for the treatment of adults with PsO, have shown AEs such as hypersensitivity reactions, infections, tuberculosis, malignancy and rhabdomyolysis. The label for deucravacitinib includes a warning concerning the potential for JAK-related AEs, such as cardiovascular and thrombotic events. We have observed, and expect that additional AEs and SAEs consistent with known side effects of TYK2 inhibition may emerge, in our ongoing and future clinical trials of envu.
The most common AEs observed in our Phase 2 STRIDE and OLE PsO trials that were considered related to envu treatment by the principal investigator include headaches, upper respiratory tract infections, nasopharyngitis, rash and nausea. We continue to evaluate the safety profile of envu in our ongoing Phase 2 OLE and Phase 3 trials.
If AEs, SAEs or other side effects are observed in any of our ongoing or future clinical trials that are atypical of, or more severe than, the known side effects of the respective class of agents that each of our product candidates are a part of, we may have difficulty recruiting participants to our clinical trials, participants may drop out of our trials, or we may be required to abandon those trials or our development efforts of one or more product candidates altogether. If such effects are more severe or less reversible than we expect, or not reversible at all, we may decide or be required to perform additional studies or to halt or delay further clinical development of envu, A-005 or any future product candidates, which could result in the delay or denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities.
If envu fails to demonstrate an acceptable benefit/risk profile, versus current approved therapies or others in clinical development, then our opportunity to disrupt the current standard of care may be limited. AEs and SAEs that emerge during clinical investigation of or treatment with envu, A-005, or any future product candidates have in the past been and may in the future be deemed to be related to our product candidates. This may require longer and more extensive clinical development, or regulatory authorities may increase the amount of data and information required to approve, market, or maintain envu, A-005 or any future product candidates and could result in warnings and precautions in our product labeling or a restrictive REMS or comparable foreign strategies. This may also result in an inability to obtain approval of envu, A-005 or any future product candidates. We, the FDA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities, or an IRB or ethics committee, may suspend clinical trials of a product candidate at any time for various reasons, including a belief that participants in such trials are being exposed to unacceptable health risks or adverse side effects. Some potential product candidates developed in the biotechnology industry that initially showed promise in early-stage trials have later been found to cause side effects that prevented their further development. Even if the side effects do not preclude the product candidate from obtaining or maintaining regulatory approval, undesirable side effects, like those mentioned above, may limit market acceptance of the approved product due to its tolerability versus other therapies. Any of these developments could materially harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Additionally, if any of our product candidates receives regulatory approval, and we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by such product, a number of potentially significant negative consequences could result. For example, the FDA could require us to adopt a REMS, to ensure that the benefits of treatment with such product candidate outweigh the risks for each potential patient, which may include, among other things, a communication plan to health care practitioners, patient education, extensive patient monitoring or distribution systems and processes that are highly controlled, restrictive and more costly than what is typical for the industry. We or our collaborators may also be required to adopt a REMS or comparable foreign strategies or engage in similar actions, such as patient education, certification of health care professionals or specific monitoring, if we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by any product that we develop alone or with collaborators. Other potentially significant negative consequences associated with AEs include:
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Any of these events could diminish the usage or otherwise limit the commercial success of our product candidates and prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of our product candidates, if approved by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities.
Preliminary, “top-line” and interim data from our clinical trials that we announce or publish from time to time may change as more patient data become available or are subject to audit and verification procedures that could result in material changes in the final data.
From time to time, we may publicly disclose preliminary or top-line data from our preclinical studies and clinical trials, which are based on preliminary analyses of then-available data, and the results and related findings and conclusions are subject to change following a more comprehensive review of the data related to the particular preclinical study or clinical trial. We also make assumptions, estimations, calculations and conclusions as part of our analyses of data, and we may not have received or had the opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate all data. As a result, the top-line or preliminary results that we report may differ from future results of the same studies or trials, or different conclusions or considerations may qualify such results, once additional data have been received and fully evaluated. Top-line and preliminary data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the preliminary data we previously published. As a result, top-line and preliminary data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available.
From time to time, we may also disclose data from interim analyses from our clinical trials. Interim analyses from clinical trials that we may complete are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as participants enrollment continues and more participant data become available or as participants from our clinical trials continue other treatments for their disease. Adverse differences between interim data, topline data, or preliminary data and final data could significantly harm our business prospects.
Further, others, including regulatory authorities, may not accept or agree with our assumptions, estimates, calculations, conclusions or analyses or may interpret or weigh the importance of data differently, which could impact the value of the particular program, the approvability or commercialization of the particular product candidate and could adversely affect the success of our business. In addition, the information we choose to publicly disclose regarding a particular study or clinical trial is based on what is typically extensive information, and you or others may not agree with what we determine is material or otherwise appropriate information to include in our disclosure.
If the interim, top-line or preliminary data that we report differ from actual results, or if others, including regulatory authorities, disagree with the conclusions reached, our ability to obtain approval for, and commercialize, our product candidates may be harmed, which could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Further, disclosure of interim, top-line or preliminary data by us or by our competitors could result in volatility in the price of our common stock.
We have conducted, are currently conducting, and may in the future conduct, clinical trials for current or future product candidates outside the United States, and the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities may not accept data from such trials.
We have conducted, are currently conducting, and may in the future conduct, clinical trials outside the United States, including (without limitation) in the EU, the UK, Japan, Latin America and APAC countries. We expect to continue to conduct trials internationally in the future. The acceptance of data from clinical trials conducted outside the United States or another jurisdiction by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may be subject to certain conditions or may not be accepted at all. In cases where data from foreign clinical trials are intended to serve as the sole basis for
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