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IOVA US Equity

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc.Health Care · Biological Products, (No Diagnostic Substances) · CIK 1425205 · FY ends Dec 31
$7.99
+0.96 (+13.66%)
USD · as of 2026-08-19 · marketstack

IOVA · 10-K · period ended 2020-12-31

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filed 2021-02-25 · EDGAR original ↗

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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis of our results of operations and financial condition should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and the notes to those financial statements that are included elsewhere in this report. Our discussion includes forward-looking statements based upon current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties, such as our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those set forth under the “Business” section and elsewhere in this report. We use words such as “may,” “will,” “might,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “anticipate,”“believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “project,” “aim,” “potential,” “continue,” “ongoing,” “goal,” “forecast,” “guidance,” “outlook,” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. All forward-looking statements included in this report are based on information

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available to us on the date hereof and, except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.

Overview

We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of cell therapies as novel cancer immunotherapy products designed to harness the power of a patient’s own immune system to eradicate cancer cells. TIL therapy is an autologous cell therapy platform technology that was originally developed by the NCI, which conducted initial clinical trials of this therapy in diseases such as metastatic melanoma and cervical cancer. We have developed a new, shorter manufacturing process for TIL known as Gen 2, which yields a cryopreserved TIL product. This proprietary and scalable manufacturing method is being investigated in multiple indications. Our lead product candidates include lifileucel for metastatic melanoma and metastatic cervical cancer. In addition to metastatic melanoma and metastatic cervical cancer, we are investigating the effectiveness and safety of TIL for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, non-small cell lung cancer, and are investigating PBL therapy for CLL or SLL through our sponsored trials, as well as in other oncology indications through collaborations.

We are conducting a Phase 2 clinical trial, C-144-01, of our lead product candidate, lifileucel, for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. This multicenter pivotal trial enrolled melanoma patients with disease progression following treatment with at least one systemic therapy, including a PD-1 inhibitor and if BRAF mutated, a BRAF inhibitor, or a combination of BRAF and MEK inhibitors. Cohort 4 of the C-144-01 clinical trial is a single-arm cohort intended to support a BLA submission for lifileucel. Cohorts 2 and 4 of the C-144-01 trial use our Gen 2 manufacturing process. We completed and closed enrollment of patients into Cohort 2 of the C-144-01 trial in 2018. Results from Cohort 2 of the C-144-01 clinical trial were initially reported at the ASCO annual meeting on June 1, 2019 and subsequently updated at the ASCO annual meeting on May 29, 2020. In 66 patients with metastatic melanoma, treatment with lifileucel resulted in an ORR of 36%, as assessed by investigator, with 2 complete responses and 22 partial responses. The DCR was 80.3%. Patients were heavily pretreated and had a mean of 3.3 prior therapies. We have reported durable responses across a wide age range of metastatic melanoma patients, and among those who have received prior anti-CTLA-4 and BRAF targeted treatments, regardless of BRAF mutation status, and equally in patients with PD-L1 high and low status. We have provided several updates on the median DOR for Cohort 2 and most recently, in January 2021, we announced that median DOR in Cohort 2 had still not been reached after 28.1 months of median study follow up, as assessed by investigator. The adverse event profile was generally consistent with the underlying advanced disease and the profile of the lymphodepletion and IL-2 regimens.

Pivotal Cohort 4 of the C-144-01 trial was enrolled to evaluate ORR as read out by an IRC as the primary endpoint based on our interpretation of discussions with the FDA as part of an EOP2 meeting held with the FDA in the third quarter of 2018. In October 2018, based on the data provided to the FDA during the EOP2 meeting, we announced that lifileucel had received a RMAT designation from the FDA. Enrollment in Cohort 4 of the C-144-01 trial commenced in March 2019 and patient dosing was completed in January 2020. A total of 87 patients were dosed in Cohort 4. Initial results from Cohort 4 are available for 68 patients with two radiological assessments, as determined by investigator. Lifileucel showed a 32.4% ORR, including one complete response and 21 partial responses, two of which were yet to be confirmed with follow up visits at the time of the data cut, and a DCR of 72.1% as of the data cut off of March 16, 2020, corresponding to 5.3 months of median study follow up. This data is consistent with the Cohort 2 data read out at a similar median duration of study follow up. The ORR of Cohort 2 at a median study follow up of 6 months was 33%. In October 2020, after a Type B meeting with the FDA, we announced that we had delayed our BLA submission for lifileucel in metastatic melanoma as a result of FDA feedback, in order to allow us to simultaneously refine existing and develop new potency assays, and we anticipate submitting our BLA in 2021. At the same time, we also announced that we had reached agreement with the FDA on the minimum duration of follow up for Cohort 4 to support our BLA submission for lifileucel in the treatment of metastatic melanoma.

We are also conducting a Phase 2 clinical trial, C-145-04, which is a multicenter pivotal trial that will assess the safety and efficacy of lifileucel for the treatment of patients with recurrent, metastatic or persistent cervical cancer. In February 2019, lifileucel received Fast Track designation from the FDA for development in the treatment of cervical cancer with disease progression on or after chemotherapy. In March 2019, the protocol for this trial was amended to modify the primary endpoint of ORR to be determined by IRC. In May 2019, lifileucel received BTD from the FDA for development in the treatment of cervical cancer. Updated results from the C-145-04 clinical trial were reported at the ASCO annual meeting on June 1, 2019. In 27 patients with metastatic cervical cancer, treatment with lifileucel resulted in an ORR of 44%. At the time of the study data cut, there were 3 complete responses and 9 partial responses. The DCR was 85%. Patients were heavily pretreated and had a mean of 2.4 prior therapies. The median DOR had not been reached. The adverse event profile was generally consistent with the underlying advanced disease and the profile of the lymphodepletion and IL-2 regimens. Based on an EOP2 meeting held with the FDA in June 2019, we believe that results from the C-

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145-04 clinical trial may be sufficient to support registration of lifileucel for the treatment of patients with metastatic cervical cancer. In accordance with the FDA’s recommendations, the protocol was amended to further define the patient population. In November 2019, in order to evaluate lifileucel in broader lines of therapy in cervical cancer, we have further amended the C-145-04 trial to collect additional data on early-line patients as well as late-line patients by adding additional cohorts, in anticipation of a changing landscape in this indication, including Cohort 2 for patients that had previously received anti-PD-1 therapy. These additional cohorts also allow access to TIL therapy after completion of the enrollment in the registrational cohorts. In January 2021, we announced that Cohort 2 of the C-145-04 trial had completed enrollment and that data from this cohort may be supportive of registration because of the expected changing landscape of care for cervical patients. We intend to initiate a dialog with the FDA in 2021 to discuss BLA submission plans for lifileucel in cervical cancer.

In November 2020, we announced that we had finalized the protocol for our potential registrational clinical trial in NSCLC, IOV-LUN-202, to investigate LN-145 in patients with recurrent or metastatic NSCLC, without driver mutations, who previously received a single line of approved systemic therapy of combined checkpoint inhibitor and chemotherapy. The IOV-LUN-202 clinical trial includes three cohorts. Cohorts 1 and 3 of the IOV-LUN-202 clinical trial will enroll patients with a PD-L1 TPS of less than one percent, and Cohort 2 will enroll patients with a PD-L1 TPS of greater than or equal to one percent. We intend to enroll patients in the IOV-LUN-202 clinical trial throughout 2021.

