Attached files
file | filename |
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EX-31.2 - EX-31.2 - MELINTA THERAPEUTICS, INC. /NEW/ | cemp-ex312_12.htm |
EX-32.2 - EX-32.2 - MELINTA THERAPEUTICS, INC. /NEW/ | cemp-ex322_7.htm |
EX-32.1 - EX-32.1 - MELINTA THERAPEUTICS, INC. /NEW/ | cemp-ex321_11.htm |
EX-31.1 - EX-31.1 - MELINTA THERAPEUTICS, INC. /NEW/ | cemp-ex311_9.htm |
EX-23.1 - EX-23.1 - MELINTA THERAPEUTICS, INC. /NEW/ | cemp-ex231_10.htm |
EX-10.40 - EX-10.40 - MELINTA THERAPEUTICS, INC. /NEW/ | cemp-ex1040_304.htm |
EX-10.39 - EX-10.39 - MELINTA THERAPEUTICS, INC. /NEW/ | cemp-ex1039_305.htm |
EX-10.38 - EX-10.38 - MELINTA THERAPEUTICS, INC. /NEW/ | cemp-ex1038_303.htm |
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, DC 20549
FORM 10-K
☒ |
ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016
☐ |
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the Transition Period from to
Commission File Number: 001-35405
CEMPRA, INC.
(Exact name of registrant specified in its charter)
Delaware |
2834 |
45-4440364 |
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) |
(Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
6320 Quadrangle Drive, Suite 360
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)
(919) 313-6601
(Telephone Number, Including Area Code)
Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act:
Title of Each Class
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Name of Exchange on which Registered
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Common Stock, $0.001 Par Value |
Nasdaq Global Market |
Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
Large accelerated filer |
☒ |
Accelerated filer |
☐ |
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Non-accelerated filer |
☐ (Do not check if a smaller reporting company) |
Smaller reporting company |
☐ |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, as of June 30, 2016, was approximately $655.8 million. Such aggregate market value was computed by reference to the closing price of the common stock as reported on the Nasdaq Global Market on June 30, 2016. For purposes of making this calculation only, the registrant has defined affiliates as including only directors and executive officers and shareholders holding greater than 10% of the voting stock of the registrant as of June 30, 2016.
As of February 24, 2017 there were 52,392,905 shares of the registrant’s common stock, $0.001 par value, outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Certain portions of the registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement for its 2016 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated herein by reference, as indicated in Part III.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Item 1. |
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Item 1A. |
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Item 1B. |
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Item 2. |
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Item 3. |
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Item 7. |
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Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation |
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Item 7A. |
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Item 8. |
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Item 9. |
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Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure |
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Item 9B. |
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Item 11. |
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Item 12. |
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Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters |
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Item 13. |
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Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence |
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Item 14. |
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Item 15. |
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F-1 |
i
This report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including those set forth under “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Statement” included in “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and elsewhere in this report, that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or anticipated results.
Summary
We are a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on developing differentiated anti-infectives for the acute care and community settings to meet critical medical needs in the treatment of infectious diseases. Our lead product, solithromycin, is being developed in oral capsules, intravenous, or IV, and suspension formulations, for the treatment of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia, or CABP, one of the most serious infections of the respiratory tract in adults and children, as well as for ophthalmic infections and other indications. We have applications under review for the IV and oral capsule formulations of solithromycin to treat CABP in adults, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, and the European Medicines Agency, or EMA. In December 2016 we received a Complete Response Letter, or CRL, related to our New Drug Applications, or NDAs, for oral and IV solithromycin seeking additional clinical and manufacturing data prior to potential approval.
Despite many available antibiotics and the significant size of the market for antibiotics for CABP and other infections, we believe this market has critical unmet needs. The effectiveness of many antibiotics has declined worldwide due to increased bacterial resistance to currently available antibiotics. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, macrolide resistance to Streptococcus pneumoniae, the pathogen that most frequently causes CABP, now averages 49% across the United States. These macrolide resistance rates exceed 90% in parts of Asia. According to the CDC, pneumonia is the most frequent cause of death from an infection in the United States.
We believe that solithromycin could be an effective antibiotic for CABP that addresses the current challenges posed by macrolide resistance.
Our second product, fusidic acid, is an antibiotic that has been used for decades outside the U.S., including in Western Europe, but has never been approved in the U.S. We have recently completed a successful Phase 3 study evaluating fusidic acid as an oral treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections, or ABSSSI, which are frequently caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. We are exploring fusidic acid for the long-term oral treatment of refractory bone and joint infections, or BJI, including prosthetic joint infections, or PJI, caused by staphylococci, including S. aureus and MRSA. Currently, there is no optimal oral, chronic antibiotic for treating these infections.
Overview of Solithromycin
Solithromycin is a potent new fourth generation macrolide, the first fluoroketolide. We believe solithromycin is differentiated from other antibiotics because of its broad therapeutic potential and activity targeting pathogenic bacteria. Broad therapeutic potential means a drug that can be used in the treatment of several disease indications, such as bacterial pneumonia, cystic fibrosis, other respiratory tract infections, infections in children, gonorrhea, Helicobacter gastritis, eye infections, infections in pregnancy, and others. Targeting the bacteria responsible for CABP and other respiratory infections without causing major effects on the anaerobic gram-negative intestinal microflora is a benefit of the macrolide class.
We believe solithromycin’s potency comes from its unique chemical structure, which we believe provides greater ability to fight resistant bacteria. Increasingly, resistance is a major threat to the efficacy of currently available antibiotics, including currently approved macrolides. In our clinical and preclinical trials, incidence of resistance to CABP pathogens was rare, with no resistance seen to S. pneumoniae, the pathogen that most frequently causes CABP.
Our preclinical studies demonstrate that solithromycin has excellent organ and tissue distribution and intracellular activity, which allows it to reach bacteria at body sites that other antibiotics may not. Solithromycin is active against most CABP pathogens, including pneumococcal strains resistant to other macrolides. Our proposed treatment for CABP is a five to seven-day treatment regimen designed to maximize efficacy against CABP while minimizing toxicities, including well-described liver effects seen with other macrolides and solithromycin, and to support antibiotic stewardship measures by enabling the effective treatment of CABP with a single therapy. Solithromycin offers flexibility of dosing, whether IV, oral capsule, or oral suspension which we believe will be
1
attractive to both physicians and patients. These attributes of solithromycin make it a possible treatment for all age groups, including children.
Treatment guidelines from the Infectious Disease Society of America, or IDSA, recommend that outpatient CABP be treated with a macrolide, such as azithromycin, or with a fluoroquinolone, such as levofloxacin, or with the combination of a beta-lactam antibiotic, such as amoxicillin with a macrolide antibiotic. Macrolides are frequently used as first-line therapy as they target respiratory pathogens, reach high concentrations in the lung and in macrophages at the site of infection, and have anti-inflammatory properties that contribute to the patient’s recovery. However, in the last decade, CABP treatment failure due to pneumococcal macrolide resistance has led to more frequent use of fluoroquinolones, which have recognized serious side effects. Despite these side effects with fluoroquinolones, the need to treat CABP patients with an antibiotic that does not have resistance has driven increased use of levofloxacin (a fluoroquinolone).
There has not been a new IV and oral antibiotic approved in the U.S. to treat CABP in outpatients since 1999. Many of the antibiotics currently used to treat serious infections are difficult or inconvenient to administer, often requiring hospitalization for IV treatment. Many currently available IV antibiotics that are the standard of care have no oral formulations to allow discharge from the hospital on the same medication, forcing patients to switch to less favorable alternatives, and often another class of antibiotics, which can further promote the development of antibiotic resistance. Additionally, currently used cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones have broad spectrum activity, and eliminate essential intestinal microflora, which can result in serious consequences, such as C. difficile enterocolitis. In order to improve stewardship of antibiotics, and to provide more appropriate care for CABP patients that better aligns with IDSA treatment guidelines, we believe a new macrolide is needed.
Solithromycin Regulatory Status
In the second quarter of 2016, we submitted NDAs to the FDA seeking the approval of oral and IV solithromycin in adults for the treatment of CABP. The NDAs contained chemistry, manufacturing and controls, or CMC, information, and data from our preclinical and clinical development program, including data from two Phase 3 trials of solithromycin. The solithromycin development program was structured based on feedback and direct dialogue with the FDA and guidance published by the FDA. Because the FDA had designated each of oral and intravenous solithromycin as a Qualified Infectious Disease Product, or QIDP, for the indication of CABP, our solithromycin NDAs received a priority review in eight months.
In November 2016, a majority of the FDA’s Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee, or AMDAC, voted (7-6) that efficacy results of solithromycin outweighed the risks for the treatment of CABP. Members of AMDAC voted unanimously (13-0) that there was substantial evidence of the efficacy of solithromycin for CABP. The AMDAC also voted (12-1) that the risk of hepatotoxicity with solithromycin had not been adequately characterized and discussed a variety of potential approaches to further characterize the existing liver safety information on solithromycin.
In December 2016, we received a CRL from the FDA on our NDAs. The CRL stated that the FDA could not approve the NDAs in their present form and noted that additional clinical safety information and the satisfactory resolution of manufacturing facility inspection deficiencies were required before the NDAs may be approved. The FDA noted the size of the safety database is limited to 920 patients who received solithromycin at the proposed dose and duration, and is too small to adequately characterize the nature and frequency of serious hepatic adverse effects. To address this deficiency, the FDA recommended a comparative study to evaluate the safety of solithromycin in patients with CABP. Specifically, the CRL recommended that we consider a study of approximately 9,000 patients exposed to solithromycin to enable exclusion of serious drug induced liver injury, or DILI, events occurring at a rate of approximately 1:3000 with a 95 percent probability. The CRL noted that while the FDA reserves comment on the proposed labeling until the NDAs are otherwise adequate, even in the absence of a case of Hy’s Law or of another form of serious DILI in future studies, labeling will need to include adequate information about the potential for hepatotoxicity, limiting use to patients who have limited therapeutic options and limitations regarding duration of therapy. A comprehensive plan for post-marketing safety assessment including an enhanced pharmacovigilance program would also be required. The FDA did not request any further information on solithromycin efficacy for CABP in the CRL.
In late February, we requested, and attended, a meeting with the FDA to discuss the issues identified in the CRL, including potential approaches to address the FDA’s request for additional clinical safety information, and the steps necessary to resolve the manufacturing facility inspection deficiencies noted in the CRL. At the meeting, the FDA reiterated their request for additional safety data prior to approval. Based on input from the FDA at the meeting, we are developing a protocol that will propose including fewer than 9,000 patients at the time we respond to the CRL, and will propose to deliver data from defined cohorts as the study progresses. We plan to discuss the protocol with the FDA to determine if it could support an initial approval in a limited group of patients with an urgent unmet need, while we continue to accumulate a larger post-approval safety database to support potential label expansions into broader CABP populations. If we and FDA agree on a protocol, we plan to seek non-dilutive funding to support the execution of the study.
2
In the second quarter of 2016, we completed our submission of a Marketing Authorization Application, or MAA, for IV and oral solithromycin to the EMA for the treatment of CABP. The EMA validated the MAA and began their formal review in the third quarter of 2016. In the fourth quarter of 2016, we received day 120 questions from the EMA and we are preparing responses to them. The EMA has suggested a post-approval clinical safety study, or PASS, in the EU and, we believe the EMA will request additional data prior to approval. We are currently assessing the path forward with the EMA that we believe would be most likely to achieve a positive benefit/risk assessment from them.
Solithromycin for CABP in Adults
We have completed two pivotal Phase 3 trials for solithromycin to treat CABP in adults, which were designed based on FDA guidance documents and comments from the FDA. We conducted the SOLITAIRE-ORAL trial to evaluate the treatment of CABP in adults with oral solithromycin and the SOLITAIRE-IV trial to evaluate the treatment of CABP in adults with IV solithromycin progressing to oral solithromycin. Both trials were randomized, double-blinded studies comparing solithromycin to a respiratory fluoroquinolone, moxifloxacin, and both studies demonstrated non-inferiority, or NI, for efficacy which means solithromycin was no worse than the comparator drug within a pre-defined statistical margin.
SOLITAIRE-ORAL was an active-controlled, global, multi-center trial that enrolled 860 adult patients with moderate to moderately severe CABP (pneumonia of PORT Class II, III and IV severity classification). Enrollment of PORT Class II pneumonia patients was limited to 50% of the study population. Patients were randomized to receive either oral solithromycin, as an 800 mg loading dose followed by 400 mg, once daily for a total of five days, while oral moxifloxacin was dosed at 400 mg once daily for seven days. The primary objective was demonstration of NI of early clinical response, or ECR, at 72 (-12/+36) hours, as specified by FDA guidance, defined as having improvement in at least two of the following four symptoms (without worsening of any); cough, shortness of breath, chest pain and sputum production in the ITT population. The study was designed to provide 90% power to demonstrate NI in ECR rate for solithromycin versus moxifloxacin utilizing a 10% NI margin. Secondary endpoints included the clinical success rate at the short term follow up visit 5 to 10 days following the last dose of study drug in the ITT and CE populations, the microbial ITT population, and a comparison of safety and tolerability of solithromycin compared to moxifloxacin.
As noted in the table below, in SOLITAIRE-ORAL, solithromycin met the primary objective of statistical NI (10% non-inferiority margin) of the ECR at 72 (-12/+36) hours after initiation of therapy compared to moxifloxacin in the ITT population. Solithromycin also met the secondary objectives of NI in clinical success at the short term follow up, or SFU, visit, 5-10 days after the end of therapy, both in the ITT and CE populations.
SOLITAIRE-ORAL Phase 3 Trial |
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Early Clinical Response in ITT Populations (& Subgroups) |
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Solithromycin |
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Moxifloxacin |
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Population |
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Success Rate % |
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Success Rate % |
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Difference |
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95% CI |
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ECR-ITT |
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78.2 |
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77.9 |
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0.29 |
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(-5.5, 6.1) |
ECR-PORT I/II |
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80.5 |
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80.7 |
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-0.24 |
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(-8.2, 7.7) |
ECR-PORT III/IV |
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75.9 |
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74.9 |
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1.04 |
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(-7.6, 9.7) |
3
In SOLITAIRE-ORAL, serious adverse events, or SAEs, occurred with equal frequency in both arms (<7% of patients) and no SAEs were considered study drug related. No patient in either arm of the study had treatment-emergent concomitant ALT and bilirubin elevation meeting Hy’s Law criteria. Overall, rates of AEs were comparable across treatment arms, while rates of Grade 3 ALT elevation (but not Grade 4 ALT) were higher in the solithromycin arm.
SOLITAIRE-ORAL Phase 3 Trial |
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Adverse Events |
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Solithromycin |
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Moxifloxacin |
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800/400 mg QD |
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400mg QD |
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(n=424) |
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(n=432) |
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Headache |
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4.5% |
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2.5% |
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Diarrhea* |
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4.2% |
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6.5% |
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Nausea |
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3.5% |
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3.9% |
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Emesis |
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2.4% |
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2.3% |
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Dizziness |
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2.1% |
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1.6% |
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ALTs**- Grade 3 |
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4.6% |
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2.1% |
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Grade 4 |
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0.5% |
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1.2% |
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* Not included in the diarrhea definition are 2 patients with C. difficile associated diarrhea, both of whom received moxifloxacin |
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** No patient in either arm of the study developed treatment emergent elevation of both ALT and bilirubin as defined by Hy's Law criteria. Observed ALT elevations reversible and asymptomatic. |
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SOLITAIRE-IV was an active-controlled, global, multi-center trial that enrolled 863 patients with moderate to moderately severe CABP (pneumonia of PORT Class II, III and IV severity classification). Enrollment of PORT Class II pneumonia patients was limited to 25% of the study population and 25% of the population were PORT IV patients. Patients were randomized to receive either intravenous solithromycin or moxifloxacin at a daily dose of 400 mg once each day for seven days with the ability for the physician to switch to oral solithromycin or oral moxifloxacin, at their discretion once pre-defined switch criteria were met, to complete the seven-day course of therapy. When switching to oral solithromycin, the first day of the switch was a loading dose of 800 mg followed by a 400 mg dose once a day for the remainder of the seven-day course. Patients randomized to moxifloxacin could be switched to 400 mg oral moxifloxacin once a day for the remainder of the seven-day course of treatment.
The primary objective was demonstration of NI of ECR at 72 (-12/+36) hours, as specified by FDA guidance, defined as having improvement in at least two of the following four symptoms (without worsening of any) in ITT population: cough, shortness of breath, chest pain and sputum production. The study was designed to provide 90% power to demonstrate NI in ECR rate for solithromycin versus moxifloxacin utilizing a 10% NI margin. Secondary endpoints included the clinical success rate at the SFU visit five to 10 days following the last dose of study drug in the ITT and CE populations, and a comparison of safety and tolerability of solithromycin compared to moxifloxacin. The pooled mITT population from both the oral and IV trials was also a co-primary endpoint for the oral Phase 3 trial and a secondary endpoint for the IV Phase 3 trial.
As noted in the table below, in SOLITAIRE-IV, solithromycin met all pre-defined endpoints for the FDA. In the ITT population (all randomized patients), solithromycin met the FDA primary objective of statistical NI (10% non-inferiority margin) compared to moxifloxacin at ECR at 72 [-12/+36] hours after initiation of therapy.
SOLITAIRE-IV Phase 3 Trial |
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Early Clinical Response in ITT Populations |
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Solithromycin |
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Moxifloxacin |
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Population |
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Success Rate % |
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Success Rate % |
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Difference |
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95% CI |
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ECR-ITT Population |
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79.3 |
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79.7 |
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-0.46 |
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(-6.1, 5.2) |
ECR-mITT Pooled P3 Studies (Co-1 objective) |
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77.2 |
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78.9 |
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-1.70 |
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(-7.4, 4.2) |
ECR-mITT* (2° objective) |
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80.3 |
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79.1 |
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1.26 |
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(-8.1, 10.6) |
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* mITT: microbiological ITT population, comprised of those patients in ITT population, in whom a pathogen was identified |
4
Additional secondary endpoints evaluated solithromycin at SFU five to 10 days after therapy in both the ITT and CE populations. The primary endpoint for the EMA was NI in the ITT-SFU and the CE-SFU populations limited to patients with PORT III/IV CABP at the SFU time point assessment of clinical success.
Clinical success rates as determined by investigators at the SFU visit were high for both the solithromycin and moxifloxacin groups in the ITT population. Clinical success rates were also high in the CE-SFU population for both the solithromycin and moxifloxacin groups, however, this CE outcome was skewed in favor of moxifloxacin by a blinded drug distribution delay which led to discontinuation of study drug, not related to safety or efficacy, in solithromycin patients only. Censoring these five patients, all of which fell on the solithromycin side, results in point estimates for CE population success at the SFU visit for solithromycin patients.
A total of 30 (6.9%) patients in the solithromycin group and 23 (5.4%) patients in the moxifloxacin group reported an SAE. Most of the SAEs were attributable to underlying respiratory or cardiovascular disease. Only three SAEs (two solithromycin, one moxifloxacin) were considered study drug related, all of which were allergic reactions and occurred during the first IV dose. One solithromycin patient met Hy’s Law criteria at baseline prior to exposure to solithromycin, but improved over the seven-day course of treatment. There were no concomitant ALT and bilirubin increases related to solithromycin administration and therefore no patient met Hy’s Law criteria post-baseline. Overall rates of non-infusion related adverse events were comparable between study arms.
SOLITAIRE-IV Phase 3 Trial |
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Safety Outcomes |
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Solithromycin |
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Moxifloxacin |
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(n=432) |
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(n=426) |
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Infusion-related AEs |
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31.3% |
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5.4% |
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Study discontinuation due to infusion-related events |
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10 |
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1 |
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Non-infusion related AEs leading to study drug discontinuation |
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3.5% |
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3.8% |
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SOLITAIRE-IV Phase 3 Trial |
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Non-infusion-related Adverse Events (>2%) |
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Solithromycin |
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Moxifloxacin |
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400 mg QD (800 mg first oral dosing day) |
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400mg QD |
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(n=432) |
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(n=426) |
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Diarrhea* |
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4.4% |
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5.9% |
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Headache |
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3.5% |
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4.2% |
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Nausea |
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3.2% |
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1.6% |
|
|
|
|
|
Hypokalemia |
|
|
2.5% |
|
|
|
2.1% |
|
|
|
|
|
Dizziness |
|
|
2.5% |
|
|
|
1.2% |
|
|
|
|
|
Insomnia |
|
|
2.1% |
|
|
|
1.2% |
|
|
|
|
|
Hypertension |
|
|
1.4% |
|
|
|
2.3% |
|
|
|
|
|
ALTs**- Grade 3 |
|
|
8.2% |
|
|
|
3.4% |
|
|
|
|
|
Grade 4 |
|
|
0.7% |
|
|
|
0.5% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* Not included in the diarrhea definition is 1 patient with C. difficile associated diarrhea, who received moxifloxacin (2 patients on moxifloxacin in the Oral study also had C. difficile colitis) |
||||||||||||
** No patient in either arm of the study developed treatment emergent elevation of both ALT and bilirubin as defined by Hy's Law criteria. Observed ALT elevations reversible and asymptomatic. |
|
Data from preclinical, Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies of solithromycin to treat CABP are available in annual reports from prior years. |
Solithromycin for Gonorrhea
The second indication we are pursuing for solithromycin is uncomplicated urethritis, or gonorrhea. Given the high prevalence of gonorrhea in the United States and increasing resistance of the pathogen to recommended antibiotics, the FDA has designated oral solithromycin as a QIDP for the treatment of uncomplicated gonococcal infections. The current standard of treatment for bacterial urethritis/gonorrhea is combination therapy including both an intramuscular injection of ceftriaxone and oral azithromycin (1000 mg). There is no oral formulation of ceftriaxone and gonococcal resistance to azithromycin is now too high to allow it to be used in
5
monotherapy for the oral treatment of gonorrhea. Oral cefixime (Suprax) had been recommended as an alternative for treatment of patients as well as for treatment of their potentially infected partners. However, as of August 2012, the CDC, no longer recommends cefixime for the treatment of gonorrhea, which leaves no oral treatment option.
