Blueprint
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
____________________________
FORM
10-Q
☒
QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF
THE
|
SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
|
For the
quarterly period ended March 31, 2019
|
OR
|
☐
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF
THE
|
SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
|
For the
transition period from to
|
Commission File Number 000-30929
___________________
TG
THERAPEUTICS, INC.
(Exact
name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
|
36-3898269
(I.R.S. Employer Identification
No.)
|
|
2
Gansevoort Street, 9th Floor
New York, New
York 10014
(Address including zip code of
principal executive offices)
(212)
554-4484
(Registrant's telephone number,
including area code)
Indicate by check mark whether the
registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by
Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during
the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the
registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been
subject to such filing requirements for the past 90
days.
Yes ☒ No
☐
Indicate by check mark whether the
registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File
required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T
(§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or
for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit
such files).
☒ Yes ☐
No
Indicate by check mark whether the
registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a
non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging
growth company. See definition of “large accelerated
filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller
reporting company,” and “emerging growth company”
in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer
☒
|
Accelerated filer
☐
|
Non-accelerated filer
☐
|
Smaller reporting company
☐
|
|
Emerging growth company
☐
|
If an emerging growth company,
indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the
extended transition period for complying with any new or revised
financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a)
of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by checkmark whether the
registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the
Exchange Act).
Yes ☐ No
☒
Securities filed pursuant to
Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of
Class
|
Trading
Symbol(s)
|
Exchange
Name
|
Common Stock, par value
$0.001
|
TGTX
|
Nasdaq Capital
Market
|
There were
90,835,329 shares of the registrant’s common stock, $0.001
par value, outstanding as of May 3, 2019.
TG
THERAPEUTICS, INC.
FORM
10-Q
FOR
THE QUARTER ENDED MARCH 31, 2019
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
SPECIAL
CAUTIONARY NOTICE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
|
3
|
|
|
|
PART
I
|
FINANCIAL INFORMATION
|
4
|
|
|
|
Item
1
|
Financial
Statements:
|
4
|
|
|
|
|
Condensed
Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2019 (unaudited) and
December 31, 2018
|
4
|
|
|
|
|
Condensed
Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three months ended
March 31, 2019 and 2018 (unaudited)
|
5
|
|
|
|
|
Condensed
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity for the three
months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018 (unaudited)
|
6
|
|
|
|
|
Condensed
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the three months ended
March 31, 2019 and 2018 (unaudited)
|
7
|
|
|
|
|
Notes
to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
(unaudited)
|
8
|
|
|
|
Item
2
|
Management's
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations
|
23
|
|
|
|
Item
3
|
Quantitative
and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
|
29
|
|
|
|
Item
4
|
Controls
and Procedures
|
29
|
|
|
|
PART
II
|
OTHER INFORMATION
|
30
|
|
|
|
Item
1
|
Legal
Proceedings
|
30
|
|
|
|
Item
1A
|
Risk
Factors
|
30
|
|
|
|
Item
6
|
Exhibits
|
66
|
|
|
|
SPECIAL CAUTIONARY NOTICE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENTS
Certain
matters discussed in this report, including matters discussed under
the captions “Business” and “Management’s
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations,” may constitute forward-looking statements for
purposes of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the
Securities Act, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended, or the Exchange Act, and involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results,
performance or achievements to be materially different from the
future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by
such forward-looking statements. In
some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words
such as “anticipate,” “believe,”
“contemplate,” “continue,”
“could,” “estimate,” “expect,”
“intend,” “may,” “plan,”
“potential,” “predict,”
“project,” “seek,” “should,”
“target,” “will,” “would” or
the negative of these words or other comparable terminology,
although not all forward-looking statements contain these
identifying words. All written or oral forward-looking
statements attributable to us are expressly qualified in their
entirety by these cautionary statements. In addition, with respect
to all of our forward-looking statements, we claim the protection
of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to,
statements about our:
●
expectations
for increases or decreases in expenses;
●
expectations
for the clinical and pre-clinical development, manufacturing,
regulatory approval, and commercialization of our pharmaceutical
product candidates or any other products we may acquire or
in-license;
●
use of
clinical research centers and other contractors;
●
expectations
as to the timing of commencing or completing pre-clinical and
clinical trials and the expected outcomes of those
trials;
●
expectations
for incurring capital expenditures to expand our research and
development and manufacturing capabilities;
●
expectations
for generating revenue or becoming profitable on a sustained
basis;
●
expectations
or ability to enter into marketing and other partnership
agreements;
●
expectations
or ability to enter into product acquisition and in-licensing
transactions;
●
expectations
or ability to build our own commercial infrastructure to
manufacture, market and sell our drug candidates;
●
products
being accepted by doctors, patients or payors;
●
ability
to compete against other companies and research
institutions;
●
ability
to secure adequate protection for our intellectual
property;
●
ability
to attract and retain key personnel;
●
availability
of reimbursement for our products;
●
estimates
of the sufficiency of our existing cash and cash equivalents and
investments to finance our operating requirements, including
expectations regarding the value and liquidity of our
investments;
●
stock
price and its volatility; and
●
expectations
for future capital requirements.
The
forward-looking statements contained in this report reflect our
views and assumptions only as of the date this report is signed.
Except as required by law, we assume no responsibility for updating
any forward-looking statements.
We
qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary
statements. In addition, with respect to all of our forward-looking
statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for
forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Our
actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated
in these forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors,
including, without limitation, those discussed under the captions
“Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion
and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations” and elsewhere in this report, as well as other
factors which may be identified from time to time in our other
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, or
in the documents where such forward-looking statements appear.
Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on
these forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements do
not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions,
mergers, dispositions, joint ventures or investments we may make or
enter into.
You
should read this report and the documents that we have filed as
exhibits to this report completely and with the understanding that
our actual future results, performance or achievements may be
materially different from what we expect. Any forward-looking
statements contained in this report reflect our current views with
respect to future events or to our future financial performance and
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important
factors that may cause our actual results, performance or
achievements to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by these
forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements
contained in this report reflect our views and assumptions only as
of the date this report is signed. Except as required by law, we
assume no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking
statements for any reason, even if new information becomes
available in the future.
This
report also contains estimates, projections and other information
concerning our industry, our business and the markets for certain
diseases, including data regarding the estimated size of those
markets, and the incidence and prevalence of certain medical
conditions. Information that is based on estimates, forecasts,
projections, market research or similar methodologies is inherently
subject to uncertainties and actual events or circumstances may
differ materially from events and circumstances reflected in this
information. Unless otherwise expressly stated, we obtained this
industry, business, market and other data from reports, research
surveys, studies and similar data prepared by market research firms
and other third parties, industry, medical and general
publications, government data and similar sources.
PART
I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION
ITEM
1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
TG
Therapeutics, Inc.
Condensed
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(in
thousands, except share and per share amounts)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Assets
|
|
|
Current
assets:
|
|
|
Cash
and cash equivalents
|
$64,349
|
$41,958
|
Short-term
investment securities
|
28,125
|
26,943
|
Prepaid research
and development
|
11,120
|
9,691
|
Other current
assets
|
1,464
|
439
|
Total current
assets
|
105,058
|
79,031
|
Restricted
cash
|
1,244
|
1,241
|
Leasehold interest,
net
|
2,249
|
2,294
|
Equipment,
net
|
241
|
251
|
Right of use
asset
|
7,947
|
--
|
Goodwill
|
799
|
799
|
Total
assets
|
$117,538
|
$83,616
|
|
|
|
Liabilities
and stockholders’ equity
|
|
|
Current
liabilities:
|
|
|
Accounts payable
and accrued expenses
|
$40,199
|
$36,377
|
Other current
liabilities
|
18,626
|
219
|
Lease liability
– current portion
|
1,261
|
--
|
Accrued
compensation
|
854
|
2,258
|
Total current
liabilities
|
60,940
|
38,854
|
Deferred
rent
|
--
|
1,462
|
Deferred revenue,
net of current portion
|
876
|
914
|
Long-term
debt
|
28,286
|
--
|
Lease liability
– non current
|
8,182
|
--
|
Long-term
liabilities
|
--
|
18,350
|
Total
liabilities
|
98,284
|
59,580
|
Commitments and
contingencies
|
|
|
Stockholders’
equity:
|
|
|
Preferred stock,
$0.001 par value per share (10,000,000 shares authorized, none
issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2019 and December 31,
2018)
|
--
|
--
|
Common stock,
$0.001 par value per share (150,000,000 shares authorized,
88,582,227 and 83,911,855 shares issued, 88,540,918 and 83,870,546
shares outstanding at March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018,
respectively)
|
89
|
84
|
Additional paid-in
capital
|
582,900
|
552,531
|
Treasury stock, at
cost, 41,309 shares at March 31, 2019 and December 31,
2018
|
(234)
|
(234)
|
Accumulated
deficit
|
(563,501)
|
(528,345)
|
Total
stockholders’ equity
|
19,254
|
24,036
|
Total liabilities
and stockholders’ equity
|
$117,538
|
$83,616
|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the condensed
consolidated financial statements.
TG
Therapeutics, Inc.
Condensed
Consolidated Statements of Operations
(in
thousands, except share and per share amounts)
(Unaudited)
|
Three
months ended March 31,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
License
revenue
|
$38
|
$38
|
|
|
|
Costs and
expenses:
|
|
|
Research and
development:
|
|
|
Noncash compensation
|
1,489
|
2,859
|
Other research and development
|
30,896
|
32,159
|
Total research and
development
|
32,385
|
35,018
|
|
|
|
General and
administrative:
|
|
|
Noncash compensation
|
393
|
4,478
|
Other general and administrative
|
1,949
|
2,119
|
Total general and
administrative
|
2,342
|
6,597
|
|
|
|
Total costs and
expenses
|
34,727
|
41,615
|
|
|
|
Operating
loss
|
(34,689)
|
(41,577)
|
|
|
|
Other (income)
expense:
|
|
|
Interest income
|
(149)
|
(144)
|
Other expense
|
616
|
96
|
Total other
(income) expense, net
|
467
|
(48)
|
|
|
|
Net
loss
|
$(35,156)
|
$(41,529)
|
|
|
|
Basic and diluted
net loss per common share
|
$(0.43)
|
$(0.59)
|
|
|
|
Weighted average
shares used in computing basic and diluted net loss per common
share
|
81,174,301
|
70,636,970
|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the condensed
consolidated financial statements.
TG
Therapeutics, Inc.
Condensed
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity
(in
thousands, except share amounts)
(Unaudited)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Additional
paid-in capital
|
|
|
|
|
Balance at January 1,
2018
|
73,181,750
|
$73
|
$422,017
|
41,309
|
$(234)
|
$(354,863)
|
$66,993
|
Issuance of restricted
stock
|
87,500
|
*
|
*
|
|
|
|
--
|
Forfeiture of restricted
stock
|
(123,911)
|
*
|
*
|
|
|
|
--
|
Issuance of common stock in
At-the-Market offering (net of offering costs of $0.9
million)
|
3,989,344
|
4
|
52,426
|
|
|
|
52,430
|
Compensation in respect of
restricted stock granted to employees, directors and
consultants
|
|
|
7,337
|
|
|
|
7,337
|
Net loss
|
|
|
|
|
|
(41,529)
|
(41,529)
|
Balance at March 31,
2018
|
77,134,683
|
$77
|
$481,781
|
41,309
|
$(234)
|
$(396,392)
|
$85,232
|
Balance at January 1,
2019
|
83,911,855
|
$84
|
$552,531
|
41,309
|
$(234)
|
$(528,345)
|
$24,036
|
Issuance of restricted
stock
|
23,000
|
*
|
*
|
|
|
|
--
|
Warrants issued with debt
financing
|
|
|
993
|
|
|
|
993
|
Forfeiture of restricted
stock
|
(67,628)
|
*
|
*
|
|
|
|
--
|
Issuance of common stock in public
offering (net of offering costs of $0.2
million)
|
4,715,000
|
5
|
27,494
|
|
|
|
27,499
|
Compensation in respect of
restricted stock and options granted to employees, directors and
consultants
|
|
|
1,882
|
|
|
|
1,882
|
Net loss
|
|
|
|
|
|
(35,156)
|
(35,156)
|
Balance at March 31,
2019
|
88,582,227
|
$89
|
$582,900
|
41,309
|
$(234)
|
$(563,501)
|
$19,254
|
* Amount less
than one thousand dollars.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the condensed
consolidated financial statements.
TG
Therapeutics, Inc.
Condensed
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(in
thousands)
(Unaudited)
|
Three
months ended March 31,
|
|
|
|
CASH FLOWS FROM
OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
|
|
|
Net
loss
|
$(35,156)
|
$(41,529)
|
Adjustments to
reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating
activities:
|
|
|
Noncash stock
compensation expense
|
1,882
|
7,337
|
Depreciation
|
23
|
20
|
Amortization of
premium on investment securities
|
(75)
|
2
|
Amortization of
debt issuance costs
|
77
|
--
|
Non-cash change in
lease liability and right-of-use asset
|
373
|
--
|
Change in fair
value of notes payable and accrued interest
|
66
|
96
|
Changes in assets
and liabilities:
|
|
|
(Increase) decrease
in prepaid research and development and other current
assets
|
(2,454)
|
691
|
Decrease in
leasehold interest
|
46
|
33
|
Decrease in lease
liability
|
(339)
|
--
|
Decrease in accrued
interest receivable
|
14
|
30
|
Increase in
accounts payable and accrued expenses
|
2,240
|
5,292
|
Increase in
interest payable
|
549
|
--
|
Decrease in other
current liabilities
|
(559)
|
--
|
Increase in
deferred rent
|
--
|
23
|
Decrease in
deferred revenue
|
(38)
|
(38)
|
Net cash used in
operating activities
|
(33,351)
|
(28,043)
|
|
|
|
CASH FLOWS FROM
INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
|
|
|
Purchases of
equipment
|
(14)
|
(24)
|
Investment in
held-to-maturity securities
|
(8,171)
|
(4,184)
|
Proceeds from
maturity of short-term securities
|
7,050
|
6,000
|
Net cash (used in)
provided by investing activities
|
(1,135)
|
1,792
|
|
|
|
CASH FLOWS FROM
FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
|
|
|
Proceeds from sale
of common stock, net
|
27,678
|
52,430
|
Proceeds from debt
financings
|
29,740
|
--
|
Financing costs
paid
|
(538)
|
--
|
Net cash provided
by financing activities
|
56,880
|
52,430
|
|
|
|
NET INCREASE IN
CASH, CASH EQUIVALENTS AND RESTRICTED CASH
|
22,394
|
26,179
|
|
|
|
CASH, CASH
EQUIVALENTS AND RESTRICTED CASH AT BEGINNING OF PERIOD
|
43,199
|
57,305
|
|
|
|
CASH, CASH
EQUIVALENTS AND RESTRICTED CASH AT END OF PERIOD
|
$65,593
|
$83,484
|
|
|
|
Reconciliation to
amounts on consolidated balance sheets:
|
|
|
Cash and cash
equivalents
|
$64,349
|
$82,896
|
Restricted
Cash
|
1,244
|
588
|
Total cash, cash
equivalents and restricted cash
|
$65,593
|
$83,484
|
|
|
|
NONCASH
TRANSACTIONS
|
|
|
Accrued offering
costs
|
$179
|
$--
|
Deferred financing
costs
|
$1,157
|
$--
|
Warrants issued
with debt financing
|
$993
|
$--
|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the condensed
consolidated financial statements.
TG
Therapeutics, Inc.
Notes
to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
(unaudited)
Unless the context requires otherwise, references in this report to
“TG,” the “Company,” “we,”
“us” and “our” refer to TG Therapeutics,
Inc. and our subsidiaries.
NOTE 1 – ORGANIZATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING
POLICIES
Description of Business
We are
a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and delivering
medicines for patients with B-cell mediated diseases, including
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) and
Multiple Sclerosis (MS). We have developed a robust B-cell directed
research and development (R&D) platform for identification of
key B-cell pathways of interest and rapid clinical testing.
Currently, we have five B-cell targeted drug candidates in clinical
development, with the lead two therapies, ublituximab (TG-1101) and
umbralisib (TGR-1202), in pivotal trials for CLL and NHL, with
ublituximab also in pivotal trials for MS. Ublituximab is a novel
anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (mAb) that has been glycoengineered
for enhanced potency over first generation antibodies. Umbralisib
is an oral, once daily inhibitor of PI3K delta. Umbralisib also
uniquely inhibits CK1-epsilon, which may allow it to overcome
certain tolerability issues associated with first generation PI3K
delta inhibitors. When used together in combination therapy,
ublituximab and umbralisib are referred to as "U2". Additionally,
we have recently brought into Phase 1 clinical development TG-1501,
an anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody, TG-1701, a covalently-bound
Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) inhibitor, and TG-1801, an
anti-CD47/CD19 bispecific antibody.
We also
actively evaluate complementary products, technologies and
companies for in-licensing, partnership, acquisition and/or
investment opportunities. To date, we have not received approval
for the sale of any of our drug candidates in any market and,
therefore, have not generated any product sales from our drug
candidates.
The
accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements
were prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting
principles, or GAAP, for interim financial information and with the
instructions to Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and Article 10 of
Regulation S-X of the Exchange Act. Accordingly, they may not
include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for
complete financial statements. All adjustments that are, in the
opinion of management, of a normal recurring nature and are
necessary for a fair presentation of the condensed consolidated
financial statements have been included. Nevertheless, these
condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in
conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements
contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2018. The accompanying condensed December 31, 2018
balance sheet has been derived from these statements. The results
of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2019 are not
necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the
entire fiscal year or any other interim period.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
We have
incurred operating losses since our inception, expect to continue
to incur operating losses for the foreseeable future, and may never
become profitable. As of March 31, 2019, we have an accumulated
deficit of approximately $563.5 million.
Our
major sources of cash have been proceeds from the private placement
and public offering of equity securities, as well as debt
financings. We have not yet commercialized any of our drug
candidates and cannot be sure if we will ever be able to do so.
Even if we commercialize one or more of our drug candidates, we may
not become profitable. Our ability to achieve profitability depends
on many factors, including our ability to obtain regulatory
approval for our drug candidates; successfully complete any
post-approval regulatory obligations; and successfully
commercialize our drug candidates alone or in partnership. We may
continue to incur substantial operating losses even if we begin to
generate revenues from our drug candidates.
As of
March 31, 2019, we had $92.5 million in cash and cash equivalents,
and investment securities. The Company believes its cash, cash
equivalents, and investment securities on hand as of March 31, 2019
along with the additional capital raised in the second quarter of
2019 (see Note 5) will be sufficient to fund the Company’s
planned operations through mid-2020. The actual amount of cash that
we will need to operate is subject to many factors, including, but
not limited to, the timing, design and conduct of clinical trials
for our drug candidates. We are dependent upon significant future
financing to provide the cash necessary to execute our current
operations, including the commercialization of any of our drug
candidates.
Our
common stock is listed on the Nasdaq
Capital Market and trades under the symbol
“TGTX.”
Recently Issued Accounting Standards
In July
2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued
Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2018-11,
“Leases - Targeted Improvements” (“ASU
2018-11”) as an update to ASU 2016-02, Leases (“ASU
2016-02” or “Topic 842”) issued on February 25,
2016. ASU 2016-02 is effective for public business entities for
fiscal years beginning January 1, 2019. ASU 2016-02 required
companies to adopt the new leases standard at the beginning of the
earliest period presented in the financial statements, which is
January 1, 2017, using a modified retrospective transition method
where lessees must recognize lease assets and liabilities for all
leases even though those leases may have expired before the
effective date of January 1, 2017. Lessees must also provide the
new and enhanced disclosures for each period presented, including
the comparative periods.
ASU
2018-11 provides an entity with an additional (and optional)
transition method to adopt the new leases standard. Under this new
transition method, an entity initially applies the new lease
standard at the adoption date and recognizes a cumulative-effect
adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings in the
period of adoption. Consequently, an entity’s reporting for
the comparative periods presented in the financial statements in
which it adopts the new lease standard will continue to be in
accordance with ASC 840, Leases. An entity that elects this
additional (and optional) transition method must provide the
required ASC 840 disclosures for all periods that continue to be in
accordance with ASC 840. The amendments do not change the existing
disclosure requirements in ASC 840.
ASU
2018-11 is effective for public business entities for fiscal years
beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods within those
fiscal years, with earlier adoption permitted. The Company adopted
ASU 2018-11 on January 1, 2019 using a modified retrospective
method and will not restate comparative periods. We elected the
package of practical expedients permitted under the transition
guidance, which allows us to carryforward our historical lease
classification and our assessment on whether a contract is or
contains a lease. The adoption of this guidance resulted in the
addition of material balances of right of use assets and lease
liability to our consolidated balance sheets at January 1, 2019,
primarily relating to our lease of office space (see Note 8). The
impact to our consolidated statements of operations was not
material as a result of this standard.
In June
2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-07, “Improvements to
Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting” (“ASU
2018-07”). ASU 2018-07 expands the scope of FASB Topic 718,
Compensation – Stock Compensation (“Topic 718”)
to include share-based payment transactions for acquiring goods and
services from nonemployees. An entity should only remeasure
equity-classified awards for which a measurement date has not been
established through a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained
earnings as of the beginning of the fiscal year of adoption. Upon
transition, the entity is required to measure these nonemployee
awards at fair value as of the adoption date. The entity must not
remeasure assets that are completed. Disclosures required at
transition include the nature of and reason for the change in
accounting principle and, if applicable, quantitative information
about the cumulative effect of the change on retained earnings or
other components of equity.
ASU
2018-07 is effective for public business entities for fiscal years
beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within
that fiscal year. The Company adopted ASU 2018-07 on January 1,
2019. The adoption of ASU 2018-07 did not have a material effect on
our consolidated financial statements as of January 1, 2019. The
adoption of ASU 2018-07 had no impact on nonemployee performance
awards as they are measured based on the outcome that is
probable.
Other
pronouncements issued by the FASB or other authoritative accounting
standards group with future effective dates are either not
applicable or not significant to our consolidated financial
statements.
Use of Estimates
The
preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S.
generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”)
requires management to make estimates and judgments that affect the
reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of
contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial
statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during
the applicable reporting period. On an
ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and judgments, including
those related to accrued expenses and stock-based
compensation. Actual results could differ from those
estimates. Such differences could be material to the financial
statements.
Cash
and Cash Equivalents
We
treat liquid investments with original maturities of less than
three months when purchased as cash and cash
equivalents.
Restricted Cash
We
record cash pledged or held in trust as restricted cash. As of
March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, we have approximately $1.2
million of restricted cash pledged to
secure a line of credit as a security deposit for an
Office
Agreement (see Note
10).
Investment Securities
Investment
securities at March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018 consist of
short-term government securities. We classify these securities as
held-to-maturity. Held-to-maturity securities are those securities
in which we have the ability and intent to hold the security until
maturity. Held-to-maturity securities are recorded at amortized
cost, adjusted for the amortization or accretion of premiums or
discounts. Premiums and discounts are amortized or accreted over
the life of the related held-to-maturity security as an adjustment
to yield using the effective interest method.
A
decline in the market value of any investment security below cost,
that is deemed to be other than temporary, results in a reduction
in the carrying amount to fair value. The impairment is charged to
operations and a new cost basis for the security is established.
Other-than-temporary impairment charges are included in interest
and other income (expense), net. Unrealized gains, if determined to
be temporary, are included in accumulated other comprehensive
income in equity. Dividend and interest income are recognized when
earned.
Credit Risk
Financial
instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations
of credit risk consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents and
short-term investments. The Company maintains its cash and cash
equivalents and short-term investments with high-credit quality
financial institutions. At times, such amounts may exceed
federally-insured limits.
Revenue Recognition
Effective January
1, 2018, the Company began recognizing revenue under ASC Topic 606,
Revenue from Contracts with
Customers (“ASC 606”), using the modified
retrospective transition method. The impact of adopting the
new revenue standard was not material to our consolidated financial
statements and there was no adjustment to beginning retained
earnings on January 1, 2018. The core principle of this new
revenue standard is that a company should recognize revenue to
depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in
an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company
expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The
following five steps are applied to achieve that core
principle:
●
Step
1: Identify the contract with the customer
●
Step
2: Identify the performance obligations in the
contract
●
Step
3: Determine the transaction price
●
Step
4: Allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in
the contract
●
Step
5: Recognize revenue when the company satisfies a performance
obligation
In
order to identify the performance obligations in a contract with a
customer, a company must assess the promised goods or services in
the contract and identify each promised good or service that is
distinct. A performance obligation meets ASC 606’s definition
of a “distinct” good or service (or bundle of goods or
services) if both of the following criteria are met:
●
The
customer can benefit from the good or service either on its own or
together with other resources that are readily available to the
customer (i.e., the good or service is capable of being
distinct).
●
The
entity’s promise to transfer the good or service to the
customer is separately identifiable from other promises in the
contract (i.e., the promise to transfer the good or service is
distinct within the context of the contract).
If a
good or service is not distinct, the good or service is combined
with other promised goods or services until a bundle of goods or
services is identified that is distinct.
The
transaction price is the amount of consideration to which an entity
expects to be entitled in exchange for transferring promised goods
or services to a customer, excluding amounts collected on behalf of
third parties (for example, some sales taxes). The consideration
promised in a contract with a customer may include fixed amounts,
variable amounts, or both. Variable consideration is included in
the transaction price only to the extent that it is probable that a
significant reversal in the amount of cumulative revenue recognized
will not occur when the uncertainty associated with the variable
consideration is subsequently resolved.
The
transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation on a
relative standalone selling price basis. The transaction price
allocated to each performance obligation is recognized when that
performance obligation is satisfied, at a point in time or over
time as appropriate.
Research and Development Costs
Generally, research
and development costs are expensed as incurred. Nonrefundable
advance payments for goods or services that will be used or
rendered for future research and development activities are
deferred and amortized over the period that the goods are delivered
or the related services are performed, subject to an assessment of
recoverability. We make estimates of costs incurred in relation to
external clinical research organizations, or CROs, and clinical
site costs. We analyze the progress of clinical trials, including
levels of patient enrollment, invoices received and contracted
costs when evaluating the adequacy of the amount expensed and the
related prepaid asset and accrued liability. Significant judgments
and estimates must be made and used in determining the accrued
balance and expense in any accounting period. We review and accrue
CRO expenses and clinical trial study expenses based on work
performed and rely upon estimates of those costs applicable to the
stage of completion of a study. Accrued CRO costs are subject to
revisions as such trials progress to completion. Revisions are
charged to expense in the period in which the facts that give rise
to the revision become known. With respect to clinical site costs,
the financial terms of these agreements are subject to negotiation
and vary from contract to contract. Payments under these contracts
may be uneven, and depend on factors such as the achievement of
certain events, the successful recruitment of patients, the
completion of portions of the clinical trial or similar conditions.
The objective of our policy is to match the recording of expenses
in our financial statements to the actual services received and
efforts expended. As such, expense accruals related to clinical
site costs are recognized based on our estimate of the degree of
completion of the event or events specified in the specific
clinical study or trial contract.
Prepaid
research and development in our consolidated balance sheets
includes, among other things, certain costs to third party service
providers related to development and manufacturing services as well
as clinical development. These agreements often require payments in
advance of services performed or goods received. Accordingly, as of
March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, we recorded approximately
$11.1 million and $9.7 million, respectively, in prepaid research
and development related to such advance agreements.
Income Taxes
Income
taxes are accounted for under the asset and liability method.
Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future
tax consequences attributable to temporary differences between the
financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and
liabilities and their respective tax bases, operating losses and
tax credit carryforwards. 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. If the
likelihood of realizing the deferred tax assets or liability is
less than “more likely than not,” a valuation allowance
is then created.
We, and
our subsidiaries, file income tax returns in the U.S. Federal
jurisdiction and in various states. We have tax net operating loss
carryforwards that are subject to examination for a number of years
beyond the year in which they were generated for tax purposes.
Since a portion of these net operating loss carryforwards may be
utilized in the future, many of these net operating loss
carryforwards will remain subject to examination. We recognize
interest and penalties related to uncertain income tax positions in
income tax expense.
Stock-Based Compensation
We
recognize all stock-based payments to employees and non-employee
directors (as compensation for service) as noncash compensation
expense in the condensed consolidated financial statements based on
the fair values of such payments. Stock-based compensation expense
recognized each period is based on the value of the portion of
stock-based payment awards that is ultimately expected to vest
during the period. Forfeitures are estimated at the time of grant
and revised, if necessary, in subsequent periods if actual
forfeitures differ from those estimates.
In
addition, because some of the options, restricted stock and
warrants issued to employees, consultants and other third-parties
vest upon achievement of certain milestones, the total expense is
uncertain. Compensation expense for such awards that vest upon the
achievement of milestones is recognized when the achievement of
such milestones becomes probable.
Basic and Diluted Net Loss Per Common Share
Basic
net loss per share of our common stock is calculated by dividing
net loss applicable to the common stock by the weighted average
number of our common stock outstanding for the period. Diluted net
loss per share of common stock is the same as basic net loss per
share of common stock since potentially dilutive securities from
stock options, stock warrants and convertible preferred stock would
have an antidilutive effect either because we incurred a net loss
during the periods presented or because such potentially dilutive
securities were out of the money and the Company realized net
income during the periods presented. The amounts of potentially
dilutive securities excluded from the calculation were 6,768,530
and 4,660,180 for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018,
respectively. The following
outstanding shares of potentially dilutive securities were excluded
from the computation of net loss per share attributable to common
stockholders for the periods presented because including them would
have been antidilutive:
|
Three
Months Ended March 31,
|
|
|
|
Unvested restricted
stock
|
4,039,620
|
4,159,428
|
Stock
options
|
2,565,310
|
485,000
|
Warrants
|
147,058
|
--
|
Shares issuable
upon note conversion
|
16,542
|
15,752
|
Total
|
6,768,530
|
4,660,180
|
Long-Lived Assets and Goodwill
Long-lived assets
are reviewed for potential impairment when circumstances indicate
that the carrying value of long-lived tangible and intangible
assets with finite lives may not be recoverable. Management’s
policy in determining whether an impairment indicator exists, a
triggering event, comprises measurable operating performance
criteria as well as qualitative measures. If an analysis is
necessitated by the occurrence of a triggering event, we make
certain assumptions in determining the impairment amount. If the
carrying amount of an asset exceeds its estimated future cash
flows, an impairment charge is recognized.
Goodwill is
reviewed for impairment annually, or earlier when events arise that
could indicate that an impairment exists. We test for goodwill
impairment using a two-step process. The first step compares the
fair value of the reporting unit with the unit's carrying value,
including goodwill. When the carrying value of the reporting unit
is greater than fair value, the unit’s goodwill may be
impaired, and the second step must be completed to measure the
amount of the goodwill impairment charge, if any. In the second
step, the implied fair value of the reporting unit’s goodwill
is compared with the carrying amount of the unit’s goodwill.
