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T W

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, DC 20549

 

FORM 10-Q

 

(Mark One)

 

QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2021

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: 001-37722

 

AEGLEA BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

 

 

Delaware

46-4312787

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

805 Las Cimas Parkway

Suite 100

Austin, TX 78746

(Address of principal executive offices including zip code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (512) 942-2935

Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report: N/A

 

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act:

 

Title of each class

Trading Symbol(s)

Name of each exchange on which registered

Common Stock, $0.0001 Par Value Per Share

AGLE

The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

(Nasdaq Global Market)

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, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Large accelerated filer

 

  

Accelerated filer

 

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 check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes      No  

As of May 5, 2021, the registrant had 49,023,640 shares of common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, outstanding.

 

 

 

 


 

AEGLEA BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

QUARTERLY REPORT ON FORM 10-Q

FOR THE QUARTER ENDED MARCH 31, 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

Page No.

PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

1

 

 

 

 

Item 1.

 

Financial Statements (Unaudited)

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations for the Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 and 2020

2

 

 

 

 

 

 

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss for the Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 and 2020

3

 

 

 

 

 

 

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity for the Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 and 2020

4

 

 

 

 

 

 

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 and 2020

5

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

6

 

 

 

 

Item 2.

 

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

17

 

 

 

 

Item 3.

 

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

25

 

 

 

 

Item 4.

 

Controls and Procedures

25

 

 

PART II. OTHER INFORMATION

26

 

 

 

 

Item 1.

 

Legal Proceedings

26

 

 

 

 

 

Item 1A.

 

Risk Factors

26

 

 

 

 

Item 2.

 

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

70

 

 

 

 

Item 3.

 

Defaults Upon Senior Securities

70

 

 

 

 

Item 4.

 

Mine Safety Disclosures

70

 

 

 

 

Item 5.

 

Other Information

70

 

 

 

 

Item 6.

 

Exhibits

71

 

 

 

 

 

 

Signatures

72

 

 

 


 

NOTE ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Quarterly Report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, and section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act. All statements contained in this Quarterly Report other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, business strategy, market size, potential growth opportunities, nonclinical and clinical development activities, efficacy and safety profile of our product candidates, potential therapeutic benefits and economic value of our product candidates, use of net proceeds from our public offerings, our ability to maintain and recognize the benefits of certain designations received by product candidates, the timing and results of nonclinical studies and clinical trials, commercial collaboration with third parties, and our ability to recognize milestone and royalty payments from commercialization agreements, the expected impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operations, and the receipt and timing of potential regulatory designations, approvals and commercialization of product candidates, are forward-looking statements. The words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “potentially,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “predict,” “target,” “intend,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “project,” “plan,” “expect,” and similar expressions that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words.

These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those described in Item 1A, “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Quarterly Report. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment, and new risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this Quarterly Report may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements.

You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that the future results, levels of activity, performance or events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this report to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations, except as required by law. You should read this Quarterly Report with the understanding that our actual future results, levels of activity, performance and events and circumstances may be materially different from what we expect.

Unless the context indicates otherwise, as used in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, the terms “Aeglea,” “the Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Aeglea BioTherapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and its consolidated subsidiaries taken as a whole, unless otherwise noted. “Aeglea” and all product candidate names are our common law trademarks. This Quarterly Report contains additional trade names, trademarks and service marks of other companies, which are the property of their respective owners. We do not intend our use or display of other companies’ trade names, trademarks or service marks to imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, these other companies.

 

 

 


 

PART I. – FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1.

Financial Statements

Aeglea BioTherapeutics, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(Unaudited)

(In thousands, except share and per share amounts)

 

 

 

March 31,

 

 

December 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

ASSETS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CURRENT ASSETS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents

 

$

80,231

 

 

$

90,095

 

Marketable securities

 

 

46,429

 

 

 

56,178

 

Accounts receivable - license

 

 

21,500

 

 

 

 

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

 

 

3,252

 

 

 

3,516

 

Total current assets

 

 

151,412

 

 

 

149,789

 

Restricted cash

 

 

1,845

 

 

 

1,842

 

Property and equipment, net

 

 

5,518

 

 

 

5,642

 

Operating lease right-of-use assets

 

 

4,123

 

 

 

4,230

 

Other non-current assets

 

 

716

 

 

 

115

 

TOTAL ASSETS

 

$

163,614

 

 

$

161,618

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CURRENT LIABILITIES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accounts payable

 

$

1,878

 

 

$

2,254

 

Operating lease liabilities

 

 

315

 

 

 

319

 

Deferred revenue

 

 

19,226

 

 

 

 

Accrued and other current liabilities

 

 

10,951

 

 

 

13,870

 

Total current liabilities

 

 

32,370

 

 

 

16,443

 

Non-current operating lease liabilities

 

 

5,009

 

 

 

5,129

 

Deferred revenue, net of current portion

 

 

2,274

 

 

 

 

Other non-current liabilities

 

 

206

 

 

 

214

 

TOTAL LIABILITIES

 

 

39,859

 

 

 

21,786

 

Commitments and Contingencies (Note 8)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value; 10,000,000 shares authorized as of

   March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020; no shares issued and

   outstanding as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

Common stock, $0.0001 par value; 500,000,000 shares authorized as of

  March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020; 49,019,901 shares and

   47,959,086 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2021 and

   December 31, 2020, respectively

 

 

5

 

 

 

5

 

Additional paid-in capital

 

 

417,951

 

 

 

415,824

 

Accumulated other comprehensive income

 

 

25

 

 

 

11

 

Accumulated deficit

 

 

(294,226

)

 

 

(276,008

)

TOTAL STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

 

 

123,755

 

 

 

139,832

 

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

 

$

163,614

 

 

$

161,618

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

 

1


 

Aeglea BioTherapeutics, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

(Unaudited)

(In thousands, except share and per share amounts)

 

 

 

Three Months Ended

 

 

 

March 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Operating expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Research and development

 

$

11,855

 

 

$

14,562

 

General and administrative

 

 

6,354

 

 

 

4,460

 

Total operating expenses

 

 

18,209

 

 

 

19,022

 

Loss from operations

 

 

(18,209

)

 

 

(19,022

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other income (expense):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interest income

 

 

22

 

 

 

300

 

Other expense, net

 

 

(31

)

 

 

(6

)

Total other income (expense)

 

 

(9

)

 

 

294

 

Net loss

 

$

(18,218

)

 

$

(18,728

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net loss per share, basic and diluted

 

$

(0.28

)

 

$

(0.57

)

Weighted-average common shares outstanding, basic and diluted

 

 

65,604,336

 

 

 

33,097,736

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

 

2


 

Aeglea BioTherapeutics, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss

(Unaudited)

(In thousands)

 

 

 

Three Months Ended

 

 

 

March 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Net loss

 

$

(18,218

)

 

$

(18,728

)

Other comprehensive income (loss):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Foreign currency translation adjustment

 

 

4

 

 

 

 

Unrealized gain (loss) on marketable securities

 

 

10

 

 

 

(185

)

Total comprehensive loss

 

$

(18,204

)

 

$

(18,913

)

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

3


 

Aeglea BioTherapeutics, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity

(Unaudited)

(In thousands)

 

 

 

Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 and 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additional

 

 

Accumulated

Other

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

 

 

 

Common Stock

 

 

Paid-In

 

 

Comprehensive

 

 

Accumulated

 

 

Stockholders'

 

 

 

Shares

 

 

Amount

 

 

Capital

 

 

Income

 

 

Deficit

 

 

Equity

 

Balances - December 31, 2020

 

 

47,959

 

 

$

5

 

 

$

415,824

 

 

$

11

 

 

$

(276,008

)

 

$

139,832

 

Issuance of common stock in connection

   with employee stock purchase plan

 

 

38

 

 

 

 

 

 

224

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

224

 

Issuance of common stock in connection

   with exercise of stock options

 

 

23

 

 

 

 

 

 

146

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

146

 

Issuance of common stock in connection

   with exercise of pre-funded warrants

 

 

1,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stock-based compensation expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,757

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,757

 

Foreign currency translation adjustment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4

 

 

 

 

 

 

4

 

Unrealized gain on marketable securities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10

 

 

 

 

 

 

10

 

Net loss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(18,218

)

 

 

(18,218

)

Balances - March 31, 2021

 

 

49,020

 

 

$

5

 

 

$

417,951

 

 

$

25

 

 

$

(294,226

)

 

$

123,755

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additional

 

 

Accumulated

Other

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

 

 

 

Common Stock

 

 

Paid-In

 

 

Comprehensive

 

 

Accumulated

 

 

Stockholders'

 

 

 

Shares

 

 

Amount

 

 

Capital

 

 

(Loss) Income

 

 

Deficit

 

 

Equity

 

Balances - December 31, 2019

 

 

29,084

 

 

$

3

 

 

$

255,142

 

 

$

51

 

 

$

(195,115

)

 

$

60,081

 

Issuance of common stock in connection

   with employee stock purchase plan

 

 

26

 

 

 

 

 

 

174

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

174

 

Issuance of common stock in connection

   with exercise of stock options

 

 

37

 

 

 

 

 

 

115

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

115

 

Stock-based compensation expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,348

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,348

 

Unrealized loss on marketable securities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(185

)

 

 

 

 

 

(185

)

Net loss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(18,728

)

 

 

(18,728

)

Balances - March 31, 2020

 

 

29,147

 

 

$

3

 

 

$

256,779

 

 

$

(134

)

 

$

(213,843

)

 

$

42,805

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

4


Aeglea BioTherapeutics, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(Unaudited)

(In thousands)

 

 

 

Three Months Ended

 

 

 

March 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net loss

 

$

(18,218

)

 

$

(18,728

)

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Depreciation and amortization

 

 

355

 

 

 

154

 

Purchase net (premium) discount on marketable securities

 

 

(174

)

 

 

19

 

Net amortization of premium (accretion of discount) on marketable securities

 

 

181

 

 

 

(48

)

Stock-based compensation

 

 

1,757

 

 

 

1,348

 

Non-cash operating lease expense

 

 

108

 

 

 

152

 

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accounts receivable - license

 

 

(21,500

)

 

 

 

Prepaid expenses and other assets

 

 

(340

)

 

 

(2,696

)

Accounts payable

 

 

(376

)

 

 

262

 

Operating lease liabilities

 

 

(123

)

 

 

(92

)

Deferred revenue

 

 

21,500

 

 

 

 

Accrued and other liabilities

 

 

(2,700

)

 

 

(2,065

)

Net cash used in operating activities

 

 

(19,530

)

 

 

(21,694

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Purchases of property and equipment

 

 

(450

)

 

 

(1,389

)

Purchases of marketable securities

 

 

(24,250

)

 

 

(4,000

)

Proceeds from maturities of marketable securities

 

 

34,000

 

 

 

20,142

 

Net cash provided by investing activities

 

 

9,300

 

 

 

14,753

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Proceeds from employee stock plan purchases and stock option exercises

 

 

367

 

 

 

289

 

Principal payments on finance lease obligation

 

 

(5

)

 

 

(7

)

Net cash provided by financing activities

 

 

362

 

 

 

282

 

Effect of exchange rate on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash

 

 

7

 

 

 

 

NET DECREASE IN CASH, CASH EQUIVALENTS, AND RESTRICTED CASH

 

 

(9,861

)

 

 

(6,659

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CASH, CASH EQUIVALENTS, AND RESTRICTED CASH

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beginning of period

 

 

91,937

 

 

 

20,753

 

End of period

 

$

82,076

 

 

$

14,094

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplemental Disclosure of Non-Cash Investing and Financing Information:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leased assets obtained in exchange for lease obligations

 

$

 

 

$

137

 

Unpaid amounts related to purchase of property and equipment

 

$

 

 

$

1,057

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

5


 

Aeglea BioTherapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

 

 

1. The Company and Basis of Presentation

Aeglea BioTherapeutics, Inc. (“Aeglea” or the “Company”) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company redefining the potential of human enzyme therapeutics to benefit people with rare metabolic diseases with limited treatment options. The Company was formed as a Limited Liability Company (LLC) in Delaware on December 16, 2013 under the name Aeglea BioTherapeutics Holdings, LLC and was converted from a Delaware LLC to a Delaware corporation on March 10, 2015. The Company operates in one segment and has its principal offices in Austin, Texas.

Liquidity

As of March 31, 2021, the Company had working capital of $119.0 million, an accumulated deficit of $294.2 million, and cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities, and restricted cash of $128.5 million. The Company has not generated any product revenues and has not achieved profitable operations. There is no assurance that profitable operations will ever be achieved, and, if achieved, could be sustained on a continuing basis. In addition, development activities, clinical and nonclinical testing, and commercialization of the Company’s products will require significant additional financing.

The Company is subject to a number of risks similar to other life science companies, including, but not limited to, risks related to the successful discovery, development, and commercialization of product candidates, raising additional capital, development of competing drugs and therapies, protection of proprietary technology and market acceptance of the Company’s products. As a result of these and other factors and the related uncertainties, there can be no assurance of the Company’s future success.

Based upon the Company’s current operating plans, the Company believes that it has sufficient resources to fund operations into 2023 with its existing cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities. The Company will need to secure additional funding in the future, in order to carry out all of its planned research and development activities. If the Company is unable to obtain additional financing or generate license or product revenue, the lack of liquidity could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s future prospects.

Unaudited Interim Financial Information

The interim condensed consolidated financial statements included in this document are unaudited. The unaudited interim financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as the annual financial statements and reflect, in the opinion of management, all adjustments of a normal and recurring nature that are necessary for a fair statement of the Company’s financial position as of March 31, 2021, and its results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, changes in stockholders’ equity for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, and cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020. The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2021 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the year ending December 31, 2021 or for any other future annual or interim period. The December 31, 2020 balance sheet was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”). These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements included in the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 as filed with the SEC.

 

2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Such management estimates include those related to accruals of research and development related costs, stock-based compensation, and certain company income tax related items. Management bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other market-specific and relevant assumptions that management believes to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less from the date of purchase to be cash equivalents. Cash equivalents consist of money market funds and debt securities and are stated at fair value.

6


Marketable Securities

All investments have been classified as available-for-sale and are carried at estimated fair value as determined based upon quoted market prices or pricing models for similar securities. Management determines the appropriate classification of its investments in debt securities at the time of purchase. The Company may or may not hold securities with stated maturities greater than one year until maturity. All available-for-sale securities are considered available to support current operations and are classified as current assets. The Company presents credit losses as an allowance rather than as a reduction in the amortized cost of the available-for-sale securities.

For available-for-sale debt securities in an unrealized loss position, the Company first assesses whether it intends to sell, or it is more likely than not that it will be required to sell the security before recovery of its amortized cost basis. If either of the criteria regarding intent or requirement to sell is met, the security’s amortized cost basis is written down to fair value and recognized in other income (expense) in the results of operations. For available-for-sale debt securities that do not meet the aforementioned criteria, the Company evaluates whether the decline in fair value has resulted from credit losses or other factors. In making this assessment, management considers the extent to which fair value is less than amortized cost, any changes to the rating of the security by a rating agency, and adverse conditions specifically related to the security, among other factors. If this assessment indicates that a credit loss exists, an allowance is recorded for the difference between the present value of cash flows expected to be collected and the amortized cost basis of the security. Impairment losses attributable to credit loss factors are charged against the allowance when management believes an available-for-sale security is uncollectible or when either of the criteria regarding intent or requirement to sell is met.

Any unrealized losses from declines in fair value below the amortized cost basis as a result of non-credit loss factors is recognized as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), along with unrealized gains. Realized gains and losses and declines in fair value, if any, on available-for-sale securities are included in other income (expense) in the results of operations. The cost of securities sold is based on the specific-identification method.

Restricted Cash

Restricted cash consists of money market accounts held by financial institutions as collateral for the Company’s obligations under a credit agreement and a facility lease for the Company’s corporate headquarters in Austin, TX.

Concentration of Credit Risk

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to a concentration of credit risk consist of cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities, and restricted cash. The Company’s investment policy limits investments to high credit quality securities issued by the U.S. government, U.S. government-sponsored agencies, highly rated banks, and corporate issuers, subject to certain concentration limits and restrictions on maturities. The Company’s cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities, and restricted cash are held by financial institutions that management believes are of high credit quality. Amounts on deposit may at times exceed federally insured limits. The Company has not experienced any losses on its deposits of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash and its accounts are monitored by management to mitigate risk. The Company is exposed to credit risk in the event of default by the financial institutions holding its cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, and bond issuers.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are stated at cost, net of accumulated depreciation and amortization. Depreciation and amortization are computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Repairs and maintenance that do not extend the life or improve an asset are expensed as incurred. Upon retirement or sale, the cost of disposed assets and their related accumulated depreciation and amortization are removed from the balance sheet. Any gain or loss is credited or charged to operations.

The useful lives of the property and equipment are as follows:

 

Laboratory equipment

 

5 years

Furniture and office equipment

 

5 years

Computer equipment

 

3 years

Software

 

3 years

Leasehold improvements

 

Shorter of remaining lease term or estimated useful life

 

7


 

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

Long-lived assets are reviewed for indications of possible impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Recoverability is measured by comparison of the carrying amounts to the future undiscounted cash flows attributable to these assets. An impairment loss is recognized to the extent an asset group is not recoverable, and the carrying amount exceeds the projected discounted future cash flows arising from these assets. There were no impairments of long-lived assets for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020.

Accrued Research and Development Costs

The Company records the costs associated with research, nonclinical studies, clinical trials, and manufacturing development as incurred. These costs are a significant component of the Company’s research and development expenses, with a substantial portion of the Company’s on-going research and development activities conducted by third-party service providers, including contract research and manufacturing organizations.

The Company accrues for expenses resulting from obligations under agreements with contract research organizations (“CROs”), contract manufacturing organizations (“CMOs”), and other outside service providers for which payment flows do not match the periods over which materials or services are provided to the Company. Accruals are recorded based on estimates of services received and efforts expended pursuant to agreements established with CROs, CMOs, and other outside service providers. These estimates are typically based on contracted amounts applied to the proportion of work performed and determined through analysis with internal personnel and external service providers as to the progress or stage of completion of the services. The Company makes significant judgments and estimates in determining the accrual balance in each reporting period. In the event advance payments are made to a CRO, CMO, or outside service provider, the payments will be recorded as a prepaid asset which will be amortized as the contracted services are performed. As actual costs become known, the Company adjusts its accruals. Inputs, such as the services performed, the number of patients enrolled, or the study duration, may vary from the Company’s estimates, resulting in adjustments to research and development expense in future periods. Changes in these estimates that result in material changes to the Company’s accruals could materially affect the Company’s results of operations. Historically, the Company has not experienced any material deviations between accrued and actual research and development expenses.

Leases

The Company determines if an arrangement is a lease at inception. Right-of-use ("ROU") assets represent the Company's right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and lease liabilities represent the Company's obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. The classification of the Company's leases as operating or finance leases along with the initial measurement and recognition of the associated ROU assets and lease liabilities is performed at the lease commencement date. The measurement of lease liabilities is based on the present value of future lease payments over the lease term. As the Company's leases do not provide an implicit rate, the Company uses its incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at the lease commencement date in determining the present value of future lease payments. The ROU asset is based on the measurement of the lease liability and also includes any lease payments made prior to or on lease commencement and excludes lease incentives and initial direct costs incurred, as applicable. The lease terms may include options to extend or terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain the Company will exercise any such options. Rent expense for the Company's operating leases is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Amortization expense for the ROU asset associated with its finance leases is recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease and interest expense associated with its finance leases is recognized on the balance of the lease liability using the effective interest method based on the estimated incremental borrowing rate.

The Company has lease agreements with lease and non-lease components. As allowed under Topic 842, the Company has elected to not separate lease and non-lease components for any leases involving real estate and office equipment classes of assets and, as a result, accounts for the lease and non-lease components as a single lease component. The Company has also elected to not apply the recognition requirement of Topic 842 to leases with a term of 12 months or less for all classes of assets.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The Company uses fair value measurements to record fair value adjustments to certain financial and non-financial assets and liabilities and to determine fair value disclosures. The accounting standards define fair value, establish a framework for measuring fair value, and require disclosures about fair value measurements. Fair value is defined as the price that would be received from selling an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. When determining the fair value measurements for assets and liabilities required to be recorded at fair value, the principal or most advantageous market in which the Company would transact are considered

8


along with assumptions that market participants would use when pricing the asset or liability, such as inherent risk, transfer restrictions, and risk of nonperformance.

The accounting standard for fair value establishes a fair value hierarchy based on three levels of inputs, the first two of which are considered observable and the last unobservable, that requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. A financial instrument’s categorization within the fair value hierarchy is based upon the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement.

The three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value are as follows:

 

Level 1:

Observable inputs, such as quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

 

Level 2:

Observable inputs other than Level 1 prices, such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.

 

Level 3:

Valuations based on unobservable inputs to the valuation methodology and including data about assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability based on the best information available under the circumstances.

Financial instruments carried at fair value include cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities, and restricted cash. The carrying amount of accounts receivable, accounts payable, and accrued liabilities approximate fair value due to their relatively short maturities.

Revenue Recognition

Under ASC Topic 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” (“Topic 606”), an entity recognizes revenue when its customer obtains control of promised goods or services, in an amount that reflects the consideration that the entity expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. To determine revenue recognition for arrangements that an entity determines are within the scope of Topic 606, the entity performs the following five steps: (i) identify the contract(s) with a customer; (ii) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price, including variable consideration, if any; (iv) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognize revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation.

The Company assesses its license arrangements within the scope of Topic 606 in accordance with this framework as follows:

License revenue

The Company assesses whether the goods or services promised within each contract are distinct to identify those that are performance obligations. This assessment involves subjective determinations and requires management to make judgments about the individual promised goods or services and whether such are separable from the other aspects of the contractual relationship. In assessing whether a promised good or service is distinct, and therefore a performance obligation, the Company considers factors such as the research, stage of development of the licensed product, manufacturing and commercialization capabilities of the customer and the availability of the associated expertise in the general marketplace. The Company also considers the intended benefit of the contract in assessing whether a promised good or service is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract. If a promised good or service is not distinct, the Company is required to combine that good or service with other promised goods or services until it identifies a bundle of goods or services that is distinct. Arrangements that include rights to additional goods or services that are exercisable at a customer’s discretion are generally considered options. The Company assesses if these options provide a material right to the customer and if so, they are considered performance obligations.

The transaction price is determined and allocated to the identified performance obligations in proportion to their stand-alone selling prices (“SSP”) on a relative SSP basis. SSP is based on observable prices of the performance obligations or, when such prices are not observable, are estimated. The estimation of SSP may include factors such as forecasted revenues or costs, development timelines, discount rates, probabilities of technical and regulatory success, and considerations such as market conditions and entity-specific factors. In certain circumstances, the Company may apply the residual method to determine the SSP of a good or service if the SSP is considered highly variable or uncertain. The Company validates the SSP for performance obligations by evaluating whether changes in the key assumptions used to determine the SSP will have a significant effect on the allocation of arrangement consideration between multiple performance obligations.

9


If the consideration promised in a contract includes a variable amount, the Company estimates the amount of consideration to which it will be entitled in exchange for transferring the promised goods or services to a customer. The Company determines the amount of variable consideration by using the expected value method or the most likely amount method. The Company includes the amount of estimated variable consideration in the transaction price to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal of cumulative revenue recognized will not occur. At the end of each subsequent reporting period, the Company re-evaluates the estimated variable consideration included in the transaction price and any related constraint, and if necessary, adjusts its estimate of the overall transaction price. Any such adjustments are recorded on a cumulative catch-up basis in the period of adjustment.

If an arrangement includes development, regulatory or commercial milestone payments, the Company evaluates whether the milestones are considered probable of being reached and estimates the amount to be included in the transaction price using the most likely amount method. If it is probable that a significant revenue reversal would not occur, the associated milestone value is included in the transaction price. Milestone payments that are not within the Company’s control or the licensee’s control, such as regulatory approvals, are generally not considered probable of being achieved until those approvals are received.

In determining the transaction price, the Company adjusts consideration for the effects of the time value of money if the timing of payments provides the Company with a significant benefit of financing. The Company does not assess whether a contract has a significant financing component if the expectation at contract inception is such that the period between payment by the licensee and the transfer of the promised goods or services to the licensees will be one year or less. For arrangements with licenses of intellectual property that include sales-based royalties, including milestone payments based on the level of sales, and if the license is deemed to be the predominant item to which the royalties relate, the Company recognizes royalty revenue and sales-based milestones at the later of (i) when the related sales occur, or (ii) when the performance obligation to which the royalty has been allocated has been satisfied.

The Company recognizes as revenue the amount of the transaction price that is allocated to the respective performance obligation when (or as) each performance obligation is satisfied at a point in time or over time, and if over time, recognition is based on the use of an output or input method.

Collaborative arrangements

 The Company analyzes its license arrangements to assess whether such arrangements involve joint operating activities performed by parties that are both active participants in the activities and exposed to significant risks and rewards dependent on the commercial success of such activities and therefore within the scope of ASC Topic 808, Collaborative Arrangements (“Topic 808”). This assessment is performed throughout the life of the arrangement based on changes in the responsibilities of all parties in the arrangement. For arrangements within the scope of Topic 808 that contain multiple elements, the Company first determines which elements of the collaboration are deemed to be within the scope of Topic 808 and which elements of the collaboration are more reflective of a vendor-customer relationship and therefore within the scope of Topic 606. For elements of collaboration arrangements that are accounted for pursuant to Topic 808, an appropriate recognition method is determined and applied consistently, either by analogy to authoritative accounting literature or by applying a reasonable and rational policy election. For those elements of the arrangement that are accounted for pursuant to Topic 606, the Company applies the five-step model described above.

Research and Development Costs

Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. Research and development costs include, but are not limited to, salaries, benefits, travel, stock-based compensation, consulting costs, contract research service costs, laboratory supplies and facilities, contract manufacturing costs, and costs paid to other third parties that conduct research and development activities on the Company’s behalf. Amounts incurred in connection with license agreements are also included in research and development expense.

Advance payments for goods or services to be rendered in the future for use in research and development activities are recorded as a prepaid asset and expensed as the related goods are delivered or the services are performed.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company recognizes the cost of stock-based awards granted to employees and non-employees based on the estimated grant-date fair values of the awards. The fair values of stock options are estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. The fair values of restricted stock units (“RSUs”) are based on the fair value of the Company’s common stock on the date of the grant. The value of the award is recognized as compensation expense on a

10


straight-line basis over the requisite service period. Forfeitures are recognized when they occur, which may result in the reversal of compensation costs in subsequent periods as the forfeitures arise. Compensation expense for employee and non-employee share-based payment awards with performance conditions is recognized when the performance condition is deemed probable.

Income Taxes

The Company and its nine wholly owned subsidiary corporations use the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the financial statements and the tax bases of assets and liabilities. Additionally, any changes in income tax laws are immediately recognized in the quarter of enactment.

A valuation allowance is established against the deferred tax assets to reduce their carrying value to an amount that is more likely than not to be realized. The deferred tax assets and liabilities are classified as noncurrent along with the related valuation allowance. Due to a lack of earnings history, the net deferred tax assets have been fully offset by a valuation allowance.

The Company recognizes benefits of uncertain tax positions if it is more likely than not that such positions will be sustained upon examination based solely on the technical merits, as the largest amount of benefits that is more likely than not to be realized upon the ultimate settlement. The Company’s policy is to recognize interest and penalties related to the unrecognized tax benefits as a component of income tax expense, if applicable.

Comprehensive Loss

Comprehensive loss is the change in stockholders’ equity from transactions and other events and circumstances other than those resulting from investments by stockholders and distributions to stockholders. The Company’s other comprehensive income (loss) is currently comprised of changes in unrealized losses and gains on available-for-sale securities and foreign currency translation adjustments reflecting the cumulative effect of changes in exchange rates between the foreign entity’s functional currency and the reporting currency.

 

3. Fair Value Measurements

The Company measures and reports certain financial instruments as assets and liabilities at fair value on a recurring basis. The following tables sets forth the fair value of the Company’s financial assets and liabilities at fair value on a recurring basis based on the three-tier fair value hierarchy (in thousands):

 

 

 

March 31, 2021

 

 

 

Level 1

 

 

Level 2

 

 

Level 3

 

 

Total

 

Financial Assets

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Money market funds

 

$

73,798

 

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

$

73,798

 

U.S. treasury securities

 

 

 

 

 

46,429

 

 

 

 

 

 

46,429

 

Total financial assets

 

$

73,798

 

 

$

46,429

 

 

$

 

 

$

120,227

 

 

 

 

December 31, 2020

 

 

 

Level 1

 

 

Level 2

 

 

Level 3

 

 

Total

 

Financial Assets

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Money market funds

 

$

6,700

 

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

$

6,700

 

U.S. treasury securities

 

 

 

 

 

57,181

 

 

 

 

 

 

57,181

 

U.S. government agency securities

 

 

 

 

 

66,893

 

 

 

 

 

 

66,893

 

Corporate bonds

 

 

 

 

 

3,001

 

 

 

 

 

 

3,001

 

Total financial assets

 

$

6,700

 

 

$

127,075

 

 

$

 

 

$

133,775

 

 

The Company measures the fair value of money market funds on quoted prices in active markets for identical asset or liabilities. The Level 2 assets include U.S. treasury securities, U.S. government agency securities, and corporate bonds and are valued based on quoted prices for similar assets in active markets and inputs other than quoted prices that are derived from observable market data.

11


The Company evaluates transfers between levels at the end of each reporting period. There were no transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 during the periods presented.

 

4. Cash Equivalents and Marketable Securities

The following tables summarize the estimated fair value of the Company’s cash equivalents and marketable securities and the gross unrealized gains and losses (in thousands):

 

 

 

March 31, 2021

 

 

 

Amortized

Cost

 

 

Gross

Unrealized

Gains

 

 

Gross

Unrealized

Losses

 

 

Estimated

Fair Value

 

Cash equivalents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Money market funds

 

$

73,798

 

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

$

73,798

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marketable securities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

U.S. treasury securities

 

$

46,427

 

 

$

3

 

 

$

(1

)

 

$

46,429

 

 

 

 

December 31, 2020

 

 

 

Amortized

Cost

 

 

Gross

Unrealized

Gains

 

 

Gross

Unrealized

Losses

 

 

Estimated

Fair Value

 

Cash equivalents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Money market funds

 

$

6,700

 

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

$

6,700

 

U.S. treasury securities

 

 

4,005

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1

)

 

 

4,004

 

U.S. government agency securities

 

 

66,895

 

 

 

 

 

 

(2

)

 

 

66,893

 

Total cash equivalents

 

 

77,600

 

 

 

 

 

 

(3

)

 

 

77,597

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marketable securities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

U.S. treasury securities

 

 

53,183

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

(7

)

 

 

53,177

 

Corporate bonds

 

 

3,000

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

3,001

 

Total marketable securities

 

$

56,183

 

 

$

2

 

 

$

(7

)

 

$

56,178

 

 

The following table summarizes the available-for-sale securities in an unrealized loss position for which an allowance for credit losses has not been recorded as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, aggregated by major security type and length of time in a continuous unrealized loss position:

 

 

 

March 31, 2021

 

 

 

Less Than 12 Months

 

 

12 Months or Longer

 

 

Total

 

 

 

Fair Value

 

 

Unrealized

Losses

 

 

Fair Value

 

 

Unrealized

Losses

 

 

Fair Value

 

 

Unrealized

Losses

 

U.S. treasury securities

 

$

4,031

 

 

$

(1

)

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

$

4,031

 

 

$

(1

)

 

 

 

December 31, 2020

 

 

 

Less Than 12 Months

 

 

12 Months or Longer

 

 

Total

 

 

 

Fair Value

 

 

Unrealized

Losses

 

 

Fair Value

 

 

Unrealized

Losses

 

 

Fair Value

 

 

Unrealized

Losses

 

U.S. treasury securities

 

$

43,183

 

 

$

(8

)

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

$

43,183

 

 

$

(8

)

U.S. government agency securities

 

 

66,893

 

 

 

(2

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

66,893

 

 

 

(2

)

Total marketable securities

 

$

110,076

 

 

$

(10

)

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

$

110,076

 

 

$

(10

)

 

As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, the Company held 1 and 16 debt securities, respectively, that were in an unrealized loss position. The Company evaluated its securities for credit losses and considered the decline in market value to be primarily attributable to current economic and market conditions and not to a credit loss or other factors. Additionally, the Company does not intend to sell the securities in an unrealized loss position and does not expect they will be required to sell the securities before recovery of the unamortized cost basis. As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, an allowance for credit losses had not been recognized. Given our intent and ability to hold such securities until recovery, and the lack of significant change in credit risk of these investments, we do not consider these marketable securities to be impaired as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020.

12


There were no realized gains or losses on marketable securities for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020. Interest on marketable securities is included in interest income. Accrued interest receivable on available-for-sale debt securities totaled $0.2 million at March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 and is excluded from the estimate of credit losses.

The following table summarizes the contractual maturities of the Company’s marketable securities at estimated fair value (in thousands):

 

 

 

March 31,

 

 

December 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Due in one year or less

 

$

46,429

 

 

$

56,178

 

Due in 1 - 2 years

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total marketable securities

 

$

46,429

 

 

$

56,178

 

 

The Company may sell investments at any time for use in current operations even if they have not yet reached maturity. As a result, the Company classifies marketable securities, including securities with maturities beyond twelve months as current assets.

 

5. Accrued and Other Current Liabilities

Accrued and other current liabilities consist of the following (in thousands):

 

 

 

March 31,

 

 

December 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Accrued compensation

 

$

1,733

 

 

$

3,712

 

Accrued contracted research and development costs

 

 

7,751

 

 

 

8,620

 

Accrued professional and consulting fees

 

 

1,100

 

 

 

1,074

 

Other

 

 

367

 

 

 

464

 

Total accrued and other current liabilities

 

$

10,951

 

 

$

13,870

 

 

6. Stockholders’ Equity

Pre-Funded Warrants

In February 2019 and April 2020, the Company issued pre-funded warrants to purchase the Company’s common stock in underwritten public offerings at the offering price of the common stock, less the $0.0001 per share exercise price of each warrant. The warrants were recorded as a component of stockholders’ equity within additional paid-in capital and have no expiration date. Per the terms of the warrant agreements, the outstanding warrants to purchase shares of common stock may not be exercised if the holder’s ownership of the Company’s common stock would exceed 4.99% (“Maximum Ownership Percentage”), or 9.99% for certain holders. By written notice to the Company, each holder may increase or decrease the Maximum Ownership Percentage to any other percentage (not in excess of 19.99% for the majority of such warrants). The Revised Maximum Ownership Percentage would be effective 61 days after the notice is received by the Company.

As of March 31, 2021, the following pre-funded warrants for common stock were issued and outstanding:

 

Issue Date

 

Expiration Date

 

Exercise Price

 

 

Number of Warrants Outstanding

 

February 8, 2019

 

None

 

$

0.0001

 

 

 

3,750,000

 

April 30, 2020

 

None

 

$

0.0001

 

 

 

12,860,328

 

Total pre-funded warrants

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16,610,328

 

13


 

Stock-Based Compensation

The 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (“2016 Plan”) provides for an automatic increase in the number of shares reserved for issuance thereunder on January 1 of each year for the remaining term of the plan (through 2028) equal to (a) 4.0% of the number of issued and outstanding shares of common stock on December 31 of the immediately preceding year, or (b) a lesser amount as approved by the Company’s board of directors each year. As a result of this provision, on January 1, 2021 and January 1, 2020, an additional 1,918,363 and 1,163,377 shares, respectively, became available for issuance under the 2016 Plan.

As of March 31, 2021, the 2016 Plan had 1,369,443 shares available for future issuance.

During the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, the Company issued an aggregate of 1,667,900 and 1,205,000 options to purchase common stock, respectively, under the Company’s equity incentive plans with a weighted-average grant date fair value of $5.14 and $5.27, respectively.

Under the Company’s 2016 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“2016 ESPP”), the Company issued and sold 38,008 shares for aggregate cash proceeds of $0.2 million during the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 25,928 shares for aggregate cash proceeds of $0.2 million during the three months ended March 31, 2020.

Total stock-based compensation expense related to the Company’s equity incentive plans and 2016 ESPP was as follows (in thousands):

 

 

 

Three Months Ended

 

 

 

March 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Research and development

 

$

637

 

 

$

532

 

General and administrative

 

 

1,120

 

 

 

816

 

Total stock-based compensation expense

 

$

1,757

 

 

$

1,348

 

 

The following table summarizes the weighted-average Black-Scholes option pricing model assumptions used to estimate the fair value of stock options granted under the Company’s equity incentive plans, and the shares purchasable under the 2016 ESPP during the periods presented:

 

 

 

Three Months Ended

 

 

 

March 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Equity Incentive Plans

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Expected term (in years)

 

 

6.01

 

 

 

6.02

 

Expected volatility

 

 

83

%

 

 

74

%

Risk-free interest

 

 

0.76

%

 

 

1.45

%

Dividend yield

 

 

0

%

 

 

0

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2016 ESPP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Expected term (in years)

 

 

0.49

 

 

 

0.50

 

Expected volatility

 

 

97

%

 

 

53

%

Risk-free interest

 

 

0.08

%

 

 

1.49

%

Dividend yield

 

 

0

%

 

 

0

%

 

7. License and Collaboration Agreement

On March 21, 2021, the Company entered into an exclusive license and supply agreement with Immedica Pharma AB (“Immedica”). By entering into this agreement, the Company agreed to provide Immedica the following goods and services:

 

i.

Deliver an exclusive, sublicensable, license and know-how (the “License”) to develop and commercialize pegzilarginase (the “Product”), in the territory comprising the members states of the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman (the “Territory”);

 

ii.

Complete the global pivotal Phase 3 PEACE (Pegzilarginase Effect on Arginase 1 Deficiency Clinical Endpoints) trial (“PEACE Trial”) and related Biologics License Application (“BLA”) package

14


 

to file with the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), which will be leveraged by Immedica in obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals in the Territory; and

 

iii.

Perform a Pediatric Investigation Plan trial (“PIP Trial”) in order for Immedica to be able to receive certain regulatory approvals within the Territory.

In addition, the Company and Immedica formed a Joint Steering Committee (“JSC”) to provide oversight to the activities performed under the agreement; however, the substance of the Company’s participation in the JSC does not represent an additional promised service, but rather, a right of the Company to protect its own interests in the arrangement.

Further, the Company agreed to supply to Immedica, and Immedica agreed to purchase from the Company, substantially all commercial requirements of Product. The terms of the agreement do not provide for either (i) an option to Immedica to purchase Product from the Company at a discount from the standalone selling price or (ii) minimum purchase quantities. Finally, Immedica will bear (i) all costs and expenses for any development or commercialization of the Product in the Territory subject to the License exclusive of the Company’s promised goods and services summarized above and (ii) all costs and fees associated with applying for regulatory approval of the Product in the Territory.

The Company is entitled to receive a non-refundable payment of $21.5 million and Immedica agreed to provide payment of 50% of the Company’s costs incurred in performing the PIP Trial up to a maximum of $1.8 million. In addition, the Company has the ability to receive additional payments under the agreement of up to approximately $130.0 million in regulatory and commercial milestone payments. The Company is also entitled to receive royalties in the mid-20 percent range on net sales of the Product in the Territory.

The Company concluded that Immedica meets the definition to be accounted for as a customer because the Company is delivering intellectual property and other services within the Company’s normal course of business, in which the parties are not jointly sharing the risks and rewards. Therefore, the Company concluded that the promises summarized above represent transactions with a customer within the scope of ASC 606. The Company determined that the following promises represent distinct promised services, and therefore, performance obligations: (i) the License, (ii) the PEACE Trial and BLA package, and (iii) the PIP Trial.

Specifically, in making these determinations, the Company considered the following factors:

 

-

As of inception of the agreement, the Company had completed the Phase 1/2 clinical trial related to the Product and were conducting the ongoing Phase 3 PEACE trial. Accordingly, the Company is not promising, nor expecting, to perform additional research and development activities pursuant to the agreement that would either significantly modify, customize or be considered highly interdependent or interrelated with pegzilarginase.

 

-

The License represents functional intellectual property given the functionality of the License is not expected to change substantially as a result of the company’s ongoing activities.

 

-

The services necessary to complete the PEACE Trial, BLA package and PIP Trial could be performed by other parties.

Given that Immedica is not obligated to purchase any minimum amount or quantities of Product, the supply of Product for commercial use to Immedica was determined to be an option for Immedica, rather than a performance obligation of the Company at contract inception and will be accounted for if and when exercised. The Company also determined that Immedica’s option to purchase the Product does not create a material right as the expected pricing is not at a discount.

The Company determined that the upfront fixed payment amount of $21.5 million must be included in the transaction price. Additionally, the Company determined that 50% of the probable estimated costs to be incurred in relation to the PIP Trial exceeds $1.8 million and, as such, it is probable that a significant reversal of such revenue will not occur in a future period. Therefore, the Company included an estimated $1.8 million that will be due in relation to the PIP Trial in the transaction price. In total, the transaction price was determined to be $23.3 million at inception of the arrangement.

The Company allocated $7.2 million and $4.1 million of the transaction price to the PEACE Trial and BLA package and PIP Trial performance obligations, respectively, based on the SSP, which was based on the estimated costs that a third-party would charge in performing such services on a stand-alone basis. The SSP for the License was established using a residual value approach due to the uniqueness of and lack of observable data related to the License, which results in an allocation of $12.0 million.