In our Phase 2 open-label study with solithromycin completed in 2013 in men and women with suspected gonococcal infection, microbiological eradication of gonococci was achieved in 100% of all evaluable patients at all body sites.
We have analyzed the data from the initial patient cohort of 262 patients in SOLITAIRE-U, a phase 3 study evaluating a single 1000 mg dose of oral solithromycin for treatment of uncomplicated genitourinary gonorrhea, or GC, with or without concomitant chlamydia infection, compared with intramuscular ceftriaxone (500 mg) plus oral azithromycin, or CTX/AZI, (1000 mg). While solithromycin demonstrated high success rates of 80.5% in the microbiological intent to treat, or mITT, population (defined as achievement of a negative urethral or cervical swab culture at Day seven to eight among those patients who had culture confirmation of GC infection at baseline) and 91.3% in the microbiologically evaluable, or ME, population (comprised of those patients with a positive baseline culture who returned for their follow-up evaluation), and showed a 100% success rate for females in the ME population, solithromycin did not demonstrate non-inferiority, NI, to standard of care treatment given the pre-specified 10% NI margin in the mITT population. The success rates for CTX/AZI in the mITT and ME populations were 84.5% and 100%, respectively.
Given the limited number of females and adolescents in SOLITAIRE-U, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, or NIAID, agreed to fund an expansion of the trial to enroll up to 76 women and adolescents (age 15-17) under a cooperative research and development agreement. Enrollment of this trial expansion has been much slower than anticipated.
We believe that the small number of solithromycin treatment failures observed in SOLITAIRE-U could be reduced in an approval-enabling study with an adjustment to the dosing regimen, as we believe the treatment failures were most likely related to the duration of study drug exposure at the site of infection. We plan to discuss our next steps with the GC program with NIAID and the FDA, as resistance to existing therapies for GC has created an urgent unmet medical need. In SOLITAIRE-U, no GC isolates demonstrated solithromycin resistance at baseline, and there was no emergence of solithromycin resistance in the isolates obtained at follow-up cultures.
We plan to meet with the FDA in the second half of 2017 to discuss the protocol for a clinical trial with this adjusted dosing regimen, which could enable approval, if successful.
Solithromycin for CABP in Children and for Bioterror Pathogens—Collaboration with BARDA
In May 2013, we entered into an agreement with the Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or BARDA, for the evaluation and development of solithromycin for the treatment of bacterial infections in pediatric populations and infections caused by bioterror threat pathogens, specifically anthrax and tularemia. BARDA is funding the development of an oral suspension formulation of solithromycin for pediatric use in CABP. Safety and pharmacokinetic evaluations have been completed, testing oral capsules, IV, and oral suspension in pediatric patients ranging from newborns to 17 years old in Phase 1a and Phase 1b trials.
We initiated a Phase 2/3 trial in the fourth quarter of 2016. The pediatric study plan to obtain regulatory approval was submitted and accepted by both the FDA and EMA. There is an urgent need for a new oral and intravenous antibiotic for use in pediatric infections. Concurrent with this program, and included in the BARDA funding, support is provided for solithromycin manufacturing, including the optimization of the commercial pediatric suspension product. In September 2016, the BARDA contract was modified to support increased manufacturing work related to the development of a second supply source for solithromycin.
BARDA has also funded pilot studies in non-human primates to test the efficacy of solithromycin in treating bioterror pathogens such as tularemia and anthrax. Solithromycin was effective in treating both of these infections in these studies.
Solithromycin for NASH
We have evaluated the effects of solithromycin in a proof-of-principle study in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH. NASH is a progressive form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD, where hepatic steatosis progresses to liver cell injury, inflammation and fibrosis, which can eventually lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer. To date, no single therapy has been approved for treating NAFLD/NASH. According to the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, up to 16 million Americans, or two to five percent of the U.S. population, has NASH.
6
Solithromycin has been demonstrated to have potent anti-inflammatory properties in addition to its antibacterial properties. As a result, we evaluated solithromycin in a diabetic mouse model of NASH to investigate its potential effects. In this preclinical study, solithromycin demonstrated potential anti-NASH and anti-hyperglycemic effects.
In September 2016, we announced interim results showing anti-NASH effects in the first six NASH patients dosed with solithromycin in an exploratory development program. Based on the safety profile and activity seen in the first six patients, we continued the study to obtain data from up to 15 NASH patients. In the first quarter of 2017, four additional patients had completed treatment and undergone end-of-treatment liver biopsies, and we have evaluated the data from the cohort of 10 patients.
While data from the initial six patients were promising, the overall efficacy from patients receiving a reduced dose of 200 mg three times a week (after a 200 mg loading dose), including the second cohort of four patients, is unclear. Therefore, we have elected to suspend the NASH development program for solithromycin at this time.
Solithromycin for COPD
Based on safety data from several of the initial patients dosed in an exploratory study evaluating the effect of long term systemic solithromycin administration on airway inflammation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, we have closed the study.
Solithromycin for Ophthalmic Conditions
Many of the pathogens that cause CABP are the same as, or similar to, the pathogens that cause eye infections and we are developing an ophthalmic formulation of solithromycin as a potential treatment for bacterial conjunctivitis and other ophthalmic conditions. According to IMS, there are approximately 19 million antibiotic prescriptions written annually to treat ophthalmic conditions, and approximately 80% of these prescriptions are macrolides or fluoroquinolones. Because of increasing antimicrobial resistance to existing antibiotic therapies, we believe solithromycin could meet an unmet medical need in a significant market. Additionally, we believe that an ophthalmic formulation of solithromycin would have little to no systemic exposure. We plan to request a pre-IND meeting with the FDA in 2017 to discuss moving our ophthalmic program forward into clinical trials.
Overview of Fusidic Acid
Fusidic acid is an antibiotic that we are developing exclusively in the U.S. for ABSSSI, and we are exploring its use for the long-term oral treatment for refractory bone and joint infections, including PJI, which are frequently caused by staphylococci, including S. aureus, MRSA, coagulase negative staphylococci and other gram-positive bacteria. We have developed a novel and proprietary dosing regimen of fusidic acid, which is an approved antibiotic that has been sold by Leo Laboratories, Ltd. primarily for staphylococcal infections, including skin, soft tissue and bone infections, for several decades in Europe and other locations outside the U.S. and has a long-established safety and efficacy profile. However, fusidic acid has never been approved for use in the U.S.
7
Fusidic Acid for ABSSSI
Fusidic acid successfully completed a Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with ABSSSI demonstrating a tolerability profile and efficacy comparable to linezolid (sold under the brand name Zyvox®), which is one of the few oral antibiotics currently approved for the treatment of MRSA approved by the FDA. In the first quarter of 2017, we reported results from a Phase 3 trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of fusidic acid in 716 patients with ABSSSI.
The double-blind Phase 3 study was conducted at 62 sites in the United States. Patients randomized to treatment with oral fusidic acid received a loading dose of 1500 mg every 12 hours for two doses, followed by 600 mg every 12 hours thereafter, until the end of a 10-day course of therapy. Patients randomized to treatment with the active comparator, oral linezolid, received 600 mg every 12 hours for 10 days. Randomization was 1:1 and was stratified by type of infection (cellulitis, wound infection, major cutaneous abscess), by age and by prior use of an antibiotic within 36 hours prior to randomization. Overall, 67.5 % of study subjects had an infection associated with intravenous drug abuse. Less than 5% of study subjects received an antibiotic prior to randomization.
ITT Population |
Fusidic Acid N=359 |
Linezolid N=357 |
Sex, n (%) |
|
|
Male |
244 (68.0) |
218 (61.1) |
Female |
115 (32.0) |
139 (38.9) |
Infection Type, n (%) |
|
|
Major Cutaneous Abscess |
46 (12.8) |
47 (13.2) |
Cellulitis |
92 (25.6) |
92 (25.8) |
Wound Infection |
221 (61.6) |
218 (61.1) |
Prior Antibiotic Usage, n (%) |
|
|
Yes |
17 (4.7) |
18 ( 5.0) |
No |
342 (95.3) |
339 ( 95.0) |
Recent or Ongoing IV Drug Abuse, n (%) |
|
|
Yes |
245 (68.2) |
238 (66.7) |
No |
114 (31.8) |
119 (33.3) |
The primary objective of the study was to demonstrate non-inferiority of fusidic acid compared to linezolid for early clinical response, or ECR, defined as the proportion of patients alive and achieving a ≥ 20% reduction from baseline in lesion size at 48-72 hours after the start of study drug, without receiving rescue antibiotics, in the intent to treat, or ITT, patient population. In the study, 87.2 % of ITT patients receiving fusidic acid demonstrated ECR, compared to 86.6 percent of ITT patients receiving linezolid (treatment difference 0.6%, 95% confidence interval, or CI, -4.6, +5.9), demonstrating non-inferiority to linezolid. Fusidic acid also showed comparable efficacy to linezolid in investigator-assessed clinical response in the ITT and clinically evaluable, or CE, populations at end of treatment, or EOT, and post-therapy evaluation, or PTE, (7-14 days post-EOT) visits.
|
Fusidic Acid |
Linezolid |
Treatment Difference (95% CI) |
ITT Population |
|
|
|
ECR (Primary Endpoint) |
87.2 % (313/359) |
86.6 % (309/357) |
+0.6 (-4.6, +5.9) |
Clinical Success at EOT |
91.9 % (330/359) |
89.6 % (320/357) |
+2.3 (-2.2, +6.8) |
Clinical Success at PTE |
88.6 % (320/359) |
88.5 % (316/357) |
+0.1 (-4.9, +5.0) |
CE Populations |
|
|
|
Clinical Success at EOT (CE-EOT) |
97.1 % (303/312) |
97.3 % (288/296) |
-0.2 (-3.1, +2.8) |
Clinical Success at PTE (CE-PTE) |
95.7 % (292/305) |
96.9 % (283/292) |
-1.2 (-4.5, +2.2) |
Microbiological response rates by pathogen were high in both treatment groups in both the microbiological ITT, or mITT, and microbiologically-evaluable, or ME, patient populations (patients with isolation of a baseline pathogen, who were also clinically evaluable). The most common pathogens identified were Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus anginosus group species, Streptococcus pyogenes and Clostridium species. Notably, the microbiological success rate among fusidic acid recipients in each ME population with methicillin-resistant S. aureus, or MRSA, infection was 100 % (99/99) at both the EOT and PTE visits.
8
Fusidic acid was well tolerated in the study. The rates of treatment-emergent adverse events, or TEAEs, were comparable between treatment groups (37.9% fusidic acid, 36.1% linezolid). The most common TEAEs in both treatment groups were gastrointestinal events (22.8% fusidic acid, 18.2% linezolid). SAEs occurred in six fusidic acid recipients and eight linezolid recipients, and were considered study-drug related in one fusidic acid recipient (vomiting) and in two linezolid recipients (one drug induced liver injury, one vomiting). Adverse events led to study drug discontinuation in 2.2% of fusidic acid recipients, and 2.0% of linezolid recipients. There was one death in the study, an event due to illicit drug overdose and aspiration which occurred in a patient receiving linezolid. Rates of treatment-emergent ALT elevation to >3x ULN occurred in 1.0% of fusidic acid recipients and 0.7% of linezolid patients.
We plan to submit the full data from this study for presentation at an upcoming scientific forum.
Our strategy with fusidic acid is to meet with the FDA and review the best next steps to gain approval. For ABSSSI, we expect that two Phase 3 studies would be required for approval. Once we have input from the FDA on the path forward we will decide how to proceed.
Fusidic Acid for BJI
Like ABSSSI, bone and joint infections, including prosthetic joint infections, are often caused by staphylococci, including MRSA. In December 2012, we initiated a Phase 2 trial of fusidic acid for treatment of primarily staphylococcal infections of infected prosthetic joint infections, hip and knee joints. Based on the results of the 14 patients enrolled in this study, we concluded that the fusidic acid in combination with rifampin was generally comparable to intravenous standard of care antibiotics.
We believe fusidic acid has the potential to be used in hospital and community settings on both a short-term and chronic basis. Since bone and joint infections are primarily treated with a combination of IV and oral drugs, we believe that fusidic acid would enable out-patient treatment of many patients who would otherwise require hospitalization and/or intravenous therapy, which we also believe would provide pharmacoeconomic advantages, be well received by doctors and be more convenient for patients.
In early 2016, we also began a study of fusidic acid in patients with refractory bone and joint infection, which continues to enroll. Should we choose to pursue an indication for fusidic acid in patients with PJI, the FDA has granted orphan drug designation for fusidic acid for the treatment of PJI.
Our Earlier Stage Pipeline Programs
Our earlier stage programs include developing other uses for solithromycin and fusidic acid, as well as the development of analogs from our macrolide platform for non-infectious disease programs.
In the future we may pursue secondary indications for solithromycin to treat other infections in cystic fibrosis patients, Helicobacter gastritis, malaria and tuberculosis. Solithromycin has also been demonstrated to have in vitro activity against enterococci, including vancomycin-resistant enterococci.
We have developed our own proprietary macrolide compounds which we intend to use to develop drugs with no antibiotic effect and to replace use of older macrolides in inflammatory conditions and other indications such as diabetic gastroparesis. Several compounds have been identified through our screening programs that could potentially address therapeutic needs in the areas of inflammation, diabetic gastroparesis and cancer.
We are conducting early drug discovery studies for the use of macrolides in treating diabetic gastroparesis, which is related to a lack of neural response in the gastrointestinal tract of diabetic patients, and gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, both likely to be helped by addressing motilin function. Motilin is a naturally occurring peptide that causes the stomach to contract to initiate the migratory motor complex that empties the stomach. Erythromycin and related antibiotics have known activity as motilin agonists. Through our discovery program, we have identified compounds that are active in the motilin receptor binding assay, as well as in rabbit duodenal strip contraction assays. These compounds are being optimized chemically for pharmacokinetic properties and oral bioavailability.
The Limitations Associated with Antibiotics
The widespread use of antibiotics has led to development of resistant strains of bacteria, which limits the effectiveness of existing drugs. This led the World Health Organization to state in 2010 that antibiotic resistance is one of the three greatest threats to human health. The CDC estimates that more than 70% of U.S. hospital infections are resistant to at least one of the antibiotics most commonly used to treat them. The CDC also estimates that each year more than 2,000,000 people are sickened with antibiotic-
9
resistant infections, with at least 23,000 dying as a result. Antibiotic-resistant infections also increase the costs to the U.S. healthcare system.
Antibiotic resistance is primarily caused by genetic mutations in bacteria selected by exposure to antibiotics where the drug does not kill all of the bacteria. In addition to mutated bacteria being resistant to the drug used for treatment, many bacterial strains can also be cross-resistant, meaning that the use of a particular treatment to address one kind of bacteria can result in resistance to other kinds of bacteria as well as to other antibiotics. As a result, the effectiveness of many antibiotics has declined, limiting physicians’ options to treat serious infections and creating a global health issue. For example, it is estimated that in the U.S. approximately 49% of pneumococci, the primary pathogen involved in respiratory tract infections, are resistant to azithromycin and other macrolides commonly used to treat them.
In addition to resistance issues, current antibiotic therapies also have other limitations, including serious side effects. These side effects may include: hepatotoxicity, severe allergic reaction, decreased blood pressure, nausea and vomiting, suppression of platelets, pain and inflammation at the site of injection, muscle, renal and ototoxicity, optic and peripheral neuropathies and headaches. Some of these side effects may be significant enough to require that therapy be discontinued or not used. As a result, some treatments require clinicians to closely monitor patients’ blood levels and other parameters, increasing the expense and inconvenience of treatment.
Further, many of the existing antibiotics used to treat serious infections are difficult or inconvenient to administer. Many drugs are given twice daily for seven to 14 days or more and patients can be hospitalized for much or all of this period or require in-home IV therapy. While IV treatment can deliver the drug more rapidly and in a larger dose than is possible orally, once a patient is stabilized, a switch to oral treatment allows for more convenient and cost-effective out-patient treatment. We believe that there is a need for new antibiotics that have improved potency and pharmacokinetics, effectiveness against resistant bacterial strains, improved side effect profiles and more flexible administration formulations.
Solithromycin Market Opportunity
Community Acquired Bacterial Pneumonia
Respiratory tract infections can range from severe diseases such as CABP, to similar infections of the respiratory tract such as pharyngitis (which is usually referred to as strep throat), bronchitis, chronic sinusitis and middle ear infections (which are especially common in children). CABP is one of the most common serious infectious diseases of the respiratory tract and is the most frequent cause of death due to bacterial infections in the U.S. There are 1.6 million fatal cases of pneumococcal disease annually worldwide which is more than the deaths caused annually by breast or prostate cancer. There are approximately five to six million cases of CABP in the U.S. every year, approximately one million of which require hospitalization. Typical bacteria that cause CABP include Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis and Staphylococcus aureus. These four bacteria account for approximately 85% of CABP cases. Other organisms, called atypical bacteria, may be involved in CABP and include Legionella pneumophila, Chlamydophila pneumoniae and Mycoplasma pneuomoniae.
Given the serious nature of these infections, and the length of time it takes to test for the pathogen causing the infection, physicians typically cannot wait for the results of diagnostic tests. Accordingly, under routine care to diagnose CABP, physicians must treat empirically with an antibiotic or combination of antibiotics that has the broadest activity against the most likely pathogen, including both typical and atypical bacteria are utilized.
The most recent CABP treatment guidelines from the American Thoracic Society, or ATS, and IDSA offer tiered approaches to treatment, with overarching guidance that empiric therapy should target both typical and atypical pneumonia pathogens. For generally healthy outpatients in the setting of low pneumococcal resistance to macrolides, use of macrolide monotherapy or doxycycline was recommended. Since pneumococcal macrolide resistance is now found in approximately 50% of isolates across the U.S., macrolide monotherapy would no longer be considered advisable. Alternatively, monotherapy with a respiratory fluoroquinolone, or with the combination of a beta-lactam antibiotic plus a macrolide, is recommended. These latter recommendations also apply for hospitalized patients who do not require admission to intensive care units. For patients with severe pneumonia requiring ventilatory support or ICU care, it is recommended that empiric therapy be expanded to include coverage for Pseudomonas and MRSA infection, along with the more common CABP pathogens.
In recent years, the effectiveness of earlier generation macrolides, including azithromycin, for treatment of CABP has declined due to increasing pneumococcal resistance. The most recently approved macrolide, telithromycin (Ketek), was effective against macrolide-resistant pneumococci, but the antibiotic was associated with serious side effects, resulting in limitation of its use. For these reasons, respiratory fluoroquinolones, such as levofloxacin and moxifloxacin, are now commonly used for serious CABP infections. Although these drugs are efficacious, they have been associated with serious side effects including C. difficile enterocolitis, tendonitis, hepatotoxicity, chronic disability syndromes and central nervous system effects. Beta-lactam antibiotics such as cephalosporins, which are commonly used in CABP, also have limitations, including absence of activity against the atypical pathogens, Legionella and
10
Mycoplasma. In addition, the cephalosporins most commonly utilized in treatment of CABP, ceftriaxone and ceftaroline, are only available in intravenous formulations.
As a result of the limitations of current therapies for CABP, we believe there is an opportunity to introduce solithromycin, a fourth generation macrolide that is more potent and effective against bacteria that are resistant to older generations of macrolides, while retaining the traditional safety and anti-inflammatory properties that macrolides are known to exhibit. To date, we believe our clinical trials of solithromycin to treat CABP have demonstrated that solithromycin is potent and effective against resistant bacteria and is well tolerated. We also believe that developing IV and oral formulations will provide flexibility to physicians to treat patients according to the severity of their disease and transition some patients from IV to oral, enabling them to leave the hospital sooner. If approved by the FDA, solithromycin would be the first macrolide approved with both IV and oral capsule and suspension formulations since azithromycin was approved more than 20 years ago.
Gonorrhea
In addition to CABP, there is a large public health need for a new and effective oral treatment for treating bacterial urethritis. Resistance has emerged to cefixime, which was the only remaining oral therapy for gonococci infections, such as bacterial urethritis. The development of solithromycin for bacterial urethritis would present an additional market opportunity for solithromycin and all of the patient data gathered in any trials would also contribute to the safety data base for CABP development.
Ophthalmic
There were approximately 19 million antibiotic prescriptions in 2016 for ophthalmic conditions. Macrolides and fluoroquinolones comprise approximately 60% of the total prescriptions. For conditions such as bacterial conjunctivitis specifically, macrolides and fluoroquinolones make up approximately 80% of the market. The common bacterial pathogens that cause bacterial conjunctivitis are similar to those that cause community acquired bacterial pneumonia.
Fusidic Acid Market Opportunity
We are developing fusidic acid exclusively in the U.S. for ABSSSI (which includes a subset of skin infections such as cellulitis, wound infections, major cutaneous abscess and burn infections). There are approximately 3.3 million patients treated annually in the hospital for ABSSSIs and, according to the IDSA, MRSA infections account for approximately 60% of skin infections seen in U.S. emergency departments, or EDs. Cellulitis accounts for 41% of ABSSSIs with traumatic and surgical wounds accounting for another 24%. MRSA is prevalent in ABSSSI and suspected in 25% of patients. Inadequate treatment of MRSA ABSSSI due to antibiotic resistance is likely a factor in relapse. Eighty percent of the patients are treated empirically, with MRSA expected in slightly over half.
Between 7-10% of all hospital admissions are for ABSSSI. ABSSSIs are frequently treated in an ED. An oral treatment option in the ED could enable some patients to avoid hospitalization and could also reduce hospital length of stay for some patients who could transition to oral therapy. The mean cost to treat ABSSSI in the hospital is over eight thousand dollars with an average length of stay of nearly five days. Currently, while some newer branded products are available, generic vancomycin is most commonly used. Many patients require a multi-drug regimen as oral monotherapy is an unmet need. About 4 million patients require second line treatment.
