Item 1A. RISK FACTORS
You should carefully consider the risks described below in addition to the other information set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including the Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations section and the consolidated financial statements and related notes. These risks, some of which have occurred and any of which may occur in the future, can have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or the price of our publicly traded securities. The risks described below are not the only risks we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us, or that we currently deem to be immaterial, may occur or become material in the future and adversely affect our business, reputation, financial condition, results of operations or the price of our publicly traded securities. Therefore, historical operating results, financial and business performance, events and trends are often not a reliable indicator of future operating results, financial and business performance, events or trends. If any of the following risks occurs, our business, financial condition, and results of operations and future growth prospects could be materially and adversely affected.
Summary of Risk Factors
Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those highlighted in this section, that represent challenges we face in our efforts to successfully implement our strategy. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in more detail below, alone or in combination with other events or circumstances, may have an adverse effect on our business, cash flows, financial condition and results of operations. Many of the risks facing us are summarized briefly below and, along with additional risk factors set forth in this Item 1A, are described in more detail in the discussion following this summary. For a more complete understanding of the risks and uncertainties we face, Item 1A should be read in its entirety, together with the other information presented in this Form 10-K.
Risks Related to Our Financial Position and Need for Additional Capital
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Risks Related to Development and Commercialization of Our Drug Candidates
Risks Related to Legal Proceedings
Risks Related to Our Dependence on Third Parties
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property Rights
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Risks Related to Obtaining Required Regulatory Approvals and Licensure
Risks Related to Healthcare Laws and Other Legal Compliance Matters
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
Risks Related to Our Financial Position and Need for Additional Capital
Our auditors have issued a going concern opinion, and we will not be able to achieve our objectives and will have to cease operations if we cannot find adequate financing.
Our auditors issued an opinion, which includes a going concern exception, in connection with the audit of our annual financial statements for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2021. A going concern exception to an audit opinion means that there is substantial doubt that we can continue as an ongoing business for the next 12 months. If we are unable to continue as a going concern, we might have to liquidate our assets and the values we receive for our assets in liquidation or dissolution could be significantly lower than the values reflected in our financial statements. In addition, the inclusion of an explanatory paragraph regarding substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern and our lack of cash resources may materially adversely affect our share price and our ability to raise new capital or to enter into critical contractual relations with third parties. There is no assurance that we will be able to adequately fund our operations in the future.
We are a clinical stage biotechnology company with a history of significant operating losses; we expect to continue to incur operating losses, and we may never achieve, let alone maintain, profitability.
We have not generated significant revenue from product sales, licensing, or other potential sales to date. Since our inception, we have incurred operating losses in each year due to costs incurred for research and development activities and general and administrative expenses related to our operations. Our current drug candidate, leronlimab, is in various stages of clinical trials for multiple indications. We expect to incur losses for the foreseeable future, with no or only minimal revenues as we continue development of, and seek regulatory approvals for, leronlimab. If leronlimab fails to gain regulatory approval, or if it or other drug or biologic candidates we may acquire or license in the future do not achieve approval or market acceptance, we will not be able to generate significant revenue, or explore other opportunities to enhance stockholder value, such as through a sale. If we fail to generate revenue and eventually become and remain profitable, or if we are unable to fund our continuing operations, our stockholders could lose all or a portion of their investments.
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Since our inception, we have been insolvent and have required debt and equity financing to maintain operations.
Since our inception, we have not achieved cash flows from revenues sufficient to cover basic operating costs. As a result, we have relied heavily on debt and equity financing. Equity financing, including securities convertible into equity, in particular has created a dilutive effect on our common stock, which has hampered our ability to attract reasonable financing terms. Issuances of additional equity or convertible debt securities will continue to reduce the percentage ownership of our then-existing stockholders. We may also be required to grant potential investors new securities rights, preferences or privileges senior to those possessed by our then-existing stockholders in order to induce them to invest in our company. The issuance of these senior securities may adversely affect the holders of our common stock by restricting our ability to declare dividends on the common stock, diluting the voting power of the common stock and subordinating the liquidation rights of the common stock. As a result of these and other factors, the issuance of additional equity or convertible debt securities may have an adverse impact on the market price of our common stock. For the foreseeable future, we will be required to continue to rely on debt and equity financing to maintain our operations.
We will need substantial additional funding to continue to pursue our BLA submission for leronlimab as a combination therapy with HAART for HIV patients, to complete our current and planned clinical trials, to fund development of leronlimab for additional indications, and to operate our business, and such funding may not be available or, if it is available, such financing is likely to substantially dilute our existing stockholders.
The discovery, development, and commercialization of new treatments, such as our leronlimab product candidate, entail significant costs. In addition, to the extent we pursue further development and clinical trials of leronlimab for indications in addition to HIV, including COVID-19, cancer, and immunological disorders, we will need to raise substantial additional capital, or enter into strategic partnerships, to enable us to:
• fund clinical trials and seek regulatory approvals
• access manufacturing and commercialization capabilities;
• develop, test, and, if approved, market leronlimab;
• acquire or license additional internal systems and other infrastructure;
• hire and support additional management and scientific personnel; and
• explore additional indications for leronlimab.
Until we can generate a sufficient amount of product revenue to finance our cash requirements, which we may never achieve, we expect to finance our cash needs primarily through public or private equity offerings, debt financings, or strategic alliances. We cannot be certain that additional funding will be available on acceptable terms or at all. If we are not able to secure additional funding when needed, we may have to delay, reduce the scope of, or eliminate one or more of our clinical trials, collaborative development programs, or future commercialization initiatives. In addition, any additional funding that we do obtain will dilute the ownership held by our existing security holders.
The amount of this dilution may be substantially increased if we issue new securities at a lower sale price or conversion or exercise price per share than prior financings. For example, the terms of certain of our convertible notes provide for full-ratchet anti-dilution protection, pursuant to which the conversion price of the convertible note will be automatically reduced to equal the effective price per share in any new offering by the Company of equity securities that have registration rights or have been or become registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended the, or the 1933 Act. Regardless, the economic dilution to stockholders will be significant if our stock price does not increase significantly, or if the effective price of any sale is below the price paid by a particular stockholder. Any debt financing could involve substantial restrictions on our activities or ability to obtain additional financing, and creditors could seek additional pledges of some or all of our assets. We do not have commitments from any third parties to provide any future financing. If we fail to obtain additional funding as needed, we may be forced to cease or scale back operations, such that our financial condition and stock price would be adversely affected.
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The amount of financing we require will depend on a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control. Our results of operations, financial condition and stock price are likely to be adversely affected if we are unable to obtain additional funding on similar or improved terms compared to previous financings.
Our future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including, but not limited to:
• our ability to manage administrative and other costs of our operations; and
If any of these factors cause our funding needs to be greater than expected, our ability to continue operations, financial condition, and stock price may be adversely affected.
Our future cash requirements may differ significantly from our current estimates.
Our cash requirements may differ significantly from our estimates from time to time, depending on a number of factors, including:
• the time and costs involved in obtaining regulatory approvals;
• the time and costs involved in our CMC activities;
• whether our outstanding convertible notes are converted into equity;
If we underestimate our cash requirements, we may need to raise additional funds, which funding may not be available on acceptable terms or at all. If we fail to raise additional funds on a timely basis, we may need to scale back our business plans, which may require us to delay, reduce the scope of, or eliminate one or more of our clinical trials, collaborative development programs, or future commercialization initiatives, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition, and stock price. If we deplete our cash reserves, we may even be forced to discontinue our operations and liquidate our assets.
Certain agreements and related license agreements require us to make significant milestone, royalty, and other payments, which will require additional financing and, in the event we do commercialize leronlimab, decrease the revenues we may ultimately receive on sales. To the extent that such milestone, royalty and other payments are not timely made, the counterparties to such agreements in certain cases have repurchase and termination rights thereunder with respect to leronlimab.
Under the Progenics Purchase Agreement, the PDL License and the Lonza Agreement, we must pay to Progenics, AbbVie and Lonza significant milestone payments, license fees for “system know-how” technology, and royalties. In
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order to make the various milestone and license payments that are required, we will need to raise additional funds. In addition, our royalty obligations will reduce the economic benefits to us of any future sales if we do receive regulatory approval and seek to commercialize leronlimab. To the extent that such milestone payments and royalties are not timely made, under their respective agreements, Progenics has certain repurchase rights relating to the assets sold to us, and AbbVie has certain termination rights relating to our license of leronlimab under the PDL License. For more information, see “Business—PRO 140 Acquisition and Licenses,” as well as the Progenics Purchase Agreement, the PDL License and the Lonza Agreement, each of which is incorporated by reference to Exhibits 2.1, 10.3, and 10.4, respectively, to this Form 10-K.
We have capitalized pre-launch inventories prior to receiving FDA marketing approval. If either FDA approval or market acceptance post-approval does not occur on a timely basis prior to shelf-life expiration, we will be required to write off pre-launch inventories, which would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and stock price.
Pre-launch inventories consist of costs of raw materials and work-in-progress related to our product candidate leronlimab. These costs have been capitalized prior to the date that we anticipate that such product will receive FDA final marketing approval. The BLA resubmission will require updating the previously provided analyses, which could result in significant delay in obtaining approval. If FDA approval is significantly delayed, the shelf-life of our pre-launch inventory may be limited, and the salability of our product may be affected. In addition, market acceptance of our product could fall short of our expectations, as a result of the introduction of a competing product, as a result of physicians being unwilling or unable to prescribe leronlimab to their patients, or if our target patient population is reluctant to try leronlimab as a new therapy. If any of these risks were to materialize with respect to our product, or if the launch of such product is significantly postponed, the salability of our pre-launch inventories would be adversely affected and may require write-off of the carrying value of our pre-launch inventories in amounts that could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
We are a development stage company, which may make it difficult for you to evaluate the success of our business to date and to assess our future viability.
Leronlimab in each indication is still in the development stage. We have not yet demonstrated our ability to obtain marketing approvals, manufacture a commercial scale medicine, or arrange for a third party to do so on our behalf, or conduct sales and marketing activities necessary for successful commercialization. Typically, it takes about 10 to 15 years to develop one new medicine from the time it is discovered to when it is available for treating patients. Pre-clinical studies and clinical trials may involve highly uncertain results and a high risk of failure. Consequently, any predictions you make about our future success or viability may not be as accurate as they could be if we had more experience developing and commercializing our product candidate. In addition, as a development stage business, we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other known and unknown factors. To be profitable, we will need to transition from a company with a research and development focus to a company capable of supporting commercial activities. We may not be successful in such a transition.
Risks Related to Development and Commercialization of Our Drug Candidate
We are substantially dependent on the success of leronlimab. If we are unable to complete the clinical development of, obtain and maintain marketing approval for or successfully commercialize leronlimab, either alone or with collaborators, or if we experience significant delays in doing so, our business could be substantially harmed.
We currently have no products approved for sale and are investing a significant portion of our efforts and financial resources in the development of leronlimab for marketing approval in the United States and potentially other countries. Our prospects are substantially dependent on our ability to develop, obtain marketing approval for and successfully commercialize leronlimab in the United States in one or more disease indications.
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The success of leronlimab will depend on a number of factors, including the following:
• successful design, enrollment and completion of clinical trials;
• a continued acceptable safety profile following any marketing approval;
• our ability to compete with other therapies.
Many of these factors are beyond our control. If we are unable to develop, receive marketing approval for and successfully commercialize leronlimab on our own or with our collaborators, or experience delays as a result of any of these factors or otherwise, our business could be substantially harmed.
The results of previous clinical trials may not be predictive of future results, and the results of our current and planned clinical trials may not satisfy the requirements of the FDA, EMA, Health Canada or other foreign regulatory authorities.
The process of obtaining approval of a drug product for use in humans is extremely lengthy and time-consuming, and numerous factors may prevent our successful development of leronlimab, including negative results in ongoing and future clinical trials, and inability to obtain sufficient additional funding to continue to pursue development. Our clinical trials may be unsuccessful, which would materially harm our business.
Further, the results from prior clinical trials of leronlimab may not be predictive of the results of future clinical trials or pre-clinical studies. Clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses, and many companies that believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in prior clinical trials nonetheless have failed to obtain FDA approval. For example, in February 2018, we announced that we had met the primary endpoint in our Phase 3 trial for leronlimab as a combination therapy with HAART for highly treatment-experienced HIV patients and submitted the non-clinical portion of our biologics license application, or BLA to the FDA in March 2019. We submitted to the FDA the clinical, along with the chemistry, manufacturing, and controls, or CMC, portions of the BLA in April and May of 2020. In July 2020, we received a Refusal to File letter from the FDA regarding our BLA submission requesting additional information. The development timeline and regulatory approval and commercialization prospects for leronlimab, including our business and financial prospects, could be adversely affected by unforeseen risks and events.
