Item 1A. Risk Factors
RISKS RELATING TO COMMERCIALIZATION OF OUR PRODUCTS
We depend heavily on our lead product, JAKAFI (ruxolitinib), which is marketed as JAKAVI outside the United States. If we are unable to maintain revenues from JAKAFI or those revenues decrease, our business may be materially harmed.
JAKAFI is our first product marketed by us that is approved for sale in the United States. JAKAFI was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, in November 2011 for the treatment of patients with intermediate or high-risk myelofibrosis, in December 2014 for the treatment of patients with polycythemia vera who have had an inadequate response to or are intolerant of hydroxyurea, which we refer to as uncontrolled polycythemia vera, and in May 2019 for the treatment of steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease in adult and pediatric patients 12 years and older. Although we have received regulatory approval for these indications, such approval does not guarantee future revenues. While we also sell ICLUSIG in the European Union, or EU, and other countries for the treatment of certain types
33
Table of Contents
of leukemia, PEMAZYRE in the United States for the treatment of specified cholangiocarcinoma indications, and MONJUVI in the United States for the treatment of certain lymphoma indications and our exclusive licensees sell OLUMIANT (baricitinib) for the treatment of specified rheumatoid arthritis and atopic dermatitis indications and TABRECTA for the treatment of a certain type of non small-cell lung cancer, we anticipate that JAKAFI product sales will continue to contribute a significant percentage of our total revenues over the next several years.
The commercial success of JAKAFI and our ability to maintain and continue to increase revenues from the sale of JAKAFI will depend on a number of factors, including:
● the acceptance of JAKAFI by patients and the healthcare community;
● the label and promotional claims allowed by the FDA;
If we are not able to maintain revenues from JAKAFI in the United States, or our revenues from JAKAFI decrease, our business may be materially harmed and we may need to delay other drug discovery, development and commercialization initiatives or even significantly curtail operations, and our ability to license or acquire new products to diversify our revenue base could be limited.
In addition, our receipt of royalties under our collaboration agreements with Novartis for sales of JAKAVI outside the United States and TABRECTA globally and with Eli Lilly and Company for worldwide sales of OLUMIANT will depend on factors similar to those listed above, with similar regulatory, pricing and reimbursement issues driven by applicable regulatory authorities and governmental and third-party payors affecting jurisdictions outside the United States.
34
Table of Contents
If we are unable to obtain, or maintain at anticipated levels, reimbursement for our products from government health administration authorities, private health insurers and other organizations, our pricing may be affected or our product sales, results of operations or financial condition could be harmed.
We may not be able to sell our products on a profitable basis or our profitability may be reduced if we are required to sell our products at lower than anticipated prices or reimbursement is unavailable or limited in scope or amount. The costs of JAKAFI, ICLUSIG, PEMAZYRE and MONJUVI are not insignificant and almost all patients will require some form of third-party coverage to afford their cost. Our future revenues and profitability will be adversely affected if we cannot depend on government and other third-party payors to defray the cost of our products to the patient. Reimbursement systems in international markets vary significantly by country and by region, and reimbursement approvals must be obtained on a country-by-country basis. Reimbursement in the EU must be negotiated on a country-by-country basis and in many countries the product cannot be commercially launched until reimbursement is approved. The timing to complete the negotiation process in each country is highly uncertain, and in some countries, we expect that it may exceed 12 months. Risks related to pricing and reimbursement are described below under “—Other Risks Relating to our Business—Health care reform measures could impact the pricing and profitability of pharmaceuticals, and adversely affect the commercial viability of our or our collaborators’ products and drug candidates. Our ability to generate revenues will be diminished if we or our collaborators are unable to obtain an adequate level of reimbursement from private insurers, government insurance programs or other third party payors of health care costs, which could be affected by current and potential healthcare reform legislation, and diminished revenues will harm our operating results and financial condition and could adversely affect our ability to conduct our research and development operations.” If government and other third-party payors refuse to provide coverage and reimbursement with respect to our products, determine to provide a lower level of coverage and reimbursement than anticipated, reduce previously approved levels of coverage and reimbursement, or delay reimbursement payments due to budgetary constraints relating to the COVID-19 Pandemic, then our pricing or reimbursement for our products may be affected and our product sales, results of operations or financial condition could be harmed.
We depend upon a limited number of specialty pharmacies and wholesalers for a significant portion of any revenues from JAKAFI, and the loss of, or significant reduction in sales to, any one of these specialty pharmacies or wholesalers could adversely affect our operations and financial condition.
We sell JAKAFI primarily to specialty pharmacies and wholesalers. Specialty pharmacies dispense JAKAFI to patients in fulfillment of prescriptions and wholesalers sell JAKAFI to hospitals and physician offices. We do not promote JAKAFI to specialty pharmacies or wholesalers, and they do not set or determine demand for JAKAFI. Our ability to successfully commercialize JAKAFI will depend, in part, on the extent to which we are able to provide adequate distribution of JAKAFI to patients. Although we have contracted with a number of specialty pharmacies and wholesalers, they are expected generally to carry a very limited inventory and may be reluctant to be part of our distribution network in the future if demand for the product does not increase. Further, it is possible that these specialty pharmacies and wholesalers could decide to change their policies or fees, or both, at some time in the future. This could result in their refusal to carry smaller volume products such as JAKAFI, or lower margins or the need to find alternative methods of distributing our product. Although we believe we can find alternative channels to distribute JAKAFI on relatively short notice, our revenue during that period of time may suffer and we may incur additional costs to replace any such specialty pharmacy or wholesaler. The loss of any large specialty pharmacy or wholesaler as part of our distribution network, a significant reduction in sales we make to specialty pharmacies or wholesalers, or any failure to pay for the products we have shipped to them could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
If we are unable to establish and maintain effective sales, marketing and distribution capabilities, or to enter into agreements with third parties to do so, we will not be able to successfully commercialize our products.
We have established commercial capabilities in the United States and outside of the United States, but cannot guarantee that we will be able to enter into and maintain any marketing, distribution or third-party logistics agreements with third-party providers on acceptable terms, if at all. We may not be able to correctly judge the size and experience of the sales and marketing force and the scale of distribution capabilities necessary to successfully market and sell any new products. Establishing and maintaining sales, marketing and distribution capabilities are expensive and time-consuming. Competition for personnel with experience in sales and marketing can be high. Our expenses associated with building and
35
Table of Contents
maintaining the sales force and distribution capabilities may be disproportional compared to the revenues we may be able to generate on sales of our products.
To the extent that we are able to obtain marketing approval for ruxolitinib cream for dermatology indications such as atopic dermatitis and vitiligo, we will have to establish and maintain sales, marketing and distribution capabilities that will generally be separate from our existing capabilities for oncology indications, and we have no prior experience in commercializing products for dermatology indications. Successful commercialization of our drug candidates for dermatology indications, if approved, will require us to establish new physician and payor relationships, reimbursement strategies and governmental interactions. Our inability to commercialize successfully products in indications outside of oncology could harm our business and operating results.
If we fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations, we could lose our approval to market our products or be subject to other governmental enforcement activity.
We cannot guarantee that we will be able to maintain regulatory approval to market our products in the jurisdictions in which they are currently marketed. If we do not maintain our regulatory approval to market our products, in particular JAKAFI, our results of operations will be materially harmed. We and our collaborators, third-party manufacturers and suppliers are subject to rigorous and extensive regulation by the FDA and other federal and state agencies as well as foreign governmental agencies. These regulations continue to apply after product marketing approval, and cover, among other things, testing, manufacturing, quality control and assurance, labeling, advertising, promotion, risk mitigation, and adverse event reporting requirements.
The commercialization of our products is subject to post-regulatory approval product surveillance, and our products may have to be withdrawn from the market or subject to restrictions if previously unknown problems occur. Regulatory agencies may also require additional clinical trials or testing for our products, and our products may be recalled or may be subject to reformulation, additional studies, changes in labeling, warnings to the public and negative publicity. For example, from late 2013 through 2014, ICLUSIG was subject to review by the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, of the benefits and risks of ICLUSIG to better understand the nature, frequency and severity of events obstructing the arteries or veins, the potential mechanism that leads to these side effects and whether there needed to be a revision in the dosing recommendation, patient monitoring and a risk management plan for ICLUSIG. This review was completed in January 2015, with additional warnings in the product information but without any change in the approved indications. The EMA could take additional actions in the future that reduce the commercial potential of ICLUSIG.
Failure to comply with the laws and regulations administered by the FDA or other agencies could result in:
● administrative and judicial sanctions, including warning letters;
● fines and other civil penalties;
● interruption of production;
● operating restrictions;
● product recall or seizure;
● injunctions; and
● criminal prosecution.
The occurrence of any such event may have a material adverse effect on our business.
36
Table of Contents
If the use of our products harms patients, or is perceived to harm patients even when such harm is unrelated to our products, our regulatory approvals could be revoked or otherwise negatively impacted or we could be subject to costly and damaging product liability claims.
The testing of JAKAFI, ICLUSIG, PEMAZYRE and MONJUVI, the manufacturing, marketing and sale of JAKAFI and PEMAZYRE and the marketing and sale of ICLUSIG and MONJUVI expose us to product liability and other risks. Side effects and other problems experienced by patients from the use of our productscould:
● lessen the frequency with which physicians decide to prescribe our products;
● result in our need to withdraw or recall our products from the marketplace.
If our products are used by a wide patient population, new risks and side effects may be discovered, the rate of known risks or side effects may increase, and risks previously viewed as less significant could be determined to be significant.
Previously unknown risks and adverse effects of our products may also be discovered in connection with unapproved, or off-label, uses of our products. We are prohibited by law from promoting or in any way supporting or encouraging the promotion of our products for off-label uses, but physicians are permitted to use products for off-label purposes. In addition, we are studying and expect to continue to study JAKAFI in diseases for potential additional indications in controlled clinical settings, and independent investigators are doing so as well. In the event of any new risks or adverse effects discovered as new patients are treated for intermediate or high-risk myelofibrosis, uncontrolled polycythemia vera or acute graft-versus-host disease and as JAKAFI is studied in or used by patients for off-label indications, regulatory authorities may delay or revoke their approvals, we may be required to conduct additional clinical trials, make changes in labeling of JAKAFI, reformulate JAKAFI or make changes and obtain new approvals. We may also experience a significant drop in the sales of JAKAFI, experience harm to our reputation and the reputation of JAKAFI in the marketplace or become subject to lawsuits, including class actions. Any of these results could decrease or prevent sales of JAKAFI or substantially increase the costs and expenses of commercializing JAKAFI. Similar results could occur with respect to our commercialization of ICLUSIG, PEMAZYRE and MONJUVI.
Patients who have been enrolled in our clinical trials or who may use our products in the future often have severe and advanced stages of disease and known as well as unknown significant pre-existing and potentially life-threatening health risks. During the course of treatment, patients may suffer adverse events, including death, for reasons that may or may not be related to our products. Such events could subject us to costly litigation, require us to pay substantial amounts of money to injured patients, delay, negatively impact or end our opportunity to receive or maintain regulatory approval to market our products, or require us to suspend or abandon our commercialization efforts. Even in a circumstance in which we do not believe that an adverse event is related to our products, the investigation into the circumstance may be time consuming or inconclusive. These investigations may interrupt our sales efforts, impact and limit the type of regulatory approvals our products receive or maintain, or delay the regulatory approval process in other countries.
Factors similar to those listed above also apply to our collaborator Novartis for jurisdictions in which it has development and commercialization rights, to ICLUSIG for jurisdictions outside the United States, to our collaborator Lilly for all jurisdictions and to our collaborator Innovent for PEMAZYRE in the jurisdictions in which it has development and commercialization rights.
37
Table of Contents
If we market our products in a manner that violates various laws and regulations, we may be subject to civil or criminal penalties.
In addition to FDA and related regulatory requirements, we are subject to health care “fraud and abuse” laws, such as the federal False Claims Act, the anti-kickback provisions of the federal Social Security Act, and other state and federal laws and regulations. Federal and state anti-kickback laws prohibit, among other things, knowingly and willfully offering, paying, soliciting or receiving remuneration to induce, or in return for purchasing, leasing, ordering or arranging for the purchase, lease or order of any health care item or service reimbursable under Medicare, Medicaid, or other federally- or state-financed health care programs. Federal false claims laws prohibit any person from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, a false claim for payment to the federal government, or knowingly making, or causing to be made, a false statement to get a false claim paid. Pharmaceutical companies have been prosecuted under these laws for a variety of alleged promotional and marketing activities.
