ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Our business, financial condition and operating results can be affected by a number of factors, whether currently known or unknown, including but not limited to those described below, any one or more of which could, directly or indirectly, cause our actual operating results and financial condition to vary materially from past, or anticipated future, operating results and financial condition. Any of these factors, in whole or in part, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and the price of our common stock.
The following discussion of risk factors contains forward-looking statements. These risk factors may be important to understanding any statement in this Annual Report or elsewhere. The following information should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes in Part II, Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data and Part II, Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
Because of the following factors, as well as other factors affecting our financial condition and operating results, past financial performance should not be considered to be a reliable indicator of future performance, and investors should not use historical trends to anticipate results or trends in future periods.
Risks Related to our Business and Industry
We are dependent on the commercial success of HETLIOZ® and Fanapt®.
Our future success is currently substantially dependent upon the commercial success of HETLIOZ® capsules for the treatment of Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder (Non-24) and HETLIOZ® capsules and oral suspension (HETLIOZ LQTM) for the treatment of nighttime sleep disturbances in Smith-Magenis Syndrome and Fanapt® oral tablets for the treatment of schizophrenia.
In January 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved our New Drug Application (NDA) for HETLIOZ® for the treatment of Non-24 and in April 2014, we commenced the U.S. commercial launch of HETLIOZ®. In July 2015, the European Commission (EC) granted centralized marketing authorization with unified labeling for HETLIOZ® for the treatment of Non-24 in totally blind adults, and in August 2016 we commenced the commercial launch of HETLIOZ® in Germany. This authorization is valid in the 27 countries that are members of the European Union (E.U.), as well as European Economic Area members Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. We have applied for renewal of this marketing authorization, which expires in the ordinary course in July 2020. In December 2020, the FDA approved our NDA and supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for HETLIOZ® for the treatment of nighttime sleep disturbances in SMS in adults and children, respectively.
In the fourth quarter of 2014, we acquired the U.S. commercial rights to Fanapt®, and began selling, marketing and distributing Fanapt® in the U.S.
Our ability to generate significant product revenue from sales of HETLIOZ® and Fanapt®, both in the U.S. and abroad, in the near term will depend on, among other things, our ability to:
•minimize the impact of disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic;
•defend our patents and intellectual property from generic competition;
•maintain commercial manufacturing arrangements with third-party manufacturers;
•produce, through a validated process, sufficiently large quantities of inventory of our products to meet demand;
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•continue to maintain and grow a wide variety of internal sales, distribution and marketing capabilities sufficient to sustain growth in sales of our products;
•gain broad acceptance of our products from physicians, health care payors, patients, pharmacists and the medical community;
•properly price and obtain adequate coverage and reimbursement of these products by governmental authorities, private health insurers, managed care organizations and other third-party payors;
•maintain compliance with ongoing labeling, packaging, storage, advertising, promotion, recordkeeping, safety and other post-market requirements;
•obtain regulatory approval to expand the labeling of our approved products for additional indications;
•obtain regulatory approval for HETLIOZ® or Fanapt® in additional countries;
•renew and maintain our existing regulatory approval for HETLIOZ® in Europe;
•adequately protect against and effectively respond to any claims by holders of patents and other intellectual property rights that our products infringe their rights; and
•adequately protect against and effectively respond to any unanticipated adverse effects or unfavorable publicity that develops in respect to our products, as well as the emergence of new or existing competitive products, which may be proven to be more clinically effective and cost-effective.
We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and to utilize a substantial portion of our cash resources as we continue the commercialization of HETLIOZ® and Fanapt®, evaluate foreign market opportunities for HETLIOZ® and Fanapt® and continue to grow our operational capabilities, both domestically and abroad. This activity represents a significant investment in the commercial success of HETLIOZ® and Fanapt®, which is uncertain.
If our continued commercial efforts are not successful with respect to HETLIOZ® and Fanapt® in the U.S., Europe or other jurisdictions in which these products may be approved for sale, our ability to generate increased product sales revenue may be jeopardized.
The cost of growing and maintaining a sales, marketing and distribution organization may exceed its cost effectiveness. If we fail to continue to develop sales, marketing and distribution capabilities, if sales efforts are not effective or if costs of developing sales, marketing and distribution capabilities exceed their cost effectiveness, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.
Growth of HETLIOZ® and Fanapt® may be slow or limited for a variety of reasons including competing products or unanticipated safety issues. If either HETLIOZ® or Fanapt® is not successful in gaining broad commercial acceptance, our business would be harmed.
Any increase in sales of HETLIOZ® and Fanapt® will be dependent on several factors, including our ability to educate physicians and to increase physician awareness of the benefits of our products relative to competing products. The degree of further market acceptance of any of our products, including with respect to new indications, or market acceptance of approved product candidates among physicians, patients, health care payors and the medical community will depend on a number of factors, including but not limited to:
•acceptable evidence of safety and efficacy;
•relative convenience and ease of administration;
•the prevalence and severity of any adverse side effects;
•availability of alternative treatments;
•market awareness of the condition to be treated; and
•pricing and cost effectiveness.
In addition, HETLIOZ® and Fanapt® are subject to continual review by the FDA, and we cannot assure that newly discovered or reported safety issues will not arise. With the use of any newly marketed drug by a wider patient population, serious adverse events may occur from time to time that initially do not appear to relate to the drug itself. Any safety issues could cause us to suspend or cease marketing of our approved products, cause us to modify how we market our approved products, subject us to substantial liabilities and adversely affect our revenues and financial condition. In the event of a
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withdrawal of either HETLIOZ® or Fanapt® from the market, our revenues would decline significantly and our business would be seriously harmed.
Global economic conditions may have an adverse effect on our business.
Financial instability or a general decline in economic conditions in the U.S. and other countries where we sell our product could adversely affect our operations. Economic conditions, and uncertainty as to the general direction of the macroeconomic environment, are beyond our control and may make any necessary debt or equity financing more difficult, more costly, and more dilutive. While we believe we have adequate capital resources to meet current working capital and capital expenditure requirements, an economic downturn or significant increase in our expenses could require additional financing on less than attractive rates or on terms that are excessively dilutive to existing stockholders. Failure to secure any necessary financing in a timely manner and on favorable terms could have a material adverse effect on our stock price and could require us to delay or abandon clinical development plans.
Sales of our products will be dependent, in large part, on reimbursement from government health administration authorities, private health insurers, distribution partners and other organizations. In the event of economic decline, these organizations may be unable to satisfy their reimbursement obligations or may delay payment. In addition, federal and state health authorities may reduce Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, and private insurers may increase their scrutiny of claims. A reduction in the availability or extent of reimbursement could negatively affect our product sales and revenue.
In addition, we rely on third parties for several important aspects of our business. For example, we use third parties for sales, distribution, medical affairs and clinical research, and we rely upon several single source providers of raw materials and contract manufacturers for the manufacture of our products. During challenging and uncertain economic times and in tight credit markets, there may be a disruption or delay in the performance of our third-party contractors, suppliers or partners. If such third parties are unable to satisfy their commitments to us, our business and results of operations would be adversely affected.
Global health crises and pandemics, such as the global outbreak of COVID-19, may adversely impact our business.
The current global pandemic caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has led to the implementation of various responses, including government-imposed quarantines, travel restrictions and other public health safety measures. The extent to which the effects of shelter-in-place orders and our work-from-home policies may negatively impact productivity and disrupt our business will depend, in part, on the length and severity of the restrictions and other limitations on our ability to conduct our business in the ordinary course.
Our sales force has had physical access to healthcare providers curtailed, which may have a negative impact on our revenues. While we are implementing marketing and sales strategies aimed at overcoming the disruptions caused by the pandemic, we cannot ensure that these methods will be effective. Additionally, patients who might be currently using our products, or might otherwise be eligible to use our products, may be unable to meet with their healthcare providers, which may reduce the number of prescription refills or new patient starts, thereby adversely affecting our revenues.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted clinical research globally, including our previously reported clinical trials. While certain of our programs have resumed patient enrollment, other programs remain on hold. We may experience further disruptions that could adversely impact our supply chain, our ongoing and planned clinical trials, and other regulatory activities, including:
•interruption of, or delays in receiving, supplies of the active pharmaceutical ingredients that our contract manufacturing organizations use to manufacture our products and any related interruption of, or delays in receiving, supplies of our products from these organizations, due to staffing shortages, production slowdowns or stoppages and disruptions in delivery systems;
•delays or difficulties in clinical site initiation, including difficulties in recruiting clinical site investigators and clinical site staff;
•diversion of healthcare resources away from the conduct of clinical trials, including the diversion of hospitals serving as our clinical trial sites and hospital staff supporting the conduct of our clinical trials;
•delays or difficulties in enrolling patients in our clinical trials;
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•interruption of key clinical trial activities, such as clinical trial site data monitoring, due to limitations on travel imposed or recommended by federal or state governments, employers and others or interruption of clinical trial subject visits and study procedures (such as procedures that are deemed non-essential), which may impact the integrity of subject data and clinical study endpoints;
•limitations on our employee resources or those of third-party clinical research organizations towards the development of our products, including because of sickness of employees or their families or the desire of employees to avoid contact with large groups of people; and
•interruption or delays in the operations of regulatory agencies, which may impact review and approval timelines.
In addition, the trading prices for our common stock and other biopharmaceutical companies have been highly volatile as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, we may face difficulties raising capital through sales of our common stock or such sales may be on unfavorable terms.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to rapidly evolve. The extent to which the outbreak may continue to impact our business, financial condition and results of operations will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, such as the duration of the outbreak, travel restrictions and social distancing practices, business closures or business disruptions and the effectiveness of actions taken in the U.S. and other countries to contain and treat the disease.
If the FDA does not accept for filing the NDAs that we may submit for tradipitant for the treatment of gastroparesis, motion sickness, atopic dermatitis and COVID-19 pneumonia, or the FDA determines that our clinical trial results for tradipitant for the treatment of gastroparesis, motion sickness, atopic dermatitis or COVID-19 pneumonia do not demonstrate adequate safety and efficacy, or the FDA does not approve an applicable PDUFA-VI date, continued development of tradipitant will be significantly delayed or terminated, our business will be significantly harmed, and the market price of our stock could decline.
In October 2019, we completed enrollment in EPIONE, a Phase III clinical study of tradipitant for the treatment of pruritus in atopic dermatitis and commenced enrollment in EPIONE 2, a second Phase III clinical study of tradipitant for the treatment of atopic dermatitis. We have also initiated Phase III clinical studies of tradipitant for the treatment of gastroparesis, motion sickness and COVID-19 pneumonia. If the results of our ongoing Phase III studies of tradipitant for the treatment of gastroparesis, motion sickness, atopic dermatitis and/or COVID-19 pneumonia are positive, we will likely submit an NDA with the FDA for these indications. Any adverse developments or results or perceived adverse developments or results with respect to our pre-NDA meeting with the FDA, our regulatory submission or the tradipitant clinical programs in any or all indications will significantly harm our business and could cause the market price of our stock to decline. Examples of such adverse developments include, but are not limited to:
•the FDA determining that additional clinical studies are required with respect to tradipitant for the treatment of atopic dermatitis and/or the treatment of gastroparesis and/or the treatment of motion sickness;
•safety, efficacy or other concerns arising from clinical or non-clinical studies in these programs; or
•the FDA determining that the tradipitant clinical trial programs raise safety concerns or do not demonstrate adequate efficacy.
We believe that tradipitant has a well-established safety profile, as demonstrated by the results of extensive testing in animals and humans. Despite these results, however, the FDA informed us in December 2018 that in order to treat patients beyond 12 weeks, we will have to conduct a 9-month non-rodent chronic toxicity study, which currently limits our ability to collect safety data in humans for more than 12 weeks. The non-rodent study required by the FDA necessitates the sacrifice of dozens of animals and we have disputed the necessity of a 9-month non-rodent chronic toxicity study. In February 2019, we filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (DC District Court) challenging the FDA’s position, but ultimately did not prevail. Despite our disagreement with the FDA, the preclinical package has allowed us to continue to conduct all of the efficacy studies necessary for NDA filing. Moreover, in July 2020, the FDA approved the use of tradipitant for up to six months with an option of renewal for an individual patient who requested expanded access. Since then, other patients who experienced a unique benefit in tradipitant studies have requested expanded access. The expanded access program is ongoing and a number of patients have initiated treatment. Although this expanded access program is not intended for data collection, we will collect safety data from this cohort of expanded access patients and include this data in its NDA for tradipitant for the treatment of gastroparesis; however, the FDA may disregard such safety data when reviewing the NDA. The lack of long-term (>12 weeks in humans) safety data would likely impact the FDA’s willingness to approve tradipitant for a chronic indication. However, because long-term safety data is not normally a requirement for short-term indications, and with a
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preclinical profile that has not precluded clinical development, we believe the package is complete for any NDA filing to treat patients for 12 weeks or less. In gastroparesis, for example, the FDA has communicated to us that it is considering an indication for the short-term relief of nausea in gastroparesis. While this short-term indication is not preferred, we would consider accepting this limited indication while continuing to pursue a chronic indication. The chronic treatment of itch in atopic dermatitis would be expected to have a similar issue in review as gastroparesis. Our business will be materially adversely impacted if we are not able to agree with the FDA on a regulatory path to approval for tradipitant, we experience any delay in filing, or the FDA delays or denies approval of NDA filings for the treatment of gastroparesis, motion sickness, atopic dermatitis, or COVID-19 pneumonia.
