We are
a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the
development and commercialization of novel immuno-oncology products
based off our proprietary Tri-specific Killer Engager
(TriKE™) fusion protein immune cell engager technology
platform. Our TriKE platform generate proprietary therapeutics
designed to harness and enhance the cancer killing abilities of a
patient’s own natural killer cells, or NK cells. Once bound
to an NK cell, our moieties are designed to enhance the NK cell,
and precisely direct it to one or more specifically-targeted
proteins expressed on a specific type of cancer cell or virus
infected cell, ultimately resulting in the targeted cell’s
death. TriKE can be designed to target any number of tumor antigens
on hematologic malignancies, sarcomas or solid tumors and do not
require patient-specific customization.
We are
using our TriKE platform with the intent to bring to market
immuno-oncology products that can treat a range of hematologic
malignancies, sarcoma and solid tumors. The platform is scalable,
and we are putting processes in place to be able to produce
IND-ready moieties in a timely manner after a specific TriKE
conceptual design. After conducting market and competitive
research, specific moieties can then be advanced into the clinic on
our own or through potential collaborations with larger companies.
We are also evaluating, in conjunction with our Scientific Advisory
Board, additional moieties designed to target different tumor
antigens. We believe our TriKE may have the ability, if approved
for marketing, to be used as a monotherapy, augment the current
monoclonal antibody therapeutics, be used in conjunction with more
traditional cancer therapy and potentially overcome certain
limitations of current chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR-T,
therapy.
We are
also using our TriKE platform to develop therapeutics useful for
the treatment of infectious disease such as for the treatment of
patients infected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). While
the use of anti-retroviral drugs has substantially improved the
health and increased the longevity of individuals infected with
HIV, these drugs are designed to suppress virus replication to help
modulate progression to AIDS and to limit further transmission of
the virus. Despite the use of anti-retroviral drugs, infected
individuals retain reservoirs of latent HIV-infected cells that,
upon cessation of anti-retroviral drug therapy, can reactivate and
re-establish an active HIV infection. For a curative therapy,
destruction of these latent HIV infected cells must take place. The
HIV-TriKE contains the antigen binding fragment (Fab) from a
broadly-neutralizing antibody targeting the HIV-Env protein. The
HIV-TriKE is designed to target HIV while redirecting NK cell
killing specifically to actively replicating HIV infected cells.
The HIV-TriKE induced NK cell proliferation, and demonstrated the
ability in vitro to reactivate and kill HIV-infected T-cells. These
findings indicate a potential role for the HIV-TriKE in the
reactivation and elimination of the latently infected HIV reservoir
cells by harnessing the NK cell’s ability to mediate the
antibody-directed cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC).
Our
initial work has been conducted in collaboration with the Masonic
Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota under a program led by
Dr. Jeffrey Miller, the Deputy Director. Dr. Miller is a recognized
leader in the field of NK cell and IL-15 biology and their
therapeutic potential. We have exclusive rights to the TriKE
platform and are generating additional intellectual
prop
Immuno-Oncology Platform
Tri-specific Killer Engagers (TriKEs)
The
generation of chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR, expressing T cells
from monoclonal antibodies has represented an important step
forward in cancer therapy. These therapies involve the genetic
engineering of T cells to express either CARs, or T cell receptors,
or TCRs, and are designed such that the modified T cells can
recognize and destroy cancer cells. While a great deal of interest
has recently been placed upon chimeric antigen receptor T, or
CAR-T, therapy, it has certain limitations for broad potential
applicability because it can require an individual approach that is
expensive and time consuming, and may be difficult to apply on a
large scale. NK cells represent an important immunotherapeutic
target as they are involved in tumor immune-surveillance, can
mediate antibody- dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC),
contain pre-made granules with perforin and granzyme B and can
quickly secrete inflammatory cytokines, and unlike T cells they do
not require antigen priming and can kill cells in the absence of
major histocompatibility complex (MHC) presentation of antigens. We
believe there is a continued medical need for targeted
immuno-oncology therapies that can have the potential to be dosed
in a patient-friendly outpatient setting, can be used on a
stand-alone basis, augment the current monoclonal antibody
therapeutics or be used in conjunction with more traditional cancer
therapy. We believe our TriKE constructs have this potential and
therefore we have generated, and intend to continue to generate, a
pipeline of product candidates to be advanced into the clinic on
our own or through potential collaborations with larger
companies.
GTB-3550 TriKE™ and GTB-3550 TriKE™ Phase I/II Clinical
Trial
GTB-3550 is the Company's first TriKE™ product candidate
which is a single-chain, tri-specific recombinant fusion protein
construct composed of the variable regions of the heavy and light
chains of anti-CD16 and anti-CD33 antibodies and a modified form of
IL-15. The GTB-3550 Phase I/II clinical trial for treatment of
patients with CD33-expressing, high risk myelodysplastic syndromes,
refractory/relapsed acute myeloid leukemia or advanced systemic
mastocytosis opened for patient enrollment September 2019. The
clinical trial is being conducted at the University of
Minnesota’s Masonic Cancer Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota
under the direction of Dr. Erica Warlick. Additional clinical trial
sites planned as we progress to the Phase II expansion part of the
clinical trial.
NK
cells represent an important immunotherapeutic target as they are
involved in tumor immune-surveillance, can mediate antibody-
dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC), contain pre-made
granules with perforin and granzyme B and can quickly secrete
inflammatory cytokines, and unlike T cells they do not require
antigen priming and can kill cells in the absence of major
histocompatibility complex (MHC) presentation.
Unlike
full-length antibodies, TriKE constructs are composed of a
single-chain fusion protein that binds the CD16 receptor of NK
cells directly producing a potent and lasting cytotoxic killing
response, interleukin 15 (IL-15) to promote NK cell activation,
persistence and proliferation, and a cancer cell targeting moiety.
An additional benefit TriKE may have been attractive
biodistribution, as a consequence of their smaller size, which we
expect to be important in the treatment of solid tumors. In
addition to these advantages, TriKE is designed to be
non-immunogenic, have appropriate clearance properties, and can be
engineered quickly to target a variety of tumor
antigens.
Background and Select Non-Clinical Data
In
conjunction with our research agreement with the Masonic Cancer
Center at the University of Minnesota, the exploration of targeting
NK cells to a variety of tumors initially focused on novel
bi-specific killer engagers, or BiKEs, composed of the variable
portions of antibodies targeting the CD16 activating receptor on NK
cells and CD33 (AML and MDS; see figure below), CD19/CD22 (B cell
lymphomas), or EpCAM (epithelial tumors (breast, colon, and lung))
on the tumor cells.
Subsequently,
a tri-specific (TriKE) construct that replaced the linker molecule
between the CD16 scFv and the CD33 scFv with a modified IL-15
molecule, containing flanking sequences, was generated and tested.
Data indicate that the CD16 x IL-15 x CD33 and CD16 x IL-15 x EpCAM
TriKEs potently induce proliferation of healthy donor NK cells,
possibly greater than that induced by exogenous IL-15, which is
absent in the BiKE platform. Targeted delivery of the IL-15 through
the TriKE also resulted in specific expansion of the NK cells
without inducing T cell expansion on post-transplant patient
samples.
When
compared to the CD16 x CD33 BiKE, the CD16 x IL-15 x CD33 TriKE is
also capable of potently restoring killing capacity of post-
transplant NK cells against CD33-expressing HL-60 Targets and
primary AML blasts. These results demonstrated the ability to
functionally incorporate an IL-5 cytokine into the BiKE platform
and also demonstrated the possibility of targeting a variety of
cytokines directly to NK cells while reducing off-target effects
and the amount of cytokines needed to obtain biologically relevant
function.
The
figure below is a schematic of a BiKE construct (top) and a TriKE
construct (bottom), which has the modified IL-15 linker between the
CD16 scFv and the CD33 scFv components.
The
TriKE constructs were also tested against three separate human
tumor cell lines: HL-60 (promyelocitic leukemia), Raji
(Burkitt’s lymphoma), and HT29 (colorectal adenocarcinoma),
in addition to a model for ovarian cancer. All cell lines contained
the Luc reporter to allow for in vivo imaging of the tumors. These
systems were used to show in vivo efficacy of BiKE (1633) and TriKE
(GTB-3550) against relevant human tumor targets (HL-60-luc) over an
extended period of time. The system consisted of initial
conditioning of mice using radiation (250-275 cGy), followed by
injection of the tumor cells (I.V. for HL-60-luc and Raji-luc,
intra-splenic for HT29-luc and IP for ovarian for MA-148-luc), a
three-day growth phase, injection of human NK cells, and repeated
injection of the drugs of interest, BiKE and TriKE (three to five
times a week). Imaging was carried out at day 7, 14, and 21, and
extended as needed.
Figure
A below shows the results (tumor burden and mortality) when dosing
NK cells alone (top panel), the BiKE version (lacking IL-15) of
GTB-3550 (middle panel; called 1633), and the TriKE, GTB-3550
(bottom panel; then called 161533) in the above human tumor model,
HL-60-luc. In the NK-cell-only arm, two out of the five mice were
dead by day 21 with two of the surviving mice having extensive
tumor burden as depicted by the colored images. In contrast, all
five mice in each of the BiKE and TriKE arms survived. In addition,
the tumor burden in the TriKE-treated mice was significantly less
than in the BiKE-treated mice, demonstrating the improved efficacy
from NK cells in the TriKE-treated mice.
Based
on these results, and others, the IND for GTB-3550 was filed in
June 2017 by the University of Minnesota. FDA requested that
additional preclinical toxicology be conducted prior to initiating
clinical trials. The FDA also requested some additional information
and clarifications on the manufacturing (CMC) and clinical
packages. The requested additional information and clarifications
were completed and incorporated by us into the IND in eCTD format.
We filed the IND amendment in June 2018 and announced on November
1, 2018 that we had received notification from the FDA that the IND
was open and the Company was authorized to initiate a
first-in-human Phase 1 study with GTB-3550 in AML, MDS and severe
mastocytosis. We began the Phase 1 clinical trial in September
2019.
Generation of humanized single-domain antibody targeting CD16 for
incorporation into the TriKE platform
To
develop second generation TriKEs, we designed a new humanized CD16
engager derived from a single-domain antibody. While scFvs consist
of a heavy and a light variable chain joined by a linker,
single-domain antibodies consist of a single variable heavy chain
capable of engaging without the need of a light chain counterpart
(see figure below).
These
single-domain antibodies are thought to have certain attractive
features for antibody engineering, including physical stability,
ability to bind deep grooves, and increased production yields,
amongst others. Pre-clinical studies demonstrated increased
activity (NK Cell Degranulation) and functionality (NC Cell
Cytokine Production) of the single-domain CD16 TriKE (GTB-C3550)
compared to the original TriKE (GTB-3550) (see figure below). These
data were presented at the 2017 American Society of Hematology
Conference.
Targeting Solid Tumors and Other Potentially Attractive
Characteristics
Unlike
full-length antibodies, TriKE is composed of a single-chain fusion
protein that binds the CD16 receptor of NK cells directly producing
a potentially more potent and lasting response as demonstrated by
preclinical studies. An additional benefit due to the smaller size
of TriKE is enhanced biodistribution which we expect to be
important in the treatment of solid tumors. In addition to these
potential advantages, TriKE is designed to be non-immunogenic, have
appropriate clearance properties and can be engineered quickly to
target a variety of tumor antigens. We believe these attributes
make them an ideal pharmaceutical platform for potentiated NK
cell-based immunotherapies and have the potential to overcome some
of the limitations of CAR-T therapy and other antibody
therapies.
Examples
of our earlier stage solid tumor targeting product candidates are
focused on EpCAM, Her2, Mesothelin (mesothelioma and lung
adenocarcinoma), and CD133 alone and in combination. We believe
certain of these constructs have the potential to target prostate,
breast, colon, ovarian, liver, and head and neck cancers. Depending
on the availability of drug supply, we hope to initiate human
clinical testing for certain of our solid tumor product candidates
in 2021.