15


The potential regulatory milestone payments that the Company is eligible to receive were excluded from the transaction price, as the milestone amounts were fully constrained based on the probability of achievement, since the milestones relate to successful achievement of certain regulatory approvals, which might not be achieved. The Company determined that the royalties and commercial milestone payments relate predominantly to the license of intellectual property and are therefore excluded from the transaction price under the sales- or usage-based royalty exception of ASC 606. The Company will reevaluate the transaction price, including all constrained amounts, at the end of each reporting period and as uncertain events are resolved or other changes in circumstances occur, the Company will adjust its estimate of the transaction price as necessary. The Company will recognize the royalties and commercial milestone payments as revenue when the associated sales occur, and relevant sales-based thresholds are met. The Company assessed the arrangement with Immedica and concluded that a significant financing component does not exist.

The Company will recognize the revenue allocated to the License performance obligation at a point in time upon transfer of the License. As of March 31, 2021, the Company had not yet completed the transfer of the know-how necessary for Immedica to benefit from the License. The revenue allocated to the PEACE Trial, BLA package and PIP Trial performance obligations will be recognized over time using an input method of costs incurred. During the three months ended March 31, 2021, the amount of costs incurred in satisfying these performance obligations was immaterial and, as such, no revenue has been recognized. As of March 31, 2021, the Company has an unconditional right to and has invoiced Immedica for the $21.5 million upfront payment. As none of this amount has been collected and no revenue has been recognized to date, the Company has recorded this amount in accounts receivable - license and deferred revenue within the consolidated balance sheets.

 

8. Net Loss Per Share

Basic and diluted net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted-average number of common stock and pre-funded warrants outstanding during the period. The pre-funded warrants are included in the computation of basic net loss per share as the exercise price is negligible and they are fully vested and exercisable. For periods in which the Company generated a net loss, the Company does not include the potential impact of dilutive securities in diluted net loss per share, as the impact of these items is anti-dilutive.

The following weighted-average equity instruments were excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share because their effect would have been anti-dilutive for the periods presented:

 

 

 

Three Months Ended

 

 

 

March 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Options to purchase common stock

 

 

6,028,972

 

 

 

4,470,941

 

Unvested restricted stock units

 

 

214,910

 

 

 

 

 

 

16


 

Item 2.

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations in conjunction with our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes included in Part I, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report as well as the audited consolidated financial statements and notes and Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 filed with the SEC on March 18, 2021. This discussion and other parts of this Quarterly Report contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, such as statements of our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in the section of this report entitled “Risk Factors.” As used in this report, unless the context suggests otherwise, “we”, “us”, “our”, “the Company” or “Aeglea” refers to Aeglea BioTherapeutics, Inc.

Overview

We are a clinical-stage biotechnology company redefining the potential of human enzyme therapeutics to benefit people with rare metabolic diseases with limited treatment options. We believe our expertise in enzyme science, bioengineering and rare disease drug development coupled with an approach focused on diseases with unmet medical needs enables us to develop medicines with the potential to transform the lives of patients and families with rare metabolic diseases.

We employ a distinctive platform to fuel our innovative pipeline of human enzymes, which we believe reduces key risks throughout the development process and provides a greater likelihood of clinical success and commercial adoption.

Our mission is to provide transformative therapies to patient communities who have inadequate or no therapeutic options available to address these debilitating diseases. Driven by this purpose and urgent patient need, we have taken a focused approach to the selection and development of novel assets into clinical evaluation that is guided by defined strategic considerations:

 

-

Clear, urgent unmet medical need

 

-

Rigorous preclinical data and strong scientific rationale

 

-

Mechanistic opportunity to create or enhance enzymatic activity through novel engineering

 

-

Meaningful and sustainable commercial opportunities

 

-

Potential to be first in class or best in class, with little competition

Our lead product candidate, pegzilarginase, is a recombinant human Arginase 1 that enzymatically degrades the amino acid arginine to lower arginine levels in patients with Arginase 1 Deficiency. We engineered pegzilarginase with modifications that enhance the stability and arginine-degrading activity of the enzyme in human plasma. For Arginase 1 Deficiency, which is a rare progressive disease, that presents in early childhood and results in severe complications and early mortality, we believe pegzilarginase may reduce the harmful metabolic effects caused by the accumulation of high levels of arginine and other arginine-derived metabolites. We are currently evaluating pegzilarginase in a global pivotal Phase 3 PEACE (Pegzilarginase Effect on Arginase 1 Deficiency Clinical Endpoints) trial and in a Phase 2 open-label extension study for patients with Arginase 1 Deficiency.

Our product candidate, AGLE-177, is a novel PEGylated, or polyethylene glycol modified, human enzyme engineered to degrade free homocysteine and homocystine in patients with Homocystinuria, a serious metabolic disorder characterized by elevated plasma homocysteine which leads to a wide range of life-altering complications and reduced life expectancy. We engineered AGLE-177 by directed mutagenesis of amino acid residues within the active site of human cystathionine γ-lyase, resulting in a molecule that has high substrate specificity for homocysteine and homocystine but not for the native substrate, cystathionine. For Homocystinuria due to cystathionine β-synthase, or CBS, enzyme deficiency, which is the most common form of an inherited disorder of methionine metabolism that results in elevated homocysteine and homocystine, we believe AGLE-177 may reduce the adverse impact of CBS enzyme deficiency in the transsulfuration pathway by providing an alternate pathway for enzymatic degradation of high plasma total homocysteine levels. We have initiated a Phase 1/2 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with Homocystinuria.

Cystinuria is a rare genetic disease characterized by frequent and recurrent kidney stone formation requiring multiple procedural interventions, and by an increased risk of chronic kidney disease. Cystinuria occurs due to genetic mutations in amino acid transporters that lead to increased amounts of cystine in the urine. This results in high cystine concentrations in the urine and formation of kidney stones. As such, we engineered our Cystinuria program candidate to

17


reduce plasma cystine and cysteine levels with accompanying reductions in urine cystine concentrations as an approach to inhibit both cystine crystal and kidney stone formation. Due to the impact of COVID-19, we have not provided a timeline for advancement of a therapeutic candidate into the clinic.

We have incurred net losses in each year since inception. Our net losses were $18.2 million and $18.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and have resulted from costs incurred in connection with our research and development programs and from general and administrative expenses associated with our operations. As of March 31, 2021, we had an accumulated deficit of $294.2 million. We expect to continue to incur operating losses over the next several years. Our net losses may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and from year to year. We anticipate that our expenses will increase as we continue our clinical development activities for our product candidates and prepare for the potential commercialization of our lead product candidate, pegzilarginase; concurrently develop our pipeline product candidates; expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio; hire additional personnel; and continue to operate as a public company.

Recent Developments

License Agreement with Immedica Pharma AB

In March 2021, we entered into a license and supply agreement, or License Agreement, with Immedica Pharma AB, or Immedica, in which Immedica acquired the product rights for commercialization of pegzilarginase in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman. Upon signing, an upfront payment of $21.5 million was due from Immedica. Under the terms of the License Agreement, we are eligible to receive additional payments of up to approximately $130.0 million in regulatory and commercial milestone payments. Additionally, we are entitled to receive royalties in the mid-20 percent range on net sales of the product in countries included in the License Agreement. We will continue to be responsible for certain clinical development activities and the manufacturing of pegzilarginase and will retain commercialization rights in the U.S. and the rest of the world.

Pegzilarginase in Patients with Arginase 1 Deficiency

We are currently conducting our Phase 3 PEACE (Pegzilarginase Effect on Arginase 1 Deficiency Clinical Endpoints) trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of pegzilarginase in patients with Arginase 1 Deficiency. In April 2021, we completed patient screening and randomization of 32 patients, exceeding the target enrollment of 30 patients. Topline data is expected from the Phase 3 PEACE trial in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Patient identification and commercialization planning continue in the anticipation of a potential approval of pegzilarginase. As of January 2021, we have identified over 300 Arginase 1 Deficiency patients in addressable markets, representing approximately 65% and 30% of the estimated genetic prevalence populations in the U.S. and France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, referred to collectively as the EU5, respectively.

In May 2021, we announced the launch of THINK ARGININETM, a disease education initiative to improve awareness and diagnosis of Arginase 1 Deficiency. The THINK ARGININE campaign consists of a comprehensive program to educate healthcare providers on the importance of persistently high levels of arginine as the driver of debilitating and progressive manifestations of the disease, and the benefits of early diagnosis. In order to support healthcare providers in making diagnoses, THINK ARGININE also includes no-charge diagnostic testing for adults and children with suspected Arginase 1 Deficiency in the United States. The diagnostic testing program includes amino acid testing working with Mayo Clinic Laboratories and genetic testing partnered with Invitae.

AGLE-177 in Homocystinuria

We initiated a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of AGLE-177 for the treatment of patients with Homocystinuria in 2020. While we have initiated the Phase 1/2 trial, the timing of first patient dosing will depend on determinations by individual sites given the impact of COVID-19 and local restrictions. In addition to previously identified sites in the United Kingdom, we are working to open additional sites in Australia to support trial enrollment. Patient identification and administrative activities continue in support of the trial.

 

 

18


 

Cystinuria Program

In alignment with our strategy of having rigorous preclinical data prior to advancing candidates to clinical evaluation, we continue preclinical work in support of the program for Cystinuria. Due to the impact of COVID-19, we have not provided a timeline for advancement of a therapeutic candidate into the clinic.

Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The extent of the impact of COVID-19 on our operational and financial performance will depend on certain developments, including the duration and spread of the outbreak, impact on our clinical studies, employee or industry events, and effect on our suppliers and manufacturers, all of which are uncertain and cannot be predicted. The COVID-19 pandemic and its adverse effects have been prevalent in many of the locations where we, our CROs, suppliers or third-party business partners conduct business and as a result, we have experienced disruptions and may continue to experience more pronounced disruptions in our operations. With respect to our clinical trials, we have had patients miss scheduled dosings and experienced delays in enrollment. We may continue to experience such delays as well as delays in distribution of clinical trial materials, study monitoring and data analysis that could materially adversely impact our business, results of operations and overall financial performance in future periods. Specifically, we have experienced and expect to continue to experience impact from changes in how we and companies worldwide conduct business due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including but not limited to restrictions on travel and in-person meetings, delays in site activations and enrollment of clinical trials, and prioritization of hospital resources toward pandemic effort. We may also experience delays in review by the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory agencies, and disruptions in our supply chain for our product candidates. As of the filing date of this Form 10-Q, the extent to which COVID-19 may impact our financial condition, results of operations or guidance is uncertain. The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic will not be fully reflected in our results of operations and overall financial performance until future periods. See Risk Factors for further discussion of the possible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business.

Components of Operating Results

Revenue

As of March 31, 2021, we have not recognized revenue under the License Agreement with Immedica and expect to recognize revenue as we satisfy our performance obligations under the License Agreement. We have not generated any revenue from commercial product sales. Our ability to generate product revenues in the future will depend on the successful development, regulatory approval, and commercialization of our product candidates. In the future, we may also seek to generate revenue from a combination of research and development payments, license fees and other upfront or milestone payments, including under the License Agreement with Immedica.

Research and development expenses

Research and development expenses consist primarily of costs incurred for the discovery and development of our product candidates, including, our lead product candidate, pegzilarginase, and AGLE-177. In addition to operating an internal research laboratory, we contract with external providers for nonclinical studies and clinical trials. Our research and development expenses include:

 

costs from acquiring clinical trial materials and services performed for contracted services with contract manufacturing organizations;

 

fees paid to clinical trial sites, clinical research organizations, CROs, CMOs, nonclinical research companies, and academic institutions; and

 

employee and consultant-related expenses incurred, which include salaries, benefits, travel and stock-based compensation.

Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. Advance payments for goods or services to be rendered in the future for use in research and development activities are deferred and capitalized. The capitalized amounts are expensed as the related goods are delivered or the services are performed.

Research and development expenses have historically represented the largest component of our total operating expenses.

19


Our expenditures on current and future nonclinical and clinical development programs are subject to numerous uncertainties in timing and cost to completion. The duration, costs, and timing of clinical trials and development of our product candidates will depend on a variety of factors, including:

 

the scope, rate of progress, and expenses of our ongoing research activities as well as any additional clinical trials and other research and development activities;

 

future clinical trial results;

 

uncertainties in clinical trial enrollment rates or drop-out or discontinuation rates of patients;

 

changes in the competitive drug development environment;

 

potential safety monitoring or other studies requested by regulatory agencies;

 

significant and changing government regulation;

 

the timing and receipt of regulatory approvals, if any; and

 

developments relating to the COVID-19 global pandemic.

The process of conducting the necessary clinical research to obtain FDA and other regulatory approval is costly and time consuming and the successful development of our product candidates is highly uncertain. The risks and uncertainties associated with our research and development projects are discussed more fully in Part II, Item 1A of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q titled “Risk Factors.” As a result of these risks and uncertainties, we are unable to determine with any degree of certainty the duration and completion costs of our research and development projects, or if, when, or to what extent we will generate revenues from the commercialization and sale of any of our product candidates that obtain regulatory approval. We may never succeed in achieving regulatory approval for any of our product candidates.

General and administrative expenses

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries and other related costs, including stock-based compensation, for personnel in executive, finance, accounting, commercial development, operations, and human resources functions. Other significant costs include legal fees relating to corporate matters and fees for insurance, accounting, consulting, facilities, and recruiting services.

We expect that our general and administrative expenses will increase in the future to support our continued research and development activities and ramp up of commercialization capabilities for pegzilarginase. These increases will likely include higher costs related to the hiring of additional personnel and fees to outside consultants, lawyers and accountants, among other expenses. Additionally, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur increased costs associated with being a public company, including expenses related to services associated with maintaining compliance with Nasdaq listing rules and SEC requirements, insurance, and investor relations costs.

Interest income

Interest income consists of interest earned on our cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities, and restricted cash.

Income taxes

We serve as a holding company for our nine wholly owned subsidiary corporations in the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union. We file a consolidated U.S. corporate federal income tax return for seven subsidiaries. Additionally, we operate in the U.K. and our income tax return is subject to audit and adjustment by local tax authorities. We use the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the financial statements and the tax bases of assets and liabilities. A valuation allowance is established against the deferred tax assets to reduce their carrying value to an amount that is more likely than not to be realized. The deferred tax assets and liabilities are classified as noncurrent along with the related valuation allowance. Due to our lack of earnings history, the net deferred tax assets have been fully offset by a valuation allowance.

We recognize benefits of uncertain tax positions if it is more likely than not that such positions will be sustained upon examination based solely on the technical merits, as the largest amount of benefits that is more likely than not to be realized upon the ultimate settlement. Our policy is to recognize interest and penalties related to the unrecognized tax benefits as a component of income tax expense.

20


Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our condensed consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, or GAAP. The preparation of these condensed consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, costs and expenses, and related disclosures. These estimates form the basis for judgments we make about the carrying values of our assets and liabilities, which are not readily apparent from other sources. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and assumptions. Our actual results may differ materially from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

Our critical accounting policies are those policies which require the most significant judgments and estimates in the preparation of our condensed consolidated financial statements. Due to the License Agreement with Immedica, we have added revenue recognition to our critical accounting policies and estimates as of March 31, 2021, resulting in a change to our critical accounting policies as reported for the year ended December 31, 2020 as part of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, which was filed with the SEC on March 18, 2021. As such, we believe that the assumptions and estimates associated with our most critical accounting policies are those relating to accrued research and development costs and revenue recognition. Our significant accounting policies are more fully described in Note 2 to our condensed consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this quarterly report.

Revenue recognition

We enter into license agreements related to our technologies that we have determined are within the scope of Accounting Standards Codification 606. Based on the terms and conditions of our agreements, we identify the goods and services that we promise to transfer to the customer, which may consist of the licensing of technologies, the performance of research and development activities, and/or the supply of products related to our technologies. Based on the nature of the goods and services provided and the customer’s intended benefit of the arrangement, we evaluate which of the promised goods and services are distinct and, therefore, represent a performance obligation, which may require us to combine certain promised goods and services that are determined to not be distinct from one another. We also evaluate whether an agreement provides the customer an option to purchase future goods or services at a discounted price, or a material right, which would also represent a performance obligation.

In exchange for the performance obligations, we estimate the amount of consideration promised by the customer, or transaction price, which may include both fixed and variable consideration. Variable consideration, which may consist of various milestone payments based upon the achievement of certain events or conditions, sales-based royalties, or payments contingent on the performance of research and development services, are included in the transaction price only if we expect to receive such consideration and determine it is probable that the inclusion of the variable consideration will not result in a significant reversal in the cumulative amount of revenue recognized under the arrangement. Sales-based royalty and milestone payments that we determine are predominantly related to the license of our intellectual property are excluded from the transaction price we expect to receive until the underlying sales occur.  

We allocate the estimated transaction price to the identified performance obligations based on the relative estimated stand-alone selling price, or SSP, of each performance. SSP is based on the observable price of our goods and services, or when SSP is not directly observable, we estimate SSP based on factors such as forecasted revenues or costs, development timelines, discount rates, probabilities of technical and regulatory success, and considerations such as market conditions and entity-specific factors. We recognize revenue allocated to each performance obligation either at a point-in-time or over time in a manner that depicts the transfer of control of the promised goods and services to the customer. For performance obligations that are recognized over time, we estimate the measure of progress associated with the satisfaction of the performance obligation based on an input or output method, which may be based on factors such as costs incurred, labor hours expended, time elapsed, among other measures based on the nature of the performance obligation.

Other than revenue recognition, there have been no significant changes in our critical accounting policies and estimates as compared to the critical accounting policies and estimates disclosed in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Operations included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020.

21


Results of Operations

Comparison of the Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 and 2020

The following table summarizes our results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, together with the changes in those items in dollars and as a percentage:

 

 

 

Three Months Ended

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 31,

 

 

Dollar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

Change

 

 

% Change

 

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

 

 

 

 

Operating expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Research and development

 

$

11,855

 

 

$

14,562

 

 

$

(2,707

)

 

 

19

%

General and administrative

 

 

6,354

 

 

 

4,460

 

 

 

1,894

 

 

 

42

%

Total operating expenses

 

 

18,209

 

 

 

19,022

 

 

 

(813

)

 

 

4

%

Loss from operations

 

 

(18,209

)

 

 

(19,022

)

 

 

813

 

 

 

4

%

Interest income

 

 

22

 

 

 

300

 

 

 

(278

)

 

 

93

%

Other expense, net

 

 

(31

)

 

 

(6

)

 

 

(25

)

 

*

 

Net loss

 

$

(18,218

)

 

$

(18,728

)

 

$

510

 

 

 

3

%

  

*

Percentage not meaningful

 

Research and Development Expenses.    Research and development expenses decreased by $2.7 million, or 19%, to $11.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021 from $14.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2020. The change in research and development expenses was due to:

 

lower manufacturing expenses, which decreased by $3.4 million as a result of completing certain pre-commercial manufacturing activities for pegzilarginase, which was partially offset by a ramp-up in manufacturing activities for our Homocystinuria program; and

 

lower clinical development expenses, which decreased by $0.9 million as a result of completing our Phase 1/2 clinical trial for pegzilarginase in patients with Arginase 1 Deficiency and cancer related trials; offset by

 

higher nonclinical development expenses, which increased by $0.8 million as a result of toxicology costs incurred to support our Phase 1/2 trial of AGLE-177 for the treatment of patients with Homocystinuria and additional laboratory costs; and

 

higher personnel-related expenses, which increased by $0.8 million as a result of additional employee headcount and compensation to support our clinical and research development capabilities.

General and Administrative Expenses.    General and administrative expenses increased by $1.9 million, or 42%, to $6.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021 from $4.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2020. The increase in general and administrative expenses was primarily due to a $1.3 million increase in compensation and other personnel expenses, including $0.3 million in non-cash stock compensation, driven by additional headcount to develop our commercial team, and $1.0 million of expenses related to professional service and legal costs primarily to support the ramp up of our commercial capabilities, offset by $0.3 million of decreased costs related to recruiting, travel, and facilities.

Interest Income.    The decrease in interest income to $22 thousand for the three months ended March 31, 2021 from $0.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2020 was primarily due to decreasing yield rates during the three months ended March 31, 2021 as compared to the prior year.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Sources of liquidity

We are a clinical-stage biotechnology company with a limited operating history, and due to our significant research and development expenditures, we have generated operating losses since our inception and have not generated any revenue from the sale of any products. Since our inception and through March 31, 2021, we have funded our operations primarily by raising an aggregate of approximately $438.0 million of gross proceeds from the sale and issuance of convertible preferred and common equity securities, pre-funded stock warrants, and the collection of grant proceeds.

22


On March 21, 2021, we entered into the License Agreement with Immedica, pursuant to which Immedica licensed the product rights for commercialization of pegzilarginase in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman. Upon signing, we were entitled to an upfront payment of $21.5 million from Immedica. Under the terms of the License Agreement, we are also eligible to receive additional payments of up to approximately $130.0 million in regulatory and commercial milestone payments. Additionally, we are entitled to receive royalties in the mid-20 percent range on the net sales of the product in countries included in the License Agreement. As of March 31, 2021, the $21.5 million upfront payment was outstanding and recorded in accounts receivable – license.

In July 2020, we filed a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 that was declared effective by the SEC for the potential offering, issuance and sale by us of up to $400.0 million of our common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants to purchase common stock, preferred stock and debt securities, subscription rights to purchase common stock and units consisting of all or some of these securities. As of the date of the filing of this report, $400.0 million of our common stock remained available for sale.

In April 2020, we entered into a sales agreement, or the 2020 Sales Agreement, with JonesTrading Institutional Services LLC, as sales agent, to issue and sell shares of our common stock for an aggregate offering price of $60.0 million under an at-the-market offering program with JonesTrading Institutional Services LLC. To date, we have sold 3,245,077 shares of common stock pursuant to the 2020 Sales Agreement for net proceeds of $24.6 million, after deducting underwriting discounts, commissions, and offering costs of $0.7 million. As of the date of the filing of this report, $34.7 million of our common stock remained available for sale pursuant to the 2020 Sales Agreement.

Our primary use of cash is to fund the development of our product candidates, prepare for the potential commercialization of our lead product candidate, pegzilarginase, and advance our pipeline. This includes both the research and development costs and the general and administrative expenses required to support those operations. Since we are a clinical-stage biotechnology company, we have incurred significant operating losses since our inception and we anticipate such losses, in absolute dollar terms, to increase as we continue clinical development of our product candidates, prepare for the potential commercialization of pegzilarginase, and expand our development efforts in our pipeline of nonclinical candidates.

Future funding requirements and operational plan

Our operational plan for the near future is to continue clinical trials for our lead product candidate pegzilarginase in Arginase 1 Deficiency and for our AGLE-177 product candidate for the treatment of Homocystinuria, prepare for the potential commercialization of pegzilarginase, and to advance development activities for our Cystinuria program. As such, we plan to focus our research and development expenditures and general and administrative expenditures on nonclinical studies, clinical trials, manufacturing, and commercial development. We expect our principal expenditures during this time period to include expenses for the following:

 

funding the continuing development of pegzilarginase and AGLE-177;

 

funding the advancement of additional product candidates; and

 

funding working capital, including general operating expenses.

Due to our significant research and development expenditures, we have generated substantial losses in each period since inception. We have an accumulated deficit of $294.2 million as of March 31, 2021. We anticipate that we will continue to generate losses into the foreseeable future as we develop our product candidates, seek regulatory approval of those candidates and begin to commercialize any approved products. Until such time as we can generate substantial product revenue, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of equity or debt financings, research grants, collaborations, or other sources. We currently have no debt, credit facility or additional committed capital. To the extent that we raise additional equity, the ownership interest of our stockholders will be diluted.

Based on our available cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities, and restricted cash of $128.5 million as of March 31, 2021, we believe that we have sufficient resources to fund our operations into 2023. We have based this estimate on assumptions that may prove to be incorrect, however, and we could deplete our capital resources sooner than we expect.

23


Cash flows

The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods indicated (in thousands):

 

 

 

Three Months Ended

 

 

 

March 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Net cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash (used in) provided by:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating activities

 

$

(19,530

)

 

$

(21,694

)

Investing activities

 

 

9,300

 

 

 

14,753

 

Financing activities

 

 

362

 

 

 

282

 

Effect of exchange rate on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash

 

 

7

 

 

 

 

Net decrease in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash

 

$

(9,861

)

 

$

(6,659

)

 

Cash used in operating activities

Cash used in operating activities for the three months ended March 31, 2021 was $19.5 million and reflected a net loss of $18.2 million. Our net loss was offset in part by non-cash expenses of $1.8 million for stock-based compensation, $0.4 million for depreciation and amortization, and $0.1 million for operating lease expense. The net change in operating assets and liabilities of $3.5 million was primarily related to a $3.1 million decrease in accrued liabilities and accounts payable due to payments for pre-commercial manufacturing and compensation costs and a $0.3 million increase in prepaid expenses and other assets due to advance payments for the Phase 1/2 trial of AGLE-177. The recognition of the $21.5 million accounts receivable – license and related deferred revenue had no impact on operating cash during the three months ended March 31, 2021.

Cash used in operating activities for the three months ended March 31, 2020 was $21.7 million and reflected a net loss of $18.7 million. Our net loss was offset in part by a non-cash expense of $1.3 million for stock-based compensation, $0.2 million for depreciation and amortization, and $0.2 million for operating lease expense. The net change in operating assets and liabilities of $4.6 million was primarily related to a $2.7 million increase in prepaid expenses and other assets due to advanced payments associated with manufacturing for Arginase 1 Deficiency, along with a $1.8 million decrease in accounts payable and accrued liabilities due to the timing of payments for research and development costs and compensation costs.

Cash provided by investing activities

Cash provided by investing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2021 was $9.3 million and consisted of $34.0 million in maturities of marketable securities offset by $24.3 million in purchases of marketable securities and $0.5 million in purchases of property and equipment.

Cash provided by investing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2020 was $14.8 million and consisted of $20.1 million in maturities of marketable securities offset by $4.0 million in purchases of marketable securities and $1.4 million in purchases of property and equipment.

Cash provided by financing activities

Cash provided by financing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2021 was $0.4 million, which consisted of $0.4 million in stock option exercises and sale of common stock under our 2016 Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

Cash provided by financing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2020 was $0.3 million, which consisted of $0.3 million in stock option exercises and sale of common stock under our 2016 Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

Contractual Obligations and Other Commitments

In April 2019, the Company entered into a lease agreement, or the Las Cimas Lease, for its corporate headquarters and laboratory space located in Austin, TX. Future minimum lease commitments under this lease through April 2028 are $7.8 million.

We have entered into agreements in the normal course of business with contract research organizations for clinical trials and contract manufacturing organizations, and with vendors for nonclinical research studies and other services and products for operating purposes. These contractual obligations are cancelable at any time by us, generally upon 30 to 60 days’ prior written notice to the vendor.

24


Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

Through March 31, 2021, we do not have any off-balance sheet arrangements, as defined by applicable SEC regulations.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

None.

Item 3.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.

We are exposed to market risks in the ordinary course of our business. Our primary exposure to market risk is interest rate sensitivity, which is affected by changes in the general level of U.S. interest rates, particularly because our investments are in marketable securities. Our marketable securities are subject to interest rate risk and could fall in value if market interest rates increase. However, we believe that our exposure to interest rate risk is not significant as the majority of our investments are short-term in duration and due to the low risk profile of our investments, a 10% change in interest rates would not have a material effect on the total market value of our investment portfolio. We have the ability to hold our marketable securities until maturity, and therefore we would not expect our operating results or cash flows to be affected to any significant degree by the effect of a change in market interest rates on our investments.

As of March 31, 2021, we held $128.5 million in cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities, and restricted cash, all of which was denominated in U.S. dollar assets, and consisting primarily of investments in money market funds and U.S. treasury securities.

We are also exposed to market risk related to changes in foreign currency exchange rates, as a result of entering into transactions denominated in currencies other than U.S. dollars. Due to the uncertain timing of expected payments in foreign currencies, we do not utilize any forward exchange contracts. All foreign transactions settle on the applicable spot exchange basis at the time such payments are made. For the three months ended March 31, 2021, a majority of our expenditures were denominated in U.S. dollars. A hypothetical 10% change in foreign exchange rates during any of the periods presented would not have had a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

Item 4.

Controls and Procedures.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management, with the participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, evaluated, as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures. Based on that evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of March 31, 2021, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures as of such date are effective at the reasonable assurance level. The term “disclosure controls and procedures,” as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, means controls and other procedures of a company that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act are recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives and our management necessarily applies its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the quarter ended March 31, 2021 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

25


PART II. – OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1.

From time to time, we may become involved in legal proceedings relating to claims arising from the ordinary course of business. Our management believes that there are currently no claims or actions pending against us, the ultimate disposition of which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.

 

 

Item 1A.

Risk Factors

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information in this quarterly report on Form 10-Q, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” before investing in our common stock. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently believe are not material, may also become important factors that affect us. If any of the following risks occur, our business, operating results and prospects could be materially harmed. In that event, the price of our common stock could decline, and you could lose part or all of your investment.

Summary Risk Factors

 

Our business is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those highlighted in the section titled “Risk Factors” immediately following this summary. Some of these risks are:

 

 

We have no source of product revenue and we have incurred significant losses since inception. We expect to incur losses for the foreseeable future and may never achieve or maintain profitability.

 

We may not be successful in advancing the clinical development of our product candidates.

 

We will need substantial additional funding. If we are unable to raise capital when needed, we would be compelled to delay, reduce or eliminate our product development programs or commercialization efforts.

 

We depend heavily on the success of our most advanced product candidate, pegzilarginase. Existing and future clinical trials of our product candidates, including pegzilarginase, may not be successful. If we are unable to commercialize our product candidates or experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be materially harmed.

 

The outbreak of the novel strain of coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 and its emerging variants, which causes COVID-19, has, and may continue to, adversely impact our business, including the timing of our clinical trials and potential supply chain interruptions.

 

Clinical drug development involves a lengthy and expensive process with an uncertain outcome. We may experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the development and commercialization of any of our product candidates.

 

Our engineered human enzyme product candidates represent a novel therapeutic approach, which could result in heightened regulatory scrutiny, delays in clinical development, or delays in our ability to achieve regulatory approval or commercialization of our product candidates.

 

We have only initiated clinical trials for pegzilarginase and AGLE-177 for the treatment of certain conditions and have only dosed pegzilarginase in humans. We have not dosed any of our other product candidates in humans. Our existing and future planned clinical trials may reveal significant adverse events, toxicities or other side effects not seen in our nonclinical studies or early stage clinical trials and may result in a safety profile that could inhibit regulatory approval or market acceptance of any of our product candidates.

 

If we experience delays or difficulties in the enrollment of patients in our ongoing or planned clinical trials, our receipt of necessary regulatory approvals could be delayed or prevented.

 

We contract with third parties for the manufacture of our product candidates for nonclinical studies and our ongoing and future planned clinical testing and 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 product candidates at an acceptable cost and quality, which could delay, prevent or impair our development or commercialization efforts.

26


 

If we are not able to obtain, or if there are delays in obtaining, required regulatory approvals in the United States or in foreign jurisdictions, we will not be able to commercialize our product candidates, and our ability to generate revenue will be materially impaired.

 

If we are unable to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for our technology and product candidates, or if the scope of the intellectual property protection obtained is not sufficiently broad, our competitors could develop and commercialize technology and product candidates similar or identical to ours, and our ability to successfully commercialize our technology and product candidates may be impaired.

Risks Related to Our Financial Position and Need for Additional Capital

Our limited operating history may make it difficult for you to evaluate the success of our business to date and to assess our future viability.

We are a clinical-stage biotechnology company. We began operations as a limited liability company in December 2013 and converted to a Delaware corporation in March 2015. Our operations to date have been limited to organizing and staffing our company, business planning, raising capital, acquiring and developing our technology, identifying potential product candidates, undertaking nonclinical studies, and preparing for, commencing and conducting clinical trials of our most advanced product candidates, pegzilarginase and AGLE-177.

We have not yet demonstrated our ability to successfully complete a pivotal clinical trial, obtain marketing approvals, manufacture a commercial scale product or arrange for a third party to do so on our behalf, or conduct sales and marketing activities necessary for successful product commercialization. Products, on average, take ten to 15 years to be developed from the time they are discovered to the time they are approved and available for treating patients. Although we have recruited a team that has experience with clinical trials, as a company we have limited experience in conducting clinical trials. In part because of this limited experience, we cannot be certain that planned or ongoing clinical trials will begin or be completed on time, if at all. Consequently, any predictions you make about our future success or viability based on our short operating history to date may not be as accurate as they could be if we had a longer operating history or an established track record in commercializing products or conducting clinical trials.

In addition, as a new business, we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other known and unknown factors. We will need to transition from a company with a research focus to a company capable of supporting commercial activities. We may not be successful in such a transition.

We have no source of product revenue and we have incurred significant losses since inception. We expect to incur losses for the foreseeable future and may never achieve or maintain profitability.

We have a limited operating history and no approved products. Our ability to generate revenue and become profitable depends upon our ability to successfully complete the development of any of our product candidates, including pegzilarginase and AGLE-177, for any of our target indications and to obtain necessary regulatory approvals. To date, we have recognized revenue solely from a fully utilized government grant and have not generated any product revenue. Even if we receive regulatory approval for any of our product candidates, we do not know when these product candidates will generate revenue for us, if at all.

In addition, since inception, we have incurred significant operating losses. For the three months ended March 31, 2021, we reported a net loss of $18.2 million. For the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, we reported a net loss of $80.9 million and $78.3 million, respectively. As of March 31, 2021, we had an accumulated deficit of $294.2 million. We have financed our operations primarily through private placements of our preferred stock, the initial public offering of our common stock, follow-on public offerings of our common stock and pre-funded warrants, and collection of a research grant. We have devoted substantially all of our efforts to research and development. Currently, we are conducting clinical development for pegzilarginase for the treatment of Arginase 1 Deficiency and for AGLE-177 for the treatment of Homocystinuria. We initiated a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of AGLE-177 for the treatment of patients with Homocystinuria in the second quarter of 2020, however, timing of first patient dosing will depend on determinations by individual sites given COVID-19. We have not initiated clinical development of our other product candidates and none of our product candidates are ready for commercialization. We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and increasing operating losses for the foreseeable future, and the net losses we incur may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter. We anticipate that our expenses will increase substantially if and as we:

 

continue our research, nonclinical and clinical development of our product candidates;

 

seek to identify additional product candidates;

27


 

 

conduct additional nonclinical studies and initiate clinical trials for our product candidates;

 

seek marketing approvals for any of our product candidates that successfully complete clinical trials, including pivotal trials;

 

establish a sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure to commercialize any product candidates for which we may obtain marketing approval;

 

maintain, expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio;

 

hire additional executive, clinical, quality control and scientific personnel;

 

add operational, financial and management information systems and personnel, including personnel to support our product development; and

 

acquire or in-license other product candidates and technologies.

We are unable to predict the timing or amount of increased expenses, or when, or if, we will be able to achieve or maintain profitability because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with product development. In addition, our expenses could increase significantly beyond expectations if we are required by the FDA, EMA, MHRA, or other relevant regulatory authorities, or the Health Authorities, to modify protocols of our clinical trials or perform studies in addition to those that we currently anticipate. Even if pegzilarginase, or any of our other product candidates, is approved for commercial sale, we anticipate incurring significant costs associated with the commercial launch of any product candidate.

To become and remain profitable, we must develop and eventually commercialize a product candidate or product candidates with significant market potential. This will require us to be successful in a range of challenging activities, including completing nonclinical testing, initiating and completing clinical trials of one or more of our product candidates, obtaining marketing approval for these product candidates, manufacturing, marketing and selling those product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval and satisfying any post-marketing requirements. We may never succeed in these activities and, even if we do, we may never generate revenues that are significant or large enough to achieve profitability. We are currently advancing clinical development for pegzilarginase for the treatment of Arginase 1 Deficiency and have initiated a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of AGLE-177 for the treatment of patients with Homocystinuria. We are in the nonclinical development stages for our remaining product candidates. If we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. Our failure to become and remain profitable would decrease the value of the company and could impair our ability to raise capital, maintain or expand our research and development efforts, expand our business or continue our operations. A decline in the value of our company would also cause you to lose part or even all of your investment.

We will need substantial additional funding. If we are unable to raise capital when needed, we would be compelled to delay, reduce or eliminate our product development programs or commercialization efforts.

We expect our expenses to increase in parallel with our ongoing activities, particularly as we continue our research and nonclinical development to identify new clinical candidates and initiate and continue clinical trials of, and seek marketing approval for, our product candidates. In addition, if we obtain marketing approval for any of our product candidates, we expect to incur significant commercialization expenses related to product sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution. Furthermore, we expect to continue to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company. Accordingly, we will need to obtain substantial additional funding to support our continuing operations. If we are unable to raise capital when needed for any reason, including but not limited to a federal government shutdown, or on acceptable terms, we would be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate our discovery and nonclinical development programs, our ongoing clinical development, or any future clinical development or commercialization efforts.

Based upon our planned use of our cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities, and restricted cash as of March 31, 2021, we estimate such funds will be sufficient for us to (i) to advance the clinical development of pegzilarginase through our Phase 3 PEACE trial and Biologics License Application, or BLA, submission, (ii) fund completion of our ongoing open-label extension study for patients with Arginase 1 Deficiency, and (iii) to advance the clinical development of AGLE-177 through our Phase 1/2 clinical trial and preparation for a potential Phase 3 trial for the treatment of patients with Homocystinuria. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:

 

the costs associated with the scope, progress and results of compound discovery, nonclinical development, laboratory testing and clinical trials for our product candidates;

 

the costs related to the extent to which we enter into partnerships or other arrangements with third parties in order to further develop our product candidates;

 

the costs and fees associated with the discovery, acquisition or in-license of product candidates or technologies;

 

our ability to establish collaborations on favorable terms, if at all;

28


 

 

the costs of future commercialization activities, if any, including product sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution, for any of our product candidates for which we receive marketing approval;

 

revenue, if any, received from commercial sales of our product candidates, should any of our product candidates receive marketing approval; and

 

the costs of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications, maintaining and enforcing our intellectual property rights and defending intellectual property-related claims.

Our product candidates, if approved, may not achieve commercial success. Our commercial revenues, if any, will be derived from sales of product candidates that we do not expect to be commercially available for many years, if at all. Accordingly, we will continue to rely on additional financing to achieve our business objectives, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all.

Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our stockholders, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or product candidates.

Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial product revenues, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of equity or equity-linked offerings, debt financings, grants from research organizations and license and collaboration agreements. We do not have any committed external source of funds. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, or if existing holders of warrants exercise their rights to purchase common stock, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may rank senior to our common stock and include liquidation or other preferences, covenants or other terms that adversely affect your rights as a common stockholder. Further, any future sales of our common stock by us or resale of our common stock by our existing stockholders could cause the market price of our common stock to decline. Debt financing and preferred equity financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends.

If we raise additional funds through collaborations, strategic alliances or marketing, distribution or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us and/or that may reduce the value of our common stock.

Risks Related to Our Product Development and Regulatory Approval

We may not be successful in advancing the clinical development of our product candidates, including pegzilarginase and AGLE-177.

In order to execute on our strategy of advancing the clinical development of our product candidates, we are conducting a global pivotal Phase 3 PEACE (Pegzilarginase Effect on Arginase 1 Deficiency Clinical Endpoints) clinical trial, an ongoing open-label extension study of our completed Phase 1/2 clinical trial for the treatment of Arginase 1 Deficiency and a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of AGLE-177 for the treatment of patients with Homocystinuria, however, the timing of first patient dosing of AGLE-177 will depend on determinations by individual sites given COVID-19. If our product candidates fail to work as we expect, or if we need to conduct additional studies to better understand the relationship between our product candidates and clinical activity, our ability to assess the therapeutic effect, seek regulatory approval or otherwise begin or further clinical development, could be compromised. For instance, we discontinued clinical development of pegzilarginase for the treatment of the hematological malignancies acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, and myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, in December 2017 due to lack of evidence of clinical benefit.  Additionally, we completed our Phase 1 clinical trial of pegzilarginase for the treatment of advanced solid tumors to study small cell lung cancer, uveal melanoma, and cutaneous melanoma and our combination trial of pegzilarginase with pembrolizumab for the treatment of patients with SCLC. We are currently exploring partnership opportunities for further development in oncology. Also, while we have shown in our Phase 1/2 trial for the treatment of Arginase 1 Deficiency that a reduction of arginine and its metabolites appears to result in clinical benefit, the Health Authorities may not agree with our assessment. Such an event may result in longer development times, larger trials and a greater likelihood of terminating the trial or not obtaining regulatory approval.

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We depend heavily on the success of our most advanced product candidate, pegzilarginase. Existing and future clinical trials of our product candidates, including pegzilarginase, may not be successful. If we are unable to commercialize our product candidates or experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be materially harmed.

We have invested a significant portion of our efforts and financial resources in the nonclinical and clinical development and testing of our most advanced product candidate, pegzilarginase, for the treatment of patients with Arginase 1 Deficiency and in certain oncology trials. Our ability to generate product revenues, which we do not expect will occur for many years, if ever, will depend heavily on the successful development and commercialization of pegzilarginase. The success of pegzilarginase, AGLE-177, and our other product candidates will depend on many factors, including the following:

 

successful enrollment of patients in, and the completion of, our ongoing and planned clinical trials, including our global pivotal Phase 3 PEACE clinical trial;

 

receiving required regulatory approvals for the development and commercialization of our product candidates as monotherapy or in combination with other products;

 

establishing commercial manufacturing capabilities or making arrangements with third-party manufacturers;

 

obtaining and maintaining patent and trade secret protection and non-patent exclusivity for our product candidates and their components;

 

enforcing and defending intellectual property rights and claims;

 

achieving desirable therapeutic properties for our product candidates’ intended indications;

 

launching commercial sales of our product candidates, if and when approved, whether alone or in collaboration with third parties;

 

acceptance of our product candidates, if and when approved, by patients, the medical community and third-party payors;

 

effectively competing with other therapies; and

 

maintaining an acceptable safety profile of our product candidates through clinical trials and following regulatory 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 product candidates, which would materially harm our business.

