UNITED STATES
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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022
OR
For the transition period from to
Commission File No. 001-36033
THERAVANCE BIOPHARMA, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
(State or Other Jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer
Incorporation or Organization) Identification No.)
P.O. Box 309
Ugland House, South Church Street
George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands KY1-1104
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: 650-808-6000
SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OF THE ACT:
Title of each class Trading Symbol Name of each exchange on which registered
Ordinary Share $0.00001 Par Value TBPH The Nasdaq Global Market
SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(g) OF THE ACT: NONE
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐No☒
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐No☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large Accelerated Filer ☒ Accelerated Filer ☐
Non-accelerated Filer ☐ Smaller reporting company ☐
Emerging growth company ☐
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $677.0 million, based upon the closing price of $9.06 on the Nasdaq Global Market on June 30, 2022.
On February 21, 2023, there were 62,864,474 of the registrant’s ordinary shares outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Specified portions of the registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement to be issued in conjunction with the registrant’s 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which is expected to be filed not later than 120 days after the registrant’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report. Except as expressly incorporated by reference, the registrant’s Proxy Statement shall not be deemed to be a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Table of Contents
THERAVANCE BIOPHARMA, INC.
2022 Form 10-K Annual Report
Table of Contents
PART I
Item 1. Business 4
Item 1A. Risk Factors 21
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 51
Item 2. Properties 51
Item 3. Legal Proceedings 52
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 52
PART II
Item 6. [Reserved] 56
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 66
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 67
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 109
Item 9B. Other Information 111
PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 111
Item 11. Executive Compensation 111
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services 111
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules 112
Exhibit Index 113
Signatures 118
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Special Note regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Such forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. All statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, other than statements of historical facts, including statements regarding our strategy, future operations, future financial position, future revenues, projected costs, prospects, plans, intentions, designs, expectations and objectives are forward-looking statements. The words “aim,” “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “designed,” “developed,” “drive,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “goal,” “indicate,” “intend,” “may,” “mission,” “opportunities,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “pursue,” “represent,” “seek,” “suggest,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would,” and similar expressions (including the negatives thereof) are intended to identify forward looking statements, although not all forward looking statements contain these identifying words. These statements reflect our current views with respect to future events or our future financial performance, are based on assumptions, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, expectations or objectives disclosed in our forward-looking statements and the assumptions underlying our forward-looking statements may prove incorrect. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions, expectations and objectives disclosed in the forward-looking statements that we make. Factors that we believe could cause actual results or events to differ materially from our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those discussed in “Risk Factors,” in Item 1A, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Item 7 and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are based on current expectations and we do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements for any reason, even if new information becomes available in the future. In addition, while the effects of COVID-19, including new variants, may continue to adversely impact our business operations and financial results, the extent of the impact on our ability to generate revenue from YUPELRI® (revefenacin), our clinical development programs, and the value of and market for our ordinary shares, will depend on future developments that are uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence at this time. These potential future developments include, but are not limited to, the ultimate duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, travel restrictions, quarantines, vaccination levels, social distancing and business closure requirements in the United States and in other countries, other measures taken by us and those we work with to help protect individuals from contracting COVID-19, and the effectiveness of actions taken globally tomanage and treat the disease, including vaccine availability, distribution, acceptance and effectiveness. When used in this report, all references to “Theravance Biopharma”, the “Company”, or “we” and other similar pronouns refer to Theravance Biopharma, Inc. collectively with its subsidiaries.
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PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Overview
Theravance Biopharma, Inc. (“we,” “our,” “Theravance Biopharma” or the “Company”) is a biopharmaceutical company primarily focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of medicines. Our core purpose is to create medicines thatmake a difference® in people’s lives.
In pursuit of our purpose, we leverage decades of expertise, which has led to the development of the United States (“US”) Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) approved YUPELRI® (revefenacin) inhalation solution indicated for the maintenance treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (“COPD”). Our pipeline of internally discovered programs is targeted to address significant unmet patient needs.
2022 Highlights
YUPELRI Sales Growth
In 2022, YUPELRI continued it sales growth trajectory and reached all-time high net sales and profitability on an annual basis. Through the combined commercialization efforts with our partner Viatris Inc. (“Viatris”), aggregate YUPELRI net sales increased by 25%in 2022 compared to 2021. While Viatris records the total YUPELRI net sales, we are entitled to a 35% share of the profits and losses pursuant to a co-promotion agreement with Viatris.
Sale of Theravance Respiratory Company, LLC
In July 2022, we completed the sale of all of our equity interests in Theravance Respiratory Company, LLC (“TRC”) representing our 85% economic interest in the sales-based royalty rights on worldwide net sales of GSK's TRELEGY ELLIPTA (“TRELEGY”) to Royalty Pharma Investments 2019 ICAV (“Royalty Pharma”) for approximately $1.1 billion in upfront cash while retaining future value through the right to receive contingent milestone payments and certain outer year-royalties (the “TRELEGY Royalty Transaction”).
Debt Paydown and Capital Return Program
In July and August 2022, we completed the process to retire all of our outstanding debt. We repaid our 9.5% non-recourse TRELEGY notes due 2035 for approximately $420.0 million on July 20, 2022. We also completed a tender offer to retire $230.0 million in principal amount of our 3.25% convertible senior notes due 2023, at par, on August 25, 2022. Following the retirement of all of our outstanding debt, we initiated a $250.0 million capital return program to shareholders.
Ampreloxetine Funding
In conjunction with the TRELEGY Royalty Transaction, in July 2022, we received a $25.0 million upfront cash investment from Royalty Pharma, and we shall receive another $15.0 million cash investment upon the first regulatory approval of ampreloxetine. The upfront $25.0 million cash received is expected to fund the majority of our new Phase 3 study for the use of ampreloxetine for patients suffering from Multiple System Atrophy (“MSA”) and symptomatic neurogenic orthostatic hypotension (“nOH”).
Reduction of Office Space
As a result of our reduction in workforce that was announced in September 2021, in the second quarter of 2022, we reduced our occupied leased office space by approximately 83,000 square feet representing approximately 57% of our total occupied leased office at the beginning of 2022. The reduction of occupied leased office space was achieved through a sublease of a significant portion of our offices in South San Francisco, California, and a move to a smaller office in Dublin, Ireland. We estimate that the cumulative cash savings from the reduction in occupied leased office space to be approximately $54.1 million over the life of the original South San Francisco and Dublin lease terms ending in May 2030 and April 2027, respectively.
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2023 Strategic Actions
On February 27, 2023, we announced additional strategic actions to sharpen the Company’s focus and deliver on its commitment to create shareholder value:
Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related actions by governments, companies, and individuals around the world in an attempt to manage the spread of the virus (including new variants of COVID-19) continue to present a public health and economic challenge. The full extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to directly or indirectly impact our business, results of operations and financial condition, including revenue, expenses, clinical trials and research and development costs, will depend on future developments that are uncertain and may be impacted by the emergence of new information concerning theCOVID-19 pandemic, new variants or sub-variants of the COVID-19 virus, and the actions taken to manage or treat the disease, including vaccine availability, distribution, acceptance and effectiveness.
As part of our response to the ongoing challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to take steps to identify and mitigate the adverse impacts on, and risks to, our business posed by its spread and actions taken by governmental and health authorities to address the COVID-19 pandemic. We expect to continue to implement measures as may be required or recommended by government authorities or as we determine are in the best interests of our employees, clinical trial sites and participants, the patients we serve, and other stakeholders in light of COVID-19.
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Our Programs
The chart below summarizes the status of our approved product, product candidates in development, and economic interest.
Glossary of Defined Terms used in Table Above:
COPD: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease;
FF: Fluticasone Furoate;
JAKi: Janus Kinase Inhibitor;
LAMA: Long-Acting Muscarinic Antagonist;
PIFR: Peak Inspiratory Flow Rate;
UMEC: Umeclidinium; and
VI: Vilanterol
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Core Program Updates
YUPELRI(revefenacin) Inhalation Solution
YUPELRI (revefenacin) inhalation solution is a once-daily, nebulized long-acting muscarinic antagonist (“LAMA”) approved for the maintenance treatment of COPD in the US. LAMAs are recognized by international COPD treatment guidelines as a cornerstone of maintenance therapy for COPD, regardless of severity of disease. Our market research indicates there is an enduring population of COPD patients in the US that either need or prefer nebulized delivery for maintenance therapy. The stability of revefenacin in both metered dose inhaler and dry powder inhaler (“MDI/DPI”) formulations suggests that revefenacin could also serve as a foundation for novel handheld combination products.
We co-developed YUPELRI with our collaboration partner, Viatris Inc. Under the terms of the Viatris Development and Commercialization Agreement (the “Viatris Agreement”), we led the US Phase 3 development program for YUPELRI in COPD, and Viatris was responsible for reimbursement of our costs related to the registrational program up until the approval of the first new drug application, after which costs were shared. YUPELRI was approved by the FDA for the maintenance treatment of patients with COPD in November 2018. In the US, Viatris is leading the commercialization of YUPELRI, and we co-promote the product under a profit and loss sharing arrangement (65% to Viatris; 35% to us). Outside the US (excluding China and adjacent territories), Viatris is responsible for development and commercialization and will pay us a tiered royalty on net sales at percentage royalty rates ranging from low double-digits to mid-teens. We retain worldwide rights to revefenacin delivered through other dosage forms, such as a MDI/DPI.
In June 2019, we announced the expansion of the Viatris Agreement to grant Viatris exclusive development and commercialization rights to nebulized revefenacin in China and adjacent territories, which include Hong Kong SAR, the Macau SAR, and Taiwan. In exchange, we received an upfront payment of $18.5 million (before a required tax withholding) and is eligible to receive additional potential development and sales milestones totaling $54.0 million and low double-digit tiered royalties on net sales of nebulized revefenacin, if approved. In March 2020, we earned a $1.5 million development milestone for the acceptance of a clinical trial application associated with the use of revefenacin monotherapy in China and adjacent territories. Viatris is responsible for all aspects of development and commercialization in the China ad adjacent territories, including pre- and post-launch activities and product registration and all associated costs.
Under the terms of the Viatris Agreement, as amended, as of December 31, 2022, we are eligible to receive from Viatris potential global development, regulatory and sales milestone payments (excluding China and adjacent territories) totaling up to $205.0 million in the aggregate with $160.0 million associated with YUPELRI monotherapy and $45.0 million associated with future potential combination products. Of the $160.0 million associated with monotherapy, $150.0 million relates to sales milestones based on achieving certain levels of net sales and $10.0 million relates to regulatory actions in the EU.
In August 2021, we announced that in collaboration with our partner Viatris, we were initiating a Phase 4 study comparing improvements in lung function in adults with severe to very severe COPD and suboptimal inspiratory flow rate following once-daily treatment with either YUPELRI delivered via standard jet nebulizer or tiotropium delivered via a dry powder inhaler (Spiriva® HandiHaler®). This study is aimed at helping to better inform decisions when physicians are designing a personalized COPD treatment plan with patients. In the future, this study could also be used to support promotional efforts for YUPELRI, which could aid in the capture of more of YUPELRI’s addressable market and further strengthen its competitive advantage. we have agreed to pay 35% of the Phase 4 study costs, and Viatris has agreed to pay 65% of the Phase 4 study costs. In January 2022, we announced the enrollment of the first patient in the Phase 4 study.
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While Viatris records total YUPELRI net sales, we are entitled to a 35% share of the net profit (loss). Our implied 35% share of total YUPELRI net sales is presented below:
Change
Since March 2020, YUPELRI’s growth trajectory has been impacted by the COVID-19 respiratory pandemic. However, in late 2021, we began to observe more sustained growth in YUPELRI sales. We continue to monitor external factors that are associated with the current healthcare market which may be impacting demand for YUPELRI due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, including the return of customer orders to pre-pandemic utilization levels and the duration of use. Although pandemic restrictions have receded in many regions at this time, we are not able to predict with certainty the ultimate enduring disruptive impact of the ongoing pandemic on YUPELRI sales, and it is possible the pandemic may continue to put downward pressure on our sales. As a result, sales volatility may continue throughout 2023. As we have throughout the pandemic, we will continue to track market adoption, including formulary inclusion success and the various aspects of market access. We and Viatris continue to supply YUPELRI to our patients and currently do not anticipate any material interruptions in supply.