Although physicians are permitted, based on their medical judgment, to prescribe products for indications other than those approved by the FDA, manufacturers are prohibited from promoting their products for such off-label uses. We market JAKAFI for intermediate or high-risk myelofibrosis, uncontrolled polycythemia vera and acute graft-versus-host disease and provide promotional materials to physicians regarding the use of JAKAFI for these indications. Although we believe that our promotional materials for physicians do not constitute improper promotion of JAKAFI, the FDA or other agencies may disagree. If the FDA or another agency determines that our promotional materials or other activities constitute improper promotion of JAKAFI, it could request that we modify our promotional materials or other activities or subject us to regulatory enforcement actions, including the issuance of a warning letter, injunction, seizure, civil fine and criminal penalties. It is also possible that other federal, state or foreign enforcement authorities might take action if they believe that the alleged improper promotion led to the submission and payment of claims for an unapproved use, which could result in significant fines or penalties under other statutory authorities, such as laws prohibiting false claims for reimbursement. Even if it is later determined we are not in violation of these laws, we may be faced with negative publicity, incur significant expenses defending our position and have to divert significant management resources from other matters. Similar risks exist for our marketing of PEMAZYRE and our and our collaborator MorphoSys’s marketing of MONJUVI.
The European Union and member countries, as well as governmental authorities in other countries, impose similar strict restrictions on the promotion and marketing of drug products. The off-label promotion of medicinal products is prohibited in the EU and in other territories, and the EU also maintains strict controls on advertising and promotional materials. The promotion of medicinal products that are not subject to a marketing authorization is also prohibited in the EU. Violations of the rules governing the promotion of medicinal products in the EU and in other territories could be penalized by administrative measures, fines and imprisonment.
The majority of states also have statutes or regulations similar to the federal anti-kickback law and false claims laws, which apply to items and services reimbursed under Medicaid and other state programs, or, in several states, apply regardless of the payor. Numerous states and localities have enacted or are considering enacting legislation requiring pharmaceutical companies to establish marketing compliance programs, file periodic reports or make periodic public disclosures on sales, marketing, pricing, clinical trials, and other activities. Additionally, as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the federal government has enacted the Physician Payment Sunshine provisions. The Sunshine provisions and similar laws and regulations in other jurisdictions where we do business require manufacturers to publicly report certain payments or other transfers of value made to physicians and teaching hospitals. Many of these requirements are new and uncertain, and the penalties for failure to comply with these requirements are unclear. Nonetheless, if we are found not to be in full compliance with these laws, we could face enforcement action and fines and other penalties, which could be significant in amount or result in exclusion from federal healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Any action initiated against us for violation of these laws, even if we successfully defend against it, could require the expenditure of significant resources and generate negative publicity, which could harm our business and operating results. See also “—Other Risks Relating to our Business—If we fail to comply with the extensive legal and regulatory requirements affecting the health care industry, we could face increased costs, penalties and a loss of business” below.
38
Table of Contents
Competition for our products could harm our business and result in a decrease in our revenue.
Present and potential competitors for JAKAFI could include major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as specialty pharmaceutical firms. For example, in August 2019, Celgene Corporation, now a subsidiary of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, announced that the FDA had approved INREBIC (fedratinib) for the treatment of myelofibrosis. See “—Other Risks Relating to our Business— We face significant competition for our drug discovery and development efforts, and if we do not compete effectively, our commercial opportunities will be reduced or eliminated” for a description of risks relating to this type of competition. In addition, JAKAFI could face competition from generic products. As a result of the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, commonly known as the Hatch-Waxman Act, in the United States, generic manufacturers may seek approval of a generic version of an innovative pharmaceutical by filing with the FDA an Abbreviated New Drug Application, or ANDA. The Hatch-Waxman Act provides significant incentives to generic manufacturers to challenge U.S. patents on successful innovative pharmaceutical products. In February 2016, we received a notice letter regarding an ANDA that requested approval to market a generic version of JAKAFI and purported to challenge patents covering ruxolitinib phosphate and its use that expire in 2028. The notice letter does not challenge the ruxolitinib composition of matter patent, which expires in December 2027. To date, to our knowledge, the FDA has taken no action with respect to this ANDA. Separately, in January 2018 the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of United States Patent and Trademark Office denied a petition challenging our patent covering deuterated ruxolitinib analogs and the PTAB subsequently denied the petitioner’s request for rehearing in May 2018. Nevertheless, the petitioner still has the right separately to challenge the validity of our patent in federal court. There can be no assurance that our patents will be upheld or that any litigation in which we might engage with any such generic manufacturer would be successful in protecting JAKAFI’s exclusivity. The entry of a generic version of JAKAFI could result in a decrease in JAKAFI sales and materially harm our business, operating results and financial condition.
ICLUSIG currently competes with existing therapies that are approved for the treatment of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia, or CML, who are resistant or intolerant to prior tyrosine kinase inhibitor, or TKI, therapies, on the basis of, among other things, efficacy, cost, breadth of approved use and the safety and side-effect profile. In addition, generic versions of imatinib are available and, while we currently believe that generic versions of imatinib will not materially impact our commercialization of ICLUSIG, given ICLUSIG’s various indication statements globally that are currently focused on resistant or intolerant CML, we cannot be certain how physicians, payors, patients, regulatory authorities and other market participants will respond to the availability of generic versions of imatinib.
MONJUVI currently competes with existing therapies that are approved for the treatment of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma on the basis of, among other things, efficacy, cost, breadth of approved use and the safety and side-effect profile. These existing therapies are offered by major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as specialty pharmaceutical firms. Potential competitors for PEMAZYRE could include major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as specialty pharmaceutical firms.
OTHER RISKS RELATING TO OUR BUSINESS
Public health epidemics, such as the COVID-19 Pandemic, could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Our global operations expose us to risks associated with public health epidemics, such as the COVID-19 Pandemic that has spread globally. The extent to which the COVID-19 Pandemic and the measures taken to limit COVID-19’s spread impact our operations and those of our suppliers, collaborators, service providers and healthcare organizations serving patients, as well as demand for our drug products, will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, including the duration of the outbreak and any future resurgence of the outbreak, additional or modified government actions, including any further restrictions or reopening of local, state or national social or economic activity, new information that may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions taken to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others.
As a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic, we may experience disruptions that could severely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition, including the following:
39
Table of Contents
Our collaborators could be affected by similar factors as those that have or could affect our business. The ultimate impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic or a similar health epidemic is highly uncertain and subject to change. We do not yet know the full extent of potential impacts or delays on our or our collaborators’ businesses, our revenues, including milestone and royalty revenues from our collaborators, our and our collaborators’ clinical trials, healthcare systems or the
40
Table of Contents
global economy as a whole. However, these effects could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
We may be unsuccessful in our efforts to discover and develop drug candidates and commercialize drug products.
Our long-term success, revenue growth and diversification of revenues depends on our ability to obtain regulatory approval for new drug products and new indications for our existing drug products. Our ability to discover and develop drug candidates and to commercialize additional drug products and indications will depend on our ability to:
● hire and retain key employees;
● identify high quality therapeutic targets;
● identify potential drug candidates;
● develop products internally or license drug candidates from others;
● complete laboratory testing;
● commence, conduct and complete safe and effective clinical trials on humans;
● obtain and maintain necessary intellectual property rights to our products;
● lease facilities at reasonable rates to support our growth; and
We may not be successful in discovering, developing, or commercializing additional drug products or our existing drug products in new indications. Discovery and development of drug candidates are expensive, uncertain and time-consuming, and we do not know if our efforts will lead to discovery of any drug candidates that can be successfully developed and marketed. Of the compounds or biologics that we identify as potential drug products or that we may in-license from other companies, including potential products for which we are conducting clinical trials, only a few, if any, are likely to lead to successful drug development programs and commercialized drug products.
We depend heavily on the success of our most advanced drug candidates. We and our collaborators might not be able to commercialize any of our or their drug candidates successfully, and we may spend significant time and money attempting to do so.
We have invested significant resources in the development of our most advanced drug candidates. We and our collaborator MorphoSys have submitted a European Marketing Authorization Application with the EMA for tafasitamab in combination with lenalidomide for the treatment of patients with a specified type of lymphoma. Ruxolitinib is in Phase
41
Table of Contents
III clinical trials for the treatment of patients with steroid-refractory graft-versus-host disease and patients with COVID-19 and is in other clinical trials. Ruxolitinib cream is in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of patients with atopic dermatitis and vitiligo. Itacitinib is in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease. Further, we have a number of drug candidates in Phase I and Phase II clinical trials. Our ability to generate product revenues will depend on the successful development and eventual commercialization of our most advanced drug candidates. We, or our collaborators or licensees, may decide to discontinue development of any or all of our drug candidates at any time for commercial, scientific or other reasons. For example: in early 2016, we decided to discontinue the clinical trials of ruxolitinib in pancreatic cancer and solid tumors and itacitinib in pancreatic cancer; and, in April 2018, we along with Merck stopped the ECHO-301 study with epacadostat, and we also significantly downsized the epacadostat development program. In addition, in January 2020 we announced that itacitinib did not meet the primary endpoint in the Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of patients with acute graft-versus-host disease. If a product is developed but not approved or marketed, we may have spent significant amounts of time and money on it, which could adversely affect our operating results and financial condition as well as our business plans.
If we or our collaborators are unable to obtain regulatory approval for our drug candidates in the United States and foreign jurisdictions, we or our collaborators will not be permitted to commercialize products resulting from our research.
In order to commercialize drug products in the United States, drug candidates will have to obtain regulatory approval from the FDA. Satisfaction of regulatory requirements typically takes many years. To obtain regulatory approval, we or our collaborators, as the case may be, must first show that our or our collaborators’ drug candidates are safe and effective for target indications through preclinical testing (animal testing) and clinical trials (human testing). Preclinical testing and clinical development are long, expensive and uncertain processes, and we do not know whether the FDA will allow us or our collaborators to undertake clinical trials of any drug candidates in addition to our or our collaborators’ compounds currently in clinical trials. If regulatory approval of a product is granted, this approval will be limited to those disease states and conditions for which the product is demonstrated through clinical trials to be safe and effective.
Completion of clinical trials may take several years and failure may occur at any stage of testing. The length of time required varies substantially according to the type, complexity, novelty and intended use of the drug candidate. Interim results of a preclinical test or clinical trial do not necessarily predict final results, and acceptable results in early clinical trials may not be repeated in later clinical trials. For example, a drug candidate that is successful at the preclinical level may cause harmful or dangerous side effects when tested at the clinical level. Our rate of commencement and completion of clinical trials may be delayed, and existing clinical trials with our or our collaborators’ drug candidates may be stopped, due to many potential factors, including:
● the high degree of risk and uncertainty associated with drug development;
● variability in the number and types of patients available for each study;
● unforeseen safety issues or side effects;
● government or regulatory delays.
Data obtained from clinical trials are susceptible to varying interpretation, which may delay, limit or prevent regulatory approval. Many companies in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry, including our company, have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials, even after achieving promising results in earlier clinical trials. In addition, regulatory authorities may refuse or delay approval as a result of other factors, such as changes in regulatory
42
Table of Contents
policy during the period of product development and regulatory agency review. For example, the FDA has in the past required, and could in the future require, that we or our collaborators conduct additional trials of any of our drug candidates, which would result in delays. In April 2017, we and our collaborator Lilly announced that the FDA had issued a complete response letter for the New Drug Application, or NDA, of OLUMIANT as a once-daily oral medication for the treatment of moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis. The letter indicated that additional clinical data were needed to determine the most appropriate doses and to further characterize safety concerns across treatment arms. In June 2018, after a resubmission of the NDA, the FDA approved the 2mg dose of OLUMIANT for the treatment of adults with moderately-to-severely active rheumatoid arthritis who have had an inadequate response to one or more tumor necrosis factor inhibitor therapies. The FDA did not at that time approve any higher dose of OLUMIANT and required a warning label in connection with its approval.
Compounds or biologics developed by us or with or by our collaborators and licensees may not prove to be safe and effective in clinical trials and may not meet all of the applicable regulatory requirements needed to receive marketing approval. For example, in January 2016, a Phase II trial that was evaluating ruxolitinib in combination with regorafenib in patients with relapsed or refractory metastatic colorectal cancer and high C-reactive protein was stopped early after a planned analysis of interim efficacy data determined that the likelihood of the trial meeting its efficacy endpoint was insufficient. In addition, in February 2016, we made a decision to discontinue our JANUS 1 study, our JANUS 2 study, our other studies of ruxolitinib in colorectal, breast and lung cancer, and our study of INCB39110 in pancreatic cancer after a planned analysis of interim efficacy data of JANUS 1 demonstrated that ruxolitinib plus capecitabine did not show a sufficient level of efficacy to warrant continuation. Also, in April 2018, we along with Merck announced that the ECHO-301 study had been stopped and we also significantly downsized the epacadostat development program and in January 2020 we stopped our Phase III trial of itacitinib for the treatment of acute graft-versus-host-disease. If clinical trials of any of our or our collaborators’ compounds or biologics are stopped for safety, efficacy or other reasons or fail to meet their respective endpoints, our overall development plans, business, prospects, expected operating results and financial condition could be materially harmed and the value of our company could be negatively affected.
