txmd-10k_20221231.htm
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022
or
For the transition period from _____ to _____
Commission File Number:001-00100
THERAPEUTICSMD, INC.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its Charter)
(State or other jurisdiction (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
of incorporation or organization)
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
561-961-1900
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Trading
Title of Each Class symbol Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share TXMD 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:
Large Accelerated Filer ☐ Accelerated filer ☐
Non-accelerated filer ☒ Smaller reporting company ☒
Emerging growth company ☐
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐
Ifsecurities areregistered pursuant toSection 12(b)oftheAct,indicate bycheckmarkwhether thefinancial statements oftheregistrant included inthefilingreflectthecorrection ofanerrortopreviously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate bycheckmarkwhether anyofthoseerrorcorrectionsarerestatementsthatrequired arecoveryanalysis ofincentive-based compensation received byanyoftheregistrant’sexecutive officers during therelevant recovery period pursuant to§240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
As of June 30, 2022, the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates computed by reference to the market price at which the common equity was last sold was $87,323,238.
As of April 5, 2023, there were outstanding 9,953,290 shares of the registrant’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share.
Documents Incorporated by Reference
Portions of the registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement for its 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K where indicated. Such Proxy Statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission no later than 120 days after the end of the registrant’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2022.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Part I
Item 1. Business 1
Item 1A. Risk factors 15
Item 1B. Unresolved staff comments 40
Item 2. Properties 40
Item 3. Legal proceedings 41
Item 4. Mine safety disclosures 41
Part II
Item 6. Reserved 42
Item 7A. Quantitative and qualitative disclosures about market risk 52
Item 8. Financial statements and supplementary Data 53
Item 9A. Controls and procedures 53
Item 9B. Other information 54
Item 9C. Disclosure regarding foreign jurisdictions that prevent inspections 54
Part III
Item 10. Directors, executive officers and corporate governance 55
Item 11. Executive compensation 55
Item 14. Principal accountant fees and services 55
Part IV
Item 15. Exhibits and financial statement schedules 56
Part I
Item 1.Business
Overview
Throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K (“2022 10-K Report”), the terms “we,” “us,” “our,” “TherapeuticsMD,” “the Company,” or “our company” refer to TherapeuticsMD, Inc., a Nevada corporation, and unless specified otherwise, include our wholly owned subsidiaries vitaMedMD, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“vitaMed”), and BocaGreenMD, Inc., a Nevada corporation (“BocaGreen”).
TherapeuticsMD owns or has rights to trademarks, service marks, or trade names that were previously used in connection with the operation of its business, or are now licensed by another party, including TherapeuticsMD®, vitaMedMD®, BocaGreenMD®, vitaCareTM, BIJUVA®, and IMVEXXY®, which are protected under applicable intellectual property laws and are the property of the Company. This 2022 10-K Report also contains trademarks, trade names and service marks of other companies, which are the property of their respective owners. Solely for convenience, trademarks, trade names and service marks referred to in this 2022 10-K Report may appear without the ®, TM or SM symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the right of the applicable licensor to these trademarks, trade names, and service marks. We do not intend our use or display of other parties’ trademarks, trade names or service marks to imply, and such use or display should not be construed to imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, these other parties.
In addition, this 2022 10-K Report includes market and industry data that we obtained from periodic industry publications, third-party studies and surveys, government-agency sources, filings of public companies in our industry, and internal-company surveys. Industry publications and surveys generally state that their information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Although we believe that the industry and market data below is reliable as of the date of this 2022 10-K Report, this information could prove to be inaccurate as a result of a variety of matters.
Forward-looking statements
This 2022 10-K Report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. For example, statements regarding our operations, financial position, business strategy, and other plans and objectives for future operations, and assumptions and predictions about future demand, marketing, expenses and sales are all forward-looking statements. These statements may be found in the items of this 2022 10-K Report entitled “Business” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” as well as in this 2022 10-K Report generally. These statements are generally accompanied by words such as “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “potential(ly),” “continue,” “forecast,” “predict,” “plan,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” or the negative of such terms or other comparable terminology.
We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. We believe that the assumptions and expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, based on information available to us on the date of this 2022 10-K Report, but we cannot assure you that these assumptions and expectations will prove to have been correct or that we will take any action that we may presently be planning. These forward-looking statements are inherently subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results or experience may differ materially from those expected or anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, competition from other businesses, market and general economic factors, and the other risks discussed in Item 1A of this 2022 10-K Report. This discussion should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in this 2022 10-K Report.
We have identified some of the important factors that could cause future events to differ from our current expectations and they are described in this 2022 10-K Report in the section entitled “Risk Factors” that you should review carefully. Please consider our forward-looking statements in light of those risks as you read this 2022 10-K Report. If one or more of these or other risks or uncertainties materialize, or if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may vary materially from what we project. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statements or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to any statements to reflect new information or future events or developments.
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Our company
TherapeuticsMD was previously a women’s healthcare company with a mission of creating and commercializing innovative products to support the lifespan of women from pregnancy prevention through menopause.
In December 2022, we changed our business to become a pharmaceutical royalty company, primarily collecting royalties from our licensees. Our Company is no longer engaging in research and development or commercial operations and is transforming to a virtual company with limited infrastructure. On December 30, 2022 (the “Closing Date”), the Company completed a transaction (the “Mayne Transaction”) with Mayne Pharma LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Mayne Pharma”) and subsidiary of Mayne Pharma Group Limited, an Australian public company, pursuant to which the Company and its subsidiaries (i) granted Mayne Pharma an exclusive license to commercialize the Company’s IMVEXXY, BIJUVA and prescription prenatal vitamin products sold under the BocaGreenMD® and vitaMedMD® brands (collectively, the “Licensed Products”) in the United States and its possessions and territories, (ii) assigned to Mayne Pharma the Company’s exclusive license to commercialize ANNOVERA® (together with the Licensed Products, collectively, the “Products”) in the United States and its possessions and territories, and (iii) sold certain other assets to Mayne Pharma in connection therewith.
Pursuant to a License Agreement, dated December 4, 2022, between the Company and Mayne Pharma (the “Mayne License Agreement”), the Company granted Mayne Pharma, on the Closing Date, (i) an exclusive, sublicensable, perpetual, irrevocable license to research, develop, register, manufacture, have manufactured, market, sell, use, and commercialize the Licensed Products in the United States and its possessions and territories and (ii) an exclusive, sublicensable, perpetual, irrevocable license to manufacture, have manufactured, import and have imported the Licensed Products outside the United States for commercialization in the United States and its possessions and territories.
Pursuant to the Mayne License Agreement, Mayne Pharma will make one-time, milestone payments to the Company of each of (i) $5.0 million if aggregate net sales of all Products in the United States during a calendar year reach $100.0 million, (ii) $10.0 million if aggregate net sales of all Products in the United States during a calendar year reach $200.0 million and (iii) $15.0 million if aggregate net sales of all Products in the United States during a calendar year reach $300.0 million. Further, Mayne Pharma will pay to the Company royalties on net sales of all Products in the United States at a royalty rate of 8.0% on the first $80 million in annual net sales and 7.5% on annual net sales above $80.0 million, subject to certain adjustments, for a period of 20 years following the Closing Date. The royalty rate will decrease to 2.0% on a Product-by-Product basis upon the earlier to occur of (i) the expiration or revocation of the last patent covering a Product and (ii) a generic version of a Product launching in the United States. Mayne Pharma will pay to the Company minimum annual royalties of $3.0 million per year for 12 years, adjusted for inflation at an annual rate of 3%, subject to certain further adjustments, including as described below (the “Minimum Annual Royalty”). Upon the expiry of the 20-year royalty term, the licenses granted to Mayne Pharma under the Mayne License Agreement will become a fully paid-up and royalty free license for the Licensed Products.
Pursuant to a Transaction Agreement, dated December 4, 2022, between the Company and Mayne Pharma (the “Transaction Agreement”), the Company sold to Mayne Pharma, at closing, certain assets for Mayne Pharma to commercialize the Products in the United States, including the Company’s exclusive license from the Population Council to commercialize ANNOVERA (the “Transferred Assets”).
The total consideration from Mayne Pharma to the Company for the purchase of the Transferred Assets and the grant of the licenses under the Mayne License Agreement was (i) a cash payment of $140.0 million at closing, (ii) a cash payment of approximately $12.1 million at closing for the acquisition of net working capital as determined in accordance with the Transaction Agreement and subject to certain adjustments, (iii) a cash payment of approximately $1.0 million at closing for prepaid royalties in connection with the Mayne License Agreement Amendment (as defined below) and (iv) the right to receive the contingent consideration set forth in the Mayne License Agreement, as amended.
On the Closing Date, the Company and Mayne Pharma entered into Amendment No. 1 to the Mayne License Agreement (the “Mayne License Agreement Amendment”). Pursuant to the Mayne License Agreement Amendment, Mayne Pharma agreed to pay the Company approximately $1.0 million in prepaid royalties on the Closing Date. The prepaid royalties will reduce the first four quarterly payments that would have otherwise be received pursuant to the Mayne License Agreement by an amount equal to $257,250 per quarterly royalty payment plus interest calculated at 19% per annum accruing from the Closing Date until the date such quarterly royalty payment is paid to the Company. In addition, the parties agreed that Mayne Pharma will reduce one quarterly royalty payment (other than the first quarterly royalty payment) otherwise payable to the Company by $1.5 million in consideration of Mayne Pharma assuming the Company’s obligations under a long-term services agreement, including the Company’s minimum payment obligations thereunder.
This action represented a shift in our business and therefore, the related assets and liabilities associated with commercial operations are classified as discontinued operations on our consolidated balance sheets and the results of operations have been presented as discontinued operations within our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss) for all periods presented.
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See Note 2 - Discontinued Operationsto the consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details.
The Company also has license agreements with strategic partners to commercialize IMVEXXY and BIJUVA outside of the U.S.
In connection with the Company’s transformation into a pharmaceutical royalty company, the termination of our executive management team (except for Mr. Marlan Walker, our former General Counsel and current Chief Executive Officer) and all other employees was completed by December 31, 2022. Severance obligations for all employees other than executive officers were paid in full in the first quarter of 2023 and severance obligations for terminated executive officers will be paid in accordance with their employment agreements and separation agreements as previously disclosed. As of December 31, 2022, we employed one full-time employee primarily engaged in an executive position. We have engaged external consultants, including certain former members of our management team, who support our relationship with current partners and assist with certain financial, legal and regulatory matters and the continued wind-down of our historical business operations.
vitaCare divestiture
On April 14, 2022, we completed the divestiture of vitaCare Prescription Services, Inc. (“vitaCare”) with the sale of all vitaCare’s issued and outstanding capital stock (the “vitaCare Divestiture”). We received net proceeds of $142.6 million, net of transaction costs of $7.2 million, and we recognized a gain on sale of business of $143.4 million. Included in the net proceeds amount was $11.3 million of customary holdbacks as provided in the stock purchase agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”), which is recorded as restricted cash in the consolidated balance sheets. The restricted cash was held by an escrow agent and was released to us in March 2023. Additionally, we may receive up to an additional $7.0 million in earn-out consideration, contingent upon vitaCare’s financial performance through 2023 as determined in accordance with the terms of the Purchase Agreement. We will record the contingent consideration at the settlement amount when the consideration is realized or realizable.
The Purchase Agreement contains customary representations and warranties, covenants, and indemnities of the parties thereto. The commitments under a long-term services agreement related to vitaCare was transferred to Mayne Pharma as part of the Mayne Transaction. In addition, under the Mayne License Agreement Amendment, Mayne Pharma will reduce one quarterly royalty payment (other than the first quarterly royalty payment) otherwise payable to us by $1.5 million in consideration of Mayne Pharma assuming our obligations under the long-term services agreement related to vitaCare.
The pre-divesture operations of vitaCare were reclassified to discontinued operations in December 2022 when the Company transitioned to becoming a royalty company and licensing its products to Mayne Pharma.
The impact of COVID-19 on our business
With multiple variant strains of the SARS-Cov-2 virus and the COVID-19 disease that it causes (collectively, “COVID-19”) still circulating, we continue to be subject to risks and uncertainties in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. The extent of the future impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business continues to be highly uncertain and difficult to predict.
As of the date of the filing of this Annual Report, the future extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic may continue to materially impact our financial condition, liquidity, or results of operations remains uncertain and difficult to predict. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided, we may continue to experience adverse impacts to our business as a result of any economic recession or depression that has occurred or may occur in the future.
Our business model
We changed our business in 2022, by out-licensing our products and collecting royalties, after granting an exclusive license to commercialize the Company’s IMVEXXY, BIJUVA, and prescription prenatal vitamin products sold under the BocaGreenMD® and vitaMedMD® brands in the United States and its possessions and territories and assigning the Company’s exclusive license to commercialize ANNOVERA in the United States and its possessions and territories to Mayne Pharma.
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The Company also has license agreements with strategic partners to commercialize IMVEXXY and BIJUVA outside of the U.S. In July 2018 we entered into the Knight License Agreement pursuant to which we granted Knight an exclusive license to commercialize IMVEXXY and BIJUVA in Canada and Israel. In June 2019, we entered into the Theramex License Agreement to commercialize IMVEXXY and BIJUVA outside of the U.S., excluding Canada and Israel. In 2021, Theramex secured regulatory approval for BIJUVA in certain European countries and began commercialization efforts in those countries.