The outbreak of the novel strain of coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 and its emerging variants, which causes COVID-19, has, and may continue to, adversely impact our business, including our clinical trials and nonclinical studies.

Public health crises such as pandemics or similar outbreaks could adversely impact our business. In response to the spread of COVID-19, we have closed our executive offices with our administrative employees continuing their work outside of our offices, restricted on-site staff to only those required to execute their job responsibilities and limited the number of staff in any given research and development laboratory.

Timely enrollment in our clinical trials is dependent upon global clinical trial sites which may be adversely affected by global health matters, such as pandemics. We are currently conducting clinical trials for our product candidates in many countries, including the United States, Australia, United Kingdom and throughout the European Union. The regions in which we operate are currently being or may in the future be affected by COVID-19.

As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, or similar pandemics, we have experienced and may continue to experience disruptions that could severely impact our business, clinical trials and nonclinical studies, including:

 

delays or difficulties in enrolling patients in our clinical trials;

 

delays or difficulties in clinical site initiation, including difficulties in recruiting clinical site investigators and clinical site staff;

 

delays or disruptions in nonclinical experiments and supplies for such experiments, including animals required for such experiments;

 

delays or disruptions in investigational new drug application-enabling good laboratory practice standard toxicology studies due to unforeseen circumstances in our supply chain;

 

increased rates of patients missing dosing appointments or withdrawing from our clinical trials following enrollment as a result of contracting COVID-19, being forced to quarantine, and other travel restrictions, or not accepting home health visits;

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diversion of healthcare resources away from the conduct of clinical trials, including the diversion of hospitals serving as our clinical trial sites and hospital staff supporting the conduct of our clinical trials, or restricted access to clinical trial sites for on-site monitoring activities;

 

interruption of key clinical trial activities, such as clinical assessments at pre-specified timepoints during the trial and clinical trial site data monitoring, due to limitations on travel imposed or recommended by federal or state governments, employers and others or interruption of clinical trial subject visits and study procedures (particularly any procedures that may be deemed non-essential), which may impact the integrity of subject data and clinical study endpoints;

 

interruption or delays in the operations of the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory agencies, which may impact feedback and approval timelines;

 

limitations on employee resources that would otherwise be focused on the conduct of our nonclinical studies and clinical trials, including because of sickness of employees or their families, the desire of employees to avoid contact with large groups of people, an increased reliance on working from home or mass transit disruptions;

 

interruption of, or delays in receiving, supplies of our product candidates from our CMOs due to staffing shortages, production slowdowns or stoppages, disruptions in delivery systems and commandeering of manufacturing facilities for COVID-19 vaccines; and

 

reduced ability to engage with the medical and investor communities due to the cancellation of conferences scheduled throughout the year.

 

For example, the timing of our Phase 3 PEACE trial has been impacted by COVID-19 as a result of all of our clinical trial sites temporarily suspending screening. All patients that had initially paused dosing due to COVID-19 had restarted treatment by September 2020. However, patients may miss dosing appointments in the future, whether due to COVID-19 or other reasons. While the Phase 3 PEACE trial protocol allows for a patient to miss a few dosing appointments without being disqualified from the trial, an excessive number of missed doses may adversely affect the usefulness of the data collected in the trial or require us to exclude a subject from the per protocol analysis. We completed enrollment and randomization of patients in the Phase 3 PEACE trial in April 2021. In addition, although we have initiated our Phase 1/2 open label clinical trial of AGLE-177 for the treatment in patients with Homocystinuria, the protocol requires in-person visits to clinical trial sites. Many of these sites are located in areas experiencing significant impacts to their healthcare systems due to COVID-19 and consequently many have suspended patient recruitment. While we initiated this trial in the second quarter of 2020, the timing of first patient dosing will depend on determinations by individual sites as they adjust to impacts from COVID-19.

These and other factors arising from the COVID-19 pandemic could worsen in countries that are already afflicted with COVID-19, could continue to spread to additional countries, or could return to countries where the pandemic has been partially contained, each of which could further adversely impact our ability to conduct clinical trials and our business generally, and could have a material adverse impact on our operations and financial condition and results.

In addition, the trading prices for our common stock and other biopharmaceutical companies, as well as the broader equity and debt markets, have been highly volatile as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting impact on economic activity. As a result, we may face difficulties raising capital when needed, and any such sales may be on unfavorable terms to us. Further, to the extent we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, the ownership interest of existing stockholders will be diluted.

The COVID-19 outbreak continues to rapidly evolve. The extent to which the outbreak may impact our business, clinical trials and nonclinical studies will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, such as the ultimate geographic spread of COVID-19, the duration of the outbreak, the speed and breadth of mass vaccinations for COVID-19 and the efficacy of such vaccines, travel restrictions and actions to contain the outbreak or treat its impact, such as social distancing and quarantines or lock-downs in the United States and other countries, business closures or business disruptions and the effectiveness of actions taken in the United States and other countries to contain and treat the disease.

Clinical drug development involves a lengthy and expensive process with an uncertain outcome. We may experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the development and commercialization of any of our product candidates.

We have initiated clinical trials with our lead product candidate, pegzilarginase and AGLE-177. The risk of failure for all of our product candidates is high. Before obtaining marketing approval from regulatory authorities for the sale of any product candidate, we must complete nonclinical development and then conduct extensive clinical trials to demonstrate

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the safety and efficacy of our product candidates in humans for the respective target indications. Clinical testing is expensive, difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. Failure can occur at any time during the clinical trial process.

The results of nonclinical studies and early clinical trials of our product candidates may not be predictive of the results of later-stage clinical trials that will likely differ in design and size from early-stage clinical trials, and interim results of a clinical trial do not necessarily predict final results. For example, while we have observed a reduction in blood arginine and arginine metabolite levels due to administration of pegzilarginase in patients with Arginase 1 Deficiency, and a reduction in blood arginine levels due to pegzilarginase in patients with advanced solid tumors, this data may not necessarily be predictive of the final results of all patients intended to be enrolled in our ongoing or future clinical trials, and may also not be predictive of pegzilarginase’s ability to reduce arginine or arginine metabolite levels for these patients over a longer term nor predictive of positive clinical outcomes. In addition, while we intend to announce interim data from our clinical trials from time to time, such reports may be based on unaudited data provided by our clinical trial investigators. An audit or subsequent review of this data may change the conclusions drawn from this unaudited data provided by our clinical trial investigators indicating less promising results than we anticipate. In addition, our observations of clinical improvements, through clinician and assessor feedback or assessment tools in the Phase 1/2 clinical trial and Phase 2 open label study of pegzilarginase in patients with Arginase 1 Deficiency after cumulative doses, may not be representative of our observations with subsequently dosed patients out to a similar or longer duration of cumulative dosing.

We completed enrollment in our single, global pivotal Phase 3 PEACE clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of pegzilarginase. Due to COVID-19, all of our clinical trial sites temporarily suspended screening, limiting patient access, and resulting in some missed dosing appointments for patients. All patients that had initially paused dosing due to COVID-19 had restarted treatment by September 2020. However, patients may miss dosing appointments in the future, whether due to COVID-19 or other reasons. The Phase 3 PEACE trial protocol allows for a patient to miss a few dosing appointments without being disqualified from the trial, but an excessive number of missed doses may adversely affect the usefulness of the data collected in the trial or require us to exclude a subject from the per protocol analysis.

Furthermore, while our completed Phase 1/2 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with Arginase 1 Deficiency primarily evaluated the safety of our product candidate, such nonclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses, and many companies that have believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in nonclinical studies and clinical trials have nonetheless failed to obtain marketing approval of their products. Further, while we have conducted prior clinical trials of pegzilarginase in certain oncology indications, we are currently exploring partnership opportunities for further development in oncology. It is impossible to predict when or if any of our product candidates will prove effective or safe in humans or will receive regulatory approval.

We may experience delays in our ongoing and planned clinical trials and we do not know whether planned clinical trials will begin or enroll subjects on time, whether enrolled subjects will complete trials on time or at all, whether they will need to be redesigned or whether they will be able to be completed on schedule, if at all. There can be no assurance that the Health Authorities will allow us to begin clinical trials or that they will not put any of the trials for any of our product candidates that enter or have entered clinical development on clinical hold in the future. We may experience numerous unforeseen events during, or as a result of, clinical trials that could delay or prevent our ability to receive marketing approval or commercialize our product candidates. Clinical trials may be delayed, suspended or prematurely terminated because costs are greater than we anticipate or for a variety of reasons, such as:

 

delay or failure in reaching agreement with the Health Authorities on a trial design that we are able to execute;

 

delay or failure in obtaining authorization to commence a trial or inability to comply with conditions imposed by a regulatory authority regarding the scope or design of a clinical trial;

 

delays in reaching, or failure to reach, agreement on acceptable clinical trial contracts or clinical trial protocols with planned trial sites;

 

modifications to our ongoing and planned clinical trial protocols due to regulatory requirements or decisions made by regulatory authorities;

 

geographic complexities of managing the design and completion of clinical trials across different Health Authorities in the United States, Canada, Europe, etc.;

 

reports of safety issues, side effects or dose-limiting toxicities, or any additional or more severe safety issues in addition to those observed to date;

 

inability, delay, or failure in identifying and maintaining a sufficient number of trial sites, many of which may already be engaged in other clinical programs;

 

delay or failure in recruiting and enrolling suitable subjects to participate in one or more clinical trials;

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delay or failure in having subjects complete a trial or return for post-treatment follow-up. For instance, two patients previously dosed in our Phase 1/2 clinical trial of pegzilarginase for the treatment of Arginase 1 Deficiency withdrew from the trial due to personal reasons;

 

clinical sites and investigators deviating from the trial protocol, failing to conduct the trial in accordance with regulatory requirements, or dropping out of a trial;

 

a clinical hold for any of our ongoing or planned clinical trials, including for pegzilarginase, where a clinical hold in a trial in one indication could result in a clinical hold for clinical trials in other indications;

 

clinical trials of our product candidates may produce negative or inconclusive results, and we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct more clinical trials than we anticipate or abandon product development programs;

 

the number of patients required for clinical trials of our product candidates may be larger than we anticipate, enrollment in these clinical trials may be slower than we anticipate or insufficient or participants may drop out of these clinical trials at a higher rate than we anticipate;

 

we may experience delays or difficulties in the enrollment of patients, including the identification of patients with Arginase 1 Deficiency and Homocystinuria;

 

our third-party contractors may fail to comply with regulatory requirements or meet their contractual obligations to us in a timely manner, or at all;

 

we may have difficulty partnering with experienced CROs that can run our clinical trials effectively;

 

regulators 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 or privacy concerns;

 

the supply or quality of our product candidates or other materials necessary to conduct clinical trials of our product candidates may be insufficient or inadequate; or

 

there may be changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions.

If we are required to modify our ongoing clinical trial protocols, conduct additional clinical trials or other testing of our product candidates beyond those that we currently contemplate, if we are unable to successfully initiate or complete clinical trials of our product candidates or other testing, if the results of these trials or tests do not demonstrate sufficient clinical benefit or if our product candidates do not have an acceptable safety profile, we may:

 

be delayed in obtaining marketing approval for our product candidates;

 

not obtain marketing approval at all;

 

cease development of our product candidates;

 

obtain approval for indications or patient populations that are not as broad as intended or desired;

 

obtain approval with labeling that includes significant use or distribution restrictions or safety warnings that would reduce the potential market for our product candidates or inhibit our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates;

 

be subject to additional post-marketing restrictions and/or testing requirements; or

 

have the product removed from the market after obtaining marketing approval.

We do not know whether any of our planned or current nonclinical studies, or ongoing or planned clinical trials, will need to be restructured or will be completed on schedule, or at all. For example, in June 2017, we delayed enrollment of pediatric patients in our Phase 1/2 clinical trial of pegzilarginase for the treatment of Arginase 1 Deficiency due to a difference in opinion with the FDA on data required to support inclusion of pediatric patients. Although we reached an agreement with the FDA in November 2017 and began dosing pediatric patients, the FDA may require additional information or studies to be conducted, or impose conditions that could further delay or restrict our other planned clinical activities in the future. We began our global pivotal Phase 3 PEACE clinical trial in which we are studying plasma arginine reduction from baseline over 24 weeks as our primary endpoint. However, evidence of stabilization or improvement of clinical signs and symptoms of Arginase 1 Deficiency, such as our secondary endpoints, consisting of clinical outcome assessments focused primarily on mobility, as well as clinician and caregiver global impressions of effectiveness, may be required in addition to the primary endpoint to support approval. Certain of our clinical outcome secondary endpoints will be measured using motor assessments that have not been previously validated for Arginase 1 Deficiency, including the gross motor function classification system. Such motor assessments have only been validated in ambulatory children with cerebral palsy. We believe these motor functional assessments are translatable to Arginase 1 Deficiency patients given the similarities in symptoms of children with cerebral palsy and the Arginase 1 Deficiency populations, however the FDA or other Health Authorities may disagree.

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If we are unable to demonstrate sufficient improvement on such clinical endpoints, the FDA may determine that there is insufficient direct evidence of effectiveness or inadequate justification to support a full approval based on the biomarker endpoint we have chosen. The failure to demonstrate improvement on such clinical endpoints could be due to an insufficient duration on treatment to see such an effect. For example, the FDA indicated that our dosing duration for our Phase 3 PEACE clinical trial may not be adequate to assess for clinically meaningful changes. Similarly, our dosing duration for our Phase 3 PEACE clinical trial may not be adequate to assess safety and immunogenicity assessment of pegzilarginase. Significant nonclinical or clinical trial delays also could shorten any periods during which we may have the exclusive right to commercialize our product candidates or allow our competitors to bring products to market before we do and impair our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates and may materially harm our business and results of operations.

We may not be able to submit INDs, or foreign equivalents outside of the United States, to commence clinical trials for product candidates on the timeframes we expect, and even if we are able to, the Health Authorities may not permit us to proceed with planned clinical trials.

We are currently conducting nonclinical development of our product candidates other than our clinical trials for pegzilarginase for the treatment of patients with Arginase 1 Deficiency and AGLE-177 for the treatment of patients with Homocystinuria. Progression of any candidate into clinical trials is inherently risky and dependent on the results obtained in nonclinical programs, and other potential results such as the results of other clinical programs and results of third-party programs. If results are not available when expected or problems are identified during therapy development, we may experience significant delays in clinical development. This may also impact our ability to achieve certain financial milestones and the expected timeframes to market any of our product candidates. Additionally, commencing any future clinical trials is subject to finalizing the trial design and submitting an IND, CTA or comparable submission in other jurisdictions. Even after we submit an IND, CTA or comparable submission in other jurisdictions, the Health Authorities could disagree that we have satisfied their requirements to commence our clinical trials, disagree with our study design, or may change their guidance criteria, which may require us to complete additional nonclinical studies or amend our protocols or impose stricter conditions on the commencement of clinical trials. Failure to submit or have effective INDs, CTAs or other comparable foreign equivalents and commence clinical programs will significantly limit our opportunity to generate revenue.

Our engineered human enzyme product candidates represent a novel therapeutic approach, which could result in heightened regulatory scrutiny, delays in clinical development, or delays in our ability to achieve regulatory approval or commercialization of our product candidates.

Engineered human enzyme products are a new category of therapeutics. Because this is a relatively new and expanding area of novel therapeutic interventions, there can be no assurance as to the length of the trial period, the manufacturing and quality control standards required to be met by regulators, the number of patients the Health Authorities will require to be enrolled in the trials in order to establish the safety, efficacy, purity and potency of engineered human enzyme products, or that the data generated in these trials will be acceptable to the FDA or another applicable regulatory authority to support marketing approval.

We have only initiated clinical trials for pegzilarginase and AGLE-177 for the treatment of certain conditions and have only dosed pegzilarginase in humans. We have not dosed any of our other product candidates in humans. Our existing and future planned clinical trials may reveal significant adverse events, toxicities or other side effects not seen in our nonclinical studies or early stage clinical trials and may result in a safety profile that could inhibit regulatory approval or market acceptance of any of our product candidates.

In order to obtain marketing approval for any of our product candidates, we must demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the product candidate for the relevant clinical indication or indications through nonclinical studies and clinical trials as well as additional supporting data. If our product candidates are associated with undesirable side effects in nonclinical studies or clinical trials, in monotherapy or combination therapy, or have characteristics that are unexpected, we may need to interrupt, delay or abandon their development or limit development to more narrow uses or subpopulations in which the undesirable side effects or other characteristics are less prevalent, less severe or more acceptable from a risk-benefit perspective.

We are currently conducting clinical trials for pegzilarginase for the treatment of patients with Arginase 1 Deficiency and AGLE-177 for the treatment of patients with Homocystinuria. Given the nature of the patient populations enrolled in these trials, we have observed and expect to continue to observe serious adverse events that could be related or unrelated to pegzilarginase and could impact the safety or efficacy of pegzilarginase and we may observe serious adverse events that could be related or unrelated to AGLE-177 and could impact the safety or efficacy of AGLE-177. We have also

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dosed, and may continue to dose, patients with pegzilarginase following compassionate use requests. While such patients are not monitored as part of our ongoing clinical trials, the occurrence of significant adverse events in such patients may negatively impact the prospects of our programs.

In our prior clinical trials of pegzilarginase for the treatment of patients with advanced solid tumors and for the treatment of the patients with hematological malignancies AML and MDS, we have observed serious adverse events in some patients, including death. We have reported results from these trials in which we observed serious adverse events that were considered possibly or probably related to the administration of pegzilarginase including asthenia, fatigue, failure to thrive, hypertension, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, dehydration, dizziness, intracranial hemorrhage, and encephalopathy. In our completed combination trial of pegzilarginase and pembrolizumab in patients with previously-treated small cell lung cancer, safety observations were consistent with prior studies of pegzilarginase in patients with cancer.

In a completed Phase 1/2 clinical trial and an ongoing open-label extension study of pegzilarginase for the treatment of patients with Arginase 1 Deficiency, we have observed serious adverse events in some patients, including hypersensitivity and hyperammonemia, which were infrequent, expected and manageable. Hyperammonemia is an important metabolic effect experienced by some patients with Arginase 1 Deficiency. None of the patients in these trials discontinued due to adverse events, while three patients discontinued for non-medical reasons.  

Subjects in our ongoing and planned clinical trials with pegzilarginase and AGLE-177 may suffer minor, significant, serious, or even life-threatening adverse events, including those that are drug-related. Subjects in our ongoing and planned clinical trials may also suffer side effects not yet observed in any of our prior and ongoing clinical or nonclinical studies, including, but not limited to, toxicities to the nervous system, liver, heart, lung, kidney, blood, pulmonary or immune system. We have not dosed any of our other product candidates in humans.

Testing in animals, such as our primate studies for pegzilarginase and AGLE-177, may not uncover all side effects in humans or any observed side effects in animals may be more severe in humans. For example, it is possible that patients’ immune systems may recognize our engineered human enzymes as foreign and trigger an immune response. This risk is heightened in patients with many genetic enzyme deficiencies who lack the target enzyme, including patients with Arginase 1 Deficiency that we are treating in our global pivotal Phase 3 PEACE trial, our Phase 2 trial open label extension study, and any future clinical trials we conduct for this rare genetic disease or in trials in patients with Homocystinuria with AGLE-177. In addition, our product candidates such as pegzilarginase and AGLE-177 break down target amino acids, thereby releasing metabolites into the bloodstream. Some patients may be sensitive to these metabolites, increasing the risk of an adverse reaction due to treatment, which risk may not be able to be mitigated through dosing. Finally, although our engineered human enzyme product candidates such as pegzilarginase and AGLE-177 are engineered from the human genome, pegzilarginase and AGLE-177 are produced in E. coli. This manufacturing process could lead to the products being more likely to trigger an immune response than we expect.

To the extent significant adverse events or other side effects are observed in any of our clinical trials, we may have difficulty recruiting patients to the clinical trial, patients may drop out of our trial, or we may be required to abandon the trial or our development efforts of that product candidate altogether. Some potential therapeutics developed in the biotechnology industry that initially showed therapeutic promise in early-stage studies have later been found to cause side effects that prevented their further development. Even if the side effects do not preclude the drug from obtaining or maintaining marketing approval, undesirable side effects may inhibit market acceptance of the approved product due to its tolerability versus other therapies. Any of these developments could materially harm our business, financial condition and prospects.

Further, toxicities associated with our product candidates may also develop after regulatory approval and lead to the withdrawal of the product from the market. We cannot predict whether our product candidates will cause organ or other injury in humans that would preclude or lead to the revocation of regulatory approval based on nonclinical studies or early stage clinical testing.

If we experience delays or difficulties in the enrollment of patients in our ongoing or planned clinical trials, our receipt of necessary regulatory approvals could be delayed or prevented.

We may not be able to initiate or continue our ongoing or planned clinical trials if we are unable to locate and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients to participate in these trials as required by the Health Authorities. For example, although we have completed enrollment, the timing of our Phase 3 PEACE trial has been impacted by COVID-19. All of our clinical trial sites temporarily suspended screening, limiting patient access, and resulting in some missed dosing appointments for patients. All patients that had initially paused dosing due to COVID-19 had restarted treatment by

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September 2020. However, patients may miss dosing appointments in the future, whether due to COVID-19 or other reasons. Furthermore, we have initiated a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of AGLE-177 for Homocystinuria in the second quarter of 2020, however, the timing of first patient dosing will depend on determinations by individual sites given COVID-19. Also, many of our product candidates, including pegzilarginase and AGLE-177, initially target indications that may be characterized as orphan markets, which can prolong the clinical trial timeline if sufficient patients cannot be enrolled in a timely manner. Arginase 1 Deficiency is a rare disorder, and there are no published reports of disease prevalence.

We commissioned a genetic prevalence analysis and based on that analysis estimate the Arginase 1 Deficiency population is greater than 2,500 patients in the global addressable markets. The genetic prevalence-based methodology is intended to account for misdiagnosis of the disease and to address limitations in newborn screening methodology, including naturally low arginine levels in newborns and lack of geographic availability or standardization of testing. Presently, only 34 U.S. states and jurisdictions perform newborn screening for Arginase 1 Deficiency, and newborn screening is not currently widely performed in European countries. Due to screening requirements and enrollment restrictions in our clinical trial protocol, or any additional restrictions that may be imposed by regulatory agencies, not all patients may be eligible for inclusion in our planned global pivotal Phase 3 PEACE clinical trial. As of January 2021, we have identified over 300 Arginase 1 Deficiency patients in the global addressable markets, primarily in the U.S. and France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, referred to as the EU5, representing approximately 65% and 30% of the estimated genetic prevalence populations in the U.S. and EU5, respectively. We estimate the patient population for Homocystinuria may exceed 30,000 in global addressable markets, but we may not be able to initiate the trial as expected or locate and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients as required by the Health Authorities, and the necessary regulatory approvals could be delayed or prevented.

Delays in patient enrollment could result in increased costs, delays in advancing our product development, delays in testing the effectiveness of our technology or termination of the clinical trials altogether.

Patient enrollment is affected by factors including:

 

the severity of the disease under investigation;

 

the design of the clinical trial protocol;

 

the novelty of the product candidate and acceptance by physicians;

 

the patient eligibility criteria for the study in question;

 

the size of the total patient population;

 

the design of the clinical trials;

 

the perceived risks and benefits of the product candidate under study;

 

the availability and efficacy of competing therapies and clinical trials;

 

our payments for conducting clinical trials;

 

the patient referral practices of physicians;

 

the ability to monitor patients adequately during and after treatment with the product candidate; and

 

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

In addition, some patients with Arginase 1 Deficiency suffer from heightened levels of ammonia, or hyperammonemia. Horizon Therapeutics plc actively markets both RAVICTI (glycerol phenylbutyrate) and BUPHENYL (sodium phenylbutyrate) to treat patients with urea cycle disorders suffering from hyperammonemia. Some patients who may be eligible for our ongoing or planned clinical trials may instead pursue treatment for this aspect of their condition by taking RAVICTI (glycerol phenylbutyrate). Our inability to enroll a sufficient number of patients for any of our clinical trials could result in significant delays and could require us to abandon one or more clinical trials altogether. Enrollment delays in our clinical trials may result in increased development costs for our product candidates and in delays to commercially launching our product candidates, if approved, which would cause the value of our company to decline and limit our ability to obtain additional financing.

The safety or efficacy profile of pegzilarginase, or any current or future product candidates, may differ in combination therapy with other existing or future drugs, and therefore may preclude its further development or approval, which would materially harm our business.

From time to time, our commercialization strategy may include the combination of our product candidates with third-parties’ products or product candidates. For example, we completed a combination trial with Merck to evaluate the combination of pegzilarginase with Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), for the treatment of patients with small cell lung cancer. Such combination studies involve additional risks due to their reliance on circumstances outside our control, such as those relating to the availability and marketability of the third-party product involved in the study. Additionally, we may be unable to secure and maintain a sufficient supply of such third-party

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products when needed on commercially reasonably terms. Any such shortages could cause us to delay or terminate our combination trials.

It is also difficult to predict the way in which pegzilarginase, or any current or future product candidate, will interact with third-party products used in combination clinical trials. As a result, such combination trials may demonstrate reduced efficacy, increase or exacerbate side effects that have been seen with pegzilarginase, or any current or future product candidate, alone, or result in new side effects that have not previously been identified with pegzilarginase, or any current or future product candidate, alone. In addition, data obtained from any combination trials may be subject to a variety of interpretations. For instance, positive data may not guarantee the ability to move forward due to changes in the competitive or regulatory environment for the treatment of targeted indications, and failure to achieve our primary endpoints may not necessarily preclude a viable commercial path. Any undesirable side effects, lack of efficacy seen in combination trials, changing regulatory and commercial requirements for approval, differing interpretation of clinical data or other unforeseen circumstances may affect our ability to continue with and obtain regulatory approval for the combination therapy, as well as our ability to continue with and obtain regulatory approval for pegzilarginase monotherapy.

Further, evaluating pegzilarginase, or any current or future product candidate, in combination with other products in clinical development may require us to establish collaborations, licensing arrangements or alliances with third parties. There is no assurance that we will be able to enter into such arrangements on favorable terms, or at all.

Even though we have obtained orphan drug designation for pegzilarginase in the United States and Europe for the treatment of hyperargininemia, and for AGLE-177 in the United States and Europe for the treatment of patients with Homocystinuria, we may not obtain or maintain orphan drug exclusivity for pegzilarginase or AGLE-177 and we may not obtain orphan drug designation or exclusivity for any of our other product candidates or indications.

Regulatory authorities in some jurisdictions, including the United States and Europe, may designate drugs or biologics for relatively small patient populations as orphan drugs. Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may designate a product as an orphan drug if it is a drug or biologic intended to treat a rare disease or condition, which is generally defined as a patient population of fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States. Similarly, the European Commission may designate a product as an orphan drug under certain circumstances.

Generally, if a product with an orphan drug designation subsequently receives the first marketing approval for the indication for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to a period of marketing exclusivity, which precludes the FDA or the EMA from approving another marketing application for the same drug for the same disease for that time period. The applicable period is seven years in the United States and ten years in the European Union. The European exclusivity period can be reduced to six years if a drug no longer meets the criteria for orphan drug designation or if the drug is sufficiently profitable so that market exclusivity is no longer justified. Orphan drug exclusivity may be lost if the FDA or EMA 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.

We have obtained orphan drug designation in the United States and Europe for pegzilarginase for the treatment of patients with Arginase 1 Deficiency. We have also received orphan drug designation in the United States and Europe for AGLE-177 for the treatment of patients with Homocystinuria. A company that first obtains FDA or EMA approval for a designated orphan drug for the designated rare disease or condition receives orphan drug marketing exclusivity for that drug for the designated disease for a period of seven years in the United States or ten years in the European Union, respectively. This orphan drug exclusivity prevents the FDA or EMA from approving another application, including a Biologics License Application, or BLA, in the United States or a MAA in the European Union, to market a drug containing the same principal molecular structural features for the same orphan indication, except in very limited circumstances, including when the FDA or the EMA concludes that the later drug is 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.

Even though we have received orphan drug designation for pegzilarginase for the treatment of Arginase 1 Deficiency in the United States and Europe, and for AGLE-177 for the treatment of patients with Homocystinuria in the United States and Europe, we may not be the first to obtain marketing approval for the orphan-designated indication in these jurisdictions due to the uncertainties associated with developing pharmaceutical product candidates. We may also seek to obtain orphan drug designations in other international jurisdictions. However, there is no guarantee that we would be able to do so on a timely basis, or at all. Further, even if we obtain orphan drug exclusivity for a product, that exclusivity may not effectively protect the product from competition because different drugs with different active moieties can be approved for the same condition or a drug with the same principal molecular structural features can be approved for a different indication. Orphan drug designation neither shortens the development time or regulatory review time of a drug

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nor gives the drug any advantage in the regulatory review or approval process. In addition, even if we intend to seek orphan drug designation for other product candidates or indications, we may never receive such designations or obtain orphan drug exclusivity.

A Rare Pediatric Disease designation by the FDA does not guarantee that the NDA or BLA for the product will qualify for a priority review voucher upon approval, and it does not lead to a faster development or regulatory review process, or increase the likelihood that any of our product candidates will receive marketing approval.

Under the Rare Pediatric Disease Priority Review Voucher program, upon the approval of a qualifying BLA or NDA for the treatment of a rare pediatric disease, the sponsor of such an application would be awarded a rare pediatric disease priority review voucher that can be used to obtain priority review for a subsequent BLA or NDA. In September 2018, the FDA notified us that we obtained Rare Pediatric Disease designation for pegzilarginase for the treatment of patients with Arginase 1 Deficiency, and in November 2020, the FDA notified us that we obtained Rare Pediatric Disease designation for AGLE-177 for the treatment of Homocystinuria. On December 27, 2020, the Creating Hope Reauthorization Act extended the Rare Pediatric Disease Priority Review Voucher Program, and after September 30, 2024, the FDA may only award a voucher for an approved rare pediatric disease product application if the sponsor has rare pediatric disease designation for the drug, and that designation was granted by September 30, 2024. After September 30, 2026, FDA may not award any rare pediatric disease priority review vouchers. However, there is no guarantee that any of our product candidates will be approved by that date, or at all, and, therefore, we may not be in a position to obtain a priority review voucher prior to expiration of the program, unless Congress further reauthorizes the program. Additionally, designation of a drug for a rare pediatric disease does not guarantee that a BLA will meet the other eligibility criteria for a rare pediatric disease priority review voucher at the time the application is approved. Finally, a Rare Pediatric Disease designation does not lead to faster development or regulatory review of the product, or increase the likelihood that it will receive marketing approval.

Failure to obtain marketing approval in international jurisdictions would prevent our product candidates from being marketed abroad. 

In order to market and sell our products in the European Union and many other jurisdictions, we or our third-party collaborators must obtain separate marketing approvals and comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements. The approval procedure varies among countries and can involve additional testing and different criteria for approval. The time required to obtain approval may differ substantially from that required to obtain FDA approval. The regulatory approval process outside the United States generally includes all of the risks associated with obtaining FDA approval. In addition, in many countries outside the United States, it is required that the product be approved for reimbursement before the product can be approved for sale in that country. We, or our third-party collaborators, may not obtain approvals from regulatory authorities outside the United States on a timely basis, if at all. Approval by the FDA does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions, and approval by one regulatory authority outside the United States does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions or by the FDA. However, failure to obtain approval in some countries or jurisdictions may compromise our ability to obtain approval elsewhere. We may not be able to file for marketing approvals and may not receive necessary approvals to commercialize our products in any market.

We or third parties may not be successful in developing diagnostic assays, if required for our product candidates.

In developing a product candidate for some indications, we may decide to use a biomarker-based test to identify patients for enrollment and, or, monitor patients in clinical trials. In such case, the FDA may require the development and regulatory approval of a companion diagnostic assay as a condition to approval of the product candidate. Alternatively, there may be clinical benefits for some enzyme-based therapies in enhancing currently available biochemical monitoring approaches. While we are not aware of any precedents requiring such approaches for regulatory approval, FDA or other regulatory authorities could request that new biochemical monitoring approaches are available to support some product candidates. Clinical trials that utilize a biomarker-based test to select patients are likely to take longer and require additional funding. We do not have experience or capabilities in developing or commercializing these companion diagnostics and plan to rely in large part on third parties to perform these functions. Some diagnostic assays are subject to regulation by the FDA as medical devices and require separate regulatory approval prior to the use of such diagnostic assays with a therapeutic product candidate. If we, or any third parties that we engage to assist us, are unable to successfully develop companion diagnostic assays for use with our product candidates, or experience delays in development, we may be unable to identify patients with the specific profile targeted by our product candidates for enrollment in our clinical trials. Accordingly, further investment may be required to further develop or obtain the required regulatory approval for the relevant diagnostic assay, which would delay or substantially impact our ability to conduct further clinical trials or obtain regulatory approval. In addition, if a companion diagnostic is necessary for any of our product candidates, a delay in the development of the assay, or the delay or failure to obtain regulatory approval of the

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companion diagnostic would delay or prevent the approval of the therapeutic product candidate. Alternatively, we may also make the decision that our therapy does not require a companion diagnostic, however the Health Authorities may disagree and require the development and regulatory approval of a companion diagnostic assay as a condition of approval of the product candidate, creating additional costs and a delay in bringing our product candidate to market.

We expect to expand our development and regulatory capabilities and potentially implement sales, marketing and distribution capabilities, and, as a result, we may encounter difficulties in managing our growth, which could disrupt our operations.

We expect to experience significant growth in the number of our employees and the scope of our operations, particularly in the areas of product candidate development, regulatory affairs and, if any of our product candidates receives marketing approval, sales, marketing and distribution.

We currently do not have a marketing or sales team for the marketing, sales and distribution of any of our product candidates that are potentially able to obtain regulatory approval. In order to commercialize any product candidates, we must build on a territory-by-territory basis marketing, sales, distribution, managerial and other non-technical capabilities or make arrangements with third parties to perform these services, and we may not be successful in doing so. If our product candidates receive regulatory approval, we intend to establish an internal sales or marketing team with technical expertise and supporting distribution capabilities to commercialize our product candidates, which will be expensive and time consuming and will require significant attention of our executive officers to manage. We will also have to compete with other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to recruit, hire, train and retain marketing and sales personnel. Any failure or delay in the development of our internal sales, marketing and distribution capabilities would adversely impact the commercialization of any of our product candidates that we obtain approval to market.

With respect to the commercialization of all or certain of our product candidates, we may choose to collaborate, either globally or on a territory-by-territory basis, with third parties that have direct sales forces and established distribution systems, either to augment our own sales force and distribution systems or in lieu of our own sales force and distribution systems. In particular, we have and expect to continue to partner with third parties to commercialize pegzilarginase outside the United States. For example, in March 2021, we entered into a licensing agreement with Immedica Pharma AB, or Immedica, in which Immedica acquired the product rights for commercialization of pegzilarginase in Europe and certain Middle East jurisdictions. We may have little or no control over the marketing and sales efforts of such third parties and our revenue from product sales may be lower than if we had commercialized our product candidates ourselves. We also face competition in our search for third parties to assist us with the sales and marketing efforts of our product candidates. If we are unable to enter into such arrangements when needed on acceptable terms, or at all, we may not be able to successfully commercialize any of our product candidates that receive regulatory approval or any such commercialization may experience delays or limitations. If we are not successful in commercializing our product candidates, either on our own or through collaborations with one or more third parties, our future product revenue will suffer and we may incur significant additional losses.

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. Due to our limited financial resources and the limited experience of our management team in managing a public company with such anticipated growth, we may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations or recruit and train additional qualified personnel. The expansion of our operations may lead to significant costs and may divert our management and business development resources. Any inability to manage growth could delay the execution of our business plans or disrupt our operations.

We may not be successful in our efforts to identify additional product candidates. Due to our limited resources and access to capital, we must prioritize development of certain product candidates, which may prove to be wrong and may adversely affect our business.

Although we intend to explore other therapeutic opportunities, in addition to the product candidates that we are currently developing, we may fail to identify viable new product candidates for clinical development for a number of reasons. If we fail to identify additional potential product candidates, our business could be materially harmed.

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Research programs to pursue the development of our existing and planned product candidates for additional indications and to identify new product candidates and disease targets require substantial technical, financial and human resources whether or not they are ultimately successful. Our research programs may initially show promise in identifying potential indications and/or product candidates, yet fail to yield results for clinical development for a number of reasons, including:

 

the research methodology used may not be successful in identifying potential indications and/or product candidates;

 

potential product candidates may, after further study, be shown to have harmful adverse effects or other characteristics that indicate they are unlikely to be effective drugs;

 

it may take greater human and financial resources than we will possess to identify additional therapeutic opportunities for our product candidates or to develop suitable potential product candidates through internal research programs, thereby limiting our ability to develop, diversify and expand our product portfolio; or

 

alternative research or therapeutic methodologies may be more efficient than the research approaches provided by Aeglea.  

Because we have limited financial and human resources, we intend to initially focus on research programs and product candidates for a limited set of indications. As a result, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other product candidates or for other indications that later prove to have greater commercial potential or a greater likelihood of success. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities.

Accordingly, there can be no assurance that we will ever be able to identify additional therapeutic opportunities for our product candidates or to develop suitable potential product candidates through internal research programs, which could materially adversely affect our future growth and prospects. We may focus our efforts and resources on potential product candidates or other potential programs that ultimately prove to be unsuccessful.

Risks Related to Commercialization

If the market opportunities for our product candidates are smaller than we believe they are, our future product revenues may be adversely affected, and our business may suffer.

Our understanding of both the number of people who suffer from conditions such as Arginase 1 Deficiency or Homocystinuria, as well as the potential subset of those who have the potential to benefit from treatment with our product candidates, are based on estimates. We expect our product candidates targeting rare diseases to target the smaller patient populations that suffer from the respective diseases we seek to treat. These estimates may prove to be incorrect and new studies may reduce the estimated incidence or prevalence of these diseases. The number of patients in the United States, Europe or elsewhere may turn out to be lower than expected, may not be otherwise amenable to treatment with our product candidates or patients may become increasingly difficult to identify and access, all of which would adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Further, there are several factors that could contribute to making the actual number of patients who receive our potential product candidates less than the potentially addressable market. These include the lack of widespread availability of, and limited reimbursement for, new therapies in many underdeveloped markets. Additionally, our assumptions regarding the addressable market may be incorrect and the addressable market may change over time, including from the announcement date of a product candidate to the approval by Health Authorities and commercialization. Even if we obtain significant market share for our product candidates, because certain of the potential target populations are small, we may never achieve profitability without obtaining regulatory approval for additional indications.

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Even if any of our product candidates receives marketing approval, it may fail to achieve the degree of market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community necessary for commercial success.

Even if any of our product candidates receives marketing approval, it may nonetheless fail to gain sufficient market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community necessary for commercial success. Current treatments for Arginase 1 Deficiency and Homocystinuria include dietary protein restrictions and for Arginase 1 Deficiency, in some instances, ammonia-scavenging drugs such as RAVICTI (glycerol phenylbutyrate). If our product candidates do not achieve an adequate level of acceptance, we may never generate significant product revenues and we may not become profitable. The degree of market acceptance of our product candidates, if approved for commercial sale, will depend on a number of factors, including:

 

their efficacy, safety and other potential advantages compared to alternative treatments;

 

our ability to offer them for sale at competitive prices;

 

their convenience and ease of administration compared to alternative treatments;

 

the willingness of the target patient population to try new therapies and of physicians to prescribe these therapies;

 

the ability of healthcare professionals to accurately identify and diagnose patients with the relevant/indicated condition;

 

the strength of marketing and distribution support;

 

the availability of third-party coverage and adequate reimbursement for our product candidates;

 

the prevalence and severity of their side effects;

 

any restrictions on the use of our product candidates together with other medications;

 

interactions of our product candidates with other products patients are taking; and

 

inability of patients with certain medical histories to take our product candidates.

We face significant competition from other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and our operating results will suffer if we fail to compete effectively.

The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are intensely competitive. We have competitors both in the United States and internationally, including major multinational pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, universities and other research institutions. Many of our competitors have substantially greater financial, technical and other resources, such as larger research and development staff and experienced marketing and manufacturing organizations and well-established sales forces. Competition may increase further as a result of advances in the commercial applicability of technologies and greater availability of capital for investment in these industries. Our competitors may succeed in developing, acquiring or licensing, on an exclusive basis, product candidates that are more effective or less costly than any product candidate that we are currently developing or that we may develop.

There are multiple approved treatments and investigational therapies for the management of hyperammonemia commonly experienced by patients with urea cycle disorders. While these products – known as ammonia scavengers – do not target the core metabolic defect of Arginase 1 Deficiency, they can help patients manage their elevated ammonia levels. Horizon Therapeutics plc actively markets two branded ammonia scavenger therapies (RAVICTI (glycerol phenylbutyrate) and BUPHENYL (sodium phenylbutyrate)), and at least one generic formulation of sodium phenylbutyrate is commercially available. From a clinical development perspective, Acer Therapeutics Inc. is developing a taste-masked, immediate-release formulation of sodium phenylbutyrate for the treatment of hyperammonemia and recently announced their intent to enter a global development and commercialization agreement with Relief Therapeutics Holding AG. Acer anticipates NDA submission of ACER-001 for urea cycle disorders in mid-2021.

