Achieve Life Sciences, Inc 10-Q for FY2026 Q1
Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. (ACHV)
About this 10-Q
Achieve Life Sciences, Inc filed this 10-Q on May 12, 2026, covering the quarter ended March 31, 2026 (FY2026 Q1).
Headline figures
Quarter ended March 31, 2026, as reported in this filing, compared with the same period a year earlier where the filing states it.
- Net loss
- $10.17M
- compared with a net loss of $12.83M a year earlier
- Diluted EPS
- -$0.19
- compared with -$0.37 a year earlier
e
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM
FOR THE QUARTERLY PERIOD ENDED
or
FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM ______________ TO ____________.
Commission file number
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: |
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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
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Emerging growth company |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No
Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date.
As of May 12, 2026 there were
Achieve Life Sciences, Inc.
Index to Form 10-Q
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Item 1. |
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Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2026 (unaudited) and December 31, 2025 |
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Item 2. |
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations |
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Item 3. |
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Item 4. |
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Item 1A. |
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Item 6. |
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Items 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are not applicable and therefore have been omitted. |
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2
INFORMATION REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. We caution readers that any forward-looking statement is not a guarantee of future performance and that actual results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statement. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. We operate in a competitive and rapidly changing environment, and new risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements about future financial and operating results, plans, objectives, expectations and intentions, costs and expenses, interest rates, outcome of contingencies, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, business strategies, cost savings, objectives of management and other statements that are not historical facts. You can find many of these statements by looking for words like “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “may,” “should,” “will,” “could,” “plan,” “intend” or similar expressions in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or in documents incorporated by reference into this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Examples of these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to:
These forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of our management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from current expectations and projections. Factors that might cause such a difference include those discussed in Item 1A “Risk Factors,” as well as those discussed elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or, in the case of documents referred to or incorporated by reference, the date of those documents.
All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. We do not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as may be required under applicable U.S. securities law. If we do update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.
Summary of Risk Factors
An investment in our common stock involves various risks, and prospective investors are urged to carefully consider the matters discussed in the section titled “Risk Factors” prior to making an investment in our common stock. These risks include, but are not limited to, the following:
3
4
PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1. Consolidated Financial Statements
Achieve Life Sciences, Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Unaudited)
(In thousands, except per share and share amounts)
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March 31, |
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December 31, |
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2026 |
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2025 |
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ASSETS |
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Current assets: |
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Cash and cash equivalents [note 5] |
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$ |
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$ |
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Marketable securities [note 5] |
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Prepaid expenses and other assets |
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Prepaid expenses and other assets - related parties [note 8] |
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Total current assets |
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Non-current assets: |
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Other assets and restricted cash [note 5] |
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Right-of-use assets [note 9] |
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License agreement [note 3 and note 4] |
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Goodwill |
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Total assets |
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$ |
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$ |
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LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY |
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Current liabilities: |
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Accounts payable |
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$ |
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$ |
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Accounts payable - related parties [note 8] |
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Accrued liabilities other |
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Accrued liabilities other - related parties [note 8] |
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Accrued clinical liabilities |
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Accrued clinical liabilities - related parties [note 8] |
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— |
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Accrued compensation |
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Current contingent consideration [note 4 and note 5] |
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Current portion of long-term obligations [note 9] |
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Current portion of convertible debt [note 5 and note 6] |
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Total current liabilities |
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Non-current liabilities |
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Non-current portion of convertible debt [note 5 and note 6] |
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Non-current contingent consideration [note 4 and note 5] |
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— |
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Long-term obligations [note 9] |
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— |
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Total liabilities |
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[note 9] |
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Stockholders' equity: |
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Series A convertible preferred stock, $ |
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Series B convertible preferred stock, $ |
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Common stock, $ |
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Additional paid-in capital |
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Accumulated deficit |
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Accumulated other comprehensive income |
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Total stockholders' equity |
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Total liabilities and stockholders' equity |
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$ |
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$ |
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Subsequent events [note 10] |
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See accompanying notes.
5
Achieve Life Sciences, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Loss and Comprehensive Loss
(Unaudited)
(In thousands, except per share and share amounts)
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Three Months Ended |
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March 31, |
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2026 |
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2025 |
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EXPENSES |
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Research and development |
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Research and development - related parties [note 8] |
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— |
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General and administrative |
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General and administrative - related parties [note 8] |
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— |
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Total operating expenses |
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OTHER INCOME |
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Interest income |
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Interest expense [note 6] |
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Change in fair value of contingent consideration [note 4 and note 5] |
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Other (expenses) income |
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Total other income |
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Net loss |
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$ |
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OTHER COMPREHENSIVE LOSS |
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Net unrealized loss on marketable securities |
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Total other comprehensive loss |
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Comprehensive loss |
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$ |
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$ |
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Basic and diluted net loss per common share [note 7[d]] |
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$ |
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Weighted average shares used in computation of basic and diluted net loss per common share [note 7[d]] |
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See accompanying notes.
6
Achieve Life Sciences, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Unaudited)
(In thousands)
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Three Months Ended |
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March 31, |
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2026 |
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2025 |
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Operating Activities: |
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Net loss |
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$ |
( |
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$ |
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Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: |
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Depreciation and amortization [note 3] |
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Stock-based compensation [note 7[c], note 7[e] and note 7[f]] |
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Amortization of 2024 SVB convertible term loan transaction costs [note 6] |
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Change in fair value of contingent consideration [note 4 and note 5] |
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Changes in operating assets and liabilities: |
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Prepaid expenses and other assets |
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Prepaid expenses and other assets - related parties [note 8] |
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— |
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Accounts payable |
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( |
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Accounts payable - related parties [note 8] |
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— |
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Accrued liabilities, other |
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Accrued liabilities other - related parties [note 8] |
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Accrued clinical liabilities |
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Accrued clinical liabilities - related parties [note 8] |
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— |
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Accrued compensation |
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Lease obligation [note 9] |
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— |
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Net cash used in operating activities |
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Financing Activities: |
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Proceeds from exercise of warrants |
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— |
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Net cash provided by financing activities |
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— |
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Investing Activities: |
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Purchase of marketable securities |
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Maturities of marketable securities |
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Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities |
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Effect of exchange rate changes on cash |
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(1 |
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Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash |
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Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of the period |
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Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of the period |
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$ |
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$ |
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See accompanying notes.
7
Achieve Life Sciences, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity
(Unaudited)
(In thousands, except share amounts)
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Accumulated |
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Additional |
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Other |
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Total, |
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Common Stock |
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Preferred Stock |
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Paid-in |
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Comprehensive |
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Accumulated |
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Stockholders’ |
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Shares |
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Amount |
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Shares |
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Amount |
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Capital |
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Income (Loss) |
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Deficit |
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Equity |
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Balance, December 31, 2025 |
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$ |
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— |
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$ |
— |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
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Stock-based compensation expense |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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( |
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— |
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— |
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Shares issued on exercise of warrants |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Other comprehensive loss |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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( |
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— |
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( |
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Net loss |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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( |
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( |
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Balance, March 31, 2026 |
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$ |
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— |
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$ |
— |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
( |
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$ |
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Accumulated |
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Additional |
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Other |
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Total, |
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Common Stock |
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Preferred Stock |
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Paid-in |
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Comprehensive |
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Accumulated |
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Stockholders’ |
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Shares |
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Amount |
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Shares |
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Amount |
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Capital |
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Income (Loss) |
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Deficit |
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Equity |
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Balance, December 31, 2024 |
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$ |
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— |
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$ |
— |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
( |
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$ |
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Stock-based compensation expense |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Other comprehensive income |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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( |
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— |
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( |
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Net loss |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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( |
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( |
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Balance, March 31, 2025 |
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$ |
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— |
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$ |
— |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
( |
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$ |
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See accompanying notes.
8
Achieve Life Sciences, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
(Unaudited)
1. NATURE OF BUSINESS, BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND LIQUIDITY RISK
Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. (referred to as “Achieve,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is a late-stage clinical specialty pharmaceutical company with the sole mission to address the global nicotine dependence epidemic through the development and commercialization of cytisinicline. We were incorporated in the state of Delaware, and operate out of Bothell, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia.
The unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, or U.S. GAAP, for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required to be presented for complete financial statements. The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring items) which are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the interim periods presented. The accompanying consolidated Balance Sheet at December 31, 2025 has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year then ended. The unaudited consolidated financial statements and related disclosures have been prepared with the assumption that users of the interim financial information have read or have access to the audited consolidated financial statements for the preceding fiscal year. Accordingly, these financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 and filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, on March 24, 2026.
The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Achieve and our wholly owned subsidiaries, Achieve Life Sciences Technologies Inc., Achieve Life Science, Inc., Extab Corporation, or Extab, and Achieve Pharma UK Limited. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.
Liquidity Risk
We have historically experienced recurring losses from operations and have incurred an accumulated deficit of $
We have historically financed our operations through equity offerings, debt financings and government grants. While we believe that we will be able to settle our commitments and liabilities in the normal course of business as they fall due during the next 12 months, as a late-stage clinical specialty pharmaceutical company with no current sources of revenue, we are dependent on our ability to raise funds (through public or private securities offerings, debt financings, government funding or grants, or from other sources, which may include licensing, collaborations or other strategic transactions or arrangements) to support our ongoing clinical development and commercialization activities.
2. ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts and related disclosures. We have discussed those estimates that we believe are critical and require the use of complex judgment in their application in our audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025 included in our
9
Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 24, 2026. Since December 31, 2025, there have been no material changes to our critical accounting policies or the methodologies or assumptions we apply under them.
3. INTANGIBLE ASSETS
Our intangible assets related to license agreements are subject to amortization and are amortized using the straight-line method over their estimated useful life.
We acquired license and supply agreements in relation to cytisinicline upon the acquisition of Extab, on May 18, 2015. The agreements were determined to have a fair value of $
The components of intangible assets were as follows (in thousands):
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March 31, 2026 |
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December 31, 2025 |
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Gross Carrying |
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Accumulated |
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|
Net Carrying |
|
|
Gross Carrying |
|
|
Accumulated |
|
|
Net Carrying |
|
||||||
|
|
Value |
|
|
Amortization |
|
|
Value |
|
|
Value |
|
|
Amortization |
|
|
Value |
|
||||||
License Agreements |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
||||
For the three months ended March 31, 2026, and 2025, we recorded license agreement amortization expense of $
Year Ending December 31, |
|
|
|
|
2026 |
|
|
|
|
2027 |
|
|
|
|
2028 |
|
|
|
|
2029 |
|
|
|
|
Total |
|
$ |
|
|
We evaluate the carrying amount of intangible assets periodically by taking into account events or circumstances that may warrant revised estimates of useful life or that indicate the asset may be impaired. We conducted an analysis of potential impairment indicators for long lived assets, including the license and supply agreements for the active pharmaceutical ingredient cytisinicline, and concluded that there were
4. LICENSE AGREEMENTS
Sopharma License and Supply Agreements
We are party to a license agreement, or the Sopharma License Agreement, and a supply agreement, or the Sopharma Supply Agreement, with Sopharma. Pursuant to the Sopharma License Agreement, we were granted access to all available manufacturing, efficacy and safety data related to cytisinicline. Additional rights granted under the Sopharma License Agreement include the exclusive use of, and the right to sublicense, certain Sopharma patent rights and the trademark Tabex in all territories described in the Sopharma License Agreement. Under the Sopharma License Agreement, we agreed to pay a nonrefundable license fee. In addition, we agreed to make certain royalty payments equal to a mid-single digit percentage of all net sales of Tabex branded products in our territory during the term of the Sopharma License Agreement, including those sold by a third party pursuant to any sublicense which may be granted by us. We have agreed to coordinate with Sopharma in the defense against any actual or threatened infringement claims with respect to Tabex branded products. The Sopharma License Agreement will terminate under customary termination provisions including bankruptcy or insolvency and material breach. To date, any amounts paid to Sopharma pursuant to the Sopharma License Agreement have been immaterial.
We communicated to Sopharma that we had concerns regarding their ability to pass an FDA pre-approval inspection and that if those concerns were not resolved, we planned to engage third-party manufacturers, and include such manufacturers in our NDA, until such time that Sopharma is able to pass an FDA inspection. In June 2025, we submitted our NDA, which included third-party manufacturers. Sopharma has alleged that our engagement of third-party manufacturers is a breach of our agreement, which we have disputed and have proposed steps to resolve.
Share Purchase Agreement
10
On May 14, 2015, we entered into a Share Purchase Agreement with Sopharma to acquire
As of March 31, 2026, the fair value of the contingent consideration was estimated to be $
5. FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
Assets and liabilities recorded at fair value in the balance sheets are categorized based upon the level of judgment associated with the inputs used to measure their fair value. For certain of our financial instruments including amounts receivable and accounts payable the carrying values approximate fair value due to their short-term nature.
ASC 820 “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures” specifies a hierarchy of valuation techniques based on whether the inputs to those valuation techniques are observable or unobservable. In accordance with ASC 820, these inputs are summarized in the three broad levels listed below:
As quoted prices in active markets are not readily available for certain financial instruments, we obtain estimates for the fair value of financial instruments through third-party pricing service providers.
In determining the appropriate levels, we performed a detailed analysis of the assets and liabilities that are subject to ASC 820.
We invest our excess cash in accordance with investment guidelines that limit the credit exposure to any one financial institution other than securities issued by the U.S. Government. These securities are not collateralized and mature within
A description of the valuation techniques applied to our financial instruments measured at fair value on a recurring basis follows.
Financial Instruments
The following table presents information about our assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis, and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation techniques we utilized to determine such fair value (in thousands):
March 31, 2026 |
|
Level 1 |
|
|
Level 2 |
|
|
Level 3 |
|
|
Total |
|
||||
Assets |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Money market securities (cash equivalents) |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Corporate bonds and commercial paper (cash equivalents) |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
||
Restricted cash |
|
|
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
||
Commercial paper (marketable securities) |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
||
Total assets |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
|
|||
Liabilities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Convertible debt |
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Contingent consideration |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Total liabilities |
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|||
Money Market Securities
Money market securities are classified within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy and are valued based on quoted prices in active markets for identical securities.
11
Money market securities consist of the following (in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
Gross |
|
|
Gross |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
Amortized |
|
|
Unrealized |
|
|
Unrealized |
|
|
Estimated |
|
||||
March 31, 2026 |
|
Cost |
|
|
Gains |
|
|
Losses |
|
|
Fair Value |
|
||||
Money market securities (cash equivalents) |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Money market securities (restricted cash) |
|
|
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
||
Total money market securities |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
|
||
We only invest in A (or equivalent) rated securities. All securities included in cash and cash equivalents had maturities of
Corporate and Other Debt Corporate Bonds and Commercial Paper
The fair value of corporate bonds and commercial paper is estimated using recently executed transactions, market price quotations (where observable), bond spreads or credit default swap spreads adjusted for any basis difference between cash and derivative instruments. The spread data used are for the same maturity as the bond. If the spread data does not reference the issuer, then data that reference a comparable issuer are used. When observable price quotations are not available, fair value is determined based on cash flow models with yield curves, bond or single name credit default swap spreads and recovery rates based on collateral values as significant inputs. Corporate bonds and commercial paper are generally categorized in Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy; in instances where prices, spreads or any of the other aforementioned key inputs are unobservable, they are categorized in Level 3 of the hierarchy.
|
|
|
|
|
Gross |
|
|
Gross |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
Amortized |
|
|
Unrealized |
|
|
Unrealized |
|
|
Estimated |
|
||||
March 31, 2026 |
|
Cost |
|
|
Gains |
|
|
Losses |
|
|
Fair Value |
|
||||
Corporate bonds and commercial paper (cash equivalents) |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|||
Commercial paper |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|||
Total commercial paper |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|||
Concentration of Cash and Cash Equivalents Risk
We place our cash in a custodial account and in commercial checking and sweep accounts with various financial institutions.
As of March 31, 2026, approximately $
Our commercial bank balances exceed federal insurance limits. We have not experienced any losses in our cash and cash equivalents for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025.
Concentration of Credit Risk
For certain of our financial instruments, including cash and cash equivalents, accounts payable, accrued liabilities other, accrued clinical liabilities and accrued compensation, carrying values approximate fair value due to their short-term nature. Our cash equivalents are recorded at fair value.
Financial risk is the risk to our results of operations that arises from fluctuations in interest rates and foreign exchange rates and the degree of volatility of these rates as well as credit risk associated with the financial stability of the issuers of the financial instruments. Foreign exchange rate risk arises as a portion of our expenses are denominated in other than U.S. dollars.
We invest our excess cash in accordance with investment guidelines, which limit our credit exposure for securities to any one financial institution or corporation other than securities issued by the U.S. government. We only invest in A (or equivalent) rated securities with maturities of one year or less. These securities generally mature within one year or less and in some cases are not collateralized. At March 31, 2026, the average days to maturity of our portfolio of cash equivalents and marketable securities was
Fair Value of Debt
12
Convertible Debt
The principal amount, carrying value and related estimated fair value of our convertible debt reported in the consolidated balance sheets as of March 31, 2026 and December 31, 2025 was as follows (in thousands).
|
|
March 31, 2026 |
|
|
December 31, 2025 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Principal |
|
|
Carrying |
|
|
Fair |
|
|
Principal |
|
|
Carrying |
|
|
Fair |
|
||||||
|
|
Amount |
|
|
Value |
|
|
Value |
|
|
Amount |
|
|
Value |
|
|
Value |
|
||||||
2024 SVB Convertible Debt |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||||||
Fair Value of Sopharma Share Purchase Agreement Contingent Consideration
We determine the fair value of the contingent consideration using a probability based whereby we forecast the timing of the cash flow of the related future payment based on cytisinicline’s current clinical development phase and the remaining requirements for regulatory approval. We then discount the expected payment amount to calculate the present value and then apply a probability of success in obtaining regulatory approval as of the valuation date. We evaluate the underlying projection used in determining the fair value each period and make updates as necessary.
The significant assumptions we use to value the contingent consideration are the forecasted timing of the future payment, the risk-adjusted discount rate and the probability of success which are all considered significant unobservable inputs, and as such, the liability is classified as a Level 3 measurement. The risk-adjusted discount rate is adjusted for credit risk.
An increase in the discount rate and decrease in the probability of success will result in a decrease in the fair value of the contingent consideration. Conversely, a decrease in the discount rate and increase in the probability of success will result in an increase in the fair value of the contingent consideration. As of March 31, 2026 the risk adjusted discount rate was
The following table presents the changes in fair value of our total Level 3 financial liabilities for the three months ended March 31, 2026 (in thousands):
|
|
Balance at |
|
|
Change in |
|
|
Balance at |
|
|||
(in thousands) |
|
December 31, 2025 |
|
|
Fair Value |
|
|
March 31, 2026 |
|
|||
Contingent consideration |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
||
6. CONVERTIBLE DEBT
Convertible Debt
On July 25, 2024, we entered into a contingent convertible debt agreement, or New Debt Agreement with SVB, a division of First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company, or FCB, in its capacity as administrative agent and collateral agent, and FCB, as a lender, or Lender, pursuant to which the Lender provided term loans having an aggregate original principal amount of $
The New Convertible Term Loan matures on
13
In October 2025, pursuant to the New Debt Agreement and following the occurrence of the Additional Term Loan Event I as described therein, we drew down on the second tranche of the New Convertible Term Loan for an additional $
Interest is calculated on the outstanding principal amount of the New Convertible Term Loan at a floating rate per annum equal to the greater of (i)
Subject to certain terms and conditions, the conversion feature grants the Lender or, pursuant to an assignment, any designee thereof, or Conversion Right Holders, the right to convert part or all of the outstanding aggregate original principal amount of the New Convertible Term Loan, plus accrued and unpaid interest, into shares of our common stock at a conversion price equal to $
The conversion rights may be exercised at each Conversion Right Holder's option any time prior to repayment of the New Convertible Term Loan; provided, however, that the Conversion Right Holders will not be permitted to convert part or all of the outstanding aggregate original principal amount of the New Convertible Term Loan without the agreement of the relevant Conversion Right Holder and us if the sum of the amount of debt to be converted; and the aggregate amount of debt previously converted pursuant to any such voluntary conversion, divided by the aggregate of all debt that is then outstanding or that has been repaid other than by conversion exceeds
Additionally, the outstanding principal of the New Convertible Term Loan, plus accrued and unpaid interest, will automatically be converted into shares of our common stock at the applicable conversion price on such date if any, when the closing price per share of our common stock has been equal to or greater than (a) in the case of the outstanding aggregate original principal amount of the New Convertible Term Loan, plus accrued and unpaid interest, $
The New Convertible Term Loan may be repaid at our election and upon notice to the Agent (as defined in the New Debt Agreement) by paying the Lender an amount equal to (i) a prepayment fee equal to (a)
The New Debt Agreement contains customary affirmative and restrictive covenants, including covenants regarding the incurrence of additional indebtedness or liens, investments, transactions with affiliates, delivery of financial statements, payment of taxes, maintenance of insurance, dispositions of property, mergers or acquisitions, among other customary covenants. We are also restricted from paying dividends or making other distributions or payments on our capital stock, subject to limited exceptions. The New Debt Agreement also includes customary representations and warranties, events of default and termination provisions. The Lender may not engage in any short sales of, or other hedging transactions in, our common stock while any amounts are outstanding under the New Debt Agreement.
