ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our consolidated financial statements and related notes and other financial information included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 (“Annual Report”). Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis or set forth elsewhere in this Annual Report, including information with respect to our plans and strategy for our business, international operations and product candidates, includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. You should review the “Risk Factors” section of this Annual Report for a discussion of important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the results described in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in the following discussion and analysis.
BUSINESS OVERVIEW
We are headquartered in San Francisco, California, with subsidiary offices in Beijing and Shanghai, People’s Republic of China (“China”). We are a leading biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing a pipeline of first-in-class therapeutics. We apply our pioneering expertise in hypoxia-inducible factor (“HIF”) biology, 2-oxoglutarate enzymology, and connective tissue growth factor (“CTGF”) biology to advance innovative medicines for the treatment of anemia, fibrotic disease, and cancer.
Roxadustat is our most advanced product, an oral small molecule inhibitor of HIF prolyl hydroxylase (“HIF-PH”) activity. Roxadustat is currently approved for use in patients with anemia associated with chronic kidney disease (“CKD”) in China (2019), Japan (2020) and Europe (2021), under the tradename EVRENZO®. Roxadustat is also being commercialized in China for CKD anemia in dialysis and non-dialysis patients under the tradename: 爱瑞卓®.
Roxadustat is in Phase 3 clinical development for anemia associated with myelodysplastic syndromes and Phase 2 clinical development for chemotherapy-induced anemia.
Pamrevlumab is our first-in-class antibody developed to inhibit the activity of CTGF, a common factor in fibrotic and fibro-proliferative disorders characterized by persistent and excessive scarring that can lead to organ dysfunction and failure.
In the second quarter of 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) granted both Rare Pediatric Disease designation and Fast Track designation for pamrevlumab for the treatment of patients with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. In addition, the FDA has granted Orphan Drug Designation to pamrevlumab for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer, and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Pamrevlumab has also received Fast Track designation from the FDA for the treatment of both idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer.
We have a pipeline of late-stage clinical programs as well as pre-clinical drug candidates at various stages of development that include both small molecules and biologics.
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Financial Highlights
Years Ended December 31,
(in thousands, except for per share data)
Result of Operations
Net loss per share - basic and diluted $ (3.14 ) $ (2.11 ) $ (0.89 )
(in thousands)
Balance Sheet
Short-term and long-term investments $ 401,763 $ 8,388
Our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2021 included the revenues recognized related to the following:
As comparison, our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2020 included the revenues recognized related to the following:
Operating costs and expenses increased for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the prior year as a result of the net effect of the following:
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Our research and development expenses were $387.0 million, $252.9 million and $209.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Since inception and through December 31, 2021, we have incurred a total of approximately $2.6 billion in research and development expenses, a majority of which relates to the development of roxadustat, pamrevlumab and other HIF-PH inhibitors. We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and operating losses over at least the next several years as we continue to make investments in research and development to advance our product candidate portfolio. In addition, we expect to incur significant expenses relating to seeking regulatory approval for our product candidates and commercializing those products in various markets, including China. We consider the active management and development of our clinical pipeline to be particularly crucial to our long-term success. The process of conducting the necessary clinical research to obtain regulatory approval is costly and time consuming. Following the complete response letter (“CRL”) for roxadustat in the United States (“U.S.”), we are implementing a cost reduction effort, and as a result, operating expenses may decrease in certain areas in the near future compared to our previous internal plans.
The actual probability of success for each of our product candidates and clinical programs, and our ability to generate product revenue and become profitable, depends upon a variety of factors, including the quality of the product candidate, clinical results, investment in the program, competition, manufacturing capability, commercial viability, and our and our partners’ ability to successfully execute our development and commercialization plans. For a description of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with product development, refer to the “Risk Factors” section of this Annual Report.
During the year ended December 31, 2021, we had a net loss of $290.0 million, or net loss per basic and diluted share of $3.14, as compared to a net loss of $189.3 million, or net loss per basic and diluted share of $2.11 for the prior year, primarily due to an increase in operating expenses, partially offset by an increase in revenue.
Cash and cash equivalents, investments and accounts receivable totaled $590.4 million at December 31, 2021, a decrease of $138.3 million from December 31, 2020, primarily due to cash used in operations and investment in our pre-clinical pipeline.
Licensing Activities
Exclusive License with Eluminex
In July 2021, we exclusively licensed to Eluminex global rights to our investigational biosynthetic cornea derived from recombinant human collagen type III.
Under the terms of the agreement with Eluminex, Eluminex will make an $8.0 million upfront payment to FibroGen. In addition, FibroGen may receive up to a total of $64.0 million in future manufacturing, clinical, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments for the biosynthetic cornea program, as well as $36.0 million in commercial milestones for the first recombinant collagen III product that is not the biosynthetic cornea. FibroGen will be eligible to receive mid single-digit to low double-digit royalties based upon worldwide net sales of cornea products, and low single-digit to mid single-digit royalties based on worldwide net sales of other recombinant human collagen type III products that are not cornea products.
During the third quarter of 2021, the $8.0 million upfront license payment was recognized as license revenue for the performance obligations satisfied. See Note 3, Collaboration Agreements, License Agreement and Revenues, to the consolidated financial statements for details.
Collaboration Partnerships for Roxadustat
Our current and future research, development, manufacturing and commercialization efforts with respect to roxadustat and our other product candidates currently in development depend on funds from our collaboration agreements with Astellas and AstraZeneca. See Note 3, Collaboration Agreements, License Agreement and Revenues, to the consolidated financial statements for details.
Astellas
In June 2005, we entered into a collaboration agreement with Astellas for the development and commercialization (but not manufacture) of roxadustat for the treatment of anemia in Japan (“Japan Agreement”). In April 2006, we entered into the Europe Agreement with Astellas for roxadustat for the treatment of anemia in Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Middle East, and South Africa (“Europe Agreement”). Under these agreements, we provide Astellas the right to develop and commercialize roxadustat for anemia indications in these territories.
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We share responsibility with Astellas for clinical development activities required for the U.S. and the Europe regulatory approval of roxadustat, and equally share those development costs under the agreed development plan for such activities. Astellas will be responsible for clinical development activities and all associated costs required for regulatory approval in all other countries in the Astellas territories. Astellas will own and have responsibility for regulatory filings in its territories. We are responsible, either directly or through our contract manufacturers, for the manufacture and supply of all quantities of roxadustat to be used in development and commercialization under the agreements. Astellas is responsible for roxadustat commercialization activities in the Astellas territories.
The Astellas agreements will continue in effect until terminated. Either party may terminate the agreements for certain material breaches by the other party. In addition, Astellas will have the right to terminate the agreements for certain specified technical product failures, upon generic sales reaching a particular threshold, upon certain regulatory actions, or upon our entering into a settlement admitting the invalidity or unenforceability of our licensed patents. Astellas may also terminate the agreements for convenience upon advance written notice to us. In the event of any termination of the agreements, Astellas will transfer and assign to us the regulatory filings for roxadustat and will assign or license to us the relevant trademarks used with the products in the Astellas territories. Under certain terminations, Astellas is also obligated to pay us a termination fee.
During the third quarter of 2021, the European Commission approved EVRENZO® (roxadustat) for the treatment of adult patients with symptomatic anemia associated with CKD. Astellas has launched EVRENZO in Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Austria, and the Nordic countries. This approval triggered a total of $120.0 million milestone payable to us by Astellas under the Europe Agreement. Accordingly, the consideration of $120.0 million associated with these milestones was included in the transaction price and allocated to performance obligations under the Europe Agreement, all of which was recognized as revenue during the year ended December 31, 2021 from performance obligations satisfied.
During the fourth quarter of 2020, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare approved EVRENZO® (roxadustat) for the treatment of anemia of CKD in adult patients not on dialysis. Accordingly, the consideration of $15.0 million associated with this milestone was included in the transaction price and allocated to performance obligations under the Japan Agreement in the fourth quarter of 2020, substantially all of which was recognized as revenue during the year ended December 31, 2020 from performance obligations satisfied or partially satisfied.
Consideration under these agreements includes a total of $360.1 million in upfront and non-contingent payments, and milestone payments totaling $557.5 million, of which $542.5 million are development and regulatory milestones and $15.0 million are commercial-based milestones. Total consideration, excluding development cost reimbursement and product sales-related payments, could reach $917.6 million. Under these agreements, the aggregate amount for upfront payments and milestone payments received through December 31, 2021 totals $765.1 million.
In 2018, FibroGen and Astellas entered into an amendment to the Japan Agreement that will allow Astellas to manufacture roxadustat drug product for commercialization in Japan (the “Japan Amendment”). Under this amendment, FibroGen would continue to manufacture and supply roxadustat API to Astellasfor the roxadustat commercial launch in Japan. The commercial terms of the Japan Agreement relating to the transfer price for roxadustat for commercial use remain substantially the same, reflecting an adjustment for the manufacture of drug product by Astellas rather than FibroGen.
Under the Europe Agreement, Astellas has an option to purchase roxadustat bulk drug product in support of commercial supplies. We fulfilled an inventory transfer obligation under the terms of the Europe Agreement in the fourth quarter of 2020. During the first quarter of 2021, we entered into an Astellas EU Supply Agreement (“EU Supply Agreement”) under the Europe Agreement to define general forecast, order, supply and payment terms for Astellas to purchase roxadustat bulk drug product from FibroGen in support of commercial supplies. We transferred bulk drug product to Astellas during the first and the fourth quarter of 2021. We recorded the consideration of $25.9 million from these inventory transfers as deferred revenue as of December 31, 2021.
Additionally, under these agreements, Astellas pays 100% of the commercialization costs in their territories. In Japan, Astellas pays us a transfer price in the low 20% range of the list price published by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, adjusted for certain elements, after commercial launch. In Europe, Astellas pays us a tiered transfer price for our manufacture and supply of roxadustat based on net sales of roxadustat in the low 20% range.
The related drug product revenue under these agreements were $3.2 million and $4.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
In addition, as of December 31, 2021, Astellas had a separate investment of $80.5 million in the equity of FibroGen, Inc.
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AstraZeneca
In July 2013, we entered into a collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca for roxadustat for the treatment of anemia in the U.S. and all territories not previously licensed to Astellas (the “U.S./RoW Agreement”), except China. In July 2013, through our China subsidiary and related affiliates, we entered into the China Agreement with AstraZeneca for roxadustat for the treatment of anemia in China (the “China Agreement”). Under these agreements, we provide AstraZeneca the right to develop and commercialize roxadustat for anemia in these territories. We share responsibility with AstraZeneca for clinical development activities required for U.S. regulatory approval of roxadustat, and FibroGen will transfer the U.S. NDA to AstraZeneca upon approval. AstraZeneca will hold the equivalent regulatory filings in the other licensed countries.
In China, FibroGen (China) Medical Technology Development Co., Ltd. (“FibroGen Beijing”) will conduct the development work for CKD anemia, will hold all of the regulatory licenses issued by China regulatory authorities, and will be primarily responsible for regulatory, clinical and manufacturing. China development costs are shared 50/50. AstraZeneca is also responsible for 100% of development expenses in all other licensed territories outside of China. Outside of China, we are responsible, through our contract manufacturers, for the manufacture and supply of all quantities of roxadustat to be used in development and commercialization under the AstraZeneca agreements.
Under the China Agreement, which is conducted through FibroGen China Anemia Holdings, Ltd., FibroGen Beijing, and FibroGen International (Hong Kong) Limited (collectively, (“FibroGen China”), the commercial collaboration was structured as a 50/50 profit share, which was amended by the China Amendment in the third quarter of 2020, as discussed and defined below in China Amendment.
AstraZeneca may terminate the U.S./RoW Agreement upon specified events, including our bankruptcy or insolvency, our uncured material breach, technical product failure, or upon 180 days prior written notice at will. If AstraZeneca terminates the U.S./RoW Agreement at will, in addition to any unpaid non-contingent payments, it will be responsible for paying for a substantial portion of the post-termination development costs under the agreed development plan until regulatory approval.
AstraZeneca may terminate the China Agreement upon specified events, including our bankruptcy or insolvency, our uncured material breach, technical product failure, or upon advance prior written notice at will. If AstraZeneca terminates our China Agreement at will, it will be responsible for paying for transition costs as well as make a specified payment to FibroGen.
In the event of any termination of the agreements, but subject to modification upon termination for technical product failure, AstraZeneca will transfer and assign to us any regulatory filings and approvals for roxadustat in the affected territories that they may hold under our agreements, grant us licenses and conduct certain transition activities.
