10-K
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almx-10-2021.htm
10-K
10-K
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021
OR
Commission File Number 001-41199
Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its Charter)
43 Thorndike St.Cambridge, Massachusetts 02141
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (617) 682-0917
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class TradingSymbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, $0.0001 par value per share AMLX Nasdaq Global Select Stock Market
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. YES ☐ NO ☒
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. YES ☐ NO ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. YES ☐ NO ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit such files). YES ☒ NO ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, 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.
Large accelerated filer ☐ Accelerated filer ☐
Non-accelerated filer ☒ Smaller reporting company ☒
Emerging growth company ☒
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). YES ☐ NO ☒
There was no aggregate market value of shares of common stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant as of June 30, 2021, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, because the registrant’s common stock was not trading on any exchange on that date.
The number of shares of Registrant’s Common Stock outstanding as of March 21, 2022 was 57,864,186.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the registrant’s proxy statement for the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K.
Table of Contents
Page
Special Notes Regarding Forward-looking Statements 1
PART I
Item 1. Business 3
Item 1A. Risk Factors 45
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 107
Item 2. Properties 107
Item 3. Legal Proceedings 107
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 107
PART II
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk 128
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 128
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 128
Item 9B. Other Information 129
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections 129
PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 130
Item 11. Executive Compensation 130
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services 130
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules 130
Consolidated Financial Statements F-1
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K, or Annual Report, contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this Annual Report are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “would” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are not guarantees of future results or performance and involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this Annual Report include, but are not limited to, express or implied statements about:
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our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of AMX0035 and any future product candidates;
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our ability to successfully commercialize and market AMX0035 and any future product candidates, if approved, and the timing of any commercialization and marketing efforts;
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our ability to contract with third-party suppliers, manufacturers and other service providers and their ability to perform adequately and to produce sufficient quantities of clinical and potentially future commercial supplies;
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the potential market size, opportunity and growth potential for AMX0035 and any future product candidates, if approved;
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our ability to build our own sales and marketing capabilities, or seek collaborative partners, to commercialize AMX0035 and any future product candidates, if approved;
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our ability to obtain funding for our operations;
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the initiation, timing, progress and results of our preclinical studies and clinical trials, including our Phase 3 clinical trial of AMX0035 for the treatment of ALS, known as the PHOENIX trial, and our research and development activities;
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our ability to retain the continued service of our key professionals and to identify, hire and retain additional qualified professionals;
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our ability to advance AMX0035 and any future product candidates into, and successfully complete, clinical trials;
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our ability to successfully recruit and enroll suitable patients in our clinical trials;
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the timing or likelihood of the accomplishment of various scientific, clinical, regulatory filings and approvals and other product development objectives;
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the pricing and reimbursement of our product candidates, if approved;
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the rate and degree of market acceptance AMX0035 and any future product candidates by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community;
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the implementation of our business model, strategic plans for our business, product candidates and technology;
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the scope of protection we are able to establish and maintain for intellectual property rights covering our product candidates and technology;
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developments relating to our competitors and our industry, including any regulatory developments;
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the accuracy of our estimates regarding expenses, capital requirements, cash runway and future and needs for additional financing;
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our financial performance; and
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other risks and uncertainties, including those listed under the section titled “Risk Factors.”
Any forward-looking statements in this Annual Report reflect our current views with respect to future events and with respect to our future financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, those described under Part II, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” and
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elsewhere in this Annual Report. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, even if new information becomes available in the future.
All of our forward-looking statements are as of the date of this Annual Report only. In each case, actual results may differ materially from such forward-looking information. We can give no assurance that such expectations or forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. An occurrence of or any material adverse change in one or more of the risk factors or risks and uncertainties referred to in this Annual Report or included in our other public disclosures or our other periodic reports or other documents or filings filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. Except as required by law, we do not undertake or plan to update or revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in plans, assumptions, estimates or projections or other circumstances affecting such forward-looking statements occurring after the date of this Annual Report, even if such results, changes or circumstances make it clear that any forward-looking information will not be realized. Any public statements or disclosures by us following this Annual Report that modify or impact any of the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report will be deemed to modify or supersede such statements in this Annual Report.
We may from time to time provide estimates, projections and other information concerning our industry, the general business environment, and the markets for certain diseases, including estimates regarding the potential size of those markets and the estimated incidence and prevalence of certain medical conditions. Information that is based on estimates, forecasts, projections, market research or similar methodologies is inherently subject to uncertainties, and actual events, circumstances or numbers, including actual disease prevalence rates and market size, may differ materially from the information reflected in this Annual Report. Unless otherwise expressly stated, we obtained this industry, business information, market data, prevalence information and other data from reports, research surveys, studies and similar data prepared by market research firms and other third parties, industry, medical and general publications, government data, and similar sources, in some cases applying our own assumptions and analysis that may, in the future, prove not to have been accurate.
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PART I
Item 1. Business.
Introduction
Our mission is to develop therapies that change the treatment paradigm for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, and a broad range of other neurodegenerative diseases by keeping neurons alive. Unlike most other cells in the body that regularly die and are replaced as part of healthy function, mature neurons are normally resistant to cell death and generally cannot regenerate. We are pursuing commercialization of our product candidate, AMX0035, which we believe is the first drug candidate to show both a functional and survival benefit in a large-scale clinical trial of patients with ALS. We submitted a New Drug Submission, or NDS, in Canada in the second quarter of 2021 for AMX0035 for the treatment of ALS, which was accepted for review in the third quarter of 2021, a New Drug Application, or NDA, to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, in the fourth quarter of 2021, which was accepted for priority review in the same quarter and a Marketing Authorization Application, or MAA, in Europe in the first quarter of 2022, which was validated in the same quarter. On March 30, 2022, the FDA held a virtual meeting of its Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee, or the Advisory Committee. At that meeting, on the question whether the data from our randomized, controlled Phase 2 CENTAUR trial and open-label extension, or OLE, trial established a conclusion that AMX0035 is effective in the treatment of patients with ALS, the Advisory Committee voted 4 (yes) and 6 (no). Although the FDA considers the recommendations of its advisory committees, the recommendation by the Advisory Committee is non-binding. The final decision regarding approval of a pending NDA is made by the FDA, and we remain committed to pursuing its approval given the pressing need for new treatments for ALS. The Prescription Drug User Fee Act date, the target date by which the FDA intends to complete its review and take action on the NDA for AMX0035 for the treatment of ALS, is June 29, 2022. We believe AMX0035 has the potential to be a foundational therapy, meaning that it could be used alone or in conjunction with other therapies to change the treatment paradigm across a broad range of neurodegenerative diseases.
AMX0035 is a dual UPR-Bax apoptosis inhibitor composed of sodium phenylbutyrate, or PB, and TURSO (also known as tauroursodeoxycholic acid, or TUDCA). Through the resolution of the unfolded protein response, or UPR, and by inhibiting translocation of the Bcl-2 Associated X-protein, or Bax, to the outer mitochondrial membrane, we have shown in multiple models that AMX0035 can keep neurons alive under a variety of different conditions and stresses, including in in vitro models of neurodegeneration, endoplasmic reticulum stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress and disease-specific models of a variety of other conditions, as well as in vivo models of ALS, Alzheimer’s Disease, or AD, and multiple sclerosis, or MS. We are pursuing ALS as our first indication as it is a disease of rapid and profound neurodegeneration, and we are focused on the development and potential commercialization of AMX0035 for ALS globally.
In November 2021, we initiated a Phase 3 clinical trial of AMX0035 for the treatment of ALS, known as the PHOENIX trial, at clinical trial sites in the United States and Europe. Enrollment in this trial has completed in the United States and remains ongoing in Europe. This trial is designed to provide further data supporting the safety and efficacy of AMX0035 for the treatment of ALS and to further support our global regulatory efforts. Based on dialogue with the FDA prior to our NDA submission, including at a pre-NDA meeting recommended by the FDA and subsequent discussions, we believed that data from the PHOENIX trial would not be required for the FDA to make a determination on the approval of AMX0035 for the treatment of ALS, although we had no assurance that the FDA would not require further data before making a determination. Based on the Advisory Committee meeting held on March 30, 2022, and the FDA’s feedback at that meeting, it remains uncertain whether additional clinical data will be required to make a determination on the approval of AMX0035 for the treatment of ALS. On March 18, 2022, we announced the launch of a United States expanded access program that the FDA has authorized for people with ALS who meet eligibility criteria for participation.
In addition, we are developing AMX0035 for other neurodegenerative diseases by leveraging our deep knowledge of and relationships in the neurodegenerative space. We believe the approach of a dual UPR-Bax apoptosis inhibitor designed to help keep neurons alive could be clinically meaningful for the treatment of other neurodegenerative disease indications in addition to ALS. Many common and rare neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by substantial neuronal cellular loss, including AD and Wolfram syndrome, as well as Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Multi-System Atrophy, and others. We conducted a Phase 2 clinical trial in AD, known as the PEGASUS trial, to obtain safety data along with initial efficacy and biomarker data which could help us prioritize additional indications to pursue with AMX0035. We believe the topline results from the PEGASUS trial, reported in November 2021, provide further biological knowledge about AMX0035 which will help inform future clinical development of AMX0035 for the treatment of AD and in other potential indications. Based on these topline results, AMX0035 met the PEGASUS trial’s primary endpoint of safety and tolerability. The 6-month trial was not powered to evaluate differences between groups in efficacy outcomes
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and no differences were seen in a newly developed composite outcome of cognitive, functional, and imaging measures, or secondary efficacy endpoints of cognition, function, and imaging. In this trial, AMX0035 showed significant effects on biomarkers including the total tau protein, tau phosphorylated at threonine 181, 8-hydroxy-2’ - deoxyguanosine, or 8-OHdG, and the amyloid beta 42 to 40 (amyloid-ß1-42, amyloid-ß1-40) ratio in cerebrospinal fluid. We will continue to evaluate these data and discuss the results of the PEGASUS trial with scientific advisors as we consider potential next steps for the development of AMX0035 for the treatment of AD within our clinical development strategy. Based on preclinical evidence, we are planning to pursue a clinical trial in Wolfram syndrome. We intend to prioritize our development efforts around neurodegenerative diseases that result in substantial disability, and ultimately death, and where unmet medical needs are greatest.
Since our founding in 2013, our goal has been to improve the quality of, and extend, life for patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases. One of our key strategies towards achieving this goal has been to form direct relationships with patients, their families, advocacy groups, and healthcare professionals to bring much needed innovation to patients. Throughout the development of AMX0035, we have partnered with members of the disease communities we serve, including the ALS Association, the Northeast ALS Consortium, or NEALS, ALS Finding a Cure, the Healey Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund, the Alzheimer’s Association and the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, to ensure our goals are aligned with patient needs. In addition, many of the key opinion leaders in the ALS community were and are investigators in our recent and ongoing trials. These relationships are a cornerstone of our culture and corporate strategy.
Our current pipeline, including the stage of development of AMX0035 in our target indications, is represented in the table below.
AMX0035 is a proprietary oral fixed-dose combination of two small molecules: PB, which is a small molecular chaperone that reduces the UPR, preventing cell death resulting from the UPR, and TURSO, (also known as tauroursodeoxycholic acid, or TUDCA), which is a Bax inhibitor that reduces cell death through apoptosis. While the PB and TURSO molecules individually are not proprietary to us, we own patents and patent applications covering AMX0035, including the fixed-dose combination of AMX0035 itself. We believe that our proprietary combination of these two mechanisms of action will allow us to target abnormal cell death to better prevent neurodegeneration than treatment with either mechanism of action alone. In in vitro studies, PB and TURSO were observed in combination to prevent nearly 100% of neuron death. However, PB and TURSO alone only prevented a moderate percentage of neuron death in in vitro studies.
The results of our CENTAUR trial were published in September 2020 in the New England Journal of Medicine and in October 2020 in the Journal of Muscle and Nerve. Trial results showed that patients receiving AMX0035 experienced statistically significant benefit in retention of function, as measured by the Revised ALS Functional Rating Scale, or ALSFRS-R, as well as statistically significant improvement in overall survival, when analyzing the full randomized population through the OLE trial (July 20, 2020 data cutoff). AMX0035 was shown to be generally well-tolerated with the
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prevalence of adverse events comparable across placebo and treatment groups. In addition, we have updated our survival analysis as of March 2021, and included that data in our NDA filing. We believe AMX0035 is the first drug candidate in ALS to demonstrate a statistically significant benefit both in function as measured by a prespecified mean rate change in ALSFRS-R and in a longer-term analysis of overall survival, which are both important outcomes for people with ALS.