C-145-03 is our Phase 2, multicenter trial to assess the safety and efficacy of our product candidate LN-145 for the treatment of patients with recurrent metastatic HNSCC. In October 2018, we reported that, to date, preliminary data for 13 patients in the C-145-03 clinical trial yielded an ORR of 31% with a DOR ranging from 2.8 to 7.6 months. The adverse event profile remained consistent with previous reports. We redesigned our C-145-03 trial to include multiple cohorts, in order to allow for dosing of TIL therapies produced by multiple manufacturing methods, including our Gen 2 manufacturing process, our Gen 3 manufacturing process, and our PD-1 selected TIL manufacturing process. Our PD-1 selected TIL manufacturing process results in a product that we refer to as LN-145-S1. In January 2021, we announced that we are closing the C-145-03 clinical trial after the trial reached its pre-specified enrollment target.

We are also investigating the potential of our TIL therapies in earlier lines of treatment and in combination with pembrolizumab, and are studying LN-145 as a monotherapy in relapsed refractory NSCLC patients. IOV-COM-202 is a Phase 2, multicenter trial that is composed of seven cohorts that can enroll up to a total of 135 patients. In May 2019, we reported that the first patient was dosed in the IOV-COM-202 trial. In addition to its ongoing enrollment in the U.S., the IOV-COM-202 trial has also received regulatory approval in Canada and in certain European countries. In Cohort 2A of the IOV-COM-202 trial, we are enrolling advanced, recurrent, or metastatic HNSCC patients who are naïve to prior immunotherapy including anti-PD-1/anti-PD-L1 therapy. The patients receive LN-145 in combination with pembrolizumab. We reported results from ongoing Cohort 2A of the IOV-COM-202 trial at the SITC meeting in November 2020, as follows. As of October 16, 2020, nine HNSCC patients have received LN-145 plus pembrolizumab with a median duration of follow up of 8.6 months. Nine and eight patients were evaluable for safety and efficacy, respectively. Four patients had a confirmed, objective response with an ORR of 44% including one complete response and three partial responses. Median DOR was not reached. The disease control rate at data cutoff was 89% in nine patients, and seven of the eight evaluable patients, or 87.5%, had a reduction in target lesions. The median number of prior therapies was 1.0 with 89% of the patients having received prior chemotherapy. Four patients were HPV positive, three patients were HPV negative, and two patients had unknown HPV status. The TEAE profile was consistent with the underlying advanced disease and the known adverse event profiles of pembrolizumab, lymphodepletion, and IL-2 regimens. The most common TEAEs, occurring in more than 50% of evaluable subjects, were chills, anemia, hypotension, nausea, pyrexia, and thrombocytopenia.

In November 2019, we announced that our IND for our PBL therapy, IOV-2001, was authorized by the FDA and our sponsored clinical trial using this therapy, IOV-CLL-01, was cleared to proceed. IOV-2001 is a non-genetically modified, polyclonal T cell product that is manufactured using a nine-day process from 50 mL of patient's blood. IOV-CLL-01 is a Phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of IOV-2001 in patients with relapsed or refractory CLL or SLL. The IOV-CLL-01 trial is expected to enroll up to approximately 70 patients.

As part of our collaboration program with MDACC, two Phase 2 trials were initiated in 2018. Both trials are sponsored by MDACC. The first trial, NCT03449108, is intended to allow for investigation of LN-145 manufactured by us using our manufacturing processes to treat patients with soft tissue sarcoma, osteosarcoma, platinum resistant ovarian cancer, and thyroid cancer. A second trial under the collaboration with MDACC, NCT03610490, is active as well. This trial is treating patients with platinum resistant ovarian cancer, pancreatic and colorectal cancer. This trial uses TIL manufactured by MDACC using urelumab, a 4-1BB agonistic antibody, as part of the manufacturing process. The data obtained using this manufacturing process may not be representative of our data using our Gen 2 manufacturing process.

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We are also collaborating with CHUM, Yale University, and Moffitt on investigator-sponsored clinical trials of TIL therapies in other indications. The clinical trials sponsored by CHUM and Moffitt use, or will use, TIL manufactured by different manufacturing processes, which may not be representative of our data using our Gen 2 manufacturing process.

Our current product candidate pipeline and selected investigator-sponsored proof-of-concept studies are summarized in the figure below:

We have developed a third-generation manufacturing process known as Gen 3. Gen 3 is a shorter process than Gen 2. We are using Gen 3 manufacturing in Cohort 1C of the IOV-COM-202 trial in melanoma and in Cohort 3 of the IOV-LUN-202 trial in NSCLC and have previously used it in the C-145-03 trial in HNSCC.

We currently own more than twenty granted or allowed U.S. and international patents for compositions and methods of treatment in a broad range of cancers relating to our Gen 2 manufacturing process, including U.S. Patent Nos. 10,130,659, 10,166,257, 10,272,113, 10,363,273, 10,398,734, 10,420,799, 10,463,697, 10,537,595, 10,646,517, 10,653,723, 10,693,330, 10,695,372, 10,894,063, and 10,905,718. We anticipate that the terms of these patents related to Gen 2 manufacturing processes will extend to January 2038, not including any patent term extensions or adjustments that may be available. Our owned and licensed intellectual property portfolio also includes patent applications relating to TIL, MIL, and PBL therapies; frozen tumor-based TIL technologies; remnant TIL and digest TIL compositions, methods and processes; methods of treatment of a broad range of cancers using TIL therapies; methods of manufacturing TIL, MIL, and PBL therapies; the use of costimulatory molecules in TIL therapy and manufacturing; stable and transient genetically-modified TIL therapies; methods of using immune checkpoint inhibitors in combination with TIL therapies; TIL selection technologies; and methods of treating patient subpopulations.

In January 2020, we obtained a license from Novartis to develop and commercialize an antibody cytokine engrafted protein, which we refer to as IOV-3001. Under the agreement, we paid an upfront payment to Novartis and may pay milestones involved in initiation of patient dosing in various phases of clinical development for IOV-3001 and approval of a potential product in the U.S., EU and Japan. Novartis is also entitled to low-to-mid single digit percentage royalties from commercial sales of IOV-3001. In addition, in January 2020, we announced a research collaboration and exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Cellectis, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing immunotherapies based on gene-edited allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor modified T cells, whereby we licensed certain TALEN technology from Cellectis in order to develop TIL that have been genetically edited to create potentially more potent cancer therapeutics. The worldwide exclusive license enables us to use TALEN technology addressing multiple gene targets to modify TIL for therapeutic use in several cancer indications. Financial terms of the license include

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development, regulatory and sales milestone payments from us to Cellectis, as well as royalty payments based on net sales of TALEN-modified TIL products.

Results of Operations for the Years Ended December 31, 2020 and 2019

Research and development activities are central to our business model. Product candidates in later stage of clinical development generally have higher development costs than those in earlier stages of clinical development, primarily due to the increased size and duration of later-stage clinical trials. As a clinical stage company that is currently engaged in the development of novel cancer immunotherapy products, we have not yet generated any revenues from our biotechnology business or otherwise since our formation. Our ability to generate revenues in the future will depend on our ability to complete the development of our product candidates and to obtain regulatory approval for them. Our major sources of funding to date have been proceeds from various public and private offerings of our equity securities (both common stock and preferred stock), option and warrant exercises, and interest income. Since 2017 our primary source of funds has been from the public sale of our common stock.