We anticipate a competitive landscape in Homocystinuria. There is currently one FDA-approved therapy for the treatment of Homocystinuria and multiple medical foods. CYSTADANE® (betaine anhydrous for oral solution) was approved by the FDA in 1986 and is currently marketed in North America by Recordati Rare Diseases Inc. We are also aware of one investigational therapy in clinical development for the treatment of Homocystinuria. Travere Therapeutics Inc. recently acquired Orphan Technologies Ltd., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of OT-58 (now TVT-058) for the treatment of Classical Homocystinuria. Travere is enrolling a Phase 1/2 study of TVT-058, an enzyme replacement therapy in patients with Homocystinuria due to cystathionine β-synthase deficiency and has stated that topline data from this study will be available in 2021. Additionally, Erytech Pharma SA has a product candidate for Homocystinuria in preclinical development. It is possible that competitors may produce, develop, and commercialize therapeutics, or utilize other approaches to treat Homocystinuria.

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Our ability to compete successfully will depend largely on our ability to leverage our experience in product candidate discovery and development to:

 

discover and develop product candidates that are sufficiently differentiated from other products in the market;

 

attract qualified management, scientific, product development and commercial personnel;

 

obtain and maintain patent and/or other proprietary protection for our product candidates and technologies;

 

obtain required regulatory approvals;

 

successfully launch and commercialize our approved products; and

 

successfully collaborate with research institutions or pharmaceutical companies in the discovery, development and commercialization of new product candidates.

The availability and price of our competitors’ products could limit the demand, and the price we are able to charge, for any of our product candidates, if approved. We will not achieve our business plan if acceptance is inhibited by price competition or the reluctance of patients, physicians, or payers to accept our product candidates.

Established biotechnology companies may invest heavily to accelerate discovery and development of products that could make our product candidates less competitive. In addition, any new product that competes with an approved product must demonstrate compelling advantages in efficacy, convenience, tolerability and/or safety to establish a meaningfully differentiated value proposition for patients, physicians, and payers. Accordingly, our competitors may succeed in obtaining patent protection, receiving FDA or non-U.S. regulatory approval or discovering, developing and commercializing product candidates before we do, which would have a material adverse impact on our business. Many of our competitors have greater resources than we do and have established sales, marketing, and market access capabilities, whether internally or through third parties. We will not be able to successfully commercialize our product candidates without establishing sales and marketing capabilities internally or through strategic partners.

The insurance coverage and reimbursement status of newly-approved products is uncertain. Failure to obtain or maintain adequate coverage and reimbursement for new or current product candidates could limit our ability to market those product candidates and decrease our ability to generate revenue.

The availability and extent of reimbursement by governmental and private payors is essential for most patients to be able to afford expensive treatments. Sales of any of our product candidates that receive marketing approval will depend substantially, both in the United States and internationally, on the extent to which the costs of our product candidates will be paid by health maintenance, managed care, pharmacy benefit and similar healthcare management organizations, or reimbursed by government health administration authorities, private health coverage insurers and other third-party payors. If reimbursement is not available, or is available only to limited levels, we may not be able to successfully commercialize our product candidates. Even if coverage is provided, the approved reimbursement amount may not be high enough to allow us to establish or maintain pricing sufficient to realize a sufficient return on our investment.

There is significant uncertainty related to the insurance coverage and reimbursement of newly approved products. In the United States, the principal decisions about reimbursement for new products are typically made by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services since CMS decides whether and to what extent a new product will be covered and reimbursed under Medicare. Private payors tend to follow CMS to a substantial degree. It is difficult to predict what CMS will decide with respect to reimbursement for novel products such as ours since there is no body of established practices and precedents for these new products. Reimbursement agencies in Europe may be more conservative than CMS. For example, a number of cancer drugs have been approved for reimbursement in the United States and have not been approved for reimbursement in certain European countries.

Outside the United States, international operations are generally subject to extensive governmental price controls and other market regulations, and we believe the increasing emphasis on cost-containment initiatives in Europe, Canada and other countries has and will continue to put pressure on the pricing and usage of therapeutics such as our product candidates. In many countries, particularly the countries of the European Union, the prices of medical products are subject to varying price control mechanisms as part of national health systems. In these countries, pricing negotiations with governmental authorities can take considerable time after the receipt of marketing approval for a product. To obtain reimbursement or pricing approval in some countries, we may be required to conduct a clinical trial that compares the cost-effectiveness of our product candidate to other available therapies. In general, the prices of products under such systems are substantially lower than in the United States. Other countries allow companies to fix their own prices for products but monitor and control company profits. Additional foreign price controls or other changes in pricing regulation could restrict the amount that we are able to charge for our product candidates. Accordingly, in markets outside the United States, the reimbursement for our products may be reduced compared with the United States and may be insufficient to generate commercially reasonable revenues and profits.

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Moreover, increasing efforts by governmental and third-party payors, in the United States and internationally, to cap or reduce healthcare costs may cause such organizations to limit both coverage and level of reimbursement for new products approved and, as a result, they may not cover or provide adequate payment for our product candidates. The U.S. government has similarly expressed concerns over the pricing of pharmaceutical products and there can be no assurance as to how this scrutiny will impact future pricing of pharmaceutical products generally. We expect to experience pricing pressures in connection with the sale of any of our product candidates due to the trend toward managed healthcare, the increasing influence of health maintenance organizations and additional legislative changes. The downward pressure on healthcare costs in general, particularly prescription drugs and surgical procedures and other treatments, has become very intense. As a result, increasingly high barriers are being erected to the entry of new products into the healthcare market.

In addition to CMS and private payors, professional organizations such as the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the American Society of Clinical Oncology can influence decisions about reimbursement for new products by determining standards for care. In addition, many private payors contract with commercial vendors who sell software that provide guidelines that attempt to limit utilization of, and therefore reimbursement for, certain products deemed to provide limited benefit to existing alternatives. Such organizations may set guidelines that limit reimbursement or utilization of our product candidates.

Furthermore, some of our target indications, including for Arginase 1 Deficiency for pegzilarginase and for Homocystinuria for AGLE-177, are orphan indications where patient populations are small. In order for therapeutics that are designed to treat smaller patient populations to be commercially viable, the reimbursement for such therapeutics must be higher, on a relative basis, to account for the lack of volume. Accordingly, we will need to implement a coverage and reimbursement strategy for any approved product candidate that accounts for the smaller potential market size. If we are unable to establish or sustain coverage and adequate reimbursement for any future product candidates from third-party payors, the adoption of those products and sales revenue will be adversely affected, which, in turn, could adversely affect the ability to market or sell those product candidates, if approved, and ultimately our financial results.

 

Our product candidates for which we intend to seek approval as biologic products may face competition sooner than anticipated.

With the enactment of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009, or BPCIA, an abbreviated pathway for the approval of biosimilar biological products (both highly similar and interchangeable biological products) was created. The abbreviated regulatory pathway establishes legal authority for the FDA to review and approve biosimilar biologics, including the possible designation of a biosimilar as interchangeable based on its similarity to an existing reference product. Under the BPCIA, an application for a biosimilar product cannot be approved by the FDA until 12 years after the first licensure of date of the reference product licensed under a BLA. On March 6, 2015, the FDA approved the first biosimilar product under the BPCIA. However, the law is complex and is still being interpreted and implemented by the FDA. As a result, its ultimate impact, implementation, and meaning are subject to uncertainty. While it is uncertain when the processes intended to implement BPCIA may be fully adopted by the FDA, any such processes could have a material adverse effect on the future commercial prospects for our biological products.

A biological product submitted for licensure under a BLA is eligible for a period of exclusivity that commences on the date of its licensure, unless its date of licensure is not considered a date of first licensure because it falls within an exclusion under the BPCIA. There is a risk that this exclusivity could be shortened due to congressional action or otherwise, potentially creating the opportunity for biosimilar competition sooner than anticipated. Additionally, this period of regulatory exclusivity does not apply to companies pursuing regulatory approval via their own traditional BLA, rather than via the abbreviated pathway. Most states have enacted substitution laws that permit substitution of only interchangeable biosimilars. The extent to which a highly similar biosimilar, once approved, will be substituted for any one of our reference products that may be approved in a way that is similar to traditional generic substitution for non-biological products is not yet clear, and will depend on a number of marketplace and regulatory factors that are still developing.

If we fail to develop additional product candidates, our commercial opportunity will be limited.

Developing and obtaining regulatory approval for and commercializing any additional product candidates we identify will require substantial additional funding and is prone to the risks of failure inherent in medical product development. We cannot provide you any assurance that we will be able to successfully advance additional product candidates, if any, through the development process.

Even if we receive FDA approval to market additional product candidates for the treatment of the diseases we target, we cannot assure you that any such product candidates will be successfully commercialized, widely accepted in the

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marketplace or more effective than other commercially available alternatives. If we are unable to successfully develop and commercialize additional product candidates, our commercial opportunity will be limited. Moreover, a failure in obtaining regulatory approval of additional product candidates may have a negative effect on the approval process of other product candidates of ours or result in losing approval of any approved product candidate.

If in the future we are unable to establish U.S. or global sales and marketing capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to sell and market our product candidates, we may not be successful in commercializing our product candidates if they are approved and we may not be able to generate any revenue

We currently do not have a marketing or sales team for the marketing, sales and distribution of any of our product candidates that may receive regulatory approval. In order to commercialize any product candidates after approval, we must build on a territory-by-territory basis marketing, sales, distribution, managerial and other non-technical capabilities or make arrangements with third parties to perform these services, and we may not be successful in doing so. If our product candidates receive regulatory approval, we may decide to establish an internal sales or marketing team with technical expertise and supporting distribution capabilities to commercialize our product candidates, which will be expensive and time-consuming and will require significant attention of our executive officers to manage. Any failure or delay in the development of our internal sales, marketing and distribution capabilities would adversely impact the commercialization of any of our product candidates that we obtain approval to market.

With respect to the commercialization of all or certain of our product candidates, we may choose to collaborate, either globally or on a territory-by-territory basis, with third parties that have direct sales forces and established distribution systems, either to augment our own sales force and distribution systems or in lieu of our own sales force and distribution systems. In particular, we have and expect to continue to partner with third parties to commercialize pegzilarginase outside the United States. In March 2021, we entered into a licensing agreement with Immedica, in which Immedica acquired the product rights for commercialization of pegzilarginase for certain territories outside the U.S. If we are unable to enter into or maintain such arrangements when needed on acceptable terms, or at all, we may not be able to successfully commercialize any of our product candidates that receive regulatory approval or any such commercialization may experience delays or limitations. If we are not successful in commercializing our product candidates, either on our own or through collaborations with one or more third parties, our future product revenue will suffer and we may incur significant additional losses.

Risks Related to Our Reliance on Third Parties

We currently rely and will rely on third parties to conduct our ongoing and future planned clinical trials, and those third parties may not perform satisfactorily, including failing to meet deadlines for the completion of such trials.

We currently rely and will continue to rely on third parties to provide manufacturing and clinical development capabilities. For example, we currently rely on third party contract manufacturing organizations, to manufacture and supply nonclinical and clinical trial quantities of the biological substance of our lead product candidate, pegzilarginase, AGLE-177 in Homocystinuria, and for additional pipeline product candidates. We also expect to continue to rely on such third parties to manufacture and supply commercial quantities of pegzilarginase, as well as AGLE-177 for our Phase 1/2 clinical trial.

We rely on third-party CROs to conduct our ongoing and future planned clinical trials of pegzilarginase and AGLE-177. We do not plan to independently conduct clinical trials of our other product candidates. These agreements might terminate for a variety of reasons, including a failure to perform by the third parties. If we need to enter into alternative arrangements, that would delay our product development activities.

Our reliance on these third parties for research and development activities will reduce our control over these activities but will not relieve us of our responsibilities. For example, we will remain responsible for ensuring that each of our ongoing and future planned clinical trials is conducted in accordance with the general investigational plan and protocols for the trial. Moreover, the FDA requires us to comply with regulatory standards, commonly referred to as good clinical practices for conducting, recording and reporting the results of clinical trials to assure that data and reported results are credible and accurate and that the rights, integrity and confidentiality of trial participants are protected. Other countries’ regulatory agencies also have requirements for clinical trials with which we must comply. We also will be required to register ongoing clinical trials and post the results of completed clinical trials on a government-sponsored database, ClinicalTrials.gov, within specified timeframes. Failure to do so can result in fines, adverse publicity and civil and criminal sanctions.

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Furthermore, these third parties may also have relationships with other entities, some of which may be our competitors. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, meet expected deadlines or conduct our ongoing and future planned clinical trials in accordance with regulatory requirements or our stated protocols, we will not be able to complete our clinical trials, obtain, or may be delayed in obtaining, marketing approvals for our product candidates and will not be able to, or may be delayed in our efforts to, successfully commercialize our product candidates. Further, to meet the demand for COVID-19 vaccine production, manufacturers are required to prioritize rated orders issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency pursuant to the U.S. Defense Production Act of 1950, or the DPA. The potential for manufacturing facilities and materials to be commandeered under the DPA, or equivalent foreign legislation, could make it more difficult to obtain materials or manufacturing slots for the products needed for our clinical trials or commercialization of our product candidates, which could lead to delays in these trials and successful commercialization.

We also expect to rely on other third parties to store and distribute drug supplies for our clinical trials. Any performance failure, including due to COVID-19, on the part of our distributors could delay clinical development or marketing approval of our product candidates or commercialization of our product candidates, producing additional losses and depriving us of potential product revenue.

We contract with third parties for the manufacture of our product candidates for nonclinical studies and our ongoing and future planned clinical testing and 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 product candidates at an acceptable cost and quality, which could delay, prevent or impair our development or commercialization efforts.

We do not own or operate facilities for the manufacture of our product candidates. We currently have no plans to build our own clinical or commercial scale manufacturing capabilities. We rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties, for the manufacture of our product candidates for nonclinical studies and for our existing and future planned clinical trials. We also expect to rely on third parties, for commercial manufacture if any of our product candidates receive marketing approval. This reliance on third parties increases the risk that we will not have sufficient quantities of our product candidates or such quantities at an acceptable cost or quality, which could delay, prevent or impair our development or commercialization efforts.

Any performance failure, including due to COVID-19, on the part of our existing or future manufacturers could delay clinical development or marketing approval. We do not currently have arrangements in place for redundant supply or a source for bulk drug substance. Currently, third party manufacturers are supplying, and are expected to continue to supply, the drug substance requirements for our ongoing and planned clinical trials with pegzilarginase and AGLE-177. If such third party manufacturers cannot supply us with sufficient amounts, pursuant to product requirements as agreed, we may be required to identify alternative manufacturers, which would lead us to incur added costs and delays in identifying and qualifying any replacement.

The formulation used in early studies is not a final formulation for commercialization. If we are unable to demonstrate that our commercial scale product is comparable to the product used in clinical trials, we may not receive regulatory approval for that product without additional clinical trials. We have contracted with third party manufacturers for certain studies related to potential commercial scale manufacturing of pegzilarginase, but there is no guarantee that such studies, the transfer of technology to or any potential manufacturing at such facility, will be completed successfully, on time, or at all. We also cannot guarantee that we will be able to make any required modifications within currently anticipated timeframes or that such modifications, if and when made, will obtain regulatory approval or that the new processes or modified processes will be successfully implemented by or transferred to any third-party contract suppliers within currently anticipated timeframes. These may require additional studies and may delay our clinical trials and/or commercialization.

We expect to rely on third-party manufacturers, or third-party strategic partners for the manufacture of commercial supply of any product candidates for which our strategic partners or we obtain marketing approval. We may be unable to establish any additional agreements with third-party manufacturers, or to do so on acceptable terms. Even if we are able to establish agreements with third-party manufacturers on acceptable terms, such third-party manufacturers may have limited experience manufacturing pharmaceutical drugs for commercialization, and reliance on third-party manufacturers for the commercial supply of our products may expose us to various risks, including:

 

possible noncompliance by the third party with regulatory requirements and quality assurance;

 

the possible breach of the manufacturing agreement by the third party;

 

the operations of such third-parties could be disrupted by conditions unrelated to our business or operations, including the bankruptcy of such party, the issuance of an FDA Form 483 notice or warning letter, or other enforcement action by FDA or other regulatory authority;

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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.

Third-party manufacturers may not be able to comply with current good manufacturing practices, or cGMP, or similar regulatory requirements outside the United States. Although we do not have day-to-day control over third-party manufacturers’ compliance with these regulations and standards, we are responsible for ensuring compliance with such regulations and standards. 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 product candidates, operating restrictions and criminal prosecutions, any of which would significantly and adversely affect supplies of our product candidates and our business. If a third-party manufacturer’s facilities do not pass a pre-approval inspection or do not have a cGMP compliance status acceptable to the FDA or a comparable foreign regulatory agency, our product candidate will not be approved.

In addition, the process of manufacturing and administering our product candidates is complex and highly regulated. As a result of the complexities, our manufacturing and supply costs are likely to be higher than those at more traditional manufacturing processes and the manufacturing process is less reliable and more difficult to reproduce.

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 our product candidates or commercialization of our product candidates, producing additional losses and depriving us of potential product revenue.

Our product candidates and any products that we may develop may compete with other product candidates and products 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.

Our current and anticipated future dependence upon others for the manufacture of our product candidates may adversely affect our future profit margins and our ability to commercialize any product candidates that receive marketing approval on a timely and competitive basis.

Failure of any future third-party collaborators to successfully commercialize diagnostics developed for use with our therapeutic product candidates could harm our ability to commercialize these product candidates.

We do not plan to develop diagnostics internally and, as a result, we are dependent on the efforts of our third-party strategic partners to successfully commercialize any needed diagnostics or monitoring assays. Our strategic partners:

 

may not perform their obligations as expected;

 

may encounter production difficulties that could constrain the supply of the diagnostics;

 

may have difficulties gaining acceptance of the use of the diagnostics in the clinical community;

 

may not pursue commercialization of any diagnostics;

 

may elect not to continue or renew commercialization programs based on changes in the strategic partners’ strategic focus or available funding, or external factors, such as an acquisition, that divert resources or create competing priorities;

 

may not commit sufficient resources to the marketing and distribution of such diagnostic product candidates; and

 

may terminate their relationship with us.

If diagnostics needed for use with our therapeutic product candidates fail to gain market acceptance, our ability to derive revenues from sales of these therapeutic product candidates could be harmed. If our strategic partners fail to develop and commercialize these diagnostics, it could adversely affect and delay the development or commercialization of our therapeutic product candidates.

We may not be successful in finding strategic partners for continuing development or commercialization of certain of our product candidates.

We may seek to develop strategic partnerships for developing certain of our product candidates, due to capital costs required to develop the product candidates or manufacturing constraints. We also have entered into and expect to enter into future partnership agreements to commercialize pegzilarginase outside the United States, including through our

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licensing agreement with Immedica. We may not be successful in our efforts to establish such a strategic partnership or other alternative arrangements for our product candidates because our research and development pipeline may be insufficient, our product candidates may be deemed to be at too early of a stage of development for collaborative effort or third parties may not view our product candidates as having the requisite potential to demonstrate safety and efficacy. In addition, we may be restricted under existing collaboration agreements from entering into future agreements with potential strategic partners. We cannot be certain that, following a strategic transaction or license, we will achieve an economic benefit that justifies such transaction.

If we are unable to reach agreements with suitable strategic partners on a timely basis, on acceptable terms or at all, we may have to curtail the development of a product candidate, reduce or delay its development program, delay its potential commercialization, 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 fund development or commercialization activities on our own, or our existing or future partners are not able to adequately fund their development or commercialization activities pursuant to our arrangements, we may need to obtain additional expertise and additional capital, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If we fail to enter into collaborations and do not have sufficient funds or expertise to undertake the necessary development and commercialization activities, we may not be able to further develop our product candidates and our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

We may be subject to claims by third parties asserting that our employees or we have misappropriated their intellectual property, or claiming ownership of what we regard as our own intellectual property.

Many of our employees were previously employed at universities or other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. Although we try to ensure that our employees do not use the proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, we may be subject to claims that these employees or we have used or disclosed intellectual property, including trade secrets or other proprietary information, of any such employee’s former employer. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims.

In addition, while it is our policy to require our employees and contractors who may be involved in the development of intellectual property to execute agreements assigning such intellectual property to us, we may be unsuccessful in executing such an agreement with each party who in fact develops intellectual property that we regard as our own. Our and their assignment agreements may not be self-executing or may be breached, and we may be forced to bring claims against third parties, or defend claims they may bring against us, to determine the ownership of what we regard as our intellectual property.

If we fail in prosecuting or defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel. Even if we are successful in prosecuting or defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management.

Risks Related to Government Regulation

If we are not able to obtain, or if there are delays in obtaining, required regulatory approvals in the United States or in foreign jurisdictions, we will not be able to commercialize our product candidates, and our ability to generate revenue will be materially impaired.

Our product candidates must be approved by the FDA pursuant to a BLA in the United States, and by the EMA pursuant to an MAA, and by other comparable regulatory authorities outside the United States prior to commercialization. The process of obtaining marketing approvals, both in the United States and internationally, is expensive and takes many years, if approval is obtained at all, and can vary substantially based upon a variety of factors, including the type, complexity and novelty of the product candidates involved. The approval procedure varies among countries and can involve additional testing. The time required to obtain approval in Europe or another non-U.S. jurisdiction may differ substantially from that required to obtain FDA approval. The regulatory approval process outside the United States generally includes all of the risks associated with obtaining FDA approval. In addition, in many countries outside the United States, it is required that the product be approved for reimbursement before the product can be approved for sale in that country. We or our third-party strategic partners may not obtain approvals from regulatory authorities outside the United States on a timely basis, if at all. Approval by the FDA does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions, and approval by one regulatory authority outside the United States does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions or by the FDA. Furthermore, the implementation of Brexit may disrupt the operation of any pre-and post-authorization clinical trial infrastructure and regulatory frameworks in Europe, as discussed further below. We may not be able to file for marketing approvals and may not receive necessary approvals to commercialize our product candidates in any market.

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Failure to obtain marketing approval for a product candidate will prevent us from commercializing the product candidate. We have not received approval to market any of our product candidates from regulatory authorities in any jurisdiction. We have no experience in filing and supporting the applications necessary to gain marketing approvals and expect to rely on third-party CROs to assist us in this process. Securing marketing approval requires the submission of extensive nonclinical and clinical data and supporting information to regulatory authorities for each therapeutic indication to establish the product candidate’s safety and efficacy. Securing marketing approval also requires the submission of information about the product manufacturing process to, and inspection of manufacturing facilities by, the regulatory authorities. Our product candidates may not be effective, may be only moderately effective or may prove to have undesirable or unintended side effects, toxicities or other characteristics that may preclude our obtaining marketing approval or prevent or limit commercial use. Regulatory authorities have substantial discretion in the approval process and may refuse to accept any application or may decide that our data are insufficient for approval and require additional nonclinical, clinical or other studies. In addition, varying interpretations of the data obtained from nonclinical and clinical testing could delay, limit or prevent marketing approval of a product candidate. Changes in marketing approval policies during the development period, changes in or the enactment of additional statutes or regulations, or changes in regulatory review for each submitted product application, may also cause delays in or prevent the approval of an application.

Approval of our product candidates may be delayed or refused for many reasons, including the following:

 

the Health Authorities may disagree with the design or implementation of our clinical trials;

 

we may be unable to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Health Authorities that our product candidates are safe and effective for any of their proposed indications;

 

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

 

we may be unable to demonstrate that our product candidates’ clinical and other benefits outweigh their safety risks;

 

the Health Authorities may disagree with our interpretation of data from nonclinical programs or clinical trials;

 

the data collected from clinical trials of our product candidates may not be sufficient to the satisfaction of the Health Authorities to support the submission of a BLA, MAA or other comparable submission in other jurisdictions or to obtain regulatory approval in the United States or elsewhere;

 

the potential disruptions and uncertainty caused by Brexit implementation, as discussed below;

 

the facilities of the third-party manufacturers with which we partner may not be adequate to support approval of our product candidates; and

 

the approval policies or regulations of the Health Authorities may significantly change in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval.

New products for the treatment of cancer frequently are initially indicated only for patient populations that have not responded to an existing therapy or have relapsed. If any of our product candidates receives marketing approval, the approved labeling may limit the use of our product candidates in this way, which could limit sales of the product. Also, any marketing approval we ultimately obtain may be limited or subject to restrictions or post-approval commitments that render the approved product not commercially viable.

Additionally, the implementation of the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, or “Brexit”, may cause disruptions and uncertainty in the current regulatory framework in Europe. Brexit has resulted in the EMA moving from the United Kingdom to the Netherlands. In the United Kingdom, this transition may cause disruption in the administrative and medical scientific links between the EMA and MHRA. Following the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union, it no longer automatically complies with the standards of clinical efficacy, safety and chemistry control, and manufacture as applied by the European Medicines Directive. Applications submitted for marketing authorization under the centralized EMA procedure will no longer be automatically validated for authorization in the United Kingdom, and the benefit-risk assessments conducted by the United Kingdom may not be consistent with the EMA conclusions. The cumulative effects of the disruption to the regulatory framework may add considerably to the development lead time to marketing authorization and commercialization of products in the European Union and/or the United Kingdom. In view of the current lack of detail and resolution with regard to the Brexit transition, we are unable to confidently predict the effects of such disruption to the regulatory framework in Europe, and as to how this may delay or impair any potential regulatory approvals, commercialization of any of our product candidates, and our ability to generate potential revenues.  If we experience delays in obtaining approval or if we fail to obtain approval of our product candidates, the commercial prospects for our product candidates may be harmed and our ability to generate revenues will be materially impaired.

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Any Fast Track Designation by the FDA, even if granted for any of our product candidates, may not lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process, and does not increase the likelihood that our product candidates will receive marketing approval.

We have received Fast Track Designation from the FDA for our lead product candidate pegzilarginase for the treatment of hyperargininemia secondary to Arginase 1 Deficiency and may seek such designation for some or all of our product candidates. If a drug or biologic is intended for the treatment of a serious or life-threatening condition and the drug or biologic demonstrates the potential to address unmet medical needs for this condition, the drug or biologic sponsor may apply for FDA Fast Track Designation. The FDA has broad discretion whether or not to grant this designation. Even if we believe a particular product candidate is eligible for this designation, we cannot assure you that the FDA would decide to grant it. Even though we have received Fast Track Designation for pegzilarginase for the treatment of hyperargininemia secondary to Arginase 1 Deficiency, and even if we receive Fast Track Designation for other product candidates or indications in the future, 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. Many drugs or biologics that have received Fast Track Designation have failed to obtain approval.

We may also seek approval of our products from the FDA through the use of the accelerated approval program, but such mechanism may not lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process.  Even if we receive approval from the FDA under the accelerated approval program, if our confirmatory postmarketing trial does not verify clinical benefit, or if we do not comply with rigorous postmarketing requirements, the FDA may seek to withdraw the approval.

Under the FDA’s accelerated approval program, the FDA may approve a drug or biologic for a serious or life-threatening illness that provides meaningful therapeutic benefit to patients over existing treatments based upon a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit, or on a clinical endpoint that is thought to predict clinical benefit but is not itself a measure of clinical benefit, or a biomarker that can be measured earlier than irreversible morbidity or mortality, that is reasonably likely to predict an effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical benefit, taking into account the severity, rarity, or prevalence of the condition and the availability or lack of alternative treatments. The FDA bases its decision on whether to accept the proposed surrogate or intermediate clinical endpoint on the scientific support for that endpoint. Studies that demonstrate a drug’s effect on a surrogate or intermediate clinical endpoint must be adequate and well controlled as required by the FDC Act.

If we were to seek accelerated approval for pegzilarginase, AGLE-177, or any future product candidates, FDA may determine there is inadequate justification to support that our surrogate endpoint is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit in patients. For example, FDA may determine there is inadequate justification that a reduction in plasma arginine is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit in patients with Arginase 1 Deficiency.

For drugs or biologics granted accelerated approval, post-marketing well-controlled, adequately powered confirmatory trials of sufficient duration are typically required to describe the anticipated effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical benefit. These confirmatory trials must be completed with due diligence, and the FDA could require that the trial be designed, initiated, and/or fully enrolled at the time of BLA submission. Moreover, the FDA may withdraw approval of our product candidate or indication approved under the accelerated approval pathway if, for example:

 

the trial or trials required to verify the predicted clinical benefit of our product candidate fail to verify such benefit or do not demonstrate sufficient clinical benefit to justify the risks associated with the drug;

 

other evidence demonstrates that our product candidate is not shown to be safe or effective under the conditions of use;

 

we fail to conduct any required post-approval trial of our product candidate with due diligence; or

 

we disseminate false or misleading promotional materials relating to the relevant product candidate.

A Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the FDA, even if granted for any of our product candidates, may not lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process, and does not increase the likelihood that our product candidates will receive marketing approval.

We have received Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the FDA for our lead product candidate pegzilarginase for the treatment of Arginase 1 Deficiency and may seek such designation for some or all of our product candidates. A Breakthrough Therapy is defined as a drug or biologic 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 or

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biologic may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies with respect to one or more clinically significant endpoints, such as substantial treatment effects observed early in clinical development. For drugs or biologics that have been designated as Breakthrough Therapies, interaction and communication between the FDA and the sponsor can help to identify the most efficient path for development.

Designation as a Breakthrough Therapy is within the discretion of the FDA. Accordingly, even if we believe, after completing early clinical trials, that one of our product candidates meets the criteria for designation as a Breakthrough Therapy, the FDA may disagree and instead determine not to make such designation. Even though we have received Breakthrough Therapy Designation for pegzilarginase for the treatment of Arginase 1 Deficiency, or even if we receive Breakthrough Therapy Designation for other product candidates or indications in the future, we may not experience a faster development process, review or approval compared to drugs or biologics considered for approval under conventional FDA procedures and such a designation does not assure ultimate approval by the FDA. In addition, even though we have received Breakthrough Therapy Designation for pegzilarginase for the treatment of Arginase 1 Deficiency, or if one or more of our other product candidates qualify as Breakthrough Therapies, the FDA may later decide that such product candidates no longer meet the conditions for qualification.

We may seek priority review designation for one or more of our other product candidates, but we might not receive such designation, and even if we do, such designation may not lead to a faster regulatory review or approval process.

If the FDA determines that a product candidate offers a treatment for a serious condition and, if approved, the product would provide a significant improvement in safety or effectiveness, the FDA may designate the application for such product candidate for priority review. A priority review designation means that the goal for the FDA to review an application is six months, rather than the standard review period of ten months. We may request priority review for applications for our product candidates. The FDA has broad discretion with respect to whether or not to grant priority review designation to an application, so even if we believe an application for a particular product candidate is eligible for such designation, the FDA may decide not to grant it. Moreover, a priority review designation does not necessarily result in an expedited regulatory review or approval process or confer any advantage with respect to approval compared to conventional FDA procedures. Receiving priority review from the FDA does not guarantee approval within the six-month review cycle or at all.

Any product candidate for which we obtain marketing approval will be subject to extensive post-approval marketing regulatory requirements and could be subject to post-approval marketing 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 our product candidates, when and if any of them are approved.

Our product candidates and the activities associated with their development and commercialization, including their testing, manufacture, recordkeeping, labeling, storage, approval, advertising, promotion, sale and distribution, are subject to comprehensive regulation by the FDA and other regulatory authorities. These requirements include submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration and listing requirements, cGMP, requirements relating to manufacturing, quality control, quality assurance and corresponding maintenance of records and documents, including periodic inspections by the FDA and other regulatory authorities, requirements regarding the distribution of samples to physicians and recordkeeping.

The FDA closely regulates the post-approval marketing and promotion of drugs and biologics to ensure drugs and biologics are marketed only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved labeling. The FDA imposes stringent restrictions on manufacturers’ communications regarding use of their products and if we promote our product candidates beyond their approved indications, we may be subject to enforcement action for off-label promotion. Violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act relating to the promotion of prescription drugs may lead to investigations alleging violations of federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws, as well as state consumer protection laws.

The FDA may also impose requirements for costly post-approval marketing studies or clinical trials and surveillance to monitor the safety or efficacy of any approved product. In particular, certain of our product candidates, if approved, are expected to be dosed chronically, and therefore could require follow-up studies and close monitoring of our patients after regulatory approval has been granted, to establish broader, longer-term understanding of potential for adverse effects than is plausible for clinical research. These studies may be expensive and time-consuming to conduct and may reveal side effects or other harmful effects in patients that use our therapeutic products after they are on the market, which may result in the limitation or withdrawal of our drugs from the market. Alternatively, we may not be able to conduct such additional clinical trials, which might force us to abandon our efforts to develop or commercialize certain product

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candidates. Even if post-approval studies are not requested or required, after our products are approved and on the market, there might be safety issues that emerge over time that require a change in product labeling or that require withdrawal of the product from the market, which would cause our revenue to decline.  If we fail to comply with any such post-approval regulatory requirements, approval for our products may be withdrawn, and product sales may be suspended. We may not be able to regain compliance, or we may only be able to regain compliance after a lengthy delay, significant expense, lost revenues and damage to our reputation.

In addition, later discovery of previously unknown adverse events or other problems with our product candidates, manufacturers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may yield various results, including:

 

restrictions on such product candidates, manufacturers or manufacturing processes;

 

restrictions on the labeling or marketing of a product;

 

restrictions on product distribution or use;

 

requirements to conduct post-marketing studies or clinical trials;

 

warning or untitled letters;

 

withdrawal of any approved product from the market;

 

refusal to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications that we submit;

 

recall of product candidates;

 

fines, restitution or disgorgement of profits or revenues;

 

suspension or withdrawal of marketing approvals;

 

refusal to permit the import or export of our product candidates;

 

product seizure; or

 

injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.

Non-compliance with European requirements regarding safety monitoring or pharmacovigilance, and with requirements related to the development of products for the pediatric population, can also result in significant financial penalties. Similarly, failure to comply with Europe’s requirements regarding the protection of personal information can also lead to significant penalties and sanctions.

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, contractual damages, reputational harm and diminished profits and future earnings.

Healthcare providers, physicians and third-party payors will play a primary role in the recommendation and prescription of any product 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 any product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval. Restrictions under applicable U.S. 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, or in return for, 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 a federal healthcare program such as Medicare and Medicaid;

 

the federal False Claims Act imposes criminal and civil penalties, including civil whistleblower or qui tam actions, against individuals or entities for 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;

 

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 making false statements relating to healthcare matters;

 

HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act and its implementing regulations, also imposes obligations, including mandatory contractual terms, with respect to safeguarding the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information;

 

federal law requires applicable manufacturers of covered drugs to report payments and other transfers of value to physicians and teaching hospitals, which includes annual data collection and reporting obligations, with reported information disclosed on a searchable website on an annual basis; and

 

analogous state and foreign laws and regulations, such as state anti-kickback and false claims laws, may apply to sales or marketing arrangements and claims involving healthcare items or services reimbursed by non-governmental third-party payors, including private insurers.

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 and may require

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drug manufacturers to report information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians and other healthcare providers or marketing expenditures. Other states require reporting of pricing information, including price increases. State and foreign laws also govern the privacy and security of health information in some circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts.

Efforts to ensure that our business arrangements with third parties will comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. It is possible that governmental authorities will conclude that our business practices may 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 are 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, imprisonment, exclusion of product candidates 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 healthcare 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.

Recently enacted and future legislation may increase the difficulty and cost for us to obtain marketing approval of and commercialize our product candidates and affect the prices we may obtain.

In the United States and some foreign jurisdictions, there have been a number of legislative and regulatory changes and proposed changes regarding the healthcare system that could prevent or delay marketing approval of our product candidates, restrict or regulate post-approval activities and affect our ability to profitably sell any product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval.

In the United States, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, or the MMA, changed the way Medicare covers and pays for pharmaceutical products. The legislation expanded Medicare coverage for drug purchases by the elderly and introduced a new reimbursement methodology based on average sales prices for physician-administered drugs. In addition, this legislation provided authority for limiting the number of drugs that will be covered in any therapeutic class. Cost reduction initiatives and other provisions of this legislation could decrease the coverage and price that we receive for any approved product candidates. While the MMA only applies to drug benefits for Medicare beneficiaries, private payors often follow Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their own reimbursement rates. Therefore, any reduction in reimbursement that results from the MMA may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, or collectively the ACA, is a sweeping law intended to broaden access to health insurance, reduce or constrain the growth of healthcare spending, enhance remedies against fraud and abuse, add transparency requirements for the healthcare and health insurance industries, impose new taxes and fees on the health industry and impose additional health policy reforms.

Among the provisions of the ACA of importance to our potential product candidates are the following:

 

an annual, nondeductible fee on any entity that manufactures, or imports specified branded prescription drugs and biologic agents;

 

an increase in the statutory minimum rebates a manufacturer must pay under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program;

 

expansion of healthcare fraud and abuse laws, including the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute, new government investigative powers, and enhanced penalties for noncompliance;

 

a Medicare Part D coverage gap discount program, in which manufacturers must agree to offer 70% point-of-sale discounts off negotiated prices;

 

extension of manufacturers’ Medicaid rebate liability to managed care utilization;

 

expansion of eligibility criteria for Medicaid programs;

 

expansion of the entities eligible for discounts under the Public Health Service pharmaceutical pricing program;

 

requirements to report financial arrangements with physicians and teaching hospitals;

 

a requirement to annually report drug samples that manufacturers and distributors provide to physicians; and

 

a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to oversee, identify priorities in, and conduct comparative clinical effectiveness research, along with funding for such research.

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In addition, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the ACA was enacted. These changes included aggregate reductions to Medicare payments to providers of up to 2% per fiscal year, starting in 2013. In January 2013, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 was signed into law, which, among other things, reduced Medicare payments to several providers, and increased the statute of limitations period for the government to recover overpayments to providers from three to five years. On January 20, 2017, federal agencies with authorities and responsibilities under the ACA were directed to waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any provision of the ACA that would impose a fiscal burden on states or a cost, fee, tax, penalty or regulatory burden on individuals, healthcare providers, health insurers, or manufacturers of pharmaceuticals or medical devices. More recently, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law, which eliminated certain requirements of the ACA, including the individual mandate. It is unclear the impact this legislation will have on the ACA because a decision regarding the constitutionality of the ACA after the repeal of the individual mandate was ultimately appealed to the United States Supreme Court. On November 10, 2020, oral arguments were heard in this case. It is unclear when a decision will be made. We cannot predict whether the challenges to the ACA will continue or whether other proposals will be made or adopted, or what impact these efforts may have on us.

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 product. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability, or commercialize our product candidates.

Legislative and regulatory proposals have been made to expand post-approval requirements and restrict sales and promotional activities for pharmaceutical products. We cannot be sure whether additional legislative changes will be enacted, or whether 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 U.S. 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.

Comprehensive tax reform bills could increase the tax burden on our orphan drug programs and adversely affect our business and financial condition.

In December 2017, the U.S. government enacted comprehensive tax legislation that includes significant changes to the taxation of business entities. These changes include, among others, (i) a permanent reduction to the corporate income tax rate, (ii) a partial limitation on the deductibility of business interest expense, (iii) a shift of the U.S. taxation of multinational corporations from a tax on worldwide income to a territorial system (along with certain rules designed to prevent erosion of the U.S. income tax base) and (iv) a one-time tax on accumulated offshore earnings held in cash and illiquid assets, with the latter taxed at a lower rate.

Further, the comprehensive tax legislation, among other things, reduces the orphan drug credit from 50% to 25% of qualifying expenditures. When and if we become profitable, this reduction in tax credits may result in an increased federal income tax burden on our orphan drug programs as it may cause us to pay federal income taxes earlier under the revised tax law than under the prior law and, despite being partially off-set by a reduction in the corporate tax rate from a top marginal rate of 35% to a flat rate of 21%, may increase our total federal tax liability attributable to such programs.

Notwithstanding the reduction in the corporate income tax rate, the overall impact of this tax reform is uncertain, and our business and financial condition could be adversely affected. In addition, it is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to the newly enacted federal tax law.

On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, Act was enacted and signed into law in response to COVID-19. The CARES Act includes changes to the tax provisions that benefit business entities and makes certain technical corrections to the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The tax relief measures for businesses include a five-year net operating loss carryback, suspension of annual deduction limitation of 80% of taxable income from net operating losses generated in a tax year beginning after December 31, 2017 for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 and beginning on or prior to December 31, 2020, changes in the deductibility of interest, acceleration of alternative minimum tax credit refunds, payroll tax relief, technical corrections on net operating loss carryforwards for fiscal year taxpayers and allowing accelerated deductions for qualified improvement property. The CARES Act also provides other non-tax benefits to assist those impacted by the pandemic. While we have evaluated the impact of the CARES Act and to date have determined that there is no material impact to the income tax provision for the quarter, the overall impact of this tax reform is uncertain, and our business and financial condition could be adversely affected.

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Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property

If we are unable to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for our technology and product candidates, or if the scope of the intellectual property protection obtained is not sufficiently broad, our competitors could develop and commercialize technology and product candidates similar or identical to ours, and our ability to successfully commercialize our technology and product candidates may be impaired.

We rely upon a combination of patents, trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect the intellectual property related to our technology and product candidates.

In particular, our success depends in large part on our ability, and our licensors’ ability, to obtain and maintain patent protection in the United States and other countries with respect to our proprietary technology and product candidates, including any diagnostic developed by us or a third-party strategic partner. We seek to protect our proprietary position by filing patent applications in the United States and abroad related to our novel technologies and product candidates and rely on our licensors to obtain patent protection for our licensed intellectual property. Our patent portfolio includes patents and patent applications we own or we exclusively license from the University of Texas at Austin. This patent portfolio includes issued patents and pending patent applications covering compositions of matter and methods of use.

The patent prosecution process is expensive and time-consuming, and we may not be able to file, prosecute, maintain, enforce or license all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner, or in all jurisdictions. We may choose not to seek patent protection for certain innovations and may choose not to pursue patent protection in certain jurisdictions, and under the laws of certain jurisdictions, patents or other intellectual property rights may be unavailable or limited in scope. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our discovery and nonclinical and clinical development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection. Moreover, the risks pertaining to our patents and intellectual property rights also apply to the intellectual property rights that we license from third parties. 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. We may also require the cooperation of our licensors in order to enforce the licensed patent rights, and such cooperation may not be provided. Therefore, these patents and applications may not be prosecuted and enforced in a manner consistent with the best interests of our business and the rights we have licensed may be reduced or eliminated.