If the carrying amount is greater than the implied fair value, the
carrying value of the goodwill must be written down to its implied
fair value. We will continue to perform impairment tests annually,
at December 31, and whenever events or changes in circumstances
suggest that the carrying value of an asset may not be
recoverable.
NOTE 2 – CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
The
following tables summarize our cash and cash equivalents at March
31, 2019 and December 31, 2018:
(in
thousands)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Checking and bank
deposits
|
$62,671
|
$39,268
|
Money market
funds
|
1,678
|
2,690
|
Total
|
$64,349
|
$41,958
|
NOTE 3 – INVESTMENT SECURITIES
Our
investments as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018 are
classified as held-to-maturity. Held-to-maturity investments are
recorded at amortized cost.
The
following tables summarize our investment securities at March 31,
2019 and December 31, 2018:
(in
thousands)
|
|
|
Amortized
cost, as adjusted
|
Gross
unrealized holding gains
|
Gross
unrealized holding losses
|
|
Short-term
investments:
|
|
|
|
|
Obligations of
domestic governmental agencies (maturing between April 2019 to
March 2020) (held-to-maturity)
|
$28,113
|
$15
|
$3
|
$28,125
|
Total short-term
investment securities
|
$28,113
|
$15
|
$3
|
$28,125
|
|
|
|
Amortized
cost, as adjusted
|
Gross
unrealized holding gains
|
Gross
unrealized holding losses
|
|
Short-term
investments:
|
|
|
|
|
Obligations of
domestic governmental agencies (maturing between January 2019 and
November 2019) (held-to-maturity)
|
$26,951
|
$2
|
$10
|
$26,943
|
Total short-term
investment securities
|
$26,951
|
$2
|
$10
|
$26,943
|
NOTE
4 – FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
We
measure certain financial assets and liabilities at fair value on a
recurring basis in the condensed consolidated financial statements.
The fair value hierarchy ranks the quality and reliability of
inputs, or assumptions, used in the determination of fair value and
requires financial assets and liabilities carried at fair value to
be classified and disclosed in one of the following three
categories:
●
Level 1
– quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and
liabilities;
●
Level 2
– inputs other than Level 1 quoted prices that are directly
or indirectly observable; and
●
Level 3
– unobservable inputs that are not corroborated by market
data.
As of March 31,
2019 and December 31, 2018, the fair values of cash and cash
equivalents, restricted cash, and notes and interest payable
approximate their carrying value.
At the time of our merger (we were then known as Manhattan
Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) with Ariston Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(“Ariston”) in March 2010, Ariston issued $15.5 million
of five-year 5% notes payable (the “5% Notes”) in
satisfaction of several note payable issuances. The 5% Notes and
accrued and unpaid interest thereon are convertible at the option
of the holder into common stock at the conversion price of $1,125
per share. Ariston agreed to make quarterly payments on the 5%
Notes equal to 50% of the net product cash flow received from the
exploitation or commercialization of Ariston’s product
candidates, AST-726 and AST-915. We have no obligations under the
5% Notes aside from (a) 50% of the net product cash flows from
Ariston’s product candidates, if any, payable to noteholders;
and (b) the conversion feature, discussed above.
The cumulative
liability to the Ariston subsidiary including accrued and unpaid
interest of the 5% Notes was approximately $18.6 million at March
31, 2019 and $18.4 million at December 31, 2018. No payments
have been made on the 5% Notes since the merger and through March
31, 2019.
In
December 2011, we elected the fair value option for valuing the 5%
Notes. The fair value option was elected in order to reflect in our
financial statements the assumptions that market participants use
in evaluating these financial instruments.
As of
December 31, 2013, as a result of expiring intellectual property
rights and other factors, it was determined that net product cash
flows from AST-726 were unlikely. As we have no other obligations
under the 5% Notes aside from the net product cash flows and the
conversion feature, the conversion feature was used to estimate the
5% Notes’ fair value as of March 31, 2019 and December 31,
2018. The assumptions, assessments and projections of future
revenues are subject to uncertainties, difficult to predict, and
require significant judgment. The use of different assumptions,
applying different judgment to inherently subjective matters and
changes in future market conditions could result in significantly
different estimates of fair value and the differences could be
material to our condensed consolidated financial
statements.
The
following tables provide the fair value measurements of applicable
financial liabilities as of March 31, 2019 and December 31,
2018:
|
Financial
liabilities at fair value as of March 31, 2019
|
(in
thousands)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5%
Notes
|
$--
|
$--
|
$133
|
$133
|
Total
|
$--
|
$--
|
$133
|
$133
|
|
Financial
liabilities at fair value as of December 31, 2018
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5%
Notes
|
$--
|
$--
|
$67
|
$67
|
Total
|
$--
|
$--
|
$67
|
$67
|
The
Level 3 amounts above represent the fair value of the 5% Notes and
related accrued interest.
The
Company’s financial instruments include cash, cash
equivalents consisting of money market funds, accounts payable and
debt. Cash, cash equivalents, accounts payable and debt are stated
at their respective historical carrying amounts, which approximate
fair value due to their short-term nature.
The
following table summarizes the changes in Level 3 instruments
during the three months ended March 31, 2019:
(in
thousands)
|
|
Fair value at
December 31, 2018
|
$67
|
Interest accrued on
face value of 5% Notes
|
224
|
Change in fair
value of Level 3 liabilities
|
(158)
|
Fair value at March
31, 2019
|
$133
|
The
change in the fair value of the Level 3 liabilities is reported in
other (income) expense in the accompanying condensed consolidated
statements of operations.
NOTE 5 - STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
Preferred Stock
Our
amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the
issuance of up to 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock, $0.001 par
value, with rights senior to those of our common stock,
issuable in
one or more series. Upon issuance, we can determine the rights,
preferences, privileges and restrictions thereof. These rights,
preferences and privileges could include dividend rights,
conversion rights, voting rights, terms of redemption, liquidation
preferences, sinking fund terms and the number of shares
constituting any series or the designation of such series, any or
all of which may be greater than the rights of common
stock.
Common Stock
Our
amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the
issuance of up to 150,000,000 shares of $0.001 par value common
stock.
In May
2017, we filed a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (the
"2017 S-3"), which was declared effective in June 2017, replacing
the 2015 S-3. Under the 2017 S-3, the Company may sell up to a
total of $300 million of its securities. In connection with the
2017 S-3, we entered into an At-the-Market Issuance Sales Agreement
(the "2017 ATM") with Jefferies LLC, Cantor Fitzgerald & Co.,
FBR Capital Markets & Co., SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc.,
Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Ladenburg Thalmann & Co.
Inc. and H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC (each a "2017 Agent" and
collectively, the "2017 Agents"), relating to the sale of shares of
our common stock. Under the 2017 ATM we pay the 2017 Agents a
commission rate of up to 3.0% of the gross proceeds from the sale
of any shares of common stock.
In
March 2019, we completed an underwritten public offering of
4,100,000 shares of our common stock (plus a 30-day underwriter
overallotment option to purchase up to an additional 615,000 shares
of common stock, which was exercised), at a price of $5.87 per
share. Proceeds from this offering, including the overallotment,
after underwriting
discounts and offering expenses were approximately $27.7
million.
Subsequent to the
first quarter, through May 10, 2019, we sold an aggregate of
3,030,611 shares of common stock pursuant to the 2017 ATM for total
gross proceeds of approximately $24.6 million at an average selling
price of $8.11 per share, resulting in net proceeds of
approximately $24.2 million after deducting commissions and other
transactions costs.
The
2017 S-3 is currently our only active shelf registration statement.
After deducting shares already sold there is approximately $84.2
million of common stock that remains available for sale under the
2017 S-3. We may offer the securities under the 2017 S-3 from time
to time in response to market conditions or other circumstances if
we believe such a plan of financing is in the best interests of our
stockholders. We believe that the 2017 S-3 provides us with the
flexibility to raise additional capital to finance our operations
as needed.
Equity
Incentive Plans
The TG
Therapeutics, Inc. Amended and Restated 2012 Incentive Plan
(“2012 Incentive Plan”) was approved by stockholders in
June 2018. As of March 31, 2019, 5,539,620 shares of restricted
stock and 2,565,310 options were outstanding and up to an
additional 2,612,431 shares may be issued under the 2012 Incentive
Plan.
Effective as of
January 1, 2017, we entered into an amendment (the
“Amendment”) to the employment agreement entered into
as of December 15, 2011 (together with the Amendment, the
“Employment Agreement”) with Michael S. Weiss, our
Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and President. Under
the Amendment, Mr. Weiss will remain as Chief Executive Officer and
President, removing the interim status. Simultaneously, we entered
into a Strategic Advisory Agreement (the “Advisory
Agreement”) with Caribe BioAdvisors, LLC (the
“Advisor”) owned by Mr. Weiss to provide the services
of Mr. Weiss as Chairman of the Board and as Executive Chairman. As
part of the Amendment, Mr. Weiss also agreed to forfeit 3,381,866
restricted shares previously granted under the Employment Agreement
that were predominantly subject to time-based vesting over the next
three years. Simultaneously, (i) Mr. Weiss was issued 418,371
restricted shares under the Employment Agreement that vest in 2018
and 2019 and (ii) the Advisor was issued 2,960,000 restricted
shares under the Advisory Agreement that vested on market
capitalization thresholds ranging from $375 million to $750
million. In accordance with GAAP, there was no incremental stock
compensation expense recognition as a result of the
modification.
Stock Options
The
following table summarizes stock option activity for the three
months ended March 31, 2019:
|
|
Weighted-average
exercise price
|
Weighted-average
Contractual Term
|
Aggregate Intrinsic
Value
|
|
|
|
|
|
Outstanding at
December 31, 2018
|
1,916,900
|
$6.50
|
9.75
|
$--
|
Granted
|
715,000
|
6.90
|
|
|
Exercised
|
--
|
--
|
|
|
Forfeited
|
(66,590)
|
6.80
|
|
|
Expired
|
--
|
--
|
|
|
Outstanding at
March 31, 2019
|
2,565,310
|
$6.61
|
9.63
|
$5,800,421
|
|
|
|
|
|
Expected to vest at
March 31, 2019
|
2,565,310
|
$6.61
|
9.63
|
$5,800,421
|
Exercisable at
March 31, 2019
|
--
|
$--
|
--
|
$--
|
Total
expense associated with the stock options was approximately $0.7
million and zero during the three months ended March 31, 2019 and
2018, respectively. As of March 31, 2019, the stock options
outstanding include options granted to both employees and
non-employees which are both time-based and milestone-based.
Stock-based compensation for milestone-based options will be
recorded if and when a milestone occurs.
The
fair value of the Company's option awards were estimated using the
assumptions below:
|
Three
months ended March 31, 2019
|
Volatility
|
204.59-291.61
|
Expected term (in
years)
|
5.0-6.25
|
Risk-free
rate
|
2.40-2.49%
|
Expected dividend
yield
|
--%
|
Restricted Stock
Certain employees, directors and consultants have
been awarded restricted stock. The restricted stock vesting
consists of milestone and time-based vesting. The following
table summarizes restricted share activity for the three months
ended March 31, 2019:
|
|
Weighted
Average Grant Date Fair Value
|
Outstanding at
December 31, 2018
|
6,095,692
|
$8.07
|
Granted
|
23,000
|
12.95
|
Vested
|
(511,444)
|
8.64
|
Forfeited
|
(67,628)
|
7.54
|
Outstanding at
March 31, 2019
|
5,539,620
|
$7.95
|
Total
expense associated with restricted stock grants was approximately
$1.2 million and $7.3 million during the three months ended March
31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. As of March 31, 2019, there was
approximately $5.6 million of total unrecognized compensation cost
related to unvested time-based restricted stock, which is expected
to be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.43 years. This
amount does not include, as of March 31, 2019, 3,003,011 shares of
restricted stock outstanding which are milestone-based and vest
upon certain corporate milestones. Until the measurement date is
reached for milestone awards, the total amount of compensation
expense remains uncertain. We record compensation expense based on
the fair value of the award at the grant date.
Warrants
The
following table summarizes warrant activity for the three months
ended March 31, 2019:
|
|
Weighted-
average
exercise
price
|
Aggregate
Intrinsic Value
|
Outstanding at
December 31, 2018
|
--
|
$--
|
$--
|
Issued
|
147,058
|
4.08
|
|
Exercised
|
--
|
--
|
|
Expired
|
--
|
--
|
|
Outstanding at
March 31, 2019
|
147,058
|
$4.08
|
$582,350
|
Stock-Based Compensation
The
following table summarizes stock-based compensation expense
information about restricted stock and stock options for the three
months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018:
|
Three
months ended March 31,
|
(in
thousands)
|
|
|
Stock-based
compensation expense associated with restricted stock
|
$1,177
|
$7,337
|
Stock-based
compensation expense associated with option grants
|
705
|
--
|
Total
|
$1,882
|
$7,337
|
NOTE 6 – OTHER LIABILITIES
The
following is a summary of Notes Payable included in other current
liabilities on the Company’s condensed consolidated balance
sheet:
|
|
|
(in
thousands)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Convertible 5%
Notes Payable
|
$133
|
$--
|
$133
|
$67
|
$--
|
$67
|
Total
|
$133
|
$--
|
$133
|
$67
|
$--
|
$67
|
Convertible 5% Notes Payable
The 5%
Notes and accrued and unpaid interest thereon are convertible at
the option of the holder into common stock at the conversion price
of $1,125 per share. We have no obligation
under the 5% Notes aside from (a) 50% of the net product cash flows
from Ariston’s product candidates, if any, payable to
noteholders; and (b) the conversion feature, discussed
above. Interest accrues monthly, is added to principal on an
annual basis, every March 8, and is payable at maturity, which was
March 8, 2015 (see Note 4 for further details).
The cumulative
liability including accrued and unpaid interest of these notes was
approximately $18.6 million at March 31, 2019 and $18.4 million at
December 31, 2018. No payments have been made on the 5%
Notes as of March 31, 2019.
In
December 2011, we elected the fair value option for valuing the 5%
Notes. The fair value option was elected in order to reflect in our
financial statements the assumptions that market participants use
in evaluating these financial instruments (see Note 4 for further
details).
Current Liabilities
In 2018, we entered into an agreement with a contract manufacturer
for the clinical and potential commercial supply of one of our
product candidates. As part of this agreement, the contract
manufacturer has agreed to defer payment of certain costs and
expenses under the agreement in exchange for the payment of an
administrative fee. To date we have incurred expenses related to
this agreement of approximately $18.6 million as of March 31, 2019
which includes both service fees and raw material costs. No
payments have been made to the contract manufacturer as of March
31, 2019. Accordingly, as of March 31, 2019, $17.8 million is
included in current liabilities and $0.8 million is included in
accounts payable in the Company’s unaudited condensed
consolidated balance sheet. As of December 31, 2018, $18.4 million
is included in long term liabilities in the Company’s audited
consolidated balance sheet. All costs incurred to date are due in
the first quarter of 2020. We will incur an administrative fee of
six percent (6%) per year starting from the date of invoice
issuance. As of March 31, 2019 we have accrued $0.3 million in
administrative fees in connection with these costs, which has been
included in interest expense in the Company’s unaudited
condensed consolidated statements of
operations.
NOTE 7 – LONG-TERM DEBT
On February 28,
2019 (the “Closing Date”), the Company
(“Borrower”) entered into a term loan facility of up to
$60.0 million (“Term Loan”) with Hercules Capital,
Inc., (“Hercules”), the proceeds of which will be used
for its ongoing research and development programs and for general
corporate purposes. The Term Loan is governed by a loan and
security agreement, dated February 28, 2019 (the “Loan
Agreement”), which provides for up to four separate advances.
The first advance of $30.0 million was drawn on the Closing Date.
Two additional advances of $10.0 million may be drawn at the
Borrower’s option but subject to the clinical trial
milestones, and the fourth advance of $10.0 million, available in
minimum increments of $5.0 million, is available through December
15, 2020 subject to the approval of Hercules’ investment
committee.
The
Term Loan will mature on March 1, 2022 (the “Loan Maturity
Date”). Each advance accrues interest at a per annum rate of
interest equal to the greater of either (i) the “prime
rate” as reported in The Wall Street Journal plus 4.75%, and
(ii) 10.25%. The Term Loan provides for interest-only payments
until October 1, 2020. The interest-only period may be extended to
April 1, 2021 if the Borrower, on or before September 30, 2020,
achieves either the third milestone or the Company has raised at
least an amount equal to $150.0 million in unrestricted net cash
proceeds from one or more equity financings, subordinated
indebtedness and/or upfront proceeds from business development
transactions permitted under the Loan Agreement, in each case after
February 7, 2019, and prior to September 30, 2020. Thereafter,
amortization payments will be payable monthly in eighteen
installments (or, if the period requiring interest-only payments
has been extended to April 1, 2021, in twelve installments) of
principal and interest (subject to recalculation upon a change in
prime rates). At its option upon seven business days’ prior
written notice to Hercules, the Company may prepay all or any
portion greater than or equal to $5.0 million of the outstanding
advances by paying the entire principal balance (or portion
thereof), all accrued and unpaid interest, subject to a prepayment
charge of 3.0%, if such advance is prepaid in any of the first
twelve months following the Closing Date, 1.5%, if such advance is
prepaid after twelve months following the Closing Date but on or
prior to twenty-four months following the Closing Date, and 0%
thereafter. In addition, an end of term charge equal to 3.25% of
the aggregate principal amount of the loan extended by Hercules is
due on the maturity date. Amounts outstanding during an event of
default shall be payable on demand and shall accrue interest at an
additional rate of 4.0% per annum of the past due amount
outstanding.
The
Term Loan is secured by a lien on substantially all of the assets
of the Borrower, other than intellectual property and contains
customary covenants and representations, including a liquidity
covenant, financial reporting covenant and limitations on
dividends, indebtedness, collateral, investments, distributions,
transfers, mergers or acquisitions, taxes, corporate changes,
deposit accounts, and subsidiaries.
The
events of default under the Loan Agreement include, without
limitation, and subject to customary grace periods, (1) the
Borrower’s failure to make any payments of principal or
interest under the Loan Agreement, promissory notes or other loan
documents, (2) the Borrower’s breach or default in the
performance of any covenant under the Loan Agreement, (3) the
occurrence of a material adverse effect, (4) the Borrower making a
false or misleading representation or warranty in any material
respect, (5) the Borrower’s insolvency or bankruptcy, (6)
certain attachments or judgments on the Borrower’s assets, or
(7) the occurrence of any material default under certain agreements
or obligations of the Borrower involving indebtedness in excess of
$750,000. If an event of default occurs, Hercules is entitled to
take enforcement action, including acceleration of amounts due
under the Loan Agreement.
The
Loan Agreement also contains warrant coverage of 2% of the total
amount funded. A warrant (the “Warrant”) was issued by
Borrower to Hercules to purchase 147,058 shares of common stock
with an exercise price of $4.08. The Warrant shall be exercisable
for seven years from the date of issuance. Hercules may exercise
the Warrant either by (a) cash or check or (b) through a net
issuance conversion. The shares will be registered and freely
tradeable within six months of issuance. The Company accounted for
the Warrant as an equity instrument since it was indexed to the
Company’s common shares and met the criteria for
classification in shareholders’ equity. The relative fair
value of the Warrant on the date of issuance was approximately $1.0
million and was treated as an offset to the Term Loan. This amount
will be amortized to interest expense using the effective interest
method over the life of the Term Loan. The Company estimated the
fair value of the Warrant using the Black-Scholes model based on
the following key assumptions:
Exercise
Price
|
$4.08
|
Common share price
on date of issuance
|
$6.80
|
Volatility
|
195.9%
|
Risk-free interest
rate
|
2.63%
|
Expected dividend
yield
|
--%
|
Contractual term
(in years)
|
7.00 years
|
The
Company incurred financing expenses of $2.8 million related to the
Hercules Loan Agreement which are recorded as an offset to
long-term debt on the Company's condensed consolidated balance
sheet. The debt issuance costs are being amortized over the term of
the debt using the effective interest method and are included in
interest expense in the Company’s unaudited condensed
consolidated statements of operations. Amortization of debt
issuance costs was $0.1 million and zero for the three months ended
March 31, 2019. At March 31, 2019, the remaining unamortized
balance of debt issuance costs were $2.7 million.
Long-term debt as
of as of March 31, 2019, is as follows (in thousands):
|
|
Long-term
debt
|
$30,000
|
End of term
fee
|
975
|
|
30,975
|
Less: unamortized
debt issuance costs
|
(2,689)
|
|
28,286
|
|
--
|
Long-term
debt– non-current
|
$28,286
|
NOTE 8 – LEASES
In
October 2014, we entered into an agreement (the “Office
Agreement”) with Fortress Biotech, Inc. (“FBIO”)
to occupy approximately 45% of the 24,000 square feet of New York
City office space leased by FBIO, which is now our corporate
headquarters. The Office Agreement requires us to pay our
respective share of the average annual rent and other costs of the
15-year lease. We approximate an average annual rental obligation
of $1.1 million under the Office Agreement. We began to occupy this
new space in April 2016, with rental payments beginning in the
third quarter of 2016. During the three months ended March 31,
2019, we recognized a lease liability of $9.4 million, with a
corresponding Right of Use (ROU) asset of $7.9 million based on the
present value of the remaining lease payments for all of our leased
office spaces, the majority of which is comprised of our New York
City office space. Our leases have
remaining lease terms of 1 year to 12 years. One
lease has a renewal option to extend the lease for an additional
term of 2 years.
After
an initial commitment period of the 45% rate for a period of three
(3) years, we and FBIO will determine actual office space
utilization annually and if our utilization differs from the amount
we have been billed, we will either receive credits or be assessed
incremental utilization charges. Also in connection with this
lease, in October 2014 we pledged $0.6 million to secure a line of
credit as a security deposit for the Office Agreement, which has
been recorded as restricted cash in the accompanying consolidated
balance sheets. Additional collateral of $0.6 million was pledged
in April 2018 to increase the letter of credit for the office
space.
The following components of lease expense are
included in the Company's consolidated statements of
operations for the three months ended March 31,
2019:
(in thousands)
|
|
Operating lease cost
|
$418
|
Net lease cost
|
$418
|
As
of March 31, 2019, the weighted-average remaining operating lease
term was 9.75 years and the weighted-average discount
rate for operating leases was 10.25%. Cash paid for amounts
included in the measurement of operating lease liabilities in
the first quarter of fiscal 2019 was $0.3
million.
The
balance sheet classification of lease liabilities was as
follows:
(in
thousands)
|
|
Liabilities
|
|
Lease liability
– current portion
|
$1,261
|
Lease liability
– non-current
|
8,182
|
Total lease
liability
|
$9,443
|
As
of March 31, 2019, the maturities of lease liabilities
were as follows:
(in
thousands)
|
|
Remainder of
2019
|
$1,023
|
2020
|
1,348
|
2021
|
1,353
|
2022
|
1,376
|
2023
|
1,367
|
After
2023
|
10,281
|
Total lease
payments
|
16,748
|
Less:
Interest
|
(7,305)
|
Present value of
lease liabilities(*)
|
$9,443
|
|
|
(*) As
our leases do not provide an implicit rate, we use our incremental
borrowing rate based on the information available at commencement
date and considering the term of the lease to determine the present
value of lease payments. We used the incremental borrowing rate of
10.25% on February 28, 2019, for operating leases that commenced
prior to that date.
NOTE 9 – LICENSE AGREEMENTS
TG-1101 (Ublituximab)
In
November 2012, we entered into an exclusive (within the territory)
sublicense agreement with Ildong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.
(“Ildong”) relating to the development and
commercialization of ublituximab in South Korea and Southeast Asia.
Under the terms of the sublicense agreement, Ildong has been
granted a royalty bearing, exclusive right, including the right to
grant sublicenses, to develop and commercialize ublituximab in
South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand,
Philippines, Vietnam, and Myanmar.
An
upfront payment of $2.0 million, which was received in December
2012, net of $0.3 million of income tax withholdings, is being
recognized as license revenue on a straight-line basis over the
life of the agreement, which is through the expiration of the last
licensed patent right or 15 years after the first commercial sale
of a product in such country, unless the agreement is earlier
terminated, and represents the estimated period over which we will
have certain ongoing responsibilities under the sublicense
agreement. We recorded license revenue of approximately $38,000 for
each of the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, and, at
March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, have deferred revenue of
approximately $1.0 million, and $1.1 million, respectively,
associated with this $2 million payment (approximately $152,000 of
which has been classified in current liabilities at March 31, 2019
and December 31, 2018).
We may
receive up to an additional $5.0 million in payments upon the
achievement of pre-specified milestones. In addition, upon
commercialization, Ildong will make royalty payments to us on net
sales of ublituximab in the sublicense territory.
TG-1701: BTK
In January 2018, we entered
into a global exclusive license agreement with Jiangsu Hengrui
Medicine Co. (“Hengrui”), to acquire worldwide
intellectual property rights, excluding Asia but including Japan,
and for the research, development, manufacturing, and
commercialization of products containing or comprising of any of
Hengrui’s Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase inhibitors
containing the compounds of either TG-1701 (SHR1459 or EBI1459) or
TG1702 (SHR1266 or EBI1266). Pursuant to the agreement, in April
2018, we paid Jiangsu an upfront fee of $1.0 million in our common
stock recorded to non-cash stock expense associated with
in-licensing agreements in our consolidated statement of
operations. Jiangsu is eligible to receive milestone payments
totaling approximately $350 million upon and subject to the
achievement of certain milestones. Various provisions allow for
payments in conjunction with the agreement to be made in cash or
our common stock, while others limit the form of payment. Royalty
payments in the low double digits are due on net sales of licensed
products and revenue from sublicenses.
TG-1801: anti-CD47/anti-CD19
In June
2018, we entered into a Joint Venture and License Option Agreement
with Novimmune SA (“Novimmune”) to collaborate on the
development and commercialization of Novimmune’s novel
first-in-class anti-CD47/anti-CD19 bispecific antibody known as
TG-1801 (previously NI-1701). The companies will jointly develop
the product on a worldwide basis, focusing on indications in the
area of hematologic B-cell malignancies. We serve as the primary
responsible party for the development, manufacturing and
commercialization of the product. Pursuant to the agreement, in
June 2018 we paid Novimmune an upfront payment of $3.0 million in
our common stock recorded to non-cash stock expense associated with
in-licensing agreements in our consolidated statement of
operations. Further milestone
payments will be paid based on early clinical development, and the
Company will be responsible for the costs of clinical development
of the product through the end of the Phase 2 clinical trials,
after which the Company and Novimmune will be jointly responsible
for all development and commercialization costs. The Company and
Novimmune will each maintain an exclusive option, exercisable at
specific times during development, for the Company to license the
rights to TG-1801, in which case Novimmune is eligible to receive additional
milestone payments totaling approximately $185 million as well as
tiered royalties on net sales in the high single to low double
digits upon and subject to the achievement of certain
milestones.
NOTE 10 – RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
In
October 2014, we entered into an agreement (the “Office
Agreement”) with Fortress Biotech, Inc. (“FBIO”)
to occupy approximately 45% of the 24,000 square feet of New York
City office space leased by FBIO, which is now our corporate
headquarters. The Office Agreement requires us to pay our
respective share of the average annual rent and other costs of the
15-year lease. We approximate an average annual rental obligation
of $1.1 million under the Office Agreement. We began to occupy this
new space in April 2016, with rental payments beginning in the
third quarter of 2016. During the three months ended March 31,
2019, we recognized a lease liability of $9.4 million, with a
corresponding Right of Use (ROU) asset of $7.9 million based on the
present value of the remaining lease payments for all of our leased
office spaces, the majority of which is comprised of our New York
City office space. Mr. Weiss, our Executive Chairman and CEO, is
also Executive Vice Chairman of FBIO.
Under the Office
Agreement, we agreed to pay FBIO our portion of the build out
costs, which have been allocated to us at the 45% rate mentioned
above. The allocated build-out
costs have been recorded in Leasehold Interest, net on the
Company’s consolidated balance sheets and will be amortized
over the 15-year term of the Office Agreement. After an initial
commitment period of the 45% rate for a period of three (3) years,
we and FBIO will determine actual office space utilization annually
and if our utilization differs from the amount we have been billed,
we will either receive credits or be assessed incremental
utilization charges. Also in connection with this lease, in October
2014 we pledged $0.6 million to secure a line of credit as a
security deposit for the Office Agreement, which has been recorded
as restricted cash in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.
Additional collateral of $0.6 million was pledged in April 2018 to
increase the letter of credit for the office space.
In July
2015, we entered into a Shared Services Agreement (the
“Shared Services Agreement”) with FBIO to share the
cost of certain services such as facilities use, personnel costs
and other overhead and administrative costs. This Shared Services
Agreement requires us to pay our respective share of services
utilized. In connection with the Shared Services Agreement, we
incurred expenses of approximately $0.2 million and $0.4 million
for shared services for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and
2018, respectively, primarily related to shared
personnel.
In
March 2015, we entered into a Global Collaboration Agreement
(“Collaboration Agreement”) with Checkpoint for the
development and commercialization of anti-PD-L1 and anti-GITR
antibody research programs in the field of hematological
malignancies. We incurred expenses of approximately $0.3 million
and zero for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018,
related mainly to manufacturing costs of PD-L1. The relevant
expenses are recorded in other research and development in the
accompanying condensed consolidated statement of
operations.
NOTE 11 – LITIGATION
In
October 2018, a purported securities class action complaint was
filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New
York (the “Southern District”) against the Company and
one of its officers on behalf of all shareholders who purchased or
otherwise acquired TG Therapeutics common stock between June 4,
2018 and September 25, 2018 (the “Class Period”). The
case was captioned Randall Reinmann v. TG Therapeutics Inc., and
Michael S. Weiss, Case No. 1:18-cv-09104-KPF. The complaint alleged
that, throughout the Class Period, the Company made false and/or
misleading statements and/or failed to disclose various facts and
circumstances regarding its UNITY-CLL study allegedly in violation
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated
thereunder. In December 2018, the Southern District appointed
Co-Lead Plaintiffs to represent the putative class, and approved
their selection of Lead Counsel. On March 1, 2019, Co-Lead
Plaintiffs filed a notice with the Southern District seeking to
voluntarily dismiss the action in its entirety without prejudice,
which was so-ordered by the Southern District the same
day.
In
addition, on December 18, 2018, a related shareholder derivative
litigation was filed in the Southern District against the
Company’s directors and one of its officers in litigation
captioned Thessalus Capital v. Weiss, et al., 1:18-cv-11918-KPF.
