+-
美国
证券交易委员会
华盛顿特区,20549
表格:
根据1934年《证券交易法》第13或15(D)款规定的季度报告 |
截至本季度末
根据1934年《证券交易法》第13或15(D)款提交的过渡报告 |
从 到 .
佣金文件编号
(章程中规定的发行人的确切名称)
(述明或其他司法管辖权 | (税务局雇主 |
公司或组织) | 识别码) |
(主要执行机构地址和邮政编码)
(
(注册人的电话号码,包括区号)
用复选标记表示注册人(1)是否在过去12个月内(或注册人被要求提交此类报告的较短期限内)提交了1934年《证券交易法》第13节或15(D)节要求提交的所有报告,以及(2)在过去90天内是否符合此类提交要求。
用复选标记表示注册人是否已在过去12个月内(或在注册人被要求提交此类文件的较短时间内)以电子方式提交了根据S-T规则第405条(本章232.405节)要求提交的每个交互数据文件。
用复选标记表示注册人是大型加速申报公司、加速申报公司、非加速申报公司、较小的报告公司或新兴成长型公司。请参阅《交易法》第12b-2条规则中的“大型加速申报公司”、“加速申报公司”、“较小报告公司”和“新兴成长型公司”的定义。
加速文件管理器☐ | |
非加速文件管理器更新☐ | 规模较小的报告公司 |
| 新兴成长型公司 |
如果是一家新兴的成长型公司,用复选标记表示注册人是否已选择不使用延长的过渡期来遵守根据交易所法案第13(A)节提供的任何新的或修订的财务会计准则。☐
用复选标记表示注册人是否是空壳公司(如《交易法》第12b-2条所定义)。是
根据该法第12(B)款登记的证券:
每个班级的标题 |
| 交易代码 |
| 注册的每个交易所的名称 |
|
| 这个 |
截至2024年11月1日,发行人已
1
前瞻性陈述和市场数据
这份Form 10-Q季度报告包含前瞻性陈述,这些陈述基于管理层的信念和假设以及管理层目前掌握的信息。本报告中除有关历史事实的陈述外的所有陈述均为前瞻性陈述。在某些情况下,您可以通过以下词语来识别前瞻性陈述:“可能”、“将”、“可能”、“可能”、“应该”、“预期”、“打算”、“计划”、“预期”、“相信”、“估计”、“预测”、“项目”、“目标”、“潜力”、“继续”、“正在进行”、“目标”、““预测”、“指引”、“展望”或这些术语的否定或其他类似表述,尽管并不是所有前瞻性表述都包含这些词语。
这些表述涉及风险、不确定因素和其他因素,可能导致实际结果、活动水平、业绩或成就与这些前瞻性表述明示或暗示的信息大不相同。尽管我们认为本报告中的每一项前瞻性陈述都有合理的依据,但我们提醒您,这些陈述是基于我们目前已知的事实和因素以及我们对未来的预测,而我们不能确定这些事实和因素。本季度报告中关于Form 10-Q的前瞻性陈述包括但不限于以下陈述:
● | 我们临床试验的成功、成本、登记和时机; |
● | 我们产品开发活动的成功、成本和时机; |
● | 我们或我们的第三方合同制造商根据我们选择的工艺继续生产肿瘤浸润性淋巴细胞或TIL的能力; |
● | 我们有能力在预计费用内及时设计、建造和配备我们自己的制造工厂; |
● | 已有或可能获得的竞争性疗法的成功; |
● | 美国或美国以及其他国家的监管动态; |
● | 获得和维护美国食品和药物管理局、FDA、欧盟委员会或其他监管机构对我们的产品和/或候选产品的批准或其他行动的时间和能力; |
● | 我们吸引和留住关键科学或管理人员的能力; |
● | 我们对费用、未来收入、资本需求和额外融资需求的估计的准确性; |
● | 我们有能力为我们的运营获得资金,包括完成我们的候选产品的进一步开发和产品商业化所需的资金; |
● | 我们成功地将Amagvi™(脂质体)和ProIL商业化的能力® (Aldesil),以及我们获得或已经获得FDA或其他监管部门批准的任何其他产品和/或候选产品,包括欧盟的欧洲委员会或欧盟; |
● | 我们的第三方研究机构合作者继续与我们的候选产品相关的研究和开发活动的能力和意愿; |
● | 我们其他研发和战略合作的潜力; |
● | 我们对获得和维护我们的制造方法和产品和/或候选产品的知识产权保护能力的期望; |
● | 我们计划对我们的产品和/或候选产品进行研究、开发和商业化; |
● | 我们产品和/或候选产品的市场规模和增长潜力,以及我们为这些市场提供服务的能力; |
● | 我们与第三方供应商和制造商签订合同的能力以及他们充分履行合同的能力; |
● | 我们普通股交易价格的波动;和 |
● | 我们对现金和其他资源的使用。 |
2
由于我们业务中固有的风险和不确定性,实际结果可能与本Form 10-Q季度报告中陈述的结果不同,包括但不限于:FDA可能不同意我们对临床试验结果的解释;与FDA的后续发展可能与已经完成的FDA会议不一致;正在进行的第二阶段和第三阶段临床试验的初步临床结果,包括疗效和安全性结果,可能不会反映在这些临床试验的最终分析中,包括这些临床试验中的新队列;我们正在进行的临床试验中获得的结果,例如本季度报告中提到的10-Q表格中的研究和临床试验,可能不代表在未来的临床试验中获得的结果或对产品批准的支持;监管机构可能会推迟FDA或其他监管机构批准我们的候选产品的时间,或对我们的候选产品采取其他行动,具体地说,我们对FDA相互作用的描述受FDA的解释以及FDA要求新的或更多信息的授权;我们可能无法获得或维持FDA或其他监管机构对其候选产品的批准;我们有能力满足FDA或与我们的临床计划和注册计划相关的其他监管机构的要求,这些要求包括但不限于临床和安全要求,以及制造和控制要求;与我们加速的FDA审查指定相关的风险;我们获得和维护与我们的产品流水线相关的知识产权的能力;以及市场对我们的候选产品的接受程度,以及如果获得批准,付款人可能向我们支付的费用。
我们提醒您,上述风险、不确定因素和其他因素可能不包含对您重要的所有风险、不确定因素和其他因素。此外,我们不能保证未来的结果、活动水平、业绩或成就。我们在本Form 10-Q季度报告中所作的任何前瞻性陈述仅限于本Form 10-Q季度报告的日期或截止日期。除法律另有规定外,我们没有义务在本Form 10-Q季度报告发布之日之后公开更新任何前瞻性陈述,无论是由于新信息、未来事件或其他原因。
除文意另有所指外,在本报告中,术语“Iovance”、“公司”、“我们”、“我们”和“我们”是指Iovance BioTreateutics,Inc.。
3
第一部分:财务信息
第1项。简明综合 财务报表(未经审计)
IOVANCE BiotTherapeutics,Inc.
简明综合资产负债表
(未经审计;单位:千,份额和每股信息除外)
|
| 9月30日 | 12月31日 | |||
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| 2024 |
| 2023 | ||
资产 |
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流动资产 |
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现金及现金等价物 | $ | | $ | | ||
应收贸易账款 | | | ||||
短期投资 |
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库存 | | | ||||
预付费用和其他资产 |
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流动资产总额 |
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财产和设备,净额 | | | ||||
无形资产,净额 | | | ||||
经营性租赁使用权资产 | | | ||||
受限现金 | | | ||||
长期资产 |
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总资产 | $ | | $ | | ||
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负债和股东权益 |
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流动负债 |
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应付帐款 | $ | | $ | | ||
应计费用 |
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经营租赁负债 | | | ||||
流动负债总额 |
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非流动负债 |
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经营租赁负债--非流动负债 |
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递延税项负债 | | | ||||
长期应付票据 | | | ||||
非流动负债总额 |
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总负债 |
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承付款和或有事项 |
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股东权益 |
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A系列可转换优先股,$ |
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B系列可转换优先股,美元 |
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普通股,$ |
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累计其他综合损失 |
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额外实收资本 |
| |
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累计赤字 |
| ( |
| ( | ||
股东权益总额 |
| |
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总负债和股东权益 | $ | | $ | |
附注是这些简明综合财务报表的组成部分。
4
IOVANCE BiotTherapeutics,Inc.
简明综合业务报表
(未经审计;单位:千,每股信息除外)
截至三个月 | 九个月结束 | |||||||||||
9月30日 | 9月30日 | |||||||||||
| 2024 |
| 2023 |
| 2024 |
| 2023 | |||||
收入 | ||||||||||||
$ | | $ | | $ | | $ | | |||||
总收入 | | | | | ||||||||
成本和开支 |
|
|
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| ||||||||
销售成本 | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | | ||||
研发 | | | | | ||||||||
销售、一般和行政 |
| |
| |
| | | |||||
总成本和费用 |
| |
| |
| | | |||||
运营亏损 |
| ( |
| ( |
| ( | ( | |||||
其他收入 |
|
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利息收入,净额 |
| |
| |
| | | |||||
所得税前净亏损 | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | ||||
所得税优惠 | | | | | ||||||||
净亏损 | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | ||||
普通股每股净亏损、基本股和稀释股 | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | ||||
已发行普通股、基本股和稀释股的加权平均股 |
| |
|
| |
| |
附注是这些简明综合财务报表的组成部分。
5
6
IOVANCE BiotTherapeutics,Inc.
简明合并股东权益报表
截至2024年和2023年9月30日的三个月
(未经审计;单位:千,共享信息除外)
A轮 | B轮 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
可换股 | 可换股 | 额外 | 累计其他 | 总 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
首选袜子 | 优先股 | 普通股 | 实收 | 全面 | 积累 | 股东 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
| 股份 |
| 量 |
| 股份 |
| 量 |
| 股份 |
| 量 |
| 资本 |
| 收入(损失) |
| 赤字 |
| 股权 | |||||||
余额-2024年6月30日 |
| | $ | — | | $ | | | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | ( | $ | | |||||||||
基于股票的补偿费用 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| | — | — |
| | |||||||||||||||
购买员工股票购买计划时发行的普通股 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||
为服务而发行的限制性股份的归属 | — | — | — | — |
| |
| — |
| — | — | — |
| — | |||||||||||||
与既得限制性股票单位退役的股份相关的税款 | — | — | — | — | ( | — |
| ( | — | — |
| ( | |||||||||||||||
行使股票期权时发行的普通股 | — | — | — | — | | — | | — | — |
| | ||||||||||||||||
公开和/或在市场发售时出售的普通股,扣除发售成本 | — | — | — | — | | | | — | — | | |||||||||||||||||
未实现投资收益 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| | — |
| | |||||||||||||||
外币累计换算调整 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | — | | |||||||||||||||||
净亏损 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ( |
| ( | |||||||||||||||
余额-2024年9月30日 |
| | $ | — |
| | $ | |
| | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | ( | $ | | |||||||
余额-2023年6月30日 |
| | $ | — |
| | $ | |
| | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | ( | $ | | |||||||
基于股票的补偿费用 | — | — | — | — | — | — | | — | — |
| | ||||||||||||||||
购买员工股票购买计划时发行的普通股 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| — | ||||||||||||||||
为服务而发行的限制性股份的归属 | — | — | — | — | | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||
与既得限制性股票单位退役的股份相关的税款 | — | — | — | — | ( | — | ( | — | — | ( | |||||||||||||||||
公开和/或在市场发售时出售的普通股,扣除发售成本 | — | — | — | — | | | | — | — | | |||||||||||||||||
行使股票期权时发行的普通股 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| — | ||||||||||||||||
未实现投资收益 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | — |
| | ||||||||||||||||
外币累计换算调整 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ( | — | ( | |||||||||||||||||
净亏损 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ( |
| ( | |||||||||||||||
余额-2023年9月30日 |
| | $ | — |
| | $ | |
| | $ | | $ | | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | |
7
IOVANCE BiotTherapeutics,Inc.
简明合并股东权益报表
截至2024年9月30日和2023年9月30日的九个月
(未经审计;单位:千,共享信息除外)
A轮 | B轮 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
可换股 | 可换股 | 额外 | 累计其他 | 总 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
首选袜子 | 优先股 | 普通股 | 实收 | 全面 | 积累 | 股东 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
| 股份 |
| 量 |
| 股份 |
| 量 |
| 股份 |
| 量 |
| 资本 |
| 收入 |
| 赤字 |
| 股权 | |||||||
余额-2023年12月31日 |
| | $ | — |
| | $ | |
| | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | ( | $ | | |||||||
基于股票的补偿费用 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| | — | — |
| | |||||||||||||||
购买员工股票购买计划时发行的普通股 | — | — | — | — | | — | | — | — | | |||||||||||||||||
为服务而发行的限制性股份的归属 | — | — | — | — |
| |
| — |
| — | — | — |
| — | |||||||||||||
与既得限制性股票单位退役的股份相关的税款 | — | — | — | — | ( | — |
| ( | — | — |
| ( | |||||||||||||||
公开和/或在市场发售时出售的普通股,扣除发售成本 | | | | | |||||||||||||||||||||||
行使股票期权时发行的普通股 | — | — | — | — |
| |
| — |
| | — | — |
| | |||||||||||||
未实现投资收益 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| | — |
| | |||||||||||||||
外币累计调整 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | — | | |||||||||||||||||
净亏损 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ( |
| ( | |||||||||||||||
余额-2024年9月30日 |
| | $ | — |
| | $ | |
| | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | ( | $ | | |||||||
余额-2022年12月31日 |
| | $ | — |
| | $ | |
| | $ | | $ | | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | | |||||||
基于股票的补偿费用 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| | — | — |
| | |||||||||||||||
为服务而发行的限制性股份的归属 | — | — | — | — | | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||
与既得限制性股票单位退役的股份相关的税款 | — | — | — | — | ( | — | ( | — | — | ( | |||||||||||||||||
购买员工股票购买计划时发行的普通股 | — | — | — | — | | — | | — | — |
| | ||||||||||||||||
行使股票期权时发行的普通股 | — | — | — | — |
| |
| — |
| | — | — |
| | |||||||||||||
公开发行中出售的普通股,扣除发行成本 | — | — | — | — | | | | — | — |
| | ||||||||||||||||
未实现投资收益 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| | — | | ||||||||||||||||
外币累计换算调整 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ( | — | ( | |||||||||||||||||
净亏损 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ( | ( | ||||||||||||||||
余额-2023年9月30日 |
| | $ | — |
| | $ | |
| | $ | | $ | | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | |
8
IOVANCE BiotTherapeutics,Inc.
简明综合现金流量表
(未经审计;单位:千)
止九个月 | |||||||
9月30日 | |||||||
|
| 2024 |
| 2023 | |||
经营活动产生的现金流量 | |||||||
净亏损 | $ | ( | $ | ( | |||
将净亏损与经营活动中使用的净现金进行调节的调整: |
|
|
|
| |||
基于股票的补偿费用 | | | |||||
未实现外汇收益 | ( | | |||||
无形资产摊销 | | | |||||
使用权资产摊销 | | | |||||
财产和设备的折旧和摊销 | |
| | ||||
递延税项利益 | ( |
| ( | ||||
投资折扣和溢价的增加 | ( | ( | |||||
资产和负债变化: | |||||||
预付费用、其他资产和长期资产 | |
| ( | ||||
贸易应收帐款 | ( | | |||||
库存 | ( | ( | |||||
经营租赁负债 | ( |
| ( | ||||
应付帐款 | ( |
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应计费用和其他负债 | |
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经营活动所用现金净额 |
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投资活动产生的现金流量 | |||||||
投资成熟度 |
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购买投资 |
| ( |
| ( | |||
为收购支付的现金,包括或有对价,扣除收购现金 | ( | ( | |||||
添置物业及设备 |
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投资活动所用现金净额 |
| ( |
| ( | |||
融资活动现金流量 | |||||||
与既得限制性股票单位预扣税的股份相关的税款 |
| ( |
| ( | |||
员工股票购买计划下发行普通股的收益 |
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行使期权时发行普通股的收益 | | | |||||
发行普通股收益,净额 | | | |||||
融资活动提供的净现金 |
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外汇价位变化的影响 | | ( | |||||
现金、现金等值物和限制性现金净增加 |
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现金、现金等值物和期末限制现金 |
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期末现金、现金等值物和限制现金 | $ | | $ | | |||
非现金投资和融资活动补充披露: | |||||||
收购净资产公允价值 | $ | | $ | | |||
投资未实现净收益 | | | |||||
购置财产和设备,计入应付帐款和应计费用 | | | |||||
或有对价产生的无形资产和递延所得税负债 | | | |||||
应计资本化购置成本 | | | |||||
从新租赁中获得使用权资产产生的租赁负债 | | | |||||
通过租赁修改获得使用权资产产生的租赁负债 | | |
随附的附注是该等简明综合财务报表的组成部分。
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IOVANCE BiotTherapeutics,Inc.
简明综合财务报表附注
(未经审计)
注:1.一般组织、业务和流动资金
一般组织和业务
Iovance BioTreateutics,Inc.(“该公司”)是一家商业阶段的生物制药公司,通过利用人类免疫系统识别和摧毁不同癌细胞的能力,利用针对每个患者的个性化疗法,开创了一种治疗癌症的变革性方法。该公司的使命是成为为实体肿瘤患者创新、开发和提供肿瘤浸润性淋巴细胞(TIL)细胞疗法的全球领先者。该公司正在执行其自体TIL细胞治疗平台内的第一个产品Amagvi™(Lifileucel)在美国的推出,同时也在营销Proil®安塔维™治疗方案中使用的一种白介素2(“白介素2”)产品。Amagvi™是第一个也是唯一一个获得美国食品和药物管理局(FDA)批准的针对实体肿瘤的一次性个体化t细胞疗法。Amagvi™是一种肿瘤来源的自体t细胞免疫疗法,用于治疗先前使用PD-1封闭抗体治疗的无法切除或转移性黑色素瘤的成人患者,如果BRAF V600突变呈阳性,则使用或不使用MEK抑制剂的BRAF抑制剂。这一指示是根据总体应答率(“ORR”)加速批准的。这一适应症的持续批准可能取决于未来验证性试验中对临床益处的验证和描述。安塔格维™与白介素原®是包括淋巴清除术在内的治疗方案的一部分。
除美国市场外,该公司还计划向欧洲联盟、英国、加拿大、瑞士和澳大利亚等晚期黑色素瘤发病率较高的其他市场推出AMTAGVI™。2024年6月,该公司向欧洲药品管理局(EMA)提交了一份集中营销授权申请(MAA),要求获得lifileucel。2024年8月,MAA通过了验证并接受了EMA的审查。2024年10月,向英国药品和保健产品监管机构提交了MAA,新药提交(NDS)被认为有资格获得加拿大卫生部的遵守条件通知(NOC/C)。NOC/C政策包括一个优先的200天审查过程,以在2025年年中获得潜在的NDS批准。如果获得批准,lifileucel有望成为这些市场上第一个也是唯一一个在这种治疗环境下获得批准的疗法。在美国和其他目标全球市场,Amagvi™有潜力解决的不仅仅是
该公司的成立是基于TIL细胞治疗的承诺,这一承诺以前在包括国家癌症研究所(NCI)在内的学术研究中心的单中心临床试验中得到了证明。该公司的多中心试验、新颖的TIL产品、制造工艺、设施和生物分析平台已将TIL细胞疗法转变为一种商业上可行的疗法,成千上万的癌症患者可以获得这种疗法。
该公司使用集中化、可扩展和专有的制造工艺来生产AMTAGVI™及其研究中的TIL细胞疗法,这些工艺可使每个患者特有的多克隆T细胞恢复活力并增殖到数十亿细胞,从而产生一种冷冻保存的个性化治疗方法。AMTAGVI™是在公司的制造工厂--艾万斯细胞治疗中心(iCTC“)和合同制造组织(”CMO“)。
该公司的开发流水线包括在实体瘤癌症的额外治疗环境中进行TIL细胞疗法的多中心试验。该公司正在研究针对晚期疾病患者的TIL单一疗法,这些患者以前曾接受标准护理疗法的治疗,以及TIL与标准护理疗法的组合,以潜在地改善疾病早期患者的预后。该公司正在进行两个正在进行的注册试验,以支持补充BLA(“sBLA”),即其针对一线晚期黑色素瘤和晚期非小细胞肺癌(“NSCLC”)的TIL细胞疗法,这些疗法遵循标准护理化学免疫疗法。该公司还在开发下一代疗法,如转基因和基因编辑的TIL细胞疗法和下一代细胞因数。
未经审计的简明合并财务资讯的列报基础
随附的本公司截至2024年及2023年9月30日止九个月的未经审核简明综合财务报表,乃根据美国中期财务资料公认会计原则(“公认会计原则”)及S-X规定编制。因此,它们不包括公认会计准则要求审计的财务报表的所有资讯和注脚。然而,这些资讯反映了管理层认为必要的所有调整(仅包括正常的经常性调整)。
10
公司财务状况和经营成果的公允列报。中期业绩不一定代表截至2024年12月31日的年度或任何其他时期的预期业绩。截至2023年12月31日的简明综合资产负债表来自公司于2024年2月28日提交给美国证券交易委员会(以下简称“美国证券交易委员会”)的10-k表格年度报告中包含的经审计的综合财务报表。这些中期财务报表应与该报告一并阅读。公司简明综合财务报表和附注中报告的某些前期金额已重新分类,以符合本期列报。
流动性
截至2024年9月30日,该公司拥有
该公司预计将继续产生巨额费用,以支持其执行Amagvi™的商业推出,资助正在进行的临床专案,包括其非小细胞肺癌注册研究IOV-Lun-202,以及其一线晚期黑色素瘤3期确证试验TILVANCE-301,继续开发其流水线候选药物,并用于其他一般企业用途。根据公司截至这些简明综合财务报表发布之日的可用资金,公司认为,它有足够的资本为至少从这些简明综合财务报表发布之日起的未来12个月计划的预期运营费用和资本支出提供资金。
风险集中
该公司的现金、现金等价物、贸易应收账款和投资组合面临信用风险。根据其投资政策,该公司按信用评级、到期日、行业集团、投资类型和发行人限制投资于证券的金额,美国政府发行的证券除外。本公司认为,本公司不会因这些金融工具而面临任何重大的信用风险集中。其投资政策的目标是确保本金的安全和保值,分散风险,并使投资的流动性足以满足现金流要求。
附注2.重要会计政策摘要
现金、现金等价物和投资
该公司的现金和现金等价物包括购买时原始到期日不超过6个月的短期投资。该公司的投资被归类为“可供出售”。本公司根据报告日期起计的到期日,将该等流动资产或非流动资产的投资计入简明综合资产负债表,并按公允价值列账。可供出售证券的未实现损益计入简明综合全面损失表。与信贷损失有关的减值损失(如有)计入信贷损失准备,并计入利息收入净额抵销。截至2024年9月30日及2023年9月30日止九个月,并无确认与信贷损失有关的减值损失。债务证券的成本是根据溢价的摊销和到期折扣的增加进行调整的。此类摊销和增值计入利息收入,净额计入简明综合经营报表。出售证券的损益按特定的确认方法入账,并计入简明综合经营报表的利息收入净额。到目前为止,公司还没有因出售证券而产生任何已实现的收益或损失。该公司的投资政策将投资限于某些类型的工具,如存单、货币市场工具、美国政府和美国政府机构发行的债务以及公司债务证券和商业票据,并按类型和发行者对到期日和集中度进行限制,但美国政府发行的证券除外。
11
受限现金
截至2024年9月30日和2023年12月31日,受限现金总额为$
本公司在与其信用证有关的单独银行账户中维持规定的最低余额,其金额受本公司使用信用证的限制。截至2024年9月30日,本公司的信用证主要由一份以i用作租约保证金的CTC为#美元
金额为$的信用证
下表提供了简明综合资产负债表中报告的现金、现金等值物和受限制现金的对账,其总和相当于简明综合现金流量表中所示的相同金额的总和(以千计):
|
| 9月30日 | ||||
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||
现金及现金等价物 | $ | | $ | | ||
受限制现金(当前和长期) |
| |
| | ||
现金总额、现金等价物和限制性现金 | $ | | $ | |
资产收购
本公司使用会计准则编撰(“ASC”)主题805中的指导原则评估资产收购,企业合并(“ASC 805”),以确定交易是否应计入业务合并或资产收购,方法是首先应用筛选测试,评估收购的总资产的公允价值是否基本上全部集中在单一的可识别资产或资产组中。如果符合筛选测试,该交易将作为资产收购入账。如果未通过筛选测试,则需要进行进一步评估,以确定公司是否已获得能够创建符合业务要求的输出的投入和流程。
如果收购的资产不构成企业,本公司采用成本累计和分配法对资产收购进行会计处理。根据这一方法,收购的成本,包括与收购有关的直接成本,按相对公允价值分配给收购的资产。商誉不在资产收购中确认,转让对价与收购净资产的公允价值之间的任何差额根据其相对公允价值分配给收购的可识别资产。
使用ASC主题740下的联立方程方法计算由所获得资产的基差所产生的递延税项负债,所得税(“ASC 740”),并以实际税率为基础。由此产生的递延税项负债记录在截至2024年9月30日的简明综合资产负债表中。
ASC主题815范围内的或有对价,衍生工具和套期保值(“ASC 815”)于收购日期计入资产收购成本的公允价值。ASC主题450范围内的或有对价,或有事件(“ASC 450”),在其可能且可合理评估的情况下予以确认。
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库存和销售成本
存货是在先进先出的基础上,以成本或可变现净值中较低者为准。成本包括与材料、内部劳动力、外部制造成本以及制造设施、设备和间接费用的可分配折旧有关的金额。可变现净值是指在正常业务过程中估计的销售价格减去合理预测的完工、处置和运输成本。可清点的c已产生的成本,如在监管批准之前发生的不符合资本化资格的制造成本和临床制造成本,作为已发生的研究和开发费用计入费用。
2024年2月,安塔维™获得批准后,公司开始将库存和制造成本资本化,用于安塔维™的商业生产。此外,最初符合资本化条件但最终可能用于生产临床药物产品或用于研发计划的库存,在被指定用于生产临床药物产品或用于研发活动时,作为研发费用支出。
促红细胞生成素®在截至2024年9月30日的简明综合资产负债表中列报的库存包括由于收购Proil的全球权利而导致的库存公允价值的增加®.
该公司定期审查库存是否过剩和过时,考虑到诸如与手头数量相比的最新销售预测以及产品和材料的到期日等因素。本公司将其过时或因其他原因无法出售的存货减记至首次确认减值期间的估计可变现净值。任何此类调整都作为销售成本的一个组成部分包括在公司的简明综合经营报表中。
销售成本包括从批准到2024年9月30日期间与安塔维™的间接管理费用和制造成本有关的库存和期间成本,以及与采购和销售®直接相关的库存成本和其他成本。此外,公司简明综合经营报表中的销售成本包括销售其产品应支付的特许权使用费,以及非现金支出,包括确认收购的库存单位已售出的收购的Proil®Inventory的公允价值递增摊销、收购的与开发技术有关的无形资产以及知识产权许可无形资产。
在我们的商业制造过程中,某些安达维™产品可能会超出规格,这意味着它们超出了商业规格。这种不合规格的产品仍然可以被患者在临床试验、扩大或早期获得计划或单患者研究新药中使用,在这一点上,与这些批次相关的成本被归类为研发费用,这是基于我们收到与这些输液相关的临床数据的事实。
应收贸易账款
应收贸易账款是在扣除产品退货准备和估计的信贷损失后入账的。信贷损失准备金估计数考虑了各种因素,包括现有的合同付款和客户应收账款的账龄。到目前为止,该公司已确定不需要为信贷损失拨备。他说:
无形资产
本公司收购的无形资产最初是根据收购成本对按相对公允价值原则收购的资产的分配进行计量,并在扣除累计摊销后入账,而作为里程碑或许可证付款的结果入账的无形资产则按支付的金额入账。本公司按无形资产的估计使用年限直线摊销其无形资产。
当或有对价是资产收购成本的一部分时,本公司将或有对价中与相关或有事项解决期间收购的无形资产相关的增量成本金额资本化。当发生这种情况时,公司将从增量成本资本化之日起,前瞻性地在增量成本上确认摊销费用。
13
本公司至少每年及每当发生可能显示资产账面价值不可收回的事件或情况变化时,审查无形资产的减值情况。如果存在该等指标,本公司将通过确定资产的账面价值是否少于资产的未贴现未来现金流的总和来评估受影响资产的可收回程度。如发现该等资产不可收回,本公司会将该等资产的账面价值与其公允价值作比较,以计量减值金额。该公司确定,截至2024年9月30日,不存在任何减值指标。
租契
本公司决定一项安排在开始时是否包括租赁,此后如果进行了修改,是否包括租赁。截至2024年9月30日和2023年12月31日,经营租赁作为经营租赁使用权资产和经营租赁负债计入其简明综合资产负债表。经营租赁使用权资产是指公司在租赁期内使用标的资产的权利,经营租赁负债是公司支付租赁所产生的租赁款项的义务。经营租赁使用权资产及负债于租赁开始日或修改日按租赁期内租赁付款的现值确认。在厘定租赁付款的净现值时,本公司采用适用于本公司的估计递增借款利率,该利率是根据租赁开始日期或修订日期较晚时可获得的资料而厘定的。
经营性租赁使用权资产还包括减少租赁奖励的任何租赁付款。本公司的租约可能包括延长或终止租约的选择权,当合理地确定本公司将行使任何该等选择权时,会在租赁期内考虑延长或终止租约。租赁费用在预期租赁期内按直线确认,并在简明综合经营报表中计入成本和费用。本公司已选择不适用于短期租赁的会计准则更新(“ASU”)第2016-02号和第2018-10号(合称“主题842”)的确认要求。
对于本公司订立的租赁协议,包括租赁和非租赁组成部分,这些组成部分通常单独入账。
收入确认
本公司根据ASC主题606确认产品销售收入,与客户签订合同的收入(“ASC 606”)。根据ASC 606,当客户获得对承诺的商品或服务的控制权时,收入被确认,其金额反映了实体预期为换取这些商品或服务而收到的对价。在交易价格包括可变对价的情况下,本公司根据历史经验和现有的适用信息,使用最可能的方法估计交易价格中应包括的可变对价金额。
在美国,产品主要销往医院和诊所,以及分销商和批发商,在美国以外的地方则销往医院和诊所。合同履行义务通常仅限于将产品控制权转让给客户。在安塔维™的情况下,收入是在输液时确认的,而对于普罗西林®,在考虑客户何时获得产品的合法所有权后,控制权转移发生在装运或收到产品时。收入是指公司预期从转让其产品中获得的对价金额,通常基于固定价格减去按存储容量使用计费、产品退货、回扣和折扣的额度。该公司向客户支付的付款条件包括
收入于确认预期的扣减、折扣、回扣及销售津贴时减少,统称为调整总额至净额(“GTN调整”)。在美国,这些GTN调整归因于各种商业安排和政府计划。此外,非美国政府项目包括不同的定价方案,如成本上限和批量折扣。现金折扣被记录为应收账款的减少,并通过发放贷项结算,通常在一个月内。所有其他GTN调整都作为负债记录,并通过向客户支付现金的方式结算。
考虑到适用法律法规的法律解释、历史经验、付款人渠道组合、适用计划下的当前合同价格、处理时间滞后和分销渠道中的库存水平,在估计GTN调整时需要做出重大判断。
从客户收取并汇给政府当局的与公司产品销售相关的间接税,主要是在欧洲,不包括在收入中。
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基于股票的薪酬
公司定期向员工和非员工授予股票期权,作为对所提供服务的补偿。本公司根据财务会计准则委员会(“FASB”)提供的权威指引,对支付给员工和非员工的所有股票支付奖励进行会计处理,包括员工股票购买计划,其中奖励的价值是在授予之日计量并在归属期间确认的。没收在发生没收的期间予以确认。本公司向非雇员授予股票期权的会计处理方式与向员工授予股票期权类似,但在授予日期使用的术语公允价值不同,因此不再需要在每个报告日期按当时的公允价值重新计量,直到期权相关股份归属为止。包含影响奖励数量或其他条款的绩效条件的非员工奖励是基于可能的结果进行衡量的。
公司普通股期权授予的公允价值是使用布莱克-斯科尔斯期权定价模型估计的,该模型使用了与无风险利率、预期波动率、普通股期权预期期限和未来红利相关的某些假设。基于股票的薪酬费用是根据布莱克-斯科尔斯期权定价模型得出的价值来记录的。布莱克-斯科尔斯期权定价模型中使用的假设可能会影响未来期间记录的补偿费用。
作为其股权激励计划的一部分,公司不定期发行限制性股票单位(RSU)。本公司根据授予日权益工具的估计公允价值来计量发放给员工的RSU的补偿成本,该补偿成本在要求员工提供服务以换取奖励的期间被确认为费用。RSU的公允价值以授予日公司普通股的收盘价为基础。除了具有基于时间的归属要求的RSU外,公司可能会不时发放RSU,其中包括基于所述目标(“PRSU”)的满足程度的某些绩效归属标准。本公司根据授予日权益工具的估计公允价值来计量与发放给员工的PRSU有关的补偿成本,该估计公允价值在与奖励相关的规定服务期内被确定为可能取得成就的期间内确认为支出。
应计研究和开发成本
研究和开发成本在发生时计入费用。临床开发成本是研究和开发成本的重要组成部分。该公司有与第三方签订合同的历史,其中包括合同研究机构(“CRO”)、独立的临床研究人员以及代表公司执行与公司候选产品的持续开发相关的各种临床试验活动的CMO。这些合同的财务条款有待谈判,可能因合同而异,并可能导致付款不均衡。该公司根据与CRO、医院和临床研究人员达成的协议,根据到目前为止完成的每项临床试验的工作,为第三方进行的临床试验活动计提费用和费用。CRO和CMO的应计项目是根据根据与CRO、CMO和其他外部服务提供商订立的协议而收到的服务和花费的努力来记录的。本公司通过与内部临床利益相关者和外部服务提供商就临床试验或服务的进展或完成阶段以及为该等服务支付的合同费用进行讨论来确定其成本。
该公司的临床开发成本包括研究人员成本,这是与根据每个临床试验方案要求在临床地点进行治疗相关的成本。公司对临床研究人员费用和相关费用确认时间的确定将取决于多个因素,这些因素包括但不限于:(I)每个单独试验地点登记的患者总数,(Ii)临床试验登记期间的长度,(Iii)患者的中止和完成率,(Iv)患者安全随访的持续时间,(V)临床试验中包括的地点数量,以及(Vi)临床试验期间每个参与地点的患者治疗合同费用,这些费用可能因多种原因而有很大差异,包括但不限于,地理区域、医疗中心或医生成本和管理费用。此外,该公司对每个患者的试验成本的估计将根据许多因素而有所不同,这些因素包括但不限于,由于患者的健康状况,调查人员可能实施的额外程序的程度,患者成本通过患者的保险公司可收回的程度,以及临床试验治疗造成的意外伤害成本。由于付款的时间并不总是与临床研究人员实施治疗的时间相一致,该公司应计入根据研究人员现场协议承担的义务所产生的估计费用。这些估计通常基于合同金额、患者访问数据、与内部临床利益相关者和外部服务提供商的讨论,以及对迄今实际付款的历史回顾分析。
本公司在确定各报告期的应计余额时作出判断和估计。
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如向CRO、CMO或其他外部服务供应商预付款项,则该等款项记入简明综合资产负债表的预付费用及其他流动资产内,并于相关服务完成后于简明综合经营报表中确认为研发费用。由于实际成本已知,该公司调整其估计、负债和资产。在确定上述估计数时使用的投入可能与实际情况有所不同,这将导致对未来期间的研究和开发费用进行调整。
销售、一般和行政费用
销售、一般和行政费用主要包括行政、财务、采购、法律、投资者关系、设施、业务发展、营销、商业、信息技术和人力资源职能人员的薪金和其他相关费用,包括基于股票的薪酬。其他重大成本包括没有以其他方式在库存中资本化或包括在研发费用中的设施成本。销售、一般及行政成本于发生时计提,本公司透过监察所提供服务的状况及收取其服务供应商的估计,并在得知实际成本时调整其应计项目,就与该等支出有关的第三方提供的服务计提应计项目。
每股净亏损
每股基本净亏损的计算方法为净亏损除以期内已发行普通股的加权平均股数。
每股摊薄净亏损的计算方法是将净亏损除以当期已发行普通股的加权平均股数和稀释后的普通股等值股数之和。本公司的潜在摊薄普通股等值股份,包括因(I)行使已发行购股权、(Ii)归属限制性股票单位、(Iii)透过2020年员工购股计划(“2020年员工购股计划”)购买而发行的股份及(Iv)转换优先股而可发行的新增普通股,仅在其影响具摊薄作用时才计入每股摊薄净亏损的计算中。
截至2024年9月30日和2023年9月30日,以下已发行普通股等价物已被排除在每股净亏损的计算之外,因为它们的影响将是反稀释的:
9月30日 | ||||
|
| 2024 |
| 2023 |
股票期权 | | | ||
限制性股票单位 | | | ||
员工购股计划 | | | ||
A系列可转换优先股 * | | | ||
系列b可转换优先股 * | | | ||
| |
* 按已转换基准. (See注10 -股东权益)
潜在稀释性证券的稀释效应将通过应用库存股法反映在每股普通股稀释收益中。根据库存股法,公司普通股公平市值的增加可能会导致潜在稀释性证券产生更大的稀释效应。
预算的使用
这个按照公认会计原则编制财务报表需要管理层做出影响财务报表日期资产和负债报告金额以及或有资产和负债披露以及报告期内费用报告金额的估计和假设。实际结果可能与这些估计不同。受此类估计和假设约束的重要项目包括对无形资产公允价值做出的假设、作为收购一部分而收购的库存 促红细胞生成素®、股权奖励和相关股票补偿、计量经营使用权资产和经营租赁负债时使用的假设、潜在负债的会计处理,包括与临床试验相关的应计项目固有的估计,以及公司递延所得税资产的可变现性.