Even if any of our applications receives an FDA priority review designation (including based on a priority review voucher, one of which we recently acquired and used in connection with our submission seeking FDA approval of ruxolitinib cream for atopic dermatitis), this designation may not result in faster review or approval for our product candidate compared to product candidates considered for approval under conventional FDA procedures and, in any event, does not assure ultimate approval of our product candidate by FDA.
Outside the United States, our and our collaborators’ ability to market a product is contingent upon receiving a marketing authorization from the appropriate regulatory authorities. This foreign regulatory approval process typically includes all of the risks associated with the FDA approval process described above and may also include additional risks. The requirements governing the conduct of clinical trials, product licensing, pricing and reimbursement vary greatly from country to country and may require us to perform additional testing and expend additional resources. Approval by the FDA does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries, and approval by one foreign regulatory authority does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or by the FDA.
Health care reform measures could impact the pricing and profitability of pharmaceuticals, and adversely affect the commercial viability of our or our collaborators’ products and drug candidates. Our ability to generate revenues will be diminished if we or our collaborators are unable to obtain an adequate level of reimbursement from private insurers, government insurance programs or other third-party payors of health care costs, which could be affected by current and potential healthcare reform legislation, and diminished revenues will harm our operating results and financial condition and could adversely affect our ability to conduct our research and development operations.
Our ability to commercialize our current and any future approved products successfully will depend in part on the prices we are able to charge for our approved products and the extent to which adequate reimbursement levels for the cost of our products and related treatment are obtained from third-party payors, such as private insurers, government insurance programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and other health care related organizations in the United States and abroad.
43
Table of Contents
In recent years, through legislative and regulatory actions and executive orders, the U.S. federal government has made substantial changes to various payment systems under the Medicare and other federal health care programs. Comprehensive reforms to the U.S. healthcare system were enacted, including changes to the methods for, and amounts of, Medicare reimbursement. While there is currently significant uncertainty regarding the implementation of some of these reforms or the scope of amended or additional reforms, the implementation of reforms could significantly reduce payments from Medicare and Medicaid. Reforms or other changes to these payment systems may change the availability, methods and rates of reimbursements from Medicare, private insurers and other third-party payors for our current and any future approved products. Some of these changes and proposed changes could result in reduced reimbursement rates or in eliminating dual sources of payment, which could reduce the price that we or any of our collaborators or licensees receive for any products in the future, and which would adversely affect our business strategy, operations and financial results.
In addition, there has been an increasing legislative and enforcement interest in the United States with respect to drug pricing practices. This has resulted in several recent federal and state proposals, including executive orders issued by the Trump Administration in July 2020, to regulate prices of pharmaceutical products and other health care reforms, any of which could limit the prices that we can charge for our products and may further limit the commercial viability of our products and drug candidates. Specifically, there have been several federal congressional inquiries and proposed and enacted federal and state legislation and the July 2020 executive orders designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, reduce the cost of prescription drugs under Medicare, reform government program reimbursement methodologies for prescription drugs, allow importation of drugs into the United States from other countries and limit allowable prices for drugs to a function of an average international reference price that may be substantially lower than what we currently or would otherwise charge. In certain foreign markets, pricing or profitability of prescription pharmaceuticals is subject to government control. We expect that the health care reform measures that have been adopted in the United States and in foreign markets, and further reforms that may be adopted in the future, could result in more rigorous coverage criteria and additional downward pressure on the prices that we may receive for our approved products. If reimbursement for our products is unavailable or limited in scope or amount, or if pricing is set at unsatisfactory levels, our business could be materially harmed, including by our revenue potentially being materially adversely affected and our research and development efforts potentially being materially curtailed or, in some cases, ceasing. There may be future changes that result in reductions in current prices, coverage and reimbursement levels for our current or any future approved products, and we cannot predict the scope of any future changes or the impact that those changes would have on our operations.
The consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic, including the economic effect on government budgets in the United States and elsewhere, may accelerate any of the healthcare reform efforts described above or result in future reform efforts, any of which could have adverse effects on our business, including higher costs for us, lower reimbursement rates for our products and lower demand for our products.
If third parties institute high co-payment amounts or other benefit limits for our products, the demand for our products and, accordingly, our revenues and results of operations, could be adversely affected. Our patient assistance programs have provided support for non-profit organizations that provide financial assistance to eligible patients or in some cases have provided our products without charge to patients who have no or limited insurance coverage through these charitable organizations. Substantial support in this manner could harm our profitability in the future. Further, those organizations’ ability to provide assistance to patients is dependent on funding from external sources, and we cannot guarantee that such funding will be provided at adequate levels, or at all.
Further, if we become the subject of any governmental or other regulatory hearing or investigation with respect to the pricing of our products or other business practices, we could incur significant expenses and could be distracted from the operation of our business and execution of our business strategy. Any such hearing or investigation could also result in significant negative publicity and harm to our reputation, reduced market acceptance and demand, which could adversely affect our financial results and growth prospects.
Third-party payors are increasingly challenging the prices charged for medical products and services. Also, the trend toward managed health care in the United States, the organizations for which could control or significantly influence the purchase of health care services and products, as well as legislative and regulatory proposals to reform health care or reduce government insurance programs, may all result in lower prices for or rejection of our products. Adoption of our
44
Table of Contents
products by the medical community may be limited without adequate reimbursement for those products. Cost control initiatives may decrease coverage and payment levels for our products and, in turn, the price that we will be able to charge for any product. Our products may not be considered cost-effective, and coverage and reimbursement may not be available or sufficient to allow us to sell our products on a profitable basis. We are unable to predict all changes to the coverage or reimbursement methodologies that will be applied by private or government payors to our current and any future approved products.
The continuing efforts of legislatures, health agencies and third-party payors to contain or reduce the costs of health care, any denial of private or government payor coverage or inadequate reimbursement for our drug candidates could materially and adversely affect our business strategy, operations, future revenues and profitability, and the future revenues and profitability of our potential customers, suppliers, collaborators and licensees and the availability of capital. The same risks apply to our compounds developed and marketed by our collaborators, and our future potential milestone and royalty revenues could be affected in a similar manner.
We depend on our collaborators and licensees for the future development and commercialization of some of our drug candidates. Conflicts may arise between our collaborators and licensees and us, or our collaborators and licensees may choose to terminate their agreements with us, which may adversely affect our business.
We have licensed to Novartis rights to ruxolitinib outside of the United States and worldwide rights to our MET inhibitor compounds, including TABRECTA, and licensed to Lilly worldwide rights to baricitinib. In addition, we have licensed to Innovent and to Zai Lab certain Asian rights to some of our clinical stage compounds. Under the terms of our agreements with these collaborators, we have no or limited control over the further clinical development of these drug candidates in the relevant territories and any revenues we may receive if these drug candidates receive regulatory approval and are commercialized in the relevant territories will depend primarily on the development and commercialization efforts of others. While OLUMIANT was approved by the European Commission in February 2017 for the treatment of moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis in adult patients and by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in July 2017 for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in patients with inadequate response to standard-of-care therapies, the NDA for OLUMIANT for the treatment of moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis was approved in June 2018, and only in the lower dosage tablet and with a warning label. Delays in any marketing approval by the FDA, European or other regulatory authorities, or any label modifications or restrictions in connection with any such approval, or the existence of other risks relating to approved drug products, including those described under “Risks Relating to Commercialization of Our Products,” could delay the receipt of and reduce resulting potential royalty and milestone revenue from baricitinib or any of our other out-licensed drug candidates.
Conflicts may arise with our collaborators and licensees if they pursue alternative technologies or develop alternative products either on their own or in collaboration with others as a means for developing treatments for the diseases that we have targeted. Competing products and product opportunities may lead our collaborators and licensees to withdraw their support for our drug candidates. Any failure of our collaborators and licensees to perform their obligations under our agreements with them or otherwise to support our drug candidates could negatively impact the development of our drug candidates, lead to our loss of potential revenues from product sales and milestones and delay our achievement, if any, of profitability. Additionally, conflicts have from time to time occurred, and may in the future arise, relating to, among other things, disputes about the achievement and payment of milestone amounts, the ownership of intellectual property that is developed during the course of a collaborative relationship or the operation or interpretation of other provisions in our collaboration agreements. These disputes could lead to litigation or arbitration, which could be costly and divert the efforts of our management and scientific staff, and could diminish the expected effectiveness of the collaboration.
Our existing collaborative and license agreements can be terminated by our collaborators and licensees for convenience, among other circumstances. If any of our collaborators or licensees terminates its agreement with us, or terminates its rights with respect to certain indications or drug candidates, we may not be able to find a new collaborator for them, and our business could be adversely affected. Should an agreement be terminated before we have realized the benefits of the collaboration or license, our reputation could be harmed, we may not obtain revenues that we anticipated receiving, and our business could be adversely affected.
45
Table of Contents
The success of our drug discovery and development efforts may depend on our ability to find suitable collaborators to fully exploit our capabilities. If we are unable to establish collaborations or if these future collaborations are unsuccessful in the development and commercialization of our drug candidates, our research, development and commercialization efforts may be unsuccessful, which could adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and future revenue prospects.
An element of our business strategy is to enter into collaborative or license arrangements with other parties, under which we license our drug candidates to those parties for development and commercialization or under which we study our drug candidates in combination with other parties’ compounds or biologics. For example, in addition to our Novartis, Lilly, Innovent and Zai Lab collaborations, we have entered into clinical study relationships with respect to several of our programs, including epacadostat, and are evaluating strategic relationships with respect to several of our other programs. However, because collaboration and license arrangements are complex to negotiate, we may not be successful in our attempts to establish these arrangements. Also, we may not have drug candidates that are desirable to other parties, or we may be unwilling to license a drug candidate to a particular party because such party interested in it is a competitor or for other reasons. The terms of any such arrangements that we establish may not be favorable to us. Alternatively, potential collaborators may decide against entering into an agreement with us because of our financial, regulatory or intellectual property position or for scientific, commercial or other reasons. If we are not able to establish collaboration or license arrangements, we may not be able to develop and commercialize a drug product, which could adversely affect our business, our revenues and our future revenue prospects.
We will likely not be able to control the amount and timing of resources that our collaborators or licensees devote to our programs or drug candidates. If our collaborators or licensees prove difficult to work with, are less skilled than we originally expected, do not devote adequate resources to the program, are unable to obtain regulatory approval of our drug candidates, pursue alternative technologies or develop alternative products, or do not agree with our approach to development or manufacturing of the drug candidate, the relationship could be unsuccessful. Our collaborations with respect to epacadostat involved the study of our collaborators’ drugs used in combination with epacadostat on a number of indications or tumor types, many of which were the same across multiple collaborations. We cannot assure you that potential conflicts will not arise or be alleged among these collaborations. If a business combination involving a collaborator or licensee and a third-party were to occur, the effect could be to terminate or cause delays in development of a drug candidate.
If we fail to enter into additional licensing agreements or if these arrangements are unsuccessful, our business and operations might be adversely affected.
In addition to establishing collaborative or license arrangements under which other parties license our drug candidates for development and commercialization or under which we study our drug candidates in combination with such parties’ compounds or biologics, we may explore opportunities to develop our clinical pipeline by in-licensing drug candidates or therapeutics targets that fit within our focus on oncology, such as our collaborations with Agenus Inc., Calithera Biosciences, Inc., MacroGenics, Inc., Merus N.V., MorphoSys, and Syros Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or explore additional opportunities to further develop and commercialize existing drug candidates in specific jurisdictions, such as our June 2016 acquisition of the development and commercialization rights to ICLUSIG in certain countries. We may be unable to enter into any additional in-licensing agreements because suitable drug candidates that are within our expertise may not be available to us on terms that are acceptable to us or because competitors with greater resources seek to in-license the same drug candidates. Drug candidates that we would like to develop or commercialize may not be available to us because they are controlled by competitors who are unwilling to license the rights to the drug candidate to us. In addition, we may enter into license agreements that are unsuccessful and our business and operations might be adversely affected if we are unable to realize the expected economic benefits of a collaboration or other licensing arrangement, by the termination of a drug candidate and termination and winding down of the related license agreement, or due to other business or regulatory issues, including financial difficulties, that may adversely affect a licensor’s ability to continue to perform its obligations under an in-license agreement. For example, we may make or incur contractual obligations to make significant upfront payments in connection with licenses for late-stage drug candidates, as we did in March 2020 in connection with the effectiveness of our collaboration agreement with MorphoSys, and if any of those drug candidates do not receive marketing approval or commercial sales as anticipated or we have to fund additional clinical trials before marketing approval can be obtained, we will have expended significant funds that might otherwise be applied for other
46
Table of Contents
uses or have to expend funds that were not otherwise budgeted or anticipated in connection with the collaboration, and such developments could have a material adverse effect on our stock price and our ability to pursue other transactions. As discussed above under “We depend on our collaborators and licensees for the future development and commercialization of some of our drug candidates. Conflicts may arise between our collaborators and licensees and us, or our collaborators and licensees may choose to terminate their agreements with us, which may adversely affect our business,” conflicts or other issues may arise with our licensors. Those conflicts could result in delays in our plans to develop drug candidates or result in the expenditure of additional funds to resolve those conflicts that could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. We may also need to license drug delivery or other technology in order to continue to develop our drug candidates. If we are unable to enter into additional agreements to license drug candidates, drug delivery technology or other technology or if these arrangements are unsuccessful, our research and development efforts could be adversely affected, and we may be unable to increase our number of successfully marketed products and our revenues.