Currently, we collect royalties on sales of ANNOVERA, IMVEXXY, and BIJUVA under the TherapeuticsMD brand, prescription prenatal vitamins under our vitaMedMD brand name, and authorized generic formulations of our prescription prenatal vitamin products under BocaGreenMD brand name.
We expect that the primarily source of our future revenue will be based on payments we may receive for milestones and royalties related to these products.
The Company no longer has research and development, commercial, manufacturing and finance infrastructure and operates as a virtual corporation with no material capital investment in fixed assets.
Industry and market
Women’s healthcare market
According to BBC Research’s September 2020 report, “Pharmaceuticals for Women’s Health: Global Markets,” post-menopausal osteoporosis, pregnancy disorders and management, menopause, endometriosis, and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are the largest segments within the global market for women’s health therapeutics. Women’s health therapeutics established a very strong presence in the global pharmaceutical market over the last few decades. The market is expected to grow moderately, mainly due to patent expirations of blockbuster drugs such as Evista, the Premarin family, Forteo, Mirena, Boniva, Actonel, Gonal-F and several other. However, the launch of new drugs in the market, and novel drugs under R&D in the late-stage pipeline, has the strong potential to drive the market during the forecast period. The global market for women’s health therapeutics is projected to grow from $31.5 billion in 2019 to $41.2 billion by 2025, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.7% for the period of 2019-2025. The menopause market is projected to grow from $5.7 billion in 2019 to $7.7 billion by 2025 at a CAGR of 5.4% through 2025.
Reproductive market
Contraception can be defined as the deliberate prevention of pregnancy by interfering with normal process of ovulation, fertilization, and implantation through the use of barriers, drugs, medical devices, or surgical techniques. The contraceptive market includes non-hormonal methods, such as the non-hormonal intrauterine device, or IUD, contraceptive sponge, diaphragm, cervical cap or shield and condoms, and hormonal methods such as oral contraceptives, injections, implants, hormonal IUDs and vaginal ring and transdermal contraceptive products. Hormonal contraceptives can be composed of synthetic estrogens and progestins. Contraceptives containing both estrogen and a progestin are referred to as combination hormonal contraceptives, CHCs, and contraceptives containing only progestin are referred to as progestin-only, or P-only.
The most common synthetic estrogen approved in the U.S. for use in contraceptive products is ethinyl estradiol (EE). There are 10 different progestins that have been used in contraceptives sold in the U.S. The progestin component provides most of the contraceptive effect, while the estrogen component primarily provides cycle control, for example, minimizing bleeding or spotting between cycles. The progestin exerts its contraceptive effect by inhibiting ovulation, or release of an egg from the ovary, and by thickening cervical mucus. Thickening cervical mucus helps to prevent sperm entry into the upper genital tract. The estrogen component, in addition to providing cycle control, makes a small contribution to contraception by decreasing the maturation of the egg in the ovary. As per the National Center for Health Statistics (“NCHS’) Data Brief No. 388 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”), the latest data, for 2017 to 2019, indicate that 65.3% of women aged 15 to 49 were using some type of contraceptive method with approximately half of these women in this age group using reversable prescription contraception. Most women who were not using contraception had reasons for not doing so, such as seeking pregnancy, being pregnant or postpartum, or not being sexually active.
The U.S. contraceptive market size is expected to reach $9.9 billion by 2027, expanding at a CAGR of 4.3% from 2020 to 2027 according to Grand View Research, Inc. Increasing awareness about long-acting reversible contraceptives (“LARCs”) is expected to augment the product demand, thereby driving the market over the next few years. According to the NCHS, the use of LARCs in the U.S. was 10.4% in 2017-2019 among women aged 15 to 49. We believe that the increasing awareness about LARCs will grow incremental product demand, thereby driving market growth over the coming years. This is currently led by IUDs. The remainder of the market is dominated by oral contraceptives, which is represented by one major brand, Lo Loestrin® Fe by AbbVie and a variety of generics.
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Menopause market
Menopause is the spontaneous and permanent cessation of menstruation, which naturally occurs in most women. The average age of menopause in the U.S. is 52. The range for women is usually between 45 and 58. Per the National Institutes of Health, in the U.S., approximately 1.3 million women become menopausal each year, typically beginning between the ages of 51 and 52. However, about 5.0% of women experience early menopause between the ages of 40 and 45. Additionally, 1.0% of women experience premature menopause before the age of 40, due to permanent ovarian failure that may be associated with sex chromosome abnormalities.
Classic symptoms of menopause are vasomotor symptoms (“VMS”) (including hot flashes and night sweats), vulvovaginal symptoms (including dyspareunia and vaginal dryness) and sleep disturbances. These symptoms are caused by the reduced levels of circulating estrogen as ovarian production shuts down. Common treatments for menopausal VMS and vulvovaginal symptoms of menopause range from prescription medications, including hormone therapy and non-hormonal options, to over-the-counter supplements and lubrication options.
Hormone therapy is the most effective treatment in the U.S. and Canada for relief of menopausal symptoms according to the North American Menopause Society (“NAMS”). Approved FDA prescriptions for menopausal hormone therapy in the U.S. dropped significantly following the Women’s Health Initiative (“WHI”) study results published in 2002, which found that subjects using conjugated equine estrogens plus the synthetic progestin medroxyprogesterone acetate had, among other things, a greater incidence of coronary heart disease, breast cancer, stroke, and pulmonary embolism. This study caused a significant change in hormone therapy prescribing habits. Since 2002, many women and HCPs have chosen compounded hormone therapy, a bio-identical solution for treating VMS, and the use of local vaginal therapy increased during this time. The FDA recommends that women with moderate-to-severe menopausal symptoms who want to try menopausal hormone therapy for relief use it for the shortest time needed and at the lowest effective dose.
Prenatal vitamin market
According to the CDC, there are approximately four million births per year in the U.S. Most HCPs encourage taking a prenatal vitamin as the recommended standard of care. Prenatal vitamins are dietary supplements intended to be taken before and during pregnancy and during postnatal lactation that provide nutrients recognized by various health organizations as helpful for a healthy pregnancy outcome.
The prenatal vitamin market is highly fragmented, with dozens of companies selling hundreds of competitive products. Prenatal vitamin products are marketed as either nonprescription products or prescription products, with many companies marketing their products through both channels.
Our Licensed Menopause portfolio
IMVEXXY
On December 30, 2022, we granted an exclusive license to commercialize the Company’s IMVEXXY in the United States and its possessions and territories to Mayne Pharma. IMVEXXY is a small, digitally inserted, softgel vaginal insert that dissolves when inserted into the vagina. It is administered mess-free, without the need for an applicator, and can be used any time of day. IMVEXXY provides a mechanism of action and dosing that is comfortable for patients, with no patient education required for dose application or applicators. Additionally, the dose packaging for IMVEXXY is designed to optimize compliance and convenience for users. IMVEXXY demonstrated efficacy as early as two weeks (secondary endpoint) and maintained efficacy through week 12 in clinical studies, with no increase in systemic hormone levels beyond the normal postmenopausal range (the clinical relevance of systemic absorption rates for vaginal estrogen therapies is not known). We previously granted licenses to commercialize the Company’s IMVEXXY product outside of the United States to Theramex and Knight.
As part of the FDA’s approval of IMVEXXY, we committed to conduct a post-approval observational study to evaluate the risk of endometrial cancer in post-menopausal women with a uterus who use a low-dose vaginal estrogen unopposed by a progestogen. The FDA has also asked the sponsors of other vaginal estrogen products to participate in the observational study. In connection with the observational study, we would have been required to provide progress reports to the FDA on an annual basis. The obligation to conduct this study was transferred to Mayne Pharma as part of the License Agreement.
BIJUVA
On December 30, 2022, we granted an exclusive license commercialize the Company’s BIJUVA in the United States and its possessions and territories to Mayne Pharma. BIJUVA offers the convenience of a single-capsule combination of two hormones (estradiol and progesterone), which may improve a user’s compliance. The estradiol and progesterone in BIJUVA are plant-based, not animal-sourced, and do not contain peanut oil unlike other FDA-approved progesterone products. BIJUVA provides a sustained steady state of estradiol
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which reduced the frequency and severity of hot flashes in clinical studies with no demonstrated impact on a patient’s weight or blood pressure. Additionally, through clinical trials, BIJUVA has demonstrated endometrial safety and greater than 90% amenorrhea rates, while providing no clinically meaningful changes in mammograms, or in coagulation or lipid parameters, and while providing clinically meaningful improvements in quality of life and sleep disturbance. In December 2021, the FDA approved the supplemental NDA for the 0.5 mg/100 mg dose of BIJUVA. We previously granted licenses to commercialize the Company’s BIJUVA product outside of the United States to Theramex and Knight.
Estrogen (with or without a progestin) is most commonly used to treat VMS due to menopause that is a direct result of the decline in estrogen levels associated with ovarian shutdown at menopause. Estrogen is a generic term for any substance, natural or synthetic, that exerts biological effects characteristic of estrogenic hormones, such as estradiol, a natural ovarian produced estrogen. According to NAMS, the most effective treatment for VMS due to menopause is estrogen therapy.
Progestins are used in combination with estrogen in menopausal women with a uterus to avoid an increase in the incidence of endometrial hyperplasia, which is a condition caused by chronic use of estrogen alone by a woman with a uterus and is associated with an increased incidence of uterine, or endometrial, cancer. Progestins include the naturally occurring hormone progesterone and several synthetic progestin compounds that have pregestational activity. These agents are used for a variety of indications and conditions. Progestins alone are also used to treat women with secondary amenorrhea to create withdrawal bleeding in these women who have not had regular menses. Progestins are also used to treat dysfunctional uterine bleeding and endometriosis.
With the approval of BIJUVA, the FDA required a post-approval commitment to further develop and validate our in-vitro dissolution method to show how BIJUVA is released from the capsule in an in-vitro setting for quality control assessments. The development of this method and validation were completed and submitted to the FDA as required in our approval.
Our hormone therapy pharmaceutical products are characterized by safety and efficacy profiles that can be consistently manufactured to target specifications. This provides an alternative to the non-FDA approved compounded bio-identical market. We believe that our FDA-approved pharmaceutical products offer advantages in terms of demonstrated safety and efficacy, consistency in the hormone dose, lower patient cost due to the increased likelihood of insurance coverage, and improved access as a result of availability from major retail pharmacy chains rather than custom order or formulation by individual compounders.
Our licensed prenatal vitamin products
On December 30, 2022, we granted an exclusive license to commercialize, in the United States and its possessions and territories, our prescription prenatal vitamin product lines under our vitaMedMD brand name and authorized generic formulations of some of our prescription prenatal vitamin products under our BocaGreenMD Prena1 name to Mayne Pharma.
License agreements
Mayne license agreement
Pursuant to the Mayne License Agreement, on the Closing Date the Company granted Mayne Pharma (i) an exclusive, sublicensable, perpetual, irrevocable license to research, develop, register, manufacture, have manufactured, market, sell, use, and commercialize the Licensed Products in the United States and its possessions and territories and (ii) an exclusive, sublicensable, perpetual, irrevocable license to manufacture, have manufactured, import and have imported the Licensed Products outside the United States for commercialization in the United States and its possessions and territories.
Pursuant to the Mayne License Agreement, Mayne Pharma will make one-time, milestone payments to the Company of each of (i) $5.0 million if aggregate net sales of all Products in the United States during a calendar year reach $100.0 million, (ii) $10.0 million if aggregate net sales of all Products in the United States during a calendar year reach $200.0 million and (iii) $15.0 million if aggregate net sales of all Products in the United States during a calendar year reach $300.0 million. Further, Mayne Pharma will pay to the Company royalties on net sales of all Products in the United States at a royalty rate of 8.0% on the first $80 million in annual net sales and 7.5% on annual net sales above $80.0 million, subject to certain adjustments, for a period of 20 years following the Closing Date. The royalty rate will decrease to 2.0% on a Product-by-Product basis upon the earlier to occur of (i) the expiration or revocation of the last patent covering a Product and (ii) a generic version of a Product launching in the United States. Mayne Pharma will pay to the Company minimum annual royalties of $3.0 million per year for 12 years, adjusted for inflation at an annual rate of 3%, subject to certain further adjustments, including as described below. Upon the expiry of the 20-year royalty term, the licenses granted to Mayne Pharma under the Mayne License Agreement will become a fully paid-up and royalty free license for the Licensed Products.
Pursuant to the Transaction Agreement, the Company sold to Mayne Pharma, at closing, certain assets for Mayne Pharma to commercialize the Products in the United States, including the Company’s exclusive license from the Population Council to commercialize ANNOVERA.
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The total consideration from Mayne Pharma to the Company for the purchase of the Transferred Assets and the grant of the licenses under the License Agreement was (i) a cash payment of $140.0 million at closing, (ii) a cash payment of approximately $12.1 million at closing for the acquisition of net working capital as determined in accordance with the Transaction Agreement and subject to certain adjustments, (iii) a cash payment of approximately $1.0 million at closing for prepaid royalties in connection with the Mayne License Agreement Amendment and (iv) the right to receive the contingent consideration set forth in the Mayne License Agreement, as amended.
