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 available to us on the date hereof and, except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.
86
Table of Contents
Overview
We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering a transformational approach to treating cancer by harnessing the human immune system’s ability to recognize and destroy diverse cancer cells using therapies personalized for each patient. We are preparing for potential U.S. regulatory approval and commercialization of the first autologous T-cell therapy to address a solid tumor cancer. Our mission is to be the global leader in innovating, developing and delivering tumor infiltrating lymphocyte, or TIL, therapies for patients with solid tumor cancers. Our autologous TIL therapy platform uses a centralized, scalable and proprietary 22-day manufacturing process to grow polyclonal T-cells unique to each patient and yields a cryopreserved, individualized therapy. We have applied multiple TIL therapy modalities in clinical trials in solid tumors, including TIL monotherapies for patients with later stage disease who have progressed on or after standard of care, as well as TIL combinations with standard of care therapies in patients who are earlier in their disease, to potentially improve outcomes compared to current standard(s) of care.
Our lead product candidate, lifileucel, is being developed in advanced, or metastatic or unresectable, melanoma as well as in other indications. Lifileucel was investigated in two consecutive cohorts in a clinical trial of advanced melanoma patients post-anti-PD-1 therapy, including in a prospectively defined pivotal cohort. These patients had progressed on or after standard of care therapy, which is immune checkpoint inhibitors, or ICIs, and targeted BRAF/MEK inhibitor therapy where appropriate. Based on the positive results of these cohorts, we initiated a rolling Biologics License Application, or BLA, submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, for lifileucel in August 2022. We expect to complete this rolling BLA submission in the first quarter of 2023. Our Phase 3 clinical trial of lifileucel in combination with pembrolizumab, TILVANCE-301, is intended to be registrational in frontline advanced melanoma and serve as a confirmatory clinical trial to support full approval of lifileucel monotherapy in post-anti-PD-1 melanoma.
We are also pursuing registrational strategies for lifileucel in advanced cervical cancer and for our TIL therapy, LN-145, in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC. To continuously innovate and maintain our global leadership within the field, we are investigating next generation approaches to optimize TIL products, manufacturing processes and treatment regimens, including a first-in-human clinical trial of our lead genetically modified TIL therapy, IOV-4001. We are also exploring a 16-day manufacturing process, tumor tissue procurement via core biopsy, additional genetically modified TIL therapies including multiple immune checkpoint gene edits and cytokine-tethered TIL therapies, and a novel interleukin-2, or IL-2, analog, designated IOV-3001, as potential avenues to improve manufacturing timelines, sample collection and supportive treatments involved in the overall TIL therapy process and treatment regimen.
87
Table of Contents
Highlights of our current development pipeline are presented in the figure below:
Platform Technologies and Manufacturing
Our T-cell-based immunotherapy technology platforms are potentially applicable to many solid tumor types and blood cancers. Each platform is focused on leveraging patient-specific cells to recognize and attack diverse cancer cells that are unique to each patient. Unlike cell therapies that act on a single or small number of shared antigen targets common to certain tumors, our polyclonal T-cells are personalized therapies designed to target a variety of neoantigens that are unique to the patient or tumor. The majority of solid tumor immune targets are patient-specific, with fewer than 1% shared among patients. TIL therapy is our lead T-cell-based immunotherapy platform in multiple advanced solid tumor cancers. For blood cancers, our peripheral blood lymphocyte, or PBL, therapy platform is based on polyclonal T-cells that are collected from a patient’s blood sample, and then amplified and reinvigorated.
TIL Clinical Development in Advanced, Metastatic or Unresectable Solid Tumor Cancers
Building on the prior TIL therapy clinical trials conducted at single academic centers, including the National Cancer Institute, or NCI, we have investigated TIL therapy in global, multi-center Phase 2 clinical trials in advanced melanoma, cervical cancer, NSCLC and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, or HNSCC. Additional information about our clinical trials is summarized below.
In post-anti-PD-1 advanced melanoma, we are investigating lifileucel in our C-144-01 clinical trial that supports our BLA submission and potential approval of lifileucel in advanced post-anti-PD-1 melanoma.
In frontline advanced melanoma patients who are naïve to anti-PD-1 therapy, we are investigating lifileucel in combination with pembrolizumab in the IOV-COM-202 clinical trial and the Phase 3 TILVANCE-301 clinical trial. TILVANCE-301 is a randomized Phase 3 clinical trial intended to support registration in advanced frontline melanoma as well as to serve as a confirmatory trial for full approval in advanced post-anti-PD-1 melanoma.