Efficient Advancement of Potential Future Product Candidates
--Production and Scale Up
We are
using our TriKE platform with the intent to bring to market
multiple immuno-oncology products that can treat a range of
hematologic malignancies, sarcomas and solid tumors. The platforms
are scalable, and we are currently working with several third
parties investigating the optimal GMP production expression system
for TriKE constructs.
We
believe TriKE will have the ability, if approved for marketing, to
be used on a stand-alone basis, augment the current monoclonal
antibody therapeutics, or be used in conjunction with more
traditional cancer therapy and potentially overcome certain
limitations of current chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR-T,
therapy.
Immuno-Oncology Product Candidates
We are initially targeting certain hematologic malignancies as we
believe our product candidates may have certain advantages over
existing and other in-development products.
Our TriKE product candidates, GTB-3550 and GTB-C3550, are
single-chain, tri-specific scFv recombinant fusion proteins
composed of the variable regions of the heavy and light chains (or
heavy chain only) of anti-CD16 antibodies, wild-type or a modified
form of IL-15 and the variable regions of the heavy and light
chains of an antibody designed to precisely target a
specific tumor antigen. We
utilize the NK stimulating cytokine human IL-15 as a
crosslinker between the two scFvs which is designed to provide a
self-sustaining signal leading to the proliferation and activation
of NK cells thus enhancing their ability to kill cancer cells
mediated by antibody-dependent
cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC).
GTB-3550
GTB-3550
is our first TriKE product candidate. It is a single-chain,
tri-specific scFv recombinant fusion protein conjugate composed of
the variable regions of the heavy and light chains of anti-CD16 and
anti-CD33 antibodies and a modified form of IL-15. We intend to
study this anti-CD16-IL-15-anti-CD33 TriKE in CD33 positive
leukemias, a marker expressed on tumor cells in acute myelogenous
leukemia, or AML, myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, and other
hematopoietic malignancies. CD33 is primarily a myeloid
differentiation antigen with endocytic properties broadly expressed
on AML blasts and, possibly, some leukemic stem cells. CD33 or
Siglec-3 (sialic acid binding Ig-like lectin 3, SIGLEC3, SIGLEC3,
gp67, p67) is a transmembrane receptor expressed on cells of
myeloid lineage. It is usually considered myeloid-specific, but it
can also be found on some lymphoid cells. The anti-CD33 antibody
fragment that will be used for these studies was derived from the
M195 humanized anti-CD33 scFV and has been used in multiple human
clinical studies. It has been exploited as target for therapeutic
antibodies for many years. We believe the recent approval of the
antibody-drug conjugate gemtuzumab validates this targeted
approach.
About High-Risk
Myelodysplastic Syndromes
MDS is
a rare form of bone marrow-related cancer caused by irregular blood
cell production within the bone marrow. As a result of this
irregular production, MDS patients do not have sufficient normal
red blood cells, white blood cells and/or platelets in circulation.
High-risk MDS is associated with poor prognosis, diminished quality
of life, and a higher chance of transformation to acute myeloid
leukemia. Approximately 40% of patients with High-Risk MDS
transform to AML, another aggressive cancer with poor
outcomes.
About Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Acute
myeloid leukemia is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes
abnormal myeloblasts (a type of white blood cell), red blood cells,
or platelets. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the
five-year survival rate is about 35% in people under 60 years old,
and 10% in people over 60 years old. Older people whose health is
too poor for intensive chemotherapy have a typical survival of five
to ten months. AML accounts for roughly 1.8% of cancer deaths in
the United States.
About GTB-3550 TriKE™ Clinical Trial
We
opened our GTB-3550 Phase I/II clinical trial in September 2019,
and enrolled our first patient in January 2020. Patients with CD33+
malignancies (primary induction failure or relapsed AML with
failure of one reinduction attempt or high-risk MDS progressed on
two lines of therapy) age 18 and older are eligible
(ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT03214666). The primary endpoint is to
identify the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of GTB-3550 TriKE™.
Correlative objectives include the number, phenotype, activation
status and function of NK cells and T cells.
Our Strategy
Our
goal is to be a leader in immuno-oncology therapies targeting a
broad range of indications including hematological malignancies,
sarcoma and solid tumors. Key elements of our strategy are
to:
Rapidly advanced our Tri-specific Killer Engagers (TriKEs),
GTB-3550 and GTB-C3550
Our
TriKE product candidates have the potential to be groundbreaking
therapies targeting a broad range of hematologic malignancies,
sarcomas and solid tumors. We are preparing to study GTB-3550, an
anti-CD16-IL-15-anti-CD33 TriKE in CD33 positive leukemias, a
marker expressed on tumor cells in AML, MDS and other myeloid
malignancies. We began a Phase 1 clinical trial in September 2019
and enrolled our first patient in January 2020 for patients with
relapsed/refractory AML. The Phase 1 trial will be a dose finding
study. We expect this will be closely followed by Phase 2 trials to
determine the most efficacious dosing and cycles with the aim to
maximize efficacy while minimizing on-target, off-disease adverse
events.
GTB-C3550
is a next-generation, follow-on, to our lead TriKE, GTB-3550.
GTB-3550 studies will help inform the development of GTB-C3550. We
believe this will de-risk the GTB-C3550 program as the data being
generated will help to make informed decisions on which, or both,
will be brought into later phase studies and in which patient
populations.
Utilize our TriKE platform technologies to develop a robust
pipeline of targeted immuno-oncology products targeting a wide
range of hematologic malignancies, sarcomas and solid tumors for
development on our own and through potential collaborations with
larger pharmaceutical companies
We are
using our TriKE platform with the intent to bring to market
multiple, targeted, off-the-shelf therapies that can treat a range
of hematologic malignancies, sarcomas and solid tumors. The
platforms are scalable and we are currently working with several
third parties investigating the optimal expression system of the
TriKE constructs which we expect to be part of a process in which
we are able to produce IND-ready moieties in approximately 90-120
days after the construct conceptual design. After conducting market
and competitive research, specific moieties can then be rapidly
advanced into the clinic on our own or through potential
collaborations with larger pharmaceutical companies.
We
believe our TriKE will have the ability, if approved for marketing,
to be used on a stand-alone basis, augment the current monoclonal
antibody therapeutics, or be used in conjunction with more
traditional cancer therapy and potentially overcome certain
limitations of current chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR-T,
therapy.
Oncology Markets
B-cell Lymphomas/Leukemias
B-cell
lymphoma is a type of cancer that forms in B cells (a type of
immune system cell). B-cell lymphomas may be either indolent (slow-
growing) or aggressive (fast-growing). Non- Hodgkin lymphoma has an
incidence rate of 19.4 per 100,000 per year and B-cell lymphomas
make up most (about 85%) of NHL in the United States. There are
many different types of B-cell non- Hodgkin lymphomas. These
include Burkitt lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small
lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma,
follicular lymphoma, and mantle cell lymphoma.
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Acute
lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL, is an acute form of leukemia, or
cancer of the white blood cells, characterized by the
overproduction and accumulation of immature white blood cells,
known as lymphoblasts. In persons with ALL, lymphoblasts are
overproduced in the bone marrow and continuously multiply, causing
damage and death by inhibiting the production of normal cells (such
as red and white blood cells and platelets) in the bone marrow and
by spreading (infiltrating) to other organs.
"Acute"
is defined by the World Health Organization standards, in which
greater than 20% of the cells in the bone marrow are blasts.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is defined as having less than 20%
blasts in the bone marrow. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is seen in
both children and adults; the highest incidence is seen between
ages 2 to 3 years (>90 cases per 1 million per year). ALL is the
most common cancer diagnosed in children and represents
approximately 25% of cancer diagnoses among children younger than
15 years. Among children with ALL, approximately 98% attain
remission, and approximately 85% of patients aged 1 to 18 years
with newly diagnosed ALL treated on current regimens are expected
to be long-term event-free survivors, with over 90% surviving at 5
years.
Myeloid Leukemias
Acute Myeloid Leukemia
AML is
a heterogeneous hematologic stem cell malignancy in adults with
incidence rate of 4.3% per 100,000 populations. The median age at
the time of diagnosis is 68 years. AML is an aggressive disease and
is fatal without anti-leukemic treatment. AML is the most common
form of adult leukemia in the U.S. These patients will require
frontline therapy, usually chemotherapy including cytarabine and an
anthracycline, a therapy that has not changed in over 40 years.
Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a heterogeneous group of
myeloid neoplasms characterized by dysplastic features of
erythroid/myeloid/megakaryocytic lineages, progressive bone marrow
failure, a varying percentage of blast cells, and enhanced risk to
evolve into acute myeloid leukemia. It is estimated that over
10,000 new cases of MDS are diagnosed each year and there are
minimal treatment options; other estimates have put this number
higher. In addition, the incidence of MDS is rising for unknown
reasons.
Sarcomas
A
sarcoma is a type of cancer that develops from certain tissues,
like bone or muscle. Bone and soft tissue sarcomas are the main
types of sarcoma. Soft tissue sarcomas can develop from soft
tissues like fat, muscle, nerves, fibrous tissues, blood vessels,
or deep skin tissues. They can be found in any part of the body.
Most of them develop in the arms or legs. They can also be found in
the trunk, head and neck area, internal organs, and the area in
back of the abdominal cavity (known as the retroperitoneum).
Sarcomas are not common tumors, and most cancers are the type of
tumors called carcinomas.
The
most common types of sarcoma in adults are undifferentiated
pleomorphic sarcoma (previously called malignant fibrous
histiocytoma), liposarcoma, and leiomyosarcoma. Certain types occur
more often in certain areas of the body than others. For example,
leiomyosarcomas are the most common abdominal sarcoma, while
liposarcomas and undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma are most
common in legs. But pathologists (doctors who specialize in
diagnosing cancers by how they look under the microscope), may not
always agree on the exact type of sarcoma. Sarcomas of uncertain
type are very common. (American Cancer Society, Cancer Facts &
Figures 2019)
Manufacturing
We do
not currently own or operate manufacturing facilities for the
production of clinical or commercial quantities of any of our
product candidates. We rely on a small number of third-party
manufacturers to produce our compounds and expect to continue to do
so to meet the preclinical and clinical requirements of our
potential product candidates as well as for all of our commercial
needs. We do not have long-term agreements with any of these third
parties. We require in our manufacturing and processing agreements
that all third-party contract manufacturers and processors produce
active pharmaceutical ingredients, or API, and finished products in
accordance with the FDA’s current Good Manufacturing
Practices, or cGMP, and all other applicable laws and regulations.
We maintain confidentiality agreements with potential and existing
manufacturers in order to protect our proprietary rights related to
our drug candidates.
Patents and Trademarks
Immuno-oncology platform
University of Minnesota License Agreement
We
(through our wholly owned subsidiary Oxis Biotech, Inc.) are party
to an exclusive worldwide license agreement with the Regents of the
University of Minnesota, to further develop and commercialize
cancer therapies using TriKE technology developed by researchers at
the university to target NK cells to cancer. Under the terms of the
agreement, we receive exclusive rights to conduct research and to
develop, make, use, sell, and import TriKE technology worldwide for
the treatment of any disease, state or condition in humans. We
shall be responsible for obtaining all permits, licenses,
authorizations, registrations and regulatory approvals required or
granted by any governmental authority anywhere in the world that is
responsible for the regulation of products such as the TriKE
technology, including without limitation the FDA in the United
States and the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal
Products in the European Union. Under the agreement, the University
of Minnesota will receive an upfront license fee, royalty fees
ranging from 4% to 6%, minimum annual royalty payments of $250,000
beginning in 2022, $2,000,000 in 2025, and $5,000,000 in 2027 and
certain milestone payments totaling $3,100,000.
Employees
As of
December 31, 2020, we had three employees. Many of our activities
are outsourced to consultants who provide services to us on a
project basis. As business activities require and capital resources
permit, we will hire additional employees to fulfill our
company’s needs.
Form and Year of Organization
In
1965, the corporate predecessor of GT Biopharma, Diagnostic Data,
Inc. was incorporated in the State of California. Diagnostic Data
changed its incorporation to the State of Delaware in 1972; and
changed its name to DDI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in 1985. In 1994, DDI
Pharmaceuticals merged with International BioClinical, Inc. and
Bioxytech S.A. and changed its name to OXIS International, Inc. On
July 17, 2017, we amended our Certificate of Incorporation for the
purpose of changing our name from Oxis International, Inc. to GT
Biopharma, Inc.
Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You
should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described
below in addition to the other information contained in this
prospectus before deciding whether to invest in shares of our
common stock. If any of the following risks actually occur, our
business, financial condition or operating results could be harmed.
In that case, the trading price of our common stock could decline
and you may lose part or all of your investment. In the opinion of
management, the risks discussed below represent the material risks
known to the company. Additional risks and uncertainties not
currently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also
impair our business, financial condition and operating results and
adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
Risks Related to Our Business
Our business is at an early stage of development and we may not
develop therapeutic products that can be
commercialized.
Our
business is at an early stage of development. We do not have
immune-oncology products in late stage clinical trials. We are
still in the early stages of identifying and conducting research on
potential therapeutic products. Our potential therapeutic products
will require significant research and development and pre-clinical
and clinical testing prior to regulatory approval in the United
States and other countries. We may not be able to obtain regulatory
approvals, enter clinical trials for any of our product candidates,
or commercialize any products. Our product candidates may prove to
have undesirable and unintended side effects or other
characteristics adversely affecting their safety, efficacy or cost
effectiveness that could prevent or limit their use. Any product
using any of our technology may fail to provide the intended
therapeutic benefits or achieve therapeutic benefits equal to or
better than the standard of treatment at the time of testing or
production.
We have a history of operating losses and we expect to continue to
incur losses for the foreseeable future and we may never generate
revenue or achieve profitability.
During
the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company reported a net loss
of $28.3 million and as of December 31, 2020, we had an accumulated
deficit of $596 million. We have not generated any significant
revenue to date and are not profitable, and have incurred losses in
each year since our inception. We do not expect to generate any
product sales or royalty revenues for at least four years. We
expect to incur significant additional operating losses for the
foreseeable future as we expand research and development and
clinical trial efforts.
Our
ability to achieve long-term profitability is dependent upon
obtaining regulatory approvals for our products and successfully
commercializing our products alone or with third parties. However,
our operations may not be profitable even if any of our products
under development are successfully developed and produced and
thereafter commercialized. Even if we achieve profitability in the
future, we may not be able to sustain profitability in subsequent
periods.
Even if
we succeed in commercializing one or more of our product
candidates, we expect to continue to incur substantial research and
development and other expenditures to develop and market additional
product candidates. The size of our future net losses will depend,
in part, on the rate of future growth of our expenses and our
ability to generate revenue. Our prior losses and expected future
losses have had and will continue to have an adverse effect on our
stockholders’ equity and working capital.
We will need additional capital to conduct our operations and
develop our products, and our ability to obtain the necessary
funding is uncertain.
We have
used a significant amount of cash since inception to finance the
continued development and testing of our product candidates, and we
expect to need substantial additional capital resources in order to
develop our product candidates going forward and launch and
commercialize any product candidates for which we receive
regulatory approval.
We may
not be successful in generating and/or maintaining operating cash
flow, and the timing of our capital expenditures and other
expenditures may not result in cash sufficient to sustain our
operations through the next 12 months. If financing is not
sufficient and additional financing is not available or available
only on terms that are detrimental to our long-term survival, it
could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue to
function. The timing and degree of any future capital requirements
will depend on many factors, including:
●
the
accuracy of the assumptions underlying our estimates for capital
needs in 2021 and beyond;
●
scientific
and clinical progress in our research and development
programs;
●
the
magnitude and scope of our research and development programs and
our ability to establish, enforce and maintain strategic
arrangements for research, development, clinical testing,
manufacturing and marketing;
●
our
progress with pre-clinical development and clinical
trials;
●
the
time and costs involved in obtaining regulatory
approvals;
●
the
costs involved in preparing, filing, prosecuting, maintaining,
defending and enforcing patent claims; and
●
the
number and type of product candidates that we pursue.
Additional
financing through strategic collaborations, public or private
equity or debt financings or other financing sources may not be
available on acceptable terms, or at all. Additional equity
financing could result in significant dilution to our stockholders,
and any debt financings will likely involve covenants restricting
our business activities. Additional financing may not be available
on acceptable terms, or at all. Further, if we obtain additional
funds through arrangements with collaborative partners, these
arrangements may require us to relinquish rights to some of our
technologies, product candidates or products that we would
otherwise seek to develop and commercialize on our
own.
If
sufficient capital is not available, we may be required to delay,
reduce the scope of or eliminate one or more of our research or
product development initiatives, any of which could have a material
adverse effect on our financial condition or business
prospects.
Research and Development Investment
Our
currently projected expenditures for 2021 include approximately $12
million to $15 million for research and development. The actual
cost of our programs could differ significantly from our current
projections if we change our planned development process. In the
event that actual costs of our clinical program, or any of our
other ongoing research activities, are significantly higher than
our current estimates, we may be required to significantly modify
our planned level of operations.
The
successful development of any product candidate is highly
uncertain. It is difficult to reasonably estimate or know the
nature, timing and costs of the efforts necessary to complete the
development of, or the period in which material net cash inflows
are expected to commence from any product candidate, due to the
numerous risks and uncertainties associated with developing drugs.
Any failure to complete any stage of the development of products in
a timely manner could have a material adverse effect on our
operations, financial position and liquidity.
We have identified material weaknesses in our internal controls
over financial reporting and have not yet remedied these
weaknesses. If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal
control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately
report our financial results or prevent fraud. As a result,
stockholders could lose confidence in our financial and other
public reporting, which would harm our business and the trading
price of our common stock.
Effective
internal control over financial reporting is necessary for us to
provide reliable financial reports and, together with adequate
disclosure controls and procedures, are designed to prevent fraud.
Any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or
difficulties encountered in their implementation, could cause us to
fail to meet our reporting obligations. Ineffective internal
control could also cause investors to lose confidence in our
reported financial information, which could have a negative effect
on the trading price of our common stock.
We have
identified material weaknesses in our internal control over
financial reporting as a company. As defined in Regulation 12b-2
under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or the Exchange Act, a
“material weakness” is a deficiency, or combination of
deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such
that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement
of our annual or interim consolidated financial statements will not
be prevented, or detected on a timely basis. Specifically, we
determined that we had the following material weaknesses in our
internal control over financial reporting: (i) inadequate
segregation of duties; (ii) risks of executive override; and (iii)
insufficient written policies and procedures for accounting and
financial reporting with respect to the requirements and
application of both generally accepted accounting principles in the
United States of America, or GAAP, and the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission, or the SEC, guidelines.
As of
the date of this report, we have not remediated these material
weaknesses. The company intends to take measures to mitigate the
issues identified and implement a functional system of internal
controls over financial reporting. Such measures will include, but
not be limited to hiring of additional employees in its finance and
accounting department, although the timing of such hires is largely
dependent on our securing additional financing to cover such costs;
preparation of risk-control matrices to identify key risks and
develop and document policies to mitigate those risks; and
identification and documentation of standard operating procedures
for key financial activities. The implementation of these
initiatives may not fully address any material weakness or other
deficiencies that we may have in our internal control over
financial reporting.
Even if
we develop effective internal control over financial reporting,
such controls may become inadequate due to changes in conditions or
the degree of compliance with such policies or procedures may
deteriorate, which could result in the discovery of additional
material weaknesses and deficiencies. In any event, the process of
determining whether our existing internal control over financial
reporting is compliant with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act,
or Section 404, and sufficiently effective requires the investment
of substantial time and resources, including by certain members of
our senior management. As a result, this process may divert
internal resources and take a significant amount of time and effort
to complete. In addition, we cannot predict the outcome of this
process and whether we will need to implement remedial actions in
order to establish effective controls over financial reporting. The
determination of whether or not our internal controls are
sufficient and any remedial actions required could result in us
incurring additional costs that we did not anticipate, including
the hiring of outside consultants. We may also fail to timely
complete our evaluation, testing and any remediation required to
comply with Section 404.
We are
required, pursuant to Section 404, to furnish a report by
management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our
internal control over financial reporting. However, for as long as
we are a “smaller reporting company,” our independent
registered public accounting firm will not be required to attest to
the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting
pursuant to Section 404. While we could be a smaller reporting
company for an indefinite amount of time, and thus relieved of the
above-mentioned attestation requirement, an independent assessment
of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial
reporting could detect problems that our management's assessment
might not. Such undetected material weaknesses in our internal
control over financial reporting could lead to financial statement
restatements and require us to incur the expense of
remediation.
Our intellectual property may be compromised.
Part of
our value going forward depends on the intellectual property rights
that we have been and are acquiring. There may have been many
persons involved in the development of our intellectual property,
and we may not be successful in obtaining the necessary rights from
all of them. It is possible that in the future, third parties may
challenge our intellectual property rights. We may not be
successful in protecting our intellectual property rights. In
either event, we may lose the value of our intellectual property,
and if so, our business prospects may suffer.
If our efforts to protect the proprietary nature of the
intellectual property related to our technologies are not adequate,
we may not be able to compete effectively in our market and our
business would be harmed.
We rely
upon a combination of patents, trade secret protection and
confidentiality agreements to protect the intellectual property
related to our technologies. Any disclosure to or misappropriation
by third parties of our trade secret or other confidential
information could enable competitors to quickly duplicate or
surpass our technological achievements, thus eroding any
competitive advantage we may derive from this
information.
The
strength of patents in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical field
involves complex legal and scientific questions and can be
uncertain. The patent applications we own or license may fail to
result in issued patents in the United States or in foreign
countries. Third parties may challenge the validity, enforceability
or scope of any issued patents we own or license or any
applications that may issue as patents in the future, which may
result in those patents being narrowed, invalidated or held
unenforceable. Even if they are unchallenged, our patents and
patent applications may not adequately protect our intellectual
property or prevent others from developing similar products that do
not fall within the scope of our patents. If the breadth or
strength of protection provided by the patents we hold or pursue is
threatened, our ability to commercialize any product candidates
with technology protected by those patents could be threatened.
Further, if we encounter delays in our clinical trials, the period
of time during which we would have patent protection for any
covered product candidates that obtain regulatory approval would be
reduced. Since patent applications in the United States and most
other countries are confidential for a period of time after filing,
we cannot be certain at the time of filing that we are the first to
file any patent application related to our product
candidates.
In
addition to the protection afforded by patents, we seek to rely on
trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect
proprietary know-how that is not patentable, processes for which
patents are difficult to enforce and any other elements of our
discovery platform and drug development processes that involve
proprietary know-how, information or technology that is not covered
by patents or not amenable to patent protection. Although we
require all of our employees and certain consultants and advisors
to assign inventions to us, and all of our employees, consultants,
advisors and any third parties who have access to our proprietary
know-how, information or technology to enter into confidentiality
agreements, our trade secrets and other proprietary information may
be disclosed or competitors may otherwise gain access to such
information or independently develop substantially equivalent
information. Further, the laws of some foreign countries do not
protect proprietary rights to the same extent or in the same manner
as the laws of the United States. As a result, we may encounter
significant difficulty in protecting and defending our intellectual
property both in the United States and abroad. If we are unable to
prevent material disclosure of the trade secret intellectual
property related to our technologies to third parties, we may not
be able to establish or maintain the competitive advantage that we
believe is provided by such intellectual property, which could
materially adversely affect our market position and business and
operational results.
Claims that we infringe the intellectual property rights of others
may prevent or delay our drug discovery and development
efforts.
Our
research, development and commercialization activities, as well as
any product candidates or products resulting from those activities,
may infringe or be accused of infringing a patent or other form of
intellectual property under which we do not hold a license or other
rights. Third parties may assert that we are employing their
proprietary technology without authorization. There may be
third-party patents of which we are currently unaware, with claims
that cover the use or manufacture of our product candidates or the
practice of our related methods. Because patent applications can
take many years to issue, there may be currently pending patent
applications that may later result in issued patents that our
product candidates may infringe. In addition, third parties may
obtain patents in the future and claim that use of our technologies
infringes one or more claims of these patents. If our activities or
product candidates infringe the patents or other intellectual
property rights of third parties, the holders of such intellectual
property rights may be able to block our ability to commercialize
such product candidates or practice our methods unless we obtain a
license under the intellectual property rights or until any
applicable patents expire or are determined to be invalid or
unenforceable.
Defense
of any intellectual property infringement claims against us,
regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation
expense and would be a significant diversion of employee resources
from our business. In the event of a successful claim of
infringement against us, we may have to pay substantial damages,
obtain one or more licenses from third parties, limit our business
to avoid the infringing activities, pay royalties and/or redesign
our infringing product candidates or methods, any or all of which
may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary
expenditure. Further, if we were to seek a license from the third
party holder of any applicable intellectual property rights, we may
not be able to obtain the applicable license rights when needed or
on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. The occurrence of any
of the above events could prevent us from continuing to develop and
commercialize one or more of our product candidates and our
business could materially suffer.
We may desire, or be forced, to seek additional licenses to use
intellectual property owned by third parties, and such licenses may
not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at
all.
A third
party may hold intellectual property, including patent rights, that
are important or necessary to the development of our product
candidates, in which case we would need to obtain a license from
that third party or develop a different formulation of the product
that does not infringe upon the applicable intellectual property,
which may not be possible. Additionally, we may identify product
candidates that we believe are promising and whose development and
other intellectual property rights are held by third parties. In
such a case, we may desire to seek a license to pursue the
development of those product candidates. Any license that we may
desire to obtain or that we may be forced to pursue may not be
available when needed on commercially reasonable terms or at all.
Any inability to secure a license that we need or desire could have
a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and
prospects.
The patent protection covering some of our product candidates may
be dependent on third parties, who may not effectively maintain
that protection.
While
we expect that we will generally seek to gain the right to fully
prosecute any patents covering product candidates we may in-license
from third-party owners, there may be instances when platform
technology patents that cover our product candidates remain
controlled by our licensors. If any of our current or future
licensing partners that retain the right to prosecute patents
covering the product candidates we license from them fail to
appropriately maintain that patent protection, we may not be able
to prevent competitors from developing and selling competing
products or practicing competing methods and our ability to
generate revenue from any commercialization of the affected product
candidates may suffer.
We may be involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents or
the patents of our licensors, which could be expensive, time-
consuming and unsuccessful.
Competitors
may infringe our patents or the patents of our current or potential
licensors. To attempt to stop infringement or unauthorized use, we
may need to enforce one or more of our patents, which can be
expensive and time-consuming and distract management. If we pursue
any litigation, a court may decide that a patent of ours or our
licensor’s is not valid or is unenforceable, or may refuse to
stop the other party from using the relevant technology on the
grounds that our patents do not cover the technology in question.
Further, the legal systems of certain countries, particularly
certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of
patents, which could reduce the likelihood of success of any
infringement proceeding we pursue in any such jurisdiction. An
adverse result in any infringement litigation or defense
proceedings could put one or more of our patents at risk of being
invalidated, held unenforceable, or interpreted narrowly and could
put our patent applications at risk of not issuing, which could
limit our ability to exclude competitors from directly competing
with us in the applicable jurisdictions.
Interference
proceedings provoked by third parties or brought by the U.S. PTO
may be necessary to determine the priority of inventions with
respect to our patents or patent applications or those of our
licensors. An unfavorable outcome could require us to cease using
the related technology or to attempt to license rights to use it
from the prevailing party. Our business could be harmed if the
prevailing party does not offer us a license on commercially
reasonable terms, or at all. Litigation or interference proceedings
may fail and, even if successful, may result in substantial costs
and distract our management and other employees.
If we are unsuccessful in obtaining or maintaining patent
protection for intellectual property in development, our business
and competitive position would be harmed.
We are
seeking patent protection for some of our technology and product
candidates. Patent prosecution is a challenging process and is not
assured of success. If we are unable to secure patent protection
for our technology and product candidates, our business may be
adversely impacted.
In
addition, issued patents and pending international applications
require regular maintenance. Failure to maintain our portfolio may
result in loss of rights that may adversely impact our intellectual
property rights, for example by rendering issued patents
unenforceable or by prematurely terminating pending international
applications.
If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade
secrets, our business and competitive position would be
harmed.
In
addition to seeking patents for some of our technology and product
candidates, we also rely on trade secrets, including unpatented
know- how, technology and other proprietary information, to
maintain our competitive position. We currently, and expect in the
future to continue to, seek to protect these trade secrets, in
part, by entering into confidentiality agreements with parties who
have access to them, such as our employees, collaborators, contract
manufacturers, consultants, advisors and other third parties. We
also enter into confidentiality and invention or patent assignment
agreements with our employees and consultants. Despite these
efforts, any of these parties may breach the agreements and
disclose our proprietary information, including our trade secrets,
and we may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for any such
disclosure. Enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or
misappropriated a trade secret is difficult, expensive and time-
consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, some
courts inside and outside the United States are less willing or
unwilling to protect trade secrets. If any of our trade secrets
were to be lawfully obtained or independently developed by a
competitor, we would have no right to prevent them, or those to
whom they disclose the trade secrets, from using that technology or
information to compete with us. If any of our trade secrets were to
be disclosed to or independently developed by a competitor, our
competitive position would be harmed.
If we fail to meet our obligations under our license agreements, we
may lose our rights to key technologies on which our business
depends.
Our
business depends in part on licenses from third parties. These
third-party license agreements impose obligations on us, such as
payment obligations and obligations to diligently pursue
development of commercial products under the licensed patents. If a
licensor believes that we have failed to meet our obligations under
a license agreement, the licensor could seek to limit or terminate
our license rights, which could lead to costly and time-consuming
litigation and, potentially, a loss of the licensed rights. During
the period of any such litigation, our ability to carry out the
development and commercialization of potential products could be
significantly and negatively affected. If our license rights were
restricted or ultimately lost, our ability to continue our business
based on the affected technology platform could be severely
adversely affected.
We will have to hire additional executive officers and employees to
operate our business. If we are unable to hire qualified personnel,
we may not be able to implement our business strategy.
We
currently have only two fulltime employees. The loss of the
services of any of our employees could delay our product
development programs and our research and development efforts. We
do not maintain key person life insurance on any of our officers,
employees or consultants. In order to develop our business in
accordance with our business strategy, we will have to hire
additional qualified personnel, including in the areas of
manufacturing, clinical trials management, regulatory affairs,
finance, and business development. We will need to raise sufficient
funds to hire the necessary employees and have commenced our search
for additional key employees.
Moreover,
there is intense competition for a limited number of qualified
personnel among biopharmaceutical, biotechnology, pharmaceutical
and other businesses. Many of the other pharmaceutical companies
against which we compete for qualified personnel have greater
financial and other resources, different risk profiles, longer
histories in the industry and greater ability to provide valuable
cash or stock incentives to potential recruits than we do. They
also may provide more diverse opportunities and better chances for
career advancement. Some of these characteristics may be more
appealing to high quality candidates than what we are able to offer
as an early- stage company. If we are unable to continue to attract
and retain high quality personnel, the rate and success at which we
can develop and commercialize product candidates will be
limited.
We depend on key personnel for our continued operations and future
success, and a loss of certain key personnel could significantly
hinder our ability to move forward with our business
plan.
Because
of the specialized nature of our business, we are highly dependent
on our ability to identify, hire, train and retain highly qualified
scientific and technical personnel for the research and development
activities we conduct or sponsor. The loss of one or more key
executive officers, or scientific officers, would be significantly
detrimental to us. In addition, recruiting and retaining qualified
scientific personnel to perform research and development work is
critical to our success. Our anticipated growth and expansion into
areas and activities requiring additional expertise, such as
clinical testing, regulatory compliance, manufacturing and
marketing, will require the addition of new management personnel
and the development of additional expertise by existing management
personnel. There is intense competition for qualified personnel in
the areas of our present and planned activities. Accordingly, we
may not be able to continue to attract and retain the qualified
personnel, which would adversely affect the development of our
business.
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, with contractual
provisions and other procedures, 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 employers. Litigation may be necessary
to defend against any such 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 contributes to the development of
intellectual property that we regard as our own. Further, the terms
of such assignment agreements may be breached and we may not be
able to successfully enforce their terms, which may force us to
bring claims against third parties, or defend claims they may bring
against us, to determine the ownership of intellectual property
rights we may regard and treat as our own.
Our employees may engage in misconduct or other improper
activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and
requirements, which could cause our business to
suffer.
We are
exposed to the risk of employee fraud or other misconduct.
Misconduct by employees could include intentional failures to
comply with regulations of governmental authorities, such as the
FDA or the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, to provide accurate
information to the FDA or EMA, to comply with manufacturing
standards we have established, to comply with federal, state and
international healthcare fraud and abuse laws and regulations as
they may become applicable to our operations, to report financial
information or data accurately or to 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 currently take and the
procedures we may establish in the future as our operations and
employee base expand to detect and prevent this type of 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 by our employees
to comply with such laws 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.
Our reliance on the activities of our non-employee consultants,
research institutions and scientific contractors, whose activities
are not wholly within our control, may lead to delays in
development of our proposed products.
We rely
extensively upon and have relationships with scientific consultants
at academic and other institutions, some of whom conduct research
at our request, and other consultants with expertise in clinical
development strategy or other matters. These consultants are not
our employees and may have commitments to, or consulting or
advisory contracts with, other entities that may limit their
availability to us. We have limited control over the activities of
these consultants and, except as otherwise required by our
collaboration and consulting agreements to the extent they exist,
can expect only limited amounts of their time to be dedicated to
our activities. These research facilities may have commitments to
other commercial and non-commercial entities. We have limited
control over the operations of these laboratories and can expect
only limited amounts of time to be dedicated to our research
goals.
It may take longer to complete our clinical trials than we project,
or we may not be able to complete them at all.
For
budgeting and planning purposes, we have projected the date for the
commencement, continuation and completion of our various clinical
trials. However, a number of factors, including scheduling
conflicts with participating clinicians and clinical institutions,
and difficulties in identifying and enrolling patients who meet
trial eligibility criteria, may cause significant delays. We may
not commence or complete clinical trials involving any of our
products as projected or may not conduct them
successfully.
We
expect to rely on medical institutions, academic institutions or
clinical research organizations to conduct, supervise or monitor
some or all aspects of clinical trials involving our products. We
will have less control over the timing and other aspects of these
clinical trials than if we conducted them entirely on our own. If
we fail to commence or complete, or experience delays in, any of
our planned clinical trials, our stock price and our ability to
conduct our business as currently planned could be
harmed.
Clinical drug development is costly, time-consuming and uncertain,
and we may suffer setbacks in our clinical development program that
could harm our business.
Clinical
drug development for our product candidates is costly,
time-consuming and uncertain. Our product candidates are in various
stages of development and while we expect that clinical trials for
these product candidates will continue for several years, such
trials may take significantly longer than expected to complete. In
addition, we, the FDA, an institutional review board, or IRB, or
other regulatory authorities, including state and local agencies
and counterpart agencies in foreign countries, may suspend, delay,
require modifications to or terminate our clinical trials at any
time, for various reasons, including:
●
discovery
of safety or tolerability concerns, such as serious or unexpected
toxicities or side effects or exposure to otherwise unacceptable
health risks, with respect to study participants;
●
lack of
effectiveness of any product candidate during clinical trials or
the failure of our product candidates to meet specified
endpoints;
●
delays
in subject recruitment and enrollment in clinical trials or
inability to enroll a sufficient number of patients in clinical
trials to ensure adequate statistical ability to detect
statistically significant treatment effects;
●
difficulty
in retaining subjects and volunteers in clinical
trials;
●
difficulty
in obtaining IRB approval for studies to be conducted at each
clinical trial site;
●
delays
in manufacturing or obtaining, or inability to manufacture or
obtain, sufficient quantities of materials for use in clinical
trials;
●
inadequacy
of or changes in our manufacturing process or the product
formulation or method of delivery;
●
delays
or failure in reaching agreement on acceptable terms in clinical
trial contracts or protocols with prospective contract research
organizations, or CROs, clinical trial sites and other third-party
contractors;
●
inability
to add a sufficient number of clinical trial sites;
●
uncertainty
regarding proper formulation and dosing;
●
failure
by us, our employees, our CROs or their employees or other
third-party contractors to comply with contractual and applicable
regulatory requirements or to perform their services in a timely or
acceptable manner;
●
scheduling
conflicts with participating clinicians and clinical
institutions;
●
failure
to design appropriate clinical trial protocols;
●
inability
or unwillingness of medical investigators to follow our clinical
protocols;
●
difficulty
in maintaining contact with subjects during or after treatment,
which may result in incomplete data; or
●
changes
in applicable laws, regulations and regulatory
policies.
If we experience delays or difficulties in the enrollment of
patients in clinical trials, those clinical trials could take
longer than expected to complete and our receipt of necessary
regulatory approvals could be delayed or prevented.
We may
not be able to initiate or continue clinical trials for our product
candidates if we are unable to locate and enroll a sufficient
number of eligible patients to participate in these trials as
required by U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or the FDA, or
similar regulatory authorities outside the United States. In
particular, because we are focused on patients with molecularly
defined cancers, our pool of suitable patients may be smaller and
more selective and our ability to enroll a sufficient number of
suitable patients may be limited or take longer than anticipated.
In addition, some of our competitors have ongoing clinical trials
for product candidates that treat the same indications as our
product candidates, and patients who would otherwise be eligible
for our clinical trials may instead enroll in clinical trials of
our competitors’ product candidates.
Patient
enrollment for any of our clinical trials may also be affected by
other factors, including without limitation:
●
the
severity of the disease under investigation;
●
the
frequency of the molecular alteration we are seeking to target in
the applicable trial;
●
the
eligibility criteria for the study in question;
●
the
perceived risks and benefits of the product candidate under
study;
●
the
extent of the efforts to facilitate timely enrollment in clinical
trials;
●
the
patient referral practices of physicians;
●
the
ability to monitor patients adequately during and after treatment;
and
●
the
proximity and availability of clinical trial sites for prospective
patients.
Our
inability to enroll a sufficient number of patients for our
clinical trials would 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 we may not have
or be able to obtain sufficient cash to fund such increased costs
when needed, which could result in the further delay or termination
of the trial.
Consistent
with our general product development strategy, we intend to design
future trials for our product candidates to include some patients
with the applicable clinical characteristics, stage of therapy,
molecular alterations, biomarkers, and/or cell surface antigens
that determine therapeutic options, or are indicators of the
disease, with a view to assessing possible early evidence of
potential therapeutic effect. If we are unable to locate and
include such patients in those trials, then our ability to make
those early assessments and to seek participation in FDA expedited
review and approval programs, including breakthrough therapy and
fast track designation, or otherwise to seek to accelerate clinical
development and regulatory timelines, could be
compromised.
We have limited clinical testing and regulatory capabilities, and
human clinical trials are subject to extensive regulatory
requirements, very expensive, time-consuming and difficult to
design and implement. Our products may fail to achieve necessary
safety and efficacy endpoints during clinical trials, which may
limit our ability to generate revenues from therapeutic
products.
We
cannot assure you that we will be able to invest or develop
resources for clinical trials successfully or as expediently as
necessary. In particular, human clinical trials can be very
expensive and difficult to design and implement, in part because
they are subject to rigorous regulatory requirements. The clinical
trial process is time consuming. We estimate that clinical trials
of our product candidates will take at least several years to
complete. Furthermore, failure can occur at any stage of the
trials, and we could encounter problems that cause us to abandon or
repeat clinical trials. The commencement and completion of clinical
trials may be affected by several factors, including:
●
unforeseen
safety issues;
●
determination
of dosing issues;
●
inability
to demonstrate effectiveness during clinical trials;
●
slower
than expected rates of patient recruitment;
●
inability
to monitor patients adequately during or after treatment;
and
●
inability
or unwillingness of medical investigators to follow our clinical
protocols.
In
addition, we or the FDA, may suspend our clinical trials at any
time if it appears that we are exposing participants to
unacceptable health risks or if the FDA finds deficiencies in our
investigational new drug application, or IND, submissions or the
conduct of these trials.
We are subject to extensive regulation, which can be costly and
time consuming and can subject us to unanticipated delays. even if
we obtain regulatory approval for some of our products, those
products may still face regulatory difficulties.
All of
our potential products, processing and manufacturing activities,
are subject to comprehensive regulation by the FDA in the United
States and by comparable authorities in other countries. The
process of obtaining FDA and other required regulatory approvals,
including foreign approvals, is expensive and often takes many
years and can vary substantially based upon the type, complexity
and novelty of the products involved. In addition, regulatory
agencies may lack experience with our technologies and products,
which may lengthen the regulatory review process, increase our
development costs and delay or prevent their
commercialization.
If we
violate regulatory requirements at any stage, whether before or
after we obtain marketing approval, the FDA may take enforcement
action(s) against us, which could include issuing a warning or
untitled letter, placing a clinical hold on an ongoing clinical
trial, product seizure, enjoining our operations, refusal to
consider our applications for pre-market approval, refusal of an
investigational new drug application, fines, or even civil or
criminal liability, any of which could materially harm our
reputation and financial results. Additionally, we may not be able
to obtain the labeling claims necessary or desirable for the
promotion of our products. We may also be required to undertake
post marketing trials to provide additional evidence of safety and
effectiveness. In addition, if we or others identify side effects
after any of our adoptive therapies are on the market, or if
manufacturing problems occur, regulators may withdraw their
approval and reformulations, additional clinical trials, changes in
labeling of our products, and additional marketing applications may
be required.
Any of
the following factors, among others, could cause regulatory
approval for our product candidates to be delayed, limited or
denied:
●
the
product candidates require significant clinical testing to
demonstrate safety and effectiveness before applications for
marketing approval can be filed with the FDA and other regulatory
authorities;
●
data
obtained from pre-clinical and nonclinical animal testing and
clinical trials can be interpreted in different ways, and
regulatory authorities may not agree with our respective
interpretations or may require us to conduct additional
testing;
●
negative
or inconclusive results or the occurrence of serious or unexpected
adverse events during a clinical trial could cause us to delay or
terminate development efforts for a product candidate;
and/or
●
FDA and
other regulatory authorities may require expansion of the size and
scope of the clinical trials.
Any
difficulties or failures that we encounter in securing regulatory
approval for our product candidates would likely have a substantial
adverse impact on our ability to generate product sales, and could
make any search for a collaborative partner more
difficult.
Obtaining regulatory approval even after clinical trials that are
believed to be successful is an uncertain process.
Even if
we complete our planned clinical trials and believe the results
were successful, obtaining regulatory approval is a lengthy,
expensive and uncertain process, and the FDA or other regulatory
agencies may delay, limit or deny approval of any of our
applications for pre-market approval for many reasons,
including:
●
we may
not be able to demonstrate to the FDA’s satisfaction that our
product candidates are safe and effective for any
indication;
●
the
results of clinical trials may not meet the level of statistical
significance or clinical significance required by the FDA for
approval;
●
the FDA
may disagree with the number, design, size, conduct or
implementation of our clinical trials;
●
the FDA
may not find the data from pre-clinical studies and clinical trials
sufficient to demonstrate that the clinical and other benefits of
our product candidates outweigh their safety risks;
●
the FDA
may disagree with our interpretation of data from pre-clinical
studies or clinical trials, or may not accept data generated at our
clinical trial sites;
●
the
data collected from pre-clinical studies and clinical trials of our
product candidates may not be sufficient to support the submission
of applications for regulatory approval;
●
the FDA
may have difficulties scheduling an advisory committee meeting in a
timely manner, or the advisory committee may recommend against
approval of our application or may recommend that the FDA require,
as a condition of approval, additional pre-clinical studies or
clinical trials, limitations on approved labeling, or distribution
and use restrictions;
●
the FDA
may require development of a risk evaluation and mitigation
strategy as a condition of approval;
●
the FDA
may identify deficiencies in the manufacturing processes or
facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we enter into
agreements for clinical and commercial supplies;
●
the FDA
may change their approval policies or adopt new regulations that
adversely affect our applications for pre-market approval;
and
●
the FDA
may require simultaneous approval for both adults and for children
and adolescents delaying needed approvals, or we may have
successful clinical trial results for adults but not children and
adolescents, or vice versa.
Before
we can submit an application for regulatory approval in the United
States, we must conduct a pivotal, Phase 3 trial. We will also need
to agree on a protocol with the FDA for a clinical trial before
commencing the trial. Phase 3 clinical trials frequently produce
unsatisfactory results even though prior clinical trials were
successful. Therefore, even if the results of our Phase 2 trials
are successful, the results of the additional trials that we
conduct may or may not be successful. Further, our product
candidates may not be approved even if they achieve their primary
endpoints in Phase 3 clinical trials. The FDA or other foreign
regulatory authorities may disagree with our trial design and our
interpretation of data from preclinical studies and clinical
trials. Any of these regulatory authorities may change requirements
for the approval of a product candidate even after reviewing and
providing comments or advice on a protocol for a clinical trial.
The FDA or other regulatory agencies may require that we conduct
additional clinical, nonclinical, manufacturing validation or drug
product quality studies and submit those data before considering or
reconsidering the application. Depending on the extent of these or
any other studies, approval of any applications that we submit may
be delayed by several years, or may require us to expend more
resources than we have available. It is also possible that
additional studies, if performed and completed, may not be
considered sufficient by the FDA or other regulatory
agencies.
In
addition, the FDA or other regulatory agencies may also approve a
product candidate for fewer or more limited indications than we
request, may impose significant limitations related to use
restrictions for certain age groups, warnings, precautions or
contraindications or may grant approval contingent on the
performance of costly post-marketing clinical trials or risk
mitigation requirements.
We will continue to be subject to extensive FDA regulation
following any product approvals, and if we fail to comply with
these regulations, we may suffer a significant setback in our
business.
Even if
we are successful in obtaining regulatory approval of our product
candidates, we will continue to be subject to the requirements of
and review by, the FDA and comparable regulatory authorities in the
areas of manufacturing processes, post-approval clinical data,
adverse event reporting, labeling, advertising and promotional
activities, among other things. In addition, any marketing approval
we receive may be limited in terms of the approved product
indication or require costly post-marketing testing and
surveillance. Discovery after approval of previously unknown
problems with a product, manufacturer or manufacturing process, or
a failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in
enforcement actions such as:
●
warning
letters or other actions requiring changes in product manufacturing
processes or restrictions on product marketing or
distribution;
●
product
recalls or seizures or the temporary or permanent withdrawal of a
product from the market;
●
suspending
any ongoing clinical trials;
●
temporary
or permanent injunctions against our production
operations;
●
refusal
of our applications for pre-market approval or an investigational
new drug application; and
●
fines,
restitution or disgorgement of profits or revenue, the imposition
of civil penalties or criminal prosecution.
The
occurrence of any of these actions would likely cause a material
adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of
operations.
Many of our business practices are subject to scrutiny and
potential investigation by regulatory and government enforcement
authorities, as well as to lawsuits brought by private citizens
under federal and state laws. We could become subject to
investigations, and our failure to comply with applicable law or an
adverse decision in lawsuits may result in adverse consequences to
us. If we fail to comply with U.S. healthcare laws, we could face
substantial penalties and financial exposure, and our business,
operations and financial condition could be adversely
affected.
While
payment is not yet available from third-party payors (government or
commercial) for our product, our goal is to obtain such coverage as
soon as possible after product approval and commercial launch in
the U.S. If this occurs, the availability of such payment would
mean that many healthcare laws would place limitations and
requirements on the manner in which we conduct our business
(including our sales and promotional activities and interactions
with healthcare professionals and facilities) and could result in
liability and exposure to us. In some instances, our interactions
with healthcare professionals and facilities that occurred prior to
commercialization could have implications at a later date. The laws
that may affect our ability to operate include, among others: (i)
the federal healthcare programs Anti- Kickback Statute, which
prohibits, among other things, persons from knowingly and willfully
soliciting, receiving, offering or paying remuneration, directly or
indirectly, in exchange for or to induce either the referral of an
individual for, or the purchase, order or recommendation of, any
good or service for which payment may be made under federal
healthcare programs such as Medicare or Medicaid; (ii) federal
false claims laws which prohibit, among other things, individuals
or entities from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented,
claims for payment from Medicare, Medicaid, or other third-party
payors that are false or fraudulent, and which may apply to
entities like us under theories of “implied
certification” where the government and qui tam relators may
allege that device companies are liable where a product that was
paid for by the government in whole or in part was promoted
“off-label,” lacked necessary approval, or failed to
comply with good manufacturing practices or other laws; (iii)
transparency laws and related reporting and/or disclosures such as
the Sunshine Act; and/or (iv) state law equivalents of each of the
above federal laws, such as anti-kickback and false claims laws
which may apply to items or services reimbursed by any third-party
payor, including commercial insurers, many of which differ from
their federal counterparts in significant ways, thus complicating
compliance efforts.
If our
operations are found to be in violation of any of the laws
described above or any other governmental regulations that apply to
us, we may be subject to penalties, including civil and criminal
penalties, exclusion from participation in government healthcare
programs, damages, fines and the curtailment or restructuring of
our operations. Any penalties, damages, fines, curtailment or
restructuring of our operations could adversely affect our ability
to operate our business and our financial results. The risk of our
being found in violation of these laws is increased by the fact
that their provisions are open to a variety of evolving
interpretations and enforcement discretion. Any action against us
for violation of these laws, even if we successfully defend against
it, could cause us to incur significant legal expenses and divert
our management’s attention from the operation of our
business.
Both
federal and state government agencies have heightened civil and
criminal enforcement efforts. There are numerous ongoing
investigations of healthcare pharmaceutical companies and others in
the healthcare space, as well as their executives and managers. In
addition, amendments to the Federal False Claims Act, have made it
easier for private parties to bring quitam (whistleblower) lawsuits
against companies under which the whistleblower may be entitled to
receive a percentage of any money paid to the government. In
addition, the Affordable Care Act amended the federal civil False
Claims Act to provide that a claim that includes items or services
resulting from a violation of the federal anti-kickback statute
constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the federal
civil False Claims Act. Penalties include substantial fines for
each false claim, plus three times the amount of damages that the
federal government sustained because of the act of that person or
entity and/or exclusion from the Medicare program. In addition, a
majority of states have adopted similar state whistleblower and
false-claims provision. There can be no assurance that our
activities will not come under the scrutiny of regulators and other
government authorities or that our practices will not be found to
violate applicable laws, rules and regulations or prompt lawsuits
by private citizen "relators" under federal or state false claims
laws. Any future investigations of our business or executives, or
enforcement action or prosecution, could cause us to incur
substantial costs, and result in significant liabilities or
penalties, as well as damage to our reputation.
Laws
impacting the U.S. healthcare system are subject to a great deal of
uncertainty, which may result in adverse consequences to our
business.
There
have been a number of legislative and regulatory proposals to
change the healthcare system, reduce the costs of healthcare and
change medical reimbursement policies. Doctors, clinics, hospitals
and other users of our products may decline to purchase our
products to the extent there is uncertainty regarding coverage from
government or commercial payors. Further proposed legislation,
regulation and policy changes affecting third-party reimbursement
are likely. Among other things, Congress has in the past proposed
changes to and the repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care and Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act
of 2010 (collectively, the “Affordable Care Act”), and
lawsuits have been brought challenging aspects of the law at
various points. There have been repeated recent attempts by
Congress to repeal or replace the Affordable Care Act. At this
time, it remains unclear whether there will be any changes made to
or any repeal or replacement of the Affordable Care Act, with
respect to certain of its provisions or in its entirety. We are
unable to predict what legislation or regulation, if any, relating
to the health care industry or third-party coverage and
reimbursement may be enacted in the future at the state or federal
level, or what effect such legislation or regulation may have on
us. Denial of coverage and reimbursement of our products, or the
revocation or changes to coverage and reimbursement policies, could
have a material adverse effect on our business, results of
operations and financial condition.
We may not be successful in our efforts to build a pipeline of
product candidates.
A key
element of our strategy is to use and expand our product platform
to build a pipeline of product candidates, and progress those
product candidates through clinical development for the treatment
of a variety of different types of cancer. Even if we are
successful in building a product pipeline, the potential product
candidates that we identify may not be suitable for clinical
development for a number of reasons, including causing harmful side
effects or demonstrating other characteristics that indicate a low
likelihood of receiving marketing approval or achieving market
acceptance. If our methods of identifying potential product
candidates fail to produce a pipeline of potentially viable product
candidates, then our success as a business will be dependent on the
success of fewer potential product candidates, which introduces
risks to our business model and potential limitations to any
success we may achieve.
Our product candidates may cause undesirable side effects or have
other properties that could delay or prevent their regulatory
approval, limit the commercial profile of an approved label, or
result in significant negative consequences following marketing
approval, if any.
Additionally,
if one or more of our product candidates receives marketing
approval, and we or others later identify undesirable side effects
caused by such products, a number of potentially significant
negative consequences could result, including:
●
regulatory
authorities may withdraw approvals of such product;
●
regulatory
authorities may require additional warnings on the product’s
label;
●
we may
be required to create a medication guide for distribution to
patients that outlines the risks of such side effects;
●
we
could be sued and held liable for harm caused to patients;
and
●
our
reputation may suffer.
Any of
these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market
acceptance of the particular product candidate, if approved, and
could significantly harm our business, results of operations and
prospects.
We may expend our limited resources to pursue a particular product
candidate or indication that does not produce any commercially
viable products and may fail to capitalize on product candidates or
indications that may be more profitable or for which there is a
greater likelihood of success.
Because
we have limited financial and managerial resources, we must focus
our efforts on particular research programs and product candidates
for specific 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.
Further, our resource allocation decisions may result in our use of
funds for research and development programs and product candidates
for specific indications that may not yield any commercially viable
products. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential
or target market for a particular product candidate, we may
relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through
collaboration, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in
which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole
development and commercialization rights to such product candidate.
Any such failure to improperly assess potential product candidates
could result in missed opportunities and/or our focus on product
candidates with low market potential, which would harm our business
and financial condition.
Our products may be expensive to manufacture, and they may not be
profitable if we are unable to control the costs to manufacture
them.
Our
products may be significantly more expensive to manufacture than we
expect or than other therapeutic products currently on the market
today. We hope to substantially reduce manufacturing costs through
process improvements, development of new methods, increases in
manufacturing scale and outsourcing to experienced manufacturers.
If we are not able to make these, or other improvements, and
depending on the pricing of the product, our profit margins may be
significantly less than that of other therapeutic products on the
market today. In addition, we may not be able to charge a high
enough price for any product we develop, even if they are safe and
effective, to make a profit. If we are unable to realize
significant profits from our potential product candidates, our
business would be materially harmed.
We currently lack manufacturing capabilities to produce our
therapeutic product candidates at commercial-scale quantities and
do not have an alternate manufacturing supply, which could
negatively impact our ability to meet any future demand for the
product.
We
expect that we would need to significantly expand our manufacturing
capabilities to meet potential demand for our therapeutic product
candidates, if approved. Such expansion would require additional
regulatory approvals. Even if we increase our manufacturing
capabilities, it is possible that we may still lack sufficient
capacity to meet demand.
We do
not currently have any alternate supply for our products. If the
facilities where our products are currently being manufactured or
equipment were significantly damaged or destroyed, or if there were
other disruptions, delays or difficulties affecting manufacturing
capacity or availability of drug supply, including, but not limited
to, if such facilities are deemed not in compliance with current
Good Manufacturing Practice, or GMP, requirements, future clinical
studies and commercial production for our products would likely be
significantly disrupted and delayed. It would be both time-
consuming and expensive to replace this capacity with third
parties, particularly since any new facility would need to comply
with the regulatory requirements.
Ultimately,
if we are unable to supply our products to meet commercial demand,
whether because of processing constraints or other disruptions,
delays or difficulties that we experience, our production costs
could dramatically increase and sales of our products and their
long-term commercial prospects could be significantly
damaged.
To be successful, our proposed products must be accepted by the
healthcare community, which can be very slow to adopt or
unreceptive to new technologies and products.
Our
proposed products and those developed by our collaborative
partners, if approved for marketing, may not achieve market
acceptance since hospitals, physicians, patients or the medical
community in general may decide not to accept and use these
products. The products that we are attempting to develop represent
substantial departures from established treatment methods and will
compete with a number of more conventional therapies manufactured
and marketed by major pharmaceutical companies. The degree of
market acceptance of any of our developed products will depend on a
number of factors, including:
●
our
establishment and demonstration to the medical community of the
clinical efficacy and safety of our proposed products;
●
our
ability to create products that are superior to alternatives
currently on the market;
●
our
ability to establish in the medical community the potential
advantage of our treatments over alternative treatment methods;
and
●
reimbursement
policies of government and third-party payers.
If the
healthcare community does not accept our products for any of these
reasons, or for any other reason, our business would be materially
harmed.
Our business is based on novel technologies that are inherently
expensive and risky and may not be understood by or accepted in the
marketplace, which could adversely affect our future
value.
The
clinical development, commercialization and marketing of
immuno-oncology therapies are at an early-stage, substantially
research- oriented, and financially speculative. To date, very few
companies have been successful in their efforts to develop and
commercialize an immuno-oncology therapeutic product. In general,
such products may be susceptible to various risks, including
undesirable and unintended side effects, unintended immune system
responses, inadequate therapeutic efficacy, or other
characteristics that may prevent or limit their approval or
commercial use. Furthermore, the number of people who may use such
therapies is difficult to forecast with accuracy. Our future
success is dependent on the establishment of a significant market
for such therapies and our ability to capture a share of this
market with our product candidates.
Our
development efforts with our therapeutic product candidates are
susceptible to the same risks of failure inherent in the
development and commercialization of therapeutic products based on
new technologies. The novel nature of immuno-oncology therapeutics
creates significant challenges in the areas of product development
and optimization, manufacturing, government regulation, third-party
reimbursement and market acceptance. For example, the FDA has
relatively limited experience regulating such therapies, and there
are few approved treatments using such therapy.
Our competition includes fully integrated biotechnology and
pharmaceutical companies that have significant advantages over
us.
The
market for therapeutic immuno-oncology products is highly
competitive. We expect that our most significant competitors will
be fully integrated and more established pharmaceutical and
biotechnology companies or institutions, including major
multinational pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies and
universities and other research institutions. These companies are
developing similar products, and they have significantly greater
capital resources and research and development, manufacturing,
testing, regulatory compliance, and marketing capabilities. Many of
these potential competitors may be further along in the process of
product development and also operate large, company-funded research
and development programs. As a result, our competitors may develop
more competitive or affordable products, or achieve earlier patent
protection or product commercialization than we are able to
achieve. Competitive products may render any products or product
candidates that we develop obsolete.
Many of
our competitors have substantially greater financial, technical and
other resources than we do, such as larger research and development
staff and experienced marketing and manufacturing organizations.
Additional mergers and acquisitions in the biotechnology and
pharmaceutical industries may result in even more resources being
concentrated in certain of our competitors. As a result, these
companies may be able to obtain regulatory approval more rapidly
than we can and may be more effective in selling and marketing
their products. Smaller or early-stage companies may also prove to
be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative
arrangements with large, established companies. 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 drug products that are more
effective or less costly to produce or purchase on the market than
any product candidate we are currently developing or that we may
seek to develop in the future. If approved, our product candidates
will face competition from commercially available drugs as well as
drugs that are in the development pipelines of our
competitors.
Established
pharmaceutical companies may invest heavily to accelerate discovery
and development of or in-license novel compounds 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
safety in order to overcome price competition and to be
commercially successful. Accordingly, our competitors may succeed
in obtaining patent protection, receiving FDA, EMA or other
regulatory approval, or discovering, developing and commercializing
medicines before we do, which would have a material adverse impact
on our business and ability to achieve profitability from future
sales of our approved product candidates, if any.
If competitors develop and market products that are more effective,
safer or less expensive than our product candidates or offer other
advantages, our commercial prospects will be limited.
Our
therapeutic immuno-oncology development programs face, and will
continue to face, intense competition from pharmaceutical,
biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as numerous
academic and research institutions and governmental agencies
engaged in drug discovery activities or funding, both in the United
States and abroad. Some of these competitors are pursuing the
development of drugs and other therapies that target the same
diseases and conditions that we are targeting with our product
candidates. According to a recent analysis by InVentiv Health there
are over 800 companies developing approximately 1500 cancer
immunotherapies via 4000 development projects across 535 targets.
According to the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Research Association
Medicines in Development for Cancer 2018 Report, there were 135
drugs in development for the treatment of lymphoma, including
non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which accounts for nearly five percent of all
new cancer diagnoses.
As a
general matter, we also face competition from many companies that
are researching and developing cell therapies. Many of these
companies have financial and other resources substantially greater
than ours. In addition, many of these competitors have
significantly greater experience in testing pharmaceutical and
other therapeutic products, obtaining FDA and other regulatory
approvals, and marketing and selling. If we ultimately obtain
regulatory approval for any of our product candidates, we also will
be competing with respect to manufacturing efficiency and marketing
capabilities, areas in which we have limited or no commercial-scale
experience. Mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and
biotechnology industries may result in even more resources’
being concentrated by our competitors. Competition may increase
further as a result of advances made in the commercial
applicability of our technologies and greater availability of
capital for investment in these fields.
If we are unable to keep up with rapid technological changes in our
field or compete effectively, we will be unable to operate
profitably.
We are
engaged in activities in the biotechnology field, which is
characterized by extensive research efforts and rapid technological
progress. If we fail to anticipate or respond adequately to
technological developments, our ability to operate profitably could
suffer. Research and discoveries by other biotechnology,
agricultural, pharmaceutical or other companies may render our
technologies or potential products or services uneconomical or
result in products superior to those we develop. Similarly, any
technologies, products or services we develop may not be preferred
to any existing or newly developed technologies, products or
services.
We may not be able to obtain third-party patient reimbursement or
favorable product pricing, which would reduce our ability to
operate profitably.
Our
ability to successfully commercialize certain of our proposed
products in the human therapeutic field may depend to a significant
degree on patient reimbursement of the costs of such products and
related treatments at acceptable levels from government
authorities, private health insurers and other organizations, such
as health maintenance organizations. Reimbursement in the United
States or foreign countries may not be available for any products
we may develop, and, if available, may be decreased in the future.
Also, reimbursement amounts may reduce the demand for, or the price
of, our products with a consequent harm to our business. We cannot
predict what additional regulation or legislation relating to the
healthcare industry or third-party coverage and reimbursement may
be enacted in the future or what effect such regulation or
legislation may have on our business. If additional regulations are
overly onerous or expensive, or if healthcare-related legislation
makes our business more expensive or burdensome than originally
anticipated, we may be forced to significantly downsize our
business plans or completely abandon our business
model.
We may be subject to litigation that will be costly to defend or
pursue and uncertain in its outcome.
Our
business may bring us into conflict with our licensees, licensors
or others with whom we have contractual or other business
relationships, or with our competitors or others whose interests
differ from ours. If we are unable to resolve those conflicts on
terms that are satisfactory to all parties, we may become involved
in litigation brought by or against us. That litigation is likely
to be expensive and may require a significant amount of
management’s time and attention, at the expense of other
aspects of our business. The outcome of litigation is always
uncertain, and in some cases could include judgments against us
that require us to pay damages, enjoin us from certain activities,
or otherwise affect our legal or contractual rights, which could
have a significant adverse effect on our business.
We are exposed to the risk of liability claims, for which we may
not have adequate insurance.
Since
we participate in the pharmaceutical industry, we may be subject to
liability claims by employees, customers, end users and third
parties. We intend to obtain proper insurance, however, there can
be no assurance that any liability insurance we purchase will be
adequate to cover claims asserted against us or that we will be
able to maintain such insurance in the future. We intend to adopt
prudent risk-management programs to reduce these risks and
potential liabilities, however, we have not taken any steps to
create these programs and have no estimate as to the cost or time
required to do so and there can be no assurance that such programs,
if and when adopted, will fully protect us. We may not be able to
put risk management programs in place, or obtain insurance, if we
are unable to retain the necessary expertise and/or are
unsuccessful in raising necessary capital in the future. Our
failure to obtain appropriate insurance, or to adopt and implement
effective risk-management programs, as well as any adverse rulings
in any legal matters, proceedings and other matters could have a
material adverse effect on our business.
Preclinical
and clinical trials are conducted during the development of
potential products and other treatments to determine their safety
and efficacy for use by humans. Notwithstanding these efforts, when
our treatments are introduced into the marketplace, unanticipated
side effects may become evident. Manufacturing, marketing, selling
and testing our product candidates under development or to be
acquired or licensed, entails a risk of product liability claims.
We could be subject to product liability claims in the event that
our product candidates, processes, or products under development
fail to perform as intended. Even unsuccessful claims could result
in the expenditure of funds in litigation and the diversion of
management time and resources, and could damage our reputation and
impair the marketability of our product candidates and processes.
While we plan to maintain liability insurance for product liability
claims, we may not be able to obtain or maintain such insurance at
a commercially reasonable cost. If a successful claim were made
against us, and we lacked insurance or the amount of insurance were
inadequate to cover the costs of defending against or paying such a
claim or the damages payable by us, we would experience a material
adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of
operations.
We could be subject to product liability lawsuits based on the use
of our product candidates in clinical testing or, if obtained,
following marketing approval and commercialization. If product
liability lawsuits are brought against us, we may incur substantial
liabilities and may be required to cease clinical testing or limit
commercialization of our product candidates.
We
could be subject to product liability lawsuits if any product
candidate we develop allegedly causes injury or is found to be
otherwise unsuitable for human use during product testing,
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 and 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, if approved.
Even successful defense would require significant financial and
management resources. Regardless of the merits or eventual outcome,
liability claims may result in:
●
decreased
demand for our product candidates;
●
withdrawal
of clinical trial participants;
●
initiation
of investigations by regulators;
●
costs
to defend the related litigation;
●
a
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
revenues from product sales; and
●
the
inability to commercialize our product candidates.
Our
inability to retain sufficient product liability insurance at an
acceptable cost to protect against potential product liability
claims could prevent or inhibit the clinical testing and
commercialization of products we develop. We may wish to obtain
additional such insurance covering studies or trials in other
countries should we seek to expand those clinical trials or
commence new clinical trials in other jurisdictions or increase the
number of patients in any clinical trials we may pursue. We also
may determine that additional types and amounts of coverage would
be desirable at later stages of clinical development of our product
candidates or upon commencing commercialization of any product
candidate that obtains required approvals. However, we may not be
able to obtain any such additional insurance coverage when needed
on acceptable terms or at all. If we do not obtain or retain
sufficient product liability insurance, we could be responsible for
some or all of the financial costs associated with a product
liability claim relating to our preclinical and clinical
development activities, in the event that any such claim results in
a court judgment or settlement in an amount or of a type that is
not covered, in whole or in part, by any insurance policies we may
have or that is in excess of the limits of our insurance coverage.
We may not have, or be able to obtain, sufficient capital to pay
any such amounts that may not be covered by our insurance
policies.
We rely on third parties to conduct preclinical and clinical trials
of our product candidates. If these third parties do not
successfully carry out their contractual duties or meet expected
deadlines, we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for or
commercialize our product candidates and our business could be
substantially harmed.
We
rely, and expect to continue to rely, upon third-party CROs to
execute our preclinical and clinical trials and to monitor and
manage data produced by and relating to those trials. However, we
may not be able to establish arrangements with CROs when needed or
on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all, which could
negatively affect our development efforts with respect to our drug
product candidates and materially harm our business, operations and
prospects.
We will
have only limited control over the activities of the CRO we will
engage to conduct our clinical trials including the University of
Minnesota for our phase 1/2 clinical trial for GTB-3550.
Nevertheless, we are responsible for ensuring that each of our
studies is conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol,
legal, regulatory and scientific standards, and our reliance on any
CRO does not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities. Based
on our present expectations, we, our CROs and our clinical trial
sites are required to comply with good clinical practices, or GCPs,
for all of our product candidates in clinical development.
Regulatory authorities enforce GCPs through periodic inspections of
trial sponsors, principal investigators and trial sites. If we or
any of our CROs fail to comply with applicable GCPs, the clinical
data generated in the applicable trial may be deemed unreliable and
the FDA, EMA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may
require us to perform additional clinical trials before approving a
product candidate for marketing, which we may not have sufficient
cash or other resources to support and which would delay our
ability to generate revenue from any sales of such product
candidate. In addition, our clinical trials are required to be
conducted with product produced in compliance with current good
manufacturing practice requirements, or cGMPs. Our or our
CROs’ failure to comply with those regulations may require us
to repeat clinical trials, which would also require significant
cash expenditures and delay the regulatory approval
process.
Agreements
governing relationships with CROs generally provide those CROs with
certain rights to terminate a clinical trial under specified
circumstances. If a CRO that we have engaged terminates its
relationship with us during the performance of a clinical trial, we
would be forced to seek an engagement with a substitute CRO, which
we may not be able to do on a timely basis or on commercially
reasonable terms, if at all, and the applicable trial would
experience delays or may not be completed. In addition, our CROs
are not our employees, and except for remedies available to us
under any agreements we enter with them, we are unable to control
whether or not they devote sufficient time and resources to our
clinical, nonclinical and preclinical programs. If CROs do not
successfully carry out their contractual duties or obligations or
meet expected deadlines, if they need to be replaced or if the
quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is compromised
due to a failure to adhere to our clinical protocols, regulatory
requirements or for other reasons, our clinical trials may be
extended, delayed or terminated and we may not be able to obtain
regulatory approval for, or successfully commercialize, the
affected product candidates. As a result, our operations and the
commercial prospects for the effected product candidates would be
harmed, our costs could increase and our ability to generate
revenues could be delayed.
We contract with third parties for the supply of product candidates
for clinical testing and expect to contract with third parties for
the manufacturing of our product candidates for large-scale testing
and commercial supply. This reliance on third parties increases the
risk that we will not have sufficient quantities of our product
candidates or products or such quantities at an acceptable cost,
which could delay, prevent or impair our development or
commercialization efforts.
