Form 10-K
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM
10-K
for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021
for the transition period from
to
Commission file number:
001-16133
DELCATH SYSTEMS, INC.
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
212-489-2100
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered
Common stock, $0.01 par value per share DCTH The NASDAQ Capital Market
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None.
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation
S-T
(§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a
non-accelerated
filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule
12b-2
of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer ☐ Accelerated filer ☐
Non-accelerated filer ☒ Smaller reporting company ☒
Emerging growth company ☐
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule
12b-2
of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
The aggregate market value of the common stock held by
non-affiliates
of the registrant, based on the closing sale price on the Nasdaq Capital Market of $12.61 per share, as of June 30, 2021, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter was $86,911,449.
At March
30
, 2022, the registrant had outstanding
7,906,728
shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the registrant’s Proxy Statement for the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference in Part III of this Annual Report on Form
10-K
to the extent stated herein. Such proxy statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days of the registrant’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2021.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
PART I
Item 1. Business 4
Item 1A. Risk Factors 21
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 45
Item 2. Properties 45
Item 3. Legal Proceedings 45
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 45
PART II
Item 6. [Reserved.] 46
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure About Market Risk 51
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 51
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 52
Item 9B. Other Information 53
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections 53
PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 54
Item 11. Executive Compensation 54
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services 54
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules 54
SIGNATURES 59
Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report on Form
10-K
for the period ended December 31, 2021 contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to our business, financial condition, liquidity, and results of operations. Words such as “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “predicts,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “could,” “would,” “will,” “may,” “can,” “continue,” “potential,” “should,” and the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology often identify forward-looking statements. Statements in this Annual Report on Form
10-K
for the period ending December 31, 2021 that are not historical facts are hereby identified as “forward-looking statements” for the purpose of the safe harbor provided by Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results contemplated by the forward-looking statements, including the risks discussed in this Annual Report on Form
10-K
for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 in Item 1A under “Risk Factors” and the risks detailed from time to time in our future SEC reports. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about:
• the progress and results of our research and development programs;
• our ability to successfully manufacture CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO;
Many of the important factors that will determine these results are beyond our ability to control or predict. You are cautioned not to put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Annual Report on Form
10-K.
Except as otherwise required by law, we do not assume any obligation to publicly update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this Annual Report on Form
10-K
or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
This Annual Report on Form
10-K
and the information incorporated herein by reference may include trademarks, service marks and trade names owned or licensed by us, including CHEMOFUSE, CHEMOSAT, CHEMOSATURATION, DELCATH, HEPZATO, HEPZATO KIT, PHP and THE DELCATH PHP SYSTEM. Solely for convenience and readability, trademarks, and trade names, including logos, artwork and other visual displays, may appear in a
non-traditional
trademark usage manner, including without the
®
or TM symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the rights of the applicable licensor to these trademarks, service marks and trade names. All trademarks, service marks and trade names included or incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form
10-K
are the property of the Company or the Company’s licensor, as applicable.
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SUMMARY OF THE MATERIAL RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH OUR BUSINESS
• Continuing losses may exhaust our capital resources.
2
3
Item 1. Business.
Unless the context otherwise requires, all references in this Annual Report on Form
10-K
to the “Company”, “Delcath”, “Delcath Systems”, “we”, “our”, and “us” refers to Delcath Systems, Inc., a Delaware corporation, incorporated in August 1988, and all entities included in our consolidated financial statements. Our corporate offices are located at 1633 Broadway, Suite 22C, New York, New York 10019. Our telephone number is
(212) 489-2100
and our internet address is
www.delcath.com
.
Company Overview
We are an interventional oncology company focused on the treatment of primary and metastatic liver cancers. Our lead product candidate, the HEPZATO
TM
KIT (melphalan hydrochloride for injection/hepatic delivery system), or HEPZATO, is a drug/device combination product. HEPZATO is designed to administer high-dose chemotherapy to the liver while controlling systemic exposure and associated side effects. In Europe, our commercial product is a stand-alone medical device having the same device components as the HEZPATO but without the melphalan hydrochloride, is designated as a Class III medical device, and is approved for sale under the trade name CHEMOSAT
®
Hepatic Delivery System for Melphalan, or CHEMOSAT, where it has been used at major medical centers to treat a wide range of cancers of the liver.
In the United States, HEPZATO is considered a combination drug and device product regulated by the United States Food and Drug Administration, or the FDA. Primary jurisdiction for regulation of HEPZATO has been assigned to the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. The FDA has granted Delcath six orphan drug designations (five for melphalan in ocular melanoma, cutaneous melanoma, cholangiocarcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, and neuroendocrine tumor indications and one for doxorubicin in the hepatocellular carcinoma indication). HEPZATO has not been approved for sale in the United States.
In December 2010, the Company submitted a new drug application, or NDA, to the FDA seeking the approval of its first generation melphalan hydrochloride for injection/hepatic delivery system. In response, in February 2011, the FDA issued a
Refusal-to-File
letter. The Company responded to the FDA’s letter and updated its delivery system, including modifications to the system’s filter. In September 2013, the FDA issued a Complete Response Letter, or CRL, to the Company’s NDA requesting, among other things, that the Company perform an adequate and well controlled study utilizing its updated delivery system.
In response to the CRL, in 2016, the Company began enrolling patients in the FOCUS Clinical Trial for Patients with Hepatic Dominant Ocular Melanoma (the “FOCUS Trial”), a global registration clinical trial studying HEPZATO’s safety and efficacy treating metastatic ocular melanoma, or mOM. The FOCUS Study was originally designed as a randomized controlled trial comparing HEPZATO versus the Best Alternative Care (BAC) with a primary endpoint of overall survival. Due to significant challenges enrolling patients into the Trial, including the fact that the BAC arm was known to have limited efficacy and the availability of CHEMOSAT in Europe, in 2018, the Company and FDA agreed to amend the FOCUS Trial to a
single-arm,
nonrandomized trial with a primary endpoint of Overall Response Rate (ORR) and a secondary endpoint of Duration of Response (DOR). The last patient in the FOCUS trial was treated in May 2021 and, per the Study’s statistical plan, a final predefined exploratory survival analysis, versus the Best Alternative Care (BAC), will be conducted twenty-four months from the date of the last patient treated.
In December 2021, the Company announced that HEPZATO met its prespecified endpoint. Based on the FOCUS Trial results, the Company is preparing to file a revised NDA for HEPZATO. Depending on feedback from FDA, we hope to file the revised NDA by
mid-2022.
CHEMOSAT is available in select markets in the United Kingdom and the European Union. In December 2018, we entered into a license agreement with medac GmbH, for the commercialization of CHEMOSAT in Europe. The license agreement has been terminated and, as of March 1, 2022, we have begun directly marketing CHEMOSAT in these markets. In addition, on February 28, 2022, CHEMOSAT received Medical Device Regulation (MDR) certification under the European Medical Devices Regulation [2017/745/EU].
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In addition to HEPZATO’s use to treat mOM, we believe that HEPZATO has the potential to treat other liver dominant cancers, such as Metastatic Colorectal Cancer and Cholangiocarcinoma, and plan to begin the study of HEPZATO to treat such conditions in the near future.
Cancers in the Liver—A Significant Unmet Need
According to the American Cancer Society’s, or ACS
, Cancer Facts
& Figures 2022
report, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, with an estimated 609,360 deaths and over 1.9 million new cases expected to be diagnosed in 2022. Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, accounting for approximately 10 million deaths and 19.3 million new cases in 2020 according to GLOBOCAN, the database of the International Association of Cancer Registries. The financial burden of cancer is enormous for patients, their families and society. The Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research estimates that the direct medical costs (total of all healthcare expenditures) for cancer in the United States in 2018 was $112.5 billion. The liver is often the life-limiting organ for cancer patients and cancer that spreads to the liver is one of the leading causes of cancer death. Cancer that begins in one area of the body often metastasizes to the liver. Patient prognosis is generally poor once cancer has spread to the liver. Consequently, cancers of the liver remain a major unmet medical need globally.
Liver Cancers—Incidence and Mortality
Cancers of the liver consist of primary liver cancer and metastatic liver cancer. Primary liver cancers (hepatocellular carcinoma, or HCC, and Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma or ICC) originates in the liver or biliary tissue and is particularly prevalent in populations where the primary risk factors for the disease, such as
hepatitis-B,
hepatitis-C,
high levels of alcohol consumption, aflatoxin, cigarette smoking and exposure to industrial pollutants, are present. Metastatic liver cancer, also called liver metastasis, or secondary liver cancer, results from the spread or “metastases” of a primary cancer into the liver. These metastases often continue to grow even after the primary cancer in another part of the body has been removed. Given the vital biological functions of the liver, including processing nutrients from food and filtering toxins from the blood, it is not uncommon for metastases to settle in the liver. In many cases patients die not as a result of their primary cancer, but from the tumors that metastasize to their liver. In the United States, metastatic liver disease is more prevalent than primary liver cancer.
The liver is a difficult organ to treat for certain cancers. Current liver treatment options include surgery, systemic drugs, and minimally invasive or liver directed options. Surgery options include surgical resections, liver transplants, and isolated hepatic perfusion. Systemic options include systemic chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Minimally invasive options include external beam radiation therapy and liver directed procedures. Liver directed (interventional oncology) procedures in the liver are performed by an interventional radiologist. These procedures include trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE, DEBTACE) and Radioembolization (SIRT, TARE, or Y90). We believe that CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO, if approved in the United States, represent an important advancement in regional therapy for liver directed treatment of primary liver cancer and certain other cancers metastatic to the liver and are uniquely positioned to treat the entire liver either as a standalone therapy or as a complement to other therapies.
Ocular Melanoma
Ocular melanoma frequently metastasizes to the liver. Based on third party research that we commissioned in 2018, approximately
5,000-6,200
cases of ocular melanoma are diagnosed in the United States and Europe annually, and approximately 50% of these patients will develop metastatic disease. Of metastatic cases of ocular melanoma, approximately 90% of patients develop liver involvement. According to Lane et al.,
JAMA Ophthalmol
. 2018 Sep
1;136(9):981-98,
once ocular melanoma has spread to the liver, median overall survival for these patients is generally 3.9 months (untreated) to 6.3 months (treated). There is no one standard of care for patients with ocular melanoma liver metastases. Based on 2018 research, an estimated
2,500-3,100
patients with
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ocular melanoma liver metastases in the United States, the United Kingdom and the EU may be eligible for treatment with HEPZATO annually. We estimate the annual addressable market for this indication in the United States, the United Kingdom and the EU is approximately $300 million per year.
Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma
Primary liver cancers include HCC and ICC. According to GLOBOCAN 2020, an estimated 68,500 new cases of primary liver cancer are diagnosed in the United States and Europe annually. According to the ACS, approximately 41,260 new cases of these cancers are expected to be diagnosed in the United States in 2022, leading to approximately 30,520 deaths.
ICC is the second most common form of primary liver cancer and according to Wang et al., 2013 J Clin Oncol 31:1188-1195 accounts for
5-30%
of primary liver cancers diagnosed in the United States and Europe annually. We believe that 90% of ICC patients are not candidates for surgical resection, and that approximately
20-30%
of these may be candidates for certain focal interventions. According to third party research that we commissioned in 2018 we estimate that approximately 11,000 ICC patients in the United States, the United Kingdom and the EU annually could be candidates for treatment with HEPZATO and CHEMOSAT.
Colorectal Cancer
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent cancers in the United States and Europe and has a high metastatic rate to the liver. GLOBOCAN 2020 estimates 288,230 colorectal cancer diagnosis per year in the United States and Western Europe, UK, and Italy. According to the American Cancer Society, in the United States approximately 151,030 diagnoses are expected in 2022 leading to 52,580 deaths.
Recent advances in the treatment of primary colorectal cancer have shown encouraging increases in
5-year
survival; however, the presence of metastasis is an indicator for increased mortality probability. Approximately 25% of patients will present with liver metastasis at the time of initial primary disease diagnosis. Clark et al.,
J Gastrointest Oncol
.
2014;5(5):374-387.