If the FDA does not approve our sNDA for HETLIOZ® for the treatment of jet lag disorder or continued development of tasimelteon for the treatment of jet lag disorder is significantly delayed or terminated, our business will be significantly harmed, and the market price of our stock could decline.
In December 2018, we announced that the FDA had accepted the HETLIOZ® sNDA for the treatment of jet lag disorder. We received a complete response letter in August 2019 in which the FDA asserted that the measures of the study were of unclear clinical significance and declined to approve our sNDA. We met with the FDA to discuss the complete response letter in a Post Action meeting and we are determining our next steps.
Any additional adverse developments or results or perceived adverse developments or results with respect to our regulatory submission for jet lag disorder will significantly harm our business and could cause the market price of our stock to decline. Examples of such adverse developments include, but are not limited to:
•the FDA determining that additional clinical studies are required with respect to the jet lag disorder program;
•safety, efficacy or other concerns arising from clinical or non-clinical studies in the jet lag disorder program, or the manufacturing processes or facilities used for the jet lag disorder program; or
•the FDA determining that the jet lag disorder program raises safety concerns or does not demonstrate substantial evidence of efficacy.
We may enter into third-party collaborations from time to time in order to develop and commercialize our products. If we are unable to identify or enter into an agreement with any material third-party collaborator, if our collaborations with any such third party are not commercially successful or if our agreement with any such third party is terminated or allowed to expire, we could be adversely affected financially or our business reputation could be harmed.
Our business strategy includes entering into collaborations with corporate collaborators for the commercialization of HETLIOZ®, Fanapt® and our other products. While we are not currently party to any material commercial collaborative arrangements, areas in which we may potentially enter into third-party collaboration arrangements include joint sales and marketing arrangements for sales and marketing in certain E.U. countries and elsewhere outside of the U.S., and future product development arrangements. If we are unable to identify or enter into an agreement with any material third-party collaborator, this could result in an adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition. Any arrangements we do enter into may not be scientifically or commercially successful. The termination of any of these arrangements might adversely affect our ability to develop, commercialize and market our products.
The success of our collaboration arrangements will depend heavily on the efforts and activities of our collaborators. Our collaborators will have significant discretion in determining the efforts and resources that they will apply to these collaborations. We expect that the risks we face in connection with these future collaborations will include the following:
•our collaboration agreements are expected to be for fixed terms and subject to termination under various circumstances, including, in many cases, on short notice without cause;
•our collaborators may develop and commercialize, either alone or with others, products and services that are similar to or competitive with our products that are the subject of their collaboration with us; and
•our collaborators may change the focus of their commercialization efforts.
In recent years there have been a significant number of mergers and consolidations in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, some of which have resulted in the participant companies reevaluating and shifting the focus of their business following the completion of these transactions. The ability of our products to reach their potential could be limited if any of our future collaborators decreases or fails to increase spending relating to such products.
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Collaborations with pharmaceutical companies and other third parties often are terminated or allowed to expire by the other party. With respect to our future collaborations, any such termination or expiration could adversely affect us financially as well as harm our business reputation.
Even after we obtain regulatory approvals of a product, acceptance of the product in the marketplace is uncertain and failure to achieve commercial acceptance will prevent or delay our ability to generate significant revenue from such product.
Even after obtaining regulatory approvals for the sale of our products, the commercial success of these products will depend, among other things, on their acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and other members of the medical community as therapeutic and cost-effective alternatives to competing products and treatments. The degree of market acceptance of any product will depend on a number of factors, including the demonstration of its safety and efficacy, its cost-effectiveness, its potential advantages over other therapies, the reimbursement policies of government and third-party payors with respect to such product, our ability to attract and maintain corporate partners, including pharmaceutical companies, to assist in commercializing our products, receipt of regulatory clearance of marketing claims for the uses that we are developing and the effectiveness of our marketing and distribution capabilities. If our approved products fail to gain market acceptance or do not become widely accepted by physicians, patients, third-party payors and other members of the medical community, it is unlikely that we will ever become profitable on a sustained basis or achieve significant revenues.
We rely and will continue to rely on outsourcing arrangements for many of our activities, including preclinical and clinical development and supply of HETLIOZ®, HETLIOZ LQTM, Fanapt® and our other products.
As of December 31, 2020, we had 292 full-time employees. We rely on outsourcing arrangements for a significant portion of our activities, including distribution, preclinical and clinical research and development, data collection and analysis and manufacturing, as well as for certain functions as a public company. We have limited control over these third parties and we cannot guarantee that they will perform their obligations in an effective and timely manner.
Disruptions to our HETLIOZ®, HETLIOZ LQTM or Fanapt® supply chains could materially affect our level of success in commercializing HETLIOZ® or Fanapt®, thereby reducing our future earnings and prospects.
A loss or disruption with any one of our manufacturers or suppliers could disrupt the supply of HETLIOZ®, HETLIOZ LQTM or Fanapt®, possibly for a significant time period, and we may not have sufficient inventories to maintain supply before the manufacturer or supplier could be replaced or the disruption is resolved. In addition, marketed drugs and their contract manufacturing organizations are subject to continual review, including review and approval by regulatory authorities of their manufacturing facilities and the manufacturing processes, which can result in delays in the regulatory approval process and/or commercialization. Introducing a replacement or backup manufacturer or supplier for HETLIOZ®, HETLIOZ LQTM or Fanapt® requires a lengthy regulatory and commercial process and there can be no guarantee that we could obtain necessary regulatory approvals in a timely fashion or at all. In addition, it is difficult to identify and select qualified suppliers and manufacturers with the necessary technical capabilities, and establishing new supply and manufacturing sources involves a lengthy and technical engineering process.
Failure to comply with government regulations regarding the sale and marketing of our products could harm our business.
In U.S. markets, our ability to commercialize our products successfully, and to attract commercialization partners for our products, should we choose to do so, depends in significant part on the availability of adequate financial coverage and reimbursement from third-party payors, including, in the U.S., governmental payors such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs, managed care organizations, and private health insurers.
We participate in the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program for both HETLIOZ® and Fanapt®. Under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, we are required to pay a rebate to each state Medicaid program for our covered outpatient drugs that are dispensed to Medicaid beneficiaries and paid for by a state Medicaid program as a condition of having our drugs eligible for coverage under Medicaid and Medicare Part B. Those rebates are based on pricing data that are reported by us on a monthly and quarterly basis to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Federal law requires that any company that participates in the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program also participate in the Public Health Service Act’s 340B drug pricing discount program (340B program), in order for the manufacturer’s drugs to be eligible for coverage under Medicaid and Medicare Part B. The 340B program requires participating manufacturers to agree to charge statutorily defined covered entities no more than the 340B “ceiling price” for the manufacturer’s covered outpatient drugs. The ceiling price can represent a significant discount and is based on the pricing data reporting to the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program.
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The ACA expanded the 340B program to include additional entity types: certain free-standing cancer hospitals, critical access hospitals, rural referral centers and sole community hospitals, each as defined by ACA. The ACA exempts drugs designated under section 526 of the FDC Act as “orphan drugs” from the ceiling price requirements for these newly eligible entities. The ACA also obligates the Health Resources and Services Administration to create regulations and processes to improve the integrity of the 340B program and to update the agreement that manufacturers must sign to participate in the 340B program. A final regulation regarding the calculation of the 340B ceiling price and the imposition of civil monetary penalties on manufacturers that knowingly and intentionally overcharge covered entities became effective on January 1, 2019. Implementation of this final regulation and the issuance of any other final regulations and guidance could affect our obligations under the 340B program in ways we cannot anticipate. In addition, legislation may be introduced that, if passed, would further expand the 340B program to additional covered entities or would require participating manufacturers to agree to provide 340B discounted pricing on drugs used in the inpatient setting.
Federal law also requires that for a drug manufacturer’s products to be eligible for coverage under the Medicaid and Medicare Part B programs and to be purchased by certain federal agencies and grantees, the manufacturer must participate in the Department of Veterans Affairs Federal Supply Schedule (FSS), pricing program, established by Section 603 of the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992. Manufacturers that participate in the FSS pricing program must list their covered (innovator and authorized generic) drugs on an FSS contract and charge no more than Federal Ceiling Price (FCP), to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, Public Health Service, and Coast Guard when those agencies purchase from the FSS contract or a depot contract. FCP is calculated based on non-federal average manufacturer price data, which manufacturers must submit quarterly and annually. In addition, because our products are available in the retail and specialty pharmacy setting, we are required to provide rebates to the Department of Defense for prescriptions dispensed to Tricare beneficiaries from Tricare retail network pharmacies under the Tricare Retail Refund Program. To the extent we choose to participate in these government healthcare programs for our current and future products, these and other requirements may affect our ability to profitably sell any product for which we obtain marketing approval.
Pricing and rebate calculations vary among products and programs. The calculations are complex and will often be subject to interpretation by us, governmental or regulatory agencies and the courts. If we become aware that our reporting of pricing data for a prior quarter was incorrect, we will be obligated to resubmit the corrected data. For the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, corrected data must be submitted for a period not to exceed 12 quarters from the quarter in which the data originally were due. Such restatements and recalculations increase our costs for complying with the laws and regulations governing the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program and other governmental pricing programs. We may be liable for errors associated with our submission of pricing data. If we are found to have knowingly submitted false pricing data to the Medicaid program or the FSS pricing program, we may be liable for civil monetary penalties in the amount of up to $100,000 per item of false information, adjusted for inflation as applicable. Our failure to submit pricing data to the Medicaid program or the FSS pricing program on a timely basis could result in a civil monetary penalty of $10,000 per day for each day the information is late, adjusted for inflation as applicable. Such failure also could be grounds for CMS to terminate our Medicaid drug rebate agreement, which is the agreement under which we would participate in the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program. In the event that CMS terminates our rebate agreement, our products may no longer be eligible for coverage under Medicaid or Medicare Part B. There can be no assurance that our submissions will not be found to be incomplete or incorrect.
Third-party payors decide which drugs they will cover and establish reimbursement and co-pay levels. Third-party payors are increasingly challenging the prices charged for medical products and services and examining their cost effectiveness, in addition to their safety and efficacy. We may need to conduct expensive pharmacoeconomic studies in order to demonstrate the cost effectiveness of our products. Even with such studies, any of our products that are commercialized may be considered less cost-effective than other products, and third-party payors may not provide coverage and reimbursement, in whole or in part, for our products. Third-party payors also are increasingly considering new metrics as the basis for reimbursement rates. It is difficult to project the impact of these evolving reimbursement mechanics on the willingness of payors to cover any of our commercialized products. In addition, we anticipate that a significant portion of our revenue from sales of commercialized products will be obtained through government payors, including Medicare and Medicaid. Any failure to obtain eligibility for coverage under those programs for products we are able to commercialize would have a material adverse effect on revenues and royalties from sales of such products.
Efforts to ensure that our business arrangements with third parties, and our business generally, will comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations may involve substantial costs. It is possible that governmental authorities will conclude that our business practices may not comply with current or future statutes, regulations, agency guidance or case law involving applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations. If our operations 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, imprisonment, exclusion from government funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations.
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We are subject to ongoing regulatory obligations and oversight of our products, and any failure by us to maintain compliance with applicable regulations may result in adverse consequences including the suspension of the manufacturing, marketing and sale of our respective products, the incurrence of significant additional expense and other limitations on our ability to commercialize our respective products.