Our Company and Team
Amylyx was founded with the ambitious goal of improving the quality and length of life for patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases. From a dorm room at Brown University in 2013, our Co-CEOs and Co-Founders, Josh Cohen and Justin Klee set out to determine why neurons die, and have ever since been working to develop AMX0035, which we believe is the first drug candidate to show a clear effect on function and survival in ALS, and other novel therapies. To help realize our goal, we have assembled a team with deep scientific, clinical, business and leadership experience, bolstered by expertise in biotechnology. Our Chief Financial Officer, James Frates, brings over 20 years of experience as the Chief Financial Officer of Alkermes. Our Chief Commercial Officer, Margaret Olinger, brings three decades of expertise in commercial launches and operations, most recently at Alexion. Our Chief Technical Operations Officer, Tom Holmes, brings more than 25 years of leadership experience at Biogen in supply chain, biopharmaceutical manufacturing and program management. Our Chief Medical Officer, Patrick D. Yeramian, brings over 30 years of medical and pharmaceutical industry experience. Our Head of Regulatory Affairs, Tammy Sarnelli, brings more than 30 years of experience from Biogen and other companies in early and late-stage neurology and rare disease development. Our Chief Human Resources Officer, Debra Canner, brings over 30 years of experience, having served as the Chief of Human Resources Officers at Akamai and as part of Genzyme. Our Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel, Gina M. Mazzariello, brings more than 20 years of corporate and commercial legal experience in the healthcare industry, including holding leadership positions at Boehringer Ingelheim USA, Inc. This team brings a diverse set of skills uniquely suited to drive successful commercialization of AMX0035 in ALS while continuing to advance AMX0035 in other indications.
Our Strategy
Our mission is to change the treatment paradigm for neurodegenerative diseases. Key elements of our strategy to achieve this mission include:
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Obtaining regulatory approval of AMX0035 for ALS in Canada, the United States and Europe. Based on the results from our CENTAUR trial, we have been exploring pathways towards regulatory approval in several territories, including Canada, the United States and Europe. We believe that the CENTAUR trial may be able to support regulatory approval in Canada and the United States and marketing authorization in Europe. We submitted an NDS in Canada in the second quarter of 2021, an NDA in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2021 and an MAA in Europe in the first quarter of 2022, which was validated in the same quarter. We initiated our global Phase 3 PHOENIX trial of AMX0035 for the treatment of ALS in the fourth quarter of 2021 to further support our global regulatory efforts.
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Effectively and efficiently commercializing AMX0035 for ALS in key territories, if approved. We submitted an NDS in Canada in the second quarter of 2021, an NDA in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2021 and an MAA in Europe in the first quarter of 2022 and, subject to receiving marketing approval, we would expect to launch AMX0035 for ALS in Canada and the United States in the third quarter of 2022. We are currently building our sales team, internal capabilities and outside vendor network to support commercialization. We believe these capabilities, coupled with our understanding of the ALS patient and medical community, will enable us to launch AMX0035 for ALS successfully, if approved. We anticipate that our commercial infrastructure will be scalable for subsequent neurodegenerative disease launches beyond ALS in the United States and other key markets if we receive marketing approval in these territories as well. Our commercial operations are led by Margaret Olinger, who was an early commercial employee at Alexion and helped lead the launches of Soliris for the treatment of PNH and aHUH and Strensiq for the treatment of perinatal/infantile- and juvenile-onset hypophosphatasia.
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Maximizing the therapeutic potential of AMX0035 by expanding into additional neurodegenerative diseases. We believe the data from the CENTAUR trial showing a functional and survival benefit for ALS patients treated with AMX0035 validates its mechanism of targeting endoplasmic reticulum, or ER, stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. Based on our extensive understanding of disease pathways, we believe AMX0035 may provide benefit across multiple diseases characterized by neurodegeneration. As we select the next indications for AMX0035 we will prioritize those indications which we believe, if successful, will most rapidly lead to additional indications and to patient benefit. We conducted our Phase 2 PEGASUS clinical trial in AD to obtain safety data along with initial efficacy and biomarker data which will help us guide further development of AMX0035 for the
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treatment of AD within our clinical development strategy. We expect to submit an IND for AMX0035 in Wolfram syndrome in 2022. We expect to submit an IND for one additional indication in 2022.
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Continuing to cultivate a network of patient advocacy groups, key opinion leaders, research institutions, and healthcare professionals to inform our patient-centric approach. We have cultivated a network of key constituents, which we believe will continue to help us to develop therapies in an efficient and impactful manner. Integrating the experiences and insights from these parties, which include patients, their families, and organizations such as the ALS Association, NEALS, ALS Finding a Cure, the Healey Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund, the Alzheimer’s Association and the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, continues to inform our approach to developing therapies that can potentially transform the lives of patients and their families. We intend to will continue to engage with each of these constituents through conferences, clinical trials and informal communications as we further develop and pursue commercialization of AMX0035.
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Deploying a strategic approach to design, acquire and develop new therapies. We follow a scientifically rigorous approach to evaluating new opportunities to broaden our portfolio. We plan to target assets that allow us to leverage our experience with neurodegenerative pathways and AMX0035’s mechanism of action. When evaluating assets, we consider not only our ability to apply our experience with AMX0035 but also a variety of factors, including unmet medical need, biological rationale, feasibility of clinical development, potential for regulatory approval, costs of development, competitive landscape and commercial potential.
Neurodegenerative Disease
The prevention of neurodegeneration represents one of today’s most significant unmet medical needs. The development of therapies that preserve neuron health has historically presented unique challenges, including an imperfect understanding of underlying biology and a lack of translation of activity observed in preclinical studies to results in clinical trials. Currently approved therapies for many neurodegenerative diseases are generally only symptom modifying and have demonstrated limited efficacy. There remains an urgent need for novel approaches to address most neurodegenerative diseases, especially for progressive and severe conditions such as ALS.
The Role of the Endoplasmic Reticulum and Mitochondria in Neurodegenerative Disease
Unlike most other cells in the body that regularly die and are replaced as part of healthy function, mature neurons are normally resistant to cell death and generally cannot regenerate. Neuron death is only triggered when multiple stress factors are activated beyond the neuron’s recovery capacity, a circumstance commonly seen in neurodegenerative disorders. Most neurodegenerative disorders have complex pathophysiology, with multiple pathways contributing and converging to eventually cause neuron death. A large fraction of these pathological changes in neurons can be linked to dysfunction in the ER and mitochondria that affect metabolism and secretion of lipids and proteins, calcium homeostasis, and energy production. Dysfunction in these two essential cellular structures is implicated across many neurodegenerative disorders, highlighting the central role they play in maintaining neuron health and survival and providing the rationale for our focus, which is to rescue ER and mitochondrial function, and to protect and preserve neurons.
ER Stress
The ER is responsible for protein and lipid synthesis, folding and quality control of proteins, and storing calcium for cellular energy production by the mitochondria. The ER is also a primary sensor of stressful intracellular conditions, activating a wide number of molecular pathways that belong to a specific process, referred to as the ER stress response, that controls protein homeostasis. ER stress, or dysfunction associated with protein misfolding and aggregation, has been implicated in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disease. In neurodegenerative disorders, misfolded proteins and accumulations of protein aggregates can cause oxidative stress and a feedback loop resulting in ER stress. When the ER stress response is activated due to misfolded and aggregated proteins, the UPR, is engaged as a regulatory mechanism to reduce the load of misfolded proteins and restore a healthy cellular state. Molecular chaperones are the critical regulators of protein homeostasis under ER stress. Pathological conditions such as neurodegenerative diseases that disturb protein folding
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and maturation can trigger ER stress and engage the UPR. When the natural protein homeostasis in the cell cannot be achieved, the UPR triggers cellular death, or apoptosis.
Mitochondrial Dysfunction
The mitochondria are a central regulatory point for the control of cell death. When mitochondria detect sufficient cell damage, they signal for the cell to initiate a cell death cascade. Among other steps, this cascade includes the recruitment of a series of apoptotic proteins including Bcl-2-associated X protein, or BAX, the release of cytochrome c from a pore in the mitochondrial membrane called the mitochondrial permeability transition pore, and finally the activation of caspase 3, an executioner protein for apoptosis.
In neurodegenerative diseases, triggers such as altered calcium homeostasis, glutamate excitation of the cell, damage to the mitochondria or mitochondrial DNA and detection of aberrant double-stranded DNA and accumulation of unfolded proteins at the mitochondria all lead to mitochondrially mediated cell death. Inhibition of proteins such as BAX could result in a greater threshold for cell death and longer survival of key neurons implicated in the progression of neurodegenerative disease.
Linkage Between Mitochondria and ER
The mitochondria and the ER are often physically linked by a membrane called the mitochondrial associated ER membrane, or MAM. Through this linkage, calcium and molecules are shuttled between the two organelles. It is our belief that this connection, or crosstalk, allows the cell to integrate responses between the two organelles and that activation of mitochondrial damage pathways will activate the UPR and vice versa.
Both the mitochondria and the UPR in the ER can trigger cell death. As such, we believe both pathways are crucial to the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases and both need to be addressed simultaneously to effect a substantial change in survival of neurons undergoing neurodegenerative processes.
Background and Rationale for AMX0035
We have designed AMX0035 to reduce neuron death through simultaneous mitigation of ER stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. AMX0035 is a coformulation of two small molecules, PB and TURSO. PB has been shown to reduce ER stress through upregulation of a protein known as DJ-1 that is a master chaperone regulator, recruitment of other chaperone proteins, and as a small molecular chaperone. TURSO is a bile acid that has been shown to recover mitochondrial bioenergetic deficits through incorporation into the mitochondrial membrane, reducing BAX translocation to the mitochondrial membrane, reducing mitochondrial permeability, and increasing the apoptotic threshold of the cell. Through our research, we identified the specific ratios at which the combination of PB and TURSO target these critical, connected pathways and show synergistic activity in improving neuronal cell viability invitro. We then developed AMX0035 as an optimized oral formulation to be tested in vivo and clinically.
Our preclinical studies have shown that PB and TURSO, in combination, can inhibit a number of pathological pathways associated with neurodegenerative diseases in cell culture and animal models. For example, in an in vitro model of neurodegeneration, we tested the potential abilities of PB and TURSO individually and in combination to prevent oxidative-induced neuronal death, or cell viability, which was measured using a PrestoBlue reagent. In this experiment, hydrogen peroxide was applied to rat primary cortical neurons in a concentration sufficient to kill approximately 40% of the neurons. Particular doses of PB and TURSO individually protected against some of the neuron death, and cell viability reached approximately 80%. However, when these rat primary cortical neurons were dosed with particular ratios of PB and TURSO
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in combination, nearly 100% of oxidative-induced neuron death was prevented. The results of this in vitro model are shown in the graphic below.
Additionally, we have observed benefit from the administration of particular ratios of PB and TURSO across in vitro models of ER stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and disease specific models of ALS, AD, Parkinson’s disease, MS, Friedreich’s Ataxia, primary mitochondrial myopathies and a variety of other conditions. We have also conducted in vivo models of PB and TURSO, in combination, including models of ALS, AD and MS. Additionally, academic groups have conducted studies with monotherapy treatment with TURSO and/or PB in models of ALS, AD, MS, Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Multi-System Atrophy, X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy, and a variety of other models. We believe this body of evidence collectively supports the use of this combination to treat neurodegenerative indications and led us to pursue the development of our proprietary drug candidate, AMX0035.
AMX0035 for the Treatment of ALS
Overview of ALS
We are initially developing AMX0035 for the treatment of ALS, a progressive, and fatal neurodegenerative disorder of the neuromuscular system resulting in muscle weakness and paralysis leading to death. ALS involves the progressive degeneration of motor neurons in the spinal cord and brain that are responsible for controlling voluntary muscle movement. This progressive loss of motor neurons leads to muscle weakness, loss of muscle mass, and inability to control movement. ALS remains universally fatal with a median survival of less than three years from symptom onset and less than two years from diagnosis. Despite being classified as a rare disease by the FDA and the EMA, ALS is considered one of the more common adult-onset neuromuscular diseases worldwide. Public sources estimate that there are more than 29,000 ALS patients in the United States. More than 30,000 ALS patients are estimated to be living with ALS in Europe (European Union and United Kingdom), and approximately 3,000 ALS patients are estimated to be located in Canada. Over 90% of patients have no family history of ALS, known as “sporadic” ALS. While other development approaches seek to address genetic instances of ALS, AMX0035 is designed to target all instances of ALS, regardless of whether it is sporadic or genetic. Due to the two-year median survival of patients diagnosed with ALS, a high proportion of the patient population has been recently diagnosed and a therapy that is able to improve the survival of patients with ALS has the potential to increase the number of patients who are able to continue living with their disease.
Medical costs for patients newly diagnosed with ALS in the United States are substantial and increase rapidly with each disability milestone. Care of patients with ALS is intensive and requires a team of medical professionals, special equipment, and assistance with daily activities. Caregivers are often forced to miss work or give up employment opportunities to provide care, leading to increased financial strain. The disease also impacts the patient’s family, who generally provide the bulk of caregiving, which often entails the provision of 24-hour care. The constant adaptation of
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caregivers to the demands of the ALS disease progression requires significant physical effort and mental exhaustion particularly during the advanced stages of the disease.
Significant Unmet Need in ALS
ALS is a heterogeneous disease that arises from multiple mechanistic underpinnings, leading patients to experience variable onset and delayed diagnosis, persistent progression and loss of muscle function, and shortened survival.
