Viridian Therapeutics, Inc.\DE 10-Q for FY2020 Q3
Viridian Therapeutics, Inc.\DE (VRDN)
10-Q
2020-11-12
For: 2020-09-30
View Original
Added on
April 10, 2026
About this 10-Q
Viridian Therapeutics, Inc.\DE filed this 10-Q on November 12, 2020, covering the quarter ended September 30, 2020 (FY2020 Q3).
Headline figures
Quarter ended September 30, 2020, as reported in this filing, compared with the same period a year earlier where the filing states it.
- Revenue
- $0
- compared with $695K a year earlier
- Net loss
- $5.49M
- compared with a net loss of $11.23M a year earlier
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-Q
(Mark One)
For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2020
or
For the transition period from to
Commission File No. 001-36483
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | ||||||||||
(Address, including zip code, of principal executive offices)
(720 ) 643-5200
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered | |||||||||||||||
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes x No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | ||||||||
x | Smaller reporting company | ||||||||||
| Emerging growth company | |||||||||||
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No x
As of November 6, 2020, there were 58,663,753 shares of the registrant’s Common Stock outstanding.
MIRAGEN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
INDEX
PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION | |||||
PART II. OTHER INFORMATION | |||||
PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION
ITEM 1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
MIRAGEN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(in thousands, except share and per share data)
(unaudited)
| September 30, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | ||||||||||
| Assets | |||||||||||
| Current assets: | |||||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Short-term investments | |||||||||||
| Accounts receivable | |||||||||||
| Prepaid expenses and other current assets | |||||||||||
| Total current assets | |||||||||||
| Property and equipment, net | |||||||||||
| Operating lease right-of-use asset, net | |||||||||||
| Other assets | |||||||||||
| Total assets | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity | |||||||||||
| Current liabilities: | |||||||||||
| Accounts payable | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Accrued liabilities | |||||||||||
| Current portion of notes payable | |||||||||||
| Total current liabilities | |||||||||||
| Notes payable, net of current portion | |||||||||||
| Other liabilities | |||||||||||
| Total liabilities | |||||||||||
| Commitments and contingencies | |||||||||||
| Stockholders’ equity: | |||||||||||
Preferred stock, $ | |||||||||||
Common stock, $ | |||||||||||
| Additional paid-in capital | |||||||||||
| Accumulated deficit | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Total stockholders’ equity | |||||||||||
| Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity | $ | $ | |||||||||
See accompanying notes to these condensed consolidated financial statements.
3
MIRAGEN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS
(in thousands, except share and per share data)
(unaudited)
| Three Months Ended September 30, | Nine Months Ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenue: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Collaboration revenue | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| Grant revenue | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total revenue | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating expenses: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Research and development | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| General and administrative | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total operating expenses | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loss from operations | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||
| Other income (expense): | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interest and other income | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interest and other expense | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||
| Change in unrealized gain (loss) on investments | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Comprehensive loss | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Net loss | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Net loss per share, basic and diluted | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Weighted-average shares used to compute basic and diluted net loss per share | |||||||||||||||||||||||
See accompanying notes to these condensed consolidated financial statements.
4
MIRAGEN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
(in thousands, except share data)
(unaudited)
| Common Stock | Additional Paid-in Capital | Accumulated Other Comprehensive Gain (Loss) | Accumulated Deficit | Total Stockholders’ Equity | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance at December 31, 2019 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| — | — | — | — | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock and warrants in a public offering, net of issuance costs | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock pursuant to a 2019 stock purchase agreement, net of issuance costs | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock under the 2017 ATM, net of issuance costs | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares issued for cash upon the exercise of stock options under an equity incentive plan | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock for cash under employee stock purchase plan | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Share-based compensation expense | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | — | — | — | — | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance at March 31, 2020 | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance costs related to public offering | — | — | ( | — | — | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Share-based compensation expense | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | — | — | — | — | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance at June 30, 2020 | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance costs related to the issuance of common stock and warrants in a public offering | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock pursuant to a 2019 stock purchase agreement, net of issuance costs | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock for cash under employee stock purchase plan | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Share-based compensation expense | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | — | — | — | — | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance at September 30, 2020 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5
MIRAGEN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY (continued)
(in thousands, except share data)
(unaudited)
| Common Stock | Additional Paid-in Capital | Accumulated Other Comprehensive Gain (Loss) | Accumulated Deficit | Total Stockholders’ Equity | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance at December 31, 2018 | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock under the 2017 ATM, net of issuance costs | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock for cash under employee stock purchase plan | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Share-based compensation expense | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Change in unrealized gain on investments | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | — | — | — | — | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance at March 31, 2019 | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock under the 2017 ATM, net of issuance costs | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares issued for cash upon the exercise of stock options under an equity incentive plan | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Share-based compensation expense | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Change in unrealized gain on investments | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | — | — | — | — | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance as of June 30, 2019 | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares issued for cash upon the exercise of stock options | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock for cash under employee stock purchase plan | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Share-based compensation expense | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Change in unrealized loss on investments | — | — | — | ( | — | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | — | — | — | — | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance at September 30, 2019 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
See accompanying notes to these condensed consolidated financial statements.
6
MIRAGEN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(unaudited, in thousands)
| Nine Months Ended September 30, | |||||||||||
| 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||
| Cash flows from operating activities: | |||||||||||
| Net loss | $ | ( | $ | ( | |||||||
| Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: | |||||||||||
| Share-based compensation expense | |||||||||||
| Amortization of financing issuance costs | |||||||||||
| Non-cash interest expense | |||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | |||||||||||
| Amortization of premiums and discounts on available-for-sale securities | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Other | |||||||||||
| Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | |||||||||||
| Accounts receivable | ( | ||||||||||
| Prepaid expenses and other assets | ( | ||||||||||
| Accounts payable | ( | ||||||||||
| Accrued and other liabilities | ( | ||||||||||
| Net cash used in operating activities | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Cash flows from investing activities: | |||||||||||
| Maturities of short-term investments | |||||||||||
| Purchases of property and equipment | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Proceeds from sale of property and equipment | |||||||||||
| Purchases of short-term investments | ( | ||||||||||
| Net cash provided by investing activities | |||||||||||
| Cash flows from financing activities: | |||||||||||
| Proceeds from the sale of common stock and warrants | |||||||||||
| Payment of issuance costs associated with the sale of common stock | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Proceeds from issuance of notes payable | |||||||||||
| Payments of principal on notes payable | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Proceeds from stock purchases under employee stock purchase plan | |||||||||||
| Proceeds from the exercise of stock options | |||||||||||
| Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities | ( | ||||||||||
| Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents | ( | ||||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period | |||||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents at end of period | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information | |||||||||||
| Cash paid for interest | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Supplemental disclosure of non-cash investing and financing activities | |||||||||||
| Amortization of public offering costs | $ | $ | |||||||||
Change in unrealized gain on investments | $ | $ | |||||||||
See accompanying notes to these condensed consolidated financial statements.
7
MIRAGEN THERAPEUTICS, INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(unaudited)
1. DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS
Miragen Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company” or “miRagen”), is a biotechnology company advancing new treatments for patients with diseases that are underserved by current therapies. The Company’s most advanced program, VRDN-001, is an anti-IGF-1R monoclonal antibody for thyroid eye disease, a debilitating condition that can cause bulging eyes, or proptosis, as well as double vision and potential blindness.
On October 27, 2020, miRagen entered into a merger agreement with Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. (“Viridian”), as described in Note 13. Subsequent Events.
Concurrent with the acquisition of Viridian, on October 27, 2020, the Company agreed to sell an aggregate of approximately 195,290 shares of the Company’s Series A Non-Voting Convertible Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Series A Preferred Stock”), for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $91.0 million. Subject to satisfaction of specified conditions, each share of Series A Preferred Stock is convertible into 1,000 shares of the Company’s common stock.
Liquidity
The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a basis which assumes the Company is a going concern, and does not include any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the recoverability and classification of assets or the amounts and classifications of liabilities that may result from any uncertainty related to its ability to continue as a going concern. The Company has funded its operations to date principally through proceeds received from the sale of the Company’s common stock (“Common Stock”), its Series A Preferred Stock, and other equity securities, debt financings, up-front milestones, and reimbursements received under a prior license and collaboration agreement. Since its inception and through September 30, 2020, the Company has generated an accumulated deficit of $188.1 million. The Company expects to continue to generate operating losses in the foreseeable future.
The Company has no products approved for commercial sale, has not generated any revenue from product sales, and cannot guarantee when or if it will generate any revenue from product sales. Substantially all of the Company’s operating losses resulted from expenses incurred in connection with its research and development programs and from general and administrative costs associated with its operations. The Company expects to incur significant expenses and operating losses for at least the next several years as it continues the clinical development of, and seeks regulatory approval for, its product candidates. It is expected that operating losses will fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year due to timing of clinical development programs and efforts to achieve regulatory approval.
As of September 30, 2020, the Company had approximately $30.1 million in cash and cash equivalents. As of the issuance date of the interim condensed consolidated financial statements, the Company expects that its cash and cash equivalents, including approximately $91.0 million in gross proceeds the company received on October 30, 2020 from the sale of its Series A Preferred Stock in a private placement and the cash held by Viridian at the time of the acquisition, will be sufficient to fund its operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through the end of 2023.
If the Company’s stockholders do not timely approve the conversion of its Series A Preferred Stock, then the holders of the Company’s Series A Preferred Stock may elect to require the Company to settle their shares of Series A Preferred Stock for cash at a price per share equal to the fair value of the Series A Preferred Stock, as described in the Company’s certificate of designation relating to the Series A Preferred Stock. If the Company is required to settle a significant amount of the Series A Preferred Stock, the Company expects it would not have sufficient liquidity to settle the Series A Preferred Stock.
The Company will continue to require additional capital in order to continue to finance its operations. The amount and timing of future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including the pace and results of the Company’s clinical development efforts, equity financings, entering into license and collaboration agreements, and issuing debt or other financing vehicles. The Company’s ability to secure additional capital is dependent upon a number of factors, some of which are outside of the Company’s control, including success in developing its technology and drug product candidates, operational performance, and market conditions, including resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Failure to raise capital as and when needed, on favorable terms or at all, would have a negative impact on the Company’s financial condition and its ability to develop its product candidates. Changing circumstances may cause the Company to
8
2. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Basis of Presentation
The condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) and follow the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) for interim reporting. As permitted under those rules, certain footnotes or other financial information that are normally required by U.S. GAAP can be condensed or omitted. These financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as the Company’s annual financial statements and, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, which are necessary for a fair statement of the Company’s financial information. These interim results are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the year ending December 31, 2020, or for any other interim period, or for any other future year. The balance sheet as of December 31, 2019 has been derived from audited consolidated financial statements at that date but does not include all the information required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements and related financial information should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements of the Company and the notes thereto contained in the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, filed with the SEC on March 13, 2020. The Company’s management performed an evaluation of its activities through the date of filing of these financial statements and concluded that there are no subsequent events requiring disclosure, other than as disclosed.
Risk and Uncertainties – Impact of the COVID-19 Coronavirus
The Company is subject to risks and uncertainties as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus continues to spread globally, has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization and has spread to over 100 countries, including the United States. The impact of this pandemic has been and will likely continue to be extensive in many aspects of society, which has resulted in and will likely continue to result in significant disruptions to the global economy, as well as businesses and capital markets around the world.
The spread of COVID-19 has caused the Company to modify its business practices, including implementing a work-from-home policy for all employees who are able to perform their duties remotely and restricting all nonessential travel, and it expects to continue to take actions as may be required or recommended by government authorities or as the Company determines are in the best interests of its employees, the patients it serves and other business partners in light of COVID-19. Potential impacts to the Company’s business include temporary closures of its facilities or those of its vendors, disruptions or restrictions on its employees’ ability to travel, disruptions to or delays in ongoing laboratory experiments and operations and the potential diversion of healthcare resources away from the conduct of clinical trials to focus on pandemic concerns, and its ability to raise capital. As of September 30, 2020, there have been no material impacts to the Company as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the impacts of COVID-19 continue to unfold, the Company will continually assess the impacts, as the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic may materially impact the Company’s financial condition, liquidity or results of operations in the future is uncertain.
Going Concern
At each reporting period, the Company evaluates whether there are conditions or events that raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued. The Company is required to make certain additional disclosures if it concludes substantial doubt exists and it is not alleviated by the Company’s plans or when its plans alleviate substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.
The Company’s evaluation entails, among other things, analyzing the results of the Company’s clinical development efforts, license and collaboration agreements as well as the entity’s current financial condition including conditional and unconditional obligations anticipated within a year, and related liquidity sources at the date the financial statements are issued. This is reflected in the Company’s prospective operating budgets and forecasts and compared to the current cash and cash equivalent balance.
9
Use of Estimates
The Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which requires it to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and contingent liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Although these estimates are based on the Company’s knowledge of current events and actions it may take in the future, actual results may ultimately differ from these estimates and assumptions.
Revenue Recognition
The Company accounts for revenue in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”).
The Company enters into collaboration agreements and certain other agreements that are within the scope of ASC 606, under which the Company licenses, may license, or grants an option to license rights to certain of the Company’s product candidates and performs research and development services in connection with such agreements. The terms of these agreements typically include payment of one or more of the following: non-refundable, up-front fees; reimbursement of research and development costs; developmental, clinical, regulatory, and commercial sales milestone payments; and royalties on net sales of licensed products.
In accordance with ASC 606, the Company recognizes revenue when its customer obtains control of promised goods or services, in an amount that reflects the consideration which the Company expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services.
To determine the appropriate amount of revenue to be recognized, for agreements within the scope of ASC 606, the Company performs the following five steps: (i) identification of the goods or services within the contract; (ii) determination of whether the promised goods or services are performance obligations, including whether they are distinct within the terms of the contract; (iii) measurement of the transaction price, including the constraint on variable consideration; (iv) allocation of the transaction price to the identified performance obligations; and (v) recognition of revenue when (or as) the Company satisfies each performance obligation. The Company only applies the five-step model to contracts when it is probable that the Company will collect consideration it is entitled to in exchange for the goods or services it transfers to the customer.
The promised goods or services in the Company’s agreements typically consist of a license, or option to license, rights to the Company’s intellectual property or research and development services. Performance obligations are promises in a contract to transfer a distinct good or service to the customer and are considered distinct when (i) the customer can benefit from the good or service on its own or together with other readily available resources and (ii) the promised good or service is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract. In assessing whether promised goods or services are distinct, the Company considers factors such as the stage of development of the underlying intellectual property, the capabilities of the customer to develop the intellectual property on its own or whether the required expertise is readily available, and whether the goods or services are integral or dependent to other goods or services in the contract.
The Company estimates the transaction price based on the amount expected to be received for transferring the promised goods or services in the contract. The consideration may include fixed consideration or variable consideration. At the inception of each agreement that includes variable consideration, the Company evaluates the amount of potential payment and the likelihood that the payments will be received. The Company utilizes either the most likely amount method or expected value method to estimate the amount expected to be received based on which method best predicts the amount expected to be received. The amount of variable consideration that is included in the transaction price may be constrained and is included in the transaction price only to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal in the amount of the cumulative revenue recognized will not occur in a future period.
The Company’s contracts often include development and regulatory milestone payments that are assessed under the most likely amount method and constrained if it is probable that a significant revenue reversal would occur. Milestone payments that are not within the Company’s control or the licensee’s control, such as regulatory approvals, are not considered probable of being achieved until those approvals are received. At the end of each reporting period, the Company re-evaluates the probability of achievement of such development and clinical milestones and any related constraint, and if necessary, adjusts its estimate of the overall transaction price. Any such adjustments are recorded on a cumulative catch-up basis, which would affect collaboration and other research and development revenue in the period of adjustment.
10
For agreements that include sales-based royalties, including milestone payments based on the level of sales, and the license is deemed to be the predominant item to which the royalties relate, the Company recognizes revenue at the later of (i) when the related sales occur, or (ii) when the performance obligation to which some or all of the royalty has been allocated has been satisfied (or partially satisfied). To date, the Company has not recognized any royalty revenue resulting from any of the Company’s collaboration or strategic alliance agreements.
The Company allocates the transaction price based on the estimated standalone selling price. The Company must develop assumptions that require judgment to determine the stand-alone selling price for each performance obligation identified in the contract. The Company utilizes key assumptions to determine the stand-alone selling price, which may include other comparable transactions, pricing considered in negotiating the transaction, and the estimated costs. Variable consideration is allocated specifically to one or more performance obligations in a contract when the terms of the variable consideration relate to the satisfaction of the performance obligation and the resulting amounts allocated are consistent with the amounts the Company would expect to receive for the satisfaction of each performance obligation.
The consideration allocated to each performance obligation is recognized as revenue when control is transferred for the related goods or services. For performance obligations which consist of licenses and other promises, the Company utilizes judgment to assess the nature of the combined performance obligation to determine whether the combined performance obligation is satisfied over time or at a point in time and, if over time, the appropriate method of measuring progress. The Company evaluates the measure of progress each reporting period and, if necessary, adjusts the measure of performance and related revenue recognition.
The Company receives payments from its customers based on billing schedules established in each contract. Up-front payments and fees are recorded as deferred revenue upon receipt or when due until the Company performs its obligations under these arrangements. Amounts are recorded as accounts receivable when the Company’s right to consideration is unconditional.
Research and Development
Research and development costs are expensed as incurred in performing research and development activities. The costs include employee-related expense including salaries, benefits, share-based compensation, restructuring charges, fees for acquiring and maintaining licenses under third-party license agreements, consulting fees, market research, costs of research and development activities conducted by third parties on the Company’s behalf, costs to manufacture or have manufactured clinical trial materials, laboratory supplies, depreciation, and facilities and overhead costs. The Company records research and development expense in the period in which the Company receives or takes ownership of the applicable goods or when the applicable services are performed. In circumstances where amounts have been paid in excess of costs incurred, the Company records a prepaid expense.
The Company records up-front and milestone payments to acquire and retain contractual rights to licensed technology as research and development expenses when incurred if there is uncertainty in the Company receiving future economic benefit from the acquired contractual rights. The Company considers future economic benefits from acquired contractual rights to licensed technology to be uncertain until such a drug candidate is approved for sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or when other significant risk factors are abated.
Clinical Trial and Preclinical Study Accruals
The Company makes estimates of accrued expenses as of each balance sheet date in its condensed consolidated financial statements based on certain facts and circumstances at that time. The Company’s accrued expenses for clinical trials and preclinical studies are based on estimates of costs incurred for services provided by clinical research organizations, manufacturing organizations, and other providers. Payments under the Company’s agreements with external service providers depend on a number of factors, such as site initiation, patient screening, enrollment, delivery of reports, and other events. In accruing for these activities, the Company obtains information from various sources and estimates the level of effort or expense allocated to each period. Adjustments to the Company’s research and development expenses may be necessary in future periods as its estimates change.
Restructuring and Other Charges
The Company accounts for exit or disposal activities in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 420, Exit or Disposal Cost Obligations (“ASC 420”). A business restructuring is defined as an exit or disposal activity that includes, but is not limited to, a program that is planned and controlled by management and materially changes either the scope of a business or the manner in which that business is conducted. Business restructuring charges include (i) one-time termination benefits related to employee
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separations, (ii) contract termination costs, and (iii) other related costs associated with exit or disposal activities including. In 2020 and 2019, the Company implemented two phases of a restructuring plan to streamline the organization, reduce costs, and direct resources to advance the Company’s primary operating goals.
The Company recognizes and measures a liability for one-time termination benefits, for which no future service is required, once the plan of termination meets all of the following criteria for an established communication date: (i) management commits to a plan of termination, (ii) the plan identifies the number of employees to be terminated and their job classifications or functions, locations and the expected completion date, (iii) the plan establishes the terms of the benefit arrangement, and (iv) it is unlikely that significant changes to the plan will be made or the plan will be withdrawn. For one-time termination benefits for which future service is required, a liability is measured at the communication date based on its value as of the termination date and recognized ratably over the future service period. The Company recognizes and measures a liability for other related costs in the period in which the liability is incurred.
Share-Based Compensation
The Company accounts for share-based compensation expense related to stock options granted to employees and members of its board of directors under its 2008 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2008 Plan”) and under its 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2016 Plan”) by estimating the fair value of each stock option or award on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. The Company recognizes share-based compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the vesting term.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
All highly-liquid investments that have maturities of 90 days or less at the date of purchase are classified as cash equivalents. Cash equivalents are reported at cost, which approximates fair value due to the short maturities of these instruments.
Investments
The Company has designated its investments as available-for-sale securities and accounts for them at their respective fair values. The securities are classified as short-term or long-term based on the nature of the securities and their availability to meet current operating requirements. Securities that are readily available for use in current operations are classified as short-term available-for-sale securities and are reported as a component of current assets in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets.
Securities that are classified as available-for-sale are measured at fair value, including accrued interest, with temporary unrealized gains and losses reported as a component of stockholders’ equity until their disposition. The Company reviews available-for-sale securities at the end of each period to determine whether they remain available-for-sale based on its then current intent. The cost of securities sold is based on the specific identification method.
The securities are subject to a periodic impairment review. An impairment charge would occur when a decline in the fair value of the investments below the cost basis is judged to be other-than-temporary.
As of September 30, 2020, the Company did not have any balances associated with available-for-sale securities. As of December 31, 2019, the Company’s short-term available-for-sale securities had an amortized cost of $2.0 million, fair value of $2.0 million, and no no
Fair Value Measurements
The following tables present information about the Company’s financial assets and liabilities that have been measured at fair value and indicate the fair value of the hierarchy of the valuation inputs utilized to determine such fair value. In general, fair
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values determined by Level 1 inputs utilize quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Fair value determined by Level 2 inputs utilize observable inputs other than Level 1 prices, such as quoted prices, for similar assets or liabilities, quoted market prices in markets that are not active, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the related assets or liabilities. Fair values determined by Level 3 inputs are unobservable data points for the asset or liability, and include situations where there is little, if any, market activity for the asset or liability.
| September 30, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 1 | Level 3 | Level 1 | Level 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assets: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Money market funds (included in cash and cash equivalents) | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. treasury securities (included in short-term investments) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total assets | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| Liabilities: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common Stock warrants (included in accrued and other liabilities) | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
Certain of the Company’s financial instruments are not measured at fair value on a recurring basis but are recorded at amounts that approximate their fair value due to the short-term nature of their maturities, such as cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and accrued expenses. The carrying amount of the Company’s note payable approximates its fair value (a Level 2 fair value measurement), reflecting interest rates currently available to the Company.
Concentrations of Credit Risk
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash equivalents, which include short-term investments that have maturities of less than three months. The Company maintains deposits in federally insured financial institutions in excess of federally insured limits. The Company has not experienced any losses in such accounts. The Company invests its excess cash primarily in deposits and money market funds held with one financial institution.
Property and Equipment
The Company carries its property and equipment at cost, less accumulated depreciation and amortization. Depreciation is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets, generally to five years . Leasehold improvements are amortized over the shorter of the life of the lease (including any renewal periods that are deemed to be reasonably assured) or the estimated useful life of the assets. Construction in progress is not depreciated until placed in service. Repairs and maintenance costs are expensed as incurred and expenditures for major improvements are capitalized.
Operating Lease Right-of-Use Asset
The Company determines if an arrangement is, or contains, a lease at contract inception and during modifications or renewal of existing leases. Operating lease assets represent the Company’s right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and operating lease liabilities represent the Company’s obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. The Company’s existing operating lease assets and liabilities were recognized upon the date of transition to ASC 842, on January 1, 2020. Going forward the Company’s operating lease assets and liabilities will be recognized at the commencement date of the lease based upon the present value of lease payments over the lease term. The lease payments used to determine the Company’s operating
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Net Loss per Share
Basic net loss per share is calculated by dividing the net loss by the weighted average number of shares of Common Stock outstanding during the period without consideration of Common Stock equivalents. Since the Company was in a loss position for all periods presented, diluted net loss per share is the same as basic net loss per share for all periods, as the inclusion of all potential common shares outstanding is antidilutive.
Income Taxes
The Company accounts for income taxes by using an asset and liability method of accounting for deferred income taxes. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. A valuation allowance is recorded to the extent it is more likely than not that a deferred tax asset will not be realized. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in operations in the period that includes the enactment date.
The Company’s significant deferred tax assets are for net operating loss carryforwards, tax credits, accruals and reserves, and capitalized start-up costs. The Company has provided a valuation allowance for its entire net deferred tax assets since inception as, due to its history of operating losses, the Company has concluded that it is more likely than not that its deferred tax assets will not be realized.
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Segment Information
The Company operates in one operating segment and, accordingly, no segment disclosures have been presented herein. All equipment, leasehold improvements, and other fixed assets are physically located within the United States and all agreements with the Company’s partners are denominated in U.S. dollars, except where noted.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements – Adopted
Leases
In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), and subsequent amendments to the initial guidance: ASU No. 2017-13, ASU No. 2018-10, and ASU No. 2018-11 (collectively, “ASC 842”). The Company adopted ASC 842 on January 1, 2020, using the optional transition method permitted by ASU No. 2018-11 in which an immaterial prior-period cumulative adjustment was recorded at January 1, 2020. The Company’s building operating lease commitments are subject to the new standard, which resulted in an operating lease liability of $0.4 million and a right-of-use asset of $0.4 million, with no material effect on the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss.
3. RESTRUCTURING PLAN
In August 2019, the Company began implementing two phases of a cost restructuring plan to streamline the organization, reduce costs, and direct resources to advance cobomarsen and miR-29 mimics, including remlarsen and MRG-229, while reducing investments in new discovery research. The restructuring plan identified approximately 44 positions for elimination, or approximately 50 % of the Company’s then total workforce. The eliminated positions were primarily related to research and development and corresponding project, general, and administrative support. From the inception of the restructuring plan in August 2019 and through September 30, 2020, the Company had recorded cumulative restructuring expense of $2.4 million and expects to incur approximately $0.1 million in additional restructuring expense, related to this restructuring plan during the remainder of 2020.
The Company recorded $0.1 million and $0.3 million in restructuring charges during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, which was primarily related to retention transactions and recorded in research and development expenses on the condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss. No
The following table summarizes the Company’s accrued restructuring liability balance and associated activity (in thousands):
| December 31, 2019 | Additions | Adjustments | Cash Payments | September 30, 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retention | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Severance and severance-related expenses | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total restructuring liability | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4. STRATEGIC ALLIANCE AND COLLABORATION WITH SERVIER
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included finalizing the two Phase 1 clinical trials of MRG-110. The activities for which the Company is eligible for reimbursement under the Servier Collaboration Agreement were considered a research and development performance obligation and revenue was recognized in accordance with ASC 606 through the termination date.
Accounting Analysis
The Company evaluated the Servier Collaboration Agreement in accordance with the provisions in ASC 606. The Company has accounted for amendments to the Servier Collaboration Agreement as modifications to the original contract and not as separate contracts. The Company combined the amendments with the original agreement due to the modifications not resulting in increased promised goods or services that were distinct, and the price of the contract did not increase by an amount of consideration that reflects the Company’s standalone selling prices.
The Company identified several performance obligations under the Servier Collaboration Agreement and allocated the transaction price to these performance obligations based on the relative estimated standalone selling prices of each performance obligation or, in the case of certain variable consideration, to one or more performance obligations. Research and development activities are priced generally at the standard labor rates for the respective activity and transfer of materials are generally priced at cost. Milestone payments are individually negotiated and because of the unique nature of each milestone, there are no comparable transactions to compare to; therefore, the negotiated amounts of the milestones in the agreement are the standalone selling price.