We are subject to ongoing regulatory requirements and review, including periodic audits pertaining to the development, manufacture, labeling, packaging, adverse event reporting, distribution, storage, marketing, promotion, record keeping and export of our respective products. Failure to comply with such regulatory requirements or the later discovery of previously unknown problems with the manufacture, distributions and storage of our products, or our third-party contract manufacturing facilities or processes by which we manufacture our products may result in restrictions on our ability to develop, manufacture, market, distribute or sell our products, including potential withdrawal of our products from the market. Any such restrictions could slow or stop production development or result in decreased sales, damage to our reputation or the initiation of lawsuits against us and/or our third-party contract manufacturers. We may also be subject to additional sanctions, including, but not limited, to the following:
•Warning letters, public warnings and untitled letters;
•Court-ordered seizures or injunctions;
•Civil or criminal penalties, or criminal prosecutions;
•Variation, suspension or withdrawal of regulatory approvals for our products;
•Changes to the package insert of our products, such as additional warnings regarding potential side effects or potential limitations on the current dosage or administration;
•Requirements to communicate with physicians and other customers about concerns related to actual or potential safety, efficacy, or other issues involving our products;
•Implementation of risk mitigation programs and post-approval obligations;
•Restrictions on our continued manufacturing, marketing, distribution or sale of our products;
•Temporary or permanent closing of the facilities of our third-party contract manufacturers;
•Interruption or suspension of clinical trials; and
•Refusal by regulators to consider or approve applications for additional indications.
Any of the above sanctions could have a material adverse impact on our revenues or our reputation, and cause us to incur significant additional expenses.
In addition, if our products face any safety or efficacy issues, including drug interaction problems, under the federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act, the FDA has broad authority to force us to take any number of actions, including, but not limited to, the following:
•Requiring us to conduct post-approval clinical studies to assess product efficacy or known risks or new signals of serious risks, or to evaluate unexpected serious risks;
•Mandating changes to a product’s label;
•Requiring us to implement a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy where necessary to assure safe use of the drug; or
•Removing an already approved product from the market.
Further, our partners, including our licensors, are subject to similar requirements and obligations as well as the attendant risks and uncertainties. If our partners, including our licensors, suffer material and adverse effects from such risks and uncertainties, our rights and benefits for our licensed products could be negatively impacted, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
If our products are marketed or distributed in a manner that violates federal or state healthcare fraud and abuse laws, marketing disclosure laws or other federal or state laws and regulations, we may be subject to civil or criminal penalties.
In addition to FDA and related regulatory requirements, our general operations, and the research, development, manufacture, sale and marketing of our products, are subject to extensive additional federal and state healthcare regulation, including the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, the Prescription Drug Marketing Act, and the federal False Claims Act (FCA), the
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federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, the federal Physician Payment Sunshine Act and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (and their state analogues), as discussed above in Part I, Item 1 under the heading Government Regulation - Fraud and abuse laws and other U.S. regulatory matters. If we or our partners, such as licensors, fail to comply with any federal and state laws or regulations governing our industry, we could be subject to administrative, criminal and civil penalties and a range of regulatory actions that could adversely affect our ability to commercialize our products, harm or prevent sales of our products, or substantially increase the costs and expenses of commercializing and marketing our products, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In recent years, CMS has been actively proposing and implementing changes to the list of business practices that are protected by safe harbors. There is inherent risk and uncertainty in any changing regulatory environment as companies work to transition business practices to conform with new regulations.
Our activities relating to the sale and marketing of our products may be subject to scrutiny under these laws, and private individuals have been active in bringing so-called “whistleblower” lawsuits on behalf of the government (as Relators) under the FCA and similar regulations in other countries. In addition, incentives exist under applicable U.S. law that encourage employees and physicians to report violations of rules governing promotional activities for pharmaceutical products. These incentives have led to, and could continue to lead to, FCA lawsuits, which attempt to recoup moneys paid by government agencies and extract penalties from manufacturers. For example, federal enforcement agencies have recently pursued enforcement actions against pharmaceutical companies’ product and patient assistance programs, including relationships with specialty pharmacies, and support for charitable foundations providing patients with co-pay assistance. In addition, Relators have filed lawsuits involving manufacturer reimbursement support services as well as promotion of pharmaceutical products beyond labeled claims. Some FCA lawsuits have resulted in government enforcement authorities obtaining significant civil and criminal settlements. Such lawsuits, whether with or without merit, are typically time-consuming and costly to defend. Such suits may also result in related shareholder lawsuits, which are also costly to defend. (See Note 17, Legal Matters, to the consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report, which is incorporated herein by reference, for information regarding ongoing litigation related to similar matters.)
Further, the FDA and other regulatory agencies strictly regulate the promotional claims that may be made about prescription products. A product may not be promoted for uses that are not approved by the FDA as reflected in the product’s approved labeling. The FDA also regulates the content of promotional material, including, among other things, the presentation of efficacy information, the types of comparative claims that can be made to distinguish products from those with similar indications, and the balance of risk information provided. For drug products that are approved by the FDA under the FDA’s accelerated approval regulations, unless otherwise informed by the FDA, the sponsor must submit promotional materials at least 30 days prior to the intended time of initial dissemination of the promotional materials, which delays and may negatively impact a company’s ability to implement changes to its marketing materials, thereby negatively impacting revenues. For other products, the FDA does not review promotional materials prior to dissemination but does issue “Untitled Letters” or “Warning Letters” if it objects to content that has been used promotionally. The FDA may also withdraw approval of drug products under certain conditions. In particular, the FDA may withdraw approval of a drug if, among other things, the promotional materials are false or misleading, or other evidence demonstrates that the drug is not shown to be safe or effective under its conditions of use.
In recent years, in addition to federal legislation related to transparency reporting of transfers of value to healthcare providers and healthcare organizations, several states have enacted legislation requiring pharmaceutical companies to file periodic reports. Several states have adopted legislation to require 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 certain marketing-related activities, including the provision of gifts, meals or other items to certain healthcare providers.
We have developed and implemented a corporate compliance program based on what we believe are current best practices in the pharmaceutical industry; however, relevant compliance laws are broad in scope and there may not be regulations, guidance or court decisions that definitively interpret these laws in the context of particular industry practices. We cannot guarantee that we, our employees, our partners, our consultants or our contractors are or will be in compliance with all federal and state regulations. If we, our partners, or our representatives fail to comply with any of these laws or regulations, a range of fines, penalties and/or other sanctions and regulatory actions could be imposed on us, including, but not limited to, restrictions on how we market and sell our products, significant fines, exclusions from government healthcare programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, litigation, or other sanctions. 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 a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Such investigations or suits have resulted in, and may continue to result in, related shareholder lawsuits, which can also have a material adverse effect on our business.
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Our partners, including our licensors, are subject to similar requirements and obligations as well as the attendant risks and uncertainties. If our partners, including our licensors, suffer material and adverse effects from such risks and uncertainties, our rights and benefits for our licensed products could be negatively impacted, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We rely on a limited number of specialty pharmacies for distribution of HETLIOZ® in the U.S., and the loss of one or more of these specialty pharmacies or their failure to distribute HETLIOZ® effectively would materially harm our business.
HETLIOZ® is available for distribution through a limited number of specialty pharmacies in the U.S. A specialty pharmacy is a pharmacy that specializes in the dispensing of medications for complex or chronic conditions, which often require a high level of patient education and ongoing management. The use of specialty pharmacies involves certain risks, including, but not limited to, risks that these specialty pharmacies will:
•not provide us accurate or timely information regarding their inventories, the number of patients who are using HETLIOZ® or complaints about HETLIOZ®;
•reduce their efforts or discontinue to sell or support or otherwise not effectively sell or support HETLIOZ®;
•not devote the resources necessary to sell HETLIOZ® in the volumes and within the time frames that we expect;
•be unable to satisfy financial obligations to us or others; or
•cease operations.
In addition, if one or more of our specialty pharmacies do not fulfill their contractual obligations to us, or refuse or fail to adequately serve patients, or their agreements are terminated without adequate notice, shipments of HETLIOZ®, and associated revenues, would be adversely affected. We expect that it would take a significant amount of time if we were required to replace one or more of our specialty pharmacies.
Our revenues from Fanapt® are substantially dependent on sales through a limited number of wholesalers, and such revenues may fluctuate from quarter to quarter.
We sell Fanapt® primarily through a limited number of pharmaceutical wholesalers in the U.S. The use of pharmaceutical wholesalers involves certain risks, including, but not limited to, risks that these pharmaceutical wholesalers will:
•not provide us accurate or timely information regarding their inventories, demand from wholesaler customers buying Fanapt® or complaints about Fanapt®;
•reduce their efforts or discontinue to sell or support or otherwise not effectively sell or support Fanapt®;
•not devote the resources necessary to sell Fanapt® in the volumes and within the time frames that we expect;
•be unable to satisfy financial obligations to us or others; or
•cease operations.
Additionally, our reliance on a small number of wholesalers could cause revenues to fluctuate from quarter to quarter based on the buying patterns of these wholesalers. In addition, if any of these wholesalers fails to pay on a timely basis or at all, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
We face substantial competition, which may result in others developing or commercializing products before or more successfully than we do.
Our future success will depend on our ability to demonstrate and maintain a competitive advantage with respect to our products and our ability to identify and develop additional products. Large, fully integrated pharmaceutical companies, either alone or together with collaborative partners, have substantially greater financial resources and have significantly greater experience than we do in:
•developing products;
•undertaking preclinical testing and clinical trials;
•obtaining FDA and other regulatory approvals of products; and
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•manufacturing, marketing and selling products.
These companies may invest heavily and quickly to discover and develop novel products that could make our products obsolete. Accordingly, our competitors may succeed in obtaining patent protection, receiving FDA or foreign regulatory approval or commercializing superior products or other competing products before we do. Technological developments or the FDA or foreign regulatory approval of new therapeutic indications for existing products may make our products obsolete or may make them more difficult to market successfully, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our products, if successfully developed and approved for commercial sale, will compete with a number of drugs and therapies currently manufactured and marketed by major pharmaceutical and other biotechnology companies. Our products may also compete with new products currently under development by others or with products that may cost less than our products. Physicians, patients, third-party payors and the medical community may not accept or utilize any of our products that may be approved. If HETLIOZ®, Fanapt® and our other products, if and when approved, do not achieve significant market acceptance, our business, results of operations and financial condition would be materially adversely affected. (See Part I, Item 1, Business – Competition, for a discussion of the primary competitors for HETLIOZ® and Fanapt®.)
Additionally, we may face competition from newly developed generic products. Under the Hatch-Waxman Act, newly approved drugs and indications may benefit from a statutory period of non-patent marketing exclusivity. The Hatch-Waxman Act seeks to stimulate competition by providing incentives to generic pharmaceutical manufacturers to introduce non-infringing forms of patented pharmaceutical products and to challenge patents on branded pharmaceutical products. If we are unsuccessful at challenging an ANDA, filed pursuant to the Hatch-Waxman Act, cheaper generic versions of our products, which may be favored by insurers and third-party payors, may be launched commercially, which would significantly harm our business.
To obtain an ANDA approval for a generic drug, the generic company needs to show, among other things, that its version of the product is bioequivalent to the Reference Listed Drug (RLD). This usually requires the generic company to conduct bioequivalence studies comparing its product to the RLD, and to retain sufficient samples of the RLD used in testing after a study is complete. In recent years, the U.S. federal lawmakers and the FDA have been considering proposals to facilitate the generic drug company’s access to samples and foster the generic competition. For example, in February 2019, the U.S. House and Senate lawmakers reintroduced the Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples Act (CREATES Act), a bill intended to require brand drug manufacturers to provide sufficient drug samples to generic and biosimilar drug developers. The proposed legislation, if enacted, would allow a biosimilar or generic product developer to bring a civil action against a brand drug manufacturer for failing to provide samples of the brand product for comparative testing “on commercially reasonable, market-based terms.” The developer could receive injunctive relief and a monetary award “sufficient to deter the license holder from failing to provide other eligible product developers with sufficient quantities of a covered product on commercially reasonable, market-based terms” in certain cases.
Certain states have also taken similar actions. In 2018, Maine passed a new law that requires brand drug manufacturers to make samples of drugs distributed in the state available for sale in Maine at a price no greater than wholesale acquisition cost and without any restriction that would block or delay a biosimilar and generic drug application in a manner inconsistent with federal law. The state may seek injunctive relief and attorney’s fees from a drug manufacturer who fails to comply with this requirement.
FDA and foreign regulatory approval of our products is uncertain.
The research, testing, manufacturing and marketing of products such as those that we have developed or that we are developing are subject to extensive regulation by federal, state and local government authorities, including the FDA, as well as foreign regulatory authorities in jurisdictions in which we seek approval. To obtain regulatory approval of such products, we must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the applicable regulatory agency that, among other things, the product is safe and effective for its intended use. In addition, we must show that the manufacturing facilities used to produce such products are in compliance with cGMPs.