In addition, a regulatory authority may change its requirements for the approval of a product candidate even after reviewing and providing comments or advice on a protocol for a clinical trial that, if successful, would potentially form the basis for an application for approval by the FDA or another regulatory authority. The FDA may require us to procure the development of a companion diagnostic test to help identify patients who may be more likely to respond to leronlimab for certain uses. Furthermore, any of these regulatory authorities may also approve leronlimab for fewer or
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more limited indications than we request or may grant approval contingent on the performance of costly post-marketing clinical trials.
The FDA, EMA, Health Canada, ANVISA and other foreign regulatory authorities retain broad discretion in evaluating the results of our clinical trials and in determining whether the results demonstrate that leronlimab is safe and effective. If prior to approval, we are required to conduct additional pre-clinical studies, clinical trials or other types of testing of leronlimab, including after the completion of our current and planned later phase clinical trials, we will need substantial additional funds, and there is no assurance that the results of any such additional clinical trials will be sufficient for approval.
Pre-clinical studies and clinical trials of leronlimab or any future product candidate may not be successful. If we are unable to commercialize leronlimab or any future product candidate or experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be materially harmed.
We and any collaborators, including our partners and sublicensees, are not permitted to commercialize, market, promote or sell any product candidate in the United States without obtaining marketing approval from the FDA. Foreign regulatory authorities, such as the EMA, Health Canada, and ANVISA impose similar requirements. We and our collaborators must complete extensive pre-clinical development and clinical trials that demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our product candidate in humans before we can obtain these approvals.
Pre-clinical and clinical testing is expensive, is difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete and is inherently uncertain as to outcome. We cannot guarantee that any clinical trials will be conducted as planned or completed on schedule, if at all, particularly given that many of our clinical trial sites are research hospitals that have imposed restrictions on entry and other activity as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pre-clinical and clinical development of leronlimab or any future product candidate is susceptible to the risk of failure inherent at any stage of product development. Moreover, we, or any collaborators, may experience any of a number of possible unforeseen adverse events in connection with clinical trials, many of which are beyond our control, including:
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Product development costs for us and our collaborators will increase if we experience delays in testing or pursuing marketing approvals, and we may be required to obtain additional funds to complete clinical trials and prepare for possible commercialization. We do not know whether any trials will begin as planned, will need to be restructured, or will be completed on schedule or at all. Significant clinical trial delays also could shorten any periods during which we may have the exclusive right to commercialize our product candidate or allow our competitors to bring products to market before we do could impair our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidate and may harm our business and results of operations. In addition, many of the factors that lead to clinical trial delays may ultimately lead to the denial of marketing approval of our product candidate.
Interim top-line and preliminary data from our clinical trials that we announce or publish from time to time may change as more patient data become available and are subject to audit and verification procedures that could result in material changes in the final data. From time to time, we may publish interim top-line or preliminary data from our clinical trials.
Interim data from clinical trials that we may complete are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data become available. Preliminary or
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topline results also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the preliminary data we previously published. As a result, interim and preliminary data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available. Adverse differences between preliminary or interim data and final data could significantly harm our reputation and business prospects.
We may find it difficult to enroll patients in our clinical trials, which could delay or prevent clinical trials of our product candidates.
Identifying and qualifying patients to participate in clinical trials of leronlimab or any future product candidate is critical to our success. The timing of our clinical trials depends on the rate at which we can recruit patients to participate in testing our product candidate. If patients are unwilling to participate in our trials because of concerns about participating in clinical trials during the COVID-19 pandemic or other public health emergency, negative publicity from adverse events in the biotechnology industries, public perception of vaccine safety issues, or for other reasons, including competitive clinical trials for similar patient populations, the timeline for recruiting patients, conducting studies and obtaining regulatory approval of potential products may be delayed. These delays could result in increased costs, delays in advancing our product development, delays in testing the effectiveness of our technology, or termination of the clinical trials altogether.
We may not be able to identify, recruit and enroll a sufficient number of patients, or those with the required enrollment criteria, to complete our clinical trials in a timely manner. Patient enrollment is affected by several factors, including:
• severity of the disease under investigation;
• design of the trial protocol;
• size of the patient population;
• eligibility criteria for the trial in question;
• perceived risks and benefits of the product candidate being tested;
• proximity and availability of clinical trial sites for prospective patients;
• efforts to facilitate timely enrollment in clinical trials;
• patient referral practices of physicians; and
• ability to monitor patients adequately during and after treatment.
We may not be able to initiate or continue clinical trials if we cannot enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients to participate in the clinical trials required by regulatory agencies.
Even if we enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients to initiate our clinical trials, we may be unable to maintain participation of these patients throughout the course of the clinical trial as required by the clinical trial protocol, in which event we may be unable to use the research results from those patients. If we have difficulty enrolling and maintaining the enrollment of a sufficient number of patients to conduct our clinical trials as planned, we may need to delay, limit or terminate ongoing or planned clinical trials, any of which would have an adverse effect on our business.
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We are conducting, and intend in the future to conduct, clinical trials for our product candidates at sites outside the United States. The FDA may not accept data from trials conducted in such locations and the conduct of trials outside the United States could subject us to additional delays and expense.
We are conducting, and intend in the future to conduct, one or more of our clinical trials with one or more trial sites that are located outside the United States. Although the FDA may accept data from clinical trials conducted outside the United States, acceptance of these data is subject to certain conditions imposed by the FDA. For example, the clinical trial must be well designed and conducted and performed by qualified investigators in accordance with good clinical practice. The FDA must be able to validate the data from the trial through an onsite inspection if necessary. The trial population must also have a similar profile to the U.S. population, and the data must be applicable to the U.S. population and U.S. medical practice in ways that the FDA deems clinically meaningful, except to the extent the disease being studied does not typically occur in the United States. In addition, while these clinical trials are subject to the applicable local laws, FDA acceptance of the data will be dependent upon its determination that the trials also complied with all applicable U.S. laws and regulations. There can be no assurance that the FDA will accept data from trials conducted outside of the United States. If the FDA does not accept the data from any trial that we conduct outside the United States, it would likely result in the need for additional trials, which would be costly and time-consuming and delay or permanently halt our development of our product candidate.
In addition, the conduct of clinical trials outside the United States could have a significant adverse impact on us. Risks inherent in conducting international clinical trials include:
• foreign exchange rate fluctuations; and
• diminished protection of intellectual property in some countries.
We may not obtain marketing approvals for leronlimab.
We may not obtain marketing approval for leronlimab in the United States or other foreign jurisdictions. It is possible that the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory agencies may refuse to accept for substantive review any future application that we or a collaborator may submit to market and sell our product candidates, or that any such agency may conclude after review of our or our collaborator’s data that such application is insufficient to obtain marketing approval of our product candidate.
For example, in February 2018, we announced that we had met the primary endpoint in our Phase 3 trial for leronlimab as a combination therapy with HAART for highly treatment-experienced HIV patients and submitted the non-clinical portion of our BLA to the FDA in March 2019. We submitted to the FDA the clinical, along with the CMC portions of the BLA in April and May of 2020. In July 2020, we received a Refusal to File letter from the FDA regarding our BLA submission requesting additional information. In August and September 2020, the FDA provided written responses to our questions and met telephonically with certain of our key personnel and our CRO concerning our BLA submission in an effort to clarify and to expedite the resubmission of our BLA for this indication. The Company began to resubmit the BLA in July 2021 and is expected to be completed in October 2021.
If the FDA or other comparable foreign regulatory agency does not accept or approve our BLA for leronlimab or any application to market and sell leronlimab, such regulators may require that we conduct additional clinical trials, pre-clinical studies or manufacturing validation studies and submit that data before they will reconsider our application. Depending on the extent of these or any other required trials or studies, approval of any application that we submit may be delayed by several years, or may require us or our collaborator to expend more resources than we or they have available. It is also possible that additional trials or studies, if performed and completed, may not be considered sufficient by the FDA or other foreign regulatory agency to approve our applications for marketing and commercialization.
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Any delay in obtaining, or an inability to obtain, marketing approvals would prevent us or our collaborators from commercializing our product candidate and generating revenues. If any of these outcomes occur, we would not be eligible for certain milestone and royalty revenue under our partnership agreements, our collaborators could terminate our partnership agreements, and we may be forced to abandon our development efforts for our product candidates, any of which could significantly harm our business.
Even if leronlimab or a future product candidate receives marketing approval, we or others may later discover that the product is less effective than previously believed or causes undesirable side effects that were not previously identified, which could compromise our ability, or that of any collaborators, to market the product, and could cause regulatory authorities to take certain regulatory actions.
It is possible that our clinical trials may indicate an apparent positive effect of leronlimab or a future a product candidate that is greater than the actual positive effect, if any, or alternatively fail to identify undesirable side effects. If, following approval of leronlimab or such future product candidate, we, or others, discover that the product is less effective than previously believed or causes undesirable side effects that were not previously identified, any of the following adverse events could occur:
• we could be sued and held liable for harm caused to patients;
• physicians and patients may stop using our product; and
• our reputation may suffer.
Any of these events could harm our business and operations and could negatively impact our stock price.
Changes in methods of product candidate manufacturing or formulation may result in additional costs or delay.
As product candidates proceed through pre-clinical studies to late-stage clinical trials towards potential approval and commercialization, it is common that various aspects of the development activities, such as manufacturing methods and formulation, are altered along the way in an effort to optimize processes and results. Any of these changes could cause leronlimab or any future product candidates to perform differently and affect the results of planned clinical trials or other future clinical trials conducted with the materials manufactured using altered processes. Such changes may also require additional testing, including comparability testing to bridge earlier clinical data obtained from leronlimab produced under earlier manufacturing methods or formulations, and regulatory authorities may disagree on the interpretation of results from this testing. This could delay completion of clinical trials, require the conduct of bridging clinical trials or the repetition of one or more clinical trials, increase clinical trial costs, delay approval of leronlimab or any future product candidate and jeopardize our ability to commence sales and generate revenue.
Obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval of leronlimab or any future product candidates in one jurisdiction does not mean that we will be successful in obtaining regulatory approval of those product candidates in other jurisdictions.
Obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval of leronlimab and any future product candidates in one jurisdiction does not guarantee that we will be able to obtain or maintain regulatory approval in any other jurisdiction, while a failure or delay in obtaining regulatory approval in one jurisdiction may have a negative effect on the regulatory approval
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process in others. Approval procedures vary among jurisdictions and can involve requirements and administrative review periods different from, and greater than, those in Canada, the EU or the United States including additional pre-clinical studies or clinical trials, as clinical trials conducted in one jurisdiction may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions. In many jurisdictions outside the United States including Canada and certain jurisdictions in the EU, a product candidate must be approved for reimbursement before it can be approved for sale in that jurisdiction. In some cases, the price that we intend to charge for our products is also subject to approval.
We plan to submit marketing applications initially in Canada and the EU. Regulatory authorities in jurisdictions outside of the United States have requirements for approval of product candidates with which we must comply prior to marketing in those jurisdictions and such regulatory requirements can vary widely from country to country. Obtaining other regulatory approvals and compliance with other regulatory requirements could result in significant delays, difficulties and costs for us and could require additional pre-clinical studies or clinical trials, which could be costly and time-consuming and could delay or prevent the introduction of our products in certain countries. The foreign regulatory approval process involves all of the risks associated with FDA approval. We do not have any product candidates approved for sale in any jurisdiction, including international markets, and we do not have experience in obtaining regulatory approval in either domestic or international markets. If we fail to comply with the regulatory requirements in international markets and/or obtain and maintain applicable marketing approvals, our target market will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential of leronlimab or any future product candidates will be harmed.
Any of our current and future product candidates for which we, or any future collaborators, obtain regulatory approval in the future will be subject to ongoing obligations and continued regulatory review, which may result in significant additional expense. If approved, leronlimab and any future product candidates could be subject to post-marketing restrictions or withdrawal from the market and we, or any future collaborators, may be subject to substantial penalties if we, or they, fail to comply with regulatory requirements or if we, or they, experience unanticipated problems with our products following approval.