Ampreloxetine (TD-9855)
Ampreloxetine is an investigational, once-daily norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (“NRI”) that we are developing for the treatment of patients with Multiple System Atrophy (“MSA”) and symptomatic neurogenic orthostatic hypotension (“nOH”). nOH is caused by primary autonomic failure conditions and the majority of patients with MSA experience symptoms of nOH. Ampreloxetine has high affinity for binding to the norepinephrine (“NE”) transporter. By blocking the action of the NE transporter, ampreloxetine causes an increase in extracellular concentrations of norepinephrine. Ampreloxetine is wholly owned by Theravance Biopharma.
Based on positive results from a small exploratory Phase 2 study in nOH and discussions with the FDA, we advanced ampreloxetine into a Phase 3 program. We announced the initiation of patient dosing in study in early 2019. The Phase 3 program consisted of two pivotal studies and one non-pivotal study. The first pivotal study (SEQUOIA), a four-week, randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study, was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ampreloxetine in Parkinson’s disease (“PD”), pure autonomic failure (“PAF”) and MSA patients with symptomatic nOH. The second pivotal study (REDWOOD), a four-month open label study followed by a six-week randomized withdrawal phase was designed to evaluate the durability of the same patient groups response to ampreloxetine. The protocol for the pivotal studies stipulated an enrollment threshold of 40% MSA patients based on the hypothesis ampreloxetine would work the best in patients with MSA because they have more intact nerves on which ampreloxetine can exert its effect, relative to the other patient types in the study. The third, non-pivotal study (OAK), was designed to allow patients who completed REDWOOD to have continued access to ampreloxetine for up to three and half years.
In September 2021, we reported that the SEQUOIA Phase 3 clinical study did not meet its primary endpoint. Most treatment-related adverse events were mild or moderate in severity. Serious adverse events occurred in two patients on placebo and four on ampreloxetine and none of which were considered related to the study drug. No deaths were reported, and there was no signal for supine hypertension.
In April 2022, we reported that the REDWOOD Phase 3 clinical study did not meet its primary endpoint as the results were not statistically significant for the overall population of patients which included patients with PD, PAF, and MSA. The pre-specified subgroup analysis by disease type suggested that the average benefit seen in patients receiving ampreloxetine was largely driven by a benefit to MSA patients. The benefit to MSA patients in the study was observed in multiple endpoints including Orthostatic Hypotension Symptom Assessment Scale (“OHSA”) composite, Orthostatic Hypotension Daily Activities Scale (“OHDAS”) composite, Orthostatic Hypotension Questionnaire (“OHQ”) composite and OHSA #1. Throughout the study, there was no indication of worsening of supine hypertension among any of the patient sub-groups. Data suggest that ampreloxetine was well-tolerated and no new safety signals were identified among any of the patient sub-groups.
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In June 2022, we held a Type C meeting with the FDA. From this meeting, we aligned on a path to an NDA filing with one additional Phase 3 clinical study in MSA patients with symptomatic nOH, using the OHSA composite score as the primary endpoint. We expect this additional Phase 3 study to begin enrolling in first quarter of 2023.
On July 13, 2022, in conjunction with the TRELEGY Royalty Transaction, Royalty Pharma agreed to invest up to $40.0 million to advance the development of ampreloxetine in MSA in exchange for unsecured low single-digit royalties. Royalty Pharma’s $40.0 million investment in ampreloxetine includes a $25.0 million upfront payment and an additional $15.0 million payment upon the first regulatory approval of ampreloxetine. We anticipate that the $25.0 million upfront investment in ampreloxetine will fund the majority of the Phase 3 study costs. In exchange, Royalty Pharma will receive future unsecured royalties of 2.5% on annual global net sales up to $500.0 million and 4.5% on annual global net sales over $500.0 million. If ampreloxetine regulatory approval is not achieved or if ampreloxetine sales are never recognized, the amounts invested by Royalty Pharma would not be repaid by us.On July 20, 2022, the TRELEGY Royalty Transaction was completed, and we received $25.0 million in cash from Royalty Pharma related to ampreloxetine royalty rights.
Out-Licensed Programs
Skin-selective Pan-JAK inhibitor Program
In December 2019, we entered into a global license agreement with Pfizer Inc. (“Pfizer”) for our preclinical skin-selective, locally acting pan-JAK inhibitor program (the “Pfizer Agreement”). The compounds in this program are designed to target validated pro-inflammatory pathways and are specifically designed to possess skin-selective activity with minimal systemic exposure.
Under the Pfizer Agreement, Pfizer has an exclusive license to develop, manufacture and commercialize certain compounds for all uses other than gastrointestinal, ophthalmic, and respiratory applications. We received an upfront cash payment of $10.0 million in 2019, and in March 2022, we received a $2.5 million development milestone payment from Pfizer for the first patient dosed in a Phase 1 clinical trial of the skin-selective pan-JAK inhibitor program.
As of December 31, 2022, we are eligible to receive up to an additional $237.5 million in development and sales milestone payments from Pfizer. In addition, we are eligible to receive a tiered royalty on worldwide net sales of any potential products under the license at percentage royalty rates ranging from middle single-digits to low double-digits.
Selective 5-HT4 Agonist (TD-8954)
TD-8954 is a selective 5-HT4 receptor agonist that was being developed for potential use in the treatment of gastrointestinal motility disorders. Pursuant to a License and Collaboration Agreement that we executed in June 2016 with Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (“Takeda”), Takeda conducted a Phase 2 study of TD-8954 as a potential treatment for post-operative gastrointestinal dysfunction. The Phase 2 study did not meet its endpoints, and we mutually agreed with Takeda to discontinue further development of this program and the Collaboration Agreement in February 2023.
Economic Interests and Other Assets
Mid- and Long-Term Economic Interest in GSK-Partnered Respiratory Programs
On July 20, 2022, we completed the sale of all of our equity interests in TRC representing our 85% economic interest in the sales-based royalty rights on worldwide net sales of GSK's TRELEGY to Royalty Pharma.
From and after January 1, 2023, for any calendar year starting with the year ending December 31, 2023 and ending with the year December 31, 2026, upon certain milestone minimum royalty amounts for TRELEGY being met, Royalty Pharma is obligated to make certain cash payments to us (the “Milestone Payments”), which may total $250.0 million in the aggregate. The first Milestone Payment of $50.0 million will be triggered if Royalty Pharma receives $240.0 million or more in royalty payments from GSK with respect to 2023 TRELEGY global net sales, which we
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would expect to occur in the event TRELEGY global net sales reach approximately $2.863 billion. Royalties payable from GSK to Royalty Pharma are upward-tiering from 6.5% to 10%.
Additionally, we will receive from Royalty Pharma 85% of the royalty payments on the Assigned Collaboration Products payable (a) for sales or other activities occurring on and after January 1, 2031 related to the Assigned Collaboration Products in the US, and (b) for sales or other activities occurring on and after July 1, 2029 related to the Assigned Collaboration Products outside of the US. US TRELEGY royalties payable to us by GSK are expected to end in late 2032 and ex-US royalties are expected to end in mid-2030s and are country specific.
TRELEGY (the combination of fluticasone furoate/umeclidinium bromide/vilanterol)
The following information regarding the TRELEGY program is based solely upon publicly available information and may not reflect the most recent developments under the programs.
TRELEGY provides the activity of an inhaled corticosteroid (FF) plus two bronchodilators (UMEC, a LAMA, and VI, a long-acting beta2 agonist, or LABA) in a single delivery device administered once-daily. TRELEGY is approved for use in the US, European Union (“EU”), and other countries for the long-term, once-daily, maintenance treatment of patients with COPD. Additionally, the FDA approved an sNDA for the use of TRELEGY to treat asthma in adults in September 2020 making TRELEGY the first once-daily single inhaler triple therapy for the treatment of both asthma and COPD in the US. GSK has obtained approval for the asthma indication in ten additional markets. TRELEGY is currently expected to generate global peak sales of $3.5 billion annually according to consensus estimates. Over the past three years, TRELEGY has shown substantial growth, with global net sales increasing annually from $661.4 million in 2019 to $2.1 billion in 2022.
See “Risk Factors—We do not control the commercialization of TRELEGY; accordingly, our receipt of Milestone Payments and receipt of the value we currently anticipate from the Outer Years Royalty will depend on, among other factors, GSK’s ability to further commercialize TRELEGY” for additional information.
Velusetrag (TD-5108)
Velusetrag is an oral, investigational medicine developed for gastrointestinal motility disorders. It is a highly selective agonist with high intrinsic activity at the human 5-HT4 receptor.
On June 30, 2022, we entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement (“APA”) to sell all of our velusetrag assets to Alfasigma S.p.A. (“Alfasigma”). As consideration for the velusetrag sale, we received $2.8 million in cash in July 2022, and we are eligible to receive future developmental and sales milestones totaling up to $105.0 million. In the year ended December 31, 2022, we recognized a net gain of approximately $2.7 million related to the sale of velusetrag.
Development Projects
Our development projects are prioritized by those with the highest expected potential value. Our enhanced focus remains on near-term value opportunities which include driving YUPELRI growth and conducting a new FDA-aligned ampreloxetine Phase 3 study. On February 27, 2023, we announced the decision to discontinue research activities including our inhaled JAK program. This includes nezulcitinib, a nebulized, lung-selective JAK inhibitor positioned for the treatment of acute and chronic lung diseases.
Our Strategy
Our focus is to deliver medicines that make a difference® in people's lives. In pursuit of our purpose, we leverage decades of expertise, which has led to the development of FDA-approved YUPELRI® (revefenacin) inhalation solution indicated for the maintenance treatment of patients with COPD. Ampreloxetine, our late-stage investigational norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor in development for symptomatic nOH, has the potential to be a first in class therapy effective in treating a constellation of cardinal symptoms in MSA patients. We are committed to creating/driving shareholder value.
We follow these core guiding principles in our mission to drive value creation:
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• Focus on insight and innovation;
• Outsource non-core activities;
• Create and foster an integrated environment; and
• Aggressively manage uncertainty.
We manage our pipeline with the goal of optimizing program value and allocation of resources. We employ multiple strategies for commercialization of our products. Our approach may involve retaining product rights and marketing a product independently in the US or we may partner a product to extend our commercial reach, to expand our geographic reach, and/or to manage the financial risk associated with the program. Alternatively, we may monetize or divest an asset that we designate as outside our core business, where we believe the program is optimized by leveraging partner capabilities and removing or limiting our research and development costs.
Manufacturing
We rely primarily on a network of third-party manufacturers, including contract manufacturing organizations, to produce the active pharmaceutical ingredients (“API”) and drug products required for our clinical trials and drug product. We believe that we and our partners have in-house expertise to manage this network of third-party manufacturers, and we believe that we will be able to continue to negotiate third-party manufacturing arrangements on commercially reasonable terms and that it will not be necessary for us to rely on internal manufacturing capacity in order to develop or, potentially, commercialize our products. However, if we are unable to obtain contract manufacturing or obtain such manufacturing on commercially reasonable terms, or if manufacturing is interrupted at one of our suppliers, whether due to regulatory or other reasons, we may not be able to develop our products or commercialize product as planned.