Even if a drug candidate that we develop receives regulatory approval, we may decide not to commercialize it if we determine that commercialization of that product would require more money and time than we are willing to invest.
Even if any of our drug candidates receives regulatory approval, it could be subject to post-regulatory surveillance, and may have to be withdrawn from the market or subject to restrictions if previously unknown problems occur. Regulatory agencies may also require additional clinical trials or testing, and the drug product may be recalled or may be subject to reformulation, additional studies, changes in labeling, warnings to the public and negative publicity. As a result, we may not continue to commercialize a product even though it has obtained regulatory approval. Further, we may decide not to continue to commercialize a product if the market does not accept the product because it is too expensive or because third parties such as insurance companies or Medicare, have not approved it for substantial reimbursement. In addition, we may decide not to continue to commercialize a product if competitors develop and commercialize similar or superior products or have proprietary rights that preclude us from ultimately marketing our products.
Any approved drug product that we bring to the market may not gain market acceptance by physicians, patients, healthcare payors and others in the medical community.
Even if we or our collaborators are successful in gaining regulatory approval of any of our or our collaborators’ drug candidates in addition to JAKAFI, OLUMIANT, PEMAZYRE and MONJUVI or acquire rights to approved drug products in addition to ICLUSIG, we may not generate significant product revenues if these drug products do not achieve an adequate level of acceptance. Physicians may not recommend our or our collaborators’ drug products until longer-term clinical data or other factors demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our or our collaborators’ drug products as compared to other alternative treatments. Even if the clinical safety and efficacy of our or our collaborators’ drug products is established, physicians may elect not to prescribe these drug products for a variety of reasons, including the reimbursement policies of government and other third-party payors and the effectiveness of our or our collaborators’ competitors in marketing their products.
Market acceptance of our drug products, if approved for commercial sale, will depend on a number of factors, including the following, and market acceptance of our collaborators’ drug products will depend on similar factors:
● the label and promotional claims allowed by the FDA;
47
Table of Contents
● marketing and distribution support for our drug products.
We have limited capacity to conduct preclinical testing and clinical trials, and our resulting dependence on other parties could result in delays in and additional costs for our drug development efforts.
We have limited internal resources and capacity to perform preclinical testing and clinical trials. As part of our development strategy, we often hire clinical research organizations, or CROs, to perform preclinical testing and clinical trials for drug candidates. If the CROs that we hire to perform our preclinical testing and clinical trials do not meet deadlines, do not follow proper procedures, or a conflict arises between us and our CROs, our preclinical testing and clinical trials may take longer than expected, may cost more, may be delayed or may be terminated. If we were forced to find a replacement entity to perform any of our preclinical testing or clinical trials, we may not be able to find a suitable entity on favorable terms, or at all. Even if we were able to find another company to perform a preclinical test or clinical trial, the delay in the test or trial may result in significant additional expenditures. Events such as these may result in delays in our obtaining regulatory approval for our drug candidates or our ability to commercialize our products and could result in increased expenditures that would adversely affect our operating results.
We face significant competition for our drug discovery and development efforts, and if we do not compete effectively, our commercial opportunities will be reduced or eliminated.
The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are intensely competitive and subject to rapid and significant technological change. Our drug discovery and development efforts may target diseases and conditions that are already subject to existing therapies or that are being developed by our competitors, many of which have substantially greater resources, larger research and development staffs and facilities, more experience in completing preclinical testing and clinical trials, and formulation, marketing and manufacturing capabilities. As a result of these resources, our competitors may develop drug products that render our products obsolete or noncompetitive by developing more effective drugs, developing their products more efficiently or pricing their products more competitively. Our ability to develop competitive products would be limited if our competitors succeeded in obtaining regulatory approvals for drug candidates more rapidly than we were able to or in obtaining patent protection or other intellectual property rights that limited our drug development efforts. Any drug products resulting from our research and development efforts, or from our joint efforts with collaborators or licensees, might not be able to compete successfully with our competitors’ existing and future products, or obtain regulatory approval in the United States or elsewhere. The development of products or processes by our competitors with significant advantages over those that we are developing could harm our future revenues and profitability.
Our reliance on other parties to manufacture our drug products and drug candidates could result in a short supply of the drugs, delays in clinical trials or drug development, increased costs, and withdrawal or denial of a regulatory authority’s approval.
We do not currently operate manufacturing facilities for clinical or commercial production of JAKAFI, PEMAZYRE and our other drug candidates or for ICLUSIG or MONJUVI. We currently hire third parties to manufacture the raw materials, API and finished drug product of JAKAFI, ICLUSIG, PEMAZYRE and our other drug candidates for clinical trials and our collaborator MorphoSys is currently responsible for sourcing manufacturing of MONJUVI. In addition, we expect to continue to rely on third parties for the manufacture of commercial supplies of raw materials, API and finished drug product for any drugs that we successfully develop. We also hire third parties to package and label the finished product. The FDA requires that the raw materials, API and finished product for drug products such as JAKAFI and PEMAZYRE and our other drug candidates be manufactured according to its current Good Manufacturing Practices regulations and regulatory authorities in other countries have similar requirements. There are only a limited number of manufacturers that comply with these requirements. Failure to comply with current Good Manufacturing Practices and the applicable regulatory requirements of other countries in the manufacture of our drug candidates and products could result in the FDA or a foreign regulatory authority halting our clinical trials, withdrawing or denying regulatory approval of our drug product, enforcing product recalls or other enforcement actions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We may not be able to obtain sufficient quantities of our drug candidates or any drug products we may develop if our designated manufacturers do not have the capacity or capability to manufacture them according to our schedule and
48
Table of Contents
specifications. Manufacturers of pharmaceutical products often encounter difficulties in production, especially in scaling up initial production. These problems include difficulties with production costs and yields, quality control and assurance and shortages of qualified personnel. To the extent our supply chain involves parties in China or materials originating in areas of China that are or could be affected by disease outbreaks such as the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020, we could see disruptions to our supply chain. Currently, our supply chain for our drug products and product candidates depends on operations by us and by other companies in multiple countries around the world, and the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic and measures to address the COVID-19 Pandemic on any or all of these countries is uncertain and unpredictable and potential disruption is possible. And, for JAKAFI, while our strategy is to maintain a 24 months stock of API, inclusive of finished product, ruxolitinib phosphate might be used by us either to make JAKAFI or for ruxolitinib drug candidates in clinical trials. In addition, we may not be able to arrange for our drug candidates or any drug products that we may develop to be manufactured by one of these parties on reasonable terms, if at all. We generally have a single source or a limited number of suppliers that are qualified to supply each of the API and finished product of our drug products and our other drug candidates and, in the case of JAKAFI, we only have a single source for its raw materials. If any of these suppliers were to become unable or unwilling to supply us with raw materials, API or finished product that complies with applicable regulatory requirements, we could incur significant delays in our clinical trials or interruption of commercial supply that could have a material adverse effect on our business. If we have promised delivery of a drug candidate or drug product and are unable to meet the delivery requirement due to manufacturing difficulties, our development programs could be delayed, we may have to expend additional sums in order to ensure that manufacturing capacity is available when we need it even if we do not use all of the manufacturing capacity, and our business and operating results could be harmed.
We may not be able to adequately manage and oversee the manufacturers we choose, they may not perform as agreed or they may terminate their agreements with us. Foreign manufacturing approval processes typically include all of the risks associated with the FDA approval process for manufacturing and may also include additional risks.
A number of our collaborations involve the manufacture of antibodies. Either we or our collaborators have primary responsibility for manufacturing activities, and we are currently using third-party contract manufacturing organizations. Manufacturing antibodies and products containing antibodies is a more complex process than manufacturing small molecule drugs and subject to additional risks. The process of manufacturing antibodies and products containing antibodies is highly susceptible to product loss due to contamination, equipment failure or improper installation or operation of equipment, vendor or operator error, inconsistency in yields, variability in product characteristics, and difficulties in scaling up the production process. Even minor deviations from normal manufacturing processes could result in reduced production yields, product defects and other supply disruptions. If microbial, viral or other contaminations are discovered in our product candidates or in the manufacturing facilities in which our product candidates are made, such manufacturing facilities may need to be closed for an extended period of time to investigate and remedy the contamination.
If we fail to comply with the extensive legal and regulatory requirements affecting the health care industry, we could face increased costs, penalties and a loss of business.
Our activities, and the activities of our collaborators, partners and third-party providers, are subject to extensive government regulation and oversight both in the United States and in foreign jurisdictions. The FDA and comparable agencies in other jurisdictions directly regulate many of our most critical business activities, including the conduct of preclinical and clinical studies, product manufacturing, advertising and promotion, product distribution, adverse event reporting and product risk management. States increasingly have been placing greater restrictions on the marketing practices of healthcare companies and have instituted pricing disclosure and other requirements for companies selling pharmaceuticals. In addition, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have been the target of lawsuits and investigations alleging violations of government regulations, including claims asserting submission of incorrect pricing information, improper promotion of pharmaceutical products, payments intended to influence the referral of federal or state healthcare business, submission of false claims for government reimbursement, antitrust violations, violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.K. Bribery Act and similar anti-bribery or anti-corruption laws, or violations related to environmental matters. There is also enhanced scrutiny of company-sponsored patient assistance programs, including insurance premium and co-pay assistance programs and donations to third-party charities that provide such assistance. In December 2018, we received a civil investigative demand from the U.S. Department of Justice for documents and information relating to our speaker programs and patient assistance programs, including our support of non-profit organizations that provide financial assistance to eligible patients. Violations of governmental regulation by us, our vendors
49
Table of Contents
or donation recipients may be punishable by criminal and civil sanctions, including damages, fines and penalties and exclusion from participation in government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid. In addition to damages, fines and penalties for violation of laws and regulations, we could be required to repay amounts we received from government payors, or pay additional rebates and interest if we are found to have miscalculated the pricing information we have submitted to the government. Actions taken by federal or local governments, legislative bodies and enforcement agencies with respect to these legal and regulatory compliance matters could also result in reduced demand for our products, reduced coverage of our products by health care payors, or both. We cannot ensure that our compliance controls, policies, and procedures will in every instance protect us from acts committed by our employees, collaborators, partners or third-party providers that would violate the laws or regulations of the jurisdictions in which we operate. Whether or not we have complied with the law, an investigation into alleged unlawful conduct could increase our expenses, damage our reputation, divert management time and attention and adversely affect our business. Risks relating to compliance with laws and regulations may be heightened as we continue to expand our global operations and enter new therapeutic areas with different patient populations, which due to different product distribution methods, marketing programs or patient assistance programs may result in additional regulatory burdens and obligations.
The illegal distribution and sale by third parties of counterfeit or unfit versions of our or our collaborators’ products or stolen products could harm our business and reputation.
We are aware that counterfeit versions of our products have been distributed or sold by entities not authorized by us using product packaging suggesting that the product was provided by us. If unauthorized third parties illegally distribute and sell counterfeit versions of our or our collaborators’ products, those products may not meet our or our collaborators’ rigorous manufacturing, distribution and handling standards. In addition, inventory that is stolen from warehouses, plants or while in-transit, and that is subsequently improperly stored and sold through unauthorized channels, may not meet our or our collaborators’ distribution and handling standards. A patient who receives a counterfeit or unfit drug may suffer dangerous health consequences. Our reputation and business could suffer harm as a result of counterfeit or unfit drugs sold under our brand name and could result in lost sales for us and decreased revenues. If counterfeit or unfit drugs are sold under our or our collaborators’ brand names, our reputation and business could suffer harm and we could experience decreased royalty revenues.
As most of our drug discovery and development operations are conducted at our headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, the loss of access to this facility would negatively impact our business.
Our facility in Wilmington, Delaware is our headquarters and is also where we conduct most of our drug discovery, research, development and marketing activities. In addition, natural disasters, the effects of or measures taken to limit the effects of health epidemics such as the COVID-19 Pandemic, or actions of activists opposed to aspects of pharmaceutical research may disrupt our experiments or our ability to access or use our facility. The loss of access to or use of our Wilmington, Delaware facility, either on a temporary or permanent basis, would result in an interruption of our business and, consequently, would adversely affect our overall business.
We depend on key employees in a competitive market for skilled personnel, and the loss of the services of any of our key employees or our inability to attract and retain additional personnel would affect our ability to expand our drug discovery and development programs and achieve our objectives.
We are highly dependent on the members of our executive management team and principal members of our commercial, development, medical, operations and scientific staff. We experience intense competition for qualified personnel. Our future success also depends in part on the continued service of our executive management team and key personnel and our ability to recruit, train and retain essential personnel for our drug discovery and development programs, and for our medical affairs and commercialization activities. If we lose the services of any of these people or if we are unable to recruit sufficient qualified personnel, our research and product development goals, and our commercialization efforts could be delayed or curtailed. We do not maintain “key person” insurance on any of our employees.