Leronlimab or any future product candidates for which we, or any future collaborators, obtain regulatory approval, as well as the manufacturing processes, post-approval studies, labeling, advertising and promotional activities for such product, among other things, will be subject to ongoing requirements of and review by the FDA, EMA and other applicable regulatory authorities. These requirements include submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration and listing requirements, requirements relating to manufacturing, quality control, quality assurance and corresponding maintenance of records and documents, requirements regarding the distribution of samples to physicians and recordkeeping. We and our contract manufacturers will also be subject to user fees and periodic inspection by regulatory authorities to monitor compliance with these requirements and the terms of any product approval we may obtain. Even if regulatory approval of a product candidate is granted, the approval may be subject to limitations on the indications or uses for which the product may be marketed or to the conditions of approval, including the requirement in the United States to implement a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, or REMS.
The FDA, EMA and other regulatory authorities may also impose requirements for costly post-marketing studies or clinical trials and surveillance to monitor the safety or efficacy of a product. For example, the FDA and other agencies, including the Department of Justice, closely regulate and monitor the post-approval marketing and promotion of products to ensure that they are manufactured, marketed and distributed only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved labeling. Regulatory authorities impose stringent restrictions on manufacturers’ communications regarding off-label use. However, companies generally may share truthful and not misleading information that is otherwise consistent with a product’s approved labeling. If we, or any future collaborators, do not market leronlimab or any of our future product candidates for which we, or they, receive regulatory approval for only their approved indications, we, or they, may be subject to warnings or enforcement action for off-label marketing if it is alleged that we are doing so. Violation of laws and regulations relating to the promotion and advertising of prescription drugs may lead to investigations or allegations of violations of federal and state health care fraud and abuse laws and state consumer protection laws, including the False Claims Act and any comparable foreign laws. In the EU, the direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription-only medicinal products is prohibited. Violations of the rules governing the promotion of medicinal products in the EU could be penalized by administrative measures, fines and imprisonment. These laws may further limit or restrict the advertising and promotion of our products to the general public, and may also impose limitations on our promotional activities with health care professionals.
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In addition, later discovery of previously unknown adverse events or other problems with our products or their manufacturers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may yield various results, including:
• restrictions on the manufacturing of such products;
• restrictions on the labeling or marketing of such products;
• restrictions on product distribution or use;
• requirements to conduct post-marketing studies or clinical trials;
• warning letters or untitled letters;
• withdrawal of the products from the market;
• recall of products;
• restrictions on coverage by third-party payors;
• fines, restitution or disgorgement of profits or revenues;
• exclusion from federal health care programs such as Medicare and Medicaid;
• suspension or withdrawal of regulatory approvals;
• refusal to permit the import or export of products;
• product seizure; or
• injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.
Even if leronlimab receives marketing approval, it may fail to achieve the degree of market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community necessary for commercial success and the market opportunity for the product candidate may be smaller than our estimates.
Regulatory approval of leronlimab, if any, is no guarantee of commercial success. The sale and marketing of drug products is a complicated and multifaceted process, and many approved drugs are not commercially successful. If approved for marketing, the commercial success of leronlimab will depend upon its acceptance by customers and other stakeholders, including physicians, patients and health care payors. The degree of market acceptance of leronlimab will depend on a number of factors, including:
• demonstration of clinical safety and efficacy;
• relative convenience and ease of administration;
• the prevalence and severity of any adverse effects;
• pricing and cost-effectiveness;
• the inclusion or omission of leronlimab in applicable treatment guidelines;
• limitations or warnings contained in FDA approved labeling;
If leronlimab or any future drug candidates are approved, but do not achieve an adequate level of acceptance by physicians, health care payors and patients, we may not generate sufficient revenue and we may not be able to achieve or sustain profitability. Our efforts to educate the medical community and third-party payors on the benefits of our drug candidate may require significant resources and may never be successful.
In addition, even if we obtain regulatory approvals, the timing or scope of any approvals may prohibit or reduce our ability to commercialize our drug candidate successfully. For example, if the approval process takes too long, we
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may miss market opportunities and give other companies the ability to develop competing products or establish market dominance.
Our competitors may develop drugs that are more effective, safer and less expensive than ours.
The biopharmaceutical industry is intensely competitive, and our future success depends on our ability to demonstrate and maintain a competitive advantage with respect to the design, development and commercialization of product candidates. For example, there are current treatments that are quite effective at controlling the effects of HIV, and we expect that new developments by other companies and academic institutions in the areas of HIV treatment will continue. If approved for marketing by the FDA, depending on the approved clinical indication, leronlimab may be competing with existing and future antiviral treatments for HIV.
Our competitors may:
We expect to compete against large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and smaller companies that are collaborating with larger pharmaceutical companies, new companies, academic institutions, government agencies, and other public and private research organizations. See “Part I, Item 1. Business—Competition.” These competitors, in nearly all cases, operate research and development programs that have substantially greater financial resources than we do. Our competitors also have significantly greater experience in:
• developing drug and other product candidates;
• undertaking pre-clinical testing and clinical trials;
• building relationships with key customers and opinion-leading physicians;
• obtaining and maintaining FDA and other regulatory approvals;
• formulating and manufacturing drugs;
• launching, marketing and selling drugs; and
If we fail to achieve superiority over other existing or newly developed treatments, we may be unable to obtain regulatory approval. If our competitors market drugs that are less expensive, safer, or more effective than our product candidate, or that gain or maintain greater market acceptance, we may not be able to compete effectively.
For a description of the key competitors for leronlimab in HIV, COVID-19, cancer, and immunological disorders and the products that are considered competitive with leronlimab, see “Part I, Item 1. Business – Competition”.
Third-party coverage and reimbursement and health care cost containment initiatives and treatment guidelines may constrain our future revenues.
Our ability to successfully market our product candidate will depend in part on the level of reimbursement that government health administration authorities, private health coverage insurers and other organizations provide for the cost of our product and related treatments. Countries in which our product candidate is expected to be sold through reimbursement schemes under national health insurance programs frequently require that manufacturers and sellers of pharmaceutical products obtain governmental approval of initial prices and any subsequent price increases. In certain countries, including the United States, government-funded and private medical care plans can exert significant indirect pressure on prices. We may not be able to sell our drug candidate profitably if adequate prices are not approved or coverage and reimbursement is unavailable or limited in scope. Increasingly, third-party payors attempt to contain health care costs in ways that are likely to impact our development of products including:
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• failing to approve or challenging the prices charged for health care products;
• introducing reimportation schemes from lower priced jurisdictions;
If approved, leronlimab or any of our future product candidates that are regulated as biologics may face competition from biosimilars approved through an abbreviated regulatory pathway.
The Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009, or BPCIA, was enacted as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or the ACA, to establish an abbreviated pathway for the approval of biosimilar and interchangeable biological products. The regulatory pathway establishes legal authority for the FDA to review and approve biosimilar biologics, including the possible designation of a biosimilar as “interchangeable” based on its similarity to an approved biologic. Under the BPCIA, reference biological product is granted 12 years of data exclusivity from the time of first licensure of the product, and the FDA will not accept an application for a biosimilar or interchangeable product based on the reference biological product until four years after the date of first licensure of the reference product. In addition, the approval of a biosimilar product may not be made effective by the FDA until 12 years from the date on which the reference product was first licensed. During this 12-year period of exclusivity, another company may still develop and receive approval of a competing biologic, so long as their BLA does not reply on the reference product, sponsor’s data or submit the application as a biosimilar application. The law is complex and is still being interpreted and implemented by the FDA. As a result, its ultimate impact, implementation, and meaning are subject to uncertainty, and any new policies or processes adopted by the FDA could have a material adverse effect on the future commercial prospects for our biological products.
We believe that leronlimab or any future product candidate we develop that is approved in the United States as a biological product under a BLA should qualify for the 12-year period of exclusivity. However, there is a risk that this exclusivity could be shortened due to congressional action or otherwise, or that the FDA will not consider the subject product candidates to be reference products for competing products, potentially creating the opportunity for biosimilar competition sooner than anticipated. Moreover, the extent to which a biosimilar, once approved, will be substituted for any one of the reference products in a way that is similar to traditional generic substitution for non-biological products is not yet clear, and will depend on a number of marketplace and regulatory factors that are still developing. The approval of a biosimilar of leronlimab or any future product candidates could havea material adverse impact on our business due to increased competition and pricing pressure.
We may not be able to identify, negotiate and maintain the strategic alliances necessary to develop and commercialize our products and technologies, and we will be dependent on our corporate partners if we do.
We may seek to enter into a strategic alliance with a pharmaceutical company for the further development and approval of our product candidate, in one or more indications. Strategic alliances potentially provide us with additional funds, expertise, access, and other resources in exchange for exclusive or non-exclusive licenses or other rights to the technologies and products that we are currently developing or may explore in the future. We cannot give any assurance we will be able to enter into strategic relationships with a pharmaceutical company or other strategic partner in the near future or at all, or maintain our current relationships. In addition, we cannot assure that any agreements we do reach will achieve our goals or be on terms that prove to be economically beneficial to us. When we do enter into strategic or contractual relationships, we become dependent on the successful performance of our partners or counterparties. If they fail to perform as expected, such failure could adversely affect our financial condition, lead to increases in our capital needs, or hinder or delay our development efforts.
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Our information technology systems could fail to perform adequately or experience data corruption, cyber-based attacks, or network security breaches.
We rely on information technology networks and systems, including the internet, to process, transmit, and store electronic information. In particular, we depend on our information technology infrastructure to effectively manage our business data, accounting, and other business processes and electronic communications between our personnel and corporate partners. If we do not allocate and effectively manage the resources necessary to build and sustain an appropriate technology infrastructure, our business and financial condition could be materially adversely affected. In addition, security breaches or system failures of this infrastructure may result in system disruptions, shutdowns, or unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. If we are unable to prevent such breaches or failures, our operations could be disrupted, and we may suffer financial damage or loss because of lost or misappropriated information.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic prevents a significant risk to our information technology systems to the extent that employees, contractors, and other corporate partners work remotely. As a result, we have been forced to rely on information technology systems that are outside our direct control. These systems are potentially vulnerable to cyber-based attacks and security breaches. In addition, cyber criminals are increasing their attacks on individual employees, including scams designed to trick victims into transferring sensitive data or funds or stealing credentials that compromise information systems. If one of our employees falls victim to these attacks, or our information technology systems or those of our partners are compromised, our operations could be disrupted, or we may suffer financial loss, loss or misappropriation of intellectual property or other critical assets, reputational loss, and regulatory fines and intervention.
Risks Related to Legal Proceedings
Class-action litigation filed against us could harm our business, and insurance coverage may not be sufficient to cover all related costs and damages.
The market price of our common stock has historically experienced and may continue to experience significant volatility. On March 17, 2021, following a period of volatility in the market price for our common stock, a putative class action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, Tacoma against us and certain officers. In the complaint, Plaintiff cites the volatility in our common stock and alleges the defendants made or are responsible for false and misleading statements regarding leronlimab’s potential as a treatment for COVID-19. Plaintiff seeks a ruling that this case may proceed as a class action, and seeks unspecified damages, and attorneys’ fees and costs. A similar class-action lawsuit was filed by a second stockholder on April 9, 2021. The Company and the individual defendants deny any allegations of wrongdoing and intend to vigorously defend the lawsuits. However, litigation, whether or not successful, may result in diversion of our management’s attention and resources, and may require us to incur substantial costs, some of which may not be covered in full by insurance, which could harm our business and financial condition. During the course of litigation, there may be negative public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments, which could have a further negative effect on the market price of our common stock. See discussion of Legal Proceedings in Part I, Item 3 of this Form 10-K.
We are involved in a number of legal proceedings and, while we cannot predict the outcomes of such proceedings and other contingencies with certainty, some of these outcomes could adversely affect our business and financial condition.
We are, or may become, involved in legal proceedings, government and agency investigations, and derivative litigation (see discussion of Legal Proceedings in Part I, Item 3 of this Report). We have faced and continue to face allegations by securities litigation law firms claiming our disclosures are misleading, incomplete, or that we or our officers and directors have violated securities laws. We cannot predict with certainty the outcomes of these legal proceedings. The outcome of some of these legal proceedings could require us to take, or refrain from taking, actions which could negatively affect our operations or could require us to pay substantial amounts of money, adversely affecting our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, defending against lawsuits and legal proceedings may involve significant expense and diversion of management’s attention and resources. Negative publicity surrounding such legal proceedings may also harm our reputation and adversely impact our business and financial condition.
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We are subject to the oversight of the SEC and other regulatory agencies. Investigations by those agencies could divert management’s focus and have a material adverse effect on our reputation and financial condition.