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合并原则
随附的简明合并财务报表包括Iovance BioTreateutics,Inc.及其全资子公司Iovance BioTreateutics Manufacturing LLC,Iovance BioTreateutics GmbH,艾万斯生物治疗公司.、Iovance BioTreateutics UK Ltd、Iovance BioTreateutics UK SP Ltd和Iovance BioTreateutics Canada,Inc.。所有公司间帐户和交易已被注销。
外币折算
简明综合财务报表以美元表示,美元是公司的报告货币。本公司功能货币不是美元的子公司的资产和负债按相关的期末汇率折算成美元。按变动率折算该等附属公司净资产所产生的美元影响,在简明综合资产负债表的累计其他全面亏损中确认。子公司的净亏损通过使用适用期间的平均汇率换算成美元。
细分市场报告
该公司分为
近期发布的会计公告
2023年11月,财务会计准则委员会(FASB)发布了会计准则更新(ASU)2023-07,分部报告(主题280):对可报告分部披露的改进,加强了年度和中期合并财务报表中经营分部的披露要求。ASC 2023-07对我们2024财年的年度报告和2025财年开始的中期报告具有追溯效力。允许及早领养。我们目前正在评估ASC 2023-07对我们合并财务报表的影响。
附注:3.现金等价物和投资
截至2024年9月30日和2023年12月31日的现金等价物和投资的摊余成本和公允价值如下(以千为单位):
| 毛收入 | 毛收入 | ||||||||||
| 摊销 | 未实现 | 未实现 | |||||||||
截至2024年9月30日 |
| 成本 |
| 收益 |
| 损失 |
| 公允价值 | ||||
美国国债 | $ | | $ | | $ | — | $ | | ||||
货币市场基金 | | — | — | | ||||||||
总投资 | $ | | $ | | $ | — | $ | |
| 毛收入 | 毛收入 | ||||||||||
| 摊销 | 未实现 | 未实现 | |||||||||
截至2023年12月31日 |
| 成本 |
| 收益 |
| 损失 |
| 公允价值 | ||||
美国国债 | $ | | $ | | $ | — | $ | | ||||
货币市场基金 | | — | — | | ||||||||
总投资 | $ | | $ | | $ | — | $ | |
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截至2024年9月30日和2023年12月31日,现金等值项目和投资的公允价值在公司简明合并资产负债表中分类如下(单位:千):
9月30日 | 12月31日 | |||||
分类为: | 2024 |
| 2023 | |||
现金等价物 | $ | | $ | | ||
短期投资 | | | ||||
总投资 | $ | | $ | |
上表中的现金等值物不包括美元的现金活期存款
经常性公允价值计量
截至2024年9月30日和2023年12月31日,公司按经常性公平价值计量的金融资产(包括现金等值项目以及分类为可供出售证券的短期和长期投资)的公允价值根据估值的最低重要输入水平(以千计)分类如下表:
截至2024年9月30日按公允价值计算的资产 | ||||||||||||
|
| 第1级 |
| 二级 |
| 第三级 |
| 总 | ||||
美国国债 | $ | | $ | — | $ | — | $ | | ||||
货币市场基金 | | — | — | | ||||||||
总投资 | $ | | $ | — | $ | — | $ | |
截至2023年12月31日按公允价值计算的资产 | ||||||||||||
|
| 第1级 |
| 二级 |
| 第三级 |
| 总 | ||||
美国国债 | $ | | $ | — | $ | — | $ | | ||||
货币市场基金 | | — | — | | ||||||||
总 | $ | | $ | — | $ | — | $ | |
注4.促红细胞生成素®收购
于二零二三年一月二十三日,本公司及其新成立的全资附属公司Iovance BioTreateutics UK Ltd(“买方”)与Clinigen Holdings Limited、Clinigen Healthcare Limited及环球医药服务公司Clinigen,Inc.(统称“Clinigen”)订立购股权协议(“购股权协议”),据此,买方将取得Proil的制造、供应、商业化及销售的全球权利。®(Aldesil)(“收购”)。
于二零二三年五月十八日,本公司完成收购,并特别收购(I)Clinigen SP Limited(“Target”)所有已发行及已发行股份,(Ii)Target及Clinigen之业务(“PROIL®业务“)包括产品权利的制造、供应、商业化及产生收入,并在开发、维护及利用该等权利方面担当积极角色;及(Iii)购股权协议所确认的若干指定资产。根据购股权协议,本公司向Clinigen支付(I)预付款GB
该收购被列为资产收购,因为所收购资产的公允价值基本上全部集中在所收购的与普罗莱尔知识产权相关的开发技术上。® 因此,此次收购不符合ASC 805对业务的定义。白细胞素® 自收购日起,业务运营已纳入公司的简明合并财务报表。
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下表总结了收购时收购资产和所承担负债的总现金对价和分配收购日期公允价值(以千计):
量 | |||
现金 | $ | | |
库存 | | ||
发达的技术 | | ||
集结的劳动力 | | ||
递延税项负债 | ( | ||
采购总成本 | $ | |
这一美元
于收购中收购的净资产按收购完成日期即2023年5月18日(即收购完成之日)的估计公允价值为基础,按相对公允价值将收购的总成本分配至收购资产。
开发的技术的公允价值是使用多期超额收益收益法估计的,这种方法通过应用折现率将预期现金流量贴现到现值,贴现率代表市场参与者将用来评估无形资产的估计率。已开发技术的公允价值在预期使用年限内摊销
使用重置成本减去折旧法估计集合劳动力的公允价值。集合劳动力的公允价值将在预期使用年限内摊销
收购存货的公允价值乃采用市场法的比较销售法厘定,该方法以存货的历史及预期平均售价作为基准金额,并对其适用于完成在制品成本、处置成本及合理利润拨备的调整。存货公允价值调整将在出售收购存货时作为销售成本摊销。
递延税项负债是根据与所收购无形资产的账面和计税基础有关的暂时性差异确认的。已购入无形资产的递延税项负债及由此产生的账面金额调整乃根据ASC 740采用联立方程方法计算。使用的税率是基于英国的估计法定税率,因为这是无形资产的注册地。
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说明5.无形资产,净资产
截至2011年无形资产的总账面价值和净资产 9月30日、2024年和2023年12月31日,具体如下(以千计):
9月30日 | 12月31日 | |||||
2024 | 2023 | |||||
发达的技术 | $ | | $ | | ||
集结的劳动力 | | | ||||
知识产权许可 | | - | ||||
无形资产总额 | $ | | $ | | ||
减去:累计摊销 | ( | ( | ||||
无形资产,净额 | $ | | $ | |
公司确认摊销费用 $
截至2024年12月31日的剩余三个月以及截至2025年、2026年、2027年和2028年12月31日的年度,公司无形资产的估计摊销总额为 $
说明6.库存
截至2024年9月30日和2023年12月31日,库存包括以下内容(单位:千):
9月30日 | 12月31日 | |||||
2024 | 2023 | |||||
原料 | $ | | $ | — | ||
Oracle Work in Process | | | ||||
成品 | | | ||||
总库存 | $ | | $ | |
说明7.收入
所列期间的净收入代表Amtagvi™和Proleukin的销售® 详情如下:
截至三个月 | 九个月结束 | ||||||||||||
|
| 9月30日 | 9月30日 | ||||||||||
2024 |
| 2023 |
| 2024 |
| 2023 | |||||||
Amtagvi™ | $ | | $ | — | $ | | $ | — | |||||
促红细胞生成素® | | | | | |||||||||
$ | | $ | | $ | | $ | |
Proleukin的收入® 主要与向美国市场专业分销商和授权治疗中心(“ATC”)的销售有关,以支持Amtagvi™的推出。Amtagvi™收入在患者输注时确认,而Proleukin® 收入在交付给专业分销商、临床制造商和ATC时确认。
20
产品销售收入扣除GTN调整后记录。下表总结了所示期间的GTN调整(以千计):
截至三个月 | 九个月结束 | ||||||||||||
9月30日 | 9月30日 | ||||||||||||
| 2024 |
| 2023 |
| 2024 |
| 2023 | ||||||
毛收入 | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | | |||||
GTN调整: |
| ||||||||||||
政府回扣和退款 | |
| — |
| — |
| — | ||||||
批发商费用和现金折扣 | ( |
| ( |
| ( |
| ( | ||||||
其他回扣、退货、折扣和调整 | ( |
| — |
| ( |
| — | ||||||
GTN调整总额 | ( |
| ( |
| ( |
| ( | ||||||
$ | | $ | | $ | | $ | |
呈列期间按地理区域划分的综合产品净收入如下(单位:千):
截至三个月 | 九个月结束 | ||||||||||||
|
| 9月30日 |
| 9月30日 | |||||||||
2024 |
| 2023 |
| 2024 |
| 2023 | |||||||
美国 | $ | |
| $ | — | $ | |
| $ | — | |||
世界其他地区 | | | | | |||||||||
$ | | $ | | $ | | $ | |
美国的净产品收入包括Amtagvi™收入以及Proleukin® 销售以支持Amtagvi™的持续商业发布。迄今为止,世界其他地区的净产品收入由Proleukin的销售组成® 进入美国以外的市场,主要销往欧洲市场。
下表总结了占客户总收入的金额和百分比
| 三个月后结束 | 九个月结束 | |||||||||||
|
| 2024年9月30日 |
| 2024年9月30日 | |||||||||
$ | % | $ | % | ||||||||||
客户A | $ | |
| $ | |
| |||||||
客户B | — | | |||||||||||
其他客户 | |
| |
| |||||||||
毛收入 | $ | | $ | | |||||||||
GTN调整 | ( | ( | |||||||||||
$ | | $ | |
21
说明8.财产和财产,净
财产和设备,净包括以下内容(以千计):
| 9月30日 | 12月31日 | ||||
|
| 2024 |
| 2023 | ||
租赁权改进 | $ | | $ | | ||
实验室、过程和验证设备 | | | ||||
公用设备 |
| |
| | ||
办公家具和设备 |
| |
| | ||
计算机软件 | | | ||||
计算机设备 |
| |
| | ||
机器和设备 | | | ||||
在建工程 |
| |
| | ||
财产和设备总成本 | $ | | $ | | ||
减去:累计折旧和摊销 |
| ( |
| ( | ||
财产和设备,净额 | $ | | $ | |
截至2024年9月30日和2023年9月30日的三个月的折旧和摊销费用为美元
说明9.应计费用
应计费用包括以下各项(以千计):
| 9月30日 | 12月31日 | ||||
| 2024 |
| 2023 | |||
应计工资和员工相关费用 | $ | | $ | | ||
临床相关 | | | ||||
制造相关 |
| |
| | ||
有关的设施 | | | ||||
法律及相关服务 |
| |
| | ||
库存和分销相关 | | | ||||
其他应计费用 |
| |
| | ||
应计费用总额 | $ | | $ | |
说明10.股东权益
普通股
经修订的公司注册证书授权发行最多
公开发行
2024年2月22日,公司完成了承销公开募股
2023年7月13日,公司完成了承销公开募股
22
发行,包括承销商行使选择权,为$
在市场促销计划中
于2022年11月18日,本公司与Jefferies LLC(“Jefferies”)订立公开市场销售协议(“2022年销售协议”)。根据《2022年销售协议》的条款,公司可不时全权酌情通过杰富瑞作为销售代理发行和销售,金额最高可达$
根据《2023年销售协议》,杰富瑞可以通过法律允许的任何方式出售普通股,该方式被视为《1933年证券法》(经修订)第415条规定的“按市场”发行。Jefferies将根据公司的指示(包括任何价格或规模限制或公司可能施加的其他惯常参数或条件),按照其正常交易和销售惯例,不时使用商业上合理的努力出售普通股普通股。该公司将向杰富瑞支付高达
根据《2023年销售协议》,本公司并无责任出售普通股。根据2023年销售协议发售普通股将于(I)透过Jefferies发行及出售受2023年销售协议规限的所有普通股及(Ii)根据其条款终止2023年销售协议时终止。
在截至2024年9月30日的三个月内,该公司筹集了约$
优先股
该公司的公司注册证书授权发行最多
系列A可转换优先股
总计
A系列可转换优先股可由每个投资者选择转换为全额缴足和不可评估的普通股。A系列可转换优先股的持有者对提交给公司股东的事项没有投票权。在本公司解散或清盘的情况下,收益应按普通股和优先股持有人之间的比例支付,按每个持有人持有的股份数量按比例支付。本公司不得宣布、支付或拨备本公司股本股份的任何股息(普通股应付普通股股息除外),除非A系列可转换优先股的持有人应首先就A系列可转换优先股的每股流通股获得相等的股息。
23
在截至2024年和2023年9月30日的三个月和九个月内,
B系列可转换优先股
总计
B系列可转换优先股可以根据每个投资者的选择,转换为全额缴足的、不可评估的普通股。B系列可转换优先股的持有者对提交给公司股东的事项没有投票权。在本公司解散或清盘的情况下,收益应按普通股和优先股持有人之间的比例支付,按每个持有人持有的股份数量按比例支付。B系列可转换优先股的持有者有权获得与A系列可转换优先股股票或公司普通股实际支付的股息相同的股息。只要任何B系列可转换优先股仍未偿还,本公司不得赎回、购买或以其他方式收购任何重大金额的A系列可转换优先股或任何低于B系列可转换优先股的证券。
截至以下日期的三个月及九个月九月30、2024年和2023年,
股权激励计划
该公司有多个股权激励计划,并根据这些计划授予奖励。
截至2024年6月11日,公司股东批准终止2014年度股权激励计划(《2014年度计划》)。此外,本公司股东批准2018年股权激励计划(“2018计划”)重新收回根据2014年计划授予的奖励,该奖励在股东批准后到期、终止或被取消或没收,但未经结算、归属或行使。
2018年4月22日,公司董事会(以下简称董事会)通过了2018年计划,该计划于2018年6月经公司股东批准。初步批准的2018年计划授权发行的债券总数为
2021年9月22日,董事会通过了Iovance BioTreatetics,Inc.2021年诱导计划(以下简称2021年诱导计划)。2021年激励计划规定授予不合格期权、普通股、股票增值权、限制性股票奖励、限制性股票单位、其他股票奖励、其他现金奖励或上述奖励的任意组合。2021年激励计划经董事会薪酬委员会(“薪酬委员会”)建议批准,其后未经股东批准而获董事会根据纳斯达克证券市场有限责任公司规则及规例(“纳斯达克上市规则”)第5635(C)(4)条批准及采纳。
24
董事会最初保留了
补偿委员会批准了对2021年激励计划的额外修订,仅为增加根据2021年激励计划为发行预留的股票数量,从
股票期权
下表汇总了截至2024年9月30日的股票期权状况以及截至2024年9月30日的9个月期间的变化:
加权 |
| |||||||||
加权 | 平均值 | 集料 | ||||||||
数 | 平均值 | 剩余 | 固有的 | |||||||
的 | 锻炼 | 合同 | 价值 | |||||||
| 选项 |
| 价格 |
| 寿命(年) |
| (单位:千) | |||
截至2023年12月31日未偿还债务 | | $ | | $ | ||||||
发布 | |
| | |||||||
行使 | ( |
| | |||||||
过期/取消 | ( |
| | |||||||
截至2024年9月30日未完成 | |
| $ | |
| $ | | |||
结束归属,预计将于2024年9月30日归属 | | $ | | $ | | |||||
可于2024年9月30日行使的期权 |
| | $ | |
| $ | |
截至2024年9月30日,
上表中的总内在价值反映了如果所有期权持有人在2024年9月30日行使期权时,期权持有人将收到的总税前内在价值(公司在截至2024年9月30日的季度的最后一个交易日的收盘价与期权行使价之间的差额乘以现金股票期权的数量)。公司股票期权的内在价值根据公司普通股的收盘价发生变化。
员工购股计划
2020年6月,本公司在2020年6月8日的年度股东大会上经公司股东批准通过了2020年ESPP。本公司保留
25
根据2020年ESPP预留发行的股份来自
根据2020年员工持股计划,公司员工可以在一定的限制下,根据薪酬的一定比例购买普通股。每股收购价等于下列中的较低者
截至2024年9月30日的三个月和九个月,与2020年ESPP相关的薪酬支出为#美元。
限售股单位
下表汇总了截至2024年9月30日的RSU状态以及截至2024年9月30日的9个月期间的变化:
加权 | |||||
数 | 平均值 | ||||
的 | 授予日期 | ||||
| RSU和PRSU |
| 公允价值 | ||
截至2023年12月31日未偿还债务 | | $ | | ||
授与 | | | |||
既得/释放 | ( | | |||
取消/没收 | ( | | |||
截至2024年9月30日未完成 | | $ | | ||
结束归属,预计将于2024年9月30日归属 | | $ | |
截至2024年9月30日,有美元
基于股票的薪酬
与公司所有股票奖励相关的股票补偿费用总额(记录在简明综合经营报表中的总成本和费用中)如下(单位:千):
截至三个月 | 九个月结束 | |||||||||||
9月30日 | 9月30日 | |||||||||||
|
| 2024 |
| 2023 |
| 2024 |
| 2023 | ||||
销售成本 | $ | | $ | — | $ | | $ | — | ||||
研发 | | | | | ||||||||
销售、一般和行政 |
| |
| |
| |
| | ||||
股票补偿费用总额 | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | |
26
资本化库存中包含的用于从事制造活动的人员的库存补偿费用的金额为 $
按奖励类型划分的股票补偿费用总额如下(单位:千):
截至三个月 | 九个月结束 | |||||||||||
9月30日 | 9月30日 | |||||||||||
|
| 2024 |
| 2023 |
| 2024 |
| 2023 | ||||
股票期权费用 | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | | ||||
限制性股票费用 |
| |
| |
| |
| | ||||
ESPP费用 |
| |
| |
| |
| | ||||
股票补偿费用总额 | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | |
注11。许可证和承诺
美国国立卫生研究院(“NIH”)和美国国立癌症研究所(“NCI”)
合作研究与开发协议(“CRADA”)
2011年8月,公司签署
2021年8月,NCI和本公司对CRADA进行了第三次修订。第三修正案除其他事项外,将CRADA的期限延长了
2024年7月,NCI和本公司对CRADA进行了第四次修订,将其任期再延长五年,至2029年8月。第四修正案还包括 合作开发增强型肿瘤反应性TIL产品,用于治疗各种常见的上皮性癌症。
根据经修订的CRADA条款,该公司须每季度支付$
与TIL细胞疗法的开发和制造相关的专利许可协议
2011年,公司与美国卫生与公众服务部下属的美国国家卫生研究院签订了独家专利许可协议(“专利许可协议”),并于2015年进行了修订。根据修订后的专利许可协议,美国国立卫生研究院向该公司授予了某些与自体肿瘤浸润性淋巴细胞采用细胞疗法产品相关的技术许可,包括独家、共同和非独家许可,用于治疗转移性黑色素瘤、肺癌、乳腺癌、膀胱癌和HPV阳性癌症。
27
自2021年5月6日起,该公司与美国国立卫生研究院签订了一份修订和重新签署的专利许可协议,其中包括授予IL-15和IL-21细胞因子依赖的TIL技术适应症的额外独家全球专利权,并将非独家全球使用领域扩大到所有癌症。自2022年8月1日起,该公司与美国国立卫生研究院签订了第二份修订和重新签署的专利许可协议,其中包括表达白细胞介素12的TIL产品的额外独家全球专利权、先前根据下文独家专利许可协议许可的TIL选择技术的扩大权利,以及与增强TIL效力相关的某些技术的额外非独家全球专利权。
第二次修订和重新签署的专利许可协议要求公司根据存在专利权的司法管辖区净销售额的百分比支付使用费,根据某些事件(包括权利的排他性),该百分比可能会下降到不到1%到个位数的中位数,公司预计因此支付的总使用费会更低。该公司还同意为NIH根据第二次修订和重新修订的专利许可协议为每个适应症和其他直接成本实现某些临床、监管和商业销售里程碑而支付潜在的里程碑付款。该公司预计将支付数十万美元到中位数的数百万美元不等的额外付款,与某些开发里程碑、批准BLA或其国外等价物,或第二次修订和重新修订的专利许可协议涵盖的任何候选产品的首次美国和外国商业销售有关。第二个修订和重新签署的专利许可协议的有效期一直持续到根据该协议许可的最后到期的专利权到期为止,并且该协议包含标准终止条款。该公司已经支付并记录了60美元的万里程碑支付的知识产权许可证付款,该付款应在公司赞助的第一个黑色素瘤第二阶段临床研究成功完成后60天内支付,作为研究和开发费用。该公司还支付了一美元
与TIL选择相关的独家专利许可协议
2015年2月10日,公司与美国国立卫生研究院签订了独家专利许可协议(“独家专利许可协议”),根据该协议,公司获得了选定的TIL专利的全球独家许可。本许可已被第二次修订和重新签署的专利许可协议所取代。
H·李·莫菲特癌症中心
与莫菲特公司达成研究合作和临床拨款协议
于2020年6月,本公司与H.Lee Moffitt癌症中心(“Moffitt”)订立一份赞助研究协议(“研究协议”),协议的期限将于研究完成或于2022年7月1日终止,两者以较早者为准。2022年6月,这项协议被延长到2022年12月19日晚些时候,或者双方都可以接受的研究协议的完成,预计在2023年年中。2023年8月,该协议被延长至2023年9月,到2023年9月到期。2023年12月,本协议延期至2024年11月30日晚些时候或双方商定的完成《研究协议》的日期。该公司记录的研究开发成本为#美元。
2016年12月,该公司与Moffitt签订了一项临床赠款协议,以支持Moffitt正在进行的一项临床试验,该试验将TIL细胞疗法与nivolumab相结合,用于治疗转移性黑色素瘤患者。2017年6月,公司与Moffitt签订了第二份临床赠款协议,以支持在Moffitt进行的一项新的临床试验,该试验将TIL细胞疗法与nivolumab相结合,用于治疗非小细胞肺癌患者,根据该协议,公司获得了在执行协议时做出的任何新Moffitt发明的非独家、免版税许可。根据与Moffit达成的两项临床赠款协议,该公司拥有各自临床试验产生的临床数据的非独家权利,这些试验现已结束。
28
与莫菲特签订独家许可协议
本公司与Moffitt签订了一项许可协议(“第一份Moffitt许可”),自2014年6月28日起生效,根据该协议,公司获得了Moffitt正在申请专利的权利以及与使用Toll样受体激动剂改进TIL用于过继细胞治疗的方法相关的专利技术的全球许可。除非在较早前终止,否则许可证的有效期将延长至与被许可技术有关的最后颁发的专利到期或
根据第一份莫菲特许可证,该公司预付许可费#美元。
本公司与Moffitt签订了于2018年5月7日生效的第二份许可协议(“第二Moffitt许可”),根据该协议,公司获得了Moffitt与TIL制造工艺和疗法结合使用4-1BB激动剂的正在申请专利的技术的权利的许可。根据第二份莫菲特许可证,该公司预付许可费#美元。
该公司随后行使了一项选择权,独家许可Moffitt使用与TIL制造工艺和疗法有关的正在申请专利的技术,并于2021年10月签订了修订和重述的第二Moffitt许可证(“修订和重新发布的第二Moffit许可证”),以包括这些权利。根据修订和重新发布的第二份莫菲特许可证,公司预付许可费#美元。
德克萨斯大学安德森癌症中心
战略联盟协议
2017年4月17日,公司与德克萨斯大学安德森癌症中心(“MDACC”)签订了一项战略联盟协议(“SAA”),根据该协议,公司和MDACC同意进行临床和临床前研究。公司在SAA中同意提供的资金总额不超过约$
29
无锡先进疗法有限公司。
首个无锡制造和服务协议
于二零一六年十一月,本公司订立
《无锡制造与服务第二协议书》
2022年10月,公司的子公司Iovance BioTreateutics Manufacturing LLC签订了一份额外的
Cellectis S.A.
2019年12月31日,公司签订了一项研究合作和独家全球许可协议,根据该协议,公司将许可临床阶段生物制药公司Cellectis S.A.(“Cellectis”)的基因编辑技术,以开发经过基因编辑的TIL细胞疗法,包括公司称为IOV-4001的PD-1灭活产品。该许可证的财务条款包括该公司向Cellectis支付的年度许可证付款和开发、管理和销售里程碑付款,以及基于塔伦®改良TIL产品净销售额的特许权使用费付款。该公司记录了与Cellectis的许可协议有关的费用#美元。
诺华制药公司及相关实体
2020年1月9日,该公司从诺华制药公司(“Novartis”)获得了开发和商业化第二代改良IL-2类似物的许可证,该公司将其称为IOV-3001。根据协议,该公司向诺华公司支付了一笔预付款,并可能支付与IOV-3001临床开发的不同阶段启动患者剂量以及该产品在美国、欧盟和日本获得批准有关的未来里程碑。诺华还有权从该产品的商业销售中获得中低个位数百分比的版税。该公司从诺华公司记录了与许可协议相关的费用#美元
2023年5月18日,作为收购完成的一部分,公司继承了
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协议),其中包括在美国以外的任何和所有销售。根据这些协议,这些里程碑付款的最高金额为$
勃林格-英格尔海姆生物制药有限公司
2023年5月18日,作为完成收购的一部分,公司从Clinigen那里继承了与勃林格英格尔海姆生物制药有限公司(“BI”)的制造和供应协议,根据该协议,BI将进行Proil的加工、制造和供应®装在未贴标签的瓶子里。本协议有效期至2025年10月,自动续签期限为
注:12.租约
经营租约
该公司在加利福尼亚州租赁公司办公空间,包括
该公司的租约的剩余租约条款从不到
可变租赁成本是根据合同协议根据性能或使用情况确定的,而不是基于指数或费率。这类本质上不固定的成本被确认为已发生。
该公司还租赁某些家具和设备,租期为
制造合同
该公司使用合同制造组织(统称为CMO和每个CMO)来制造和供应用于临床和商业目的的TIL。CMO的合同义务包括使用制造设施和最低固定承诺费,如人事、一般支持费用和最低生产或材料费用。除了最低固定承诺费外,CMO合同义务还包括可变成本,如超过每个CMO协议规定的最低数量的生产和材料成本。在每个CMO协议的有效期内,公司可以访问和控制每个CMO设施中用于制造活动的专用套间的使用。与CMO签订的合同一般包含嵌入运营租约,其依据是:用于本公司生产的套间是隐含标识的,在安排的合同期限内由本公司独家使用,且CMO没有实质合同权利来替代本公司使用的设施。
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此外,公司通过从使用设施中获得所有经济利益来控制设施的使用,并在整个使用期内指导设施的使用。CMO合同的条款包括提前五至六个月通知终止租约的选项。在合理确定不会行使这些选择权的情况下,终止条款和延期条款包括在计算每个CMO的租赁期时。
对于具有多个交付成果的合同,第842主题要求公司首先确定安排中包含的租赁交付成果和非租赁交付成果,然后按相对独立的销售价格将固定的合同对价分配给租赁交付成果(S)和非租赁交付成果(S),以确定经营租赁使用权资产和负债的金额。该公司将专用套件的使用确定为单一租赁交付内容,并将相关劳务确定为每个CMO安排中的单一非租赁交付内容。由于无法随时获得可观察到的独立销售价格,因此需要判断以确定每个可交付产品的相对独立销售价格。因此,管理层使用估计和假设来确定租赁套房和劳务的相对独立销售价格,尽可能使用包括市场和其他可观察到的投入的信息。
2024年第一季度,由于本公司对与无锡的制造合同中最有可能的最低不可撤销租期的假设发生了变化,安塔维™的BLA批准导致了一项租赁修改。本次租约修改
公司使用权资产和租赁负债的资产负债表分类如下(以千计):
| 9月30日 |
| 12月31日 | |||
2024 | 2023 | |||||
经营性租赁使用权资产 | $ | | $ | | ||
经营租赁负债 |
|
| ||||
计入流动负债的流动部分 | $ | | $ | | ||
计入非流动负债的长期部分 | |
| | |||
经营租赁负债总额 | $ | | $ | |
下表概述了租赁费用的组成部分,这些费用计入公司简明合并经营报表中的总成本和费用以及简明合并资产负债表中的库存,以及与其经营租赁相关的其他信息如下(以千计,加权平均剩余租赁期限和贴现率除外):
| 截至三个月 | 九个月结束 |
| ||||||||||
9月30日 | 9月30日 |
| |||||||||||
2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 |
| |||||||||
经营租赁成本 | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | | |||||
可变租赁成本 |
| |
| | | | |||||||
短期租赁成本 |
| |
| | | | |||||||
总租赁成本 | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | | |||||
其他信息 | |||||||||||||
为包含在经营现金流量中的租赁负债计量中的金额支付的现金 | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | | |||||
通过签订新租赁获得的使用权资产 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | | |||||
租赁修改导致使用权资产增加 | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | | |||||
加权平均剩余租赁年限(年) | |||||||||||||
加权平均折扣率 | % | | % |
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截至2024年9月30日,公司经营租赁负债到期情况如下(单位:千):
|
| CMO |
| ||||||
设施 | 嵌入式 | ||||||||
截至十二月三十一日止的年度: | 租契 |
| 租赁 |
| 总 | ||||
2024年剩余时间 | $ | | $ | | $ | | |||
2025 |
| |
| |
| | |||
2026 |
| |
| — |
| | |||
2027 |
| |
| — |
| | |||
2028 |
| |
| — |
| | |||
此后 |
| |
| — |
| | |||
租赁付款总额 | $ | | $ | | $ | | |||
减去:现值调整 |
| ( |
| ( |
| ( | |||
经营租赁负债 | $ | | $ | | $ | |
注13.法律程序
舒马赫衍生品诉讼。2020年12月11日,原告Leo Shumacher向特拉华州衡平法院(“衡平法院”)提出所谓的股东派生诉讼,起诉名义被告为公司,然后是现任董事(被告)。起诉书指控违反受托责任和不当得利索赔,涉及对公司某些非执行董事的过度补偿,并代表公司要求未指明的损害赔偿。双方同意了一项拟议的和解方案,该方案于2022年6月15日提交给大法官法院。在2022年11月17日的听证会后,大法官法院要求各方采取更多步骤,然后才能批准和解。本公司作为名义被告,其现任董事作为被告,于2023年2月3日应诉。双方同意修订后的和解方案,该方案于2024年3月12日提交给最高法院。根据拟议的和解条款,公司将取消对非雇员董事的某些股权奖励,并向原告支付合理的法律费用和费用,金额为$。
北加州管材贸易信托基金。2024年9月17日,原告北加州管道贸易信托基金向大法官法院提出了一项据称是股东衍生品的诉讼,起诉名义上的被告是公司,被告是某些董事。起诉书称,在2024年2月的承销公开募股中,违反了受托责任
所罗门资本有限责任公司*2016年4月8日,一场名为《所罗门第一案》的诉讼所罗门资本有限责任公司、所罗门资本401(K)信托公司、所罗门·夏尔巴特和谢尔哈夫·拉夫诉狮子生物技术公司。所罗门资本有限责任公司、所罗门资本401(K)信托公司、所罗门·夏尔巴特和谢尔哈夫·拉夫(“所罗门原告”)向纽约州纽约州最高法院(索引编号651881/2016年)(“法院”)对公司提起诉讼。所罗门原告声称,在2012年6月至11月期间,他们向公司提供了#美元。
起诉书还称,该公司同意(1)向他们提供总额为#美元的期票。
在反诉中,该公司要求赔偿超过#美元的赔偿金。
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公司要求简易判决的动议,将所罗门原告对股权索赔的损害赔偿金限制在$以下
2019年9月27日,所罗门原告(通过新律师)向纽约州最高法院、纽约县最高法院提起了题为所罗门资本有限责任公司、所罗门资本401(K)信托公司、所罗门·夏巴特和谢尔哈夫·拉夫诉Iovance BioTreateutics,Inc.、f/k/a/Lion BioTechnologies Inc.f/k/a/Lion BioTechnologies Inc.和Manish Singh的新诉讼(“第二起所罗门诉讼”)(索引编号655668/2019年)。在第二宗所罗门诉讼中,所罗门原告指称,他们是前管理层于2012年与第三方无牌实体就寻求融资订立的“寻金协议”的第三方受益人,本公司与原告之间有一项协议或谅解,即如果原告为本公司取得融资,他们将获得费用及佣金(现金和股票),以及他们直接或间接向投资本公司或愿意投资本公司的投资者介绍本公司。最后,所罗门原告声称,他们得到了在以色列使用该公司技术的许可证。原告称,公司违反了上述谅解、承诺和协议,因此,他们有权获得某些损害赔偿。所罗门原告还指控该公司前首席执行官曼尼什·辛格犯有欺诈行为,并拿走了属于他们的股票。2020年2月18日,本公司向美国纽约南区地区法院(“地区法院”)提交了撤职请愿书,并撤销了所罗门公司的第二起诉讼,该法院已将案件编号1:20-cv-1391分配给该法院。2020年5月22日,公司采取行动驳回第二起所罗门诉讼,理由是缺乏属人管辖权。2021年3月26日,地区法院驳回了该公司因缺乏人身管辖权而提出的解散动议。该公司于2021年4月30日在所罗门第二起诉讼中对申诉提出了回应。2021年5月26日,公司和辛格提出动议,要求对第二起所罗门诉讼中针对公司的第二和第三项索赔以及针对辛格的所有索赔的诉状作出判决。2022年1月5日,地方法院批准了公司对诉状的判决动议,驳回了针对公司的第二和第三项索赔,并驳回了针对Singh的所有索赔。2023年1月4日,地方法院部分批准了公司要求对所罗门原告违反联邦民事诉讼规则第11条进行制裁的动议,驳回了所罗门原告对公司的第一项索赔,驳回了所罗门原告要求许可修改诉状的动议,并命令所罗门原告支付与第11条动议相关的公司律师费。在地区法院就规则第11条动议作出裁决及作出命令后,只有所罗门原告分别就不当得利及赔偿向本公司提出的第五及第六项申索仍未完结。2023年10月26日,地方法院批准了公司的简易判决动议,驳回了所罗门原告的第五和第六项索赔。2023年10月27日,地区法院作出有利于本公司的判决,并结束了第二起所罗门诉讼。2023年11月10日,公司作为诉讼胜诉方提交了律师费动议。2023年12月1日,所罗门原告向美国第二巡回上诉法院(“第二巡回法院”)提交上诉通知,对地区法院的命令提出上诉:(A)批准对代表Singh和公司提交的诉状作出判决的动议,(B)批准公司规则第11条的动议,(C)驳回所罗门原告关于强制透露和重启证据开示的动议,以及(D)批准公司的简易判决动议。2023年12月22日,该公司提出动议,要求下令要求所罗门原告提交上诉保证金,以确保在公司上诉胜诉的情况下支付公司的上诉费和费用。2024年5月9日,地区法院发布了一项命令,批准了公司关于律师费和上诉保证金的动议。2024年6月28日,该公司提出了驳回上诉的动议,理由是所罗门原告(A)没有立案的开庭简报,第二巡回法院予以否认,以及(B)没有提交上诉保证金。区域法院于2024年9月23日作出有利于本公司的判决,包括根据区域法院规则第11条的命令判给本公司金钱赔偿及律师费及讼费的命令。2024年10月9日,第二巡回法院表示,除非所罗门原告在2024年10月23日之前提交上诉保证金,否则将驳回上诉。所罗门原告随后将时间延长至2024年11月23日,以提交上诉保证金。第二巡回法院尚未对所罗门原告的这项动议做出裁决,该公司已对该动议提出异议。
该公司打算大力捍卫这些投诉,并在适用的情况下提出反诉。在诉讼的当前阶段,无论是第一所罗门诉讼还是第二所罗门诉讼,都无法估计这些事项的不利判决或和解可能导致的可能损失的金额或范围。
该公司已经并可能继续不时参与其日常业务过程中产生的法律诉讼和索赔。此类问题存在许多不确定性,结果也无法有保证地预测。公司在能够合理估计的范围内累积其认为足以解决与法律诉讼相关的任何负债和其他可能导致损失的或有损失的金额。虽然不可能有
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在对涉及本公司的任何法律程序或其他意外损失的最终结果作出保证的情况下,管理层不相信任何悬而未决的问题将以会对其财务状况、经营业绩或现金流产生重大不利影响的方式得到解决。
附注14.所得税
该公司记录了#美元的税收优惠。
截至2024年9月30日,本公司继续维持其针对美国联邦和州递延税项净资产的全额估值准备金,因为它预计将处于累积亏损状态,并且没有足够的积极证据支持其美国递延税项净资产的变现。
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第二项。管理层对财务状况和经营结果的讨论和分析。
以下对我们的经营结果和财务状况的讨论和分析应与我们的财务报表以及本报告其他部分所列财务报表的附注一并阅读。我们的讨论包括基于当前预期的前瞻性陈述,这些预期涉及风险和不确定因素,如我们的计划、目标、预期和意图。由于多种因素的影响,实际结果和事件的时间可能与这些前瞻性陈述中预期的大不相同,包括“商务”部分和本报告其他部分所述的因素。我们使用“可能”、“将会”、“可能”、“可能”、“将会”、“应该”、“期望”、“打算”、“计划”、“预期”等词。 “相信”、“估计”、“预测”、“项目”、“目标”、“潜力”、“继续”、“正在进行”、“目标”、“预测”、“指导”、“展望”或这些术语的否定或其他类似表述来识别前瞻性表述,尽管并不是所有的前瞻性表述都包含这些词语。本报告中包含的所有前瞻性表述均以本报告发布之日我们掌握的信息为基础,除非法律另有要求,否则我们不承担更新任何此类前瞻性表述的义务。
概述
我们是一家商业阶段的生物制药公司,通过利用人类免疫系统的能力识别和摧毁不同的癌细胞,采用针对每个患者的个性化治疗方法,开创了一种治疗癌症的变革性方法。我们的使命是成为为实体瘤患者创新、开发和提供肿瘤浸润性淋巴细胞(TIL)细胞疗法的全球领先者。我们正在执行Amagvi™(Lifileucel)在美国的推出,这是我们的自体TIL细胞治疗平台内的第一个产品,同时也在营销Proil®安塔维™治疗方案中使用的一种白介素2或白介素2产品(Aldesil)。Amagvi™是第一个也是唯一一个获得美国食品和药物管理局(FDA)批准的针对实体瘤癌症的一次性个体化t细胞疗法。Amagvi™是一种肿瘤来源的自体t细胞免疫疗法,用于治疗先前使用PD-1封闭抗体治疗的无法切除或转移性黑色素瘤的成人患者,如果BRAF V600突变呈阳性,则使用或不使用MEK抑制剂的BRAF抑制剂。这一适应症于2024年2月在基于总体应答率或ORR终点的加速批准下获得批准。这一适应症的持续批准可能取决于未来验证性试验中对临床益处的验证和描述。安塔格维™与白介素原®是一种治疗方案的一部分,该方案还包括淋巴枯竭。
除了美国,我们还计划推出AmagviTM进入晚期黑色素瘤高发的其他市场,包括欧盟或欧盟、英国、加拿大、瑞士和澳大利亚。2024年6月,我们向欧洲药品管理局(European Medicines Agency,简称EMA)提交了一份集中营销授权申请,要求获得lifileucel。2024年8月,MAA通过了验证并接受了EMA的审查。2024年10月,MAA提交给英国药品和保健产品监管机构,新药提交或NDS被认为有资格获得加拿大卫生部的遵守条件通知或NOC/C。NOC/C政策包括一个优先的200天审查过程,以在2025年年中获得潜在的NDS批准。如果获得批准,lifileucel有望成为这些市场上第一个也是唯一一个在这种治疗环境下获得批准的疗法。在美国和其他目标全球市场,AmagviTM每年有可能治疗20,000多名以前接受过治疗的晚期黑色素瘤患者。
Iovance是在TIL细胞治疗前景的基础上成立的,此前在包括国家癌症研究所(NCI)在内的学术研究中心的单中心临床试验中证明了这一点。我们的多中心试验、新颖的TIL产品、制造工艺、设备和生物分析平台已将TIL细胞疗法转变为一种商业上可行的治疗方法,成千上万的癌症患者可以获得这种疗法。
我们使用集中化、可扩展和专有的制造工艺来生产AMTAGVI™和我们正在研究的TIL细胞疗法,这些工艺可以使每个患者特有的多克隆T细胞恢复活力并增殖到数十亿细胞,从而产生一种冷冻保存的个性化治疗。Amagvi™是在我们的制造工厂--艾万斯细胞治疗中心--为商业用途而生产的iCTC,以及合同制造组织或CMO。
我们的开发管道包括在实体瘤癌症的其他治疗环境中对TLR细胞疗法进行多中心试验。我们正在研究针对既往接受过标准护理疗法治疗的晚期疾病患者的TLR单一疗法以及TLR与标准护理疗法的组合,以可能改善病情早期患者的预后。我们正在进行两项正在进行的注册试验,以支持在标准护理化学免疫疗法后对一线晚期黑色素瘤和晚期非小细胞肺癌(即非小细胞肺癌)进行补充BLA(sBLA)。我们还在开发下一代疗法,例如转基因和基因编辑的TLR细胞疗法和下一代细胞因子。
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企业战略
成为创新、开发和提供TIL细胞疗法的全球领先者
我们的使命是成为为实体瘤患者创新、开发和提供TIL细胞疗法的全球领先者。我们正在率先采用这种变革性的方法来治疗癌症,方法是利用人类免疫系统识别和摧毁每个患者不同的癌细胞的能力。通过AMTAGVI™在美国的推出和我们流水线的推进,我们致力于在开发TIL细胞疗法和优化TIL治疗方案方面不断创新,以延长和改善癌症患者的生命。
我们的先导产品AMTAGVI™成功商业化,用于治疗抗PD-1后的晚期黑色素瘤
我们的当务之急是将AMTAGVI™在美国商业化,用于治疗抗PD-1后晚期黑色素瘤患者,我们于2024年2月16日获得美国食品和药物管理局的批准。我们拥有经验丰富的营销、支付者接入和分销团队,以及一支在肿瘤学和细胞疗法方面拥有丰富经验的销售队伍。我们的医疗团队还在现场培训关键意见领袖,即KOL,了解安塔维™和TIL细胞疗法,并展示和发布我们的临床结果。
我们推出安塔维™的四个主要领域包括:
● | 启动经授权的治疗中心,用于商业启动,目标是到2024年底激活约70个治疗中心; |
● | 教育、培训,并与将管理我们的产品的医疗保健专业人员或HCP以及将转介患者到ATC的社区肿瘤学家合作; |
● | 在发射执行、商业制造和提供治疗方面的卓越运营;以及 |
● | 持续不断地与付款人就安塔维™的价值进行沟通,以促进强大的报销和患者准入。 |
建立生产能力以满足预期的商业和临床需求
我们是第一家获得FDA批准的TIL细胞治疗产品的公司。我们相信,我们是美国唯一一家拥有集中的、可扩展的、商业上可行的TIL制造流程的公司。在FDA批准之前的临床试验中,超过700名患者接受了使用我们的专利工艺生产的跨越多个适应症的Iovance TIL细胞治疗产品。Iovance TIL细胞疗法是在我们的制造工厂生产的,用于商业和临床试验iCTC和一位首席营销官。i四氯化碳是美国食品和药物管理局批准用于商业生产的安塔维™。此外,我们的CMO获得了FDA批准的额外产能,以补充我们的内部制造。这两个设施总共有能力每年治疗数千名癌症患者。
这个iCTC是第一个集中和可扩展的当前良好制造规范,或cGMP,致力于生产TIL的制造设施,以及第一个FDA批准的商业TIL细胞治疗设施。位于宾夕法尼亚州费城,面积13.6万平方英尺iCTC也是最大的细胞疗法制造设施之一。在美国的iCTC正在进行中,预计将增加每年供应5000多名患者的能力,长期目标是建立一个制造网络,每年向1万多名患者提供TIL治疗。距离最近的地方i多个机场的CTC促进了TIL细胞疗法向治疗中心的交付,iCTC预计将涵盖北美和欧洲TIL细胞疗法的物流和交付。拥有自己的设施使我们能够控制制造能力和产品质量,管理供应和交付方面的物流,实施工艺改进,并实现我们可能开发和商业化的TIL细胞疗法的潜在成本效益。我们还在探索未来的TIL制造工艺,以及下一代治疗和技术,这可能会进一步简化开发时间表和成本。这个iCTC具有灵活的设计,允许在现有的外壳空间内进行扩展,并可以选择在相邻的地块上进行建设,以支持未来的增长和容量需求。
2018年,我们开始使用我们的第二代TIL制造工艺,在生产冷冻保存TIL产品的同时,将TIL制造时间减少到约22天。第二代工艺用于生产用于支持FDA批准的临床试验的安塔维™,我们正在进行的大多数临床试验都使用第二代工艺。
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我们计划认真管理我们的成本结构,降低生产我们产品的长期成本。有关协议的详情载于附注11。第I部分所载的简明综合财务报表附注的许可证及协议。本季度报告的财务资料以Form 10-Q格式提供。
美国推出首个治疗晚期黑色素瘤的TIL细胞疗法
安塔格维™
2024年2月16日,美国食品和药物管理局批准Amagvi™(Lifileucel)用于治疗先前使用PD-1封闭抗体治疗的无法切除或转移性黑色素瘤的成人患者,如果BRAF V600突变阳性,则使用BRAF抑制剂加或不加MEK抑制剂。批准是基于C-144-01临床试验的安全性和有效性结果。C-144-01临床试验是一项全球性的多中心试验,研究安塔维™在晚期黑色素瘤患者中的应用,这些患者以前接受过PD-1抗疗法和靶向治疗,如果适用的话。我们于2023年3月完成了BLA提交,FDA于2023年5月接受了该文件进行优先审查。根据抗PD-1晚期黑色素瘤后未得到满足的需求以及最初的临床数据,lifileucel曾在2018年获得FDA的再生医学高级治疗(RMAT)称号。
Amagvi™是使用一种专利工艺制造的,该工艺从患者肿瘤的一部分收集并增殖患者独特的t细胞。安塔格维™将患者体内数十亿的t细胞送回体内抗击癌症。作为治疗方案的一部分,ATCs对患者进行Amagvi™治疗,包括淋巴滤除和短期高剂量白介素化治疗®(碱性粒细胞)。
在安塔维™治疗过程中有三个关键步骤。
到目前为止,在抗PD-1治疗后,没有FDA批准的这种治疗环境下的晚期黑色素瘤的治疗方法。
促红细胞生成素®
2023年5月,我们获得了Proil的全球转播权®(Aldesil),以及从Clinigen Holdings Limited、Clinigen Healthcare Limited和Clinigen,Inc.(我们统称为Clinigen)的这些权利和相关业务产生的制造、供应和商业化收入。前质蛋白的所有权®提供额外的收入来源,使Iovance能够确保其围绕TIL细胞治疗管理的供应链和物流,并降低Proil的商品成本和临床试验费用®与TIL细胞疗法一起使用。
促红细胞生成素®是一种用于安塔维™治疗方案的IL-2产品。促红细胞生成素®在美国治疗转移性黑色素瘤和转移性肾细胞癌的成年人也获得了监管部门的批准。促红细胞生成素®该药还在全球多个国家获得许可,用于治疗转移性肾细胞癌和/或转移性黑色素瘤患者。
平铺 细胞 T晚期、转移性或不可切除实体瘤癌症的突出临床进展
TLR细胞疗法是一种基于t细胞的免疫治疗技术平台,利用患者特定的细胞来识别和攻击每个患者独特的多种癌细胞。与作用于某些肿瘤常见的单个或少量共享抗原靶点的其他细胞疗法不同,我们的个体化t细胞疗法是多克隆的或旨在靶向患者和肿瘤独特的各种新抗原。我们相信这种多克隆细胞疗法可能适用于许多固体
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肿瘤,其中大多数免疫靶点是患者特有的。我们的TIL细胞治疗平台和制造工艺已通过美国食品和药物管理局批准的安塔维™初步验证。
我们研究了TIL细胞治疗晚期黑色素瘤、妇科癌症、非小细胞肺癌和头颈部鳞状细胞癌的全球多中心临床试验。通过正在进行的学术合作,以及政府和其他合作伙伴,我们正在研究TIL细胞治疗在其他肿瘤类型和治疗环境中的下一个前沿。
● | 一线晚期黑色素瘤:在之前没有接受过抗PD-1治疗的一线晚期黑色素瘤患者中,我们正在TILVANCE-301期临床试验中研究Lifileucel与Pembrolizumab的联合使用。TILVANCE-301是一项全球随机3期临床试验,旨在支持晚期一线黑色素瘤的注册,并作为一项确证性试验,用于完全批准抗PD-1晚期黑色素瘤后的治疗。TILVANCE-301预计将招募大约670名患者,由盲目的独立审查委员会提供ORR和无进展生存(PFS)的双重主要终点。 |
● | 非小细胞肺癌:在非小细胞肺癌中,我们正在两个临床试验中研究脂胞苷在有显著未满足需求的非小细胞肺癌患者群体中的作用。IOV-LUN-202是Lifieucel在晚期NSCLC患者中的注册临床试验,这些患者在化疗和抗PD-1治疗后取得进展。IOV-COM-202实体肿瘤试验也包括接受以下治疗的非小细胞肺癌患者队列唇形核细胞单一疗法和联合疗法。 |
● | 妇科癌症:我们在2024年第二季度启动了一项治疗子宫内膜癌的临床试验,以潜在地解决以前接受抗PD-1治疗的患者未得到满足的需求。在C-145-04多中心第二期临床试验中,我们探索了脂肪细胞在晚期宫颈癌中的作用。 |
● | 新一代TIL细胞疗法:我们的第一种转基因PD-1灭活TIL细胞疗法IOV-4001正在2022年进行的第一项人类1/2期临床试验IOV-GM1-201中进行,研究对象是曾经治疗过的晚期黑色素瘤和非小细胞肺癌患者。IOV-4001利用基因编辑TALEN®从Cellectis S.A.或Cellectis获得许可的技术,可以使PD-1编码的基因失活。 |
● | 其他实体瘤癌症:在Iovance和研究人员赞助的临床试验中,Iovance TIL细胞治疗已经在其他实体肿瘤癌症中进行了研究。生命力尤赛尔在转移性HNSCC患者的2期C-145-03和IOV-COM-202临床试验中,作为单一疗法进行评估,并与培溴利珠单抗联合使用。在Iovance支持的研究人员赞助的临床试验中研究的适应症包括软组织肉瘤、骨肉瘤、胰腺癌和结直肠癌、对铂耐药的卵巢癌、间变性甲状腺癌、非黑色素瘤皮肤癌和三阴性乳腺癌。 |
下一代TIL治疗产品候选
我们的下一代技术平台旨在通过三个关键举措优化TIL细胞治疗的结果:基因修饰、效力和新的治疗方案。