There is a significant unmet need for ALS therapies that target multiple pathogenic pathways, are disease-modifying, and can provide both functional and survival benefit to patients. Only two FDA-approved therapeutic agents for ALS, riluzole, an anti-glutamatergic agent, and edaravone, a free-radical scavenger, have been shown to modulate the course of ALS. In pivotal clinical trials, riluzole demonstrated longer time to tracheostomy or death compared to placebo and edaravone demonstrated longer retention of function compared to placebo. However, a need remains for ALS therapies that demonstrate both retention of function and longer survival, allowing patients to maintain greater independence for longer.
Due to the multi-pathway pathophysiology of ALS, experts agree that successful treatment will likely require concurrent targeting of multiple key neuronal death pathways. There is a strong rationale for treatments that target identified convergence points of these critical pathways, including in the ER and mitochondria, and we believe that a therapy that targets multiple pathways at once, like AMX0035, aligns with the emerging ALS treatment paradigm.
Clinical Development of AMX0035 for ALS
We designed our Phase 2 CENTAUR trial with input from leading ALS experts from NEALS to detect a significant difference between AMX0035 and placebo. The study also provided the option for participants to continue with available approved therapies, riluzole and edaravone, for the duration of the trial. The FDA granted Orphan Drug Designation for AMX0035 for the treatment of patients with ALS in September 2017. The EMA granted orphan designation to AMX0035 for the treatment of patients with ALS in April 2020. In December 2019, we announced positive topline results from our CENTAUR trial. The trial met its primary endpoint, and we published detailed trial data in the New England Journal ofMedicine in September 2020 and in the Journal of Muscle and Nerve in October 2020. We submitted an NDS in Canada in the second quarter of 2021, an NDA in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2021 and an MAA in Europe in the first quarter of 2022.
CENTAUR, Our Phase 2 Trial of AMX0035 in ALS
In September 2020, we published detailed results from the Phase 2, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled CENTAUR trial. The CENTAUR trial was conducted at 25 centers of the NEALS, and evaluated adult patients with ALS. Key inclusion criteria were definite ALS defined by the revised El Escorial criteria, which entails having various clinical signs and symptoms, defined as upper and lower motor neuron signs, in at least three defined body regions, less than 18 months from symptom onset and slow vital capacity, or SVC, greater than 60%. These criteria were chosen to select a homogenous, rapidly progressing patient population to potentially increase the likelihood of observing a treatment effect. Participants were allowed to continue on their selected standard of care, including treatment with riluzole and/or edaravone. Eligible participants (n=137) were randomized two-to-one to treatment with AMX0035, one sachet (each containing one gram of TURSO and three grams of PB) given once daily for the first three weeks, and if tolerated, the dose was then increased to twice-daily for the remainder of a 24-week treatment period, or matching placebo. Two participants did not have follow-up efficacy assessments and were not included in the efficacy population (modified intention to treat, or mITT, n=135). These two participants were included in the safety population (intention to treat, or ITT, n=137). Upon completion of the 24-week, parallel group phase of the trial, participants were eligible to enroll in the OLE trial in which all participants were followed up to 35 months while participants and physicians remained blinded to the original treatment group. Of participants completing the CENTAUR trial randomization phase, 92% of eligible patients elected to enroll in the OLE trial. The first protocol of the OLE trial was completed in March 2021. Actual duration of patient treatments across the
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randomization phase and the OLE trial, both with the PB-TURSO combination and via placebo, are shown in the graphic below:
The primary efficacy outcome measure for the CENTAUR trial was the rate of decline in the ALSFRS-R total score. The ALSFRS-R scale is the most widely used ALS rating scale in ALS clinical practice and in ALS clinical trials. It measures patient’s functional ability and is broken down into four domains: bulbar (which includes speech, salivation and swallowing), fine motor (which includes handwriting, cutting food/handling utensils, dressing and hygiene), gross motor (which includes turning in bed, walking, and climbing stairs) and breathing (which includes dyspnea, orthopnea and respiratory insufficiency). A decrease of one point on the ALSFRS-R scale can reflect severe limitations in a patient’s independence, and a two-point increase on the ALSFRS-R scale would be associated with:
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eating successfully with some difficulty instead of needing a feeding tube;
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being short of breath only while walking instead of having difficulty breathing while sitting or lying down; and
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being able to dress independently instead of needing assistance.
The CENTAUR trial met its primary endpoint with a statistically significant reduction in clinical decline among participants randomized to AMX0035 (n=87) compared to placebo (n=48) (p-value of 0.03) over 24 weeks. These results published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that patients receiving AMX0035 scored an average of 2.32 points higher on the ALSFRS-R as compared to patients receiving placebo after 24 weeks, a difference of 25%, as shown in the graph below. In a survey of ALS clinicians and researchers conducted and sponsored by NEALS, with the objective of determining what percentage reduction in ALSFRS-R would be considered clinically meaningful, a difference of greater than
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or equal to 20% in ALSFRS-R total score was considered clinically meaningful by a majority of clinicians and researchers surveyed.
Secondary efficacy outcomes measuring disease free progression were the decline in muscle strength as measured by Accurate Test of Limb Isometric Strength, or ATLIS, testing and lung function measured by SVC, both expressed as percent of predicted values and key study events including death, permanent ventilation and hospitalization. Neurofilament was also measured as a biologic measure. The analysis also indicated statistically significant preservation of upper limb strength with AMX0035 treatment measured on ATLIS (p=0.042), while the lower limb measure did not reach statistical significance (p=0.34). An average of these two, referred to as the total ATLIS score, trended in favor of AMX0035 (p=0.11). There was also a trend in favor of AMX0035 therapy preserving lung function as measured by SVC, with a numerical difference of 5.11% although this was not statistically significant (p=0.076). These efficacy data are summarized in the table below. In addition, a time-to-event analysis was conducted on key study events including death, permanent ventilation and hospitalization events over the 24-week randomized phase of the trial. Because enrollment of patients in the CENTAUR trial was limited to patients who, in the investigator’s opinion, would be able to complete 6-month follow up, few events of this nature were expected during the initial, 24-week randomized phase of the trial. As a result, we observed a positive, but not statistically significant, difference between the trial’s treatment and control groups during the 24-week randomized phase of
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the study. There was no statistically significant difference between the rate of decline in plasma levels of the neurofilament observed in the trial’s treatment and control groups during the 24-week randomized phase of the study.
Phosphorylated neurofilament heavy chain was measured in plasma in the CENTAUR trial. There were no statistically significant differences between groups in this outcome. A limitation of this outcome is that it was measured in plasma rather than cerebrospinal fluid and the ultimate relevance of this outcome in ALS is still under investigation by the field.
It is important to note that most (77%) participants were receiving riluzole or edaravone at or before study entry, with a greater proportion receiving edaravone in the placebo group (50%) compared with the AMX0035 group (25%). Pre-specified analyses were conducted to determine if the use of concomitant medications impacted results. These analyses found that AMX0035’s effect on the primary outcome was consistent regardless of use of concomitant medications (riluzole and/or edaravone).
Overall survival was analyzed for all subjects randomized in the CENTAUR trial (ITT analysis) and compared patients originally randomized to AMX0035 (n=89) with those randomized to placebo (n=48). In this analysis, the vital status of each participant was measured by a participant locating service which used sources such as the U.S. social security death index up to July 20, 2020 even if he or she did not continue into the OLE trial, stopped study drug, dropped out of the study or was lost to follow-up. Over the duration of follow up, the risk of death was 44% lower among those originally randomized to AMX0035 compared with those originally randomized to placebo (hazard ratio, or HR, of 0.56; a 95% confidence interval, or CI, ranging from 0.34 to 0.92; and a p-value of 0.023). Median survival duration was 25.0 months (95% CI of 19.0 to 33.6 months) in the group previously randomized to AMX0035 and 18.5 months (95% CI of 13.5 to 23.2 months) in the group
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previously randomized to placebo as seen in the graph below. Participants originally randomized to AMX0035 received a median 6.5 months more of AMX0035 treatments than those originally randomized to placebo.
Additional survival data from the CENTAUR trial with a March 1, 2021 cut-off were shared at the March 30, 2022 Advisory Committee meeting. These correspond to the last participant last visit in the open-label phase and was requested by the FDA. This ITT overall survival analysis showed a statistically significant survival benefit for participants originally randomized to AMX0035. These data (HR of 0.64; median survival difference of 4.8 months; p-value of 0.045) are consistent with the prior overall survival analyses. We also performed sensitivity analyses on the CENTAUR trial data, including a joint rank test, which showed no bias in the estimate of the primary functional outcome by loss of data due to participant death. Sensitivity analyses were also performed to account for missing data and death or death-equivalent events. These sensitivity analyses yielded results similar to the primary analysis. In sensitivity analyses designed to account for concomitant medication use, the treatment effect size was consistent between primary analysis and analyses corrected for concomitant medication use.
AMX0035 was generally well-tolerated over 24 weeks of randomized treatment with an adverse event rate substantially similar to placebo. Adverse events, or AEs, were reported in 97% (86 out of 89) of participants receiving AMX0035 and 96% (46 out of 48) of participants receiving placebo, with the nature of the AEs being substantially similar in both groups. The most commonly occurring (greater than or equal to 5%) AEs in either treatment group are shown in the table below. Because of the progressive neurodegenerative nature of ALS, many of these AEs (e.g., muscle weakness, falls, dyspnea, fatigue) were likely attributable to the underlying ALS disease. Events occurring in greater than or equal to 5% of patients in either treatment group and more frequently (greater than or equal to 2% of patients) in patients who received AMX0035 compared with those who received placebo were predominantly gastrointestinal events, which were non-serious and mostly mild in intensity and declined considerably in occurrence after three weeks on treatment. A total of 19% of the patients in the AMX0035 treatment group and 8% of the patients in the placebo group discontinued the trial regimen owing to AEs.
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The most commonly occurring AEs were diarrhea, constipation, nausea, muscular weakness, fall, headache, dizziness and viral upper respiratory tract infection. Health Canada also noted the occurrence of hypersalivation. Consistent with the known safety profile of TURSO, diarrhea and nausea occurred more frequently in patients who received AMX0035 compared with those who received placebo. In contrast, muscular weakness, fall, constipation and headache occurred more frequently in patients who received placebo. The observed AEs from the CENTAUR trial are summarized in the chart below.
Musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders 21 (43.8)% 38 (42.7)% 59 (43.1)%
Injury, poisoning and procedural complications 23 (47.9)% 35 (39.3)% 58 (42.3)%
Respiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders 10 (20.8)% 29 (32.6)% 39 (28.5)%
(1)
Includes serious adverse events.
Serious adverse events, or SAEs, occurred less frequently in the AMX0035 treatment group (12.4% of patients) compared with the placebo treatment group (18.8% of patients). This difference was largely driven by a higher incidence of respiratory events, including respiratory failure in the placebo treatment group (8.3% of patients), compared with the AMX0035 treatment group (3.4% of patients). ALS disease progression often leads to respiratory failure, and it is the most common cause of death in patients with ALS. The observed SAEs from the CENTAUR trial are summarized in the chart below.
Serious Adverse Events (SAEs)
Overall, a total of seven patients (two (4% of patients) who received placebo and five (6% of total patients) who received AMX0035) died during the conduct of the 24-week, double-blind study. None of the deaths was considered by the investigator to be related to AMX0035. Consistent with the most common cause of death in patients with ALS, the majority (four of seven patients) of deaths during the study were from respiratory failure (two patients in each group). Other causes of death (in the AMX0035 group) included respiratory arrest attributed to aspiration pneumonia, diverticulitis perforation, and subdural hematoma secondary to a fall. Death equivalent was defined as either tracheostomy or permanent assisted ventilation, or PAV. PAV was defined as more than 22 hours daily of non-invasive mechanical ventilation for more than one week (seven days). One patient in the placebo group (2% of patients) and none in the AMX0035 group experienced a death equivalent event (i.e., tracheostomy) during the 24-week study.
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We believe AMX0035 is the first drug candidate in ALS to demonstrate a statistically significant benefit both in function as measured by a prespecified mean rate change in ALSFRS-R and in a longer-term analysis of overall survival, both important outcomes for people with ALS. In summary, patients in our CENTAUR trial showed a statistically significant improvement in function and a statistically significant improvement in overall survival and AMX0035 was shown to be generally well-tolerated.