We are also executing a registrational strategy for lifileucel in advanced cervical cancer. C-145-04 is a multicenter Phase 2 clinical trial that is currently enrolling a pivotal cohort to support a BLA in cervical cancer following progression on or after chemotherapy and pembrolizumab.
88
Table of Contents
In NSCLC, we are investigating our TIL therapy, LN-145, in two clinical trials in several NSCLC patient populations with significant unmet need. IOV-LUN-202 is a clinical trial of LN-145 in advanced NSCLC patients who have progressed following chemotherapy and anti-PD-1 therapy. IOV-COM-202 also includes cohorts of NSCLC patients treated with LN-145 monotherapy and combination therapy.
Our first genetically modified, PD-1 inactivated TIL therapy, IOV-4001, entered a first-in-human Phase 1/2 clinical trial, IOV-GM1-201, in 2022 in patients with previously treated advanced melanoma and NSCLC. IOV-4001 utilizes the gene-editing TALEN® technology, licensed from Cellectis S.A., or Cellectis, to inactivate the gene coding for the programmed cell death protein-1, or PD-1.
In metastatic head and neck cancer squamous cell carcinoma, or HNSCC, we are evaluating LN-145 as monotherapy and in combination with pembrolizumab. The Phase 2 C-145-03 trial began in June 2017 and closed in January 2021 after reaching its pre-specified enrollment target to investigate LN-145 using various manufacturing processes. Cohort 2A in IOV-COM-202 is evaluating LN-145 in combination with pembrolizumab in patients with HNSCC who are naïve to anti-PD-1 therapy.
PBL Therapy in Blood Cancers
In blood cancers, our clinical trial IOV-CLL-01 is a Phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of IOV-2001, our polyclonal PBL therapy, in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL, and small lymphocytic lymphoma, or SLL, to receive IOV-2001.
Beyond our Iovance-sponsored clinical trials, we have academic collaborations with leading cancer research centers to investigate TIL therapy, including next-generation processes and technologies, in other cancers and treatment settings.
Next-Generation Therapeutic and Manufacturing Approaches
Our current next-generation technology platforms are designed to optimize TIL therapy, as well as TIL treatment regimen and manufacturing processes, across four key initiatives: genetic modifications, potency, process optimization and new treatment regimens.
89
Table of Contents
Intellectual Property
We have established a leading intellectual property portfolio developed internally and licensed from third parties. We currently own more than 60 U.S. patents related to TIL therapy, including patents directed to compositions and methods of treatment in a broad range of cancers, such as 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; 10,517,894; 10,537,595; 10,639,330; 10,646,517; 10,653,723; 10,695,372; 10,894,063; 10,905,718; 10,918,666; 10,925,900; 10,933,094; 10,946,044; 10,946,045; 10,953,046; 10,953,047; 11,007,225; 11,007,226; 11,013,770; 11,026,974; 11,040,070; 11,052,115; 11,052,116; 11,058,728; 11,083,752; 11,123,371; 11,141,438 11,168,303; 11,168,304; 11,179,419; 11,202,803; 11,202,804; 11,241,456; 11,254,913; 11,266,694; 11,273,180; 11,273,181; 11,291,687; 11,304,979; 11,304,980; 11,311,578; 11,337,998; 11,344,579; 11,344,580; 11,344,581; 11,351,197; 11,351,198; 11,351,199; 11,364,266; 11,369,637; 11,384,637; 1,433,097; 11,529,372; and 11,541,077. More than 35 of these patents are related to our Gen 2 TIL manufacturing processes and have terms that we anticipate 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 patents and 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 manufacturing TIL, MIL, and PBL therapies; the use of costimulatory and T-cell modulating molecules in TIL therapy and manufacturing; stable and transient genetically-modified TIL therapies, including genetic knockouts of immune checkpoints; cytokine-tethered TIL therapies; methods of using ICIs in combination with TIL therapies; TIL selection technologies; and methods of treating patient subpopulations.
Impact of COVID-19 on our Business
Operations and Liquidity
The full impact of the novel strain of coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic is unknown and continuously 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, 2022. 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 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. 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 future periods.
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.
Components of Operating Results
Revenues
90
Table of Contents
We have not yet generated any revenues since our formation, With the submission of the rolling BLA for lifileucel for metastatic melanoma and our expected completion of the submission in the first quarter of 2023, we anticipate generating revenues from the sale of products during the 12 months from the date these financial statements are issued, however, such revenue may not be material. 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.
Operating Expenses
Research and Development
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. We have a history of contracting with third parties that perform various clinical trial activities on our behalf in connection with the ongoing development of our 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. We accrue and expense costs for clinical trial activities performed by third parties based upon estimates of work completed to date of the individual trial in accordance with agreements established with contract research organizations and clinical trial sites. 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.