Under the AstraZeneca agreements, we will receive upfront and subsequent non-contingent payments totaling $402.2 million. Potential milestone payments under the agreements total $1.2 billion, of which $571.0 million are development and regulatory milestones and $652.5 million are commercial-based milestones. Total consideration under the agreements, excluding development cost reimbursement, transfer price payments, royalties and profit share, could reach $1.6 billion. The aggregate amount for upfront payments and milestone payments received through December 31, 2021 totals $516.2 million.
Under the U.S./RoW Agreement, AstraZeneca will pay for all commercialization costs in the U.S. and RoW and AstraZeneca will be responsible for the U.S. commercialization of roxadustat, with FibroGen undertaking specified commercial activities in the U.S. In addition, we will receive a transfer price for delivery of commercial product based on a percentage of net sales in the low- to mid-single digit range and AstraZeneca will pay us a tiered royalty on net sales of roxadustat in the low 20% range.
China Amendment
In July 2020, FibroGen China and AstraZeneca (together with FibroGen China, the “Parties”) entered into an amendment, effective July 1, 2020, to the China Agreement, relating to the development and commercialization of roxadustat in China (the “China Amendment”). While the responsibilities of the Parties under the China Agreement remain largely the same, certain changes were made.
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Under the China Amendment, in September 2020, FibroGen Beijing and AstraZeneca completed the establishment of a jointly owned entity, Falikang, which performs roxadustat distribution, as well as conduct sales and marketing through AstraZeneca.As Falikang is a distribution entity for roxadustat and AstraZeneca is the final decision maker for all the roxadustat commercialization activities, we lack the power criterion while AstraZeneca meets both the power and economic criteria under the Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 810, Consolidation, to direct the activities of Falikang that most significantly impact its performance. Therefore, we are not the primary beneficiary of Falikang. As a result, we account for our investment in Falikang under the equity method, and Falikang is not consolidated into our consolidated financial statements. In addition, we recognized our proportionate share of the reported profits or losses of Falikang, as other income (loss) in the consolidated statement of operations, and as an adjustment to investment in unconsolidated subsidiary in the consolidated balance sheet. Falikang has not incurred material profit or loss to date. See Note 4, Equity method investment - Variable Interest Entity, to the consolidated financial statements for details.
Under the China Amendment, the interim period is defined as the period from April 1, 2020 to the time when Falikang is fully operational. Falikang became fully operational in January 2021. The calculation for profit or loss share related to sales of roxadustat in China has changed for the period from April 1, 2020 onwards. With effect from April 1, 2020, the Parties have changed the method under which commercial expenses incurred by AstraZeneca are calculated and billed. AstraZeneca’s co-promotion expenses for their sales and marketing efforts are now subject to a cap of a percentage of net sales. Once AstraZeneca has been fully reimbursed for their sales and marketing costs under the cap, AstraZeneca will bill the co-promotion expenses based on actual costs on a prospective basis. In addition, the China Amendment has allowed for a higher cost of manufacturing incurred by FibroGen Beijing to be included in the profit or loss share calculation, subject to an annual cap, among other changes.
As a result, the interim period during the year ended December 31, 2020 primarily includes the following activities:
Since Falikang became fully operational in January 2021, substantially all direct roxadustat product sales to distributors in China are made by Falikang, while FibroGen Beijing continues to sell roxadustat product directly in a few provinces in China. FibroGen Beijing manufactures and supplies commercial product to Falikang based on a gross transaction price, which is adjusted for the estimated profit share. Revenue is recognized at a point in time when control of roxadustat commercial product is transferred to Falikang. For our direct sales of commercial drug product, revenue is recognized when control of the promised good is transferred to the customer in an amount that reflects the consideration that we expect to be entitled to in exchange for the product.During the year ended December 31, 2021, we recognized $35.6 million of net product revenue from the sales to Falikang, and $12.1 million of net product revenue from sales directly to distributors in a few provinces in China, as described in details under Product Revenue, Net section below.
In addition, AstraZeneca now bills the co-promotion expenses to Falikang and to FibroGen Beijing, respectively, for its services provided to the respective entity. Development costs continue to be shared 50/50 between the Parties.
FibroGen, Inc. and AstraZeneca concurrently amended the U.S./RoW Agreement to reflect minor changes in the governance structure under the China Agreement.
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Additional Information Related to Collaboration Agreements
Of the $1.1 billion in development and regulatory milestones payable in the aggregate under our Astellas and AstraZeneca collaboration agreements, $425.0 million is payable upon achievement of milestones relating to the submission and approval of roxadustat in dialysis-dependent CKD and non-dialysis-dependent CKD in the U.S. and Europe.
For more detailed discussions on the accounting for these agreements, See Note 3, Collaboration Agreements, License Agreement and Revenues, to the consolidated financial statements.
Total cash consideration received through December 31, 2021 and potential cash consideration for upfront payments and milestone payments under our collaboration agreements are as follows:
(in thousands)
Astellas--related-party:
AstraZeneca:
The above table does not include development cost reimbursement, transfer price payments, and royalties and profit share under our existing collaboration agreements. These collaboration agreements also provide for reimbursement of certain fully burdened research and development costs as well as direct out of pocket expenses.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Revenue
(dollars in thousands)
Revenue:
Our revenue to date has been generated substantially from our collaboration agreements with Astellas and AstraZeneca. In addition, we started roxadustat commercial sales in China in 2019.
Under our revenue recognition policy, license revenue includes amounts from upfront, non-refundable license payments and amounts allocated pursuant to the standalone selling price method from other consideration received during the respective periods. This revenue is generally recognized as deliverables are met and services are performed. License revenues represented 50%, 8% and 69% of total revenues for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
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Development revenue includes co-development and other development related services. Co-development services are recognized as revenue in the period in which they are billed to our partners, excluding China. For China co-development services, revenue is deferred until we begin to transfer control of the manufactured commercial drug product to AstraZeneca, which commenced in the first quarter of 2021 and is expected to continue through 2028. Other development related services are recognized as revenue over the non-contingent development period based on a proportional performance method. As of December 31, 2021, the estimated future non-contingent development periods range from 30 to 54 months. Other revenues consist of sales of research and development material and have not been material for any of the periods presented. Development and other revenues represented 30%, 46% and 44% of total revenues for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Product revenue is recognized when our customer obtains control of promised goods or services in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to receive in exchange for those goods or services. Product revenue represented 20%, 41% and 1% of total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Drug product revenue includes commercial-grade API or bulk drug product sales to AstraZeneca and Astellas in support of pre-commercial preparation prior to the NDA or Marketing Authorization Application approval, and to Astellas for ongoing commercial launch in Japan and Europe. Drug product revenue is recognized when we fulfill the inventory transfer obligations.The amount of variable consideration that is included in the transaction price may be constrained, and is included in the drug product revenue only to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal in the amount of the cumulative revenue recognized will not occur in a future period when the uncertainty associated with the variable consideration is subsequently resolved. Actual amounts of consideration ultimately received in the future may differ from our estimates, for which we will adjust these estimates and affect the drug product revenue in the period such variances become known. Drug product revenues represented 0%, 5%, and (14)% of total revenues for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
In the future, we will continue generating revenue from collaboration agreements in the form of license fees, milestone payments, reimbursements for collaboration services and royalties on product sales, and from product sales. We expect that any revenues we generate will fluctuate from quarter to quarter due to the uncertain timing and amount of such payments and sales.
Total revenue increased $59.0 million, or 33% for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020 for the reasons discussed in the sections below.
License Revenue
(dollars in thousands)
License revenue:
AstraZeneca — — 47,681 — — %
License revenue increased $102.1 million, or 713% for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020.
License revenue recognized under our collaboration agreements with Astellas increased $94.1 million, or 657% for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. License revenue recognized under our collaboration agreements with Astellas for the year ended December 31, 2021 represented the allocated revenue related to a total of $120.0 million regulatory milestones associated with the approval by European Commission of EVRENZO® (roxadustat) for the treatment of adult patients with symptomatic anemia associated with CKD during the third quarter of 2021. License revenue recognized under our collaboration agreements with Astellas for the year ended December 31, 2020 represented the allocated revenue related to a regulatory milestone of $15.0 million associated with the NDA approval in Japan achieved during the fourth quarter of 2020.
License revenue recognized under our license agreement with Eluminex for the year ended December 31, 2021 represented the $8.0 million upfront license payment.
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Development and Other Revenue
(dollars in thousands)
Development revenue:
Development and other revenue decreased $10.3 million, or 13% for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020.
Development revenue recognized under our collaboration agreements with Astellas increased $2.8 million, or 14% for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. Development revenue recognized under our collaboration agreements with Astellas for the year ended December 31, 2021 included the allocated revenue of $11.6 million related to the above-mentioned $120.0 million associated with the approvals in the European Union achieved during the third quarter of 2021. Development revenue recognized under our collaboration agreements with Astellas for the year ended December 31, 2020 included the allocated revenue of $0.7 million related to the above-mentioned $15.0 million associated with the NDA approval in Japan achieved during the fourth quarter of 2020. The increases were partially offset by the decrease in co-development billings related to the development of roxadustat under our collaboration agreements with Astellas for the year ended December 31, 2021, as a result of the substantial completion of Phase 3 trials for roxadustat.
Development revenue recognized under our collaboration agreements with AstraZeneca decreased $13.1 million, or 21% for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily due to the extension of the estimated future non-contingent development period when we were notified of the FDA Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee meeting to review the NDA for roxadustat, and decrease in CKD related co-development billings in the U.S.
Product Revenue, Net
(dollars in thousands)
Direct Sales:
Non-key account hospital listing award 95 (9,325 ) — 9,420 (101 ) %
Sales to Falikang:
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In January 2021, Falikang became fully operational and substantially all direct product sales to distributors in China were made by Falikang, while FibroGen Beijing continued to sell product directly in a few provinces in China.
Product revenue from direct sales to distributors is recognized in an amount that reflects the consideration that we expect to be entitled to in exchange for those products, net of sales rebates and discounts. The gross product revenue from direct sales to distributors decreased $75.3 million, or 85% for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020 due to the above-mentioned transition of direct product sales to distributors to Falikang. The total discounts and rebates were $1.7 million and $16.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The discounts and rebates for the year ended December 31, 2021 included $1.0 million of price adjustments recorded based on government-listed price guidance and estimated channel inventory levels. The discounts and rebates for the year ended December 31, 2020 included $9.3 million of non-key account hospital listing award related to accounting modifications of non-key account hospital listing award, as a result of the amendment to the agreement with our pharmaceutical distributors in the second quarter of 2020. In addition, the discounts and rebates consisted of the contractual sales rebates that were calculated based on the stated percentage of gross sales by each distributor in the distribution agreement. All other rebates and discounts, including sales return allowance were immaterial for the periods presented.
FibroGen Beijing manufactures and supplies commercial product to Falikang based on an agreed upon transfer price, which includes a gross transfer price, net of a calculated profit share. Revenue is recognized upon the transfer of control of commercial products to Falikang in an amount that reflects the allocation of the China performance obligation transaction price to the performance obligation satisfied during the reporting period. The variable consideration components that are included in the transaction price may be constrained, and are included in the product revenue only to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal in the amount of the cumulative revenue recognized will not occur in a future period when the uncertainty associated with the variable consideration is subsequently resolved. During the year ended December 31, 2021, the gross transfer price was $97.5 million, net of the calculated profit share of $34.8 million. Following updates to our estimates, we deferred $27.2 million from the sales to Falikang for year ended December 31, 2021, which was included in the related deferred revenue of the China performance obligation.
Drug Product Revenue
(dollars in thousands)
Drug product revenue:
Total drug product revenue recognized under the Astellas agreements was $3.2 million and $4.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
During the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we updated our estimate of variable consideration related to the API shipments fulfilled under the terms of the Japan Amendment with Astellas in 2018 and 2020, and recorded an adjustment to the drug product revenue of $2.1 million and $(4.0) million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Specifically, the change in estimated variable consideration was based on the API held by Astellas at the period end, adjusted to reflect the changes in the estimated bulk product strength mix intended to be manufactured by Astellas, estimated cost to convert the API to bulk product tablets, and estimated yield from the manufacture of bulk product tablets, among others.
During the fourth quarter of 2021, we transferred bulk drug product for commercial purposes under the terms of the Europe Agreement and the EU Supply Agreement with Astellas, and recognized the related fully burdened manufacturing costs of $1.0 million as drug product revenue, and recorded $8.3 million as deferred revenue as of December 31, 2021, due to a high degree of uncertainty associated with the final consideration.