Amounts incurred and billable, but not billed to Servier, for research and related intellectual property activities totaled $0.3 million as of December 31, 2019, which are included in prepaid expenses and other current assets in the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets. No amounts were incurred and billable, but not billed to Servier, for research and related intellectual property activities as of September 30, 2020. As of September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, the Company had no
Collaboration revenue under the Servier Collaboration Agreement consisted of the following:
| Three Months Ended September 30, | Nine Months Ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Research and development reimbursable costs | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
5. PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT
Property and equipment, net, consisted of the following:
| September 30, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | ||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||
| Lab equipment | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Leasehold improvements | |||||||||||
| Computer hardware and software | |||||||||||
| Furniture and fixtures | |||||||||||
| Property and equipment, gross | |||||||||||
| Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Property and equipment, net | $ | $ | |||||||||
During the three months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, depreciation and amortization expense was $0.1 0.2
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6. ACCRUED LIABILITIES
Accrued liabilities consisted of the following:
| September 30, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | ||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||
| Accrued outsourced clinical trials and preclinical studies | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Accrued employee compensation and related taxes | |||||||||||
| Operating lease liability | |||||||||||
| Restructuring liability | |||||||||||
| Accrued legal fees and expenses | |||||||||||
| Accrued other professional service fees | |||||||||||
| Value of liability-classified stock purchase warrants | |||||||||||
| Deferred and accrued facility lease obligations | |||||||||||
| Other accrued liabilities | |||||||||||
| Total accrued liabilities | $ | $ | |||||||||
7. NOTES PAYABLE
2017 Silicon Valley Bank Loan Agreement
In November 2017, the Company entered into a loan and security agreement with Silicon Valley Bank (the “2017 SVB Loan Agreement”). Upon entry into the 2017 SVB Loan Agreement, the Company borrowed $10.0 million with a 30 -month payment period following an 18 -month interest-only payment period ending in November 2021. In April 2020, the 2017 Loan Agreement was amended to extend the interest-only payment period and extended maturity date by an additional six months . Amounts outstanding bear interest at the prime rate (3.25 % and 4.75 % at September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively), with a final payment fee equal to $0.9 million due upon maturity. As of September 30, 2020, no additional amounts are available under the 2017 SVB Loan Agreement.
The Company may elect to prepay prior to maturity all or any portion of the outstanding principal amounts under the 2017 SVB Loan Agreement, subject to a prepayment charge, depending on the date of prepayment or upon the occurrence of an event of default in which the Company’s obligations to repay the outstanding principal is accelerated. The Company’s obligations under the 2017 SVB Loan Agreement are secured by a first-priority security interest, right, and title in all business assets, excluding the Company’s intellectual property, which is subject to a negative pledge.
The 2017 SVB Loan Agreement includes customary representations, warranties, and covenants (affirmative and negative), including restrictive covenants that limit the Company’s ability to: encumber or dispose of the collateral securing the loan; change the business of the Company; transfer a material portion of the Company’s assets; acquire other businesses; and merge or consolidate with or into any other business organization; incur additional indebtedness; declare or pay any cash dividend or make a cash distribution on any class of stock or other equity interest; enter into specified material transactions with Company affiliates; make non-ordinary course payments or enter into any amendment regarding subordinated debt of the Company; or become an “investment company” under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended; in each case subject to specified exceptions.
The 2017 SVB Loan Agreement also includes standard events of default, including payment defaults; breaches of covenants following any applicable cure period; material breaches of representations or warranties; the occurrence of a material adverse change (as defined in the 2017 SVB Loan Agreement); events relating to bankruptcy or insolvency; breaches of material third-party agreements; the occurrence of an unsatisfied material judgment against the Company; and specified governmental actions against the Company, including specified actions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Upon the occurrence of an event of default, Silicon Valley Bank may declare all outstanding obligations immediately due and payable, including a prepayment charge, and take such other actions as are set forth in the 2017 SVB Loan Agreement. Upon the occurrence of an event of default, at the Silicon Valley Bank’s discretion, interest on the 2017 SVB Loan Agreement will accrue at 5.0 % above the rate that is otherwise applicable thereto until the earlier of the repayment of the Company’s obligations under the 2017 SVB Loan Agreement or the cure of such event of default.
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Amounts outstanding under the 2017 SVB Loan Agreement were as follows (in thousands):
| September 30, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | ||||||||||
| Principal amount outstanding | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Unamortized debt discount | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Accreted final payment fee | |||||||||||
| Total note payable | |||||||||||
| Less: current maturities | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Note payable, net of current portion | $ | $ | |||||||||
Future annual minimum principal payments under the 2017 SVB Loan Agreement as of September 30, 2020 for the respective calendar years are as follows (in thousands):
| 2020 | $ | ||||
| 2021 | |||||
| 2022 | |||||
| Total | $ | ||||
Paycheck Protection Program Loan
In April 2020, the Company received approximately $1.7 million in loan funding under the Paycheck Protection Program (the “PPP”), established pursuant to the CARES Act and administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (the “SBA”). The unsecured loan (the “PPP Loan”) is evidenced by a promissory note of the Company (the “Note”) in the principal amount of approximately $1.7 million, to Silicon Valley Bank (the “Bank”), the lender.
Under the terms of the Note and the PPP Loan, interest accrues on the outstanding principal at the rate of 1.0 % per annum. The term of the Note is two years , though it may be payable sooner in connection with an event of default under the Note. To the extent the loan amount is not forgiven under the PPP, the Company is obligated to make equal monthly payments of principal and interest. Payments of principal and interest on the PPP Loan will be deferred for the first six months of the PPP Loan term.
The CARES Act and the PPP provide a mechanism for forgiveness of up to the full amount borrowed. In October 2020, the Company applied for forgiveness for the full amount of the PPP Loan, of which all or a portion may be forgiven. The amount of loan proceeds eligible for forgiveness is based on a formula that takes into account a number of factors, including the amount of loan proceeds used by the Company during the eight-week period after the loan origination for certain purposes, including payroll costs, interest on certain mortgage obligations, rent payments on certain leases, and certain qualified utility payments, provided that at least 75% of the loan amount is used for eligible payroll costs. Subject to the other requirements and limitations on loan forgiveness, only loan proceeds spent on payroll and other eligible costs during the covered eight-week period will qualify for forgiveness. The Company used the PPP Loan for qualifying and other related expenses. The Company can provide no assurance that it will obtain forgiveness of the PPP Loan in whole or in part.
The Note may be prepaid in part or in full, at any time, without penalty. The Note provides for certain customary events of default, including (i) the Company’s failure to make a payment when due under the Note, (ii) the Company’s failure to do anything required by the Note or any other loan document, (iii) if the Company defaults on any other loan with the Bank, (iv) the Company’s failure to preserve, or account to the Bank’s satisfaction for, any of the collateral or its proceeds, (v) the Company’s failure, or anyone acting on behalf of the Company’s failure, to disclose any material fact to the Bank or the SBA, (vi) if the Company makes, or anyone acting on behalf of the Company makes, a materially false or misleading representation to the Bank or the SBA, (vii) the Company’s default on any loan or agreement with another creditor, if the Bank believes the default may materially affect the Company’s ability to pay the Note, (viii) the Company’s failure to pay any taxes when due, (ix) if the Company becomes the subject of a proceeding under any bankruptcy or insolvency law, (x) if the Company has a receiver or liquidator appointed for any part of the Company’s business or property, (xi) if the Company makes an assignment for the benefit of creditors, (xii) if the Company has any adverse change in financial condition or business operation that the Bank believes may materially affect the Company’s ability to pay the Note, (xiii) if the Company reorganizes, merges, consolidates, or otherwise changes ownership or business structure without the Bank’s prior written consent, or (xiv) if the Company becomes the subject of a civil or criminal action that the Bank believes may materially affect the Company’s ability to pay the Note. Upon the occurrence of an event of default, the Bank has customary remedies and may, among other things,
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require immediate payment of all amounts owed under the Note, collect all amounts owing from the Company, and file suit and obtain judgment against the Company.
Amounts outstanding under the PPP Loan were as follows (in thousands):
| September 30, 2020 | |||||||||||
| Principal amount outstanding | $ | ||||||||||
| Less: current maturities | ( | ||||||||||
| Note payable, net of current portion | $ | ||||||||||
Future annual minimum principal payments under the PPP Loan as of September 30, 2020 for the respective calendar years are as follows (in thousands):
| 2020 | $ | ||||
| 2021 | |||||
| 2022 | |||||
| Total | $ | ||||
8. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Subcontract Agreement with Yale University
The Company is party to a subcontract agreement that began in October 2014 and a subaward agreement that began in March 2015 (the “Yale Agreements”) with Yale University (“Yale”), which were subsequently amended. Under the Yale Agreements, the Company is providing specified services regarding the development of a proprietary compound that targets miR-29 in the indication of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Yale entered into the Yale Agreements in connection with a grant that Yale received from the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) for the development of a miR-29 mimic as a potential therapy for pulmonary fibrosis.
In consideration of the Company’s services under the Yale Agreements, Yale has agreed to reimburse the Company up to a specified amount over five years , subject to the availability of funds under the grant and continued eligibility. Under the terms of the Yale Agreements, the Company retains all rights to any and all intellectual property developed solely by the Company in connection with the Yale Agreements. Yale has also agreed to provide the Company with an exclusive option to negotiate in good faith for an exclusive, royalty-bearing license from Yale for any intellectual property developed by Yale or jointly by the parties under the Yale Agreements. Yale is responsible for filing, prosecuting, and maintaining foreign and domestic patent applications and patents on all inventions jointly developed by the parties under the Yale Agreements. Through September 30, 2020, the Company has received $1.2 million under the Yale Agreements.
The Yale Agreements terminate automatically on the date that Yale delivers its final research report to the NIH under the terms of the grant underlying the Yale Agreements. Each party may also terminate the Yale Agreements upon a specified number of days’ notice in the event that the NIH’s grant funding is reduced or terminated or upon material breach by the other party.
Lease Obligation Payable
The Company is party to a multi-year, noncancelable lease agreement that began in December 2010 for its current office and lab space. The lease agreement includes rent escalation clauses through the lease term and a Company option to extend the lease term for up to two terms of three years each. Minimum base lease payments under the lease agreement, including the impact of tenant improvement allowances, are recognized on a straight-line basis over the full term of the lease. The lease term was amended in April 2020, which extended the lease term. As of September 30, 2020, the lease was scheduled to mature on December 31, 2021.
Upon adoption, the Company recognized a right-of-use asset and corresponding lease liability for the lease agreement of $0.4 million as of January 1, 2020, by calculating the present value of lease payments, discounted at 6 %, the Company’s estimated incremental borrowing rate, over the 12 months expected remaining term. As a result of the transition to , the Company recorded an immaterial prior-period adjustment, as a cumulative-effect adjustment, at January 1, 2020. In April
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2020, when the lease was amended, the Company accounted for the amendment as a lease modification in accordance with ASC 842, which resulted in an immaterial adjustment to the right-of-use asset and corresponding lease liability.
The interest rate implicit in the lease contract is not readily determinable and as such, the Company’s uses an incremental borrowing rate, based on prior borrowing rates, at the implementation date. This is an internally developed rate that would be incurred to borrow, with similar collateral, over the term of the lease.
Amortization of the operating lease right-of-use asset, and corresponding reduction of operating lease obligation, amounted to $0.1 million and $0.3 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, and was included in operating expense in the condensed consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, lease rental expense, and the corresponding cash outflow, was approximately $0.1 million and $0.2 million, respectively.
As of September 30, 2020, the remaining lease term was 1.3 years. Future minimum payments as of September 30, 2020 were approximately $0.5 million through December 31, 2021. As of September 30, 2020, the Company’s operating lease obligations were reflected as operating lease liabilities of $0.4 million as accrued liabilities and $0.1 million as other liabilities in the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets.
The Company is also required to pay for operating expenses related to the leased space, which were $0.1 million and $0.2 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, and $0.1 million and $0.3 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively. The operating expenses are incurred separately and were not included in the present value of lease payments.
9. CAPITAL STOCK
Common Stock
The Company is authorized to issue 105,000,000 shares of its stock, of which 100,000,000 shares have been designated as Common Stock and 5,000,000 shares have been designated as preferred stock with a par value of $0.01 per share. The number of authorized shares of Common Stock may be increased or decreased by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the Company’s stock who are entitled to vote. Each share of Common Stock is entitled to one vote. The holders of Common Stock are entitled to receive dividends when and as declared or paid by its board of directors.
Common Stock Purchase Agreement - Aspire Capital Fund, LLC
In December 2019, the Company entered into a common stock purchase agreement (“the Aspire Stock Purchase Agreement”), with Aspire Capital Fund, LLC (“Aspire Capital”), which provides that, subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations set forth therein, Aspire Capital is committed to purchase up to an aggregate of $20.0 million of shares of Common Stock over the 30 -month term of the Aspire Stock Purchase Agreement. Upon execution of the Aspire Stock Purchase Agreement, the Company sold to Aspire Capital 1,598,465 shares of Common Stock at $0.63 per share for proceeds of $1.0 million (the “Initial Purchase Shares”). As consideration for entering into the Aspire Stock Purchase Agreement, concurrently with the execution of the Aspire Stock Purchase Agreement and the Initial Purchase Shares, the Company issued to 959,079 shares of Common Stock to Aspire Capital as a non-refundable commitment fee, for a total issuance of 2,557,544 shares.
During the three months ended September 30, 2020, the Company sold to Aspire Capital 3,982,806 shares of Common Stock at a weighted-average price of $1.19 per share for aggregate net proceeds of $4.7 million. During the nine months ended September 30, 2020, the Company sold to Aspire Capital 6,182,806 shares of Common Stock at a weighted-average price of $1.42 per share for aggregate net proceeds of $8.8 million. As of September 30, 2020, the Company may sell an additional $10.2 million of shares of Common Stock to Aspire Capital. Under the Aspire Stock Purchase Agreement, the Company has the right, in its sole discretion, on any trading day selected by it, and within certain specified limitations, to present Aspire Capital with a purchase notice, directing Aspire Capital (as principal) to purchase up to 200,000 shares of Common Stock per business day at a per share price equal to the lesser of (i) the lowest sale price of Common Stock on the purchase date or (ii) the average of the three lowest closing sale prices for the Common Stock during the 10 consecutive business days ending on the business day immediately preceding the purchase date. The Company also has the right to require Aspire Capital to purchase up to an additional 30 % of the trading volume of the shares for the next business day at a purchase price (the “VWAP Purchase Price”), equal to the lesser of: (i) the closing sale price of the shares on the purchase date, or (ii) ninety-seven percent (97 %) of the next business day’s volume weighted average price (each such purchase, a “VWAP Purchase”). The Company shall have the right, in its sole discretion, to determine a maximum number of shares and set a minimum market price threshold for each VWAP
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Purchase. The Company can only require a VWAP Purchase if the Company has also submitted a regular purchase on the notice date for the VWAP Purchase. There are no limits on the number of VWAP purchases that the Company may require.
The Aspire Stock Purchase Agreement may be terminated by the Company at any time, at the Company’s discretion, without any cost to the Company. There are no limitations on use of proceeds, financial or business covenants, restrictions on future financings, rights of first refusal, participation rights, penalties, or liquidated damages in the Aspire Stock Purchase Agreement.
Common Stock Purchase Agreement - The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Inc.
In August 2018, the Company and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Inc. (“LLS”) entered into a Common Stock Purchase Agreement (the “LLS Stock Purchase Agreement”), which was subsequently assigned to LLS TAP Miragen, LLC (“LLS TAP”) pursuant to an Assignment and Assumption Agreement, effective October 28, 2019 (the “Assignment Agreement”), for the sale of up to $5.0 million of shares of Common Stock to LLS and its affiliates in a private placement (the “Offering”). Under the terms of the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement, the Company may raise up to approximately $5.0 million in gross proceeds by selling shares of Common Stock to LLS and its affiliates in up to five separate closings. The initial closing of the Offering was held on August 6, 2018. At the initial closing, the Company issued 150,987 shares of Common Stock at a price per share equal to $6.62 . On October 31, 2019, the Company issued an additional 606,364 shares of Common Stock to LLS TAP at a price per share of approximately $0.82 . The Company has received aggregate net proceeds of approximately $1.4 million after expenses incurred in connection with the Offering. The price per share of Common Stock to be sold in any subsequent closing will be equal to the average of the volume weighted-average prices of a share of Common Stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market for the three trading days beginning with the first trading day after the date of achievement of the relevant milestone for each such closing. Each closing is subject to the Company’s achievement of specified operational milestones under the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement and other customary closing conditions, provided, however, that each such closing must be completed prior to December 31, 2021. The Company does not anticipate it will achieve any of the remaining milestones under the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement.
Common Stock Sales Agreement
In March 2017, the Company entered into a Common Stock Sales Agreement (the “ATM Agreement”) with Cowen and Company, LLC (“Cowen”) under which the Company may offer and sell, from time to time at its sole discretion, shares of its Common Stock having an aggregate offering price of up to $50.0 million through Cowen as its sales agent in an “at the market” offering.
Cowen may sell the Common Stock by any method permitted by law deemed to be an “at the market offering” as defined in Rule 415 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, including without limitation sales made by means of ordinary brokers’ transactions on The Nasdaq Capital Market or otherwise at market prices prevailing at the time of sale, in block transactions, or as otherwise directed by the Company. Cowen will use commercially reasonable efforts to sell the Common Stock from time to time, based upon instructions from the Company (including any price, time, or size limits or other customary parameters or conditions the Company may impose). The Company will pay Cowen a commission equal to 3.0 % of the gross sales proceeds of any Common Stock sold through Cowen under the ATM Agreement. The Company also has provided Cowen with customary indemnification rights.
The Company is not obligated to make any sales of Common Stock under the ATM Agreement. The offering of shares of Common Stock pursuant to the ATM Agreement will terminate upon the earlier of: (i) the sale of all Common Stock subject to the ATM Agreement or (ii) termination of the ATM Agreement in accordance with its terms.
During the nine months ended September 30, 2020, the Company sold, pursuant to the terms of the ATM Agreement, 975,063 shares of Common Stock, at a weighted average price of $0.72 per share, for aggregate net proceeds of approximately $0.7 million, including commissions to Cowen as sales agent. Since March 2017 and through September 30, 2020, the Company sold, pursuant to the terms of the ATM Agreement, an aggregate of 2,846,449 shares of Common Stock, at a weighted average price of $4.25 per share, for aggregate net proceeds of approximately $11.6 million, including initial expenses for executing the “at the market offering” and commissions to Cowen as sales agent.
Common Stock Public Offering
In February 2020, the Company entered into an underwriting agreement with Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. (“Oppenheimer”) as the underwriter relating to a public offering of Common Stock, pursuant to which Oppenheimer purchased 15,000,000 shares of Common Stock and warrants to purchase 7,500,000 shares of Common Stock. Each whole warrant has an exercise price of $1.10 per share and expires on the fifth anniversary of the date of issuance. The shares of common stock and warrants were sold
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together as a fixed combination, each consisting of one share of Common Stock and one-half warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable to purchase one whole share of Common Stock but were issued separately and were immediately separable upon issuance. The combined price to the public in the offering for each share of Common Stock and accompanying half warrant was $1.00 , which resulted in approximately $13.9 million of net proceeds to the Company after deducting underwriting commissions and discounts and other estimated offering expenses payable by the Company and excluding the proceeds, if any, from the exercise of the warrants.
Series Preferred
As of September 30, 2020, the Company had no shares of preferred stock outstanding and had not designated any class or series of preferred stock. Under the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation, the Company’s board of directors has the authority to designate and issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, at its discretion, in one or more classes or series and to fix the powers, preferences and rights, and the qualifications, limitations, or restrictions thereof, including dividend rights, conversion rights, voting rights, terms of redemption, and liquidation preferences, without further vote or action by the Company’s stockholders. Refer to Note 1. Description of Business regarding the issuance of Series A Preferred Stock in October 2020.
10. WARRANTS
Upon the issuance of warrants to purchase shares of common stock, the Company evaluates the terms of the warrant issue to determine the appropriate accounting and classification of the warrant issue pursuant to FASB ASC Topic 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity, FASB ASC Topic 505, Equity, FASB ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging, and ASC 718, Compensation - Stock Compensation. Warrants are classified as liabilities when the Company may be required to settle a warrant exercise in cash and classified as equity when the Company settles a warrant exercise in shares of its common stock.
Liability-classified warrants are valued at fair value at the date of issue and at each reporting date pursuant to FASB ASC 820, Fair Value Measurement, and are reflected as a warrant liability on the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets with the change in the warrant liability during each reporting period reflected as a gain (loss) from change in fair value of warrant liability in the condensed consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss.
| Number of Underlying Shares (1) | Weighted Average Exercise Price at September 30, 2020 | Remaining Contractual Life at September 30, 2020 (No. Years) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| September 30, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Liability-classified warrants | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issued April 2017 | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Equity-classified warrants | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issued February 2020 (2) | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issued November 2017 | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Acquired February 2017 | $ | — | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Subtotal | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total warrants | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
____________________
(1)If the Company subdivides (by any stock split, stock dividend, recapitalization or otherwise) its outstanding shares of its common stock into a smaller number of shares, the warrant exercise price is proportionately reduced and the number of shares under outstanding warrants is proportionately increased. Additionally, if the Company combines (by combination, reverse stock split or otherwise) its outstanding shares of common stock into a smaller number of shares, the warrant exercise price is proportionately increased and the number of shares under outstanding warrants is proportionately decreased.
(2)Subject to specified conditions, the Company may voluntarily reduce the warrant exercise price of the warrants issued in February 2020.
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A summary of the Company’s warrant activity during the nine months ended September 30, 2020 is as follows:
| Common Stock Warrants | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | Weighted Average Exercise Price | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Outstanding at December 31, 2019 | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Granted | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Expired | ( | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Outstanding at September 30, 2020 | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Liability-Classified Warrants
Unless the warrant contract specifies otherwise, the Company uses the Black-Scholes option pricing model to determine the fair value of its warrants at the date of issue and outstanding at each reporting date. The risk-free interest rate assumption is based upon observed interest rates on zero coupon U.S. Treasury bonds commensurate with the term of the warrants. Estimated volatility is a measure of the amount by which the Company’s stock price is expected to fluctuate each year during the expected life of the warrants. Where appropriate, the Company uses the historical volatility of peer entities, due to the lack of sufficient historical data of its stock price.
In connection with the 2017 merger, the Company exchanged warrants issued in 2015 for new warrants to purchase 11,718 shares of its Common Stock. These warrants have an exercise price of $8.53 per share and expire ten years from the date of issuance. The fair value of the warrants issued in April 2015, was determined by the redemption amount of $0.1 million, or $8.53 per share, as stated in the warrant contract.
Equity-Classified Warrants
In connection with the Company’s public offering of its Common Stock and warrants that closed in February 2020, the Company issued warrants to purchase 7,500,000 shares of its common stock at a price of $1.10 per share that expire five years from the date of issuance. The terms of the warrants include certain provisions related to fundamental transactions, a cashless exercise provision in the event registered shares are not available, and do not include any mandatory redemption provisions. Therefore, as of September 30, 2020, the warrants have been classified as equity with no subsequent remeasurement as long as the warrants continue to be classified as equity. On November 6, 2020, warrants were exercised to purchase 500,000 shares of Common Stock for proceeds of approximately $0.6 million.
In connection with the 2017 merger, the Company assumed 13,534 outstanding warrants to purchase shares of Common Stock at an exercise price of $52.50 per share. In June 2019, 2,827 of these warrants expired. The remaining 10,707 warrants expired on February 17, 2020. At issuance, the warrants were classified as equity and recorded at fair value with no subsequent remeasurement.
In connection with a debt financing in 2017, the Company issued detachable warrants to purchase up to 24,097 shares of the Company’s Common Stock at an exercise price of $7.15 per share that expire seven years from the date of issuance. At issuance, the warrants were classified as equity and recorded at fair value with no subsequent remeasurement.
11. SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION
Equity Incentive Plans
As of September 30, 2020, there were options exercisable for up to 1,050,991 shares of Common Stock outstanding and no remaining equity awards available for future issuances under the 2008 Plan. All awards granted under the 2008 Plan that, after February 13, 2017, expire or terminate for any reason prior to exercise or settlement, are forfeited, or are reacquired, withheld, or not issued to satisfy a tax withholding obligation or to satisfy the exercise price of a stock award, will become available for grant under the 2016 Plan in accordance with its terms.
The 2016 Plan provides for the grant of incentive stock options, nonstatutory stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock awards, restricted stock unit awards, other stock awards, and performance awards that may be settled in cash, stock, or other property. All employees and non-employee directors are eligible to participate in the 2016 Plan and may receive all types
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of awards other than incentive stock options. Incentive stock options may be granted under the 2016 Plan only to employees (including officers) and employees of the Company’s affiliates.
The aggregate number of shares of Common Stock that may be issued under the 2016 Plan will not exceed 4,182,404 shares, which number is the sum of: (i) 1,681,294 shares, plus (ii) the number of shares subject to outstanding stock awards that were granted under the 2008 Plan, that, from and after February 13, 2017, expire or terminate for any reason prior to exercise or settlement, are forfeited because of the failure to meet a contingency or condition required to vest such shares, or are reacquired, withheld, or not issued to satisfy a tax withholding obligation in connection with an award or to satisfy the purchase price or exercise price of a stock award, if any, as such shares become available from time to time, plus (iii) shares from automatic increases to the share reserve, as described in more detail below. In accordance with the 2016 Plan, the share reserve will automatically increase on January 1 of each year, for a period of not more than ten years , commencing on January 1 of the year following the year in which the effective date of the 2016 Plan occurs, and ending on (and including) January 1, 2026, in an amount equal to 4 % of the shares of Common Stock outstanding on December 31 of the preceding calendar year; however, the board of directors or compensation committee may act prior to January 1 of a given year to provide that there will be no January 1 increase in the share reserve for such year or that the increase in the share reserve for such year will be a lesser number of shares of Common Stock than would otherwise occur pursuant to the automatic increase. On January 1, 2020, the share reserve automatically increased by 1,394,475 shares. Cumulative increases to the share reserve through January 1, 2020 consisted of 3,530,773 shares. As of September 30, 2020, there were outstanding stock options to purchase 4,859,851 shares of Common Stock and 789,213 shares of Common Stock available for issuance pursuant to the terms under the 2016 Plan.
Options granted under the 2008 Plan and the 2016 Plan have an exercise price equal to the market value of the Common Stock at the date of grant and expire ten years from the date of grant. Generally, options vest 25 % on the first anniversary of the vesting commencement date and 75 % ratably in equal monthly installments over the remaining 36 months. The Company has also granted options that vest in equal monthly or quarterly amounts over periods up to 48 months.
A summary of Common Stock option activity is as follows:
| Number of Options (in thousands) | Weighted Average Exercise Price | Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term (years) | Aggregate Intrinsic Value (in thousands) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Outstanding at December 31, 2019 | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Granted | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Exercised | ( | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Forfeited or expired | ( | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Outstanding at September 30, 2020 | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Vested or expected to vest at September 30, 2020 | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Exercisable as of September 30, 2020 | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Vested as of September 30, 2020 | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||
Fair Value Assumptions
The Company uses the Black-Scholes option pricing model to estimate the fair value of stock options granted under its equity compensation plans. The Black-Scholes model requires inputs for risk-free interest rate, dividend yield, volatility, and expected lives of the options. Because the Company has a limited history of stock purchase and sale activity, expected volatility is based on historical data from public companies that are similar to the Company in size and nature of operations. The Company will continue to use similar entity volatility information until its historical volatility is relevant to measure expected volatility for option grants. The Company accounts for forfeitures as they occur. The risk-free rate for periods within the contractual life of each option is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of the grant for a period commensurate with the expected term of the grant. The expected term (without regard to forfeitures) for options granted represents the period of time that options granted are expected to be outstanding and is derived from the contractual terms of the options granted and expected option-exercise behaviors. The fair value of the underlying Common Stock is based on the closing price of the Common Stock on The Nasdaq Capital Market at the date of grant.
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Stock Options Granted
The weighted-average grant-date fair value of options granted to the Company’s employees and members of its board of directors during the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 was $0.69 and $2.31 , respectively. The fair value was determined by the Black-Scholes option pricing model using the following weighted-average assumptions:
| Nine Months Ended September 30, | |||||||||||
| 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||
| Expected term, in years | |||||||||||
| Expected volatility | % | % | |||||||||
| Risk-free interest rate | % | % | |||||||||
| Expected dividend yield | % | % | |||||||||
| Weighted-average exercise price | $ | $ | |||||||||
Employee Stock Purchase Plan
The 2016 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”) allows qualified employees to purchase shares of Common Stock at a price equal to 85 % of the lower of: (i) the closing price at the beginning of the offering period or (ii) the closing price at the end of the offering period. New six-month offering periods begin each August 22 and February 22. As of September 30, 2020, the Company had 933,469 shares available for issuance and 159,385 cumulative shares had been issued under the ESPP.