We expect our research and development expenses to continue to increase 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.
General and Administrative
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries and other related costs, including stock-based compensation, for personnel in executive, finance, procurement, legal, investor relations, facilities, business development, marketing, commercial, information technology and human resources functions. Other significant costs include facility costs not otherwise included in research and development expenses, legal fees relating to corporate matters and intellectual property, insurance, public company expenses relating to maintaining compliance with Nasdaq listing rules and SEC requirements, investor relations costs, and fees for accounting and consulting services. General and administrative costs are expensed as incurred, and we accrue 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.
We anticipate general and administrative expenses will increase as we continue to prepare for commercialization and support an expected growth of the internal general and administrative team.
Interest income, net
Interest income, net results from our interest-bearing cash and investment balances.
Results of Operations for the Years Ended December 31, 2022 and 2021
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
91
Table of Contents
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.
Costs and expenses
Research and Development Expense (in thousands)
Years Ended December 31, Increase (Decrease)
Research and development expense for the year ended December 31, 2022 increased by $35.7 million, or 14%, compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase was primarily attributable to (i) a $23.9 million increase in payroll and related expenses and a $9.4 million increase in stock-based compensation expenses, both driven by increased hiring of research and development employees to support our on-going and planned clinical development activities, (ii) a $16.2 million increase in facility related expenses, including depreciation expenses associated with the iCTC and the build-out of our new corporate headquarters office, (iii) a $3.5 million increase in research and research alliance activities due to increased spend in lab supplies and consumables to support preclinical activities, (iv) a $2.7 million increase in patient advocacy and physician outreach and travel to support our planned commercial launch, and (v) a $2.4 million increase in license costs associated with the expansion of our information technology infrastructure to support our clinical and manufacturing activities at the iCTC. These increases were partially offset by a $17.4 million decrease in clinical trial costs, including clinical trial drug costs, and a $5.0 million decrease in manufacturing costs driven by completion of enrollment in pivotal cohorts of our clinical trials.
General and Administrative Expense (in thousands)
Years Ended December 31, Increase (Decrease)
General and administrative expense for the year ended December 31, 2022, increased by $20.4 million, or 24%, compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase was primarily attributable to (i) a $10.0 million increase in payroll and related expenses and a $4.8 million increase in stock-based compensation expenses, both resulting from increases in headcount to support the growth in the overall business and related corporate infrastructure, (ii) a $3.4 million increase in marketing, advertising and travel related costs related to branding awareness to support our planned commercial launch, (iii) a $1.7 million increase in other costs, including professional fees and costs associated with the build-out of our new headquarter office and our information technology infrastructure to support the continued growth in the overall company, and (iv) a $0.5 million increase in depreciation expenses and facility related costs associated with the build-out of our new corporate headquarters.
Interest income, net (in thousands)
Years Ended December 31, Increase (Decrease)
Interest income results from our interest-bearing cash and investment balances. Net interest income increased by $2.5 million, or 562%, due primarily to an increase in cash and cash equivalents as well as returns resulting from increased interest rates in 2022 as compared to the same period in 2021.
92
Table of Contents
Net Loss (in thousands)
Years Ended December 31, (Increase) Decrease
Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2022, increased by $53.6 million or 16%, compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase in our net loss was due to the continued expansion of our research and development activities, 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, 2021 and 2020
Costs and expenses
Research and Development Expense (in thousands)
Years Ended December 31, Increase (Decrease)
Research and development expense for the year ended December 31, 2021, increased by $57.3 million, or 28%, compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase was primarily attributable to (i) a $29.2 million increase in payroll and related expenses and a $21.1 million increase in stock-based compensation expenses, both driven by increased hiring of research and development employees to support our on-going and planned clinical development activities, (ii) a $14.9 million increase in facility and related costs associated with the iCTC and the build-out of our new corporate headquarters office, (iii) a $5.1 million increase in clinical trial costs driven by continued enrollment in our IOV-COM-202 and IOV-LUN-202 clinical trials and purchases of clinical trial drug used in these clinical trials, and (iv) a $2.2 million increase in travel and others, including allocated costs associated with the expansion of our infrastructure, including information systems, to further support the growth in the organization and operations associated with our clinical trials and pre-commercial efforts. These increases were partially offset by a $10.0 million decrease in research alliance costs due to a one-time license fee from Novartis to further develop IOV-3001 which was recognized in full in 2020, and a $5.2 million decrease in manufacturing costs driven by completion of our pivotal clinical trials.
