UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 8-K

 

CURRENT REPORT

 

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported):  April 29, 2019

 

uniQure N.V.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

 

The Netherlands

 

001-36294

 

N/A

(State or Other
Jurisdiction of Incorporation)

 

(Commission
File Number)

 

(IRS Employer
Identification No.)

 

Paasheuvelweg 25a,
1105 BP Amsterdam, The Netherlands

 

N/A

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

 

(Zip Code)

 

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: +31-20-566-7394

 

 

(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions ( see General Instruction A.2. below):

 

o          Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

 

o          Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

 

o          Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

 

o          Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

 

Emerging growth company o

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o

 

 

 


 

Item 2.02 Results of Operation and Financial Condition

 

On April 29, 2019, uniQure N.V. (the “Company”) issued a press release announcing its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2019 and highlighting company progress. A copy of the press release is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.

 

The information furnished pursuant to this Item 2.02, including Exhibit 99.1, shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) or otherwise subject to the liabilities under that Section and shall not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing of the Company under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Exchange Act, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing.

 

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits

 

(d)        The following exhibits are being filed herewith:

 

Exhibit No.

 

Description

 

 

 

99.1

 

Press Release of uniQure N.V. dated April 29, 2019 announcing financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2019 and highlighting company progress.

 

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SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

 

 

UNIQURE N.V.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: April 29, 2019

By:

/S/ MATTHEW KAPUSTA

 

 

Matthew Kapusta

 

 

Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer

 

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Exhibit 99.1

 

 

uniQure Announces First Quarter 2019 Results and Highlights Recent Company Progress

 

~ Presented Updated Clinical Data from Phase IIb Study of AMT-061 in Patients with Hemophilia B Demonstrating Increases in FIX Activity Sustained at up to 51% of Normal at 12 Weeks

 

~ Achieved IND Clearance and Fast Track Designation for AMT-130 in Huntington’s disease

 

~ Announced 6 Presentations at Upcoming ASGCT Meeting, Including Preclinical Data on Research Pipeline

 

Lexington, MA and Amsterdam, the Netherlands, April 29, 2019 — uniQure N.V. (NASDAQ: QURE), a leading gene therapy company advancing transformative therapies for patients with severe medical needs, today reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2019 and highlighted recent progress across its business.

 

“During the first quarter of 2019, we continued to make excellent progress across our portfolio of gene therapy product candidates,” stated Matt Kapusta, chief executive of uniQure. “We remain highly encouraged by the continued follow-up from our Phase IIb study of AMT-061, which shows the potential to normalize FIX activity in patients with hemophilia B. We are now focused on advancing our ongoing Phase III HOPE-B pivotal study of AMT-061 and have made significant progress activating sites and enrolling patients, with a goal of completing patient enrollment by the end of this year. We are also pleased to announce that AMT-061 received Orphan Drug Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which, combined with our FIX-Padua intellectual property position and AAV5’s potentially favorable immunogenicity profile, may provide a meaningful first-mover advantage.”

 

“With the clearance of our Investigational New Drug application for AMT-130 earlier this year, we are making headway in the preparations for our Phase I/II study of AMT-130 in Huntington’s disease.  AMT-130, which recently received Fast Track Designation, is the world’s first one-time administered therapy for Huntington’s disease to enter clinical testing, and we continue to expect patient dosing in this landmark study to begin in the second half of the year.”

 

Recent Company Progress

 

·                  Advancing late-stage development of AMT-061 for the treatment of hemophilia B

 

·                   Enrollment of patients in the global HOPE-B pivotal trial in hemophilia B is advancing and the Company currently is on track to complete enrollment by the end of 2019. In February, the Company presented updated clinical data on AMT-061 demonstrating sustained increases in Factor IX activity (FIX) up to 51% of normal and mean FIX activity for the three patients of 38% of normal at 12 weeks. None of the patients received Factor infusions, reported bleeding events or required immunosuppression over a combined 42 weeks of observation.