Share-Based Compensation Expense
Share-based compensation related to all equity awards issued pursuant to the 2008 Plan and 2016 Plan and for estimated shares to be issued under the ESPP for the purchase periods active during each respective period is included in the condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss as follows:
| Nine Months Ended September 30, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Research and development | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| General and administrative | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total share-based compensation expense | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||
As of September 30, 2020, the Company had $3.9 million of total unrecognized employee and non-employee share-based compensation costs, which the Company expects to recognize over a weighted-average remaining period of 2.11 years.
12. NET LOSS PER SHARE
Basic net loss per share is computed by dividing the net loss available to common stockholders by the weighted-average number of Common Stock outstanding. Diluted net loss per share is computed similarly to basic net loss per share except that the denominator is increased to include the number of additional shares of Common Stock that would have been outstanding if the potential shares of Common Stock had been issued and if the additional shares of Common Stock were dilutive. Diluted net loss per share is the same as basic net loss per share of Common Stock, as the effects of potentially dilutive securities are antidilutive.
Potentially dilutive securities include the following:
| September 30, | |||||||||||
| 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||
| Options to purchase Common Stock | |||||||||||
| Warrants to purchase Common Stock | |||||||||||
| Total | |||||||||||
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13. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
Nasdaq Minimum Bid Price
On October 8, 2020, the Company received a deficiency letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of the Nasdaq Stock Market notifying it that, for the last 30 consecutive business days, the bid price for the Company’s common stock had closed below the minimum $1.00 per share requirement for continued inclusion on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (“Minimum Bid Price Requirement”). In accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rules, the Company has an initial period of 180 calendar days to regain compliance with the minimum bid price rule. If the Company does not regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement by April 6, 2021, then the Company may be eligible for an additional 180 calendar day compliance period. The Company is actively monitoring its stock price and will consider any and all options available to regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement.
Agreement and Plan of Merger
On October 27, 2020, the Company acquired Viridian in accordance with the terms of the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated October 27, 2020 (the “Merger Agreement”), by and among the Company, Oculus Merger Sub I, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (“First Merger Sub”), Oculus Merger Sub II, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (“Second Merger Sub”), and Viridian. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, First Merger Sub merged with and into Viridian, pursuant to which Viridian was the surviving corporation and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (the “First Merger”). Immediately following the First Merger, Viridian merged with and into Second Merger Sub, pursuant to which Second Merger Sub was the surviving entity (together with the First Merger, the “Merger”). The Merger is intended to qualify as a tax-free reorganization for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, at the closing of the Merger, the Company issued or reserved for the issuance of an aggregate of 11,409,188 shares of the Company’s Common Stock and 203,202 shares of Series A Preferred Stock (as described below) to securityholders of Viridian. Each share of Series A Preferred Stock is convertible into 1,000 shares of Common Stock, subject to certain conditions described below.
Certain shares of Common Stock outstanding immediately after the Merger are held by stockholders subject to lock-up restrictions, pursuant to which such stockholders have agreed, except in limited circumstances, not to sell or transfer, or engage in swap or similar transactions with respect to, shares of the Common Stock, including, as applicable, shares received in the Merger and issuable upon exercise of certain options, for a period of 180 days following the closing of the Merger.
Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, the Company has agreed to hold a stockholders’ meeting to submit the following matters to its stockholders for their consideration: (i) the approval of the conversion of the Series A Preferred Stock into shares of Common Stock in accordance with the Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(a) (the “Conversion Proposal”), and (ii) if necessary, the approval of an amendment to the certificate of incorporation of the Company to authorize sufficient shares of Common Stock for the conversion of the Series A Preferred Stock issued pursuant to the Merger Agreement and the Securities Purchase Agreement (as described below) (the “Charter Amendment Proposal”) (and together with the Conversion Proposal, the “Meeting Proposals”). In connection with these matters, the Company intends to file with the SEC a proxy statement and other relevant materials.
Additionally, if the Company’s stockholders do not timely approve the conversion of the Series A Preferred Stock, then the holders of the Series A Preferred Stock may be entitled to require the Company to settle their shares of Series A Preferred Stock for cash at a price per share equal to the fair value of the Series A Preferred Stock, as described in the Company’s certificate of designation relating to the Series A Preferred Stock. If the Company is forced to settle any shares of Series A Preferred Stock, it could materially affect the Company’s results of operations.
The Company’s board of directors approved the Merger Agreement and the related transactions, and the consummation of the Merger was not subject to approval of the Company’s stockholders.
Support Agreements
In connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement, the Company and Viridian entered into stockholder support agreements (the “Support Agreements”) with the Company’s directors and officers. The Support Agreements provide that, among other things, each of the stockholders has agreed to vote or cause to be voted all of the shares of Common Stock owned
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by such stockholder in favor of the Meeting Proposals at the Company stockholders’ meeting to be held in connection therewith.
Lock-up Agreements
Concurrently and in connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement, certain Viridian securityholders as of immediately prior to the Merger, and the Company’s directors and officers as of immediately following the Merger entered into lock-up agreements with the Company and Viridian, pursuant to which each such stockholder will be subject to a 180-day lockup on the sale or transfer of shares of Common Stock held by each such stockholder at the closing of the Merger (the “Closing”), including those shares received by Viridian securityholders in the Merger (the “Lock-up Agreements”).
Contingent Value Rights Agreement
The Merger Agreement contemplates that within 30 days following the Closing, the Company and the Rights Agent (as defined therein) will execute and deliver a contingent value rights agreement (the “CVR Agreement”), pursuant to which each holder of Common Stock as of November 6, 2020, other than former stockholders of Viridian, shall be entitled to one contractual contingent value right issued by the Company, subject to and in accordance with the terms and conditions of the CVR Agreement, for each share of Common Stock held by such holder. Each contingent value right shall entitle the holder thereof to receive certain cash payments from the net proceeds, if any, related to the disposition of the Company’s legacy programs to develop product candidates that modulate microRNAs within five years following the Closing. The contingent value rights are not transferable, except in certain limited circumstances as will be provided in the CVR Agreement, will not be certificated or evidenced by any instrument and will not be registered with the SEC or listed for trading on any exchange.
Private Placement and Securities Purchase Agreement
On October 27, 2020, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with the purchasers named therein (the “Investors”). Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, the Company agreed to sell an aggregate of approximately 195,290 shares of Series A Preferred Stock for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $91.0 million (collectively, the “Financing”). Each share of Series A Preferred Stock is convertible into 1,000 shares of Common Stock, as described below. The powers, preferences, rights, qualifications, limitations, and restrictions applicable to the Series A Preferred Stock are set forth in the Certificate of Designation filed in connection with the Financing.
Holders of Series A Preferred Stock are entitled to receive dividends on shares of Series A Preferred Stock equal, on an as-if-converted-to-Common-Stock basis, and in the same form as dividends actually paid on shares of the Common Stock. Except as otherwise required by law, the Series A Preferred Stock does not have voting rights. However, as long as any shares of Series A Preferred Stock are outstanding, the Company will not, without the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the then outstanding shares of the Series A Preferred Stock, (a) alter or change adversely the powers, preferences or rights given to the Series A Preferred Stock, (b) alter or amend the Certificate of Designation, (c) amend its certificate of incorporation or other charter documents in any manner that adversely affects any rights of the holders of Series A Preferred Stock, (d) increase the number of authorized shares of Series A Preferred Stock, (e) prior to the stockholder approval of the Conversion Proposal or at any time while at least 40 % of the originally issued Series A Preferred Stock remains issued and outstanding, consummate a Fundamental Transaction (as defined in the Certificate of Designation) or (f) enter into any agreement with respect to any of the foregoing. The Series A Preferred Stock does not have a preference upon any liquidation, dissolution or winding-up of the Company.
Following stockholder approval of the Conversion Proposal, each share of Series A Preferred Stock is convertible into shares of Common Stock at any time at the option of the holder thereof, into 1,000 shares of Common Stock, subject to certain limitations, including that a holder of Series A Preferred Stock is prohibited from converting shares of Series A Preferred Stock into shares of Common Stock if, as a result of such conversion, such holder, together with its affiliates, would beneficially own more than a specified percentage (to be established by the holder between 4.99 % and 19.99 %) of the total number of shares of Common Stock issued and outstanding immediately after giving effect to such conversion.
Registration Rights Agreement
On the October 30, 2020, the Company entered into a Registration Rights Agreement (the “Registration Rights Agreement”) with the Investors. Pursuant to the Registration Rights Agreement, the Company will prepare and file a resale registration statement with the SEC within 90 calendar days following October 30, 2020 (the “Filing Deadline”). The Company will use its reasonable best efforts to cause this registration statement to be declared effective by the SEC within 30 calendar days of the Filing Deadline (or within 60 calendar days if the SEC reviews the registration statement).
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The Company has also agreed to, among other things, indemnify the Investors, their officers, directors, members, employees and agents, successors and assigns under the registration statement from certain liabilities and pay all fees and expenses (excluding any legal fees of the selling holder(s), and any underwriting discounts and selling commissions) incident to the Company’s obligations under the Registration Rights Agreement.
Assumption of Stock Option Plan
Upon closing of the Merger, the Company assumed all the outstanding options issued under Viridian’s 2020 Equity Incentive Plan. The terms and conditions for each assumed option are substantially the same as prior to the Merger, including that the assumed options remain subject to the terms and conditions of Viridian’s 2020 Equity Incentive Plan, provided that each assumed option shall now be exercisable for shares of the Company’s common stock and the number of shares issuable upon exercise of, and the exercise price per share for, each assumed option has been appropriately adjusted to give effect to the Merger.
Warrants
In connection with the Company’s public offering of its Common Stock and warrants that closed in February 2020, the Company issued warrants to purchase 7,500,000 shares of its common stock at a price of $1.10 per share (the “Warrants”). Pursuant to the terms of the Warrants, the Merger constitutes a fundamental transaction resulting in the potential cash settlement of the Warrants.
Reverse Stock Split
The Company plans to effect a reverse stock split of its shares of common stock at a ratio of 1-for-15. The Company anticipates the stock split will be effective as of November 12, 2020, and trading of the Common Stock will begin on a split-adjusted basis on November 13, 2020. The Common Stock will continue to trade on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol "MGEN," although a new CUSIP number (60463E 202) has been assigned.
The Company’s stockholders approved the reverse stock split, and granted the Company’s board of directors the authority to effect a reverse stock split, at the Company’s annual meeting of shareholders held on May 21, 2020.
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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, or this Quarterly Report, contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties for purposes of the safe harbor provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this Quarterly Report, other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding our strategy, future operations, future financial position, liquidity, future revenue, projected expenses, results of operations, expectations concerning the timing and our ability to report data from ongoing and planned non-clinical studies and clinical trials, prospects, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. The words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “expect,” “predict,” “potential,” “opportunity,” “goals,” or “should,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on management’s current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results and performance could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of many factors. Unless otherwise mentioned or unless the context requires otherwise, all references in this Quarterly Report, to “miRagen,” “company,” “we,” “us” and “our” or similar references refer to Miragen Therapeutics, Inc., and our consolidated subsidiaries.
We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives, and financial needs. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, including those described in Part II, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in this Quarterly Report, and under a similar heading in any other periodic or current report we may file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, in the future. You are advised to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and our website. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the future events and trends discussed in this Quarterly Report, may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements.
We undertake no obligation to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Given these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.
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ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion and analysis should be read together with our condensed consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto included in Part I, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report and our consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2019, included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 13, 2020. This discussion and other parts of this report contain forward-looking statements reflecting our current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties, such as our plans, objectives, expectations, intentions, and beliefs. See “Forward-Looking Statements” for a discussion of the uncertainties, risks, and assumptions associated with these statements. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those identified below and those discussed in the section entitled “Risk Factors” included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report.
Overview and Recent Developments
We are a biotechnology company advancing new treatments for patients with diseases that are underserved by current therapies. Our most advanced program, VRDN-001, is a clinical-stage anti-IGF-1R monoclonal antibody in development for thyroid eye disease, a debilitating condition that can cause bulging eyes, or proptosis, as well as double vision and potential blindness. In association with the merger described below, our business strategy transitioned to prioritizing VRDN-001 in development of thyroid eye disease and away from legacy programs developing product candidates that modulate microRNAs.
Pending feedback from regulatory authorities, we expect to initiate a Phase 2 clinical trial of VRDN-001 in TED in 2021. This planned clinical trial will be informed by data from previous U.S. and European Union, or EU, studies in which more than 100 oncology patients were administered the antibody under the name AVE-1642. The pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and safety and tolerability data from these previous studies will inform our trial designs in TED. We hold exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize VRDN-001 for all non-oncology indications that do not use radiopharmaceuticals, including the treatment of TED. Our product candidate VRDN-001 was previously licensed from ImmunoGen, Inc.
In parallel with the development of VRDN-001, we are advancing VRDN-002 with the goal of developing a convenient, at-home subcutaneous injection product. VRDN-002 seeks to improve on first-generation IGF-1R-targeted antibodies by incorporating half-life extension technology to reduce the dose required to provide efficacy in TED. We expect to file an investigational new drug application for VRDN-002 by the end of 2021.
Agreement and Plan of Merger
On October 27, 2020, we acquired Viridian Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation, or Viridian, in accordance with the terms of the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated October 27, 2020, or the Merger Agreement, by and among us, Oculus Merger Sub I, Inc., a Delaware corporation and our wholly owned subsidiary, or the First Merger Sub, Oculus Merger Sub II, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and our wholly owned subsidiary, or the Second Merger Sub, and Viridian. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, First Merger Sub merged with and into Viridian, pursuant to which Viridian was the surviving corporation and became our wholly owned subsidiary, or the First Merger. Immediately following the First Merger, Viridian merged with and into Second Merger Sub, pursuant to which Second Merger Sub was the surviving entity, or such merger together with the First Merger, the Merger. The Merger is intended to qualify as a tax-free reorganization for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, at the closing of the Merger, or the Closing, we issued or reserved for the issuance of an aggregate of 11,409,188 shares of our common stock and 203,202 shares of Series A Non-Voting Convertible Preferred Stock, or the Series A Preferred Stock (as described below) to the securityholders of Viridian. Each share of Series A Preferred Stock is convertible into 1,000 shares of our common stock, subject to certain conditions described below.
Certain shares of our common stock outstanding immediately after the Merger are held by stockholders subject to lock-up restrictions, pursuant to which such stockholders have agreed, except in limited circumstances, not to sell or transfer, or engage in swap or similar transactions with respect to, shares of our common stock, including, as applicable, shares received in the Merger and issuable upon exercise of certain options, for a period of 180 days following the closing of the Merger.
Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, we have agreed to hold a stockholders’ meeting to submit the following matters to our stockholders for their consideration: (i) the approval of the conversion of the Series A Preferred Stock into shares of our common stock in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(a), or the Conversion Proposal, and (ii), if necessary, the approval of an amendment to our certificate of incorporation to authorize sufficient shares of our common stock for the conversion of the
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Series A Preferred Stock issued pursuant to the Merger Agreement and the Securities Purchase Agreement (as described below), or the Charter Amendment Proposal, and together with the Conversion Proposal, the Meeting Proposals. In connection with these matters, we intend to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, a proxy statement and other relevant materials.
Our board of directors approved the Merger Agreement and the related transactions, and the consummation of the Merger was not subject to approval of our stockholders.
Support Agreements
In connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement, we and Viridian entered into stockholder support agreements, or the Support Agreements, with our directors and officers. The Support Agreements provide that, among other things, each of the stockholders has agreed to vote or cause to be voted all of the shares of our common stock owned by such stockholder in favor of the Meeting Proposals at our stockholders’ meeting to be held in connection therewith.
Lock-up Agreements
Concurrently and in connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement, certain Viridian securityholders as of immediately prior to the Merger, and our directors and officers as of immediately following the Merger entered into lock-up agreements with us and Viridian, pursuant to which each such stockholder will be subject to a 180 day lockup on the sale or transfer of shares of our common stock held by each such stockholder at the closing of the Merger, including those shares received by Viridian securityholders in the Merger, or the Lock-up Agreements.
Contingent Value Rights Agreement
The Merger Agreement contemplates that within 30 days following the Closing, we and the Rights Agent (as defined therein) will execute and deliver a contingent value rights agreement, or the CVR Agreement, pursuant to which each holder of our common stock as of November 6, 2020, other than former stockholders of Viridian, shall be entitled to one contractual contingent value right issued by us, subject to and in accordance with the terms and conditions of the CVR Agreement, for each share of our common stock held by such holder. Each contingent value right shall entitle the holder thereof to receive certain cash payments from the net proceeds, if any, related to the disposition of our legacy programs to develop product candidates that modulate microRNAs within five years following the Closing. The contingent value rights are not transferable, except in certain limited circumstances as will be provided in the CVR Agreement, will not be certificated or evidenced by any instrument and will not be registered with the SEC or listed for trading on any exchange.
Private Placement and Securities Purchase Agreement
On October 27, 2020, we entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement, or the Purchase Agreement, with the purchasers named therein, or the Investors. Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, we agreed to sell an aggregate of approximately 195,290 shares of Series A Preferred Stock for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $91.0 million, or collectively, the Financing. Each share of Series A Preferred Stock is convertible into 1,000 shares of our common stock, as described below. The powers, preferences, rights, qualifications, limitations and restrictions applicable to the Series A Preferred Stock are set forth in the Certificate of Designation filed in connection with the Merger. We plan to use the proceeds from the Financing to potentially advance multiple compounds through Phase 2 proof of concept studies in TED and expand our orphan disease pipeline.
Holders of Series A Preferred Stock are entitled to receive dividends on shares of Series A Preferred Stock equal, on an as-if-converted-to-Common-Stock basis, and in the same form as dividends actually paid on shares of our common stock. Except as otherwise required by law, the Series A Preferred Stock does not have voting rights. However, as long as any shares of Series A Preferred Stock are outstanding, We will not, without the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the then outstanding shares of the Series A Preferred Stock, (a) alter or change adversely the powers, preferences or rights given to the Series A Preferred Stock, (b) alter or amend the Certificate of Designation, (c) amend its certificate of incorporation or other charter documents in any manner that adversely affects any rights of the holders of Series A Preferred Stock, (d) increase the number of authorized shares of Series A Preferred Stock, (e) prior to the stockholder approval of the Conversion Proposal or at any time while at least 40% of the originally issued Series A Preferred Stock remains issued and outstanding, consummate a Fundamental Transaction (as defined in the Certificate of Designation) or (f) enter into any agreement with respect to any of the foregoing. The Series A Preferred Stock does not have a preference upon any liquidation, dissolution or winding-up of us.
Following stockholder approval of the Conversion Proposal, each share of Series A Preferred Stock is convertible into shares of our common stock at any time at the option of the holder thereof, into 1,000 shares of our common stock, subject to certain
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limitations, including that a holder of Series A Preferred Stock is prohibited from converting shares of Series A Preferred Stock into shares of our common stock if, as a result of such conversion, such holder, together with its affiliates, would beneficially own more than a specified percentage (to be established by the holder between 4.99% and 19.99%) of the total number of shares of our common stock issued and outstanding immediately after giving effect to such conversion.
Registration Rights Agreement
On October 30, 2020, we entered into a Registration Rights Agreement, or the Registration Rights Agreement, with the Investors. Pursuant to the Registration Rights Agreement, we will prepare and file a resale registration statement with the SEC within 90 calendar days following October 30, 2020, or the Filing Deadline. We will use our reasonable best efforts to cause this registration statement to be declared effective by the SEC within 30 calendar days of October 30, 2020 (or within 60 calendar days if the SEC reviews the registration statement).
We have also agreed to, among other things, indemnify the Investors, their officers, directors, members, employees and agents, successors and assigns under the registration statement from certain liabilities and pay all fees and expenses (excluding any legal fees of the selling holder(s), and any underwriting discounts and selling commissions) incident to our obligations under the Registration Rights Agreement.
Reverse Stock Split
We plan to effect a reverse stock split of our shares of common stock at a ratio of 1-for-15. We anticipate the stock split will be effective as of November 12, 2020, and trading of our common stock will begin on a split-adjusted basis on November 13, 2020. Our common stock will continue to trade on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol "MGEN," although a new CUSIP number (60463E 202) has been assigned.
Our stockholders approved the reverse stock split, and granted our board of directors the authority to effect a reverse stock split, at our annual meeting of shareholders held on May 21, 2020.
As a result of the reverse stock split, every 15 shares of our pre-reverse split common stock will be combined and reclassified into one share of our common stock. No fractional shares will be issued in connection with the reverse stock split, and if the stock split results in any stockholders owning a fractional share, then such stockholders will receive a cash payment in lieu of such fractional share. The reverse stock split will not modify any rights of our common stock. The reverse stock split will reduce the number of shares of our common stock issuable upon the conversion of our outstanding shares of Series A Preferred Stock to a ratio of 66.67 and the exercise or vesting of its outstanding stock options and warrants in proportion to the ratio of the reverse stock split, and cause a proportionate increase in the conversion and exercise prices of such preferred stock, stock options and warrants. Our transfer agent, VStock Transfer, LLC, will act as exchange agent for the reverse stock split.
The COVID-19 Pandemic
In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19, a novel strain of Coronavirus, a global pandemic. This outbreak is causing major disruptions to businesses and markets worldwide as the virus spreads. We cannot predict what the long-term effects of this pandemic and the resulting economic disruptions may have on our liquidity and results of operations. The extent of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on our liquidity and results of operations will depend on a number future developments, including the duration, spread and intensity of the pandemic, and governmental, regulatory and private sector responses, all of which are uncertain and difficult to predict. The COVID-19 pandemic may make it more difficult for us to enroll patients in any future clinical trials or cause us to delay enrollment or announcement of results from our ongoing clinical trials. The economic uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic may also dramatically reduce our ability to secure debt or equity financing necessary to support our operations. We are unable to currently estimate the financial effect of the pandemic. If the pandemic continues to be a severe worldwide crisis, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows.
Financial Operations Overview
Revenue
Our revenue has historically consisted primarily of up-front payments for licenses, milestone payments, and payments for other research and development services earned under a license and collaboration agreement, or the Servier Collaboration Agreement, with Les Laboratoires Servier and Institut de Recherches Servier, or collectively, Servier, for the research, development, and
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commercialization of RNA-targeting therapeutics in cardiovascular disease. We also recognize revenue for amounts received or receivable under certain grants we have been awarded.
In August 2019, Servier terminated the Servier Collaboration Agreement effective in February 2020. We completed certain activities under the Servier Collaboration Agreement through the effective termination date in February 2020, which included finalizing two Phase 1 clinical trials of MRG-110, for which we previously reported data. The activities eligible for reimbursement under the Servier Collaboration Agreement were considered a research and development performance obligation and revenue was recognized through the termination date.
In the future, we may generate revenue from a combination of license fees and other up-front payments, payments for research and development services, milestone payments, product sales, and royalties in connection with strategic alliances. We expect that any revenue we generate will fluctuate from quarter to quarter as a result of the timing of our achievement of preclinical, clinical, regulatory, and commercialization milestones, the timing and amount of payments relating to such milestones, and the extent to which any of our products are approved and successfully commercialized by us or our strategic alliance collaborators, if any. If our strategic alliance collaborators do not elect or otherwise agree to fund our development costs pursuant to our strategic alliance agreements, or we or our strategic alliance collaborators, if any, fail to develop product candidates in a timely manner or to obtain regulatory approval for them, then our ability to generate future revenue, and our results of operations and financial position would be adversely affected.
Research and development expenses
Research and development expenses consist of costs incurred for the research and development of our therapeutic programs and product candidates, which include:
•employee-related expenses, including salaries, severance, retention, benefits, insurance, and share-based compensation expense;
•expenses incurred under agreements with contract research organizations, or CROs, investigative sites that conduct our clinical trials, and other clinical trial-related vendors, and consultants;
•the costs of acquiring, developing, and manufacturing and testing clinical and preclinical materials, including costs incurred under agreements with contract manufacturing organizations, or CMOs;
•costs associated with non-clinical activities and regulatory operations;
•license fees and milestone payments related to the acquisition and retention of certain licensed technology and intellectual property rights; and
•facilities, depreciation, market research, and other expenses, which include allocated expenses for rent and maintenance of facilities, depreciation of leasehold improvements and equipment, and laboratory supplies.
We make non-refundable advance payments for goods and services that will be used in future research and development activities. These payments are recorded as expense in the period in which we receive or take ownership of the goods or when the services are performed.
We record up-front and milestone payments to acquire and retain contractual rights to in-licensed technology and intellectual property rights as research and development expenses when incurred if there is uncertainty in our receiving future economic benefit from the acquired contractual rights. We consider future economic benefits from acquired contractual rights to licensed technology to be uncertain until such a drug candidate is approved by the FDA, or when other significant risk factors are abated.
Our research and development expenses may increase if we initiate new clinical trials. The process of conducting clinical trials and preclinical studies necessary to obtain regulatory approval is costly and time consuming. We, or our strategic alliance collaborators, if any, may never succeed in achieving marketing approval for any of our product candidates. The probability of success for each product candidate may be affected by numerous factors, including clinical data, preclinical data, competition, manufacturability, and commercial viability of our product candidates.
Successful development of future product candidates is highly uncertain and may not result in approved products. Completion dates and completion costs can vary significantly for each future product candidate and are difficult to predict. We anticipate we
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will make determinations as to which programs to pursue and how much funding to direct to each program on an ongoing basis in response to our ability to maintain or enter into new strategic alliances with respect to each program or potential product candidate, the scientific and clinical success of each future product candidate, and ongoing assessments as to each future product candidate’s commercial potential. We will need to raise additional capital and may seek additional strategic alliances in the future in order to advance our various programs.
General and administrative expenses
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries and related benefits, including share-based compensation, and severance and retention benefits related to our finance, accounting, human resources, legal, business development, and other support functions, professional fees for auditing, tax, and legal services, as well as insurance, board of director compensation, consulting, and other administrative expenses.
Other income (expense)
Other income (expense) consists primarily of interest income, interest expense, and various income or expense items of a non-recurring nature. We earn interest income from interest-bearing accounts, money market funds, and short-term investments. Interest expense is comprised of interest incurred under our note payable.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
This discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is based on our condensed consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or U.S. GAAP. The preparation of financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, and expenses. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate these estimates and judgments. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. These estimates and assumptions 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 from these estimates. We believe that the accounting policy discussed below is critical to understanding our historical and future performance, as this policy relates to the more significant areas involving our judgments and estimates.
Clinical Trial and Preclinical Study Accruals
We make estimates of our accrued expenses as of each balance sheet date in our condensed consolidated financial statements based on certain facts and circumstances at that time. Our accrued expenses for preclinical studies and clinical trials are based on estimates of costs incurred for services provided by external service providers and for other trial-related activities. The timing and amount of expenses we incur through our external service providers depend on a number of factors, such as site initiation, patient screening, enrollment, delivery of reports, and other events. In accruing for these activities, we obtain information from various sources and estimate the level of effort or expense allocated to each period. Adjustments to our research and development expenses may be necessary in future periods as our estimates change.
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Results of Operations
Comparison of the Three Months Ended September 30, 2020 and 2019
| Three Months Ended September 30, | |||||||||||
| 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | — | $ | 695 | |||||||
| Research and development expenses | 3,111 | 9,027 | |||||||||
| General and administrative expenses | 2,299 | 2,898 | |||||||||
| Other expense, net | (84) | — | |||||||||
| Net loss | $ | (5,494) | $ | (11,230) | |||||||
Revenue
Revenue decreased by $0.7 million during the three months ended September 30, 2020, compared to the three months ended September 30, 2019. The decrease in revenue was primarily due to a decrease in research and development activities reimbursable to us by Servier under the Servier Collaboration Agreement.