General and Administrative Expense (in thousands)
Years Ended December 31, Increase (Decrease)
General and administrative expense for the year ended December 31, 2021, increased by $23.5 million, or 39%, compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase was primarily attributable to (i) a $9.8 million increase in payroll and related expenses and a $7.8 million increase in stock-based compensation expenses, both resulting from increases in headcount to support the growth in the overall business and related corporate infrastructure (ii) a $4.3 million increase in insurance and intellectual property filing related costs, and (iii) a $2.8 million increase in other costs, including professional fees and costs associated with the build-out of our new headquarter office and IT infrastructure to support the continued growth in the overall company. These costs were partially offset by a $1.2 million decrease in pre-commercial and marketing costs due to reprioritization of corporate initiatives during the year ended December 31, 2021.
Interest income, net (in thousands
93
Table of Contents
Years Ended December 31, Increase (Decrease)
Interest income results from our interest-bearing cash and investment balances. Net interest income decreased by $1.9 million, or 81%, due primarily to a decrease in interest rates in 2021 as compared to the same period in 2020.
Net Loss (in thousands)
Years Ended December 31, (Increase) Decrease
Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2021, increased by $82.7 million or 32%, compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. 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.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
We have incurred losses and generated negative cash flows from operations since inception. 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. With the submission of the rolling BLA for lifileucel for metastatic melanoma and the expected completion of the submission in the first quarter of 2023, we anticipate generating revenue from the sale of products during the 12 months from the date these consolidated financial statements are issued, however such revenues may not be material. We expect to continue to incur significant expenses to support our research and development activities, on-going pre-commercial activities and completion of the construction of tenant improvements for the iCTC facility during the remainder of 2023 and beyond. Specifically, we expect increased spending on clinical trials, research and development activities, and higher payroll expenses as we increase our professional and scientific staff and continue our expansion of manufacturing activities, including the ramp-up of the iCTC. Based on the funds we have available as of the date of our consolidated financial statements, we believe that we have sufficient capital to fund our anticipated operating expenses and capital expenditures as planned for at least the next twelve months from the date these consolidated financial statements are issued.
We currently anticipate making aggregate capital expenditures of approximately $20.0 million during the next 12 months, which is expected to primarily include equipment to be used for clinical trials, research and manufacturing at the iCTC, as well as spending associated with the expansion of our manufacturing facilities of offices.
As of December 31, 2022, we had $478.3 million in cash, cash equivalents, investments, and restricted cash ($231.7 million of cash and cash equivalents, $240.1 million in short-term investments, and $6.4 million in restricted cash). 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.
Corporate Capitalization
As of December 31, 2022, we had outstanding 187,812,072 shares of our $0.000041666 par value common stock, 194 shares of our $0.001 par value Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, and 2,842,158 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 2,842,158 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 September 17, 2019, we filed a shelf registration statement, or the 2019 Shelf Registration Statement, with the SEC for the issuance up to an aggregate amount of $400 million, which was declared effective on September 24, 2019. The 2019 Shelf
94
Table of Contents
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, or the 2020 Automatic Shelf Registration Statement, with the SEC for the issuance of an indeterminate amount of securities (the “Shelf Securities”), which was immediately effective upon filing with the SEC. Upon filing of the 2020 Automatic Shelf Registration Statement, the 2019 Shelf Registration Statement was 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, or the June 2020 Public Offering. We received gross proceeds of $603.7 million and net proceeds of $567.0 million from the June 2020 Public Offering, after deducting underwriting discounts and offering expenses. Following the June 2020 Public Offering, the 2020 Automatic Shelf Registration Statement remains available for the future issuance of an indeterminate amount of Shelf Securities.
On February 8, 2021, we entered into an Open Market Sales Agreement, or the First Sales Agreement, with Jefferies LLC, or Jefferies, with respect to an “at the market” offering program, under which we may, from time to time, in our sole discretion, issue and sell through Jefferies, acting as sales agent, up to $350.0 million of shares of our common stock.
On November 18, 2022, we entered into a new Open Market Sales Agreement, or the Second Sales Agreement, with Jefferies, which superseded and replaced the First Sales Agreement dated February 8, 2021. Pursuant to the terms of the Second Sales Agreement, we may, from time to time, in our sole discretion, issue and sell through Jefferies, acting as sales agent, up to $500.0 million of shares of our common stock. The issuance and sale, if any, of shares of our common stock under the First Sales Agreement and the Second Sales Agreement will be made pursuant to a prospectus supplement, dated February 8, 2021, and November 18, 2022, respectively, to the 2020 Automatic Shelf Registration Statement. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we received gross proceeds of $194.2 million and net proceeds of $189.5 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and offering expenses, through the sale of 29,788,993 of our common stock, under both the First Sales Agreement and Second Sales Agreement. During the year ended December 31, 2021, we received gross proceeds of $207.9 million and net proceeds of $203.2 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and offering expenses, through the sale of 6,474,099 shares of our common stock, under the First Sales Agreement.
