Item 1A. Risk Factors
Risks Factors Relating to our Business
We may not achieve our publicly announced milestones on time, or at all.
From time to time, we may publicly announce the timing of certain events that we expect to occur, such as the anticipated timing of results from our clinical trials and the timing of an upcoming new drug application ("NDA”) filing. These statements are forward-looking and are based on the best estimate of management at the time relating to the occurrence of the events. However, the actual timing of these events may differ from what has been publicly disclosed. The timing of events such as completion of a clinical trial, discovery of a new product candidate, filing of an application to obtain regulatory approval, beginning of commercialization of products, completion of a strategic partnership, or announcement of additional clinical trials for a product candidate may ultimately vary from what is publicly disclosed. These variations in timing may occur as a result of different events, including the nature of the results obtained during a clinical trial or during a research phase, problems with a supplier or a distribution partner or any other event having the effect of delaying the publicly announced timeline. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law. Any variation in the timing of previously announced milestones could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or operating results and the trading price of our common shares.
We are heavily dependent on the success of our lead drug candidate, GTX-104
Our business and future success are substantially dependent on our ability to successfully and timely develop, obtain regulatory approval for, and commercialize our lead product candidate, GTX-104. Any delay or setback in the development of GTX-104 could adversely affect our business. Our planned development, approval and commercialization of GTX-104 may fail to be completed in a timely manner or at all. As part of our recent strategic realignment plan, we determined to focus primarily on the development of GTX-104, which concentrates the level of our drug development risk on one drug candidate. We cannot provide assurance that we will be able to obtain approval for GTX-104 or any other of our drug candidates from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) or any foreign regulatory authority or that we will obtain such approval in a timely manner.
We may not be able to maximize value from our de-prioritized drug candidates, GTX-102 and GTX-101, through either development, out-licensing or sale.
Our GTX-102 and GTX-101 drug candidates are at an earlier development stage than GTX-104 and will require additional time and resources to develop. As part of our recent strategic realignment plan, we determined to focus primarily on the development of GTX-104 and to de-emphasize the development of GTX-102 and GTX-101. While we will continue to seek ways to maximize the value of GTX-102 and GTX-101, including through subsequent development, out-licensing or sale, we may not be successful in doing so.
We may not be able to maintain our operations and advance our research and development and commercialization of our GTX-104 lead drug candidate without additional funding.
We have incurred operating losses and negative cash flows from operations since our inception. To date, we have financed our operations through public offerings and private placements of securities, proceeds from exercises of warrants, rights and options, and receipt of research tax credits and research grant programs. Our cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments were $23.0 million as of March 31, 2024 and $27.9 million as of March 31, 2023.
Our current assets, as of March 31, 2024, are projected to support our current liabilities as at that date when combined with the projected level of our expenses for the next twelve months, including fully funding the completion of our Phase 3 program for GTX-104. We expect that additional time and capital will be required by us to file an NDA to obtain FDA approval for GTX-104 in the United States, to further scale up our manufacturing capabilities, and to complete marketing and other pre-commercialization activities. Consequently, we expect our existing cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund our operations into the second calendar quarter of 2026. Based on the steps we are taking in our strategic realignment plan to focus primarily on the development of GTX-104 and to de-emphasize the development of GTX-102 and GTX-101, we believe that our existing cash and cash equivalents will enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements beyond the completion of our Phase 3 trials for GTX-104. To fully execute our business plan, we plan to raise the necessary capital primarily through additional securities offerings and multiple sources of non-dilutive capital, such as grants or loans and strategic alliances. If we are unable to raise additional capital in sufficient amounts or on terms acceptable to us, we may have to significantly delay the research and development and commercial launch of our GTX-104. If we determine to continue development of GTX-102 and GTX-101, significant additional funding will be needed. Unexpected negative results in our clinical programs for our lead drug candidate may affect our ability to raise additional capital and/or complete strategic development and/or distribution partnerships to support the commercial launch of our lead drug candidate. Additional funding from
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third parties may not be available on acceptable terms or at all to enable us to continue with the research and development and commercialization of our lead drug candidate.
Business disruptions could seriously harm our future revenue and financial condition and increase our costs and expenses.
Our operations, and those of our suppliers, third-party manufacturers and other contractors and consultants could be subject to earthquakes, power shortages, telecommunications failures, water shortages, floods, hurricanes, typhoons, fires, extreme weather conditions, medical pandemics and other natural or man-made disasters or business interruptions, for which we are predominantly self-insured. The occurrence of any of these business disruptions could seriously harm our operations and financial condition and increase our costs and expenses. We rely on third-party manufacturers to manufacture our drug candidate products. Our ability to obtain supplies of drug candidate products could be disrupted if the operations of our manufacturers and suppliers are affected by a man-made or natural disaster or other business interruption.
Our future success depends on our ability to retain key executives and to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel.
We are highly dependent on the principal members of our executive team. While members of our executive team have significant industry experience, they have not been with the Company for long. Any of our executive officers could leave our employment at any time, as all of our employees are “at will” employees. Also, as part of our strategic realignment, we significantly reduced the number of our employees while we shift the base of our operations from Canada to the United States. As a result, in the process of shifting the base of our operations to the United States, we will have to recruit employees from the industry employment market in the United States. Recruiting and retaining qualified employees for our business, including scientific and technical personnel, will also be critical to our success. There is currently a shortage of skilled executives and other personnel in our industry, which is likely to continue. As a result, competition for skilled personnel is intense and the turnover rate can be high. As we rebuild our organization in accordance with our strategic realignment, we may not be able to attract and retain personnel on acceptable terms given the competition among numerous pharmaceutical companies for individuals with similar skill sets. In addition, failure to succeed in clinical studies may make it more challenging to recruit and retain qualified personnel. The inability to recruit key executives or the loss of the services of any executive or key employee might impede the progress of our development and commercialization objectives.
We may need to expand our organization, and we may experience difficulties in managing this growth, which could disrupt our operations and our ability to compete.
If our drug development efforts are successful, we expect to expand our employee base to increase our managerial, scientific, engineering, operational, sales, marketing, financial and other resources and to hire more consultants and contractors. Future growth would impose significant additional responsibilities on our management, including the need to identify, recruit, maintain, motivate, and integrate additional employees, consultants and contractors. We may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations, which may result in weaknesses in our infrastructure, give rise to operational mistakes, loss of business opportunities, loss of employees and reduced productivity among remaining employees. Future growth could require significant capital expenditures and may divert financial resources from other projects, such as the development of our existing or future product candidates. Our future financial performance and our ability to sell and commercialize our product candidates, if approved, and compete effectively will depend, in part, on our ability to effectively manage any future growth.
We face potential product liability, and if claims are brought against us, we may incur substantial liability.
The use of our product candidates in clinical trials, and the sale of any drug candidates for which we obtain marketing approval, exposes us to the risk of product liability claims. Product liability claims might be brought against us by consumers, healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies or others selling or otherwise coming into contact with our product candidates. If we cannot successfully defend against product liability claims, we could incur substantial liability and costs. In addition, regardless of merit or eventual outcome, product liability claims may result in:
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impairment of our business reputation;
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withdrawal of clinical study participants
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costs due to related litigation
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distraction of management’s attention from our primary business
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substantial monetary awards to patients or other claimants; and
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the inability to commercialize our product candidates.
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Our current product liability insurance coverage may not be sufficient to reimburse us for any expenses or losses we may suffer. Moreover, insurance coverage is becoming increasingly expensive, and, in the future, we may not be able to maintain insurance coverage at a reasonable cost or in sufficient amounts to protect us against losses due to liability. A successful product liability claim or series of claims brought against us could cause our share price to decline and, if judgments exceed our insurance coverage, could adversely affect our results of operations and business.
We rely significantly on information technology and any failure, inadequacy, interruption, or security lapse of that technology, including any cybersecurity incidents, could harm our ability to operate our business effectively.
Despite the implementation of security measures, our internal computer systems, and those of third parties with which we contract are vulnerable to damage from cyber-attacks, computer viruses, unauthorized access, natural disasters, terrorism, war and telecommunication and electrical failures. System failures, accidents or security breaches could cause interruptions in our operations and could result in a material disruption of our drug product development and clinical activities and business operations, in addition to possibly requiring substantial expenditures of resources to remedy. The loss of drug product development or clinical trial data could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. To the extent that any disruption or security breach were to result in a loss of, or damage to, our data or applications, or inappropriate disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, we could incur liability and our development programs, and the development of our product candidates could be delayed.
Risks Related to Development, Testing and Commercialization of Our Products
Even if our drug candidates receive regulatory approval in the United States, we may never obtain regulatory approval or successfully commercialize our products outside of the United States.
Our business plan is highly dependent upon our ability to obtain regulatory approval to market and commercialize our lead drug candidate, GTX-104 in the United States. As GTX-104 is currently the focus of our drug development program, the failure to commercialize it would have a material adverse effect on our ability to execute on our business plan and generate revenue. In addition, even if we obtain U.S. regulatory approvals to commercialize GTX-104, we may not be able to do so in other international jurisdictions.
We are subject to uncertainty relating to healthcare reform measures and reimbursement policies which, if not favorable to our drug candidates, could hinder or prevent our drug candidates’ commercial success.
Our ability to commercialize our drug candidates successfully will depend in part on the extent to which governmental authorities, private health insurers and other third-party payors establish appropriate coverage and reimbursement levels for our drug candidates and related treatments. As a threshold for coverage and reimbursement, third-party payors generally require that drug products have been approved for marketing by the FDA. Third-party payors are increasingly imposing additional requirements and restrictions on coverage and limiting reimbursement levels for medical products. These restrictions and limitations influence the purchase of healthcare services and products. The cost containment measures that healthcare payors and providers are instituting and the effect of any healthcare reform could significantly reduce our revenues from the sale of any approved drug. We cannot provide any assurances that we will be able to obtain third-party coverage or reimbursement for our drug candidates in whole or in part.
In the United States, there have been a number of legislative and regulatory changes to the healthcare system in ways that could affect our future revenues and profitability and the future revenues and profitability of our potential customers. Under the prescription drug benefit, Medicare beneficiaries can obtain prescription drug coverage from private sector plans that are permitted to limit the number of prescription drugs that are covered in each therapeutic category and class on their formularies. If our products are not widely included on the formularies of these plans, our ability to market our products to the Medicare population could be harmed.
There also have been, and likely will continue to be, legislative and regulatory proposals at the federal and state levels directed at containing or lowering the cost of healthcare. We cannot predict the initiatives that may be adopted in the future. The continuing efforts of the government, insurance companies, managed care organizations and other payors of healthcare costs to contain or reduce costs of healthcare may adversely affect one or more of the following:
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our ability to set a price that we desire for our drug products, if any are approved
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our ability to generate revenues and achieve profitability;
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the future revenues of our potential customers, suppliers and collaborators; and
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the availability of capital to us.
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Any of these scenarios could harm our ability to market our products and generate revenues. It is also possible that other proposals having a similar effect will be adopted.
Our commercial success depends upon attaining significant market acceptance of our drug candidates and drug products, if approved, among physicians, nurses, pharmacists, patients and the medical community.
Even if we obtain regulatory approval for our drug product candidates, our drug product candidates may not gain market acceptance among physicians, nurses, pharmacists, patients, the medical community or third-party payors, which is critical to commercial success. Market acceptance of our drug candidates and any drug product for which we receive approval depends on a number of factors, including:
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the timing of market introduction of the drug candidate or drug product as well as competitive products;
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the clinical indications for which the drug product is approved;
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the convenience and ease of administration to patients of the drug candidate or drug product;
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the potential and perceived advantages of such drug candidate over alternative treatments;
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the cost of treatment in relation to alternative treatments, including any similar generic treatments;
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the availability of coverage and adequate reimbursement and pricing by third-party payors and government authorities;
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relative convenience and ease of administration;
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any negative publicity related to our or our competitors’ drug products that include the same active ingredient;
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the prevalence and severity of adverse side effects, including limitations or warnings contained in a drug product’s FDA-approved labeling; and
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the effectiveness of our sales and marketing efforts.
If our drug candidates or drug products, if approved, fail to achieve an adequate level of acceptance by physicians, nurses, pharmacists, patients, and the medical community, we will be unable to generate significant revenues, and we may not become or remain profitable.
If we are unable to establish sales and marketing capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to market and sell our drug candidates, we may be unable to generate any revenue.
Although we intend to establish a small, focused, specialty sales and marketing organization to promote GTX-104, if approved for marketing in the United States, we currently have no such organization and the cost of establishing and maintaining such an organization may exceed the benefit of doing so. We believe that GTX-102 could also be marketed by a small, focused, specialty sales and marketing organization if and when we decide to resume development of GTX-102. Given the size of its potential market, we anticipate that commercializing GTX-101 would require entering into a strategic partnership with a larger marketing partner, if GTX-101 is approved by the FDA for marketing, and the ability to find any such strategic partnership would be uncertain. If we are unable to establish adequate sales, marketing and distribution capabilities, whether independently or with third parties, we may not be able to generate sufficient product revenue and may not become profitable. We will be competing with many companies that currently have extensive and well-funded marketing and sales operations. Without an internal team or the support of a third-party to perform marketing and sales functions, we may be unable to compete successfully against these more established companies.
If we obtain approval to commercialize any approved drug products outside of the United States, a variety of risks associated with international operations could materially adversely affect our business.
If any of our drug candidates are approved for commercialization, we may enter into agreements with third parties to market these drug products outside the United States. We expect that we will be subject to additional risks related to entering into international business relationships, including:
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different regulatory requirements for drug approvals in foreign countries;
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reduced protection for intellectual property rights;
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unexpected changes in tariffs, trade barriers and regulatory requirements;
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economic weakness, including inflation, or political instability in particular foreign economies and markets;
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compliance with tax, employment, immigration and labor laws for employees living or traveling abroad;
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foreign taxes, including withholding of payroll taxes;
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foreign currency fluctuations, which could result in increased operating expenses and reduced revenue, and other obligations incident to doing business in another country;
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workforce uncertainty in countries where labor unrest is more common than in the United States;
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ability to secure third-party marketing and selling agreements outside of the United States;
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production shortages resulting from any events affecting raw material supply or manufacturing capabilities abroad; and
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business interruptions resulting from geopolitical actions, including war and terrorism, or natural disasters including earthquakes, typhoons, floods and fires.
If we are unable to differentiate our drug candidates from branded reference drugs or existing generic therapies for similar treatments, or if the FDA or other applicable regulatory authorities approve generic products that compete with any of our drug candidates, our ability to successfully commercialize our drug candidates would be adversely affected.
Although we believe that our drug candidates will be clinically differentiated from branded reference drugs and their generic counterparts, if any, it is possible that such differentiation will not impact our market position. If we are unable to achieve significant differentiation for our product candidates against other drugs, the opportunity for our product candidates to achieve premium pricing and be commercialized successfully would be adversely affected.
In addition to existing branded reference drugs and the related generic products, the FDA or other applicable regulatory authorities may approve generic products that compete directly with our drug candidates, if approved. Once an NDA, including a 505(b)(2) application, is approved, the product covered thereby becomes a “listed drug” which can, in turn, be cited by potential competitors in support of approval of an abbreviated new drug application (“ANDA”). The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”), FDA regulations and other applicable regulations and policies provide incentives to manufacturers to create modified, non-infringing versions of a drug to facilitate the approval of an ANDA for generic substitutes. These manufacturers might only be required to conduct a relatively inexpensive study to show that their product has the same active ingredient(s), dosage form, strength, route of administration and conditions of use or labeling as our product candidate and that the generic product is bioequivalent to ours, meaning it is absorbed in the body at the same rate and to the same extent as our drug product. These generic equivalents, which must meet the same quality standards as branded pharmaceuticals, would be significantly less costly than ours to bring to market and companies that produce generic equivalents are generally able to offer their drug products at lower prices. After the introduction of a generic competitor, a significant percentage of the sales of any branded drug product is typically lost to the generic drug product. Accordingly, competition from generic equivalents of our drug candidates would materially adversely impact our ability to successfully commercialize our drug candidates.
We face significant competition from other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and our operating results will suffer if we fail to compete effectively.
The biopharmaceutical industry is intensely competitive and subject to rapid and significant technological change. We expect to have competitors both in the United States and internationally, including major multinational pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies and universities and other research institutions.
Many of our competitors have substantially greater financial, technical and other resources, such as larger research and development staff and experienced marketing and manufacturing organizations. If our competitors market products that are more effective, safer or less expensive than our drug products, if any, or that reach the market sooner than our drug products, if any, we may enter the market too late in the cycle and may not achieve commercial success. In addition, the biopharmaceutical industry is characterized by rapid technological change. If we fail to stay at the forefront of technological change, we may be unable to compete effectively. Technological advances or drug products developed by our competitors may render our drug products, if any, or drug candidates obsolete, less competitive or not economical.
We could incur substantial costs and disruption to our business and delays in the launch of our drug candidates if our competitors and/or collaborators bring legal actions against us, which could harm our business and operating results.
We cannot predict whether our competitors or potential competitors, may bring legal actions against us based on our research, development, and commercialization activities, as well as any drug candidates or drug products resulting from these activities, claiming, among other things, infringement of their intellectual property rights, breach of contract or other legal theories. If we are forced to defend any such lawsuits, whether they are with or without merit or are ultimately determined in our favor, we may face costly litigation and diversion of technical and management personnel. These lawsuits could hinder our ability to enter the market early with our drug candidates and thereby hinder our ability to influence usage patterns when fewer, if any, of our potential competitors have entered such
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market, which could adversely impact our potential revenue from such drug candidates. Some of our competitors have substantially greater resources than we do and could be able to sustain the cost of litigation to a greater extent and for longer periods of time than we could. Furthermore, an adverse outcome of a dispute may require us: to pay damages, potentially including treble damages and attorneys’ fees, if we are found to have willfully infringed a party’s patent or other intellectual property rights; to cease making, licensing or using products that are alleged to incorporate or make use of the intellectual property of others; to expend additional development resources to reformulate our products or prevent us from marketing a certain drug; and to enter into potentially unfavorable royalty or license agreements in order to obtain the rights to use necessary technologies. Royalty or licensing agreements, if required, may be unavailable on terms acceptable to us, or at all.
We are subject to numerous complex regulatory requirements and failure to comply with these regulations, or the cost of compliance with these regulations, may harm our business.
The research, testing, development, manufacturing, quality control, approval, labeling, packaging, storage, record-keeping, promotion, advertising, marketing, distribution, possession and use of our drug candidates, among other things, are subject to regulation by numerous governmental authorities in the United States and elsewhere. The FDA regulates drugs under the FDCA, and implementing regulations. Non-compliance with any applicable regulatory requirements can result in refusal of the governmental authority to approve products for marketing, criminal prosecution and fines, warning letters, product recalls or seizure of products, total or partial suspension of production, prohibitions or limitations on the commercial sale of products or refusal to allow the entering into of federal and state supply contracts. FDA and comparable governmental authorities have the authority to withdraw product approvals that have been previously granted. In addition, the regulatory requirements relating to our drug candidates and drug products, if any, may change from time to time and it is impossible to predict what the impact of any such changes may be.
If the FDA does not conclude that our drug candidates satisfy the requirements for the 505(b)(2) regulatory approval pathway, or if the requirements for approval of any of our drug candidates under Section505(b)(2) are not as we expect, the approval pathway for our drug candidates will likely take significantly longer, cost significantly more and encounter significantly greater complications and risks than anticipated, and in any case may not be successful.
We intend to seek FDA approval through the 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway for our lead drug candidate GTX-104. The Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, also known as the Hatch-Waxman Act, added Section 505(b)(2) to the FDCA. Section 505(b)(2) permits the filing of an NDA where at least some of the information required for approval comes from studies that were not conducted by or for the applicant.
If the FDA does not allow us to pursue the 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway for GTX-104, we may need to conduct additional clinical trials, provide additional data and information and meet additional standards for regulatory approval. If this were to occur, the time and financial resources required to obtain FDA approval for our drug candidates would likely substantially increase. Moreover, an inability to pursue the 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway could result in new competitive products reaching the market faster than our drug candidates, which could materially adversely impact our competitive position and prospects. Even if we are allowed to pursue the 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway for a drug candidate, we cannot assure you that we will receive the requisite or timely approvals for commercialization of such drug candidate.
In addition, it is possible that our competitors may file citizens’ petitions with the FDA in an attempt to persuade the FDA that our drug candidates, or the clinical studies that support their approval, contain deficiencies. Such actions by our competitors could delay or even prevent the FDA from approving any NDA that we submit under Section 505(b)(2).
Clinical development is a lengthy and expensive process with an uncertain outcome, and results of earlier studies and trials may not be predictive of future trial results. Failure can occur at any stage of clinical development.
Clinical testing, even when utilizing the 505(b)(2) pathway, is expensive and can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. Failure can occur at any time during the clinical trial process, even with active ingredients that have previously been approved by the FDA as safe and effective. The results of pre-clinical studies and early clinical trials of our drug candidates may not be predictive of the results of later stage clinical trials. A number of companies in the biopharmaceutical industry have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials due to lack of efficacy or adverse safety profiles, notwithstanding promising results in earlier trials.
Our drug candidates are in various stages of development. Clinical trial failures may occur at any stage and may result from a multitude of factors both within and outside our control, including flaws in formulation, adverse safety or efficacy profile and flaws in trial design, among others. If the trials result in negative or inconclusive results, we or our collaborators may decide, or regulators may require us, to discontinue trials of our drug candidates or conduct additional clinical trials or pre-clinical studies. In addition, data obtained from trials and studies are susceptible to varying interpretations, and regulators may not interpret our data as favorably as we do, which may delay, limit or prevent regulatory approval. For these reasons, our future clinical trials may not be successful.
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Delays in clinical trials are common and have many causes, and any delay could result in increased costs to us and could jeopardize or delay our ability to obtain regulatory approval and commence drug product sales. We may also find it difficult to enroll patients in our clinical trials, which could delay or prevent development of our drug candidates.
We may experience delays in clinical trials of our drug candidates. Our planned clinical trials may not begin on time, have an effective design, enroll a sufficient number of patients or be completed on schedule, if at all. Our clinical trials can be delayed for a variety of reasons, including:
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inability to raise or delays in raising funding necessary to initiate or continue a trial;
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delays in obtaining regulatory approval to commence a trial;
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delays in reaching agreement with the FDA on final trial design;
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imposition of a clinical hold for safety reasons or following an inspection of our clinical trial operations or trial sites by the FDA or other regulatory authorities;
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delays in reaching agreement on acceptable terms with prospective contract manufacturing organizations (“CMOs”), or contract research organizations (“CROs”), and clinical trial sites, or failure by such CMOs to complete the manufacturing of clinical trial materials or CROs to follow and carry out the clinical study protocol at each site in accordance with the terms of our agreements with them;
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delays in obtaining required institutional review board (“IRB”), approval at each site;
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difficulties or delays in having patients’ complete participation in a trial or return for post-treatment follow-up;
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clinical sites electing to terminate their participation in one of our clinical trials, which would likely have a detrimental effect on subject enrollment;
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time required to add new clinical sites; or
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delays by our CMOs to produce and deliver sufficient supply of clinical trial materials.
If initiation or completion of our planned clinical trials is delayed for any of the above reasons or other reasons, our development costs may increase, our regulatory approval process could be delayed and our ability to commercialize and commence sales of our drug candidates could be materially harmed, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
In addition, identifying and qualifying patients to participate in clinical trials of our drug candidates is critical to our success. The timing of our clinical trials depends on the speed at which we can recruit patients to participate in testing our drug candidates as well as completion of required follow-up periods. We may not be able to identify, recruit and enroll a sufficient number of patients, or those with required or desired characteristics or to complete our clinical trials in a timely manner. Patient enrollment is and completion of the trials are affected by a variety of factors, including:
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severity and prevalence of the disease under investigation;
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design of the trial protocol;
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size of the patient population;
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eligibility criteria for the trial in question;
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perceived risks and benefits of the drug candidate under trial;
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proximity and availability of clinical trial sites for prospective patients;
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availability of competing therapies and clinical trials;
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efforts to facilitate timely enrollment in clinical trials;
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patient referral practices of physicians; and
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ability to monitor patients adequately during and after treatment.
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The regulatory approval processes of the FDA and comparable foreign authorities are lengthy, time consuming and inherently unpredictable, and if we are ultimately unable to obtain regulatory approval for our drug candidates, our business will be substantially harmed.
The time required to obtain approval by the FDA and comparable foreign authorities is unpredictable but typically takes many years following the commencement of clinical trials and depends upon numerous factors, including the substantial discretion of the regulatory authorities. In addition, approval policies, regulations or the type and amount of clinical data necessary to gain approval may change during the course of a drug candidate’s clinical development and may vary among jurisdictions. It is possible that none of our existing drug candidates or any drug candidates we may seek to develop will ever obtain regulatory approval in the United States or other jurisdictions.
Our drug candidates could fail to receive regulatory approval for many reasons, including the following:
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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree that our changes to branded reference drugs meet the criteria for the 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway or foreign regulatory pathways;
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we may be unable to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities that a drug candidate is safe and effective or comparable to its branded reference product for its proposed indication;
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the results of any clinical trials we conduct may not meet the level of statistical significance required by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities for approval;
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we may be unable to demonstrate that a drug candidate’s clinical and other benefits outweigh its safety risks;
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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may fail to approve the manufacturing processes or facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we contract for clinical and commercial supplies; and
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the approval policies or regulations of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may change significantly in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval.
This lengthy approval process as well as the unpredictability of future clinical trial results may result in us failing to obtain regulatory approval to market our drug candidates, which would harm our business, results of operations and prospects significantly.
We have limited experience using the 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway to submit an NDA or any similar drug approval filing to the FDA, and we cannot be certain that any of our drug candidates will receive regulatory approval. If we do not receive regulatory approvals for our drug candidates, we may not be able to continue our operations. Even if we successfully obtain regulatory approvals to market one or more of our drug candidates, our revenue will be dependent, to a significant extent, upon the size of the markets in the territories for which we gain regulatory approval. If the markets for patients or indications that we are targeting are not as significant as we estimate, we may not generate significant revenue from sales of such drug products, if approved.
Our drug development strategy relies heavily upon the 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway, which requires us to certify that we do not infringe upon third-party patents covering approved drugs. Such certifications often result in third-party claims of intellectual property infringement, the defense of which will be costly and time consuming, and an unfavorable outcome in any litigation may prevent or delay our development and commercialization efforts which would harm our business.
Litigation or other proceedings to enforce or defend intellectual property rights are often complex in nature, may be very expensive and time-consuming, may divert our management’s attention from other aspects of our business and may result in unfavorable outcomes that could adversely impact our ability to launch and market our drug candidates, or to prevent third parties from competing with our drug products and drug candidates.
In particular, our commercial success depends in large part on our avoiding infringement of the patents and proprietary rights of third parties for existing approved drug products. Because we intend to utilize the 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway for the approval of our drug products and drug candidates, we rely in whole or in part on studies conducted by third parties related to those approved drug products.
Because patent applications can take many years to issue, there may be currently pending or subsequently filed patent applications which may later result in issued patents that may be infringed by our drug products or drug candidates. If any third-party patents were held by a court of competent jurisdiction to cover aspects of our drug candidates, including the formulation, method of use, any method or process involved in the manufacture of any of our drug candidates, any molecules or intermediates formed during such manufacturing process or any other attribute of the final product itself, the holders of any such patents may be able to block our ability to commercialize our drug candidates unless we obtain a license under the applicable patents, or until such patents expire. In either case, such a license may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all.
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Parties making claims against us may request and/or obtain injunctive or other equitable relief, which could effectively block our ability to further develop and commercialize one or more of our drug candidates on a temporary or permanent basis. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation expense and would be a substantial diversion of employee resources from our business. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us, we may have to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees for willful infringement, obtain one or more licenses from third parties, pay royalties or redesign our infringing products or manufacturing processes, which may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure. We cannot predict whether any such license would be available at all or whether it would be available on commercially reasonable terms. Furthermore, even in the absence of litigation, we may need to obtain licenses from third parties to advance our research, manufacture clinical trial supplies or allow commercialization of our drug candidates. We may fail to obtain any of these licenses at a reasonable cost or on reasonable terms, if at all. In that event, we would be unable to further develop and commercialize one or more of our drug candidates, which could harm our business significantly. We cannot provide any assurances that third-party patents do not exist which might be enforced against our products, resulting in either an injunction prohibiting our sales, or, with respect to our sales, an obligation on our part to pay royalties and/or other forms of compensation to third parties.
Our employees, independent contractors, principal investigators, consultants, commercial partners and vendors may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including non-compliance with regulatory standards and requirements.
We are exposed to the risk that our employees, independent contractors, principal investigators, consultants, commercial partners, and vendors may engage in fraudulent conduct or other illegal activity. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional, reckless and/or negligent conduct that violates (1) the laws of the FDA and similar foreign regulatory bodies, including those laws requiring the reporting of true, complete, and accurate information to such regulatory bodies; (2) healthcare fraud and abuse laws of the United States and similar foreign fraudulent misconduct laws; and (3) laws requiring the reporting of financial information or data accurately. Specifically, the promotion, sales and marketing of health care items and services, as well as certain business arrangements in the healthcare industry are subject to extensive laws designed to prevent misconduct, including fraud, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. These laws may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing, structuring and commission(s), certain customer incentive programs and other business arrangements generally. Activities subject to these laws also involve the improper use of information obtained in the course of patient recruitment for clinical trials. It is not always possible to identify and deter employee and other third-party misconduct. The precautions we take to detect and prevent inappropriate conduct may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to comply with these laws. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves, those actions could have a significant impact on our business, including the imposition of civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, monetary fines, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, and curtailment of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations.
We are required to obtain regulatory approval for each of our drug candidates in each jurisdiction in which we intend to market such products, and the inability to obtain such approvals would limit our ability to realize their full market potential.
In order to market drug products outside of the United States, we must comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements of other countries regarding safety and efficacy. Clinical trials conducted in one country may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other countries, and regulatory approval in one country does not mean that regulatory approval will be obtained in any other country. However, the failure to obtain regulatory approval in one jurisdiction may adversely impact our ability to obtain regulatory approval in another jurisdiction. Approval processes vary among countries and can involve additional product testing and validation and additional administrative review periods. Seeking foreign regulatory approval could result in difficulties and costs for us and require additional non-clinical studies or clinical trials which could be costly and time consuming. Regulatory requirements can vary widely from country to country and could delay or prevent the introduction of our drug products in those countries. If we fail to comply with regulatory requirements in international markets or to obtain and maintain required approvals, or if regulatory approval in international markets is delayed, our target market will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential of our drug products will be harmed.
Risks Relating to Our Intellectual Property
If we are sued for infringing intellectual property rights of third parties, it will be costly and time consuming, and an unfavorable outcome in that litigation would have a material adverse effect on our business.
Our commercial success also depends upon our ability and the ability of our future collaborators to develop, manufacture, market and sell our drug candidates and to use our proprietary technologies without infringing the proprietary rights of third parties. Numerous U.S. and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications, which are owned by third parties, exist in the fields in which we are developing drug candidates. Because patent applications can take many years to issue, there may be currently pending applications,
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which may later result in issued patents that our product candidates or proprietary technologies may infringe. Similarly, there may be issued patents relevant to our drug candidates of which we are not aware.
There is a substantial amount of litigation involving patent and other intellectual property rights in the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries generally. In particular, the generic drug industry is characterized by frequent litigation between generic drug companies and branded drug companies. If a third-party claims that we infringe its intellectual property rights, we may face a number of issues, including, but not limited to:
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infringement and other intellectual property claims which, with or without merit, may be expensive and time-consuming to litigate and may divert our management’s attention from our core business;
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substantial damages for infringement, including, but not limited to, treble damages, punitive damages, loss of profits and attorneys’ fees, which we may have to pay if a court decides that the drug product or proprietary technology at issue infringes on or violates the third-party’s rights;
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if a license is available from the third-party, we may have to pay substantial royalties, fees and/or grant cross licenses to our technology; and
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redesigning our drug candidates or processes so they do not infringe, which may not be possible or may require substantial funds and time.
We have not conducted an extensive search of patents issued to third parties, and no assurance can be given that third-party patents containing claims covering our drug candidates, technology or methods do not exist, have not been filed, or could not be filed or issued. Because of the number of patents issued and patent applications filed in our technical areas or fields, we believe there is a significant risk that third parties may allege they have patent rights encompassing our products, technology, or methods. Other drug candidates that we may in-license or acquire could be subject to similar risks and uncertainties.
We may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants, or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged confidential information or trade secrets of their other clients or former employers to us.
As is common in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, certain of our employees were formerly employed by other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. Moreover, we engage the services of consultants to assist us in the development of our drug candidates, many of whom were previously employed at or may have previously been or are currently providing consulting services to, other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. We may be subject to claims that these employees and consultants or we have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed trade secrets or other proprietary information of their former employers or their former or current customers. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management. Any such litigation would be protracted, expensive, and potentially subject to an unfavorable outcome.
Our success depends in part upon our ability to protect our intellectual property for our branded products and drug candidates.
Our commercial success with respect to our drug products and drug candidates, depends on obtaining and maintaining patent protection in the United States and in other countries and trade secret protection for our drug candidates, proprietary technologies and their uses. Our ability to protect our drug products from unauthorized or infringing use by third parties depends in substantial part on our ability to obtain and maintain valid and enforceable patents.
Due to evolving legal standards relating to patentability, validity and enforceability of patents covering pharmaceutical inventions and the scope of claims made under these patents, our ability to maintain, obtain and enforce patents is uncertain and involves complex legal and factual questions. The patent positions of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies can be highly uncertain and involve complex legal and factual questions for which important legal principles remain unresolved. Changes in either the patent laws or in the interpretations of patent laws in the United States and other countries may diminish the value and the scope of our intellectual property. Accordingly, we cannot predict the breadth of claims that may be allowed or enforced in our patents or in third-party patents.
The degree of future protection for our proprietary rights is uncertain. Only limited protection may be available and may not adequately protect our rights or permit us to gain or keep our competitive advantage. For example:
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we might not have been the first to file patent applications for these or similar inventions;
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we might not have been the first to make the inventions covered by each of our pending patent applications and issued patents;
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others may independently develop similar or alternative technologies or duplicate any of our technologies;
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it is possible that none of our or our licensors’ pending patent applications will result in issued patents;
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any patents we obtain, or our licensors’ issued patents may not encompass commercially viable products, may not provide us with any competitive advantages, or may be challenged by third parties for lack of novelty, obviousness, lack of demonstrated or predicted utility, or other technical reasons related to the drafting of the patent itself;
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any patents we obtain, or our in-licensed issued patents may not be valid or enforceable; or
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we may not develop additional proprietary technologies that are patentable.
Proprietary trade secrets and unpatented know-how are also very important to our business. Although we have taken steps to protect our trade secrets and unpatented know-how, including entering into confidentiality agreements with third parties, and confidential information and inventions agreements with certain of our employees, consultants, and advisors, third parties may still obtain this information, or we may be unable to protect our rights. Enforcing a claim that a third-party illegally obtained and is using our trade secrets or unpatented know-how is expensive and time consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, courts outside the United States may be less willing to protect trade secret information. Moreover, our competitors may independently develop equivalent knowledge, methods, and know-how, and we would not be able to prevent their use.
If we fail to comply with our obligations in the agreements under which we license rights to technology from third parties, or if the license agreements are terminated for other reasons, we could lose license rights that are important to our business.
We may be a party to a number of technology licenses that are important to our business and expect to enter into additional licenses in the future. Our existing license agreements impose, and we expect that future license agreements will impose, on us, various development, regulatory and/or commercial diligence obligations, payment of milestones and/or royalties and other obligations. Under these agreements, we must rely on our licensor to comply with their obligations under the primary license agreements under which such third-party obtained rights in the applicable intellectual property, where we may have no relationship with the original licensor of such rights. If our licensors fail to comply with their obligations under these upstream license agreements, the original third-party licensor may have the right to terminate the original license, which may terminate our sublicense. If this were to occur, we would no longer have rights to the applicable intellectual property unless we are able to secure our own direct license with the owner of the relevant rights, which we may not be able to do at a reasonable cost or on reasonable terms, which may impact our ability to continue to develop and commercialize our drug candidates and companion diagnostic incorporating the relevant intellectual property. If we fail to comply with our obligations under our license agreements, or we are subject to a bankruptcy or insolvency, the licensor may have the right to terminate the license. In the event that any of our important technology licenses were to be terminated by the licensor, we would likely cease further development of the related program or be required to spend significant time and resources to modify the program to not use the rights under the terminated license.
We may be subject to claims challenging the inventorship or ownership of our patents and other intellectual property.
We may also be subject to claims that former employees, collaborators or other third parties have an ownership interest in our patents or other intellectual property. We may be subject to ownership disputes in the future arising, for example, from conflicting obligations of consultants or others who are involved in developing our drug candidates and companion diagnostic. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these and other claims challenging inventorship or ownership. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights, such as exclusive ownership of, or right to use, valuable intellectual property. Such an outcome could have a material adverse effect on our business. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.
Intellectual property rights do not necessarily address all potential threats to our competitive advantage.
The degree of future protection afforded by our intellectual property rights is uncertain because intellectual property rights have limitations and may not adequately protect our business or permit us to maintain our competitive advantage. The following examples are illustrative:
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others may be able to make compounds that are similar to our drug candidates but that are not covered by the claims of the patents that we own or have exclusively licensed;
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we or our licensors or future collaborators might not have been the first to make the inventions covered by the issued patent or pending patent application that we own or have exclusively licensed;
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we or our licensors or future collaborators might not have been the first to file patent applications covering certain of our inventions;
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others may independently develop similar or alternative technologies or duplicate any of our technologies without infringing our intellectual property rights;
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it is possible that our pending patent applications will not lead to issued patents;
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issued patents that we own or have exclusively licensed may be held invalid or unenforceable as a result of legal challenges by our competitors;
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we may not develop additional proprietary technologies that are patentable; and
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the patents of others may have an adverse effect on our business.
Should any of these events occur, they could significantly harm our business, results of operations and prospects.
We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world.
Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of some countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents, trade secrets and other intellectual property protection, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents or marketing of competing products in violation of our proprietary rights generally. Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and our patent applications at risk of not issuing and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate, and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop or license.
If our estimates or judgments relating to our critical accounting policies for intangible assets prove to be incorrect, further impairment charges could result.
We carry a significant amount of intangible assets on our consolidated balance sheet, associated with acquired in process research and development. In the ordinary course of business, circumstances may arise, including manifestation of any of the risks identified in this section, that could result in further recognition that the carrying values of our assets may not be recovered from future operations. Under such circumstances, it is possible we may be required to further impair our asset values to the extent that their remaining value after any such impairment can be recovered by our business going forward. Intangible assets with an indefinite useful life are subject to an impairment review at least annually.
Risks Related to Our Dependence on Third Parties
Our contract manufacturers may encounter manufacturing failures that could delay the clinical development or regulatory approval of our drug candidates, or their commercial production, if approved.
Any performance failure on the part of any of our manufacturers could delay the clinical development or regulatory approval of our drug candidates. Our manufacturers may encounter difficulties involving, among other things, production yields, regulatory compliance, quality control and quality assurance, as well as shortages of qualified personnel. Approval of our drug candidates could be delayed, limited, or denied if the FDA does not approve and maintain the approval of our contract manufacturer’s processes or facilities. Moreover, our contract manufacturers may encounter difficulties that have a negative impact on our operations and business. Our manufacturers may encounter difficulties with the manufacturing processes required to manufacture commercial quantities of our drug candidates or the quantities needed for our pre-clinical studies or clinical trials. Such difficulties could result in delays in our pre-clinical studies, clinical trials, and regulatory submissions, in the commercialization of our drug candidates. Further, development of large-scale manufacturing processes may require additional validation studies, which the FDA must review and approve. If any of our manufacturers fail to deliver the required commercial quantities or quantities needed for our pre-clinical studies and clinical trials on a timely basis and upon terms that we find acceptable, we may be unable to meet demand for any of our drug candidates that are approved and could lose potential revenue.
Certain changes in the manufacturing process or procedure, including a change in the location where the drug candidate is manufactured or a change of a third-party manufacturer, generally require prior FDA, or foreign regulatory authority, review and/or approval of the manufacturing process and procedures in accordance with current Good Manufacturing Practice (“cGMP”). We may need to conduct
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additional pre-clinical studies and clinical trials to support approval of such changes. This review may be costly and time-consuming and could delay or prevent the launch of a drug candidate.
We rely on third parties to conduct our pre-clinical studies and clinical trials. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or meet expected deadlines, we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize our drug candidates and our business could be substantially harmed.
We have relied upon and plan to continue to rely upon third-party CROs to monitor and manage data for our pre-clinical and clinical programs. We rely on these parties for execution of our pre-clinical studies and clinical trials, and control only certain aspects of their activities. Nevertheless, we are responsible for ensuring that each of our trials is conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol, legal, regulatory, and scientific standards and our reliance on the CROs does not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities. We and our CROs are required to comply with FDA laws and regulations regarding current good clinical practice (“GCP”), which are also required by the Competent Authorities of the Member States of the European Economic Area and comparable foreign regulatory authorities in the form of International Conference on Harmonization, guidelines for all of our drug candidates in clinical development. Regulatory authorities enforce GCP through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, principal investigators, and trial sites. If we or any of our CROs fail to comply with applicable GCP, the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable and the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may require us to perform additional clinical trials before approving our marketing applications. We cannot assure you that upon inspection by a given regulatory authority, such regulatory authority will determine that any of our clinical trials comply with GCP regulations. In addition, our clinical trials must be conducted with product produced under cGMP regulations. While we have agreements governing activities of our CROs, we have limited influence over their actual performance. In addition, portions of the clinical trials for our drug candidates are expected to be conducted outside of the United States, which will make it more difficult for us to monitor CROs and perform visits of our clinical trial sites and will force us to rely heavily on CROs to ensure the proper and timely conduct of our clinical trials and compliance with applicable regulations, including GCP. Failure to comply with applicable regulations in the conduct of the clinical trials for our drug candidates may require us to repeat clinical trials, which would delay the regulatory approval process.
We rely on third parties to manufacture commercial and clinical supplies of our drug candidates, and we intend to rely on third parties to manufacture commercial supplies of any approved drug products. The commercialization of any of our drug products could be stopped, delayed, or made less profitable if those third parties fail to provide us with sufficient quantities of active pharmaceutical ingredients, excipients, or drug products, or fail to do so at acceptable quality levels or prices or fail to maintain or achieve satisfactory regulatory compliance.
We do not own any manufacturing facilities, and we do not currently, and do not expect in the future, to independently conduct any aspects of our product manufacturing and testing, or other activities related to the clinical development and commercialization of our drug candidates. We currently rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties with respect to these items, and control only certain aspects of their activities.
Any of these third parties may terminate their engagements with us at any time. If we need to enter into alternative arrangements, it could delay our drug candidate development and commercialization activities. Our reliance on these third parties reduces our control over these activities but does not relieve us of our responsibility to ensure compliance with all required legal, regulatory, and scientific standards and any applicable trial protocols. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, meet expected deadlines or conduct our studies in accordance with regulatory requirements or our stated study plans and protocols, we will not be able to complete, or may be delayed in completing, clinical trials required to support future regulatory submissions and approval of our drug candidates.
More generally, manufacturers of pharmaceutical products often encounter difficulties in production, particularly in scaling up and validating initial production. These problems include difficulties with production costs and yields, quality control, including stability of the product, quality assurance testing, shortages of qualified personnel, as well as compliance with strictly enforced federal, state, and foreign regulations. Additionally, our manufacturers may experience manufacturing difficulties due to resource constraints or as a result of labor disputes or unstable political environments. If our manufacturers were to encounter any of these difficulties, or otherwise fail to comply with their contractual obligations, our ability to make product candidates available for clinical trials and development purposes or to commercialize any of our product candidates in the United States would be jeopardized. Any delay or interruption in our ability to meet commercial demand may result in the loss of potential revenues and could adversely affect our ability to gain market acceptance for approved products. In addition, any delay or interruption in the supply of clinical trial supplies could delay the completion of clinical trials, increase the costs associated with maintaining clinical trial programs and, depending upon the period of delay, require us to commence new clinical trials at additional expense or terminate clinical trials completely. Additionally, if supply from one approved manufacturer is interrupted, there could be a significant disruption in commercial supply. Regulatory agencies may also require additional studies if a new manufacturer is relied upon for commercial production. Switching manufacturers may involve substantial costs and is likely to result in a delay in our desired clinical and commercial timelines.
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We may not be successful in establishing or maintaining development and commercialization collaborations, and any partner may not devote sufficient resources to the development or commercialization of our drug candidates or may otherwise fail in development or commercialization efforts, which could adversely affect our ability to develop certain of our drug candidates and our financial condition and operating results.
Because developing pharmaceutical products, conducting clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approval, establishing manufacturing capabilities and marketing approved products are expensive, we are exploring collaborations with third parties outside of the United States that have more resources and experience. In situations where we enter into a development and commercial collaboration arrangement for a drug candidate, we may also seek to establish additional collaborations for development and commercialization in territories outside of those addressed by the first collaboration arrangement for such drug candidate. There are a limited number of potential partners, and we expect to face competition in seeking appropriate partners. If we are unable to enter into any development and commercial collaborations and/or sales and marketing arrangements on acceptable terms, if at all, we may be unable to successfully develop and seek regulatory approval for our drug candidates and/or effectively market and sell future approved drug products, if any, in all of the territories outside of the United States where it may otherwise be valuable to do so.
Even if we are able to establish collaboration arrangements, any such collaboration may not ultimately be successful, which could have a negative impact on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects. If we partner with a third-party for development and commercialization of a drug candidate, we can expect to relinquish some or all of the control over the future success of that drug candidate to the third-party. It is possible that a partner may not devote sufficient resources to the development or commercialization of our drug candidate or may otherwise fail in development or commercialization efforts, in which event the development and commercialization of such drug candidate could be delayed or terminated, and our business could be substantially harmed. In addition, the terms of any collaboration or other arrangement that we establish may not prove to be favorable to us or may not be perceived as favorable, which may negatively impact the trading price of our common shares. In some cases, we may be responsible for continuing development of a product candidate or research program under a collaboration, and the payment we receive from our partner may be insufficient to cover the cost of this development. Moreover, collaborations and sales and marketing arrangements are complex and time consuming to negotiate, document and implement, and they may require substantial resources to maintain.
We are subject to a number of additional risks associated with our dependence on collaborations with third parties, the occurrence of which could cause our collaboration arrangements to fail. Conflicts may arise between us and our partners, such as conflicts concerning the interpretation of clinical data, the achievement of milestones, the interpretation of financial provisions or the ownership of intellectual property developed during the collaboration. If any such conflicts arise, a partner could act in its own self-interest, which may be adverse to our interests. Any such disagreement between us and a partner could result in one or more of the following, each of which could delay or prevent the development or commercialization of our drug candidates and harm our business:
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reductions in the payment of royalties or other payments we believe are due pursuant to the applicable collaboration arrangement;
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actions taken by a partner inside or outside our collaboration which could negatively impact our rights or benefits under our collaboration; and
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unwillingness on the part of a partner to keep us informed regarding the progress of its development and commercialization activities or to permit public disclosure of the results of those activities.
Risks Related to Tax
There is a significant risk that we may be classified as a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Current or potential investors in our common shares who are U.S. Holders (as defined below) should be aware that, based on our most recent financial statements and projections and given uncertainty regarding the composition of our future income and assets, there is a significant risk that we may have been classified as a "passive foreign investment company" or "PFIC" for the 2023 taxable year and may be classified as a PFIC for our current taxable year and possibly subsequent years. Each current or potential investor who is a U.S. Holder should consult his, her or its own tax advisor regarding the U.S. federal, state and local, and non-U.S. tax consequences of the acquisition, ownership, and disposition of our common shares, the U.S. federal tax consequences of the PFIC rules, and the availability of any election that may be available to the holder to mitigate adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences of holding shares of a PFIC.
The rules governing PFICs can have adverse tax effects on U.S. shareholders, which effects may be mitigated by making certain elections for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which elections may or may not be available. If we are a PFIC in any year, a U.S. shareholder in such year will be required to file an annual information return with the IRS on IRS Form 8621 regarding distributions received on their common shares, any gain realized on disposition of such common shares and any other information required by such form. Additionally, if we are classified as a PFIC in any taxable year with respect to which a U.S. shareholder owns common shares, we generally will
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continue to be treated as a PFIC with respect to such U.S. shareholder in all succeeding taxable years, regardless of whether we continue to meet the tests described above, unless the U.S. shareholder makes a “deemed sale election.”
We may not be able to use our net operating loss carry forwards to offset future taxable income for Canadian or U.S. federal income tax purposes.
At March 31, 2024, Acasti Pharma U.S. had net operating loss carry forwards (“NOLs”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes of approximately $15.4 million, which have no expiry.
Acasti Pharma U.S. underwent an “ownership change” within the meaning of Section 382 of the Code as a result of the merger with Grace Therapeutics, and therefore Acasti Pharma U.S. may become subject to an annual limit on the amount of NOLs that may be used to offset future taxable income of Acasti Pharma U.S. for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Such annual limit is generally equal to the product of (i) the total value of the loss company’s (in this case, Acasti Pharma U.S.) outstanding equity immediately prior to an “ownership change” (subject to certain adjustments); and (ii) the applicable federal long-term tax-exempt interest rate for the month that includes the “ownership change.”
At March 31, 2024, we had NOLs for Canadian federal income tax purposes of approximately $130.1 million, which expire at various dates through 2043. The extent to which we can utilize any or all of our NOLs will depend on many factors, including the jurisdiction applicable to any of our future taxable revenue. In connection with our planned shift of our operations to the United States, we may not be able to justify the allocation of revenue to Canada sufficient to recover the tax benefits arising from NOLs and other tax credits.
Our ability to use NOLs will also depend on the amount of taxable income generated in future periods. The NOLs may expire before we can generate sufficient taxable income to use the NOLs.
The IRS may not agree that we should be treated as a foreign Company for U.S. federal tax purposes.
Although we are incorporated in Quebec, Canada, the IRS may assert that we should be treated as a U.S. Company (and, therefore, a U.S. tax resident) for U.S. federal tax purposes pursuant to Section 7874 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"). For U.S. federal tax purposes, a Company generally is considered a tax resident in the jurisdiction of its organization or incorporation. Because we are an entity incorporated in Canada, we would generally be classified as a foreign Company (and, therefore, not a U.S. tax resident) for U.S. federal tax purposes. Section 7874 of the Code provides an exception under which a foreign Company may, in certain circumstances, be treated as a U.S. Company for U.S. federal tax purposes.
Under Section 7874, if (1) former Grace Therapeutics shareholders owned (within the meaning of Section 7874) 80% or more (by vote or value) of our ordinary shares after the merger by reason of holding Grace Therapeutics common stock (such ownership percentage, the "Section 7874 ownership percentage"), and (2) our "expanded affiliated group" did not have "substantial business activities" in Canada ("the substantial business activities test"), we will be treated as a U.S. Company for U.S. federal tax purposes. If the Section 7874 ownership percentage of the former Grace Therapeutics shareholders after the merger was less than 80% but greater than or equal to 60%, and the substantial business activities test was not met, we and our U.S. affiliates may, in some circumstances, be subject to certain adverse U.S. federal income tax provisions (which, among other things, could limit their ability to utilize certain U.S. tax attributes such as NOLs to offset U.S. taxable income or gain resulting from certain transactions). The application of these rules could result in significant additional U.S. tax liability and limit our ability to restructure or access cash earned by certain of our non-U.S. subsidiaries, in each case, without incurring substantial U.S. tax liabilities.
Based on the terms of the merger, the rules for determining share ownership under Section 7874 and certain factual assumptions, we believe that former Grace Therapeutics shareholders owned (within the meaning of Section 7874) less than 60% (by both vote and value) of our ordinary shares after the merger by reason of holding shares of Grace Therapeutics common stock. Therefore, under current law, we believe that we should not be treated as a U.S. Company for U.S. federal tax purposes and that Section 7874 should otherwise not apply to us or our affiliates as a result of the merger with Grace Therapeutics.
Risks Relating to Our Common Shares
We do not expect to pay any cash dividends for the foreseeable future.
The continued operation and expansion of our business will require substantial funding. Accordingly, we do not anticipate that we will pay any cash dividends on our common shares for the foreseeable future. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon our results of operations, financial condition, contractual restrictions, restrictions imposed by applicable law and other factors our board of directors deems relevant.
The price of our common shares may be volatile.
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Market prices for securities of pharmaceutical companies can fluctuate significantly. Factors such as the announcement to the public or in various scientific or industry forums of technological innovations; new commercial products; patents or exclusive rights obtained by us or others; disputes or other developments relating to proprietary rights, including patents, litigation matters and our ability to obtain patent protection for our technologies; the commencement, enrollment or announcement of results of clinical trials we conduct, or changes in the development status of our drug candidates; results or delays of pre-clinical and clinical studies by us or others; any delay in our regulatory filings for our drug candidates and any adverse development or perceived adverse development with respect to the applicable regulatory authority’s review of such filings; a change of regulations; additions or departures of key scientific or management personnel; overall performance of the equity markets; general political and economic conditions; publications; failure to meet the estimates and projections of the investment community or that we may otherwise provide to the public; research reports or positive or negative recommendations or withdrawal of research coverage by securities analysts; actual or anticipated variations in quarterly operating results; announcements of significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments by us or our competitors; public concerns over the risks of pharmaceutical products and dietary supplements; unanticipated serious safety concerns related to the use of our drug candidates or drug products; our access to financial resources, future sales of securities by us or our shareholders; and many other factors, many of which are beyond our control, could have considerable effects on the price of our common shares. The price of our common shares has fluctuated significantly in the past and there can be no assurance that the market price of our common shares will not experience significant fluctuations in the future.
In addition, securities of pharmaceutical companies often experience extreme price and volume fluctuations that are unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. Broad market and industry factors may negatively affect the market price of our common shares, regardless of our actual operating performance. In the past, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against pharmaceutical companies following periods of volatility in the market price of their securities. This type of litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which would harm our business, operating results or financial condition.
Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our existing shareholders, restrict our operations, or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or drugcandidates.
We will need to raise additional capital in the future in order to fully execute on our business plan. We may seek additional capital through a combination of public and private equity offerings, debt financings, and non-dilutive strategic partnerships and alliances and licensing arrangements. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, the ownership interests of our shareholders will be diluted, and the terms may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect the rights of our shareholders. The incurrence of indebtedness by us would result in increased fixed payment obligations and could involve certain restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional debt, limitations on our ability to acquire or license intellectual property rights and other operating restrictions that could adversely impact our ability to conduct our business. If we raise additional funds through strategic partnerships and alliances and licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies or drug candidates, or grant licenses on terms unfavorable to us.
If we fail to meet applicable listing requirements, Nasdaq may delist our common shares from trading, in which case the liquidity and market price of our common shares could decline.
Our common shares are currently listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”), but we cannot assure you that our securities will continue to be listed on Nasdaq in the future. On July 27, 2022, we received written notification from the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Department for failing to maintain a minimum bid price of $1.00 per common share for the last 30 consecutive business days, as required by Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) - bid price (the “Minimum Bid Price Rule”). The Nasdaq notification had no immediate effect on the listing of our common shares, and we had 180 calendar days, or until January 23, 2023, to regain compliance.
On January 24, 2023, we received notification from Nasdaq that we were eligible for an additional 180 calendar days, or until July 24, 2023, to regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Rule. We were granted the second extension because we meet the continued listing requirements for the market value of publicly held shares and all other initial listing standards for Nasdaq, except for the bid price requirement.
On July 24, 2023, we received notification from Nasdaq that we had regained compliance with the minimum bid price requirement set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) for continued listing on Nasdaq. The notification was sent following the implementation of a 1-for-6 reverse split of our common shares which became effective on July 10, 2023.
If we fail to comply with listing standards and Nasdaq delists our common shares, we and our shareholders could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
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a limited availability of market quotations for our common shares;
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reduced liquidity for our common shares;
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a determination that our common shares are “penny stock,” which would require brokers trading in our common shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our common shares; and
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a decreased ability for us to issue additional equity securities or obtain additional equity or debt financing in the future.
We may pursue opportunities or transactions that adversely affect our business and financial condition.
Our management, in the ordinary course of our business, regularly explores potential strategic opportunities and transactions. These opportunities and transactions may include strategic joint venture relationships, significant debt or equity investments in us by third parties, the acquisition or disposition of material assets, the licensing, acquisition or disposition of material intellectual property, the development of new drug candidates, the sale of our common shares and other similar opportunities and transactions. The public announcement of any of these or similar strategic opportunities or transactions might have a significant effect on the price of our common shares. Our policy is to not publicly disclose the pursuit of a potential strategic opportunity or transaction unless we are required to do so by applicable law, including applicable securities laws relating to periodic disclosure obligations. There can be no assurance that investors who buy or sell common shares are doing so at a time when we are not pursuing a particular strategic opportunity or transaction that, when announced, would have a significant effect on the price of our common shares.
In addition, any such future corporate development may be accompanied by certain risks, including exposure to unknown liabilities of the strategic opportunities and transactions, higher than anticipated transaction costs and expenses, the difficulty and expense of integrating operations and personnel of any acquired companies, disruption of our ongoing business, diversion of management’s time and attention, and possible dilution to shareholders. We may not be able to successfully overcome these risks and other problems associated with any future acquisitions and this may adversely affect our business and financial condition.
We are a Québec incorporated company, and U.S. investors may be unable to enforce certain judgments against us.
We are a company existing under the Business Corporations Act (Québec), and certain of our assets are located outside the United States. As a result, it may be difficult to effect service within the United States upon us. Execution by U.S. courts of any judgment obtained against us in U.S. courts may be limited to assets located in the United States. It may also be difficult for holders of our securities who reside in the United States to realize in the United States upon judgments of U.S. courts predicated upon civil liability of us under the U.S. federal securities laws. There may be doubt as to the enforceability in Canada against non-U.S. entities, in original actions or in actions for enforcement of judgments of U.S. courts, of liabilities predicated solely upon U.S. federal or state securities laws.
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Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
Not applicable.
Item 1C. Cybersecurity
We are increasingly dependent on third-party provided software applications and computing infrastructure to conduct key operations. We depend on both our own procured systems, networks, and technology as well as the systems, networks and technology of our contractors, consultants, vendors and other business partners.
Given the importance of cybersecurity to our business, we maintain a robust cybersecurity program as well as cybersecurity policies and processes to support our controls and our preparedness for treatment of identified information security risks. We also undergo annual evaluations of our cybersecurity program, conducted by our cybersecurity external advisory firm.
Our cybersecurity program evaluation identified various risks and issues that we continue to mitigate to further improve our program. This includes:
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Establishing a cybersecurity training program for users.
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Implementing a third-party risk management program to support our existing Third-Party Risk Management Policy and process to assess the risks associated with our critical third-party vendor engagements.
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Testing our Cybersecurity Incident Response Plan.
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Establishing additional processes for identifying cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities within the environment in which we operate.
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Enhancing our technical security management safeguards and configurations.
Process for Assessing, Identifying and Managing Material Risks from Cybersecurity Threats
In the event of a cybersecurity incident, we maintain a Cybersecurity Incident Response Plan. Pursuant to the plan and its escalation protocols, designated personnel are responsible for assessing the severity of an incident and associated threat, containing the threat, remediating the threat, including recovery of data and access to systems, analyzing any reporting obligations associated with the incident, and performing post-incident analysis and program enhancements. We have a relationship with various law firms to assist with advisory on legal aspects of containing incidents and communicating accordingly.
Governance
Management Oversight
The controls and processes employed to assess, identify and manage material risks from cybersecurity threats are implemented and overseen by our information technology (“IT”) contractor. Our IT consultant leverages their over 35 years of experience. Our IT consultant is responsible for the day-to-day management of the cybersecurity program, including the prevention, detection, investigation, response to, and recovery from cybersecurity incidents.
Board Oversight
While our Board of Directors (the “Board”) has overall responsibility for risk oversight, the Audit Committee of the Board (the “Audit Committee”) oversees cybersecurity risk matters. The Audit Committee is responsible for reviewing, monitoring, reporting and, where appropriate, providing recommendations to the Board regarding compliance with our internal policies and its progress in remedying any material deficiencies, including those related to our security policies, including the physical safeguarding of corporate assets and security of our networks and information systems. The Audit Committee receives quarterly updates regarding the cybersecurity program, including top threats and risks, and updates on the cybersecurity roadmap.
Cybersecurity Risks
We maintain a Risk Management Policy that governs the process in which we identify cybersecurity risks, and quantify and evaluate their associated impacts and risk levels. A Cybersecurity Risk Register is also leveraged to track identified cybersecurity risks to date and update treatment of such risks accordingly.
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For additional information, see “Item 1A—Risk Factors.” In the last two reporting years, we did not experience any material cybersecurity incidents or threats.
Item 2. Properties
Our head office and operations are located at 103 Carnegie Center Suite 300 Princeton, New Jersey, 08540.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
In the ordinary course of business, we are at times subject to various legal proceedings and disputes. We assess our liabilities and contingencies in connection with outstanding legal proceedings utilizing the latest information available. Where it is probable that we will incur a loss and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated, we record a liability in our consolidated financial statements. These legal reserves may be increased or decreased to reflect any relevant developments on a quarterly basis. Where a loss is not probable or the amount of loss is not estimable, we do not accrue legal reserves. While the outcome of legal proceedings is inherently uncertain, based on information currently available and available insurance coverage, our management believes that it has established appropriate legal reserves. Any incremental liabilities arising from pending legal proceedings are not expected to have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. However, it is possible that the ultimate resolution of these matters, if unfavorable, may be material to our financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. We are not currently a party to any legal proceedings that, in the opinion of management, are likely to have a material adverse effect on our business.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
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PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities Market Information
Our common shares are traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “ACST.”
Holders
As of June 21, 2024, there were 95 holders of record of our common shares. The actual number of our shareholders is greater than this number of record holders because most of our shareholders are beneficial owners whose shares are held in street name by brokers and other nominees.
Dividends
We do not anticipate paying any cash dividend on our common shares in the foreseeable future. We presently intend to retain any future earnings to finance the expansion and growth of our business. Any future determination to pay dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements and other factors the board of directors deems relevant. In addition, the terms of any future debt or credit facility may preclude us from paying dividends.
Taxation
The following is a summary of certain U.S. federal income tax considerations arising from and relating to the acquisition, ownership, and disposition of our common shares to a U.S. Holder (as defined below) as capital assets.
This summary provides only general information and does not purport to be a complete analysis or listing of all potential U.S. federal income tax consequences that may apply to a U.S. Holder as a result of the acquisition, ownership, and disposition of our common shares. In addition, this summary does not take into account the individual facts and circumstances of any particular U.S. Holder that may affect the U.S. federal income tax consequences applicable to that U.S. Holder. Accordingly, this summary is not intended to be, and should not be construed as, legal or U.S. federal income tax advice with respect to any U.S. Holder. Each U.S. Holder should consult its own tax advisor regarding the U.S. federal, state and local, and non-U.S. tax consequences arising from or relating to the acquisition, ownership, and disposition of our common shares.
No legal opinion from U.S. legal counsel or ruling from the IRS, has been requested, or will be obtained, regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. Holders of the acquisition, ownership, and disposition of our common shares. This summary is not binding on the IRS, and the IRS is not precluded from taking a position that is different from, and contrary to, the positions taken in this summary. In addition, because the authorities on which this summary is based are subject to various interpretations, the IRS and the U.S. courts could disagree with one or more of the positions taken in this summary.
Scope of this Disclosure
Authorities
This summary is based on the Code, U.S. Treasury Regulations promulgated thereunder (whether final, temporary or proposed), published IRS rulings, judicial decisions, published administrative positions of the IRS, and the Convention between Canada and the United States of America with Respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital, signed September 26, 1980, as amended (the Canada-U.S. Tax Treaty), in each case, as in effect as of the date of this report. Any of the authorities on which this summary is based could be changed in a material and adverse manner at any time, and any such change could be applied on a retroactive basis. Unless otherwise discussed, this summary does not discuss the potential effects, whether adverse or beneficial, of any proposed legislation.
U.S. Holders
For purposes of this summary, a “U.S. Holder” is a beneficial owner of common shares that, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, is (a) an individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States, (b) a company, or other entity classified as a company for U.S. federal income tax purposes, that is created or organized in or under the laws of the U.S., any state in the United States or the District of Columbia, (c) an estate if the income of such estate is subject to U.S. federal income tax regardless of the source of such income, or (d) a trust if (i) such trust has validly elected to be treated as a U.S. person for U.S. federal income tax purposes or (ii) a U.S. court is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of such trust and one or more U.S. persons have the authority to control all substantial decisions of such trust.
U.S. Holders Subject to Special U.S. Federal Income Tax Rules Not Addressed
This summary does not address the U.S. federal income tax consequences applicable to U.S. Holders that are subject to special provisions under the Code, including, but not limited to, the following U.S. Holders: (a) U.S. Holders that are tax-exempt organizations, qualified retirement plans, individual retirement accounts, or other tax deferred accounts; (b) U.S. Holders that are financial institutions, insurance
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companies, real estate investment trusts, or regulated investment companies; (c) U.S. Holders that are dealers in securities or currencies or U.S. Holders that are traders in securities that elect to apply a mark-to-market accounting method; (d) U.S. Holders that have a “functional currency” other than the U.S. dollar; (e) U.S. Holders subject to the alternative minimum tax provisions of the Code; (f) U.S. Holders that own common shares as part of a straddle, hedging transaction, conversion transaction, integrated transaction, constructive sale, or other arrangement involving more than one position; (g) U.S. Holders that acquired common shares through the exercise of employee stock options or otherwise as compensation for services; (h) U.S. Holders that hold common shares other than as a capital asset within the meaning of Section 1221 of the Code; (i) U.S. Holders that beneficially own (directly, indirectly or by attribution) 10% or more of our equity securities (by vote or value); and (j) U.S. expatriates. U.S. Holders that are subject to special provisions under the Code, including U.S. Holders described above, should consult their own tax advisor regarding the U.S. federal, U.S. federal alternative minimum, U.S. federal estate and gift, U.S. state and local, and non-U.S. tax consequences arising from and relating to the acquisition, ownership, and disposition of the common shares.
If an entity or arrangement that is classified as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes holds common shares, the U.S. federal income tax consequences to that partnership and the partners of that partnership generally will depend on the activities of the partnership and the status of the partners. Partners of entities that are classified as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes should consult their own tax advisors regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences arising from and relating to the acquisition, ownership and disposition of the common shares.
Tax Consequences Other than U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences Not Addressed
This summary does not address the U.S. estate and gift, alternative minimum, state, local or non-U.S. tax consequences to U.S. Holders of the acquisition, ownership, and disposition of our common shares. Each U.S. Holder should consult its own tax advisor regarding the U.S. estate and gift, alternative minimum, state, local and non-U.S. tax consequences arising from and relating to the acquisition, ownership, and disposition of our common shares.
Other Assumptions
Notwithstanding that Acasti is organized under Québec law, if (1) former Grace Therapeutics shareholders owned (within the meaning of Section 7874 of the Code) 80% or more (by vote or value) of our ordinary shares after the merger by reason of holding Grace Therapeutics common stock (such ownership percentage, the “Section 7874 ownership percentage”), and (2) our “expanded affiliated group” did not have “substantial business activities" in Canada (“the substantial business activities test”), we will be treated as a U.S. company for U.S. federal tax purposes. If the Section 7874 ownership percentage of the former Grace Therapeutics shareholders after the merger was less than 80% but greater than or equal to 60%, and the substantial business activities test was not met, we and our U.S. affiliates may, in some circumstances, be subject to certain adverse U.S. federal income tax provisions (which, among other things, could limit their ability to utilize certain U.S. tax attributes such as NOLs to offset U.S. taxable income or gain resulting from certain transactions).
Based on the terms of the merger, the rules for determining share ownership under Section 7874 of the Code and certain factual assumptions, we believe that former Grace Therapeutics shareholders owned (within the meaning of Section 7874 of the Code) less than 60% (by both vote and value) of our ordinary shares after the merger by reason of holding shares of Grace Therapeutics common stock. Therefore, under current law, we believe that we should not be treated as a U.S. company for U.S. federal tax purposes and that Section 7874 of the Code should otherwise not apply to us or our affiliates as a result of the merger with Grace Therapeutics. The remainder of the discussion in this section, “Taxation”, assumes that Acasti is and at all times has been properly classified as a non-U.S. company for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations of the Acquisition, Ownership, and Disposition of Common Shares
Distributions on Common Shares
Subject to the discussion under “—Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules” below, a U.S. Holder that receives a distribution, including a constructive distribution or a taxable stock distribution, with respect to the common shares generally will be required to include the amount of that distribution in gross income as a dividend (without reduction for any Canadian income tax withheld from such distribution) to the extent of our current or accumulated “earnings and profits,” (as computed for U.S. federal income tax purposes). To the extent that a distribution exceeds our current and accumulated “earnings and profits”, the excess amount will be treated (a) first, as a tax-free return of capital to the extent of a U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in the common shares with respect to which the distribution is made (resulting in a corresponding reduction in the tax basis of those common shares) and, (b) thereafter, as gain from the sale or exchange of those common shares (see the more detailed discussion at “—Disposition of Common Shares” below). We do not intend to calculate our current or accumulated earnings and profits for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, therefore, will not be able to provide U.S. Holders with that information. U.S. Holders should therefore assume that any distribution by us with respect to our common shares will constitute a dividend. However, U.S. Holders should consult their own tax advisors regarding whether distributions from us should be treated as dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Dividends paid on our common shares generally will not be eligible for the “dividends received deduction” allowed to companies under the Code with respect to dividends received from U.S. companies.
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A dividend paid by us generally will be taxed at the preferential tax rates applicable to long-term capital gains if, among other requirements, (a) we are a “qualified foreign company” (as defined below), (b) the U.S. Holder receiving the dividend is an individual, estate, or trust, and (c) the dividend is paid on common shares that have been held by the U.S. Holder for at least 61 days during the 121-day period beginning 60 days before the “ex-dividend date” (i.e., the first date that a purchaser of the common shares will not be entitled to receive the dividend).
For purposes of the rules described in the preceding paragraph, we generally would be a “qualified foreign Company”(“QFC”), if (a) we are eligible for the benefits of the Canada-U.S. Tax Treaty, or (b) our common shares are readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States, within the meaning provided in the Code. However, even if we satisfy one or more of the requirements, we will not be treated as a QFC if we are classified as a PFIC (as discussed below) for the taxable year during which we pay the applicable dividend or for the preceding taxable year. The dividend rules are complex, and each U.S. Holder should consult its own tax advisor regarding the application of those rules to them in their particular circumstances. Even if we satisfy one or more of the requirements, as noted below. Thus, there can be no assurance that we will qualify as a QFC.
Disposition of Common Shares
Subject to the discussion under “—Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules” below, a U.S. Holder will recognize gain or loss on the sale or other taxable disposition of common shares (that is treated as a sale or exchange for U.S. federal income tax purposes) equal to the difference, if any, between (a) the U.S. dollar value of the amount realized on the date of the sale or disposition and (b) the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis (determined in U.S. dollars) in the common shares sold or otherwise disposed of. Any such gain or loss generally will be capital gain or loss, which will be long-term capital gain or loss if the common shares are held for more than one year. A U.S. Holder's initial tax basis in the common shares generally will equal the U.S. dollar cost of such common shares. Each U.S. Holder should consult its own tax advisor as to the tax treatment of dispositions of common shares in exchange for Canadian dollars.
Subject to the discussion under “—Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules” below, preferential tax rates apply to long-term capital gains of a U.S. Holder that is an individual, estate, or trust. There are currently no preferential tax rates for long-term capital gains of a U.S. Holder that is a company. Deductions for capital losses are subject to complex limitations.
Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules
If we are or become a PFIC, the preceding sections of this summary may not describe the U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. Holders of the acquisition, ownership, and disposition of our common shares.
Passive Foreign Investment Company Status.
Special, generally unfavorable, rules apply to the ownership and disposition of the stock of a PFIC. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, a non-U.S. company is classified as a PFIC if:
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at least 75% of its gross income for the taxable year is “passive” income (referred to as the “income test”); or
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at least 50% of the average value of its assets held during the taxable year is attributable to assets that produce passive income or are held for the production of passive income (referred to as the “asset test”).
Passive income generally includes the following types of income:
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dividends, royalties, rents, annuities, interest, and income equivalent to interest; and
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net gains from the sale or exchange of property that gives rise to dividends, interest, royalties, rents, or annuities and certain gains from the commodities transactions.
In determining whether we are a PFIC, we will be required to take into account a pro rata portion of the income and assets of each company in which we own, directly or indirectly, at least 25% by value.
As described above, PFIC status of a non-U.S. company depends on the relative values of certain categories of assets and the relative amount of certain kinds of income for a taxable year. Therefore, our status as a PFIC for any given taxable year depends upon the financial results for such year and upon relative valuations, which are subject to change and beyond our ability to predict or control. Based on our most recent financial statements and projections and given uncertainty regarding the composition of our future income and assets, there is a significant risk that we may have been classified as a PFIC for the taxable year that ended on March 31, 2024 and may be classified as a PFIC for our current taxable year and possibly subsequent years. However, PFIC status is fundamentally factual in nature, depends on the application of complex U.S. federal income tax rules (which are subject to differing interpretations), generally cannot be determined until the close of the taxable year in question and is determined annually. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that we will not be a PFIC in our current taxable year or subsequent years. The PFIC rules are complex, and each U.S. Holder should consult its tax advisor regarding the application of the PFIC rules to us.
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Default PFIC Rules Under Section 1291 of the Code.
Generally, if we are or have been treated as a PFIC for any taxable year during a U.S. Holder’s holding period of common shares, subject to the special rules described below applicable to a U.S. Holder who makes a Mark-to-Market Election or a QEF Election (each as defined below), any “excess distribution” with respect to the common shares would be allocated ratably over the U.S. Holder’s holding period. The amounts allocated to the taxable year of the excess distribution and to any year before we became a PFIC would be taxed as ordinary income. The amount allocated to each other taxable year would be subject to tax at the highest rate in effect for individuals or companies in that taxable year, as appropriate, and an interest charge would be imposed on the amount allocated to that taxable year. Distributions made in respect of common shares during a taxable year will be excess distributions to the extent they exceed 125% of the average of the annual distributions on common shares received by the U.S. Holder during the preceding three taxable years or the U.S. Holder’s holding period, whichever is shorter. In addition, dividends generally will not be qualified dividend income if we are a PFIC in the taxable year of payment or the preceding year.
Generally, if we are treated as a PFIC for any taxable year during which a U.S. Holder owns common shares, any gain on the disposition of the common shares would be treated as an excess distribution and would be allocated ratably over the U.S. Holder’s holding period and subject to taxation in the same manner as described in the preceding paragraph and would not be eligible for the preferential long-term capital gains rate.
Certain elections (including the Mark-to-Market Election and the QEF Election, as defined and discussed below) may sometimes be used to mitigate the adverse impact of the PFIC rules on U.S. Holders, but these elections may accelerate the recognition of taxable income and have other adverse consequences.
Each current or prospective U.S. Holder should consult its own tax advisor regarding potential status of us as a PFIC, the possible effect of the PFIC rules to such holder in his, her or its particular circumstances, information reporting required if we were treated as a PFIC and the availability of any election that may be available to the U.S. holder to mitigate adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences of holding shares in a PFIC.
QEF Election.
A U.S. Holder of common shares in a PFIC generally would not be subject to the PFIC rules discussed above if the U.S. Holder had made a timely and effective election (a “QEF Election”) to treat us as a “qualified electing fund” (a “QEF”). Instead, such U.S. Holder would be subject to U.S. federal income tax on its pro rata share of our (i) net capital gain, which would be taxed as long-term capital gain to such U.S. Holder, and (ii) ordinary earnings, which would be taxed as ordinary income to such U.S. Holder, in each case regardless of whether such amounts are actually distributed to such U.S. Holder. However, a U.S. Holder that makes a QEF Election may, subject to certain limitations, elect to defer payment of current U.S. federal income tax on such amounts, subject to an interest charge. If such U.S. Holder is not a company, any such interest paid will be treated as “personal interest,” which is not deductible.
A U.S. Holder that makes a timely and effective QEF Election generally (a) may receive a tax-free distribution from us to the extent that such distribution represents our “earnings and profits” that were previously included in income by such U.S. Holder because of such QEF Election and (b) will adjust such U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the common shares to reflect the amount included in income or allowed as a tax-free distribution because of such QEF Election. In addition, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, a U.S. Holder that makes a timely QEF Election generally will recognize capital gain or loss on the sale or other taxable disposition of the common shares.
A QEF Election will be treated as “timely” if such QEF Election is made for the first taxable year in the U.S. Holder’s holding period for the common shares in which we are a PFIC. A U.S. Holder may make a timely QEF Election by filing the appropriate QEF Election documents at the time such U.S. Holder files a U.S. federal income tax return for such first year. If a U.S. Holder makes a QEF Election after the first taxable year in the U.S. Holder’s holding period for the common shares in which we are a PFIC, then, in addition to filing the QEF Election documents, a U.S. Holder may elect to recognize gain (which will be taxed under the rules discussed under “—Default PFIC Rules Under Section 1291 of the Code”) as if the common shares were sold on the qualification date. The “qualification date” is the first day of the first taxable year in which we are a QEF with respect to such U.S. Holder. The election to recognize such gain can only be made if such U.S. Holder’s holding period for the common shares includes the qualification date. By electing to recognize such gain, such U.S. Holder will be deemed to have made a timely QEF Election. In addition, under very limited circumstances, it is possible that a U.S. Holder might make a retroactive QEF Election if such U.S. Holder failed to file the QEF Election documents in a timely manner. If a U.S. Holder fails to make a QEF Election for the first taxable year in the U.S. Holder’s holding period for the common shares in which we are a PFIC and does not elect to recognize gain as if the common shares were sold on the qualification date, such holder will not be treated as having made a “timely” QEF Election and will continue to be subject to the special adverse taxation rules discussed above under “—Default PFIC Rules Under Section 1291 of the Code.”
A QEF Election will apply to the taxable year for which such QEF Election is made and to all subsequent taxable years, unless such QEF Election is invalidated or terminated or the IRS consents to revocation of such QEF Election. If a U.S. Holder makes a QEF Election and, in a subsequent taxable year, we cease to be a PFIC, the QEF Election will remain in effect (although it will not be applicable) during those taxable years in which we are not a PFIC. Accordingly, if we become a PFIC in another subsequent taxable
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year, the QEF Election will be effective, and the U.S. Holder will be subject to the rules described above during any such subsequent taxable year in which we qualify as a PFIC.
A U.S. Holder cannot make and maintain a valid QEF Election unless we provide certain U.S. tax information necessary to make such an election. On an annual basis, we intend to use commercially reasonable efforts to make available to U.S. Holders, upon their written request (a) timely information as to our status as a PFIC, and (b) for each year in which we are a PFIC, information and documentation that a U.S. Holder making a QEF Election with respect to us is required to obtain for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Each U.S. Holder should consult its own tax advisor regarding the availability of, and procedure for making, a QEF Election with respect to us.
Mark-to-Market Election.
A U.S. Holder of common shares in a PFIC would not be subject to the PFIC rules discussed above under “—Default PFIC Rules Under Section 1291 of the Code” if the U.S. Holder had made a timely and effective election to mark the PFIC common shares to market (a “Mark-to-Market Election”).
A U.S. Holder may make a Mark-to-Market Election with respect to the common shares only if such shares are marketable stock. Such shares generally will be “marketable stock” if they are regularly traded on a “qualified exchange,” which is defined as (a) a national securities exchange that is registered with the SEC, (b) the national market system established pursuant to section 11A of the Exchange Act, or (c) a non-U.S. securities exchange that is regulated or supervised by a governmental authority of the country in which the market is located, provided that (i) such non-U.S. exchange has trading volume, listing, financial disclosure, surveillance, and other requirements, and the laws of the country in which such non-U.S. exchange is located, together with the rules of such non-U.S. exchange, ensure that such requirements are actually enforced and (ii) the rules of such non-U.S. exchange ensure active trading of listed stocks. Our common shares will generally be treated as “regularly traded” in any calendar year in which more than a de minimis quantity of common shares is traded on a qualified exchange for at least 15 days during each calendar quarter. Each U.S. Holder should consult its own tax advisor with respect to the availability of a Mark-to-Market Election with respect to the common shares.
In general, a U.S. Holder that makes a timely Mark-to-Market Election with respect to the common shares will include in ordinary income, for each taxable year in which we are a PFIC, an amount equal to the excess, if any, of (a) the fair market value of the common shares as of the close of such taxable year over (b) such U.S. Holder’s tax basis in such shares. A U.S. Holder that makes a Mark-to-Market Election will be allowed a deduction in an amount equal to the lesser of (a) the excess, if any, of (i) such U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in the common shares over (ii) the fair market value of such shares as of the close of such taxable year or (b) the excess, if any, of (i) the amount included in ordinary income because of such Mark-to-Market Election for prior taxable years over (ii) the amount allowed as a deduction because of such Mark-to-Market Election for prior taxable years. If a U.S. Holder makes a Mark-to-Market Election after the first taxable year in which we are a PFIC and such U.S. Holder has not made a timely QEF Election with respect to us, the PFIC rules described above under “—Default PFIC Rules Under Section 1291 of the Code” will apply to certain dispositions of, and distributions on, the common shares, and the U.S. Holder’s mark-to-market income for the year of the election. If we were to cease being a PFIC, a U.S. Holder that marked its common shares to market would not include mark-to-market gain or loss with respect to its common shares for any taxable year that we were not a PFIC.
A U.S. Holder that makes a Mark-to-Market Election generally will also adjust such U.S. Holder’s tax basis in his common shares to reflect the amount included in gross income or allowed as a deduction because of such Mark-to-Market Election. In addition, upon a sale or other taxable disposition of the common shares subject to a Mark-to-Market Election, any gain or loss on such disposition will be ordinary income or loss (to the extent that such loss does not to exceed the excess, if any, of (a) the amount included in ordinary income because of such Mark-to-Market Election for prior taxable years over (b) the amount allowed as a deduction because of such Mark-to-Market Election for prior taxable years). A Mark-to-Market Election applies to the taxable year in which such Mark-to-Market Election is made and to each subsequent taxable year unless the common shares cease to be “marketable stock” or the IRS consents to revocation of such election. Each U.S. Holder should consult its own tax advisor regarding the availability of, and procedure for making, a Mark-to-Market Election with respect to the common shares.
Reporting.
If we were to be treated as a PFIC in any taxable year, a U.S. Holder will generally be required to file an annual report with the IRS containing such information as the U.S. Treasury Department may require.
Each U.S. Holder should consult its own tax advisor regarding our potential status as a PFIC, the possible effect of the PFIC rules to such holder and information reporting required if we were a PFIC, as well as the availability of any election that may be available to the holder to mitigate adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences of holding shares in a PFIC.
Receipt of Foreign Currency
The amount of a distribution paid in Canadian dollars or Canadian dollar proceeds received on the sale or other taxable disposition of common shares will generally be equal to the U.S. dollar value of the currency on the date of receipt. If any Canadian dollars received with respect to the common shares are later converted into U.S. dollars, U.S. Holders may realize foreign currency gain or loss on the
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conversion. Any gain or loss generally will be treated as ordinary income or loss and generally will be from sources within the United States for U.S. foreign tax credit purposes. Each U.S. Holder should consult its own tax advisor concerning the possibility of foreign currency gain or loss if any such currency is not converted into U.S. dollars on the date of receipt.
Foreign Tax Credit
Subject to certain limitations, a U.S. Holder who pays (whether directly or through withholding) Canadian or other non-U.S. income tax with respect to the common shares may be entitled, at the election of the U.S. Holder, to receive either a deduction or a credit for Canadian or other non-U.S. income tax paid. Dividends paid on common shares generally will constitute income from sources outside the United States. Any gain from the sale or other taxable disposition of the common shares by a U.S. Holder generally will constitute U.S. source income. The foreign tax credit rules (including the limitations with respect thereto) are complex, and each U.S. Holder should consult its own tax advisor regarding the foreign tax credit rules, having regard to such holder’s particular circumstances.
Information Reporting; Backup Withholding
Generally, information reporting and backup withholding will apply to distributions on, and the payment of proceeds from the sale or other taxable disposition of, the common shares unless (i) the U.S. Holder is a company or other exempt entity, or (ii) in the case of backup withholding, the U.S. Holder provides a correct taxpayer identification number, certifies that the U.S. Holder is not subject to backup withholding and otherwise complies with the applicable requirements of the backup withholding rules.
Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amount withheld generally will be creditable against a U.S. Holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability or refundable to the extent that it exceeds such liability provided the required information is provided to the IRS in a timely manner.
In addition, certain categories of U.S. Holders must file information returns with respect to their investment in a non-U.S. company. For example, certain U.S. Holders must file IRS Form 8938 with respect to certain “specified foreign financial assets” (such as the common shares) with an aggregate value in excess of US$50,000 (and, in some circumstances, a higher threshold). Failure to do so could result in substantial penalties and in the extension of the statute of limitations with respect to such holder’s U.S. federal income tax returns. Each U.S. Holder should consult its own tax advisor regarding application of the information reporting and backup withholding rules to it in connection with an investment in our common shares.
Medicare Contribution Tax
U.S. Holders that are individuals, estates or certain trusts generally will be subject to a 3.8% Medicare contribution tax on, among other things, dividends on, and capital gains from the sale or other taxable disposition of, common shares, subject to certain limitations and exceptions. Each U.S. Holder should consult its own tax advisor regarding possible application of this additional tax to income earned in connection with an investment in our common shares.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
None.
Issuer Repurchases of Equity Securities
None.
Item 6. Reserved
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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation
The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto found elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. For a detailed discussion of these risks and uncertainties, see Item 1A, “Risk Factors” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect management’s analysis only as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements which reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, unless required by applicable securities laws.
Overview
This management’s discussion and analysis (“MD&A”) is presented in order to provide the reader with an overview of the financial results and changes to our financial position as at March 31, 2024 and for the year then ended. This MD&A explains the material variations in our operations, financial position and cash flows for the years ended March 31, 2024 and 2023.
Market data, and certain industry data and forecasts included in this MD&A were obtained from internal surveys and market research conducted by third parties hired by us, publicly available information, reports of governmental agencies and industry publications, and independent third-party surveys. We have relied upon industry publications as our primary sources for third-party industry data and forecasts. Industry surveys, publications and forecasts generally state that the information they contain has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but that the accuracy and completeness of that information are not guaranteed. We have not independently verified any of the data from third-party sources or the underlying economic assumptions they have made. Similarly, internal surveys, industry forecasts and market research, which we believe to be reliable based upon management or contracted third parties’ knowledge of our industry, have not been independently verified. Our estimates involve risks and uncertainties, including assumptions that may prove not to be accurate, and these estimates and certain industry data are subject to change based on various factors, including those discussed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
This MD&A should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements for the years ended March 31, 2024 and 2023 included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our annual financial statements were prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
Our assets as at March 31, 2024, include cash and cash equivalents of $23.0 million and intangible assets and goodwill of $49.3 million. Our current liabilities were $1.7 million as of March 31, 2024 and are comprised primarily of amounts due to or accrued for creditors.
