Traws Pharma, Inc._December 31, 2025
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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, 2025
Or
For the transition period from to
Commission file number 001-36020
Traws Pharma, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
(267) 759-3680
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Common Stock, par value $.01 per share TRAW The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
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.
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 Rule12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ⌧
As of June 30, 2025, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the aggregate market value of the registrant’s voting and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates was approximately $9.8 million, based on the last reported sale price of the registrant’s common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market.
There were 10,157,257 shares of Common Stock outstanding as of April 13, 2026.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the definitive proxy statement for the registrant’s 2026 annual meeting of stockholders to be filed within 120 days after the end of the period covered by this annual report on Form 10-K are incorporated by reference into Part III of this annual report on Form 10-K.
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TRAWS PHARMA, INC.
INDEX TO REPORT ON FORM 10-K
Page
PART I 3
Item 1: Business 3
Item 1A: Risk Factors 33
Item 1B: Unresolved Staff Comments 54
Item 1C: Cybersecurity 54
Item 2: Properties 56
Item 3: Legal Proceedings 56
Item 4: Mine Safety Disclosures 56
Item 6: Reserved 57
Item 7A: Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 71
Item 8: Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 71
Item 9A: Controls and Procedures 71
Item 9B: Other Information 73
Item 9C: Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections 73
PART III 74
Item 10: Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 74
Item 11: Executive Compensation 74
Item 14: Principal Accounting Fees and Services 74
Item 15: Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules 75
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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND INDUSTRY DATA
This Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Annual Report”) includes forward-looking statements. We may, in some cases, use terms such as “believes,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “plans,” “intends,” “may,” “could,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “approximately” or other words that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements appear in a number of places throughout this Annual Report and include statements regarding our intentions, beliefs, projections, outlook, analyses or current expectations concerning, among other things, the implementation of our business model and strategic plans for our business, our ongoing and planned preclinical development and clinical trials, our interactions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) and similar foreign authorities, the timing of and our ability to make regulatory filings and obtain and maintain regulatory approvals for our product candidates, protection of our intellectual property portfolio, the degree of clinical utility of our products, particularly in specific patient populations, our ability to develop commercial and manufacturing functions, expectations regarding clinical trial data, our results of operations, cash needs, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth and strategies, the industry in which we operate and the trends that may affect the industry or us.
By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events, competitive dynamics and industry change, and depend on the economic circumstances that may or may not occur in the future or may occur on longer or shorter timelines than anticipated. Although we believe that we have a reasonable basis for each forward-looking statement contained in this Annual Report, we caution you that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that our actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the development of the industry in which we operate may differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report.
You should also read carefully the factors described in the “Risk Factors” section of this Annual Report and elsewhere to better understand the risks and uncertainties inherent in our business and underlying any forward-looking statements. As a result of these factors, actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements in this Annual Report and you should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. These factors include, without limitations, the risks related to:
● our ability to continue as a going concern;
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● regulatory developments in the United States and foreign countries;
● the rate and degree of market acceptance of any of our product candidates;
● the potential for cuts in federal funding;
● the potential for third party disputes and litigation;
Any forward-looking statements that we make in this Annual Report speak only as of the date of such statement, and we undertake no obligation to update such statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this Annual Report or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
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PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Overview
Traws Pharma, Inc. (“Traws,” “we,” or the “Company”) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing novel therapies to target critical threats to human health in respiratory viral diseases. We are advancing novel investigational antiviral agents that have potent activity against difficult to treat or resistant virus strains that threaten human health. Our product candidates are intended to be safe, with simple dosing regimens. We strive to utilize accelerated clinical trial strategies with a commitment to patients who are especially vulnerable.
On April 1, 2024, the Company (then known as Onconova Therapeutics, Inc.) consummated a merger (the “Merger”) with Trawsfynydd Therapeutics, Inc. (“Trawsfynydd”), a privately-held biotechnology company developing next-generation, best-in-class antivirals for influenza, COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. Prior to the Merger, the focus of our business was the discovery and development of novel products for patients with cancer. After completion of the Merger, the focus of our business expanded to include the development of novel therapies to target critical threats to human health in respiratory viral diseases. Following the Merger, we have four clinical programs: (i) tivoxavir marboxil, an investigational oral, small molecule CAP-dependent endonuclease inhibitor designed to be administered as a single-dose for the treatment of bird flu and seasonal influenza; (ii) ratutrelvir, an inhibitor of the main protease (also known as 3CL protease) of the SAR-CoV-2 virus, the causative agent in COVID-19; (iii) narazaciclib (ON 123300), a multi-targeted kinase inhibitor in solid tumors and hematological malignancies as a single agent or in combination with other anti-cancer therapies; and (iv) rigosertib, administered alone or in combination for investigation in various cancers. Each of these programs is discussed in additional detail, below.
Product Candidates / Compounds
Tivoxavir marboxil — Small Molecule Cap- Dependent Endonuclease Inhibitor
Tivoxavir marboxil, is a small molecule cap-dependent endonuclease inhibitor. Cap-dependent endonuclease (“CEN”) is an enzyme that is important for influenza virus replication. Tivoxavir marboxil is intended to inhibit CEN and, thus, is intended to impede influenza virus replication including, the influenza A or B viral strains and bird flu viral strains. It is our intention to develop tivoxavir marboxil as an oral dose given only once for potential treatment and prophylaxis of bird flu and seasonal influenza.
The first-in-man clinical study of tivoxavir marboxil (designated AV5124 in a previous study) was performed from May to September of 2023 in Russia. The study sponsor was Pharmasyntez, JSC. We have the right to use the data resulting from the study outside of Russia and the Eurasian Economic Community countries. The trial was a single ascending dose study, and, as such, each study participant only received one dose of tivoxavir marboxil. The study consisted of four dose cohorts that received 20, 40, 80 or 120 mg tivoxavir marboxil delivered as 20 mg strength tablets, or placebo. The study enrolled 28 healthy males ages 18-45 years who received either the study drug or placebo. The primary study endpoint was measurement of the safety and tolerability of single drug doses in healthy volunteers. The secondary endpoint was the measurement of pharmacokinetic parameters of single drug doses in healthy volunteers on an empty stomach or after a meal. In the study, one subject who received a single 40 mg dose of the study drug, experienced two adverse events (“AEs”). This subject experienced hyperglycemia, which was deemed to be mild and believed probably related to tivoxavir marboxil, and erosive gastritis with complications in the form of severe iron deficiency anemia, which was considered to be a serious adverse event (“SAE”) believed unlikely to be related (doubtful per the protocol) to the study drug. There were no other AEs in the trial, including at higher doses. The pharmacokinetic measurements indicated a small food effect for tivoxavir marboxil, with increased exposure when drug was taken after a meal but otherwise showed increasing exposure with increasing dose.
We advanced the development of tivoxavir marboxil with a Traws Pharma sponsored Phase 1 randomized, blinded, and placebo-controlled study in Australia that was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee. The study
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enrolled four cohorts of 8 participants, with 6 participants randomized to receive study drug and 2 participants assigned to receive placebo in each cohort. Participants were required to be healthy males or females ages 18-64 years. Participants took either one dose of the study drug or one dose of placebo, depending on the assigned group. The evaluated dose levels included 80, 120, 240, and 480 mg administered orally in capsule form. The primary endpoints of the study were safety and tolerability; the secondary and other endpoints included determination of a drug pharmacokinetic profile. The study enrolled healthy volunteers, adults 18-64 years old, into 4 cohorts. Topline data showed good overall tolerability and a pharmacokinetic profile. Sixteen AEs were recorded, of which three were possibly related to study drug during the study; all were mild headaches and resolved without treatment. Topline data from this study showed that a single dose of tivoxavir marboxil maintained detectable plasma drug levels for 23 days. Results from the Phase I studies support further investigation into tivoxavir marboxil as a one-time treatment for influenza and development of tivoxavir marboxil as a once-monthly oral drug for influenza prevention
Preclinical efficacy in bird flu models
During 2025, we reported additional preclinical data evaluating TXM in animal model studies using an H5N1 virus (A/Texas/37/2024) isolated from a Texas dairy worker. In mice, ferrets and nonhuman primates, TXM treatment of infected animals significantly reduced disease progression, prevented body weight loss, and increased survival. Lung virus burdens were dramatically lower among treated compared to control animals and histology confirmed the capacity for treatment to preserve lung structure and function. Oral TXM was an effective treatment for this highly virulent A/H5N1 bird flu and should be a consideration for pandemic influenza preparedness and inclusion in the United States Strategic Stockpile.
Regulatory interactions and development strategy
In 2025, we advanced regulatory interactions with the FDA to align on a path forward for tivoxavir marboxil, including the potential applicability of accelerated development approaches for bird flu. We submitted a meeting request and briefing materials to the FDA and received written responses to questions submitted for a Type B pre-Investigational New Drug Application (“pre-IND”) interaction. We subsequently submitted additional briefing materials to enable further FDA dialogue (“Type D”) on potential paths to approval for bird flu and seasonal influenza. Based on these interactions, and as reflected in our subsequent disclosures, the FDA affirmed its position that clinical trial data (rather than reliance on the “Animal Rule,” which allows for approval of therapeutic interventions in cases where there is a risk of severe disease and a controlled human trial would be unethical or infeasible) is the registrational path for bird flu
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therapeutics. Accordingly, while we prepared a proposed Phase 2 dose-ranging, non-inferiority seasonal influenza study (including a comparator arm versus XOFLUZA®) with a separate single arm intended to evaluate tivoxavir marboxil in H5N1 bird flu-infected subjects and submitted the protocol for Human Research Ethics Committee (“HREC”) review, we determined to defer initiation of the combined seasonal/bird flu Phase 2 study at that time due to the low immediate likelihood of successfully recruiting bird flu-infected subjects. In the meantime, we have disclosed that approvals obtained from Australian and South Korean regulatory authorities for our Phase 2 protocol may allow us to initiate a clinical study more rapidly in either the Southern or Northern Hemispheres, respectively, should epidemiology and feasibility improve.
Stockpiling / preparedness initiatives and subsequent events
During 2025, we also reported plans to pursue stockpiling and pandemic preparedness initiatives and initiated dialogue with relevant U.S. government stakeholders, including BARDA. Subsequent to year-end, in January 2026, we announced the filing of a U.S. IND application for TXM for influenza therapy, which we described as an important step toward formal consideration by BARDA for inclusion in the strategic stockpile. Also in January 2026, we announced plans to progress an additional indication for TXM as a monthly oral tablet for prophylaxis of seasonal influenza, supported by Phase 1 exposure observations from an earlier capsule formulation and formulation work indicating that a compressed tablet may provide extended coverage; we also announced that a time slot was secured for a human influenza prophylaxis human challenge trial targeted for June 2026, contingent on completion of a planned bridging healthy volunteer study. Separately, FDA informed the Company that its US IND for tivoxavir marboxil was being placed on clinical hold due to concerns with the toxicology data package. The Company is actively engaging with the FDA to address the clinical hold and is working to develop and submit a comprehensive response, with the goal of resolving the hold and advancing the program in the US during fiscal year 2027.
We intend to use the combined clinical, preclinical, regulatory feedback and manufacturing/formulation work to inform the next stages of tivoxavir marboxil development, including the design and timing of future clinical studies and engagement with regulatory authorities and preparedness agencies. Our plans remain subject to, among other things, feasibility of enrollment (including incidence of bird flu infections in humans), regulatory feedback, manufacturing readiness, and availability of capital.
Outlook
We intend to prioritize development of TXM as a once-monthly oral prophylactic agent for influenza prevention, and to continue development of TXM as a potential single-dose oral therapy for seasonal influenza or H5N1 bird flu and to advance the program in a manner consistent with regulatory feedback andavailable resources. We note that TXM is generally active against all influenza A and B strains and should be effective against A/H5N1 and other highly virulent avian influenzas that may arise. AS an important step in the development of influenza prevention, we plan to conduct an influenza single-dose virus human challenge trial in the UK wherein subjects receive an oral dose of TXM up to 28 days before an intentional exposure to influenza and the degree of protection is measured. Subject to approval from the United Kingdom’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”), the influenza virus challenge will commence thereafter.
Ratutrelvir — Small Molecule - 3CL Protease Inhibitor
Ratutrelvir (TRX01) is an inhibitor of the main protease (Mpro, also known as 3CL protease) of SAR-CoV-2 coronavirus, the causative agent in COVID-19. The main protease is an essential component in SARS-CoV-2 replication. Ratutrelvir inhibits Mpro and reduces SARS-CoV-2 virus replication. In vitro laboratory tests confirmed the impact of ratutrelvir on SARS-CoV-2 replication, including the original SARS-CoV-2 isolates, and variants in the delta and omicron groups. An animal study using the widely adopted K18 transgenic mouse model, demonstrated non-inferiority between ratutrelvir and the combination of nirmatrelvir + ritonavir, in terms of time to death and lung virus burden in this highly lethal model with neurological manifestations. Based on preclinical pharmacokinetic studies in multiple animal species, we intend to develop ratutrelvir for use without co-administration of a human cytochrome P450 (“CYP”) inhibitor such as ritonavir.