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.
Cash Flows
Cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities (in thousands):
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, 2022, was $292.8 million compared to $227.9 million for the same period in 2021. The increase of $64.8 million in cash used in operating activities was primarily due to an increase in net loss driven by increased costs in research and development and pre-commercial activities, which was partially offset by an increase in non-cash charges of $16.3 million primarily driven by higher stock-based compensation expenses, operating right-of-use assets associated with our office and manufacturing facility as well as embedded leases, and depreciation expenses, partially offset by accretion of discount on investments. In addition, it reflects a $31.4 million increase in cash used by assets and liabilities driven
95
Table of Contents
primarily by changes in accruals and accounts payable as well as prepaid assets, resulting from the increased workforce, overall growth in the business and operations, and the timing of vendor invoicing and related payments. These increases were offset by a net increase in our operating lease liabilities primarily driven by receipts of tenant improvement allowances for our new corporate headquarters office.
Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $227.9 million compared to $205.1 million for the same period in 2020. The increase of $22.8 million in cash used in operating activities was primarily due to an increase in net loss driven by increased costs in research and development and pre-commercial activities, which was partially offset by an increase in non-cash charges of $38.3 million primarily driven by higher stock-based compensation expenses, amortization of premiums on investments and operating right-of-use assets associated with our office and manufacturing facility as well as embedded leases, and depreciation expenses. In addition, it reflects a $5.6 million reduction in our operating lease liabilities associated with payments on lease arrangements, offset by a $16.0 million increase in accruals and accounts payable primarily related to our increased workforce, overall growth in the business and operations, and the timing of vendor invoicing and related payments.
Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 was $205.1 million compared to $158.9 million for the same period in 2019. The increase of $46.2 million in cash used in operating activities was primarily attributable to an increase in net loss and increase in accruals primarily related to our research and development activities, which were partially offset by an increase in non-cash charges of $22.8 million, primarily driven by higher-stock-based compensation expenses and amortization of premiums on investments.
Investing Activities
Net cash (used in) / provided by investing activities primarily consists of purchases, maturities of our investments and capital expenditures. Net cash provided by investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $256.5 million compared to net cash provided by investing activities of $0.1 million for the same period in 2021. The increase in cash provided by investing activities of $256.4 million was primarily due to the timing of maturities and purchases of investments and lower capital expenditures in 2022.
Net cash provided by investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $0.1 million compared to net cash used in investing activities of $317.9 million for the same period in 2020. The increase in cash provided by investing activities of $318.0 million was primarily due to the timing of maturities and purchases of investments and lower capital expenditures in 2021.
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 of $407.9 million was due primarily to purchases of investments with the proceeds received from the June 2020 Public Offering and an increase in capital expenditures to support the iCTC build-out.
Financing Activities
Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $190.2 million compared to net cash provided of $239.3 million for the same period in 2021. The net cash provided by financing activities during the year ended December 30, 2022, related to $189.5 million net cash proceeds from our “at the market” offering, $1.7 million of cash receipts from the issuance of common stock under the 2020 ESPP, and $1.6 million of cash receipts from the issuance of common stock upon the exercise of stock options. This was offset by cash used of $2.6 million for tax payments related to vested RSUs.
Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $239.3 million compared to net cash provided of $576.4 million for the same period in 2020. The net cash provided by financing activities during the year ended December 30, 2021, related to $203.2 million net cash proceeds from our “at the market” offering and $33.5 million of cash receipts from the issuance of common stock upon the exercise of stock options. The net cash provided by financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily related to $567.0 million net cash proceeds received in the June 2020 public offering and $9.7 million cash proceeds from issuance of common stock upon exercise of stock options in 2021.
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 net cash provided in financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily related to net cash proceeds of $567.0 million received from the June 2020 Public Offering and $9.7 million cash
96
Table of Contents
proceeds received in issuing common stock upon exercise of stock options. Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2019, related to cash proceeds received in issuing common stock upon exercise of stock options.
Contractual Obligations
The following table summarizes our non-cancellable contractual obligations as of December 31, 2022, and the effects that such obligations are expected to have on our liquidity and cash flows in future periods (in thousands):
Payments due by period
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
As of December 31, 2022 we did not have, and currently do not have, any off-balance sheet arrangements.
Critical Accounting Estimates
Our accounting policies are more fully described in Note 2 of the consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. As described in Note 2, 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. We believe that the following discussion addresses our most critical accounting policies, which are those that are most important to the portrayal of our financial condition and results of operations and require management’s most difficult, subjective and complex judgments.