The Company was named only as a nominal defendant. The suit alleged
that the officer and directors breached their fiduciary duties to
the Company, wasted corporate assets, and violated the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder in
connection with the Company’s alleged failure to disclose
various facts and circumstances regarding its UNITY-CLL study. The
plaintiff asserted that the alleged disclosure violations
concerning the Company’s UNITY-CLL study caused the Company
to incur losses, including defense costs, and further alleged that
the named officer and directors received excessive compensation. On
April 17, 2019, the plaintiff filed a notice with the Southern
District seeking to voluntarily dismiss the action in its entirety
without prejudice, which was so-ordered by the Southern District on
April 18, 2019.
ITEM
2. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL
CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The
following discussion and analysis contain forward-looking
statements about our plans and expectations of what may happen in
the future. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of
assumptions and estimates that are inherently subject to
significant risks and uncertainties, and our results could differ
materially from the results anticipated by our forward-looking
statements as a result of many known or unknown factors, including,
but not limited to, those factors discussed in “Risk
Factors.” See also the “Special Cautionary Notice
Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” set forth at the
beginning of this report.
You
should read the following discussion and analysis in conjunction
with the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements, and
the related footnotes thereto, appearing elsewhere in this report,
and in conjunction with management’s discussion and analysis
and the audited consolidated financial statements included in our
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2018.
OVERVIEW
We are
a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and delivering
medicines for patients with B-cell mediated diseases, including
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) and
Multiple Sclerosis (MS). We have developed a robust B-cell directed
research and development (R&D) platform for identification of
key B-cell pathways of interest and rapid clinical testing.
Currently, we have five B-cell targeted drug candidates in clinical
development, with the lead two therapies, ublituximab (TG-1101) and
umbralisib (TGR-1202), in pivotal trials for CLL and NHL, with
ublituximab also in pivotal trials for MS. Ublituximab is a novel
anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (mAb) that has been glycoengineered
for enhanced potency over first generation antibodies. Umbralisib
is an oral, once daily inhibitor of PI3K delta. Umbralisib also
uniquely inhibits CK1-epsilon, which may allow it to overcome
certain tolerability issues associated with first generation PI3K
delta inhibitors. When used together in combination therapy,
ublituximab and umbralisib are referred to as "U2". Additionally,
we have recently brought into Phase 1 clinical development TG-1501,
an anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody, TG-1701, a covalently-bound
Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) inhibitor, and TG-1801, an
anti-CD47/CD19 bispecific antibody.
We also
actively evaluate complementary products, technologies and
companies for in-licensing, partnership, acquisition and/or
investment opportunities. To date, we have not received approval
for the sale of any of our drug candidates in any market and,
therefore, have not generated any product sales from our drug
candidates.
OUR PRODUCTS UNDER DEVELOPMENT
We
have leveraged our B-cell platform to develop a robust drug
pipeline of both targeted orally available, potent and selective
small molecule kinase inhibitors and intravenously delivered
“off-the-shelf” immunotherapies that leverage the
patient’s own immune system to fight cancer. We currently own
worldwide development and commercial rights, subject to certain
limited geographical restrictions, to all of our pre-clinical and
clinical programs. The following table summarizes our most advanced
drug candidates:
Clinical Drug Candidate
(molecular target)
|
Initial Target Disease
|
Stage of Development
(pivotal study)
|
Ublituximab/TG-1101(anti-CD20/mAb)
|
Chronic
Lymphocytic Leukemia
|
Phase 3
trial (UNITY-CLL)
|
Relapsing
Multiple Sclerosis
|
Phase 3
trials (ULTIMATE I and II)
|
|
|
Umbralisib/TGR-1202
(PI3K delta inhibitor)
|
Chronic
Lymphocytic Leukemia
|
Phase 3
trial (UNITY-CLL)
|
Marginal
Zone Lymphoma
|
Phase
2b trial (UNITY-NHL)
|
Follicular
Lymphoma
|
Phase
2b trial (UNITY-NHL)
|
TG-1501
(anti-PDL1)
|
B-cell
Cancers
|
Phase 1
trial
|
TG-1701
(BTK inhibitor)
|
B-cell
Cancers
|
Phase 1
trial
|
TG-1801
(anti-CD47/CD19)
|
B-cell
Cancers
|
Phase 1
trial
|
Phase 3 and Registration-Directed Clinical
Trial Highlights
The
company has initiated and enrolled several Phase 3 and
registration-directed Phase 2b clinical trials (i.e., clinical
trials that may support a marketing application for approval). The
following are the current Phase 3 trials and registration-directed
Phase 2b clinical trials in the order of expected top-line
data:
●
UNITY-NHL Phase 2b Trial – Marginal Zone Lymphoma (MZL) and
Follicular Lymphoma (FL)/ Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma (SLL) Cohorts
(Umbralisib Monotherapy): UNITY-NHL is a broad Phase 2b
registration-directed clinical trial designed to evaluate the
efficacy and safety of umbralisib monotherapy and U2 combinations
in patients with previously treated NHL. The MZL and the FL/SLL
single agent umbralisib cohorts of this trial are fully enrolled.
The primary objective of these cohorts is to assess the efficacy of
single agent umbralisib as measured by Overall Response Rate
(ORR).
●
UNITY-NHL MZL Single Agent
Umbralisib Cohort: The MZL cohort enrolled adult patients
who had at least one prior line of therapy that included an
anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody. In February 2019, we announced that
the MZL cohort met the primary endpoint of ORR as determined by
Independent Review Committee (IRC) for all treated patients (n=69).
The results met the Company’s target guidance of 40-50% ORR.
Interim safety and efficacy data from the MZL cohort were presented
in an oral presentation at the American Association for Cancer
Research (AACR) annual meeting on April 1, 2019. The data presented
included safety and tolerability data on all 69 treated patients
(safety population) and efficacy data on 42 patients who were
enrolled at least 9 cycles (28 day cycles) prior to the data
cut-off date (interim efficacy population). The safety population
had a median duration of exposure of 6.9 months and no unexpected
toxicities were observed. Analysis of the interim efficacy
population showed an ORR by IRC of 52%, including 19% CR rate, and
an 88% clinical benefit rate by IRC (defined as patients obtaining
Complete Response + Partial Response + Stable Disease). Full data
from this study are expected to be presented at a medical meeting
later this year. We also plan to discuss the MZL results with the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding a potential new
drug application (NDA) filing for accelerated approval. Previously,
in January 2019, the FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation
(BTD) for umbralisib for the treatment of adult patients with MZL
who have received at least one prior anti-CD20 regimen. The BTD was
based on interim data from the MZL cohort of the UNITY-NHL trial.
In April 2019, the FDA granted orphan drug designation to
umbralisib for the treatment of patients with any of the three
types of marginal zone lymphoma (MZL): nodal, extranodal, and
splenic MZL.
●
UNITY-NHL FL/SLL Single Agent
Umbralisib Cohort: The FL/SLL cohort enrolled adult patients
who had two or more prior lines of therapy that included an
anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody and an alkylating agent. This cohort
is fully enrolled with approximately 125
patients.
●
UNITY-NHL Additional Cohorts: There are
additional exploratory cohorts of the UNITY-NHL trial focused on
Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) and Mantle Cell Lymphoma
(MCL). Currently there are four cohorts of the UNITY-NHL trial
including, MZL, FL/SLL, DLBCL, and MCL. Each cohort is enrolled and
evaluated separately from the others.
●
UNITY-CLL Phase 3 Trial Evaluating Umbralisib plus Ublituximab
(U2): UNITY-CLL is a global Phase 3 randomized controlled
clinical trial comparing the U2 combination to an active control
arm of obinutuzumab plus chlorambucil in patients with both
treatment naïve and relapsed or refractory CLL. Two additional
arms evaluating single agent ublituximab and single agent
umbralisib were also enrolled for purposes of evaluating
contribution in the U2 combination regimen. The primary endpoint
for this study is Progression Free Survival (PFS) which we intend
to use to support a submission for approval of the U2 combination
in CLL. The study completed enrollment in October 2017 with over
600 patients across the four treatment arms, with approximately 420
patients in the U2 and the active control arm combined. This trial
is being conducted under Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) with
FDA. In March 2019, the
UNITY-CLL DSMB met to conduct a pre-planned futility analysis of
progression-free survival (PFS). The DSMB determined that the trial
was not futile and recommended the UNITY-CLL trial continue as
planned. The pre-specified futility analysis of the UNITY-CLL trial
did not allow for early stopping due to positive efficacy but only
for lack of efficacy. During this meeting the DSMB also reviewed
safety information from all 600+ CLL patients on trial, including
over 300 treatment naïve and previously treated patients on
umbralisib alone or in combination with ublituximab. Based on its
review, no safety concerns were identified and the DSMB recommended
the UNITY-CLL trial continue without modification.
●
ULTIMATE I & II Trials Evaluating Single Agent Ublituximab in
RMS: ULTIMATE I and ULTIMATE II are two independent Phase 3
trials. Each trial is a global, randomized, multi-center,
double-blinded, double-dummy, active-controlled study comparing
ublituximab to teriflunomide in subjects with relapsing forms of
Multiple Sclerosis (RMS). The primary endpoint for each study is
Annualized Relapse Rate (ARR) following 96 weeks of treatment which
we intend to use to support a submission for approval of
ublituximab in RMS. These trials are being conducted under a SPA
with the FDA. Full enrollment was completed in October of 2018,
with approximately 1,100 subjects enrolled in both studies
combined.
GENERAL CORPORATE
Our
license revenues currently consist of license fees arising from our
agreement with Ildong. We recognize upfront license fee revenues
ratably over the estimated period in which we will have certain
significant ongoing responsibilities under the sublicense
agreement, with unamortized amounts recorded as deferred
revenue.
We have
not earned any revenues from the commercial sale of any of our drug
candidates.
Our
research and development expenses consist primarily of expenses
related to in-licensing of new product candidates, fees paid to
consultants and outside service providers for clinical and
laboratory development, facilities-related and other expenses
relating to the design, development, manufacture, testing and
enhancement of our drug candidates and technologies including
clinical trial related expenses. We expense our research and
development costs as they are incurred.
Our
general and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries
and related expenses for executive, finance and other
administrative personnel, recruitment expenses, professional fees
and other corporate expenses, including investor relations, legal
activities and facilities-related expenses.
Our results of operations include non-cash compensation expenses as
a result of the grants of restricted stock. Compensation expense
for awards of restricted stock granted to employees and directors
represents the fair value of the award recorded over the respective
vesting periods of the individual awards. The expense is included
in the respective categories of expense in the condensed
consolidated statements of operations. We expect to continue to
incur significant non-cash compensation expenses.
For
awards of options and restricted stock to consultants and other
third-parties, compensation expense is determined at the
“measurement date.” The expense is recognized over the
vesting period of the award. Until the measurement date is reached,
the total amount of compensation expense remains uncertain. We
record compensation expense based on the fair value of the award at
the reporting date. The awards to consultants and other
third-parties are then revalued, or the total compensation is
recalculated based on the then current fair value, at each
subsequent reporting date. This results in a change to the amount
previously recorded in respect of the equity award grant, and
additional expense or a reversal of expense may be recorded in
subsequent periods based on changes in the assumptions used to
calculate fair value, such as changes in market price, until the
measurement date is reached and the compensation expense is
finalized.
In
addition, certain restricted stock issued to employees vest upon
the achievement of certain milestones; therefore, the total expense
is uncertain until the milestone is probable.
Our
clinical trials will be lengthy and expensive. Even if these trials
show that our drug candidates are effective in treating certain
diseases, there is no guarantee that we will be able to record
commercial sales of any of our drug candidates in the near future,
or at all. In addition, we expect losses to continue as we fund
in-licensing and development of new drug candidates. As we further
our development efforts, we may enter into additional third-party
collaborative agreements and incur additional expenses, such as
licensing fees and milestone payments. In addition, we may need to
establish a commercial infrastructure required to manufacture,
market and sell our medicines following approval, if any, by the
FDA or a foreign health authority, which would result in incurring
additional expenses. As a result, our quarterly results may
fluctuate and a quarter-by-quarter comparison of our operating
results may not be a meaningful indication of our future
performance.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018
License Revenue. License revenue was
approximately $38,000 for each of the three months ended March 31,
2019 and 2018. License revenue is related to the amortization of an
upfront payment of $2.0 million received in 2012 associated with
our license agreement with Ildong. The upfront payment from Ildong
will be recognized as license revenue on a straight-line basis
through December 2025, which represents the estimated period over
which the Company will have certain ongoing responsibilities under
the sublicense agreement.
Noncash Compensation Expense (Research and
Development). Noncash compensation expense (research and
development) related to equity incentive grants totaled $1.5
million for the three months ended March 31, 2019, as compared to
$2.9 million during the comparable period in 2018. The decrease in
noncash compensation expense was primarily related to greater
measurement date fair value of certain consultant restricted stock
that was applicable during the period ended March 31,
2018.
Other Research and Development
Expenses. Other research and
development expenses decreased by $1.3 million to $30.9 million for
the three months ended March 31, 2019, as compared to $32.2 million
for the three months ended March 31, 2018. The decrease was mainly
due to the primary clinical programs and related manufacturing
costs for ublituximab and umbralisib have completed enrollment
during 2018. We expect our other research and development costs to
decrease modestly for the remainder of 2019as our primary clinical
programs near completion.
Noncash Compensation Expense (General and
Administrative). Noncash
compensation expense (general and administrative) related to equity
incentive grants decreased by $4.1 million to $0.4 million
for the three months ended March 31, 2019, as compared to $4.5 million for the three
months ended March 31, 2018.
The decrease in noncash compensation expense was primarily related
to greater compensation expense during the three months ended March
31, 2018 related to restricted stock granted to executive
personnel.
Other General and Administrative
Expenses. Other general and
administrative expenses decreased by $0.2 million to $1.9
million for the three months ended March 31, 2019, as compared to $2.1 million for the three
months ended March 31, 2018. We expect
our other general and administrative expenses to remain at a
comparable level for the remainder of 2019.
Other (Income) Expense. Other expense
increased by $0.5 million to approximately $0.5 million for the
three months ended March 31, 2019, as
compared to income of approximately $48,000 for the three
months ended March 31, 2018. The increase is mainly due to an
increase in interest expense related to the Hercules financing
agreement and the associated amortization of debt issuance costs
for the three months ended March 31, 2019.
LIQUIDITY
AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Our
primary sources of cash have been from the sale of equity
securities, debt financings, the upfront payment from our
Sublicense Agreement with Ildong, and warrant and option exercises.
We have not yet commercialized any of our drug candidates and
cannot be sure if we will ever be able to do so. Even if we
commercialize one or more of our drug candidates, we may not become
profitable. Our ability to achieve profitability depends on a
number of factors, including our ability to obtain regulatory
approval for our drug candidates, successfully complete any
post-approval regulatory obligations and successfully commercialize
our drug candidates alone or in partnership. We may continue to
incur substantial operating losses even if we begin to generate
revenues from our drug candidates.
As of
March 31, 2019, we had approximately $92.5 million in cash and cash
equivalents, and investment securities. We anticipate that our
cash, cash equivalents, and investment securities on hand as of
March 31, 2019, combined with the additional capital raised in the
second quarter of 2019, will be sufficient to fund the
Company’s planned operations through mid-2020. The actual
amount of cash that we will need to operate is subject to many
factors, including, but not limited to, the timing, design and
conduct of clinical trials for our drug candidates. We are
dependent upon significant financing to provide the cash necessary
to execute our current operations, including the commercialization
of any of our drug candidates.
Cash
used in operating activities for the three months ended March 31,
2019 was $33.4 million as compared to $28.0 million for the three
months ended March 31, 2018. The increase in cash used in operating
activities was due primarily to increased expenditures associated
with our ongoing clinical development programs.
For the
three months ended March 31, 2019, net cash used in investing
activities was $1.1 million as compared to cash provided by
investing activities of $1.8 million for the three months ended
March 31, 2018. The decrease in net cash provided by investing
activities was primarily due to the greater investment in treasury
securities during the three months ended March 31,
2018.
For the
three months ended March 31, 2019, net cash provided by financing
activities of $56.9 million related to the net proceeds from debt
financings of $29.2 million and net proceeds from the issuance of
common shares of $27.7 million.
OFF-BALANCE
SHEET ARRANGEMENTS
We have
not entered into any transactions with unconsolidated entities
whereby we have financial guarantees, subordinated retained
interests, derivative instruments or other contingent arrangements
that expose us to material continuing risks, contingent
liabilities, or any other obligations under a variable interest in
an unconsolidated entity that provides us with financing,
liquidity, market risk or credit risk support.
CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS AND COMMITMENTS
As of
March 31, 2019, we have known contractual
obligations, commitments and contingencies of $65.1 million related
to our long-term debt, contract manufacturer and operating lease
obligations.
Payment
due by period (in thousands)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Contractual
obligations
|
|
|
|
|
|
Operating
leases
|
$16,748
|
$1,366
|
$2,700
|
$2,712
|
$9,970
|
Long-term
debt
|
30,000
|
--
|
30,000
|
--
|
--
|
Contract
manufacturer
|
18,350
|
18,350
|
--
|
--
|
--
|
Total
|
$65,098
|
$19,716
|
$32,700
|
$2,712
|
$9,970
|
The terms of
certain of our licenses, royalties, development and collaboration
agreements, as well as other research and development activities,
require us to pay potential future milestone payments based on
product development success. The above table excludes such
obligations as the amount and timing of such obligations are
unknown or uncertain.
CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The
discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of
operations is based upon our consolidated financial statements,
which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted
accounting principles. The preparation of these financial
statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect
the reported amount of assets and liabilities and related
disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of our
financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and
expenses during the applicable period. Actual results may differ
from these estimates under different assumptions or
conditions.
We
define critical accounting policies as those that are reflective of
significant judgments and uncertainties and which may potentially
result in materially different results under different assumptions
and conditions. In applying these critical accounting policies, our
management uses its judgment to determine the appropriate
assumptions to be used in making certain estimates. These estimates
are subject to an inherent degree of uncertainty. Our critical
accounting policies include the following:
Revenue Recognition. Effective January
1, 2018, the Company began recognizing revenue under Accounting
Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 606, Revenue from
Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”), using the
modified retrospective transition method. The impact of adopting
the new revenue standard was not material to our consolidated
financial statements and there was no adjustment to beginning
retained earnings on January 1, 2018. The core principle of this
new revenue standard is that a company should recognize revenue to
depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in
an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company
expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The
following five steps are applied to achieve that core
principle:
●
Step 1:
Identify the contract with the customer
●
Step 2:
Identify the performance obligations in the contract
●
Step 3:
Determine the transaction price
●
Step 4:
Allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in
the contract
●
Step 5:
Recognize revenue when the company satisfies a performance
obligation
In
order to identify the performance obligations in a contract with a
customer, a company must assess the promised goods or services in
the contract and identify each promised good or service that is
distinct. A performance obligation meets ASC 606’s definition
of a “distinct” good or service (or bundle of goods or
services) if both of the following criteria are met:
●
The
customer can benefit from the good or service either on its own or
together with other resources that are readily available to the
customer (i.e., the good or service is capable of being
distinct).
●
The
entity's promise to transfer the good or service to the customer is
separately identifiable from other promises in the contract (i.e.,
the promise to transfer the good or service is distinct within the
context of the contract).
If a
good or service is not distinct, the good or service is combined
with other promised goods or services until a bundle of goods or
services is identified that is distinct.
The
transaction price is the amount of consideration to which an entity
expects to be entitled in exchange for transferring promised goods
or services to a customer, excluding amounts collected on behalf of
third parties (for example, some sales taxes). The consideration
promised in a contract with a customer may include fixed amounts,
variable amounts, or both. Variable consideration is included in
the transaction price only to the extent that it is probable that a
significant reversal in the amount of cumulative revenue recognized
will not occur when the uncertainty associated with the variable
consideration is subsequently resolved.
The
transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation on a
relative standalone selling price basis. The transaction price
allocated to each performance obligation is recognized when that
performance obligation is satisfied, at a point in time or over
time as appropriate.
Stock Compensation. We have granted
stock options and restricted stock to employees, directors and
consultants, as well as warrants to other third parties. For
employee, director and consultant grants the value of each option
award is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes
option-pricing model. The Black-Scholes model takes into account
volatility in the price of our stock, the risk-free interest rate,
the estimated life of the option, the closing market price of our
stock and the exercise price. We base our estimates of our stock
price volatility on the historical volatility of our common stock
and our assessment of future volatility; however, these estimates
are neither predictive nor indicative of the future performance of
our stock. For purposes of the calculation, we assumed that no
dividends would be paid during the life of the options and
warrants. The estimates utilized in the Black-Scholes calculation
involve inherent uncertainties and the application of management
judgment. In addition, we are required to estimate the expected
forfeiture rate and only recognize expense for those equity awards
expected to vest. As a result, if other assumptions had been used,
our recorded stock-based compensation expense could have been
materially different from that reported. In addition, because some
of the options, restricted stock and warrants issued to employees,
consultants and other third-parties vest upon the achievement of
certain milestones, the total expense is uncertain. Compensation
expense for such awards that vest upon the achievement of
milestones is recognized when the achievement of such milestone
becomes probable.
In-process Research and Development.
All acquired research and development projects are recorded at
their fair value as of the date acquisition. The fair values are
assessed as of the balance sheet date to ascertain if there has
been any impairment of the recorded value. If there is an
impairment the asset is written down to its current fair value by
the recording of an expense.
Accruals for Clinical Research Organization
and Clinical Site Costs. We make estimates of costs incurred
in relation to external clinical research organizations, or CROs,
and clinical site costs. We analyze the progress of clinical
trials, including levels of patient enrollment, invoices received
and contracted costs when evaluating the adequacy of the amount
expensed and the related prepaid asset and accrued liability.
Significant judgments and estimates must be made and used in
determining the accrued balance and expense in any accounting
period. We review and accrue CRO expenses and clinical trial study
expenses based on work performed and rely upon estimates of those
costs applicable to the stage of completion of a study. Accrued CRO
costs are subject to revisions as such trials progress to
completion. Revisions are charged to expense in the period in which
the facts that give rise to the revision become known. With respect
to clinical site costs, the financial terms of these agreements are
subject to negotiation and vary from contract to contract. Payments
under these contracts may be uneven, and depend on factors such as
the achievement of certain events, the successful recruitment of
patients, the completion of portions of the clinical trial or
similar conditions. The objective of our policy is to match the
recording of expenses in our financial statements to the actual
services received and efforts expended. As such, expense accruals
related to clinical site costs are recognized based on our estimate
of the degree of completion of the event or events specified in the
specific clinical study or trial contract.
Accounting For Income Taxes. In
preparing our consolidated financial statements, we are required to
estimate our income taxes in each of the jurisdictions in which we
operate. This process involves management estimation of our actual
current tax exposure and assessment of temporary differences
resulting from differing treatment of items for tax and accounting
purposes. These differences result in deferred tax assets and
liabilities. We must then assess the likelihood that our deferred
tax assets will be recovered from future taxable income and, to the
extent we believe that recovery is not likely, we must establish a
valuation allowance. To the extent we establish a valuation
allowance or increase this allowance in a period, we must include
an expense within the tax provision in the consolidated statements
of operations. Significant management judgment is required in
determining our provision for income taxes, our deferred tax assets
and liabilities and any valuation allowance recorded against our
net deferred tax assets. We have fully offset our deferred tax
assets with a valuation allowance. Our lack of earnings history and
the uncertainty surrounding our ability to generate taxable income
prior to the reversal or expiration of such deferred tax assets
were the primary factors considered by management in maintaining
the valuation allowance.
RECENTLY
ISSUED ACCOUNTING STANDARDS
In July
2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued
Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2018-11,
“Leases - Targeted Improvements” (“ASU
2018-11”) as an update to ASU 2016-02, Leases (“ASU
2016-02” or “Topic 842”) issued on February 25,
2016. ASU 2016-02 is effective for public business entities for
fiscal years beginning January 1, 2019. ASU 2016-02 required
companies to adopt the new leases standard at the beginning of the
earliest period presented in the financial statements, which is
January 1, 2017, using a modified retrospective transition method
where lessees must recognize lease assets and liabilities for all
leases even though those leases may have expired before the
effective date of January 1, 2017. Lessees must also provide the
new and enhanced disclosures for each period presented, including
the comparative periods.
ASU
2018-11 provides an entity with an additional (and optional)
transition method to adopt the new leases standard. Under this new
transition method, an entity initially applies the new lease
standard at the adoption date and recognizes a cumulative-effect
adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings in the
period of adoption. Consequently, an entity’s reporting for
the comparative periods presented in the financial statements in
which it adopts the new lease standard will continue to be in
accordance with ASC 840, Leases. An entity that elects this
additional (and optional) transition method must provide the
required ASC 840 disclosures for all periods that continue to be in
accordance with ASC 840. The amendments do not change the existing
disclosure requirements in ASC 840.
ASU
2018-11 is effective for public business entities for fiscal years
beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods within those
fiscal years, with earlier adoption permitted. The Company adopted
ASU 2018-11 on January 1, 2019 using a modified retrospective
method and will not restate comparative periods. We elected the
package of practical expedients permitted under the transition
guidance, which allows us to carryforward our historical lease
classification and our assessment on whether a contract is or
contains a lease. The adoption of this guidance resulted in the
addition of material balances of right of use assets and lease
liability to our consolidated balance sheets at January 1, 2019,
primarily relating to our lease of office space (see Note 8). The
impact to our consolidated statements of operations was not
material as a result of this standard.
In June
2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-07, “Improvements to
Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting” (“ASU
2018-07”). ASU 2018-07 expands the scope of FASB Topic 718,
Compensation – Stock Compensation (“Topic 718”)
to include share-based payment transactions for acquiring goods and
services from nonemployees. An entity should only remeasure
equity-classified awards for which a measurement date has not been
established through a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained
earnings as of the beginning of the fiscal year of adoption. Upon
transition, the entity is required to measure these nonemployee
awards at fair value as of the adoption date. The entity must not
remeasure assets that are completed. Disclosures required at
transition include the nature of and reason for the change in
accounting principle and, if applicable, quantitative information
about the cumulative effect of the change on retained earnings or
other components of equity.
ASU
2018-07 is effective for public business entities for fiscal years
beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within
that fiscal year. The Company adopted ASU 2018-07 on January 1,
2019. The adoption of ASU 2018-07 did not have a material effect on
our consolidated financial statements as of January 1, 2019. The
adoption of ASU 2018-07 had no impact on nonemployee performance
awards as they are measured based on the outcome that is
probable.
Other
pronouncements issued by the FASB or other authoritative accounting
standards group with future effective dates are either not
applicable or not significant to our consolidated financial
statements.
ITEM 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET
RISK
The
primary objective of our investment activities is to preserve
principal while maximizing our income from investments and
minimizing our market risk. We invest in government and
investment-grade corporate debt in accordance with our investment
policy. Some of the securities in which we invest have market risk.
This means that a change in prevailing interest rates, and/or
credit risk, may cause the fair value of the investment to
fluctuate. For example, if we hold a security that was issued with
a fixed interest rate at the then-prevailing rate and the
prevailing interest rate later rises, the fair value of our
investment will probably decline. As of March 31, 2019, our
portfolio of financial instruments consists of cash equivalents,
including bank deposits, and investments. Due to the short-term
basis as well as the nature of our investments, we believe there is
no material exposure to interest rate risk, and/or credit risk,
arising from our investments.
ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
As of
March 31, 2019, management carried out, under the supervision and
with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief
Financial Officer, an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design
and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined
in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act). Our
disclosure controls and procedures are designed to provide
reasonable assurance that information we are required to disclose
in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is
recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time
periods specified in applicable rules and forms. Based upon that
evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer
concluded that, as of March 31, 2019, our disclosure controls and
procedures were effective.
Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There
were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting
during the quarter ended March 31, 2019 that have materially
affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our
internal control over financial reporting.
PART
II. OTHER INFORMATION
ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
In
October 2018, a purported securities class action complaint was
filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New
York (the “Southern District”) against the Company and
one of its officers on behalf of all shareholders who purchased or
otherwise acquired TG Therapeutics common stock between June 4,
2018 and September 25, 2018 (the “Class Period”). The
case was captioned Randall Reinmann v. TG Therapeutics Inc., and
Michael S. Weiss, Case No. 1:18-cv-09104-KPF. The complaint alleged
that, throughout the Class Period, the Company made false and/or
misleading statements and/or failed to disclose various facts and
circumstances regarding its UNITY-CLL study allegedly in violation
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated
thereunder. In December 2018, the Southern District appointed
Co-Lead Plaintiffs to represent the putative class, and approved
their selection of Lead Counsel. On March 1, 2019, Co-Lead
Plaintiffs filed a notice with the Southern District seeking to
voluntarily dismiss the action in its entirety without prejudice,
which was so-ordered by the Southern District the same
day.
In
addition, on December 18, 2018, a related shareholder derivative
litigation was filed in the Southern District against the
Company’s directors and one of its officers in litigation
captioned Thessalus Capital v. Weiss, et al., 1:18-cv-11918-KPF.
The Company was named only as a nominal defendant. The suit alleged
that the officer and directors breached their fiduciary duties to
the Company, wasted corporate assets, and violated the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder in
connection with the Company’s alleged failure to disclose
various facts and circumstances regarding its UNITY-CLL study. The
plaintiff asserted that the alleged disclosure violations
concerning the Company’s UNITY-CLL study caused the Company
to incur losses, including defense costs, and further alleged that
the named officer and directors received excessive compensation. On
April 17, 2019, the plaintiff filed a notice with the Southern
District seeking to voluntarily dismiss the action in its entirety
without prejudice, which was so-ordered by the Southern District on
April 18, 2019.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS.
You should carefully consider the following risks and
uncertainties. If any of the following occurs, our business,
financial condition or operating results could be materially
harmed. An investment in our securities is speculative in nature,
involves a high degree of risk, and should not be made by an
investor who cannot bear the economic risk of its investment for an
indefinite period of time and who cannot afford the loss of its
entire investment. You should carefully consider the following risk
factors and the other information contained elsewhere in this
Annual Report before making an investment in our
securities.
Risks Related to Our Financial Position and Need for Additional
Capital
We are a biopharmaceutical company with a limited operating history
and have not generated any revenue from drug sales. We have
incurred significant operating losses since our inception and
anticipate that we will incur continued losses for the foreseeable
future.
We are a biopharmaceutical company with a limited
operating history on which investors can base an investment
decision. Biopharmaceutical drug development is a highly
speculative undertaking and involves a substantial degree of risk.
We commenced operations in January 2012. Our operations to date
have been limited primarily to organizing and staffing our company,
business planning, raising capital, developing our technology,
identifying potential drug candidates and undertaking pre-clinical
studies and commencing clinical trials and conducting Phase 3 and
registration directed clinical trials for our most advanced drug
candidates, ublituximab and umbralisib. We have never generated any revenue from drug
sales. We have not obtained regulatory approvals for any of our
drug candidates.