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Ratutrelvir was studied in a Phase 1 clinical trial that included single and multiple ascending dose phases. Participants were required to be healthy males or females ages 18-64 years. The primary endpoint of the study was the measurement of safety and tolerability, and the secondary endpoint included the determination of the drug pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles. The Phase 1 trial was conducted in Australia. It was sponsored by the Company and was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee. The trial administered either the study drug or placebo to 40 participants in the single ascending dose phase, which included 5 cohorts with 8 participants in each cohort (6 received study drug and two received placebo). Subjects in the single ascending dose phase received one oral dose of the study drug or placebo, depending on their assigned group. The single ascending dose portion of the study assessed oral ratutrelvir at 15, 50, 150, 300 and 600 mg doses. Subjects in the multiple ascending dose phase received a daily single oral dose of 150 mg or 600 mg (6 active and 2 placebo) for 10 consecutive days. The study was completed in September 2024. There were few recorded adverse events reported up to the highest dose, and none were determined to be related to study drug.
Topline data also showed that once-daily administration of ratutrelvir for 10 consecutive days, maintained plasma drug levels within the predicted therapeutic window for 12 days. In the cohort receiving a single, daily oral dose of 600 mg, the maximum drug levels were approximately 20 times below the exposure limits established during GLP toxicology studies in rats and Beagle dogs. The toxicology studies did not reach the no adverse event limit (NOAEL) after treating animals with up to 1,000 mg/kg. The 24-hour Ctrough levels were constant for 10 days, at roughly 110 nM total blood drug concentration, which is 13 times the EC50 measured in vitro for a collection of omicron strains of SARS-CoV-2. Pharmacodynamic studies confirmed a direct correlation between drug levels in blood and inhibition of the main protease enzyme in vitro.
During 2025, we initiated a multicenter, open-label, randomized Phase 2a clinical study designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ratutrelvir in non-hospitalized symptomatic adults with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. Patients deemed eligible for receiving PAXLOVID® were randomized to receive Ratutrelvir, 600 mg daily for 10 days, or Paxlovid twice daily for 5 days. Patients deemed to be ineligible for ritonavir-boosted regimens due to contraindications or clinically significant drug–drug interactions received Ratutrelvir 600 mg daily for 10 days. In January 2026, we completed enrollment in the planned 90-patient Phase 2 study.
In a prespecified interim analysis reported in January 2026 (50 patients evaluated at the time of the analysis), ratutrelvir-treated patients demonstrated a shorter time-to-sustained symptom alleviation and resolution versus the PAXLOVID® comparator, as assessed using the FLU-PRO Plus/COVID-19 Symptoms Diary, and no symptom or virologic rebound events were observed to date in ratutrelvir-treated patients (compared to one rebound event reported in the comparator arm). Ratutrelvir was generally well tolerated in the interim analysis, with fewer reported adverse events than the comparator arm; the most commonly reported adverse event was mild dyspepsia, and no dysgeusia was reported among ratutrelvir-treated patients. Patients ineligible for PAXLOVID® and receiving ratutrelvir demonstrated symptom improvement dynamics and safety observations described as consistent with the broader ratutrelvir-treated cohort.
With enrollment complete, we expect to complete follow-up and finalize analyses from the Phase 2a study, and we intend to use the resulting data to inform next steps for clinical development and regulatory strategy, including potential additional studies designed to further evaluate clinical rebound and longer-term outcomes following SARS-CoV-2 infection.Subsequent to December 31, 2025, we disclosed additional Phase 2 updates. In January 2026, we reported an updated interim analysis indicating that 76 patients had been included (32 treated with ratutrelvir and 18 treated with PAXLOVID®) and that 95% of the planned 90-patient population had been enrolled. In that updated interim analysis, ratutrelvir-treated patients demonstrated a shorter time-to-sustained symptom alleviation and resolution versus PAXLOVID® (12 days vs. 14 days; p<0.014), and no COVID-19 symptom or virologic rebound events had been observed to date in ratutrelvir-treated patients (with one rebound event reported in the PAXLOVID® arm).
In February 2026, we announced completion of the clinical analysis of the 90-patient, open-label Phase 2 study of ratutrelvir versus PAXLOVID®, together with a single arm in PAXLOVID®-ineligible subjects. We reported that completed clinical results confirmed a differentiated profile versus PAXLOVID® with fewer adverse events and no viral rebounds and equivalent time to sustained symptom resolution, and that results were recapitulated in PAXLOVID®-ineligible patients. In the PAXLOVID®-ineligible population specifically, we reported fewer treatment-related adverse
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events (3 events in 30 subjects; 10%) versus PAXLOVID® (7 events in 30 subjects; 23.3%) and faster symptom resolution compared to PAXLOVID® treatment (HR 1.31; 95% CI 0.78–2.20; p=0.018)
Narazaciclib (ON 123300) — Differentiated Multi-Kinase Inhibitor Targeting CDK4/6
Pursuant to a license agreement with Temple University, dated January 1, 1999, as amended March 21, 2013 (the “Temple Licensing Agreement”), we licensed compounds from Temple University, including our product candidate narazaciclib. Narazaciclib is a multi-targeted kinase inhibitor targeting multiple cyclin-dependent kinases (“CDK's”), AMP-activated protein kinase (“AMPK”) related protein kinase 5 (“ARK5”), and colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor (“CSF1R”) at low nM concentrations as well as other tyrosine kinases believed to drive tumor cell proliferation, survival and metastasis. As an apoptotic and antiproliferative agent, narazaciclib modulates the levels and activities of regulatory proteins of the cell cycle, including cyclin D1 and inhibits retinoblastoma (“Rb”) protein binding. Narazaciclib is believed to inhibit cancer cell growth and suppresses deoxyribonucleic acid (“DNA”) synthesis by preventing CDK-mediated G1-S phase transition, followed by tumor cell death by induction of mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. We believe, based on data from preclinical studies, that narazaciclib has the potential to overcome the limitations of the current generation of approved cyclin dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitors. The table below depicts the half-maximal in vitro inhibitory concentration (IC50) of narazaciclib palbociclib, ribociclib and abemaciclib. IC50 is a quantitative measure indicating the concentration of each drug needed to inhibit, in vitro, these listed kinases by 50%. We believe our CDK inhibitor is differentiated from other agents in the market or in development due to its multi-targeted kinase inhibition profile.
Narazaciclib Palbociclib Ribociclib Abemaciclib
Sponsor Traws Pfizer Novartis Lilly
CDK Family
Other Kinases
Source: Reaction Biology 2021
Narazaciclib also inhibits ARK5 (“NUAK1”) with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 4.95 nM (Report EPR-123300-001 and Reddy 2014) while palbociclib, ribociclib, and abemaciclib do not. ARK5 has been shown to be important in a number of cancer cell regulated survival pathways such as regulating AKT dependent cell survival, cell metabolism through c-MYC activity, tumor cell survival under oxidative stress and tumor cell migration (Faisal, 2020, Lui, 2012, Port, 2018). The combination of CDK and ARK5 inhibitors in the same molecular entity is proposed to have a differentiated effect on cancer cells by simultaneously inhibiting both cell cycle (cytostatic) and cellular metabolism (cytotoxic) pathways through CDK and ARK5, respectively.
Narazaciclib also inhibits CSF1R with IC50 values between 0.7 to 10 nM (Unpublished data and Reddy 2014). The ability of narazaciclib to bind and inhibit CSF1R at low nanomolar values, in both in vitro and cell-based assays suggests that this compound may have an impact in cancers with a dependence on CSF1R signaling.
Unfortunately, several mechanisms of acquired resistance are emerging with the approved CDK4/6 inhibitors leading to progression in patients with HR+/HER2- mBC (Spring, 2019; Knudsen, 2020). Therefore, the unmet medical need supports development of the next (third) generation CDK4/6 inhibitors in advanced HR+/HER- mBC. The inhibitory effect of narazaciclib may provide a therapeutic strategy to optimize efficacy of CDK 4/6 inhibition and
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reduce the emergence of resistance and/or provide clinical benefit for patients with progression on palbociclib, ribociclib and/or abemaciclib. Another established driver of resistance to CDK4/6 inhibitors in breast cancer is FGFR1-3.
Cancer cells can also lose Rb function through mutation and become resistant or insensitive to palbociclib. Generally, second generation CDK 4/6 inhibitors agents have not been shown to be suitable for single agent therapy and must typically be used in combination with hormonal therapy in the treatment of HR+/HER2- mBC. In addition, the rate of disease progression that occurs, especially in patients with visceral disease (Hortobagyi 2018), may benefit from the novel inhibitory effects of narazaciclib. This hypothesis needs to be proven in a clinical trial.
We believe narazaciclib has a favorable kinase inhibitory profile in comparison to the approved CDK4/6 inhibitors (palbociclib, ribociclib, and abemaciclib) and may result in both tumorigenic and safety benefits (Perumal, 2016, Divakar, 2016). In addition, the added inhibitory effects of narazaciclib on CSF-1R, and ARK5 is expected to increase the potential of narazaciclib to treat a broader array of cancers such as triple negative breast cancer in combination with chemotherapy and immunotherapy, mantle cell lymphoma in combination with Bruton Tyrosine Kinase (“BTK”) inhibitors, relapsed refractory multiple myeloma, and colorectal cancer among others.
In December 2017, we entered into a license and collaboration agreement with HanX Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (“HanX”), a company focused on development of novel oncology products, for the manufacturing, clinical development, registration and commercialization in China of narazaciclib (the “HanX License Agreement”). Under the terms of the HanX License Agreement, we received an upfront payment, and will receive regulatory and commercial milestone payments, as well as royalties on any future Chinese sales if the drug is approved. The key feature of the 2017 collaboration was that HanX provided all funding required for the Chinese Investigational New Drug Application (“IND”), thereby enabling the studies necessary in order to seek IND approval by the National Medical Products Administration (the “NMPA”), the Chinese equivalent of the FDA. In the fourth quarter of 2019, HanX filed an IND with the NMPA, which was approved on January 6, 2020. We and HanX also intended for these studies underlying the Chinese IND approval, to meet the FDA standards for IND approval. Accordingly, such studies were used by us for an IND filing with the US FDA. In September 2020, a Phase 1 Study with narazaciclib in cancer patients was initiated in China. We maintain global rights to the manufacturing, clinical development, and commercialization of narazaciclib outside of China.
In partnership with HanX, a Phase 1 dose escalation study (Study HX301-I-01) for patients with advanced relapsed/refractory cancer has been initiated in China at three sites and the first patient was enrolled on September 15, 2020. In this study HX301 (narazaciclib) was dosed daily for 21 days followed by 7 days off therapy in each 28-day cycle. This monotherapy study, which is now complete, enrolled a total of 20 patients with solid tumors at doses starting at 40mg daily for 21 of 28 days, which were escalated from 40mg in increments of 40mg up to 200mg. The study is now complete, and the results were presented in abstract form as ASCO in 2024. According to the report, the median age of the patients was 55 years, ranging from 30 to 71. Notably, 15 patients (75%) had metastatic breast cancers. Dose-limiting toxicities (“DLTs”) were observed in 2 patients in the 200 mg group. These included a Grade 4 increase in alanine aminotransferase (“ALT”) and a Grade 3 decrease in platelet counts with associated epistaxis, both of which resolved after discontinuation of treatment. The most common treatment-related AEs observed were elevated aspartate aminotransferase (“AST”) (65.0%), decreased white blood cell count (50%), decreased neutrophil count (50%), elevated ALT (45%), elevated creatine kinase (45%), and elevated creatinine (35%). Additionally, 4 patients experienced Grade 3 or higher treatment-related AEs, including 1 patient in the 160 mg group with Grade 3 elevated γ-glutamyl transferase and alkaline phosphatase, and 3 patients in the 200 mg group with Grade 4 elevated ALT and Grade 3 elevated AST and Dyspepsia, Grade 3 decreased neutrophil and platelet counts, and Grade 3 hyperglycemia. Notably, no AEs led to death. Among the 20 patients evaluable for tumor assessment using RECIST 1.1 by investigators, 4 obtained stable disease, including 2 patients in the 200 mg group, 1 in the 120 mg group, and 1 in the 80 mg group. Furthermore, 1 patient with HR+ breast cancer in the 200 mg group received study drug for over a year (>400 days) and achieved prolonged stable disease for more than 12 months. Another breast cancer patient dosed at 200mg had stable disease lasting more than 6 months. In total, 2 of 3 patients treated with monotherapy at the 200mg dose had stable disease. These are noteworthy early clinical observations, considering that narazaciclib was being administered as a monotherapy in breast cancer patients when in clinical practice this would be combined with anti-estrogen therapy.
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Our IND submission to the US FDA was submitted in November 2020 and the FDA Study May Proceed letter was issued in December 2020. Enrollment into the complementary US phase 1 study (Study 19-01) with narazaciclib commenced in May 2021. Study 19-01 was an exploratory Phase 1 clinical trial, conducted in the US, to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of narazaciclib administered orally as escalating daily doses in patients with advanced cancer relapsed or refractory to at least 1 prior line of therapy. In Study 19-01 in the US, narazaciclib was dosed on a continuous daily schedule in 28-day cycles. The study assessed the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of narazaciclib administered orally at increasing doses starting at 40 mg daily for consecutive 28-day cycles in patients with relapsed/refractory advanced cancer. Enrollment in the sixth dose cohort (240 mg orally each day) of the Phase 1 solid tumor study of narazaciclib was completed with one dose limiting toxicity (DLT) observed. The seventh dose cohort (280 mg daily) enrolled 3 patients. In this study, the highest dose tested was 280mg once daily given continuously. This study is now closed to accrual and data analysis is ongoing in preparation for database lock, data analysis and a clinical study report. Based on experience from study 19-01, there were no emergent safety concerns.
