Item 1A. Risk Factors.
An investment in shares of our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below, as well as the other information in this Annual Report, including our financial statements and the related notes and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” before deciding whether to purchase, hold or sell shares of our common stock. The occurrence of any of the risks described below could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, growth prospects, and/or stock price or cause our actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements we have made in this Annual Report and those we may make from time to time. You should consider all of the risk factors described when evaluating our business.
Risks Related to Our Business and Industry
We do not currently have sufficient working capital to fund our planned operations for the next twelve months and substantial doubt exists as to our ability to continue as a going concern.
For the year ended December 31, 2025, we had incurred a net loss of $39.0 million and used $33.3 million of cash in operations. As of December 31, 2025, we had an accumulated deficit of $289.2 million and cash and cash equivalents of $48.9 million. We expect to continue to generate operating losses and have significant cash outflows from operating activities for at least the next few years. Until we can generate sufficient revenue, if ever, to fund our operations, we will need to finance future cash needs through public or private equity offerings, license agreements, debt financings or restructurings, collaborations, strategic alliances and marketing or distribution arrangements, and there can be no assurance that such arrangements will be available to us on a timely basis, or, if available, will be available on terms acceptable to us. Without alternative financing or proceeds from other strategic alternatives, we believe, based on our current operating plan, that our cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2025 and gross proceeds received in January 2026 under the Loan Agreement with Avenue Capital (each as defined below), will be insufficient to fund our operations and debt obligations for at least twelve months following the issuance date of our financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report. These conditions raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
The perception of our ability to continue as a going concern may make it more difficult for us to obtain financing for the continuation of our operations and could result in the loss of confidence by investors and employees. If we are not able to obtain the necessary additional financing on a timely or commercially reasonable basis, we will be forced to delay or scale down some or all of our development activities (or perhaps even cease the operation of our business). If we are unable to continue as a going concern, our stockholders may lose some or all of their investment in us.
We will need substantial additional financing to develop our product candidates and implement our operating plan. If we fail to obtain additional financing, including as a result of geopolitical uncertainty and macroeconomic events, we may be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate our product development programs or commercialization efforts, which could significantly harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Our operations have consumed substantial amounts of cash since our inception. We expect to continue to spend substantial amounts to continue the clinical development of, and seek regulatory approval for, TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates. We will require significant additional amounts in order to prepare for commercialization, and, if approved, to launch and commercialize TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates.
As of December 31, 2025, we had cash and cash equivalents of $48.9 million. In October 2020, we consummated our IPO and issued 92,000 shares of common stock for net proceeds of $93.4 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses. In February 2023, we completed a private placement for net proceeds of $50.9 million. In April 2023, we received a $15.0 million upfront payment under a collaboration and license agreement with Kaken Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. In October 2025, we entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with certain institutional investors to sell and issue (i) 502,181 shares of common stock and (ii) pre-funded warrants to purchase up to 233,144 shares of common stock in a private placement transaction, which were exercised in full by December 31, 2025. The purchase price per share of common stock was $68.00 per share and the purchase price for the pre-funded warrants was $67.99. Our total net proceeds were $46.6 million, after deducting placement agent fees and other expenses. Additionally, on January 7, 2026, we entered into
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a Loan and Security Agreement and a Supplement to the Loan and Security Agreement (collectively, the “Loan Agreement”), with Avenue Capital Management II, L.P., as administrative agent and collateral agent (the “Agent”) and Avenue Venture Opportunities Fund II, L.P., as lender (the “Lender”, together with the Agent, “Avenue Capital”), which makes available to the company term loans in an aggregate principal amount of up to $50.0 million, subject to the company’s achievement of certain regulatory milestones, which we may not achieve.
Changing circumstances may cause us to consume capital significantly faster than we currently anticipate, and we may need to spend more money than currently expected because of circumstances beyond our control.
We will require additional capital for the further development and commercialization of TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates and may need to raise additional funds sooner if we choose to expand more rapidly than we presently anticipate. Additional funding may not be available on acceptable terms, or at all.
Further, as a result of geopolitical uncertainty and macroeconomic events, including global trade disputes, tariffs and resulting legal challenges, and the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and related sanctions, the global credit and financial markets have experienced and may in the future experience volatility and disruptions, including severely diminished liquidity and credit availability, declines in consumer confidence, declines in economic growth, increases in unemployment rates, and uncertainty about economic stability. If the equity and credit markets deteriorate, it may make any necessary debt or equity financing more difficult, more costly or more dilutive. If we are unable to raise additional capital in sufficient amounts or on terms acceptable to us, we may have to significantly delay, scale back, or discontinue the development or commercialization of TA-ERT or other research and development initiatives. We also could be required to seek collaborators for our current product candidates and any future product candidates at an earlier stage than otherwise would be desirable or on terms that are less favorable than might otherwise be available, or relinquish or license on unfavorable terms our rights to our current product candidates and any future product candidates in markets where we otherwise would seek to pursue development or commercialization ourselves.
Any of the above events could significantly harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, and cause the price of our common stock to decline.
Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our existing stockholders, restrict our operations, or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or product candidates.
We may seek additional capital through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings, strategic partnerships and alliances, and licensing arrangements. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a stockholder. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased fixed payment obligations and could involve certain restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional debt, limitations on our ability to acquire or license intellectual property rights, and other operating restrictions that could adversely impact our ability to conduct our business. For example, on January 7, 2026, we entered into the Loan Agreement with Avenue Capital, which contains covenants restricting, among other things, our ability to incur additional indebtedness, liens, guaranties, mergers and consolidations, substantial asset sales, investments and loans, certain corporate changes, transactions with affiliates and fundamental changes. If we raise additional funds through strategic partnerships and alliances and licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies or current or future product candidates, or grant licenses on terms unfavorable to us.
We have a limited operating history, have incurred significant net losses since our inception, and anticipate that we will continue to incur significant net losses for the foreseeable future, and such net losses are expected to increase as we continue our clinical development of, and seek regulatory approvals for, our product candidate, TA-ERT, and our other current and future product candidates.
We are a late-stage biopharmaceutical company founded in 2014, and our operations to date have focused primarily on raising capital, establishing and protecting our intellectual property portfolio, organizing and staffing our company, business planning, and conducting preclinical and clinical development of, and manufacturing development for, our product candidates. Additionally, as an organization, we have not yet demonstrated an ability to successfully complete clinical development, obtain regulatory approvals, manufacture a commercial-scale product, or conduct sales and marketing activities necessary for successful commercialization. As we build our capabilities and expand our organization, we have not yet demonstrated an ability to overcome many of the risks and uncertainties frequently encountered by companies in new and rapidly evolving fields, particularly in the
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biopharmaceutical area. Consequently, any predictions about our future performance may not be as accurate as they would be if we had a history of successfully developing and commercializing biopharmaceutical products.
Investment in biopharmaceutical product development is highly speculative because it entails substantial upfront capital expenditures and significant risk that any potential product candidate will fail to demonstrate adequate effectiveness in the targeted indication or an acceptable safety profile, gain regulatory approval and become commercially viable. We have no products approved for commercial sale and have not generated any product revenue to date, and we continue to incur significant research and development and other expenses related to our ongoing operations. As a result, we are not profitable and have incurred significant net losses since our inception. If our product candidates are not successfully developed and approved, we may never generate any revenue. For the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, we reported net losses of $39.0 million and $53.0 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2025, we had an accumulated deficit of $289.2 million.
We expect to continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future, and we expect these losses to increase as we continue our clinical development of, seek regulatory approvals for, and commercially launch, if approved, TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates. We may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays, and other unknown factors that may adversely affect our business. The size of our future net losses will depend, in part, on the rate of future growth of our expenses and our ability to generate revenues. Our prior net losses and expected future net losses have had and will continue to have an adverse effect on our stockholders’ equity and working capital. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with drug development, we are unable to accurately predict the timing or amount of increased expenses, or when, if at all, we will be able to achieve profitability.
If we are unable to advance our product candidates in clinical development, obtain regulatory approval, and ultimately commercialize our product candidates, or experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be materially harmed.
The success of TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates will depend on various factors, including the following:
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successful enrollment, site expansion and activation and patient engagement in our ongoing and planned clinical trials;
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successful completion of our ongoing and planned clinical trials with favorable results;
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acceptance by the FDA and EMA of the clinical trial design of our planned and ongoing clinical trials of TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates;
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demonstrating safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of applicable regulatory authorities;
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the outcome, timing, and cost of meeting regulatory requirements established by the FDA, the European Commission, EMA, and other comparable foreign regulatory authorities;
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receipt of marketing approvals from applicable regulatory authorities, including one or more new drug applications (“NDAs”) from the FDA, and maintaining such approvals;
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establishing commercial manufacturing capabilities and receiving/importing commercial supplies approved by the FDA and other regulatory authorities from any future third-party manufacturer;
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establishing sales, marketing, and distribution capabilities and commercializing TA-ERT and our other current product candidates, if approved, whether alone or in collaboration with others;
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establishing and maintaining patent and trade secret protection and regulatory exclusivity for TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates;
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maintaining an acceptable safety profile of TA-ERT and our other current product candidates following approval; and
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maintaining and growing an organization of people who can develop and, if approved, commercialize, market, and sell TA-ERT and our other current product candidates to physicians, patients, healthcare payors, and others in the medical community.
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If we do not achieve one or more of these factors, many of which are beyond our control, in a timely manner or at all, we could experience significant delays or an inability to obtain regulatory approvals or commercialize our product candidates, if approved.
Even if regulatory approvals are obtained, we may never be able to successfully commercialize our product candidates. In addition, we will need to transition at some point from a company with a development focus to a company capable of supporting commercial activities. We may not be successful in such a transition. Accordingly, we may not be able to generate sufficient revenue through the sale of TA-ERT and our other current product candidates, if approved, to continue our business.
We intend to seek FDA approval of TA-ERT for MPS IIIB through the accelerated approval pathway. If we are unable to obtain accelerated approval, we may be required to conduct additional preclinical studies or clinical trials beyond the confirmatory Phase 3 trial that we currently contemplate, which could increase the expense of obtaining, and delay the receipt of, necessary marketing approval.
We intend to submit a BLA seeking accelerated approval of TA-ERT for MPS IIIB based on existing clinical data, however there can be no assurance that such submission or application will be accepted for filing by the FDA or that approval will be granted on a timely basis, or at all. For example, in March 2024, in a type C meeting with the FDA, the FDA confirmed that CSF HS-NRE is deemed to be a biomarker reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit and could serve as a basis for accelerated approval. The FDA also confirmed that the completed clinical and nonclinical studies of TA-ERT were sufficient for a BLA submission and provided guidance around key design elements of a confirmatory trial (placebo-controlled 5-year study in 14 patients), which must be initiated prior to potential accelerated approval of TA-ERT.
We also held two Type B meetings with the FDA ahead of our anticipated BLA submission for TA-ERT; the first in December 2025 to discuss our clinical data and regulatory strategy, and the second in January 2026 to discuss CMC requirements. During the December 2025 meeting, the FDA confirmed that the integrated study data from interventional clinical studies of TA-ERT and the available natural history data could potentially serve as an adequate and well-controlled study for purposes of the FDA’s review of the effects of TA-ERT on CSF HS-NRE, which could serve as a RLSE to support an accelerated approval. Following the January 2026 CMC meeting, the FDA considered the company’s plan to address DP PPQ batch requirements for the BLA submission, and in the official meeting minutes, the FDA shared its requirement for one DP PPQ batch at the time of BLA submission and data from a second DP PPQ batch prior to midcycle of BLA review.