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. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or U.S. PTO, has not established a consistent policy regarding the breadth of claims that it will allow in biotechnology patents. In addition, the laws of foreign jurisdictions may not protect our rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. 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 filing, or in some cases not at all. Therefore, we cannot know with certainty whether we were the first to make the inventions claimed in our owned or licensed patents or pending patent applications, or that we were the first to file for patent protection of such inventions, nor can we know whether those from whom we license patents were the first to make the inventions claimed or were the first to file. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of our patent rights are highly uncertain. Our pending and future patent applications may not result in patents being issued that protect our technology or product candidates, in whole or in part, or which effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive technologies and product candidates. 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. In addition, during prosecution of any patent application, the issuance of any patents based on an application may depend upon our ability to generate additional nonclinical or clinical data that supports the patentability of our proposed claims. We may not be able to generate such data on a timely basis, to the satisfaction of the U.S. PTO, or at all.

Moreover, we may be subject to a third-party preissuance submission of prior art to the U.S. PTO or patent offices in foreign jurisdictions, or become involved in opposition, derivation, reexamination, inter partes review, post-grant review or interference proceedings challenging our patent rights or the patent rights of others. An adverse determination in any such submission, proceeding or litigation could reduce the scope of, or invalidate, our patent rights, allow third parties to commercialize our technology or product candidates and compete directly with us, without payment to us, or result in our inability to manufacture or commercialize product 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 product candidates.

Even if our owned and licensed patent applications issue as patents, they may not issue in a form that will provide us with any meaningful protection, prevent competitors from competing with us or otherwise provide us with any competitive advantage. Our competitors may be able to circumvent our owned or licensed patents by developing similar or alternative technologies or product candidates in a non-infringing manner.

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The issuance of a patent, while given the presumption of validity under the law, is not conclusive as to its inventorship, scope, validity or enforceability, and 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 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 product candidates, or limit the duration of the patent protection of our technology and product candidates. In addition, patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States, the natural expiration of a patent is generally 20 years after the first non-provisional filing in the patent family. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized. As a result, our owned and licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing product candidates similar or identical to ours.

Any inability on our part to adequately protect our intellectual property may have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial position.

Obtaining and maintaining our patent protection depends on compliance with various procedural, document submission, fee payment and other requirements imposed by governmental patent agencies, and our patent protection could be reduced or eliminated for non-compliance with these requirements.

Periodic maintenance fees, renewal fees, annuity fees and various other governmental fees on patents and/or applications will be due to be paid to the U.S. PTO and various governmental patent agencies outside the United States in several stages over the lifetime of the patents and/or applications. We have systems in place to remind us to pay these fees, and we employ an outside firm and rely on our outside counsel to pay these fees due to non-U.S. patent agencies. The U.S. PTO and various non-U.S. governmental patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other similar provisions during the patent application process. We employ reputable law firms and other professionals to help us comply, and in some cases, an inadvertent lapse can be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules. However, we also rely on licensors to effect such payments with respect to the patents and patent applications that we in-license. Moreover, there are situations in which non-compliance 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. In such an event, our competitors might be able to enter the market and this circumstance would have a material adverse effect on our business.

Third parties may initiate legal proceedings alleging that we are infringing their intellectual property rights, the outcome of which would be uncertain and could have a material adverse effect on the success of our business.

Our commercial success depends upon our ability, and the ability of our collaborators, to develop, manufacture, market and sell our product candidates and use our proprietary technologies without infringing the proprietary rights of third parties. There is considerable intellectual property litigation in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. We may become party to, or threatened with, future adversarial proceedings or litigation regarding intellectual property rights with respect to our product candidates and technology, including interference or derivation proceedings before the U.S. PTO and similar bodies in other jurisdictions. Third parties may assert infringement claims against us based on existing patents or patents that may be granted in the future.

It is also possible that we have failed to identify relevant third-party patents or applications. For example, applications filed before November 29, 2000 and certain applications filed after that date that will not be filed outside the United States remain confidential until patents issue. Moreover, it is difficult for industry participants, including us, to identify all third-party patent rights that may be relevant to our product candidates and technologies because patent searching is imperfect due to differences in terminology among patents, incomplete databases and the difficulty in assessing the meaning of patent claims. We may fail to identify relevant patents or patent applications or may identify pending patent applications of potential interest but incorrectly predict the likelihood that such patent applications may issue with claims of relevance to our technology. In addition, we may be unaware of one or more issued patents that would be infringed by the manufacture, sale or use of a current or future product candidate, or we may incorrectly conclude that a third-party patent is invalid, unenforceable or not infringed by our activities. Additionally, pending patent applications that have been published can, subject to certain limitations, be later amended in a manner that could cover our technologies, our products or the use of our products.

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 product 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 a license, it could be non-exclusive, thereby giving our competitors access to the same technologies licensed to us. We could be forced, including by court order, to cease commercializing the infringing technology or product. In addition, we could be found liable for monetary damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees, if we are found to have willfully

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infringed a patent. A finding of infringement could prevent us from commercializing our product candidates or force us to cease some of our business operations, which could materially harm our business. Claims that we have misappropriated the confidential information or trade secrets of third parties could have a similar negative impact on our business.

We may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information or trade secrets of third parties or that our employees, consultants or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of former or other employers.

Many of our employees, independent contractors and consultants, including our senior management, have been previously employed or retained by universities or other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. Further, many of our consultants are currently retained by other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies and may be subject to conflicting obligations to these third parties. Although we try to ensure that our employees, consultants and independent contractors do not use the proprietary information or know-how of third parties in their work for us, and do not perform work for us that is in conflict with their obligations to another employer or any other entity, we may be subject to claims that we or our employees, consultants or independent contractors have inadvertently or otherwise improperly used or disclosed confidential information, including trade secrets or other proprietary information, of a former employer or other third parties. We may also be subject to claims that an employee, advisor, consultant, or independent contractor performed work for us that conflicts with that person's obligations to a third party, such as an employer, and thus, that the third party has an ownership interest in the intellectual property arising out of work performed for us. We are not aware of any threatened or pending claims related to these matters, but in the future litigation may be necessary to defend against such claims.

In addition, while it is our policy to require our employees, independent contractors and consultants who may be involved in the development of intellectual property to execute agreements assigning such intellectual property to us, we may be unsuccessful in timely obtaining such an agreement with each party who in fact develops intellectual property that we regard as our own. Even if timely obtained, such agreements may be breached, and we may be forced to bring claims against third parties, or defend claims they may bring against us, to determine the ownership of what we regard as our intellectual property.

If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable personnel or intellectual property rights, such as exclusive ownership of, or right to use, valuable intellectual property. As a result, we may also elect to enter into license agreements in order to settle patent infringement claims or to resolve disputes prior to litigation, and any such license agreements may require us to pay royalties and other fees that could be significant. Such an outcome could have a material adverse effect on our business. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management.

The illegal distribution and sale by third parties of counterfeit versions of our products or stolen products could have a negative impact on our reputation and business.

Third parties might illegally distribute and sell counterfeit or unfit versions of our approved products, if any, which do not meet our rigorous manufacturing and testing standards. A patient who receives a counterfeit or unfit drug may be at risk for a number of dangerous health consequences. Our reputation and business could suffer harm as a result of counterfeit or unfit drugs sold under our brand name. In addition, thefts of inventory at warehouses, plants or while in-transit, which are not properly stored and which are sold through unauthorized channels, could adversely impact patient safety, our reputation and our business.

Any lawsuits relating to infringement of intellectual property rights necessary to defend ourselves or enforce our rights will be costly and time consuming, and could be unsuccessful.

Because competition in our industry is intense, competitors may infringe or otherwise violate our issued patents, patents of our licensors or other intellectual property. To counter infringement or unauthorized use, we may be required to file infringement claims, which can be expensive and time consuming. Any claims we assert against perceived infringers could provoke these parties to assert counterclaims against us alleging, among other claims, that we infringe their patents. In addition, in a patent infringement proceeding there are many grounds upon which a party may assert invalidity or unenforceability of a patent, and a court may decide that a patent of ours is invalid or unenforceable, in whole or in part, construe the patent’s claims narrowly or 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. Litigation is uncertain and we cannot predict whether we would be successful in any such litigation. Such litigation or proceedings could substantially increase our operating losses and reduce the resources available for development activities or any future sales, marketing or distribution activities. We may

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not have sufficient financial, managerial 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, managerial and other resources. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our business. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure.

Intellectual property disputes could cause us to spend substantial resources and distract our personnel from their normal responsibilities.

Even if resolved in our favor, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property claims may cause us to incur significant expenses and could distract our technical and/or management personnel from their normal responsibilities. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the market price of our common stock. In some cases, we may choose not to pursue litigation against those that have infringed on our patents, or used them without authorization, due to the associated expenses and time commitment of monitoring these activities. If we fail to protect or to enforce our intellectual property rights successfully, our competitive position could suffer, which could harm our results of operations.

We may not be successful in obtaining or maintaining necessary rights for our development pipeline through acquisitions and in-licenses.

Presently we have rights to intellectual property to develop our product candidates, including patents and patent applications we own or exclusively license from the University of Texas at Austin. Because our programs may involve additional product candidates that may require the use of proprietary rights held by third parties, the growth of our business may depend in part on our ability to acquire, in-license or use these proprietary rights. We may be unable to acquire or in-license any compositions, methods of use, processes or other third-party intellectual property rights from third parties that we identify as necessary for our product candidates. The licensing and acquisition of third-party intellectual property rights is a competitive area, and a number of more established companies are also pursuing strategies to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights that we may consider attractive. These established companies may have a competitive advantage over us due to their size, cash resources and greater clinical development and commercialization capabilities. In addition, companies that perceive us to be a competitor may be unwilling to assign or license rights to us. We also may be unable to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights on terms that would allow us to make an appropriate return on our investment. If we are unable to successfully obtain rights to required third-party intellectual property rights, our business, financial condition and prospects for growth could suffer.

If we are not able to prevent disclosure of our trade secrets and other proprietary information, the value of our technology and product candidates could be significantly diminished.

We rely on trade secret protection to protect our interests in proprietary know-how and in processes that are unpatentable or for which patents are difficult to obtain or enforce. We may not be able to protect our trade secrets adequately. We have a policy of requiring our consultants, advisors and strategic partners to enter into confidentiality agreements and our employees to enter into invention, non-disclosure and non-compete agreements. However, no assurance can be given that we have entered into appropriate agreements with all parties that have had access to our trade secrets, know-how or other proprietary information, or that such agreements will provide for a meaningful protection of our trade secrets, know-how or other proprietary information in the event of any unauthorized use or disclosure of information. Enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. Even if we are successful in prosecuting such claims, any remedy awarded may be insufficient to fully compensate us for the improper disclosure or misappropriation. Furthermore, although we seek to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our data, trade secrets and know-how by maintaining physical security of our premises and physical and electronic security of our information technology systems, it is also possible that our trade secrets, know-how or other proprietary information could be obtained by third parties as a result of breaches of such systems.

Any disclosure of confidential information into the public domain or to third parties could allow our competitors to learn our trade secrets and use the information in competition against us. In addition, others may independently discover or develop our trade secrets and proprietary information or substantially equivalent techniques. Any action to enforce our rights is likely to be time consuming and expensive, and may ultimately be unsuccessful, or may result in a remedy that is not commercially valuable. These risks are accentuated in foreign countries where laws or law enforcement practices may

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not protect proprietary rights as fully as in the United States or Europe. Any unauthorized disclosure of our trade secrets or confidential information could harm our competitive position.

We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world.

Filing, prosecuting and defending patents on all of our product candidates throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive, and our patent rights in some countries outside the United States can be less extensive than those in the United States. The requirements for patentability may differ in certain countries, particularly developing countries. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as federal and state laws in the United States. Consequently, we may not be able to prevent third parties from practicing our inventions in all countries outside the United States, or from selling or importing products made using our inventions in and into the United States or other jurisdictions.

As part of ordinary course prosecution and maintenance activities, we determine whether to seek patent protection outside the United States and in which countries. This also applies to patents we have acquired or in-licensed from third parties. In some cases, this means that we, or our predecessors in interest or licensors of patents within our portfolio, have sought patent protection in a limited number of countries for patents covering our product candidates. Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not pursued and obtained patent protection to develop their own products and, further, may export otherwise infringing products to territories where we have patent protection but where enforcement is not as strong as in the United States. These products may compete with our products in jurisdictions where we do not have any issued patents and, even in jurisdictions where we have or are able to obtain issued patents, our patent claims or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from so competing. Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to biopharmaceuticals, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents or marketing of competing products in violation of our proprietary rights generally. Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial cost and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and our patent applications at risk of not issuing and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. In addition, certain countries have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner may be compelled to grant licenses to third parties. In those countries, we may have limited remedies if our patents are infringed or if we are compelled to grant a license to our patents to a third party, which could materially diminish the value of those patents. In addition, there may be patent law reforms in foreign jurisdictions that could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents in those foreign jurisdictions. This could limit our potential revenue opportunities.

Accordingly, our efforts to obtain, register, and enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we own or license. Moreover, patent protection must ultimately be sought on a country-by-country basis, which is an expensive and time-consuming process with uncertain outcomes. Accordingly, we may choose not to seek patent protection in certain countries, and we will not have the benefit of patent protection in such countries.

If we breach any of the agreements under which we license patent rights to use, develop and commercialize our product candidates or our technologies from third parties or, in certain cases, we fail to meet certain development deadlines, we could lose license rights that are important to our business.

We are a party to license agreements under which we are granted rights to intellectual property that are important to our business and we expect that we may need to enter into additional license agreements in the future.

In December 2013, our wholly owned subsidiaries AECase, Inc. and AEMase, Inc. each entered into an exclusive, worldwide license agreement, including the right to grant sublicenses, with the University of Texas at Austin for certain intellectual property owned by the University of Texas at Austin related to our program candidates related to cystinase and methioninase. In January 2017, we and the University of Texas at Austin entered into an Amended and Restated Patent License Agreement, or the Restated License, which consolidated the two license agreements, revised certain obligations, and licensed additional patent applications and invention disclosures to us. The Restated License was amended in August 2017, December 2017, and December 2018 to revise diligence milestones and license additional patent applications, including our program candidates under the AGLE177 and cystinuria programs. The intellectual property licensed under the Restated License includes an invention that was made with U.S. government support. The U.S. government therefore has certain rights in such inventions under the applicable funding agreements and under applicable law. In addition, we

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are subject to a requirement that the products covered by the applicable patents that are sold or used in the United States must be manufactured substantially in the United States unless a written waiver is obtained in advance from the U.S. government. The Restated License obligates us to make certain payments at the achievement of certain milestones and at regular intervals throughout the life of the license. The University of Texas at Austin may terminate the Restated License under certain circumstances, including for a breach by us that is not cured within 30 or 60 days of notice (depending on the type of breach), or if we or any of our affiliates or sublicensees participate in any proceeding to challenge the licensed patent rights (unless, with respect to sublicensees, we terminate the applicable sublicense).  

Licensing of intellectual property is of critical importance to our business and involves complex legal, business and scientific issues. Any other licenses or other intellectual property agreements we may enter into may impose various diligence, milestone payment, royalty and other obligations on us. If disputes arise between us and our licensor or if we fail to comply with our obligations under current or future intellectual property agreements, potentially giving our counterparties the right to terminate these agreements, we might not be able to develop, manufacture or market any product that is covered by the agreement or face other penalties under the agreement. Such an occurrence could materially adversely affect the value of the product candidate being developed under any such agreement. Termination of these agreements or reduction or elimination of our rights under these agreements may result in our having to negotiate new or reinstated agreements with less favorable terms, or cause us to lose our rights under these agreements, including our rights to important intellectual property or technology.

The loss of any one of our current licenses, or any other license we may acquire in the future, could prevent or impair our ability to successfully develop and commercialize the affected product candidates and thus materially harm our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Intellectual property rights do not necessarily address all potential threats to our competitive advantage.

The degree of future protection afforded by our intellectual property rights is uncertain because intellectual property rights have limitations, and may not adequately protect our business, provide a barrier to entry against our competitors or potential competitors, or permit us to maintain our competitive advantage. Moreover, if a third party has intellectual property rights that cover the practice of our technology or product candidates, we may not be able to fully exercise or extract value from our intellectual property rights. The following examples are illustrative:

 

others may be able to make compounds that are similar to our product candidates but that are not covered by the claims of the patents that we own or license;

 

we or our licensors or collaborators might not have been the first to make the inventions covered by an issued patent or pending patent application that we own or license;

 

we or our licensors or collaborators might not have been the first to file patent applications covering an invention;

 

others may independently develop similar or alternative technologies or duplicate any of our technologies without infringing or misappropriating our intellectual property rights;

 

pending patent applications that we own or license may not lead to issued patents;

 

issued patents that we own or license may not provide us with any competitive advantages, or may be narrowly construed or held invalid or unenforceable, as a result of legal challenges by our competitors;

 

our competitors might conduct research and development activities in countries where we do not have patent rights and then use the information learned from such activities to develop competitive products for sale in our major commercial markets;

 

we may not develop or in-license additional proprietary technologies that are patentable; and

 

the patents of others may have an adverse effect on our business.

Any of these events could significantly harm our business, results of operations and prospects.

Changes in patent law could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our products, and recent patent legislation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents.

As is the case with other biotechnology companies, our success is heavily dependent on patents. Obtaining and enforcing patents in the biotechnology industry involve both technological and legal complexity, and is therefore costly, time-consuming and inherently uncertain. In addition, the United States has recently enacted patent reform legislation. In addition to increasing uncertainty with regard to our ability to obtain patents in the future, this has created greater uncertainty with respect to the value of patents, once obtained. Depending on decisions by the U.S. Congress, the federal

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courts, and the U.S. PTO, the laws and regulations governing patents could change in unpredictable ways that would weaken our ability to obtain new patents or to enforce our existing patents and patents that we might obtain in the future.

On September 16, 2011, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, or the Leahy-Smith Act, was signed into law. The U.S. PTO has promulgated regulations and developed procedures to govern administration of the Leahy-Smith Act. The Leahy-Smith Act and its implementation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.

The Leahy-Smith Act also requires an inventor to file a patent application on their invention prior to any other bone fide independent inventor. Since patent applications in the United States and most other countries are confidential for a period of time after filing, we cannot be certain that we were the first to either (i) file any patent application related to our product candidates or (ii) invent any of the inventions claimed in our patents or patent applications.

The Leahy-Smith Act allows a third party to provide evidence in a U.S. PTO proceeding that could invalidate our patent claims. Accordingly, a third party may use the U.S. PTO procedures to invalidate our patent claims. In such an event, this circumstance could have a material adverse effect on our business.

If we do not obtain patent term extensions under the Hatch-Waxman Act and similar legislation, thereby not extending the term of our marketing exclusivity for our product candidates, our business may be materially harmed.

Depending upon the timing, duration and specifics of FDA marketing approval of our product candidates, if any, one of the U.S. patents covering each of such approved product(s) or the use thereof may be eligible for up to five years of patent term restoration. Patent term extension allows a maximum of one patent to be extended per FDA-approved product. Patent term extension also may be available in certain foreign countries upon regulatory approval of our product candidates. Nevertheless, we may not be granted patent term extension either in the United States or in any foreign country because of, for example, failing to apply within applicable deadlines, failing to apply prior to expiration of relevant patents or otherwise failing to satisfy applicable requirements. Moreover, the term of extension, as well as the scope of patent protection during any such extension, afforded by the governmental authority could be less than we request. In addition, if a patent we wish to extend is owned by another party and licensed to us, we may need to obtain approval and cooperation from our licensor to request the extension.

If we are unable to obtain patent term extension or restoration, or the term of any such extension is less than we request, the period during which we will have the right to exclusively market our product will be shortened and our competitors may obtain approval of competing products following our patent expiration, and our revenue could be reduced, possibly materially.

We have not yet registered our trademarks in all of our potential markets, and failure to secure those registrations could adversely affect our business.

We attempt to protect our pharmaceutical developments, services, and products under trademark laws. However, our trademark applications may not be allowed for registration, and registered trademarks may not be maintained or enforced. During trademark registration proceedings, we may receive rejections. Although we are given an opportunity to respond to those rejections, we may be unable to overcome such rejections. In addition, in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in comparable agencies in many foreign jurisdictions, third parties are given an opportunity to oppose pending trademark applications and to seek to cancel registered trademarks. Opposition or cancellation proceedings may be filed against our trademarks, and our trademarks may not survive such proceedings. If we do not secure registrations for our trademarks, we may encounter more difficulty in enforcing them against third parties than we otherwise would.

Third parties may pursue trademark infringement actions against us, potentially resulting in substantial costs and material delays.

As our industry grows, we may be subject to an increasing amount of litigation that is common in the pharmaceutical industry based on allegations of infringement or other alleged violations of trademarks. Any claims of infringement, with or without merit, could be time consuming, costly, and difficult to defend. Moreover, intellectual property litigation or claims could require us to redesign packaging and advertising materials associated with our packaging, which could result in substantial costs and material delays.

 

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Risks Related to Employee Matters, Managing Growth and Other Risks Related to Our Business

Our future success depends on our ability to retain key executives and to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel.

We are a clinical-stage biotechnology company with a limited operating history, and, as of March 31, 2021, had 88 employees, including three executive officers. We are highly dependent on the research and development, clinical and business development expertise of our executive officers, as well as the other principal members of our management, scientific and clinical team. Any of our management team members may terminate their employment with us at any time. We do not maintain “key person” insurance for any of our executives or other employees.

Recruiting and retaining qualified scientific, clinical, manufacturing and sales and marketing personnel will also be critical to our success. The loss of the services of our executive officers 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 executive officers and 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, facilitate regulatory approval of and commercialize product candidates. 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. We also experience competition for the hiring of scientific and clinical personnel from universities and research institutions.

In addition, we rely on consultants and advisors, including scientific and clinical advisors such as our scientific advisory board, to assist us in formulating our discovery and nonclinical and clinical development and commercialization strategy. Our consultants and advisors, including members of our scientific advisory board, 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.

Our employees may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including non-compliance with regulatory standards and requirements, which could cause significant liability for us and harm our reputation.

We are exposed to the risk of employee fraud or other misconduct, including intentional failures to (i) comply with FDA regulations or similar regulations of comparable non-U.S. regulatory authorities, (ii) provide accurate information to the FDA or comparable non-U.S. regulatory authorities, (iii) comply with manufacturing standards we have established, (iv) comply with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws and regulations and similar laws and regulations established and enforced by comparable non-U.S. regulatory authorities, or (v) report financial information or data accurately or disclose unauthorized activities to us. Employee misconduct could also involve the improper use of information obtained in the course of clinical trials, which could result in regulatory sanctions and serious harm to our reputation. It is not always possible to identify and deter employee misconduct, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to be in compliance with such laws, standards or regulations. 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 and results of operations, including the imposition of significant fines or other sanctions.

If product liability lawsuits are brought against us, we may incur substantial liabilities and may be required to limit commercialization of our product candidates.

We face an inherent risk of product liability as a result of testing our product candidates in clinical trials and will face an even greater risk if we commercialize any products. For example, we may be sued if our product candidates cause or are perceived to cause injury or are found to be otherwise unsuitable during clinical trials, manufacturing, marketing or sale. Any such product liability claims may include allegations of defects in manufacturing, defects in design, a failure to warn of dangers inherent in the product, negligence, strict liability or a breach of warranties. Claims could also be asserted under state consumer protection acts. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against product liability claims, we may incur substantial liabilities or be required to limit commercialization of our product candidates. Even successful defense would require significant financial and management resources. Regardless of the merits or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:

 

inability to bring a product candidate to the market;

 

decreased demand for our products;

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injury to our reputation;

 

withdrawal of clinical trial participants and inability to continue clinical trials;

 

initiation of investigations by regulators;

 

costs to defend the related litigation;

 

diversion of management's time and our resources;

 

substantial monetary awards to trial participants or patients;

 

product recalls, withdrawals or labeling, marketing or promotional restrictions;

 

loss of revenue;

 

exhaustion of any available insurance and our capital resources;

 

the inability to commercialize any product candidate; and

 

decline in our share price.

Our product liability insurance policies may also have various exclusions, and we may be subject to a product liability claim for which we have no coverage. We may have to pay any amounts awarded by a court or negotiated in a settlement that exceed our coverage limitations or that are not covered by our insurance, and we may not have, or be able to obtain, sufficient capital to pay such amounts. Even if our agreements with any future corporate collaborators entitle us to indemnification against losses, such indemnification may not be available or adequate should any claim arise.

Our ability to use 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 its equity ownership over a three-year period, the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change net operating loss carryforwards, or NOLs, and other pre-change tax attributes (such as research tax credits) to offset its post-change income or taxes may be limited. It is possible that we may have triggered an “ownership change” limitation. We may also experience ownership changes in the future as a result of subsequent shifts in our stock ownership (some of which are outside of our control). As a result, if we earn net taxable income, our ability to use our pre-change NOLs and other pre-change tax attributes to offset U.S. federal taxable income or taxes may be subject to limitations, which could potentially result in increased future tax liability to us. Our NOLs and other tax attributes arising before our conversion from a Delaware limited liability company to a Delaware corporation in 2015 also may be limited by the Separate Return Limitation Year rule, which could increase our U.S. federal tax liability. In addition, at the state level, there may be periods during which the use of NOLs is suspended or otherwise limited, which could accelerate or permanently increase state taxes owed.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock

Our executive officers, directors and principal stockholders, if they choose to act together, may continue to have the ability to control all matters submitted to stockholders for approval.

We have a concentrated stockholder base and our executive officers and directors, combined with our stockholders who, to our knowledge, each owned more than 5% of our outstanding common stock, in the aggregate, beneficially own shares representing a substantial number of our capital stock as of March 31, 2021. As a result, if these stockholders were to choose to act together, they may be able to control all matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, as well as our management and affairs. For example, these persons, if they choose to act together, would likely control the election of directors and approval of any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. This concentration of ownership control may:

 

delay, defer or prevent a change in control;

 

entrench our management and the board of directors; or

 

impede a merger, consolidation, takeover or other business combination involving us that other stockholders may desire or may result in you obtaining a premium for your shares.

Failure to achieve and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could have a material adverse effect on our business and stock price.

Pursuant to Section 404, we have been required to furnish a report by our management on our internal control over financial reporting. However, while we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to include an attestation report on internal control over financial reporting issued by our independent registered public accounting firm. Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. We may encounter problems or delays in implementing any changes necessary to make a favorable assessment of our internal control over financial reporting. If we cannot favorably assess the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to provide an unqualified

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attestation report on our internal controls when required, investors could lose confidence in our financial information and the price of our common stock could decline.

Additionally, the existence of any material weakness or significant deficiency would require management to devote significant time and incur significant expense to remediate any such material weaknesses or significant deficiencies and management may not be able to remediate any such material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in a timely manner. The existence of any material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting could also result in errors in our financial statements that could require us to restate our financial statements causing us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and cause stockholders to lose confidence in our reported financial information, all of which could materially and adversely affect us.

Provisions in our corporate charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of our company, which may be beneficial to our stockholders, more difficult and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management.

Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws may discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or other change in control of our company that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which you might otherwise receive a premium for your shares. These provisions could also limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock, thereby depressing the market price of our common stock. In addition, because our board of directors is responsible for appointing the members of our management team, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors. Among other things, these provisions:

 

establish a classified board of directors such that only one of three classes of directors is elected each year;

 

allow the authorized number of our directors to be changed only by resolution of our board of directors;

 

limit the manner in which stockholders can remove directors from our board of directors;

 

establish advance notice requirements for stockholder proposals that can be acted on at stockholder meetings and nominations to our board of directors;

 

require that stockholder actions must be effected at a duly called stockholder meeting and prohibit actions by our stockholders by written consent;

 

limit who may call stockholder meetings;

 

authorize our board of directors to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval, which could be used to institute a “poison pill” that would work to dilute the stock ownership of a potential hostile acquirer, effectively preventing acquisitions that have not been approved by our board of directors; and

 

require the approval of the holders of at least two-thirds of the votes that all our stockholders would be entitled to cast to amend or repeal specified provisions of our certificate of incorporation or bylaws.

Moreover, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which prohibits a person who owns in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock from merging or combining with us for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person acquired in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock, unless the merger or combination is approved in a prescribed manner.

Any of these provisions of our charter documents or Delaware law could, under certain circumstances, depress the market price of our common stock.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, and our amended and restated bylaws designates the federal courts of the United States as the exclusive forum for actions arising under the Securities Act, each of which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or agents.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers, employees or agents to us or our stockholders, any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws or any action asserting a claim that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine, in each case subject to the Court of Chancery having personal jurisdiction over the indispensable parties named as defendants therein and the claim not being one which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery or for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction. Any person purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to this provision of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

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In March 2020, we amended and restated our restated bylaws to provide that the federal district courts of the United States of America will, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act (a Federal Forum Provision). Our decision to adopt a Federal Forum Provision followed a decision by the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware holding that such provisions are facially valid under Delaware law. While there can be no assurance that federal or state courts will follow the holding of the Delaware Supreme Court or determine that the Federal Forum Provision should be enforced in a particular case, application of the Federal Forum Provision means that suits brought by our stockholders to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act must be brought in federal court and cannot be brought in state court.

These choice of forum provisions may limit our stockholders’ ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or agents, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers, employees and agents even though an action, if successful, might benefit our stockholders. Stockholders who do bring a claim in the specified courts could face additional litigation costs in pursuing any such claim. The specified courts may also reach different judgments or results than would other courts, including courts where a stockholder considering an action may be located or would otherwise choose to bring the action, and such judgments or results may be more favorable to us than to our stockholders. Alternatively, if a court were to find these provisions of our governance documents inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

The price of our common stock has been and may be volatile and fluctuate substantially, which could result in substantial losses for purchasers of our common stock.

Our stock price is volatile. The stock market in general and the market for smaller biotechnology companies in particular have experienced extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. The market price for our common stock may be influenced by many factors, including:

 

the success or failure of competitive products or technologies;

 

results of ongoing or planned clinical trials of our product candidates or those of our competitors;

 

regulatory or legal developments in the United States and other countries;

 

developments or disputes concerning patent applications, issued patents or other proprietary rights;

 

the recruitment or departure of key personnel;

 

the level of expenses related to any of our product candidates or clinical development programs;

 

the results of our efforts to discover, develop, acquire or in-license additional product candidates or products;

 

actual or anticipated changes in estimates as to financial results, development timelines or recommendations by securities analysts;

 

operating results that fail to meet expectations of securities analysts that cover our company;

 

variations in our financial results or those of companies that are perceived to be similar to us;

 

changes in the structure of healthcare payment systems;

 

market conditions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors;

 

general economic and market conditions; and

 

the other factors described in this “Risk Factors” section.

We have broad discretion in the use of the net proceeds from our public offerings and may not use them effectively.

Our management has broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds from our public offerings, and you will not have the opportunity as part of your investment decision to assess whether the net proceeds are being used appropriately. Our management could spend the net proceeds from our public offerings in ways that do not improve our results of operations or enhance the value of our common stock. The failure by our management to apply 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 our public offerings in a manner that does not produce income or that loses value.

Future sales of our common stock in the public market could cause the market price of our common stock to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market, 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 and make it more difficult for you to sell your common stock at a time and price that you deem appropriate.

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Moreover, we have also registered under the Securities Act shares of common stock that we may issue under our equity compensation plans.

In addition, in April 2020, we entered into an “at-the-market” offering of our common stock pursuant to a sales agreement between us and JonesTrading Institutional Services LLC, or JonesTrading, under a shelf registration statement on Form S-3. Subject to certain limitations in the sales agreement and compliance with applicable law, we have the discretion to deliver a placement notice to JonesTrading at any time throughout the term of the sales agreement, which has a term equal to the term of the registration statement on Form S-3 unless otherwise terminated earlier by us or JonesTrading pursuant to the terms of the sales agreement. The number of shares that are sold by JonesTrading after delivering a placement notice will fluctuate based on the market price of our common stock during the sales period and limits we set with JonesTrading. Because the price per share of each share sold will fluctuate based on the market price of our common stock during the sales period, it is not possible at this stage to predict the number of shares that will be ultimately issued. Issuances of any shares sold pursuant to the sales agreement will have a dilutive effect on our existing stockholders. In July 2020, we filed a new shelf registration statement on Form S-3 that was declared effective in July 2020 by the SEC for the potential offering, issuance and sale by us of up to $400.0 million of our common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants to purchase common stock, preferred stock and debt securities, subscription rights to purchase common stock and units consisting of all or some of these securities. If we sell common stock, preferred stock, convertible securities and other equity securities in other transactions pursuant to our shelf registration statements on Form S-3, existing investors may be materially diluted by such subsequent sales and new investors could gain rights superior to our existing stockholders.

In addition, in the future, we may issue additional shares of common stock or other equity or debt securities convertible into common stock in connection with a financing, acquisition, litigation settlement, employee arrangements or otherwise, including upon exercise of our pre-funded warrants. For example, in April 2020, we sold an aggregate of 15,442,303 shares of common stock and pre-funded warrants to purchase up to 13,610,328 shares of common stock in an underwritten public offering. Any such issuance could result in substantial dilution to our existing stockholders and could cause our stock price to decline.

We will not receive a significant amount, or potentially any, additional funds upon the exercise of our pre-funded warrants; however, any exercise would increase the number of shares eligible for future resale in the public market and result in substantial dilution to our stockholders.

To date, we have issued pre-funded warrants to purchase a total of 17,610,328 shares of our common stock, of which 1,000,000 have been exercised and 16,610,328 are currently outstanding. Each pre-funded warrant is exercisable for $0.0001 per share of common stock underlying such pre-funded warrant, which may be paid by way of a cashless exercise, meaning that the holder may not pay a cash purchase price upon exercise, but instead would receive upon such exercise the net number of shares of common stock determined according to the formula set forth in the pre-funded warrant. Accordingly, we will not receive a significant amount, or potentially any, additional funds upon the exercise of the pre-funded warrants. To the extent such pre-funded warrants are exercised, additional shares of common stock will be issued for nominal or no additional consideration, which will result in substantial dilution to the then existing holders of our common stock and will increase the number of shares eligible for resale in the public market. Sales of substantial numbers of such shares in the public market could adversely affect the market price of the common stock, causing our stock price to decline.

There is no public market for our pre-funded warrants.

There is no public trading market for our pre-funded warrants issued in the February 2019 and April 2020 public offerings, and we do not expect a market to develop. In addition, we do not intend to apply to list the pre-funded warrants on any securities exchange or nationally recognized trading system, including the Nasdaq Global Market. Without an active market, the liquidity of the pre-funded warrants will be limited and their value may be adversely impacted.

Additionally, each holder of pre-funded warrants will not be entitled to exercise any portion of any pre-funded warrant, which, upon giving effect to such exercise, would cause (i) the aggregate number of shares of our common stock beneficially owned by the holder (together with its affiliates) to exceed 4.99%, or 9.99% for certain holders, of the number of shares of our common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to the exercise, or (ii) the combined voting power of our securities beneficially owned by the holder (together with its affiliates) to exceed 4.99%, or 9.99% for certain holders, of the combined voting power of all of our securities then outstanding immediately after giving effect to the exercise. However, any holder may increase or decrease such percentage to any other percentage (not in excess of 19.99% for the majority of such warrants) upon at least 61 days’ prior notice from the holder to us.

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We are an “emerging growth company,” and the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies may make our common stock less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act, and may remain an emerging growth company through December 31, 2021. For so long as we remain an emerging growth company, we are permitted and intend to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. These exemptions include:

 

being permitted to provide only two years of audited financial statements, in addition to any required unaudited interim financial statements, with correspondingly reduced “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” disclosure;

 

not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements in the assessment of our internal control over financial reporting of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act;

 

not being required to comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements;

 

reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation; and

 

exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.

The JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards. This allows an emerging growth company to delay the adoption of these accounting standards until they would otherwise apply to private companies. We have irrevocably elected not to avail ourselves of this exemption and, therefore, we will be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies.

We will continue to incur increased costs as a result of operating as a public company, and our management will be required to devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives and corporate governance practices.

As a public company, and particularly after we are no longer an emerging growth company, we incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the listing requirements of The Nasdaq Global Market and other applicable securities rules and regulations impose various requirements on public companies, including establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls and corporate governance practices. Our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives. Moreover, these rules and regulations will continue to increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly. For example, we expect that these rules and regulations may make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain and maintain director and officer liability insurance, which in turn could make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our board of directors.

We are evaluating these rules and regulations, and cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we may incur or the timing of such costs. These rules and regulations are often subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices.

Pursuant to Section 404, we are required to furnish a report by our management on our internal control over financial reporting. As discussed above, if we cease to be an emerging growth company, we will be required to include an attestation report on internal control over financial reporting issued by our independent registered public accounting firm as required by Section 404(b). To achieve compliance with Section 404 within the prescribed period, we will be engaged in a process to document and evaluate our internal control over financial reporting, which is both costly and challenging. In this regard, we will need to continue to dedicate internal resources, potentially engage outside consultants and adopt a detailed work plan to assess and document the adequacy of internal control over financial reporting, continue steps to improve control processes as appropriate, validate through testing that controls are functioning as documented and implement a continuous reporting and improvement process for internal control over financial reporting. Despite our efforts, there is a risk that we will not be able to conclude, within the prescribed timeframe or at all, that our internal control over financial reporting is effective as required by Section 404. If we identify one or more material weaknesses, it could result in an adverse reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of confidence in the reliability of our consolidated financial statements.

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Since we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our capital stock in the foreseeable future, stock price appreciation, if any, will be your sole source of gain.

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, the terms of any future debt agreements may preclude us from paying dividends. As a result, appreciation, if any, in the market price of our common stock will be your sole source of gain for the foreseeable future.

General Risk Factors

If we fail to comply with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, we could become subject to fines or penalties or incur costs that could harm our business.

We are subject to numerous environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, including those governing laboratory procedures and the handling, use, storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous materials and wastes. Our operations involve the use of hazardous and flammable materials, including chemicals and biological materials. Our operations also produce hazardous waste products. We generally contract with third parties for the disposal of these materials and wastes. We cannot eliminate the risk of contamination or injury from these materials. In the event of contamination or injury resulting from our use of hazardous materials, we could be held liable for any resulting damages, and any liability could exceed our resources. We also could incur significant costs associated with civil or criminal fines and penalties for failure to comply with such laws and regulations.

Although we maintain workers’ compensation insurance that we believe is consistent with industry norms to cover us for costs and expenses we may incur due to injuries to our employees resulting from the use of hazardous materials, we cannot assure you that it will be sufficient to cover our liability in such cases. We do not maintain insurance for environmental liability or toxic tort claims that may be asserted against us in connection with our storage or disposal of biological, hazardous or radioactive materials.

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

Our information technology systems, or those used by our CROs, third-party vendors, contractors or consultants, may fail or suffer security breaches, cyber-attacks, and loss of data, which could harm our business, reputation, financial condition, and operations.

Cyber-attacks are increasing in their frequency, sophistication and intensity, and have become increasingly difficult to detect. Despite the implementation of security measures, our information technology systems and those of our strategic partners and third parties on whom we rely are vulnerable to cyber-attacks, security breaches, damage from computer viruses, unauthorized access, natural disasters, terrorism, war and telecommunication and electrical failures. Cyber-attacks could include the deployment of harmful malware, ransomware, denial-of-service attacks, social engineering and other means to affect service reliability and threaten the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information. Cyber-attacks also could include phishing attempts or e-mail fraud to cause payments or information to be transmitted to an unintended recipient. Furthermore, we have little or no control over the security measures and computer systems of third parties including any CROs we may work with in the future. While we and, to our knowledge, our third-party strategic partners have not experienced any such system failure, accident or security breach to date, if such an event were to occur, it could result in material negative consequences for us including interruptions in our operations, the operations of our strategic partners, or our manufacturers or suppliers, misappropriation of confidential business information and trade secrets, disclosure of corporate strategic plans, and result in material disruptions of our product candidate development programs. Additionally, the costs to us or our CROs, third-party vendors, or other contractors or consultants we may utilize to mitigate network security problems, bugs, viruses, worms, malicious software programs and security vulnerabilities could be significant, and while we have implemented security measures to protect our data security and information technology systems, our efforts to address these problems may not be successful, and these problems could result in unexpected system failures, interruptions, delays, cessation of service and other harm to our business and our competitive position. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from completed or ongoing or planned clinical trials could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts, and we may incur substantial costs to attempt to recover or reproduce the data. If any disruption or security breach resulted in a loss of or damage to our data or applications, or inappropriate disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, including personal information or health information, we could incur liability, or the further development of our product candidates could be delayed.

Moreover, if a security breach affects our systems or results in the unauthorized access, use or disclosure of personal information, our reputation could be materially damaged. In addition, such a breach may require notification to

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governmental agencies, the media and/or affected individuals pursuant to various federal, state and international privacy and security laws, if applicable, including HIPAA or HITECH and its implementing rules and regulations, as well as regulations promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission and state breach notification laws. We would also be exposed to a risk of loss or litigation and potential liability under laws, regulations and contracts that protect the privacy and security of personal information. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act, or the CCPA, imposes a private right of action for security breaches that could lead to some form of remedy including regulatory scrutiny, fines, private right of action settlements, and other consequences. The financial exposure from the events referenced above could either not be insured against or not be fully covered through any insurance that we may maintain, and there can be no assurance that the limitations of liability in any of our contracts would be enforceable or adequate or would otherwise protect us from liabilities or damages as a result of the events referenced above. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.