According to the IDSA, MRSA infections account for approximately 60% of skin infections seen in U.S. emergency rooms. Linezolid is available in both IV and oral formulations and is one of two oral antibiotics approved by the FDA for MRSA. However, linezolid has significant side effects, which include irreversible peripheral neuritis, or the inflammation of nerves and thrombocytopenia, or a relative decrease of platelets in blood. In July 2011, the FDA published a drug safety communication letter regarding the use of linezolid in patients on serotonergic drugs such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, (including Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft), which are taken for depression, bipolar disease, schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders. Given the widespread use of SSRIs and some of the other side effects associated with linezolid, we do not believe that linezolid is an option for many patients. In 2015 a second oral drug, tedizolid (Sivextro®), was approved for ABSSSI caused by susceptible Gram-positive organisms including MRSA. Tedizolid does not have the same contraindications or drug interactions as linezolid but is only approved as a six-day IV and/or oral treatment course. Phase 1 studies conducted with tedizolid in healthy adults that were treated for 21 days showed a possible dose and duration effect on hematologic parameters beyond six days of treatment. The most common adverse drug reactions in clinical trials from patients treated with tedizolid were nausea, headache, diarrhea, vomiting, and dizziness. We believe there is an opportunity to develop an oral drug that is effective against MRSA and has a safety profile that supports out-patient use, use for chronic indications and use in children.
11
Competition
Our industry is highly competitive and subject to rapid and significant technological change. Our potential competitors include large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, specialty pharmaceutical and generic drug companies, academic institutions, government agencies and research institutions.
In many cases, however, we believe that competition often will be determined by antibiotic class and any limitations of that antibiotic class in general, and the antibiotic in particular, in treating a particular disease or population. We believe that the key competitive factors that will affect the development and commercial success of solithromycin, fusidic acid and any other product candidates that we develop are efficacy, safety and tolerability profile, convenience in dosing, price and reimbursement.
Solithromycin
We anticipate that, if approved for CABP, solithromycin will compete with other antibiotics that demonstrate CABP activity. These include well established, widely prescribed drugs, including generic versions, such as azithromycin, clarithromycin, moxifloxacin, levofloxacin, linezolid and ceftriaxone. Among macrolides, azithromycin (Zithromax, Z-Pak) is the class leader, and a generic drug. Azithromycin is available as oral tablets, lyophilized vials for IV and a powder for suspension, which has allowed dosing of all age groups and has been used broadly including for simple respiratory tract infections and in combination with ceftriaxone to treat CABP.
Azithromycin and other macrolides are used broadly in COPD for their anti-inflammatory properties to lower the dose of steroids, in bacterial urethritis to treat gonorrhea and chlamydia infections, and many other infections. Azithromycin is among the most widely used antibiotics. Ceftaroline was approved in CABP, but only the IV formulation is available; no oral or powder for suspension for pediatric use is available. For IV use in CABP, ceftaroline must be co-administered with azithromycin or another macrolide because it does not provide adequate coverage for atypical bacteria, such as Legionella or Mycoplasma. Patients can stay in the hospital for IV therapy or be discharged on a different, lower potency second generation cephalosporin.
Fluoroquinolones, such as levofloxacin and moxifloxacin, could be used in CABP and are available in oral and IV formulations. They are not approved for pediatric use because of safety. Levofloxacin is now generic and because of its lower potency, its use in CABP has been taken over by the branded moxifloxacin (Avelox). Prescribing information for fluoroquinolones notes several undesirable effects such as tendonitis, achilles tendon rupture, C. difficile colitis, hepatotoxicity and central nervous system side effects. These adverse events limit the use of these drugs in CABP. We believe that a few companies have Phase 3 CABP programs including Melinta Therapeutics, Inc. (a new fluoroquinolone), Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc (a new tetracycline) and Nabriva Therapeutics AG (a new pleuromutilin analog).
In the area of bacterial urethritis, gonococcus has become resistant to older macrolides and other drugs, including fluoroquinolones. Only intramuscular ceftriaxone is currently available for treating these patients.
Fusidic Acid
We anticipate that, if approved, fusidic acid will compete with other antibiotics that demonstrate MRSA activity. These include well established, widely prescribed drugs, including generic versions, such as vancomycin, linezolid, tedizolid, daptomycin, tigecycline and ceftaroline.
Intellectual Property
Due to the length of time and expense associated with bringing new products to market, biopharmaceutical companies have traditionally placed considerable importance on obtaining and maintaining patent protection for significant new technologies, products and processes. The term of individual patents depends upon the legal term of the patents in the countries in which they are obtained. In most countries in which we file, the patent term is 20 years from the earliest date of filing a non-provisional patent application. In the U.S., a patent’s term may be lengthened by Patent Term Adjustment, which compensates a patentee for administrative delays by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, in granting a patent, or may be shortened if a patent is terminally disclaimed over another patent. In the U.S. and certain other countries, the patent’s term may also be lengthened by patent term extension or restoration, which compensates a patentee for administrative delays in granting a regulatory approval by the FDA, or similar agency in other countries.
While we pursue patent protection and enforcement of solithromycin, fusidic acid and our other product candidates, and aspects of our technologies when appropriate, we also rely on trade secrets, know-how and continuing technological advancement to develop and maintain our competitive position. To protect this competitive position, we regularly enter into confidentiality and proprietary information agreements with third parties, including employees, independent contractors, suppliers and collaborators. Our employment policy requires each new employee to enter into an agreement containing provisions generally prohibiting the disclosure of confidential information to anyone outside of our company and providing that any invention conceived by an employee within the
12
scope of his or her employment duties is our exclusive property. We have a similar policy with respect to independent contractors, generally requiring independent contractors to enter into agreements containing provisions generally prohibiting the disclosure of confidential information to anyone outside of our company and providing that any invention conceived by an independent contractor within the scope of his or her services is our exclusive property with the exception of contracts with universities and colleges that may be unable to make such assignments. Furthermore, our know-how that is accessed by third parties through collaborations and research and development contracts and through our relationships with scientific consultants is generally protected through confidentiality agreements with the appropriate parties.
Further, we seek trademark protection in the U.S. and internationally where available and when appropriate. We have a registered trademark in the U.S. for the CEMPRA mark, which we use in connection with our pharmaceutical research and development services, and which we plan to use with our proposed products. We have filed applications at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the SOLITHERA mark, which we plan to use with our proposed solithromycin product. We also have filed applications at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the FUSIDIC ACID, STRAFEX, and STAFREL marks. We plan to use the FUSIDIC ACID mark with our proposed sodium fusidate product. The remaining marks may be used with the sodium fusidate product or other proposed products.
We have applied, and are applying, for patents directed to our three main areas of focus: (1) macrolide and ketolide antibiotics, (2) fusidic acid antibiotics, and (3) macrolides and ketolides for non-antibiotic uses, both in the U.S. and, when appropriate, in other countries. As of December 31, 2016, our owned and in-licensed patent portfolio consisted of 22 issued patents in the U.S., more than 150 patents issued in other countries, and approximately 140 additional patent applications pending in the U.S. and worldwide. The exclusively in-licensed portfolio also includes a pending continuing U.S. patent application, and divisional applications pending in Canada, Europe and Hong Kong. Prosecution is ongoing in each of those patent applications. Each of the foregoing patents and applications ultimately arise from a PCT international application filed on March 5, 2004, which claims the priority benefit of U.S. provisional applications filed on March 10, 2003, and May 6, 2003.
Solithromycin
Solithromycin is a new chemical entity developed from the macrolide library of compounds licensed from Optimer (now owned by Merck) and is covered by a series of patents and patent applications, which claim, among other things, the composition of matter of solithromycin.
Most of our portfolio consists of intellectual property that we own ourselves or that we exclusively license from Optimer. The intellectual property licensed from Optimer primarily relates to solithromycin and related compounds, and to other macrolide and ketolide compounds. Internally, we typically develop those compounds further and refine them to determine commercial applicability.
As noted in the table below, with respect to solithromycin and a broad group of other macrolide antibiotic compounds, our U.S. patent portfolio consists of four issued U.S. patents, which we exclusively license from Optimer. We have filed company-owned patent applications in the U.S., Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Europe, Hong Kong, Israel, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Russian Federation, South Africa, and South Korea claiming two new crystalline forms of solithromycin.
We have also filed additional company-owned patent applications in the U.S., Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Europe, Hong Kong, Israel, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Russian Federation, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, and Taiwan covering solithromycin and related compounds, with the objective of increasing the breadth of solithromycin coverage, particularly in the U.S., Europe, South America, and Asia. Those applications claim pharmaceutical compositions, pharmaceutical formulations, methods for treating particular infections and other diseases, manufacturing processes, and compounds related to solithromycin.
We have also filed, or are preparing to file, U.S. and international patent applications covering solithromycin and other macrolides and ketolides for treating eye diseases, including topical formulations for ocular delivery, and for treating diseases other than infection, including inflammatory diseases, cystic fibrosis, and motilin receptor-mediated diseases to increase the breadth of coverage for solithromycin and other macrolides and ketolides in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
We have engaged, and continue to engage, in research efforts to exploit the potential of the in-licensed Optimer inventions, including solithromycin and related compounds, in new therapy areas, and to discover new forms and formulations of solithromycin and related compounds. Our research efforts have indicated that solithromycin may also be useful in treating particular bacterial infections that may be considered to be generally untreatable with macrolide antibiotics, including bacterial infections arising from one or more resistant strains. In addition, alternative physical forms and alternative formulations of solithromycin and related compounds are being developed. If we are able to obtain issued patents for those forms and formulations, and the treatment methods,
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then we will have several years of additional coverage above and beyond the expiration of the patents covering the chemical composition of solithromycin.
With respect to solithromycin and a broad group of other macrolide antibiotic compounds, a list of U.S. patents which we exclusively license from Optimer:
Title |
|
Country |
|
Patent No. |
|
Issue Date |
|
Expiration Date |
Antibacterial Agents |
|
USA |
|
US 7,601,695 |
|
13-Oct-09 |
|
29-Jan-25 |
Antibacterial Agents |
|
USA |
|
US 8,012,943 |
|
6-Sep-11 |
|
5-Mar-24 |
Novel Antibacterial Agents |
|
USA |
|
US 8,343,936 |
|
1-Jan-13 |
|
5-Mar-24 |
Novel Antibacterial Agents |
|
USA |
|
US 9,200,026 |
|
1-Dec-15 |
|
5-Mar-24 |
Novel Antibacterial Agents |
|
European Patent Convention |
|
EP 2 664 331 |
|
16-Sep-15 |
|
5-Mar-24 |
Novel Antibacterial Agents |
|
Canada |
|
CA 2529817 |
|
12-Feb-13 |
|
5-Mar-24 |
With respect to processes for manufacturing solithromycin and related 1,2,3-triazole-containing macrolides and ketolides, a list of U.S. patents which we license non-exclusively from The Scripps Research Institute (“TSRI”):
Title |
|
Country |
|
Patent No. |
|
|
Issue Date |
|
Expiration Date |
|
Copper-Catalyzed Ligation of Azides and Acetylenes |
|
USA |
|
|
7375234 |
|
|
20-May-08 |
|
30-Sep-23 |
Copper-Catalyzed Ligation of Azides and Acetylenes |
|
USA |
|
|
7763736 |
|
|
27-Jul-10 |
|
30-May-23 |
Copper-Catalyzed Ligation of Azides and Acetylenes |
|
USA |
|
|
8129542 |
|
|
6-Mar-12 |
|
30-May-23 |
Copper-Catalyzed Ligation of Azides and Acetylenes |
|
USA |
|
|
8580970 |
|
|
12-Nov-13 |
|
30-May-23 |
Copper-Catalyzed Ligation of Azides and Acetylenes |
|
USA |
|
|
8877939 |
|
|
4-Nov-14 |
|
30-May-23 |
Copper-Catalyzed Ligation of Azides and Acetylenes |
|
USA |
|
|
9040716 |
|
|
26-May-15 |
|
30-May-23 |
Copper-Catalyzed Ligation of Azides and Acetylenes |
|
USA |
|
|
9302997 |
|
|
5-Apr-16 |
|
30-May-23 |
Copper-Catalysed Ligation of Azides and Acetylenes |
|
Canada |
|
|
2487424 |
|
|
4-Jan-11 |
|
30-May-23 |
Copper-Catalysed Ligation of Azides and Acetylenes |
|
European Patent Convention |
|
|
1507769 |
|
|
26-May-10 |
|
30-May-23 |
Copper-Catalysed Ligation of Azides and Acetylenes |
|
European Patent Convention |
|
|
2226316 |
|
|
13-Jan-16 |
|
30-May-23 |
Copper-Catalysed Ligation of Azides and Acetylenes |
|
Japan |
|
|
4638225 |
|
|
3-Dec-10 |
|
30-May-23 |
Copper-Catalysed Ligation of Azides and Acetylenes |
|
Singapore |
|
|
108420 |
|
|
29-Dec-06 |
|
30-May-23 |
The in-licensed portfolio also includes the following issued patents, which are licensed exclusively:
Title |
|
Country |
|
Patent No. |
|
|
Issue Date |
|
Expiration Date |
|
Copper-Catalysed Ligation of Azides and Acetylenes |
|
Australia |
|
|
2003240482 |
|
|
25-Jun-09 |
|
30-May-23 |
Copper-Catalysed Ligation of Azides and Acetylenes |
|
Australia |
|
|
2009202299 |
|
|
16-Jun-11 |
|
30-May-23 |
Copper-Catalysed Ligation of Azides and Acetylenes |
|
China |
|
ZL03817917.2 |
|
|
26-May-10 |
|
30-May-23 |
|
Copper-Catalysed Ligation of Azides and Acetylenes |
|
South Korea |
|
10-1048279 |
|
|
5-Jul-11 |
|
30-May-23 |
|
Copper-Catalysed Ligation of Azides and Acetylenes |
|
South Korea |
|
10-1138643 |
|
|
16-Apr-12 |
|
30-May-23 |
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The following patents have been issued claiming two new crystalline forms of solithromycin:
Title |
|
Country |
|
Patent No. |
|
|
Issue Date |
|
Expiration Date |
|
Crystalline Forms of a Macrolide, and Uses Therefor |
|
USA |
|
|
8975386 |
|
|
10-Mar-15 |
|
22-Mar-31 |
Crystalline Forms of a Macrolide, and Uses Therefor |
|
USA |
|
|
8759500 |
|
|
24-Jun-14 |
|
22-Mar-31 |
Crystalline Forms of a Macrolide, and Uses Therefor |
|
Australia |
|
|
2011232627 |
|
|
30-Jun-16 |
|
22-Mar-31 |
Crystalline Forms of a Macrolide, and Uses Therefor |
|
Australia |
|
|
2016203986 |
|
|
19-Jan-17 |
|
22-Mar-31 |
Crystalline Forms of a Macrolide, and Uses Therefor |
|
EPC |
|
|
2550286 |
|
|
9-Dec-15 |
|
22-Mar-31 |
Crystalline Forms of a Macrolide, and Uses Therefor |
|
Japan |
|
|
5711352 |
|
|
13-Mar-15 |
|
22-Mar-31 |
Crystalline Forms of a Macrolide, and Uses Therefor |
|
New Zealand |
|
|
602544 |
|
|
3-Mar-15 |
|
22-Mar-31 |
Fusidic Acid
The original patents covering the composition of matter for fusidic acid have expired. The table below highlights our U.S. patent portfolio and we are continuing to increase the breadth of our fusidic acid coverage in the U.S. and Asia, and have filed patent applications covering fusidic acid in the U.S., Canada and Japan. Our pending patent applications claim new dosing protocols and uses of fusidic acid, and new formulations and packaging. The novel loading dose regimen that has been developed to overcome pre-existing limitations on a broader, more effective use of fusidic acid in the treatment of bacterial infections, including infections not previously considered to be susceptible to fusidic acid, like urethritis. We have also filed patent applications covering new formulations of fusidic acid for direct bronchial and pulmonary delivery, and formulations and packaging of fusidic acid dosage units to overcome the storage limitations of fusidic acid.
In addition to filed patent applications claiming new dosing protocols and formulations of fusidic acid for treating infections, we plan to obtain regulatory exclusivity for the first use of fusidic acid through approval with the FDA. We are not aware of any competing applications before the FDA seeking approval for fusidic acid. Therefore, we believe that, if the FDA approves an NDA of ours for fusidic acid before the FDA approves an NDA or other application for fusidic acid use filed by any competitor, pursuant to amendments to Section 505 of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act enacted in 2008, we will have at least five years of regulatory exclusivity in the U.S. for the first approved indication for fusidic acid. We believe that the 2008 amendments will also provide us with three years of exclusivity for any additional uses.
With respect to fusidic acid, our U.S. patent portfolio consists of the following issued patents:
Title |
|
Country |
|
Patent No. |
|
|
Issue Date |
|
Expiration Date |
|
Fusidic Acid Dosing Regimens for Treatment of Bacterial Infections |
|
USA |
|
|
8450300 |
|
|
28-May-13 |
|
9-Dec-29 |
Methods of Treating Urethritis and Related Infections Using Fusidic Acid |
|
USA |
|
|
8247394 |
|
|
21-Aug-12 |
|
24-Feb-31 |
Patent Term Restoration and Marketing Exclusivity
Depending upon the timing, duration and specifics of FDA approval, if any, of the use of our product candidates, some of our U.S. patents may be eligible for limited patent term extension under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, commonly referred to as the Hatch-Waxman Act. The Hatch-Waxman Act permits a patent restoration term of up to five years as compensation for patent term lost during product development and the FDA regulatory review process. However, patent term restoration cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the product’s approval date. Subject to certain limitations, the patent term restoration period is generally one-half the time between the effective date of an IND and the submission date of an NDA plus the time between the submission date of an NDA and the approval of that application, up to a total of five years. Only one patent applicable to an approved drug is eligible for the extension. The application for such extension must be submitted prior to the expiration of the patent and within 60 days of the drug’s approval. The USPTO, in consultation with the FDA, reviews and approves the application for any patent term extension or restoration. Similar provisions are available in Europe and other foreign jurisdictions to extend the term of a patent that covers an approved drug. In the future, we may apply for restoration of patent term for
15
one of our currently owned or licensed patents to add patent life beyond its current expiration date, depending on the expected length of the clinical trials and other factors involved in the filing of the relevant NDA.
Market exclusivity provisions under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA can also delay the submission or the approval of certain applications of other companies seeking to reference another company’s NDA. The FDCA provides a five-year period of non-patent data exclusivity within the U.S. to the first applicant to obtain approval of an NDA for a new chemical entity. A drug is a new chemical entity if the FDA has not previously approved any other new drug containing the same active moiety, which is the molecule or ion responsible for the action of the drug substance. During the exclusivity period, the FDA may not accept for review an abbreviated new drug application, or ANDA, or a 505(b)(2) NDA submitted by another company for another version of such drug where the applicant does not own or have a legal right of reference to all the data required for approval. However, an application may be submitted after four years if it contains a certification of patent invalidity or non-infringement to one of the patents listed with the FDA by the innovator NDA holder. The FDCA also provides three years of marketing exclusivity for an NDA, 505(b)(2) NDA or supplement to an existing NDA if new clinical investigations, other than bioavailability studies, that were conducted or sponsored by the applicant are deemed by the FDA to be essential to the approval of the application, for example new indications, dosages or strengths of an existing drug. This three-year exclusivity covers only the conditions associated with the new clinical investigations and does not prohibit the FDA from approving ANDAs for drugs containing the original active agent. Five-year and three-year exclusivity will not delay the submission or approval of a full NDA. However, an applicant submitting a full NDA would be required to conduct or obtain a right of reference to all of the pre-clinical studies and adequate and well-controlled clinical trials necessary to demonstrate safety and effectiveness.
Pediatric exclusivity is another type of exclusivity in the U.S. Pediatric exclusivity, if granted, provides an additional six months to existing exclusivity periods and patent terms. This six-month exclusivity, which runs from the end of other exclusivity protection or patent term, may be granted based on the voluntary completion of a pediatric study in accordance with an FDA-issued “Written Request” for such a study. The current pediatric exclusivity provision was reauthorized in September 2007 as part of the FDAAA.
We believe that both solithromycin and fusidic acid will benefit from the marketing incentives of the GAIN Act, enacted in 2012. This legislation rewards a Qualified Infectious Disease Product with five years of additional exclusivity (added to the five years of Hatch-Waxman exclusivity) when its NDA is approved. Pursuant to the GAIN Act, in 2013, the FDA designated each of the oral and IV formulations of solithromycin as a QIDP for the indication of CABP, which was designated a qualified infections disease pathogen by the FDA in 2013. The NDA also receives priority review, which reduces the standard 12-month review time by four months. The FDA also has designated the oral form as a QIDP for the treatment of uncomplicated gonococcal infections.
Fusidic acid has been approved for oral use in many countries, including Western countries, outside the U.S. for more than three decades to treat ABSSSI, as well as other types of infections caused by staphylococci and ß-hemolytic streptococci, but it has never been approved in the U.S. This is because of the general lack of intellectual property protection that was available for the molecule until recently. Significant patent protection expired in the 1980’s, and antibiotics were not eligible for Hatch-Waxman Act data exclusivity, which affords a five-year period of data exclusivity upon approval of a new chemical entity, or NCE, in the U.S. In November 1997, the FDA Modernization Act, or FDAMA, repealed section 507 of the Federal, Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA, under which marketing applications for antibiotics were previously approved. This law made antibiotics, like other drugs, eligible for Hatch-Waxman Act exclusivity. However, fusidate/fusidic acid was the subject of a marketing application received by FDA under Section 507 of the FDCA before November 21, 1997, the effective date of FDAMA. Antibiotics for which marketing applications were submitted before that date, even if the application was not approved, as was the case with fusidic acid, are known as “old” antibiotics. Old antibiotics were not eligible for the exclusivity provisions afforded by FDAMA. Consequently, although fusidic acid had never been approved in the U.S., as an old antibiotic, it was not eligible for the five-year NCE exclusivity. The passage of Public Law (PL) 110-379 on October 8, 2008, allowed old antibiotics such as fusidic acid to obtain five-year NCE exclusivity upon NDA approval, thereby making development of fusidic acid for the U.S. feasible. In response to our question based on unclear language in PL 110-379 regarding other exclusivities, we received notification from the FDA in January 2011 that old antibiotics such as fusidic acid would also be eligible for orphan and pediatric exclusivity. In October 2013, the FDA granted orphan drug designation for fusidic acid for the treatment of PJI. In December 2013, PJI was classified as a very rare disease by the National Institutes of Health, or NIH. In addition, the GAIN Act extends the NCE data exclusivity period for QIDPs such as fusidic acid from five years to 10 years. Finally, our loading dose regimen, which received a U.S. patent in May 2013, provides patent protection to 2029.
Collaborations and Commercial Agreements
Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (now owned by Merck). In March 2006, we entered into a Collaborative Research and Development and License Agreement with Optimer, a biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing innovative anti-infective products. Under this agreement, we obtained access to a library of over 500 macrolide compounds, including solithromycin. Optimer was acquired by Cubist in October 2013, which in turn was acquired by Merck in 2015. Optimer granted us an exclusive license to these compounds in all countries of the world except ASEAN countries, with the
16
right to sublicense, under Optimer’s patents and know-how related to certain macrolide and ketolide antibiotics and related proprietary technology. The exclusivity of our license is potentially subject to the U.S. government’s right to obtain a non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free, paid-up right to practice and have practiced certain patents worldwide. As partial consideration for granting us such license, we issued shares of our common stock to Optimer. We also have an obligation to make additional payments upon achievement of specified development, regulatory and commercialization milestones. The aggregate amount of such milestone payments we may need to pay is based in part on the number of products developed under the agreement. The aggregate amount would be $27.5 million if four products are developed and gain FDA approval. Additional limited milestone payments would be due if we develop more than four products. In July 2010 and July 2012, we made $0.5 million and $1.0 million milestone payments, respectively to Optimer after our successful completion of the Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials for oral solithromycin, respectively. We will owe a milestone payment of $9.5 million upon FDA approval of solithromycin. We are also obligated to make tiered, mid-single-digit royalty payments to Optimer based on annual net sales of licensed products outside the ASEAN countries, which royalties are subject to reduction in the event additional licenses are obtained from third parties in order to practice our rights under the agreement and/or we are required to grant a compulsory license to a third party.
The agreement also includes the grant of an exclusive license to Optimer and its affiliates, with rights of sublicense, under our patents and other intellectual property in any products covered by the agreement to permit Optimer to develop and/or commercialize such products in ASEAN countries. In consideration of such license, Optimer will pay us $1.0 million in milestone payments for the first two products that receive regulatory approval or have a first commercial sale in any ASEAN country, as well as tiered, mid-single-digit royalty payments based on net sales of such products, which royalties are subject to reduction in the event additional licenses are obtained from third parties in order to practice Optimer’s rights under the agreement and/or Optimer is required to grant a compulsory license to a third party. The agreement also included a collaborative research program, to be performed by the parties, which was completed on March 31, 2008.
The Optimer patents and know-how existing as of the effective date of the agreement and improvements thereof remain the property of Optimer. Except for such improvements, any know-how or inventions developed by Optimer pursuant to the agreement or that relate to the licensed products (except those generated by using grant monies provided by the U.S. government) vest in us subject to the license we granted to Optimer. The Optimer license provides Optimer with the initial responsibility to prosecute the Optimer patents relating to macrolide antibiotics. We will be responsible for prosecuting any patents controlled by us that relate to macrolide antibiotics other than the Optimer patents described above. We will have the first right to prosecute patents claiming joint inventions. We have the first right to control any proceeding involving alleged infringement of Optimer patents with respect to rights granted to us under the agreement and Optimer has such right regarding alleged infringement of our patents with respect to rights granted to Optimer under the agreement. Should we exercise our right to control any proceeding involving alleged infringement of Optimer patents, we will be responsible for the costs of these proceedings.
Subject to certain exceptions, on a country-by-country and product-by-product basis, a party’s rights and obligations under the agreement continue until the later of: (i) the expiration of the last to expire patent rights of a covered product in the applicable country or (ii) ten years from the first commercial sale of a covered product in the applicable country. As a result, the final expiration date of the Optimer license is indeterminable until the last such patents issue and results of potential patent extensions are known, or each of the first commercial sales are made, as applicable. Upon expiration of the agreement with respect to a particular product and country, the licenses granted in the agreement with respect to such product and country will remain in effect and convert to a perpetual, unrestricted, fully-paid, royalty-free, worldwide license. Either party may terminate the agreement (i) in the event of a material breach by the other party, subject to prior notice and the opportunity to cure, (ii) in the event the other party fails to use diligent efforts to develop and commercialize products in its respective territory, or if the other party makes a determination not to develop and commercialize at least one product under the agreement, or (iii) in the event of the other party’s bankruptcy. In the case of these terminations, the terminating party can elect that all licenses granted by the other party survive, subject to continuing royalty, payment and other obligations. Additionally, either party may terminate the agreement for any reason upon 30 days’ prior written notice, in which case the non-terminating party can elect that all licenses granted by the other party survive, subject to continuing royalty, payment, and other obligations.
The Scripps Research Institute. Effective June 12, 2012, we entered into a license agreement with The Scripps Research Institute, or TSRI, whereby TSRI licensed rights to the company, with rights of sublicense, to make, use, sell, and import products for human or animal therapeutic use that use or incorporate one or more macrolides as an active pharmaceutical ingredient and is covered by certain patent rights owned by TSRI claiming technology related to copper-catalyzed ligation of azides and acetylenes. The rights licensed to us are exclusive as to the People’s Republic of China (excluding Hong Kong), South Korea and Australia, and are non-exclusive in all other countries worldwide, except the member-nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which are not included in the territory of the license. Under the terms of the agreement with TSRI, we paid a one-time only, non-refundable license issue fee in the amount of $350,000 which was charged to research and development expense in the second quarter of 2012. Our rights under the agreement are subject to certain customary rights of the U.S. government that arise or result from TSRI’s receipt of research support from the U.S. government.
17
We are also obligated to pay annual maintenance fees to TSRI in the amount of (i) $50,000 each year for the first three years (beginning on the first anniversary of the agreement), and (ii) $85,000 each year thereafter (beginning on the fourth anniversary of the agreement). Each calendar year’s annual maintenance fees will be credited against sales royalties due under the agreement for such calendar year. Under the terms of the agreement, we must pay TSRI low single-digit percentage royalties on the net sales of the products covered by the TSRI patents for the life of the TSRI patents, a low single-digit percentage of non-royalty sublicensing revenue received with respect to countries in the nonexclusive territory and a mid-single-digit percentage of sublicensing revenue received with respect to countries in the exclusive territory, with the sublicensing revenue royalty in the exclusive territory and the sales royalties subject to certain reductions under certain circumstances. TSRI is eligible to receive milestone payments of up to $1.1 million with respect to regulatory approval in the exclusive territory and first commercial sale, in each of the exclusive territory and nonexclusive territory, of the first licensed product to achieve those milestones that is based upon each macrolide covered by the licensed patents. Each milestone is payable once per each macrolide. Each milestone payment made to TSRI with respect to a particular milestone will be creditable against any payment due to TSRI with respect to any sublicense revenues received in connection with the achievement of such milestone. Pursuant to the terms of the Optimer Agreement, any payments made to TSRI under this license for territories subject to the Optimer Agreement can be deducted from any sales-based royalty payments due under the Optimer Agreement up to a certain percentage reduction of the royalties due to Optimer.
Under the terms of the agreement, we are also required to pay additional fees on royalties, sublicensing and milestone payments if we, an affiliate with TSRI, or a sublicensee challenges the validity or enforceability of any of the patents licensed under the agreement. Such increased payments would be required until all patent claims subject to challenge are invalidated in the particular country where such challenge was mounted.
The term of the license agreement (and the period during which we must pay royalties to TSRI in a particular country for a particular product) will end, on a country-by-country and product-by-product basis, at such time as no patent rights licensed from TSRI cover a particular product in the particular country.
TSRI may terminate the agreement in the event (i) we fail to cure any non-payment or default on our indemnity or insurance obligations, (ii) we declare insolvency or bankruptcy, (iii) if we are convicted of a felony relating to the development, manufacture, use, marketing, distribution or sale of any products licensed under the agreement, (iv) we fail to cure any underreporting or underpayment by a certain amount in any 12-month period, or (v) we fail to cure any default on any other obligation under the agreement. We may terminate the agreement with or without cause upon written notice. In the event of such termination, (i) all licenses granted to us will terminate except in the case of any sublicensee that was not the cause of the termination, is not in default on its obligations under its sublicense, and that pays any unpaid amounts owed by us under the agreement with respect to the sublicense, and (ii) we may complete any work in progress and sell any completed inventory on hand for a period of time after termination.
Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. In May 2013, we entered into an agreement with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or BARDA, for the evaluation and development of solithromycin for the treatment of bacterial infections in pediatric populations and infections caused by bioterror threat pathogens, specifically anthrax and tularemia.
The agreement is a cost plus fixed fee development contract, with a base performance segment valued at approximately $18.7 million, and four option work segments that BARDA may request in its sole discretion. If all four option segments are requested, the cumulative value of the agreement would be approximately $68.2 million and the estimated period of performance would be until approximately May 2018. Three of the options are cost plus fixed fee arrangements, and one option is a cost sharing arrangement for which we are responsible for a designated portion of the costs associated with that work segment. The period of performance for the base performance segment was May 2013 through February 2016.
BARDA exercised the second option in November 2014. The value of the second option work segment is approximately $16.0 million and the estimated period of performance is November 2014 through April 2017. In February 2016, BARDA exercised the third option work segment of the agreement, which is intended to fund a Phase 2/3 study of intravenous, oral capsule and oral suspension formulations of solithromycin in pediatric patients from two months old to 17 years with CABP. This option is a cost sharing arrangement under which BARDA will contribute $25.5 million and we will be responsible for an additional designated portion of the costs associated with the work segment. In September 2016, the contract was modified to increase the third option work segment by $8.0 million for increased manufacturing work related to the development of a second supply source for solithromycin. The amendment raises the value of the third option work segment to approximately $33.5 million. The estimated period of performance of this option work segment runs through May 2018.
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Toyama Chemical Co., Ltd. We have global rights (other than the Association of South East Asian Nations, or ASEAN, countries, which are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) to solithromycin. We have licensed solithromycin to Toyama Chemical Co., Ltd., or Toyama, for development and commercialization in Japan while retaining the rights to the rest of the world. Toyama has successfully completed a Phase 1 trial in healthy Japanese volunteers, a Phase 1 trial to measure solithromycin levels in the upper respiratory tract, and a Phase 2 trial in CABP. In December 2016, Toyama initiated Phase 3 trials in patients infected with CABP and other respiratory infections. Toyama and we are sharing the results of our respective development activities.
In May 2013, we entered into a license agreement with Toyama whereby we licensed to Toyama the exclusive right, with the right to sublicense, to make, use and sell any product in Japan that incorporates solithromycin as its sole API for human therapeutic uses, other than for ophthalmic indications or any condition, disease or affliction of the ophthalmic tissues. Toyama also has a nonexclusive license in Japan and certain other countries, with the right to sublicense, to manufacture or have manufactured API for solithromycin for use in manufacturing such products, subject to limitations and obligations of the concurrently executed supply agreement discussed below. Toyama has granted us certain rights to intellectual property generated by Toyama under the license agreement with respect to solithromycin or licensed products for use with such products outside Japan or with other solithromycin-based products inside or outside Japan.
As consideration for the execution of the license agreement, Toyama paid us an upfront payment of $10.0 million. Toyama is also obligated to pay us up to an aggregate of $60.0 million in milestone payments, depending on the achievement of various regulatory, patent, development and commercial milestones. The first of these milestones was achieved in the third quarter of 2014 for which we received a payment of $10.0 million from Toyama. In March 2015, we recognized a $10.0 million milestone from Toyama based on the Japan Patent Office issuing a Decision of Allowance for our patent covering certain crystal forms of solithromycin in Japan, which payment was received in April 2015. In October 2016, we received a $10.0 million milestone payment when Toyama decided to progress to Phase 3 studies. Under the terms of the license agreement, Toyama must also pay us a royalty equal to a low-to-high first double decimal digit percentage of net sales, subject to downward adjustment in certain circumstances.
The term of the license agreement (and the period during which Toyama must pay royalties under the license agreement) will end, on a product-by-product basis, at the later of: (i) such time as no patent rights under the agreement cover a particular licensed product in Japan; (ii) 15 years after such product is first launched in Japan, or (iii) the first commercial sale in Japan by a third party of a generic equivalent of such licensed product.
Toyama may terminate the license agreement (i) at any time, with or without cause, upon advance notice to us, (ii) upon the occurrence of any serious adverse effect in any human clinical trial of any licensed product that would significantly impact the long term commercial viability of a licensed product in Japan, or (iii) upon our failure to obtain the issuance of certain patents or file for U.S. regulatory approvals by certain dates, or to continue certain key clinical trials. We may terminate the license agreement if Toyama or any of its sublicensees is convicted of a felony relating to the development, manufacture, use, marketing, distribution or sale of a licensed product, or upon Toyama’s failure to (i) initiate certain clinical trials in Japan by certain dates, (ii) obtain regulatory approval in Japan within a certain period of completing certain clinical trials in Japan, (iii) launch and commercialize approved licensed products in Japan within a certain period of approval, (iv) use commercially reasonable efforts to market and sell licensed products, or (v) achieve expected benchmarks for net sales of licensed products. Either party may terminate the license agreement due to the other party’s insolvency or for uncured material breach.
As part of the license agreement, Toyama and we also entered into a supply agreement, whereby we will be the exclusive supplier (with certain limitations) to Toyama and its sublicensees of API for solithromycin for use in licensed products in Japan, as well as the exclusive supplier to Toyama and its sublicensees of finished forms of solithromycin to be used in clinical trials in Japan. Pursuant to the supply agreement, Toyama will pay us for such clinical supply of finished product and all supplies of API for solithromycin for any purpose, other than the manufacture of products for commercial sale in Japan, at prices equal to our costs. All API for solithromycin supplied by us to Toyama for use in the manufacture of finished product for commercial sale in Japan will be ordered from us at prices determined by our manufacturing costs, and which may, depending on such costs, equal, exceed, or be less than such costs. The supply agreement will continue until the expiration or termination of the license agreement. Either party may terminate the supply agreement for an uncured material breach or in the event of insolvency of the other party, with Toyama’s right to terminate for our breach subject to certain further conditions in the case of our failure to supply API for solithromycin or clinical supply.
FUJIFILM Finechemicals Co., Ltd. In January 2016, we entered into a supply agreement with FUJIFILM Finechemicals Co., Ltd., or FFFC, which is intended to provide us with solithromycin in sufficient quantities and at reasonable prices to ensure we meet our obligation to Toyama under the supply agreement. We are subject to a minimum purchase obligation for a designated number of years in the event of the successful completion of a manufacturing facility to be built and validation studies to be conducted by FFFC that could run to $80 million in the aggregate, which expense would be reduced by any supply sold to Toyama. The agreement’s initial
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term runs until December 16, 2025. After the end of the initial term, and at the end of each year thereafter, the term will automatically extend for an additional year unless either party gives written notice to the other of its intent to terminate within a designated period of time prior to the expiration of the term, in which case the agreement will terminate at the end of such term. The parties may at any time terminate the agreement by mutual written consent. Each party has the right to terminate the agreement immediately if there is a product failure, the other party becomes involved in bankruptcy, insolvency or similar proceedings or materially breaches the agreement and such breach remains uncured for a period of time following notice of the breach. A violation by us of the minimum purchase obligation is considered a material breach. A product failure is not considered a material breach by us. We have the right to terminate the agreement upon written notice if there is a supply failure. We also may terminate in the event that FFFC cannot provide us with solithromycin for more than a designated period of time. Upon termination, any unfulfilled binding portion of the forecast must be delivered by FFFC and paid for by us. We also may elect to purchase the remaining inventory of FFFC’s solithromycin and any remaining raw materials. If FFFC terminates the agreement for a material breach by us and, prior to such termination, (i) FFFC has constructed a facility in Japan for the primary purpose of manufacturing API for us under the agreement and (ii) such facility is completed and fully operational and qualified for the manufacture of API for delivery thereunder, then, except to the extent otherwise agreed to by the parties, we may be subject to declining penalties that could aggregate as much as $17.5 million.
Macrolide Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
In January 2016, we entered into an Option and License Agreement with Macrolide Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“MP”), pursuant to which MP granted us an exclusive option to license certain of MP’s patents and know-how involving macrolides, including specifically novel methods of synthesizing solithromycin (the “Compound”). Under the agreement, we will support research at MP focused on developing a novel, cost-competitive manufacturing approach to solithromycin. The option will run until the later to occur of (i) the earlier of (a) the date that we first obtains FDA approval for any product incorporating the Compound as an API, or (b) January 27, 2019, or (ii) the date that is six months after the earlier of (a) MP’s satisfaction of certain milestones, or (b) we terminate of MP’s obligations under the evaluation program. Under the evaluation program called for in the agreement, MP will conduct research activities for the manufacture of the Compound, which activities we will evaluate to determine whether to exercise the option to license.
Upon execution of the agreement, we paid MP a non-refundable, non-creditable initial license fee of $0.4 million. For conducting the evaluation program, we paid MP a non-refundable, non-creditable fee in the amount of $0.4 million. In addition, we will pay MP the expected reasonable, documented, direct compensation-related costs of employees and advisors necessary to conduct MP’s portion of the evaluation program in the aggregate amount of $1.5 million, which we will pay in 18 equal consecutive non-refundable, non-creditable monthly installments of $83,333, beginning with the first monthly anniversary of entry into the agreement. Further, we will pay MP up to an aggregate of $1.0 million upon the satisfaction of certain performance milestones.
If we exercise the option, the license will be exclusive and worldwide (other than Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and for any and all uses in human and non-human animals, and with the right to sublicense. We may, in our discretion, exercise the option for a reduced portion of the territory and, if we make this election, may increase as it wishes within the territory, and as many times as it wishes, provided such increase is made within 60 months of our exercise of the option.
If we exercise the option, we will pay MP a non-refundable, non-creditable license fee of $1.0 million, of which $0.5 million will be paid within 15 business days of exercise, and $0.5 million will be paid in the form of “deemed royalty” payments (up to such amount) equal to a fraction of a percent of net sales of licensed products. We will pay tiered royalties of a fraction of a percent on designated levels of annual net sales of license products. Further, we will pay a non-refundable, non-creditable additional royalty equal to a fraction of a percent on the net sales of licensed products of a designated amount sold by us, our sublicensees, and product partners, but the royalty will not exceed $1.0 million in the aggregate. Royalties will be paid on a country-by-country basis and product-by-product basis until the date on which there are no valid claims of any licensed MP patent covering a product in the applicable country.
If we exercise the option, the agreement’s term will run on a country by country and product by product basis until the date on which there are no valid claims in the licensed MP patents covering a particular product in a particular country.
Manufacturing
We do not own or operate manufacturing facilities for the production of solithromycin, fusidic acid or other product candidates that we might develop, nor do we have plans to develop our own manufacturing operations in the foreseeable future. We currently depend on third-party contract manufacturers for all of our required raw materials, API and finished products for our pre-clinical research and clinical trials. We employ internal resources and third-party consultants to manage our manufacturing contractors.
To date, we have ordered pre-clinical and clinical supplies under short-term contract orders. We do not have long-term contracts for the commercial supply of solithromycin. If solithromycin is approved for treatment of CABP by the FDA, we intend to enter into
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agreements with third-party contract manufacturers for the commercial production of solithromycin. We believe there are a number of qualified manufacturers who could supply clinical and commercial quantities of solithromycin.
Solithromycin API and Oral
We have employed the services of Wockhardt Limited, or Wockhardt, to produce solithromycin API and finished oral product. We have modified our arrangement with Wockhardt, with whom we had entered into an API Manufacturing and Supply Agreement as of January 30, 2013, referred to as the 2013 Agreement. Under the 2013 Agreement, we were obligated to purchase from Wockhardt at least 70% of our total annual purchases of solithromycin in any year for clinical or commercial use in humans. Pursuant to the agreement, we were allowed to develop alternative sources of solithromycin for the other 30% of our annual needs. The 2013 Agreement’s initial term ran until December 31, 2019.
As part of the modification of our arrangement with Wockhardt, in November 2015, we entered into a new three-year API Manufacturing and Supply Agreement, pursuant to which we will submit to Wockhardt a projection of the anticipated volume of solithromycin we will order in each of the next 12 months. The first three months of the forecast are binding and we must order between a certain range of the three-month volume projected. The remainder of our projection is nonbinding and there is no minimum order. Reasonably in advance of placing a purchase order, we will work in good faith with Wockhardt to agree in writing on the purchase price of the solithromycin to be supplied under such order. We have the right to terminate the agreement at any time after we or one of our licensees decides to cease clinical development or sales of solithromycin upon 90 days’ notice to Wockhardt. Due to the lack of any minimum purchase requirement, other than a three-month supply, and due to our ability to terminate the agreement on notice, we believe that our non-cancelable obligations under this agreement are not material. The no minimum purchase requirement, negotiable purchase price and terminable upon notice terms of this agreement are similar to the terms for the other supply sources for API for solithromycin that we have developed to date.
In connection with the entry into the supply agreement with Wockhardt discussed above, we and Wockhardt mutually terminated the 2013 Agreement effective as of November 4, 2015.
In our NDAs, a Wockhardt facility located in Ankleshwar, India, was filed as the manufacturer of the solithromycin API used in the capsule and IV drug product formulations. The facility received an FDA inspection in December of 2015 that resulted in multiple observations regarding the facility’s compliance with current good manufacturing practices, or cGMP. The FDA issued an Import Alert (#66-40) for products from the facility in August 2016 and issued a Warning Letter regarding the facility’s GMP compliance deficiencies in December 2016. In the CRL we received related to our NDAs, the FDA stated that during a recent inspection of the Wockhardt facility, FDA field investigators conveyed deficiencies to representatives of the facility. Satisfactory resolution of these deficiencies is required prior to approval of the NDAs. Wockhardt’s senior management has communicated to Cempra their progress to date in resolving the deficiencies. As Wockhardt works to regain an acceptable cGMP compliance status for the Ankleshwar facility, the technical transfer to an alternate API manufacturing site that meets all technical requirements and compliance expectations is underway. The alternate API manufacturer is the Uquifa facility located in Jiutepec, Mexico.
We had been developing various additional supply sources for the API of solithromycin, including manufacturing activities at Uquifa, which we began in the second quarter of 2014. We have accelerated our API manufacturing activities with Uquifa and expect to provide data from Uquifa in our response to the CRL.
Solithromycin IV
We have employed the services of Hospira to produce our finished solithromycin IV product. In July 2013, we entered into a development and supply agreement with Hospira, whereby Hospira will assist us in the development of a reconstitutable form of solithromycin (in glass vials) for IV administration and will provide our supply of that product for development purposes. If we receive regulatory approval for such form of solithromycin, we will purchase from Hospira at least 80% of our requirements of such product for commercial sale as a human pharmaceutical product in the U.S., the European Union, Canada, Norway and Switzerland (the “Territory”). We will pay one price for clinical supplies of solithromycin and another price for commercial supplies. Beginning in 2014, Hospira may increase the price of the product for commercial use once annually by the increase in Hospira’s manufacture of the product or the annual increase of a specified inflation index. The per unit price of our commercial supply will decrease if we purchase specified volumes in a given year. Additionally, we will pay Hospira certain development fees, with specified amounts becoming payable at defined stages of the development of the product. Each year during which we sell the product, we are required to purchase a specified minimum percentage of our forecasted amount of product required for that year. We must supply Hospira at no cost the active pharmaceutical ingredient for the product. If Hospira fails to supply a specified percentage of product, we may purchase all or a portion of our requirements of the product from an alternative supplier until Hospira remedies the supply failure. Unless earlier terminated, the agreement will remain in effect until the end of the third year after the first commercial sale of the product in the Territory. Thereafter, the agreement will automatically renew for an indefinite period. Beginning one year after the first commercial sale of the product in the Territory, either party may terminate the agreement at will upon 24 months’ notice. Prior to the completion
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of the development of the product or the submission of an application for regulatory approval in the Territory, either party may terminate the development project or the agreement if such party determines the development of intravenous solithromycin under the agreement is not clinically, commercially or technically feasible.
In our NDAs, a Hospira facility in McPherson, Kansas was filed as the manufacturer of the sterile IV drug product vials for Cempra. The facility received an FDA inspection in June of 2016 that resulted in multiple observations regarding the facility’s compliance with cGMP. Hospira recently received a warning letter related to this facility. We would evaluate the results of any potential future re-inspection on this facility to determine our next steps. In the meantime, we are moving forward to qualify another supplier for IV solithromycin. In the CRL we received related to our NDAs, the FDA stated that during a recent inspection of the Hospira facility, FDA field investigators conveyed deficiencies to representatives of the facility. Satisfactory resolution of these deficiencies is required prior to approval of the NDAs. Hospira’s senior management has communicated to Cempra their progress to date in resolving these deficiencies. As Hospira works to regain an acceptable GMP compliance status, we are working to identify an alternative sterile manufacturing site that will meet all technical requirements and compliance expectations.
Fusidic Acid
We have a long term supply arrangement with Ercros, S.A., or Ercros, in Madrid, Spain, in which Ercros agrees to exclusively supply us with fusidic acid in the U.S., and we agree to exclusively obtain our supply of fusidic acid for commercial sale from Ercros, subject to a right to develop a second source for limited supply quantities. The supply agreement with Ercros will continue until at least March 2029, subject to earlier termination for our uncured material breach or our bankruptcy or insolvency. In addition, the exclusivity restrictions on Ercros are subject to termination if we fail to file with the FDA an NDA for the sale of fusidic acid prior to December 31, 2017. We believe Ercros is one of only two currently known manufacturers that can produce fusidic acid compliant with the purity required for human use. Fusidic acid is difficult to produce at the required purity levels because of its complex fermentation process. We believe the only other manufacturer of fusidic acid with sufficient purity is Leo Laboratories, which is using its manufacturing capacity for its own needs. We have yet to identify a viable alternate source of fusidic acid but continue to research alternatives. We intend to utilize a third-party manufacturer to produce the finished dosing formulation of fusidic acid.
Government Regulation and Product Approval
Government authorities in the U.S., at the federal, state and local level, and other countries extensively regulate, among other things, the research, development, testing, manufacture, quality control, approval, labeling, packaging, storage, record keeping, promotion, advertising, distribution, marketing and export and import of products such as those we are developing. Solithromycin, fusidic acid and any other antibiotic product candidate that we develop must be approved by the FDA through the NDA process before they may be legally marketed in the U.S.
U.S. Drug Development Process
In the U.S., the FDA regulates drugs under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA, and implementing regulations. The process of obtaining regulatory approvals and the subsequent compliance with appropriate federal, state, local and foreign statutes and regulations require the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources. Failure to comply with the applicable U.S. requirements at any time during the product development process, approval process or after approval, may subject an applicant to administrative or judicial sanctions. FDA sanctions could include refusal to approve pending applications, withdrawal of an approval, a clinical hold, warning letters, product recalls, product seizures, total or partial suspension of production or distribution injunctions, fines, refusals of government contracts, restitution, disgorgement or civil or criminal penalties. Any agency or judicial enforcement action could have a material adverse effect on us.
The process required by the FDA before a drug may be marketed in the U.S. generally involves the following:
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Completion of pre-clinical laboratory tests, animal studies and formulation studies according to good laboratory practices, or GLP, or other applicable regulations; |
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Submission to the FDA of an investigational new drug application, or IND, which must become effective before human clinical trials may begin; |
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Performance of adequate and well-controlled human clinical trials according to the FDA’s current good clinical practices, or cGCP, to establish the safety and efficacy of the proposed drug for its intended use; |
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Submission to the FDA of an NDA for a new drug; |
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Satisfactory completion of an FDA inspection of the manufacturing facility or facilities where the drug is produced to assess compliance with the FDA’s cGMPs to assure that the facilities, methods and controls are adequate to preserve the drug’s identity, strength, quality and purity; and |
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FDA review and approval of the NDA. |
Each new clinical protocol must be submitted to the FDA review, and to an Institutional Review Board, or IRB, for approval. Protocols detail, among other things, the objectives of the clinical trial, dosing procedures, subject selection and exclusion criteria, and the parameters to be used to monitor subject safety. An IRB is charged with protecting the welfare and rights of study participants and considers such items as whether the risks to individuals participating in the clinical trials are minimized and are reasonable in relation to anticipated benefits. The IRB also approves the informed consent form that must be provided to each clinical trial subject or his or her legal representative and must monitor the clinical trial until completed.
U.S. Review and Approval Processes
The results of product development, pre-clinical studies and clinical trials, along with descriptions of the manufacturing process, analytical tests conducted on the chemistry of the drug, proposed labeling and other relevant information are submitted to the FDA as part of an NDA requesting approval to market the product. The submission of an NDA is subject to the payment of substantial user fees; a waiver of such fees may be obtained under certain limited circumstances.
In addition, under the FDAAA, all NCEs prior to approval are referred to an advisory committee for review, evaluation and recommendation as to whether the application should be approved and under what conditions, unless the Secretary of Health and Human Services provides in the action letter on the drug application a summary of the reasons why it was not referred. An advisory committee is a panel of experts who provide advice and recommendations when requested by the FDA on matters of importance that come before the agency. The FDA is not bound by the recommendation of an advisory committee.
The approval process is lengthy and difficult and the FDA may refuse to approve an NDA if the applicable regulatory criteria are not satisfied or may require additional clinical data or other data and information. Even if such data and information is submitted, the FDA may ultimately decide that the NDA does not satisfy the criteria for approval. Data obtained from clinical trials are not always conclusive and the FDA may interpret data differently than we interpret the same data. The FDA will issue a complete response letter if the agency decides not to approve the NDA in its present form. The complete response letter usually describes all of the specific deficiencies in the NDA identified by the FDA. The deficiencies identified may be minor, for example, requiring labeling changes, or major, for example, requiring additional clinical trials. Additionally, the complete response letter may include recommended actions that the applicant might take to place the application in a condition for approval. If a complete response letter is issued, the applicant may either resubmit the NDA, addressing all of the deficiencies identified in the letter, or withdraw the application.
If a product receives regulatory approval, the approval may be significantly limited to specific diseases and dosages or the indications for use may otherwise be limited, which could restrict the commercial value of the product. Further, the FDA may require that certain contraindications, warnings or precautions be included in the product labeling. In addition, the FDA may require Phase 4 testing which involves post-approval clinical trials designed to further assess a drug safety and effectiveness after NDA approval and may require testing and surveillance programs to monitor the safety of approved products that have been commercialized.
Post-Approval Requirements
Any drug product for which we receive FDA approval will be subject to continuing regulation by the FDA, including, among other things, record keeping requirements, reporting of adverse experiences with the product, providing the FDA with updated safety and efficacy information, product sampling and distribution requirements, cGMP requirements, complying with certain electronic records and signature requirements and complying with FDA promotion and advertising requirements. The FDA strictly regulates labeling, advertising, promotion and other types of information on products that are placed on the market. Drugs may be promoted only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved label. We rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties for the production of clinical and commercial quantities of our products. Drug manufacturers and other entities involved in the manufacture and distribution of approved drugs are required to register their establishments with the FDA and certain state agencies, and are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and certain state agencies for compliance with cGMP and other laws. Future FDA and state inspections may identify compliance issues at the facilities of our contract manufacturers that may disrupt production or distribution, or require substantial resources to correct. In addition, changes to the manufacturing process generally require prior FDA approval before being implemented and other types of changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications and additional labeling claims, are also subject to further FDA review and approval.
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The FDA may withdraw a product approval if compliance with regulatory standards is not maintained or if problems (quality or safety) occur after the product reaches the market. Later discovery of previously unknown quality, safety, or other problems with a product may result in restrictions on the product or even complete withdrawal of the product from the market. Further, the failure to maintain compliance with regulatory requirements may result in administrative or judicial actions, such as fines, warning letters, holds on clinical trials, product recalls or seizures, product detention or refusal to permit the import or export of products, refusal to approve pending applications or supplements, restrictions on marketing or manufacturing, injunctions or civil or criminal penalties.
In addition, from time to time, legislation is drafted, introduced and passed in the U.S. Congress that could significantly change the statutory provisions governing the approval, manufacturing and marketing of products regulated by the FDA. For example, in September 2007, the FDAAA was enacted giving the FDA enhanced post-market authority, including the authority to require post-market studies and clinical trials, labeling changes based on new safety information and compliance with a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy. Failure to comply with any requirements under the new law may result in significant penalties. The law also authorized significant civil money penalties for the dissemination of false or misleading direct-to-consumer advertisements and allows the FDA to require companies to submit direct-to-consumer television drug advertisements for FDA review prior to public dissemination. Additionally, the law expanded the clinical trial registry so that sponsors of all clinical trials, except for Phase 1 clinical trials, are required to submit certain clinical trial information for inclusion in the clinical trial registry data bank. In addition to this legislation, the FDA regulations and policies are often revised or reinterpreted by the agency in ways that may significantly affect our business and our products. It is impossible to predict whether further legislative or FDA regulation or policy changes will be enacted or implemented and what the impact of such changes, if any, may be.
Other U.S. Health Care Laws and Compliance Requirements
In the U.S., our activities are subject to regulation by various federal, state and local authorities in addition to the FDA, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (formerly the Health Care Financing Administration), other divisions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (e.g., the Office of Inspector General), the U.S. Department of Justice and individual U.S. Attorney offices within the Department of Justice, and state and local governments. For example, sales, marketing and scientific/educational grant programs must comply with the anti-fraud and abuse provisions of the Social Security Act, the False Claims Act, the privacy provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, and similar state laws, each as amended. Pricing and rebate programs must comply with the Medicaid rebate requirements of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 and the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992, each as amended. If products are made available to authorized users of the Federal Supply Schedule of the General Services Administration, additional laws and requirements apply. Under the Veterans Health Care Act, or VHCA, drug companies are required to offer certain drugs at a reduced price to a number of federal agencies including U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and U.S. Department of Defense, the Public Health Service and certain private Public Health Service designated entities in order to participate in other federal funding programs including Medicare and Medicaid. Recent legislative changes purport to require that discounted prices be offered for certain U.S. Department of Defense purchases for its TRICARE program via a rebate system. Participation under the VHCA requires submission of pricing data and calculation of discounts and rebates pursuant to complex statutory formulas, as well as the entry into government procurement contracts governed by the Federal Acquisition Regulations.
In order to distribute products commercially, we must comply with state laws that require the registration of manufacturers and wholesale distributors of pharmaceutical products in a state, including, in certain states, manufacturers and distributors who ship products into the state even if such manufacturers or distributors have no place of business within the state. Some states also impose requirements on manufacturers and distributors to establish the pedigree of product in the chain of distribution, including some states that require manufacturers and others to adopt new technology capable of tracking and tracing product as it moves through the distribution chain. Several states have enacted legislation requiring pharmaceutical companies to establish marketing compliance programs, file periodic reports with the state, make periodic public disclosures on sales, marketing, pricing, clinical trials and other activities or register their sales representatives, as well as prohibiting pharmacies and other health care entities from providing certain physician prescribing data to pharmaceutical companies for use in sales and marketing, and prohibiting certain other sales and marketing practices. All of our activities are potentially subject to federal and state consumer protection and unfair competition laws.
Foreign Regulation
In addition to regulations in the U.S., we will be subject to a variety of foreign regulations governing clinical trials and commercial sales and distribution of our products to the extent we choose to sell any products outside of the U.S. Whether or not we obtain FDA approval for a product, we must obtain approval of a product by the comparable regulatory authorities of foreign countries before we can commence clinical trials or marketing of the product in those countries. The approval process varies from country to country and the time may be longer or shorter than that required to obtain FDA approval. The requirements governing the conduct of clinical trials, product licensing, pricing and reimbursement vary greatly from country to country.
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E.U. member states require both regulatory clearances by the national competent authority and a favorable ethics committee opinion prior to the commencement of a clinical trial. Under the E.U. regulatory systems, we may submit marketing authorization applications either under a centralized or decentralized procedure. The centralized procedure, conducted by the EMA, provides for the grant of a single marketing authorization that is valid for all E.U. member states. The centralized procedure is compulsory for medicines produced by certain biotechnological processes, products with a new active substance indicated for the treatment of certain diseases such as neurodegenerative disorder or diabetes and products designated as orphan medicinal products and optional for those products which are highly innovative or for which a centralized process is in the interest of patients. The decentralized procedure of approval provides for approval by one or more other, or concerned, member states of an assessment of an application performed by one-member state, known as the reference member state. Under the decentralized approval procedure, an applicant submits an application, or dossier, and related materials (draft summary of product characteristics, draft labeling and package leaflet) to the reference member state and concerned member states. The reference member state prepares a draft assessment and drafts of the related materials within 120 days after receipt of a valid application. Within 90 days of receiving the reference member state’s assessment report, each concerned member state must decide whether to approve the assessment report and related materials. If a member state cannot approve the assessment report and related materials on the grounds of potential serious risk to public health, the disputed points may eventually be referred to the European Commission, whose decision is binding on all member states.
We presented to and received feedback from several E.U. member countries before submitting our MAA to the EMA. As part of this, our PIP was accepted by the EMA for the suspension formulation of solithromycin to treat CABP in pediatric patients.
Pharmaceutical Coverage, Pricing and Reimbursement
Significant uncertainty exists as to the coverage and reimbursement status of any drug products for which we obtain regulatory approval. In the U.S. and markets in other countries, sales of any products for which we receive regulatory approval for commercial sale will depend considerably on the availability of reimbursement from third-party payors. Third-party payors include government health administrative authorities, managed care providers, private health insurers and other organizations. The process for determining whether a payor will provide coverage for a drug product may be separate from the process for setting the price or reimbursement rate that the payor will pay for the drug product. Third-party payors may limit coverage to specific drug products on an approved list, or formulary, which might not include all of the FDA-approved drugs for a particular indication. Third-party payors are increasingly challenging the price and examining the medical necessity and cost-effectiveness of medical products and services, in addition to their safety and efficacy. We may need to conduct expensive pharmacoeconomic studies in order to demonstrate the medical necessity and cost-effectiveness of our products, in addition to the costs required to obtain FDA approvals. Our products may not be considered medically necessary or cost-effective. A payor’s decision to provide coverage for a drug product does not imply that an adequate reimbursement rate will be approved. Adequate third-party reimbursement may not be available to enable us to maintain price levels sufficient to realize an appropriate return on our investment in product development.
In 2003, the U.S. government enacted legislation providing a prescription drug benefit for Medicare recipients, which became effective at the beginning of 2006. Government payment for some of the costs of prescription drugs may increase demand for any products for which we receive marketing approval. However, to obtain payments under this program, we would be required to sell products to Medicare recipients through prescription drug plans operating pursuant to this legislation. These plans will likely negotiate discounted prices for our products. In March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act became law, which substantially changed the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers. We anticipate that this legislation will result in additional downward pressure on coverage and the price that we receive for any approved product. Federal, state and local governments in the U.S. continue to consider legislation to limit the growth of health care costs, including the cost of prescription drugs. Future legislation could limit payments for pharmaceuticals such as the drug candidates that we are developing.
Different pricing and reimbursement schemes exist in other countries. In the European Community, governments influence the price of pharmaceutical products through their pricing and reimbursement rules and control of national health care systems that fund a large part of the cost of those products to consumers. Some jurisdictions operate positive and negative list systems under which products may only be marketed once a reimbursement price has been agreed. To obtain reimbursement or pricing approval, some of these countries may require the completion of clinical trials that compare the cost-effectiveness of our particular drug products to currently available therapies. Other member states allow companies to fix their own prices for medicines, but monitor and control company profits. The downward pressure on health care costs in general, particularly prescription drugs, has become very intense. As a result, increasingly high barriers are being erected to the entry of new products. In addition, in some countries, cross-border imports from low-priced markets exert a commercial pressure on pricing within a country.
The marketability of any products for which we receive regulatory approval for commercial sale may suffer if the government and third-party payors fail to provide adequate coverage and reimbursement. In addition, an increasing emphasis on managed care in the U.S. has increased and we expect will continue to increase the pressure on pharmaceutical pricing. Coverage policies and third-party reimbursement rates may change at any time. Even if favorable coverage and reimbursement status is attained for one or more
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products for which we receive regulatory approval, less favorable coverage policies and reimbursement rates may be implemented in the future.
Corporate History and Information
We were formed as Cempra Holdings, LLC, a limited liability company under the laws of the State of Delaware, on May 16, 2008. Cempra Holdings, LLC was formed in connection with a reorganization whereby the stockholders of Cempra Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a corporation formed under the laws of the State of Delaware on November 18, 2005, exchanged their shares of Cempra Pharmaceuticals, Inc. stock for shares of Cempra Holdings, LLC, pursuant to a merger of a subsidiary of Cempra Holdings, LLC with and into Cempra Pharmaceuticals, Inc., as a result of which Cempra Pharmaceuticals, Inc. became a wholly owned subsidiary of Cempra Holdings, LLC.
On February 2, 2012, Cempra Holdings, LLC converted from a Delaware limited liability company to a Delaware corporation and was renamed Cempra, Inc. As a result of the corporate conversion, the holders of common shares of Cempra Holdings, LLC became holders of shares of common stock of Cempra, Inc. and the holders of preferred shares of Cempra Holdings, LLC became holders of shares of common stock of Cempra, Inc. Holders of options to purchase common shares of Cempra Holdings, LLC became holders of options to purchase shares of common stock of Cempra, Inc. Holders of notes convertible into preferred shares of Cempra Holdings, LLC and associated warrants exercisable for preferred shares of Cempra Holdings, LLC became holders of shares of common stock and warrants to purchase shares of common stock of Cempra, Inc.
We have two subsidiaries, Cempra Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and CEM-102 Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Our primary executive offices are located at 6320 Quadrangle Drive, Suite 360, Chapel Hill, NC 27517-8149, and our telephone number is (919) 313-6601. Our website address is http://www.cempra.com. The information contained in, or that can be accessed through, our website is not part of this report.
We make available, free of charge through our website, our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and all amendments to those reports as soon as is reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC, but other information on our website is not incorporated into this report. The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains these reports at www.sec.gov. The public may read and copy any materials we file with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549. The public may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330.
Employees
As of February 27, 2017, we had 45 employees. None of our employees is subject to a collective bargaining agreement. We consider our relationship with our employees to be good.
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This report contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed in this report. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed below and elsewhere in this report and in any documents incorporated in this report by reference.
If any of the following risks, or other risks not presently known to us or that we currently believe to not be significant, develop into actual events, then our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects could be materially adversely affected. If that happens, the market price of our common stock could decline, and stockholders may lose all or part of their investment.
Risks Related to our Business
We may change our plans for the development of solithromycin for the treatment of CABP or any of our other drug candidates or any of the indications we are pursuing for our drug candidates.
In late December, the FDA issued a complete response letter, or CRL, to our NDAs for solithromycin for the treatment of CABP. The FDA issues complete response letters to indicate that the review cycle for an application is complete and that the application is not ready for approval in its present form. The FDA determined that the risk of hepatotoxicity of solithromycin had not been adequately characterized. The FDA noted the size of the safety database is limited to 920 patients who received solithromycin at the proposed dose and duration, and is too small to adequately characterize the nature and frequency of serious hepatic adverse effects. To address this deficiency, the FDA is recommending a comparative study to evaluate the safety of solithromycin in patients with CABP. Specifically, the CRL recommends that we consider a study of approximately 9,000 patients exposed to solithromycin to enable exclusion of serious drug induced liver injury, or DILI, events occurring at a rate of approximately 1:3000 with a 95% probability. In addition, the CRL noted that while the FDA reserves comment on the proposed labeling until the NDAs are otherwise adequate, even in the absence of a case of Hy’s Law or of another form of serious DILI in future studies, labeling will need to include adequate information about the potential for hepatotoxicity, limiting use to patients who have limited therapeutic options and limitations regarding duration of therapy. A comprehensive plan for post-marketing safety assessment including an enhanced pharmacovigilance program will also be required. Further, the CRL stated that during recent inspections of the Wockhardt and Hospira manufacturing facilities, the FDA field investigator conveyed deficiencies to representatives of the facilities. Satisfactory resolution of these deficiencies is required prior to approval of the NDAs. Details on these deficiencies were not provided in the CRL.
While we have met with the FDA to obtain more clarity on the findings in the CRL, additional meetings will be required. In addition, the work to address the manufacturing issues could be lengthy and costly and is not within our control. Further, we are assessing the implications of the label warning on the marketability of solithromycin. In light of this, we are still determining the future of our development program for solithromycin. Depending on our resources, as well as any further insight into responding to the CRL and the development plans for solithromycin, including the cost and duration of responding to the CRL, as well as the anticipated market for solithromycin, we may choose to alter, reduce or terminate our development plans for solithromycin.
Given our need to conserve resources, we could change our plans for the other indications we are pursuing for solithromycin or our plans and research and development activities for any of our other product candidates.
Given the uncertainty at this time regarding our development plans for our drug product candidates, the other risks cited in this Section 1A generally do not reflect any possible changes to our current development plans for those product candidates. Consequently, the other risk factors should not be understood to indicate any decision by us to necessarily continue with our current development plans.
We may not realize the expected benefits of our recently initiated cost-saving initiatives.
As a result of the receipt of the CRL and the resulting uncertainty regarding our development plans for solithromycin, reducing costs to conserve our financial resources is a key focus of our management. In late February 2017, we initiated a reduction to our workforce. Personnel reductions were initiated across our entire organization that have resulted in a remaining workforce of 45 full-time employees. The principal objective of the reduction in workforce is to enable us to conserve our financial resources as we determine whether and how to respond to the CRL, as well as determine the future of the other indications we are pursuing for solithromycin and the development programs for our other drug candidates.
We expect to record an aggregate charge related to one-time termination benefits of approximately $3.5 million to be recorded in the first quarter of 2017. If we experience unanticipated inefficiencies or incremental costs in connection with restructuring activities, such as unanticipated inefficiencies or other negative impacts caused by reducing headcount, we may be unable to
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meaningfully realize our expected cost savings and we may incur expenses in excess of what we anticipate. Either of these outcomes could prevent us from meeting our strategic objectives and could adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.
We may undertake additional cost-saving initiatives, but there is a risk that we might not achieve the desired savings and efficiencies with any future initiatives. Further, the termination of any program we currently are pursuing could result in termination fees and other fixed costs that could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations and financial condition.
Our efforts to explore external late-stage assets and other potential strategic business opportunities to determine the best use of our resources and clinical programs to deliver value to patients and shareholders may not result in any definitive transaction or deliver the expected benefits, and may create a distraction for our management and uncertainty that may adversely affect our operating results and business.
In February 2017, as a consequence of the solithromycin CRL we received, and subsequent discussions with the FDA, resulting in the delay of the potential approval of solithromycin, we initiated companywide cost and personnel reductions. The principal objective of the reductions is to enable us to conserve our financial resources as we evaluate our path forward on our existing pipeline and potential business development opportunities. No timetable has been set for completion of this evaluation process, and there can be no assurance that any transaction will result. Strategic alternatives we may pursue could include, but are not limited to, joint ventures or partnering or other collaboration agreements, licensing arrangements, or another transaction intended to maximize shareholder value, such as a merger, a sale of our company or some or all of its assets, or another strategic transaction. There can be no assurance that the exploration of strategic alternatives will result in any agreements or transactions, or that, if completed, any agreements or transactions will be successful or on attractive terms.
There are various uncertainties and risks relating to our evaluation and negotiation of possible strategic alternatives and our ability to consummate a definitive transaction, including:
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expected benefits may not be successfully achieved; |
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evaluation and negotiation of a proposed transaction may distract management from focusing our time and resources on our current operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and business; |
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the process of evaluating proposed transactions may be time consuming and expensive and may result in the loss of business opportunities; |
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perceived uncertainties as to our future direction may result in increased difficulties in retaining key employees, particularly senior management; |
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even if we negotiate a definitive agreement, successful integration or execution of the strategic alternative will be subject to additional risks; |
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the current market price of our common stock may reflect a market assumption that a transaction will occur, and during the period in which we are considering a transaction, the market price of our common stock could be highly volatile; and |
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a failure to complete a transaction could result in a negative perception by investors of our company generally and could cause a decline in the market price of our common stock, as well as lead to greater volatility in the market price of our common stock, all of which could adversely affect our ability to access the equity and financial markets, as well as our ability to explore and enter into different strategic alternatives. |
We may not reduce our operating expenses as much as planned, which could negatively impact our cost-saving initiatives.
As part of our recently enacted corporate restructuring, we intend to reduce our research and corporate expenses while we determine whether and how to respond to the CRL, as well as determine the future of the other indications we are pursuing for solithromycin and the development programs for our other drug candidates, and consider potential business development opportunities. We might not be successful in reducing these expenses as much as we plan or to any significant degree, which could prevent us from meeting our strategic objectives and have a material adverse impact on our results of operations and financial condition.
We have incurred significant operating losses since inception and anticipate that we will incur continued losses for the foreseeable future.
As of December 31, 2016, we had an accumulated deficit of approximately $437.0 million. We have no product revenues, but do have revenue from contract research and upfront and milestone fees paid in connection with a license agreement. We have funded our operations to date from the private sale of equity and debt, our IPO and public offerings of our common stock. We expect to incur substantial additional losses over at least the next few years as we pursue our research, development, pre-clinical testing, clinical trial and commercialization activities, especially those related to solithromycin, especially to address the CRL, and fusidic acid, and we expect these losses to continue for a period of time until the approval of and any resulting launch of solithromycin, if any. In addition,
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we also expect to incur additional costs operating as a public company. The amount of future losses and when, if ever, we will achieve profitability are uncertain.
If we are unable to commercialize solithromycin for the treatment of CABP or experience significant delays in doing so, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be materially adversely affected.
Our ability to generate product revenues from our main product candidate solithromycin for the treatment of CABP will depend heavily on the successful development and eventual commercialization of solithromycin for such indication, if approved.
In May 2016, we announced the completion of the NDAs for solithromycin for the treatment of CABP. In late December 2016, the FDA issued a Complete Response Letter, or CRL, to our NDAs for solithromycin for the treatment of CABP. The FDA issues complete response letters to indicate that the review cycle for an application is complete and that the application is not ready for approval in its present form. The FDA determined that the risk of hepatotoxicity had not been adequately characterized. The FDA noted the size of the safety database is limited to 920 patients who received solithromycin at the proposed dose and duration, and is too small to adequately characterize the nature and frequency of serious hepatic adverse effects. To address this deficiency, the FDA is recommending a comparative study to evaluate the safety of solithromycin in patients with CABP. Specifically, the CRL recommends that we consider a study of approximately 9,000 patients exposed to solithromycin to enable exclusion of serious drug induced liver injury, or DILI, events occurring at a rate of approximately 1:3000 with a 95% probability.
In addition, the CRL noted that while the FDA reserves comment on the proposed labeling until the NDAs are otherwise adequate, even in the absence of a case of Hy’s Law or of another form of serious DILI in future studies, labeling will need to include adequate information about the potential for hepatotoxicity, limiting use to patients who have limited therapeutic options and limitations regarding duration of therapy. A comprehensive plan for post-marketing safety assessment including an enhanced pharmacovigilance program will also be required.
Further, the CRL stated that during recent inspections of the Wockhardt and Hospira manufacturing facilities, the FDA field investigator conveyed deficiencies to representatives of the facilities. Satisfactory resolution of these deficiencies is required prior to approval of the NDAs.
While we have met and expect to continue dialogue with the FDA to discuss the CRL and are working to address the issues raised in the CRL, approval of our NDAs may not be received for a number of reasons, including the following:
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we may not prove the safety of solithromycin if there is a higher rate of DILI events than that set out in the CRL; |
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our third party manufacturers may not provide proper manufacturing capabilities that meet regulatory approval; and |
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the FDA could raise other issues not set out in the CRL. |
Our MAA for solithromycin for the treatment of CABP remains under review in the EU. If the MAA is not approved by the EMA, we will not receive marketing authorization for solithromycin in the EU and will be unable to sell solithromycin in the EU.
If our current applications for marketing approval in the U.S. and the EU are denied, we may need to conduct additional clinical trials at significant delay and cost or abandon development of solithromycin altogether. The failure to achieve regulatory approval of solithromycin for the treatment of CABP could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Even if we receive regulatory approval, any required post-marketing safety studies may fail to demonstrate safety, the labeling approved by the FDA may be so onerous as to prevent doctor and patient acceptance of solithromycin or other issues may arise with the administration, marketing or manufacture of solithromycin that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our planned commercialization of solithromycin for the treatment of CABP could be delayed or denied if our third party manufacturers do not meet regulatory requirements.
Each component of our planned solithromycin products, both the oral and intravenous formulations that are the subjects of our NDAs for the treatment of CABP on file with both the FDA and the EMA, as well as the manufacturer of each component, must meet all applicable regulatory requirements in order to receive regulatory approval as well as maintain regulatory compliance after approval. This occurred in 2016 when the FDA imposed an import restriction on a Wockhardt facility in India that manufactures solithromycin for us and the FDA cited in the CRL that there were deficiencies at the Wockhardt and Hospira facilities regarding their compliance with cGMP.
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In the future, any of the following could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects:
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If any manufacturer we employ for the production of solithromycin cannot successfully manufacture material that conforms to our specifications and the strict regulatory requirements of the FDA, in which event we would not receive approval from the FDA for solithromycin for the treatment of CABP; |
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Even if our manufacturers are successful in ultimately meeting FDA requirements for our NDAs, compliance issues that arise prior to receipt of approval of the NDAs could cause significant and expensive delays prior to receiving approval; |
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A delay in receiving approval of the NDAs could negatively impact any pre-launch activities for solithromycin; |
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If approval is received, the failure of our third party manufacturers to continue to meet applicable regulatory requirements could result in the loss of those manufacturing sources, which could cause shortages of commercial product. |
These same risks apply to our current application to the EMA for solithromycin for the treatment of CABP.
We are heavily dependent on the success of solithromycin and, to a lesser extent, fusidic acid, which are still under clinical development. The FDA and foreign regulatory approval process is lengthy, time consuming and inherently unpredictable and if we are ultimately unable to obtain regulatory approval for solithromycin or fusidic acid our business will be substantially harmed.
We have no products that have been approved for sale. We cannot commercialize, market, or sell solithromycin or fusidic acid in the U.S. without FDA approval. FDA approval for either product, if received, is at least one year away. To commercialize solithromycin outside of the U.S., we would need applicable foreign regulatory approval, for which we have submitted an MAA to the EMA. The clinical development of solithromycin and fusidic acid for any indication is susceptible to the risk of failure inherent in any stage of drug development, including failure to achieve efficacy across a broad population of patients, the occurrence of severe adverse events and the FDA or any applicable foreign regulatory authority determining that a drug product is not approvable.
The process required to obtain approval for commercialization from the FDA and similar foreign authorities is unpredictable, and typically takes many years following the commencement of clinical trials depending on numerous factors. In addition, approval policies, regulations, or the type and amount of clinical data necessary to obtain regulatory approval may change during the course of a product’s clinical development. We may fail to obtain regulatory approval for solithromycin, fusidic acid or any other product candidates for many reasons, including the following:
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we may not be able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities that a product candidate is safe and effective for any indication; |
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the results of clinical trials may not meet the level of statistical significance required by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities for approval, and/or the FDA may require additional, expensive trials; |
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we may not be able to demonstrate that a product candidate’s clinical and other benefits outweigh its safety risks; |
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we may not be able to demonstrate that a product candidate is non-inferior or superior to the current standard of care, future competitive therapies in development, or over placebo in any indications for which the FDA requires a placebo-controlled trial; |
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the data collected from clinical trials of any product candidates that we develop may not be sufficient to support the submission of a new drug application, or NDA, or other submission or to obtain regulatory approval in the U.S. or elsewhere; |
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the approval policies or regulations of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may significantly change in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval; |
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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with the design or implementation of our clinical trials; |
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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with our interpretation of data from pre-clinical studies or clinical trials; |
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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may not accept data generated at our clinical trial sites; |
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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may fail to approve the clinical practices of the third-party clinical research organizations, or CROs, we use for clinical trials; and |
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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may fail to approve the manufacturing processes or facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we or our collaborators enter into agreements for clinical and commercial supplies. |
This lengthy approval process as well as the unpredictability of future clinical trial results may prevent us from obtaining regulatory approval to market solithromycin, fusidic acid or any future product candidates for any indication, which would significantly harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Clinical trials involve a lengthy and expensive process with an uncertain outcome, and results of earlier studies and trials may not be predictive of future trial results.
Clinical testing is expensive, can take many years to complete and its outcome is highly uncertain. Failure can occur at any time during the clinical trial process due to inadequate performance of a drug or inadequate adherence by patients or investigators to clinical trial protocols. Pursuant to FDA guidelines, new drugs must show non-inferiority or superiority to existing approved treatments. We conducted our solithromycin for CABP clinical trials pursuant to proposed guidelines published by the FDA. While we believed we had completed all the clinical trials necessary to support the NDA for solithromycin for CABP and have a sufficient database of both efficacy and safety, the FDA disagreed with our assessment and is requiring additional clinical data to support approval, specifically lack of liver toxicity. This has added to the duration and cost of the development of solithromycin for CABP, and the liver toxicity trial could take longer and be more expensive than we currently estimate. Any additional trials, for whatever reason, would add to the time and cost of solithromycin’s development. We face these same risks with any other indication we are pursuing for solithromycin as well as for our other product candidates.
In addition, the results of pre-clinical studies and early clinical trials of product candidates may not be predictive of the results of later-stage clinical trials. For example, the positive results of our Phase 3 trial for fusidic acid for the treatment of ABSSSI that we announced in late February 2017 may not be repeated in subsequent trials. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, including those with greater resources and experience than us, have suffered significant setbacks in Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials despite achieving successful results in earlier stage trials. The failure to obtain positive results in any of our Phase 2 or Phase 3 clinical trials could seriously impair the development prospects, and even prevent regulatory approval, of solithromycin or fusidic acid or any candidate in our existing proprietary macrolide library. Even with positive clinical trial results, there is risk that regulators will not accept the clinical trial findings or will require additional trials or other data, as we recently experienced with the CRL for solithromycin as a treatment for CABP.
Further, regulatory approvals in foreign countries are subject to risks associated with different regulatory requirements, including clinical trial guidance, and regulatory schemes, including, for example, multiple country regulation within the European Union. As a result, clinical trial results and other regulatory processes undertaken by us within the U.S. may not be accepted in foreign countries, which would add to the cost and time to develop our product candidates in foreign countries.
We have no experience as a company in bringing a drug to regulatory approval or to the market.
As a company, we have never obtained regulatory approval for, or commercialized, a drug. It is possible that the FDA may refuse to accept any or all of our planned NDAs for substantive review or may conclude after review of our data that our application is insufficient to obtain regulatory approval of solithromycin, fusidic acid or any future product candidates, as it did in issuing the CRL for our NDAs for solithromycin for the treatment of CABP in December 2016. As with the CRL, if the FDA does not accept or approve any or all of our future NDAs, it may require that we conduct additional clinical, pre-clinical or manufacturing validation studies, which may be time-consuming and costly, and submit that data before it will reconsider our applications. Depending on the extent of these or any other FDA required studies, approval of any NDA or application that we submit may be significantly delayed, possibly for several years, or may require us to expend more resources than we have planned or have available. We estimate that we will not be able to complete a response to the CRL until the second half of 2017 at the earliest. Any delay in obtaining, or an inability to obtain, regulatory approvals would prevent us from commercializing solithromycin for CABP or any other indication or fusidic acid, generating revenues and achieving and sustaining profitability. It is also possible that additional studies, if performed and completed, may not be considered sufficient by the FDA to approve any NDA we submit, including our current NDAs for solithromycin for CABP. If any of these outcomes occur, we may be forced to abandon our current and any future NDAs for either solithromycin or fusidic acid or both, which would materially adversely affect our business and could potentially cause us to cease operations. We face similar risks for any approval in a foreign jurisdiction.
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We might not successfully differentiate solithromycin from telithromycin (Ketek®), a macrolide found to cause severe side effects, including liver failure.
Ketek is a macrolide antibiotic that the FDA approved in 2004 for the treatment of multi-drug resistant pneumococci and other CABP bacteria. Soon after release, however, Ketek was found to cause reversible visual disturbances, exacerbate myasthenia gravis (a neurological disorder characterized by improper muscle regulation) and cause liver failure. These effects led the FDA to require the drug label for Ketek to include a strengthened warning section regarding specific drug-related adverse events and contributed to Ketek being withdrawn in 2007 for the treatment of all infections other than CABP. Through ongoing research, we have developed multiple ways to differentiate solithromycin from Ketek. Our research suggests these side effects may be caused by the pyridine moiety, which forms a part of the structure of Ketek. We have demonstrated that pyridine inhibits the action of nicotinic acid acetylcholine receptors that could result in the side effects caused by Ketek. Solithromycin and older generation macrolides, including azithromycin and clarithromycin, that have been widely marketed do not have a pyridine component.
Because of the Ketek experience, we believe solithromycin, which is a macrolide, was carefully scrutinized by the FDA as part of its review of our NDAs for solithromycin as a treatment for CABP. Another ketolide, cethromycin (Restanza) that is being developed by Advanced Life Sciences, received a complete response letter from the FDA in 2009, and it appears that development of the drug has not continued. The FDA attributed its rejection to the company’s trial design, which enrolled patients with less severe CABP and was conducted prior to the release of the FDA’s updated trial design guidance. Also, the FDA placed a partial clinical hold on one of our Phase 1 clinical trials for oral solithromycin over concern about possible toxicity related to solithromycin, and subsequently converted the partial clinical hold into a full clinical hold in April 2010. At the time, the FDA had concerns that solithromycin, as a fluoroketolide, may have similar toxicity issues as Ketek. While we addressed the FDA’s concerns and were allowed to proceed with the trial, which we successfully completed, we believe that the clinical hold indicates the scrutiny that the FDA applied to our NDAs for solithromycin due to the Ketek experience.
If our prior research is proven to be incorrect or if in a study of liver toxicity in response to the CRL or in other research solithromycin demonstrates similar side effects to Ketek or poses high risk of liver injury or any other SAE, the FDA might not approve solithromycin. Even if we receive approval and future studies show no adverse events, the CRL stated the FDA will require a warning on the label (as stated in the CRL) and might withdraw approval, require us to conduct additional clinical trials, or require additional warnings on product labeling, which could limit the available market for solithromycin, any of which would significantly harm our ability to generate revenues from solithromycin.
Even if the FDA approves solithromycin, physicians may not be convinced that solithromycin is a safe and effective treatment for CABP and other infections, especially with a label warning that the CRL stated will be required. If physicians believe solithromycin demonstrates characteristics similar to Ketek or poses other unacceptably high risks, they might not prescribe solithromycin, which would negatively affect our revenues.
The results of any ongoing or future study or trial involving solithromycin, if negative, could have an adverse effect on FDA and other regulatory approval of solithromycin as a treatment for CABP as well our commercialization efforts for solithromycin and market acceptance of the same.
If the results of any of our ongoing or future studies of solithromycin should be negative, it could have an adverse effect on the planned NDA and potential approval of solithromycin as a treatment for CABP, including a delay in or lack of approval, which was the case with our NDAs for solithromycin for CABP. If after approval were received, negative results in any study or trial of solithromycin could have a negative effect on our commercialization and market acceptance of solithromycin, including downward pressure on pricing.
Our dependence upon third parties for the manufacture and supply of solithromycin, fusidic acid and any future product candidates may cause delays in, or prevent us from, successfully developing and commercializing our products.
We do not currently have nor do we plan to build the infrastructure or capability internally to manufacture solithromycin or fusidic acid for use in the conduct of our clinical trials or for commercial supply. We have contracted with companies in India, Japan and North America to provide commercial supplies of solithromycin. Similarly, in July 2013, we contracted with Hospira Worldwide, Inc., or Hospira (now owned by Pfizer), to provide us with clinical and commercial supplies of the intravenous form of solithromycin. Under the terms of the agreement, if Hospira fails to supply a specified percentage of product to us, we may seek an alternate supplier. We aim to have several sources of oral and IV solithromycin in several locations worldwide and to that end we are working on developing at least one additional manufacturing source in North America for IV solithromycin. However, if any of these entities were unable to provide our needed supply of oral or intravenous solithromycin, we may not be able to negotiate an agreement with another source on acceptable terms or in a timely fashion, if at all.
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In addition, regulatory requirements could pose barriers to the manufacture of our API and finished product for solithromycin and Fusidic acid. Our third-party manufacturers are required to comply with the FDA’s current good manufacturing practices, or cGMP, regulations. As a result, the facilities used by any of our current and future manufacturers to manufacture solithromycin and fusidic acid must be approved by the FDA after we submit an NDA to the FDA and before approval of solithromycin and fusidic acid. Similar regulations apply to manufacturers of our products for use or sale in foreign countries. We do not control the manufacturing process of solithromycin or fusidic acid and are completely dependent on these third-party manufacturing partners for compliance with the applicable regulatory requirements for the manufacture of solithromycin and fusidic acid API and their finished product. If our manufacturers cannot successfully manufacture material that conforms to our specifications and the strict regulatory requirements of the FDA and any applicable foreign regulatory authority, they will not be able to secure the applicable approval for their manufacturing facilities. If these facilities are unable to comply with the FDA’s cGMP requirements, or otherwise are not approved for the commercial manufacture of solithromycin or fusidic acid, we may need to find alternative manufacturing facilities, which would result in significant delays of up to several years in obtaining approval for solithromycin or fusidic acid. In addition, our manufacturers will be subject to ongoing periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and corresponding state and foreign agencies for compliance with cGMPs and similar regulatory requirements. Failure by any of our manufacturers to comply with applicable cGMP regulations could result in sanctions being imposed on us, including fines, injunctions, civil penalties, delays, suspensions or withdrawals of approvals, operating restrictions, interruptions in supply, and criminal prosecutions, any of which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects.