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development expenses were $3.1 million during the three months ended September 30, 2020, compared to $9.0 million during the three months ended September 30, 2019. The $5.9 million decrease in research and development expenses was primarily attributable to a decrease in clinical and related manufacturing development activities associated with the Phase 2 SOLAR clinical trial of cobomarsen, personnel-related costs, and other miscellaneous expenses during the third quarter of 2020.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses were $2.3 million during the three months ended September 30, 2020, compared to $2.9 million during the three months ended September 30, 2019. The decrease in general and administrative expenses was due primarily to decreased personnel-related costs and decreased professional-related costs during the third quarter of 2020.
Results of Operations
Comparison of the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020 and 2019
| Nine Months Ended September 30, | |||||||||||
| 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 996 | $ | 3,581 | |||||||
| Research and development expenses | 13,050 | 26,377 | |||||||||
| General and administrative expenses | 7,728 | 9,112 | |||||||||
| Other income (expense), net | (191) | 153 | |||||||||
| Net loss | $ | (19,973) | $ | (31,755) | |||||||
Revenue
Revenue decreased by $2.6 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2020, compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2019. The decrease in revenue was primarily due to a decrease in research and development activities reimbursable to us by Servier under the Servier Collaboration Agreement.
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Research and Development Expenses
Research and development expenses were $13.1 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2020, compared to $26.4 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2019. The $13.3 million decrease in research and development expenses was primarily attributable to a decrease in clinical and related manufacturing development activities associated with the Phase 2 SOLAR clinical trial of cobomarsen, personnel-related costs, other preclinical research and development costs, and other miscellaneous expenses during the nine months ended September 30, 2020.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses were $7.7 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2020, compared to $9.1 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2019. The decrease in general and administrative expenses was due primarily to decreased personnel-related costs and legal costs, which were partially offset by increased other miscellaneous expenses during the nine months ended September 30, 2020.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
We have funded our operations to date principally through proceeds received from the sale of our common stock, our preferred stock, and other equity securities, debt financings, and from amounts received under the Servier Collaboration Agreement. As of September 30, 2020, we had $30.1 million in cash and cash equivalents. We expect that our current cash and cash equivalents, including approximately $91.0 million we received on October 30, 2020 from the sale of shares of our Series A Preferred Stock in the Financing, together with the cash held by Viridian at the time of the acquisition, will enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through the end of 2023. We plan to use the proceeds from the Financing to potentially advance multiple compounds through Phase 2 proof of concept studies in TED and expand our orphan disease pipeline.
If our stockholders do not timely approve the conversion of our Series A Preferred Stock, then the holders of our Series A Preferred Stock may elect to require us to settle their shares of Series A Preferred Stock for cash at a price per share equal to the fair value of the Series A Preferred Stock, as described in our certificate of designation relating to the Series A Preferred Stock. If we are required to settle a significant amount of the Series A Preferred Stock, we expect that we would not have sufficient liquidity to settle the Series A Preferred Stock.
We have no products approved for commercial sale and have not generated any revenue from product sales. Since our inception and through September 30, 2020, we have generated an accumulated deficit of $188.1 million. Substantially all of our operating losses resulted from expenses incurred in connection with our research and development programs and from general and administrative costs associated with our operations.
We will continue to require substantial additional capital to continue our clinical development, to continue our potential commercialization activities, and to fund our ongoing operations. The amount and timing of future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including the pace and results of our clinical development efforts, equity financings, securing additional license and collaboration agreements, and issuing debt or other financing vehicles. Our ability to secure capital is dependent upon a number of factors, including success in developing our technology and product candidates. Failure to raise capital as and when needed, on favorable terms or at all, would have a negative impact on our financial condition and our ability to develop our product candidates. Changing circumstances may cause us to consume capital significantly faster or slower than we currently anticipate. If we are unable to acquire additional capital or resources, we will be required to modify our operational plans to complete future milestones. We have based these estimates on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could exhaust our available financial resources sooner than we currently anticipate. We may be forced to reduce our operating expenses and raise additional funds to meet our working capital needs, principally through the additional sales of our securities or debt financings or entering into strategic collaborations.
We expect that our operating losses will fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year due to timing of clinical development programs and efforts to achieve regulatory approval.
If we raise additional funds through the issuance of debt, the obligations related to such debt could be senior to rights of holders of our capital stock and could contain covenants that may restrict our operations. Should additional capital not be available to us in the near term, or not be available on acceptable terms, we may be unable to realize value from our assets and discharge our liabilities in the normal course of business, which may, among other alternatives, cause us to further delay, substantially reduce, or discontinue operational activities to conserve our cash resources.
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In March 2017, we entered into a Common Stock Sales Agreement, or the ATM Agreement, with Cowen and Company, LLC, or Cowen, under which we may offer and sell, from time to time, at our sole discretion, shares of our common stock having an aggregate offering price of up to $50.0 million through Cowen as our sales agent. Cumulative net proceeds received from the sale of 2,846,449 shares of our common stock through October 30, 2020 were approximately $11.6 million, after giving effect to commissions to Cowen as sales agent and initial expenses for executing the “at the market offering.”
In August 2018, we and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Inc., or LLS, entered into a Common Stock Purchase Agreement, or the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement, for the sale of up to $5.0 million of shares of our common stock, or the LLS Offering, to LLS and its affiliates under the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement. In October 2019, the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement was assigned to LLS TAP Miragen, LLC, or LLS TAP. Under the terms of the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement, we may raise up to approximately $5.0 million in gross proceeds by selling shares of our common stock to LLS and its affiliates, including LLS TAP, in up to five separate closings upon the achievement of specified development milestones. Since the initial closing in August 2018, we issued 757,351 shares of our common stock to LLS under the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement for net proceeds of $1.4 million. We do not anticipate meeting the milestones under the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement and as such, do not expect we will receive the remaining proceeds available under the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement unless the agreement is amended, which we can provide no assurances will occur.
In December 2019, we entered into a common stock purchase agreement, or the Aspire Agreement, with Aspire Capital Fund, LLC, or Aspire Capital, which provides that, subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations set forth therein, Aspire Capital is committed to purchase up to an aggregate of $20.0 million of shares of our common stock over the 30-month term of the Aspire Agreement. Upon execution of the Aspire Agreement, we sold to Aspire Capital 1,598,465 shares of common stock at $0.63 per share for proceeds of $1.0 million as the Initial Purchase Shares. During the nine months ended September 30, 2020, we sold to Aspire Capital 6,182,806 shares of our common stock at a weighted-average price of $1.42 per share for aggregate net proceeds of $8.8 million. As of September 30, 2020, we may sell an additional $10.2 million of shares of our common stock to Aspire Capital. Under the Aspire Agreement, we have the right, in our sole discretion, on any trading day selected by us, and within certain specified limitations, to present Aspire Capital with a purchase notice, directing Aspire Capital (as principal) to purchase up to 200,000 shares of our common stock per business day, up to $20.0 million of our common stock, in the aggregate and inclusive of the Initial Purchase Shares and subsequent purchases at a per share price equal to the lesser of (i) the lowest sale price of our common stock on the purchase date or (ii) the average of the three lowest closing sale prices for our common stock during the 10 consecutive business days ending on the business day immediately preceding the purchase date. We also have the right to require Aspire Capital to purchase up to an additional 30% of the trading volume of the shares for the next business day at a purchase price, or the VWAP Purchase Price, equal to the lesser of: (i) the closing sale price of the shares on the purchase date, or (ii) ninety-seven percent (97%) of the next business day’s volume weighted average price, or each such purchase, a VWAP Purchase. We have the right, in our sole discretion, to determine a maximum number of shares and set a minimum market price threshold for each VWAP Purchase. We can only require a VWAP Purchase if we have also submitted a regular purchase on the notice date for the VWAP Purchase. There are no limits on the number of VWAP purchases that we may require. In consideration for entering into the Aspire Agreement, concurrently with the execution of the Aspire Agreement, we issued to Aspire Capital 959,079 shares of our common stock.
In February 2020, we entered into an underwriting agreement, or the 2020 Underwriting Agreement with Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., as sole underwriter, or the Underwriter, relating to our 2020 public offering, or the 2020 Public Offering. Pursuant to the 2020 Underwriting Agreement, the Underwriter purchased 15,000,000 shares of our common stock and warrants to purchase 7,500,000 shares of our common stock. Each whole warrant has an exercise price of $1.10 per share, was exercisable immediately and expires on the fifth anniversary of the date of issuance. Though the shares of common stock and warrants were sold together as a fixed combination, each consisting of one share of our common stock and one-half warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable to purchase one whole share of our common stock, the shares of our common stock and warrants were issued separately and were immediately separable upon issuance. The combined price to the public in the 2020 Public Offering for each share of common stock and accompanying one-half warrant was $1.00, which resulted in approximately $13.9 million of net proceeds to us after deducting underwriting commissions and discounts and other estimated offering expenses payable by us and excluding the proceeds, if any, from the exercise of the warrants.
In October 2020, we entered into the Purchase Agreement with the Investors. Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, we agreed to sell an aggregate of approximately 195,290 shares of Series A Preferred Stock for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $91.0 million in the Financing. Each share of Series A Preferred Stock is convertible into 1,000 shares of our common stock, subject to specified conditions. The powers, preferences, rights, qualifications, limitations and restrictions applicable to the Series A Preferred Stock are set forth in the Certificate of Designation.
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Cost Restructuring Plan
In August 2019 we initiated a cost restructuring plan to streamline the organization, reduce costs, and direct resources towards prioritized initiatives and product candidates, which provided a reduction of approximately 50% of workforce in place at that time, primarily associated with research and development functions. Through September 30, 2020, we had recorded cumulative restructuring expense of approximately $2.4 million and expect to incur approximately $0.1 million in additional restructuring expense, primarily related to retention, during the remainder of 2020.
Summarized cash flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 are as follows:
| Nine Months Ended September 30, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net cash provided by (used in): | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating activities | $ | (20,343) | $ | (28,250) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Investing activities | 1,948 | 21,226 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Financing activities | 23,628 | (725) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 5,233 | $ | (7,749) | |||||||||||||||||||
Operating Activities
Net cash used in operating activities was $20.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2020, compared to $28.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2019. The $8.0 million decrease in the nine months ended September 30, 2020 was primarily the result of a $11.8 million decrease in net loss, partially offset by a $3.4 million decrease in payments of current liabilities and receipts associated with accounts receivable and prepaid expenses and other assets and a $0.4 million decrease in non-cash expenses during the nine months ended September 30, 2020 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2019.
Investing Activities
Net cash provided by investing activities was $1.9 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2020 compared to $21.2 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2019. The change in cash flow from investing activities was driven primarily by a $52.0 million decrease in the related maturities of short-term investments and a $32.7 million decrease in purchases of short-term investments during the nine months ended September 30, 2020 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2019.
Financing Activities
Net cash provided by financing activities was $23.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2020, compared to net cash used of $0.7 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2019. During the nine months ended September 30, 2020, we received net proceeds from the sale of our common stock and warrants in a public offering of $13.9 million. Additionally, during the nine months ended September 30, 2020, compared to the same period in 2019, we received higher net proceeds from other sales or issuances of common stock by $8.7 million and from notes payable by $1.7 million.
Contractual Obligations and Commitments
As of September 30, 2020, we had no material commitments other than the liabilities reflected and commitments disclosed in our condensed consolidated financial statements.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
We have not entered into any off-balance sheet arrangements and do not have any holdings in variable interest entities.
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ITEM 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Not applicable.
ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports that we file under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the SEC, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures. In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives, and management is required to apply its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures.
As required by Rule 13a-15(b) and Rule 15d-15(b) of the Exchange Act, an evaluation was carried out under the supervision and with the participation of management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) as of the end of the quarter covered by this Quarterly Report. Based on the foregoing, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective at a reasonable level of assurance.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during our most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are 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 be involved in legal proceedings in the ordinary course of business. We are currently not a party to any legal proceedings that we believe would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Our business, financial condition, and operating results may be affected by a number of factors, whether currently known or unknown, including but not limited to those described below. Any one or more of such factors could directly or indirectly cause our actual results of operations and financial condition to vary materially from past or anticipated future results of operations and financial condition. Any of these factors, in whole or in part, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and stock price. The following information should be read in conjunction with Part I, Item 2, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes in Part I, Item 1, “Financial Statements” of this Quarterly Report.
Summary Risk Factors
Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk because our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, as fully described below. The principal factors and uncertainties that make investing in our common stock risky include, among others:
•There is no guarantee that our acquisition of Viridian will increase stockholder value.
•We will need to raise additional capital, and if we are unable to do so when needed, we will not be able to continue as a going concern.
•We have historically incurred losses, have a limited operating history on which to assess our business, and anticipate that we will continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future.
•We may not be entitled to forgiveness of our recently received Paycheck Protection Program loan, and our application for the Paycheck Protection Program loan could in the future be determined to have been impermissible or could result in damage to our reputation.
•We have never generated any revenue from product sales and may never be profitable.
•Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our stockholders, restrict our operations, or require us to relinquish rights.
•Clinical trials are costly, time consuming, and inherently risky, and we may fail to demonstrate safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of applicable regulatory authorities.
•Our product candidates may cause undesirable side effects or have other properties that could delay or prevent their regulatory approval, limit the commercial viability of an approved label, or result in significant negative consequences following marketing approval, if any.
•We are heavily dependent on the success of our product candidates, which are in the early stages of clinical development. Some of our product candidates have produced results only in non-clinical settings, or for other indications than those for which we contemplate conducting development and seeking U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, approval, and we cannot give any assurance that we will generate data for any of our product candidates sufficiently supportive to receive regulatory approval in our planned indications, which will be required before they can be commercialized.
•Product development involves a lengthy and expensive process with an uncertain outcome, and results of earlier preclinical studies and clinical trials may not be predictive of future clinical trial results.
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Risks Related to Our Financial Condition and Capital Requirements
There is no guarantee that our acquisition of Viridian will increase stockholder value.
In October 2020, we acquired Viridian. We cannot guarantee that implementing the Merger and related transactions will not impair stockholder value or otherwise adversely affect our business. The Merger poses significant integration challenges between our businesses and management teams which could result in management and business disruptions, any of which could harm our results of operation, business prospects, and impair the value of such acquisition to our stockholders.
We will need to raise additional capital, and if we are unable to do so when needed, we will not be able to continue as a going concern.
This Quarterly Report includes disclosures regarding our management’s assessment of our ability to continue as a going concern. As of September 30, 2020, we had $30.1 million of cash and cash equivalents, and we had $8.1 million of outstanding debt principal obligations under our note payable to Silicon Valley Bank and other notes payable. We expect that our current cash and cash equivalents, including approximately $91.0 million we received on October 30, 2020 from the sale of our Series A Preferred Stock in the Financing plus the cash held by Viridian at the time of the acquisition, will enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through the end of 2023. We will need to raise additional capital to continue to fund our operations and service our debt obligations in the future. If we are unable to raise additional capital when needed, we will not be able to continue as a going concern.
In addition, if our stockholders do not timely approve the conversion of our Series A Preferred Stock, then the holders of our Series A Preferred Stock may be entitled to require us to settle their shares of Series A Preferred Stock for cash at a price per share equal to the fair value of the Series A Preferred Stock, as described in our certificate of designation relating to the Series A Preferred Stock. If we are required to settle a significant amount of the Series A Preferred Stock, we expect we would not have sufficient liquidity to settle the Series A Preferred Stock.
Developing our product candidates requires a substantial amount of capital. We expect our research and development expenses to increase in connection with our ongoing activities, particularly as we advance our product candidates through clinical trials. We will need to raise additional capital to fund our operations and such funding may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all.
We do not currently have any products approved for sale and do not generate any revenue from product sales. Accordingly, we expect to rely primarily on equity and/or debt financings to fund our continued operations. Our ability to raise additional funds will depend, in part, on the success of our preclinical studies and clinical trials and other product development activities, regulatory events, our ability to identify and enter into licensing or other strategic arrangements, and other events or conditions that may affect our value or prospects, as well as factors related to financial, economic and market conditions, many of which are beyond our control. There can be no assurances that sufficient funds will be available to us when required or on acceptable terms, if at all.
If we are unable to raise additional capital when required or on acceptable terms, we may be required to:
•significantly delay, scale back, or discontinue the development or commercialization of our product candidates;
•seek strategic alliances, or amend existing alliances, for research and development programs at an earlier stage than otherwise would be desirable or that we otherwise would have sought to develop independently, or on terms that are less favorable than might otherwise be available in the future;
•dispose of technology assets, or relinquish or license on unfavorable terms, our rights to technologies or any of our product candidates that we otherwise would seek to develop or commercialize ourselves;
•pursue the sale of our company to a third party at a price that may result in a loss on investment for our stockholders; or
•file for bankruptcy or cease operations altogether.
For instance, in August 2019 we initiated a cost restructuring plan to streamline the organization, reduce costs, and direct resources towards prioritized initiatives and product candidates, which provided a reduction of approximately 50% of
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workforce in place at that time, primarily associated with research and development functions. If we are unable to raise additional capital, we may be forced to undergo additional restructuring efforts or cease some or all of our operations altogether.
Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and prospects.
Additionally, any capital raising efforts are subject to significant risks and contingencies, as described in more detail under the risk factor titled “Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our stockholders, restrict our operations, or require us to relinquish rights.”
We have historically incurred losses, have a limited operating history on which to assess our business, and anticipate that we will continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future.
We are a biopharmaceutical company with a limited operating history. We have historically incurred net losses. During the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, net loss was $20.0 million and $31.8 million, respectively. As of September 30, 2020, we had an accumulated deficit of $188.1 million.
As of September 30, 2020, we had cash and cash equivalents of $30.1 million. In March 2017, we entered into the ATM Agreement with Cowen under which we may offer and sell, from time to time, at our sole discretion, shares of our common stock having an aggregate offering price of up to $50.0 million through Cowen as our sales agent. Through October 30, 2020, we had sold, pursuant to the terms of the ATM Agreement, 2,846,449 shares of our common stock for aggregate net proceeds of approximately $11.6 million after deducting initial expenses for executing the “at the market offering” and commissions to Cowen as sales agent.
In August 2018, we entered into the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement with LLS for the sale of up to $5.0 million of shares of our common stock to LLS and its affiliates under the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement. In October 2019, the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement was assigned by LLS to LLS TAP. Through October 30, 2020, we had issued an aggregate of 757,351 shares of our common stock to LLS and its affiliates in the LLS Offering, for aggregate net proceeds of approximately $1.4 million, after deducting expenses incurred in connection with the LLS Offering. We do not anticipate meeting the milestones under the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement and as such, do not expect we will receive the remaining proceeds available under the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement unless the agreement is amended, which we can provide no assurances will occur.
In December 2019, we entered into the Aspire Agreement with Aspire Capital. Pursuant to this agreement, we may issue up to $20.0 million of shares of our common stock from time to time. Through October 30, 2020, we had issued an aggregate of 8,740,350 shares of common stock under the Aspire Agreement, which amount includes (i) 959,079 shares of common stock issued to Aspire Capital as consideration for its commitment to purchase shares of our common stock under the Aspire Agreement, (ii) 1,598,465 shares of common stock issued to Aspire Capital for an aggregate sale price of $1.0 million as an initial purchase under the Aspire Agreement, or the Initial Purchase Shares, and (iii) 6,182,806 shares of common stock issued to Aspire Capital for an aggregate sale price of $8.8 million as purchase shares under the terms of the Aspire Agreement.
In February 2020, we entered into the 2020 Underwriting Agreement with the Underwriter. Pursuant to the 2020 Underwriting Agreement, the Underwriter purchased 15,000,000 shares of our common stock and warrants to purchase 7,500,000 shares of our common stock. Each whole warrant has an exercise price of $1.10 per share, was exercisable immediately and expires on the fifth anniversary of the date of issuance. Though the shares of common stock and warrants were sold together as a fixed combination, each consisting of one share of our common stock and one-half warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable to purchase one whole share of our common stock, the shares of our common stock and warrants were issued separately and were immediately separable upon issuance. The combined price to the public in the 2020 Public Offering for each share of common stock and accompanying one-half warrant was $1.00, which resulted in approximately $13.9 million of net proceeds to us after deducting underwriting commissions and discounts and other estimated offering expenses payable by us and excluding the proceeds, if any, from the exercise of the warrants.
In October 2020, we entered into the Purchase Agreement with the Investors. Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, we agreed to sell an aggregate of approximately 195,290 shares of Series A Preferred Stock for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $91.0 million in the Financing. Each share of Series A Preferred Stock is convertible into 1,000 shares of our common stock, subject to specified conditions. The powers, preferences, rights, qualifications, limitations and restrictions applicable to the Series A Preferred Stock are set forth in the Certificate of Designation.
We expect that our current cash and cash equivalents, including approximately $91.0 million we received on October 30, 2020 from the sale of our Series A Preferred Stock in the Financing, plus the cash held by Viridian at the time of the acquisition, will enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through the end of 2023. We will need to raise
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substantial additional capital to continue to fund our operations in the future. The amount and timing of our future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including the pace and results of our clinical development efforts and the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a global pandemic. This outbreak is causing major disruptions to businesses and markets worldwide as the virus spreads. The economic uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic may dramatically reduce our ability to secure debt or equity financing necessary to support our operations. We are unable to currently estimate the financial effect of the pandemic. If the pandemic continues to be a severe worldwide crisis, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows.
Failure to raise capital as and when needed, on favorable terms or at all, would have a negative impact on our financial condition and our ability to develop our product candidates. Changing circumstances may cause us to consume capital significantly faster or slower than we currently anticipate. If we are unable to acquire additional capital or resources, we will be required to modify our operational plans to complete future milestones. For instance, in August 2019 we initiated a cost restructuring plan to streamline the organization, reduce costs, and direct resources towards prioritized initiatives and product candidates, which provided a reduction of approximately 50% of workforce in place at that time, primarily associated with research and development functions. We have based these estimates on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could exhaust our available financial resources sooner than we currently anticipate. We may be forced to reduce our operating expenses and raise additional funds to meet our working capital needs, principally through the additional sales of our securities or debt financings or entering into strategic collaborations.
We have devoted substantially all of our financial resources to identify, acquire, and develop our product candidates, including conducting clinical trials and providing general and administrative support for our operations. To date, we have financed our operations primarily through the sale of equity securities and convertible promissory notes. The amount of our future net losses will depend, in part, on the rate of our future expenditures and our ability to obtain funding through equity or debt financings, strategic collaborations, or grants. Biopharmaceutical product development is a highly speculative undertaking and involves a substantial degree of risk. We expect our losses to increase as our product candidates enter more advanced clinical trials. It may be several years, if ever, before we complete pivotal clinical trials or have a product candidate approved for commercialization. We expect to invest significant funds into the research and development of our current product candidates to determine the potential to advance these product candidates to regulatory approval.
If we obtain regulatory approval to market a product candidate, our future revenue will depend upon the size of any markets in which our product candidates may receive approval, and our ability to achieve sufficient market acceptance, pricing, coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party payors, and adequate market share for our product candidates in those markets. Even if we obtain adequate market share for our product candidates, because the potential markets in which our product candidates may ultimately receive regulatory approval could be very small, we may never become profitable despite obtaining such market share and acceptance of our products.
We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and increasing operating losses for the foreseeable future and our expenses will increase substantially if and as we:
•continue the clinical development of our product candidates;
•continue efforts to discover and develop new product candidates;
•continue the manufacturing of our product candidates or increase volumes manufactured by third parties;
•advance our programs into larger, more expensive clinical trials;
•initiate additional preclinical studies or clinical trials for our product candidates;
•seek regulatory and marketing approvals and reimbursement for our product candidates;
•establish a sales, marketing, and distribution infrastructure to commercialize any products for which we may obtain marketing approval and market for ourselves;
•seek to identify, assess, acquire, and/or develop other product candidates;
•make milestone, royalty, or other payments under third-party license agreements;
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•seek to maintain, protect, and expand our intellectual property portfolio;
•seek to attract and retain skilled personnel; and
•experience any delays or encounter issues with the development and potential for regulatory approval of our clinical and product candidates such as safety issues, manufacturing delays, clinical trial accrual delays, longer follow-up for planned studies or trials, additional major studies or trials, or supportive trials necessary to support marketing approval.
Further, the net losses we incur may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year, such that a period-to-period comparison of our results of operations may not be a good indication of our future performance.
We may not be entitled to forgiveness of our recently received Paycheck Protection Program loan, and our application for the Paycheck Protection Program loan could in the future be determined to have been impermissible or could result in damage to our reputation.
In April 2020, we received proceeds of $1.7 million from a loan, or the PPP Loan, under the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, of the recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or the CARES Act. We have used the proceeds of the PPP Loan to retain current employees, maintain payroll, and make lease and utility payments. The PPP Loan matures on April 23, 2022 and bears annual interest at a rate of 1.0%. Payments of principal and interest on the PPP Loan will be deferred for the first six months of the PPP Loan term. Thereafter, we are required to pay the lender equal monthly payments of principal and interest.
The CARES Act and the PPP provide a mechanism for forgiveness of up to the full amount borrowed. In October 2020, we applied for forgiveness of our PPP Loan, but we cannot guarantee that we will be granted forgiveness for all or any part of the PPP Loan. The amount of loan proceeds eligible for forgiveness is based on a formula that takes into account a number of factors, including the amount of loan proceeds used by us during the eight-week period after the loan origination for certain purposes, including payroll costs, interest on certain mortgage obligations, rent payments on certain leases, and certain qualified utility payments, provided that at least 75% of the loan amount is used for eligible payroll costs. Subject to the other requirements and limitations on loan forgiveness, only loan proceeds spent on payroll and other eligible costs during the covered eight-week period will qualify for forgiveness. We will be required to repay any portion of the outstanding principal that is not forgiven, along with accrued interest, in accordance with the amortization schedule described above, and we cannot provide any assurance that we will be eligible for loan forgiveness, that we will ultimately apply for forgiveness, or that any amount of the PPP Loan will ultimately be forgiven by the U.S. Small Business Administration, or the SBA.
In order to apply for the PPP Loan, we were required to certify, among other things, that the current economic uncertainty made the PPP Loan request necessary to support our ongoing operations. We made this certification in good faith after analyzing, among other things, our financial situation and access to alternative forms of capital, and believe that we satisfied all eligibility criteria for the PPP Loan, and that our receipt of the PPP Loan is consistent with the broad objectives of the PPP of the CARES Act. The certification described above does not contain any objective criteria and is subject to interpretation. On April 23, 2020, the SBA issued guidance stating that it is unlikely that a public company with substantial market value and access to capital markets will be able to make the required certification in good faith. The lack of clarity regarding loan eligibility under the PPP has resulted in significant media coverage and controversy with respect to public companies applying for and receiving loans. If, despite our good-faith belief that given our company’s circumstances we satisfied all eligibility requirements for the PPP Loan, we are later determined to have violated any of the laws or governmental regulations that apply to us in connection with the PPP Loan, such as the False Claims Act, or it is otherwise determined that we were ineligible to receive the PPP Loan, we may be subject to penalties, including significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties and could be required to repay the PPP Loan in its entirety. In addition, receipt of a PPP Loan may result in adverse publicity and damage to reputation, and a review or audit by the SBA or other government entity or claims under the False Claims Act could consume significant financial and management resources. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We have never generated any revenue from product sales and may never be profitable.
We have no products approved for commercialization and have never generated any revenue from product sales. Our ability to generate revenue and achieve profitability depends on our ability, alone or with strategic collaborators, to successfully complete the development of, and obtain the regulatory and marketing approvals necessary to commercialize one or more of our product candidates. We do not anticipate generating revenue from product sales for the foreseeable future. Our ability to generate future revenue from product sales depends heavily on our success in many areas, including but not limited to:
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•completing research and development of our product candidates;
•obtaining regulatory and marketing approvals for our product candidates;
•manufacturing product candidates and establishing and maintaining supply and manufacturing relationships with third parties that are commercially feasible, meet regulatory requirements and our supply needs in sufficient quantities to meet market demand for our product candidates, if approved;
•marketing, launching, and commercializing product candidates for which we obtain regulatory and marketing approval, either directly or with a collaborator or distributor;
•gaining market acceptance of our product candidates as treatment options;
•addressing any competing products;
•protecting and enforcing our intellectual property rights, including patents, trade secrets, and know-how;
•negotiating favorable terms in any collaboration, licensing, or other arrangements into which we may enter;
•obtaining coverage and adequate reimbursement from third party payors and maintaining pricing for our product candidates that supports profitability; and
•attracting, hiring, and retaining qualified personnel.