Revenues

We did not generate any revenues during the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and we currently do not anticipate that we will generate any significant revenues from the sale or licensing of our product candidates during the 12 month period from the date these financial statements are issued. Our ability to generate revenues in the future will depend on our ability to complete the development of our product candidates and to obtain regulatory approval for them.

Costs and expenses

Research and Development Expense (in thousands)

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​ ​ Years Ended December 31, ​ Increase (Decrease) ​

Research and development expense for the year ended December 31, 2020 increased by $35.7 million, or 22%, compared to the year ended December 31, 2019. The increase was primarily attributable to (i) a $20.9 million increase in payroll and related expenses driven by a higher number of full-time research and development employees and outside services, (ii) a $10.0 million increase for the license to further develop IOV-3001 obtained from Novartis, (iii) a $8.3 million increase in stock-based compensation expenses, and (iv) a $6.6 million increase in clinical trial costs due to an increase in enrollment across all the trials and initiation of new clinical trials. Further, a $0.8 million increase in research consumables cost contributed to the increase. These increases were partially offset by lower manufacturing costs by $9.1 million due to decreased production runs in 2020 as a result of completion of enrollment in the melanoma pivotal program and a $2.3 million decrease in research alliance expenses due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on patient enrollment in the clinical trials with our research alliance partners.

We expect our research and development expenses to increase over the next several years as we prepare for commercial manufacturing of our products and continue to conduct our clinical trials for other indications. However, it is difficult to determine with certainty the duration and completion costs of our current or future preclinical programs and clinical trials of our product candidates.

The duration, costs and timing of our clinical trials and development of our product candidates will depend on a number of factors that include, but are not limited to, the number of patients that enroll in the trial, per patient trial costs, number of sites included in the trial, discontinuation rates of patients, duration of patient follow-up, efficacy and safety profile of the product candidate, and the length of time required to enroll eligible patients. Additionally, the probability of success for our product candidate will depend on a number of factors, including competition, manufacturing capability and cost efficiency, and commercial viability.

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General and Administrative Expense (in thousands)

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​ ​ Years Ended December 31, ​ Increase (Decrease) ​

General and administrative expense for the year ended December 31, 2020 increased by $19.4 million, or 47%, compared to the year ended December 31, 2019. The increase was primarily attributable to (i) a $8.3 million increase in stock-based compensation expenses and a $7.1 million increase in payroll and related expenses driven by a higher number of full-time general and administrative employees and higher average stock price, (ii) a $2.1 million increase in director’s and officer’s insurance premiums, (iii) a $1.1 million increase in intellectual property legal costs, and (iv) a $1.1 million in market research activities as we prepare for commercialization. These increases were partially offset by a $0.7 million decrease in travel expenses.

General and administrative expenses include personnel costs for our employees engaged in general and administrative activities, legal fees, and expenses related to marketing and commercial activities, audit and tax fees, consultants and professional services, and general corporate expenses. We anticipate general and administrative expenses will increase in 2021 as we continue to prepare for commercialization, complete our manufacturing facility and support an expected increase in total headcount.

Interest Income (in thousands)

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​ ​ Years Ended December 31, Increase (Decrease) ​

Interest income results from our interest-bearing cash and investment balances. Net interest income decreased by $7.0 million, or 75%, due primarily to a decrease in interest rates in 2020 as compared to the same period in 2019.

Net Loss (in thousands)

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​ ​ Years Ended December 31, (Increase) Decrease ​

Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2020 increased by $62.0 million or 31%, compared to the year ended December 31, 2019. The increase in our net loss was due to the continued expansion of our research and development activities, increased clinical trials, and the overall growth of our corporate infrastructure. We anticipate that we will continue to incur net losses in the future as we further invest in our research and development activities, including our commercial readiness and clinical development.

Results of Operations for the Years Ended December 31, 2019 and 2018

Revenues

We did not generate any revenues during the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

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Costs and expenses

Research and Development Expense (in thousands)

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​ Years Ended December 31, Increase (Decrease)

Research and development expense for the year ended December 31, 2019 increased by $66.2 million, or 66%, compared to the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase was primarily attributable to (i) a $27.4 million increase in manufacturing costs due to increased production runs and additional manufacturing capacity costs to support the ongoing clinical trials, (ii) a $21.4 million increase in clinical trial costs due to an increase in the number of patients in the clinical trials and purchases of clinical trial drugs, and (iii) a $12.6 million increase in payroll and related expenses and $2.1 million increase in share-based compensation expenses driven by a higher number of full-time research and development employees and dedicated consultants as we expanded our internal research and clinical development programs in 2019.

General and Administrative Expense (in thousands)

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​ Years Ended December 31, Increase (Decrease)

General and administrative expense for the year ended December 31, 2019 increased by $12.4 million, or 44%, compared to the year ended December 31, 2018. The change was primarily attributable to a $3.8 million increase in payroll and related expenses, $2.2 million increase in stock-based compensation expenses driven by a higher number of full-time general and administrative employees, a $3.2 million increase in intellectual property legal costs and a $2.0 million increase in market research activities as we prepare for commercialization.

Interest Income (in thousands)

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​ Years Ended December 31, Increase (Decrease)

Interest income results from our interest-bearing cash and investment balances. Net interest income increased by $4.7 million due to the higher interest income earned from full-year short-term investments for a full-year as compared to the prior year when we started purchasing short-term investments during the second half of 2018. As our cash, cash equivalents and short term investment balance decrease, we anticipate interest income to decrease.

Net Loss (in thousands)

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​ Years Ended December 31, (Increase) Decrease

Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2019 increased by $74.0 million or 60%, compared to the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase in our net loss was due to the continued expansion of our research and development activities, increased clinical trials and manufacturing activities, and the overall growth of our corporate infrastructure.

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

We have incurred losses and generated negative cash flows from operations since inception. We expect to continue to incur significant losses in 2021 and may incur significant losses and negative cash flows from operations for the foreseeable future. Historically, we have funded our operations from various public and private offerings of our equity securities (both common stock and preferred stock), from option and warrant exercises, and from interest income. Since 2017, our primary source of funds has been from the public sale of our common stock.

Corporate Capitalization

As of December 31, 2020, we had outstanding 146,874,917 shares of our $0.000041666 par value common stock, 194 shares of our $0.001 par value Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, and 3,581,119 shares of our $0.001 par value Series B Convertible Preferred Stock. The outstanding shares of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock are currently convertible into 97,000 shares of our common stock, and the outstanding shares of Series B Convertible Preferred Stock are currently convertible into 3,581,119 shares of our common stock. The shares of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock and Series B Convertible Preferred Stock do not have voting rights or accrue dividends.

On December 28, 2017, we filed a shelf registration statement with the SEC for the issuance of common stock, preferred stock, warrants, rights, debt securities and units up to an aggregate amount of $250 million, which we refer to as the 2017 Shelf Registration Statement. The 2017 Shelf Registration Statement was declared effective on January 19, 2018. On January 29, 2018, we sold 15,000,000 shares of our common stock at a public offering price of $11.50 per share pursuant to the 2017 Shelf Registration Statement. We received gross proceeds of approximately $172.5 million and net proceeds of approximately $162.0 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and offering expenses. The 2017 Shelf Registration Statement was terminated upon effectiveness of the 2018 Shelf Registration Statement (as discussed below).