The Company initiated a multi-center Phase 1/2a trial evaluating its multi-kinase inhibitor, narazaciclib, in combination with letrozole for the treatment of recurrent metastatic endometrial cancer and other gynecologic malignancies (Study 19-02). Both narazaciclib and letrozole were administered orally in the Phase 1 dose escalation phase. The first patient in this trial was dosed in May 2023 and the initial cohort (160mg) was completed and no DLTs were observed. The 200mg cohort enrolled 6 evaluable subjects but two patients experienced dose limiting toxicities. As a result, the dose of narazaciclib of 160mg once daily in combination with letrozole 2.5mg QD was declared to be the maximum tolerated dose and the recommended Phase 2 dose for women with low grade endometrioid endometrial cancer. This study is now closed to accrual. The database has been locked, and a clinical study report is currently under review.
We believe that the emerging safety profile of narazaciclib is promising and is consistent with what is expected of CDK 4/6 inhibitors, except that the rates of severe neutropenia and diarrhea appear to be lower with narazaciclib in general.
Narazaciclib is also being studied in China by HanX in clinical trials of patients with High-Grade Glioma (Grade III and IV). Four patients have been enrolled to date.
Narazaciclib is our oral CDK4-plus, multi-targeted kinase inhibitor. During 2025, we continued to focus our internal resources on our respiratory antiviral programs and, consistent with that prioritization, narazaciclib was managed as a legacy oncology asset in business development. Our Company-sponsored clinical activities for narazaciclib have been completed and we are not conducting additional Company-sponsored clinical development. Specifically, our Phase 1/2a trial evaluating narazaciclib in combination with letrozole in recurrent/metastatic low-grade endometrioid endometrial cancer is closed to accrual, the database has been locked, and a clinical study report is under review. In addition, the Phase 1 monotherapy study in relapsed/refractory advanced cancers is closed to accrual and data analysis is ongoing.
Our strategic objective for narazaciclib is to establish a development and commercialization partnership (or other strategic transaction) to advance the program. Unless and until such a partnership or transaction is executed, we do not intend to initiate further Company-sponsored development for narazaciclib and expect our activities to be limited primarily to (i) completing analysis and reporting from completed studies, (ii) maintaining intellectual property and other program-enabling documentation, and (iii) supporting business development efforts. Narazaciclib continues to be developed in Greater China under our license agreement with HanX, where development is sponsored by HanX.
Rigosertib as Monotherapy
Recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (“RDEB”) is an ultra-rare condition with high unmet medical need caused by a lack of type VII collagen protein expression. Type VII collagen protein is responsible for anchoring the skin’s inner layer to its outer layer, and its absence leads to extreme skin fragility and chronic wound formation in RDEB patients. Over time, many of these patients develop squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) that typically arise in areas of chronic skin wounding and inflammation. Preclinical investigations demonstrated overexpression of polo like kinase 1 (“PLK1”) in RDEB-associated SCC tumor cells. These tumors show a highly aggressive, early metastasizing course,
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making them the primary cause of death for these patients, with a cumulative risk of death of 70% and 78.7% by age 45 and 55, respectively (Mellerio, 2016), (Fine, 2016). These neoplasms show limited response rates of mostly short duration to conventional chemo- and radiotherapy as well as targeted therapy with epidermal growth factor and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (Mellerio, 2016), (Stratigos, 2020).
Based on rigosertib’s activity as a potent PLK-1 pathway inhibitor (Atanasova, 2019), a Phase 2 open label investigator-initiated program was commenced in patients with advanced/metastatic squamous cell carcinoma associated with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (“RDEB-SCC”). The current clinical experience in RDEB SCC is based on the two small phase II, open-label Investigator Sponsored Studies (“ISS”) evaluating the anti-tumor activity and safety of oral or IV rigosertib in RDEB patients diagnosed with locally advanced/metastatic SCCs that have failed prior standard of care. These studies were conducted at EB House, Salzburg, Austria (SALK) (EudraCT No.: 2016-003832-19; NCT03786237) and at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, USA (NCT04177498). Both studies included the use of either IV or oral rigosertib, depending on the clinical need of the patient. This is due to GI obstruction arising as a result of the presence of esophageal strictures complicating oral administration or extreme skin fragility complicating IV administration. It is, therefore, important in these patients that the investigator has both dosing options for the appropriate dosing of their patients. The data presented here are preliminary and may be subject to change.
A total of 5 patients with SCC in the setting of RDEB have been treated with rigosertib to date. These patients had multiple surgical sections and treatments with systemic therapies such as cemiplimab, pembrolizumab and cetuximab, which all failed. Following treatment with rigosertib, there have been 2 complete cutaneous responses in 4 evaluable patients out of the 5 total patients with SCC in the setting of RDEB that were treated with rigosertib. The responses in these patients were durable, lasting 15 months and 16 months, respectively. The third patient had significant tumor shrinkage of the primary lesion, facilitating a successful amputation. Patient four demonstrated some initial tumor shrinkage and stayed on treatment for 6 cycles before being withdrawn due to logistical complications prior to the next scheduled tumor assessment. One patient was not evaluable, and this patient initially completed 2 weeks of oral rigosertib therapy before stopping due to severe stool impaction, likely from opioid-induced constipation, and COVID-19 infection. The patient finished cycle 1 three weeks later, but eventually withdrew during cycle 2 due to inability to take oral medications, abdominal pain from stool impaction, and unwillingness to take IV medication. Results showed that overall rigosertib had an acceptable safety profile.
Although the trial’s currently available safety and efficacy data are from only four patients, which may not be representative of a broader patient population, the investigators believe they represent encouraging findings. This is in the backdrop of a well of > 1300 patients who have been treated in other diseases settings to support safety of the product in rigosertib. In addition, the investigators, and we, believe the data generated in preclinical models that suggest rigosertib’s activity against PLK1 have now been preliminarily supported in the clinic and suggest that rigosertib may play a role in other more common cancers driven by PLK1.
As we disclosed in December 2021, early preliminary data from this study were presented at the Austrian Society of Dermatology and Venerology Annual Conference 2021, which took place from November 25–27, 2021, and at the World Congress on Rare Skin Diseases which took place in Paris, from June 7-9, 2022. More recently, data was presented at the International Society of Investigative Dermatology (“ISID”) International Epidermolysis Bullosa Symposium in Osaka, Japan on May 9, 2023, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (“ASCO”) Annual Meeting in Chicago on June 3, 2023, and at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (“EADV”) in Berlin, Germany on October 12, 2023, as well as the SID Society of Investigative Dermatology (“SID”) in Dallas, Texas in May 2024, where a poster was presented. There was also a poster presentation and a plenary presentation given by Professor Andrew South at the World Congress of Rare Skin Diseases (“WCRSD”) in Paris in June 2024.
Rare Disease Program in “RASopathies”
Preclinical studies with rigosertib are also being conducted in cardiomyopathies which are seen in children with RASopathies such as Noonan Syndrome. Rigosertib normalized and reversed RASopathy-associated hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (“HCM”) as well as other syndromic features in Raf1L613V/+ mice. A manuscript has been submitted for publication.
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Our near-term activities for rigosertib are expected to be limited primarily to (i) supporting business development efforts to identify a development and commercialization partner, (ii) maintaining program-enabling documentation and intellectual property, and (iii) selectively supporting investigator-initiated activities and scientific dissemination that may facilitate partnering discussions. Our objective for rigosertib is to establish one or more partnerships for further development of the compound, including in RDEB-SCC or other indications.
Research and Development
Since commencing operations, we have dedicated a significant portion of our resources to the development of our clinical-stage product candidates, particularly rigosertib, narazaciclib and, more recently, tivoxavir marboxil and ratutrelvir. We incurred research and development expenses of $12.1 million and $12.8 million during the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. We anticipate that a significant portion of our operating expenses will continue to be related to research and development.
Collaboration and License Agreements
HanX Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (narazaciclib Agreement)
Under the terms of the HanX License Agreement, we received an upfront payment, and will receive regulatory and commercial milestone payments, as well as royalties on Chinese sales. The key feature of the collaboration is that HanX provides all funding required for Chinese IND enabling studies performed for Chinese health authority IND approval. The Chinese IND was approved in January 2020. We maintain global rights to narazaciclib outside of China.
SymBio Pharmaceuticals Limited
In July 2011, we entered into a license agreement (the “Symbio License Agreement”) with SymBio Pharmaceuticals Limited (“Symbio”), as subsequently amended, granting SymBio an exclusive, royalty-bearing license for the development and commercialization of rigosertib in Japan and Korea.
Under the terms of the SymBio License Agreement, we received an upfront payment of $7,500,000. In addition, we could receive regulatory, development and sales-based milestone payments, as well as royalty payments at percentage rates ranging from the mid-teens to 20% based on net sales of rigosertib by SymBio.
Effective April 17, 2025, the Company and Symbio mutually terminated the license agreement originally entered into by and between the parties in 2011. No payments, compensation, reimbursements or settlements shall be due or owed by either party in connection with the termination of the license agreement. As a result, the Company recognized the $2,733,000 of deferred revenue as revenue on April 17, 2025.
Pint International SA
In March 2018, we entered into a License, Development and Commercialization Agreement (the “Pint License Agreement”) with Pint International SA (which, together with its affiliate Pint Pharma GmbH, are collectively referred to as “Pint”). Under the terms of the Pint License Agreement, we granted Pint an exclusive, royalty-bearing license, with the right to sublicense, under certain Company patent rights and know-how to develop and commercialize any pharmaceutical product (the “Pint Licensed Product”) containing rigosertib in all uses of the Pint Licensed Product in humans in Latin American countries (including Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, British Guiana, Suriname, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela).
Under the terms of the Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Pint SPA”) entered into by and between the Company and Pint in connection with the Pint License Agreement, Pint agreed to make an upfront equity investment in the Company at a specified premium to the Company’s share price. Pursuant to the Pint SPA, closing of the upfront equity investment occurred on April 4, 2018 and Pint purchased 2,179 shares of common stock for $1,250,000. The total amount of the premium was $319,000 and this amount was allocated to the license.
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Pint may terminate the Pint License Agreement in whole (but not in part) at any time upon 45 days’ prior written notice. The Pint License Agreement also contains customary provisions for termination by either party in the event of breach of the Pint License Agreement by the other party, subject to a cure period, or bankruptcy of the other party.
Knight Therapeutics, Inc.
In November 2019, we entered into a Distribution, License and Supply Agreement (the “Knight License Agreement”) with Knight Therapeutics Inc. (“Knight”). Under the terms of the Knight License Agreement, we granted Knight (i) a non-exclusive, royalty-bearing license, with the right to sublicense, under certain Company patent rights and know-how to develop and manufacture any product (the “Knight Licensed Product”) containing rigosertib for Canada (and Israel, should Knight exercise its option under the agreement) (the “Knight Territory”) and in human uses (the “Knight Licensed Field”), and (ii) an exclusive, royalty-bearing license, with the right to sublicense, under certain Company patent rights and know-how to commercialize the Knight Licensed Product in the Knight Territory and in the Knight Licensed Field.
Knight has also agreed to obtain from us all of Knight’s requirements of the Knight Licensed Products for the Knight Territory, and we have agreed to supply Knight with all of its requirements of the Knight Licensed Products. We may, at our discretion, use the services of a contract manufacturer to manufacture and package the Knight Licensed Products.
In addition, we have granted Knight an exclusive right of first refusal with respect to all or any part of the Knight Territory, to store, market, promote, sell, offer for sale and/or distribute any ROFR Products. As used in the Knight License Agreement, “ROFR Products” means all products other than the Knight Licensed Product that are owned, licensed, or controlled by us as of the effective date of the Knight License Agreement and all improvements thereto.
We are eligible to receive clinical, regulatory, and sale-based milestone payments as well as tiered, double-digit royalties based on net sales in the Knight Territory.
The License Agreement has a term of 15 years from the launch, on a country-by-country basis in the Knight Territory, and contains customary provisions for termination by either party in the event of breach of the Knight License Agreement by the other party (subject to a cure period), bankruptcy of the other party, or challenges to the patents by any sublicensee or assignee.
Specialised Therapeutics Asia Pte. Ltd.
In December 2019, we entered into a Distribution, License and Supply Agreement (the “STA License Agreement”) with Specialised Therapeutics Asia Pte. Ltd. (“STA”). Under the terms of the STA License Agreement, we granted STA (i) a non-exclusive, royalty-bearing license, with the right to sublicense, under certain Company patent rights and know-how to develop and manufacture any product (the “STA Licensed Product”) containing rigosertib for Australia and New Zealand (the “STA Territory”) and in human uses (the “STA Licensed Field”), and (ii) an exclusive, royalty-bearing license, with the right to sublicense, under certain Company patent rights and know-how to commercialize the STA Licensed Product in the STA Territory and in the STA Licensed Field.
STA has also agreed to obtain from us all of its requirements of the STA Licensed Products for the STA Territory, and we have agreed to supply STA with all of its requirements of the STA Licensed Products. We may, at our discretion, use the services of a contract manufacturer to manufacture and package the STA Licensed Products.
We are eligible to receive clinical, regulatory, and sale-based milestone payments as well as tiered, double-digit royalties based on net sales in the STA Territory.