Reverse stock split
On June 29, 2023, our Board of Directors approved an amendment to our Articles of Incorporation to implement a reverse stock split of our common shares, at a ratio of 1-for-6 (the “Reverse Stock Split”). On July 4, 2023, we filed Articles of Amendment to our Articles of Incorporation with the Registraire des entreprises du Québec, to implement the Reverse Stock Split. All references in this MD&A to number of common shares, warrants and options, and number of shares outstanding have been adjusted to reflect the Reverse Stock Split, which became effective on July 10, 2023.
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Results of Operations
Comparison of the year ended March 31, 2024, and 2023
The following table summarizes our results of operations for the years ended March 31, 2024 and 2023:
Year ended
$ $ $
(in thousands)
Operating expenses
Impairment of assets held for sale — 400 (400 )
Foreign exchange loss (16 ) (72 ) 56
Change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities (2,728 ) 10 (2,738 )
Interest income and other expense, net 911 246 665
Net Loss
The net loss of $12.9 million or $1.35 loss per share for the year ended March 31, 2024, decreased by $29.6 million from the net loss of $42.4 million or $5.71 loss per share for the year ended March 31, 2023. The decrease in net loss was primarily due to asset impairments, net of income tax benefit, totaling $25.3 million during the year ended March 31, 2023.
Research and development expenses
Research and development expenses consist primarily of:
•
fees paid to external service providers such as contract research organizations ("CROs") and contract manufacturing organizations ("CMOs") related to clinical trials, including contractual obligations for clinical development, clinical sites, manufacturing and scale-up, and formulation of clinical drug supplies;
•
fees paid to contract service providers related to drug discovery efforts including chemistry and biology services; and
•
salaries and related expenses for research and development personnel, including expenses related to stock options.
We record research and development expenses as incurred.
Our research and development during the year ended March 31, 2024 was focused primarily on our clinical development programs for our GTX-104 drug candidate. Research and development expenses during the year ended March 31, 2023, were focused primarily on our clinical development programs GTX-104, GTX-102, and GTX-101 drug candidates.
The following table summarizes our research and development expenses:
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Research and development expenses
Year ended
$ $ $
(in thousands)
Total third-party research and development expenses1 3,576 7,704 (4,128 )
Government grants & tax credits 55 (165 ) 220
Depreciation and loss on disposal 10 100 (90 )
1Total third-party research and development expenses are calculated before salaries and benefits, depreciation, write-off of equipment and stock-based compensation. Because there is no standard method endorsed by U.S. GAAP, the results may not be comparable to similar measurements presented by other public companies.
Total third-party research and development expenses for the year ended March 31, 2024, were $3.6 million, compared to $7.7 million for the year ended March 31, 2023. This decrease of $4.1 million was primarily due to the restructuring to align our organizational and management cost structure to prioritize resources to GTX-104, thereby reducing losses to improve cash flow and extend available cash resources. Our clinical development programs for GTX-102, and GTX-101 were de-prioritized in the current year compared to the prior year.
Government grants and tax credits of $55 thousand for the year ended March 31, 2024, decreased by $220 thousand compared to $(165) thousand for the year ended March 31, 2023. The changes within government grants and tax credits were due to adjustments of provisions regarding the estimated realizability of credits receivable after assessments and correspondence from tax authorities.
Salaries and benefits of $844 thousand for the year ended March 31, 2024, decreased by $898 thousand compared to $1.7 million for the year ended March 31, 2023. The decrease was primarily due to a reduction in research and development headcount due to the restructuring.
Stock-based compensation of $198 thousand for the year ended March 31, 2024, decreased by $393 thousand compared to $591 thousand for the year ended March 31, 2023. The decrease was primarily due to a reduction in research and development headcount due to the restructuring.
General and administrative expenses
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries and related benefits, including stock-based compensation, related to our executive, finance, legal, and support functions, including professional fees for auditing, tax, consulting, rent and utilities and insurance.
General and administrative expenses
Year ended
$ $ $
(in thousands)
Depreciation and loss on disposal 40 63 (23 )
1 General and administrative sub-total expenses is calculated before stock-based compensation and depreciation. Because there is no
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standard method endorsed by U.S. GAAP, the results may not be comparable to similar measurements presented by other public companies.
General and administrative expenses were $5.7 million before stock-based compensation and depreciation expense for the year ended March 31, 2024, a decrease of $733 thousand from $6.4 million for the year ended March 31, 2023. The decrease was primarily a result of decreased salaries and benefits due to a reduction in general and administrative headcount due to our restructuring and reorganization of our management structure offset by increased legal, tax, accounting and other professional fees related to the restructuring. Stock-based compensation of $697 thousand for the year ended March 31, 2024, decreased by $426 thousand compared to $1.1 million for the year ended March 31, 2023. The decrease was primarily due to a reduction in general and administrative headcount as a result of our restructuring.
Sales and marketing
Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of salaries and benefits, including share-based compensation, related to our commercial functions.
Sales and marketing expenses
Year ended
$ $ $
(in thousands)
Professional fees 20 — 20
Sales and Marketing expenses before stock-based compensation1 234 564 (330 )
Stock-based compensation 18 97 (79 )
1 Sales and marketing sub-total expenses is calculated before stock-based compensation. Because there is no standard method endorsed by U.S. GAAP, the results may not be comparable to similar measurements presented by other public companies.
Sales and marketing expenses before stock-based compensation expense were $234 thousand for the year ended March 31, 2024, compared to $564 thousand for the year ended March 31, 2023. The decrease of $330 thousand was primarily due to the reduction of headcount due to our restructuring and reorganization of our management structure.
Stock-based compensation of $18 thousand for the year ended March 31, 2024, decreased by $79 thousand, compared to $97 thousand for the year ended March 31, 2023. The decrease is primarily due to a reduction in sales and marketing headcount due to our restructuring.
Restructuring Costs
On May 8, 2023, we announced our decision to terminate a substantial amount of our workforce as part of a plan intended to align our organizational and management cost structure to prioritize resources to GTX-104, thereby reducing losses to improve cash flow and extend available cash resources. We incurred $1.5 million of related costs primarily consisting of employee severance costs.
Impairment
In April 2023, we announced the strategic decision to prioritize development of GTX-104 with a goal to advance to commercialization, while conserving resources as much as possible to complete development efficiently. We estimated that the deferral could be 3 years from April 2023, given the timeline to complete the development and commercial launch of GTX-104. Further development of GTX-102 and GTX-101 will occur at such time as we obtain additional funding or enter into strategic partnerships.
The decision to defer further development triggered a comprehensive impairment review of our intangible assets in March 2023. Given the extended timeline, we increased the discount rates used to value the assets in order to recognize additional risks related to prioritizing one asset over the others, financing the projects given limited available resources and the need to preserve cash to advance GTX-104 as far as possible, potential competitor advances that could arise over three years, and the general market depression affecting small cap development companies like us and the prohibitively high dilution and expense of available funding in the capital markets. Increasing the discount rates significantly reduced the discounted cash flow values for each of the programs deferred.
Accordingly, an impairment of intangible assets of $28.7 million resulted in the year ended March 31, 2023, compared to nil for the year ended March 31, 2024. In addition, an impairment of $4.8 million of goodwill resulted in the year ended March 31, 2023, compared
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to nil for the year ended March 31, 2024.
Change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities
The increase in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities for the year ended March 31, 2024 of $2.7 million was mainly attributable to an increase in our stock price.
Interest income
Interest income was $911 thousand for the year ended March 31, 2024, compared to $246 thousand for the year ended March 31, 2023. The $665 thousand increase in our interest income was due to higher interest rates earned on average balances of cash and cash equivalents.
Income tax benefit
Income tax benefit was $1.8 million for the year ended March 31, 2024, compared to $9.5 million for the year ended March 31, 2023. In 2023, the impairment of $28.7 million of the intangible assets resulted in an income tax recovery of $8.6 million of the related deferred tax liability. In 2024, there was no such impairment.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Cash Flows and Financial Condition between the years ended March 31, 2024 and March 31, 2023
Summary
As of March 31, 2024, cash and cash equivalents were $23.0 million, a net decrease of $4.9 million compared to cash and cash equivalents of $27.9 million at March 31, 2023.
Net cash used in operating activities
During the years ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, our operating activities used cash of $12.3 million and $15.9 million, respectively, a decrease of $3.6 million. The reduction in cash used in operating activities during 2024 was primarily due to our May 2023 restructuring, which resulted in lower third-party research and development expenses of $4.1 million, lower salaries and benefits expenses of $2.5 million, and lower other general and administrative expenses of $0.7 million. In addition, during 2024, we earned higher interest income of $665 thousand. These amounts were offset in part in 2024 by additional cash used of $1.5 million to fund operating assets and liabilities, restructuring costs of $1.5 million, higher professional fees of $1.2 million, primarily related to the restructuring and private placement, and reduced government grants and credits of $220 thousand.
Investing activities
For the year ended March 31, 2024 our investing activities provided cash of $104 thousand compared to cash provided of $13.2 million for the year ended March 31, 2023. The decrease in cash provided was a result of a decrease in net maturities of short-term investments.
Financing activities
Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended March 31, 2024, was $7.4 million due to the net proceeds from our September 2023 Offering of $7.3 million compared to cash provided of $304 thousand during the year ended March 31, 2023 from our at-the-market (“ATM”) program.
Private Placement
On September 24, 2023, we entered into a securities purchase agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with certain institutional and accredited investors in connection with a private placement offering of our securities (the “Offering”). Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, sold 1,951,371 Class A common shares, no par value per share (the “Common Shares”), at a purchase price of $1.848 per Common Share and pre-funded warrants (the “Pre-funded Warrants”) to purchase up to 2,106,853 Common Shares at a purchase price equal to the purchase price per Common Share less $0.0001. Each Pre-funded Warrant is exercisable for one Common Share at an exercise price of $0.0001 per Common Share, was immediately exercisable, and will expire once exercised in full. Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, we also issued to such institutional and accredited investors common warrants (the “Common Warrants”) to purchase Common Shares, exercisable for an aggregate of 2,536,391 Common Shares. Under the terms of the Purchase Agreement, for each Common Share and each Pre-funded Warrant issued in the Offering, an accompanying five-eighths (0.625) of a Common Warrant was issued to the purchaser thereof. Each whole Common Warrant is exercisable for one Common Share at an exercise price of $3.003
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per Common Share, was immediately exercisable, and will expire on the earlier of (i) the 60th day after the date of the acceptance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) of a New Drug Application for our product candidate GTX-104 or (ii) five years from the date of issuance. The Offering closed on September 25, 2023. The net proceeds to us from the Offering were approximately $7.3 million, after deducting fees and expenses.
At-the-Market ("ATM") Program
On June 29, 2020, we entered into an amended and restated At Market Issuance Sales Agreement (the “Sales Agreement”) with B. Riley FBR, Inc., Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. and H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC (collectively, the “Agents”) to amend our then existing at-the-market program (the "ATM Program"). Under the terms of the Sales Agreement, which had a three-year term, we could issue and sell from time to time, common shares of the Company ("Common Shares") having an aggregate offering price of up to $75 million through the Agents. Subject to the terms and conditions of the Sales Agreement, the Agents would use their commercially reasonable efforts to sell the Common Shares from time to time, based upon our instructions. We had no obligation to sell any of the Common Shares and could, at any time, suspend sales under the Sales Agreement. We and the Agents could terminate the Sales Agreement in accordance with its terms. Under the terms of the Sales Agreement, we provided the Agents with customary indemnification rights and the Agents were entitled to compensation at a commission rate equal to 3.0% of the gross proceeds from each sale of the Common Shares. The Sales Agreement expired pursuant to its terms on June 29, 2023. We intend to examine our financing strategies on a go-forward basis and may consider entering into a new at-the-market program in the future.
During the year ended March 31, 2024, no Common Shares were sold under the ATM program. During the year ended March 31, 2023, 54,108 Common Shares were sold for total net proceeds of $304 thousand with commissions, legal expenses and costs related to the share sale amounting to $10 thousand. The Common Shares were sold at the prevailing market prices, which resulted in an average price of approximately $5.70 per share.
Contractual Obligations and Commitments
Our contractual obligations and commitments include trade payables, operating lease obligations, CMO and CRO agreements, as described below.
Research and development contracts and contract research organizations agreements
We utilize CMOs, for the development and production of clinical materials and CROs to perform services related to our clinical trials. Pursuant to the agreements with CMOs and CROs, we have either the right to terminate the agreements without penalties or under certain penalty conditions. As of March 31, 2024, we have no commitments with CMOs and $6.0 million of commitments for the next twelve months to CROs.
Raw krill oil supply contract