Clinical Development Plan of AMX0035 in ALS
We submitted an NDS for AMX0035 for the treatment of ALS to Health Canada in the second quarter of 2021, which was accepted for review in the third quarter of 2021, an NDA to the FDA in the fourth quarter of 2021, which was accepted for priority review in the same quarter and an MAA for approval of AMX0035 for the treatment of ALS to the EMA Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use in the first quarter of 2022. The Prescription Drug User Fee Act date, the target date by which the FDA intends to complete its review and take action on the NDA for AMX0035 for the treatment of ALS, is June 29, 2022. In November 2021, we initiated our global 48-week PHOENIX, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. We expect to recruit approximately 600 patients from approximately 65 European and United States sites. The primary endpoints of our PHOENIX trial will be a composite measure of survival and ALSFRS-R total score progression over 48 weeks and safety and tolerability over 48 weeks. The secondary endpoints of our PHOENIX trial will be SVC, ALSAQ-40 (a questionnaire which provides a subjective health measure to specifically assess quality of life for patients with ALS), EQ5D-5L (a standard qualify of life measure), decline in King’s (a staging measurement in ALS based on the number of central nervous system,or CNS, regions involved and requirement for gastrostomy or noninvasive ventilation) and MiToS stages (a functional staging measure that can be derived prospectively from the ALSFRS-R subscore using standard methods), ventilation free survival, and long-term survival. Key inclusion criteria for the PHOENIX trial include ALS patients with clinically definite or clinically probable ALS by El Escorial criteria (2-4 body areas with clinical signs consistent with ALS), <24 months from symptom onset, SVC >55%, and riluzole/edaravone use permitted. The PHOENIX trial is designed to provide further data supporting the safety and efficacy of AMX0035 for the treatment of ALS to further support our global regulatory efforts. Based on dialogue with the FDA prior to our NDA submission, including at a pre-NDA meeting recommended by the FDA and subsequent discussions, we believed that data from the PHOENIX trial would not be required for the FDA to make a determination on the approval of AMX0035 for the treatment of ALS, although we had no assurance that the FDA would not require further data before making a determination. Based on the Advisory Committee meeting held on March 30, 2022, and the FDA’s feedback at that meeting, it remains uncertain whether additional clinical data will be required to make a determination on the approval of AMX0035 for the treatment of ALS.
Any regulatory approvals we may receive may be limited or subject to restrictions or post-approval commitments.
AMX0035 for the Treatment of Other Potential Indications
Based on our extensive understanding of disease pathways, we believe AMX0035 may provide benefit across multiple diseases, including AD, Wolfram syndrome, Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Multi-System Atrophy, primary lateral sclerosis, ischemic stroke, MS, Friedreich’s ataxia, Leigh’s syndrome and Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy.
We are prioritizing these conditions on an indication-by-indication basis, based on the strength of the data supporting AMX0035’s potential, including the data from our recently completed PEGASUS trial; the urgency of the unmet need; the practicality of conducting clinical trials in these conditions; the efficiency of clinical development activities; and the commercial potential. For some of these indications, given the data already produced by the company on AMX0035, we believe it may be possible to move directly into Phase 3 evaluations of safety and efficacy which could allow for a rapid development pathway. We will prioritize those indications which we believe have the greatest chance of providing patients with benefit and the most rapid pathway to market.
We plan to submit an IND for AMX0035 in Wolfram syndrome in 2022. Subject to acceptance of this IND, we plan to initiate a proof of concept Phase 2 clinical trial in Wolfram syndrome. We plan to submit an additional IND for AMX0035 in another indication in 2022.
Clinical Development of AMX0035 for AD
We designed our multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 PEGASUS trial with AD experts to evaluate the safety, tolerability and activity of AMX0035 in patients with late mild cognitive impairment, or MCI,
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or early-to-moderate dementia. The PEGASUS trial was designed to have broad entry criteria to include participants at different stages of AD to allow us to assess the biological effect of AMX0035 across the spectrum of disease and determine if there are any patients who might see a greater benefit from therapy. Eligible participants (n=95), adults ages 55 to 89 years old, were randomized three-to-two to treatment with AMX0035, one sachet (each containing one gram of TURSO and three grams of PB) given twice-daily over 24 weeks, or matching placebo.
The primary investigator for the PEGASUS trial, Dr. Steven Arnold, presented topline results from the PEGASUS trial at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease conference, or CTAD, which was held during the fourth quarter of 2021. Based on these topline results, AMX0035 was generally well-tolerated with approximately 80% of patients completing dosing in the trial in the AMX0035 arm. Safety results are depicted in the figure below. As in the CENTAUR trial, a higher percentage of patients in the AMX0035 arm had gastrointestinal adverse events. However, no SAEs were attributed to AMX0035 in the PEGASUS trial.
The 6-month trial was not powered to evaluate differences between the AMX0035 and placebo arms in cognition, function or imaging.
The primary endpoint of the trial was to compare the safety and tolerability of a fixed-dose combination of AMX0035 versus placebo in subjects with MCI (high or intermediate likelihood due to AD) or dementia due to AD over a 24-week treatment period.
The secondary endpoints of the trial were to:
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determine the effects of AMX0035 treatment on whole brain and regional brain atrophy, as assessed by volumetric MRI;
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assess the impact of AMX0035 treatment on clinical symptoms as measured by the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale, or ADAS-Cog, the Dementia Severity Rating Scale, or DSRS, and the FAQ;
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assess the effect of AMX0035 treatment on measures of neuropsychiatric symptoms, as assessed by the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire; and
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measure the effects of AMX0035 treatment on functional MRI measures including connectivity with resting state Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent imaging.
Additionally, the trial evaluated differences between the AMX0035 and placebo arms as measured by GST, a newly developed composite outcome of cognitive, functional, and imaging measures named the Global Statistical Test, or GST, over the 24-week treatment period. The GST is a combination of three change-from-baseline to end-of-study endpoints: Cognition (Modified Alzheimer’s Disease Composite Score, or MADCOMS), Function (Functional Activities Questionnaire, or FAQ) and Total Hippocampal Brain Volume (Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI). The GST is calculated for each subject as a mean score across the above three component endpoints for each subject in the trial. This mean score was then analyzed as an efficacy variable.
Finally, the exploratory objectives of the trial were to measure the effect of AMX0035 treatment on biochemical markers of amyloid-ß1-42, amyloid-ß1-40, total tau (t-tau), tau phosphorylated at threonine 181 (ptau 181), neuronal injury markers, mitochondrial redox and function markers, and neuroinflammation, as assessed in cerebrospinal fluid, or CSF, from all volunteers.
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While functional MRI analyses remain ongoing, no significant differences between dosing groups were observed for any efficacy endpoints in this trial (p>0.05). Key efficacy results are included in the figure below:
a Hippocampal volume component is based on standard ADNI MRI algorithm but was also assessed via additional MRI algorithms included in the Statistical Analysis Plan and yielded similar findings.
Significant impacts on multiple biomarkers of interest in AD were observed in the trial. In CSF, the AMX0035-group showed significant reductions of tau protein 181 (p<0.001) and phosphorylated tau protein (p<0.001) compared with the placebo group, modulation of the amyloid beta 42/40 ratio (p<0.05) and increase of 8-hydroxy-2’ -deoxyguanosine, (p<0.01). These topline results from the PEGASUS trial are still subject to further audit and verification procedures and additional biomarker results are not yet available.
We believe the biomarker and imaging outcomes from the trial have substantially improved and will continue to inform our knowledge of the impact of AMX0035 on the neurodegenerative pathways relevant to the progression of AD, which have been and will be informative as we continue clinical development of AMX0035 in AD and other potential indications. We believe these insights will help us to examine any effects of AMX0035 on AD’s progression, which could inform future work in AD as well as clinical trial design for other indications. We will continue to evaluate these data and discuss the results of the PEGASUS trial with scientific advisors as we consider potential next steps for the development of AMX0035 for the treatment of AD within our clinical development strategy.
Clinical Development of AMX0035 for Wolfram Syndrome
Wolfram syndrome is a rare, life-threatening disease, with symptoms usually starting at an early age. Wolfram syndrome is thought to be caused by variants in the Wolfram syndrome WFS1 gene, or WFS1, and, in a small fraction of patients, pathogenic variants in the CDGSH iron sulfur domain protein 2 CISD2 gene, or CISD2. Wolfram syndrome results in deafness, blindness, ataxia, neurodegeneration and ultimately death. There are currently no drugs approved for Wolfram syndrome.
Wolfram syndrome appears to be a disease of ER stress. WFS1 encodes and produces the vital wolframin protein, which appears to be involved in ER regulatory processes. WFS1 deficiency leads to chronic ER stress and the UPR. WFS1 also negatively regulates activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6), a UPR molecule, resulting in cell death. Furthermore, a
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recent study suggested that WFS1 impacts mitochondrial function by transporting Ca2+ from the ER to the mitochondria through the MAM.
AMX0035 targets pathways central to Wolfram syndrome, including the UPR, and has shown beneficial effects in a variety of models of Wolfram syndrome, including cellular models and patient-derived cell line models. For example, to test the potential effects of AMX0035 in the modulation of ER stress in the context of Wolfram syndrome, the effects of PB, TURSO and AMX0035 were tested in an in vitro model of wild-type and WFS1-deficient pancreatic beta cell lines. In these cells, when compared with the control group, AMX0035 was able to significantly reduce the level of apoptotic cell death in WFS1-deficient pancreatic beta cell lines as measured by normalized caspase 3/7 activity (p less than 0.05).
Additionally, a combination of PB and TURSO was studied in vitro in human patient-derived neural progenitor cells harboring mutations in WFS1, which cause Wolfram Syndrome. Both PB and TURSO, when applied alone, were observed to inhibit cell death in each of three different human cell lines as compared to control conditions, and the application of PB and TURSO in combination was observed to result in lower levels of normalized caspase 3/7 activity in patient-derived Wolfram syndrome cell lines differentiated to produce patient-derived neural progenitor cells, as compared to either the control or treatment with PB or TURSO alone.
For these reasons, we believe AMX0035 is a promising clinical candidate for Wolfram syndrome and we are planning to pursue a clinical trial in this disease.
Patient Advocacy
The patient advocacy landscapes for ALS, AD and other neurodegenerative diseases are large, and encompass groups at the international, multiregional and country-specific level. We have built strong medical and commercial relationships at the international level, with our current emphasis being on ALS advocacy groups in Canada, the United States and Europe. We plan to engage country-specific groups in Europe based on clinical trial results, as well as our medical and commercial priorities.
Working with key advocacy groups is critical to our mission, as patients are at the center of everything we do. This starts with transparent communication and awareness about our science, data and development plans. We seek to ensure that these advocacy groups are informed and able to answer questions from their members about PB, TURSO and AMX0035.
We engaged with patient advocacy groups in the United States and Europe for feedback on the design of our ongoing global Phase 3 PHOENIX trial of AMX0035 for the treatment of ALS, which is emblematic of the partnerships we are building with the community. In addition, we treat patient advocacy groups as important stakeholders as we address access to AMX0035 outside ongoing clinical trials, such as expanded access and compassionate use programs, including our recently launched United States expanded access program that the FDA has authorized for people with ALS meeting certain eligibility criteria. We have sought and will continue to seek guidance and insights from as many patient advocacy groups as possible and have plans in place to engage groups on an ongoing basis. These groups have also reviewed messaging and press releases from the company to ensure they take into account the patient voice.
Commercialization
We believe the global commercial opportunity for AMX0035 in ALS is driven by its potential to be the first and only treatment for ALS that provides a combination of longer retention of function, improved survival, a generally well-tolerated side effect profile and convenient oral administration. AMX0035 has been shown to have a significant impact on clinically meaningful endpoints, including lengthening time to first hospitalization and permanent ventilation in ALS patients. AMX0035 is also being considered for other neurodegenerative disorders.
ALS is a rare disease, but public sources estimate that ALS affects at least 200,000 people worldwide, with a prevalence in the United States of more than 29,000 ALS patients. More than 30,000 ALS patients are estimated to be living with ALS in Europe (European Union and United Kingdom), and approximately 3,000 ALS patients are estimated to be living with ALS in Canada. In the United States, ALS is treated by neurologists at certified ALS Centers or by other neurologists. In Canada and in Europe, most ALS patients are treated at ALS Centers. The vast majority of people with ALS (over 90%) have sporadic disease, showing no clear family history. Most people who develop ALS are between the ages of 40 and 70, with a median age of 55 at the time of diagnosis. However, cases of the disease do occur in people in their twenties and thirties. People with ALS spend approximately one-third of their disease course searching for a diagnosis and,
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once diagnosed, there are few approved therapies available. ALS is a relentlessly progressive and highly heterogenous disease that arises from multiple mechanistic underpinnings, leading patients to experience variable onset, persistent progression, and shortened survival. The disease remains universally fatal with median survival of less than three years from symptom onset and less than two years from diagnosis.
We have conducted market research with physicians, patients, caregivers, nurses, and payors in the United States, Western Europe and Canada to understand the unmet need and potential of AMX0035 in ALS. Clinicians universally report dissatisfaction with currently approved therapies and state the need for additional options for their ALS patients. When shown a target product profile for AMX0035, the majority of ALS specialists and neurologists with whom we spoke are open to utilizing it in early-to-mid-stage patients, with some also stating the potential for use in late-stage patients.
We submitted an NDS for AMX0035 in ALS with Health Canada in the second quarter of 2021 which was accepted for review in the third quarter of 2021, based on the clinical data from the CENTAUR trial and feedback from Health Canada, an NDA to the FDA in the fourth quarter of 2021, which was accepted for priority review in the same quarter, and an MAA in Europe in the first quarter of 2022, which was validated in the same quarter. The Prescription Drug User Fee Act date, the target date by which the FDA intends to complete its review and take action on the NDA for AMX0035 for the treatment of ALS, is June 29, 2022. We also plan to discuss AMX0035 with other health authorities around the world to determine the most appropriate path forward in their respective territories. We also initiated our ongoing Phase 3 PHOENIX trial in the fourth quarter of 2021 to further support the safety and efficacy of AMX0035 for the treatment of ALS and our global regulatory efforts.