● | 基因修改:除了IOV-4001,我们还在利用从临床阶段生物技术公司Cellectis获得许可的基因编辑TALEN®平台,寻求几个基因修改的目标。单基因和多基因敲除可能进一步利用免疫系统对癌症的反应,并潜在地增加TIL细胞治疗的效力。临床前开发也在进行中,更多的TIL产品和TIL细胞系使用瞬时和稳定的基因失活,这可能会扩大和激活TIL以达到更好的疗效,同时避免全身副作用。 |
● | 细胞因子栓系的TIL治疗:一种基因工程、可诱导和捆绑的IL-12 TIL细胞疗法,命名为IOV-5001,正在进行新药使能研究。在临床前研究中,IOV-5001在体外增强了抗肿瘤活性,在NCI进行的前一代IL-12 TIL治疗的临床试验显示,疗效有所改善。计划在2024年第四季度与FDA举行IND前会议,讨论IOV-5001,随后预计在2025年第一季度举行会议,然后在2026年提交调查性新药申请或IND。 |
● | 效力:我们正在探索通过分选和选择特定的TIL,如CD39/69双阴性TIL,以及在TIL中使用某些抑制剂或其他试剂来提高最终TIL产品的效力的潜在方法 |
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扩张文化。我们还制造和研究了使用TIL候选者LN-145-S1治疗的患者队列,LN-145-S1是从为PD-1表达而选择的TIL中生产的。 |
● | 新的治疗方案:我们正在探索TIL治疗方案的潜在改进。我们正在研究IOV-3001,这是我们于2020年从诺华制药公司获得许可的第二代改进型IL-2类似物。我们在2024年第三季度提交了一份IND,用于IOV-3001的1/2期临床试验,用于TIL治疗方案。 在美国临床肿瘤学会2024年年会上公布了IOV-3001的非人类灵长类和IND使能研究结果,并证明了通过强大的效应T细胞扩增来改善安全性的潜力。 |
知识产权
我们已经建立了一个领先的知识产权组合,由内部开发并从第三方获得许可。我们目前拥有230多项已授予或允许的美国和国际专利,以及与安塔维™和其他TIL相关技术有关的专利申请,预计这些专利将使安塔维™在2042年之前拥有独家专利权。70多项美国专利与TIL细胞疗法有关,包括针对多种癌症的组合物和治疗方法的专利,如美国专利号。10,130,659;10,166,257;10,272,113;10,363,273;10,398,734;10,420,799;10,463,697;10,517,894;10,537,595;10,639,330;10,646,517;10,653,723;10,695,372;10,894,063;10,905,718;10,918,666;10,925,900;10,933,094;10,946,044;10,946,045;10,953,046;10,953,047;11,007,225;11,007,226;11,013,770;11,026,974;11,040,070;11,052,115;11,052,116;11,058,728;11,083,752;11,123,371;11,141,438;11,168,303;11,168,304;11,179,419;11,202,803;11,202,804;11,220,670;11,241,456;11,254,913;11,266,694;11,273,180;11,273,181;11,291,687;11,304,979;11,304,980;11,311,578;11,337,998;11,344,579;11,344,580;11,344,581;11,351,197;11,351,198;11,351,199;11,364,266;11,369,637;11,384,337;11,433,097;11,517,592;11,529,372;11,541,077;11,713,446;11,819,517;11,857,573;11,865,140;11,866,688;11,939,596;11,969,444;11,975,028;12,024,718;和12,031,157。这些专利中有40多项与我们的第二代TIL制造工艺有关,我们预计这些专利的期限将延长至2037年10月或2038年1月,不包括任何可能的专利期限延长或调整。我们拥有和获得许可的知识产权组合还包括以下专利和专利申请:TIL、骨髓浸润性淋巴细胞(MIL)和外周血淋巴细胞(PBL)疗法;冷冻肿瘤TIL技术;残留TIL和消化TIL成分、方法和流程;TIL、MIL和PBL疗法的制造方法;共刺激分子和T细胞调节分子在TIL细胞治疗和制造中的使用;稳定和瞬时的转基因TIL细胞疗法,包括免疫检查点的基因敲除;细胞因子捆绑的TIL细胞疗法;ICIS与TIL细胞疗法联合使用的方法;TIL选择技术;以及患者亚群的治疗方法。
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经营成果的构成部分
收入
截至2024年9月30日的三个月和九个月的收入代表安塔维™和普罗莱尔的产品销售®, 主要来自美国的销售,以支持正在进行的安塔维™的商业推出,该药于2024年2月获得美国食品和药物管理局的批准。促红细胞生成素®,我们于2023年5月获得了全球转播权,也在美国以外的市场销售,主要是在欧盟和英国。在2023年5月之前,我们没有确认任何收入。
安塔维™的收入是在患者输液时确认的,而Proil®收入在交付给专业分销商、临床制造商和ATC时确认。收入在确认预期的按存储容量使用计费、折扣、回扣和销售津贴时减少,统称为总额至净调整,或GTN调整。在美国,这些GTN调整归因于各种商业安排和政府计划。此外,非美国政府项目包括不同的定价方案,如成本上限和批量折扣。
成本和开支
销售成本
销售成本包括库存和期间成本,以及与安塔维™从批准到2024年9月30日期间的管理费用和制造成本有关的非现金费用,以及库存和其他成本的成本,以及与Proil购销直接相关的非现金费用®。此外,销售成本包括销售我们产品时应支付的特许权使用费,以及非现金费用,包括摊销收购的Proil的公允价值递增。®确认为已收购库存单位的存货已出售,已开发技术无形资产的摊销费用和作为收购一部分记录的里程碑付款,以及知识产权许可无形资产。
如果生产的产品不符合规格或患者无法接受输液,安塔维™产品将被销毁,与产品相关的制造和库存成本通常需要作为销售成本支出。然而,如果超出规格的产品可以作为临床试验的一部分,按照治疗医生的要求,以扩大或早期访问计划或单患者IND的形式进行管理,则产品的成本将根据我们收到的与这些输液相关的临床数据记录为研发费用。
安塔维™的制造过程非常复杂,并受到美国食品和药物管理局严格的指南和要求以及内部规范和质量指南的约束。我们能否成功生产安塔维™并将成品交付给ATCS以供患者输注取决于几个因素,包括患者选择和治疗中心提供的用于生产安塔维™的肿瘤质量。在入职过程中,我们将大量的精力和注意力集中在与治疗中心的合作上,涉及这些事项,以及我们的内部制造流程。
研发费用
研发费用包括人员和设施相关费用、外部合同服务(包括临床试验成本,包括根据扩大准入计划或单患者IND进行的安达维™输注)、制造和工艺开发成本、研究成本以及其他咨询服务。研究和开发成本在发生时计入费用。将用于或提供用于未来研发活动的货物或服务的不可退还的预付款将在货物交付或提供相关服务期间延期摊销,但须视可回收程度进行评估。
临床开发费用是研究和开发费用的重要组成部分。我们有与第三方签订合同的历史,这些第三方代表我们执行与我们候选产品的持续开发相关的各种临床试验活动。这些合同的财务条款有待谈判,可能因合同而异,并可能导致付款不均衡。我们根据与合同研究机构和临床试验地点签订的协议,根据到目前为止完成的单项试验的估计工作,为第三方进行的临床试验活动应计和支出成本。我们临床试验和候选产品开发的持续时间、成本和时间将取决于许多因素,这些因素包括但不限于每个患者试验登记参加试验的患者数量。
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成本、试验中包括的地点数量、患者的停用率、患者随访的持续时间、候选产品的有效性和安全性,以及招募符合条件的患者所需的时间长度。
我们预计在可预见的未来,随着我们继续为各种候选产品进行临床试验,研究和开发费用将继续增加。我们预计,由于安塔维™的批准,我们的研究和开发费用将减少,同时商业活动和销售、一般和行政费用预计将增加。然而,很难确定我们目前或未来的临床前计划和候选产品的临床试验的持续时间和完成成本。
销售、一般和行政费用
销售、一般和行政费用主要包括行政、财务、采购、法律、投资者关系、设施、业务发展、营销、商业、信息技术和人力资源职能人员的薪金和其他相关费用,包括基于股票的薪酬。其他重大成本包括研发费用中未计入的设施成本、与公司事务和知识产权相关的法律费用、保险、与维持遵守纳斯达克上市规则和美国证券交易委员会要求有关的上市公司费用、投资者关系成本以及会计和咨询服务费用。销售、一般及行政成本于产生时计提,而我们就第三方提供的与上述开支相关的服务应计,方法是监察所提供服务的状况,并从其服务供应商收取估计,并在得知实际成本后调整其应计项目。
我们预计销售、一般和管理费用将随着安塔格维™和MARKET PROIL的推出而增加®以及在美国市场和美国以外执行预期的内部销售、一般和管理团队的扩张,以支持我们业务的整体增长。
利息收入,净额
利息收入净额来自我们的计息现金、现金等价物和投资余额。
所得税优惠
所得税利益与在英国的业务和相关递延税项的实现有关。
截至2024年和2023年9月30日的三个月和九个月的经营业绩
收入
截至三个月 | 增加 |
| 九个月结束 | 增加 | ||||||||||||||||||
9月30日 | (减少) | 9月30日 | (减少) | |||||||||||||||||||
(单位:千) |
| 2024 |
| 2023 |
| $ |
| % |
| 2024 |
| 2023 |
| $ |
| % | ||||||
Amtagvi™ | $ | 42,038 | $ | — | $ | 42,038 | 100 | $ | 54,857 | — | $ | 54,857 | 100 | |||||||||
促红细胞生成素® | 16,517 | 469 | 16,048 | 3,422 | 35,519 | 707 | 34,812 | 4,924 | ||||||||||||||
产品总收入 | $ | 58,555 | $ | 469 | $ | 58,086 | 12,385 | $ | 90,376 | $ | 707 | $ | 89,669 | 12,683 |
与2023年同期相比,截至2024年9月30日的三个月和九个月的收入分别增加了5,810美元万或12,385%和8,970美元万或12,683%。这一增长是由于完成了对Proil的全球权利的收购®2023年5月,或收购,以及2024年2月安塔维™的商业推出。在2024年第一季度,产品收入全部来自普罗莱特的产品销售®在美国以外的市场,随着BLA于2024年2月批准Amagvi™,我们在2024年第二季度开始为Amagvi™创造收入,因为我们的ATC进行了注入。此外,在2024年第二季度,我们开始销售普罗华®在美国市场上。PROIL®收购时为支持美国市场而向分销商提供的库存已大量售出,因此,我们在2024年第二季度和第三季度都遇到了专业分销商的大量重新进货需求,以支持与安塔维™的强劲商业推出相关的持续和预期的注入。GTN调整并未对截至2024年9月30日和2023年9月30日的三个月和九个月的产品净收入产生实质性影响。
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由于与我们产品的收入时间相关,Amtagvi™输注预计将落后于Amtagvi™相关Proleukin® 销售额将增加2-3个月,我们预计ATC将使用15-18 Proleukin® 每次Amtagvi™输注的小瓶。虽然由于专业分销商的库存活动时间以及与Amtagvi™输液无关的销售,例如Proleukin的销售,此类Proleukin®销售并不能直接指示Amtagvi™未来的收入® 用于临床制造或临床试验,此类销售额是未来Amtagvi™收入的指标之一。
成本和开支
下表总结了成本和费用的不同时期变化:
截至三个月 | 增加 | 九个月结束 | 增加 | |||||||||||||||||||
9月30日 | (减少) | 9月30日 | (减少) | |||||||||||||||||||
(单位:千) |
| 2024 |
| 2023 | $ |
| % |
| 2024 |
| 2023 | $ |
| % | ||||||||
销售成本 | $ | 39,823 | $ | 4,340 | $ | 35,483 | 818 | $ | 78,452 | $ | 6,390 | $ | 72,062 | 1,128 | ||||||||
研发费用 | 68,245 | 87,526 | (19,281) | (22) | 210,112 | 256,607 | (46,495) | (18) | ||||||||||||||
销售、一般和行政费用 |
| 39,553 |
| 26,964 | 12,589 | 47 |
| 110,514 |
| 77,013 | 33,501 | 44 |
销售成本
在安塔维™和普罗莱尔销售额增长的推动下,截至2024年9月30日的三个月和九个月的销售成本分别增加了3550万和7210万,增幅分别为818%和7210美元®,以及与制造Amagvi™相关的成本。销售成本包括截至2024年9月30日的三个月和九个月的5,50亿美元万和1,550美元万,而截至2023年9月30日的三个月和九个月的非现金摊销费用为400美元万和590美元万,以及作为收购的一部分记录的里程碑付款以及知识产权许可无形资产。此外,销售成本还包括在截至2024年9月30日的3个月和9个月中,用于摊销收购的Proil®库存的公允价值增加的非现金支出,分别为140美元万和480美元万,而截至2023年9月30日的3个月和9个月分别为10美元万。这笔费用在出售收购中收购的单位时入账,我们预计这一金额将在未来6至12个月内随着这一库存的出售而减少。除了非现金摊销费用外,销售成本还包括截至2024年9月30日的三个月和九个月与我们产品销售相关的应支付版税,分别为390万和820万。在截至2023年9月30日的三个月和九个月里,没有支付特许权使用费。
截至2024年9月30日的三个月和九个月的销售成本还分别包括主要与患者健康和接受安塔维™治疗能力导致的患者减少有关的期间成本,以及不符合要求的、未在扩展访问计划或单患者IND下用于生成临床数据的制造结果,导致我们无法确认收入期间的制造成本,这些成本分别为830IND和1720万。此外,此类成本在较小程度上包括与间接费用和制造成本有关的期间成本i由于在此期间间接费用吸收不足,我们决定以足以满足2024年及以后预期商业需求的能力投产,从而导致核准期间的四氯化碳减少。随着安塔维™的继续推出,我们将继续专注于制造执行,但预计在即将到来的财季中将产生此类期间成本,同时我们将继续实施与制造质量相关的计划,直到我们能够充分利用我们的制造能力。
研发费用
与2023年同期相比,截至2024年9月30日的三个月的研发费用减少了1930美元万,降幅为22%。减少的主要原因是:(I)由于我们的BLA批准和过渡到商业生产以支持Amagvi™的商业推出,临床制造成本减少了2,870美元,这是由于我们对Amagvi™的合格制造成本的资本化所推动的;(2)主要由于某些研究中患者登记人数的减少,临床和其他成本减少了150美元万;以及(3)与合格相关的成本减少了140美元万i在前期完成这类活动的推动下,为商业制造做好准备的四氯化碳套件。这些减少被(I)工资和相关成本(包括基于股票的薪酬)增加1090美元(万)部分抵消,这主要是由于员工数量和以较高的平均股价授予的股票奖励数量的增加,以及(Ii)用于开发下一代候选人的实验室和消耗品成本增加140美元(万)。
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Research and development expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 decreased by $46.5 million, or 18%, compared to the same period in 2023. The decrease was primarily attributable to (i) a $61.2 million decrease in clinical manufacturing costs, driven by capitalization of qualified costs for Amtagvi™ manufacturing resulting from our BLA approval and the transition to commercial manufacturing to support the commercial launch of Amtagvi™, (ii) a $3.8 million decrease in clinical costs, driven primarily by lower patient enrollment across certain studies, and (iii) a $1.1 million decrease in costs associated with the reclassification of certain activities supporting Amtagvi™ into general and administrative expenses upon BLA approval based on their function. These decreases were partially offset by (i) a $16.1 million increase in payroll and related costs, including stock-based compensation, primarily driven by an increase in the number of employees and the number of stock awards granted at a higher average stock price, (ii) a $2.5 million increase in lab and consumable costs to develop next generation candidates, and (iii) a $1.0 million increase in license costs related to the expansion of our information technology infrastructure to support our clinical activities.
Research and development activities are central to our business model. Product candidates in later stage of clinical development generally have higher development costs than those in earlier stages of clinical development, primarily due to the increased size and duration of later-stage clinical trials. We separate our research and development expenses into two broad categories: direct and indirect. Additionally, with respect to direct research and development expenses, we further divide expenses into the following sub-categories: “TIL, including combination therapy,” “Next Generation,” and “Other clinical, preclinical and research programs under development.” Lifileucel monotherapy includes our TIL monotherapy clinical trials, including clinical trials previously reported as LN-145. For direct research and development expenses, we track specific project research and development expenses that are directly attributable to our preclinical and clinical development candidates that have been selected for further development. Such direct research and development expenses include third-party contract costs relating to the manufacturing of TILs, as well as preclinical and clinical trial activities.
All remaining research and development expenses are categorized as indirect research and development expenses. Such indirect research and development expenses include employee salaries and benefits, stock-based compensation, consulting and contracted services to supplement our in-house activities, and costs associated with our facilities. These expenses are not directly tied to any individual project and are generally deployed across multiple projects. As such, we do not maintain information regarding those costs incurred on a project specific basis.
The table below summarizes our research and development expenses by therapeutic area (in thousands):
Three Months Ended | Increase | Nine Months Ended | Increase | |||||||||||||||||||
September 30, | (Decrease) | September 30, | (Decrease) | |||||||||||||||||||
2024 | 2023 | $ |
| % | 2024 | 2023 | $ |
| % | |||||||||||||
Direct research and development expense by product candidate | ||||||||||||||||||||||
TIL, including combination therapy | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Lifileucel monotherapy | $ | 16,767 | $ | 17,962 | $ | (1,195) | (7) | $ | 46,172 | $ | 57,298 | $ | (11,126) | (19) | ||||||||
Combination Therapy | 4,458 | 5,075 | (617) | (12) | 13,488 | 13,369 | 119 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
Next Generation | 981 | 2,258 | (1,277) | (57) | 6,140 | 5,241 | 899 | 17 | ||||||||||||||
Others clinical, preclinical and research programs under development | 6,528 | 4,378 | 2,150 | 49 | 13,152 | 12,852 | 300 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
Indirect research and development expense | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Personnel related (excluding stock-based compensation) | 16,524 | 28,547 | (12,023) | (42) | 61,295 | 89,408 | (28,113) | (31) | ||||||||||||||
Stock-based compensation expense | 13,803 | 8,787 | 5,016 | 57 | 35,824 | 27,036 | 8,788 | 33 | ||||||||||||||
Contractors and outside services | 1,439 | 6,861 | (5,422) | (79) | 6,235 | 14,049 | (7,814) | (56) | ||||||||||||||
Office and facilities | 7,745 | 13,658 | (5,913) | (43) | 27,806 | 37,354 | (9,548) | (26) | ||||||||||||||
Total research and development | $ | 68,245 | $ | 87,526 | $ | (19,281) | (22) | $ | 210,112 | $ | 256,607 | $ | (46,495) | (18) |
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Selling, general and administrative expense
Selling, general and administrative expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2024 increased by $12.6 million, or 47%, compared to the same period in 2023. The increase was primarily attributable to (i) a $8.8 million increase in payroll and related expense, including stock-based compensation, driven by an increase in headcount to support the growth in the overall business as well as to support the commercialization of Amtagvi™, and an increased number of stock awards granted at a higher average stock price, (ii) a $1.3 million increase in costs incurred in support of the distribution and commercialization of Amtagvi™ and Proleukin®, (iii) a $0.8 million increase in legal costs driven by a reduction in legal costs in 2023 resulting from the capitalization of previously expensed costs directly associated with the Acquisition, and (iv) a $1.7 million increase in other costs, including costs associated with software license costs related to the expansion of our information technology infrastructure and professional fees.
Selling, general and administrative expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 increased by $33.5 million, or 44%, compared to the same period in 2023. The increase was primarily attributable to (i) a $21.0 million increase in payroll and related expense, including stock-based compensation, driven by an increase in headcount to support the growth in the overall business as well as to support the commercialization of Amtagvi™, an increased number of stock awards granted at a higher average stock price, and the reclassification of costs of certain employees previously supporting research and development activities into general administrative expense upon BLA approval based on their functional activities, (ii) a $3.9 million increase in legal costs driven by a reduction in legal costs in 2023 resulting from the capitalization of previously expensed costs directly associated with the Acquisition, (iii) a $6.0 million increase in costs incurred in support of the distribution and commercialization of Amtagvi™ and Proleukin®, and (iv) a $2.6 million increase in other costs, including costs associated with increased travel, software licenses related to the expansion of our information technology, and professional fees.
Interest income, net
Three Months Ended | Increase |
| Nine Months Ended | Increase | ||||||||||||||||||
September 30, | (Decrease) | September 30, | (Decrease) | |||||||||||||||||||
(in thousands) |
| 2024 |
| 2023 |
| $ |
| % |
| 2024 |
| 2023 |
| $ |
| % | ||||||
Interest income, net | $ | 4,005 | $ | 3,358 | $ | 647 | 19 | $ | 10,698 | $ | 9,925 | $ | 773 | 8 |
Interest income, net for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 increased by $0.6 million, or 19%, and $0.8 million, or 8%, compared to the same periods in 2023, respectively. The increase was primarily driven by an increase in average investment balances, resulting from net proceeds from recent public and at-the-market financings as well as a higher rate of return on our investments.
Income tax benefit
Three Months Ended | Increase |
| Nine Months Ended | Increase | ||||||||||||||||||
September 30, | (Decrease) | September 30, | (Decrease) | |||||||||||||||||||
(in thousands) |
| 2024 |
| 2023 |
| $ |
| % |
| 2024 |
| 2023 |
| $ |
| % | ||||||
Income tax benefit | $ | 1,520 | $ | 1,243 | $ | 277 | 22 | $ | 4,386 | $ | 1,720 | $ | 2,666 | 155 |
Income tax benefit for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 increased by $0.3 million, or 22%, and $2.7 million, or 155%, respectively, compared to the same periods in 2023, respectively. This increase was the result of additional deferred tax liabilities recorded for the milestone payment made under the Acquisition and the related tax benefit from the realization of these deferred taxes for operations in the United Kingdom.
Net loss
Three Months Ended | Increase |
| Nine Months Ended | Increase | ||||||||||||||||||
September 30, | (Decrease) | September 30, | (Decrease) | |||||||||||||||||||
(in thousands) |
| 2024 |
| 2023 |
| $ |
| % |
| 2024 |
| 2023 |
| $ |
| % | ||||||
Net loss | $ | (83,541) | $ | (113,760) | $ | 30,219 | (27) | $ | (293,618) | $ | (327,658) | $ | 34,040 | (10) |
Net loss for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 increased by $30.2 million, or 27%, and $34.0 million, or 10%, compared to the same periods in 2023, respectively. The increase in our net loss was due to the overall growth in our workforce and corporate infrastructure to support the ongoing launch of Amtagvi™ in the U.S. and anticipated expansion in additional markets as well as continued sales of Proleukin®, continued expansion of our research and development activities, and ongoing and newly
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initiated clinical trials. We anticipate that we will continue to incur net losses in the future as we further invest in our clinical and internal research and development programs, as well as execution of the launch of Amtagvi™.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of September 30, 2024, we had $403.8 million in cash, cash equivalents, investments, and restricted cash ($164.2 million of cash and cash equivalents, $233.3 million in short-term investments, and $6.4 million in restricted cash). We have incurred losses and generated negative cash flows from operations since inception. Historically, we have funded our operations from various public and private offerings of our equity securities, both common stock and preferred stock, from option and warrant exercises, and from interest income. Since 2017, our primary source of funds has been from the public sale of our common stock. With the recent approval of our BLA, we expect to continue to generate revenue from the sale of our first internally developed product, Amtagvi™, in the remaining quarters of 2024. Furthermore, as Proleukin® inventory that was previously with distributors in the U.S. market at the time of the acquisition of the worldwide rights to Proleukin® in May 2023 has been substantially depleted, we also began to sell Proleukin® into the U.S. market, where product margins are substantially higher than in other markets, to support ongoing and anticipated infusions related to the continued strong commercial launch of Amtagvi™. However, such revenues for Amtagvi™ and Proleukin® may not be material enough to generate positive operational cash flows during the 12 months from the date the condensed consolidated financial statements are issued and this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q is filed.
We expect to continue to incur significant expenses to support our execution of the commercial launch of Amtagvi™, fund ongoing clinical programs, including our NSCLC registration study, IOV-LUN-202, and our frontline advanced melanoma Phase 3 confirmatory trial, TILVANCE-301, continue the development of our pipeline candidates, and for other general corporate purposes. Based on the funds we have available as of the date our condensed consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 are issued, we believe that we have sufficient capital to fund our anticipated operating expenses and capital expenditures as planned for at least the twelve months following the issuance of our condensed consolidated financial statements included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
Corporate Capitalization
As of September 30, 2024, we had outstanding 304,620,470 shares of our $0.000041666 par value common stock, 194 shares of our $0.001 par value Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, and 2,842,158 shares of our $0.001 par value Series B Convertible Preferred Stock. The outstanding shares of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock are currently convertible into 97,000 shares of our common stock, and the outstanding shares of Series B Convertible Preferred Stock are currently convertible into 2,842,158 shares of our common stock. The shares of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock and Series B Convertible Preferred Stock do not have voting rights or accrue dividends.
On February 8, 2021, we entered into an Open Market Sale Agreement, or the 2021 Sale Agreement, with Jefferies LLC, or Jefferies, with respect to an “at the market” offering program, under which we were able to, from time to time, in our sole discretion, issue and sell through Jefferies, acting as sales agent, up to $350.0 million of shares of our common stock.
On November 18, 2022, we entered into a new Open Market Sale Agreement, or the 2022 Sale Agreement, with Jefferies with respect to an “at the market” offering program. Under the terms of the 2022 Sale Agreement, we were able to, from time to time, in our sole discretion, issue and sell up to $500.0 million of shares of our common stock pursuant to the “at the market” offering program. The 2022 Sale Agreement superseded and replaced in its entirety the 2021 Sale Agreement, which was terminated by the Company.
On June 16, 2023, we entered into a new Open Market Sale Agreement, or the 2023 Sale Agreement, with Jefferies with respect to an “at the market” offering program. Under the terms of the 2023 Sale Agreement, we may, from time to time, in our sole discretion, issue and sell up to $450.0 million of shares of our common stock pursuant to the “at the market” offering program. The 2023 Sale Agreement superseded and replaced in its entirety the 2022 Sale Agreement, which was terminated by the Company. The issuance and sale, if any, of shares of our common stock under the 2023 Sale Agreement was or will be made pursuant to a prospectus supplement dated June 16, 2023 to our Registration Statement on Form S-3ASR, which became effective immediately upon filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on June 16, 2023. We received $301.7 million in proceeds, net of offering costs, through the sale of 44,080,226 shares of our common stock for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 through the 2022 Sale Agreement and the 2023 Sale Agreement.
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On July 13, 2023, we closed an underwritten public offering of 23,000,000 shares of our common stock, which included 3,000,000 shares issued pursuant to the exercise of the option granted to the underwriters, at a public offering price of $7.50 per share, before underwriting discounts and commissions. The total net proceeds to us from the offering, including the exercise of the option by the underwriters, were $161.5 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses payable by us.
On February 22, 2024, we closed an underwritten public offering of 23,014,000 shares of our common stock at a public offering price of $9.15 per share, before underwriting discounts and commissions. The total net proceeds to us from the offering were $197.4 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses payable by us.
During the three months ended September 30, 2024, we received approximately $47.5 million in net proceeds, after offering costs, through the sale of 6,110,234 shares of common stock through the 2023 Sale Agreement. During the nine months ended September 30, 2024, we received approximately $200.0 million in net proceeds, after offering costs, through the sale of 23,127,726 shares of common stock through the 2023 Sale Agreement.