We estimate that approximately 98,000 CRC patients in the United States, the United Kingdom and the EU annually could be candidates for treatment with HEPZATO and CHEMOSAT.
Breast Cancer
Breast cancer (BC) is the most diagnosed cancer in women in the United States and worldwide. The American Cancer Society estimates that 287,850 women will be diagnosed with BC in the United States annually. BC is the second leading cancer-related cause of death for women (behind lung cancer) in the United States. GLOBOCAN 2020 estimates are that there are, annually, 726,259 women diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States, Western Europe and the United Kingdom. Recent advances in primary breast cancer treatments have given patients a high
5-year
survival rate. The prognosis for patients with breast cancer liver metastasis, however, remains poor.
Approximately 18% of all women diagnosed with breast cancer will also have distant metastatic disease, in which 5% of these patients will have liver only metastasis. Eventually 50% of all metastatic patients will see their disease progress to the liver in addition to their initial diagnosed metastatic site and in 20% of these patient’s liver progression is the cause of mortality
.
Deipolyi AR, et al.J Vasc Inter Radiol.
2018;29(9):1226-1235.
Treatment options for patients with multiple sites of metastatic disease vary. We estimate that approximately 6,000 breast cancer patients with hepatic only involvement in the United States and Western Europe (including the United Kingdom and Italy) could be candidates for treatment with HEPZATO and CHEMOSAT. An additional 10,000 patients could receive benefits from HEPZATO and CHEMOSAT in the palliative setting based on local treatment guidelines.
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Neuroendocrine Cancer
Neuroendocrine Tumors (NETs) or neuroendocrine neoplasia are a rare group of cancers that originate in neuroendocrine cells. NETs can originate anywhere in the body, the most common sites include the digestive tract, rectum, lungs, pancreas, or appendix. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) estimates that there are 12,000 new diagnosis of neuroendocrine tumors each year in the United States, and a total of 21,500 in the United States and Europe.
According to
Pape et al. 2008. Endocrine-Related Cancer. 15(4), 1083-1097
NETs have a metastasis rate of between
60-80%
and the majority of these accrue in the liver (85%). We estimate that approximately 12,000 NETs patients in the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union each year could be candidates for treatment with HEPZATO and CHEMOSAT.
Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic adenocarcinoma comes with a poor prognosis for those diagnosed with the disease. The American Cancer Society estimates that pancreatic cancer will affect 62,210 patients annually, with 49,830 annual deaths in the United States in 2022. Along with GLOBOCAN estimates for Western Europe, the United Kingdom and Italy, pancreatic cancer effects a total of 132,442 patients annually with 105,638 annual deaths.
Upon diagnosis, nearly 75% of patients will have liver metastasis and 58% of those patients will have liver only metastasis. Metastatic pancreatic cancer proves to be a fast-progressing cancer that, once metastasized, leaves the patients limited treatment options.
Oweira, et al. World J Gastroenterol. 2017;23(10):1872-1880.
We estimate there are approximately 57,600 United States and Western Europe (including UK and Italy) new pancreatic cancer patients each year with hepatic only involvement. Given the rapid progression of the disease it is unknown at this time the estimated number of candidates for treatment with HEPZATO and CHEMOSAT.
About CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO
Our product administers concentrated regional chemotherapy to the liver. This “whole organ” therapy is performed by isolating the circulatory system of the liver, infusing the liver with a chemotherapeutic agent, and then filtering the blood prior to returning it to the patient’s circulatory system. During the procedure, known as percutaneous hepatic perfusion, PHP
®
, or PHP therapy, three catheters are placed percutaneously through standard interventional radiology techniques. The catheters temporarily isolate the liver from the body’s circulatory system, allow administration of the chemotherapeutic agent melphalan hydrochloride directly to the liver, and collect blood exiting the liver for filtration by our proprietary filters. The filters adsorb chemotherapeutic agent in the blood, thereby reducing systemic exposure to the drug and related toxic side effects before the filtered blood is returned to the patient’s circulatory system.
PHP therapy is performed in an interventional radiology suite in approximately two to three hours. Patients remain in an intensive care or step-down unit overnight for observation following the procedure. Treatment with CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO is repeatable, and a new disposable system is used for each treatment. Patients treated in clinical settings are permitted up to six treatments. In commercial treatment settings, patients have received up to eight treatments. In the United States, melphalan hydrochloride for injection will be included as part of the system, if approved. In Europe, the system is sold separately and used in conjunction with melphalan hydrochloride commercially available from a third party. In our clinical trials, melphalan hydrochloride for injection is provided to both European and United States clinical trial sites.
Early development of HEPZATO System—FDA Complete Response Letter
Based on clinical trials conducted using an earlier version of our HEPZATO system, in August 2012, we submitted an NDA under Section 505(b)(2) of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA, seeking FDA
7
approval for use of our HEPZATO system for the percutaneous intra-arterial administration of melphalan hydrochloride for use in the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma in the liver and, subsequently, amended the application to ocular melanoma metastatic to the liver.
In the Spring of 2013, an Oncologic Drug Advisory Committee, or ODAC panel, convened by the FDA voted 16 to 0, with no abstentions, that the benefits of treatment with the early version of HEPZATO did not outweigh the risks associated with the procedure. A significant portion of FDA’s presentation to the ODAC panel was focused on the FDA’s assessment of treatment-related risks, including the analysis of treatment-related deaths that occurred during clinical trials. The FDA also expressed concerns about hypotension, or low blood pressure, during the procedure, length of hospital stay, as well as risks of stroke, heart attack, renal failure, and bone marrow suppression.
In September 2013, the FDA issued a complete response letter, or CRL, relating to our NDA. The FDA issues a CRL after the review of an NDA has been completed and questions remain that preclude approval of the NDA in its current form. The deficiencies identified in the CRL included, among other items, the requirement that we conduct an adequate and well-controlled study demonstrating substantial evidence that the effectiveness of the kit the Company intended to market outweighed its risks. The CRL also required that we address certain clinical, clinical pharmacology, human factors and product quality elements.
In January 2016, we entered into a Special Protocol Assessment agreement, or SPA, with the FDA on the design of a new Phase 3 clinical trial of HEPZATO to treat patients with hepatic dominant ocular melanoma. This SPA represented an agreement with the FDA that a specific Phase 3 trial would adequately address objectives that, if met, would support the submission for regulatory approval of HEPZATO. The SPA’s primary endpoint was overall survival, and secondary endpoints included progression-free survival, overall response rate and
quality-of-life
measures. However, the Company faced significant difficulties, including the fact that the Best Alternative Care (BAC) arm was known to have limited efficacy, enrolling patients into the study under the SPA. Therefore, in the summer of 2018, we amended the protocol for the trial to a
non-randomized,
single-arm
study with a different primary endpoint (objective response rate), which terminated the SPA.
Clinical Development Program
The focus of our clinical development program is to generate clinical data for CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO in various disease states to demonstrate efficacy and validate the safety profile of the current version of the product and treatment procedure. We believe that the improvements we have made to CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO and to the PHP therapy have addressed the adverse event profile and procedure-related risks that led to the issuance of the CRL. Our clinical development program is also designed to support clinical adoption of and reimbursement for CHEMOSAT in Europe, and to support regulatory filings and reimbursement in various jurisdictions, including the United States.
The FOCUS Trial
In July 2018, we commenced an amended clinical trial of HEPZATO, titled
A
Single-arm,
Multi-Center, Open-Label Study to Evaluate the Efficacy, Safety and Pharmacokinetics of HEPZATO Treatment in Patients with Hepatic-Dominant Ocular Melanoma
, or the FOCUS Trial. The rarity of ocular melanoma, absence of crossover to the experimental trial arm, competing clinical trials and the commercial availability of PHP
®
Therapy in Europe impeded enrollment in the original randomized protocol. Under the revised study protocol, the FOCUS Trial was to include a minimum of 80 treated patients with ocular melanoma metastatic to the liver. The primary endpoint of the FOCUS Trial was the objective response rate, or ORR, as measured by RECISTv1.1. Secondary endpoints included duration of response, disease control rate, overall survival, and progression-free survival. Additional exploratory outcome measures included time to objective response, hepatic progression-free survival, hepatic objective response, and quality of life, safety, and other pharmacokinetic measures. Patients previously
8
enrolled in the HEPZATO arm of the original trial were treated and statistically evaluated as part of the revised FOCUS Trial. The FOCUS Trial was conducted at 30 sites in the United States and Europe.
During much of 2019, enrollment of patients in the trial, entry of data into the clinical trial database and the pace at which we monitored data at our clinical trial was adversely affected by a lack of capital to fund the trial. While the funding constraints were alleviated in
mid-2019,
starting in early 2020 the
COVID-19
pandemic further impacted our ability to enroll and treat patients in this trial and to monitor data at our clinical trial sites. Enrollment of the final patient occurred on October 2, 2020 and the final patient was treated in May 2021. On December 2, 2021, we released the final primary efficacy results of the FOCUS Trial. An Independent Review Committee (IRC) assessed an Overall Response Rate (ORR) of 31.4% [95% CI: 22.55 - 41.31] in the Intent to Treat (ITT) population, which exceeded the predefined success criteria (21%) for the primary ORR endpoint. Evaluable patients in the HEPZATO arm had a statistically significant improvement over BAC in the following
pre-specified
endpoints:
We plan to request a
pre-NDA
meeting with the FDA and, pending feedback from FDA and the pace of complete data analysis from our clinical sites which have been impacted by the
COVID-19
pandemic, we plan to submit the NDA by
mid-2022.
Recent Data Presentations
In January 2022, the results from a single-institution retrospective study conducted by University Hospital Southampton, Southampton UK on the use of the CHEMOSAT Hepatic Delivery System to treat patients with metastatic ocular melanoma with liver metastases were published in the journal Melanoma Research. With 81 patients and 250 procedures this is the largest single center percutaneous hepatic perfusion study to date. The study titled
Chemosaturation with Percutaneous Hepatic Perfusion for Metastatic Uveal Melanoma
, by Sachin Modi, MD FRCR(IR), et al, evaluated the safety and efficacy of PHP therapy in 81 patients with unresectable liver dominant metastases from ocular melanoma treated with CHEMOSAT. 50.6% of patients had prior treatments for metastatic uveal melanoma.
Average time from diagnosis of liver metastasis to first PHP was 5.3 months (158 days). The 81 patients underwent a total of 250 PHP treatments. The median number of treatments per patient was three. Tumor response was evaluated using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors and adverse events were evaluated using Common Criteria for Adverse Events.
Results of the study in the 81 evaluable patients showed that 7 patients (8.6%) had a complete response, 42 patients (51.9%) had a partial response, 16 patients (19.8%) had stable disease, and 16 patients (19.8%) had progressive disease for a disease control rate of 80.2%. Median progression free survival (PFS) after the first treatment was 8.4 months. Median overall survival (OS) was 14.9 months.
Safety analysis showed that in 23 patients there were a total of 43 grade 3 (29) or grade 4 (14) treatment-related adverse events. There were no grade 5 treatment-related adverse events. Investigators concluded that PHP provides excellent response rates for patients and side effects are reduced with treatment team experience.
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Market Access and Commercial Clinical Adoption
Europe
Since launching CHEMOSAT in Europe, over 1,200 commercial treatments have been performed at over 25 European cancer centers. Physicians in Europe have used CHEMOSAT to treat patients with a variety of cancers in the liver, primarily ocular melanoma liver metastases, and other tumor types, including cutaneous melanoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma, and liver metastases from colorectal cancer, breast, pancreatic and neuroendocrine.
In December 2018, the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Delcath Systems Ltd., entered into a license agreement with medac GmbH, for the commercialization of CHEMOSAT in Europe. The medac license provided to medac the exclusive right to market and sell CHEMOSAT in all member states of the EU, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The medac license provided to Delcath a combination of upfront and success-based milestone payments as well as a fixed transfer price per unit of CHEMOSAT and specified royalties.