Our pre-launch activities include building awareness of and education regarding the disease severity and pathophysiology of ALS, increasing understanding of the clinical impact of a change in a patient’s ALSFRS-R score, and building general awareness of our company through active participation in key neurology conferences, patient meetings, partnerships with patient advocacy groups, targeted omnichannel initiatives and payor education in each of the key territories.
If AMX0035 is approved, our initial plans are to build out our commercial operations in Canada, the United States and Europe. There are 175 ALS Association certified, recognized, or affiliated centers in the United States, and 17 Canadian ALS Research Network Clinics in Canada. We plan to target these centers with a specialty key account management team. In the major EU countries, the majority of ALS patients initiate treatment in 20 or less ALS Centers of Reference per country, and we plan to target these centers in priority. We will continue to evaluate market entry opportunities beyond these geographies either on our own or with a partner.
Competition
Overview
The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are characterized by rapid technological advancement, significant competition and an emphasis on proprietary products. We face potential competition from many different sources, including major and specialty pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic research institutions, governmental agencies and public and private research institutions. Any product candidates that we successfully develop and commercialize, including AMX0035, may compete with current therapies and new therapies that may become available in the future. We believe that the key competitive factors affecting the success of any of our product candidates will include efficacy, safety profile, dosing, cost, effectiveness of promotional support and intellectual property protection.
Many of our competitors, either alone or with their collaboration partners, have significantly greater financial resources and expertise in research and development, preclinical testing, clinical trials, manufacturing, and marketing than we do. Future collaborations and mergers and acquisitions may result in further resource concentration among a smaller number of competitors. Our competitors also may obtain FDA or other regulatory approval for their products more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours, which could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market or make our development more complicated. These competitors may also vie for a similar pool of qualified scientific and management talent, sites and patient populations for clinical trials, as well as for technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs.
AMX0035 for the Treatment of ALS
In the past 30 years, only two product candidates have been approved for the treatment of ALS in the United States and Canada, and only one product candidate has been approved for the treatment of ALS in Europe. These two approved
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drugs, riluzole (marketed under the name Rilutek) and edaravone (marketed under name Radicava in the United States and Radicut in Japan), are often used in combination. We expect that further therapies and drugs which may be approved in the future will also be used in combination with existing drugs, absent incompatibility or other barriers to combination. For example, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America, Inc., or MTPA, is developing an oral alternative to Radicava. In the first quarter of 2022 the FDA accepted MTPA’s application for priority review of its oral alternative to Radicava, with a PDUFA date of May 12, 2022.
There are currently no approved treatments for ALS which show both a functional and survival benefit for ALS patients. Patients with ALS are commonly treated with riluzole and edaravone, which are palliative in nature. We believe that these two drugs will not directly compete with AMX0035, if approved, as we believe that successful treatment will likely require concurrent targeting of multiple key neuron death pathways. However, we are aware of several product candidates in clinical development that may compete with AMX0035 for the treatment of ALS, if approved, including product candidates being developed by Biogen, Biohaven, Apellis, and UCB. To date, we believe none of the above product candidates has shown statistically significant clinical results on prespecified outcomes in any prior trials. We anticipate that ALS will continue to be an area of research in the healthcare sector and that drug candidates will continue to be developed and studied for treatment of the disease.
While we anticipate the general practice in ALS will continue to be the combination of approved agents, our commercial potential could be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop and commercialize products that are safer, more effective, have fewer or less severe side effects, are more convenient or are less expensive than products that we may develop. In addition, we are aware of one ongoing clinical study in Europe which is evaluating the effects on ALS of TURSO, one of the two components in AMX0035. The outcome of this study could have an impact on the commercial potential of AMX0035.
A large number of trials and studies are ongoing in the many additional neurodegenerative diseases which we are evaluating for future clinical work for AMX0035 including AD, Wolfram syndrome, Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Multi-System Atrophy, primary lateral sclerosis, ischemic stroke, MS, Friedreich’s ataxia, Leigh’s syndrome and Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy. Some of these diseases also have therapies approved which impact disease progression. The competitive landscape in these diseases will affect the potential opportunity for AMX0035.
Supply and Manufacturing
Currently, we do not have the infrastructure nor internal capability to manufacture AMX0035 for use in clinical development, and if approved, commercialization. We rely, and expect to continue to rely for the foreseeable future, on third-party contract manufacturing organizations, or CMOs, for the production of AMX0035 in compliance with current Good Manufacturing Process, or cGMP, requirements, for use in clinical trials and our United States expanded access program under the guidance of members of our organization. For AMX0035, we utilize two active pharmaceutical ingredients, or APIs, PB and TURSO, which are manufactured and released to us from third-party manufacturers. We have long term, single-source supply agreements in place for these APIs, including authorization to reference the relevant drug master files with these vendors. We have single-source arrangements for the manufacturing and packaging of bulk drug at established CMOs for our clinical trials, and we expect that these CMOs will supply commercial product if AMX0035 is approved. We manufacture AMX0035 bulk drug at Patheon Inc., or Patheon, a subsidiary of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., located in Whitby, Canada. We have scaled-up our third-party manufacturing capabilities in a manner that we believe will support commercial demand for AMX0035, if approved, and we have entered into agreements covering the manufacture of AMX0035 through 2025. Following manufacturing, bulk drug is then sent to PCI Pharma Services in Rockford, IL, for primary and secondary packaging. As we look to markets outside of the United States, we plan to add additional manufacturing and distribution sites to support local market demand. In addition, we utilize a risk-based approach to bring on additional manufacturing sites as needed.
We have built a team of pharmaceutical industry technical operations leaders. This team has significant technical, manufacturing, analytical, quality, regulatory, including cGMP, and project management experience to oversee our third-party manufacturers and maintain quality and regulatory compliance. In addition, members of this team have been involved in commercializing and launching rare disease products across the globe. We plan to continue to build our technical operations team as we move towards commercialization.
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Manufacturing Agreement with Patheon
In November 2019, we entered into a master manufacturing services agreement, or the Manufacturing Agreement, with Patheon, pursuant to which Patheon provides cGMP manufacturing, quality control, quality assurance, stability testing, packaging and related services to us. We have executed an initial product agreement under the Manufacturing Agreement, which covers AMX0035. The Manufacturing Agreement has an initial term ending in December 2025, and will automatically renew if there is a product agreement in effect, with the renewal period ending upon the termination of the last product agreement in effect. The product agreement covering AMX0035 has an initial term ending in December 2025 and automatically renews for successive terms of two years, unless either party gives prior notice of its intent not to review.
We may terminate the Manufacturing Agreement or any product agreement: upon 30 days’ prior written notice if any government or regulatory authority permanently prevents us from selling AMX0035 in Canada, the EU or the United States, if approved, or upon 90 days’ prior written notice, if we no longer intend to order manufacturing services due to AMX035’s discontinuance in the market. Patheon may terminate any product agreement under the Manufacturing Agreement upon 30 days’ prior written notice, if we project zero volume for twelve successive months during the term of such product agreement. Additionally, Patheon may terminate the Manufacturing Agreement or any product agreement if payment in full of any overdue, undisputed invoice is not received within 30 days of Patheon’s suspension of manufacturing services for nonpayment or, in certain circumstances, upon nine months’ prior written notice if we assign any rights under the Manufacturing Agreement or a product agreement. In addition, either party may terminate the Manufacturing Agreement or any product agreement for cause, including the other party’s uncured material breach and upon written notice, in the case of the other party’s insolvency or bankruptcy.
Supply Agreement with CU Chemie
In October 2019, we entered into a supply agreement with CU Chemie Uetikon, GmbH, or CU Chemie, a division of the SEQENS group, pursuant to which CU Chemie agreed to supply to us, on a non-exclusive basis, bulk drug substance of PB, for use in the manufacture of AMX0035. The agreement has an initial term of five years and will automatically renew for successive terms of two years, unless earlier terminated. After the expiration of the initial term, either party may terminate the agreement for convenience upon three months’ prior written notice. Additionally, either party may terminate the agreement in the case of the other party’s uncured material breach or upon the insolvency or bankruptcy of the other party.
Supply Agreement with ICE
In December 2019, we entered into a supply agreement with Prodotti Chimici e Alimentari S.p.A. (now ICE S.p.A., or ICE), as amended in July 2021, pursuant to which ICE agreed to supply to us, on a non-exclusive basis, bulk drug substance of TURSO, which we use in the manufacture of AMX0035. The agreement has an initial term of five years and will automatically renew for successive terms of five years, unless earlier terminated. ICE may terminate the agreement upon three months written notice. Additionally, either party may terminate the agreement in the case of the other party’s insolvency or bankruptcy, or in case of the other party’s uncured breach.
Intellectual Property
Intellectual property is of vital importance in our field and to pharmaceuticals generally. Our commercial success depends in part on our ability to obtain intellectual property that protects AMX0035 and its uses, and any future product candidates. We seek to protect and enhance proprietary technology, inventions and improvements that are commercially important to the development of our business and AMX0035, in particular, by seeking, maintaining and defending U.S. and foreign patent rights.
We are actively building our intellectual property portfolio in our therapeutic area, including around AMX0035. Our current patent portfolio as of the date of this filling includes three patent families. In those three families, we currently own a total of 79 issued patents and pending patent applications directed to our technologies, including AMX0035. Currently, our patent portfolio includes four issued U.S. patents, 47 issued foreign patents, 14 pending U.S. patent applications and 14 pending foreign patent applications. Our issued patents and pending applications cover the relative amounts of a phenylbutyrate compound and a bile acid (such as TUDCA) and some of our issued and pending claims cover the specific ratio of those two drugs.
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Our earliest in time patent family relates to compositions of a bile acid and a phenylbutyrate compound (including TURSO and 4-PBA) and methods of treating neurodegenerative disease, and its associated causes at a cellular level, using those compositions. This family includes four issued U.S. patents and 47 issued foreign patents (including rights in countries in which our issued European patent was validated). The foreign jurisdictions in which we have been issued patents include Albania, Austria, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Latvia, Macao, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and United Kingdom. We also have patent applications pending in Australia, Canada, China, European Union, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and the United States. In this family, we have composition of matter claims issued in the United States (U.S. Patent No. 11,071,742, which was issued on July 27, 2021) and Australia, and pending in applications filed in China and Hong Kong. These issued patents and others that issue from this family may first begin to expire as early as December 2033.
Our second patent family is directed to specific compositions of a phenylbutyrate compound and a bile acid (including TURSO and 4-PBA) and methods of manufacturing those compositions. We have patent applications pending in this family in the United States, Argentina and Taiwan, as well as a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application. In this family, we have composition of matter claims pending in applications filed in the United States, Argentina, and Taiwan. Although no patents have yet issued from this family, we expect the term on patents issuing from this family to extend until at least July 2040.
Our third patent family is directed to methods of treating particular symptoms of ALS and/or reducing the associated adverse events with combinations of a phenylbutyrate compound and a bile acid (including TURSO and 4-PBA). We have patent applications pending in this family in the United States and Taiwan, as well as a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application. Currently, we do not have any composition of matter claims pending in this family. Although no patents have yet issued from this family, we expect the term on patents issuing from this family to extend until at least August 2040.
We cannot be sure that patents will be granted with respect to any of our pending patent applications nor with respect to any patent applications that may be filed by us in the future. Further, we cannot be sure that any of our existing patents or any patents that may be granted to us in the future will be commercially useful in protecting our commercial products. Finally, we cannot be sure that our granted patents, and any future patents granted to us, will be found valid and/or enforceable following a litigation or administrative procedure.
In January 2021, Bruschettini S.r.l. and Lederer & Keller Patentanwälte Partnerschaft mbB each filed oppositions at the European Patent Office to our issued European Patent, EP2978419. At a high level, this patent claims various methods of treating neurodegenerative disease (and or the causes or conditions thereof) with a bile acid and a phenylbutyrate compound. The opponents contend that the patent should be revoked in its entirety on various grounds, including for allegedly having an insufficient disclosure and for lack of inventive step. The EPO has issued a preliminary opinion dated October 13, 2021, and a summon to attend oral proceedings (also dated October 13, 2021) that sets a date of June 2, 2022 for the oral proceedings. While we believe that this opposition lacks merit, the Opposition Board could revoke our patent in its entirety or limit the scope of our issued claims.
The term of individual patents depends upon the legal term of the patents in the countries in which they are obtained. In most countries in which we file, the patent term is 20 years from the date of filing of the first non-provisional application to which priority is claimed. In the United States, patent term may be lengthened by patent term adjustment, which compensates a patentee for administrative delays by the United States Patent and Trademark Office in granting a patent, or may be shortened if a patent is terminally disclaimed over an earlier-filed patent. In the United States, the term of a patent that covers an FDA-approved drug may also be eligible for a patent term extension of up to five years under the Hatch-Waxman Act, which is designed to compensate for the patent term lost during the FDA regulatory review process. The length of the patent term extension is calculated based on the length of time it takes for regulatory review. A patent term extension under the Hatch-Waxman Act cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the date of product approval and only one patent applicable to an approved drug may be extended. Moreover, a patent can only be extended once, and thus, if a single patent is applicable to multiple products, it can only be extended based on one product. Similar provisions are available in Europe and certain other foreign jurisdictions to extend the term of a patent that covers an approved drug. When possible, depending upon the length of clinical trials and other factors involved in the submission of an NDA, we expect to apply for patent term extensions for patents covering our product candidates and/or their methods of use.