97
Table of Contents
Accrued Research and Development Costs
Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. Clinical development costs compose a significant component of research and development costs. We have a history of contracting with third parties, including contract research organizations (“CROs”), independent clinical investigators, and contract manufacturing organizations (“CMOs”) that perform various clinical trial activities on our behalf in connection with the ongoing development of our 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. We accrue and expense costs for clinical trial activities performed by third parties based upon the work completed to date for each clinical trial in accordance with agreements established with CROs, hospitals, and clinical investigators. Accruals for CROs and CMOs are recorded based on services received and efforts expended pursuant to agreements established with CROs, CMOs and other outside service providers. We determine our costs through discussions with internal clinical stakeholders and outside service providers as to the progress or stage of completion of clinical trials or services and the contracted fee to be paid for such services.
Included in our clinical development costs are investigator costs, which are costs associated with treatments administered at clinical sites as required under each clinical trial protocol. Our estimates for clinical investigator costs and timing of expense recognition will depend on a number of factors that include, but are not limited to, (i) the overall number of patients that enroll in the trial at each individual site, (ii) the length of clinical trial enrollment period, (iii) discontinuation and completion rates of patients, (iv) duration of patient safety follow-ups, (v) the number of sites included in the clinical trial, and (vi) the contracted fee of each participating site for patient treatment while on clinical trial, which can vary greatly for several reasons including, but not limited to, geographic region, medical center or physician costs, and overhead costs. In addition, our estimates for per patient trial costs will vary based on a number of factors that include, but are not limited to, the extent of additional treatments that may be administered by investigators as a result of patient health status, recoverability of patient costs through insurance carriers of patients, and unanticipated cost of injuries incurred as a result of the clinical trial treatment. We accrue estimated expenses resulting from obligations under investigator site agreements as the timing of payments does not always timely align with the periods over which the treatments are administered by the clinical investigators. These estimates are typically based on contracted amounts, patient visit data, discussions with internal clinical stakeholders and outside service providers, and historical look-back analysis of actual payments made to date.
We make judgements and estimates in determining the accrual balance in each reporting period. In the event advance payments are made to a CRO, CMO or other outside service provider, the payments are recorded within prepaid expenses and other current assets and subsequently recognized as research and development expense when the associated services have been performed. As actual costs become known, we adjust our estimates, liabilities and assets. Inputs used in our determination of estimates discussed above may vary from actual, which will result in adjustments to research and development expense in future periods.
Inflation
Inflation has not had a material effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations over our two most recent fiscal years.
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. As of December 31, 2022, we had $372.5 million invested in 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, 2022, the fair value of our investment portfolio would increase or decrease by approximately $0.6 million.
98
Table of Contents
Inflation Risk
Inflation has not had a material effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations during the years ended
December 31, 2022, 2021, or 2020.
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, 2022, based on the framework in Internal Control—Integrated Framework 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, 2022.
The independent registered public accounting firm, Ernst and Young LLP, has issued an audit 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.
99
Table of Contents
Item 9B. Other Information
Subsequent Event – Acquisition of Proleukin®
Pursuant to that certain Option Agreement entered into on January 23, 2023 or the Option Agreement, between Iovance and Clinigen Holdings Limited, Clinigen Healthcare Limited and Clinigen, Inc., collectively, Clinigen, we will acquire worldwide rights to Proleukin®, aldesleukin, an IL-2 product used to promote T-cell activity following TIL infusion.
Material terms of the Option Agreement include an upfront payment of £167.7 million, or approximately $200 million, a £41.7 million, or approximately $50 million, milestone payment upon first approval of lifileucel in advanced melanoma, and deferred consideration based on double-digit rates on Proleukin® global net sales payable from Iovance to Clinigen following the completion of the transaction for the applicable deferred consideration term.
Subject to the terms and conditions of the Option Agreement, Clinigen granted us a call option to purchase (i) all issued and outstanding shares of Clinigen SP Limited, the Target, (ii) the business of the Target and Clinigen comprising the manufacturing, supply, commercialization and the generation of income from Proleukin® rights and the undertaking of an active role in the development, maintenance and exploitation of those rights, and (iii) certain specified assets identified in the Option Agreement and we granted Clinigen a put option to sell them.
The Option Agreement is subject to customary termination provisions, and we would be required to pay to Clinigen a reverse termination fee, less certain transaction fees and expenses incurred by us, upon certain events as described in the Option Agreement.
We have provided Clinigen with a parent guarantee in favor of Clinigen, which guarantees that we will promptly fulfill all its obligations under the Option Agreement, subject to the conditions set forth in the Option Agreement.