On September 7, 2018, we filed a shelf registration statement with the SEC for the issuance of common stock, preferred stock, warrants, rights, debt securities and units up to an aggregate amount of $250 million, which we refer to as the 2018 Shelf Registration Statement. The 2018 Shelf Registration Statement was declared effective on October 3, 2018 and the aggregate amount of securities we could issue thereunder was subsequently increased by $50 million through a post-effective amendment that we filed on October 11, 2018, pursuant to Rule 462(b) of the Securities Act. On October 17, 2018, we sold 25,300,000 shares of our common stock at a public offering price of $9.97 per share pursuant to the 2018 Shelf Registration Statement. We received gross proceeds of approximately $252.2 million and net proceeds of $236.7 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and offering expenses. The 2018 Shelf Registration Statement is no longer available for future offerings.

On September 17, 2019, we filed a shelf registration statement with the SEC for the issuance up to an aggregate amount of $400 million, which we refer to as the 2019 Shelf Registration Statement. The 2019 Shelf Registration Statement was declared effective on September 24, 2019. The 2019 Shelf Registration Statement was terminated upon effectiveness of the 2020 Automatic Shelf Registration Statement (as discussed below). No shares were sold under the 2019 Shelf Registration Statement prior to its termination.

On May 27, 2020, we filed an automatic shelf registration statement with the SEC for the issuance of an indeterminate amount of Shelf Securities, which we refer to as the 2020 Automatic Shelf Registration Statement. The 2020 Automatic Shelf Registration Statement was immediately effective upon filing with the SEC, and the 2019 Shelf Registration Statement was simultaneously terminated.

On June 2, 2020, we sold 19,475,806 shares of our common stock at a public offering price of $31.00 per share pursuant to the 2020 Automatic Shelf Registration Statement. We received gross proceeds of $603.7 million and net proceeds of $567.0 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and offering expenses. Following the public offering, the 2020 Automatic Shelf Registration Statement remains available for the future issuance of an indeterminate amount of Shelf Securities.

In the future, we may periodically offer one or more of these securities in amounts, prices and terms to be announced when and if the securities are offered. If any of the securities covered by the 2020 Shelf Registration Statement are offered for sale, a prospectus supplement will be prepared and filed with the SEC containing specific information about the terms of such offering at that time.

We are currently engaged in the development of therapeutics to fight cancer. We do not have any commercial products and have not yet generated any revenues from our biopharmaceutical business. We currently do not anticipate that we will generate any

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significant revenues from the sale or licensing of any products during the 12 months from the date these financial statements are issued. We have incurred a net loss of $259.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 and used $205.1 million of cash in our operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2020. As of December 31, 2020, we had $629.4 million of cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments ($67.3 million of cash and cash equivalents and $562.1 million of short-term investments), $656.5 million of stockholders’ equity and had working capital of $581.2 million.

We expect to further increase our research and development activities, especially continuing pre-commercial activities and completing the construction of our tenant improvements to our new commercial manufacturing facility, which will increase the amount of cash we will use during 2021 and beyond. Specifically, we expect increased spending on clinical trials, research and development activities, higher payroll expenses as we increase our professional and scientific staff and continue our expansion of manufacturing activities including building our own facility. Based on the funds we have available as of the date of the filing of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we believe that we have sufficient capital to fund our anticipated operating expenses and capital expenditure for at least 12 months from the date of filing this report.

Cash Flows

Cash Flows from Operating, Investing and Financing Activities (in thousands):

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​ ​ Years Ended December 31,

Net cash (used in) provided by: ​ ​ ​ ​

Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities represents cash disbursements related to all of our activities other than investing and financing activities. Operating cash flow is derived by adjusting our net loss for non-cash items and changes in operating assets and liabilities. Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 increased by $46.2 million to $205.1 million in 2020 from $158.9 million for the same period in 2019. The increase was primarily attributable to (i) a $62.0 million increase in net loss due to increased costs in research and development activities and growth of our corporate infrastructure, which was adjusted by (ii) a $16.6 million increase in stock-based compensation costs. Included in $46.2 million of the increase in cash used in operating activities was the $10.0 million upfront payment we made to Novartis in connection with the license for IOV-3001.

Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2019 increased by $57.6 million to $158.9 million in 2019 from of $101.2 million for the same period in 2018. The increase was primarily attributable to (i) a $73.4 million increase in net loss, which was adjusted by (ii) a $4.2 million increase in stock-based compensation expense, (iii) a $7.0 million increase in noncash lease expense. Further, it was adjusted for a $11.2 million increase in accounts payable primarily due to increases in activities by our company and the timing of payments, which were offset by a $6.1 million increase in right-of-use assets due to the adoption of the new lease accounting standard.

Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2018 increased by $22.5 million to $101.2 million from $78.8 million in 2017. The increase was primarily attributable to a $31.5 million increase in net loss, which was adjusted by a $8.1 million increase in stock-based compensation costs.

Investing Activities

Net cash (used in) / provided by investing activities primarily consists of purchases, maturities of our short-term investments and capital expenditures. Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 was $317.9 million compared to net cash provided by $90.0 million for the same period in 2019. The increase in net cash used in investing activities was due primarily to a $368.0 million increase in net purchases of short-term investments from our June 2020 public offering and a $39.9 million increase in the purchase of property and equipment for the commercial manufacturing facility.

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Net cash provided by investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2019 was $90.0 million compared to net cash used in investing activities of $386.3 million for the same period in 2018. The increase in net cash provided in 2019 was due primarily to $482.0 million increase in net maturities of short-term investments, which was partially offset by a $5.7 million increase in the purchases of property and equipment.

Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2018 was $386.3 million compared to net cash provided in investing activities of $58.7 million for the same period in 2017. The increase in net cash used in 2018 was due to our reinvestment of the proceeds from January 2018 public offering.

Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 was $576.4 million compared to net cash provided of $6.1 million for the same period in 2019. The increase in net cash provided was primarily due to the cash proceeds of $567.0 million from the June 2020 public offering and a $3.2 million increase in proceeds from the exercise of stock options.

Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2019 was $6.1 million compared to net cash provided of $424.3 million for the same period in 2018. The decrease in net cash provided was due primarily to higher proceeds in 2018 obtained from the January 2018 public offering and exercise of warrants.

Net cash provided by financing activities of for the year ended December 31, 2018 was $424.3 million compared to $58.7 million for the same period in 2017. The increase was primarily due to a $345.2 million increase in cash proceeds from the public offering in January 2018 as compared to the October 2017 public offering, and a $19.4 million increase in cash proceeds from the exercise of warrants and stock options.

Significant Accounting Policies and Recent Accounting Standards

The preparation of our consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts in the financial statements and related disclosures. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our significant accounting policies and estimates. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various market-specific and other relevant assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Estimates are assessed each period and updated to reflect current information. Actual results may differ from these estimates. See Note 2 of the financial statements for a discussion of our significant accounting policies.

Contractual Obligations

Weacquire assets still in development and enter into research and development arrangements with third parties that often require milestone and royalty payments to the third-party contingent upon the occurrence of certain future events linked to the success of the asset in development. Milestone payments may be required, contingent upon the successful achievement of an important point in the development life-cycle of the pharmaceutical product (e.g., approval of the product for marketing by a regulatory agency). If required by the arrangement, we may have to make royalty payments based upon a percentage of the sales of the pharmaceutical product in the event that regulatory approval for marketing is obtained. Because of the contingent nature of these milestone payments, they are not included in the table of contractual obligations.