We also rely on trademarks, trade secrets, know-how, continuing technological innovation, confidentiality agreements, and invention assignment agreements to develop and maintain our proprietary position. The confidentiality
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agreements are designed to protect our proprietary information and the invention assignment agreements are designed to grant us ownership of technologies that are developed for us by our employees, consultants, or other third parties. We seek to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our data and trade secrets by maintaining physical security of our premises and physical and electronic security of our information technology systems. While we have confidence in our agreements and security measures, either may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies. In addition, our trade secrets may otherwise become known or independently discovered by competitors.
Our commercial success also depends in part on our ability to operate without infringing on the proprietary rights of others and to prevent others from infringing our proprietary rights. A comprehensive discussion on risks relating to intellectual property is provided in Item 1A of this Annual Report entitled “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property.”
We have conducted searches of the patent landscape at certain points and in certain jurisdictions with respect to AMX0035, and based on these searches and our analyses, we have not identified any issued patents that we believe are valid and could be successfully asserted to block our ability to commercialize AMX0035.
European Patent EP3016654, entitled “Tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) for Use in the Treatment of Neurodegenerative Disorders,” is owned by Bruschettini S.r.l. The patent relates to use of TURSO in the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in a mammal. An opposition has been filed to the grant of EP3016654 at the European Patent Office (EPO), asking the EPO to revoke EP3016654. The EPO issued a preliminary opinion on November 18, 2019 finding that at least the main claim of EP3016654 lacked novelty. Oral proceedings were held before an Opposition Division of the EPO on June 11, 2021. At the end of the oral proceedings, the Opposition Division announced the decision revoking all claims of EP3016654. A written decision has been issued; however Bruschettini has appealed the decision of the Opposition Division to the Board of Appeal.
Government Regulation
The FDA and comparable regulatory authorities in state and local jurisdictions and in other countries, including Canada and member states of the European Union, or EU, impose requirements upon companies involved in the clinical development, manufacture, marketing and distribution of drugs, such as those we are developing. These agencies and other federal, state and local entities regulate, among other things, the research and development, testing, manufacture, quality control, safety, effectiveness, labeling, storage, record keeping, approval, advertising and promotion, distribution, post-approval monitoring and reporting, sampling and export and import of our product candidates.
U.S. Government Regulation of Drug Products
In the United States, the FDA regulates drugs under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA, and its implementing regulations. The process of obtaining regulatory approvals and the subsequent compliance with applicable federal, state, local and foreign statutes and regulations requires the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources. Failure to comply with the applicable U.S. requirements at any time during the product development process, approval process or after approval, may subject an applicant to a variety of administrative or judicial sanctions, such as the FDA’s refusal to approve pending New Drug Applications, or NDAs, withdrawal of an approval, imposition of a clinical hold, issuance of warning letters, product recalls, product seizures, total or partial suspension of production or distribution, injunctions, fines, refusals of government contracts, restitution, disgorgement or civil or criminal penalties.
The process required by the FDA before a drug may be marketed in the United States generally involves the following:
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Completion of preclinical laboratory tests, animal studies and formulation studies in compliance with the FDA’s good laboratory practice, or GLP, regulations;
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Submission to the FDA of an IND application, which must become effective before human clinical trials may begin;
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Approval by an independent IRB at each clinical site before each trial may be initiated;
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Performance of adequate and well-controlled human clinical trials in accordance with current Good Clinical Practices, or cGCP, requirements to establish the safety and efficacy of the proposed drug product for each indication;
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Submission to the FDA of an NDA, including payment of application user fees;
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A determination by the FDA within 60 days of its receipt of an NDA to accept the marketing application for review;
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Satisfactory completion of an FDA advisory committee review, if applicable;
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Satisfactory completion of an FDA inspection of the manufacturing facility or facilities at which the product is produced to assess compliance with current good manufacturing practice, or cGMP, requirements and to assure that the facilities, methods and controls are adequate to preserve the product’s identity, strength, quality and purity;
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Satisfactory completion of FDA audits of clinical trial sites to assure compliance with cGCPs and the integrity of the clinical data; and
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FDA review and approval of the NDA.
Preclinical Studies
Preclinical studies include laboratory evaluation of product chemistry, toxicity and formulation, as well as in vitro and animal studies to assess potential safety and efficacy. The conduct of preclinical studies is subject to federal regulations and requirements, including good laboratory practice regulations for safety/toxicology studies.
An IND sponsor must submit the results of the preclinical tests, together with manufacturing information, analytical data and any available clinical data or literature and plans for clinical studies, among other things, to the FDA as part of an IND. An IND is a request for authorization from the FDA to administer an investigational product to humans and must become effective before human clinical trials may begin. Some preclinical testing, such as animal tests of reproductive adverse events and carcinogenicity, may continue even 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 clinical trial on a clinical hold. In such a case, the IND sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns before the clinical trial can begin. As a result, submission of an IND may not result in the FDA allowing clinical trials to initiate.
Clinical Trials
Clinical trials involve the administration of the investigational new drug to human subjects under the supervision of qualified investigators in accordance with cGCP requirements, which include the requirement that all research subjects provide their informed consent in writing for their participation in any clinical trial. Clinical trials are conducted under protocols detailing, among other things, the objectives of the trial, the parameters to be used in monitoring safety, and the effectiveness criteria to be evaluated. A protocol for each clinical trial and any subsequent protocol amendments must be submitted to the FDA as part of the IND. In addition, an IRB representing each institution participating in the clinical trial must review and approve the plan for any clinical trial before it is initiated at that institution. The IRB also must review and approve the informed consent form that must be provided to each clinical trial subject or his or her legal representative, and must monitor the clinical trial until completion.
Information about certain clinical trials must be submitted within specific timeframes to the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, for public dissemination on their www.clinicaltrials.gov website. Information related to the product, patient population, phase of investigation, study sites and investigators and other aspects of the clinical trial is made public as part of the registration of the clinical trial. Although sponsors are obligated to disclose the results of their clinical trials after completion, disclosure of the results can be delayed in some cases for up to two years after the date of completion of the trial. Failure to timely register a covered clinical study or to submit study results as provided for in the law can give rise to civil monetary penalties and also prevent the non-compliant party from receiving future grant funds from the federal government. The NIH’s Final Rule on ClinicalTrials.gov registration and reporting requirements became effective in 2017, and both the NIH and FDA recently signaled the government’s willingness to begin enforcing those requirements against non-compliant clinical trial sponsors.
Human clinical trials are typically conducted in three sequential phases, which may overlap or be combined:
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Phase 1: The drug is initially introduced into healthy human subjects or patients with the target disease or condition and tested for safety, dosage tolerance, absorption, metabolism, distribution, excretion and, if possible, to gain an early indication of its effectiveness.
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Phase 2: The drug is administered to a limited patient population to identify possible adverse effects and safety risks, to preliminarily evaluate the efficacy of the product for specific targeted diseases and to determine dosage tolerance and optimal dosage.
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Phase 3: The drug is administered to an expanded patient population, generally at geographically dispersed clinical trial sites, in well-controlled clinical trials to generate enough data to statistically evaluate the efficacy and safety of the product for approval, to establish the overall risk-benefit profile of the product, and to provide adequate information for the labeling of the product.
Post-approval trials, sometimes referred to as Phase 4 clinical trials, may be conducted after initial marketing approval. These 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 on an NDA.
Progress reports detailing the results of the clinical trials must be submitted at least annually to the FDA and more frequently if SAEs occur. Written IND safety reports must be submitted to the FDA and investigators for serious and unexpected suspected adverse events, findings from other studies or animal or in vitro testing that suggest a significant risk for human subjects and any clinically important increase in the rate of a serious suspected adverse reaction over that listed in the protocol or investigator brochure. The sponsor must submit an IND safety report within 15 calendar days after the sponsor determines that the information qualifies for reporting. The sponsor also must notify the FDA of any unexpected fatal or life-threatening suspected adverse reaction within seven calendar days after the sponsor’s initial receipt of the information.
Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials may not be completed successfully within any specified period, or at all. Furthermore, the FDA or the sponsor may suspend or terminate a clinical trial at any time on various grounds, including a finding that the research subjects are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk. Similarly, an IRB can suspend or terminate approval of a clinical trial at its institution if the clinical trial is not being conducted in accordance with the IRB’s requirements or if the drug has been associated with unexpected serious harm to patients. Additionally, some clinical trials are overseen by an independent group of qualified experts organized by the clinical trial sponsor, known as a data safety monitoring board or committee. This group provides authorization for whether a trial may move forward at designated check points based on access to certain data from the trial.
Concurrent with clinical trials, companies usually complete additional animal studies and also must develop additional information about the chemistry and physical characteristics of the drug as well as finalize a process for manufacturing the product in commercial quantities in accordance with cGMP requirements. The manufacturing process must be capable of consistently producing quality batches of product and, among other things, companies must develop methods for testing the identity, strength, quality and purity of the final product. Additionally, appropriate packaging must be selected and tested and stability studies must be conducted to demonstrate that the drug does not undergo unacceptable deterioration over its shelf life.
Expanded Access to an Investigational Drug for Treatment Use
Expanded access, sometimes called “compassionate use,” is the use of investigational products outside of clinical trials to treat patients with serious or immediately life-threatening diseases or conditions when there are no comparable or satisfactory alternative treatment options. The rules and regulations related to expanded access are intended to improve access to investigational products for patients who may benefit from investigational therapies. FDA regulations allow access to investigational products under an IND by the company or the treating physician for treatment purposes on a case-by-case basis for: individual patients (single-patient IND applications for treatment in emergency settings and non-emergency settings); intermediate-size patient populations; and larger populations for use of the investigational product under a treatment protocol or treatment IND application.
When considering an IND application for expanded access to an investigational product with the purpose of treating a patient or a group of patients, the sponsor and treating physicians or investigators will determine suitability when all of the following criteria apply: patient(s) have a serious or immediately life-threatening disease or condition, and there is no comparable or satisfactory alternative therapy to diagnose, monitor, or treat the disease or condition; the potential patient benefit justifies the potential risks of the treatment and the potential risks are not unreasonable in the context or condition to be treated; and the expanded use of the investigational drug for the requested treatment will not interfere with initiation,
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conduct, or completion of clinical investigations that could support marketing approval of the product or otherwise compromise the potential development of the product.
There is no obligation for a sponsor to make its drug products available for expanded access; however, as required by the 21st Century Cures Act, or Cures Act, passed in 2016, if a sponsor has a policy regarding how it responds to expanded access requests, it must make that policy publicly available. Sponsors are required to make such policies publicly available upon the earlier of initiation of a Phase 2 or Phase 3 trial; or 15 days after the investigational drug or biologic receives designation as a breakthrough therapy, fast track product, or regenerative medicine advanced therapy.
In addition, on May 30, 2018, the Right to Try Act was signed into law. The law, among other things, provides a federal framework for certain patients to access certain investigational products that have completed a Phase 1 clinical trial and that are undergoing investigation for FDA approval. Under certain circumstances, eligible patients can seek treatment without enrolling in clinical trials and without obtaining FDA permission under FDA expanded access program. There is no obligation for a manufacturer to make its investigational products available to eligible patients as a result of the Right to Try Act.
Combination Rule for Fixed-Dose Combination Products
Under the combination rule, the FDA may not file or approve an NDA for a fixed-dose combination product unless each component of a proposed drug product is shown to make a contribution to the claimed effects and the dosage of each component (amount, frequency, duration) is safe and effective for the intended population. To satisfy these requirements, the FDA typically requires a clinical factorial study, designed to assess the effects attributable to each drug in the combination product. This is particularly true when the ingredients are directed at the same sign or symptom of the disease or condition.
The FDA has accepted a variety of approaches to satisfy the combination rule. In December 2015, the FDA proposed regulations that would allow the agency to waive the requirements of the combination rule for certain drug products under particular circumstances. The FDA has not, to date, finalized these regulations, but the FDA has stated that factorial studies may be unethical (e.g., omitting a drug known to improve survival) or impractical (there may be too many components to conduct a factorial study, meaning the trial cannot be conducted). The FDA has also stated that it may be possible to use other types of clinical and nonclinical data and mechanistic information available to demonstrate the contributions of the individual active ingredients to the effect of the combination.
Similar requirements may be imposed on us by the EMA in the EU and comparable regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions. While no similar combination rule formally exists in Canada, Health Canada may consider the contributions of each component in a combination product in connection with review of the NDS.