We are subject to the regulation and oversight of the SEC and state regulatory agencies, in addition to the FDA and other federal regulatory agencies. As a result, we may face legal or administrative proceedings by these agencies. We are unable to predict the effect of any governmental investigations on our business, financial condition or reputation. In addition, publicity surrounding any investigation, even if ultimately resolved in our favor, could have a material adverse effect on our business. See discussion of Legal Proceedings in Part I, Item 3 of this Form 10-K.
If product liability lawsuits are brought against us, we may incur substantial liabilities and may be required to limit commercialization of our product candidate.
We face a risk of product liability as a result of the clinical testing of leronlimab and will face an even greater risk if we commercialize leronlimab. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against product liability claims, we may incur substantial liabilities or be required to limit commercialization of leronlimab. Even successful defense could require significant financial and management resources. Regardless of the merits or eventual outcome, product liability claims may result in:
• decreased demand for leronlimab;
• withdrawal of clinical trial participants;
• delay or termination of our clinical trial;
• significant costs to defend the related litigation;
• substantial monetary awards to trial participants or patients;
• loss of revenue;
• the inability to commercialize our product candidate;
• injury to our reputation and negative media attention; and
• a decline in our stock price.
Although we maintain general liability insurance and clinical trial liability insurance, this insurance may not fully cover potential liabilities that we may incur. The cost of any product liability litigation or other proceeding, even if resolved in our favor, could be substantial. We will need to increase our insurance coverage if we commercialize leronlimab, if approved. In addition, insurance coverage is becoming increasingly expensive. If we are unable to maintain sufficient insurance coverage at an acceptable cost or to otherwise protect against potential product liability claims, it could prevent or inhibit the development and commercial production and sale of leronlimab, which could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Risks Related to Our Dependence on Third Parties
We depend on the Vyera License Agreement for the commercialization of leronlimab for the treatment of HIV in humans in the U.S. Vyera’s failure to successfully commercialize leronlimab for the treatment of HIV in the U.S., if approved by the FDA, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
On December 17, 2019, we entered into the Vyera License Agreement under which we granted Vyera an exclusive royalty-bearing license to commercialize pharmaceutical preparations containing leronlimab for treatment of HIV in humans in the U.S. following its approval, if any, by the FDA. Pursuant to the terms of the Vyera License Agreement, Vyera is obligated to use commercially reasonable efforts (as defined in the Vyera License Agreement) to commercialize leronlimab for the treatment of HIV in humans in the U.S.
Under the terms of the Vyera License Agreement, Vyera will make payments to us of up to $87.0 million based upon the achievement of certain sales and regulatory milestones. In addition, Vyera will pay a royalty to us equal to 50% of Vyera’s gross profit margin from leronlimab sales (defined in the Vyera License Agreement as “Net Sales”) in the
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U.S. The right to potential future payments under the Vyera License Agreement represents a significant portion of the value of the Vyera License Agreement. We cannot be certain we will receive any future payments under the Vyera License Agreement, which may adversely affect the trading price of our common stock and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Vyera’s ability to successfully commercialize and generate revenues from leronlimab depends on a number of factors, including Vyera’s ability to:
• develop and execute its sales and marketing strategies for leronlimab;
• achieve, maintain and grow market acceptance of, and demand for, leronlimab;
• comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.
Additional factors that may affect the success of our commercialization arrangement with Vyera include the following:
• Vyera may acquire or develop alternative products;
• market acceptance of leronlimab may fail to materialize;
• Vyera may experience financial difficulties; and
Any of the above factors could affect Vyera’s commitment to, and ability to perform, its obligations under the Vyera License Agreement which, in turn, could adversely affect the commercial success of leronlimab for the treatment of HIV in humans in the U.S. Any such failure by Vyera to successfully commercialize leronlimab could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If Vyera is not successful in commercializing leronlimab for the treatment of HIV in humans in the U.S., our revenues and our business will suffer.
The commercial success of leronlimab for the treatment of HIV in humans in the U.S. will depend almost entirely on Vyera’s commercialization efforts. Pursuant to the Vyera License Agreement, Vyera is responsible for marketing, pricing, promoting, selling and distributing leronlimab for the treatment of HIV in humans in the U.S. If the Vyera License Agreement is terminated in accordance with its terms, including due to a party’s failure to perform its obligations or responsibilities under the Vyera License Agreement, we would need to commercialize leronlimab ourselves, for which we currently have no infrastructure, or enter into a new agreement with another commercialization partner, of which no assurance can be given. If we are unable to build the necessary infrastructure to commercialize leronlimab ourselves, which would substantially increase our expenses and capital requirements, which we are currently unable to fund, or are unable to find a suitable replacement commercialization partner, we would be unable to generate any revenue from leronlimab for the treatment of HIV in humans in the U.S. Even if we are successful at replacing the commercialization capabilities of Vyera, potential revenues and/or royalties from leronlimab could be adversely affected.
Vyera may market other products, causing leronlimab to vie for Vyera’s promotional, marketing, and selling resources. If Vyera fails to commit sufficient promotional, marketing and selling resources to leronlimab, our potential royalties and receipt of milestone payments could be adversely impacted. Additionally, there can be no assurance that Vyera will commit the resources required for the successful commercialization of leronlimab.
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If Vyera prices leronlimab inappropriately, fails to position and sell leronlimab properly, targets inappropriate physician specialties, or otherwise does not provide sufficient promotional support, potential product revenue and our potential royalties and milestone payments could be materially adversely affected.
We will depend on Vyera and any other future licensees and royalty-agreement counterparties for the determination of royalty and milestone payments. While we typically have primary or back-up rights to audit our licensees and royalty-agreement counterparties, the independent auditors may have difficulty determining the correct royalty calculation, we may not be able to detect errors, and payment calculations may entail retroactive adjustments. We may have to exercise legal remedies, if available, to resolve any disputes resulting from such audits.
The royalty and milestone payments we may receive pursuant to the Vyera License Agreement and any future license or commercialization agreements are dependent on reports by our licensees regarding their achievement of regulatory milestones and product sales. Each licensee’s calculation of the royalty payments is subject to and dependent upon the adequacy and accuracy of its sales and accounting functions, and errors may occur from time to time in the calculations made by a licensee, or a licensee may fail to report the achievement of royalties or milestones in whole or in part. Our license and royalty agreements typically provide us the primary or back-up right to audit the calculations and sales data for the associated royalty payments; however, such audits may occur many months following our recognition of the royalty revenue, may require us to adjust our royalty revenues in later periods and may entail expense on the part of the Company. Further, our licensees and royalty-agreement counterparties may be uncooperative or have insufficient records, which may complicate and delay the audit process.
Although we intend to regularly exercise our royalty audit rights as necessary and to the extent available, we will be relying in the first instance on our licensees and royalty-agreement counterparties to accurately report the achievement of milestones and royalty sales and calculate and pay applicable milestones and royalties and, upon exercise of such royalty and other audit rights, we will rely on licensees’ and royalty-agreement counterparties’ cooperation in performing such audits. In the absence of such cooperation, we may be forced to exercise legal remedies, if available, to enforce our agreements.
We have a very limited number of internal research and development personnel, making us dependent on consulting relationships and strategic alliances with industry partners.
We currently have five employees dedicated to CMC activities and quality control. We rely and intend to continue to rely on third parties to supplement many of these functions. We contract with Ama third party full service CROs, to manage our clinical trials. As a result, we are dependent on consultants and strategic partners in our development and commercialization activities, and it may be administratively challenging to monitor and coordinate these relationships. If we do not appropriately manage our relationships with third parties, we may not be able to successfully manage development, testing, and preparation of regulatory filings for our product or commercialize any approved product, which would have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and stock price.
We will need to outsource and rely on third parties for the clinical development and manufacture, sales and marketing of product candidate, and our future success will be dependent on the timeliness and effectiveness of the efforts of these third parties.
We are dependent on third parties for important aspects of our product development strategy. We do not have the required financial and human resources to carry out independently the pre-clinical and clinical development for our product candidate, and do not have the capability or resources to manufacture, market or sell our current product candidate. As a result, we contract with and rely on third parties for important functions, including testing, storing, and manufacturing our products and managing and conducting clinical trials from which we may obtain a benefit. We have recently entered into several agreements with third parties for such services. If problems develop in our relationships with third parties, or if such parties fail to perform as expected, it could lead to delays or lack of progress, significant cost increases, changes in our strategies, and even failure of our product initiatives.
Any manufacturing problem or the loss of a contract manufacturer could be disruptive to our operations and result in lost sales. Any reliance on suppliers involves risks, including a potential inability to obtain critical materials and
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reduced control over production costs, delivery schedules, reliability and quality. Any unanticipated disruption to a future contract manufacturer caused by problems at suppliers could delay shipment of our products, increase our cost of goods sold, and result in lost sales.
We rely on third parties, such as CROs, to conduct clinical trials for our product candidate, leronlimab, and if they do not properly and successfully perform their obligations to us, we may not be able to obtain regulatory approvals for our product candidate.
We, in consultation with our collaborators, where applicable, design the clinical trials for our product candidate, leronlimab, but we rely on CROs and other third parties to perform many of the functions in managing, monitoring and otherwise carrying out many of these trials. We compete with larger companies for the resources of these third parties. In addition, these third parties may be adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although we plan to continue to rely on these third parties to conduct our ongoing and any future clinical trials, we are responsible for ensuring that each of our clinical trials is conducted in accordance with its general investigational plan and protocol. Moreover, the FDA and foreign regulatory agencies require us to comply with regulations and standards, including good clinical practices, for designing, conducting, monitoring, recording, analyzing, and reporting the results of clinical trials to assure that the data and results are credible and accurate and that the rights, integrity and confidentiality of trial participants are protected. Our reliance on third parties that we do not control does not relieve us of these responsibilities and requirements. The third parties on whom we rely generally may terminate their engagements with us at any time. If we are required to enter into alternative arrangements because of any such termination, the introduction of our product candidate to market could be delayed.
If these third parties do not successfully carry out their duties under their agreements with us, if the quality or accuracy of the data they obtain, process and analyze is compromised for any reason or if they otherwise fail to comply with clinical trial protocols or meet expected deadlines, our clinical trials may experience delays or may fail to meet regulatory requirements. If our clinical trials do not meet regulatory requirements or if these third parties need to be replaced, our pre-clinical development activities or clinical trials may be extended, delayed, suspended or terminated. If any of these events occur, we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval of our product candidate and our reputation could be harmed.
We rely on third-party manufacturers to produce our pre-clinical and clinical product candidate supplies, and we intend to rely on third parties to produce commercial supplies of our product candidate, if approved. Any failure by a third-party manufacturer to produce supplies for us may delay or impair our ability to complete our clinical trials or commercialize our product candidate.
We do not possess all of the capabilities to fully commercialize our product candidate, leronlimab, on our own. We have relied upon third-party manufacturers for the manufacture of our product candidate for pre-clinical and clinical testing purposes and intend to continue to do so in the future. If we are unable to arrange for third-party manufacturing sources, or to do so on commercially reasonable terms, we may not be able to complete development of such product candidate or to market them.
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Reliance on third-party manufacturers entails risks to which we would not be subject if we manufactured our product candidate ourselves, including reliance on the third party for regulatory compliance and quality assurance, the possibility of breach of the manufacturing agreement by the third party because of factors beyond our control, failure of the third party to accept orders for supply raw materials and the possibility of termination or nonrenewal of the agreement by the third party, based on its own business priorities, at a time that is costly or damaging to us. In addition, the FDA and other regulatory authorities require that our product candidate be manufactured according to current good manufacturing practices, or current good manufacturing practices, or cGMPs, and similar foreign standards. Any failure by our third-party manufacturers to comply with cGMP or failure to scale-up manufacturing processes as needed, including any failure to deliver sufficient quantities of product candidate in a timely manner, could lead to a delay in, or failure to obtain, regulatory approval of our product candidate. In addition, such failure could be the basis for action by the FDA to withdraw approvals for any product candidate previously granted to us and for other regulatory action, including recall or seizure, fines, imposition of operating restrictions, total or partial suspension of production or injunctions.
We rely on our manufacturers to purchase from third-party suppliers the materials necessary to produce our product candidate for our clinical studies and potential commercial manufacturing. There are a limited number of suppliers of raw and starting materials that we use to manufacture our product candidate. Such suppliers may not sell these materials to our manufacturers at the times we need them or on commercially reasonable terms. We do not have any control over the process or timing of the acquisition of these materials by our manufacturers.