Any inability to acquire sufficient quantities of API or drug product in a timely manner from current or future sources could disrupt our research and development programs, the conduct of future clinical trials or our commercialization efforts. For more information, see the risk factor under the heading “There is a single source of supply for a number of our product candidates and for YUPELRI, and our business will be harmed if any of these single-source manufacturers are not able to satisfy demand and alternative sources are not available” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Government Regulation
The development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products and our product candidates by us, our collaboration partners and licensees, and those commercializing products in which we have an economic interest, such as GSK, and our ongoing research are subject to extensive regulation by governmental authorities in the US and other countries. Before marketing in the US, any medicine must undergo rigorous preclinical studies and clinical studies and an extensive regulatory approval process implemented by the FDA under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Outside the US, the ability to market a product depends upon receiving a marketing authorization from the appropriate regulatory authorities which are subject to equally rigorous regulatory obligations. The requirements governing the conduct of clinical studies, marketing authorization, pricing and reimbursement vary widely from country to country. In any country, however, the commercialization of pharmaceutical products is permitted only if the appropriate regulatory authority is satisfied that we have presented adequate evidence of the safety, quality and efficacy of the product.
Before commencing clinical studies in humans in the US, we must submit to the FDA an investigational new drug application (“IND”) that includes, among other things, the general investigational plan and protocols for specific human studies and the results of preclinical studies. An IND will go into effect 30 days following its receipt by the FDA unless the FDA issues a clinical hold. Once clinical studies have begun under the IND, they are usually conducted in three phases and under FDA oversight. These phases generally include the following:
Phase 1. The product candidate is introduced into patients or healthy human volunteers and is tested for safety, dose tolerance and pharmacokinetics.
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Phase 2. The product candidate is introduced into a limited patient population to assess the efficacy of the drug in specific, targeted indications, assess dosage tolerance and optimal dosage, and identify possible adverse effects and safety risks.
Phase 3. Phase 3 clinical trials are undertaken to further evaluate dosage, clinical efficacy, potency and safety in an expanded patient population at geographically dispersed clinical trial sites. These clinical trials are intended to establish the overall risk/benefit profile of the product and provide an adequate basis for product labeling.
The results of product development, preclinical studies and clinical studies must be submitted to the FDA as part of an NDA. The NDA also must contain extensive manufacturing information, and under the Pediatric Research Equity Act (“PREA”), certain applications for approval must also include an assessment, generally based on clinical study data, of the safety and effectiveness of the subject drug in relevant pediatric populations. The submission of an NDA generally requires payment of a substantial user fee to the FDA under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (“PDUFA”), subject to certain limited deferrals, waivers and reductions. FDA’s PDUFA performance goal is to review and act on 90 percent of priority new molecular entity (“NME”) NDA submissions within 6 months of the 60-day filing date, and to review and act on 90 percent of standard NME NDA submissions within 10 months of the 60-day filing date. The FDA may determine that a Risk Evaluation and Management Strategy (“REMS”) is necessary to ensure that the benefits of a product outweigh its risks. At the end of the review period, the FDA communicates either approval of the NDA or issues a complete response letter (“CRL”) listing the application’s deficiencies. The CRL may require additional testing or information, including additional pre-clinical or clinical data, for the FDA to reconsider the application. Even if such additional information and data are submitted, the FDA may decide that the NDA still does not meet the standards for approval. Data from clinical trials are not always conclusive and the FDA may interpret data differently than the sponsor. FDA approval of any application may include many delays or never be granted. If FDA grants approval, an approval letter authorizes commercial marketing of the product candidate with specific prescribing information for specific indications. Post-approval modifications to the drug, such as changes in indications, labeling, or manufacturing processes or facilities, may require a sponsor to develop additional data or conduct additional pre-clinical studies or clinical trials, to be submitted in a new or supplemental NDA, which would require FDA approval.
If an application is approved, drug products are subject to continuing regulation by the FDA, and the FDA may withdraw the product approval if compliance with post-marketing regulatory standards is not maintained or if safety or quality issues are identified after the product reaches the marketplace. In addition, the FDA may require post-marketing studies, sometimes referred to as Phase 4 studies, to monitor the safety and effectiveness of approved products, and may limit further marketing of the product based on the results of these post-marketing studies. The FDA has broad post-market regulatory and enforcement powers, including the ability to require changes to a product’s approved labeling, including the addition of new warnings and contraindications, or the implementation of other risk management measures, including distribution-related restrictions, if there are new safety information developments, suspend or delay issuance of approvals, seize products, withdraw approvals, enjoin violations, and initiate criminal prosecution.
If regulatory approval for a medicine is obtained, the clearance to market the product will be limited to those diseases and conditions approved by FDA and for which the medicine was shown to be effective, as demonstrated through clinical studies and specified in the medicine’s labeling. If this regulatory approval is obtained, a marketed medicine, its manufacturer and its manufacturing facilities are subject to continual review and periodic inspections by the FDA. The FDA ensures the quality of approved medicines, carefully monitoring manufacturers’ compliance with its current Good Manufacturing Practice (“cGMP”) regulations by conducting regular, periodic visits to re-inspect equipment, facilities, and processes following the initial approval of a product. Failure to comply with applicable cGMP requirements and conditions of product approval may lead the FDA to take enforcement actions or seek sanctions, including fines, issuance of warning letters, civil penalties, injunctions, suspension of manufacturing operations, operating restrictions, withdrawal of FDA approval, seizure or recall of products, and criminal prosecution. The cGMP regulations for drugs contain minimum requirements for the methods, facilities, and controls used in manufacturing, processing, and packaging of a medicine. The regulations are intended to make sure that a medicine is safe for use, and that it has the ingredients and strength it claims to have. Discovery of previously unknown problems with a medicine, manufacturer or facility may result in restrictions on the medicine or manufacturer, including fines, issuance of warning letters, civil penalties, injunctions, suspension of manufacturing operations, operating restrictions, costly recalls, withdrawal of FDA approval, and criminal prosecution.
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Additionally, the FDA and other federal regulatory agencies closely regulate the marketing and promotion of drugs through, among other things, standards and regulations for direct-to-consumer advertising, advertising and promotion to healthcare professionals, communications regarding unapproved uses, industry-sponsored scientific and educational activities, and promotional activities involving the Internet. A product cannot be promoted before it is approved. After approval, product promotion can include only those claims relating to safety and effectiveness that are consistent with the labeling approved by the FDA. Healthcare providers are permitted to prescribe drugs for “off-label” uses - that is, uses not approved by the FDA and not described in the product’s labeling - because the FDA does not regulate the practice of medicine. However, FDA regulations impose restrictions on manufacturers’ communications regarding off-label uses. Broadly speaking, a manufacturer may not promote a drug for off-label use, but under certain conditions may engage in non-promotional, balanced, scientific communication regarding off-label use. Failure to comply with applicable FDA requirements and restrictions in this area may subject a company to adverse publicity and enforcement action by the FDA, the Department of Justice, or the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as state authorities. This could subject a company to a range of penalties that could have a significant commercial impact, including civil and criminal fines and agreements that materially restrict the manner in which a company promotes or distributes a drug.
We, our collaboration partners and licensees are also subject to various laws and regulations regarding laboratory practices, the experimental use of animals and the use and disposal of hazardous or potentially hazardous substances in connection with our research. In each of these areas, as above, the FDA and other regulatory authorities have broad regulatory and enforcement powers, including the ability to suspend or delay issuance of approvals, seize products, withdraw approvals, enjoin violations, and initiate criminal prosecution, any one or more of which could have a material adverse effect upon our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Outside the US, the ability to market products will also depend on receiving marketing authorizations from the appropriate regulatory authorities. Risks similar to those associated with FDA approval described above exist with the regulatory approval processes in other countries.
United States Healthcare Reform
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended (the “Healthcare Reform Act”), substantially changed the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers, and impacts pricing and reimbursement of YUPELRI and the marketed drugs with respect to which we are entitled to royalty or similar payments, and related commercial operations. Certain provisions of the Healthcare Reform Act have been subject to judicial challenges as well as efforts to modify them or to alter their interpretation or implementation. We expect that the Healthcare Reform Act, its implementation, efforts to modify, or invalidate, the Healthcare Reform Act or portions thereof, or its implementation, and other healthcare reform measures that may be adopted in the future, could have a material adverse effect on our industry generally and on the ability of us, our collaboration partners, or those commercializing products with respect to which we have an economic interest or right to receive royalties to maintain or increase sales of our existing products or to successfully commercialize our product candidates, if approved. For more information, see the risk factor under the heading “Changes in healthcare law and implementing regulations, including government restrictions on pricing and reimbursement, as well as healthcare policy and other healthcare payor cost-containment initiatives, may negatively impact us, our collaboration partners, or those commercializing products with respect to which we have an economic interest or right to receive royalties” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Pharmaceutical Pricing and Reimbursement
We participated in and had certain price reporting obligations under the Medicaid Drug Rebate and other programs and we remain responsible for data reported under those programs in past quarters, as described in greater detail under the risk factor “If we failed to comply with our reporting and payment obligations under the Medicaid Drug Rebate program or other governmental pricing programs, we could be subject to additional reimbursement requirements, penalties, sanctions and fines, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
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Our ability, and the ability of our collaboration partners, licensees, or those commercializing products with respect to which we have an economic interest or right to receive royalties to commercialize our products successfully, and our ability to attract commercialization partners for our products, depends in significant part on the availability of adequate financial coverage and reimbursement from third-party payors, including, in the US, governmental payors such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs, managed care organizations, and private health insurers. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”) establishes a new manufacturer discount program, Part B and Part D inflation rebates, and a Drug Price Negotiation Program under which the prices for Medicare units of certain high Medicare spend drugs without generic or biosimilar competition will be capped by reference to, among other things, a specified non-federal average manufacturer price, with negotiated prices set to take effect starting in 2026. Whether any of our products are selected for negotiation for a given year will depend on whether they are at least 7 years post-approval/licensure; whether they meet any of the exclusions from eligibility for selection for negotiation, such as the exclusion of certain orphan drugs; their expenditures under Medicare Part B or Part D during a statutorily specified period; and whether a generic of the product has been determined to have come to market. Our development candidate, ampreloxetine, could receive an orphan drug designation, which could shield it from being selected for negotiation. Our understanding of whether and when our products are likely to be subject to selection for negotiation could evolve as the Drug Price Negotiation Program is implemented. We further expect continued scrutiny on pricing from Congress, agencies, and other bodies with respect to drug pricing. The reimbursement environment is described in greater detail under the risk factor “Changes in healthcare law and implementing regulations, including government restrictions on pricing and reimbursement, as well as healthcare policy and other healthcare payor cost-containment initiatives, may negatively impact us, our collaboration partners, or those commercializing products with respect to which we have an economic interest or right to receive royalties” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Fraud and Abuse Laws
Our interactions and arrangements with customers and third-party payors are subject to applicable US federal and state fraud and abuse laws and equivalent third country laws. These laws and the related risks are described in greater detail under the risk factor “Our relationships with customers and third-party payors are subject to applicable anti-kickback, fraud and abuse, transparency and other healthcare laws and regulations, which could expose us to criminal sanctions, civil penalties, exclusion, contractual damages, reputational harm and diminished profits and future earnings” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Data Privacy and Protection
We are subject to laws and regulations that address privacy and data security. In the US, numerous federal and state laws and regulations, including state data breach notification laws, state health information and/or genetic privacy laws, and federal and state consumer protection laws (e.g., Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTC Act”)), govern the collection, use, disclosure, and protection of health-related and other personal information. Similar obligations apply outside of the US. For example, the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) amplified existing data protection obligations in the EU. These laws and related risks are described in greater detail under the risk factor “If we fail to comply with data protection laws and regulations, we could be subject to government enforcement actions (which could include civil or criminal penalties), private litigation and/or adverse publicity, which could negatively affect our operating results and business” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Patents and Proprietary Rights
We will be able to protect our technology from unauthorized use by third parties only to the extent that our technology is covered by valid and enforceable patents or is effectively maintained as trade secrets. Our success in the future will depend in part on obtaining patent protection for our product candidates. Accordingly, patents and other proprietary rights are essential elements of our business. Our policy is to seek patent protection in the US and selected foreign countries for novel technologies, including compositions of matter that are commercially important to the development of our business. For proprietary know-how that is not patentable, processes for which patents are difficult to enforce and any other elements of our drug discovery process that involve proprietary know-how and technology that is not covered by patent applications, we rely on trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect our interests. We require all of our employees, consultants and advisors to enter into confidentiality agreements. Where it is necessary to share our proprietary information or data with outside parties, our policy is to make available only that
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information and data required to accomplish the desired purpose and only pursuant to a duty of confidentiality on the part of those parties.