We have not yet demonstrated our ability to
successfully complete large-scale, pivotal clinical trials, obtain
regulatory approvals, manufacture a commercial scale drug, or
arrange for a third party to do so on our behalf, or conduct sales
and marketing activities necessary for successful
commercialization. Typically, it takes many years to develop one
new drug from the time it is discovered to when it is available for
treating patients. Consequently, any predictions you make about our
future success or viability may not be as accurate as they could be
if we had a longer operating history. We will need to transition
from a company with a research and development focus to a company
capable of supporting commercial activities. We may not be
successful in such a transition.
Since
inception, we have focused substantially all of our efforts and
financial resources on clinical trials and manufacturing of our
drug candidates. To date, we have financed our operations primarily
through public offerings of our common stock and a debt financing.
Through May 10, 2019, we have received an aggregate of
approximately $500 million from such transactions, including
approximately $470 million in aggregate gross proceeds from the
sale of common stock in one or more offerings and through the use
of our ATM from January 2012 through May 2019 but excluding
$30.0 million available under the term loan facility with
Hercules that we secured in February 2019. As of March 31, 2019,
there was $30.0 million available to borrow under that facility,
subject to certain conditions of funding.
Since
inception, we have incurred significant operating losses. As of
March 31, 2019, we had an accumulated deficit of $563.5 million.
Substantially all of our operating losses have resulted from costs
incurred in connection with our research and development programs
and from general and administrative costs associated with our
operations. We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and
operating losses for the foreseeable future. Our prior losses,
combined with expected future losses, have had and will continue to
have an adverse effect on our stockholders’ deficit and
working capital. We expect our research and development expenses to
significantly increase in connection with continuing our existing
clinical trials and beginning additional clinical trials. In
addition, if we obtain marketing approval for our drug candidates,
we will incur significant sales, marketing and
outsourced-manufacturing expenses. We have incurred and will
continue to incur additional costs associated with operating as a
public company. As a result, we expect to continue to incur
significant and increasing operating losses for the foreseeable
future. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated
with developing pharmaceuticals, we are unable to predict the
extent of any future losses or when we will become profitable, if
at all. Even if we do become profitable, we may not be able to
sustain or increase our profitability on a quarterly or annual
basis. Our ability to become profitable depends upon our ability to
generate revenue.
To date,
we have not generated any significant revenue from our drug
candidates and we do not expect to generate any revenue from the
sale of drugs in the near future. Our ability to become
profitable depends upon our ability to generate significant
continuing revenues. To obtain significant continuing revenues, we
must succeed, either alone or with others, in developing, obtaining
regulatory approval for and manufacturing and marketing our product
candidates. Accordingly, we do not
expect to generate significant and sustained revenue unless and
until we obtain marketing approval of, and begin to sell
umbralisib, ublituximab and/or one of our other product candidates.
Our ability to generate revenue depends on a number of factors,
including, but not limited to, our ability to:
●
Successfully complete clinical trials that meet their clinical
endpoints;
●
Initiate and successfully complete all safety, pharmacokinetic,
biodistribution, non-clinical studies required to obtain US and
Foreign marketing approval for our drug candidates;
●
Obtain approval from the US FDA and Foreign equivalent to market
and sell our drug candidates;
●
Establish commercial manufacturing capabilities alone and/or with
third parties that are satisfactory to the regulatory authorities,
cost effective, and that are capable of providing commercial supply
of our drug candidates;
●
Establish a
commercial infrastructure to commercialize our drug candidates, if
approved, by developing a sales force and/or entering into
collaborations with third parties; and
●
Achieve market
acceptance of our drug candidates in the medical community and with
third-party payors.
If we
are unable to generate significant continuing revenues, we will not
become profitable and we may be unable to continue our operations
without continued funding.
We will need to raise substantial additional funding. If
we are unable to raise capital when needed, we would be forced to
delay, reduce or eliminate some of our drug development programs or
commercialization efforts.
The development of pharmaceuticals is
capital-intensive. We are currently advancing our most advanced
drug candidates, umbralisib, ublituximab, TG-1501, TG-1701 and
TG-1801 through clinical development. While we may
experience short-term decreases in clinical trial expenses as our
larger Phase 3 clinical trials complete and before our Phase 1 and
2 programs can advance into Phase 2 and 3, we do expect over time
our overall expenses will increase in connection with our ongoing
activities, particularly as we continue the research and
development of, initiate or continue clinical trials of, and
seek marketing approval for, our drug candidates. In addition,
depending on the status of regulatory approval or, if we obtain
marketing approval for any of our drug candidates, we expect to
incur significant commercialization expenses related to drug sales,
marketing, manufacturing and distribution. Moreover, in
anticipation of filing for regulatory approvals for umbralisib and
ublituximab we will need to expend substantial resources
on manufacturing and NDA/ biologics
license application (BLA) preparation over the next 12-24+ months,
which could exceed any cost savings associated with lower clinical
trial expenses during the same period.
While
this timing is our current estimate, the amount and timing of our
future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including,
but not limited to, the following:
●
the
progress of our clinical trials, including expenses to support the
trials and milestone payments that may become payable under our
license agreements;
●
the
costs and timing of regulatory approvals;
●
the
costs and timing of clinical and commercial manufacturing supply
arrangements for each product candidate;
●
the
costs of establishing sales or distribution
capabilities;
●
the
success of the commercialization of our products;
●
our
ability to establish and maintain strategic collaborations,
including licensing and other arrangements;
●
the
costs involved in enforcing or defending patent claims or other
intellectual property rights; and
●
the
extent to which we in-license or invest in other indications or
product candidates.
Required additional
sources of financing to continue our operations in the future might
not be available on favorable terms, if at all. If we do not
succeed in raising additional funds on acceptable terms, we might
be unable to complete planned preclinical and clinical trials or
obtain approval of any of our product candidates from the FDA or
any foreign regulatory authorities. In addition, we could be forced
to discontinue product development, reduce or forego sales,
marketing and medical educational efforts that are required for a
successful launch of umbralisib and/or ublituximab or any of our
product candidates and otherwise forego attractive business
opportunities. Any additional sources of financing will likely
involve the issuance of our equity securities, which would have a
dilutive effect to stockholders. Currently, none of our product
candidates have been approved by the FDA or any foreign regulatory
authority for sale. Therefore, for the foreseeable future, we will
have to fund all of our operations and capital expenditures from
cash on hand and amounts raised in future offerings or financings.
Accordingly, our prospects must be considered in light of the
uncertainties, risks, expenses and difficulties frequently
encountered by companies in the early stages of operations and the
competitive environment in which we operate.
Raising
additional capital may cause dilution to our stockholders, restrict
our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our
technologies or drug candidates and occupy valuable management time
and resources.
Until such time, if ever, as we can generate
substantial drug revenues, we expect to finance our cash needs
through a combination of public and private equity offerings,
debt financings, collaborations, strategic alliances and licensing
arrangements. We do not have any committed external source of
funds, other than funds already borrowed under the loan and
security agreement that we
entered into with Hercules in February 2019 (See Note 7 for more
information). To the extent that we raise additional capital
through the sale of common stock or securities convertible or
exchangeable into common stock, the ownership interest of our
stockholders will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may
include liquidation or other preferences that materially adversely
affect the rights of our common stockholders. Debt financing, if
available, would increase our fixed payment obligations and may
involve agreements that include restrictive covenants limiting or
restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring
additional debt, making capital expenditures, declaring dividends,
acquiring, selling or licensing intellectual property rights and
other operating restrictions that could adversely impact our
ability to conduct our business. We could also be required to seek
funds through collaborations, strategic alliances or licensing
arrangements with third parties at a time that is not desirable to
us and we may be required to relinquish valuable rights to some
intellectual property, future revenue streams, research programs or
drug candidates or to grant licenses on terms that may not be
favorable to us, any of which may have a material adverse effect on
our business, operating results and prospects. Debt financing, if
available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting
or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as
incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring
dividends. For example, see our risk factors under the heading
“Risks Related to Our
Indebtedness.”
Additionally,
fundraising efforts may divert our management from their day-to-day
activities, which may adversely affect our ability to develop and
commercialize our drug candidates. Dislocations in the financial
markets have generally made equity and debt financing more
difficult to obtain and may have a material adverse effect on our
ability to meet our fundraising needs. We cannot guarantee that
future financing will be available in sufficient amounts or on
terms acceptable to us, if at all. Moreover, the terms of any
financing may adversely affect the holdings or the rights of our
stockholders and the issuance of additional securities, whether
equity or debt, by us, or the possibility of such issuance, may
cause the market price of our shares to decline. The sale of
additional equity or convertible securities would dilute all of our
stockholders.
All product candidate development timelines and projections in this
report are based on the assumption of further
financing.
The
timelines and projections in this report are predicated upon the
assumption that we will raise additional financing in the future to
continue the development of our product candidates. In the event we
do not successfully raise subsequent financing, our product
development activities will necessarily be curtailed commensurate
with the magnitude of the shortfall. If our product development
activities are slowed or stopped, we would be unable to meet the
timelines and projections outlined in this filing. Failure to
progress our product candidates as anticipated will have a negative
effect on our business, future prospects, and ability to obtain
further financing on acceptable terms, if at all, and the value of
the enterprise.
Due to limited resources we may fail
to capitalize on programs or product candidates that may present a
greater commercial opportunity or for which there is a greater
likelihood of success.
Because we have limited resources, we may forego
or delay pursuit of opportunities with certain programs or product
candidates or for indications that later prove to have greater
commercial potential. Our estimates regarding the potential market
for a product candidate could be inaccurate, and our spending on
current and future research and development programs may not yield
any commercially viable products. If we do not accurately evaluate
the commercial potential for a particular product candidate, we may
relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through
strategic collaboration, licensing or other arrangements in cases
in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole
development and commercialization rights to such product candidate.
Alternatively, we may allocate internal resources to a product
candidate in a therapeutic area in which it would have been more
advantageous to enter into a partnering
arrangement.
If
any of these events occur, we may be forced to abandon or delay our
development efforts with respect to a particular product candidate
or fail to develop a potentially successful product candidate,
which could have a material adverse effect on our business,
financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
Risks Related to our Indebtedness
Our level of indebtedness and debt service obligations could
adversely affect our financial condition, and may make it more
difficult for us to fund our operations.
In February 2019, we entered into a Loan and Security Agreement
(the "Loan Agreement"), with Hercules Capital, Inc., a Maryland
corporation (“Hercules”) (See Note 7 for more
information). Under the Loan Agreement, Hercules will provide
access to term loans with an aggregate principal amount of up to
$60.0 million (the “Term Loan”). Concurrently with the
closing of the Loan Agreement, we borrowed an initial tranche of
$30.0 million. In addition, we have incurred short term liabilities
of approximately $18.0 million with a contract manufacturing
organization (CMO) for the scale-up, tech-transfer, and long-term
supply of one of our drug candidates. This is an expensive and
lengthy process and we expect to incur additional obligations
associated with these ongoing manufacturing activities over the
course of the next 24 months, and potentially longer. To date, this
CMO has provided payment terms which we believe are reasonable,
however no assurance can be given that such terms will continue to
be available to us in the future. No assurances can be made that
the obligations associated with the Loan Agreement and the CMO will
not have a material adverse impact on our financial
condition.
All
obligations under the Loan Agreement are secured by substantially
all of our existing property and assets, excluding intellectual
property. This indebtedness may create additional financing risk
for us, particularly if our business or prevailing financial market
conditions are not conducive to paying off or refinancing its
outstanding debt obligations at maturity. This indebtedness could
also have important negative
consequences, including:
●
We will need to repay the indebtedness by making payments of
interest and principal, which will reduce the amount of money
available to finance our operations, our research and development
efforts and other general corporate activities; and
●
our failure to comply with the restrictive covenants in the Loan
Agreement could result in an event of default that, if not cured or
waived, would accelerate our obligation to repay this indebtedness,
and Hercules could seek to enforce its security interest in the
assets securing such indebtedness.
To
the extent additional debt is added to our current debt levels, the
risks described above could increase.
We may not have cash available in an amount sufficient to
enable it to make interest or principal payments on its
indebtedness when due.
Failure
to satisfy our current and future debt obligations under the Loan
Agreement, or breaching any of its covenants under the Loan
Agreement, subject to specified cure periods with respect to
certain breaches, could result in an event of default and, as a
result, Hercules could accelerate all of the amounts due. In the
event of an acceleration of amounts due under the Loan Agreement as
a result of an event of default, we may not have enough available
cash or be able to raise additional funds through equity or debt
financings to repay such indebtedness at the time of such
acceleration. In that case, we may be required to delay, limit,
reduce or terminate our product candidate development or
commercialization efforts or grant to others rights to develop and
market product candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop
and market our self. Hercules could also exercise its rights as
collateral agent to take possession and dispose of the collateral
securing the term loans for its benefit, which collateral includes
substantially all of our property other than intellectual property.
Our business, financial condition and results of operations could
be materially adversely affected as a result of any of these
events. We are subject to certain restrictive covenants which, if
breached, could have a material adverse effect on our business and
prospects.
The Loan Agreement imposes operating and other restrictions
on the Company. Such restrictions will affect, and in many respects
limit or prohibit, our ability and the ability of any future
subsidiary to, among other things:
●
dispose of certain assets;
●
change its lines of business;
●
engage in mergers, acquisitions or consolidations;
●
incur additional indebtedness;
●
create liens on assets;
●
pay dividends and make contributions or repurchase our capital
stock; and
●
engage in certain transactions with affiliates.
Risks Related to Drug Development and Regulatory
Approval
If we are unable to
obtain regulatory approval for
our most advanced drug candidates or other drug candidates and
ultimately commercialize our most advanced drug candidates or
other drug candidates, or experience significant delays in doing
so, our business will be materially harmed.
We are a
development-stage biopharmaceutical company, and do not currently
have any commercial products that generate revenues or any other
sources of revenue. We may never be able to successfully develop
marketable products. Our pharmaceutical development methods are
unproven and may not lead to commercially viable products for a
variety of reasons. We have
substantially invested all of our efforts and financial resources
in the identification and pre-clinical and clinical development of
our drug candidates, including ublituximab, umbralisib, TG-1501,
TG-1701 and TG-1801. Our ability to generate drug revenues, which
we do not expect will occur for a number of years, if ever, will
depend heavily on the successful completion of our current and
future Phase 3 and registration-directed clinical trials and
eventual commercialization of our drug candidates, which may never
occur. We currently generate no revenues from sales of any drugs,
and we may never be able to develop or commercialize a marketable
drug. Each of our drug candidates will require additional
non-clinical or clinical development, management of clinical,
non-clinical and manufacturing activities, regulatory approval in
multiple jurisdictions, obtaining manufacturing supply, building of
a commercial organization, substantial investment and significant
marketing efforts before we generate any revenues from drug sales.
The success of our most advanced drug candidates and other drug
candidates will depend on several factors, including the
following:
●
Successful completion of our UNITY-NHL trial, UNITY-CLL trial and
our ULTIMATE I and II trials;
●
Receipt of regulatory approvals from applicable regulatory
authorities for our drug candidates;
●
Establishing
commercial manufacturing capabilities or making arrangements with
third-party manufacturers for clinical supply and commercial
manufacturing;
●
Obtaining and
maintaining patent and trade secret protection or regulatory
exclusivity for our drug candidates;
●
Launching commercial sales of our drug candidates, if and when
approved, whether alone or in collaboration with
others;
●
Acceptance of the drug candidates, if and when approved, by
patients, the medical community and third-party
payors;
●
Effectively differentiating and competing with other
therapies;
●
Obtaining and maintaining healthcare coverage and adequate
reimbursement;
●
Enforcing and defending intellectual property rights and claims;
and
●
Maintaining an acceptable safety profile of the drug candidates
following approval.
If
we do not achieve one or more of these factors in a timely manner
or at all, we could experience significant delays or an inability
to successfully commercialize our drug candidates, which would
materially harm our business.
If we
are unable to develop or receive regulatory approval for or
successfully commercialize any of our product candidates, we will
not be able to generate product revenues and we may not be able to continue our
operations. Even if we are able to develop or receive
regulatory approval for or successfully commercialize any of our
product candidates, we may not be able to gain market acceptance
for our product candidates and future products and may never become
profitable.
Because the results of preclinical studies and early clinical
trials are not necessarily predictive of future results, any
product candidate we advance into clinical trials may not have
favorable results in later clinical trials, if any, or receive
regulatory approval.
Pharmaceutical
development has inherent risks. The
outcome of pre-clinical development testing and early clinical
trials may not be predictive of the outcome of later clinical
trials, and interim results of a clinical trial do not necessarily
predict final results. Moreover, pre-clinical and clinical data are
often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses, and many
companies that have believed their drug candidates performed
satisfactorily in pre-clinical studies and clinical trials have
nonetheless failed to obtain marketing approval of their drug
candidates. Once a drug candidate has displayed sufficient
pre-clinical data to warrant clinical investigation, we will
be required to demonstrate through adequate and well-controlled
clinical trials that our product candidates are effective with a
favorable benefit-risk profile for use in populations for their
target indications before we can seek regulatory approvals for
their commercial sale. Success in early clinical trials does not
mean that later clinical trials will be successful because product
candidates in later-stage clinical trials may fail to demonstrate
sufficient safety or efficacy despite having progressed through
initial clinical testing. Companies frequently experience
significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials, even after
earlier clinical trials have shown promising results. In addition,
there is typically an extremely high rate of failure of
pharmaceutical candidates proceeding through clinical
trials.
For
instance, early clinical results seen with ublituximab (TG-1101)
and/or umbralisib (TGR-1202) in a small number of patients may not
be reproduced in expanded or larger clinical trials such as in our
UNITY-CLL, UNITY-NHL and ULTIMATE I and II programs. Additionally,
individually reported outcomes of patients treated in clinical
trials may not be representative of the entire population of
treated patients in such studies. Further, larger scale Phase 3
studies, which are often conducted internationally, are inherently
subject to increased operational risks compared to earlier stage
studies, including the risk that the results could vary on a region
to region, or country to country basis which could materially
adversely affect the study’s outcome or the opinion of the
validity of the study results by applicable regulatory agencies. In
addition, early clinical trial results from interim analysis or
from the review of a Data Safety Monitoring Board
(“DSMB”) or similar safety committee may not be
reflective of the results of the entire study, when completed.
Clinical trial results can change over
time as additional patients are accrued to a study or as additional
follow-up is conducted, which may result in a material negative
impact on the preliminary results. For instance, we recently
announced that the MZL cohort of the UNITY-NHL study met the
primary endpoint of overall response rate (ORR), falling within our
target range which was between 40%-50%, and while we believe that
the ORR results have the potential to
increase over time within this range, or beyond,
as patients continue to be
followed, no assurance can be given that that will be the
case, and the results may ultimately fall at the lower end of the
range. Further, time to event based
endpoints such as duration of response (DOR) and PFS have the
potential to change, sometimes drastically, with longer follow-up.
No assurance can be provided that the ORR, DOR and PFS data from
the MZL cohort of the UNITY-NHL study will be supportive of an FDA
approval or will support broad market uptake based on the profile
of competitor drugs which may be available. Additionally, while the
MZL cohort of the UNITY-NHL study met its primary endpoint, each
cohort of this study is operated and analyzed independently, and no
assurance can be given that other cohorts from the UNITY-NHL study,
including the FL/SLL cohort, MCL cohort and the DLBCL cohort, will
meet their primary endpoint, have a positive outcome, or will be
supportive of an FDA filing.
All of our Phase 3 and
registration directed clinical trials such as UNITY-CLL, UNITY-NHL
and ULTIMATE I and II utilize international clinical research
sites, including sites in eastern European countries. The Company
works with what we believe are reputable Clinical Research
Organization’s (“CRO”) and clinical research
sites in conducting our studies internationally. Nevertheless, the
risk of fraud, incompetence, unexpected patient variability and
other issues affecting the quality and the outcome of our Phase 3
and registration directed studies could arise from US or
international sites. If that were to occur, the study could be
negatively impacted, potentially even preventing it from being
useful for regulatory approval. If such event were to occur, it
would have a substantial negative impact on the
Company.
Additionally, many of the
results reported in our early clinical trials rely on local
investigator assessed safety and efficacy outcomes which may differ
from results assessed in a blinded, independent, centrally reviewed
manner, often required of adequate and well controlled registration
directed clinical trials which may be undertaken at a later date.
All of our current Phase 3 and registration directed studies such
as UNITY-CLL, UNITY-NHL and ULTIMATE I and II trials utilize
blinded, independent, central review to assess the primary endpoint
of such studies. If the results from interim analyses are not
consistent with final results or results from our registration
directed trials are different from the results found in the earlier
studies of ublituximab and umbralisib, we may need to terminate or
revise our clinical development plan, which could extend the time
for conducting our development program and could have a material
adverse effect on our business. For example, we recently presented
to the FDA, interim results from the Marginal Zone Lymphoma
(“MZL”) cohort of our UNITY-NHL trial that supported
the granting of BTD. These interim results were also presented at
the 2019 American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) annual
meeting. No assurance can be given that the final results from that
cohort will reflect the activity seen in these interim results, or
that the final results will be sufficient to file for accelerated
approval for umbralisib for the treatment of MZL, and if filed that
umbralisib will receive accelerated approval. Similarly, while
early Phase 1 data for umbralisib and ublituximab alone and
together looked promising there is no assurance that the UNITY-CLL
trial will be positive. Moreover, while we believe one of the key
differentiators for umbralisib is its tolerability and side effect
profile compared to other drugs in the same class, no assurance can
be given that a differentiated safety and tolerability profile will
be realized in our Phase 3 or registration directed trials such as
UNITY-CLL or UNITY-NHL. Specifically, we have not yet assessed the
final safety data from the MZL cohort of the UNITY-NHL study as
patients continue on therapy, therefore there can be no assurance
given that the final safety data, once fully analyzed, will be
consistent with prior safety data presented on umbralisib, will be
differentiated from other similar agents in the same class, or that
it will be favorable enough to support an FDA filing. In addition,
no assurance can be given that new toxicities, or an increase in
the severity or frequency of previously seen toxicities, will not
be observed, which could have a material negative impact on the
approvability or marketability of umbralisib or any of our product
candidates. Finally, while the Phase 2 data for ublituximab in MS
looked promising, no assurance can be given that the profile will
carry into Phase 3 and that the ULTIMATE I and II clinical trials
will be positive.
In
addition to umbralisib and ublituximab, we have a number of
compounds in early clinical development, such as TG-1501, TG-1701
and TG-1801. Many drugs fail in the early stages of clinical
development for safety and tolerability issues, despite promising
pre-clinical results. Accordingly, no assurance can be made that a
safe and efficacious dose can be found for these compounds or that
they will ever enter into advanced clinical trials alone or in
combination with umbralisib and/or ublituximab.
Clinical drug development involves a lengthy and expensive process,
with an uncertain outcome. We may incur additional costs or
experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to
complete, the development and commercialization of our drug
candidates.
Our drug candidates umbralisib and ublituximab are
in several Phase 3 and registration directed clinical trials such
as UNITY-CLL, UNITY-NHL and ULTIMATE I and II. As with all clinical
trials, the risk of failure for our drug candidates is high. It is
impossible to predict when or if any of our drug candidates will
prove effective and safe in humans or will receive regulatory
approval. Before obtaining marketing approval from regulatory
authorities for the sale of any drug candidate, we must complete
pre-clinical studies and then conduct extensive clinical trials to
demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our drug candidates in
humans. Clinical testing is expensive, difficult to design and
implement, can take many years to complete and is uncertain as to
outcome. A failure of one or more clinical trials can occur at any
stage of testing. Accordingly, our current Phase 3 and registration directed trials,
such as UNITY-CLL, UNITY-NHL and ULTIMATE I and II and future
clinical trials may not be successful.
Successful
completion of our clinical trials is a prerequisite to submitting
an NDA, or a BLA to the U.S. FDA and a Marketing Authorization
Application (“MAA”), in the European Union for each
drug candidate and, consequently, the ultimate approval and
commercial marketing of our drug candidates. We do not know whether
any of our clinical trials for our drug candidates will be
completed on schedule, if at all.
Whether
or not and how quickly we complete clinical trials is dependent in
part upon the rate at which we are able to engage clinical
research/trial sites and, thereafter, the rate of enrollment of
patients, and the rate we collect, clean, lock and analyze the
clinical trial database. Patient enrollment is a function of many
factors, including the size of the patient population, the
proximity of patients to clinical sites, the eligibility criteria
for the study, the existence of competitive clinical trials, and
whether existing or new drugs are approved for the indication we
are studying. We are aware that other companies are currently
conducting or planning clinical trials that seek to enroll patients
with the same diseases that we are studying. We may experience numerous unforeseen events
during, or as a result of, any current or future clinical trials
that we could conduct that could delay or prevent our ability to
receive marketing approval or commercialize our drug candidates,
including:
●
the FDA or other
regulatory authorities may require us to submit additional data or
impose other requirements before permitting us to initiate a
clinical trial;
●
health authorities
or institutional review boards (“IRBs”), or ethics
committees may not authorize us or our investigators to commence a
clinical trial or conduct a clinical trial at a prospective trial
site or country;
●
we may experience
delays in reaching, or fail to reach, agreement on acceptable terms
with prospective trial sites and prospective contract research
organizations, or CROs, the terms of which can be subject to
extensive negotiation and may vary significantly among different
CROs and trial sites;
●
clinical trials of
our drug candidates may produce negative or inconclusive results,
and we may decide, or health authorities may require us, to conduct
additional pre-clinical studies or clinical trials or we may decide
to abandon drug development programs;
●
the number of
patients required for clinical trials of our drug candidates may be
larger than we anticipate, and enrollment in these clinical trials
may be slower than we anticipate or participants may drop out of
these clinical trials or fail to return for post-treatment
follow-up at a higher rate than we anticipate;
●
our third-party
contractors, including our clinical trial sites, may fail to comply
with regulatory requirements or meet their contractual obligations
to us in a timely manner, or at all, or may deviate from the
clinical trial protocol or drop out of the trial, which may require
that we add new clinical trial sites or investigators;
●
we may elect to,
or health authorities or IRBs or ethics committees may require that
we or our investigators suspend or terminate clinical research for
various reasons, including noncompliance with regulatory
requirements or a finding that the participants are being exposed
to unacceptable health risks;
●
the cost of
clinical trials of our drug candidates may be greater than we
anticipate;
●
the supply or
quality of our drug candidates or other materials necessary to
conduct clinical trials of our drug candidates may be insufficient
or inadequate; and
●
our drug
candidates may have undesirable side effects or other unexpected
characteristics, causing us or our investigators, health
authorities, IRBs or ethics committees to suspend or terminate the
trials, or reports may arise from pre-clinical or clinical testing
of other cancer therapies that raise safety or efficacy concerns
about our drug candidates.
We
could encounter delays if a clinical trial is suspended or
terminated by us, by the IRBs of the institutions in which such
trials are being conducted, by the DSMB for such trial or by the
FDA or other regulatory authorities. Such health authorities may
impose a suspension or termination due to a number of factors,
including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with
regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols, inspection of
the clinical trial operations or trial site by the FDA or other
regulatory authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical
hold, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to
demonstrate a benefit from using a drug, changes in governmental
regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding
to continue the clinical trial. Many of the factors that cause, or
lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical
trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory
approval of our drug candidates. Further, the FDA may disagree with
our clinical trial design and our interpretation of data from
clinical trials, or may change the requirements for approval even
after it has reviewed and commented on the design for our clinical
trials. This could happen even for a protocol that has received an
SPA. In September 2015, we announced a Phase 3 clinical trial for
the combination of ublituximab plus umbralisib for patients with
CLL, which is being conducted pursuant to a SPA with the FDA and in
August 2017 we announced an SPA for our registration program for
ublituximab in RMS. Many companies which have been granted SPAs
have ultimately failed to obtain final approval to market their
drugs. Since we are seeking approvals under SPAs for some of our
product registration strategies, based on protocol designs
negotiated with the FDA, we may be subject to enhanced scrutiny.
Further, any changes or amendments to a protocol that is being
conducted under SPA will have to be reviewed and approved by the
FDA to verify that the SPA agreement is still valid. Even if the
primary endpoint in a Phase 3 clinical trial is achieved, a SPA
does not guarantee approval. The FDA may raise issues of safety,
study conduct, bias, deviation from the protocol, statistical
power, patient completion rates, changes in scientific or medical
parameters or internal inconsistencies in the study design or data
prior to making its final decision. The FDA may also seek the
guidance of an outside advisory committee prior to making its final
decision.
Negative or inconclusive
results from the clinical trials we conduct or unanticipated
adverse medical events could cause us to have to repeat or
terminate the clinical trials. If we
are required to repeat or conduct additional clinical trials or
other testing of our drug candidates beyond those that we currently
contemplate, if we are unable to successfully complete clinical
trials of our drug candidates or other testing, if the results of
these trials or tests are not positive or are only modestly
positive or if there are safety concerns, we
may:
●
be delayed in
obtaining marketing approval for our drug candidates;
●
not obtain
marketing approval at all;
●
obtain approval
for indications or patient populations that are not as broad as
intended or desired;
●
be subject to
post-marketing testing requirements; or
●
have the drug
removed from the market after obtaining marketing
approval.
Our drug development costs will also increase if
we experience delays in testing or regulatory approvals. We
may also incur additional costs if enrollment is increased. All our
current Phase 3 and registration-directed clinical trials, such as
UNITY-CLL, UNITY-NHL and ULTIMATE I
and II enrolled a larger number of patients than our initial
projections, adding significant costs to those studies over and
above what had been projected. We do
not know whether any of our clinical trials will begin as planned,
will need to be restructured or will be completed on schedule, or
at all. Certain clinical trials are designed to continue
until a pre-determined number of events have occurred in the
patients enrolled. Trials such as this are subject to delays
stemming from patient withdrawal and from lower than expected event
rates. UNITY-CLL is an event-driven study, which means the study
can only end when a certain pre-specified number of events have
occurred. In the case of UNITY-CLL, an event is defined as disease
progression or death. Given that these events cannot be predicted
with certainty, predicting accurately when this study will reach a
sufficient number of events to be complete is impossible. We have
stated we believe the number of events can be reached by YE19 or in
2020 but there can be no assurance that that will occur and
timelines for the completion of this study should not be relied on
given the inherent uncertainty. Delays beyond early 2020 could have
a material and adverse impact on the Company. Significant clinical trial delays also could
shorten any periods during which we may have the exclusive right to
commercialize our drug candidates or allow our competitors to bring
products to market before we do and impair our ability to
successfully commercialize our drug candidates. Any delays in our
pre-clinical or future clinical development programs may harm our
business, financial condition and prospects
significantly.
In
addition, principal investigators for our clinical trials may serve
as scientific advisors or consultants to us from time to time and
receive cash or equity compensation in connection with such
services. If these relationships and any related compensation
result in perceived or actual conflicts of interest, the integrity
of the data generated at the applicable clinical trial site, or
FDA’s willingness to accept such data, may be
jeopardized.
