RISK FACTORS

 

You should carefully consider the risks described below and elsewhere in this report, which could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition. Our business faces significant risks and the risks described below may not be the only risks we face. Additional risks not presently known to us or that we currently believe are immaterial may materially affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition. If any of these risks occur, the trading price of our common stock could decline and you may lose all or part of your investment.

 

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

 

We are a development stage company and have a limited operating history upon which to base an investment decision.

 

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continuing to undertake pre-clinical development and clinical trials;

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participating in regulatory approval processes;

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formulating and manufacturing products; and

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conducting sales and marketing activities.

 

Our operations to date have been limited to organizing and staffing our company, acquiring, developing and securing the proprietary rights for, and undertaking pre-clinical development and clinical trials of our product candidates. These operations provide a limited basis for our stockholders and prospective investors to assess our ability to complete development of or commercialize any products and the advisability of investing in our securities.

 

Our product candidates are at an early stage of development and may not be successfully developed or commercialized.

 

Our two product candidates, MS1819 and AZX1101, are in the early stages of development and will require substantial further capital expenditures, development, testing, and regulatory clearances prior to commercialization. The development and regulatory approval process takes several years and it is not likely that either of such products, even if successfully developed and approved by the FDA or any comparable foreign regulatory authority, would be commercially available for at least four to five years or more. Of the large number of drugs in development, only a small percentage successfully completes the regulatory approval process and is commercialized. Accordingly, even if we are able to obtain the requisite financing to fund our development programs, we cannot assure you that our product candidates will be successfully developed or commercialized. Our failure to develop, manufacture or receive regulatory approval for or successfully commercialize any of our product candidates, could result in the failure of our business and a loss of all of your investment in our company.

 

 

The FDA, the TPD and/or the EMA can delay, limit or deny approval of a product candidate for many reasons, including, but not limited to:

 

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disagreement with the design or implementation of our clinical trials;

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failure to demonstrate to their satisfaction that a product candidate is safe and effective for any indication;

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failure to accept clinical data from trials which are conducted outside their jurisdiction;

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the results of clinical trials may not meet the level of statistical significance required for approval;

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we may be unable to demonstrate that a product candidate’s clinical and other benefits outweigh its safety risks;

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such agencies may disagree with our interpretation of data from preclinical studies or clinical trials;

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failure to approve the manufacturing processes or facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we or our collaborators contract for clinical and commercial supplies; or

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changes in the approval policies or regulations of such agencies may significantly change in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval.

 

 

If we encounter difficulties enrolling patients in our clinical trials, our clinical development activities could be delayed or otherwise adversely affected.

 

We may experience difficulties in patient enrollment in our clinical trials for a variety of reasons.  The timely completion of clinical trials in accordance with their protocols depends, among other things, on our ability to enroll a sufficient number of patients who remain in the trial until its conclusion.  The enrollment of patients depends on many factors, including:

 

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the number of clinical trials for other product candidates in the same therapeutic area that are currently in clinical development, and our ability to compete with such trials for patients and clinical trial sites;

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the patient eligibility criteria defined in the protocol;

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the size of the patient population;

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the proximity and availability of clinical trial sites for prospective patients;

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the design of the trial;

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our ability to recruit clinical trial investigators with the appropriate competencies and experience;

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our ability to obtain and maintain patient consents; and

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the risk that patients enrolled in clinical trials will drop out of the trials before completion.

 

Our clinical trials will compete with other clinical trials for product candidates that are in the same therapeutic areas as our product candidates.  This competition will reduce the number and types of patients and qualified clinical investigators available to us, because some patients who might have opted to enroll in our trials may instead opt to enroll in a trial being conducted by one of our competitors or clinical trial sites may not allow us to conduct our clinical trial at such site if competing trials are already being conducted there.  Since the number of qualified clinical investigators is limited, we expect to conduct some of our clinical trials at the same clinical trial sites that some of our competitors use, which will reduce the number of patients who are available for our clinical trials in such clinical trial site.  We may also encounter difficulties finding a clinical trial site at which to conduct our trials.

 

Delays in patient enrollment may result in increased costs or may affect the timing or outcome of our planned clinical trials, which could prevent completion of these clinical trials and adversely affect our ability to advance the development of our product candidates.