Even if one or more of the product candidates that we develop is approved for commercial sale, we anticipate incurring significant costs associated with commercializing any approved product candidate. Portions of our current pipeline of product candidates have been in-licensed from third parties, which make the commercial sale of such in-licensed products potentially subject to additional royalty and milestone payments to such third parties. We will also have to develop or acquire manufacturing capabilities or continue to contract with contract manufacturers in order to continue development and potential commercialization of our product candidates. For instance, if the costs of manufacturing our drug product are not commercially feasible, we will need to develop or procure our drug product in a commercially feasible manner in order to successfully commercialize a future approved product, if any. Additionally, if we are not able to generate revenue from the sale of any approved products, we may never become profitable.
Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our stockholders, restrict our operations, or require us to relinquish rights.
Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial revenue from the sale of our product candidates, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings and license and development agreements. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity securities or convertible debt securities, the ownership interest of our stockholders will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a common stockholder. Debt financing and preferred equity 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 additional funds through collaborations, strategic alliances or marketing, distribution or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may be required to relinquish valuable rights to our research programs or product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds through equity or debt financings or other arrangements with third parties when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development or future commercialization efforts or grant rights to third parties to develop and market product candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves.
To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity, including pursuant to any sales under the ATM Agreement, the Aspire Agreement, the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement, convertible debt or other securities convertible into equity, the ownership interest of our stockholders will be diluted, and the terms of these new securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect the rights of our stockholders. For instance, in October 2020, we sold 195,290 shares of our Series A Preferred Stock in the Financing to the Investors for gross proceeds of approximately $91.0 million. Subject to receiving the requisite stockholder approval, each share of Series A Preferred Stock is convertible into an aggregate of 1,000 shares of our common stock. We are required to solicit the consent of our stockholders with regard to conversion of the shares of Series A Preferred Stock issued in the Financing. If our stockholders fail to approve such
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matters, we may be subject to financial penalties that could materially harm our business. In addition, through October 30, 2020, we had sold (i) pursuant to the terms of the ATM Agreement, 2,846,449 shares of our common stock for aggregate net proceeds of approximately $11.6 million, (ii) pursuant to the Aspire Agreement, 7,781,271 shares of our common stock for aggregate net proceeds of approximately $9.7 million, (iii) pursuant to the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement, 757,351 shares of our common stock for aggregate net proceeds of approximately $1.4 million, and (iv) pursuant to the 2020 Public Offering, 15,000,000 shares of our common stock for aggregate net proceeds of approximately $13.9 million. After giving effect to these sales, we anticipate that we will continue to make sales of our common stock under the ATM Agreement and the Aspire Agreement from time to time into the foreseeable future, and we may sell shares of our common stock of up to $37.9 million and up to $10.2 million in additional aggregate value under the ATM Agreement and Aspire Agreement, respectively. We do not anticipate meeting the milestones under the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement and as such, do not expect we will receive the remaining $3.5 million in proceeds available under the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement unless the agreement is amended, which we can provide no assurances will occur. Sales under the ATM Agreement, the Aspire Agreement, or the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement dilute the ownership interest of our stockholders and may cause the price per share of our common stock to decrease.
In connection with our 2020 Public Offering and in accordance with the terms of the 2020 Underwriting Agreement, we issued warrants to purchase up to 7,500,000 shares of our common stock. The warrants issued in the 2020 Public Offering, if exercised, will dilute the ownership interest of our stockholders and may cause the price per share of our common stock to decrease.
In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a global pandemic. This outbreak is causing major disruptions to businesses and markets worldwide as the virus spreads. We cannot predict what the long-term effects of this pandemic and the resulting economic disruptions may have on our liquidity and results of operations. The economic uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic may also dramatically reduce our ability to secure debt or equity financing necessary to support our operations.
Debt financing, if available, would likely involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures, making additional product acquisitions, or declaring dividends. For instance, our loan and security agreement with Silicon Valley Bank limits our ability to enter into an asset sale, enter into any change of control, incur additional indebtedness, pay any dividends, or enter into specified transactions with our affiliates. If we raise additional funds through strategic collaborations or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our product candidates or future revenue streams or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us. We cannot be assured that we will be able to obtain additional funding if and when necessary to fund our entire portfolio of product candidates to meet our projected plans. If we are unable to obtain funding on a timely basis, we may be required to delay or discontinue one or more of our development programs or the commercialization of any product candidates or be unable to expand our operations or otherwise capitalize on potential business opportunities, which could materially harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We have also historically received funds directly or indirectly from state and federal government grants for research and development. The grants have been, and any future government grants and contracts we may receive may be, subject to the risks and contingencies set forth below under the risk factor titled “Reliance on government funding for our programs may add uncertainty to our research and commercialization efforts with respect to those programs that are tied to such funding and may impose requirements that limit our ability to take specified actions, increase the costs of commercialization and production of product candidates developed under those programs and subject us to potential financial penalties, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.” Although we might apply for government contracts and grants in the future, we cannot be certain that we will be successful in obtaining additional grants for any product candidates or programs.
Risks Related to the Development of Our Product Candidates
Clinical trials are costly, time consuming, and inherently risky, and we may fail to demonstrate safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of applicable regulatory authorities.
Clinical development is expensive, time consuming, and involves significant risk. We cannot guarantee that any clinical trials will be conducted as planned or completed on schedule, if at all. A failure of one or more clinical trials can occur at any stage of development. Events that may prevent successful or timely completion of clinical development include but are not limited to:
•inability to generate satisfactory preclinical, toxicology, or other in vivo or in vitro data or diagnostics to support the initiation or continuation of clinical trials;
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•delays in reaching agreement on acceptable terms with CROs and clinical trial sites, the terms of which can be subject to extensive negotiation and may vary significantly among different CROs, clinical trial sites and in countries or regions where our trials are conducted;
•delays in obtaining required approvals from institutional review boards or independent ethics committees at each clinical trial site;
•failure to permit the conduct of a clinical trial by regulatory authorities;
•delays in recruiting eligible patients and/or subjects in our clinical trials;
•failure by clinical sites or CROs or other third parties to adhere to clinical trial requirements;
•failure by our clinical sites, CROs or other third parties to perform in accordance with the good clinical practices requirements of the FDA or applicable foreign regulatory guidelines;
•patients and/or subjects dropping out of our clinical trials;
•adverse events or tolerability or animal toxicology issues significant enough for the FDA or other regulatory agencies to put any or all clinical trials on hold;
•occurrence of adverse events associated with our product candidates;
•changes in regulatory requirements and guidance that require amending or submitting new clinical protocols;
•significant costs of clinical trials of our product candidates, including manufacturing activities;
•negative or inconclusive results from our clinical trials, which may result in our deciding, or regulators requiring us, to conduct additional clinical trials or abandon development programs in other ongoing or planned indications for a product candidate; and
•delays in reaching agreement on acceptable terms with third-party manufacturers and the time to manufacture sufficient quantities of our product candidates acceptable for use in clinical trials.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may materially affect our ability to complete our clinical trials in a timely fashion or at all.
Any inability to successfully complete clinical development and obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates could result in additional costs to us or impair our ability to generate revenue. In addition, if we make manufacturing or formulation changes to our product candidates, we may need to conduct additional non-clinical studies and the results obtained from studying such new formulation may not be consistent with previous results obtained. Clinical trial delays could also shorten any periods during which our products have patent protection and may allow competitors to develop and bring products to market before we do, which could impair our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates and may harm our business and results of operations.
Our product candidates may cause undesirable side effects or have other properties that could delay or prevent their regulatory approval, limit the commercial viability of an approved label, or result in significant negative consequences following marketing approval, if any.
Undesirable side effects caused by our product candidates could cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay, or terminate clinical trials. They additionally may result in a delay of regulatory approval by the FDA or comparable foreign authorities, or, even in the instance that an affected product candidate is approved, may result in a restrictive drug label.
Our product candidates have been studied in only a limited number of patients with a confirmed diagnosis or healthy volunteers. We may experience a higher rate or severity of adverse events and comparable or higher rates of discontinuation of trial participants in our future clinical trials. There is no guarantee that additional or more severe side effects will not be identified during ongoing or future clinical trials of our product candidates for current and other indications. Undesirable side effects and negative results for other indications may negatively impact the development and potential for approval of our product candidates for their proposed indications.
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Additionally, even if one or more of our product candidates receives marketing approval, and we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by such products, potentially significant negative consequences could result, including but not limited to:
•regulatory authorities may withdraw approvals of such products;
•regulatory authorities may require additional warnings on the drug label;
•we may be required to create a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, which could include a medication guide outlining the risks of such side effects for distribution to patients, a communication plan for healthcare providers, and/or other elements to assure safe use;
•we could be sued and held liable for harm caused to patients or subjects; and
•our reputation may suffer.
Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of a product candidate, even if approved, and could significantly harm our business, results of operations, and prospects.
Our product development program may not uncover all possible adverse events that patients or subjects who take our product candidates may experience. The number of patients or subjects exposed to our product candidates and the average exposure time in the clinical development program may be inadequate to detect rare adverse events that may only be detected once the product is administered to more patients or subjects and for greater periods of time.
Clinical trials by their nature utilize a sample of the potential patient population. However, with a limited number of subjects and limited duration of exposure, we cannot be fully assured that rare and severe side effects of our product candidates will be uncovered. Such rare and severe side effects may only be uncovered with a significantly larger number of patients or subjects exposed to the drug. If such safety problems occur or are identified after our product candidates reach the market, the FDA may require that we amend the labeling of the product or recall the product or may even withdraw approval for the product.
We are heavily dependent on the success of our product candidates, which are in the early stages of development, and we cannot give any assurance that we will generate data for any of our product candidates sufficiently supportive to receive regulatory approval in our planned indications, which will be required before they can be commercialized.
We have invested substantially all of our effort and financial resources to identify, acquire, and develop our portfolio of product candidates. Our future success is dependent on our ability to successfully develop, obtain regulatory approval for, and commercialize one or more product candidates. We currently generate no revenue from sales of any products, and we may never be able to develop or commercialize a product candidate.
We currently have a limited number of product candidates. There can be no assurance that the data that we may or may not develop for our product candidates in our planned indications will be sufficiently supportive to obtain regulatory approval.
None of our product candidates have advanced through a pivotal clinical trial for our proposed indications, and it may be years before any such clinical trial is initiated and completed, if at all. We are not permitted to market or promote any of our product candidates before they receive regulatory approval from the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities, and we may never receive such regulatory approval for any of our product candidates. We cannot be certain that any of our product candidates will be successful in clinical trials or receive regulatory approval. Further, our product candidates may not receive regulatory approval even if they are successful in clinical trials. If we do not receive regulatory approvals for our product candidates, we may not be able to continue our operations.
Product development involves a lengthy and expensive process with an uncertain outcome, and results of earlier preclinical studies and clinical trials may not be predictive of future clinical trial results.
Clinical testing is expensive and generally takes many years to complete, and the outcome is inherently uncertain. Failure can occur at any time during the clinical trial process. The results of preclinical studies and early clinical trials of our product candidates may not be predictive of the results of larger, later-stage controlled clinical trials. Product candidates that have shown promising results in early-stage clinical trials may still suffer significant setbacks in subsequent clinical trials. We will have to conduct well-controlled trials in our proposed indications to support any regulatory submissions for further clinical development. A number of companies in the biopharmaceutical industry have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical
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trials due to lack of efficacy or adverse safety profiles despite promising results in earlier, smaller clinical trials. Moreover, clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses. We do not know whether any Phase 2, Phase 3, or other clinical trials we may conduct will demonstrate consistent or adequate efficacy and safety of our product candidates, with respect to the proposed indication for use, sufficient to receive regulatory approval to market our drug candidates.
We may use our financial and human resources to pursue a particular research program or product candidate and fail to capitalize on programs or product candidates that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.
Because we have limited financial and human resources, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with some programs or product candidates or for other indications that later prove to have greater commercial potential. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or more profitable market opportunities. Our spending on current and future research and development programs and future product candidates for specific indications may not yield any commercially viable products. We may also enter into additional strategic collaboration agreements to develop and commercialize some of our programs and potential product candidates in indications with potentially large commercial markets. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular product candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through strategic collaborations, licensing, or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to such product candidate, or we may allocate internal resources to a product candidate in a therapeutic area in which it would have been more advantageous to enter into a collaboration arrangement.
We may find it difficult to enroll and maintain patients or subjects in our future clinical trials, in part due to the limited number of patients or subjects who have the diseases for which our product candidates are being studied. We cannot predict if we will have difficulty enrolling and maintaining patients or subjects in our future clinical trials. Difficulty in enrolling and maintaining patients or subjects could delay or prevent clinical trials of our product candidates.
Identifying and qualifying patients or subjects to participate in clinical trials of our product candidates is essential to our success. The timing of our clinical trials depends in part on the rate at which we can recruit patients or subjects to participate in clinical trials of our product candidates, and we may experience delays in our clinical trials if we encounter difficulties in enrollment.
The eligibility criteria of our clinical trials may further limit the available eligible trial participants as we expect to require that patients or subjects have specific characteristics that we can measure or meet the criteria to assure their conditions are appropriate for inclusion in our clinical trials. Accordingly, we may not be able to identify, recruit, enroll, and maintain a sufficient number of patients or subjects to complete our future clinical trials in a timely manner because of the perceived risks and benefits of the product candidate under study, the availability and efficacy of competing therapies and clinical trials, the option for patients to choose alternate existing approved therapies, and the willingness of physicians to participate in our planned clinical trials. Our ability to enroll patients in our planned clinical trials may be further impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, or any future disease pandemic. Health concerns may cause patients to be unwilling to participate in clinical trials if they view themselves at particular risk from the virus, or future clinical trial sites in areas particularly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic or any other future disease pandemic may close entirely. We cannot guarantee that the COVID-19 pandemic, or any other future disease pandemics, will not impact enrollment in any future clinical trials. If patients or subjects are unwilling or unable to participate in our clinical trials for any reason, the timeline for conducting trials and obtaining regulatory approval of our product candidates may be delayed.
If we experience delays in the completion of, or termination of, any clinical trials of our product candidates, the commercial prospects of our product candidates could be harmed, and our ability to generate product revenue from any of these product candidates could be delayed or prevented. In addition, any delays in completing our clinical trials would likely increase our overall costs, impair product candidate development, and jeopardize our ability to obtain regulatory approval relative to our current plans. Any of these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition, and prospects significantly.
We may face potential product liability, and, if successful claims are brought against us, we may incur substantial liability and costs. If the use or misuse of our approved products, if any, or product candidates harm patients or subjects, or is perceived to harm patients or subjects even when such harm is unrelated to our approved products, if any, or product candidates, our regulatory approvals, if any, could be revoked or otherwise negatively impacted, and we could be subject to costly and damaging product liability claims. If we are unable to obtain adequate insurance or are required to pay for liabilities resulting from a claim excluded from, or beyond the limits of, our insurance coverage, a material liability claim could adversely affect our financial condition.
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The use or misuse of our product candidates in clinical trials and the sale of any products for which we may obtain marketing approval exposes us to the risk of potential product liability claims. 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. Patients with the diseases targeted by our product candidates may already be in severe and advanced stages of disease and have both known and unknown significant preexisting and potentially life-threatening health risks. During the course of treatment, patients may suffer adverse events, including death, for reasons that may or may not be related to our product candidates. Such events could subject us to costly litigation, require us to pay substantial amounts of money to injured patients, delay, negatively impact, or end our opportunity to receive or maintain regulatory approval to market our products, or require us to suspend or abandon our commercialization efforts. Even in a circumstance in which an adverse event is unrelated to our product candidates, the investigation into the circumstance may be time-consuming or inconclusive. These investigations may delay our regulatory approval process or impact and limit the type of regulatory approvals our product candidates receive or maintain.
As a result of these factors, a product liability claim, even if successfully defended, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
Although we have product liability insurance, which covers our historical clinical trials in the United States, for up to $5.0 million per occurrence, up to an aggregate limit of $5.0 million, our insurance may be insufficient to reimburse us for any expenses or losses we may suffer. We will also likely be required to increase our product liability insurance coverage for any future clinical trials that we may initiate. If we obtain marketing approval for any of our product candidates, we will need to expand our insurance coverage to include the sale of commercial products. There is no way to know if we will be able to continue to obtain product liability coverage and obtain expanded coverage, if we require it, in sufficient amounts to protect us against losses due to liability, on acceptable terms, or at all. We may not have sufficient resources to pay for any liabilities resulting from a claim excluded from, or beyond the limits of, our insurance coverage. Where we have provided indemnities in favor of third parties under our agreements with them, there is also a risk that these third parties could incur liability and bring a claim under such indemnities. An individual may bring a product liability claim against us alleging that one of our product candidates causes, or is claimed to have caused, an injury or is found to be unsuitable for consumer use. Any such product liability claims may include allegations of defects in manufacturing, defects in design, failure to warn of dangers inherent in the product, negligence, strict liability, and a breach of warranties. Claims could also be asserted under state consumer protection acts. Any product liability claim brought against us, with or without merit, could result in:
•withdrawal of clinical trial volunteers, investigators, patients or subjects, or trial sites, or limitations on approved indications;
•the inability to commercialize, or if commercialized, decreased demand for, our product candidates;
•if commercialized, product recalls, labeling, marketing or promotional restrictions, or the need for product modification;
•initiation of investigations by regulators;
•loss of revenue;
•substantial costs of litigation, including monetary awards to patients or other claimants;
•liabilities that substantially exceed our product liability insurance, which we would then be required to pay ourselves;
•an increase in our product liability insurance rates or the inability to maintain insurance coverage in the future on acceptable terms, if at all;
•the diversion of management’s attention from our business; and
•damage to our reputation and the reputation of our products and our technology.
Product liability claims may subject us to the foregoing and other risks, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
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Risks Related to Regulatory Approval of Our Product Candidates and Other Legal Compliance Matters
We expect the product candidates we develop will be regulated as biologics, and therefore they may be subject to competition sooner than anticipated.
The Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009, or BPCIA, was enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act to establish an abbreviated pathway for the approval of biosimilar and interchangeable biological products. The regulatory pathway establishes legal authority for the FDA to review and approve biosimilar biologics, including the possible designation of a biosimilar as “interchangeable” based on its similarity to an approved biologic. Under the BPCIA, an application for a biosimilar product cannot be approved by the FDA until 12 years after the reference product was approved under a Biologics License Application, or BLA. The law is complex and is still being interpreted and implemented by the FDA. As a result, its ultimate impact, implementation, and meaning are subject to uncertainty. While it is uncertain when processes intended to implement BPCIA may be fully adopted by the FDA, any of these processes could have a material adverse effect on the future commercial prospects for our biological products.
We believe that any of the product candidates we develop that is approved in the United States as a biological product under a BLA should qualify for the 12-year period of exclusivity. However, there is a risk that this exclusivity could be shortened due to congressional action or otherwise, or that the FDA will not consider the subject product candidates to be reference products for competing products, potentially creating the opportunity for generic competition sooner than anticipated. Moreover, the extent to which a biosimilar, once approved, will be substituted for any one of the reference products in a way that is similar to traditional generic substitution for non-biological products is not yet clear, and will depend on a number of marketplace and regulatory factors that are still developing.
In addition, the approval of a biologic product biosimilar to one of our product candidates could have a material adverse impact on our business as it may be significantly less costly to bring to market and may be priced significantly lower than our product candidates.
We may seek Breakthrough Therapy designation for one or more of our product candidates from the FDA, but we might not receive such designation, and even if we do, such designation may not actually lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process.
We may seek a breakthrough therapy designation from the FDA for some of our product candidates. A breakthrough therapy is defined as a drug or biological product that is intended, alone or in combination with one or more other drugs, to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition, and for which preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the drug or biological product may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints. For drugs or biological products that have been designated as breakthrough therapies, interaction and communication between the FDA and the sponsor of the trial can help to identify the most efficient path for clinical development while minimizing the number of patients placed in ineffective control regimens. Drugs designated as breakthrough therapies by the FDA could also be eligible for priority review.
Designation as a breakthrough therapy is within the discretion of the FDA. Accordingly, even if we believe that 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. 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 of our product candidates is designated as a breakthrough therapy, the FDA may later decide that the product candidate no longer meets the conditions for designation and the designation may be rescinded.
We may seek Fast Track designation for one or more of our product candidates, but we might not receive such designation, and even if we do, such designation may not actually lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process.
If a product candidate is intended for the treatment of a serious condition and nonclinical or clinical data demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical need for this condition, a product sponsor may apply for FDA Fast Track designation. If we seek Fast Track designation for a product candidate, we may not receive it from the FDA. However, even if we receive Fast Track designation, Fast Track designation does not ensure that we will receive marketing approval in any particular timeframe or at all. We may not experience a faster development or regulatory review or approval process with Fast Track designation compared to conventional FDA procedures. In addition, the FDA may withdraw Fast Track designation if it believes that the designation is no longer supported by data from our clinical development program. Fast Track designation alone does not guarantee qualification for the FDA’s priority review procedures.
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We may attempt to obtain accelerated approval of our product candidates. If we are unable to obtain accelerated approval, we may be required to conduct clinical trials beyond those that we contemplate, or the size and duration of our pivotal clinical trials could be greater than currently planned, which could increase the expense of obtaining, reduce the likelihood of obtaining, and/or delay the timing of obtaining necessary marketing approvals. Even if we receive accelerated approval from the FDA, the FDA may require that we conduct confirmatory trials to verify clinical benefit. If our confirmatory trials do not verify clinical benefit, or if we do not comply with rigorous post-approval requirements, the FDA may seek to withdraw accelerated approval.
We may seek accelerated approval for our product candidates. The FDA may grant accelerated approval to a product designed to treat a serious or life-threatening condition that provides meaningful therapeutic advantage over available therapies and demonstrates an effect on a surrogate endpoint or intermediate clinical endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit. The FDA considers a clinical benefit to be a positive therapeutic effect that is clinically meaningful in the context of a given disease. If granted, accelerated approval may be contingent on the sponsor’s agreement to conduct, in a diligent manner, additional post-approval confirmatory studies to verify and describe the drug’s predicted effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical benefit. The FDA may require that any such confirmatory study be initiated or substantially underway prior to the submission of an application for accelerated approval. If such post-approval studies fail to confirm the drug’s clinical benefits relative to its risks, the FDA may withdraw its approval of the drug. If we choose to pursue accelerated approval, there can be no assurance that the FDA will agree that our proposed primary endpoint is an appropriate surrogate endpoint. Similarly, there can be no assurance that after subsequent FDA feedback that we will continue to pursue accelerated approval or any other form of expedited development, review, or approval, even if we initially decide to do so. Furthermore, if we submit an application for accelerated approval, there can be no assurance that such application will be accepted or that approval will be granted on a timely basis, or at all. The FDA also could require us to conduct further studies or trials prior to considering our application or granting approval of any type. We might not be able to fulfill the FDA’s requirements in a timely manner, which would cause delays, or approval might not be granted because our submission is deemed incomplete by the FDA.
Even if we receive accelerated approval from the FDA, we will be subject to rigorous post-approval requirements, including submission to the FDA of all promotional materials prior to their dissemination. The FDA may require us to conduct a confirmatory study to verify the predicted clinical benefit. The FDA could withdraw accelerated approval for multiple reasons, including our failure to conduct any required post-approval study with due diligence, or the inability of such study to confirm the predicted clinical benefit.
A failure to obtain accelerated approval or any other form of expedited review or approval for a product candidate could result in a longer time period prior to commercializing such product candidate, increase the cost of development of such product candidate, and harm our competitive position in the marketplace.
Even if we obtain regulatory approval for a product candidate, we will remain subject to ongoing regulatory requirements.
If any of our product candidates are approved, we will be subject to ongoing regulatory requirements with respect to manufacturing, labeling, packaging, storage, advertising, promotion, sampling, record-keeping, conduct of post-marketing clinical trials, and submission of safety, efficacy, and other post-approval information, including both federal and state requirements in the United States, and requirements of comparable foreign regulatory authorities.
Manufacturers and manufacturers’ facilities are required to continuously comply with FDA and comparable foreign requirements, including ensuring that quality control and manufacturing procedures conform to current Good Manufacturing Practices, or cGMPs, regulations, and corresponding foreign regulatory manufacturing requirements. As such, we and our contract manufacturers will be subject to continual review and inspections to assess compliance with cGMPs and adherence to commitments made in any new drug application or marketing authorization application.
Any regulatory approvals that we receive for our product candidates may be subject to limitations on the approved indicated uses for which the product may be marketed or to the conditions of approval, or contain requirements for potentially costly post-marketing testing, including Phase 4 clinical trials, and surveillance to monitor the safety and efficacy of the marketed product. We will be required to report adverse reactions and production problems, if any, to the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities. Any new legislation could result in delays in product development or commercialization, or increased costs to assure compliance. If our original marketing approval for a product candidate was granted accelerated approval by the FDA, we could be required to conduct a successful post-marketing clinical trial in order to confirm the clinical benefit of our products. An unsuccessful post-marketing clinical trial or failure to complete such a trial could result in the withdrawal of marketing approval.
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If a regulatory agency discovers previously unknown problems with a product, such as adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or problems with the facility where the product is manufactured, or disagrees with the promotion, marketing or labeling of a product, the regulatory agency may impose restrictions on that product or us, including requiring withdrawal of the product from the market. If we fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, a regulatory agency or enforcement authority may, among other things:
•issue warning letters;
•impose civil or criminal penalties;
•suspend or withdraw regulatory approval;
•suspend any of our ongoing clinical trials;
•refuse to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications submitted by us;
•impose restrictions on our operations, including closing our contract manufacturers’ facilities; or
•require a product recall.
Any government investigation of alleged violations of law would be expected to require us to expend significant time and resources in response and could generate adverse publicity. Any failure to comply with ongoing regulatory requirements may significantly and adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize our products, and the value of the company and our operating results would be adversely affected.
Moreover, the FDA strictly regulates the promotional claims that may be made about drug products. In particular, a product may not be promoted for uses that are not approved by the FDA as reflected in the product’s approved labeling. The FDA and other agencies actively enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses, and a company that is found to have improperly promoted off-label uses may be subject to significant civil, criminal, and administrative penalties.
In addition, if we were able to obtain accelerated approval of any of our drug candidates, the FDA may require us to conduct a confirmatory study to verify the predicted clinical benefit. Other regulatory authorities outside of the United States may have similar requirements. The results from the confirmatory study may not support the clinical benefit, which could result in the approval being withdrawn. While operating under accelerated approval, we will be subject to certain restrictions that we would not be subject to upon receiving regular approval.
Healthcare legislative reform measures may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
In the United States, there have been and continues to be a number of legislative initiatives to contain healthcare costs. For example, in March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, or collectively, the Affordable Care Act, was passed, which was intended to substantially change the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers, and significantly impact the U.S. pharmaceutical industry. The Affordable Care Act, among other things, addresses a new methodology by which rebates owed by manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program are calculated for drugs that are inhaled, infused, instilled, implanted, or injected, increases the minimum Medicaid rebates owed by manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program and extends the rebate program to individuals enrolled in Medicaid managed care organizations, establishes annual fees and taxes on manufacturers of specified branded prescription drugs, and promotes a new Medicare Part D coverage gap discount program.
There remain Congressional, executive branch, judicial, and regulatory challenges to the Affordable Care Act, and both Congress and President Trump have delayed implementation or effectively repealed some of the Affordable Care Act’s requirements through legislation, Executive Orders, failures to fund, and other actions. For example, the Tax Act included a provision which repealed, effective January 1, 2019, the tax-based shared responsibility payment imposed by the Affordable Care Act on certain individuals who fail to maintain qualifying health coverage for all or part of a year that is commonly referred to as the “individual mandate.” Additionally, the 2020 federal spending package permanently eliminated, effective January 1, 2020, the Affordable Care Act-mandated “Cadillac” tax on high-cost employer-sponsored health coverage and medical device tax and, effective January 1, 2021, also eliminates the health insurer tax. Further, on December 14, 2018, a Texas U.S. District Court Judge ruled that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional in its entirety because the “individual mandate” was repealed by Congress as part of the Tax Act. On December 18, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th
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Circuit upheld the District Court ruling that the individual mandate was unconstitutional and remanded the case back to the District Court to determine whether the remaining provisions of the Affordable Care Act are invalid as well. On March 2, 2020, the United States Supreme Court granted the petitions for writs of certiorari to review this case. It is unclear how such litigation and other efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act will impact the Affordable Care Act and our business.