Based, in part, on these discussions, we intend to submit the BLA for TA-ERT for the treatment of MPS IIIB in the fourth quarter of 2026, and if successful and FDA approval is received, potentially commercially launch in mid-2027. However, even if we submit the BLA as planned, we may be unsuccessful in providing sufficient evidence of CSF HS-NRE as a RLSE to predict clinical benefit in support of an accelerated approval, and after reviewing our BLA submission, the FDA may ultimately reject CSF HS-NRE as a RLSE. For example, the FDA has in the past rejected accelerated approval following submission of a BLA under accelerated approval pathway by another company focusing on the treatment of an ultra-rare neurodegenerative disease, in part due to uncertainty regarding the appropriateness of the designated RLSE, and the FDA may reject similar BLA applications in the future. If our BLA submission is viewed as having similarities to another BLA submission that was previously rejected by the FDA, this could impact the likelihood of success of our BLA application or could influence investor perception of our likelihood of success, which could cause the price of our common stock to decline, and could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. If the FDA rejects CSF HS-NRE as a RLSE, we may be required to conduct longer-term follow up, to enroll additional patients in our current study, or to perform a new clinical study, all of which could be challenging with an ultra-rare and fatal genetic disease like MPS IIIB and could make us experience significant delays in, or could prevent us from, obtaining accelerated regulatory approval. Failure to obtain accelerated approval would result in a longer time period to commercialization, if any, and would increase the cost of development and harm our competitive position in the marketplace.
Our clinical trials may fail to adequately demonstrate that our product candidates are well tolerated and provide sufficient clinical benefits for patients, which could prevent or delay regulatory approval and commercialization.
Before obtaining regulatory approvals for the commercial sale of a product candidate, we must demonstrate through lengthy, complex, and expensive preclinical testing and clinical trials that a product candidate is both safe and effective for use in each target indication. Clinical trials often fail to demonstrate safety and efficacy of the product candidate studied for the target indication. Most product candidates that commence clinical trials are never
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approved by regulatory authorities for commercialization. We are seeking to develop treatments for MPS IIIB, MDD, and congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). We intend to seek accelerated approval of TA-ERT for MPS IIIB based on existing clinical data. As a condition of seeking such approval of a BLA from the FDA, we will initiate a confirmatory Phase 3 trial, which must be initiated prior to potential accelerated approval of TA-ERT. We intend to submit the BLA for TA-ERT for the treatment of MPS IIIB in the fourth quarter of 2026, and if successful and FDA approval is received, potentially commercially launch in mid-2027. Additionally, any safety concerns observed in any one of our clinical trials in our targeted indications could limit the prospects for regulatory approval of TA-ERT and our other current product candidates in other indications.
We face significant competition from other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and our operating results will suffer if we fail to compete effectively.
The biopharmaceutical industry is characterized by intense competition and rapid innovation and our competitors may be able to develop other compounds or drugs that are able to achieve similar or better results. Our potential competitors include major multinational pharmaceutical companies, established biotechnology companies, specialty pharmaceutical companies and universities and other research institutions. Many of our competitors have substantially greater financial, technical and other resources, such as larger research and development staff and experienced marketing and manufacturing organizations and well-established sales forces. Smaller or early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large, established companies. Mergers and acquisitions in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries may result in even more resources being concentrated in our competitors. Competition may increase further as a result of advances in the commercial applicability of technologies and greater availability of capital for investment in these industries. Our competitors may succeed in developing, acquiring or licensing on an exclusive basis drug products that are more effective or less costly than TA-ERT and our other current product candidates. We believe the key competitive factors that will affect the development and commercial success of our product candidates are, among other things:
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the efficacy, safety and tolerability profile of our product candidates relative to marketed products and product candidates in development by third parties;
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the time it takes for our product candidates to complete clinical development and receive marketing approval;
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the convenience of dosing;
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the price of our product candidates, including in comparison to branded or generic competitors;
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whether coverage and adequate levels of reimbursement are available under private and governmental health insurance plans, including Medicare;
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effectiveness of promotional support and high-touch patient initiatives;
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our ability to manufacture commercial quantities of our product candidates if they receive regulatory approval;
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our ability to negotiate preferential formulary status for our product candidates; and
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intellectual property protection.
Our commercial potential could be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop and commercialize products that are safer, more effective, have fewer or less severe side effects, are more convenient, or are less expensive than products that we may develop. Our competitors’ drugs may be more effectively marketed and sold than any drug we may commercialize and may render our product candidates obsolete or non-competitive before we can recover the expenses of developing and commercializing any of our product candidates. Our competitors also may obtain FDA or other regulatory approval for their products more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours, which could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market or make our development more complicated. We believe the key competitive factors affecting the success of our product candidates are likely to be efficacy, safety, and convenience.
Preclinical and clinical drug development involves a lengthy and expensive process with uncertain outcomes, and results of earlier studies and trials may not be predictive of future trial results. We may incur additional costs or
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experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the development and commercialization of TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates.
Before obtaining marketing approval from regulatory authorities for the sale of any of our product candidates, we or our collaborators must conduct extensive trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the product candidates in humans. Preclinical and clinical testing is expensive and difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. A failure of one or more preclinical or clinical trials can occur at any stage of testing. The results of preclinical studies and early clinical trials of TA-ERT and tildacerfont, and preclinical studies of SPR202 may not be predictive of the results of later-stage clinical trials, and interim results of a trial do not necessarily predict final results. Product candidates in later stages of clinical trials may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy traits despite having progressed through preclinical studies and initial clinical trials. For example, we plan to use doses in our clinical trials for TA-ERT and tildacerfont that may not be safe or efficacious doses. As such, our hypotheses of efficacy may not show the desired clinical results. A number of companies in the biopharmaceutical industry have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials due to lack of efficacy or safety profiles, notwithstanding promising results in earlier trials. Moreover, preclinical and clinical data is often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses. For example, we have faced significant setbacks as we conducted our two Phase 2b clinical trials for tildacerfont in adult patients with classic CAH, and we may continue to face such setbacks in our other development programs, which may delay or prevent regulatory approval of tildacerfont. For example, due to not meeting its primary efficacy endpoint, we terminated our CAHmelia-203 trial in March 2024 and our CAHmelia-204 trial in December 2024. Additionally, the TAMARIND Phase 2 study of tildacerfont in MDD was discontinued in the first quarter of 2026 following a serious adverse event in which a patient experienced a significant elevation of liver enzymes. The prior sponsor of TA-ERT, Allievex, discontinued clinical development due to financial constraints.
Further, if patients drop out of our clinical trials, miss scheduled doses or follow-up visits, or otherwise fail to follow clinical trial protocols, the integrity of data from our clinical trials may be compromised or not accepted by the FDA or other regulatory authorities, which would represent a significant setback for the applicable program.
If we encounter difficulties enrolling patients in our clinical trials, our clinical development activities could be delayed or otherwise adversely affected.
We may not be able to initiate or continue our clinical trials for TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates if we are unable to identify and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients to participate in these trials as required by the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities. Patient enrollment, a significant factor in the timing of clinical trials, is affected by many factors including the size and nature of the patient population especially in the case of an orphan indication, the proximity of patients to clinical sites, competition with other organizations or our own clinical trials for clinical trial sites or patients, the eligibility and exclusion criteria for the clinical trial, the design of the clinical trial, competing clinical trials, patient engagement, and clinicians’ and patients’ perceptions as to the potential advantages of the product candidate being studied in relation to other available therapies, including any new drugs that may be approved for the indications we are investigating.
In particular, one indication for which we are evaluating TA-ERT is a rare neurodegenerative pediatric disorder with limited patient populations from which to draw participants in clinical trials. We are and will be required to identify and enroll a sufficient number of patients with the disorder under investigation for our clinical trials of TA-ERT. Potential patients may not be adequately diagnosed or identified with the disorders which we are targeting or may not meet the entry criteria for our clinical trials. Additionally, other pharmaceutical companies with more resources and greater experience in drug development and commercialization are targeting these same disorders and are recruiting clinical trial patients from these patient populations, which may delay or make it more difficult to fully enroll our clinical trials. Our inability to enroll a sufficient number of patients for any of our current or future clinical trials would result in significant delays or may require us to abandon one or more clinical trials altogether.
Any delays in the commencement or completion, or termination or suspension, of our clinical trials could result in increased costs to us, delay or limit our ability to generate revenue, and adversely affect our commercial prospects.
Before we can initiate clinical trials for our current product candidates or any future product candidates, we must submit the results of preclinical studies to the FDA, or comparable foreign regulatory authorities, along with other information, including information about chemistry, manufacturing and controls, and our proposed clinical
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trial protocol, as part of an IND or similar regulatory filing under which we must receive authorization to proceed with clinical development.
Before obtaining marketing approval from regulatory authorities for the sale of our current product candidates or any future product candidates, we must conduct extensive clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our current product candidates and any future product candidates in humans. Clinical testing is expensive, time-consuming, and uncertain as to outcome. In addition, we may rely in part on preclinical, clinical and quality data generated by clinical research organizations (“CROs”) and other third parties for regulatory submissions for our current product candidates and any future product candidates. While we have or will have agreements governing these third parties’ services, we have limited influence over their actual performance. If these third parties do not make data available to us, or, if applicable, do not make regulatory submissions in a timely manner, in each case pursuant to our agreements with them, our development programs may be significantly delayed, and we may need to conduct additional clinical trials or collect additional data independently. In either case, our development costs would increase.
We do not know whether our current or any future clinical trials will begin on time or be completed on schedule, if at all. The commencement and completion of clinical trials can be delayed for a number of reasons, including delays related to:
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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities’ failure to accept our proposed manufacturing processes and suppliers and/or requirement to provide additional information regarding our manufacturing processes before providing marketing authorization;
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obtaining regulatory authorizations to commence a clinical trial or reaching a consensus with regulatory authorities on clinical trial design or implementation;
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any failure or delay in reaching an agreement with CROs and clinical trial sites, the terms of which can be subject to extensive negotiation and may vary significantly among different CROs and clinical trial sites;
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obtaining approval from one or more institutional review boards (“IRBs”) or positive opinions from Ethics Committees (“ECs”);
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IRBs or ECs refusing to approve or issuing a negative opinion, suspending, varying or terminating the clinical trial at an investigational site, precluding enrollment of additional subjects, or withdrawing their approval or positive opinion of the clinical trial;
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changes to clinical trial protocols and related operationalization of such changes at clinical trial sites;
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selection of clinical endpoints that require prolonged periods of clinical observation or analysis of the resulting data;
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acceptance by the FDA and EMA of the clinical trial design of our planned and ongoing clinical trials of TA-ERT and our other current product candidates;
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sites not timely activating, delaying screening activities, or deviating from clinical trial protocols;
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manufacturing sufficient quantities of TA-ERT or our other current and future product candidatesor obtaining sufficient quantities of combination therapies for use in clinical trials;
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subjects failing to enroll or remain in our trials at the rate we expect, or failing to return for post-treatment follow-up;
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subjects choosing an alternative treatment for the indications for which we are developing TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates, or participating in competing clinical trials;
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lack of subject engagement in the clinical trials or subjects dropping out of a clinical trial;
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lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial, such as that experienced by Allievex in relation to the continued development of TA-ERT;
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subjects experiencing severe or unexpected drug-related adverse effects;
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occurrence of SAEs in clinical trials of the same class of agents conducted by other companies;
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a facility manufacturing our product candidates or any of its components being ordered by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities to temporarily or permanently shut down due to violations of current good manufacturing practice (“cGMP”), regulations or other applicable requirements, or infections or cross-contaminations of our product candidates in the manufacturing process;
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any changes to our manufacturing process, suppliers or formulation that may be necessary or desired;
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third-party vendors not performing manufacturing and distribution services in a timely manner or to sufficient quality standards;
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third-party clinical investigators losing the licenses or permits necessary to perform our clinical trials, not performing our clinical trials on our anticipated schedule or consistent with the clinical trial protocol, good clinical practice (“GCP”), or other regulatory requirements;
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third-party contractors not performing data collection or analysis in a timely or accurate manner;
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third-party contractors becoming debarred or suspended or otherwise penalized by the FDA or other government or regulatory authorities for violations of regulatory requirements, in which case we may need to find a substitute contractor, and we may not be able to use some or all of the data produced by such contractors in support of our marketing applications; or
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the impacts of contagious disease outbreaks on our ongoing and planned clinical trials.