During the first quarter of 2021, we transferred bulk drug product from process validation supplies for commercial purposes under the terms of the Europe Agreement and the EU Supply Agreement with Astellas. We recorded the consideration of $11.8 million from this inventory transfer as deferred revenue as of December 31, 2021, due to a high degree of uncertainty associated with the final consideration.
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During the fourth quarter of 2021, we updated our estimate of variable consideration related to the bulk drug product inventory transfers fulfilled under the terms of the Europe Agreement and the EU Supply Agreement with Astellas, and recorded an unbilled contract asset of $49.8 million, which was offset by related deferred revenue under the Europe Agreement and EU Supply Agreement. Specifically, the change in estimated variable consideration was based on the bulk drug product held by Astellas at the period end, adjusted to reflect the changes in the estimated transfer price, among others.
During the fourth quarter of 2020, we transferred bulk drug product from process validation supplies for commercial purposes under the terms of the Europe Agreement with Astellas. As a result, we recorded $6.0 million as deferred revenue as of December 31, 2020, due to a high degree of uncertainty associated with the final consideration. We recognized royalty revenue of $0.2 million from this deferred revenue during the year ended December 31, 2021. The remainder of the deferred revenue will be recognized as and when uncertainty is resolved.
During the second quarter of 2020, we fulfilled the shipment obligations under the terms of the Japan Amendment with Astellas, and recognized related drug product revenue of $8.2 million in the same period.
Total drug product revenue recognized under the AstraZeneca agreements was $(2.2) million and $4.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
During the first half of 2021, we shipped bulk drug product to AstraZeneca as commercial supply under the terms of the Master Supply Agreement. Based on the above-mentioned FDA CRL in August 2021, we evaluated the impact of these developments in revising our estimates of variable consideration associated with drug product revenue. As a result, we updated the estimated transaction price for these shipments, and recorded $11.2 million as deferred revenue as of December 31, 2021.
During the first three quarters of 2020, we shipped process validation product to AstraZeneca as pre-commercial supply under the U.S./RoW Agreement and recorded the related drug product revenue of $4.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2020.
Operating Costs and Expenses
(dollars in thousands)
Operating costs and expenses
Total operating expenses increased $155.6 million, or 42%, for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020, for the reasons discussed in the sections below.
Cost of goods sold
Cost of goods sold increased $4.0 million, or 45%, for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020.
Cost of goods sold, associated with the roxadustat commercial sales in China, consists of direct costs to manufacture commercial product, as well as indirect costs including factory overhead, storage, shipping, quality assurance, idle capacity charges, and inventory valuation adjustments. Cost of goods sold, associated with the roxadustat commercial sales in China, was $9.3 million and $8.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, due to the overall increase in the gross sales, offset by lower unit cost resulting from higher production volume, and lower storage and shipping costs with sales to distributors being transitioned to Falikang that started in January 2021.
Cost of goods sold associated with the roxadustat drug product revenue in the U.S. was $3.6 million and $0.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, due to increased drug product shipments during the current year. We expect costs of goods sold to increase in relation to drug product revenue as we deplete inventories that we had expensed prior to receiving regulatory approvals.
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Research and Development Expenses
Research and development expenses consist of third-party research and development costs and the fully-burdened amount of costs associated with work performed under collaboration agreements. Research and development costs include employee-related expenses for research and development functions, expenses incurred under agreements with clinical research organizations (“CROs”), other clinical and preclinical costs and allocated direct and indirect overhead costs, such as facilities costs, information technology costs and other overhead. Research and development expenses also include in-process research and development assets that have no alternative future use other than in a particular research and development project. Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. Costs for certain development activities are recognized based on an evaluation of the progress to completion of specific tasks using information and data provided to us by our vendors and our clinical sites. Following the CRL for roxadustat in the U.S., we are implementing a cost reduction effort, and as a result, research and development expenses may decrease in certain areas in the near future compared to our previous internal plans.
The following table summarizes our research and development expenses incurred during the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019:
Years Ended December 31,
(in thousands)
The program-specific expenses summarized in the table above include costs we directly attribute to our product candidates. We allocate research and development salaries, benefits, stock-based compensation and other indirect costs to our product candidates on a program-specific basis, and we include these costs in the program-specific expenses.
Research and development expenses increased $134.1 million, or 53%, for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020 as a result of the net effect of the following:
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Selling, General and Administrative Expenses
We started to incur sales and marketing expenses in 2019 in China to prepare for commercial operations. Selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses consist primarily of employee-related expenses for executive, operational, finance, legal, compliance, and human resource functions. SG&A expenses also include facility-related costs, professional fees, accounting and legal services, other outside services including co-promotional expenses associated with our commercialization efforts in China, recruiting fees and expenses associated with obtaining and maintaining patents. Following the CRL for roxadustat in the U.S., we are implementing a cost reduction effort, and as a result, SG&A expenses may decrease in certain areas in the near future compared to our previous internal plans.
SG&A expenses increased $17.5 million, or 16%, for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020, as a result of the net effect of the following:
• Increase of $2.9 million in professional service fees; and
Interest and Other, Net
(dollars in thousands)
Interest and other, net:
Interest Expense
Interest expense relates to our finance lease liabilities accretion primarily for our leased facilities in San Francisco and China. Interest expense also includes interest related to the Technology Development Center of the Republic of Finland product development obligations.
Interest expense decreased $1.3 million, or 55% for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. The decrease was primarily due to the lease amendment effective June 1, 2021, related to our long-term property lease in San Francisco, was determined as a lease modification and classified as an operating lease, as compared to a finance lease before the lease modification. In addition, the new lease agreement effective in February 2021 for our long-term property lease in China was classified as an operating lease, as compared to a finance lease for the expired lease. The classification for both leases no longer trigger recognition of interest on the lease liabilities separately in the consolidated statement of operations. See Note 6, Leases, to the consolidated financial statements for details.
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Interest Income and Other Income (Expenses), Net
Interest income and other income (expenses), net primarily include interest income earned on our cash, cash equivalents and investments, foreign currency transaction gains (losses), remeasurement of certain monetary assets and liabilities in non-functional currency of our subsidiaries into the functional currency, realized gains (losses) on sales of investments, and other non-operating income and expenses.
Interest income and other income (expenses), net decreased $6.6 million, or 119%, for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily due to lower interest earned on our cash, cash equivalents and investments associated with the lower interest rates, as well as unfavorable foreign exchange impacts.
Provision for Income Taxes
Years Ended December 31,
(dollars in thousands)
Effective tax rate (0.1 ) % (0.2 ) % (0.4 ) %
The provisions for income taxes for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 were due to foreign taxes.
Based upon the weight of available evidence, which includes our historical operating performance, reported cumulative net losses since inception and expected continuing net loss, we have established a full valuation allowance against our net deferred tax assets as we do not currently believe that realization of those assets is more likely than not. We intend to continue maintaining a full valuation allowance on our deferred tax assets until there is sufficient evidence to support the reversal of all or some portion of this allowance. However, given our anticipated future foreign earnings, we believe that there is a reasonable possibility that within the next 12 months, sufficient positive evidence may become available to allow us to reach a conclusion that a portion of the valuation allowance may no longer be needed. Release of the valuation allowance would result in the recognition of certain deferred tax assets and a decrease to income tax expense for the period the release is recorded. The exact timing and amount of the valuation allowance release are subject to change on the basis of the level of profitability that we are able to actually achieve.
During 2020, we transferred certain intellectual property rights relating to our Chinese business between our wholly owned subsidiaries that are based in different tax jurisdictions. The transferor entity was not subject to income taxes in its local jurisdiction. The acquiring entity of the intellectual property is entitled to amortize the acquisition price of the intangible assets for tax purposes. In accordance with ASU 2016-16, Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets Other Than Inventory, we recognized a deferred tax asset of $78.7 million for the temporary difference arising from the acquirer’s excess tax basis. Furthermore, based upon the weight of available evidence, we recognized a full valuation allowance against this deferred tax asset since it does not currently believe that realization of this gross deductible temporary difference is more likely than not. Accordingly, this inter-company transfer did not have a material impact to our consolidated financial statements.
Investment Income (Loss) in Unconsolidated Variable Interest Entity
Investment income (loss) in unconsolidated variable interest entity represented our proportionate share of the reported profits or losses of Falikang, an unconsolidated variable interest entity accounted for under the equity method, and was immaterial for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020. See Note 4, Equity method investment - Variable Interest Entity, to the consolidated financial statements for details.
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LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Financial Conditions
We have historically funded our operations principally from the sale of common stock (including our public offering proceeds) and from the execution of collaboration agreements involving license payments, milestones and reimbursement for development services.
As of December 31, 2021, we had cash and cash equivalents of $171.2 million, short-term investments of $234.0 million and long-term investments of $167.8 million. Cash is invested in accordance with our investment policy, primarily with a view to liquidity and capital preservation. Investments, consisting of available-for-sale securities, and stated at fair value, are also available as a source of liquidity. As of December 31, 2021, a total of $91.2 million of our cash and cash equivalents was held outside of the U.S. in our foreign subsidiaries, including $69.9 million held in China, to be used primarily for our China operations.
Cash flows from Falikang, a distribution joint venture between FibroGen Beijing and AstraZeneca, and cash flows into FibroGen Beijing, are currently intended to remain onshore in China. Our long-term plans for distributing cash flows from FibroGen Beijing may involve any number of scenarios including keeping the money onshore to fund future expansion of our China operations or paying down certain debt obligations. To date, no such debt repayments have occurred, nor have there been any other payments or distributions from FibroGen Beijing to entities or investors outside of China. Our capital contributions to FibroGen Beijing and the liquidity position of FibroGen Beijing depend on many factors, including those set forth under Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report.
Cash Sources and Uses
The following table summarizes the primary sources and uses of cash for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019:
Years Ended December 31,
Net cash provided by (used in):
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents 2,597 4,695 (5 )
Operating Activities
Net cash used in operating activities was $82.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 and consisted primarily of net loss of $290.0 million adjusted for non-cash items and non-operating activities of $147.7 million and a net increase in operating assets and liabilities of $60.1 million. The significant non-cash items included stock-based compensation expense of $71.2 million, expense for acquired in-process research and development asset from HiFiBiO of $60.0 million, depreciation expense of $10.2 million, and amortization of finance lease ROU of $4.6 million. The significant items in the changes in operating assets and liabilities included the increases resulting from the following:
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The increases were partially offset by the decreases resulting from the following:
Net cash provided by operating activities was $81.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 and consisted primarily of net loss of $189.3 million adjusted for non-cash items of $96.3 million and a net increase in operating assets and liabilities of $174.6 million. The significant non-cash items included stock-based compensation expense of $72.7 million, depreciation expense of $11.7 million, and amortization of finance lease ROU of $10.4 million. The significant items in the changes in operating assets and liabilities included the increases resulting from the following:
The increases were partially offset by the decreases resulting from the following:
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Investing Activities
Investing activities primarily consist of purchases of property and equipment, purchases of investments, and proceeds from the maturity and sale of investments.
Net cash used in investing activities was $427.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 and consisted primarily of $484.1 million of cash used in purchases of available-for-sale securities, $25.0 million of cash paid for the acquired in-process research and development asset and $5.2 million of cash used in purchases of property and equipment, partially offset by $83.1 million of proceeds from maturities of investments and $4.2 million of proceeds from sales of available-for-sale securities.
Net cash provided by investing activities was $452.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 and consisted of proceeds from maturities of investments of $456.9 million, proceeds from sales of available-for-sale securities of $10.6 million, partially offset by cash used in purchases of available-for-sale securities of $8.2 million, purchases of property and equipment of $4.0 million, and net payments of $2.8 million made for investment in Falikang.
Financing Activities
Financing activities primarily reflect proceeds from the issuance of our common stock, cash paid for payroll taxes on restricted stock unit releases, repayments of our lease liabilities and obligations.
Net cash used in financing activities was $0.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 and consisted primarily of $7.4 million of cash paid for payroll taxes on restricted stock unit releases, and $5.5 million of repayments of finance lease liabilities, partially offset by $12.7 million of proceeds from the issuance of common stock upon exercise of stock options and purchases under our Employee Share Purchase Plan (“ESPP”).
Net cash provided by financing activities was $13.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 and consisted primarily of $37.8 million of proceeds from the issuance of common stock upon exercise of stock options and purchases under ESPP, partially offset by $12.6 million of repayments of finance lease liabilities, $11.5 million of cash paid for payroll taxes on restricted stock unit releases, and $0.4 million of repayments on our lease obligations.
Operating Capital Requirements
In the third quarter of 2019, we started generating revenue from commercial sales of roxadustat product in China. Even with the expectation of increases in revenue from product sales, we anticipate that we will continue to generate losses for the foreseeable future. Following the CRL for roxadustat in the U.S., we are implementing a cost reduction effort, and as a result, operating expenses may decrease in certain areas in the near future compared to our previous internal plans. To date, we have funded certain portions of our research and development and manufacturing efforts globally through collaboration partners, government support, and capital investment. There is no guarantee that sufficient funds will be available to continue to fund these development efforts through commercialization or otherwise. Although AstraZeneca is funding all non-China collaboration expenses not reimbursed by Astellas, we expect our research and development expenses to continue to increase as we invest in our other programs. We are subject to all the risks related to the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics, and we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other unknown factors that may adversely affect our business, such as from the COVID-19 pandemic or other factors outlined under Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report. We anticipate that we will need substantial additional funding in connection with our continuing operations.
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We believe that our existing cash and cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments and accounts receivable will be sufficient to meet our anticipated cash requirements for at least the next 12 months from the date of this Annual Report. However, we may need additional capital thereafter andour liquidity assumptions may change over time, and we could utilize our available financial resources sooner than we currently expect. In addition, we may elect to raise additional funds at any time through equity, equity-linked, debt financing arrangements or from other sources. Our forecast of the period of time through which our financial resources will be adequate to support our operations is a forward-looking statement and involves risks and uncertainties, and actual results could vary as a result of a number of factors. We have based this estimate on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could utilize our available capital resources sooner than we currently expect. Our future capital requirements and the adequacy of available funds will depend on many factors, including those set forth under Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report. We may not be able to secure additional financing to meet our operating requirements on acceptable terms, or at all. If we raise additional funds by issuing equity or equity-linked securities, the ownership of our existing stockholders will be diluted. If we raise additional financing by the incurrence of indebtedness, we will be subject to increased fixed payment obligations and could also be subject to restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional debt, and other operating restrictions that could adversely impact our ability to conduct our business. If we are unable to obtain needed additional funds, we will have to reduce our operating costs and expenses, which would impair our growth prospects and could otherwise negatively impact our business.
Commitments and Contingencies
Contractual Obligations
At December 31, 2021, our material cash requirements from known contractual and other obligations primarily relate to our lease liabilities and purchase obligations. Expected timing of those payments are as follows:
Payments Due In
Total Next 12 Months Beyond 12 Months
Our lease liabilities are primarily related to our real estate leases for office spaces in the U.S. and China. See Note 6, Leases, to the consolidated financial statements for details.
Our outstanding non-cancelable purchase obligations primarily related to manufacturing and supply for pamrevlumab and roxadustat. See Note 9, Commitments and Contingencies, to the consolidated financial statements for details.
Some of our license agreements provide for periodic maintenance fees over specified time periods, as well as payments by us upon the achievement of development, regulatory and commercial milestones. As of December 31, 2021, future milestone payments for research and pre-clinical stage development programs consisted of up to approximately $704.1 million in total potential future milestone payments under our license agreements with HiFiBiO (for Galectin-9 and CCR8), Medarex, Inc. and others. These milestone payments generally become due and payable only upon the achievement of certain developmental, clinical, regulatory and/or commercial milestones. The event triggering such payment or obligation has not yet occurred and therefore these amounts have been excluded from the table above.
The table above excludes uncertain tax benefits of approximately $57.7 million that are disclosed in Note 12,Income Taxes, to the consolidated financial statements because these uncertain tax positions, if recognized, would be an adjustment to the gross deferred tax assets and the corresponding valuation allowance, if warranted.
As of December 31, 2021, we have several on-going clinical studies in various stages. Under agreements with various CROs, and clinical study sites, we incur expenses related to clinical studies of our product candidates and potential other clinical candidates. The timing and amounts of these disbursements are contingent upon the achievement of certain milestones, patient enrollment and services rendered or as expenses are incurred by the CROs or clinical trial sites. Therefore, we cannot estimate the potential timing and amount of these payments and they have been excluded from the table above. Although our material contracts with CROs are cancellable, we have historically not canceled such contracts.
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As of December 31, 2021, our FibroGen Europe Oy (“FibroGen Europe”) subsidiary had $10.7 million of principal outstanding and $6.9 million of interest accrued related to the TEKES loans, respectively, which have been included as product development obligations on our consolidated balance sheet.
There is no stated maturity date related to these loans and each loan may be forgiven if the research work funded by TEKES does not result in an economically profitable business or does not meet its technological objectives. In addition, we are not a guarantor of the TEKES loans, and these loans are not repayable by FibroGen Europe until it has distributable funds. We do not expect FibroGen Europe to have such funds for at least the next five years. For the foregoing reasons, we cannot estimate the potential timing and the amounts of repayments (if required) or forgiveness. As a result, the TEKES loans have been excluded from the table above.
Legal Proceedings
We are a party to various legal actions that arose in the ordinary course of our business. We recognize accruals for any legal action when we conclude that a loss is probable and reasonably estimable. We did not have any material accruals for any currently active legal action in our consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2021, as we could not predict the ultimate outcome of these matters, or reasonably estimate the potential exposure. See Note 9, Commitments and Contingencies, to the consolidated financial statements for details.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
During the year ended December 31, 2021, we did not have any relationships with unconsolidated organizations or financial partnerships, such as structured finance or special purpose entities that would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements.
Indemnification Agreements
We enter into standard indemnification arrangements in the ordinary course of business, including for example, service, manufacturing and collaboration agreements. Pursuant to these arrangements, we indemnify, holds harmless, and agree to reimburse the indemnified parties for losses suffered or incurred by the indemnified party, including in connection with intellectual property infringement claims by any third party with respect to its technology. The term of these indemnification agreements is generally perpetual any time after the execution of the agreement. We have entered into indemnification agreements with our directors and officers that may require us to indemnify our directors and officers against liabilities that may arise by reason of their status or service as directors or officers to the extent permissible under applicable law. The maximum potential amount of future payments we could be required to make under these arrangements is not determinable.
Recently Issued and Adopted Accounting Guidance
For recently issued accounting guidance, see Note 2, Significant Accounting Policies, to the consolidated financial statements.
CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES
Our management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based on our financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, and expenses and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities in our financial statements. We evaluate our estimates and judgments on an ongoing basis. We base our estimates on historical experience, known trends and events, and various other factors that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
While our significant accounting policies are described in more detail in the notes to our financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report, we believe the following accounting policies to be most critical to the judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our financial statements.
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Revenue Recognition
Revenues under collaboration agreements
Our collaboration agreements include multiple performance obligations comprised of promised services, or bundles of services, that are distinct. Services that are not distinct are combined with other services in the agreement until they form a distinct bundle of services. Our process for identifying performance obligations and an enumeration of each obligation for each agreement is outlined in Note 3, Collaboration Agreements, License Agreement and Revenues, to our consolidated financial statements. Determining the performance obligations within a collaboration agreement often involves significant judgment and is specific to the facts and circumstances contained in each agreement.
We have identified the following material promises under its collaboration agreements: (1) license of FibroGen technology, (2) the performance of co-development services, including manufacturing of clinical supplies and other services during the development period, and (3) manufacture of commercial supply. The evaluation as to whether these promises are distinct, and therefore represent separate performance obligations, is described in more detail in Note 3, Collaboration Agreements, License Agreement and Revenues, to our consolidated financial statements.
For revenue recognition purposes, we determine that the terms of our collaboration agreements begin on the effective date and end upon the completion of all performance obligations contained in the agreements. In each agreement, the contract term is defined as the period in which parties to the contract have present and enforceable rights and obligations. We believe that the existence of what we consider to be substantive termination penalties on the part of the counterparty create sufficient incentive for the counterparty to avoid exercising its right to terminate the agreement unless in exceptionally rare situations.
The transaction price for each collaboration agreement is determined based on the amount of consideration we expect to be entitled for satisfying all performance obligations within the agreement. Our collaboration agreements include payments to us of one or more of the following: non-refundable upfront license fees; co-development billings; development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments; payments from sales of API; payments from sales of bulk drug product and royalties on net sales of licensed products.
Upfront license fees are non-contingent and non-refundable in nature and are included in the transaction price at the point when the license fees become due to us. We do not assess whether a contract has a significant financing component if the expectation at contract inception is such that the period between payment by the customer and the transfer of the promised goods or services to the customer will be one year or less.
Co-development billings resulting from our research and development efforts, which are reimbursable under its collaboration agreements, are considered variable consideration. Determining the reimbursable amount of research and development efforts requires detailed analysis of the terms of the collaboration agreements and the nature of the research and development efforts incurred. Determining the amount of variable consideration from co-development billings requires us to make estimates of future research and development efforts, which involves significant judgment. Co-development billings are allocated entirely to the co-development services performance obligation when amounts are related specifically to research and development efforts necessary to satisfy the performance obligation, and such an allocation is consistent with the allocation objective.
Milestone payments are also considered variable consideration, which requires us to make estimates of when achievement of a particular milestone becomes probable. Similar to other forms of variable consideration, milestone payments are included in the transaction price when it becomes probable that such inclusion would not result in a significant revenue reversal. Milestone payments are therefore included in the transaction price when achievement of the milestone becomes probable.
For arrangements that include sales-based royalties and for which the license is deemed to be the predominant item to which the royalties relate, we recognize revenue at the later of (i) when the related sales occur, or (ii) when the performance obligation to which some or all of the royalty has been allocated has been satisfied (or partially satisfied). To date, royalty revenue resulting from its collaboration arrangements was immaterial.
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The transaction price is allocated to performance obligations based on their relative standalone selling price (“SSP”), with the exception of co-development billings allocated entirely to co-development services performance obligations. The SSP is determined based on observable prices at which we separately sell the products and services. If an SSP is not directly observable, then we will estimate the SSP considering marketing conditions, entity-specific factors, and information about the customer or class of customer that is reasonably available. The process for determining SSP involves significant judgment and includes consideration of multiple factors, including assumptions related to the market opportunity and the time needed to commercialize a product candidate pursuant to the relevant license, estimated direct expenses and other costs, which include the rates normally charged by contract research and contract manufacturing organizations for development and manufacturing obligations, and rates that would be charged by qualified outsiders for committee services.
Significant judgment may be required in determining whether a performance obligation is distinct, determining the amount of variable consideration to be included in the transaction price, and estimating the SSP of each performance obligation. An enumeration of our significant judgments is outlined in Note 3, Collaboration Agreements, License Agreement and Revenues, to our consolidated financial statements.
For each performance obligation identified within an arrangement, we determine the period over which the promised services are transferred and the performance obligation is satisfied. Service revenue is recognized over time based on progress toward complete satisfaction of the performance obligation. For each performance obligation satisfied over time, we assess the proper method to be used for revenue recognition, either an input method to measure progress toward the satisfaction of services or an output method of determining the progress of completion of performance obligation.
License revenue
Under a license agreement, if the license to our intellectual property is determined to be distinct from the other performance obligations identified in the arrangement, we recognize revenues from upfront license fees allocated to the license when the license is transferred to the licensee and the licensee is able to use and benefit from the license. For licenses that are bundled with other promises, we determine whether the combined performance obligation is satisfied over time or at a point in time. If the combined performance obligation is satisfied over time, we use judgment in determining the appropriate method of measuring progress for purposes of recognizing revenue from the up-front license fees. We evaluate the measure of progress each reporting period and, if necessary, adjust the measure of performance and related revenue recognition.
Product revenue, net
Product revenue, net consists of revenues from sales of roxadustat commercial product to Falikang, and directly to pharmaceutical distributors located in a few provinces in China that are not covered by Falikang. Falikang is jointly owned by AstraZeneca and FibroGen Beijing. We are not the primary beneficiary of Falikang for accounting purposes, as AstraZeneca is the final decision maker for all the roxadustat commercialization activities, and we lack the power criterion to direct the activities of Falikang (see Note 4, Equity method investment - Variable Interest Entity, to our consolidated financial statements).
Sales to Falikang
Falikang became fully operational in January 2021, at which time FibroGen Beijing began selling roxadustat commercial product to Falikang. Falikang is FibroGen Beijing’s primary customer in China and substantially all roxadustat product sales to distributors in China are made by Falikang. Falikang bears inventory risk once it receives and accepts the product from FibroGen Beijing, and is responsible for delivering product to its distributors.
The promises identified under the AstraZeneca China Agreement (as defined in Note 3, Collaboration Agreements, License Agreement and Revenues), including the license, co-development services and manufacturing of commercial supplies have been bundled into a single performance obligation (“China performance obligation”). Amounts of the transaction price allocable to this performance obligation under our agreements with AstraZeneca as outlined in Note 3, Collaboration Agreements, License Agreement and Revenues, are deferred until control of the manufactured commercial product is transferred to AstraZeneca.
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The initiation of roxadustat sales to Falikang marked the beginning of the China performance obligation. Revenue is recognized at a point in time when control of roxadustat commercial product is transferred to Falikang. Revenue is recognized based on the estimated transaction price per unit and actual quantity of product delivered during the reporting period. Specifically, the transaction price per unit is determined based on the overall transaction price over the total estimated sales quantity for the estimated performance period in which we determined it is likely those sales would occur. The price per unit is subject to reassessment on a quarterly basis, which may result in adjustments due to changes in estimates.
The overall transaction price for FibroGen Beijing’s product sales to Falikang includes the following elements of consideration:
The non-refundable upfront license fees constitute a fixed consideration. The remainder of the above are variable consideration components, which may be constrained, and included in the transaction price only to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal in the amount of the cumulative revenue recognized will not occur in a future period when the uncertainty associated with the variable consideration is subsequently resolved. The calculation of the above variable consideration includes significant assumptions such as total sales quantity, performance period, gross transaction price and profit share, which require a significant judgment.
Any net transaction price in excess of the revenue recognized is deferred, and will be recognized over future periods as the performance obligations are satisfied.
Direct Sales to Distributors
We sell roxadustat in China directly to a number of pharmaceutical distributors located in a few provinces in China that are not covered by Falikang. These pharmaceutical distributors are our customers. Hospitals order roxadustat through a distributor and we ship the product directly to the distributors. The delivery of roxadustat to a distributor represents a single performance obligation. Distributors are responsible for delivering product to end users, primarily hospitals. Distributors bear inventory risk once they receive and accept the product. Product revenue is recognized when control of the promised good is transferred to the customer in an amount that reflects the consideration that we expect to be entitled to in exchange for the product.
The period between the transfer of control of the promised goods and when we receive payment is based on 60-day payment terms. As such, product revenue is not adjusted for the effects of a significant financing component.
Product revenue is recorded at the net sales prices that includes the following estimates of variable consideration:
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The calculation of the above variable consideration is based on gross sales to the distributor, or estimated utilizing best available information from the distributor, maximum known exposures and other available information including estimated channel inventory levels and estimated sales made by the distributor to hospitals, which involve a significant judgment.
The above rebates and discounts all together are eligible to be applied against the distributor’s future sales order, limited to certain maximums until such rebates and discounts are exhausted. These rebates and discounts are recorded as contract liabilities at the time they become eligible and in the same period that the related revenue is recorded. Due to the distributor’s legal right to offset, at each balance sheet date, the liability for rebates and discounts are presented as reductions of gross accounts receivable from the distributor, or as a current liability to the distributor to the extent that the total amount exceeds the gross accounts receivable or when we expect to settle the discount in cash. The distributor’s legal right of offset is calculated at the individual distributor level.
Drug product revenue
Drug product revenue includes commercial-grade API or bulk drug product sales to AstraZeneca and Astellas in support of pre-commercial preparation prior to the NDA or Marketing Authorization Application approval, and to Astellas for ongoing commercial launch in Japan and Europe. Drug product revenue is recognized when we fulfill the inventory transfer obligations.
The amount of variable consideration that is included in the transaction price may be constrained, and is included in the drug product revenue only to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal in the amount of the cumulative revenue recognized will not occur in a future period when the uncertainty associated with the variable consideration is subsequently resolved. Estimating variable consideration and the related constraint requires the use of significant management judgment. We review new information that may affect its variable consideration estimate at every reporting period and records revenue adjustment, if certain and material. Actual amounts of consideration ultimately received in the future may differ from our estimates, for which we will adjust these estimates and affect the drug product revenue in the period such variances become known.
As each of our collaboration agreements provide for annual true up to the considerations paid for our commercial supplies, we will re-evaluate the transaction price in each reporting period and record adjustment to revenue as uncertain events are resolved or other changes in circumstances occur.
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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISKS
We are exposed to market risk in the ordinary course of our business. Market risk represents the risk of loss that may impact our financial position due to adverse changes in financial market prices and rates. Our market risk exposure is primarily a result of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. Most of our revenue from collaboration agreements are denominated in U.S. dollars, and therefore our revenue is not currently subject to significant foreign currency risk. Currently, the functional currency of our subsidiaries, FibroGen Europe Oy and FibroGen Beijing, is the local currency. Our operating expenses are denominated in the currencies of the countries in which our operations are located, which are primarily in the U.S., China, and Europe. Our consolidated results of operations and cash flows are, therefore, subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates and may be adversely affected in the future due to changes in foreign exchange rates.
As of December 31, 2021, we did not have material financial assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies that are subject to fluctuation in the exchange rate with the U.S. dollar. Therefore, the effect of a hypothetical 10% change in foreign currency exchange rates would not have resulted in a material net gain or loss on foreign currency for the year ended December 31, 2021.
The primary objective of our investment activities is to preserve our capital to fund our operations. We also seek to maximize income from our cash and cash equivalents without assuming significant risk. To achieve our objectives, we invest our non-operating cash and cash equivalents primarily in money market funds as of December 31, 2021. Given the nature of our investments as of December 31, 2021, we believe that our exposure to interest rate risk is not significant. We actively monitor changes in interest rates.
To date, we have not entered into any hedging arrangements with respect to foreign currency risk or other derivative financial instruments.
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ITEM 8. CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Page
FibroGen, Inc.
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID 238) 109
Financial Statements:
Consolidated Balance Sheets 112
Consolidated Statements of Operations 113
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss 114
Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders' Equity 115
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows 116
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements 117
Financial Statement Schedule:
108
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of FibroGen, Inc.
Opinions on the Financial Statements and Internal Control over Financial Reporting
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of FibroGen, Inc. and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, and the related consolidated statements of operations, of comprehensive loss, of changes in stockholders’ equity and of cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2021, including the related notes and financial statement schedule listed in the accompanying index (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). We also have audited the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2021 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the COSO.
Change in Accounting Principle
As discussed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company changed the manner in which it accounts for leases in 2019.
Basis for Opinions
The Company’s management is responsible for these consolidated financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting appearing under Item 9A. Our responsibility is to express opinions on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and on the Company's internal control over financial reporting based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud, and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.
Our audits of the consolidated financial statements included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.
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Definition and Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Critical Audit Matters
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (i) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (ii) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.
Determining the Transaction Price for Product Revenue Recognition for Sales to Beijing Falikang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (“Falikang”)
As described in Notes 2 and 3 to the consolidated financial statements, with respect to the roxadustat commercial product, revenue is recognized at a point in time when control of the product is transferred to Falikang. Total product revenue, net recognized related to sales to Falikang was $35.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. Revenue is recognized based on the estimated transaction price per unit and the actual quantity of product delivered to Falikang during the reporting period. The estimated transaction price per unit is determined based on the overall transaction price over the total estimated sales quantity for the estimated performance period in which management determined it is likely those sales would occur. Management applied significant judgment in determining the transaction price per unit, which involved the use of significant assumptions such as (i) the estimated total gross transaction price and profit share, (ii) the estimated total sales quantity, and (iii) the estimated performance period in which the Company determined it is likely those sales would occur.
The principal considerations for our determination that performing procedures relating to determining the transaction price for product revenue recognition for sales to Falikang is a critical audit matter are the significant judgment by management when determining the transaction price per unit, which in turn led to a high degree of auditor judgment, subjectivity, and effort in performing procedures and in evaluating management’s significant assumptions related to the estimated total gross transaction price, estimated total sales quantity, and estimated performance period over which the Company determined it is likely those sales would occur.
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Addressing the matter involved performing procedures and evaluating audit evidence in connection with forming our overall opinion on the consolidated financial statements. These procedures included testing the effectiveness of controls relating to revenue recognition, including controls over the determination of the transaction price per unit for sales to Falikang.These procedures alsoincluded, among others, testing management’s process for determining the transaction price per unit, which included evaluating the appropriateness of the method, testing the completeness and accuracy of the data used in the method, and evaluating the reasonableness of significant assumptions related to the estimated total gross transaction price, estimated total sales quantity, and estimated performance period over which the Company determined it is likely those sales would occur. Evaluating the reasonableness of the significant assumptions used by management involved evaluating whether the assumptions were reasonable considering (i) the current and historical transaction price and quantity, (ii) the consistency with external market, industry and regulatory data, (iii) whether these assumptions were consistent with evidence obtained in other areas of the audit, and (iv) patent expiration and market exclusivity.
/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
San Jose, California
February 28, 2022
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2000.
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FIBROGEN, INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(In thousands, except per share amounts)
Assets
Current assets:
Finance lease right-of-use assets 761 29,606
Equity method investment in unconsolidated variable interest entity 3,825 2,728
Operating lease right-of-use assets 91,112 2,043
Liabilities, stockholders’ equity and non-controlling interests
Current liabilities:
Finance lease liabilities, current 11 12,330
Operating lease liabilities, current 10,944 1,188
Finance lease liabilities, non-current 3 25,391
Operating lease liabilities, non-current 88,776 853
Commitments and Contingencies (Note 9)
Stockholders’ equity:
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (4,163 ) (4,499 )
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these Consolidated Financial Statements.
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FIBROGEN, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(In thousands, except per share amounts)
Years Ended December 31,
Revenue:
Operating costs and expenses:
Interest and other, net
Interest income and other income (expenses), net (1,078 ) 5,553 15,548
Net loss per share - basic and diluted $ (3.14 ) $ (2.11 ) $ (0.89 )
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these Consolidated Financial Statements.
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FIBROGEN, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE LOSS
(In thousands)
Years Ended December 31,
Other comprehensive income (loss):
Foreign currency translation adjustments 1,235 (3,207 ) 331
Available-for-sale investments:
Unrealized gain (loss) on investments, net of tax effect (899 ) (545 ) 592
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of taxes 336 (3,752 ) 923
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these Consolidated Financial Statements.
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FIBROGEN, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
(In thousands, except share data)
Shares Amount Capital Loss Deficit Interests Total
Change in unrealized gain or loss on investments — — — 592 — — 592
Foreign currency translation adjustments — — — 331 — — 331
Change in unrealized gain or loss on investments — — — (545 ) — — (545 )
Foreign currency translation adjustments — — — (3,207 ) — — (3,207 )
Change in unrealized gain or loss on investments — — — (899 ) — — (899 )
Foreign currency translation adjustments — — — 1,235 — — 1,235
Conversion of subsidiary's convertible note payable (Note 10) — — — — — 696 696
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these Consolidated Financial Statements.
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FIBROGEN, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(In thousands)
Years Ended December 31,
Operating activities
Net accretion of premium and discount on investments 2,482 103 (3,667 )
Unrealized loss on equity investments 30 — (88 )
Investment (gain) loss in unconsolidated variable interest entity (1,007 ) 202 —
Loss (gain) on disposal of property and equipment 233 933 (42 )
Expense for acquired in-process research and development asset 60,000 — —
Realized loss on sales of available-for-sale securities — 258 —
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Operating lease right-of-use assets 4,209 (24 ) (1,201 )
Operating lease liabilities, current 503 134 580
Accrued interest for finance lease liabilities (75 ) (177 ) 194
Operating lease liabilities, non-current (4,043 ) (143 ) 692
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities (82,232 ) 81,602 (78,705 )
Investing activities
Purchases of property and equipment (5,186 ) (3,994 ) (5,762 )
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment — — 7
Proceeds from sales of available-for-sale securities 4,214 10,606 —
Financing activities
Repayments of lease obligations (403 ) (403 ) (403 )
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities (563 ) 13,343 (4,300 )
Effect of exchange rate change on cash and cash equivalents 2,597 4,695 (5 )
Supplemental cash flow information:
Balance in other receivables related to stock option exercise 165 — —
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these Consolidated Financial Statements.
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FIBROGEN, INC.
NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
1. The Company
FibroGen, Inc. (“FibroGen” or the “Company”) is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with subsidiary offices in Beijing and Shanghai, People’s Republic of China (“China”). FibroGen is a leading biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing a pipeline of first-in-class therapeutics. FibroGen applies its pioneering expertise in hypoxia-inducible factor biology, 2-oxoglutarate enzymology, and connective tissue growth factor biology to advance innovative medicines for the treatment of anemia, fibrotic disease, and cancer.
Roxadustat is FibroGen’s most advanced product, an oral small molecule inhibitor of hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase activity. Roxadustat is currently approved for use in patients with anemia associated with chronic kidney disease (“CKD”) in China (2019), Japan (2020) and Europe (2021), under the tradename EVRENZO®. Roxadustat is also being commercialized in China for CKD anemia in dialysis and non-dialysis patients under the tradename: 爱瑞卓®.
Roxadustat is in Phase 3 clinical development for anemia associated with myelodysplastic syndromes and Phase 2 clinical development for chemotherapy-induced anemia.
Pamrevlumab is FibroGen’s first-in-class antibody developed to inhibit the activity of connective tissue growth factor, a common factor in fibrotic and fibro-proliferative disorders characterized by persistent and excessive scarring that can lead to organ dysfunction and failure.
In the second quarter of 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) granted both Rare Pediatric Disease designation and Fast Track designation for pamrevlumab for the treatment of patients with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. In addition, the FDA has granted Orphan Drug Designation to pamrevlumab for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer, and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Pamrevlumab has also received Fast Track designation from the FDA for the treatment of both idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer.
FibroGen has a pipeline of late-stage clinical programs as well as pre-clinical drug candidates at various stages of development that include both small molecules and biologics.
2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”). The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company, its wholly owned subsidiaries and its majority-owned subsidiaries, FibroGen Europe and FibroGen China Anemia Holdings, Ltd. (“FibroGen Cayman”). All inter-company transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation. For any variable interest entity (“VIE”) for which FibroGen is not the primary beneficiary, the Company uses the equity method of accounting.
The Company operates in one reportable segment — the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapeutics to treat serious unmet medical needs.
Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified for consistency with the current year presentation. These reclassifications and recalculations had no impact on previously reported financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.
Foreign Currency Translation
The reporting currency of the Company and its subsidiaries is the U.S. dollar.
The functional currency of FibroGen Europe is the Euro. The assets and liabilities of FibroGen Europe are translated to U.S. dollars at exchange rates in effect at the balance sheet date. All income statement accounts are translated at monthly average exchange rates. Resulting foreign currency translation adjustments are recorded directly in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) as a separate component of stockholders’ equity.
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Prior to April 1, 2020, the functional currency of the Company’s subsidiary, FibroGen (China) Medical Technology Development Co., Ltd. (“FibroGen Beijing”), was the U.S. dollar. On April 1, 2020, FibroGen Beijing adopted CNY as its functional currency based on reassessment of the primary economic operational environment of FibroGen Beijing that is mainly associated with its growing manufacturing and product sales activities conducted in CNY. As such, monetary assets and liabilities of FibroGen Beijing in currencies other than CNY are remeasured using exchange rates in effect at the end of the period. The assets and liabilities of FibroGen Beijing are translated to U.S. dollars at exchange rates in effect at the balance sheet date. All income statement accounts are translated at monthly average exchange rates. Resulting foreign currency translation adjustments are recorded directly in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) as a separate component of stockholders’ equity. This change in FibroGen Beijing’s functional currency was accounted for prospectively from April 1, 2020, and the prior consolidated financial statements were not restated. The related currency translation adjustment was $1.3 million at April 1, 2020 upon adoption.
The functional currency of FibroGen, Inc. and all other subsidiaries is the U.S. dollar. Accordingly, monetary assets and liabilities in the non-functional currency of these subsidiaries are remeasured using exchange rates in effect at the end of the period. Revenues and costs in local currency are remeasured using average exchange rates for the period, except for costs related to those balance sheet items that are remeasured using historical exchange rates. The resulting remeasurement gains and losses are included within interest income and other, net in the consolidated statements of operations as incurred and have not been material for all periods presented.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The more significant areas requiring the use of management estimates and assumptions include valuation and recognition of revenue, specifically, estimates in variable consideration for drug product sales, and estimates in transaction price per unit for the China performance obligation (as defined and discussed under Revenue Recognition below). On an ongoing basis, management reviews these estimates and assumptions. Changes in facts and circumstances may alter such estimates and actual results could differ from those estimates.
Concentration of Credit Risk
The Company is subject to risks associated with concentration of credit for cash and cash equivalents. Outside of short-term operating needs, the majority of cash on hand is invested in U.S. treasuries and money market funds. Any remaining cash is deposited with major financial institutions in the U.S., Finland, China and the Cayman Islands. At times, such deposits may be in excess of insured limits. The Company has not experienced any loss on its deposits of cash and cash equivalents. Included in current assets are significant balances of accounts receivable as follows:
December 31,
Astellas Pharma Inc. (“Astellas”)—Related party 63 % 10 %
AstraZeneca AB (“AstraZeneca”) 34 % 26 %
As of December 31, 2021, the accounts receivable related to roxadustat sales in China from Beijing Falikang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (“Falikang”) and direct sales to distributors were not material. As of December 31, 2020, the aggregate accounts receivable related to roxadustat sales in China from distributors represented 64% of the consolidated accounts receivable, with no material balance from any individual distributor.
Other Risks and Uncertainties
The Company’s future results of operations involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could affect the Company’s future operating results and cause actual results to vary materially from expectations include, but are not limited to, rapid technological change, obtaining second source suppliers, regulatory approval from the FDA or other regulatory authorities, the results of clinical trials and the achievement of milestones, market acceptance of the Company’s product candidates, competition from other products and larger companies, protection of proprietary technology, strategic relationships and dependence on key individuals.
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Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Time Deposits
The Company considers all highly liquid investments with maturities of three months or less and that are used in the Company’s cash management activities at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents. Cash and cash equivalents also include money market accounts and various deposit accounts. Restricted time deposits include an irrevocable standby letter of credit as security deposit for a long-term property lease with the Company’s landlord. Restricted time deposits as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 totaled $2.1 million and $2.1 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, a total of $91.2 million and $66.0 million, respectively, of the Company’s cash and cash equivalents was held outside of the U.S. in the Company’s foreign subsidiaries to be used primarily for the Company’s China operations.
Investments
As of December 31, 2021, the Company’s investments consist primarily of diversified bonds, commercial paper, and asset-backed securities. Those investments with original maturities of greater than three months and remaining maturities of less than 12 months (365 days) are considered short-term investments. Those investments with maturities greater than 12 months (365 days) from the balance sheet date are considered long-term investments. When such investments are held, the Company’s investments classified as available-for-sale are recorded at fair value based upon quoted market prices at period end. Unrealized gains and losses for available-for-sale debt investments that are deemed temporary in nature are recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) as a separate component of stockholder’ equity. Marketable equity securities are equity securities with readily determinable fair value, and are measured and recorded at fair value. Realized and unrealized gains or losses resulting from changes in value and sale of the Company’s marketable equity investments are recorded in other income (expenses) in the consolidated statement of operations.
A decline in the fair value of any security below cost that is deemed other than temporary results in a charge to earnings and the corresponding establishment of a new cost basis for the security. Premiums and discounts are amortized (accreted) over the life of the related security as an adjustment to its yield. Dividend and interest income are recognized when earned. Realized gains and losses are included in earnings and are derived using the specific identification method for determining the cost of investments sold.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
Carrying amounts of certain of the Company’s financial instruments including cash equivalents, investments, receivables, accounts payable and accrued liabilities approximate fair value (See Note 5, Fair Value Measurements).
Trade accounts receivable
The allowance for doubtful accounts is based on the Company’s assessment of the collectability of customer accounts. The Company makes estimates of expected credit losses for the allowance for doubtful accounts by considering factors such as historical experience, credit quality, the age of the accounts receivable balances, current economic and regulatory conditions that may affect a customer’s ability to pay, and estimates of expected future losses. The Company’s bad debt expense for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 and the allowance for doubtful accounts as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 were immaterial.
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Credit losses – Available-for-sale debt securities
The Company periodically assesses its available-for-sale investments for other-than-temporary impairment. For debt securities in an unrealized loss position, the Company first considers its intent to sell, or whether it is more likely than not that the Company will be required to sell the debt securities before recovery of their amortized cost basis. If either of these criteria are met, the amortized cost basis of such debt securities is written down to fair value through interest and other, net.
For debt securities in an unrealized loss position that do not meet the aforementioned criteria, the Company assesses whether the decline in the fair value of such debt securities has resulted from credit losses or other factors. The Company considers the extent to which fair value is less than amortized cost, any changes to the rating of the security by a rating agency, and any adverse conditions specifically related to the securities, among other factors. If this assessment indicates that a credit loss may exist, the Company then compares the present value of cash flows expected to be collected from such securities to their amortized cost basis. If the present value of cash flows expected to be collected is less than the amortized cost basis, a credit loss exists and an allowance for credit losses is recorded through interest and other, net, limited by the amount that the fair value is less than the amortized cost basis. Any additional impairment not recorded through an allowance for credit losses is recognized in other comprehensive income.
Changes in the allowance for credit losses are recorded as provision for, or reversal of, credit loss expense. Losses are charged against the allowance when the Company believes that an available-for-sale security is confirmed uncollectable or when either of the criteria regarding intent or requirement to sell is met.
Inventories
Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value, on a first-in, first-out, or FIFO, basis. The cost of the Company’s inventories in China is determined using full absorption and standard costing method. The Company reviews the standard cost of raw materials, work-in-process and finished goods annually and more often as appropriate to ensure that its inventories approximate current actual cost. The cost of the Company’s inventories in the U.S. uses actual costs to determine its cost basis. The cost of inventories includes direct material cost, direct labor and manufacturing overhead.
When the technical feasibility of the Company’s future commercialization is considered probable and the future economic benefit is expected to be realized, based on management’s judgment, the Company capitalizes pre-launch inventory costs prior to regulatory approval. A number of factors are considered, including the status in the validation process in significant jurisdictions, regulatory application and approval process, and terms and condition for future sale of such inventory or future alternative use. The pre-launch inventory cost includes purchase cost of raw materials, cost paid to contract manufacturers for inventory manufacturing, freight and custom charges, and certain direct internal labor and overhead expenses.
The Company periodically reviews its inventories to identify obsolete, slow-moving, excess or otherwise unsaleable items. If obsolete, excess or unsaleable items are observed and there are no alternate uses for the inventory, an inventory valuation adjustment is recorded through a charge to cost of goods sold on the Company’s consolidated statements of operations. The establishment of inventory valuation reserves, together with the calculation of the amount of such reserves, requires judgment including consideration of many factors, such as estimates of future product demand and product expiration period, among others.
Property and Equipment
Property and equipment are recorded at cost and depreciated over their estimated useful lives using the straight-line method. Computer equipment, laboratory equipment, machinery and furniture and fixtures are depreciated over three to five years. Leasehold improvements are recorded at cost and amortized over the term of the lease or their useful life, whichever is shorter.
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Equity method investment - Variable Interest Entity
Under the Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 810, Consolidation (“ASC 810”), when the Company obtains an economic interest in an entity, it evaluates the entity to determine if it should be deemed a VIE, and, if so, whether the Company is the primary beneficiary and is therefore required to consolidate the VIE, based on significant judgment whether the Company (i) has the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of the VIE and (ii) has the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits of the VIE that could potentially be significant to the VIE.
On an ongoing basis, the Company re-evaluates the VIE assessment based on potential changes in facts and circumstances, including but not limited to, the shareholder loans to the entity and the execution of any future significant agreements between the entity and its shareholders and/or other third parties.
Leases
The Company determines if an arrangement is or contains a lease at inception date when it is given control of the underlying assets. The Company elected the practical expedient not to apply the lease recognition and measurement requirements to short-term leases, which is any lease with a term of 12 months or less as of the commencement date that does not include an option to purchase the underlying asset that the lessee is reasonably certain to exercise.
Lease right-of-use (“ROU”) assets and lease liabilities are recognized based on the present value of the future minimum lease payments over the lease term at commencement date. As its leases do not typically provide an implicit rate, the Company uses its incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at commencement date in determining the present value of future payments. The Company reassesses the incremental borrowing rate periodically for application to any new leases or lease modifications, which approximates the rate at which the Company would borrow, on a secured basis, in the country where the lease was executed. For any lease modification, the Company reassesses the lease classification, remeasures the related lease liability using an updated discount rate, and adjusts the related ROU asset under the lease modification guidance under the ASC 842.
Lease ROU assets include any lease payments made and initial direct costs incurred. The Company has lease agreements with lease and non-lease components. The Company generally accounts for each lease component separately from the non-lease components, and excludes all non-lease components from the calculation of minimum lease payments in measuring the ROU asset and lease liability.
The Company’s lease terms may include options to extend or terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise that option. Lease expense for minimum lease payments is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease terms.
Regarding leases denominated in a foreign currency, the related ROU assets and the corresponding ROU asset amortization costs are remeasured using the exchange rate in effect at the date of initial recognition; the related lease liabilities are remeasured using the exchange rate in effect at the end of the reporting period; the lease costs and interest expenses related to lease liability accretion are remeasured using average exchange rates for the reporting period.
Finance leases are included in finance lease ROU assets, finance lease liabilities, current and non-current on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. Operating leases are included in operating lease ROU assets, operating lease liabilities, current and non-current on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets.
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets
The Company continually evaluates whether events or circumstances have occurred that indicate that the estimated remaining useful life of its long-lived assets may warrant revision or that the carrying value of these assets may be impaired. If the Company determines that an impairment trigger has been met, the Company evaluates the realizability of its long-lived assets (asset group) based on a comparison of projected undiscounted cash flows from use and eventual disposition with the carrying value of the related asset. Any write-downs (which are measured based on the difference between the fair value and the carrying value of the asset) are treated as permanent reductions in the carrying amount of the assets (asset group). Based on this evaluation, the Company believes that, as of each of the balance sheet dates presented, none of the Company’s long-lived assets were impaired. The Company’s impairment of long-lived assets for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 were immaterial.
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Revenue Recognition
Revenues under collaboration agreements
The Company’s collaboration agreements include multiple performance obligations comprised of promised services, or bundles of services, that are distinct. Services that are not distinct are combined with other services in the agreement until they form a distinct bundle of services. The Company’s process for identifying performance obligations and an enumeration of each obligation for each agreement is outlined in Note 3, Collaboration Agreements, License Agreement and Revenues. Determining the performance obligations within a collaboration agreement often involves significant judgment and is specific to the facts and circumstances contained in each agreement.
The Company has identified the following material promises under its collaboration agreements: (1) license of FibroGen technology, (2) the performance of co-development services, including manufacturing of clinical supplies and other services during the development period, and (3) manufacture of commercial supply. The evaluation as to whether these promises are distinct, and therefore represent separate performance obligations, is described in more detail in Note 3, Collaboration Agreements, License Agreement and Revenues.
For revenue recognition purposes, the Company determines that the terms of its collaboration agreements begin on the effective date and end upon the completion of all performance obligations contained in the agreements. In each agreement, the contract term is defined as the period in which parties to the contract have present and enforceable rights and obligations. The Company believes that the existence of what it considers to be substantive termination penalties on the part of the counterparty create sufficient incentive for the counterparty to avoid exercising its right to terminate the agreement unless in exceptionally rare situations.
The transaction price for each collaboration agreement is determined based on the amount of consideration the Company expects to be entitled for satisfying all performance obligations within the agreement. The Company’s collaboration agreements include payments to the Company of one or more of the following: non-refundable upfront license fees; co-development billings; development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments; payments from sales of active pharmaceutical ingredient (“API”); payments from sales of bulk drug product and royalties on net sales of licensed products.
Upfront license fees are non-contingent and non-refundable in nature and are included in the transaction price at the point when the license fees become due to the Company. The Company does not assess whether a contract has a significant financing component if the expectation at contract inception is such that the period between payment by the customer and the transfer of the promised goods or services to the customer will be one year or less.
Co-development billings resulting from the Company’s research and development efforts, which are reimbursable under its collaboration agreements, are considered variable consideration. Determining the reimbursable amount of research and development efforts requires detailed analysis of the terms of the collaboration agreements and the nature of the research and development efforts incurred. Determining the amount of variable consideration from co-development billings requires the Company to make estimates of future research and development efforts, which involves significant judgment. Co-development billings are allocated entirely to the co-development services performance obligation when amounts are related specifically to research and development efforts necessary to satisfy the performance obligation, and such an allocation is consistent with the allocation objective.
Milestone payments are also considered variable consideration, which requires the Company to make estimates of when achievement of a particular milestone becomes probable. Similar to other forms of variable consideration, milestone payments are included in the transaction price when it becomes probable that such inclusion would not result in a significant revenue reversal. Milestone payments are therefore included in the transaction price when achievement of the milestone becomes probable.
For arrangements that include sales-based royalties and for which the license is deemed to be the predominant item to which the royalties relate, the Company recognizes revenue at the later of (i) when the related sales occur, or (ii) when the performance obligation to which some or all of the royalty has been allocated has been satisfied (or partially satisfied). To date, royalty revenue resulting from its collaboration arrangements was immaterial.
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The transaction price is allocated to performance obligations based on their relative standalone selling price (“SSP”), with the exception of co-development billings allocated entirely to co-development services performance obligations. The SSP is determined based on observable prices at which the Company separately sells the products and services. If an SSP is not directly observable, then the Company will estimate the SSP considering marketing conditions, entity-specific factors, and information about the customer or class of customer that is reasonably available. The process for determining SSP involves significant judgment and includes consideration of multiple factors, including assumptions related to the market opportunity and the time needed to commercialize a product candidate pursuant to the relevant license, estimated direct expenses and other costs, which include the rates normally charged by contract research and contract manufacturing organizations for development and manufacturing obligations, and rates that would be charged by qualified outsiders for committee services.
Significant judgment may be required in determining whether a performance obligation is distinct, determining the amount of variable consideration to be included in the transaction price, and estimating the SSP of each performance obligation. An enumeration of the Company’s significant judgments is outlined in Note 3, Collaboration Agreements, License Agreement and Revenues.
For each performance obligation identified within an arrangement, the Company determines the period over which the promised services are transferred and the performance obligation is satisfied. Service revenue is recognized over time based on progress toward complete satisfaction of the performance obligation. For each performance obligation satisfied over time, the Company assesses the proper method to be used for revenue recognition, either an input method to measure progress toward the satisfaction of services or an output method of determining the progress of completion of performance obligation.
License revenue
Under a license agreement, if the license to the Company’s intellectual property is determined to be distinct from the other performance obligations identified in the arrangement, the Company recognizes revenues from upfront license fees allocated to the license when the license is transferred to the licensee and the licensee is able to use and benefit from the license. For licenses that are bundled with other promises, the Company determines whether the combined performance obligation is satisfied over time or at a point in time. If the combined performance obligation is satisfied over time, the Company uses judgment in determining the appropriate method of measuring progress for purposes of recognizing revenue from the up-front license fees. The Company evaluates the measure of progress each reporting period and, if necessary, adjusts the measure of performance and related revenue recognition.
Product revenue, net
Product revenue, net consists of revenues from sales of roxadustat commercial product to Falikang, and directly to pharmaceutical distributors located in a few provinces in China that are not covered by Falikang. Falikang is jointly owned by AstraZeneca and FibroGen Beijing. The Company is not the primary beneficiary of Falikang for accounting purposes, as AstraZeneca is the final decision maker for all the roxadustat commercialization activities, and the Company lacks the power criterion to direct the activities of Falikang (see Note 4, Equity method investment - Variable Interest Entity).
Sales to Falikang
Falikang became fully operational in January 2021, at which time FibroGen Beijing began selling roxadustat commercial product to Falikang. Falikang is FibroGen Beijing’s primary customer in China and substantially all roxadustat product sales to distributors in China are made by Falikang. Falikang bears inventory risk once it receives and accepts the product from FibroGen Beijing, and is responsible for delivering product to its distributors.
The promises identified under the AstraZeneca China Agreement (as defined in Note 3, Collaboration Agreements, License Agreement and Revenues), including the license, co-development services and manufacturing of commercial supplies have been bundled into a single performance obligation (“China performance obligation”). Amounts of the transaction price allocable to this performance obligation under the Company’s agreements with AstraZeneca as outlined in Note 3, Collaboration Agreements, License Agreement and Revenues, are deferred until control of the manufactured commercial product is transferred to AstraZeneca.
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The initiation of roxadustat sales to Falikang marked the beginning of the China performance obligation. Revenue is recognized at a point in time when control of roxadustat commercial product is transferred to Falikang. Revenue is recognized based on the estimated transaction price per unit and actual quantity of product delivered during the reporting period. Specifically, the transaction price per unit is determined based on the overall transaction price over the total estimated sales quantity for the estimated performance period in which the Company determined it is likely those sales would occur. The price per unit is subject to reassessment on a quarterly basis, which may result in cumulative catch up adjustments due to changes in estimates.
The overall transaction price for FibroGen Beijing’s product sales to Falikang includes the following elements of consideration:
The non-refundable upfront license fees constitute a fixed consideration. The remainder of the above are variable consideration components, which may be constrained, and included in the transaction price only to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal in the amount of the cumulative revenue recognized will not occur in a future period when the uncertainty associated with the variable consideration is subsequently resolved. The calculation of the above variable consideration includes significant assumptions such as total sales quantity, performance period, gross transaction price and profit share, which require a significant judgment.
Any net transaction price in excess of the revenue recognized is deferred, and will be recognized over future periods as the performance obligations are satisfied.
Direct Sales to Distributors
The Company sells roxadustat in China directly to a number of pharmaceutical distributors located in a few provinces in China that are not covered by Falikang. These pharmaceutical distributors are the Company’s customers. Hospitals order roxadustat through a distributor and the Company ships the product directly to the distributors. The delivery of roxadustat to a distributor represents a single performance obligation. Distributors are responsible for delivering product to end users, primarily hospitals. Distributors bear inventory risk once they receive and accept the product. Product revenue is recognized when control of the promised good is transferred to the customer in an amount that reflects the consideration that the Company expects to be entitled to in exchange for the product.
The period between the transfer of control of the promised goods and when the Company receives payment is based on 60-day payment terms. As such, product revenue is not adjusted for the effects of a significant financing component.
Product revenue is recorded at the net sales prices that includes the following estimates of variable consideration:
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The calculation of the above variable consideration is based on gross sales to the distributor, or estimated utilizing best available information from the distributor, maximum known exposures and other available information including estimated channel inventory levels and estimated sales made by the distributor to hospitals, which involve a significant judgment.
The above rebates and discounts all together are eligible to be applied against the distributor’s future sales order, limited to certain maximums until such rebates and discounts are exhausted. These rebates and discounts are recorded as contract liabilities at the time they become eligible and in the same period that the related revenue is recorded. Due to the distributor’s legal right to offset, at each balance sheet date, the liability for rebates and discounts are presented as reductions of gross accounts receivable from the distributor, or as a current liability to the distributor to the extent that the total amount exceeds the gross accounts receivable or when the Company expects to settle the discount in cash. The distributor’s legal right of offset is calculated at the individual distributor level.
Drug product revenue
Drug product revenue includes commercial-grade API or bulk drug product sales to AstraZeneca and Astellas in support of pre-commercial preparation prior to the New Drug Application (“NDA”) or Marketing Authorization Application approval, and to Astellas for ongoing commercial launch in Japan and Europe. Drug product revenue is recognized when the Company fulfills the inventory transfer obligations.
The amount of variable consideration that is included in the transaction price may be constrained, and is included in the drug product revenue only to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal in the amount of the cumulative revenue recognized will not occur in a future period when the uncertainty associated with the variable consideration is subsequently resolved. Estimating variable consideration and the related constraint requires the use of significant management judgment. The Company reviews new information that may affect its variable consideration estimate at every reporting period and records revenue adjustment, if certain and material. Actual amounts of consideration ultimately received in the future may differ from the Company’s estimates, for which the Company will adjust these estimates and affect the drug product revenue in the period such variances become known. The total amount constrained as of December 31, 2021 was $88.8 million related to the drug product shipments to Astellas and AstraZeneca.
As each of the Company’s collaboration agreements provide for annual true up to the considerations paid for its commercial supplies, the Company will re-evaluate the transaction price in each reporting period and record adjustment to revenue as uncertain events are resolved or other changes in circumstances occur.