The closing of the transaction is subject to required regulatory approvals and clearances and other customary closing conditions.
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.
100
Table of Contents
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.
EXHIBIT INDEX
Exhibit Description
101
Table of Contents
102
Table of Contents
103
Table of Contents
21.1 Subsidiaries of the Company.**
23.2 Consent of Marcum, LLP, 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.
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.
104
Table of Contents
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 28, 2023 By: /s/ Frederick G. Vogt
Name: Frederick G. Vogt, Ph.D., J.D.
Title: Interim Chief Executive Officer and President, and General Counsel
POWER OF ATTORNEY
Know all persons by these presents, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Frederick G. Vogt, 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
Frederick G. Vogt, Ph.D., J.D. General Counsel (Principal Executive Officer)
Jean-Marc Bellemin (Principal Financial Officer and Accounting Officer)
/s/ Merrill A. McPeak Director February 28, 2023
Merrill A. McPeak
/s/ Michael Weiser Director February 28, 2023
Michael Weiser, M.D., Ph.D.
/s/ Ryan D. Maynard Director February 28, 2023
Ryan D. Maynard
/s/ Iain Dukes Director February 28, 2023
Iain Dukes, D.Phil.
/s/ Wayne Rothbaum Director February 28, 2023
Wayne Rothbaum
/s/ Athena Countouriotis Director February 28, 2023
Athena Countouriotis, M.D.
/s/ Wendy L. Dixon Director February 28, 2023
Wendy L. Dixon, Ph.D.
105
Table of Contents
IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.
Index to Financial Statements
Contents
Page
Consolidated Financial Statements
Consolidated Balance Sheets F-6
Consolidated Statements of Operations F-7
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss F-8
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity F-9
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows F-10
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements F-11
Table of Contents
REPORT OF ERNST & YOUNG LLP, INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Stockholders and the 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, 2022 and 2021, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive loss, stockholders’ equity and cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2022, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company at December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2022, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
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, 2022, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework) and our report dated February 28, 2023 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
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 audit 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 Matter
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 the critical audit matter 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.
F-1
Table of Contents
Accrued clinical development costs
/s/ Ernst & Young LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2021.
San Mateo, California
F-2
Table of Contents
REPORT OF ERNST & YOUNG LLP, INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc.
Opinion on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
We have audited Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc.’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework) (the COSO criteria). In our opinion, Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (the Company) maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the balance sheets of the Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the related statements of operations, comprehensive loss, stockholders’ equity and cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2022, and the related notes, and our report dated February 28, 2023 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
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 included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and 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.
Because of its 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 the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
/s/ Ernst & Young LLP
San Mateo, California
F-3
Table of Contents
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 sheet of Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2020, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive loss, stockholders’ equity and cash flows for the year 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 the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2020, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
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 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 the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audit 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 audit 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 audit provides 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 2020 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 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%.
F-4
Table of Contents
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 served as the Company’s auditor from 2016 to 2021.
New York, NY
February 25, 2021
F-5
Table of Contents
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 7,271 3,546
Operating lease right-of-use assets 73,015 68,983
Long-term investments — 91,588
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current Liabilities
Operating lease liabilities 12,587 5,057
Non-Current Liabilities
Operating lease liabilities – non-current 71,859 65,474
Long-term note payable 1,000 1,000
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ Equity
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (902) (601)
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity $ 663,982 $ 777,333
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
F-6
Table of Contents
IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.