We could also encounter delays if a clinical trial is suspended or terminated by us, by the IRBs or ECs of the institutions in which such trials are being conducted or by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities. Such authorities may impose such a suspension or termination due to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial site by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a drug, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial. In addition, changes in regulatory requirements and policies may occur, and we have amended, and may need to further amend, clinical trial protocols to comply with these changes. Amendments may require us to resubmit our clinical trial protocols to competent authorities, IRBs or ECs for reexamination, which may impact the costs, timing, or successful completion of a clinical trial.
Further, conducting clinical trials in foreign countries, which we have done for TA-ERT, are doing for tildacerfont and may do for any future product candidates, presents additional risks that may delay completion of our clinical trials. These risks include the failure of enrolled patients in foreign countries to adhere to clinical protocol as a result of differences in healthcare services or cultural customs, managing additional administrative burdens associated with foreign regulatory schemes, as well as political and economic risks relevant to such foreign countries.
Moreover, principal investigators for our clinical trials may serve and have served as scientific advisors or consultants to us from time to time and receive compensation in connection with such services. Under certain circumstances, we may be required to report some of these relationships to the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities. The FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority may conclude that a financial relationship between us and a principal investigator has created a conflict of interest or otherwise affected interpretation of the trial. The FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority may therefore question the integrity of the data generated at the applicable clinical trial site and the utility of the clinical trial itself may be jeopardized. This could result in a delay in approval, or rejection, of our marketing applications by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority, as the case may be, and may ultimately lead to the denial of marketing approval of TA-ERT or our other current and future product candidates.
If we experience delays in the completion of, or termination of, any clinical trial of TA-ERT or our other current and future product candidates, the commercial prospect of TA-ERT or our other current and future product candidates will be harmed, and our ability to generate product revenue will be delayed. Moreover, any delays in completing our clinical trials will increase our costs, slow down our product candidate development and approval process and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenue. In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, termination or suspension of, or a delay in the commencement or completion of, clinical trials
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may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of TA-ERT or our other current and future product candidates. Further, delays to our clinical trials that occur as a result could shorten any period during which we may have the exclusive right to commercialize, if approved, TA-ERT and our other current product candidates, and our competitors may be able to bring products to market before we do, and the commercial viability of TA-ERT and our other current product candidates could be significantly reduced. Any of these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects significantly.
TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates will be subject to extensive regulation and compliance obligations, which are costly and time-consuming, and such regulation may cause unanticipated delays or prevent the receipt of the required approvals to commercialize TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates.
The clinical development, manufacturing, labeling, storage, record-keeping, advertising, promotion, import, export, marketing, and distribution of our product candidates subject to extensive regulation by the FDA in the United States and by comparable foreign regulatory authorities in foreign markets. In the United States, we are not permitted to market TA-ERT or any other current or future product candidates until we receive regulatory approval from the FDA. The process of obtaining regulatory approval is expensive, often takes many years following the commencement of clinical trials and can vary substantially based upon the type, complexity, and novelty of the product candidates involved, as well as the target indications and patient population. Approval policies or regulations may change, and the FDA has substantial discretion in the drug approval process, including the ability to delay, limit, or deny approval of a product candidate for many reasons. Despite the time and expense invested in clinical development of product candidates, regulatory approval is never guaranteed. Neither we nor any future collaborator is permitted to market TA-ERT or any other current or future product candidates in the United States until we receive approval of an NDA or BLA from the FDA. Similar requirements and risks are applicable in foreign markets. We have not previously submitted an NDA or BLA to the FDA, or similar drug approval filings to comparable foreign authorities.
Prior to obtaining approval to commercialize a product candidate in the United States or in foreign markets, we must demonstrate with substantial evidence from adequate and well-controlled clinical trials, and to the satisfaction of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities, that such product candidates are safe and effective for their intended uses. Results from non-clinical studies and clinical trials can be interpreted in different ways. Even if we believe the non-clinical or clinical data for our product candidates are promising, such data may not be sufficient to support approval by the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities. The FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities, as the case may be, may also require us to conduct additional preclinical studies or clinical trials for TA-ERT and any other current and future product candidates either prior to or post-approval, or may object to elements of our clinical development program.
TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates could fail to receive regulatory approval for many reasons, including the following:
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serious and unexpected drug-related side effects may be experienced by participants in our clinical trials or by people using drugs similar to TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates;
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the population studied in the clinical trial may not be sufficiently broad or representative to assure safety in the full population for which we seek approval;
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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may not accept clinical data from trials which are conducted at clinical facilities or in countries where the standard of care is potentially different from that of the United States;
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we may be unable to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities that a product candidate is safe and effective for any of its proposed indications;
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the results of clinical trials may not meet the level of statistical significance required by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities for approval;
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we may be unable to demonstrate that a product candidate’s clinical and other benefits outweigh its safety risks;
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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with our interpretation of data from preclinical studies or clinical trials;
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the data collected from clinical trials may not be sufficient to satisfy the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities to support the submission of an NDA, BLA or other comparable submissions in foreign jurisdictions or to obtain regulatory approval in the United States or elsewhere, requiring, in the case of adult patients with classic CAH, additional clinical trials beyond our ongoing Phase 2b clinical trial prior to any such approval;
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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may fail to approve the manufacturing processes or facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we contract for clinical and commercial supplies; and
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the approval policies or regulations of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may significantly change in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval.
Any of the above events could prevent us from achieving market approval of TA-ERT or our other current and future product candidates and could substantially increase the costs of commercializing TA-ERT or our other current and future product candidates. The demand for TA-ERT and our other current or any future product candidates could also be negatively impacted by any adverse effects of a competitor’s product or treatment.
Of the large number of drugs in development, only a small percentage successfully complete the FDA or foreign regulatory approval processes and are commercialized. The lengthy approval process as well as the unpredictability of future clinical trial results may result in our failing to obtain regulatory approval to market TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates, which would significantly harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Even if we eventually complete clinical trials and receive approval of an NDA, BLA or foreign marketing application for TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates, the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority may grant approval contingent on the performance of costly additional clinical trials, including Phase 4 clinical trials, and/or the implementation of a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (“REMS”) or comparable foreign strategies which may be required to ensure safe use of the drug after approval. The FDA or the comparable foreign regulatory authority also may approve a product candidate for a more limited indication or patient population than we originally requested, and the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority may not approve the labeling that we believe is necessary or desirable for the successful commercialization of a product. Any delay in obtaining, or inability to obtain, applicable regulatory approval would delay or prevent commercialization of that product candidate and would materially adversely impact our business and prospects.
Interim, topline, and preliminary data from our clinical trials that we announce or publish from time to time may change as more patient data become available and are subject to audit and verification procedures that could result in material changes in the final data.
From time to time, we may publicly disclose interim, topline, or preliminary data from our clinical trials, which is based on a preliminary analysis of then-available data, and the results and related findings and conclusions are subject to change following a more comprehensive review of the data related to the particular study or trial. We also make assumptions, estimations, calculations, and conclusions as part of our analyses of data, and we may not have received or had the opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate all data. As a result, the interim, topline, or preliminary results that we report may differ from future results of the same studies, or different conclusions or considerations may qualify such results, once additional data have been received and fully evaluated. Interim data from clinical trials that we may complete are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data become available. Preliminary or topline data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the preliminary data we previously published. Preliminary or top-line data may include, for example, data regarding a small percentage of the patients enrolled in a clinical trial, and such preliminary data should not be viewed as an indication, belief or guarantee that other patients enrolled in such clinical trial will achieve similar results or that the preliminary results from such patients will be maintained. As a result, such data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available. Adverse differences between preliminary, interim, or topline data and final data could significantly harm our business prospects and may cause the trading price of our common stock to fluctuate significantly.
Further, others, including regulatory authorities, may not accept or agree with our assumptions, estimates, calculations, conclusions, or analyses or may interpret or weigh the importance of data differently, which could
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impact the value of the particular program, the approvability, or commercialization of the particular product candidate or product and our company in general. In addition, the information we choose to publicly disclose regarding a particular study or clinical trial is based on what is typically extensive information, and you or others may not agree with what we determine is the material or otherwise appropriate information to include in our disclosure, and any information we determine not to disclose may ultimately be deemed significant with respect to future decisions, conclusions, views, activities or otherwise regarding a particular product, product candidate, or our business. If the interim, topline, or preliminary data that we report differ from actual results, or if others, including regulatory authorities, disagree with the conclusions reached, our ability to obtain regulatory approval for, and commercialize, our product candidates and any future product candidates may be harmed, which could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
If the market opportunities for TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates are smaller than we believe they are, our future revenue, if any, may be adversely affected, and our business may suffer.
If the size of the market opportunities in each of our target indications for our product candidates and any future product candidates is smaller than we anticipate, we may not be able to achieve profitability and growth. We focus our clinical development on treatments for neurological disorders. For example, we believe that TA-ERT has the potential to bring therapeutic benefit to patients suffering from MPS IIIB. Given the relatively small number of patients who have MPS IIIB, it is critical to our ability to grow and become profitable that we continue to successfully identify patients with these disorders. In addition, our estimates of the patient populations for our target indications have been derived from a variety of sources, including scientific literature, surveys of clinics, patient foundations, and market research, and may prove to be incorrect. Further, new studies may change the estimated incidence or prevalence of these disorders. The number of patients may turn out to be lower than expected. The effort to identify patients with diseases we seek to treat is in early stages, and we cannot accurately predict the number of patients for whom treatment might be possible. For example, due to the lack of available treatment options, newborn screening programs have not been widely adopted for the detection of MPS IIIB. As a result, patients may become increasingly difficult to identify or gain access to, which would adversely affect our results of operations and our business. In addition, the potentially addressable patient population for MPS IIIB may be limited or may not be amenable to treatment with TA-ERT, if approved. Further, even if we obtain significant adoption and market penetration for TA-ERT in MPS IIIB, we may never achieve profitability despite obtaining such significant market share, as other pharmaceutical companies with more resources and greater experience in drug development and commercialization are targeting this same disorder.
Obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval for a product candidate in one jurisdiction does not mean that we will be successful in obtaining regulatory approval for that product candidate in other jurisdictions.
Obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval for a product candidate in one jurisdiction does not guarantee that we will be able to obtain or maintain regulatory approval in any other jurisdiction, while a failure or delay in obtaining regulatory approval in one jurisdiction may have a negative effect on the regulatory approval process in others. For example, even if the FDA grants marketing approval for a product candidate, comparable regulatory authorities in foreign jurisdictions must also approve the manufacturing, marketing and promotion of the product candidate in those countries. Approval procedures vary among jurisdictions and can involve requirements and administrative review periods different from, and greater than, those in the United States, including additional preclinical studies or clinical trials as clinical trials conducted in one jurisdiction may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions. In many jurisdictions outside the United States, including a number of countries in the EU, a product candidate must be approved for reimbursement before it can be approved for sale in that jurisdiction. In some cases, the price that we intend to charge for our product candidates is also subject to approval.
As with the FDA, obtaining approval of a Marketing Authorization Application (“MAA”) from the European Commission, following the related opinion of the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, is a similarly lengthy and expensive process and the EMA has its own procedures for assessing product candidates. Regulatory authorities in jurisdictions outside of the United States and the EU also have requirements for approval for product candidates with which we must comply prior to marketing in those jurisdictions. Obtaining foreign regulatory approvals and compliance with foreign regulatory requirements could result in significant delays, difficulties and costs for us and could delay or prevent the introduction of TA-ERT in certain countries. If we fail to comply with the regulatory requirements in international markets and/or receive applicable marketing approvals, our target market will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential of TA-ERT will be harmed, which would adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations.
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We currently have no marketing and sales organization and have yet to commercialize a product. If we are unable to establish marketing and sales capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to market and sell TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates, we may not be able to generate any product revenues.
We currently do not have a commercial organization for the marketing, sales, and distribution of pharmaceutical products. To commercialize our product candidates and any future product candidates, we must build our marketing, sales, distribution, managerial and other non-technical capabilities or make arrangements with third parties to perform these services. We intend to build a highly specialized commercial organization to support the commercialization of TA-ERT, if approved, in the United States.