50
Table of Contents
If we fail to manage our growth effectively, our ability to develop and commercialize products could suffer.
We expect that if our drug discovery efforts continue to generate drug candidates, our clinical drug candidates continue to progress in development, and we continue to build our development, medical and commercial organizations, we will require significant additional investment in personnel, management and resources. Our ability to achieve our research, development and commercialization objectives depends on our ability to respond effectively to these demands and expand our internal organization, systems, controls and facilities to accommodate additional anticipated growth. If we are unable to manage our growth effectively, our business could be harmed and our ability to execute our business strategy could suffer.
We may acquire businesses or assets, form joint ventures or make investments in other companies that may be unsuccessful, divert our management’s attention and harm our operating results and prospects.
As part of our business strategy, we may pursue additional acquisitions of what we believe to be complementary businesses or assets or seek to enter into joint ventures. We also may pursue strategic alliances in an effort to leverage our existing infrastructure and industry experience to expand our product offerings or distribution, or make investments in other companies. For example, in June 2016, we completed the acquisition of the European operations of ARIAD. The success of our acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances and investments will depend on our ability to identify, negotiate, complete and, in the case of acquisitions, integrate those transactions and, if necessary, obtain satisfactory debt or equity financing to fund those transactions. We may not realize the anticipated benefits of any acquisition, joint venture, strategic alliance or investment. We may not be able to integrate acquisitions successfully into our existing business, achieve planned synergies or cost savings, maintain the key business relationships of businesses we acquire, or retain key personnel of an acquired business, and we could assume unknown or contingent liabilities or incur unanticipated expenses. Integration of acquired companies or businesses also may require management resources that otherwise would be available for ongoing development of our existing business. Any acquisitions or investments made by us also could result in significant write-offs or the incurrence of debt and contingent liabilities, any of which could harm our operating results. For example, in the three month periods ended March 31, 2020 and September 30, 2020, we recorded unrealized losses related to all of our investments in our collaboration partners,and we may in experience additional losses related to our investments in future period. In addition, if we choose to issue shares of our stock as consideration for any acquisition, dilution to our stockholders could result.
Risks associated with our operations outside of the United States could adversely affect our business.
Our acquisition of ARIAD’s European operations significantly expanded our operations in Europe, and we plan to continue to expand our operations and conduct certain development activities outside of the United States. For example, as part of our plans to expand our activities outside of the United States, we now conduct some of our operations in Canada, drug development activities in Japan and are in the process of opening an office in China. International operations and business expansion plans are subject to numerous additional risks, including:
51
Table of Contents
In addition, our revenues are subject to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations due to the global nature of our operations. To the extent that our non-U.S. source revenues represent a more significant portion of our total revenues, these fluctuations could materially affect our operating results. Any of the risks described above, if encountered, could significantly increase our costs of operating internationally, prevent us from operating in certain jurisdictions, or otherwise significantly harm our future international expansion and operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If product liability lawsuits are brought against us, we could face substantial liabilities and may be required to limit commercialization of our products and our results of operations could be harmed.
In addition to the risks described above under “—Risks Relating to Commercialization of Our Products—If the use of our products harms patients, or is perceived to harm patients even when such harm is unrelated to our products, our regulatory approvals could be revoked or otherwise negatively impacted or we could be subject to costly and damaging product liability claims,” the conduct of clinical trials of medical products that are intended for human use entails an inherent risk of product liability. If any product that we or any of our collaborators or licensees develops causes or is alleged to cause injury during clinical trials or commercialization, we may be held liable. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against product liability claims, we may incur substantial liabilities, including substantial damages to be paid to the plaintiffs and legal costs, or we may be required to limit further development and commercialization of our products. Additionally, any product liability lawsuit could cause injury to our reputation, participants and investigators to withdraw from clinical trials, and potential collaborators or licensees to seek other partners, any of which could impact our results of operations.
Our product liability insurance policy may not fully cover our potential liabilities. In addition, we may determine that we should increase our coverage, and this insurance may be prohibitively expensive to us or our collaborators or licensees and may not fully cover our potential liabilities. Since December 30, 2017, we elected to self-insure a portion of our exposure to product liability risks through our wholly-owned captive insurance subsidiary, in tandem with third-party insurance policies. Our inability to obtain sufficient product liability insurance at an acceptable cost to protect against potential product liability claims could prevent or inhibit the development or commercialization of our drug candidates and products, and if our liabilities from any such claims exceed our third-party insurance limits and self-insurance reserves, our results of operations, cash flows and financial condition could be adversely impacted.
Because our activities involve the use of hazardous materials, we may be subject to claims relating to improper handling, storage or disposal of these materials that could be time consuming and costly.
We are subject to various environmental, health and safety laws and regulations governing, among other things, the use, handling, storage and disposal of regulated substances and the health and safety of our employees. Our research and development processes involve the controlled use of hazardous and radioactive materials and biological waste resulting
52
Table of Contents
in the production of hazardous waste products. We cannot completely eliminate the risk of accidental contamination or discharge and any resultant injury from these materials. If any injury or contamination results from our use or the use by our collaborators or licensees of these materials, we may be sued and our liability may exceed our insurance coverage and our total assets. Further, we may be required to indemnify our collaborators or licensees against all damages and other liabilities arising out of our development activities or products produced in connection with these collaborations or licenses. Compliance with the applicable environmental and workplace laws and regulations is expensive. Future changes to environmental, health, workplace and safety laws could cause us to incur additional expense or may restrict our operations or impair our research, development and production efforts.
RISKS RELATING TO OUR FINANCIAL RESULTS
We may incur losses in the future, and we expect to continue to incur significant expenses to discover and develop drugs, which may make it difficult for us to achieve sustained profitability on a quarterly or annual basis in the future.
Due to historical net losses, we had an accumulated deficit of $1.7 billion as of December 31, 2020. We intend to continue to spend significant amounts on our efforts to discover and develop drugs. As a result, we may incur losses in future periods as well. Our revenues, expenses and net income (loss) may fluctuate, even significantly, due to the risks described in these “Risk Factors” and factors discussed in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” as well as the timing of charges and expenses that we may take, including those relating to transactions such as acquisitions and the entry into collaborative agreements.
We anticipate that our drug discovery and development efforts and related expenditures will increase as we focus on the studies, including preclinical tests and clinical trials prior to seeking regulatory approval, that are required before we can sell a drug product.
The development of drug products will require us to spend significant funds on research, development, testing, obtaining regulatory approvals, manufacturing and marketing. To date, we do not have any drug products that have generated significant revenues other than from sales of JAKAFI and we cannot assure you that we will generate substantial revenues from the drug candidates that we license or develop, including ICLUSIG, PEMAZYRE and MONJUVI, for several years, if ever.
We cannot be certain whether or when we will achieve sustained or increased profitability on a quarterly or annual basis because of the factors discussed above and the significant uncertainties relating to our ability to generate commercially successful drug products. Even if we are successful in obtaining regulatory approvals for manufacturing and commercializing drug products in addition to JAKAFI, ICLUSIG, PEMAZYRE and MONJUVI, we may incur losses if our drug products do not generate significant revenues.
We may need additional capital in the future. If we are unable to generate sufficient funds from operations, the capital markets may not permit us to raise additional capital at the time that we require it, which could result in limitations on our research and development or commercialization efforts or the loss of certain of our rights in our technologies or drug candidates.
Our future funding requirements will depend on many factors and we anticipate that we may need to raise additional capital to fund our business plan and research and development efforts going-forward.
Additional factors that may affect our future funding requirements include:
● the amount of revenues generated from our business activities;
● any changes in the breadth of our research and development programs;
53
Table of Contents
● costs for future facility requirements;
● competing technological and market developments;
● the timing of regulatory approvals, if any.
If we require additional capital at a time when investment in companies such as ours, or in the marketplace generally, is limited due to the then prevailing market or other conditions, we may have to scale back our operations, eliminate one or more of our research or development programs, or attempt to obtain funds by entering into an agreement with a collaborator or licensee that would result in terms that are not favorable to us or relinquishing our rights in certain of our proprietary technologies or drug candidates. If we are unable to raise funds at the time that we desire or at any time thereafter on acceptable terms, we may not be able to continue to develop our drug candidates. The sale of equity or equity-linked securities in the future may be dilutive to our stockholders and may provide for rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of our holders of common stock, and debt financing arrangements may require us to pledge certain assets or enter into covenants that could restrict our operations or our ability to pay dividends or other distributions on our common stock or incur further indebtedness.
Our marketable securities and long term investments are subject to risks that could adversely affect our overall financial position.
We invest our cash in accordance with an established internal policy and customarily in instruments, money market funds, U.S. government backed-funds and Treasury assets, which historically have been highly liquid and carried relatively low risk. In recent periods, similar types of investments and money market funds have experienced losses in value or liquidity issues that differ from their historical pattern.
Should a portion of our cash or marketable securities lose value or have their liquidity impaired, it could adversely affect our overall financial position by imperiling our ability to fund our operations and forcing us to seek additional financing sooner than we would otherwise. Such financing, if available, may not be available on commercially attractive terms.
As discussed under “Other Risks Relating to Our Business— We may acquire businesses or assets, form joint ventures or make investments in other companies that may be unsuccessful, divert our management’s attention and harm our operating results and prospects,” any investments that we may make in companies with which we have strategic alliances, such as Agenus and Merus, could result in our recognition of losses on those investments. In addition, to the extent we may seek to sell or otherwise monetize those investments, we may not be able to do so at our desired price or valuation levels, or at all, due to the limited liquidity of some or all of those investments.
Any loss in value of our long term investments could adversely affect our financial position on the consolidated balance sheets and consolidated statements of operations.
54
Table of Contents
We derive a substantial portion of our revenues from royalties, milestone payments and other payments under our collaboration agreements. If we are unable to achieve milestones, develop product candidates to license or renew or enter into new collaborations, our revenues may decrease, and future milestone and royalty payments may not contribute significantly to revenues for several years, and may never result in revenues.
We derived a substantial portion of our revenues for the year ended December 31, 2020 from JAKAVI and OLUMIANT product royalties and from milestone payments under our collaboration agreements. Future revenues from research and development collaborations depend upon continuation of the collaborations, the achievement of milestones and royalties we earn from any future products developed from our research. If we are unable to successfully achieve milestones or our collaborators fail to develop successful products, we will not earn the future revenues contemplated under our collaborative agreements. For example, delays in or other limitations with respect to the approval of baricitinib in the United States for the treatment of moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis, or the failure to obtain such approval, as discussed under “—We depend on our collaborators and licensees for the future development and commercialization of some of our drug candidates. Conflicts may arise between our collaborators and licensees and us, or our collaborators and licensees may choose to terminate their agreements with us, which may adversely affect our business.” would affect potential future royalty and milestone and contract revenue.
RISKS RELATING TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND LEGAL MATTERS
If we are subject to arbitration, litigation and infringement claims, they could be costly and disrupt our drug discovery and development efforts.
The technology that we use to make and develop our drug products, the technology that we incorporate in our products, and the products we are developing may be subject to claims that they infringe the patents or proprietary rights of others. The success of our drug discovery and development efforts will also depend on our ability to develop new compounds, drugs and technologies without infringing or misappropriating the proprietary rights of others. We are aware of patents and patent applications filed in certain countries claiming intellectual property relating to some of our drug discovery targets and drug candidates. While the validity of issued patents, patentability of pending patent applications and applicability of any of them to our programs are uncertain, if any of these patents are asserted against us or if we choose to license any of these patents, our ability to commercialize our products could be harmed or the potential return to us from any product that may be successfully commercialized could be diminished.
From time to time we have received, and we may in the future receive, notices from third parties offering licenses to technology or alleging patent, trademark, or copyright infringement, claims regarding trade secrets or other contract claims. Receipt of these notices could result in significant costs as a result of the diversion of the attention of management from our drug discovery and development efforts. Parties sending these notices may have brought and in the future may bring litigation against us or seek arbitration relating to contract claims.
We may be involved in future lawsuits or other legal proceedings alleging patent infringement or other intellectual property rights or contract violations. In addition, litigation or other legal proceedings may be necessary to:
● assert claims of infringement;
● enforce our patents or trademarks;
● protect our trade secrets or know-how; or
We may be unsuccessful in defending or pursuing these lawsuits, claims or other legal proceedings. Regardless of the outcome, litigation or other legal proceedings can be very costly and can divert management’s efforts. An adverse determination may subject us to significant liabilities or require us or our collaborators or licensees to seek licenses to other parties’ patents or proprietary rights. We or our collaborators or licensees may also be restricted or prevented from manufacturing or selling a drug or other product that we or they develop. Further, we or our future collaborators or licensees
55
Table of Contents
may not be able to obtain any necessary licenses on acceptable terms, if at all. If we are unable to develop non-infringing technology or license technology on a timely basis or on reasonable terms, our business could be harmed.