NDA Submission and Marketing Approval
Assuming successful completion of the required clinical testing, the results of the preclinical and clinical studies, together with detailed information relating to the product’s chemistry, manufacture, controls and proposed labeling, among other things, are submitted to the FDA as part of an NDA requesting approval to market the product for one or more indications. In most cases, the submission of an NDA is subject to a substantial application user fee. The FDA will initially review an NDA for completeness before it accepts it for “filing.” Under the FDA’s procedures, the agency has 60 days from its receipt of the NDA to determine whether the application will be accepted for filing based on the agency’s threshold determination that the application is sufficiently complete to permit substantive review. Under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, or PDUFA, guidelines that are currently in effect, the FDA has a goal of ten months from the date of “filing” of a standard NDA, for a new molecular entity to review and act on the submission, and six months from the filing date of a new molecular entity NDA with priority review. Accordingly, this review process typically takes 12 months and eight months, respectively from the date the NDA is submitted to the FDA. The FDA does not always meet its PDUFA goal dates for standard or priority NDAs, and the review process is often extended by FDA requests for additional information or clarification. The FDA reviews an NDA to determine, among other things, whether the drug is safe and effective and whether the facility in which it is manufactured, processed, packaged or held meets standards designed to assure the product’s continued safety, quality and purity.
In addition, under the Pediatric Research Equity Act of 2003, or PREA, as amended, certain NDAs or supplements to an NDA must contain data that are adequate to assess the safety and effectiveness of the drug for the claimed indications in all relevant pediatric subpopulations, and to support dosing and administration for each pediatric subpopulation for which the
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product is safe and effective. The FDA may, on its own initiative or at the request of the applicant, grant deferrals for submission of some or all pediatric data until after approval of the product for use in adults, or full or partial waivers from the pediatric data requirements. A sponsor who is planning to submit a marketing application for a drug that includes a new active ingredient, new indication, new dosage form, new dosing regimen or new route of administration must submit an initial Pediatric Study Plan, or PSP, within 60 days of an end-of-Phase 2 meeting or, if there is no such meeting, as early as practicable before initiation of the Phase 3 or Phase 2/3 study. The initial PSP must include an outline of the pediatric study or studies that the sponsor plans to conduct, including study objectives and design, age groups, relevant endpoints and statistical approach, or a justification for not including such detailed information, and any request for a deferral of pediatric assessments or a full or partial waiver of the requirement to provide data from pediatric studies along with supporting information. The FDA and the sponsor must reach an agreement on the PSP. A sponsor can submit amendments to an agreed-upon initial PSP at any time if changes to the pediatric plan need to be considered based on data collected from preclinical studies, early phase clinical trials and/or other clinical development programs.
The FDA conducts a preliminary review of all NDAs within the first 60 days after submission, before accepting them for filing, to determine whether they are sufficiently complete to permit substantive review. The FDA may request additional information rather than accept an NDA for filing. In this event, the application must be resubmitted with the additional information. The resubmitted application is also subject to review before the FDA accepts it for filing. Once the submission is accepted for filing, the FDA begins an in-depth substantive review. The FDA reviews an NDA to determine, among other things, whether the drug is safe and effective and whether the facility in which it is manufactured, processed, packaged or held meets standards designed to assure the product’s continued safety, quality and purity.
The FDA may refer an application for a novel drug or a drug that presents difficult questions of safety or efficacy to an advisory committee. An advisory committee is a panel of independent experts, including clinicians and other scientific experts, which reviews, evaluates and provides a recommendation as to whether the application should be approved and under what conditions. The FDA is not bound by the recommendations of an advisory committee, but it considers such recommendations carefully when making decisions.
The FDA also may require the submission of a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, or REMS, if it determines that a REMS is necessary to ensure that the benefits of the drug outweigh its risks and to assure the safe use of the drug. A REMS may include one or more elements, including medication guides, physician communication plans, patient package insert and/or elements to assure safe use, such as restricted distribution methods, patient registries or other risk minimization tools. The FDA determines the requirement for a REMS, as well as the specific REMS provisions, on a case-by-case basis. If the FDA concludes a REMS is needed, the sponsor of the NDA must submit a proposed REMS. The FDA will not approve the NDA without a REMS, if required.
Before approving an NDA, the FDA typically will inspect the facility or facilities where the product is manufactured. The FDA will not approve an application unless it determines that the manufacturing processes and facilities are in compliance with cGMP requirements and adequate to assure consistent production of the product within required specifications. Additionally, before approving an NDA, the FDA may inspect one or more clinical trial sites to assure compliance with cGCP requirements.
After evaluating the NDA and all related information, including the advisory committee recommendation, if any, and inspection reports regarding the manufacturing facilities and clinical trial sites, the FDA may issue an approval letter, or, in some cases, a Complete Response Letter. A Complete Response Letter generally contains a statement of specific conditions that must be met in order to secure final approval of the NDA and may require additional clinical or preclinical testing in order for FDA to reconsider the application. If a Complete Response Letter is issued, the applicant may either resubmit the NDA, addressing all of the deficiencies identified in the letter, or withdraw the application. Even with submission of this additional information, the FDA ultimately may decide that the application does not satisfy the regulatory criteria for approval. If and when those conditions have been met to the FDA’s satisfaction, the FDA will typically issue an approval letter. An approval letter authorizes commercial marketing of the drug with specific prescribing information for specific indications.
Even if the FDA approves a product, it may limit the approved indications for use of the product, require that contraindications, warnings or precautions be included in the product labeling, require that post-approval studies, including Phase 4 clinical trials, be conducted to further assess a drug’s safety after approval, require testing and surveillance programs to monitor the product after commercialization, or impose other conditions, including distribution and use restrictions or other risk management mechanisms under a REMS, which can materially affect the potential market and profitability of the product. The FDA may prevent or limit further marketing of a product based on the results of post-marketing studies or
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surveillance programs. After approval, some types of changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications, manufacturing changes, and additional labeling claims, are subject to further testing requirements and FDA review and approval.
Orphan Drug Designation and Exclusivity
Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may grant orphan designation to a drug product intended to treat a rare disease or condition, which is generally a disease or condition that affects either (i) fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States, or (ii) more than 200,000 individuals in the United States and for which there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making the product available in the United States for this type of disease or condition will be recovered from sales of the product. A company must request orphan drug designation before submitting an NDA. If the request is granted, the FDA will disclose the identity of the therapeutic agent and its potential use. Orphan drug designation does not convey any advantage in or shorten the duration of the regulatory review and approval process.
If a product with orphan status receives the first FDA approval for the disease or condition for which it has such designation or for a select indication or use within the rare disease or condition for which it was designated, the product is entitled to orphan product exclusivity. Orphan product exclusivity means that the FDA may not approve any other applications to market the same product for the same indication for seven years, except in certain limited circumstances. If a drug designated as an orphan drug ultimately receives marketing approval for an indication broader than what it was designated for, it may not be entitled to exclusivity. Orphan exclusivity will not bar approval of another product under certain circumstances, including if a subsequent product with the same active ingredient for the same indication is shown to be clinically superior to the approved product on the basis of greater efficacy or safety, or providing a major contribution to patient care, or if the company with orphan drug exclusivity is not able to meet market demand. Further, the FDA may approve more than one product for the same orphan indication or disease as long as the products contain different active ingredients. Moreover, competitors may receive approval of different products for the indication for which the orphan product has exclusivity or obtain approval for the same product but for a different indication for which the orphan drug has exclusivity. U.S. lawmakers have also recently raised the possibility that regulatory or legislative changes might need to be made to the Orphan Drug Act to foster competition. This includes the introduction of legislation that, if adopted into law, would require us to demonstrate to the FDA that AMX0035 would be economically unviable when facing competition to maintain our exclusivity.
Expedited Development and Priority Review Programs
The FDA maintains several programs intended to facilitate and expedite development and review of new drugs to address unmet medical needs in the treatment of serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions. These programs include Fast Track designation, Breakthrough Therapy designation, Priority Review and Accelerated Approval, and the purpose of these programs is to either expedite the development or review of important new drugs to get them to patients earlier than under standard FDA development and review procedures.
The FDA has a FastTrack program that is intended to expedite or facilitate the process for reviewing new drugs that meet certain criteria. Specifically, new drugs are eligible for Fast Track designation if they are intended to treat a serious or life threatening condition and preclinical or clinical data demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical needs for the condition. Fast Track designation applies to both the product and the specific indication for which it is being studied. The sponsor can request the FDA to designate the product for Fast Track status any time before receiving NDA approval, but ideally no later than the pre-NDA meeting. Fast Track designation provides increased opportunities for sponsor interactions with the FDA during preclinical and clinical development, in addition to the potential for rolling review once a marketing application is filed, meaning that the agency may review portions of the marketing application before the sponsor submits the complete application, as well as priority review, discussed below.
Additionally, a drug may be eligible for designation as a breakthrough therapy if the product is intended, alone or in combination with one or more other drugs or biologics, to treat a serious or life-threatening condition and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the product may demonstrate substantial improvement over currently approved therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints. The benefits of Breakthrough Therapy designation include the same benefits as Fast Track designation, plus intensive guidance from the FDA to ensure an efficient drug development program. A product may also be eligible for priority review if it treats a serious or life-threatening condition and, if approved, would provide a significant improvement in safety and effectiveness compared to available therapies. The FDA determines at the time that the marketing application is submitted, on a case-by-case basis, whether the proposed drug represents a significant improvement
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in treatment, prevention or diagnosis of disease when compared with other available therapies. The FDA will attempt to direct additional resources to the evaluation of an application for a new drug designated for priority review in an effort to facilitate the review and to shorten the FDA’s goal for taking action on an NDA for a new molecular entity from ten months to six months from the date of filing.
A product may also be eligible for accelerated approval if it treats a serious or life-threatening disease or condition, generally provides a meaningful advantage over available therapies and demonstrates an effect on a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit, or on a clinical endpoint that can be measured earlier than irreversible morbidity or mortality, or IMM, that is reasonably likely to predict an effect on IMM or other clinical benefit. As a condition of accelerated approval, the FDA requires that a sponsor perform adequate and well-controlled post-marketing clinical trials. If the FDA concludes that a drug shown to be effective can be safely used only if distribution or use is restricted, it will require such post-marketing restrictions, as it deems necessary to assure safe use of the product.
Even if a product 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. Fast Track designation, Breakthrough Therapy designation and Priority Review designation do not change the standards for approval, but may expedite the development or review process. Drugs granted accelerated approval also must meet the same statutory standards for safety and effectiveness as those granted traditional approval.
U.S. Non-Patent Exclusivity
Data exclusivity provisions under the FDCA can delay the submission or the approval of certain follow-on applications. The FDCA provides a five-year period of data exclusivity within the United States to the first applicant to gain approval of an NDA for a new chemical entity. A drug is a new chemical entity if the FDA has not previously approved any other new drug containing the same active moiety, which is the molecule or ion responsible for the action of the drug substance. During the exclusivity period, the FDA may not accept for review an Abbreviated New Drug Application, or ANDA, for a generic version of the drug or a 505(b)(2) NDA for another version of such drug where the applicant does not own or have a legal right of reference to all the data required for approval. However, such a follow-on application may be submitted after four years if it contains a certification of patent invalidity or non-infringement.
The FDA has previously taken the position that new chemical entity or NCE exclusivity is not available for fixed-dose combination products if one of the active moieties in the combination product had been previously approved in a drug product. In October 2014, however, the FDA reversed that position when it issued final guidance stating that an application for a fixed-dose combination product will be eligible for 5-year NCE exclusivity if it contains a drug substance with a single, new active moiety, even if the fixed-combination also contains a drug substance with a previously approved active moiety.
The FDCA also provides three years of market exclusivity for an NDA, 505(b)(2) 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 period covers only the conditions of use associated with the new clinical investigations and does not prohibit the FDA from approving follow-on applications that do not reference the protected clinical data. 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 preclinical studies and adequate and well-controlled clinical trials necessary to demonstrate safety and effectiveness.
Pediatric exclusivity is another type of regulatory market exclusivity in the United States. Pediatric exclusivity, if granted, adds six months to existing regulatory exclusivity periods or listed patents. This six-month exclusivity may be granted based on the voluntary completion of a pediatric trial in accordance with an FDA-issued “Written Request” for such a trial.
Post-approval Requirements
Drugs manufactured or distributed pursuant to FDA approvals are subject to pervasive and continuing regulation by the FDA, including, among other things, requirements relating to recordkeeping, periodic reporting, product sampling and distribution, advertising and promotion and reporting of adverse experiences with the product. After approval, most changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications or other labeling claims are subject to prior FDA review and approval. There are continuing, annual user fee requirements for any marketed products.
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The FDA may impose a number of post-approval requirements as a condition of approval of an NDA. For example, the FDA may require post-marketing testing, including Phase 4 clinical trials, and surveillance to further assess and monitor the product’s safety and effectiveness after commercialization.