We depend on our information technology and infrastructure, and disruptions could compromise sensitive information related to our business or other personal information or prevent us from accessing critical information, which could adversely affect our business, reputation, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.

We rely on the efficient and uninterrupted operation of information technology systems to manage our operations, to process, transmit, and store electronic and financial information, and to comply with regulatory, legal and tax requirements. We also depend on our information technology infrastructure for communications among our personnel, contractors, consultants and suppliers. System failures or outages could materially compromise our ability to perform these functions in a timely manner, which could harm our ability to conduct business or delay our financial reporting, and could otherwise compromise the security of sensitive information, including personal information and health information. In addition, our remediation efforts for system failures, outages, or security breaches may not be successful. If we do not allocate and effectively manage the resources necessary to build and sustain the proper technology and cybersecurity infrastructure, we could suffer significant business disruption, including transaction errors, supply chain or manufacturing interruptions, processing inefficiencies, data loss or the loss of or damage to intellectual property or other proprietary information, including personal information and health information. In addition, we depend on third parties to operate and support our information technology systems. Failure by these providers to adequately deliver the contracted services could have an adverse effect on our business, which in turn may materially adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.

We are subject to a variety of stringent and changing privacy and data security laws, regulations and standards, as well as contractual obligations related to data privacy and security, and our actual or perceived failure to comply with them could harm our business and reputation and subject us to significant fines and liability.

We maintain a large quantity of sensitive information, including confidential business and patient health information in connection with our clinical trials, and are subject to laws and regulations governing the privacy and security of such information. In the United States, there are numerous federal and state privacy and data security laws and regulations governing the collection, use, disclosure and protection of personal information, including federal and state health information privacy laws, federal and state security breach notification laws, and federal and state consumer protection laws. Each of these laws is subject to varying interpretations and constantly evolving. In May 2018, a new privacy regime, the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, took effect in the European Economic Area, or EEA. The GDPR increases our obligation with respect to clinical trials conducted in the EEA by expanding the definition of “personal data” and requiring changes to informed consent practices, as well as more detailed notices for clinical trial subjects and investigators. The GDPR authorizes fines for certain violations of up to 4% of global annual revenue or €20 million, whichever is greater, and other administrative penalties. In addition, the GDPR increases the scrutiny of transfers of personal information from clinical trial sites located in the EEA to the United States. For example, on July 16, 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the Court of Justice) invalidated the European Union-United States (EU-U.S.) Privacy Shield on the grounds that the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield failed to offer adequate protections to EU personal information transferred to the United States. While the Court of Justice upheld the use of other data transfer mechanisms, such as the Standard Contractual Clauses, or SCCs, the decision has led to some uncertainty regarding the use of such mechanisms for data transfers to the United States, and the court made clear that reliance on SCCs alone may not necessarily be sufficient in all circumstances. The use of SCCs for the transfer of personal information specifically to the United States also remains under review by a number of European data protection supervisory authorities. For example, German and Irish supervisory authorities have indicated that the SCCs alone provide inadequate protection for EU-U.S. data transfers. Use of the data transfer mechanisms must now be assessed on a case-by-case basis taking into account the legal regime applicable in the destination country, in particular applicable surveillance laws and rights of individuals. The European Data Protection Board, or the EDPB, issued additional guidance regarding the Court of Justice’s decision on November 11, 2020 which imposes higher burdens on the use of data transfer mechanisms, such as the SCCs, for

68


cross-border data transfers. To comply with this guidance, we may need to implement additional safeguards to further enhance the security of data transferred out of the EEA, which could increase our compliance costs, expose us to further regulatory scrutiny and liability, and adversely affect our business. Further, the European Commission published new versions of the SCCs for comment. While the comment period ended in December 2020, the European Commission is expected to finalize and implement the new Standard Contractual Clauses in early 2021. These obligations may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other requirements or our practices.

Furthermore, Brexit has caused some uncertainty in this regulatory framework. For example, since the transition period for Brexit ended December 31, 2020, there remains some uncertainty regarding cross-border data transfers from the EEA to the United Kingdom. The EU is expected to either issue an adequacy decision for such transfers in early 2021, or an adequacy mechanism such as the SCCs will be required for transfer of personal information from the EEA to the United Kingdom. Additionally, the United Kingdom implemented the Data Protection Act effective in May 2018 and statutorily amended in 2019, that substantially implements the GDPR and contains provisions, including UK-specific derogations, for how GDPR is applied in the United Kingdom. Since the end of the Brexit transition period ended, we have to continue to comply with the GDPR and also the Data Protection Act, with each regime having the ability to fine up to the greater of €20 million (£17 million) or 4% of global turnover. Compliance with these privacy and data security laws and regulations is a rigorous and time-intensive process and if we fail to comply with any such laws or regulations, we may face significant fines and penalties that could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In the United States, in addition to HIPAA, various federal and state regulators have adopted, or are considering adopting, laws and regulations concerning personal information and data security.  Certain state laws may be more stringent or broader in scope, or offer greater individual rights, with respect to personal information than federal, international or other state laws, and such laws may differ from each other, all of which may complicate compliance efforts.  For example, the CCPA, which increases privacy rights for California residents and imposes obligations on companies that process their personal information, came into effect on January 1, 2020, and became enforceable by the California Attorney General on July 1, 2020, along with related regulations which came into force on August 14, 2020. Additionally, although not effective until January 1, 2023, the California Privacy Rights Act, or the CPRA, which expands upon the CCPA, was passed in the recent election on November 3, 2020.  Among other things, the CCPA requires covered companies to provide new disclosures to California consumers about their data collection, use and sharing practices and provide such consumers new data protection and privacy rights, including the ability to opt out of certain sales of personal information, right to request correction, access, and deletion of their personal information, the right to opt out of certain personal information sharing, and the right to receive detailed information about how their personal information is processed.  The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for data breaches that result in the loss of personal information, as mentioned above.  This private right of action may increase the likelihood of, and risks associated with, data breach litigation. The CPRA significantly modifies the CCPA, including by expanding consumers’ rights with respect to certain personal information and creating a new state agency to oversee implementation and enforcement efforts. The CCPA and CPRA may increase our compliance costs and potential liability, particularly in the event of a data breach, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, including how we use personal information, our financial condition, the results of our operations or prospects. State laws are changing rapidly and there is discussion in the U.S. of a new comprehensive federal data privacy law to which we would become subject if it is enacted.

All of these evolving compliance and operational requirements impose significant costs, such as costs related to organizational changes, implementing additional protection technologies, training employees and engaging consultants, which are likely to increase over time.  In addition, such requirements may require us to modify our data processing practices and policies, distract management or divert resources from other initiatives and projects, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.  Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with any applicable federal, state or similar foreign laws and regulations relating to data privacy and security could result in damage to our reputation, as well as proceedings or litigation by governmental agencies or other third parties, including class action privacy litigation in certain jurisdictions, which would subject us to significant fines, sanctions, awards, injunctions, penalties or judgments. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.

We and our strategic partners that we rely on may be adversely affected by natural disasters, and our business continuity and disaster recovery plans may not adequately protect us from a serious disaster.

Natural disasters could severely disrupt our operations or the operations of our third party manufacturers’ facilities and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. If a natural disaster, power outage, global epidemic, pandemic or contagious disease, or other event occurred that prevented us from

69


using all or a significant portion of our headquarters or research laboratory, that damaged critical infrastructure, such as our third party manufacturers’ facilities, 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 currently are limited and may not prove adequate in the event of a serious disaster or similar event. Substantially all of our current supply of product candidates are located at a single third party manufacturer’s facilities, and we do not have any existing back-up facilities in place or plans for such back-up facilities. 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, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

We may be subject to securities litigation, which is expensive and could divert management attention.

Our stock price is volatile, and in the past companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their stock have been subject to an increased incidence of securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future. Securities litigation against us could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention from other business concerns, which could seriously harm our business.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or publish negative reports about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. There can be no assurance that analysts will cover us or provide favorable coverage. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our stock or change their opinion of our stock, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.  

Item 2.

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds.

None.

Item 3.

Defaults Upon Senior Securities.

Not applicable.

Item 4.

Mine Safety Disclosures.

Not applicable.

Item 5.

Other Information.

Not applicable.

70


Item 6.

Exhibits.

The exhibits filed or furnished as part of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are set forth below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exhibit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Incorporate by

 

Exhibit

 

Filed

Number

 

Description

 

Form

 

File No

 

Date of Filing

 

No.

 

Herewith

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10.1(1)

 

License and Supply Agreement, dated March 21, 2021, by and between the Registrant and Immedica Pharma AB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

31.1

 

Certification of the Principal Executive Officer and Prinicpal Financial Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or 15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

32.1(2)

 

Certification of the Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

101.INS

 

Inline XBRL Instance Document – the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

101.SCH

 

Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

101.CAL

 

Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

101.DEF

 

Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

101.LAB

 

Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

101.PRE

 

Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

104

 

The cover page from this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2020, formatted in Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1)

Registrant has omitted portion of the exhibit as permitted under Item 601(b)(10) of Regulation S-K. Registrant has omitted schedules and exhibits pursuant to Item 601(a)(5) of Regulation S-K and agrees to furnish supplementally a copy of the omitted schedules and exhibits to the SEC upon request.

 

(2)

The certifications on Exhibit 32 hereto are deemed not “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act or otherwise subject to the liability of that Section.  Such certifications will not be deemed incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act.

 

71


 

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) 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.

Date: May 10, 2021

 

 

 

AEGLEA BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

 

 

 

 

 

By:

 

/s/ Anthony G. Quinn

 

 

 

 

Anthony G. Quinn, M.B Ch.B, Ph.D.

 

 

 

 

President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

 

 

 

 

(Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer)

 

72


 

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) 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.

Date: May 10, 2021

 

 

 

AEGLEA BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By:

 

/s/ Steven Weber

 

 

 

 

Steven Weber

 

 

 

 

Vice President and Corporate Controller

 

 

 

 

(Principal Accounting Officer)

 

73

Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

 

 

Certain confidential information marked by [*] has been excluded from the exhibit because it is both not material and is the type that the registrant CUSTOMARILY AND ACTUALLY treats as private or confidential.

 

 

LICENSE AND SUPPLY AGREEMENT

THIS LICENSE AND SUPPLY AGREEMENT (“Agreement”) is made effective as of the 21st day of March, 2021 (the “Effective Date”), by and between Immedica Pharma AB, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of Sweden with offices at Norrtullsgatan 15, SE 113 29 Stockholm, Sweden (“IMMEDICA”) and Aeglea BioTherapeutics, Inc., a corporation organized and existing under the laws of Delaware with offices at 805 Las Cimas Parkway, Suite 100, Austin, Texas, U.S.A. (“LICENSOR”).  IMMEDICA and LICENSOR may, from time-to-time, be individually referred to as a “Party” and collectively referred to as the Parties”.

RECITALS

WHEREAS, LICENSOR Controls the Licensed Technology (hereinafter defined); and

WHEREAS, IMMEDICA wishes to obtain, and LICENSOR wishes to grant, certain licenses under the Licensed Technology on the terms and conditions set forth herein.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual agreements and covenants set forth herein and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which the Parties hereby acknowledge, the Parties, intending to be legally bound hereby, agree to the foregoing and as follows:

1.DEFINITIONS

1.1.

Affiliate means, with respect to a Party, any Person that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with that Party.  For the purpose of this definition, “control” shall refer to:  (a) the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct the management or policies of an entity, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by contract or otherwise, or (b) the ownership, directly or indirectly, of fifty percent (50%) or more of the voting securities of such entity.

1.2.

Applicable Laws” means all applicable laws, statutes, rules, regulations and guidelines, including, without limitation, all good manufacturing practices and all applicable standards or guidelines promulgated by any Regulatory Authority, including to the extent applicable, GLP, GCP and GMP.

1

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

1.3.

Business Day means any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a day on which commercial banks located in Austin, Texas, U.S.A. or Sweden are authorized or required by law to remain closed.

1.4.

Calendar Quarter means each period of three (3) consecutive months ending on March 31, June 30, September 30, or December 31.

1.5.

Calendar Year” means the period of twelve (12) consecutive months corresponding to the calendar year commencing on the first day of January and ending on the last day of December, and each successive twelve (12) month period thereafter.

1.6.

Claims” means collectively, any and all Third Party demands, claims, actions and proceedings (whether criminal or civil, in contract, tort or otherwise) for losses, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees).  

1.7.

Clinical Studies” means any study in which human subjects are dosed or treated with a drug or biological product, whether approved or investigational.

1.8.

Commercialize” or “Commercialization means any and all activities related to pre-marketing, launching, marketing, promotion (including advertising and detailing), labeling, packaging, serialization, bidding and listing, pricing and reimbursement, distribution, storage, handling, offering for sale, selling, having sold, importing, having imported, exporting, having exported, distributing, having distributed, providing customer service and support, conducting medical affairs, conducting post-marketing safety surveillance and reporting of or otherwise commercializing or exploiting the Product.  “Commercializing” has the correlative meaning.

1.9.

Commercially Reasonable Efforts” means that level of efforts that such Party would normally use, in the exercise of its prudent scientific and business judgment, for the development and/or commercialization of a comparable pharmaceutical product for a similar patient population at a similar stage of its development or commercialization, taking into account all relevant scientific, commercial, business and other factors, including issues of safety and efficacy, expected and approved product labeling, expected and actual cost and time to develop, expected and actual profitability, the nature and extent of expected and actual market exclusivity (including patent coverage and regulatory exclusivity), the expected likelihood of marketing approval, and the expected and actual amounts of marketing and promotional expenditures required.  Commercially Reasonable Efforts shall be determined on a country-by-country basis and it is anticipated that the level of effort and resources that constitute “Commercially Reasonable Efforts” with respect to a particular country will change over time.

1.10.

Control or “Controlled” means, with respect to any Intellectual Property Rights, the legal authority or right (whether by ownership, license or otherwise) of a Party to grant the applicable access to, or a license or a sublicense of or under such Intellectual Property Rights to the other Party without breaching the terms of any agreement with a Third Party existing as of the Effective Date, or at such later time as such Party first acquires rights to such subject matter.

1.11.

Cover” means, with respect to a compound, product, technology, process or method, that in the absence of ownership of or a license granted under a Valid Claim, the Manufacture, use, offer for sale, sale or importation of such product or the practice of such technology, process or method would infringe such Valid Claim (or, in the case of a Valid Claim that has not yet issued, would

2

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

infringe such Valid Claim if it were to issue as then being prosecuted).  “Covered by” has the correlative meaning.

1.12.

Develop” or “Development” means to conduct any and all non-clinical and clinical research and development activities, including non-clinical development, toxicology, pharmacology, statistical analysis, clinical studies (including pre- and post-approval studies), regulatory affairs, and regulatory activities pertaining to designing and carrying out clinical studies and all activities necessary to obtain Regulatory Approval.

1.13.

EMA” means the European Medicines Agency or any successor agency thereto.

1.14.

Executive Officers” means with respect to each Party, the chief executive officer of such Party or another senior officer designated by such chief executive officer.

1.15.

Facility” shall mean the following GMP manufacturing facilities utilized by LICENSOR in the manufacture of the Product: [*]

1.16.

FDA” shall mean the United States Food and Drug Administration, or any successor agency thereto.

1.17.

FDCA” shall mean the U.S. Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

1.18.

Fees” means collectively, the upfront payment, all Milestone Payments, and Royalties.

1.19.

Field” means all therapeutic, prophylactic, palliative and diagnostic uses in humans.

1.20.

First Commercial Sale means, on a country-by-country basis, the first sale for use, or consumption, by the general public of the Product following receipt of all Regulatory Approvals for such Product in such country in the Territory.

1.21.

Force Majeure Event” has the meaning set out in Section 19.5.

1.22.

Good Clinical Practice” or “GCP” means the current standards for clinical studies for pharmaceuticals, as set forth in the ICH guidelines and applicable regulations promulgated thereunder, as amended from time to time, and such standards of good clinical practice as are required by the European Union and other organizations and governmental agencies in countries in which a Product is intended to be sold to the extent such standards are not less stringent than United States Good Clinical Practice

1.23.

Good Laboratory Practice” or “GLP” means the current standards for laboratory activities for pharmaceuticals, as set forth in the FDA’s Good Laboratory Practice regulations or the Good Laboratory Practice principles of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, as amended from time to time, and such standards of good laboratory practice as are required by the European Union and other organizations and governmental agencies in countries in which a Product is intended to be sold, to the extent such standards are not less stringent than United States Good Laboratory Practice.

1.24.

Good Manufacturing Practice” or “GMP” shall mean current good manufacturing practice and standards as provided for (and as amended from time to time) in the Current Good Manufacturing Practice Regulations of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Title 21 (21 CFR §§ 210, 211, 601

3

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

and 610) and the most recent approved edition of European Commission Directives applicable to the production of pharmaceutical products, as interpreted by the ICH Harmonized Tripartite Guideline, any U.S., European, or other applicable laws, regulations or respective guidance documents subsequently established by a governmental or regulatory authority, and any arrangements, additions or clarifications agreed from time to time between the Parties.

1.25.

Intellectual Property Rights” means all trade secrets, Know-How, copyrights, patents and other patent rights, trademarks, moral rights, service marks, industrial designs, mask works, integrated circuit topographies, confidential information, trade names, goodwill and any and all other intellectual property or proprietary rights now known or hereafter recognized in any jurisdiction, whether registered or unregistered, and including rights in any application for any of the foregoing.

1.26.

Know-How” means all technical, scientific and other know-how and information, trade secrets, knowledge, technology, means, methods, processes, practices, formulas, instructions, skills, techniques, procedures, ideas, technical assistance, designs, drawings, assembly procedures, computer programs, apparatuses, specifications, data, results and other material, including manufacturing procedures, test procedures, and purification and isolation techniques in written, electronic or any other form, and all other discoveries, developments, inventions (whether or not patented or patentable), and tangible embodiments of any of the foregoing, in each case that is not generally known to the public.  

1.27.

Licensed Know-How” means all Know-How Controlled by LICENSOR or any of its Affiliates as of the Effective Date or during the term of this Agreement that is necessary or useful for seeking and obtaining Regulatory Approval for the Product in the Field in the Territory or for the Development or Commercialization of the Product in the Field in the Territory.  

1.28.

Licensed Patents” means: (a) the patents and patent applications listed in Schedule A, (b) all Patent Rights that claim priority to the patents or patent applications described in subsection (a), and (c) any other Patent Rights Controlled by the LICENSOR or any of its Affiliates as of the Effective Date or during the term of this Agreement that Cover the Development or Commercialization of a Product or that claim Licensed Know-How (including in each case all related Patent Rights as described in clauses (a)-(e) of Section 1.37 below).

1.29.

Licensed Technology” means collectively, the Licensed Patents and Licensed Know-How.

1.30.

Manufacture” and “Manufacturing” means all activities related to the synthesis, making, production, processing, purifying, formulating, filling, finishing and shipping of any Product, or any intermediate thereof, including process development, process qualification and validation, scale-up, pre-clinical, clinical and commercial production and analytic development, product characterization, stability testing, quality assurance, and quality control.  “Manufactured” has the correlative meaning.

1.31.

Manufacturing Agreements” means those agreements entered into by or on behalf of the LICENSOR or its Affiliates which relate to the manufacture of the Product or any part thereof, which is to be, or which has been, supplied to IMMEDICA under this Agreement, including the associated drug substance and drug product manufacturing agreements.  At the Effective Date the Manufacturing Agreements are expected to include commercial supply agreements between the LICENSOR and [*].

4

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

1.32.

Manufacturing Cost” means an amount equal to: (a) the direct costs incurred by LICENSOR or its Affiliate (including raw materials, intermediates, components, equipment and labor and costs of plant operations and plant support services (including utilities, maintenance, engineering, safety, plant management and other similar activities), and amounts paid to third party contractors and suppliers) directly relating to the manufacture of the Product supplied to IMMEDICA; and (b) a reasonable fully absorbed allocation of directly related overhead expenses of LICENSOR and its Affiliates, to the extent applicable, connected therewith.  All components of Manufacturing Costs shall be allocated on a basis consistent with U.S. GAAP or IFRS, as applicable.    

1.33.

Materials” shall mean, excipients and solvents and other chemicals and other raw materials and components, packaging and shipping materials (including vials) and other materials and supplies reasonably necessary to perform the Services.

1.34.

Milestone” means each milestone as set forth in Schedule B.

1.35.

Milestone Payment” has the meaning set out in Section 6.1.2.

1.36.

Net Sales means the sales revenues received by or on behalf of IMMEDICA and its Affiliates and Sublicensees for sales of the Product, less the following deductions if and to the extent they are included in the gross invoiced sales price of the Product or otherwise incurred by IMMEDICA and its Affiliates or Sublicensees with respect to the sale of the Product: (a) rebates, quantity and cash discounts, and other usual and customary discounts to customers, (b) Taxes and any other duties paid, absorbed or allowed which are directly related to the sale of the Product, (c) credits, allowances, discounts and rebates to, and chargebacks for spoiled, damaged, out-dated, recalled, rejected or returned Product, (d) actual freight and insurance costs incurred in transporting the Product to customers, (e) discounts or rebates or other payments required by Applicable Law, including any governmental special medical assistance programs, (f) customs duties, surcharges and other governmental charges and rebates incurred in connection with the exportation or importation of the Product, and (g) other amounts deducted from gross receipts as a ‘gross-to-net’ adjustment in determining net revenues for financial reporting purposes in accordance with the accounting practices of IMMEDICA or its Affiliate or Sublicensees (which must be a globally recognized accounting standard such as U.S. GAAP or IFRS), as applicable, consistently applied.  Subsections (a) through (g) shall be collectively referred to as “Deductions”.  

The following principles shall apply in the calculation of Net Sales:

 

1.36.1.

In the case of any provision or sale of the Product for the purpose of conducting pre-clinical or clinical research, or as donations or the like or as “treatment IND sales”, “named patient sales”, “compassionate use sales”, or pursuant to any expanded access programs, or any equivalent sales, in each case shall not be deemed to be included in Net Sales unless the price that any such Products are sold at for such purposes by or on behalf of IMMEDICA and its Affiliates or Sublicensees exceeds the aggregate of IMMEDICA’s costs of packaging and labelling of such Product plus the Price attributable to such Product plus any royalty that would be payable to the LICENSOR on such Product.

 

1.36.2.

Unless otherwise specified herein, Net Sales shall be calculated in accordance with IMMEDICA’s, or its Affiliate’s or Sublicensees’s applicable accounting practices generally and consistently applied.

5

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

1.37.

Patent Rights means with respect to any patents or patent applications, any and all (a) patents issuing from such patent applications, (b) substitutions, divisionals, renewals, continuations or continuations-in-part (only to the extent of claims that are entitled to the priority date of the parent application); (c) patents of addition, restorations, extensions, supplementary protection certificates, registration or confirmation patents, patents resulting from post-grant proceedings, re-issues and re-examinations; (d) other patents or patent applications claiming and entitled to claim priority to (i) such patents and patent applications and any patent or patent application specified in (a), (b) or (c), or (ii) any patent or patent application from which such patents and patent applications or a patent or patent application specified in (a), (b) or (c) claims and is entitled to claim priority; (d) all rights of priority attendant to such patents and patent applications and any of the patents and patent applications listed in (a) through (d); and (e) in each case of such patents and patent applications and of the patents and patent applications described in (a) through (d), including all counterparts and foreign equivalents thereof filed in any country, territory or jurisdiction in the world.

1.38.

Person” means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust, business trust, association, joint stock company, joint venture, pool, syndicate, sole proprietorship, unincorporated organization, governmental authority or any other form of entity not specifically listed herein.

1.39.

Phase III Clinical Trial means the phase III clinical study of the Product titled “Phase 3 PEACE (Pegzilarginase Effect on Arginase 1 Deficiency Clinical Endpoints) a Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Phase 3 Study of the Efficacy and Safety of Pegzilarginase in Children and Adults with Arginase 1 Deficiency,” having ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT03921541.

1.40.

“PIP Trial” means the clinical trial to be conducted pursuant to the Paedriatic Investigation Plan, details of which are set out in Schedule C.

1.41.

Price” has the meaning set forth in Section 7.11.1.

1.42.

Product” means any pharmaceutical product containing, incorporating or comprising pegzilarginase (CAS Registry Number: 1659310-95-8) as the sole active pharmaceutical ingredient, in any form, formulation, mode of administration, presentation or dosage form.

1.43.

Protocol” means sponsor protocol number CAEB1102300A, as such protocol may be amended from time to time by LICENSOR after discussion at the JSC.

1.44.

Quality Agreement” has the meaning set forth in Section 7.3.

1.45.

Regulatory Approval means, with respect to the Product in any country or jurisdiction, any approval (including where required, pricing and reimbursement approvals), registration, license or authorization that is required by the applicable Regulatory Authority to market and sell the Product in such country or jurisdiction.

1.46.

Regulatory Authority means the EMA or any governmental agency or authority responsible for granting Regulatory Approvals for the Product in any country or jurisdiction in the Territory.

1.47.

Regulatory Filings” means, with respect to the Product, any submission to a Regulatory Authority of any appropriate regulatory application, including, without limitation, any submission to a regulatory advisory board, any marketing authorization application, and any supplement or

6

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

amendment thereto.  As used herein, “Regulatory Filings” also includes all correspondence with any Regulatory Authority (and their agents) regarding Product, including all submissions, meeting minutes, reports and other items exchanged between or under authority from LICENSOR or its licensors with respect to a Product, or the Development, Manufacture or Commercialization thereof.

1.48.

Royalties” has the meaning set out in Section 6.1.3.

1.49.

Services” shall mean the commercial Manufacture of Product to be performed by the LICENSOR under this Agreement.

1.50.

Short-Dated Product” has the meaning set out in Section 7.7.4.

1.51.

Specifications” shall mean the specifications for Manufacturing the Unlabeled Product, including without limitation all regulatory, manufacturing, quality control and quality assurance procedures, processes, practices, standards instructions and other attributes for the Unlabeled Product as set forth on Schedule E, as such specifications may be amended by the Parties due to new data with approval from Regulatory Authority or due to other regulatory requirements, from time to time.

1.52.

“Sublicense” means an agreement appointing a Sublicensee.

1.53.

Sublicensee” means any Third Party to which IMMEDICA has delegated substantially all of its rights and obligations under this Agreement including all of the following: (i) the exclusive (even as to IMMEDICA) right to purchase Product from LICENSOR, (ii) the exclusive (even as to IMMEDICA) right to seek Regulatory Approval (other than where such Regulatory Approval is to be held on behalf of IMMEDICA) for the Product; (iii) the exclusive right (even as to IMMEDICA) to set the price of the Product in the Territory and to negotiate and enter into tender contracts with the relevant health authorities; (iv) the obligation to package and label the Product in the Territory and (v) the obligation to Commercialize the Product in the Territory; and the term of the sublicense runs for the reminder of the term of this Agreement, with IMMEDICA not having a unilateral right to terminate such sublicense without cause.

1.54.

Taxes” has the meaning set forth in Section 6.3.1.

1.55.

Territory” means the current members states of the European Economic Area (together with any country that becomes a member of the European Economic Area), Andorra, Bahrain, Kuwait, Monaco, Oman, Qatar, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the Vatican City.  For the avoidance of doubt, if a country ceases to be a member state of the European Economic Area then, notwithstanding such cessation, such country shall remain part of the Territory.

1.56.

Third Party” means any Person other than a Party or an Affiliate of a Party.

1.57.

Unlabeled Product” means Product that has been Manufactured in accordance with the Specifications in unlabeled and unpackaged vials.

1.58.

Valid Claim” means either: (a) a claim of an issued and unexpired Patent Right, which has not been permanently revoked or declared unenforceable or invalid by an unreversed and unappealable or unreversed and unappealed decision of a court or other appropriate body of competent jurisdiction, or (b) a claim of a pending application for a Patent Right, which claim: (i) is within

7

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

[*] from its earliest priority date and was filed and is being prosecuted in good faith and has not been abandoned or finally disallowed without the possibility of appeal or refiling of such application and (ii) has not been admitted to be invalid or unenforceable through reissue, reexamination, or disclaimer and which is not subject to an interference claim.

2.LICENSE GRANT

2.1.

License Grant.

 

2.1.1.

Licensed Technology.  Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, LICENSOR hereby grants to IMMEDICA an exclusive, royalty-bearing right and license, with the right to grant and authorize sublicenses as provided in Section 2.2, under the Licensed Technology to Develop and Commercialize the Product in the Field within the Territory.  IMMEDICA shall not itself, or grant any right to any Third Party to, conduct any research or Development directly related to the Product outside of the Territory without LICENSOR’s prior written consent.

 

2.1.2.

Trademark.  Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, LICENSOR hereby grants to IMMEDICA an exclusive right and license to use trademarks Controlled by the LICENSOR which relate to the Product, in the Territory, listed in Schedule D, in connection with the Commercialization of the Product in the Field within the Territory.  All rights of LICENSOR in and to such trademarks not expressly granted under this Section are reserved by LICENSOR.  The LICENSOR shall, at its sole expense, prosecute and maintain and renew the trademarks listed in Schedule D throughout the term of this Agreement.  IMMEDICA shall not reproduce or use (or authorize the reproduction or use of) such trademarks in any manner whatsoever other than as authorized by this Agreement.  During the term and after any termination of this Agreement, IMMEDICA shall not use as its own any service mark, service name, trade name, trademark, design or logo(s) confusingly similar to such trademarks.  All use of such trademarks by IMMEDICA, and all goodwill associated with such use, shall inure to the benefit of LICENSOR.  LICENSEE shall use the trademarks listed in Schedule D in connection with the Use of the Product in the Field within the Territory unless LICENSEE has a bona fide reason for using a different trademark.

2.2.

Sublicense Rights.  IMMEDICA may grant a Sublicense to the rights granted to it by LICENSOR under this Agreement only upon LICENSOR’s prior written consent and subject to the following requirements:

 

2.2.1.

Any such Sublicenses shall be subject to and consistent with the terms and conditions of this Agreement;

 

2.2.2.

IMMEDICA shall remain liable for the actions and omissions of each Sublicensee; and

 

2.2.3.

IMMEDICA shall furnish to LICENSOR a copy of each Sublicense agreement and each amendment thereto, within [*] after the Sublicense or amendment has been executed, which copy may be redacted to remove any commercially sensitive or financial terms, or terms which do not relate to the Product.

8

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Section 2.2 shall prevent or restrict IMMEDICA from appointing distributors, wholesalers or appointing any Third Party to provide services including sales, logistics and/or regulatory services, without consent.

2.3.

Retained Rights.  IMMEDICA acknowledges and agrees that LICENSOR retains the right: (i) to make, have made and use the Product for internal research purposes within the Field in the Territory, provided such reservation of rights is non-sublicensable and non-transferable and expressly excludes (a) the right to conduct clinical studies in the Territory for Arginase 1 Deficiency other than those expressly permitted under this Agreement or as otherwise agreed by the Parties in writing, (b) the right to apply for or to seek Regulatory Approval in the Territory, and (c) the right to Commercialize the Product in the Territory, and (ii) for any and all purposes outside of the Territory.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event that LICENSOR or its Affiliates, or any party acting on their behalf, decides to conduct any clinical studies in the Territory which use the Product, then the LICENSOR shall promptly consult in good faith with IMMEDICA and shall provide a copy of the relevant protocol for IMMEDICA’s prior review and comment prior to commencing any such clinical study, and any such IMMEDICA comments will be considered by the LICENSOR in good faith.

2.4.

Residuals.  During the term of this Agreement, or at any time thereafter, each Party may use for any purpose the Residuals resulting from access to or work with the Product and the Licensed Know-How.  As used herein, “Residuals” means information in non-tangible form which may be retained by persons who have had access to the Product and Licensed Know-How, including ideas, concepts, know-how or techniques contained therein.

2.5.

No Additional Rights.  Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to confer any rights upon IMMEDICA by implication, estoppel, or otherwise as to any technology or Intellectual Property Rights of LICENSOR or its Affiliates other than the Licensed Technology.

3.Governance

3.1.

Alliance Managers.  Within [*] after the Effective Date, each Party shall appoint and notify the other Party of the identity of a representative having the appropriate qualifications, including a general understanding of pharmaceutical development and commercialization issues, to act as its alliance manager under this Agreement (the “Alliance Manager”).  The Alliance Managers shall serve as the primary contact points between the Parties for the purpose of providing each Party with information on the progress and results of the Development and Commercialization of Product in the Field in the Territory.  The Alliance Managers shall also be primarily responsible for facilitating the flow of information and otherwise promoting communication, coordination and collaboration between the Parties with respect to the Product and its Manufacture.  Each Party may replace its Alliance Manager with a new representative having the appropriate qualifications at any time upon written notice to the other Party.

3.2.

Joint Steering Committee.

 

3.2.1.

JSC Formation and Role. Within [*] after the Effective Date, the Parties shall establish a joint steering committee (the “Joint Steering Committee” or “JSC”) for the overall coordination and oversight of the Parties’ activities under this Agreement.  The role of the JSC shall be to:

9

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

(a)

review and discuss the overall strategy for the Development and Commercialization of the Product in the Territory;

 

(b)

monitor and discuss the performance and results of the Phase III Clinical Trial and all other Clinical Studies performed by or on behalf of the LICENSOR pursuant to Section 4.1;

 

(c)

review and discuss the Marketing Plan and any proposed amendments or revisions thereto;

 

(d)

monitor performance of this Agreement as well as progress of the Commercialization activities compared to the goals defined in the Marketing Plan;

 

(e)

act as the point of escalation for issues that cannot be resolved otherwise;

 

(f)

discuss label expansion for additional patient population;

 

(g)

coordinate the audit of any LICENSOR suppliers and subcontractors relevant to the Product in the Territory, as further detailed in Section 7.2.2;

 

(h)

monitor the review, finalization and management of the Manufacturing Agreements, as further detailed in Section 12.4.1;

 

(i)

discuss the dates and timing of any manufacturing runs, and any associated manufacturing steps, relating to the Product, including ensuring that IMMEDICA receives [*] prior written notice of each manufacturing run;

 

(j)

establish sub-committees that may have separate member composition from the JSC with mutually acceptable charters and defined responsibilities to manage key workstreams related to Parties activities under this Agreement, including but not limited to Development and Commercial sub-committees; and

 

(k)

perform such other functions as appropriate to further the purposes of this Agreement, as expressly set forth in this Agreement or as determined by the Parties in writing.

 

3.2.2.

Members.  The JSC shall be comprised of an equal number of representatives from each Party.  Each Party’s representatives shall be officers or employees of such Party or its Affiliate having sufficient seniority within the applicable Party to make decisions arising within the scope of the JSC’s responsibilities.  Each Party shall initially appoint three (3) representatives to the JSC.  Each Party may replace its representatives at any time upon written notice to the other Party.  Each Party shall appoint one (1) of its representatives on the JSC to act as the co-chairperson of JSC.  The role of the co-chairpersons shall be to preside at the JSC meetings, but the co-chairpersons shall have no additional powers or rights beyond those held by other JSC representatives.  Unless otherwise agreed by the Parties, the Alliance Managers from both Parties shall be non-voting members of the JSC.

 

3.2.3.

Meetings.  The JSC shall hold meetings on a [*] basis during the term of this Agreement for so long as the JSC exists, unless the Parties mutually agree to a different frequency for such meetings.  Either Party may also call a special meeting of the JSC in the event such

10

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

Party reasonably believes that a significant matter must be addressed prior to the next regularly scheduled meeting and, reasonably in advance of such special meeting, such Party shall provide the JSC with materials adequate to enable an informed discussion.  Reasonably in advance of each JSC meeting, the Alliance Managers (or their designees), on an alternating basis, shall prepare and circulate an agenda for such meeting; provided, that either Party may propose additional topics to be included on such agenda, either prior to or in the course of such meeting.  The JSC may meet in person, by videoconference or by teleconference.  No action taken at a JSC meeting shall be effective unless at least one (1) representative of each Party is present or participating in such meeting.  The Alliance Managers (or their designees), on an alternating basis, shall be responsible for preparing reasonably detailed written minutes of each JSC meeting and shall send draft meeting minutes to each representative of the JSC for review.  The Parties shall agree on meeting minutes promptly, but in any event [*] following receipt thereof; provided that, if the Parties cannot agree as to the content of the meeting minutes by such timeframe, such minutes shall be finalized to reflect any areas of disagreement.  Each Party may invite, in addition to its JSC representatives, any number of employees (including employees of Affiliates) and, with the prior written consent of the other Party, not to be unreasonably withheld, any number of Third Parties, to attend JSC meetings as non-voting participants, provided that, prior to attending such meetings, such Third Party participants shall be bound by written obligations of confidentiality and non-use consistent with those contained in this Agreement.

 

3.2.4.

Decision Making and Escalation.  The JSC shall strive to seek consensus in its actions and decision-making process, and all decisions by the JSC shall be made by unanimous agreement, with each Party’s representatives having collectively one (1) vote in all decisions.  If the Parties’ representatives on the JSC, after reasonable discussion and good faith consideration of each Party’s opinions, cannot reach agreement on a matter within the JSC’s responsibilities [*] after the JSC has met and attempted to agree on such matter (or such other period as the Parties may agree upon in writing), then such disagreement shall be referred to the Parties’ respective Executive Officers for resolution.  Any final decision that the Executive Officers mutually agree to in writing shall be conclusive and binding on the Parties.  [*].

 

3.2.5.

Limitations of JSC Authority.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, neither the JSC nor the Party with final decision-making authority as set forth in Section 3.2.4 shall have the authority to: (a) modify or amend the terms and conditions of this Agreement; (b) waive or determine either Party’s compliance with this Agreement; (c) decide any issue in a manner that would conflict with the express terms and conditions of this Agreement; or (d) obligate either Party to violate Applicable Laws or incur any material liabilities or payment obligations.

 

3.2.6.

Discontinuation of the JSC.  The activities to be performed by the JSC shall solely relate to governance under this Agreement, and are not intended to be or involve the delivery of services.  The JSC shall continue to exist until the Parties mutually agreeing to disband the JSC, but in any event the JSC shall be automatically disbanded effective upon the expiration or termination of this Agreement.  Once the JSC is disbanded, it shall have no further obligations under this Agreement and, thereafter, the Alliance Managers shall be responsible for the exchange of information under this Agreement and the decisions of the JSC shall be decisions as between the Parties (but, with final decision-making authority to

11

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

continue to be in accordance with Section 3.2.4), subject to the other terms and conditions of this Agreement.

4.

Transfer OF LICENSED KNOW-How, DEVELOPMENT and COMMERCIALIZATION

4.1.

Transfer of Licensed Know-How

 

4.1.1.

Initial Transfer.  Promptly following the Effective Date and in any event no later than [*] thereafter, the LICENSOR shall, and shall use diligent efforts to cause any contractors to, transfer to IMMEDICA the Licensed Know-How listed in Schedule 4.1.1.    

 

4.1.2.

Ongoing Transfer.  Without limiting Section 4.1.1, if from time to time during the term of this Agreement, either LICENSOR or IMMEDICA identifies a particular item of Licensed Know-How that, in its good faith, opinion considers would be necessary or useful for the Development or Commercialization of the Product in the Field in the Territory, then the LICENSOR shall, and shall use diligent efforts to cause any contractors, to promptly transfer to IMMEDICA all such Licensed Know-How to the extent that it has not previously been provided to IMMEDICA hereunder.  

 

4.1.3.

Cooperation.  The Parties will cooperate and reasonably agree upon formats and procedures to facilitate the orderly and efficient exchange of the Licensed Know-How in accordance with this Section 4.1.   Without limiting the foregoing, the LICENSOR shall provide all such items in electronic form to the extent the same exists in electronic form and shall provide copies and an opportunity to inspect (and copy) original versions for all other materials comprising such Licensed Know-How (including for example, original patient report forms and other original source data).  It is understood all Licensed Know-How shall be made available to IMMEDICA in the language in which it was created together with all existing translations and summaries thereof.  Upon request by IMMEDICA, the LICENSOR shall, and shall use diligent efforts to cause any contractors to, reasonably cooperate with and assist IMMEDICA as may be necessary or desirable in order to allow IMMEDICA to understand the Licensed Know-How and to utilize the Licensed Know-How for the purposes contemplated in this Agreement.

4.2.

Development.  

 

4.2.1.

The LICENSOR shall be solely responsible for the performance of, and all costs relating to, the Phase III Clinical Trial.  Any further development of the Product within the Territory shall be the subject to Sections 4.2.2, 4.2.3 and 4.2.4.  All data arising from the Phase III Clinical Trial, together with all other data and information requested by any Regulatory Authority, shall, promptly after first becoming available to the LICENSOR or promptly on such request, as applicable, be provided to IMMEDICA.  In addition, the LICENSOR shall, promptly upon filing, provide a complete and accurate copy of all material Regulatory Filings submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration for review by IMMEDICA.  Subject to the foregoing, IMMEDICA shall itself, or through its Affiliates or Sublicensees, use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to Develop the Product in the Field in the Territory, including conducting any postmarketing commitments (PMCs) for the Product in the Field in the Territory.  In connection with its efforts to Develop the Product, and subject to the provision of the data and information by the LICENSOR set out in this Section, IMMEDICA shall bear all responsibility and expense

12

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

for filing Regulatory Filings in the Territory in IMMEDICA’s name and obtaining Regulatory Approval for the Product in the Territory.  IMMEDICA will undertake such activities at its sole expense and shall provide to LICENSOR reports regarding IMMEDICA’s progress within [*] following the expiration of each Calendar Year.  

 

4.2.2.