The STA License Agreement has a term of 15 years from the launch, on a country-by-country basis, in the STA Territory and contains customary provisions for termination by either party in the event of breach of the STA License Agreement by the other party (subject to a cure period), bankruptcy of the other party, or challenges to the patents by any sublicensee or assignee.
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Intellectual Property
Patents and Proprietary Rights
Virology
License Agreement with Viriom, Inc. regarding Influenza Asset
In January 2023, Trawsfynydd entered into a License Agreement (the “Viriom License Agreement”) with Viriom, Inc. (“Viriom”), pursuant to which Trawsfynydd obtained an exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, world-wide license to certain Viriom patents, applications, and technical information (collectively, the “Viriom Licensed IP”) to make, have made, use, sell, offer for sale and import several classes of novel compounds related to the treatment and prevention of viral diseases, specifically for use of the Viriom Licensed IP in the development of treatment and methods to prevent viral disease in Canada, China, the European Union, Hong Kong, Japan, the United States and all areas covered by PCT applications for the Viriom Licensed IP. As consideration for the license, Trawsfynydd issued Viriom a SAFE for the purchase amount of approximately $13 million, which SAFE was converted into shares of Trawsfynydd stock prior to the Merger. No annual license fees, royalties, or milestone payments are required. Additionally, pursuant to the Viriom License Agreement, Trawsfynydd obtained the right to control prosecution, defense of infringement and enforcement. As a result of the Merger, the rights and obligations of Trawsfynydd under the Viriom License Agreement were transferred to the Company (through its subsidiaries).
Unless terminated earlier pursuant to the agreement, the Viriom License Agreement shall remain in force and effect for the life of the last-to-expire patent included in the Viriom Licensed IP or last-to-be abandoned patent application licensed under the agreement, whichever is later. The Viriom License Agreement can be terminated by either party due to the material breach of either party (subject to a cure period).
As of March 2025, pursuant to the Viriom License Agreement, we exclusively licensed patents and patent applications covering compounds, pharmaceutical compositions, methods of producing such compounds and pharmaceutical compositions, methods and uses of such compounds and pharmaceutical compositions in the prophylaxis or treatment of viral infections in, for example, the United States, Europe, Japan, and China, among others. These licensed patents and patents that may result from currently pending patent applications expire in 2040 before any possible patent term extensions. Patent term extensions may be available, depending on various provisions in the law.
Acquisition of Viriom Patent Assets
On September 9, 2025, the Company entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement with Viriom pursuant to which the Company acquired certain intellectual property assets related to a pyrrolidine antiviral compound program, including issued patents, pending patent applications and related rights (the “Purchased IP”). As a result of this transaction, the Company transitioned from holding certain rights under license to owning the acquired patents and applications outright, thereby strengthening its control over the development, prosecution, defense and enforcement of such intellectual property and eliminating any future dependency on the licensed rights with respect to the acquired assets.
Following the acquisition, the Company continues to hold exclusive rights to additional intellectual property under the Viriom License Agreement that was not included in the Purchased IP. The acquired patents and pending applications, together with the remaining licensed intellectual property, cover compounds, pharmaceutical compositions, methods of manufacture and methods of use for the prophylaxis and treatment of viral infections in multiple jurisdictions, including the United States, Europe, Japan and China. The issued patents and any patents that may result from currently pending patent applications are expected to expire in 2040, prior to any potential patent term extensions. Patent term extensions or adjustments may be available depending on regulatory timelines and applicable law.
Virology COVID-19 Asset
In addition to the Viriom Licensed IP that we have rights to pursuant to the Viriom License Agreement, we own several patent applications covering compounds, pharmaceutical compositions, methods of producing such compounds
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and pharmaceutical compositions, methods and uses of such compounds and pharmaceutical compositions for the prevention or treatment of a disease, disorder, or condition associated with coronavirus in, for example, Australia, Eurasia, Europe, Mexico, and the United States, among others. These Company-owned patent applications and patents that may result from currently pending patent applications expire in 2043 before any possible patent term extensions. Patent term extensions may be available, depending on various provisions in the law.
Oncology
Narazaciclib Patents
As of March 2024, we owned or exclusively licensed issued patents and pending patent applications covering composition of matter, formulation and various indications for method-of-use for narazaciclib filed worldwide, including in the United States. The U.S. composition-of-matter patent for narazaciclib expires in 2031. We have also filed new patent applications covering methods of treatment in target indications that are projected to extend to 2042-2043 before any possible patent term extensions. Patent term extensions may be available, depending on various provisions in the law.
Rigosertib Patents
As of March 2024, we owned or exclusively licensed issued patents and pending patent applications covering composition-of-matter, process, formulation and various indications for method-of-use for rigosertib filed worldwide, including in the United States. The U.S. composition-of-matter patent for rigosertib, which we in-licensed pursuant to the license agreement with Temple, currently expires in 2026. The novel formulation patent for rigosertib expires in 2037. We have filed new patent applications covering methods of treatment in target indications that are projected to extend to 2042-2044 before any possible patent term extensions. Patent term extensions may be available, depending on various provisions in the law.
License Agreement with Temple University
In January 1999, we entered into the Temple Licensing Agreement with Temple University (“Temple”) to obtain an exclusive, world-wide license to certain Temple patents and technical information to make, have made, use, sell, offer for sale and import several classes of novel compounds.
Under the terms of the Temple Licensing Agreement, we paid Temple a non-refundable up-front payment, and are required to pay annual license maintenance fees, as well as a low single-digit percentage of net sales as a royalty. In addition, we agreed to pay Temple 25% of any consideration received from any sublicensee of the licensed Temple patents and technical information, which does not include any royalties on sales, funds received for research and development or proceeds from any equity or debt investment.
On November 17, 2025, Temple provided notice of termination of the Temple Licensing Agreement, and the agreement subsequently terminated in accordance with its terms. As a result of the termination, we no longer hold rights under the Temple Licensing Agreement and do not expect to undertake further development activities under that agreement. We also do not expect to incur ongoing annual license maintenance fees related to the agreement going forward, subject to any obligations that may have accrued prior to termination.
General Considerations
As with other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, our ability to maintain and solidify a proprietary position for our product candidates will depend upon our success in obtaining effective patent claims and enforcing those claims once granted.
Our commercial success will depend in part upon not infringing upon the proprietary rights of third parties. It is uncertain whether the issuance of any third-party patent would require us to alter our development or commercial strategies, or our product candidates or processes, obtain licenses or cease certain activities. The biotechnology and
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pharmaceutical industries are characterized by extensive litigation regarding patents and other intellectual property rights. If a third party commences a patent infringement action against us, or our collaborators, it could consume significant financial and management resources, regardless of the merit of the claims or the outcome of the litigation.
If an application is timely filed with the Patent and Trademark Office, the term of a patent that covers an FDA-approved drug may be eligible for additional patent term extension, which provides patent term restoration to account for the patent term lost during product development and the FDA regulatory review process. The Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 (the “Hatch-Waxman Act”) permits a patent term extension of up to five years beyond the expiration of the patent. The length of the patent term extension is determined based upon the time from the IND effective date to the full NDA submission date, and the time from NDA submission date and the eventual application approval, as further described below. Patent extension cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the date of product approval and only one patent applicable to an approved drug may be extended. Similar provisions are available in Europe and other foreign jurisdictions to extend the term of a patent that covers an approved drug. In the future, if and when our product candidates receive FDA approval, we expect to apply for patent term extensions on patents covering those products.
Furthermore, we may be able to obtain extension of patent term by adjustment of the said term under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 154 if the issue of an original patent is delayed due to the failure of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. For example, we have received adjustments of 1,139 days extension to the patent term for the rigosertib composition of matter patent (US 7,598,232), 1,155 days extension for the patent covering the process for making rigosertib (US 8,143,453) and 751 days extension for rigosertib formulation patent (US 8,063,109) under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. §154.
In addition to patents and other licensed intellectual property rights, we rely upon unpatented trade secrets, know-how and continuing technological innovation to develop and maintain a competitive position. We seek to protect our proprietary information, in part, through confidentiality agreements with our employees, collaborators, contractors and consultants, and invention assignment agreements with our employees. We also have agreements requiring assignment of inventions with selected consultants and collaborators. The confidentiality agreements are designed to protect our proprietary information and, in the case of agreements or clauses requiring invention assignment, to grant us ownership of technologies that are developed through a relationship with a third party.
Competition
The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are highly competitive and subject to rapid and significant technological change. While we believe that our development experience and scientific knowledge provide us with competitive advantages, we face competition from both large and small pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. There are a number of pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, public and private universities and research organizations actively engaged in the research and development of products that may compete with our products. Many of these companies are multinational pharmaceutical or biotechnology organizations, which are pursuing the development of, or are currently marketing, pharmaceuticals that target the key viruses, oncology indications or cellular pathways on which we are focused.
Many of our competitors have significantly greater financial, technical and human resources than we have. Many of our competitors also have a significant advantage with respect to experience in the discovery and development of product candidates, as well as obtaining FDA and other regulatory approvals of products and the commercialization of those products. We anticipate intense and increasing competition as new drugs enter the market and as more advanced technologies become available. Our success will be based in part on our ability to identify, develop and manage a portfolio of drugs that are safer and more effective than competing products.
There are currently various drugs approved for the treatment of influenza, including without limitation the neuraminidase inhibitors oseltamivir phosphate (Tamiflu), zanamivir (Relenza), and peramivir (Rapivab) anti-influenza drugs, which are sold by Gilead, Glaxo SmithKline (GSK), and BioCryst partners, respectively. Additionally, there is currently one cap-dependent endonuclease (“CEN”) inhibitor, baloxavir marboxil (Xofluza), sold by Roche, approved for use in the treatment of influenza. In addition, M2 channel inhibitors, generic drugs include amantadine and
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rimantadine, both oral tablets that only inhibit the replication of the influenza virus have generally become ineffective because of significant viral resistance to the approved M2 channel inhibitors, especially in the US. Several companies are developing anti-influenza drugs, including for the treatment of bird flu, at present, including, for example, Cidara and Eradivir. Small chemical classes include neuraminidase inhibitors, M2-channel inhibitors, and RDRP inhibitors, among others. There are also monoclonal, polyclonal, and mixed antibodies, as well as enzymes as drugs in development.
Several companies have advanced drug candidates for the management of COVID-19. For example, remdesivir (sold by Gilead), an antiviral drug, and oral Paxlovid (sold by Pfizer), a combination of nirmatrelvir and ritonavir tablets taken together, have both received full FDA approval for the treatment of COVID-19 in certain populations. The FDA has authorized emergency use (“EUA”) of oral molnupiravir (sold by Merck and Ridgeback). Several antibodies previously received EUAs, but all of these have been revoked due to loss of efficacy as new variants emerged.
There are several ongoing clinical trials aimed at expanding the use of approved chemotherapeutic and immunomodulatory agents in the diseases we are studying, as well as several new clinical programs testing novel technologies. Companies with marketed CDK 4/6 inhibitors in the HR+/ HER2- metastatic breast cancer space include Pfizer (palbociclib), Novartis (ribociclib) and Eli Lilly (abemaciclib).
Manufacturing
Our product candidates are synthetic small molecules. Manufacturing activities must comply with FDA current good manufacturing practices (“cGMP”), regulations commensurate with the product candidates’ stage of development. We conduct our manufacturing activities under individual purchase orders with third-party contract manufacturers (“CMOs”). We have quality agreements in place with our key CMOs. We have also established an internal quality management organization, which audits and qualifies CMOs in the United States and abroad.
We believe that the manufacturing processes for the active biopharmaceutical ingredients and finished drug products for our product candidates are being developed to adequately support future development and commercial demands. If manufacturing challenges occur, they are thoroughly reviewed and, as may be required, reported to health authorities to determine whether the product can be used for clinical trials.
The FDA regulates and inspects or conducts remote regulatory assessments of equipment, facilities and processes used in manufacturing biopharmaceutical products prior to approval. If we or our CMOs fail to comply with applicable cGMP requirements and conditions of product approval, the FDA may seek sanctions, including fines, civil penalties, injunctions, suspension of manufacturing operations, operating restrictions, withdrawal of FDA approval, refusal to approve applications, seizure or recall of products and criminal prosecution. Although we periodically monitor the FDA compliance of our third-party CMOs, we cannot be certain that our present or future third-party CMOs will consistently comply with cGMP and other applicable FDA regulatory requirements.
Commercial Operations
We do not currently have any relationships with organizations for the sale, marketing and distribution of biopharmaceutical products. In the future, we may rely on licensing and co-promotion agreements with strategic partners for the commercialization of our products in the United States and other territories. If we choose to build a commercial infrastructure to support marketing in the United States, such commercial infrastructure could be expected to include a targeted, sales force supported by sales management, internal sales support, an internal marketing group and distribution support. To develop the appropriate commercial infrastructure internally, we would have to invest significant financial and management resources.
Government Regulation
As a biopharmaceutical company that operates in the United States, we are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA, and other federal, state, and local regulatory agencies. The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (the “FDC Act”), and its implementing regulations, as well as various other federal and state statutes and regulations, set forth, among other things, requirements for the research, testing, development, manufacture, quality control, safety,
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effectiveness, approval, labeling, storage, record keeping, reporting, distribution, import, export, advertising, marketing, and promotion of our product candidates. The FDA also has issued a growing body of guidance documents that provide the agency’s interpretation of regulatory requirements. As a result of these regulations, product development and the product approval process is very expensive and time consuming.
Regulation by governmental authorities in the United States and other countries is a significant factor in our research and development activities and strategy and will be a significant factor in the manufacture and marketing of our product candidates. Although the discussion below focuses on regulation in the United States, we and/or our partners anticipate seeking approval for, and marketing of, our products in other countries. Additionally, we are conducting certain of our clinical trials outside of the United States, including in Australia. Generally, our activities in other countries are and will be subject to regulation that is similar in nature and scope as that imposed in the United States, although there can be important differences. Additionally, some significant aspects of approval and regulation in Europe are addressed in a centralized way through the EMA, but country-specific regulation remains essential in many respects and enforcement is generally through EU member state authorities. The nature and extent to which such regulation applies to us will vary depending on the nature of any products we may develop.
The process of obtaining regulatory marketing approvals and the subsequent compliance with appropriate federal, state, local and foreign statutes and regulations requires the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources and may not be successful. In addition, approval in a foreign country does not automatically result in approval in the United States, nor does approval in the United States automatically result in approval in the European Union or elsewhere.
United States Government Regulation
The FDA is the main regulatory body that controls biopharmaceuticals and pharmaceuticals in the United States, and its regulatory authority is based in the FDC Act. Biopharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical products are also subject to other federal, state and local statutes. A failure to comply explicitly with any requirements during the product development, approval, or post-approval periods, may lead to administrative or judicial sanctions. These sanctions could include the imposition by the FDA , an institutional review board (“IRB”), or Independent Ethics Committee (“IEC”) of a hold on clinical trials, refusal to approve pending marketing applications or supplements, withdrawal of approval, warning letters, untitled letters, cyber letters, product recalls, product seizures or detention, prohibition on importing or exporting, total or partial suspension of production or distribution, injunctions, fines, civil penalties, adverse publicity, disgorgement, restitution, FDA debarment, debarment from government contracting or refusal of future orders under existing contracts, exclusion from Federal healthcare programs, corporate integrity agreements, consent decrees, or criminal prosecution.
The steps required before a new drug may be marketed in the United States generally include:
● Submission to the FDA of an IND to support human clinical testing;
● Submission of an NDA to the FDA;
● Satisfactory completion of an FDA Advisory Committee review, if applicable;
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● FDA review and approval of the NDA.
Preclinical and Clinical Trials
The testing and approval process of product candidates requires substantial time, effort, and financial resources. Satisfaction of FDA pre-market approval requirements typically takes many years, and the actual time required may vary substantially based upon the type, complexity, and novelty of the product or disease. Product development typically begins with preclinical or nonclinical studies. Preclinical studies include laboratory evaluation of chemistry, pharmacology, toxicity, and product formulation, as well as animal studies to assess potential safety and efficacy. Such studies must generally be conducted in accordance with the FDA’s GLPs.
Prior to commencing the first clinical trial with a product candidate, an IND sponsor must submit the results of the preclinical tests and preclinical literature, together with manufacturing information, analytical data, any available clinical data or literature, and proposed clinical study protocols, among other things, to the FDA as part of an IND. Sponsors will also be required to provide FDA with diversity action plans. An IND is a request for authorization from the FDA to administer an investigational drug product to humans. This authorization is required before interstate shipping and administration of any new drug product to humans that is not the subject of an approved NDA. A 30-day waiting period after the submission of each IND is required prior to the commencement of clinical testing in humans. During its review, the FDA may determine that study subjects would be exposed to an unacceptable level of risk of harm or injury, and may raise questions or issues related to one or more components of the IND, resulting in the IND being placed on clinical hold. If the FDA has neither commented on nor questioned the IND within this 30-day period, the clinical trial proposed in the IND may begin. Clinical trials involve the administration of the investigational drug to patients under the supervision of qualified investigators following GCPs, an international standard meant to protect the rights and health of patients and to define the roles of clinical trial sponsors, administrators and monitors. Clinical trials are conducted under protocols that detail the parameters to be used in monitoring safety, and the efficacy criteria to be evaluated. Each protocol involving testing on U.S. patients and subsequent protocol amendments must be submitted to the FDA as part of the IND. The informed written consent of each participating subject is required. Special clinical trial ethical considerations also must be taken into account if a study involves children. The clinical investigation of an investigational drug is generally divided into three phases. Although the phases are usually conducted sequentially, they may overlap or be combined. The three phases of an investigation are as follows:
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Additional kinds of data may also help support an NDA, such as patient experience data and real world evidence. Real world evidence may be used to assist in clinical trial design or support an NDA for already approved products.
The decision to terminate development of an investigational drug product may be made by either a health authority body, such as the FDA or IRB/independent ethics committees (“IECs”), or by a company for various reasons. An IRB approves the initiation of a clinical trial and supervises the conduct of the trial to ensure that the risks to human subjects are reasonable in relation to the anticipated benefits and that there are adequate human subject protections in place. The FDA may order the temporary, or permanent, discontinuation of a clinical trial at any time, or impose other sanctions, if it believes that the clinical trial either is not being conducted in accordance with FDA requirements or presents an unacceptable risk to the clinical trial patients. In some cases, clinical trials are overseen by an independent group of qualified experts organized by the trial sponsor. This group provides guidance on whether or not a trial may or should move forward at designated check points. These decisions are based on the limited access to data from the ongoing trial. The suspension or termination of development can occur during any phase of clinical trials if it is determined that the participants or patients are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk, if the product candidate does not show sufficient evidence of efficacy, if the development program does not comply with applicable regulatory requirements, or due to changing sponsor business objectives.
In addition, there are various reporting requirements that clinical trial sponsors and investigators must comply with during the course of a clinical trial. For instance, there are requirements for the registration of ongoing clinical trials of drugs on public registries and the disclosure of certain information pertaining to the trials as well as clinical trial results after completion. Sponsors must also make annual reports to the FDA concerning the progress of their clinical trial programs as well as more frequent reports for certain serious adverse events. Sponsors must submit a protocol for each clinical trial, and any subsequent protocol amendments to the FDA and the applicable IRBs. IRBs must also receive information concerning unanticipated problems involving risks to subjects. Investigators must further provide certain information to the clinical trial sponsors to allow the sponsors to make certain financial disclosures to the FDA. Moreover, under the 21st Century Cures Act, manufacturers or distributors of investigational drugs for the diagnosis, monitoring, or treatment of one or more serious diseases or conditions must have a publicly available policy concerning expanded access to investigational drugs.
Further, the manufacture of investigational drugs for the conduct of human clinical trials is subject to cGMP requirements. Investigational drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients imported into the United States are also subject to regulation by the FDA relating to their labeling and distribution. Further, the export of investigational drug products outside of the United States is subject to regulatory requirements of the receiving country as well as U.S. export requirements under the FDC Act.
Concurrent with clinical trials, companies usually complete additional animal studies and must also develop additional information about the chemistry and physical characteristics of the product candidate as well as finalize a process for manufacturing the product in commercial quantities in accordance with cGMP requirements. The manufacturing process must be capable of consistently producing quality batches of the product candidate and, among other things, must develop methods for testing the identity, strength, quality, potency, and purity of the final product. Additionally, appropriate packaging must be selected and tested, and stability studies must be conducted to demonstrate that the product candidate does not undergo unacceptable deterioration over its shelf life.
Assuming successful completion of all required testing in accordance with all applicable regulatory requirements, detailed investigational drug product information is submitted to the FDA in the form of an NDA to request market approval for the product in specified indications.
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New Drug Applications
In order to obtain approval to market a drug in the United States, a marketing application must be submitted to the FDA, which provides data establishing the safety and effectiveness of the drug product for the proposed indication. The application includes all relevant data available from pertinent preclinical and clinical trials, including negative or ambiguous results as well as positive findings, together with detailed information relating to the product’s chemistry, manufacturing, controls and proposed labeling, among other things. Data can come from company-sponsored clinical trials intended to test the safety and effectiveness of a product, or from a number of alternative sources, including studies initiated by investigators. To support marketing approval, the data submitted must be sufficient in quality and quantity to establish the safety and effectiveness of the investigational drug product to the satisfaction of the FDA.
In most cases, the NDA must be accompanied by a substantial user fee; there may be some instances in which the user fee is waived. The FDA will initially review the NDA for completeness before it accepts the NDA for filing. The FDA has 60 days from its receipt of an NDA to determine whether the application will be accepted for filing based on the agency’s threshold determination that it is sufficiently complete to permit substantive review. After the NDA submission is accepted for filing, the FDA begins an in-depth review. The FDA has agreed to certain performance goals in the review of NDAs. For new molecular entities (“NMEs”), the FDA has the goal of completing its review within 10 months of the application’s acceptance for filing. This, however, is just a goal, and the review time may take longer. For instance, the FDA can extend this review by three months to consider certain late-submitted information or information intended to clarify information already provided in the submission.
The FDA reviews the NDA to determine, among other things, whether the proposed product is safe and effective for its intended use, and whether the product is being manufactured in accordance with cGMP. The FDA may refer applications for novel drug products which present difficult questions of safety or efficacy to an advisory committee, typically a panel that includes clinicians and other experts, for review, evaluation and a recommendation as to whether the application should be approved and under what conditions. For drugs for which no active ingredient (including any ester or salt of active ingredients) has previously been approved by the FDA, the FDA must refer the drug to an advisory committee or provide in an action letter, a summary of the reasons why the FDA did not refer the product candidate to an advisory committee. Product candidates may also be referred to advisory committees for other reasons. The FDA is not bound by the recommendations of an advisory committee, but it considers such recommendations carefully when making decisions.
Before approving an NDA, the FDA will inspect or conduct a remote regulatory assessment of the facilities at which the product is manufactured. The FDA will not approve the product unless it determines that the manufacturing processes and facilities are in compliance with cGMP requirements and adequate to assure consistent production of the product within required specifications. Additionally, before approving an NDA, the FDA will typically inspect or conduct a remote regulatory assessment of one or more clinical sites to assure compliance with GCP. After the FDA evaluates the NDA and the manufacturing facilities, it issues either an approval letter or a complete response letter. A complete response letter indicates that the review cycle of the application is complete and the application is not ready for approval. A complete response letter generally outlines the deficiencies in the submission and may require substantial additional testing or information in order for the FDA to reconsider the application, including additional clinical trials. If a complete response letter is issued, the applicant may either: resubmit the NDA, addressing all of the deficiencies identified in the letter; withdraw the application; or request an opportunity for a hearing. If, or when, those deficiencies have been addressed to the FDA’s satisfaction in a resubmission of the NDA, the FDA will issue an approval letter. The FDA has committed to reviewing such resubmissions in two or six months depending on the type of information included. Notwithstanding the submission of any requested additional information, the FDA ultimately may decide that the application does not satisfy the regulatory criteria for approval.
An approval letter authorizes commercial marketing of the drug with specific prescribing information for specific indications. As a condition of NDA approval, the FDA may require a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, or REMS, to help ensure that the benefits of the drug outweigh the potential risks. REMS can include medication guides, communication plans for healthcare professionals, and elements to assure safe use, or ETASU. ETASU can include, but are not limited to, special training or certification for prescribing or dispensing, dispensing only under certain circumstances, special monitoring, and the use of patient registries. The requirement for a REMS can materially affect
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the potential market and profitability of the drug. Moreover, product approval may require substantial post-approval testing, clinical trials, and surveillance to monitor the drug’s safety or efficacy, or to establish the product’s safety and efficacy in a more diverse or representative population. Once granted, product approvals may be withdrawn if compliance with regulatory standards is not maintained or if problems are identified following initial marketing.
Changes to some of the conditions established in an approved application, including changes in indications, labeling, or manufacturing processes or facilities, require submission and FDA approval of a new NDA or NDA supplement before the change can be implemented. An NDA supplement for a new indication typically requires clinical data similar to that in the original application, and the FDA uses the same procedures and actions in reviewing NDA supplements as it does in reviewing NDAs, including the imposition of user fees for certain supplements.
Advertising and Promotion
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, communications regarding unapproved uses, industry-sponsored scientific and educational activities, and promotional activities involving the Internet. A product cannot be commercially 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 therefore not described in the drug’s labeling — because the FDA does not regulate the practice of medicine. However, FDA regulations impose stringent restrictions on manufacturers’ communications regarding off-label uses. Broadly speaking, a manufacturer may not promote a drug for off-label use, but may engage in non-promotional, balanced scientific communications regarding off-label use under specified conditions. All statements regarding products must be consistent with the FDA approved label, must be truthful and non-misleading, and must be adequately substantiated with a fair balance between product benefit claims and risks, among other requirements. This means, for example, that we cannot make claims about the superiority of or otherwise compare our products to other treatments without substantiation, which typically are head-to-head clinical studies. FDA’s promotional standards are an evolving space. For instance, in 2023, the FDA took a few actions with respect to advertising and promotion, including issuing a final rule and a guidance on risk and efficacy disclosures in direct-to-consumer advertising, and a guidance on communication of off-label scientific information about approved products. 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 (the “DOJ”), or the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), 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 drug products.