Consolidated Statements of Operations
(In thousands, except per share information)
Years Ended December 31,
Costs and expenses
Other income
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
F-7
Table of Contents
IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss
(in thousands)
Years Ended December 31,
Other comprehensive loss:
Unrealized loss on investments (301) (620) (201)
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
F-8
Table of Contents
IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders' Equity
(In thousands, except share information)
Series A Series B
Shares Amount Shares Amount Shares Amount Capital Income Deficit Equity
Net loss — — — — — — — — (259,581) (259,581)
Net loss — — — — — — — — (342,252) (342,252)
Net loss — — — — — — — — (395,893) (395,893)
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
F-9
Table of Contents
IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(In thousands)
Years Ended December 31,
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Accretion of discounts and premiums on investments 474 6,013 1,865
Loss on write-off of fixed assets 397 — —
Changes in assets and liabilities:
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
Net cash provided by / (used in) investing activities 256,455 132 (317,853)
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Proceeds from the issuance of debt — 1,000 —
Supplemental disclosure of non-cash investing and financing activities:
Net unrealized loss on investments $ (301) $ (620) (201)
Conversion of convertible preferred stock to common stock — 1 —
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
F-10
Table of Contents
IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
NOTE 1. GENERAL ORGANIZATION, BUSINESS AND LIQUIDITY
General Organization and Business
Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering a transformational approach to treating cancer by harnessing the human immune system’s ability to recognize and destroy diverse cancer cells using therapies personalized for each patient. The Company’s mission is to be the global leader in innovating, developing and delivering tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (“TIL”) therapies for patients with solid tumor cancers. The Company’s autologous TIL therapy platform uses a centralized, scalable, and proprietary 22-day manufacturing process to grow polyclonal T-cells unique to each patient and yields a cryopreserved, individualized therapy. The Company is currently conducting clinical trials to investigate multiple TIL therapies for multiple indications, including its lead product candidate, lifileucel, for advanced, or metastatic or unresectable melanoma. The Company initiated a rolling Biologics License Application (“BLA”) submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for lifileucel in August 2022 and expects to complete the rolling BLA submission in the first quarter of 2023. The Company is also pursuing registrational strategies for lifileucel in advanced cervical cancer and for its TIL therapy LN-145 in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (“NSCLC”). In addition, the Company is investigating next generation approaches to optimize TIL products, manufacturing processes and treatment regimens, including a first-in-human clinical trial of its lead genetically modified TIL therapy, IOV-4001. The Company is also exploring a 16-day manufacturing process, tumor tissue procurement via core biopsy, additional genetically modified TIL therapies including multiple immune checkpoint gene edits and cytokine-tethered TIL therapies, as well as, a novel interleukin-2 (“IL-2”) analog, designated IOV-3001, as potential avenues to improve manufacturing timelines, sample collection and supportive treatments involved in the overall TIL therapy process and treatment regimen.
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, nor does the Company currently anticipate that it will generate any significant revenues from the sale or licensing of any of its product candidates during the twelve months from the date these consolidated financial statements are issued. The Company has incurred a net loss of $395.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 and used $292.8 million of cash in its operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2022. As of December 31, 2022, the Company had $478.3 million in cash, cash equivalents, investments, and restricted cash ($231.7 million of cash and cash equivalents, $240.1 million in short-term investments and $6.4 million in restricted cash).
The Company expects to continue to incur significant expenses to support its research and development activities, on-going pre-commercial activities and completion of the construction of tenant improvements for the Iovance Cell Therapy Center (the “iCTC”) facility during 2023 and beyond. Specifically, the Company expects continued spending on its current and planned clinical trials, continued expansion of manufacturing activities, 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 consolidatedfinancial 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 consolidatedfinancial statements are issued.
Concentrations of Risk
The Company is subject to credit risk from its portfolio of cash, cash equivalents and investments. Under its investment policy, the Company limits amounts invested in securities by credit rating, maturity, industry group, investment type and issuer, 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 are safety and preservation of principal, diversification of risk, and liquidity of investments sufficient to meet cash flow requirements.
F-11
Table of Contents
IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
NOTE 2. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING PRACTICES
Cash, Cash Equivalents, and 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 investments are classified as “available-for-sale.” The Company includes these investments in current assets or non-current assets in the Consolidated Balance Sheets based on the length of maturity from the reporting date and carries them at fair value. Unrealized gains and losses on available-for-sale securities are recorded in accumulated other comprehensive loss. Impairment losses related to credit losses (if any) are recorded as an allowance for credit losses with an offsetting entry to Interest income, net. No impairment losses related to credit losses were recognized for the years ended December 31, 2022, and 2021. 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 Interest income, net in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Gains and losses on securities sold are recorded based on the specific identification method and are included in Interest income, net 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 commercial paper, and places restrictions on maturities and concentration by type and issuer, except for securities issued by the U.S. government.
Restricted Cash
The Company maintains a required minimum balance in a segregated bank account in connection with its letters of credit for which amounts are restricted as to their use by the Company. Currently, the Company’s letters of credit are primarily comprised of one for the benefit of the landlord for the iCTC used as a security deposit for the lease in the amount $5.45 million (See Note 10 - Leases) and one for $0.6 million for the benefit of the landlord for the Company’s current headquarters’ lease. The total amount of the Company’s letters of credit is classified as Restricted Cash on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The letter of credit for $5.45 million 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 $1.0 million with a minimum security deposit of $1.5 million maintained through the end of the lease term. The letter of credit with the landlord for the Company’s current headquarters’ lease expires on February 1, 2032, however, it will be automatically extended, without written agreement, for one-year periods to February in each succeeding calendar year. As of December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, restricted cash consisted of $6.4 million and $6.1 million, respectively. This amount has been classified as a non-current asset in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets.
The following table provides a reconciliation of cash and 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 (in thousands):
December 31,
F-12
Table of Contents
IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Property and Equipment, net