The sufficiency of our clinical trial results for accelerated
approval are subject to FDA’s discretion.
We have
and will continue to explore strategies for ublituximab and/or
umbralisib that involve use of the FDA’s accelerated approval
pathway. Obtaining accelerated approval for an agent requires
demonstration of meaningful benefit over all available therapies
for a serious condition. While we believe we have an understanding
of what is considered available therapy today, ultimately the
determination of what constitutes available therapy is wholly up to
the FDA and is subject to change. No assurance can be given that
other agents will not receive full approval prior to our potential
receipt of accelerated approval. If that were to occur, no
assurance can be given that we would be successful in proving
meaningful benefit over those later approved drugs. If we were
unable to prove meaningful benefit over any such agents, we would
be effectively blocked from receiving accelerated approval. We are
currently awaiting final results from our UNITY-NHL trial, in
particular the MZL cohort, which we are hoping will be useful for
accelerated approval if positive. Even if the results are positive,
no assurance can be given that umbralisib will obtain accelerated
approval for a variety of reasons, including if a new treatment
receives full approval prior to our potential receipt of
accelerated approval. Previously, we were hopeful to utilize the
results from our GENUINE study for accelerated approval but the
intervening full approval of a drug called venetoclax for
relapsed/refractory CLL has made that potential application more
challenging. While no final decision has been made as to the filing
of the GENUINE study for accelerated approval, the Company has no
plans to pursue that filing at this time. No assurance can be given
that a filing based on the GENUINE results will ever be
made.
Finally, if any of
our drugs were ever to receive accelerated approval, we would be
required to conduct a post-market confirmatory study, which we may
not complete, or if completed, may prove unsuccessful. In such
instance, the FDA can remove the product from the
market.
Our drug candidates may cause undesirable side effects that could
delay or prevent their regulatory approval, limit the commercial
profile of an approved label, or result in significant negative
consequences following marketing approval, if any.
Unacceptable or
undesirable adverse events caused by any of our product candidates
that we take into clinical trials could cause either us,
a DSMB, or regulatory
authorities to interrupt, delay, modify or halt clinical trials
and could result in a more restrictive
label or the delay or denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or
other regulatory authorities. This, in turn, could prevent
us from commercializing the affected product candidate and
generating revenues from its sale.
As is the case with all drugs, it is likely that
there will be side effects associated with the use of our drug
candidates. Results of our trials could reveal a high and
unacceptable severity and prevalence of side effects. In such an
event, our trials could be suspended or terminated and the FDA or
comparable foreign regulatory authorities could order us to cease
further development of or deny approval of our drug candidates for
any or all targeted indications. The drug-related side effects
could also affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled
patients to complete the trial or result in potential product
liability claims. Any of these occurrences may harm our business,
financial condition and prospects significantly.
Many compounds that initially showed promise in
early stage testing have later been found to cause side effects
that prevented further development of the compound. Further, early
clinical trials by their nature utilize a small sample of the
potential patient population. With a limited number of patients and
limited duration of exposure, rare and severe side effects of our
drug candidates may only be uncovered with a significantly larger
number of patients exposed to the drug candidate in Phase 3 or
registration directed trials and on the market.
We are
currently running our Phase 3 and registration-directed trials,
such as UNITY-CLL, UNITY-NHL and ULTIMATE I and II and have not
completed testing of any of our product candidates for the
treatment of the indications for which we intend to seek product
approval in humans, and we currently do not know the extent that
the adverse events, if any, will be observed in patients who
receive any of our product candidates. To date, clinical trials
using ublituximab and umbralisib have demonstrated a toxicity
profile that was deemed acceptable by the investigators performing
such studies. Such interpretation may not be shared by future
investigators or by the health authorities and in the case of
ublituximab and umbralisib, even if deemed acceptable for oncology
and/or autoimmune indications, it may not be acceptable for
diseases outside the oncology and autoimmune settings, and likewise
for any other product candidates we may develop. Additionally, the
severity, duration and incidence of adverse events may increase in
larger study populations such as found in our on-going Phase 3 and
registration-directed trials. Particularly, with respect to
umbralisib, although over 1,000 patients to date have been dosed
amongst all ongoing umbralisib studies, the full adverse effect
profile of umbralisib is not known. It is also unknown as
additional patients are exposed for longer durations to umbralisib,
whether greater frequency and/or severity of adverse events are
likely to occur. Common toxicities of other drugs in the same class
as umbralisib include high levels of liver toxicity, infections and
colitis, the latter of which notably has presented with later
onset, with incidence increasing with duration of exposure. No
assurance can be given that an acceptable safety and tolerability
profile for umbralisib will continue to be demonstrated in the
future with longer durations of exposure, at the fixed 800mg dose
being evaluated in our registration-directed trials and in multiple
drug combinations. If any of our product candidates cause
unacceptable adverse events in clinical trials, we may not be able
to obtain marketing approval and generate revenues from its sale,
or even if approved for sale may lack differentiation from
competitive products, which could have a material adverse impact on
our business and operations.
Additionally, in drug-combination clinical development, there is an
inherent risk of drug-drug interactions between combination agents
which may affect each component’s individual pharmacologic
properties and the overall efficacy and safety of the combination
regimen. Both ublituximab and umbralisib are being evaluated in
combination with each other, as well as with a variety of other
active anti-cancer agents, which may cause unforeseen toxicity, or
impact the severity, duration, and incidence of adverse events
observed compared to those seen in the single agent studies of
these agents. We also intend to explore multiple combination
studies involving TG-1501, TG-1701, and TG-1801. Further, with
multi-drug combinations, it is often difficult to interpret or
properly assign attribution of an adverse event to any one
particular agent, introducing the risk that toxicity caused by a
component of a combination regimen could have a material adverse
impact on the development of our product candidates. There can be
no assurances given that the combination regimens being studied
will display tolerability or efficacy suitable to warrant further
testing or produce data that is sufficient to obtain marketing
approval.
If any of our drug candidates receive marketing
approval and we or others later identify undesirable or
unacceptable side effects caused by such drug candidates (or any
other similar drugs) after such approval, a number of potentially
significant negative consequences could result,
including:
●
regulatory
authorities may withdraw or limit their approval of such drug
candidates;
●
regulatory
authorities may require a more significant clinical benefit for
approval to offset the risk;
●
regulatory
authorities may require the addition of labeling statements,
including warnings, contra-indications, or precautions, that could
diminish the usage of the product or otherwise limit the commercial
success of the affected product;
●
we may be required
to create a medication guide outlining the risks of such side
effects for distribution to patients;
●
we may be required
to change the way such drug candidates are distributed or
administered, or to conduct additional clinical
trials;
●
regulatory
authorities may require a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy
("REMS"), plan to mitigate risks, which could include medication
guides, physician communication plans, or elements to assure safe
use, such as restricted distribution methods, patient registries
and other risk minimization tools;
●
we may be subject
to regulatory investigations and government enforcement
actions;
●
we may decide to
remove such drug candidates from the marketplace;
●
we may not be able
to enter into collaboration agreements on acceptable terms and
execute on our business model;
●
we could be sued
and held liable for injury caused to individuals exposed to or
taking our drug candidates; and
●
our reputation may
suffer.
Any one or a
combination of these events could prevent us from obtaining or
maintaining regulatory approval and achieving or maintaining market
acceptance of the affected product or could substantially increase
the costs and expenses of commercializing the affected product,
which in turn could significantly
impact our ability to successfully commercialize our drug
candidates and generate revenues.
Any product candidates we may advance through clinical development
are subject to extensive regulation, which can be costly and time
consuming, cause unanticipated delays or prevent the receipt of the
required approvals.
The
clinical development, manufacturing, labeling, storage,
record-keeping, advertising, promotion, import, export, marketing
and distribution of our product candidates or any future product
candidates are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA in the
United States and by comparable health authorities worldwide. In
the United States, we are not permitted to market a product
candidate until we receive approval of a BLA or NDA from the FDA.
The process of obtaining BLA and NDA approval is expensive, often
takes many years and can vary substantially based upon the type,
complexity and novelty of the products involved. Approval policies
or regulations may change and the FDA has substantial discretion in
the pharmaceutical approval process, including the ability to
delay, limit or deny approval of a product candidate for many
reasons. In addition, the FDA may require post-approval clinical
trials or studies which also may be costly. The FDA approval for a
limited indication or approval with required warning language, such
as a boxed warning, could significantly impact our ability to
successfully market our product candidates. Finally, the FDA may
require adoption of a REMS requiring prescriber training,
post-market registries, or otherwise restricting the marketing and
dissemination of these products. Despite the time and expense
invested in the clinical development of product candidates,
regulatory approval is never guaranteed. Assuming successful
clinical development, we intend to seek product approvals in
countries outside the United States. As a result, we would be
subject to regulation by the European Medicines Agency
(“EMA”), as well as the other regulatory agencies in
these countries.
Approval procedures vary
among countries and can involve additional product testing and
additional administrative review periods. The time required to
obtain approval in other countries might differ from that required
to obtain FDA approval. Regulatory approval in one country does not
ensure regulatory approval in another, but a failure or delay in
obtaining regulatory approval in one country may negatively impact
the regulatory process in others. As in the United States, the
regulatory approval process in Europe and in other countries is a
lengthy and challenging process. The FDA, and any other regulatory
body around the world can delay, limit or deny approval of a
product candidate for many reasons, including:
●
the
FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with
the design or implementation of our clinical trials;
●
we may
be unable to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA or
comparable foreign regulatory authorities that a product candidate
is safe and effective for an indication;
●
the
FDA may not accept clinical data from trials conducted by
individual investigators or in countries where the standard of care
is potentially different from the United States;
●
the
results of clinical trials may not meet the level of statistical
significance required by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory
authorities for approval;
●
we may
be unable to demonstrate that a product candidate's clinical and
other benefits outweigh its safety risks;
●
the
FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with
our interpretation of data from preclinical studies or clinical
trials;
●
the
data collected from clinical trials of our product candidates may
not be sufficient to support the submission of a BLA, NDA or other
submission or to obtain regulatory approval in the United States or
elsewhere;
●
the
FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may not approve
the manufacturing processes or facilities of third-party
manufacturers with which we or our collaborators currently contract
for clinical supplies and plan to contract for commercial supplies;
or
●
the
approval policies or regulations of the FDA or comparable foreign
regulatory authorities may significantly change in a manner
rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval.
In
addition, raising questions about the safety of marketed
pharmaceuticals may result in increased cautiousness by the FDA and
other regulatory authorities in reviewing new pharmaceuticals based
on safety, efficacy or other regulatory considerations and may
result in significant delays in obtaining regulatory approvals.
Regulatory approvals for our product candidates may not be obtained
without lengthy delays, if at all. Any delay in obtaining, or
inability to obtain, applicable regulatory approvals would prevent
us from commercializing our product candidates.
A breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA for our drug
candidates, including umbralisib for the treatment of adult
patients with relapsed or refractory Marginal Zone Lymphoma (MZL)
who have received at least one prior treatment including an
anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, may not lead to a faster development
or regulatory review or approval process, and it does not ensure
that our drug candidates will receive marketing
approval.
In
January 2019, the FDA granted breakthrough therapy designation
(also referred to as BTD) to umbralisib for the treatment of adult
patients with relapsed or refractory MZL who have received at least
one prior treatment including an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody. We
may also seek breakthrough therapy designation for some of our
other drug candidates. A breakthrough therapy is defined as a drug
that is intended, alone or in combination with one or more other
drugs, to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition,
and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the drug may
demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one
or more clinically significant endpoints, such as substantial
treatment effects observed early in clinical development. Our
breakthrough therapy designation was based on interim data from the
MZL cohort of the UNITY-NHL clinical trial. No assurance can be
given that the full results from the MZL cohort of the UNITY-NHL
clinical trial will be positive and support a filing for
accelerated approval.
For
drugs 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 are also eligible for accelerated approval.
Designation as a breakthrough therapy is wholly within the
discretion of the FDA. Accordingly, even if we believe one of our
drug candidates meets the criteria for designation as a
breakthrough therapy, the FDA may disagree and instead determine
not to grant such designation to the drug candidate. In any event,
the receipt of a breakthrough therapy designation for a drug
candidate may not result in a faster development process, review or
approval compared to drugs considered for approval under
conventional FDA procedures and does not assure ultimate approval
by the FDA. In addition, even if one or more of our drug candidates
qualify as breakthrough therapies, the FDA may later decide that
the drugs no longer meet the conditions for qualification and
rescind the designation.
A
fast track designation by the FDA may not actually lead to a faster
development or regulatory review or approval
process.
We may seek fast track designation for some of our
other drug candidates. If a drug is intended for the treatment of a
serious or life-threatening condition and the drug demonstrates the
potential to address unmet medical needs for this condition, the
drug sponsor may apply for fast track designation. The FDA has
broad discretion whether or not to grant this designation, so even
if we believe a particular drug candidate is eligible for this
designation, we cannot assure you that the FDA would decide to
grant it. Even if we receive fast track designation for our other
drug candidates, we may not experience a faster development
process, review or approval compared to conventional FDA
procedures. The FDA may withdraw fast track designation if it
believes that the designation is no longer supported by data from
our clinical development program.
While we have received orphan drug designation for umbralisib and
ublituximab for specified indications, we may seek additional
orphan drug designation for those and some of our other drug
candidates. However, we may be unsuccessful in obtaining or
may be unable to maintain the benefits associated with orphan drug
designation, including the potential for market
exclusivity.
Ublituximab
received orphan-drug designation from the FDA for the treatment of
Marginal Zone Lymphoma (Nodal and Extranodal) in September 2013,
for the treatment of CLL in August of 2010, and orphan-drug
designation by the EMA for the treatment of CLL in November of
2009. We also obtained orphan drug designation for umbralisib as
monotherapy for the treatment of CLL in August 2016 and all three
types of MZL (nodal, extranodal and splenic) in April 2019, and in
January 2017, we announced that the FDA granted Orphan Drug
designation covering the combination of ublituximab and umbralisib
for the treatment of patients with CLL and DLBCL. As part of our business strategy, we may seek
orphan drug designation for our other drug candidates, and we may
be unsuccessful. Regulatory authorities in some jurisdictions,
including the United States and the European Union, may designate
drugs for relatively small patient populations as orphan drugs.
Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may designate a drug as an
orphan drug if it is a drug intended to treat a rare disease or
condition, which is generally defined as a patient population of
fewer than 200,000 individuals annually in the United States,
or a patient population greater than 200,000 in the United States
where there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of
developing the drug will be recovered from sales in the United
States. In the United States, orphan drug designation entitles a
party to financial incentives such as opportunities for grant
funding towards clinical trial costs, tax advantages and user-fee
waivers.
Even
if we obtain orphan drug exclusivity for a drug, that exclusivity
may not effectively protect the designated drug from competition
because different drugs can be approved for the same condition.
Even after an orphan drug is approved, the FDA can subsequently
approve the same drug for the same condition if the FDA concludes
that the later drug is clinically superior in that it is shown to
be safer, more effective or makes a major contribution to patient
care. In addition, a designated orphan drug may not receive orphan
drug exclusivity if it is approved for a use that is broader than
the indication for which it received orphan designation. Moreover,
orphan drug exclusive marketing rights in the United States may be
lost if the FDA later determines that the request for designation
was materially defective or if the manufacturer is unable to assure
sufficient quantity of the drug to meet the needs of patients with
the rare disease or condition. Orphan drug designation neither
shortens the development time or regulatory review time of a drug
nor gives the drug any advantage in the regulatory review or
approval process. While we intend to seek additional orphan drug
designation for our other drug candidates, we may never receive
such designations. Even if we receive orphan drug designation for
any of our drug candidates, there is no guarantee that we will
enjoy the benefits of those designations.
As all of our product candidates are still under development,
manufacturing site additions, scale-up and process improvements
implemented in the production of those product candidates may
affect their ultimate activity or function.
Our
product candidates are in the initial stages of development and are
currently manufactured in relatively small batches for use in
pre-clinical and clinical studies. Process improvements implemented
to date have changed, and process improvements in the future may
change, the activity/ and analytical profile of the product
candidates, which may affect the safety and efficacy of the
products. For instance, the manufacturing process for ublituximab
has undergone several process improvements during the clinical
trial process which have resulted in analytical differences between
the materials. Such process improvements continued during the
conduct of Phase 3 and material from more than one manufacturing
process were utilized in the Phase 3 UNITY-CLL trial. While
analytical differences exist between those materials, we do not
believe the differences will alter the safety or efficacy profile
of ublituximab. However, it is possible that additional and/or
different adverse events may appear among patients exposed to drug
product manufactured under one process compared to the other, or
that adverse events may arise with greater frequency, intensity and
duration among patients exposed to drug product manufactured under
one process compared to the other. Additionally, the efficacy of
ublituximab also can be negatively impacted by such process
changes. Given the uncertainty of the impact on product
specifications, quality and performance, process improvements made
during Phase 3 development carry a higher level of risk then those
made prior to Phase 3 development. If there are significant
differences in product attributes between the two materials, we may
need to adjust our statistical analysis plans of the Phase 3 study
to confirm that there is no difference in safety or efficacy
between product made by each process in order to and allow us to
utilize data from all enrolled patients, as well as be able to
integrate clinical safety and/or efficacy results across studies to
support any potential marketing application. There can be no
assurance given that such analyses will be successful in
demonstrating no clinical differences between these drug products,
which could substantially impact the approvability of the U2
combination based on the results of the UNITY-CLL study. In such
circumstances, that would have a material adverse effect on the
Company.
Further, no
assurance can be given that the material manufactured from any
future optimized processes, if any, for ublituximab or any of our
product candidates will perform comparably to the product
candidates as manufactured to date which could result in an
unexpected safety or efficacy outcome as compared to the data
published or presented to date. Similarly, following each round of
process improvements, if any, for any of our drug candidates,
future clinical trial results conducted with the new material will
be subject to uncertainty related to the effects, if any, of those
additional process improvements that were made.
In
addition, we have engaged a secondary manufacturer for ublituximab
to meet our current clinical and future commercial needs and
anticipate engaging additional manufacturing sources for umbralisib
to meet expanded clinical trial and commercial needs. If a
secondary manufacturer is not successful in replicating the product
or experiences delays, or if regulatory authorities impose
unforeseen requirements with respect to product comparability from
multiple manufacturing sources, we may experience delays in
clinical development. No assurance can be given that any
additional manufacturers will be successful or that material
manufactured by the additional manufacturers will perform
comparably to ublituximab or umbralisib as manufactured to date and
used in currently available pre-clinical data and or in early
clinical trials presented publicly or reported in this or any
previous filing, or that the relevant regulatory agencies will
agree with our interpretation of comparability.
In
addition, as we move closer to commercialization for ublituximab
and umbralisib we will need to scale-up production to ensure
adequate commercial supply. We are currently in the process of
scaling up ublituximab. This is an expensive process and there can
be no assurance given that such scale-up will be successful in
providing pharmaceutical product that is of sufficient quantity, or
of a quality that is consistent with our previously established
specifications, or that meets the requirements set by regulatory
agencies under which we may seek approval of our product
candidates. If scale-up were not to succeed our ability to supply
our anticipated market at a reasonable cost of goods would be
negatively impacted. In such event, that would have a material
adverse effect on the Company. Scale up could also require
additional process improvement that might be required to
accommodate new and larger equipment utilized in the scaled-up
process. If that were to occur and we could not demonstrate to the
FDA that the materials were analytically substantially similar, we
might be required to run additional clinical testing to demonstrate
that they are substantially similar. That would entail a
significant delay and significant increase in total cost, all of
which would have a material adverse effect on the
Company.
Risks Related to Commercialization
The incidence and prevalence for target patient populations of our
drug candidates have not been established with precision. If the
market opportunities for our drug candidates are smaller than we
estimate or if any approval that we obtain is based on a narrower
definition of the patient population, our revenue and ability to
achieve profitability will be adversely affected, possibly
materially.
The precise incidence and/or prevalence of CLL,
relapsed/refractory MZL, relapsed/refractory FL and MS are
unknown. Our projections of
both the number of people who are affected by disease within our
target indications, as well as the subset of these people who have
the potential to benefit from treatment with our
product candidates, are based on our
beliefs and estimates. Our beliefs are typically based on one on
one and group interactions with target physicians and our estimates
have been derived from a variety of sources, including the
scientific literature, healthcare utilization databases and market
research, and may prove to be incorrect. Further, new studies may
change the estimated incidence or prevalence of these
diseases.
The
total addressable market opportunity for umbralisib and ublituximab
for the treatment of patients with CLL, MZL, FL and MS will
ultimately depend upon, among other things, the final label
indication, approved for sale for these indications, acceptance by
the medical community, patient access, drug pricing and
reimbursement. The number of patients in major markets, including
the number of addressable patients in those markets, may turn out
to be lower than expected, patients may not be otherwise amenable
to treatment with our drugs, new patients may become increasingly
difficult to identify or gain access to, or patients and physicians
may choose to utilize competitive products, all of which would
adversely affect our results of operations and our
business.
We face substantial competition for treatments for our target
indications, which may result in others commercializing drugs
before or more successfully than we do resulting in the reduction
or elimination of our commercial opportunity.
We operate
in a highly competitive segment of the biotechnology and
biopharmaceutical market. We face competition from numerous
sources, including commercial pharmaceutical and biotechnology
enterprises, academic institutions, government agencies, and
private and public research institutions. Many of our competitors
have significantly greater financial, product development,
manufacturing and marketing resources. Large pharmaceutical
companies have extensive experience in clinical testing and
obtaining regulatory approval for drugs. Additionally, many
universities and private and public research institutes are active
in cancer research, some in direct competition with us. We may also
compete with these organizations to recruit scientists and clinical
development personnel. Smaller or early-stage companies may also
prove to be significant competitors, particularly through
collaborative arrangements with large and established
companies.
Our
commercial opportunity could be reduced or eliminated if our
competitors develop and commercialize drugs that are safer, more
effective, have fewer or less severe side effects, are more
convenient or are less expensive than any drugs that we or our
collaborators may develop. Our competitors also may obtain FDA or
other regulatory approval for their drugs more rapidly than we may
obtain approval for ours, which could result in our competitors
establishing a strong market position before we or our
collaborators are able to enter the market. The key competitive
factors affecting the success of all of our drug candidates, if
approved, are likely to be their efficacy, safety, convenience,
price, the effectiveness of any related companion diagnostic tests,
the level of generic competition and the availability of
reimbursement from government and other third-party
payors.
For the
cancer indications for which we are developing our products there
are a number of established therapies with which we will
compete:
●
For
the treatment of CLL, if U2 is approved, we expect U2 to compete
with recently approved drugs such as ibrutinib (AbbVie and
Janssen), venetoclax (AbbVie and Roche), obinutuzumab (Roche),
idelalisib (Gilead) and duvelisib (Verastem), and established
treatments such as rituximab (Roche), and several generically
available chemotherapies. Additionally, there are two second
generation BTK inhibitors similar to ibrutinib in late-stage
clinical testing for CLL that could enter the market in the next
12-36 months. Each of these agents can be used as monotherapy or in
combination with one or more of the other agents.
●
For
the treatment of Marginal Zone Lymphoma, if approved, we expect
umbralisib to compete with ibrutinib (AbbVie and Janssen) and
established treatments such as rituximab and several generically
available chemotherapies. Additionally, the combination of
rituximab and lenalidomide (Celgene) has been studied in MZL and
may be approved.
●
For
the treatment of Follicular Lymphoma, if approved, we expect
umbralisib to compete with recently approved drugs such as
obinutuzumab (Roche), idelalisib (Gilead), copanlisib (Bayer), and
duvelisib (Verastem), and established treatments such as rituximab
(Roche), and several generically available chemotherapies. Each of
these agents can be used as monotherapy or in combination with one
or more of the other agents. The combination of rituximab and
lenalidomide (Celgene) has also been studied in FL and may be
approved. There are also several PI3K delta inhibitors in earlier
stages of development.
●
In
addition, a number of pharmaceutical companies are developing
antibodies and bispecific antibodies targeting CD20, CD19, CD47 and
other B-cell associated targets, chimeric antigen receptor T-cell
(“CAR-T”) immunotherapy, and other B-cell ablative
therapy which, if approved, would potentially compete with U2 and
umbralisib.
For
Multiple Sclerosis for which we are developing ublituximab there
are a number of established therapies with which we will
compete:
●
If
ublituximab is approved, we expect ublituximab will primarily
compete against other CD20 targeted agents, while the group of CD20
targeted agents will also compete broadly against a number of
already approved MS therapies. Currently, there is one anti-CD20
monoclonal antibody approved, ocrelizumab (Roche), and another in
Phase 3 development, ofatumumab (Novartis), which is expected to
enter the market in the next 12-24 months.
TG-1501, TG-1701
and TG-1801 if approved will also face competition from drugs on
the market and under development that have the same mechanism of
action as each of those drugs.
New
developments, including the development of other pharmaceutical
technologies and methods of treating disease, occur in the
pharmaceutical and life sciences industries at a rapid pace. These
developments may render our product candidates obsolete or
noncompetitive. Compared to us, many of our potential competitors
have substantially greater:
●
research and
development resources, including personnel and
technology;
●
pharmaceutical
development, clinical trial and pharmaceutical commercialization
experience;
●
experience and
expertise in exploitation of intellectual property rights;
and
We will
also face competition from these third parties in recruiting and
retaining qualified personnel, establishing clinical trial sites,
patient registration for clinical trials, and in identifying and
in-licensing new product candidates.
Product liability lawsuits against us could cause us to incur
substantial liabilities and could limit commercialization of any
drug candidates that we may develop.
We
will face an inherent risk of product liability exposure related to
the testing of our drug candidates in human clinical trials and use
of our drug candidates through compassionate use programs, and we
will face an even greater risk if we commercially sell any drug
candidates that we may develop. If we cannot successfully defend
ourselves against claims that our drug candidates caused injuries,
we could incur substantial liabilities. Regardless of merit or
eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:
●
decreased demand
for any drug candidates that we may develop;
●
injury to our
reputation and significant negative media attention;
●
withdrawal of
clinical trial participants;
●
significant costs
to defend the related litigation;
●
substantial
monetary awards to trial participants or patients;
●
the inability to commercialize any drug candidates that we may
develop.
Although
we maintain product liability insurance coverage, it may not be
adequate to cover all liabilities that we may incur. We anticipate
that we will need to increase our insurance coverage if we
successfully commercialize any drug candidate. Insurance coverage
is increasingly expensive. We may not be able to maintain insurance
coverage at a reasonable cost or in an amount adequate to satisfy
any liability that may arise.
If any product candidate that we successfully develop does not
achieve broad market acceptance among physicians, patients,
healthcare payors, and the medical community, the revenues that we
generate from its sales will be limited.
Even if
our product candidates receive regulatory approval, they may not
gain market acceptance among physicians, patients, healthcare
payors, and the medical community. Coverage and reimbursement of
our product candidates by third-party payors, including government
payors, generally would also be necessary for commercial success.
The degree of market acceptance of any approved product would
depend on a number of factors, including:
●
the
efficacy and safety as demonstrated in clinical
trials;
●
the
timing of market introduction of such product candidate as well as
competitive products;
●
the
clinical indications for which the product is
approved;
●
acceptance by
physicians, major operators of cancer clinics and patients of the
product as a safe and effective treatment;
●
the
potential and perceived advantages of the product candidate over
alternative treatments;
●
the
safety of the product candidate in a broader patient
group;
●
the
cost of treatment in relation to alternative
treatments;
●
the
availability of adequate reimbursement and pricing by third parties
and government authorities;
●
changes in
regulatory requirements by government authorities for the product
candidate;
●
relative
convenience and ease of administration;
●
the
prevalence and severity of side effects and adverse
events;
●
the
effectiveness of our sales and marketing efforts; and
●
unfavorable
publicity relating to the product.
If any
product candidate is approved but does not achieve an adequate
level of acceptance by physicians, hospitals, healthcare payors and
patients, we may not generate sufficient revenue from these
products and we may not become or remain profitable.
Even if we are able to commercialize any drug candidates, such
drugs may become subject to unfavorable pricing regulations or
third-party coverage and reimbursement policies, which would harm
our business.
The
regulations that govern regulatory approvals, pricing and
reimbursement for new drugs vary widely from country to country.
Some countries require approval of the sale price of a drug before
it can be marketed. In many countries, the pricing review period
begins after marketing approval is granted. In some foreign
markets, prescription pharmaceutical pricing remains subject to
continuing governmental control even after initial approval is
granted. As a result, we might obtain marketing approval for a drug
candidate in a particular country, but then be subject to price
regulations that delay our commercial launch of the drug candidate,
possibly for lengthy time periods, and negatively impact the
revenues we are able to generate from the sale of the drug
candidate in that country. Adverse pricing limitations may hinder
our ability to recoup our investment in one or more drug
candidates, even if our drug candidates obtain marketing
approval.
Our
ability to commercialize any drug candidates successfully also will
depend in part on the extent to which coverage and reimbursement
for these drug candidates and related treatments will be available
from government authorities, private health insurers and other
organizations. Government authorities and third-party payors, such
as private health insurers and health maintenance organizations,
decide which medications they will pay for and establish
reimbursement levels. A primary trend in the U.S. healthcare
industry and elsewhere is cost containment. Government authorities
and third-party payors have attempted to control costs by limiting
coverage and the amount of reimbursement for particular drugs.
Increasingly, third-party payors are requiring that drug companies
provide them with predetermined discounts from list prices and are
challenging the prices charged for drugs. We cannot be sure that
coverage will be available for any drug candidate that we
commercialize and, if coverage is available, the level of
reimbursement. Reimbursement may impact the demand for, or the
price of, any drug candidate for which we obtain marketing
approval. If reimbursement is not available or is available only to
limited levels, we may not be able to successfully commercialize
any drug candidate for which we obtain marketing
approval.
There may be significant delays in obtaining
reimbursement for newly approved drugs, and coverage may be more
limited than the purposes for which the drug is approved by the FDA
or similar regulatory authorities outside the United States.
Moreover, eligibility for reimbursement does not imply that any
drug will be paid for in all cases or at a rate that covers our
costs, including research, development, manufacture, sale and
distribution. Interim reimbursement levels for new drugs, if
applicable, may also not be sufficient to cover our costs and may
not be made permanent. Reimbursement rates may vary according to
the use of the drug and the clinical setting in which it is used,
may be based on reimbursement levels already set for lower-cost
drugs and may be incorporated into existing payments for other
services. Net prices for drugs may be reduced by mandatory
discounts or rebates required by government healthcare programs or
private payors and by any future relaxation of laws that presently
restrict imports of drugs from countries where they may be sold at
lower prices than in the United States. Third-party payors often
rely upon Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in
setting their own reimbursement policies. Our inability to promptly
obtain coverage and profitable payment rates from both
government-funded and private payors for any approved drugs that we
develop could have a material adverse effect on our operating
results, our ability to raise capital needed to commercialize drugs
and our overall financial condition.