We
anticipate continuing our engagement of third parties to provide
our clinical supply as we advance our product candidates into and
through clinical development, and we depend on third parties to
produce and maintain sufficient quantities of material to supply
our clinical trials. If these third parties do not produce and
maintain adequate supplies of clinical material, our development
efforts could be significantly delayed, or could incur
substantially higher costs. We expect in the future to use third
parties for the manufacture of our product candidates for clinical
testing, as well as for commercial manufacture. We plan to enter
into long-term supply agreements with several manufacturers for
commercial supplies. We may be unable to reach agreement on
satisfactory terms with contract manufacturers to manufacture our
product candidates. Additionally, the facilities to manufacture our
product candidates must be the subject of a satisfactory inspection
before the FDA or other regulatory authorities approve a marketing
authorization for the product candidate manufactured at that
facility. We will depend on these third-party manufacturers for
compliance with the FDA’s and international regulatory
authority requirements for the manufacture of our finished
products. We do not control the manufacturing process of, and are
completely dependent on, our contract manufacturers for compliance
with cGMPs. If our manufacturers cannot successfully manufacture
material that conforms to our specifications and the FDA and other
regulatory authorities’ cGMP requirements, they will not be
able to secure and/or maintain regulatory approval for their
manufacturing facilities. In addition, we have no control over the
ability of our contract manufacturers to maintain adequate quality
control, quality assurance and qualified personnel. If the FDA or a
comparable foreign regulatory authority does not approve these
facilities for the manufacture of our product candidates or if it
withdraws any such approval in the future, we may need to find
alternative manufacturing facilities, which would significantly
impact our ability to develop, obtain regulatory approval for or
market our product candidates, if approved, and may subject us to
recalls or enforcement action for products already on the
market.
If any
of our product candidates are approved and contract manufacturers
fail to deliver the required commercial quantities of finished
product on a timely basis and at commercially reasonable prices,
and we are unable to find one or more replacement manufacturers
capable of production at a substantially equivalent cost, in
substantially equivalent volumes and quality and on a timely basis,
we would likely be unable to meet demand for our products and could
lose potential revenue. It may take several years to establish an
alternative source of supply for our product candidates and to have
any such new source approved by the FDA or any other relevant
regulatory authorities.
We currently have no marketing and sales force. If we are unable to
establish effective marketing and sales capabilities or enter into
agreements with third parties to market and sell our product
candidates, we may not be able to effectively market and sell our
product candidates, if approved, or generate product
revenues.
We
currently do not have a marketing or sales team for the marketing,
sales and distribution of any of our product candidates that are
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 and 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 products 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.
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.
Our business and operations would suffer in the event of system
failures.
Despite
the implementation of security measures, our internal computer
systems and those of our contractors and consultants are vulnerable
to damage from computer viruses, unauthorized access, natural
disasters, terrorism, war and telecommunication and electrical
failures. While we have not experienced any such system failure,
accident or security breach to date, if such an event were to occur
and cause interruptions in our operations, it could result in a
material disruption of our drug development programs. 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, we could incur liability and/or the further
development of our product candidates could be
delayed.
Our operations are vulnerable to interruption by natural disasters,
power loss, terrorist activity and other events beyond our control,
the occurrence of which could materially harm our
business.
Businesses
located in California have, in the past, been subject to electrical
blackouts as a result of a shortage of available electrical power,
and any future blackouts could disrupt our operations. We are
vulnerable to a major earthquake, wildfire and other natural
disasters, and we have not undertaken a systematic analysis of the
potential consequences to our business as a result of any such
natural disaster and do not have an applicable recovery plan in
place. We do not carry any business interruption insurance that
would compensate us for actual losses from interruption of our
business that may occur, and any losses or damages incurred by us
could cause our business to materially suffer.
Epidemic or pandemic outbreaks such as COVID-19 (coronavirus),
natural disasters, whether or not caused by climate change, unusual
weather conditions, terrorist acts and political events, could
disrupt business and result in halting our clinical trials and
otherwise adversely affect our financial performance.
The occurrence of one or more natural disasters, such as tornadoes,
hurricanes, fires, floods and earthquakes, unusual weather
conditions, epidemic outbreaks, terrorist attacks or disruptive
political events in certain regions where our operations are
located could adversely affect our business. Epidemic or pandemic
outbreaks, such as COVID-19 (coronavirus) could impact our
management and our ability to conduct clinical trials. This also
may affect the market conditions that would limit our ability to
raise additional capital. This could have a sustained material
adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of
operations.
We have not held regular annual meetings in the past, and if we are
required by the Delaware Court of Chancery to hold an annual
meeting pursuant to Section 211(c) of the Delaware General
Corporation Law, or the DGCL, it could result in the unanticipated
expenditure of funds, time and other Company
resources.
Section
2.2 of our bylaws provides that an annual meeting shall be held
each year on a date and at a time designated by our board of
directors, and Section 211(b) of the DGCL provides for an annual
meeting of stockholders to be held for the election of directors.
Section 211(c) of the DGCL provides that if there is a failure to
hold the annual meeting for a period of 13 months after the latest
to occur of the organization of the corporation, its last annual
meeting or last action by written consent to elect directors in
lieu of an annual meeting, the Delaware Court of Chancery may order
a meeting to be held upon the application of any stockholder or
director. Section 211(c) also provides that the failure to hold an
annual meeting shall not affect otherwise valid corporate acts or
result in a forfeiture or dissolution of the
corporation.
We have
not held regular annual meetings in the past because a substantial
majority of our stock is owned by a small number of stockholders,
making it easy to obtain written consent in lieu of a meeting when
necessary. In light of our historical liquidity constraints,
handling matters by written consent has allowed our Company to save
on the financial and administrative resources required to prepare
for and hold such annual meetings. To our knowledge, no stockholder
or director has requested our Company’s management to hold
such an annual meeting and no stockholder or director has applied
to the Delaware Court of Chancery seeking an order directing our
company to hold a meeting. However, if one or more stockholders or
directors were to apply to the Delaware Court of Chancery seeking
such an order, and if the Delaware Court of Chancery were to order
an annual meeting before we are prepared to hold one, the
preparation for the annual meeting and the meeting itself could
result in the unanticipated expenditure of funds, time, and other
Company resources.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
There has been a limited public market for our common stock, and we
do not know whether one will develop to provide you adequate
liquidity. Furthermore, the trading price for our common stock,
should an active trading market develop, may be volatile and could
be subject to wide fluctuations in per-share price.
Our
common stock is now listed for trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market
under the trading symbol “GTBP”; historically, however,
there has been a limited public market for our common stock. We
cannot assure you that an active trading market for our common
stock will develop or be sustained. The liquidity of any market for
the shares of our common stock will depend on a number of factors,
including:
●
the
number of stockholders;
●
our
operating performance and financial condition;
●
the
market for similar securities;
●
the
extent of coverage of us by securities or industry analysts;
and
●
the
interest of securities dealers in making a market in the shares of
our common stock.
Even if
an active trading market develops, the market price for our common
stock may be highly volatile and could be subject to wide
fluctuations. In addition, the price of shares of our common stock
could decline significantly if our future operating results fail to
meet or exceed the expectations of market analysts and investors
and actual or anticipated variations in our quarterly operating
results could negatively affect our share price.
Other
factors may also contribute to volatility of the price of our
common stock and could subject our common stock to wide
fluctuations. These include, but are not limited to:
●
developments
in the financial markets and worldwide or regional
economies;
●
announcements
of innovations or new products or services by us or our
competitors;
●
announcements
by the government relating to regulations that govern our
industry;
●
significant
sales of our common stock or other securities in the open
market;
●
variations
in interest rates;
●
changes
in the market valuations of other comparable companies;
and
●
changes
in accounting principles.
Our outstanding warrants may affect the market price of our common
stock.
As of April 12, 2021, we had approximately 28.4 million shares
of common stock outstanding and
issued or issuable and had outstanding warrants for the purchase of up to approximately
78,400 additional shares of common stock at an exercise price of $3.40 per
share, warrants for the purchase of up to approximately 4,268,280
additional shares of common
stock at an exercise price of $5.50 per share and warrants for the
purchase of up to approximately 247,250 additional shares of common
stock at an exercise price of $6.875 per share, all of which are exercisable as of the date of
this prospectus (subject to certain beneficial ownership
limitations). The amount of common stock reserved for issuance may
have an adverse impact on our ability to raise capital and may
affect the price and liquidity of our common stock in the public market. In addition,
the issuance of these shares of common stock will have a dilutive effect on
current stockholders’ ownership.
Because our common stock may be deemed a low-priced
“penny” stock, an investment in our common stock should
be considered high- risk and subject to marketability
restrictions.
Historically,
the trading price of our common stock has been $5.00 per share or
lower, and deemed a penny stock, as defined in Rule 3a51-1 under
the Exchange Act, and subject to the penny stock rules of the
Exchange Act specified in rules 15g-1 through 15g-10. Those rules
require broker–dealers, before effecting transactions in any
penny stock, to:
●
deliver
to the customer, and obtain a written receipt for, a disclosure
document;
●
disclose
certain price information about the stock;
●
disclose
the amount of compensation received by the broker–dealer or
any associated person of the broker–dealer;
●
send
monthly statements to customers with market and price information
about the penny stock; and
●
in some
circumstances, approve the purchaser’s account under certain
standards and deliver written statements to the customer with
information specified in the rules.
Consequently,
the penny stock rules may restrict the ability or willingness of
broker–dealers to sell the common stock and may affect the
ability of holders to sell their common stock in the secondary
market and the price at which such holders can sell any such
securities. These additional procedures could also limit our
ability to raise additional capital in the future.
Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority (“FINRA”) sales practice requirements may
also limit a stockholder’s ability to buy and sell our common
stock, which could depress the price of our common stock.
In addition to the “penny stock” rules described above,
FINRA has adopted rules that require a broker-dealer to have
reasonable grounds for believing that the investment is suitable
for that customer before recommending an investment to a customer.
Prior to recommending speculative low-priced securities to their
non-institutional customers, broker-dealers must make reasonable
efforts to obtain information about the customer’s financial
status, tax status, investment objectives and other information.
Under interpretations of these rules, FINRA believes that there is
a high probability that speculative low-priced securities will not
be suitable for at least some customers. Thus, the FINRA
requirements make it more difficult for broker-dealers to recommend
that their customers buy our common stock, which may limit your ability to buy
and sell our shares of common
stock, have an adverse effect on the market for our shares
of common stock, and thereby
depress our price per share of common stock.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or
reports about our business, or if they issue an adverse or
misleading opinion regarding our stock, our stock price and trading
volume could decline.
The
trading market for our common stock may be influenced by the
research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish
about us or our business. We currently
have research coverage by only one securities analyst, and we may
never obtain research coverage by additional analysts. If no
or few securities or industry analysts commence coverage of us, the
trading price for our common stock may be negatively affected. In
the event that we receive additional securities or industry analyst
coverage, if any of the analysts who cover us issue an adverse or
misleading opinion regarding us, our business model, our
intellectual property or our stock performance, or if our operating
results fail to meet the expectations of analysts, our stock price
would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease
coverage of us or fail to publish reports on us regularly, we could
lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause
our stock price or trading volume to decline.
Anti-takeover provisions may limit the ability of another party to
acquire us, which could cause our stock price to
decline.
Delaware
law and our charter, bylaws, and other governing documents contain
provisions that could discourage, delay or prevent a third party
from acquiring us, even if doing so may be beneficial to our
stockholders, which could cause our stock price to decline. In
addition, these provisions could limit the price investors would be
willing to pay in the future for shares of our common
stock.
We do not currently or for the foreseeable future intend to pay
dividends on our common stock.
We have
never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock. We
currently anticipate that we will retain future earnings for the
development, operation and expansion of our business and do not
anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends for the
foreseeable future. As a result, any return on your investment in
our common stock will be limited to the appreciation in the price
of our common stock, if any.