Design Therapeutics, Inc 10-Q for FY2024 Q2
Design Therapeutics, Inc. (DSGN)
About this 10-Q
Design Therapeutics, Inc filed this 10-Q on August 5, 2024, covering the quarter ended June 30, 2024 (FY2024 Q2).
Headline figures
Quarter ended June 30, 2024, as reported in this filing, compared with the same period a year earlier where the filing states it.
- Net loss
- $11.79M
- compared with a net loss of $19.94M a year earlier
- Diluted EPS
- -$0.21
- compared with -$0.36 a year earlier
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, DC 20549
FORM
(Mark One)
QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the quarterly period ended
OR
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from to
Commission File Number:
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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, 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 |
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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
The number of outstanding shares of the registrant’s common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, as of August 1, 2024, was
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (this “Quarterly Report”) contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. We make such forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this Quarterly Report are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would,” or the negative of these words or other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about:
i
Any forward-looking statements in this Quarterly Report reflect our current views with respect to future events or to our future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, those listed under Part II, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” of this Quarterly Report. In addition, statements that “we believe” and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this Quarterly Report, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain and you are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements.
Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, even if new information becomes available in the future.
Unless the context otherwise indicates, references in this Quarterly Report to the terms “Design”, “the Company”, “we”, “our”, and “us” refer to Design Therapeutics, Inc., and references to our “common stock” refers to our voting common stock.
Trademarks and Service Marks
“Design Therapeutics,” “Design,” “GeneTAC,” the Design logo and other trademarks, trade names or service marks of Design Therapeutics, Inc. appearing in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are the property of Design Therapeutics, Inc. All other trademarks, trade names and service marks appearing in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are the property of their respective owners.
SUMMARY OF RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH OUR BUSINESS
An investment in shares of our common stock involves a high degree of risk. Below is a list of the more significant risks associated with our business. This summary does not address all of the risks that we face. Additional discussion of the risks listed in this summary, as well as other risks that we face, are set forth under Part II, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in this Quarterly Report. Some of the material risks associated with our business include the following:
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Table of Contents
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PART I. |
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Item 1. |
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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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PART II. |
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Item 1. |
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Item 1A. |
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Item 2. |
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Item 3. |
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Item 4. |
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Item 5. |
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Item 6. |
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iv
PART I—FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1. Financial Statements.
DESIGN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
CONDENSED BALANCE SHEETS
(in thousands, except share and par value data)
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June 30, |
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December 31, |
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2024 |
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2023 |
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(unaudited) |
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Assets |
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Current assets: |
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Cash and cash equivalents |
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$ |
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$ |
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Investment securities |
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Prepaid expenses and other current assets |
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Total current assets |
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Property and equipment, net |
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Right-of-use asset, related party |
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Other assets |
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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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Accrued expenses and other current liabilities (including related party amounts of $ |
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Total current liabilities |
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Operating lease liability, net, related party |
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Total liabilities |
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Stockholders’ equity: |
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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 (loss) 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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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
1
DESIGN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(in thousands, except share and per share data)
(unaudited)
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Three Months Ended June 30, |
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Six Months Ended June 30, |
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2024 |
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2023 |
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2024 |
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2023 |
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Operating expenses: |
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Research and development (including related party amounts of $ |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
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General and administrative (including related party amounts of $ |
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Total operating expenses |
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Loss from operations |
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Other income, net |
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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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Net loss per share, basic and diluted |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
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Weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding, basic and diluted |
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
2
DESIGN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE LOSS
(in thousands)
(unaudited)
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Three Months Ended June 30, |
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Six Months Ended June 30, |
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2024 |
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2023 |
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2024 |
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2023 |
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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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Other comprehensive loss: |
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Unrealized (loss) gain on available-for-sale securities |
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Comprehensive loss |
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$ |
( |
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$ |
( |
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$ |
( |
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$ |
( |
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
3
DESIGN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
(in thousands, except share data)
(unaudited)
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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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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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Capital |
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Income (Loss) |
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Deficit |
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Equity |
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March 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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Exercises of stock options |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Issuance of common stock under employee stock purchase plan |
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Stock-based compensation |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Unrealized loss on investments |
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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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Balance at June 30, 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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Balance at December 31, 2023 |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
( |
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$ |
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Exercises of stock options |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Issuance of common stock under employee stock purchase plan |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Stock-based compensation |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Unrealized loss on investments |
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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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Balance at June 30, 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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Balance at March 31, 2023 |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
( |
) |
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$ |
( |
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$ |
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Exercises of stock options and vesting of restricted stock |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Issuance of common stock under employee stock purchase plan |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Stock-based compensation |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Unrealized loss on investments |
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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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Balance at June 30, 2023 |
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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 at December 31, 2022 |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
( |
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$ |
( |
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$ |
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Exercises of stock options and vesting of restricted stock |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Issuance of common stock under employee stock purchase plan |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Stock-based compensation |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Unrealized gain on investments |
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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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Balance at June 30, 2023 |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
( |
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$ |
( |
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$ |
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
4
DESIGN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(in thousands)
(unaudited)
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Six Months Ended June 30, |
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2024 |
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2023 |
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Cash flows from operating activities |
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Net loss |
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$ |
( |
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$ |
( |
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Reconciliation of net loss to net cash used in operating activities: |
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Depreciation |
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Stock-based compensation |
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Amortization of premiums on investment securities, net |
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( |
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Non-cash lease expense |
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Change in operating assets and liabilities: |
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Prepaid expense and other assets |
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( |
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Accounts payable and other liabilities |
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( |
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Net cash used in operating activities |
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( |
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Cash flows from investing activities |
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Purchases of investment securities |
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( |
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Proceeds from maturities of investment securities |
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Purchases of property and equipment |
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( |
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Net cash provided by investing activities |
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Cash flows from financing activities |
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Issuance of common stock through employee stock purchase plan |
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Proceeds from the exercise of stock options |
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Net cash provided by financing activities |
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Net increase in cash and cash equivalents |
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Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period |
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Cash and cash equivalents at end of period |
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$ |
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$ |
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
5
DESIGN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(unaudited)
1. Organization
Design Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”) was incorporated in Delaware in December 2017 and is based in Carlsbad, California. The Company is a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the research and development of GeneTACTM molecules, which are a novel class of small-molecule gene targeted chimera therapeutic candidates designed to be disease-modifying by addressing the underlying cause of diseases caused by inherited nucleotide repeat expansion mutations. The Company’s lead product candidate is in Friedreich ataxia (“FA”), its second product candidate is in Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (“FECD”), and it is also advancing GeneTACTM programs to address other diseases.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern, which contemplates the realization of assets and the satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. The Company has incurred net operating losses since inception and had an accumulated deficit of $
Management expects to incur net losses for the foreseeable future. There can be no assurance that the Company will ever earn revenues or achieve profitability, or if achieved, that they will be sustained on a continuing basis. In addition, the research, product development and clinical development activities as well as the commercialization of the Company's products, if approved, will require significant additional financing. The Company may be unable to secure such financing when needed, or if available, such financings may be under terms that are unfavorable to the Company or the current stockholders. If the Company is unable to raise additional funds when needed, it may be required to delay, reduce the scope of, or eliminate development programs, which may adversely affect its business and operations. The Company's currently available cash, cash equivalents and investment securities as of June 30, 2024 are sufficient to meet its anticipated cash requirements for more than 12 months following the date the financial statements are issued.
2. Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation and Use of Estimates
The accompanying unaudited interim condensed financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and following the requirements of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for interim reporting. The Company's financial statements include all adjustments, consisting of only normal recurring adjustments, which in the opinion of management are necessary to present fairly the Company’s financial position as of the reporting date and results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented.
The preparation of the Company’s financial statements requires it to make estimates and assumptions that impact the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities in the Company’s financial statements and accompanying notes. The most significant estimates in the Company’s financial statements relate to accruals for research and development expenses. These estimates and assumptions are based on current facts, historical experience and various other factors believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities and the recording of expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ materially and adversely from these estimates.
Segment Reporting
Operating segments are identified as components of an enterprise about which separate discrete financial information is available for evaluation by the chief operating decision-maker in making decisions regarding resource allocation and assessing performance. The Company manages its operations as a single reportable segment for the purposes of assessing performance and making operating decisions.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In November 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standard Update (ASU) No. 2023-07, Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 280, Segment Reporting: Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures, which expands annual and interim disclosure requirements for reportable segments, primarily through enhanced disclosures about
6
DESIGN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(unaudited)
(continued)
significant segment expenses. The ASU also requires public entities with a single reportable segment to provide all segment disclosures under ASC 280, including the new disclosures under the ASU. Annual disclosures are required for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023 and for interim disclosures within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024. Retrospective application is required and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact that the updated standard will have on its financial statement disclosures.
In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, ASC Topic 740, Income Taxes: Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures, which requires disaggregated information about a reporting entity’s effective tax rate reconciliation as well as information on income taxes paid. ASU 2023-09 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, with early adoption permitted. The Company is continuing to evaluate the impact of adopting this new guidance but does not expect it to have a material impact on the Company’s financial position or results of operations.
Basic net loss per share is computed by dividing the net loss by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding for the period, without consideration for potentially dilutive securities. Diluted net loss per share is computed by dividing the net loss by the weighted average number of common shares and dilutive common stock equivalents outstanding for the period determined using the treasury-stock and if-converted methods. Dilutive common stock equivalents are comprised of stock options outstanding under the Company’s equity incentive plans, restricted common stock subject to repurchase, and employee stock purchase rights under the Company’s 2021 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “ESPP”), as applicable. For all periods presented, there is no difference in the number of shares used to calculate basic and diluted shares outstanding due to the Company's net loss position.
The following table sets forth the outstanding, potentially dilutive securities that have been excluded in the calculation of diluted net loss per share because their inclusion would be anti-dilutive:
|
|
June 30, |
|
|
June 30, |
|
||
Stock options |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Shares subject to repurchase |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Employee stock purchase plan |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Total |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
4. Fair Value Measurements
Accounting guidance defines fair value, establishes a consistent framework for measuring fair value and expands disclosure for each major asset and liability category measured at fair value on either a recurring or non-recurring basis. Fair value is defined as an exit price, representing the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants. As such, fair value is a market-based measurement that should be determined based on assumptions that market participants would use in pricing an asset or liability. As a basis for considering such assumptions, the accounting guidance establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value as follows:
Level 1: Observable inputs such as quoted prices in active markets.
Level 2: Inputs, other than the quoted prices in active markets that are observable either directly or indirectly.
Level 3: Unobservable inputs in which there is little or no market data, which require the reporting entity to develop its own assumptions.
7
DESIGN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(unaudited)
(continued)
The following table summarizes the Company’s financial instruments measured at fair value on a recurring basis at June 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023 (in thousands):
|
|
Fair Value Measurement at End of Period Using: |
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
Quoted Prices |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
In Active |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
Markets |
|
|
Significant |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
For |
|
|
Other |
|
|
Significant |
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
Identical |
|
|
Observable |
|
|
Unobservable |
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
Assets |
|
|
Inputs |
|
|
Inputs |
|
||||
|
|
Total |
|
|
(Level 1) |
|
|
(Level 2) |
|
|
(Level 3) |
|
||||
As of June 30, 2024: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Assets: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Money market funds(1) |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
||
Certificates of deposit |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
||
U.S. Treasury securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
||
U.S. Government agency securities |
|
|
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
|
|
— |
|
||
Total |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|||
As of December 31, 2023: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Assets: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Money market funds(1) |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
||
Certificates of deposit |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
||
U.S. Treasury securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
||
U.S. Government agency securities |
|
|
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
|
|
— |
|
||
Total |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|||
Interest bearing money market accounts and certificates of deposit are valued at amortized cost, which approximates fair value. The carrying value of the Company’s cash, accounts payable and accrued liabilities are considered to be representative of their respective fair values due to the short-term nature of those instruments. The Company’s investment securities, which may include money market accounts, money market funds, certificates of deposits, U.S. Treasury securities, and high quality, marketable debt instruments of corporations and government sponsored enterprises, are measured at fair value in accordance with the fair value hierarchy. The Company obtains the fair value of its available-for-sale debt securities from a professional pricing service. Level II securities are valued using quoted market prices for similar instruments, non-binding market prices that are corroborated by observable market data and include our investments in marketable debt instruments of government sponsored enterprises. None of the Company’s non-financial assets or liabilities are recorded at fair value on a non-recurring basis and no transfers between levels have occurred during the periods presented.
8
DESIGN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(unaudited)
(continued)
5. Investment Securities
The Company’s investment policy defines allowable investment securities and establishes guidelines relating to credit quality, diversification, and maturities of its investments to preserve principal and maintain liquidity.
|
|
|
|
As of June 30, 2024 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Estimated |
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Allowance |
|
|
Fair |
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
Amortized |
|
|
Unrealized |
|
|
Unrealized |
|
|
for Credit |
|
|
Market |
|
|||||
|
|
Maturity |
|
Cost |
|
|
Gains |
|
|
Losses |
|
|
Losses |
|
|
Value |
|
|||||
Certificates of deposits |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
|
||||
U.S. Treasury securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
||||
U.S. Government agency securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
|||
Certificates of deposits |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
||||
U.S. Treasury securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
||||
U.S. Government agency securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
|||
Total |
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
As of December 31, 2023 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Estimated |
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Allowance |
|
|
Fair |
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
Amortized |
|
|
Unrealized |
|
|
Unrealized |
|
|
for Credit |
|
|
Market |
|
|||||
|
|
Maturity |
|
Cost |
|
|
Gains |
|
|
Losses |
|
|
Losses |
|
|
Value |
|
|||||
Certificates of deposits |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
|
||||
U.S. Treasury securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
||||
U.S. Government agency securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
|||
Certificates of deposits |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
||||
U.S. Treasury securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
||||
U.S. Government agency securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
||||
Total |
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
|
|||
The Company reviews its investments at each reporting date to identify and evaluate whether a decline in fair value below the amortized cost basis of available-for-sale securities is due to credit-related factors and determines if such unrealized losses are the result of credit losses that require impairment. Factors considered in determining whether an unrealized loss is the result of a credit loss or other factors include the extent to which the fair value is less than the cost basis, any changes to the rating of the security by a rating agency, the financial condition and near-term prospects of the issuer, any historical failure of the issuer to make scheduled interest or principal payments, any adverse legal or regulatory events affecting the issuer or issuer’s industry, any significant deterioration in economic condition and the Company’s intent and ability to hold the investment for a period of time sufficient to allow for any anticipated recovery in market value.
9
DESIGN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(unaudited)
(continued)
There were
The following tables present available-for-sale investments that were in an unrealized loss position as of June 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, aggregated by security type and length of time in a continuous unrealized loss position (in thousands):
|
|
As of June 30, 2024 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Less than 12 Months |
|
|
12 Months or Greater |
|
|
Total |
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|
Estimated |
|
|
|
|
|
Estimated |
|
|
|
|
|
Estimated |
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
Fair |
|
|
|
|
|
Fair |
|
|
|
|
|
Fair |
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
Market |
|
|
Unrealized |
|
|
Market |
|
|
Unrealized |
|
|
Market |
|
|
Unrealized |
|
||||||
|
|
Value |
|
|
Losses |
|
|
Value |
|
|
Losses |
|
|
Value |
|
|
Losses |
|
||||||
Certificates of deposits |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|||
U.S. Treasury securities |
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|||
U.S. Government agency securities |
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|||
Total |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
As of December 31, 2023 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Less than 12 Months |
|
|
12 Months or Greater |
|
|
Total |
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|
Estimated |
|
|
|
|
|
Estimated |
|
|
|
|
|
Estimated |
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
Fair |
|
|
|
|
|
Fair |
|
|
|
|
|
Fair |
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
Market |
|
|
Unrealized |
|
|
Market |
|
|
Unrealized |
|
|
Market |
|
|
Unrealized |
|
||||||
|
|
Value |
|
|
Losses |
|
|
Value |
|
|
Losses |
|
|
Value |
|
|
Losses |
|
||||||
Certificates of deposits |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|||
U.S. Treasury securities |
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|||
U.S. Government agency securities |
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|||
Total |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|||
As of June 30, 2024, the Company held
6. Balance Sheet Details
Prepaid expenses and other current assets consisted of the following (in thousands):
|
|
June 30, |
|
|
December 31, |
|
||
Prepaid expenses |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Interest receivable |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Total |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
10
DESIGN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(unaudited)
(continued)
Property and equipment consisted of the following (in thousands):
|
|
June 30, |
|
|
December 31, |
|
||
Laboratory equipment |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Computer equipment and software |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Furniture and fixtures |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Leasehold improvements |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Construction in progress |
|
|
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Less accumulated depreciation |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Total |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Accrued expenses and current liabilities consisted of the following (in thousands):
|
|
June 30, |
|
|
December 31, |
|
||
Accrued personnel costs |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Accrued research and development costs |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Accrued other |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Total |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
7. Leases
In February 2021, the Company entered into a lease agreement with Crossing Holdings, LLC to rent approximately
Maturities of operating lease liabilities as of June 30, 2024 are as follows (in thousands):
2024 (remaining six months) |
|
$ |
|
|
2025 |
|
|
|
|
2026 |
|
|
|
|
2027 |
|
|
|
|
Thereafter |
|
|
— |
|
Total future minimum lease payments |
|
|
|
|
Less: Present value adjustment |
|
|
( |
) |
Operating lease liabilities |
|
$ |
|
Rent expense for each of the three months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023 was $
11
DESIGN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(unaudited)
(continued)
8. Commitments and Contingencies
Contingencies
From time to time, the Company may become subject to claims or suits arising in the ordinary course of business. The Company accrues a liability for such matters when it is probable that the future expenditures will be made and such expenditures can be reasonably estimated. The Company had no such contingent liabilities as of June 30, 2024 or December 31, 2023.
9. License Agreements
In May 2024, the Company entered into a license agreement pursuant to which it received exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing, sublicensable rights to certain patents and technology to be used in the development and commercialization of certain products. As consideration for the license, the Company paid an upfront fee of $
The Company may be obligated to make aggregate regulatory milestone payments of up to $
The Company may terminate the license agreement with
Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
In February 2019, the Company entered into a Human Therapeutics Exclusive License Agreement (the “License Agreement”) with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (“WARF”). Under the License Agreement, the Company licensed the exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing, sublicensable rights to certain WARF patents and the nonexclusive worldwide rights to certain know-how to develop and commercialize products for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. As consideration for the license, the Company agreed to pay an upfront fee of $
In 2022, pursuant to the License Agreement, the Company paid $
The Company is responsible for reimbursing WARF for costs incurred in connection with prosecuting and maintaining patent rights that are specific to the License Agreement. Expenses recognized in connection with legal patent fees under this License Agreement were immaterial for the three and six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
The Company may terminate the License Agreement with
10. Stockholders’ Deficit
Shelf Registration Statement
In April 2022, the Company filed a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (the “2022 Shelf Registration Statement”), which became effective in May 2022. The 2022 Shelf Registration Statement permits: (i) the offering, issuance and sale by the Company of up to a maximum aggregate offering price of $
12
DESIGN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(unaudited)
(continued)
more offerings and in any combination; and (ii) the offering, issuance and sale by the Company of up to a maximum aggregate offering price of $
11. Stock-Based Compensation
Equity Incentive Award Plans
The following table summarizes stock option activity for the six months ended June 30, 2024:
|
|
Options |
|
|
Weighted-Average Exercise Price |
|
||
Outstanding at December 31, 2023 |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
||
Granted |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
||
Exercised |
|
|
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|
Forfeited |
|
|
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|
Balance at June 30, 2024 |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
||
Stock-based compensation expense has been reported in the Company's condensed statements of operations as follows (in thousands):
|
|
Three Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
Six Months Ended June 30, |
|
||||||||||
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
||||
Research and development |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||||
General and administrative |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Total |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||||
In August 2023, the Company granted
2021 Employee Stock Purchase Plan
13
DESIGN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(unaudited)
(continued)
Lease Agreement
In February 2021, the Company entered into the Lease with Crossing Holdings, LLC to rent laboratory and office space. In March 2022, the Company entered into the Lease Amendment with Crossing Holdings, LLC amending the Lease for additional office space in the same building. Dr. Pratik Shah and entities that he controls are the sole members of Crossing Holdings, LLC.
Rent, and related operating expenses recognized by the Company under the Lease and Lease Amendment during the periods presented were as follows (in thousands):
|
|
Three Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
Six Months Ended June 30, |
|
||||||||||
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
||||
Research and development |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||||
General and administrative |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Total expenses |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||||
Consulting Agreements
In January 2019, the Company entered into an agreement with the Marlinspike Group, LLC (“Marlinspike Group”) for research support, management, and business consulting services (the “2019 Consulting Agreement”). Further, Marlinspike Group provides the use of approximately
The term of the 2019 Consulting Agreement was for a one-year period, subject to automatic one-month renewals unless terminated upon 14 days’ written notice. In March 2020, the Consulting Agreement was terminated and replaced with an amended consulting agreement (the “2020 Consulting Agreement”), which provides for similar services and use of office space for a monthly fee of $
Expenses recognized by the Company under the 2020 Consulting Agreement during the periods presented were as follows (in thousands):
|
|
Three Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
Six Months Ended June 30, |
|
||||||||||
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
||||
General and administrative |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||||
Total expenses |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||||
In December 2017, the Company entered into a consulting agreement with Aseem Z. Ansari, Ph.D., a co-founder, to provide consulting services and advise on certain research and development activities (the “Research Consulting Agreement”). Pursuant to the Research Consulting Agreement, as amended, Dr. Ansari performed these services for a monthly fee of $
Expenses recognized by the Company under the Research Consulting Agreement during the periods presented were as follows (in thousands):
14
DESIGN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(unaudited)
(continued)
|
|
Three Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
Six Months Ended June 30, |
|
||||||||||
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
||||
Research and development |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||||
Total expenses |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||||
15
Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our unaudited financial statements and notes thereto included in “Item 1. Financial Statements” of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and our other public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In addition to historical information, this Quarterly Report contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including but not limited to those set forth under the captions “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in this Quarterly Report, as updated by our subsequent filings under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act). Furthermore, past operating results are not necessarily indicative of results that may occur in future periods.
Overview
We are a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the research and development of GeneTACTM molecules, which are a novel class of small-molecule gene targeted chimera therapeutic candidates designed to be disease-modifying by addressing the underlying cause of diseases caused by inherited nucleotide repeat expansion mutations. Certain diseases caused by inherited nucleotide repeat expansion, such as Friedreich ataxia (FA) and fragile X syndrome, can result in reduced gene expression and deficiency of vital proteins; in other diseases, such as myotonic dystrophy type-1 (DM1), Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD), and Huntington's disease (HD), the nucleotide repeat expansions result in the generation of toxic gene products, often associated with pathological nuclear foci and broad splicing disruptions or the expression of mutant proteins that form toxic aggregates. Our GeneTACTM small molecules are designed to selectively target expanded genetic repeat sequences, modulate gene expression either by dialing up or down mRNA transcription, depending on the cause of the disease, and restore cellular health. As a platform, we believe that GeneTACTM molecules have broad potential applicability across currently unaddressed degenerative, monogenic nucleotide repeat expansion diseases affecting millions of individuals worldwide.
In preclinical studies for our lead program in FA, we have observed restoration of frataxin (FXN) levels in multiple cell types from FA patients and an in vivo murine model of FA using our FA GeneTACTM molecules. At doses that were observed to be well tolerated in rodents and non-human primates (NHPs), FA GeneTACTM molecules achieved biodistribution to brain and heart, key organs affected by FA, at concentrations that exceeded those observed to restore FXN levels in FA patient cells. Further, and consistent with this favorable target-organ biodistribution, we observed increased endogenous FXN expression in the brain and heart in an animal model of FA after treatment with our FA GeneTACTM molecules. In February 2022, the Investigational New Drug Application (IND) for our lead FA GeneTACTM small molecule, DT-216, formulated as the prior DT-216 product candidate, was cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to commence Phase 1 clinical trials. In December 2022, we reported positive initial data from the single-ascending dose (SAD) Phase 1 clinical trial showing that DT-216 was generally well-tolerated and exhibited the ability to overcome the FXN transcription impairment that causes FA, with a greater than two-fold increase in FXN mRNA in the cohort with the highest response. These data supported the subsequent advancement of DT-216 in the multiple-ascending dose (MAD) Phase 1 clinical trial of the prior DT-216 product candidate. In August 2023, we reported data from the MAD Phase 1 clinical trial showing that after three weekly intravenous administrations of the prior DT-216 product candidate, DT-216 levels in plasma and skeletal muscle tissue were both transient. This transient exposure was sufficient to lead to an increase in FXN mRNA in tissue, but longer exposure is likely needed to drive sustained increase of FXN mRNA and protein. DT-216 was generally well-tolerated in the MAD study. In patients receiving the prior DT-216 product candidate in the MAD study, we observed five cases of injection site thrombophlebitis, which we believe were attributable to the formulation excipients. We then shifted focus to developing DT-216 with an improved formulation to enable higher exposure and chronic administration for treatment of FA. These efforts resulted in a new product candidate, DT-216P2, which uses the same drug substance, DT-216. In nonclinical studies, we observed higher and more sustained DT-216 plasma levels with DT-216P2 than was seen in studies previously conducted with the prior DT-216 product candidate. Additionally, we observed favorable injection site tolerability following multiple intravenous administrations of DT-216P2. We aim to complete GLP studies by the end of 2024 and, subject to regulatory clearance, expect to initiate clinical trials with DT-216P2 in FA patients in 2025.
16
In December 2022, we nominated our second GeneTACTM small molecule, DT-168, an eye drop for the treatment of FECD. When tested in vitro in FECD patient-derived corneal endothelial cells, our FECD GeneTACTM molecules led to robust reductions in the pathogenic nuclear RNA foci and corrected key mis-spliced transcripts to levels observed in control corneal endothelial cells from unaffected donors. DT-168 was well tolerated and distribution of DT-168 was observed in and through the cornea in animal models after administration via eye drop. We believe these preclinical data support the potential of our novel GeneTACTM small molecules to correct the most common underlying genetic cause of FECD. We submitted an IND for DT-168 in late 2023 and have received FDA clearance. We expect to initiate Phase 1 development for DT-168 in 2024. We are currently conducting an observational study in FECD patients where we plan to recruit 200 patients to confirm disease characteristics and deterioration in the context of running a trial and to identify characteristics of FECD patients at risk of more rapid disease progression. This will inform our subsequent clinical development efforts and we believe it could potentially increase the probability of DT-168 programmatic success.
Our third program based on the GeneTACTM platform is focused on HD. We are currently conducting preclinical studies on two promising HD GeneTACTM candidate molecules, candidate molecule 1 and candidate molecule 2. We have observed reduced mutant HTT (mtHTT) mRNA and protein and preservation of wild type HTT (wtHTT) in HD patient cells after treatment with our HD GeneTACTM candidate molecules. In in vivo studies in zQ175DN mice, an animal model of HD, we observed a reduction of over 50% in mtHTT RNA and protein in the brain striatum after eight weeks of systemic administration of our HD GeneTACTM candidate molecules. In the same study, wtHTT mRNA and protein levels were shown to be preserved after treatment with our HD GeneTACTM candidate molecules. Our HD GeneTACTM candidate molecules were shown to be well tolerated in rodents and NHPs in ongoing studies. We believe these data support the potential for our HD GeneTACTM candidate molecules to correct the underlying cause of HD. We plan to continue to evaluate these HD candidate molecules in nonclinical studies and expect to nominate one of them as a development candidate.
Our fourth program based on the GeneTACTM platform is focused on DM1. Multiple DM1 GeneTACTM molecules elicited robust reduction of nuclear foci and improvement of splicing defects in DM1 patient muscle cells to levels observed in muscle cells from healthy individuals. We plan to continue evaluating the properties of our DM1 GeneTACTM molecules in both in vivo and in vitro preclinical studies in order to nominate a development candidate.
We have continued to make significant progress in advancing our GeneTACTM portfolio in preclinical studies to address other diseases and intend to declare additional product candidates as they progress towards the clinic.
We believe the structure and mechanism of action of our GeneTACTM molecules may offer the disease-modifying potential of genomic therapeutics, while also offering broad tissue biodistribution, resolution of aberrant gene expression preserving endogenous regulatory control elements, and leveraging established manufacturing, regulatory, and distribution frameworks for small molecules.
To date, we have incurred net losses and negative cash flows from operations since our inception and as of June 30, 2024 had an accumulated deficit of $200.5 million. Our cash, cash equivalents and investment securities balance as of June 30, 2024 was $261.0 million. Our net losses have resulted primarily from costs incurred in connection with organizing and staffing our company, business planning, raising capital, developing and optimizing our technology platform, identifying potential product candidates, undertaking research and nonclinical studies, clinical development activities, engaging in manufacturing for our development programs, and providing general and administrative support for these operations. We do not have any products approved for sale and have not generated any revenue from product sales.
We expect our expenses and operating losses will increase substantially for the foreseeable future as we continue to conduct nonclinical studies and clinical trials for our product candidates, nominate additional product candidates from our discovery programs, and as we expand our clinical, regulatory, quality and manufacturing capabilities, incur significant commercialization expenses for marketing, sales, manufacturing and distribution, if we obtain marketing approval for any of our product candidates, and incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company.
Components of Our Results of Operations
Research and Development Expenses
To date, our research and development expenses have consisted primarily of direct and indirect costs incurred in connection with the clinical development, nonclinical development and manufacturing of our product candidates and our discovery efforts. Research and development expenses are recognized as incurred and payments made prior to the receipt of goods or services to be used in research and development are capitalized until the goods or services are received.
17
Direct costs include:
Indirect costs include:
A significant portion of our research and development expenses have been direct costs, which we track by stage of development, nonclinical or clinical. However, we do not track our internal research and development expenses on a program specific basis, because these costs are deployed across multiple projects and, as such, are not separately classified.
We expect that our research and development expenses will increase for the foreseeable future as we continue the development of our FA, FECD, HD and DM1 programs and our other discovery programs, in particular as we advance our product candidates into clinical development. As of the date of this Quarterly Report, we cannot reasonably determine with certainty the timing of initiation, the duration or the completion costs of current or future nonclinical studies and clinical programs of our product candidates due to the inherently unpredictable nature of nonclinical and clinical development. Nonclinical and clinical development timelines, the probability of success and development costs can differ materially from expectations. We anticipate that we will make determinations as to which product candidates to pursue and how much funding to direct to each product candidate on an ongoing basis in response to the results of ongoing and future nonclinical studies and clinical trials, regulatory developments and our ongoing assessments as to each product candidate’s commercial potential. We will need to raise substantial additional capital in the future. In addition, we cannot forecast which product candidates may be subject to future collaborations, when such arrangements will be secured, if at all, and to what degree such arrangements would affect our development plans and capital requirements.
18
Our future research and development expenses may vary significantly based on a wide variety of factors such as:
A change in the outcome of any of these variables with respect to the development of any of our product candidates could significantly change the costs and timing associated with the development of that product candidate.
The process of conducting the necessary nonclinical and clinical research to obtain regulatory approval is costly and time-consuming. The actual probability of success for our product candidates or any future candidates may be affected by a variety of factors. We may never succeed in achieving regulatory approval for any of our product candidates or any future candidates. Further, a number of factors, including those outside of our control, could adversely impact the timing and duration of our product candidates’ or any future candidates’ development, which could increase our research and development expenses.
General and Administrative
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of personnel-related expenses, including employee salaries, bonuses, benefits, and stock-based compensation charges, for personnel in executive and administrative functions. Other significant general and administrative expenses include insurance costs, legal fees relating to intellectual property and corporate matters and professional fees for accounting, tax and consulting services.
We anticipate that our general and administrative expenses will substantially increase in the foreseeable future as we add general and administrative personnel to support our expanded research and development activities and infrastructure and, if any of our product candidates or any future candidates receive marketing approval, commercialization activities, as well as to support our operations generally, including facility-related expenses and patent-related costs. We also expect to incur increased expenses related to accounting, audit, legal, regulatory and tax-related services, director and officer insurance premiums, board of director fees, investor and public relations, and other costs associated with operating as a public company.
19
Results of Operations
Comparison of the Three Months Ended June 30, 2024 and 2023
The following table summarizes our operating expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023 (in thousands):
|
|
Three Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
|
Change |
|
|||
Operating expenses: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Research and development |
|
$ |
10,516 |
|
|
$ |
17,064 |
|
|
$ |
(6,548 |
) |
General and administrative |
|
|
4,527 |
|
|
|
5,532 |
|
|
|
(1,005 |
) |
Total operating expenses |
|
$ |
15,043 |
|
|
$ |
22,596 |
|
|
$ |
(7,553 |
) |
Research and Development Expenses. The decrease in research and development expenses compared to the same period of the prior year was primarily due to the completion of clinical activities for our FA program in 2023 and a reduction in expenses associated with our early-stage programs.
The following table summarizes our research and development expenses by program, direct and indirect costs for the three months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023 (in thousands):
|
|
Three Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
|
Change |
|
|||
FA |
|
$ |
1,321 |
|
|
$ |
7,272 |
|
|
$ |
(5,951 |
) |
FECD |
|
|
1,643 |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
1,643 |
|
Other direct |
|
|
2,911 |
|
|
|
3,361 |
|
|
|
(450 |
) |
Indirect |
|
|
4,641 |
|
|
|
6,431 |
|
|
|
(1,790 |
) |
Total research and development expense |
|
$ |
10,516 |
|
|
$ |
17,064 |
|
|
$ |
(6,548 |
) |
General and Administrative Expenses. The decrease in general administrative expenses was primarily due to lower headcount, resulting in a $0.7 million decrease in personnel-related costs inclusive of stock-based compensation, a $0.1 million decrease in professional services and a $0.2 million decrease in other expenses incurred during the three months ended June 30, 2024 as compared to the same period in 2023.
Comparison of the Six Months Ended June 30, 2024 and 2023
The following table summarizes our operating expenses for the six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023 (in thousands):
|
|
Six Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
|
Change |
|
|||
Operating expenses: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Research and development |
|
$ |
20,317 |
|
|
$ |
32,794 |
|
|
$ |
(12,477 |
) |
General and administrative |
|
|
9,126 |
|
|
|
11,453 |
|
|
|
(2,327 |
) |
Total operating expenses |
|
$ |
29,443 |
|
|
$ |
44,247 |
|
|
$ |
(14,804 |
) |
Research and Development Expenses. The decrease in research and development expenses compared to the same period of the prior year was primarily due to the completion of clinical activities for our FA program in 2023 and a reduction in expenses associated with our early-stage programs.
The following table summarizes our research and development expenses by program, direct and indirect costs for the six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023 (in thousands):
|
|
Six Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
|
Change |
|
|||
FA |
|
$ |
2,363 |
|
|
$ |
12,242 |
|
|
$ |
(9,879 |
) |
FECD |
|
|
2,853 |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
2,853 |
|
Other direct |
|
|
5,412 |
|
|
|
7,727 |
|
|
|
(2,315 |
) |
Indirect |
|
|
9,689 |
|
|
|
12,825 |
|
|
|
(3,136 |
) |
Total research and development expenses |
|
$ |
20,317 |
|
|
$ |
32,794 |
|
|
$ |
(12,477 |
) |
20
General and Administrative Expenses. The decrease in general administrative expenses was primarily due to lower headcount, resulting in a $1.5 million decrease in personnel-related costs inclusive of stock-based compensation, a $0.5 million decrease in professional services, a $0.2 million decrease in insurance expense and a $0.1 million decrease in other expenses incurred during the six months ended June 30, 2024 as compared to the same period in 2023.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
We have incurred net losses and negative cash flows from operations since our inception and anticipate we will continue to incur net losses for the foreseeable future. Since our inception, we have funded our operations primarily through the sale of our common stock, convertible preferred stock, grant income and the issuance of convertible notes and notes payable.
As of June 30, 2024, we had $261.0 million of combined cash, cash equivalents and investment securities, a decrease of $20.8 million from the $281.8 million of cash, cash equivalents and investment securities at December 31, 2023. Further detail of the change in our cash and cash equivalents for the six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023 is summarized below (in thousands):
|
|
Six Months Ended June 30, |
|
|||||
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
||
Net cash provided by (used in): |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Operating activities |
|
$ |
(23,699 |
) |
|
$ |
(31,228 |
) |
Investing activities |
|
|
47,949 |
|
|
|
31,715 |
|
Financing activities |
|
|
249 |
|
|
|
210 |
|
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents |
|
$ |
24,499 |
|
|
$ |
697 |
|
Operating Activities. The decrease in our net cash used in operating activities was primarily due to the $16.3 million decrease in net loss, partially offset by an increase in net working capital for the six months ended June 30, 2024 compared to the six months ended June 30, 2023.
Investing Activities. The increase in net cash provided by investing activities was primarily due to a net increase in cash provided from the maturity of our investment securities during the six months ended June 30, 2024 compared to the six months ended June 30, 2023. We have classified our investment securities as available-for-sale and all investments are made in accordance with our investment policy.
Financing Activities. Net cash provided by financing activities for the six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023 was comprised of proceeds received from the issuance of common stock through our employee stock purchase plan and from employee stock option exercises.
Shelf Registration Statement
In April 2022, we filed a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (2022 Shelf Registration Statement), which became effective in May 2022. The 2022 Shelf Registration Statement permits: (i) the offering, issuance and sale by us of up to a maximum aggregate offering price of $300.0 million of common stock, preferred stock, debt securities and warrants in one or more offerings and in any combination; and (ii) the offering, issuance and sale by us of up to a maximum aggregate offering price of $100.0 million of our common stock that may be issued and sold under an “at-the-market” sales agreement (ATM Program). The $100.0 million of common stock that may be issued and sold under the ATM Program is included in the $300.0 million of securities that may be issued and sold under the 2022 Shelf Registration Statement. As of June 30, 2024, the Company has not sold any shares of its common stock under the ATM Program.
Funding Requirements
Based on our current operating plan, we believe that our existing cash, cash equivalents and investments will be sufficient to fund our planned operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements for more than the next 12 months following the date of this Quarterly Report.
Our forecast of the period of time through which our financial resources will be adequate to support our operations is a forward-looking statement that involves risks and uncertainties, and actual results could vary materially. We have based this estimate on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could expend our capital resources sooner than we expect. Additionally, the process of testing product candidates in clinical trials is costly, and the timing of progress and expenses in these trials is uncertain.
21
Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:
Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial revenues from product sales to support our cost structure, we expect to finance our cash needs through public or private equity offerings, debt financings, or other capital sources which may include strategic collaborations, licensing arrangements or other arrangements with third parties. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, the ownership interest of our stockholders will be or could be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect the rights of our common stockholders. Equity and debt financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends. If we raise funds through strategic collaborations, or other similar arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us and/or may reduce the value of our common stock. If we are unable to raise additional funds through equity or debt financings when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our drug development or future commercialization efforts. Our ability to raise additional funds may be adversely impacted by potential worsening global economic conditions and disruptions to and volatility in the credit and financial markets in the United States and worldwide as a result of macroeconomic factors, including geopolitical conflicts (such as the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine and actions taken by the United States and other governments in response), high inflation, bank failures, global supply chain and labor shortage challenges, and the effects of a health epidemic or pandemic. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with product development, we cannot predict the timing or amount of increased expenses and cannot assure you that we will ever be profitable or generate positive cash flow from operating activities.
Contractual Obligations, Commitments and Material Cash Requirements
In February 2021, we entered into a lease agreement to rent approximately 12,370 square feet of lab and office space with a related party. The delivery date of the space was September 1, 2021, and the lease commenced at that time. The term of the lease is 72 months after commencement with an option to extend the lease term for a period of three years. Annual rent payments are approximately $0.8 million per year, subject to annual increases of 3%, plus our share of operating expenses and taxes.
22
In March 2022, we entered into an amendment to our existing lease agreement to rent approximately 4,900 square feet of additional space with a related party. The delivery date of the space was June 16, 2022, and the lease amendment commenced at that time. The term of the lease coincides with our existing lease. Annual rent payments for the additional space are approximately $0.1 million, subject to annual increases of 3%, plus our share of operating expenses and taxes.
In February 2019, we entered into a Human Therapeutics Exclusive License Agreement (License Agreement) with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF). Under the License Agreement, we licensed the exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing, sublicensable rights to certain WARF patents and the nonexclusive worldwide rights to certain know-how to develop and commercialize products for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. As consideration for the license, we agreed to pay an upfront fee of $0.3 million, which we immediately expensed as a research and development expense in our statements of operations as there was no alternative future use for the license.
For the six months ended June 30, 2024, no payments were made pursuant to the License Agreement. In 2022, pursuant to the License Agreement, we paid $0.1 million to WARF upon the acceptance of an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) in the U.S. We will be required to make further aggregate milestone payments of up to $17.5 million upon achievement of certain other regulatory and commercial milestones. We may also be required to pay royalties based on annual net product sales in the low single digits on our or our sublicensees’ net product sales on a country-by-country and product-by-product basis, and are subject to a minimum royalty of $0.1 million per calendar year upon first commercial product sale. Further, we may be required to pay sublicense fees in the mid-single digits percentage for fees, royalties or other payments earned from the granting of sublicenses to the WARF patents and know-how.
We are responsible for reimbursing WARF for costs incurred in connection with prosecuting and maintaining patent rights that are specific to the License Agreement. Expenses recognized in connection with legal patent fees under this License Agreement were immaterial for each of the six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023.
We may terminate the License Agreement with 90 days written notice or for certain breaches of the agreement. WARF may terminate the License Agreement with 90 days written notice if first commercial sale does not occur before December 31, 2031. Unless terminated earlier by the parties, the term of the License Agreement will continue until the last licensed patent expires in all countries.
In May 2024, we entered into a license agreement pursuant to which we received exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing, sublicensable rights to certain patents and technology to be used in the development and commercialization of certain products. As consideration for the license, we paid an upfront fee of $0.2 million which was expensed to research and development during the six months ended June 30, 2024, as there is no alternative future use for the license.
We may be obligated to make aggregate regulatory milestone payments of up to $0.8 million for each product incorporating licensed patent rights and pay a royalty on worldwide net sales on a product-by-product basis.
We may terminate the license agreement with 60 days’ written notice and each party may terminate the license agreement upon 30 days’ written notice for certain breaches of the agreement that remain uncured following 60 days’ notice to the other party of such breach. Unless terminated earlier by the parties, the term of the license agreement will continue until the last valid patent claim expires.
Additionally, we enter into agreements in the normal course of business with third-party vendors for nonclinical studies, clinical trial related services, research supplies and other services and products for operating purposes. These contracts generally provide for termination following a certain period after notice and therefore we believe that our non-cancelable obligations under these agreements are not material.
In addition to the contractual obligations above, we also expect to have future material cash requirements related to our planned clinical trials, discovery and nonclinical programs, personnel and facilities-related expenses, external research and development and product development.
Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Judgments and Estimates
Our management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based on our financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities and expenses and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities in our financial statements. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and judgments, including those related to research and development expenses. We base our estimates on historical experience, known
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trends and events, and various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
Our critical accounting policies are those that require us to make subjective estimates and judgments about matters that are uncertain and are likely to have a material impact on our financial condition and results of operations, as well as the specific manner in which we apply those principles. For a description of our critical accounting policies, please see Item 1 of Part I, “Notes to Condensed Financial Statements—Note 2—Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and Note 2 to our Financial Statements and our Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 19, 2024. There have not been any material changes to our critical accounting policies since December 31, 2023.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
See Item 1 of Part I, “Notes to Condensed Financial Statements—Note 2—Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” for a discussion of recent accounting pronouncements.
Other Information
Emerging Growth Company Status
We are an emerging growth company, as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, as amended (JOBS Act), and we may remain an emerging growth company until as late as December 31, 2026 (the fiscal year-end following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our initial public offering). For so long as we remain an emerging growth company, we are permitted and intend to rely on certain exemptions from various public company reporting requirements, including not being required to have our internal control over financial reporting audited by our independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies can delay adopting new or revised accounting standards issued subsequent to the enactment of the JOBS Act until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We have irrevocably elected not to avail ourselves of this exemption from new or revised accounting standards and, therefore, will be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest to occur of: (i) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have at least $1.235 billion in annual revenue; (ii) the date upon which we are deemed to be a “large accelerated filer,” as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act, which would occur if we have been subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act for at least 12 months as of December 31st and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeded $700.0 million as of the last business day of the second fiscal quarter of such year; (iii) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in nonconvertible debt securities during the prior three-year period; and (iv) December 31, 2026 (the last day of the fiscal year ending after the fifth anniversary of our initial public offering).
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Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
As a “smaller reporting company,” we are not required to provide the information contemplated by this item.
Item 4. Controls and Procedures.
We maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our periodic and current reports that we file with the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer (our principal executive and financial officer), as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, management recognized that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable and not absolute assurance of achieving the desired control objectives. In reaching a reasonable level of assurance, management necessarily was required to apply its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures. In addition, the design of any system of controls is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions; over time, controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or the degree of compliance with policies or procedures may deteriorate. Because of the inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.
As of June 30, 2024, we carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer (who is also our 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 on this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective at the reasonable assurance level as of June 30, 2024.
An evaluation was also performed under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer, of any change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during our last fiscal quarter and that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting. That evaluation did not identify any changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during our latest fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
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PART II—OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1. Legal Proceedings.
From time to time, we may become involved in litigation or other legal proceedings. We are not currently a party to any litigation or legal proceedings that, in the opinion of our management, are likely to have a material adverse effect on our business. Regardless of outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on us because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources and other factors.
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
We operate in a dynamic and rapidly changing environment that involves numerous risks and uncertainties. Certain factors may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, and you should carefully consider them. Accordingly, in evaluating our business, we encourage you to consider the following discussion of risks described below, together with the other information contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in our other public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and future growth prospects would likely be materially and adversely affected. In these circumstances, the market price of our common stock would likely decline. Other events that we do not currently anticipate or that we currently deem immaterial may also affect our results of operations and financial condition. We have marked with an asterisk (*) those risk factors that were not included as separate risk factors in, or reflect changes from the similarly titled risk factors included in, Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on March 19, 2024.
Risks Related to Our Limited Operating History, Financial Position and Capital Requirements
We have a limited operating history, have incurred net losses since our inception, and anticipate that we will continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future. We may never generate any revenue or become profitable or, if we achieve profitability, may not be able to sustain it.*
We are a biopharmaceutical company with a limited operating history that may make it difficult to evaluate the success of our business to date and to assess our future viability. Our operations to date have been limited to business planning, organizing and staffing our company, raising capital, developing and optimizing our technology platform, identifying potential product candidates, undertaking research and nonclinical studies for our lead program and our other development programs, early clinical development for our lead program, establishing and enhancing our intellectual property portfolio, and providing general and administrative support for these operations. In March 2022, we completed dosing in the first cohort for the SAD Phase 1 clinical trial of our lead FA GeneTACTM small molecule, DT-216, formulated as the prior DT-216 product candidate. We announced initial data from our SAD Phase 1 clinical trial of the prior DT-216 product candidate in December 2022 and initial data from our MAD Phase 1 clinical trial of the prior DT-216 product candidate in August 2023. We withdrew our IND for the prior DT-216 product candidate in October 2023, and plan to submit a new IND with a new drug product candidate, DT-216P2, which uses the same drug substance, DT-216. In late 2023, we submitted an IND for our second GeneTACTM small molecule, DT-168, an eye drop for the treatment of FECD and have received FDA clearance. As a result, none of our product candidates have been approved for commercial sale. We have never generated any revenue from product sales and have incurred net losses each year since we commenced operations, including a net loss of $22.9 million and $66.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024 and the year ended December 31, 2023, respectively. We expect that it will be several years, if ever, before we have a product candidate ready for regulatory approval and commercialization. We expect to incur increasing levels of operating losses over the next several years and for the foreseeable future as we advance our product candidates through clinical development. Our prior losses, combined with expected future losses, have had and will continue to have an adverse effect on our stockholders’ equity and working capital.
To become and remain profitable, we must develop and eventually commercialize a product or products with significant market potential. This will require us to be successful in a range of challenging activities, including completing nonclinical studies and clinical trials of our product candidates, obtaining marketing approval for these product candidates, manufacturing, marketing and selling those products for which we may obtain marketing approval and satisfying any post-marketing requirements. We may never succeed in these activities and, even if we succeed in commercializing one or more of our product candidates, we may never generate revenue that is significant or large enough to achieve profitability. In addition, as a young business, we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other known and unknown challenges. If we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis and we will continue to incur substantial research and development and other expenditures to develop and market additional product candidates. Our failure to become and remain profitable would decrease the value of the company and could impair our ability to raise capital, maintain our research and development efforts, expand our business or continue our operations. A decline in the value of our company could also cause you to lose all or part of your investment.
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If we are unable to raise additional capital when needed, we may be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate our product development programs or other operations.*
Since our inception, we have used substantial amounts of cash to fund our operations and expect our expenses to increase substantially during the next few years. The development of biopharmaceutical product candidates is capital intensive. As our product candidates enter and advance through nonclinical studies and clinical trials, we will need substantial additional funds to expand our clinical, regulatory, quality and manufacturing capabilities. In addition, if we obtain marketing approval for any of our product candidates, we expect to incur significant commercialization expenses related to marketing, sales, manufacturing and distribution.
As of June 30, 2024, we had $261.0 million in cash, cash equivalents and investment securities. Based upon our current operating plan, we estimate that our existing cash, cash equivalents and investment securities will be sufficient to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements for more than the next 12 months. However, we believe that our existing cash, cash equivalents and investment securities will not be sufficient to fund any of our product candidates through regulatory approval, and we will need to raise substantial additional capital to complete the development and commercialization of our product candidates.
We have based these estimates on assumptions that may prove to be incorrect or require adjustment as a result of business decisions, and we could utilize our available capital resources sooner than we currently expect. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:
Because we do not expect to generate revenue from product sales for many years, if at all, we will need to obtain substantial additional funding in connection with our continuing operations and expected increases in expenses. Until such time as we can generate significant revenue from sales of our product candidates, if ever, we expect to finance our cash needs through equity offerings, debt financings or other capital sources, including potential collaborations, licenses or other similar arrangements. In addition, we may seek additional capital due to favorable market conditions or strategic considerations, even if we believe we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans. Our ability to raise additional funds may be adversely impacted by potential worsening global economic conditions and disruptions to and volatility in the credit and financial markets in the United States and worldwide as a result of macroeconomic factors, including geopolitical conflicts (such as the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine and actions taken by the United States and other governments in response), high inflation, bank failures, global supply chain and labor shortage challenges, and the effects of a health epidemic or pandemic. If we are unable to raise capital when needed or on attractive terms, we would be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate our research and development programs or future commercialization efforts.
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Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our stockholders, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or product candidates.
Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial revenue from product sales to support our cost structure, we expect to finance our operations through public or private equity offerings, debt financings or other capital sources, which may include strategic collaborations, licensing arrangements or other similar arrangements with third parties. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, current stockholders will be or could be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect the rights of existing stockholders. Equity and debt financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends.
If we raise funds through strategic collaborations, or other similar arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us and/or may reduce the value of our common stock. If we are unable to raise additional funds through equity or debt financings when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development or future commercialization efforts or grant rights to develop and market product candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with product development, we cannot predict the timing or amount of increased expenses and cannot assure you that we will ever be profitable or generate positive cash flow from operating activities.
Our financial condition could be adversely affected if the financial institutions in which we hold our cash fail.
We maintain cash deposits in Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insured banks. The bank deposit balances may exceed the FDIC insurance limits, and, currently, we hold our cash in a limited number of accounts. Our access to these balances could be impacted if one or more of the financial institutions in which we deposit monies fails or is subject to other adverse conditions in the financial or credit markets. For example, multiple banks failed and were taken into receivership by the FDIC in the first half of 2023. Our access to cash may be adversely affected in the future by actual or anticipated bank failures.
Risks Related to the Discovery, Development and Regulatory Approval of Our Product Candidates
We are early in our development efforts, with our research programs currently in the nonclinical or discovery stage. We have a limited history of conducting clinical trials to test our product candidates in humans.
We are early in our development efforts and most of our operations to date have been limited to developing our platform technologies and conducting drug discovery and nonclinical studies. Our lead FA GeneTACTM small molecule, DT-216, formulated as the prior DT-216 product candidate, entered into a SAD Phase 1 clinical trial in March 2022, the first clinical trial for one of our product candidates and we completed the MAD Phase 1 clinical trial of the prior DT-216 product candidate in August 2023. We withdrew our IND for the prior DT-216 product candidate in October 2023, and plan to submit a new IND with a new product candidate, DT-216P2, which uses the same drug substance, DT-216. As a result, we have limited infrastructure, experience conducting clinical trials as a company and regulatory interactions, and cannot be certain that our clinical trials will be completed on time, if at all, that our planned development programs would be acceptable to the FDA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities, or that, if approval is obtained, such product candidates can be successfully commercialized.
Because of the early stage of development of our product candidates, our ability to eventually generate significant revenues from product sales will depend on a number of factors, including:
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The success of our business, including our ability to finance our company and generate any revenue in the future, will primarily depend on the successful development, regulatory approval and commercialization of our FA, FECD, HD and DM1 GeneTACTM candidates, as well as our other product candidates, which may never occur. In the future, we may also become dependent on other product candidates that we may develop or acquire; however, given our early stage of development, it may be several years, if at all, before we have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of a treatment sufficient to warrant approval for commercialization. If we are unable to develop, or obtain regulatory approval for, or, if approved, successfully commercialize our product candidates, we may not be able to generate sufficient revenue to continue our business.
Nonclinical and clinical development involves a lengthy and expensive process with uncertain timelines and outcomes, and results of nonclinical studies and clinical trials may not be predictive of future trial results. If development of our programs is unsuccessful or delayed, we may be unable to obtain required regulatory approvals and be unable to commercialize our product candidates on a timely basis, if at all.*
Clinical drug development is expensive and can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. Failure or delay can occur at any time during the drug development process, including due to factors outside of our control. Success in nonclinical testing and early clinical trials does not ensure that later clinical trials will be successful. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical industry, including biotechnology companies, have suffered significant setbacks in clinical trials, even after having promising results in earlier nonclinical studies or clinical trials. These setbacks have been caused by, among other things, nonclinical findings emerging while clinical trials were underway and safety or efficacy observations made in nonclinical studies or clinical trials, including previously unreported adverse events. Although we have conducted clinical studies of the prior DT-216 product candidate and nonclinical studies of the prior DT-216 product candidate and DT-216P2 for the treatment of patients with FA, certain nonclinical studies of DT-168 for the treatment of patients with FECD and certain nonclinical studies of other potential product candidates targeting expansion repeat driven diseases, we do not know whether DT-216P2 or DT-168 or other potential product candidates targeting expansion repeat driven diseases will perform in future clinical trials as they have performed in these prior studies. Furthermore, for some indications that we are pursuing, such as FECD caused by a nucleotide repeat expansion mutation in the TCF4 gene, there are no animal models of the human disease and therefore our ability to predict human disease outcomes may be reduced.
The results of nonclinical and early clinical trials of our product candidates may not be predictive of the results of later-stage clinical trials. Adverse safety or efficacy observations in nonclinical studies or clinical trials may result in delays in timelines of our programs before or after clinical trials have commenced. Product candidates in later stages of clinical trials may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy traits despite having progressed through nonclinical and initial clinical trials. Notwithstanding any potential promising results in earlier studies, we cannot be certain that we will not face similar setbacks. Even if our clinical trials are completed, the results may not be sufficient to obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates.
While we have conducted nonclinical studies of the prior DT-216 product candidate for the treatment of patients with FA, released initial clinical data from our SAD Phase 1 clinical trial in December 2022 and released initial results from the MAD Phase 1 clinical trial of the prior DT-216 product candidate in August 2023 with results showing that DT-216 was generally well-tolerated and exhibited the ability to overcome the FXN transcription impairment that causes FA, previously reported results from the SAD Phase 1 clinical trial showed that three patients on the prior DT-216 product candidate had injection site thrombophlebitis that were mild or moderate and resolved without treatment. DT-216 was generally well-tolerated in the MAD Phase 1 clinical trial. However, self-limited injection site thrombophlebitis was observed in five patients across all three dose levels (100mg, 200mg and 300mg), whereas injection site thrombophlebitis was only observed at higher doses (the 400mg and 600mg cohorts) in the SAD Phase 1 clinical trial. Nonclinical studies showed that the injection site reactions were attributable to the formulation excipients in the prior DT-216 product candidate formulation, and that improving the formulation composition could enable higher doses and chronic administration. We have since shown that an improved formulation using a novel and proprietary excipient with DT-216P2 had favorable injection site tolerability following multiple intravenous administrations and enabled dosing to increase tissue exposure. Given the injection site thrombophlebitis observed in the MAD Phase 1 clinical trial and concern for potential worsening of injection site thrombophlebitis at higher doses with multiple administration, and the initial results from animal studies using a novel and proprietary excipient in DT-216P2, instead of advancing the prior DT-216 product candidate through to Phase 2 in the second half of 2023 as originally planned, we decided to pursue development of DT-216P2 to better support the future clinical development and regulatory pathway for the drug substance DT-216. We withdrew our IND for the prior DT-216 product candidate in October 2023 and plan to submit a new IND with DT-216P2. However, there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully develop DT-216P2 with improved injection site tolerability and the absence of other unacceptable side effects on the timeframe we expect, or at all, or that we will be able to achieve our anticipated timeline for resumed Phase 1 clinical development and data.
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We may experience delays in initiating our clinical trials for our product candidates and we cannot be certain that the trials or any other future clinical trials for our product candidates will begin on time, need to be redesigned, enroll an adequate number of patients on time or be completed on schedule, if at all. Clinical trials can be delayed or terminated for a variety of reasons, including delay or failure related to:
We could also encounter delays if a clinical trial is suspended or terminated by us, by the IRBs of the institutions in which such trials are being conducted, by a Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) for such trial or by the FDA or other regulatory authorities (including foreign regulatory authorities comparable to the FDA). Such authorities may suspend or terminate a clinical trial due to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial site by the FDA or other regulatory authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a drug, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial.
Further, conducting clinical trials in foreign countries, as we plan to do for our product candidates, presents additional risks that may delay completion of our clinical trials. These risks include the failure of enrolled patients in foreign countries to adhere to clinical protocol as a result of differences in healthcare services or cultural customs, managing additional administrative burdens associated with foreign regulatory schemes, as well as political and economic risks relevant to such foreign countries.
Moreover, principal investigators for our clinical trials may serve as scientific advisors or consultants to us from time to time and receive compensation in connection with such services. Under certain circumstances, we may be required to report some of these relationships to the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities. The FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority may conclude that a financial relationship between us and a principal investigator has created a conflict of interest or otherwise affected interpretation of the trial. The FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority may therefore question the integrity of the data generated at the applicable clinical trial site and the utility of the clinical trial itself may be jeopardized. This could result in a delay in approval, or rejection, of our marketing applications by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority, as the case may be, and may ultimately lead to the denial of marketing approval of our product candidates.
If we experience delays in the completion, or termination, of any clinical trial of our product candidates, the commercial prospects of our product candidates may be harmed, and our ability to generate product revenue from any of these product candidates will be delayed or not realized at all. In addition, any delays in initiating or completing our clinical trials will increase our costs, slow down our product candidate development and approval process and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenue. Any of these occurrences may significantly harm our business, financial condition and prospects. In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of our product candidates.
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Our product candidates are based on novel technologies, which make it difficult to predict the timing, results and cost of product candidate development and likelihood of obtaining regulatory approval.
We have concentrated our research and development efforts on product candidates using our GeneTACTM platform technologies, and our future success depends on the successful development of this approach. We have not yet succeeded and may not succeed in demonstrating efficacy and safety for any product candidates based on our GeneTACTM platform technologies in clinical trials or in obtaining marketing approval thereafter, and use of our GeneTACTM platform technologies may not ever result in marketable products. We may also experience delays in developing a sustainable, reproducible and scalable manufacturing process or transferring that process to commercial partners or establishing our own commercial manufacturing capabilities, which may prevent us from completing our clinical trials or commercializing any products on a timely or profitable basis, if at all. Further, because all of our product candidates and development programs are based on the same GeneTACTM platform technologies, adverse developments with respect to one of our programs may have a significant adverse impact on the actual or perceived likelihood of success and value of our other programs.
The clinical trial requirements of the FDA, EMA and other comparable foreign regulatory agencies and the criteria these regulators use to determine the safety and efficacy of a product candidate vary substantially according to the type, complexity, novelty and intended use and market of the potential products. The regulatory approval process for novel product candidates such as ours can be more expensive and take longer than for other, better known or extensively studied pharmaceutical or other product candidates.
The biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries are also rapidly developing, and our competitors may introduce new technologies improving the treatments in the field of expansion repeat driven diseases and small molecules that render our GeneTACTM platform technologies obsolete or less attractive. New technology could emerge at any point in the development cycle of our product candidates.
If we encounter difficulties or delays enrolling patients in our clinical trials, our clinical development activities could be delayed or otherwise adversely affected.
We may not be able to initiate or continue clinical trials planned in the future for our product candidates if we are unable to identify and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients to participate in these trials as required by the FDA. Patient enrollment, a significant factor in the timing of clinical trials, is affected by many factors including the size and nature of the patient population, the proximity of patients to clinical sites, the eligibility criteria for the clinical trial, the design of the clinical trial, competing clinical trials and clinicians’ and patients’ perceptions as to the potential advantages of the product candidate being studied in relation to other available therapies, including any new drugs that may be approved for the indications we are investigating.
The timely completion of clinical trials in accordance with their protocols depends, among other things, on our ability to enroll a sufficient number of patients who remain in the study until its conclusion. We may experience difficulties in patient enrollment or retention in our clinical trials for a variety of reasons. The enrollment of patients depends on many factors, including:
In addition, our clinical trials may compete with other clinical trials for product candidates that are in the same therapeutic areas as our product candidates, and this competition may reduce the number and types of patients available to us, because some patients who might have opted to enroll in our trials may instead opt to enroll in a trial being conducted by one of our competitors. We may also experience enrollment challenges if patients that would otherwise enroll in our trial choose not to do so, or are not eligible to do so, as a result of treatment with another drug. For example, the FDA approved omaveloxolone for the treatment of FA in adults and adolescents aged 16 years and older in February 2023, and omaveloxolone was commercially launched in June 2023. The commercial availability of omaveloxolone may impact future enrollment of our planned clinical trials. FA patients receiving omaveloxolone may be ineligible to enroll in a clinical trial for DT-216P2 or may choose not to do so due to the availability of an approved product. Furthermore, patients enrolled in our clinical trials may receive omaveloxolone and we cannot predict the impact of potential drug interactions on trial results. Delays in patient enrollment may result in increased costs or may affect the timing or outcome of our
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clinical trials, which could prevent completion of these trials and adversely affect our ability to advance the development of our product candidates.
We plan to conduct clinical trials for our product candidates outside the United States and the FDA may not accept data from such trials.
We plan to conduct additional clinical trials outside the United States. Although the FDA may accept data from clinical trials conducted outside the United States, acceptance of such study data by the FDA is subject to certain conditions. For example, the clinical trial must be conducted in accordance with Good Clinical Practices (GCP) requirements and the FDA must be able to validate the data from the clinical trial through an onsite inspection if it deems such inspection necessary.
Where data from foreign clinical trials are intended to serve as the sole basis for marketing approval in the United States, the FDA will not approve the application on the basis of foreign data alone unless those data are applicable to the U.S. population and U.S. medical practice, the clinical trials were performed by clinical investigators of recognized competence, and the data are considered valid without the need for an on-site inspection by the FDA or, if the FDA considers such an inspection to be necessary, the FDA is able to validate the data through an on-site inspection or other appropriate means. In addition, such clinical trials would be subject to the applicable local laws of the foreign jurisdictions where the clinical trials are conducted.
There can be no assurance the FDA will accept data from clinical trials conducted outside of the United States. If the FDA does not accept any such data, it would likely result in the need for additional clinical trials, which would be costly and time-consuming and delay aspects of our development plan. In addition, the conduct of clinical trials outside the United States could have a significant impact on us. Risks inherent in conducting international clinical trials include:
Obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval of our product candidates in one jurisdiction does not mean that we will be successful in obtaining regulatory approval of our product candidates in other jurisdictions.
Obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval of our product candidates in one jurisdiction does not guarantee that we will be able to obtain or maintain regulatory approval in any other jurisdiction, while a failure or delay in obtaining regulatory approval in one jurisdiction may have a negative effect on the regulatory approval process in others. For example, even if the FDA grants marketing approval of a product candidate, comparable regulatory authorities in foreign jurisdictions must also approve the manufacturing, marketing and promotion of the product candidate in those countries. Approval procedures vary among jurisdictions and can involve requirements and administrative review periods different from, and greater than, those in the United States, including additional nonclinical studies or clinical trials as clinical studies conducted in one jurisdiction may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions. In many jurisdictions outside the United States, a product candidate must be approved for reimbursement before it can be approved for sale in that jurisdiction. In some cases, the price that we intend to charge for our products is also subject to approval.
Obtaining foreign regulatory approvals and compliance with foreign regulatory requirements could result in significant delays, difficulties and costs for us and could delay or prevent the introduction of our products in certain countries. If we fail to comply with
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the regulatory requirements in international markets and/or receive applicable marketing approvals, our target market will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential of our product candidates will be harmed.
Our product candidates may cause undesirable side effects or have other properties that could delay or prevent their regulatory approval, cause us to suspend or discontinue our clinical trials, limit the commercial profile of an approved label, or result in significant negative consequences following marketing approval, if any.*
Undesirable side effects caused by our product candidates could cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt ongoing or planned clinical trials and could result in a more restrictive label or the delay or denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities. Results of our clinical trials or nonclinical studies could reveal a high and unacceptable severity and prevalence of side effects or unexpected characteristics. For example, in December 2022, we reported initial data from the SAD Phase 1 clinical trial for the prior DT-216 product candidate, the first clinical trial for one of our product candidates. Initial safety results from Cohorts 1-5 showed that DT-216 was generally well-tolerated after a single dose of the prior DT-216 product candidate, but three patients on the prior DT-216 product candidate had injection site thrombophlebitis that were mild or moderate and resolved without treatment. DT-216 was generally well-tolerated in the subsequent MAD Phase 1 clinical trial. However, self-limited injection site thrombophlebitis was observed in five patients across all three dose levels (100mg, 200mg and 300mg), whereas injection site thrombophlebitis was only observed at higher doses (the 400mg and 600mg cohorts) in the SAD Phase 1 clinical trial. Nonclinical studies showed that the injection site reactions were attributable to the formulation excipients in the prior DT-216 product candidate formulation, and that improving the formulation composition could enable higher doses and chronic administration. We have since shown that an improved formulation using a novel and proprietary excipient with DT-216P2 had favorable injection site tolerability following multiple intravenous administrations and enabled dosing to increase tissue exposure. Given the injection site thrombophlebitis observed in the MAD Phase 1 clinical trial and concern for potential worsening of injection site thrombophlebitis at higher doses with multiple administration, the initial results from animal studies with DT-216P2 using a novel and proprietary excipient, instead of advancing the prior DT-216 product candidate with the current formulation through to Phase 2 in the second half of 2023 as originally planned, we decided to pursue development of DT-216P2 that we believe may better support the future clinical development and regulatory pathway for the drug substance DT-216. We withdrew our IND for the prior DT-216 product candidate in October 2023 and plan to submit a new IND with DT-216P2. However, there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully develop DT-216P2 with improved injection site tolerability and the absence of other unacceptable side effects on the timeframe we expect, or at all, or that we will be able to achieve our anticipated timeline for resumed Phase 1 clinical development and data.
If unacceptable side effects, such as severe injection site reactions associated with intravenous administration (including injection site thrombophlebitis), arise in the development of our product candidates, we, the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities, the IRBs at the institutions in which our studies are conducted, or the DSMB (or applicable safety oversight committee) could recommend a protocol amendment, suspend or terminate our clinical trials or the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may deny approval of our product candidates for any or all targeted indications. Treatment-related side effects could also affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled patients to complete the trial or result in potential product liability claims. In addition, these side effects may not be appropriately recognized or managed by the treating medical staff. We expect to have to train medical personnel using our product candidates to understand the side effect profiles for our clinical trials and upon any commercialization of any of our product candidates. Inadequate training in recognizing or managing the potential side effects of our product candidates could result in patient injury or death. Any of these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition and prospects significantly.
In addition, if any of our product candidates receives marketing approval, and we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by such products, a number of potentially significant negative consequences could result, including:
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Any of the foregoing events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the particular product candidate, if approved, and result in the loss of significant revenue to us, which would materially and adversely affect our results of operations and business.
Interim, topline and preliminary data from our nonclinical studies or clinical trials that we announce or publish from time to time may change as more patient data become available and are subject to audit and verification procedures that could result in material changes in the final data.
From time to time, we may publicly disclose interim, preliminary or topline data from our nonclinical studies or clinical trials, which is based on a preliminary analysis of then-available data, and the results and related findings and conclusions are subject to change following a more comprehensive review of the data related to the particular study or trial. We also make assumptions, estimations, calculations and conclusions as part of our analyses of data, and we may not have received or had the opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate all data. As a result, the interim, topline or preliminary results that we report may differ from future results of the same studies, or different conclusions or considerations may qualify such results, once additional data have been received and fully evaluated. Interim, topline and preliminary data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the preliminary data we previously published. As a result, such data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available. From time to time, we may also disclose interim data from our clinical trials. Interim, topline, or preliminary data from clinical trials that we may complete are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data become available. Adverse differences between preliminary, interim or topline data and final data could significantly harm our business prospects.
Further, others, including regulatory agencies, may not accept or agree with our assumptions, estimates, calculations, conclusions or analyses or may interpret or weigh the importance of data differently, which could impact the value of the particular program, the approvability or commercialization of the particular product candidate or product and our company in general. In addition, the information we choose to publicly disclose regarding a particular study or clinical trial is based on what is typically extensive information, and you or others may not agree with what we determine is the material or otherwise appropriate information to include in our disclosure, and any information we determine not to disclose may ultimately be deemed significant with respect to future decisions, conclusions, views, activities or otherwise regarding a particular product, product candidate or our business. If the interim, topline or preliminary data that we report differ from actual results, or if others including regulatory authorities, disagree with the conclusions reached, our ability to obtain approval for, and commercialize, our product candidates may be harmed, which could harm our business, operating results, prospects or financial condition.
The regulatory approval process is lengthy, expensive and uncertain, and we may be unable to obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates under applicable regulatory requirements. The denial or delay of any such approval would delay commercialization of our product candidates and adversely impact our ability to generate revenue, our business and our results of operations.
The development, research, testing, manufacturing, labeling, approval, selling, import, export, marketing, promotion and distribution of drug products are subject to extensive and evolving regulation by federal, state and local governmental authorities in the United States, principally the FDA, and by foreign regulatory authorities, which regulations differ from country to country. Neither we nor any future collaborator is permitted to market any of our product candidates in the United States until we receive regulatory approval of an NDA from the FDA.
Obtaining regulatory approval of an NDA can be a lengthy, expensive and uncertain process. Prior to obtaining approval to commercialize a product candidate in the United States or abroad, we or our collaborators must demonstrate with substantial evidence from well-controlled clinical trials, and to the satisfaction of the FDA or other foreign regulatory agencies, that such product candidates are safe and effective for their intended uses. The number of nonclinical studies and clinical trials that will be required for FDA approval varies depending on the product candidate, the disease or condition that the product candidate is designed to address, and the regulations applicable to any particular product candidate.
Results from nonclinical studies and clinical trials can be interpreted in different ways. Even if we believe the nonclinical or clinical data for our product candidates are promising, such data may not be sufficient to support approval by the FDA and other regulatory authorities. Administering product candidates to humans may produce undesirable side effects, which could interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials and result in the FDA or other regulatory authorities denying approval of a product candidate for any or all indications. The FDA may also require us to conduct additional studies or trials for our product candidates either prior to or post-approval, such as additional drug-drug interaction studies or safety or efficacy studies or trials, or it may object to elements of our clinical development program such as the number of subjects in our clinical trials from the United States.
The FDA or any foreign regulatory bodies can delay, limit or deny approval of our product candidates or require us to conduct additional nonclinical or clinical testing or abandon a program for many reasons, including:
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Of the large number of drugs in development, only a small percentage successfully complete the FDA or other regulatory approval processes and are commercialized. The lengthy approval process as well as the unpredictability of clinical trial results may result in our failing to obtain regulatory approval to market our product candidates, which would significantly harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Even if we eventually complete planned clinical testing and receive approval of an NDA or foreign marketing application for our product candidates, the FDA or the applicable foreign regulatory agency may grant approval contingent on the performance of costly additional clinical trials, including Phase 4 clinical trials, and/or in the case of the FDA, the implementation of a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS), which may be required to ensure safe use of the drug after approval. The FDA or the applicable foreign regulatory agency may also approve a product candidate for a more limited indication or a narrower patient population than we originally requested, and the FDA or applicable foreign regulatory agency may not approve the labeling that we believe is necessary or desirable for the successful commercialization of a product candidate. Any delay in obtaining, or inability to obtain, applicable regulatory approval would delay or prevent commercialization of that product candidate and would materially adversely impact our business and prospects.
A health epidemic or pandemic could adversely impact our business and affect our operations, as well as the business or operations of our manufacturers or other third parties with whom we conduct business.
Our business could be adversely affected by the effects of health epidemics or pandemics in regions where we have business operations, and could cause significant disruption in the operations of third parties upon whom we rely including our suppliers, CROs and other contract service providers. Measures imposed by governments in affected regions may impact commercial activities and businesses in an effort to reduce the spread of the disease. We may experience disruptions that could severely impact our business and clinical trials, including:
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These and other disruptions in our operations and the global economy could negatively impact our business, operating results and financial condition.
In addition, to the extent a health epidemic or pandemic adversely affects our business and results of operations, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks and uncertainties described in this “Risk Factors” section.
We may seek orphan drug designation for our product candidates from the FDA and/or from the EMA in the future. However, we may be unsuccessful in obtaining or may be unable to maintain the benefits associated with orphan drug designation, including the potential for market exclusivity.
We may seek orphan drug designation for our product candidates in the future; however, we may be unsuccessful. Regulatory authorities in some jurisdictions, including the United States and the European Union (EU), may designate drugs for relatively small patient populations as orphan drugs. Under the U.S. Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may designate a drug as an orphan drug if it is a drug intended to treat a rare disease or condition, which is generally defined as a patient population of fewer than 200,000 individuals annually in the United States, or a patient population greater than 200,000 in the United States where there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing the drug will be recovered from sales in the United States. In the EU, the EMA’s Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products may grant orphan drug designation to promote the development of products that are intended for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of a life-threatening or chronically debilitating condition, provided that the condition is affecting not more than five in 10,000 persons in the EU or if, without incentives, it is unlikely that marketing of the drug in the EU would generate sufficient returns to justify the investment needed to develop the drug, and no satisfactory method of diagnosis, prevention or treatment of the condition exists (or, if such a method exists, the drug must be of significant benefit to patients). There can be no assurance that the FDA or EMA will grant orphan designation for any indication for which we apply, or that we will be able to maintain such designation.
In the United States, orphan drug designation entitles a party to financial incentives such as opportunities for grant funding towards clinical trial costs, tax advantages and user-fee waivers. If a product candidate with an orphan drug designation subsequently receives the first marketing approval for the indication for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to a period of orphan
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drug exclusivity, which precludes the EMA or the FDA from approving another marketing application for the same drug or biologic for that time period, except in limited circumstances, such as a showing of clinical superiority to the product with orphan drug exclusivity or where the manufacturer is unable to assure sufficient product quantity. The applicable exclusivity period is ten years in Europe, but such exclusivity period can be reduced to six years if a product no longer meets the criteria for orphan designation or if the product is sufficiently profitable so that market exclusivity is no longer justified. Moreover, orphan drug exclusive marketing rights in the United States may be lost if the FDA later determines that the request for designation was materially defective or if the manufacturer is unable to assure sufficient quantity of the drug to meet the needs of patients with the rare disease or condition.
Even if we obtain orphan drug exclusivity for a product, that exclusivity may not effectively protect the product from competition because different products can be approved for the same condition. Even after an orphan drug is approved, the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority can subsequently approve the same active moiety in a new drug for the same condition if such regulatory authority concludes that the later drug is clinically superior if it is shown to be safer, more effective or makes a major contribution to patient care. Orphan drug exclusivity may also be lost if the FDA later determines that the initial request for designation was materially defective.
In addition, orphan drug exclusivity does not prevent the FDA from approving competing drugs for the same or similar indication containing a different active ingredient. In addition, if a subsequent drug is approved for marketing for the same or a similar indication as any of our product candidates that receive marketing approval, we may face increased competition and lose market share regardless of orphan drug exclusivity. Orphan drug designation neither shortens the development time or regulatory review time of a drug nor gives the drug any advantage in the regulatory review or approval process.
A Fast Track designation by the FDA may not actually lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process.
We may seek Fast Track designation for some of our product candidates. If a product is intended for the treatment of a serious or life-threatening condition and the product demonstrates the potential to address unmet medical needs for this condition, the product candidate may be eligible for Fast Track designation. The benefits of Fast Track designation include more frequent meetings with FDA to discuss the drug’s development plan and ensure collection of appropriate data needed to support drug approval, more frequent written communication from the FDA about such things as the design of the proposed clinical trials and use of biomarkers, eligibility for Accelerated Approval and Priority Review, if relevant criteria are met, and rolling review for its NDA. Even with the Fast Track designation, we may not experience a faster development process, review or approval compared to conventional FDA procedures. The FDA may withdraw Fast Track designation if it believes that the designation is no longer supported by data from our clinical development program.
Any Breakthrough Therapy designation that we may receive from the FDA for our product candidates may not lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process, and it does not increase the likelihood that our product candidates will receive marketing approval.
We may seek Breakthrough Therapy designation for some of our product candidates. A Breakthrough Therapy is defined as a drug that is intended, alone or in combination with one or more other drugs, to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition, and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints. For drugs that have been designated as a Breakthrough Therapy, interaction and communication between the FDA and the sponsor of the trial can help to identify the most efficient path for clinical development while minimizing the number of patients placed in ineffective control regimens. Drugs designated as a Breakthrough Therapy by the FDA are also eligible for accelerated approval. Designation as a Breakthrough Therapy is within the discretion of the FDA. Accordingly, even if we believe one of our product candidates meets the criteria for designation as a Breakthrough Therapy, the FDA may disagree and instead determine not to make such designation. We cannot be sure that any evaluation we may make of our product candidates as qualifying for Breakthrough Therapy designation will meet the FDA’s expectations. In any event, the receipt of a Breakthrough Therapy designation for a product candidate may not result in a faster development process, review or approval compared to drugs considered for approval under conventional FDA procedures and does not assure ultimate approval by the FDA. In addition, even if one or more of our product candidates qualify as a Breakthrough Therapy, the FDA may later decide that such product candidates no longer meet the conditions for qualification or decide that the time period for FDA review or approval will not be shortened.
We face substantial competition, which may result in others discovering, developing or commercializing products before or more successfully than we do.*
The biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries are characterized by rapidly advancing technologies, intense competition and a strong emphasis on proprietary and novel products and product candidates. Our competitors have developed, are developing or may develop products, product candidates and processes competitive with our product candidates. Any product candidates that we successfully develop and commercialize will compete with existing therapies and new therapies that may become available in the future. We believe that a significant number of products are currently under development, and may become commercially available in
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the future, for the treatment of repeat expansion driven diseases, including FA, HD, FECD and DM1. Our competitors include larger and better funded pharmaceutical, specialty pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Moreover, we may also compete with universities, governmental agencies and other research institutions who may be active in the indications we are targeting and could be in direct competition with us. We also compete with these organizations in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific and management personnel and establishing clinical trial sites and patient registration for clinical trials, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs. Smaller or early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies.
In February 2023, the FDA approved omaveloxolone, a Nrf2 activator, for the treatment of FA in adults and adolescents aged 16 years and older and omaveloxolone was commercially launched by Reata Pharmaceuticals in June 2023. Reata Pharmaceuticals was acquired by Biogen in September 2023. We are also aware of a number of companies with active clinical stage FA programs including (i) Larimar Therapeutics evaluating CTI-1601, a cell penetrating peptide FXN recombinant fusion protein, (ii) Lexeo Therapeutics evaluating a cardiac targeted FXN gene therapy, (iii) Minoryx Therapeutics evaluating leriglitazone, a PPAR-gamma agonist, and (iv) PTC Therapeutics evaluating vatiquinone, a 15-lipoxygenase inhibitor. In addition, several companies have stated that they have gene therapy programs for FA including Astellas Pharma Inc, CRISPR Therapeutics, Prime Medicine, Lacerta Therapeutics, Solid Biosciences, and Voyager Therapeutics.
We are aware of a number of companies with active clinical stage FECD programs including (i) Aurion Biotech evaluating Vyznova, expanded donor cells for transplant, (ii) Emmecell evaluating donor cornea endothelial cells delivered through magnetic nanoparticles injected into the anterior chamber, (iii) Kowa Pharmaceutical evaluating Ripasudil, a Rho-kinase inhibitor, for use in conjunction with corneal surgery, (iv) Santen Pharmaceutical evaluating STN1010904, an mTOR inhibitor, and (v) Trefoil Therapeutics evaluating TTHX1114, an engineered FGF1 delivered via intracameral injection, for use in conjunction with corneal surgery.
We are aware of a number of companies with active clinical stage HD programs including (i) AskBio evaluating AAV delivered cholesterol 24-hydroxylase gene (ii) Hoffmann-La Roche AG evaluating Tominersen, an antisense oligonucleotide, (iii) Prilenia Therapeutics evaluating a sigma-1 receptor agonist, (iv) PTC Therapeutics evaluating a splicing modifier, (v) Sage Therapeutics evaluating an NDMA-allosteric modulator, (vi) Skyhawk Therapeutics evaluating a splicing modifier, (vii) uniQure evaluating an AAV delivered miRNA, (viii) VICO evaluating an antisense oligonucleotide, and (ix) Wave Life Sciences evaluating an antisense oligonucleotide.
We are aware of a number of programs for DM1 including (i) AMO Pharma evaluating tideglusib, a GSK3-ß inhibitor, (ii) Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals evaluating an RNA interference (RNAi) conjugate, (iii) Arthex Biotech evaluating anti-miRNA oligonucleotides, (iv) Astellas Pharma evaluating an AAV-antisense candidate, (v) Avidity Biosciences evaluating an antibody linked siRNA, (vi) Dewpoint Therapeutics evaluating condensate modifying drugs, (vii) Dyne Therapeutics evaluating an antibody linked oligonucleotide, (viii) Entrada Therapeutics evaluating a peptide conjugated oligonucleotide, (ix) an AAV-based RNA degrading gene therapy by Enzerna Biosciences, (x) small molecules interacting with RNA under evaluation by Expansion Therapeutics, (xi) Harmony Biosciences evaluating a histamine 3 receptor for the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness in DM1, (xii) Juvena Therapeutics evaluating JUV-161, a stem cell-secreted protein, (xiii) PepGen evaluating a peptide conjugated antisense oligonucleotide, and (xiv) gene editing treatments by Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
We will also compete more generally with other companies developing alternative scientific and technological approaches to modulate individual genes, including other companies working to develop nuclease-based gene editing technologies, such as Beam Therapeutics, CRISPR Therapeutics, Editas Medicine, Intellia Therapeutics, Precision BioSciences and Sangamo Biosciences.
Many of our competitors, either alone or with their collaborators, have significantly greater financial, technical, manufacturing, marketing, sales and supply resources or experience than we do. If we successfully obtain approval for any product candidate, we will face competition based on many different factors, including the safety and effectiveness of our products, the ease with which our products can be administered and the extent to which patients accept relatively new routes of administration, the timing and scope of regulatory approvals for these products, the availability and cost of manufacturing, marketing and sales capabilities, price, reimbursement coverage and patent position. Competing products could present superior treatment alternatives, including by being more effective, safer, more convenient, less expensive or marketed and sold more effectively than any products we may develop. Competitive products may make any products we develop obsolete or noncompetitive before we recover the expense of developing and commercializing our product candidates. If we are unable to compete effectively, our opportunity to generate revenue from the sale of our products we may develop, if approved, could be adversely affected.
Disruptions at the FDA and other government agencies caused by funding shortages or global health concerns could hinder their ability to hire and retain key leadership and other personnel, or otherwise prevent new products and services from being developed or commercialized in a timely manner, which could negatively impact our business.
The ability of the FDA to review and approve new products can be affected by a variety of factors, including government budget and funding levels, ability to hire and retain key personnel and accept the payment of user fees, and statutory, regulatory, and policy
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changes. Average review times at the agency have fluctuated in recent years as a result. In addition, government funding of other government agencies that fund research and development activities is subject to the political process, which is inherently fluid and unpredictable.
Disruptions at the FDA and other agencies may also slow the time necessary for new drugs to be reviewed and/or approved by necessary government agencies, which would adversely affect our business. For example, over the last several years, the U.S. government has shut down several times and certain regulatory agencies, such as the FDA, have had to furlough critical FDA employees and stop critical activities. If a prolonged government shutdown occurs, 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.
Separately, in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA and regulatory authorities outside the United States adopted restrictions or other policy measures that diverted resources and delayed their attention to routine submissions. If a prolonged government shutdown occurs, or if global health concerns prevent the FDA or other regulatory authorities from conducting their regular inspections, reviews, or other regulatory activities, it could significantly impact the ability of the FDA or other regulatory authorities to timely review and process our regulatory submissions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We may expend our limited resources to pursue a particular product candidate or indication and fail to capitalize on product candidates or indications that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.
Because we have limited financial and managerial resources, we must prioritize our research programs and will need to focus our discovery and development on select product candidates and indications. Correctly prioritizing our research and development activities is particularly important for us due to the breadth of potential product candidates and indications that we believe could be pursued using our platform technologies. As a result, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other 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 profitable market opportunities. Our spending on current and future research and development programs and product candidates for specific indications may not yield any commercially viable products. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular product candidate, we may also relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through collaboration, 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.
We may not be successful in our efforts to identify or discover additional product candidates in the future.
Our research programs may initially show promise in identifying potential product candidates, yet fail to yield product candidates for clinical development for a number of reasons, including:
Research programs to identify new product candidates require substantial technical, financial and human resources. If we are unable to identify suitable additional candidates for preclinical and clinical development, our opportunities to successfully develop and commercialize therapeutic products will be limited.
Risks Related to Manufacturing, Commercialization and Reliance on Third Parties
We may rely on third parties to conduct, supervise, and monitor our clinical trials and perform some of our research and nonclinical studies. If these third parties do not satisfactorily carry out their contractual duties or fail to meet expected deadlines, our development programs may be delayed or subject to increased costs, each of which may have an adverse effect on our business and prospects.
We do not have the ability to conduct all aspects of our nonclinical testing or clinical trials ourselves. As a result, we are and expect to remain dependent on third parties to conduct our nonclinical studies and any future clinical trials of our product candidates. The timing of the initiation and completion of these studies and trials will therefore be partially controlled by such third parties and may result in delays to our development programs. Nevertheless, we are responsible for ensuring that each of our nonclinical studies and clinical trials is conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol, legal requirements, and scientific standards, and our reliance on the CROs and other third parties does not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities. We and our CROs are required to comply with Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and GCP requirements, which are regulations and guidelines enforced by the FDA, the Competent Authorities of the Member States of the European Economic Area, and comparable foreign regulatory authorities for all of our product candidates in clinical development. Regulatory authorities enforce these GLP and GCP requirements through periodic inspections of nonclinical study sites, trial sponsors, clinical trial investigators and clinical trial sites. If we or any of our CROs or clinical trial sites fail to comply with applicable GLP or GCP requirements, the data generated in our nonclinical studies and clinical trials may be deemed unreliable, and the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may require us to perform additional
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nonclinical or clinical trials before approving our marketing applications. In addition, our clinical trials must be conducted with product produced under current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) regulations. The failure to comply with these regulations may require us to stop and/or repeat clinical trials, which would delay the marketing approval process.
There is no guarantee that any such CROs, clinical trial investigators or other third parties on which we rely will devote adequate time and resources to our development activities, provide services in a timely manner or perform as contractually required. These risks may be heightened as a result of the efforts of government agencies and the CROs themselves to limit the spread of an infectious disease, including quarantines and shelter-in-place orders, which have adversely impacted the supply chain for many research and clinical supplies, including animals for nonclinical testing. In addition, demand for CROs and their resources and services has increased in recent years, which has impacted performance timelines. Furthermore, there are shortages in the supply of materials and animal availability for nonclinical testing, which are required to conduct nonclinical studies. This has led us to experience increased competition for CRO services, including, without limitation, scheduling nonclinical studies and delays in study reporting, which could impact development timelines. If any of these third parties fail to meet expected deadlines, adhere to our clinical protocols or meet regulatory requirements, otherwise performs in a substandard manner, or terminates its engagement with us, the timelines for our development programs may be extended or delayed or our development activities may be suspended or terminated. If any of our clinical trial sites terminates for any reason, we may experience the loss of follow-up information on subjects enrolled in such clinical trials unless we are able to transfer those subjects to another qualified clinical trial site, which may be difficult or impossible. In addition, clinical trial investigators for our clinical trials may serve as scientific advisors or consultants to us from time to time and may receive cash or equity compensation in connection with such services. If these relationships and any related compensation result in perceived or actual conflicts of interest, or the FDA or any comparable foreign regulatory authority concludes that the financial relationship may have affected the interpretation of the trial, the integrity of the data generated at the applicable clinical trial site may be questioned and the utility of the clinical trial itself may be jeopardized, which could result in the delay or rejection of any marketing application we submit by the FDA or any comparable foreign regulatory authority. Any such delay or rejection could prevent us from commercializing our product candidates.
Furthermore, these third parties may also have relationships with other entities, some of which may be our competitors. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, meet expected deadlines or conduct our clinical trials in accordance with regulatory requirements or our stated protocols, we will not be able to obtain, or may be delayed in obtaining, marketing approvals for our product candidates and will not be able to, or may be delayed in our efforts to, successfully commercialize our products.
We contract with third parties for the manufacturing and supply of our product candidates for use in nonclinical testing and clinical trials, which supply may become limited or interrupted or may not be of satisfactory quality and quantity.*
We do not have any manufacturing facilities. We rely on third parties for the manufacture of our product candidates for nonclinical and clinical testing. We will continue to rely on such third parties for commercial product manufacture, if any of our product candidates are approved. We currently have limited manufacturing arrangements and expect that each of our product candidates will only be covered by single source suppliers for the foreseeable future. This reliance increases the risk that we will not have sufficient quantities of our product candidates or products, if approved, or such quantities at an acceptable cost or quality, which could delay, prevent or impair our development or commercialization efforts. For example, as previously announced in May 2023, an unanticipated issue related to the vial stopper used by our vendor for manufacturing the prior DT-216 product candidate caused a short delay in product supply for the MAD Phase 1 clinical trial. In addition, we currently have only one supplier for one of the excipient components of DT-216P2. We may not be able to establish additional sources of supply for this excipient component of DT-216P2 or our other product candidates on a timely basis, or at all, or may be unable to do so on acceptable terms.
Furthermore, all entities involved in the preparation of therapeutics for clinical trials or commercial sale, including our existing contract manufacturers for our product candidates, are subject to extensive regulation. Components of a finished therapeutic product approved for commercial sale or used in clinical trials must be manufactured in accordance with cGMP requirements. These regulations govern manufacturing processes and procedures, including record keeping, and the implementation and operation of quality systems to control and assure the quality of investigational products and products approved for sale. Poor control of production processes can lead to the introduction of contaminants, or to inadvertent changes in the properties or stability of our product candidates that may not be detectable in final product testing. We or our contract manufacturers must supply all necessary documentation in support of an NDA on a timely basis and must adhere to the FDA’s cGMP regulations enforced by the FDA through its facilities inspection program. Comparable foreign regulatory authorities may require compliance with similar requirements. The facilities and quality systems of our third-party contract manufacturers must pass a pre-approval inspection for compliance with the applicable regulations as a condition of marketing approval of our product candidates. We do not have direct control of the manufacturing activities of, and are completely dependent on, our contract manufacturers for compliance with cGMP regulations.
In the event that any of our manufacturers fails to comply with such requirements or to perform its obligations to us in relation to quality, timing or otherwise, or if our supply of components or other materials becomes limited or interrupted for other reasons, including due to global supply chain challenges, geopolitical events impacting trade with global partners, labor shortages, or a health
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epidemic or pandemic, we may be forced to manufacture the materials ourselves, for which we currently do not have the capabilities or resources, or enter into an agreement with another third- party, which we may not be able to do on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. In particular, any replacement of our manufacturers could require significant effort and expertise because there may be a limited number of qualified replacements. In some cases, including for one of the excipient components of DT-216P2, the technical skills or technology required to manufacture our product candidates may be unique or proprietary to the original manufacturer and we may have difficulty transferring such skills or technology to another third-party and a feasible alternative may not exist. These factors would increase our reliance on such manufacturer or require us to obtain a license from such manufacturer in order to have another third-party manufacture our product candidates. If we are required to or voluntarily change manufacturers for any reason, we will be required to verify that the new manufacturer maintains facilities and procedures that comply with quality standards and with all applicable regulations and guidelines and that the product produced is equivalent to that produced in a prior facility. The delays associated with the verification of a new manufacturer and equivalent product could negatively affect our ability to develop product candidates in a timely manner or within budget.
Certain Chinese biotechnology companies, CROs and contract development and manufacturing organizations may become subject to trade restrictions, sanctions, other regulatory requirements, or proposed legislation by the U.S. government, which could potentially impact services available for our research and development or our ability to secure the materials we need for our product candidates. For example, the recently proposed BIOSECURE Act introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as a substantially similar bill in the U.S. Senate, target U.S. government contracts, grants, and loans for entities that use equipment and services from certain named Chinese biotech companies, and authorize the U.S. government to name additional Chinese biotechnology companies of concern. If these bills become law, or similar laws are passed, they would have the potential to severely restrict the ability of companies to work with certain Chinese biotechnology companies of concern without losing the ability to contract with, or otherwise receive funding from, the U.S. government. Such disruption could have adverse effects on the development of our product candidates.
Our or a third-party’s failure to execute on our manufacturing requirements, or to so execute on commercially reasonable terms and timelines in compliance with cGMP requirements, could adversely affect our business in a number of ways, including:
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Changes in methods of product candidate manufacturing may result in additional costs or delays.*
As product candidates progress through nonclinical to late-stage clinical trials to marketing approval and commercialization, it is common that various aspects of the development program, such as manufacturing methods, are altered along the way in an effort to optimize yield, manufacture batch size, change drug product dosage form, minimize costs and achieve consistent quality and results. Such changes carry the risk that they will not achieve these intended objectives. Any of these changes could cause our product candidates to perform differently and affect the results of clinical trials or other future clinical trials conducted with the altered materials. This could delay completion of clinical trials, require the conduct of bridging clinical trials or nonclinical studies or the repetition of one or more clinical trials, increase clinical trial costs, delay approval of our product candidates and jeopardize our ability to commercialize our product candidates and generate revenue. For instance, while DT-216 was generally well-tolerated and exhibited the ability to overcome the FXN transcription impairment that causes FA in the SAD Phase 1 clinical trial and the MAD Phase 1 clinical trial, injection site thrombophlebitis was observed in patients at lower dose levels in the MAD Phase 1 clinical trial. Instead of advancing the prior DT-216 product candidate through to Phase 2 in the second half of 2023 as originally planned, due to concern for potential worsening of injection site thrombophlebitis at higher doses with multiple administration, we decided to pursue development of an improved formulation using a novel and proprietary excipient with DT-216P2 which has shown favorable injection site tolerability that we believe may better support the future clinical development and regulatory pathway for the drug substance, DT-216. We withdrew our IND for the prior DT-216 product candidate in October 2023 and plan to submit a new IND with DT-216P2. However, there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully develop DT-216P2 with improved injection site tolerability and the absence of other unacceptable side effects on the timeframe we expect, or at all, or that we will be able to achieve our anticipated timeline for resumed Phase 1 clinical development and data.
Any approved products may fail to achieve the degree of market acceptance by physicians, patients, hospitals, healthcare payors and others in the medical community necessary for commercial success.
If any of our product candidates receive marketing approval, they may nonetheless fail to gain sufficient market acceptance by physicians, patients, healthcare payors and others in the medical community. Most of our product candidates target mechanisms for which there are limited or no currently approved products, which may result in slower adoption by physicians, patients and payors. If our product candidates do not achieve an adequate level of acceptance, we may not generate significant product revenue and we may not become profitable. The degree of market acceptance of our product candidates, if approved for commercial sale, will depend on a number of factors, including:
We may not be able to successfully commercialize our product candidates, if approved, due to unfavorable pricing regulations or third-party coverage and reimbursement policies, which could make it difficult for us to sell our product candidates profitably.
Obtaining coverage and reimbursement approval for a product from a government or other third-party payor is a time-consuming and costly process, with uncertain results, that could require us to provide supporting scientific, clinical and cost effectiveness data for the use of our products to the payor. There may be significant delays in obtaining such coverage and reimbursement for newly approved products, and coverage may not be available, or may be more limited than the purposes for which the product is approved by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities. Moreover, eligibility for coverage and reimbursement does not imply that a product will be paid for in all cases or at a rate that covers our costs, including research, development, intellectual property, manufacture, sale and distribution expenses. Interim reimbursement levels for new products, if applicable, may also not be sufficient to cover our costs and may not be made permanent. Reimbursement rates may vary according to the use of the product and the clinical setting in which it is used, may be based on reimbursement levels already set for lower cost products and may be incorporated into existing payments for other services. Net prices for products may be reduced by mandatory discounts or rebates required by government healthcare programs or private payors, by any future laws limiting drug prices and by any future relaxation of laws that presently restrict imports of product from countries where they may be sold at lower prices than in the United States.
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There is significant uncertainty related to the insurance coverage and reimbursement of newly approved products. In the United States, there is no uniform policy among third-party payors for coverage and reimbursement. Third-party payors often rely upon Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting reimbursement policies, but also have their own methods and approval process apart from Medicare coverage and reimbursement determinations. Therefore, a third-party payor’s determination to provide coverage for a product does not assure that other payors will also provide coverage for the product.
Coverage and reimbursement by a third-party payor may depend upon a number of factors, including the third-party payor’s determination that use of a product is:
We cannot be sure that reimbursement will be available for any product that we commercialize and, if coverage and reimbursement are available, what the level of reimbursement will be. Obtaining reimbursement for our products may be particularly difficult because of the higher prices often associated with branded therapeutics and therapeutics administered under the supervision of a physician. Our inability to promptly obtain coverage and adequate reimbursement rates from both government-funded and private payors for any approved products that we develop could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, our ability to raise capital needed to commercialize products and our overall financial condition.
Reimbursement may impact the demand for, and the price of, any product for which we obtain marketing approval. Even if we obtain coverage for a given product by a third-party payor, the resulting reimbursement payment rates may not be adequate or may require co-payments that patients find unacceptably high. Patients who are prescribed medications for the treatment of their conditions, and their prescribing physicians, generally rely on third-party payors to reimburse all or part of the costs associated with those medications. Patients are unlikely to use our products unless coverage is provided and reimbursement is adequate to cover all or a significant portion of the cost of our products. Therefore, coverage and adequate reimbursement are critical to a new product’s acceptance. Coverage decisions may depend upon clinical and economic standards that disfavor new products when more established or lower cost therapeutic alternatives are already available or subsequently become available.
For products administered under the supervision of a physician, obtaining coverage and adequate reimbursement may be particularly difficult because of the higher prices often associated with such drugs. Additionally, separate reimbursement for the product itself may or may not be available. Instead, the hospital or administering physician may be reimbursed only for providing the treatment or procedure in which our product is used. Further, from time to time, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) revises the reimbursement systems used to reimburse health care providers, including the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System, which may result in reduced Medicare payments.
We expect to experience pricing pressures in connection with the sale of any of our product candidates due to the trend toward managed healthcare, the increasing influence of health maintenance organizations, and additional legislative changes. The downward pressure on healthcare costs in general, particularly prescription medicines, medical devices and surgical procedures and other treatments, has become very intense. As a result, increasingly high barriers are being erected to the successful commercialization of new products. Further, the adoption and implementation of any future governmental cost containment or other health reform initiative may result in additional downward pressure on the price that we may receive for any approved product.
Additionally, we or collaborators may develop companion diagnostic tests for use with our product candidates. We, or our collaborators, will be required to obtain coverage and reimbursement for these tests separate and apart from the coverage and reimbursement we may seek for our product candidates. While we have not yet developed any companion diagnostic tests for our product candidates, if we do, there is significant uncertainty regarding our ability to obtain coverage and adequate reimbursement for the same reasons applicable to our product candidates.
Outside of the United States, many countries require approval of the sale price of a product before it can be marketed, and the pricing review period only begins after marketing or product licensing approval is granted. To obtain reimbursement or pricing approval in some of these countries, we may be required to conduct a clinical trial that compares the cost-effectiveness of our product candidate to other available therapies. In some foreign markets, prescription pharmaceutical pricing remains subject to continuing governmental control even after initial approval is granted. As a result, we might obtain marketing approval for a product candidate in a particular country, but then be subject to price regulations that delay our commercial launch of the product, possibly for lengthy time periods, and negatively impact the revenue, if any, we are able to generate from the sale of the product in that country. Adverse pricing limitations may hinder our ability to recoup our investment in one or more product candidates, even if such product candidates obtain marketing approval.
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If the market opportunities for any of our product candidates are smaller than we believe they are, our revenue may be adversely affected, and our business may suffer.
We are focused initially on the development of treatments for nucleotide expansion repeat diseases. Our projections of addressable patient populations that have the potential to benefit from treatment with our product candidates are based on estimates. If any of our estimates are inaccurate, the market opportunities for any of our product candidates could be significantly diminished and have an adverse material impact on our business.
Our reliance on third parties requires us to share our trade secrets, which increases the possibility that a competitor will discover them or that our trade secrets will be misappropriated or disclosed.
Because we rely on third parties to research and develop and to manufacture our product candidates, we must share trade secrets with them. We seek to protect our proprietary technology in part by entering into confidentiality agreements and, if applicable, material transfer agreements, consulting agreements or other similar agreements with our advisors, employees, third-party contractors and consultants prior to beginning research or disclosing proprietary information. These agreements typically limit the rights of the third parties to use or disclose our confidential information, including our trade secrets. Despite the contractual provisions employed when working with third parties, the need to share trade secrets and other confidential information increases the risk that such trade secrets become known by our competitors, are inadvertently incorporated into the technology of others, or are disclosed or used in violation of these agreements. Given that our proprietary position is based, in part, on our know-how and trade secrets, a competitor’s independent discovery of our trade secrets or other unauthorized use or disclosure would impair our competitive position and may have a material adverse effect on our business.
In addition, these agreements typically restrict the ability of our advisors, employees, third-party contractors and consultants to publish data potentially relating to our trade secrets, although our agreements may contain certain limited publication rights. For example, any academic institution that we may collaborate with will likely expect to be granted rights to publish data arising out of such collaboration and any joint research and development programs may require us to share trade secrets under the terms of our research and development or similar agreements. Despite our efforts to protect our trade secrets, our competitors may discover our trade secrets, either through breach of our agreements with third parties, independent development or publication of information by any of our third-party collaborators. A competitor’s discovery of our trade secrets would impair our competitive position and have an adverse impact on our business.
If any of our product candidates are approved for marketing and commercialization and we are unable to establish sales and marketing capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to sell and market our product candidates, we will be unable to successfully commercialize our product candidates if and when they are approved.
We have no sales, marketing or distribution capabilities or experience. To achieve commercial success for any approved product for which we retain sales and marketing responsibilities, we must either develop a sales and marketing organization, which would be expensive and time consuming, or outsource these functions to other third parties. In the future, we may choose to build a focused sales and marketing infrastructure to sell, or participate in sales activities with our collaborators for, some of our product candidates if and when they are approved.
There are risks involved with both establishing our own sales and marketing capabilities and entering into arrangements with third parties to perform these services. For example, recruiting and training a sales force is expensive and time consuming and could delay any product launch. If the commercial launch of a product candidate for which we recruit a sales force and establish marketing capabilities is delayed or does not occur for any reason, we would have prematurely or unnecessarily incurred these commercialization expenses. This may be costly, and our investment would be lost if we cannot retain or reposition our sales and marketing personnel.
Factors that may inhibit our efforts to commercialize future products on our own include:
If we enter into arrangements with third parties to perform sales, marketing and distribution services, our product revenue or the profitability of this product revenue to us are likely to be lower than if we were to market and sell any products that we develop ourselves. In addition, we may not be successful in entering into arrangements with third parties to sell and market our product candidates or may be unable to do so on terms that are favorable to us. In entering into third-party marketing or distribution
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arrangements, any revenue we receive will depend upon the efforts of the third parties and we cannot assure you that such third parties will establish adequate sales and distribution capabilities or devote the necessary resources and attention to sell and market any future products effectively. If we do not establish sales and marketing capabilities successfully, either on our own or in collaboration with third parties, we will not be successful in commercializing our product candidates.
Even if we obtain FDA approval of any of our product candidates, we may never obtain approval or commercialize such products outside of the United States, which would limit our ability to realize their full market potential.
In order to market any products outside of the United States, we must establish and comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements of other countries regarding safety and efficacy. Clinical trials conducted in one country may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other countries, and regulatory approval in one country does not mean that regulatory approval will be obtained in any other country. Approval procedures vary among countries and can involve additional product testing and validation and additional administrative review periods. Seeking foreign regulatory approvals could result in significant delays, difficulties and costs for us and may require additional nonclinical studies or clinical trials which would be costly and time consuming. Regulatory requirements can vary widely from country to country and could delay or prevent the introduction of our products in those countries. Satisfying these and other regulatory requirements is costly, time consuming, uncertain and subject to unanticipated delays. In addition, our failure to obtain regulatory approval in any country may delay or have negative effects on the process for regulatory approval in other countries. We do not have any product candidates approved for sale in any jurisdiction, including international markets, and we do not have experience in obtaining regulatory approval in international markets. If we fail to comply with regulatory requirements in international markets or to obtain and maintain required approvals, our ability to realize the full market potential of our products will be harmed.
Risks Related to Our In-Licenses and Other Strategic Agreements
We may not realize the benefits of any acquisitions, in-license or strategic alliances that we enter into.
We have entered into in-license agreements with multiple licensors and in the future may seek and form strategic alliances, create joint ventures or collaborations, or enter into acquisitions or additional licensing arrangements with third parties that we believe will complement or augment our existing technologies and product candidates.
These transactions can entail numerous operational and financial risks, including exposure to unknown liabilities, disruption of our business and diversion of our management’s time and attention in order to manage a collaboration or develop acquired products, product candidates or technologies, incurrence of substantial debt or dilutive issuances of equity securities to pay transaction consideration or costs, higher than expected collaboration, acquisition or integration costs, write-downs of assets or goodwill or impairment charges, increased amortization expenses, difficulty and cost in facilitating the collaboration or combining the operations and personnel of any acquired business, impairment of relationships with key suppliers, manufacturers or customers of any acquired business due to changes in management and ownership and the inability to retain key employees of any acquired business. As a result, if we enter into acquisition or in-license agreements or strategic partnerships, we may not be able to realize the benefit of such transactions if we are unable to successfully integrate them with our existing operations and company culture, or if there are materially adverse impacts on our or the counterparty’s operations resulting from global supply chain challenges, labor shortages or a health epidemic or pandemic, which could delay our timelines or otherwise adversely affect our business. We also cannot be certain that, following a strategic transaction or license, we will achieve the revenue or specific net income that justifies such transaction or such other benefits that led us to enter into the arrangement.
We may wish to form collaborations in the future with respect to our product candidates, but may not be able to do so or to realize the potential benefits of such transactions, which may cause us to alter or delay our development and commercialization plans.
The development and potential commercialization of our product candidates will require substantial additional capital to fund expenses. We may, in the future, decide to collaborate with other biopharmaceutical companies for the development and potential commercialization of those product candidates, including in territories outside the United States or for certain indications. We will face significant competition in seeking appropriate collaborators. We may not be successful in our efforts to establish a strategic partnership or other alternative arrangements for our product candidates because they may be deemed to be at too early of a stage of development for collaborative effort and third parties may not view our product candidates as having the requisite potential to demonstrate safety and efficacy. If and when we collaborate with a third-party for development and commercialization of a product candidate, we can expect to relinquish some or all of the control over the future success of that product candidate to the third-party. Our ability to reach a definitive agreement for a collaboration will depend, among other things, upon our assessment of the collaborator’s resources and expertise, the terms and conditions of the proposed collaboration and the proposed collaborator’s evaluation of our technologies, product candidates and market opportunities. The collaborator may also consider alternative product candidates or technologies for similar indications that may be available to collaborate on and whether such a collaboration could be
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more attractive than the one with us for our product candidate. We may also be restricted under any license agreements from entering into agreements on certain terms or at all with potential collaborators.
Collaborations are complex and time-consuming to negotiate and document. In addition, there have been a significant number of recent business combinations among large pharmaceutical companies that have resulted in a reduced number of potential future collaborators and changes to the strategies of the combined company. As a result, we may not be able to negotiate collaborations on a timely basis, on acceptable terms, or at all. If we are unable to do so, we may have to curtail the development of such product candidate, reduce or delay one or more of our other development programs, delay the potential commercialization or reduce the scope of any planned sales or marketing activities for such product candidate, or increase our expenditures and undertake development, manufacturing or commercialization activities at our own expense. If we elect to increase our expenditures to fund development, manufacturing or commercialization activities on our own, we may need to obtain additional capital, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If we do not have sufficient funds, we may not be able to further develop our product candidates or bring them to market and generate product revenue.
Our product candidates may also require specific technologies to work effectively and efficiently, and rights to those technologies may be held by others. We may be unable to in-license any compositions, methods of use, processes or other third-party intellectual property rights from third parties that we identify. We may fail to obtain any of these licenses at a reasonable cost or on reasonable terms, which would harm our business. Even if we are able to obtain a license, it may be non-exclusive, thereby giving our competitors access to the same technologies licensed to us. In that event, we may be required to expend significant time and resources to develop or license replacement technology.
Risks Related to Our Business Operations, Employee Matters and Managing Growth
Our employees, principal investigators, consultants and commercial partners may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including non-compliance with regulatory standards and requirements and insider trading.
We are exposed to the risk of fraud or other misconduct by our employees, principal investigators, consultants and commercial partners. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional failures to comply with the regulations of the FDA and non-U.S. regulators, provide accurate information to the FDA and non-U.S. regulators, comply with healthcare fraud and abuse laws and regulations in the United States and abroad, report financial information or data accurately or disclose unauthorized activities to us. In particular, sales, marketing and business arrangements in the healthcare industry are subject to extensive laws and regulations intended to prevent fraud, misconduct, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, sales commission, customer incentive programs and other business arrangements. Such misconduct could also involve the improper use of information obtained in the course of clinical trials, which could result in regulatory sanctions and cause serious harm to our reputation. It is not always possible to identify and deter employee 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 comply with these laws or regulations. If any such actions are instituted against us those actions could have a significant impact on our business, including the imposition of significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, imprisonment, exclusion from government funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, additional reporting obligations and oversight if subject to a corporate integrity agreement or other agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with these laws, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations.
We face potential product liability, and, if successful claims are brought against us, we may incur substantial liability and costs. If the use of our product candidates harms patients or is perceived to harm patients even when such harm is unrelated to our product candidates, our regulatory approvals could be revoked or otherwise negatively impacted and we could be subject to costly and damaging product liability claims.
The use of our product candidates in clinical trials and the sale of any products for which we obtain marketing approval exposes us to the risk of product liability claims. Product liability claims might be brought against us by consumers, healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies or others selling or otherwise coming into contact with our products. There is a risk that our product candidates may induce adverse events. If we cannot successfully defend against product liability claims, we could incur substantial liability and costs. In addition, regardless of merit or eventual outcome, product liability claims may result in:
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We may not be able to maintain insurance coverage at a reasonable cost or in sufficient amounts to protect us against losses due to liability. If and when we obtain marketing approval for product candidates, we intend to expand our insurance coverage to include the sale of commercial products; however, we may be unable to obtain product liability insurance on commercially reasonable terms or in adequate amounts. On occasion, large judgments have been awarded in class action lawsuits based on drugs or medical treatments that had unanticipated adverse effects. A successful product liability claim, or series of claims brought against us could cause our stock price to decline and, if judgments exceed our insurance coverage, could adversely affect our results of operations and business.
We face an inherent risk of product liability as a result of clinical trials of our product candidates and will face an even greater risk if we commercialize our product candidates. For example, we may be sued if our product candidates allegedly cause injury or are found to be otherwise unsuitable during product testing, manufacturing, marketing or sale. 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 candidate, negligence, strict liability and a breach of warranties. Claims may be brought against us by clinical trial participants, patients or others using, administering or selling products that may be approved in the future. Claims could also be asserted under state consumer protection acts.
We are highly dependent on our key personnel, and if we are not successful in attracting and retaining highly qualified personnel, we may not be able to successfully implement our business strategy.
Our ability to compete in the highly competitive biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries depends upon our ability to attract and retain highly qualified managerial, scientific and medical personnel. We are highly dependent on our management, scientific and medical personnel. The loss of the services of any of our executive officers, other key employees, and other scientific and medical advisors, and our inability to find suitable replacements could result in delays in product development and harm our business.
We conduct substantially all of our operations at our leased laboratory and office space in Carlsbad, California and remotely. This region is headquarters to many other biopharmaceutical companies and many academic and research institutions. Competition for skilled personnel in our market is intense and may limit our ability to hire and retain highly qualified personnel on acceptable terms or at all.
To induce valuable employees to remain at our company, in addition to salary and cash incentives, we have provided stock options and restricted stock awards that vest over time. The value to employees of stock awards and restricted stock awards that vest over time may be significantly affected by movements in our stock price that are beyond our control and may at any time be insufficient to counteract more lucrative offers from other companies. Despite our efforts to retain valuable employees, members of our management, scientific and development teams may terminate their employment with us on short notice. Although we have employment agreements with certain of our key employees, these employment agreements provide for at-will employment, which means that any of our employees could leave our employment at any time, with or without notice. We do not maintain “key person” insurance policies on the lives of these individuals or the lives of any of our employees. Our success also depends on our ability to continue to attract, retain and motivate highly skilled junior, mid-level and senior managers as well as junior, mid-level and senior scientific and medical personnel.
We expect to expand our development, regulatory and operational capabilities and, as a result, we may encounter difficulties in managing our growth, which could disrupt our operations.*
As of June 30, 2024, we had 57 employees. In addition, we also utilize specialized contract research organizations for additional research and development personnel. Together with our employees, our team comprised approximately 124 full-time equivalents as of June 30, 2024. As we advance our research and development programs, we may be required to further increase the number of our employees and the scope of our operations, particularly in the areas of clinical development, discovery biology, chemistry, product development, general and administrative matters relating to being a public company, regulatory affairs and, if any of our product candidates receives marketing approval, sales, marketing and distribution. To manage any future growth, we must:
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Our future financial performance and our ability to develop, manufacture and commercialize our product candidates, if approved, will depend, in part, on our ability to effectively manage any future growth, and our management may also have to divert financial and other resources, and a disproportionate amount of its attention away from day-to-day activities in order to devote a substantial amount of time, to managing these growth activities.
If we are not able to effectively expand our organization by hiring new employees and expanding our groups of consultants and contractors when needed, we may not be able to successfully implement the tasks necessary to further develop and eventually commercialize our product candidates and, accordingly, may not achieve our research, development and commercialization goals.
Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.*
We have incurred substantial losses during our history and do not expect to become profitable in the near future, and we may never achieve profitability. As of December 31, 2023, we had $68.2 million of U.S. federal net operating losses (NOLs) and $10.9 million of state NOLs. U.S. federal NOL carryforwards totaling $0.1 million will begin to expire in 2037, unless previously utilized. U.S. Federal NOL carryforwards of $68.2 million generated after 2017 may be carried forward indefinitely but can only be utilized to offset up to 80% of taxable income in a taxable year. State NOL carryforwards totaling $10.4 million begin to expire in 2037, unless previously utilized. In addition, we have federal and state research and development (R&D) credit carryforwards totaling $6.9 million and $2.3 million, respectively. The federal R&D credit carryforwards will begin to expire in 2038 unless previously utilized. The state R&D credit carryforwards do not expire. Our NOL carryforwards and R&D credits are subject to review and possible adjustment by the U.S. and state tax authorities.
In addition, under Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and corresponding provisions of state law, if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” which is generally defined as a greater than 50 percentage point change (by value) in its equity ownership over a three-year period, the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change NOL carryforwards, R&D credits and certain other tax attributes to offset its post-change income or taxes may be limited. This could limit the amount of NOLs, R&D credit carryforwards or other applicable tax attributes that we can utilize annually to offset future taxable income or tax liabilities. Subsequent ownership changes and changes to the U.S. tax rules in respect of the utilization of NOLs, R&D credits and other applicable tax attributes carried forward may further affect the limitation in future years. In addition, at the state level, there may be periods during which the use of NOLs is suspended or otherwise limited, which could accelerate or permanently increase state taxes owed. As a result, we may be unable to use all or a material portion of our NOL carryforwards and other tax attributes, which could adversely affect our future cash flows. We have completed a Section 382 study to assess whether an ownership change had occurred from our formation through December 31, 2021. Based upon the study, we determined that we experienced multiple ownership changes during 2020, causing the annual utilization of NOLs, R&D credits, and other applicable tax attributes generated before then to be limited. We do not believe any of the NOLs, R&D credits, and other applicable tax attributes generated through December 31, 2021 will expire solely as a result of the limitations caused by these ownership changes. We may experience additional ownership changes in the future as a result of subsequent shifts in our stock ownership. As a result, if we earn net taxable income, our ability to use our pre-change NOLs to offset U.S. federal taxable income may be subject to further limitations, which could potentially result in increased future tax liability to us.
Risks Related to Government Regulation
Our business operations and current and future relationships with investigators, health care professionals, consultants, third-party payors and customers are subject, directly or indirectly, to federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws, transparency laws and other healthcare laws and regulations. If we are unable to comply, or have not fully complied, with such laws, we could face substantial penalties.
Although we do not currently have any products on the market, our operations may be, directly or indirectly through our prescribers, customers and third-party payors, subject to various U.S. federal and state healthcare laws and regulations, including, without limitation, the U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute, the U.S. federal civil and criminal false claims laws and the Physician Payments Sunshine Act and regulations. Healthcare providers and others play a primary role in the recommendation and prescription of any products for which we obtain marketing approval. These laws may impact, among other things, our current business operations, including our clinical research activities, and proposed sales, marketing and education programs and constrain the business of financial arrangements and relationships with healthcare providers and other parties through which we may market, sell and distribute our products for which we obtain marketing approval. In addition, we may be subject to additional healthcare, statutory and regulatory requirements and enforcement by foreign regulatory authorities in jurisdictions in which we conduct our business. The laws that may affect our ability to operate include:
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Ensuring that our internal operations and future business arrangements with third parties comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. It is possible that governmental authorities will conclude that our business practices do not comply with current or future statutes, regulations, agency guidance or case law involving applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of the laws described above or any other governmental laws and regulations that may apply to us, we may be subject to significant penalties, including civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, exclusion from U.S. government funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, or similar programs in other countries or jurisdictions, disgorgement, imprisonment, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits, additional reporting requirements and oversight if we become subject to a corporate integrity agreement or similar agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with these laws and the delay, reduction, termination or restructuring of our operations. Further, defending against any such actions can be costly and time-consuming, and may require significant financial and personnel resources. Therefore, even if we are successful in defending against any such actions that may be brought against us, our business may be impaired. If any of the physicians or other providers or entities with whom we expect to do business is found to
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not be in compliance with applicable laws, they may be subject to significant criminal, civil or administrative sanctions, including exclusions from government funded healthcare programs and imprisonment. If any of the above occur, it could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations.
Enacted and future legislation may increase the difficulty and cost for us to obtain marketing approval of and commercialize our product candidates and affect the prices we may charge for such product candidates.
The United States and many foreign jurisdictions have enacted or proposed legislative and regulatory changes affecting the healthcare system that could prevent or delay marketing approval of our product candidates, restrict or regulate post-approval activities and affect our ability to profitably sell any product for which we obtain marketing approval.
In March 2010, the Affordable Care Act was enacted, which includes measures that have significantly changed the way health care is financed by both governmental and private insurers. There have been executive, judicial and congressional challenges to certain aspects of the Affordable Care Act. On June 17, 2021 the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a challenge on procedural grounds that argued the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional in its entirety because the “individual mandate” was repealed by Congress. However, it is possible that the Affordable Care Act will be subject to additional judicial or Congressional challenges in the future. Further, prior to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, on January 28, 2021, President Biden issued an executive order that initiated a special enrollment period for purposes of obtaining health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. The executive order also instructed certain governmental agencies to review and reconsider their existing policies and rules that limit access to healthcare, including among others, reexamining Medicaid demonstration projects and waiver programs that include work requirements, and policies that create unnecessary barriers to obtaining access to health insurance coverage through Medicaid or the Affordable Care Act. On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Inflation Reduction Act) into law, which among other things, extends enhanced subsidies for individuals purchasing health insurance coverage in Affordable Care Act marketplaces through plan year 2025. The Inflation Reduction Act also eliminates the “donut hole” under the Medicare Part D program beginning in 2025 by significantly lowering the beneficiary maximum out-of-pocket cost and through a newly established manufacturer discount program. It is unclear how any additional healthcare reform measures of the Biden administration will impact the Affordable Care Act or our business.
Other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the Affordable Care Act was enacted. For example, in August 2011, the Budget Control Act of 2011 was signed into law, which, among other things, included aggregate reductions to Medicare payments to providers of, on average, 2% per fiscal year, which, due to subsequent legislative amendments, including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, will stay in effect through 2032.
Recently, there has been increasing legislative and enforcement interest in the United States with respect to specialty drug pricing practices. Specifically, there have been several recent U.S. congressional inquiries and legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, reduce the cost of prescription drugs under Medicare, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for drugs. At the federal level, in July 2021, the Biden administration released an executive order, “Promoting Competition in the American Economy,” with multiple provisions aimed at prescription drugs. In response to Biden’s executive order, on September 9, 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a Comprehensive Plan for Addressing High Drug Prices that outlines principles for drug pricing reform and sets out a variety of potential legislative policies that Congress could pursue to advance these principles. In addition, the Inflation Reduction Act, among other things, (i) directs HHS to negotiate the price of certain drugs and biologics covered under Medicare, and subject drug manufacturers to civil monetary penalties and a potential excise tax by offering a price that is not equal to or less than the negotiated “maximum fair price” under the law, and (ii) imposes rebates under Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D to penalize price increases that outpace inflation. The Inflation Reduction Act permits HHS to implement many of these provisions through guidance, as opposed to regulation, for the initial years. HHS has and will continue to issue and update guidance as these programs are implemented. These provisions take effect progressively starting in fiscal year 2023. On August 29, 2023, HHS announced the list of the first ten drugs that will be subject to price negotiations, although the Medicare drug price negotiation program is currently subject to legal challenges. It is currently unclear how the Inflation Reduction Act will be effectuated but is likely to have a significant impact on the pharmaceutical industry. In response to the Biden administration’s October 2022 executive order, on February 14, 2023, HHS released a report outlining three new models for testing by the CMS Innovation Center which will be evaluated on their ability to lower the cost of drugs, promote accessibility, and improve quality of care. It is unclear whether the models will be utilized in any health reform measures in the future. Further, on December 7, 2023, the Biden administration announced an initiative to control the price of prescription drugs through the use of march-in rights under the Bayh-Dole Act. On December 8, 2023, the National Institute of Standards and Technology published for comment a Draft Interagency Guidance Framework for Considering the Exercise of March-In Rights which for the first time includes the price of a product as one factor an agency can use when deciding to exercise march-in rights. While march-in rights have not previously been exercised, it is uncertain if that will continue under the new framework.
At the state level, legislatures have increasingly passed legislation and implemented regulations designed to control costs of pharmaceutical and biological products. Moreover, regional healthcare authorities and individual hospitals are increasingly using
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bidding procedures to determine what pharmaceutical products and which suppliers will be included in their prescription drug and other healthcare programs.
We expect that the healthcare reform measures that have been adopted, and that may be adopted in the future, may result in more rigorous coverage criteria and in additional downward pressure on the price that we receive for any approved product and could seriously harm our future revenues. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability or commercialize our products.
We are subject to stringent and changing U.S. and foreign laws, regulations and rules, contractual obligations, industry standards, policies and other obligations related to data privacy and security. Our actual or perceived failure to comply with such obligations could lead to regulatory investigations or actions, litigation (including class claims) and mass arbitration demands, fines and penalties, disruptions of our business operations, reputational harm and other adverse business impacts.
In the ordinary course of business, we and our collaborators and third-party providers may collect, receive, store, process, generate, use, transfer, disclose, make accessible, protect, secure, dispose of, transmit, and share (collectively, process) personal data and other sensitive information, such as proprietary and confidential business data, trade secrets, intellectual property, and data we collect about trial participants in connection with clinical trials. Our data processing activities subject us to numerous data privacy and security obligations, such as various laws, regulations, guidance, industry standards, external and internal privacy and security policies, contracts, and other obligations that govern the processing of sensitive information by us and on our behalf. In the United States, federal, state, and local governments have enacted numerous data privacy and security laws, including federal health information privacy laws, state data breach notification laws, state health information privacy laws and consumer protection laws (e.g., Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act) and other similar laws (e.g., wiretapping laws). In addition, we may obtain health information from third parties (including research institutions from which we obtain clinical trial data) that are subject to privacy and security requirements under HIPAA, as amended by HITECH, which imposes specific requirements relating to the privacy, security, and transmission of individually identifiable health information. Depending on the facts and circumstances, we could be subject to significant penalties if we violate HIPAA.
The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (CPRA), (collectively, CCPA) applies to personal data of consumers, business representatives, employees and other individuals who are California residents, and requires businesses subject to the CCPA to provide specific disclosures in privacy notices and honor requests of such individuals to exercise certain privacy rights. The CCPA provides for fines of up to $7,500 per intentional violation and allows private litigants affected by certain data breaches to recover significant statutory damages. Although the CCPA exempts some data processed in the context of clinical trials, the CCPA may increase compliance costs and potential liability with respect to other personal data we may maintain about California residents, should we become subject to the CCPA in the future. At this time, we do not believe we are subject to the CCPA, but should we expand our operations in California such that the CCPA applies to us, the CCPA will impose new and burdensome privacy compliance obligations on our business and will raise new risks for potential fines and class actions. Other states have also enacted data privacy laws, including Virginia and Colorado, and similar laws are being considered in several other states, as well as at the federal and local levels. While these states, like the CCPA, also exempt some data processed in the context of clinical trials, these developments further complicate compliance efforts, and increase legal risk and compliance costs for us and the third parties upon whom we rely, should we become subject to them in the future.
Outside the United States, an increasing number of laws, regulations, and industry standards apply to data privacy and security. For example, the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) and the United Kingdom’s GDPR (UK GDPR) (collectively, GDPR) impose strict requirements for processing the personal data of individuals located, respectively, within the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom (UK). For example, under the GDPR, companies may face temporary or definitive bans on data processing and other corrective actions; fines up to 20 million Euros under the EU GDPR / 17.5 million pounds sterling under the UK GDPR, or 4% of the annual global revenue, whichever is greater in either case; or private litigation related to processing of personal data brought by classes of data subjects or consumer protection organizations authorized at law to represent their interests. At this time, we do not believe we are subject to the GDPR, but should this change, the GDPR will increase our responsibility and potential liability in relation to personal data that we process, and we may be required to put in place additional mechanisms or change our business practices to ensure compliance with European and other foreign data protection rules.
In Canada, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and various related provincial laws, as well as Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), may apply to our operations as we expand our clinical trials. Australia’s Privacy Act may also apply to our operations as we expand our clinical trials.
Certain jurisdictions have enacted laws requiring data to be localized or limiting the transfer of personal data to other countries. In particular, the EEA and the UK have significantly restricted the transfer of personal data to the United States and other countries whose privacy laws it generally believes are inadequate. Other jurisdictions may adopt similarly stringent interpretations of their data localization and cross-border data transfer laws. Although there are currently various mechanisms that may be used to transfer
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personal data from the EU and UK to the United States in compliance with law, such as the EEA standard contractual clauses and the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and UK extension thereto (which allows for transfers to relevant organizations based in the United States who self-certify compliance and participate in the Framework), these mechanisms are subject to legal challenges, and there is no assurance that we can satisfy or rely on these measures to lawfully transfer personal data to the United States. If there is no lawful manner for us to transfer personal data from the EEA, the UK or other jurisdictions to the United States, or if the requirements for a legally-compliant transfer are too onerous, we could face significant adverse consequences, including the interruption or degradation of our operations, the need to relocate part of or all of our business or data processing activities to other jurisdictions at significant expense, increased exposure to regulatory actions, substantial fines and penalties, the inability to transfer data and work with partners, vendors and other third parties, and injunctions against our processing or transferring of personal data necessary to operate our business. Additionally, companies that transfer personal data out of the EEA and UK to other jurisdictions, particularly to the United States, are subject to increased scrutiny from regulators, individual litigants, and activist groups. Some European regulators have ordered certain companies to suspend or permanently cease certain transfers out of Europe for allegedly violating the GDPR’s cross-border data transfer limitations.
Our employees and personnel may use generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to perform their work, and the disclosure and use of personal data in generative AI technologies is subject to various privacy laws and other privacy obligations. Governments have passed and are likely to pass additional laws regulating generative AI. Our use of this technology could result in additional compliance costs, regulatory investigations and actions, and consumer lawsuits. If we are unable to use generative AI, it could make our business less efficient and result in competitive disadvantages.
In addition to data privacy and security laws, we are bound by contractual obligations related to data privacy and security, and our efforts to comply with such obligations may not be successful. For example, certain privacy laws, such as the GDPR and the CCPA, require customers to impose specific contractual restrictions on their service providers.
Obligations related to data privacy and security (and consumer data privacy expectations) are quickly changing in an increasingly stringent fashion, creating some uncertainty as to the effective future legal framework. Additionally, these obligations may be subject to differing applications and interpretations, which may be inconsistent or conflict among jurisdictions. Preparing for and complying with these obligations requires significant resources and may necessitate changes to our information technologies, systems, and practices and to those of any third parties that process personal data on our behalf. In addition, these obligations may even require us to change our business model. Although we endeavor to comply with all applicable data privacy and security obligations, we may at times fail (or be perceived to have failed) to do so. Moreover, despite our efforts, our personnel or third parties upon whom we rely may fail to comply with such obligations which could negatively impact our business operations and compliance posture. If we fail, or are perceived to have failed, to address or comply with data privacy and security obligations, we could face significant consequences. These consequences may include, but are not limited to, government enforcement actions (e.g., investigations, fines, penalties, audits, inspections and similar); litigation (including class-related claims) and mass arbitration demands; additional reporting requirements and/or oversight; bans on processing personal data; orders to destroy or not use personal data; and imprisonment of company officials. In particular, plaintiffs have become increasingly more active in bringing privacy-related claims against companies, including class claims and mass arbitration demands. Some of these claims allow for the recovery of statutory damages on a per violation basis, and, if viable, carry the potential for significant statutory damages, depending on the volume of data and the number of violations. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, or financial condition, including but not limited to: interruptions or stoppages in our business operations (including, as relevant, clinical trials); inability to process personal data or operate in certain jurisdictions; limited ability to develop or commercialize our product candidates; expenditure of time and resources to defend any claim or inquiry; adverse publicity; or revision or restructuring our operations.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property
If we are unable to obtain and maintain sufficient intellectual property protection for our platform technologies and product candidates, or if the scope of the intellectual property protection is not sufficiently broad, our competitors could develop and commercialize products similar or identical to ours, and our ability to successfully commercialize our products may be adversely affected.
We rely upon a combination of patents, know-how, trade secrets, and confidentiality agreements to protect the intellectual property related to our products and technologies and to prevent third parties from copying and surpassing our achievements, thus eroding our competitive position in our market.
Our success depends in large part on our ability to obtain and maintain patent protection for our product candidates and their uses, platform technologies, as well as our ability to operate without infringing the proprietary rights of others. We seek to protect our proprietary position by filing patent applications in the United States and abroad related to our novel discoveries and technologies that are important to our business. Our pending and future patent applications may not result in patents being issued or provide assurance that issued patents will afford sufficient protection of our product candidates or their intended uses against competitors, nor can there
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be any assurance that the patents issued will not be infringed, designed around, invalidated by third parties, or will effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive technologies, products or product candidates.
Obtaining and enforcing patents is expensive and time-consuming, and we may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications or maintain and/or enforce patents that may issue based on our 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 results before it is too late to obtain patent protection. Although we enter into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties who have access to patentable aspects of our research and development output, such as our employees, corporate collaborators, outside scientific collaborators, contract research organizations, contract manufacturers, consultants, advisors and other third parties, any of these parties may breach these agreements and disclose such results before a patent application is filed, thereby jeopardizing our ability to seek patent protection.
Composition of matter patents for pharmaceutical and biological product candidates often provide a strong form of intellectual property protection for those types of products, as such patents provide protection without regard to any method of use. We cannot be certain that the claims in our pending patent applications directed to composition of matter of our product candidates will be considered patentable by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) or by patent offices in foreign countries, or that the claims in any of our issued patents will be considered valid and enforceable by courts in the United States or foreign countries. Method of use patents protect the use of a product for the specified method. This type of patent does not prevent a competitor from making and marketing a product that is identical to our product for an indication that is outside the scope of the patented method. Moreover, even if competitors do not actively promote their product for our targeted indications, physicians may prescribe these products “off-label.” Although off-label prescriptions may infringe or contribute to the infringement of method of use patents, the practice is common and such infringement is difficult to prevent or prosecute.
The patent position of biopharmaceutical companies generally is highly uncertain, involves complex legal and factual questions and has in recent years been the subject of much litigation, resulting in court decisions, including Supreme Court decisions, which have increased uncertainties as to the ability to enforce patent rights in the future. In addition, the laws of foreign countries may not protect our rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, or vice versa.
The patent application process is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that we or any of our potential future collaborators will be successful in protecting our product candidates by obtaining and defending patents. For example, we may not be aware of all third-party intellectual property rights potentially relating to our product candidates or their intended uses, and as a result the impact of such third-party intellectual property rights upon the patentability of our own patents and patent applications, as well as the impact of such third-party intellectual property upon our freedom to operate, is highly uncertain. Patent applications in the United States and other jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after filing or, in some cases, not until issuance of the patent. Therefore, we cannot know with certainty whether we were the first to make the inventions claimed in our patents or pending patent applications, or that we were the first to file for patent protection of such inventions. As a result, the issuance, inventorship, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of our patent rights are highly uncertain. Our pending patent applications may be challenged in patent offices in the United States and abroad. Even issued patents may later be found invalid or unenforceable or may be modified or revoked in proceedings instituted by third parties before various patent offices or in courts. For example, our pending patent applications may be subject to third-party pre-issuance submissions of prior art to the USPTO or our issued patents may be subject to post-grant review (PGR) proceedings, oppositions, derivations, reexaminations, or inter partes review (IPR) proceedings, in the United States or elsewhere, challenging our patent rights or the patent rights of others. An adverse determination in any such challenges may result in loss of exclusivity or in patent claims being narrowed, invalidated, or held unenforceable, in whole or in part, which could limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar or identical technology and products, or limit the duration of the patent protection of our technology and products. In addition, given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized. The degree of future protection for our proprietary rights is uncertain. Only limited protection may be available and that may not adequately protect our rights or permit us to gain or keep any competitive advantage. Any failure to obtain or maintain patent protection with respect to our product candidates or their uses could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
In addition to the protection afforded by patents, we rely on trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect proprietary know-how that is not patentable, processes for which patents are difficult to enforce and any other elements of our discovery and development processes that involve proprietary know-how, information or technology that is not covered by patents. We may also rely on trade secret protection as temporary protection for concepts that may be included in a future patent filing. However, trade secret protection will not protect us from innovations that a competitor develops independently of our proprietary know how. If a competitor independently develops a technology that we protect as a trade secret and files a patent application on that technology, then we may not be able to patent that technology in the future, may require a license from the competitor to use our own know-how, and if the license is not available on commercially-viable terms, then we may not be able to launch our product. Although we require all of our employees to assign their inventions to us, and require 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
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be certain 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. Furthermore, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent or in the same manner as the laws of the United States. As a result, we may encounter significant problems in protecting and defending our intellectual property both in the United States and abroad. If we are unable to prevent unauthorized material disclosure of our intellectual property to third parties, we will not be able to establish or maintain a competitive advantage in our market, and this scenario could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We cannot ensure that patent rights relating to inventions described and claimed in our pending patent applications will issue or that patents based on our patent applications will not be challenged and rendered invalid and/or unenforceable.
The patent application process is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that we or any of our potential future collaborators will be successful in protecting our product candidates by obtaining and defending patents. We have pending U.S. and foreign patent applications in our portfolio; however, we cannot predict:
We cannot be certain that the claims in our pending patent applications directed to our product candidates and/or technologies will be considered patentable by the USPTO or by patent offices in foreign countries. There can be no assurance that any such patent applications will issue as granted patents. One aspect of the determination of patentability of our inventions depends on the scope and content of the “prior art,” information that was or is deemed available to a person of skill in the relevant art prior to the priority date of the claimed invention. There may be prior art of which we are not aware that may affect the patentability of our patent claims or, if issued, affect the validity or enforceability of a patent claim. Even if the patents do issue based on our patent applications, third parties may challenge the validity, enforceability or scope thereof, which may result in such patents being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable. Furthermore, even if they are unchallenged, patents in our portfolio may not adequately exclude third parties from practicing relevant technology or prevent others from designing around our claims. If the breadth or strength of our intellectual property position with respect to our product candidates is threatened, it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us to develop and threaten our ability to commercialize our product candidates. In the event of litigation or administrative proceedings, we cannot be certain that the claims in any of our issued patents will be considered valid by courts in the United States or foreign countries.
We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world.*
Patents are of national or regional effect, and although we currently have issued patents and pending applications in the United States, filing, prosecuting and defending patents on all of our research programs and 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 enforcement is not as strong as that in the United States. These competitor 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.
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Various companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of many countries do not favor the enforcement of patents and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to pharmaceuticals, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents or marketing of competing products in violation of our proprietary rights. In Europe, as of June 1, 2023, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) has exclusive jurisdiction over Unitary Patents and offers a uniform and specialized framework for patent litigation at the European level. Furthermore, European applications will have the option, upon grant of a patent, of becoming a Unitary Patent and therefore subject to the jurisdiction of the UPC. As the UPC is a new court system, there is little precedent for the court, increasing the uncertainty. As a single court system can invalidate a European patent, we, where applicable, may opt out of the UPC and as such, each European patent would need to be challenged in each individual country.
Various countries outside the United States have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner may be compelled to grant licenses to third parties. In addition, many countries limit the enforceability of patents against government agencies or government contractors. As a result, a patent owner may have limited remedies in certain circumstances, which could materially diminish the value of such patent. If we are forced to grant a license to third parties with respect to any patents relevant to our business, our competitive position may be impaired, and our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may be adversely affected. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop or license.
Geopolitical actions in the United States and in foreign countries could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution or maintenance of our patent applications or those of any current or future licensors and the maintenance, enforcement or defense of our issued patents or those of any current or future licensors. For example, further to the United States and foreign government actions related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin issued Decree 299 stating that Russian companies and individuals can use patented inventions without the owner’s permission or compensation, if the patent is held by owners from “unfriendly countries,” which includes the United States. As a result, we would not be able to enforce our otherwise valid patent rights against an infringer in Russia.
Further, the standards applied by the USPTO and foreign patent offices in granting patents are not always applied uniformly or predictably. As such, we do not know the degree of future protection that we will have on our technologies, products and product candidates. While we will endeavor to try to protect our technologies, products and product candidates with intellectual property rights such as patents, as appropriate, the process of obtaining patents is time consuming, expensive and unpredictable.
Changes in patent law in the United States and other jurisdictions could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our product candidates.*
As is the case with other biopharmaceutical companies, our success is heavily dependent on intellectual property, particularly patents. Obtaining and enforcing patents in the biopharmaceutical industry involves both technological and legal complexity and is therefore costly, time consuming and inherently uncertain. Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States could increase the uncertainties and costs, and may diminish our ability to protect our inventions, obtain, maintain, and enforce our intellectual property rights and, more generally, could affect the value of our intellectual property or narrow the scope of our owned and licensed patents. Patent reform legislation in the United States and other countries, including the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (the Leahy-Smith Act), signed into law on September 16, 2011, could increase those uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents. The Leahy-Smith Act included a number of significant changes to U.S. patent law. These include provisions that affect the way patent applications are prosecuted, redefine prior art and provide more efficient and cost-effective avenues for competitors to challenge the validity of patents. These include allowing third-party submission of prior art to the USPTO during patent prosecution and additional procedures to attack the validity of a patent by USPTO administered post-grant proceedings, including post-grant review, inter partes review, and derivation proceedings. Further, because of a lower evidentiary standard in these USPTO post-grant proceedings compared to the evidentiary standard in United States federal courts necessary to invalidate a patent claim, a third party could potentially provide evidence in a USPTO proceeding sufficient for the USPTO to hold a claim invalid even though the same evidence would be insufficient to invalidate the claim if first presented in a district court action. Accordingly, a third party may attempt to use the USPTO procedures to invalidate our patent claims that would not have been invalidated if first challenged by the third party as a defendant in a district court action. Thus, the Leahy-Smith Act and its implementation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
After March 16, 2013, under the Leahy-Smith Act, the United States transitioned to a first inventor to file system in which, assuming that the other statutory requirements are met, the first inventor to file a patent application will be entitled to the patent on an invention regardless of whether this inventor was the first to invent the claimed invention. As a result, a third party that files a patent application in the USPTO on or after March 16, 2013, but before we file an application covering the same invention, could therefore be awarded a patent covering an invention of ours even if we had made the invention before it was made by such third party. This will require us to be cognizant going forward of the time from invention to filing of a patent application. Since patent applications in the
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United States and most other countries are confidential for a period of time after filing until publication or issuance, we cannot be certain that we or our licensors were the first to either (i) file any patent application related to our product candidates and other proprietary technologies we may develop or (ii) invent any of the inventions claimed in our or our licensor’s patents or patent applications. Even where we have a valid and enforceable patent, we may not be able to exclude others from practicing the claimed invention where the other party can show that they used the invention in commerce before our filing date or the other party benefits from a compulsory license. However, the Leahy-Smith Act and its implementation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
In addition, the patent positions of companies in the development and commercialization of pharmaceuticals are particularly uncertain. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on several patent cases in recent years, either narrowing the scope of patent protection available in certain circumstances or weakening the rights of patent owners in certain situations. We cannot predict how decisions by the federal courts, the U.S. Congress or the USPTO may impact the value of our patent rights. For example, the Supreme Court of the United States held in Amgen v. Sanofi (2023) that a functionally claimed genus was invalid for failing to comply with the enablement requirement of the Patent Act. In addition, the Federal circuit recently issued a decision, In re Cellect, LLC (2023) involving the interaction of patent term adjustment (PTA), terminal disclaimers, and obvious-type double patenting which may affect the patent term of any issued patents that rely on any PTA. Depending on future actions by the U.S. Congress, the U.S. courts, the USPTO and the relevant law-making bodies in other countries, 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 the 2013 case Assoc. for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., for instance, the U.S. Supreme Court held that certain claims to DNA molecules are not patentable. While we do not believe that any of the patents owned or 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 patents. For example, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed by Congress authorizes the Secretary of the Department of HHS to negotiate prices directly with participating manufacturers for selected medicines covered by Medicare even if these medicines are protected by an existing patent. For small molecule medicines, the process begins seven years after initial approval by the FDA. While we do not believe that the IRA or its effects will impact our ability to obtain patents in the near future, we cannot be certain whether it will affect our patent strategy in the long run.
Obtaining and maintaining patent protection depends on compliance with various procedural, document submission, fee payment and other requirements imposed by governmental patent agencies, and our patent protection could be reduced or eliminated for non-compliance with these requirements.
Periodic maintenance fees, renewal fees, annuities fees and various other governmental fees on patents and/or patent applications are due to be paid to the USPTO and foreign patent agencies in several stages over the lifetime of the patent and/or patent application. The USPTO and various foreign governmental patent agencies also require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other similar provisions during the patent application process. While an inadvertent lapse can, in many cases, be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules, 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. Non-compliance events that could result in abandonment or lapse of a patent or patent application include, but are not limited to, failure to respond to official actions within prescribed time limits, non-payment of fees and failure to properly legalize and submit formal documents. If we fail to maintain the patents and patent applications covering our product candidates, our competitive position would be adversely affected.
Intellectual property rights do not necessarily address all potential threats to our competitive advantage.
The degree of future protection afforded by our intellectual property rights is uncertain because intellectual property rights have limitations and may not adequately protect our business or permit us to maintain our competitive advantage. For example:
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Should any of these or similar events occur, they could significantly harm our business, results of operations and prospects.
Our technology licensed from various third parties may be subject to retained rights.
We are currently party to a license agreement with WARF pursuant to which we acquired an exclusive license to certain patents relating to compounds and methods for modulating gene expression, compounds and methods for modulating FA expression and next generation synthetic transcription factors. WARF retains, and our future licensors may also retain, certain rights under the relevant agreements with us, including the right to use the underlying technology for noncommercial academic and research use, to publish general scientific findings from research related to the technology, and to make customary scientific and scholarly disclosures of information relating to the technology. It is difficult to monitor whether our licensors limit their use of the technology to these uses, and we could incur substantial expenses to enforce our rights to our licensed technology in the event of misuse.
In addition, the United States federal government retains certain rights in inventions produced with its financial assistance under the Patent and Trademark Law Amendments Act, or the Bayh-Dole Act. The federal government retains a “nonexclusive, nontransferable, irrevocable, paid-up license” for its own benefit. The Bayh-Dole Act also provides federal agencies with “march-in rights.” March-in rights allow the government, in specified circumstances, to require the contractor or successors in title to the patent to grant a “nonexclusive, partially exclusive, or exclusive license” to a “responsible applicant or applicants.” If the patent owner refuses to do so, the government may grant the license itself. We sometimes collaborate with academic institutions to accelerate our nonclinical research or development. While it is our policy to avoid engaging our university partners in projects in which there is a risk that federal funds may be commingled, we cannot be sure that any co-developed intellectual property will be free from government rights pursuant to the Bayh-Dole Act. If, in the future, we co-own or license in technology which is critical to our business that is developed in whole or in part with federal funds subject to the Bayh-Dole Act, our ability to enforce or otherwise exploit patents covering such technology may be adversely affected.
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We may not be successful in obtaining or maintaining necessary rights to our product candidates through acquisitions and in-licenses.
Because our development programs may currently or in the future require the use of proprietary rights held by third parties, the growth of our business may depend in part on our ability to acquire, in-license, or use these third-party proprietary rights. We may be unable to acquire or in-license any compositions, methods of use, processes or other third-party intellectual property rights from third parties that we identify as necessary for our product candidates. The licensing and acquisition of third-party intellectual property rights is a competitive area, and a number of more established companies may pursue strategies to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights that we may consider attractive or necessary. These established companies may have a competitive advantage over us due to their size, capital resources and greater clinical development and commercialization capabilities. In addition, companies that perceive us to be a competitor may be unwilling to assign or license rights to us. We also may be unable to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights on terms that would allow us to make an appropriate return on our investment or at all. If we are unable to successfully obtain rights to required third-party intellectual property rights or maintain the existing intellectual property rights we have, we may have to abandon development of the relevant program or product candidate, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
While we normally seek to obtain the right to control prosecution, maintenance and enforcement of the patents relating to our product candidates, there may be times when the filing and prosecution activities for patents and patent applications relating to our product candidates are controlled by our current or future licensors or collaboration partners. If any of our current or future licensors or collaboration partners fail to prosecute, maintain and enforce such patents and patent applications in a manner consistent with the best interests of our business, including by payment of all applicable fees for patents covering our product candidates, we could lose our rights to the intellectual property or our exclusivity with respect to those rights, our ability to develop and commercialize those product candidates may be adversely affected and we may not be able to prevent competitors from making, using and selling competing products. In addition, even where we have the right to control patent prosecution of patents and patent applications we have licensed to and from third parties, we may still be adversely affected or prejudiced by actions or inactions of our licensees, our current or future licensors and their counsel that took place prior to the date upon which we assumed control over patent prosecution.
We have entered into and may in the future enter into license agreements with others that may advance our existing or future research or allow commercialization of our existing or future product candidates. These licenses may not provide exclusive rights to use such intellectual property and technology in all relevant fields of use and in all territories in which we may wish to develop or commercialize our technology and products in the future.
In addition, subject to the terms of any such license agreements, we may not have the right to control the preparation, filing, prosecution, maintenance, enforcement, and defense of patents and patent applications covering the technology that we license from third parties. In such an event, we cannot be certain that these patents and patent applications will be prepared, filed, prosecuted, maintained, enforced, and defended in a manner consistent with the best interests of our business. If our current or future licensors fail to prosecute, maintain, enforce, and defend such patents or patent applications, or lose rights to those patents or patent applications, the rights we have licensed may be reduced or eliminated, and our right to develop and commercialize any of our product candidates that are subject of such licensed rights could be adversely affected.
Our current or future licensors may rely on third-party consultants or collaborators or on funds from third parties such that our current or future licensors are not the sole and exclusive owners of the patents we in-license. If other third parties have ownership rights to our current or future in-licensed patents, they may be able to license such patents to our competitors, and our competitors could market competing products and technology. This could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations, and prospects.
It is possible that we may be unable to obtain licenses at a reasonable cost or on reasonable terms, if at all. Even if we are able to obtain a license, it may be non-exclusive, thereby giving our competitors access to the same technologies licensed to us. In that event, we may be required to expend significant time and resources to redesign our technology, product candidates, or the methods for manufacturing them or to develop or license replacement technology, all of which may not be feasible on a technical or commercial basis. If we are unable to do so, we may be unable to develop or commercialize the affected product candidates, which could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects significantly. We cannot provide any assurances that third-party patents do not exist which might be enforced against our current technology, manufacturing methods, product candidates, or future methods or products resulting in either an injunction prohibiting our manufacture or future sales, or, with respect to our future sales, an obligation on our part to pay royalties and/or other forms of compensation to third parties, which could be significant.
Disputes may arise between us and our current or future licensors regarding intellectual property subject to a license agreement, including:
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In addition, the agreements under which we license intellectual property or technology from third parties are complex, and certain provisions in such agreements may be susceptible to multiple interpretations. The resolution of any contract interpretation disagreement that may arise could narrow what we believe to be the scope of our rights to the relevant intellectual property or technology, or increase what we believe to be our financial or other obligations under the relevant agreement, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. Moreover, if disputes over intellectual property that we have licensed or may license in the future prevent or impair our ability to maintain our licensing arrangements on commercially acceptable terms, we may be unable to successfully develop and commercialize the affected product candidates, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial conditions, results of operations, and prospects.
In spite of our best efforts, our current or future licensors might conclude that we materially breached our license agreements and might therefore terminate the license agreements, thereby removing our ability to develop and commercialize products and technology covered by these license agreements. If these in-licenses are terminated, or if the underlying patents fail to provide the intended exclusivity, competitors would have the freedom to seek regulatory approval of, and to market, products identical to ours. This could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations, and prospects.
From time to time, we may be required to license technologies relating to our therapeutic research programs from additional third parties to further develop or commercialize our product candidates. Should we be required to obtain licenses to any third-party technology, including any such patents required to manufacture, use or sell our product candidates, such licenses may not be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. The inability to obtain any third-party license required to develop or commercialize any of our product candidates could cause us to abandon any related efforts, which could seriously harm our business and operations.
Any future collaborations that we enter into may not be successful. The success of our collaboration arrangements will depend heavily on the efforts and activities of our collaborators. Collaborations are subject to numerous risks, which may include that:
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We may not identify relevant third-party patents or may incorrectly interpret the relevance, scope or expiration of a third-party patent, which might adversely affect our ability to develop and market our products.*
As the biopharmaceutical industry expands and more patents are issued, the risk increases that our product candidates may be subject to claims of infringement of the patent rights of third parties. There can be no assurance that our operations do not, or will not in the future, infringe existing or future third-party patents. Identification of third-party patent rights that may be relevant to our operations is difficult 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 cannot guarantee that any of our patent searches or analyses, including the identification of relevant patents, the scope of patent claims or the expiration of relevant patents, are complete or thorough, nor can we be certain that we have identified each and every third-party patent and pending application in the United States and abroad that is relevant to or necessary for the commercialization of our product candidates in any jurisdiction.
Numerous U.S. and foreign patents and pending patent applications exist in our market that are owned by third parties. Our competitors in both the United States and abroad, many of which have substantially greater resources and have made substantial investments in patent portfolios and competing technologies, may have applied for or obtained or may in the future apply for and obtain, patents that will prevent, limit or otherwise interfere with our ability to make, use and sell our products. We do not always conduct independent reviews of pending patent applications of and patents issued to third parties. Patent applications in the United States and elsewhere are typically published approximately 18 months after the earliest filing for which priority is claimed, with such earliest filing date being commonly referred to as the priority date. Certain U.S. applications that will not be filed outside the U.S. can remain confidential until patents issue. As a result, we may be unable to identify such patents or patent applications despite our best efforts. In addition, patent applications in the United States and elsewhere can be pending for many years before issuance, or unintentionally abandoned patents or applications can be revived. Furthermore, pending patent applications that have been published can, subject to certain limitations, be later amended in a manner that could cover our technologies, our products or the use of our products. As such, there may be applications of others now pending or recently revived patents of which we are unaware. These patent applications may later result in issued patents, or the revival of previously abandoned patents, that will prevent, limit or otherwise interfere with our ability to make, use or sell our products.
The scope of a patent claim is determined by an interpretation of the law, the written disclosure in a patent and the patent’s prosecution history. Our interpretation of the relevance or the scope of a patent or a pending application may be incorrect. For example, we may incorrectly determine that our products are not covered by a third-party patent or may incorrectly predict whether a third-party’s pending application will issue with claims of relevant scope. Our determination of the expiration date of any patent in the United States or abroad that we consider relevant may be incorrect. Our failure to identify and correctly interpret relevant patents may negatively impact our ability to develop and market our products.
We cannot provide any assurances that third-party patents do not exist which might be enforced against our current technology, including our research programs, product candidates, their respective methods of use, manufacture and formulations thereof, and could result in either an injunction prohibiting our manufacture or future sales, or, with respect to our future sales, an obligation on our part to pay royalties and/or other forms of compensation to third parties, which could be significant.
If we are sued for infringing intellectual property rights of third parties, such litigation could be costly and time consuming and could prevent or delay us from developing or commercializing our product candidates.
Our commercial success depends, in part, on our ability to develop, manufacture, market and sell our product candidates without infringing the intellectual property and other proprietary rights of third parties. Third parties may allege that we have infringed or misappropriated their intellectual property. Litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property claims, with or without merit, is unpredictable and generally expensive and time consuming and, even if resolved in our favor, is likely to divert significant resources from our core business, including distracting our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the market price of our common stock. Such litigation or proceedings could substantially increase our operating losses and reduce the resources available for development activities or any future sales, marketing or distribution activities. We may not have sufficient financial or other resources to adequately conduct such litigation or proceedings. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of such litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can because of their greater financial resources and more mature and developed intellectual property portfolios. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our ability to compete in the marketplace.
There is a substantial amount of intellectual property litigation in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, and we may become party to, or threatened with, litigation or other adversarial proceedings regarding intellectual property rights with respect to
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our product candidates. We cannot be certain that our product candidates and other proprietary technologies we may develop will not infringe existing or future patents owned by third parties. Third parties may assert infringement claims against us based on existing or future intellectual property rights. In the United States, proving invalidity in court requires a showing of clear and convincing evidence to overcome the presumption of validity enjoyed by issued patents. If we are found to infringe a third party’s intellectual property rights, we could be forced, including by court order, to cease developing, manufacturing or commercializing the infringing product candidate or product. Alternatively, we may be required to obtain a license from such third party in order to use the infringing technology and continue developing, manufacturing or marketing the infringing product candidate or product. However, we may not be able to obtain any required license on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Even if we were able to obtain a license, it could be non-exclusive, thereby giving our competitors access to the same technologies licensed to us. In addition, we could be found liable for monetary damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees if we are found to have willfully infringed a patent. A finding of infringement could prevent us from commercializing our investigational products or force us to cease some of our business operations, which could materially harm our business.
We may not be aware of patents that have already been issued and that a third party, for example, a competitor in the fields in which we are developing our product candidates, might assert are infringed by our product candidates, including claims to compositions, formulations, methods of manufacture or methods of use or treatment that cover our product candidates. It is also possible that patents owned by third parties of which we are aware, but which we do not believe are relevant to our product candidates and other proprietary technologies we may develop, could be found to be infringed by our product candidate. In addition, because patent applications can take many years to issue, there may be currently pending patent applications that may later result in issued patents that our product candidates may infringe. Our competitors in both the United States and abroad, many of which have substantially greater resources and have made substantial investments in patent portfolios and competing technologies, may have applied for or obtained or may in the future apply for and obtain, patents that will prevent, limit or otherwise interfere with our ability to make, use and sell our product candidates. The pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries have produced a considerable number of patents, and it may not always be clear to industry participants, including us, which patents cover various types of products or methods of use. The coverage of patents is subject to interpretation by the courts, and the interpretation is not always uniform. If we were sued for patent infringement, we would need to demonstrate that our product candidates, products or methods either do not infringe the patent claims of the relevant patent or that the patent claims are invalid or unenforceable, and we may not be able to do this. Proving invalidity may be difficult. For example, in the United States, proving invalidity in court requires a showing of clear and convincing evidence to overcome the presumption of validity enjoyed by issued patents, and there is no assurance that a court of competent jurisdiction would invalidate the claims of any such U.S. patent. Even if we are successful in these proceedings, we may incur substantial costs and the time and attention of our management and scientific personnel could be diverted in pursuing these proceedings, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations. 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 litigation. In addition, we may not have sufficient resources to bring these actions to a successful conclusion.
We may choose to challenge the enforceability or validity of claims in a third party’s U.S. patent by requesting that the USPTO review the patent claims in an ex-parte re-examination, inter partes review or post-grant review proceedings. These proceedings are expensive and may consume our time or other resources. We may choose to challenge a third party’s patent in patent opposition proceedings in the European Patent Office (EPO), or other foreign patent office. The costs of these opposition proceedings could be substantial and may consume our time or other resources. If we fail to obtain a favorable result at the USPTO, EPO or other patent office then we may be exposed to litigation by a third party alleging that the patent may be infringed by our product candidates or proprietary technologies.
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If we are found to infringe a third-party’s intellectual property rights, we could be forced, including by court order, to cease developing, manufacturing or commercializing the infringing product candidate or product. Alternatively, we may be required to obtain a license from such third-party in order to use the infringing technology and continue developing, manufacturing or marketing the infringing product candidate. However, we may not be able to obtain any required license on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Even if we were able to obtain a license, it could be non-exclusive, thereby giving our competitors access to the same technologies licensed to us. In addition, we could be found liable for monetary damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees if we are found to have willfully infringed a patent. A finding of infringement could prevent us from commercializing our product candidates or force us to cease some of our business operations, and could divert the time and attention of our technical personnel and management, cause development delays, and/or require us to develop non-infringing technology, which may not be possible on a cost-effective basis, any of which could materially harm our business. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us, we may have to pay substantial monetary damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees for willful infringement, pay royalties and other fees, redesign our infringing drug or obtain one or more licenses from third parties, which may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure. Claims that we have misappropriated the confidential information or trade secrets of third parties could have a similar negative impact on our business.
We may become involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents or other intellectual property, which could be expensive, time consuming and unsuccessful.
Competitors or other third parties may infringe our patents, trademarks or other intellectual property. To counter infringement or unauthorized use, we may be required to file infringement claims, which can be expensive and time consuming and divert the time and attention of our management and scientific personnel. Our pending patent applications cannot be enforced against third parties practicing the technology claimed in such applications unless and until a patent issues from such applications. Any claims we assert against perceived infringers could provoke these parties to assert counterclaims against us alleging that we infringe their patents, in addition to counterclaims asserting that our patents are invalid or unenforceable, or both. In patent litigation in the United States, defendant counterclaims alleging invalidity and/or unenforceability are commonplace. Grounds for a validity challenge could be an alleged failure to meet any of several statutory requirements, including lack of novelty, obviousness, non-enablement or insufficient written description. Grounds for an unenforceability assertion could be an allegation that someone connected with prosecution of the patent withheld relevant information from the USPTO or made a misleading statement during prosecution. The outcome following legal assertions of invalidity and unenforceability is unpredictable. In any patent infringement proceeding, there is a risk that a court will decide that a patent of ours is invalid or unenforceable, in whole or in part, and that we do not have the right to stop the other party from using the invention at issue. There is also a risk that, even if the validity of such patents is upheld, the court will construe the patent’s claims narrowly or decide that we do not have the right to stop the other party from using the invention at issue on the grounds that our patent claims do not cover the invention, or decide that the other party’s use of our patented technology falls under the safe harbor to patent infringement under 35 U.S.C. §271(e)(1). An adverse outcome in a litigation or proceeding involving our patents could limit our ability to assert our patents against those parties or other competitors and may curtail or preclude our ability to exclude third parties from making and selling similar or competitive products. Any of these occurrences could adversely affect our competitive business position, business prospects and financial condition. Similarly, if we assert trademark infringement claims, a court may determine that the marks we have asserted are invalid or unenforceable, or that the party against whom we have asserted trademark infringement has superior rights to the marks in question. In this case, we could ultimately be forced to cease use of such trademarks.
Even if we establish infringement, the court may decide not to grant an injunction against further infringing activity and instead award only monetary damages, which may or may not be an adequate remedy. 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 litigation. There could also be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments. If securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a material adverse effect on the price of shares of our common stock. Moreover, we cannot assure you that we will have sufficient financial or other resources to file and pursue such infringement claims, which typically last for years before they are concluded. Even if we ultimately prevail in such claims, the monetary cost of such litigation and the diversion of the attention of our management and scientific personnel could outweigh any benefit we receive as a result of the proceedings.
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Because of the expense and uncertainty of litigation, we may not be in a position to enforce our intellectual property rights against third parties.
Because of the expense and uncertainty of litigation, we may conclude that even if a third-party is infringing our issued patent, or any patents that may be issued as a result of our pending or future patent applications or other intellectual property rights, the risk-adjusted cost of bringing and enforcing such a claim or action may be too high or not in the best interest of our company or our stockholders, or it may be otherwise impractical or undesirable to enforce our intellectual property against some third parties. Our competitors or other third parties may be able to sustain the costs of complex patent litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can because of their greater financial resources and more mature and developed intellectual property portfolios. In such cases, we may decide that the more prudent course of action is to simply monitor the situation or initiate or seek some other non-litigious action or solution. In addition, the uncertainties associated with litigation could compromise our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our clinical trials, continue our internal research programs, in-license needed technology or other product candidates, or enter into development partnerships that would help us bring our product candidates to market.
We may be subject to claims that we have wrongfully hired an employee from a competitor or that our employees, consultants or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information of third parties.
As is common in the pharmaceutical industry, in addition to our employees, we engage the services of consultants to assist us in the development of our product candidates. Many of these consultants, and many of our employees, were previously employed at, or may have previously provided or may be currently providing consulting services to, other pharmaceutical companies including our competitors or potential competitors. We could in the future be subject to claims that we or our employees have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed alleged trade secrets or other confidential information of former employers or competitors. Although we try to ensure that our employees and consultants do not use the intellectual property, proprietary information, know-how or trade secrets of others in their work for us, we may become subject to claims that we caused an employee to breach the terms of his or her non-competition or non-solicitation agreement, or that we or these individuals have, inadvertently or otherwise, used or disclosed the alleged trade secrets or other proprietary information of a former employer or competitor.
While we may litigate to defend ourselves against these claims, even if we are successful, litigation could result in substantial costs and could be a distraction to management. If our defenses to these claims fail, in addition to requiring us to pay monetary damages, a court could prohibit us from using technologies or features that are essential to our product candidates, if such technologies or features are found to incorporate or be derived from the trade secrets or other proprietary information of the former employers. Moreover, any such litigation or the threat thereof may adversely affect our reputation, our ability to form strategic alliances or sublicense our rights to collaborators, engage with scientific advisors or hire employees or consultants, each of which would have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management.
We may rely on trade secrets and proprietary know-how which can be difficult to trace and enforce and, if we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, our business and competitive position would be harmed.
In addition to seeking patents for some of our technology and product candidates, we may also rely on trade secrets, including unpatented know-how, technology and other proprietary information, to maintain our competitive position. Elements of our product candidate, including processes for their preparation and manufacture, may involve proprietary know-how, information, or technology that is not covered by patents, and thus for these aspects we may consider trade secrets and know-how to be our primary intellectual property. Any disclosure, either intentional or unintentional, by our employees, the employees of third parties with whom we share our facilities or third-party consultants and vendors that we engage to perform research, clinical trials or manufacturing activities, or misappropriation by third parties (such as through a security incident) of our trade secrets or proprietary information could enable competitors to duplicate or surpass our technological achievements, thus eroding our competitive position in our market. Because we expect to rely on third parties in the development and manufacture of our product candidates, we must, at times, share trade secrets with them. Our reliance on third parties requires us to share our trade secrets, which increases the possibility that a competitor will discover them or that our trade secrets will be misappropriated or disclosed.
Trade secrets and know-how can be difficult to protect. We require our employees to enter into written employment agreements containing provisions of confidentiality and obligations to assign to us any inventions generated in the course of their employment. We and any third parties with whom we share facilities enter into written agreements that include confidentiality and intellectual property obligations to protect each party’s property, potential trade secrets, proprietary know-how, and information. We further seek to protect our potential trade secrets, proprietary know-how, and information in part, by entering into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties who are given access to them, such as our corporate collaborators, outside scientific collaborators, contract research organizations, contract manufacturers, consultants, advisors and other third parties. With our consultants, contractors, and outside scientific collaborators, these agreements typically include invention assignment obligations. We cannot guarantee that we have entered into such agreements with each party that may have or has had access to our trade secrets or
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proprietary technology and processes. We cannot be certain 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. Despite these efforts, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose our proprietary information, including our trade secrets, and we may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for such breaches. Enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, some courts inside and outside the United States are less willing or unwilling to protect trade secrets. We may need to share our proprietary information, including trade secrets, with future business partners, collaborators, contractors and others located in countries at heightened risk of theft of trade secrets, including through direct intrusion by private parties or foreign actors, and those affiliated with or controlled by state actors. Further, if any of our trade secrets were to be lawfully obtained or independently developed by a competitor or other third-party, we would have no right to prevent them from using that technology or information to compete with us. If any of our trade secrets were to be disclosed to or independently developed by a competitor or other third-party, our competitive position would be harmed.
We may become subject to claims challenging the inventorship or ownership of our patents and other intellectual property.
We may be subject to claims that former employees, collaborators or other third parties have an interest in our patents or other intellectual property as an inventor or co-inventor. The failure to name the proper inventors on a patent application can result in the patents issuing thereon being unenforceable. Inventorship disputes may arise from conflicting views regarding the contributions of different individuals named as inventors, the effects of foreign laws where foreign nationals are involved in the development of the subject matter of the patent, conflicting obligations of third parties involved in developing our product candidates or as a result of questions regarding co-ownership of potential joint inventions. Litigation may be necessary to resolve these and other claims challenging inventorship and/or ownership. Alternatively, or additionally, we may enter into agreements to clarify the scope of our rights in such intellectual property. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights, such as exclusive ownership of, or right to use, valuable intellectual property. Such an outcome could have a material adverse effect on our business. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.
Our licensors may have relied on third-party consultants or collaborators or on funds from third parties, such as the U.S. government, such that our licensors are not the sole and exclusive owners of the patents we in-licensed. If other third parties have ownership rights or other rights to our in-licensed patents, they may be able to license such patents to our competitors, and our competitors could market competing products and technology. This could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations, and prospects.
In addition, while it is our policy to require our employees and contractors who may be involved in the conception or development of intellectual property to execute agreements assigning such intellectual property to us, we may be unsuccessful in executing such an agreement with each party who, in fact, conceives or develops intellectual property that we regard as our own. The assignment of intellectual property rights may not be self-executing, or the assignment agreements may be breached, and we may be forced to bring claims against third parties, or defend claims that they may bring against us, to determine the ownership of what we regard as our intellectual property. Such claims could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Patent terms may be inadequate to protect our competitive position on our product candidates for an adequate amount of time.
Patent rights are of limited duration. In the United States, if all maintenance fees are paid timely, the natural expiration of a patent is generally 20 years after its first effective filing date. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such product candidates are commercialized. Even if patents covering our product candidates are obtained, once the patent life has expired for a product, we may be open to competition from biosimilar or generic products. As a result, our patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing product candidates similar or identical to ours. Upon issuance in the United States, the term of a patent can be increased by patent term adjustment, which is based on certain delays caused by the USPTO, but this increase can be reduced or eliminated based on certain delays caused by the patent applicant during patent prosecution. The term of a United States patent may also be shortened if the patent is terminally disclaimed over an earlier-filed patent. A patent term extension (PTE) based on regulatory delay may be available in the United States. However, only a single patent can be extended for each marketing approval, and any patent can be extended only once, for a single product. Moreover, the scope of protection during the period of the PTE does not extend to the full scope of the claim, but instead only to the scope of the product as approved. Laws governing analogous PTEs in foreign jurisdictions vary widely, as do laws governing the ability to obtain multiple patents from a single patent family. Additionally, we may not receive an extension if we fail to exercise due diligence during the testing phase or regulatory review process, apply within applicable deadlines, apply prior to expiration of relevant patents or otherwise satisfy applicable requirements. If we are unable to obtain PTE or other patent term restoration, or the term of any such extension is less than we request, the period during which we will have the right to exclusively market our product will be shortened and our competitors
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may obtain approval of competing products following our patent expiration and may take advantage of our investment in development and clinical trials by referencing our clinical and nonclinical data to launch their product earlier than might otherwise be the case, and our revenue could be reduced, possibly materially.
If our trademarks and trade names are not adequately protected, then we may not be able to build name recognition in our markets of interest and our business may be adversely affected.
Our current or future trademarks or trade names may be challenged, infringed, circumvented or declared generic or descriptive or determined to be infringing on other marks. We may not be able to protect our rights to these trademarks and trade names or may be forced to stop using these names, which we need for name recognition by potential partners or customers in our markets of interest. During trademark registration proceedings, we may receive rejections of our applications by the USPTO or in other foreign jurisdictions. Although we would be given an opportunity to respond to those rejections, we may be unable to overcome such rejections. In addition, in the USPTO and in comparable agencies in many foreign jurisdictions, third parties are given an opportunity to oppose pending trademark applications and to seek to cancel registered trademarks. Opposition or cancellation proceedings may be filed against our trademarks, and our trademarks may not survive such proceedings. If we are unable to establish name recognition based on our trademarks and trade names, we may not be able to compete effectively and our business may be adversely affected. We may license our trademarks and trade names to third parties, such as distributors. Although these license agreements may provide guidelines for how our trademarks and trade names may be used, a breach of these agreements or misuse of our trademarks and tradenames by our licensees may jeopardize our rights in or diminish the goodwill associated with our trademarks and trade names.
Moreover, any name we have proposed to use with our product candidate in the United States must be approved by the FDA, regardless of whether we have registered it, or applied to register it, as a trademark. Similar requirements exist in Europe. The FDA typically conducts a review of proposed product names, including an evaluation of potential for confusion with other product names. If the FDA (or an equivalent administrative body in a foreign jurisdiction) objects to any of our proposed proprietary product names, we may be required to expend significant additional resources in an effort to identify a suitable substitute name that would qualify under applicable trademark laws, not infringe the existing rights of third parties and be acceptable to the FDA. Furthermore, in many countries, owning and maintaining a trademark registration may not provide an adequate defense against a subsequent infringement claim asserted by the owner of a senior trademark. At times, competitors or other third parties may adopt trade names or trademarks similar to ours, thereby impeding our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to market confusion. In addition, there could be potential trade name or trademark infringement claims brought by owners of other registered trademarks or trademarks that incorporate variations of our registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names. If we assert trademark infringement claims, a court may determine that the marks we have asserted are invalid or unenforceable, or that the party against whom we have asserted trademark infringement has superior rights to the marks in question. In this case, we could ultimately be forced to cease use of such trademarks.
Risks Related to the Securities Market and Ownership of Our Common Stock
An active trading market for our common stock may not be sustained, which may make it difficult for you to sell your shares.
Prior to our initial public offering in March 2021, there had been no public market for our common stock. The trading market for our common stock on The Nasdaq Global Select Market has been limited and an active trading market for our shares may not be sustained. If an active market for our common stock is not sustained, it may be difficult for you to sell your shares at a price that is attractive to you, or at all.
The price of our common stock could be subject to volatility related or unrelated to our operations.
Our stock price may be volatile. The stock market in general and the market for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, in particular, have experienced extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. As a result of this volatility, you may not be able to sell your shares at a price that is attractive to you, or at all. The market price for our common stock may be influenced by numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, including:
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In addition, the stock markets have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many biopharmaceutical companies. Stock prices of many biopharmaceutical companies have fluctuated in a manner unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. The trading prices for common stock of other biopharmaceutical companies have also been highly volatile recently. In the past, stockholders have filed securities class action litigation following periods of market volatility. If we were to become involved in securities litigation, it could subject us to substantial costs, divert resources and the attention of management from our business and adversely affect our business.
Our principal stockholders and management own a significant percentage of our stock and will be able to exert significant control over matters subject to stockholder approval.
Certain of our executive officers, directors and large stockholders own a significant percentage of our outstanding capital stock. As a result of their share ownership, these stockholders will have the ability to influence us through their ownership positions. These stockholders may be able to determine all matters requiring stockholder approval. For example, these stockholders, acting together, may be able to control elections of directors, amendments of our organizational documents, or approval of any merger, sale of assets, or other major corporate transaction. This may prevent or discourage unsolicited acquisition proposals or offers for our common stock that you may believe are in your best interest as one of our stockholders.
Future sales and issuances of our common stock or rights to purchase common stock, including pursuant to our equity incentive plans, could result in additional dilution of the percentage ownership of our stockholders and could cause our stock price to fall.
Additional capital will be needed in the future to continue our planned operations. To the extent we raise additional capital by issuing equity securities, our stockholders may experience substantial dilution. We may sell common stock, convertible securities or other equity securities in one or more transactions at prices and in a manner, we determine from time to time. If we sell common stock, convertible securities or other equity securities in more than one transaction, investors may be materially diluted by subsequent sales. These sales may also result in material dilution to our existing stockholders, and new investors could gain rights superior to our existing stockholders.
Pursuant to our 2021 Plan, our management is authorized to grant stock options and other equity-based awards to our employees, directors and consultants. The number of shares of our common stock reserved for issuance under our 2021 Plan will
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automatically increase on January 1 of each calendar year through January 1, 2031, in an amount equal to the lesser of (i) 5% of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding on the last day of the calendar month before the date of each automatic increase; or (ii) a lesser number of shares determined by our board of directors prior to the applicable January 1st. In addition, our 2021 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) authorizes the issuance of shares of our common stock under purchase rights granted to our employees or to employees of any of our designated affiliates. The number of shares of our common stock reserved for issuance under the ESPP will automatically increase on January 1 of each calendar year by the lesser of 1% of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding on December 31 of the preceding calendar year and 1,200,000 shares, subject to the ability of our board of directors to take action to reduce the size of the increase in any given year. Increases in the number of shares available for future grant or purchase may result in additional dilution, which could cause our stock price to fall.
We do not intend to pay dividends on our common stock so any returns will be limited to the value of our stock.
We currently anticipate that we will retain future earnings for the development, operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. Any return to stockholders will therefore be limited to the appreciation of their stock.
We are an “emerging growth company”, and we intend to take advantage of reduced reporting requirements.
We are an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act, and we intend to take advantage of some of the exemptions from reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including:
We may take advantage of these reporting exemptions until we are no longer an emerging growth company. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (i) December 31, 2026 (the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our initial public offering), (ii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion, (iii) the date upon which we are deemed to be a “large accelerated filer”, which means we have been subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act), for at least 12 months as of December 31st, and the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th and (iv) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.
We incur significant costs as a result of operating as a public company, and our management is required to devote substantial time to public company reporting and compliance initiatives.
As a public company listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, we incur significant expenses for director and officer insurance, legal services, accounting services and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. In addition, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as well as rules subsequently implemented by the SEC, and the Nasdaq Global Select Market have imposed various requirements on public companies. In July 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Dodd-Frank Act) was enacted. There are significant corporate governance and executive compensation related provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act that required the SEC to adopt rules and regulations in these areas such as “say on pay” and proxy access. Recent legislation permits smaller “emerging growth companies” to implement many of these requirements over a longer period and up to five years from the pricing of our initial public offering. We intend to continue to take advantage of this legislation but cannot guarantee that we will not be required to implement these requirements sooner than budgeted or planned and thereby incur unexpected expenses. Stockholder activism, the current political environment and the current high level of government intervention and regulatory reform may lead to substantial new regulations and disclosure obligations, which may lead to additional compliance costs and impact the manner in which we operate our business in ways we cannot currently anticipate. Our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives. Moreover, these rules and regulations increase our legal and financial compliance costs and make some activities more time-consuming and costlier. For example, these rules and regulations make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance and we are required to incur substantial costs to maintain our current levels of such coverage.
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If we fail to maintain an effective system of disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be impaired.
As a public company, we are subject to requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the regulations of the Nasdaq Global Select Market, the rules and regulations of the SEC, expanded disclosure requirements, accelerated reporting requirements and more complex accounting rules. We expect that the requirements of these rules and regulations will continue to increase our legal, accounting and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming and costly and place significant strain on our personnel, systems and resources. Company responsibilities required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act include, among other things, that we maintain corporate oversight and adequate internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures. We are continuing to develop and refine our disclosure controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file with the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms and that information required to be disclosed in reports under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our principal executive and financial officers. We are also continuing to improve our internal control over financial reporting. In order to develop, maintain, and improve the effectiveness of our internal controls and procedures, and internal control over financial reporting, we have expended, and anticipate that we will continue to expend, significant resources, including accounting-related costs and significant management oversight.
Our current controls and any new controls that we develop may become inadequate because of changes in conditions in our business. Further, weaknesses in our disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting may be discovered in the future. Any failure to develop or maintain effective controls or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement could harm our results of operations or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and may result in a restatement of our financial statements for prior periods. Any failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could also adversely affect the results of periodic management evaluations and annual independent registered public accounting firm attestation reports regarding the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting that we will eventually be required to include in our periodic reports that will be filed with the SEC. Ineffective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial and other information, which would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock. In addition, if we are unable to continue to meet these requirements, we may not be able to remain listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, our business and results of operations could be harmed, investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by Nasdaq, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. Any failure to maintain effective disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting could have a material and adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition and could cause a decline in the trading price of our common stock.
Future changes in financial accounting standards or practices may cause adverse and unexpected revenue fluctuations and adversely affect our reported results of operations.
Future changes in financial accounting standards may cause adverse, unexpected revenue fluctuations and affect our reported financial position or results of operations. Financial accounting standards in the United States are constantly under review and new pronouncements and varying interpretations of pronouncements have occurred with frequency in the past and are expected to occur again in the future. As a result, we may be required to make changes in our accounting policies. Those changes could affect our financial condition and results of operations or the way in which such financial condition and results of operations are reported. We intend to invest resources to comply with evolving standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from business activities to compliance activities. See the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Recent Accounting Pronouncements.”
Changes in tax laws or regulations that are applied adversely to us may have a material adverse effect on our business, cash flow, financial condition or results of operations.
New income, sales, use or other tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be enacted at any time, which could adversely affect our business operations and financial performance. Further, existing tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be interpreted, changed, modified or applied adversely to us. For example, legislation informally titled the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act; and the Inflation Reduction Act enacted many significant changes to the U.S. tax laws. Future guidance from the Internal Revenue Service and other tax authorities with respect to such legislation may affect us, and certain aspects of such legislation could be repealed or modified in future legislation. The Biden administration and Congress could also enact other tax law changes that could have an adverse effect on our operations, cash flows and results from operations and contribute to overall market volatility. In addition, it is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to federal tax legislation. Changes in corporate tax rates, the realization of net deferred tax assets relating to our operations, the taxation
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of foreign earnings, and the deductibility of expenses could have a material impact on the value of our deferred tax assets, could result in significant one-time charges, and could increase our future U.S. tax expense.
Our information technology systems or sensitive data, or those of our third-party CROs or other contractors, consultants, or third parties with whom we work, may fail or suffer security incidents, loss or leakage of data, and other disruptions, which could result in a material disruption of our product candidates’ development programs, compromise sensitive data related to our business or prevent us from accessing critical information, potentially exposing us to liability or otherwise adversely affecting our business.*
We are increasingly dependent upon information technology systems, infrastructure and data to operate our business. In the ordinary course of business, we or our third-party CROs or other contractors or consultants acting on our behalf process proprietary, confidential, and sensitive data (including but not limited to intellectual property, proprietary business information, health-related data, and personal data) (collectively, sensitive information).
Cyberattacks, malicious internet-based activity, and online and offline fraud are prevalent and continue to increase. These threats are becoming increasingly difficult to detect. These threats come from a variety of sources, including traditional computer “hackers,” threat actors, personnel misconduct or error (such as theft or misuse), sophisticated nation-state and nation-state supported actors. Some actors now engage and are expected to continue to engage in cyber-attacks, including, without limitation, nation-state actors for geopolitical reasons and in conjunction with military conflicts and defense activities. During times of war and other major conflicts, we and the third parties upon which we rely may be vulnerable to a heightened risk of these attacks, including cyber-attacks, that could materially disrupt our systems and operations. We and our third-party CROs or other contractors or consultants, may be subject to a variety of evolving threats, including but not limited to social engineering attacks (including through deep fakes, which may be increasingly more difficult to identify as fake, and phishing attacks), malicious code (such as viruses and worms), malware (including as a result of advanced persistent threat intrusions), denial-of-service attacks, credential stuffing or harvesting, ransomware attacks, supply-chain attacks, software bugs, server malfunction, software or hardware failures, loss of data or other information technology assets, adware, telecommunications failures, attacks enhanced or facilitated by AI, earthquakes, fire, flood, and other similar threats. Ransomware attacks, including those perpetrated by organized criminal threat actors, nation-states, and nation-state supported actors, are becoming increasingly prevalent and severe and can lead to significant interruptions in our operations, loss of data and income, reputational harm, and diversion of funds. Extortion payments may alleviate the negative impact of a ransomware attack, but we may be unwilling or unable to make such payments due to, for example, applicable laws or regulations prohibiting payments. Similarly, supply-chain attacks have increased in frequency and severity, and we cannot guarantee that third parties and infrastructure in our supply chain have not been compromised or that they do not contain exploitable defects or bugs that could result in a breach of or disruption to our information technology systems or the third-party information technology systems that support us and our services. It may be difficult and/or costly to detect, investigate, mitigate, contain, and remediate a security incident. Our efforts to do so may not be successful. Actions taken by us or the third parties with whom we work to detect, investigate, mitigate, contain, and remediate a security incident could result in outages, data losses, and disruptions of our business.
Remote work has become more common and has increased risks to our information technology systems and data, as more of our employees utilize network connections, computers and devices outside our premises or network, including working at home, while in transit and in public locations. Future or past business transactions (such as acquisitions or integrations) could expose us to additional cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities, as our systems could be negatively affected by vulnerabilities present in acquired or integrated entities’ systems and technologies. Furthermore, we may discover security issues that were not found during due diligence of such acquired or integrated entities, and it may be difficult to integrate companies into our information technology environment and security program.
While we have implemented measures designed to protect against security incidents there can be no assurance that these measures will be effective. We take steps designed to detect, mitigate and remediate vulnerabilities in our information systems (such as our hardware and/or software, including that of third parties upon which we rely). We may not, however, be able to detect and remediate all such vulnerabilities, including on a timely basis. Further, we may experience delays in developing and deploying remedial measures and patches designed to address any such identified vulnerabilities. Vulnerabilities could be exploited and result in a security incident.
We have outsourced elements of our operations to third parties, and as a result we rely on a number of third-party contractors who have access to our sensitive information. We share or receive sensitive information with or from third parties. Our ability to monitor these third parties’ cybersecurity practices is limited, and these third parties may not have adequate information security measures in place. If the third parties with whom we work experience a security incident or other interruption, we could experience adverse consequences. While we may be entitled to damages if the third parties with whom we work fail to satisfy their privacy or security-related obligations to us, any award may be insufficient to cover our damages, or we may be unable to recover such award.
Any of the previously identified or similar threats could cause a security incident or other interruption. A security incident or other interruption could result in unauthorized, unlawful or accidental acquisition, modification, destruction, loss, alteration, encryption, disclosure of or access to data. A security incident or other interruption could disrupt our (and third parties upon whom we
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rely) ability to develop or provide our products or conduct clinical trials. We may expend significant resources or modify our business activities (including our clinical trial activities) in an effort to protect against security incidents. Additionally, certain data privacy and security obligations may require us to implement and maintain specific security measures, industry-standard or reasonable security measures to protect our information technology systems and data.
Applicable data privacy and security obligations as well as public company disclosure obligations may require us, or we may choose, to notify relevant stakeholders, including affected individuals, regulators and investors, of certain security incidents or to take other actions, such as providing credit monitoring and identity protection services. Such disclosures and related actions can be costly, and the disclosures or the failure to comply with applicable requirements could lead to adverse impacts. If we (or a third party with whom we work) experience a security incident or are perceived to have experienced a security incident, we may experience adverse consequences. These consequences may include the following: government enforcement actions (for example, investigations, fines, penalties, audits, and inspections); additional reporting requirements and/or oversight; restrictions on processing data (including personal data); litigation (including class claims); indemnification obligations; negative publicity; reputational harm; monetary fund diversions; interruptions in our operations (including availability of data); financial loss; and other similar harms. Security incidents and attendant consequences may impact our ability to conduct clinical trials or bring any approved products to market, and negatively impact our ability to grow and operate our business. Whether a cybersecurity incident is reportable to our investors may not be straightforward, may take considerable time to determine, and may be subject to change as the investigation of the incident progresses, including changes that may significantly alter any initial disclosure that we provide. Moreover, experiencing a material cybersecurity incident and any mandatory disclosures could lead to negative publicity, loss of investor or partner confidence in the effectiveness of our cybersecurity measures, diversion of management’s attention, governmental investigations, lawsuits, and the expenditure of significant capital and other resources.
Our contracts may not contain limitations of liability, and even where they do, there can be no assurance that limitations of liability in our contracts are sufficient to protect us from liabilities, damages, or claims related to our data privacy and security obligations. We cannot be sure that our insurance coverage will be adequate or sufficient to protect us from or to mitigate liabilities arising out of our privacy and security practices, that such coverage will continue to be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or that such coverage will pay future claims.
In addition to experiencing a security incident, third parties may gather, collect, or infer sensitive information about us from public sources, data brokers, or other means that reveals competitively sensitive details about our organization and could be used to undermine our competitive advantage or market position. Additionally, our sensitive information could be leaked, disclosed, or revealed as a result of or in connection with our employees’, personnel’s, or vendors’ use of generative AI technologies.
We or the third parties upon whom we depend may be adversely affected by earthquakes, fires or other natural disasters and our business continuity and disaster recovery plans may not adequately protect us from a serious disaster.
Our corporate headquarters and research facility are located in the county of San Diego, California, which in the past has experienced severe earthquakes and fires. If these earthquakes, fires, other natural disasters, terrorism and similar unforeseen events beyond our control prevented us from using all or a significant portion of our headquarters or research facility, it may be difficult or, in certain cases, impossible for us to continue our business for a substantial period of time. We do not have a disaster recovery or business continuity plan in place and may incur substantial expenses as a result of the absence or limited nature of our internal or third-party service provider disaster recovery and business continuity plans, which, particularly when taken together with our lack of earthquake insurance, could have a material adverse effect on our business. Furthermore, integral parties in our supply chain are operating from single sites, increasing their vulnerability to natural disasters or other sudden, unforeseen and severe adverse events. If such an event were to affect our supply chain, it could have a material adverse effect on our ability to conduct our clinical trials, our development plans and business.
We are subject to certain U.S. and foreign anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, export control, sanctions, and other trade laws and regulations. We can face serious consequences for violations.
U.S. and foreign anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, export control, sanctions, and other trade laws and regulations (collectively, Trade Laws), prohibit, among other things, companies and their employees, agents, CROs, legal counsel, accountants, consultants, contractors, and other partners from authorizing, promising, offering, providing, soliciting, or receiving directly or indirectly, corrupt or improper payments or anything else of value to or from recipients in the public or private sector. Violations of Trade Laws can result in substantial criminal fines and civil penalties, imprisonment, the loss of trade privileges, debarment, tax reassessments, breach of contract and fraud litigation, reputational harm, and other consequences. We have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or government-affiliated hospitals, universities, and other organizations. We also expect our non-U.S. activities to increase over time. We expect to rely on third parties for research, nonclinical studies, and clinical trials and/or to obtain necessary permits, licenses, patent registrations, and other marketing approvals. We can be
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held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of our personnel, agents, or partners, even if we do not explicitly authorize or have prior knowledge of such activities.
If we fail to comply with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, we could become subject to fines or penalties or incur costs that could have a material adverse effect on the success of our business.
We, and the third parties with whom we share our facilities, are subject to numerous environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, including those governing laboratory procedures and the handling, use, storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous materials and wastes. Our operations involve the use of hazardous and flammable materials, including chemicals and biological and radioactive materials. Our operations also produce hazardous waste products. We generally contract with third parties for the disposal of these materials and wastes. We cannot eliminate the risk of contamination or injury from these materials. We could be held liable for any resulting damages in the event of contamination or injury resulting from the use of hazardous materials by us or the third parties with whom we share our facilities or contract with, and any liability could exceed our resources. We also could incur significant costs associated with civil or criminal fines and penalties.
Although we maintain workers’ compensation insurance to cover us for costs and expenses we may incur due to injuries to our employees resulting from the use of hazardous materials, this insurance may not provide adequate coverage against potential liabilities. We do not maintain insurance for environmental liability or toxic tort claims that may be asserted against us in connection with our storage or disposal of biological, hazardous or radioactive materials.
In addition, we may incur substantial costs in order to comply with current or future environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. These current or future laws and regulations may impair our research and development. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations may also result in substantial fines, penalties or other sanctions.
Delaware law and provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws could make a merger, tender offer or proxy contest difficult, thereby depressing the trading price of our common stock.
Our status as a Delaware corporation and the anti-takeover provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) may discourage, delay or prevent a change in control by prohibiting us from engaging in a business combination with an interested stockholder for a period of three years after the person becomes an interested stockholder, even if a change of control would be beneficial to our existing stockholders. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws contain provisions that may make the acquisition of our company more difficult, including the following:
In addition, as a Delaware corporation, we are subject to Section 203 of the DGCL. These provisions may prohibit large stockholders, in particular those owning 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock, from merging or combining with us for a
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certain period of time. A Delaware corporation may opt out of this provision by express provision in its original certificate of incorporation or by amendment to its certificate of incorporation or bylaws approved by its stockholders. However, we have not opted out of this provision.
These and other provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated bylaws and Delaware law could make it more difficult for stockholders or potential acquirors to obtain control of our board of directors or initiate actions that are opposed by our then-current board of directors, including delay or impede a merger, tender offer or proxy contest involving our company.
The existence of these provisions could negatively affect the price of our common stock and limit opportunities for you to realize value in a corporate transaction.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware and the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forums 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 employees.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for the following types of actions or proceedings under Delaware statutory or common law: (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty; (iii) any action or proceeding asserting a claim against us or any of our current or former directors, officers or other employees, arising out of or pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws; and (iv) any action asserting a claim against us or any of our directors, officers or other employees, governed by the internal affairs doctrine; provided, that, this provision would not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act, or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction.
Furthermore, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all such Securities Act actions. Accordingly, both state and federal courts have jurisdiction to entertain such claims. To prevent having to litigate claims in multiple jurisdictions and the threat of inconsistent or contrary rulings by different courts, among other considerations, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation further provides that the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act.
These exclusive-forum provisions may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees and may discourage these types of lawsuits against us and our directors, officers, and other employees. While the Delaware courts have determined that such choice of forum provisions are facially valid, and several state trial courts have enforced such provisions and required that suits asserting Securities Act claims be filed in federal court, there is no guarantee that courts of appeal will affirm the enforceability of such provisions and a stockholder may nevertheless seek to bring a claim in a venue other than those designated in the exclusive forum provisions. In such instance, we would expect to vigorously assert the validity and enforceability of the exclusive forum provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. This may require significant additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions and there can be no assurance that the provisions will be enforced by a court in those other jurisdictions. If a court were to find either exclusive forum provision in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur further significant additional costs associated with litigating Securities Act claims in state court, both state and federal court, or other jurisdictions which could seriously harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
We could be subject to 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. This risk is especially relevant for us because pharmaceutical 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.
General Risk Factors
Unstable market, economic and geo-political conditions may have serious adverse consequences on our business, financial condition and stock price.
The global credit and financial markets have experienced extreme volatility and disruptions in the past. These disruptions have resulted or can result in severely diminished liquidity and credit availability, high inflation, rising interest rates, declines in consumer confidence, disruptions in access to bank deposits or lending commitments due to bank failures and uncertainty about economic stability, declines in economic growth, increases in unemployment rates and uncertainty about economic stability. There can be no
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assurance that further deterioration in credit and financial markets and confidence in economic conditions will not occur. Our general business strategy may be adversely affected by any such economic downturn, volatile business environment, higher inflation, or continued unpredictable and unstable market conditions. If the current equity and credit markets deteriorate, it may make any necessary debt or equity financing more difficult, more costly and more dilutive. Our portfolio of investment securities could also be adversely impacted. Failure to secure any necessary financing in a timely manner and on favorable terms could have a material adverse effect on our operations, growth strategy, financial performance and stock price and could require us to delay or abandon clinical or research development plans. In addition, there is a risk that one or more of our current service providers, manufacturers and other partners may not survive an economic downturn or rising inflation, which could directly affect our ability to attain our operating goals on schedule and on budget.
Other international and geo-political events could also have a serious adverse impact on our business. For instance, in February 2022, Russia initiated military action against Ukraine and the two countries are now at war. In response, the United States and certain other countries imposed significant sanctions and trade actions against Russia and could impose further sanctions, trade restrictions, and other retaliatory actions. Additionally, in October 2023, Hamas attacked Israel resulting in a state of war between Hamas and Israel and creating the risk of a larger regional conflict. While we cannot predict the broader consequences, the conflict and retaliatory and counter-retaliatory actions has affected and could further affect, potentially materially and adversely, global trade, currency exchange rates, inflation, regional economies, and the global economy, which in turn may increase our costs, disrupt our supply chain, impair our ability to raise or access additional capital when needed on acceptable terms, if at all, or otherwise adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
If there are substantial sales of shares of our common stock, the market price of our common stock could decline.
The price of our common stock could decline if there are substantial sales of our common stock, particularly sales by our directors, executive officers and significant stockholders, or if there is a large number of shares of our common stock available for sale and the market perceives that sales will occur.
Our disclosure controls and procedures may not prevent or detect all errors or acts of fraud.
We are subject to the periodic reporting requirements of the Exchange Act. We designed our disclosure controls and procedures to reasonably assure that information we must disclose in reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to management, and recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the SEC. We believe that any disclosure controls and procedures or internal controls and procedures, no matter how well-conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met.
These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. For example, our directors or executive officers could inadvertently fail to disclose a new relationship or arrangement causing us to fail to make any related party transaction disclosures. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people or by an unauthorized override of the controls. Accordingly, because of the inherent limitations in our control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.
If securities or industry analysts publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. If only very few securities analysts commence coverage of us, or if industry analysts cease coverage of us, the trading price for our common stock would be negatively affected. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our common stock or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our common stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our common stock could decrease, which might cause our common stock price and trading volume to decline.
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Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds.
Use of Proceeds
On March 25, 2021, we commenced our initial public offering pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-253954) that was declared effective by the SEC on March 25, 2021, for 12,000,000 shares of our common stock for sale to the public at a price of $20.00 per share. In addition, in March 2021, the underwriters exercised their over-allotment option to purchase 1,800,000 additional shares of our common stock in the initial public offering at the public offering price of $20.00 per share, such that the aggregate offering price of our initial public offering was $276.0 million. The net offering proceeds to us, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering costs, were $254.3 million. No offering expenses were paid directly or indirectly to any of our directors or officers (or their associates) or persons owning 10% or more of any class of our equity securities or to any other affiliates. The underwriters for our initial public offering were Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, SVB Leerink LLC and Piper Sandler & Co.
The net proceeds from our initial public offering are being held in cash, cash equivalents and investment securities, primarily in money market funds invested in U.S. government agency securities and U.S. Treasury securities. These investments are made pursuant to our investment policy and we may further invest these funds in high-quality marketable debt instruments of corporations and government sponsored enterprises with contractual maturity dates of generally less than two years until needed to fund our operations. There has been no material change in the use of proceeds from our initial public offering as described in our final prospectus filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4) on March 26, 2021 and through June 30, 2024, we had used approximately $92.9 million of the net proceeds received from our initial public offering to support our operations.
Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities.
None.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
Item 5. Other Information.
None.
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Item 6. Exhibits.
Exhibit Number |
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Description |
3.1 |
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3.2 |
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4.1 |
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4.2 |
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31.1 |
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32.1 |
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101.INS |
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INLINE XBRL Instance Document |
101.SCH |
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INLINE XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document |
101.CAL |
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INLINE XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document |
101.DEF |
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INLINE XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document |
101.LAB |
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INLINE XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document |
101.PRE |
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INLINE XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document |
104 |
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Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document) |
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
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Design Therapeutics, Inc. |
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Date: August 5, 2024 |
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By: |
/s/ Pratik Shah, Ph.D. |
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Pratik Shah, Ph.D. |
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President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson |
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(Principal Executive and Financial Officer) |
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Exhibit 31.1
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
RULES 13a-14(a) AND 15d-14(a) UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934,
AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
I, Pratik Shah, Ph.D., certify that:
Date: August 5, 2024 |
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By: |
/s/ Pratik Shah, Ph.D. |
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Pratik Shah, Ph.D. |
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President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson |
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(Principal Executive and 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
In connection with the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of Design Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”) for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2024, to which this Certification is attached, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof (the “Report”), the undersigned officer of the Company hereby certifies, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to §906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that to his knowledge:
The undersigned has executed this Certification effective as of August 5, 2024.
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By: |
/s/ Pratik Shah, Ph.D. |
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Pratik Shah, Ph.D. |
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President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson |
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(Principal Executive and Financial Officer) |
The foregoing certification is being furnished solely to accompany the Report pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1350, and is not being filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and is not to be incorporated by reference into any filing of the Company, whether made before or after the date hereof, regardless of any general incorporation language in such filing. A signed original of this written statement required by Section 906 has been provided to the Company and will be retained by the Company and furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission or its staff upon request.