We may be unable to adequately protect or enforce our proprietary information, which may result in its unauthorized use, a loss of revenue under a collaboration agreement or loss of sales to generic versions of our products or otherwise reduce our ability to compete in developing and commercializing products.
Our business and competitive position depends in significant part upon our ability to protect our proprietary technology, including any drug products that we create. Despite our efforts to protect this information, unauthorized parties may attempt to obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. For example, one of our collaborators may disclose proprietary information pertaining to our drug discovery efforts. In addition, while we have filed numerous patent applications with respect to ruxolitinib and our drug candidates in the United States and in foreign countries, our patent applications may fail to result in issued patents. In addition, because patent applications can take several years to issue as patents, there may be pending patent applications of others that may later issue as patents that cover some aspect of ruxolitinib and our drug candidates. Our existing patents and any future patents we may obtain may not be broad enough to protect our products or all of the potential uses of our products, or otherwise prevent others from developing competing products or technologies. In addition, our patents may be challenged and invalidated or may fail to provide us with any competitive advantages if, for example, others were first to invent or first to file a patent application for the technologies and products covered by our patents. As noted above under “—Risks Relating to Commercialization of Our Products—Competition for our products could potentially harm our business and result in a decrease in our revenue,” a potential generic drug company competitor has challenged certain patents relating to JAKAFI.
Additionally, when we do not control the prosecution, maintenance and enforcement of certain important intellectual property, such as a drug candidate in-licensed to us or subject to a collaboration with a third-party, the protection of the intellectual property rights may not be in our hands. If we do not control the intellectual property rights in-licensed to us with respect to a drug candidate and the entity that controls the intellectual property rights does not adequately protect those rights, our rights may be impaired, which may impact our ability to develop, market and commercialize the in-licensed drug candidate.
Our means of protecting our proprietary rights may not be adequate, and our competitors may:
● otherwise gain access to our proprietary information; or
● design around patents issued to us or our other intellectual property.
We pursue a policy of having our employees, consultants and advisors execute proprietary information and invention agreements when they begin working for us. However, these agreements may not provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets or other proprietary information in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure. If we fail to maintain trade secret and patent protection, our potential future revenues may be decreased.
If the effective term of our patents is decreased due to changes in the United States patent laws or if we need to refile some of our patent applications, the value of our patent portfolio and the revenues we derive from it may be decreased.
The value of our patents depends, in part, on their duration. A shorter period of patent protection could lessen the value of our rights under any patents that we obtain and may decrease the revenues we derive from our patents. The United States patent laws provide a term of patent protection of 20 years from the earliest effective filing date of the patent application. Because the time from filing to issuance of biotechnology applications may be more than three years depending on the subject matter, a 20-year patent term from the filing date may result in substantially shorter patent protection.
Additionally, United States patent laws were amended in 2011 with the enactment of the America Invents Act and third parties are now able to challenge the validity of issued U.S. patents through various review proceedings; thus rendering the validity of U.S. patents more uncertain. We may be obligated to participate in review proceedings to
56
Table of Contents
determine the validity of our U.S. patents. We cannot predict the ultimate outcome of these proceedings, the conduct of which could result in substantial costs and diversion of our efforts and resources. If we are unsuccessful in these proceedings some or all of our claims in the patents may be narrowed or invalidated and the patent protection for our products and drug candidates in the United States could be substantially shortened. Further, if all of the patents covering one of our products are invalidated, the FDA could approve requests to manufacture a generic version of that product prior to the expiration date of those patents.
Other changes in the United States patent laws or changes in the interpretation of patent laws could diminish the value of our patents or narrow the scope of our patent protection. For example, the Supreme Court of the United States resolved a split among the circuit courts of appeals regarding antitrust challenges to settlements of patent infringement lawsuits under the Hatch-Waxman Act between brand-name drug companies and generic drug companies. The Court rejected the “scope of the patent” test and ruled that settlements involving “reverse payments” from brand-name drug companies to generic drug companies should be analyzed under the rule of reason. This ruling may create uncertainty and make it more difficult to settle patent litigation if a company seeking to manufacture a generic version of one of our products challenges the patents covering that product prior to the expiration date of those patents.
International patent protection is particularly uncertain and costly, and our involvement in opposition proceedings in foreign countries may result in the expenditure of substantial sums and management resources.
Biotechnology and pharmaceutical patent law outside the United States is even more uncertain and costly than in the United States and is currently undergoing review and revision in many countries. Further, the laws of some foreign countries may not protect our intellectual property rights to the same extent as United States laws. For example, certain countries do not grant patent claims that are directed to the treatment of humans. We have participated, and may in the future participate, in opposition proceedings to determine the validity of our foreign patents or our competitors’ foreign patents, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of our efforts. Successful challenges to our patent or other intellectual property rights through these proceedings could result in a loss of rights in the relevant jurisdiction and allow third parties to use our proprietary technologies without a license from us or our collaborators, which may also result in loss of future royalty payments. In addition, successful challenges may jeopardize or delay our ability to enter into new collaborations or commercialize potential products, which could harm our business and results of operations.
RISKS RELATING TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND DATA PRIVACY
Significant disruptions of information technology systems, breaches of data security, or unauthorized disclosures of sensitive data or personally identifiable information or individually identifiable health information could adversely affect our business,and couldsubject us to liability or reputational damage.
Our business is increasingly dependent on critical, complex, and interdependent information technology (IT) systems, including Internet-based systems, some of which are managed or hosted by third parties, to support business processes as well as internal and external communications. The size and complexity of our IT systems make us potentially vulnerable to IT system breakdowns, malicious intrusion, and computer viruses, which may result in the impairment of our ability to operate our business effectively. In addition, having a significant portion of our employees work remotely due to the COVID-19 Pandemic can strain our information technology infrastructure, which may affect our ability to operate effectively, may make us more susceptible to communications disruptions, and expose us to greater cybersecurity risks.
We are continuously evaluating and, where appropriate, enhancing our IT systems to address our planned growth, including to support our planned manufacturing operations. There are inherent costs and risks associated with implementing the enhancements to our IT systems, including potential delays in access to, or errors in, critical business and financial information, substantial capital expenditures, additional administrative time and operating expenses, retention of sufficiently skilled personnel to implement and operate the enhanced systems, demands on management time, and costs of delays or difficulties in transitioning to the enhanced systems, any of which could harm our business and results of operations. In addition, the implementation of enhancements to our IT systems may not result in productivity improvements at a level that outweighs the costs of implementation, or at all. In addition, our systems and the systems of our third-party providers and collaborators are potentially vulnerable to data security breaches which may expose sensitive
57
Table of Contents
data to unauthorized persons or to the public. Such data security breaches could lead to the loss of confidential information, trade secrets or other intellectual property, could lead to the public exposure of personal information (including personally identifiable information or individually identifiable health information) of our employees, clinical trial patients, customers, business partners, and others, could lead to potential identity theft, or could lead to reputational harm. Data security breaches could also result in loss of clinical trial data or damage to the integrity of that data. In addition, the increased use of social media by our employees and contractors could result in inadvertent disclosure of sensitive data or personal information, including but not limited to, confidential information, trade secrets and other intellectual property.
Any such disruption or security breach, as well as any action by us or our employees or contractors that might be inconsistent with the rapidly evolving data privacy and security laws and regulations applicable within the United States and elsewhere where we conduct business, could result in enforcement actions by U.S. states, the U.S. Federal government or foreign governments, liability or sanctions under data privacy laws, including healthcare laws such as HIPAA, that protect certain types of sensitive information, regulatory penalties, other legal proceedings such as but not limited to private litigation, the incurrence of significant remediation costs, disruptions to our development programs, business operations and collaborations, diversion of management efforts and damage to our reputation, which could harm our business and operations. Because of the rapidly moving nature of technology and the increasing sophistication of cybersecurity threats, our measures to prevent, respond to and minimize such risks may be unsuccessful.
In addition, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union has adopted a comprehensive general data privacy regulation, known as the GDPR, which governs the collection and use of personal data in the European Union. The GDPR, which is wide-ranging in scope, imposes several requirements relating to the consent of the individuals to whom the personal data relates, the information provided to the individuals, the security and confidentiality of the personal data, data breach notification and the use of third party processors in connection with the processing of the personal data. The GDPR also imposes strict rules on the transfer of personal data out of the European Union to the United States, provides an enforcement authority and imposes large penalties for noncompliance, including the potential for fines of up to €20 million or 4% of the annual global revenues of the infringer, whichever is greater. Moreover, the European Court of Justice in July 2020 invalidated the Privacy Shield framework that had been in place between the European Union and the United States, which invalidation has created uncertainty about how data can now be shared in a compliant manner. Additionally, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) affords a private right of action to such consumers if certain data breaches result in the loss or theft of their personal information. The GDPR, CCPA and other similar laws or regulations enacted in the United States or other jurisdictions associated with the enhanced protection of certain types of sensitive data, including healthcare data or other personal information, may increase our costs of doing business, and the differing requirements of these laws and regulations can complicate our compliance efforts.
Increasing use of social media could give rise to liability, breaches of data security, or reputational damage.
We and our employees are increasingly utilizing social media tools as a means of communication both internally and externally. Despite our efforts to monitor evolving social media communication guidelines and comply with applicable rules, there is risk that the use of social media by us or our employees to communicate about our products or business may cause us to be found in violation of applicable requirements. In addition, our employees may knowingly or inadvertently make use of social media in ways that may not comply with our social media policy or other legal or contractual requirements, which may give rise to liability, lead to the loss of trade secrets or other intellectual property, or result in public exposure of personal information of our employees, clinical trial patients, customers, and others. Furthermore, negative posts or comments about us or our products in social media could seriously damage our reputation, brand image, and goodwill.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Item 2. Properties
Our global headquarters is in Wilmington, Delaware, which is where our principal drug discovery and development operations are also located. We own two buildings comprising approximately 344,000 square feet of
58
Table of Contents
laboratory and office space at this site. In March 2017, we acquired additional adjacent buildings and in 2019, began demolition of these buildings and construction of a new laboratory and office building totaling approximately 200,000 square feet. The construction of this building is currently expected to be completed in the second half of 2021. Also in October 2019, we entered into an agreement to purchase additional adjacent property for $50.0 million to expand our global headquarters. Under that agreement, closing of the purchase is subject to certain standard closing conditions, including an initial diligence period and a subsequent approval period.
We lease approximately 112,000 square feet of office space in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania and approximately 84,000 square feet of additional laboratory and office space in Wilmington, Delaware.
We conduct our international clinical development and commercial operations from our European office in Morges, Switzerland, our Japanese office in Tokyo and our Canadian office in Montreal. In July 2018, we purchased a parcel of land in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland upon which we are building a large molecule production facility. Construction commenced in July 2018 and we currently expect the facility will be operational in the second half of 2021.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
From time to time, we are party to legal proceedings in the course of our business. The outcome of any such proceedings, regardless of the merits, is inherently uncertain. Legal proceedings, including litigation, government investigations and enforcement actions, can result in significant costs and occupy significant management resources. We do not expect any such current legal proceedings to have a material adverse impact on our business or financial condition. Additional information regarding our current legal proceedings can be found in Note 16 of notes to our consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this report.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
Information about our Executive Officers
Our executive officers are as follows:
Hervé Hoppenot, age 61, joined Incyte as President and Chief Executive Officer and a Director, in January 2014 and was appointed Chairman of the Board in May 2015. Mr. Hoppenot served as the President of Novartis Oncology, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, the U.S. subsidiary of Novartis AG, a pharmaceutical company, from January 2010 to January 2014. Prior to that, Mr. Hoppenot served in other executive positions at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, serving from September 2006 to January 2010 as Executive Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer of Novartis Oncology and Head of Global Product Strategy & Scientific Development of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation and from 2003 to September 2006 as Senior Vice President, Head of Global Marketing of Novartis Oncology. Prior to joining Novartis, Mr. Hoppenot served in various increasingly senior roles at Aventis S.A. (formerly Rhône-Poulenc S.A.), a pharmaceutical company, including as Vice President Oncology US of Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2000 to 2003 and Vice President US Oncology Operations of Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 1998 to 2000. Mr. Hoppenot holds a Diploma from ESSEC International Business School. Mr. Hoppenot is also a director of Cellectis S.A.
Dashyant Dhanak, age 60, joined Incyte in December 2018 as Executive Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to joining Incyte, Dr. Dhanak served as Vice President and Head of Discovery Sciences of Janssen Research & Development, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, a pharmaceutical company, from 2013 until November 2018. Prior to his tenure at Janssen, Dr. Dhanak spent 25 years at GlaxoSmithKline, a pharmaceutical company, in positions of increased responsibility across multiple disease areas, including his last position as Vice President and Head of the Cancer Epigenetics Discovery Performance Unit. Dr. Dhanak received a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology and his Ph.D. from the University of London. He completed his postdoctoral research in natural product synthesis at Northwestern University.