We are subject to new legislation, regulatory proposals and managed
care initiatives that may increase our costs of compliance and
adversely affect our ability to market our products, obtain
collaborators and raise capital.
In both
the United States and certain foreign countries, there have been a
number of legislative and regulatory changes to the healthcare
system that could impact our ability to sell our products
profitably. In particular, the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003
revised the payment methodology for many products reimbursed by
Medicare, resulting in lower rates of reimbursement for many types
of drugs, and added a prescription drug benefit to the Medicare
program that involves commercial plans negotiating drug prices for
their members. Since 2003, there have been a number of other
legislative and regulatory changes to the coverage and
reimbursement landscape for pharmaceuticals.
The
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the
Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, collectively,
the “ACA,” was enacted in 2010 and made significant
changes to the United States’ healthcare system. The ACA and
any revisions or replacements of that Act, any substitute
legislation, and other changes in the law or regulatory framework
could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Among
the provisions of the ACA, those of importance to our potential
product candidates are:
●
an
annual, nondeductible fee on any entity that manufactures or
imports specified branded prescription drugs and biologic agents,
apportioned among these entities according to their market share in
certain government healthcare programs;
●
an
increase in the statutory minimum rebates a manufacturer must pay
under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program to 23.1% and 13.0% of the
average manufacturer price for branded and generic drugs,
respectively;
●
expansion of
healthcare fraud and abuse laws, including the federal False Claims
Act and the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, new government
investigative powers and enhanced penalties for
non-compliance;
●
a new
Medicare Part D coverage gap discount program, in which
manufacturers must agree to offer 50% point-of-sale discounts off
negotiated prices of applicable brand drugs to eligible
beneficiaries during their coverage gap period, as a condition for
a manufacturer’s outpatient drugs to be covered under
Medicare Part D;
●
extension of a
manufacturer’s Medicaid rebate liability to covered drugs
dispensed to individuals who are enrolled in Medicaid managed care
organizations;
●
expansion of
eligibility criteria for Medicaid programs by, among other things,
allowing states to offer Medicaid coverage to additional
individuals and by adding new mandatory eligibility categories for
certain individuals with income at or below 138% of the federal
poverty level, thereby potentially increasing a
manufacturer’s Medicaid rebate liability;
●
expansion of the
entities eligible for discounts under the 340B Drug Pricing
Program;
●
the
new requirements under the federal Open Payments program and its
implementing regulations;
●
a new
requirement to annually report drug samples that manufacturers and
distributors provide to physicians;
●
a new
regulatory pathway for the approval of biosimilar biological
products, all of which will impact existing government healthcare
programs and will result in the development of new programs;
and
●
a new
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to oversee, identify
priorities in, and conduct comparative clinical effectiveness
research, along with funding for such research.
President Trump ran for
office on a platform that supported the repeal of the ACA, and one
of his first actions after his inauguration was to sign an
Executive Order instructing federal agencies to waive or delay
requirements of the ACA that impose economic or regulatory burdens
on states, families, the health-care industry and others.
Modifications to or repeal of all or certain provisions of the ACA
have been attempted in Congress as a result of the outcome of the
recent presidential and congressional elections, consistent with
statements made by the incoming administration and members of
Congress during the presidential and congressional campaigns and
following the election.
In
January 2017, Congress voted to adopt a budget resolution for
fiscal year 2017, or the Budget Resolution, that authorizes the
implementation of legislation that would repeal portions of the
ACA. The Budget Resolution is not a law. However, it is widely
viewed as the first step toward the passage of legislation that
would repeal certain aspects of the ACA. In March 2017, following
the passage of the budget resolution for fiscal year 2017, the
United States House of Representatives passed legislation known as
the American Health Care Act of 2017, which, if enacted, would
amend or repeal significant portions of the ACA. Attempts in the
Senate in 2017 to pass ACA repeal legislation, including the Better
Care Reconciliation Act of 2017, so far have been unsuccessful. At
the end of 2017, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which
repealed the penalty for individuals who fail to maintain minimum
essential health coverage as required by the ACA. Following this
legislation, Texas and 19 other states filed a lawsuit alleging
that the ACA is unconstitutional as the individual mandate was
repealed, undermining the legal basis for the Supreme Court’s
prior decision. On December 14, 2018, Texas federal district court
judge Reed O’Connor issued a ruling declaring that the ACA in
it is entirety is unconstitutional. While this decision has no
immediate legal effect on the ACA and its provisions, this lawsuit
is ongoing and the outcome through the appeals process may have a
significant impact on our business.
Most
recently, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, the “BBA,”
which set government spending levels for Fiscal Years 2018 and
2019, revised certain provisions of the ACA. Specifically,
beginning in 2019, the BBA increased manufacturer point-of-sale
discounts off negotiated prices of applicable brand drugs in the
Medicare Part D coverage gap from 50% to 70%, ultimately increasing
the liability for brand drug manufacturers. Further, this mandatory
manufacturer discount applies to biosimilars beginning in
2019.
The Trump Administration has also taken several
regulatory steps to redirect ACA implementation. The
Department of Health and Human
Services (“HHS”) finalized Medicare fee-for-service
hospital payment reductions for Part B drugs acquired through the
340B Drug Pricing Program, which has been overturned by the courts.
HHS also has signaled its intent to continue to pursue
reimbursement policy changes for Medicare Part B drugs as a whole
that likely would reduce hospital and physician reimbursement for
these drugs.
HHS
has made numerous other proposals aimed at lowering drug prices for
Medicare beneficiaries and increasing price transparency. These
proposals include giving Medicare Advantage and Part D plans
flexibility in the availability of drugs in “protected
classes,” more transparency in the cost of drugs, including
the beneficiary’s financial liability, and less costly
alternatives and permitting the use of step therapy as a means of
prior authorization. HHS has also proposed requiring pharmaceutical
manufacturers disclose the prices of certain drugs in
direct-to-consumer television advertisements.
HHS
also has taken steps to increase the availability of cheaper health
insurance options, typically with fewer benefits and less generous.
The Administration has also signaled its intention to address drug
prices and to increase competition, including by increasing the
availability of biosimilars and generic drugs. As these are
regulatory actions, a new administration could undo or modify these
efforts.
We
expect that the ACA, as well as other healthcare reform measures
that may be adopted in the future, may result in more rigorous
coverage criteria and in additional downward pressure on the price
that we receive for any approved drug. Any reduction in
reimbursement from Medicare or other government healthcare programs
may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors.
The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare
reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain
profitability or commercialize our drugs.
Legislative and regulatory proposals have been made to expand
post-approval requirements and restrict sales and promotional
activities for drugs. We cannot be sure whether additional
legislative changes will be enacted, or whether the FDA
regulations, guidance or interpretations will be changed, or what
the impact of such changes on the marketing approvals of our
product candidates, if any, may be. In addition, increased scrutiny
by the US Congress of the FDA’s approval process may
significantly delay or prevent marketing approval, as well as
subject us to more stringent product labeling and post-marketing
testing and other requirements.
There
likely will continue to be, legislative and regulatory proposals at
the federal and state levels directed at broadening the
availability of healthcare and containing or lowering the cost of
healthcare products and services. We cannot predict the initiatives
that may be adopted in the future. The continuing efforts of the
government, insurance companies, managed care organizations and
other payors of healthcare services to contain or reduce costs of
healthcare may adversely affect:
●
our
ability to generate revenues and achieve or maintain
profitability;
●
the
demand for any products for which we may obtain regulatory
approval;
●
our
ability to set a price that we believe is fair for our
products;
●
the
level of taxes that we are required to pay; and
●
the
availability of capital.
In
addition, governments may impose price controls, which may
adversely affect our future profitability.
We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government
regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative
or executive action, either in the United States or
abroad.
We
cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of how government
regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative
or executive action taken by the U.S. presidential administration
may impact our business and industry. In particular, the U.S.
President has taken several executive actions, including the
issuance of a number of Executive Orders, that could impose
significant burdens on, or otherwise materially delay, the
FDA’s ability to engage in routine regulatory and oversight
activities such as implementing statutes through rulemaking,
issuance of guidance, and review and approval of marketing
applications. Notably, on January 23, 2017, President Trump ordered
a civilian hiring freeze for all executive departments and
agencies, including the FDA, which prohibits the FDA from filling
employee vacancies or creating new positions. Under the terms of
the order, the freeze was to remain in effect until implementation
of a plan to be recommended by the Director for the Office of
Management and Budget (“OMB”) in consultation with the
Director of the Office of Personnel Management, to reduce the size
of the federal workforce through attrition. An under-staffed FDA
could result in delays in FDA’s responsiveness or in its
ability to review submissions or applications, issue regulations or
guidance or implement or enforce regulatory requirements in a
timely fashion or at all. This hiring freeze was lifted later in
2017. Moreover, on January 30, 2017, President Trump issued an
Executive Order, applicable to all executive agencies, including
the FDA, which requires that for each notice of proposed rulemaking
or final regulation to be issued in fiscal year 2017, the agency
shall identify at least two existing regulations to be repealed,
unless prohibited by law. These requirements are referred to as the
“two-for-one” provisions. This Executive Order includes
a budget neutrality provision that requires the total incremental
cost of all new regulations in the 2017 fiscal year, including
repealed regulations, to be no greater than zero, except in limited
circumstances. For fiscal years 2018 and beyond, the Executive
Order requires agencies to identify regulations to offset any
incremental cost of a new regulation and approximate the total
costs or savings associated with each new regulation or repealed
regulation. In interim guidance issued by the Office of Information
and Regulatory Affairs within OMB on February 2, 2017, the
administration indicates that the “two-for-one”
provisions may apply not only to agency regulations, but also to
significant agency guidance documents. It is difficult to predict
how these requirements will be implemented, and the extent to which
they will impact the FDA’s ability to exercise its regulatory
authority. If these executive actions impose constraints on the
FDA’s ability to engage in oversight and implementation
activities in the normal course, our business may be negatively
impacted.
If, in the future, we are unable to establish sales and marketing
capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to sell
and market our drug candidates, we may not be successful in
commercializing our drug candidates if and when they are approved,
and we may not be able to generate any revenue.
We
do not currently have a sales or marketing infrastructure and have
limited experience in the sale, marketing or distribution of drugs.
To achieve commercial success for any approved drug candidate for
which we retain sales and marketing responsibilities, we must build
our sales, marketing, managerial, and other non-technical
capabilities or make arrangements with third parties to perform
these services. In the future, we may choose to build a focused
sales and marketing infrastructure to sell, or participate in sales
activities with our collaborators for, some of our drug candidates
if and when they are approved.
In
advance of FDA approval of our first product, we will need to make
significant investments to build a commercial organization and
infrastructure. We will need to hire a sales force and commercial
support personnel, in order to build processes and systems to
support a commercial launch prior to knowing whether our product
will receive FDA approval. It is possible that the FDA approval is
unexpectedly delayed or our product is not approved at all. In
either case we will incur delays that may impede or significantly
delay our ability to generate revenue and at the same time will
incur significant expenses. If this were to occur, it would have a
material adverse effect on the Company.
There are risks involved with both establishing
our own sales and marketing capabilities and entering into
arrangements with third parties to perform these services. For
example, recruiting and training a sales force is expensive and
time-consuming and could delay any drug launch. If the commercial
launch of a drug candidate for which we recruit a sales force and
establish marketing capabilities is delayed or does not occur for
any reason, we would have prematurely or unnecessarily incurred
these commercialization expenses. This may be costly, and our
investment would be lost if we cannot retain or reposition our
sales and marketing personnel.
Factors
that may inhibit our efforts to commercialize our drug candidates
on our own include:
●
our inability to
recruit and retain adequate numbers of effective sales and
marketing personnel;
●
the inability of
sales personnel to obtain access to physicians or persuade adequate
numbers of physicians to prescribe any future drugs;
●
the lack of
complementary drugs to be offered by sales personnel, which may put
us at a competitive disadvantage relative to companies with more
extensive product lines; and
●
unforeseen costs
and expenses associated with creating an independent sales and
marketing organization.
If
we enter into arrangements with third parties to perform sales,
marketing and distribution services, our drug revenues or the
profitability of these drug revenues to us are likely to be lower
than if we were to market and sell any drug candidates that we
develop ourselves. In addition, we may not be successful in
entering into arrangements with third parties to sell and market
our drug candidates or may be unable to do so on terms that are
favorable to us. We likely will have little control over such third
parties, and any of them may fail to devote the necessary resources
and attention to sell and market our drug candidates effectively.
If we do not establish sales and marketing capabilities
successfully, either on our own or in collaboration with third
parties, we will not be successful in commercializing our drug
candidates. Further, our business, results of operations, financial
condition and prospects will be materially adversely
affected.
Our relationships with customers and third-party payors will be
subject to applicable anti-kickback, fraud and abuse and other
healthcare laws and regulations, which could expose us to criminal
sanctions, civil penalties, exclusion from government healthcare
programs, contractual damages, reputational harm and diminished
profits and future earnings.
Although we do not currently have any drugs on
the market, once we begin commercializing our drug candidates, we
will be subject to additional healthcare statutory and regulatory
requirements and enforcement by the federal government and the
states and foreign governments in which we conduct our business.
Healthcare providers, physicians and third-party payors play a
primary role in the recommendation and prescription of any drug
candidates for which we obtain marketing approval. Our future
arrangements with third-party payors and customers may expose us to
broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and
regulations that may constrain the business or financial
arrangements and relationships through which we market, sell and
distribute our drug candidates for which we obtain marketing
approval. Restrictions under applicable federal and state
healthcare laws and regulations include the following:
●
the federal
Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits, among other things, persons from
knowingly and willfully soliciting, offering, receiving or
providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind,
to induce or reward either the referral of an individual for, or
the purchase, order or recommendation of, any good or service, for
which payment may be made under federal and state healthcare
programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. A person or entity does not
need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to
violate it in order to have committed a violation;
●
the federal False
Claims Act imposes civil penalties, including through civil
whistleblower or qui tam actions, against individuals or entities
for, among other things, knowingly presenting, or causing to be
presented, to the federal government, claims for payment that are
false or fraudulent or making a false statement to avoid, decrease
or conceal an obligation to pay money to the federal government. In
addition, the government may assert that a claim including items
and services resulting from a violation of the federal
Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for
purposes of the False Claims Act;
●
the federal Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA,
imposes criminal and civil liability for executing a scheme to
defraud any healthcare benefit program, or knowingly and willfully
falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any
materially false statement in connection with the delivery of or
payment for healthcare benefits, items or services; similar to the
federal Anti-Kickback Statute, a person or entity does not need to
have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate
it in order to have committed a violation;
●
the federal
physician payment transparency requirements, sometimes referred to
as the “Sunshine Act” under the Affordable Care Act
require manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics and medical
supplies that are reimbursable under Medicare, Medicaid, or the
Children’s Health Insurance Program to report to the
Department of Health and Human Services information related to
physician payments and other transfers of value and the ownership
and investment interests of such physicians and their immediate
family members;
●
HIPAA, as amended
by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical
Health Act of 2009 and its implementing regulations, which also
imposes obligations on certain covered entity healthcare providers,
health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses as well as their
business associates that perform certain services involving the use
or disclosure of individually identifiable health information,
including mandatory contractual terms, with respect to safeguarding
the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable
health information;
●
federal consumer
protection and unfair competition laws, which broadly regulate
marketplace activities and activities that potentially harm
consumers; and
●
analogous state
laws and regulations, such as state anti-kickback and false claims
laws that may apply to sales or marketing arrangements and claims
involving healthcare items or services reimbursed by
non-governmental third-party payors, including private insurers;
and some state laws require pharmaceutical companies to comply with
the pharmaceutical industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines
and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal
government in addition to requiring drug manufacturers to report
information related to payments to physicians and other health care
providers or marketing expenditures, and state laws governing the
privacy and security of health information in certain
circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant
ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating
compliance efforts.
Ensuring that our future business arrangements
with third parties comply with applicable healthcare laws and
regulations could involve substantial costs. It is possible that
governmental authorities will conclude that our business practices
do not comply with current or future statutes, regulations or case
law involving applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws
and regulations. If our operations, including anticipated
activities to be conducted by our sales team, were to be found to
be in violation of any of these laws or any other governmental
regulations that may apply to us, we may be subject to significant
civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines,
exclusion from government-funded healthcare programs, such as
Medicare and Medicaid, and the curtailment or restructuring of our
operations. If any of the physicians or other providers or entities
with whom we expect to do business is found to be not in compliance
with applicable laws, they may be subject to criminal, civil or
administrative sanctions, including exclusions from
government-funded healthcare programs.
If we fail to adequately understand and comply with the local laws
and customs as we expand into new international markets, these
operations may incur losses or otherwise adversely affect our
business and results of operations.
We
expect to operate a portion of our business in certain countries
through subsidiaries or through supply and marketing arrangements.
In those countries where we have limited experience in operating
subsidiaries and in reviewing equity investees, we will be subject
to additional risks related to complying with a wide variety of
national and local laws, including restrictions on the import and
export of certain intermediates, drugs, technologies and multiple
and possibly overlapping tax laws. In addition, we may face
competition in certain countries from companies that may have more
experience with operations in such countries or with international
operations generally. We may also face difficulties integrating new
facilities in different countries into our existing operations, as
well as integrating employees hired in different countries into our
existing corporate culture. If we do not effectively manage our
operations in these subsidiaries and review equity investees
effectively, or if we fail to manage our alliances, we may lose
money in these countries and it may adversely affect our business
and results of our operations. In all interactions with foreign
regulatory authorities, we are exposed to liability risks under the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or similar anti-bribery
laws.
.
Any product for which we obtain marketing approval could be subject
to restrictions or withdrawal from the market and we may be subject
to penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or
if we experience unanticipated problems with products.
Any
product for which we obtain marketing approval, along with the
manufacturing processes and facilities, post-approval clinical
data, labeling, advertising and promotional activities for such
product, will be subject to continual requirements of, and review
by, the FDA and comparable regulatory authorities. These
requirements include submissions of safety and other post-marketing
information and reports, registration requirements, current Good
Manufacturing Practice (“cGMP”) requirements relating
to quality control, quality assurance and corresponding maintenance
of records and documents, requirements regarding the distribution
of samples to physicians and recordkeeping, and requirements
regarding company presentations and interactions with healthcare
professionals. Even if we obtain regulatory approval of a product,
the approval may be subject to limitations on the indicated uses
for which the product may be marketed, be subject to conditions of
approval, or contain requirements for costly post-marketing testing
and surveillance to monitor the safety and/or efficacy of the
product. We also may be subject to state laws and registration
requirements covering the distribution of drug products. Later
discovery of previously unknown problems with products,
manufacturers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with
regulatory requirements, may result in actions such
as:
●
restrictions on
product manufacturing, distribution or use;
●
restrictions on
the labeling or marketing of a product;
●
requirements to
conduct post-marketing studies or clinical trials;
●
withdrawal of the
products from the market;
●
refusal to approve
pending applications or supplements to approved applications that
we or our subsidiaries submit;
●
suspension or
withdrawal of marketing or regulatory approvals;
●
refusal to permit
the import or export of products;
●
product seizure or
detentions;
●
injunctions or the
imposition of civil or criminal penalties; and
If we,
or our respective suppliers, third-party contractors, clinical
investigators or collaborators are slow to adapt, or are unable to
adapt, to changes in existing regulatory requirements or adoption
of new regulatory requirements or policies, we, our subsidiaries,
or our respective collaborators may be subject to the actions
listed above, including losing marketing approval for products,
resulting in decreased revenue from milestones, product sales or
royalties.
We will need to obtain FDA approval of any proposed product brand
names, and any failure or delay associated with such approval may
adversely impact our business.
A pharmaceutical product candidate cannot be
marketed in the United States or other countries until we have
completed a rigorous and extensive regulatory review processes,
including approval of a brand name. Any brand names we intend to
use for ublituximab, umbralisib or any future product candidates will require
approval from the FDA regardless of whether we have secured a
formal trademark registration from the United States Patent and Trademark Office
(“USPTO”). The FDA typically conducts a review of
proposed product brand names, including an evaluation of potential
for confusion with other product names. The FDA may also object to
a product brand name if it believes the name inappropriately
implies medical claims. If the FDA objects to any of our proposed
product brand names, we may be required to adopt an alternative brand name for
ublituximab, umbralisib or any future
product candidates. If we adopt an alternative brand name, we would
lose the benefit of our existing trademark applications for such
product candidate and may be required to expend significant
additional resources in an effort to identify a suitable product
brand name that would qualify under applicable trademark laws, not
infringe the existing rights of third parties and be acceptable to
the FDA. We may be unable to build a successful brand identity for
a new trademark in a timely manner or at all, which would limit our
ability to commercialize ublituximab, umbralisib,
or any future product candidates. We
do not currently have an agreed upon brand name for umbralisib, and
no assurance can be given that we will obtain one in a timely
fashion. Any delay in obtaining a brand name for umbralisib or any
other of our drug candidates could delay approval and/or
commercialization and have a negative impact on our launch and
future prospects for umbralisib or any other such drug
candidates.
Risks Related to Our Dependence on Third Parties
We rely on third parties to generate clinical, preclinical and
quality data necessary to support the regulatory applications
needed to conduct clinical trials and file for marketing approval.
We rely on third parties to help conduct our planned clinical
trials. If these third parties do not perform their services as
required, we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for or
commercialize our product candidates when expected or at
all.
In
order to submit and maintain an Investigational New Drug
application (“IND”), BLA, or NDA to the FDA, it is
necessary to submit all information on the clinical, non-clinical,
chemistry, manufacturing, controls and quality aspects of the
product candidate. We rely on our third party contractors and our
licensing partners to provide portions of this data. If we are
unable to obtain this data, or the data is not sufficient to meet
the regulatory requirements, we may experience significant delays
in our development programs. While we maintain an active IND for
ublituximab and umbralisib enabling the conduct of studies in the
FDA’s Division of Hematology and Oncology, and an active IND
for ublituximab under the FDA’s Division of Neurology, there
can be no assurance that the FDA will allow us to continue the
development of our product candidates in those divisions where we
maintain an active IND.
Additionally, we
use CRO’s to assist in the conduct of our current clinical
trials and expect to use such services for future clinical trials
and we rely upon medical institutions, clinical investigators and
contract laboratories to conduct our trials in accordance with our
clinical protocols and appropriate regulations. Our current and
future CROs, investigators and other third parties play a
significant role in the conduct of our trials and the subsequent
collection and analysis of data from the clinical trials. There is
no guarantee that any CROs, investigators and other third parties
will devote adequate time and resources to our clinical trials or
perform as contractually required. If any third parties upon whom
we rely for administration and conduct of our clinical trials fail
to meet expected deadlines, fail to adhere to its clinical
protocols or otherwise perform in a substandard manner, our
clinical trials may be extended, delayed or terminated, and we may
not be able to commercialize our product candidates. In addition to
the third parties identified above, we are also heavily reliant on
the conduct of our patients enrolled to our studies by our
third-party investigators. We rely on our clinical trial sites and
investigators to properly identify and screen qualified candidates
for our clinical trials, and for them to ensure participants adhere
to our clinical protocol requirements. The majority of our clinical
trial conduct occurs in the out-patient setting, where patients are
expected to continue to adhere to our study protocol specified
requirements. The ability of our enrolled patients to properly
identify, document, and report adverse events; take protocol
specified study drugs at the correct quantity, time, and setting,
as applicable; avoid contraindicated medications; and comply with
other protocol specified procedures such as returning to the trial
site for scheduled laboratory and disease assessments, is wholly
out of our control. Deviations from protocol procedures, such as
those identified previously, could materially affect the quality of
our clinical trial data, and therefore ultimately affect our
ability to develop and commercialize our drug candidates. If any of
our clinical trial sites terminates for any reason, we may
experience the loss of follow-up information on patients enrolled
in our ongoing clinical trials unless we are able to transfer the
care of those patients to another qualified clinical trial site. If
any of our clinical trial sites are required by the FDA or IRB to
close down due to data management or patient management or any
other issues we may lose patients. In our MS Phase 2 trial,
during routine monitoring and site audits, significant Good
Clinical Practice (GCP) violations and other noncompliance issues
were identified at one of our US-based large academic sites. The
investigator left the institution; shortly thereafter the site
terminated their participation in our study, before all data could
be source document verified. While we do not believe this will have
any effect on the overall results of the MS Phase 2 trial,
sensitivity analyses excluding data from this site will be
performed and no assurance can be given that the results were not
affected.
Whether
conducted through a CRO or through our internal staff, we are
solely responsible for ensuring that each of our clinical trials
are conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol, legal and
regulatory requirements and scientific standards, and our reliance
on CROs will not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities. For
any violations of laws and regulations during the conduct of our
clinical trials, we could be subject to warning letters or
enforcement action that may include civil penalties up to and
including criminal prosecution. We and our CROs are required to
comply with regulations, including GCP Guidelines for conducting, monitoring,
recording and reporting the results of clinical trials to ensure
that the data and results are scientifically credible and accurate,
and that the trial patients are adequately informed of the
potential risks of participating in clinical trials and their
rights are protected. These regulations are enforced by the FDA,
the Competent Authorities of the Member States of the European
Economic Area and comparable foreign regulatory authorities for any
drugs in clinical development. The FDA enforces GCP regulations
through periodic inspections of clinical trial sponsors, principal
investigators and trial sites. If we or our CROs fail to comply
with applicable GCPs, the clinical data 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 assure you that, upon inspection, the FDA will determine
that our current or future clinical trials comply with GCPs. In
addition, our clinical trials must be conducted with drug
candidates produced under cGMPs regulations. Our failure or the
failure of our CROs to comply with these regulations may require us
to repeat clinical trials, which would delay the regulatory
approval process and could also subject us to enforcement action.
We also are required to register most ongoing clinical trials and
post the results of completed clinical trials on
government-sponsored databases, e.g. ClinicalTrials.gov, within
certain timeframes. Failure to do so can result in fines, adverse
publicity and civil and criminal sanctions.
Although we intend to design the clinical trials
for our drug candidates, CROs play an important role in the conduct
of our clinical trials, especially outside of the United States. As
a result, many important aspects of our development programs,
including their conduct and timing, will be outside of our direct
control. Our reliance on third parties to conduct current or future
clinical trials will also result in less direct control over the
management of data developed through clinical trials than would be
the case if we were relying entirely upon our own staff.
Communicating with outside parties can also be challenging,
potentially leading to mistakes as well as difficulties in
coordinating activities. Outside parties
may:
●
have staffing
difficulties;
●
fail to comply
with contractual obligations;
●
experience
regulatory compliance issues;
●
undergo changes in
priorities or become financially distressed; or
●
form relationships
with other entities, some of which may be our
competitors.
These
factors may materially adversely affect the willingness or ability
of third parties to conduct our clinical trials and may subject us
to unexpected cost increases that are beyond our control. If the
CROs do not perform clinical trials in a satisfactory manner,
breach their obligations to us or fail to comply with regulatory
requirements, the development, regulatory approval and
commercialization of our drug candidates may be delayed, we may not
be able to obtain regulatory approval and commercialize our drug
candidates, or our development program may be materially and
irreversibly harmed. If we are unable to rely on clinical data
collected by our CROs, we could be required to repeat, extend the
duration of, or increase the size of any clinical trials we conduct
and this could significantly delay commercialization and require
significantly greater expenditures.
If
any of our relationships with these third-party CROs terminate, we
may not be able to enter into arrangements with alternative CROs.
If CROs do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or
obligations or meet expected deadlines, if they need to be replaced
or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is
compromised due to the failure to adhere to our clinical protocols,
regulatory requirements or for other reasons, any clinical trials
such CROs are associated with may be extended, delayed or
terminated, and we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval
for or successfully commercialize our drug candidates. As a result,
we believe that our financial results and the commercial prospects
for our drug candidates in the subject indication would be harmed,
our costs could increase and our ability to generate revenue could
be delayed.
We contract with third parties for the manufacture of our drug
candidates for pre-clinical development and clinical trials, and we
expect to continue to do so for commercialization. This reliance on
third parties increases the risk that we will not have sufficient
quantities of our drug candidates or drugs or such quantities at an
acceptable cost, which could delay, prevent or impair our
development or commercialization efforts.
We
do not currently own or operate, nor do we have any plans to
establish in the future, any manufacturing facilities or personnel.
We rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties for the
manufacture of our drug candidates for pre-clinical development and
clinical testing, as well as for the commercial manufacture of our
drugs if any of our drug candidates receive marketing approval.
This reliance on third parties increases the risk that we will not
have sufficient quantities of our drug candidates or drugs or such
quantities at an acceptable cost or quality, which could delay,
prevent or impair our development or commercialization
efforts.
The
facilities used by our contract manufacturers to manufacture our
drug candidates must be approved by the FDA pursuant to inspections
that will be conducted after we submit our marketing applications
to the FDA. We do not control the manufacturing process of, and
will be completely dependent on, our contract manufacturers for
compliance with cGMPs in connection with the manufacture of our
drug candidates. If our contract manufacturers cannot successfully
manufacture material that conforms to our specifications and the
strict regulatory requirements of the FDA or others, they will not
be able to secure and/or maintain regulatory approval for their
manufacturing facilities. In addition, we have no control over the
ability of our contract manufacturers to maintain adequate quality
control, quality assurance and qualified personnel. If the FDA or a
comparable foreign regulatory authority does not approve these
facilities for the manufacture of our drug candidates or if it
withdraws any such approval in the future, we may need to find
alternative manufacturing facilities, which would significantly
impact our ability to develop, obtain regulatory approval for or
market our drug candidates, if approved. Further, our failure, or
the failure of our third-party manufacturers, to comply with
applicable regulations could result in sanctions being imposed on
us, including clinical holds, fines, injunctions, civil penalties,
delays, suspension or withdrawal of approvals, license revocation,
seizures or recalls of drug candidates or drugs, if approved,
operating restrictions and criminal prosecutions, any of which
could significantly and adversely affect our business and supplies
of our drug candidates.
We do not have any long-term supply agreements
with all our contract manufacturers, and in those instances where
we do not, we purchase our required drug supply, including the drug
product and drug substance on a purchase order basis. In addition,
we may be unable to establish or maintain any agreements with
third-party manufacturers or to do so on acceptable terms.
No assurance can be given that a long-term, scalable manufacturer
can be identified or that they can make clinical and commercial
supplies of our product candidates that meets the product
specifications of previously manufactured batches, or is of a
sufficient quality, or at an appropriate scale and cost to make it
commercially feasible. If they are unable to do so, it could have a
material adverse impact on our business.