As part of its review of our NDAs for solithromycin for CABP, the FDA evaluated the CMC section of those NDAs. The FDA placed an import alert on a Wockhardt manufacturing facility in August 2016, several months after our NDAs had been submitted and accepted for review by the FDA. The FDA’s concerns with Wockhardt’s operations and facilities are related to the GMP quality systems at Wockhardt. In the CRL issued by the FDA on our NDAs, the FDA stated that during recent inspections of the Wockhardt and Hospira manufacturing facilities, the FDA field investigator conveyed deficiencies to representatives of the facilities. Satisfactory resolution of these deficiencies is required prior to approval of the NDAs. Details on these deficiencies were not provided in the CRL. In December 2016, the FDA issued a warning letter to Wockhardt regarding cGMP compliance deficiencies at their Ankleshwar facility. There can be no assurance if or when Wockhardt will be able to resolve these issues.
Similarly, one of two facilities in India at which Wockhardt produced capsules of solithromycin for clinical trials, was audited by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, or MHRA, the regulatory agency of Great Britain, which took issue with Wockhardt’s practices at the plant and as a result the capsules of solithromycin produced at that plant could not be imported into Europe for use in our Phase 3 clinical trial. We had some capsules on hand and also produced new capsules, but the incident caused a several month delay in having drug available for our Phase 3 oral solithromycin trials in Europe, which, however, was planned to be in advance of the onset of flu season in Europe so the delay had minimal impact on the trial timeline. However, similar experiences could occur with more significant impact on our development program or commercialization of solithromycin.
As part of our earlier commercialization plans for the anticipated demand for solithromycin for the treatment of CABP, we have been developing various additional supply sources for the API of solithromycin. This includes manufacturing activities at Uquifa in Jiutepec, Mexico, which we began in the second quarter of 2014. We have accelerated our API manufacturing activities with Uquifa and expect to provide data from Uquifa to the FDA to address the issues noted in the CRL related to manufacturing. However, as we experienced, the issues cited by the FDA at the Wockhardt facility adversely affected our NDAs and similar issues, if experienced, could have similar consequences on any future applications.
We employ the services of Ercros S.A., or Ercros, to produce fusidic acid’s API and intend to utilize a third-party manufacturer to produce the finished dosing formulation of fusidic acid. We have a long-term exclusive supply arrangement with Ercros to produce the fusidic acid we need in which Ercros agrees to exclusively supply us with fusidic acid in the U.S., and we agree to obtain our supply of fusidic acid for commercial sale exclusively from Ercros, subject to a right to develop a second source for limited supply quantities. We believe Ercros is one of only two currently known manufacturers that can produce fusidic acid compliant with the purity required for human use. The second manufacturer is not available as a supplier to us. Fusidic acid is difficult to produce at the required purity levels because of its complex fermentation process. As such, there are underlying risks associated with its manufacture, which could include cost overruns, new impurities, difficulties in scaling up or reproducing manufacturing processes and lack of timely availability of raw materials. We have yet to identify a viable second source of fusidic acid but continue to research alternatives. If Ercros cannot supply sufficient quantities of fusidic acid to make clinical supplies, it would harm our ability to develop fusidic acid. We may not be able to locate a second manufacturer or, if we do, we may not be able to negotiate an agreement on favorable terms, if at all. On June 20, 2012, the FDA issued a Warning Letter to Ercros, citing cGMP violations at the Ercros facility that manufactures the API for fusidic acid. Although some of the alleged violations may be related to products other than fusidic acid, the FDA’s issuance of a Warning Letter signifies FDA concerns with cGMP compliance at the Ercros facility. We believe Ercros is actively working with FDA to resolve these issues. However, if Ercros is unable to satisfactorily address the FDA’s concerns in a timely manner, the FDA may take further enforcement actions that could significantly jeopardize our supply of fusidic acid API for use in clinical trials or later commercialization. For example, the FDA might issue an import alert, which could preclude us from importing
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fusidic acid API manufactured at the Ercros facility. Particularly in light of the unavailability of alternative suppliers for fusidic acid API, this could significantly impact our ability to develop and commercialize fusidic acid.
Finally, we also could experience manufacturing delays if our third-party manufacturers give greater priority to the supply of other products over our product candidates or otherwise do not satisfactorily perform according to the terms of the agreement between us. If Hospira, Ercros, or any alternate supplier of API or finished drug product for solithromycin or fusidic acid experiences any significant difficulties in its respective manufacturing processes, does not comply with the terms of the agreement between us or does not devote sufficient time, energy and care to providing our manufacturing needs, we could experience significant interruptions in the supply of solithromycin or fusidic acid, which could impair our ability to supply solithromycin or fusidic acid at the levels required for our clinical trials and commercialization, if approved, and prevent or delay their successful development and commercialization.
In addition, our reliance on foreign suppliers poses risks due to possible shipping delays, import restrictions and foreign regulatory regimes. Finally, any manufacturing facility is at risk of natural or man-made disaster, which could significantly reduce our clinical and commercial supplies of drug product.
These same risks apply to procuring comparator API or other comparator supplies needed for clinical trials in which we may compare our product candidates to currently approved drugs.
If we fail to obtain additional financing, we may not be able to complete the development and commercialization of solithromycin or fusidic acid.
We need substantial amounts of cash to complete the clinical development and commercialization of solithromycin and fusidic acid, especially to address the issues raised in the CRL and, if approved by the FDA, the commercial launch of solithromycin for CABP. Prior to the receipt of the CRL, and in conjunction with completing the second of two pivotal clinical trials and the submission of our NDAs for solithromycin for the treatment of CABP during the fourth quarter of 2015, and throughout the majority of 2016 we engaged in certain additional clinical and commercial activities, and accelerated others, including building inventory of solithromycin in preparation for commercial launch in the U.S. (which prior to approval is expensed as research and development expense in accordance with GAAP) and supporting certain investigator-led studies of solithromycin in additional indications. In addition, in 2016 we began to engage in additional sales and marketing preparation activities focused on solithromycin for the treatment of CABP, including hiring additional commercial management personnel, engaging in pricing research and other market research, and began building our specialty antibiotic sales force.
As a consequence of the solithromycin complete response letter received, and subsequent discussions with the FDA, resulting in a delay of the potential approval of solithromycin, we recently initiated companywide cost and personnel reductions. These actions have resulted in an approximately 67% reduction in our workforce from 136 to 45 employees, and significant reductions in external spending related to commercial preparedness and non-essential activities. The principal objective of the reductions is to enable us to conserve our financial resources as we evaluate the best path forward with our existing pipeline and potential business development opportunities.
Based on current assumptions, we believe that our existing cash and equivalents will enable us to fund our current operating expenses and capital requirements for at least the next 12 months from the filing date of this report. Such operating and capital requirements do not contemplate incremental expenses associated with a full scale commercial launch of solithromycin or any additional clinical trials with any of our product candidates. However, we have based our estimates on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we may use our available capital resources sooner than we currently expect. Moreover, changing circumstances may cause us to consume capital significantly faster than we currently anticipate, and we may need to spend more money than currently expected because of circumstances beyond our control. For example, our clinical trials may encounter technical, enrollment or other issues that could cause our development costs to increase more than we expect and we may be required to conduct additional trials requested by the FDA that could increase our costs significantly. We would also need to raise additional funds sooner if we choose to initiate clinical trials more rapidly than we presently anticipate or if we elect to conduct additional trials for alternate indications. In any event, the costs to develop and launch solithromycin and to develop fusidic acid will be significant and we will need to raise additional capital to execute a safety study for solithroymycin and to support any development for other indications for solithromycin, as well as to continue development activities to obtain regulatory approval of and to commercialize fusidic acid.
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We may raise additional capital from the issuance of equity and/or debt securities, collaborations with third parties, out-licensing of rights to our product candidates and other means, or a combination of any of the above. Securing additional financing, however, will require a substantial amount of time and attention from our management and may divert a disproportionate amount of their attention away from our day-to-day activities, which may adversely affect our management’s ability to conduct our day-to-day operations. In addition, we cannot guarantee that future financing will be available in sufficient amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all. If we are unable to raise additional capital when required or on acceptable terms, we may be required to:
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significantly delay, scale back or discontinue the development or commercialization of solithromycin and/or fusidic acid; |
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seek collaborators for solithromycin and/or fusidic acid at an earlier stage than otherwise would be desirable or on terms that are less favorable than might otherwise be available; and |
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relinquish or license, potentially on unfavorable terms, our rights to solithromycin and/or fusidic acid that we otherwise would seek to develop or commercialize ourselves. |
If we are unable to raise additional capital in sufficient amounts or on terms acceptable to us, we will be prevented from pursuing discovery, development and commercialization efforts, and our ability to generate revenues and achieve or sustain profitability will be substantially harmed.
The commercial success of solithromycin, fusidic acid and any other product candidates that we develop, if approved in the future, will depend upon attaining significant market acceptance of these products among physicians and payors.
As a company, we have never commercialized a product candidate for any indication. Even if solithromycin, fusidic acid or any other product candidate that we develop is approved by the appropriate regulatory authorities for marketing and sale, physicians may not prescribe our approved products, which would prevent us from generating revenues or becoming profitable. Efforts to educate the medical community and third party payors on the benefits of our product candidates may require significant resources and may not be successful. If a product candidate is approved but does not achieve an adequate level of market acceptance, we may not generate significant revenues and we may not become profitable. Market acceptance of solithromycin, fusidic acid and any other product candidates that we develop by physicians, patients and payors will depend on a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, including:
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the clinical indications for which the product is approved; |
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acceptance by physicians and payors of each product as a safe and effective treatment; |
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limitations or warnings contained in a product’s FDA-approved labeling, as will be the case if solithromycin is approved for CABP; |
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prevalence and severity of adverse side effects; |
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the cost of treatment in relation to alternative treatments, including numerous generic drug products, such as azithromycin, levofloxacin and vancomycin; |
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the relative convenience and ease of administration of solithromycin in the treatment of CABP and fusidic acid in the treatment of ABSSSI and/or refractory bone and joint infections; |
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the availability and efficacy of competitive drugs; |
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our ability to recruit and retain a sales force, if necessary; |
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the effectiveness of our or any third-party partner’s sales force and marketing efforts; |
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our ability to forecast demand and maintain sufficient supplies of our drug products; |
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our ability to manufacture or obtain commercial quantities of our drug products; |
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the strength of our sales and marketing and distribution support; |
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the effectiveness of our marketing and advertising campaigns; |
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our ability to deliver our products on a timely basis; |
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the extent to which bacteria develop resistance to any antibiotic product candidate that we develop, thereby limiting its efficacy in treating or managing infections; |
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our ability to establish and maintain pricing sufficient to realize a meaningful return on our investment; |
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the extent to which the product is approved for inclusion on formularies of hospitals and managed care organizations; |
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whether the product is designated under physician treatment guidelines as a first-line therapy or as a second- or third-line therapy for particular infections; |
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the availability of adequate reimbursement by third parties, such as insurance companies and other health care payors, and/or by government health care programs, including Medicare and Medicaid; |
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adverse publicity about a product or favorable publicity about competitive products; and |
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potential product liability claims. |
Even if the medical community accepts that solithromycin and fusidic acid are safe and efficacious for their approved indications, physicians may not immediately be receptive to the use or may be slow to adopt solithromycin as an accepted treatment for CABP and fusidic acid as an accepted treatment for ABSSSI and/or bone and joint infections. While we believe each of solithromycin and fusidic acid has significant advantages, we cannot assure you that any labeling approved by the FDA will permit us to promote solithromycin or fusidic acid as being safe or superior to competing products. If either or both of solithromycin or fusidic acid are approved but do not achieve an adequate level of acceptance by physicians and payors, we may not generate sufficient or any revenues from these products and we may not become profitable. In addition, our efforts to educate the medical community and third-party payors on the benefits of solithromycin and fusidic acid may require significant resources and may never be successful.
The successful commercialization of our product candidates will depend on the pricing we are able to achieve for our product candidates, both inside and outside the U.S.
Our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates will be dependent on whether we can obtain adequate pricing for any particular product candidate. Pricing may be substantially dependent on our ability to obtain reimbursement from third party payors, both in the U.S. and in foreign countries. Outside the U.S., certain countries, including a number of European Union members, set prices and reimbursement for pharmaceutical products, or medicinal products as they are commonly referred to in the E.U., with limited participation from those marketing the products. We cannot be sure that any prices and reimbursement will be acceptable to us or our strategic commercial partners. If the regulatory authorities in these foreign jurisdictions set prices or reimbursement that are not commercially attractive for us or our strategic commercial partners, our revenues from sales by us or our collaborators, and the potential profitability of our product candidates, in those countries would be negatively affected. Further, through contractual or other arrangements, the price we may be able to obtain in foreign countries may be dependent on the price we can achieve in the U.S.
Our estimates of the market for and commercialization of solithromycin as a treatment for CABP or for any other product candidate may be inaccurate or vary significantly over the potential market size.
The potential market opportunities for solithromycin and any other product candidate are difficult to estimate precisely. Our estimates of the potential market opportunities are predicated on many assumptions, including industry knowledge and publications, third party research reports and other surveys. While we believe that our internal assumptions are reasonable, these assumptions involve the exercise of significant judgment on the part of our management, are inherently uncertain and the reasonableness of these assumptions has not been assessed by an independent source. If any of the assumptions proves to be inaccurate, the actual markets for our product candidates could be smaller than our estimates of the potential market opportunities.
In addition, our estimates regarding the timing and amount of acceptance of any product candidate, and the pricing achievable for any product candidate may prove incorrect. Further, our plans for commercialization of any product candidate may not materialize in the time or manner we anticipate and may be adversely impacted by any required label warnings, as will be the case if solithromycin is approved for CABP, or any perceived safety or efficacy concerns. Finally, we may underestimate the demand for a product candidate, which could lead to lack of commercial quantities when needed and result in market backlash against the product candidate. Any of these occurrences could have a material adverse effect on our plans for commercialization of and the generation of any revenue from any product candidate.
If we believe regulatory approval and a sufficient market are likely for solithromycin for CABP, we would expect to build our own marketing and sales organization for solithromycin for CABP, but have no experience as a company in marketing drug products. If we are unable to successfully establish our own marketing and sales capabilities, or enter into agreements with third parties to market and sell our products after they are approved, we may not be able to generate product revenues.
If we believe regulatory approval of and a sufficient market for solithromycin for CABP are likely, we would expect to build our U.S. sales organization for the marketing, sales and distribution of solithromycin as a treatment for CABP, the size and nature of which would be determined by approved labeling and the potential market for solithromycin in light of that label. The establishment and development of our own sales force will be expensive and time consuming and could delay the planned launch of solithromycin, and we cannot be certain that we will be able to successfully develop this capability. The timing of building any sales force will be dependent on many factors, including the anticipated approval date and our financial resources. We may seek one or more licensing partners to handle some or all of the sales and marketing of solithromycin for CABP in the U.S. In order to successfully
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commercialize any other products, we must develop these capabilities on our own or make arrangements with third parties for the marketing, sales and distribution of our products. There also may be certain markets within the U.S. for solithromycin for which we may seek a co-promotion arrangement. If we are not successful in building our own sales force, we may not be able to enter into arrangements with third parties to sell solithromycin or fusidic acid on favorable terms or at all. We would not have control over a third-party sales organization and would be dependent on that organization for successfully selling any of our products. Such a third-party organization may not devote the necessary manpower, time, resources or priority to our products, which would negatively impact our results of operations. In the event we are unable to develop our own marketing and sales force or collaborate with a third-party marketing and sales organization, we would not be able to commercialize solithromycin, fusidic acid or any other product candidates that we develop, which would negatively impact our ability to generate product revenues. Further, whether we commercialize products on our own or rely on a third party to do so, our ability to generate revenue will be dependent on the effectiveness of the sales force. In addition, to the extent we rely on third parties to commercialize our approved products, we will likely receive less revenues than if we commercialized these products ourselves.
A failure to maintain optimal inventory levels to meet commercial demand for any product that may be approved, including solithromycin, could harm our reputation and subject us to financial losses.
Because accurate product planning is necessary to ensure that we maintain optimal inventory levels for any product candidate that might be approved, including solithromycin, significant differences between our estimates and judgments and future actual demand for any approved products and the shelf life of inventory may result in significant charges for excess inventory or purchase commitments in the future. If we are required to recognize charges for excess inventories, such charges could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Our ability to maintain optimal inventory levels also depends on the performance of third-party contract manufacturers. If our manufacturers are unsuccessful in either obtaining raw materials, if we are unable to release inventory on a timely and consistent basis, if we fail to maintain an adequate level of product inventory, if inventory is destroyed or damaged, or if our inventory reaches its expiration date, patients might not have access to our products, sales could be lost, our reputation and brands could be harmed, and physicians may be less likely to prescribe our products in the future, each of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
We are obligated to provide Toyama with clinical and commercial supply of solithromycin at prices determined by our manufacturing costs, which could negatively impact our results of operations in the event we cannot provide those supplies on our own and have to purchase them outside of our contracted suppliers. To provide this supply, we entered into a supply agreement with Fujifilm, which contains a minimum purchase requirement, which if triggered, could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations.
Pursuant to the terms of our supply agreement with Toyama, we are the exclusive supplier (with certain limitations) to Toyama and its sublicensees of API for solithromycin for use in licensed products in Japan, as well as the exclusive supplier to Toyama and its sublicensees of finished forms of solithromycin to be used in clinical trials in Japan. Pursuant to the supply agreement, Toyama will pay us for such clinical supply of finished product and all supplies of API for solithromycin for any purpose, other than the manufacture of products for commercial sale in Japan, at prices equal to our costs. All API for solithromycin supplied by us to Toyama for use in the manufacture of finished product for commercial sale in Japan will be ordered from us at prices determined by our manufacturing costs, and which may, depending on such costs, equal, exceed, or be less than such costs. The supply agreement will continue until the expiration or termination of the license agreement. In the event we cannot provide Toyama’s supplies under our own contracts with manufactures, we would have to either reduce our own supply of solithromycin or purchase it outside of our contracted manufacturers, which would negatively impact our results of operations. In January 2016, we entered into an API supply agreement with Fujifilm to provide a supply source in Japan to meet our obligations under the supply agreement with Toyama, but circumstances could occur that might render this source insufficient for our purposes. In the event that supply validation studies are completed and Fujifilm has constructed a facility to provide us the supply, we are subject to a minimum purchase requirement for a period of time that could run to an aggregated approximately $80 million, although such expense would be offset by sales to Toyama, if any.
Future legislation, and/or regulations and policies adopted by the FDA or other regulatory health authorities may increase the time and cost required for us to conduct and complete clinical trials for solithromycin, fusidic acid or other product candidates that we develop.
The FDA has established regulations, guidelines and policies to govern the drug development and approval process, as have foreign regulatory authorities. Any change in regulatory requirements due to the adoption by the FDA and/or foreign regulatory authorities of new legislation, regulations, or policies may require us to amend existing clinical trial protocols or add new clinical trials to comply with these changes. Such amendments to existing protocols and/or clinical trial applications or the need for new ones, may significantly impact the cost, timing and completion of the clinical trials.
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In particular, drugs being tested and/or developed for the treatment of CABP, including solithromycin, are subject to proposed guidelines published by the FDA in 2009 (with new guidelines proposed in November 2011 and again in 2014). We have conducted our clinical trials to date according to the standards established by the 2009 and 2011 proposed guidelines. While we expected the FDA to revise the proposed guidelines for CABP, we could not delay development of solithromycin and began the Phase 3 oral trial in December 2012 and the Phase 3 IV-to-oral trial in December 2013, which was before the FDA issued revised proposed guidelines in 2014. While the 2014 proposed guidelines did not impose any new requirements on our Phase 3 trials, the FDA could further revise the guidelines. Any new proposed guidelines may require us to conduct additional clinical trials, re-run previously completed trials to gather data at different endpoints or according to different protocols, or otherwise materially alter our planned clinical development of solithromycin. Any such regulatory change may materially increase our costs, delay the completion of our clinical trials, and otherwise impact our ability to obtain regulatory approval for our product candidate. Furthermore, the FDA’s guidance documents are not binding on the FDA. As a result, the FDA may not accept the results of clinical trials we conduct even if they were to follow the FDA’s most recent guidance.
In addition, increased scrutiny by the U.S. Congress of the FDA’s approval process, particularly in our areas of focus, may significantly delay or prevent regulatory approval, as well as impose more stringent product labeling and post-marketing testing and other requirements.
Bacteria might develop resistance to solithromycin or fusidic acid, which would decrease the efficacy and commercial viability of that product.
Drug resistance is primarily caused by the genetic mutation of bacteria resulting from sub-optimal exposure to antibiotics where the drug does not kill all of the bacteria. While antibiotics have been developed to treat many of the most common infections, the extent and duration of their use worldwide has resulted in new mutated strains of bacteria resistant to current treatments. We are developing solithromycin and fusidic acid to treat patients infected with drug-resistant bacteria. With respect to solithromycin, which is a next generation macrolide, resistance issues associated with earlier generations of macrolides have led to a decrease in their use for treating serious respiratory tract infections such as CABP. If physicians, rightly or wrongly, associate the resistance issues of earlier generation macrolides with solithromycin, physicians might not prescribe solithromycin for treating a broad range of infections. Similarly, resistance to fusidic acid has developed outside the U.S. Our in vitro studies have shown that the reason for resistance to the oral formulation is that it was not dosed optimally. We believe that overuse of topical formulations of fusidic acid also contributed to development of resistance outside the U.S. If fusidic acid is improperly dosed, or if our studies incorrectly attributed an increase in resistance to inappropriate dosing, bacteria might develop resistance to fusidic acid in the U.S. If these bacteria develop resistance to solithromycin or fusidic acid, the efficacy of these products would decline, which would negatively affect our potential to generate revenues from these products.
Delays in clinical trials are common and have many causes, and any such delays could result in increased costs to us and jeopardize or delay our ability to obtain regulatory approval and commence product sales as currently contemplated.