As of December 31, 2022, we owned a total of 235 issued US patents and 1,491 granted foreign patents, as well as additional pending US patent applications and foreign patent applications. The claims in these various patents and patent applications are typically directed to compositions of matter, including claims covering product candidates, crystalline forms, lead compounds and key intermediates, pharmaceutical compositions, methods of use and/or processes for making our compounds. Our patents and patent applications are also directed to other inventions made during the research and development process. In particular, our wholly-owned subsidiary Theravance Biopharma R&D IP, LLC owns the following US patents that are listed in the FDA Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations (Orange Book) for YUPELRI (revefenacin) inhalation solution: US Patent No. 7,288,657, expiring on December 23, 2025; US Patent No. 7,491,736, expiring March 10, 2025; US Patent No. 7,521,041, expiring March 10, 2025; US Patent No. 7,550,595, expiring March 10, 2025; US Patent No. 7,585,879, expiring March 10, 2025; US Patent No. 7,910,608, expiring March 10, 2025; US Patent No. 8,034,946, expiring March 10, 2025; US Patent No. 8,053,448, expiring March 10, 2025; US Patent No. 8,273,894, expiring March 10, 2025; US Patent No. 8,541,451, expiring August 25, 2031; US Patent No. 9,765,028, expiring July 14, 2030; US Patent No. 10,106,503, expiring March 10, 2025; US Patent No. 10,343,995, expiring March 10, 2025; US Patent No. 10,550,081, expiring July 14, 2030; US Patent No. 11,008,289, expiring July 14, 2030; US Patent No. 11,247,969, expiring March 10, 2025; and US Patent 11,484,531, expiring October 23, 2039 (each of the aforementioned expiration dates not including any patent term extensions that may be available under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984). Thus, the last to expire patent currently listed in the Orange Book for YUPELRI (revefenacin) inhalation solution expires on October 23, 2039. On December 19, 2018, we filed patent term extension (“PTE”) applications in the US Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) for US Patent Nos. 7,288,657 and 7,585,879. These PTE applications are currently pending and, if granted, we will be permitted to extend the term of one of these patents for the period determined by the USPTO.
Issued US and foreign patents generally expire 20 years after their filing date. The patent rights relating to YUPELRI (revefenacin) inhalation solution currently consist of issued US patents, pending US patent applications and counterpart patents and patent applications in a number of jurisdictions, including Europe.
Additionally, some of our patents and patent applications directed to products in development. Our patent rights relating to ampreloxetine include an issued US composition of matter patent that expires in 2030 and an issued US method of treatment patent that expires in 2037 (in each case, not including any patent term extensions that may be available under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984). Our patent rights relating to nezulcitinib currently include an issued US composition of matter patent that expires in 2039 (not including any patent term extensions that may be available under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984). The patent portfolios for these development products include additional pending patent applications and granted patents in a number of jurisdictions. Nevertheless, issued patents can be challenged, narrowed, invalidated, or circumvented, which could limit our ability to stop competitors from marketing similar products and threaten our ability to commercialize our product candidates. Our patent position, similar to other companies in our industry, is generally uncertain and involves complex legal and factual questions. To maintain our proprietary position, we will need to obtain effective claims and enforce these claims once granted. It is possible that, before any of our products can be commercialized, any related patent may expire or remain in force only for a short period following commercialization, thereby reducing any advantage of the patent. Also, we do not know whether any of our patent applications will result in any issued patents or, if issued, whether the scope of the issued claims will be sufficient to protect our proprietary position.
Patent Term Restoration, Regulatory Exclusivities, and Hatch-Waxman Litigation
Depending upon the timing, duration, and specifics of FDA approval of our product candidates, some of our United States patents may be eligible for limited patent term extension under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, referred to as the Hatch-Waxman Act. The Hatch-Waxman Act permits a patent restoration term of up to five years as compensation for patent term lost during product development and the FDA regulatory review process. However, patent term restoration cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the product’s approval date. The patent term restoration period is generally one-half the time between the effective date of an IND and the submission date of an NDA, plus the time between the submission date of an NDA and the approval of that application, except that the period is reduced by any time during which the applicant failed to
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exercise due diligence. Only one patent applicable to an approved drug is eligible for the extension, and the extension must be applied for prior to expiration of the patent and within 60 days of approval. The United States Patent and Trademark Office, in consultation with the FDA, reviews and approves the application for any patent term extension or restoration.
The Hatch-Waxman Act also provides periods of regulatory exclusivity for products that would serve as a reference listed drug, or RLD, for an abbreviated new drug application, or ANDA, or application submitted under section 505(b)(2) of the FDCA, or 505(b)(2) application. If a product is a new chemical entity, or NCE — generally meaning that the active moiety has never before been approved in any drug — there is a period of five years from the product’s approval during which the FDA may not accept for filing any ANDA or 505(b)(2) application for a drug with the same active moiety. An ANDA or 505(b)(2) application may be submitted after four years, however, if the sponsor of the application makes a “Paragraph IV” certification stating that the relevant patents are invalid or will not be infringed by the applicant’s product.
A product, if not an NCE, or a new product use may instead qualify for a three-year period of exclusivity if the NDA contains new clinical data (other than bioavailability studies), derived from studies conducted by or for the sponsor, that were necessary for approval. In that instance, the exclusivity period does not preclude filing or review of an ANDA or 505(b)(2) application; rather, the FDA is precluded from granting final approval to the ANDA or 505(b)(2) application until three years after approval of the RLD. Additionally, the exclusivity applies only to the conditions of approval that required submission of the clinical data.
Once the FDA accepts for filing an ANDA or 505(b)(2) application containing a Paragraph IV certification, the applicant must within 20 days provide notice to the RLD NDA holder and patent owner that the application has been submitted and provide the factual and legal basis for the applicant’s assertion that the patent is invalid or not infringed. If the NDA holder or patent owner files suit against the ANDA or 505(b)(2) applicant for patent infringement within 45 days of receiving the Paragraph IV notice, the FDA is prohibited from approving the ANDA or 505(b)(2) application for a period of 30 months or the resolution of the underlying suit, whichever is earlier. If the RLD has NCE exclusivity and the notice is given and suit filed during the fifth year of exclusivity, the regulatory stay extends until 7.5 years after the RLD approval. The FDA may approve the proposed product before the expiration of the regulatory stay if a court finds the patent invalid or not infringed or if the court shortens the period because the parties have failed to cooperate in expediting the litigation.
During January 2023, we received notice from Accord Healthcare, Inc.; Cipla USA, Inc. and Cipla Limited; Eugia Pharma Specialties Ltd.; Lupin Inc.; Mankind Pharma Ltd.; Orbicular Pharmaceutical Technologies Private Limited; and Teva Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (collectively, the “generic companies”), that they have each filed with FDA an ANDA, for a generic version of YUPELRI. The notices from the generic companies each included a Paragraph IV certification with respect to five of our patents listed in FDA’s Orange Book for YUPELRI. The asserted patents relate generally to polymorphic forms of and a method of treatment using YUPELRI. In February 2023, we filed patent infringement suits against the generic companies in federal district courts, including the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. The complaint alleges that by filing the ANDAs, the generic companies have infringed five of our Orange Book listed patents. We are seeking a permanent injunction to prevent the generic companies from introducing a generic version of YUPELRI that would infringe our patents. As a result of this lawsuit, a stay of approval through May 2026 will be imposed by FDA on the generic companies’ ANDAs pending any adverse court decision. This litigation and the related risks are described in greater detail under the risk factor “Litigation to protect or defend our intellectual property or third-party claims of intellectual property infringement would require us to divert resources and may prevent or delay our drug discovery and development efforts”of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Competition
Our late-stage development programs, and the marketed products to which we are entitled to profit share revenue, royalty or similar payments are primarily focused on respiratory and neurological therapeutics. Our commercial infrastructure is focused primarily on the acute care setting. We expect that any medicines that we commercialize with our collaborative partners or on our own will compete with existing and future market-leading medicines.
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Many of our competitors have substantially greater financial, technical and personnel resources than we have. In addition, many of these competitors have significantly greater commercial infrastructures than we have. Our ability to compete successfully will depend largely on our ability to leverage our experience in drug discovery, development and commercialization to:
• obtain required regulatory approvals;
• commercialize approved products; and
YUPELRI (revefenacin) inhalation solution
YUPELRI competes predominately with the nebulized LAMA Lonhala® Magnair® (glycopyrrolate) dosed two times per day and with short acting nebulized bronchodilators that are dosed three to four times per day.
Ampreloxetine norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (“NRI”)
If successfully developed and approved for MSA patients with symptomatic nOH, ampreloxetine would be expected to compete predominantly with droxidopa. Northera®, marketed by Lundbeck NA Ltd., is the branded version of droxidopa and became generic in 2021. To a lesser extent, midodrine and fludrocortisone are considered to be competitors and are also currently available as generic medications.
Trelegy (the combination of fluticasone furoate/umeclidinium bromide/vilanterol)
For treatment of COPD, Trelegy competes in all major markets with AstraZeneca’s Breztri® Aerosphere® (budesonide/glycopyrronium/formoterol fumarate, dosed twice per day). Trimbow (beclometasone dipropionate/formoterol fumarate/glycopyrronium bromide, dosed twice per day) from Chiesi Farmaceutici is an additional COPD competitor in Europe.
For treatment of asthma, TRELEGY is the only triple therapy approved in the US and competes in Japan with Novartis’s Enerzair® Breezhaler® (indacaterol acetate, glycopyrronium bromide and mometasone furoate, dosed once daily).
In both COPD and asthma, TRELEGY also competes with “open triple” therapy which can be accomplished by the concurrent use of two or three products. An example of such use includes a LABA/ICS combination such as AstraZeneca’s Symbicort and a LAMA such as Boehringer Ingelheim’s Spiriva.
Human Capital
As of December 31, 2022, we had 111 employees. Of these employees, 103 were in the US, and 8 were non-US.
Culture and Employee Engagement
We consider our employee relations first-rate and strive to provide a culture of purpose, engagement, and learning. Theravance has a strong value proposition anchored in our Core Values—We Think it Through, We Find a Way, We Get it Done, and We Win Together. We strive to live these values across the Company every day, integrating them into everything from our interview, hiring, and onboarding processes to our PULSE performance process, total rewards, and recognition programs.In addition to valuing professional qualifications, we emphasize the importance of character and integrity, fostering a culture of empowerment where employees have ownership in business outcomes.
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Reflected in our Core Values are behaviors that keep our people engaged and working collaboratively. Our employees are encouraged to ask questions, make suggestions, and provide input through many forms of corporate communication, such as an open-door policy, all-employee meetings, an anonymous online suggestion box, and an employee PULSE survey. Given the importance of engagement in a hybrid-remote work environment, the Company has put together a cross-functional Engagement Committee that designs and implements engagement initiatives for all employees across all levels and location. These initiatives include all employee Hub events, meeting free days, employee spotlights, and virtual social events, in addition to executing Company communication strategies.
Our employee PULSE survey is designed to assist us in measuring overall employee engagement, and weconsistently achieve participation rates between 85% to 100%. 2022 survey scores averaged an overall score of 4.1 on a scale of 1 (Strongly Disagree) through 5 (Strongly Agree), and we received 100% participation from employees. These survey results provide important insight into organizational success and opportunity, allowing potential variation in overall satisfaction to be identified and addressed as we continue to move forward.
We have significant retention incentives in place post-Restructuring. These include a special incentive compensation program of both long- and short-term offerings and an engagement plan that connects the importance of achieving our core purpose to the strength of our connections and team-building. Our reimagined operating model celebrates the increased flexibility and productivity many employees reported during remote work while allowing broad access to office workstations and the in-person collaborations that elevate our culture and give us our competitive advantage.