The process of obtaining FDA and other required regulatory approvals and clearances can take many years and will require us to expend substantial time and capital. Despite the time and expense expended, regulatory approval is never guaranteed. The number of preclinical and clinical trials that will be required for FDA or foreign regulatory approval varies depending on the product, the disease or condition that the product is in development for, and the requirements applicable to that particular product. The FDA or applicable foreign regulatory agency can delay, limit or deny approval of a product for many reasons, including that:
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•a product may not be shown to be safe or effective;
•the FDA or foreign agency may interpret data from preclinical and clinical trials in different ways than we do;
•the FDA or foreign agency may not approve our or our partners’ manufacturing processes or facilities;
•a product may not be approved for all the indications we request;
•the FDA or foreign agency may change its approval policies or adopt new regulations;
•the FDA or foreign agency may not meet, or may extend, the PDUFA-VI date or its foreign equivalent with respect to a particular NDA or foreign application; and
•the FDA or foreign agency may not agree with our regulatory approval strategies or components of the regulatory filings, such as clinical trial designs.
For example, if certain of our methods for analyzing trial data are not accepted by the FDA or the applicable foreign agency, we may fail to obtain regulatory approval for our products.
Additionally, the approval procedure varies among countries and jurisdictions and can involve additional trials, and the time required to obtain approval may differ from that required to obtain FDA approval. Approval by the FDA does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions, and approval by one foreign regulatory authority does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other foreign countries or jurisdictions or by the FDA.
Any delay or failure to obtain regulatory approvals for our products will result in increased costs, could diminish competitive advantages that we may attain and would adversely affect the marketing and sale of our products. Other than HETLIOZ® in the U.S. and the countries in Europe covered by the centralized marketing authorization by the EC, and Fanapt® in the U.S., Mexico and Israel, we have not received, and may never receive, regulatory approval to market any of our products in any jurisdiction.
Even following regulatory approval of our products, the FDA or the applicable foreign agency may impose limitations on the indicated uses for which such products may be marketed, subsequently withdraw approval or take other actions against us, or such products that are adverse to our business. The FDA and foreign agencies generally approve drugs for particular indications. An approval for a more limited indication reduces the size of the potential market for the product. Product approvals, once granted, may be withdrawn or modified if problems occur after initial marketing.
We and our partners also are subject to numerous federal, state, local and foreign laws, regulations and recommendations relating to safe working conditions, laboratory and manufacturing practices, the environment and the use and disposal of hazardous substances used in connection with discovery, research and development work. In addition, we cannot predict the extent to which new governmental regulations might significantly impede the discovery, development, production and marketing of our products. We or our partners may be required to incur significant costs to comply with current or future laws or regulations, and we may be adversely affected by the cost of such compliance or the inability to comply with such laws or regulations.
Our products may cause undesirable side effects or have other properties that could delay, prevent or result in the revocation of their regulatory approval or limit their marketability.
Undesirable side effects caused by our products could interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials and could result in the denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or other regulatory authorities for any or all targeted indications, and in turn prevent us from commercializing or continuing the commercialization of such products and generating revenues from their sale. We will continue to assess the side effect profile of our products in ongoing clinical development programs. However, we cannot predict whether the commercial use of our approved products (or our products in development, if and when they are approved for commercial use) will produce undesirable or unintended side effects that have not been evident in the use of, or in clinical trials conducted for, such products to date. For example, despite the positive results of our completed trials for HETLIOZ® and Fanapt®, as well as the FDA’s approval of the NDA for HETLIOZ® for the treatment of Non-24 in January 2014, the NDA for Fanapt® for the treatment of schizophrenia in May 2009, the EC’s grant of the centralized marketing authorization for HETLIOZ® for the treatment of Non-24 in totally blind adults in July 2015, and the NDA and sNDA for HETLIOZ® for the treatment of nighttime sleep disturbances in SMS in December 2020, we are uncertain whether either of these products will ultimately prove to be effective and safe in humans long term and in all uses. Frequently, products that have shown promising results in clinical trials have suffered significant setbacks in later clinical trials or even long after they are approved for commercial sale. Additionally, incidents of product misuse may occur. These events, among others, could result in product
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recalls, product liability actions or withdrawals or additional regulatory controls, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
In addition, if after receiving marketing approval of a product, we or others identify undesirable side effects caused by such product, we could face one or more of the following:
•regulatory authorities may require the addition of labeling statements, such as a “black box” warning or a contraindication;
•regulatory authorities may withdraw their approval of the product;
•we may be required to change the way the product is administered, conduct additional clinical trials or change the labeling of the product; and
•our or the product’s reputation may suffer.
Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the affected product or could substantially increase the costs and expenses of commercializing the product, which in turn could delay or prevent us from generating significant revenues from its sale.
Clinical trials for our products are expensive and their outcomes are uncertain. Any failure or delay in completing clinical trials for our products could severely harm our business.
Preclinical studies and clinical trials required to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our products are time-consuming and expensive and together take several years to complete. Before obtaining regulatory approvals for the commercial sale of any of our products, we must demonstrate through preclinical testing and clinical trials that such product is safe and effective for use in humans. We have incurred, and we will continue to incur, substantial expense for, and devote a significant amount of time to, preclinical testing and clinical trials.
Historically, the results from preclinical testing and early clinical trials often have not predicted results of later clinical trials. A number of new drugs have shown promising results in clinical trials, but subsequently failed to establish sufficient safety and efficacy data to obtain necessary regulatory approvals. Clinical trials conducted by us or by third parties on our behalf may not demonstrate sufficient safety and efficacy to obtain the requisite regulatory approvals for our products. Regulatory authorities may not permit us to undertake any additional clinical trials for our products, may force us to stop any ongoing clinical trials and it may be difficult to design efficacy studies for our products in new indications.
Clinical development efforts performed by us may not be successfully completed or completed in a timely manner. Completion of clinical trials may take several years or more. The length of time can vary substantially with the type, complexity, novelty and intended use of the products and the size of the prospective patient population. Our ability to enroll patients in, and the commencement and rate of completion of, clinical trials for our products may be affected by many factors, including:
•the impact of global health crises, like the COVID-19 pandemic;
•the size and nature of the patient population;
•the design of the trial protocol for our clinical trials;
•the eligibility and exclusion criteria for the trial in question;
•the availability of competing therapies and competing clinical trials, and physician and patient perception of our product candidates and our other product candidates being studied in relation to these other potential options;
•the availability of raw materials and the possibility of raw materials expiring prior to their use;
•difficulty in maintaining contact with patients after treatment, resulting in incomplete data;
•poor effectiveness of our products during clinical trials;
•unforeseen safety issues or side effects;
•the number and location of clinical sites in our clinical trials;
•the proximity and availability of clinical trial sites for prospective patients;
•the availability of time and resources at the institutions where clinical trials are and will be conducted;
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•the availability of adequate financing to fund ongoing clinical trial expenses;
•the study endpoints that rely on subjective patient reported outcomes; and
•governmental or regulatory delays and changes in regulatory requirements and guidelines.
If we fail to complete successfully, or have difficulty enrolling a sufficient number of patients for, our clinical trials, we or they may not receive the regulatory approvals needed to market that product. Any such failure or difficulty could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We may not be able to achieve sustained profitability.
We have been engaged in identifying and developing drug products since March 2003, which has required, and will continue to require, significant research and development expenditures. The continued commercialization of HETLIOZ® and Fanapt® will also require substantial additional expenditures.
As of December 31, 2020, we had an accumulated deficit of $197.3 million and we cannot estimate with precision the extent of our future income or loss. We may not succeed in gaining additional market acceptance of HETLIOZ® and Fanapt® in the U.S. and we may not succeed in commercializing HETLIOZ® or Fanapt® outside of the U.S. We may be unable to fully develop, obtain regulatory approval for, commercialize, manufacture, market, sell and derive revenue from our products in the timeframes we project, if at all, and our inability to do so would materially and adversely impact the market price of our common stock and our ability to raise capital and continue operations.
There can be no assurance that we will achieve sustained profitability, which depends on many factors, including but not limited to, our ability to obtain regulatory approval for our products and achieve success in commercializing them in the U.S., Europe and our other target jurisdictions, as well as other factors described in this Annual Report.
In addition, the amount we spend on developing, obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval for and commercializing our products, among other expenditures described in this Annual Report, will impact our profitability.
Our ability to use net operating loss carryforwards and tax credit carryforwards to offset future taxable income is dependent on generating future taxable income and may be limited, including as a result of transactions involving our common stock.
We have recorded deferred tax assets based on our assessment that we will be able to realize the benefits of our net operating losses and other favorable tax attributes. Realization of deferred tax assets involve significant judgments and estimates, which are subject to change and ultimately depends on generating sufficient taxable income of the appropriate character during the appropriate periods. Changes in circumstances may affect the likelihood of such realization, which in turn may trigger the need for additional valuation allowance against our deferred tax assets and adversely affect our net income and financial condition. In addition, we are potentially subject to ongoing and periodic tax examinations and audits in various jurisdictions, including with respect to the amount of our net operating losses and any limitation thereon. An adjustment to such net operating loss carryforwards, including an adjustment from a taxing authority, could result in higher tax costs, penalties and interest, thereby adversely impacting our financial condition.
In general, under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (IRC), a corporation that undergoes an “ownership change” is subject to limitations on its ability to utilize its pre-change net operating losses (NOLs) and certain other tax assets (tax attributes) to offset future taxable income. In general, an ownership change occurs if the aggregate stock ownership of certain stockholders increases by more than 50 percentage points over such stockholders’ lowest percentage ownership during the testing period (generally three years). Transactions involving our common stock, even those outside our control, such as purchases or sales by investors, within the testing period could result in an ownership change. A limitation on our ability to utilize some or all of our NOLs or credits could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and cash flows. Ownership changes occurred in the years ending December 31, 2014 and 2008. We believe that the ownership changes in 2014 and 2008 will not impact our ability to utilize NOL and credit carryforwards; however, future ownership changes may cause our existing tax attributes to have additional limitations.
If we fail to adequately fund our research and development activities and commercialization efforts, we may be unable to continue operations or we may be forced to share our rights to commercialize our products with third parties on terms that may not be attractive to us.
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Our activities will necessitate significant uses of working capital throughout 2021 and beyond. It is uncertain whether cash provided by our operating activities, together with our existing funds, will be sufficient to meet our operating needs. As of December 31, 2020, our total cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities were $367.7 million. Our long-term capital requirements are expected to depend on many factors, including, among others:
•our level of success in commercializing HETLIOZ® and Fanapt® globally;
•outcomes of ongoing and potential patent litigation;
•costs of developing and maintaining sales, marketing and distribution channels and our ability to sell our products;
•market acceptance of our products;
•costs involved in establishing and maintaining manufacturing capabilities for commercial quantities of our products;
•the number of potential formulations and products in development;
•progress with preclinical studies and clinical trials;
•time and costs involved in obtaining regulatory (including FDA) approval;
•costs involved in preparing, filing, prosecuting, maintaining and enforcing patent, trademark and other intellectual property claims;
•competing technological and market developments;
•costs for recruiting and retaining employees and consultants;
•costs for training physicians; and
•legal, accounting, insurance and other professional and business-related costs.
As a result, we may need to raise additional capital to fund our anticipated operating expenses and execute on our business plans. In our capital-raising efforts, we may seek to sell debt securities or additional equity securities, obtain a bank credit facility, or enter into partnerships or other collaboration agreements. The sale of additional equity or debt securities, if convertible, could result in dilution to our stockholders and may also result in a lower price for our common stock. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased fixed obligations and could also result in covenants that could restrict our operations. However, we may not be able to raise additional funds on acceptable terms, or at all. If additional financing is not available when required or is not available on acceptable terms, we may be unable to fund our operations and planned growth, develop or enhance our technologies or products, take advantage of business opportunities or respond to competitive market pressures, any of which would materially harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If our contract research organizations (CROs) do not successfully carry out their duties or if we lose our relationships with CROs, our drug development efforts could be delayed.
Our arrangements with CROs are critical to our success in bringing our products to the market. We are dependent on CROs, third-party vendors and investigators for preclinical testing and clinical trials related to our drug discovery and development efforts and we will likely continue to depend on them to assist in our future discovery and development efforts. These parties are not our employees and we cannot control the amount or timing of resources that they devote to our programs. As such, they may not complete activities on schedule or may not conduct our clinical trials in accordance with regulatory requirements or our stated protocols. The parties with which we contract for execution of our clinical trials play a significant role in the conduct of the trials and the subsequent collection and analysis of data. If they fail to devote sufficient time and resources to our drug development programs or if their performance is substandard, it will delay the development, approval and commercialization of our products. Moreover, these parties may also have relationships with other commercial entities, some of which may compete with us. If they assist our competitors, it could harm our competitive position.