In addition, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted in the United States since the Affordable Care Act was enacted, and we expect that additional state and federal healthcare reform measures will be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand or lower pricing for our product candidates or additional pricing pressures. In addition, it is possible that additional governmental action is taken to address the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act, which was signed into law in March 2020 and is designed to provide financial support and resources to individuals and businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, suspended the 2% Medicare rate reduction sequester from May 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020, and extended the sequester by one year, through 2030. In addition, it is possible that additional governmental action is taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, on August 6, 2020, the Trump administration issued another executive order that instructs the federal government to develop a list of “essential” medicines and then buy them and other medical supplies from U.S. manufacturers instead of from companies around the world, including China. The order is meant to reduce regulatory barriers to domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing and catalyze manufacturing technologies needed to keep drug prices low and the production of drug products in the United States.
We may be subject, directly or indirectly, to foreign, federal, and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws, false claims laws, and health information privacy and security laws. If we are unable to comply, or have not fully complied, with such laws, we could face substantial penalties, sanctions, or other liability.
Our operations may be subject to various foreign, federal, and state fraud and abuse laws, including, without limitation, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, the federal False Claims Act, and Physician Payments Sunshine Act, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, or the GDPR, and other regulations. These laws may impact, among other things, our relationships with healthcare professionals and our proposed sales, marketing, and education programs. In addition, we may be subject to patient privacy regulation by both the federal government and the states in which we conduct our business. The laws that may affect our ability to operate include:
•the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits, among other things, persons from knowingly and willfully soliciting, receiving, offering, or paying remuneration, directly or indirectly, to induce, or in return for, the purchase or recommendation of an item or service reimbursable under a federal healthcare program, such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs;
•federal civil and criminal false claims laws, including the federal False Claims Act which can be enforced by individuals through civil whistleblower or qui tams actions, and civil monetary penalties laws, which prohibit, among other things, individuals or entities from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, claims for payment from Medicare, Medicaid, or other third-party payors that are false or fraudulent;
•the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, which created additional federal criminal statutes that prohibit, among other things, executing a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program and making false statements relating to healthcare matters;
•HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, and their implementing regulations, which imposes specified obligations, including mandatory contractual terms, with respect to safeguarding the privacy, security, and transmission of individually identifiable health information without the appropriate authorization, on entities subject to the law, such as certain healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses, known as covered entities, and their respective business associates, individuals, and entities that perform services for them that involve the creation, use, maintenance, or disclosure of individually identifiable health information;
•the federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act under the Affordable Care Act which requires manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics, and medical supplies, with certain exceptions, to report annually to the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians, as defined by such law, and teaching hospitals, and ownership and investment interests held by physicians, as well as their immediate family members and applicable group purchasing organizations. Beginning in 2022, applicable manufacturers also will be required to report such information regarding its relationships with physician assistants,
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nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists and certified nurse midwives during the previous year;
•the GDPR and other EU member state data protection laws as well as those of Switzerland and the United Kingdom, which require, in part, data controllers and processors, to adopt administrative, physical, and technical safeguards designed to protect personal data, including health-related data, including mandatory contractual terms with third-party providers, requirements for establishing an appropriate legal basis for processing personal data, transparency requirements related to communications with data subjects regarding the processing of their personal data, standards for obtaining consent from individuals to process their personal data, notification requirements to individuals about the processing of their personal data, an individual data rights regime, mandatory data breach notifications, limitations on the retention of personal data, increased requirements pertaining to health data, and strict rules and restrictions on the transfer of personal data outside of the European Economic Area, or the EEA, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, including to the United States; and
•state law equivalents of each of the above federal laws, such as anti-kickback and false claims laws that may apply to items or services reimbursed by any third-party payor, including governmental and private payors, to comply with the pharmaceutical industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government, or otherwise restrict payments that may be made to healthcare providers and other potential referral sources; state laws that require drug manufacturers to report information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians and other healthcare providers, marketing expenditures or drug pricing; state and local laws that require the registration of pharmaceutical sales representatives; and state laws governing the privacy and security of health information in specified circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and may not have the same effect, thus complicating compliance efforts.
Because of the breadth of these laws and the narrowness of the statutory exceptions and regulatory safe harbors available, it is possible that some of our business activities could be subject to challenge under one or more of such laws. In addition, recent healthcare reform legislation has strengthened these laws. For example, the Affordable Care Act, among other things, amends the intent requirement of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and criminal healthcare fraud statutes, such that a person or entity no longer needs to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate the law in order to have committed a violation. Moreover, the Affordable Care Act provides that the government may assert that a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the federal False Claims Act.
If our operations are found to be in violation of any of the laws described above or any other governmental regulations that apply to us, we may be subject to penalties, including significant civil, criminal, and administrative penalties, disgorgement, damages, fines, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, exclusion from participation in government healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, imprisonment, additional reporting requirements and/or oversight if we become subject to a corporate integrity agreement or similar agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with these laws, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations.
Reliance on government funding for our programs may add uncertainty to our research and commercialization efforts with respect to those programs that are tied to such funding and may impose requirements that limit our ability to take specified actions, increase the costs of commercialization and production of product candidates developed under those programs and subject us to potential financial penalties, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
During the course of our development of our product candidates, we have been funded in part through federal and state grants. In addition to the funding we have received to date, we have applied and intend to continue to apply for federal and state grants to receive additional funding in the future. Contracts and grants funded by the U.S. government, state governments and their related agencies include provisions that reflect the government’s substantial rights and remedies, many of which are not typically found in commercial contracts, including powers of the government to:
•require repayment of all or a portion of the grant proceeds, in specified cases with interest, in the event we violate specified covenants pertaining to various matters that include a failure to achieve;
•specify milestones or terms relating to use of grant proceeds, or to comply with specified laws;
•terminate agreements, in whole or in part, for any reason or no reason;
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•reduce or modify the government’s obligations under such agreements without the consent of the other party;
•claim rights, including intellectual property rights, in products and data developed under such agreements;
•audit contract related costs and fees, including allocated indirect costs;
•suspend the contractor or grantee from receiving new contracts pending resolution of alleged violations of procurement laws or regulations;
•impose U.S. manufacturing requirements for products that embody inventions conceived or first reduced to practice under such agreements;
•impose qualifications for the engagement of manufacturers, suppliers, and other contractors as well as other criteria for reimbursements;
•suspend or debar the contractor or grantee from doing future business with the government;
•control and potentially prohibit the export of products;
•pursue criminal or civil remedies under the federal False Claims Act, False Statements Act, and similar remedy provisions specific to government agreements; and
•limit the government’s financial liability to amounts appropriated by the U.S. Congress on a fiscal year basis, thereby leaving some uncertainty about the future availability of funding for a program even after we have been funded for an initial period.
In addition to those powers set forth above, the government funding we may receive could also impose requirements to make payments based upon sales of our products, if any, in the future.
We may not have the right to prohibit the U.S. government from using specified technologies developed by it, and we may not be able to prohibit third-party companies, including our competitors, from using those technologies in providing products and services to the U.S. government. The U.S. government generally takes the position that we have the right to royalty-free use of technologies that are developed under U.S. government contracts. These and other provisions of government grants may also apply to intellectual property we license now or in the future.
In addition, government contracts and grants normally contain additional requirements that may increase our costs of doing business, reduce our profits, and expose us to liability for failure to comply with these terms and conditions. These requirements include, for example:
•specialized accounting systems unique to government contracts and grants;
•mandatory financial audits and potential liability for price adjustments or recoupment of government funds after such funds have been spent;
•public disclosures of some contract and grant information, which may enable competitors to gain insights into our research program; and
•mandatory socioeconomic compliance requirements, including labor standards, non-discrimination and affirmative action programs, and environmental compliance requirements.
If we fail to maintain compliance with any such requirements that may apply to us now or in the future, we may be subject to potential liability and to termination of our contracts.
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 our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
Our research and development activities and our third-party manufacturers’ and suppliers’ activities involve the controlled storage, use, and disposal of hazardous materials, including the components of our product candidates and other hazardous
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compounds. We and our manufacturers and suppliers are subject to laws and regulations governing the use, manufacture, storage, handling, and disposal of these hazardous materials. In some cases, these hazardous materials and various wastes resulting from their use are stored at our and our manufacturers’ facilities pending their use and disposal. We cannot eliminate the risk of contamination, which could cause an interruption of our commercialization efforts, research and development efforts, and business operations, and cause environmental damage resulting in costly clean-up and liabilities under applicable laws and regulations governing the use, storage, handling, and disposal of these materials and specified waste products. Although we believe that the safety procedures utilized by us and our third-party manufacturers for handling and disposing of these materials generally comply with the standards prescribed by these laws and regulations, we cannot guarantee that this is the case or eliminate the risk of accidental contamination or injury from these materials. In such an event, we may be held liable for any resulting damages and such liability could exceed our resources, and state or federal or other applicable authorities may curtail our use of specified materials and/or interrupt our business operations. Furthermore, environmental laws and regulations are complex, change frequently, and have tended to become more stringent. We cannot predict the impact of such changes and cannot be certain of our future compliance. We do not currently carry biological or hazardous waste insurance coverage.
Failure to comply with existing or future laws and regulations related to privacy or data security could lead to government enforcement actions (which could include civil or criminal fines or penalties), private litigation, other liabilities, and/or adverse publicity. Compliance or the failure to comply with such laws could increase the costs of our products and services, could limit their use or adoption, and could otherwise negatively affect our operating results and business.
Regulation of personal data or personal information processing is evolving, as federal, state, and foreign governments continue to adopt new, or modify existing, laws and regulations addressing data privacy and security, and the collection, processing, storage, transfer, and use of such data. We, our collaborators, and our service providers may be subject to current, new, or modified federal, state, and foreign data protection laws and regulations (e.g., laws and regulations that address data privacy and data security, including, without limitation, health data). These new or proposed laws and regulations are subject to differing interpretations and may be inconsistent among jurisdictions, and guidance on implementation and compliance practices are often updated or otherwise revised, which adds to the complexity of processing personal data. These and other requirements could require us or our collaborators to incur additional costs to achieve compliance, limit our competitiveness, necessitate the acceptance of more onerous obligations in our contracts, restrict our ability to use, store, transfer, and process data, impact our or our collaborators’ ability to process or use data in order to support the provision of our products or services, affect our or our collaborators’ ability to offer our products and services or operate in certain locations, cause regulators to reject, limit, or disrupt our clinical trial activities, result in increased expenses, reduce overall demand for our products and services and make it more difficult to meet expectations of or commitments to customers or collaborators.
In the United States, numerous federal and state laws and regulations, including state data breach notification laws, state information privacy laws (e.g., the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, or CCPA), state health information privacy laws, and federal and state consumer protection laws and regulations (e.g., Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act), that govern the collection, use, disclosure, and protection of health-related and other personal information could apply to our operations or the operations of our collaborators. In addition, we may obtain health information from third parties (including research institutions from which we may obtain clinical trial data) that are subject to privacy and security requirements under HIPAA. Depending on the facts and circumstances, we could be subject to civil and criminal penalties, including if we knowingly obtain, use, or disclose individually identifiable health information maintained by a HIPAA-covered entity in a manner that is not authorized or permitted by HIPAA.
The CCPA became effective on January 1, 2020. The CCPA gives California residents expanded rights to access and delete their personal information, opt out of certain personal information sharing and receive detailed information about how their personal information is used by requiring covered companies to provide new disclosures to California residents and provide such residents new data privacy rights. The CCPA imposes new operational requirements for covered businesses and provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action and statutory damages for data breaches that is expected to increase class action data breach litigation. Although there are limited exemptions for clinical trial data, the CCPA’s implementation standards and enforcement practices are likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future, and the CCPA may increase our compliance costs and potential liability. Many similar privacy laws have been proposed at the federal level and in other states. The CCPA exemplifies the vulnerability of our business to the evolving regulatory environment related to personal information.
Foreign data protection laws, including, without limitation, the EU’s GDPR that took effect in May 2018, and member state data protection laws, may also apply to health-related and other personal information that we process, including, without limitation, personal data relating to clinical trial participants in the EU, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. These laws impose strict obligations on the ability to process health-related and other personal information of data subjects in the EU, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, including, among other things, standards relating to the privacy and security of personal
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data, which require the adoption of administrative, physical and technical safeguards designed to protect such information. These laws may affect our use, collection, analysis, and transfer (including cross-border transfer) of such personal information. These laws include several requirements relating to transparency requirements related to communications with data subjects regarding the processing of their personal data, obtaining the consent of the individuals to whom the personal data relates, limitations on data processing, establishing a legal basis for processing, notification of data processing obligations or security incidents to appropriate data protection authorities or data subjects, the security and confidentiality of the personal data and various rights that data subjects may exercise. The GDPR increases our obligations with respect to clinical trials conducted in the EU by expanding the definition of personal data to include coded data and requiring changes to informed consent practices and more detailed notices for clinical trial participants and investigators.
European data protection laws, including the GDPR, prohibit the transfer, without an appropriate legal basis, of personal data to countries outside of the EEA, such as the United States, which are not considered by the European Commission to provide an adequate level of data protection and as a result, increases the scrutiny for transfers of personal data from clinical trial sites located in the EU to the United States. Switzerland and the United Kingdom have adopted similar restrictions. Although there are legal mechanisms to allow for the transfer of personal data from the EEA, Switzerland, and United Kingdom to the United States, uncertainty about compliance with EU data protection laws remains and such mechanisms may not be available or applicable with respect to the personal data processing activities necessary to research, develop, and market our products and services. For example, legal challenges in the EU to the mechanisms that allow companies to transfer personal data from the EU to the United States could result in further limitations on the ability to transfer personal data across borders, particularly if governments are unable or unwilling to reach new or maintain existing agreements that support cross-border data transfers, such as the EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework. Specifically, on July 16, 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union invalidated Decision 2016/1250 on the adequacy of the protection provided by the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield and raised questions about whether one of the primary alternatives to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, namely, the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses, can lawfully be used for personal data transfers from the EU to the United States or most other countries. At present, there are few, if any, viable alternatives to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield and the Standard Contractual Clauses. Similarly, the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner announced the use of the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield is inadequate for personal data transfers from Switzerland to the U.S. Authorities in the UK may similarly invalidate use of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield for transfers of personal data from the United Kingdom to the U.S. Inability to transfer personal data from the EU, Switzerland or United Kingdom to the United States may restrict our clinical trial activities in the EU and limit our ability to collaborate with service providers and other companies subject to European data protection laws. Further, the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the EU, often referred to as Brexit, has created uncertainty with regard to data protection regulation in the United Kingdom. In particular, while the Data Protection Act of 2018, which “implements” and complements the GDPR achieved Royal Assent on May 23, 2018 and is now effective in the United Kingdom, it is still unclear whether the transfer of data from the EU to the United Kingdom will in future remain lawful under GDPR. During the period of “transition” (i.e., until December 31, 2020), EU law will continue to apply in the United Kingdom, including the GDPR, and transfers of data from the EU to the United Kingdom are permitted without the need for any “adequacy mechanism. Unless the EU Commission makes an “adequacy finding” in respect of the United Kingdom before January 1, 2021, from that date the United Kingdom will be a “third country” under the GDPR and transfers of data from the EU to the United Kingdom will require an “adequacy mechanism”, such as the Standard Contractual Clauses. Additionally, other countries have passed or are considering passing laws requiring local data residency and/or restricting the international transfer of data.
Under the GDPR, regulators may impose substantial fines and penalties for non-compliance. Companies that violate the GDPR can face fines of up to the greater of 20 million Euros or 4% of their worldwide annual turnover (revenue). The GDPR also permits data protection authorities to require destruction of improperly gathered or used personal data. The GDPR and other changes in laws and regulations associated with the enhanced protection of certain types of personal data, such as health data (including personal data from our clinical trials) have increased our responsibility and liability in relation to personal data that we process, requiring us to put in place additional mechanisms to ensure compliance with such data protection laws, regulations and rules. These laws, regulations and rules could require us to change our business practices and put in place additional compliance mechanisms; may interrupt or delay our development, regulatory and commercialization activities; and increase our cost of doing business.
Failure to comply with U.S. and foreign data protection laws and regulations could result in government investigations and enforcement actions (which could include civil or criminal penalties, fines, or sanctions), private litigation, and/or adverse publicity and could negatively affect our operating results and business. Moreover, patients or subjects about whom we or our collaborators obtain information, as well as the providers who share this information with us, may contractually limit our ability to use and disclose the information. Claims that we have violated individuals’ privacy rights or failed to comply with data protection laws or applicable privacy notices even if we are not found liable, could be expensive and time-consuming to defend and could result in adverse publicity that could harm our business.
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Any failure by our third-party collaborators, service providers, contractors, or consultants to comply with applicable law, regulations or contractual obligations related to data privacy or security could result in proceedings against us by governmental entities or others.
We may publish privacy policies and other documentation regarding our collection, processing, use and disclosure of personal information and/or other confidential information. Although we endeavor to comply with our published policies and other documentation, we may at times fail to do so or may be perceived to have failed to do so. Moreover, despite our efforts, we may not be successful in achieving compliance if our employees or vendors fail to comply with our published policies and documentation. Such failures can subject us to potential foreign, local, state, and federal action if they are found to be deceptive, unfair, or misrepresentative of our actual practices. Moreover, subjects about whom we or our partners obtain information, as well as the providers who share this information with us, may contractually limit our ability to use and disclose the information. Claims that we have violated individuals’ privacy rights or failed to comply with data protection laws or applicable privacy notices even if we are not found liable, could be expensive and time-consuming to defend and could result in adverse publicity that could harm our business.
Any of these matters could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, or operational results.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property
We intend to rely on patent rights, trade secret protections, and confidentiality agreements to protect the intellectual property related to our product candidates and any future product candidates. If we are unable to obtain or maintain exclusivity from the combination of these approaches, we may not be able to compete effectively in our markets.
We rely or will rely upon a combination of patents, trade secret protection, and confidentiality agreements to protect the intellectual property related to our technologies and product candidates. Our success depends in large part on our and our licensors’ ability to obtain regulatory exclusivity and maintain patent and other intellectual property protection in the United States and in other countries with respect to our proprietary technologies and product candidates.
We have sought to protect our proprietary position by filing patent applications in the United States and abroad related to our technologies and product candidates that are important to our business. This process is expensive and time consuming, and we may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our research and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection.
The patent position of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies generally is highly uncertain and involves complex legal and factual questions for which legal principles remain unsolved. The patent applications that we own or in-license may fail to result in issued patents with claims that cover our product candidates in the United States or in other foreign countries. There is no assurance that all potentially relevant prior art relating to our patents and patent applications has been found, which can invalidate a patent or prevent a patent from issuing from a pending patent application. Even if patents do successfully issue, and even if such patents cover our product candidates, third parties may challenge their validity, enforceability, or scope, which may result in such patents being narrowed, found unenforceable, or invalidated. Furthermore, even if they are unchallenged, our patents and patent applications may not adequately protect our intellectual property, provide exclusivity for our product candidates, or prevent others from designing around our claims. Any of these outcomes could impair our ability to prevent competition from third parties, which may have an adverse impact on our business.
We, independently or together with our licensors, have filed patent applications covering various aspects of our product candidates. We cannot offer any assurances about which, if any, patents will issue, the breadth of any such patent, or whether any issued patents will be found invalid and unenforceable or will be threatened by third parties. Any successful opposition to these patents or any other patents owned by or licensed to us after patent issuance could deprive us of rights necessary for the successful commercialization of any product candidates that we may develop. Further, if we encounter delays in regulatory approvals, the period of time during which we could market a product candidate under patent protection could be reduced.
If we cannot obtain and maintain effective protection of exclusivity from our regulatory efforts and intellectual property rights, including patent protection or data exclusivity, for our product candidates, we may not be able to compete effectively, and our business and results of operations would be harmed.
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We may not have sufficient patent term protections for our product candidates to effectively protect our business.
Patents have a limited term. In the United States, the statutory expiration of a patent is generally 20 years after it is filed. Additional patent terms may be available through a patent term adjustment process, resulting from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, delays during prosecution. Although various extensions may be available, the life of a patent, and the protection it affords, is limited. Even if patents covering our product candidates are obtained, once the patent life has expired for a product candidate, we may be open to competition from generic medications.
Patent term extensions under the Hatch-Waxman Act in the United States and under supplementary protection certificates in Europe may be available to extend the patent or data exclusivity terms of our product candidates. We will likely rely on patent term extensions, and we cannot provide any assurances that any such patent term extensions will be obtained and, if so, for how long. As a result, we may not be able to maintain exclusivity for our product candidates for an extended period after regulatory approval, if any, which would negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. If we do not have sufficient patent terms or regulatory exclusivity to protect our product candidates, our business and results of operations will be adversely affected.
Changes in U.S. patent law could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our products, and recent patent reform legislation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents.
As is the case with other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, our success is heavily dependent on patents. Obtaining and enforcing patents in the biotechnology industry involve both technological and legal complexity, and is therefore costly, time-consuming, and inherently uncertain. In addition, the United States has recently enacted and is currently implementing wide-ranging patent reform legislation. Recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings have narrowed the scope of patent protection available in specified circumstances and weakened the rights of patent owners in specified situations. In addition to increasing uncertainty with regard to our ability to obtain patents in the future, this combination of events has created uncertainty with respect to the value of patents, once obtained. Depending on decisions by the U.S. Congress, the federal courts, and the USPTO, the laws and regulations governing patents could change in unpredictable ways that would weaken our ability to obtain new patents or to enforce our existing patents and patents that we might obtain in the future.
The USPTO has issued subject matter eligibility guidance to patent examiners instructing USPTO examiners on the ramifications of the Supreme Court rulings in Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc. and Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., and applied the Myriad ruling to natural products and principles including all naturally occurring nucleic acids. In addition, the USPTO continues to provide updates to its guidance and this is a developing area. The USPTO guidance may make it impossible for us to pursue similar patent claims in patent applications we may prosecute in the future.
Our patent portfolio contains claims of various types and scope, including chemically modified mimics, inhibitors, as well as methods of medical treatment. The presence of varying claims in our patent portfolio significantly reduces, but may not eliminate, our exposure to potential validity challenges.
For our U.S. patent applications containing a claim not entitled to priority before March 16, 2013, there is a greater level of uncertainty in the patent law. On September 16, 2011, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, or the Leahy-Smith Act, was signed into law. The Leahy-Smith Act includes a number of significant changes to U.S. patent law. These include provisions that affect the way patent applications will be prosecuted and may also affect patent litigation. The USPTO has promulgated regulations and developed procedures to govern administration of the Leahy-Smith Act, and many of the substantive changes to patent law associated with the Leahy-Smith Act, and in particular, the first to file provisions, did not come into effect until March 16, 2013. Accordingly, it is not yet clear what, if any, impact the Leahy-Smith Act will have on the operation of our business. 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, or results of operations.
An important change introduced by the Leahy-Smith Act is that, as of March 16, 2013, the United States transitioned to a “first-to-file” system for deciding which party should be granted a patent when two or more patent applications are filed by different parties claiming the same invention. This will require us to be cognizant going forward of the time from invention to filing of a patent application. Furthermore, our ability to obtain and maintain valid and enforceable patents depends on whether the differences between our technology and the prior art allow our technology to be patentable over the prior art. Since patent applications in the United States and most other countries are confidential for a period of time after filing, we cannot be certain
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that we were the first to either: (i) file any patent application related to our product candidates or (ii) invent any of the inventions claimed in our patents or patent applications.
Among some of the other changes introduced by the Leahy-Smith Act are changes that limit where a patentee may file a patent infringement suit and new procedures providing opportunities for third parties to challenge any issued patent in the USPTO. Included in these new procedures is a process known as Inter Partes Review, or IPR, which has been generally used by many third parties over the past four years to invalidate patents. The IPR process is not limited to patents filed after the Leahy-Smith Act was enacted and would therefore be available to a third party seeking to invalidate any of our U.S. patents, even those filed before March 16, 2013. Because of a lower evidentiary standard in USPTO proceedings compared to the evidentiary standard in U.S. federal court 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. Additionally, the rights of review and appeal for IPR decisions is an area of law that is still developing.
If we are unable to maintain effective proprietary rights for our product candidates or any future product candidates, we may not be able to compete effectively in our proposed markets.
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 or that we elect not to patent, processes for which patents are difficult to enforce and any other elements of our product candidate discovery and development processes that involve proprietary know-how, information, or technology that is not covered by patents. However, trade secrets can be difficult to protect. We seek to protect our proprietary technology and processes, in part, by entering into confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, scientific advisors, and contractors. We also seek to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our data and trade secrets by maintaining physical security of our premises and physical and electronic security of our information technology systems. While we have confidence in these individuals, organizations, and systems, agreements or security measures may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any breach. In addition, our trade secrets may otherwise become known or be independently discovered by competitors.
Although we expect all of our employees and consultants to assign their inventions to us, and all of our employees, consultants, advisors, and any third parties who have access to our proprietary know-how, information, or technology to enter into confidentiality agreements, we cannot provide any assurances that all such agreements have been duly executed, or that our trade secrets and other confidential proprietary information will not be disclosed, or that competitors will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or independently develop substantially equivalent information and techniques. Misappropriation or unauthorized disclosure of our trade secrets could impair our competitive position and may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations. Additionally, if the steps taken to maintain our trade secrets are deemed inadequate, we may have insufficient recourse against third parties for misappropriating the trade secret.
Third-party claims of intellectual property infringement may prevent or delay our development and commercialization efforts.
Our commercial success depends in part on our ability to develop, manufacture, market, and sell our product candidates and use our proprietary technology without infringing the patent rights of third parties. Numerous third-party U.S. and non-U.S. issued patents and pending applications exist in the area of our product candidates. From time to time, we may also monitor these patents and patent applications. We may in the future pursue available proceedings in the U.S. and foreign patent offices to challenge the validity of these patents and patent applications. In addition, or alternatively, we may consider whether to seek to negotiate a license of rights to technology covered by one or more of such patents and patent applications. If any patents or patent applications cover our product candidates or technologies, we may not be free to manufacture or market our product candidates as planned, absent such a license, which may not be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, or at all.
It is also possible that we have failed to identify relevant third-party patents or applications. For example, applications filed before November 29, 2000 remain confidential until patents issue and applications filed after that date that will not be filed outside the United States can elect to remain confidential until patents issue. Moreover, it is difficult for industry participants, including us, to identify all third-party patent rights that may be relevant to our product candidates and technologies because patent searching is imperfect due to differences in terminology among patents, incomplete databases, and the difficulty in assessing the meaning of patent claims. We may fail to identify relevant patents or patent applications or may identify pending patent applications of potential interest but incorrectly predict the likelihood that such patent applications may issue with claims of relevance to our technology. In addition, we may be unaware of one or more issued patents that would be infringed by the manufacture, sale, or use of a current or future product candidate, or we may incorrectly conclude that a third-party patent is
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invalid, unenforceable, or not infringed by our activities. Additionally, pending patent applications that have been published can, subject to specified limitations, be later amended in a manner that could cover our technologies, our product candidates, or the use of our product candidates.
There have been many lawsuits and other proceedings involving patent and other intellectual property rights in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, including patent infringement lawsuits in federal courts, and interferences, oppositions, inter partes reviews, post-grant reviews, and reexamination proceedings before the USPTO and corresponding foreign patent offices. Numerous U.S. and foreign-issued patents and pending patent applications, which are owned by third parties, exist in the fields in which we are developing product candidates. As the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries expand 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.
Parties making claims against us may obtain injunctive or other equitable relief, which could effectively block our ability to further develop and commercialize one or more of our product candidates. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation expense and would be a substantial diversion of employee resources from our business. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us, we may have to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees for willful infringement, pay royalties, redesign our infringing products, or obtain one or more licenses from third parties, which may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure.