Even
if we are able to establish and maintain agreements with
third-party manufacturers, reliance on third-party manufacturers
entails additional risks, including:
●
reliance on the
third party for regulatory compliance and quality
assurance;
●
the possible
breach of the manufacturing agreement by the third
party;
●
the possible
misappropriation of our proprietary information, including our
trade secrets and know-how; and
●
the possible
termination or nonrenewal of the agreement by the third party at a
time that is costly or inconvenient for us.
Moreover, our current long-term supply agreements
and, we would expect all future long-term supply agreements would,
contain certain minimum purchases in what are commonly referred to
as “take or pay” provisions. To the extent our demand does not meet
the minimum supply required amounts, we would be forced to pay more
than desired. This could create a situation where we are spending
more than required and could impact our on-going operations and
entail curtailing other important research and development or
commercialization efforts. All of which could have a material
adverse effect on the Company.
Our drug candidates and any drugs that we may develop
may compete with other drug candidates and approved drugs for
access to manufacturing facilities. There are a limited number of
manufacturers that operate under cGMP regulations and that might be
capable of manufacturing for us.
Any
performance failure on the part of our existing or future
manufacturers could delay clinical development or marketing
approval. If our current contract manufacturers cannot perform as
agreed, we may be required to replace such manufacturers causing
additional costs and delays in identifying and qualifying any such
replacement.
Our
current and anticipated future dependence upon others for the
manufacture of our drug candidates or drugs could result in
significant delays or gaps in availability of such drug candidates
or drugs and may adversely affect our future profit margins and our
ability to commercialize any drugs that receive marketing approval
on a timely and competitive basis.
We
also expect to rely on other third parties to store and distribute
drug supplies for our clinical trials. Any performance failure on
the part of our distributors could delay clinical development or
marketing approval of any future product candidates or
commercialization of our products, producing additional losses and
depriving us of potential product revenue.
In
addition, we do not have the capability to package finished
products for distribution to hospitals and other customers. Prior
to commercial launch, we intend to enter into agreements with one
or more alternate fill/finish pharmaceutical product suppliers so
that we can ensure proper supply chain management once we are
authorized to make commercial sales of our product candidates. If
we receive marketing approval from the FDA, we intend to sell
pharmaceutical product finished and packaged by such suppliers. We
have not entered into long-term agreements with our fill/finish
suppliers, and we may be unable to enter into such an agreement or
do so on commercially reasonable terms, which could have a material
adverse impact upon our business.
The third parties upon whom we rely for the supply of the active
pharmaceutical ingredient ("API"), drug product, regulatory
starting materials and intermediates for drug substance and other
materials used in our drug candidates are our sole source of
supply, and the loss of any of these suppliers could significantly
harm our business.
The
API, drug product and drug substance used in our drug candidates
are currently supplied to us from single-source suppliers. Our
ability to successfully develop our drug candidates, supply our
drug candidates for clinical trials and to ultimately supply our
commercial drugs in quantities sufficient to meet the market
demand, depends in part on our ability to obtain the API, drug
product and drug substance for these drugs in accordance with
regulatory requirements and in sufficient quantities for clinical
testing and commercialization. If any of our suppliers ceases its
operations for any reason or is unable or unwilling to supply API,
drug product, drug substance and other materials in sufficient
quantities or on the timelines necessary to meet our needs, it
could significantly and adversely affect our business, the supply
of our drug candidates and our financial condition.
In most
cases, our manufacturing partners are single source suppliers. It
is expected that our manufacturing partners will be sole source
suppliers from single site locations for the foreseeable future.
Various raw materials, components, and testing services required
for our products may also be single sourced. Given this, any
disruption of supply from these partners could have a material,
long-term impact on our ability to supply products for clinical
trials or commercial sale. If our suppliers do not deliver
sufficient quantities of our product candidates on a timely basis,
or at all, and in accordance with applicable specifications, there
could be a significant interruption of our supply, which would
adversely affect clinical development and commercialization of our
products. In addition, if our current or future supply of any or
our product candidates should fail to meet specifications during
its stability program there could be a significant interruption of
our supply of drug, which would adversely affect the clinical
development and commercialization of the product.
For
all of our drug candidates, we plan to identify and qualify
additional manufacturers and other suppliers to provide such API,
drug product and drug substance prior to or following submission of
an NDA to the FDA and/or an MAA to the EMA. We are not certain,
however, that our single-source suppliers will be able to meet our
demand for their products, either because of the nature of our
agreements with those suppliers, our limited experience with those
suppliers or our relative importance as a customer to those
suppliers. It may be difficult for us to assess their ability to
timely meet our demand in the future based on past performance.
While our suppliers have generally met our demand for their
products on a timely basis in the past, they may subordinate our
needs in the future to their other customers.
Establishing
additional or replacement suppliers for the API, drug product and
drug substance used in our drug candidates, if required, may not be
accomplished quickly or at all. If we are able to find a
replacement supplier, such replacement supplier would need to be
qualified and may require additional regulatory approval, which
could result in further delay. While we seek to maintain adequate
inventory of the API, drug product and drug substance used in our
drug candidates, any interruption or delay in the supply of
components or materials, or our inability to obtain such API, drug
product and drug substance from alternate sources at acceptable
prices in a timely manner could impede, delay, limit or prevent our
development efforts, which could harm our business, results of
operations, financial condition and prospects.
Because we have in-licensed our product candidates from third
parties, any dispute with or non-performance by our licensors will
adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize the
applicable product candidates.
Because we license our intellectual property from
third parties and we expect to continue to in-license additional
intellectual property rights, if there is any dispute between us
and our licensor regarding our rights under a license
agreement, our ability to develop and
commercialize our product candidates may be adversely affected.
Disputes may arise with the third parties from whom we license our
intellectual property rights from for a variety of reasons,
including:
●
the scope of rights granted under the license agreement and other
interpretation-related issues;
●
the extent to which our technology and processes infringe on
intellectual property of the licensor that is not subject to the
license agreement;
●
the sublicensing of patent and other rights under our collaborative
development relationships and obligations associated with
sublicensing;
●
our diligence obligations under the license agreement and what
activities satisfy those diligence obligations;
●
the ownership of inventions and know-how resulting from the joint
creation or use of intellectual property by our licensors and us
and our partners; and
●
the priority of invention of patented technology.
In addition, the agreements under which we
currently license intellectual property or technology from third
parties are complex, and
certain provisions in such agreements may be susceptible to
multiple interpretations, or may conflict in such a way that puts
us in breach of one or more agreements, which would make us
susceptible to lengthy and expensive disputes with one or more of
our licensing partners. The resolution of any contract
interpretation disagreement that may arise could narrow what we
believe to be the scope of our rights to the relevant intellectual
property or technology, or increase what we believe to be our
financial or other obligations under the relevant agreement, either
of which could have a material adverse effect on our business,
financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Moreover, if disputes over intellectual property that we have
licensed prevent or impair our ability to maintain our current
licensing arrangements on commercially acceptable terms, we may be
unable to successfully develop and commercialize the affected
product candidates, which could have a material adverse effect on
our business, financial conditions, results of operations, and
prospects.
If conflicts arise between us and our future collaborators or
strategic partners, these parties may act in a manner adverse to us
and could limit our ability to implement our
strategies.
If
conflicts arise between our future corporate or academic
collaborators or strategic partners and us, the other party may act
in a manner adverse to us and could limit our ability to implement
our strategies. Future collaborators or strategic partners, may
develop, either alone or with others, products in related fields
that are competitive with the products or potential products that
are the subject of these collaborations. Competing products, either
developed by the collaborators or strategic partners or to which
the collaborators or strategic partners have rights, may result in
the withdrawal of partner support for any future product
candidates. Our current or future collaborators or strategic
partners may preclude us from entering into collaborations with
their competitors, fail to obtain timely regulatory approvals,
terminate their agreements with us prematurely, or fail to devote
sufficient resources to the development and commercialization of
products. Any of these developments could harm any future product
development efforts.
We may seek to establish additional collaborations, and, if we are
not able to establish them on commercially reasonable terms, we may
have to alter our development and commercialization
plans.
Our
drug development programs and the potential commercialization of
our drug candidates will require substantial additional cash to
fund expenses. For some of our drug candidates, we may decide to
collaborate with additional pharmaceutical and biotechnology
companies for the development and potential commercialization of
those drug candidates.
We
face significant competition in seeking appropriate collaborators.
Whether we reach a definitive agreement for a collaboration will
depend, among other things, upon our assessment of the
collaborator’s resources and expertise, the terms and
conditions of the proposed collaboration, and the proposed
collaborator’s evaluation of a number of factors. Those
factors may include the design or results of our clinical trials,
the likelihood of approval by the FDA or similar regulatory
authorities outside the United States, the potential market for the
subject drug candidate, the costs and complexities of manufacturing
and delivering such drug candidate to patients, the potential of
competing drugs, the existence of uncertainty with respect to our
ownership of technology, which can exist if there is a challenge to
such ownership without regard to the merits of the challenge and
industry and market conditions generally. The collaborator may also
consider alternative drug candidates or technologies for similar
indications that may be available to collaborate on and whether
such a collaboration could be more attractive than the one with us
for our drug candidate. The terms of any additional collaborations
or other arrangements that we may establish may not be favorable to
us.
We
may be restricted under our collaboration agreements from entering
into future agreements on certain terms with potential
collaborators. Collaborations are complex and time-consuming to
negotiate and document. In addition, there have been a significant
number of recent business combinations among large pharmaceutical
companies that have resulted in a reduced number of potential
future collaborators.
We
may not be able to negotiate additional collaborations on a timely
basis, on acceptable terms, or at all. If we are unable to do so,
we may have to curtail the development of the drug candidate for
which we are seeking to collaborate, reduce or delay its
development program or one or more of our other development
programs, delay its potential commercialization or reduce the scope
of any sales or marketing activities, or increase our expenditures
and undertake development or commercialization activities at our
own expense. If we elect to increase our expenditures to fund
development or commercialization activities on our own, we may need
to obtain additional capital, which may not be available to us on
acceptable terms or at all. If we do not have sufficient funds, we
may not be able to further develop our drug candidates or bring
them to market and generate drug revenue.
Any
future collaborations that we enter into may not be successful. The
success of our collaboration arrangements will depend heavily on
the efforts and activities of our collaborators. Collaborators
generally have significant discretion in determining the efforts
and resources that they will apply to these collaborations.
Disagreements between parties to a collaboration arrangement
regarding clinical development and commercialization matters can
lead to delays in the development process or commercializing the
applicable drug candidate and, in some cases, termination of the
collaboration arrangement. These disagreements can be difficult to
resolve if neither of the parties has final decision-making
authority. Collaborations with pharmaceutical or biotechnology
companies and other third parties often are terminated or allowed
to expire by the other party. Any termination or expiration of any
future collaboration agreement could adversely affect us
financially or harm our business reputation.
Risks
Relating to Our Intellectual Property
Our success depends upon our ability to obtain and protect our
intellectual property and proprietary technologies and if the scope of our patent protection obtained is
not sufficiently broad, our competitors could develop and
commercialize technology and drugs similar or identical to ours,
and our ability to successfully commercialize our technology and
drugs may be impaired.
Our
commercial success in part depends on obtaining and maintaining
patent protection and trade secret protection in the United States
and other countries with respect to our product candidates or any
future product candidate that we may license or acquire, their
formulations and uses and the methods we use to manufacture them,
as well as successfully defending these patents against third-party
challenges. We seek to protect our proprietary and intellectual
property position by filing patent applications in the United
States and abroad related to our novel technologies and product
candidates, and by maintenance of our trade secrets through proper
procedures.
We will
only be able to protect our technologies from unauthorized use by
third parties to the extent that valid and enforceable patents or
trade secrets cover them in the market they are being used or
developed. The degree of patent
protection we require to successfully commercialize our drug
candidates may be unavailable or severely limited in some cases and
may not adequately protect our rights or permit us to gain or keep
any competitive advantage. We cannot provide any assurances that
any of our patents have, or that any of our pending patent
applications that mature into issued patents will include, claims
with a scope sufficient to protect any of our drug candidates. In
addition, the laws of foreign countries may not protect our rights
to the same extent as the laws of the United
States.
Furthermore,
patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States, the natural
expiration of a patent is generally twenty years after it is filed.
Various extensions may be available; however, the life of a patent,
and the protection it affords, is limited. Given the amount of time
required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new
drug candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire
before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized. As a
result, our owned patent portfolio may not provide us with adequate
and continuing patent protection sufficient to exclude others from
commercializing drugs similar or identical to our drug candidates,
including generic versions of such drugs.
Currently, the composition of matter patent for
ublituximab and umbralisib are granted in both the United States
and EU, among other countries. A method of use patent covering the
combination of ublituximab and umbralisib has also been granted in
the US, EU, Japan, and several other territories. Additionally,
several method of use patents for ublituximab and umbralisib in
various indications and settings have also been applied for but
have not yet been issued, or have been issued in certain
territories but not under all jurisdictions in which such
applications have been filed. No patents to date have been issued
for TG-1501, TG-1701 and TG-1801 or for our pre-clinical product
candidates. There can be no guarantee that any of these patents for
which an application has already been filed, nor any patents filed
in the future for our product candidates will be granted in any or
all jurisdictions in which there were filed, or that all claims
initially included in such patent applications will be allowed in
the final patent that is issued. The patent application process is
subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, and there can be no
assurance that we or our partners will be successful in protecting
our product candidates by obtaining and defending patents, or what
the scope of an issued patent may ultimately be.
These
risks and uncertainties include the following:
●
the
patent applications that we or our partners file may not result in
any patents being issued;
●
patents that may
be issued or in-licensed may be challenged, invalidated, modified,
revoked or circumvented, or otherwise may not provide any
competitive advantage;
●
as of
March 16, 2013, the United States converted from a “first to
invent” to a “first to file” system. If we do not
win the filing race, we will not be entitled to inventive
priority;
●
our
competitors, many of which have substantially greater resources
than we do, and many of which have made significant investments in
competing technologies, may seek, or may already have obtained,
patents that will limit, interfere with, or eliminate its ability
to file new patent applications or make, use, and sell our
potential products either in the United States or in international
markets;
●
there
may be significant pressure on the United States government and
other international governmental bodies to limit the scope of
patent protection both inside and outside the United States for
disease treatments that prove successful as a matter of public
policy regarding worldwide health concerns; and
●
countries other
than the United States may have less restrictive patent laws than
those upheld by United States courts, allowing foreign competitors
the ability to exploit these laws to create, develop, and market
competing products.
If
patents are not issued that protect our product candidates, it
could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and
results of operations.
In
addition, the patent prosecution process is expensive and
time-consuming, and we may not be able to file and prosecute all
necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or
in a timely manner. Further, with
respect to some of the pending patent applications covering our
drug candidates, prosecution has yet to commence. Patent
prosecution is a lengthy process, during which the scope of the
claims initially submitted for examination by the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office, or USPTO, have been significantly narrowed by the
time they issue, if at all. It is also possible that we will
fail to identify any patentable aspects of our research and
development output and methodology, and, even if we do, an
opportunity to obtain patent protection may have passed. Given the
uncertain and time-consuming process of filing patent applications
and prosecuting them, it is possible that our product(s) or
process(es) originally covered by the scope of the patent
application may have changed or been modified, leaving our
product(s) or process(es) without patent protection. Moreover, in some circumstances, we do not have
the right to control the preparation, filing and prosecution of
patent applications, or to maintain the patents, covering
technology that we license from third parties. Therefore, these
patents and applications may not be prosecuted and enforced in a
manner consistent with the best interests of our business.
If our licensors or we fail to appropriately prosecute and maintain
patent protection or trade secret protection for one or more
product candidates or any future product candidate we may license
or acquire, our ability to develop and commercialize these product
candidates may be adversely affected and we may not be able to
prevent competitors from making, using and selling competing
products. This failure to properly protect the intellectual
property rights relating to these product candidates could impair
our ability to compete in the market and adversely affect our
ability to generate revenues and achieve profitability, which would
have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and
results of operations. Furthermore, should we enter into other
collaborations, including out-licensing or partnerships, we may be
required to consult with or cede control to collaborators regarding
the prosecution, maintenance and enforcement of licensed patents.
Therefore, these patents and applications may not be prosecuted and
enforced in a manner consistent with the best interests of our
business.
The
patent position of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies
generally is highly uncertain, involves complex legal and factual
questions, and has in recent years been the subject of much
litigation. In addition, no consistent policy regarding the breadth
of claims allowed in pharmaceutical or biotechnology patents has
emerged to date in the United States. The patent situation outside
the United States is even more uncertain. The laws of foreign
countries may not protect our rights to the same extent as the laws
of the United States, and we may fail to seek or obtain patent
protection in all major markets. For example, European patent law
restricts the patentability of methods of treatment of the human
body more than United States law does. Our pending and future
patent applications may not result in patents being issued which
protect our technology or products, in whole or in part, or which
effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive
technologies and products. Changes in either the patent laws or
interpretation of the patent laws in the United States and other
countries may diminish the value of our patents or narrow the scope
of our patent protection. For example, the federal courts of the
United States have taken an increasingly dim view of the patent
eligibility of certain subject matter, such as naturally occurring
nucleic acid sequences, amino acid sequences and certain methods of
utilizing same, which include their detection in a biological
sample and diagnostic conclusions arising from their detection.
Such subject matter, which had long been a staple of the
biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industry to protect their
discoveries, is now considered, with few exceptions, ineligible in
the first instance for protection under the patent laws of the
United States. Accordingly, we cannot predict the breadth of claims
that may be allowed or enforced in our patents or in those licensed
from a third-party.
In addition, U.S. patent laws may change, which
could prevent or limit us or our subsidiaries from filing patent
applications or patent claims to protect products and/or
technologies or limit the exclusivity periods that are available to
patent holders, as well as affect the validity, enforceability, or
scope of issued patents. For example, on September 16, 2011,
the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act was signed into law. The
Leahy-Smith Act includes a number of significant changes to United
States patent law. These include changes to transition from a
“first-to-invent” system to a
“first-to-file” system and to the way issued patents
are challenged. The formation of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board
now provides a quicker and less expensive process for challenging
issued patents.
We may
be subject to a third-party pre-issuance submission of prior art to
the USPTO, or become involved in opposition, derivation,
reexamination, inter parties review, post-grant review or
interference proceedings challenging our patent rights or the
patent rights of others. The costs of these proceedings could be
substantial and it is possible that our efforts to establish
priority of invention would be unsuccessful, resulting in a
material adverse effect on our United States patent position. An
adverse determination in any such submission, patent office trial,
proceeding or litigation could reduce the scope of, render
unenforceable, or invalidate, our patent rights, allow third
parties to commercialize our technology or products and compete
directly with us, without payment to us, or result in our inability
to manufacture or commercialize products without infringing
third-party patent rights. In addition, if the breadth or strength
of protection provided by our patents and patent applications is
threatened, it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us
to license, develop or commercialize current or future product
candidates.
The
issuance of a patent does not foreclose challenges to its
inventorship, scope, validity or enforceability. Therefore, our
owned and licensed patents may be challenged in the courts or
patent offices in the United States and abroad. Such challenges may
result in loss of exclusivity or in patent claims being narrowed,
invalidated or held unenforceable, in whole or in part, which could
limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing
similar or identical technology and products, or limit the duration
of the patent protection of our technology and products. Given the
amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory
review of new product candidates, patents protecting such product
candidates might expire before or shortly after such product
candidates are commercialized. As a result, our owned and licensed
patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to
exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical
to ours.
Even if
our patent applications issue as patents, and they are unchallenged, our issued patents and our
pending patents, if issued, may not provide us with any meaningful
protection or prevent competitors from designing around our patent
claims to circumvent our owned or licensed patents by developing
similar or alternative technologies or drugs in a non-infringing
manner. For example, a third party may develop a competitive drug
that provides benefits similar to one or more of our drug
candidates but that has a different composition that falls outside
the scope of our patent protection. If the patent protection
provided by the patents and patent applications we hold or pursue
with respect to our drug candidates is not sufficiently broad to
impede such competition, our ability to successfully commercialize
our drug candidates could be negatively affected, which would harm
our business.
In
addition, we may in the future be subject to claims by our former
employees or consultants asserting an ownership right in our
patents or patent applications, as a result of the work they
performed on our behalf. Although we generally require all of our
employees, consultants and advisors and any other third parties who
have access to our proprietary know-how, information or technology
to assign or grant similar rights to their inventions to us, we
cannot be certain that we have executed such agreements with all
parties who may have contributed to our intellectual property, nor
can we be certain that our agreements with such parties will be
upheld in the face of a potential challenge, or that they will not
be breached, for which we may not have an adequate remedy. An
adverse determination in any such submission or proceeding may
result in loss of exclusivity or freedom to operate or in patent
claims being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable, in whole
or in part, which could limit our ability to stop others from using
or commercializing similar or identical technology and drugs,
without payment to us, or could limit the duration of the patent
protection covering our technology and drug candidates. Such
challenges may also result in our inability to manufacture or
commercialize our drug candidates without infringing third-party
patent rights. In addition, if the breadth or strength of
protection provided by our patents and patent applications is
threatened, it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us
to license, develop or commercialize current or future drug
candidates.
Patent
protection and other intellectual property protection are crucial
to the success of our business and prospects, and there is a
substantial risk that such protections will prove
inadequate.
Obtaining and maintaining patent protection depends on compliance
with various procedural, document submission, fee payment and other
requirements imposed by governmental patent agencies, and our
patent protection could be reduced or eliminated for non-compliance
with these requirements.
The
USPTO and various foreign governmental patent agencies require
compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment
and other similar provisions during the patent application process.
In addition, periodic maintenance fees on issued patents often must
be paid to the USPTO and foreign patent agencies over the lifetime
of the patent. While an unintentional lapse can in many cases be
cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with
the applicable rules, there are situations in which noncompliance
can result in abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent
application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights
in the relevant jurisdiction.
Non-compliance
events that could result in abandonment or lapse of a patent or
patent application include, but are not limited to, failure to
respond to official actions within prescribed time limits,
non-payment of fees and failure to properly legalize and submit
formal documents. If we fail to maintain the patents and patent
applications covering our drugs or procedures, we may not be able
to stop a competitor from marketing drugs that are the same as or
similar to our drug candidates, which would have a material adverse
effect on our business.
If we or our partners are sued for infringing intellectual property
rights of third parties, it will be costly and time consuming, and
an unfavorable outcome in that litigation would have a material
adverse effect on our business.
Our
commercial success depends upon our ability and the ability of our
collaborators to develop, manufacture, market and sell our drug
candidates and use our proprietary technologies without infringing
the proprietary rights and intellectual property of third parties.
The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are characterized
by extensive and frequent litigation regarding patents and other
intellectual property rights. We may in the future become party to,
or threatened with, adversarial proceedings or litigation regarding
intellectual property rights with respect to our drug candidates
and technology, including interference proceedings before the
USPTO.
Our competitors or other third parties may assert
infringement claims against us, alleging that our drugs are covered
by their patents. Given the vast number of patents in our field of
technology, we cannot be certain that we do not infringe existing
patents or that we will not infringe patents that may be granted in
the future. Numerous United States and foreign issued
patents and pending patent applications, which are owned by third
parties, exist in the fields in which we are developing products,
some of which may be directed at claims that overlap with the
subject matter of our intellectual property. In addition, because
patent applications can take many years to issue, there may be
currently pending applications, unknown to us, which may later
result in issued patents that our product candidates or proprietary
technologies may infringe. Similarly, there may be issued patents
relevant to our product candidates of which we are not aware.
Publications of discoveries in the scientific literature often lag
behind the actual discoveries, and patent applications in the
United States and other jurisdictions are typically not published
until 18 months after a first filing, or in some cases not at all.
Therefore, we cannot know with certainty whether we or our
licensors were the first to make the inventions claimed in patents
or pending patent applications that we own or licensed, or that we
or our licensors were the first to file for patent protection of
such inventions.
We are
aware of certain patents that may pose issues for our
commercialization of our drug candidates. For example, Roche,
Biogen Idec, and Genentech hold patents for the use of anti-CD20
antibodies utilized in the treatment of CLL in the United States
which are expected to expire in November of 2019. While these
patents have been challenged, to the best of our knowledge, those
matters were settled in a way that permitted additional anti-CD20
antibodies to be marketed for CLL. If those patents are still valid
and enforced at the time we are intending to launch ublituximab,
then we will need to either prevail in a litigation to challenge
those patents or negotiate a settlement agreement with the patent
holders. If we decide to initiate
proceedings to challenge the validity of these patents in the
future, we may be unsuccessful, as courts or patent offices in the
United States and abroad could uphold the validity of any such
patents. If we were to challenge the validity of any issued United
States patent in court, we would need to overcome a statutory
presumption of validity that attaches to every United States
patent. This means that in order to prevail, we would have to
present clear and convincing evidence as to the invalidity of the
patent’s claims. If we are unable to do so, we may be
forced to delay the launch of ublituximab or launch at the risk of
litigation for patent infringement, which may have a material
adverse effect on our business and results of
operations.
If a
third party claims that we or any collaborators of ours infringe
their intellectual property rights, we may have to defend
litigation or administrative proceedings which may be costly
whether we win or lose, and which could result in a substantial
diversion of our financial and management resources. If we are found to infringe a third party’s
intellectual property rights, we could be required to obtain a
license from such third party to continue developing and marketing
our drug candidates and technology. However, we may not be able to
obtain any required license on commercially reasonable terms or at
all. Even if we were able to obtain such a license, it could be
granted on non-exclusive terms, thereby providing our competitors
and other third parties access to the same technologies licensed to
us. Without such a license, we could be forced, including by court
order, to cease developing and commercializing the infringing
technology or drug candidates. In addition, we could be found
liable for monetary damages, including treble damages and
attorneys’ fees if we are found to have willfully infringed
such third-party patent rights. A finding of infringement could
prevent us from commercializing our drug candidates or force us to
cease some of our business operations, which could materially harm
our business.
No
assurance can be given that patents issued to third parties do not
exist, have not been filed, or could not be filed or issued, which
contain claims covering its products, technology or methods that
may encompass all or a portion of our products and methods. Given
the number of patents issued and patent applications filed in our
technical areas or fields, we believe there is a risk that third
parties may allege they have patent rights encompassing our
products or methods.
Other
product candidates that we may in-license or acquire could be
subject to similar risks and uncertainties.
We may need to license certain intellectual property from third
parties, and such licenses may not be available or may not be
available on commercially reasonable terms.
A third
party may hold intellectual property, including patent rights that
are important or necessary to the development and commercialization
of our products. It may be necessary for us to use the patented or
proprietary technology of third parties to commercialize our
products, in which case we would be required to obtain a license
from these third parties, whom may or may not be interested in
granting such a license, on commercially reasonable terms, or our
business could be harmed, possibly materially. For example, we
engage extensively with third parties, including academic
institutions, to conduct non-clinical and clinical research on our
product candidates. While we seek to ensure all material transfer
and service agreements governing this research provide us with
favorable terms covering newly generated intellectual property, a
general principle under which much of this research with academic
institutions is conducted provides third party ownership of newly
generated intellectual property, with an exclusive option available
for us to obtain a license to such intellectual property. Through
the conduct of this research, it is possible that valuable
intellectual property could be developed by a third party, which we
will then need to license in order to better develop or
commercialize our products. No assurance can be given that we will
be able to successfully negotiate such a license on commercially
reasonable terms, or at all. Further, should we fail to
successfully negotiate a license to such intellectual property,
most institutions are then free to license such intellectual
property to any other third party, including potentially direct
competitors of ours. Should we fail to adequately secure a license
to any newly generated intellectual property, our ability to
successfully develop or commercialize our products may be hindered,
possibly materially.
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. To counter
infringement or unauthorized use, we may be required to file
infringement claims, which typically are very expensive,
time-consuming and disruptive of day-to-day business operations.
Any claims we assert against accused infringers could provoke these
parties to assert counterclaims against us alleging invalidity of
our or certain of our subsidiaries’ patents or that we
infringe their patents; or provoke those parties to petition the
USPTO to institute inter parties review against the asserted
patents, which may lead to a finding that all or some of the claims
of the patent are invalid. In addition, in an infringement
proceeding, a court may decide that a patent of ours or our
licensors is not valid or is unenforceable, or may refuse to stop
the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds
that our patents do not cover the technology in question. An
adverse result in any litigation or defense proceedings could put
one or more of our pending patents at risk of being invalidated,
held unenforceable, or interpreted narrowly.
In
patent litigation in the United States, defendant counterclaims
challenging the validity, enforceability or scope of asserted
patents are commonplace. In addition, third parties may initiate
legal proceedings against us to assert such challenges to our
intellectual property rights. The outcome of any such proceeding is
generally unpredictable. Grounds for a validity challenge could be
an alleged failure to meet any of several statutory requirements,
including lack of novelty, obviousness or non-enablement. Patents
may be unenforceable if someone connected with prosecution of the
patent withheld relevant information from the USPTO or made a
misleading statement during prosecution. It is possible that prior
art of which we and the patent examiner were unaware during
prosecution exists, which could render our patents invalid.
Moreover, it is also possible that prior art may exist that we are
aware of but do not believe is relevant to our current or future
patents, but that could nevertheless be determined to render our
patents invalid.
Competing
drugs may also be sold in other countries in which our patent
coverage might not exist or be as strong. If we lose a foreign
patent lawsuit, alleging our infringement of a competitor’s
patents, we could be prevented from marketing our drugs in one or
more foreign countries. Any of these outcomes would have a
materially adverse effect on our business.
In
addition, 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. Furthermore, adverse results on
United States patents may affect related patents in our global
portfolio. The adverse result could also put related pending patent
applications at risk of not issuing. Additionally, there could 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
substantial adverse effect on the price of our common
stock.
Interference
proceedings provoked by third parties or brought by the USPTO may
be necessary to determine the priority of inventions with respect
to our patents or pending patent applications or those of our
collaborators or licensors. An unfavorable outcome could require us
to cease using the related technology or to attempt to license
rights to it from the prevailing party. The costs of these
proceedings could be substantial. As a result, the issuance, scope,
validity, enforceability and commercial value of our or any of our
respective licensors’ patent rights are highly uncertain. Our
business could be harmed if the prevailing party does not offer us
a license on commercially reasonable terms. Litigation or
interference proceedings may fail and, even if successful, may
result in substantial costs and distract our management and other
employees. We may not be able to prevent, alone or with our
licensors, misappropriation of our trade secrets or confidential
information, particularly in countries where the laws may not
protect those rights as fully as in the United States.
We
may not have sufficient financial or other resources to adequately
conduct such litigation or proceedings. Some of our competitors may
be able to sustain the costs of such litigation or proceedings more
effectively than we can because of their greater financial
resources and more mature and developed intellectual property
portfolios. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may not be able to
prevent third parties from infringing upon or misappropriating or
from successfully challenging our intellectual property rights.
Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of
patent litigation or other proceedings could have a material
adverse effect on our ability to compete in the
marketplace.