These arrangements may be material individually, and in the event that milestones for multiple products covered by these arrangements were reached in the same period, the aggregate charge to expense could be material to the results of operations in any one period. In addition, these arrangements often give us the discretion to unilaterally terminate development of the product, which would allow us to avoid making the contingent payments.

Our current non-cancellable contractual obligations as of December 31, 2020 that will require future cash payments are as follows (in thousands):

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​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

​ ​ Payments due by period

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

CMO contractual obligations ​ 9,877 ​ 9,583 ​ 294 ​ — ​ — ​ — ​ —

Operating lease obligations consist of obligations under non-cancelable operating leases for our facilities in San Carlos, CA, Philadelphia, PA, Tampa, FL, and New York, NY.

Contract Manufacturing Organization, or CMO, contractual obligations consist of embedded lease obligations for the manufacturing facilities and minimum fixed commitment fees included in our manufacturing contracts, such as personnel, general support fee, and minimum production or material fees. See Note 10 of the financial statements.

The contractual obligations table above excludes approximately $40 million over the next year for equipment and construction costs for our commercial-scale production facility in Philadelphia, PA.

Impact of COVID-19 on our Business

Operations and Liquidity

The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is unknown and rapidly evolving. While the potential economic impact brought by and over the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic may be difficult to assess or predict, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant disruption of global financial markets, which could in the future negatively affect our liquidity. In addition, a recession or market volatility resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic could affect our business. We have taken proactive, aggressive action throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to protect the health and safety of our employees, and expect to continue to implement these measures until we determine that the COVID-19 pandemic is adequately contained for purposes of our business. We may take further actions as government authorities require or recommend or as we determine to be in the best interests of our employees. We do not believe that the COVID-19 pandemic had a material impact on our liquidity or results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2020. Further, to date, the COVID-19 pandemic has not had significant effects on our clinical trial enrollment. Given the nature and type of our short-term investments in U.S. government securities, we do not believe that the COVID-19 pandemic will have a material impact on our current investment liquidity.

Outlook

Although there is uncertainty related to the anticipated impact of the recent COVID-19 pandemic on our future results, we believe our current cash reserves leave us well-positioned to manage our business through this crisis as it continues to unfold. However, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are broad-reaching and continuing and the financial impacts associated with the COVID-19 pandemic are still uncertain.

The COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing, and its dynamic nature, including uncertainties relating to the ultimate geographic spread of the virus, the severity of the disease, the duration of the pandemic, and actions that would be taken by governmental authorities to contain the pandemic or to treat its impact, makes it difficult to forecast any effects on our results for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021.

Despite the economic uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, we intend to continue to focus on the development of our product candidates. We continue to monitor the rapidly evolving situation and guidance from international and domestic authorities, including federal, state and local public health authorities and may take additional actions based on their recommendations. In these circumstances, there may be developments outside our control requiring us to adjust our operating plan. As such, given the dynamic nature of this situation, we cannot reasonably estimate the impacts of COVID-19 on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows in the future.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

At December 31, 2020, we had no obligations that would require disclosure as off-balance sheet arrangements.

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Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

Interest Rate Risk

Our exposure to market risk is limited primarily to interest income sensitivity, which is affected by changes in the general level of U.S. interest rates, particularly because a significant portion of our investments are in interest bearing cash accounts consisting of short-term debt securities issued by the U.S. government. The primary objective of our investment activities is to preserve principal. We adhere to an investment policy that requires us to limit amounts invested in securities based on credit rating, maturity, industry group and investment type and issuer, except for securities issued by the U.S. government. We do not have any derivative financial instruments or foreign currency instruments. At December 31, 2020, we had $562.1 million invested in short-term marketable securities with a maturity date of less than one year. As such we believe that we are not exposed to any material market risk. If interest rates had varied by 1% in the year ended December 31, 2020, the fair value of our investment portfolio would increase or decrease by approximately $2.6 million.

Inflation Risk

Inflation has not had a material effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations during the years ended

December 31, 2020, 2019, or 2018.

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

Financial Statements are referred to in Item 15, listed in the Index to Financial Statements as a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and are incorporated herein by this reference.

Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

None.

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures

(a) Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures:

We maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our Exchange Act reports is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow for timely decisions regarding required disclosure. In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives, and in reaching a reasonable level of assurance, management is required to apply its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures.

As of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures. Based on the foregoing, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective at the reasonable assurance level.

(b) Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting:

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f). Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020 based on the framework in Internal Control—Integrated Framework

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2013 issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, or COSO. Based on that evaluation, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2020.

The independent registered public accounting firm, Marcum LLP, has issued an attestation report on our internal control over financial reporting. The report on the audit of internal control over financial reporting is included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

(c) Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting:

There has been no change in our internal control over financial reporting during our most recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Item 9B. Other Information

None.

PART III

Certain information required by Part III is omitted from this Annual Report on Form 10-K because we will file a definitive Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Proxy Statement), not later than 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and the applicable information included in the Proxy Statement is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers, and Corporate Governance

Information required by this Item 10 will be presented in the Proxy Statement “Election of Directors,” “Management Executive Officers,” “Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance” and “Board of Directors and Corporate Governance,” and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 11. Executive Compensation

The information required by this Item is incorporated herein by reference to the sections entitled “Executive Compensation,” “Executive Compensation—Compensation Discussion and Analysis” and “Directors’ Compensation” in the Proxy Statement.

Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters

The information required by this Item is incorporated herein by reference to the sections entitled “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management” and “Equity Compensation Plan Information” in the Proxy Statement.

Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence

The information required by this Item is incorporated herein by reference to the section entitled “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions” in the Proxy Statement.

Item 14. Principal Accountant’s Fees and Services

Information required by this Item is incorporated herein by reference to the section of the Proxy Statement entitled “Principal Accountant Fees and Services.”

PART IV

Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statements Schedules

The Company’s consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto are listed and included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K beginning on page F-1. The following exhibits are filed with, or are incorporated by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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EXHIBIT INDEX

Exhibit Description

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21.1 ​ Subsidiaries of the Company.**

23.1 ​ Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.**

24.1 ​ Power of Attorney (included on the signature page of this Annual Report).

31.1 ​ Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certification of Chief Executive Officer.**

31.2 ​ Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certification of Chief Financial Officer.**

** Filed herewith.

# Indicates a management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.

+ Certain portions of the Exhibit have been redacted pursuant to Item 601(b)(10)(iv) of Regulation S-K.

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Item 16. Form 10-K Summary

We may voluntarily include a summary of information required by Form 10-K under this Item 16. We have elected not to include such summary information.