In the future, we may periodically offer one or more of these securities in amounts, prices and terms to be announced when and if the securities are offered. If any of the securities covered by the 2020 Shelf Registration Statement are offered for sale, a prospectus supplement will be prepared and filed with the SEC containing specific information about the terms of such offering at that time.
Cash Flows
The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods indicated (in thousands):
| Nine Months Ended September 30, | |||||
| 2024 |
| 2023 | |||
Net cash (used in) provided by: |
|
|
|
| ||
Operating activities | $ | (279,681) | $ | (277,850) | ||
Investing activities |
| (120,088) |
| (82,397) | ||
Financing activities |
| 388,355 |
| 461,997 | ||
Net increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash* | $ | (11,414) | $ | 101,750 |
* Excludes effect of exchange rate changes
Operating Activities
Net cash used in operating activities for the periods presented represents cash disbursements related to all activities other than investing and financing activities. Operating cash flow is derived by adjusting our net loss for non-cash items and changes in operating assets and liabilities. Net cash used in operating activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 was $279.7 million as compared to $277.9 million for the same period in 2023. The $1.8 million increase in cash used in operating activities was driven by a $34.0 million increase in net loss related to increased costs associated with our commercialization and manufacturing activities for Amtagvi™ and overall growth in our workforce and corporate infrastructure. In addition, it reflects a net increase in non-cash charges of $30.3 million, primarily driven by higher stock-based compensation expense and amortization of intangible assets, the latter of which is driven primarily by the amortization associated with the developed technology intangible asset recorded as part of the Acquisition and intellectual property license intangible assets associated with Amtagvi™. The increase in non-cash charges was partially offset by a decrease in accretion of discounts on investments and deferred tax benefits resulting from the realization of the related deferred taxes for operations in the United Kingdom. Further, net cash used in operating activities related to changes in operating assets and liabilities increased by $74.2 million, driven primarily by an increase in trade accounts receivable, resulting from the sale of our products and a decrease in accounts payable and accrued expenses, resulting from cash utilized for payments associated with the continued growth in the business, including our increased workforce, timing of vendor invoicing and related payments, and cash used for purchases of raw material inventory in support of the commercial launch of Amtagvi™. These increases in the use of cash were partially offset by a $8.1 million decrease in cash used for prepaid expenses, other assets, and long-term assets in the current period compared to the corresponding period in 2023, which resulted from the timing of payments made, as well as the receipt of cash for other miscellaneous receivables.
Investing Activities
Net cash used in investing activities for the periods presented primarily relates to the cash utilized to fund the Acquisition, the purchase and maturity of investments, and capital expenditures. Net cash used in investing activities for the nine months ended
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September 30, 2024 was $120.1 million, compared to net cash used by investing activities of $82.4 million for the same period in 2023. The increase in cash used of $37.7 million was driven by a $209.9 million increase associated with changes in the timing of maturities and purchases of investments, which was partially offset by a $160.3 million decrease in cash used for the Acquisition in May 2023 and a $11.9 million decrease in capital expenditures.
Financing Activities
Net cash provided by financing activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 was $388.4 million compared to net cash provided of $462.0 million for the same period in 2023. The decrease in net cash provided by financing activities of $73.6 million was primarily driven by a decrease in net proceeds of $66.0 million received from our public offering in February 2024 and through the sales of common stock through our “at the market” offering program during the nine months ended September 30, 2024, as compared to the net proceeds received through the at the market offering program in the first quarter of 2023. This was offset by a $9.4 million increase in tax payments related to shares withheld for vested restricted stock units and by a $1.7 million increase in proceeds from the issuance of common stock upon the exercise of stock options and from our employee stock purchase plan program.
Contractual Obligations
The following table summarizes our non-cancellable contractual obligations as of September 30, 2024, and the effects that such obligations are expected to have on our liquidity and cash flows in future periods (in thousands):
Payments due by period | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Total |
| 2024 |
| 2025 |
| 2026 |
| 2027 |
| 2028 |
| Thereafter | ||||||||
Operating lease obligations - facilities(1) | $ | 110,690 | $ | 2,252 | $ | 8,436 | $ | 7,989 | $ | 8,186 | $ | 8,389 | $ | 75,438 | |||||||
Purchase obligations(2) | 39,222 | 7,693 | 13,841 | — | 10,767 | 6,921 | — | ||||||||||||||
Total(3) | $ | 149,912 | $ | 9,945 | $ | 22,277 | $ | 7,989 | $ | 18,953 | $ | 15,310 | $ | 75,438 |
(1) | Our operating lease obligations consist of obligations under non-cancellable operating leases for our facilities in San Carlos, California, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Tampa, Florida. Excluded from the above are contractual obligations with a CMO for the manufacturing facilities and minimum fixed commitment fees included in our manufacturing contracts, such as personnel, general support fee, and minimum production or material fees. These obligations met the conditions of embedded leases under Accounting Standard Codification (ASC) Topic 842 and were included in the Operating lease liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets. However, these contracts are cancellable upon prior notice and as a result, are not included in the above table. | ||
(2) | We have purchase obligations of $39.2 million related to manufacturing and supply agreements for Proleukin® under a contract we inherited as part of the Acquisition. | ||
(3) | We acquire assets still in development and enter into research and development arrangements with third parties that often require milestone and royalty payments to the third-party contingent upon the occurrence of certain future events linked to the success of the asset in development. Milestone payments may be required, contingent upon the successful achievement of an important point in the development life cycle of the pharmaceutical product (e.g., approval of the product for marketing by a regulatory agency). If required by the arrangement, we may have to make royalty payments based upon a percentage of the sales of the pharmaceutical product in the event that regulatory approval for marketing is obtained. Because of the contingent nature of these milestone payments, they are not included in the table of contractual obligations. These arrangements may be material individually, and in the event that milestones for multiple products covered by these arrangements are reached in the same period, the aggregate charge to expense could be material to the results of operations in any one period. In addition, these arrangements often give us the discretion to unilaterally terminate development of the product, which would allow us to avoid making contingent payments. |
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
As of September 30, 2024, we had no obligations that would require disclosure as off-balance sheet arrangements.
Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Judgments and Estimates
Our accounting policies are more fully described in Note 2 of the condensed consolidated financial statements included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. As described in Note 2, the preparation of our condensed consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of our financial statements, as well as the reported revenues and expenses during the reported periods. We
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base our estimates on historical experience and on various market-specific and other relevant assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Estimates are assessed each period and updated to reflect current information. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
We believe the following critical accounting policies reflect the more significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our condensed consolidated financial statements:
Asset Acquisitions
We make certain judgments to determine whether transactions should be accounted for acquisitions of assets or business combinations using the guidance in Accounting Standard Codification, or ASC, Topic 805, Business Combinations, by first applying a screen test to assess if substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets acquired is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or group of assets. If the screen test is met, the transaction is accounted for as an asset acquisition. If the screen test is not met, further assessment is required to determine whether we have acquired inputs and processes that have the ability to create outputs, which would meet the requirements of a business.
If the assets acquired do not constitute a business, we account for asset acquisitions using the cost accumulation and allocation method. Under this method, the cost of the acquisition, including direct acquisition-related costs, is allocated to the assets acquired on a relative fair value basis. Goodwill is not recognized in an asset acquisition and any difference between consideration transferred and the fair value of the net assets acquired is allocated to the identifiable assets acquired based on their relative fair values.
Deferred tax liabilities arising from basis differences in assets acquired are calculated using the simultaneous equations method under ASC 740, Income Taxes and based on the effective tax rate. The resulting deferred tax liability is recorded against the carrying amount of the acquired intangible assets on a relative fair value basis.
Contingent consideration in the scope of ASC Topic 815, Derivatives and Hedging, is included in the cost of the asset acquisition at its acquisition date fair value. Contingent consideration in the scope of ASC Topic 450, Contingencies, is recognized when it is both probable and reasonably estimable.
Intangible Assets
Our acquired intangible assets are initially measured based on an allocation of the cost of the acquisition to the assets acquired on a relative fair value basis and are recorded net of accumulated amortization, while intangible assets recorded as the result of milestone or license payments are recorded at the amount paid. We amortize our intangible assets on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives.
When contingent consideration is a component of the cost of an asset acquisition, we capitalize the amount of incremental cost from the contingent consideration related to the intangible asset acquired in the period the underlying contingency is resolved. When this occurs, we will recognize a cumulative catch-up to reflect amortization on the intangible assets that would have been recognized had the incremental cost from the contingent consideration been recorded as of the acquisition date.
We review intangible assets for impairment at least annually and whenever events or changes in circumstances have occurred which could indicate that the carrying value of the assets are not recoverable. If such indicators are present, we assess the recoverability of affected assets by determining if the carrying value of the assets is less than the sum of the undiscounted future cash flows of the assets. If the assets are found to not be recoverable, we measure the amount of impairment by comparing the carrying value of the assets to their fair values. We determined that no indicators of impairment existed as of September 30, 2024. No impairment of intangible assets existed as of September 30, 2024.
Inventory and Cost of Sales
Inventory is stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value on a first-in, first-out basis. Our assessment of net realizable value requires the use of estimates regarding the net realizable value of our inventory balances, including an assessment of excess or obsolete inventory. We determine excess or obsolete inventory based on multiple factors, including an estimate of recent sales forecast compared to quantities on hand and the expiration date of the product and materials.
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Revenue Recognition
We recognize revenue from product sales in accordance with ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. Under ASC 606, revenue is recognized when a customer obtains control of promised goods or services in an amount that reflects the consideration which the entity expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. To the extent the transaction price includes variable consideration, we estimate the amount of variable consideration that should be included in the transaction price using the most likely method based on historical experience, as well as applicable information currently available.
In the U.S., products are sold principally to hospitals and clinics, as well as distributors and wholesalers, and outside of the U.S. to hospitals and clinics. Contractual performance obligations are usually limited to transfer of control of the product to the customer. In the case of Amtagvi™, revenue is recognized upon infusion while for Proleukin®, transfer of control occurs either upon shipment or upon receipt of product after considering when the customer obtains legal title to the product. Revenue is measured as the amount of consideration we expect to receive in exchange for transferring our products and is generally based on a list of fixed prices less allowances for chargebacks, product returns, rebates and discounts. Our payment terms to customers range from 45 to 105 days; payment terms differ by customer and by product.
Revenue is reduced at the time of recognition for expected chargebacks, discounts, rebates, and sales allowances, collectively referred to as gross to net adjustments, or GTN adjustments. In the U.S., these GTN adjustments are attributable to various commercial arrangements and government programs. In addition, non-U.S. government programs include different pricing schemes such as cost caps and volume discounts. Cash discounts are recorded as a reduction to receivables and settled through the issuance of credits, typically within one month. All other GTN adjustments are recorded as a liability and settled through cash payments to the customer.
Significant judgement is required in estimating GTN adjustments considering legal interpretations of applicable laws and regulations, historical experience, payer channel mix, current contract prices under applicable programs, processing time lags and inventory levels in the distribution channel.
Indirect taxes collected from customers and remitted to government authorities that are related to sales of our products, primarily in Europe, are excluded from revenues,
Accrued Research and Development Costs
Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. Clinical development costs compose a significant component of research and development costs. We have a history of contracting with third parties, including CROs, independent clinical investigators, and CMOs, that perform various clinical trial activities on our behalf in connection with the ongoing development of our product candidates. The financial terms of these contracts are subject to negotiations and may vary from contract to contract and may result in uneven payment flow. We accrue and expense costs for clinical trial activities performed by third parties based upon the work completed to date for each clinical trial in accordance with agreements established with CROs, hospitals, and clinical investigators. Accruals for CROs and CMOs are recorded based on services received and efforts expended pursuant to agreements established with CROs, CMOs, and other outside service providers. We determine our costs through discussions with internal clinical stakeholders and outside service providers as to the progress or stage of completion of clinical trials or services and the contracted fee to be paid for such services.
Included in our clinical development costs are investigator costs, which are costs associated with treatments administered at clinical sites as required under each clinical trial protocol. Our estimates for clinical investigator costs and timing of expense recognition will depend on a number of factors that include, but are not limited to, (i) the overall number of patients that enroll in the trial at each individual site, (ii) the length of clinical trial enrollment period, (iii) discontinuation and completion rates of patients, (iv) duration of patient safety follow-ups, (v) the number of sites included in the clinical trial, and (vi) the contracted fee of each participating site for patient treatment while on clinical trial, which can vary greatly for several reasons including, but not limited to, geographic region, medical center or physician costs, and overhead costs. In addition, our estimates for per patient trial costs will vary based on a number of factors that include, but are not limited to, the extent of additional treatments that may be administered by investigators as a result of patient health status, recoverability of patient costs through insurance carriers of patients, and unanticipated cost of injuries incurred as a result of the clinical trial treatment. We accrue estimated expenses resulting from obligations under investigator site agreements as the timing of payments does not always timely align with the periods over which the treatments are administered by the clinical investigators. These estimates are typically based on contracted amounts, patient visit data, discussions with internal clinical stakeholders and outside service providers, and historical look-back analysis of actual payments made to date.
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We make judgments and estimates in determining the accrual balance in each reporting period. In the event advance payments are made to a CRO, CMO, or other outside service provider, the payments are recorded within prepaid expenses and other current assets and subsequently recognized as research and development expense when the associated services have been performed. As actual costs become known, we adjust our estimates, liabilities and assets. Inputs used in our determination of estimates discussed above may vary from actual, which will result in adjustments to research and development expense in future periods.
Item 3.Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Interest Rate Risk
Our exposure to market risk is limited primarily to interest income sensitivity, which is affected by changes in the general level of U.S. interest rates, particularly because a significant portion of our investments are in interest bearing investments consisting of short-term debt securities issued by the U.S. government. The primary objective of our investment activities is to preserve principal. We adhere to an investment policy that requires us to limit amounts invested in securities based on credit rating, maturity, industry group and investment type and issuer, except for securities issued by the U.S. government. We do not have any derivative financial instruments or foreign currency instruments. As of September 30, 2024, we had $336.0 million invested in marketable securities with a maturity date of less than one year. As such we believe that we are not exposed to any material market risk. If interest rates had varied by 1% in the quarter ended September 30, 2024, the fair value of our investment portfolio would increase or decrease by approximately $0.6 million.
Inflation Risk
Inflation has not had a material effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations as of and for the periods covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
Foreign currency exchange risk
In addition to our existing foreign operations, we acquired and established newly formed foreign subsidiaries to consummate our acquisition of worldwide rights in Proleukin® in the second quarter of 2023. As a result, our financial results could be significantly affected by factors such as changes in foreign currency exchange rates or weak economic conditions in the foreign markets in which we distribute Proleukin®. Our operating results could be exposed to changes in foreign currency exchange rates between U.S. dollar and various foreign currencies, the most significant of which is the pound sterling. When the U.S. dollar strengthens against these currencies, the relative value of sales made in the respective foreign currency decreases. Conversely, when the U.S. dollar weakens against these currencies, the relative value of such sales increase.
The majority of our product sales during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 were denominated in the U.S. dollar, however, we do have some sales denominated in foreign currencies. Nevertheless, foreign currency transaction gains and losses were immaterial for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024. No foreign currency exchange risk existed for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024.
Item 4.Controls and Procedures
Conclusion Regarding the Effectiveness of Disclosure Controls and Procedures:
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, we conducted an evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures, as such term is defined under Rule 13a-15(e) promulgated under the Exchange Act as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Based on this evaluation, our principal executive officer and our principal financial officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
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Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting:
There have not been any changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the quarter ended September 30, 2024 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
PART II. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1.Legal Proceedings
The information in Note 13 to the condensed consolidated financial statements contained in Part I, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q is incorporated herein by reference. There are no matters which constitute material pending legal proceedings to which we are a party other than those incorporated into this item by reference from Note 13 to our condensed consolidated financial statements for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
Item 1A.Risk Factors
The risks described below may not be the only ones relating to our company. Additional risks that we currently believe are immaterial may also impair our business operations. Our business, financial conditions and future prospects and the trading price of our common stock could be harmed as a result of any of these risks. Investors should also refer to the other information contained or incorporated by reference in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, including our financial statements and related notes, and our other filings from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC.
Risk Factors Summary
We have marked with an asterisk (*) those risk factors below that reflect a substantive change from the risk factors included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 28, 2024.
Our business is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those risks discussed at length below. These risks include, among others, the brief bulleted list of our principal risk factors set forth below that make an investment in our company speculative or risky. You are encouraged to carefully review our full discussion of the material risk factors relevant to an investment in our business, which follows the brief bulleted list of our principal risk factors set forth below.
Risks Related to Our Business:
● | We have a history of operating losses; we expect to continue to incur losses, and we may never be profitable;* |
● | We may need additional financing to fund our operations and complete the development of our various product candidates and commercialization of our products, and if we are unable to obtain such financing, we may be unable to complete the development of our product candidates and commercialization of our products. Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our existing stockholders, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or product candidates;* |
● | Political uncertainty may have an adverse impact on our operating performance and results of operations.* |
● | The manufacture of our products and product candidates is complex, and we may encounter difficulties in production, particularly with respect to process development, quality control, or scaling-up of our manufacturing capabilities. If we, or any of our third-party manufacturers encounter such difficulties, our ability to provide supply of our product candidates for clinical trials or our products for patients could be delayed or stopped, or we may be unable to maintain a commercially viable cost structure;* |
● | Cell-based therapies and biologics rely on the availability of biological raw materials (including live cells), chemicals and agents used for manufacturing, reagents, specialized equipment, and other specialty materials, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. For each of these, we rely or may rely on treatment sites, limited manufacturers, sole source vendors, or a limited number of vendors, which could impair our ability to manufacture and supply our products; |
● | Because our current products represent, and our other potential product candidates will represent novel approaches to the treatment of disease, there are many uncertainties regarding the development, the market acceptance, third-party reimbursement coverage, and the commercial potential of our product candidates;* |
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● | No assurance can be given that the Gen 2 manufacturing process or other processes we have selected will be FDA-compliant or more efficient and will lower the cost to manufacture TIL products; |
● | We face significant competition from other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and from non-profit institutions; * |
● | Our projections regarding the market opportunities for our products and product candidates may not be accurate, and the actual market for our products and product candidates may be smaller than we estimate; * |
● | We have limited commercial experience and may be unable to establish effective marketing and sales capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to market and sell our products and product candidates, if they are approved, and as a result, we may be unable to generate significant product revenues; |
● | If our products or product candidates do not achieve broad market acceptance, the revenues that we generate from their sales will be limited; |
● | Our products and product candidates may face competition sooner than anticipated; |
● | As a condition of approval, the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities may require that we implement various post-marketing requirements and conduct post-marketing studies, any of which would require a substantial investment of time, effort, and money, and which may limit our commercial prospects;* |
● | We will need to grow the size and capabilities of our organization, and we may experience difficulties in managing this growth; |
● | We may rely on third parties to perform many essential services for any products that we commercialize, including services related to distribution, government price reporting, customer service, accounts receivable management, cash collection, and adverse event reporting. If these third parties fail to perform as expected or to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, our ability to commercialize our current or future products will be significantly impacted and we may be subject to regulatory sanctions; |
● | We may be unable to successfully or sufficiently expand our manufacturing capacity to meet demand for our products; |
● | We depend on the success of our product candidates and cannot guarantee that these product candidates will successfully complete development, receive regulatory approval, or be successfully commercialized;* |
● | Development of a product candidate intended for use in combination with an already approved product may present more or different challenges than development of a product candidate for use as a single agent; * |
● | A Fast Track, breakthrough therapy, or regenerative medicines advanced therapy product designations, or other designation to facilitate product candidate development may not lead to faster development or a faster regulatory review or approval process, and it does not increase the likelihood that our product candidates will receive marketing approval; |
● | While in the U.S. lifileucel has received orphan drug designation for melanoma stages IIB-IV and for cervical cancer patients with tumors greater than 2 cm, there is no guarantee that we will be able to maintain this designation, receive these designations for any of our other product candidates, or receive or maintain any corresponding benefits, including periods of exclusivity; |
● | We may encounter substantial delays in our clinical trials or may not be able to conduct our clinical trials on the timelines we expect and we may be required to conduct additional clinical trials or modify current or future clinical trials based on feedback we receive from the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities;* |
● | It may take longer and cost more to complete our clinical trials than we project, or we may not be able to complete them at all;* |
● | Our clinical trials may fail to demonstrate adequately the safety and efficacy of our product candidates, which would prevent or delay regulatory approval and commercialization; |
● | We are required to pay substantial royalties and lump sum benchmark payments under our license or acquisition agreements with the NIH, Moffitt, Novartis, Clinigen, and Cellectis, and we must meet certain milestones to maintain our license rights; |
● | We rely on and collaborate with governmental, academic, and corporate partners or agencies to approve, improve, and develop TIL cell therapies for new indications for use in combination with other therapies and to evaluate new TIL manufacturing methods, the results of which, because the manufacturing processes are not within our control, and may be incorrect or unreliable; |
● | Our business could be adversely affected by the effects of health epidemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic, in regions where we or third parties on which we rely have significant manufacturing facilities, concentrations of clinical trial sites or other business operations. The COVID-19 pandemic could materially affect our operations, including at our headquarters in San Carlos, California and at our manufacturing facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which have previously been subject to |
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state executive orders and shelter-in-place orders, and at our clinical trial sites, as well as the business or operations of our other manufacturers, contract research organizations, or CROs, or other third parties with whom we conduct business; |
● | We have global operations, which expose us to additional risks, and any adverse event could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.* |
● | We are currently operating in a period of economic uncertainty and capital markets disruption, which has been significantly impacted by geopolitical instability, ongoing military conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, and Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah, and record inflation. Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected by any negative impact on the global economy and capital markets resulting from the conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East, geopolitical tensions, or record inflation;* |
● | Climate change or legal, regulatory or market measures to address climate change may negatively affect our business, results of operations, cash flows, and prospects; and |
● | Environmental, social and governance matters may impact our business and reputation. |
Risks Related to Government Regulation:
● | We are subject to extensive regulation, which can be costly, time consuming and can subject us to unanticipated delays; even after obtaining regulatory approval for some of our products and/or product candidates, those products and/or product candidates may still face regulatory difficulties; |
● | The FDA regulatory approval process is lengthy and time-consuming, and we may experience significant delays in the clinical development and regulatory approval of our product candidates; * |
● | Obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval of our product candidates in one jurisdiction does not mean that we will be successful in obtaining regulatory approval of our product candidates in other jurisdictions; |
● | Coverage and reimbursement may be limited or unavailable in certain market segments for our product candidates, which could make it difficult for us to sell our product candidates profitably;* |
● | We are subject to a variety of U.S. and international laws and regulations;* and |
● | Governments outside the U.S. tend to impose strict price controls, which may adversely affect our revenues, if any. |
The summary risk factors described above should be read together with the text of the full risk factors below in this section entitled “Risk Factors” and the other information set forth in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, including our condensed consolidated financial statements and the related notes, as well as in other documents that we file with the SEC. The risks summarized above or described in full below are not the only risks that we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not precisely known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial may also materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and future growth prospects.
Risks Related to Our Business
Risks Related to Our Financial Position and Need for Additional Capital
We have a history of operating losses; we expect to continue to incur losses and we may never be profitable.*
We are a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering a transformational approach to treating cancer by harnessing the human immune system’s ability to recognize and destroy diverse cancer cells using therapies personalized for each patient. Until recently, we did not have products approved for commercial sale and have not generated significant revenue from operations. With the recent approval of the BLA, we began to generate revenue from the sale of our product Amtagvi™ in the second quarter of 2024. Furthermore, following the acquisition of the worldwide rights to Proleukin® in May 2023, we began to generate revenue from the sales of Proleukin®.
We recognize revenue from product sales in accordance with ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. Under ASC 606, revenue is recognized when a customer obtains control of promised goods or services in an amount that reflects the consideration which the entity expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. To the extent the transaction price includes variable consideration, we estimate the amount of variable consideration that should be included in the transaction price using the most likely method based on historical experience, as well as applicable information currently available.
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In the U.S., products are sold principally to hospitals and clinics, as well as distributors and wholesalers, and outside of the U.S. to hospitals and clinics. Contractual performance obligations are usually limited to transfer of control of the product to the customer. In the case of Amtagvi™, revenue is recognized upon infusion while for Proleukin®, transfer of control occurs either upon shipment or upon receipt of product after considering when the customer obtains legal title to the product. Revenue is measured as the amount of consideration we expect to receive in exchange for transferring our products and is generally based on a list of fixed prices less allowances for chargebacks, product returns, rebates and discounts. Our payment terms to customers range from 45 to 105 days; payment terms differ by customer and by product.
Revenue is reduced at the time of recognition for expected chargebacks, discounts, rebates, and sales allowances, collectively referred to as gross to net adjustments, or GTN adjustments. In the U.S., these GTN adjustments are attributable to various commercial arrangements and government programs. In addition, non-U.S. government programs include different pricing schemes such as cost caps and volume discounts. Cash discounts are recorded as a reduction to receivables and settled through the issuance of credits, typically within one month. All other GTN adjustments are recorded as a liability and settled through cash payments to the customer.
Significant judgement is required in estimating GTN adjustments considering legal interpretations of applicable laws and regulations, historical experience, payer channel mix, current contract prices under applicable programs, processing time lags, and inventory levels in the distribution channel.
As of September 30, 2024, we had an accumulated deficit of $2.3 billion. In addition, during the nine months ended September 30, 2024, we incurred a net loss of $293.6 million. While we have begun commercial launch of our first internally developed product, Amtagvi™, we may not generate any meaningful product sales until later in 2024. We expect to incur significant additional operating losses in the future as we expand our development and clinical trial activities in support of demonstrating the effectiveness of our products.
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.
We may need additional financing to fund our operations and complete the development of our various product candidates and commercialization of our products, and if we are unable to obtain such financing, we may be unable to complete the development of our product candidates and commercialization of our products. Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our existing stockholders, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or product candidates.*
Our operations have consumed substantial amounts of cash since inception. From our inception to September 30, 2024, we have an accumulated deficit of $2.3 billion. In addition, our research and development and our operating costs have also been substantial and are expected to increase. For example, in October 2018, we closed an underwritten public offering of our common stock. The net proceeds from the offering, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses payable by us, were $236.7 million. In June 2020, we closed another underwritten offering of our common stock. The net proceeds from the offering, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses payable by us, were $567.0 million. In July 2023, we closed another underwritten offering of our common stock. The net proceeds from the offering, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses payable by us, were $161.5 million. In February 2021, we entered into an open market sale agreement, or the 2021 Sale Agreement, with Jefferies LLC, or Jefferies, which provided for the sale of up to $350.0 million of our common stock from time to time, which was subsequently increased to $500.0 million in November 2022 upon the execution of an updated open market sale agreement, or the 2022 Sale Agreement, with Jefferies. In June 2023, we entered into a new open market sale agreement, or the 2023 Sale Agreement, with Jefferies, which superseded the 2022 Sale Agreement and provided for the sale of up to $450.0 million of our common stock from time to time. In February 2024, we closed another underwritten offering of our common stock. The net proceeds from the offering, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses payable by us, were $197.4 million. As of September 30, 2024, we had $403.8 million in cash, cash equivalents, investments, and restricted cash ($164.2 million of cash and cash equivalents, $233.3 million in short-term investments, and restricted cash of $6.4 million).
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With the approval of the BLA, we began to generate revenue from the sale of our product Amtagvi™ in the second quarter of 2024. Furthermore, following the acquisition of the worldwide rights to Proleukin® in the second quarter of 2023, we began to generate revenue from the sales of Proleukin®. There is no assurance that such funds will be sufficient to fund our operations during the 12 months from the date the condensed consolidated financial statements are issued and this Form 10-Q is filed. However, based on the funds we have available as of the date these condensed consolidated financial statements are issued, we believe that we have sufficient capital to fund our anticipated operating expenses and capital expenditures as planned for at least the next twelve months following the issuance of our condensed consolidated financial statements included in this Form 10-Q. However, in order to complete the development of our current product candidates, and in order to affect our business plan, including expanding our own manufacturing facility, we anticipate that we will have to spend more than the funds currently available to us. Furthermore, changing circumstances may cause us to increase our spending significantly faster than we currently anticipate. We may require additional capital for the further development of our product candidates and commercialization of our products and may need to raise additional funds sooner if we choose to expand more rapidly than we presently anticipate. Moreover, our fixed expenses such as rent, minimum payments to our contract manufacturers, and other contractual commitments, including those for our research collaborations, are substantial and are expected to increase in the future.
We will need to obtain additional financing to fund our future operations, including completing the development of our product candidates and commercialization of our products. Our future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including, but not limited to:
Unless and until we can generate a sufficient amount of revenue, we may finance future cash needs through public or private equity offerings, license agreements, debt financings, collaborations, strategic alliances and marketing or distribution arrangements. Additional funds may not be available when we need them on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all. We have no committed source of additional capital and if we are unable to raise additional capital in sufficient amounts or on terms acceptable to us, we may be required to delay or reduce the scope of or eliminate one or more of our research or development programs or our commercialization efforts. Our current license and collaboration agreements may also be terminated if we are unable to meet the payment obligations under those agreements. As a result, we may seek to access the public or private capital markets whenever conditions are favorable, even if we do not have an immediate need for additional capital at that time.
To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a stockholder. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased fixed payment obligations and could involve certain restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional debt, limitations on our ability to acquire or license intellectual property rights and other operating restrictions that could adversely impact our ability to conduct our business. If we raise additional funds through strategic
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partnerships and alliances and licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies or product candidates, or grant licenses on terms unfavorable to us.
Subject to various spending levels approved by our Board of Directors, our management will have broad discretion in the use of the net proceeds from our capital raises, including our February 2024, July 2023, June 2020, October 2018 and January 2018 public offerings and the proceeds from sales pursuant to our “at-the-market” sale agreement with Jefferies LLC, and may not use them effectively.*
Our management will have discretion in the application of the net proceeds from our capital raises, including our February 2024, July 2023, June 2020, October 2018, and January 2018 public offerings, and the proceeds from sales pursuant to the 2023 Sale Agreement with Jefferies, which provides for the sale of up to $450.0 million of our common stock from time to time, and our stockholders will not have the opportunity as part of their investment decision to assess whether the net proceeds from our capital raises are being used appropriately. You may not agree with our decisions, and our use of the proceeds from our capital raises may not yield any return to stockholders. Because of the number and variability of factors that will determine our use of the net proceeds from our capital raises, their ultimate use may vary substantially from their currently intended use. Our failure to apply the net proceeds of our capital raises effectively could compromise our ability to pursue our growth strategy and we might not be able to yield a significant return, if any, on our investment of those net proceeds. Stockholders will not have the opportunity to influence our decisions on how to use our net proceeds from our capital raises. Pending their use, we may invest the net proceeds from our capital raises in interest and non-interest-bearing cash accounts, short-term, investment-grade, interest-bearing instruments and U.S. government securities. These temporary investments are not likely to yield a significant return.
The use of our net operating loss carryforwards and research tax credits may be limited.
Our net operating loss carryforwards and any future research and development tax credits may expire and not be used. As of December 31, 2023, we had U.S. federal net operating loss carryforwards of approximately $1.2 billion. Our net operating loss carryforwards arising in taxable years ending on or prior to December 31, 2017 will begin expiring in 2027 if we have not used them prior to that time. Net operating loss carryforwards arising in taxable years ending after December 31, 2017, are no longer subject to expiration under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code. Additionally, our ability to use any net operating loss and credit carryforwards to offset taxable income or tax, respectively, in the future will be limited under Sections 382 and 383 of the Code, respectively, if we have a cumulative change in ownership of more than 50% within a three-year period.
Prior to December 31, 2023, we experienced multiple ownership changes. As a result, the federal and state carryforwards associated with the net operating loss and credit deferred tax assets were reduced by the amount of tax attributes estimated to expire during their respective carryforward periods. In addition, since we will need to raise substantial additional funding to finance our operations, we may undergo further ownership changes in the future. Any such annual limitation may significantly reduce the utilization of the net operating loss carryforwards and research tax credits before they expire. Depending on our future tax position, limitation of our ability to use net operating loss carryforwards in states in which we are subject to income tax could have an adverse impact on our results of operations and financial condition.
Recently enacted tax reform legislation in the U.S., changes to existing tax laws, or challenges to our tax positions could adversely affect our business and financial condition.
In recent years, various tax legislations were signed into law. On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, or the Tax Act, was signed into law, making significant changes to the Internal Revenue Code.
On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or the CARES Act, was enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Certain provisions of the CARES Act amend or suspend certain provisions of the Tax Act. For example, the tax relief measures under the CARES Act for businesses include a five-year net operating loss carryback, suspension of annual deduction limitation of 80% of taxable income from net operating losses generated in a tax year beginning after December 31, 2017, changes in the deductibility of interest, acceleration of alternative minimum tax credit refunds, payroll tax relief, and a technical correction to allow accelerated deductions for qualified improvement property. On June 15, 2020, Assembly Bill 85 was passed in California which suspended the use of net operating losses and limited the use of credits for certain corporations. Changes to existing federal and state tax laws could adversely impact our business, results of operations, and financial position as the impact of recent tax legislation is uncertain.
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In addition, U.S. federal, state and local tax laws are extremely complex and subject to various interpretations. Although we believe that our tax estimates and positions are reasonable, including our decision to build the iCTC at the Navy Yard in Philadelphia in order to take advantage of the site’s designation as a Keystone Opportunity Zone, Keystone Opportunity Expansion Zone, or Keystone Opportunity Improvement Zone, or collectively a KOZ, which allows incentives for business development, as well as certain other financial incentives provided by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the City of Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, there can be no assurance that our tax positions will not be challenged by relevant tax authorities or that we would be successful in any such challenge. Further, challenges to the site's designation as a KOZ or broader challenges to Pennsylvania's KOZ program could result in the revocation of the site’s designation as a KOZ and the attendant tax advantages associated with such designation. If we are unsuccessful in such a challenge, or if the site’s status as a KOZ is revoked, the relevant tax authorities may assess additional taxes, which could result in adjustments to, or impact the timing or amount of, taxable income, deductions or other tax allocations, which may adversely affect our results of operations and financial position.
Political uncertainty may have an adverse impact on our operating performance and results of operations.*
General political uncertainty may have an adverse impact on our operating performance and results of operations. In particular, the United States continues to experience significant political events that cast uncertainty on global financial and economic markets, especially following the recent presidential election. It is presently unclear exactly what actions the new administration in the United States will implement, and if implemented, how these actions may impact the biopharmaceutical industry in the United States. Any actions taken by the new U.S. administration may have a negative impact on the U.S. economy and on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Risks Related to the Manufacturing and Commercialization of Our Products and Product Candidates
Even though our lead product Amtagvi™ is approved and commercialized, we may not become profitable.
Our lead product, Amtagvi™, is initially targeting a small population of refractory patients that suffer from metastatic melanoma. Even with FDA approval of Amtagvi™, and even if we obtain significant market share, because the potential target population for Amtagvi™ in refractory patients may be small, we may never achieve profitability without obtaining regulatory approval for additional indications. The FDA often approves new therapies initially only for use in patients with relapsed or refractory metastatic disease. We expect to initially seek approval of our product candidates in this setting and are currently conducting clinical trials on these patient populations. Since Proleukin® is an established product and there are competing products in development, the success of Proleukin® is closely tied to Amtagvi™ and use with other cell therapies. An approval for a marketed product, such as Proleukin®, may be withdrawn by the FDA or another regulatory agency and disrupt both Proleukin® and Amtagvi™ because of their codependency. Additionally, Proleukin® revenues are dependent upon continued use in manufacturing and clinical settings by Iovance and other cell therapy companies.
The manufacture of our products and product candidates is complex, and we may encounter difficulties in production, particularly with respect to process development, quality control, or scaling-up of our manufacturing capabilities. If we, or any of our third-party manufacturers encounter such difficulties, our ability to provide supply of our product candidates for clinical trials or our products for patients could be delayed or stopped, or we may be unable to maintain a commercially viable cost structure.*
Our products and product candidates are biologics and the process of manufacturing our products is complex, highly regulated and subject to multiple risks. The manufacture of our products and product candidates involves complex processes, including harvesting tumor fragments from patients, isolating the T-cells from the tumor fragments, multiplying the T-cells to obtain the desired dose, and ultimately infusing the T-cells back into a patient. The complexities of manufacturing cell therapy products require extensive collaboration with treatment centers including the provision of patient tumor tissue for manufacture. Manufacturing is dependent on many factors including quality of the patient tumor tissue, treatment center training, and unique factors specific to autologous cell therapy manufacturing that can jeopardize the product approval, launch, scale, and capacity. As a result of the complexities, the cost to manufacture biologics is generally higher than traditional small molecule chemical compounds, and the manufacturing process is less reliable and is more difficult to reproduce. Our manufacturing process will be susceptible to product loss or failure due to logistical issues associated with the collection of tumor fragments, or starting material, from the patient, shipping such material to the manufacturing site, shipping the final product back to the patient, and infusing the patient with the product, manufacturing issues associated with the differences in patient starting material, interruptions in the manufacturing process, contamination, equipment failure, assay failures, improper installation or operation of equipment, vendor or operator error, inconsistency in cell growth, meeting pre-specified release criteria, and variability in product characteristics. Even minor deviations from normal manufacturing processes could result in reduced production yields, product defects, and other supply disruptions. If for
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any reason we lose a patient’s starting material, or later-developed product at any point in the process, or if any product does not meet the applicable specifications, the manufacturing process for that patient will need to be restarted, including resection of the proper amount of tumor fragment, and the resulting delay may adversely affect that patient’s outcome. If microbial, viral, environmental or other contaminations are discovered in our product candidates or in the manufacturing facilities in which our product candidates are made, such manufacturing facilities may need to be closed for an extended period of time to investigate and remedy the contamination.
Because our products and product candidates are manufactured specifically for each individual patient, we will be required to maintain a chain of identity and chain of custody with respect to the patient’s tumor as it moves from the patient to the manufacturing facility, through the manufacturing process, and back to the patient. Maintaining such chains of identity and chains of custody is difficult and complex, and failure to do so could result in adverse patient outcomes, loss of product, or regulatory action including withdrawal of our products from the market. Further, as product candidates are developed through preclinical studies to late-stage clinical trials towards approval and commercialization, it is common that various aspects of the development program, such as manufacturing methods, are altered along the way to optimize processes and results. Such changes carry the risk that they will not achieve these intended objectives, and any of these changes could cause our product candidates to perform differently and affect the results of planned clinical trials or other future clinical trials or otherwise necessitate the conduct of additional studies.
Currently, our products and product candidates are manufactured at our internal facility, the iCTC, and by CMOs, using processes developed or modified by us or by our third-party research institution collaborators that we may not intend to use for more advanced clinical trials or commercialization. Gen 2 is the FDA-approved, commercial manufacturing process for Amtagvi™ and has been selected for all ongoing and future company-sponsored clinical trials. Although we believe Gen 2 is a commercially viable process, there are risks associated with scaling to the level required for advanced clinical trials or commercialization, including, among others, cost overruns, potential problems with process scale-up, process reproducibility, stability issues, lot consistency, and timely availability of raw materials. As a result of these challenges, we may experience delays in our clinical development and/or commercialization plans. Furthermore, we may ultimately be unable to reduce the cost of goods for our product candidates to levels that will allow for an attractive return on investment if and when those product candidates are commercialized.
In May 2019 we entered into a lease agreement to build a commercial-scale manufacturing facility, the iCTC, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for commercial and clinical production of autologous TIL products, including our product Amtagvi™. The iCTC is currently manufacturing TIL for our ongoing clinical trials and Amtagvi™ for commercial supply. As of the first quarter of 2024, the iCTC facility was approved by the FDA for commercial manufacturing of Amtagvi™, and we successfully initiated commercial manufacturing and continue our capacity building and facility expansion activities to supply clinical and commercial TIL to meet demand. We expect our manufacturing facility will provide us with enhanced control of material supply for both clinical trials and the commercial market, enable the more rapid implementation of process changes, and allow for better long-term margins. We have built capacity to potentially treat thousands of cancer patients annually. However, we may not be successful in finalizing the development of our own manufacturing facility or capability. We may establish multiple manufacturing facilities as we expand our commercial footprint to multiple geographies, which may lead to regulatory delays or prove costly. Even if we are successful, our manufacturing capabilities could be affected by cost-overruns, unexpected delays, equipment failures, labor shortages, natural disasters, power failures, and numerous other factors that could prevent us from realizing the intended benefits of our manufacturing strategy and have a material adverse effect on our business.
The manufacture of cell therapy products requires significant expertise and capital investment, including the development of advanced manufacturing techniques and process controls. Manufacturers of cell therapy products often encounter difficulties in production, particularly in scaling up initial production. These problems include difficulties with production costs and yields, quality control, including stability of the product candidate and quality assurance testing, shortages of qualified personnel, and compliance with strictly enforced federal, state, local and foreign regulations. The FDA may take a restrictive approach when regulating cell therapy manufacturing facilities that could result in delays, product release challenges, shortages, or capacity restraints.
Our current manufacturing strategy involves the use of CMOs in conjunction with our internal manufacturing capacity at the iCTC. Currently our products and product candidates are manufactured internally at the iCTC and externally by WuXi Advanced Therapies, Inc., or Wuxi, and previously by Moffitt. Additionally, we partner with American Red Cross, or ARC, to operate our facility to produce feeder cells for TIL manufacturing. The process for manufacturing TIL is heavily reliant on the supply of biological raw materials and maintaining a GMP facility capable of supplying our manufacturing facilities with quality cells to make the final product. There are only a limited number of these types of facilities and sources for the materials needed by TIL cell therapy manufacturers. The iCTC and our CMO are aseptic manufacturing facilities that operate clean rooms for the production of TIL cell therapies, which are subject to contamination, labor, occupational safety, regulatory, climate, and environmental risks that could
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interfere with production. Any problems or delays we or our CMOs experience in preparing for commercial scale manufacturing of a product, product candidate, or component thereof may result, in the case of product candidates, a delay in the approval thereof or, in the case of products, may impair our ability to manufacture commercial quantities or such quantities at an acceptable cost, which could result in the delay, prevention, or impairment of clinical development of our product candidates and commercialization of our products and could adversely affect our business. Furthermore, if we or our commercial manufacturers fail to deliver the required commercial quantities of our product candidates on a timely basis and at reasonable costs, we would likely be unable to meet demand for our products and we would lose potential revenues.
Moreover, while we are expanding our capabilities to enable more internal manufacturing, should we continue to use CMOs, we may not succeed in maintaining our relationships with our current CMO or establishing relationships with additional or alternative CMOs. Our products and product candidates may compete with other products and product candidates for access to manufacturing facilities. There are a limited number of manufacturers that operate under cGMP regulations and that are both capable of manufacturing for us and willing to do so. If our CMOs should cease manufacturing for us, we would experience delays in obtaining sufficient quantities of our product candidates for clinical trials and, if approved, commercial supply. Further, our CMOs may breach, terminate, or not renew these agreements. If we were to need to find alternative manufacturing facilities it would significantly impact our ability to develop, obtain regulatory approval for or market our product candidates, if approved. The commercial terms of any new arrangement could be less favorable than our existing arrangements and the expenses relating to the transfer of necessary technology and processes could be significant.
Reliance on third-party manufacturers entails exposure to risks to which we would not be subject if we manufactured the product candidate exclusively by ourselves, including:
In addition, the manufacturing process and facilities for any products and product candidates that we may develop at the iCTC and or our CMOs is subject to FDA and foreign regulatory authority approval processes, and we or our CMOs will need to meet all applicable FDA and foreign regulatory authority requirements, including cGMP, on an ongoing basis. The cGMP requirements include quality control, quality assurance, and the maintenance of records and documentation. The FDA and other regulatory authorities enforce these requirements through facility inspections. Manufacturing facilities must submit to pre-approval inspections by the FDA that will be conducted after we submit our marketing applications for our product candidates, including our BLAs, to the FDA. Manufacturers are also subject to continuing regulatory oversight by FDA and other regulatory authorities, including inspections following marketing approval. Further, we, in cooperation with our CMOs, must supply all necessary chemistry, manufacturing, and control documentation for a pre-approval inspection in support of a BLA on a timely basis. Although both the internal and external facilities were approved by the FDA for commercial manufacturing of Amtagvi™, there is no guarantee that we or our CMOs will be able to successfully pass all aspects of a pre-approval inspection by the FDA or other foreign regulatory authorities for future product candidates.
Our internal manufacturing facilities or our CMOs’ manufacturing facilities may be unable to comply with our specifications, cGMP, and with other FDA, state, and foreign regulatory requirements. Poor control of production processes can lead to the introduction of adventitious agents or other contaminants, or to inadvertent changes in the properties or stability of product candidate that may not be detectable in final product testing. If we or our CMOs are unable to reliably produce products and/or product candidates to specifications acceptable to the FDA or other regulatory authorities, or in accordance with the strict regulatory
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requirements, we may not obtain or maintain the approvals we need to commercialize such products. Even after obtaining regulatory approval, in the case of our products, and even if we obtain regulatory approval, in the case of our product candidates, there is no assurance that either we or our CMOs will be able to manufacture the approved product to specifications acceptable to the FDA or other regulatory authorities, to produce it in sufficient quantities to meet the requirements for the potential launch of the product, or to meet potential future demand. Deviations from manufacturing requirements may further require remedial measures that may be costly and/or time-consuming for us or a third party to implement and may include the temporary or permanent suspension of a clinical trial or commercial sales or the temporary or permanent closure of a facility. Any such remedial measures imposed upon us or third parties with whom we contract could materially harm our business.
Even to the extent we use and continue to use CMOs, we are ultimately responsible for the manufacture of our products and product candidates. A failure to comply with these requirements may result in regulatory enforcement actions against our manufacturers or us, including fines and civil and criminal penalties, which could result in imprisonment, suspension or restrictions of production, injunctions, delay or denial of product approval or supplements to approved products, clinical holds or termination of clinical trials, warning or untitled letters, regulatory authority communications warning the public about safety issues with the biologic, refusal to permit the import or export of the products, product seizure, detention, or recall, operating restrictions, suits under the civil False Claims Act, corporate integrity agreements, consent decrees, or withdrawal of product approval.
Any of these challenges could delay completion of clinical trials, require bridging clinical trials or the repetition of one or more clinical trials, increase clinical trial costs, delay approval of our product candidate, impair commercialization efforts, increase our cost of goods, and have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and growth prospects.
Cell-based therapies and biologics rely on the availability of biological raw materials (including live cells), chemicals and agents used for manufacturing, reagents, specialized equipment, and other specialty materials, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. For each of these we rely or may rely on treatment sites, limited manufacturers, sole source vendors or a limited number of vendors, which could impair our ability to manufacture and supply our products.
Manufacturing our products and product candidates requires live cells among other biological raw materials, chemicals and agents used for manufacturing. Many reagents, which are substances used in our manufacturing processes to bring about chemical or biological reactions, and other specialty materials and equipment, some of which are manufactured or supplied by small companies with limited resources and experience to support commercial biologics production. We currently depend on a limited number of vendors for certain materials and equipment used in the manufacture of our product candidates. Some of these suppliers may not have the capacity to support clinical trials and commercial products manufactured under cGMP by biopharmaceutical firms or may otherwise be ill-equipped to support our needs. We also do not have supply contracts with many of these suppliers and may not be able to obtain supply contracts with them on acceptable terms or at all. Accordingly, we may experience delays in receiving key materials and equipment to support clinical or commercial manufacturing.
For each of these biological raw materials (including live cells), chemicals and agents used for manufacturing, reagents, equipment, and materials, we rely and may in the future rely on treatment sites, limited manufacturers, sole source vendors, or a limited number of vendors. An inability to continue to source product from any of these suppliers, which could be due to a number of issues, including regulatory actions or requirements affecting the supplier, adverse financial or other strategic developments experienced by a supplier, labor disputes or shortages, unexpected demands, or quality issues, could adversely affect our ability to satisfy demand for our product candidates, which could adversely and materially affect our product sales and operating results or our ability to conduct clinical trials, either of which could significantly harm our business.
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As we continue to develop and scale our manufacturing process, we expect that we will need to obtain rights to and supplies of certain materials and equipment to be used as part of that process. We may not be able to obtain rights to such materials on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, and if we are unable to alter our process in a commercially viable manner to avoid the use of such materials or find a suitable substitute, it would have a material adverse effect on our business. Even if we are able to alter our process so as to use other materials or equipment, such a change may lead to a delay in our clinical development and/or commercialization plans. If such a change occurs for product candidate that is already in clinical testing, the change may require us to perform both ex vivo comparability studies and to collect additional data from patients prior to undertaking more advanced clinical trials.
Because our current products represent, and our other potential product candidates will represent novel approaches to the treatment of disease, there are many uncertainties regarding the development, the market acceptance, third-party reimbursement coverage, and the commercial potential of our product candidates.*
Human immunotherapy products are a new category of therapeutics. Because this is a relatively new and expanding area of novel therapeutic interventions, there are many uncertainties related to development, marketing, reimbursement, and the commercial potential for our product candidates. There can be no assurance as to the length of the clinical trial period, the number of patients the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities will require to be enrolled in the clinical trials in order to establish the safety, efficacy, purity and potency of immunotherapy products, or that the data generated in these clinical trials will be acceptable to the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities to support marketing approval. The FDA may take longer than usual to come to a decision on any BLA that we submit and may ultimately determine that there is not enough data, information, or experience with our product candidates to support an approval decision. The FDA and foreign regulatory authorities may also require that we conduct additional post-marketing studies or implement risk management programs, such as Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies, or REMS, until more experience with our product candidates is obtained. Finally, after increased usage, we may find that our product candidates do not have the intended effect or have unanticipated side effects, potentially jeopardizing initial or continuing regulatory approval and commercial prospects.
We may also find that the manufacture of our product candidates is more difficult than anticipated, resulting in an inability to produce a sufficient amount of our product candidates for our clinical trials or, if approved, commercial supply. Moreover, because of the complexity and novelty of our manufacturing process, there are only a limited number of manufacturers who have the capability of producing our product candidates. Should any of our contract manufacturers no longer produce our product candidates, it may take us significant time to find a replacement, if we are able to find a replacement at all.
There is no assurance that the approaches offered by our products will gain broad acceptance among doctors or patients or that governmental agencies, national healthcare systems, or third-party medical insurers will be willing to provide reimbursement coverage for proposed product candidates. Moreover, we do not have verifiable internal marketing data regarding the potential size of the commercial market for our product candidates, nor have we obtained current independent marketing surveys to verify the potential size of the commercial markets for our current product candidates or any future product candidates. Since our current product candidates and any future product candidates will represent novel approaches to treating various conditions, it may be difficult, in any event, to accurately estimate the potential revenues from these product candidates. Accordingly, we may spend significant capital trying to obtain approval for product candidates that have an uncertain commercial market. The market for any products that we successfully develop will also depend on the cost of the product.
Cell based therapies may take longer to attain insurance coverage, and although we may apply for special government programs and prepare the market for product approval, there is no way to ensure that healthcare providers, insurance companies, or other third parties will reimburse our product at an expeditious rate. Even if we obtain insurance coverage for our product from payors, coverage at treatment centers will require payment for the total cost of care which involves surgery, conditioning chemotherapy, as well as other staffing and hospitalization needs. This will require coordination between authorized treatment centers, or ATCs, and other payors including government payors that may only cover a portion of charges. If our treatment centers do not successfully obtain coverage in time, there may be a slow uptake or variable or limited access, if at all, to our therapies.
We do not yet have sufficient information to reliably estimate what it will cost to commercially manufacture our current product candidates, and the actual cost to manufacture these products could materially and adversely affect the commercial viability of these products. Our goal is to reduce the cost of manufacturing and providing our therapies. However, unless we can reduce those costs to an acceptable amount, we may never be able to develop a commercially viable product. If we do not successfully develop and commercialize products based upon our approach or find suitable and economical sources for materials used in the production of our products, we will not become profitable, which would materially and adversely affect the value of our common stock.
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Our TIL cell therapies and our other therapies may be provided to patients in combination with other agents provided by third parties. The cost of such combination therapy may increase the overall cost of therapy and may result in issues regarding the allocation of reimbursements between our therapy and the other agents, all of which may affect our ability to obtain reimbursement coverage for the combination therapy from governmental or private third-party medical insurers.
No assurance can be given that the Gen 2 manufacturing process or other processes we have selected will be compliant or more efficient and will lower the cost to manufacture TIL products.*
We have developed and are developing improved methods for generating and selecting autologous TILs, and methods for large-scale production of autologous TILs that are in accord with current cGMP procedures. We have developed a new and more efficient TIL manufacturing process that we believe can be more efficient and cost effective, and in a more automated manner than previous processes. The production and control of the physical and/or chemical attributes of our products in a cGMP facility is subject to many uncertainties and difficulties. As a novel therapy, TIL manufacturing and product release is complex and must evolve with both industry-wide autologous cell therapy challenges and new regulatory requirements that may result in delays and unexpected denials. We have limited experience in manufacturing our adoptive cell therapy product candidate on a commercial scale, as do our partners. As a result, we cannot give any assurance that the Gen 2 process or any future process that we select will be a manufacturing process that can produce our products in compliance with the applicable regulatory requirements, at a cost or in quantities necessary to make them commercially viable. Moreover, we and our third-party manufacturers will have to continually adhere to current cGMP regulations enforced by the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities through facilities inspection programs. If our facilities or any of the facilities of these manufacturers cannot demonstrate adequate assurance of compliance with applicable standards during a pre-approval inspection, the approval of our products will not be granted. In complying with cGMP and foreign regulatory requirements, we and any of our third-party manufacturers will be obligated to expend time, money and effort in production, record-keeping, and quality control to assure that our products meet applicable specifications and other requirements. If we or any of our third-party manufacturers fail to comply with these requirements, we may be subject to regulatory action. No assurance can be given that we will be able to develop such a manufacturing process, or that our partners will thereafter be able to establish and operate such a production facility.
Our business entails a significant risk of product liability. If product liability lawsuits are brought against us, whether or not meritorious, we may incur substantial liabilities and may be required to limit or halt commercialization of our products and/or product candidates.
We face an inherent risk of product liability as a result of the clinical testing and manufacture of our product candidates for human trials, and we currently face an even greater risk as we commercialize products and engage in the quality testing and release of products. For example, we may be sued if our products and/or product candidates cause, are perceived, or alleged to cause injury or are found to be otherwise unsuitable during clinical testing, manufacturing, marketing, or sale, whether or not trial participants or patients are predisposed to adverse outcomes. Furthermore, if physicians and/or hospitals are not sufficiently trained in the use of our products or therapies, whether clinical or commercialized, they may misuse or ineffectively use our products or related products for our therapies, which may result in unsatisfactory patient outcomes or patient injury. Any such product liability claims may include allegations of defects in manufacturing, defects in design, defects in quality control measures, a failure to warn of dangers inherent in the product, negligence, strict liability, and/or a breach of warranties. Claims could also be asserted under state consumer protection acts. Large judgments have also been awarded in class action lawsuits based on therapeutics that had unanticipated side effects. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against product liability claims, we may incur substantial liabilities or be required to limit or halt commercialization of our products and/or product candidates. Even a successful defense would require significant financial and management resources. Regardless of the merits or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:
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Our inability to obtain sufficient product liability insurance at an acceptable cost and/or scope of coverage to protect against potential product liability claims could prevent or inhibit the commercialization of products we develop, alone or with corporate collaborators. Our insurance policies may also have various exclusions and/or deductibles, and we may be subject to a product liability or bodily injury claim for which we have no coverage or for which the insurance carrier disputes the scope of coverage. Furthermore, any product liability claim brought against us, with or without merit, could result in the increase of our product liability insurance rates or the inability to secure coverage in the future. Although we currently have product liability insurance that we believe is appropriate for our stage of development, we may need to obtain higher levels to cover marketing any of our approved products. In addition, we may have to pay amounts awarded by a court or negotiated in a settlement that exceed our coverage limitations or that are not covered by our insurance, and we may not have, or be able to obtain, sufficient capital to pay such amounts. We anticipate that we will need to increase our insurance coverage as we commence additional clinical trials and as we commercialize product candidates that have been or may be approved. If we determine that it is prudent to increase our product liability coverage, we may be unable to obtain such increased coverage on acceptable terms, or at all. The market for insurance coverage is increasingly expensive, and the costs of insurance coverage will increase as our clinical programs and commercialization efforts increase in size. Furthermore, even if our agreements with corporate collaborators entitle us to indemnification against product liability losses, such indemnification may not be available or adequate should any claim arise.
Any claims against us, regardless of their merit, could severely harm our financial condition, strain our management and other resources, adversely affect or eliminate the prospects for commercialization or sales of a product that is the subject of any such claim, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and growth prospects.
We face significant competition from other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and from non-profit institutions. *
Competition in the field of cancer therapy is intense and is accentuated by the rapid pace of technological development. Research and discoveries by others may result in breakthroughs which may render our products obsolete even before they generate any revenue. There are products that are approved and currently under development by others that could compete with the products that we are developing. Many of our potential competitors have substantially greater research and development capabilities and approval, manufacturing, marketing, financial, and managerial resources and experience than we do. Our competitors may:
Due to the promising clinical therapeutic effect of competitor therapies in clinical trials, we anticipate substantial direct competition from other organizations developing therapies in commercial and pipeline target indications. In particular, we expect to compete with other new therapies for our lead indications developed by companies such as Agenus, BeyondSpring, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Daiichi Sankyo, Eisai, Genmab, Immunocore, IO Biotech, Merck, Moderna, Nektar Therapeutics, Pfizer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and Replimune. We also may compete with other T cell therapies in development, including therapies based on genetically engineered T-cell receptors rendered reactive against tumor-associated antigens prior to their administration, other genetically engineered TIL products, and TIL products designed to be reactive to specific neoantigens, by companies such as AbelZeta Pharma, Achilles Therapeutics, Adaptimmune Therapeutics, Alaunos Therapeutics, Biosyngen, GRIT Biotechnology, Immatics, Immunocore, Instil Bio, Intima Bioscience, KSQ Therapeutics, Lyell Immunopharma, Marker Therapeutics, Obsidian Therapeutics, TILT Biotherapeutics, Turnstone Biologics, and others. To date, these technologies have been primarily applicable to hematologic malignancies, but their application in solid tumor indications may create competition with us. We may also face competition from immunotherapy treatments offered by companies such as Amgen, AstraZeneca, BioNTech, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, Pfizer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and Roche. We may also face competition from novel IL-2 treatments in development by Alkermes, ILToo Pharma, Merck, Nektar Therapeutics, Sanofi, Werewolf Therapeutics, and others. Many of these companies and our other current and potential competitors have substantially greater research and development capabilities and financial, scientific, regulatory, manufacturing, marketing, sales, human resources, and experience than we do. Many of our competitors have several therapeutic products that have already been developed, approved and successfully commercialized, or are in the process of obtaining regulatory approval for their therapeutic products in the U.S. and internationally. Our competitors may obtain regulatory approval for their
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products more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours, which could result in competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market.
Universities and public and private research institutions around the world are also potential competitors. For example, a Phase 3 M14TIL clinical trial comparing TIL to standard ipilimumab in patients with metastatic melanoma is currently being conducted in Europe by the Netherlands Cancer Institute, the Copenhagen County Herlev University Hospital, and the University of Manchester. Results from the M14TIL clinical trial were presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress in September 2022. While these universities and public and private research institutions primarily have educational objectives, they may develop proprietary technologies that lead to other approved therapies by the FDA, European Commission, or other regulatory agencies or that secure patent protection that we may need for the development of our technologies and products.
Our lead product Amtagvi™ is an approved therapy for the treatment of metastatic melanoma and a candidate for the treatment of other cancers. Currently, there are numerous companies that are developing various alternate treatments for melanoma and other cancers, including patients that have progressed after prior treatment with checkpoint inhibitors and chemotherapy. Accordingly, Amtagvi™ faces significant competition in the melanoma and other cancer treatment space from multiple companies. Even after obtaining regulatory approval for Amtagvi™, the availability and price of our competitors’ products could limit the demand and the price we are able to charge for our therapies. We may not be able to implement our business plan if the acceptance of our products is inhibited by price competition or the reluctance of physicians to switch from other methods of treatment to our product, or if physicians switch to other new therapies, drugs or biologic products or choose to reserve our product for use in limited circumstances.
Mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries may result in even more resources being concentrated among a smaller number of our competitors. Early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies. These third parties compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific and management personnel and establishing clinical trial sites and patient registration for clinical trials, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs.
Our projections regarding the market opportunities for our products and product candidates may not be accurate, and the actual market for our products and product candidates may be smaller than we estimate. *
Our projections of both the number of people who have the advanced cancers we are targeting, as well as the subset of people with metastatic or unresectable cancers and who have the potential to benefit from treatment with our products or product candidates are based on our beliefs and estimates. These estimates have been derived from a variety of sources, including scientific literature, surveys of clinics, patient foundations, or market research by third parties, and may prove to be incorrect. Further, new studies or approvals of new therapeutics may change the estimated incidence or prevalence of these cancers. The number of patients may turn out to be lower than expected. Additionally, the potentially addressable patient population for our products and product candidates may be limited or may not be amenable to treatment with our products or product candidates and may also be limited by the cost of our treatments and the reimbursement of those treatment costs by third-party payors. For instance, we expect Amtagvi™ to initially target a small patient population that suffers from metastatic melanoma. Furthermore, we are also responsible for the manufacturing costs of products for patients that may have a tumor resection but ultimately do not receive an infusion, in which case we may incur manufacturing expenses without being able to recognize any revenue. Even if we obtain significant market share for our products or product candidates, because the potential target populations are small, we may never achieve profitability without obtaining regulatory approval for additional indications.
We have limited commercial experience and may be unable to establish effective marketing and sales capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to market and sell our products and product candidates, if they are approved, and as a result, we may be unable to generate significant product revenues.
We currently have a commercial team focused on our commercial strategy, but we do not have a large commercial infrastructure for the marketing, sale, and distribution of biopharmaceutical products. In order to commercialize our products, we must build our marketing, sales, and distribution capabilities or make arrangements with third parties to perform these services, which will take time and require significant financial expenditures, and we may not be successful in doing so. Even if we are able to effectively establish a sales force and develop a marketing and sales infrastructure, our sales force and marketing teams may not be successful in commercializing our current or future product candidates. To the extent we rely on third parties to commercialize any products for which we obtain regulatory approval, we would have less control over their sales efforts and could be held liable if they failed to comply with applicable legal or regulatory requirements.
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In addition to marketing our product, we will need current and future ATCs that will be able to obtain patients from the broader community and provide access to our therapies. Even if we are able to obtain approval for a product candidate, we may not be able to approve enough treatment centers for the provision of our product to a broad patient population. Additionally, certain areas do not have hospitals with the facilities to safely administer our therapy. Accordingly, we may only be able to launch our products with a limited number of treatment centers, which could ultimately reduce the uptake of our products. Although we have a team allocated to authorize and monitor our treatment centers, substantial resources and investment from us and each treatment center may be required. Additionally, the treatment center onboarding process can be complicated and requires extensive training, technical equipment, and coordination of processes. Once authorized, treatment centers will be required to ensure that their training, facilities, and treatment capabilities are adequately maintained.
We have limited prior experience in the marketing, sale, and distribution of biopharmaceutical products, and there are significant risks involved in the building and managing of a commercial infrastructure. The establishment and development of commercial capabilities, including a comprehensive healthcare compliance program, to market any products we may develop will be expensive and time consuming and could delay any product launch, and we may not be able to successfully develop this capability. We, or our collaborators, will have to compete with other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to recruit, hire, train, manage, and retain marketing, sales, and commercial support personnel. In the event we are unable to develop a commercial infrastructure, we may not be able to commercialize our current or future product candidates, which would limit our ability to generate product revenues. Factors that may inhibit our efforts to commercialize our current or future products and product candidates and generate significant product revenues include:
If our products or product candidates do not achieve broad market acceptance, the revenues that we generate from their sales will be limited.
Until the closing of the Proleukin® acquisition in May 2023, we had never commercialized a product candidate for any indication. Even after our products and product candidates are approved by the appropriate regulatory authorities for marketing and sale, they may not gain acceptance among physicians, patients, third-party payors, and others in the medical community. If any product or product candidate for which we obtain regulatory approval does not gain an adequate level of market acceptance, we may not generate significant product revenues or become profitable. Market acceptance of our products and product candidates by the medical community, patients, and third-party payors will depend on a number of factors, some of which are beyond our control. For example, physicians are often reluctant to switch their patients and patients may be reluctant to switch from existing therapies even when new and potentially more effective or safer treatments enter the market.
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Efforts to educate the medical community and third-party payors on the benefits of our products and product candidates may require significant resources and may not be successful. If any of our products or product candidates does not achieve an adequate level of market acceptance, we may not generate significant revenues and we may not become profitable. The degree of market acceptance of any of our products and product candidates will depend on a number of factors, including:
Our efforts to educate the medical community and third-party payors on the benefits of our products and product candidates may require significant resources and may never be successful. Even if the medical community accepts that our products and product candidates are safe and effective for their approved indications, physicians and patients may not immediately be receptive to such products or product candidates and may be slow to adopt them as an accepted treatment of the approved indications. If our current or future products and product candidates are approved but do not achieve an adequate level of acceptance among physicians, patients, and third-party payors, we may not generate meaningful revenues from our product candidates, and we may not become profitable.
Our products and product candidates may face competition sooner than anticipated.
The enactment of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act, or the BPCIA, created an abbreviated pathway for the approval of biosimilar and interchangeable biological products. The abbreviated regulatory pathway establishes legal authority for the FDA to review and approve biosimilar biologics, including the possible designation of a biosimilar as “interchangeable” based on its similarity to an existing brand product. Under the BPCIA, the FDA cannot make an approval of an application for a biosimilar product effective until 12 years after the original branded product was approved under a BLA. Certain changes, however, and supplements to an approved BLA, and subsequent applications filed by the same sponsor, manufacturer, licensor, predecessor in interest, or other related entity do not qualify for the 12-year exclusivity period.
Our products and product candidates may qualify for the BPCIA’s 12-year period of exclusivity. However, there is a risk that the FDA will not consider our products and product candidates to be reference products for competing products, potentially creating the opportunity for biosimilar competition sooner than anticipated. Additionally, this period of regulatory exclusivity does not block companies pursuing regulatory approval via their own traditional BLA, rather than via the abbreviated pathway. Changes may also be made to this exclusivity period as a result of future legislation as there has been ongoing efforts to reduce the period of exclusivity. Even if we receive a period of BPCIA exclusivity for our first licensed product, if subsequent products do not include a modification to the structure of the product that impacts safety, purity, or potency, we may not receive additional periods of exclusivity for those products. Moreover, the extent to which a biosimilar, once approved, will be substituted for any one of our reference products in a way that is similar to traditional generic substitution for non-biological products is not yet clear, and will depend on a number of marketplace and regulatory factors that are still developing. Medicare Part B encourages use of biosimilars by paying the provider the
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same percentage of the reference product, average sale price, or ASP as a mark-up, regardless of which product is reimbursed. It is also possible that payors will give reimbursement preference to biosimilars even over reference biologics absent a determination of interchangeability.
We will need to obtain approval of any proposed proprietary branded product names, and any failure or delay associated with such approval may adversely affect our business.*
Any name we intend to use for our products and product candidates will require approval from the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities regardless of whether we have secured a formal trademark registration, including from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO. The FDA and foreign regulatory authorities typically conduct a review of proposed product names, including an evaluation of the potential for confusion with other product names. The FDA and foreign regulatory authorities may also object to a product name if they believe the name inappropriately implies medical claims or contributes to an overstatement of efficacy. If the FDA or a foreign regulatory authority objects to any of our proposed proprietary product names, we may be required to adopt alternative names for our products and/or product candidates. If we adopt alternative names, we would lose the benefit of any existing trademark applications for such product and/or product candidate and may be required to expend significant additional resources in an effort to identify a suitable product name that would qualify under applicable trademark laws, not infringe the existing rights of third parties, and be acceptable to the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities. We may be unable to build a successful brand identity for a new trademark in a timely manner or at all, which would limit our ability to commercialize our products and product candidates.
As a condition of approval, the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities may require that we implement various post-marketing requirements and conduct post-marketing studies, any of which would require a substantial investment of time, effort, and money, and which may limit our commercial prospects.*
As a condition of biologic licensing, the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities are authorized to require that sponsors of approved BLAs implement various post-market requirements, including REMS and Phase 4 studies. For example, we reached an agreement with the FDA regarding a confirmatory trial to support the conversion from accelerated to full approval of Amtagvi™ in post-anti-PD-1 advanced melanoma, which we refer to as TILVANCE-301. The randomized Phase 3 TILVANCE-301 trial has been ongoing since the fourth quarter of 2022. If we receive approval of additional product candidates, the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities may determine that similar or additional post-approval requirements are necessary to ensure that our product candidates are safe, pure, and potent. To the extent that we are required to establish and implement any post-approval requirements, we will likely need to invest a significant amount of time, effort, and money. Such post-approval requirements may also limit the commercial prospects of our products and product candidates.
We will need to grow the size and capabilities of our organization, and we may experience difficulties in managing this growth.
Our operations are dependent upon the services of our executives and our employees who are engaged in research and development. The loss of the services of our executive officers or senior research personnel could delay our product development programs and our research and development efforts. In order to develop our business in accordance with our business plan, we will have to hire additional qualified personnel, including in the areas of research, manufacturing, clinical trials management, regulatory affairs, and sales and marketing. We are continuing our efforts to recruit and hire the necessary employees to support our planned operations in the near term.
For example, we continue to recruit a new Chief Executive Officer. However, competition for qualified employees among companies in the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industry is intense, and no assurance can be given that we will be able attract, hire, retain, and motivate the highly skilled employees that we need. Future growth will impose significant added responsibilities on members of management, including:
Our future financial performance and our ability to commercialize our product candidates will depend, in part, on our ability to effectively manage any future growth, and our management may also have to divert a disproportionate amount of its attention away from day-to-day activities in order to devote a substantial amount of time to managing these growth activities.
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We currently rely, and for the foreseeable future will continue to rely, in substantial part on certain independent organizations, advisors and consultants to provide certain services. There can be no assurance that the services of these independent organizations, advisors and consultants will continue to be available to us on a timely basis when needed, or that we can find qualified replacements. In addition, if we are unable to effectively manage our outsourced activities or if the quality, compliance or accuracy of the services provided by consultants is compromised for any reason, our clinical trials may be extended, delayed, or terminated, and we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval of our product candidates or otherwise advance our business. There can be no assurance that we will be able to manage our existing consultants or find other competent outside contractors and consultants on economically reasonable terms, if at all.
If we are not able to effectively expand our organization by hiring new employees and expanding our groups of consultants and contractors, we may not be able to successfully implement the tasks necessary to further develop and commercialize our product candidates and, accordingly, may not achieve our research, development, and commercialization goals on a timely basis, or at all.
We may rely on third parties to perform many essential services for any products that we commercialize, including services related to distribution, government price reporting, customer service, accounts receivable management, cash collection, and adverse event reporting. If these third parties fail to perform as expected or to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, our ability to commercialize our current or future products will be significantly impacted and we may be subject to regulatory sanctions.
We may retain third-party service providers to perform a variety of functions related to the sale and distribution of our current or future products, key aspects of which will be out of our direct control. These service providers may provide key services related to distribution, customer service, accounts receivable management, and cash collection. If we retain a service provider, we would substantially rely on it, as well as other third-party providers that perform services for us, including entrusting our inventories of products to their care and handling. If these third-party service providers fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations, fail to meet expected deadlines, or otherwise do not carry out their contractual duties to us, or encounter physical or natural damage at their facilities, our ability to deliver product to meet commercial demand would be significantly impaired and we may be subject to regulatory enforcement action.
In addition, we may engage third parties to perform various other services for us relating to adverse event reporting, safety database management, fulfillment of requests for medical information regarding our product candidates and related services. If the quality or accuracy of the data maintained by these service providers is insufficient, or these third parties otherwise fail to comply with regulatory requirements related to adverse event reporting, we could be subject to regulatory sanctions.
Additionally, we may contract with a third-party to calculate and report pricing information mandated by various government programs. If a third party fails to timely report or adjust prices as required or errs in calculating government pricing information from transactional data in our financial records, it could impact our discount and rebate liability, and potentially subject us to regulatory sanctions or False Claims Act lawsuits.
We may be unable to successfully or sufficiently expand our manufacturing capacity to meet demand for our products.*
As noted above, we have limited experience in internal manufacturing our adoptive cell therapy product candidates on a commercial scale, as do our partners. We anticipate expanding internal manufacturing capacity at our iCTC facility and/or at our contract manufacturer, WuXi. Scale-up of manufacturing may require additional validation studies, including capacity demonstration and/or comparability studies, each of which are subject to regulatory review, potential inspection, and approval. Moreover, while we continue to expand our internal manufacturing capacity, the current geopolitical tensions with China may impact our ability to expand manufacturing capacity at our contract manufacturer, WuXi. Recently, the Biden administration has signed multiple executive orders regarding China. One particular executive order titled Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy signed on September 12, 2022 will likely impact the pharmaceutical industry to encourage U.S. domestic manufacturing of pharmaceutical products. Additionally, in February 2024, the chair and ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, Representatives Mike Gallagher and Raja Krishnamoorthi, respectively, along with Senators Gary Peters and Bill Haggerty, sent a letter to the Biden administration requesting that both WuXi AppTec Co., Ltd., WuXi’s parent company, and the affiliated WuXi Biologics be added to the Department of Defense’s Chinese Military Companies List (1260H list), the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security Entity List, and the Department of Treasury’s Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List. While the Biden administration has yet to take action on this letter, adding either or both previously mentioned WuXi entities on any or all of the aforementioned lists could materially impact our MSA with WuXi. Finally, there have been Congressional legislative proposals, such as a bill titled the BIOSECURE Act, to discourage
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contracting with certain Chinese companies, including two WuXi affiliates, on the development or manufacturing of pharmaceutical products. The BIOSECURE Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives on September 9, 2024. The version of the BIOSECURE Act that passed the U.S. House of Representatives included a grandfather clause that would allow contracts entered into with the Chinese companies named therein prior to the effective date of such legislation until January 1, 2032. The BIOSECURE Act must also pass the U.S. Senate before going to President Biden for either his veto or signature, and it is uncertain whether the bill will be brought to the floor for a vote by the U.S. Senate before the current legislative session expires on January 3, 2025.
Regardless, any expansion of our internal and external manufacturing capability will also require us to invest substantial additional funds to hire and retain the technical personnel who have the necessary manufacturing experience. As a result, we may not be able to successfully or sufficiently increase the manufacturing capacity for our product candidates or modify our manufacturing processes. If we are unable to successfully increase the manufacturing capacity for a product candidate (as a result of lack of approval from, or capacity limitations imposed by, the FDA, or otherwise), the resulting capacity limitations could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, if we are unable to successfully or sufficiently increase the manufacturing capacity at the iCTC facility to meet demand in a timely or economic manner, or at all, we may be dependent upon the performance and capacity of third-party manufacturers. Accordingly, we face risks of capacity limitations of, difficulties with, increased costs of, and interruptions in performance by third-party manufacturers, the occurrence of which could negatively impact the availability, launch, and/or sales of our products in the future, as well as on our results of operations and financial condition.
Risks Related to the Development of Our Product Candidates
We depend on the success of our product candidates and cannot guarantee that these product candidates will successfully complete development, receive regulatory approval, or be successfully commercialized.
We currently have two products approved for commercial sale. We have invested a significant portion of our efforts and financial resources in the development of our current product and/ or product candidates, including Amtagvi™, lifileucel, and modified product candidates, IOV-4001, IOV-2001, IOV-3001, IOV-5001, and expect that we will continue to invest heavily in our current product candidates, as well as in any future product candidates we may develop. Our business depends on the successful development and commercialization of our product candidates. Our ability to generate revenues in the future is substantially dependent on our ability to develop, obtain regulatory approval for, and then successfully commercialize our product candidates. We currently generate no revenue from the sale of any products that are in development, and we may never be able to develop or commercialize these potential products.
Our product candidates will require additional clinical and non-clinical development, regulatory approval, commercial manufacturing arrangements, establishment of a commercial organization, significant marketing efforts, and further investment before we generate any revenue from product sales. We cannot assure you that we will meet our timelines for our current or future clinical trials, which may be delayed or not completed for a number of reasons, including the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the costs associated with development of cell therapy products may be significant due to the length of treatment and the supportive therapies provided to the patient during the treatment process. Supportive therapies may impact costs and patient viability and may potentially limit availability.
We are not permitted to market or promote any of our product candidates before we receive regulatory approval from the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities, and we may never receive such regulatory approval for many of our product candidates or regulatory approval that will allow us to successfully commercialize our product candidates. If we do not receive FDA approval with the necessary conditions to allow successful commercialization, and then successfully commercialize our product candidates, we will not be able to generate revenue from those product candidates in the U.S. in the foreseeable future, or at all. Any significant delays in obtaining approval for and commercializing our product candidates will have a material adverse impact on our business and financial condition.