The establishment and development of our own sales force or the establishment of a contract sales force to market our product candidates and any future product candidates will be expensive and time-consuming and could delay any commercial launch. Moreover, we may not be able to successfully develop this capability. We will have to compete with other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to recruit, hire, train, and retain marketing and sales personnel. We also face competition in our search for third parties to assist us with the sales and marketing efforts. To the extent we rely on third parties to commercialize our product candidates, if approved, we may have little or no control over the marketing and sales efforts of such third parties and our revenues from product sales may be lower than if we had commercialized TA-ERT and any other current and future product candidates ourselves. In the event we are unable to develop our own marketing and sales force or collaborate with a third-party marketing and sales organization, we would not be able to commercialize, if approved, TA-ERT and any other current and future product candidates.
Unfavorable U.S. and global economic and geopolitical conditions could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Our results of operations could be adversely affected by general conditions in the U.S. and global economies, the U.S. and global financial markets and adverse geopolitical and macroeconomic developments. U.S. and global economic and business activities have been, and may continue to be, disrupted and volatile due to many factors, including global trade disputes, labor shortages, declines in consumer confidence, inflation and monetary supply shifts, recession risks, geopolitical uncertainty, potential disruptions from the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and related sanctions, disruptions in supply chain continuity, reduced access to liquidity in Europe and globally, declines in economic growth, and uncertainty about economic stability, among others. General business and economic conditions that could affect our business, financial condition or results of operations include fluctuations in economic growth, debt and equity capital markets, liquidity of the global financial markets, access to our liquidity within the U.S. banking system, the availability and cost of credit, investor and consumer confidence, and the strength of the economies in which we, our manufacturers and our suppliers operate.
A severe or prolonged global economic downturn could result in a variety of risks to our business. For example, inflation rates, particularly in the United States, have increased to levels not previously seen in years, and increased inflation may result in increases in our operating costs (including our labor costs), reduced liquidity and limits on our ability to access credit or otherwise raise capital on acceptable terms, if at all. In addition, the U.S. Federal Reserve and equivalent foreign entities have raised, and may again raise, interest rates in response to concerns about inflation, which, coupled with reduced government spending and volatility in financial markets may have the effect of further increasing economic uncertainty and heightening these risks. Risks of a prolonged global economic downturn are particularly true in Europe, which is undergoing a continued severe economic crisis. A weak or declining economy could also strain our suppliers and manufacturers, possibly resulting in supply disruption. Any of the foregoing could harm our business and we cannot anticipate all of the ways in which the current economic climate and financial market conditions could adversely impact our business.
In addition, our access to funding sources and other credit arrangements in amounts adequate to finance or capitalize our current and projected future business operations could be significantly impaired by factors that affect us, the financial institutions with which we have arrangements directly, or the financial services industry or economy in general. These factors could include, among others, events such as liquidity constraints or failures, the ability to perform obligations under various types of financial, credit or liquidity agreements or arrangements, disruptions or instability in the financial services industry or financial markets, or concerns or negative expectations about the prospects for companies in the financial services industry. These factors could involve financial institutions or financial services industry companies with which we have financial or business relationships, but could also include factors involving financial markets or the financial services industry generally.
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International trade policies, including tariffs, sanctions and trade barriers may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We operate in a global economy, which includes utilizing third-party suppliers in several countries outside the United States. There is inherent risk, based on the complex relationships among the United States and the other countries in which we conduct our business, that political, diplomatic, and national security factors can lead to global trade restrictions and changes in trade policies and export regulations that may adversely affect our business and operations. The current international trade and regulatory environment is subject to significant ongoing uncertainty. The U.S. government has announced imposition of substantial tariffs affecting a wide range of products and jurisdictions and has indicated an intention to continue developing new trade policies, including with respect to the pharmaceutical industry. In response, certain foreign governments have announced or implemented retaliatory tariffs and other protectionist measures. These developments, including legal challenges to such tariffs, have created a dynamic and unpredictable trade landscape, which may adversely impact our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects. The Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce, has initiated an investigation to determine whether pharmaceutical ingredients, including finished drug product, manufactured outside the United States, pose a national security risk and should be subject to additional tariffs.
We do not own or operate, and currently have no plans to establish, any manufacturing facilities. We currently rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties for the manufacture of our product candidates for clinical testing, as well as for manufacture of any products that we may commercialize, if approved. Currently, several of our suppliers are located outside of the United States, and our principal suppliers of critical raw materials are located in multiple countries. The active pharmaceutical ingredients (“APIs”) for our product candidates are manufactured in South Korea and China, and our product candidates are manufactured in South Korea, United States, and China. We also rely on specialized laboratory equipment, supplies, materials, and precursor compounds, all or part of which we believe may be ultimately sourced from multiple countries outside the United States, to advance our research and development efforts.
Notwithstanding legal challenges related to tariffs, we expect that current or future tariffs will result in increased research and development expenses, including with respect to increased costs associated with APIs, raw materials, laboratory equipment and research materials and components. In addition, such tariffs will increase our supply chain complexity and could also potentially disrupt our existing supply chain. Unlike consumer goods, pharmaceuticals face unique regulatory constraints that make rapid supply chain adjustments particularly difficult and costly. Trade restrictions affecting the import of materials necessary for clinical trials could result in delays to our development timelines. Increased development costs and extended development timelines could place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to companies operating in regions with more favorable trade relationships and could reduce investor confidence, negatively impacting our ability to secure additional financing on favorable terms or at all. In addition, as we advance toward commercialization in the future, tariffs and trade restrictions could hinder our ability to establish cost-effective production capabilities, negatively impacting our growth prospects.
The complexity of announced or future tariffs, including as a result of uncertainty surrounding related legal challenges, may also increase the risk that we or our customers or suppliers may be subject to civil or criminal enforcement actions in the United States or foreign jurisdictions related to compliance with trade regulations. Foreign governments may also adopt non-tariff measures, such as procurement preferences or informal disincentives to engage with, purchase from or invest in U.S. entities, which may limit our ability to compete internationally and attract non-U.S. investment, employees, customers and suppliers. Foreign governments may also take other retaliatory actions against U.S. entities, such as decreased intellectual property protection, increased enforcement actions, or delays in regulatory approvals, which may result in heightened international legal and operational risks. In addition, the United States and other governments have imposed and may continue to impose additional sanctions, such as trade restrictions or trade barriers, which could restrict us from doing business directly or indirectly in or with certain countries or parties and may impose additional costs and complexity to our business.
Trade disputes, tariffs, restrictions and other political tensions between the United States and other countries may also exacerbate unfavorable macroeconomic conditions including inflationary pressures, foreign exchange volatility, financial market instability, and economic recessions or downturns. The ultimate impact of current or future tariffs and trade restrictions, as well as of related legal challenges, remains uncertain and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. While we actively monitor these risks, any prolonged economic downturn, escalation in trade tensions, or deterioration in international perception of U.S.-based companies could materially and adversely affect our business, ability to access the capital
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markets or other financing sources, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. In addition, tariffs and other trade developments have and may continue to heighten the risks related to the other risk factors described elsewhere in this Annual Report.
We are highly dependent on our key personnel, and if we are not successful in attracting and retaining highly qualified personnel, we may not be able to successfully implement our business strategy.
Our ability to compete in the highly competitive biotechnology and pharmaceuticals industries depends upon our ability to attract, retain, manage and motivate highly qualified managerial, scientific, and medical personnel. If we do not succeed in attracting and retaining qualified personnel, particularly at the management level, it could adversely affect our ability to execute our business plan and harm our operating results. In particular, the loss of the services of any of our executive officers or other key employees and our inability to find suitable replacements in a timely manner could potentially harm our business, prospects, financial condition or results of operations.
We conduct our operations in South San Francisco, California. This region serves as the headquarters to many other biopharmaceutical companies and many academic and research institutions. Competition for skilled personnel in our market is intense and may limit our ability to hire and retain highly qualified personnel on acceptable terms or at all.
To induce valuable employees to remain at our company, in addition to salary and cash incentives, we have provided stock options that vest over time. The value to employees of stock options that vest over time may be significantly affected by movements in our stock price that are beyond our control and may at any time be insufficient to counteract more lucrative offers from other companies. Despite our efforts to retain valuable employees, members of our management, scientific, and development teams may terminate their employment with us on short notice. Although we have employment agreements and/or offer letters with our key employees, these arrangements provide for at-will employment, which means that any of our employees could leave our employment at any time, with or without notice. We do not maintain “key man” insurance policies on the lives of these individuals or the lives of any of our other employees. Our success also depends on our ability to continue to attract, retain and motivate highly skilled junior, mid-level, and senior managers as well as junior, mid-level, and senior scientific and medical personnel.
Many of the other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies that we compete against for qualified personnel have greater financial and other resources, different risk profiles, and a longer history in the industry than we do. They may also provide more diverse opportunities and better chances for career advancement. Some of these characteristics are more appealing to high quality candidates than what we can offer. If we are unable to continue to attract and retain high quality personnel, the rate and success at which we can discover, develop and commercialize product candidates will be limited.
Use of TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates could be associated with side effects, adverse events or other properties that could delay or prevent regulatory approval or result in significant negative consequences following marketing approval, if any.
As is the case with biopharmaceuticals generally, it is likely that there may be side effects and adverse events associated with the use of TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates. Results of our clinical trials could reveal a high and unacceptable severity and prevalence of side effects or unexpected characteristics. Undesirable side effects caused by TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates could cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay, terminate or halt clinical trials and could result in a more restrictive label or the delay or denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or other comparable foreign authorities. For example, in the first quarter of 2026, the TAMARIND Phase 2 clinical trial of tildacerfont in MDD was discontinued following a serious adverse event in which a patient experienced a significant elevation of liver enzymes. In addition, although in clinical trials TA-ERT has demonstrated an adequate safety profile in a serious and fatal disease for which no treatment is currently available, the most frequent treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAE) by preferred term (reported in ≥40% of participants) was vomiting (22 [100%]), followed by pyrexia (20 [90.9%]), upper respiratory tract infection (17 [77.3%]), pleocytosis (11 [50.0%]), COVID-19 infection (10 [45.5%]), and diarrhea (9 [40.9%]). Four (18%) patients discontinued treatment, although three (14%) discontinuations were due to hydrocephalus, a known complication of MPS IIIB. Adverse events related to the intracerebroventricular (“ICV”) device were consistent with other therapies administered by the ICV route.
If drug-related SAEs are observed, our trials could be suspended or terminated and the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities could order us to cease further development of or deny approval for TA-ERT and our
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other current and future product candidates for any or all targeted indications. Drug-related side effects could affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled patients to complete the trial or result in potential product liability claims. Any of these occurrences may significantly harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Furthermore, if TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates receive marketing approval, and we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by such product candidate, a number of potentially significant negative consequences could result, including:
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we may be forced to suspend marketing of that product, or decide to remove the product form the marketplace;
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regulatory authorities may withdraw approvals or suspend or change their approvals of such product or place restrictions on the way it is prescribed;
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regulatory authorities may require additional warnings on the label or limit access of that product to selective specialized centers with additional safety reporting and with requirements that patients be geographically close to these centers for all or part of their treatment;
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we may be required to create a medication guide outlining the risks of such side effects for distribution to patients;
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we may be required to change the way the product is administered;
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we could be subject to fines, injunctions, or the imposition of criminal or civil penalties;
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we could be sued and held liable for harm caused to patients; and
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the product may become less competitive, and our reputation may suffer.
Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates, if approved, and could significantly harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
If we receive regulatory approval for TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates, we will be subject to ongoing regulatory obligations and continued regulatory review, which may result in significant additional expense and we may be subject to penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or experience unanticipated problems with any product.