Post-Approval Regulations
After regulatory approval of a drug is obtained, a company is required to comply with a number of post-approval requirements. For example, as a condition of approval of an NDA, the FDA may require post-marketing testing, including Phase 4 clinical trials, and surveillance to further assess and monitor the product’s safety and effectiveness after commercialization. Regulatory approval of oncology products often requires that patients in clinical trials be followed for long periods to determine the overall survival benefit of the drug. In addition, as a holder of an approved NDA, a company would be required to report adverse reactions and production problems to the FDA, to provide updated safety and efficacy information, and to comply with requirements concerning advertising and promotional labeling for any of its products. Further, under the Drug Quality and Security Act, manufacturers, repackagers, wholesale distributors, dispensers, and third-party logistics providers have obligations concerning the tracking and tracing of drug products, as well as the investigation and reporting of suspect and illegitimate products. Also, quality control and manufacturing procedures must continue to conform to cGMP after approval to assure and preserve the long-term stability of the drug product. Manufacturing facilities must be registered with FDA and marketed drug products must be listed. Sponsors are also subject to annual program fees, though there may be some exemptions. The FDA periodically inspects or conducts remote regulatory assessments of manufacturing facilities to assess compliance with cGMP, which imposes extensive procedural and substantive record keeping requirements. In addition, changes to the manufacturing process are strictly regulated, and, depending on the significance of the change, may require prior FDA approval before
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being implemented. FDA regulations also require investigation and correction of any deviations from cGMP and impose reporting and documentation requirements upon a company and any third-party manufacturers that a company may decide to use. Accordingly, manufacturers must continue to expend time, money and effort in the area of production and quality control to maintain compliance with cGMP and other aspects of regulatory compliance.
We rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties for the production of clinical and commercial quantities of our product candidates. Future FDA and state inspections may identify compliance issues at our facilities or at the facilities of our contract manufacturers that may disrupt production or distribution, or require substantial resources to correct. In addition, discovery of previously unknown problems with a product or the failure to comply with applicable requirements may result in restrictions on a product, manufacturer or holder of an approved NDA, including withdrawal or recall of the product from the market or other voluntary, FDA-initiated or judicial action that could delay or prohibit further marketing.
Newly discovered or developed safety or effectiveness data may require changes to a product’s approved labeling, including the addition of new warnings and contraindications, and also may require the implementation of other risk management measures, such as risk evaluation and mitigation strategies and phase 4 studies. Also, new government requirements, including those resulting from new legislation, may be established, or the FDA’s policies may change, which could delay or prevent regulatory approval of our products under development or result in additional post-approval requirements.
After a product is approved for commercial sale, in addition to marketing and promotion restrictions, manufacturers are subject to federal and state laws and regulations requiring them to report certain pricing data, transactions with medical professionals, and similar information. Manufacturers participating in federal health care programs are also required to provide statutorily mandated discounts and rebates.
FDA post-approval requirements are continually evolving. For example, in March 2020, the U.S. Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), which includes various provisions regarding FDA drug shortage and manufacturing volume reporting requirements, as well as provisions regarding supply chain security, such as risk management plan requirements, and the promotion of supply chain redundancy and domestic manufacturing. As part of the CARES Act implementation, the FDA issued a guidance on the reporting of the volume of drugs produced, which reporting requires additional administrative efforts by drug manufacturers. The executive branch has also taken steps to promote domestic manufacturing, and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, and the reauthorization of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, which were passed in 2022, included several changes to the FDC Act.
The Hatch-Waxman Amendments to the FDC Act
Orange Book Listing
In seeking approval for a drug through an NDA, applicants are required to list with the FDA each patent whose claims cover the applicant’s product or method of using the product. Upon approval of a drug, each of the patents listed in the application for the drug is then published in the FDA’s Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations, commonly known as the Orange Book. Drugs listed in the Orange Book can, in turn, be cited by potential competitors in support of approval of an abbreviated new drug application (“ANDA”) or 505(b)(2) application. In an effort to clarify which patents must be listed in the Orange Book, in January 2021, Congress passed the Orange Book Transparency Act of 2020, which largely codified the FDA’s existing practices into the FDCA. Listing patents in the Orange Book that do not qualify for listing can be considered to be anticompetitive conduct and, in 2023, the Federal Trade Commission sent letters to a number of companies with respect to certain patents that agency asserted were improperly listed or inaccurate.
An ANDA provides for marketing of a generic drug product that has the same active ingredients in the same strengths and dosage form as the listed drug and has been shown through bioequivalence testing to be therapeutically equivalent to the listed drug. Other than the requirement for bioequivalence testing, ANDA applicants are not required to conduct, or submit results of, pre-clinical or clinical tests to prove the safety or effectiveness of their drug product. Drugs
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approved in this way are commonly referred to as “generic equivalents” to the listed drug, and can often be substituted by pharmacists under prescriptions written for the original listed drug. 505(b)(2) applications provide for marketing of a drug product that may have the same active ingredients as the listed drug and contain the same full safety and effectiveness data as an NDA, but at least some of the information comes from studies not conducted by or for the applicant. 505(b)(2) applicants may rely on published literature or the FDA’s prior finding of safety and effectiveness for an NDA approved drug product. The ANDA or 505(b)(2) applicant is required to certify to the FDA concerning any patents listed for the approved product referenced in the marketing application in the FDA’s Orange Book. Specifically, the applicant must certify that: (i) the required patent information has not been filed; (ii) the listed patent has expired; (iii) the listed patent has not expired, but will expire on a particular date and approval is sought after patent expiration; or (iv) the listed patent is invalid or will not be infringed by the new product. The ANDA or 505(b)(2) applicant may also elect to submit a statement certifying that its proposed label does not contain (or carves out) any language regarding the patented method-of-use rather than certify to a listed method-of-use patent. If the applicant does not challenge or carve out the listed patents, the ANDA or 505(b)(2) application approval will not be made effective until all the listed patents claiming the referenced product have expired.
A certification that the new product will not infringe the already approved product’s listed patents, or that such patents are invalid, is called a Paragraph IV certification. If the ANDA or 505(b)(2) applicant has provided a Paragraph IV certification to the FDA, the applicant must also send notice of the Paragraph IV certification to the NDA and patent holders. The NDA and patent holders may then initiate a patent infringement lawsuit in response to the notice of the Paragraph IV certification. The filing of a patent infringement lawsuit within 45 days of the receipt of a Paragraph IV certification automatically prevents the FDA from making an approval of the ANDA or 505(b)(2) application effective until the earlier of 30 months, expiration of the patent, settlement of the lawsuit, or a decision in the infringement case that is favorable to the ANDA or 505(b)(2) applicant, or such shorter or longer period as may be determined by a court.
The ANDA or 505(b)(2) application also will not be approved until any applicable non-patent exclusivity has expired.
Congress, the Administration, and administrative agencies have taken certain measures to increase drug competition and thus, decrease drug prices. For example, measures have been proposed and implemented to facilitate product importation. FDA recently approved a plan for the state of Florida to import drug products from Canada. Congress also passed a bill requiring sponsors of NDA approved products to provide sufficient quantities of drug product on commercially reasonable market-based terms to entities developing generic and similar drug products. This bill also included provisions on shared and individual REMS for generic drug products.
Exclusivity
Upon NDA approval of a new chemical entity (“NCE”), which is a drug that contains no active moiety that has been approved by the FDA in any other NDA, that drug receives five years of marketing exclusivity during which the FDA cannot receive any ANDA or a 505(b)(2) application for the same active moiety. Certain changes to a drug, such as the addition of a new indication to the package insert, may be associated with a three-year period of exclusivity during which the FDA cannot approve an ANDA for a generic drug or a 505(b)(2) application that includes the change, if the applicant conducted clinical trials essential to the approval of the application, which are not bioavailability or bioequivalence studies. Such exclusivity in the EU under a broadly equivalent regime is 10 years, though this may be decreased in the future pending current European Commission review.
An ANDA or a 505(b)(2) application may be submitted one year before NCE exclusivity expires if a Paragraph IV certification is filed.
Patent Term Extension
After NDA approval, owners of relevant drug patents may apply for up to a five-year patent extension of a single unexpired patent, that has not previously been extended. The allowable patent term extension is calculated as half of the drug’s testing phase — the time between IND application and full NDA submission — and all of the review phase — the time between full NDA submission and approval up to a maximum of five years. The time can be shortened if the FDA
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determines that the applicant did not pursue approval with due diligence. The total patent term after the extension may not exceed 14 years from the date of approval. Similar extension rules apply in the EU, though the specific calculations are different.
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”), prohibits any U.S. individual or business from paying, offering, or authorizing payment or offering of anything of value, directly or indirectly, to any foreign official, political party or candidate for the purpose of influencing any act or decision of the foreign entity in order to assist the individual or business in obtaining or retaining business. The FCPA also obligates companies whose securities are listed in the United States to comply with accounting provisions requiring the company to maintain books and records that accurately and fairly reflect all transactions of the corporation, including international subsidiaries, and to devise and maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls for international operations.
International Government Regulation
In addition to regulations in the United States, we are subject to a variety of regulations in other jurisdictions governing, among other things, clinical trials and any commercial sales and distribution of our products. Whether or not we obtain FDA approval for a product, we must obtain the requisite approvals from regulatory authorities in foreign countries prior to the commencement of clinical trials or marketing of the product in those countries. Some countries outside of the United States have a similar process that requires the submission of a clinical trial application (“CTA”), much like the IND prior to the commencement of human clinical trials. In Europe, for example, a CTA must be submitted to each country’s national health authority and an IEC, much like the FDA and IRB, respectively. Once the CTA is approved in accordance with a country’s requirements, clinical trial development may proceed. With the Clinical Trials Regulation (EC) 536/2014 in force since January 31, 2022, it is now possible to make a single application for a cross-border trial within the EU through an EU clinical trial portal. With the departure of the United Kingdom (“UK”) from the EU, trials in the UK have to be approved through the portal and a separate application will need to be made to the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Additionally, in the EU there is an increasing move to transparency of trial summary reports and the above Clinical Trial Regulation will include a publicly accessible database of data and information submitted in accordance with this regulation. Companies submitting data will need to justify why it should be kept confidential.
To obtain regulatory approval to commercialize a new drug under European Union regulatory systems, we must submit a marketing authorization application (“MAA”). The MAA is comparable to the NDA.
For other countries outside of the European Union, such as countries in Eastern Europe, Latin America or Asia, the requirements governing the conduct of clinical trials, product licensing, pricing and reimbursement vary from country to country. In all cases, again, the clinical trials are conducted in accordance with GCP and the applicable regulatory requirements and the ethical principles that have their origin in the Declaration of Helsinki.
Expanded Access
Under certain circumstances, regulators may permit unapproved drugs to be used by patients outside of clinical trials. In the U.S., with FDA approval, manufacturers may provide investigational drugs to patients with serious or immediately life-threatening diseases for which there are no comparable or satisfactory alternative therapies. To qualify for U.S. expanded access, the potential benefit must justify the potential risks, and the potential risks must not be unreasonable. Providing the investigational drug must also not interfere with product development. There are additional qualifying criteria depending on the number of patients in the expanded access program, and the expanded access sponsor and investigator must comply with FDA’s regulations. U.S. law also permits treatment access to certain investigational drugs under the federal Right to Try law, which permits manufacturers to provide investigational drugs to patients with a life-threatening disease or condition, who have exhausted all approved treatment options, who cannot participate in a clinical trial of the drug, and who provides informed consent, provided that certain conditions are met. Certain reports must be submitted to FDA under the federal Right to Try law. There are also state level Right to Try statutes.
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In the European Union, early access programs are authorized by EU legislation and, through national laws, EU member states have implemented regulatory requirements related to these programs. National competent authorities may authorize early access program use. In both the European Union and United States unapproved drug products may not be promoted or marketed.
Compliance
During all phases of development (pre- and post-marketing), failure to comply with applicable regulatory requirements may result in administrative or judicial sanctions. These sanctions could include the imposition by the FDA or an IRB of a hold on clinical trials, refusal to approve pending marketing applications or supplements, withdrawal of approval, warning letters, untitled letters, cyber letters, product recalls, product seizures or detention, prohibition on importing or exporting, total or partial suspension of production or distribution, injunctions, fines, civil penalties, adverse publicity, disgorgement, restitution, FDA debarment, debarment from government contracting or refusal of future orders under existing contracts, exclusion from Federal healthcare programs, corporate integrity agreements, consent decrees, or criminal prosecution. Any agency or judicial enforcement action could have a material adverse effect on us.
Other Special Regulatory Procedures
Animal Rule
In 2002, the FDA amended its requirements applicable to NDAs to permit the approval of certain drugs and biologics that are intended to reduce or prevent serious or life-threatening conditions based on evidence of safety from clinical trial(s) in healthy subjects and effectiveness from appropriate animal studies when human efficacy studies are not ethical or feasible. These regulations, which are known as the “Animal Rule,” authorize the FDA to rely on animal studies to provide evidence of a product’s effectiveness under circumstances where there is a reasonably well-understood mechanism for the activity of the agent. Under these requirements, and with the FDA’s prior agreement, drugs used to reduce or prevent the toxicity of chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear agents not otherwise naturally present may be approved for use in humans based on evidence of effectiveness derived from appropriate animal studies and any additional supporting data. Products evaluated under this rule must demonstrate effectiveness through pivotal animal studies, which are generally equivalent in design and robustness to Phase 3 clinical studies. Additionally, the Animal Rule requires post-marketing studies, such as field studies, to verify and describe the product’s clinical benefit and assess its safety should an exigency exist that leads to the product being used in humans. Products approved under the Animal Rule are subject to additional requirements, such as restrictions imposed on distribution or labeling requirements to inform patients that the product’s approval was based on efficacy studies conducted in animals alone.
Other countries may not at this time have established criteria for review and approval of these types of products outside their normal review process, i.e. there is no “Animal Rule” equivalent in countries other than the U.S., but some may have similar policy objectives in place.
Orphan Drug Designation
The FDA may grant Orphan Drug Designation to drugs intended to treat a rare disease or condition that affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States, or, if the disease or condition affects more than 200,000 individuals in the United States, there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making the drug would be recovered from sales in the United States. Additionally, sponsors must present a plausible hypothesis for clinical superiority to obtain orphan designation if there is a product already approved by the FDA that is intended for the same indication and that is considered by the FDA to be the same as the already approved product. This hypothesis must be demonstrated to obtain orphan exclusivity. In the European Union, the EMA’s Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (“COMP”) grants Orphan Drug Designation to promote the development of products that are intended for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of life-threatening or chronically debilitating conditions affecting not more than five in 10,000 persons in the European Union. Additionally, designation is granted for products intended for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of a life-threatening, seriously debilitating or serious and chronic condition and when, without
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incentives, it is unlikely that sales of the drug in the European Union would be sufficient to justify the necessary investment in developing the drug.
In the United States, Orphan Drug Designation entitles a party to financial incentives, such as opportunities for grant funding towards clinical trial costs for certain kinds of studies, tax credits for certain research and user fee waivers under certain circumstances. Under the 21st Century Cures Act, Congress expanded the potential opportunities for grant funding to include additional kinds of studies. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, however, reduced the available tax credits for orphan products.
The FDA’s regulations, provide flexibility in meeting approval standards for new therapies intended to treat persons with life-threatening and severely-debilitating illnesses, especially where no satisfactory alternative therapy exists, such that FDA may exercise scientific judgment in determining the kind and quantity of data required for approval and during development programs. Per guidance issued by FDA in 2023 with respect to rare diseases, “[t]his flexibility extends from the early stages of development to the design of adequate and well-controlled clinical investigations required to demonstrate effectiveness to support marketing approval and to establish safety data needed for the intended use.” FDA states that it “is committed to helping sponsors create successful drug development programs that address the particular challenges posed by each disease....”
If a product receives the first FDA approval for the indication for which it has orphan designation, the product is entitled to seven years of market exclusivity, which means the FDA may not approve any other application for the same drug for the same indication for a period of seven years, except in limited circumstances, such as a showing of clinical superiority over the product with orphan exclusivity. Orphan drug exclusivity does not prevent the FDA from approving a different drug for the same disease or condition, or the same drug for a different disease or condition.
Notably, the exact scope of orphan drug exclusivity is currently in flux. A 2021 judicial decision, Catalyst Pharms., Inc. v. Becerra, challenged and reversed an FDA decision on the scope of orphan product exclusivity for the drug Firdapse. Under this decision, orphan drug exclusivity for Firdapse blocked approval of another company’s application for the same drug for the entire disease or condition that for which orphan drug designation was granted even though the approved product indication was narrower. This decision was contrary to FDA’s interpretation of the FDC Act, which took the position that orphan drug exclusivity only protected a product’s approved indication. In January 2023, the FDA published a notice in the Federal Register stating that it interprets the Catalyst Pharms.,decision narrowly and intends to continue tying the scope of orphan drug exclusivity to the uses or indications that a drug is approved for. The scope of orphan drug exclusivity will likely be an evolving area.
In the European Union, Orphan Drug Designation also entitles a party to financial incentives such as reduction of fees or fee waivers and 10 years of market exclusivity is granted following drug approval. This period may be reduced to six years if the Orphan Drug Designation criteria are no longer met, including where it is shown that the product is sufficiently profitable not to justify maintenance of market exclusivity or where the holder of the marketing authorization for the original orphan medicinal product is unable to supply sufficient quantities of the medicinal product. As with the FDA, orphan drug exclusivity does not prevent the EMA from approving a second medicinal product where such second medicinal product, although similar to the orphan medicinal product already authorized, is safer, more effective or otherwise clinically superior. The European Commission has been reviewing the protection periods and proposes shortening the standard market exclusivity period from 10 to 9 years except for products addressing high unmet medical needs which would remain at 10 years.
Orphan drug designation must be requested before submission of an application for marketing approval. Orphan drug designation does not convey any advantage in, or shorten the duration of, the regulatory review and approval process.
Priority Review (United States), Accelerated Review (European Union) and other Expedited Programs
The FDA has various programs, including Fast Track designation, accelerated approval, priority review and breakthrough designation, that are intended to expedite or simplify the process for the development and FDA review of certain drug products that are intended for the treatment of serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions, and
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demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical needs or present a significant improvement over existing therapy. The purpose of these programs is to provide important new drugs to patients earlier than under standard FDA review procedures.
To be eligible for a Fast Track designation, the FDA must determine, based on the request of a sponsor, that a product is intended to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and demonstrates the potential to address an unmet medical need. The FDA will determine that a product will fill an unmet medical need if the product will provide a therapy where none exists or provide a therapy that may be potentially superior to existing therapy based on efficacy, safety, or public health factors. If Fast Track designation is obtained, drug sponsors may be eligible for more frequent development meetings and correspondence with the FDA. In addition, the FDA may initiate review of sections of an NDA before the application is complete. This “rolling review” is available if the applicant provides and the FDA approves a schedule for the remaining information.
Based on results of one or more Phase 3 clinical trials submitted in an NDA, upon the request of an applicant, a priority review designation may be granted to a product by the FDA, which sets the target date for FDA action on the application at six months from FDA filing, or eight months from the sponsor’s submission. Priority review is given to drugs intended to treat serious conditions and which, if approved would provide significant improvements in the safety or effectiveness of the treatment, diagnosis, or prevention of the serious condition. If criteria are not met for priority review, the standard FDA review period is 10 months from FDA filing, or 12 months from sponsor submission. Priority review designation does not change the scientific/medical standard for approval or the quality of evidence necessary to support approval.
Moreover, under the provisions of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (“FDASIA”) enacted in 2012, a sponsor can request designation of a product candidate as a “breakthrough therapy.” A breakthrough therapy is defined as a drug that is intended, alone or in combination with one or more other drugs, to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition, and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints, such as substantial treatment effects observed early in clinical development. Drugs designated as breakthrough therapies are eligible for the Fast Track designation features as described above, intensive guidance on an efficient drug development program beginning as early as Phase 1 trials, and a commitment from the FDA to involve senior managers and experienced review staff in a proactive collaborative, cross-disciplinary review.
In addition, products for treating serious or life threatening conditions and that provide a meaningful advantage over available therapies may be eligible for accelerated approval and may be approved on the basis of adequate and well-controlled clinical trials establishing that the drug product has an effect on a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit, or on a clinical endpoint that can be measured earlier than irreversible morbidity or mortality, that is reasonably likely to predict an effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical benefit, taking into account the severity, rarity, or prevalence of the condition and the availability or lack of alternative treatments. As a condition of approval, the FDA will require a sponsor of a drug receiving accelerated approval to perform post-marketing studies, including completion of Phase 4 clinical trials to demonstrate clinical benefit, and to verify and describe the predicted effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical endpoints. By the date of approval of an accelerated approval product, the FDA must specify the conditions for the required post approval studies, including enrollment targets, the study protocol, milestones, and target completion dates. The FDA may also require that the confirmatory Phase 4 studies be commenced prior to the FDA granting a product accelerate approval. Reports on the progress of the required Phase 4 confirmatory studies must be submitted to the FDA every 180 days after approval. The drug may be subject to accelerated withdrawal procedures if such studies do not verify the product’s clinical benefit or other evidence shows a lack of safety or efficacy pursuant to a streamlined process that is outlined in the FDC Act. Promotional materials for products approved via the accelerated approval pathway must be submitted to the FDA prior to initial distribution. Such products may also be subject to distribution or use restrictions, if the FDA determines that restrictions are needed to assure safe use. In recent years, the accelerated approval pathway has come under significant FDA and public scrutiny. Accordingly, depending on the results of our studies, the FDA may be more conservative in granting accelerated approval or, if granted, may be more apt to withdrawal approval if clinical benefit is not confirmed.
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Even if a product qualifies for one or more of these programs, the FDA may later decide that the product no longer meets the conditions for qualification or decide that the time period for FDA review or approval will not be shortened. Sponsors availing themselves of these programs must also be prepared to potentially work on accelerated timelines with respect to other areas of product development, including manufacturing.
Under the Centralized Procedure in the European Union, the maximum timeframe for the evaluation of a marketing authorization application is 210 days (excluding clock stops, when additional written or oral information is to be provided by the applicant in response to questions asked by the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products of Human Use (“CHMP”)). On average, an approval is provided by the European Commission after approximately 15 months. Accelerated assessment might be granted by the CHMP in exceptional cases, when a medicinal product is expected to be of a major public health interest, defined by three cumulative criteria: the seriousness of the disease (e.g., heavy disabling or life-threatening diseases) to be treated; the absence or insufficiency of an appropriate alternative therapeutic approach; and anticipation of high therapeutic benefit. In this circumstance, EMA ensures that the opinion of the CHMP is given within 150 days. There is also a conditional marketing authorization which allows for the early approval of a medicine on the basis of less complete clinical data than normally required, if the medicine addresses an unmet medical need and targets a seriously debilitating or life-threatening disease, a rare disease or is intended for use in emergency situations in response to a public health threat. The benefit to public health must outweigh the risk due to the limited availability of clinical data at the time of marketing authorization.
The EMA has recently been conducting a pilot on ‘adaptive pathways’ — an iterative process building on existing regulatory processes involving gathering evidence through real-life use to supplement clinical trial data.
Pediatric Information
Under the Pediatric Research Equity Act (the “PREA”), NDAs or certain supplements to NDAs must contain data to assess the safety and effectiveness of the drug for the claimed indications in all relevant pediatric subpopulations and to support dosing and administration for each pediatric subpopulation for which the drug is safe and effective. Unless otherwise required by regulation, PREA does not apply to any drug for an indication for which orphan designation has been granted.
Also, under the FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017, sponsors submitting applications for product candidates intended for the treatment of adult cancer which are directed at molecular targets that the FDA determines to be substantially relevant to the growth or progression of pediatric cancer must submit, with the application, reports from molecularly targeted pediatric cancer investigations designed to yield clinically meaningful pediatric study data, using appropriate formulations, to inform potential pediatric labeling. The FDA may grant full or partial waivers, or deferrals, for submission of data under PREA and this requirement.
The Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (“BPCA”) provides NDA holders a six-month extension of any exclusivity — Orange Book listed patent or non-patent exclusivity — for a drug if certain conditions are met. Conditions for exclusivity include the FDA’s determination that information relating to the use of a new drug in the pediatric population may produce health benefits in that population, the FDA making a written request for pediatric studies, and the applicant agreeing to perform, and reporting on, the requested studies within the required timeframe. The data do not need to show the product to be effective in the pediatric population studied; rather, if the clinical trial is deemed to fairly respond to the FDA’s request, the additional protection is granted. This is not a patent term extension, but it effectively extends the regulatory exclusivity period. Moreover, pediatric exclusivity attaches to all formulations, dosage forms, and indications for products with existing marketing exclusivity or Orange Book listed patent life that contain the same active moiety as that which was studied. Applications under the BPCA for labeling changes receive priority review designation, with all of the benefits that designation confers.
In the European Union all applications for marketing authorization for new medicines have to include the results of studies as described in an agreed pediatric investigation plan, unless the medicine receives a deferral or waiver. Medicines authorized across the EU with the results of studies from a pediatric investigation plan included in the product information are eligible for an extension of their supplementary protection certificate by six months. This is the case
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even when the studies’ results are negative. For orphan medicines, the incentive is an additional two years of market exclusivity.
Healthcare Regulation
Following approval of any product candidate, the product would be subject to a comprehensive system of laws and regulations on the state and federal level that govern how drug products are reimbursed, healthcare financing, and drug manufacturers’ relationships and interactions with healthcare professionals, including potential prescribers. These requirements include permissible fees, rebates, discounts and payment reductions, required price reporting and pricing transparency, caps on price increases, requirements around price negotiation, and requirements to enter into agreements with government agencies and certain healthcare entities that may result in significant limits on the prices we may charge for our products. Failure to comply with these laws, regulations, and/or restrictions could result in a loss of our ability to continue selling our drugs to the federal and state governments or receiving reimbursement for our drugs once approved. It could also result in enforcement actions.
The government is increasingly focused on measures to contain program costs for prescription drugs and there have been a number of U.S. Congressional inquiries, proposed bills, and enacted legislation focused on decreasing prescription drug spending and bringing more transparency to drug pricing. These efforts may result in a decrease in the amount of reimbursement we receive for our drugs from Medicare or other government programs for our drugs, once approved, and any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare and other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors. These and any additional healthcare reform measures could further constrain our business or limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in additional pricing pressures. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability, or commercialize our products. In addition, it is possible that there will be further legislation or regulation that could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Because of the significant governmental focus on drug prices, at this time we cannot determine how or if our product candidates will be reimbursed, following approval, or if any reimbursement levels will be sufficient to allow us to attain profitability. Changes in the law may result in additional downward pressure on coverage and the price that we receive for any approved product, or may require increased manufacturer rebates, and could seriously harm our business.