Our products rely on coordination and collaboration with treatment centers that perform surgical procedures, obtain and provide lymphodepleting chemotherapy, and deliver other care to patients that are often in poor health as a result of the latter stages of cancer. This coordination of care is complicated in both the clinical trial setting and the commercial setting. Our treatment centers may not be able to obtain necessary supplies, such as lymphodepleting chemotherapy agents, because of shortages. Our commercial products and investigational therapies will rely heavily on our ability to train centers and the centers’ ability to choose suitable patients and deliver a complex regimen. We may be reliant on physicians with limited experience with TIL products and the associated regimens. Although we will make efforts to train hospitals and provide processes that must be followed precisely, there is no way to ensure that all institutions will be able to perform at a high level in all aspects of the coordination of care. Patients may progress in the course of their
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disease or may experience serious adverse events from our products or supportive regimens while undergoing or awaiting treatment with our therapies.
Prior to our completion of a rolling BLA submission for lifileucel in March 2023 and its acceptance by the FDA in May 2023 and accelerated approval in February 2024, we had not previously submitted a BLA to the FDA, or a similar marketing application to comparable foreign authorities, for any product candidate, and we cannot be certain that our current or any future product candidates will be successful in clinical trials or receive regulatory approval. Furthermore, although we have not submitted our BLA with comparisons to existing or more established therapies and likewise do not expect the FDA to base its determination with respect to product approval on such comparisons, the FDA may factor these comparisons into its decision whether to approve our TIL cell therapies. The FDA may also consider its approvals of competing products, which may alter the treatment landscape concurrently with their review of our BLA filings, and which may lead to changes in the FDA’s review requirements that have been previously communicated to us and our interpretation thereof, including changes to requirements for clinical data or clinical trial design. Such challenges and variabilities could delay approval or necessitate withdrawal of our BLA filings.
Our product candidates are susceptible to the risks of failure inherent at any stage of product development, including the appearance of unexpected adverse events or failure to achieve primary endpoints in clinical trials. Further, our product candidates may not receive regulatory approval even if they are successful in clinical trials.
If approved for marketing by applicable regulatory authorities, our ability to generate revenues from our product candidates will depend on our ability to:
● | price our product candidates competitively such that third-party and government reimbursement leads to broad product adoption; |
● | prepare a broad network of clinical sites for administration of our product; |
● | train and monitor sites for product delivery and consistent flow of appropriate patients; |
● | create market demand for our product candidates through our own marketing and sales activities, and any other arrangements to promote these product candidates that we may otherwise establish; |
● | receive regulatory approval for the targeted patient population(s) and claims that are necessary or desirable for successful marketing; |
● | obtain the necessary regulatory approvals to deliver the therapies to a sufficiently sized patient population; |
● | effectively commercialize our products; |
● | manufacture product candidates through CMOs or in our own manufacturing facility in sufficient quantities and at acceptable quality and manufacturing cost to meet commercial demand at launch and thereafter; |
● | establish and maintain agreements with wholesalers, distributors, pharmacies, and group purchasing organizations on commercially reasonable terms; |
● | maintain patent and trade secret protection and regulatory exclusivity for our product candidates; |
● | launch commercial sales of our product candidates; |
● | maintain compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and guidance specific to commercialization, including interactions with health care professionals, patient advocacy groups, and communication of health care economic information to payors and formularies; |
● | achieve market acceptance of our product candidates by patients, the medical community, and third-party payors; |
● | achieve appropriate reimbursement for our product candidates; |
● | obtain payor coverage at rates that will enable the market to adopt our product and enable sites to deliver the entire therapy to patients; |
● | partner with third party logistics providers that will successfully distribute our products; |
● | maintain a distribution and logistics network capable of product storage within our specifications and regulatory guidelines, and further capable of timely product delivery to commercial clinical sites; |
● | effectively compete with other therapies or competitors; and |
● | following launch, ensure that our product will be used as directed and that additional unexpected safety risks will not arise. |
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Development of a product candidate intended for use in combination with an already approved product may present more or different challenges than development of a product candidate for use as a single agent. *
Amtagvi™ received accelerated approval from the FDA, and we are currently developing lifileucel in clinical trials as part of a regimen which uses lymphodepletion and IL-2. We and our collaborators are also clinical trialing TIL cell therapy along with other products, such as pembrolizumab, ipilimumab and nivolumab. The development of product candidates for use in combination with another product may present challenges. For example, the FDA may require us to use more complex clinical trial designs, in order to evaluate the contribution of each product and product candidate to any observed effects. It is possible that the results of these clinical trials could show that any positive results are attributable to the already approved product. Moreover, following product approval, the FDA may require that products used in conjunction with each other be cross labeled for combined use. Additionally, the FDA review process can be more complicated for combination products, and may result in delays, particularly if complex therapeutics are involved. To the extent that we do not have rights to already approved products, this may require us to work with another company to satisfy such a requirement. Moreover, developments related to the already approved products may impact our clinical trials for the combination, as well as our commercial prospects should we receive marketing approval. Such developments may include changes to the approved product’s safety or efficacy profile, changes to the availability of the approved product, and changes to the standard of care.
A Fast Track, breakthrough therapy, or regenerative medicines advanced therapy product designations or other designation to facilitate product candidate development may not lead to faster development or a faster regulatory review or approval process, and it does not increase the likelihood that our product candidates will receive marketing approval.
We were granted Fast Track designation by the FDA for lifileucel in metastatic melanoma and metastatic cervical cancer, as well as for lifileucel in combination with pembrolizumab in advanced melanoma. We were granted breakthrough therapy designation, or BTD for lifileucel for metastatic cervical cancer and RMAT designation for lifileucel in advanced melanoma. We may seek Fast Track or Breakthrough designation for other of our current or future product candidates. Receipt of a designation to facilitate product candidate development is within the discretion of the FDA. Accordingly, even if we believe one of our product candidates meets the criteria for a designation, the FDA may disagree. In any event, the receipt of such a designation for a product candidate may not result in a faster development process, review, or approval compared to product candidates considered for approval under conventional the FDA procedures and does not assure ultimate marketing approval by the FDA. In addition, the FDA may later decide that the products no longer meet the designation conditions.
While lifileucel has received orphan drug designation for melanoma stages IIB-IV and for cervical cancer patients with tumors greater than 2 cm, there is no guarantee that we will be able to maintain this designation, receive these designations for any of our other product candidates, or receive or maintain any corresponding benefits, including periods of exclusivity.
We received orphan drug designation, or ODD, in the U.S. for lifileucel to treat malignant melanoma stages IIB-IV and cervical cancer patients with tumors greater than 2 cm. We may also seek ODD for our other product candidates, as appropriate. ODD, however, may be lost if the indication for which we develop our designated product candidates does not meet the orphan criteria. Moreover, following product approval, orphan exclusivity may be lost if the FDA determines, among other reasons, that the request for designation was materially defective or if the manufacturer is unable to assure sufficient quantity of the product to meet the needs of patients with the rare disease or condition. Even if we obtain orphan exclusivity, that exclusivity may not effectively protect the product from competition because different products can be approved for the same condition and the same product can be approved for different conditions. Even after an orphan product is approved, the FDA can subsequently approve a product containing the same principal molecular features for the same condition if the FDA concludes that the later product is clinically superior in that it is shown to be safer or more effective or makes a major contribution to patient care.
Moreover, the FDA may grant ODDs to multiple of the same products for the same indication. If another sponsor receives FDA approval for an ODD-designated product that is the same as our product candidates and intended for the same indication before we do, we would be prevented from launching our product in the U.S. for this indication for a period of at least 7 years. In response to a court decision regarding the plain meaning of the exclusivity provision of the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may undertake a reevaluation of aspects of its orphan drug regulations and policies. We do not know if, when, or how the FDA may change the orphan drug regulations and policies, and it is uncertain how any changes might affect our business. Depending on what changes the FDA may make to its orphan drug regulations and policies, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects could be harmed.
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Risks Related to Clinical Trials
We may face risks due to the need to rely on third parties, including clinical trial sites.*
We are heavily reliant on third parties to conduct our clinical trials. We have a limited history of conducting clinical trials and as a company in filing and supporting the applications necessary to gain marketing approvals. Securing marketing approval requires the submission of extensive preclinical and clinical data and supporting information to regulatory authorities for each therapeutic indication to establish the product candidate’s safety, purity, and potency for that indication. Securing marketing approval also requires the submission of information about the product manufacturing process to, and inspection of manufacturing facilities and clinical trial sites by, applicable regulatory authorities. Clinical testing is expensive and can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. Failure can occur at any time during the clinical trial process. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, institutions and research sites that currently conduct clinical trials may not be able to return to normal clinical trial operations for some time or may no longer choose to participate in studies in the future. Furthermore, clinical trials may be delayed or otherwise may be more difficult to execute in the future.
We have recruited a team that has experience with clinical trials and in the development of preclinical assets for translation into clinical trials; however, we as a company have limited experience completing pivotal clinical trials for cell therapy products or developing preclinical immunotherapy products. In part because of this lack of experience, we cannot be certain that our ongoing pivotal clinical trials will be completed on time, if at all, will progress according to our plans or expectations, or that our planned clinical trials will be initiated or initiated in a timely manner, progress according to our plans or expectations, or be completed on time, if they are completed at all.
Large-scale clinical trials require significant financial and management resources, and reliance on third-party clinical investigators, CROs, CMOs, or consultants. Relying on third-party clinical investigators, CROs, or CMOs may force us to encounter delays and challenges that are outside of our control. In addition to manufacturing TIL at the iCTC, we rely on a CMO in the U.S. and Europe to manufacture TIL for use in our clinical trials and commercial use upon approval. We may not be able to demonstrate sufficient comparability between products manufactured at different facilities to allow for inclusion of the clinical results from patients treated with products from these different facilities, or with our own manufacturing facility, in our product registrations, or to allow for use of the iCTC at the time of launch. Further, our CMOs may not be able to manufacture TIL or otherwise fulfill their obligations to us because of interruptions to their business, including the loss of their key staff or interruptions to their raw material supply.
We rely on third party CROs and clinical trial sites to conduct, supervise, and monitor our clinical trials for our product candidates. We expect to continue to rely on third parties, such as CROs, clinical data management organizations, medical institutions, independent review organizations and clinical investigators, to conduct our clinical trials. While we have agreements governing their activities, we have limited influence over their actual performance and control only certain aspects of their activities. The failure of these third parties to successfully carry out their contractual duties or meet expected deadlines could substantially harm our business because we may be delayed in completing or unable to complete the clinical trials required to support future approval of our product candidates, or we may not obtain marketing approval for or commercialize our product candidates in a timely manner or at all. Moreover, these agreements might terminate for a variety of reasons, including a failure to perform by the third parties. If we need to enter into alternative arrangements, that could delay our product development activities and adversely affect our business.
Our reliance on these third parties for development activities will reduce our control over these activities. 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 the CROs, clinical trial sites, and other third parties do not relieve us of these oversight responsibilities. For example, we will remain responsible for ensuring that each of our clinical trials is conducted in accordance with the general investigational plan and protocols for the clinical trial and for ensuring that our preclinical studies are conducted in accordance with Good Laboratory Practices, or GLPs, as appropriate. Moreover, the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities require us to comply with Good Clinical Practices, or GCPs, for conducting, recording, and reporting the results of clinical trials to assure that data and reported results are credible and accurate and that the rights, integrity, and confidentiality of clinical trial participants are protected. Regulatory authorities enforce these requirements through periodic inspections (including pre-approval inspections upon completion of a BLA filing with the FDA) of clinical trial sponsors, clinical investigators, clinical trial sites and certain third parties including CMOs. If we, our CROs, clinical trial sites, or other third parties fail to comply with applicable GCPs, or other regulatory requirements, we or they may be subject to enforcement or other legal actions, the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable and the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may require us to perform additional clinical trials. We cannot assure you that upon inspection by a given regulatory authority, such regulatory authority will determine that any of our clinical trials comply with GCP regulations.
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In addition, our clinical trials must be conducted with product candidates that were produced under cGMP. Our failure to comply or our CMOs’ failure to comply with these regulations may require us to repeat clinical trials, which would delay the regulatory approval process. We also are required to register certain clinical trials and post the results of certain completed clinical trials on a government sponsored database, ClinicalTrials.gov, within specified timeframes. Failure to do so could result in enforcement actions and adverse publicity. In the EU, revised transparency rules for clinical trials became applicable with the launch of the new Clinical Trials Information System, or CTIS. The CTIS is the online system for the regulatory submission, authorization, and supervision of clinical trials conducted in the EU/European Economic Area, or EEA, under Regulation (EU) 536/2014. Data of all clinical trials conducted in the EU/EEA – including their results – must be submitted to the CTIS and are made publicly available, unless a specific exemption applies.
Our CROs, clinical trial sites, and other third parties may also have relationships with other entities, some of which may be our competitors, for whom they may also be conducting clinical trials or other therapeutic development activities that could harm our competitive position. In addition, these third parties are not our employees, and except for remedies available to us under our agreements with them, we cannot control whether or not they devote sufficient time and resources to our ongoing clinical, non-clinical, and preclinical programs. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, meet expected deadlines or conduct our clinical trials in accordance with regulatory requirements or our stated protocols, if they need to be replaced or if the quality or accuracy of the data they obtain is compromised due to the failure to adhere to our protocols, regulatory requirements or for other reasons, our clinical trials may be repeated, extended, delayed, or terminated and we may not be able to obtain, or may be delayed in obtaining, marketing approvals for our product candidates and will not be able to, or may be delayed in our efforts to, successfully commercialize our product candidates, or we or they may be subject to regulatory enforcement actions. As a result, our results of operations and the commercial prospects for our product candidates would be harmed, our costs could increase and our ability to generate revenues could be delayed. To the extent we are unable to successfully identify and manage the performance of third-party service providers in the future, our business may be materially and adversely affected.
If any of our relationships with these third parties terminate, we may not be able to enter into alternative arrangements or do so on commercially reasonable terms. Switching or adding additional contractors involves additional costs and requires management time and focus. In addition, there is a natural transition period when a new third party commences work. As a result, delays could occur, which could compromise our ability to meet our desired development timelines. Though we carefully manage our relationships with our third-party service providers, there can be no assurance that we will not encounter similar challenges or delays in the future or that these delays or challenges will not have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and prospects or results of operations.
We also rely on other third parties to manufacture and ship our products for the clinical trials that we conduct. Any performance failure on the part of these third parties could delay clinical development or marketing approval of our product candidates or commercialization of our product candidates, if approved, producing additional losses and depriving us of potential product revenue.
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We may encounter substantial delays in our clinical trials or may not be able to conduct our clinical trials on the timelines we expect, and we may be required to conduct additional clinical trials or modify current or future clinical trials based on feedback we receive from the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities.*
Clinical testing is expensive, time consuming, and subject to uncertainty. We cannot guarantee that any current or future clinical trials will be conducted as planned or completed on schedule, if at all, or that any of our product candidates will receive regulatory approval. We initiated clinical trials in patients with metastatic melanoma, cervical, head and neck, and non-small cell lung cancers, and in other indications in collaboration with third parties. We completed enrollment in the pivotal clinical trial for melanoma, C-144-01, and in June 2022, we announced that initial Cohort 4 data read by the independent review committee, or IRC, met the primary endpoint in this clinical trial. In March 2023, we completed submission of our BLA to the FDA for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic melanoma for approval, and the FDA accepted the BLA in May 2023. We obtained BLA approval on February 16, 2024. We plan to initiate clinical trials in new indications and new cohorts in existing clinical trials. Even as these clinical trials progress, issues may arise that could require us to suspend or terminate such clinical trials or could cause the results of one cohort to differ from a prior cohort. For example, we may experience slower than anticipated enrollment in our additional pivotal clinical trials, which may consequently delay BLA submissions to the FDA or permit competitors to obtain approvals that may alter our BLA filing strategy. Additionally, temporary or permanent clinical holds could be placed on our clinical trials for a variety of reasons. For instance, on December 22, 2023, the FDA placed a clinical hold on the IOV-LUN-202 trial in response to a reported Grade 5 (fatal) serious adverse event potentially related to the non-myeloablative lymphodepletion pre-conditioning regimen, and we paused enrollment and the lifileucel treatment regimen for new patients in IOV-LUN-202 during the clinical hold. On March 4, 2024, the FDA lifted the partial clinical hold on the IOV-LUN-202 trial, permitting us to resume patient enrollment. A failure of one or more clinical trials can occur at any stage of testing, and our future clinical studies may not be successful. Events that may prevent successful or timely initiation or completion of clinical development, or product approval include:
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● | delays in patient enrollment due to potential health epidemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic; |
We also may conduct clinical and preclinical research in collaboration with other academic, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and biologics entities in which we combine our technologies with those of our collaborators. Such collaborations may be subject to additional delays because of the management of the clinical trials, contract negotiations, the need to obtain agreement from multiple parties, and the necessity of obtaining additional approvals for therapeutics used in the combination clinical trials. These combination therapies will require additional testing and clinical trials will require additional regulatory approval and will increase our future cost of expenses.
Any inability to successfully complete preclinical and clinical development could result in additional costs to us or impair our ability to generate revenue. In addition, if we make manufacturing changes to our product candidates, we may be required to, or we may elect to, conduct additional studies to bridge our modified product candidates to earlier versions. These changes may require regulatory approval or notification, may not have their desired effect, or the FDA or foreign regulatory authorities may not accept data from prior versions of the product to support an application, delaying our clinical trials or programs or necessitating additional clinical trials or preclinical studies. For example, while our first BLA submission includes our Gen 2 manufacturing process, in the future we may seek to commercialize other manufacturing processes, such as our Gen 3 manufacturing process or our PD-1 selected TIL manufacturing process. We may find that commercialization of these manufacturing processes has unintended consequences that
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necessitate additional development and manufacturing work or additional clinical trials and preclinical studies, or results in non-approval of a BLA.
Clinical trial delays could shorten any periods during which our products have patent protection and may allow our competitors to bring products to market before we do, which could impair our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates and may harm our business and results of operations.
Regulatory authorities have substantial discretion in the approval process and may refuse to accept any application or may decide that our data are insufficient for approval and require additional preclinical, clinical or other studies. The number and types of preclinical studies and clinical trials that will be required for regulatory approval also varies depending on the product candidate, the disease or condition that the product candidate is designed to address, and the regulations applicable to any particular product candidate. Approval policies, regulations or the type and amount of clinical data necessary to gain approval may change during the course of a product candidate’s clinical development and may vary among jurisdictions. It is possible that any product candidates we may seek to develop in the future will never obtain the appropriate regulatory approvals necessary for us or any future collaborators to commence product sales. Any delay in completing development, obtaining or failure to obtain required approvals could also materially adversely affect our ability or that of any of our collaborators to generate revenue from any such product candidate, which likely would result in significant harm to our financial position and adversely impact our stock price.
It may take longer and cost more 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 of future clinical trials, and continuation and completion of our ongoing 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 clinical 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 are currently conducting eight company-sponsored clinical trials to assess the overall safety and efficacy of Iovance TIL monotherapy and TIL combinations in patients with melanoma, cervical, endometrial, head and neck, and lung cancers across late-line and early treatment settings, as well as our genetically modified TIL cell therapy IOV-4001 and our peripheral blood lymphocyte, or PBL, technology for hematological malignancies. However, we may experience difficulties in patient enrollment in our clinical trials for a variety of reasons. Our ability to enroll or treat patients in our other studies, or the duration or costs of those studies, could be affected by multiple factors, including, preliminary clinical results, which may include efficacy and safety results from our ongoing Phase 2 studies, but may not be reflected in the final analyses of these clinical trials.
For example, our current clinical trials utilize an “open-label” trial design. An open-label trial is one where both the patient and investigator know whether the patient is receiving the test article or either an existing approved drug or placebo, which has the potential to create selection bias in the investigators. In our Phase 2 open-label studies, the investigators have significant discretion over the selection of patient participants. Although preliminary data from certain clinical trials were generally positive, that data may not necessarily be representative of interim or final results, as new patients are cycled through the applicable treatment regimes. As the clinical trials continue, the investigators may prioritize patients with more progressed forms of cancer than the initial patient population, based on the success or perceived success of that initial population. Patients with more progressed forms of cancer may be less responsive to treatment, and accordingly, interim efficacy data may show a decline in patient response rate or other assessment metrics. As the trials continue, investigators may shift their approach to the patient population, which may ultimately result in a decline in both interim and final efficacy data from the preliminary data, or conversely, an increase in final efficacy data following a decline in the interim efficacy data, as patients with more progressed forms of cancer are cycled out of the clinical trials and replaced by patients with less advanced forms of cancer. This opportunity for investigator selection bias in our clinical trials as a result of open-label design may not be adequately handled and may cause a decline in or distortion of clinical trial data from our preliminary results. Depending on the outcome of our open-label studies, we may need to conduct one or more follow-up or supporting studies in order to successfully develop our products for regulatory approval. Many companies in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical device industries have suffered significant setbacks in late-stage clinical trials after achieving positive results in earlier development, and we cannot be certain that we will not face such setbacks.
Furthermore, the timely completion of clinical trials in accordance with their protocols depends, among other things, on our ability to enroll a sufficient number of patients who remain in the clinical trial until its conclusion, including the ability of us or our collaborators to conduct clinical trials under the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, our clinical trials will compete with other clinical trials for product candidates that are in the same therapeutic areas as our product candidates, and this competition
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will reduce the number and types of patients available to us, because some patients who might have opted to enroll in our clinical trials may instead opt to enroll in a clinical trial being conducted by one of our competitors. Accordingly, we cannot guarantee that the clinical trial will progress as planned or as scheduled. Delays in patient enrollment may result in increased costs or may affect the timing or outcome of our ongoing clinical trial and planned clinical trials, which could prevent completion of these clinical trials and adversely affect our ability to advance the development of our product candidates.
We expect to rely on medical institutions, academic institutions, or CROs 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.
We currently anticipate that we will have to rely on our CMO to supplement the manufacturing capacity at the iCTC in manufacturing our adoptive cell therapy and biologic products for clinical trials. If they fail to commence or complete, or experiences delays in, manufacturing our adoptive cell therapy and other biologic products, our planned clinical trials will be delayed, which will adversely affect our stock price and our ability to conduct our business as currently planned.
Clinical trials are expensive, time-consuming and difficult to design and implement, and our clinical trial costs may be higher than for more conventional therapeutic technologies or drug products.
Clinical trials are expensive and difficult to design and implement, in part because they are subject to rigorous regulatory requirements. Because our product candidates include candidates based on new cell therapy technologies and manufactured on a patient-by-patient basis, we expect that they will require extensive research and development and have substantial manufacturing costs. In addition, costs to treat patients with relapsed/refractory cancer and to treat potential side effects that may result from our product candidates can be significant. Some clinical trial sites may not bill, or obtain coverage from Medicare, Medicaid, or other third-party payors for some or all of these costs for patients enrolled in our clinical trials, and we may be required by those clinical trial sites to pay such costs. Accordingly, our clinical trial costs are likely to be significantly higher per patient than those of more conventional therapeutic technologies or drug products. In addition, our proposed personalized product candidates involve several complex and costly manufacturing and processing steps, the costs of which will be borne by us. We are also responsible for the manufacturing costs of products for patients that may have a tumor resection but ultimately do not receive an infusion. Depending on the number of patients that we ultimately screen and enroll in our clinical trials, and the number of clinical trials that we may need to conduct, our overall clinical trial costs may be higher than for more conventional treatments.
Our clinical trials may fail to demonstrate adequately the safety and efficacy of our product candidates, which would prevent or delay regulatory approval and commercialization.
The clinical trials of our product candidates are, and the manufacturing and marketing of our products is, subject to extensive and rigorous review and regulation by numerous government authorities in the U.S. and in other countries where we intend to test and market our product candidates. Before obtaining additional regulatory approvals for the commercial sale of any of our product candidates, we must demonstrate through lengthy, complex and expensive preclinical testing and clinical trials that our product candidates are both safe and effective for use in each target indication. Because our product candidates are subject to regulation as biological drug products, we will need to demonstrate that they are safe, pure, and potent for use in their target indications. Each product candidate must demonstrate an adequate risk versus benefit profile in its intended patient population and for its intended use. The risk/benefit profile required for product licensure will vary depending on these factors and may include not only the ability to show tumor shrinkage, but also adequate duration of response, a delay in the progression of the disease, and/or an improvement in survival. For example, response rates from the use of our product candidates may not be sufficient to obtain regulatory approval unless we can also show an adequate duration of response. Regulatory authorities may ultimately disagree with our chosen endpoints or may find that our studies or clinical trial results do not support product approval. Clinical testing is expensive and can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. Failure can occur at any time during the clinical trial process. The results of preclinical studies and early clinical trials of our product candidates with small patient populations may not be predictive of the results of later-stage clinical trials or the results once the applicable clinical trials are completed. Preliminary, single cohort, or top-line results from clinical trials may not be representative of the final clinical trial results. The results of studies in one set of patients or line of treatment may not be predictive of those obtained in another and the results in various human clinical trials reported in scientific and medical literature may not be indicative of results we obtain in our clinical trials. Product candidates in later stages of clinical trials may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy traits despite having progressed through preclinical studies and initial clinical trials. Preclinical studies may also reveal unfavorable product candidate characteristics, including safety concerns.
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We expect there may be greater variability in results for products processed and administered on a patient-by-patient basis, as anticipated for our product candidates, than for “off-the-shelf” products, like many other drugs. There is typically an extremely high rate of attrition from the failure of product candidates proceeding through clinical trials. Product candidates in later stages of clinical trials may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy profile despite having progressed through preclinical studies and initial clinical trials. Many companies in the biopharmaceutical industry have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials due to lack of efficacy or unacceptable safety issues, notwithstanding promising results in earlier clinical trials. Most product candidates that begin clinical trials are never approved by regulatory authorities for commercialization.
In some instances, there can be significant variability in safety or efficacy results between different clinical trials of the same product candidate due to numerous factors, including changes in clinical trial procedures set forth in protocols, differences in the size and type of the patient populations, changes in and adherence to the clinical trial protocols and the rate of dropout among clinical trial participants. Our current and future clinical trial results may not be successful. Moreover, should there be a flaw in a clinical trial, it may not become apparent until the clinical trial is well advanced. Further, because we currently plan to test our product candidates for use with other oncology products, the design, implementation, and interpretation of the clinical trials necessary for marketing approval may be more complex than if we were developing our product candidates alone.
In addition, even if such clinical trials are successfully completed, we cannot guarantee that the FDA or foreign regulatory authorities will interpret the results as we do, and more clinical trials could be required before we submit our product candidates for approval. To the extent that the results of the clinical trials are not satisfactory to the FDA or foreign regulatory authorities for support of a marketing application, we may be required to expend significant resources, which may not be available to us, to conduct additional clinical trials in support of potential approval of our product candidates.
We have reported preliminary results for clinical trials of our product candidates, including TIL cell therapy for the treatment of metastatic melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, cervical cancer, and head and neck cancers. These preliminary results, which include assessments of efficacy such as ORR, are subject to substantial risk of change due to small sample sizes and may change as patients are evaluated or as additional patients are enrolled in these clinical trials. These outcomes may be unfavorable, deviate from our earlier reports, and/or delay or prevent regulatory approval or commercialization of our product candidates, including candidates for which we have reported preliminary efficacy results. In clinical trials where a staged expansion is expected, such as studies using a Simon’s two stage design, these outcomes may result in the failure to meet an initial efficacy threshold for the first stage. Furthermore, other measures of efficacy for these clinical trials and product candidates may not be as favorable.
If we encounter difficulties enrolling patients in our clinical trials, our clinical development activities could be delayed or otherwise adversely affected.
The timely completion of clinical trials in accordance with their protocols depends, among other things, on our ability to enroll a sufficient number of patients, or similar patients from a Phase 2 clinical trial to a pivotal program, who remain in the clinical trial until its conclusion. We may experience difficulties or delays in patient enrollment in our clinical trials for a variety of reasons, including:
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● | health epidemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, limiting our access to patients who would otherwise be eligible for enrollment, including treatment-naïve patients who may be more likely to seek standard of care therapies available at local treatment centers rather than enroll in a clinical trial at a larger hospital; |
In addition, our clinical trials will compete with other clinical trials for product candidates that are in the same therapeutic areas as our product candidates, and this competition will reduce the number and types of patients available to us, because some patients who might have opted to enroll in our clinical trials may instead opt to enroll in a trial being conducted by one of our competitors. Because the number of qualified clinical investigators is limited, we expect to conduct some of our clinical trials at the same clinical trial sites that some of our competitor’s use, which will reduce the number of patients who are available for our clinical trials at such clinical trial sites. Moreover, because our product candidates represent a departure from more commonly used methods for cancer treatment, potential patients and their doctors may be inclined to use conventional therapies, such as chemotherapy and approved immunotherapies, rather than enroll patients in any future clinical trial. In addition, potential enrollees may opt to participate in other clinical trials because of the length of time between the time that their tumor is resected and the TIL is infused back into the patient. Amendments to our clinical protocols may affect enrollment in, or results of, our trials, including amendments we have made to further define the patient population to be studied.
Even if we are able to enroll a sufficient number of patients in our clinical trials, delays in patient enrollment or small population size may result in increased costs or may affect the timing or outcome of the planned clinical trials, which could prevent completion of these clinical trials and adversely affect our ability to advance the development of our product candidates.
Our commercial product and product candidates may cause undesirable side effects or have other properties that could halt their clinical development, prevent their regulatory approval, limit their commercial potential, or result in significant negative consequences.
Results of our clinical trials could reveal a high and unacceptable severity and prevalence of side effects or unexpected characteristics. Undesirable side effects caused by our product candidates could cause us, IRBs, DSMBs, or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials and could result in a more restrictive label or the delay or denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities. Even if we were to receive product approval, such approval could be contingent on inclusion of unfavorable information in our product labeling, such as limitations on the indications for use for which the products may be marketed or distributed, a label with significant safety warnings, including boxed warnings, contraindications, and precautions, a label without statements necessary or desirable for successful commercialization, or requirements for costly post marketing testing and surveillance, or other requirements, including a REMS, to monitor the safety or efficacy of the products, and in turn prevent us from commercializing and generating revenues from the sale of our current or future product candidates.
If unacceptable toxicities or side effects arise in the development of our product candidates, we, an IRB, DSMB, or the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities could order us to cease clinical trials, order our clinical trials to be placed on clinical hold, or deny approval of our product candidates for any or all targeted indications. The FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may also require additional data, clinical, or preclinical studies should unacceptable toxicities arise. We may need to abandon development or limit development of that product candidate to certain uses or subpopulations in which the undesirable side effects or other characteristics are less prevalent, less severe or more acceptable from a risk/benefit perspective. Toxicities associated with our clinical trials and products may also negatively impact our ability to conduct clinical trials using TIL cell therapy in larger patient populations, such as in patients that have not yet been treated with other therapies or have not yet progressed on other therapies.
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Treatment-related side effects could also affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled subjects to complete our clinical trials or result in potential product liability claims. Such toxicities, which may arise from TIL cell therapy in general, including co-therapies, may include, for example, thrombocytopenia, chills, anemia, pyrexia, febrile neutropenia, diarrhea, neutropenia, vomiting, hypotension, and dyspnea. For example, the update in October 2018 from the C-144-01 clinical trial included two grade 5 treatment emergent adverse events. In addition, failure to manage toxicities, adverse events or side effects and to take recommended or other precautions may result in deaths or harm to patients. Furthermore, harm to patients may not be appropriately recognized or managed by the treating medical staff, because treatments related to personalized cell therapy are not normally encountered in the general patient population and by medical personnel. Any of these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition and prospects significantly.
We will be unable to commercialize our products if our trials are not successful.
Our research and development programs are at various stages of clinical development, including several at an early stage. We must demonstrate our products’ safety and efficacy in humans through extensive clinical testing. We may experience numerous unforeseen events during, or as a result of, the testing process that could delay or prevent commercialization of our products, including but not limited to the following:
Clinical testing is very expensive, can take many years, and the outcome is uncertain. It could take as much as 12 months or more before we learn the results from any clinical trial using our adoptive cell therapy with TIL. The data collected from our clinical trials may not be sufficient to support approval by the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities of our TIL-based product candidates for the treatment of solid tumors. The clinical trials for our products under development may not be completed on schedule and the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities may not ultimately approve any of our product candidates for commercial sale. If we fail to adequately demonstrate the safety and efficacy of any product candidate under development, we may not receive regulatory approval for those products, which would prevent us from generating revenues or achieving profitability.
Risks Related to Third Parties
We may not be able to license new technology from third parties.
An element of our intellectual property portfolio is to license additional rights and technologies from third parties, including the NIH and others. Our inability to license the rights and technologies that we have identified, or that we may in the future identify, could have a material adverse impact on our ability to complete the development of our products or to develop additional products. No assurance can be given that we will be successful in licensing any additional rights or technologies from third parties, including the NIH and others. Failure to obtain additional rights and licenses may detrimentally affect our planned development of additional product candidates and could increase the cost, and extend the timelines associated with our development of such other products.
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We are required to pay substantial royalties and lump sum benchmark payments under our license or acquisition agreements with the NIH, Moffitt, Novartis, Clinigen, and Cellectis, and we must meet certain milestones to maintain our license rights.
Under our license or acquisition agreements with the NIH, Moffitt, Novartis, Clinigen, and Cellectis for our adoptive cell therapy and immunotherapy technologies, we are currently required to pay both substantial benchmark payments and royalties to each entity based on our revenues from sales of our products utilizing the licensed or acquired technologies. These payments could adversely affect the overall profitability for us of any products that we may seek to commercialize under these license agreements. In order to maintain our license rights under the NIH, Moffitt, Novartis, and Cellectis license agreements, we will need to meet certain specified milestones, subject to certain cure provisions, in the development of our product candidates, and a milestone payment is required to Clinigen upon the approval of lifileucel in melanoma. There is no assurance that we will be successful in meeting these milestones on a timely basis, or at all.
We are dependent on third parties to support our research, development, and supplement our internal manufacturing activities and, therefore, are subject to the efforts of these parties and our ability to successfully collaborate with these third parties.*
As a result of our current strategy to supplement our internal manufacturing by outsourcing, we rely very heavily on third parties to perform for us the manufacturing of our products and/or product candidates. We also license a portion of our technology from others. We intend to rely upon both our internal facility, the iCTC, as well as our CMOs to produce large quantities of materials needed for clinical trials and product commercialization. Third party manufacturers may not be able to meet our needs with respect to timing, quantity, or quality. If we are unable to contract for a sufficient supply of needed materials on acceptable terms, or if we should encounter delays or difficulties in our relationships with manufacturers, our clinical testing and/or commercialization efforts may be delayed, thereby delaying the submission of products for regulatory approval or the market introduction and subsequent sales of our products and product candidates. Any such delay may lower our revenues and potential profitability.
In addition, in order to supplement our own efforts to improve TIL manufacturing and develop TIL cell therapies in new indications in clinical trials, we currently work and collaborate with government and academic research institutions, medical institutions, and corporate partners such as the NCI, Moffitt, Cellectis, Yale University, and Novartis. We also intend to continue to enter into additional third-party collaborative agreements in the future. However, we may not be able to successfully negotiate any additional collaborative arrangements. If established, these relationships may not be scientifically or commercially successful, or may be unable to enroll patients, which has occurred in one of our prior collaborations. The success of these and future collaborations and joint development arrangements may be subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including the inability or unwillingness of our partners to perform in the manner, or to the extent anticipated, may also be subject to disagreements regarding the rights, interests, and performance of the counterparties under our licenses and development agreements. Disagreements between parties to a collaboration arrangement regarding clinical development and commercialization matters can lead to delays in the development process or commercialization of the applicable product and/or product candidate and, in some cases, termination of the collaboration arrangement. These disagreements can be difficult to resolve if neither of the parties has final decision-making authority under the collaboration agreement.
With regard to future collaboration efforts, we face significant competition in seeking appropriate collaborators. Our ability to reach a definitive agreement for collaboration will depend, among other things, upon our assessment of the collaborator’s resources and expertise, the terms and conditions of the proposed collaboration and, an evaluation by the proposed collaborator of a number of similar or unique factors.
Collaborations with biopharmaceutical companies and other third parties often are terminated or allowed to expire by the other party. Any such termination or expiration would adversely affect us financially and could harm our business reputation. Any collaboration may pose a number of risks, including the following:
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If any third-party collaborator breaches or terminates its agreement with us or fails to conduct its activities in a timely manner, the commercialization of our product candidates under development could be delayed or blocked completely. It is possible that our collaborators will change their strategic focus, pursue alternative technologies, or develop alternative products, either on their own or in collaboration with others, as a means for developing treatments for the diseases targeted by our collaborative programs. The effectiveness of our collaborators in marketing our products will also affect our revenues and earnings.
Our collaborators will also be required to comply with the applicable regulatory requirements, and, as such, are subject to the same risks as we are. If they do not or are not able to comply with these requirements, we may not be able to use the data generated through their studies to support our future investigational or marketing applications. Collaborator noncompliance may also expose them and us to regulatory enforcement actions.
No assurance can be given that we will be able to successfully collaborate with our partners as anticipated and that our current or future collaborations will be completed as contemplated, support the regulatory approval of our current product candidates, or result in any viable additional products and/or product candidates. For instance, to the extent that these collaborators conduct their studies with manufacturing processes that are different from ours or with a product that is different from ours, the results generated from their studies may not be seen in our current or future studies that employ our manufacturing processes, and the results generated from their studies may not support approval of our product candidates.
If we are unable to obtain or maintain suitable collaborators on a timely basis, on acceptable terms, or at all, we may have to curtail the development of a product candidate, reduce or delay its development program or one or more of our other development programs, delay commercialization of products and/or product candidates or reduce the scope of any sales or marketing activities, or increase our expenditures and undertake development or commercialization activities at our own expense.
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We rely on and collaborate with governmental, academic, and corporate partners or agencies to approve, improve, and develop TIL cell therapies for new indications for use in combination with other therapies and to evaluate new TIL manufacturing methods, the results of which, because the manufacturing processes are not within our control, may be incorrect or unreliable.
In addition to our own research and process development efforts, we seek to collaborate with government, academic research institutions and corporate partners to improve TIL manufacturing and to develop TIL cell therapies for new indications. In 2017-2020, we announced our continued collaborations with Moffitt, MDACC, and others to evaluate new solid tumor and hematologic indications for TIL cell therapy in clinical trials and preclinical studies, as well as, in some cases, new TIL manufacturing approaches. The results of these collaborations may be used to support our filing with the FDA of INDs to conduct more advanced clinical trials of our product candidates, or to otherwise analyze or make predictions or decisions with respect to our current or future product candidates. However, because the majority of our collaborations are conducted at outside laboratories and we do not have complete control over how the studies are conducted or reported or over the manufacturing methods used to manufacture TIL product, the results of such studies, which we may use as the basis for our conclusions, projections or decisions with respect to our current or future products and product candidates, may be incorrect or unreliable, or may have a negative impact on us if the results of such studies are imputed to our products or proposed indications, even if such imputation is improper. For example, we have entered into collaborations with Moffitt, and MDACC to perform clinical trials using TIL products that differ from our products, but the results of these clinical trials, if negative, may adversely impact our stock price and our development plans for our products. Additionally, we may use third party data to analyze, reach conclusions or make predictions or decisions with respect to our product candidates that may be incomplete, inaccurate or otherwise unreliable. There may also be delays or other limitations on our activities as a result of the inability of these entities to expedite our priorities in the product, facility, or regulatory approval process.
Other Risks Related to Our Business
Our current line of business, and the biotechnology industry in which we operate, makes it difficult to evaluate our business plan and our prospects.
We have only a limited operating history in our current line of business on which a decision to invest in our company can be based. The future of our company currently is dependent upon our ability to implement our business plan, as that business plan may be modified from time to time by our management and Board of Directors. While we believe that we have a reasonable business plan and research and development strategy, we have only a limited operating history against which we can test our plans and assumptions, and investors therefore cannot evaluate the likelihood of our success.
We face the problems, expenses, difficulties, complications, and delays normally associated with a commercial biopharmaceutical company with significant pre-commercial assets, many of which are beyond our control. Accordingly, our prospects should be considered in light of the risks, expenses, and difficulties frequently encountered in the establishment of a new business developing technologies in an industry that is characterized by a number of market entrants and intense competition. Because of our size and limited resources, we may not possess the ability to successfully overcome many of the risks and uncertainties frequently encountered by commercial biopharmaceutical companies with significant pre-commercial assets involved in the rapidly evolving field of immunotherapy. We also face the risks associated with the shift from development to commercialization of new products based on innovative technologies. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in developing our business.
Our internal computer systems, or those used by our contract research organizations or other contractors or consultants, may fail or suffer security breaches.
Despite the implementation of security measures, our internal computer systems and those of our contract research organizations and other contractors and consultants are vulnerable to damage from computer viruses, unauthorized and authorized access, natural disasters, terrorism, war and telecommunication and electrical failures. If such an event was to occur and cause interruptions in our operations, it could result in a disruption of our drug development programs. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from completed or ongoing clinical trials for a product candidate could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. To the extent that any disruption or security breach were to result in a loss of or damage to our data or applications, or inappropriate disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, we could incur liability and the further development of any product candidates could be delayed.
We maintain a specialized information technology system for tracking chain of custody and chain of identity for TIL cell therapy patients. Like other autologous cell therapies, this is extremely important for patient safety and is a requirement outlined in our BLA submission. This requires us to store and maintain patient specific health information. The risks associated with storing patient health and personal data may increase cyber threats and regulatory accountability and scrutiny. Although we have industry-standard
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secure systems and maintain privacy controls, there is a possibility that incidents compromising this information can occur. In addition to the regulatory and civil litigation risks, failure to maintain this data correctly could result in loss of patients or impair our ability to deliver patient care.
We are dependent on information technology, systems, infrastructure and data.
We are dependent upon information technology systems, infrastructure and data. The multitude and complexity of our computer systems make them inherently vulnerable to service interruption or destruction, malicious intrusion and random attack. Likewise, data privacy or cybersecurity breaches by third parties, employees, contractors or others may pose a risk that sensitive data, including our intellectual property, trade secrets or personal information of our employees, patients, or other business partners may be exposed to unauthorized persons or to the public. Cyberattacks are increasing in their frequency, sophistication and intensity. The Russia-Ukraine conflict may also increase cybersecurity risks on a global basis. Cyberattacks could include the deployment of harmful malware, denial-of-service, ransomware, social engineering and other means to affect service reliability and threaten data confidentiality, privacy, integrity and availability. Our business and technology partners face similar risks, and any security breach of their systems could adversely affect our security posture. While we have invested, and continue to invest, in the protection of our data and information technology infrastructure, there can be no assurance that our efforts, or the efforts of our partners and vendors, will prevent service interruptions, or identify breaches in our systems, that could adversely affect our business and operations and/or result in the loss of critical or sensitive information, which could result in financial, legal, business or reputational harm to us. In addition, our liability insurance may not be sufficient in type or amount to cover us against claims related to security breaches, cyberattacks and other cybersecurity related breaches.
Our business could be adversely affected by the effects of health epidemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic, in regions where we or third parties on which we rely have significant manufacturing facilities, concentrations of clinical trial sites or other business operations. The COVID-19 pandemic could materially affect our operations, including at our headquarters in San Carlos, California, at our manufacturing facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which have previously been subject to state executive orders and shelter-in-place orders, and at our clinical trial sites, as well as the business or operations of our other manufacturers, contract research organizations, or CROs, or other third parties with whom we conduct business.
Our business could be adversely affected by health epidemics in regions where we have offices, manufacturing facilities, concentrations of clinical trial sites or other business operations, and could cause significant disruption in the operations of clinical trial sites, third party manufacturers and CROs upon whom we rely. For example, starting in December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus, or COVID-19, was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China and spread to multiple countries, including the U.S. and several European countries. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic and the U.S. declared the COVID-19 pandemic a national emergency. Similarly, during that time, the State of California declared a state of emergency related to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the health officers of six San Francisco Bay Area counties, including San Mateo County where our headquarters in San Carlos is located, issued shelter-in-place orders. In addition, on March 19, 2020, the Governor of California and the State Public Health Officer and Director of the California Department of Public Health ordered all individuals living in the State of California to stay at their place of residence for an indefinite period of time (subject to certain exceptions to facilitate authorized necessary activities) to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout 2020 and 2021, similar executive orders were issued by state and local governments, and states of emergency had been declared at the state and local level in most jurisdictions throughout the U.S. As recently as April 2022, ports and airports in Shanghai, China have been closed due to another outbreak of COVID-19, resulting in a lockdown of the city and disruption to export and import activities. In the U.S., many of these executive orders have been rescinded, however, the Company remains vigilant and continues to monitor any ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic closely to determine if additional actions are required.
Quarantines, shelter-in-place and similar government orders, or the perception that such orders, shutdowns or other restrictions on the conduct of business operations could occur, related to the COVID-19 pandemic or other infectious diseases could impact personnel at third-party manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and other countries, or the availability or cost of materials, which would disrupt our supply chain. In addition, our clinical trials may be affected by health epidemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinical site initiation, patient enrollment and patient monitoring may be delayed due to prioritization of hospital resources toward health epidemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Some sites may no longer be available to see patients for clinical trials. Some patients may not be able to comply with clinical trial protocols if quarantines impede patient movement or interrupt healthcare services. Patients may also miss follow-up visits after receiving our therapies during our clinical trials, which may or may not be rectified by future patient visits and which may result in the exclusion of data from such patients from the clinical trial data. Similarly, our ability to recruit and retain patients and principal investigators and site staff who, as healthcare providers, may have heightened exposure to the virus that causes the COVID-19 pandemic and adversely impact our clinical trial operations. Health epidemics, such
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as the COVID-19 pandemic, may also affect our ability to recruit treatment-naïve patients into our clinical trials, because those patients may be more likely to seek standard of care therapies available at local treatment centers rather than enroll in a clinical trial at a larger hospital.
We continue to monitor the impact, if any, of the COVID-19 pandemic on our current and future operations, including our regulatory filing timelines and strategy, as well as our preparation for commercial launch. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues for an extended period of time, any restrictions regarding travel and face to face interactions or constraints on resources, either by us or our contractors, including our CMOs, may negatively impact our regulatory strategy or commercial launch preparations. The COVID-19 pandemic may also impact the FDA and their ability to timely review our regulatory filings and conduct the pre-approval inspections necessary for ultimate approval of BLA. We cannot predict at this time whether and how FDA operations may be impacted at relevant times for our planned regulatory submissions.
Our failure to comply with international data protection laws and regulations could lead to government enforcement actions and significant penalties against us, and adversely impact our operating results.
EU member states and other foreign jurisdictions, including Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Canada, have adopted data protection laws and regulations which impose significant compliance obligations on us. Moreover, the collection and use of personal health data in the EU, which was formerly governed by the provisions of the EU Data Protection Directive, was replaced with the EU General Data Protection Regulation, or the GDPR, in May 2018. The GDPR, which is wide-ranging in scope, imposes several requirements relating to the consent of the individuals to whom the personal data relates, the information provided to the individuals, the security and confidentiality of the personal data, data breach notification and the use of third-party processors in connection with the processing of personal data.
The GDPR also imposes strict rules on the transfer of personal data out of the EU to the U.S., provides an enforcement authority and imposes large penalties for noncompliance, including the potential for fines of up to €20 million or 4% of the annual global revenues of the noncompliant company, whichever is greater. The GDPR requirements apply not only to third-party transactions, but also to transfers of information between us and our subsidiaries. The implementation of the GDPR has increased our responsibility and liability in relation to personal data that we process, including in clinical trials, and we may in the future be required to put in place additional mechanisms to ensure compliance with the GDPR, which could divert management’s attention and increase our cost of doing business. In addition, new regulation or legislative actions regarding data privacy and security (together with applicable industry standards) may increase our costs of doing business. If we fail to comply with the data protection laws in any EU member country or other jurisdiction, the data protection authority of such country or other jurisdiction may, in addition to fines, impose sanctions on us, which may include a prohibition that prevents us from transferring and/or processing personal data of data subjects from such country or other jurisdiction for a duration determined by the sanctioning authority. Our inability to transfer and/or process personal data of data subjects could preclude us from conducting clinical trials of our products in the EU member country or other jurisdiction for the duration of the sanction. Our inability to conduct clinical trials in the EU member country or other jurisdiction for the duration of the sanction may delay and increase the cost of development of our products, with a material adverse effect on our business. In this regard, we expect that there will continue to be new proposed laws, regulations, and industry standards relating to privacy and data protection in the U.S., the EU, and other jurisdictions, and we cannot determine the impact such future laws, regulations and standards may have on our business.
Our failure to comply with state and/or national data protection laws and regulations could lead to government enforcement actions and significant penalties against us, and adversely impact our operating results.
There are numerous other laws and legislative and regulatory initiatives at the federal and state levels addressing privacy and security concerns, and some state privacy laws apply more broadly than the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, and associated regulations. For example, California recently enacted legislation, the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA, which went into effect January 1, 2020, and was recently amended and expanded by the California Privacy Rights Act, or CPRA, which will take effect on January 1, 2023. The CCPA and CPRA, among other things, create new data privacy obligations for covered companies and provides new privacy rights to California residents, including the right to opt out of certain disclosures of their information. The CCPA also created a private right of action with statutory damages for certain data breaches, thereby potentially increasing risks associated with a data breach.
Although the law includes limited exceptions, including for certain information collected as part of clinical trials as specified in the law, it may regulate or impact our processing of personal information depending on the context. It remains unclear what, if any, additional modifications will be made to the CPRA by the California legislature or how it will be interpreted. Therefore, the effects of
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the CCPA and CPRA are significant and will likely require us to modify our data processing practices and may cause us to incur substantial costs and expenses to comply.
If we engage in future acquisitions or strategic partnerships, this may increase our capital requirements, dilute our stockholders, cause us to incur debt or assume contingent liabilities, and subject us to other risks.
We may evaluate various acquisitions and strategic partnerships, including licensing or acquiring complementary products, intellectual property rights, technologies, or businesses. Any potential acquisition or strategic partnership may entail numerous risks, including:
Depending on the size and nature of future strategic acquisitions, we may acquire assets or businesses that require us to raise additional capital or to operate or manage businesses in which we have limited experience. Making larger acquisitions that require us to raise additional capital to fund the acquisition will expose us to the risks associated with capital raising activities. Acquiring and thereafter operating larger new businesses will also increase our management, operating and reporting costs and burdens. In addition, if we undertake acquisitions, we may issue dilutive securities, assume or incur debt obligations, incur large one-time expenses and acquire intangible assets that could result in significant future amortization expense. Moreover, we may not be able to locate suitable acquisition opportunities and this inability could impair our ability to grow or obtain access to technology or products that may be important to the development of our business. In addition, even if we are able to pursue certain strategic acquisition opportunities, we cannot guarantee that such acquisitions may completed in a timely manner, if at all, or that all conditions necessary to consummate such transactions will be satisfied, including the receipt of all required regulatory approvals.
We have global operations, which expose us to additional risks, and any adverse event could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.*
Our operations outside the U.S. have recently expanded. Risks inherent in conducting a global business include:
similar restrictions by the U.S. or other governments;
In addition, there may be changes to our business if there is instability, disruption, or destruction in a significant geographic region, regardless of cause, including war, terrorism, riot, civil insurrection or social unrest; and natural or man-made disasters, including famine, flood, fire, earthquake, storm, or disease. Events like these, such as the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and rising conflict in the Middle East, could result in material adverse effects on macroeconomic conditions, currency exchange rates and financial markets, and may adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
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We are currently operating in a period of economic uncertainty and capital markets disruption, which has been significantly impacted by geopolitical instability, ongoing military conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah, and record inflation. Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected by any negative impact on the global economy and capital markets resulting from the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, geopolitical tensions, or record inflation.*
U.S. and global markets are experiencing volatility and disruption following the escalation of geopolitical tensions and the start of the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine. On February 24, 2022, a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops was reported. Although the length and impact of the ongoing military conflict is highly unpredictable, the conflict in Ukraine could lead to market disruptions, including significant volatility in commodity prices, credit and capital markets, as well as supply chain interruptions, which has led to record inflation globally. We are continuing to monitor inflation, the situation in Ukraine, and global capital markets and assessing the potential impacts on our business.
The global economy has been, and may continue to be, negatively impacted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S., the EU, the United Kingdom, and other G7 countries, among other countries, have imposed substantial financial and economic sanctions on certain industry sectors and parties in Russia. Broad restrictions on exports to Russia have also been imposed. These measures include: (i) comprehensive financial sanctions against major Russian banks; (ii) additional designations of Russian individuals with significant business interests and government connections; (iii) designations of individuals and entities involved in Russian military activities; and (iv) enhanced export controls and trade sanctions limiting Russia’s ability to import various goods. Russian military actions and the resulting sanctions could continue to adversely affect the global economy and financial markets and lead to instability and lack of liquidity in capital markets, potentially making it more difficult for us to obtain additional funds.
In addition, on October 7, 2023, Hamas militants and members of other terrorist organizations infiltrated Israel’s southern border from the Gaza Strip and conducted a series of terror attacks on civilian and military targets. Thereafter, Hamas launched extensive rocket attacks on Israeli population and industrial centers located along the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip. Shortly following the attack, Israel’s security cabinet declared war against Hamas and launched an aerial bombardment of various targets within the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government subsequently called for the evacuation of over one million residents of the northern part of the Gaza Strip and began a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip that remains ongoing. Other terrorist and/or regional organizations have joined the hostilities as well, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, and it is possible that Palestinian military organizations in the West Bank will also join, resulting in a further widening of the conflict. The intensity and duration of Israel’s current wars against Hamas and Hezbollah are difficult to predict as are such wars’ economic implications on the global economy.
There are also current geopolitical tensions with China. Recently, the Biden administration has signed multiple executive orders regarding China. One particular executive order titled Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy signed on September 12, 2022 will likely impact the pharmaceutical industry to encourage U.S. domestic manufacturing of pharmaceutical products. Moreover, there have been Congressional legislative proposals, such as the bill titled the BIOSECURE Act, to discourage contracting with Chinese companies, including two WuXi affiliates, on the development or manufacturing of pharmaceutical products. The BIOSECURE Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives on September 9, 2024. The version of the BIOSECURE Act that passed the U.S. House of Representatives included a grandfather clause that would allow contracts entered into with the Chinese companies named therein prior to the effective date of such legislation until January 1, 2032. The BIOSECURE Act must also pass the U.S. Senate before going to President Biden for either his veto or signature, and it is uncertain whether the bill will be brought to the floor for a vote by the U.S. Senate before the current legislative session expires on January 3, 2025. Any additional executive action, legislative action or potential sanctions with China could materially impact our current manufacturing partners and our agreements with them, including our MSA with WuXi. For example, in February 2024, the chair and ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, Representatives Mike Gallagher and Raja Krishnamoorthi, respectively, along with Senators Gary Peters and Bill Haggerty sent a letter to the Biden administration requesting that both WuXi AppTec Co., Ltd., WuXi’s parent company, and the affiliated WuXi Biologics be added to the Department of Defense’s Chinese Military Companies List (1260H list), the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security Entity List, and the Department of Treasury’s Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List. While the Biden administration has yet to take action on this letter, adding either or both previously mentioned WuXi entities on any or all of the aforementioned lists could materially impact our MSA with WuXi. Additionally, on February 28, 2024, President Biden signed Executive Order 14117 (“Preventing Access to Americans” Bulk Sensitive Personal Data and United States Government-Related Data by Countries of Concern”) which implements a new framework to protect the privacy of personal data shared between the U.S. and Europe, which may, in effect, impact privacy laws with “countries of concern” such as China or Russia.
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Although our business has not been materially impacted by the ongoing military conflicts between Russia and Ukraine or Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah, geopolitical tensions, or record inflation to date, it is impossible to predict the extent to which our operations, or those of our suppliers and manufacturers, will be impacted in the short and long term, or the ways in which the conflict may impact our business. The extent and duration of the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, geopolitical tensions, record inflation, sanctions and resulting market disruptions are impossible to predict, but could be substantial. Any such disruptions may also magnify the impact of other risks described herein.
We are exposed to fluctuations in currency exchange rates that could negatively impact our financial results and cash flows.*
With the acquisition of Proleukin® in May 2023 and with the future commercialization of AmtagviTM in other markets, a portion of our business will be conducted outside the United States. Furthermore, we are required to make certain future payments under the Proleukin® acquisition agreement that are denominated in non-U.S. dollars, including future deferred consideration and earnout payments based on Proleukin® sales. As such, we face exposure to adverse movements in foreign currency exchange rates, including movements in foreign currency for the future milestone payment. These exposures may change over time as business practices evolve, and they could have a material adverse impact on our business, cash flow, results of operations, financial condition, and prospects. Our primary exposure to movements in foreign currency exchange rates currently relates to non-U.S. dollar denominated sales in Europe, the United Kingdom, and Asia, and non-U.S. dollar denominated operating expenses and certain assets and liabilities in our operating subsidiaries.
Additionally, we have entered and may enter into business development transactions, borrowings, or other financial transactions that may give rise to currency and interest rate exposure. Since we cannot, with certainty, foresee and mitigate against such adverse changes, fluctuations in currency exchange rates, interest rates, and inflation could negatively affect our business, cash flow, results of operations, financial condition, and prospects.
In order to mitigate against the adverse impact of these market fluctuations, we may from time to time enter into hedging agreements. While hedging agreements, such as currency options and forwards and interest rate swaps, may limit some of the exposure to exchange rate and interest rate fluctuations, such attempts to mitigate these risks may be costly and not always successful.
Climate change or legal, regulatory or market measures to address climate change may negatively affect our business, results of operations, cash flows and prospects.
We believe that climate change has the potential to negatively affect our business and results of operations, cash flows and prospects. We are exposed to physical risks (such as extreme weather conditions or rising sea levels), risks in transitioning to a low-carbon economy (such as additional legal or regulatory requirements, changes in technology, market risk and reputational risk), and social and human effects (such as population dislocations and harm to health and well-being) associated with climate change. These risks can be either acute (short-term) or chronic (long-term).
The adverse impacts of climate change include increased frequency and severity of natural disasters and extreme weather events such as hurricanes, tornados, wildfires (exacerbated by drought), flooding, and extreme heat. Extreme weather and sea-level rise pose physical risks to our facilities, as well as those of our suppliers. Such risks include losses incurred as a result of physical damage to facilities, loss or spoilage of inventory, and business interruption caused by such natural disasters and extreme weather events. Other potential physical impacts due to climate change include reduced access to high-quality water in certain regions and the loss of biodiversity, which could impact future product development. These risks could disrupt our operations and supply chains, which may result in increased costs.
New legal or regulatory requirements may be enacted to prevent, mitigate, or adapt to the implications of a changing climate and its effects on the environment. These regulations, which may differ across jurisdictions, could result in us being subject to new or expanded carbon pricing or taxes, increased compliance costs, restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions, investment in new technologies, increased carbon disclosure and transparency, upgrade of facilities to meet new building codes, and the redesign of utility systems, which could increase our operating costs, including the cost of electricity and energy used by us. Our supply chain would likely be subject to these same transitional risks and would likely pass along any increased costs to us.
Environmental, social and governance matters may impact our business and reputation.
Governmental authorities, non-governmental organizations, customers, investors, external stakeholders, and employees are increasingly sensitive to environmental, social and governance, or ESG, concerns, such as diversity and inclusion, climate change,
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water use, recyclability or recoverability of packaging, and plastic waste. This focus on ESG concerns may lead to new requirements that could result in increased costs associated with developing, manufacturing and distributing our products. Our ability to compete could also be affected by changing customer preferences and requirements, such as growing demand for more environmentally friendly products, packaging or supplier practices, or by failure to meet such customer expectations or demand. While we strive to improve our ESG performance, we risk negative stockholder reaction, including from proxy advisory services, as well as damage to our brand and reputation, if we do not act responsibly, or if we are perceived to not be acting responsibly in key ESG areas, including equitable access to medicines and vaccines, product quality and safety, diversity and inclusion, environmental stewardship, support for local communities, corporate governance and transparency, and addressing human capital factors in our operations. If we do not meet the ESG expectations of our investors, customers, and other stakeholders, we could experience reduced demand for our products, loss of customers, and other negative impacts on our business and results of operations.
In addition, this emphasis on environmental, social, and other sustainability matters has resulted and may result in the adoption of new laws and regulations, including new reporting requirements. If we fail to comply with new laws, regulations or reporting requirements, our reputation and business could be adversely impacted.
Risks Related to Government Regulation
We are subject to extensive regulation, which can be costly, time consuming and can subject us to unanticipated delays; even after obtaining regulatory approval for some of our products and/or product candidates, those products and/or product candidates may still face regulatory difficulties.
Our products, potential products, and cell processing and manufacturing activities, are subject to comprehensive regulation by the FDA in the U.S. 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.
Prior to Amtagvi™, no adoptive cell therapy using TIL had been approved for marketing by the FDA. Consequently, there is no precedent for the successful commercialization of products based on our technologies. In addition, we have had only limited experience in filing and pursuing applications necessary to gain regulatory approvals, which may impede our ability to obtain timely FDA approvals, if at all. We have completed the process for FDA approval for one adoptive cell therapy product. We will not be able to commercialize any of our potential products until we obtain FDA approval, and so any delay in obtaining, or inability to obtain, FDA approval would harm our business.
If we fail to comply with regulatory requirements at any stage, whether before or after marketing approval is obtained, we may face a number of regulatory consequences, including refusal to approve pending applications, license suspension or revocation, withdrawal of an approval, imposition of a clinical hold or termination of clinical trials, warning letters, untitled letters, modification of promotional materials or labeling, provision of corrective information, imposition of post-market requirements, including the need for additional testing, imposition of distribution or other restrictions under a REMS, product recalls, product seizures or detentions, refusal to allow imports or exports, total or partial suspension of production or distribution, FDA debarment, injunctions, fines, consent decrees, corporate integrity agreements, debarment from receiving government contracts and new orders under existing contracts, exclusion from participation in federal and state healthcare programs, restitution, disgorgement, or civil or criminal penalties, including fines and imprisonment, and adverse publicity, among other adverse consequences. Additionally, we may not be able to obtain the labeling claims necessary or desirable for the promotion of our products or product candidates. We may also be required to undertake post-marketing trials. In addition, if we or others identify side effects after any of our adoptive cell therapies are on the market, or if manufacturing problems occur, regulatory approval may be withdrawn and reformulation of our products may be required.
The FDA regulatory approval process is lengthy and time-consuming, and we may experience significant delays in the clinical development and regulatory approval of our product candidates. *
We completed our first submission of a rolling BLA to the FDA for lifileucel in March 2023. The FDA accepted our BLA for AmtagviTM for patients with advanced melanoma in May 2023 and granted lifileucel Priority Review. The FDA originally assigned November 25, 2023 as the target action date for a decision under PDUFA, however, the FDA then reassigned February 24, 2024 as the revised target action date before approving the BLA on February 16, 2024. A BLA must include extensive preclinical and clinical data
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and supporting information to establish the product candidate’s safety and effectiveness for each desired indication. Our BLA submissions and expected timelines for our product candidates are based on our interpretation of communications received from the FDA to date regarding each product candidate and are subject to revision if additional communications are received from the FDA. As such, we may experience delays with FDA approval of additional BLAs.
We are conducting registrational trials for advanced NSCLC and frontline advanced melanoma cancer with our lifileucel product candidate. These trials, which we refer to as IOV-LUN-202 Cohorts 1 and 2 in the case of advanced NSCLC and TILVANCE-301 in the case of advanced melanoma, are currently underway and have been the subject of formal FDA meetings and communications. For instance, on December 22, 2023, the FDA placed a clinical hold on the IOV-LUN-202 trial in response to a reported Grade 5 (fatal) serious adverse event potentially related to the non-myeloablative lymphodepletion pre-conditioning regimen, and we paused enrollment and the lifileucel treatment regimen for new patients in IOV-LUN-202 during the clinical hold. On March 4, 2024, the FDA lifted the partial clinical hold on the IOV-LUN-202 trial, permitting us to resume patient enrollment. Our current beliefs regarding the registration pathway for lifileucel in these indications are based on our interpretation of communications with the FDA to date and our efforts to address such communications, which may be incorrect. Our statements that the clinical trial may support a BLA submission also assume that our as-adjusted clinical trial has addressed the additional requests and feedback by the FDA. Further, enrollment in these clinical trials may need to be further adjusted based on future feedback from the FDA, changes in the competitive environment, or other regulatory agency input. Protocol revisions may have an adverse effect on the results reported to date. Changes to implement an independent review committee and assay validation and implementation, and the data within these clinical trials may not ultimately be supportive of product approval, all of which could result in significant delays to our currently anticipated timeline for development and approval of the lifileucel product candidate or prevent their approval.
A BLA must also include significant information regarding the chemistry, manufacturing and controls for the product. We expect the novel nature of our product candidates to create further challenges in obtaining regulatory approval. For example, the FDA has limited experience with commercial development of cell therapies for cancer. We may also not be able to successfully utilize the BTD designation we have received for metastatic cervical cancer to successfully complete the development and commercialization of AmtagviTM for this indication. We may not be able to reach agreement with the FDA on an interpretation of outcomes from our meetings, including meetings we have held with the FDA in relation to our C-145-04 clinical trial and future meetings. In addition, as previously disclosed, Iovance began a confirmatory Phase 3 clinical trial, TILVANCE-301, of lifileucel in combination with pembrolizumab in frontline metastatic melanoma in late 2022. The FDA previously granted Fast Track Designation for lifileucel in combination with pembrolizumab for the treatment of immune checkpoint inhibitor naïve metastatic melanoma. However, the regulatory approval pathway for our product candidates may be uncertain, complex, expensive, and lengthy, and approval may not be obtained.
We may also experience delays, including delays arising from the need to increase enrollment, in completing planned clinical trials for a variety of reasons, including delays related to:
We could also encounter delays if there are unresolved ethical issues associated with physicians enrolling patients in clinical trials of our product candidates in lieu of prescribing existing treatments that have established safety and efficacy profiles. Further, a clinical trial may be suspended or terminated by us, the IRBs for the institutions in which such clinical trials are being conducted by the FDA or other regulatory authorities, or recommended for suspension or termination by DSMBs due to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or clinical trial site by the FDA or other regulatory authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold,
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including as a result of genetic editing methods, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a product candidate, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial. If we experience termination of, or delays in the completion of, any clinical trial of our product candidates, the commercial prospects for our product candidates will be harmed, and our ability to generate product revenue will be delayed. In addition, any delays in completing our clinical trials will increase our costs, slow down our product development and approval process and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenue.
Obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval of our product candidates in one jurisdiction does not mean that we will be successful in obtaining regulatory approval of our product candidates in other jurisdictions.
In order to market and sell our products outside the U.S., we or our third-party collaborators may be required to obtain or maintain separate marketing approvals and comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements. Obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval of our product candidates in one jurisdiction does not guarantee that we will be able to obtain or maintain regulatory approval in any other jurisdiction, while a failure or delay in obtaining regulatory approval in one jurisdiction may have a negative effect on the regulatory approval process in others. Approval policies and requirements may vary among jurisdictions. For example, even if the FDA grants marketing approval of a product candidate, comparable regulatory authorities in foreign jurisdictions must also approve the manufacturing, marketing and promotion of the product candidate in those countries. Approval procedures vary among jurisdictions and can involve requirements and administrative review periods different from, and greater than, those in the U.S., including additional preclinical studies or clinical trials as clinical studies conducted in one jurisdiction may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions. In many jurisdictions outside the U.S., a product candidate must be approved for reimbursement before it can be approved for sale in that jurisdiction. In some cases, the price that we intend to charge for our products is also subject to approval. We or our collaborators may not be able to file for regulatory approval of our product candidates in international jurisdictions or obtain approvals from regulatory authorities outside the U.S. on a timely basis, if at all. The FDA or other regulatory agencies may also withdraw approval for previously approved products.
We may also submit marketing applications in other countries. Regulatory authorities in jurisdictions outside of the U.S. have requirements for approval of product candidates with which we must comply prior to marketing in those jurisdictions. Obtaining foreign regulatory approvals and compliance with foreign regulatory requirements could result in significant delays, difficulties and costs for us and could delay or prevent the introduction of our products in certain countries. If we fail to comply with the regulatory requirements in international markets and/or receive applicable marketing approvals, our target market will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential of our product candidates will be harmed.
We are, and if we receive regulatory approval of our product candidates, will continue to be subject to ongoing regulatory obligations and continued regulatory review, which may result in significant additional expense, and we may be subject to penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or experience unanticipated problems with our product candidates.
Any regulatory approvals that we receive for our product candidates will require ongoing surveillance to monitor the safety and efficacy of the product candidate. The FDA may also require a REMS to approve our product candidates, which could entail requirements for a medication guide, physician communication plans or additional elements to ensure safe use, such as restricted distribution methods, patient registries and other risk minimization tools. The FDA may also require post-approval Phase 4 studies. Moreover, the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities will continue to closely monitor the safety profile of any product even after approval. If the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities become aware of new safety information after approval of any of our product candidates, they may withdraw approval, require labeling changes or establishment of a REMS or similar strategy, impose significant restrictions on a product’s indicated uses or marketing, or impose ongoing requirements for potentially costly post-approval studies or post-market surveillance. Any such restrictions could limit sales of the product.
In addition, we, our contractors, and our collaborators are and will remain responsible for FDA compliance, including requirements related to product design, testing, clinical trials and preclinical studies approval, manufacturing processes and quality, labeling, packaging, distribution, adverse event and deviation reporting, storage, advertising, marketing, promotion, sale, import, export, submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports such as deviation reports, establishment registration, product listing, annual user fees, and recordkeeping for our product candidates.
We and any of our collaborators, including our contract manufacturers, could be subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA to monitor and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. Application holders must further notify the FDA, and depending on the nature of the change, obtain FDA pre-approval for product and manufacturing changes. The cost of compliance with post-approval regulations may have a negative effect on our operating results and financial condition.
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Later discovery of previously unknown problems with our product candidates, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, that the product is less effective than previously thought, problems with our third-party manufacturers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in, among other things:
Any of these events could further have other material and adverse effects on our operations and business and could adversely impact our stock price and could significantly harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
The FDA’s and other regulatory authorities’ policies may change, and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit or delay regulatory approval of our product candidates. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action, either in the U.S. or abroad. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any marketing approval that we may have obtained, be subject to other regulatory enforcement action, and we may not achieve or sustain profitability.
If we fail to comply with applicable healthcare and promotional laws, including fraud and abuse and information privacy and security laws, we could face substantial penalties and our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects could be adversely affected.*
As a biopharmaceutical company, we are subject to many federal and state healthcare laws, including the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, the federal civil and criminal False Claims Act, or FCA, the civil monetary penalties statute, the Medicaid Drug Rebate statute and other price reporting requirements, the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992, the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economics and Clinical Health Act), the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, or FCPA, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, and similar state laws. Even though we do not and will not control referrals of healthcare services or bill directly to Medicare, Medicaid, or other third-party payors, certain federal and state healthcare laws and regulations pertaining to fraud and abuse and patients’ rights are and will be applicable to our business. If we do not comply with all applicable fraud and abuse laws, we may be subject to enforcement by both the federal government and the states in which we conduct our business.
Laws and regulations require calculation and reporting of complex pricing information for prescription drugs, and compliance will require us to invest in significant resources and develop a price reporting infrastructure or depend on third parties to compute and report our drug pricing. Pricing reported to CMS must be certified. Non-compliant activities expose us to FCA risk if they result in overcharging agencies, underpaying rebates to agencies, or causing agencies to overpay providers.
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If we or our operations are found to be in violation of any federal or state healthcare law, or any other governmental regulations that apply to us, we may be subject to penalties, including civil, criminal, and administrative penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, debarment from government contracts, refusal of orders under existing contracts, exclusion from participation in U.S. federal or state health care programs, corporate integrity agreements, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations, any of which could materially adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our financial results. If any of the physicians or other healthcare providers or entities with whom we expect to do business, including our collaborators, is found not to be in compliance with applicable laws, they may be subject to criminal, civil, or administrative sanctions, including but not limited to, exclusions from participation in government healthcare programs, which could also materially affect our business.
In particular, if we are found to have impermissibly promoted any of our product candidates, we may become subject to significant liability and government fines. We, and any of our collaborators, must comply with requirements concerning advertising and promotion for any of our product candidates for which we or they obtain marketing approval. Promotional communications with respect to therapeutics are subject to a variety of legal and regulatory restrictions and continuing review by the FDA, Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General, state attorneys general, members of Congress, and the public. When the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities issue regulatory approval for a product candidate, the regulatory approval is limited to those specific uses and indications for which a product is approved. If we are not able to obtain FDA approval for desired uses or indications for our products and product candidates, we may not market or promote our products for those indications and uses, referred to as off-label uses, and our business may be adversely affected. We further must be able to sufficiently substantiate any claims that we make for our products including claims comparing our products to other companies’ products and must abide by the FDA’s strict requirements regarding the content of promotion and advertising.
While physicians may choose to prescribe products for uses that are not described in the product’s labeling and for uses that differ from those tested in clinical trials and approved by the regulatory authorities, we are prohibited from marketing and promoting the products for indications and uses that are not specifically approved by the FDA. These off-label uses are common across medical specialties and may constitute an appropriate treatment for some patients in varied circumstances. Regulatory authorities in the U.S. generally do not restrict or regulate the behavior of physicians in their choice of treatment within the practice of medicine. Regulatory authorities do, however, restrict communications by biopharmaceutical companies concerning off-label use.
The FDA and other agencies actively enforce the laws and regulations regarding product promotion, particularly those prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses, and a company that is found to have improperly promoted a product may be subject to significant sanctions. The federal government has levied large civil and criminal fines against companies for alleged improper promotion and has enjoined several companies from engaging in off-label promotion. The FDA has also requested that companies enter into consent decrees of permanent injunctions under which specified promotional conduct is changed or curtailed. Thus, we and any of our collaborators will not be able to promote any products we develop for indications or uses for which they are not approved.
In the U.S., engaging in the impermissible promotion of our products, following approval, for off-label uses can also subject us to false claims and other litigation under federal and state statutes, including fraud and abuse and consumer protection laws, which can lead to civil and criminal penalties and fines, agreements with governmental authorities that materially restrict the manner in which we promote or distribute therapeutic products and do business through, for example, corporate integrity agreements, suspension or exclusion from participation in federal and state healthcare programs, and debarment from government contracts and refusal of future orders under existing contracts. These false claims statutes include the federal civil False Claims Act, which allows any individual to bring a lawsuit against a biopharmaceutical company on behalf of the federal government alleging submission of false or fraudulent claims or causing others to present such false or fraudulent claims, for payment by a federal program such as Medicare or Medicaid. If the government decides to intervene and prevails in the lawsuit, the individual will share in the proceeds from any fines or settlement funds. If the government declines to intervene, the individual may pursue the case alone. These False Claims Act lawsuits against manufacturers of drugs and biologics have increased significantly in volume and breadth, leading to several substantial civil and criminal settlements, up to $3.0 billion, pertaining to certain sales practices and promoting off-label uses. In addition, False Claims Act lawsuits may expose manufacturers to follow-on claims by private payors based on fraudulent marketing practices. This growth in litigation has increased the risk that a biopharmaceutical company will have to defend a false claim action, pay settlement fines or restitution, as well as criminal and civil penalties, agree to comply with burdensome reporting and compliance obligations, and be excluded from Medicare, Medicaid, or other federal and state healthcare programs. If we or our future collaborators do not lawfully promote our approved products, if any, we may become subject to such litigation and, if we do not successfully defend against such actions, those actions may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
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Although an effective compliance program can mitigate the risk of investigation and prosecution for violations of these laws, the risks cannot be entirely eliminated. Moreover, achieving and sustaining compliance with applicable federal and state fraud laws may prove costly. 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.
In the EU, companies may not promote unauthorized products or therapeutic indications. Therefore, it is generally prohibited to disseminate information regarding off-label uses of medicinal products. Exceptionally, companies may provide information on unauthorized products or indications in response to a written unsolicited request by an HCP (i.e., on a reactive basis only), as that is excluded from the definition of advertising under EU law. This should be done through the medical team / Medical Science Liaisons, or MSLs, and not the marketing/sales representatives. Moreover, specific rules may apply in each EU member state as regards the interactions between MSLs and HCPs.
Coverage and reimbursement may be limited or unavailable in certain market segments for our product candidates, which could make it difficult for us to sell our product candidates profitably.*
In both domestic and foreign markets, sales of our product candidates, if approved, depend on the availability of coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party payors. Such third-party payors include government health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, managed care providers, private health insurers, and other organizations. In addition, because our product candidates represent new approaches to the treatment of cancer, we cannot accurately estimate the potential revenue from our product candidates.
Patients who are provided medical treatment for their conditions generally rely on third-party payors to reimburse all or part of the costs associated with their treatment. Obtaining coverage and adequate reimbursement from governmental healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and commercial payors is critical to new product acceptance.