Our CROs could merge with or be acquired by other companies or experience financial or other setbacks unrelated to our collaboration that could, nevertheless, materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
If we lose our relationship with any one or more of these parties, we could experience a significant delay in both identifying another comparable provider and then contracting for its services. We may be unable to retain an alternative provider on reasonable terms, if at all. Even if we locate an alternative provider, it is likely that this provider may need additional time to respond to our needs and may not provide the same type or level of service as the original provider. In addition, any provider that we retain will be subject to current Good Laboratory Practices as set forth in 21 Code of Federal
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Regulations (C.F.R.) Part 58 and Good Clinical Practices as set forth in 21 C.F.R. Part 50, 54, and 312, and similar international standards and we do not have control over compliance with these regulations by these providers. Consequently, if these practices and standards are not adhered to by these providers, the development and commercialization of our products could be delayed.
We rely on a limited number of third-party manufacturers to formulate and manufacture our products and our business will be seriously harmed if these manufacturers are not able to satisfy our demand and alternative sources are not available.
We do not have an in-house manufacturing capability and depend completely on a small number of third-party manufacturers and active pharmaceutical ingredient formulators for the manufacture of our products. Therefore, we are dependent on third parties for our formulation development and manufacturing of our products. This may expose us to the risk of not being able to directly oversee the production and quality of the manufacturing process and provide ample commercial supplies to successfully launch and maintain the marketing of our products. Furthermore, these third-party contractors, whether foreign or domestic, may experience regulatory compliance difficulty, mechanical shut downs, employee strikes, or other unforeseeable events that may delay or limit production. Our inability to adequately establish, supervise and conduct (either ourselves or through third parties) all aspects of the formulation and manufacturing processes would have a material adverse effect on our ability to develop and commercialize our products.
We have agreements in place with Patheon Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Patheon Inc. (collectively, Patheon), subsidiaries of Thermo Fisher Scientific, for the manufacture of HETLIOZ® and Fanapt®. In January 2014, we entered into a manufacturing agreement with Patheon for the manufacture of commercial supplies of HETLIOZ® 20 mg capsules at Patheon’s Cincinnati, Ohio manufacturing site. In May 2016, we entered into a manufacturing agreement with Patheon for the manufacture of commercial supplies of Fanapt® tablets at Patheon’s Mississauga, Ontario, Canada manufacturing site. Additionally, in December 2020, we entered into a non-exclusive third-party manufacturing agreement for the manufacture of commercial supplies of HETLIOZ LQTM. We do not have exclusive long-term agreements with any other third-party manufacturers of our products. If our current manufacturers, or any other third-party manufacturer, is unable or unwilling to perform its obligations under our manufacturing agreements for any reason, we may not be able to locate alternative acceptable manufacturers or formulators or enter into favorable agreements with them. Any inability to acquire sufficient quantities of our products in a timely manner from these third parties could adversely affect sales of our products, delay clinical trials and prevent us from developing our products in a cost-effective manner or on a timely basis. In addition, manufacturers of our products are subject to cGMP and similar foreign standards and we do not have control over compliance with these regulations by our manufacturers. If one of our contract manufacturers fails to maintain compliance, the production of our products could be interrupted, resulting in delays and additional costs. In addition, if the facilities of such manufacturers do not pass a pre-approval or post-approval plant inspection, the FDA will not grant approval and may institute restrictions on the marketing or sale of our products.
Our manufacturing strategy presents the following additional risks:
•because most of our third-party manufacturers and formulators are located outside of the U.S., there may be difficulties in importing our products or their components into the U.S. as a result of, among other things, FDA import inspections, incomplete or inaccurate import documentation or defective packaging; and
•because of the complex nature of our products, our manufacturers may not be able to successfully manufacture our products in a cost-effective and/or timely manner.
Materials necessary to manufacture our products may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, which may delay the development, regulatory approval and commercialization of our products.
We rely on manufacturers to purchase from third-party suppliers the materials necessary to produce our products for clinical trials and commercialization. Suppliers may not sell these materials to such manufacturers at the times we need them or on commercially reasonable terms. We do not have any control over the process or timing of the acquisition of these materials by these manufacturers. Moreover, we currently do not have any agreements for the commercial production of these materials. If the manufacturers are unable to obtain these materials for our clinical trials, product testing, potential regulatory approval of our products and commercial scale manufacturing could be delayed, significantly affecting our ability to further develop and commercialize our products. If we or our manufacturers are unable to purchase these materials for our products, there would be a shortage in supply or the commercial launch of such products would be delayed, which would materially and adversely affect our ability to generate revenues from the sale of such products.
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If we cannot identify, or enter into licensing arrangements for, new products, our ability to develop a diverse product portfolio will be limited.
A component of our business strategy is acquiring rights to develop and commercialize products discovered or developed by other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for which we may find effective uses and markets through our unique pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics expertise for the treatment of central nervous system disorders. Competition for the acquisition of these products is intense. If we are not able to identify opportunities to acquire rights to commercialize additional products, we may not be able to develop a diverse portfolio of products. Additionally, it may take substantial human and financial resources to secure commercial rights to promising products. Moreover, if other firms develop pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics capabilities, we may face increased competition in identifying and acquiring additional products.
If we lose key scientists or management personnel, or if we fail to recruit additional highly skilled personnel, our ability to identify, develop, and commercialize new products will be impaired.
We are highly dependent on principal members of our management team and scientific staff, including our Chief Executive Officer, Mihael H. Polymeropoulos, M.D. These executives each have significant pharmaceutical industry experience. The loss of any such executives, including Dr. Polymeropoulos, or any other principal member of our management team or scientific staff, would impair our ability to identify, develop and market new products. Our management and other employees may voluntarily terminate their employment with us at any time. The loss of the services of these or other key personnel, or the inability to attract and retain additional qualified personnel, could result in delays to development or approval, loss of sales and diversion of management resources. In addition, we depend on our ability to attract and retain other highly skilled personnel, including research scientists. Competition for qualified personnel is intense, and the process of hiring and integrating such qualified personnel is often lengthy. We may be unable to recruit such personnel on a timely basis, if at all, which would negatively impact our development and commercialization programs.
Additionally, we do not currently maintain “key person” life insurance on the lives of our executives or any of our employees. This lack of insurance means that we may not have adequate compensation for the loss of the services of these individuals.
Product liability lawsuits could divert our resources, result in substantial liabilities and reduce the commercial potential of our products.
The risk that we may be sued on product liability claims is inherent in the development and sale of pharmaceutical products. For example, we face a risk of product liability exposure related to the testing of our products in clinical trials and will face even greater risks upon commercialization of our products. We believe that we may be at a greater risk of product liability claims relative to other pharmaceutical companies because certain of our products are intended to treat central nervous system disorders, among others, and it is possible that we may be held liable for the behavior and actions of patients who use our products. These lawsuits may divert our management from pursuing our business strategy and may be costly to defend. In addition, if we are held liable in any of these lawsuits, we may incur substantial liabilities and we may be forced to limit or forego further commercialization of one or more of our products. Although we maintain product liability insurance, our aggregate coverage limit under this insurance is $30.0 million, and while we believe this amount of insurance is sufficient to cover our product liability exposure, these limits may not be high enough to fully cover potential liabilities. As our development activities and commercialization efforts progress and we sell our products, this coverage may be inadequate, we may be unable to obtain adequate coverage at an acceptable cost or we may be unable to get adequate coverage at all or our insurer may disclaim coverage as to a future claim. This could prevent the commercialization or limit the commercial potential of our products. Even if we are able to maintain insurance that we believe is adequate, our results of operations and financial condition may be materially adversely affected by a product liability claim. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of products liability litigation or other proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our ability to compete in the marketplace. Product liability litigation and other related proceedings may also require significant management time.
E.U. Member States tend to impose strict price controls, which may delay or prevent the further commercial launch or impede the commercial success of HETLIOZ® in Europe and adversely affect our future results of operations.
In the E.U., prescription drug pricing and reimbursement are subject to governmental control and reimbursement mechanisms used by private and public health insurers in the E.U. vary by Member State. For the public systems, reimbursement is determined by guidelines established by the legislature or responsible national authority. As elsewhere, inclusion in reimbursement catalogues focuses on the medical usefulness, need, quality and economic benefits to patients and the health care system. Acceptance for reimbursement comes with cost, use and often volume restrictions, which can vary by
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Member State. Although we have received marketing authorization for HETLIOZ® capsules from the EC, pricing negotiations with governmental authorities may take a considerable amount of time in those Member States that impose price controls. For example, we launched HETLIOZ® commercially in Germany in August 2016, and concluded our pricing negotiations with German authorities in October 2017. In addition, to obtain reimbursement or pricing approval for HETLIOZ® in some Member States, we may be required to conduct a clinical trial that compares the cost-effectiveness of HETLIOZ®, to other available therapies.
Some Member States require approval of the sale price of a drug before it can be marketed. In many countries, the pricing review period begins after marketing or product licensing approval is granted. In some Member States, prescription pharmaceutical pricing remains subject to continuing governmental control even after initial approval is granted. As a result, we may be subject to lengthy price regulations that delay or prevent the commercial launch of HETLIOZ® in a particular Member State and negatively impact the revenues that are generated from the sale of HETLIOZ® in that country. If reimbursement of HETLIOZ® is unavailable or limited in scope or amount, or if pricing for HETLIOZ® is set at unsatisfactory levels or takes too long to establish, or if there is competition from lower priced cross-border sales, our results of operations will be negatively affected.
We may not be able to effectively market and sell our future products, if approved, in the U.S.
We plan to continue to build our sales and marketing capabilities in the U.S. to commercialize future products, if approved. Our current sales and marketing capabilities in the U.S. may not be adequate to support the commercialization of future products and we would expect to build such capabilities by investing significant amounts of financial and management resources. Furthermore, the cost of establishing and maintaining marketing and sales capabilities may not be justifiable in light of the revenues generated by any future products.
If we are unable to establish and maintain adequate sales and marketing capabilities for future products or are unable to do so in a timely manner, we may not be able to generate product revenues from these products, which may prevent us from reaching or maintaining profitability.
Healthcare legislative reform measures or developments arising from changes in the political climate may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
In the U.S., there have been and continue to be a number of legislative initiatives to contain healthcare costs. For example, in March 2010, the ACA was passed, which substantially changes the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers, and significantly impacts the U.S. pharmaceutical industry. The ACA, among other things, increases the minimum Medicaid rebates owed by manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program and extends the rebate program to individuals enrolled in Medicaid managed care organizations, establishes annual fees and taxes on manufacturers of certain branded prescription drugs, and creates a new Medicare Part D coverage gap discount program, in which manufacturers must agree to offer 70% point-of-sale discounts off negotiated prices of applicable brand drugs to eligible beneficiaries during their coverage gap period, as a condition for the manufacturer’s outpatient drugs to be covered under Medicare Part D.
Some of the provisions of the ACA have yet to be fully implemented, while certain provisions have been subject to judicial and Congressional challenges, as well as efforts by the former Trump administration to repeal or replace certain aspects of the ACA. While Congress has not passed comprehensive repeal legislation, it has enacted laws that modify certain provisions of the ACA such as removing or delaying penalties, starting January 1, 2019, for not complying with the ACA’s individual mandate to carry health insurance, delaying the implementation of certain ACA-mandated fees, and increasing the point-of-sale discount that is owed by pharmaceutical manufacturers who participate in Medicare Part D. Further, in December 2018, a Texas District Court judge ruled that the ACA is unconstitutional in its entirety because the individual mandate was repealed by Congress. Further, in December 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upheld the Texas District Court ruling that the individual mandate was unconstitutional and remanded the case back to the Texas District Court to determine whether the remaining provisions of the ACA are invalid as well. In March 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the petitions for writs of certiorari and held oral arguments in November 2020. Accordingly, we continue to evaluate the effect that the ACA has on our business. At the federal level, the former Trump administration supported legislative proposals and issued certain Executive Orders seeking to reduce drug prices, increase competition, lower out-of-pocket drug costs for patients, and increase patient access to lower-cost generic and biosimilar drugs. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has solicited feedback on some of these measures and implemented others under its existing authority. The FDA also released a final rule in September 2020 providing guidance for states to build and submit importation plans for drugs from Canada. Further, in November 2020, HHS finalized a regulation removing safe harbor protection for price reductions from pharmaceutical manufacturers to plan sponsors under Medicare Part D, either directly or through pharmacy benefit managers, unless the price
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reduction is required by law. The rule also creates a new safe harbor for price reductions reflected at the point-of-sale, as well as a safe harbor for certain fixed fee arrangements between pharmacy benefit managers and manufacturers. Additionally, in December 2020, CMS issued a final rule that materially modifies current Medicaid Drug Rebate Program regulations by, among other things, broadening the definitions for “line extension” and “new formulation”, the key term within the line extension definition. A “line extension” drug is subject to a higher Medicaid rebate, thereby reducing the amount the manufacturer is paid with respect to such product. These new definitions will become effective as of January 1, 2022.