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

Date: February 25, 2021 By: /s/ Maria Fardis

Name: Maria Fardis

Title: Chief Executive Officer

POWER OF ATTORNEY

Know all persons by these presents, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Maria Fardis and Jean-Marc Bellemin, and each of them, as his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for him or her and in his or her name, place, and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments to this Annual Report, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith, as fully to all intents and purposes as he might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming that all said attorneys-in-fact and agents, or any of them or their or his or her substitute or substituted, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue thereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

Signature Title Date

​ ​

/s/ Maria Fardis ​ Chief Executive Officer (Principal ​ February 25, 2021

Maria Fardis ​ Executive Officer) and Director ​

​ ​

Jean-Marc Bellemin ​ (Principal Financial Officer) ​

​ ​ ​ ​ ​

/s/ Michael C. Swartzburg ​ Vice President, Finance ​ February 25, 2021

Michael C. Swartzburg ​ (Principal Accounting Officer) ​ ​

​ ​

/s/ Merrill A. McPeak ​ Director ​ February 25, 2021

Merrill A. McPeak ​ ​

​ ​

/s/ Michael Weiser ​ Director ​ February 25, 2021

Michael Weiser ​ ​

​ ​

/s/ Ryan D. Maynard ​ Director ​ February 25, 2021

Ryan D. Maynard ​ ​

​ ​

/s/ Iain Dukes ​ Director ​ February 25, 2021

Iain Dukes ​ ​

​ ​

/s/ Wayne Rothbaum ​ Director ​ February 25, 2021

Wayne Rothbaum ​ ​

​ ​ ​ ​ ​

/s/ Athena Countouriotis ​ Director ​ February 25, 2021

Athena Countouriotis ​ ​ ​ ​

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IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

Index to Financial Statements

Contents

Page

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm F-1

Financial Statements

Consolidated Balance Sheets F-5

Consolidated Statements of Operations F-6

Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss F-7

Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity F-8

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows F-9

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements F-10

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc.

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive loss, stockholders’ equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2020, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2020, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020, based on the criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in 2013 and our report dated February 25, 2021, expressed an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

Change in Accounting Principle

As discussed in Note 10 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company changed its method of accounting for leases in 2019.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.

Incremental Borrowing Rate (Leases)

Description of the Matter

As discussed in Note 10 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company’s reported right-of-use assets, current lease liabilities and long-term lease liabilities, utilize discount rates to calculate the estimated present value of future lease payments. Since

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the Company’s leases do not provide an implicit rate, management utilized a third-party valuation specialist to assist in estimating the incremental borrowing rates used in its present value calculation, which required subjectivity. The incremental borrowing rate is the rate of interest that a lessee would have to pay to borrow on a collateralized basis over a similar term an amount equal to the lease payments in a similar economic environment. As of December 31, 2020, the weighted average incremental borrowing rate used to determine the operating lease liability is 8.3%.

Auditing management’s assessment of its incremental borrowing rate is highly subjective and judgmental as the Company has no outstanding debt nor committed credit facilities, secured or otherwise, that would have comparable collateral or similar terms as their underlying leases. Further, changes in the incremental borrowing rate may have a material impact on the measurement of the Company’s right-of-use assets, current lease liabilities and long-term lease liabilities. Based on the level of management judgment, we have determined the incremental borrowing rate to be a critical audit matter. This required a high degree of auditor judgment and an increased extent of effort, including the need to involve our valuation specialists, when performing audit procedures to evaluate the reasonableness of management’s estimation of the incremental borrowing rate.

How We Addressed the Matter in Our Audit

Our audit procedures included, amongst others:

/s/ Marcum LLP ​

​ ​ ​

Marcum LLP ​ ​

​ ​ ​

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2016. ​ ​

​ ​ ​

New York, NY ​ ​

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM ON INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING

To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc.

Opinion on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

We have audited Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc.’s (the “Company”) internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”), the consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, and related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive loss, stockholders’ equity and cash flows and the related notes for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2020 of the Company and our report dated February 25, 2021 expressed an unqualified opinion on those financial statements.

Basis for Opinion

The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audit also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

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Because of the inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

​ ​ ​

/s/ Marcum LLP ​

​ ​ ​

Marcum LLP ​ ​

New York, NY ​ ​

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IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

(In thousands, except share and per share information)

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

​ December 31, ​ December 31,

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

ASSETS ​ ​ ​

​ ​ ​ ​

Current Assets ​ ​ ​

Prepaid expenses and other assets ​ 6,663 ​ 9,412

​ ​ ​

Property and equipment, net ​ ​ 59,159 ​ ​ 8,536

Operating lease right-of-use assets ​ ​ 54,756 ​ ​ 10,695

​ ​ ​

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY ​ ​

​ ​ ​

Current Liabilities ​ ​

Operating lease liabilities - current ​ ​ 6,284 ​ ​ 7,252

​ ​ ​

Non-Current Liabilities ​ ​

Operating lease liabilities – noncurrent ​ 45,375 ​ 4,248

Total Non-Current Liabilities ​ 57,089 ​ 6,600

​ ​ ​

Commitments and contingencies (Note 10 and 11) ​ ​

​ ​ ​

Stockholders’ Equity ​ ​

Accumulated other comprehensive income ​ 19 ​ 220

Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity ​ $ 768,458 ​ $ 344,655

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

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IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

Consolidated Statements of Operations

(In thousands, except per share information)

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

​ ​ Years Ended December 31,

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

Revenues ​ $ — ​ $ — ​ $ —

​ ​ ​ ​

Costs and expenses ​ ​ ​

​ ​ ​ ​

Other income ​ ​ ​

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

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IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss

(in thousands)

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

​ ​ Years Ended December 31,

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

Other comprehensive loss: ​ ​ ​

Unrealized (loss) / gain on short-term investments ​ (201) ​ 262 ​ (42)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

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IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

Consolidated Statements of Stockholders' Equity

(In thousands, except share information)

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

​ Shares Amount Shares Amount Shares Amount Capital Income (Loss) Deficit Equity

Stock-based compensation expense ​ ​ ​ ​ 20,027 ​ ​ ​ 20,027

Vesting of restricted shares issued for services ​ ​ ​ ​ 39,536 ​ — ​ — ​ ​ ​ —

Unrealized loss on short- term investments ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (42) ​ ​ (42)

Stock-based compensation expense ​ ​ ​ ​ 24,277 ​ ​ ​ 24,277

Net loss ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (197,556) ​ ​ (197,556)

Stock-based compensation expense ​ ​ ​ ​ 40,775 ​ ​ ​ 40,775

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

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IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(In thousands)

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

​ ​ ​ Years Ended December 31,

Cash Flows from Operating Activities ​ ​ ​ ​

Noncash lease expense ​ ​ 7,572 ​ ​ 6,954 ​ ​ —

Gain on settlement of dispute ​ ​ — ​ ​ (336) ​ ​ —

Loss on disposal of assets ​ — ​ ​ 16 ​ ​ 9

Changes in assets and liabilities: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

Operating lease liabilities (Right-of-use assets) ​ ​ (11,474) ​ ​ (6,148) ​ ​ —

Accrued expenses and other liabilities ​ 24,109 ​ ​ 6,728 ​ ​ 3,229

​ ​ ​

Cash Flows from Investing Activities ​ ​

Purchase of property and equipment ​ (46,791) ​ ​ (6,917) ​ ​ (1,198)

​ ​ ​

Cash Flows from Financing Activities ​ ​

Proceeds from the issuance of common stock, net ​ ​ 567,043 ​ ​ — ​ ​ 398,817

​ ​ ​

Supplemental disclosure of non-cash investing and financing activities: ​ ​

Net unrealized (loss) gain on short-term investments ​ $ (201) ​ $ 262 ​ ​ (42)

Conversion of convertible preferred stock to common stock ​ ​ — ​ ​ 2 ​ ​ 1

Vesting of restricted stock units ​ ​ — ​ ​ 1 ​ ​ —

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

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IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 1. GENERAL ORGANIZATION, BUSINESS AND LIQUIDITY