Different pricing and reimbursement schemes exist in other countries. In the European Community, governments influence the price of pharmaceutical products through their pricing and reimbursement rules and control of national health care systems that fund a large part of the cost of those products to consumers. Some jurisdictions operate positive and negative list systems under which products may only be marketed once a reimbursement price has been agreed. To obtain reimbursement or pricing approval, some of these countries may require the completion of clinical trials that compare the cost-effectiveness of a particular drug candidate to currently available therapies. Other member states allow companies to fix their own prices for medicines, but monitor and control company profits. The downward pressure on health care costs in general, particularly prescription drugs, has become very intense. As a result, increasingly high barriers are being erected to the entry of new products. In addition, in some countries, cross-border imports from low-priced markets exert a commercial pressure on pricing within a country. There can be no assurance that any country that has price controls or reimbursement limitations for dug products will allow favorable reimbursement and pricing arrangements of our products.
Other Healthcare Laws and Compliance Requirements
The federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits, among other things, knowingly and willfully offering, paying, soliciting or receiving remuneration, directly or indirectly, to induce or in return for purchasing, leasing, ordering or arranging for the purchase, lease or order of any healthcare item or service reimbursable in whole or in part under Medicare, Medicaid or other federally financed healthcare programs. This statute has been interpreted to apply to arrangements between pharmaceutical manufacturers on one hand and prescribers, purchasers, and formulary managers on the other. The Beneficiary Inducement Civil Monetary Penalties Law imposes similar restrictions on interactions between the pharmaceutical industry and federal healthcare program beneficiaries. Although there are a number of statutory exceptions and regulatory safe harbors protecting some business arrangements from prosecution, the exceptions
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and safe harbors are drawn narrowly and practices that involve remuneration intended to induce prescribing, purchasing or recommending may be subject to scrutiny if they do not qualify for an exception or safe harbor, as well as if they do. Failure to meet all the requirements of a particular applicable statutory exception or regulatory safe harbor does not make the conduct per se illegal under the Anti-Kickback Statute. Instead, the legality of the arrangement will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis based on a cumulative review of all its facts and circumstances.
With respect to the safe harbors, the Office of Inspector General of HHS recently promulgated two additional safe harbor regulations. One safe harbor regulation excludes from the definition of “remuneration” limited categories of manufacturer rebates or other price reductions to a plan sponsor under Medicare Part D or a Medicaid Managed Care Organization plan reflected in point-of sale reductions in price. The second safe harbor regulation excludes from the definition of “remuneration” PBM service fees paid by a manufacturer to a PBM. In addition, the Office of Inspector General of HHS revised the discount safe harbor regulation to exclude from the definition of “discount” a reduction in price by a manufacturer to plan sponsors under Medicare Part D either directly to the plan sponsor, or indirectly through a PBM. The effective date of the two new safe harbors and the revision to the discount safe harbor was delayed by court order until January 1, 2023. Recent legislation further delayed implementation of the new safe harbors and the revision to the discount safe harbor until January 1, 2032. Our practices may not in all cases meet all of the criteria for safe harbor protection from federal Anti-Kickback Statute liability. The reach of the Anti-Kickback Statute was broadened by the Affordable Care Act, which, among other things, amends the intent requirement of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute. Pursuant to the statutory amendment, a person or entity no longer needs to have actual knowledge of this statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation. In addition, the Affordable Care Act provides that the government may assert that a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a per se false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the civil False Claims Act (discussed below), which imposes penalties against any person who is determined to have presented or caused to be presented a claim to a federal healthcare program that the person knows or should know is for an item or service that was not provided as claimed or is false or fraudulent. Several courts have interpreted the statute’s intent requirement to mean that if any one purpose of an arrangement involving remuneration is to induce or reward referrals of federal healthcare program business, including purchases of products paid by federal healthcare programs, the statute has been violated.
The federal civil False Claims Act prohibits any person from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, a false claim for payment to the federal government, knowingly making, using, or causing to be made or used a false record or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim to the federal government or avoiding, decreasing, or concealing an obligation to pay money to the federal government. A claim includes “any request or demand” for money or property presented to the U.S. government. Claims under the civil False Claims Act may be brought by the government or private parties on behalf of the government, called “qui tam” actions, which may proceed even if the government does not join as a party.
The civil False Claims Act has been used to assert liability on the basis of kickbacks and other improper referrals, improperly reported government pricing metrics such as Best Price or Average Manufacturer Price, improper use of Medicare provider or supplier numbers when detailing a provider of services, improper promotion of off-label uses not expressly approved by the FDA in a product’s label, and allegations as to misrepresentations with respect to products, contract requirements, and services rendered, in addition to other allegations. In addition, private payers have been filing follow-on lawsuits alleging fraudulent misrepresentation. Intent to deceive is not required to establish liability under the civil False Claims Act. Rather, a claim may be false for deliberate ignorance of the truth or falsity of the information provided or for acts in reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of that information. If the government decides to intervene in a qui tam action and prevails in the lawsuit, the individual will share in the proceeds from any damages, penalties or settlement funds. If the government declines to intervene, the individual may pursue the case alone. The civil False Claims Act provides for treble damages and a civil penalty for each false claim, such as an invoice or pharmacy claim for reimbursement, which can aggregate into tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars. For these reasons, since 2004, False Claims Act lawsuits against biopharmaceutical companies have increased significantly in volume and breadth, leading to several substantial civil and criminal settlements, including settlements in excess of $3.0 billion and, more recently, settlements exceeding $5.0 billion in the aggregate, regarding certain sales practices and promotion of off-label uses.” Civil False Claims Act liability may further be imposed for known Medicare or Medicaid overpayments, for example, overpayments caused by understated rebate amounts, that are not refunded within 60 days of identifying the overpayment, even if the overpayment was not caused by a false or fraudulent act.
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The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) created new federal criminal statutes that prohibit, among other things, knowingly and willfully executing a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program, including private third-party payors, and knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for healthcare benefits, items or services. The Affordable Care Act amended the intent requirement of certain of these criminal statutes under HIPAA so that a person or entity no longer needs to have actual knowledge of the statute, or the specific intent to violate it, to have committed a violation. Further, the government may prosecute conduct constituting a false claim under the criminal False Claims Act. The criminal False Claims Act prohibits the making or presenting of a claim to the government knowing such claim to be false, fictitious, or fraudulent and, unlike the civil False Claims Act, requires proof of intent to submit a false claim. Also, many states have fraud and abuse statutes or regulations that are similar to the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act that apply to items and services reimbursed under Medicaid and other state programs, or, in several states, apply regardless of the payor.
The Affordable Care Act further created new federal requirements for reporting, by applicable manufacturers of covered drugs, of information related to payments and other transfers of value made to or at the request of covered recipients, namely US-licensed physicians and teaching hospitals, as well as ownership and investment interests held by physicians and members of their immediate family. The categories of covered recipients later was expanded to include physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified nurse midwives and certified registered nurse anesthetists. Payments made to physicians, other principal investigators, and certain research institutions for clinical trials are included within the ambit of this law.
In addition, we may be subject to data privacy and security regulation by both the federal government and the states in which we conduct our business. HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, and their implementing regulations, impose requirements relating to the privacy, security, breach notification, and transmission of protected health information. HIPAA’s security and certain privacy standards are directly applicable to “business associates” — persons or organizations, other than a member of a covered entity’s workforce, that create, receive, maintain, or transmit protected health information on behalf of a covered entity for a function or activity regulated by HIPAA. HIPAA authorizes the imposition of civil and criminal penalties against covered entities and business associates. HIPAA permits state attorneys general to file civil actions for damages or injunctions in federal courts to enforce the HIPAA and seek attorneys’ fees and costs associated with pursuing federal civil actions. HIPAA also imposes requirements with respect to disclosures of protected health information for research purposes, such as clinical trials. In addition, state laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act, govern the privacy and security of health information in specified circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and may not be preempted by HIPAA. In 2023, new state privacy laws became effective in California, Colorado Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia, further complicating privacy compliance efforts. Other states have passed similar consumer privacy laws that will become effective in the coming years. In addition, more onerous foreign data privacy provisions may apply. For instance, the EU General Data Protection Regulation imposes stricter rules on the processing of personal data than apply in the United States and its provisions exclude the export of data relating to identifiable individuals to most countries, including the United States, unless certain safeguards are in place.
In the United States, our activities are potentially subject to additional regulation by various federal, state and local authorities in addition to the FDA, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, other divisions of HHS (e.g., the Office of Inspector General), the DOJ and individual U.S. Attorney offices within the DOJ, and state and local governments. If a drug product is reimbursed by Medicare or Medicaid, pricing and rebate programs must comply with, as applicable, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 as well as the Medicaid rebate requirements of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, or the OBRA, the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992, Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, each as amended. Among other things, the OBRA requires drug manufacturers to calculate and report complex pricing metrics used to determine rebates paid on prescription drugs to state Medicaid programs. Under the Veterans Health Care Act, or VHCA, drug companies are required to offer “covered drugs” (including all drugs approved under an NDA) at no more than a statutory ceiling price, calculated based on a manufacturer’s required price calculations, to four federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Indian Health Service, DoD, and the Public Health Service. Also, under the VHCA, manufacturers are required to offer drugs for sale at no more than a separate statutory ceiling price calculated by the manufacturer to Public Health Service designated entities in order to participate
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in other federal funding programs including Medicaid. Legislation subsequent to the VHCA has required that certain discounted prices under the VHCA also be offered for specified DoD purchases for its TRICARE program via a rebate system. Participation under the VHCA requires submission of pricing data and calculation of discounts and rebates pursuant to complex statutory formulas, as well as the entry into government procurement contracts governed by the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
Because of the breadth of these laws and the narrowness of available statutory and regulatory exemptions, it is possible that some of our business activities could be subject to challenge under one or more of such laws. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of the federal and state laws described above or any other governmental regulations that apply to us, we may be subject to penalties, including criminal and significant civil monetary penalties, damages, fines, imprisonment, exclusion from participation in government healthcare programs, injunctions, recall or seizure of products, total or partial suspension of production, denial or withdrawal of pre-marketing product approvals, private “qui tam” actions brought by individual whistleblowers in the name of the government, suspension or debarment prohibiting us from participating in federal procurement and non-procurement transactions, including government contracts, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations. To the extent that any of our products are sold in a foreign country, we may be subject to similar foreign laws and regulations, which may include, for instance, applicable post-marketing requirements, including safety surveillance, anti-fraud and abuse laws, and implementation of corporate compliance programs and reporting of payments or transfers of value to healthcare professionals.
In order to distribute products commercially, we must comply with state laws that require the registration of manufacturers and wholesale distributors of pharmaceutical products in a state, including, in some states, manufacturers and distributors who ship products into the state even if such manufacturers or distributors have no place of business within the state. Several states have enacted legislation requiring pharmaceutical companies to, among other things, establish marketing compliance programs, file periodic reports with the state, make periodic public disclosures on sales, marketing, pricing, clinical trials and other activities, and/ or register their sales representatives, as well as to prohibit pharmacies and other healthcare entities from providing specified physician prescribing data to pharmaceutical companies for use in sales and marketing, and to prohibit other specified sales and marketing practices. Additionally, some states have enacted laws that cap increases in prices charged for drugs in that state. All of our activities are potentially subject to federal and state consumer protection and unfair competition laws.
In Europe, most countries have laws or (more commonly) codes of practice which broadly emulate US ‘sunshine laws’ and require companies to maintain and publish a record of transfers of value to healthcare professionals. These are in addition to national anti-corruption laws similar to the FCPA — for instance the UK Bribery Act 2010 which has a wider scope than the FCPA in many respects including in that it covers relevant decision makers in both the private and public sectors and applies both domestically and internationally.
Human Capital
We believe that our success is largely dependent upon our ability to attract and retain qualified employees. As of December 31, 2025, we had 7 employees (4 of whom were full-time employees), in addition to various independent contractors working for us. We are not party to any collective bargaining arrangements and consider our relations with our employees to be good. Although we believe that the size of our current workforce is appropriate to achieve our objectives, we may hire additional employees with specialized expertise as we continue to grow our business. We believe that we have been successful to date in attracting skilled and experienced scientific and business professionals.
Our compensation philosophy is to pay for performance, which supports the Company’s business strategies, and offer competitive compensation arrangements to attract and retain key individuals. The Company has established a Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors, which considers the impact of our corporate performance in determining compensation for named executive officers, as well as each named executive officer’s individual performance, macroeconomic conditions generally, and data from peer group companies.
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Corporate Information
We were incorporated in Delaware in December 1998. Our principal executive offices are located at 12 Penns Trail, Newtown, PA 18940 and our telephone number is (267) 759-3680. Our website address is www.trawspharma.com. The information contained in, or that can be accessed through, our website is not part of this Annual Report.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
You should carefully consider the following risk factors together with the other information contained in this Annual Report, including our financial statements, the related notes and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” appearing in this Annual Report. The occurrence of any of the following risks, or of additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial, could materially and adversely affect our business and our financial condition and results of operations. In this event, the market price of our securities could decline and your investment could be lost. You should understand that it is not possible to predict or identify all such risks. Consequently, you should not consider the following to be a complete discussion of all potential risks or uncertainties.
Summary of Principal Risk Factors