We expect all employees to observe the highest levels of business ethics while delivering the highest levels of performance. These expectations are outlined and reinforced in various documents and forms of communication within and across our Company. The Company encourages employees to speak up and raise questions and concerns promptly about any situation that may violate our Code of Business Conduct, our Core Values, or our policies. It benefits the entire Company for employees to raise concerns so the Company may consider them carefully and address them appropriately. We seek to promote an environment that fosters honest communications about matters of conduct related to our business activities, whether that conduct occurs within the Company, involves one of the Company’s contractors, suppliers, consultants, clients, or any other party with a business relationship with the Company. We work diligently to make clear that management is prepared to address any reported violations and ensure that it is known that any form of retaliation is strictly prohibited. In addition, we have an easily accessible hotline available to employees wishing to report complaints anonymously.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
As an equal-opportunity employer, we strive to build and maintain a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion through both our business and human resources practices and policies. We work to eliminate discrimination and harassment in all its forms, including related to color, race, sex or gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, pregnancy, caste, disability, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, religious beliefs, veteran status, uniformed service member status, or physical or mental disability. We strive to build and foster a culture where all employees feel empowered to be their authentic selves. Our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council and Women’s Leadership Network are Company-sponsored, employee-led groups that aim to improve attraction, retention, development, inclusion, and engagement of a diverse and global workforce. For the benefit of our employees, patients, and community, we must celebrate, encourage, and support similarities and differences to drive innovation.
Talent, Development, and Total Rewards
We believe that our talent strategy of providing exciting career growth and development opportunities, recognizing and rewarding performance, providing competitive compensation and benefits assists us in attracting and retaining the best talent. We believe we are successful in our retention efforts because we provide challenging work assignments, cross-functional teamwork experiences, and career progression supported by new skill-building. We invest in employee learning and development by identifying and providing training and development programs, speakers, tuition reimbursement, and cross-training in areas of interest beyond hired role.
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We work diligently to attract the best talent from a diverse range of sources to meet the current and future demands of our business. We offer a competitive total rewards package that supports our business strategy to attract, retain and reward our employees in a highly competitive market. Our employees are provided with a strong base salary, cash bonus opportunities, equity incentives, health and wellness benefits, and programs. We regularly evaluate our compensation programs with an independent consultant and utilize industry benchmarking. In addition, we provide a variety of programs and services that meet our employees' needs and encourage work-life balance. These services include competitive and affordable healthcare and additional insurance benefits for both full-time and part-time employees, including eligible dependents. We also match contributions to tax-qualified defined contribution savings (401k) plans, offer an employee share purchase plan (“ESPP”), and provide training and development programs designed to improve workplace performance while supporting flexible, hybrid-remote working.
Understanding the importance of goal setting and ongoing career development conversations, we require managers and employees to play an active role in the PULSE performance management process at monthly, quarterly, and annual frequencies. PULSE is designed to increase clarity and accountability for roles and responsibilities, strengthen communication, and build trust, all while championing personal and professional growth, learning, and success.
Great teamwork is a critical foundation for Theravance Biopharma. The TheraStars Rewards and Recognition Program helps us maintain a culture of recognition and teamwork by offering various options for our employees and managers to recognize and reward colleagues across the organization. In 2022, 96.5% of our employee population were active registered users, with each user averaging 3.4 awards sent in recognition. These moments of celebration establish, reinforce, and maintain our sense of community and teamwork so critical in our ability to achieve our core purpose.
Workplace Safety and COVID-19
Workplace safety is always a priority for Theravance Biopharma. To maintain a safe and healthy workplace, we have implemented initiatives, procedures, and policies designed to address risk and stay compliant with relevant national and international health and safety standards.
In response to COVID-19, our COVID Task Force continues to lead the Company through the evolution of a pandemic with a continued focus on employee wellness and safety, policy updates based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”), county, federal and state guidelines, and ongoing employee communication. As part of this evolution, we have moved to a strategically flexible workforce, encouraging a hybrid-remote model, allowing us to reimagine how we work, and propelling us to emerge as a stronger, more nimble company.
Financial Information About Geographic Areas
Information on our total revenues attributed to geographic areas and customers who represented at least 10% of our total revenues is included in “Item 8, Note 3. Segment Information,” to our consolidated financial statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Corporation Information
Theravance Biopharma was incorporated in the Cayman Islands in July 2013 under the name Theravance Biopharma, Inc. Theravance Biopharma began operating as an independent, publicly-traded company on June 2, 2014 following a spin-off from Innoviva, Inc. Our corporate address in the Cayman Islands and principal executive office is P.O. Box 309, Ugland House, Grand Cayman, KY1-1104, Cayman Islands and the address of our wholly-owned US operating subsidiary Theravance Biopharma US, Inc. is 901 Gateway Boulevard, South San Francisco, California 94080. While Theravance Biopharma is incorporated under Cayman Island law, the Company became an Irish tax resident effective July 1, 2015. The office address of our wholly-owned Irish operating subsidiary, Theravance Biopharma Ireland Limited, is The Lennox Building, Suite 101, 50 Richmond Street South, Saint Kevin’s, Dublin, Ireland.
Available Information
Our Internet address is www.theravance.com. Our investor relations website is located at https://investor.theravance.com. We make available free of charge on our investor relations website under “SEC Filings”
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our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, our directors’ and officers’ Section 16 Reports and any amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after filing or furnishing such materials to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The SEC maintains a website that contains the materials we file with or furnish to the SEC at www.sec.gov. Our current Code of Business Conduct, Corporate Governance Guidelines, Articles of Association, Board of Director Committee Charters, and other materials, including amendments thereto, may also be found on our investor relations website under “Corporate Governance.” The information found on our website is not part of this or any other report that we file with or furnish to the SEC. Theravance Biopharma and the Theravance Biopharma logo are registered trademarks of the Theravance Biopharma group of companies. Trademarks, tradenames or service marks of other companies appearing in this report are the property of their respective owners.
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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
The risks described below and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our other public filings with the SEC are not the only risks facing the Company. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be not material also may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and/or operating results.
Summary of Principal Risks Associated with Theravance Biopharma’s Business
RISKS RELATING TO THE COMPANY
We may never achieve or sustain profitability.
First as part of Innoviva, Inc., and since June 2, 2014 as Theravance Biopharma, we have been engaged in discovery and development of compounds and product candidates since mid-1997. We are currently approaching non-GAAP profitability; however, we may never generate sufficient cash or revenue to achieve sustainable cash flow or profitability from our operations. Although we recognized $872.1 million of net income for year ended December 31, 2022, which results were largely driven by net income from discontinued operations following the one-time TRELEGY Royalty Transaction, we recognized $92.8 million in net losses from continuing operations during the same period. Despite the fact that we are approaching non-GAAP profitability, we may continue to incur net losses over the next several years due to expenditures relating to our continuing drug discovery efforts and preclinical and clinical
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development of our current product candidates. Additionally, during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we recognized net losses of $199.4 million and $278.0 million, respectively, which are reflected in the shareholders’ equity (deficit) on our consolidated balance sheets. We reflect the cumulative net loss incurred after June 2, 2014, the effective date of our spin-off from Innoviva, Inc. (the “Spin-Off”), as accumulated deficit on our consolidated balance sheets, which was $853.9 million as of December 31, 2022. To the extent we advance our product candidates into and through later stage clinical studies without a partner, we may incur substantial expenses. In addition, we may invest strategically in our research efforts to continue to grow our development pipeline. While our YUPELRI operations have been profitable on a brand basis since the third quarter of 2020,we will continue to incur costs and expenses associated with the commercialization of YUPELRI in the United States (“US”), including the maintenance of an independent sales and marketing organization with appropriate technical expertise, a medical affairs presence and consultant support, and post-marketing studies. Our commitment of resources to the continued development of ampreloxetine and YUPELRI will require ongoing funding. Our operating expenses also will increase if, among other things:
While we are generating revenues and income from sales of YUPELRI, our economic and royalty interests, and payments under collaboration agreements, we may not generate significant profit in the near future. We could fail to meet our revenue expectations. If we or our collaborators or licensees are not able to successfully develop additional products, obtain required regulatory approvals, manufacture products at an acceptable cost or with appropriate quality, or successfully market and sell such products with desired margins, our expenses will continue to exceed any revenues we may receive in the future.
Our new strategic business plan is subject to significant uncertainties and risks as a result of, among other factors, the COVID-19 pandemic, the sales levels of our approved products, unplanned expenses, cash receipts being lower than anticipated, clinical program outcomes, expenses being higher than anticipated, whether, when and on what terms we are able to enter into new collaboration arrangements, and the need to satisfy contingent liabilities. Our ability to reach, and the time required to reach, and then to sustain, profitability are uncertain. As a result, we may incur substantial losses in the future. Failure to become and remain profitable would adversely affect the price of our securities and our ability to continue operations as planned.
If YUPELRI’s acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors, or the medical community in general does not continue to grow, we may not receive significant additional revenues from sales of this product.
The commercial success of YUPELRI depends upon its acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and the medical community in general. YUPELRI’s acceptance by these parties may not continue to grow as we have planned. YUPELRI competes predominantly nebulized LAMA Lonhala® Magnair® (glycopyrrolate) dosed two times per day and with short acting nebulized bronchodilators that are dosed three to four times per day. We have seen increased volatility in sales of YUPELRI coinciding with the suspension of in-person sales calls, having less access to physicians and other healthcare providers and the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic and, if physicians, patients, third-party payors, or the medical community in general believe that nebulized therapy presents a risk of further spreading COVID-19 or that YUPELRI is otherwise not a preferred treatment option for those with COPD, we may see declines, or fail to grow. If YUPELRI’s acceptance does not continue to grow, or declines from previous levels, our business and financial results could be materially harmed.
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In collaboration with Viatris, we are responsible for marketing and sales of YUPELRI in the US, which subjects us to certain risks.
We currently maintain a sales force in the US to support our co-promotion obligations for YUPELRI under our agreement with Viatris. The risks of fulfilling our US co-promotion obligations to Viatris include:
If we are not successful in maintaining a sales and marketing organization with appropriate experience, technical expertise, supporting infrastructure and the ability to obtain access to and educate adequate numbers of physicians about prescribing YUPELRI in appropriate clinical situations, we will have difficulty maintaining effective commercialization of YUPELRI in the hospital setting, which would adversely affect our business and financial results, and the condition and the price of our securities could fall.
Any delay in commencing or completing clinical studies for product candidates or product and any adverse results from clinical or non-clinical studies or regulatory obstacles product candidates or product may face, would harm our business and the price of our securities could fall.
Each of our product candidates must undergo extensive non-clinical and clinical studies as a condition to regulatory approval. Clinical studies are expensive, take many years to complete and study results may lead to delays in further studies, new requirements for conducting future studies or decisions to terminate programs. In addition, we have voluntarily undertaken post-marketing studies with respect to YUPELRI. The commencement and completion of clinical studies for our product candidates, including ampreloxetine, and product may be delayed and programs may be terminated due to many factors, including, but not limited to:
● lack of effectiveness of product candidates during clinical studies;
● insufficient capital to continue our development programs;
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Any adverse developments or results or perceived adverse developments or results with respect to our clinical programs including, without limitation, any delays in development in our programs, any halting of development in our programs, any difficulties or delays encountered with regard to the FDA or other third country regulatory authorities with respect to our programs, or any indication from clinical or non-clinical studies that the compounds in our programs are not safe, efficacious or sufficiently differentiated from those of our competitors, could have a material adverse effect on our business and cause the price of our securities to fall. For example, in August 2021 we announced that our Phase 2b study of izencitinib in ulcerative colitis did not meet its primary endpoint and in September 2021 we announced that our four-week SEQUOIA Phase 3 study for ampreloxetine did not meet its primary endpoint. There can be no assurance that our Phase 3 study for ampreloxetine will be completed on the timeline we expect or at all.