In connection with the New Debt Agreement, we entered into a Registration Rights Agreement, or RRA, with the Lender, pursuant to which we registered for resale shares of our common stock issuable to the Conversion Right Holders upon the conversion of outstanding debt under the New Debt Agreement. Our obligations under the RRA will terminate with respect to a holder of applicable registrable securities if, as of the date we would be required to provide written notice of such registration, (x) the aggregate number of registrable securities then issued and issuable to such holder and to such holder’s affiliates, together with all other shares then held beneficially and/or of record by such holder and its affiliates, does not exceed
14
to be in compliance with Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act, or Rule 144, and otherwise without restriction or limitation pursuant to Rule 144.
Under ASU 2020-06 the embedded conversion feature was not required to be bifurcated and recognized separately, as a result the convertible debt including the conversion feature has been recognized as a single unit of debt.
The debt refinancing under the New Debt Agreement was recognized as an extinguishment of debt under ASC 470-50, and the difference between the reacquisition price and carrying value was recognized on the Consolidated Statement of Loss as a loss on extinguishment of debt. Associated third-party issuance costs have been recognized against the single unit of debt and will be amortized into interest expense over the term of the loan.
As of March 31, 2026 and December 31, 2025, the New Convertible Term Loan balance was comprised of the following (in thousands):
|
March 31, |
|
|
December 31, |
|
||
|
2026 |
|
|
2025 |
|
||
New Convertible Term Loan Information |
|
|
|
|
|
||
Principal |
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Transaction costs |
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Amortization of transaction costs |
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
7. COMMON STOCK
[a] Authorized
[b] Issued and outstanding shares
February 2024 Registered Direct Offering and Concurrent Private Placement
In February 2024, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain purchasers, pursuant to which we sold
In a concurrent private placement, we issued unregistered warrants to purchase up to
The registered direct offering raised total gross proceeds of approximately $
June 2025 Public Offering
On June 26, 2025, we entered into an underwriting agreement, or Underwriting Agreement, with Citizens JMP Securities, LLC and Raymond James & Associates, Inc., or the Underwriters, as representatives of the underwriters, pursuant to which we agreed to issue and sell to the Underwriters
The shares and accompanying warrants were sold collectively at the public offering price of $
15
same public offering price per share and accompanying warrant, less underwriting discounts and commissions. On June 28, 2025, the Underwriters exercised their option in part to purchase an additional
Each accompanying warrant is exercisable, at the purchaser’s election, for either warrant shares at an exercise price of $
The June 2025 public offering of
[c] Equity Awards
2024 Equity Inducement Plan
As of March 31, 2026, we had reserved, pursuant to the 2024 Equity Inducement Plan,
Under the 2024 Equity Inducement Plan, we may grant options to purchase shares of our common stock or restricted stock units as a material inducement to new employees to enter into employment with us. The exercise price of the options is determined by our board of directors, or Board, but will be at least equal to the fair value of the shares of common stock on the grant date. The options vest in accordance with terms as determined by our Board. The expiration date for each option is set by our Board with a maximum expiration date of
2023 Non-Employee Director Equity Incentive Plan
As of March 31, 2026, we had reserved, pursuant to the 2023 Non-Employee Director Equity Incentive Plan,
Under the 2023 Non-Employee Director Equity Incentive Plan, we may grant options to purchase shares of our common stock or restricted stock units to our non-employee directors. The exercise price of the options is determined by our Board, but will be at least equal to the fair value of the shares of common stock at the grant date. The options vest in accordance with terms as determined by our Board, typically over to
16
2018 Equity Incentive Plan
As of March 31, 2026, we had reserved, pursuant to the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan, or the 2018 Plan,
Under the 2018 Plan, we may grant options to purchase common shares or restricted stock units to our employees, directors, officers and consultants. The exercise price of the options is determined by our Board, but will be at least equal to the fair value of the shares of common stock at the grant date. The options vest in accordance with terms as determined by our Board, typically over to
New Employee Inducement Grants
We grant stock options as a material inducement to new employees to enter into employment agreements with us in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). The stock options approved under the inducement grants are issued pursuant to a stock option agreement on terms substantially similar to those described in our 2018 Plan. The exercise price of the options is determined by our Board but will be at least equal to the fair value of the common shares at the grant date. The options vest in accordance with terms as determined by our Board. The expiration date for each option is set by our Board with a maximum expiration date of
2017 Equity Incentive Plan
As of March 31, 2026, we had reserved, pursuant to the 2017 Equity Incentive Plan, or the 2017 Plan,
2010 Performance Incentive Plan
As of March 31, 2026, we had reserved, pursuant to the 2010 Performance Incentive Plan, or the 2010 Plan,
Stock Option Summary
We grant stock options that vest over time in accordance with terms as determined by our Board, which are typically
Stock option transactions and the number of stock options outstanding are summarized below:
|
|
Number of |
|
|
Weighted |
|
||
|
|
Optioned |
|
|
Average |
|
||
|
|
Common |
|
|
Exercise |
|
||
|
|
Shares |
|
|
Price |
|
||
Balance, December 31, 2025 |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
||
Granted |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Cancelled/Forfeited |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
Balance, March 31, 2026 |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
||
17
The fair value of each stock award for employees and directors is estimated on the grant date and for consultants at each reporting period, using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model based on the weighted-average assumptions noted in the following table:
|
|
Three Months Ended |
|
|||||
|
|
March 31, |
|
|||||
|
|
2026 |
|
|
2025 |
|
||
Risk-free interest rates |
|
|
% |
|
|
% |
||
Expected dividend yield |
|
|
% |
|
|
% |
||
Expected life |
|
|
|
|
||||
Expected volatility |
|
|
% |
|
|
% |
||
Forfeiture rate |
|
|
% |
|
|
% |
||
The expected life was calculated based on the simplified method as permitted by the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin 110, Share-Based Payment. We consider the use of the simplified method appropriate because of the lack of sufficient historical exercise data following the 2017 Merger Agreement between Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. and OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals. The computation of expected volatility was calculated based on the historical volatility of the shares of our common stock. The risk-free interest rate is based on a U.S. Treasury instrument whose term is consistent with the expected life of the stock options. In addition to the assumptions above, as required under ASC 718, management made an estimate of expected forfeitures and is recognizing compensation costs only for those equity awards expected to vest. Forfeiture rates are estimated using historical actual forfeiture rates. These rates are adjusted on a quarterly basis and any change in compensation expense is recognized in the period of the change. We have never paid or declared cash dividends on our common stock and do not expect to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future.
The results for the periods set forth below included stock-based compensation expense for stock options, restricted stock units and employee share purchase plan compensation expenses in the following expense categories of the consolidated statements of loss (in thousands):
|
|
Three Months Ended |
|
|||||
|
|
March 31, |
|
|||||
|
|
2026 |
|
|
2025 |
|
||
Research and development |
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|
General and administrative |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
Total stock-based compensation |
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|
As of March 31, 2026, the total unrecognized compensation expense related to stock options granted was $
Restricted Stock Unit Awards Summary
We grant restricted stock unit awards that generally vest and are expensed over a
The following table summarizes our restricted stock unit award activity during the three months ended March 31, 2026:
|
|
|
|
|
Weighted |
|
||
|
|
Number |
|
|
Average |
|
||
|
|
of |
|
|
Grant Date |
|
||
|
|
Shares |
|
|
Fair Value |
|
||
Balance, December 31, 2025 |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
||
Balance, March 31, 2026 |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
||
As of March 31, 2026, we had approximately $
18
[d] Loss Per Share
For the three months ended March 31, 2026, a total of
[e] Non-employee options and restricted stock units
We recognize non-employee stock-based compensation expense over the period of expected service by the non-employee. As the service is performed, we are required to update our valuation assumptions, re-measure unvested options and restricted stock units and record the stock-based compensation using the valuation as of the vesting date. This differs from the accounting for employee awards where the fair value is determined at the grant date and is not subsequently adjusted. This re-measurement may result in higher or lower stock-based compensation expense in the Consolidated Statements of Loss and Comprehensive Loss. As such, changes in the market price of our stock could materially change the value of an option or restricted stock unit and the resulting stock-based compensation expense.
[f] Employee Share Purchase Plan
Our Board and stockholders approved the 2017 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, or ESPP, in August 2017. Contributions are made by eligible employees, subject to certain limits defined in the ESPP. The number of shares available for future purchases under the ESPP is
For the three months ended March 31, 2026, we recorded a compensation expense of $
During the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025,
[g] Common Stock Warrants
The following is a summary of outstanding warrants to purchase common stock as of March 31, 2026:
|
|
Total |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
Outstanding |
|
|
Exercise |
|
|
|
||
|
|
and |
|
|
price per |
|
|
|
||
|
|
Exercisable |
|
|
Share |
|
|
Expiration Date |
||
Pre-Funded warrants issued in August 2020 financing |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
* |
||
Warrants issued in November 2022 financing |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
|||
Warrants issued in June 2025 financing |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
|||
*The pre-funded warrants do not have an expiration date.
The agreements governing the above warrants include the following terms:
19
During the three months ended March 31, 2026, warrants to purchase
8. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
From September 25, 2025 to December 22, 2025, we entered into
We expect to incur approximately $
On November 10, 2025, we entered into a consulting agreement with Kristen Slaoui to provide strategic business development and transaction advisory support services. Dr. Slaoui is a member of our Board, the Compensation Committee of the Board and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board. We incurred consulting fees from Dr. Slaoui of $
20
9. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
The following table summarizes our contractual obligations as of March 31, 2026 (in thousands):
|
|
Total |
|
|
Less than 1 year |
|
|
1-3 years |
|
|
3-5 years |
|
|
More than 5 years |
|
|||||
Vancouver office operating lease |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
||
Total |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
||
Leases
We have operating leases for our corporate offices.
Operating leases with a term of 12 months or longer are included in ROU assets, other current liabilities, and operating lease liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets. Finance leases are included in property and equipment, other current liabilities, and other long-term liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets.
Operating lease ROU assets and operating lease liabilities are recognized based on the present value of the future minimum lease payments over the lease term at commencement date. As most of our leases do not provide an implicit rate, we use the incremental borrowing rate of comparable companies from a representative peer group selected based on industry and market capitalization. The operating lease ROU asset also includes any lease payments made and excludes lease incentives and initial direct costs incurred. Our lease terms may include options to extend or terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain that we will exercise that option. Lease expense for minimum lease payments is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term.
Vancouver lease arrangement
On November 19, 2018, we entered into a lease agreement, or the Vancouver Lease, for office space in Vancouver, British Columbia, which commenced on
Consolidated rent expense relating to the Vancouver, British Columbia office, for the three months ended March 31, 2026 was $
Other information related to leases was as follows (dollars in thousands):
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Guarantees and Indemnifications
We indemnify our officers, directors and certain consultants for certain events or occurrences, subject to certain limits, while the officer or director is or was serving at its request in such capacity. The term of the indemnification period is equal to the officer’s or director’s lifetime.
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The maximum amount of potential future indemnification is unlimited; however, we have obtained director and officer insurance that limits our exposure and may enable us to recover a portion of any future amounts paid. We believe that the fair value of these indemnification obligations is minimal. Accordingly, we have
We have certain agreements with certain organizations with which we do business that contain indemnification provisions pursuant to which we typically agree to indemnify the party against certain types of third-party claims. We accrue for known indemnification issues when a loss is probable and can be reasonably estimated. There were
10. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
April 2026 Private Placement
On April 15, 2026 we entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain institutional and accredited investors, or Investors, pursuant to which we sold and issued to the Investors in a private placement an aggregate of (i)
Each pre-funded warrant has an exercise price of $
Each common warrant will be exercisable at an exercise price of $
A holder of common warrants or pre-funded warrants may not exercise the warrant if the holder, together with its affiliates, would beneficially own more than
We received gross proceeds of approximately $
In connection with the private placement, on April 15, 2026, the Board appointed Andrew D. Goldberg, M.D. as our Chief Executive Officer and President, and as a member of the Board, effective April 18, 2026. In connection with his appointment, the Board granted Dr. Goldberg the following equity awards: (i)
Also in connection with the private placement, the Board appointed two additional members of the Board, Lucian Iancovici, M.D. and Aaron Royston, M.D., designated by TPG Life Sciences Innovations and venBio Partners, respectively.
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Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Overview
We are a late-stage clinical specialty pharmaceutical company with the sole mission to address the global nicotine dependence epidemic through the development and commercialization of cytisinicline. There are approximately 25 million adults in the United States who smoke combustible cigarettes. Tobacco use is currently the leading cause of preventable death that is responsible for more than eight million deaths worldwide and nearly half a million deaths in the United States annually.
While nicotine e-cigarettes are thought to be less harmful than combustible cigarettes, they remain highly addictive and can deliver harmful chemicals which are associated with lung injury, cardiovascular disease and cancer. In 2024, 1.6 million high school and middle school students reported using e-cigarettes. Research shows adolescents who have used e-cigarettes are seven times more likely to become smokers one year later compared to those who have never used e-cigarettes. In 2024, the FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for cytisinicline for nicotine e-cigarette, or vaping, cessation. Breakthrough Therapy designation is a process that expedites the development and review of new drugs and biologics that are intended to treat serious or life-threatening conditions and have preliminary clinical evidence indicating substantial improvement over existing therapies.
In October 2025, the FDA awarded cytisinicline for nicotine e-cigarette, or vaping, cessation the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher, or CNPV, as part of the pilot program. A CNPV is granted to product candidates with significant potential to address a major national priority, such as meeting a large unmet medical need, reducing downstream health care utilization or addressing a public health crisis. CNPV recipients will receive a decision from the FDA within one to two months following filing of a complete application for a drug, as well as enhanced communication with review staff throughout the development process prior to their final submission and during the review period. Currently, there are no FDA-approved therapies indicated specifically as an aid for nicotine e-cigarette cessation.
Cytisinicline is a naturally occurring alkaloid with a high binding affinity to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. It is believed to work in treating nicotine dependence for smoking and e-cigarette cessation by interacting with nicotine receptors in the brain by reducing the severity of craving and withdrawal symptoms, and reducing the reward and satisfaction associated with nicotine products. Cytisinicline is an investigational product candidate being developed for treatment of nicotine dependence. In September 2025, we announced that the FDA accepted for review our New Drug Application, or NDA, for cytisinicline as a treatment for smoking cessation as the first indication in the United States and assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act, or PDUFA, targeted action date of June 20, 2026.
One third-party manufacturer named in our NDA underwent a non-Achieve related FDA current Good Manufacturing Practices, or cGMP, inspection and the FDA made observations, two of which were related to solid oral dose manufacturing. As a result, the third-party manufacturer's facility, where the FDA made the two observations, received an Official Action Indicated, or OAI, classification and a warning letter. The observations resulting in the OAI classification and warning letter at the third-party manufacturer's facility relate to general cGMP matters at the facility and are not specific to cytisinicline. We expect to receive a Complete Response Letter, or CRL, from the FDA on or before our June 20, 2026 PDUFA targeted action date, which would delay our NDA approval. We have partnered with a U.S.-based manufacturer, Adare Pharma Solutions, or Adare, to manufacture cytisinicline drug product for potential commercial launch and beyond (see Note 8 "Related Party Transactions" in the accompanying consolidated financial statements). We have completed the analytical method transfer to Adare's manufacturing facility in Vandalia, Ohio. In addition, we have completed our first cytisinicline engineering batch manufactured at Adare's facility. We anticipate the partnership with Adare will help to decrease risks related to our supply chain, international importation of pharmaceuticals and reduce costs, including potential tariffs. We intend to resubmit the NDA naming Adare as our manufacturer for commercial supply in the fourth quarter of 2026 and anticipate the commercial launch of cytisinicline in the first half of 2027.
We believe cytisinicline represents a unique opportunity to significantly impact global health by addressing the considerable unmet need among millions of smokers and e-cigarettes users. We believe cytisinicline is differentiated from existing smoking cessation treatments given its combination of efficacy, well-tolerated safety profile and dosing flexibility with a 6 or 12-week regimen, as demonstrated in clinical trials.
We believe we will be able to commercialize independently in the U.S. market by focusing our marketing and sales efforts on highly targeted prescriber and patient audiences. We are planning to launch cytisinicline by utilizing a well-established marketing technology infrastructure and embedding Artificial Intelligence, or AI, tools to enhance targeting, decision making, and performance metrics. Launch planning and readiness activities are underway, leveraging our integrated agency partnership with Omnicom, with teams
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established for key functional areas including market access, medical education, prescriber and patient marketing, and digital infrastructure. Additionally, field-based and virtual sales representatives will supplement digital promotional efforts.
We have no products approved for commercial sale and have not generated any revenue from product sales to date. We have never been profitable and have incurred operating losses in each year since inception. Our net loss was $10.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026. As of March 31, 2026, we had an accumulated deficit of $270.4 million, cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities balance of $29.3 million and a positive working capital balance of $19.2 million. For the three months ended March 31, 2026, net cash used in operating activities was $6.9 million. In April 2026, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain institutional and accredited investors for a private placement of our securities. We received gross proceeds of approximately $180.0 million from the private placement, before deducting placement agent fees and other expenses. We estimate net proceeds to be approximately $168.6 million after deducting estimated placement agent fees and other expenses of approximately $11.4 million. In connection with the private placement, our board of directors appointed Andrew D. Goldberg, MD to the position of Chief Executive Officer and President, and as a member of the board of directors, effective following the closing of the private placement. We also appointed two additional members of our board of directors, Lucian Iancovici, MD and Aaron Royston, MD.
License & Supply Agreements
Sopharma License and Supply Agreements
We are party to a license agreement, or the Sopharma License Agreement, and a supply agreement, or the Sopharma Supply Agreement, with Sopharma AD, or Sopharma. Pursuant to the Sopharma License Agreement, we were granted access to all available manufacturing, efficacy and safety data related to cytisinicline. Additional rights granted under the Sopharma License Agreement include the exclusive use of, and the right to sublicense, certain Sopharma patent rights and the trademark Tabex in all territories described in the Sopharma License Agreement. Under the Sopharma License Agreement, we agreed to pay a nonrefundable license fee. In addition, we agreed to make certain royalty payments equal to a mid-single digit percentage of all net sales of Tabex branded products in our territory during the term of the Sopharma License Agreement, including those sold by a third party pursuant to any sublicense which may be granted by us. We have agreed to coordinate with Sopharma in the defense against any actual or threatened infringement claims with respect to Tabex branded products. The Sopharma License Agreement will terminate under customary termination provisions including bankruptcy or insolvency and material breach. To date, any amounts paid to Sopharma pursuant to the Sopharma License Agreement have been immaterial.
We communicated to Sopharma that we had concerns regarding their ability to pass an FDA pre-approval inspection and that if those concerns were not resolved, we planned to engage third-party manufacturers, and include such manufacturers in our NDA, until such time that Sopharma is able to pass an FDA inspection. In June 2025, we submitted our NDA, which included third-party manufacturers. Sopharma has alleged that our engagement of third-party manufacturers is a breach of our agreement, which we have disputed and have proposed steps to resolve.
Share Purchase Agreement
On May 14, 2015, we entered into a Share Purchase Agreement with Sopharma to acquire 75% of the outstanding shares of Extab Corporation for $2.0 million in cash and $2.0 million in a deferred payment, contingent on regulatory approval of cytisinicline by the FDA or the European Medicines Agency. The fair value of the contingent consideration on the acquisition date was nil. The contingent consideration liability is measured at fair value in our financial statements.
As of March 31, 2026, the fair value of the contingent consideration was estimated to be $1.3 million (see Note 5 “Fair Value Measurements, Fair Value of Sopharma Share Purchase Agreement Contingent Consideration” in the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements). We recognized a gain of $0.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and a loss of $0.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025.
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development, or R&D, expenses consist primarily of costs for clinical trials, manufacture of product, personnel costs, milestone payments to third parties, facilities, regulatory activities, non-clinical studies and allocations of other R&D-related costs. External expenses for clinical trials include fees paid to clinical research organizations, clinical trial site costs and patient treatment costs.
We manage our clinical trials through contract research organizations and independent medical investigators at our sites and at hospitals and expect this practice to continue. Due to our ability to utilize resources across several projects, we do not record or maintain information regarding the indirect operating costs incurred for our R&D programs on a program-specific basis. In addition,
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we believe that allocating costs on the basis of time incurred by our employees does not accurately reflect the actual costs of a project.
Our R&D expenses will vary materially between quarters based on the timing of our clinical trials. The process of conducting clinical trials and non-clinical studies necessary to obtain regulatory approval is costly and time consuming and we may never succeed in achieving marketing approval for cytisinicline. (See “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risks Related to the Development of Our Product Candidate Cytisinicline.”).
Successful development of cytisinicline is highly uncertain and may not result in an approved product. We cannot estimate completion dates for development activities or when we might receive material net cash inflows from our R&D projects, if ever. We anticipate we will make determinations as to which markets, and therefore, which regulatory approvals, to pursue and how much funding to direct toward achieving regulatory approval in each market on an ongoing basis in response to our ability to enter into new strategic alliances with respect to each program or potential product candidate, the scientific and clinical success of each future product candidate, and ongoing assessments as to each future product candidate’s commercial potential. We will need to raise additional capital and may seek additional strategic alliances in the future in order to advance our various programs.
Our projects or intended R&D activities may be subject to change from time to time as we evaluate results from completed studies, our R&D priorities and available resources.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of personnel costs related to executive, finance and accounting, and other administrative functions, as well as consulting costs, including commercial, corporate communications, market research, business consulting, human resources and intellectual property. Other costs include professional fees for legal and auditing services, insurance and facility costs.
Results of Operations
For the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025
Research and development expenses
Our R&D expenses are devoted to our one ongoing clinical development program, cytisinicline. R&D expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2026 decreased to $3.3 million as compared to $7.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025. The decrease in expense for the three months ended March 31, 2026, was due to a decrease in clinical trial costs of $3.3 million in 2026 as compared to 2025, associated with the ORCA-OL trial, which was completed in September 2025 and wound down through the first quarter of 2026, as compared to the same period in 2025, in which higher costs incurred were associated with the continued full enrollment of the ORCA-OL trial. In addition, R&D expenses were lower due to a decrease in stock-based compensation expense of $1.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026 as compared to the same period in 2025, due to the revaluation of the probability on the achievement of certain performance conditions of our outstanding performance based restricted stock unit awards, or PRSUs. This was partially offset by higher manufacturing and supply chain costs of $0.6 million during the three months ended March 31, 2026 as compared to the same period in 2025, which was associated with commercial launch preparation, including purchase of raw cytisinicline inventory expensed to R&D prior to regulatory approval and completion of analytical method transfer to Adare and completion of an engineering batch manufactured at Adare's facility.
General and administrative expenses
General and administrative expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2026 increased to $7.2 million from $5.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025. The increase in expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2026 as compared to the same period in 2025 was primarily due to higher commercial launch preparation costs, which were $3.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026 as compared to $1.2 million for the same period in 2025, higher employee expenses of $0.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026 as compared to the same period in 2025, which was associated with increased headcount, and an increase in legal expenses of $0.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026 as compared to the same period in 2025, associated with patent activities. This was partially offset by a decrease in stock-based compensation expense of $1.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026 as compared to the same period in 2025, due to the revaluation of the probability on the achievement of certain performance conditions of our outstanding PRSUs.
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Interest income
Total interest income for each of the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, was $0.3 million.
Interest expense
Total interest expense for the three months ended March 31, 2026, was $0.3 million compared to $0.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025. The increase in interest expense for the three months ended March 31, 2026 as compared to the same period in 2025 was due to a higher average debt balance of $15.0 million in 2026 as compared to $10.0 million in 2025.
Change in fair value of contingent consideration
We determine the fair value of the contingent consideration using a probability based discounted cash flow model whereby we forecast the timing of the cash flow of the related future payment based on cytisinicline’s current clinical development phase and the remaining requirements for regulatory approval. Adjustments to the fair value of the contingent liabilities, other than payments, are recorded as a gain or loss in the Consolidated Statements of Loss and Comprehensive Loss (see Note 5 “Fair Value Measurements, Fair Value of Sopharma Share Purchase Agreement Contingent Consideration” in the accompanying consolidated financial statements).
For the three months ended March 31, 2026, we recognized a gain on the fair value of the contingent consideration of $0.3 million. For the three months ended March 31, 2025, we recognized a loss on the fair value of the contingent consideration of $0.1 million.
Liquidity, Capital Resources
We have incurred an accumulated deficit of $270.4 million through March 31, 2026, and we expect to incur substantial additional losses in the future as we operate our business and continue or expand our regulatory, manufacturing, commercialization and other R&D activities and other operations. We have not generated any revenue from product sales to date, and we may not generate product sales revenue in the near future, if ever. As of March 31, 2026, we had a cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities balance of $29.3 million and a positive working capital balance of $19.2 million. For the three months ended March 31, 2026, net cash used in operations was $6.9 million. In April 2026, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain institutional and accredited investors for a private placement of our securities. We received gross proceeds of approximately $180.0 million from the private placement, before deducting placement agent fees and other expenses. We estimate net proceeds to be approximately $168.6 million after deducting estimated placement agent fees and other expenses.
We have historically financed our operations through equity offerings, debt financings, and government grants. As a late-stage clinical specialty pharmaceutical company with no current sources of revenue, we are dependent on our ability to raise funds (through public or private securities offerings, debt financings, government funding or grants, or other sources, which may include licensing, collaborations or other strategic transactions or arrangements) to support the ongoing clinical development and commercialization activities. While we believe that we will be able to settle our commitments and liabilities in the normal course of business as they fall due during the next 12 months, as a development-stage company with no current sources of revenue, we are dependent on our ability to raise funds (through public or private securities offerings, debt financings, government funding or grants, or from other sources, which may include licensing, collaborations or other strategic transactions or arrangements) to fund our operations and finance the remaining development and commercialization of our product candidate.
We did not have during the periods presented, and we do not currently have, any commitments or obligations, including contingent obligations, other than the Sopharma Contingent Consideration (as defined in Note 4 "License Agreements" in the accompanying consolidated financial statements), arising from arrangements with unconsolidated entities or persons that have or are reasonably likely to have a material current or future effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, cash requirements or capital resources.
Convertible Debt
On July 25, 2024, we entered into a contingent convertible debt agreement, or New Debt Agreement, with Silicon Valley Bank, or SVB, a division of First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company, or FCB, in its capacity as administrative agent and collateral agent, and FCB, as a lender, or Lender, pursuant to which the Lender provided term loans having an aggregate original principal amount of $10.0 million, with additional term loans of up to $10.0 million available upon the occurrence of certain events as provided for in the New Debt Agreement and further described below, or New Convertible Term Loan. Our obligations under the New Debt Agreement are secured by substantially all of our assets, other than intellectual property.
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The New Convertible Term Loan matures on June 1, 2028. The first tranche of the New Convertible Term Loan, which was advanced on July 25, 2024, has an aggregate original principal amount of $10.0 million. In October 2025, pursuant to the New Debt Agreement we drew down on the second tranche of the New Convertible Term Loan for an additional $5.0 million. We did not draw down on the third tranche of the New Convertible Term Loan and it expired and became unavailable on December 31, 2025.
Interest is calculated on the outstanding principal amount of the New Convertible Term Loan at a floating rate per annum equal to the greater of (i) 7.0% and (ii) the prime rate minus 1.0%, which interest shall be payable in cash monthly in arrears and shall be payable on the earlier to occur of (x) the first day of the first month following any extension of credit by the Lender for our credit, (y) the date of any prepayment pursuant to the New Debt Agreement, or (z) the maturity date. The New Convertible Term Loan will be “interest-only” until June 30, 2026 (see Note 6 "Convertible Debt" in the accompanying consolidated financial statements).
June 2025 Public Offering
On June 26, 2025, we entered into an underwriting agreement, or Underwriting Agreement, with Citizens JMP Securities, LLC and Raymond James & Associates, Inc., or the Underwriters, as representatives of the underwriters, pursuant to which we agreed to issue and sell to the Underwriters 15,000,000 shares of our common stock and accompanying common warrants to purchase up to 15,000,000 shares of common stock, or pre-funded warrants to purchase shares of our common stock in lieu thereof.
The shares and accompanying warrants were sold collectively at the public offering price of $3.00 per share and accompanying warrant, less underwriting discounts and commissions. Pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement, we also granted the Underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2,250,000 shares and/or up to an additional 2,250,000 accompanying warrants at the same public offering price per share and accompanying warrant, less underwriting discounts and commissions. On June 28, 2025, the Underwriters exercised their option in part to purchase an additional 1,766,666 accompanying warrants. On July 25, 2025, the Underwriters exercised their option in part to purchase an additional 1,419,896 shares.
Each accompanying warrant is exercisable, at the purchaser’s election, for either warrant shares at an exercise price of $3.00 per share or for pre-funded warrants at an exercise price of $2.999 per pre-funded warrant. The accompanying warrants are exercisable at any time after the date of issuance, subject to certain ownership limitations, and will expire on the fifth anniversary of the date of issuance. A holder of accompanying warrants may not exercise the warrant if the holder, together with its affiliates, would beneficially own more than 9.99% of the number of shares of our common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise. The pre-funded warrants have an exercise price of $0.001 per share, will be immediately exercisable subject to certain ownership limitations, and have no expiration. A holder of pre-funded warrants may not exercise the warrant if the holder, together with its affiliates, would beneficially own more than 9.99% of the number of shares of our common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise. A holder of accompanying warrants and pre-funded warrants may increase or decrease the ownership limitation by providing at least 61 days' prior notice to us.
The June 2025 public offering of 15,000,000 shares and 15,000,000 accompanying warrants raised total gross proceeds of approximately $45.0 million, and after deducting approximately $3.8 million in underwriting discounts and offering expenses, we received net proceeds of approximately $41.2 million. The exercises in part of the Underwriters’ option to purchase 1,766,666 accompanying warrants and 1,419,896 shares raised gross proceeds of $4.3 million, and after deducting approximately $0.3 million in underwriting discounts, we received net proceeds of approximately $4.0 million.
April 2026 Private Placement
On April 15, 2026 we entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain institutional and accredited investors, or Investors, pursuant to which we agreed to sell and issue to the Investors in a private placement an aggregate of (i) 49,418,069 shares of our common stock, and, in lieu of shares of our common stock for an Investor, pre-funded warrants to purchase up to 100,500 shares of our common stock, and (ii) accompanying warrants to purchase up to 49,518,569 shares of our common stock or pre-funded warrants to purchase shares of our common stock, or common warrant shares at a collective purchase price of (a) $3.635 per combination of shares and accompanying common warrants or (b) $3.634 per combination of pre-funded warrants and accompanying common warrants.
Each pre-funded warrant has an exercise price of $0.001 per pre-funded warrant share. The pre-funded warrants are exercisable at any time after their original issuance, subject to certain ownership limitations, and will not expire.
Each common warrant will be exercisable at an exercise price of $3.51 per common warrant share. The common warrants are exercisable at any time after the date of issuance, subject to certain ownership limitations, and will expire on the later of the twentieth business day following (i) the date on which we publicly announce that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved cytisinicline for smoking cessation in adults, or FDA Approval, and (ii) the date on which we notify the common warrant holders of the FDA Approval, provided that if a common warrant is not fully exercisable because we have insufficient authorized and unreserved
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shares of our common stock at the time of the public announcement of the FDA Approval, the common warrant will be exercisable for two years following the date on which we obtain stockholder approval for an amendment to our certificate of incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of our common stock.
A holder of common warrants or pre-funded warrants may not exercise the warrant if the holder, together with its affiliates, would beneficially own more than 4.99%, 9.99% or 19.99%, at the election of the holder (provided that no holder may beneficially own more than 19.99%) (the “Ownership Limitation”), of the number of shares of our common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise. A holder of common warrants or pre-funded warrants may generally increase or decrease the Ownership Limitation by providing at least 61 days’ prior notice to us. A holder of common warrants or pre-funded warrants also may not exercise the common warrants or pre-funded warrants, as applicable, for shares of our common stock if we do not have sufficient authorized and unissued shares of our common stock to issue such shares of our common stock upon exercise.
We received gross proceeds of approximately $180.0 million from the private placement, before deducting placement agent fees and other expenses.We estimate net proceeds to be approximately $168.6 million after deducting estimated placement agent fees and other expenses of approximately $11.4 million.
Cash Flows
Operating Activities
For the three months ended March 31, 2026, net cash used in operating activities was $6.9 million compared to $11.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025. The decrease in cash used in operations in the 2026 period as compared to the 2025 period was due to the wind down of the ORCA-OL trial, which was completed in September 2025, as compared to the same period in 2025, in which costs incurred were associated with the continued full enrollment of the ORCA-OL trial.
Financing Activities
For the three months ended March 31, 2026, net cash provided by financing activities was $21,000, related to proceeds received from warrant exercises.
Investing Activities
For the three months ended March 31, 2026, net cash provided by investing activities was $14.3 million compared to $11.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025. Net cash provided by investing activities in the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, respectively, was due to transactions involving marketable securities in the normal course of business.
Commitments and Contingencies
We previously disclosed certain contractual obligations and contingencies and commitments relevant to us within the financial statements and Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations and Liquidity and Capital Resources in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, as filed with the SEC on March 24, 2026. For more information regarding our current contingencies and commitments, see Note 9 to the financial statements included above.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts and related disclosures. We have discussed those estimates that we believe are critical and require the use of complex judgment in their application in our audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025 in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC, on March 24 2026. Since December 31, 2025, there have been no material changes to our critical accounting policies or the methodologies or assumptions we apply under them.
New Accounting Standards
See Note 2, “Accounting Policies,” of the unaudited consolidated financial statements for information related to the adoption of new accounting standards in 2026, no new accounting standards were adopted.
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Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
This item is not required for a smaller reporting company.
Item 4. Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that material information required to be disclosed in our periodic reports filed or submitted under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Our disclosure controls and procedures are also designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act are accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
During the quarter ended March 31, 2026, we carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures, as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act. Based upon that evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective, as of the end of the period covered by this report.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
We have not made any changes to our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the quarter ended March 31, 2026 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls
Our management does not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures or our internal controls will prevent all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within our company have been detected.
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PART II. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in the other periodic and current reports and other documents we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, before deciding to invest in our common stock. If any of the following risks materialize, our business, financial condition, results of operation and future prospects will likely be materially and adversely affected. In that event, the market price of our common stock could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment. These disclosures reflect our beliefs and opinions as to factors that could materially and adversely affect the Company and our securities in the future. References to past events are provided by way of example only and are not intended to be a complete listing of such events or a representation as to whether or not such factors or similar events have occurred in the past or their likelihood of occurring in the future. This list is not exhaustive and the order of presentation does not reflect management's determination of priority or likelihood.
Risks Related to Our Financial Condition and Capital Requirements
If we fail to obtain additional financing when needed, we may be unable to complete the development, regulatory approval and commercialization of our product candidate.
We have expended and continue to expend substantial funds in connection with our product development activities and clinical trials and regulatory approvals. In addition, we expect to incur significant expenses and increasing operating losses for at least the next several years as we continue our clinical development of, seek regulatory approval for, and commercialize, cytisinicline and add personnel necessary to operate as a commercial-stage public company. We expect that our operating losses will fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year due to timing of clinical development programs, efforts to achieve regulatory approval and commercialization.
Funds generated from our operations will be insufficient to enable us to bring our product currently under development to commercialization. We may require additional capital to continue our clinical development activities and expand our regulatory, manufacturing and commercialization activities. Accordingly, we may raise additional capital from the sale of our securities, debt, partnering arrangements, non-dilutive fundraising or other financing transactions in order to continue to fund our operations and finance the remaining development and commercialization of our product candidate. The amount and timing of our future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including the pace and results of our clinical development, regulatory review and commercialization efforts.
The current financing environment in the United States, particularly for biotechnology companies like us, is challenging and we can provide no assurances as to when this will improve. Our business may be impacted by macroeconomic conditions, including fluctuating inflation, interest and tariff rates and market conditions as well as political events, war, terrorism, business interruptions and other geopolitical events and uncertainties beyond our control. Supply chain disruptions and delays as a result of any new tariff policies or trade restrictions could also negatively impact our cost of materials and production processes. For example, the United States has announced tariffs on many goods imported from foreign countries. In addition, there are currently headlines and discussions concerning potential increased tariffs for pharmaceutical products, which may impact our supply chain and create uncertainty in the broader pharmaceutical industry.
These factors may make it challenging to raise additional capital on favorable terms, if at all. A severe or prolonged economic downturn could result in a variety of risks to our business, including our ability to raise additional capital when needed on acceptable terms, if at all. A weak or declining economy also could strain our suppliers, possibly resulting in supply disruption. In addition, current macroeconomic conditions have caused uncertainty in various sectors, including capital markets. For these reasons, among others, we cannot be certain that additional financing will be available when and as needed or, if available, that it will be available on acceptable terms. If financing is available, it may be on terms that adversely affect the interests of our existing stockholders. If adequate financing is not available, we may need to reduce or eliminate our expenditures for research and development of cytisinicline, and may be required to suspend development of cytisinicline. Our actual capital requirements will depend on numerous factors, including:
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We may not be able to secure sufficient financing on acceptable terms, or at all. Without additional funds, we would be forced to delay, scale back or eliminate some of our commercialization and R&D activities or other operations and potentially delay commercialization and product development in an effort to provide sufficient funds to continue our operations.
We have incurred debt, which could impair our flexibility and access to capital and adversely affect our financial position, and our business would be materially adversely affected if we are unable to service our debt obligations.
As of March 31, 2026, the principal amounts due under our debt instruments (including the New Debt Agreement, as defined and further described under the section entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”) totaled $15.0 million.
Servicing our debt requires a significant amount of cash. Our debt is subject to floating interest rates set in relation to the prime rate. Increases in interest rates have made and may continue to make our debt service costs increase. Our outstanding debt matures on June 1, 2028. We currently do not generate any cash flow from operations and if we are unable to make interest and/or principal payments when due, we would be in default under the New Debt Agreement. We may be required to raise additional capital through future financings or sales of assets to enable us to make interest payments and/or repay our outstanding indebtedness as it becomes due. There can be no assurance that we will be able to generate cash or raise additional capital. Any debt financing that is available could cause us to incur substantial costs and subject us to covenants that significantly restrict our ability to conduct our business. If we seek to complete additional equity financings, the interests of existing stockholders may be diluted. If we are unable to service our loan, the lender may foreclose on and sell the assets securing such indebtedness to satisfy our payment obligations, which could prevent us from accessing those assets for our business and conducting our business as planned, which could materially harm our financial condition and results of operations.
Our obligations under our outstanding debt are secured by substantially all of our assets, other than intellectual property. If we are unable to make payment on our secured debt instruments when due, the lender under such instrument may foreclose on and sell the assets securing such indebtedness to satisfy our payment obligations, which could prevent us from accessing those assets for our business and conducting our business as planned, which could materially harm our financial condition and results of operations. Further, if we are liquidated, the rights of the Lender to repayment would be senior to the rights of the holders of our common stock to receive any proceeds from the liquidation. The Lender could declare a default under the New Debt Agreement upon the occurrence of any event that the Lender interprets as a material adverse change as defined under the New Debt Agreement, thereby requiring us to repay the loan immediately or to attempt to reverse the declaration of default through negotiation or litigation. Any declaration by the Lender of an event of default could significantly harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects and could cause the price of our common stock to decline. If we raise any additional debt financing, the terms of such additional debt could further restrict our operating and financial flexibility.
Further, our outstanding debt contains customary affirmative and restrictive covenants, including covenants regarding the incurrence of additional indebtedness or liens, investments, transactions with affiliates, delivery of financial statements, payment of taxes, maintenance of insurance, dispositions of property, mergers or acquisitions, and the requirement we keep substantially all of our cash and investments with Silicon Valley Bank, or SVB, among other customary covenants. We are also restricted from paying dividends or making other distributions or payments on capital stock, subject to limited exceptions. Our outstanding debt includes customary representations and warranties, events of default and termination provisions.
Our existing and any future indebtedness may limit our cash resources available to invest in the ongoing needs of our business.
Our outstanding debt combined with our other financial obligations and contractual commitments could have significant adverse consequences, including:
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We intend to satisfy our current and future debt service obligations with our existing cash and funds from external sources. Nonetheless, we may not have sufficient funds or may be unable to arrange for additional financing to pay the amounts due under our existing or any future debt facility. Funds from external sources may not be available on acceptable terms, if at all.
We have incurred losses since inception, have a limited operating history on which to assess our business and anticipate that we will continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future.
We are a late-stage clinical specialty pharmaceutical company with a limited operating history, are not profitable, have incurred losses in each year since our inception and expect to continue incurring losses for the foreseeable future.
Pharmaceutical product development is a highly speculative undertaking and involves a substantial degree of risk. We have devoted substantially all of our financial resources to developing our cytisinicline product candidate and supporting our operations. To date, we have funded the Company primarily through the sale of equity securities and convertible promissory notes.
We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and increasing operating losses for the foreseeable future. We further expect that our expenses will increase substantially if and as we:
Further, the net losses we incur may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year, such that a period-to-period comparison of our results of operations may not be a good indication of our future performance.
We have never generated any revenue from product sales and may never be profitable.
We have no products approved for commercialization and have never generated any revenue from product sales. Our ability to generate revenue and achieve profitability depends on our ability, alone or with strategic collaborators, to successfully complete the development of, and obtain the regulatory approvals necessary to commercialize cytisinicline. We do not anticipate generating revenue from product sales for the foreseeable future. Our ability to generate future revenue from product sales depends heavily on our success in many areas, including but not limited to:
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Even if a product candidate that we develop is approved for commercial sale, we anticipate incurring significant costs associated with commercializing that candidate. Additionally, if we are not able to generate sufficient revenue from the sale of any approved products to cover our operating costs, we may never become profitable. If we obtain regulatory approval to market a product candidate, our future revenue will depend upon the size of any markets in which our product candidate may receive approval, and our ability to achieve sufficient market acceptance, pricing, reimbursement from third-party payors, and adequate market share for our product candidate in those markets.
Our cash and cash equivalents could be adversely affected if the financial institutions in which we hold our cash and cash equivalents fail.
We regularly maintain cash balances at third-party financial institutions, including with SVB, both in the United States and internationally, in excess of the FDIC insurance limit and similar regulatory insurance limits outside the United States. Further, if we enter into a credit, loan or other similar facility with a financial institution, certain covenants included in such facility may require as security that we keep a significant portion of our cash with the institution providing such facility. If a depository institution where we maintain deposits fails or is subject to adverse conditions in the financial or credit markets, we may not be able to recover all, if any, of our deposits, which could adversely impact our operating liquidity and financial performance.
Under the terms of the New Debt Agreement, we are required to keep substantially all of our cash and investments with SVB. In March 2023, SVB was closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, which also appointed the FDIC as receiver. Within days, the FDIC assisted depositors of the bank access funds and we were able to regain full access to our cash and cash equivalents with SVB. In May 2023, First Citizens assumed all of SVB’s deposits and loans. While our deposits are backed by the FDIC, that support may not last or be honored in the future and we could be materially impacted.
Risks Related to the Development of Our Product Candidate Cytisinicline
Cytisinicline is currently our sole product candidate and there is no guarantee that we will be able to successfully obtain approval from the FDA or other regulatory agencies to commercialize cytisinicline.
We are currently dependent on the potential development and FDA approval of a single product candidate, cytisinicline. We are still developing and seeking regulatory approval for cytisinicline and it cannot be marketed or sold in the United States or in foreign markets until regulatory approval has been obtained from the FDA or applicable foreign regulatory agencies. The process of obtaining regulatory approval is expensive and time consuming. The FDA and foreign regulatory authorities may never approve cytisinicline for sale and marketing, and even if cytisinicline is ultimately approved, regulatory approval may be delayed or limited in the United States or in other jurisdictions. In September 2025, we announced that the FDA accepted for review our NDA for cytisinicline as a treatment of nicotine dependence for smoking cessation as the first indication in the United States and assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act, or PDUFA, targeted action date of June 20, 2026. One third-party manufacturer named in our NDA underwent a non-Achieve related FDA current Good Manufacturing Practices, or cGMP, inspection and the FDA made observations, two of which were related to solid oral dose manufacturing. As a result, the third-party manufacturer's facility, where the FDA made the two observations, received an Official Action Indicated, or OAI, classification and a warning letter. We expect to receive a Complete Response Letter
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from the FDA on or before our June 20, 2026 PDUFA targeted action date, which would delay our NDA approval. The contents of such CRL could be made public by the FDA and could result in reputational harm to our company and cytisinicline, result in litigation, or result in a delay or the inability to commercialize cytisinicline. Even if we are authorized to sell and market cytisinicline in one or more markets, there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully market cytisinicline or that cytisinicline will achieve market acceptance sufficient to generate profits. If we are unable to successfully develop and commercialize cytisinicline due to failure to obtain regulatory approval for cytisinicline, to successfully market cytisinicline, to generate profits from the sale of cytisinicline, or due to other risk factors outlined in this report, it would have material adverse effects on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The development and commercialization of our product candidate is dependent upon securing sufficient quantities of cytisinicline from plant sources, which grow outside of the United States in a limited number of locations.
The therapeutic component of our product candidate, cytisinicline, is derived from plants in the Faboideae subfamily of plant species, which grow in the mountains of Southern Europe, Russia, China and other limited locations around the world. We have and will continue to pursue alternative sources for cytisinicline, including synthetic routes, however, all of the cytisinicline sourced to date for our product candidate has been from natural sources and there is no guarantee that any potential synthetic route developed will be commercially viable. There can be no assurances that plants from the Faboideae subfamily of plant species will continue to grow in sufficient quantities around the world to meet our forecasts or commercial supply requirements or that the countries from which we can secure them will continue to allow the exportation of cytisinicline.
The FDA may not grant marketing approval of cytisinicline without additional clinical or nonclinical studies, or at all.
Drug product candidates must demonstrate substantial evidence of effectiveness, as well as safety to be approved in the United States. The FDA has interpreted that statutory standard as generally requiring at least two adequate and well-controlled clinical trials, each convincing on its own, to establish effectiveness and a safety profile. Under certain circumstances the FDA will determine that data from one adequate and well-controlled clinical trial together with confirmatory evidence obtained prior to or after such clinical trial are sufficient to constitute substantial evidence of effectiveness.
Cytisinicline is a naturally occurring alkaloid. Cytisinicline is structurally similar to nicotine and has a well-defined, dual-acting mechanism of action that is both agonistic and antagonistic. It is believed to aid in smoking cessation and the treatment of nicotine dependence by interacting with nicotine receptors in the brain, reducing the severity of nicotine craving and withdrawal symptoms through agonistic effects on nicotine receptors and reducing the reward and satisfaction associated with nicotine through antagonistic properties. Cytisinicline has been studied for smoking cessation in two company-sponsored randomized, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 clinical studies that randomized a total of 1,602 adult smokers in 37 study sites across the United States. Cytisinicline has also been evaluated for vaping cessation in a company-sponsored, randomized, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 clinical study involving 160 adults who used nicotine e-cigarettes.
The FDA advised us that long-term exposure data to assess for safety beyond 12 weeks would be needed to adequately assess safety risks given that the FDA views smoking cessation drugs as products for chronic, repeated, and intermittent use as patients may relapse and require subsequent courses of treatment over a lifetime. In the first quarter of 2024, we reached agreement with the FDA that a single, open-label study, which we refer to as ORCA-OL, evaluating the long-term safety effects of cytisinicline would be sufficient to complete the requirement and enable an NDA submission. The ORCA-OL open-label exposure trial was initiated in May 2024 and was completed in September 2025. The clinical trial enrolled 479 subjects at 29 clinical trial sites across the United States. Safety data, from the ORCA-OL trial, on over 300 participants with at least six months of cumulative cytisinicline exposure was included in our NDA submission in June 2025 and on over 100 participants receiving at least one year of cumulative cytisinicline exposure was submitted to the FDA in October 2025 as part of the 120-day safety update. In September 2025, we announced that the FDA accepted for review our NDA for cytisinicline as a treatment of nicotine dependence for smoking cessation in adults and assigned a PDUFA targeted action date of June 20, 2026. One third-party manufacturer named in our NDA underwent a non-Achieve related FDA cGMP inspection and the FDA made observations, two of which were related to solid oral dose manufacturing. As a result, the third-party manufacturer's facility, where the FDA made the two observations, received an Official Action Indicated, or OAI, classification and a warning letter. We expect to receive a Complete Response Letter from the FDA on or before our June 20, 2026 PDUFA targeted action date, which would delay our NDA approval. However, regardless of these discussions and the results of the ORCA-OL open label study, the FDA may determine that:
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Failure to obtain regulatory approval to market our product candidate would significantly harm our business, results of operations, and prospects.
Results of earlier clinical trials of cytisinicline are not necessarily predictive of future results, and any advances of cytisinicline into clinical trials may not have favorable results or receive regulatory approval.
Even if our future clinical trials are completed as planned, we cannot be certain that their results will be consistent with the results of the earlier clinical trials of cytisinicline. Positive results in non-clinical testing and past clinical trials with respect to the safety and efficacy of cytisinicline do not ensure that results from subsequent clinical trials will also be positive, and we cannot be sure that the results of subsequent clinical trials will replicate the results of prior clinical trials and non-clinical testing. Any such failure may cause us to abandon cytisinicline, which would negatively affect our ability to generate any product revenues.
Clinical trials are costly, time consuming and inherently risky, and we may fail to demonstrate safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of applicable regulatory authorities. Any advances of cytisinicline into clinical trials may not have favorable results or receive regulatory approval.
Clinical development is expensive, time consuming and involves significant risk. We cannot guarantee that any clinical trial will be conducted as planned or completed on schedule, if at all. A failure of one or more clinical trials can occur at any stage of development. Events that may prevent successful or timely completion of clinical development include, but are not limited to:
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Any inability to successfully complete clinical development and obtain regulatory approval for cytisinicline could result in additional costs to us or impair our ability to generate revenue. In addition, if we make manufacturing or formulation changes to cytisinicline, we may need to conduct additional non-clinical trials, or the results obtained from such new formulation may not be consistent with previous results obtained. Clinical trial delays could result in delayed regulatory approval and potential commercialization, as well as shorten any periods during which our products have patent protection and may allow competitors to develop and bring products to market before we do, which could impair our ability to successfully commercialize cytisinicline and may harm our business and results of operations.
Positive results in non-clinical testing and past clinical trials with respect to the adequate safety and efficacy of cytisinicline do not ensure that results from subsequent clinical trials will also be positive or adequate, and we cannot be sure that the results of subsequent clinical trials will replicate the results of prior clinical trials and non-clinical testing. Any such failure may cause us to abandon cytisinicline, which would negatively affect our ability to conduct our business and generate any product revenues and result in a loss of company value.
Cytisinicline may cause undesirable side effects or have other properties that could delay or prevent regulatory approval, limit the commercial viability of an approved label, or result in significant negative consequences following marketing approval, if any.
Undesirable side effects caused by cytisinicline could cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay, or terminate clinical trials. Even if approved, these could result in a restrictive label, a shelf life that is not commercially viable or delay regulatory approval by the FDA or comparable foreign authorities.
If contaminants, or impurities such as nitrosamines, are discovered in quantities above regulators’ thresholds within our supply of cytisinicline, we may potentially delay product development and approval or have a material adverse impact on our business. Failure to reach agreement with the FDA on acceptable intake levels for impurities, such as nitrosamines, or exceeding agreed upon levels could delay or prevent regulatory approval.
Additionally, even if cytisinicline receives marketing approval and we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by cytisinicline, potentially significant negative consequences could result, including but not limited to:
Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of cytisinicline, even if approved, and could significantly harm our business, results of operations, and prospects.
Our product development program may not uncover all possible adverse events that patients who take cytisinicline or our other product candidates may experience. The number of subjects exposed to cytisinicline or our other product candidates and the average exposure time in the clinical development program may be inadequate to detect rare adverse events, or chance findings, that may only be detected once the product is administered to more patients and for greater periods of time.
Clinical trials by their nature utilize a sample of the potential patient population. We cannot be fully assured that any and all rare and severe side effects of cytisinicline will be uncovered. Such rare and severe side effects may only be uncovered with a significantly larger number of patients exposed to cytisinicline or over a significantly longer period of time. If such safety problems occur or are identified after cytisinicline reaches the market in the United States, or if such safety problems occur or are identified in foreign markets where cytisinicline is currently marketed, the FDA may require that we amend the labeling of cytisinicline or recall it, or may even withdraw approval for cytisinicline.
If the use or misuse of cytisinicline harms patients, or is perceived to harm patients even when such harm is unrelated to cytisinicline, our regulatory approvals, if any, could be revoked or otherwise negatively impacted and we could be subject to costly and damaging product liability claims. If we are unable to obtain adequate insurance or are required to pay for liabilities resulting from a claim excluded from, or beyond the limits of, our insurance coverage, a material liability claim could adversely affect our financial condition.
The use or misuse of cytisinicline in clinical trials and the sale of cytisinicline if marketing approval is obtained, exposes us to the risk of potential product liability claims. Product liability claims might be brought against us by consumers, healthcare providers,
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pharmaceutical companies or others selling or otherwise coming into contact with our product. There is a risk that cytisinicline may induce adverse events. If we cannot successfully defend against product liability claims, we could incur substantial liability and costs.
In addition, during the course of treatment, patients may suffer adverse events for reasons that may be related to cytisinicline. Such events could subject us to costly litigation, require us to pay substantial amounts of money to injured patients, delay, negatively impact or end our opportunity to receive or maintain regulatory approval to market cytisinicline, if any, or require us to suspend or abandon our commercialization efforts. Even in a circumstance in which an adverse event is unrelated to cytisinicline, an investigation into such circumstance may be time-consuming or inconclusive. Such investigations may delay our regulatory approval process or impact and limit the type of regulatory approvals cytisinicline receives or maintains. As a result, a product liability claim, even if successfully defended, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations and reputation.
If we obtain marketing approval for cytisinicline, we will need to expand our insurance coverage to include the sale of commercial products. We cannot know if we will be able to continue to obtain product liability coverage and obtain expanded coverage if we require it in sufficient amounts to protect us against losses due to liability, on acceptable terms, or at all. We may not have sufficient resources to pay for any liabilities resulting from a claim excluded from, or beyond the limits of, our insurance coverage.
Where we have provided indemnities in favor of third parties under our agreements with them, there is a risk that these third parties could incur liability and bring a claim under such indemnities. An individual may also bring a product liability claim against us alleging that cytisinicline causes, or is claimed to have caused, an injury or is found to be unsuitable for consumer use. Any such product liability claims may include allegations of defects in manufacturing, defects in design, a failure to warn of dangers inherent in the product, negligence, strict liability, and a breach of warranties. Claims could also be asserted under state consumer protection acts.
Any product liability claim brought against us, with or without merit, could result in:
Product liability claims may subject us to the foregoing and other risks, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Our business may be negatively affected by weather conditions, natural disasters, and the availability of natural resources, as well as by climate change.
In recent years, extreme weather events and changing weather patterns such as storms, flooding, drought, and temperature changes appear to have become more common. The production of cytisinicline from the Faboideae subfamily of plant species depends on the availability of natural resources, including sufficient rainfall. Our suppliers of cytisinicline, could be adversely affected if they experience a shortage of fresh water due to droughts or if they experience other adverse weather conditions in the locations where cytisinicline is sourced. The long-term effects of climate change on general economic conditions and the pharmaceutical industry in particular are unclear and may heighten or intensify existing risk of natural disasters. As a result of such events, we could experience cytisinicline shortages, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, some manufacturing and other operations are located near earthquake fault lines. In the event of a major earthquake, we could experience business interruptions from the disruption of our cytisinicline supplies, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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We may use our financial and human resources to pursue a particular research program or product candidate and fail to capitalize on programs or product candidates that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.
Because we have limited financial and human resources, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with some programs or product candidates or for other indications that later prove to have greater commercial potential. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or more profitable market opportunities. Our spending on current and future research and development programs and future product candidates for specific indications may not yield any commercially viable products. We may also enter into additional strategic collaboration agreements to develop and commercialize some of our programs and potential product candidates in indications with potentially large commercial markets. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular product candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through strategic collaborations, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to such product candidate, or we may allocate internal resources to a product candidate in a therapeutic area in which it would have been more advantageous to enter into a partnering arrangement.
Risks Related to Regulatory Approval of Cytisinicline and Other Legal Compliance Matters
If we do not obtain the necessary regulatory approvals in the United States and/or other countries, we will not be able to sell cytisinicline.
We will need approval from the FDA to commercialize cytisinicline in the United States and approvals from similar regulatory authorities in foreign jurisdictions to commercialize cytisinicline in those jurisdictions. In September 2025, we announced that the FDA accepted for review our NDA for cytisinicline as a treatment of nicotine dependence for smoking cessation in adults and assigned a PDUFA targeted action date of June 20, 2026. One third-party manufacturer named in our NDA underwent a non-Achieve related FDA cGMP inspection and the FDA made observations, two of which were related to solid oral dose manufacturing. As a result, the third-party manufacturer's facility, where the FDA made the two observations, received an Official Action Indicated, or OAI, classification and a warning letter. We expect to receive a Complete Response Letter from the FDA on or before our June 20, 2026 PDUFA targeted action date, that would delay approval of our NDA. Even with the acceptance of our NDA by the FDA, we cannot predict whether the results of our clinical trials and/or the data from our research and clinical approaches included in the NDA will be sufficient to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of cytisinicline for approval from the FDA for the proposed indication of cytisinicline. The FDA has substantial discretion in the product approval process. The approval process may be delayed by changes in government regulation, future legislation or administrative action or changes in FDA policy that occur prior to or during our regulatory review. Even if we comply with all FDA requests, the FDA may ultimately reject one or more of our applications. We may never obtain regulatory approval for cytisinicline. Failure to obtain approval from the FDA or comparable regulatory authorities in foreign jurisdictions to commercialize cytisinicline will leave us without saleable products and therefore without any source of revenues. In addition, the FDA may require us to conduct additional clinical testing or to perform post-marketing studies, as a condition to granting marketing approval of a product or permit continued marketing, if previously approved. If conditional marketing approval is obtained, the results generated after approval could result in loss of marketing approval, changes in product labeling, and/or new or increased concerns about the side effects or efficacy of a product. The FDA has significant post-market authority, including the explicit authority to require post-market studies and clinical trials, labeling changes based on new safety information and compliance with FDA-approved risk evaluation and mitigation strategies. The FDA’s exercise of its authority has in some cases resulted, and in the future could result, in delays or increased costs during product development, clinical trials and regulatory review, increased costs to comply with additional post-approval regulatory requirements and potential restrictions on sales of approved products. In foreign jurisdictions, the regulatory approval processes generally include the same or similar risks as those associated with the FDA approval procedures described above. We cannot be certain that we will receive the approvals necessary to commercialize cytisinicline for sale either within or outside the United States.
Further, in June 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed its longstanding approach under the Chevron doctrine, which provided for judicial deference to regulatory agencies, including the FDA. As a result of this decision, we cannot be sure whether there will be increased challenges to existing agency regulations or how lower courts will apply the decision in the context of other regulatory schemes without more specific guidance from the U.S. Supreme Court. For example, this decision may result in more companies bringing lawsuits against the FDA to challenge longstanding decisions and policies of the FDA, which could undermine the FDA’s authority, lead to uncertainties in the industry, and disrupt the FDA’s normal operations, which could impact the timely review of any regulatory filings or applications we submit to the FDA.
Disruptions at the FDA may slow the time necessary for new products to be reviewed and/or approved, which would adversely affect our business. In addition, there is substantial uncertainty regarding new initiatives and how these might impact the FDA, its implementation of laws, regulations, policies and guidance and its personnel. Similar initiatives may also be directed toward other
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government agencies. These initiatives could prevent, limit or delay development and regulatory approval of our product candidates, which would adversely affect our business.
Disruptions at the FDA may slow the time necessary for new products to be reviewed and/or approved, which would adversely affect our business. Changes in FDA staffing could result in delays in the FDA’s responsiveness or in its ability to review submissions or applications, issue regulations or guidance, or implement or enforce regulatory requirements in a timely fashion or at all. If any legislation, executive orders, or lapses in agency funding impose constraints on the FDA’s ability to engage in oversight and implementation activities in the normal course, our business may be negatively impacted.
Similar consequences would also result in the event of another significant shutdown of the federal government. For example, in 2024 and 2025, the U.S. government was on the verge of a shutdown or shut down several times, and certain regulatory agencies, such as the FDA, had to furlough critical employees and stop critical activities. If a prolonged government shutdown occurs, or if geopolitical or global health concerns prevent the FDA from conducting their regular inspections, reviews, or other regulatory activities, it could significantly impact the ability of the FDA to timely review and process our regulatory submissions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. Further, future government shutdowns or delays could impact our ability to access the public markets and obtain necessary capital in order to properly capitalize and continue our operations.
FDA-regulated industries, such as ours, face uncertainty with regard to the regulatory environment we will face as we proceed with research, development and commercialization. Some of these efforts have manifested to date as efforts to reduce the size of the federal government, including large-scale reductions in force at the FDA. The loss of key personnel at the FDA, including those in leadership positions, is likely to impact operations at the FDA, which could result in, among other things, delays or limitations on our ability to obtain guidance from the FDA on our product candidates in development, longer review times and delays in obtaining regulatory approvals for our product candidates. There remains general uncertainty regarding future activities. New executive orders, regulations, policies or guidance could be issued or promulgated that adversely affects us or creates a more challenging or costly environment to pursue the development of new therapeutic products. Alternatively, state governments may attempt to address or react to changes at the federal level with changes to their own regulatory frameworks in a manner that is adverse to our operations. If we become negatively impacted by future governmental orders, regulations, policies or guidance, there could be a material adverse effect on us and our business.
Healthcare legislative and executive reform measures may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
In the United States, there have been and continue to be a number of legislative initiatives to contain healthcare costs. For example, in March 2010, the Healthcare Reform Law was passed, which substantially changed the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers, and significantly impacts the U.S. pharmaceutical industry. The Healthcare Reform Law, among other things, addresses a new methodology by which rebates owed by manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program are calculated for products that are inhaled, infused, instilled, implanted, or injected, 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
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care organizations, establishes annual fees and taxes on manufacturers of specified branded prescription products, and promotes a new Medicare Part D coverage gap discount program.
There have also been multiple recent U.S. congressional inquiries and proposed and adopted federal and state legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for drugs and biologics. In addition, Congress and multiple presidential administrations have indicated that they will continue to seek new legislative and/or administrative measures to control drug costs. These initiatives recently culminated in the enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act, or the IRA, in August 2022, which will, among other things, allow HHS to negotiate the selling price of certain drugs and biologics that CMS reimburses under Medicare Part B and Part D, although only high-expenditure single-source drugs that have been approved for at least 7 years (11 years for biologics) can be selected by CMS for negotiation, with the negotiated price taking effect two years after the selection year. The negotiated prices, which will first become effective in 2026, will be capped at a statutory ceiling price beginning in October 2023, penalize drug manufacturers that increase prices of Medicare Part B and Part D drugs at a rate greater than the rate of inflation. The IRA permits the Secretary of HHS to implement many of these provisions through guidance, as opposed to regulation, for the initial years. Manufacturers that fail to comply with the IRA may be subject to various penalties, including civil monetary penalties. The IRA also extends enhanced subsidies for individuals purchasing health insurance coverage in U.S. Affordable Care Act, or ACA, marketplaces through plan year 2025. These provisions took effect progressively starting in 2023, although they may be subject to legal challenges. We anticipate that additional state and federal healthcare measures could be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand or lower pricing for cytisinicline, or additional pricing pressures. Currently, ACA and other federal laws and rules require most health insurance plans in the U.S. to cover some level of tobacco cessation treatments, including smoking cessation counseling and medications. If these provisions are repealed, in whole or in part, our business, financial condition, or results of operations could be negatively affected.
Our ability to obtain services, reimbursement or funding may be impacted by possible reductions in federal spending in the United States as well as globally.
U.S. federal government agencies currently face potentially significant spending reductions. Under the Budget Control Act of 2011, the failure of Congress to enact deficit reduction measures of at least $1.2 trillion for the years 2013 through 2021 triggered automatic cuts to most federal programs. These cuts include aggregate reductions to Medicare payments to providers of up to two percent per fiscal year, which went into effect beginning on April 1, 2013 and will stay in effect through 2025 unless additional Congressional action is taken. The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which was enacted on January 1, 2013, among other things, reduced Medicare payments to several providers, including hospitals and imaging centers. The full impact on our business of these automatic cuts is uncertain.
If government spending is reduced, anticipated budgetary shortfalls may also impact the ability of relevant agencies, such as the FDA or the National Institutes of Health to continue to function at current levels. Amounts allocated to federal grants and contracts may be reduced or eliminated. These reductions may also impact the ability of relevant agencies to timely review and approve drug research and development, manufacturing, and marketing activities, which may delay our ability to develop, market and sell any products we may develop. Any reductions in government spending in countries outside the United States may also impact us negatively, such as by limiting the functioning of international regulatory agencies in countries outside the United States or by eliminating programs on which we may rely.
Even if we obtain regulatory approval for cytisinicline, we will remain subject to ongoing regulatory requirements in connection with the sale and distribution of cytisinicline.
Even if cytisinicline is approved by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities, we will be subject to ongoing regulatory requirements with respect to manufacturing, labeling, packaging, storage, advertising, promotion, sampling, record-keeping, conduct of post-marketing clinical trials, and submission of safety, efficacy and other post-approval information, including both federal and state requirements in the United States and the requirements of comparable foreign regulatory authorities. Compliance with such regulatory requirements will likely be costly, and failure to comply would likely result in penalties, up to and including, the loss of such approvals from the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities.
Manufacturers and manufacturers’ facilities are required to continuously comply with FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authority requirements, including ensuring that quality control and manufacturing procedures conform to current cGMP regulations and corresponding foreign regulatory manufacturing requirements. As such, we, and our third-party contract manufacturers, will be subject to continual review and inspections to assess compliance with cGMP and adherence to commitments made in any NDA or marketing authorization application. If our contract manufacturers fail to maintain cGMP compliance or fail inspections with the FDA and other regulators, then our business could be severely harmed.
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Ongoing post-approval monitoring and clinical trial obligations may be costly to us and the failure to meet such obligations may result in the withdrawal of such approvals.
Any regulatory approvals that we receive for cytisinicline may be subject to limitations on the approved indicated uses for which cytisinicline may be marketed or to the conditions of approval, or contain requirements for potentially costly post-marketing testing, including Phase 4 clinical trials, and surveillance to monitor the safety and efficacy of cytisinicline. We will be required to report adverse reactions and production problems, if any, to the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities. Any new legislation addressing product safety issues could result in delays in product development or commercialization, or increased costs to assure compliance. We could be required to conduct a successful post-marketing clinical trial in order to confirm the clinical benefit for our products. An unsuccessful post-marketing clinical trial or failure to complete such a trial could result in the withdrawal of marketing approval.
If a regulatory agency discovers previously unknown problems with a product, such as adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or problems with the facility where the product is manufactured, or disagrees with the promotion, marketing or labeling of a product, the regulatory agency may impose restrictions on that product or us, including requiring withdrawal of the product from the market. If we fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, a regulatory agency or enforcement authority may, among other things:
Any government investigation of alleged violations of law would be expected to require us to expend significant time and resources in response and could generate adverse publicity. Any failure to comply with ongoing regulatory requirements may significantly and adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize our products and the value of us and our operating results would be adversely affected.
We may be subject, directly or indirectly, to federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws, false claims laws, and health information privacy and security laws. If we are unable to comply, or have not fully complied, with such laws, we could face substantial penalties.
If we obtain FDA approval for cytisinicline and begin commercializing it in the United States, our operations may be subject to various federal and state fraud and abuse laws, including, without limitation, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, the federal False Claims Act, and physician sunshine laws and regulations. These laws may impact, among other things, our proposed sales, marketing, and education programs. In addition, we may be subject to patient privacy regulation by both the federal government and the states in which we conduct our business. The laws that may affect our ability to operate include:
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Because of the breadth of these laws and the narrowness of the statutory exceptions and safe harbors available, it is possible that some of our business activities could be subject to challenge under one or more of such laws. In addition, recent healthcare reform legislation has strengthened these laws. For example, the Healthcare Reform Law, among other things, amends the intent requirement of the federal anti-kickback and criminal healthcare fraud statutes. A person or entity no longer needs to have actual knowledge of this statute or specific intent to violate it. Moreover, the Healthcare Reform Law provides that the government may assert that a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the federal anti-kickback statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the False Claims Act.
If our operations are found to be in violation of any of the laws described above or any other governmental regulations that apply to us, we may be subject to penalties, including civil and criminal penalties, damages, fines, exclusion from participation in government healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, imprisonment, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and its results of operations.
Our employees, independent contractors, consultants, commercial partners, principal investigators, or CROs may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We are exposed to the risk of fraud or misconduct by employees, independent contractors, consultants, commercial partners, principal investigators, or CROs, which could include intentional, reckless, negligent, or unintentional failures to comply with FDA regulations, comply with applicable fraud and abuse laws, provide accurate information to the FDA, report financial information or data accurately, or disclose unauthorized activities to us. This misconduct could also involve the improper use or misrepresentation of information obtained in the course of clinical trials, which could result in regulatory sanctions and serious harm to our reputation. It is not always possible to identify and deter this type of misconduct, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to be in compliance with such laws or regulations. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations, including the imposition of significant fines or other sanctions. Further, even if we are successful in asserting a defense, we may incur substantial costs in preparing and maintaining our defense and any such action would be time- and resource-intensive and potentially divert management’s attention from the business, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
Moreover, our employees are increasingly utilizing social media tools and our website as a means of communication. Despite our efforts to monitor social media communications, there is risk that the unauthorized use of social media by our employees to communicate about our products or business, or any inadvertent disclosure of material, nonpublic information through these means, may result in violations of applicable laws and regulations, which may give rise to liability and result in harm to our business. In addition, there is also risk of inappropriate disclosure of sensitive information, which could result in significant legal and financial exposure and reputational damages that could potentially have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Our employees could also inappropriately utilize artificial intelligence, or AI, in connection with their
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social media communications, introducing another potential source of reputational damage or other potential legal or financial exposure.
A Breakthrough Therapy designation by the FDA and our receipt of a CNPV may not lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process for the nicotine e-cigarette/vaping cessation indication and it does not increase the likelihood that our product candidates will receive marketing approval.
The FDA has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for cytisinicline for nicotine e-cigarette, or vaping, cessation. A breakthrough therapy is defined as a drug or biologic that is intended, alone or in combination with one or more other drugs or biologics, to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the drug or biologic may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints, such as substantial treatment effects observed early in clinical development. For product candidates that have been designated as breakthrough therapies, interaction and communication between the FDA and the sponsor of the trial can help to identify the most efficient path for clinical development but does not guarantee a more efficient path.
The FDA has also awarded us a CNPV for cytisinicline for vaping cessation. While the CNPV is designed to provide enhanced communications with the FDA and expedite its review of a therapy, we would still be required to commence the voucher process within the two-year time period set by the FDA, which will require significant time and expense. In addition, this time limit may lapse before we are able to meet the requirements, which would result in us losing the CNPV benefit of an expedited review for vaping cessation.
Our receipt of Breakthrough Therapy designation and a CNPV for cytisinicline may not result in a faster development process, review or approval and does not assure ultimate approval by the FDA. In addition, when a product candidate qualifies as a breakthrough therapy, the FDA may later decide that the product no longer meets the conditions for qualification.
Risks Related to our Business Operations
It is difficult to evaluate our current business, predict our prospects and forecast our financial performance and growth.
To date our business activities have been focused primarily on the development and regulatory approval of cytisinicline and its various alternative forms. Although we have not generated revenue to date, we expect that, after any regulatory approval, any receipt of revenue will be attributable to sales of cytisinicline, primarily in the United States, the EU (including the U.K.) and Asia. Because we devote substantially all of our resources to the development of cytisinicline and rely on cytisinicline as our sole source of potential revenue for the foreseeable future, any factors that negatively impact this product, or result in decreasing product sales, would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our future success depends in part on our ability to attract, retain, and motivate other qualified personnel.
We will need to expand and effectively manage our managerial, operational, financial, development, commercial and other resources in order to successfully pursue our development and commercialization efforts for our existing and future product candidates. We expect to need additional scientific, technical, operational, financial and other personnel. Our success depends on our continued ability to attract, retain and motivate highly qualified personnel, such as management, clinical and preclinical personnel, including our executive officers. In addition, although we have entered into employment agreements with each of our executive officers, such agreements permit those executives to terminate their employment with us at any time, subject to providing us with advance written notice.
We may not be able to attract and retain personnel on acceptable terms, if at all, given the competition among numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for individuals with similar skill sets. In addition, failure to succeed in development and commercialization of cytisinicline may make it more challenging to recruit and retain qualified personnel. The inability to recruit and retain qualified personnel, or the loss of the services of our current personnel may impede the progress of our research, development, and commercialization objectives and would negatively impact our ability to succeed in our product development strategy.
On April 18, 2026, we appointed Andrew Goldberg, MD as our new Chief Executive Officer and President, and as a member of our Board. While we believe this leadership change positions the Company for continued growth and execution of our strategic priorities, and while our former Chief Executive Officer will continue to serve on our Board of Directors to help facilitate an orderly transition, any change in senior leadership inherently involves risks and uncertainties, including potential disruptions to our operations, strategic direction, and key relationships with vendors, suppliers, employees, and other stakeholders. A leadership transition may also create uncertainty among employees that could result in increased attrition of key personnel, and other third parties may seek to take
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advantage of any perceived instability during the transition period. Any failure to manage this transition effectively could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, and prospects.
We will need to expand our organization and we may experience difficulties in managing this growth, which could disrupt our operations.
We will need to expand our organization as we prepare for potential commercialization of cytisinicline, which may require us to divert a disproportionate amount of our attention away from our day-to-day activities and devote a substantial amount of time to managing these growth activities. We do not currently have a commercial infrastructure, and we may not be able to successfully develop a commercial infrastructure to support the commercialization of cytisinicline on the timeline needed, or at all. Commercialization requires significantly greater financial and organizational resources, which may not be available to us. We may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations, which may result in weaknesses in its infrastructure, operational mistakes, loss of business opportunities, loss of employees, and reduced productivity among remaining employees. Expanded growth and commercialization requires significant capital expenditure and may divert financial resources from other projects, such as the development of additional product candidates. If we are unable to effectively manage our growth or commercialize plans, our expenses may increase more than expected, our ability to generate and/or grow revenue could be reduced, and we may not be able to implement our business strategy. Our future financial performance and our ability to commercialize product candidates and compete effectively will depend, in part, on our ability to effectively manage any future growth and commercialization.
We plan to invest in the development of additional indications for cytisinicline. If we invest in and are unsuccessful in developing additional indications for cytisinicline, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.
We plan to invest in the research and development of new indications for cytisinicline to address nicotine dependence associated with the use of e-cigarette, or vaping, products. Given their recent introduction, the use of vaping products is not fully understood which may increase the risk of failure in this area. We expect that we will need to invest significant amounts of capital to pursue development of an e-cigarette cessation indication. If we are unable to provide such additional capital when needed, we may be unable to complete the development, regulatory approval and commercialization of an e-cigarette cessation indication.
The development of additional indications for cytisinicline is highly uncertain. During the research and development cycle, we may expend significant time and resources on developing additional indications without any assurance that we will recoup our investments or that our efforts will be commercially successful. A high rate of failure is inherent in the discovery and development of additional indications, and failure can occur at any point in the process, including late in the process after substantial investment. Further, any new indications may not be accepted by physicians and the medical community at large, and competitors may develop and market equivalent or superior products. Failure to launch commercially successful new indications for cytisinicline after significant investment could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our internal computer systems, or those of our third-party collaborators or other service providers, may fail or suffer security breaches and cyber-attacks, which could result in a material disruption of our development programs.
We believe that we take reasonable steps that are designed to protect the security, integrity and confidentiality of the information we collect, use, store, and disclose, but inadvertent or unauthorized data access may occur despite our efforts. Our system protections may be ineffective or inadequate, or we could be impacted by software bugs or other technical malfunctions, as well as employee error or malfeasance. Additionally, privacy and data protection laws are evolving, and it is possible that these laws may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our data handling safeguards and practices that could result in fines, lawsuits, and other penalties, and significant changes to our or our third-party collaborators or service providers business practices and products and service offerings. To the extent that the measures we or our third-party collaborators or service providers have taken prove to be insufficient or inadequate, we may become subject to litigation, breach notification obligations, or regulatory or administrative sanctions, which could result in significant fines, penalties, damages, harm to our reputation, or loss of customers. While we have not experienced any material losses as a result of any system failure, accident or security breach to date, we have been the subject of certain phishing attempts in the past. If such an event were to occur and cause interruptions in our operations, it could result in a material disruption of our development programs and our business operations, whether due to a loss of our trade secrets or other proprietary information or other similar disruptions. Additionally, a party who circumvents our security measures could, among other effects, appropriate patient information or other proprietary data, cause interruptions in our operations, or expose our collaborators to hacks, viruses, and other disruptions. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from completed or future clinical trials could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. In addition, insurance coverage to compensate for any losses associated with such events, if available, may not be adequate to cover all potential losses. The
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development and maintenance of these systems, controls and processes is costly and requires ongoing monitoring and updating as technologies change and efforts to overcome security measures become increasingly sophisticated.
To the extent that any disruption, security breach, or cyber-attack were to result in a loss of, or damage to, our data or applications, or inappropriate disclosure of personal, confidential or proprietary information, we could incur liability, our competitive position could be harmed and the further development and commercialization of our product candidate could be delayed. Depending on the nature of the information compromised, in the event of a data breach or other unauthorized access to our patient data, we may also have obligations to notify patients and regulators about the incident, and we may need to provide some form of remedy, such as a subscription to credit monitoring services, pay significant fines to one or more regulators, or pay compensation in connection with a class-action settlement (including under the new private right of action under the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018). Such breach notification laws continue to evolve and may be inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another. Complying with these obligations could cause us to incur substantial costs and could increase negative publicity surrounding any incident that compromises customer data. Additionally, the financial exposure from the events referenced above could either not be insured against or not be fully covered through any insurance that we may maintain or obtain in the future, and there can be no assurance that the limitations of liability in any of our contracts would be enforceable or adequate or would otherwise protect us from liabilities or damages as a result of the events referenced above. Any of the foregoing could have an adverse effect on our business, reputation, financial condition and results of operations.
In efforts to innovate and optimize operational efficiency, certain third parties with whom we work may integrate AI into various aspects of their work with us. While we do not currently utilize AI tools in a significant way, we may in the future integrate AI into various projects, including as a component of our commercialization strategy. While AI presents opportunities for enhanced productivity and innovation, it also introduces inherent risks, including legal and regulatory, that could adversely impact our business and reputation. Proper use of AI can lead to improved decision-making, cost reduction, and competitive advantage. However, improper use, including algorithmic biases, ethical considerations, data privacy issues, unknown or zero-day software vulnerabilities, and potential regulatory non-compliance, by our employees or third parties with whom we work could result in reputational damage, legal liabilities, and financial losses. The rapidly evolving regulatory landscape surrounding AI also poses a risk, as new laws and regulations could impose additional compliance burdens, resulting in increased operational costs. We are committed to implementing robust governance and control mechanisms to mitigate these risks, but there can be no assurance that such measures will adequately prevent or mitigate the adverse effects that the integration and use of AI may have on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Reliance on Third Parties
We expect to continue to rely on third parties to manufacture cytisinicline. Our commercialization of cytisinicline could be stopped, delayed or made less profitable if our manufacturing partners fail to obtain approval of government regulators, fail to provide us with sufficient quantities of product or fail to do so at acceptable quality levels or prices.
We do not currently have, nor do we currently plan to develop, the internal infrastructure or capability to manufacture our clinical supplies for use in the conduct of our clinical trials, and we lack the resources and the capability to manufacture cytisinicline on a clinical or commercial scale. We may encounter technical difficulties or delays in the transfer of cytisinicline manufacturing on a commercial scale to other third-party manufacturers or encounter difficulties and delays in identifying other third-party manufacturers beyond our current manufacturers. We may be unable to enter into agreements for commercial supply with third-party manufacturers on acceptable terms, or at all. If and when product sales for cytisinicline commence and grow, cytisinicline will require production processes to be scaled up. We will be dependent on external manufacturers and suppliers to ensure that their manufacturing processes can be scaled up adequately such that we are able to supply the market. If any of our key suppliers are unable or unwilling to scale up production, or we otherwise experience a product shortfall, any such product shortfall could delay commercialization of cytisinicline and impair sales, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
Third-party manufacturers, or CMOs, are subject to regulatory requirements covering manufacturing, testing, quality control and record keeping relating to product candidates and are also subject to ongoing inspections by regulatory agencies. Failure by CMOs to pass a pre-approval inspection by the FDA may require us to pursue alternative manufacturers, which could result in delay in review or approval of our NDA and commercialization, additional costs or other adverse impacts. Additionally, failure by CMOs to pass a pre-approval inspection by the FDA or to otherwise comply with applicable regulations may result in delays and interruptions to our product candidate supply, or additional costs, while we seek to secure another supplier that meets all regulatory requirements. One third-party manufacturer named in our NDA underwent a non-Achieve related FDA cGMP inspection and the FDA made observations, two of which were related to solid oral dose manufacturing. As a result, the third-party manufacturer's facility, where the FDA made the two observations, received an Official Action Indicated, or OAI, classification and a warning letter. The observations resulting in the OAI classification and warning letter at the third-party manufacturer's facility relate to general cGMP matters at the
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facility and are not specific to cytisinicline. We expect to receive a Complete Response Letter, or CRL, from the FDA on or before our June 20, 2026 PDUFA targeted action date, which would delay our NDA approval.
Our reliance on CMOs exposes us to the following additional risks:
Each of these risks could delay our clinical trials, the approval, if any, of cytisinicline by the FDA or the commercialization of cytisinicline or result in higher costs or deprive us of potential product revenue.
The manufacture of medical products is complex and requires significant expertise and capital investment, including the development of advanced manufacturing techniques and process controls. Manufacturers of medical products often encounter difficulties in production, particularly in scaling up and validating initial production and absence of contamination. These problems include difficulties with production costs and yields, quality control, including stability of the product, quality assurance testing, operator error, shortages of qualified personnel, as well as compliance with strictly enforced federal, state and foreign regulations. Furthermore, if contaminants are discovered in the supply of cytisinicline or in the manufacturing facilities, such manufacturing facilities may need to be closed for an extended period of time to investigate and remedy the contamination. We cannot be assured that any stability or other issues relating to the manufacture of cytisinicline will not occur in the future. Additionally, manufacturers may experience manufacturing difficulties due to resource constraints or as a result of labor disputes or political instability in the countries in which they conduct their operations. Any delay or interruption in the supply of clinical trial supplies could delay the completion of clinical trials, increase the costs associated with maintaining clinical trial programs and, depending upon the period of delay, require us to commence new clinical trials at additional expense or terminate clinical trials completely. Similar political instability could also harm the commercial production and supply of cytisinicline in the event that cytisinicline is ultimately approved for commercial sale.
In June 2021, Pfizer Inc. halted the distribution of its smoking cessation drug, Chantix (varenicline) after heightened levels of a nitrosamine impurity, called N-nitroso-varenicline, which were above the FDA’s acceptable daily intake limit, were found in some lots of Chantix pills. Long-term use of products containing N-nitroso-varenicline may be associated with a potential increased cancer risk in humans. In September 2021, Pfizer announced a nationwide recall in the United States of all lots of Chantix and also withdrew the product in other countries around the globe. In February 2026, Pfizer announced that Chantix would be made available in the United States. We have undertaken a review of cytisinicline in accordance with regulatory guidance to assess the risk of the presence of nitrosamines and other potential impurities. If contaminants, or impurities such as nitrosamines, are discovered in quantities above regulators’ thresholds within our supply of cytisinicline, we may potentially delay product development and approval or have a material adverse impact on our business.
We and our CMOs may also be impacted by new legislation and regulations relating to the manufacture of medical products. For example, legislation has been introduced and passed in Congress to limit certain U.S. biotechnology companies from using equipment or services produced or provided by select Chinese biotechnology companies. Certain members of Congress have advocated for the use of existing executive branch authorities to limit those Chinese service providers’ ability to engage in business in the U.S. We cannot predict what actions may ultimately be taken with respect to trade relations between the United States and China or other countries, what products and services may be subject to such actions or what actions may be taken by the other countries in retaliation.
We are currently involved in a dispute with Sopharma AD, or Sopharma, relating to cytisinicline. If we and Sopharma are unable to resolve this dispute, our rights with respect to the potential commercialization of cytisinicline could be delayed, restricted, or otherwise adversely affected, which could harm our ability to generate value from cytisinicline.
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Our current supply agreement with Sopharma expires on July 28, 2037, unless extended by agreement between us and Sopharma. While Sopharma has been subject to oversight by regulators in Europe and Bulgaria, they have never been inspected by the FDA and there is no assurance that their quality systems will be satisfactory to pass a pre-approval inspection by the FDA in a timely manner or at all. We have concerns regarding Sopharma’s ability to meet the requirements of and pass an FDA pre-approval inspection and if our concerns regarding Sopharma are not resolved, we plan to engage third-party manufacturers until such time that Sopharma is able to pass an FDA inspection. Sopharma has alleged that our engagement of third-party manufacturers is a breach of our agreement, which we have disputed and have proposed steps to resolve the parties’ dispute. In the event we are unable to resolve our ongoing dispute with Sopharma, such dispute may result in litigation, additional costs or delays in activities relating to our NDA or ultimate commercialization.
Our transition of cytisinicline manufacturing to a new third-party manufacturer could result in delays, supply disruptions, increased costs, and regulatory risk.
We are transitioning the manufacturing of cytisinicline drug product to a new third-party manufacturer, Adare. Although we believe this transition will enhance our supply chain capabilities, including providing redundancy and U.S.-based manufacturing, transferring manufacturing to a new facility is complex and entails significant risks, including the risk that the new manufacturer may be unable to reliably or timely manufacture cytisinicline at the required quality standards, in the necessary quantities, or at an acceptable cost, particularly as we progress to validation and commercial-scale production. The process of qualifying a new manufacturing site and implementing or scaling manufacturing processes may result in unanticipated technical challenges, deviations, failed batches, delays in release testing, capacity constraints, supply interruptions, or the need to repeat manufacturing activities, any of which could delay our planned regulatory submissions or resubmissions, delay or prevent commercial launch (if approved), or otherwise adversely affect our business and prospects. In addition, our reliance on third parties for manufacturing subjects us to risks outside our control, including changes in the manufacturer’s priorities, performance issues, shortages of raw materials or components, labor or transportation disruptions, and compliance risk, including the risk of adverse inspectional findings or other regulatory actions affecting the manufacturing site. If we are unable to successfully complete this manufacturing transition and establish a consistent commercial supply chain on a timely basis, we may be required to identify and qualify alternative manufacturers, which could be time-consuming and costly, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Additionally, Adare’s Chief Executive Officer serves as a member of our Board of Directors, which may give rise to actual or perceived conflicts of interest with respect to our oversight of, and decisions regarding, our relationship with Adare. Although we have adopted processes and controls designed to address related-party transactions, this relationship could affect, or be perceived to affect, our ability to negotiate arm’s-length terms, evaluate Adare’s performance objectively, or take other actions we may deem necessary, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and prospects.
We rely on third parties to conduct our clinical trials and perform other services. If these third parties do not successfully perform and comply with regulatory requirements, we may not be able to successfully complete clinical development, obtain regulatory approval or commercialize cytisinicline and our business could be substantially harmed.
We rely upon third-party CROs to conduct, monitor and manage our ongoing clinical programs. We rely on these parties for execution of clinical trials and manage and control only some aspects of their activities. We remain responsible for ensuring that each of our trials is conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol, legal, regulatory, and scientific standards and our reliance on the CROs does not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities. We and our CROs and other vendors are required to comply with all applicable laws, regulations and guidelines, including those required by the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities for all of our product candidates in clinical development. If we or any of our CROs or vendors fail to comply with applicable laws, regulations and guidelines, the results generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable and the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may require us to perform additional clinical trials before approving our marketing applications. We cannot be assured that our CROs and other vendors will meet these requirements, or that upon inspection by any regulatory authority, such regulatory authority will determine that efforts, including any of our clinical trials, comply with applicable requirements. Our failure to comply
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with these laws, regulations and guidelines may require us to repeat clinical trials, which would be costly and delay the regulatory approval process.
If any of our relationships with these third-party CROs terminate, we may not be able to enter into arrangements with alternative CROs in a timely manner or do so on commercially reasonable terms. In addition, our CROs may not prioritize our clinical trials relative to those of other customers and any turnover in personnel or delays in the allocation of CRO employees by the CRO may negatively affect our clinical trials. If CROs do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or obligations or meet expected deadlines, continued development of cytisinicline may be delayed or terminated and we may not be able to meet our current plans with respect to cytisinicline. CROs may also involve higher costs than anticipated, which could negatively affect our financial condition and operations.
We may not be able to establish or maintain the third-party relationships that are necessary to develop or potentially commercialize cytisinicline.
Our business plan relies heavily on third-party collaborators, partners, licensees, clinical research organizations, clinical investigators, vendors or other third parties to support our research and development efforts and to conduct clinical trials for cytisinicline. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to successfully negotiate agreements for, or maintain relationships with, these third parties on a commercially reasonable basis, if at all. If we fail to establish or maintain such third-party relationships as anticipated, our business could be adversely affected.
We may be unable to realize the potential benefits of any collaborations which we may enter into with other companies for the development and commercialization of cytisinicline.
We may enter into a collaboration with third parties concerning the development and/or commercialization of cytisinicline; however, there is no guarantee that any such collaboration will be successful. Collaborations may pose a number of risks, including:
As a result, a collaboration may not result in the successful development or commercialization of cytisinicline.
We enter into various contracts in the normal course of our business in which we indemnify the other party to the contract. In the event we have to perform under these indemnification provisions, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In the normal course of business, we enter into academic, commercial, service, collaboration, licensing, consulting and other agreements that contain indemnification provisions. With respect to our academic and other research agreements, we typically
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indemnify the institution and related parties from losses arising from claims relating to the products, processes or services made, used, sold or performed pursuant to the agreements for which we have secured licenses, and from claims arising from our or our sublicensees’ exercise of rights under the agreement. With respect to our collaboration agreements, we indemnify our collaborators from any third-party product liability claims that could result from the production, use or consumption of the product, as well as for alleged infringements of any patent or other intellectual property right by a third party. With respect to consultants, we indemnify them from claims arising from the good faith performance of their services.
Should our obligation under an indemnification provision exceed applicable insurance coverage or if we were denied insurance coverage, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. Similarly, if we are relying on a collaborator to indemnify us and the collaborator is denied insurance coverage or the indemnification obligation exceeds the applicable insurance coverage, and if the collaborator does not have other assets available to indemnify us, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
We may rely on third parties to perform many essential services for any of our current or future product candidates that we commercialize, including services related to warehousing and inventory control, distribution, government price reporting, customer service, accounts receivable management, cash collection, and adverse event reporting. If these third parties fail to perform as expected or to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, our ability to commercialize any of our current or future product candidates will be significantly impacted and we may be subject to regulatory sanctions.
We may retain third-party service providers to perform a variety of functions related to the sale and distribution of any of our current or future product candidates, key aspects of which will be out of our direct control. These service providers may provide key services related to warehousing and inventory control, distribution, government price reporting, customer service, accounts receivable management, and cash collection, and, as a result, most of our inventory may be stored at a single warehouse maintained by one such service provider. If we retain a service provider, we would substantially rely on it as well as other third‑party providers that perform services for us, including entrusting our inventories of products to their care and handling. If these third-party service providers fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations, fail to meet expected deadlines, or otherwise do not carry out their contractual duties to us, or encounter physical or natural damage at their facilities, our ability to deliver product to meet commercial demand would be significantly impaired and we may be subject to regulatory enforcement action.
In addition, we may engage third parties to perform various other services for us relating to adverse event reporting, safety database management, fulfillment of requests for medical information regarding our product candidates and related services. If the quality or accuracy of the data maintained by these service providers is insufficient, or these third parties otherwise fail to comply with regulatory requirements related to adverse event reporting, we could be subject to regulatory sanctions.
Additionally, if a third-party errs in calculating government pricing information from transactional data in our financial records, it could impact our discount and rebate liability and potentially cause government programs to overpay providers for our products, which could expose us to significant False Claims Act liability and other civil monetary penalties.
Risks Related to Commercialization of Cytisinicline
If we are unable to establish distribution, marketing, and sales capabilities, we may not be successful in commercializing cytisinicline, if approved.
To achieve commercial success for cytisinicline, if approved, we will need to establish or outsource critical distribution, marketing and sales capabilities.
We plan to establish necessary internal commercial infrastructure and engage third parties to build certain commercial capabilities to market cytisinicline. There are risks involved with entering into arrangements with third parties to perform these services. Furthermore, we have entered into a partnership with Omnicom to support the commercial launch of cytisinicline in the United States, which requires financial commitments in advance of approval and may result in disruption of our commercialization efforts if disputes or other issues arise in our relationship with Omnicom. If the commercial launch of cytisinicline is delayed or does not occur for any
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reason, including failure to receive marketing approval from the FDA, we would have prematurely or unnecessarily incurred these commercialization expenses.
Factors that may inhibit our efforts to commercialize cytisinicline, if approved, on our own include:
In addition, we may not be successful in entering into arrangements with third parties to sell, market and distribute our product candidates outside of the United States or may be unable to do so on terms that are favorable to us. We likely will have little control over such third parties, and any of them may fail to devote the necessary resources and attention to sell and market our product candidates effectively. If we do not establish distribution, marketing and sales capabilities successfully in collaboration with third parties, we will not be successful in commercializing our product candidates.
We face substantial competition, and our competitors may discover, develop or commercialize products faster or more successfully than us.
The development and commercialization of new products is highly competitive. We face competition from major pharmaceutical companies, specialty pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, universities and other research institutions worldwide with respect to products for smoking cessation and other product candidates that we may seek to develop or commercialize in the future. We are aware that many companies have therapeutics marketed or in development for smoking cessation. We expect that our competitors and potential competitors have historically dedicated, and will continue to dedicate, significant resources to aggressively develop and commercialize their products in order to take advantage of the significant market opportunity.
We have and will continue to pursue new cytisinicline products and alternative sources of cytisinicline used for our products, including additional natural and synthetic sources and routes. The pursuit and development of alternative cytisinicline products and sources is expensive, time consuming, involves significant risk and may not be commercially feasible. There is no guarantee that we will be successful, or that we will be able to develop new products or alternative cytisinicline sources first before our competitors do.
Many of our competitors have substantially greater financial, name recognition, manufacturing, marketing, research, technical and other resources than us. Additional mergers and acquisitions in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries may result in even more resources being concentrated in our competitors. Further, our competitors may develop new products that are safer, more effective or more cost-efficient than cytisinicline. Large pharmaceutical companies in particular have extensive expertise in non-clinical and clinical testing and in obtaining regulatory approvals for products. In addition, academic institutions, government agencies, and other public and private organizations conducting research may seek patent protection with respect to potentially competitive products or technologies. These organizations may also establish exclusive collaborative or licensing relationships with our competitors. Failure of cytisinicline to effectively compete against established treatment options or in the future with new products currently in development would harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
The commercial success of cytisinicline will depend upon the degree of market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors, and others in the medical community. Failure to obtain or maintain adequate reimbursement or insurance coverage for products, if any, could limit our ability to market cytisinicline and decrease our ability to generate revenue.
Even if we receive approvals from the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities, the commercial success of cytisinicline will depend in part on the healthcare providers, patients, and third-party payors accepting cytisinicline as medically useful,
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cost-effective, and safe. Cytisinicline may not gain market acceptance by physicians, patients and third-party payors. The degree of market acceptance of cytisinicline will depend on a number of factors, including but not limited to:
Even if cytisinicline displays a favorable efficacy and safety profile upon approval, market acceptance of cytisinicline remains uncertain. Efforts to educate the medical community and third-party payors on the benefits of cytisinicline, if any, may require significant investment and resources and may never be successful.
Sales of cytisinicline, if any, will depend substantially, both domestically and abroad, on the extent to which the costs of cytisinicline will be paid for or reimbursed by health maintenance, managed care, pharmacy benefit and similar healthcare management organizations, or government payors and private payors. Significant uncertainty exists as to the reimbursement status for newly approved prescription products, including coding, coverage and payment. There is no uniform policy requirement for coverage and reimbursement for prescription products among third-party payors in the United States; therefore, coverage and reimbursement for our products could differ significantly from payor to payor. In the United States, third-party payors often rely upon Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their own reimbursement policies, but they also have their own methods and approval process apart from Medicare coverage and reimbursement determinations. It is difficult to predict what CMS will decide with respect to reimbursement for novel product candidates such as cytisinicline and what reimbursement codes cytisinicline may receive if approved. If coverage and reimbursement are not available, or are available only in limited amounts, we may have to subsidize or provide cytisinicline for free or we may not be able to successfully commercialize cytisinicline.
Additionally, third-party payors, including governmental and private insurers, may also encourage the use of generic products instead of cytisinicline, or a generic version of cytisinicline, which require a prescription or may be available OTC. If our products fail to achieve an adequate level of acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors, and other healthcare providers, we will not be able to generate sufficient revenue to become or remain profitable.
Outside the United States, selling operations are generally subject to extensive governmental price controls and other price-restrictive regulations, and we believe the increasing emphasis on cost-containment initiatives in Europe, Canada, and other countries has and will continue to put pressure on the pricing and usage of products. In many countries, the prices of products are subject to varying price control mechanisms as part of national health systems. Price controls or other changes in pricing regulation could restrict the amount that we are able to charge for our products, if any. Accordingly, in markets outside the United States, the potential revenue may be insufficient to generate commercially reasonable revenue and profits.
To secure coverage and reimbursement for any product that might be approved for sale, we may need to conduct expensive pharmacoeconomic studies in order to demonstrate the medical necessity and cost-effectiveness of the product to third-party payors, which costs would be in addition to those required to obtain FDA or other comparable regulatory approvals. A payor’s decision to provide coverage for a product does not imply that an adequate reimbursement rate will be approved. Moreover, eligibility for reimbursement does not imply that any product will be paid for in all cases or at a rate that covers our costs. Interim payments for new products, if applicable, may also not be sufficient to cover our costs and may not be made permanent. Payment rates may vary according to the use of the product and the clinical setting in which it is used, may be based on payments allowed for lower cost products that are already reimbursed and may be incorporated into existing payments for other services. Net prices for products may be reduced by mandatory discounts or rebates required by third-party payors and by any future relaxation of laws that presently restrict imports of products from countries where they may be sold at lower prices than in the United States.
Accordingly, the coverage determination process is often a time-consuming and costly process that will require us to provide scientific and clinical support for the use of our products to each payor separately, with no assurance that coverage and adequate payment will be applied consistently or obtained. The process for determining whether a payor will cover and how much it will reimburse a product
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may be separate from the process of seeking approval of the product or for setting the price of the product. Even if reimbursement is provided, market acceptance of our products may be adversely affected if the amount of payment for our products proves to be unprofitable for health care providers or less profitable than alternative treatments or if administrative burdens make our products less desirable to use.
Increasing efforts by governmental and private payors in the United States and abroad to limit or reduce healthcare costs may result in restrictions on coverage and the level of reimbursement for new products.
Increasing efforts by governmental and private payors in the United States and abroad to limit or reduce healthcare costs may result in restrictions on coverage and the level of reimbursement for new products and, as a result, they may not cover or provide adequate payment for our products. We expect to experience pricing pressures in connection with our products due to the increasing trend toward managed healthcare, including the increasing influence of health maintenance organizations and additional legislative changes. The downward pressure on healthcare costs in general, particularly prescription products, has and is expected to continue to increase in the future. As a result, profitability of cytisinicline, if any, may be more difficult to achieve even if regulatory approval is received.
The containment of health care costs has become a priority of federal and state governments and the prices of drug products have been a focus in this effort. For example, there have been several recent U.S. Congressional inquiries and proposed bills designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for drugs. We expect that federal, state and local governments in the United States will continue to consider legislation directed at lowering the total cost of health care. Individual states in the United States have increasingly passed legislation and implemented regulations designed to control pharmaceutical product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and, in some cases, designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. In December 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court held unanimously that federal law does not preempt the states’ ability to regulate pharmaceutical benefit managers and other members of the health care and pharmaceutical supply chain, an important decision that may lead to further and more aggressive efforts by states in this area.
It is uncertain whether and how future legislation or regulatory changes, to the ACA and otherwise, could affect prospects for our product candidates or what actions third-party payors may take in response to any such health care reform proposals or legislation. Adoption of price controls and cost containment measures, and adoption of more restrictive policies in jurisdictions with existing controls and measures reforms may prevent or limit our ability to generate revenue, attain profitability or commercialize our product candidates. Currently, the ACA and other federal laws and rules require most health insurance plans in the United States to cover some level of tobacco cessation treatments, including smoking cessation counseling and medications. If these provisions are repealed, in whole or in part, our business, financial condition, or results of operations could be negatively affected.
Failure by us or a commercial partner to obtain timely or adequate coverage and pricing for our products, if approved, or obtaining such coverage and pricing at unfavorable levels, could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Sopharma may breach its supply agreement with us and sell cytisinicline into our territories or permit third parties to export cytisinicline into our territories and negatively affect our commercialization efforts of our products in our territories.
We are currently dependent on the exclusivity provisions of our supply agreement with Sopharma to conduct our business and to prevent Sopharma from competing, directly and indirectly, with us in the United States and Western Europe. If Sopharma were to breach the exclusivity provisions of the supply agreement with us and sell or distribute cytisinicline directly into our territories or permit third parties to export cytisinicline into our territories, among other things, the increase in competition within our anticipated markets could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
The illegal distribution and sale by third parties of counterfeit versions of cytisinicline, stolen products, or alternative third-party distribution and sale of cytisinicline could have a negative impact on our financial performance or reputation.
Cytisinicline is not eligible for composition of matter patents in the United States as it is a naturally occurring substance. As such, third parties are able to manufacture, sell or distribute cytisinicline without royalties or other payments to us and compete with our products in the United States and potentially worldwide and negatively impact our commercialization efforts of our products. We are aware of additional cytisinicline products approved in several European countries and we may not be able to block other third parties from launching generic versions of cytisinicline. Third parties may also sell or distribute cytisinicline as an herbal or homeopathic product. Other than regulatory exclusivity or other limitations, there may be little to nothing to stop these third parties from manufacturing, selling or distributing cytisinicline. Because we have no ability to set rigorous safety standards or control processes
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over CMOs, sellers or distributors of cytisinicline, excluding Sopharma, these formulations of cytisinicline may be unsafe or cause adverse effects to patients and negatively impact the reputation of cytisinicline as a safe and effective smoking cessation aid.
Third parties could illegally distribute and sell counterfeit versions of cytisinicline, especially on online marketplaces, which do not meet the rigorous manufacturing and testing standards under cGMP. Counterfeit products are frequently unsafe or ineffective, and may even be life-threatening. Counterfeit medicines may contain harmful substances, the wrong dose of the active pharmaceutical ingredient or no active pharmaceutical ingredients at all. However, to distributors and users, counterfeit products may be visually indistinguishable from the authentic version.
Reports of adverse reactions to counterfeit products, increased levels of counterfeiting, or unsafe cytisinicline products could materially affect patient confidence in our cytisinicline product. It is possible that adverse events caused by unsafe counterfeit or other cytisinicline products that we do not produce will mistakenly be attributed to our cytisinicline product. In addition, thefts of inventory that are not properly stored at warehouses, plants or while in-transit, and which are sold through unauthorized channels could adversely impact patient safety, our reputation, and our business. Public loss of confidence in the integrity in cytisinicline as a result of counterfeiting, theft, or improper manufacturing processes could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
It is illegal to sell unapproved prescription medicines in the United States. Sopharma’s cytisinicline brand is currently approved for sale in certain Central and Eastern European countries. Cytisinicline has not yet received a marketing approval from the FDA, and we intend to conduct the requisite clinical trials to obtain approval for the marketing of cytisinicline in the United States and in major global markets. We are aware that products purporting to be Sopharma’s cytisinicline brand are available, via third-party internet sites, for importation in the United States and other global markets. We have no control over the authenticity of products purchased through these sites, which may be counterfeit or sourced from distributors in Central and Eastern Europe without authorization to sell into the United States or EU.
We may attempt to form collaborations in the future with respect to cytisinicline, but we may not be able to do so, which may cause us to alter our development and commercialization plans.
We may attempt to form strategic collaborations, create joint ventures or enter into licensing arrangements with third parties with respect to our programs that we believe will complement or augment our existing business. We may face significant competition in seeking appropriate strategic collaborators, and the negotiation process to secure appropriate terms is time consuming and complex. We may not be successful in our efforts to establish such a strategic collaboration for cytisinicline on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all. This may be because cytisinicline may be deemed to be at too early of a stage of development for collaborative effort, our research and development pipeline may be viewed as insufficient, the competitive or intellectual property landscape may be viewed as too intense or risky, or cytisinicline’s patent protection insufficient, and/or third parties may not view cytisinicline as having sufficient potential for commercialization, including the likelihood of an adequate safety and efficacy profile.
Any delays in identifying suitable collaborators and entering into agreements to develop and/or commercialize cytisinicline could delay the development or commercialization of cytisinicline, which may reduce our competitiveness even if we reach the market. Absent a strategic collaborator, we would need to undertake development and/or commercialization activities at our own expense. If we elect to fund and undertake development and/or commercialization activities on our own, we may need to obtain additional expertise and additional capital, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If we are unable to do so, we may not be able to develop our product candidate cytisinicline or bring it to market and our business may be materially and adversely affected.
We may not be successful in any efforts to identify, license, discover, develop, or commercialize additional product candidates.
Although our current efforts focus on clinical testing, approval, and potential commercialization of cytisinicline, our sole product candidate, the success of our business may also depend in part upon our ability to identify, license, discover, develop, or commercialize additional product candidates. Research programs to identify new product candidates require substantial technical, financial, and human resources. We may focus our efforts and resources on potential programs or product candidates that ultimately prove to be unsuccessful. Our research programs or licensing efforts may fail to yield additional product candidates for clinical development and commercialization for a number of reasons, including but not limited to the following:
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If any of these events occur, we may be forced to abandon our development efforts for a program or programs, or we may not be able to identify, license, discover, develop, or commercialize additional product candidates, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations and could potentially cause us to cease operations.
We are subject to U.S. and certain foreign export and import controls, sanctions, embargoes, anti-corruption laws, and anti-money laundering laws and regulations. Compliance with these legal standards could impair our ability to compete in domestic and international markets. We can face criminal liability and other serious consequences for violations that can harm our business.
We are subject to export control and import laws and regulations, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, U.S. Customs regulations, various economic and trade sanctions regulations administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, the U.S. domestic bribery statute contained in 18 U.S.C. § 201, the U.S. Travel Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, and other state and national anti-bribery and anti-money laundering laws in the countries in which we conduct activities. Anti-corruption laws are interpreted broadly and prohibit companies and their employees, agents, contractors, and other partners from authorizing, promising, offering, or providing, directly or indirectly, improper payments or anything else of value to recipients in the public or private sector. We have an agreement with Sopharma to supply cytisinicline, and we may engage third parties for clinical trials outside of the United States, to sell our products abroad or provide other services in connection with commercialization, and/or to obtain necessary permits, licenses, patent registrations, and other regulatory approvals. We have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or other organizations. We can be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of our employees, agents, contractors, and other partners, even if we do not explicitly authorize or have actual knowledge of such activities. Any violations of the laws and regulations described above may result in substantial civil and criminal fines and penalties, imprisonment, the loss of export or import privileges, debarment, tax reassessments, breach of contract and fraud litigation, reputational harm, and other consequences.
Risks Related to our Intellectual Property
If we are unable to maintain effective proprietary rights for our product candidate or any future product candidates, we may not be able to compete effectively in our proposed markets.
We currently rely primarily on trade secret protection and on confidentiality agreements to protect proprietary know-how that is not patentable or that we elect not to patent, processes for which patents are difficult to enforce and any other elements of our product candidate discovery and development processes that involve proprietary know-how, information or technology that is not covered by patents. Trade secrets can be difficult to protect, however, and even where they are protected, they generally provide less intellectual property protection to the holder of the trade secret than to a holder of a patent. We seek to protect our proprietary technology and processes, in part, by entering into confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, scientific advisors, and contractors. We also seek to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our data and trade secrets by maintaining physical security of our premises and physical and electronic security of our information technology systems. While we have confidence in these individuals,
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organizations and systems, agreements or security measures may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any breach. In addition, our trade secrets may otherwise become known or be independently discovered by competitors.
Although we expect all of our employees and consultants to assign their inventions to us, and all of our employees, consultants, advisors, and any third parties who have access to our proprietary know-how, information, or technology to enter into confidentiality agreements, we cannot provide any assurances that all such agreements have been duly executed or that our trade secrets and other confidential proprietary information will not be disclosed or that competitors will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or independently develop substantially equivalent information and techniques. Misappropriation or unauthorized disclosure of our trade secrets could impair our competitive position and may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Additionally, if the steps taken to maintain our trade secrets are deemed inadequate, we may have insufficient recourse against third parties for misappropriating the trade secret.
Third-party claims of intellectual property infringement may prevent or delay our development and commercialization efforts.
We are currently developing cytisinicline in treating nicotine dependence for smoking cessation in adults. Our commercial success depends in part on our ability to develop, manufacture, market and sell our product candidates and use our proprietary technology without infringing the patent rights of third parties. We are not aware of any patents or patent applications that would prevent the development, manufacture or marketing of cytisinicline for smoking cessation.
We are aware of U.S. and foreign patents and pending patent applications owned by third parties that cover certain other therapeutic uses of cytisinicline. We are currently monitoring these patents and patent applications. We may in the future pursue available proceedings in the United States and foreign patent offices to challenge the validity of these patents and patent applications. In addition, or alternatively, we may consider whether to seek to negotiate a license of rights to technology covered by one or more of such patents and patent applications for these certain additional therapeutic uses. If any third-party patents or patent applications cover our product candidates or technologies in other therapeutic uses, we may not be free to manufacture or market our product candidates for additional therapeutic uses, absent such a license, which may not be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, or at all.
It is also possible that we have failed to identify relevant third-party patents or applications. For example, applications filed before November 29, 2000 and applications filed after that date that will not be filed outside the United States can remain confidential until patents issue. Moreover, it is difficult for industry participants, including us, to identify all third-party patent rights that may be relevant to our product candidates and technologies because patent searching is imperfect due to differences in terminology among patents, incomplete databases and the difficulty in assessing the meaning of patent claims. We may fail to identify relevant patents or patent applications or may identify pending patent applications of potential interest but incorrectly predict the likelihood that such patent applications may issue with claims of relevance to our technology. In addition, we may be unaware of one or more issued patents that would be infringed by the manufacture, sale or use of a current or future product candidate, or we may incorrectly conclude that a third-party patent is invalid, unenforceable or not infringed by our activities. Additionally, pending patent applications that have been published can, subject to specified limitations, be later amended in a manner that could cover our technologies, our product candidates or the use of our product candidates.
There have been many lawsuits and other proceedings involving patent and other intellectual property rights in the pharmaceutical industries, including patent infringement lawsuits, interferences, oppositions, and reexamination proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, and corresponding foreign patent offices. U.S. and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications, which are owned by third parties, exist in the fields in which we are developing our product candidate. As the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries expand and more patents are issued, the risk increases that our product candidate may be subject to claims of infringement of the patent rights of third parties.
Parties making claims against us may obtain injunctive or other equitable relief, which could effectively block our ability to further develop and commercialize one or more of our product candidates. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation expense and would be a substantial diversion of employee resources from our business. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us, we may have to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees for willful infringement, pay royalties, redesign our infringing products or obtain one or more licenses from third parties, which may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure.
We intend to rely on patent rights for certain aspects of our product candidates and certain future product candidates. If we are unable to obtain or maintain an adequate proprietary position from this approach, we may not be able to compete effectively in our markets.
Although we rely or will rely in part on trade secret protection as part of our intellectual property rights strategies, we also intend to rely on patent rights to protect certain aspects of our technologies and upon the patent rights of third parties from which we license certain of our technologies.
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We have sought to protect our proprietary position by filing patent applications in the United States and certain other countries around the world related to future product candidates. This process is expensive and time consuming, and we may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner or at all. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our research and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection.
The patent position of pharmaceutical companies generally is highly uncertain and involves complex legal and factual questions for which legal principles remain unsolved. The patent applications that we own may fail to result in issued patents with claims that cover our product candidates in the United States or in other foreign countries. There is no assurance that all potentially relevant prior art relating to our patent applications or our patents (once issued) have been found, which can invalidate a patent or prevent a patent from issuing from a pending patent application. Even if patents do successfully issue, and even if such patents cover our future product candidates, third parties may challenge their validity, enforceability, or scope, which may result in such patents being narrowed, found unenforceable or invalidated. Furthermore, even if they are unchallenged, our patents and patent applications may not adequately protect our intellectual property, provide exclusivity for our future product candidates, or prevent others from designing around our claims. Any of these outcomes could impair our ability to prevent competition from third parties, which may have an adverse impact on our business.
We cannot offer any assurances about which, if any, patents will issue, the breadth of any such patent or whether any issued patents will be found invalid and unenforceable or will be threatened by third parties. Any successful opposition to these patents or any other patents owned by or licensed to us after patent issuance could deprive us of rights necessary for the successful commercialization of any future product candidates that we may develop. Further, if we encounter delays in regulatory approvals, the period of time during which we could market a future product candidate under patent protection could be reduced.
If we cannot obtain and maintain effective protection of exclusivity from our regulatory efforts and intellectual property rights, including patent protection or data exclusivity, for our product candidates, we may not be able to compete effectively and our business and results of operations would be harmed.
Changes in patent law could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our product candidates.
Obtaining and enforcing patents in the biopharmaceutical industry involves both technological and legal complexity, and is therefore costly, time-consuming, and inherently uncertain. In addition, the United States has recently enacted and is currently implementing wide-ranging patent reform legislation. Recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings have narrowed the scope of patent protection available in certain circumstances and weakened the rights of patent owners in certain situations. In addition to increasing uncertainty with regard to our ability to obtain patents in the future, this combination of events has created uncertainty with respect to the value of patents once obtained, if any. Depending on decisions by the U.S. Congress, the federal courts and the USPTO, the laws and regulations governing patents could change in unpredictable ways that would weaken our ability to obtain new patents or to enforce our existing patents and patents that we might obtain in the future.
In Assoc. for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court held that certain claims to naturally occurring substances are not patentable. Cytisinicline is a naturally occurring product and is not patentable. Our intellectual property strategy involves novel formulations and dosing regimens of cytisinicline and there is no guarantee that such patents will be issued or if issued, will be broad enough to prevent competitors from developing competing cytisinicline products. Although we do not believe that any patents that may issue from our pending patent applications directed at our product candidate, if issued in their currently pending forms, as well as patent rights licensed by us, will be found invalid based on this decision, we cannot predict how future decisions by the courts, the U.S. Congress or the USPTO may impact the value of our patent rights. There could be similar changes in the laws of foreign jurisdictions that may impact the value of our patent rights or our other intellectual property rights.
We may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants, or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information of third parties or that our employees have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of their former employers.
We employ individuals who were previously employed at other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies. Although we have written agreements and make every effort to ensure that our employees, consultants, and independent contractors do not use the proprietary information or intellectual property rights of others in their work for us, we may in the future be subject to any claims that our employees, consultants, or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information of third parties. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel, which could adversely impact our business. Even if we are
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successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.