59
Table of Contents
Jonathan E. Dickinson, age 53, has served as Executive Vice President and General Manager, Europe since June 2019 and joined Incyte as Senior Vice President and General Manager, Europe in June 2016. Mr. Dickinson joined Incyte from ARIAD Pharmaceuticals (Luxembourg) S.à.r.l, the parent company of ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s European subsidiaries responsible for the development and commercialization of Iclusig in the European Union and other countries, where he most recently held the position of Senior Vice President and General Manager, Europe. Prior to joining ARIAD in February 2013, Mr. Dickinson served as European oncology brand lead at Bristol-Myers Squibb, a pharmaceutical company, and before that, he held several key leadership positions, including lifecycle leader, during his 13-year tenure at Hoffmann-La Roche, a pharmaceutical company. At Roche, he had assignments both in the United States and Switzerland that included leadership roles for Roche’s three leading oncology medicines. Mr. Dickinson began his career at Novartis, where he held commercial roles in its oncology and endocrinology businesses, including medical sales, product manager and business director in the United Kingdom. Mr. Dickinson received a B.S. in Genetics and an M.B.A. from the University of Nottingham.
Barry P. Flannelly, age 63, has served as Executive Vice President and General Manager, NA since June 2015 and joined Incyte as Executive Vice President, Business Development and Strategic Planning in August 2014. Prior to joining Incyte, he served as Chief Executive Officer of OSS Healthcare Inc., a biotechnology start-up company, from August 2013 to July 2014. He served as Vice President, Global Product Strategy and Commercial Planning of Nektar Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company, from April 2011 until April 2013, and as Senior Vice President, Commercial, of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, from August 2008 until January 2011. Prior thereto, Dr. Flannelly held key positions at biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical companies such as Abraxis BioScience, Inc. and Novartis. Dr. Flannelly earned his doctorate in pharmacy from the University of Maryland, School of Pharmacy, his master’s degree in business administration from the University of Baltimore, and his B.S. degree in Pharmacy from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy.
Vijay Iyengar, age 48, joined Incyte in May 2016 as Executive Vice President, Global Strategy and Corporate Development. Prior to joining Incyte, from April 2014 to April 2016, he was the President of Genoptix Corporation, a Novartis Company. From December 2011 to March 2014, he was the Vice President and Rare Diseases Franchise Head at Novartis Oncology and from July 2009 to December 2011, he was the Vice President and Oncology General Manager of Novartis Greece. From October 2007 to June 2009, he was the Global Brand Executive Director at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, and from January 2006 to October 2007, he was the Global Brand Director, Oncology at Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Iyengar received his B.S. degree in Biology from Stanford University and earned his M.D. from Harvard Medical School.
Michael Morrissey, age 57, has served as Executive Vice President and Head of Global Technical Operations since June 2019 and joined Incyte in January 2016 as Corporate Senior Vice President and Head of Global Technical Operations. He has more than 30 years of global pharmaceutical industry experience through his prior positions in Research and Development, Quality Assurance, and Manufacturing. From February 2005 until joining Incyte, Mr. Morrissey worked at Celgene International, a subsidiary of Celgene Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, where he last served as Corporate Vice President, Head of International Technical Operations. Prior to Celgene, he worked for Roche for 15 years in various positions. Mr. Morrissey received a B.Sc. in Physics and Applied Mathematics from the University of London, United Kingdom.
Maria E. Pasquale, age 55, joined Incyte in April 2018 as Executive Vice President and General Counsel. Prior to joining Incyte, Ms. Pasquale joined Incyte from Celgene Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, where for 17 years she held positions of increasing levels of responsibility, including Chief Counsel; Senior Vice President, Legal and Deputy General Counsel and Assistant Corporate Secretary, and, most recently, Executive Vice President and Global Chief Compliance Officer. Prior to her tenure at Celgene, Ms. Pasquale spent a decade supporting pharmaceutical clients as a global patent and litigation attorney at Pennie & Edmonds LLP in New York (now part of Jones Day). Before her career in law, Ms. Pasquale was an Assistant Research Scientist at the Institute for Basic Research and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Ms. Pasquale holds a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School and a B.S. in biochemistry from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Christiana Stamoulis, age 50, joined Incyte in February 2019 as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Incyte, she served as President from February 2018 until January 2019 and Chief Financial Officer
60
Table of Contents
from January 2015 to January 2019 of Unum Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. From January 2014 until she joined Unum, Ms. Stamoulis was an independent advisor to biopharmaceutical companies. From 2009 until December 2013, Ms. Stamoulis was a Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Business Development at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. Prior to joining Vertex, Ms. Stamoulis spent nearly 15 years in the investment banking and management consulting industries. She was a Managing Director in the Investment Banking division of Citigroup and, prior to that, she was a senior investment banker in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group of Goldman, Sachs & Co., where she spent the majority of her investment banking career. Ms. Stamoulis started her career as a strategy consultant at The Boston Consulting Group. Ms. Stamoulis holds two B.S. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and an M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Steven Stein, age 54, has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer since May 2016 and joined Incyte as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer in March 2015. Prior to joining Incyte, from May 2011 to February 2015, he was the Senior Vice President, US Clinical Development & Medical Affairs at Novartis Pharmaceuticals. From February 2004 to April 2011, Dr. Stein was the Vice President, Global Oncology, Clinical Development and the Head of Medicines Development for Hematology and Supportive Care for GlaxoSmithKline. Dr. Stein held a post-doctoral fellowship in hematology/oncology at the University of Pennsylvania from 1998 to 2001, and earned his M.D. from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1990.
Paula J. Swain, age 63, has served as Executive Vice President, Human Resources since August 2002 and joined Incyte as Senior Vice President of Human Resources in January 2002. Ms. Swain served as Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company from October 2001 to January 2002, after it acquired DuPont Pharmaceuticals Company. From July 1998 to October 2001, Ms. Swain was Senior Vice President of Human Resources at DuPont Pharmaceuticals. From October 1992 to July 1998, Ms. Swain held a variety of human resources positions of increasing responsibility at DuPont Pharmaceuticals. Ms. Swain received her B.A. in Psychology and Industrial Relations from Rockhurst University.
Wenqing Yao, age 58, has served as Executive Vice President, Head of Discovery Chemistry since October 2014. Dr. Yao joined Incyte as Director, Chemistry in February 2002 and held roles of increasing responsibility at Incyte. Prior to joining Incyte, Dr. Yao held scientific research positions with DuPont Pharmaceuticals and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company from 1996 to 2002. Dr. Yao received his B.S. in chemistry from Xuzhou Normal University, his M.S. in organic chemistry from NanKai University and his Ph.D. in organic/medicinal chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania.
PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Our common stock, $.001 par value per share, is traded on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “INCY.” As of December 31, 2020, our common stock was held by 122 stockholders of record. We have never declared or paid dividends on our capital stock and do not anticipate paying any dividends in the foreseeable future.
61
Table of Contents
Item 6. Selected Financial Data
Selected Consolidated Financial Data
(in thousands, except per share data)
The data set forth below should be read in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included in Item 7 and the Consolidated Financial Statements and related Notes included in Item 8 of this Report.
Year Ended December 31,
Consolidated Statements of Operations Data:
Revenues:
Other revenues — — 203 113 92
Costs and expenses:
Collaboration loss sharing 42,801 — — — —
Expense related to senior note conversions — — — (54,881) —
Net income (loss) per share:
62
Table of Contents
December 31,
Consolidated Balance Sheets Data:
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with “Selected Consolidated Financial Data” and the Consolidated Financial Statements and related Notes included elsewhere in this Report.
A discussion of our financial performance for the year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2019 appears below under the captions “Results of Operations” and “Liquidity and Capital Resources.” A discussion of our financial performance for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to the year ended December 31, 2018 can be found under the same captions in Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, filed with the SEC on February 13, 2020, which is available free of charge on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and our Investor Relations website at investor.incyte.com/financial-information/annual-reports. These website addresses are intended to be inactive, textual references only. None of the materials on, or accessible through, these websites are part of this report or are incorporated by reference herein.
Overview
Incyte is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of proprietary therapeutics. Our global headquarters is located in Wilmington, Delaware. We conduct our international clinical development and commercial operations from our European office in Morges, Switzerland, our Japanese office in Tokyo and our Canadian office in Montreal. Our portfolio includes compounds in various stages, ranging from preclinical to late stage development, and commercialized products JAKAFI (ruxolitinib), ICLUSIG (ponatinib), PEMAZYRE (pemigatinib) and MONJUVI (tafasitamab-cxix) which is co-commercialized with MorphoSys.
63
Table of Contents
Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Our Business
In December 2019, coronavirus disease of 2019, or COVID-19, was first reported in Wuhan, China. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic (“the COVID-19 Pandemic”) and certain governments, including the State of Delaware where our primary offices and laboratory spaces are located, enacted stay-at-home orders and sweeping restrictions to travel and business activity were initiated by corporations and governments.
We took aggressive, proactive actions early on to protect the health of our employees, and their families, including voluntarily requiring almost all personnel across our global enterprise to work remotely and restricting access to our sites to personnel who were required to perform critical business continuity activities. In May 2020, we initiated a return to full laboratory work at our facilities in Wilmington, Delaware, as well as a gradual return to office-based working, where allowed under local guidelines, at our offices in North America, Europe and Asia.
While we currently believe we are well-positioned to function in a hybrid on-site and virtual or remote fashion, the extent of the COVID-19 Pandemic’s effect on our operational and financial performance will depend on future developments, including the duration, spread and intensity of the pandemic, protective measures, and the reimposition of protective measures, implemented by governmental authorities or by us to protect our employees, and effects of the pandemic and such protective measures on our suppliers, collaborators, services providers and healthcare organizations serving patients, all of which are uncertain and difficult to predict considering the rapidly evolving landscape. As a result, it is not currently possible to ascertain or predict the overall long-term impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on our business.
To date, we have not experienced a material effect on the results of our commercial operations, or our manufacturing supply chain, and we have increased manufacturing efforts of ruxolitinib to respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic and to pre-clinical and clinical study requests. New patient starts for JAKAFI treatment decreased as a result of shelter in place and other protective measures, and if decreases in new patient starts occur in future periods, our revenues in future periods could be adversely affected. We continue to anticipate that short-term effects may continue to emerge across different aspects of our global clinical trial programs. For example, while we expect ongoing monitoring of already-enrolled patients to continue, difficulties in monitoring may result as a consequence of shelter in place orders and other protective measures implemented by governmental authorities or clinical trial sites. In addition, new patient recruitment in certain clinical trials has been and may in the future be impacted, in particular with respect to our earlier stage clinical trials. We also expect the conduct of clinical trials may continue to vary by disease state and by severity of disease, as well as by geography, as some regions are more adversely impacted. Until our return to full laboratory work, our discovery laboratories were staffed by essential personnel, and hence certain discovery programs experienced delays. Still, we caution that the duration and severity of the continuing COVID-19 Pandemic remains uncertain and we may not yet be able to assess its consequences accurately or fully at this time.
Regulatory Achievements
In April 2020, PEMAZYRE (pemigatinib), a selective fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitor, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of adults with previously treated, unresectable locally advanced or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma with an FGFR2 fusion or other rearrangement as detected by an FDA-approved test. PEMAZYRE is the first and only FDA-approved treatment for this indication, which was approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate and duration of response. We have retained all rights to PEMAZYRE globally, other than those granted to Innovent Biologics, Inc. to develop and commercialize pemigatinib in hematology and oncology in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
In May 2020, under our collaboration agreement with Novartis International Pharmaceutical Ltd., the FDA approved TABRECTA (capmatinib) for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have a mutation that leads to MET exon 14 skipping (METex14) as detected by an FDA-approved test. TABRECTA is the first and only treatment approved to specifically target NSCLC with this driver mutation and is approved for first-line and previously treated patients regardless of prior treatment type. In June 2020, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare granted marketing approval for TABRECTA for METex14 mutation-positive advanced and/or recurrent unresectable NSCLC.
64
Table of Contents
In July 2020, under our collaboration and license agreement with MorphoSys AG, we received FDA approval of MONJUVI (tafasitamab-cxix), in combination with lenalidomide for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) not otherwise specified, including DLBCL arising from low grade lymphoma, and who are not eligible for autologous stem cell transplant. We have rights to co-commercialize tafasitamab in the United States with MorphoSys, and we have exclusive development and commercialization rights outside of the United States.
In October 2020, under our collaboration agreement with Eli Lilly and Company, the European Commission approved OLUMIANT (baricitinib) for the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis in adult patients who are candidates for systemic therapy and in December 2020, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) approved OLUMIANT for the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis in adult patients who are candidates for systemic therapy.
License Agreements and Business Relationships
We establish business relationships, including collaborative arrangements with other companies and medical research institutions to assist in the clinical development and/or commercialization of certain of our drugs and drug candidates and to provide support for our research programs. We also establish business relationships with other companies and medical research institutions to acquire products or rights to products and technologies that are complementary to our business. Below summarizes the significant achievements under our existing collaboration and license agreements and additional agreements we entered into during the year ended December 31, 2020.