If our product candidates are not approved by regulatory authorities, including the FDA, we will be unable to commercialize them.
The FDA must approve any new medicine before it can be marketed and sold in the US. We will not obtain this approval for a product candidate, such as ampreloxetine, unless and until the FDA approves an NDA. We, or our collaborative partners, must provide the FDA and similar foreign regulatory authorities with data from preclinical and clinical studies that demonstrate that our product candidates comply with the regulatory requirements for the quality of medicinal products and are safe and effective for a defined indication before they can be approved for commercial distribution. FDA or foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with our trial design and our interpretation of data from preclinical studies and clinical trials. The processes by which regulatory approvals are obtained from the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities to market and sell a new product are complex, require a number of years, depend upon the type, complexity and novelty of the product candidate and involve the expenditure of substantial resources for research, development and testing. The FDA has substantial discretion in the drug approval process and may require us to conduct additional non-clinical and clinical testing or to perform post-marketing studies. Further, the implementation of new laws and regulations, and revisions to FDA clinical trial design guidance may lead to increased uncertainty regarding the approvability of new drugs. See the risk factor entitled “Any delay in commencing or completing clinical studies for product candidates or product and any adverse results from clinical or non-clinical studies or regulatory obstacles product candidates or product may face, would harm our business and the price of our securities could fall” above for additional information. The shifting environment surrounding the collective response to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to and may lead to additional guidance from US and foreign regulatory agencies with respect to numerous matters regarding the conduct of clinical trials in general and the development of COVID-19 related therapies, which is subject to the risk of further change, misinterpretation or non-compliance due to the changing regulatory landscape. In addition, the FDA has additional standards for approval of new drugs, including recommended advisory committee meetings for certain new molecular entities, and formal risk evaluation and mitigation requirements at the FDA’s discretion. Even if
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we receive regulatory approval of a product, the approval may limit the indicated uses for which the drug may be marketed or impose significant restrictions or limitations on the use and/or distribution of such product.
In addition, in order to market our medicines in foreign jurisdictions, we or our collaborative partners must obtain separate regulatory approvals in each country. The approval procedure varies among countries and can involve additional testing, and the time required to obtain approval may differ from that required to obtain FDA approval. Approval by the FDA does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries, and approval by one foreign regulatory authority does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other foreign countries or by the FDA. Conversely, failure to obtain approval in one or more jurisdictions may make approval in other jurisdictions more difficult. These laws, regulations, additional requirements and changes in interpretation could cause non-approval or further delays in the FDA’s or other regulatory authorities’ review and approval of our and our collaborative partners’ product candidates, which would materially harm our business and financial condition and could cause the price of our securities to fall.
If our partners do not satisfy their obligations under our agreements with them, or if they terminate our partnerships with us, we may not be able to develop or commercialize our partnered product candidates as planned.
In January 2015, we entered into a collaboration agreement with Viatris for the development and commercialization of a nebulized formulation of our LAMA revefenacin, including YUPELRI. Under the terms of the agreement, we and Viatris will co-develop nebulized revefenacin, including YUPELRI, for COPD and other respiratory diseases. In December 2019, we entered into a License Agreement with Pfizer Inc. (“Pfizer”). Under the license agreement, we provide Pfizer with an exclusive global license to develop, manufacture and commercialize compounds from our preclinical program for skin-targeted, locally-acting pan-Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors that can be rapidly metabolized. In connection with these agreements, these parties have certain rights regarding the use of patents and technology with respect to the compounds in our development programs, including development and marketing rights.
Our partners may not fulfill their obligations under these agreements, and, in certain circumstances, they or we may terminate our partnership with them. In either event, we may be unable to assume the development and commercialization responsibilities covered by the agreements or enter into alternative arrangements with a third-party to develop and commercialize such product candidates. If a partner elected to promote alternative products and product candidates such as its own products and product candidates in preference to those licensed from us, does not devote an adequate amount of time and resources to our product candidates or is otherwise unsuccessful in its efforts with respect to our products or product candidates, the development and commercialization of product candidates covered by the agreements could be delayed or terminated, and future payments to us could be delayed, reduced or eliminated and our business and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected. Accordingly, our ability to receive any revenue from the product candidates covered by these agreements is dependent on the efforts of our partners. If a partner terminates or breaches its agreements with us, otherwise fails to complete its obligations in a timely manner or alleges that we have breached our contractual obligations under these agreements, the chances of successfully developing or commercializing product candidates under the collaboration could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, effective collaboration with a partner requires coordination to achieve complex and detail-intensive goals between entities that potentially have different priorities, capabilities and processes and successful navigation of the challenges such coordination entails. We could also become involved in disputes with a partner, which could lead to delays in or termination of our development and commercialization programs and time-consuming and expensive litigation or arbitration. Furthermore, termination of an agreement by a partner could have an adverse effect on the price of our ordinary shares or other securities even if not material to our business.
Our ongoing drug development efforts might not generate additional successful product candidates or approvable drugs.
Our compounds in clinical trials and our future leads for potential drug compounds are subject to the risks and failures inherent in the development of pharmaceutical products. These risks include, but are not limited to, the inherent difficulty in selecting the right drug and drug target and avoiding unwanted side effects, as well as unanticipated problems relating to product development, testing, enrollment, obtaining regulatory approvals, maintaining regulatory compliance, manufacturing, competition and costs and expenses that may exceed current estimates.
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Clinical studies involving our product candidates may reveal that those candidates are ineffective, inferior to existing approved medicines, unacceptably toxic, or that they have other unacceptable side effects. In addition, the results of preclinical studies do not necessarily predict clinical success, and larger and later-stage clinical studies may not produce the same results as earlier-stage clinical studies. For example, despite promising early stage studies, we previously announced that two late stage clinical programs failed to meet their primary endpoints. There can be no assurance that our Phase 3 study for ampreloxetine will meet its primary endpoint, and developments and results from that study may be adverse or may be perceived to be adverse.
Frequently, product candidates that have shown promising results in early preclinical or clinical studies have subsequently suffered significant setbacks or failed in later non-clinical or clinical studies. In some instances, there can be significant variability in safety and/or efficacy results between different trials of the same product candidate due to numerous factors, including changes in trial protocols, differences in size and type of the patient populations, varying levels of adherence to the dosing regimen and other trial protocols and the rate of dropout among clinical trial participants. Clinical and non-clinical studies of product candidates often reveal that it is not possible or practical to continue development efforts for these product candidates. In addition, the design of a clinical trial can determine whether its results will support regulatory approval and flaws in the design of a clinical trial may not become apparent until the clinical trial is well underway or completed. As our clinical studies for one of our current product candidates suggested that our product candidate was not efficacious in the indications we were investigating, we choose to cease development of this product candidate and are currently winding down our development programs for this product candidate. In addition, our product candidates may have undesirable side effects or other unexpected characteristics that could cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials and could result in a more restricted label or the delay or denial of regulatory approval by regulatory authorities.
We face substantial competition from companies with more resources and experience than we have, which may result in others discovering, developing, receiving approval for or commercializing products before or more successfully than we do.
Our ability to succeed in the future depends on our ability to demonstrate and maintain a competitive advantage with respect to our approach to the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines. Our objective is to discover, develop and commercialize new small molecule medicines with superior efficacy, convenience, tolerability and/or safety using our proprietary insights, where applicable. We expect that any medicines that we commercialize with or without our collaborative partners will compete with existing or future market-leading medicines.
Many of our current and potential competitors have substantially greater financial, technical and personnel resources than we have. In addition, many of these competitors have significantly greater commercial infrastructures than we have. Our ability to compete successfully will depend largely on our ability to leverage our experience in drug discovery, development and commercialization to:
● attract and retain qualified personnel;
● conduct effective clinical trials and obtain required regulatory approvals;
Pharmaceutical companies, including companies with which we collaborate, may invest heavily to quickly discover and develop or in-license novel compounds that could make our product candidates obsolete. Accordingly, our competitors may succeed in obtaining patent protection, receiving FDA or equivalent regulatory approval outside the US
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or discovering, developing and commercializing medicines before we do. Other companies are engaged in the discovery of medicines that would compete with the product candidates that we are developing or our existing product.
Any new medicine that competes with a generic or proprietary market leading medicine must demonstrate compelling advantages in efficacy, convenience, tolerability and/or safety in order to overcome severe price competition and be commercially successful. For example, YUPELRI competes predominantly with the nebulized LAMA Lonhala® Magnair® (glycopyrrolate) dosed two times per day and with short acting nebulized bronchodilators that are dosed three to four times per day.If we are not able to compete effectively against our current and future competitors, our business will not grow, our financial condition and operations will suffer and the price of our securities could fall.
There is a single source of supply for a number of our product candidates and for YUPELRI, and our business will be harmed if any of these single-source manufacturers are not able to satisfy demand and alternative sources are not available.
We have limited in-house production capabilities for preclinical and clinical study purposes and depend primarily on a number of third-party Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (“API”) and drug product manufacturers. We may not have long-term agreements with these third parties and our agreements with these parties may be terminable at will by either party at any time. In addition, there is a single supplier of YUPELRI API and a single supplier of YUPELRI drug product. If, for any reason, any of these third-party manufacturers are unable or unwilling to perform, or if their performance does not meet regulatory requirements, alternative manufacturers may not be available or may not be available on acceptable terms. Any inability to acquire sufficient quantities of API and drug product in a timely manner from these third parties could delay preclinical and clinical studies, prevent us from developing our product candidates in a cost-effective manner or on a timely basis or adversely impact the commercialization of YUPELRI. In addition, manufacturers of our API and drug product are subject to the FDA’s current Good Manufacturing Practice (“cGMP”) regulations and similar foreign standards and we do not have control over compliance with these regulations by our manufacturers.
Our manufacturing strategy presents the following additional risks:
We are subject to extensive and ongoing regulation, oversight and other requirements by the FDA and failure to comply with these regulations and requirements may subject us to penalties that may adversely affect our financial condition or our ability to commercialize any approved products.
Prescription drug advertising and promotion are closely scrutinized by the FDA, including substantiation of promotional claims, disclosure of risks and safety information, and the use of themes and imagery in advertising and promotional materials. As with all companies selling and marketing products regulated by the FDA in the US, we are prohibited from promoting any uses of an approved product, such as YUPELRI, that are outside the scope of those uses that have been expressly approved by the FDA as safe and effective on the product’s label.
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The manufacturing, labeling, packaging, adverse event reporting, advertising, promotion and recordkeeping for an approved product remain subject to extensive and ongoing regulatory requirements. If we become aware of previously unknown problems with an approved product in the US or overseas or at a contract manufacturer’s facilities, a regulatory authority may impose restrictions on the product, the contract manufacturers or on us, including requiring us to reformulate the product, conduct additional clinical studies, change the labeling of the product, withdraw the product from the market or require the contract manufacturer to implement changes to its facilities.
We are also subject to regulation by regional, national, state and local agencies, including the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, the Office of Inspector General of the US Department of Health and Human Services (“OIG”) and other regulatory bodies with respect to any approved product, such as YUPELRI, as well as governmental authorities in those foreign countries in which any product is approved for commercialization. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Public Health Service Act and other federal and state statutes and regulations govern to varying degrees the research, development, manufacturing and commercial activities relating to prescription pharmaceutical products, including non-clinical and clinical testing, approval, production, labeling, sale, distribution, import, export, post-market surveillance, advertising, dissemination of information and promotion. If we or any third parties that provide these services for us are unable to comply, we may be subject to regulatory or civil actions or penalties that could significantly and adversely affect our business.
Regulatory approval for our product candidates, if any, may include similar or other limitations on the indicated uses for which we can market our medicines or the patient population that may utilize our medicines, which may limit the market for our medicines or put us at a competitive disadvantage relative to alternative therapies.