We may not be successful in meeting our obligations under our existing license agreements necessary to maintain our product candidate licenses in effect. In addition, if required in order to commercialize our product candidates, we may be unsuccessful in obtaining or maintaining necessary rights to our product candidates through acquisitions and in-licenses.
We currently have rights to the intellectual property, through licenses from third parties and under patents that we do not own, to develop and commercialize our product candidates. Because our programs may require the use of proprietary rights held by third parties, the growth of our business will likely depend in part on our ability to maintain in effect these proprietary rights. Any termination of license agreements with third parties with respect to our product candidates would be expected to negatively impact our business prospects.
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 are also pursuing strategies to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights that we may consider attractive. These established companies may have a competitive advantage over us due to their size, cash 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. Even if we are able to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights that are necessary for our product candidates, there can be no assurance that they will be available on favorable terms.
If we are unable to successfully obtain and maintain rights to required third-party intellectual property, we may have to abandon development of that product candidate or pay additional amounts to the third party, and our business and financial condition could suffer.
The patent protection and patent prosecution for some of our product candidates is dependent on third parties.
While we normally seek and gain the right to fully prosecute the patents relating to our product candidates, there may be times when patents relating to our product candidates are controlled by our licensors. If any of our licensors fail to appropriately follow our instructions with regard to the prosecution and maintenance of patent protection for patents covering any of our product candidates, 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, importing, and selling competing products. In addition, even where we now have the right to control patent prosecution of patents and patent applications we have licensed from third parties, we may still be adversely affected or prejudiced by actions or inactions of our licensors in effect from actions prior to us assuming control over patent prosecution.
If we fail to comply with obligations in the agreements under which we license intellectual property and other rights from third parties or otherwise experience disruptions to our business relationships with our licensors, we could lose license rights that are important to our business.
We are a party to intellectual property licenses and supply agreements that are important to our business and expect to enter into additional license agreements in the future. Our existing agreements impose, and we expect that future license agreements will
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impose, various diligence, milestone payments, royalties, purchasing, and other obligations on us. If we fail to comply with our obligations under these agreements, or we are subject to a bankruptcy, our agreements may be subject to termination by the licensor, in which event we would not be able to develop, manufacture, or market products covered by the license or subject to supply commitments.
We may be involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents or the patents of our licensors, which could be expensive, time consuming, and unsuccessful.
Competitors may infringe our patents or the patents of our licensors. If we or one of our licensing partners were to initiate legal proceedings against a third party to enforce a patent covering one of our product candidates, the defendant could counterclaim that the patent covering our product candidate is invalid and/or unenforceable. 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, written description, clarity, or non-enablement. 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.
Interference proceedings provoked by third parties or brought by us or declared by the USPTO may be necessary to determine the priority of inventions with respect to our patents or patent applications or those of our licensors. An unfavorable outcome could require us to cease using the related technology or to attempt to license rights to us from the prevailing party. Our business could be harmed if the prevailing party does not offer us a license on commercially reasonable terms. Our defense of litigation or interference proceedings may fail and, even if successful, may result in substantial costs and distract our management and other employees. In addition, the uncertainties associated with litigation could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our clinical trials, continue our research programs, license necessary technology from third parties, or enter into development partnerships that would help us bring our product candidates to market.
Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation. 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 our common stock.
We may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants, or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information of third parties or that our employees have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of their former employers.
We employ individuals who were previously employed at universities or other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. Although we have written agreements and make every effort to ensure that our employees, consultants, and independent contractors do not use the proprietary information or intellectual property rights of others in their work for us, we may in the future be subject to any claims that our employees, consultants, or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information of third parties. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel, which could adversely impact our business. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.
We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world.
Filing, prosecuting, and defending patents on product candidates in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive, and our intellectual property rights in some countries outside the United States can be less extensive than those in the United States. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as federal and state laws in the United States. Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop our own products and may also export infringing products to territories where we have patent protection, but enforcement is not as strong as that in the United States.
These products may compete with our products and our patents or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from competing.
Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of some countries, particularly some developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of
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patents, trade secrets, and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to biotechnology products, 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 generally.
Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions, whether or not successful, could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and our patent applications at risk of not issuing, and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate, and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop or license.
Risks Related to Our Reliance on Third Parties
We rely on third parties to conduct our clinical trials, manufacture our product candidates, and perform other services. If these third parties do not successfully perform and comply with regulatory requirements, we may not be able to successfully complete clinical development, obtain regulatory approval, or commercialize our product candidates and our business could be substantially harmed.
We have relied upon and plan to continue to rely upon third-party CROs to conduct, monitor, and manage our ongoing clinical programs. We rely on these parties for execution of clinical trials, and we manage and control only some aspects of their activities. We remain responsible for ensuring that each of our trials is conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol, legal, regulatory, and scientific standards, and our reliance on the CROs does not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities. We and our CROs and other vendors are required to comply with all applicable laws, regulations, and guidelines, including those required by the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities for all of our product candidates in clinical development. If we or any of our CROs or vendors fail to comply with applicable laws, regulations, and guidelines, the results generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable, and the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may require us to perform additional clinical trials before approving our marketing applications. We cannot be assured that our CROs and other vendors will meet these requirements, or that upon inspection by any regulatory authority, such regulatory authority will determine that efforts, including any of our clinical trials, comply with applicable requirements. Our failure to comply with these laws, regulations, and guidelines may require us to repeat clinical trials, which would be costly and delay the regulatory approval process.
If any of our relationships with these third-party CROs terminate, we may not be able to enter into arrangements with alternative CROs in a timely manner or do so on commercially reasonable terms. In addition, our CROs may not prioritize our clinical trials relative to those of other customers, and any turnover in personnel or delays in the allocation of CRO employees by the CRO may negatively affect our clinical trials. If CROs do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or obligations or meet expected deadlines, our clinical trials may be delayed or terminated, and we may not be able to meet our current plans with respect to our product candidates. Additionally, regional disruptions, including natural disasters or health emergencies (such as novel viruses or pandemics), could significantly disrupt the timing of clinical trials. CROs may also involve higher costs than anticipated, which could negatively affect our financial condition and operations.
In addition, we do not currently have, nor do we currently plan to establish, the capability to manufacture product candidates for use in the conduct of our clinical trials, and we lack the resources and the capability to manufacture any of our product candidates on a clinical or commercial scale without the use of third-party manufacturers. We plan to rely on third-party manufacturers and their responsibilities will include purchasing from third-party suppliers the materials necessary to produce our product candidates for our clinical trials and regulatory approval. There are expected to be a limited number of suppliers for the active ingredients and other materials that we expect to use to manufacture our product candidates, and we may not be able to identify alternative suppliers to prevent a possible disruption of the manufacture of our product candidates for our clinical trials, and, if approved, ultimately for commercial sale. Although we generally do not expect to begin a clinical trial unless we believe we have a sufficient supply of a product candidate to complete the trial, any significant delay or discontinuity in the supply of a product candidate, or the active ingredient or other material components in the manufacture of the product candidate, could delay completion of our clinical trials and potential timing for regulatory approval of our product candidates, which would harm our business and results of operations.
Our manufacturing process is complex and we may encounter difficulties in production, which would delay or prevent our ability to provide a sufficient supply of our product candidates for future clinical trials or commercialization, if approved.
The process of manufacturing our biologic product candidates is complex, highly regulated, variable and subject to numerous risks.
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Our manufacturing process will be susceptible to product loss or failure, or product variation that may negatively impact patient outcomes, due to logistical issues associated with preparing the product for administration, infusing the patient with the product, manufacturing issues or different product characteristics resulting from the inherent differences in starting materials, variations between reagent lots, interruptions in the manufacturing process, contamination, equipment or reagent failure, improper installation or operation of equipment and/or programs, vendor or operator error and variability in product characteristics.
Even minor variations in starting reagents and materials, or deviations from normal manufacturing processes could result in reduced production yields, product defects, manufacturing failure and other supply disruptions. If microbial, viral or other contaminations are discovered in our product candidates or in any of the manufacturing facilities in which products or other materials are made, such manufacturing facilities may need to be closed for an extended period of time to investigate and remedy the contamination. Any failure in the foregoing processes could render a batch of product unusable, could affect the regulatory approval of such product candidate, could cause us to incur fines or penalties or could harm our reputation and that of our product candidates.
We may make changes to our manufacturing process for various reasons, such as to control costs, increase yield or dose, achieve scale, decrease processing time, increase manufacturing success rate or for other reasons. Changes to our process made during the course of clinical development could require us to show the comparability of the product used in earlier clinical phases or at earlier portions of a trial to the product used in later clinical phases or later portions of the trial. Other changes to our manufacturing process made before or after commercialization could require us to show the comparability of the resulting product to the product candidate used in the clinical trials using earlier processes. Such showings could require us to collect additional nonclinical or clinical data from any modified process prior to obtaining marketing approval for the product candidate produced with such modified process. If such data are not ultimately comparable to that seen in the earlier trials or earlier in the same trial in terms of safety or efficacy, we may be required to make further changes to our process and/or undertake additional clinical testing, either of which could significantly delay the clinical development or commercialization of the associated product candidate, which would materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
We rely and expect to continue to rely on third parties to manufacture our clinical product supplies, and we intend to rely on third parties to produce and process our product candidates, if approved, and our commercialization of any of our product candidates could be stopped, delayed, or made less profitable if those third parties fail to obtain approval of government regulators, fail to provide us with sufficient quantities of drug product, or fail to do so at acceptable quality levels or prices.
We do not currently have, nor do we currently plan to develop, the infrastructure or capability internally to manufacture our clinical supplies for use in the conduct of our clinical trials, and we lack the resources and the capability to manufacture any of our product candidates on a clinical or commercial scale. We currently rely on outside vendors to manufacture our clinical supplies of our product candidates and plan to continue relying on third parties to manufacture our product candidates on a commercial scale, if approved.
We do not yet have sufficient information to reliably estimate the cost of the commercial manufacturing of our product candidates and our current cost to manufacture our drug products may not be commercially feasible. Additionally, the actual cost to manufacture our product candidates could materially and adversely affect the commercial viability of our product candidates. As a result, we may never be able to develop a commercially viable product.
In addition, our reliance on third-party manufacturers exposes us to the following additional risks:
•We may be unable to identify manufacturers of our product candidates on acceptable terms or at all.
•Our third-party manufacturers might be unable to timely formulate and manufacture our product or produce the quantity and quality required to meet our clinical and commercial needs, if any.
•Contract manufacturers may not be able to execute our manufacturing procedures appropriately.
•Our future third-party manufacturers may not perform as agreed or may not remain in the contract manufacturing business for the time required to supply our clinical trials or to successfully produce, store, and distribute our products.
•Manufacturers are subject to ongoing periodic unannounced inspection by the FDA and some state agencies to ensure strict compliance with cGMPs and other government regulations and corresponding foreign standards. We do not have control over third-party manufacturers’ compliance with these regulations and standards.
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•We may not own, or may have to share, the intellectual property rights to any improvements made by our third-party manufacturers in the manufacturing process for our product candidates.
•Our third-party manufacturers could breach or terminate their agreement with us.
•We may experience labor disputes or shortages, including from the effects of health emergencies (such as novel viruses or pandemics) and natural disasters.
Each of these risks could delay our clinical trials, as well as the approval, if any, of our product candidates by the FDA, or the commercialization of our product candidates, or could result in higher costs, or could deprive us of potential product revenue. In addition, we rely on third parties to perform release testing on our product candidates prior to delivery to patients. If these tests are not appropriately conducted and test data are not reliable, patients could be put at risk of serious harm, and this could result in product liability suits.
The manufacture of medical products is complex and requires significant expertise and capital investment, including the development of advanced manufacturing techniques and process controls. Manufacturers of medical products often encounter difficulties in production, particularly in scaling up and validating initial production and absence of contamination. These problems include difficulties with production costs and yields, quality control, stability of the product, quality assurance testing, operator error, shortages of qualified personnel, as well as compliance with strictly enforced federal, state, and foreign regulations. Furthermore, if contaminants are discovered in our supply of our product candidates or in the manufacturing facilities, such manufacturing facilities may need to be closed for an extended period of time to investigate and remedy the contamination. We cannot be assured that any stability issue or other issues relating to the manufacture of our product candidates will not occur in the future. Additionally, our manufacturers may experience manufacturing difficulties due to resource constraints or as a result of labor disputes, shortages, including from the effects of heath emergencies (such as novel viruses or pandemics) and natural disasters, or unstable political environments. If our manufacturers were to encounter any of these difficulties, or otherwise fail to comply with their contractual obligations, our ability to provide our product candidates to patients or subjects in clinical trials would be jeopardized. Any delay or interruption in the supply of clinical trial supplies could delay the completion of clinical trials, increase the costs associated with maintaining clinical trial programs and, depending upon the period of delay, require us to commence new clinical trials at additional expense or terminate clinical trials completely.
Our business has been, and may in the future be, adversely affected by the effects of health epidemics, including the recent COVID-19 outbreak, in regions where we or third parties on which we rely have business operations. We may have future clinical trial sites in countries or regions that have been directly affected by COVID-19 and depend on third party manufacturing operations for various stages of our supply chain that may be affected by COVID-19 in the future. In addition, if COVID-19 continues to be a worldwide pandemic, it could materially affect our operations globally.
Our business has been, and may continue to be adversely affected by health epidemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic, in regions where we have significant manufacturing facilities, concentrations of clinical trial sites, or other business operations.
As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, we have implemented limitations on our operations, including a work-from-home policy, and could face further limitations in our operations in the future. There is a risk that countries or regions may be less effective at containing COVID-19 than others, or it may be more difficult to contain if the outbreak reaches a larger population or broader geography, in which case the risks described herein could be elevated significantly.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may materially affect our ability to commence clinical trials in a timely fashion or at all. We cannot predict if the COVID-19 pandemic, or any other future health epidemic, may cause delays to future planned clinical trials.
In addition, although we have not experienced any significant disruption in our supply chain, if COVID-19 continues to spread, third-party manufacturing of our drug product candidates and suppliers of the materials used in the production of our drug product candidates may be impacted by restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak, which may disrupt our supply chain or limit our ability to manufacture drug product candidates for our clinical trials.
The ultimate impact of the COVID-19 outbreak or a similar health epidemic is highly uncertain and subject to change. We do not yet know the full extent of potential delays or impacts on our business, our planned clinical trials, healthcare systems or the
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global economy as a whole. However, these effects could have a material impact on our operations, and we will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely.
We may be unable to realize the potential benefits of any collaboration.
Even if we are successful in entering into a future collaboration with respect to the development and/or commercialization of one or more product candidates, there is no guarantee that the collaboration will be successful. Collaborations may pose a number of risks, including:
•collaborators often have significant discretion in determining the efforts and resources that they will apply to the collaboration and may not commit sufficient resources to the development, marketing, or commercialization of the product or products that are subject to the collaboration;
•collaborators may not perform their obligations as expected;
•any such collaboration may significantly limit our share of potential future profits from the associated program and may require us to relinquish potentially valuable rights to our current product candidates, potential products, proprietary technologies, or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us;
•collaborators may cease to devote resources to the development or commercialization of our product candidates if the collaborators view our product candidates as competitive with their own products or product candidates;
•disagreements with collaborators, including disagreements over proprietary rights, contract interpretation, or the course of development, might cause delays or termination of the development or commercialization of product candidates, and might result in legal proceedings, which would be time consuming, distracting, and expensive;
•collaborators may be impacted by changes in their strategic focus or available funding, or business combinations involving them, which could cause them to divert resources away from the collaboration;
•collaborators may infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties, which may expose us to litigation and potential liability;
•the collaborations may not result in us achieving revenue to justify such transactions; and
•collaborations may be terminated and, if terminated, may result in a need for us to raise additional capital to pursue further development or commercialization of the applicable product candidate.
As a result, a collaboration may not result in the successful development or commercialization of our product candidates.
We enter into various contracts in the normal course of our business in which we indemnify the other party to the contract. In the event we have to perform under these indemnification provisions, we could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
In the normal course of business, we periodically enter into commercial, service, licensing, consulting, and other agreements that contain indemnification provisions. With respect to our research agreements, we typically indemnify the party and related parties from losses arising from claims relating to the products, processes, or services made, used, sold, or performed pursuant to the agreements for which we have secured licenses, and from claims arising from our or our sublicensees’ exercise of rights under the agreement. With respect to future collaboration agreements, we may indemnify our collaborators from any third-party product liability claims that could result from the production, use, or consumption of the product, as well as for alleged infringements of any patent or other intellectual property right by a third party. With respect to consultants, we indemnify them from claims arising from the good faith performance of their services.
Should our obligation under an indemnification provision exceed applicable insurance coverage or if we were denied insurance coverage, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected. Similarly, if we are relying on a collaborator to indemnify us and the collaborator is denied insurance coverage or the indemnification obligation exceeds the applicable insurance coverage, and if the collaborator does not have other assets available to indemnify us, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected.
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Risks Related to Commercialization of Our Product Candidates
We currently have limited marketing and sales experience. If we are unable to establish sales and marketing capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to market and sell our product candidates, we may be unable to generate any revenue.
Although some of our employees may have been employed at companies that have launched pharmaceutical products in the past, we have no experience selling and marketing our product candidates and we currently have no marketing or sales organization. To successfully commercialize any products that may result from our development programs, we will need to find one or more collaborators to commercialize our products or invest in and develop these capabilities, either on our own or with others, which would be expensive, difficult, and time consuming. Any failure or delay in entering into agreements with third parties to market or sell our product candidates or in the timely development of our internal commercialization capabilities could adversely impact the potential for the launch and success of our products.
If commercialization collaborators do not commit sufficient resources to commercialize our future products and we are unable to develop the necessary marketing and sales capabilities on our own, we will be unable to generate sufficient product revenue to sustain or grow our business. We may be competing with companies that currently have extensive and well-funded marketing and sales operations, particularly in the markets our product candidates are intended to address. Without appropriate capabilities, whether directly or through third-party collaborators, we may be unable to compete successfully against these more established companies.
We may attempt to form collaborations in the future with respect to our product candidates, but we may not be able to do so, which may cause us to alter our development and commercialization plans.
We may attempt to form strategic collaborations, create joint ventures, or enter into licensing arrangements with third parties with respect to our programs that we believe will complement or augment our existing business. We may face significant competition in seeking appropriate strategic collaborators, and the negotiation process to secure appropriate terms is time consuming and complex. We may not be successful in our efforts to establish such a strategic collaboration for any product candidates and programs on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all. This may be because our product candidates and programs may be deemed to be at too early of a stage of development for collaborative effort, our research and development pipeline may be viewed as insufficient, the competitive or intellectual property landscape may be viewed as too intense or risky, and/or third parties may not view our product candidates and programs as having sufficient potential for commercialization, including the likelihood of an adequate safety and efficacy profile.
Even if we are able to successfully enter into a collaboration regarding the development or commercialization of our product candidates, we cannot guarantee that such a collaboration will be successful.
Any delays in identifying suitable collaborators and entering into agreements to develop and/or commercialize our product candidates could delay the development or commercialization of our product candidates, which may reduce their competitiveness even if they reach the market. Absent a strategic collaborator, we would need to undertake development and/or commercialization activities at our own expense. If we elect to fund and undertake development and/or commercialization activities on our own, we may need to obtain additional expertise and additional capital, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If we are unable to do so, we may not be able to develop our product candidates or bring them to market and our business may be materially and adversely affected.
We face substantial competition and our competitors may discover, develop, or commercialize products faster or more successfully than us.
The development and commercialization of new drug products is highly competitive. We face competition from major pharmaceutical companies, specialty pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, universities, and other research institutions worldwide with respect to our product candidates that we may seek to develop or commercialize in the future. We are aware that the following companies have therapeutics marketed or in development for TED: Horizon Therapeutics and Immunovant, Inc. If approved, VRDN-001 will also compete against generic medications, such as corticosteroids, that are prescribed for and surgical procedures for the treatment of TED.
Our competitors may succeed in developing, acquiring, or licensing technologies and drug products that are more effective or less costly than our product candidates that we are currently developing or that we may develop, which could render our product candidates obsolete and noncompetitive. Our competitors may also adopt a similar licensing and development strategy as ours with regard to the development of an existing anti-IGF-1R monoclonal antibody for the treatment of TED. If any
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competitor was able to effect this strategy in a more efficient manner, there may be less demand for our product candidates if any are approved.
Many of our competitors have substantially greater financial, technical, and other resources, such as larger research and development staff and experienced marketing and manufacturing organizations. Third-party payors, including governmental and private insurers, may also encourage the use of generic products. For example, if VRDN-001 is approved, it may be priced at a significant premium over other competitive products. This may make it difficult for VRDN-001 or any other future products to compete with these products.
If our competitors obtain marketing approval from the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities for their product candidates more rapidly than us, it could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market.
Many of our competitors have materially greater name recognition and financial, manufacturing, marketing, research, and drug development resources than we do. Additional mergers and acquisitions in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries may result in even more resources being concentrated in our competitors. Large pharmaceutical companies in particular have extensive expertise in preclinical and clinical testing and in obtaining regulatory approvals for drugs. In addition, academic institutions, government agencies, and other public and private organizations conducting research may seek patent protection with respect to potentially competitive products or technologies. These organizations may also establish exclusive collaborative or licensing relationships with our competitors. Failure of VRDN-001 or our other product candidates to effectively compete against established treatment options or in the future with new products currently in development would harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
The commercial success of any of our current or future product candidates will depend upon the degree of market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors, and others in the medical community.
Even with the approvals from the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities, the commercial success of our products will depend in part on the healthcare providers, patients, and third-party payors accepting our product candidates as medically useful, cost-effective, and safe. Any product that we bring to the market may not gain market acceptance by physicians, patients, and third-party payors. The degree of market acceptance of any of our products will depend on a number of factors, including but not limited to:
•the efficacy of the product as demonstrated in clinical trials and potential advantages over competing treatments;
•the prevalence and severity of the disease and any side effects;
•the clinical indications for which approval is granted, including any limitations or warnings contained in a product’s approved labeling;
•the convenience and ease of administration;
•the cost of treatment;
•the willingness of the patients and physicians to accept these therapies;
•the perceived ratio of risk and benefit of these therapies by physicians and the willingness of physicians to recommend these therapies to patients based on such risks and benefits;
•the marketing, sales, and distribution support for the product;
•the publicity concerning our products or competing products and treatments; and
•the pricing and availability of third-party payor coverage and adequate reimbursement.
Even if a product displays a favorable efficacy and safety profile upon approval, market acceptance of the product remains uncertain. Efforts to educate the medical community and third-party payors on the benefits of the products may require significant investment and resources and may never be successful. If our products fail to achieve an adequate level of acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors, and other healthcare providers, we will not be able to generate sufficient revenue to become or remain profitable.
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We may not be successful in any efforts to identify, license, discover, develop, or commercialize additional product candidates.
Although a substantial amount of our effort will focus on clinical testing, potential approval, and commercialization of our existing product candidates, the success of our business is also expected to depend in part upon our ability to identify, license, discover, develop, or commercialize additional product candidates. Research programs to identify new product candidates require substantial technical, financial, and human resources. We may focus our efforts and resources on potential programs or product candidates that ultimately prove to be unsuccessful. Our research programs or licensing efforts may fail to yield additional product candidates for clinical development and commercialization for a number of reasons, including but not limited to the following:
•our research or business development methodology or search criteria and process may be unsuccessful in identifying potential product candidates;
•we may not be able or willing to assemble sufficient resources to acquire or discover additional product candidates;
•our product candidates may not succeed in preclinical or clinical testing;
•our potential product candidates may be shown to have harmful side effects or may have other characteristics that may make the products unmarketable or unlikely to receive marketing approval;
•competitors may develop alternatives that render our product candidates obsolete or less attractive;
•product candidates we develop may be covered by third parties’ patents or other exclusive rights;
•the market for a product candidate may change during our program so that such a product may become unreasonable to continue to develop;
•a product candidate may not be capable of being produced in commercial quantities at an acceptable cost, or at all; and
•a product candidate may not be accepted as safe and effective by patients, the medical community, or third-party payors.
If any of these events occur, we may be forced to abandon our development efforts for a program or programs, or we may not be able to identify, license, discover, develop, or commercialize additional product candidates, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations and could potentially cause us to cease operations.
Failure to obtain or maintain adequate reimbursement or insurance coverage for our products, if any, could limit our ability to market those products and decrease our ability to generate revenue.
The pricing, as well as the coverage, and reimbursement of our approved products, if any, must be sufficient to support our commercial efforts and other development programs, and the availability of coverage and adequacy of reimbursement by third-party payors, including government healthcare programs, health maintenance organizations, private insurers, and other healthcare management organizations, are essential for most patients to be able to afford expensive treatments. Sales of our approved products, if any, will depend substantially, both domestically and abroad, on the extent to which the costs of our approved products, if any, will be paid for or reimbursed by third-party payors. If coverage and reimbursement are not available, or are available only in limited amounts, we may have to subsidize or provide products for free, or we may not be able to successfully commercialize our products.
In addition, there is significant uncertainty related to the insurance coverage and reimbursement for newly-approved products. In the United States, the principal decisions about coverage and reimbursement for new drugs are typically made by CMS, which is an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that decides whether and to what extent a new drug will be covered and reimbursed under Medicare. Private third-party payors tend to follow the coverage and reimbursement policies established by CMS to a substantial degree, but also have their own methods and approval process apart from Medicare determinations. It is difficult to predict what CMS will decide with respect to reimbursement for novel product candidates and what reimbursement codes our product candidates may receive if approved.
Outside the United States, international operations are generally subject to extensive governmental price controls and other price-restrictive regulations, and we believe the increasing emphasis on cost-containment initiatives in Europe, Canada, and
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other countries has and will continue to put pressure on the pricing and usage of products. In many countries, the prices of products are subject to varying price control mechanisms as part of national health systems. Price controls or other changes in pricing regulation could restrict the amount that we are able to charge for our products, if any. Accordingly, in markets outside the United States, the potential revenue may be insufficient to generate commercially reasonable revenue and profits.
Moreover, increasing efforts by third-party payors in the United States and abroad to limit or reduce healthcare costs may result in restrictions on coverage and the level of reimbursement for new products and, as a result, they may not cover or provide adequate payment for our products. Further, 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 proposed and enacted federal and state legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, reduce the cost of drugs under Medicare, and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for drugs. At the federal level, the Trump administration’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2021 includes a $135 billion allowance to support legislative proposals seeking to reduce drug prices, increase competition, lower out-of-pocket drug costs for patients, and increase patient access to lower-cost generic and biosimilar drugs. On March 10, 2020, the Trump administration sent “principles” for drug pricing to Congress, calling for legislation that would, among other things, cap Medicare Part D beneficiary out-of-pocket pharmacy expenses, provide an option to cap Medicare Part D beneficiary monthly out-of-pocket expenses, and place limits on pharmaceutical price increases. In addition, the Trump administration previously released a “Blueprint” to lower drug prices and reduce out of pocket costs of drugs that contained proposals to increase manufacturer competition, increase the negotiating power of certain federal healthcare programs, incentivize manufacturers to lower the list price of their products, and reduce the out of pocket costs of drug products paid by consumers. The Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, solicited feedback on some of these measures and has implemented others under its existing authority. Additionally, on July 24, 2020, President Trump announced four executive orders related to prescription drug pricing that attempt to implement several of the Trump administration proposals, including (i) a policy that would tie certain Medicare Part B drug prices to international drug prices, or the “most favored nation price,” the details of which were released on September 13, 2020 and also expanded to cover certain Part D drugs; (ii) an order that directs HHS to finalize the Canadian drug importation proposed rule previously issued by HHS and makes other changes allowing for personal importation of drugs from Canada; (iii) an order that directs HHS to finalize the rulemaking process on modifying the Anti-Kickback Statute safe harbors for discounts for plans, pharmacies, and pharmaceutical benefit managers; (iv) a policy that reduces costs of insulin and epipens to patients of federally qualified health centers. While some of these and other measures may require additional authorization to become effective, Congress and the Trump administration have each indicated that it will continue to seek new legislative and/or administrative measures to control drug costs. At the state level, legislatures have increasingly passed legislation and implemented regulations designed to control pharmaceutical and biological product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and, in some cases, designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing.