 

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 risk. We will be required to demonstrate through well-controlled clinical trials that our product candidates are effective with a favorable benefit-risk profile for use in their target indications before we can seek regulatory approvals for their commercial sale. Our principal product candidate, MS1819 has only completed a phase I/IIa clinical trial, while our second product, AZX1101 has only been tested in a pre-clinical setting.  Success in pre-clinical studies or early clinical trials does not mean that later clinical trials will be successful as product candidates in later-stage clinical trials may fail to demonstrate sufficient safety or efficacy despite having progressed through initial clinical testing. We also may need to conduct additional clinical trials that are not currently anticipated. Companies frequently suffer significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials, even after earlier clinical trials have shown promising results.

 

Any product candidate we advance into clinical trials may cause unacceptable adverse events or have other properties that may delay or prevent their regulatory approval or commercialization or limit their commercial potential.

 

Unacceptable adverse events caused by any of our product candidates in clinical trials could cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials and could result in the denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or other regulatory authorities for any or all targeted indications and markets. This, in turn, could prevent us from commercializing the affected product candidate and generating revenues from its sale.  We have not yet 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 of adverse events, if any, that will be observed in patients who receive any of our product candidates.  If any of our product candidates cause unacceptable adverse events in clinical trials, we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval or commercialize such product or, if such product candidate is approved for marketing, future adverse events could cause us to withdraw such product from the market.

 

Delays in the commencement or completion of our clinical trials could result in increased costs and delay our ability to pursue regulatory approval.

 

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obtaining regulatory clearance to commence a clinical trial;

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identifying, recruiting and training suitable clinical investigators;

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reaching agreement on acceptable terms with prospective CROs and trial sites, the terms of which can be subject to extensive negotiation, may be subject to modification from time to time and may vary significantly among different CROs and trial sites;

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obtaining sufficient quantities of a product candidate for use in clinical trials;

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obtaining Investigator Review Board, or IRB, or ethics committee approval to conduct a clinical trial at a prospective site;

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identifying, recruiting and enrolling patients to participate in a clinical trial;

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retaining patients who have initiated a clinical trial but may withdraw due to adverse events from the therapy, insufficient efficacy, fatigue with the clinical trial process or personal issues; and

 

Any delays in the commencement of our clinical trials will delay our ability to pursue regulatory approval for our product candidates. In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of a product candidate.

 

Once a clinical trial has begun, patient recruitment and enrollment may be slower than we anticipate. Clinical trials may also be delayed as a result of ambiguous or negative interim results or difficulties in obtaining sufficient quantities of product manufactured in accordance with regulatory requirements.

 

We may be required to suspend, repeat or terminate our clinical trials if they are not conducted in accordance with regulatory requirements, the results are negative or inconclusive or the trials are not well designed.

 

Regulatory agencies, IRBs or data safety monitoring boards may at any time recommend the temporary or permanent discontinuation of our clinical trials or request that we cease using investigators in the clinical trials if they believe that the clinical trials are not being conducted in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements, or that they present an unacceptable safety risk to participants.  Clinical trials must be conducted in accordance with current Good Clinical Practices, or cGCPs, or other applicable foreign government guidelines governing the design, safety monitoring, quality assurance and ethical considerations associated with clinical studies.  Clinical trials are subject to oversight by the FDA, other foreign governmental agencies and IRBs at the study sites where the clinical trials are conducted.  In addition, clinical trials must be conducted with product candidates produced in accordance with applicable Current Good Manufacturing Practices, or cGMPs, which are the FDA's regulations governing the design, monitoring and control of manufacturing processes and facilities.  Clinical trials may be suspended by the FDA, other foreign governmental agencies, or us for various reasons, including:

 

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deficiencies in the conduct of the clinical trials, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or clinical protocols;

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deficiencies in the clinical trial operations or trial sites;

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the product candidate may have unforeseen adverse side effects;

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deficiencies in the trial design necessary to demonstrate efficacy;

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fatalities or other adverse events arising during a clinical trial due to medical problems that may not be related to clinical trial treatments;

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the product candidate may not appear to be more effective than current therapies; or

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the quality or stability of the product candidate may fall below acceptable standards.