General Organization and Business

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”, “we”, “us” or “our”) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of cell therapies as novel cancer immunotherapy products designed to harness the power of a patient’s own immune system to eradicate cancer cells. Tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (“TIL”) therapy is an autologous cell therapy platform technology that was originally developed by the National Cancer Institute (“NCI”), which conducted initial clinical trials in diseases such as metastatic melanoma and cervical cancer. The Company has developed a new, shorter manufacturing process for TIL therapy known as Generation 2 (“Gen 2”), which yields a cryopreserved TIL product. This proprietary and scalable manufacturing method is being further investigated in multiple indications. The Company’s lead product candidates include lifileucel for metastatic melanoma and metastatic cervical cancer. Lifileucel for metastatic cervical cancer was formerly known as LN-145. In addition to metastatic melanoma and metastatic cervical cancer, the Company is investigating the effectiveness and safety of TIL therapy and peripheral blood lymphocyte therapy for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, non-small cell lung cancer, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia through its sponsored trials, as well as in other oncology indications through collaborations. On June 1, 2017, the Company reincorporated from a Nevada corporation to a Delaware corporation.

Liquidity

The Company is currently engaged in the development of therapeutics to fight cancer, specifically solid tumors. The Company currently does not have any commercial products and has not yet generated any revenues from its business. The Company currently does not anticipate that it will generate any significant revenues from the sale or licensing of any of its product candidates during the 12 months from the date these financial statements are issued. The Company has incurred a net loss of $259.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 and used $205.1 million of cash in its operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2020. As of December 31, 2020, the Company had $635.0 million in cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments, and restricted cash ($67.3 million of cash and cash equivalents, $562.1 million in short-term investments and $5.5 million in restricted cash).

The Company expects to continue its research and development activities, increase pre-commercial activities and continue the construction of the tenant improvements for its new manufacturing facility, which will increase the amount of cash used during 2021 and beyond. Specifically, the Company expects continued spending on its current and planned clinical trials, continued expansion of manufacturing activities, including construction of a manufacturing facility, higher payroll expenses as the Company increases its professional and scientific staff and continuation of pre-commercial activities. Based on the funds the Company has available as of the date these financial statements are issued, the Company believes that it has sufficient capital to fund its anticipated operating expenses and capital expenditures as planned for at least the next twelve months from the date these financial statements are issued.

Impact of COVID-19

In December 2019, a novel coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 was first detected in Wuhan, Hubei Province, People’s Republic of China, causing outbreaks of the coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19, that has now spread globally. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (“WHO”) declared COVID-19 a pandemic (the “COVID-19 Pandemic”). The Secretary of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency on January 31, 2020, under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d), in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The full impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic is unknown and rapidly evolving. While the potential economic impact brought by and over the duration of the COVID-19 Pandemic may be difficult to assess or predict, the COVID-19 Pandemic has resulted in significant disruption of global financial markets, which could in the future negatively affect the Company's liquidity. In addition, a recession or market volatility resulting from the COVID-19 Pandemic could affect the Company’s business. Given the nature and type of the Company’s short-term investments in U.S. government securities, the Company does not believe the COVID-19 Pandemic has had or will have a material impact on the Company's current investment liquidity.

Concentrations of Risk

The Company is subject to credit risk from its portfolio of cash equivalents and short-term investments. Under its investment policy, the Company limits amounts invested in such securities by credit rating, maturity, industry group, investment type and issuer,

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IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

except for securities issued by the U.S. government. The Company does not believe it is exposed to any significant concentrations of credit risk from these financial instruments. The goals of its investment policy, in order of priority, are as follows: safety and preservation of principal and diversification of risk and liquidity of investments sufficient to meet cash flow requirements.

NOTE 2. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING PRACTICES

Cash, Cash Equivalents, and Short-term Investments

The Company’s cash and cash equivalents include short-term investments with original maturities of three months or less when purchased. The Company's short-term investments are classified as “available-for-sale.” The Company includes these investments in current assets and carries them at fair value. Unrealized gains and losses on available-for-sale securities are included in accumulated other comprehensive loss or income. Any impairment losses related to credit losses (if any) are included in an allowance for credit losses with an offsetting entry to net loss. No impairment losses related to credit losses were recognized for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019. The cost of debt securities is adjusted for the amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts to maturity. Such amortization and accretion are included in net interest income in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Gains and losses on securities sold are recorded based on the specific identification method and are included in net interest income in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The Company has not incurred any realized gains or losses from sales of securities to date. The Company’s investment policy limits investments to certain types of instruments such as certificates of deposit, money market instruments, obligations issued by the U.S. government and U.S. government agencies as well as corporate debt securities, and places restrictions on maturities and concentration by type and issuer, except for securities issued by the U.S. government. Currently the Company invests excess cash only in obligations issued by the U.S. government and U.S. government agencies.

Restricted Cash

The Company maintains a certain minimum balance, approximately $5.5 million in a segregated bank account in connection with a letter of credit, one for $5.45 million for the benefit of the landlord for its commercial manufacturing facility used as a security deposit for the lease (See Note 10 - Leases), and a second one for $74,685 for the benefit of a utilities service provider. The total amount is classified as Restricted Cash on the Consolidated Balance Sheet. The letter of credit originally expired on May 28, 2020, however, it automatically extends for additional one-year periods, without written agreement, to May 28 in each succeeding calendar year, through at least 60 days after the lease expiration date. Further, on the expiration of the seventh year of the lease, and each anniversary date thereafter, the letter of credit may be decreased by $1,000,000, with a minimum security deposit of $1,450,000 maintained through the end of the lease term. The $74,685 letter of credit will expire on March 9, 2021, however, it will be automatically extended, without written agreement, to the expiration date of December 1, 2022. As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, restricted cash consisted of $5.5 million and this amount has been classified as a non-current asset on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets.

The following table provides a reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, reported within the Consolidated Balance Sheets that sum to the total of the same such amounts shown in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows:

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

​ December 31, December 31, December 31,

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

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IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Property and Equipment, net

Property and equipment is stated at cost, net of accumulated depreciation and amortization. The cost of property and equipment is depreciated or amortized on the straight-line method over the following estimated useful lives. The depreciation or amortization of capitalized construction in progress costs, a component of property and equipment, net, begins once the underlying asset is placed into service and is recognized over the estimated useful lives:

Computer equipment 2 years

Office furniture and equipment ​ 5 years

Lab equipment ​ 5 years

Expenditures for maintenance and repairs are charged to operations as incurred while renewals and betterments are capitalized. Gains and losses on disposals are included within operating expenses in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Management assesses the carrying value of property and equipment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. If there is indication of impairment, management prepares an estimate of future undiscounted cash flows expected to result from the use of the asset and its eventual disposition. If these cash flows are less than the carrying amount of the asset, an impairment loss is recognized to write down the asset to its estimated fair value. For the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018, the Company did not recognize any impairments for its property and equipment.

Loss per Share

Basic net loss per share is computed by dividing the net loss by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period.

Diluted net loss per share is computed by dividing the net loss by the sum of the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding and the dilutive common stock equivalent shares outstanding during the period. The Company’s potentially dilutive common stock equivalent shares, which include incremental common shares issuable upon (i) the exercise of outstanding stock options and warrants, (ii) purchases though the 2020 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “2020 ESPP”), (iii) vesting of restricted stock units and restricted stock awards, and (vi) conversion of preferred stock, are only included in the calculation of diluted net loss per share when their effect is dilutive.