It is difficult and costly to protect our proprietary rights and as a result we may not be able to ensure their protection. In addition, patents have a limited lifespan and will eventually expire.
Market exclusivity awarded by the FDA upon the approval of an NDA is limited in scope and duration. Our commercial success will depend in part on obtaining, maintaining, enforcing, and defending against third-party challenges, patent and trade secret protection for our current and future product candidates that we may develop, license or acquire, as well as the related manufacturing methods. We will be able to protect our technologies from unauthorized use by third parties to the extent that the technologies are covered by valid and enforceable patents or trade secrets.
The patent prosecution process is expensive and time consuming, and we may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our research and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection. Moreover, should we enter into additional collaborations we may be required to consult with or cede control to collaborators regarding the prosecution, maintenance, and enforcement of our patent applications and patents. Therefore, these patents and patent applications may not be prosecuted and enforced in a manner consistent with the best interests of our business. The patent positions of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies can be highly uncertain and involve complex legal and factual questions for which important legal principles remain unresolved. No consistent policy regarding the breadth of claims allowed in pharmaceutical or biotechnology patents has emerged to date in the United States. The patent situation outside the United States is even more uncertain. Changes in either the patent laws or in interpretations of patent laws in the United States and other countries may diminish the value of our intellectual property. Accordingly, we cannot predict the breadth of claims that may be allowed or enforced in our patents and patent applications or in third‑party patents and patent applications. The degree of future protection for our proprietary rights is uncertain because legal means afford only limited protection and may not adequately protect our rights or permit us to gain or keep our competitive advantage. Moreover, the patent application process is also subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that we or any of our future development partners will be successful in protecting any of our current or future product candidates that we may develop, license, or acquire by obtaining and defending patents. For example:
Patents have a limited lifespan. In most countries, including the United States, the expiration of a patent is typically 20 years from the date that the application for the patent is filed. Various extensions of patent term may be available in particular countries; however, in all circumstances the life of a patent, and the protection it affords, has a limited term. If we encounter delays in obtaining regulatory approvals, the period of time during which we could market a product under patent protection could be reduced. We expect to seek
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extensions of patent terms where these are available in any countries where we are prosecuting patents. Such possible extensions include those permitted under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 in the United States, which permits a patent term extension of up to five years to cover an FDA‑approved product. The actual length of the extension will depend on the amount of patent term lost while the product was in clinical trials. However, the applicable authorities, including the USPTO and the FDA in the United States, and any equivalent regulatory authority in other countries, may not agree with our assessment of whether such extensions are available, and may refuse to grant extensions to our patents, or may grant more limited extensions than we request. If this occurs, our competitors may be able to take advantage of our investment in development and clinical trials by referencing our clinical and preclinical data, and then may be able to launch their product earlier than might otherwise be the case.
Obtaining and maintaining our patent protection depends on compliance with various procedural, documentary, fee payment, and other requirements imposed by governmental patent agencies, and our patent protection could be reduced or eliminated for noncompliance with these requirements.
The USPTO and various foreign governmental patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment, and other similar provisions during the patent prosecution process. Periodic maintenance fees, renewal fees, annuity fees, and various other governmental fees on patents or patent applications will be due to be paid to the USPTO and various patent agencies outside of the United States in several stages over the lifetime of the patents and applications. We have systems in place to remind us to pay these fees, and we employ and rely on reputable law firms and other professionals to effect payment of these fees to the USPTO and non-U.S. patent agencies for the patents and patent applications we own and those that we in-license. We also employ reputable law firms and other professionals to help us comply with the various documentary and other procedural requirements with respect to the patents and patent applications that we own and those that we in-license. In some cases, an inadvertent lapse can be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules. However, there are situations in which noncompliance can result in abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. In such an event, our competitors might be able to enter the market and this circumstance would have a material adverse effect on our business.
We may be involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents or the patents of our licensors, which could be expensive, time consuming, and unsuccessful.
Competitors may infringe our issued patents, our in-licensed patents, or other intellectual property that we own or in-license. To counter infringement or unauthorized use, we may be required to file infringement claims, which can be expensive and time consuming. Any claims we assert against perceived infringers could provoke these parties to assert counterclaims against us alleging that we infringe their patents. In addition, in a patent infringement proceeding, a court may decide that a patent of ours is invalid or unenforceable, in whole or in part; construe the patent’s claims narrowly; or refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our patents do not cover the technology in question. An adverse result in any litigation proceeding could put one or more of our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation.
Most of our competitors are larger than we are and have substantially greater resources than we do. They are, therefore, likely to be able to sustain the costs of complex patent litigation longer than we could. In addition, the uncertainties associated with litigation could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our clinical trials, continue our internal research programs, in-license needed technology, or enter into development partnerships that would help us bring our product candidates to market.
We or our licensors may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world.
Filing, prosecuting, and defending patent applications and patents on product candidates in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive, and our intellectual property rights in some countries outside the United States can be less extensive than those in the United States. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as federal and state laws in the United States. Consequently, we may not be able to prevent third parties from practicing our inventions in all countries outside the United States, or from selling or importing products made using our inventions in and into the United States or other jurisdictions. Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop their own products and further, may export otherwise infringing products to territories where we have patent protection, but where enforcement rights are not as strong as those in the United States. These products may compete with our product candidates and our patents or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from competing.
Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries do not favor the enforcement of patents and other intellectual property protection,
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which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents generally. Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and our patent applications at risk of not issuing, and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our or our licensors’ intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop or license.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
The price for our common stock is volatile.
The market prices for our common stock and that of pharmaceutical, biotechnology and other life sciences companies have historically been particularly volatile. Some of the factors that may cause the market price of our common stock to fluctuate include:
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Moreover, the stock markets in general have experienced substantial volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of individual companies. These broad market fluctuations may also adversely affect the trading price of our common stock. An increase in the market price of our common stock, which is uncertain and unpredictable, may be the sole source of gain from an investment in our common stock. An investment in our common stock may not be appropriate for investors who require dividend income. We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our capital stock in the foreseeable future. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings to fund the development and growth of our business. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be the sole source of gain for stockholders for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, an investment in our common stock may not be appropriate for investors who require dividend income or investors who are not prepared to bear a significant risk of losses from such an investment.
A significant portion of our total outstanding shares of common stock may be sold into the public market at any point, which could cause the market price of our common stock to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well, and result in significant dilution to our stockholders.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market could occur at any time, either by us or our stockholders. These sales, or the perception in the market that we or holders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of our common stock. Our outstanding shares of common stock may be freely sold in the public market at any time to the extent permitted by Rules 144 and 701 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, or to the extent such shares have already been registered under the Securities Act and are held by non-affiliates.
In July 2024, we entered into the New Debt Agreement with the Lenders for term loans of up to $20.0 million, which included term loans of up to $10.0 million available upon the occurrence of certain events as provided for in the New Debt Agreement and further described below, or the New Convertible Term Loan. The New Convertible Term Loan matures on June 1, 2028. The first tranche of the New Convertible Term Loan, which was advanced on July 25, 2024, has an aggregate original principal amount of $10.0 million. The Lender made available to us, upon our request: (a) on or prior to October 31, 2025, a second tranche of the New Convertible Term Loan having an aggregate principal amount of $5.0 million in the event that we received written notice that the FDA had accepted for filing our NDA with respect to cytisinicline for a smoking cessation indication, or the Additional Term Loan Event I, and (b) on or prior to December 31, 2025, a third tranche of the New Convertible Term Loan having an aggregate principal amount of $5.0 million, subject to the Lender’s sole discretion.
In October 2025, pursuant to the New Debt Agreement and following the occurrence of the Additional Term Loan Event I as described therein, we drew down on the second tranche of the New Convertible Term Loan for an additional $5.0 million. We did not draw down on the third tranche of the New Convertible Term Loan and it expired and became unavailable on December 31, 2025.
Subject to certain terms and conditions, the Lenders may convert all or any part of the outstanding New Convertible Term Loan and accrued and unpaid interest at any time prior to maturity into shares of our common stock at a conversion price equal to (i) for the first tranche of $10.0 million, $7.00 per share, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments and (ii) for the second tranche of $5.0 million each, the greater of (x) $4.854 per share, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments, and (y) the lower of (a) 150% of the average of the closing sale price of our common stock during the 10 trading days preceding the effective date of such tranche and (b) 150% of the closing sale price of our common stock on the trading day immediately preceding the effective date of such tranche. Additionally, all outstanding amounts under the New Convertible Term Loan, including accrued and unpaid interest, will mandatorily convert into shares of our common stock, at the conversion price, on such date, if any, when the closing price per share of our common stock has been (i) for the first tranche, equal to or greater than $24.00 for 30 consecutive trading days prior to such date and (ii) for the second tranche, three times the applicable conversion price for such tranche, in each case, for the 30 consecutive trading days prior to such date. We are aware that there can be no assurance that the New Convertible Term Loan will be available to us for borrowing nor whether the Lender will be willing to work with us on any modifications to the current New Convertible Term Loan or the New Debt Agreement.
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As of March 31, 2026, there were 4,970,511 shares of our common stock subject to outstanding options and 1,084,330 subject to outstanding restricted stock units, almost all of which have been registered under the Securities Act on Form S-8. The shares so registered can be freely sold in the public market after being issued to the option holder upon exercise, except to the extent they are held by an affiliate of ours, in which case such shares will become eligible for sale in the public market as permitted by Rule 144 under the Securities Act. Furthermore, as of March 31, 2026, there were approximately 20,391,307 shares of our common stock subject to outstanding warrants to purchase common stock, with a weighted average exercise price of $3.30 per share, and 142,857 shares of our common stock subject to outstanding pre-funded warrants, with an exercise price of $0.001 per share. To the extent any of these warrants are exercised, the shares underlying these warrants may be immediately sold in the public market.
In June 2025, we entered into an underwriting agreement, pursuant to which we sold and issued warrants to purchase up to 16,766,666 shares of our common stock (or pre-funded warrants), with an exercise price of $3.00 per share (or $2.999 per pre-funded warrant), or the June 2025 Public Offering. In April 2026, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain institutional and accredited investors, or Investors, pursuant to which we sold and issued to the Investors in a private placement warrants to purchase up to 49,518,569 shares of our common stock and pre-funded warrants to purchase shares of our common stock, with an exercise price of $3.51 per share. If additional shares are issued upon exercise of these warrants (or pre-funded warrants), they may be immediately sold in the public market.
The sale of additional shares of our common stock, the conversion of the New Convertible Term Loan into shares of our common stock, the exercise of any of our outstanding warrants, the exercise of any of our outstanding options, or the settlement of our restricted stock units would have a dilutive impact on our existing stockholders and could cause the market price of our common stock to decline significantly. Sales of our common stock, the conversion of the New Convertible Term Loan, the exercise of any of our outstanding warrants, the exercise of any of our outstanding options, the settlement of our restricted stock units or the perception that such events will occur, could also encourage short sales by third parties, which could contribute to the further decline of the price of our common stock. Additionally, the sale of a substantial number of shares of our common stock, the conversion of the New Convertible Term Loan, the exercise of any of our outstanding warrants, the exercise of any of our outstanding options, the settlement of our restricted stock units or the perception that such events will occur, could make it more difficult for us to sell equity or equity-related securities in the future at a time and at a price that we might otherwise wish.
In addition, in the future, we plan to raise additional capital through private placements or public offerings of our equity or debt securities. We cannot be certain that additional funding will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that we raise additional financing by issuing equity securities, we may do so at a price per share that represents a discount to the then-current per share trading price of our common stock and our stockholders may experience significant dilution. Any debt financing, if available, may involve restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional indebtedness, limitations on our ability to acquire or license intellectual property rights and other operating restrictions that could adversely affect our ability to conduct our business.
If we raise additional capital, the terms of the financing transactions may cause dilution to existing stockholders or contain terms that are not favorable to us.
In the future, we plan to raise additional capital through private placements or public offerings of our equity or debt securities. We cannot be certain that additional funding will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that we raise additional financing by issuing equity securities, we may do so at a price per share that represents a discount to the then-current per share trading price of our common stock and our stockholders may experience significant dilution. Any debt financing, if available, may involve restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional indebtedness, limitations on our ability to acquire or license intellectual property rights and other operating restrictions that could adversely affect our ability to conduct our business.
We are a smaller reporting company and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to smaller reporting companies will make our common stock less attractive to investors.
We are currently a “smaller reporting company” as defined in the Exchange Act, and are thus allowed to provide simplified executive compensation disclosures in our filings, are exempt from the provisions of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requiring that an independent registered public accounting firm provide an attestation report on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting and have certain other decreased disclosure obligations in our SEC filings. We cannot predict whether investors will find our common stock less attractive because of our reliance on any of these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile.
If equity research analysts do not publish research or reports, or publish unfavorable research or reports, about us, our business, or our market, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
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The trading market for our common stock is influenced by the research and reports that equity research analysts publish about us and our business. We do not have any control over the equity research analysts that provide research coverage of our common stock or the content and opinions included in their reports. The price of our stock could decline if one or more equity research analysts downgrades our stock or issue other unfavorable commentary or research. If one or more equity research analysts ceases coverage of our company or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our stock could decrease, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.
General Risk Factors
We are at risk of securities class action litigation.
In the past, securities class action litigation has often been brought against a company following a decline in the market price of its securities, including in circumstances where such declines occur in close proximity to the announcement of clinical trial results. Additionally, our stock price and those of other biotechnology and biopharmaceutical companies have experienced significant stock price volatility in recent years. If we face such litigation, it could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could harm our business.
We incur costs and demands upon management as a result of complying with the laws and regulations affecting public companies.
We incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses associated with public company reporting requirements. We also incur costs associated with corporate governance requirements, including requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as well as rules implemented by the SEC and The Nasdaq Capital Market. These rules and regulations impose significant legal and financial compliance costs and make some activities more time-consuming and costly. In addition, it may be difficult for us to attract and retain qualified individuals to serve on our board of directors or as executive officers, which may adversely affect investor confidence and could cause our business or stock price to suffer.
Shareholder activists could cause a disruption to our business.
An activist investor may indicate disagreement with our strategic direction or capital allocation policies and may seek representation on our board of directors. Our business, operating results or financial condition could be adversely affected and may result in, among other things:
Anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law could make an acquisition of us more difficult and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our management.
Because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporate Law, which prohibits stockholders owning in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock from merging or combining with us. Although we believe these provisions collectively will provide for an opportunity to receive higher bids by requiring potential acquirors to negotiate with our board of directors, they would apply even if the offer may be considered beneficial by some stockholders. In addition, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove then current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of the board of directors, which is responsible for appointing the members of management.
Our bylaws provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees.
Our bylaws provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the sole and exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or our stockholders, any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to any provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our certificate of incorporation or our bylaws, or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. The choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it
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finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. If a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in the bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions.
Failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, results of operations and financial condition.
Effective internal control over financial reporting is necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports, prevent fraud and operate successfully as a public company. Any failure to execute on our internal controls and continue to maintain effective internal controls, to timely implement any necessary additional improvement to our internal controls or to effect remediation of any future material weakness or significant deficiency could, among other things, result in losses from fraud or error, harm our reputation or cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, results of operations, or financial condition.
Management reviews and updates our systems of internal controls and procedures, as appropriate. Any system of controls is based in part on certain assumptions and can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurances that the objectives of the system are met. Any failure or circumvention of our controls and procedures or failure to comply with regulations related to controls and procedures could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, results of operations and financial condition.
Because our merger resulted in an ownership change under Section 382 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code for OncoGenex, pre-merger net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes are now subject to limitations.
If a corporation undergoes an “ownership change” within the meaning of Section 382 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, the corporation’s net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes arising from before the ownership change are subject to limitations on use after the ownership change. In general, an ownership change occurs if there is a cumulative change in the corporation’s equity ownership by certain stockholders that exceeds fifty percentage points over a rolling three-year period. Similar rules may apply under state tax laws. Our 2017 merger involving OncoGenex and Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. resulted in an ownership change for OncoGenex and, accordingly, OncoGenex’s net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes will be subject to limitations on their use after the merger. Additional ownership changes in the future could result in additional limitations on the combined organization’s net operating loss carryforwards. Consequently, even if we achieve profitability, we may not be able to utilize a material portion of our net operating loss carryforwards and other tax attributes, which could have a material adverse effect on cash flow and results of operations.
U.S. federal tax reform and changes in other tax laws could increase our tax burden and adversely affect our business and financial condition.
In December 2017, the U.S. government enacted comprehensive tax legislation, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, significantly reforming the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. These changes include, among others, (i) a permanent reduction to the corporate income tax rate, (ii) a partial limitation on the deductibility of business interest expense, (iii) a shift of the U.S. taxation of multinational corporations from a tax on worldwide income to a territorial system (along with certain rules designed to prevent erosion of the U.S. income tax base) and (iv) a one-time tax on accumulated offshore earnings held in cash and illiquid assets, with the latter taxed at a lower rate.
In addition, for our 2022 to 2024 tax years, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act required research and experimental expenditures to be capitalized and amortized ratably over a five-year period for U.S. expenditures. Any such expenditures attributable to research conducted outside the United States were required to be capitalized and amortized over a 15-year period. Beginning with our 2025 tax year, tax legislation has restored immediate deductibility of U.S. expenditures, while foreign expenditures will continue to be capitalized and amortized over a 15-year period.
Notwithstanding the reduction in the corporate income tax rate, the overall impact of this tax reform is uncertain, and our business and financial condition could be adversely affected. Furthermore, it is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to the enacted federal tax law or any newly enacted federal legislation. In addition, new legislation or regulation which could affect our tax burden, or that of our suppliers, could be enacted by any governmental authority, including foreign tax authorities. We cannot predict the timing or extent of such tax related developments which could have a negative impact on our financial results. Additionally, we use our best judgment in attempting to quantify and reserve for these tax obligations. 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 could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
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Item 6. Exhibits
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# The certifications attached as Exhibits 32.1 and 32.2 accompany this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and shall not be deemed filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
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ACHIEVE LIFE SCIENCES, INC. |
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Date: May 12, 2026 |
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/s/ Mark Oki |
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Mark Oki |
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Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer) |
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Exhibit 31.1
Certification Pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
I, Andrew D. Goldberg, certify that:
1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Achieve Life Sciences, Inc.;
2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
4. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:
(a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
(b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
(c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and
(d) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and
5. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
(a) all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
(b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.
Date: May 12, 2026
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/s/ Andrew D. Goldberg |
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Andrew D. Goldberg |
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Chief Executive Officer and President (Principal Executive Officer) |
Exhibit 31.2
Certification Pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
I, Mark Oki, certify that:
1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Achieve Life Sciences, Inc.;
2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
4. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:
(a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
(b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
(c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and
(d) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and
5. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
(a) all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
(b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.
Date: May 12, 2026
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/s/ Mark Oki |
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Mark Oki |
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Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer) |
Exhibit 32.1
Certification pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
I, Andrew D. Goldberg, Chief Executive Officer, President and Principal Executive Officer of Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. (the “Company”), certify, pursuant to Rule 13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, that:
(1) the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of the Company for the three months ended March 31, 2026 (the “Report”) fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m or 780(d)); and
(2) the information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company.
Dated: May 12, 2026
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/s/ Andrew D. Goldberg |
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Andrew D. Goldberg |
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Chief Executive Officer and President (Principal Executive Officer) |
Exhibit 32.2
Certification pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
I, Mark Oki, Chief Financial Officer and Principal Financial Officer of Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. (the “Company”), certify, pursuant to Rule 13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, that:
(1) the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of the Company for the three months ended March 31, 2026 (the “Report”) fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m or 780(d)); and
(2) the information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company.
Dated: May 12, 2026
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/s/ Mark Oki |
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Mark Oki |
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Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer) |