Any significant delay in the supply of a product candidate or the raw material components thereof for an ongoing clinical trial or potential commercial launch due to the need to replace a third-party manufacturer could considerably delay completion of our clinical trials, product testing and potential regulatory approval of our product candidate. If our supply chain is disrupted due to any of these factors after regulatory approval has been obtained for our product candidate, there could be a shortage in supply, which would impair our ability to generate revenues from the sale of our product candidate. It may also cause us to breach our obligations under the Vyera Supply Agreement, pursuant to which we have agreed to supply leronlimab to Vyera for commercialization.
We do not own or operate manufacturing facilities for the production of clinical or commercial quantities of our product candidate and we currently have no plans to build our own clinical or commercial scale manufacturing capabilities. To meet our projected needs for commercial manufacturing in the event that our product candidate gains marketing approval, third parties with whom we currently work may need to increase their scale of production or we may need to secure alternate suppliers.
Any failure of any of our upstream suppliers to deliver necessary quantities of leronlimab could result in delays in our commercialization schedule and adversely affect our ability to meet our supply obligations to Vyera. In addition, we may still be obligated to satisfy obligations to our upstream suppliers and/or licensors even if Vyera’s commercialization achievements are insufficient to enable us to fully satisfy such obligations.
We will be dependent on our upstream supply agreements with various partners to satisfy our obligations under the Vyera Supply Agreement, also entered into in December 2019, to supply leronlimab to Vyera for commercialization. A failure in our upstream supply chain could adversely impact our ability to meet our supply obligations under the Vyera Supply Agreement and could impact Vyera’s ability to successfully commercialize leronlimab. We have obligations to our upstream suppliers and licensors that are independent of Vyera’s obligations to us. Therefore, if Vyera is not able to successfully commercialize leronlimab, we may still be obligated to meet certain of our obligations to our upstream suppliers. There can be no assurances that Vyera’s commercialization of leronlimab will be sufficient to enable us to meet the obligations to our upstream suppliers and/or licensors.
We anticipate being able to provide to Vyera, in satisfaction of our supply obligations thereto, certain inventory of product that we have on hand in connection with the launch and initial commercialization period of leronlimab. If we are unable to do so due to dating restrictions at the time of regulatory approval of leronlimab, if any, the launch of leronlimab may be delayed and we will likely incur additional costs in order to provide Vyera with sufficient product for the launch and the initial commercialization period of leronlimab.
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Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property Rights
Our success depends substantially upon our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection relating to our product candidate.
Due to evolving legal standards relating to the patentability, validity and enforceability of patents covering pharmaceutical inventions and the claim scope of patents, our ability to enforce our existing patents and to obtain and enforce patents that may issue from any pending or future patent applications is uncertain and involves complex legal, scientific and factual questions. To date, no consistent policy has emerged regarding the breadth of claims allowed in biotechnology and pharmaceutical patents. We have pending patents for certain indications for our core product candidate, and continue to seek patent coverage for various potential therapeutic applications for leronlimab. However, we cannot be sure that any patents will issue from any pending or future patent applications owned by or licensed to us. Even if patents do issue, we cannot be sure that the claims of these patents will be held valid or enforceable by a court of law, will provide us with any significant protection against competing products, or will afford us a commercial advantage over competitive products. If one or more products resulting from our product candidate is approved for sale by the FDA and we do not have adequate intellectual property protection for those products, competitors could duplicate them for approval and sale in the United States without repeating the extensive testing required of us or our partners to obtain FDA approval.
Known third-party patent rights could delay or otherwise adversely affect our planned development and sale of leronlimab. We have identified but not exhaustively analyzed other patents that could relate to our proposed products.
We are aware of patent rights held by a third party that may cover certain compositions within our leronlimab candidate. The patent holder has the right to prevent others from making, using, or selling a drug that incorporates the patented compositions, while the patent remains in force. While we believe that the third party’s patent rights will not affect our planned development, regulatory clearance, and eventual commercial production, marketing, and sale of leronlimab, there can be no assurance that this will be the case. We believe the relevant patent expires before we expect to commercially introduce leronlimab. In addition, the Hatch-Waxman exemption to U.S. patent law permits all uses of compounds in clinical trials and for other purposes reasonably related to obtaining FDA clearance of drugs that will be sold only after patent expiration, so our use of leronlimab in those FDA-related activities does not infringe the patent holder’s rights. However, were the patent holder to assert its rights against us before expiration of the patent for activities unrelated to FDA clearance, the development and ultimate sale of a leronlimab product could be significantly delayed, and we could incur the expense of defending a patent infringement suit and potential liability for damages for periods prior to the patent’s expiration.
In connection with our acquisition of rights to leronlimab, our patent counsel conducted a freedom-to-operate search that identified other patents that could relate to our proposed leronlimab candidate. Based upon research and analysis to date, we believe leronlimab likely does not infringe those patent rights. If any of the holders of the identified patents were to assert patent rights against us, the development and sale of leronlimab could be delayed, we could be required to spend time and money defending patent litigation, and we could incur liability for infringement or be enjoined from producing our products if the patent holders prevailed in an infringement suit.
If we are sued for infringing on third-party intellectual property rights, it will be costly and time-consuming, and an unfavorable outcome would have a significant adverse effect on our business.
Our ability to commercialize our product candidate depends on our ability to use, manufacture and sell that product without infringing the patents or other proprietary rights of third parties. Numerous U.S. and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications owned by third parties exist in the monoclonal antibody therapeutic area in which we are developing our product candidate and seeking new potential product candidates. There may be existing patents, unknown to us, on which our activities with our product candidate could infringe.
If a third party claims our actions or products or technologies infringe on its patents or other proprietary rights, we could face a number of issues that could seriously harm our competitive position, including, but not limited to:
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If any of these events occur, it could significantly harm our operations and financial condition and negatively affect our stock price.
Although no third party has asserted a claim of infringement against us, others may hold proprietary rights that could prevent our product candidate from being marketed. Any patent-related legal action against us claiming damages and seeking to enjoin commercial activities relating to our product candidate or our processes could subject us to potential liability for damages and require us to obtain a license to continue to manufacture or market leronlimab or any other product candidates. We cannot predict whether we would prevail in any such actions or that any license required under any of these patents would be made available on commercially acceptable terms, if at all. In addition, we cannot be sure that we could redesign leronlimab or any other product candidates or processes to avoid infringement, if necessary. Accordingly, an adverse determination in a judicial or administrative proceeding, or the failure to obtain necessary licenses, could prevent us from developing and commercializing leronlimab or another product candidate, which could harm our business, financial condition and operating results.
We may undertake infringement or other legal proceedings against third parties, causing us to spend substantial resources on litigation and exposing our own intellectual property portfolio to challenge.
We may come to believe that third parties are infringing on our patents or other proprietary rights. To prevent infringement or unauthorized use, we may need to file infringement and/or misappropriation suits, which are very expensive and time-consuming and would distract management’s attention. Also, in an infringement or misappropriation proceeding a court may decide that one or more of our patents is invalid, unenforceable, or both, in which case third parties may be able to use our technology without paying license fees or royalties. Even if the validity of our patents is upheld, a court may refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the ground that the other party’s activities are not covered by our patents.
We may become involved in disputes with our present or future contract partners over intellectual property ownership or other matters, which would have a significant effect on our business.
Inventions discovered in the course of performance of contracts with third parties may become jointly owned by our strategic partners and us, in some cases, and the exclusive property of one of us, in other cases. Under some circumstances, it may be difficult to determine who owns a particular invention or whether it is jointly owned, and disputes could arise regarding ownership or use of those inventions. Other disputes may also arise relating to the performance or alleged breach of our agreements with third parties. Any disputes could be costly and time-consuming, and an unfavorable outcome could have a significant adverse effect on our business.
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Risks Related to Obtaining Required Regulatory Approvals and Licensure
If we are not able to obtain all required regulatory approvals for leronlimab, we will not be able to commercialize our primary product candidate, which would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and stock price.
Clinical testing is expensive, is difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete and is uncertain as to outcome. Success in early phases of pre-clinical and clinical trials does not ensure that later clinical trials will be successful, and interim results of a clinical trial do not necessarily predict final results. A failure of one or more of our clinical trials may occur at any stage of testing. We may experience numerous unforeseen events during, or as a result of, the clinical trial process that could delay or prevent our ability to receive regulatory approval or commercialize leronlimab, or any future drug candidates. The research, testing, manufacturing, labeling, packaging, storage, approval, sale, marketing, advertising and promotion, pricing, export, import and distribution of drug products are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA and other regulatory authorities in the United States and other countries, which regulations differ from country to country. We are not permitted to market a drug candidate as prescription pharmaceutical products in the United States until we receive approval of BLA from the FDA, or in foreign markets until we receive the requisite approval from comparable regulatory authorities in such countries. In the United States, the FDA generally requires the completion of clinical trials of each drug to establish its safety and efficacy and extensive pharmaceutical development to ensure its quality before BLA is approved. Regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions impose similar requirements. Of the large number of drugs in development, only a small percentage result in the submission of BLA to the FDA and even fewer are eventually approved for commercialization.
Receipt of necessary regulatory approval for the use of leronlimab for one or more indications is subject to a number of risks, including the following:
Failure to obtain regulatory approval for leronlimab for the foregoing or any other reasons will prevent us from commercializing such product candidate as a prescription product, and our ability to generate revenue will be materially impaired. We cannot guarantee regulators will agree with our assessment of the results of our clinical trials or that such trials will be considered by regulators to have shown safety or efficacy of our product candidate. The FDA, EMA and other regulators have substantial discretion in the approval process and may refuse to accept any application or may decide that our data is insufficient for approval and require additional clinical trials, or pre-clinical or other studies. In addition, varying interpretations of the data obtained from pre-clinical and clinical testing could delay, limit or prevent regulatory approval of a product candidate.
For example, in February 2018, we announced that we had met the primary endpoint in our Phase 3 trial for leronlimab as a combination therapy with HAART for highly treatment experienced HIV patients and submitted the non-clinical portion of our BLA with the FDA in March 2019. We completed our submission in May 2020. In July 2020, we received a Refusal to File letter from the FDA regarding the BLA submission. We have retained a leading global
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healthcare diagnostics company, along with an expanded team of subject matter expert consultants, to assist us in the resubmission of our BLA, which commenced in July 2021 and is expected to be completed in October 2021. However, even upon resubmission, there can be no assurance as to if or when the FDA will declare the filing complete.
In addition, we have only limited experience in filing the applications necessary to gain regulatory approvals and expect to continue to rely on consultants and third-party contract research organizations, or CROs, with expertise in this area to assist us in this process. Securing FDA approval requires the submission of pre-clinical, clinical and/or pharmacokinetic data, information about product manufacturing processes and inspection of facilities and supporting information to the FDA for each therapeutic indication to establish a product candidate’s safety and efficacy for each indication. Our drug candidate may prove to have undesirable or unintended side effects, toxicities, or other characteristics that may preclude our obtaining regulatory approval or prevent or limit commercial use with respect to one or all intended indications.
Finally, disruptions at the FDA and other agencies may prolong the time necessary for new drugs to be reviewed and/or approved by necessary government agencies, which would adversely affect our business. For example, over the last several years, the U.S. government has shut down several times and certain regulatory agencies, such as the FDA, have had to furlough critical employees and stop critical activities. If a prolonged government shutdown occurs, it could significantly impact the ability of the FDA to timely review and process our regulatory submissions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. If we experience any delays in obtaining approval or if we fail to obtain approval of our product candidate, the commercial prospects for our product candidate may be harmed, and our ability to generate revenues will be materially impaired.
We may not be able to receive Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for leronlimab as a treatment for COVID-19, or such authorization may be delayed, which would materially affect our business, financial condition and stock price.
On February 4, 2020, the Secretary of Health and Human Services determined that COVID-19 represents a public health emergency that has a significant potential to affect national security or the health and security of U.S. citizens living abroad and, subsequently, declared on March 24, 2020, that circumstances exist to justify the authorization of emergency use of certain medical products, during the COVID-19 pandemic, subject to the terms of any authorization as issued by the FDA.
With this declaration of a public health emergency, the FDA may issue an Emergency Use Authorization, or EUA, for an unapproved product if the following four statutory criteria have been met: (1) a serious or life-threatening condition exists; (2) evidence that the product may be effective in diagnosing or treating such condition; (3) a risk-benefit analysis shows that the benefits of the product outweigh the risks; and (4) no adequate, approved and available alternatives exist for diagnosing, preventing or treating the disease or condition. The statute directs FDA to assess the potential effectiveness of a possible EUA product on a case-by-case basis using a risk-benefit analysis. In determining whether the known and potential benefits of the product outweigh the known and potential risks, the FDA examines the totality of the scientific evidence to make an overall risk-benefit determination. Such evidence, which could arise from a variety of sources, may include (but is not limited to) results of domestic and foreign clinical trials, in vivo efficacy data from animal models and in vitro data.