On the Closing Date, the Company and Mayne Pharma entered into the Mayne License Agreement Amendment. Pursuant to the Mayne License Agreement Amendment, Mayne Pharma agreed to pay the Company approximately $1.0 million in prepaid royalties on the Closing Date. The prepaid royalties will reduce the first four quarterly payments that would have otherwise been payable pursuant to the Mayne License Agreement by an amount equal to $257,250 per quarterly royalty payment plus interest calculated at 19% per annum accruing from the Closing Date until the date such quarterly royalty payment is paid to the Company. In addition, the parties agreed that Mayne Pharma will reduce one quarterly royalty payment (other than the first quarterly royalty payment) otherwise payable to the Company by $1.5 million in consideration of Mayne Pharma assuming the Company’s obligations under a long-term services agreement, including the Company’s minimum payment obligations thereunder.
Knight license agreement
Pursuant to the terms of the Knight License Agreement, Knight paid us $2.0 million in milestone fees upon the first regulatory approval in Canada for IMVEXXY and BIJUVA in 2020 and is required to pay us sales milestone fees based upon certain aggregate annual sales in Canada and Israel of each of IMVEXXY and BIJUVA and royalties based on aggregate annual sales of each of IMVEXXY and BIJUVA in Canada and Israel.
We may terminate the Knight License Agreement if Knight does not submit all regulatory applications, submissions and/or registrations required for regulatory approval to use and commercialize IMVEXXY and BIJUVA in Canada within certain specified time periods. We also may terminate the Knight License Agreement if Knight challenges our patents. Either party may terminate the Knight License Agreement for any material breach by the other party that is not cured within certain specified time periods or if the other party files for bankruptcy or other related matters. As part of the Knight License Agreement, Knight is prohibited from exporting IMVEXXY and BIJUVA to the U.S.
Theramex license agreement
Under the terms of the Theramex License Agreement, Theramex paid us EUR 14 million, or $15.5 million, in cash as an upfront fee in August 2019. Within thirty days of signing the Theramex License Agreement, we provided Theramex the regulatory materials and clinical data that were necessary for Theramex to obtain marketing authorizations and other applicable regulatory approvals for commercializing BIJUVA and IMVEXXY. In 2019, at a point in time when Theramex was able to use and benefit from the license which was when the knowledge transfer of regulatory documents occurred, we recognized the revenue related to the upfront fee, which was a non-refundable payment.
In 2021, we received additional milestone payments comprised of an aggregate of EUR 1.0million, or $1.2 million, in regulatory milestone payments based on regulatory approvals for BIJUVA in certain specified markets. Additionally, in December 2021, we received EUR 0.5 million, or $0.6 million, in additional upfront payments for the license grants of IMVEXXY in Brazil and Mexico. The additional upfront payment for the license grants of IMVEXXY in Brazil and Mexico may be returned to Theramex under certain conditions if IMVEXXY fails to obtain marketing authorization in one of Brazil or Mexico within a prespecified period.
We are eligible to receive additional sales milestone paymentsup to an aggregate of EUR 27.5 million in sales milestone payments to be paid in escalating tranches based on Theramex first attaining certain aggregate annual net sales milestones of BIJUVA and IMVEXXY outside of the U.S., excluding Canada and Israel (collectively the “Theramex Territory”), ranging from EUR 25 million to EUR 100 million. We are also entitled to receive quarterly royalty payments at a rate of 5% on net sales of BIJUVA and IMVEXXY in the Theramex Territory. Theramex is responsible for all regulatory and commercial activities for BIJUVA and IMVEXXY in the Theramex Territory.
Theramexmay sublicense its rights to commercialize BIJUVA and IMVEXXY in the Theramex Territory, except for certain specified markets. We may terminate the Theramex License Agreement if Theramex does not submit all regulatory applications, submissions and/or registrations required for regulatory approval to use and commercialize BIJUVA and IMVEXXY within certain specified time periods. We also may terminate the Theramex License Agreement if Theramex challenges our patents. Either party may terminate the Theramex License Agreement for any material breach by the other party that is not cured within certain specified time periods or if the other party files for bankruptcy or other related matters.
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ANNOVERA
On December 30, 2022, we assigned the Company’s exclusive license to commercialize ANNOVERA to Mayne Pharma. The segesterone acetate component of ANNOVERA was classified by the FDA as a “new chemical entity,” or NCE, and thus ANNOVERA has five years of regulatory exclusivity under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, otherwise known as the Hatch-Waxman Act. ANNOVERA is a one-year (13 cycles) ring-shaped contraceptive vaginal system, or CVS. ANNOVERA, which is made with a silicone elastomer, contains segesterone acetate, a 19-nor progesterone derivative also known as Nestorone®, or SA, and ethinyl estradiol, or EE. EE is an approved active ingredient in many marketed hormonal contraceptive products. Segesterone acetate, an NCE, is a potent progestin that, based on pharmacological studies in animals and in vitro, does not bind to the androgen or estrogen receptors and has no glucocorticoid activity at contraceptive doses. SA has been evaluated in 51 clinical studies across these delivery systems with more than 26,794 cycles of exposure.
ANNOVERA can be inserted and removed by the woman herself without the aid of a healthcare provider and, unlike oral contraceptives, ANNOVERA does not require daily administration to obtain the contraceptive effect. After 21 days of use, the woman removes ANNOVERA for seven days, thereby providing a regular bleeding pattern (i.e., withdrawal/scheduled bleeding). The same CVS is then re-inserted for additional 21/7-days in/out, for up to a total of 13 cycles (one year). ANNOVERA releases daily vaginal doses of both active ingredients (SA and EE). The claimed release rate of 150 μg/day SA and 13 μg/day EE is supported by the calculated average release rate from an ex vivo analysis of ANNOVERA used for 13 cycles and is also supported by data from 13 cycles of in vitro release.
As part of the approval of ANNOVERA, the FDA has required a post-approval observational study be performed to measure the risk of venous thromboembolism. We agreed to perform and pay the costs and expenses associated with this post-approval study, provided that if the costs and expenses associated with such post-approval study exceed $20.0 million, half of such excess will offset against royalties or other payments owed by us under the Population Council License Agreement. In August 2021, we filed a supplemental New Drug Application (“NDA”) with the FDA to modify the testing specifications for ANNOVERA to allow increased consistency of supply of ANNOVERA. In May 2022, the FDA approved the supplemental NDA for ANNOVERA. With the FDA approval of the supplemental NDA, we expect the third-party contract manufacturer will be able to supply sufficient ANNOVERA to better meet customer demand. Our obligations to perform the post-approval study have been transferred to Mayne Pharma as part of the Mayne License Agreement.
We believe that ANNOVERA competes across all the contraception options for women, especially for those women seeking a long-lasting option without a procedure.
For patients, ANNOVERA provides a single, long-lasting, reversible birth control product that does not require a procedure at the doctor’s office for insertion or removal, empowering women to be in complete control of their fertility and menstruation with a 21/7 regimen. We believe that ANNOVERA is a unique alternative for women who have previously chosen other forms of birth control. These include nulliparous women (or women who have never given birth), women who are considering an IUD but would rather not have a procedure, women who are between pregnancies but desire protection without a long-term commitment, and women who are not satisfied with oral options due to the daily usage or potential side effects.
Based on prescription data from Symphony Health Solutions, the FDA-approved prescription market in the U.S. for contraceptive products during 2021 amounted to more than 69 million prescriptions, generating $5.4 billion in gross sales.
Population Council license agreement
Under the terms of the Population Council License Agreement, we paid the Population Council a milestone payment of $20.0 million in 2018, which was within 30 days following the approval by the FDA of the NDA for ANNOVERA, and $20.0 million in 2019 following the first commercial batch release of ANNOVERA. The aggregate $40.0 million of milestone payments were recorded as license rights and amortized over the remaining useful life over which the license rights contributed directly or indirectly to our cash flows. On December 30, 2022, we assigned the ANNOVERA license to Mayne Pharma. The rights and obligations under the Population Council License Agreement have been transferred to Mayne Pharma and will revert back to us upon certain events. For additional information, see “Note 5. License rights and other intangible assets” to the consolidated financial statements included in this 2022 10-K Report.
The Population Council has agreed to perform and pay the costs and expenses associated with four post-approval studies required by the FDA for ANNOVERA, and we had agreed to perform and pay the costs and expenses associated with a post approval study required by the FDA to measure risk for venous thromboembolism, provided that if the costs and expenses associated with such post-approval study exceed $20.0 million, half of such excess was to be offset against royalties or other payments owed by us to the Population Council under the Population Council License Agreement. In July 2021, we received a letter from FDA indicating that the post-marketing commitment study being conducted by the Population Council for ANNOVERA to characterize the in vivo release rate of
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ANNOVERA was not fulfilled to FDA’s satisfaction. In addition, the final reports for the two post-marketing requirement studies being performed by the Population Council for ANNOVERA were not submitted by the initial listed submission deadline, which deadlines have since been extended by FDA. Our obligations to perform the post-approval study have been transferred to Mayne Pharma as part of the Mayne License Agreement. We believe, Mayne Pharma is working with Population Council to complete the post-marketing commitment study to FDA’s satisfaction and reduce the delay in submitting the post-marketing requirement final reports. To the extent that the Population Council does not fulfil these studies to FDA’s satisfaction, FDA may impose additional requirements and penalties against the NDA holder for ANNOVERA.
Unless earlier terminated, the Population Council License Agreement will remain in effect until the later of the expiration of the last-to-expire of the Population Council’s U.S. patents that are licensed to Mayne Pharma, or the date following such expiration that follows a continuous period of six months during which Mayne Pharma has not made a commercial sale of ANNOVERA in the U.S. The Population Council License Agreement may also be terminated for certain breach and bankruptcy-related events and by Mayne Pharma on 180 days’ prior notice to the Population Council.
Sales concentration
Our business model is dependent on third parties achieving specified milestones and product sales. For information on the concentration of licenses of our products, see “Note 10. Revenue” to the consolidated financial statements included in this 2022 10-K Report. Currently, the Company collects license revenue from 3 licensees.
Seasonality
The pharmaceutical markets in which we license our products are not subject to seasonal sales fluctuations. However, our license revenues for the first quarter of each year can be negatively affected by the annual reset of high-deductible commercial insurance plans.
Manufacturing of our licensed products
As of December 30, 2022, we were no longer responsible for any manufacturing and have no manufacturing contracts. All manufacturing responsibility has been transferred to Mayne Pharma.
Mayne Pharma sources third-party contract manufacturing organizations (“CMOs”), for the commercial supply of the Products. The regulations for manufacturing of approved drug products are significantly more extensive than the standards for manufacturing supplements or drug product for early-stage clinical trials. The CMOs are responsible for the manufacture of licensed products in accordance with the product specifications and applicable regulatory requirements. There are long-term supply agreements with Catalent Pharma Solutions, LLC (“Catalent”) for the commercial supply of our IMVEXXY and BIJUVA, and Sever Pharma Solution (formerly QPharma AB), both of which have their establishments registered with FDA, for the supply of ANNOVERA. If Mayne Pharma is unable to obtain sufficient quantities of drugs or receive raw materials in a timely manner, it could be required to delay its manufacturing and seek alternative manufacturers, which would be costly and time-consuming. See also Item 1A. Risk Factors – “Our dependence upon third parties for the manufacture and supply of our existing women’s healthcare products may cause delays in, or prevent our licensees from, successfully commercializing, and marketing our products” below for further discussion related to our dependence on third-party CMOs.
Mayne Pharma uses third-party manufacturers to manufacture and package the vitamin and supplement products that we licensed to them, as well as meet applicable contract and regulatory requirements. They currently obtain all our vitaMedMD and BocaGreen products from Lang Pharma Nutrition (“Lang”), a full-service, private label and corporate brand manufacturer specializing in premium health benefit driven products, including medical foods, nutritional supplements, beverages, bars, and functional foods in the dietary supplement category. As a result, Mayne Pharma is dependent on Lang and its subcontractors for the manufacture of our vitamin and supplement products. We believe that Lang maintains multiple supply and purchasing relationships throughout the raw materials marketplace to provide an uninterrupted supply of products to meet Mayne Pharma’s manufacturing requirements.
While we used Lang for the manufacturing of our vitamins and supplements prior to licensing them to Mayne Pharma, we experienced no material difficulties in obtaining the vitamin and supplement products we needed in the amounts we required and do not anticipate those issues in the future. At present, we believe the relationship with Lang is established and reliable, and to the best of our knowledge, Mayne Pharma continues to use Lang as its third-party manufacturer for most of the licensed vitamins and supplements.
Quality control for our products
Our licensed products for the U.S. market are required to be manufactured in accordance with the FDA’s current Good Manufacturing Practice, or cGMPs. The third-party suppliers and manufacturers of our licensed products are also responsible for continued compliance with cGMP requirements. As of December 30, 2022, we are no longer involved in quality control activities, which have been transferred
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to Mayne Pharma. To comply with these drug commercialization standards, we believe that Mayne Pharma has personnel with pharmaceutical development, manufacturing, and quality assurance experience who are responsible for the relationships with the suppliers of our licensed products. We assigned our commercial supply agreements with Catalent to Mayne Pharma, and to the best of our knowledge, Catalent continues to manufacture the commercial supply for both IMVEXXY and BIJUVA. We also assigned our commercial supply agreement with Sever Pharma Solutions to Mayne Pharma. To the best of our knowledge, Sever Pharma Solutions continues to manufacture the commercial supply for ANNOVERA. For the prenatal vitamins, we believe that Mayne Pharma continues to collaborate with Lang to monitor the cGMP compliance of Lang’s contracted manufacturers and packagers. Although each of Catalent, Sever, and Lang have received Form FDA 483 observations from FDA inspections in the past, we are not aware of any open FDA investigations into the manufacturing and/or packaging processes at the facilities that are used for our licensed products.