Novartis
In May 2020, we recognized a $25.0 million development milestone and a $45.0 million regulatory milestone for the FDA approval of capmatinib as TABRECTA. In June 2020, we recognized a $20.0 million regulatory milestone for the MHLW approval of TABRECTA. In December 2020, we recognized a $80.0 million sales milestone for Novartis achieving annual net sales of a JAK licensed product of $1.2 billion. Exclusive of the upfront payment of $150.0 million received in 2009 and the immediate milestone of $60.0 million earned in 2010, we have recognized and received, in the aggregate, $157.0 million for the achievement of development milestones, $280.0 million for the achievement of regulatory milestones and $200.0 million for the achievement of sales milestones through December 31, 2020.
Lilly
In October 2020, we recognized a $20.0 million regulatory milestone for the European Commission approval of OLUMIANT and in December 2020, we recognized a $10.0 million regulatory milestone for the MHLW approval of OLUMIANT for the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis in adult patients who are candidates for systemic therapy. Exclusive of the upfront payment of $90.0 million received in 2009, we have recognized and received, in the aggregate, $149.0 million for the achievement of development milestones and $265.0 million for the achievement of regulatory milestones through December 31, 2020.
MorphoSys
In January 2020, we entered into a Collaboration and License Agreement with MorphoSys AG and MorphoSys US Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of MorphoSys AG, covering the worldwide development and commercialization of MOR208 (tafasitamab), an investigational Fc engineered monoclonal antibody directed against the target molecule CD19. Under the terms of the agreement, we received exclusive commercialization rights outside of the United States and MorphoSys and we have co-commercialization rights in the United States, with respect to tafasitamab. We and MorphoSys have agreed to co-develop tafasitamab and to share development costs associated with global and U.S.-specific clinical trials, with Incyte responsible for 55% of such costs and MorphoSys responsible for 45% of such costs. In March 2020, we paid MorphoSys an upfront non-refundable payment of $750.0 million and, under a related agreement, purchased American Depositary Shares (ADSs) of MorphoSys for an aggregate purchase price of $150.0 million. Of the $150.0 million aggregate purchase price paid for the ADSs, $95.5 million was allocated to our stock purchase in MorphoSys and was recorded within long term investments and $54.5 million, representing the premium paid on the purchase, was
65
Table of Contents
allocated to research and development expense. MorphoSys is eligible to receive up to $740.0 million in future contingent development and regulatory milestones and up to $315.0 million in commercialization milestones as well as tiered royalties ranging from the mid-teens to mid-twenties of net sales outside of the United States.
Nimble
In September 2020, we entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Nimble Therapeutics, Inc. Under the terms of this agreement, Nimble will utilize their peptide synthesis, screening and optimization platform for discovery and validation of peptides against specified targets. Under the agreement, Nimble is eligible to receive up to $8.0 million in future contingent discovery milestones and up to $127.0 million in future contingent development and regulatory milestones. Additionally, in the event of successful commercialization, Nimble is eligible to receive up to $130.0 million in future contingent sales milestones and tiered royalty payments in the low single digits.
Additional information regarding our collaboration agreements, including their financial and accounting impact on our business and results of operations, can be found in Note 6 of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Estimates
The preparation of financial statements requires us to make estimates, assumptions and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates. We base our estimates on historical experience and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form our basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from those estimates under different assumptions or conditions. We believe the following critical accounting policies reflect the more significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements. See Note 1 of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a complete list of our significant accounting policies.
Revenue Recognition. We recognize revenue only when we have satisfied a performance obligation through transferring control of the promised good or service to a customer in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to receive in exchange for those goods or services. We apply the following five-step model in order to determine this amount: (i) identification of the promised goods or services in the contract; (ii) determination of whether the promised goods or services are performance obligations, including whether they are distinct in the context of the contract; (iii) measurement of the transaction price, including the constraint on variable consideration; (iv) allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations; and (v) recognition of revenue when (or as) the Company satisfies each performance obligation, which for the Company is generally at a point in time. We also assess collectability based primarily on the customer’s payment history and on the creditworthiness of the customer.
Product Revenues
Our product revenues consist of U.S. sales of JAKAFI and PEMAZYRE and European sales of ICLUSIG. Product revenues are recognized once we satisfy the performance obligation at a point in time under the revenue recognition criteria as described above. We recognize revenues for product received by our customers net of allowances for customer credits, including estimated rebates, chargebacks, discounts, returns, distribution service fees, patient assistance programs, and government rebates, such as Medicare Part D coverage gap reimbursements in the United States. These sales allowances and accruals are recorded based on estimates which are described in detail below. Estimates are assessed as of the end of each reporting period and are updated to reflect current information. We believe that our sales allowances and accruals are reasonable and appropriate based on current facts and circumstances. Changes in estimates for sales allowances and accruals for product shipped in prior periods have resulted in immaterial adjustments to product revenues.
Customer Credits: Our customers are offered various forms of consideration, including allowances, service fees and prompt payment discounts. We expect our customers will earn prompt payment discounts and, therefore, we deduct the full amount of these discounts from total product sales when revenues are recognized. Service fees are also deducted
66
Table of Contents
from total product sales as they are earned.
Rebates and Discounts: We accrue rebates for mandated discounts under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program in the United States and mandated discounts in Europe in markets where government-sponsored healthcare systems are the primary payers for healthcare. These accruals are based on statutory discount rates and expected utilization as well as historical data we have accumulated since product launch. Our estimates for expected utilization of rebates are based on data received from our customers. Rebates are generally invoiced and paid in arrears so that the accrual balance consists of an estimate of the amount expected to be incurred for the current quarter’s activity, plus an accrual balance for known prior quarters’ unpaid rebates. If actual future rebates vary from estimates, we may need to adjust prior period accruals, which would affect revenue in the period of adjustment.
Chargebacks: Chargebacks are discounts that occur when certain contracted customers purchase directly from our wholesalers at a discounted price. The wholesalers, in turn, charges back to us the difference between the price initially paid by the wholesalers and the discounted price paid by the contracted customers. In addition to actual chargebacks received, we maintain an accrual for chargebacks based on the estimated contractual discounts on the inventory levels on hand in our distribution channel. If actual future chargebacks vary from these estimates, we may need to adjust prior period accruals, which would affect revenue in the period of adjustment.
Medicare Part D Coverage Gap: Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit mandates manufacturers to fund 70% of the Medicare Part D insurance coverage gap for prescription drugs sold to eligible patients. Our estimates for the expected Medicare Part D coverage gap are based on historical invoices received and in part from data received from our customers. Funding of the coverage gap is generally invoiced and paid in arrears so that the accrual balance consists of an estimate of the amount expected to be incurred for the current quarter’s activity, plus an accrual balance for known prior quarters. If actual future funding varies from estimates, we may need to adjust prior period accruals, which would affect revenue in the period of adjustment. Additionally, beginning in January 2020, the amount of spending required by eligible patients in the Medicare Part D insurance coverage gap increased 30% due to the expiration of a provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which now results in a change in the True Out of Pocket (TrOOP) calculation methodology. The methodological change has resulted in an increase in required spending by patients and, in turn, an increase in manufacturers’ contributions on behalf of patients in the Medicare Part D insurance coverage gap.
Co-payment Assistance: Patients who have commercial insurance and meet certain eligibility requirements may receive co-payment assistance. We accrue a liability for co-payment assistance based on actual program participation and estimates of program redemption using data provided by third-party administrators.
Product Royalty Revenues
Royalty revenues on commercial sales for JAKAVI and TABRECTA by Novartis are estimated based on information provided by Novartis. Royalty revenues on commercial sales for OLUMIANT by Lilly are estimated based on information provided by Lilly. We exercise judgment in determining whether the information provided is sufficiently reliable for us to base our royalty revenue recognition thereon. If actual royalties vary from estimates, we may need to adjust the prior period, which would affect royalty revenue and receivable in the period of adjustment.
Milestone and Contract Revenues
At the inception of a contract, we determine the transaction price, in addition to any upfront payment, by estimating the amount of variable consideration, including milestone payments, at the outset of the contract utilizing the most likely amount method. Our contractual milestones typically relate to the achievement of pre-specified development, regulatory and commercialization events outside of our control, such as regulatory approval of a compound, first patient dosing or achievement of sales-based thresholds. We include milestones in the transaction price only to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal in the amount of cumulative revenue recognized will not occur when the uncertainty associated with the milestone is subsequently resolved. Given the high level of uncertainty of achievement, variable consideration associated with milestones are fully constrained until confirmation of the satisfaction or completion of the milestone by the third-party. We review our estimate of the transaction price each period, and make revisions to such estimates as necessary.
67
Table of Contents
Stock Compensation. Share-based payment transactions with employees, which include stock options, restricted stock units (RSUs) and performance shares (PSUs), are recognized as compensation expense over the requisite service period based on their estimated fair values at the date of grant as well as expected forfeiture rates based on actual experience. The stock compensation process requires significant judgment and the use of estimates, particularly surrounding Black-Scholes assumptions such as stock price volatility over the option term and expected option lives, as well as expected forfeiture rates and the probability of PSUs vesting. The fair value of stock options, which are subject to graded vesting, are recognized as compensation expense over the requisite service period using the accelerated attribution method. The fair value of RSUs that are subject to cliff vesting are recognized as compensation expense over the requisite service period using the straight-line attribution method, and the fair value of RSUs that are subject to graded vesting are recognized as compensation expense over the requisite service period using the accelerated attribution method. The fair value of PSUs are recognized as compensation expense beginning at the time in which the performance conditions are deemed probable of achievement. We assess the probability of achievement of performance conditions, including projected product revenues and clinical development milestones, as of the end of each reporting period. Once a performance condition is considered probable, we record compensation expense based on the portion of the service period elapsed to date with respect to that award, with a cumulative catch-up, net of estimated forfeitures, and recognize any remaining compensation expense, if any, over the remaining requisite service period using the straight-line attribution method for PSUs that are subject to cliff vesting and using the accelerated attribution method for PSUs that are subject to graded vesting.
Income Taxes. We account for income taxes using an asset and liability approach to financial accounting for income taxes. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the difference between the financial statement carrying amounts and tax bases of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect for years in which the basis differences are expected to reverse. We periodically assess the likelihood of the realization of deferred tax assets, and reduce the carrying amount of these deferred tax assets to an amount that is considered to be more-likely-than-not to be realizable. Our assessment considers recent cumulative earnings experience, projections of future taxable income (losses) and ongoing prudent and feasible tax planning strategies. When performing our assessment on projections of future taxable income (losses), we consider factors such as the likelihood of regulatory approval and commercial success of products currently under development, among other factors. Significant judgment is required in making this assessment and, to the extent that a reversal of any portion of our valuation allowance against our deferred tax assets is deemed appropriate, a tax benefit will be recognized against our income tax provision in the period of such reversal.
We recognize the tax benefit from an uncertain tax position only if it is more-likely-than-not that the position will be sustained upon examination by the taxing authorities, including resolutions of any related appeals or litigation processes, based on the technical merits of the position. The tax benefit that is recorded for these positions is measured at the largest amount of benefit that is greater than 50 percent likely of being realized upon ultimate settlement. We adjust the level of the liability to reflect any subsequent changes in the relevant facts surrounding the uncertain positions. Any interest and penalties on uncertain tax positions are included within the tax provision.
We record estimates and prepare and file tax returns in various jurisdictions across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia based upon our interpretation of local tax laws and regulations. While we exercise significant judgment when applying complex tax laws and regulations in these various taxing jurisdictions, many of our tax returns are open to audit, and may be subject to future tax, interest, and penalty assessments.
We believe our estimates for the valuation allowances against certain deferred tax assets and the amount of benefits associated with uncertain tax positions recognized in our financial statements are appropriate based upon our assessment of the factors mentioned above.
Acquisition-related contingent consideration. Acquisition-related contingent consideration, which consists of our future royalty obligations to ARIAD/Takeda, was recorded on the acquisition date at the estimated fair value of the obligation, in accordance with the acquisition method of accounting. The fair value of the contingent consideration was determined using an income approach based on estimated ICLUSIG revenues in the European Union and other countries. As the fair value measurement is based on significant inputs that are unobservable in the market, this represents a Level 3 measurement.
68
Table of Contents
The fair value of the acquisition-related contingent consideration is remeasured each reporting period, with changes in fair value recorded in the consolidated statements of operations. The assumptions used to determine the fair value of the acquisition-related contingent consideration include projected ICLUSIG revenues and a discount rate which, require significant judgement and are analyzed on a quarterly basis. While we use the best available information to prepare our projected ICLUSIG revenues and discount rate assumptions, actual ICLUSIG revenues and/or market conditions could differ significantly. Changes to one or multiple inputs could have a material impact on the amount of acquisition-related contingent consideration expense recorded during the reporting period.
Results of Operations
Years Ended December 31, 2020 and 2019