In April 2021, we issued medac an invoice for €1 million for a milestone payment under the license agreement. medac disputed the invoice and, in response, on October 12, 2021, we notified medac that we were terminating the license agreement effective April 12, 2022. In response to medac’s continued failure to pay the milestone and its demand for us to withdraw the termination notice, on December 16, 2021, we initiated an arbitration proceeding pursuant to the license agreement’s dispute resolution procedures. On December 30, 2021, we received a letter from medac stating that, due to our failure to withdraw the termination notice, medac was terminating the license agreement with immediate effect. In the letter, medac reserved its rights in full, including a purported claim for damages for wrongful termination. In a separate letter, medac agreed to work with us to arrange an orderly transition in order to minimize the impact of any termination on patients and physicians. As of March 1, 2022, this transition has been completed and we have assumed direct responsibility for sales, marketing and distribution of CHEMOSAT in Europe.
The arbitration proceeding is moving forward with the parties agreeing to stay the arbitration for a finite period to pursue settlement discussions.
European Reimbursement
A critical driver of utilization growth for CHEMOSAT in Europe is the expansion of reimbursement mechanisms for the procedure in our priority markets. In most European countries, the government provides healthcare and controls reimbursement levels. Since the EU has no jurisdiction over patient reimbursement or pricing matters in its member states, the methodologies for determining reimbursement rates and the actual rates may vary by country. Reimbursement is administered on a regional and national basis. Medical devices are typically reimbursed under Diagnosis Related Groups, or DRG, as part of a procedure. Prior to obtaining permanent DRG reimbursement codes, in certain jurisdictions, we are actively seeking interim reimbursement from existing mechanisms that include specific interim reimbursement schemes, new technology payment programs as well as existing DRG codes. Currently we have an interim level of reimbursement in Germany.
In addition, on February 28, 2022, CHEMOSAT received Medical Device Regulation certification under the European Medical Devices Regulation [2017/745/EU], which may be considered by jurisdictions when evaluating reimbursement.
The release of the clinical study report from the FOCUS Trial later this year, will create the opportunity to apply for National Level reimbursement in each European country in regard to metastatic Ocular Melanoma (mOM). These applications must be made by us on a
country-by-country
level basis, with priority placed on markets where CHEMOSAT is currently used. The results from the Focus Trial should also support existing reimbursement mechanisms, such as Germany, allowing more hospital centers to secure funding to utilize CHEMOSAT. This increased level of evidence will ultimately support securing full funding for the treatment under DRG codes.
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As of March 1, 2022, reimbursement applications in priority European markets will be handled directly by the Company. CHEMOSAT is approved for reimbursement in the United Kingdom and Germany.
Government Regulation
Our products are subject to extensive and rigorous government regulation by foreign regulatory agencies and the FDA. Foreign regulatory agencies, the FDA and comparable regulatory agencies in state and local jurisdictions impose extensive requirements upon the clinical development,
pre-market
clearance and approval, manufacturing, labeling, marketing, advertising and promotion, pricing, storage, and distribution of pharmaceutical and medical device products. Failure to comply with applicable foreign regulatory agency or FDA requirements may result in Warning Letters, fines, civil or criminal penalties, suspension, or delays in clinical development, recall or seizure of products, partial or total suspension of production or withdrawal of a product from the market.
United States Regulatory Environment
In the United States, the FDA regulates drug and device products under the FDCA, and its implementing regulations. HEPZATO is subject to regulation as a combination product, which means it is composed of both a drug product and device product. If marketed individually, each component would therefore be subject to different regulatory pathways and reviewed by different centers within the FDA. A combination product, however, is assigned to a center that will have primary jurisdiction over its
pre-market
review and regulation based on a determination of its primary mode of action, which is the single mode of action that provides the most important therapeutic action. In the case of HEPZATO, the primary mode of action is attributable to the drug component of the product, which means that the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, has primary jurisdiction over its
pre-market
development and review.
The process required by the FDA before drug product candidates may be marketed in the United States generally involves the following:
The development and approval process requires substantial time, effort and financial resources, and we cannot be certain that any approvals for our product will be granted on a timely basis, if at all.
The results of preclinical tests (which include laboratory evaluation as well as GLP studies to evaluate toxicity in animals) for a particular product candidate, together with related manufacturing information and analytical data,
11
are submitted as part of an IND to the FDA. The IND automatically becomes effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA, unless the FDA, within the
30-day
time period, raises concerns or questions about the conduct of the proposed clinical trial, including concerns that human research subjects will be exposed to unreasonable health risks. In such a case, the IND sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns before the clinical trial can begin. IND submissions may not result in FDA authorization to commence a clinical trial. A separate submission to an existing IND must also be made for each successive clinical trial conducted during product development. Further, an independent institutional review board, or IRB, for each medical center proposing to conduct the clinical trial must review and approve the plan for any clinical trial before it commences at that center, and it must monitor the study until completed. The FDA, the IRB or the sponsor may suspend a clinical trial at any time on various grounds, including a finding that the subjects or patients are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk. Clinical testing also must satisfy extensive good clinical practice regulations and regulations for informed consent and privacy of individually identifiable information. Similar requirements to the United States IND are required in the EU and other jurisdictions in which we may conduct clinical trials.
Clinical Trials
For purposes of NDA submission and approval, clinical trials are typically conducted in the following sequential phases, which may overlap:
Sponsors of clinical trials may submit proposals for the design, execution, and analysis for their pivotal trials under a Special Protocol Assessment, or SPA. A SPA is an evaluation by the FDA of a protocol with the goal of reaching an agreement that the Phase 3 trial protocol design, clinical endpoints, and statistical analyses are acceptable to support regulatory approval of the drug product candidate with respect to effectiveness for the indication studied. Under a SPA, the FDA agrees to not later alter its position with respect to adequacy of the design, execution or analyses of the clinical trial intended to form the primary basis of an effectiveness claim in an NDA, without the sponsor’s agreement, unless the FDA identifies a substantial scientific issue essential to determining the safety or efficacy of the drug after testing begins.
New Drug Applications
The results of drug development, preclinical studies and clinical trials are submitted to the FDA as part of an NDA. NDAs also must contain extensive chemistry, manufacturing, and control information. An NDA must be accompanied by a significant user fee, which may be waived in certain circumstances. Once the submission has
12
been accepted for filing, the FDA’s goal is to review applications within ten months of submission or, if the application relates to an unmet medical need in a serious or life-threatening indication, six months from submission. The review process is often significantly extended by FDA requests for additional information or clarification. The FDA may refer the application to an advisory committee for review, evaluation, and recommendation as to whether the application should be approved. For new oncology products, the FDA will often solicit an opinion from an Oncology Drug Advisory Committee, a panel of expert authorities knowledgeable in the fields of general oncology, pediatric oncology, hematologic oncology, immunologic oncology, biostatistics, and other related professions. The ODAC panel reviews and evaluates data concerning the safety and effectiveness of marketed and investigational human drug products for use in the treatment of cancer and makes appropriate recommendations to the Commissioner of Food and Drugs. The FDA is not bound by the recommendation of an advisory committee. The FDA may deny approval of an NDA by issuing a Complete Response Letter, or CRL, if the applicable regulatory criteria are not satisfied. A CRL may require additional clinical data and/or an additional pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial(s), and/or other significant, expensive, and time-consuming requirements related to clinical trials, preclinical studies, or manufacturing. Data from clinical trials are not always conclusive and the FDA may interpret data differently than the applicant or its collaborators interpret data. Approval may be contingent on a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, or REMS, that limits the labeling, distribution, or promotion of a drug product. Once issued, the FDA may withdraw product approval if ongoing regulatory requirements are not met or if safety problems occur after the product reaches the market. In addition, the FDA may require testing, including Phase IV clinical trials, and surveillance programs to monitor the safety effects of approved products which have been commercialized, and the FDA has the power to prevent or limit further marketing of a product based on the results of these post-marketing programs or other information.
There are three primary regulatory pathways for a New Drug Application under Section 505 of the FDCA: Section 505 (b)(1), Section 505 (b)(2) and Section 505(j). A Section 505 (b)(1) application is used for approval of a new drug (for clinical use) whose active ingredients have not been previously approved. A Section 505 (b)(2) application is used for a new drug that relies on data not developed by the applicant. Section 505(b)(2) of the FDCA was enacted as part of the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, also known as the Hatch-Waxman Act. This statutory provision permits the approval of an NDA where at least some of the information required for approval comes from studies not conducted by or for the applicant and for which the applicant has not obtained a right of reference. The Hatch-Waxman Act permits the applicant to rely, in part, upon the FDA’s findings of safety and effectiveness for previously approved products. Section 505(j) application, also known as an abbreviated NDA, is used for a generic version of a drug that has already been approved.
Orphan Drug Exclusivity
Some jurisdictions, including the United States, may designate drugs for relatively small patient populations as orphan drugs. Pursuant to the U.S. Orphan Drug Act, the FDA grants orphan drug designation to drugs intended to treat a rare disease or condition, which is generally a disease or condition that affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States. The orphan designation is granted for a combination of a drug entity and an indication and, therefore, it can be granted for an existing drug with a new (orphan) indication. Applications are made to the Office of Orphan Products Development at the FDA and a decision or request for more information is rendered in 60 days. NDAs for designated orphan drugs are exempt from user fees, obtain additional clinical protocol assistance, are eligible for tax credits up to 50% of research and development costs, and are granted a seven-year period of exclusivity upon approval. The FDA cannot approve the same drug for the same condition during this period of exclusivity, except in certain circumstances where a new product demonstrates superiority to the original treatment. Exclusivity begins on the date that the marketing application is approved by the FDA for the designated orphan drug, and an orphan designation does not limit the use of that drug in other applications outside the approved designation in either a commercial or investigational setting.
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We have received five orphan drug designations for melphalan in the following indications:
• the treatment of patients with cutaneous melanoma;
• the treatment of patients with ocular melanoma;
• the treatment of patients with neuroendocrine tumors;
• the treatment of patients with primary liver cancer, or HCC; and
• the treatment of cholangiocarcinoma, which includes ICC.
We have received one orphan drug designation for doxorubicin for the treatment of patients with primary liver cancer, or HCC.
The granting of orphan drug designations does not mean that the FDA has approved a new drug. Companies seeking new drug approval must still pursue the rigorous development and approval process that requires substantial time, effort, and financial resources. Accordingly, although we have received these orphan drug designations, we cannot be certain that any approvals for our product will be granted at all, or on a timely basis.
Other Regulatory Requirements
Products manufactured or distributed pursuant to FDA approvals are subject to continuing regulation by the FDA, including recordkeeping, annual product quality review and reporting requirements. Adverse event experience with the product must be reported to the FDA in a timely fashion and pharmacovigilance programs to proactively look for these adverse events are mandated by the FDA. Drug manufacturers and their subcontractors must register their establishments with the FDA and certain state agencies and are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and certain state agencies for compliance with ongoing regulatory requirements, including cGMPs, which impose certain procedural and documentation requirements upon drug manufacturers. Following such inspections, the FDA may issue notices on Form 483 and Untitled Letters or Warning Letters that could require the drug manufacturer to modify certain activities. A Form 483 Notice, if issued at the conclusion of an FDA inspection, can list conditions the FDA investigators believe may have violated cGMP or other FDA regulations or guidelines. In addition to Form 483 Notices and Untitled Letters or Warning Letters, failure to comply with the statutory and regulatory requirements can subject a drug manufacturer to possible legal or regulatory action, such as suspension of manufacturing, seizure of product, injunctive action or possible civil penalties. We cannot be certain that we or our present or future third-party manufacturers or suppliers will be able to comply with the cGMP regulations and other ongoing FDA regulatory requirements.
If we or our present or future third-party manufacturers or suppliers are not able to comply with these requirements, the FDA may require us to recall our products from distribution or withdraw any potential approvals of an NDA for that product.
The FDA closely regulates the post-approval marketing and promotion of drugs, including standards and regulations for
direct-to-consumer
advertising, dissemination of
off-label
information, industry-sponsored scientific and educational activities and promotional activities involving the Internet. Drugs may be marketed only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved label. Further, any drug modifications, including changes in indications, labeling, or manufacturing processes or facilities, may require a submission to the FDA for its approval of a new or supplemental NDA, which may require the development of additional data or the conduct of additional preclinical studies and clinical trials. Failure to comply with these requirements can result in adverse publicity, Warning Letters, corrective advertising, and potential civil and criminal penalties.