At December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018, the following outstanding common stock equivalents have been excluded from the calculation of net loss per share because their impact would be anti-dilutive.

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

​ ​ As of December 31,

*on an as-converted basis

The dilutive effect of potentially dilutive securities would be reflected in diluted earnings per common share by application of the treasury stock method. Under the treasury stock method, an increase in the fair market value of the Company's common stock could result in a greater dilutive effect from potentially dilutive securities.

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IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Fair Value Measurements

Under Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures, fair value is defined as the price at which an asset could be exchanged, or a liability transferred in a transaction between knowledgeable, willing parties in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability. Where available, fair value is based on observable market prices or parameters or derived from such prices or parameters. Where observable prices or parameters are not available, valuation models are applied.

Assets and liabilities recorded at fair value in the Company’s financial statements are categorized based upon the level of judgment associated with the inputs used to measure their fair value. Hierarchical levels directly related to the amount of subjectivity associated with the inputs to fair valuation of these assets and liabilities, are as follows:

Level 1—These are investments where values are based on unadjusted quoted prices for identical assets in an active market that the Company has the ability to access.

Level 2—These are investments where values are based on quoted market prices in markets that are not active or model derived valuations in which all significant inputs are observable in active markets

The Company does not have fair valued assets classified under Level 2 as of December 31, 2020 and 2019.

Level 3—These are financial instruments where values are derived from techniques in which one or more significant inputs are unobservable.

The Company does not have fair valued assets classified under Level 3 as of December 31, 2020 and 2019.

The Company’s financial instruments consist of cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments, all of which are reported at their respective fair value on its Consolidated Balance Sheets.

As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, financial assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis are categorized in the table below based upon the lowest level of significant input to the valuations (in thousands):

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

​ ​ Assets at Fair Value as of December 31, 2020

​ Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Total

U.S. government agency securities ​ 91,999 ​ — ​ — ​ 91,999

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

​ ​ Assets at Fair Value as of December 31, 2019

​ Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Total

US government agency securities ​ 50,863 ​ — ​ — ​ 50,863

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Significant estimates include the assumptions made in valuing stock instruments issued for services and used in measuring operating right-of-use assets and operating lease liabilities, accounting for potential liabilities, capitalization of internal-use software development costs, and the valuation allowance associated with the Company’s deferred tax assets.

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IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Iovance Biotherapeutics Manufacturing LLC andIovance Biotherapeutics GmbH. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated. The U.S. dollar is the functional currency for all the Company's consolidated operations.

Leases

The Company determines if an arrangement includes a lease at inception. Operating leases are included in its Consolidated Balance Sheet as Operating lease right-of-use assets and Operating lease liabilities as of December 31, 2020. Operating lease right-of-use assets represent the Company’s right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and operating lease liabilities represent the Company’s obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. Operating lease right-of-use assets and liabilities are recognized at the lease commencement date based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term. In determining the net present value of lease payments, the Company uses an estimated incremental borrowing rate that is applicable to the Company based on the information available at the later of the lease commencement date or the date of adoption of Accounting Standard Update (ASU) No. 2016-02 and ASU No. 2018-10, Leases (together “Topic 842”). The operating lease right-of-use assets also include any lease payments made less lease incentives. The Company’s leases may include options to extend or terminate the lease, which is considered in the lease term when it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise any such options. Lease expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the expected lease term. The Company has elected not to apply the recognition requirements of Topic 842 for short-term leases.

For lease agreements entered into after the adoption of Topic 842 that include lease and non-lease components, such components are generally accounted for separately.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company periodically grants stock options to employees in non-capital raising transactions as compensation for services rendered. The Company also offers employee stock purchase plans to employees. The Company accounts for all stock-based payment awards made to employee, including the employee stock purchase plans, based on the authoritative guidance provided by the FASB where the value of the award is measured on the date of grant and recognized over the vesting period. Upon the adoption of ASU No. 2018-07, Compensation-Stock Compensation (“Topic 718”), the Company accounts for stock option grants to non-employees in a similar manner as stock option grants to employees except for the term used in the grant date fair value, therefore no longer requiring a re-measurement at the then-current fair values at each reporting date until the shares underlying the options have vested. The non-employee awards that contain a performance condition that affects the quantity or other terms of the award are measured based on the outcome that is probable.

The fair value of the Company's common stock option grants is estimated using a Black-Scholes option pricing model, which uses certain assumptions related to risk-free interest rates, expected volatility, expected life of the common stock options, and future dividends. The stock-based compensation expense is recorded based upon the value derived from the Black-Scholes option pricing model. The assumptions used in the Black-Scholes option pricing model could materially affect compensation expense recorded in future periods.

The Company has in the past issued restricted stock units (“RSU”) and restricted stock awards (“RSA”) as part of its share-based compensation programs. The Company measures the compensation cost with respect to RSUs and RSAs issued to employees based upon the estimated fair value of the equity instruments at the date of the grant, which is recognized as an expense over the period during which an employee is required to provide services in exchange for the awards.

The fair value of RSUs and RSAs is based on the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the grant date.

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IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Cloud Computing Arrangements

The Company defers implementation costs incurred in cloud computing arrangements in accordance with ASC 2018-15 and amortizes it over the noncancelable term of the cloud computing arrangements plus any optional renewal periods (1) that are reasonably certain to be exercised by the Company or (2) for which exercises of the renewal option is controlled by the cloud service provider. Costs incurred during the application development stage that are directly attributable to developing or obtaining software for internal use are defined as implementation costs and capitalized. Costs incurred during operation and post-implementation stages are charged to expense.

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses include personnel and facility-related expenses, outside contracted services including clinical trial costs, manufacturing and process development costs, research costs and other consulting services. Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. Nonrefundable advance payments for goods or services that will be used or rendered for future research and development activities are deferred and amortized over the period that the goods are delivered, or the related services are performed, subject to an assessment of recoverability.

Clinical development costs are a significant component of research and development expenses. The Company has a history of contracting with third parties that perform various clinical trial activities on its behalf in connection with the ongoing development of its product candidates. The financial terms of these contracts are subject to negotiations and may vary from contract to contract and may result in uneven payment flow. The Company accrues and expenses costs for clinical trial activities performed by third parties based upon estimates of the percentage of work completed over the life of the individual trial in accordance with agreements established with contract research organizations and clinical trial sites. The Company determines its estimates through discussions with internal clinical personnel and outside service providers as to the progress or stage of completion of trials or services and the agreed upon fee to be paid for such services.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries and other related costs, including stock-based compensation, for personnel in executive, finance, accounting, legal, investor relations, facilities, business development, marketing, commercial and human resources functions. Other significant costs include facility costs not otherwise included in research and development expenses, sublicense royalty expenses, legal fees relating to corporate matters, insurance, public company expenses relating to maintaining compliance with Nasdaq listing rules and Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) requirements, investor relations costs, and fees for accounting and consulting services. General and administrative costs are expensed as incurred, and the Company accrues for services provided by third parties related to the above expenses by monitoring the status of services provided and receiving estimates from its service providers and adjusting its accruals as actual costs become known.

Income Taxes

Source: SEC EDGAR (public domain) · 10-K for the period ended 2020-12-31, filed 2021-02-25 · accession 0001558370-21-001858

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