 

If we elect or are forced to suspend or terminate a clinical trial of any other of our product candidates, the commercial prospects for that product will be harmed and our ability to generate product revenue from that product may be delayed or eliminated.  Furthermore, any of these events could prevent us or our partners from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the affected product and could substantially increase the costs of commercializing our product candidates and impair our ability to generate revenue from the commercialization of these products either by us or by our collaboration partners.

 

Because we in-licensed our product candidates from third parties, any dispute with our licensors or non-performance by us or by our licensors may adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize the applicable product candidates.

 

Some of our product candidates, including related intellectual property rights, were in-licensed from third parties. Under the terms of our license agreements, the licensors generally have the right to terminate such agreements in the event of a material breach by us. Our licenses require us to make annual, milestone or other payments prior to commercialization of any product and our ability to make these payments depends on our ability to generate cash in the future. These agreements generally require us to use diligent and reasonable efforts to develop and commercialize the product candidate. In the case of MS1819, Laboratoires Mayoly Spindler SAS, or Mayoly, licenses MS1819 from a third party and, accordingly, our rights to MS1819 are also subject to Mayoly’s performance of its obligations to its licensor, any breach of which we may be required to remedy in order to preserve our rights.

 

If there is any conflict, dispute, disagreement or issue of non-performance between us and our licensing partner regarding our rights or obligations under the license agreement, including any conflict, dispute or disagreement arising from our failure to satisfy payment obligations under such agreement, our ability to develop and commercialize the affected product candidate may be adversely affected. Similarly, any such dispute or issue of non-performance between Mayoly and its licensor that we are unable to cure could adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize MS1819. Any loss of our rights under our license agreements could delay or completely terminate our product development efforts for the affected product candidate.

 

We may form or seek strategic alliances or enter into additional licensing arrangements in the future, and we may not realize the benefits of such alliances or licensing arrangements.

 

From time to time, we may form or seek strategic alliances, create joint ventures or collaborations or enter into additional licensing arrangements with third parties that we believe will complement or augment our development and commercialization efforts with respect to our product candidates and any future product candidates that we may develop.  Any of these relationships may require us to incur non-recurring and other charges, increase our near and long-term expenditures, issue securities that dilute our existing stockholders or disrupt our management and business.  These relationships also may result in a delay in the development of our product candidates if we become dependent upon the other party and such other party does not prioritize the development of our product candidates relative to its other development activities.  In addition, we face significant competition in seeking appropriate strategic partners and the negotiation process is time-consuming and complex.  Moreover, we may not be successful in our efforts to establish a strategic partnership or other alternative arrangements for our product candidates because they may be deemed to be at too early of a stage of development for collaborative effort and third parties may not view our product candidates as having the requisite potential to demonstrate safety and efficacy.  If we license products or businesses, we may not be able to realize the benefit of such transactions if we are unable to successfully integrate them with our existing operations and company culture.  We cannot be certain that, following a strategic transaction or license, we will achieve the revenue or specific net income that justifies such transaction. We rely completely on third parties to manufacture our preclinical and clinical pharmaceutical supplies and expect to continue to rely on third parties to produce commercial supplies of any approved product candidate, and our dependence on third party suppliers could adversely impact our business.

 

We do not expect to have the resources or capacity to commercially manufacture any of our proposed products, if approved, and will likely continue to be dependent upon third party manufacturers. Our dependence on third parties to manufacture and supply us with clinical trial materials and any approved products may adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize our products on a timely basis or at all.

 

We rely on third parties to conduct our clinical trials. If these third parties do not meet our deadlines or otherwise conduct the trials as required, our clinical development programs could be delayed or unsuccessful and we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize our product candidates when expected or at all.

 

We do not have the ability to conduct all aspects of our preclinical testing or clinical trials ourselves. We intend to use CROs to conduct our planned clinical trials and will rely upon such CROs, as well as medical institutions, clinical investigators and consultants, to conduct our trials in accordance with our clinical protocols. Our future CROs, investigators and other third parties will play a significant role in the conduct of these 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 upon which we rely for administration and conduct of our clinical trials will devote adequate time and resources to such trials or perform as contractually required. If any of these third parties fail to meet expected deadlines, fail to adhere to our clinical protocols or otherwise perform in a substandard manner, our clinical trials may be extended, delayed or terminated. If any of our clinical trial sites terminate 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. 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 may be jeopardized.