Other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the ACA was enacted. These changes include the Budget Control Act of 2011, which, among other things, led to aggregate reductions to Medicare payments to providers of up to 2% per fiscal year that started in 2013 and will stay in effect through 2024 unless additional congressional action is taken, and the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which, among other things, reduced Medicare payments to several types of providers and increased the statute of limitations period for the government to recover overpayments to providers from three to five years. These new laws may result in additional reductions in Medicare and other healthcare funding and otherwise affect the prices we may obtain for any of our product candidates for which we may obtain regulatory approval or the frequency with which any such product candidate is prescribed or used. Further, there have been several recent U.S. congressional inquiries and proposed state and federal legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, reduce the costs of drugs under Medicare and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for drug products.
Additionally, there has been increasing legislative and enforcement interest in the U.S. with respect to specialty drug pricing practices. Specifically, there have been several recent U.S. Congressional inquiries and proposed and enacted federal and state legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, reduce the cost of prescription drugs under Medicare, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for drugs. We expect that additional state and federal healthcare reform measures will be adopted in the future, any of which could result in more rigorous coverage criteria and/or limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand for our products and additional downward pricing pressures. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private third-party payors.
These healthcare reforms, as well as other healthcare reform measures that may be adopted in the future, may result in additional reductions in Medicare and other healthcare funding, more rigorous coverage criteria, new payment methodologies and additional downward pressure on the price for any approved product and/or the level of reimbursement physicians receive for administering any approved product. Reductions in reimbursement levels may negatively impact the prices we can charge or the frequency with which products are prescribed or administered. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors.
Changes in U.S. social, political, regulatory and economic conditions or in laws and policies governing foreign trade, manufacturing, development and investment, and any negative sentiments towards the U.S. as a result of such changes, could also adversely affect our business.
In addition, the U.K.'s exit from the E.U. in January 2020, with a transition period that ended on December 31, 2020, often referred to as Brexit, has created uncertainty with regard to data protection regulation in the U.K. While the transition period has now concluded, decisions are still to be made on how data transfers to and from the U.K. will be regulated. Since the regulatory framework for pharmaceutical products in the U.K. covering quality, safety and efficacy of pharmaceutical products, clinical trials, marketing authorization, commercial sales and distribution of pharmaceutical products is derived from E.U. directives and regulations, Brexit could materially impact the future regulatory regime that applies to products and the approval of product candidates in the U.K. It remains to be seen how, if at all, Brexit will impact regulatory requirements for product candidates and products in the U.K. These possible negative impacts, and others resulting from the U.K.’s withdrawal from the E.U., may adversely affect our operating results and growth prospects as well as the manner in which we conduct our business operations in Europe.
Risks related to intellectual property and other legal matters
Our rights to develop and commercialize our products are subject in part to the terms and conditions of licenses or sublicenses granted to us by other pharmaceutical companies.
Our rights to our product portfolio are based in part on patents and other intellectual property licensed from third parties. These third parties may generally terminate the license agreements under certain circumstances, including a material breach of the agreement by the other. In the event we terminate our license, or if the third party terminates our license due to
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our breach, rights to the intellectual property revert back to the licensor. Any termination or reversion of our rights to develop or commercialize our products would have a material adverse effect on our business.
If our efforts to protect the proprietary nature of the intellectual property related to our products are not adequate, we may not be able to compete effectively in our markets.
Method of treatment patents protect the use of a product for the method specified in the patent claims. This type of patent does not prevent a competitor from making and marketing a product that is identical to our product for a use that is outside the scope of the patented method. Moreover, even if competitors do not actively promote their product for our patented methods, physicians may prescribe these products “off-label.” Although off-label prescriptions may infringe or contribute to the infringement of method of treatment patents, such infringement may be difficult to prevent.
Our patents and patent applications may be challenged or fail to result in issued patents and our existing or future patents may be too narrow to prevent third parties from developing or designing around these patents. In addition, we generally rely on trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect certain proprietary know-how that is not patentable, for processes for which patents are difficult to enforce and for any other elements of our drug development processes that involve proprietary know-how, information and technology that is not covered by patent applications. While we require all of our employees, consultants, advisors and any third parties who have access to our proprietary know-how, information and technology to enter into confidentiality agreements, we cannot be certain that this know-how, information and technology will not be disclosed or that competitors will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or independently develop substantially equivalent information and techniques. Further, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the U.S. As a result, we may encounter significant problems in protecting and defending our intellectual property both in the U.S. and abroad. If we are unable to protect or defend the intellectual property related to our technologies, we will not be able to establish or maintain a competitive advantage in our market.
Even if our patent applications issue as patents, they may not issue in a form that will provide us with any meaningful protection, prevent competitors from competing with us or otherwise provide us with any competitive advantage. Our competitors may be able to circumvent our owned or licensed patents by developing similar or alternative technologies or products in a non-infringing manner. Our competitors may seek to market generic versions of any approved products by submitting ANDAs to the FDA in which they claim that patents owned or licensed by us are invalid, unenforceable and/or not infringed. Alternatively, our competitors may seek approval to market their own products similar to or otherwise competitive with our products. In these circumstances, we may need to defend and/or assert our patents, including by filing lawsuits alleging patent infringement. In any of these types of proceedings, a court or other agency with jurisdiction may find our patents invalid and/or unenforceable. Even if we have valid and enforceable patents, these patents still may not provide protection against competing products or processes sufficient to achieve our business objectives.
The issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its inventorship, scope, validity or enforceability, and our owned and licensed patents may be challenged in the courts or patent offices in the U.S. and abroad. Such challenges may result in loss of exclusivity or freedom to operate or in patent claims being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable, in whole or in part, which could limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar or identical technology and products, or limit the duration of the patent protection of our technology and products. In addition, given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized.
We are, have been, and may continue to be, involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents, which could be expensive, time-consuming and unsuccessful, and third parties may challenge the validity or enforceability of our patents and they may be successful.
Even where laws provide protection or we are able to obtain patents, costly and time-consuming litigation may be necessary to enforce and determine the scope of our proprietary rights, and the outcome of such litigation would be uncertain. Moreover, any actions we may bring to enforce our intellectual property against our competitors could provoke them to bring counterclaims against us, and some of our competitors have substantially greater intellectual property portfolios than we have. To counter infringement or unauthorized use of any patents we may obtain, we may be required to file infringement claims, which can be expensive and time-consuming to litigate. In addition, if we or one of our future collaborators were to initiate legal proceedings against a third party to enforce a patent covering one of our products, current product candidates, or one of our future products, the defendant could counterclaim that the patent is invalid or unenforceable. In patent litigation in the U.S., defendant counterclaims alleging invalidity or unenforceability are commonplace and challenges to validity of patents in certain foreign jurisdictions are common as well. Grounds for a validity challenge could be an alleged failure to meet any of several statutory requirements, including lack of novelty, obviousness, non-enablement or lack of statutory subject matter. Grounds for
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an unenforceability assertion could be an allegation that someone connected with prosecution of the patent withheld relevant material information from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or made a materially misleading statement, during prosecution. We may assert the patents in Hatch-Waxman litigation against the party filing the ANDA to keep the competing product off of the market until the patents expire but there is a risk that we will not succeed. The party filing the ANDA may also counterclaim in the litigation that our patents are not valid or unenforceable, and the court may find one or more claims of our patents invalid or unenforceable. If this occurs, a competing generic product could be marketed prior to expiration of our patents listed in the FDA’s Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations, commonly known as the “Orange Book,” which would harm our business.
We have been and continue to be involved in number of lawsuits with a variety of generic drug manufacturers who have filed ANDAs relating to certain of our patents. We have been successful in asserting that these third parties have infringed certain of our patents, but we may not be successful in such lawsuits in the future. Please see Note 17, Legal Matters, to the consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report, which is incorporated herein by reference, for additional information.
If we do not obtain protection under the Hatch-Waxman Act and similar foreign legislation to extend our patents and to obtain market exclusivity for our products, our business will be harmed.
The Hatch-Waxman Act provides for an extension of patent term for drugs for a period of up to five years to compensate for time spent in development. The HETLIOZ® U.S. new chemical entity (NCE) patent (the primary patent covering the product as a new composition of matter) received the full five-year patent term extension under the Hatch-Waxman Act and so, assuming that we continue to have rights under our license agreement with respect to this product, this patent in the U.S. expires in December 2022. We also own HETLIOZ® U.S. method of treatment patents (directed to the approved method of treatment as described in the HETLIOZ® label approved by the FDA), which expire normally between 2033 and 2035, and two drug substance patents that expire in 2035. The Fanapt® U.S. NCE patent received the full five-year patent term extension under the Hatch-Waxman Act and so this patent in the U.S. expired in November 2016. In November 2013, a patent directed to a method of treating patients with Fanapt® based on genotype was issued to us by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This patent, which was listed in the Orange Book in January 2015, is set to expire in 2027. Please see the risk factor entitled “We are, have been, and may continue to be, involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents, which could be expensive, time-consuming and unsuccessful, and third parties may challenge the validity or enforceability of our patents and they may be successful,” and Note 17, Legal Matters, to the consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report, which is incorporated herein by reference, for additional information. Eight additional U.S. patents directed to methods of treating patients with Fanapt®, which are set to expire between 2025 and 2031, were issued to us in 2015.
A directive in the E.U. provides that companies that receive regulatory approval for a new medicinal product will have a 10-year period of market exclusivity for that product (with the possibility of a further one-year extension), beginning on the date of such European regulatory approval, regardless of when the European NCE patent covering such product expires. A generic version of the approved drug may not be marketed or sold in Europe during such market exclusivity period. This directive is of material importance with respect to Fanapt®, since the European NCE patent for Fanapt® has expired.
Assuming we gain a five-year patent term restoration for tradipitant, and that we continue to have rights under our license agreement with respect to this product, we would have exclusive rights to tradipitant’s U.S. NCE patent until 2029. Assuming we gain a five-year patent term restoration for VQW-765, and that we continue to have rights under our license agreement with respect to this product, we would have exclusive rights to VQW-765’s U.S. NCE patent until 2028.
However, there is no assurance that we will receive the extensions of our patents or other exclusive rights available under the Hatch-Waxman Act or similar foreign legislation. If we fail to receive such extensions or exclusive rights, our ability to prevent competitors from manufacturing, marketing and selling generic versions of our products will be materially impaired.
We may not be successful in the development of products for our own account.
In addition to our business strategy of acquiring rights to develop and commercialize products, we may develop products for our own account by applying our technologies to off-patent drugs as well as developing our own proprietary molecules. Because we will be funding the development of such programs, there is a risk that we may not be able to continue to fund all such programs to completion or to provide the support necessary to perform the clinical trials, obtain regulatory approvals or market any approved products. We expect the development of products for our own account to consume substantial resources. If we are able to develop commercial products on our own, the risks associated with these programs may be greater than those associated with our programs with collaborative partners.
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Litigation or third-party claims of intellectual property infringement could require us to divert resources and may prevent or delay our drug discovery and development efforts.
Our commercial success depends in part on our not infringing the patents and proprietary rights of third parties. Third parties may assert that we are employing their proprietary technology without authorization. In addition, third parties may obtain patents in the future and claim that use of our technologies infringes upon these patents.
Furthermore, parties making claims against us may obtain injunctive or other equitable relief, which could effectively block our ability to develop and commercialize one or more of our products. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, would divert substantial financial and employee resources from our business. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us, we may have to pay substantial damages, obtain one or more licenses from third parties or pay royalties. In addition, even in the absence of litigation, we may need to obtain additional licenses from third parties to advance our research or allow commercialization of our products. We may fail to obtain any of these licenses at a reasonable cost or on reasonable terms, if at all. In that event, we would be unable to develop and commercialize further one or more of our products.
In addition, in the future we could be required to initiate litigation to enforce our proprietary rights against infringement by third parties. Prosecution of these claims to enforce our rights against others could divert substantial financial and employee resources from our business. If we fail to enforce our proprietary rights against others, our business will be harmed.
As described elsewhere in these risk factors and in Note 17, Legal Matters, to the consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report, incorporated herein by reference, we have initiated lawsuits to enforce our patent rights against certain generic pharmaceutical companies.