 

·                   On April 17, 2019 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted AMT-061 Orphan Drug Designation (ODD). ODD in the U.S. provides special status for investigational drugs being developed for rare diseases considered to affect only up to 200,000 people in the U.S. The ODD program offers product market exclusivity for up to seven years in the U.S. following regulatory approval, along with tax and financial incentives for companies developing medicines for such orphan indications.

 


 

·                  Advancing AMT-130 into clinical development for the treatment of Huntington’s disease

 

·                   In January 2019, the FDA declared effective the Company’s Investigational New Drug application (IND) for AMT-130. The Company expects to begin dosing patients in the second half of this year in its dose-escalating, randomized and controlled Phase I/II clinical study to assess the safety, tolerability and efficacy of a one-time treatment of AMT-130 in patients with Huntington’s disease, and is planning to announce initial safety data on the surgical procedure before the end of this year.

 

·                   Earlier this month, the Company announced that the FDA has granted Fast Track designation for AMT-130. The Fast Track program is designed to facilitate the development of and expedite the review of therapies to treat serious conditions and fill an unmet medical need. A therapy granted Fast Track Designation may be eligible for several benefits, including more frequent meetings and communications with the FDA and, if relevant criteria are met, the potential for Accelerated Approval, Priority Review or Rolling Review of a Biologics License Application (BLA) or New Drug Application (NDA).

 

·                  Advancing robust pipeline of novel gene therapy research programs

 

·                   The Company announced the acceptance of six data presentations, including multiple oral presentations featuring preclinical data for its gene therapy candidates in hemophilia A, Fabry disease and Huntington’s disease at the upcoming Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) on April 29- May 2, 2019.

 

Upcoming Events

 

·                   Present preclinical data on the Company’s pipeline and technology platform at the American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) Annual Meeting, April 29- May 2, 2019.

 

·                   Present preclinical data on AMT-150 for the treatment of Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3 (SCA3) at the 2019 American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting May 4-10, 2019.

 

·                   Present 26 weeks of follow-up data on the three patients in the Phase IIb dose-confirmation study of AMT-061 in hemophilia B patients at the Hemostasis & Thrombosis Research Society (HTRS) 2019 Symposium on May 10, 2019.

 

·                   Present preclinical data on AMT-130 for the treatment of Huntington’s disease at the 2019 Associazione Italiana Corea Di Huntington Roma Onlus Annual Meeting on May 18, 2019.

 

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Financial Highlights

 

Cash Position: As of March 31, 2019, the Company held cash and cash equivalents of $208.8 million, compared to $234.9 million as of December 31, 2018. The Company currently expects cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund operations into 2021.

 

Revenues: Revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2019 was $1.1 million, compared to $3.5 million during the same period 2018. The decrease reflects the termination of activities associated with S100A1 in our collaboration with Bristol-Meyers Squibb in October 2018.

 

R&D Expenses: Research and development expenses were $20.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019, compared to $17.1 million during the same period 2018. The change was primarily related to increased activities associated with our ongoing Phase III pivotal study of AMT-061 and planned Phase I/II study of AMT-130, increased share-based compensation and the hiring of additional clinical and operations staff at our Lexington site.

 

SG&A Expenses: Selling, general and administrative expenses were $8.1 million for three months ended March 31, 2019, compared to $6.3 million during the same period 2018. The change was primarily related to increases in personnel and consulting expenses, professional fees and share-based compensation expenses.

 

Net Loss: The net loss for the three months ended March 31, 2019 was $27.8 million, or $0.74 per share, compared to $18.8 million, or $0.59 per share during the same period 2018.

 

About uniQure

 

uniQure is delivering on the promise of gene therapy — single treatments with potentially curative results. We are leveraging our modular and validated technology platform to rapidly advance a pipeline of proprietary and partnered gene therapies to treat patients with liver/metabolic, central nervous system and cardiovascular diseases. www.uniQure.com

 

uniQure Forward-Looking Statements

 

This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, which are often indicated by terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “goal,” “intend,” “look forward to”, “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “would” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information available to management only as of the date of this press release. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the achievement of any of our planned near term or other milestones, our ability to provide further clinical updates on the Phase IIb study in 2019 or at any time, our ability to complete enrollment in our pivotal Phase III trial of AMT-061, the ability of AMT-061 to normalize FIX activity in patients with hemophilia B, our ability to realize a meaningful first-mover advantage, the risk of cessation, delay or lack of success of any of our ongoing or planned clinical studies,  our ability to initiate dosing of a Phase I/II study of AMT-130 in the second half of 2019 or ever, our ability to open several clinical sites for the Phase I/II study in the United States, and our ability to report early safety data on initial patients treated in the Phase I/II study before the end of the year.  Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements for many reasons, including, without limitation, risks associated with our and our collaborators’ clinical development activities, clinical results, collaboration arrangements, corporate reorganizations and strategic shifts, regulatory oversight, product commercialization and intellectual property claims, as well as the risks, uncertainties and other factors described under the heading “Risk Factors” in uniQure’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on February 28, 2019. Given these risks, uncertainties and other factors, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements,

 

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and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

 

uniQure Contacts:

 

FOR INVESTORS:

 

FOR MEDIA:

Maria E. Cantor

Eva M. Mulder

Tom Malone

Direct: 339-970-7536

Direct: +31 20 240 6103

Direct: 339-970-7558

Mobile: 617-680-9452

Mobile: +31 6 52 33 15 79

Mobile: 339-223-8541

m.canto@uniQure.com

e.mulder@uniQure.com

t.malone@uniQure.com

 

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uniQure N.V.

 

UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

 

 

 

March 31,
2019

 

December 31,
2018

 

 

 

in thousands

 

Current assets

 

 

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents

 

$

208,787

 

$

234,898

 

Accounts receivable and accrued income from related party

 

461

 

233

 

Prepaid expenses

 

3,597

 

1,116

 

Other current assets

 

350

 

329

 

Total current assets

 

213,195

 

236,576

 

Non-current assets

 

 

 

 

 

Property, plant and equipment, net

 

27,778

 

29,179

 

Operating lease right-of-use asset

 

18,678

 

 

Intangible assets, net

 

5,917

 

5,201

 

Goodwill

 

496

 

506

 

Restricted cash

 

2,930

 

2,444

 

Total non-current assets

 

55,799

 

37,330

 

Total assets

 

268,994

 

$

273,906

 

Current liabilities

 

 

 

 

 

Accounts payable

 

$

3,527

 

$

3,792

 

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities

 

7,311

 

8,232

 

Current portion of operating lease liability

 

3,808

 

 

Current portion of deferred rent

 

 

311

 

Current portion of deferred revenue

 

7,772

 

7,634

 

Total current liabilities

 

22,418

 

19,969

 

Non-current liabilities

 

 

 

 

 

Long-term debt

 

35,630

 

35,471

 

Operating lease liability, net of current portion

 

23,344

 

 

Deferred rent, net of current portion

 

 

8,761

 

Deferred revenue, net of current portion

 

27,465

 

28,861

 

Derivative financial instruments related party

 

2,603

 

803

 

Other non-current liabilities

 

422

 

435

 

Total non-current liabilities

 

89,464

 

74,331

 

Total liabilities

 

111,882

 

94,300

 

Total shareholders’ equity

 

157,112

 

179,606

 

Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity

 

$

268,994

 

$

273,906

 

 

5


 

uniQure N.V.

 

UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

 

 

 

Period ended March 31,

 

 

 

2019

 

2018

 

 

 

in thousands, except share and per share amounts

 

Total revenues

 

$

1,136

 

$

3,478

 

Operating expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

Research and development expenses

 

(20,537

)

(17,058

)

Selling, general and administrative expenses

 

(8,067

)

(6,301

)

Total operating expenses

 

(28,604

)

(23,359

)

Other income

 

313

 

615

 

Other expense

 

(349

)

(333

)

Loss from operations

 

(27,504

)

(19,599

)

Non operating items, net

 

(268

)

718

 

Loss before income tax expense

 

(27,772

)

(18,881

)

Income tax benefit

 

 

92

 

Net loss

 

$

(27,772

)

$

(18,789

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share

 

$

(0.74

)

$

(0.59

)

Weighted average shares used in computing basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share

 

37,676,172

 

31,710,497

 

 

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