Physicians may prescribe legally available products for uses that are not described in the product’s labeling and that differ from those that have been tested by the drug manufacturer and approved by the FDA. Such
off-label
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uses are common across medical specialties, in particular in oncology. Physicians may believe that such
off-label
uses are the best treatment for many patients in varied circumstances. The FDA does not regulate the behavior of physicians in their choice of treatments. The FDA does, however, impose stringent restrictions on manufacturers’ communications regarding
off-label
use.
European Regulatory Environment
In the EU, the CHEMOSAT system is subject to regulation as a medical device. The EU is composed of the 27 Member States of the EU plus Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. Under the EU Medical Device Directive (Directive No 93/42/EEC of 14 June 1993), as last amended, drug delivery products such as the CHEMOSAT system are governed by the EU laws on pharmaceutical products only if they are (i) placed on the market in such a way that the device and the pharmaceutical product form a single integral unit which is intended exclusively for use in the given combination, and (ii) the product is not reusable. In such cases, the drug delivery product is governed by the EU Code on Medicinal Products for Human Use (Directive 2001/83/EC, as last amended), while the essential requirements of the EU Medical Device Directive apply to the safety and performance-related device features of the product. Because we do not intend to place the CHEMOSAT system on the EU market as a single integral unit with melphalan, the product has been governed solely by the EU Medical Device Directive, while the separately marketed drug is governed by the EU Code relating to Medicinal Products for Human Use and other EU legislation applicable to drugs for human use.
In order to commercialize a medical device in the EU, we must comply with the essential requirements of the EU Medical Device Directive and more recently, the EU Medical Device Regulation. Compliance with these requirements entitles a manufacturer to affix a CE conformity mark, without which the products cannot be commercialized in the EU. To demonstrate compliance with the essential requirements and obtain the right to affix the CE conformity mark, medical device manufacturers must undergo a conformity assessment procedure, which varies according to the type of medical device and its classification. In April 2011, we obtained authorization to affix a CE Mark for the Generation One CHEMOSAT system and began European commercialization with this version of the CHEMOSAT system in early 2012. In April 2012, the Company obtained authorization to affix a CE Mark for the Generation Two CHEMOSAT system, and since this time all procedures in Europe have been performed with this version of the system.
The EU Medical Device Directive establishes a classification system placing devices into Class I, IIa, IIb, or III, depending on the risks and characteristics of the medical device. For certain types of
low-risk
medical devices (i.e., Class I devices which are
non-sterile
and do not have a measuring function), the manufacturer may issue an EC Declaration of Conformity based on a self-assessment of the conformity of its products with the essential requirements of the EU Medical Device Directives. Other devices are subject to a conformity assessment procedure requiring the intervention of a Notified Body, which is an organization designated by a Member State of the EU to conduct conformity assessments. Under the EU Medical Device Directive, CHEMOSAT has been regulated as a Class IIb medical device and, as such, the Notified Body was not required to carry out an examination of the product’s design dossier as part of its conformity assessment prior to commercialization. The Company must comply with the essential requirements of the EU Medical Device Directive and, more recently, the EU Medical Device Regulation, and is subject to a conformity assessment procedure requiring the intervention of a Notified Body. The conformity assessment procedure for Class IIb medical devices requires the manufacturer to apply for the assessment of its quality system for the design, manufacture and inspection of its medical devices by a Notified Body. The Notified Body will audit the system to determine whether it conforms to the provisions of the EU Medical Device Directive. If the Notified Body’s assessment is favorable, it will issue a Full Quality Assurance Certificate, which enables the manufacturer to draw a Declaration of Conformity and affix the CE mark to the medical devices covered by the assessment. Thereafter, the Notified Body will carry out periodic audits to ensure that the approved quality system is applied by the manufacturer.
A manufacturer without a registered place of business in a Member State of the EU that places a medical device on the market under its own name must designate an authorized representative established in the EU who can act
15
before, and be addressed by, a Competent Authority on the manufacturer’s behalf with regard to the manufacturer’s obligations under the EU Medical Device Directive and, more recently, the EU Medical Device Regulation. The Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Delcath Systems Ltd. located in Galway, Ireland, serves as the authorized representative of the Company.
The European Commission undertook a review of the EU Medical Device Directive legislative framework and promulgated REGULATION (EU) 2017/745 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 5 April 2017 on medical devices, amending Directive 2001/83/EC, Regulation EC) No 178/2002 and Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 and repealing Council Directives 90/385/EEC and 93/42/EEC. This new EU Medical Device Regulation became effective on May 25, 2017, marking the start of a
3-year
transition period for manufacturers selling medical device in Europe to comply with the new EU Medical Device Regulation, which governs all facets of medical devices. The transition task is highly complex and touches every aspect of product development, manufacturing production, distribution and post marketing evaluation. Due to COVID-related delays experienced by the medical device industry and Notified Bodies (NB) alike, on April 17, 2020, the European Parliament adopted the European Commission’s proposal to postpone the implementation of the EU Medical Device Regulation (EU) 2017/745 by 12 months or until May 26, 2021. Delcath did not achieve EU Medical Device Regulation certification by that date due to COVID-related delays; however, our CE Mark under the EU Medical Device Directive remained effective and allowed us to fully operate in Europe.
On February 28, 2022, CHEMOSAT received medical device certification under the new EU Medical Device Regulation, which replaced CHEMOSAT’s prior certification under the EU Medical Device Directive. Achieving EU Medical Device Regulation certification entails a detailed evaluation from a designated EU Notified Body, including an audit of quality systems and a review of documentation supporting safety and performance claims for the device. The EU Medical Device Regulation greatly expands upon existing EU Medical Device Directive requirements, including the level of clinical evidence supporting claims, post-marketing surveillance, database traceability, unique device identification (UDI) and increased supply chain oversight. Under the EU Medical Device Regulation, CHEMOSAT’s designation has changed from a Class IIb to a Class III medical device.
In the EU, we must also comply with the Medical Device Vigilance System, which is designed to improve the protection of health and safety of patients, users, and others by reducing the likelihood of recurrence of incidents related to the use of a medical device. Under this system, incidents are defined as any malfunction or deterioration in the characteristics and/or performance of a device, as well as any inadequacy in the labeling or the instructions for use which, directly or indirectly, might lead to or might have led to the death of a patient, user or other persons or to a serious deterioration in their state of health. When a medical device is suspected to be a contributory cause of an incident, its manufacturer or authorized representative in the EU must report it to the Competent Authority of the Member State where the incident occurred. Incidents are generally investigated by the manufacturer. The manufacturer’s investigation is monitored by the Competent Authority, which may intervene, or initiate an independent investigation if considered appropriate. An investigation may conclude in the adoption of a Field Safety Corrective Action, or FSCA. An FSCA is an action taken by a manufacturer to reduce a risk of death or serious deterioration in the state of health associated with the use of a medical device that is already placed on the market. An FSCA may include device recall, modification exchange and destruction.
The manufacturer or its authorized representative must notify its customers and/or the end users of the medical device of the FSCA via a Field Safety Notice.
In the EU, the
off-label
promotion of a pharmaceutical product is strictly prohibited under the EU Community Code on Medicinal Products, which provides that all information provided within the context of the promotion of a drug must comply with the information contained in its approved summary of product characteristics. Our product instructions and indication reference the chemotherapeutic agent melphalan hydrochloride. However, no melphalan labels in the EU reference our product, and the labels vary from country to country with respect to the approved indication of the drug and its mode of administration. In the exercise of their professional judgment in the practice of medicine, physicians are generally allowed, under certain conditions, to use or prescribe a product
16
in ways not approved by regulatory authorities. Physicians intending to use our device must obtain melphalan separately for use with the CHEMOSAT system and must use melphalan independently at their discretion.
In the EU, the advertising and promotion of our products is also subject to EU Member States laws implementing the EU Medical Device Directive, Directive 2006/114/EC concerning misleading and comparative advertising and Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices, as well as other EU Member State legislation governing the advertising and promotion of medical devices. 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.
Failure to comply with the EU Member State laws implementing the Medical Device Directive and, more recently, the EU Medical Device Regulation, with the EU and EU Member State laws on the promotion of medicinal products or with other applicable regulatory requirements can result in enforcement action by the EU Member State authorities, which may include any of the following: fines, imprisonment, orders forfeiting products or prohibiting or suspending their supply to the market, or requiring the manufacturer to issue public warnings, or to conduct a product recall.
Other International Regulations
We continue to evaluate commercial opportunities in select markets when resources are available and at an appropriate time.
Intellectual Property
Our success depends in part on our ability to obtain patents and trademarks, maintain trade secret and
know-how
protection, enforce our proprietary rights against infringers, and operate without infringing on the proprietary rights of third parties. Because of the length of time and expense associated with developing new products and bringing them through the regulatory approval process, the health care industry places considerable emphasis on obtaining patent protection and maintaining trade secret protection for new technologies, products, processes,
know-how,
and methods. We hold rights in ten U.S. utility patents, one U.S. design patent, three pending U.S. utility patent applications, five issued foreign counterpart utility patents (including the validations of European Patents with claims directed to our filter and frame apparatus in 19 European countries, a European patent with claims directed to our filter apparatus and media in nine countries, and a European patent with claims to a kit of parts, directed to CHEMOSAT
®
, in 18 countries), six issued foreign counterpart design patents, and three pending foreign counterpart patent applications. Patents directed to our chemotherapy filtration system “Apparatus for Removing Chemotherapy Compounds from Blood” were issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office in July 2017, October 2018, August 2019, February 2020, and February 2022. The patent issued in August 2019 has claims to a kit of parts capable of being assembled for delivering a small molecule chemotherapeutic agent to a subject. These claims are directed to HEPZATO
TM
KIT. The patent that issued in February 2020 has claims directed to our methods of treatment. In February 2019, a patent was issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office with claims directed to a method of using our filter and frame apparatus and in August 2021 a patent was issued with claims directed to our filter and frame apparatus. A Hong Kong patent directed to our Filter and Frame Apparatus was issued in March 2018. A European patent was granted by the European Patent Office for our chemotherapy filtration apparatus in December 2018 and in July 2019 a European patent was granted by the European Patent Office with claims to a kit of parts, directed to CHEMOSAT
®
. A European patent directed to a method of using our filter and frame apparatus was granted in April 2019 by the European Patent Office. In August 2019, a European patent was granted by the European Patent Office with claims directed to our filter and frame apparatus and validated in eleven countries to provide additional European patent coverage for our filter and frame apparatus to the European patent directed to the frame apparatus that was granted in April 2017. When appropriate, we actively pursue protection of our proprietary products, technologies, processes, and methods by filing United States and international patent and trademark applications. We seek to pursue additional patent protection for technology invented through research
17
and development, manufacturing, and clinical use of CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO that will enable us to expand our patent portfolio around advances to our current systems, technology, and methods for our current applications as well as beyond the treatment of cancers in the liver.
There can be no assurance that the pending patent applications will result in the issuance of patents, that patents issued to or licensed by us will not be challenged or circumvented by competitors, or that these patents will be found to be valid or sufficiently broad to protect our technology or provide us with a competitive advantage.
To maintain our proprietary position, we also rely on trade secrets and proprietary technological experience to protect proprietary manufacturing processes, technology, and
know-how
relating to our business. We rely, in part, on confidentiality agreements with our marketing partners, employees, advisors, vendors and consultants to protect our trade secrets and proprietary technological expertise. In addition, we also seek to maintain our trade secrets through maintenance of the physical security of the premises where our trade secrets are located. There can be no assurance that these agreements will not be breached, that we will have adequate remedies for any breach, that others will not independently develop equivalent proprietary information or that third parties will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets and proprietary knowledge.
In certain circumstances, United States patent law allows for the extension of a patent’s duration for a period of up to five years after FDA approval. We intend to seek extension for one of our patents after FDA approval if it has not expired prior to the date of approval. In addition to our proprietary protections, the FDA has granted us six orphan drug designations that provide us a seven-year period of exclusive marketing beginning on the date that our NDA is approved by the FDA for the designated orphan drug. While the exclusivity only applies to the indication for which the drug has been approved, we believe that this exclusivity will provide us with added protection once commercialization of an orphan drug designated product begins. There has been and continues to be substantial litigation regarding patent and other intellectual property rights in the pharmaceutical and medical device areas. If a third party asserts a claim against us, we may be forced to expend significant time and money defending such actions and an adverse determination in any patent litigation could subject us to significant liabilities to third parties, require us to redesign our product, require us to seek licenses from third parties and, if licenses are not available, prevent us from manufacturing, selling, or using our product. Additionally, we plan to enforce our intellectual property rights vigorously and may find it necessary to initiate litigation to enforce our patent rights or to protect our trade secrets or
know-how.
Patent litigation can be costly and time consuming and there can be no assurance that the outcome will be favorable to us.
Competition
The healthcare industry is characterized by extensive research, rapid technological progress and significant competition from numerous healthcare companies and academic institutions. Competition in the cancer treatment industry is intense. We believe that the primary competitive factors for products addressing cancer include safety, efficacy, ease of use, reliability, price, and patient’s quality of life. We also believe that physician relationships, especially relationships with leaders in the medical, surgical, and oncology communities, are important competitive factors. We also believe that the current global economic conditions and new healthcare reforms could put competitive pressure on us, including reduced selling prices and potential reimbursement rates, and overall procedure rates. Certain markets in Europe are experiencing the effects of continued economic weakness, which is affecting healthcare budgets and reimbursement.
CHEMOSAT competes and, if approved by the FDA, HEPZATO KIT
TM
will compete with all forms of liver cancer treatments, including surgery, systemic chemotherapy, focal therapies, and palliative care. In the disease states we are targeting there are also numerous clinical trials sponsored by third parties, which can compete for potential patients in the near term and may ultimately lead to new competitive therapies.
In January 2022, Immunocore Holdings plc announced FDA approval for KIMMTRAK (tebentafusp-tebn) for the treatment of
HLA-A
*02:01-positive
adult patients with unresectable or metastatic uveal melanoma. This is
18
the first drug approved specifically for patients with metastatic uveal melanoma.
HLA-A
*02:01 patients represent approximately 45% of patients with uveal melanoma. Traditionally, metastatic uveal melanoma patients have been treated with a variety of local and regional techniques. There are numerous companies developing and marketing devices for the performance of focal therapies, including Boston Scientific Corporation, the Covidien Products division of Medtronic plc, Merit Medical Systems, Inc., Varian Medical Systems, Inc., Sirtex Medical Limited, AngioDynamics, Inc., and many others.
Gemcitabine plus cisplatin remains the standard of care for the treatment of ICC in patients who are not candidates for surgery.
Several therapies have been recently approved for unresectable or metastatic cutaneous melanoma, which may encompass liver metastases. Dabrafenib (Tafinlar
TM
, GlaxoSmithKline plc), is indicated as a single agent for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with BRAF V600E mutation and in combination with trametinib in unresectable or metastatic melanoma with BRAF V600E or V600K mutations. Furthermore, trametinib (MEKINIST
TM
, GlaxoSmithKline plc) is indicated as single agent (in addition to in combination with dabrafinib) for treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with BRAF V600E or V600K mutations. Previously approved melanoma therapies such as the biologic ipilimumab (Yervoy
TM
, Bristol Myers Squibb Company) and the
B-RAF
targeted drug vemurafenib (Zelboraf
TM
, Genentech, Inc.) may also make up the competitive landscape for the treatment of metastatic liver disease.
Many of these treatments are approved in Europe and other global markets.
Many of our competitors have substantially greater financial, technological, research and development, marketing, and personnel resources. In addition, some of our competitors have considerable experience in conducting clinical trials, regulatory, manufacturing and commercialization capabilities. Our competitors may develop alternative treatment methods, or achieve earlier product development, in which case the likelihood of us achieving meaningful revenues or profitability will be substantially reduced.
Manufacturing and Quality Assurance
We manufacture certain critical medical device components, including our proprietary filter media, and assemble and package CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO at our facility in Queensbury, New York. Our European headquarters and distribution facility in Galway, Ireland conducts final manufacturing, processing, and assembly. We use third parties to manufacture some components of CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO. CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO and its components must be manufactured and sterilized in accordance with approved manufacturing and
pre-determined
performance specifications. In addition, certain components will require sterilization prior to distribution, and we use third-party vendors to perform the sterilization process.
We are required to comply with the FDA’s cGMP regulations and international quality system regulations, including those established by the International Standards Organization (ISO), with respect to products sold in the EU. We are required to maintain ISO 13485 certification for medical devices to be sold in the EU, which requires, among other items, an implemented quality system that applies to component quality, supplier control, product design and manufacturing operations. Our facilities are ISO 13485:2016 certified.
Human Capital Management
Our management team is comprised of highly experienced pharmaceutical and biotechnology executives with successful track records in researching, developing, gaining approval for and commercializing novel medicines to treat serious diseases. Each member of our management team has over 10 to 30 years of industry experience Additionally, the team has significant experience in capital raises, mergers/acquisitions, business development, and sales and marketing in the pharmaceutical industry. Our Board is constituted by individuals with significant
19
experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. As of March 9, 2022, including our management team, we had approximately 55 full time employees, of which 45 are located in the United States and 10 are located in Europe. We intend to hire additional employees as and if funds allow. None of our employees are represented by a labor union or covered by a collective bargaining agreement, nor have we experienced any work stoppages. We believe our relationship with our employees is good.
As required, we also engage consultants to provide services to the Company, including quality assurance and corporate services.
We are committed to growing our business over the long-term and increasing value to our stockholders. We believe that our future success will depend, in part, on our continued ability to attract, hire and retain qualified personnel and to motivate such individuals to perform to the best of their abilities. As a result of the competitive nature of the industry in which we operate, employees have significant career mobility and competition for experienced employees is great. The existence of this competition, and our need for experienced and talented employees to achieve our business objectives, underlies the design and implementation of our compensation programs. At the same time, the Company seeks to keep its approach to compensation simple and streamlined. We provide our employees base salaries and leave and benefits programs that we believe are competitive and consistent with employee positions. In addition, we grant stock options to permanent employees, both upon initial hiring and thereafter, and pay cash bonuses to permanent employees based on the achievement of corporate and/or personal objectives.
We have developed corporate policies and guidelines for professional behavior. The Company policies and practices apply to all employees, regardless of title. These guidelines include our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, policies for corporate disclosure, insider trading and whistle-blowers.
We value diversity of backgrounds and perspectives in our workforce and our policy is that we do not discriminate based on race, religion, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, military and veteran status, sexual orientation or any other protected characteristic as established by federal, state or local laws.
We are committed to the health and safety of our employees, patients and other partners in the healthcare community. We work to promote an environment of awareness and shared responsibility for safety and regulatory compliance throughout our organization, in order to minimize risks of injury, exposure, or business impact.
During the
COVID-19
pandemic, we have ceased all
non-essential
business travel and allowed our employees to work remotely where needed and if practicable to ensure the health and safety of our team members. In the recent months, some employees have transitioned back to working
on-site
in conjunction with the implementation of additional safety and infection prevention measures including enhanced cleaning and personal protective equipment. We continue to provide our employees with the option to work from home.
Available Information
Our website address is
www.delcath.com
. The information found on, or otherwise accessible through, our website is not incorporated by reference into, and does not form a part of, this Annual Report on Form
10-K
or any other report or document we file with or furnish to the SEC. We make available, free of charge, on or through the SEC Filings section of our website, our Annual Reports on Form
10-K,
Quarterly Reports on
Form 10-Q,
Current Reports on Form
8-K
and any amendments to such reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. We have also posted on our website the Audit Committee Charter, the Compensation and Stock Option Committee Charter, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter, the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and Whistleblower Policy, which govern our directors, officers, and employees.
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Item 1A. Risk Factors
An investment in our securities involve a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the following risks, in conjunction with the financial and other information contained in this Annual Report on Form
10-K.
As previously discussed, our actual results could differ materially from our forward-looking statements. These risks include those described below and may include additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial. If any of the events or circumstances described in the following risk factors occur, our business operations, performance, financial condition and prospects could be materially and adversely affected and the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Related to the
COVID-19
Pandemic
The ongoing
COVID-19
pandemic and the potential for future outbreak of other infectious or contagious diseases, could continue to harm and/or delay our research, development and commercialization efforts, increase our costs and materially and adversely affect our business.
The
COVID-19
pandemic has had, and may continue to have, an impact on various aspects of our business and that of third parties on which we rely. There remains a high level of uncertainty due to the potential spread of new variants and surges in
COVID-19
cases, and this could continue to harm and/or delay our research, development and commercialization efforts, increase our costs and have a material effect on our operations, including by impacting regulatory authorities’ ability to review and/or inspect required facilities or submissions. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the global supply chain making it more difficult and/or impossible for us to obtain a sufficient supply of critical materials for our operations.
The
COVID-19
pandemic has affected many countries, including the United States and several European countries, where we are currently conducting our FOCUS Trial. In response to the pandemic, hospitals participating in the trials in affected countries have taken a number of actions, including restricting elective and other procedures that are not deemed to be life-threatening, suspending clinical trial activities and limiting access to data monitoring. As a result, patients enrolled in our clinical trials have had the start of their treatments postponed and ongoing treatment regimens may be delayed. In addition, we do not have sufficient access to monitor trial data on a timely basis. These restrictions have had a materially adverse effect on our clinical operations.
The extent to which the
COVID-19
pandemic may affect our clinical trial operations will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, such as the duration of the outbreak, the spread and severity of new variants of
COVID-19,
and the effectiveness of governmental actions in response to the pandemic.
We expect that actions taken in response to the
COVID-19
pandemic will also materially and adversely affect sales of CHEMOSAT. As noted above, some hospitals are restricting procedures that are not deemed to be life-threatening at this time. Because CHEMOSAT is not deemed to be an essential procedure, we expect that the number of procedures performed could decline. While we do not expect revenues from CHEMOSAT procedures to be material to us, a decrease in the number of procedures performed would adversely affect our expected revenues and our financial results.
These consequences of the
COVID-19
pandemic will delay and could adversely affect our ability to obtain regulatory approval for and to commercialize our products, increase our operating expenses, and could have a material adverse effect on our financial results.
The extent to which the
COVID-19
pandemic impacts our business will depend in part on future developments, which are uncertain and unpredictable in nature.
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Risks Related to Our Business and Financial Condition
Our independent registered public accounting firm has expressed substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern as of December 31, 2021.
Our independent registered public accounting firm issued a report dated March 30, 2022 in connection with the audit of our financial statements as of December 31, 2021, which included an explanatory paragraph describing the existence of conditions that raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. In addition, the notes to our financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2021, included in this Annual Report on Form
10-K,
contain a disclosure describing the existence of conditions that raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our ability to continue as a going concern is dependent upon our ability to obtain substantial additional funding in connection with our continuing operations. Adequate additional financing may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. If we are unable to raise additional capital and/or enter into strategic alliances when needed or on attractive terms, we would be forced to delay, reduce, or eliminate our research and development programs or any commercialization efforts. Our consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty. If we are not able to continue as a going concern, it is likely that holders of our common stock and holders of securities convertible into our common stock will lose all of their investment.
Drug development is an inherently uncertain process with a high risk of failure at every stage of development. We received a complete response letter from the FDA declining to approve our existing New Drug Application, or NDA, in its then current form.
Preclinical testing and clinical trials are long, expensive, and highly uncertain processes and failure can unexpectedly occur at any stage of clinical development. Drug development is very risky, and it takes several years to complete clinical trials. The start or end of a clinical trial is often delayed or halted due to changing regulatory requirements, manufacturing challenges, required clinical trial administrative actions, slower than anticipated patient enrollment, changing standards of care, availability, or prevalence of use of a comparator treatment or required prior therapy, clinical outcomes including insufficient efficacy, safety concerns, or our own financial constraints.
In response to our NDA, which we submitted to the FDA in August 2012 seeking approval for use of our HEPZATO Kit for the treatment of patients with ocular melanoma of the liver, in September 2013, the FDA denied approval of the NDA in its then current form and issued a complete response letter, or CRL. A CRL is issued by the FDA when the review of an NDA is completed, and deficiencies remain that preclude approval of the NDA in its current form. The deficiencies in the CRL included, but were not limited to, a statement that we must perform additional “well-controlled randomized trial(s) to establish the safety and efficacy of HEPZATO Kit using overall survival as the primary efficacy outcome measure” and which “demonstrates that the clinical benefits of HEPZATO Kit outweigh its risks.” The FDA also required that the additional clinical trial(s) be conducted using the product we intend to market. Prior to conducting additional clinical trials, we were required to satisfy certain other requirements of the CRL, including, but not limited to, product quality testing,
pre-clinical
studies and human factors validation information.
We have initiated a pivotal Phase 3 trial in ocular melanoma metastases. We had a SPA agreement with the FDA for this study, which was initially designed as a randomized trial with a primary endpoint of overall survival. We subsequently amended the protocol so that the trial is a
non-randomized,
single-arm
study with a primary endpoint of objective response rate. Although the changes to the protocol invalidated the SPA agreement, the FDA stated that it would not object to our conducting a study outside of a SPA agreement. However, we will need to justify how the results of the study support a favorable risk-benefit assessment, particularly whether the response rate is sufficient to overcome the toxicity of HEPZATO.
In addition, we conduct and participate in numerous clinical trials with a variety of study designs, patient populations and trial endpoints to support additional indications for HEPZATO with other drug therapies. In
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2014, we initiated a Phase 2 clinical trial with HEPZATO for hepatocellular carcinoma, or HCC, in both the United States and Europe. In 2015, the Phase 2 clinical trial for HCC was expanded to include a cohort of patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, a type of primary liver cancer, or ICC. The trial for this cohort was conducted at the same centers participating in the Phase 2 HCC trial. Unfavorable or inconsistent clinical data from clinical trials, including the Phase 2 clinical trial for HCC, the market’s perception of these clinical data or FDA’s perception of this clinical data, may adversely impact our ability to obtain approval, and our financial condition. Additionally, even if the results of our Phase 2 clinical trial for HCC are positive, there is a substantial risk that it will fail to have positive results in Phase 3 clinical trials with regard to efficacy, safety or other clinical outcomes and may never obtain regulatory approval.
The Company does not expect to generate significant revenue for the foreseeable future.
Our entire focus has been on developing, commercializing, and obtaining regulatory authorizations and approvals of CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO and we have only developed these products for the treatment of cancers in the liver. If CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO for the treatment of cancers in the liver fail as commercial products, we have no other products to sell. In addition, since CHEMOSAT currently is approved for commercialization solely in the European Union, or the EU, and limited other jurisdictions (including the United Kingdom), if we are unsuccessful in commercializing the product in the EU and/or if HEPZATO is not approved in the United States and elsewhere, we will have no means of generating revenue. Accordingly, we may not generate material revenues from product sales in the United States in the next several years, if at all. As a result, our revenue sources are, and will remain, extremely limited unless and until our product candidates are approved by the FDA or other additional foreign regulatory agencies and successfully marketed. CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO may not be successful in clinical trials, approved by the FDA or other additional foreign regulatory agency or marketed at any time in the foreseeable future or at all.
Continuing losses may exhaust our capital resources.
As of December 31, 2021, we had $27.0 million in cash and cash equivalents. We have had minimal revenue to date, and have a substantial accumulated deficit, recurring operating losses and negative cash flow. For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we incurred net losses of approximately $25.6 million and $24.2 million, respectively and expect to continue to incur losses in 2022. To date, we have funded operations through a combination of private placements and public offerings of our securities, including convertible notes. If we continue to incur losses, we may exhaust our capital resources, and as a result may be unable to complete our clinical trials, engage in product development and the regulatory approval process and commercialization of CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO or any other versions of these products. If we are unable to raise capital or generate sufficient revenue, we may not be able to pay our debts when they become due and may have to seek protection under federal bankruptcy law or enter into a receivership.
If we cannot raise additional capital, our potential to generate future revenues will be significantly limited since we may not be able to further commercialize CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO, complete our clinical trials or conduct future product development and clinical trials.
We will require additional substantial financing to complete our clinical trial program or seek other approvals, to conduct future development and clinical trials and to further commercialize our product in the EU and any other markets where we may receive approval for our products. If we are unable to raise additional capital, our ability to complete product development projects or clinical trials could be impaired. We do not know if additional financing will be available when needed at all or on acceptable terms. If we are unable to obtain additional financing as needed, we may not be able to further commercialize CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO, obtain regulatory approvals or complete our development projects or clinical trials, which would result in a complete loss of an investment in our securities.
Our liquidity and capital requirements will depend on numerous factors, including:
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• the timing and costs associated with developing our manufacturing operations;
• the impact of competing technological and market developments.
Insufficient funds may require us to curtail or stop our commercialization activities, regulatory submissions or ongoing activities for regulatory approval, research and development and clinical trials, which will significantly limit our potential to generate future revenues.
Risks Related to FDA and Foreign Regulatory Approvals and Regulatory Matters
Our failure to obtain, or delays in obtaining, regulatory approvals may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
HEPZATO is subject to extensive and rigorous government regulation by the FDA and CHEMOSAT by other foreign regulatory agencies. Failure to comply with FDA and other applicable regulatory requirements may, either before or after product approval, subject us to either civil or criminal administrative or judicially imposed sanctions and/or other penalties.
We are not permitted to market HEPZATO in the United States unless and until we obtain regulatory approval from the FDA. To market the product in the United States, we must submit to the FDA and obtain FDA approval of an NDA. The NDA must be supported by extensive clinical and preclinical data, as well as extensive information regarding chemistry, manufacturing and controls, or CMC, to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of HEPZATO. The FDA and similar foreign authorities could delay, limit or deny approval of HEPZATO for various reasons, including because they may not deem the product to be adequately safe and effective. Furthermore, we cannot be certain that we or our present or future third-party manufacturers or suppliers will be able to comply with the cGMP regulations and other ongoing FDA regulatory requirements. If we or our present or future third-party manufacturers or suppliers are not able to comply with these requirements, the FDA may require us to withdraw any potential approvals of an NDA for HEPZATO.
Undesirable side effects caused by HEPZATO or any other product candidate that we develop could result in the denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or other regulatory authorities for any or all targeted indications or cause us to evaluate the future of our product development programs. The regulatory review and approval process is lengthy, expensive and inherently uncertain. As part of the U.S. Prescription Drug User Fee Act, the FDA has a goal to review and act on a percentage of all submissions in a given time frame. In August 2012, we submitted the HEPZATO NDA seeking an indication for ocular melanoma liver metastases and, in September 2013, the FDA declined to approve the NDA and issued a CRL. The deficiencies in the CRL included, but were not limited to, a statement that we must perform additional “well-controlled randomized trial(s) to establish the safety and efficacy of HEPZATO using overall survival as the primary efficacy outcome measure” and which “demonstrates that the clinical benefits of HEPZATO outweigh its risks.” The FDA also requires that the additional clinical trial(s) be conducted using the product we intend to market. Prior to conducting additional clinical trials, we must satisfy certain other requirements of the CRL, including, but not limited to, product quality testing and human factors information. However, even if we complete these clinical trials and satisfy all
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the requirements of the CRL, we may not obtain regulatory approval from the FDA. Continued failure to obtain, or additional delays in obtaining, regulatory approvals may:
• impose additional costs on us;
• diminish any competitive advantages that may be attained; and
• adversely affect our ability to generate revenues.
We have obtained the right to affix the CE Mark for the CHEMOSAT Hepatic Delivery System as a medical device for the delivery of melphalan. Since we may only promote the device within this specific indication, if physicians are unwilling to obtain melphalan separately for use with CHEMOSAT, our ability to commercialize CHEMOSAT in the EU will be significantly limited.
In the EU, CHEMOSAT is regulated as a Class III medical device indicated for the intra-arterial administration of a chemotherapeutic agent, melphalan hydrochloride, to the liver with additional extracorporeal filtration of the venous blood return. Our ability to market and promote CHEMOSAT is limited to this approved indication. To the extent that our promotion of CHEMOSAT is found to be outside the scope of its approved indication, we may be subject to fines or other regulatory action, limiting our ability to commercialize CHEMOSAT in the EU.
We are limited to marketing CHEMOSAT in the EU as a medical device for the delivery of melphalan. If physicians are unwilling to obtain melphalan separately for use with CHEMOSAT, our ability to commercialize CHEMOSAT in the EU will be significantly limited. Our product instructions and indication reference the chemotherapeutic agent melphalan. However, no melphalan labels in the EU reference our product, and the labels vary from country to country with respect to the approved indication of the drug and its mode of administration. As a result, the delivery of melphalan with our device may not be within the applicable label with respect to some indications in some Member States of the EU where the drugs are authorized for marketing. Physicians intending to use CHEMOSAT must obtain melphalan separately for use with CHEMOSAT and must use melphalan independently at their discretion. If physicians are unwilling to obtain melphalan separately from CHEMOSAT and/or to prescribe the use of melphalan independently, our sales opportunities in the EU will be significantly limited.
We are subject to significant ongoing regulatory obligations and oversight in the EU and will be subject to such obligations in the United States and any other country where we receive marketing authorization or approval.
In April 2012, we obtained the required certification from a designated EU Notified Body, enabling us to complete an EC Declaration of Conformity with the essential requirements of the EU Medical Device Directive and affix the CE Mark to the Generation Two version of CHEMOSAT. More recently, on February 28, 2022, we obtained Medical Device Regulation certification under the new European Medical Devices Regulation [2017/745/EU]. In order to maintain the right to affix the CE Mark in the EU, we are subject to compliance obligations, and any material changes to the approved product, such as manufacturing changes, product improvements or revised labeling, may require further regulatory review. Additionally, we are subject to ongoing audits by the European Notified Body, and the right to affix the CE Mark to the Generation Two version of CHEMOSAT may be withdrawn for a number of reasons, including the later discovery of previously unknown problems with the product.
To the extent that HEPZATO is approved by the FDA or CHEMOSAT by any other regulatory agency, we will be subject to similar ongoing regulatory obligations and oversight in those countries where approval is obtained. For example, we may be subject to limitations on the approved indicated uses for which the product may be marketed or to the conditions of approval, or requirements for potentially costly post-marketing testing, including
25
Phase IV clinical trials, and surveillance to monitor the safety and efficacy of the product candidate. In addition, if the FDA approves a product candidate, the manufacturing processes, labeling, packaging, distribution, adverse event reporting, storage, advertising, promotion and recordkeeping for the product will be subject to extensive and ongoing regulatory requirements. These requirements include submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration, as well as continued compliance with current good manufacturing practice, or cGMPs, good clinical practices, or GCPs, and good laboratory practices, which are regulations and guidelines enforced by the FDA for all products in clinical development, for any
pre-clinical
or clinical trials that we conduct post-approval. In addition, post-marketing requirements for HEPZATO may include implementation of a risk evaluation and mitigation strategies, or REMS, program to ensure that the benefits of the product outweigh its risks. A typical REMS may include a medication guide, a patient package insert, a communication plan to healthcare professionals, restrictions on distribution or use and/or other elements to assure safe use of the product. However, our discussions with the FDA have indicated that a medication guide or communication plan will not be required.
Later discovery of previously unknown problems with a product, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with our third-party manufacturers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in, among other things:
• fines, FDA warning letters or untitled letters, or holds on clinical trials;
• import or export restrictions;
• injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties;
If we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any marketing approval that we may have obtained and may not achieve or sustain profitability, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.
The development and approval process in the United States could take many years, require substantial resources and may never lead to the approval of HEPZATO by the FDA for use in the United States.
We cannot sell or market HEPZATO with melphalan or other chemotherapeutic agents in the United States without prior FDA approval of an NDA for HEPZATO. Although melphalan and other drugs have been approved by the FDA for use as chemotherapeutic agents, regulatory approval is required in the United States for the combined medical device component and drug component and the specific indication, dose and route of administration of melphalan or other chemotherapeutic agents or compounds used in our system. We are seeking approval of HEPZATO for a substantially higher dose of melphalan than prior approved doses of melphalan and such other chemotherapeutic agents or other compounds. We must obtain separate regulatory approvals for HEPZATO with melphalan, and every other chemotherapeutic agent or other compound used with the system that we intend to market, and all the manufacturing facilities used to manufacture components or assemble our system must be inspected and meet legal requirements. Securing regulatory approval requires the submission of extensive
pre-clinical
and clinical data and other supporting information for each proposed therapeutic indication in order to establish to the FDA’s satisfaction the product’s safety, efficacy, potency and purity for each intended
26
use. The
pre-clinical
testing and clinical trials of HEPZATO with melphalan or any other chemotherapeutic agent or compound we use in its system must comply with the regulations of the FDA and other federal, state and local government authorities in the United States. Clinical development is a long, expensive and uncertain process and is subject to delays. We may encounter delays or rejections for various reasons. Moreover, approval policies or regulations may change. If we do not obtain and maintain regulatory approval for HEPZATO and the use of melphalan or other chemotherapeutic agents, our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects would be materially and adversely affected.
In August 2012, we submitted an NDA seeking an indication for ocular melanoma liver metastases for HEPZATO. In September 2013, the FDA issued a CRL indicating that we must perform additional well-controlled randomized trial(s) to establish the safety and efficacy of HEPZATO using overall survival as the primary efficacy outcome measure and which demonstrates that the clinical benefits of HEPZATO outweigh its risks. Our current Phase 3 trial in ocular melanoma liver metastases, the FOCUS Trial, is not randomized and uses a different primary efficacy outcome measure. The FDA has stated that it would not object to our conducting a study outside of a SPA agreement. Failure to obtain FDA approval for HEPZATO will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations and prospects.
Even if we obtain regulatory approval for HEPZATO in the United States, our ability to market HEPZATO would be limited to those uses that are approved.
The FDA closely regulates the post-approval marketing and promotion of drugs, including standards and regulations
for direct-to-consumer advertising,
dissemination
of off-label information,
industry-sponsored scientific and educational activities and promotional activities involving the Internet. Drugs may be marketed only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved label. If the FDA approves an application for HEPZATO, our ability to market and promote HEPZATO would be limited to the approved indication, so even with FDA approval, HEPZATO may only be promoted in this limited market. Physicians may prescribe legally available drugs for uses that are not described in the product’s labeling and that differ from those tested by us and approved by the FDA. The FDA does not regulate the behavior of physicians in their choice of treatments. The FDA does, however, impose stringent restrictions on manufacturers’ communications
regarding off-label use,
and FDA approval may otherwise limit our sales practices and our ability to promote, sell and distribute the product. Thus, we may only market HEPZATO, if approved by the FDA, for its approved indication and could be subject to enforcement action
for off-label marketing.
Further, if there are any modifications to the product, including changes in indications, labeling or manufacturing processes or facilities, we may be required to submit and obtain FDA approval of a new or supplemental NDA, which may require us to develop additional data or conduct additional preclinical studies and clinical trials. Failure to comply with these requirements can result in adverse publicity, FDA warning letters, corrective advertising and potential civil and criminal penalties.
If future clinical trials are unsuccessful, significantly delayed or not completed, we may not be able to market HEPZATO for other indications.
The clinical trial data on our product is limited to specific types of liver cancer. In 2010, we concluded a Phase 3 clinical trial of HEPZATO with a prior version of the medical device and procedure in patients with metastatic ocular and cutaneous melanoma to the liver and also completed a
multi-arm
Phase 2 clinical trial of that same version of HEPZATO in patients with primary and metastatic melanoma stratified into four arms.
We have completed the dosing phase and analysis of the primary endpoint of an open-label Phase 3 clinical trial in ocular melanoma liver metastases called the FOCUS Trial.
It may take several years to complete the testing of HEPZATO for use in the treatment of this indication, and failure can occur at any stage of development, for many reasons, including:
27
• a system may not be approved for all the requested indications.
The failure or delay of clinical trials could cause an increase in the cost of product development, delay filing of an application for marketing approval or cause us to cease the development of HEPZATO for other indications. If we are unable to develop HEPZATO for other indications, the future growth of our business could be negatively impacted. In addition, we have limited clinical data relating to the effectiveness of HEPZATO in certain types of cancer. Such limited data could slow the adoption of CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO and significantly reduce our ability to commercialize CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO.
We may not be able to obtain or maintain orphan drug designation or exclusivity for our product candidates.
The FDA has granted us six orphan drug designations and we may seek additional orphan drug designations in the future.
Regulatory authorities in some jurisdictions, including the United States and Europe, may designate drugs for relatively small patient populations as orphan drugs. Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may designate a product as an orphan drug if it is a drug intended to treat a rare disease or condition, which is generally defined as a patient population of fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States.
Generally, if a product with an orphan drug designation subsequently receives the first marketing approval for the indication for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to a period of marketing exclusivity, which precludes the FDA or the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, from approving another marketing application for the same indication for that drug during that time period. The applicable period is seven years in the United States and ten years in Europe. The European exclusivity period can be reduced to six years if a drug no longer meets the criteria for orphan drug designation or if the drug is sufficiently profitable so that market exclusivity is no longer justified. Orphan drug exclusivity may be lost if the FDA or the EMA determines that the request for designation was materially defective or if the manufacturer is unable to assure sufficient quantity of the drug to meet the needs of patients with the rare disease or condition.
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We cannot assure you that any future application for orphan drug designation with respect to any product candidate will be granted. If we are unable to obtain orphan drug designation in the United States, we will not be eligible to obtain the period of market exclusivity that could result from orphan drug designation or be afforded the financial incentives associated with orphan drug designation. Even if we obtain orphan drug exclusivity for a product, that exclusivity may not effectively protect the product from competition because different drugs can be approved for the same condition. Even after an orphan drug is approved, the FDA can subsequently approve the same drug for the same condition if the FDA concludes that the later drug is clinically superior in that it is shown to be safer, more effective or makes a major contribution to patient care.
We rely on third parties to conduct certain elements of the clinical trials for CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO, and if they do not perform their obligations to us, we may not be able to obtain regulatory approvals for our system.
We design the clinical trials for our products, but rely on academic institutions, corporate partners, contract research organizations and other third parties to assist in managing, monitoring and otherwise carrying out these trials. We rely heavily on these parties for the execution of our clinical studies and control only certain aspects of their activities. Accordingly, we may have less control over the timing and other aspects of these clinical trials than if we conducted them entirely on our own. We rely on third parties to conduct monitoring and data collection of our ongoing and future clinical trials, including our Phase 3 ocular melanoma trial. Although we rely on these third parties to manage the data from these clinical trials, we are responsible for confirming that each of our clinical trials is conducted in accordance with our general investigational plan and protocol. Moreover, the FDA and foreign regulatory agencies require us to comply with GCPs for conducting, recording and reporting the results of clinical trials to assure that the data and results are credible and accurate and that the trial participants are adequately protected. The FDA enforces these GCP regulations through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, principal investigators and trial sites. Our reliance on third parties does not relieve us of these responsibilities and requirements and if we or the third parties upon whom we rely for our clinical trials fail to comply with the applicable GCPs, the data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable and the FDA or other foreign regulatory agencies may require us to perform additional trials before approving our marketing application. We cannot assure you that, upon inspection, the FDA will determine that any of our clinical trials comply or complied with GCPs. In addition, our clinical trials must be conducted with product that complies with the FDA’s cGMP requirements. Our failure to comply with these regulations may require us to repeat clinical trials, which would delay the regulatory approval process, and may result in a failure to obtain regulatory approval for HEPZATO if these requirements are not met.
Purchasers of CHEMOSAT in Europe may not receive third-party reimbursement or such reimbursement may be inadequate. Without adequate reimbursement, commercialization of CHEMOSAT in Europe may not be successful.
We have obtained the right to affix the CE Mark for CHEMOSAT, and we intend to seek third-party or government reimbursement within those countries in the Europe where we expect to market and sell CHEMOSAT. In Germany, we had received a ZE diagnostic-related group code, or ZE Code, which, beginning in 2016, permits hospitals in Germany to obtain reimbursement for CHEMOSAT procedures. Negotiations on the amount of reimbursement to be received under the ZE Code were concluded in 2016 and the procedure was reimbursed under the ZE Code in 2017. Reimbursement negotiations under the ZE system are conducted annually. Consequently, reimbursement obtained may not be for the full amount sought. In countries where we are able to obtain reimbursement, local policy could limit our ability to obtain adequate and consistent reimbursement and limit other sales opportunities in those countries.
In other countries, until we obtain government reimbursement, we will rely on private payors or local
pre-approved
funds where available. There are also no assurances that third-party payors or government health agencies in Europe will reimburse use of CHEMOSAT in the long term or at all. Further, each country has its own protocols regarding reimbursement, so successfully obtaining third party or government health agency
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reimbursement in one country does not necessarily translate to similar reimbursement in another European country. Physicians, hospitals and other health care providers may be reluctant to purchase CHEMOSAT if they do not receive substantial reimbursement for the cost of using the product from third-party payors or government entities. The lack of adequate reimbursement may significantly limit sales opportunities in Europe.
The success of our products may be harmed if the government, private health insurers or other third-party payers do not provide sufficient coverage or reimbursement.
Our ability to commercialize CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO successfully will depend in part on the extent to which reimbursement for the costs of such products and related treatments will be available from government health administration authorities, private health insurers and other third-party payors. HEPZATO is currently not approved by the FDA. Medicare, Medicaid, private health insurance plans and their foreign equivalents will not reimburse the use of HEPZATO since the product is currently not approved for use in the United States. We will seek reimbursement by third-party payors of the cost of HEPZATO after its use is approved, but there are no assurances that adequate third-party coverage will be available to establish and maintain price levels sufficient for us to realize an appropriate return on our investment in developing new therapies. Government, private health insurers and other third-party payors are increasingly attempting to contain healthcare costs by limiting both coverage and the level of reimbursement for new therapeutic products approved for marketing. Accordingly, even if coverage and reimbursement are provided by government, private health insurers and third-party payors for uses of our products, market acceptance of these products would be adversely affected if the reimbursement available proves to be unprofitable for healthcare providers.
Implementation of healthcare reforms in the United States and in significant overseas markets may limit the ability to commercialize CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO and the demand for CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO. Healthcare providers may respond to such cost-containment pressures by choosing lower cost products or other therapies. In March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, or the ACA, was enacted in the United States. The ACA included a number of provisions aimed at improving quality and decreasing costs. The Trump administration took executive actions and eliminated the individual shared responsibility penalty portion of the ACA. A court decision finding the ACA to be unconstitutional was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. On June 21, 2021, the United States Supreme Court held in a
7-2
decision that the states and individuals that had previously challenged the constitutionality of the ACA’s individual mandate lacked standing to challenge the law, thus ending the legal challenges to the ACA.
CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO may not achieve sufficient acceptance by the medical community to sustain our business.
The commercial success of CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO, if approved, will depend upon their acceptance by the medical community and third-party payers as clinically useful, cost effective and safe. Acceptance by the medical community may depend on the extent to which leaders in the scientific and medical communities publish scientific papers in reputable academic journals. If testing and clinical practice do not confirm the safety and efficacy of CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO or even if further testing and clinical practice produce positive results but the medical community does not view these favorably, our efforts to market CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO may fail, which would cause us to cease operation.
We may be subject, directly or indirectly, to federal and state health care fraud and abuse laws, false claims laws and health information privacy and security laws. If we are unable to comply, or have not fully complied, with such laws, we could face substantial penalties.
If we obtain FDA approval for any of our drug candidates and begin commercializing those products in the United States, our operations will be directly, or indirectly through our customers, subject to various federal and state fraud and abuse laws. These laws may affect, among other things, our proposed sales, marketing and
30
education programs. In addition, we may be subject to patient privacy regulation by both the federal government and the states in which we conduct our business. The laws that may affect our ability to operate include:
Although compliance programs can mitigate the risk of investigation and prosecution for violations of these laws, the risks cannot be entirely eliminated. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of the laws described above or any other governmental regulations that apply to us, we may be subject to penalties, including exclusion from payment by federal health care programs, civil and criminal penalties, damages, fines and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations. Moreover, achieving and sustaining compliance with applicable federal and state privacy, security and fraud laws may prove costly.
Compliance with laws and regulations pertaining to the privacy and security of health information may be time consuming, difficult and costly, particularly in light of increased focus on privacy issues in countries around the world, including the United States and the European Union.
We are subject to various domestic and international privacy and security regulations. The confidentiality, collection, use and disclosure of personal data, including clinical trial patient-specific information, are subject to governmental regulation generally in the country where the personal data were collected or used. In the United States we are subject to various state and federal privacy and data security regulations, including but not limited to, HIPAA as amended by HITECH. HIPAA mandates, among other things, the adoption of uniform standards for the electronic exchange of information in common health care transactions, as well as standards relating to the privacy and security of individually identifiable health information, which require the adoption of administrative, physical and technical safeguards to protect such information. In the European Union, personal data includes any information that relates to an identified or identifiable natural person with health information carrying additional obligations, including obtaining the explicit consent from the individual for collection, use or disclosure of the information. In addition, we are subject to EU regulation with respect to protection of and cross-border transfers of such data out of the European Union, and this regulation became more stringent in May 2018 when the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect. Furthermore, the legislative and regulatory landscape for privacy and data protection continues to evolve, and there has been an increasing
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amount of focus on privacy and data protection issues. The United States and the European Union and its member states continue to issue new privacy and data protection rules and regulations that relate to personal data and health information.
Compliance with these laws may be time consuming, difficult and costly. If we fail to comply with applicable laws, regulations or duties relating to the use, privacy or security of personal data we could be subject to the imposition of significant civil and criminal penalties, be forced to alter our business practices and suffer reputational harm.
Changes in health care law and implementing regulations, including government restrictions on pricing and reimbursement, as well as health care policy and other health care payor cost-containment initiatives, may have a material adverse effect on us.
In the United States and some foreign jurisdictions, there have been a number of legislative and regulatory changes and proposed changes regarding the health care system and efforts to control health care costs, including drug prices, that could have a significant negative impact on our business, including preventing, limiting or delaying regulatory approval of our drug candidates and reducing the sales and profits derived from our products once they are approved.
For example, in the United States, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, or ACA, substantially changed the way health care is financed by both governmental and private insurers and significantly affects the pharmaceutical industry. Many provisions of ACA impact the biopharmaceutical industry, including that in order for a biopharmaceutical product to receive federal reimbursement under the Medicare Part B and Medicaid programs or to be sold directly to U.S. government agencies, the manufacturer must extend discounts to entities eligible to participate in the drug pricing program under the Public Health Services Act, or PHS. Since its enactment, there have been judicial and Congressional challenges and amendments to certain aspects of ACA and the Trump administration took executive actions and eliminated the individual shared responsibility penalty portion of the ACA. A court decision finding the ACA to be unconstitutional was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. On June 21, 2021, the United States Supreme Court held in a
7-2
decision that the states and individuals that had previously challenged the constitutionality of the ACA’s individual mandate lacked standing to challenge the law, thus ending the legal challenges to the ACA.
We cannot be sure whether additional legislative changes will be enacted, or whether government regulations, guidance or interpretations will be changed, or what the impact of such changes would be on the marketing approvals, sales, pricing, or reimbursement of our drug candidates or products, if any, may be.
Consolidation in the healthcare industry could lead to demands for price concessions.
The cost of healthcare has risen significantly over the past decade and numerous initiatives and reforms initiated by legislators, regulators and third-party payors to curb these costs have resulted in a consolidation trend in the medical device industry. Group purchasing organizations, independent delivery networks and large single accounts in the United States and foreign markets may result in a consolidation of purchasing decisions for potential healthcare provider customers. We expect that market demand, government regulation, third-party reimbursement policies and societal pressures will continue to change the worldwide healthcare industry, resulting in further business consolidations and alliances which may exert further downward pressure on the price of CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO and adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Manufacturing, Commercialization and Market Acceptance of CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO
Under the current regulatory scheme in the European Union, CHEMOSAT is approved for marketing as a device only, and doctors will separately obtain melphalan for use with CHEMOSAT. Although melphalan has been
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approved in the European Union for over a decade, we are aware that there are currently three approved manufacturers of melphalan in certain countries of the European Union. If any of these manufacturers fails to
provide end-users with
adequate supplies of melphalan or fails to comply with the requirements of regulatory authorities, we may be unable to successfully commercialize our product in the European Union. Additionally, melphalan is not available in certain foreign countries outside the European Union where we may seek to market CHEMOSAT. If supply of melphalan remains limited or unavailable, we will be unable to commercialize CHEMOSAT in these markets, thereby limiting future sales opportunities.
If we cannot maintain or enter into acceptable arrangements for the production of melphalan and other chemotherapeutic agents, we will be unable to successfully commercialize HEPZATO in the United States or complete our global Phase 3 trial in ocular melanoma liver metastases or any future clinical trials.
We have entered into a manufacturing and supply agreements with several suppliers for our supply of melphalan for injection for our clinical trials. We may pursue agreements with additional contract manufacturers to produce melphalan and other chemotherapeutic agents for use in the future for our clinical trial program and the commercialization of CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO, as well as for labeling and finishing services. We may not be able to enter into such arrangements on acceptable terms or at all. Every manufacturer is subject to inspection by the FDA and must meet all cGMP regulatory requirements. To manufacture melphalan or other chemotherapeutic agents on our own, we would have to develop a manufacturing facility that complies with FDA regulations for the production of melphalan and each other chemotherapeutic agent we choose to manufacture for use with our system. Developing these resources would be an expensive and lengthy process and would have a material adverse effect on our revenues and profitability. If we are unable to obtain sufficient melphalan and labeling services on acceptable terms or encounter delays or difficulties in our relationships with current and future suppliers or if current and future suppliers of melphalan do not comply with applicable regulations for the manufacturing and production of melphalan, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially harmed.
If we cannot successfully manufacture CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO, our ability to develop and commercialize the system would be impaired.
We manufacture certain components of our products, including our proprietary filter media, and assemble and package CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO at our facility in Queensbury, New York. We have established our European headquarters in Galway, Ireland and conduct finishing operations, assembly, packaging, labeling and distribution at this facility. We currently utilize third parties to manufacture some components of CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO. We may have difficulty obtaining components for our products from our third-party suppliers in a timely manner or at all, which may adversely affect our ability to deliver CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO to purchasers.
In addition to limiting sales opportunities, delays in manufacturing CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO may adversely affect our ability to obtain regulatory approval in the United States and other jurisdictions. Our ability to conduct timely clinical trials in the United States and abroad depends on our ability to manufacture the system, including sourcing the chemotherapeutic agents or other compounds through third parties in accordance with FDA and other regulatory requirements. If we are unable to manufacture CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO in a timely manner, we may not be able to conduct the clinical trials required to obtain regulatory approval and commercialize our product.
We have implemented quality systems throughout our organization designed to enable us to satisfy the various international quality system regulations, including those of the FDA with respect to products sold in the United States and those established by the International Standards Organization, or ISO, with respect to products sold in the European Union. We are required to maintain ISO 13485 certification for medical devices to be sold in the European Union, which requires, among other items, an implemented quality system that applies to component quality, supplier control, product design and manufacturing operations. All of our facilities are presently ISO 13485:2016 certified. If our Queensbury, New York facility fails to maintain compliance with ISO 13485 and
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FDA cGMP or fails to pass facility inspection or audits, our ability to manufacture at the facility could be limited or terminated. In the future, we may manufacture and assemble CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO in our Galway, Ireland facility or elsewhere in the European Union, and any facilities in the European Union would have to obtain and maintain similar approvals or certifications of compliance.
Although Delcath is not aware of any direct impacts of the war between the Ukraine and the Russian Federation on its supply chain, the war could adversely impact Delcath’s ability to obtain components and/or significantly increase the cost of obtaining such components fo r the Company’s products from its third-party suppliers in a timely manner or at all.
We do not have written contracts with all of our suppliers for the manufacture of components for CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO.
While we have written contracts and supply agreements for key components for CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO, we do not have written contracts with all suppliers for the manufacture of components for CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO. If we are unable to obtain an adequate supply of the necessary components or negotiate acceptable terms, we may not be able to manufacture CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO in commercial quantities or in a cost-effective manner, and commercialization of CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO in the United States, the European Union and elsewhere may be delayed. In addition, certain components are available from only a limited number of sources. Components of CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO are currently manufactured for us in small quantities. We may require significantly greater quantities to further commercialize the product. We may not be able to find alternate sources of comparable components. If we are unable to obtain adequate supplies of components from existing suppliers or need to switch to an alternate supplier and obtain FDA or other regulatory agency approval of that supplier, commercialization of CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO may be delayed.
Even if we receive FDA or other foreign regulatory approvals, we may be unsuccessful in commercializing CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO in markets outside the European Union, because of inadequate infrastructure or an ineffective commercialization strategy.
Even if we obtain regulatory approval from the FDA or other foreign regulatory agencies, our ability to commercialize CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO may be limited due to our inexperience in developing a sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure. If we are unable to develop this infrastructure in the United States or elsewhere or to collaborate with an alliance partner to market our products in the United States or foreign countries, particularly in Asia, our efforts to commercialize CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO or any other product outside of the European Union may be less successful.
Even if we are successful in commercializing CHEMOSAT in the European Union, we may not be successful in commercializing HEPZATO in the United States and CHEMOSAT or HEPZATO in other foreign countries. Each country requires a different commercialization strategy, so our European Union marketing strategy may not translate to other markets. Without a successful commercialization strategy tailored for each market, our efforts to promote and market CHEMOSAT in each of our target markets may fail in any or all of those markets.
Our plan to use collaborative arrangements with third parties to help finance and to market and sell CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO may not be successful.
We may be unable to enter into collaborative agreements without additional clinical data or unable to continue a collaborative agreement as a result of unsuccessful future clinical trials. Additionally, we may face competition in the search for alliances. As a result, we may not be able to enter into alliances on acceptable terms, if at all. Our collaborative relationships may never result in the successful development or commercialization of CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO or any other product. The success of any collaboration will depend upon our ability to perform our obligations under any agreements as well as factors beyond our control, such as the commitment of our collaborators and the timely performance of their obligations. The terms of any such
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collaboration may permit our collaborators to abandon the alliance at any time for any reason or prevent us from terminating arrangements with collaborators who do not perform in accordance with our expectations, or our collaborators may breach their agreements with us. In addition, any third parties with whom we collaborate may have significant control over important aspects of the development and commercialization of our products, including research and development, market identification, marketing methods, pricing, composition of sales force and promotional activities. We will not control the amount and timing of resources that any collaborator may devote to our research and development programs or the commercialization, marketing or distribution of our products. We may not be able to prevent any collaborators from pursuing alternative technologies or products that could result in the development of products that compete with CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO or the withdrawal of their support for our products. The failure of any such collaboration could have a material adverse effect on our business.
If we fail to overcome the challenges inherent in international operations, our business and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
Currently we have only received authorization to market CHEMOSAT in the European Union and intend to seek similar authorization or approvals in other foreign countries. As a result, we expect international sales of CHEMOSAT to account for a significant portion of our revenue, which exposes us to risks inherent in international operations. To accommodate our international sales, we will need to further invest financial and management resources to develop an international infrastructure that will meet the needs of our customers. Accordingly, we will face additional risks resulting from our international operations including:
• limited protection for intellectual property rights in some countries;
• fluctuations in currency exchange rates;
• the possibility of any material shipping delays;
• protectionist laws and business practices that favor local competitors; and
If we fail to overcome the challenges inherent in international operations, our business and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
Rapid technological developments in treatment methods for liver cancer and competition with other forms of liver cancer treatments could affect our ability to achieve meaningful revenues or profit.
Competition in the cancer treatment industry is intense. CHEMOSAT and HEPZATO compete with all forms of liver cancer treatments that are alternatives to surgical resection. Many of our competitors have substantially greater resources and considerable experience in conducting clinical trials and obtaining regulatory approvals. If these competitors develop more effective or more affordable products or treatment methods, or achieve earlier product development, our revenues or profitability will be substantially reduced.