Once granted, an EUA will generally remain in effect until the earlier of (1) a determination by the Secretary of HHS that the public health emergency has ceased or (2) a change in the approval status of the product such that the authorized use(s) of the product are no longer unapproved. After the EUA is no longer valid, the product is no longer considered to be legally marketed, and FDA’s non-emergency approval pathway would be necessary to resume or continue distribution of the product. The FDA also may revise or revoke an EUA if the circumstances justifying its issuance no longer exist, the criteria for its issuance are no longer met, or other circumstances make a revision or revocation appropriate to protect the public health or safety.
We recently completed a Phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of leronlimab as a treatment for patients with severe-to-critical COVID-19, which did not meet its primary endpoint. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, we have expended significant time and financial resources to evaluate leronlimab as a therapeutic treatment for COVID-19. Obtaining and maintaining such an authorization is dependent upon a number of factors, which are not
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under our control. If we are unable to receive an EUA from the FDA or other countries for treating COVID-19 patients, we will not be able to market leronlimab for COVID-19 in the U.S. or abroad for this condition and our ability to generate revenues will be adversely affected. Moreover, even if we are successful in receiving an EUA or approval from the FDA or elsewhere for the treatment of COVID-19 patients, the availability of vaccines against COVID-19 may significantly reduce the demand for leronlimab as a treatment for COVID-19 patients, which could materially affect our business.
We and our contract manufacturers are subject to significant regulation. The manufacturing facilities on which we rely may not continue to meet regulatory requirements, which could materially harm our business.
All entities involved in the preparation of product candidates for clinical trials or commercial sale, including any contract manufacturers, are subject to extensive regulation. Components of a finished therapeutic product approved for commercial sale or used in late-stage clinical trials must be manufactured in accordance with cGMP. These regulations govern manufacturing processes and procedures (including record keeping) and the implementation and operation of quality systems to control and assure the quality of investigational products and products approved for sale. Poor control of production processes can lead to the introduction of adventitious agents or other contaminants or to inadvertent changes in the properties or stability of our product candidate that may not be detectable in final product testing.
We or our contract manufacturers must supply all necessary documentation in support of a BLA on a timely basis and must adhere to the FDA’s current Good Laboratory Practice and cGMP regulations enforced through its facilities inspection program. Our facilities and quality systems and the facilities and quality systems of some or all of our third-party manufacturers must pass a pre-approval inspection for compliance with the applicable regulations as a condition of regulatory approval of any product candidate. In addition, the regulatory authorities may, at any time, audit or inspect a manufacturing facility involved with the preparation of our product candidate or the associated quality systems for compliance with the regulations applicable to the activities being conducted. If these facilities do not pass a pre-approval plant inspection, FDA approval of the products will not be granted.
The regulatory authorities also may, at any time following approval of a product for sale, audit our manufacturing facilities or those of our third-party manufacturers. If any such inspection or audit identifies failure to comply with applicable regulations or if a violation of our product specifications or applicable regulations occurs independent of such an inspection or audit, we or the relevant regulatory authority may require remedial measures that may be costly and/or time-consuming for us or a third party to implement and that may include the temporary or permanent suspension of a clinical trial or commercial sales or the temporary or permanent closure of a facility, which may lead to temporary or permanent supply shortages. Any such remedial measures imposed upon us or third parties with whom we contract could materially harm our business.
If we or our third-party manufacturers fail to maintain regulatory compliance, the FDA can impose regulatory sanctions including, among other things, refusal to approve a pending application for a new product, or revocation of a pre-existing approval. Any such consequence would severely harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may seek Fast Track designation, Breakthrough Therapy designation, or PRIME designation for our product candidate, but we might not receive any such designation, and even if we do, such designation may not actually lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process.
If a drug is intended for the treatment of a serious or life-threatening condition, and non-clinical or clinical data demonstrate the potential to address an unmet medical need for this condition, the product candidate may qualify for FDA Fast Track designation, for which sponsors must apply. Sponsors of fast track products may have more frequent interactions with the FDA, and, in some circumstances, the FDA may initiate review of sections of a fast track product’s application before the application is complete. We have previously received Fast Track designation for HIV and mTNBC. We may submit an application for Fast Track designation for our product candidate for other indications. The FDA has broad discretion whether to grant this designation, and we may not receive it. Moreover, even if we receive Fast Track designation, Fast Track designation does not ensure that we will receive marketing approval or that approval will be granted within any particular time frame. We may not experience a faster development or regulatory review or
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approval process with Fast Track designation compared to conventional FDA procedures. In addition, the FDA may withdraw Fast Track designation if it believes that the designation is no longer supported by data from our clinical development program. Fast Track designation alone does not guarantee qualification for the FDA’s priority review procedures.
When appropriate we may seek a Breakthrough Therapy designation for our product candidate for various indications if future results support such designation. A Breakthrough Therapy is defined as a drug (including biologic) that is intended, alone or in combination with one or more other drugs, to treat a serious condition, and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints, such as substantial treatment effects observed early in clinical development. Sponsors of products that have been designated as breakthrough therapies are eligible to receive more intensive FDA guidance on establishing an efficient drug development program, an organization commitment involving senior managers, and may be eligible for rolling review. Drugs designated as breakthrough therapies by the FDA may also be eligible for other expedited review programs, including accelerated approval and priority review, if supported by clinical data at the time the BLA or NDA is submitted to the FDA.
Designation as a Breakthrough Therapy is within the discretion of the FDA. Accordingly, even if we believe that our product candidate meets the criteria for designation as a Breakthrough Therapy, the FDA may disagree and instead determine not to make such designation. Even if we receive Breakthrough Therapy designation, the receipt of such designation may not result in a faster development or regulatory review or approval process compared to drugs considered for approval under conventional FDA procedures and does not assure ultimate approval by the FDA. In addition, even if our product candidate qualifies as a Breakthrough Therapy, the FDA may later decide that it no longer meets the conditions for qualification or decide that the time period for FDA review or approval will not be shortened.
In the EU, we may seek PRIME designation for our product candidate in the future. PRIME is a voluntary program aimed at enhancing the EMA’s role to reinforce scientific and regulatory support in order to optimize development and enable accelerated assessment of new medicines that are of major public health interest with the potential to address unmet medical needs. The program focuses on medicines that target conditions for which there exists no satisfactory method of treatment in the EU or even if such a method exists, it may offer a major therapeutic advantage over existing treatments. PRIME is limited to medicines under development and not authorized in the EU and the applicant intends to apply for an initial marketing authorization application through the centralized procedure. To be accepted for PRIME, a product candidate must meet the eligibility criteria in respect of its major public health interest and therapeutic innovation based on information that is capable of substantiating the claims. The benefits of a PRIME designation include the appointment of a CHMP rapporteurto provide continued support and help to build knowledge ahead of a marketing authorization application, early dialogue and scientific advice at key development milestones, and the potential to qualify products for accelerated review, meaning reduction in the review time for an opinion on approvability to be issued earlier in the application process. PRIME enables an applicant to request parallel EMA scientific advice and health technology assessment advice to facilitate timely market access. Even if we receive PRIME designation for our product candidate, the designation may not result in a materially faster development process, review or approval compared to conventional EMA procedures. Further, obtaining PRIME designation does not assure or increase the likelihood of EMA’s grant of a marketing authorization.
Even if we obtain regulatory approval for our product candidate, we will still face extensive and ongoing regulatory requirements and obligations and continued regulatory review, which may result in significant additional expense, and we may be subject to penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or experience unanticipated problems with the product candidate.
Any product candidate for which we obtain marketing approval, along with the manufacturing processes, post-approval pre-clinical and clinical testing, labeling, packaging, distribution, adverse event reporting, storage, recordkeeping, export, import, and advertising and promotional activities for such product, among other things, will be subject to extensive and ongoing requirements of the FDA and other regulatory authorities. These requirements include submissions of safety and other post- marketing information and reports, establishment registration and drug listing requirements, continued compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practice, or cGMP, requirements regarding the
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distribution of samples to physicians and recordkeeping and Good Laboratory Practice, or GLP, and GCP requirements for non-clinical studies and any clinical trials that we conduct post-approval.
The FDA may also require costly post-marketing studies or clinical trials and surveillance to monitor the safety or efficacy of a product. Additionally, the FDA closely regulates the post-approval marketing and promotion of drugs to ensure drugs are marketed only for the approved indications and in a manner that is consistent with the provisions of the approved labeling. If we market our products for uses beyond their approved indications or otherwise inconsistent with the FDA-approved labeling, we may be subject to enforcement action for off-label marketing by the FDA and other federal and state enforcement agencies, including the Department of Justice. Violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA, and other statutes, including the False Claims Act, and equivalent legislation in other countries relating to the promotion and advertising of prescription products may also lead to investigations or allegations of violations of federal and state and other countries’ health care fraud and abuse laws and state consumer protection laws. Even if it is later determined we were not in violation of these laws, we may be faced with negative publicity, incur significant expenses defending our actions and have to divert significant management resources from other matters.
In addition, later discovery of previously unknown adverse events or other problems with our products, manufacturers, or manufacturing processes or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may yield various results, including, but not limited to:
• restrictions on manufacturing such products;
• restrictions in the labeling or on the marketing of products;
• restrictions on product distribution or use;
• requirements to conduct post-marketing studies or clinical trials;
• issuance of warning letters or untitled letters;
• recalls or market withdrawals of products;
• fines, restitution, or disgorgement of profits or revenues;
• suspension or termination of ongoing clinical trials’
• suspension or withdrawal of marketing approvals;
• refusal to permit the import or export of our products;
• product seizure; and
If we obtain FDA approval for our product candidate, safety risks not identified in our prior clinical trials may first appear after we obtain approval and commercialize the product candidate. Any new post-marketing adverse events may significantly impact our ability to market the drugs and may require that we recall and discontinue commercialization of the products. Furthermore, if any confirmatory post-marketing trial fails to confirm the clinical profile or clinical benefits of our product candidate, the FDA may withdraw its approval, which would materially harm our business.
We also cannot predict the likelihood, nature, or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative or executive action, either in the United States or abroad. Further, the FDA’s, EMA’s and other comparable regulatory authorities’ policies may change, and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit, or delay regulatory approval of a product candidate or increase the costs and regulatory burden of commercialization. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative or executive action, either in the United States or abroad. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any marketing approval that we may have obtained, and we may not achieve or sustain profitability, which would adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations. Furthermore, non-compliance by us or any collaborator with regulatory requirements, including safety monitoring or pharmacovigilance, may also result in significant financial penalties, which would adversely affect our business.
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Failure to obtain marketing approval in foreign jurisdictions would prevent our product candidate from being marketed in other countries. Any marketing approval we are granted in the United States would not assure marketing approval in foreign jurisdictions.
In order to market and sell products in the European Union and other foreign jurisdictions, we must obtain separate marketing approvals and comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements. The approval procedure varies among countries and can involve additional testing. The time required to obtain approval may differ substantially from that required to obtain FDA approval. The marketing approval process outside the United States generally includes all of the risks associated with obtaining FDA approval. In addition, in many countries outside the United States, a product must be approved for reimbursement before the product can be approved for sale in that country. We may not obtain approvals from regulatory authorities outside the United States on a timely basis, if at all. Approval by the FDA does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions, and approval by one regulatory authority outside the United States does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions or by the FDA. We may file for marketing approvals but not receive necessary approvals to commercialize any products in any market. Obtaining non-U.S. regulatory approvals and compliance with non-U.S. regulatory requirements could result in significant delays, difficulties and costs for us and could delay or prevent the introduction of our product candidate in any country. In addition, if we fail to obtain the non-U.S. approvals required to market products outside the United States or if we fail to comply with applicable non-U.S. regulatory requirements, our target markets will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential of our product candidate will be harmed and our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may be adversely affected.
Additionally, we could face heightened risks with respect to seeking marketing approval in the United Kingdom as a result of the recent withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, commonly referred to as Brexit. The United Kingdom and European Union entered into a Trade and Cooperation Agreement in connection with Brexit that sets out certain procedures for approval and recognition of medical products in each jurisdiction. Since the regulatory framework for pharmaceutical products in the United Kingdom covering the quality, safety, and efficacy of pharmaceutical products, clinical trials, marketing authorization, commercial sales, and distribution of pharmaceutical products is derived from European Union directives and regulations, Brexit could materially impact the future regulatory regime that applies to products and the approval of product candidate in the United Kingdom. Any delay in obtaining, or an inability to obtain, any marketing approvals, as a result of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement would prevent us from commercializing our product candidate in the United Kingdom and/or the European Union and restrict our ability to generate revenue and achieve and sustain profitability. If any of these outcomes occur, we may be forced to restrict or delay efforts to seek regulatory approval in the United Kingdom and/or European Union for any product candidate, which could significantly and materially harm our business.