General Risk Factors
Our stock price has been highly volatile and may be volatile in the future, and purchasers of our common stock could incur substantial losses.
The realization of any of the risks described in these risk factors or other unforeseen risks could have a dramatic and adverse effect on the market price of our common stock. Between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020, the high and low sale prices of our common stock as reported on The Nasdaq Global Market varied between $7.12 and $16.96. Additionally, market prices for securities of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, including ours, have historically been very volatile. The market for these securities has from time to time experienced significant price and volume fluctuations for reasons that were unrelated to the operating performance of any one company.
The following factors, in addition to the other risk factors described in this section, may also have a significant impact on the market price of our common stock:
•our level of success in commercializing our products;
•our level of success in executing our commercialization strategies;
•publicity regarding actual or potential testing or trial results relating to products under development by us or our competitors;
•the outcome of regulatory review relating to products under development by us or our competitors;
•regulatory developments in the U.S. and foreign countries;
•developments concerning any collaboration or other strategic transaction we may undertake;
•publicity regarding actual or potential litigation involving us;
•announcements of patent issuances or denials, technological innovations or new commercial products by us or our competitors;
•safety issues with our products or those of our competitors;
•announcements of technological innovations or new therapeutic products or methods by us or others;
•actual or anticipated variations in our quarterly operating results;
•changes in estimates of our financial results or recommendations by securities analysts or failure to meet such financial expectations;
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•changes in government regulations or policies;
•changes in patent legislation or patent decisions or adverse changes to patent law;
•additions or departures of key personnel or members of our board of directors;
•the publication of negative research or articles about our company, our business or our products by industry analysts or others;
•market rumors or press reports;
•publicity regarding actual or potential transactions involving us; and
•economic, political and other external factors beyond our control.
We have been and may in the future be subject to litigation, which could harm our stock price, business, results of operations and financial condition.
We have been the subject of litigation in the past and may be subject to litigation in the future. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of their stock, many companies, including us, have been the subjects of securities class action litigation. Any such litigation can result in substantial costs and diversion of management’s attention and resources and could harm our stock price, business results of operations and financial condition. As a result of these factors, holders of our common stock might be unable to sell their shares at or above the price they paid for such shares.
If there are substantial sales of our common stock, our stock price could decline.
A small number of institutional investors and private equity funds hold a significant number of shares of our common stock. Sales by these stockholders of a substantial number of shares, or the expectation of such sales, could cause a significant reduction in the market price of our common stock.
In addition to our outstanding common stock, as of December 31, 2020, there were a total of 5,246,381 shares of our common stock that we have registered and that we are obligated to issue upon the exercise of currently outstanding options and settlement of restricted stock unit awards granted under our 2006 and 2016 Equity Incentive Plans. Upon the exercise of these options or settlement of the shares underlying these restricted stock units, as the case may be, in accordance with their respective terms, these shares may be resold freely, subject to restrictions imposed on our affiliates under Rule 144. If significant sales of these shares occur in short periods of time, these sales could reduce the market price of our common stock. Any reduction in the trading price of our common stock could impede our ability to raise capital on attractive terms, if at all.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports or publish unfavorable research about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We currently have research coverage by securities and industry analysts. If one or more of the analysts who covers us downgrades our stock, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of our company or fails to regularly publish reports on us, interest in the purchase of our stock could decrease, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.
Our common stock may experience future dilution as a result of future equity offerings.
In order to raise additional capital, we may in the future offer additional shares of our common stock or other securities convertible into or exchangeable for our common stock at prices that may not be the same as the price per share in previous offerings. We may sell shares or other securities in any other offering at a price per share that is less than the price per share paid by investors in previous offerings, and investors purchasing shares or other securities in the future could have rights superior to existing stockholders. The price per share at which we sell additional shares of our common stock, or securities convertible or exchangeable into common stock, in future transactions may be higher or lower than the price per share paid by investors.
Our business could be negatively affected as a result of the actions of activist stockholders.
Proxy contests have been waged against many companies in the biopharmaceutical industry, including us, over the last several years. If faced with a proxy contest or other type of shareholder activism, we may not be able to respond successfully to
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the contest or dispute, which would be disruptive to our business. Even if we are successful, our business could be adversely affected by a proxy contest or shareholder dispute involving us because:
•responding to proxy contests and other actions by activist stockholders can be costly and time-consuming, disrupting operations and diverting the attention of management and employees;
•perceived uncertainties as to future direction may result in the loss of potential acquisitions, collaborations or in-licensing opportunities, and may make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified personnel and business partners; and
•if individuals are elected to a board of directors with a specific agenda, it may adversely affect our ability to effectively and timely implement our strategic plan and create additional value for our stockholders.
These actions could cause our stock price to experience periods of volatility.
Anti-takeover provisions in our charter and bylaws and under Delaware law, and the adoption of a rights plan, could prevent or delay a change in control of our company.
We are a Delaware corporation and the anti-takeover provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law may discourage, delay or prevent a change in control by prohibiting us from engaging in a business combination with an interested stockholder for a period of three years after the person becomes an interested stockholder, even if a change of control would be beneficial to our existing stockholders. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws may discourage, delay or prevent a change in our management or control over us that stockholders may consider favorable. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws:
•authorize the issuance of “blank check” preferred stock that could be issued by our board of directors to thwart a takeover attempt;
•do not provide for cumulative voting in the election of directors, which would allow holders of less than a majority of the stock to elect some directors;
•establish a classified board of directors, as a result of which the successors to the directors whose terms have expired will be elected to serve from the time of election and qualification until the third annual meeting following their election;
•require that directors only be removed from office for cause;
•provide that vacancies on the board of directors, including newly created directorships, may be filled only by a majority vote of directors then in office;
•limit who may call special meetings of stockholders;
•prohibit stockholder action by written consent, requiring all actions to be taken at a meeting of the stockholders; and
•establish advance notice requirements for nominating candidates for election to the board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted upon by stockholders at stockholder meetings.
Our board of directors previously adopted a rights agreement, the provisions of which could have had the effect of discouraging, delaying or preventing a change in or management or control over us. While there is no plan to do so at this time, our board of directors may choose to adopt a new rights plan in the future.
Changes to tax regulations to which we are subject could adversely affect us.
We are subject to tax laws, treaties and regulations in the countries in which we operate, and these laws and treaties are subject to interpretation. New legislation or regulation that could affect our tax burden could be enacted by any governmental authority. We cannot predict the timing or extent of such tax-related developments which could have a negative impact on our financial results. We have taken, and will continue to take, tax positions based on our interpretation of such tax laws. However, a challenge by a taxing authority, our ability to utilize tax benefits such as carryforwards or tax credits, or a deviation from other tax-related assumptions may cause our actual financial results to deviate from previous estimates.
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Future transactions may harm our business or the market price of our stock.
We regularly review potential transactions related to technologies, products or product rights and businesses complementary to our business. These transactions could include:
•mergers;
•acquisitions;
•strategic alliances;
•licensing agreements; and
•co-promotion and similar agreements.
We may choose to enter into one or more of these transactions at any time, which may cause substantial fluctuations in the market price of our stock. Moreover, depending upon the nature of any transaction, we may experience a charge to earnings, which could also materially adversely affect our results of operations and could harm the market price of our stock.
We may undertake strategic acquisitions in the future, and difficulties integrating such acquisitions could damage our ability to achieve or sustain profitability.
Although we have no experience in acquiring businesses, we may acquire businesses or assets that complement or augment our existing business. If we acquire businesses with promising products or technologies, we may not be able to realize the benefit of acquiring such businesses if we are unable to move one or more products through preclinical and/or clinical development to regulatory approval and commercialization. Integrating any newly acquired businesses or technologies could be expensive and time-consuming, resulting in the diversion of resources from our current business. We may not be able to integrate any acquired business successfully. We cannot assure that, following an acquisition, we will achieve revenues, specific net income or loss levels that justify the acquisition or that the acquisition will result in increased earnings, or reduced losses, for the combined company in any future period. Moreover, we may need to raise additional funds through public or private debt or equity financing to acquire any businesses, which would result in dilution for stockholders or the incurrence of indebtedness and may not be available on terms which would otherwise be acceptable to us. We may not be able to operate acquired businesses profitably or otherwise implement our growth strategy successfully.
Our operating results may fluctuate significantly due to a number of factors which make our future results difficult to predict and could cause our operating results to fall below expectations or our guidance.
Our operating results will continue to be subject to fluctuations and are affected by numerous factors, including:
•product sales;
•cost of product sales;
•marketing and other expenses;
•manufacturing or supply issues;
•the timing and amount of royalties or milestone payments;
•our addition or termination of development programs;
•variations in the level of expenses related to our products or future development programs;
•regulatory developments affecting our products or those of our competitors;
•our execution of collaborative, licensing or other arrangements, and the timing of payments we may make or receive under these arrangements;
•any intellectual property infringement or other lawsuit in which we may become involved; and
•the timing and recognition of stock-based compensation expense.
If our operating results fall below the expectations of investors or securities analysts or below any guidance we may provide, the price of our common stock could decline substantially. Furthermore, any fluctuations in our operating results may, in turn, cause the price of our stock to fluctuate substantially. We believe that comparisons of our financial results are not necessarily meaningful and should not be relied upon as an indication of our future performance.
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We are increasingly dependent on information technology systems, infrastructure and data. Cybersecurity breaches could expose us to liability, damage our reputation, compromise our confidential information or otherwise adversely affect our business.
We are increasingly dependent upon information technology systems, infrastructure and data. Our computer systems may be vulnerable to service interruption or destruction, malicious intrusion and random attack. Security breaches pose a risk that sensitive data, including intellectual property, trade secrets or personal information may be exposed to unauthorized persons or to the public. Cyber-attacks are increasing in their frequency, sophistication and intensity, and have become increasingly difficult to detect. Cyber-attacks could include the deployment of harmful malware, denial-of service, social engineering and other means to affect service reliability and threaten data confidentiality, integrity and availability. Our key business partners face similar risks, and a security breach of their systems could adversely affect our security posture. While we continue to invest in data protection and information technology, there can be no assurance that our efforts will prevent service interruptions, or identify breaches in our systems, that could adversely affect our business and operations and/or result in the loss of critical or sensitive information, which could result in financial, legal, business or reputational harm.
Our internal computer systems, or those of our collaborator, CROs or other contractors or consultants, may fail or suffer security breaches, which could result in a material disruption of development programs for our product candidates.
Despite the implementation of security measures, our internal computer systems and those of our collaborators, CROs, and other contractors and consultants are vulnerable to damage from computer viruses, unauthorized access, natural disasters, terrorism, war and telecommunication and electrical failures. Information security risks have significantly increased in recent years in part due to the proliferation of new technologies and the increased sophistication and activities of organized crime, hackers, terrorists and other external parties, including foreign state actors. As cyber threats continue to evolve, we may be required to expend significant additional resources to continue to modify or enhance our protective measures or to investigate and remediate any information security breaches.
While we have not experienced any such system failure, accident or security breach to date, if such an event were to occur and cause interruptions in our operations, it could result in a material disruption of our independent drug development programs. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from ongoing or future clinical trials for any of our product candidates could result in delays in regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase costs to recover or reproduce the data. Our information security systems are also subject to laws and regulations requiring that we take measures to protect the privacy and security of certain information we gather and use in our business. For example, HIPAA and its implementing regulations impose, among other requirements, certain regulatory and contractual requirements regarding the privacy and security of personal health information. In addition to HIPAA, numerous other federal and state laws, including, without limitation, state security breach notification laws, state health information privacy laws and federal and state consumer protection laws, govern the collection, use, disclosure and storage of personal information. To the extent that any disruption or security breach were to result in a loss of or damage to data or applications, or inappropriate disclosure of confidential or proprietary information or personal health information, we could incur substantial liability, our reputation would be damaged, and the further development of our product candidates could be delayed.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
Not applicable.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Our headquarters office consists of a total of 43,462 square feet of office space located at 2200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. in Washington, D.C. under operating leases and subleases that expire between 2026 and 2028 and are subject to renewal options. In addition, we have 2,880 square feet of office space in London, England under an operating lease that has a lease term ending in 2023 and is subject to a renewal option, and other short-term leases. We believe that these facilities are suitable and adequate to meet our anticipated near-term needs. We anticipate that following the expiration of the leases, additional or alternative space will be available at commercially reasonable terms.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Information with respect is item may be found in Note 17, Legal Matters, to the consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report, which is incorporated herein by reference.