Failure to satisfy required post-approval requirements and/or commitments may have implications for a product’s approval and may carry civil monetary penalties. Any failure to maintain regulatory approval will materially limit the ability to commercialize a product or any future product candidates and if we fail to comply with FDA regulations and requirements, the FDA could potentially take a number of enforcement actions against us, including the issuance of untitled letters, warning letters, preventing the introduction or delivery of the product into interstate commerce in the US, misbranding charges, product seizures, injunctions, and civil monetary penalties, which would materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition and may cause the price of our securities to fall.
The risks identified in this risk factor relating to regulatory actions and oversight by agencies in the US and throughout the world also apply to the commercialization of any partnered products by our collaboration partners and those commercializing products with respect to which we have an economic interest or right to receive royalties, including GSK, and such regulatory actions and oversight may limit those parties’ ability to commercialize such products, which could materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition, and which may cause the price of our securities to fall.
We and/or our collaboration partners and those commercializing products with respect to which we have an economic interest or right to receive royalties may face competition from companies seeking to market generic versions of any approved products in which we have an interest, such as YUPELRI.
Under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, a company may submit an abbreviated new drug application (“ANDA”) under section 505(j) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to market a generic version of an approved drug. Because a generic applicant does not conduct its own clinical studies, but instead relies on the FDA’s finding of safety and effectiveness for the approved drug, it is able to introduce a competing product into the market at a cost significantly below that of the original drug. Although we have multiple patents protecting YUPELRI with expiration dates ranging from 2025 to 2039 that are listed in the FDA’s Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations, commonly known as the Orange Book, generic applicants have submitted, and could potentially submit additional, “paragraph IV certifications” to FDA stating that such patents are invalid or will not be infringed by the applicant’s product. In fact, on January 10, 2023, the FDA included seven ANDAs that referred to YUPELRI (revefenacin) inhalation solution and contained a paragraph IV certification on its Paragraph IV Certifications List. We are not aware of any other paragraph IV notifications with respect to products in which we have an economic interest or right to receive royalties. Our collaboration partner, Viatris, is responsible for enforcing our Orange Book patents relating to YUPELRI, in consultation with us, and our views may differ from theirs with respect to the ongoing litigation, process or strategy and we have a reduced ability to control the outcome of the litigation. If any
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competitors successfully challenge the patents related to these products, including YUPELRI, we and/or our collaboration partners and those commercializing products with respect to which we have an economic interest or right to receive royalties would face substantial competition. If we are not able to compete effectively against such future competition, our business will not grow, our financial condition and operations will suffer and the price of our securities could fall.
For additional discussion of the risk of generic competition to YUPELRI, please see the risk factor below entitled “If our efforts to protect the proprietary nature of the intellectual property related to our technologies are not adequate, we may not be able to compete effectively in our current or future markets” and “Litigation to protect or defend our intellectual property or third party claims of intellectual property infringement will require us to divert resources and may prevent or delay our drug discovery and development efforts.”
If we are unable to enter into future collaboration arrangements or if any such collaborations with third parties are unsuccessful, we may be unable to fully develop and commercialize certain product candidates and our business will be adversely affected.
We have collaborations with a number of third parties including Viatris for the development and commercialization of a nebulized formulation of revefenacin, which is a LAMA compound (including YUPELRI). Additional collaborations, if any, may be needed to fund development of certain programs that have not been licensed to a collaborator and to commercialize the product candidates in our programs if approved by the necessary regulatory authorities. We evaluate commercial strategy on a product by product basis either to engage pharmaceutical or other healthcare companies with an existing sales and marketing organization and distribution system to market, sell and distribute our products or to commercialize a product ourselves. However, we may not be able to establish these sales and distribution relationships on acceptable terms, or at all, or may encounter difficulties in commercializing a product ourselves. For any of our product candidates that receive regulatory approval in the future and are not covered by our current collaboration agreements, we will need a partner in order to commercialize such products unless we establish independent sales, marketing and distribution capabilities with appropriate technical expertise and supporting infrastructure.
Collaborations with third parties regarding our programs may require us to relinquish material rights, including revenue from commercialization of our medicines, or to assume material ongoing development obligations that we would have to fund. These collaboration arrangements are complex and time-consuming to negotiate, and if we are unable to reach agreements with third-party collaborators, we may fail to meet our business objectives and our financial condition may be adversely affected. We face significant competition in seeking third-party collaborators. We may be unable to find third parties to pursue product collaborations on a timely basis or on acceptable terms.
Furthermore, once we enter into a collaboration, our collaboration partners are frequently important for the success of the product or product candidate. For example, Viatris’ role in the commercialization of YUPELRI is important to the overall success of product. However, for any collaboration, we may not be able to control the amount of time and resources that our partners devote to our products or product candidates and our partners may choose to prioritize alternative programs or otherwise be unsuccessful in their efforts with respect to our products or product candidates. In addition, effective collaboration with a partner requires coordination to achieve complex and detail-intensive goals between entities that potentially have different priorities, capabilities and processes and successful navigation of the challenges such coordination entails. For example, Viatris has a substantial existing product portfolio largely comprising generic products, other considerations and incentives that influence its resource allocation, and background, experiences, priorities and internal organizational processes that differ from our own. As a result of these differing backgrounds, interests and processes, Viatris may take actions that it believes are in its best interest, but which might not be in the best interests of either us or our other shareholders. Our inability to successfully collaborate with third parties would increase our development costs and may cause us to choose not to continue development of certain product candidates, would limit the likelihood of successful commercialization of some of our product candidates, may cause us not to continue commercialization of our authorized products and could cause the price of our securities to fall.
We depend on third parties in the conduct of our non-clinical and clinical studies for our product candidates.
We depend on independent clinical investigators, contract research and manufacturing organizations and other third-party service providers in the conduct of our non-clinical and clinical studies for our product candidates. We rely
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heavily on these parties for execution of our non-clinical and clinical studies, and control only certain aspects of their activities. Nevertheless, we are responsible for ensuring that our clinical studies are conducted in accordance with good clinical, laboratory and manufacturing practices (“GXPs”) and other regulations as required by the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities, and the applicable protocol. Failure by these parties to comply with applicable regulations and practices in conducting studies of our product candidates can result in a delay in our development programs or non-approval of our product candidates by regulatory authorities. Furthermore, to the extent the operations of these third parties are disrupted as result of the COVID-19 pandemic or otherwise, our development programs could be delayed.
The FDA, and equivalent authorities in third countries, enforces GXPs and other regulations through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, clinical research organizations (“CROs”), principal investigators and trial sites. If we or any of the third parties on which we have relied to conduct our clinical studies are determined to have failed to comply with GXPs (or other equivalent regulations outside the US), the study protocol or applicable regulations, the clinical data generated in our studies may be deemed unreliable. This could result in non-approval of our product candidates by the FDA, or equivalent authorities in other countries, or we, the FDA, or equivalent authorities in other countries may decide to conduct additional audits or require additional clinical studies, which would delay our development programs, could result in significant additional costs and cause the price of our securities to fall.
If there are any adverse developments or perceived adverse developments with respect to TRELEGY, we may not receive Milestone Payments or the revenue we expect from the Outer Years Royalty, which would harm our business and could cause the price of our securities to fall.
Through the milestone payments we may receive from Royalty Pharma if certain TRELEGY global net sales thresholds are met following our sale of our economic interest in TRELEGY (the “Milestone Payments”) and our right to receive from Royalty Pharma 85% of the royalty payments on the Assigned Collaboration Products (as defined in the Purchase Agreement) payable (a) for sales or other activities occurring on and after January 1, 2031 related to the Assigned Collaboration Products in the US, and (b) for sales or other activities occurring on and after July 1, 2029 related to the Assigned Collaboration Products outside of the US (the “Outer Years Royalty” and, together with the Milestone Payments, the “Ongoing Economic Interest”), we may participate in the mid- and long-term economically in royalty payments from GSK with respect to the TRELEGY. However, we cannot assure you as to the amount, if any, we might receive. We have no access to non-public information regarding the development progress of, or plans TRELEGY, and we have no current authority to enforce rights under the GSK Agreements assigned to TRC. However, if there are any adverse developments or perceived adverse developments with respect to TRELEGY, we may not realize the value we currently anticipate from the Ongoing Economic Interest, which would harm our business and may cause the price of our securities to fall. Examples of such adverse developments include, but are not limited to:
● disappointing or lower than expected sales of TRELEGY;
● disputes between any of Royalty Pharma, GSK, Innoviva and us;
● GSK deciding to modify, delay or halt the TRELEGY program;
● any adverse effects resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic;
● any safety, efficacy or other concerns regarding the TRELEGY program; or
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We do not control the commercialization of TRELEGY; accordingly, our receipt of Milestone Payments and receipt of the value we currently anticipate from the Outer Years Royalty will depend on, among other factors, GSK’s ability to further commercialize TRELEGY.
Our Ongoing Economic Interest in TRELEGY consists of the potential Milestone Payments and our right to receive from Royalty Pharma the Outer Years Royalty, both of which are ultimately based on the amount of sales of this product by GSK. Any benefit we may receive from the Ongoing Economic Interest will depend on GSK’s ability to commercialize the product, and the future payments, if any, made by GSK to Royalty Pharma.
Accordingly, our Ongoing Economic Interest involves a number of risks and uncertainties, including:
● GSK’s ability to have an adequate supply of TRELEGY product;
● claims relating to intellectual property;
● global economic conditions; and
● any of the other risks relating to commercialization of TRELEGY.
These risks and uncertainties could materially impact the amount and timing of future Milestone Payments and Outer Years Royalty, which could have a material adverse effect on our future revenues, other financial results and our financial position and cause the price of our securities to fall.
If we lose key management, sales or scientific personnel, or if we fail to attract and retain key employees, our ability to discover and develop our product candidates and commercialize our products will be impaired.
We are highly dependent on principal members of our management team and commercial and scientific staff, and in particular, our Chief Executive Officer, Rick E Winningham, to operate our business. Mr. Winningham has significant pharmaceutical industry experience. The loss of Mr. Winningham’s services could impair our ability to discover, develop and commercialize new medicines.
If we fail to retain our qualified personnel or replace them when they leave, we may be unable to continue our development and commercialization activities, which may cause the price of our securities to fall. The Restructuring announced in September 2021, and completed in the third quarter of 2022, and the additional headcount reductions announced in February 2023, may make retention of our current personnel both more important and more challenging.
In addition, our US operating subsidiary’s facility and most of its employees are located in northern California, headquarters to many other biotechnology and biopharmaceutical companies and many academic and research institutions. As a result, competition for certain skilled personnel in our market is intense. None of our employees have employment commitments for any fixed period of time and they all may leave our employment at will. If we fail to retain our qualified personnel or replace them when they leave, we may be unable to continue our development and commercialization activities and the price of our securities could fall.
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Our business and operations would suffer in the event of significant disruptions of information technology systems or security breaches.
We rely extensively on computer systems to maintain information and manage our finances and business. In the ordinary course of business, we collect, store and transmit large amounts of confidential information (including but not limited to trade secrets or other intellectual property, proprietary business information and personal information) and it is critical that we maintain the confidentiality and integrity of such confidential information. Although we have security measures in place, our internal information technology systems and those of our CROs and other service providers, including cloud based and hosted applications, data and services, may be vulnerable to service interruptions and security breaches from inadvertent or intentional actions by our employees, service providers and/or business partners, from cyber-attacks by malicious third parties, including but not limited to those involving malware and ransomware, which can disrupt operations significantly, and/or from, natural disasters, terrorism, war and telecommunication and electrical failures. Cyber-attacks are increasing in their frequency, sophistication, and intensity, and have become increasingly difficult to detect. Significant disruptions of information technology systems or security breaches could adversely affect our business operations and result in financial, legal, business and reputational harm to us, including significant liability and/or significant disruption to our business. If a disruption of information technology systems or security breach results in a loss of or damage to our data or regulatory applications, unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of, or the prevention of access to, confidential information, or other harm to our business, we could incur liability and reputational harm, we could be required to comply with federal and/or state breach notification laws and foreign law equivalents, we may incur legal expenses to protect our confidential information, the further development of our product candidates could be delayed and the price of our securities could fall. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from completed or ongoing clinical trials of our product candidates could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. As another example, we may incur penalties imposed by the competent authorities in the EU Member States in case of breach of the EU rules governing the collection and processing of personal data, including unauthorized access to or disclosure of personal data. Although we have security and fraud prevention measures in place, we have been subject to immaterial payment fraud activity. In 2017, we filed a lawsuit (which has since been resolved) against a former employee for misappropriation of our confidential, proprietary and trade secret information. Moreover, there can be no assurance that our security measures will prevent service interruptions or security breaches that could adversely affect our business. These same risks also apply to our partners and vendors, who similarly hold sensitive and critical information related to our business in computer systems and are similarly potentially vulnerable to service interruptions and security breaches.