Government authorities and third-party payors decide which drugs and treatments they will cover and the amount of reimbursement. Coverage decisions may depend upon clinical and economic standards that disfavor new drug products when more established or lower cost therapeutic alternatives are already available or subsequently become available. If reimbursement is not available, or is available only to limited levels, our product candidates may be competitively disadvantaged, and we, or our collaborators, may not be able to successfully commercialize our product candidates. Even if coverage is provided, the approved reimbursement amount may not be high enough to allow us, or our collaborators, to establish or maintain a market share sufficient to realize a sufficient return on our or their investments. Alternatively, securing favorable reimbursement terms may require us to compromise pricing and prevent us from realizing an adequate margin over cost. Reimbursement by a third-party payor may depend upon a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the third-party payor’s determination that use of a product is:
Federal and state legislatures and agencies continue to promulgate laws and regulations impacting coverage and reimbursement of drugs and treatments. For example, on September 20, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a final rule titled “Medicaid Program; Misclassification of Drugs, Program Integrity Updates Under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program,” which may impact our reimbursement and rebate strategy.
Obtaining coverage and reimbursement approval of a product from a government or other third-party payor is a time-consuming and costly process that could require us to provide to the payor supporting scientific, clinical and cost-effectiveness data for the use of our products. Even if we obtain coverage for a given product, the resulting reimbursement payment rates might not be adequate for us to achieve or sustain profitability or may require co-payments that patients find unacceptably high. Moreover, the factors noted above have continued to be the focus of policy and regulatory debate that has, thus far, shown the potential for movement towards permanent policy changes; this trend is apt to continue, and may result in more or less favorable impacts on pricing. Patients are unlikely to use our product candidates unless coverage is provided, and reimbursement is adequate to cover a significant portion of the cost of our product candidates.
In the U.S., no uniform policy of coverage and reimbursement for products exists among third-party payors. Therefore, coverage and reimbursement for products can differ significantly from payor to payor. As a result, the coverage determination process
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is often a time-consuming and costly process that will require us to provide scientific and clinical support for the use of our product candidates to each payor separately, with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be obtained. In the EU, each member state is responsible for establishing the price and reimbursement conditions of medicinal products placed in its market.
Prices paid for a drug also vary depending on the class of trade. Prices charged to government customers are subject to price controls, including ceilings, and private institutions obtain discounts through group purchasing organizations. Net prices for drugs may be further reduced by mandatory discounts or rebates required by government healthcare programs and demanded by private payors. It is also not uncommon for market conditions to warrant multiple discounts to different customers on the same unit, such as purchase discounts to institutional care providers and rebates to the health plans that pay them, which reduces the net realization on the original sale.
In addition, federal programs impose penalties on manufacturers of drugs marketed under an NDA or BLA, in the form of mandatory additional rebates and/or discounts if commercial prices increase at a rate greater than the Consumer Price Index-Urban, and these rebates and/or discounts, which can be substantial, may impact our ability to raise commercial prices. Regulatory authorities and third-party payors have attempted to control costs by limiting coverage and the amount of reimbursement for particular medications, which could affect our ability or that of our collaborators to sell our product candidates profitably. These payors may not view our products, if any, as cost-effective, and coverage and reimbursement may not be available to our customers, or those of our collaborators, or may not be sufficient to allow our products, if any, to be marketed on a competitive basis. Cost control initiatives could cause us, or our collaborators, to decrease, discount, or rebate a portion of the price we, or they, might establish for products, which could result in lower than anticipated product revenues. If the realized prices for our products, if any, decrease or if governmental and other third-party payors do not provide adequate coverage or reimbursement, our prospects for revenue and profitability will suffer. Moreover, the recent and ongoing series of congressional hearings relating to drug pricing has presented heightened attention to the biopharmaceutical industry, creating the potential for political and public pressure, while the potential for resulting legislative or policy changes presents uncertainty.
Assuming coverage is approved, the resulting reimbursement payment rates might not be adequate. If payors subject our product candidates to maximum payment amounts or impose limitations that make it difficult to obtain reimbursement, providers may choose to use therapies which are less expensive when compared to our product candidates. Additionally, if payors require high copayments, beneficiaries may decline prescriptions and seek alternative therapies. We may need to conduct post-marketing studies in order to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of any future products to the satisfaction of hospitals and other target customers and their third-party payors. Such studies might require us to commit a significant amount of management time and financial and other resources. Our future products might not ultimately be considered cost-effective. Adequate third-party coverage and reimbursement might not be available to enable us to maintain price levels sufficient to realize an appropriate return on investment in product development.
Third-party payors, whether domestic or foreign, or governmental or commercial, are developing increasingly sophisticated methods of controlling healthcare costs. In addition, third-party payors are requiring higher levels of evidence of the benefits and clinical outcomes of new technologies and are challenging the prices charged. We, and our collaborators, cannot be sure that coverage will be available for any product candidate that we, or they, commercialize and, if available, that the reimbursement rates will be adequate. Further, the net reimbursement for drug products may be subject to additional reductions if there are changes to laws that presently restrict imports of drugs from countries where they may be sold at lower prices than in the U.S. An inability to promptly obtain coverage and adequate payment rates from both government-funded and private payors for any our product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, our ability to raise capital needed to commercialize products, and our overall financial condition.
There have been, and likely will continue to be, legislative and regulatory proposals at the federal and state levels directed at broadening the availability of healthcare and containing or lowering the cost of healthcare. We cannot predict the initiatives that may be adopted in the future. The continuing efforts of the government, insurance companies, managed care organizations and other payors of healthcare services to contain or reduce costs of healthcare and/or impose price controls may adversely affect:
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Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors, which may adversely affect our future profitability. A particular challenge for our product candidates arises from the fact that they will primarily be used in an inpatient setting. Inpatient reimbursement generally relies on stringent packaging rules that may mean that there is no separate payment for our product candidates. Additionally, data used to set the payment rates for inpatient admissions is usually several years old and would not take into account all of the additional therapy costs associated with the administration of our product candidates. If special rules are not created for reimbursement for immunotherapy treatments such as our product candidates, hospitals might not receive enough reimbursement to cover their costs of treatment, which will have a negative effect on their adoption of our product candidates.
We are subject to new legislation, regulatory proposals, and healthcare payor initiatives that may increase our costs of compliance and adversely affect our ability to market our products, obtain collaborators, and raise capital. *
In the U.S. and some foreign jurisdictions, there have been a number of legislative and regulatory changes and proposed changes regarding the healthcare system that could prevent or delay marketing approval of our product candidates, restrict or regulate post-approval activities, and affect our ability, or the ability of our collaborators, to profitably sell any products for which we obtain marketing approval. We expect that current laws, as well as other healthcare reform measures that may be adopted in the future, may result in more rigorous coverage criteria and in additional downward pressure on the price that we, or our collaborators, may receive for any approved products.
In the EU, several pieces of legislation recently approved—or still in the process of being approved—will impact regulatory procedures applicable to medicinal products, including those based on genes, tissues, or cells, or Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products. These include, among others, the new Regulation (EU) 2024/1938 on standards of quality and safety for substances of human origin intended for human application and the new Regulation (EU) 2021/2282 on health technology assessment. Moreover, on April 10, 2024, the European Parliament adopted its position on the European Commission proposal to reform EU pharmaceutical legislation, consisting of a new directive replacing Directive 2001/83/EC and a new regulation replacing Regulation (EC) 726/2004. If approved, this will represent the most significant review of EU pharmaceutical legislation since 2004. The changes proposed are far reaching, including a change in the period of standard regulatory exclusivity, a package of incentives aimed at addressing unmet medical needs, and an extension of the so-called Bolar exemption.
Since enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended, or the ACA, in 2010, in both the U.S. and certain foreign jurisdictions, there have been a number of legislative and regulatory changes to the health care system that could impact our ability to sell our products profitably. In August 2011, the Budget Control Act of 2011, among other things, created measures for spending reductions by Congress. A Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, tasked with recommending a targeted deficit reduction of at least $1.2 trillion for the years 2013 through 2021, was unable to reach required goals, thereby triggering the legislation’s automatic reduction to several government programs. This includes aggregate reductions of Medicare payments to providers up to 2% per fiscal year, which went into effect on April 1, 2013, and were to remain in effect until 2024. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 extended the 2% sequestration to 2025. In January 2013, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, or ATRA, was approved which, among other things, reduced Medicare payments to several providers, with primary focus on the hospital outpatient setting and ancillary services, including hospitals, imaging centers and cancer treatment centers, and increased the statute of limitations period for the government to recover overpayments to providers from three to five years. On January 20, 2017, the Trump administration signed an Executive Order directing federal agencies with authorities and responsibilities under the ACA to waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any provision of the ACA that would impose a fiscal or regulatory burden on states, individuals, healthcare providers, health insurers, or manufacturers of pharmaceuticals or medical devices, and, for that reason, some final regulations have yet to take effect. In December 2017, Congress repealed the individual mandate for health insurance required by the ACA and could consider further legislation to repeal other elements of the ACA. At the end of 2017, CMS promulgated regulations that reduce the amount paid to hospitals for outpatient drugs purchased under the 340B program, and some states have enacted transparency laws requiring manufacturers to report information on drug prices and price increases. In June 2021, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in California v. Texas, upholding the constitutionality of the ACA.
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Moreover, it is unclear how regulations and sub-regulatory policy, which fluctuate continually, may affect interpretation and further implementation of the ACA and its practical effects on our business. We are unable to predict the future course of federal or state healthcare legislation in the United States directed at broadening the availability of healthcare and containing or lowering the cost of healthcare, including drugs and biologics. Any further changes in the law or regulatory framework that reduce our revenue or increase our costs could also have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, there is a great degree of uncertainty regarding how recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, including Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, 603 U.S. ___ (2024) and Corner Post, Inc. v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 603 U.S. ___ (2024), will impact the FDA’s enforcement and decision-making authority. Loper Bright explicitly overturned Chevron deference, which previously gave judicial deference to administrative action by agencies in the executive branch. Furthermore, the Supreme Court’s decision in Corner Post may result in challenges to FDA decisions by new litigants long into the future.
Additional federal and state healthcare reform measures may be adopted in the future that may result in more rigorous coverage criteria, increased regulatory burdens and operating costs, decreased net revenue from our pharmaceutical products, decreased potential returns from our development efforts, and additional downward pressure on the price that we receive for any approved drug. There is also an increasing focus on the price of drugs, both at the state and federal levels, and it is likely that additional pricing controls will be enacted and could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. For instance, states such as California have begun enacting transparency laws aimed at curbing drug price increases and with the change in administration it is possible that President Biden may issue executive orders with the potential to change a number of prior executive branch actions on drug pricing. We continue to monitor the potential impact of proposals and recently enacted legislation to lower prescription drug costs at the federal and state level. For example, the Inflation Reduction Act, or the IRA, was signed into law in August 2022 by President Biden, which makes significant changes to how drugs are covered and paid for under the Medicare program, including the creation of financial penalties for drugs whose prices rise faster than the rate of inflation, redesign of the Medicare Part D program to require manufacturers to bear more of the liability for certain drug benefits, and government price-setting for certain Medicare Part D drugs, starting in 2026, and Medicare Part B drugs starting in 2028. We are evaluating what effect, if any, the IRA may have on our business. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government healthcare programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability or commercialize our products.
Legislative and regulatory proposals may also be made to expand post-approval requirements and restrict sales and promotional activities for drugs. We cannot be sure whether additional legislative changes will be enacted, or whether the FDA regulations, guidance, or interpretations will be changed, or what the impact of such changes on the marketing approvals of our product candidates, if any, may be. In addition, increased scrutiny by Congress of the FDA’s approval process may significantly delay or prevent marketing approval, as well as subject us to more stringent product labeling and post-marketing testing and other requirements.
In addition, there have been a number of other policy, legislative and regulatory proposals aimed at changing the pharmaceutical industry. The U.S. government, state legislatures and foreign governmental entities have shown significant interest in implementing cost containment programs to limit the growth of government-paid healthcare costs, including price controls, restrictions on reimbursement and coverage and requirements for substitution of generic products for branded prescription drugs. Adoption of government controls and measures and tightening of restrictive policies in jurisdictions with existing controls and measures, could exclude or limit our product candidates from coverage and limit payments for pharmaceuticals. We continue to monitor the potential impact of these and other proposals to lower prescription drug costs at the federal and state level.
At the state level, legislatures have increasingly passed legislation and implemented regulations designed to control pharmaceutical and biological product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and, in some cases, designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing.
We are unable to predict the future course of federal or state healthcare legislation in the U.S. directed at broadening the availability of healthcare and containing or lowering the cost of healthcare. The ACA and any further changes in the law or regulatory framework that reduce our revenue or increase our costs could also have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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We are subject to a variety of U.S. and international laws and regulations.*
We are currently subject to a number of government laws and regulations, and, in the future, could become subject to new government laws and regulations. The costs of compliance with such laws and regulations, or the negative results of non-compliance, could adversely affect our business, cash flow, results of operations, financial condition, and prospects; these laws and regulations include (i) additional health care reform initiatives in the U.S. or in other countries, including additional mandatory discounts or fees; (ii) the FCPA or other anti-bribery and corruption laws; (iii) new laws, regulations, and judicial or other governmental decisions affecting pricing, drug reimbursement, and access or marketing within or across jurisdictions; (iv) changes in intellectual property laws; (v) changes in accounting standards; (vi) new and increasing data privacy regulations and enforcement, particularly in the EU, the U.S., and China; (vii) legislative mandates or preferences for local manufacturing of pharmaceutical products; (viii) emerging and new global regulatory requirements for reporting payments and other value transfers to HCPs; (ix) environmental regulations, such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive; and (x) the potential impact of importation restrictions, embargoes, trade sanctions, and legislative and/or other regulatory changes.
Governments outside the U.S. tend to impose strict price controls, which may adversely affect our revenues, if any.
In international markets, reimbursement and health care payment systems vary significantly by country, and many countries have instituted price ceilings on specific products and therapies. In some countries, particularly the countries of the EU and the United Kingdom, the pricing of prescription pharmaceuticals is subject to governmental control. In these countries, pricing negotiations with governmental authorities can take considerable time after the receipt of marketing approval for a product. To obtain coverage and reimbursement or pricing approval in some countries, we may be required to conduct a clinical trial that compares the cost-effectiveness of our product candidate to other available therapies. There can be no assurance that our products will be considered cost-effective by third-party payors, that an adequate level of reimbursement will be available, or that the third-party payors’ reimbursement policies will not adversely affect our ability to sell our products profitably. If reimbursement of our products is unavailable or limited in scope or amount, or if pricing is set at unsatisfactory levels, our business could be harmed, possibly materially.
Our employees, independent contractors, consultants, commercial partners and vendors may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements.
We are exposed to the risk of employee fraud or other illegal activity by our employees, independent contractors, consultants, commercial partners and vendors. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional, reckless and/or negligent conduct that fails to: comply with the laws of the FDA and other similar foreign regulatory bodies, provide true, complete and accurate information to the FDA and other similar foreign regulatory bodies, comply with manufacturing standards we have established, comply with healthcare fraud and abuse laws in the U.S. and similar foreign fraudulent misconduct laws, or report financial information or data accurately or to disclose unauthorized activities to us. If we obtain FDA approval of any of our product candidates and begin commercializing those products in the U.S., our potential exposure under such laws will increase significantly, and our costs associated with compliance with such laws are also likely to increase. These laws may impact, among other things, our current activities with principal investigators and research patients, as well as proposed and future sales, marketing, and education programs. In particular, the promotion, sales and marketing of healthcare items and services, as well as certain business arrangements in the healthcare industry, are subject to extensive laws designed to prevent fraud, kickbacks, self-dealing, and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, structuring and commission(s), certain customer incentive programs and other business arrangements generally. Activities subject to these laws also involve the improper use of information obtained in the course of patient recruitment for clinical trials.
We have adopted a Code of Conduct and Ethics, but it is not always possible to identify and deter employee misconduct, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent inappropriate conduct may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to comply with such laws or regulations. Efforts to ensure that our business arrangements will comply with applicable healthcare laws may involve substantial costs. It is possible that governmental and enforcement authorities will conclude that our, or our employees’, consultants’, collaborators’, contractors’, or vendors’ business practices may not comply with current or future statutes, regulations or case law interpreting applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and 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, including the imposition of civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, disgorgement, monetary fines, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, compliance agreements, withdrawal of product approvals, and curtailment of our operations, among other
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things, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations. In addition, the approval and commercialization of any of our product candidates outside the U.S. will also likely subject us to foreign equivalents of the healthcare laws mentioned above, among other foreign laws.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property
We may be involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents or the patents of our licensors, or lawsuits accusing our products of patent infringement, which could be expensive, time-consuming and unsuccessful.
Competitors may infringe the patents of our licensors. To counter infringement or unauthorized use, we may be required to file infringement claims, which can be expensive and time-consuming. In addition, in an infringement proceeding, a court may decide that one or more of our patents is not valid or is unenforceable or may refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our patents do not cover the technology in question. An adverse result in any litigation or defense proceedings could put one or more of our patents at risk of being invalidated, held unenforceable, or interpreted narrowly and could put our patent applications at risk of not issuing. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation expense and would be a substantial diversion of employee resources from our business. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us, we may be enjoined from manufacturing, use, and marketing our products, or may have to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees for willful infringement, obtain one or more licenses from third parties, pay royalties or redesign our infringing products, which may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure.
Periodic maintenance fees on any issued patent are due to be paid to the USPTO, and foreign patent agencies in several stages over the lifetime of the patent. The USPTO and various foreign governmental patent agencies require compliance with several procedural, documentary, fee payment and other similar provisions during the patent application process. While an inadvertent lapse can in many cases be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules, there are situations in which noncompliance can result in abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. Noncompliance events that could result in abandonment or lapse of a patent or patent application include, but are not limited to, failure to respond to official actions within prescribed time limits, non-payment of fees and failure to properly legalize and submit formal documents. In such an event, our competitors might be able to enter the market, which would have a material adverse effect on our business.
We may incur substantial costs as a result of litigation or other proceedings relating to patent and other intellectual property rights.
The cost to us of any litigation or other proceeding relating to intellectual property rights, even if resolved in our favor, could be substantial. Some of our competitors may be better able to sustain the costs of complex patent litigation because they have substantially greater resources. If there is litigation against us, we may not be able to continue our operations.
Should third parties file patent applications or be issued patents claiming technology also used or claimed by us, we may be required to participate in interference proceedings in the USPTO to determine priority of invention. We may be required to participate in interference proceedings involving our issued patents and pending applications. We may be required to cease using the technology or to license rights from prevailing third parties as a result of an unfavorable outcome in an interference proceeding. A prevailing party in that case may not offer us a license on commercially acceptable terms.
Issued patents covering our product candidates could be found invalid or unenforceable if challenged in court or the USPTO.
If we or one of our licensing partners initiate legal proceedings against a third party to enforce a patent covering one of our product candidates, the defendant could counterclaim that the patent covering our product candidate, as applicable, is invalid and/or unenforceable. In patent litigation in the U.S., defendant counterclaims alleging invalidity and/or unenforceability are commonplace, and there are numerous grounds upon which a third party can assert invalidity or unenforceability of a patent. Third parties may also raise similar claims before administrative bodies in the U.S. or abroad, even outside the context of litigation. Such mechanisms include re-examination, post grant review, and equivalent proceedings in foreign jurisdictions (e.g., opposition proceedings). For example, on November 24, 2021, an opposition proceeding was initiated in the European Patent Office against our European Patent No. 3601533 B1. This opposition proceeding, or any similar proceedings that may arise in the U.S. or foreign jurisdictions, could result in revocation or amendment to our patents in such a way that they no longer cover our product candidates. The outcome following legal assertions of invalidity and unenforceability is unpredictable. With respect to the validity question, for example, we cannot be certain that there is no invalidating prior art, of which we, our patent counsel and the patent examiner were unaware during
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prosecution. If a defendant or third party were to prevail on a legal assertion of invalidity and/or unenforceability, we would lose at least part, and perhaps all, of the patent protection on our product candidates. Such a loss of patent protection could have a material adverse impact on our business.
If we are unable to protect our proprietary rights, we may not be able to compete effectively or operate profitably.
Our success is dependent in part on maintaining and enforcing the patents and other proprietary rights that we have licensed and may develop, and on our ability to avoid infringing the proprietary rights of others. Certain of our intellectual property rights are licensed from another entity, and as such the preparation and prosecution of these patents and patent applications was not performed by us or under our control. Furthermore, patent law relating to the scope of claims in the biotechnology field in which we operate is still evolving and, consequently, patent positions in our industry may not be as strong as in other more well-established fields. The patent positions of biotechnology companies can be highly uncertain and involve complex legal and factual questions for which important legal principles remain unresolved. No consistent policy regarding the breadth of claims allowed in biotechnology patents has emerged to date.
The issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its validity or enforceability and it is uncertain how much protection, if any, will be given to the patents we own or have licensed from the NIH, Moffitt, or MDACC if any of these parties, or we, attempt to enforce the patents and/or if they are challenged in court or in other proceedings, such as oppositions, which may be brought in foreign jurisdictions to challenge the validity of a patent. A third party may challenge the validity or enforceability of a patent after its issuance by the Patent Office. It is possible that a competitor may successfully challenge our patents or that a challenge will result in limiting their coverage. Moreover, the cost of litigation to uphold the validity of patents and to prevent infringement can be substantial. If the outcome of litigation is adverse to us, third parties may be able to use our patented invention without payment to us. Moreover, it is possible that competitors may infringe our patents or successfully avoid the patented technology through design innovation. To stop these activities, we may need to file a lawsuit. These lawsuits are expensive and would consume time and other resources, even if we were successful in stopping the violation of our patent rights. In addition, there is a risk that a court would decide that our patents are not valid and that we do not have the right to stop the other party from using the inventions. There is also the risk that, even if the validity of our patents were upheld, a court would refuse to stop the other party on the grounds that its activities are not covered by, that is, do not infringe, our patents.
Should third parties file patent applications, or be issued patents claiming technology also used or claimed by our licensor(s) or by us in any future patent application, we may be required to participate in interference proceedings in the USPTO to determine priority of invention for those patents or patent applications that are subject to the first-to-invent law in the U.S., or may be required to participate in derivation proceedings in the USPTO for those patents or patent applications that are subject to the first-inventor-to-file law in the U.S. We may be required to participate in such interference or derivation proceedings involving our issued patents and pending applications. We may be required to cease using the technology or to license rights from prevailing third parties as a result of an unfavorable outcome in an interference proceeding or derivation proceeding. A prevailing party in that case may not offer us a license on commercially acceptable terms.
We cannot prevent other companies from licensing most of the same intellectual properties that we have licensed or from otherwise duplicating our business model and operations.
Certain intellectual properties that we are using to develop TIL-based cancer therapy products were licensed to us by the NIH. The issued or pending patents that the NIH licensed to us are exclusive and specific with respect to melanoma, breast, HPV-associated, bladder, and lung cancers. No assurance can be given that the NIH has not previously licensed, or that the NIH hereafter will not license to other biotechnology companies some or all of the non-exclusive technologies available to us under the NIH License Agreement. In addition, one pending U.S. patent application in the NIH License Agreement is not owned solely by the NIH. No assurance can be given that NIH’s co-owner of the certain pending U.S. patent application in the NIH License Agreement has not previously licensed, or that the co-owner thereafter will not license, to other biotechnology companies some or all of the technologies available to us. Co-ownership of these intellectual properties will create issues with respect to our ability to enforce the intellectual property rights in courts and will create issues with respect to the accountability of one entity with respect to the other.
Since the NCI, Moffitt, MDACC, and others already use TIL cell therapy for the treatment of metastatic melanoma and other indications, their methods and data are also available to third parties, who may want to enter into our line of business and compete against us. Other than the Gen 2 manufacturing process, we currently do not own any exclusive rights on our entire product portfolio that could be used to prevent third parties from duplicating our business plan or from otherwise directly competing against us. While additional technologies that may be developed under our CRADA may be licensed to us on an exclusive basis, no assurance can be
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given that our existing exclusive rights will be sufficient to prevent others from competing with us and developing substantially similar products.
The use of our technologies could potentially conflict with the rights of others.
Our potential competitors or others may have or acquire patent rights that they could enforce against us. If they do so, then we may be required to alter our products, pay licensing fees or cease activities. If our products conflict with patent rights of others, third parties could bring legal actions against us or our collaborators, licensees, suppliers or customers, claiming damages and seeking to enjoin manufacturing, use and marketing of the affected products. If these legal actions are successful, in addition to any potential liability for damages (including treble damages and attorneys’ fees for willful infringement), we could be required to obtain a license to continue manufacturing, promoting the use or marketing the affected products. We may not prevail in any legal action and a required license under the patent may not be available on acceptable terms or at all.
We have conducted extensive freedom-to-operate, or FTO, analyses of the patent landscape with respect to our lead product candidates. Although we continue to undertake FTO analyses of our manufacturing processes, our lead TIL products, and contemplated future processes and products, because patent applications do not publish for 18 months, and because the claims of patent applications can change over time, no FTO analysis can be considered exhaustive. Furthermore, patent and other intellectual property rights in biotechnology remains an evolving area with many risks and uncertainties. As such, we may not be able to ensure that we can market our product candidates without conflict with the rights of others.
Changes in U.S. patent law could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our products.
As is the case with other cell therapy and biopharmaceutical companies, our success is dependent on intellectual property, particularly patents. Obtaining and enforcing patents in the biopharmaceutical industry involves both technological and legal complexity, and is therefore costly, time-consuming and inherently uncertain. In addition, the U.S. has recently enacted and is currently implementing wide-ranging patent reform legislation. Recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings have narrowed the scope of patent protection available in certain circumstances and weakened the rights of patent owners in certain situations. In addition to increasing uncertainty with regard to our ability to obtain patents in the future, this combination of events has created uncertainty with respect to the value of patents, once obtained. Depending on decisions by the U.S. Congress, the federal courts, and the USPTO, the laws and regulations governing patents could change in unpredictable ways that would weaken our ability to obtain new patents or to enforce our existing patents and patents that we might obtain in the future. While we do not believe that any of the patents owned or licensed by us will be found invalid based on this decision, we cannot predict how future decisions by the courts, the U.S. Congress or the USPTO may impact the value of our patents.
We have limited foreign intellectual property rights and may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world.
We have limited intellectual property rights outside the U.S. Filing, prosecuting and defending patents on product candidates in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive, and our intellectual property rights in some countries outside the U.S. can be less extensive than those in the U.S. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as federal and state laws in the U.S. Consequently, we may not be able to prevent third parties from practicing our inventions in all countries outside the U.S., or from selling or importing products made using our inventions in and into the U.S. or other jurisdictions. Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop their own products and further, may export otherwise infringing products to territories where we have patent protection, but enforcement is not as strong as that in the U.S. These products may compete with our products and our patents or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from competing.
Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents, trade secrets and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to biopharmaceutical products, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents or marketing of competing products in violation of our proprietary rights generally. Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and our patent applications at risk of not issuing and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate, and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Accordingly, our efforts to
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enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop or license.
We may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information of third parties.
We have received confidential and proprietary information from third parties and our employees and contractors. In addition, we employ individuals who were previously employed at other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies. We may be subject to claims that we or our employees, consultants or independent contractors have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed confidential information of these third parties or our employees’ former employers. Litigation may be necessary to defend against or pursue these claims. For example, we are currently engaged in litigation involving counterclaims that we have brought relating to theft of certain of our trade secrets, breach of confidentiality, and related counterclaims. Even if we are successful in resolving these claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to our management and employees.
Risks Related to Our Securities
Our officers, directors and principal stockholders own a substantial percentage of our stock and will be able to exert significant control over matters subject to stockholder approval.
Our officers, directors, and principal stockholders currently beneficially own a substantial portion of our outstanding voting stock. Therefore, these stockholders have the ability and may continue to have the ability to influence our corporate decision making. Given current ownership levels, these stockholders may be able to determine some or all matters requiring stockholder approval. For example, these stockholders, acting together, may be able to control or influence elections of directors, amendments to our certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or approval of any merger, sale of assets, or other major corporate transaction. This level of control may prevent or discourage unsolicited acquisition proposals or offers for our common stock that you may believe are in your best interest as one of our stockholders.
Our stock price may be volatile, and our stockholders’ investment in our stock could decline in value.
The market price of our common stock is likely to be volatile and could fluctuate widely in response to many factors, including but not limited to:
● | volatility and instability in the capital markets due to the COVID-19 pandemic; |
● | announcements of the results of clinical trials by us, our collaborators, or our competitors, or negative developments with respect to similar products, including those being developed by our collaborators; |
● | developments with respect to patents or proprietary rights; |
● | announcements of technological innovations by us or our competitors; |
● | announcements of new products or new contracts by us or our competitors; |
● | actual or anticipated variations in our operating results due to the level of development expenses and other factors; |
● | changes in financial estimates by equities research analysts and whether our earnings meet or exceed such estimates; |
● | conditions and trends in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and other industries; |
● | receipt, or lack of receipt, of funding in support of conducing our business; |
● | regulatory developments within, and outside of, the U.S.; |
● | litigation or arbitration; |
● | general volatility in the financial markets; |
● | general economic, political and market conditions and other factors; and |
● | the occurrence of any of the risks described in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. |
You may experience future dilution as a result of future equity offerings or other equity issuances.
We may have to raise additional capital in the future. To raise additional capital, we may in the future offer additional shares of our common stock or other securities convertible into or exchangeable for our common stock at prices that may be lower than the current price per share of our common stock. In addition, investors purchasing shares or other securities in the future could have rights superior to existing stockholders. The price per share at which we sell additional shares of our common stock, or securities convertible
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or exchangeable into common stock, in future transactions may be higher or lower than the price per share paid by investors in prior offerings. Any such issuance could result in substantial dilution to our existing stockholders.
Future sales of our common stock in the public market could cause our stock price to fall.
Our stock price could decline as a result of sales of a large number of shares of our common stock or the perception that these sales could occur. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, also might make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate.
As of September 30, 2024, we had 304,620,470 shares of common stock outstanding. In addition, we had 31,957,803 shares of common stock equivalents that would increase the number of common stock outstanding if these instruments were exercised or converted to purchase common stock based on vesting requirements of stock options and common stock issuable through purchases of employee stock purchase plan, or upon the conversion of preferred stock. The issuance and subsequent sale of the shares underlying these common stock equivalents could depress the trading price of our common stock. On June 10, 2019, our certificate of incorporation was amended to increase the number of authorized shares of our common stock, from 150,000,000 shares to 300,000,000 shares, which was approved by our stockholders on that date. On June 16, 2023, our certificate of incorporation was amended to increase the number of authorized shares of our common stock from 300,000,000 to 500,000,000 shares, which amendment was approved by our stockholders on June 6, 2023.
In addition, in the future, we may issue additional shares of common stock or other equity or debt securities convertible into common stock in connection with a financing, acquisition, litigation settlement, employee arrangements or otherwise. For example, in February 2024, we issued 23,014,000 shares of common stock in connection with an underwritten public offering, and we may offer additional shares under our automatic shelf registration statement in the future. Future issuances may result in substantial dilution to our existing stockholders and could cause our stock price to decline.
If equities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our company, or if they issue adverse or misleading opinions regarding us or our stock, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
Although we have research coverage by equities analysts, if coverage is not maintained, the market price for our stock may be adversely affected. Our stock price also may decline if any analyst who covers us issues an adverse or erroneous opinion regarding us, our business model, our intellectual property or our stock performance, or if our clinical trials and operating results fail to meet analysts’ expectations. If one or more analysts cease coverage of us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline and possibly adversely affect our ability to engage in future financings.
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. As a result, we could become subject to sanctions or investigations by regulatory authorities and/or stockholder litigation, which could harm our business and have an adverse effect on our stock price.
As a public reporting company, we are subject to various regulatory requirements, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which requires our management to assess and report on our internal controls over financial reporting. Nevertheless, in future years, our testing, or the subsequent testing by our independent registered public accounting firm, may reveal deficiencies in our internal controls that we would be required to remediate in a timely manner to be able to comply with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act each year. If we are not able to comply with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act each year, we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the SEC, Nasdaq or other regulatory authorities which would require additional financial and management resources and could adversely affect the market price of our common stock. In addition, material weaknesses in our internal controls could result in a loss of investor confidence in our financial reports.
We are, and in the future may be, subject to federal or state securities or related legal actions that could adversely affect our results of operations and our business.
Federal and state securities and related legal actions may result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention from other business concerns, which could seriously harm our business or affect our reputation. We may not be successful in defending future claims and cannot provide assurance that insurance proceeds will be sufficient to cover any costs or liability under such claims.
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For example, on December 11, 2020, a purported stockholder derivative complaint was filed by plaintiff Leo Shumacher against us, as nominal defendant, and then current directors, as defendants, in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware, or the Court. The complaint alleges breach of fiduciary duty and a claim for unjust enrichment in connection with alleged excessive compensation of certain of our non-executive directors and seeks unspecified damages on behalf of our company. The parties have agreed to a proposed settlement, which was submitted to the Court on June 15, 2022. The parties continue to work toward settlement after a hearing on November 17, 2022, where the Court required additional steps to be taken by the parties before it will determine whether final approval will be given to the settlement. The outcome of this and other future litigation is uncertain.
Our Board of Directors could issue one or more additional series of preferred stock without stockholder approval with the effect of diluting existing stockholders and impairing their voting and other rights.
Our certificate of incorporation, as amended, authorizes the issuance of up to 50,000,000 shares of “blank check” preferred stock (of which only 17,000 shares were issued as Series A Convertible Preferred Stock and 11,500,000 shares were issued as Series B Convertible Preferred Stock) with designations, rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by our Board of Directors. Our Board of Directors is empowered, without stockholder approval, to issue one or more series of preferred stock with dividend, liquidation, conversion, voting or other rights which could dilute the interest of, or impair the voting power of, our common stockholders. The issuance of a series of preferred stock could be used as a method of discouraging, delaying or preventing a change in control. For example, it would be possible for our Board of Directors to issue preferred stock with voting or other rights or preferences that could impede the success of any attempt to effect a change in control of our company.
We do not anticipate paying cash dividends for the foreseeable future, and therefore investors should not buy our stock if they wish to receive cash dividends.
We have never declared or paid any cash dividends or distributions on our common stock. We currently intend to retain our future earnings to support operations and to finance expansion and, therefore, we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future.
Provisions in our corporate charter documents and under Delaware law may prevent or frustrate attempts by our stockholders to change our management and hinder efforts to acquire a controlling interest in us, and the market price of our common stock may be lower as a result.
There are provisions in our certificate of incorporation, as amended, and amended and restated bylaws that may make it difficult for a third party to acquire, or attempt to acquire, control of our company, even if a change in control was considered favorable by you and other stockholders. For example, our Board of Directors has the authority to issue up to 38,483,000 additional shares of preferred stock and to fix the price, rights, preferences, privileges, and restrictions of the preferred stock without any further vote or action by our stockholders. The issuance of shares of preferred stock may delay or prevent a change in control transaction. As a result, the market price of our common stock and the voting and other rights of our stockholders may be adversely affected. An issuance of shares of preferred stock may result in the loss of voting control to other stockholders.
In addition, we are subject to the anti-takeover provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which regulates corporate acquisitions by prohibiting Delaware corporations from engaging in specified business combinations with particular stockholders of those companies. These provisions could discourage potential acquisition proposals and could delay or prevent a change in control transaction. They could also have the effect of discouraging others from making tender offers for our common stock, including transactions that may be in your best interests. These provisions may also prevent changes in our management or limit the price that investors are willing to pay for our stock.
Our certificate of incorporation, as amended, designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.
Our certificate of incorporation, as amended, provides that, subject to limited exceptions, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for (1) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (2) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers, employees or agents to us or our stockholders, creditors or other constituents, (3) any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our certificate of incorporation, as amended, or our amended and restated bylaws, or (4) any other action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Any person or entity
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purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the provisions of our certificate of incorporation described above. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers, and employees. Further, this choice of forum provision does not preclude or contract the scope of exclusive federal or concurrent jurisdiction for any actions brought under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction.
In addition, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or any other claim for which the federal and state courts have concurrent jurisdiction. Accordingly, our exclusive forum provision will not relieve us of our duties to comply with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder, and our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with these laws, rules and regulations.
If a court were to find these provisions of our certificate of incorporation, as amended inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.
Provisions in our amended and restated bylaws could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.
Our amended and restated bylaws provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the U.S. shall be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action under the Securities Act. This provision limits the ability of our shareholders to bring claims under the Securities Act in any court other than the U.S. federal courts, which ultimately may disadvantage our shareholders or be cost prohibitive. Notwithstanding the foregoing, there is uncertainty as to whether a court (other than those states which have upheld the validity of such a provision) would enforce such a provision and whether investors can waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Furthermore, the exclusive forum provision only applies to claims brought under the Securities Act and does not apply to actions arising under the Exchange Act, which is already subject to federal courts as the exclusive forum.
If a court were to find these provisions of our amended and restated bylaws inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.
Item 2.Unregistered Sales of Securities, Use of Proceeds, and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Nothing to report.
Item 3. | Defaults Upon Senior Securities. |
Nothing to report.
Item 4. | Mine Safety Disclosures |
Nothing to report.
Item 5. | Other Information. |
During the third quarter of 2024,
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defined in Item 408(c) of Regulation S-K) for the purchase or sale of securities of the Company, whether or not intended to satisfy the affirmative defense conditions of Rule 10b5-1(c) of the Exchange Act.
During the third quarter of 2024, the Company did not adopt or terminate a Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement (as defined in Item 408(a)(1)(i) of Regulation S-K) for the purchase or sale of securities of the Company, whether or not intended to satisfy the affirmative defense conditions of Rule 10b5-1(c) of the Exchange Act.
Item 6.Exhibits
EXHIBIT INDEX
Exhibit |
| Description |
3.1 | ||
3.2 | ||
31.1++ | Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certification of Chief Executive Officer. | |
31.2++ |
| Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certification of Chief Financial Officer. |
32.1++ |
| Section 1350 Certification of Chief Executive Officer (furnished herewith). |
32.2++ |
| Section 1350 Certification of Chief Financial Officer (furnished herewith). |
101.INS++ | Inline XBRL Instance Document (the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document). | |
101.SCH++ | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Schema Linkbase Document. | |
101.CAL++ | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Calculation Linkbase Document. | |
101.DEF++ | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Definition Linkbase Document. | |
101.LAB++ | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Labels Linkbase Document. | |
101.PRE++ | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Presentation Linkbase Document. | |
104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File (the cover page interactive date file does not appear in the Interactive Date File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document). |
++ # | Filed herewith (unless otherwise noted as being furnished herewith). Indicates a management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement. |
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
| Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. | |
|
|
|
November 7, 2024 | By: | /s/ Frederick G. Vogt, Ph.D., J.D. |
|
| Frederick G. Vogt, Ph.D., J.D. |
|
| Interim Chief Executive Officer and President, and General Counsel (Principal Executive Officer) |
|
|
|
November 7, 2024 | By: | /s/ Jean-Marc Bellemin |
|
| Jean-Marc Bellemin |
|
| Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
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