Research and development
As of December 30, 2022, we no longer conduct any research and development activities. Historically, our product development programs have been concentrated in advanced hormone therapy pharmaceutical products.
Intellectual property
Patents and trademarks
Our success depends, in part, on our ability to obtain patents, maintain trade-secret protection, and operate without infringing the proprietary rights of others. Our intellectual property portfolio is one way we attempt to protect our competitive position. We rely primarily on a combination of know-how, trade secrets, patents, trademarks, and contractual restrictions to protect our products and to maintain our competitive position. We are diligently seeking ways to protect our intellectual property through various legal mechanisms in relevant jurisdictions. Where permitted, patents for our hormone therapy drug products have been submitted to the Orange Book.
As of December 31, 2022, we have 54 issued domestic patents and 47 issued foreign patents as well as 60 pending patent applications (47 foreign and 13 domestic), including:
We hold multiple U.S. trademark registrations and have numerous pending trademark applications. Issuance of a federally registered trademark creates a rebuttable presumption of ownership of the mark; however, it is subject to challenge by others claiming first use in the mark in some or all the areas in which it is used. Federally registered trademarks have a perpetual life so long as they are maintained and renewed on a timely basis and used properly as trademarks, subject to the rights of third parties to seek cancellation of the trademarks if they claim priority or confusion of usage. We believe our patents and trademarks are valuable and provide us certain benefits in marketing our products.
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We intend to actively protect our intellectual property with patents, trademarks, trade secrets, or other legal avenues for the protection of intellectual property and to aggressively prosecute, enforce, and defend our patents, trademarks, and proprietary technology, including those licensed by Mayne Pharma, Knight and Theramexwith our licensees to the extent permitted under their respective license agreements. The loss, by expiration or otherwise, of any one patent may have a material effect on our business. Defense and enforcement of our intellectual property rights can be expensive and time consuming, even if the outcome is favorable to us. It is possible that the patents issued or licensed to us will be successfully challenged, that a court may find that we are infringing on validly issued patents of third parties, or that we may have to alter or discontinue the development of our products or pay licensing fees to account for patent rights of third parties. See “– Pharmaceutical Regulation – Regulatory Exclusivity” below for information regarding our intellectual property and challenges to that intellectual property.
While we seek broad coverage under our patent applications, there is always a risk that an alteration to the process may provide sufficient basis for a competitor to avoid infringement claims. In addition, patents expire, and we cannot provide any assurance that any patents will be issued from our pending application or that any potentially issued patents will adequately protect our intellectual property.
Mayne Pharma licensed US patents and trademarks for our commercial products. Under the terms of the Mayne License Agreement, Mayne Pharma exclusively took over prosecution of our US patent and trademark portfolio and enforcement of our licensed patents and trademarks.
Government regulation
In the U.S., the FDA regulates pharmaceuticals, biologics, medical devices, dietary supplements, and cosmetics under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”) and its implementing regulations. These products are also subject to other federal, state, and local statutes and regulations, including federal and state consumer protection laws, laws regarding pricing transparency, laws requiring the implementation of compliance programs, laws requiring the reporting of payments or other transfers of value to HCPs or other healthcare professionals, laws governing the financial relationships between manufacturers and HCPs or other referral sources and industry stakeholders, laws protecting the privacy of health-related information, laws restricting items and services of value provided to patients, and laws prohibiting unfair and deceptive acts and trade practices. See also Item 1A. Risk Factors – “Risks related to our business”for a discussion, among other things, of the extensive and costly governmental regulation we aresubject to.
Pharmaceutical regulation
The process required by the FDA before a new drug product may be marketed in the U.S. generally involves the following:
An IND application is a request for authorization from the FDA to administer an investigational drug product to humans.
Post-Approval Regulation
Mayne Pharma is required to comply with several post-approval requirements for our currently approved drug products. We no longer have responsibility for any post-approval requirements. As the holder of an approved NDA, Mayne Pharma is required to report, among other things, certain adverse reactions and production problems to the FDA, to provide updated safety and efficacy information, to adhere to product sampling and distribution requirements, fulfill post-marketing study commitments, and to comply with requirements concerning advertising and promotional labeling for any of our drug products, which include, among other things, standards for direct-to-consumer advertising, restrictions that prohibit promoting products for certain uses or in patient populations that are not described in the product’s approved indications or that are not otherwise consistent with the approved, FDA-required label (known as “off-label use”), limitations on industry-sponsored scientific and educational activities, and requirements for promotional activities involving the internet. Although physicians may prescribe legally available products for off-label use if they deem such use to be appropriate in their professional medical judgment, manufacturers may not market or promote such off-label uses.
Also, quality control and manufacturing procedures must continue to conform to cGMPs to ensure and preserve the long-term stability of the drug product. cGMP regulations require among other things, quality control and quality assurance as well as the corresponding maintenance of records and documentation and the obligation to investigate and correct any deviations from cGMP. Manufacturers and
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other entities involved in the manufacture and distribution of approved products are, depending on the nature and scope of their activities, subject to FDA and certain state agency requirements relating to establishing and maintaining product quality. Changes to the manufacturing process are strictly regulated, and, depending on the significance of the change, may require prior FDA approval before being implemented. FDA regulations also require investigation and correction of any deviations from cGMP and impose reporting and documentation requirements upon us and any third-party manufacturers that we may decide to use. Accordingly, manufacturers must continue to expend time, money and effort in production and quality control to maintain compliance with cGMP and other aspects of regulatory compliance.
The FDA periodically inspects manufacturing facilities to assess compliance with cGMP, which imposes extensive procedural, substantive, and record keeping requirements. For example, Catalent, the CMO that contracted for the commercial supply of the BIJUVA and IMVEXXY hormone therapy drug products, was issued a Form FDA 483 in 2019 with respect to its softgel manufacturing plant. The observations and associated corrective actions related to the BIJUVA product was identified in Catalent’s response to the Form FDA 483. The current inspection classification status of that Form FDA 483 is that the response was adequate and Voluntary Action Indicated. Voluntary Action Indicated status indicates that objectionable conditions or practices were found but the FDA is not prepared to take or recommend any administrative or regulatory action.
Our licensees rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties to produce commercial quantities of our licensed drugs. Future FDA and state inspections may identify compliance issues at the facilities of the manufacturers of our licensed products that may disrupt production or distribution or require substantial resources to correct. In addition, discovery of previously unknown problems (for example, through adverse events observed in the post-marketing context, or in Phase 4 / post-marketing studies) 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 may require the implementation of other risk management measures. 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.
Regulatory exclusivity
There are two types of NDAs available under Section 505(b) of the FDCA. Section 505(b)(1) of the FDCA provides a marketing approval pathway that is known as the “traditional” or “full” NDA process. Sponsors use 505(b)(1) applications to obtain marketing approval of a new drug with active ingredients that have not previously been approved by FDA. The data package necessary for approval of this new drug requires demonstration of safety and efficacy based on adequate and well controlled human clinical trials conducted by or for the sponsor, without allowance for reference to third party data. In contrast, Section 505(b)(2) of the FDCA provides an alternative NDA process for approving a new drug that contains the same active ingredient as a previously approved product but allows sponsors to rely on clinical trials not conducted by or for the sponsor, as well as other clinical data or literature produced by other parties. In addition, Section 505(j) of the FDCA provides for a significantly shortened regulatory pathway for approval of a “generic” version of a new drug, by way of an Abbreviated New Drug Application or ANDA. Rather than demonstrating safety and effectiveness as required for an NDA, the ANDA requires proof that the generic drug is the “same” as or “bioequivalent” to the new drug under the standard of “bioequivalence,” often using pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and/or in vitro studies.
A Section 505(b) NDA applicant may be eligible for its own regulatory exclusivity period, such as a five-year or three-year exclusivity. The first approved Section 505(b) NDA applicant for a drug containing an active ingredient that has not previously been approved in any other 505(b) NDA (a “new chemical entity,” or NCE), is eligible for a five-year NCE exclusivity period starting on the date of the NDA approval. During this period, an Abbreviated New Drug Application (“ANDA”) or 505(b)(2) application for a drug containing the protected active ingredient of the NCE product generally cannot be submitted to FDA until the end of the five-year exclusivity period, except that such applications can be submitted at year four if the product is covered by an Orange Book listed patent and the ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA includes a Paragraph IV Certification challenging such patent. Additional exclusivities may also apply.
The first approved Section 505(b) NDA applicant for a particular condition, or a supplemental NDA approval for a change to a marketed product, such as a new extended-release formulation for a previously approved product, may be eligible for a three-year Hatch-Waxman exclusivity if one or more new clinical studies, other than bioavailability or bioequivalence studies, was essential to the approval of the application and was conducted or sponsored by the applicant. Should this occur, the FDA would be precluded from granting final approval to any ANDA or 505(b)(2) application for the same condition of use or change to the marketed product that was granted exclusivity until after that three-year exclusivity period has run.
Additionally, any ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA that references the 505(b) product must include one of several types of patent certifications. If the Section 505(b) NDA drug has one or more unexpired patents listed in the Orange Book, an ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA must include either a “Paragraph III Certification” or a “Paragraph IV Certification.” A Paragraph III Certification identifies the expiration date of
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the listed patent and requires FDA to withhold final approval until that patent has expired. A “Paragraph IV Certification” states that, in the applicant’s opinion, the relevant patent is invalid, unenforceable, or would not be infringed by the commercial marketing of the proposed ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA product. The sponsor of a Paragraph IV ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA must also provide the holder of the marketed product NDA, and the owner of the challenged patent, with notification of the Paragraph IV filing along with a detailed statement of the reasons the applicant believes the patent is invalid, unenforceable, or would not be infringed. If the patent owner brings an infringement action against the Paragraph IV applicant within 45 days of the notification, a statutory stay is imposed which prevents FDA from granting final approval of the Paragraph IV application for 30 months from the date of the Paragraph IV Notification. Generally, no more than one 30-month stay may be applied against any specific Paragraph IV ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA. A 30-month stay can be terminated early, and the Paragraph IV application can be immediately approved, if the district court rules in favor of the Paragraph IV applicant that the patent is invalid, unenforceable, or would not be infringed.
In February 2020, we received a Paragraph IV certification notice letter (the “IMVEXXY Notice Letter”) regarding an ANDA submitted to FDA by Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. (“Teva”). See Legal Proceedings in Item 3 of this 2022 10-K Report for additional information.
In March 2020, we received a Paragraph IV certification notice letter (the “BIJUVA Notice Letter”) regarding an ANDA submitted to FDA by Amneal Pharmaceuticals (“Amneal”). In April 2020, we filed a complaint for patent infringement against Amneal in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey arising from Amneal’s ANDA filing with FDA. In December 2021, we entered into a settlement agreement (the “Settlement Agreement”) with Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Amneal Pharmaceuticals, LLC and Amneal Pharmaceuticals of New York LLC (collectively “Amneal”) to resolve the litigation over our patents listed in FDA’s Orange Book that claim compositions and methods of BIJUVA (the “BIJUVA Patents”). Under the terms of the Settlement Agreement, the Company granted Amneal a non-exclusive, non-transferable, royalty-free license to commercialize Amneal’s generic formulation of BIJUVA in the U.S. commencing in May 2032 (180days before the current expiration date in November 2032 for the last to expire of our BIJUVA Patents), or earlier under certain circumstances customary for settlement agreements of this nature.
Other U.S. healthcare laws and compliance requirements
Certain federal and state healthcare laws and regulations pertaining to fraud and abuse and patients’ rights, among other topics, are and will be applicable to our business. Our licensees and the licensed products are subject to regulation by both the federal government and the states in which we or our partners conduct our business. The healthcare laws and regulations that may affect our licensees’ ability to operate and our ability to receive licensing revenues include:
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Pharmaceutical company interactions with HCPs, patient advocacy groups, and patients, including with respect to product and patient assistance programs and other education and support initiatives, have been and continue to be, the subject of regulatory scrutiny for compliance with fraud and abuse laws.
Because of the breadth of these laws and the narrowness of the statutory exceptions and safe harbors available, it is possible that some of the business activities of the entities with whom we do business could be subject to challenge under one or more of such laws. Efforts to ensure that our business arrangements with third parties comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations could be costly. If our past operations, including activities conducted by our sales team or agents, are found to be in violation of any of these laws or any other governmental regulations that may apply to us, we may be subject to significant civil, criminal, and administrative penalties, damages, fines, exclusion from third-party payer programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations. If any of the HCPs, providers, or entities with whom we do business are found to not be in compliance with applicable laws, they may be subject to criminal, civil, or administrative sanctions, including exclusion from government funded healthcare programs.