Any regulatory approvals that we receive may be subject to limitations on the approved indicated uses for which the product may be marketed or to the conditions of approval, or contain requirements for potentially costly post-marketing testing, including post-market studies or clinical trials, and surveillance to monitor safety and effectiveness. The FDA may also require us to adopt a REMS to ensure that the benefits of treatment with such product candidate outweigh the risks for each potential patient, which may include, among other things, a communication plan to health care practitioners, patient education, extensive patient monitoring, or distribution systems and processes that are highly controlled, restrictive and more costly than what is typical for the industry. We or our collaborators may also be required to adopt a REMS or engage in similar actions, such as patient education, certification of health care professionals, or specific monitoring, if we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by any product that we develop alone or with collaborators. Comparable foreign regulatory authorities may impose similar requirements in their markets.
In addition, if the FDA or a comparable foreign regulatory authority approves a product candidate, the manufacturing, quality control, labeling, packaging, distribution, adverse event reporting, storage, advertising, promotion, import, export, and recordkeeping for the approved product will be subject to extensive and ongoing regulatory requirements. The FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities also require submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration, as well as continued compliance with cGMP requirements and GCP for any clinical trials that we conduct post-approval. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with a product candidate, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with our third-party manufacturers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in, among other things:
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issue warning letters or untitled letters;
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mandate modifications to promotional materials or require us to provide corrective information to healthcare practitioners, or require other restrictions on the labeling or marketing of such products;
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require us to enter into a consent decree, which can include imposition of various fines, reimbursements for inspection costs, required due dates for specific actions and penalties for noncompliance;
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seek an injunction or impose civil or criminal penalties or monetary fines;
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suspend, withdraw or modify regulatory approval;
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suspend, terminate or modify any ongoing clinical trials;
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require that we conduct post-market studies;
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refuse to approve pending applications or supplements to applications filed by us;
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grant approval for narrower indications than we requested;
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suspend or impose restrictions on operations, including costly new manufacturing requirements; or
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seize or detain products, refuse to permit the import or export of products, or require us to initiate a product recall.
The occurrence of any event or penalty described above may inhibit our ability to commercialize, if approved, TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates and generate revenue and could require us to expend significant time and resources in response and could generate negative publicity.
Advertising and promotion of any product candidate that obtains approval in the United States will be heavily scrutinized by the FDA, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), state attorneys general, members of the U.S. Congress, and the public. Additionally, advertising and promotion of any product candidate that obtains approval outside of the United States will be heavily scrutinized by comparable foreign entities and stakeholders. Violations, including actual or alleged promotion of our products for unapproved or off-label uses, are subject to enforcement letters, inquiries, and investigations, and civil and criminal sanctions by the FDA, DOJ, or comparable foreign authorities. Any actual or alleged failure to comply with labeling and promotion requirements may result in fines, warning letters, mandates to corrective information to healthcare practitioners, injunctions, or civil or criminal penalties.
The policies of the FDA and other regulatory authorities, including foreign regulatory authorities, may change and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit or delay regulatory approval for TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2024 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo overturned the longstanding Chevron doctrine, under which courts were required to give deference to regulatory agencies’ reasonable interpretations of ambiguous federal statutes. The Loper decision could result in additional legal challenges to regulations and guidance issued by federal agencies, including the FDA, on which we rely. Any such legal challenges, if successful, could have a material impact on our business. Additionally, the Loper decision may result in increased regulatory uncertainty, inconsistent judicial interpretations, and other impacts to the agency rulemaking process, any of which could adversely impact our business and operations. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action or as a result of legal challenges, either in the United States or abroad. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any marketing approval that we may have obtained and we may not achieve or sustain profitability, which would adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations.
Changes in funding for the FDA and other government agencies, or comparable foreign regulatory authoritiescould hinder their ability to hire and retain key leadership and other personnel, or otherwise prevent new products and services from being developed or commercialized in a timely manner, which could negatively impact our business.
The ability of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities to review and approve new products can be affected by a variety of factors, including government budget and funding levels, ability to hire and retain key personnel and accept the payment of user fees, and statutory, regulatory, and policy changes. Average review times
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at the authorities have fluctuated in recent years as a result. In addition, government funding of other government agencies that fund research and development activities is subject to the political process, which is inherently fluid and unpredictable.
Disruptions at the FDA and other agencies or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may also slow the time necessary for new drugs to be reviewed and/or approved, which would adversely affect our business. For example, over the last several years, including during the government shutdown that began on October 1, 2025, the U.S. government has shut down several times and certain regulatory agencies, such as the FDA, have had to furlough critical FDA employees and stop critical activities. If a prolonged government shutdown occurs, it could significantly impact the ability of the FDA or other regulatory authorities to timely review and process our regulatory submissions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Even if we obtain regulatory approval for TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates, they may not gain market acceptance among physicians, patients, healthcare payors and others in the medical community.
TA-ERT and our other current and future product candidates may not be commercially successful. The commercial success of TA-ERT or our other current and future product candidates, if approved, will depend significantly on the broad adoption and use of such product by physicians and patients for approved indications. The degree of market acceptance of TA-ERT or our other current and future products, if approved, will depend on a number of factors, including:
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the clinical indications for which such product candidate is approved;
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physicians and patients considering the product as a safe and effective treatment;
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the potential and perceived advantages of the product over alternative treatments;
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the prevalence and severity of any side effects;
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product labeling or product insert requirements of the FDA or other regulatory authorities;
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limitations or warnings contained in the labeling approved by the FDA or other regulatory authorities;
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the timing of market introduction of the product as well as competitive products;
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the cost of treatment in relation to alternative treatments;
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the availability of coverage and adequate reimbursement by third-party payors and government authorities;
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the willingness of patients to pay out-of-pocket in the absence of coverage and adequate reimbursement by third-party payors and government authorities;
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relative convenience and ease of administration, including as compared to alternative treatments and competitive therapies; and
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the effectiveness of our sales and marketing efforts and those of any collaboration or distribution partner on whom we rely for sales in foreign jurisdictions.
If TA-ERT or any other current or future product candidate is approved but fails to achieve market acceptance among physicians, patients, healthcare payors or others in the medical community, we will not be able to generate significant revenues, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations. Our commercial success also depends on coverage and adequate reimbursement by third-party payors, including government payors, which may be difficult or time-consuming to obtain, may be limited in scope and may not be obtained in all jurisdictions in which we may seek to market our product candidates. In addition, even if TA-ERT and any other current or future product candidate gain acceptance, the markets for the treatment of patients with our target indications may not be as significant as we estimate.
If TA-ERT and any other current or future product candidate is approved for marketing, and we are found to have improperly promoted off-label uses, or if physicians prescribe or use TA-ERT and any other current or future product candidates off-label, we may become subject to prohibitions on the sale or marketing of TA-ERT
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and any other current or future product candidates, significant fines, penalties, sanctions, or product liability claims, and our image and reputation within the industry and marketplace could be harmed.
The FDA, DOJ, and comparable foreign authorities strictly regulate the marketing and promotional claims that are made about pharmaceutical products following approval. In particular, a product may not be promoted for uses or indications that are not approved by the FDA or comparable foreign authorities as reflected in the product’s approved labeling and Summary of Product Characteristics. However, if we receive marketing approval for TA-ERT and any other current or future product candidates, physicians can prescribe such product to their patients in a manner that is inconsistent with the approved label based on the physician’s independent medical judgement. If we are found to have promoted such off-label uses, we may receive warning letters from the FDA and comparable foreign authorities, incur penalties, and become subject to significant liability, which would materially harm our business. The federal government has levied large civil and criminal fines against companies for alleged improper promotion and has enjoined several companies from engaging in off-label promotion. If we become the target of such an investigation or prosecution based on our marketing and promotional practices, we could face similar sanctions, which would materially harm our business. In addition, management’s attention could be diverted from our business operations, significant legal expenses could be incurred, and our reputation could be damaged. The FDA and other governmental authorities, including comparable foreign authorities, have also required that companies enter into consent decrees or permanent injunctions under which specified promotional conduct is changed or curtailed in order to resolve enforcement actions. If we are deemed by the FDA, DOJ, or other governmental authorities, or comparable foreign regulatory authorities, to have engaged in the promotion of TA-ERT or any other current or future product candidate for off-label use, we could be subject to certain prohibitions or other restrictions on the sale or marketing and other operations or significant fines and penalties, and the imposition of these sanctions could also affect our reputation and position within the industry.
Coverage and reimbursement may be limited or unavailable in certain market segments for TA-ERT and our other current or future product candidates, which could make it difficult for us to sell TA-ERT and our other current or future product candidates profitably.
Successful sales of TA-ERT and any other current or future product candidates, if approved, depend on the availability of coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party payors. Patients who are prescribed medicine for the treatment of their conditions generally rely on third-party payors to reimburse all or part of the costs associated with their prescription drugs. Coverage and adequate reimbursement from U.S. governmental healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, or comparable foreign healthcare programs, and commercial payors is critical to new product acceptance, and we may not obtain such coverage or adequate reimbursement. Moreover, we focus our clinical development on treatments for serious disorders, some of which have relatively small patient populations. As a result, we must rely on obtaining appropriate coverage and reimbursement for these populations.
Government authorities and third-party payors, such as private health insurers and health maintenance organizations, decide which drugs they will cover and the amount of reimbursement they will provide. Reimbursement by a third-party payor may depend upon a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the third-party payor’s determination that use of a product is:
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a covered benefit under its health plan;
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safe, effective, and medically necessary;
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appropriate for the specific patient;
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cost-effective; and
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neither experimental nor investigational.
Obtaining coverage and reimbursement approval for a product from a government or other third-party payor is a time-consuming and costly process that could require us to provide to the payor supporting scientific, clinical and cost-effectiveness data for the use of our products. We may not be able to provide data sufficient to obtain coverage and adequate reimbursement. If we obtain coverage for a given product, the resulting reimbursement payment rates might not be adequate or may require co-payments that patients find unacceptably high. Patients are unlikely to use TA-ERT or any other current or future product candidate unless coverage is provided and reimbursement is adequate to cover a significant portion of the cost. Additionally, the reimbursement rates and coverage amounts may be affected by the approved label for TA-ERT or any other current or future product candidate. If coverage and
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reimbursement of our future products are unavailable or limited in scope or amount, or if pricing is set at unsatisfactory levels, we may be unable to achieve or sustain profitability.
In addition, the market for TA-ERT and any other current or future product candidates will depend significantly on access to third-party payors’ drug formularies or lists of medications for which third-party payors provide coverage and reimbursement. The industry competition to be included in such formularies often leads to downward pricing pressures on pharmaceutical companies. Also, third-party payors may refuse to include a particular branded drug in their formularies or otherwise restrict patient access through formulary controls or otherwise to a branded drug when a less costly generic equivalent or other alternative is available.
In the United States, no uniform policy of coverage and reimbursement for drug products exists among third-party payors. Third-party payors often rely upon Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their own reimbursement rates, but also have their own methods and approval process apart from Medicare determinations. Therefore, coverage and reimbursement for drug products can differ significantly from payor to payor. As a result, the coverage determination process is often a time-consuming and costly process that will require us to provide scientific and clinical support for the use of TA-ERT and any other current or future product candidates to each payor separately, with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be obtained. Further, coverage policies and third-party reimbursement rates may change at any time. Therefore, even if favorable coverage and reimbursement status is attained, less favorable coverage policies and reimbursement rates may be implemented in the future.
We intend to seek approval to market TA-ERT and our other current product candidates in the United States and in selected foreign jurisdictions. If we obtain approval in one or more foreign jurisdictions for TA-ERT and our other current product candidates, we will be subject to rules and regulations in those jurisdictions. In some foreign countries, particularly those in the EU, the pricing of prescription pharmaceuticals and biologics is subject to governmental control. In these countries, pricing negotiations with governmental authorities can take considerable time after obtaining marketing approval for a drug candidate. In addition, market acceptance and sales of a product will depend significantly on the availability of coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party payors for a product and may be affected by existing and future health care reform measures.