FDA regulations require that products be manufactured in specific facilities and in accordance with cGMP regulations which require, among other things, quality control and quality assurance, the maintenance of records and documentation and the obligation to investigate and correct any deviations from cGMP. In addition, drug manufacturers and other entities involved in the manufacture and distribution of approved drugs are required to register their establishments with the FDA and state agencies, and are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and these state agencies for compliance with cGMP requirements. Manufacturers and other parties involved in the drug supply chain for prescription drug products must also comply with product tracking and tracing requirements and for notifying FDA of counterfeit, diverted, stolen and intentionally adulterated products or products that are otherwise unfit for distribution in the United States. Changes to the manufacturing process are strictly regulated and often require prior FDA approval before being implemented. FDA regulations also require investigation and correction of any deviations from cGMP requirements and impose reporting and documentation requirements upon the sponsor and any third-party manufacturers that the sponsor may decide to use. Accordingly, manufacturers must continue to expend time, money, and effort in the area of production and quality control to maintain cGMP compliance.
Once an approval of a drug is granted, the FDA may withdraw the approval if compliance with regulatory requirements and standards is not maintained or if problems occur after the product reaches the market. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with a product, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in mandatory revisions to the approved labeling to add new safety information; imposition of post-market studies or clinical trials to assess new safety risks; or imposition of distribution or other restrictions under a REMS program. Any of these limitations on approval or marketing could restrict the commercial promotion, distribution, prescription or dispensing of products. Other potential consequences include, among other things:
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Restrictions on the marketing or manufacturing of the product, complete withdrawal of the product from the market or product recalls;
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Fines, warning letters or holds on post-approval clinical trials;
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Refusal of the FDA to approve pending NDAs or supplements to approved NDAs, or suspension or withdrawal of product approvals;
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Product seizure or detention, or refusal to permit the import or export of products; and
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Injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.
The FDA strictly regulates marketing, labeling, advertising and promotion of products that are placed on the market. Drugs may be promoted by a manufacturer and any third parties acting on behalf of a manufacturer only for the approved indications and in a manner consistent with the approved label for the product. 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.
Other U.S. Healthcare Laws
Healthcare providers, physicians, and third-party payors will play a primary role in the recommendation and prescription of drug products for which we obtain marketing approval. Arrangements with third-party payors, healthcare providers and physicians, in connection with the clinical research, sales, marketing and promotion of products, once approved, and related activities, may expose a pharmaceutical manufacturer to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations. In the United States, these laws include, without limitation, state and federal anti-kickback, false claims, physician transparency, and patient data privacy and security laws and regulations, including but not limited to those described below:
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the Anti-Kickback Statute, or AKS, which makes it illegal for any person or entity, including a prescription drug manufacturer (or a party acting on its behalf) to knowingly and willfully solicit, receive, offer or pay any remuneration (including any kickback, bribe, or rebate), directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind, that is intended to induce or reward, referrals including the purchase, recommendation, order or prescription of a particular drug for which payment may be made under a federal healthcare program, such as the Medicare and
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Medicaid programs. The AKS has been interpreted to apply to arrangements between therapeutic product manufacturers on one hand and prescribers, purchasers, and formulary managers on the other. A person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation. Further, courts have found that if “one purpose” of remuneration is to induce referrals, the AKS is violated. In addition, the government may assert that a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the AKS constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the federal False Claims Act, or FCA;
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the federal civil and criminal false claims laws, including the FCA, which can be enforced by private citizens through “qui tam” or “whistleblower” actions, and civil monetary penalty laws, which impose criminal and civil penalties against individuals or entities for, among other things, knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, claims for payment or approval from Medicare, Medicaid, or other federal health care programs that are false or fraudulent; knowingly making or causing a false statement material to a false or fraudulent claim or an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to the federal government; or knowingly concealing or knowingly and improperly avoiding or decreasing such an obligation. Pharmaceutical and other healthcare companies have been, and continue to be, prosecuted under these laws, among other things, for allegedly providing free product to customers with the expectation that the customers would bill federal programs for the product and for causing false claims to be submitted because of the companies’ marketing of the product for unapproved, off-label, and thus generally non-reimbursable, uses. Similar to the AKS, a person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of these statutes or specific intent to violate them in order to have committed a violation.
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the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, which created additional federal criminal statutes that prohibit knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program or obtain, by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, any of the money or property owned by, or under the custody or control of, any healthcare benefit program, regardless of the payor (e.g., public or private) and knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up by any trick or device a material fact or making any materially false statements in connection with the delivery of, or payment for, healthcare benefits, items or services relating to healthcare matters. Like the AKS, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or the ACA, amended the intent standard for certain healthcare fraud statutes under HIPAA such that a person or entity no longer needs to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation;
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HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009, or HITECH, and their respective implementing regulations, which impose requirements on certain covered healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses as well as their respective business associates that perform services for them that involve the creation, use, receipt, maintenance or disclosure of individually identifiable health information, relating to the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information. HITECH also created four new tiers of civil monetary penalties, amended HIPAA to make civil and criminal penalties directly applicable to business associates, and gave state attorneys general new authority to file civil actions for damages or injunctions in federal courts to enforce HIPAA and seek attorneys’ fees and costs associated with pursuing federal civil actions;
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federal government price reporting laws, which require us to calculate and report complex pricing metrics in an accurate and timely manner to government programs;
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the federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act, created under the ACA, and its implementing regulations, which require manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics and medical supplies for which payment is available under Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program to report annually to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, under the Open Payments Program, information related to payments or other transfers of value made to physicians (defined to include doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors) and teaching hospitals, as well as ownership and investment interests held by physicians and their immediate family members. Effective January 1, 2022, these reporting obligations extend to include transfers of value made during the previous year to certain non-physician providers such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners; and
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analogous state and foreign laws and regulations, such as state and foreign anti-kickback, false claims, consumer protection and unfair competition laws which may apply to pharmaceutical business practices, including but not limited to, research, distribution, sales and marketing arrangements as well as submitting claims involving healthcare items or services reimbursed by any third-party payor, including commercial insurers; state laws that require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the pharmaceutical industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government that otherwise restricts payments that may be made to healthcare providers and other potential referral sources; state laws that require drug manufacturers to file reports with states regarding pricing and marketing information, such as the tracking and
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reporting of gifts, compensations and other remuneration and items of value provided to healthcare professionals and entities; state and local laws requiring the registration of pharmaceutical sales representatives; and state and foreign laws governing the privacy and security of health information in certain circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and may not have the same effect, thus complicating compliance efforts.
Because of the breadth of these laws and the narrowness of the statutory exceptions and regulatory safe harbors available, it is possible that some of a pharmaceutical manufacturer’s business activities could be subject to challenge under one or more of such laws. Efforts to ensure that business arrangements comply with applicable healthcare laws involve substantial costs. It is possible that governmental and enforcement authorities will conclude that a pharmaceutical manufacturer’s business practices do not comply with current or future statutes, regulations or case law interpreting applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations. If any such actions are instituted against a pharmaceutical manufacturer, and it is not successful in defending itself or asserting its rights, those actions could have a significant impact on its business, including the imposition of significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, disgorgement, imprisonment, monetary fines, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs, reporting obligations and oversight if we become subject to integrity and oversight agreements to resolve allegations of non-compliance, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, and curtailment of operations, any of which could adversely affect a pharmaceutical manufacturer’s ability to operate its business and the results of operations. In addition, commercialization of any drug product outside the United States will also likely be subject to foreign equivalents of the healthcare laws mentioned above, among other foreign laws.
In the United States, numerous federal and state laws and regulations, including state data breach notification laws, state and federal health information privacy laws, and federal and state consumer protection laws, govern the collection, use, disclosure, and protection of health-related and other personal information. For example California recently enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA, which creates new individual privacy rights for California consumers (as defined in the law) and places increased privacy and security obligations on entities handling personal data of consumers or households. The CCPA will require covered companies to provide certain disclosures to consumers about its data collection, use and sharing practices, and to provide affected California residents with ways to opt-out of certain sales or transfers of personal information. The CCPA went into effect on January 1, 2020, and the California State Attorney General has submitted various versions of final regulations. The California State Attorney General also now has the authority to commence enforcement actions against violators as of July 1, 2020. Further, a new California privacy law, the California Privacy Rights Act, or CPRA, was passed by California voters on November 3, 2020. The CPRA will create additional obligations with respect to processing and storing personal information that are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2023 (with certain provisions having retroactive effect to January 1, 2022). We will continue to monitor developments related to the CPRA and anticipate additional costs and expenses associated with CPRA compliance. Other U.S. states also are considering omnibus privacy legislation (with one additional law already passed in Colorado and Virginia) and industry organizations regularly adopt and advocate for new standards in these areas. While the CCPA and CPRA contain an exception for certain activities involving PHI under HIPAA, we cannot yet determine the impact the CCPA, CPRA or other such future laws, regulations and standards may have on our business, as these laws either do not yet apply to us or are not yet in effect.
In the event we decide to conduct clinical trials or continue to enroll subjects in our ongoing or future clinical trials, we may be subject to additional privacy restrictions, under state and federal law or other obligations. We also may become subject to laws in other countries, including the General Data Protection Regulation in Europe.
Current and Future U.S. Healthcare Reform Legislation
Payors, whether domestic or foreign, or governmental or private, are developing increasingly sophisticated methods of controlling healthcare costs and those methods are not always specifically adapted for new technologies such as gene therapy and therapies addressing rare diseases such as those we are developing. In both the United States and certain foreign jurisdictions, there have been a number of legislative and regulatory changes to the health care system that could impact our ability to sell our products profitably. In particular, in 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, or collectively, the ACA, was enacted, which, among other things, subjected biologic products to potential competition by lower-cost biosimilars; addressed a new methodology by which rebates owed by manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program are calculated for drugs that are inhaled, infused, instilled, implanted or injected; increased the minimum Medicaid rebates owed by most manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program; extended the Medicaid Drug Rebate program to utilization of prescriptions of individuals enrolled in Medicaid managed care organizations; subjected manufacturers to new annual fees and taxes for certain branded prescription drugs; created a new Medicare Part D coverage gap discount program, in which manufacturers must agree to
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offer 50% (increased to 70% pursuant to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, effective as of January 1, 2019) point-of-sale discounts off negotiated prices of applicable brand drugs to eligible beneficiaries during their coverage gap period, as a condition for the manufacturer’s outpatient drugs to be covered under Medicare Part D; and provided incentives to programs that increase the federal government’s comparative effectiveness research.
Since its enactment, there have been numerous judicial, administrative, executive, and legislative challenges to certain aspects of the ACA. On June 17, 2021, the Supreme Court dismissed the most recent judicial challenge to the ACA brought by several states without specifically ruling on the constitutionality of the ACA. Prior to the Supreme Court’s decision, President Biden issued an Executive Order to initiate a special enrollment period from February 15, 2021 through August 15, 2021 for purposes of obtaining health insurance coverage through the ACA marketplace. The Executive Order also instructed certain governmental agencies to review and reconsider their existing policies and rules that limit access to healthcare, including among others, reexamining Medicaid demonstration projects and waiver programs that include work requirements, and policies that create unnecessary barriers to obtaining access to health insurance coverage through Medicaid or the ACA. It is unclear how other healthcare reform measures of the Biden administrations or other efforts, if any, to challenge repeal or replace the ACA, will impact our business.
In addition, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted in the United States since the ACA was enacted:
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On August 2, 2011, the U.S. Budget Control Act of 2011, among other things, included aggregate reductions of Medicare payments to providers of 2% per fiscal year. These reductions went into effect on April 1, 2013 and, due to subsequent legislative amendments to the statute, will remain in effect through 2030, with the exception of a temporary suspension from May 1, 2020 through March 31, 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the temporary suspension, a 1% payment reduction will occur beginning April 1, 2022 through June 30, 2022, and the 2% payment reduction will resume on July 1, 2022.
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On January 2, 2013, the U.S. American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 was signed into law, which, among other things, further reduced Medicare payments to several types of providers.
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On April 13, 2017, CMS published a final rule that gives states greater flexibility in setting benchmarks for insurers in the individual and small group marketplaces, which may have the effect of relaxing the essential health benefits required under the ACA for plans sold through such marketplaces.
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On May 30, 2018, the Right to Try Act, was signed into law. The law, among other things, provides a federal framework for certain patients to access certain investigational new drug products that have completed a Phase 1 clinical trial and that are undergoing investigation for FDA approval. Under certain circumstances, eligible patients can seek treatment without enrolling in clinical trials and without obtaining FDA permission under the FDA expanded access program. There is no obligation for a pharmaceutical manufacturer to make its drug products available to eligible patients as a result of the Right to Try Act.
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On May 23, 2019, CMS published a final rule to allow Medicare Advantage Plans the option of using step therapy for Part B drugs beginning January 1, 2020.
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On December 20, 2019, former President Trump signed into law the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 1865), which repealed the Cadillac tax, the health insurance provider tax, and the medical device excise tax. It is impossible to determine whether similar taxes could be instated in the future.
Additionally, there has been heightened governmental scrutiny in the United States of pharmaceutical pricing practices in light of the rising cost of prescription drugs and biologics. At a federal level, President Biden signed an Executive Order on July 9, 2021 affirming the administration’s policy to (i) support legislative reforms that would lower the prices of prescription drug and biologics, including by allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, by imposing inflation caps, and, by supporting the development and market entry of lower-cost generic drugs and biosimilars; and (ii) support the enactment of a
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