 

We will face intense competition and may not be able to compete successfully.

 

We operate in highly competitive segments of the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical markets. We face competition from many different sources, including commercial pharmaceutical and biotechnology enterprises, academic institutions, government agencies, and private and public research institutions. Our product candidates, if successfully developed and approved, will compete with established therapies, as well as new treatments that may be introduced by our competitors. Many of our competitors have significantly greater financial, product development, manufacturing and marketing resources than us. Large pharmaceutical companies have extensive experience in clinical testing and obtaining regulatory approval for drugs. In addition, many universities and private and public research institutes are active in cancer research, some in direct competition with us. We also may compete with these organizations to recruit management, 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. New developments, including the development of other biological and pharmaceutical technologies and methods of treating disease, occur in the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries at a rapid pace. Developments by competitors may render our product candidates obsolete or noncompetitive. We will also face competition from these third parties in recruiting and retaining qualified personnel, establishing clinical trial sites and patient registration for clinical trials and in identifying and in-licensing new product candidates.

 

Our success will depend upon intellectual property, proprietary technologies and regulatory market exclusivity periods, and we may be unable to protect our intellectual property.

 

Our success will depend, in large part, on obtaining and maintaining patent protection and trade secret protection for our product candidates and their formulations and uses, as well as successfully defending these patents against third-party challenges. Under our license agreement with Mayoly, enforcement of patents relating to MS1819 is the responsibility of Mayoly. If we or our licensors fail to appropriately prosecute and maintain patent protection for our product candidates, 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 have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

 

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. These risks and uncertainties include the following:

 

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patent applications may not result in any patents being issued;

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patents that may be issued or in-licensed may be challenged, invalidated, modified, revoked, circumvented, found to be unenforceable, or otherwise may not provide any competitive advantage;

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our competitors, many of which have substantially greater resources than we or our partners 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 our ability to make, use, and sell our potential products;

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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;

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countries other than the United States may have patent laws less favorable to patentees than those upheld by United States courts, allowing foreign competitors a better opportunity to create, develop, and market competing products; and

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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.

 

In addition to patents, we and our partners also rely on trade secrets and proprietary know-how. Although we have taken steps to protect our trade secrets and unpatented know-how, including entering into confidentiality agreements with third parties, and confidential information and inventions agreements with employees, consultants and advisors, third parties may still obtain this information or come upon this same or similar information independently. We may become subject to claims that we or consultants, advisors or independent contractors that we may engage to assist us in developing our product candidates have wrongfully or inadvertently disclosed to us or used trade secrets or other proprietary information of their former employers or their other clients.

 

We intend to rely on market exclusivity periods that may not be or remain available to us .

 

We intend to rely on our ability to obtain and maintain a regulatory period of market exclusivity for any of our biologic product candidates that are successfully developed and approved for commercialization. Although this period in the United States is currently 12 years from the date of marketing approval, reductions to this period have been proposed. This exclusivity period in Europe is currently 10 years from the date of marketing approval by the EMA. Once any regulatory period of exclusivity expires, depending on the status of our patent coverage and the nature of the product, we may not be able to prevent others from marketing products that are biosimilar to or interchangeable with our products, which would materially adversely affect us.

 

In addition, United States patent laws may change which could prevent or limit us from filing patent applications or patent claims to protect our products and/or technologies or limit the exclusivity periods that are available to patent holders. For example, on September 16, 2011, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, or the Leahy-Smith Act, was signed into law, and 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. These changes may favor larger and more established companies that have more resources to devote to patent application filing and prosecution. The United States Patent and Trademark Office is currently developing regulations and procedures to administer the Leahy-Smith Act, and many of the substantive changes to patent law associated with the Leahy-Smith Act will not become effective until one year or 18 months after its enactment. Accordingly, it is not clear what, if any, impact the Leahy-Smith Act will ultimately have on the cost of prosecuting our patent applications, our ability to obtain patents based on our discoveries and our ability to enforce or defend our issued patents.

 

If we are unable to establish sales and marketing capabilities or fail to enter into agreements with third parties to market, distribute and sell any products we may successfully develop, we may not be able to effectively market and sell any such products and generate product revenue.