In addition, recently there has been heightened governmental scrutiny over the manner in which manufacturers set prices for their marketed products, which has resulted in several U.S. Congressional inquiries and proposed and enacted federal and state legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, reduce the cost of prescription drugs under government payor programs, and review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs. For example, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“IRA”) among other things, (1) requires HHS to negotiate the price of certain single-source biologics that have been on the market for at least 11 years covered under Medicare as part of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program (the “Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program”), and (2) imposes rebates under Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D to penalize price increases that outpace inflation on an annual basis. Each year up to twenty (20) products will be selected by HHS for the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. Products subject to the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program are expected to experience a significant reduction in reimbursement from the Medicare program on a per unit basis.
Current and future legislation and healthcare reform measures may increase the difficulty and cost for us to obtain marketing approval for and commercialize TA-ERT and any other current or future product candidates and may affect the prices we may set.
In the United States and some foreign jurisdictions, there have been, and we expect there will continue to be, a number of legislative and regulatory changes to the healthcare system, including cost-containment measures that may reduce or limit coverage and reimbursement for newly approved drugs and affect our ability to profitably sell any product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval. In particular, there have been and continue to be a number of initiatives at the U.S. federal and state levels that seek to reduce healthcare costs.
For example, in March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (collectively the “Affordable Care Act”), was enacted in the United States. There have been executive, judicial and Congressional challenges to certain aspects of the Affordable Care Act. While Congress has not passed comprehensive repeal legislation, several bills affecting the implementation of certain taxes under the Affordable Care Act have been signed into law. For example, on August 16, 2022, the IRA was signed into law, which among other things, extends enhanced subsidies for individuals purchasing health insurance coverage in Affordable Care Act marketplaces through plan year 2025. The IRA also eliminates the “donut hole”
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under the Medicare Part D program beginning in 2025 by significantly lowering the beneficiary maximum out-of-pocket cost and creating a new manufacturer discount program. It is possible that the Affordable Care Act will be subject to judicial or Congressional challenges and amendments in the future. It is unclear how any such challenges and the healthcare reform measures of the second Trump administration will impact the Affordable Care Act and our business.
In addition, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the Affordable Care Act was enacted. For example, on July 4, 2025, the annual reconciliation bill, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (“OBBBA”) was signed into law which, is expected to reduce Medicaid spending and enrollment by implementing work requirements for some beneficiaries, capping state-directed payments, reducing federal funding, and limiting provider taxes used to fund the program. OBBBA also narrows access to ACA marketplace exchange enrollment and declines to extend the ACA enhanced advanced premium tax credits, set to expire at the end of 2025, which, among other provisions in the law, are anticipated to reduce the number of Americans with health insurance. Congress is considering proposed legislation intended to further reduce healthcare costs with alternatives to replace the expiring ACA subsidies
The current administration is pursuing policies to reduce regulations and expenditures across government including at HHS, the FDA, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and related agencies. These actions, presently directed by executive orders or memoranda from the Office of Management and Budget, may propose policy changes that create additional uncertainty for our business. For example, the current administration has announced agreements with several pharmaceutical companies that require the drug manufacturers to offer, through a direct to consumer platform, U.S. patients and Medicaid programs prescription drug Most-Favored Nation pricing equal to or lower than those paid in other developed nations, with additional mandates for direct-to-patient discounts and repatriation of foreign revenues. Other recent actions, for example, include (1) directives to reduce agency workforce and cut programs; (2) directing HHS and other agencies to lower prescription drug costs through a variety of initiatives, including by improving upon the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program and establishing Most-Favored-Nation pricing for pharmaceutical products; (3) imposing tariffs on imported pharmaceutical products; and (4) as part of the Make America Healthy Again (“MAHA”) Commission’s recent Strategy Report, working across government agencies to increase enforcement on direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising. These actions and policies may significantly reduce U.S. drug prices, potentially impacting manufacturers’ global pricing strategies and profitability, while increasing their operational costs and compliance risks. In June 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision greatly reduced judicial deference to regulatory agencies, which could increase successful legal challenges to federal regulations affecting our operations. Congress may introduce and ultimately pass health care related legislation that could impact the drug approval process and make changes to the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program created under the IRA. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability or commercialize our product candidates, if approved.
In addition, certain foreign activities related to drugs, biologics, and research, especially with regard to China, have come under increased scrutiny in the United States. Chinese contract manufacturing organizations may become subject to legislation, trade restrictions, sanctions, tariffs and other regulatory requirements by the U.S. government, which could restrict or even prohibit our ability to work with such entities. For example, on December 10, 2025, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (“NDAA”) passed overwhelmingly in the U.S. House of Representatives (the “House”) and includes the BIOSECURE Act which, in its current form, would prohibit the U.S. government from procuring biotechnology equipment or services from “biotechnology companies of concern,” and would prohibit U.S. government contracts, loans and grants to any entity that uses biotechnology equipment or services from a designated “biotechnology company of concern.” “Biotechnology companies of concern” include companies identified on the U.S. Department of Defense’s “Chinese military companies operating in the United States” list (the 1260H List) and also authorizes the U.S. government to identify additional entities for inclusion as “biotechnology companies of concern. The U.S. Senate has since passed the NDAA and on December 18, 2025, President Trump signed the NDAA into law. Under the BIOSECURE Act, we may be restricted in our ability to work with certain Chinese biotechnology manufacturing companies to the extent we would contract with, or otherwise receive funding from, the U.S. government. In addition, if we, our suppliers, or our customers were to be designated under the BIOSECURE Act, this could potentially cause harm to our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Moreover, in order to obtain reimbursement for our products in some European countries, including some EU Member States, we may be required to compile additional data comparing the cost-effectiveness of our products to
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other available therapies. The Health Technology Assessment (“HTA”) of medicinal products is becoming an increasingly common part of the pricing and reimbursement procedures in some EU Member States, including those representing the larger markets. The HTA process is the procedure to assess therapeutic, economic and societal impact of a given medicinal product in the national healthcare systems of the individual country. The outcome of an HTA will often influence the pricing and reimbursement status granted to these medicinal products by the competent authorities of individual EU Member States. The extent to which pricing and reimbursement decisions are influenced by the HTA of the specific medicinal product currently varies between EU Member States. In December 2021, Regulation No 2021/2282 on HTA, amending Directive 2011/24/EU, was adopted in the EU. This Regulation, which entered into force in January 2022, began to apply on January 12, 2025 through a phased implementation. The Regulation initially applies to new active substances for oncology and advanced therapy medicinal products. It will be expanded to orphan medicinal products in January 2028, and to all centrally authorized medicinal products as of 2030. Select high-risk medical devices will also come into scope in 2026. It is intended to boost cooperation among EU Member States in assessing health technologies, including new medicinal products, and providing the basis for cooperation at EU level for joint clinical assessments in these areas. The Regulation permits EU Member States to use common HTA tools, methodologies, and procedures across the EU to identify promising technologies early, and continuing voluntary cooperation in other areas. Individual EU Member States will continue to be responsible for assessing non-clinical (e.g., economic, social, ethical) aspects of health technologies, and making decisions on pricing and reimbursement. If we are unable to maintain favorable pricing and reimbursement status in EU Member States for product candidates that we may successfully develop and for which we may obtain regulatory approval, any anticipated revenue from and growth prospects for those products in the EU could be negatively affected.
In addition, on December 11, 2025, the European Commission, the Parliament and the European Council reached a political agreement on a comprehensive overhaul of EU pharmaceutical legislation (the “Pharma Package”). The reform has been under negotiation since the European Commission submitted its proposal in April 2023. This package—comprised of a new directive and regulation to replace existing legislation—aims to modernize the EU framework. The political agreement is still subject to formal approval by the European Parliament and Council. If approved in the form proposed, the Pharma Package will, among other changes, reduce the baseline market protection period by one year, with limited opportunities for extensions, capped at a maximum of eleven years. The reform will also significantly reshape the incentives regime for orphan medicinal products, by introducing “breakthrough” orphan medicinal products – those addressing diseases with no available medicinal treatment – which will benefit from 11 years of market exclusivity. A decrease in market exclusivity opportunities for our product candidates in the EU could impact the commercial prospects of our product candidates.
Our failure to obtain regulatory approval in international jurisdictions would prevent us from marketing our product candidates internationally.
In order to market and sell our product candidates in other jurisdictions, we must obtain separate marketing approvals for those jurisdictions and comply with their numerous and varying regulatory requirements. We may not obtain foreign regulatory approvals on a timely basis, or at all. The approval procedure varies among countries and can involve additional testing. The time required to obtain approval may differ substantially from that required to obtain FDA approval. The regulatory approval process outside the United States generally includes all of the risks associated with obtaining FDA approval. In addition, in many countries outside the United States, product reimbursement approvals must be secured before regulatory authorities will approve the product for sale in that country. Obtaining foreign regulatory approvals and compliance with foreign regulatory requirements could result in significant delays, difficulties and costs for us and could delay or prevent the introduction of our product candidates in certain countries. Further, clinical trials conducted in one country may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other countries and regulatory approval in one country does not ensure approval in any other country, while a failure or delay in obtaining regulatory approval in one country may have a negative effect on the regulatory approval process in others. Our failure to obtain approval of our product candidates by foreign regulatory authorities may negatively impact the commercial prospects of such product candidates and our business prospects could decline. Also, if regulatory approval for our product candidates is granted, it may be later withdrawn. If we fail to comply with the regulatory requirements in international jurisdictions and receive applicable marketing approvals, our target market will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential for our product candidates will be harmed and our business may be adversely affected.
Even if we obtain the necessary regulatory approvals, a variety of risks associated with marketing TA-ERT and any other current or future product candidates internationally could materially adversely affect our business.
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We plan to seek regulatory approval for TA-ERT and any other current or future product candidates internationally. Even if we obtain such approvals, we will nevertheless be subject to additional risks related to operating in foreign countries, including:
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differing regulatory requirements in foreign countries, including differing reimbursement, pricing and insurance regimes;
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the potential for so-called parallel importing, which is what happens when a local seller, faced with high or higher local prices, opts to import goods from a foreign market (with low or lower prices) rather than buying them locally;
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unexpected changes in tariffs, trade barriers, price and exchange controls, and other regulatory requirements;
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economic weakness, including inflation, or political instability in particular foreign economies and markets;
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compliance with tax, employment, immigration, and labor laws for employees living or traveling internationally;
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foreign taxes, including withholding of payroll taxes;
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foreign currency fluctuations, which could result in increased operating expenses and reduced revenues, and other obligations incident to doing business in another country;
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difficulties staffing and managing foreign operations;
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workforce uncertainty in countries where labor unrest is more common than in the United States;
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potential liability under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (“FCPA”) or comparable foreign regulations;
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challenges enforcing our contractual and intellectual property rights, especially in those foreign countries that do not respect and protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as the United States;
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production shortages resulting from any events affecting raw material supply or manufacturing capabilities internationally; and
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business interruptions resulting from geo-political actions, including war and terrorism.
These and other risks associated with our international operations may materially adversely affect our ability to attain or maintain profitable operations.
If we fail to develop and commercialize additional product candidates, we may be unable to grow our business.
We intend to seek to in-license or acquire development and commercial-stage product candidates in disorders that have the potential to complement our existing portfolio. Our current product candidates are generally in-licensed from or derived from partnerships with other pharmaceutical companies. If we decide to pursue the development and commercialization of any additional product candidates, we may be required to invest significant resources to acquire or in-license the rights to such product candidates or to conduct drug discovery activities and we may be unable to in-license the rights on reasonable terms if at all. We do not currently have the necessary drug discovery personnel or expertise adequate to discover and develop an additional product candidate on our own. Any other product candidates will require additional, time-consuming development efforts, and significant financial resources, prior to commercial sale, including preclinical studies, extensive clinical trials, and approval by the FDA and applicable foreign regulatory authorities. All product candidates are prone to the risks of failure that are inherent in pharmaceutical product development, including the possibility that the product candidate will not be shown to be sufficiently safe and/or effective for approval by regulatory authorities. In addition, we may not be able to acquire, discover, or develop any additional product candidates, and any additional product candidates we may develop may not be approved, manufactured, or produced economically, successfully commercialized or widely accepted in the marketplace, or be more effective than other commercially available alternatives. Research programs to identify new product candidates require substantial technical, financial, and human resources whether or not we ultimately
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identify any candidates. If we are unable to develop or commercialize any other product candidates, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects will suffer.