We expect that we will be subject to additional risks in commercializing our product candidate that receive marketing approval outside the United States, including tariffs, trade barriers and regulatory requirements; economic weakness, including inflation, or political instability in particular foreign economies and markets; compliance with tax, employment, immigration and labor laws for employees living or traveling abroad; foreign currency fluctuations, which could result in increased operating expenses and reduced revenue, and other obligations incident to doing business in another country; and workforce uncertainty in countries where labor unrest is more common than in the United States.
Risks Related to Healthcare Laws and Other Legal Compliance Matters
We are subject to a complex regulatory scheme that requires significant resources to ensure compliance. Failure to comply with applicable laws could subject us to government scrutiny or government enforcement, potentially resulting in costly investigations and/or fines or sanctions, or impacting our relationships with key regulatory agencies such as the FDA, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, or the EMA.
A variety of laws apply to us or may otherwise restrict our activities, including the following:
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• federal and state securities laws; and
Compliance with these and other applicable laws and regulations requires us to expend significant resources. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations may subject us to government investigations, enforcement actions by regulatory authorities, penalties, damages, fines, the restructuring of our operations, or the imposition of a clinical hold, any of which could materially adversely affect our business and would result in increased costs and diversion of management attention and could negatively impact the development, regulatory approval and commercialization of our product candidate, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We will incur significant liability if it is determined that we are promoting any “off-label” use of our product candidate or any other product we may develop, acquire or in-license.
Physicians are permitted to prescribe drug products for uses that differ from those approved by the FDA or other applicable regulatory agencies. Although the FDA and other regulatory agencies do not regulate a physician’s choice of treatments, the FDA and other regulatory agencies do restrict manufacturer communications regarding unapproved uses of an approved drug. Companies are not permitted to promote drugs for unapproved uses or in a manner that is inconsistent with the FDA-approved labeling. There are also restrictions about making comparative or superiority claims based on safety or efficacy that are not supported by substantial evidence. Accordingly, we may not promote our product candidate in the United States for use in any indications other than the indication for which the product is approved.
Promoting a drug off-label is a violation of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”) and can give rise to liability under the federal False Claims Act, as well as under additional federal and state laws and insurance statutes. The FDA, the Department of Justice and other regulatory and enforcement authorities enforce laws and regulations prohibiting promotion of off-label uses and the promotion of products for which marketing approval has not been obtained, as well as the false advertising or misleading promotion of drugs. In addition, laws and regulations govern the distribution and tracing of prescription drugs and prescription drug samples, including the Prescription Drug Marketing Act of 1976 and the Drug Supply Chain Security Act, which regulate the distribution and tracing of prescription drugs and prescription drug samples at the United States federal level and set minimum standards for the regulation of drug distributors by the states. A company that is found to have improperly promoted off-label uses or to have otherwise engaged in false or misleading promotion or improper distribution of drugs will be subject to significant liability, potentially including civil and administrative remedies as well as criminal sanctions. It may also be subject to exclusion and debarment from federal healthcare reimbursement programs.
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Risks Related to Employee Matters and Managing Potential Growth
We may not be able to attract or retain a majority of independent directors.
The Company’s Board of Directors, or the Board, may not be composed of a majority of independent directors in the future. Currently, our Board consists of six members; four of whom are independent and two of whom are members of management. It is difficult to retain and recruit independent directors. If the Board is not composed of a majority of independent directors, there may be a lower level of oversight on executive management, and the Board may be influenced by the concerns, issues or objectives of management, including compensation and governance issues, to a greater extent than would occur with a majority of independent directors. As a result, the composition of the Board may afford less protection to our stockholders than if the Board were composed of a majority of independent directors.
A lack of independent directors may also make it difficult to create appropriately sized board committees meeting the requirements of the charters of the Board Committees and the listing standards of The Nasdaq Stock Market, pursuant to which we evaluate director independence. Historically, we have strived to have each of our Board Committees comprised solely of independent directors. Currently, our Audit Committee has only three members, tow of which are audit committee financial experts and our Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee also consists of two independent directors. Due to the fact that we currently have only four independent directors, it is difficult to establish appropriately sized and effective operating board committees composed of independent members to oversee committee functions without overburdening our existing directors.
As we attempt to identify new board members, we may find that highly-qualified individuals are not available or willing to serve as directors or on a committee. There can be no assurance that we will be able to identify, recruit and ultimately secure the services of such individuals in a timely manner or at all. If we are unable to attract and retain qualified individuals who possess the necessary technical, scientific and financial expertise and management and operational experience, our ability to successfully develop, test and commercialize our product candidate and generate revenues may be negatively affected.
The recruitment and retention of skilled directors, executives, employees and consultants may be difficult and expensive, may result in dilution to our stockholders, and any failure to attract and retain such individuals may adversely affect our drug development and commercialization activities.
Our business depends on the skills, performance, and dedication of our directors, executive officers and key scientific and technical advisors. All of our current scientific advisors are independent contractors and are either self-employed or employed by other organizations. As a result, they may have conflicts of interest or other commitments, such as consulting or advisory contracts with other organizations that may affect their ability to provide services to us in a timely manner. We may need to recruit additional directors, executive management employees, and advisors, particularly scientific and technical personnel, which will require additional financial resources. In addition, there is currently intense competition for skilled directors, executives and employees with relevant scientific and technical expertise, and this competition is likely to continue. We compete for these qualified personnel against companies with greater financial resources than ours. In order to successfully recruit and retain qualified employees, we will likely need to offer a combination of base salary, cash incentives, and equity compensation. Future issuances of our equity securities for compensatory purposes will dilute existing stockholders’ ownership interests. If we are unable to attract and retain persons with sufficient scientific, technical and managerial experience, we may be forced to limit or delay our product development activities or may experience difficulties in successfully conducting our business, which would adversely affect our operations and financial condition.
The loss or transition of any member of our senior management team or any key employee could adversely affect our business.
Our success depends significantly on the continued individual and collective contributions of our senior management team and key employees. The individual and collective efforts of these employees will be important as we continue to develop our tests and services, and as we expand our commercial activities. The loss of the services of any
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member of our senior management team or the inability to hire and retain experienced management personnel could harm our operating results.
We have experienced significant turnover among our senior executives over the past three years. The complexity inherent in integrating a new key member of the senior management team with existing senior management may limit the effectiveness of any such successor or otherwise adversely affect our business. Leadership transitions are inherently difficult to manage and may cause uncertainty or a disruption to our business or increase the likelihood of turnover of other key officers and employees. Further, we may incur significant expenses related to any executive transition costs that may impact our operating results. Finding suitable replacements for senior management and other key employees can be difficult, and there can be no assurance we will continue to be successful in attracting or retaining qualified personnel in the future.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
Our common stock is classified as “penny stock” and trading of our shares may be restricted by the SEC’s penny stock regulations.
Rules 15g 1 through 15g 9 promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) impose sales practice and disclosure requirements on certain brokers-dealers who engage in transactions involving a “penny stock.” The SEC has adopted regulations which generally define “penny stock” to be any equity security that has a market price of less than $5.00 per share or an exercise price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exceptions. Our common stock is covered by the penny stock rules, which impose additional sales practice requirements on broker-dealers who sell to persons other than established customers and “accredited investors.” The penny stock rules require a broker-dealer, prior to a transaction in a penny stock not otherwise exempt from the rules, to deliver a standardized risk disclosure document in a form prepared by the SEC which provides information about penny stocks and the nature and level of risks in the penny stock market. The broker-dealer also must provide the customer with current bid and offer quotations for the penny stock, the compensation of the broker-dealer and its salesperson in the transaction, and monthly account statements showing the market value of each penny stock held in the customer’s account. In addition, the penny stock rules require that, prior to a transaction in a penny stock that is not otherwise exempt, the broker-dealer must make a special written determination that the penny stock is a suitable investment for the purchaser and receive the purchaser’s written agreement to the transaction. These disclosure requirements may have the effect of reducing the level of trading activity in the secondary market for stock that is subject to these penny stock rules. Consequently, these penny stock rules may affect the ability of broker-dealers to trade our securities. We believe that the penny stock rules may discourage investor interest in and limit the marketability of our common stock.
Although we have filed an application to list our securities on Nasdaq, there can be no assurance that our securities will be so listed or, if listed, that we will be able to comply with the continued listing standards.
On July 15, 2020, we announced that we had filed a comprehensive listing application package with The Nasdaq Stock Market, or Nasdaq, to request an uplisting of the Company’s common stock. Although we believe we satisfy the initial listing requirements for The Nasdaq Capital Market, Nasdaq has not approved our application, and there can be no assurance that Nasdaq will agree, approve us for listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market and, even if our securities are listed, we cannot assure you that we will be able to maintain such listing. In addition, if after listing, Nasdaq delists our securities from trading on its exchange for failure to meet the continued listing standards, we and our shareholders could face significant material adverse consequences including a limited availability of market quotations for our common stock, confirmation that our stock is “penny stock” and subject to increased regulations, and a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.
The trading price of our common stock has been and could remain volatile, and the market price of our common stock may decrease.
The market price of our common stock has historically experienced and may continue to experience significant volatility. From June 1, 2020 through May 31, 2021, the market price of our common stock has fluctuated from a high of $10.01 per share to a low of $1.63 per share, and our stock price reached a 52-week high of $10.01 on June 30, 2020.
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The volatile nature of our common share price may cause investment losses for our stockholders. In addition, the market price of stock in small capitalization biotech companies is often driven by investor sentiment, expectation and perception, all of which may be independent of fundamental, objective and intrinsic valuation metrics or traditional financial performance metrics, thereby exacerbating volatility. In addition, our common stock is quoted on the OTCQB of the OTC Markets marketplace, which may increase price quotation volatility and could limit liquidity, all of which may adversely affect the market price of our shares.
We and our collaborators may not achieve development and commercialization goals in the estimated time frames that we publicly announce, which could have an adverse impact on our business and could cause our stock price to decline.
We set goals, and make public statements regarding our expected timing for certain accomplishments, such as statements we have made about the initiation and completion of clinical trials, filing and approval of regulatory applications and other developments and milestones under our research and development programs and those of our partners and collaborators for leronlimab. The actual timing of these events can vary significantly due to a number of factors, including those discussed “Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors.” As a result, there can be no assurance that our pre-clinical studies and clinical trials will advance or be completed in the time frames we expect or announce, that we will make regulatory submissions or receive regulatory approvals as planned or that we will be able to adhere to our currently anticipated schedule for the achievement of key milestones under any of our programs. If we fail to achieve one or more of the events described above as planned, our business could be materially adversely affected and the price of our common stock could decline.
We are subject to risks associated with proxy contests and other actions of activist shareholders.
In connection with the 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, or the 2021 Meeting, a group of investors, The Rosenbaum Group, or the Activist Shareholders, has submitted notice of nominations of five candidates for election to our Board at the 2021 Meeting and pursuing a proxy contest. As of May 31, 2021, we had not incurred any costs in connection with the potential proxy contest. The Activist Shareholders filed preliminary proxy materials with the SEC in respect of the 2021 Meeting on July 20, 2021. As of the date of this Form 10-K the Company has not filed preliminary proxy materials for the 2021 Meeting. A proxy contest or related activities on the part of the Activist Shareholders or another shareholder could adversely affect our business for a number of reasons, including, without limitation, the following:
Proxy contests may cause our stock price to experience periods of volatility. Further, if a proxy contest results in a change in control of our Board, such an event could subject us to risks relating to certain third parties’ rights under our existing contractual obligations, which could adversely affect our business.
Our debt service obligations and our need for additional funding to finance operations may cause additional dilution to our existing stockholders.
Since our inception, we have not achieved cash flows from revenues to cover basic operating costs. As a result, we have relied heavily on debt and equity financing. The terms of our recent convertible note financings require us to make debt repayments of $7.5 million per month to retire earlier incurred debt. As a result, we will be required to use a significant portion of our available cash to make these debt repayments, which will reduce the amount of capital available to finance our operations and other business activities. We have to date, and may continue to, negotiate with our noteholders to exchange all or part of our outstanding debt for shares of common stock. If the Company enters into
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any future exchange offers they will likely be negotiated at a discount to the market price of our common stock and will cause additional dilution to our existing stockholders. If the convertible noteholders sell the common stock they receive in exchange for outstanding debt, this could result in a decline in our stock price. In addition, the exercise of our existing outstanding warrants and stock options, which are exercisable for or convertible into shares of our common stock, and which we have encouraged through private warrant exchange offers, would dilute our existing common stockholders. As a result of these or other factors, the issuance of additional equity or convertible debt securities could have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock. For the foreseeable future, we will need to continue to rely upon debt and equity financing to maintain our operations.