If
we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets,
our business and competitive position may be harmed.
In
addition to the protection afforded by patents, we rely upon
unpatented trade secret protection, unpatented know-how and
continuing technological innovation to develop and maintain our
competitive position. With respect to the building of our
proprietary compound library, we consider trade secrets and
know-how to be our primary intellectual property. We seek to
protect our proprietary technology and processes, in part, by
entering into confidentiality agreements with our collaborators,
scientific advisors, employees and consultants, and invention
assignment agreements with our consultants and employees. We may
not be able to prevent the unauthorized disclosure or use of our
technical know-how or other trade secrets by the parties to these
agreements, however, despite the existence generally of
confidentiality agreements and other contractual restrictions.
Monitoring unauthorized uses and disclosures is difficult, and we
do not know whether the steps we have taken to protect our
proprietary technologies will be effective. If any of the
collaborators, scientific advisors, employees and consultants who
are parties to these agreements breaches or violates the terms of
any of these agreements, we may not have adequate remedies for any
such breach or violation, and we could lose our trade secrets as a
result. Enforcing a claim that a third party illegally obtained and
is using our trade secrets, like patent litigation, is expensive
and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition,
courts outside the United States are sometimes less willing to
protect trade secrets.
Our
trade secrets could otherwise become known or be independently
discovered by our competitors. Competitors could purchase our drug
candidates and attempt to replicate some or all of the competitive
advantages we derive from our development efforts, willfully
infringe our intellectual property rights, design around our
protected technology or develop their own competitive technologies
that fall outside of our intellectual property rights. If any of
our trade secrets were to be lawfully obtained or independently
developed by a competitor, we would have no right to prevent them,
or those to whom they communicate it, from using that technology or
information to compete with us. If our trade secrets are not
adequately protected so as to protect our market against
competitors’ drugs, our competitive position could be
adversely affected, as could our business.
We may be subject to damages resulting from claims that we or our
employees have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets
of our competitors or are in breach of non-competition or
non-solicitation agreements with our competitors.
We
could in the future be subject to claims that we or our employees
have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed alleged trade
secrets or other proprietary information of former employers or
competitors. Although we try to ensure that our employees and
consultants do not use the intellectual property, proprietary
information, know-how or trade secrets of others in their work for
us, we may in the future be subject to claims that we caused an
employee to breach the terms of his or her non-competition or
non-solicitation agreement, or that we or these individuals have,
inadvertently or otherwise, used or disclosed the alleged trade
secrets or other proprietary information of a former employer or
competitor. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these
claims. Even if we are successful in defending against these
claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and could be a
distraction to management. If our defenses to these claims fail, in
addition to requiring us to pay monetary damages, a court could
prohibit us from using technologies or features that are essential
to our drug candidates, if such technologies or features are found
to incorporate or be derived from the trade secrets or other
proprietary information of the former employers. An inability to
incorporate such technologies or features would have a material
adverse effect on our business, and may prevent us from
successfully commercializing our drug candidates. In addition, we
may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel as a
result of such claims. Moreover, any such litigation or the threat
thereof may adversely affect our ability to hire employees or
contract with independent sales representatives. A loss of key
personnel or their work product could hamper or prevent our ability
to commercialize our drug candidates, which would have an adverse
effect on our business, results of operations and financial
condition.
Risks Related to Employee Matters, Managing Growth and Other Risks
Related to Our Business
If we fail to attract and keep key management and clinical
development personnel, we may be unable to successfully develop or
commercialize our product candidates.
We
are highly dependent on the research and development, clinical,
business development, financial and legal expertise of our senior
management team as well as the other principal members of our
management, scientific and clinical team. Although we have entered
into employment agreement with our chief executive officer and
employment letters with our senior managers, each of our executive
officers may terminate their employment with us at any time. We do
not maintain “key person” insurance for any of our
executives or other employees. In addition, we rely on consultants
and advisors, including scientific and clinical advisors, to assist
us in formulating our research and development and
commercialization strategy. Our consultants and advisors may be
employed by employers other than us and may have commitments under
consulting or advisory contracts with other entities that may limit
their availability to us. If we are unable to continue to attract
and retain high quality personnel, our ability to pursue our growth
strategy will be limited.
We expect to continue hiring qualified development
personnel. Recruiting and retaining qualified scientific, clinical,
manufacturing and sales and marketing personnel will be critical to
our success. The loss of the services of our chief executive
officer or other key employees could impede the achievement of our
research, development and commercialization objectives and
seriously harm our ability to successfully implement our business
strategy. Furthermore, replacing key employees may be difficult and
may take an extended period of time because of the limited number
of individuals in our industry with the breadth of skills and
experience required to successfully develop, gain regulatory
approval of and commercialize drugs. Competition to hire from this
limited pool is intense, and we may be unable to hire, train,
retain or motivate these key personnel on acceptable terms given
the competition among numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology
companies for similar personnel. Failure to succeed in clinical
trials may make it more challenging to recruit and retain qualified
medical and scientific personnel. If we are not able to
attract and retain the necessary personnel to accomplish our
business objectives, we may experience constraints that will impede
significantly the achievement of our development objectives, our
ability to raise additional capital, and our ability to implement
our business strategy.
We will need to develop and expand our Company, and we may
encounter difficulties in managing this development and expansion,
which could disrupt our operations.
As of May 3, 2019, we had 102 full-time employees,
and we expect to continue to increase our number of employees and
expand the scope of our operations. Our management and
medical and scientific personnel, systems and facilities currently
in place may not be adequate to support our future growth.
To manage our anticipated future
growth, we must continue to implement and improve our managerial,
operational and financial systems, expand our facilities and
continue to recruit and train additional qualified personnel. Also,
our management may need to divert a disproportionate amount of its
attention away from its day-to-day activities and devote a
substantial amount of time to managing these development
activities. Due to our limited resources, we may not be able to
effectively manage the expansion of our operations or recruit and
train additional qualified personnel. This may result in weaknesses
in our infrastructure, give rise to operational mistakes, loss of
business opportunities, loss of employees and reduced productivity
among remaining employees. To accommodate growth, additional
physical expansion of our operations in the future may lead to
significant costs, including capital expenditures, and may divert
financial resources from other projects, such as the development of
our drug candidates. If our management is unable to effectively
manage our expected development and expansion, our expenses may
increase more than expected, our ability to generate or increase
our revenue could be reduced and we may not be able to implement
our business strategy. Our future financial performance and our
ability to commercialize our drug candidates, if approved, and
compete effectively will depend, in part, on our ability to
effectively manage the future development and expansion of our
company.
Additionally, to
help manage the expanding needs, we may utilize the services of
outside vendors or consultants to perform tasks including clinical
trial management, statistics and analysis, regulatory affairs,
formulation development, chemistry, manufacturing, controls, and
other pharmaceutical development functions. Our growth strategy may
also entail expanding our group of contractors or consultants to
implement these tasks going forward. Because we rely on a
substantial number of consultants, effectively outsourcing many key
functions of our business, we will need to be able to effectively
manage these consultants to ensure that they successfully carry out
their contractual obligations and meet expected deadlines. However,
if we are unable to effectively manage our outsourced activities or
if the quality or accuracy of the services provided by consultants
is compromised for any reason, our clinical trials may be extended,
delayed or terminated, and we may not be able to obtain regulatory
approval for our product candidates or otherwise advance its
business. There can be no assurance that we will be able to manage
our existing consultants or find other competent outside
contractors and consultants on economically reasonable terms, or at
all. If we are not able to effectively expand our organization by
hiring new employees and expanding our groups of consultants and
contractors, we may be unable to successfully implement the tasks
necessary to further develop and commercialize our product
candidates and, accordingly, may not achieve our research,
development and commercialization goals.
Unfavorable global economic conditions could adversely affect our
business, financial condition or results of
operations.
Our
results of operations could be adversely affected by general
conditions in the global economy and in the global financial
markets. For example, the global financial crisis caused extreme
volatility and disruptions in the capital and credit markets. A
severe or prolonged economic downturn, such as the global financial
crisis, could result in a variety of risks to our business,
including, weakened demand for our drug candidates and our ability
to raise additional capital when needed on acceptable terms, if at
all. A weak or declining economy could also strain our suppliers,
possibly resulting in supply disruption, or cause our customers to
delay making payments for our services.
Following
its June 23, 2016 vote to leave the European Union, on March 29,
2017, the United Kingdom invoked Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty
and formally began the process of exiting the European Union.
Although Brexit has already and may continue to adversely affect
European and/or worldwide economic or market, political or
regulatory conditions and may contribute to instability in the
global financial markets, political institutions and regulatory
agencies, the resulting immediate changes in foreign currency
exchange rates have had a limited overall impact due to natural
hedging. The long-term impact of Brexit, including on our business
and our industry, will depend on the terms that are negotiated in
relation to the United Kingdom’s future relationship with the
European Union, and we are closely monitoring the Brexit
developments in order to determine, quantify and proactively
address changes as they become clear. Despite the Brexit
developments, we do not expect macroeconomic conditions to have a
significant impact on our liquidity needs, financial condition or
results of operations.
We or the third parties upon whom we depend may be adversely
affected by earthquakes or other natural disasters and our business
continuity and disaster recovery plans may not adequately protect
us from a serious disaster.
Earthquakes or other natural disasters could
severely disrupt our operations, and have a material adverse effect
on our business, results of operations, financial condition and
prospects. If a natural disaster, power outage or other event
occurred that prevented us from using all or a significant portion
of our headquarters, that damaged critical infrastructure, such as
the manufacturing facilities of our third-party contract
manufacturers, or that otherwise disrupted operations, it may be
difficult or, in certain cases, impossible for us to continue our
business for a substantial period of time. The disaster recovery
and business continuity plans we have in place may prove inadequate
in the event of a serious disaster or similar event. We may incur
substantial expenses as a result of the limited nature of our
disaster recovery and business continuity plans, which, could have
a material adverse effect on our business.
Our internal computer systems, or those of our third-party CROs or
other contractors or consultants, may fail or suffer security
breaches, which could result in a material disruption of our drug
candidates’ development programs.
Despite
the implementation of security measures, our internal computer
systems and those of our third-party CROs and other contractors and
consultants are vulnerable to damage from computer viruses,
unauthorized access, natural disasters, terrorism, war and
telecommunication and electrical failures. While we have not
experienced any such system failure, accident, or security breach
to date, if such an event were to occur and cause interruptions in
our operations, it could result in a material disruption of our
programs. For example, the loss of clinical trial data for our drug
candidates could result in delays in our regulatory approval
efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or
reproduce the data. To the extent that any disruption or security
breach results in a loss of or damage to our data or applications
or other data or applications relating to our technology or drug
candidates, or inappropriate disclosure of confidential or
proprietary information, we could incur liabilities and the further
development of our drug candidates could be delayed.
Our employees, principal investigators, CROs and consultants may
engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including
non-compliance with regulatory standards and requirements and
insider trading, which could have a material adverse effect on our
business.
We are exposed to the risk that our employees,
principal investigators, CROs and consultants may engage in
fraudulent conduct or other illegal activity. Misconduct by these
parties could include intentional failures to comply with FDA
regulations, provide accurate information to the FDA, comply with
manufacturing standards we have established, comply with federal
and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws and regulations, report
financial information or data accurately or disclose unauthorized
activities to us. In
particular, sales, marketing and business arrangements in the
healthcare industry are subject to extensive laws and regulations
intended to prevent fraud, misconduct, kickbacks, self-dealing and
other abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict or
prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and
promotion, sales commission, customer incentive programs and other
business arrangements. Activities subject to these laws also
involve the improper use of information obtained in the course of
clinical trials or creating fraudulent data in our pre-clinical
studies or clinical trials, which could result in regulatory
sanctions and cause serious harm to our reputation. We have adopted
a code of ethics applicable to all of our employees, but it is not
always possible to identify and deter misconduct by employees and
other third parties, and the precautions we take to detect and
prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown
or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental
investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure
to comply with these laws or regulations. In addition, we are
subject to the risk that a person could allege such fraud or other
misconduct, even if none occurred. If any such actions are
instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending
ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a
significant impact on our business, including the imposition of
civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, monetary
fines, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid
and other federal healthcare programs, contractual damages,
reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, and
curtailment of our operations, any of which could adversely affect
our ability to operate our business and our results of
operations.
We may acquire businesses or drugs, or form strategic alliances, in
the future, and we may not realize the benefits of such
acquisitions.
We
may acquire additional businesses or drugs, form strategic
alliances or create joint ventures with third parties that we
believe will complement or augment our existing business. If we
acquire businesses with promising markets or technologies, we may
not be able to realize the benefit of acquiring such businesses if
we are unable to successfully integrate them with our existing
operations and company culture. We may encounter numerous
difficulties in developing, manufacturing and marketing any new
drugs resulting from a strategic alliance or acquisition that delay
or prevent us from realizing their expected benefits or enhancing
our business. We cannot assure you that, following any such
acquisition, we will achieve the expected synergies to justify the
transaction.
We may be subject to adverse legislative or regulatory tax changes
that could negatively impact our financial condition.
The
rules dealing with U.S. federal, state and local income taxation
are constantly under review by persons involved in the legislative
process and by the IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department. Changes to
tax laws (which changes may have retroactive application) could
adversely affect our stockholders or us. In recent years, many such
changes have been made and changes are likely to continue to occur
in the future. We cannot predict whether, when, in what form, or
with what effective dates, tax laws, regulations and rulings may be
enacted, promulgated or decided, which could result in an increase
in our, or our stockholders’, tax liability or require
changes in the manner in which we operate in order to minimize
increases in our tax liability.
On
December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or TCJA, was enacted.
The TCJA significantly reforms the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
as amended. The TCJA, among other things, includes changes to U.S.
federal tax rates, imposes significant additional limitations on
the deductibility of interest and net operating loss carryforwards
and allows for the expensing of capital expenditures. Our net
deferred tax assets and liabilities were revalued as of December
31, 2017 at the newly enacted U.S. corporate rate, and the impact
was recognized in our tax expense in the year of enactment but was
offset by a corresponding reduction to the valuation allowance. We
continue to examine the impact this tax reform legislation may have
on our business. The impact of this tax reform is uncertain and
could be adverse.
Our tax position could be affected by recent changes in United
States federal income tax laws.
On
December 22, 2017, legislation commonly referred to as the
“Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” was signed into law and is
generally effective after December 31, 2017. The Tax Cuts and Jobs
Act makes significant changes to the United States federal income
tax rules for taxation of individuals and business entities. Most
of the changes applicable to individuals are temporary and apply
only to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before
January 1, 2026. For corporations, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
reduces the top corporate income tax rate to 21% and repeals the
corporate alternative minimum tax, limits the deduction for net
interest expense, limits the deduction for net operating losses and
eliminates net operating loss carrybacks, modifies or repeals many
business deductions and credits, shifts the United States toward a
more territorial tax system, and imposes new taxes to combat
erosion of the United States federal income tax base. The Tax Cuts
and Jobs Act makes numerous other large and small changes to the
federal income tax rules that may affect potential investors and
may directly or indirectly affect us. We continue to examine the
impact this tax reform legislation may have on our business.
However, the effect of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on us, whether
adverse or favorable, is uncertain, and may not become evident for
some period of time. This document does not discuss such
legislation or the manner in which it might affect us or purchasers
of our common stock. Prospective investors are urged to consult
with their legal and tax advisors with respect to the Tax Cuts and
Jobs Act and any other regulatory or administrative developments
and proposals, and their potential effects on them based on their
unique circumstances.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock and Being a Publicly-Traded
Company
Our stock price is, and we expect it to remain, volatile, which
could limit investors’ ability to sell stock at a
profit.
The
trading price of our common stock is likely to be highly volatile
and subject to wide fluctuations in price in response to various
factors, many of which are beyond our control. These factors
include:
●
publicity
regarding actual or potential clinical results relating to products
under development by our competitors or us;
●
delay
or failure in initiating, completing or analyzing nonclinical or
clinical trials or the unsatisfactory design or results of these
trials;
●
achievement or
rejection of regulatory approvals by our competitors or
us;
●
announcements of
technological innovations or new commercial products by our
competitors or us;
●
developments
concerning proprietary rights, including patents;
●
developments
concerning our collaborations;
●
regulatory
developments in the United States and foreign
countries;
●
economic or other
crises and other external factors;
●
period-to-period
fluctuations in our revenues and other results of
operations;
●
changes in
financial estimates by securities analysts; and
●
sales
of our common stock by us.
We will not
be able to control many of these factors, and we believe that
period-to-period comparisons of our financial results will not
necessarily be indicative of our future performance.
In
addition, the stock market in general, and the market for
biotechnology companies in particular, has experienced extreme
price and volume fluctuations that may have been unrelated or
disproportionate to the operating performance of individual
companies. These broad market and industry factors may seriously
harm the market price of our common stock, regardless of our
operating performance.
Our executive officers, directors, principal stockholders and their
affiliates maintain the ability to exercise significant influence
over our company and all matters submitted to stockholders for
approval.
Our
executive officers, directors and stockholders who own more than 5%
of our outstanding common stock, together with their affiliates and
related persons, beneficially own shares of common stock
representing a significant percentage of our capital stock. As a
result, if these stockholders were to choose to act together, they
would be able to influence our management and affairs and the
outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval,
including the election of directors and any sale, merger,
consolidation, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets.
This concentration of voting power could delay or prevent an
acquisition of our company on terms that other stockholders may
desire. In addition, this concentration of ownership might
adversely affect the market price of our common stock
by:
●
delaying,
deferring or preventing a change of control of us;
●
impeding a merger,
consolidation, takeover or other business combination involving us;
or
●
discouraging a
potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise
attempting to obtain control of us.
Because
we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our capital stock
in the foreseeable future, capital appreciation, if any, will be
the sole source of gain for our stockholders.
We
have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock. We
currently intend to retain all of our future earnings, if any, to
finance the growth and development of our business. In addition,
under the Loan Agreement, we are currently restricted from paying
cash dividends, and we expect these restrictions to continue in the
future. In addition, the terms of any future debt agreements may
preclude us from paying dividends. As a result, capital
appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be the sole source
of gain for our stockholders for the foreseeable
future.
Certain anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and
Delaware law could make a third-party acquisition of us difficult.
This could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the
future for our common stock.
Provisions in our
amended and restated certificate of incorporation and restated
bylaws could have the effect of making it more difficult for a
third party to acquire, or of discouraging a third party from
attempting to acquire, or control us. These factors could limit the
price that certain investors might be willing to pay in the future
for shares of our common stock. Our amended and restated
certificate of incorporation allows us to issue preferred stock
without the approval of our stockholders. The issuance of preferred
stock could decrease the amount of earnings and assets available
for distribution to the holders of our common stock or could
adversely affect the rights and powers, including voting rights, of
such holders. In certain circumstances, such issuance could have
the effect of decreasing the market price of our common stock. Our
restated bylaws eliminate the right of stockholders to call a
special meeting of stockholders, which could make it more difficult
for stockholders to effect certain corporate actions. Any of these
provisions could also have the effect of delaying or preventing a
change in control.
On July
18, 2014, the Board of Directors declared a distribution of one
right for each outstanding share of common stock. The rights may
have certain anti-takeover effects. The rights will cause
substantial dilution to a person or group that attempts to acquire
us on terms not approved by the Board of Directors unless the offer
is conditioned on a substantial number of rights being acquired.
However, the rights should not interfere with any merger, statutory
share exchange or other business combination approved by the Board
of Directors since the rights may be terminated by us upon
resolution of the Board of Directors. Thus, the rights are intended
to encourage persons who may seek to acquire control of the Company
to initiate such an acquisition through negotiations with the Board
of Directors. However, the effect of the rights may be to
discourage a third party from making a partial tender offer or
otherwise attempting to obtain a substantial equity position in the
equity securities of, or seeking to obtain control of, the Company.
To the extent any potential acquirers are deterred by the rights,
the rights may have the effect of preserving incumbent management
in office.
An active trading market for our common stock may not be sustained,
and investors may not be able to resell their shares at or above
the price they paid.
Although
we have listed our common stock on The Nasdaq Capital Market, an
active trading market for our shares may not be sustained. In the
absence of an active trading market for our common stock, investors
may not be able to sell their common stock at or above the price at
which they acquired their shares or at the time that they would
like to sell. An inactive trading market may also impair our
ability to raise capital to continue to fund operations by selling
shares and may impair our ability to acquire other companies or
technologies by using our shares as consideration.
If equity research analysts do not publish research or reports
about our business or if they publish negative evaluations of or
downgrade our common stock, the price of our common stock could
decline.
The
trading market for our common stock relies in part on the research
and reports that equity research analysts publish about us or our
business. We do not control these analysts. We may never obtain
research coverage by industry or financial analysts. If no or few
analysts commence coverage of us, the trading price of our stock
would likely decrease. Even if we do obtain analyst coverage, if
one or more of the analysts covering our business downgrade their
evaluations of our common stock, the price of our common stock
could decline. If one or more of these analysts cease to cover our
common stock, we could lose visibility in the market for our common
stock, which in turn could cause our common stock price to
decline.
We incur significant increased costs as a result of operating as a
public company, and our management is required to devote
substantial time to compliance initiatives.
As a public company, we incur significant legal,
accounting and other expenses under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002,
as well as rules subsequently implemented by the
Securities and Exchange Commission
(“SEC”), and the rules of any stock exchange on which
we may become listed. These rules impose various requirements on
public companies, including requiring establishment and maintenance
of effective disclosure and financial controls and appropriate
corporate governance practices. Our team has devoted and will
continue to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance
initiatives. Moreover, these rules and regulations increase our
legal and financial compliance costs and make some activities more
time-consuming and costly. For example, these rules and regulations
make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director
and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept
reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher
costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. As a result, it may
be more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to
serve on our Board of Directors, our Board committees or as
executive officers.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires, among
other things, that we maintain effective internal control over
financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures. As a
result, we are required to periodically perform an evaluation of
our internal control over financial reporting to allow management
to report on the effectiveness of those controls, as required by
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Additionally, our
independent auditors are required to perform a similar evaluation
and report on the effectiveness of our internal control over
financial reporting. These efforts to comply with Section 404 will
require the commitment of significant financial and managerial
resources. While we anticipate maintaining the integrity of our
internal control over financial reporting and all other aspects of
Section 404, we cannot be certain that a material weakness will not
be identified when we test the effectiveness of our control systems
in the future. If a material weakness is identified, we could be
subject to sanctions or investigations by the SEC or other
regulatory authorities, which would require additional financial
and management resources, costly litigation or a loss of public
confidence in our internal control, which could have an adverse
effect on the market price of our sto
Volatility in the
price of our common stock may subject us to securities litigation,
which could cause us to incur substantial costs and divert
management's attention, financial resources and other company
assets.
In
the past, securities class action litigation has often been brought
against a company following periods of volatility in the market
price of its securities. This risk is especially relevant for us
because pharmaceutical companies have experienced significant stock
price volatility in recent years. Past lawsuits and any
future lawsuits to which we may become a party are subject to
inherent uncertainties and will likely be expensive and
time-consuming to investigate, defend and resolve, and will divert
our management's attention and financial and other resources. The
outcome of litigation is necessarily uncertain, and we could be
forced to expend significant resources in the defense of these and
other suits, and we may not prevail. Any litigation to which we are
a party may result in an onerous or unfavorable judgment that may
not be reversed upon appeal or in payments of substantial monetary
damages or fines, or we may decide to settle this or other lawsuits
on similarly unfavorable terms, which could adversely affect our
business, financial condition, results of operations or stock
price. See Part II. Item I. Legal Proceedings above for
additional information.
Future sales of our common stock, including by us or our directors
and executive officers or shares issued upon the exercise of
currently outstanding options, could cause our stock price to
decline.
A
substantial portion of our outstanding common stock can be traded
without restriction at any time. In addition, a portion of our
outstanding common stock is currently restricted as a result of
federal securities laws, but can be sold at any time subject to
applicable volume limitations. As such, sales of a substantial
number of shares of our common stock in the public market could
occur at any time. These sales, or the perception in the market
that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares,
by us or others, could reduce the market price of our common stock
or impair our ability to raise adequate capital through the sale of
additional equity securities. In addition, we have a significant
number of shares that are subject to outstanding options. The
exercise of these options and the subsequent sale of the underlying
common stock could cause a further decline in our stock price.
These sales also might make it difficult for us to sell equity
securities in the future at a time and at a price that we deem
appropriate. We cannot predict the number, timing or size of future
issuances or the effect, if any, that any future issuances may have
on the market price for our common stock.
Our ability to utilize our net operating loss carryforwards and
certain other tax attributes may be limited.
Under
Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended,
if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change”
(generally defined as a greater than 50% change (by value) in the
ownership of its equity over a three year period), the
corporation’s ability to use its pre-change net operating
loss carryforwards and certain other pre-change tax attributes to
offset its post-change income may be limited. We may have
experienced such ownership changes in the past, and we may
experience ownership changes in the future as a result of shifts in
our stock ownership, some of which are outside our control. As of
December 31, 2018, we had federal net operating loss
carryforwards of approximately $550.6 million, and our ability to
utilize those net operating loss carryforwards could be limited by
an “ownership change” as described above, which could
result in increased tax liability to us. In addition, pursuant to
the TCJA, we may not use net operating loss carry-forwards to
reduce our taxable income in any year by more than 80%, and we may
not carry back any net operating losses to prior years. These new
rules apply regardless of the occurrence of an ownership
change.
ITEM
6. EXHIBITS
The
exhibits listed on the Exhibit Index are included with this
report.
|
Certification of
Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a), as
adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002,
dated May 10, 2019.
|
|
|
|
Certification of
Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a), as
adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002,
dated May 10, 2019.
|
|
|
|
Certification of
Chief Executive Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §1350, as
adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002,
dated May 10, 2019.
|
|
|
|
Certification of
Chief Financial Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §1350, as
adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002,
dated May 10, 2019.
|
|
|
101
|
The following
financial information from the Company’s Quarterly Report on
Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2019, formatted in
Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL): (i) the Condensed
Consolidated Balance Sheets, (ii) the Condensed Consolidated
Statements of Operations, (iii) the Condensed Consolidated
Statements of Stockholders’ Equity, (iv) the Condensed
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows, and (v) Notes to the
Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements (filed
herewith).
|
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.
|
|
|
|
TG THERAPEUTICS, INC.
|
|
|
|
Date: May 10,
2019
|
By:
|
/s/ Sean A.
Power
|
|
Sean A.
Power
Chief Financial
Officer
Principal Financial
and Accounting Officer
|
Untitled Document
Exhibit 31.1
CERTIFICATION
OF PERIODIC REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY
ACT OF 2002
I, Michael S.
Weiss, certify that:
1.
|
I have reviewed
this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of TG Therapeutics,
Inc.;
|
2.
|
Based on my
knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make
the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period
covered by this report;
|
3.
|
Based on my
knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material
respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash
flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in
this report;
|
4.
|
The
registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible
for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures
(as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and
internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange
Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and
have:
|
a)
|
|
Designed such
disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure
controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to
ensure that material information relating to the registrant,
including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by
others within those entities, particularly during the period in
which this report is being prepared;
|
b)
|
|
Designed such
internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal
control over financial reporting to be designed under our
supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the
reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial
statements for external purposes in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles;
|
c)
|
|
Evaluated the
effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and
procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the
effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the
end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation;
and
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d)
|
|
Disclosed in this
report any change in the registrant’s internal control over
financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s
most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal
quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially
affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the
registrant’s internal control over financial reporting;
and
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5.
|
The
registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed,
based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the
audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors
(or persons performing the equivalent functions):
|
a)
|
|
All significant
deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of
internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably
likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to
record, process, summarize and report financial information;
and
|
b)
|
|
Any fraud, whether
or not material, that involves management or other employees who
have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control
over financial reporting.
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Date: May 10,
2019
|
|
/s/ Michael S.
Weiss
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Michael S.
Weiss
Executive Chairman,
Chief Executive Officer and President
Principal Executive
Officer
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Untitled Document
Exhibit
31.2
CERTIFICATION
OF PERIODIC REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY
ACT OF 2002
I, Sean A. Power,
certify that:
1.
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I have reviewed
this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of TG Therapeutics,
Inc.;
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2.
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Based on my
knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make
the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period
covered by this report;
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3.
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Based on my
knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material
respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash
flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in
this report;
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4.
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The
registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible
for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures
(as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and
internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange
Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and
have:
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a)
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Designed such
disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure
controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to
ensure that material information relating to the registrant,
including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by
others within those entities, particularly during the period in
which this report is being prepared;
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b)
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Designed such
internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal
control over financial reporting to be designed under our
supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the
reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial
statements for external purposes in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles;
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c)
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Evaluated the
effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and
procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the
effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the
end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation;
and
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d)
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Disclosed in this
report any change in the registrant’s internal control over
financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s
most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal
quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially
affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the
registrant’s internal control over financial reporting;
and
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5.
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The
registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed,
based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the
audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or
persons performing the equivalent functions):
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a)
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All significant
deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of
internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably
likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to
record, process, summarize and report financial information;
and
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b)
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Any fraud, whether
or not material, that involves management or other employees who
have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control
over financial reporting.
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Date: May 10,
2019
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/s/ Sean A.
Power
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Sean A.
Power
Chief Financial
Officer
Principal Financial
and Accounting Officer
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Untitled Document
Exhibit 32.1
STATEMENT
OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF
TG
THERAPEUTICS, INC.
PURSUANT
TO 18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350,
AS
ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
SECTION
906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
In
connection with the quarterly report of TG Therapeutics, Inc. (the
“Company”) on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31,
2019 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
“Report”), I, Michael S. Weiss, Chief Executive Officer
of the Company, certify, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1350, as
adopted pursuant to § 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002,
that, based on my knowledge:
1) The
Report fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or
15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and
2) The
information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all
material respects, the financial condition and results of
operations of the Company.
Date: May 10,
2019
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/s/ Michael S.
Weiss
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Michael S.
Weiss
Executive Chairman,
Chief Executive Officer and President
Principal Executive
Officer
|
Untitled Document
Exhibit 32.2
STATEMENT
OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER OF
TG
THERAPEUTICS, INC.
PURSUANT
TO 18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350,
AS
ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
SECTION 906
OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
In
connection with the quarterly report of TG Therapeutics, Inc. (the
“Company”) on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31,
2019 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
“Report”), I, Sean A. Power, Chief Financial Officer of
the Company, certify, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1350, as adopted
pursuant to § 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that,
based on my knowledge:
1) The Report
fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and
2) The
information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all
material respects, the financial condition and results of
operations of the Company.
Date: May 10,
2019
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/s/ Sean A.
Power
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Sean A.
Power
Chief
Financial Officer
Principal Financial
and Accounting Officer
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