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ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
PART II
Our common stock is quoted on The Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “VNDA.” As of February 4, 2021, there were seven holders of record of our common stock. The number of holders of record of our common stock does not reflect the number of beneficial holders whose shares are held by depositors, brokers or other nominees.
Market Price of and Dividends on the Registrant’s Common Equity and Related Stockholder Matters
The following graph shows the cumulative five-year total return on our common stock relative to the cumulative total returns of the Nasdaq Composite Index and the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index. An investment of $100 (with reinvestment of dividends) is assumed to have been made in our common stock and in each of the indexes on December 31, 2015 and its relative performance is tracked through December 31, 2020. The comparisons in the table are required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and are not intended to forecast or be indicative of possible future performance of our common stock. We have never paid cash dividends to our stockholders and do not plan to pay dividends in the foreseeable future. The following graph and related information is being furnished solely to accompany this Annual Report pursuant to Item 201(e) of Regulation S-K and shall not be deemed “soliciting materials” or to be “filed” with the SEC (other than as provided in Item 201), nor shall such information be incorporated by reference into any of our filings under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, whether made before or after the date hereof, and irrespective of any general incorporation language in any such filing.
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Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Incentive Plans
Information regarding securities authorized for issuance under equity incentive plans will be contained in our Proxy Statement for the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be filed with the SEC within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 and is incorporated herein by reference pursuant to General Instruction G(3) to Form 10-K.
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ITEM 6. SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA
The Consolidated Statements of Operations data for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 and the Consolidated Balance Sheet data as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 are each derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report. The Consolidated Statements of Operations data for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, and the Consolidated Balance Sheet data as of December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 are each derived from our audited consolidated financial statements not included herein. Our historical results for any prior period are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected in any future period.
The following data should be read together with our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes and Part II, Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, included in this Annual Report.
Year Ended December 31,
Statements of Operations Data
Operating expenses:
Net income (loss) per share:
Weighted average shares outstanding:
December 31,
Balance Sheet Data
(1)We adopted Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 842 Leases (ASC 842), effective January 1, 2019, using a modified retrospective transition. Results for the years ended prior to December 31, 2019 are accounted for in accordance with ASC 840.
(2)We adopted ASC 606 Revenue from Contracts with Customers (ASC 606), effective January 1, 2018, using the modified retrospective method to those contracts that were not completed as of January 1, 2018. Results for the years ended prior to December 31, 2018 are accounted for in accordance with ASC 605.
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You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with Part II, Item 6, Selected Consolidated Financial Data, and our consolidated financial statements and related notes appearing in this annual report on Form 10-K (Annual Report). This discussion and analysis generally addresses 2020 and 2019 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2020 and 2019. Discussions of 2018 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2019 and 2018 that are not included in this Annual Report can be found in Part II, Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019. Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis or set forth elsewhere in this Annual Report include historical information and other information with respect to our plans and strategy for our business and contain forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including but not limited to those set forth under Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors, and elsewhere in this Annual Report.
Overview
Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (we, our or Vanda) is a leading global biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapies to address high unmet medical needs and improve the lives of patients.
We strive to advance novel approaches to bring important, new medicines to market through responsible innovation. We are committed to the use of technologies that support sound science, including genetics and genomics, in drug discovery, clinical trials and the commercial positioning of our products.
Our commercial portfolio is currently comprised of two products, HETLIOZ® for the treatment of Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder (Non-24) and nighttime sleep disturbances in Smith-Magenis Syndrome (SMS) and Fanapt® for the treatment of schizophrenia. HETLIOZ® is the first treatment for patients with Non-24 and SMS approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In addition, we have a number of drugs in development, including:
•HETLIOZ® (tasimelteon) for the treatment of jet lag disorder, pediatric Non-24, delayed sleep phase disorder (DSPD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD);
•Fanapt® (iloperidone) for the treatment of bipolar disorder and Parkinson's disease psychosis (PDP) and a long acting injectable (LAI) formulation for the treatment of schizophrenia;
•Tradipitant (VLY-686), a small molecule neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R) antagonist, for the treatment of gastroparesis, motion sickness, atopic dermatitis, and COVID-19 pneumonia;
•VTR-297, a small molecule histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor for the treatment of hematologic malignancies and with potential use as a treatment for several oncology indications;
•Portfolio of Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) activators and inhibitors, including VSJ-110 for the treatment of dry eye and ocular inflammation and BPO-27 for the treatment of secretory diarrhea disorders, including cholera; and
•VQW-765, a small molecule nicotinic acetylcholine receptor partial agonist, with potential use for the treatment of psychiatric disorders.
Operational Highlights
Products
Vanda is encouraged by the strength of its commercial performance during the fourth quarter of 2020. Vanda continues to implement marketing and sales strategies aimed at supporting growth and minimizing the impact of disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Fanapt® for schizophrenia direct-to-consumer campaign, which was launched in 2020. Vanda is continuing its activities to support and facilitate the treatment of individuals in the U.S. living with SMS, and is committed to its awareness campaign and the support of patients suffering with Non-24.
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Pipeline
Tradipitant
•The gastroparesis Phase III clinical study (VP-VLY-686-3301) is ongoing. The study has a target enrollment of 200 randomized patients and is expected to complete enrollment in the first half of 2021, with a New Drug Application (NDA) filing projected in the second half of 2021.
•The COVID-19 pneumonia Phase III clinical study (ODYSSEY VLY-686-3501) is ongoing.
HETLIOZ® (tasimelteon)
•In December 2020, the FDA approved HETLIOZ® capsule and liquid formulations for the treatment of adults and children, respectively, with nighttime sleep disturbances in SMS. HETLIOZ® capsules, for adults with SMS, were immediately available after approval and HETLIOZ LQTM oral suspension, for children with SMS, is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2021. SMS is estimated to affect 1/15,000-25,000 births in the U.S. HETLIOZ® is the first and only FDA approved medication for patients with SMS.
•A Phase III clinical study for HETLIOZ® in DSPD is expected to be initiated in the first quarter of 2021.
•A clinical development program for HETLIOZ® in ASD is expected to be initiated in the first quarter of 2021.
Fanapt® (iloperidone)
•Development of the LAI formulation of Fanapt® is ongoing.
•A clinical program for Fanapt® in PDP is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2021.
Since we began operations, we have devoted substantially all of our resources to the in-licensing, clinical development and commercialization of our products. Our ability to generate meaningful product sales and achieve profitability largely depends on our level of success in commercializing HETLIOZ® and Fanapt® in the U.S. and Europe, on our ability, alone or with others, to complete the development of our products, and to obtain the regulatory approvals for and to manufacture, market and sell our products. The results of our operations will vary significantly from year-to-year and quarter-to-quarter and depend on a number of factors, including risks related to our business, risks related to our industry, and other risks that are detailed in Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors, of this Annual Report.
Critical Accounting Policies
The preparation of our consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of our financial statements, as well as the reported revenues and expenses during the reported periods. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
A summary of our significant accounting policies appears in the notes to our audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020 included in this Annual Report. However, we believe that the following accounting policies are important to understanding and evaluating our reported financial results, and we have accordingly included them in this discussion.
Revenue from net product sales. Our net product sales consist of sales of HETLIOZ® and sales of Fanapt®. In accordance with ASC 606 Revenue from Contracts with Customers (ASC 606), we account for a contract when it has approval and commitment from both parties, the rights of the parties are identified, payment terms are identified, the contract has commercial substance and collectability of consideration is probable. We recognize revenue when control of the product is transferred to the customer in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to be entitled to in exchange for those product sales, which is typically once the product physically arrives at the customer.
HETLIOZ® is available in the U.S. for distribution through a limited number of specialty pharmacies, and is not available in retail pharmacies. Fanapt® is available in the U.S. for distribution through a limited number of wholesalers and is available in retail pharmacies. We invoice and record revenue when customers, specialty pharmacies and wholesalers, receive product from the third-party logistics warehouse, which is the point at which control is transferred to the customer. Revenues and accounts receivable are concentrated with these customers. Outside the U.S., we sell HETLIOZ® in Germany and have a distribution agreement with Megapharm Ltd. for the commercialization of Fanapt® in Israel. Receivables are carried at
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transaction price net of allowance for credit losses. Allowance for credit losses is measured using historical loss rates based on the aging of receivables and incorporating current conditions and forward-looking estimates.
The transaction price is determined based upon the consideration to which we will be entitled in exchange for transferring product to the customer. Our product sales are recorded net of applicable product revenue allowances for which reserves are established and include discounts, rebates, chargebacks, service fees, co-pay assistance and product returns that are applicable for various government and commercial payors. We estimate the amount of variable consideration that should be included in the transaction price utilizing the most likely amount method and update our estimate at each reporting date. Variable consideration is included in the transaction price if, in our judgment, it is probable that a significant future reversal of cumulative revenue under the contract will not occur. Allowances for rebates, chargebacks and co-pay assistance are based upon the insurance benefits of the end customer, which are estimated using historical activity and, where available, actual and pending prescriptions for which we have validated the insurance benefits. Reserves for variable consideration are classified as product revenue allowances on the Consolidated Balance Sheets, with the exception of prompt-pay discounts which are classified as reductions of accounts receivable. The reserve for product returns for which the product may not be returned for a period of greater than one year from the balance sheet date is included as a component of other non-current liabilities in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Uncertainties related to variable consideration are generally resolved in the quarter subsequent to period end, with the exception of Medicaid rebates, which are dependent upon the timing of when states submit reimbursement claims, and product returns that are resolved during the product expiry period specified in the customer contract. We currently record sales allowances for the following:
•Prompt-pay: Specialty pharmacies and wholesalers are offered discounts for prompt payment. We expect that the specialty pharmacies and wholesalers will earn prompt payment discounts and, therefore, deduct the full amount of these discounts from total product sales when revenues are recognized.
•Rebates: Allowances for rebates include mandated discounts under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program as well as contracted rebate programs with other payors. Rebate amounts owed after the final dispensing of the product to a benefit plan participant are based upon contractual agreements or legal requirements with public sector benefit providers, such as Medicaid. The allowance for rebates is based on statutory or contracted discount rates and estimated patient utilization.
•Chargebacks: Chargebacks are discounts that occur when contracted indirect customers purchase directly from specialty pharmacies and wholesalers. Contracted indirect customers, which currently consist primarily of Public Health Service institutions and federal government entities purchasing via the Federal Supply Schedule, generally purchase the product at a discounted price. The specialty pharmacy or wholesaler, in turn, charges back the difference between the price initially paid by the specialty pharmacy or wholesaler and the discounted price paid to the specialty pharmacy or wholesaler by the contracted customer.
•Medicare Part D coverage gap: The Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit requires manufacturers to fund approximately 70% of the Medicare Part D insurance coverage gap for prescription drugs sold to eligible patients for applicable drugs. We account for the Medicare Part D coverage gap using a point of sale model. Estimates for expected Medicare Part D coverage gap are based in part on historical activity and, where available, actual and pending prescriptions when we have validated the insurance benefits.
•Service fees: We receive sales order management, data and distribution services from certain customers. These fees are based on contracted terms and are known amounts. We accrue service fees at the time of revenue recognition, resulting in a reduction of product sales and the recognition of an accrued liability, unless it is a payment for a distinct good or service from the customer in which case the fair value of those distinct goods or services are recorded as selling, general and administrative expense.
•Co-payment assistance: Patients who have commercial insurance and meet certain eligibility requirements may receive co-payment assistance. Co-pay assistance utilization is based on information provided by our third-party administrator.
•Product returns: We generally offer direct customers a limited right to return as contractually defined with our customers. We consider several factors in the estimation process, including expiration dates of product shipped to customers, inventory levels within the distribution channel, product shelf life, historical return activity, including activity for product sold for which the return period has past, prescription trends and other relevant factors. We do not expect returned goods to be resalable. There was no right of return asset as of December 31, 2020 or 2019.
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The following table summarizes sales discounts and allowance activity as of and for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018:
(in thousands) Rebates &Chargebacks Discounts,Returnsand Other Total
Adjustments for prior period sales (350) (399) (749)
The provision for rebates and chargebacks of $70.6 million and $59.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and their ending balances at December 31, 2020 and 2019, primarily represent Medicaid rebates applicable to sales of Fanapt® and, to a lesser extent, Medicaid rebates applicable to sales of HETLIOZ®. The provision for discounts, returns and other of $28.0 million and $26.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, primarily represents wholesaler distribution fees applicable to sales of Fanapt® and, to a lesser extent, estimated product returns of Fanapt®, and co-pay assistance costs and prompt pay discounts applicable to the sales of both HETLIOZ® and Fanapt®. The ending balances of discounts, returns and other as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 primarily represent estimated product returns of Fanapt® and wholesaler distribution fees applicable to sales of Fanapt®.