License Acquisition Agreement
In June 2021, the Company entered into an exclusive license and option agreement (the “HiFiBiO Agreement”) with HiFiBiO Therapeutics (“HiFiBiO”), pursuant to which the Company exclusively licensed all product candidates in HiFiBiO’s Galectin-9 program. Pursuant to its option, the Company has also exclusively licensed all product candidates in HiFiBiO’s CCR8 program in December 2021. The Company has declined to exercise its option to HiFiBiO’s CXCR5 program, however, it is pursuing a replacement option program as specified under the HiFiBiO Agreement. Under the terms of the HiFiBiO Agreement, the Company has paid a $25.0 million upfront payment to HiFiBiO during the year ended December 31, 2021, and recorded a $35.0 million upfront payment for the CCR8 option exercise in accrued liabilities as of December 31, 2021, which was paid during the first quarter of 2022. In addition, HiFiBiO may receive up to a total of an additional $1.1 billion in future option, clinical, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments across all three potential programs. HiFiBiO will also be eligible to receive royalties based upon worldwide net sales.
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The acquisition of these licenses was accounted for as an asset acquisition. The above-mentioned upfront payments of $60.0 million related to the license and options acquisition meets the definition of an in-process research and development asset (“IPR&D asset”) under the ASC 730, Research and Development. They relate to particular research and development projects and are determined to have no alternative future uses and thus have no separate economic value. Therefore, these upfront payments were recorded as research and development expenses during the year ended December 31, 2021, and the cash payment of $25.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2021 was reflected as an investing activity in the consolidated statement of cash flows.
Contingent consideration payments will be evaluated and recognized when they become probable and reasonably estimable. The related IPR&D asset will only be capitalized if it has an alternative future use other than in a particular research and development project. Otherwise, amounts allocated to IPR&D asset that have no alternative use will be expensed. As of December 31, 2021, all programs were at the early stage of development and the contingencies related to the milestone payments had not been resolved, therefore no contingent consideration was recognized. The Company will reassess the probability of future option payments and contingent payments on a quarterly basis.
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development expenses consist of above-mentioned expense for acquired IPR&D asset, independent research and development costs and the gross amount of costs associated with work performed under collaboration agreements. Research and development costs include employee-related expenses, expenses incurred under agreements with clinical research organizations, other clinical and preclinical costs and allocated direct and indirect overhead costs, such as facilities costs, information technology costs and other overhead. All research and development costs are expensed as incurred.
Clinical Trial Accruals
Clinical trial costs are a component of research and development expenses. The Company accrues and expenses clinical trial activities performed by third parties based upon actual work completed in accordance with agreements established with clinical research organizations and clinical sites. The Company determines the costs to be recorded based upon validation with the external service providers as to the progress or stage of completion of trials or services and the agreed-upon fee to be paid for such services.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses
Selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses consist primarily of employee-related expenses for executive, operational, finance, legal, compliance and human resource functions. SG&A expenses also include facility-related costs, professional fees, accounting and legal services, other outside services including co-promotional expenses associated with our commercialization efforts in China, recruiting fees and expenses associated with obtaining and maintaining patents.
Income Taxes
The Company utilizes the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes, which requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for expected future consequences of temporary differences between the financial reporting and income tax bases of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates. Management makes estimates, assumptions and judgments to determine the Company’s provision for income taxes and for deferred tax assets and liabilities, and any valuation allowances recorded against the Company’s deferred tax assets. The Company assesses the likelihood that its deferred tax assets will be recovered from future taxable income and, to the extent the Company believes that recovery is not likely, the Company must establish a valuation allowance.
The calculation of the Company’s current provision for income taxes involves the use of estimates, assumptions and judgments while taking into account current tax laws, interpretation of current tax laws and possible outcomes of future tax audits. The Company has established reserves to address potential exposures related to tax positions that could be challenged by tax authorities. Although the Company believes its estimates, assumptions and judgments to be reasonable, any changes in tax law or its interpretation of tax laws and the resolutions of potential tax audits could significantly impact the amounts provided for income taxes in the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
The calculation of the Company’s deferred tax asset balance involves the use of estimates, assumptions and judgments while taking into account estimates of the amounts and type of future taxable income. Actual future operating results and the underlying amount and type of income could differ materially from the Company’s estimates, assumptions and judgments thereby impacting the Company’s financial position and results of operations.
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During 2020, the Company transferred certain intellectual property rights relating to its Chinese business between its wholly owned subsidiaries that are based in different tax jurisdictions. See Note 12, Income Taxes, for more information. The establishment of a deferred tax asset from the intra-entity transfer of intangible assets required the Company to make significant estimates and assumptions to determine the fair value of intellectual property rights transferred, which include but are not limited to, its expectations of discount rate, revenue volume and price. The accuracy of these estimates could be affected by unforeseen events or actual results, and the sustainability of the Company’s future tax benefits is dependent upon the acceptance of these valuation estimates and assumptions by the taxing authorities.
The Company has adopted ASC 740-10, Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes, that prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of uncertain tax positions taken or expected to be taken in the Company’s income tax return, and also provides guidance on derecognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure and transition.
The Company includes interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits within income tax expense in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.
Stock-Based Compensation
The Company maintains equity incentive plans under which incentive and nonqualified stock options are granted to employees and non-employee consultants. Compensation expense relating to non-employee stock options has not been material for all the periods presented.
The Company measures and recognizes compensation expense for all stock options and restricted stock units (“RSUs”) granted to its employees and directors based on the estimated fair value of the award on the grant date. The Company uses the Black-Scholes valuation model to estimate the fair value of stock option awards. The fair value is recognized as expense, net of estimated forfeitures, over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period of the respective award, on a straight-line basis. The Company believes that the fair value of stock options granted to non-employees is more reliably measured than the fair value of the services received. The determination of the grant date fair value of options using an option pricing model is affected by the Company’s estimated Common Stock fair value and requires management to make a number of assumptions including the expected life of the option, the volatility of the underlying stock, the risk-free interest rate and expected dividends.
Comprehensive Income (Loss)
The Company is required to report all components of comprehensive income (loss), including net loss, in the consolidated financial statements in the period in which they are recognized. Comprehensive income (loss) is defined as the change in equity during a period from transactions and other events and circumstances from non-owner sources, including unrealized gains and losses on investments and foreign currency translation adjustments. Comprehensive gains (losses) have been reflected in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss) for all periods presented.
Recently Issued and Adopted Accounting Guidance
In December 2019, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes. This guidance simplifies the accounting for income taxes by clarifying and amending existing guidance related to the recognition of franchise tax, the evaluation of a step up in the tax basis of goodwill, and the effects of enacted changes in tax laws or rates in the effective tax rate computation, among other clarifications. This guidance was effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2020 including interim periods. The Company adopted this guidance on January 1, 2021, and the adoption of this guidance did not have material impact to the Company’s consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.
In August 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2018-15, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other—Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract. This guidance requires capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software (and hosting arrangements that include an internal-use software license). This guidance was effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods. The Company adopted this guidance on January 1, 2020 using the prospective method, and the adoption of this guidance did not have material impact to the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
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In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments (“ASU 2016-13”). This guidance is intended to provide financial statement users with more decision-useful information about the expected credit losses on financial instruments and other commitments to extend credit held by a reporting entity at each reporting date. This guidance requires the measurement of financial assets with a methodology that reflects expected credit losses and requires consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information to inform credit loss estimates. This guidance requires an impairment model, known as the current expected credit loss model, which is based on expected losses rather than incurred losses. Entities are required to carry an allowance for expected credit losses for financial assets, including most debt instruments (except those carried at fair value) and trade receivables. In November 2019, the FASB issued ASU No. 2019-11, Codification Improvements to Topic 326, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (“ASU 2019-11”), which has the same effective dates and transition requirements as ASU 2016-13. ASU 2016-13 and ASU 2019-11 were effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019 including interim periods. The Company’s investment portfolio primarily consists of U.S. Treasury bills and notes carried at fair value, which is required to follow the impairment model under Topic 326. The Company adopted this guidance on January 1, 2020. Based on the composition of the Company’s trade receivables and investment portfolio, economic conditions and historical credit loss activity, the adoption of this guidance did not have material impact to the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). The Company adopted the lease guidance under ASC 842 as of January 1, 2019, using the modified retrospective transition method, through a cumulative-effect adjustment. The adoption of this guidance resulted in a reduction of $8.7 million to the Company’s accumulated deficit and also impacted various balance sheet line items in its consolidated balance sheet as of January 1, 2019 upon adoption. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact to the Company’s consolidated statement of operations or consolidated statement of cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2019.
In February 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-02, Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income: Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income. The Company adopted this guidance on January 1, 2019 using the modified retrospective approach, with a reduction of $0.6 million to its accumulated other comprehensive loss and an increase of $0.6 million to its accumulated deficit as of January 1, 2019 upon adoption. The adoption of this guidance had no impact to the Company’s consolidated statement of operations or consolidated statement of cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2019.
Recently Issued Accounting Guidance Not Yet Adopted
In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting (“ASU2020-04”), which provides companies with optional financial reporting alternatives to reduce the cost and complexity associated with the accounting for contracts and hedging relationships affected by reference rate reform. This guidance is effective as of March 12, 2020 through December 31, 2022. Subsequently in January 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-01, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Scope, which clarifies ASU 2020-04 and provides certain optional expedients that allow derivative instruments impacted by changes in the interest rate used for margining, discounting or contract price alignment to qualify for certain optional relief. ASU 2021-01 is effective in the same timeframe as ASU 2020-04. The relief offered by this guidance, if adopted, is available to companies for the period March 12, 2020 through December 31, 2022. The Company has certain lease arrangements that are linked to LIBOR. The Company is in the process of evaluating options for transitioning away from LIBOR and expects to complete this analysis by the time LIBOR is phased out. The Company did not elect to apply any of the expedients or exceptions as of and for the year ended December 31, 2021 and is currently evaluating the impact on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures upon adoption of this guidance.
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3. Collaboration Agreements, License Agreement and Revenues
Astellas Agreements
Japan Agreement
In June 2005, the Company entered into a collaboration agreement with Astellas for the development and commercialization (but not manufacture) of roxadustat for the treatment of anemia in Japan (“Japan Agreement”). Under this agreement, Astellas paid license fees and other consideration totaling $40.1 million (such amounts were fully received as of February 2009). Under the Japan Agreement, the Company is also eligible to receive from Astellas an aggregate of approximately $132.5 million in potential milestone payments, comprised of (i) up to $22.5 million in milestone payments upon achievement of specified clinical and development milestone events (such amounts were fully received as of July 2016), (ii) up to $95.0 million in milestone payments upon achievement of specified regulatory milestone events, and (iii) up to approximately $15.0 million in milestone payments upon the achievement of specified commercial sales milestone. The Japan Agreement also provides for tiered payments based on net sales of product (as defined) in the low 20% range of the list price published by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, adjusted for certain elements, after commercial launch.
During the fourth quarter of 2020, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare approved EVRENZO® (roxadustat) for the treatment of anemia of CKD in adult patients not on dialysis. This approval triggered a $15.0 million milestone payable to the Company by Astellas under the Japan Agreement. Accordingly, the consideration of $15.0 million associated with this milestone was included in the transaction price and allocated to performance obligations under the Japan Agreement in the fourth quarter of 2020, substantially all of which was recognized as revenue during the year ended December 31, 2020 from performance obligations satisfied or partially satisfied.
In September 2019, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare approved EVRENZO® (generic name: roxadustat; tradename EVRENZO® in Japan) for the treatment of anemia associated with CKD in dialysis patients. This approval triggered a $12.5 million milestone payable to the Company by Astellas under the Japan Agreement. Accordingly, the consideration of $12.5 million associated with this milestone was included in the transaction price and allocated to performance obligations under the Japan Agreement in the third quarter of 2019, substantially all of which was recognized as revenue during the year ended December 31, 2019 from performance obligations satisfied or partially satisfied.
The aggregate amount of the considerations received under the Japan Agreement, through December 31, 2021 totals $105.1 million, excluding drug product revenue that is discussed separately below.
In 2018, FibroGen and Astellas entered into an amendment to the Japan Agreement that allows Astellas to manufacture roxadustat drug product for commercialization in Japan (the “Japan Amendment”). Under this amendment, FibroGen would continue to manufacture and supply roxadustat APIto Astellas for the roxadustat commercial launch in Japan. The commercial terms of the Japan Agreement relating to the transfer price for roxadustat for commercial use remain substantially the same, reflecting an adjustment for the manufacture of drug product by Astellas rather than FibroGen. The related drug product revenue, as described in details under Drug Product Revenue section below, were $2.1 million, $4.3 million and $(36.3) million in the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Europe Agreement