We may form or seek strategic alliances or enter into additional licensing arrangements in the future, and we may not realize the benefits of such alliances or licensing arrangements.
We may form or seek strategic alliances, create joint ventures or collaborations or enter into additional licensing arrangements with third parties that we believe will complement or augment our development and commercialization efforts with respect to our product candidates and any future product candidates that we may develop. We intend to establish commercial partnerships outside of the United States in selected foreign markets. Any of these relationships may require us to incur non-recurring and other charges, increase our near-and long-term expenditures, issue securities that dilute our existing stockholders, or disrupt our management and business. In addition, we face significant competition in seeking appropriate strategic partners and the negotiation process is time-consuming and complex. If we license products or businesses, we may not be able to realize the benefit of such transactions if we are unable to successfully integrate them with our existing operations and company culture. Following a strategic transaction or license, we may not achieve the revenues or cash flows that justifies such transaction. Any delays in entering into new strategic partnership agreements related to our product candidates could delay the development and commercialization of our product candidates in certain geographies for certain indications, which would harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We will need to grow the size of our organization, and we may experience difficulties in managing this growth.
As of December 31, 2025, we had 8 employees, all of whom are full-time. As our development and commercialization plans and strategies develop, and as we transition into operating as a public company, we expect to need additional development, managerial, operational, financial, sales, marketing, and other personnel. Future growth would impose significant added responsibilities on members of management, including:
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identifying, recruiting, integrating, maintaining, and motivating additional employees;
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managing our internal development efforts effectively, including the clinical and regulatory review process for our product candidates and any future product candidates, while complying with our contractual obligations to contractors and other third parties; and
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improving our operational, financial and management controls, reporting systems and procedures.
Our future financial performance and our ability to commercialize our product candidates will depend, in part, on our ability to effectively manage any future growth, and our management may also have to divert a disproportionate amount of its attention away from day-to-day activities in order to devote a substantial amount of time to managing these growth activities. To date, we have used the services of outside vendors to perform tasks including clinical trial management, manufacturing, statistics and analysis, regulatory affairs, formulation development, and other drug development functions. Our growth strategy may also entail expanding our group of contractors or consultants to implement these tasks going forward. Because we rely on numerous consultants, effectively outsourcing many key functions of our business, we will need to be able to effectively manage these consultants to ensure that they successfully carry out their contractual obligations and meet expected deadlines. However, if we are unable to effectively manage our outsourced activities or if the quality or accuracy of the services provided by consultants is compromised for any reason, our clinical trials may be extended, delayed, or terminated, and we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates and any future product candidates or otherwise advance our business. We may not be able to manage our existing consultants or find other competent outside contractors and consultants on economically reasonable terms, or at all. If we are not able to effectively expand our organization by hiring new employees and expanding our groups of consultants and contractors, we may not be able to successfully implement the tasks necessary to further develop and commercialize our product candidates and any future product candidates and, accordingly, may not achieve our research, development and commercialization goals.
Our indebtedness to Avenue Capital may limit our flexibility in operating our business and adversely affect our financial health and competitive position, and our obligations to Avenue Capital are secured by substantially all of our assets, including our intellectual property assets. If we default on these obligations, Avenue Capital could foreclose on our assets, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
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On January 7, 2026, we entered into the Loan Agreement with Avenue Capital. For a description of our Loan Agreement, see Note 15, “Loan Agreement with Avenue Capital”, to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.
The Loan Agreement contains customary representations, warranties and covenants, including covenants by the company limiting, amongst other things, additional indebtedness, liens, guaranties, mergers and consolidations, substantial asset sales, investments and loans, certain corporate changes, transactions with affiliates and fundamental changes. These covenants may limit our ability to engage in certain transactions that may be in our long-term best interest, including entering into a change in control transaction. While we have not previously breached and are currently in compliance with the covenants contained in the Loan Agreement, we may breach these covenants in the future. Our ability to comply with these covenants may be affected by events and factors beyond our control. In the event that we breach one or more covenants, the Agent may choose to declare an event of default and require that we immediately repay all amounts outstanding under the Loan Agreement, terminate any commitment to extend further credit and foreclose on the collateral.
The Loan Agreement also provides for events of default customary for term loans of this type, including but not limited to non-payment, breaches or defaults in the performance of covenants, insolvency, bankruptcy and the occurrence of a material adverse effect on the company. After the occurrence of an event of default, the Agent may (i) accelerate payment of all obligations, impose an increased rate of interest, and terminate the Lender’s commitments under the Loan Agreement and (ii) exercise any other right or remedy provided by contract or applicable law, including a foreclosure on our assets. The occurrence of any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. If we default on any of our obligations under the Loan Agreement, the Lender could foreclose on its security interest and liquidate some or all of the collateral, including our intellectual property assets, which would harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, and could require us to reduce or cease operations.
In order to service this indebtedness and any additional indebtedness we may incur in the future, we need to generate cash from our operating activities. Our ability to generate cash is subject, in part, to our ability to successfully execute our business strategy, as well as general economic, financial, competitive, regulatory, and other factors beyond our control. Our business may not be able to generate sufficient cash flow from operations, and future borrowings or other financings may not be available to us in an amount sufficient to enable us to service our indebtedness and to fund our other liquidity needs. To the extent we are required to use cash from operations or the proceeds of any future financing to service our indebtedness instead of funding working capital, capital expenditures or other general corporate purposes, we will be less able to plan for, or react to, changes in our business, industry, and in the economy generally. This could place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less indebtedness.
Business disruptions could seriously harm our future revenues and financial condition and increase our costs and expenses.
Our operations, and those of our CROs and other contractors and consultants, could be subject to earthquakes, power shortages, telecommunications failures, water shortages, floods, hurricanes, typhoons, fires, extreme weather conditions, medical epidemics and other natural or man-made disasters or business interruptions, for which we are predominantly self-insured. The occurrence of any of these business disruptions could seriously harm our operations and financial condition and increase our costs and expenses. We rely on third-party manufacturers to produce TA-ERT and our other current product candidates. Our ability to obtain clinical supplies of TA-ERT and our other current or future product candidates could be disrupted if the operations of these suppliers are affected by a man-made or natural disaster or other business interruption. Our corporate headquarters is located in California near major earthquake faults and fire zones. The ultimate impact on us, our suppliers and our general infrastructure of being located near major earthquake faults and fire zones and being consolidated in certain geographical areas is unknown, but our operations and financial condition could suffer in the event of a major earthquake, fire or other natural disaster.
Our employees, independent contractors, principal investigators, CROs, consultants, strategic partners, and vendors may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements.
We are exposed to the risk that employees, independent contractors, principal investigators, CROs, consultants, and vendors may engage in fraudulent or other illegal activity. Misconduct by these parties could
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include intentional, reckless and/or negligent conduct or disclosure of unauthorized activities to us that violates: (i) the rules of the FDA and other similar foreign regulatory bodies, including those rules that require the reporting of true, complete, and accurate information to the FDA and other similar foreign regulatory bodies; (ii) manufacturing standards; (iii) healthcare fraud and abuse laws in the United States and similar foreign fraudulent misconduct laws or (iv) laws that require the true, complete, and accurate reporting of our financial information or data. These laws may impact, among other things, our current activities with principal investigators and research subjects, as well as proposed and future sales, marketing, and education programs. In particular, the promotion, sales, and marketing of healthcare items and services, as well as certain business arrangements in the healthcare industry, are subject to extensive laws designed to prevent fraud, kickbacks, self-dealing, and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, structuring and commission(s), certain customer incentive programs, and other business arrangements generally. Activities subject to these laws also involve the improper use of information obtained in the course of patient recruitment for clinical trials.
If we obtain regulatory approval for TA-ERT and our other current product candidates and begin commercializing those products in the United States and in Europe, our potential exposure under such laws will increase significantly, and our costs associated with compliance with such laws are also likely to increase. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business, including the imposition of significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, disgorgement, monetary fines, imprisonment, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal or comparable foreign healthcare programs, additional reporting requirements and/or oversight if we become subject to a corporate integrity agreement or similar agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with these laws, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, and curtailment of our operations.
Our relationships with customers, healthcare providers and third-party payors may be subject, directly or indirectly, to federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws, false claims laws, health information privacy and security laws, and other comparable foreign healthcare laws and regulations. If we or our employees, independent contractors, consultants, commercial partners, or vendors violate these laws, we could face substantial penalties.
Our relationships with customers, healthcare providers, and third-party payors may be subject, directly or indirectly, to federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws, false claims laws, health information privacy and security laws, and other healthcare laws and regulations. These laws may impact, among other things, our clinical research program, as well as our proposed and future sales, marketing, and education programs. In particular, the promotion, sales and marketing of healthcare items and services is subject to extensive laws and regulations designed to prevent fraud, kickbacks, self-dealing, and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, sales commission, customer incentive, and other business arrangements. We may also be subject to federal, state and foreign laws governing the privacy and security of identifiable patient information. The U.S. healthcare laws and regulations that may affect our ability to operate include, but are not limited to:
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the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits, among other things, any person or entity from knowingly and willfully, offering, paying, soliciting or receiving any remuneration, directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind, to induce, or in return for, the purchasing, leasing, ordering or arranging for the purchase, lease, or order of any item or service reimbursable under Medicare, Medicaid or other federal healthcare programs. The term “remuneration” has been broadly interpreted to include anything of value. Although there are a number of statutory exceptions and regulatory safe harbors protecting some common activities from prosecution, the exceptions and safe harbors are drawn narrowly. Practices that may be alleged to be intended to induce prescribing, purchases or recommendations, include any payments of more than fair market value, and may be subject to scrutiny if they do not qualify for an exception or safe harbor. In addition, a person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of this statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation.
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federal civil and criminal false claims laws, including the federal civil False Claims Act, and civil monetary penalty laws, which prohibit, among other things, individuals or entities from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, claims for payment or approval from Medicare, Medicaid, or
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other federal government programs that are false or fraudulent or knowingly making a false statement to improperly avoid, decrease or conceal an obligation to pay money to the federal government, including federal healthcare programs. In addition, the government may assert that a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the federal civil False Claims Act and the civil monetary penalties statute;
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the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), which created new federal civil and criminal statutes that prohibit knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program or obtain, by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, any of the money or property owned by, or under the custody or control of, any healthcare benefit program, including private third-party payors and knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up by any trick, scheme or device, a material fact or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statements in connection with the delivery of, or payment for, healthcare benefits, items or services. Similar to the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, a person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation;
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HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (“HITECH”), and their respective implementing regulations, which impose requirements on certain healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses, known as covered entities, and their respective business associates that perform services for them that involve the use, or disclosure of, individually identifiable health information as well as their covered subcontractors; and
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the federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which requires certain manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologicals and medical supplies for which payment is available under Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (with certain exceptions) to report annually to CMS information related to payments or other transfers of value made to physicians (defined to include doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors), certain other healthcare professionals (such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners), and teaching hospitals, as well as ownership and investment interests held by physicians and their immediate family members.
We may also be subject to state and foreign equivalents of each of the healthcare laws described above, among others, some of which may be broader in scope. For example, we may be subject to the following: state and foreign anti-kickback and false claims laws that may apply to sales or marketing arrangements and claims involving healthcare items or services reimbursed by non-governmental third party payors, including private insurers, or that apply regardless of payor; state and foreign laws that require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the pharmaceutical industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government; state and foreign laws that require drug manufacturers to report information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians and other healthcare providers, marketing expenditures, or drug pricing; state and local laws requiring the registration of pharmaceutical sales and medical representatives; and state and foreign laws, such as the EU GDPR governing the privacy and security of health information in some circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts.
Additionally, we may be subject to federal consumer protection and unfair competition laws, and equivalent foreign laws, which broadly regulate marketplace activities and activities that potentially harm consumers.