We expect to experience pricing pressures in connection with products due to the increasing trend toward managed healthcare, including the increasing influence of health maintenance organizations and additional legislative changes. The downward pressure on healthcare costs in general, particularly prescription drugs, has increased and is expected to continue to increase in the future. As a result, profitability of our products, if any, may be more difficult to achieve even if they receive regulatory approval.
Risks Related to Our Business Operations
Our future success depends in part on our ability to retain our chief executive officer, our president and chief operating officer, and to attract, retain, and motivate other qualified personnel.
We are highly dependent on Lee Rauch, our chief executive officer, and Jonathan Violin Ph.D., our president and chief operating officer, the loss of whose services may adversely impact the achievement of our objectives. Ms. Rauch and Dr. Violin could leave our employment at any time, as he is an “at will” employee. Recruiting and retaining other qualified employees, consultants, and advisors for our business, including scientific and technical personnel, will also be critical to our success. There is currently a shortage of highly qualified personnel in our industry, which is likely to continue. Additionally, this shortage of highly qualified personnel is particularly acute in the area where we are located. As a result, competition for personnel is intense and the turnover rate can be high. We may not be able to attract and retain personnel on acceptable terms given the competition among numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for individuals with similar skill sets. In addition, failure to succeed in development and commercialization of our product candidates may make it more challenging to recruit and retain qualified personnel. The inability to recruit and retain qualified personnel, or the loss of the services of Ms. Rauch or Dr. Violin, may impede the progress of our research, development, and commercialization objectives and would negatively impact our ability to succeed in our product development strategy.
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We will need to expand our organization and we may experience difficulties in managing this growth, which could disrupt our operations.
As our development and commercialization plans and strategies develop, we expect to need additional managerial, operational, sales, marketing, financial, legal, and other resources. Our management may need to divert a disproportionate amount of our attention away from our day-to-day activities and devote a substantial amount of time to managing these growth activities. We may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations, which may result in weaknesses in our infrastructure, operational mistakes, loss of business opportunities, loss of employees, and reduced productivity among remaining employees. Our expected growth could require significant capital expenditures and may divert financial resources from other projects, such as the development of additional product candidates. If our management is unable to effectively manage our growth, our expenses may increase more than expected, our ability to generate and/or grow revenue could be reduced and we may not be able to implement our business strategy. Our future financial performance and our ability to commercialize product candidates and compete effectively will depend, in part, on our ability to effectively manage any future growth.
Failure in our information technology and storage systems or those of third parties upon whom we rely could significantly disrupt the operation of our business and adversely impact our financial condition.
Our ability to execute our business plan and maintain operations depends on the continued and uninterrupted performance of our information technology, or IT, systems or those of third parties upon whom we rely. IT systems are vulnerable to risks and damages from a variety of sources, including telecommunications or network failures, malicious human acts, and natural disasters (such as a tornado, an earthquake, or a fire). Moreover, despite network security and back-up measures, some of our and our vendors’ servers are potentially vulnerable to physical or electronic break-ins, including cyber-attacks, computer viruses, and similar disruptive problems. The techniques used by criminal elements to attack computer systems are sophisticated, change frequently, and may originate from less regulated and remote areas of the world. As a result, we may not be able to address these techniques proactively or implement adequate preventative measures. If the IT systems are compromised, we could be subject to fines, damages, litigation, and enforcement actions, and we could lose trade secrets, the occurrence of which could harm our business. Despite precautionary measures designed to prevent unanticipated problems that could affect the IT systems, sustained or repeated system failures that interrupt our ability to generate and maintain data could adversely affect our ability to operate our business. In addition, the failure of our systems, maintenance problems, upgrading or transitioning to new platforms, or a breach in security could result in delays and reduce efficiency in our operations. Remediation of such problems could result in significant, unplanned capital investments.
Furthermore, parties in our supply chain may be 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 business.
A network or data security incident may allow unauthorized access to our network or data, which could result in a material disruption of our clinical trials, harm our reputation, harm our business, create additional liability and adversely impact our financial results or operational results.
Increasingly, we are subject to a wide variety of threats on our information networks and systems and those of our service providers or collaborators. In addition to threats from natural disasters, telecommunications and electrical failures, traditional computer hackers, malicious code (such as malware, viruses, worms and ransomware), employee error, theft or misuse, password spraying, phishing and distributed denial-of-service, or DDOS, attacks, we now also face threats from sophisticated nation-state and nation-state supported actors who engage in attacks (including advanced persistent threat intrusions) that add to the risks to our internal networks, our third-party service providers, our collaborators and the information that they store and process. Despite significant efforts to create security barriers to safeguard against such threats, it is virtually impossible for us to entirely mitigate these risks. The security measures we have integrated into our internal networks and systems, which are designed to detect unauthorized activity and prevent or minimize security incidents or breaches, may not function as expected or may not be sufficient to protect our internal networks and platform against certain threats. In addition, techniques used to obtain unauthorized access to networks in which data is stored or through which data is transmitted change frequently and generally are not recognized until launched against a target. As a result, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventative measures to prevent an electronic intrusion.
In addition, security incidents or breaches or those of our current or future collaborators or third-party service providers could result in a risk of loss or unauthorized access to or disclosure of the information we process. This, in turn, could require notification under applicable data privacy regulations or contracts, and could lead to litigation, governmental audits, investigations, fines, penalties and other possible liability, damage our relationships with our collaborators, trigger indemnification and other contractual obligations, cause us to incur investigation, mitigation and remediation expenses, and
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have a negative impact on our ability to conduct clinical trials. For example, the loss of clinical trial data for our product candidates could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data.
We may not have adequate insurance coverage for security incidents or breaches or information system failures. The successful assertion of one or more large claims against us that exceeds our available insurance coverage or results in changes to our insurance policies (including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements), could have an adverse effect on our business. In addition, we cannot be sure that any existing insurance coverage and coverage for errors and omissions will continue to be available on acceptable terms or that our insurers will not deny coverage as to any future claim.
Any failure or perceived failure by us or any collaborators, service providers or others to comply with our privacy, confidentiality, data security or similar obligations to third parties, or any data security incidents or other security breaches that result in the unauthorized access, acquisition or disclosure of sensitive information (including, without limitation personally identifiable information), may result in governmental investigations, enforcement actions, regulatory fines, litigation, or public statements against us, could cause third parties to lose trust in us or result in claims against us. Any of these events could cause harm to our reputation, business, financial condition, or operational results.
Our ability to use net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes to offset future taxable income or taxes may be limited.
Our net operating loss, or NOL, carryforwards could expire unused and be unavailable to offset future income tax liabilities because of their limited duration or because of restrictions under U.S. tax law. Our NOLs generated in tax years ending on or prior to December 31, 2017 are only permitted to be carried forward for 20 years under applicable U.S. tax law. Under the Tax Act, our federal NOLs generated in tax years ending after December 31, 2017 may be carried forward indefinitely, but the deductibility of federal NOLs generated in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017 is limited. It is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to the Tax Act.
In addition, under Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, and corresponding provisions of state law, if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” which is generally defined as a greater than 50% change, by value, in its equity ownership over a three-year period, the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change NOL carryforwards and other pre-change tax attributes to offset its post-change income or taxes may be limited. Our most recent analysis of possible ownership changes was completed for certain tax periods ending through February 13, 2017, the date of a merger between us, then named Signal Genetics, Inc., and a private corporation, then called Miragen Therapeutics, Inc., or Private miRagen, in which our wholly owned subsidiary was merged with and into Private miRagen. Immediately following this transaction, we completed a short-form merger with Private miRagen in which we were the surviving corporation and changed our name to Miragen Therapeutics, Inc. These transactions resulted in an ownership change for us and, accordingly, our NOL and tax credit carryforwards are subject to limitation. It is possible that we have in the past undergone and may in the future undergo, additional ownership changes that could result in additional limitations on our NOL and tax credit carryforwards. In addition, at the state level, there may be periods during which the use of net operating losses is suspended or otherwise limited, which could accelerate or permanently increase state taxes owed.
Consequently, even if we achieve profitability, we may not be able to utilize a material portion of our NOL carryforwards and certain other tax attributes, which could have a material adverse effect on cash flow and results of operations.
Changes in tax laws or regulations that are applied adversely to us or our customers 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, the Tax 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 the Tax Act may affect us, and certain aspects of the Tax Act could be repealed or modified in future legislation. In addition, it is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to the Tax Act or any newly enacted federal tax legislation. Changes in corporate tax rates, the realization of net deferred tax assets relating to our operations, the taxation of foreign earnings, and the deductibility of expenses under the Tax Act or future reform legislation 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.
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Our effective tax rate may fluctuate, and we may incur obligations in tax jurisdictions in excess of accrued amounts.
We are subject to taxation in numerous U.S. states and territories and non-U.S. jurisdictions. As a result, our effective tax rate is derived from a combination of applicable tax rates in the various places that we operate. In preparing our financial statements, we estimate the amount of tax that will become payable in each of such places. Nevertheless, our effective tax rate may be different than experienced in the past due to numerous factors including the results of examinations and audits of our tax filings, our inability to secure or sustain acceptable agreements with tax authorities, changes in accounting for income taxes, and changes in tax laws. Any of these factors could cause us to experience an effective tax rate significantly different from previous periods or our current expectations and may result in tax obligations in excess of amounts accrued in our financial statements.
Risks Related to Ownership of our Common Stock
Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, we are required to recommend that our stockholder approve the conversion of all outstanding shares of our Series A Preferred Stock into shares of our common stock. We cannot guarantee that our stockholders will approve this matter, and if they fail to do so our operations may be materially harmed.
Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, we agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to call and hold a meeting of our stockholders to obtain the requisite approval for the conversion of all outstanding shares of Series A Preferred Stock issued in the Merger and private placement into shares of our common stock, as required by the Nasdaq listing rules, within 70 days after the date of the Merger Agreement and, if such approval is not obtained at that meeting, to seek to obtain such approval at an annual or special stockholders meeting to be held at least every six months thereafter until such approval is obtained, which would be time consuming and costly. Additionally, if our stockholders do not timely approve the conversion of our Series A Preferred Stock, then the holders of our Series A Preferred Stock may be entitled to require us to settle their shares of Series A Preferred Stock for cash at a price per share equal to the fair value of the Series A Preferred Stock, as described in our certificate of designation relating to the Series A Preferred Stock. If we are forced to settle a significant amount of the Series A Preferred Stock, it could materially affect our results of operations, including raising a substantial doubt about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year from November 12, 2020.
Our failure to meet the continued listing requirements of The Nasdaq Capital Market could result in a delisting of our common stock.
Our common stock is currently listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market. To maintain the listing of our common stock on The Nasdaq Capital Market, we are required to meet certain listing requirements, including, among others, a minimum bid price of $1.00 per share.
If we fail to satisfy the continued listing requirements of The Nasdaq Capital Market, such as the corporate governance requirements or the minimum closing bid price requirement, The Nasdaq Capital Market may take steps to delist our common stock, which could have a materially adverse effect on our ability to raise additional funds as well as the price and liquidity of our common stock. Such a delisting would likely have a negative effect on the price of our common stock and would impair our stockholders’ ability to sell or purchase our common stock when they wish to do so. In the event of a delisting, we can provide no assurance that any action taken by us to restore compliance with listing requirements would allow our common stock to become listed again, stabilize the market price or improve the liquidity of our common stock, prevent our common stock from dropping below the Nasdaq minimum bid price requirement, or prevent future non-compliance with The Nasdaq Capital Market’s listing requirements.
On October 8, 2020, we received a deficiency letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of the Nasdaq Stock Market notifying it that, for the last 30 consecutive business days, the bid price for the Company’s common stock had closed below the minimum $1.00 per share requirement for continued inclusion on the Nasdaq Capital Market, or the Minimum Bid Price Requirement. In accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rules, the Company has an initial period of 180 calendar days to regain compliance with the minimum bid price rule. If we do not regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement by April 6, 2021, then we may be eligible for an additional 180 calendar day compliance period.
We are actively monitoring our stock price and will consider any and all options available to regain compliance. The alternatives to trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market or another national securities exchange are generally considered to be less efficient and less broad-based than the national securities exchanges and the liquidity of our common stock will likely be reduced if it fails to regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement.
There can be no assurance that we will be successful in maintaining the listing of our common stock on The Nasdaq Capital Market. This could impair the liquidity and market price of our common stock. In addition, the delisting of our common stock
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from a national exchange could have a material adverse effect on our access to capital markets, and any limitation on market liquidity or reduction in the price of our common stock as a result of that delisting could adversely affect our ability to raise capital on terms acceptable to us, or at all.
Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law and the terms of some of our contracts could make an acquisition of us more difficult and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our management.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may delay or prevent an acquisition or a change in management. These provisions include a prohibition on actions by written consent of our stockholders and the ability of our board of directors to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval. In addition, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporate Law, which prohibits stockholders owning in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock from merging or combining with us. Although we believe these provisions collectively will provide for an opportunity to receive higher bids by requiring potential acquirers to negotiate with our board of directors, they would apply even if the offer may be considered beneficial by some stockholders. In addition, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove then current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of the board of directors, which is responsible for appointing the members of management.
In addition, the provisions of our warrants issued in connection with the 2020 Public Offering may delay or prevent a change in control of our company. Pursuant to such warrants, under certain circumstances each warrant holder has the right to demand that we redeem the warrant for a cash amount equal to the Black-Scholes value of a portion of the warrant upon the occurrence of specified events, including a merger, an asset sale or certain other change of control transactions. A takeover of us may trigger the requirement that we redeem the warrants, which could make it more costly for a potential acquirer to engage in a business combination transaction with us.
Our bylaws provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or other employees.
Our bylaws provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the sole and exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers, or other employees to us or our stockholders, any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to any provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our certificate of incorporation or our bylaws, or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. While these choice of forum provisions do not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction, the choice of forum provision 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, which may discourage such lawsuits against our and our directors, officers, and other employees. If a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in the bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions.
We do not anticipate that we will pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.
The current expectation is that we will retain our future earnings, if any, to fund the development and growth of our business. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be your sole source of gain, if any, for the foreseeable future.
Historically, there has not been an active trading market for our common stock, and we cannot guarantee an active market for our common stock will be sustained in the future. As a result, our stockholders may not be able to resell their shares of common stock for a profit, if at all.
An active trading market for our common stock has yet to develop, and even if an active market for our common stock were to develop, it may not be sustained. If an active market for our common stock is not sustained, it may be difficult for our stockholders to sell their shares at an attractive price or at all.
Future sales of shares by existing stockholders could cause our stock price to decline.
Concurrently and in connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement, certain Viridian securityholders as of immediately prior to the Merger, and the directors and officers of the Company as of immediately following the Merger entered into the Lock-up Agreements, pursuant to which each such stockholder will be subject to a 180 day lockup on the sale or transfer of
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shares of our common stock held by each such stockholder at the closing of the Merger, including those shares received by Viridian securityholders in the Merger. Upon expiration of this 180-day lockup period, these shares will become eligible for sale in the public market.
On October 30, 2020, we also entered into the Registration Rights Agreement with the Investors. Pursuant to the Registration Rights Agreement, we will prepare and file a resale registration statement with the SEC by the Filing Deadline. We will use our reasonable best efforts to cause this registration statement to be declared effective by the SEC within 30 calendar days of the Filing Deadline (or within 60 calendar days if the SEC reviews the registration statement). Once this registration statement is declared effective, the shares subject to the registration statement will no longer constitute restricted securities and may be sold freely in the public markets, subject to lapse on any related contractual restrictions related thereto of any Investor.
If our stockholders sell, or indicate an intention to sell, substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market after legal restrictions on resale lapse, the trading price of our common stock could decline. In addition, shares of our common stock that are subject to our outstanding options will become eligible for sale in the public market to the extent permitted by the provisions of various vesting agreements and Rules 144 and 701 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
Future sales and issuances of equity and debt could result in additional dilution to our stockholders.
We expect that we will need significant additional capital to fund our current and future operations, including to complete potential clinical trials for our product candidates. To raise capital, 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. As a result, our stockholders may experience additional dilution, which could cause our stock price to fall.
For instance, in March 2017, we entered into the ATM Agreement with Cowen, under which we may offer and sell, from time to time, at our sole discretion, shares of our common stock having an aggregate offering price of up to $50.0 million through Cowen as our sales agent. Through October 30, 2020, we had sold, pursuant to the terms of the ATM Agreement, 2,846,449 shares of our common stock for aggregate net proceeds of approximately $11.6 million after deducting initial expenses for executing the “at the market offering” and commissions to Cowen as sales agent.
In August 2018, we entered into the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement with LLS, which was later assigned to LLS TAP, for the sale of up to $5.0 million of shares of our common stock to LLS and its affiliates under the LLS Purchase Agreement. Through October 30, 2020, we had issued an aggregate of 757,351 shares of our common stock to LLS and its affiliates in the LLS Offering, for aggregate net proceeds of approximately $1.4 million, after deducting expenses incurred in connection with the LLS Offering. We do not anticipate meeting the milestones under the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement and as such, do not expect we will receive the remaining proceeds available under the LLS Stock Purchase Agreement unless the agreement is amended, which we can provide no assurances will occur.
In December 2019, we entered into the Aspire Agreement with Aspire Capital. Pursuant to this agreement, we may issue up to $20.0 million of shares of our common stock from time to time. Through October 30, 2020, we had issued an aggregate of 8,740,350 shares of common stock under the Aspire Agreement, which amount includes approximately (i) 959,079 shares of common stock issued to Aspire Capital as consideration for its commitment to purchase shares of our common stock under the Aspire Agreement, (ii) 1,598,465 shares of common stock issued to Aspire Capital for an aggregate sale price of $1.0 million as an initial purchase under the Aspire Agreement, or the Initial Purchase Shares, and (iii) 6,182,806 shares of common stock issued to Aspire Capital for an aggregate sale price of $8.8 million as purchase shares under the terms of the Aspire Agreement.
In February 2020, we entered into the 2020 Underwriting Agreement with the Underwriter. Pursuant to the 2020 Underwriting Agreement, the Underwriter purchased 15,000,000 shares of our common stock and warrants to purchase 7,500,000 shares of our common stock. Each whole warrant has an exercise price of $1.10 per share, was exercisable immediately and expires on the fifth anniversary of the date of issuance. Though the shares of common stock and warrants were sold together as a fixed combination, each consisting of one share of our common stock and one-half warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable to purchase one whole share of our common stock, the shares of our common stock and warrants were issued separately and were immediately separable upon issuance. The combined price to the public in the 2020 Public Offering for each share of common stock and accompanying one-half warrant was $1.00, which resulted in approximately $13.9 million of net proceeds to us after deducting underwriting commissions and discounts and other estimated offering expenses payable by us and excluding the proceeds, if any, from the exercise of the warrants. If the warrants are exercised in the future, our stockholders may experience additional dilution, which could cause our stock price to fall.
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In October 2020, we issued 195,290 shares of Series A Preferred Stock for gross proceeds of approximately $91.0 million. Subject to receiving the requisite stockholder approval, each share of Series A Preferred Stock is convertible into an aggregate of 1,000 shares of our common stock.
In October 2020, we issued 203,202 shares of Series A Non-Voting Convertible Preferred Stock to the Viridian stockholders as consideration under the Merger Agreement. Subject to receiving the requisite stockholder approval, each share of Series A Non-Voting Convertible Preferred Stock is convertible into an aggregate of 1,000 shares of our common stock.
In addition, pursuant to our equity incentive plans, we may grant equity awards and issue additional shares of our common stock to our employees, directors and consultants, and the number of shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance under certain of these plans will be subject to automatic annual increases in accordance with the terms of the plans. To the extent that new options are granted and exercised, or we issue additional shares of common stock in the future, our stockholders may experience additional dilution, which could cause our stock price to fall.
Our principal stockholders own a significant percentage of our stock and will be able to exert significant control over matters subject to stockholder approval.
Our directors, officers, 5% stockholders, and their affiliates currently beneficially own a substantial portion of our outstanding voting stock. Therefore, these stockholders have the ability and may continue to have the ability to influence us through this ownership position. These stockholders may be able to determine some or all matters requiring stockholder approval. For example, these stockholders, acting together, may be able to control elections of directors, amendments of 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.
General Risk Factors
The market price of our common stock has historically been volatile, and the market price of our common stock may drop in the future.
The market price of our common stock has been, and may continue to be, subject to significant fluctuations. Market prices for securities of early-stage pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and other life sciences companies have historically been particularly volatile. Some of the factors that may cause the market price of our common stock to fluctuate include:
•our ability to obtain regulatory approvals for our product candidates, and delays or failures to obtain such approvals;
•failure of any of our product candidates, if approved, to achieve commercial success;
•failure to maintain our existing third-party license and supply agreements;
•changes in laws or regulations applicable to our product candidates;
•any inability to obtain adequate supply of our product candidates or the inability to do so at acceptable prices;
•adverse regulatory authority decisions;
•introduction of new products, services, or technologies by our competitors;
•failure to meet or exceed financial and development projections we may provide to the public and the investment community;
•the perception of the pharmaceutical industry by the public, legislatures, regulators, and the investment community;
•announcements of significant acquisitions, strategic collaborations, joint ventures, or capital commitments by us or our competitors;
•disputes or other developments relating to proprietary rights, including patents, litigation matters, and our ability to obtain patent protection for our technologies;
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•additions or departures of key personnel;
•significant lawsuits, including patent or stockholder litigation;
•if securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or if they issue an adverse or misleading opinion regarding our business and stock;
•changes in the market valuations of similar companies;
•general market or macroeconomic conditions, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic;
•sales of our common stock by us or our stockholders in the future;
•trading volume of our common stock;
•announcements by commercial partners or competitors of new commercial products, clinical progress or the lack thereof, significant contracts, commercial relationships, or capital commitments;
•the introduction of technological innovations or new therapies that compete with our potential products;
•changes in the structure of health care payment systems; and
•period-to-period fluctuations in our financial results.
Moreover, the capital markets in general have experienced substantial volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of individual companies, including as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. These broad market fluctuations may also adversely affect the trading price of our common stock.
In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, stockholders have often instituted class action securities litigation against those companies. Such litigation, if instituted, could result in substantial costs and diversion of management attention and resources, which could significantly harm our profitability and reputation.
We incur costs and demands upon management as a result of complying with the laws and regulations affecting public companies.
We incur significant legal, accounting, and other expenses associated with public company reporting requirements. We also incur costs associated with corporate governance requirements, including requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as well as rules implemented by the SEC and The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC, or Nasdaq. These rules and regulations increase our legal and financial compliance costs and make some activities more time-consuming and costly. These rules and regulations may also make it difficult and expensive for us to obtain directors’ and officers’ liability insurance. As a result, it may be more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified individuals to serve on our board of directors or as our executive officers, which may adversely affect investor confidence and could cause our business or stock price to suffer.
From June 2014 to December 31, 2019, we qualified as an “emerging growth company” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. As of January 1, 2020, we no longer qualified as an emerging growth company.
While we were an “emerging growth company,” we were allowed certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation and financial statements in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote to approve executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. Because we are no longer an emerging growth company, we will incur significant additional costs associated with compliance with reporting requirements applicable to non-emerging growth companies.
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If equity research analysts do not publish research or reports, or publish unfavorable research or reports, about us, our business, or our market, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock is influenced by the research and reports that equity research analysts publish about us and our business. Equity research analysts may elect not to provide research coverage of our common stock and such lack of research coverage may adversely affect the market price of our common stock. In the event we do have equity research analyst coverage, we will not have any control over the analysts or the content and opinions included in their reports. The price of our common stock could decline if one or more equity research analysts downgrade our stock or issue other unfavorable commentary or research. If one or more equity research analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our common stock could decrease, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.
If we fail to maintain proper and effective internal controls, our ability to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis could be impaired, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and the market price of our common stock may be negatively affected.
We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and the rules and regulations of Nasdaq. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. We must perform system and process evaluation and testing of our internal control over financial reporting to allow management to report on the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting in our annual report filing for that year, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. This requires that we incur substantial professional fees and internal costs to expand our accounting and finance functions and that we expend significant management efforts. We may experience difficulty in meeting these reporting requirements in a timely manner for each period.
We may discover weaknesses in our system of internal financial and accounting controls and procedures that could result in a material misstatement of our financial statements. Our internal control over financial reporting will not prevent or detect all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the control system’s objectives will be met. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud will be detected.
If we are not able to comply with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or if we are unable to maintain proper and effective internal controls, it could result in a material misstatement of our financial statements that would not be prevented or detected on a timely basis, which could require a restatement, cause us to be subject to sanctions or investigations by Nasdaq, the SEC, or other regulatory authorities, cause investors to lose confidence in our financial information, or cause our stock price to decline.
As a public company, we incur significant legal, accounting, insurance, and other expenses, and our management and other personnel have and will need to continue to devote a substantial amount of time to compliance initiatives resulting from operating as a public company. We also anticipate that these costs and compliance initiatives will increase in 2020 and other future periods as a result of ceasing to be an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act.
ITEM 2. UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS
Not applicable.
ITEM 3. DEFAULTS UPON SENIOR SECURITIES
Not applicable.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
ITEM 5. OTHER INFORMATION
Not applicable.
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ITEM 6. EXHIBITS
The exhibits listed in the Exhibit Index are required by Item 601 of Regulation S-K. The SEC file number for all items incorporated by reference herein from reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K is 001-36483.
| Incorporated by Reference | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Exhibit Number | Description of Exhibit | Form | Filing Date | Number | ||||||||||||||||
| 8-K | 10/28/2020 | 2.1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 10-Q | 08/14/2014 | 3.1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| S-4 | 12/02/2016 | 3.3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 8-K | 02/13/2017 | 3.1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 8-K | 02/13/2017 | 3.2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 10-Q | 08/15/2016 | 3.1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 8-K | 02/13/2017 | 3.3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 8-K | 02/13/2017 | 3.4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 8-K | 10/28/2020 | 3.1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| S-1 | 03/19/2014 | 4.1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 8-K | 02/07/2020 | 4.1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| x | ||||||||||||||||||||
| x | ||||||||||||||||||||
| x | ||||||||||||||||||||
| x | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 8-K/A | 10/01/2020 | 10.5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 8-K | 09/17/2020 | 10.3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 8-K | 10/28/2020 | 10.1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| x | ||||||||||||||||||||
| x | ||||||||||||||||||||
| x | ||||||||||||||||||||
| x | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 101.INS** | XBRL Instance Document | x | ||||||||||||||||||
| 101.SCH** | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document | x | ||||||||||||||||||
| 101.CAL** | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document | x | ||||||||||||||||||
| 101.DEF** | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document | x | ||||||||||||||||||
| 101.LAB** | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document | x | ||||||||||||||||||
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| 101.PRE** | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document | x | ||||||||||||||||||
| 104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101) | |||||||||||||||||||
____________________
| ^ | Schedules have been omitted from this filing pursuant to Item 601(b)(2) of Regulation S-K. Miragen agrees to furnish supplementally a copy of any omitted schedule to the SEC upon its request; provided, however, that Miragen may request confidential treatment pursuant to Rule 24b-2 of the Exchange Act for any schedule so furnished. Certain portions of the exhibit, identified by the mark, “[*],” have been omitted because such portions contained information that is both (i) not material and (ii) would likely cause competitive harm if publicly disclosed. | ||||
| * | This certification is being furnished pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 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 Registrant, whether made before or after the date hereof. | ||||
| ** | In accordance with Rule 406T of Regulation S-T, the Interactive Data Files in Exhibit 101 are deemed not filed or part of a registration statement or prospectus for purposes of Sections 11 or 12 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, are deemed not filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and otherwise are not subject to liability under these sections. | ||||
| x | Filed herewith. | ||||
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
| MIRAGEN THERAPEUTICS, INC. | |||||||||||
| Date: November 12, 2020 | By: | /s/ Lee Rauch | |||||||||
| Lee Rauch | |||||||||||
| Chief Executive Officer | |||||||||||
| (Principal Executive Officer) | |||||||||||
| Date: November 12, 2020 | By: | /s/ Jason A. Leverone | |||||||||
| Jason A. Leverone | |||||||||||
| Chief Financial Officer | |||||||||||
| (Principal Financial Officer; Principal Accounting Officer) | |||||||||||
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