Many aspects of these laws have not been definitively interpreted by the regulatory authorities or the courts, and their provisions are open to a variety of subjective interpretations that increases the risk of potential violations. In addition, these laws and their interpretations are subject to change. Any action against us for violation of these laws, even if we successfully defend against it, could cause us to incur significant legal expenses, divert our management’s attention from the operation of our business, and damage our reputation.
In addition to the fraud and abuse laws, we continue to monitor the potential impact of proposals to lower prescription drug costs at the federal and state level. For example, in November 2021, the Biden Administration announced several prescription drug pricing proposals as part of the Build Back Better legislation. In particular, the plan would allow for Medicare to negotiate prices for high-cost prescription drugs, including for both Part D and Part B drugs, after the drugs have been on the market for a fixed number of years: 9 years for small molecule drugs and 12 years for biologics. Medicare will negotiate up to 10 drugs per year during 2023, with the negotiated prices taking effect in 2025, increasing up to 20 drugs per year. Further, the plan imposes a tax penalty if drug manufacturers increase their prices faster than inflation. Finally, the plan places a $2,000 per year cap on out-of-pocket drug costs under Medicare Part D. At the state level, legislatures have increasingly passed legislation and implemented regulations designed to control pharmaceutical pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and, in some cases, designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. We are unable to predict the future course of federal or state healthcare legislation in the U.S. directed at broadening the availability of healthcare and containing or lowering the cost of healthcare.
In addition, from time to time in the future, our licensees and the licensed products may become subject to additional laws or regulations administered by the FDA, the FTC, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), or by other federal, state, local, or foreign regulatory authorities, or the repeal of laws or regulations that we generally consider favorable, such as DSHEA, or to more stringent interpretations of current laws or regulations. We are not able to predict the nature of such future laws, regulations, repeals, or interpretations, and we cannot predict what effect additional governmental regulation, if and when it occurs, would have on our business in the future. Such developments could, however, require reformulation of certain products to meet new standards, recalls or discontinuance of certain products not able to be reformulated, additional record-keeping requirements, increased documentation of the
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properties of certain products, additional or different labeling, additional scientific substantiation, additional personnel, or other new requirements. Any such developments could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Employees
In connection with the Company’s transformation into a pharmaceutical royalty company, the termination of our executive management team (except for Mr. Marlan Walker, our former General Counsel and current Chief Executive Officer) and all other employees was completed by December 31, 2022. Severance obligations for all employees other than executive officers were paid in full in the first quarter of 2023 and severance obligations for terminated executive officers will be paid in accordance with their employment agreements and separation agreements as previously disclosed. As of December 31, 2022, we employed one full-time employee primarily engaged in an executive position. We have engaged external consultants, including certain former members of our management team, who support our relationship with current partners and assist with certain financial, legal and regulatory matters and the continued wind-down of our historical business operations.
None of our employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, and we are unaware of any union organizing efforts. We have never experienced a major work stoppage, strike, or dispute. We consider our relationship with our employees to be good.
Available information
We are a Nevada corporation, and we maintain our principal executive offices at 951 Yamato Road, Suite 220, Boca Raton, Florida 33431. Our telephone number is (561) 961-1900. We maintain a corporate website at www.therapeuticsmd.com as well as various product websites. The information contained on our websites or that can be accessed through our websites is not incorporated by reference into this 2022 10-K Report or in any other report or document we file with the SEC.
Item 1A. Risk factors
Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the following risk factors, together with all of the information included in this 2022 10-K Report and our other filings with the SEC, before you decide to purchase shares of our common stock. We believe the risks and uncertainties described below are the most significant we face. Additional risks and uncertainties of which we are unaware, or that we currently deem immaterial, also may become important factors that affect us. If any of the following risks occur, our business, financial condition, or results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. In that case, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.
Our business is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. The following is a summary of the principal risk factors described in this section:
• There is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
• We could be affected by transitions in our senior management team.
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• Our products and our licensees are subject to extensive government regulation.
• Our success is tied to the distribution channels of our licensees.
Risks related to our business
We currently derive all revenue from royalties related to sales of our women’s healthcare products, and the failure of our licensees to maintain or increase sales of these products could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and growth prospects.
Following the Mayne Transaction, we derive all revenue from royalties related to sales of our women’s healthcare products, including patient-controlled, long-acting contraceptive, hormone therapy pharmaceutical products, prenatal and women’s multi-vitamins, and iron supplements. We cannot assure you that our licensees will be able to sustain such sales or that such sales will grow. In addition to other risks described herein, the ability of our licensees to maintain or increase existing product sales is subject to several risks and uncertainties, including the following:
• changed or increased regulatory restrictions or regulatory actions by the FDA;
• acceptance of our products as safe and effective by physicians and patients.
If revenue from royalties related to sales of our products does not increase, we may be required to seek to raise additional funds, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and growth prospects.
We have incurred net losses in the past and there are no assurances we will be able to maintain or increase profitability in the future.
In 2022, we recognized a net income of $112.0 million due to the net proceeds from the Mayne Pharma Transaction and vitaCare divestiture exceeding our costs and expenses. We utilized a significant portion of net proceeds to repay borrowings and redeem our preferred stock. In the past, we have incurred recurring net losses, including net losses of $172.4 million and $183.5 million for 2021 and 2020, respectively. As of December 31, 2022, our stockholders’ equity was $35.1 million. We have funded our operations to date primarily from public and private sales of equity and private sales of debt securities. We may incur substantial additional losses over the next few years because of costs associated with the wind down of our historical business as well as the ongoing costs of being a public company. As a result, we may not maintain or increase profitability. If we continue to incur substantial losses and are unable to secure additional financing, we could be forced to discontinue or curtail our business operations, merge, consolidate, or combine with a company with greater financial resources in a transaction that might be unfavorable to us.
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There is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
Our current liquidity position raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern and Grant Thornton LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, has included an explanatory paragraph in their opinion that accompanies our audited consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2022, indicating such. Our ability to continue as a going concern may depend on our ability to obtain additional capital as well as our ability to minimize operational expenses, including any potential net working capital adjustments relating to the Mayne Transaction. As substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern exists, our ability to finance our operations through the sale and issuance of debt or equity securities or through bank or other financing could be impaired. Our ability to obtain financing on reasonable terms is subject to factors beyond the Company’s control, including general economic, political, and financial market conditions. The capital markets have in the past experienced, are currently experiencing, and may in the future experience, periods of upheaval that could impact the availability and cost of equity and debt financing and there can be no assurance that such financing will be available on terms commercially acceptable to the Company, or at all. If we are unable to improve our liquidity position, we may not be able to continue as a going concern.
We have experienced significant turnover in our top executives, and our business could be adversely affected by these and other transitions in our senior management team.
We have experienced turnover in our top executives and the replacement of these positions with new officers. In December 2022, following the Mayne Transaction, all of our top executives, except for our former General Counsel, were terminated, and our former General Counsel was appointed as Chief Executive Officer.
Management transition is often difficult and inherently causes some loss of institutional knowledge, which could negatively affect our results of operations and financial condition. Our ability to execute our business strategies may be adversely affected by the uncertainty associated with these transitions and the time and attention of the board and management dedicated to management transitions could disrupt our business. Further, we cannot guarantee that we will not face similar turnover in the future. Although we generally enter into employment agreements with our executives, our executive officers may terminate their employment relationship with us at any time, and we cannot ensure that we will be able to retain the services of any of them. Our senior management’s knowledge of our business and industry could be difficult to replace, and management turnover could negatively affect our business, growth, financial conditions, results of operations and cash flows.
Our dependence upon third parties for the manufacture and supply of our existing women’s healthcare products may cause delays in, or prevent our licensees from, successfully commercializing and marketing our products.
We do not currently have, nor do we currently plan to build or acquire, the infrastructure or capability to internally manufacture our existing women’s healthcare products, IMVEXXY, BIJUVA, and ANNOVERA. We have relied, and will continue to rely, on third parties to manufacture these products in accordance with specifications and in compliance with applicable regulatory requirements, includingthe FDA’s current Good Manufacturing Practice (“cGMPs”). We entered into long-term supply agreements with Catalent Pharma Solutions, LLC for the commercial supply of IMVEXXY and BIJUVA which have been assigned to Mayne Pharma. We also entered into a long-term supply contract with QPharma AB, now known as Sever Pharma Solutions, for ANNOVERA, which contract was also assigned to Mayne Pharma. We depended on Lang, a full-service, private label and corporate brand manufacturer, to supply our vitaMedMD and BocaGreen products. We do not have long-term contracts for the commercial supply of our vitaMedMD and BocaGreen products.
Regulatory requirements could pose barriers to the manufacture of our women’s healthcare products. All of our existing products are manufactured by third-party contract manufacturing organizations (“CMOs”). These CMOs are required to manufacture our products in compliance with the applicable regulatory requirements. The CMO that manufactures IMVEXXY and BIJUVA has previously been inspected by the FDA and received Form 483 observations with respect to its softgel manufacturing plant that is used for the manufacture of the commercial supply of IMVEXXY and BIJUVA. The CMO that manufactures ANNOVERA has previously been inspected by the FDA and received Form 483 observations with respect to its facility that is used for the commercial supply of ANNOVERA. We believe that corrective actions to address the compliance issues identified in the referenced Forms 483 have been implemented by the CMOs; however, the FDA has not yet reinspected the CMOs to confirm that the corrective actions were implemented as described to the agency in the respective Form 483 responses.
If the manufacturers of our product cannot successfully manufacture material that conforms to specifications and the strict regulatory requirements of the FDA and any applicable foreign regulatory authority, regulatory submissions related to our products may be delayed or disapproved, and our marketed products may be affected. If these facilities are not in compliance for the manufacture of our products, our licensees may need to find alternative manufacturing facilities, which would result in substantial disruptions of sales of our products. In addition, manufacturers of our products will be subject to ongoing periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and corresponding state and foreign agencies for compliance with cGMPs and similar regulatory requirements. After generally suspending in-person inspections due to COVID-19, the FDA announced it would resume domestic facility inspections, although the agency continues its
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general suspension of foreign facility inspections (although “mission-critical” inspections may be considered on a case-by-case basis). Because of the global pandemic, decision-making around facility inspections by the FDA (including preapproval inspections) continues to evolve. Failure by any of the manufacturers of our products to comply with applicable cGMP regulations or other applicable requirements could result in sanctions being imposed on us or our licensees, including fines, injunctions, civil penalties, violation letters, delays, suspensions or withdrawals of approvals, operating restrictions, interruptions in supply, recalls, withdrawals, issuance of safety alerts, and criminal prosecutions, any of whichcould have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. Our licensees may be able to enter into long-term agreements with alternative manufacturers, or do so on commercially reasonable terms, and if they do enter into agreements with alternative manufacturers, those alternative manufacturers may not be approved by the FDA, any of which could have an adverse impact on our business. We also could experience manufacturing delays if our CMOs give greater priority to the supply of other products over our products to the delay or other detriment of our products, or otherwise do not satisfactorily perform according to the terms of their agreements. Finally, we could experience manufacturing delays or interruptions because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
We have also experienced a greater than expected amount of raw materials for ANNOVERA being out of specification. If any of the third-party CMOs of our products or any suppliers of raw materials or API experience further difficulties, do not comply with the terms of their agreements, or do not devote sufficient time, energy, and care to providing our manufacturing needs, or if any manufacturing specification modifications that we or Mayne Pharma have requested are not approved by the FDA, we could experience additional interruptions in the supply of our products, which may have a material adverse impact on our revenue, results of operations and financial position.
Our licensees also do not have long-term contracts for the supply of all the API used in BIJUVA, and ANNOVERA. If any supplier of the API or other products used in our products experiences any significant difficulties in its respective manufacturing processes, does not comply with the terms of their agreement between, or does not devote sufficient time, energy, and care to providing our manufacturing needs, we could experience significant interruptions in the supply of our products, which could impair our licensee’s ability to supply our products at the levels required for commercialization and prevent or delay their successful commercialization.
The commercial success of our existing products will depend upon gaining and retaining significant market acceptance of these products among physicians and payers.
Physicians may not prescribe our products, which would prevent us from generating revenue or becoming profitable. Market acceptance of our products, including our hormone therapy pharmaceutical products and patient-controlled, long-acting contraceptive, by physicians, patients, and payers, will depend on a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, including the following:
• the availability and efficacy of competitive drugs and devices;
• the effectiveness of our licensee’s sales force and marketing efforts;
• limitations or warnings contained in a product’s FDA-approved labeling; and
• prevalence and severity of adverse side effects.
Even if the medical community accepts that our products are safe and effective for their approved indications, physicians may not immediately be receptive to their use or may be slow to adopt our products as an accepted treatment for the symptoms for which they are intended. Labeling approved by the FDA may not permit our licensees to promote our products as being superior to competing products, because the FDA applies a heightened level of scrutiny to comparative claims when applying its statutory standards for advertising and promotion, including with regard to its requirements for supporting data and that promotional labeling be truthful and not misleading, and there is potential for differing interpretations of whether certain communications are consistent with a product’s
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FDA-required labeling. If our products do not achieve an adequate level of acceptance by physicians and payers, we may not generate sufficient or any revenue from royalties related to sales of these products. In addition, the efforts of our licensees to educate the medical community and third-party payers on the benefits of our products may require significant resources and may never be successful.
Coverage and reimbursement may not be available for our products, which could make it difficult for our licensees to sell our products profitably.
Market acceptance and sales of our products, including IMVEXXY, BIJUVA, and ANNOVERA, and our prescription vitamins, will depend on coverage and reimbursement policies and may be affected by healthcare reform measures. Government healthcare programs and third-party payers decide which prescription pharmaceutical products they will pay for and establish reimbursement levels. Payers generally do not cover OTC products, and coverage for prescription vitamins and dietary supplements varies. Many private third-party payers, such as managed care plans, manage access to pharmaceutical products’ coverage partly to control costs to their plans, and may use drug formularies and medical policies to limit their exposure. Factors considered by these payers include product efficacy, cost effectiveness, and safety, as well as the availability of other treatments including generic prescription drugs. The ability to commercialize IMVEXXY, BIJUVA, and ANNOVERA successfully depends on coverage and reimbursement levels set by government healthcare programs and third-party private payers. Obtaining and maintaining favorable reimbursement can be a time-consuming and expensive process, and our licensees may not be able to negotiate or continue to negotiate reimbursement or pricing terms for our products with payers at levels that are profitable to them, or at all.
In both the U.S. and some foreign jurisdictions, there have been several legislative and regulatory proposals to change the healthcare system in ways that could affect our licensees’ ability to sell our products profitably. Payment or reimbursement of prescription drugs by Medicaid or Medicare requires manufacturers of the drugs to submit pricing information to CMS. The Medicaid Drug Rebate statute requires manufacturers to calculate and report price points, which are used to determine Medicaid rebate payments shared between the states and the federal government and Medicaid payment rates for the drug. For drugs paid under Medicare Part B, manufacturers must also calculate and report their Average Sales Price (“ASP”), which is used to determine the Medicare Part B payment rate for the drug. The federal government sets general guidelines for Medicaid and requires rebates on outpatient drugs. Each state creates specific regulations that govern its individual program, including supplemental rebate programs that prioritize coverage for drugs on the state Preferred Drug List. In the United States, private health insurers and other third-party payors often provide reimbursement for products and services based on the level at which the government provides reimbursement through the Medicare or Medicaid programs for such products and services. In addition, government programs like Medicaid include substantial penalties for increasing commercial prices over the rate of inflation which can affect realization and return on investment. The cost of pharmaceuticals continues to generate substantial governmental and third-party payor interest and states have begun to take action to increase transparency in drug pricing through mandatory reporting requirements. We expect that the pharmaceutical industry will experience pricing pressures due to the trend toward managed healthcare, the increasing influence of managed care organizations, and additional legislative proposals. Our results of operations could be adversely affected by current and future healthcare reforms. While we cannot predict whether any proposed cost-containment measures will be adopted or otherwise implemented in the future, any such cost-reduction initiatives could decrease the coverage and price that our licensees receive for our products from Medicare, if any, including IMVEXXY, BIJUVA, and ANNOVERA, and could significantly harm our business. It was historically unclear whether products approved to treat moderate-to-severe dyspareunia, a symptom of vulvar and vaginal atrophy due to menopause, such as IMVEXXY, were excluded under Medicare Part D, which resulted in limited Medicare coverage for such products. A clarification issued by CMS in May 2018 indicated that drugs, such as IMVEXXY, that are approved for the treatment of moderate-to-severe dyspareunia (as well as drugs approved for the treatment of moderate-to-severe symptoms of vulvar and vaginal atrophy associated with menopause) are not excluded from Medicare Part D coverage. CMS’s clarification, however, is no guarantee that such coverage will be obtained or maintained for IMVEXXY and obtaining Medicare or other government healthcare program reimbursement for any new pharmaceutical products may take up to several years following FDA approval.
The ability of our licensees to commercialize ANNOVERA depends on coverage and reimbursement levels set by government healthcare programs and third-party private payers. The ACA mandates that private health plans provide coverage for women’s preventative services, without imposing patient cost-sharing requirements, as recommended by HRSA. HRSA Guidelines require private health plans to cover, with no patient out-of-pocket costs, at least one form of treatment (e.g., one product) in each of the methods (e.g., classes of contraception) identified by the FDA for women in its Birth Control Guide. To the extent ANNOVERA is deemed a new class of contraception by the FDA, such a designation could allow for coverage by private health plans with no patient out-of-pocket costs. However, there is no guarantee that such coverage will be obtained, and it is possible that other FDA-approved products could also be included in this new class. For instance, the FDA may find that ANNOVERA fits into the vaginal contraceptive ring class, which it would share with NuvaRing and its generic equivalents, and potentially others. Pursuant to HRSA Guidelines, private payers need only provide no-cost coverage for one product in each class and may use reasonable medical management to determine whether and to what extent to cover other products in the class. Private payers may interpret the statute and its associated rules in ways in which they decline to cover ANNOVERA, even if we believe ANNOVERA should be covered without cost sharing under the ACA framework. To the extent ANNOVERA is not the only FDA-approved product in a designated class of contraception, private payers may choose not to cover our one-year vaginal contraceptive system or may require patient cost-sharing obligations. Some states have amended and
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expanded requirements to match the standard set in the ACA mandate, specifically requiring coverage for the full range of contraceptive methods, counseling and services used by women and eliminating out-of-pocket costs and limiting other health plan restrictions. The prior administration implemented policies that permit certain employers to claim a religious or moral objection to the birth control coverage mandate under the ACA. In July 2020, the Supreme Court held in Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania, et. al. that health plans sponsored by certain exempt religious employers and non-profit religious organizations that certify they have religious objections do not need to offer contraception coverage through their health benefit plans. This exemption could be overturned by the Biden administration through an Executive Order or other policy or regulatory action. Further, despite our progress with commercial payers, there is no guarantee that our licensees will be able to retain our agreements or obtain new agreements or that they will be able to negotiate favorable reimbursement or pricing terms for our products in the future.Healthcare reform implementation, additional legislation or regulations, and other changes in government policy or regulation may affect our licensees’ reimbursement or impose additional coverage limitations and/or cost-sharing obligations on patients, any of which could have an adverse effect on coverage and reimbursement of our products, and our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects could be harmed.
We expect that our licensees will experience pricing pressures in connection with the sale of our products generally due to the trend toward managed healthcare, the increasing influence of health maintenance organizations, the scrutiny of pharmaceutical pricing, the ongoing debates on reducing government spending and additional legislative proposals. We cannot predict whether new proposals will be made or adopted, when they may be adopted, or what impact they may have on us if they are adopted.
The availability of generic products at lower prices than branded products may substantially reduce the likelihood of reimbursement for branded products, such as IMVEXXY, BIJUVA, and ANNOVERA.
If our licensees fail to successfully secure and maintain adequate coverage and reimbursement for our products or are significantly delayed in doing so, they could have difficulty achieving market acceptance of our products and our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects could be harmed.
Time and costs associated with winding down our general and administrative, commercial, and research and development activities may be significant.
There are significant costs associated with winding down our normal historic operations, such as separation of employees, termination of contracts and engagement of external consultants, all of which have and may in the future reduce our cash resources and take up large portions of our employees’ and consultants’ time.
Our future success depends on our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel.
We have one employee and use a limited number of external consultants for the operation of our company, any of whom may terminate their consultancy with us at any time. We may not be able to attract and retain consultants on acceptable terms given the competition for similar personnel. Some of our consultants and advisors may be employed by employers other than us and may have commitments under consulting or advisory contracts with other entities that may limit their availability to us. We do not maintain “key person” insurance. If we are unable to continue to use our current consultants, or if we are unable to recruit new consultants, then our ability to operate our business will be negatively impacted and it could interfere with our ability to receive any potential royalties.
Our financial condition and results of operations for 2021 and 2022 were, and our financial condition and results of operations for 2023 and beyond may be, adversely affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and any future pandemics or epidemics.
Our business has been, and we anticipate that it will continue to be, impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and any future pandemics or epidemics. The severity of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and operating results will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain and cannot be accurately predicted.
Stay at home, quarantine, and social distancing orders and closures and restrictions on travel negatively affected the ability of our sales force to access healthcare providers to promote our products and the ability of patients to visit their healthcare professionals for non-emergent matters. The sales force of our licensees may continue to use a hybrid model of office visits when necessary and digital engagement tools and tactics and virtual detailing, which may be less effective than their ordinary course sales and marketing programs.
Our future results of operations and liquidity could be adversely affected by extended billing and collection cycles at our company, our licensees, or otherwise; delays in payments of outstanding receivable amounts beyond normal payment terms, including royalty payments; supply chain disruptions; and uncertain demand.
Disruptions have occurred and may occur in the future that affect our licensees’ ability to obtain supplies or other components for our products, manufacture additional products, or deliver inventory in a timely manner. This would result in lost sales (and royalties) and damage to our reputation.
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Our business may also be affected by negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and any future pandemic or epidemic on capital markets and economies worldwide, and it is possible that the pandemic could cause a local and/or global economic recession. While policymakers globally have responded with fiscal policy actions to support the healthcare industry and economy as a whole, the magnitude and overall effectiveness of these actions remains uncertain.
We may also experience other unknown impacts from COVID-19 or any future pandemics or epidemics that cannot be predicted. Accordingly, disruptions to our business as a result of COVID-19 and other pandemics or epidemics could continue to result in an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects in the near-term and beyond 2023.
Unfavorable global economic conditions could harm our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Our results of operations could be harmed by general conditions in the global economy and in the global financial markets. A severe or prolonged economic downturn, including the impact of increased interest rates and inflation (such as the recent rise in inflation in the United States), could result in a variety of risks to our business, including our ability to raise additional capital when needed on acceptable terms, if at all. The foregoing could harm our business and we cannot anticipate all of the ways in which unfavorable economic conditions and financial market conditions could harm our business.
We maintain our cash at financial institutions, often in balances that exceed federally insured limits.
The majority of our cash is held in accounts at U.S. banking institutions that we believe are of high quality. Cash held in depository accounts may exceed the $250,000 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) insurance limits. If such banking institutions were to fail, such as Silicon Valley Bank when the FDIC took control in March 2023, we could lose all or a portion of those amounts held in excess of such insurance limitations. In the future, our access to our cash in amounts adequate to finance our operations could be significantly impaired by the financial institutions with which we have arrangements directly facing liquidity constraints or failures. Any material loss that we may experience in the future could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and could materially impact our ability to pay our operational expenses or make other payments.
Our products and our licensees are subject to extensive and costly government regulation.
Our products are subject to extensive and rigorous domestic government regulation, including regulation by the FDA, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”), other divisions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, including its Office of Inspector General (“OIG”), the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”), the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, to the extent our products are paid for directly or indirectly by those departments, state and local governments, and their respective foreign equivalents. The FDA regulates dietary supplements, cosmetics, and drugs under different regulatory schemes. For example, the FDA regulates the processing, formulation, safety, manufacturing, packaging, labeling, and distribution of dietary supplements and cosmetics under its dietary supplement and cosmetic authority, respectively. The FDA also regulates the research, development, pre-clinical and clinical testing, manufacture, safety, effectiveness, record keeping, reporting, labeling, storage, approval, advertising, promotion, sale, distribution, import, and export of pharmaceutical products under various regulatory provisions. If any of our products are marketed abroad, they will also be subject to extensive regulation by foreign governments, whether or not we have obtained FDA approval for a given product and its uses. Such foreign regulation may be equally or more demanding than corresponding U.S. regulation.
We and our licensees are also subject to additional healthcare regulation and enforcement by the federal government and the states in which we conduct our business. Applicable federal and state healthcare laws and regulations include the following:
•The federal Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) is a criminal statute that prohibits anyone from knowingly and willfully soliciting, offering, receiving, or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind, to induce or reward, or in return for, either the referral of, or arrangement for the referral of, an individual for, or the purchase, lease, order, or recommendation of, any good or service reimbursable, in whole or in part, by government healthcare programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. This statute has been interpreted broadly to apply to, among other things, arrangements between pharmaceutical manufacturers on the one hand and prescribers, purchasers and formulary managers on the other hand. The term “remuneration” has been broadly interpreted to include anything of value, including, for example, kickbacks, bribes, gifts, discounts, rebates, waivers of payment, ownership interest and providing anything at less than its fair market value. There are several statutory exceptions and regulatory safe harbors protecting certain common activities from prosecution under the AKS, however, the exceptions and safe harbors are drawn narrowly, and practices that do not fit squarely within an exception or safe harbor may be subject to scrutiny. The safe harbors are subject to change through legislative and regulatory action, and we may decide to adjust our business practices or be subject to heightened scrutiny as a result. The failure to meet the requirements of a particular applicable statutory exception or regulatory safe harbor does not make the conduct per se illegal under the AKS. 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. Our practices may not meet the criteria for safe harbor protection from AKS liability in all cases. Liability under the AKS may be established without proving actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it. In addition, federal law provides that claims for items or services resulting from a violation of the AKS constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the federal civil False Claims Act (“FCA”), described
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below. Violations of the AKS carry potentially significant civil, criminal, and administrative penalties, including imprisonment, fines, civil monetary penalties, and exclusion from participation in government healthcare programs. The compliance and enforcement landscape, and related risk, is informed by government precedent, Advisory Opinions, and OIG Special Fraud Alerts. For example, on November 16, 2020, the OIG published a Special Fraud Alert addressing manufacturer speaker programs, signaling that such programs will be subject to an even higher degree of government scrutiny under the AKS.
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•The FCA prohibits entities and individuals from knowing and willfully (or with reckless disregard or deliberate ignorance) presenting or causing to be presented false or fraudulent claims or the making of false statements material to a claim for payment by Medicare, Medicaid, and other government healthcare programs, or improperly retaining known overpayments from government healthcare programs;
oViolations of the FCA carry penalties of up to three times the actual damages sustained by the government, plus mandatory civil penalties for each separate false claim. Suits filed under the federal FCA can be brought directly by the government or be brought by an individual (known as a “relator” or, more commonly, as a “whistleblower”) on behalf of the government, known as “qui tam” actions. Relators bringing qui tam actions under the FCA receive a share of any amounts paid by the entity to the government whether through judgment or settlement. Qui tam actions have increased significantly in recent years, causing greater numbers of entities, including manufacturers, to have to defend a false claim action, even before the validity of the claim is established and even if the government decides not to intervene in the lawsuit. Companies may decide to agree to large settlements with the government and/or whistleblowers to avoid the cost and negative publicity associated with litigation. Criminal prosecution is possible for knowingly making or presenting a false or fictitious or fraudulent claim to the federal government. In addition to the FCA, many states have enacted their own false claims act statutes that address similar conduct and that may apply to claims for items or services submitted to any payor source, not just government-funded programs.
oAlthough we do not submit claims directly to payers, manufacturers can be held liable under the FCA if they are deemed to “cause” the submission of false or fraudulent claims by, for example, providing inaccurate billing or coding information to customers, promoting a product off-label, marketing products of sub-standard quality, or, as noted above, paying a kickback that results in a claim for items or services. In addition, our activities relating to the reporting of wholesaler or estimated retail prices for our products, the reporting of prices used to calculate Medicaid rebate information and other information affecting federal, state, and third-party reimbursement for our products, and the sale and marketing of our products, are subject to scrutiny under the FCA. For example, several pharmaceutical and other healthcare companies have faced enforcement actions under these laws for allegedly inflating drug prices they report to pricing services, which in turn were used by the government to set Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates, and for allegedly providing free product to customers with the expectation that the customers would bill government healthcare programs for the product.
•The Civil Monetary Penalties Law (“CMPL”) imposes substantial civil monetary penalties against an entity that engages in prohibited activities, including but not limited to violations of the AKS, knowing submission of a false or fraudulent claim, employment of an excluded individual and the provision or offer of anything of value to a Medicare or Medicaid beneficiary that the transferring party knows or should know is likely to influence beneficiary selection of a particular provider or supplier for the provision of items or service for which payment may be made in whole or in part by Medicare or Medicaid;
o“Remuneration” is defined under the CMPL as any transfer of items or services for free or for less than fair market value. There are certain exceptions to the definition of remuneration for offerings that meet the Financial Need, Preventative Care, or Promoting Access to Care exceptions. Sanctions for violations of the CMPL include civil monetary penalties and administrative penalties up to and including exclusion from participation in government health care programs.
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Many aspects of these laws have not been definitively interpreted by the regulatory authorities or the courts, and their provisions are open to a variety of subjective interpretations that increases the risk of potential violations. In addition, these laws and their interpretations are subject to change. Many state laws differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by federal laws, thus complicating compliance efforts. Moreover, the number and complexity of both federal and state laws continues to increase, and additional governmental resources are being used to enforce these laws and to prosecute companies and individuals who are believed to be violating them. We anticipate that government scrutiny of pharmaceutical sales and marketing practices will continue for the foreseeable future and subject us to the risk of government investigations and enforcement actions. For example, federal enforcement agencies recently have shown interest in pharmaceutical companies’ product and patient assistance programs, including manufacturer reimbursement support services and relationships with specialty pharmacies. Some of these investigations have resulted in significant civil and criminal settlements.
Efforts to ensure that our operations, including our business arrangements with third parties including our licensees, comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations could be costly. Although effective compliance programs can help mitigate the risk of investigation, regulatory and enforcement actions, and prosecution for violations of these laws, the risks cannot be entirely eliminated. Moreover, achieving and sustaining compliance with applicable federal and state fraud, privacy, security, and reporting laws may prove costly. We cannot guarantee that a government agency will agree with our interpretations, and it is possible that an enforcement authority may find that one or more of our business practices may not comply. If our past or present operations, including activities conducted by our sales team or agents, are found to be in violation of any of these laws or any other governmental regulations that may apply to us, we may be subject to significant civil, criminal, and administrative penalties, damages, fines, exclusion from government healthcare programs, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations. Any action against us for violation of these laws, even if we successfully defend against it, could cause us to incur significant legal expenses, divert our management’s attention from the operation of our business, and damage our reputation. In addition, even if we are not determined to have violated these laws, government investigations into these issues typically require the expenditure of significant resources and generate negative publicity, and could result in related stockholder suits, any of which could also have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, from time to time in the future, we may become subject to additional laws or regulations issued by federal or state agencies, all of which are subject to influence resulting from changes in political party control. For instance, the Biden Administration may propose substantial changes to the U.S. healthcare system, including expanding government-funded health insurance options. We are uncertain of the impact or outcome of new legislation, regulation, Executive Orders, rescission of rules and policy statements, or new agency priorities, especially any relative impact on the healthcare regulatory and policy landscape, or the impact they may have on our business.
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Such developments could, however, require reformulation of certain products to meet new standards, recalls or discontinuance of certain products not able to be reformulated, additional record-keeping requirements, increased documentation of the properties of certain products, additional or different labeling, additional scientific substantiation, additional personnel, or other new requirements. Any such developments could have an adverse effect on our business.
Future legislation or regulations may adversely affect reimbursement from government healthcare programs and third-party payers.
There have been efforts by government officials and legislators to implement measures to regulate prices or payment for pharmaceutical products, including legislation on drug importation. For example, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 into law on August 16, 2022, which among other things, seeks to lower prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries and reduce drug spending by the federal government. Specifically, the prescription drug provisions under the Inflation Reduction Act:
The law that established the Part D benefit included a provision known as the “noninterference clause”, which stipulates that the HHS Secretary “may not interfere with the negotiations between drug manufacturers and pharmacies and PDP prescription drug plan sponsors, and may not require a particular formulary or institute a price structure for the reimbursement of covered part D drugs.” Further, the Secretary does not currently negotiate prices for Part B drugs, rather, Medicare reimburses providers based on 106% of the average sales price (ASP), which is the average price paid to all non-federal buyers in the U.S., inclusive of rebates (other than Medicaid rebates). The Inflation Reduction Act amends the non-interference clause by adding an exception that requires the Secretary of HHS to negotiate prices with drug manufacturers for a small number of single-source brand-name drugs or biologics without generic or biosimilar competitors that are covered under Medicare Part D (starting in 2026) and Part B (starting in 2028). Under the new Drug Price Negotiation Program, the number of drugs subject to price negotiation will be 10 Part D drugs for 2026, another 15 Part D drugs for 2027, another 15 Part D and Part B drugs for 2028, and another 20 Part D and Part B drugs for 2029 and later years. These drugs will be selected from among the 50 drugs with the highest total Medicare Part D spending and the 50 drugs with the highest total Medicare Part B spending. The total number of drugs with negotiated prices will increase over time. Part D drugs with negotiated maximum fair prices are required to be covered by all Part D plans. Additionally, an excise tax will be levied on drug manufacturers that do not comply with the negotiation process. The excise tax starts at 65% of a drug’s sales in the U.S. and increases by 10% every quarter to a maximum of 95%. As an alternative to paying the tax, manufacturers can choose to withdraw all of their drugs from coverage under Medicare and Medicaid. In addition, manufacturers that refuse to offer an agreed-upon negotiated price for a selected drug to Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Part B and/or Part D or to a provider of services to such individuals (such as a physician or hospital) will pay a civil monetary penalty equal to 10 times the difference between the price charged and the maximum fair price of the drug.
Following passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, President Biden issued an Executive Order on October 14, 2022 titled “Lowering Prescription Drug Costs for Americans”, calling for additional measures to complement the Inflation Reduction Act and further drive down prescription drug costs. Under the Executive Order, the HHS Secretary is directed to consider whether to select for testing by the CMS Innovation Center new health care payment and delivery models that would lower drug costs and promote access to innovative drug therapies for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, including cost-sharing models and value-based payments. It is unclear what additional payment and delivery models the Innovation Center may propose and how those models may impact drug pricing, including the pricing and access to our products.
At the state level, legislatures have increasingly passed legislation and implemented regulations designed to control pharmaceutical pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and, in some cases, designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing.
We are unable to predict the future course of federal or state healthcare legislation in the United States directed at broadening the availability of healthcare and containing or lowering the cost of healthcare. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) and any further changes in the law or regulatory framework could also have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Further, if a federal government shutdown were to occur for a prolonged period, federal government payment obligations, including its obligations under Medicaid and Medicare, may be delayed. Similarly, if state government shutdowns were to occur, state payment
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obligations may be delayed. If the federal or state governments fail to make payments under these programs on a timely basis, the ability of our licensees to sell our products to government payers may be limited, thereby reducing anticipated revenues and profitability.
Even after the approval of IMVEXXY, BIJUVA, and ANNOVERA, the products and the holder of the marketing authorizations will still face extensive, ongoing regulatory requirements and review, and the products may face future development and regulatory difficulties.
With respect to IMVEXXY, BIJUVA, and ANNOVERA, the FDA may still impose significant restrictions on a product’s indicated uses or marketing or to the conditions for approval or impose ongoing requirements for potentially costly post-approval studies, including phase 4 clinical trials or post-market surveillance. As a condition to granting marketing approval of a product, the FDA may require a company to conduct additional clinical trials. The results generated in these post-approval clinical trials could result in loss of marketing approval, changes in product labeling, or new or increased concerns about side effects or efficacy of a product. For example, the labeling for IMVEXXY, BIJUVA, and ANNOVERA contains restrictions on use and warnings. The Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 gives the FDA enhanced post-market authority, including the imposition of a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (“REMS”) as well as explicit authority to require post-market studies and clinical trials, labeling changes based on new safety information, and compliance with FDA-approved REMS programs. IMVEXXY, BIJUVA, and ANNOVERA will also be subject to ongoing FDA requirements governing the manufacturing, labeling, packaging, storage, distribution, safety surveillance and reporting, advertising, promotion, record keeping, and reporting of safety and other post-market information. The FDA’s exercise of its authority could result in delays or increased costs during product development, clinical trials and regulatory review, increased costs to comply with additional post-approval regulatory requirements, and potential restrictions on sales of approved products. Foreign regulatory agencies often have similar authority and may impose comparable requirements.
As part of the FDA’s approval of IMVEXXY, we committed to conduct a post-approval observational study to evaluate the risk of endometrial cancer in post-menopausal women with a uterus who use a low-dose vaginal estrogen unopposed by a progestogen such as IMVEXXY, which study was assumed by Mayne Pharma as the holder of the new drug application (“NDA”). As part of the FDA’s approval of ANNOVERA, the FDA has required four non-closed post-marketing studies, including both post-marketing reviews and post-marketing commitments. Each study has a timeline for completion and submission of a final report to the FDA. If a post-approval study is not fulfilled according to FDA requirements, the FDA may impose certain further requirements and penalties against the holder of the NDA, which could include withdrawal of the NDA approval and withdrawal of the product from the market. For ANNOVERA, post marketing studies are being performed by the Population Council and Mayne Pharma as the NDA holder. In July 2021, we received a letter from the FDA indicating that the post-marketing commitment study being conducted by the Population Council for ANNOVERA to characterize the in vivo release rate of ANNOVERA was not fulfilled to FDA’s satisfaction. In addition, the final reports for the two post-marketing requirement studies being performed by the Population Council for ANNOVERA were not submitted by the initial listed submission deadline, which deadlines have since been extended by FDA. To the extent that Mayne Pharma or the Population Council, as applicable, does not fulfil these studies to the FDA’s satisfaction, the ability of our licensees to sell the applicable product may be limited and there may be an adverse impact on our revenue and results of operations.
Post-marketing studies, whether conducted by us or by others and whether mandated by regulatory agencies or voluntary, and other emerging data about marketed products, such as adverse event reports, may also adversely affect sales of our pharmaceutical product candidates once approved, and potentially our other marketed products. Further, the discovery of significant problems with a product similar to one of our products that implicate (or are perceived to implicate) an entire class of products could have an adverse effect on sales of our approved products. Accordingly, new data about our products could negatively affect demand because of real or perceived side effects or uncertainty regarding efficacy and, in some cases, could result in product withdrawal or recall. Furthermore, new data and information, including information about product misuse, may lead government agencies, professional societies, and practice management groups or organizations involved with various diseases to publish guidelines or recommendations related to the use of our products or the use of related therapies or place restrictions on sales. Such guidelines or recommendations may lead to lower sales of our products.
Manufacturers of pharmaceutical products and their facilities are subject to continual review and periodic inspections by the FDA and other regulatory authorities for compliance with the FDA’s cGMP regulations and other regulatory requirements, such as adverse event reporting. Facilities for the manufacturer of pharmaceutical products also undergo internal audits as well as external audits by third parties. If our licensees or a regulatory agency discovers problems with a product, such as adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency or problems with the facility where the product is manufactured, a regulatory agency may impose restrictions on that product, the manufacturing facility, or our licensees, including requiring recall or withdrawal of the product from the market or suspension of manufacturing, requiring new warnings or other labeling changes to limit use of the drug, requiring that additional clinical trials be conducted, imposing new monitoring requirements, or requiring the establishment of a REMS program. Advertising and promotional materials must comply with FDA rules in addition to other potentially applicable federal and state laws and are subject to review by FDA. If the FDA raises concerns regarding our licensees’ promotional materials or messages, they may be required to modify or discontinue using them and may be required to provide corrective information.
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Commercial products must now meet the requirements of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (“DSCSA”) which imposes obligations on manufacturers of prescription pharmaceutical products for commercial distribution, regulating the distribution of the products at the federal level, and sets certain standards for federal or state registration and compliance of entities in the supply chain (manufacturers and re-packagers, wholesale distributors, third-party logistics providers, and dispensers). The DSCSA preempts previously enacted state pedigree laws and the pedigree requirements of the Prescription Drug Marketing Act (“PDMA”) and its implementing regulations. Trading partners within the drug supply chain must now ensure certain product tracing requirements are met that they are doing business with other authorized trading partners; and they are required to exchange transaction information, transaction history, and transaction statements. Product identifier information (an aspect of the product tracing scheme) is also now required. The DSCSA requirements, development of standards, and the system for product tracing have been and will continue to be phased in over a period of years, with FDA indicating enforcement discretion on certain aspects due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The distribution of product samples continues to be regulated under the PDMA, and some states also impose regulations on drug sample distribution.
Our activities and the activities of our licensees are also potentially subject to federal and state consumer protection and unfair competition laws. If we, our licensees or our third-party suppliers fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, a regulatory agency may take any of the following actions:
•conduct an investigation into our or our licensees’ practices and any alleged violation of law;
•seek an injunction or impose civil or criminal penalties or monetary fines;
•suspend or withdraw regulatory approval;
•suspend or impose restrictions on our licensees’ operations, including costly new manufacturing requirements;
•seize or detain products, refuse to permit the import or export of products, or require our licensees to initiate a product recall; or
•exclude our licensees from providing our products to those participating in government healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and refuse to allow our licensees to enter into supply contracts, including government contracts.
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Recent government enforcement has targeted pharmaceutical companies for violations of fraud, abuse and other laws.
The federal government has pursued actions against pharmaceutical companies for violations of the AKS, including relating to remuneration paid to physicians for attendance at speaker programs, consulting arrangements, and marketing, among others. As noted above, the OIG released a Special Fraud Alert in 2020 regarding manufacturer speaker programs and announced several settlements with manufacturers relating thereto. As noted above, violations of the AKS are also per se false claims for purposes of the FCA and as a result, have resulted in large settlements between manufacturers and the government. Separately, the government has pursued actions against manufacturers under the FCA for causing the submission of false claims arising from manufacturer off-label marketing. These and other enforcement efforts have resulted in large civil settlements and corporate integrity agreements between manufacturers and the government. We have adopted comprehensive compliance guidance and endeavor to structure our business arrangements and marketing efforts in compliance with all applicable law, including the AKS and the FCA; however, we cannot guarantee that the government, whistleblower or court will agree with our interpretations. Our practices with respect to interactions with HCPs, including but not limited to consultant relationships, speaker programs, advisory boards, and scientific/educational grant programs, as well as our arrangements with pharmacies, may not in all cases meet all the criteria for safe harbor protection from AKS liability. Moreover, there are no safe harbors for many common practices, such as certain educational and research grants or patient assistance programs. The safe harbors are subject to change through legislative and regulatory action, and we may decide to adjust our business practices or be subject to heightened scrutiny as a result.
In addition, several states have recently enacted legislation requiring pharmaceutical companies to establish marketing and promotional compliance programs or codes of conduct and/or to file periodic reports with the state or make periodic public disclosures on sales, marketing, pricing, clinical trials, and other activities. Several states have also adopted laws that prohibit or limit certain marketing-related activities, including the provision of gifts, meals, or other items to certain healthcare providers.
The FDA also strictly regulates marketing, labeling, advertising, and promotion of prescription drug products that are placed into interstate commerce in the United States. A company can make only those claims relating to safety and efficacy, purity, and potency that are approved by the FDA. Physicians, in their independent professional medical judgment, may prescribe legally available products for unapproved indications that are not described in the product’s labeling and that differ from those tested and approved by the FDA. Pharmaceutical companies, however, are required to promote their pharmaceutical products only for the approved indications and consistent with the FDA-required, approved label. The FDA and other agencies actively monitoring promotional activities and enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses, and a company that is found to have improperly promoted off label uses may be subject to significant liability, including, but not limited to, criminal and civil penalties under the FDCA and the FCA, exclusion from participation in federal healthcare programs, mandatory compliance programs under corporate integrity agreements, debarment, and refusal of government contracts.
We cannot ensure that ours or our licensee’s compliance controls, policies, and procedures will be sufficient to protect against acts of ours or their employees, business partners, licenses, or vendors that may violate federal or state fraud and abuse laws or other applicable requirements.
Federal enforcement agencies and private whistleblowers have shown and continue to show interest in pharmaceutical companies’ product and patient assistance programs (PAPs), including reimbursement support, co-pay support, nursing, adherence and educational services, referrals to other providers, donations to independent patient assistance charities, and relationships with specialty pharmacies. We believe that Mayne Pharma offers co-pay assistance for our vitamin products and IMVEXXY and BIJUVA, including co-pay assistance and free drug sample packs for IMVEXXY and BIJUVA, and potentially will enter into similar programs for ANNOVERA. Our co-pay assistance programs are intended to assist qualified patients with private insurance with any out-of-pocket financial obligations but exclude any government healthcare program beneficiaries. Several investigations into patient assistance practices have resulted in significant civil and criminal settlements. While the OIG has approved certain independent charitable PAPs that help financially needy beneficiaries, advisory opinions on this issue have primarily focused on charities that provide assistance to patients who cannot afford cost-sharing obligations for prescription drugs. A key element for the OIG has been whether the charities are sufficiently independent from drug manufacturer donors. In May 2014, the OIG issued a Supplemental Special Advisory Bulletin regarding Independent Charity Patient Assistance Programs, or the 2014 Special Advisory Bulletin, which updated its 2005 Special Advisory Bulletin relating to PAPs. In the 2014 Special Advisory Bulletin, the OIG stated that although PAPs provide important safety net assistance to financially needy patients, these programs also present a risk of fraud, waste, and abuse with respect to federal health care programs. One of the three factors set forth in the revised guidance was that the PAP could not limit assistance to a single product. In September of 2014, the OIG also released a Special Advisory Bulletin on pharmaceutical manufacturer copayment coupons, specifically stating that manufacturers that did not comply with the law may be subject to sanctions if they fail to take appropriate steps to ensure that such coupons do not induce the purchase of Federal health care program items or services, including, but not limited to, drugs paid for by Medicare Part D. Failure to take such steps may be evidence of intent to induce the purchase of drugs paid for by these programs, in violations of the AKS. PAPs have also been the subject of Congressional review. If patient assistance programs are structure incorrectly or support programs fail to comply with applicable law, Mayne Pharma risks becoming subject to government investigations, and potentially, facing penalties or other consequences for violations under fraud and abuse laws, which may inhibit revenues through royalties due to reduced sales volume. Although we believe that ours and our licensees business practices are structured to be compliant with applicable laws, it is possible that governmental authorities will conclude that ours or our licensees business practices may not comply with current or future statutes, regulations, or case law involving applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations. If our past operations and our licensees current operations, including activities conducted by our former sales team or agents or our licensees current sales team or agents, are found to be in violation of any of these laws or any other governmental regulations that
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may apply to us, we or our licensees may be subject to significant civil, criminal, and administrative penalties, damages, fines, exclusion from government healthcare programs, and the curtailment or restructuring of ours or their operations. Any action against us for violation of these laws, even if we successfully defend against it, could cause us to incur significant legal expenses, divert our management’s attention from the operation of our business, and damage our reputation. In addition, even if we are not determined to have violated these laws, government investigations into these issues typically require the expenditure of significant resources and generate negative publicity, which could also have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
In addition, to the extent we, our licensees, or our other contractors or agents receive or obtain individually identifiable health information from patients, healthcare professionals, pharmacies, or other individuals or entities, we or they could be subject to criminal penalties if we mishandle individually identifiable health information in a manner that is not authorized or permitted by HIPAA or other applicable privacy and security laws. Claims that we have violated individuals’ privacy rights or breached our contractual obligations, even if we are not found liable, could be expensive and time-consuming to defend and could result in adverse publicity that could harm our business.
The occurrence of any of the foregoing events or penalties may force us to expend significant amounts of time and money and may significantly inhibit our licensee’s ability to continue to market our products and generate revenue. Following the closing of the vitaCare Divestiture, we may still be required to indemnify the buyer of vitaCare in the event any enforcement related to activities prior to the vitaCare Divestiture. Similar regulations apply in foreign jurisdictions.
Some of our products can be prescribed to patients via a virtual health or telehealth platform, subject to state telehealth and prescribing laws. The federal Ryan Haight Act substantially limits the ability of prescribers to prescribe controlled substances via telehealth. While this federal law applies only to federally controlled substances, the permissibility of prescribing other non-controlled substances via a telehealth encounter is addressed at the state level. Constant changes to the telehealth laws and regulations as well as state pharmacy and prescribing laws and emerging enforcement priorities by state legislatures, licensing bodies, and attorney generals’ offices, make it difficult to predict our licensees’ ability to effectively provide patient access to our products via virtual care offerings. There have been recent waivers of telehealth restrictions, including many of those pertaining to electronic prescribing based on a telehealth encounter, to assist in expanding access to care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these waivers are tied to the federal public health emergency declaration but some state laws have different expiration dates. Following the expiration of the COVID-19 public health emergency on May 11, 2023, prescribing of controlled substances via a virtual encounter will be more limited. We cannot guarantee that prescribers will be able, or willing, to prescribe our products to patients via a telehealth encounter and any limitations on such remote prescribing at the state level may impede our ability to expand access to our products.
Licensing of intellectual property involves complex legal, business, and scientific issues, and disputes could jeopardize our rights under such agreements.
We are currently and may in the future be a party to license agreements of importance to our business and to our products. Disputes may arise between us and any of these counterparties regarding intellectual property subject to and each parties’ obligations under such agreements, including:
• the effects of termination.
These or other disputes over our obligations, our licensees’ obligations, or intellectual property that we have licensed may prevent or impair our ability to maintain our current arrangements on acceptable terms, or may impair the value of the arrangement to us. Any such dispute could have an adverse effect on our business.
If we, or, with respect to the ANNOVERA license agreement that we have assigned to Mayne Pharma, Mayne Pharma, fail to meet obligations under that license agreement in a material respect, the respective licensor could have the right to terminate the respective agreement and upon the effective date of such termination, have the right to re-obtain the related technology as well as, potentially, aspects of any intellectual property controlled by us or Mayne Pharma and developed during the period the agreement was in force that relate to the applicable technology. This means that the licensor to each of these agreements could effectively take control of the
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development and commercialization of the applicable product after an uncured, material breach of the agreement by us. Any uncured, material breach under a license agreement could result in our loss of exclusive rights and may lead to a complete termination of any commercialization efforts for the applicable product.
In July 2018, we entered into the Population Council License Agreement to obtain exclusive U.S. rights to commercialize ANNOVERA. The agreement required us to commercialize this product and enter into certain manufacturing agreements, make timely milestone and other payments, provide certain information regarding our activities under the agreement, and indemnify the other party with respect to our development and commercialization activities under the terms of the agreements. The Company’s license under the Population Council License Agreement was sold to Mayne Pharma as part of the Mayne Transaction.
In connection with the Mayne Transaction, we granted a license to Mayne Pharma (i) to research, develop, register, manufacture, have manufactured, market, sell, use, and commercialize the Licensed Products in the United States and its possessions and territories and (ii) to manufacture, have manufactured, import and have imported the Licensed Products outside the United States for commercialization in the United States and its possessions and territories. Any disputes arising under the agreements governing the Mayne Transaction may have a material adverse impact on our revenue, results of operations and financial position.
We have also entered into licensing and supply agreements with Knight pursuant to which we granted Knight an exclusive license to commercialize IMVEXXY and BIJUVA in Canada and Israel and with Theramex pursuant to which we granted Theramex an exclusive license to commercialize BIJUVA, and IMVEXXY outside of the U.S., except for Canada and Israel.
Sales of our products in the U.S. and our rights to receive royalties with respect to such sales could be adversely affected if products manufactured outside of the U.S. or for sale outside of the U.S. under the terms of these licensing and supply agreements are reimported and sold in the U.S. In addition, our rights to receive royalties with respect to our products sold outside the U.S. could be adversely affected if our licensees fail to diligently pursue approval of our products, or opt not to sell our products, in certain jurisdictions where they are not required to do so.
If our dietary supplement, hormone therapy pharmaceutical products or patient-controlled, long-acting contraceptive products do not have the effects intended or cause undesirable side effects, our business may suffer.