Because of the breadth of these laws and the narrowness of the statutory exceptions and regulatory safe harbors available, it is possible that some of our business activities, or our arrangements with physicians, could be subject to challenge under one or more of such laws. It is not always possible to identify and deter employee misconduct or business noncompliance, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent inappropriate conduct may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to be in compliance with such laws or regulations. Efforts to ensure that our business arrangements will comply with applicable healthcare laws may involve substantial costs. It is possible that governmental and enforcement authorities will conclude that our business practices may not comply with current or future statutes, regulations or case law interpreting applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations. If we or our employees, independent contractors, consultants, commercial partners and vendors violate these laws, we may be subject to investigations, enforcement actions and/or significant penalties, including the imposition of significant civil, criminal and administrative
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penalties, damages, disgorgement, monetary fines, imprisonment, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal or comparable foreign healthcare programs, contractual damages, public reprimands, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, additional reporting requirements and/or oversight if we become subject to a corporate integrity agreement or similar agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with these laws, and curtailment of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations. In addition, the approval and commercialization of TA-ERT or our other current product candidates outside the United States will also likely subject us to foreign equivalents of the healthcare laws mentioned above, among other foreign laws.
If our information technology systems or data, or those of third parties with whom we work, are or were compromised, we could experience adverse consequences resulting from such compromise, including but not limited to regulatory investigations or actions; litigation; fines and penalties; disruptions of our business operations; reputational harm; loss of revenue or profits; and other adverse consequences.
In the ordinary course of our business, we and the third parties with whom we work collect, receive, store, process, generate, use, transfer, disclose, make accessible, protect, secure, dispose of, transmit, and share (collectively, process) proprietary, confidential, and sensitive data, including personal data (such as health-related data including in the context of clinical trials), intellectual property, and trade secrets (collectively, sensitive data).
Cyber-attacks, malicious internet-based activity, online and offline fraud, and other similar activities threaten the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our sensitive data and information technology systems, and those of the third parties with whom we work. Such threats are prevalent and continue to rise, are increasingly difficult to detect, and come from a variety of sources, including traditional computer “hackers,” threat actors, “hacktivists,” organized criminal threat actors, personnel (such as through theft or misuse), sophisticated nation states, and nation-state-supported actors.
Some actors now engage and are expected to continue to engage in cyber-attacks, including without limitation nation-state actors for geopolitical reasons and in conjunction with military conflicts and defense activities. During times of war and other major conflicts, we and the third parties with whom we work may be vulnerable to a heightened risk of these attacks, including retaliatory cyber-attacks, that could materially disrupt our systems and operations, supply chain, and ability to produce, sell and distribute our services.
We and the third parties with whom we work are subject to a variety of evolving threats, including but not limited to physical or electronic break-ins, social engineering attempts (including through deep fakes, which may be increasingly more difficult to identify as fake, and phishing and spam emails), malicious code (such as computer viruses and worms), malware (including as a result of advanced persistent threat intrusions), ransomware attacks, natural disasters, terrorism, war, server malfunctions, telecommunication and electrical failure, denial of service attacks (such as credential stuffing attacks), credential harvesting, personnel misconduct or error, supply-chain attacks, software bugs, attacks enhanced or facilitated by AI and other similar threats.
In particular, severe ransomware attacks are becoming increasingly prevalent and can lead to significant interruptions in our operations, loss of sensitive data and income, reputational harm, and diversion of funds. Extortion payments may alleviate the negative impact of a ransomware attack, but we may be unwilling or unable to make such payments due to, for example, applicable laws or regulations prohibiting such payments.
It may be difficult and/or costly to detect, investigate, mitigate, contain, and remediate a security incident. Our efforts to do so may not be successful. Actions taken by us or the third parties with whom we work to detect, investigate, mitigate, contain, and remediate a security incident could result in outages, data losses, and disruptions of our business. Threat actors may also gain access to other networks and systems after a compromise of our networks and systems. For example, threat actors may use an initial compromise of one part of our environment to gain access to other parts of our environment, or leverage a compromise of our networks or systems to gain access to the networks or systems of third parties with whom we work, such as through phishing or supply chain attacks.
Remote work increases risks to our information technology systems and data, as personnel utilize network connections, computers, and devices outside the control of us or the third parties with whom we work, including working at home, while in transit and in public locations. Additionally, future or past business transactions (such as acquisitions or integrations) could expose us to additional cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities, as our systems could be negatively affected by vulnerabilities present in acquired or integrated entities’ systems and technologies. Furthermore, we may discover security issues that were not found during due diligence of such acquired or
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integrated entities, and it may be difficult to integrate companies into our information technology environment and security program.
In addition, our relationship with the third parties with whom we work could introduce additional cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities, including supply-chain attacks, and other threats to our business operations.We rely on third parties to operate critical business systems to process sensitive data in a variety of contexts, including, without limitation, cloud-based infrastructure, third-party research institution collaborators and other third parties to conduct clinical trials, data center facilities, encryption and authentication technology, employee email, and other functions. Our ability to monitor these third parties’ information security practices is limited, and these third parties may not have adequate information security measures in place. While we may be entitled to damages if the third parties with whom we work fail to satisfy their privacy or security-related obligations to us, any award may be insufficient to cover our damages, or we may be unable to recover such award.In addition, supply-chain attacks have increased in frequency and severity, and we cannot guarantee that third parties’ infrastructure in our supply chain or that of the third parties with whom we work have not been compromised.
We have in the past and may continue to expend significant resources (including financial) and modify our business activities (including our clinical trial activities) to try to protect against security incidents and, as applicable, to detect, investigate, mitigate, contain and remediate security incidents. Additionally, certain data privacy and security obligations have required us to implement and maintain specific security measures or industry-standard or reasonable security measures to protect our information technology systems and sensitive data.
While we have implemented security measures designed to protect against and recover from security incidents, there can be no assurance that these measures will be effective. We take steps designed to detect, mitigate and remediate vulnerabilities, in our information systems (such as our hardware and/or software, including that of third parties with whom we work). There exists risk that we have in the past and may in the future, however, fail to detect, mitigate and remediate all such vulnerabilities including on a timely basis. Further, there exists risk that we have in the past and may in the future experience delays in developing and deploying remedial measures and patches designed to address identified vulnerabilities. Vulnerabilities could be exploited and result in a security incident.
Any of the previously identified or similar threats have in the past and may in the future cause a security incident that resulted in or results in unauthorized, unlawful, or accidental acquisition, modification, destruction, alteration, encryption, access to, use or disclosure of, corruption of, or loss of sensitive data or our information technology systems, or those of the third parties with whom we work. For example, we have been the target of unsuccessful phishing attempts in the past, and expect such attempts will continue in the future. A security incident has and could disrupt our ability (and that of third parties with whom we work) to provide our services.
In the event of a security incident, applicable data privacy and security obligations may require us, or we may voluntarily choose, to notify relevant stakeholders, such as consumers, partners, collaborators, government authorities, and the media or to take other actions, such as providing credit monitoring and identifying theft protection services. Such disclosures and related actions can be costly, and the disclosure or the failure to comply with such applicable requirements could lead to adverse consequences.
Security incidents (or perceived security incidents), may result in material adverse consequences, such as significant liabilities, regulatory and enforcement actions (including investigations, fines, penalties, audits and inspections), reputational damage, additional reporting requirements and/or oversight, restrictions on processing sensitive data (including personal data), litigation, indemnification obligations, negative publicity, monetary fund diversions, interruptions in our operations (including availability of data), diversion of management attention, financial loss, and other harms. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from completed or ongoing clinical trials could result in delays in any regulatory approval or clearance efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data, and subsequently commercialize the product. Additionally, theft of our intellectual property or proprietary business information could require substantial expenditures to remedy.
Furthermore, our contracts may not contain limitations of liability, and even where they do, there can be no assurance that limitations of liability in our contracts are sufficient to protect us from liabilities, damages, or claims related to our data privacy and security obligations. Additionally, we cannot be sure that our insurance coverage will be adequate or sufficient to protect us from or to mitigate liabilities arising out of our privacy and security practices, that such coverage will continue to be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or that such coverage will pay future claims.
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In addition to experiencing a security incident, third parties may gather, collect, or infer sensitive information about us from public sources, data brokers, or other means that reveals competitively sensitive details about our organization and could be used to undermine our competitive advantage or market position. Additionally, sensitive information of our company could be leaked, disclosed, or revealed as a result of or in connection with our employees’, personnels’, or vendors’ use of generative artificial intelligence (“AI”) technologies.
We and the third parties with whom we work are subject to stringent and evolving U.S. and foreign laws, regulations, and rules; contractual obligations; industry standards; policies; and other obligations, in each case related to data privacy or security. Our (or the third parties with whom we work) actual or perceived failure to comply with such obligations could lead to regulatory investigations and actions (which could include civil or criminal penalties); private litigation (including class-action claims) and mass arbitration demands; disruptions to our business operations; adverse publicity; and other adverse business consequences.
We and the third parties with whom we work process personal and sensitive data and are subject to numerous data privacy and security obligations, such as laws and regulations, rules, industry standards, policies, contractual requirements and other obligations, relating to data privacy or security, including data we collect about trial participants in connection with clinical trials.
In the United States, numerous federal, state, and local laws and regulations, including, as applicable, state data breach notification laws, personal data privacy laws, consumer protection laws (e.g., Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act) and other similar laws (e.g., wiretapping laws), govern the processing of personal data and apply to our operations and the operations of the third parties with whom we work. In addition, we obtain health information from third parties (including research institutions from which we obtain clinical trial data) that may be subject to privacy and security requirements under HIPAA, as amended by HITECH. If we violate HIPAA, we may be subject to significant administrative and civil penalties. Additionally, depending on the facts and circumstances, we could be subject to criminal penalties if we knowingly obtain, use, or disclose individually identifiable health information maintained by a HIPAA-covered entity in a manner that is not authorized or permitted by HIPAA.
Numerous U.S. states have enacted comprehensive privacy laws that impose certain obligations on covered businesses, including providing specific disclosures in privacy notices and affording residents with certain rights concerning their personal data. As applicable, such rights may include the right to access, correct, or delete certain personal data, and to opt-out of certain data processing activities, such as targeted advertising, profiling, and automated decision-making. The exercise of these rights may impact our business and ability to provide our products and services. Certain states also impose stricter requirements for processing certain personal data, including sensitive information, such as conducting data privacy impact assessments. These state laws allow for statutory fines for noncompliance. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, (“CCPA”), applies to personal data of consumers, business representatives, and employees who are California residents, and requires businesses (that are subject to the CCPA) to provide specific disclosures in privacy notices and honor requests of such individuals to exercise certain privacy rights. The CCPA provides for statutory fines and allows private litigants affected by certain data breaches to recover significant statutory damages.
Numerous other states have also passed comprehensive privacy laws, and similar laws are being considered in several other states, as well as at the federal and local levels. We expect more states to pass similar laws in the future. The CCPA and other U.S. state comprehensive privacy laws exempt some data processed in the context of clinical trials, but these developments may further complicate compliance efforts, and increase legal risk and compliance costs for us and the third parties with whom we work.
Our employees and personnel use AI and/or automated decision-making technologies to perform their work, and the disclosure and use of personal data in AI technologies is subject to various privacy laws and other privacy obligations. Governments have passed and are likely to pass additional laws and regulations regulating AI and/or automated decision-making technologies. Our use of this technology could result in additional compliance costs, regulatory investigations and actions, and lawsuits. If we are unable to use AI and/or automated decision-making technologies, it could make our business less efficient and result in competitive disadvantages.
Outside the United States, an increasing number of laws, regulations, and industry standards govern data privacy and security, including our processing of personal data. For example, our processing of personal data is or may become subject in certain circumstances to the EU GDPR and the United Kingdom’s GDPR (“UK GDPR”) (collectively, “GDPR”). The GDPR imposes stringent standards of data privacy and security concerning personal data and imposes potentially significant sanctions for non-compliance. For example, under the GDPR, companies
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