The significant number of shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding common stock options and warrants could adversely affect the trading price of our common stock.
If our existing stockholders sell, or indicate an intent to sell, substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, the trading price of our common stock could decline significantly. In addition, as of July 15, 2021, we have 15.3 million shares subject to exercise of outstanding options, 5.1 million shares of unvested and performance based restricted stock units and 18.7 million shares reserved for grants future awards under our equity compensation plan; 40.2 million shares issuable upon the exercise of outstanding warrants. If our existing stockholders sell substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, or if the public perceives that such sales could occur, the market price of our common stock could be adversely affected.
The significant number of shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding common stock options and warrants could adversely affect the trading price of our common stock.
We have currently outstanding shares of Series B, Series C and Series D Preferred Stock, as well as convertible secured promissory notes, that are convertible into common stock at variable conversion prices and adjustments. As a result, future conversion of debt and convertible preferred shares or issuance of new convertible debt may result in significant dilution to our stockholders. As of July 15, 2021, we have reserved 51.6 million shares of common stock for further issuance upon conversion of our outstanding shares of preferred stock and convertible notes.
If we implement a reverse stock split, there can be no assurance that the price per share of our common stock will increase proportionately with the reverse stock split, or at all.
Reducing the number of outstanding shares of our common stock through a reverse stock split is intended, absent other factors, to increase the per share market price of our common stock, including in preparation for a potential uplisting to a national securities exchange. However, other factors, such as our financial results, market conditions and the market perception of our business, may adversely affect the market price of our common stock. As a result, there can be no assurance that a reverse stock split, if completed, will result in making our common stock more attractive to a broader range of institutional and other investors, that the per share market price of our common stock will increase following a reverse stock split or that the per share market price of our common stock will not decrease in the future. Additionally, we cannot assure shareholders that the per share market price per share of our common stock after a reverse stock split, if completed, will increase in proportion to the reduction in the number of shares of our common stock outstanding before the reverse stock split. Accordingly, the total market capitalization of our common stock after a reverse stock split may be lower than the total market capitalization before the reverse stock split.
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If the beneficial ownership of our stock becomes highly concentrated, it may prevent our stockholders from influencing significant corporate decisions.
Our significant stockholders, if any, may exercise substantial influence over the outcome of corporate actions requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors, any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets, or any other significant corporate transaction. These stockholders may also vote against a change of control, even if such a change of control would benefit our other stockholders.
Future sales of our securities could adversely affect the market price of our common stock and our future capital-raising activities could involve the issuance of equity securities, which would dilute your investment and could result in a decline in the trading price of our common stock.
We may sell securities in the public or private equity markets if and when conditions are favorable, or at prices per share below the current market price of our common stock, even if we do not have an immediate need for additional capital at that time. Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock, or the perception that such sales could occur, could adversely affect the prevailing market price of our shares and our ability to raise capital. We may issue additional shares of common stock in future financing transactions or as incentive compensation for our executive management and other key personnel, consultants and advisors. Issuing any equity securities would be dilutive to the equity interests represented by our then-outstanding shares of common stock. Moreover, sales of substantial amounts of shares in the public market, or the perception that such sales could occur, may adversely affect the prevailing market price of our common stock and make it more difficult for us to raise additional capital.
Our certificate of incorporation allows for our Board to create new series of preferred stock without further approval by our stockholders, which could adversely affect the rights of the holders of our common stock.
Our Board has the authority to fix and determine the relative rights and preferences of preferred stock. Currently, our Board has the authority to designate and issue up to 7.58 million additional shares of our preferred stock without further stockholder approval. As a result, our Board of Directors could authorize the issuance of another series of preferred stock that would grant to holders the preferred right to our assets upon liquidation, the right to receive dividend payments before dividends are distributed to the holders of common stock and the right to the redemption of the shares, together with a premium, prior to the redemption of our common stock. In addition, our Board could authorize the issuance of a series of preferred stock that has greater voting power than our common stock or that is convertible into our common stock, which could decrease the relative voting power of our common stock or result in dilution to our existing stockholders.
Anti-takeover provisions of our certificate of incorporation, our bylaws and Delaware law could make an acquisition of us, which may be beneficial to our stockholders, more difficult and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove the current members of our Board and management.
Certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws could discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or other change of control that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for shares of common stock. Furthermore, these provisions could prevent or frustrate attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove members of our Board. These provisions also could limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for our common stock, thereby depressing the market price of our common stock. Stockholders who wish to participate in these transactions may not have the opportunity to do so. Among other things, these provisions:
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In addition, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which may, unless certain criteria are met, prohibit large stockholders, in particular those owning 15% or more of the voting rights on our common stock, from merging or combining with us for a prescribed period of time.
If we are unable to effectively maintain a system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately or timely report our financial results and our stock price could be adversely affected.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and related regulations require us to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of the end of each fiscal year, and to include a management report assessing the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for that fiscal year. Management determined that as of the fiscal year ended May 31, 2021, our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting were effective. Prior to the fiscal year ended May 31, 2017, our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting were not effective, due to material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting related to inadequate segregation of duties over authorization, review and recording of transactions, as well as the financial reporting of such transactions. Any failure to maintain our controls or operation of these controls, could harm our operations, decrease the reliability of our financial reporting, and cause us to fail to meet our financial reporting obligations, which could adversely affect our business and reduce our stock price.
We do not expect any cash dividends to be paid on our common shares in the foreseeable future.
We have never declared or paid a cash dividend on our common shares and we do not anticipate declaring or paying dividends on our common shares for the foreseeable future. We expect to use future financing proceeds and earnings, if any, to fund operating expenses. Consequently, common stockholders’ only opportunity to achieve a return on their investment is if the price of our stock appreciates and they sell their shares at a profit. We cannot assure common stockholders of a positive return on their investment when they sell their shares or that stockholders will not lose the entire amount of their investment.
Risks Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Our business and operations continue to be affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Our operational and financial performance continues to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We expect our clinical trial activity to continue to face challenges and delays in patient enrollment as a result of concerns regarding infection spread and the Delta variant of COVID-19, governmental orders regarding travel and other measures to reduce disease spread, study site closures, and prioritization of hospital resources toward the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has also affected the operations of governmental entities, such as the FDA, as well as contract research organizations, consultants, third-party manufacturers, third-party laboratories and manufacturers, and other third-parties upon whom we rely. The effects of work-from-home policies may negatively impact productivity, resulting in delays in our clinical programs and timelines. We have experienced, and expect to continue to experience, delays in our operations and in the operations of our third-party service providers as a result of disruptions COVID-19 has had on normal business operations. We may also be affected by a downturn in the U.S. economy, which could have an adverse effect on our ability to raise capital and obtain financing, which could in the future negatively affect our liquidity and ability to continue as a going concern. The extent to which COVID-19 continues to affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations will depend on future developments, which continue to evolve rapidly, and which are highly
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uncertain and subject to change. These effects may continue to have a material adverse impact on our operations and financial condition.
The spread of COVID-19 has also led to disruption and volatility in the global capital markets, which increases the cost of, and adversely impacts access to, capital and increases economic uncertainty. To the extent the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affects our business, financial results and value of our common stock, it may also have an adverse effect on our ability to access capital and obtain financing, which could negatively affect our liquidity and ability to continue as a going concern.
We may be at increased risk of becoming the target of cyber-attacks due to our research involving leronlimab for treatment of COVID-19.
Cybersecurity authorities in the United States are currently investigating a number of incidents in which hackers are targeting pharmaceutical companies, medical research organizations, and universities in order to steal sensitive research data and intellectual property related to efforts to contain and treat coronavirus. In July 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice accused several groups of hackers of targeting companies conducting COVID-19 vaccine development research on behalf of foreign intelligence services. Because of leronlimab’s potential effect on the immune system, it has been administered to COVID patients under single patient Emergency Investigation New Drug (EIND) authorizations, and the Company has initiated several clinical trials for COVID-19 in the U.S. and other countries. As a result of our ongoing clinical trials for leronlimab to treat COVID-19, our information technology systems, employees, contractors and corporate partners may be at greater risk for cyber-based attacks.
Item 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
Item 2. PROPERTIES
Our principal office location is 1111 Main Street, Suite 660, Vancouver, Washington 98660. The space is subject to a lease effective through April 30, 2026.
Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
For a description of any pending material legal proceedings, please see Note 10. Commitments and Contingencies of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K.
Item 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
Part II
Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Market Information
Our common stock is presently quoted on the OTCQB of the OTC Markets marketplace under the trading symbol CYDY. Over-the-counter market quotations reflect inter-dealer prices, without retail mark-up, mark-down or commission, and may not necessarily represent actual transactions. Historically, trading in our stock has been very limited and the trades that have occurred cannot be characterized as amounting to an established public trading market. As a result, the trading prices of our common stock may not reflect the price that would result if our stock was actively traded.
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Holders
The number of record holders of our common stock on July 15, 2021 was approximately 864.
Dividends
Holders of our common stock are entitled to receive dividends as may be declared from time to time by our Board. While we have no contractual restrictions or restrictions in our governing documents on our ability to pay dividends, other than the preferential rights provided to the holders of our outstanding preferred stock, as described below, we have not paid any cash dividends since inception on our common stock and do not anticipate paying any in the foreseeable future. Our current policy is to retain earnings, if any, for use in our operations.
Also, under Section 170 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”), we are permitted to pay dividends only out of capital surplus or, if none, out of net profits for the fiscal year in which the dividend is declared or net profits from the preceding fiscal year. As of May 31, 2021, the Company had an accumulated deficit of approximately $511.3 million and has had a net loss in each of the last three fiscal years. As a result of the accumulated deficit, the Company is also currently prohibited from paying any dividends in the form of capital stock.
Brief summaries of the terms of our outstanding preferred stock are set forth below.
Holders of 8,452 shares of Series D Convertible Preferred Stock (“Series D Preferred Stock”) outstanding at May 31, 2021, are entitled to receive, when and as declared by the Board and out of any assets at the time legally available therefor, cumulative dividends at the rate of ten percent (10%) per share per annum of the stated value of the Series D Preferred Stock, which is $1,000 per share. Any dividends paid by us will first be paid to the holders of Series D Preferred Stock prior and in preference to any payment or distribution to holders of our common stock. Dividends on the Series D Preferred Stock are cumulative and will accrue and be compounded annually, whether or not declared and whether or not there are any profits, surplus or other funds or assets of the Company legally available therefor. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the Series D Preferred Stock. The Series D Preferred Stock does not have redemption rights. Dividends, if declared by the Board, are payable to holders in arrears on December 31 of each year. Subject to the provisions of DGCL Section 170, the holder may elect to be paid in cash or in restricted shares of common stock at the rate of $0.50 per share. If all holders were to elect to receive a dividend (if declared) in the form of common stock at December 31, 2020, approximately 3.2 million shares of common stock would be issued. If such dividends were to be paid in cash, such dividends would total approximately $1.6 million at December 31, 2020.
Holders of 8,203 shares of Series C Convertible Preferred Stock (“Series C Preferred Stock”) outstanding at May 31, 2021, are entitled to receive, when and as declared by the Board and out of any assets the time legally available therefor, cumulative dividends at the rate of ten percent (10%) per share per annum of the stated value of the Series C Preferred Stock, which is $1,000 per share. Any dividends paid by us will first be paid to the holders of Series C Preferred Stock prior and in preference to any payment or distribution to holders of our common stock. Dividends on the Series C Preferred Stock are cumulative, and will accrue and be compounded annually, whether or not declared and whether or not there are any profits, surplus or other funds or assets of the Company legally available therefor. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the Series C Preferred Stock. The Series C Preferred Stock does not have redemption rights. Dividends, if declared by the Board, are payable to holders in arrears on December 31 of each year. Subject to the provisions of DGCL Section 170, the holder may elect to be paid in cash or in restricted shares of common stock at the rate of $0.50 per share. If all holders were to elect to receive a dividend (if declared) in the form of common stock at December 31, 2020, approximately 4.0 million shares of common stock would be issued. If such dividends were to be paid in cash, such dividends would total approximately $2.0 million at December 31, 2020.