The Parties acknowledge that in the Paediatric Investigation Plan (PIP) submitted by LICENSOR in the Territory, the PIP Trial will need to be conducted to obtain the benefit of the approval, and such trial will be the responsibility of the LICENSOR provided always that IMMEDICA shall reimburse LICENSOR for [*] of the out-of-pocket external costs reasonably and actually incurred by the LICENSOR, solely and directly in relation to the conduct of the PIP Trial up to [*].  Such costs shall be payable in U.S. Dollars upon receipt by IMMEDICA of reasonable written evidence of such external costs, in accordance with Section 6.

 

4.2.3.

Development by IMMEDICA outside the Arginase 1 Deficiency field.  IMMEDICA shall not, and shall not assist, enable or authorize any Affiliate, Sublicensee or Third Party to, undertake any Development of the Product outside the use of the Product for Arginase 1 Deficiency without the prior written consent of the LICENSOR.  Any protocol for such Development outside the field of Arginase 1 Deficiency shall be subject to the prior written approval of the LICENSOR.

 

4.2.4.

Development by LICENSOR inside the Territory.  Save as provided for in Sections 4.2.1 and 4.2.2 and subject to Section 2.3, the LICENSOR shall not, and shall not assist, enable or authorize any Affiliate, Sublicensee or Third Party to undertake any Development of the Product within the Territory for Arginase 1 Deficiency without the prior written consent of IMMEDICA.  Any protocol for such Development within the Territory shall be subject to the prior written approval of IMMEDICA.

 

4.2.5.

LICENSOR will use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to, at its own cost (other than as provided in Section 4.2.2 above), continue the on-going Phase III Clinical Trial in the manner outlined within the Protocol and the PIP Trial.  LICENSOR shall provide to IMMEDICA (i) written updates [*] on the progress of each of the Clinical Studies being performed which relate to the Product and any data that the LICENSOR has received relating thereto, and (ii) detailed [*] reports regarding LICENSOR’s progress and all arising Intellectual Property Rights and Know-How (including all data and results) within [*] following the expiration of each Calendar Year, as applicable.  In addition to such reporting, the LICENSOR shall promptly provide a copy of each clinical study report it receives in respect of any Clinical Studies relating to a Product for IMMEDICA’s review.  

 

4.2.6.

The Parties shall each ensure that they comply with all Applicable Laws with respect to the performance of their obligations hereunder and in the performance of all Clinical Studies relating to the Product.

4.3.

Commercialization.  IMMEDICA shall be solely responsible for the Commercialization of the Product in the Territory.  IMMEDICA will undertake such activities at its sole expense.

 

4.3.1.

Marketing Plan. IMMEDICA will prepare an [*] updated marketing plan (“Marketing Plan”) according to IMMEDICA’s marketing planning process, [*].

13

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

4.3.2.

Review and Comment on Marketing Plan.  IMMEDICA will submit the final draft of the initial and updated Marketing Plan to LICENSOR for review and comment.  LICENSOR will have [*] to provide comments on such draft to IMMEDICA, and IMMEDICA will reasonably consider such comments prior to finalization and implementation of such plan.  LICENSOR shall review the Marketing Plan to ensure that there is no conflict with LICENSOR’s global commercialization strategy.

 

4.3.3.

Diligence Obligations.  IMMEDICA shall itself, or through its Affiliates or Sublicensees, use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to Commercialize the Product in the Territory, including using Commercially Reasonable Efforts to perform the activities set forth under each Marketing Plan.  All efforts of IMMEDICA’s Affiliates and Sublicensees will be considered efforts of IMMEDICA for the purpose of determining IMMEDICA’s compliance with its obligations under this Section 4.3.3.

 

4.3.4.

Shipment and Policing of Product Outside the Territory.  IMMEDICA may not deliver or tender (or cause to be delivered or tendered) any Product outside of the Territory.  If IMMEDICA becomes aware that any customer of the Product in the Territory (including a distributor, wholesaler or health group) is reselling or distributing any quantities of the Product acquired from IMMEDICA outside the Territory, then IMMEDICA shall notify LICENSOR in writing and IMMEDICA shall immediately cease any further sale of the Product to such customer.  If IMMEDICA receives any order from a prospective purchaser located outside the Territory, IMMEDICA shall not accept any such orders.  LICENSEE shall implement a system to track and report on inventory levels of the Product to ensure the Product is properly distributed and managed in the Territory.

 

4.3.5.

Shipment and Policing of Product Inside the Territory.  Except with respect to sales of the Product by LICENSOR to IMMEDICA under this Agreement, the LICENSOR may not deliver or tender (or cause to be delivered or tendered) any Product inside the Territory.  If the LICENSOR becomes aware that any customer of the Product outside of the Territory (including a distributor, wholesaler or health group) is reselling or distributing any quantities of the Product inside the Territory, then the LICENSOR shall notify IMMEDICA in writing and the LICENSOR shall immediately cease any further sale of the Product to such customer.  If the LICENSOR receives any order from a prospective purchaser located inside the Territory, the LICENSOR shall not accept any such orders.  

 

4.3.6.

Labeling and Artwork.  The LICENSOR shall not amend the labeling of the Product for Commercialization in the Territory without IMMEDICA’s prior written approval.  In the event that IMMEDICA proposes changes to the labeling of the Product, it shall provide LICENSOR with copies of any labeling and proposed changes to the labeling of the Product for LICENSOR’s review and comment; LICENSOR will have [*] to provide comments on such proposed changes to IMMEDICA, and IMMEDICA will reasonably consider such comments prior to effecting such change.  The actual cost of implementing such change will be at IMMEDICA’s sole cost and expense, including any materials made obsolete by IMMEDICA’s changes to the artwork, unless such change was requested by the LICENSOR, in which case such cost and expense shall be at the LICENSOR’s sole cost and expense.  All labeling, artwork, and proposed changes thereto shall at all times comply with Applicable Laws.

5.REGULATORY MATTERS

14

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

5.1.

Marketing Authorization Holder.  Subject to IMMEDICA’s obligations upon termination pursuant to Section 15.6, IMMEDICA shall be the holder and owner of all Regulatory Approvals in the Territory.

5.2.

Maintenance of Marketing Authorizations.  With respect to the Product, IMMEDICA agrees, at its sole cost and expense, to prepare, file and maintain such Regulatory Approvals throughout the term of this Agreement including obtaining any variations or renewals thereof.

5.3.

Interaction with Regulatory Authorities.  After the Effective Date, each Party shall provide to the other Party a copy of any material correspondence or materials that it receives from a Regulatory Authority regarding the Product, in respect of IMMEDICA, in the Territory and, in respect of LICENSOR, outside of the Territory.  If such correspondence received by IMMEDICA is not in English, then such copy will include a summary in English of all material matters addressed thereby.  IMMEDICA shall provide reasonable advance written notice to LICENSOR of all material meetings, conferences, or calls with Regulatory Authorities concerning the Product, and LICENSOR shall be permitted to have appropriate representatives attend all such meetings, conferences, or calls.  With respect to the Product, IMMEDICA shall provide LICENSOR with copies of any materials relating to any material regulatory matter and, when reasonably practicable, shall provide copies of any documents to be presented to any Regulatory Authority in respect of such matters prior to their presentation thereto.  The materials provided under this Section 5 with respect to material interactions with any Regulatory Authority will be forwarded to the other Party promptly after receipt.  

5.4.

Right of Reference.  Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement, (i) LICENSOR hereby grants to IMMEDICA a fully paid, exclusive right and license to reference any Regulatory Approvals Controlled by LICENSOR for Product outside the Territory for the purpose of obtaining Regulatory Approval of the Product in one or more countries in the Territory, and (ii) IMMEDICA hereby grants to LICENSOR and its Sublicensees a fully paid, exclusive right and license to reference any Regulatory Approvals Controlled by IMMEDICA for Product inside the Territory for the purpose of obtaining Regulatory Approval of the Product in one or more countries outside the Territory.

5.5.

Pharmacovigilance Within [*] after the Effective Date, the Parties shall enter into a pharmacovigilance agreement pursuant to which the Parties will mutually exchange adverse events or other safety data within and outside of the Territory as required for each Party to fulfill the relevant requirements in accordance with Applicable Law.

6.PAYMENT TERMS

6.1.

Payment Terms.

 

6.1.1.

Upfront Payment.  IMMEDICA shall pay to LICENSOR an upfront payment as set forth in Schedule B within [*] of the Effective Date, subject to the receipt of the applicable invoice from the LICENSOR.

 

6.1.2.

Milestone Payments.  IMMEDICA shall notify LICENSOR [*] upon achievement of each Milestone.  IMMEDICA shall pay to LICENSOR each applicable milestone payment set forth in Schedule B (each, a “Milestone Payment”) within [*] after such Milestone is achieved, subject to the receipt of the applicable invoice from the LICENSOR.

15

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

 

6.1.3.

Royalty Payments.  On a country-by-country basis, from the date of First Commercial Sale in such country in the Territory, and for the remainder of the term of this Agreement, IMMEDICA shall pay to LICENSOR the royalties set forth in Schedule B (collectively, “Royalties”) within [*] following the expiration of each Calendar Quarter.  All payments shall be accompanied by a report that includes reasonably detailed information regarding a total quarterly sales calculation in U.S. Dollars of Net Sales of Product (including all Deductions) and all Royalties payable to LICENSOR for the applicable Calendar Quarter (including any foreign exchange rates employed).  In addition, within [*] after the end of each Calendar Quarter, IMMEDICA shall provide to LICENSOR a good faith estimate of its expected Royalties to be paid for such Calendar Quarter, provided that LICENSOR acknowledges that such estimate is just a preliminary estimate and is non-binding and subject to change.

 

6.1.4.

Other Payments.  IMMEDICA shall pay to LICENSOR any other amounts due under this Agreement within [*] following receipt of invoice, subject to the receipt of the applicable invoice from the LICENSOR.

 

6.1.5.

Late Payments.  Any late payments shall bear interest, to the extent permitted by law, at [*] above the Prime Rate of interest as reported in the Wall Street Journal on the date payment is due.

6.2.

Payment Method.  

 

6.2.1.

For the purpose of calculating any sales milestone payment threshold expressed in Euro, any payments that are received by IMMEDICA in currencies other than Euro (€) shall be converted into Euro (€) at the average (mean) daily closing prevailing foreign exchange rate published in the Wall Street Journal (or any other qualified source that is acceptable to both Parties) during the applicable Calendar Quarter in which such amounts were received, or for periods less than a Calendar Quarter, the average (mean) prevailing foreign exchange rate published in the Wall Street Journal during such period.

 

6.2.2.

All payments from IMMEDICA to LICENSOR shall be made in U.S. Dollars ($).  For the purpose of calculating royalties and milestone payments not expressed in U.S. Dollars, Net Sales and milestone amounts shall be converted into U.S. Dollars at the average (mean) daily closing prevailing foreign exchange rate published in the Wall Street Journal (or any other qualified source that is acceptable to both Parties) during the applicable Calendar Quarter in which such royalty or milestone amount is payable.  Each such payment shall be made by wire transfer to the credit of such bank account as may be designated by LICENSOR in writing to IMMEDICA.  Any payment which falls due on a date which is not a Business Day may be made on the next succeeding Business Day.

6.3.

Taxes.

 

6.3.1.

It is understood and agreed between the Parties that any amounts payable by IMMEDICA to LICENSOR hereunder are exclusive of any and all applicable sales, use, VAT, GST, excise, property, and other taxes, levies, duties or fees (collectively, “Taxes”).  IMMEDICA shall be responsible for billing and collection from its customers and remitting to the appropriate taxing authority any and all Taxes which it is required to collect or remit.  Each Party will be responsible for their own income and property taxes.

16

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

 

6.3.2.

If IMMEDICA is required to make a payment to LICENSOR subject to a deduction of tax or withholding tax (a “Withholding Tax Requirement”), then to the extent such amounts are deducted, withheld and paid by or on behalf of IMMEDICA to the appropriate taxing authority, such amounts shall be treated for all purposes of this Agreement as having been paid to the LICENSOR.  IMMEDICA shall provide the LICENSOR with official receipts issued by the appropriate governmental agency to IMMEDICA.

 

6.3.3.

The Parties agree to cooperate and produce on a timely basis any tax forms or reports, including an IRS Form W-8BEN or Form 6166 and any other documentation required to prove treaty eligibility (which may vary depending on the applicable country), reasonably requested by the other Party in connection with any payment made by IMMEDICA to LICENSOR under this Agreement.

7.MANUFACTURE AND SUPPLY

7.1.

Purchase and Sale of Product.  During the term of this Agreement and in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth herein, (a) the LICENSOR shall Manufacture, sell and deliver to IMMEDICA Unlabeled Product; and (b) during the [*] after the Effective Date, IMMEDICA shall order, purchase, and take delivery of [*] of IMMEDICA’s total commercial requirements for Unlabeled Product in the Territory exclusively from the LICENSOR.  After the [*] of the Effective Date, IMMEDICA will purchase [*] of its total commercial requirements for Unlabeled Product in the Territory exclusively from the LICENSOR.  For the avoidance of doubt, other than the packaging, labeling and serialization of the Product, the foregoing does not operate to grant any license to IMMEDICA to Manufacture or have Manufactured the Product for so long as such Manufaturing would infringe any Valid Claim of any of the Licensed Patents.

7.2.

Manufacturing Standards and Practices.  

 

7.2.1.

The LICENSOR shall Manufacture the Unlabeled Product for IMMEDICA at the Facility in accordance with the Specifications, GMP, all Applicable Laws, the Quality Agreement and the terms and conditions of this Agreement.  In the event that LICENSOR changes any Facility in a way that would impact the Regulatory Approval for the Product in the Territory (including any change that would require a variation of the Regulatory Approval) it shall not do so without prior consultation with IMMEDICA and shall ensure that there is a sufficient period to allow any variation or amendment to a Regulatory Approval to be filed and approved before such change is implemented.  Any costs, fees or expenses incurred by or on behalf of IMMEDICA as a result of such change in Facility which, in the aggregate, exceed [*] shall be promptly reimbursed by the LICENSOR.

 

7.2.2.

IMMEDICA shall have the right, at its sole expense, to audit the LICENSOR and to join with LICENSOR during its annual audit for the audit of LICENSOR’s suppliers and subcontractors for compliance with Applicable Laws, GMP and the terms of the Quality Agreement on reasonable prior written notice during normal business hours and not more than [*] in each Calendar Year.  In the case of a for-cause audit or an audit required by Applicable Law, subject to reasonable confidentiality obligations, IMMEDICA shall be entitled to audit the suppliers and subcontractors independently.  The LICENSOR shall co-operate in good faith in scheduling, attending at and assisting in all IMMEDICA audits.  To assist in such scheduling arrangements, the LICENSOR shall notify IMMEDICA at [*] in advance in the event that the LICENSOR intends to conduct any audit at any suppliers or subcontractors and, if so desired by IMMEDICA, the LICENSOR shall use its

17

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

reasonable efforts to allow IMMEDICA to attend and fully participate in such audit.  In the event that IMMEDICA audits a LICENSOR supplier or subcontractor, the LICENSOR has the right to be on site during the audit and act as an observer between IMMEDICA and such supplier or subcontractor.  The LICENSOR may charge its reasonable costs and expenses for such attendance if such audit takes place more than once per year, unless IMMEDICA identifies a material defect in the LICENSOR’s or any subcontractor’s or supplier’s performance of its obligations under this Agreement, justifying an audit.  If IMMEDICA or its representatives notify the LICENSOR of any defects in the LICENSOR’s or any subcontractor’s or supplier’s performance of its obligations under this Agreement, including non-compliance with any Applicable Laws, the LICENSOR shall be responsible for the costs associated with the attendance of such audit and the LICENSOR shall correct the defects as soon as practicable at the LICENSOR’s expense and shall provide such evidence as IMMEDICA may reasonably request that such defects have been remedied.

 

7.2.3.

The LICENSOR shall provide IMMEDICA with certificates of analysis for all Unlabeled Product supplied hereunder based upon a reference standard established by the LICENSOR and reasonably acceptable to IMMEDICA.

 

7.2.4.

Upon the reasonable request of IMMEDICA following the release and shipment of any Unlabeled Product supplied under this Agreement, the LICENSOR shall provide IMMEDICA with such information, including analytical and manufacturing documentation, batch records for Unlabeled Product and stability data, in each case requested by IMMEDICA regarding quality control of such Unlabeled Product.  Without limiting the foregoing obligations, IMMEDICA acknowledges and agrees that IMMEDICA is responsible for the final disposition and release of Product in the Territory.

 

7.2.5.

All information disclosed or obtained pursuant to this Section 7.2 shall constitute Confidential Information of the LICENSOR.  

7.3.

Quality Assurance.  Within [*] of the Effective Date, the Parties shall enter into a quality assurance agreement for the Unlabeled Product (the “Quality Agreement”).  The Quality Agreement shall address the standard quality terms of supply and relevant other terms, including, terms relating to specifications, product warranties, quality testing, storage, shipment, labelling, quality controls and regulatory matters.  

7.4.

Materials.  Unless otherwise agreed to in writing by the Parties, the LICENSOR shall be responsible at its expense for obtaining all Materials in reasonable quantities consistent with the LICENSOR’s supply obligations under the then-current purchase order, on timelines that enable the LICENSOR to meet its delivery and supply obligations under all applicable purchase orders and this Agreement, taking into account the forecast demand for Unlabeled Product as reflected in the most recent Forecast.  

7.5.

Handling and Storage.  The LICENSOR shall handle and store the Unlabeled Product pursuant to GMP and otherwise in a commercially reasonable manner and in accordance with, as applicable (a) the Specifications, (b) Applicable Laws and GMP, (c) the terms of the Quality Agreement, and (d) such other practices and procedures mutually agreed upon in writing between the LICENSOR by IMMEDICA.

18

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

7.6.

Packaging and Labeling.  IMMEDICA shall be solely responsible for packaging and labeling the Unlabeled Product for sale and distribution in the Territory.

7.7.

Forecasts and Orders.  

 

7.7.1.

Not less than [*] prior to the first day of each Calendar Quarter (commencing with the first Calendar Quarter in which IMMEDICA orders Unlabeled Product from the LICENSOR hereunder), IMMEDICA shall prepare and provide the LICENSOR with a written forecast of its good faith estimated requirements for Unlabeled Product for each of the [*] (each a “Forecast”).  IMMEDICA shall not increase or decrease the quantity estimated for [*].  The quantities estimated for all subsequent quarterly periods of each Forecast shall be non-binding, and for planning purposes only.  [*]  IMMEDICA shall, in good faith, seek to limit its orders such that in any calendar year, it submits its entire year’s demand across [*] purchase orders.

 

7.7.2.

IMMEDICA shall be required to purchase, and the LICENSOR shall be required to supply, [*] of the quantity of Unlabeled Product forecast in the [*] of each Forecast.

 

7.7.3.

The LICENSOR shall be required to supply the quantity of Unlabeled Product ordered by IMMEDICA under this Section 7.7 in any Calendar Quarter up to the quantity forecasted for the [*] of the most recent Forecast.  If IMMEDICA’s orders in any Calendar Quarter exceeds the quantity forecasted for the [*] of the most recent Forecast, the LICENSOR shall use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to supply such excess.  The LICENSOR shall use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to meet IMMEDICA’s delivery requirements specified in accordance with Section 7.7.4.  In the event of a shortfall, the LICENSOR shall promptly inform IMMEDICA and use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to apportion Unlabeled Product among IMMEDICA, the LICENSOR, and its other customers on a [*] according to their respective forecasts for the relevant period, provided always that such forecasts were proposed in good faith.  

 

7.7.4.

IMMEDICA shall make all purchases under this Section 7.7 by submitting firm purchase orders to the LICENSOR.  Each such purchase order shall be in writing in a form reasonably acceptable to the LICENSOR, and shall specify the quantity of Unlabeled Product ordered, the place of delivery and the required delivery date therefor, which shall [*] after the date of such purchase order.  In addition, IMMEDICA will specify the extent to which any Unlabeled Product should be supplied at a [*], in order to extend the shelf-life of the Product to [*] (the “[*]”).  In the event that any [*] is ordered, it shall be prioritized by the LICENSOR such that the first order the LICENSOR delivers after a new manufacturing run has been completed shall be the [*] ordered by IMMEDICA.  Upon receipt of a purchase order reflecting the requirements of this Section 7.7.4 by the LICENSOR, such purchase order shall be binding on both Parties.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, if IMMEDICA places an order for delivery of Unlabeled Product and the requested delivery date is [*] after the last manufacturing run has been completed by the LICENSOR, then the LICENSOR may notify IMMEDICA in writing that such Unlabeled Product may not be able to comply with the minimum shelf-life requirements set out in Section 7.9.1, and what the remaining shelf-life of such Unlabeled Product would be (“Short-Dated Product”).  In such circumstances, if IMMEDICA chooses to proceed with such order, it shall not be a breach of Section 7.9.1 if the Unlabeled Product delivered by LICENSOR to IMMEDICA does not have the minimum shelf-life requirements, provided it has the remaining shelf-life advised by the LICENSOR at the time that IMMEIDCA

19

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

chooses to proceed with the order.  If IMMEDICA chooses not to proceed with such order, then such purchase order shall automatically be cancelled and shall not be binding on the Parties.  No additional terms of any such purchase order shall be binding on the LICENSOR and are expressly rejected hereby.  In the event of a conflict between the terms and conditions of any purchase order and this Agreement, the terms and conditions of this Agreement shall prevail.  IMMEDICA shall, in good faith, coordinate with LICENSOR to minimize placing orders with a requested delivery date after the first [*] of the manufacturing run.

7.8.

Delivery and Acceptance.

 

7.8.1.

All Product supplied under this Agreement shall be shipped [*] (Incoterms 2020) to the destination port designated by IMMEDICA in its purchase order, which shall be in the Territory.  Any change in the location of delivery shall require the consent of both Parties, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed.  Title to the Unlabeled Product purchased by IMMEDICA hereunder shall pass to IMMEDICA upon delivery at the destination port.  IMMEDICA shall be responsible for import duties, import clearance and acting as the importer for such Unlabeled Product.

 

7.8.2.

The LICENSOR shall insure the Unlabeled Products during transit.  The LICENSOR and IMMEDICA shall cooperate to ensure all import clearances and other taxes, duties and formalities are paid and in place prior to delivery.

 

7.8.3.

If the LICENSOR, at any time during the Manufacturing process, becomes aware that for any reason the LICENSOR will not be able to deliver to IMMEDICA the agreed quantity of conforming Product on the agreed delivery date in accordance with the terms of any purchase order or this Agreement (a “Delay”), or any Delay is likely to occur (an “Anticipated Delay”), then the LICENSOR shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to minimize, cure or overcome such Delay and/or Anticipated Delay as soon as reasonably possible.  Promptly upon the LICENSOR first becoming aware of any Delay or Anticipated Delay, it shall notify the JSC and the IMMEDICA Alliance Manager of such fact in writing.  The JSC shall convene a meeting as soon as reasonably possible following such notice, to consider what steps should be taken to avoid or mitigate such Delay and/or Anticipated Delay and to develop a plan to avoid any Delay occurring, in the event of an Anticipated Delay, to mitigate the effects of any Delay and how to prevent any Delay and/or Anticipated Delay from occurring in the future, including the appointment of a Third Party Manufacturer or the allocation of more capacity to the Manufacture of Products for IMMEDICA.  In the event that a Third Party Manufacturer is appointed, the costs of the associated technology transfer shall be borne solely by the LICENSOR and shall be subject to the agreement of a high-level plan for the full and complete transfer of the relevant manufacturing Know-How and technology to such Third Party Manufacturer.  In the event of an issue at the Facility, or a supply shortage of the Product affecting IMMEDICA and/or the LICENSOR, its Affiliates and other licensees and Sublicensees, then the LICENSOR shall ensure that IMMEDICA receives a fair and reasonable pro rata share of any Product based on the quantities of Product included in purchase orders placed in the last Calendar Year before such Facility issue or supply shortage occurred.

7.9.

Defective Product

20

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

7.9.1.

If a shipment of Unlabeled Product or any portion thereof is not in conformance with the Specifications, Applicable Law, GMP, the terms of the Quality Agreement or does not, subject to Section 7.7.4, have a remaining shelf-life of at least [*], when received by IMMEDICA, (“Defective Product”) then IMMEDICA shall have the right to reject such shipment of Unlabeled Product if the entire shipment is nonconforming, or the portion thereof that fails to so conform, as the case may be.  IMMEDICA shall give written notice to the LICENSOR of its rejection hereunder, within [*] after IMMEDICA’s physical receipt of such shipment in premises controlled by IMMEDICA, specifying the grounds for such rejection.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, and solely until the expiration of the shelf-life for the applicable Product, in the event of any Defective Product which was not obvious on receipt of such shipment, IMMEDICA shall have [*] after becoming aware of such Defective Product to notify the LICENSOR.  

 

7.9.2.

IMMEDICA’s grounds for rejection shall be conclusive unless the LICENSOR notifies IMMEDICA, within [*] of receipt by the LICENSOR of the notice of rejection, that it disagrees with such grounds.  In the event of such a notice by the LICENSOR, representative samples of the Defective Product in question shall be submitted to a mutually acceptable independent laboratory or consultant (if not a laboratory analysis issue) for analysis or review, the costs of which shall be paid by the Party that is determined by the independent laboratory or consultant to have been incorrect in its determination of whether the applicable Product should be rejected.

 

7.9.3.

In the event of any Defective Product, at IMMEDICA’s sole discretion, the LICENSOR shall either: (i) use its Commercially Reasonable Efforts to replace such Defective Product, as soon as possible, and in any event within [*] after receipt of notice of rejection thereof, or (ii) refund the Price of such Defective Product, together with any associated administrative, handling and transportation costs.  

 

7.9.4.

In the event that, from time to time, any Short-Dated Product delivered to IMMEDICA is not sold at the time that Unlabeled Product with a reminaing shelf-life that complies with Section 7.9.1 becomes available for delivery to IMMEDICA, and in any event if such Short-Dated Product expires whilst in IMMEDICA’s or its Affiliates or their respective distributors or Sublicensees’ possession (“Expired Product”), then IMMEDICA shall notify the LICENSOR of such Expired Product quantity.  IMMEDICA shall then be entitled to offset the value of such Expired Product, calculated by multiplying the number of vials of Expired Product against the applicable Price paid per such vial, against any future payments owed to the LICENSOR under this Agreement.

 

7.9.5.

SUBJECT TO SECTIONS 7.10 AND 13 THE LICENSOR’s LIABILITY TO IMMEDICA, AND IMMEDICA’S REMEDY, FOR BREACH OF THIS SECTION 7.9 SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE REMEDY SET FORTH IN SECTIONS 7.9.3 AND 7.9.4.  

7.10.

Product Recall

 

7.10.1.

If either Party becomes aware of information about distributed Product indicating that it may be non-conforming with respect to the Specifications, Applicable Law, GMP, or the terms of the Quality Agreement, or that there is potential adulteration, misbranding and/or any potential issues regarding safety or effectiveness with respect to the Product, it shall promptly serve written notice to that effect on the other Party.  If such issue relates to a Defective Product that was a Defective Product at the time of delivery of the Product, the

21

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

LICENSOR shall initiate an investigation and assessment of such circumstances and shall provide IMMEDICA a written report of its findings and any proposed course of action to remedy such issue.

 

7.10.2.

In the event: (i) any Regulatory Authority or other national government authority issues a request, directive or order that Product be recalled; (ii) a court of competent jurisdiction orders such a recall; or (iii) IMMEDICA reasonably determines that Product should be recalled, the Parties shall take all appropriate corrective actions, and shall cooperate in any governmental investigations surrounding the recall.  In the event the LICENSOR reasonably determines that Product should be recalled, the LICENSOR shall provide notice to IMMEDICA including all relevant information that supports such determination.  Upon receipt of any such notice, IMMEDICA shall promptly initiate a Product recall.  IMMEDICA will have the responsibility for all communications with Regulatory Authorities in the Territory and customers regarding any recall of Product in the Field.  The LICENSOR will give IMMEDICA any assistance that IMMEDICA may reasonably request to handle any recall.

 

7.10.3.

In the event that such recall results from a Defective Product that was a Defective Product at the time of delivery of the Product, including the breach of the LICENSOR’s express warranties under Section 7.12, or the LICENSOR’s negligence, recklessness or willful misconduct (a “LICENSOR Caused Recall”), the LICENSOR shall, at IMMEDICA’s option, promptly replace the quantity of Products that were recalled at no cost to IMMEDICA, or reimburse IMMEDICA for the cost of the Products that were recalled (including all labeling and packaging costs, administrative and handling costs and transportation costs).  In the event that IMMEDICA elects to have the recalled Product replaced, the LICENSOR shall use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to replace such Product as soon as possible.  In the event that IMMEDICA elects to be reimbursed for the cost of the recalled Products, the LICENSOR shall reimburse IMMEDICA within [*] of receipt of request from IMMEDICA for reimbursement.  In addition, the LICENSOR agrees that it shall be responsible for the expenses of any recall.  For purposes of this Agreement, the expenses of the recall shall include the expenses of notification, and destruction or return of the recalled Product, and any costs associated with the distribution of the replacement Product.  In the event that the recall was not a LICENSOR Caused Recall, then to the extent such recall affects Products in the Territory in the Field, the LICENSOR shall not be responsible for the expenses of the recall or for replacing or reimbursing the relevant Products.

7.11.

Payment of Supply

 

7.11.1.

Transfer Price.  IMMEDICA shall pay to the LICENSOR a transfer price for the Product equal to [*] per vial of Unlabeled Product (where such vial contains [*] of pegzilarginase) received by IMMEDICA (the “Price”).  The Parties acknowledge that other vial sizes will be necessary or useful to maximize sales in the Territory, and that the Parties shall discuss and agree in good faith what other vial sizes shall be supplied to IMMEDICA.  [*]  From the [*] of the Effective Date onwards, the Price may, upon no less than [*] prior written notice, be increased [*] per calendar year, to equal the greater of: (i) [*] per vial of Unlabeled Product or (ii) [*]

 

7.11.2.

Invoicing; Payment.  The LICENSOR shall submit an invoice to IMMEDICA upon delivery of the applicable Unlabeled Product.  All invoices will be sent to the address

22

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

specified in this Agreement.  Invoices will be due and payable within [*] of the date of receipt of such invoice.  All payments of the Price by IMMEDICA to the LICENSOR hereunder shall be in United States dollars in immediately available funds (or funds that will be available on or prior to the date such payment is due) and shall be made by wire transfer to such bank account as designated from time to time by the LICENSOR to IMMEDICA.  

7.12.

Supply Specific Representations and Warranties

 

7.12.1.

Services.  The LICENSOR represents, warrants and covenants that: (a) it shall perform all Services in a professional manner, with due care and in accordance with industry standards; and (b) it shall perform the Services in accordance with: (i) Applicable Laws; (ii) current Good Laboratory Practices, GMP and ICH Guidelines, (iii) the terms and conditions of this Agreement; and (iv) IMMEDICA’s written instructions consistent with the foregoing.  The LICENSOR acknowledges that time is of the essence with respect to performance of the Services for IMMEDICA.

 

7.12.2.

Product Warranties. The LICENSOR warrants and covenants that all Unlabeled Product delivered to IMMEDICA pursuant to this Agreement shall conform with the Specifications and the certificate of analysis, shall be free from defects in manufacturing, handling, material and workmanship, and shall be manufactured in accordance with GMP and in compliance with Applicable Laws.  

8.Records; AUDIT RIGHTS; INSPECTIONS  

8.1.

Records.  

 

8.1.1.

IMMEDICA’s Records.  IMMEDICA shall maintain accurate financial books and records pertaining to IMMEDICA’s sale of the Product, including any and all calculations of the applicable Fees (collectively, “Relevant Records”).  IMMEDICA shall maintain the Relevant Records for the longer of: (a) the period of time required by Applicable Law, or (b) [*] following the end of the Calendar Year to which such books and records pertain.  

 

8.1.2.

The LICENSOR’s Records.  The LICENSOR shall maintain, at its own cost, complete and accurate records related to the performance of the obligations under this Agreement, including in relation to all Services and Clinical Studies (the “LICENSOR Records”).  Such LICENSOR Records shall be disclosed and submitted to IMMEDICA upon the written request of IMMEDICA.  The LICENSOR shall retain the LICENSOR Records, together with samples representing each batch of the Product delivered to IMMEDICA under this Agreement for at least [*] for Records and [*] after expiration of shelf-life for samples in each case from the shipment of the relevant batch of Product to IMMEDICA or such longer period as required by Applicable Laws.  The Parties agree that [*] prior to the expiration of such period with respect to any LICENSOR Records held in storage by the LICENSOR, the LICENSOR shall notify IMMEDICA of such upcoming expiration with respect to such LICENSOR Records.  Within [*] after receiving the LICENSOR’s notice, IMMEDICA shall respond thereto and instruct the LICENSOR whether to transfer the applicable LICENSOR Records to IMMEDICA or to destroy such LICENSOR Records.

8.2.

Audit Rights.

23

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

8.2.1.

Audit Request.  LICENSOR shall have the right during the term and for [*] thereafter to engage, at its own expense, an independent auditor reasonably acceptable to IMMEDICA to examine the Relevant Records from time-to-time, but no more frequently than [*], as may be necessary to verify compliance with the terms of this Agreement.  Such audit shall be requested in writing at [*] in advance, and shall be conducted during IMMEDICA’s normal business hours and otherwise in manner that minimizes any interference to IMMEDICA’s business operations.  Such audits may not (i) be conducted for any Calendar Year ending more than [*] prior to the date of such request, (ii) be conducted more than [*] in any Calendar Year or (iii) be [*] for any Calendar Quarter.  

 

8.2.2.

Audit Fees and Expenses.  The independent accountant shall provide to IMMEDICA a preliminary copy of its audit report and shall discuss with IMMEDICA any issues or discrepancies identified, prior to submission to the LICENSOR.  LICENSOR shall bear any and all fees and expenses it may incur in connection with any such audit of the Relevant Records; provided, however, in the event an audit reveals an underpayment of IMMEDICA of more than [*] as to the period subject to the audit, IMMEDICA shall reimburse LICENSOR for the reasonable and documented fees and expenses charged by such accounting firm in connection with such audit.

 

8.2.3.

Payment of Deficiency.  If any audit establishes that IMMEDICA underpaid any amounts due to LICENSOR under this Agreement, then IMMEDICA shall pay LICENSOR any such deficiency within [*] after receipt of written notice thereof.  In the event such audit establishes that amounts were overpaid by IMMEDICA during such period, the amount of such overpayment shall be credited against future amounts owed by IMMEDICA provided always that in the event an audit is conducted within the [*] of the Term, such amount will be repaid to IMMEDICA.

 

8.2.4.

Confidential Financial Information.  The LICENSOR shall treat all financial information subject to review under this Section 7 as confidential and shall cause its accounting firm to retain all such financial information in confidence on terms no less restrictive than those applicable to the LICENSOR under Section 11 below.  

8.3.

Inspections.

 

8.3.1.

Each Party shall promptly notify the other Party of any regulatory inspections that may impact the other Party’s rights or obligations under this Agreement.  The LICENSOR shall provide all reasonable co-operation to any inspection by any Regulatory Authority responsible for the approval of the Product in the Territory and shall facilitate access to the Facility and all LICENSOR Records.  Unless not permitted by such Regulatory Authority, in the event of an inspection at the LICENSOR’s premises or the Facility, to the extent that LICENSOR has obtained sufficient rights for its licensees at the applicable Facility, IMMEDICA shall have the right to have a representative present during the portion of the inspection that involves the Product.

 

8.3.2.

The LICENSOR shall, unless not permitted to do so by the Regulatory Authority, forward to IMMEDICA copies of any and all correspondence from and with any Regulatory Authority responsible for the approval of the Product in the Territory.  To the extent the Product is implicated in regulatory inspection findings, the LICENSOR will provide a draft of the pertinent responses to IMMEDICA for review and comment prior to submission to the relevant Regulatory Authority responsible for the approval of the Product in the

24

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

Territory; provided that the inspected entity is responsible for all responses to observations made by a Regulatory Authority and is not obligated to modify responses based upon IMMEDICA’s comments.  

 

8.3.3.

The LICENSOR shall immediately, and in any event within [*], after the LICENSOR becomes aware notify IMMEDICA in writing of any written observation, violation or deficiency noted, by a Regulatory Authority responsible for the approval of the Product in the Territory, following an inspection which related to or which may affect the Product or activities undertaken pursuant to this Agreement.  The LICENSOR shall promptly rectify, and shall ensure that its manufacturers rectify, any such violation or deficiency at the LICENSOR’s sole cost and expense.

 

8.3.4.

Where any part of the Manufacturing process is undertaken by a Third Party on behalf of the LICENSOR, LICENSOR shall procure that such Third Party shall comply with the obligations set out in this Section 8.3, save that in respect of IMMEDICA’s right to have a representative present during an inspection pursuant to Section 8.3.1, LICENSOR’s obligation will be to use its reasonable efforts to allow IMMEDICA to attend such inspection.

9.INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

9.1.

Pre-existing IP.  Each Party shall retain all rights, title and interests in and to any Intellectual Property Rights that are owned, licensed or sublicensed by such Party prior to or independent of this Agreement.  

9.2.

Ownership of Inventions.  Inventorship of inventions shall be determined in accordance with the rules of inventorship under U.S. patent laws.  As between the Parties, IMMEDICA (or its Affiliate) shall solely own all inventions made solely by IMMEDICA personnel, and the LICENSOR (or its Affiliate) shall solely own all inventions made solely by personnel of the LICENSOR.  The Parties (or their respective Affiliates) shall jointly own all inventions made jointly by personnel of both IMMEDICA and the LICENSOR; provided that, subject to the rights and licenses granted under and the restrictions set forth in this Agreement, each Party may practice and exploit any such joint invention and/or any jointly owned Patent Rights, including, without limitation, in connection with its development, manufacture and/or commercialization of products, without the consent of, or a duty of accounting to, the other Party, and each Party hereby waives any right it may have under applicable law to require such consent or accounting.  

9.3.

License of Developed IP.  Any Patent Rights that are conceived, developed or reduced to practice by or on behalf of IMMEDICA as a direct result of the performance of its activities under this Agreement are, to the extent they are Controlled by IMMEDICA (“Developed IP”), hereby licensed to the LICENSOR on a non-exclusive, fully paid-up basis, for the sole and limited purpose of the Development, Manufacture, and Commercialization of the Product in all territories and countries of the world other than the Territory (provided that after any termination of this Agreement, the foregoing license shall be worldwide).  

9.4.

Recording of License.  If IMMEDICA considers it advisable to record IMMEDICA as a licensee or “registered user” of any of the Licensed Technology under local law, the LICENSOR shall do all such acts and sign or have signed all such documents as are reasonably proper and necessary to secure such recordation and for any changes thereof in the future.  In such event, IMMEDICA is responsible for recording this Agreement or a document reflecting this Agreement’s contents with

25

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

any applicable governmental authority and for all associated recordation fees and related costs and expenses.  Upon termination of IMMEDICA’s rights under this Agreement, the LICENSOR may at any time thereafter apply for cancellation of the record of IMMEDICA as a licensee upon written notice to IMMEDICA, and IMMEDICA consents to such cancellation.

9.5.

Patent Prosecution.

 

9.5.1.

Patent Prosecution and Maintenance.  Subject to IMMEDICA’s rights set forth in Section 9.5.3, the LICENSOR will be responsible for filing, prosecuting (including in connection with any reexaminations, oppositions and the like) and maintaining in the Territory the Licensed Patents in LICENSOR’s name at LICENSOR’s own cost and expense.  

 

9.5.2.

Assistance.  

 

(a)

The LICENSOR shall consult with IMMEDICA as to the prosecution and maintenance of the Licensed Patents in the Territory reasonably prior to any deadline, submission to or action with any patent office, and shall furnish to IMMEDICA copies of all relevant drafts and documents of such Licensed Patents reasonably in advance of such consultation.  The LICENSOR shall provide to IMMEDICA copies of all patent office submissions and correspondence relevant to such Licensed Patents within a reasonable amount of time following submission or receipt thereof by the LICENSOR.  The LICENSOR shall consider in good faith any reasonable and timely comments provided by IMMEDICA in connection with the prosecution and maintenance of such Licensed Patents.

 

(b)

IMMEDICA will provide reasonable assistance to LICENSOR, at LICENSOR’s expense, in connection with the filing, prosecution and maintenance of such Licensed Patents, where such assistance shall include providing access to relevant persons and executing all documentation reasonably requested by LICENSOR.

 

(c)

As reasonably requested by LICENSOR in writing and at LICENSOR’s expense, IMMEDICA shall cooperate in obtaining patent term restoration (under, but not limited to, the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act), supplementary protection certificates or their equivalents, and patent term extensions with respect to the Patent Rights in the United States and Europe.

 

9.5.3.

Failure to Prosecute or Maintain.  In the event LICENSOR elects to forgo filing, prosecution or maintenance of any of the Licensed Patents in the Territory, LICENSOR shall promptly notify IMMEDICA of such election, but in any event at least [*] prior to any filing or payment due date, or any other due date that requires action (“Election Notice”).  Upon receipt of an Election Notice, IMMEDICA shall be entitled, upon written notice to LICENSOR, at its sole discretion and expense, to file or to continue the prosecution or maintenance of such Licensed Patent in such country in LICENSOR’s name using counsel of its own choice and at its own expense, provided that IMMEDICA shall keep the LICENSOR reasonably informed as to the material actions taken with regard to the prosecution and maintenance of such Licensed Patents in the Territory.  The LICENSOR shall cooperate with IMMEDICA to transfer the prosecution and maintenance of such Licensed Patent, together with all relevant documentation and the file wrapper, to IMMEDICA.  If requested by IMMEDICA, the LICENSOR shall procure that the

26

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

LICENSOR’s patent attorney liaises with IMMEDICA’s patent attorney to ensure a smooth and complete transfer of prosecution and maintenance obligations.  