 

We do not currently have the infrastructure for the sales, marketing and distribution of any of our product candidates, and must build this infrastructure or make arrangements with third parties to perform these functions in order to commercialize any products that we may successfully develop. The establishment and development of a sales force, either by us or jointly with a partner, or the establishment of a contract sales force to market any products we may develop will be expensive and time-consuming and could delay any product launch. If we, or our partners, are unable to establish sales and marketing capability or any other non-technical capabilities necessary to commercialize any products we may successfully develop, we will need to contract with third parties to market and sell such products. We may not be able to establish arrangements with third-parties on acceptable terms, if at all.

 

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 it generates from their 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 is also necessary for commercial success. The degree of market acceptance of any approved products will depend on a number of factors, including:

 

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the efficacy and safety as demonstrated in clinical trials;   the clinical indications for which the product is approved;   acceptance by physicians, major operators of hospitals and clinics and patients of the product as a safe and effective treatment;   acceptance of the product by the target population;   the potential and perceived advantages of product candidates over alternative treatments;   the safety of product candidates seen in a broader patient group, including its use outside the approved indications;   the cost of treatment in relation to alternative treatments;   the availability of adequate reimbursement and pricing by third parties and government authorities;   relative convenience and ease of administration;   the prevalence and severity of 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 may not become or remain profitable.

 

We may incur substantial product liability or indemnification claims relating to the clinical testing of our product candidates.

 

We face an inherent risk of product liability exposure related to the testing of our product candidates in human clinical trials, and claims could be brought against us if use or misuse of one of our product candidates causes, or merely appears to have caused, personal injury or death. While we have and intend to maintain product liability insurance relating to our clinical trials, our coverage may not be sufficient to cover claims that may be made against us and we may be unable to maintain such insurance. Any claims against us, regardless of their merit, could severely harm our financial condition, strain our management and other resources or destroy the prospects for commercialization of the product which is the subject of any such claim. We are unable to predict if we will be able to obtain or maintain product liability insurance for any products that may be approved for marketing. Additionally, we have entered into various agreements where we indemnify third parties for certain claims relating to the testing and use of our product candidates. These indemnification obligations may require us to pay significant sums of money for claims that are covered by these indemnifications.

 

We are dependent on our management team and clinical development personnel and our success will depend on their continued service, as well as our ability to attract and retain highly qualified personnel. In particular, the continued service of our senior management team, including Johan M. (Thijs) Spoor, our President and Chief Executive Officer, and Daniel Dupret, our Chief Scientific Officer, is critical to our success. The market for the services of qualified personnel in the pharmaceutical industry is highly competitive. The loss of service of any member of our senior management team or key personnel could prevent, impair or delay the implementation of our business plan, the successful conduct and completion of our planned clinical trials and the commercialization of any product candidates that we may successfully develop. We do not carry key man insurance for any member of our senior management team.

 

We use biological materials and may use hazardous materials, and any claims relating to improper handling, storage or disposal of these materials could be time consuming or costly.

 

We may use hazardous materials, including chemicals and biological agents and compounds, that could be dangerous to human health and safety or the environment. Our operations also produce hazardous waste products. Federal, state and local laws and regulations govern the use, generation, manufacture, storage, handling and disposal of these materials and wastes. Compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations may be expensive, and current or future environmental laws and regulations may impair our product development efforts. In addition, we cannot entirely eliminate the risk of accidental injury or contamination from these materials or wastes. We do not carry specific biological or hazardous waste insurance coverage and our property and casualty and general liability insurance policies specifically exclude coverage for damages and fines arising from biological or hazardous waste exposure or contamination. Accordingly, in the event of contamination or injury, we could be held liable for damages or penalized with fines in an amount exceeding our resources, and our clinical trials or regulatory approvals could be suspended.

 

Although we maintain workers’ compensation insurance to cover us for costs and expenses we may incur due to injuries to our employees resulting from the use of hazardous materials, this insurance may not provide adequate coverage against potential liabilities. We do not maintain insurance for environmental liability or toxic tort claims that may be asserted against us in connection with our storage or disposal of biological or hazardous materials.

 

In addition, we may incur substantial costs in order to comply with current or future environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. These current or future laws and regulations may impair our research, development or production efforts. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations also may result in substantial fines, penalties or other sanctions.

 

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 success also depends upon our ability and the ability of any of our future collaborators to develop, manufacture, market and sell our product candidates without infringing the proprietary rights of third parties. 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. 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.

 

There is a substantial amount of litigation involving patent and other intellectual property rights in the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries generally. If a third party claims that we or any of our licensors, suppliers or collaborators infringe the third party’s intellectual property rights, we may have to:

 

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obtain licenses, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all;

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abandon an infringing product candidate or redesign our products or processes to avoid infringement;

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pay substantial damages, including the possibility of treble damages and attorneys’ fees, if a court decides that the product or proprietary technology at issue infringes on or violates the third party’s rights;

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pay substantial royalties, fees and/or grant cross licenses to our technology; and/or

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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.

 

Healthcare reform and restrictions on reimbursements may limit our financial returns.

 

Our ability or the ability of our collaborators to commercialize any of our product candidates that we successfully develop may depend, in part, on the extent to which government health administration authorities, private health insurers and other organizations will reimburse consumers for the cost of these products. These third parties are increasingly challenging both the need for and the price of new drug products. Significant uncertainty exists as to the reimbursement status of newly approved therapeutics. Adequate third-party reimbursement may not be available for our product candidates to enable us or our collaborators to maintain price levels sufficient to realize an appropriate return on their and our investments in research and product development.

 

If we or any of our independent contractors, consultants, collaborators, manufacturers, vendors or service providers fail to comply with healthcare laws and regulations, we or they could be subject to enforcement actions, which could result in penalties and affect our ability to develop, market and sell our product candidates and may harm our reputation.

 

We are subject to federal, state, and foreign healthcare laws and regulations pertaining to fraud and abuse and patients’ rights. These laws and regulations include:

 

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the U.S. federal healthcare program anti-kickback law, which prohibits, among other things, persons and entities from soliciting, receiving or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, to induce either the referral of an individual for a healthcare item or service, or the purchasing or ordering of an item or service, for which payment may be made under a federal healthcare program such as Medicare or Medicaid;

 

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the U.S. federal false claims and civil monetary penalties laws, which prohibit, among other things, individuals or entities from knowingly presenting or causing to be presented, claims for payment by government funded programs such as Medicare or Medicaid that are false or fraudulent, and which may apply to us by virtue of statements and representations made to customers or third parties;

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the U.S. federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, which prohibits, among other things, executing a scheme to defraud healthcare programs;

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HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, or HITECH, imposes requirements relating to the privacy, security, and transmission of individually identifiable health information, and requires notification to affected individuals and regulatory authorities of certain breaches of security of individually identifiable health information;

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the federal Physician Payment Sunshine Act, which requires certain manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics and medical supplies to report annually to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians, other healthcare providers and teaching hospitals, and ownership and investment interests held by physicians and other healthcare providers and their immediate family members, which is published in a searchable form on an annual basis; and

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state laws comparable to each of the above federal laws, such as, for example, anti-kickback and false claims laws that may be broader in scope and also apply to commercial insurers and other non-federal payors, requirements for mandatory corporate regulatory compliance programs, and laws relating to patient data privacy and security.

 

If our operations are found to be in violation of any such health care laws and regulations, we may be subject to penalties, including administrative, civil and criminal penalties, monetary damages, disgorgement, imprisonment, the curtailment or restructuring of our operations, loss of eligibility to obtain approvals from the FDA, or exclusion from participation in government contracting, healthcare reimbursement or other government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, any of which could adversely affect our financial results.  Although effective compliance programs can mitigate the risk of investigation and prosecution for violations of these laws, these risks cannot be entirely eliminated.  Any action against us for an alleged or suspected violation could cause us to incur significant legal expenses and could divert our management’s attention from the operation of our business, even if our defense is successful.  In addition, achieving and sustaining compliance with applicable laws and regulations may be costly to us in terms of money, time and resources.

 

We will need to grow the size of our organization, and we may experience difficulties in managing this growth.

 

 

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identifying, recruiting, integrating, maintaining and motivating additional employees;

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managing our internal development efforts effectively, including the clinical, FDA and international regulatory review process for our product candidates, while complying with our contractual obligations to contractors and other third parties; and

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improving our operational, financial and management controls, reporting systems and procedures.

 

Our future financial performance and our ability to commercialize our product candidates will depend, in part, on our ability to effectively manage any future growth, and our management may also have to divert a disproportionate amount of its attention away from day-to-day activities in order to devote a substantial amount of time to managing these growth activities.

 

We currently rely, and for the foreseeable future will continue to rely, in substantial part on certain independent organizations, advisors and consultants to provide certain services, including substantially all aspects of regulatory approval, clinical management and manufacturing.  There can be no assurance that the services of independent organizations, advisors and consultants will continue to be available to us on a timely basis when needed, or that we can find qualified replacements.  In addition, 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 of our product candidates or otherwise advance our 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 not be able 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.

 

Risks Relating to our Finances, Capital Requirements and Other Financial Matters

 

We are a development stage company with a history of operating losses that are expected to continue and we are unable to predict the extent of future losses, whether we will generate significant revenues or whether we will achieve or sustain profitability.

 

We are a company in the development stage and our prospects must be considered in light of the uncertainties, risks, expenses and difficulties frequently encountered by companies in their early stages of operations. We have generated operating losses since our inception, including losses of approximately $2,365,000, and $5,930,000 for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2015, respectively, and $1,991,000 in the three months ended March 31, 2016. At March 31, 2016, we had an accumulated deficit of approximately $10,287,000.  We expect to make substantial expenditures and incur increasing operating costs in the future and our accumulated deficit will increase significantly as we expand development and clinical trial activities for our product candidates. Our losses have had, and are expected to continue to have, an adverse impact on our working capital, total assets and stockholders’ equity. Because of the risks and uncertainties associated with product development, we are unable to predict the extent of any future losses, whether we will ever generate significant revenues or if we will ever achieve or sustain profitability.

 

We will need substantial additional funding and may be unable to raise capital when needed, which would force us to delay, curtail or eliminate one or more of our research and development programs or commercialization efforts.

 

Until such time, if ever, as we can generate a sufficient amount of product revenue and achieve profitability, we expect to seek to finance future cash needs through equity or debt financings or corporate collaboration and licensing arrangements. Other than this offering, we currently have no other commitments or agreements relating to any of these types of transactions and we cannot be certain that additional funding will be available on acceptable terms, or at all. If we are unable to raise additional capital, we will have to delay, curtail or eliminate one or more of our research and development programs.

 

 

 

 

Raising additional funds by issuing securities or through licensing or lending arrangements may cause dilution to our existing stockholders, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish proprietary rights.

 

To the extent that we raise additional capital by issuing equity securities, the share ownership of existing stockholders will be diluted. Any future debt financing may involve covenants that restrict our operations, including limitations on our ability to incur liens or additional debt, pay dividends, redeem our stock, make certain investments and engage in certain merger, consolidation or asset sale transactions, among other restrictions. In addition, if we raise additional funds through licensing arrangements, it may be necessary to relinquish potentially valuable rights to our product candidates, or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us.

 

Risks Associated with our Capital Stock and this Offering

 

We do not know whether an active, liquid and orderly trading market will develop for our common stock in the U.S.

 

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our common stock. Although we have applied for listing on The NASDAQ Capital Market, an active trading market for our shares may never develop or be sustained. The lack of an active or liquid market may impair your ability to sell your shares at the time you wish to sell them or at a price that you consider reasonable.

 

The market price of our common stock may be volatile and may fluctuate in a way that is disproportionate to our operating performance.

 

Our stock price may experience substantial volatility as a result of a number of factors, including

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sales or potential sales of substantial amounts of our common stock;

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delay or failure in initiating or completing pre-clinical or clinical trials or unsatisfactory results of these trials;

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announcements about us or about our competitors, including clinical trial results, regulatory approvals or new product introductions;

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developments concerning our licensors or product manufacturers;

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litigation and other developments relating to our patents or other proprietary rights or those of our competitors;

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conditions in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industries;

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governmental regulation and legislation;

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variations in our anticipated or actual operating results;

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change in securities analysts’ estimates of our performance, or our failure to meet analysts’ expectations; foreign currency values and fluctuations; and

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overall economic conditions.

 

Many of these factors are beyond our control. The stock markets in general, and the market for pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies in particular, have historically experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations. These fluctuations often have been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of these companies. These broad market and industry factors could reduce the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance.

 

Future sales of shares of our common stock by existing stockholders could depress the market price of our common stock.

 

Also, in the future, we may issue additional securities in connection with investments and acquisitions. The amount of our common stock issued in connection with an investment or acquisition could constitute a material portion of our then outstanding stock. Due to these factors, 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, could reduce the market price of our common stock.

 

Holders of approximately 5,331,108 shares, or 48% , of our common stock have registration rights, subject to some conditions, to require us to file registration statements covering the sale of their shares or to include their shares in registration statements that we may file for ourselves or other stockholders in the future. Once we register the shares for the holders of registration rights, they can be freely sold in the public market upon issuance, subject to the restrictions contained in the lock-up agreements. If a large number of these shares are sold in the public market, the sales could reduce the trading price of our common stock. See “Shares Eligible for Future Sale” for a more detailed description of sales that may occur in the future.

 

We have never paid and do not intend to pay cash dividends.  As a result, capital appreciation, if any, will be your sole source of gain.

 

We have never paid cash dividends on any of our capital stock and we currently intend to retain future earnings, if any, to fund the development and growth of our business.  In addition, the terms of existing and future debt agreements may preclude us from paying dividends.  As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be your sole source of gain for the foreseeable future.

 

 

Provisions in our restated certificate of incorporation, our restated by-laws and Delaware law might discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company or changes in our management and, therefore, depress the trading price of our common stock.

 

Provisions of our restated certificate of incorporation, our restated by-laws and Delaware law may have the effect of deterring unsolicited takeovers or delaying or preventing a change in control of our company or changes in our management, including transactions in which our stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares over then current market prices. In addition, these provisions may limit the ability of stockholders to approve transactions that they may deem to be in their best interests. These provisions include:

 

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the inability of stockholders to call special meetings; and

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the ability of our board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred stock without stockholder approval, which could include the right to approve an acquisition or other change in our control or could be used to institute a rights plan, also known as a poison pill, that would work to dilute the stock ownership of a potential hostile acquirer, likely preventing acquisitions that have not been approved by our board of directors.

 

In addition, Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law prohibits a publicly-held Delaware corporation from engaging in a business combination with an interested stockholder, generally a person which together with its affiliates owns, or within the last three years, has owned 15% of our voting stock, for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder, unless the business combination is approved in a prescribed manner.

 

The existence of the foregoing provisions and anti-takeover measures could limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock. They could also deter potential acquirers of our company, thereby reducing the likelihood that you could receive a premium for your common stock in an acquisition.

 

We have broad discretion in the use of the net proceeds of this offering and may not use them effectively.

 

We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes and to continue preclinical and clinical development of our product candidates. However, our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds from this offering and could spend the proceeds in ways that do not improve our results of operations or enhance the value of our common stock. The failure by management to utilize these funds effectively could result in financial losses that could have a material adverse effect on our business, cause the price of our common stock to decline and delay the development of our product candidates. Pending their use, we may invest the net proceeds from this offering in a manner that does not produce income or that loses value.

 

You will experience immediate and substantial dilution in the net tangible book value per share of the common stock you purchase.

 

 

 

We are eligible to be treated as an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act, and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies will make our common stock less attractive to investors.

 

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act. For as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including (1) not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (2) reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in this prospectus and our periodic reports and proxy statements and (3) exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. In addition, as an emerging growth company, we are only required to provide two years of audited financial statements and two years of selected financial data in this prospectus. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700.0 million as of any March 31 before that time or if we have total annual gross revenue of $1.0 billion or more during any fiscal year before that time, after which, in each case, we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31 or, if we issue more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during any three-year period before that time, we would cease to be an emerging growth company immediately.

 

Under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies can also delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We have irrevocably elected not to avail ourselves of this exemption from new or revised accounting standards and, therefore, will be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies.

 

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, if they adversely change their recommendations regarding our shares or if our results of operations do not meet their expectations, our share price and trading volume could decline.

 

The trading market for our shares will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our share price or trading volume to decline. Moreover, if one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our stock, or if our results of operations do not meet their expectations, our share price could decline.