We face risks related to widespread illnesses, including the recent COVID-19 pandemic, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Our business has been and will continue to be adversely affected by the outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel strain of coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, causing the Coronavirus Disease 2019, also known as COVID-19 (the “COVID-19 pandemic”). The COVID-19 pandemic has weighed on the macroeconomic environment, and the pandemic has, directly and indirectly, significantly increased economic volatility and uncertainty.
Sales momentum has been affected by COVID-19 and may continue to be in the future. We market YUPELRI in the hospital setting and to pulmonologists, whose practices have been impacted by the pandemic. In mid-March 2020, we suspended in-person sales calls to accounts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2020, we began reengaging with these customers in-person and remotely. We are now able to more frequently conduct in-person customer engagements, however there is still variability of access regionally. Customer orders or new patient use of YUPELRI may decline or fail to grow as a result of, among other things, a shift in our marketing efforts, increased workload of healthcare providers, staffing challenges at hospitals, and the impact of any concerns regarding nebulization in COVID-19 positive patients. We are preparing for continued volatility as disruptions of day-to-day operations of hospitals and clinics may continue. In addition, while we do not currently anticipate any supply issues, the COVID-19 pandemic could impact our supply of YUPELRI in the future. At this stage, we are unable to predict with certainty the ultimate disruptive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on both YUPELRI and the rest of our business.
In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic makes the conduct of clinical trials more challenging given the paramount importance of adequate safety monitoring, collection of data and distribution of study drug, all of which are traditionally achieved by in-person visits to our study sites. Challenges may continue to arise from site closures, site staffing
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shortages, potential interruptions to the supply chain for investigational products, or other considerations if site personnel or trial participants become infected with COVID-19. These challenges may lead to difficulties in meeting protocol-specified procedures. The Company implemented mitigation plans to help ensure patients in the clinical trials have continued access to drug supply and regular visits with their physicians for study visits per trial protocols, but there is a risk that our trial data could be impacted if our efforts are insufficient. It is also possible that demand for products that we may pursue could be materially and adversely affected as a result of COVID-19 and any related economic impact.
If significant portions of our workforce, and particularly our field-based teams, are unable to work effectively, including due to illness, quarantines, social distancing, government actions or other restrictions in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic or other health emergencies, our operations will be impacted. The COVID-19 pandemic or other health emergencies could limit the ability of our customers, suppliers and business partners to perform under their contracts with us, including third-party payers’ ability to make timely payments to us during and following the pandemic. We may also experience a shortage of supplies and materials or a suspension of services from third parties. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, we may continue to experience an adverse impact to our business as a result of its global economic impact.
Global economic, political, and social conditions may harm our ability to do business, increase our costs and negatively affect our stock price.
Worldwide economic conditions remain uncertain due to current global economic challenges, hostilities in Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic and other health emergencies, the United Kingdom’s (“UK”) withdrawal from the EU (often referred to as “Brexit”), and other disruptions to global and regional economies and markets.
Further, development of our product candidates and/or regulatory approval may be delayed for other political events beyond our control. For example, a US federal government shutdown or budget sequestration, such as ones that occurred during 2013, 2018, and 2019, may result in significant reductions to the FDA’s budget, employees and operations, which may lead to slower response times and longer review periods, potentially affecting our ability to progress development of our product candidates or obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates. Further, future government shutdowns, including as a result of the US failing to raise the debt ceiling, could impact our ability to access the public markets and obtain necessary capital in order to properly capitalize and continue our operations.
Our operations also depend upon favorable trade relations between the US and those foreign countries in which our materials suppliers have operations. A protectionist trade environment in either the US or those foreign countries in which we do business, such as a change in the current tariff structures, export compliance or other trade policies, may materially and adversely affect our operations.
Brexit has created significant uncertainty about the future relationship between the UK and the EU, including with respect to the laws and regulations that will apply as the UK determines which EU laws to replace or replicate after withdrawal. From a regulatory perspective, the UK’s withdrawal bears significant complexity and risks.
External factors, such as potential terrorist attacks, acts of war, geopolitical and social turmoil, including the ongoing hostilities between Russia and Ukraine, similar events in many parts of the world or the worsening of such factors, could also prevent or hinder our ability to do business, increase our costs and negatively affect our stock price. These geopolitical, social and economic conditions could harm our business.
Our US operating subsidiary’s facility is located near known earthquake fault zones, and the occurrence of an earthquake, extremist attack or other catastrophic disaster could cause damage to our facilities and equipment, which could require us to cease or curtail operations.
Our US operating subsidiary’s facility is located in the San Francisco Bay Area near known earthquake fault zones and therefore will be vulnerable to damage from earthquakes. In October 1989, a major earthquake struck this area and caused significant property damage and a number of fatalities. We are also vulnerable to damage from other types of disasters, including power loss, attacks from extremist organizations, fire, floods, communications failures and similar events. If any disaster were to occur, our ability to operate our business could be seriously impaired. In addition, the unique nature of our research activities and of much of our equipment could make it difficult and costly for us to recover from this type of disaster. We may not have adequate insurance to cover our losses resulting from disasters or other
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similar significant business interruptions and we do not plan to purchase additional insurance to cover such losses due to the cost of obtaining such coverage. Any significant losses that are not recoverable under our insurance policies could seriously impair our business and financial condition, which could cause the price of our securities to fall.
If sufficient capital is not available, we may have to further curtail operations or we could be forced to share our rights to commercialize our product candidates with third parties on terms that may not be favorable to us.
Based on our current operating plans and financial forecasts, we believe that our existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities will be sufficient to meet our anticipated operating needs for at least the next twelve months, even assuming that we repurchase approximately $170.0 million of our ordinary shares as has been announced by the board, whether pursuant to any current or future open-market share repurchase program or otherwise. However, our current operating plans or financial forecasts occasionally change. For example, in August 2017, we announced an increase in our anticipated operating loss for 2017, primarily driven by our decision to accelerate funding associated with the next phase of development of izencitinib in our JAK inhibitor program. In addition, following unfavorable results from our late-stage development programs, in September 2021, we announced a strategic update and corporate restructuring (the “Restructuring”), including a reduction in headcount by approximately 75% through a reduction in our workforce of regular and contingent workers. The Restructuring was completed during the third quarter of 2022, and we and announced additional headcount reductions in February 2023. If our current operating plans or financial forecasts change, we may require or seek additional funding in the form of public or private equity or equity-linked offerings, debt financings or additional collaborations and licensing arrangements. In addition, as of December 31, 2022, we had cash, cash equivalents and short-term marketable securities of $327.5 million.
Our future capital needs depend on many factors, including:
● the outcome of potential licensing or partnering transactions, if any;
● responding to competitive pressures and competing technological developments;
● litigation, potential litigation and other contingencies; and
● the regulatory approval process for our product candidates.
If we require additional funding, we may not be able to obtain additional financing on terms favorable to us, if at all. General market conditions may make it difficult for us to seek financing from the capital markets. We may be required to relinquish rights to our technologies, product candidates or territories, or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us, in order to raise additional funds through collaborations or licensing arrangements. We may also have to sequence studies as opposed to conducting them concomitantly in order to conserve resources, or, as we announced in September 2021 and in February 2023, we may need to delay, reduce, or eliminate one or more of our programs and reduce overall overhead expenses. In addition, we may have to make additional reductions in our workforce and may be prevented from continuing our development and commercialization efforts and exploiting other corporate opportunities. This would likely harm our business, prospects and financial condition, and cause the price of our securities to fall.
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We may seek to obtain future financing through the issuance of debt or equity, which may have an adverse effect on our shareholders or may otherwise adversely affect our business.
We may in the future need to raise additional funds to continue to progress our business. If we raise funds through the issuance of additional debt, including convertible debt or debt secured by some or all of our assets, or equity, any debt securities or preferred shares issued will have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of holders of our ordinary shares in the event of liquidation. We do not have any outstanding long-term debt, but if additional debt is issued or we otherwise borrow additional funds in the future, there is a possibility that once all senior claims are settled, there may be no assets remaining to pay out to the holders of ordinary shares. In addition, if we raise funds through the issuance of additional equity, whether through private placements or public offerings, such an issuance would dilute ownership of our current shareholders that do not participate in the issuance. If we are unable to obtain any needed additional funding, we may be required to reduce the scope of, delay, or eliminate some or all of, our planned research, development, and commercialization activities or to license to third parties the rights to develop and/or commercialize products or technologies that we would otherwise seek to develop and/or commercialize ourselves or on terms that are less attractive than they might otherwise be, any of which could materially harm our business.
Furthermore, the terms of any debt securities we may issue in the future may impose restrictions on our operations, which may include limiting our ability to incur additional indebtedness, pay dividends on or repurchase our share capital, or make certain acquisitions or investments. In addition, we may be subject to covenants requiring us to satisfy certain financial tests and ratios, and our ability to satisfy such covenants may be affected by events outside of our control.
We may be treated as a US corporation for US federal income tax purposes.
For US federal income tax purposes, a corporation generally is considered tax resident in the place of its incorporation. Theravance Biopharma is incorporated under Cayman Islands law and established tax residency in Ireland effective July 1, 2015. Therefore, it should be a non-US corporation under this general rule. However, Section 7874 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), contains rules that may result in a foreign corporation being treated as a US corporation for US federal income tax purposes. The application of these rules is complex and there is little guidance regarding certain aspects of their application.
Under Section 7874 of the Code, a corporation created or organized outside the US will be treated as a US corporation for US federal tax purposes if (i) the foreign corporation directly or indirectly acquires substantially all of the properties held directly or indirectly by a US corporation, (ii) the former shareholders of the acquired US corporation hold at least 80% of the vote or value of the shares of the foreign acquiring corporation by reason of holding stock in the US acquired corporation, and (iii) the foreign corporation’s “expanded affiliated group” does not have “substantial business activities” in the foreign corporation’s country of incorporation relative to its expanded affiliated group’s worldwide activities. For this purpose, “expanded affiliated group” generally means the foreign corporation and all subsidiaries in which the foreign corporation, directly or indirectly, owns more than 50% of the stock by vote and value, and “substantial business activities” generally means at least 25% of employees (by number and compensation), assets and gross income of our expanded affiliated group are based, located and derived, respectively, in the country of incorporation.
We do not expect to be treated as a US corporation under Section 7874 of the Code, because we do not believe that the assets contributed to us by Innoviva constituted “substantially all” of the properties of Innoviva (as determined on both a gross and net fair market value basis). However, the Internal Revenue Service may disagree with our conclusion on this point and assert that, in its view, the assets contributed to us by Innoviva did constitute “substantially all” of the properties of Innoviva. In addition, there could be legislative proposals to expand the scope of US corporate tax residence and there could be changes to Section 7874 of the Code or the Treasury Regulations promulgated thereunder that could apply retroactively and could result in Theravance Biopharma being treated as a US corporation.
If it were determined that we should be treated as a US corporation for US federal income tax purposes, we could be liable for substantial additional US federal income tax on our post-Spin-Off taxable income. In addition, though we have no current plans to pay any dividends, payments of any dividends to non-US holders may be subject to US withholding tax.
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Future tax reform, including changes in tax rates and imposition of new taxes, could impact our results of operations and financial condition.