10.Infringement; misappropriation

10.1.

Notification.  Each Party will promptly notify the other Party in writing of any actual or threatened infringement, misappropriation or other violation by a Third Party of any Licensed Technology in the Territory of which it becomes aware (“Third Party Infringement”).

10.2.

Infringement Action.  

 

10.2.1.

Right of First Enforcement.  

 

(a)

IMMEDICA shall have the first right (but not the obligation), at its own expense, to control enforcement of the Licensed Technology against any Third Party Infringement (each an “Enforcement Action”), after having conferred with the LICENSOR.  IMMEDICA shall give LICENSOR timely notice of any proposed settlement of any such action instituted by IMMEDICA and shall not enter into any settlement that would: (i) admit the liability of the LICENSOR or its Affiliates, or (ii) materially affect the scope of validity of any Licensed Patent without the prior written consent of the LICENSOR, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed.

 

(b)

If IMMEDICA does not initiate proceedings within [*] from the date of the LICENSOR’s request that IMMEDICA initiate such proceedings, then the LICENSOR shall be entitled, but shall not be obliged, to initiate infringement proceedings or take other action it believes appropriate against such Third Party Infringement at its own expense.

 

10.2.2.

Assistance.  At the request and sole cost and expense of the Party controlling a Third Party Infringement, the other Party shall provide reasonable assistance in connection therewith.  If one Party brings any suit, action or proceeding under this Section 10.2, the other Party agrees to be joined as party plaintiff if reasonably necessary to prosecute the suit, action or proceeding and to give the first Party authority to file, prosecute and control the suit, action or proceeding; provided however that such non-controlling Party shall have the right, at its own expense, to be represented in any such action in which it is a party by independent counsel of its own choice.

 

10.2.3.

Recoveries.  Any recoveries resulting from an action relating to a claim of Third Party Infringement shall first be applied against payment of each Party’s costs and expenses incurred in connection therewith.  Any remaining recoveries [*].  Notwithstanding the foregoing, any recoveries resulting from an action relating to a claim of Third Party Infringement shall not be included in the calculation of any commercial milestones under Schedule B Section 1.2.

11.CONFIDENTIALITY

11.1.

Definition.  “Confidential Information” means the terms and provisions of this Agreement and other proprietary information and data of a financial, commercial or technical nature that the disclosing Party or any of its Affiliates has supplied or otherwise made available to the other Party

27

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

or its Affiliates, whether disclosed in writing, orally or otherwise.  The terms of this Agreement shall be considered the Confidential Information of both Parties.  

11.2.

Obligations.  During the term of this Agreement, and for [*] thereafter, the receiving Party will protect all Confidential Information against unauthorized access, use or disclosure to Third Parties with the same degree of care as the receiving Party uses for its own similar information, but in no event less than a reasonable degree of care.  The receiving Party may disclose the Confidential Information to its Affiliates, and their respective directors, officers, employees, subcontractors, consultants, attorneys, and accountants, banks and investors (collectively, “Recipients”) who have a need-to-know such information for purposes related to this Agreement, provided that the receiving Party shall hold such Recipients to written obligations of confidentiality with terms and conditions at least as restrictive as those set forth in this Agreement.  

11.3.

Exceptions.  

 

11.3.1.

The obligations under this Section 11 shall not apply to any information to the extent the receiving Party can demonstrate by competent evidence that such information:

 

(a)

is (at the time of disclosure) or becomes (after the time of disclosure) known to the public or part of the public domain through no breach of this Agreement by the receiving Party or any Recipients to whom it disclosed such information;

 

(b)

was known to, or was otherwise in the possession of, the receiving Party prior to the time of disclosure by the disclosing Party;

 

(c)

is disclosed to the receiving Party on a nonconfidential basis by a Third Party who is entitled to disclose it without breaching any confidentiality obligation to the disclosing Party; or

 

(d)

is independently developed by or on behalf of the receiving Party or any of its Affiliates, as evidenced by its written records, without use or access to the Confidential Information.

 

11.3.2.

The restrictions set forth in this Section 11 shall not apply to any Confidential Information that the receiving Party is required to disclose under Applicable Laws or a court order or other governmental order, provided that the receiving Party: (a) provides the disclosing Party with prompt notice of such disclosure requirement if legally permitted, (b) affords the disclosing Party an opportunity to oppose or limit, or secure confidential treatment for such required disclosure and (c) if the disclosing Party is unsuccessful in its efforts pursuant to subsection (b), discloses only that portion of the Confidential Information that the receiving Party is legally required to disclose as advised by the receiving Party’s legal counsel.

 

11.3.3.

In the event that LICENSOR wishes to assign, pledge or otherwise transfer its rights to receive some or all of the Milestone Payments and Royalties payable hereunder, LICENSOR may disclose to a Third Party such Confidential Information of IMMEDICA as is strictly necessary in connection with any such proposed assignment, provided that LICENSOR shall hold such Third Parties to written obligations of confidentiality with terms and conditions at least as restrictive as those set forth in this Agreement.

28

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

11.3.4.

IMMEDICA may disclose Confidential Information of the LICENSOR to the extent such disclosure is reasonably necessary in the following instances:

 

(a)

filing for, prosecuting or enforcing Licensed Patents in accordance with this Agreement;

 

(b)

in Regulatory Filings or otherwise in seeking, obtaining and maintaining Regulatory Approvals (including complying with the requirements of Regulatory Authorities with respect to filing for, obtaining and maintaining such Regulatory Approvals);

 

(c)

the Development and/or Commercialization of the Product in the Territory; and

 

(d)

disclosing to actual or bona fide potential Sublicensees or subcontractors, or other Third Parties, in connection with the exercise of its rights under this Agreement or related activities, provided, that such Sublicensees and subcontractors are under obligations of confidentiality at least as onerous as those set out in this Agreement.

 

11.3.5.

Each Party shall be responsible for any breaches of confidentiality by any of its Affiliates, subcontractors, Sublicensees, Recipients, advisors and Third Parties to whom it discloses Confidential Information pursuant to Section 11.

 

11.3.6.

Confidential Disclosure of Terms.  Each Party agrees not to disclose to any Third Party the existence and/or terms of this Agreement without the prior written consent of the other Party hereto, except as permitted under this Section 11, and notwithstanding the foregoing, each Party may disclose the existence and/or terms of this Agreement to its advisors (including financial advisors, attorneys and accountants), potential and existing investors, collaboration partners or acquirers, and others on a reasonable need to know basis, in each case under circumstances that reasonably protect the confidentiality thereof.

11.4.

Right to Injunctive Relief.  The Parties agree that breaches of this Section 11 may cause irreparable harm to the non-breaching Party and shall entitle the non-breaching Party, in addition to any other remedies available to it (subject to the terms of this Agreement), the right to seek injunctive relief enjoining such action.

11.5.

Ongoing Obligation for Confidentiality.  Upon expiration or termination of this Agreement, the receiving Party shall, and shall cause its Recipients to, destroy or return (as requested by the disclosing Party) any Confidential Information of the disclosing Party, except for one copy which may be retained in its confidential files for archive purposes.

11.6.

Data Protection Regulations.  Each Party will collect, use, and disclose information governed by this Agreement in compliance with all applicable privacy and data protection laws, rules, and regulations.  The Parties shall enter into any additional agreements regarding the collection, use, processing or disclosure of such information as mandated by such data protection laws, rules and regulations.  The Parties shall notify each other promptly of any unauthorized uses or disclosures of such information of which they become aware.

12.REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES AND COVENANTS

29

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

12.1.

Representations and Warranties by Each Party.  Each Party represents and warrants to the other Party as of the Effective Date that:

 

12.1.1.

it is a corporation duly organized, validly existing, and in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of formation;

 

12.1.2.

it has full corporate power and authority to execute, deliver, and perform this Agreement, and has taken all corporate action required by Applicable Law and its organizational documents to authorize the execution and delivery of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement;

 

12.1.3.

this Agreement constitutes a valid and binding agreement enforceable against it in accordance with its terms;

 

12.1.4.

all consents, approvals and authorizations from all governmental authorities or other Third Parties required to be obtained by such Party in connection with this Agreement have been obtained; and

 

12.1.5.

the execution and delivery of this Agreement and all other instruments and documents required to be executed pursuant to this Agreement, and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby do not and shall not: (i) conflict with or result in a breach of any provision of its organizational documents, (ii) result in a breach of any agreement to which it is a party that would impair the performance of its obligations hereunder; or (iii) violate any Applicable Law.

12.2.

Representations and Warranties by LICENSOR.  With the exceptions as set out in a letter from the LICENSOR to IMMEDICA dated as of the Effective Date, LICENSOR represents and warrants to IMMEDICA as of the Effective Date that:

 

12.2.1.

to its Knowledge there is no actual, pending, alleged or threatened claim that the Development, Manufacture or Commercialization of the Product within the Territory infringes, misappropriates or otherwise violates the Intellectual Property Rights of a Third Party.  As used herein, “Knowledge” means first hand and actual knowledge of the officers of LICENSOR and is not meant to require or imply that any particular inquiry or investigation has been undertaken including, without limitation, obtaining any type of search (independent of that performed by the actual governmental authority during the normal course of patent prosecution, as applicable, in a jurisdiction) or opinion of counsel; and

 

12.2.2.

to its Knowledge, there is no actual, pending, alleged or threatened claim by LICENSOR alleging that a Third Party is or was infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the Licensed Technology within the Territory.  

 

12.2.3.

to its Knowledge, the practice of the Licensed Patents or the Licensed Know-How and the Development and/or Commercialization of any Product does not infringe, violate or misappropriate the Intellectual Property Rights of any Third Party;

 

12.2.4.

Schedule A sets forth a true and complete list of all Licensed Patents owned by the LICENSOR or its Affiliates as of the Effective Date that Cover the Product, and the LICENSOR has the full right and authority to grant to IMMEDICA the right to, use, sell,

30

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

offer to sell, import and sublicense the Patent Rights in the Territory described in Schedule A, and to enforce such Patent Rights in accordance with Section 10 above;

 

12.2.5.

the LICENSOR has not previously granted and will not grant any right, license or interest in or to a Product, Licensed Know-How and/or Licensed Patents, or any portion thereof, that is in conflict with, limits or derogates from the rights or licenses granted to IMMEDICA under this Agreement;

 

12.2.6.

the Licensed Patents and the Licensed Know-How are free and clear of all liens, claims, security interests or other encumbrances of any kind and during the term of this Agreement, the LICENSOR shall not permit the Licensed Patents or the Licensed Know-How to become encumbered by any liens, claims, security interests or other encumbrances, in each case of the foregoing that could diminish IMMEDICA’s rights or licenses with respect to Licensed Patent Rights The LICENSOR has not knowingly withheld any Licensed Know-How that is reasonably relevant for IMMEDICA’s conduct of activities under this Agreement and, to the LICENSOR’s Knowledge, all Licensed Know-How provided to IMMEDICA is free from any material inaccuracies;

 

12.2.7.

the LICENSOR has disclosed to IMMEDICA all information relating to the safety and efficacy of the Product known to it or its Affiliates;

 

12.2.8.

the LICENSOR has complied with all Applicable Laws, including any disclosure requirements, in connection with the filing, prosecution and maintenance of the Licensed Patents and, to the LICENSOR’s Knowledge, none of the issued Licensed Patents are invalid or unenforceable;

 

12.2.9.

the LICENSOR has conducted, and to its Knowledge, its contractors and consultants have conducted, all its Development activities relating to the Product, including the Phase III Clinical Trial, in accordance with Applicable Laws, GLP and GCP;

 

12.2.10.

neither the LICENSOR nor any of its Affiliates are, or have been, debarred or disqualified by any Regulatory Authority; and none of the LICENSOR or any of its Affiliates’ employees or contractors who were involved in the Development, Manufacture or Commercialization of the Product are, or have been, debarred or disqualified by any Regulatory Authority;

 

12.2.11.

to its Knowledge, none of the materials and documents provided to IMMEDICA in the course of IMMEDICA’s due diligence preceding execution of this Agreement contained any untrue statement of material fact;

 

12.2.12.

the LICENSOR has made available to IMMEDICA all material information in the LICENSOR’s or its Affiliate’s control relating to the Development and Manufacture of the Products as conducted by or on behalf of the LICENSOR prior to the Effective Date, including complete and correct copies of the following: adverse event reports; clinical study reports and material study data; and Regulatory Authority inspection reports, notices of adverse findings, warning letters, regulatory filings and other material correspondence with Regulatory Authorities;

 

12.2.13.

neither the LICENSOR nor any of its employees have been “debarred” by the FDA or the EMA, or subject to a similar sanction from another Regulatory Authority, nor have

31

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

debarment proceedings against the LICENSOR or any of its employees been commenced.  The LICENSOR will promptly notify IMMEDICA in writing if any such proceedings have commenced or if the LICENSOR or any of its employees are debarred by the FDA or the EMA or any other Regulatory Agency;

 

12.2.14.

it shall not hire or retain as an officer or employee any person who has been convicted of a felony under the laws of the United States for conduct relating to the regulation of any drug product under the FDCA.  If at any time this representation and warranty is no longer accurate, the LICENSOR shall immediately notify IMMEDICA of such fact;

 

12.2.15.

all personal data and biological specimens collected from or disclosed by human subjects in Clinical Studies of the Products have been collected, used, processed and disclosed in compliance with Applicable Laws;

 

12.2.16.

the LICENSOR is not aware of the need to perform any pre-clinical or Clinical Studies necessary for Arginase 1 Deficiency in the Territory, and is not aware of the need for any additional data for Arginase 1 Deficiency in the Territory, which at the Effective Date have not been performed or produced, save for the Phase III Clinical Trial and the PIP Trial;

 

12.2.17.

the LICENSOR is not in breach of any term of the Manufaturing Agreement and is not aware that any counterparty to the Manufacturing Agreements is in breach; and

 

12.2.18.

the Facility meets all requirements under Applicable Law, including under GMP, for the Manufacture of the Product for Commercialization in the European Union.

12.3.

No Other Warranties.  EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY STATED IN THIS SECTION 12, NEITHER PARTY MAKES ANY REPRESENTATIONS OR EXTENDS ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, VALIDITY, ENFORCEABILITY, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  

12.4.

Finalization and Maintenance of the Manufacturing Agreements.  

 

12.4.1.

On a Manufacturing Agreement-by-Manufacturing Agreement basis, from the Effective Date until such time as each Manufacturing Agreement has been entered into by or on behalf of LICENSOR or its Affiliates, the LICENSOR shall keep IMMEDICA regularly informed of all material developments, negotiations and progress towards execution including by regularly providing revised copies of the draft agreements to IMMEDICA and consider, in good faith, all reasonable comments provided by IMMEDICA.  Promptly upon execution, and in any event within [*] of execution of each Manufacturing Agreement, the LICENSOR shall provide a copy of each Manufacturing Agreement to IMMEDICA for its records.

 

12.4.2.

On a Manufacturing Agreement-by-Manufacturing Agreement basis, from the date that each Manufacturing Agreement is entered into by or on behalf of LICENSOR or its Affiliates, the LICENSOR shall ensure that such Manufacturing Agreement is not terminated, revoked or allowed to expire during the term of this Agreement for any reason attributable to the LICENSOR.  The LICENSOR shall:

32

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

 

(a)

not terminate such Manufacturing Agreement without first obtaining IMMEDICA’s express written consent to such termination;

 

(b)

ensure that it complies, at all times, with each of its obligations under such Manufacturing Agreement in a timely manner, and shall ensure that all payments owed by the LICENSOR under such Manufacturing Agreement are paid in full and on time; and

 

(c)

not agree or consent to any amendment, supplement, or other modification (including termination) to such Manufacturing Agreement which could affect IMMEDICA or the supply of Product under this Agreement without IMMEDICA’s prior written consent.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, LICENSOR shall have the right without needing the consent of IMMEDICA to utilize other manufacturers provided that LICENSOR shall be responsible for any studies necessary to demonstrate the equivalent of the Unlabeled Product manufactured at such other manufacturers and the terms of any agreements with such manufacturers, to the extent such terms impact IMMEDICA’s rights or the LICENSOR’s ability to supply Product under the terms of this Agreement, are no less favourable than the terms of the Manufacturing Agreements.

12.5.

In the event of a Bankruptcy Event in relation to the LICENSOR all licenses granted under this Agreement shall automatically include a right for IMMEDICA to Manufacture, or have Manufactured, the Product, including both the drug product and drug substance, and IMMEDICA is hereby authorized to contract with any party to the Manufacturing Agreements for the purposes of such manufacture, provided always that this shall be withot prejudice to the LICENSOR’s right to receive royalties under Section 6.1.3.

13.INDEMNIFICATION

13.1.

Indemnification by LICENSOR.  The LICENSOR agrees to indemnify, hold harmless and defend IMMEDICA, its Affiliates and Sublicensees and their respective officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents and assigns (collectively the “IMMEDICA Indemnitees”), from and against any Claims arising or resulting from (a) the Development of a Product, including the performance of any Clinical Studies, by the LICENSOR, its Affiliates, or their respective subcontractors, (b) any breach by the LICENSOR of any representation, warranty or covenant as set forth in this Agreement, or (c) the negligence, recklessness or wrongful intentional acts or omissions of any Licensor Indemnitees; except to the extent in each case (a) to (c) such Claims result from the breach of this Agreement by IMMEDICA, or the negligence, recklessness or wrongful intentional acts or omissions of any IMMEDICA Indemnitees.  

13.2.

Indemnification by IMMEDICA.  IMMEDICA agrees to indemnify, hold harmless and defend LICENSOR and its Affiliates, and their respective officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents and assigns (collectively, “Licensor Indemnitees”), from and against any Claims arising or resulting from: (a) the Development of a Product by IMMEDICA, its Affiliates, or their respective subcontractors, (b) the Commercialization of a Product by IMMEDICA, its Affiliates, or their respective subcontractors, (c) the negligence, recklessness or wrongful intentional acts or omissions of IMMEDICA, its Affiliates, or their respective subcontractors, or (d) breach by IMMEDICA of any representation, warranty or covenant as set forth in this Agreement; except to the extent in each case (a) to (d), such Claims result from the breach of this Agreement by the

33

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

LICENSOR, or the negligence, recklessness or wrongful intentional acts or omissions of any Licensor Indemnitees.  

13.3.

Indemnification Procedure.  In connection with any Claim for which a Party (the “Indemnitee”) seeks indemnification from the other Party (the “Indemnitor”) pursuant to this Agreement, the Indemnitee shall: (a) give the Indemnitor prompt written notice of the Claim; provided, however, that failure to provide such notice shall not relieve the Indemnitor from its liability or obligation hereunder, except to the extent of any material prejudice as a direct result of such failure; (b) cooperate with the Indemnitor, at the Indemnitor’s expense, in connection with the defense and settlement of the Claim; and (c) permit the Indemnitor to control the defense and settlement of the Claim; provided, however, that the Indemnitor may not settle the Claim without the Indemnitee’s prior written consent, which shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed, in the event such settlement materially adversely impacts the Indemnitee’s rights or obligations.  Further, the Indemnitee shall have the right to participate (but not control) and be represented in any suit or action by advisory counsel of its selection and at its own expense.

13.4.

Third Party Intellectual Property.  If a Third Party notifies IMMEDICA, its Affiliates, distributors or Sublicensees that Intellectual Property Rights owned or controlled by such Third Party cover the use or sale of the Product in the Territory (“Third Party IP Rights”), then IMMEDICA shall, upon becoming aware of such notice, promptly notify LICENSOR (“Third Party Notice”) and give LICENSOR the exclusive right to negotiate with such Third Party.  If LICENSOR obtains a license or other right from such Third Party for such Third Party IP Rights (with the right to sublicense to IMMEDICA under this Agreement), then LICENSOR shall bear all costs and expenses of such license (including milestones and royalties).  In any event, from the date of LICENSOR’s receipt of the Third Party Notice, LICENSOR shall indemnify, hold harmless and defend the IMMEDICA Indemnitees from and against any Claims from such Third Party with respect to the infringement of the Third Party IP Rights from the use or sale of the Product in the Territory.

14.LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

14.1.

Consequential Damages Waiver.  Except for a breach of Section 11 OR OBLIGATIONS ARISING UNDER SECTION 13, NEITHER PARTY SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER IT HAS BEEN INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OR LIKELIHOOD OF SUCH DAMAGES OR THE TYPE OF CLAIM, CONTRACT OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE).

15.TERM; TERMINATION

15.1.

Term.  The term of this Agreement shall commence as of the Effective Date and shall continue until terminated in accordance with this Section 15.

15.2.

Termination for Cause.  Each Party shall have the right, without prejudice to any other remedies available to it at law or in equity, to terminate this Agreement in the event the other Party breaches any of its material obligations hereunder and fails to cure such breach within [*] of receiving notice thereof; provided, however, if such breach is capable of being cured, but cannot be cured within such [*] period, and the breaching Party initiates actions to cure such breach within such period and thereafter diligently pursues such actions, the breaching Party shall have such additional period as is reasonable to cure such breach, but in no event will such additional period exceed [*].  Any

34

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

termination by a Party under this Section 15.2 shall be without prejudice to any damages or other legal or equitable remedies to which it may be entitled from the other Party.  

15.3.

Termination for a Bankruptcy Event.  Each Party shall have the right to terminate this Agreement in the event of a Bankruptcy Event with respect to the other Party.  “Bankruptcy Event” means the occurrence of any of the following: (a) the institution of any bankruptcy, receivership, insolvency, reorganization or other similar proceedings by or against a Party under any bankruptcy, insolvency, or other similar law now or hereinafter in effect, including any section or chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, as amended or under any similar laws or statutes of the United States or any state thereof (the “Bankruptcy Code”), where in the case of involuntary proceedings such proceedings have not been dismissed or discharged within [*] after they are instituted, (b) the insolvency or making of an assignment for the benefit of creditors or the admittance by a Party of any involuntary debts as they mature, (c) the institution of any reorganization, arrangement or other readjustment of debt plan of a Party not involving the Bankruptcy Code, (d) appointment of a receiver for all or substantially all of a Party’s assets, or (e) any corporate action taken by the board of directors of a Party in furtherance of any of the foregoing actions (each an “Insolvency Event”).  All rights and licenses now or hereafter granted by the LICENSOR to IMMEDICA under or pursuant to this Agreement, including, for the avoidance of doubt, the license granted to IMMEDICA pursuant to Section 2.1, are, for all purposes of Section 365(n) of the Bankruptcy Code, licenses of rights to “intellectual property” as defined in the Bankruptcy Code.  Upon the occurrence of any Insolvency Event with respect to LICENSOR, the LICENSOR agrees that IMMEDICA, as licensee of such rights under this Agreement, shall retain and may fully exercise all of its rights and elections under the Bankruptcy Code.  Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the LICENSOR and IMMEDICA intend and agree that any sale of the LICENSOR’s assets under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code shall be subject to IMMEDICA’s rights under Section 365(n), that IMMEDICA cannot be compelled to accept a money satisfaction of its interests in the intellectual property licensed pursuant to this Agreement, and that any such sale therefore may not be made to a purchaser “free and clear” of IMMEDICA’s rights under this Agreement and Section 365(n) without the express, contemporaneous consent of IMMEDICA.  

15.4.

Termination for Challenge to Licensed Technology.  LICENSOR shall have the right to immediately terminate this Agreement at any time after the Effective Date in its entirety or on a country-by-country basis in the event IMMEDICA or any of its Affiliates contests or challenges, or supports or assists any Third Party to contest or challenge, in any patent office, court, regulatory agency or other forum, the validity, enforceability or scope of, any of the Licensed Patents (a “Patent Challenge”); provided that if a Licensed Patent is asserted against IMMEDICA, or any of its Affiliates or Sublicensees in an infringement action or other legal proceeding with respect to activities outside the licenses granted herein, or any sublicense granted hereunder, then any claim or action taken in defense of such assertion shall not be deemed a Patent Challenge.  Any termination for Patent Challenge shall be subject to the notification and cure procedure set out in Section 15.2.  

15.5.

Termination by IMMEDICA.  IMMEDICA shall have the right to terminate this Agreement in its entirety, or on a country-by-country basis, without cause, and for any or no reason on not less than [*] prior written notice to the LICENSOR.

15.6.

Effect of Termination or Expiration.  

35

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

15.6.1.

Upon termination or expiration of this Agreement, IMMEDICA shall pay to LICENSOR all amounts due to LICENSOR as of the effective date of termination or expiration within [*] following the effective date of termination or expiration.

 

15.6.2.

Upon termination of this Agreement, IMMEDICA shall have the right to sell its remaining inventory of Product following the termination of this Agreement so long as IMMEDICA has fully paid, and continues to fully pay when due, any and all Royalties owed to LICENSOR, and IMMEDICA otherwise is not in material breach of this Agreement.

 

15.6.3.

Upon termination of this Agreement but not expiration, all licenses granted by one Party to the other Party shall terminate.  For clarity, termination of the licenses granted by LICENSOR to IMMEDICA shall terminate all sublicenses granted by IMMEDICA hereunder.

 

15.6.4.

With the exception of termination of this Agreement by IMMEDICA pursuant to Section 15.2 or 15.3, upon termination of this Agreement:

 

(a)

To the extent permitted by applicable Regulatory Authorities, IMMEDICA shall: (i) transfer to LICENSOR all Regulatory Filings and Regulatory Approvals held by IMMEDICA with respect to the Product, and (ii) to the extent subsection (i) is not permitted by the applicable Regulatory Authority, permit LICENSOR to cross-reference and rely upon any Regulatory Approvals and Regulatory Filings filed by IMMEDICA with respect to the Product.

 

(b)

Upon LICENSOR’s request, IMMEDICA shall continue all on-going Development for a mutually agreed upon migration period after termination of this Agreement, which period shall not be less than [*] unless otherwise agreed to by the Parties (“Migration Period”).  During the Migration Period, IMMEDICA shall provide, at the LICENSOR’s expense, such reasonable knowledge transfer and other training to LICENSOR or its Affiliates or a Third Party that is designated in writing by LICENSOR (“Designated Affiliate/Third Party”) as reasonably necessary for LICENSOR or the Designated Affiliate/Third Party to continue such activities.  In connection with such transfer, IMMEDICA shall, at LICENSOR’s option: (i) transfer to LICENSOR or the Designated Affiliate/Third Party all Product then held by IMMEDICA, its Affiliates or Sublicensees, at a cost to be agreed, and (ii) transfer to LICENSOR or the Designated Affiliate/Third Party all Inventory owned by IMMEDICA at a cost to be agreed.  As used herein, “Inventory” means all components and works in process produced or held by IMMEDICA with respect to the manufacture of Products.  

15.7.

Survival.  Expiration or termination of this Agreement shall not relieve the Parties of any obligation accruing hereunder prior to such expiration or termination.  Without limiting the foregoing, the provisions of Sections [*] shall survive expiration or termination of this Agreement.  

16.PUBLICITY

16.1.

Publicity.

 

16.1.1.

Subject to IMMEDICA’s rights pursuant to Section 2.1.2, neither Party (nor any of its Affiliates or agents) shall use the trademarks of the other Party or its Affiliates in any press

36

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

release, publication or other form of promotional disclosure without the prior written consent of the other Party in each instance.

 

16.1.2.

The Parties have mutually approved a press release attached hereto as Schedule F with respect to this Agreement.  Each Party agrees not to issue any other press release or other public statement, whether written, electronic, oral or otherwise, disclosing the existence of this Agreement, the terms hereof or any information relating to this Agreement without the prior written consent of the other Party, provided however, that (i) neither Party will be prevented from complying with any duty of disclosure it may have pursuant to Applicable Law or the rules of any recognized stock exchange so long as the disclosing Party provides the other Party prior written notice to the extent practicable and only discloses information to the extent required by Applicable Law or the rules of any recognized stock exchange, (ii) once the press release set out in Schedule F has been released, each Party may disclose the information contained in such press release without further consent, and (iii) IMMEDICA shall have the right to publicly disclose without the LICENSOR’s prior written consent: (A) the achievement of any milestone under this Agreement; or (B) any information relating to the Development or Commercialization of any Products in Arginase 1 Deficiency in the Territory.  

17.INSURANCE

17.1.

Insurance Requirements.  The Parties will each maintain during the term of this Agreement and for [*] after termination or expiration of this Agreement, commercial general liability insurance from a minimum [*] rated insurance company, including contractual liability and product liability or clinical trials, if applicable, with coverage limits of [*] per occurrence and [*] in the aggregate.  Each Party has the right to provide the total limits required by any combination of primary and umbrella/excess coverage.  The minimum level of insurance set forth herein shall not be construed to create a limit on a Party’s liability hereunder.  

17.2.

Policy Notification.  On request, each Party shall provide the other Party with certified copies of such policies or original certificates of insurance evidencing such insurance: (a) prior to execution by both Parties of this Agreement, and (b) prior to expiration of any such coverage.  

18.DISPUTE RESOLUTION

18.1.

General.  Except for disputes for which injunctive or other equitable relief is sought to prevent the unauthorized use or disclosure of proprietary materials or information or prevent the infringement or misappropriation of a Party’s Intellectual Property Rights, the following procedures shall be used to resolve any dispute arising out of or in connection with this Agreement.  

18.2.

Meeting.  Promptly after the written request of either Party, each of the Parties shall appoint a designated representative to meet in person or by telephone to attempt in good faith to resolve any dispute.  If the designated representatives do not resolve the dispute within [*] of such request, then an executive officer of each Party shall meet in person or by telephone to review and attempt to resolve the dispute in good faith.  The executive officers shall have [*] to attempt to resolve the dispute.

18.3.

Arbitration.  

37

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

18.3.1.

Any disputes arising out of or in connection with this Agreement, including any question regarding its existence, validity or termination that are not otherwise resolved by the Parties in accordance with Section 18.2 shall be referred to and finally resolved by arbitration under the LCIA Rules, which Rules are deemed to be incorporated by reference in this Section.  The language of the arbitration shall be English.  The number of arbitrators shall be three.  The seat, or legal place, or arbitration by London, England.  

 

18.3.2.

The arbitrator shall not be an officer or employee of either Party.  The cost of the arbitration, including the fees and expenses of the arbitrator, will be shared equally by the Parties.  The prevailing Party shall be entitled to recover from the losing Party the prevailing Party’s attorneys’ fees and costs.  The arbitration award will be presented to the Parties in writing, and upon the request of either Party, will include findings of fact and conclusions of law.  The award may be confirmed and enforced in any court of competent jurisdiction.  

 

18.3.3.

If a Party asserted to be in breach under Section 15.2 above disputes the asserted breach, this Agreement shall not be terminated and the licenses herein shall not be affected as a result of the disputed breach unless and until it has been determined in accordance with this Section 18.3 that this Agreement was materially breached, and such breach is not cured within [*] after such determination or such longer period as the arbitrator may establish.

18.4.

THE PARTIES EXPRESSLY WAIVE AND FOREGO ANY RIGHT TO TRIAL BY JURY.

19.GENERAL PROVISIONS

19.1.

Compliance.  The Parties shall conduct their business in accordance with environmental, labor and social standards.  Each Party further acknowledges and ensures that it and its Affiliates, Sublicensees and subcontractors are familiar with the provisions of the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the UK Bribery Act and applicable local bribery and corruption laws, and shall not take or permit any action that will either constitute a violation under, or cause the other Party to be in violation of, the provisions of the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the UK Bribery Act or applicable local bribery and corruption law, environmental, labor and social standards (collectively, “Improper Conduct”).  In addition to any other rights either Party may have under this Agreement, if a Party (the “Improper Party”) notifies the other Party of, or if such other Party otherwise has a reasonable suspicion of, the occurrence of Improper Conduct, such other Party may inspect or have inspected by an independent auditor the premises, books and records of the Improper Party relevant to such Improper Conduct for the purpose of ensuring compliance under this Section 19.1.

19.2.

Assignment.  Neither Party may assign its rights and obligations under this Agreement without the other Party’s prior written consent, except that: (a) LICENSOR may assign to a Third Party its rights to receive some or all of the Fees payable hereunder, (b) each Party may assign its rights and obligations under this Agreement or any part hereof to one or more of its Affiliates without the consent of the other Party; and (c) either Party may assign this Agreement in its entirety without the consent of the other Party to a successor to all or substantially all of its business to which this Agreement relates.  The assigning Party shall provide the other Party with prompt written notice of any such assignment.  Any permitted assignee pursuant to clauses (b) and (c) above shall assume all obligations of its assignor under this Agreement, and no permitted assignment shall relieve the assignor of liability for its obligations hereunder.  The LICENSOR shall not assign or otherwise transfer to any Affiliate or any Third Party any ownership interest in or to any Licensed Know-

38

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

How or Licensed Patent, unless (i) the LICENSOR’s entire business associated with the Product, including all Manufacturing rights relating to the Product, are assigned to such Affiliate or Third Party and (ii) this Agreement is concurrently assigned therewith.  Any permitted assignee shall assume all obligations of its assignor under this Agreement.  Any attempted assignment in contravention of the foregoing shall be void.

19.3.

Severability.  Should one or more of the provisions of this Agreement become void or unenforceable as a matter of law, then such provision will be ineffective only to the extent of such prohibition or invalidity, without invalidating the remainder of this Agreement, and the Parties agree to substitute a valid and enforceable provision therefor which, as nearly as possible, achieves the desired economic effect and mutual understanding of the Parties under this Agreement.

19.4.

Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed under the laws in effect in the State of New York, U.S.A., without giving effect to any conflicts of laws provision thereof or of any other jurisdiction that would produce a contrary result, except that issues subject to the arbitration clause and any arbitration hereunder shall be governed by the applicable commercial arbitration rules and regulations.  

19.5.

Force Majeure.  Except with respect to delays or nonperformance caused by the negligent or intentional act or omission of a Party, any delay or nonperformance by such Party (other than payment obligations under this Agreement) will not be considered a breach of this Agreement to the extent such delay or nonperformance is caused by acts of God, natural disasters, acts of the government or civil or military authority, fire, floods, epidemics, pandemics, quarantine, energy crises, war or riots or other similar cause outside of the reasonable control of such Party (each, a “Force Majeure Event”), provided that the Party affected by such Force Majeure Event will promptly begin or resume performance as soon as reasonably practicable after the event has abated.  

19.6.

Waivers and Amendments.  The failure of any Party to assert a right hereunder or to insist upon compliance with any term or condition of this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of that right or excuse a similar subsequent failure to perform any such term or condition by the other Party.  No waiver shall be effective unless it has been given in writing and signed by the Party giving such waiver.  No provision of this Agreement may be amended or modified other than by a written document signed by authorized representatives of each Party.  

19.7.

Relationship of the Parties.  Nothing contained in this Agreement shall be deemed to constitute a partnership, joint venture, or legal entity of any type between LICENSOR and IMMEDICA, or to constitute one Party as the agent of the other.  Moreover, each Party agrees not to construe this Agreement, or any of the transactions contemplated hereby, as a partnership for any tax purposes.  Each Party shall act solely as an independent contractor, and nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to give any Party the power or authority to act for, bind, or commit the other Party.

19.8.

Successors and Assigns.  This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the Parties hereto and their respective successors and permitted assigns.

19.9.

Notices.  All notices, consents, waivers, and other communications under this Agreement must be in writing and will be deemed to have been duly given when: (a) delivered by hand (with written confirmation of receipt), (b) sent by email (with confirmation of receipt), provided that a copy is sent by an internationally recognized overnight delivery service (receipt requested), or (c) when received by the addressee, if sent by an internationally recognized overnight delivery service

39

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

(receipt requested), in each case to the appropriate addresses and email addresses set forth below (or to such other addresses and email addresses as a Party may designate by written notice):  

If to LICENSOR:

Aeglea Biotherapeutics, Inc

805 Las Cimas Parkway

Suite 100

Austin, TX 78746

Phone: [*]

Email: [*]

Attention: General Counsel

 

 

If to IMMEDICA:

Immedica Pharma AB

Norrtullsgatan 15

SE 113 29 Stockholm

Sweden

Email: [*]

Attention: General Counsel

 

19.10.

Further Assurances.  IMMEDICA and LICENSOR hereby covenant and agree without the necessity of any further consideration, to execute, acknowledge and deliver any and all such other documents and take any such other action as may be reasonably necessary or appropriate to carry out the intent and purposes of this Agreement.

19.11.

No Third Party Beneficiary Rights.  This Agreement is not intended to and shall not be construed to give any Third Party any interest or rights (including, without limitation, any third party beneficiary rights) with respect to or in connection with any agreement or provision contained herein or contemplated hereby.

19.12.

Entire Agreement; Confidentiality Agreement.

 

(a)

This Agreement, together with its Schedules, sets forth the entire agreement and understanding of the Parties as to the subject matter hereof and supersedes all proposals, oral or written, and all other prior communications between the Parties with respect to such subject matter, including, without limitation, that certain Mutual Nondisclosure Agreement between the Parties dated January 27, 2020 (as amended, the “NDA”).  The Parties acknowledge and agree that, as of the Effective Date, all materials and information disclosed by LICENSOR or its Affiliates pursuant to the NDA shall be considered LICENSOR’s Confidential Information and all materials and information disclosed by IMMEDICA or its Affiliates pursuant to the NDA shall be considered IMMEDICA’s Confidential Information, and subject to the terms set forth in this Agreement.

 

(b)

In the event of any conflict between a material provision of this Agreement and any Schedule hereto, the Agreement shall control.

19.13.

Interpretation. The headings of Sections of this Agreement are not a part of this Agreement, but are included for convenience of reference and shall not affect its meaning or interpretation.  In this Agreement: (a) the word “including” shall be deemed to be followed by the phrase “without

40

 


Exhibit 10.1

 

Privileged & Confidential

 

limitation” or like expression; (b) the singular shall include the plural and vice versa; and (c) masculine, feminine and neuter pronouns and expressions shall be interchangeable.  Each accounting term used herein that is not specifically defined herein shall have the meaning given to it under generally accepted cost accounting principles, but only to the extent consistent with its usage and the other definitions in this Agreement.  

19.14.

Counterparts.  This Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original, but all of which together shall constitute one and the same instrument.

19.15.

Cumulative Remedies.  No remedy referred to in this Agreement is intended to be exclusive, but each shall be cumulative and in addition to any other remedy referred to in this Agreement or otherwise available under law.

19.16.

Waiver of Rule of Construction.  Each Party has had the opportunity to consult with counsel in connection with the review, drafting and negotiation of this Agreement.  Accordingly, any rule of construction that any ambiguity in this Agreement shall be construed against the drafting Party shall not apply.

[Signature page(s) follow]

 

 


41

 


Privileged & Confidential

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Parties intending to be bound have caused this Agreement to be executed by their duly authorized representatives as of the Effective Date.

 

Aeglea BioTherapeutics, Inc.

Immedica Pharma AB

By: /s/ Anthony G Quinn

Name: Anthony G Quinn

Title: President and Chief Executive Officer

By: /s/ Anders Edvell

Name: Anders Edvell

Title: Chief Executive Officer

 

Immedica Pharma AB

By:/s/ Simon Falk

Name: Simon Falk

Title: Chief Financial Officer

 

 


 

SCHEDULE A: PATENT RIGHTS

[*]

 

 


 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

SCHEDULE B: PAYMENTS

1.PAYMENTS

1.1.

Upfront Payment. In consideration of the licenses and rights granted to IMMEDICA hereunder, IMMEDICA shall pay to LICENSOR a one-time upfront, non-refundable and non-creditable payment of US$21,500,000 (in words: twenty-one million five hundred thousand US dollars).

1.2.

Milestone Payments.

 

1.2.1.

In further consideration of the licenses and rights granted to IMMEDICA hereunder, upon achievement of each Milestone set forth below, the corresponding non-creditable and non-refundable Milestone Payments shall be payable by IMMEDICA to LICENSOR:

ReGULATORY MilestoneS

MILESTONE

Payment

[*]

[*]

 

COMMERCIAL MilestoneS

MILESTONE

Payment

[*]

[*]

 

[*]

1.3.

Royalties.

 

1.3.1.

Royalty Rate.  In consideration of the licenses and rights granted to IMMEDICA hereunder, IMMEDICA will pay to LICENSOR Royalties on Net Sales of Product in the Territory, where such Royalties shall be calculated each Calendar Quarter by multiplying the Net Sales for such Calendar Quarter by the applicable rate set forth in the table below, subject to the provisions of this Section 1.3 of Schedule B.

Royalty Rate

[*]

 

 

1.3.2.

One Royalty.  No more than one royalty payment shall be due under this Agreement with respect to a sale of a Product in the Field in the Territory.

 


 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

SCHEDULE C: PIP Trial

[*]


 


 

Privileged & Confidential

 

SCHEDULE D: trademarks

[*]


 


 

Privileged & Confidential

 

 

SCHEDULE E

The Specifications

[*]


 


 

Privileged & Confidential

 

SCHEDULE F

Press Release

[*]

 

 

Exhibit 31.1

Certification of Periodic Report under Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

I, Anthony G. Quinn, M.B Ch.B, Ph.D., certify that:

1.

I have reviewed this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of Aeglea BioTherapeutics, 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.

I am responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) 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 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

 

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.

5.

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.

Date: May 10, 2021

 

 

/s/ Anthony G. Quinn

 

Anthony G. Quinn, M.B Ch.B, Ph.D.

 

President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

 

(Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer)

 

 

 

Exhibit 32.1

Certification Of

Principal Executive Officer and Prinicipal Financial Officer

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 Aeglea BioTherapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”) on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2021, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof (the “Report”), I, Anthony G. Quinn, M.B Ch.B, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, certify, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that to 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 of the Company at the end of the period covered by the Report and results of operations of the Company for the period covered by the Report.

 

Date: May 10, 2021

/s/ Anthony G. Quinn

 

Anthony G. Quinn, M.B Ch.B, Ph.D.

 

President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

 

(Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer)