Item 1A. Risk Factors.
You should consider carefully the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. We operate in a dynamic and rapidly changing industry that involves numerous risks and uncertainties. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Other risks and uncertainties, including those that we do not currently consider material, may impair our business. If any of the risks discussed below actually occur, our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flows could be materially adversely affected. This Annual Report on Form 10-K also contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including the risks we face as described below and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. See “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements.”.
Risks Related to Our Business
We have incurred significant losses since inception. We expect to incur losses for the foreseeable future and may never achieve or maintain profitability.
Since inception, we have incurred significant operating losses. Our net loss was $117.3 million and $83.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. As of December 31, 2025, we had an accumulated deficit of $383.8 million. We have financed our operations primarily through private placements of our convertible preferred stock and more recently, common stock in our November 2023, April 2024 and March 2026 private placements, and sales under our at-the-market offering program. Substantially all of our losses have resulted from expenses incurred in connection with our research and development and from general and administrative costs associated with our operations, and most recently, a $30.9 million impairment charge in the fourth quarter of 2025 related to our operating lease right-of-use asset and fixed assets. We expect to continue to incur significant expenses, increasing operating losses, and negative operating cash flows for the foreseeable future. The net losses we incur may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter. We anticipate that our expenses will increase substantially if and as we:
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progress our development candidates, including KRRO-121, through clinical development;
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continue current research programs and preclinical and clinical development of any lead candidates or development candidates we may identify;
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seek to identify additional research programs and lead candidates and nominate development candidates;
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further develop OPERA, our RNA editing platform;
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maintain, expand, enforce, defend and protect our intellectual property portfolio;
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seek marketing approvals for any development candidates that successfully complete clinical trials;
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develop, maintain and enhance a sustainable, scalable, reproducible and transferable manufacturing process for the candidates we may develop;
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ultimately establish a sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure to commercialize any products for which we may obtain marketing approval;
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hire additional personnel as we grow our business;
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acquire or in-license lead candidates, development candidates, intellectual property and technologies;
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establish and maintain collaborations;
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should we decide to do so, build and maintain a commercial-scale current good manufacturing practices, or cGMP, manufacturing facility; and
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operate as a public company.
We expect that it will be many years, if ever, before we have a RNA editing product ready for commercialization. To become and remain profitable, we must develop and, either directly or through collaborators, eventually commercialize a product or products with market potential. This will require us to be successful in a range of challenging activities, including identifying lead candidates, completing preclinical studies and clinical trials of development candidates, obtaining marketing approval for
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these development candidates, manufacturing, marketing and selling those products for which we may obtain marketing approval and satisfying any post-marketing requirements. We may never succeed in these activities and, even if we are, may never generate revenues that are significant or large enough to achieve profitability.
In November 2025, we announced that we did not reach projected levels of protein in patients in our Phase 1/2a REWRITE clinical trial of KRRO-110 for AATD and our other programs are in early stages of development. In addition, we undertook workforce reductions in May 2025 and November 2025, and in the fourth quarter of 2025, as result of identified indicators of impairment for our long-lived assets, primarily including our operating lease right-of-use, or ROU, asset, and property and equipment, we recognized a non-cash, long-lived asset impairment charge of $30.9 million. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with developing lead candidates and development candidates, and the risks associated with conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials, we are unable to predict the extent of any future losses or when we will become profitable, if at all. If we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. Our failure to become and remain profitable would decrease the value of our company and could impair our ability to raise capital, maintain our research and development efforts, expand business or continue our operations. A decline in our value could also cause you to lose all or part of your investment. Further, we may not even experience the expected benefits of our May 2025 and November 2025 workforce reductions or our decision to discontinue clinical development of KRRO-110. Further, the long-lived asset impairment charges recognized may affect how investors, analysts, and counterparties assess our financial position and prospects, potentially making it more difficult or expensive to raise capital or enter into collaborations on favorable terms.
We have never generated revenue from product sales and may never become profitable.
Our ability to generate revenue from product sales and achieve profitability depends on our ability, alone or with collaborative partners, to successfully complete the development of, and obtain the regulatory approvals necessary to commercialize, candidates we may identify for development. We do not anticipate generating revenues from product sales for many years, if ever. Our ability to generate future revenues from product sales depends heavily on our, or our collaborators’, ability to successfully:
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identify lead candidates and successfully complete research and development of such lead candidates;
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seek and obtain regulatory and marketing approvals for any development candidates for which we complete clinical trials;
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launch and commercialize any development candidates for which we may obtain regulatory and marketing approval by establishing a sales force, marketing and distribution infrastructure, or alternatively, collaborating with a commercialization partner;
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qualify for adequate coverage and reimbursement by government and third-party payors for any development candidates for which we may obtain regulatory and marketing approval;
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establish and maintain supply and manufacturing relationships with third parties that can provide adequate, in both amount and quality, products and services to support clinical development and the market demand for any development candidates for which we obtain regulatory and marketing approval;
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develop, maintain and enhance a sustainable, scalable, reproducible and transferable manufacturing process for the development candidates we may develop;
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address competing technological and market developments;
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negotiate favorable terms in any existing or future collaboration, licensing or other arrangements and perform our obligations in such collaborations;
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receive market acceptance by physicians, patients, healthcare payors, and others in the medical community;
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maintain, protect, enforce, defend and expand our portfolio of intellectual property and other proprietary rights, including patents, trade secrets and know-how;
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defend against third party intellectual property claims of infringement, misappropriation or other violation; and
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attract top talent and retain qualified personnel.
Our expenses could increase beyond expectations if we are required by the FDA, the EMA, HREC, or TGA, or other regulatory authorities to perform clinical and other studies in addition to those that we currently anticipate. Even if one or more of
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the candidates we may develop are approved for commercial sale, we anticipate incurring significant costs associated with commercializing any approved development candidate. Additionally, such products may become subject to unfavorable pricing regulations, third-party reimbursement practices or healthcare reform initiatives. Even if we are able to generate revenues from the sale of any approved development candidates, we may not become profitable and may need to obtain additional funding to continue operations.
We will need substantial additional funding. If we are unable to raise capital when needed, we will be forced to delay, reduce, eliminate or prioritize among our research and development programs or future commercialization efforts.
We expect our expenses to continue to increase in connection with our ongoing activities, particularly as we identify, continue the research and development of, initiate preclinical studies and clinical trials of, and seek marketing approval for, our lead candidates and development candidates. Because we have limited financial and managerial resources, we have prioritized our research programs and oligonucleotide optimization efforts in specific indications among many potential options. Specifically, our initial development programs target liver and central nervous systems indications, amongst others. As a result of this prioritization, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other lead candidates or development candidates or for other indications that later prove to have greater clinical or commercial potential and we may need to reprioritize our focus in the future. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities. For example, KRRO-110, which used an LNP delivery system, did not reach projected levels of protein in patients in our Phase 1/2a REWRITE clinical trial for AATD and we have since transitioned to a GalNAc-conjugated delivery system for our AATD program. Our spending on current and future research and development programs, lead candidates and development candidates for specific indications may not yield any commercially viable products.
In addition, if we obtain marketing approval for any candidates we may develop, we expect to incur significant commercialization expenses related to product sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution to the extent that such sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution are not the responsibility of a collaborator. Furthermore, we expect to continue to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company. Accordingly, we will need to obtain substantial additional funding in connection with our continuing operations. If we are unable to raise capital when needed or on attractive terms, we would be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate our research and product development programs or future commercialization efforts.
As of December 31, 2025, our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities were $85.2 million, excluding restricted cash, or $88.6 million, including restricted cash. We believe our existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, together with the net proceeds raised under sales under our at-the-market offering program and March 2026 private placement,will be sufficient to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through several value-creating milestones and into the second half of 2028. However, our operating plan may change as a result of factors currently unknown, and expectations regarding our cash runway and ability to reach data inflection points are based on numerous assumptions that may prove to be untrue. As a result, we may be required to raise capital sooner than anticipated and our exposure to certain contingent liabilities and contractual obligations may be greater than anticipated. Our future capital requirements will depend on many other factors, including those discussed in the risk factor entitled “We have incurred significant losses since inception. We expect to incur losses for the foreseeable future and may never achieve or maintain profitability.”
Any additional fundraising efforts may divert our management from their day-to-day activities, which may adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize any development candidates we may develop. We cannot be certain that additional funding will be available on acceptable terms or at all. Although we have an effective shelf registration statement and an at-the-market offering program, we have not sold any shares under the program and we have no committed source of additional capital. If we are unable to raise additional capital in sufficient amounts or on terms acceptable to us, we may have to significantly delay, scale back or discontinue the development or commercialization of any development candidates or other research and development initiatives. We could be required to seek collaborators for potential lead candidates earlier than we would otherwise plan or on terms that are less favorable than might otherwise be available. We could also be required to relinquish or license our rights to lead candidates on unfavorable terms in certain markets where we otherwise would seek to pursue development or commercialization ourselves.
We did not reach projected levels of protein in patients in our Phase 1/2a REWRITE clinical trial of KRRO-110 for AATD and have transitioned to GalNAc-conjugated delivery for our AATD program, and may experience delays in developing a potential treatment for AATD. We have not completed any clinical trials nor reported any clinical trial results for any of our proposed delivery methods or RNA editing approaches. Any favorable results we may have from our earlier preclinical studies may not be predictive of results that may be observed in later preclinical studies or clinical trials.
The scientific evidence to support the feasibility of developing development candidates using our proprietary RNA editing technology is both preliminary and limited. We dosed very few participants in our Phase 1/2a REWRITE clinical trial
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of KRRO-110 for AATD. Although we observed functional protein in AATD patients following a single administration of KRRO-110, we did not reach projected levels of protein in patients as of the data cut off date. We have not completed any clinical trials for any of our proposed delivery methods or RNA editing approaches, and we have transitioned from LNP to GalNAc-conjugated delivery for our AATD program. Accordingly, we may experience delays in developing a potential treatment for AATD. In the future, we may use other delivery modalities to deliver our other lead candidates. While LNPs have been validated clinically to deliver oligonucleotides, such as siRNA, they were not clinically proven to deliver oligonucleotides for RNA editing, such as KRRO-110 and our other lead candidates. Similarly, while GalNAc-conjugated delivery has been validated in multiple FDA-approved oligonucleotide therapeutics, there are no FDA-approved GalNAc-conjugated RNA editing oligonucleotide therapeutics. Both of our most advanced programs, KRRO-121 and our AATD program, utilize GalNAc-conjugated delivery. If GalNAc-conjugated delivery fails to effectively deliver our RNA editing oligonucleotides, multiple programs in our pipeline could be adversely affected.
In addition, our proprietary RNA editing technology itself may lead to other issues, such as inability to deliver the desired efficacy or safety-related consequences as it is tested in clinical trials. The design of a clinical trial can determine whether its results will support approval of a development candidate and flaws in the design of a clinical trial may not become apparent until the clinical trial is well advanced. Furthermore, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses, and many companies that have believed their development candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials have nonetheless failed to obtain marketing approval of their development candidates. Many lead candidates that initially showed promise in early stage testing for treating a variety of diseases have later been found to lack efficacy or to cause side effects that prevented further clinical development. Accordingly, any favorable results we may have from our earlier preclinical studies may not be predictive of results that may be observed in further preclinical studies or clinical trials.
If preclinical studies or clinical trials of any lead candidate or development candidate we may identify fail to demonstrate safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of regulatory authorities or do not otherwise produce positive results, we may incur additional costs or experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the development and commercialization of such development candidate.
Before obtaining marketing approval from regulatory authorities for the sale of any development candidates we may identify and develop, we must complete preclinical development and then conduct extensive clinical trials to demonstrate safety and efficacy in humans. Clinical testing is expensive, difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete, and the outcome is uncertain. A failure of one or more clinical trials can occur at any stage of development. The outcome of preclinical testing and early clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of later clinical trials, and interim results of a clinical trial do not necessarily predict final results.
Moreover, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses. Many companies that have believed their lead candidates or development candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials have nonetheless failed, preventing marketing approval of their development candidates. For example, despite our preclinical data, we did not reach projected levels of protein in AATD patients in our REWRITE Phase 1/2a clinical trial.
We and our collaborators, if any, may experience numerous unforeseen events during, or as a result of, clinical trials that could delay or prevent our ability to receive marketing approval or commercialize any development candidates we may identify and develop, including:
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delays in reaching a consensus with regulators on trial design;
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regulators, institutional review boards, or IRBs, or independent ethics committees may not authorize us or our investigators to commence a clinical trial or conduct a clinical trial at a prospective trial site;
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delays in reaching or failing to reach agreement on acceptable clinical trial contracts or clinical trial protocols with prospective CROs and clinical trial sites;
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clinical trials of any development candidates we may develop may produce negative or inconclusive results, and we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional clinical trials or abandon product development or research programs;
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difficulty in designing well-controlled clinical trials due to ethical considerations that may render it inappropriate to conduct a trial with a control arm that can be effectively compared to a treatment arm;
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difficulty in designing clinical trials and selecting endpoints for diseases that have not been well-studied and for which the natural history and course of the disease is poorly understood;
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the number of patients required for clinical trials may be larger than we anticipate; enrollment of suitable participants in these clinical trials, which may be particularly challenging for some of the rare genetically defined diseases such as UCD, may be delayed or slower than we anticipate; or patients may drop out of these clinical trials at a higher rate than we anticipate;
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our third-party contractors may fail to comply with regulatory requirements or meet their contractual obligations to us in a timely manner, or at all;
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regulators, IRBs, or independent ethics committees may require that we or our investigators suspend or terminate clinical research or clinical trials of any development candidates we may develop for various reasons, including noncompliance with regulatory requirements, a finding of undesirable side effects or other unexpected characteristics, or that the participants are being exposed to unacceptable health risks or after an inspection of our clinical trial operations or trial sites;
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the cost of clinical trials of any development candidates may be greater than we anticipate;
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the supply or quality of any development candidates or other materials necessary to conduct clinical trials of any development candidates may be insufficient or inadequate, including as a result of delays in the testing, validation, manufacturing, and delivery of any development candidates to the clinical sites by us or by third parties with whom we have contracted to perform certain of those functions;
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delays in having patients complete participation in a trial or return for post-treatment follow-up;
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clinical trial sites dropping out of a trial;
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selection of clinical endpoints that require prolonged periods of clinical observation or analysis of the resulting data;
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occurrence of serious adverse events associated with any development candidates that are viewed to outweigh their potential benefits;
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occurrence of serious adverse events in trials of the same class of agents conducted by other sponsors; and
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changes in regulatory requirements and guidance that require amending or submitting new clinical protocols.
If we or our collaborators are required to conduct additional clinical trials or other testing of any development candidates beyond those that we currently contemplate, if we or our collaborators are unable to successfully complete clinical trials or other testing of any development candidates, or if the results of these trials or tests are not positive or are only modestly positive or if there are safety concerns, we or our collaborators may:
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be delayed in obtaining marketing approval for any such development candidates or not obtain marketing approval at all;
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choose to, or be required to, revise or transition strategy for our development candidates or protocols;
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obtain approval for indications or patient populations that are not as broad as intended or desired;
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obtain approval with labeling that includes significant use or distribution restrictions or safety warnings, including boxed warnings;
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be subject to changes in the way the product is administered;
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be required to perform additional clinical trials to support approval or be subject to additional post-marketing testing requirements;
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have regulatory authorities withdraw, or suspend, their approval of the product or impose restrictions on our distribution in the form of a REMS or through modification to an existing REMS;
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be sued; or
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experience damage to our reputation.
Product development costs will also increase if we or our collaborators experience delays in clinical trials or other testing or in obtaining marketing approvals. We do not know whether any clinical trials will begin as planned, will need to be restructured, or will be completed on schedule, or at all. Significant clinical trial delays also could shorten any periods during which we may have the exclusive right to commercialize any development candidates we may develop, could allow our competitors to bring
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products to market before we do, and could impair our ability to successfully commercialize any development candidates we may develop, any of which may harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Our business is substantially dependent on the success of KRRO-121, our lead development candidate, and if KRRO-121 fails to advance successfully, our business would be materially and adversely affected.
We have concentrated a significant portion of our current resources and efforts on the advancement of KRRO-121, our lead development candidate for the treatment of hyperammonemia, including UCD and HE. KRRO-121 is in preclinical development and has not been tested in humans. KRRO-121 utilizes GalNAc-conjugated delivery and is designed to generate a stabilized, de novo variant of GS with enhanced ammonia clearance capacity. We anticipate submitting a regulatory filing to enable commencement of a first-in-human clinical trial in the second half of 2026. However, there can be no assurance that KRRO-121 will demonstrate safety or efficacy in humans, that our regulatory filing will be accepted, or that we will be able to initiate or complete clinical trials on our anticipated timeline. If KRRO-121 fails to demonstrate safety or efficacy, or if we experience significant delays in its regulatory filing or clinical development, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects would be materially and adversely affected. Following the termination of our REWRITE clinical program investigating KRRO-110 for AATD, KRRO-121 is our only nominated development candidate, which increases the concentration of risk in a single program. Our other programs, including our AATD GalNAc-conjugated program, our longevity and liver health program targeting AMPKγ1, and our ALS program targeting TDP-43, are in earlier stages of preclinical development and may not advance to clinical development on a timely basis, or at all.
If we experience delays or difficulties in the enrollment of patients in clinical trials, or other delays in our clinical trials, our receipt of necessary regulatory approvals could be delayed or prevented.
Clinical trials of a new development candidate require the enrollment of a sufficient number of patients, including patients who are suffering from the disease the development candidate is intended to treat and who meet other eligibility criteria. Rates of patient enrollment are affected by many factors, including the stage and severity of disease, the nature and requirements of the protocol, the proximity of patients to clinical sites, the availability of effective treatments for the relevant disease, and the eligibility criteria for the clinical trial, possible adverse effects from treatments, the existence of competing clinical trials, the involvement of patient advocacy groups, the availability of new or alternative treatments, lack of efficacy, personnel issues and ease of participation in our clinical trials, among others. Clinical trials can also be impacted by other events unrelated to our business, such as geopolitical events and unrest, such as recent hostilities involving Iran, global pandemics (e.g., COVID-19), or economic uncertainty, including imposition of tariffs that impact the supply chain, or disruptions due to government shutdowns, which can impact regulatory reviews. In April 2025, the United States imposed tariffs on imports on its trading partners and tariff policy (and trading partners subject to such tariffs) has continued to evolve. Historically, tariffs have led to increased costs, political and trade tensions, which negatively affect global supply chains. These types of events can disrupt clinical trial sites and delay patient enrollment, all of which would have a negative impact on our business and ability to obtain regulatory approval. Delays or difficulties in patient enrollment or difficulties retaining trial participants, including as a result of the availability of existing or other investigational treatments, can result in increased costs, longer development times or termination of a clinical trial.
Risks Related to Discovery, Development and Commercialization
The gene editing field and RNA editing in particular is relatively new and is evolving rapidly. We are very early in our development efforts and may not be successful in identifying and developing any candidates. It will be many years before we or our collaborators commercialize a development candidate or generate any revenues, if ever. Additionally, other genetic medicine technologies may be discovered that provide significant advantages over RNA editing, which could materially harm our business.
The success of our business depends primarily upon our ability to identify, develop and commercialize development candidates. We are very early in our development efforts and have focused our research and development efforts to date on developing OPERA, our RNA editing platform, and identifying our initial targeted disease indications. We currently only have one nominated development candidate in our pipeline, KRRO-121 as terminated further development of KRRO-110 after it failed to reach projected levels of protein in our first in-human clinical trial. Although we believe we can demonstrate many of the key advantages of RNA editing, because we are very early in our development efforts, we are not yet certain of the results we may achieve, which may be important for registration and commercialization of any candidates we successfully develop. Such uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the level of editing efficiency needed in a target tissue type to achieve a clinical benefit, and associated safety of our edits in humans. We have also not yet shown that preclinical editing activity can result in
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clinically important effects, nor that the data generated by our preclinical studies can translate into positive results in clinical trials.
All of our product development programs are still in the research or preclinical stage of development. Our research methodology may be unsuccessful in identifying lead candidates, our development candidates may be shown to have harmful side effects in preclinical in vitro experiments or animal model studies, they may not show promising signals of therapeutic effect in such experiments or studies or they may have other characteristics that may make the development candidates impractical to manufacture, unmarketable, or unlikely to receive marketing approval.
The pharmacological properties ascribed to the lead candidates we are testing in preclinical studies may not be positively demonstrated in clinical trials in patients, and they may interact with human biological systems in unforeseen, ineffective or harmful ways (such as we experienced in our REWRITE Phase 1/2a clinical trial). If our development candidates prove to be ineffective, unsafe or commercially unviable, OPERA and our pipeline would have little, if any, value, which would substantially harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. In addition, our approach, which focuses on using oligonucleotides for drug development, as opposed to multiple or other, more advanced proven technologies, and new products and technologies that may enter the market, may expose us to additional financial risks and make it more difficult to raise additional capital if we are not successful in developing one or more development candidates that receive regulatory approval. Our ability to generate product revenue, which we do not expect will occur for many years, if ever, will depend heavily on the successful development and eventual commercialization of any development candidates we may discover, which may never occur. We currently generate no revenue from sales of any product, and we may never be able to develop or commercialize a marketable product.
In addition, although we believe OPERA, our RNA editing platform, will position us to expand our portfolio of development candidates beyond the initial candidates we may develop, we have not yet successfully developed any candidate and our ability to expand our portfolio may never materialize.
RNA editing is a novel technology with limited clinical validation for human therapeutic use. The approaches we take to discover and develop novel therapeutics are unproven and may never lead to marketable products.
We are focused on developing products based on RNA editing. Although there have been significant advances in the field of gene editing in recent years, RNA editing technologies are new and largely unproven. The technologies that we have developed have not yet completed clinical development. The scientific evidence to support the feasibility of developing development candidates based on these technologies is both preliminary and limited. Successful development of development candidates by us will require solving a number of issues, including optimizing the efficiency and specificity of such development candidates, and ensuring the therapeutic selectivity of such development candidates. There can be no assurance we will be successful in solving any or all of these issues.
We have concentrated our research efforts to date on preclinical work to bring therapeutics to the clinic for our initial indications, and our future success is highly dependent on the successful development of OPERA, our RNA editing platform, as well as cellular delivery methods and therapeutic applications of that technology. While some of the existing, non-RNA editing, gene editing technologies developed by third parties have progressed to clinical trials, they continue to suffer from various limitations, and such limitations may affect our future success. While a number of clinical trials for oligonucleotide products conducted by other companies have not been successful, some have received regulatory approval. The pharmacological properties ascribed to the development candidates we are testing or will test in the future may not be positively demonstrated in clinical trials in patients, and they may interact with human biological systems in unforeseen, ineffective or harmful ways. If our development candidates prove to be ineffective, unsafe or commercially unviable, our OPERA platform and our pipeline would have little, if any, value, which would substantially harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. We may decide to alter or abandon our initial programs as new data becomes available and we gain experience in developing base editing therapeutics. We cannot be sure that our technologies will yield satisfactory products that are safe and effective, scalable or profitable in our initial indications or any other indication we pursue.
Development activities in the field of RNA editing are currently subject to a number of risks related to the ownership and use of certain intellectual property rights that are subject to patent reexamination and inter partes proceedings in the United States and opposition proceedings in Europe. For additional information regarding the risks that may apply to our and our licensors’ intellectual property rights, see “—Risks Related to Intellectual Property.”
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We are very early in our development efforts, and our preclinical studies and clinical trials may not be successful. If we are unable to commercialize our development candidates or experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be materially harmed.
We are very early in our development of development candidates and have focused our efforts to date primarily on platform development, discovery, research, and preclinical development and had only dosed a small number of participants in our terminated Phase 1/2a REWRITE clinical trial of KRRO-110 for AATD. Our development candidate, KRRO-121, is advancing toward a regulatory filing anticipated in the second half of 2026. All of our other programs are still in the research or preclinical stage of development. Our ability to generate product revenues, which we do not expect will occur for many years, if ever, will depend heavily on the successful development, marketing approval and eventual commercialization of our development candidates, which may never occur. We have not yet generated revenue from product sales or otherwise, and we may never be able to develop or commercialize a marketable product.
Commencing clinical trials in the United States is subject to acceptance by the FDA of an IND and finalizing the trial design based on discussions with the FDA and other regulatory authorities. In the event that the FDA requires us to complete additional preclinical studies or we are required to satisfy other FDA requests prior to commencing clinical trials, the start of our first clinical trials may be delayed or we may be unsuccessful obtaining clearance to proceed into clinical development. Even after we receive and incorporate guidance from these regulatory authorities, the FDA or other regulatory authorities could disagree that we have satisfied their requirements to commence any clinical trial or change their position on the acceptability of our trial designs or the clinical endpoints selected, which may require us to complete additional preclinical studies or clinical trials, delay the enrollment of our clinical trials, abandon our clinical development plans or meet stricter approval conditions than we currently expect. There are equivalent processes and risks applicable to clinical trial applications, or CTAs, in other countries, including countries in the European Union, United Kingdom and Australia.
Even if we complete the necessary clinical trials, we cannot predict when, or if, we will obtain regulatory approval to commercialize any development candidates in the United States or any other jurisdiction, and any such approval may be for a narrower indication than we seek. In addition, clinical trials conducted in one country may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other countries, and regulatory approval in one country does not guarantee regulatory approval in any other country. We may in the future decide to conduct other clinical trials with one or more trial sites that are located outside the United States. Although the FDA may accept data from clinical trials conducted outside the United States, acceptance of these data is subject to conditions imposed by the FDA, and there can be no assurance that the FDA will accept data from any clinical trials conducted outside of the United States. If the FDA does not accept the data from any clinical trial that we conduct outside the United States, it would likely result in the need for additional trials, which would be costly and time-consuming and could delay or permanently halt our development of the applicable development candidates. Similarly, marketing approval by the FDA in the United States, if obtained, does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions. Approval processes vary among countries and can involve additional development candidate testing and validation and additional administrative review periods.
Commercialization of any development candidates we may develop will require preclinical and clinical development; regulatory and marketing approval in multiple jurisdictions, including by the FDA, the EMA, HREC and TGA; manufacturing supply, capacity and expertise; a commercial organization; and significant marketing efforts. The success of our development candidates will depend on many factors, including the following:
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timely and successful completion of preclinical studies, including toxicology studies, biodistribution studies and minimally efficacious dose studies in animals, where applicable;
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effective INDs or comparable foreign applications that allow commencement of our planned clinical trials or future clinical trials for any development candidates we may develop;
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successful enrollment and completion of clinical trials, including under the FDA’s current GCPs, current GLPs, and any additional regulatory requirements from foreign regulatory authorities;
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positive results from our future clinical trials that support a finding of safety and effectiveness and an acceptable risk-benefit profile in the intended populations;
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receipt of marketing approvals from applicable regulatory authorities;
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establishment of arrangements through our own facilities or with third-party manufacturers for clinical supply and, where applicable, commercial manufacturing capabilities;
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establishment, maintenance, defense and enforcement of patent, trademark, trade secret and other intellectual property protection or regulatory exclusivity for any development candidates we may develop;
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commercial launch of any development candidates we may develop, if approved, whether alone or in collaboration with others;
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acceptance of the benefits and use of the development candidates we may develop, including method of administration, if and when approved, by patients, the medical community and third-party payors;
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effective competition with other products;
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maintenance of a continued acceptable safety, tolerability and efficacy profile of any development candidates we may develop following approval; and
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establishment and maintenance of healthcare coverage and adequate reimbursement by payors.
If we do not succeed in one or more of these factors in a timely manner or at all, we could experience significant delays or an inability to successfully commercialize any development candidates we may develop, which would materially harm our business.
Any development candidates we develop may fail in preclinical or clinical development or be delayed to a point where they do not become commercially viable.
Before obtaining regulatory approval for the commercial distribution of any of our development candidates, we must conduct, at our own expense, extensive preclinical studies and clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy in humans of our development candidates. Preclinical and clinical testing are expensive, difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete, are uncertain as to outcome, and the historical failure rate for drugs in preclinical and clinical development is high. For example, we depend on the availability of NHPs to conduct certain preclinical studies. Over the past several years there has been an increasing global shortage of NHPs available for drug development that has matured into an acute global supply chain issue. The supply of these NHPs is currently constrained due to factors such as their limited worldwide availability, domestic regulatory restrictions and trade relations. If we are unable to obtain access to a sufficient supply of these NHPs in a timely manner or at all, our timelines and our ability to complete preclinical testing and submit IND or CTA applications may be adversely affected.
The development of one or more of our development candidates can fail at any stage of testing. We may experience numerous unforeseen events during, or as a result of, preclinical studies and clinical trials that could delay or prevent regulatory approval or our ability to commercialize our development candidates, including:
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our preclinical studies or clinical trials may produce negative or inconclusive results, including results that may not meet the level of significance or clinical benefit required by the FDA, the EMA, HREC, TGA or other regulators, and we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional preclinical studies or clinical trials, or we may abandon projects that we had expected to be promising;
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delays in filing INDs or comparable foreign applications or delays or failure in obtaining the necessary approvals from regulators or IRBs in order to commence a clinical trial at a prospective trial site, or their suspension or termination of a clinical trial once commenced;
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conditions imposed on us by the FDA, the EMA, HREC, TGA or comparable foreign authorities regarding the scope or design of our clinical trials;
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divergent views between FDA and other homologue regulatory authorities as to the objectives and/or design of the clinical trials required in support of marketing registration;
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problems in obtaining or maintaining IRB approval of trials;
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delays in enrolling patients or volunteers into clinical trials, and variability in the number and types of patients eligible for clinical trials;
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an inability to open study sites, or enroll, treat, and monitor patients due to local restrictions, including as a result of any pandemic or endemic or other geopolitical events that can disrupt supply chains, such as announced tariffs, hostilities in Iran, or other evolving economic policies;
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high drop-out rates for patients in clinical trials and substantial missing data;
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negative or inconclusive results from our clinical trials or the clinical trials of others for development candidates similar to ours;
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failure of future clinical trials to confirm positive results, if any, from earlier preclinical studies and clinical trials;
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inability to consistently manufacture, inadequate supply, or unacceptable quality of development candidate materials or other materials necessary for the conduct of our clinical trials;
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greater than anticipated clinical trial costs;
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serious and unexpected side effects that may or may not be related to the development candidate being tested that are experienced by participants in our clinical trials or by individuals using drugs similar to our development candidates;
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poor or disappointing effectiveness of our development candidates during clinical trials;
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unfavorable outcome of FDA, EMA, HREC, TGA or other regulatory agency inspection and review of a manufacturing or clinical trial site or other records relating to the clinical investigation;
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failure of our third-party contractors, investigators, or collaboration partners to comply with regulatory requirements or otherwise meet their contractual obligations in a timely manner, or at all;
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governmental or regulatory delays and changes in regulatory requirements, policy and guidelines, including the imposition of additional regulatory oversight around manufacturing, preclinical, or clinical testing generally or with respect to our development candidates class, in particular; or
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varying interpretations of data by the FDA and similar foreign regulatory agencies.
If we do not successfully conduct clinical development, we will not be able to market and sell products derived from our development candidates or generate product revenues. Even if we do successfully complete clinical trials, those results are not necessarily predictive of results of additional trials that may be needed before we can submit an application for regulatory approval to the FDA or foreign regulatory agencies. If the development of any of our development candidates fails or is delayed to a point where such development candidate is no longer commercially viable, our business may be materially harmed.
We may not be able to conduct clinical trials successfully due to various process-related factors that could negatively impact our business plans.
The successful initiation and completion of any of our clinical trials within timeframes consistent with our business plans, is dependent on various factors, which include, but are not limited to, our ability to:
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retain and recruit employees, contractors or consultants with the required level of knowledge and experience;
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retain and recruit, in a timely manner, a sufficient number of patients necessary to conduct a clinical trial;
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manufacture and maintain a sufficient amount of clinical material, internally or through third parties;
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ensure adherence to trial designs and protocols agreed upon and approved by regulatory authorities and applicable regulatory and legal guidelines;
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apply the appropriate pharmacovigilance measures in case of adverse effects emerging during a clinical trial;
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execute clinical trial designs and protocols approved by regulatory authorities without deficiencies;
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timely and effectively contract with (under reasonable terms), manage and work with investigators, institutions, hospitals and the CROs involved in the clinical trial;
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negotiate contracts and other related documents with clinical trial parties and IRBs, CRO agreements and site agreements, which can be subject to extensive negotiations that could cause significant delays in the clinical trial process, with terms possibly varying significantly among different trial sites and CROs and possibly subjecting us to various risks; and
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conduct clinical trials in a cost-effective manner, including management of foreign currency risk in clinical trials conducted in foreign jurisdictions and cost increases due to unforeseen or unexpected complications such as enrollment delays, or needing to outsource certain functions during the clinical trial.
If we are not able to manage the clinical trial process successfully, our business plans could be delayed or be rendered unfeasible for us to execute within our planned or required time frames, or at all.
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If we cannot successfully manufacture our development candidates for our research and development and preclinical activities, or manufacture sufficient amounts of our development candidates to meet our clinical requirements and timelines, our business may be materially harmed.
In order to develop our development candidates, apply for regulatory approvals and commercialize our development candidates, we will need to develop, contract for, or otherwise arrange for the necessary manufacturing and supply capabilities. In addition to the oligonucleotides that we manufacture internally, we may utilize CMOs to manufacture the oligonucleotides required for our preclinical studies and clinical trials. There are a limited number of manufacturers that supply oligonucleotides. There are risks inherent in pharmaceutical manufacturing that could affect our ability or the ability of our CMOs to meet delivery time requirements or provide adequate amounts of material to meet our clinical trial demands on our projected timelines. Included in these risks are potential synthesis and purification failures and/or contamination during the manufacturing process, as well as other issues with our facility or the CMOs’ facilities and ability to comply with the applicable manufacturing requirements and quality standards, which could result in unusable product and cause delays in our manufacturing timelines and ultimately delay our clinical trials, as well as result in additional expense. To manufacture our oligonucleotides, we rely on third parties to supply the required raw materials. We will likely need to secure alternative suppliers for these raw materials, and such alternative suppliers are limited and may not be readily available, or we may be unable to enter into agreements with them on reasonable terms and in a timely manner. For example, we source certain materials used in the manufacture of our products from China and other countries outside of the United States; supply chain disruptions (including as a result of announced tariffs, other geopolitical events or global health pandemics) could impact our business. Additionally, our cost of goods development is at an early stage. The actual cost to manufacture and process our development candidates could be greater than expected and could materially and adversely affect the commercial viability of our development candidates.
The process of manufacturing oligonucleotides is complex and we may encounter difficulties in production, particularly with respect to process development or scaling-up of our manufacturing capabilities.
The process of manufacturing oligonucleotides is complex, highly-regulated and subject to multiple risks. The complex processes associated with the manufacture of our development candidates expose us to various manufacturing challenges and risks, which may include delays in manufacturing adequate supply of our development candidates, limits on our ability to increase manufacturing capacity, and the potential for product failure and product variation in quality that may interfere with preclinical studies and clinical trials, along with additional costs. We may also make changes to our manufacturing process or the delivery system we use at various points during development, and even after commercialization, for various reasons, such as optimizing costs, achieving scale, decreasing processing time, increasing manufacturing success rate, or other reasons. Such changes carry the risk that they will not achieve their intended objectives, and any of these changes could cause our development candidates to perform differently and affect the results of current or future clinical trials, or the performance of the product, once commercialized. In some circumstances, changes in the manufacturing or delivery system may require us to perform ex vivo comparability studies, and/or conduct animal studies, and to collect additional data from patients prior to undertaking more advanced clinical trials. For instance, changes in our manufacturing process during the course of clinical development may require us to show the comparability of the product used in earlier clinical trials or at earlier portions of a trial to the product used in later clinical trials or later portions of the trial. We may also make further changes to our manufacturing or delivery system before or after commercialization, and such changes may require us to show the comparability of the resulting product to the product produced via earlier manufacturing processes and supplied or delivery system used in clinical studies. We may be required to collect additional preclinical and/or clinical data from any modified process prior to obtaining marketing approval for the development candidate produced with such modified process. If preclinical and/or clinical data are not ultimately comparable to those seen in the earlier trials, we may be required to make further changes to our process and/or undertake additional clinical testing, either of which could significantly delay the clinical development or commercialization of the associated development candidate.
Although we continue to build on our experience in manufacturing oligonucleotides, we have limited experience as a company manufacturing development candidates for commercial supply. We may never be successful in manufacturing development candidates in sufficient quantities or with sufficient quality for commercial use. Our manufacturing capabilities could be affected by cost-overruns, unexpected delays, equipment failures, labor shortages, operator error, natural disasters, unavailability of qualified personnel, difficulties with logistics and shipping, problems regarding yields or stability of product, contamination or other quality control issues, power failures, and numerous other factors that could prevent us from realizing the intended benefits of our manufacturing strategy and have a material adverse effect on our business.
Furthermore, compliance with cGMP requirements and other quality issues may arise during any internal efforts to scale-up manufacturing, and with our current or any future CMOs. If contaminants are discovered in our supply of our development candidates or in the manufacturing facilities of our CMOs, such manufacturing facilities may need to be closed for an extended
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period of time to investigate and remedy the contamination. We cannot assure you that any stability failures or other issues relating to the manufacture of our development candidates will not occur in the future. Additionally, our CMOs may experience manufacturing difficulties due to resource constraints or as a result of labor disputes or unstable political environments. If our CMOs were to encounter any of these difficulties, our ability to provide our development candidate to patients in clinical trials, or to provide product for treatment of patients once approved, would be jeopardized.
We may expend our limited resources to pursue a particular development candidate or indication and fail to capitalize on development candidates or indications that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.
Because we have limited financial resources, we intend to focus on developing development candidates for specific indications that we identify as most likely to succeed, in terms of both regulatory approval and commercialization. As a result, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other development candidates or for other indications that may prove to have greater commercial potential. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities. Our spending on current and future research and development programs and development candidates for specific indications may not yield any commercially viable products. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular development candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that development candidate through collaboration, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in which we would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to such development candidate.
Our development candidates may cause undesirable and unforeseen side effects or be perceived by the public as unsafe, which could delay or prevent their advancement into clinical trials or regulatory approval, limit the commercial potential or result in significant negative consequences.
We have dosed very few participants with our development candidates in human clinical trials. Moreover, there have been only a limited number of clinical trials involving the use of genetic medicine technologies and RNA editing technology similar to our technology. It is impossible to predict when, or if, any development candidates we may develop will prove safe in humans. In the genetic medicine field, there have been several significant adverse events from gene therapy treatments in the past, including reported cases of leukemia and death. There can be no assurance that RNA editing technologies will not cause undesirable side effects, such as lymphoma, leukemia, or other cancers, or other aberrantly functioning cells.
If any such adverse events occur, our future clinical trials could be suspended or terminated. If we are unable to demonstrate that any adverse events were caused by the administration process or related procedures, the FDA, the EMA, HREC, TGA or other regulatory authorities could order us to cease further development of, or deny approval of, any development candidates for any or all targeted indications. Even if we can demonstrate that all future serious adverse events are not product-related, such occurrences could affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled patients to complete any future trial. Moreover, if we elect, or are required, to not initiate, delay, suspend or terminate any future clinical trial of any of our development candidates, the commercial prospects of such development candidates may be harmed and our ability to generate product revenues from any of these development candidates may be delayed or eliminated. Any of these occurrences may harm our ability to develop other development candidates, and may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects significantly.
Additionally, if any of our development candidates receives marketing approval, the FDA could require us to adopt a REMS to ensure that the benefits of the product outweigh its risks, which may include, for example, a Medication Guide outlining the risks of the product for distribution to patients and a communication plan to health care practitioners, or other elements to assure safe use of the product. Furthermore, if we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by any of our development candidates, several potentially significant negative consequences could result, including:
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regulatory authorities may suspend or withdraw approvals of such development candidate;
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we may be required to change the way a development candidate is administered or conduct additional clinical trials;
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we could be sued and held liable for harm caused to patients; and
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our reputation may suffer.
Any of these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects significantly.
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If we are unable to successfully identify patients who are likely to benefit from therapy with any development candidates we develop, or experience significant delays in doing so, we may not realize the full commercial potential of any products we may develop.
Our success may depend, in part, on our ability to identify patients who are likely to benefit from therapy with any products we may develop, which may require those potential patients to have their DNA analyzed for the presence or absence of a particular sequence. If we, or any third parties that we engage to assist us, are unable to successfully identify such patients, or experience delays in doing so, then:
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our ability to develop any development candidates may be adversely affected if we are unable to appropriately select patients for enrollment in our clinical trials; and
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we may not realize the full commercial potential of any development candidates we develop that receive marketing approval if, among other reasons, we are unable to appropriately select patients who are likely to benefit from therapy with our products.
As a result of these factors, we may be unable to successfully develop and realize the commercial potential of any development candidates we may identify and develop, and our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects would be materially adversely affected.
If we are unable to establish sales and marketing capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to market and sell any development candidates, we may be unable to generate any revenues.
We currently do not have an organization for the sales, marketing and distribution of any development candidates and the cost of establishing and maintaining such an organization may exceed the cost-effectiveness of doing so. To market any products that may be approved, we must build our sales, marketing, managerial and other non-technical capabilities or make arrangements with third parties to perform these services. With respect to certain of our current programs as well as future programs, we may rely completely on an alliance partner for sales and marketing. In addition, although we intend to establish a sales organization if we are able to obtain approval to market any development candidates, we may enter into strategic alliances with third parties to develop and commercialize any development candidates, including in markets outside of the United States or for other large markets that are beyond our resources. This will reduce the revenue generated from the sales of these products.
Any future strategic alliance partners may not dedicate sufficient resources to the commercialization of our development candidates or may otherwise fail in their commercialization due to factors beyond our control. If we are unable to establish effective alliances to enable the sale of our development candidates to healthcare professionals and in geographical regions, including the United States, that will not be covered by our own marketing and sales force, or if our potential future strategic alliance partners do not successfully commercialize the development candidates, our ability to generate revenues from product sales will be adversely affected.
If we are unable to establish adequate sales, marketing and distribution capabilities, whether independently or with third parties, we may not be able to generate sufficient product revenue and may not become profitable. We will be competing with many companies that currently have extensive and well-funded marketing and sales operations. Without an internal team or the support of a third party to perform marketing and sales functions, we may be unable to compete successfully against these more established companies.
Even if we receive regulatory approval to market our development candidates, the market may not be receptive to our development candidates upon their commercial introduction, which will prevent us from becoming profitable.
Our development candidates are based upon new discoveries, technologies and therapeutic approaches. Key participants in pharmaceutical marketplaces, such as physicians, third-party payors and consumers, may not adopt a product intended to improve therapeutic results that is based on the technology employed by oligonucleotides. As a result, it may be more difficult for us to convince the medical community and third-party payors to accept and use our product, or to provide favorable reimbursement.
Other factors that we believe will materially affect market acceptance of our development candidates include:
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the timing of our receipt of any regulatory approvals, the terms of any approvals and the countries in which approvals are obtained;
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the ability to consistently manufacture our products within acceptable quality standards;
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the safety and efficacy of our development candidates, as demonstrated in clinical trials and as compared with alternative treatments, if any;
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the incidence, seriousness and severity of any side effects;
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the relative convenience and ease of administration of our development candidates;
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the willingness of patients to accept potentially new routes of administration and their risk tolerance as it relates to potentially serious side effects;
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the success of our physician education programs;
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the availability of government and third-party payor coverage and adequate reimbursement;
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the pricing of our products, particularly as compared to alternative treatments; and
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the availability of alternative effective treatments for the diseases that development candidates we develop are intended to treat and the relative risks, benefits and costs of those treatments.
In addition, our estimates regarding the potential market size may be materially different from what we currently expect by the time we commence commercialization, which could result in significant changes in our business plan and may significantly harm our results of operations and financial condition.
The pharmaceutical industry is intensely competitive. If we are unable to compete effectively with existing drugs, new treatment methods and new technologies, we may be unable to commercialize successfully any drugs that we develop.
The pharmaceutical industry is intensely competitive and rapidly changing. Many large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic institutions, governmental agencies and other public and private research organizations are pursuing the development of novel drugs for the same diseases that we are targeting or expect to target, including UCD, HE and AATD. Many of our competitors have:
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much greater financial, technical and human resources than we have at every stage of the discovery, development, manufacture and commercialization of products;
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more extensive experience in designing and conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals, and manufacturing, marketing and selling pharmaceutical products;
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development candidates that are based on previously tested or accepted technologies;
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products that have been approved or are in late stages of development; and
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collaborative arrangements in our target markets with leading companies and research institutions.
We will face intense competition from drugs that have already been approved and accepted by the medical community for the treatment of the conditions for which we may develop products. We also expect to face competition from new drugs that enter the market. We believe a significant number of drugs are currently under development, and may become commercially available in the future, for the treatment of conditions that our current or future development candidates are or may be designed to treat. These drugs may be more effective, safer, less expensive, or marketed and sold more effectively, than any products we develop. Following our transition to GalNAc-conjugated delivery for our AATD program, we may be further behind in our development efforts than our competitors, which could negatively impact our ability to develop a commercially viable product for such indication.
Our competitors may develop or commercialize products with significant advantages over any products we are able to develop and commercialize based on many different factors, including:
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the safety and effectiveness of our products relative to alternative products, if any;
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the ease with which our products can be administered and the extent to which patients accept relatively new routes of administration;
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the timing and scope of regulatory approvals for these products;
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the availability and cost of manufacturing, marketing and sales capabilities;
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price;
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more extensive coverage and higher levels of reimbursement; and
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patent position.
Our competitors may therefore be more successful in commercializing their products than we are, which could adversely affect our competitive position and business. Competitive products may make any products we develop obsolete or noncompetitive before we can recover the expenses of developing and commercializing our development candidates. Such competitors could also recruit our employees, which could negatively impact our level of expertise and our ability to execute on our business plan.
Healthcare legislative or regulatory reform measures may have a negative impact on our business and results of operations.
In the United States and some foreign jurisdictions, there have been, and continue to be, several legislative and regulatory changes and proposed changes regarding the healthcare system that could prevent or delay marketing approval of development candidates, restrict or regulate post-approval activities, and affect our ability to profitably sell any development candidates for which we obtain marketing approval. Payors, whether domestic or foreign, or governmental or private, are developing increasingly sophisticated methods of controlling healthcare costs. Recent and proposed healthcare reform measures in the United States have focused in particular on prescription drug pricing, reimbursement, and manufacturer financial obligations under government healthcare programs. These measures include statutory changes, executive actions, and proposed regulations that may affect pricing, coverage, reimbursement methodologies, and market access for pharmaceutical and biological products. For a more complete discussion of healthcare reform and regulatory developments that may affect our business, see Item 1, “Business—Government Regulation—Healthcare Reform Measures.”
There has been increasing legislative, regulatory, and enforcement interest in the United States with respect to prescription drug pricing practices. Specifically, there has been heightened governmental scrutiny over the manner in which manufacturers set prices for their marketed products, which has resulted in several U.S. Congressional inquiries and proposed and enacted federal and state legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, reduce the cost of prescription drugs under Medicare, and review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs.
The continuing efforts of the government, insurance companies, managed care organizations and other payers of healthcare services to contain or reduce costs of healthcare may adversely affect:
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the demand for any of our development candidates, if approved;
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the ability to set a price that we believe is fair for any of our development candidates, if approved;
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our ability to generate revenues and achieve or maintain profitability;
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the level of taxes that we are required to pay; and
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the availability of capital.
We expect that additional healthcare reform measures will be adopted in the future, any of which could result in reduced demand for our development candidates or additional pricing pressures. These cost containment measures (be it federal or state regulations, or regional bidding processes, or most-favored-nation pricing practices, or otherwise) could reduce the ultimate demand for any approved development candidates and or put pressure on our pricing, which could negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
In addition, a 2024 U.S. Supreme Court decision may increase regulatory uncertainty and litigation risk and could delay or complicate FDA regulatory review, policymaking, or implementation of regulatory initiatives. We cannot predict the full impact of this decision, future judicial challenges brought against the FDA, or the nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action. Any such challenges, if successful, could have an impact on our business, and any such impact could be material. In addition to potential changes to regulations and agency guidance as a result of legal challenges, these decisions may result in increased regulatory uncertainty and delays in and other impacts to the agency rulemaking process, any of which could adversely impact our business and operations.
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If the market opportunities for any development candidates we may develop are smaller than we believe they are, our potential revenues may be adversely affected, and our business may suffer.
Our projections of both the number of people who have these diseases, as well as the subset of people with these diseases who have the potential to benefit from treatment with development candidates we may develop, are based on estimates. These estimates may prove to be incorrect and new studies may change the estimated incidence or prevalence of these diseases. Additionally, our estimates regarding the potential market size may be materially different from what we currently expect by the time we commence commercialization. The number of patients in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere may turn out to be lower than expected, and patients may not be amenable to treatment with our development candidates, or may become increasingly difficult to identify or gain access to, all of which would adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
While we intend to seek designations for our development candidates with the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities that are intended to confer benefits such as a faster development process or an accelerated regulatory pathway, there can be no assurance that we will successfully obtain such designations. In addition, even if one or more of our development candidates are granted such designations, we may not be able to realize the intended benefits of such designations.
The FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities offer certain designations for development candidates that are designed to encourage the research and development of development candidates that are intended to address conditions with significant unmet medical need. These designations include fast track, or breakthrough therapy, among others, and may confer benefits such as additional interaction with regulatory authorities, a potentially accelerated regulatory pathway and priority review. However, there can be no assurance that we will successfully obtain such designations for any development candidates. See Item 1 “Business—Government Regulation—Expedited Development and Review Programs for Drugs” for more information regarding these designations. While such designations could expedite the development or approval process, they generally do not change the standards for approval. Even if we obtain such designations for one or more of our development candidates, there can be no assurance that we will realize their intended benefits.
In the future, we may also seek approval of development candidates under the FDA’s accelerated approval pathway or request priority review. There can be no assurance that FDA would allow any of the development candidates we may develop to proceed on an accelerated approval pathway or grant priority review, and even if FDA did allow such pathway, there can be no assurance that such submission or application will be accepted or that any expedited development, review or approval will be granted on a timely basis, or at all. Moreover, even if we received accelerated approval, any post-approval studies required to confirm and verify clinical benefit may not show such benefit, which could lead to withdrawal of any approvals we have obtained. Receiving accelerated approval does not assure that the product’s accelerated approval will eventually be converted to a traditional approval.
In addition, in the European Union, we may seek to participate in The PRIority MEdicines, or PRIME, scheme for our development candidates. The PRIME scheme is intended to encourage drug development in areas of unmet medical need and provides accelerated assessment of products representing substantial innovation, where the marketing authorization application will be made through the centralized procedure in the European Union. There is no guarantee, however, that our development candidates would be deemed eligible for the PRIME scheme and even if we do participate in the PRIME scheme, where during the course of development a medicine no longer meets the eligibility criteria, support under the PRIME scheme may be withdrawn. PRIME eligibility does not change the standards for product approval, and there is no assurance that any such designation or eligibility will result in expedited review or approval. For more information regarding PRIME and the EU regulatory framework, see Item 1 “Business—Government Regulation—Regulation Outside of the United States.”
Risks Related to Regulatory, Legal, and Clinical Trials
Because we are developing oligonucleotides, which are considered a relatively new class of drugs, there is increased risk that the outcome of our clinical trials will not be sufficient to obtain regulatory approval.
The FDA and comparable ex-U.S. regulatory agencies have relatively limited experience with oligonucleotides, which may increase the complexity, uncertainty and length of the regulatory review process for any development candidates. Even though the FDA issued two draft guidance documents in December 2021 relating to IND submissions for individualized antisense oligonucleotide drugs for severely debilitating or life-threatening genetic diseases, one with clinical focus, the other with chemistry manufacturing and controls focus, and in June 2024 final guidance on clinical pharmacology considerations for the development of oligonucleotide therapeutics, the FDA and its foreign counterparts have not yet established any definitive policies, practices or guidelines in relation to overall development considerations for RNA editing oligonucleotide therapies. The general lack of policies, practices or guidelines specific to oligonucleotides may hinder or slow review by the FDA or other
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foreign regulatory agencies of any regulatory filings that we may submit. Moreover, the FDA or other foreign regulatory agencies may respond to these submissions by defining requirements we may not have anticipated. Addressing such requirements could lead to significant delays in the development of our development candidates. In addition, because there may be approved treatments for some of the diseases for which we may seek approval, in order to receive regulatory approval, we may need to demonstrate through clinical trials that the development candidates we develop to treat these diseases, if any, are not only safe and effective, but safer or more effective than existing products. Furthermore, in recent years, there has been increased public and political pressure on the FDA with respect to the approval process for new drugs. As a result of the foregoing factors, we may never receive regulatory approval to market and commercialize any development candidate. Even if we obtain regulatory approval, the approval may be for disease indications or patient populations that are not as broad as we intended or desired or may require labeling that includes significant use or distribution restrictions or safety warnings. We may be required to perform additional or unanticipated clinical trials to obtain regulatory approval or be subject to additional post-marketing studies or other requirements to maintain such approval. As a result, we may never succeed in developing a marketable product, we may not become profitable and the value of our common stock could decline.
Because we are developing development candidates in the field of genetic medicines in which there is little clinical experience, there is increased risk that the FDA, the EMA, HREC, TGA or other regulatory authorities may not consider the endpoints of our clinical trials to provide clinically meaningful results and that these results may be difficult to analyze.
In order to proceed into clinical development of any development candidates we identify, we will need to submit INDs or comparable foreign applications to regulatory authorities and obtain regulatory clearance to commence clinical development. Because the development candidates we identify are based on novel gene-editing technology, we may be unsuccessful in obtaining clearance from regulatory authorities to proceed into clinical development. In order to commence clinical development, we will need to identify success criteria and endpoints such that the FDA, the EMA or other regulatory authorities will be able to determine the clinical efficacy and safety profile of any development candidates we may develop. As we are initially seeking to identify and develop development candidates to treat diseases in which there is little clinical experience using new technologies, and while we may have opportunities to discuss our clinical development plans with regulatory authorities prior to commencing clinical development, there is heightened risk that the FDA, the EMA, HREC, TGA or other regulatory authorities may not consider the clinical trial endpoints that we propose to provide clinically meaningful results (reflecting a tangible benefit to patients). In addition, the resulting clinical data and results may be difficult to analyze.
Even if the FDA does find our success criteria to be sufficiently validated and clinically meaningful, we may not achieve the pre-specified endpoints to a degree of statistical significance. Furthermore, even if we do achieve the pre-specified criteria, we may produce results that are unpredictable or inconsistent with the results of the non-primary endpoints or other relevant data. The FDA also weighs the benefits of a product against its risks, and the FDA may view the efficacy results in the context of safety as not being supportive of regulatory approval. Other regulatory authorities in the European Union and other countries may make similar comments with respect to these endpoints and data. Any development candidates we may develop will be based on a novel technology that makes it difficult to predict the time and cost of development and of subsequently obtaining regulatory approval. No RNA editing therapeutic product has been approved in the United States or in Europe. Within the broader genome product field, only a limited number of gene therapy products have received marketing authorization or marketing approval from the European Commission or the FDA. Some of these products have taken years to register and have had to deal with significant issues in their post-marketing experience.
Even if we complete the necessary preclinical studies and clinical trials, we cannot predict when, or if, we will obtain regulatory approval to commercialize a development candidate and the approval may be for a narrower indication than we seek.
Prior to commercialization, any of our development candidates must be approved by the FDA pursuant to a new drug application, or NDA, in the United States and pursuant to similar marketing applications by the EMA and similar regulatory authorities outside the United States. The process of obtaining marketing approvals, both in the United States and abroad, is expensive and takes many years, if approval is obtained at all, and can vary substantially based upon a variety of factors, including the type, complexity and novelty of the development candidates involved. Failure to obtain marketing approval for a development candidate will prevent us from commercializing the development candidates. We have not received approval to market any of our development candidates from regulatory authorities in any jurisdiction. We have no experience in submitting and supporting the applications necessary to gain marketing approvals, and, in the event regulatory authorities indicate that we may submit such applications, we may be unable to do so as quickly and efficiently as desired.
Securing marketing approval requires the submission of extensive preclinical and clinical data and supporting information to regulatory authorities for each therapeutic indication to establish the development candidate’s safety and efficacy. Securing
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marketing approval also requires the submission of information about the product manufacturing process to, and inspection of manufacturing facilities by, the regulatory authorities. Our development candidates may not be effective, may be only moderately effective or may prove to have undesirable or unintended side effects, toxicities or other characteristics that may preclude us from obtaining marketing approval or prevent or limit commercial use. Regulatory authorities have substantial discretion in the approval process and may refuse to accept or file any application or may decide that our data is insufficient for approval and require additional preclinical, clinical or other studies. In addition, varying interpretations of the data obtained from preclinical and clinical testing could delay, limit or prevent marketing approval of a development candidate.
Approval of any of our development candidates may be delayed or refused for many reasons, including:
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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with the design or implementation of our clinical trials;
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We may be unable to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities, that our development candidates are safe and effective for any of their proposed indications;
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the results of clinical trials may not meet the level of statistical significance required by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities for approval;
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We may be unable to demonstrate that our development candidates’ clinical and other benefits outweigh their safety risks;
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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with our interpretation of data from preclinical programs or clinical trials;
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the data collected from clinical trials of our development candidates may not be sufficient to support the submission of an NDA or other comparable submission in foreign jurisdictions or to obtain regulatory approval in the United States or elsewhere;
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the facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we contract or procure certain service or raw materials, may not be adequate to support approval of our development candidates; and
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the approval policies or regulations of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may significantly change in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval.
Even if our development candidates meet their safety and efficacy endpoints in clinical trials, the regulatory authorities may not complete their review processes in a timely manner, or we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval. Additional delays may result if an FDA Advisory Committee or other regulatory authority recommends non-approval or restrictions on approval. In addition, we may experience delays or rejections based upon additional government regulation from future legislation or administrative action, or changes in regulatory authority policy during the period of product development, clinical trials and the review process.
Regulatory authorities also may approve a development candidate for more limited indications than requested or they may impose significant limitations in the form of narrow indications, warnings or REMS. These regulatory authorities may require precautions or contra-indications with respect to conditions of use or they may grant approval subject to the performance of costly post-marketing clinical trials. In addition, regulatory authorities may not approve the labeling claims that are necessary or desirable for the successful commercialization of our development candidates. Any of the foregoing scenarios could materially harm the commercial prospects for our development candidates and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We may be unable to obtain regulatory approval in the United States or foreign jurisdictions and, as a result, be unable to commercialize our development candidates and our ability to generate revenue will be materially impaired.
Our development candidates are subject to extensive governmental regulations relating to, among other things, research, testing, development, manufacturing, quality, safety, efficacy, approval, recordkeeping, reporting, labeling, storage, packaging, advertising and promotion, pricing, marketing and distribution of drugs. Rigorous preclinical studies and clinical trials, and an extensive regulatory approval process are required to be successfully completed in the United States and in many foreign jurisdictions before a new drug can be marketed. Satisfaction of these and other regulatory requirements is costly, time consuming, uncertain, and subject to a continuously evolving regulatory environment and unanticipated delays. It is possible that none of the development candidates we may develop will obtain the regulatory approvals necessary for us or our collaborators to begin selling them.
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The time required to obtain FDA and other approvals is unpredictable but typically takes many years following the commencement of clinical trials, depending upon the type, complexity and novelty of the development candidate. The standards that the FDA and its foreign counterparts use when regulating companies such as ours are not always applied predictably or uniformly and can change. Any analysis we perform of data from chemistry, manufacturing and controls, preclinical and clinical activities is subject to confirmation and interpretation by regulatory authorities, which could delay, limit or prevent regulatory approval. We may also encounter unexpected delays or increased costs due to new government regulations, for example, from future legislation or administrative action, or from changes in FDA policy during the period of product development, clinical trials and FDA regulatory review. It is impossible to predict whether legislative changes will be enacted, or whether FDA or foreign regulations, guidance or interpretations will be changed, or what the impact of such changes, if any, may be.
Any delay or failure in obtaining required approvals could adversely affect our ability to generate revenues from the particular development candidates for which we are seeking approval. Furthermore, any regulatory approval to market a product may be subject to limitations on the approved uses for which we may market the product or the labeling or other restrictions. In addition, the FDA has the authority to require a REMS as a condition of approval, which may impose further requirements or restrictions on the distribution or safe use of an approved drug, such as limiting prescribing rights to certain physicians or medical centers that have undergone specialized training, limiting treatment to patients as specially defined by the indication statement or who meet certain safe-use criteria, and requiring treated patients to enroll in a registry, among other requirements. These limitations and restrictions may limit the size of the market for the product and affect reimbursement by third-party payors.
We are also subject to numerous foreign regulatory requirements governing, among other things, the conduct of clinical trials, manufacturing and marketing authorization, pricing and payment. The foreign regulatory approval process varies among countries and may include all of the risks associated with FDA approval described above, as well as risks attributable to the satisfaction of local regulations in foreign jurisdictions. Approval by the FDA does not ensure approval by comparable regulatory authorities outside of the United States and vice versa.
Any development candidates for which we obtain marketing approval will be subject to extensive post-marketing regulatory requirements and could be subject to post-marketing restrictions or withdrawal from the market, and we may be subject to penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or if we experience unanticipated problems with our development candidates, when and if any of them are approved.
Our development candidates and the activities associated with their development and potential commercialization, including their testing, manufacturing, recordkeeping, labeling, storage, approval, advertising, promotion, sale and distribution, are subject to comprehensive regulation by the FDA and other U.S. and international regulatory authorities. These requirements include submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration and listing requirements, requirements relating to manufacturing, including cGMPs, quality control, quality assurance and corresponding maintenance of records and documents, including periodic inspections by the FDA and other regulatory authorities and requirements regarding the distribution of samples to providers and recordkeeping.
The FDA may also impose requirements for costly post-marketing studies or clinical trials and surveillance to monitor the safety or efficacy of any approved product. The FDA closely regulates the post-approval marketing and promotion of drugs to ensure drugs are marketed only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved labeling. The FDA imposes stringent restrictions on manufacturers’ communications regarding use of their products. If we promote our development candidates in a manner inconsistent with FDA-approved labeling or otherwise not in compliance with FDA regulations, we may be subject to enforcement action. Violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act relating to the promotion of prescription drugs may lead to investigations alleging violations of federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws, as well as state consumer protection laws and similar laws in international jurisdictions.
In addition, later discovery of previously unknown adverse events or other problems with our development candidates, manufacturers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may yield various results, including:
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restrictions on such development candidates, manufacturers or manufacturing processes;
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restrictions on the labeling or marketing of a product;
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restrictions on product distribution or use;
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requirements to conduct post-marketing studies or clinical trials;
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warning or untitled letters;
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withdrawal of any approved product from the market;
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refusal to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications that we may submit;
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recall of development candidates;
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fines, restitution or disgorgement of profits or revenues;
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suspension or withdrawal of marketing approvals;
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refusal to permit the import or export of our development candidates;
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product seizure; or
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injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.
Non-compliance with European Union requirements regarding safety monitoring or pharmacovigilance, and with requirements related to the development of products for the pediatric population, can also result in significant financial penalties. Similarly, failure to comply with the European Union’s requirements regarding the protection of personal information can also lead to significant penalties and sanctions.
Even if we obtain regulatory approvals, our marketed drugs will be subject to ongoing regulatory oversight. If we fail to comply with continuing U.S. and foreign requirements, our approvals, if obtained, could be limited or withdrawn, we could be subject to other penalties, and our business would be seriously harmed.
Following any initial regulatory approval of any drugs we may develop, we will also be subject to continuing regulatory oversight, including the review of adverse drug experiences and safety data that are reported after our drug products are made commercially available. This would include results from any post-marketing studies or surveillance to monitor the safety and efficacy of the drug product required as a condition of approval or agreed to by us. Any regulatory approvals that we receive for our development candidates may also be subject to limitations on the approved uses for which the product may be marketed. Other ongoing regulatory requirements include, among other things, submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration and listing, as well as continued maintenance of our marketing application, compliance with cGMP requirements and quality oversight, compliance with post-marketing commitments, applicable product tracking and tracing requirements and compliance with GCP for any clinical trials that we conduct post-approval. Failure to comply with these requirements could result in warning or untitled letters, criminal or civil penalties, recalls, or product withdrawals. In addition, we intend to seek approval to market our development candidates in jurisdictions outside of the United States, and therefore will be subject to, and must comply with, regulatory requirements in those jurisdictions.
The FDA has significant post-market authority, including, for example, the authority to require labeling changes based on new safety information and to require post-market studies or clinical trials for a variety of reasons. The FDA also has the authority to require a REMS plan after approval, which may impose further requirements or restrictions on the distribution or use of an approved drug.
We, our CMOs, and the manufacturing facilities we use to make our development candidates will also be subject to ongoing assessment of product quality, compliance with cGMP, and periodic inspection by the FDA and potentially other regulatory agencies. We or our CMOs may not be able to comply with applicable cGMP regulations or similar regulatory requirements outside of the United States. Our failure, or the failure of our CMOs, to comply with applicable regulations could result in regulatory actions, such as the issuance of FDA Form 483 notices of observations, warning letters or sanctions being imposed on us, including clinical holds, fines, injunctions, civil penalties, delays, suspension or withdrawal of approvals, license revocation, seizures or recalls of development candidates or drugs, operating restrictions and criminal prosecutions, any of which could significantly and adversely affect supplies of our products. We may not have the ability or capacity to manufacture material at a broader commercial scale in the future. We and our CMOs currently manufacture a limited supply of clinical trial materials. Reliance on CMOs entails risks to which we would not be subject if we manufactured all of the material ourselves, including reliance on the CMO for regulatory compliance. Our product promotion and advertising will also be subject to regulatory requirements and continuing regulatory review.
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If we or our collaborators, manufacturers or service providers fail to comply with applicable continuing regulatory requirements in the United States or foreign jurisdictions in which we may seek to market our products, we or they may be subject to, among other things, fines, warning letters, holds on clinical trials, refusal by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications, suspension or withdrawal of regulatory approval, product recalls and seizures, refusal to permit the import or export of products, operating restrictions, injunction, consent decree, civil penalties and criminal prosecution.
The insurance coverage and reimbursement status of newly-approved products is uncertain. Failure to obtain or maintain adequate coverage and reimbursement for our development candidates could limit our product revenues.
Because our development candidates represent new approaches to the treatment of genetic-based diseases, we cannot be sure that coverage and reimbursement will be available for, or accurately estimate the potential revenue from, our development candidates or assure that coverage and reimbursement will be available for any product that we may develop. The regulations that govern marketing approvals, pricing and reimbursement for new drugs vary widely from country to country. Some countries require approval of the sale price of a drug before it can be marketed. In many countries, the pricing review period begins after marketing or product licensing approval is granted. In some foreign markets, prescription pharmaceutical pricing remains subject to continuing governmental control even after initial approval is granted. We are monitoring these regulations as several of our programs move into later stages of development; however, many of our programs are currently in the earlier stages of development and we will not be able to assess the impact of price regulations for a number of years. As a result, we might obtain regulatory approval for a product in a particular country, but then be subject to price regulations that could delay our commercial launch of the product and negatively impact any potential revenues we may be able to generate from the sale of the product in that country and potentially in other countries due to reference pricing. For more information, see Item 1 “Business – Government Regulation – Pharmaceutical Coverage and Reimbursement.”
Our ability to commercialize any products successfully will also depend in part on the extent to which coverage and adequate reimbursement/payment for these products and related treatments will be available from government health administration authorities, private health insurers and other organizations. Even if we succeed in bringing one or more products to the market, these products may not be considered medically necessary and/or cost-effective, and the amount reimbursed for any products may be insufficient to allow us to sell our products on a competitive basis. At this time, we are unable to determine their cost effectiveness or the likely level or method of reimbursement for our development candidates. Increasingly, third-party payors, such as government and private insurance plans, are requiring that drug companies provide them with predetermined discounts from list prices, and are seeking to reduce the prices charged or the amounts paid for pharmaceutical products. If the price we are able to charge for any products we develop, or the payments provided for such products, is inadequate in light of our development and other costs, our return on investment could be adversely affected.
There may be significant delays in obtaining coverage for newly-approved drugs, and coverage may be more limited than the indications for which the drug is approved by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities. Patients who are prescribed medications for the treatment of their conditions, and their prescribing physicians, generally rely on third-party payors to pay all or part of the costs associated with their prescription drugs. Patients are unlikely to use our products unless coverage is provided and payment is adequate to cover all or a significant portion of the cost of our products. Therefore, coverage and adequate payment is critical to new product acceptance. Coverage decisions may depend upon clinical and economic standards that disfavor new drug products when more established or lower cost therapeutic alternatives are already available or subsequently become available. Moreover, eligibility for coverage does not imply that any drug will be paid for in all cases or at a rate that covers our costs, including research, development, manufacture, sale and distribution. Interim payments for new drugs, if applicable, may also not be sufficient to cover our costs and may not be made permanent. Reimbursement may be based on payments allowed for lower-cost drugs that are already reimbursed, may be incorporated into existing payments for other services and may reflect budgetary constraints or imperfections in Medicare data. Net prices for drugs may be reduced by mandatory discounts or rebates required by government healthcare programs or private payors and by any future relaxation of laws that presently restrict imports of drugs from countries where they may be sold at lower prices than in the United States. Third-party payors often rely upon Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their own reimbursement rates. However, no uniform policy requirement for coverage and reimbursement for drug products exists among third-party payors in the United States. Therefore, coverage and reimbursement for drug products can differ significantly from payor to payor. As a result, the coverage determination process is often a time-consuming and costly process that will require us to provide scientific and clinical support for the use of our products to each payor separately, with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be applied consistently or obtained in the first instance. Our inability to promptly obtain coverage and adequate reimbursement rates from both government-funded and private payors for new drugs that we develop and for which we obtain regulatory approval could adversely affect our operating results, our ability to raise capital needed to commercialize products, and our overall financial condition.
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We believe that the efforts of governments and third-party payors to contain or reduce the cost of healthcare and legislative and regulatory proposals to broaden the availability of healthcare will continue to affect the business and financial condition of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies.
We may not be able to obtain orphan drug exclusivity for one or more of our development candidates, and even if we do, that exclusivity may not prevent the FDA or the EMA from approving other competing products.
Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may designate a development candidate as an orphan drug if it is a drug intended to treat a rare disease or condition. A similar regulatory scheme governs approval of orphan development candidates by the EMA in the European Union. Generally, if a product with an orphan drug designation subsequently receives the first marketing approval for the indication for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to a period of marketing exclusivity, which precludes the FDA or the EMA from approving another marketing application for another development candidates for the same orphan therapeutic indication for that time period. The applicable period is seven years in the United States and ten years in the European Union. The exclusivity period in the European Union can be reduced to six years if a product no longer meets the criteria for orphan designation, in particular if the product is sufficiently profitable so that market exclusivity is no longer justified.
The FDA’s standards for granting orphan drug exclusivity in the gene therapy context are unclear and evolving. In order for the FDA to grant orphan drug exclusivity to one of our development candidates, the agency must find that the development candidates is indicated for the treatment of a condition or disease that affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States or that affects more than 200,000 individuals in the United States and for which there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making the development candidate available for the disease or condition will be recovered from sales of the product in the United States. The FDA may conclude that the condition or disease for which we seek orphan drug exclusivity does not meet this standard. Even if we obtain orphan drug exclusivity for a development candidate, that exclusivity may not effectively protect the development candidates from competition because different development candidates can be approved for the same approved use or condition. In addition, even after an orphan drug is approved, the FDA can subsequently approve the same development candidates for the same approved use or condition if the FDA concludes that the later development candidates is clinically superior in that it is shown to be safer, more effective or makes a major contribution to patient care compared with the product that has orphan exclusivity. Orphan drug exclusivity may also be lost if the FDA or EMA determines that the request for designation was materially defective or if the manufacturer is unable to assure sufficient quantity of the product to meet the needs of the patients with the rare disease or condition.
In August 2017, the Congress passed the FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017, or FDARA. FDARA, among other things, codified the FDA’s pre-existing regulatory interpretation, to require that a drug sponsor demonstrate the clinical superiority of an orphan drug that is otherwise the same as a previously approved drug for the same rare disease in order to receive orphan drug exclusivity. The law reverses prior precedent holding that the Orphan Drug Act unambiguously requires that the FDA recognize the orphan exclusivity period regardless of a showing of clinical superiority. Moreover, in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, Congress did not further change this interpretation when it clarified that the interpretation codified in FDARA would apply in cases where FDA issued an orphan designation before the enactment of FDARA but where product approval came after the enactment of FDARA. The FDA may further reevaluate the Orphan Drug Act and its regulations and policies. We do not know if, when, or how the FDA may change the orphan drug regulations and policies in the future, and it is uncertain how any changes might affect our business. Depending on what changes the FDA may make to its orphan drug regulations and policies, our business could be adversely impacted.
If we do not comply with laws regulating the protection of the environment and health and human safety, our business could be adversely affected.
Our research, development and manufacturing processes involve the use of hazardous materials. We maintain quantities of various flammable and toxic chemicals in our facilities that are required for our research, development and manufacturing activities. We are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations governing the use, manufacture, storage, handling and disposal of these hazardous materials. Our procedures for storing, handling and disposing of these materials are reviewed against the relevant guidelines and laws of the jurisdictions in which our facilities are located on a regular basis. Although we believe that our safety procedures for handling and disposing of these materials sufficiently mitigate the risk of accidental contamination or injury from these materials, the risk cannot be completely eliminated. If an accident occurs, we could be held liable for resulting damages, which could be substantial. We are also subject to numerous environmental, health and workplace safety laws and regulations, including those governing laboratory procedures, exposure to blood-borne pathogens and the handling of biohazardous materials. Although we maintain workers’ compensation insurance to cover us for costs and expenses we may incur due to injuries to our employees resulting from the use of these materials, this insurance may not provide adequate coverage
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against potential liabilities. We do not maintain insurance for environmental liability or toxic tort claims that may be asserted against us in connection with our storage or disposal of biological or hazardous materials. Additional federal, state and local laws and regulations affecting our operations may become applicable in the future. We may incur substantial costs to comply with, and substantial fines or penalties if we violate any of, these laws or regulations.
If we or our collaborators, manufacturers, service providers or other third parties fail to comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations, we could be subject to enforcement actions, which could affect our ability to develop, market and sell our products and may harm our reputation.
We are currently, and may in the future be, subject to extensive federal, state, local, and comparable foreign healthcare laws and regulations, including those relating to fraud and abuse, anti-kickback restrictions, false claims, transparency and reporting, patient privacy and data protection, and anti-bribery and related requirements, which may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we conduct our operations, including how we research, develop, market, sell, and distribute our products for which we obtain marketing approval. The scope and enforcement of these laws is uncertain, subject to rapid change, and dependent on evolving government and industry interpretations, and authorities have increased scrutiny of interactions between healthcare companies and healthcare providers and third-party payors. If our operations are found to be in violation of applicable requirements, we may be subject to penalties and other sanctions, which may include civil or criminal penalties, criminal prosecution, monetary damages, disgorgement, contractual damages, reputational harm, curtailment or restructuring of our operations, exclusion from participation in federal and state healthcare programs (including Medicare and Medicaid), the imposition of a corporate integrity agreement, suspension or withdrawal of product approvals, restrictions or prohibitions on marketing, and other enforcement actions. Any investigation or enforcement action, even if ultimately resolved favorably, could cause us to incur significant legal and compliance expenses, divert management attention, and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. We intend to develop and implement a comprehensive corporate compliance program prior to commercialization; however, compliance programs can mitigate but cannot eliminate the risk of noncompliance and related enforcement. For more information, see Item 1, “Business—Governmental Regulation—Other Healthcare Laws.”
Efforts to ensure that our business arrangements with third parties will comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. Given the breadth of the laws and regulations, limited guidance for certain laws and regulations and evolving government interpretations of the laws and regulations, governmental authorities may possibly conclude that our business practices may not comply with healthcare laws and regulations. The scope and enforcement of each of these laws is uncertain and subject to rapid change in the current environment of healthcare reform. Federal and state enforcement bodies have recently increased their scrutiny of interactions between healthcare companies and healthcare providers, which has led to a number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and settlements in the healthcare industry. Moreover, federal, state or foreign laws or regulations are subject to change, and while we, our collaborators, manufacturers and/or service providers currently may be compliant, that could change due to changes in interpretation, prevailing industry standards or other reasons.
The provision of benefits or advantages to physicians to induce or encourage the prescription, recommendation, endorsement, purchase, supply, order, or use of medicinal products is prohibited in the EU. The provision of benefits or advantages to physicians is also governed by the national anti-bribery laws of European Union Member States, such as the U.K. Bribery Act 2010. Infringement of these laws could result in substantial fines and imprisonment.
Payments made to physicians in certain European Union Member States must be publicly disclosed. Moreover, agreements with physicians often must be the subject of prior notification and approval by the physician’s employer, his or her competent professional organization, and/or the regulatory authorities of the individual European Union Member States. These requirements are provided in the national laws, industry codes, or professional codes of conduct applicable in the European Union Member States. Failure to comply with these requirements could result in reputational risk, public reprimands, administrative penalties, fines or imprisonment.
Our employees, consultants and collaborators may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements.
We are exposed to the risk of fraud and other misconduct by our employees, consultants and collaborators. Such misconduct could include intentional failures to comply with FDA and other foreign agency regulations, provide accurate information to the FDA, comply with manufacturing standards required by the FDA or us, comply with federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws and regulations, report financial information or data accurately or disclose unauthorized activities to us. In particular, sales, marketing and business arrangements in the healthcare industry are subject to extensive laws and regulations intended to prevent fraud, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict
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or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, sales commission, customer incentive programs and other business arrangements. Such misconduct could also involve the improper use of information obtained in the course of clinical trials, which could result in regulatory sanctions and serious harm to our reputation. It is not always possible to identify and deter such misconduct, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to be in compliance with such laws or regulations. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business, including the imposition of significant fines or other sanctions.
Product liability lawsuits against us could cause us to incur substantial liabilities and could limit commercialization of any medicines that we may develop.
We face an inherent risk of product liability exposure related to the testing in human clinical trials of any development candidates we may develop and will face an even greater risk if we commercially sell any products that we may develop. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against claims that our development candidates or medicines caused injuries, we could incur substantial liabilities. Regardless of merit or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:
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decreased demand for any products that we may develop;
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injury to our reputation and significant negative media attention;
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withdrawal of clinical trial participants;
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significant time and costs to defend the related litigation;
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substantial monetary awards to trial participants or patients;
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loss of revenue; and
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the inability to commercialize any medicines that we may develop.
We anticipate that we will need to increase our insurance coverage when we begin clinical trials and if we successfully commercialize any product. Insurance coverage is increasingly expensive. We may not be able to maintain insurance coverage at a reasonable cost or in an amount adequate to satisfy any liability that may arise.
Our internal computer and information systems, or those used by our CROs, CMOs or other contractors or consultants, may fail or suffer security breaches, which could result in a material disruption of our development programs.
Despite the implementation of appropriate security measures, our internal computer and information systems and those of our current and any future CROs, CMOs and other contractors or consultants may become vulnerable to damage from computer viruses, unauthorized access, natural disasters, terrorism, war and telecommunication and electrical failures. If such an event were to occur and cause interruptions in our operations, it could result in a disruption of our development programs and our business operations, whether due to a loss of our trade secrets or other proprietary information or other similar disruptions. For example, the loss of data from completed or future preclinical studies or clinical trials could result in significant delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. To the extent that any disruption or security breach were to result in a loss of, or damage to, our data or applications, or inappropriate disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, we could incur liability, our competitive position could be harmed and the further development and commercialization of our development candidates could be significantly delayed.
We may be unable to adequately protect our information systems from cybersecurity incidents or data breaches, which could result in the disclosure of confidential information, damage our reputation, and subject us to significant financial and legal exposure.
We and the third parties upon which we rely face a variety of evolving threats, which could cause cybersecurity incidents or data breaches. Cybersecurity incidents and data breaches are increasing in their frequency, sophistication and intensity, and have become increasingly difficult to detect. Cybersecurity incidents and data breaches could include wrongful conduct by hostile foreign governments, industrial espionage, wrongful conduct by employees or vendors, human error, wire fraud and other forms of cyber fraud, the deployment of harmful malware or ransomware, denial-of-service attacks, social engineering fraud (including successful phishing attacks) or other means to threaten data confidentiality, integrity and availability. A cybersecurity incident or data breach could cause serious negative consequences for us, including, without limitation, the disruption of operations, the
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misappropriation of confidential business information, including financial information, trade secrets, financial loss and the disclosure of corporate strategic plans.
Like other companies in our industry, we and our third party vendors, have experienced, or may experience, threats and cybersecurity incidents relating to our and our third-party vendors’ information systems and infrastructure. Although we devote resources to protect our information systems, there can be no assurance that our efforts will prevent cybersecurity incidents or data breaches that could result in business, legal, financial or reputational harm to us, or would have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. Attempts to disrupt or gain unauthorized access to our and our third-party vendors’ information systems from malicious third parties or insider threats may incorporate widely varying and frequently changing tactics, which may be enhanced or facilitated by artificial intelligence. Further, our contracts may not contain limitations of liability, and even where they do, there can be no assurance that limitations of liability in our contracts are sufficient to protect us from liabilities, damages, or claims related to our privacy and data security obligations. Although we maintain cyber liability insurance, this insurance may not provide adequate coverage against potential liabilities related to any experienced cybersecurity incident or breach. For additional information on our cybersecurity obligations as well as our cybersecurity program, see Item 1 “Business—Government Regulation—Privacy and Cybersecurity” and Item 1C “Cybersecurity.”
Our failure to obtain regulatory approval in international jurisdictions would prevent us from marketing our development candidates outside the United States.
To market and sell our future development candidates in other jurisdictions, we must obtain separate marketing approvals and comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements. The approval procedure varies among countries and can involve additional testing. The time required to obtain approval may differ substantially from that required to obtain FDA approval. The regulatory approval process outside the United States generally includes all of the risks associated with obtaining FDA approval. In addition, in many countries outside the United States, we must secure product reimbursement approvals before regulatory authorities will approve the product for sale in that country. Failure to obtain foreign regulatory approvals or non-compliance with foreign regulatory requirements could result in significant delays, difficulties and costs for us and could delay or prevent the introduction of our development candidates in certain countries.
If we fail to comply with the regulatory requirements in international markets and receive applicable marketing approvals, our target market will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential of our development candidates will be harmed and our business will be adversely affected. We may not obtain foreign regulatory approvals on a timely basis, if at all. Our failure to obtain approval of any of our development candidates by regulatory authorities in another country may significantly diminish the commercial prospects of that development candidates and our business prospects could decline.
Disruptions at the FDA, SEC and other government agencies caused by staffing cuts, funding shortages or global health concerns could hinder their ability to hire, retain or deploy key leadership and other personnel, or otherwise prevent new or modified products from being developed, approved, or commercialized in a timely manner or at all, which could negatively impact our business.
The ability of the FDA to review and approve new products can be affected by a variety of factors, including staffing, government budget and funding levels, statutory, regulatory, and policy changes, the FDA’s ability to hire and retain key personnel and accept the payment of user fees, and other events that may otherwise affect the FDA’s ability to perform routine functions. Average review times at the agency have fluctuated in recent years as a result. In addition, government funding of other government agencies that fund research and development activities is subject to the political process, which is inherently fluid and unpredictable. Without appropriation of funding to federal agencies, our business operations related to our product development activities for the U.S. market could be impacted.
Disruptions at the FDA and other federal agencies, including substantial leadership departures, personnel cuts, and policy changes, may also slow the time necessary for new drugs to be reviewed and/or approved, which would harm our business. Changes and cuts in FDA staffing also could result in delays in the FDA’s responsiveness or in its ability to review regulatory submissions or applications, issue regulations or guidance, or implement or enforce regulatory requirements in a timely fashion or at all. For example, over the last several years, the U.S. government has shut down several times, including for a 43-day period that began on October 1, 2025, and certain regulatory agencies, such as the FDA, have had to furlough critical FDA employees and stop critical activities. If a prolonged government shutdown occurs, it could significantly impact the ability of the FDA and the SEC to timely review and process our submissions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and our timelines.
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In addition, government funding of other agencies on which our operations may rely, including those that fund research and development activities and clinical trials, is subject to the political process, which is inherently fluid and unpredictable. Changes to such agencies’ budgets, may negatively impact our operations and ongoing clinical trials. Future shutdowns or other disruptions could also affect other government agencies such as the SEC, which may also impact our business by delaying review of our public filings, to the extent such review is necessary, and our ability to access the public markets.
With the change in the U.S. presidential administration in 2025, there is substantial uncertainty as to the extent and manner in which the U.S. government will seek to modify or revise the requirements and policies of the FDA and other regulatory agencies with jurisdiction over our development candidates and any products for which we obtain approval. This uncertainty could present new challenges and/or opportunities as we navigate development and approval of our development candidates. Additionally, the current administration could issue or promulgate executive orders, regulations, policies or guidance that adversely affect us or create a more challenging or costly environment to pursue the development of new therapeutic candidates. Also, state governments may seek to address or react to changes at the federal level with changes to their regulatory frameworks in a manner that could impact our operations.
We, our collaborators and our service providers may be subject to a variety of privacy and data security laws, regulations and contractual obligations, and our failure to comply with them could harm our business.
We maintain a large quantity of sensitive information, including confidential business and patient health information in connection with our preclinical studies, and are subject to laws and regulations governing the privacy and security of such information. In the United States, there are numerous federal and state privacy and data security laws and regulations governing the collection, use, disclosure and protection of personal information, including federal and state health information privacy laws, federal and state security breach notification laws, and federal and state consumer protection laws. Each of these laws is subject to varying interpretations and new laws continue to be proposed. Outside of the United States, many jurisdictions have enacted stringent privacy and data protection laws. The collection, use, disclosure, transfer or other processing of personal data originating from the European Economic Area, or EEA, and United Kingdom is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation, or EU GDPR, and the UK General Data Protection Regulation, or UK GDPR, which, together with the EU GDPR, is referred to as the GDPR. For additional information on these regimes, see Item 1 “Business—Government Regulation—Privacy and Cybersecurity”. Compliance with these and any other applicable privacy and data security laws and regulations is a rigorous and time-intensive process, and we may be required to put in place additional mechanisms to ensure compliance, and despite those efforts, if we fail to comply with any such laws or regulations, we may face significant fines and penalties that could adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.
The use of new and evolving technologies, such as artificial intelligence, or AI, in our offerings may result in spending material resources and presents risks and challenges that can impact our business including by posing security and other risks to our confidential information, proprietary information and personal information, and as a result we may be exposed to reputational harm and liability.
We may use and integrate AI into our business processes both in our own development and implementation of AI and through the adoption of commercially available tools. Use of this technology could pose cybersecurity, data privacy, IT, intellectual property, regulatory, legal, operational, competitive, reputational and other risks and challenges that could affect our business. Specifically, risks related to accuracy, bias, artificial intelligence hallucinations, discrimination, harmful content, misinformation, fraud, scams, targeted attacks (including model poisoning or data poisoning), surveillance, data leakage, inequality, environmental harms, and other harms may flow from our development, use, or deployment of AI technologies.
The use of certain AI technology can give rise to intellectual property risks, including by disclosing or otherwise compromising our confidential or proprietary intellectual property and intellectual property infringement, or by undermining our ability to assert or defend ownership rights in intellectual property created with the assistance of AI tools.
Additionally, we expect to see increasing government and supranational regulation related to AI use and ethics, which may also significantly increase the burden and cost of research, development and compliance in this area. For example, the European Union began implementing the Artificial Intelligence Act, or AI Act, with a significant part of the law scheduled to come into effect in August 2026. As currently enacted, the AI Act, which may be amended, imposes significant obligations on providers and deployers of high risk AI systems, and encourages providers and deployers of AI systems to account for EU ethical principles in their development and use of these systems.
In the United States, the AI regulatory environment is complex and uncertain. Over the past year, states have advanced, and in some cases passed, dozens of laws focusing on AI governance and regulation, including on deployment of AI in healthcare
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settings. At the federal level, the current U.S. administration has endorsed a federal moratorium on the enforcement of state AI laws, including through a December 2025 executive order. So far, these efforts have not been successful at curtailing state action on AI regulation, contributing to a complicated legislative patchwork, which may be litigated in state and federal courts. If we develop or deploy AI systems that are governed by these laws or regulations, we will need to adopt higher standards of data quality, transparency, and human oversight, and adhere to specific and potentially burdensome and costly ethical, accountability, and administrative requirements. We may also be subject to significant enforcement or litigation in the event of any perceived non-compliance.
The rapid evolution of AI will require the application of significant resources to help ensure that AI is implemented in accordance with applicable law and regulation and in a socially responsible manner and to minimize any real or perceived unintended harmful impacts. If we enable or offer solutions that draw controversy due to perceived or actual negative societal impact, we may experience brand or reputational harm, competitive harm or legal liability. Our vendors may in turn incorporate AI tools into their own offerings, and the providers of these AI tools may not meet existing or rapidly evolving regulatory or industry standards, including with respect to privacy and data security. Further, bad actors around the world use increasingly sophisticated methods, including the use of AI, to engage in illegal activities involving the theft and misuse of personal information, confidential information and intellectual property. In addition, the use of generative AI models in our internal or third-party systems may create new attack surfaces or methods for adversaries, which could impact us and our vendors. Any of these effects could damage our reputation, result in the loss of valuable property and information, cause us to breach applicable laws and regulations, and adversely impact our business.
Risks Related to Our Third Party Relationships
We may be subject to claims that we or our employees or consultants have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of employees’ or consultants’ former employers or their clients. These claims may be costly to defend and if we do not successfully do so, we may be required to pay monetary damages and may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel.
Many of our employees were previously employed at universities or biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. Although no claims against us are currently pending, we may be subject to claims that these employees or we have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed trade secrets or other proprietary information of their former employers. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel. A loss of key research personnel or their work product could hamper our ability to commercialize, or prevent us from commercializing, our development candidates, which could severely harm our business. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management.
We expect to rely on third parties to conduct our clinical trials and some aspects of our research, as well as some aspects of our delivery methods, and those third parties may not perform satisfactorily, including failing to meet deadlines for the completion of such trials, research or testing.
We currently, and expect to continue to, rely on third parties, such as CROs, clinical data management organizations, medical institutions, preclinical laboratories and clinical investigators, to conduct some aspects of our research. For example, we may rely on third parties to conduct some of our preclinical animal experiments and supply key materials for our programs. Any of these third parties may terminate their engagements with us at any time under certain criteria. If we need to enter into alternative arrangements, we may delay our product development activities.
Our reliance on these third parties for research and development activities will reduce our control over these activities but will not relieve us of our responsibilities. For example, we will remain responsible for ensuring that each of our clinical trials is conducted in accordance with the general investigational plan and protocols for the trial. Moreover, the FDA, the EMA and other regulatory authorities require us and the study sites and investigators we work with to comply with standards, commonly referred to as GLPs and GCPs for conducting, recording and reporting the results of preclinical studies and clinical trials to assure, amongst other things, that data and reported results are credible and accurate and that the rights, integrity and confidentiality of trial participants are protected.
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We may not be successful in finding strategic collaborators for continuing development of certain of our development candidates or successfully commercializing or competing in the market for certain indications; and we may not see any benefit from our collaboration agreement with Novo Nordisk, which is currently on hold.
In September 2024 we entered into a collaboration agreement with Novo Nordisk and in the future, we may decide to collaborate with non-profit organizations, universities, pharmaceutical and other biotechnology companies for the development and potential commercialization of existing and new development candidates. We face significant competition in seeking appropriate collaborators. Whether we reach a definitive agreement for a collaboration will depend, among other things, upon our assessment of the collaborator’s resources and expertise, the terms and conditions of the proposed collaboration and the proposed collaborator’s evaluation of a number of factors. Those factors may include the design or results of clinical trials, the likelihood of approval by the FDA or similar regulatory authorities outside the United States, the potential market for the subject development candidates, the costs and complexities of manufacturing and delivering such development candidates to patients, the potential of competing drugs, the existence of uncertainty with respect to our ownership of technology, which can exist if there is a challenge to such ownership without regard to the merits of the challenge and industry and market conditions generally. The collaborator may also consider alternative development candidates or technologies for similar indications that may be available to collaborate on and whether such a collaboration could be more attractive than the one with us for its development candidates. The terms of any additional collaborations or other arrangements that we may establish may not be favorable to us. Collaborations are complex and time-consuming to negotiate and document. In addition, there have been a significant number of recent business combinations among large pharmaceutical companies that have resulted in a reduced number of potential future collaborators.
We may not be able to negotiate collaborations on a timely basis, on acceptable terms, or at all. If we are unable to do so, we may have to curtail the development of the development candidate for which we are seeking to collaborate, reduce or delay our development program or one or more of our other development programs, delay our potential commercialization or reduce the scope of any sales or marketing activities, or increase our expenditures and undertake development or commercialization activities at our own expense. If we elect to increase our expenditures to fund development or commercialization activities on our own, we may need to obtain additional capital, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If we do not have sufficient funds, we may not be able to further develop our development candidates or bring them to market and generate product revenue.
The success of any potential collaboration arrangements, including our collaboration agreement with Novo Nordisk, which as of November 2025 is on pause, will depend heavily on the efforts and activities of our collaborators. Collaborators generally have significant discretion in determining the efforts and resources that they will apply to these collaborations. For example, in November 2025, we agreed on a 12-month hold under our collaboration agreement with Novo Nordisk. Disagreements between parties to a collaboration arrangement regarding clinical development and commercialization matters can lead to delays in the development process or commercializing the applicable development candidates and, in some cases, termination of such collaboration arrangements. These disagreements can be difficult to resolve if neither of the parties has final decision-making authority. Collaborations with pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies and other third parties often are terminated or allowed to expire by the other party. Any such termination or expiration would adversely affect us financially and could harm our business reputation.
Future acquisitions or strategic alliances could disrupt our business and harm our financial condition and results of operations.
We may acquire additional businesses or drugs, form strategic alliances or create joint ventures with third parties that we believe will complement or augment our existing business. If we acquire businesses with promising markets or technologies, we may not be able to realize the benefit of acquiring such businesses if we are unable to successfully integrate them with our existing operations and company culture. We may encounter numerous difficulties in developing, manufacturing and marketing any new drugs resulting from a strategic alliance or acquisition that delay or prevent us from realizing their expected benefits or enhancing our business. We cannot assure you that, following any such acquisition, we will achieve the expected synergies to justify the transaction. The risks we face in connection with acquisitions, include:
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diversion of management time and focus from operating our business to addressing acquisition integration challenges;
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program divestitures due to potential exclusivity obligations;
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coordination of research and development efforts;
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retention of key employees from the acquired company;
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changes in relationships with strategic partners as a result of product acquisitions or strategic positioning resulting from the acquisition;
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cultural challenges associated with integrating employees from the acquired company into ours;
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the need to implement or improve controls, procedures, and policies at a business that prior to the acquisition may have lacked sufficiently effective controls, procedures and policies;
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liability for activities of the acquired company before the acquisition, including intellectual property infringement claims, violation of laws, commercial disputes, tax liabilities, and other known liabilities;
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unanticipated write-offs or charges; and
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litigation or other claims in connection with the acquired company, including claims from terminated employees, customers, former stockholders or other third parties.
Our failure to address these risks or other problems encountered in connection with our past or future acquisitions or strategic alliances could cause us to fail to realize the anticipated benefits of these transactions, cause us to incur unanticipated liabilities and harm our business generally. There is also a risk that future acquisitions will result in the incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities, amortization expenses or incremental operating expenses, any of which could harm our financial condition or results of operations.
We rely, and anticipate that we will rely, on third parties to design, conduct, supervise and monitor our preclinical studies and clinical trials, and if those third parties perform in an unsatisfactory manner, it may harm our business.
We rely, and anticipate that we will rely, on third party clinical investigators, CROs, clinical data management organizations and consultants to design, conduct, supervise and monitor preclinical studies and clinical trials of our development candidates. Because we rely on third parties and do not have the ability to conduct preclinical studies or clinical trials independently, we have less control over the timing, quality and other aspects of preclinical studies and clinical trials than we would if we conducted them on own, including our inability to control whether sufficient resources are applied to our programs. If any of our CROs are acquired or consolidated, these concerns are likely to be exacerbated and our preclinical studies or clinical trials may be further impacted due to potential integration, streamlining, staffing and logistical changes. These investigators, CROs and consultants are not our employees and we have limited control over the amount of time and resources that they dedicate to our programs. These third parties may have contractual relationships with other entities, some of which may be our competitors, which may draw time and resources from our programs. Further, these third parties may not be diligent, careful or timely in conducting our preclinical studies or clinical trials, resulting in the preclinical studies or clinical trials being delayed or unsuccessful.