We may experience delays in clinical trials of our product candidates. Our planned clinical trials might not begin on time, may be interrupted or delayed once commenced, might need to be redesigned, might not enroll a sufficient number of patients or might not be completed on schedule, if at all. Clinical trials can be delayed for a variety of reasons, including the following:
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delays in obtaining regulatory approval to commence a trial; |
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imposition of a clinical hold following an inspection of our clinical trial operations or trial sites by the FDA or other regulatory authorities; |
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delays in reaching agreement on acceptable terms with prospective CROs and clinical trial sites; |
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delays in obtaining required institutional review board, or IRB, approval at each site; |
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delays in identifying, recruiting and training suitable clinical investigators; |
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delays in recruiting suitable patients to participate in a trial; |
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delays in having patients complete participation in a trial or return for post-treatment follow-up; |
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clinical sites dropping out of a trial to the detriment of enrollment; |
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time required to add new sites; |
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delays in obtaining sufficient supplies of clinical trial materials, including suitable active pharmaceutical ingredient, or API, whether of our product candidates or comparator drugs; or |
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delays resulting from negative or equivocal findings of the data safety monitoring board, or DSMB, for a trial. |
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We were subject to such a delay in 2008 when the FDA placed a partial clinical hold on our Phase 2 clinical trial for oral solithromycin over concern about possible toxicity related to solithromycin. The FDA converted the partial clinical hold into a full clinical hold in April 2010. At the time, the FDA had concerns that solithromycin, as a fluoroketolide, may have similar toxicity issues as Ketek. While we addressed the FDA’s concerns and were allowed to proceed with the trial, which we successfully completed, the trial was delayed by approximately 12 months. We could experience one or more such delays with other trials.
Patient enrollment, a significant factor in the timing of clinical trials, is affected by many factors, including the size and nature of the patient population, the proximity of patients to clinical sites, the eligibility criteria for the trial, the design of the clinical trial, competing clinical trials and clinicians’ and patients’ perceptions as to the potential advantages of the drug being studied in relation to other available therapies, including any new drugs that may be approved for the indications we are investigating. In addition, the timing of our clinical trials may be dependent on a specific disease seasonality, as, for example, were our trials for solithromycin, which were dependent on the onset, degree and timing of the CABP season, which tends to occur in the winter months in each hemisphere. We could encounter delays in our ongoing and future clinical trials of solithromycin (for indications other than CABP), fusidic acid or any other product if participating physician investigators encounter unresolved ethical issues associated with enrolling patients in clinical trials of solithromycin (for indications others than CABP), fusidic acid or any other product in lieu of prescribing approved antibiotics that have established safety and efficacy profiles. Any of these delays in completing our clinical trials could increase our costs, slow down our product development and approval process and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenues.
We may be required to suspend or discontinue clinical trials due to adverse side effects or other safety risks that could preclude approval of solithromycin or fusidic acid or any of our future product candidates.
Our clinical trials may be suspended or terminated at any time for a number of reasons. A clinical trial may be suspended or terminated by us, our collaborators, the FDA or other regulatory authorities due to a failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols, presentation of unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using the investigational drug, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions, lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial, or negative or equivocal findings of the DSMB or the IRB for a clinical trial. An IRB may also suspend or terminate our clinical trials for failure to protect patient safety or patient rights. We may voluntarily suspend or terminate our clinical trials if at any time we believe that they present an unacceptable risk to participants. In addition, regulatory agencies may order the temporary or permanent discontinuation of our clinical trials at any time if they believe the clinical trials are not being conducted in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements or present an unacceptable safety risk to participants. If we elect or are forced to suspend or terminate any clinical trial of any product candidates that we are developing, the commercial prospects of such product candidates will be harmed and our ability to generate product revenues, if at all, from any of these product candidates will be delayed or eliminated. Any of these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects significantly.
We recently completed a Phase 3 clinical trial of fusidic acid for the treatment of ABSSSI, and we have an ongoing exploratory study for bone and joint infections, but there is no guarantee that the results of our Phase 3 trial for ABSSSI or any other completed trial will demonstrate safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of the FDA or that the results from the ongoing exploratory study for bone and joint infections or any other ongoing or future study will be consistent with the results of prior studies, including the Phase 3 trial for ABSSSI.
While we have completed Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials comparing fusidic acid to linezolid for the treatment of ABSSSI the results of our completed Phase 2 and Phase 3 trial for the treatment of ABSSSI were not powered to show statistical superiority. Comparisons to results from other reported clinical trials, including our completed Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of ABSSSI, can assist in evaluating the potential efficacy of fusidic acid for the treatment of ABSSSI and refractory bone and joint infections; however, there are many factors that affect the outcome for patients in clinical trials, some of which are not apparent in published reports, and results from different trials often cannot be reliably compared. Therefore, there is no assurance that the results of any other trials we conduct for fusidic acid in the treatment of ABSSSI or refractory bone and joint infections will demonstrate safety or efficacy comparable to the results of trials conducted to date or will be sufficient to attain FDA approval.
In December 2012, we initiated a Phase 2 clinical trial of fusidic acid for the treatment of prosthetic joint infections. In October 2013, the FDA granted orphan drug designation to fusidic acid for the treatment of PJI and we will work to have orphan drug designation granted for fusidic acid for refractory bone and joint infections. There is no published FDA guidance for clinical trials for PJI or for bone and joint infections. Further, we need to determine the impact of the orphan drug designation for PJI and possible designation for bone and joint infections on our clinical development plan and the Phase 2 clinical trial data to support an NDA. In the Phase 2 PJI trial we noted that although oral fusidic acid plus rifampin had similar efficacy to intravenous vancomycin, rifampin significantly diminished the blood levels of fusidic acid. We concluded the Phase 2 trial prior to completion because we demonstrated that fusidic acid in combination with rifampin was generally comparable to intravenous standard of care antibiotics. We believe that the proper dosing of fusidic acid is without rifampin and that the loading dose and maintenance dose that we had tested in the ABSSSI
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Phase 2 trial was optimal for a Phase 3 refractory bone and joint infection trial. We have met with the FDA to discuss the development plan for fusidic acid for ABSSSI and bone and joint infections. Based on that meeting, our plan involves testing fusidic acid for long-term suppressive therapy of refractory bone and joint infections, including PJI. Also based on our discussions with the FDA, in November 2015, we began a Phase 3 trial for the treatment of ABSSSI, for which we reported topline results in February 2017, and began a refractory bone and joint infection study in January2016 to determine fusidic acid’s safety and efficacy. With the ABSSSI study now completed, we plan to meet with the FDA to discuss the next steps required to bring fusidic acid to patients in the United States. However, the FDA is not bound by discussions and if the FDA subsequently believes that the plan as discussed and developed is inadequate, it could delay or prevent our ability to receive regulatory approval or commercialize fusidic acid for the treatment of ABSSSI and/or refractory bone and joint infections.
Fusidic acid is not well absorbed in animals, which could impair our ability to obtain FDA approval.
As required by FDA regulations, we conducted pre-clinical studies of fusidic acid to determine its level of absorption in animals. The studies indicated that fusidic acid is not very well absorbed and has a short half-life in animals, resulting in minimum exposure levels which limited the ability to test fusidic acid in animal models. Fusidic acid, the API in fusidic acid, has been used for several decades in humans outside the U.S. and we believe there is sufficient human clinical trial data for fusidic acid to overcome the lack of absorption in animal studies. Despite this human data, and while all of our pre-clinical tests were benign and indicated no safety or tolerability issues, our limited ability to test fusidic acid in animal models may adversely affect our ability to obtain FDA approval.
Even if the FDA approves solithromycin for the treatment of CABP and fusidic acid for the treatment of ABSSSI and bone and joint infections, adverse effects discovered after approval could adversely affect the market for those products.
If we obtain regulatory approval for solithromycin, fusidic acid or any other product candidate that we develop, and we or others later discover that our products cause adverse effects, a number of potentially significant negative consequences could result, including:
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regulatory authorities may withdraw their approval of the product; |
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regulatory authorities may require the addition of labeling statements, such as warnings or contraindications; |
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we may be required to change the way the product is administered, conduct additional clinical studies, implement a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, or REMS, or restrict the distribution of the product; |
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we could be sued and held liable for harm caused to patients and our liability insurance may not adequately cover those claims; and |
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our reputation may suffer. |
Any of these events could prevent us from maintaining market acceptance of the affected product candidate and could substantially increase the costs of, or prevent altogether, the commercialization of our product candidates.
We continue to have negative cash flows from operations since inception and might not be able to generate sufficient cash to service our existing indebtedness to Comerica Bank, the level of which indebtedness could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
On July 10, 2015, we entered into a loan and security agreement with Comerica Bank, or Comerica, pursuant to which we could and did borrow $20.0 million in a term loan and, if the FDA approves our planned NDA, for solithromycin, we may also borrow, under a revolver, an aggregate amount equal to the lesser of (i) up to 75% of our eligible inventory and 80% of eligible accounts receivable or (ii) $10.0 million. If the FDA approves our planned NDA for solithromycin, we may convert the term loan to the revolver, in which event the revolver would have a maximum amount available to us of $25.0 million. Amounts borrowed under the term loan may be repaid and reborrowed at any time without penalty or premium. The term loan is interest-only through April 30, 2016, followed by an amortization period of 36 months of equal monthly payments of principal plus interest, beginning on May 1, 2016 and continuing on the same day of each month thereafter until paid in full. Amounts available to be borrowed under the revolver may also be repaid and reborrowed at any time without penalty or premium prior to December 31, 2017, at which time all advances under the revolver shall be immediately due and payable in full. Our ability to make payments on this indebtedness depends on our ability to generate cash in the future. We expect to experience negative cash flow for the foreseeable future as we fund our operations and capital expenditures. There can be no assurance that we will be in a position to repay this indebtedness when due or obtain extensions of the maturity date. We anticipate that we will need to secure additional funding in order for us to be able to satisfy our obligations when due. We cannot guarantee that future financing will be available in sufficient amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all. If that additional funding involves the sale of equity securities or convertible securities, it would result in the issuance of additional shares of our capital stock, which would result in dilution to our stockholders.
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Moreover, this level of debt could have important consequences to you as an investor in our securities. For example, it could:
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make it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations with respect to payments owed to our licensors; |
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limit our flexibility in planning for the development, clinical testing, approval and marketing of our products; |
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place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to any of our competitors that are less leveraged than we are; |
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increase our vulnerability to both general and industry-specific adverse economic conditions; and |
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limit our ability to obtain additional funds. |
In addition, the loan is secured by substantially all of our personal property assets except our intellectual property and our stock in our subsidiaries. In the event we fail to make timely payments or breach any of our representations or other obligations in the agreement, or upon any circumstance or occurrence that has a material adverse effect on the loan collateral, our business operations, properties, assets, prospects or condition, or our ability to perform our obligations under the loan agreement, Comerica Bank can declare the loan in default. Upon an event of default, the loan principal and accrued interest would become immediately due and payable and Comerica Bank would be entitled to enforce its security interest in our assets.
The addition of further debt to our current debt levels could make it more difficult for us to repay our indebtedness and meet our other obligations and would intensify the leverage-related risks that we now face.
A substantial portion of our future revenues may be dependent upon our strategic partnerships.
Our success will depend in significant part on our ability to attract and maintain strategic partners and strategic relationships to support the development and commercialization of our product candidates. We currently expect that a substantial portion of our future revenues may be dependent upon our strategic partnership with Toyama and our ability to enter into strategic relationships in other territories. Under the license agreement we entered into in May 2013 with Toyama, Toyama has significant development and commercialization responsibilities with respect to solithromycin in Japan. If Toyama or any of our other strategic partners were to terminate their agreements with us, fail to meet their obligations or otherwise decrease their level of efforts, allocation of resources or other commitments under these agreements with us, our future revenues could be negatively impacted and the development and commercialization of product candidates could be negatively impacted and/or interrupted. In addition, if some or any of the development, regulatory and commercial milestones are not achieved or if certain net sales thresholds are not achieved, as set forth in the Toyama agreement or any agreements with other strategic partners, we will not fully realize the expected economic benefits of those agreements. Further, the achievement of certain of the milestones under our partnership agreements will depend on factors that are outside of our control and most are not expected to be achieved for several years, if at all. Any failure to successfully maintain our strategic partnership agreements could materially and adversely affect our ability to generate revenues.
Strategic partners may cease to pursue their own development of our product candidates or cease funding and other activities required by our agreements with those strategic partners for reasons beyond our control.
In May 2013, we entered into a license agreement with Toyama under which Toyama is to initiate certain clinical trials, obtain regulatory approval and launch and commercialize approved licensed products in Japan. If the results of Toyama’s studies are disappointing or inconclusive, if Toyama were to breach its obligations under the license agreement, or if Toyama decides to cease developing solithromycin for any reason, the development of solithromycin in Japan could be materially harmed, and any negative clinical results could materially harm our own development efforts for solithromycin. In addition, the loss of milestone payments from Toyama called for under the license agreement could have a material adverse impact on our capital resources and ability to conduct our operations. These same risks will apply to any other strategic partnership into which we may enter in the future.
We rely on third parties to conduct our clinical trials. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or meet expected deadlines, we may be delayed in obtaining, or may ultimately not be able to obtain, regulatory approval for or commercialize solithromycin, fusidic acid or any other product candidates.
We have relied, and plan to continue to rely, on various CROs to recruit patients, monitor and manage data for our on-going clinical programs for solithromycin and fusidic acid, as well as for the execution of our pre-clinical and non-clinical studies. We control only certain aspects of our CROs’ 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 does not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities. We and our CROs are required to comply with the FDA’s current good clinical practices, or cGCPs, which are regulations and guidelines enforced by the FDA for all of our products in clinical development. The FDA enforces these cGCPs through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, principal investigators and clinical trial sites. If we or our CROs fail to comply with applicable cGCPs, the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable, and the FDA may require us to perform additional clinical trials before deciding whether to approve our product candidates. We cannot assure you that, upon
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inspection, the FDA will determine that any of our clinical trials comply with cGCPs. In addition, to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of solithromycin and fusidic acid to a statistically significant degree our clinical trials will require an adequately large number of test subjects. Any clinical trial that a CRO conducts abroad on our behalf is subject to similar regulation. Accordingly, if our CROs fail to comply with these regulations or recruit a sufficient number of patients, we may have to repeat clinical trials, which would delay the regulatory approval process.
In addition, our CROs are not our employees and we cannot control whether or not they devote sufficient time and resources to our on-going clinical, non-clinical and pre-clinical programs. Our CROs may also have relationships with other commercial entities, including our competitors, for whom they may also be conducting clinical studies or other drug development activities, which could impede their ability to devote appropriate time to our clinical programs. If our CROs do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or obligations or meet expected deadlines, if they need to be replaced, or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is compromised due to the failure to adhere to our clinical protocols or regulatory requirements, or for other reasons, our clinical trials may be extended, delayed or terminated, and we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for or successfully commercialize solithromycin, fusidic acid or any other product candidates that we seek to develop. As a result, our financial results and the commercial prospects for solithromycin, fusidic acid or any other product candidates that we seek to develop would be harmed, our costs could increase and our ability to generate revenues could be delayed or ended.
We typically engage one or more CROs on a project-by-project basis for each study or trial. While we have developed and plan to maintain our relationships with CROs that we have previously engaged, we also expect to enter into agreements with other CROs to obtain additional resources and expertise in an attempt to accelerate our progress with regard to on-going clinical, non-clinical and pre-clinical programs and, specifically, the compilation of clinical trial data for submission with an NDA for each of solithromycin and fusidic acid. Switching or entering into new relationships with CROs involves substantial cost and requires extensive management time and focus. In addition, there is a natural transition period when a new CRO commences work. As a result, delays occur, which can materially impact our ability to meet our desired clinical development timelines. Although we try to carefully manage our relationships with our CROs, there can be no assurance that we will not encounter challenges or delays in the future or that these delays or challenges will not have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects.
The timing of the milestone, support and royalty payments we are required to make to Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc., The Scripps Research Institute and Macrolide Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is uncertain and could adversely affect our cash flows and results of operations.
In March 2006, we entered into a Collaborative Research and Development and License Agreement with Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or Optimer (now owned by Merck), pursuant to which we acquired an exclusive license to certain patent applications and other intellectual property related to a series of compounds, including solithromycin, to develop and commercialize licensed products outside of the Association of South East Asian Nations, or ASEAN, countries (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam). We have an obligation to make additional payments upon achievement of specified development, regulatory and commercialization milestones. The aggregate amount of such milestone payments we may need to pay is based in part on the number of products developed under the agreement. The aggregate amount (including our two milestone payments to date) would be $27.5 million if four products are developed and gain FDA approval. Additional limited milestone payments would be due if we develop more than four products. We will also pay tiered mid-single-digit royalties based on the amount of annual net sales of solithromycin (or related licensed compounds), if and when approved by regulatory authorities. We have already paid a $0.5 million milestone in 2010 and a $1.0 million milestone in 2012. Optimer can elect to receive certain milestone payments in cash or in shares of our common stock having an equivalent fair market value. The timing of our achievement of these events and corresponding milestone payments to Optimer is subject to factors relating to the clinical and regulatory development and commercialization of solithromycin (or related licensed compounds), many of which are beyond our control. We may become obligated to make a milestone payment when we do not have the cash on hand to make such payment, which could require us to delay our clinical trials, curtail our operations, scale back our commercialization and marketing efforts or seek funds to meet these obligations on terms unfavorable to us. If we were unable to make a milestone payment, we would be in material breach of the agreement, in which event Optimer could terminate the agreement, which would result in the loss of our rights to develop and commercialize solithromycin, which would seriously harm our ability to generate revenues or achieve profitability.
We also must pay The Scripps Research Institute various milestone and annual payments, which, while significantly lower than amounts potentially due to Optimer, could become due when we do not have the cash on hand to make such payment, which could require us to delay our clinical trials, curtail our operations, scale back our commercialization and marketing efforts or seek funds to meet these obligations on terms unfavorable to us.
In January 2016, we entered into an Option and License Agreement with Macrolide Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or MP, pursuant to which MP granted us an exclusive option to license certain of MP’s patents and know-how involving macrolides, including
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specifically novel methods of synthesizing solithromycin (the “Compound”). Under the agreement, we will support research at MP focused on developing a novel, cost-competitive manufacturing approach to solithromycin. Under the evaluation program called for in the agreement, MP will conduct research activities for the manufacture of the Compound, which activities we will evaluate to determine whether to exercise the option to license. For conducting the evaluation program, we will pay MP the expected reasonable, documented, direct compensation-related costs of employees and advisors necessary to conduct MP’s portion of the evaluation program in the aggregate amount of $1.5 million, which we will pay in 18 equal consecutive non-refundable, non-creditable monthly installments of $83,333, beginning with the first monthly anniversary of entry into the agreement. Further, we will pay MP up to an aggregate of $1.0 million upon the satisfaction of certain performance milestones. The timing of the milestone payments to MP are subject to factors relating to the Compound, which are beyond our control. Further, the monthly support payments or a milestone payment, if triggered, could be due when we do not have the cash on hand to make such payment, which could require us to seek funds to meet these obligations on terms unfavorable to us. If we were unable to make a support or milestone payment, we would be in material breach of the agreement, in which event MP could terminate the agreement, which would result in the loss of our rights to the synthetic version of solithromycin, which could harm our ability to reduce production costs and develop an alternate supply of solithromycin, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations
Our loan agreement with Comerica Bank contains covenants that impose restrictions on our operations that may adversely impact the operation of our business.
Our loan agreement with Comerica Bank contains customary restrictive covenants, including restrictions on our ability to incur additional debt, transfer or place a lien or security interest on our assets, merge with or acquire other companies, redeem any shares of our capital stock or pay cash dividends to our stockholders. These restrictions may inhibit our ability to conduct our business and to provide distributions to our stockholders. Future debt securities or other financing arrangements could contain similar or more restrictive negative covenants than the Comerica Bank loan.
If approved, solithromycin and fusidic acid will face significant competition from branded and generic antibiotics and our operating results will suffer if we fail to compete effectively.
The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are intensely competitive and subject to rapid and significant technological change. If solithromycin or fusidic acid is approved, we will have competitors both in the U.S. and internationally, including major multinational pharmaceutical companies, established biotechnology companies, specialty pharmaceutical and generic drug companies. Many of these companies have greater financial and other resources, such as larger research and development staffs and more experienced marketing and manufacturing organizations. As a result, these companies may obtain regulatory approval more rapidly and may be more effective in selling and marketing their products. They also may invest heavily to accelerate discovery and development of novel compounds or to in-license novel compounds that could make solithromycin, fusidic acid or any other product candidates that we develop obsolete. As a result, our competitors may succeed in commercializing antibiotics before we do. Smaller or early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large, established companies.
If approved, both solithromycin and fusidic acid will face competition from currently commercially available antibiotics, as well as any competing products that may be developed in the future. In July 2012, the United States Congress passed, and President Obama signed, the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, which included the Generating Antibiotic Incentives Now Act, or the GAIN Act. The GAIN Act is intended to provide incentives for the development of new, qualified infectious disease products. These incentives might result in more competition in the market for new antibiotics and might cause pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with more resources than we have to shift their efforts towards the development of products that could be competitive with our product candidates. Existing approved products that will compete with solithromycin include azithromycin (sold under the brand name Zithromax ® by Pfizer Inc. and available as a generic), clarithromycin (sold under the brand name Biaxin ® by Abbott Laboratories and available as a generic), moxifloxacin (sold under the brand name Avelox ® by Bayer AG), levofloxacin (sold under the brand name Levaquin by Johnson & Johnson and available as a generic), linezolid (sold under the brand name Zyvox by Pfizer Inc.), ceftriaxone (sold under the brand name Rocephin ® by F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd and available as a generic) and ceftaroline (sold under the brand name Teflaro ® by Forest Laboratories, Inc.). There are two drugs in development to treat CABP: omadacycline, being developed by Paratek Pharmaceuticals, and lefamulin, being developed by Nabriva Therapeutics. Existing approved products that will compete with fusidic acid include vancomycin (available as a generic), linezolid (sold under the brand name Zyvox by Pfizer Inc.), daptomycin (sold under the brand name Cubicin by Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which was acquired by Merck), quinupristin/dalfopristin (sold under the brand name Synercid ® by Sanofi-Aventis and Monarch Pharmaceuticals, Inc.), tigecycline (sold under the brand name Tygacil® by Pfizer Inc.), telavancin (sold under the brand name Vibativ ® by Theravance, Inc. and Astellas Pharma, Inc.) and ceftaroline (sold under the brand name Teflaro by Forest Laboratories, Inc., now Allergan). Several antibiotics have been approved by the FDA in the past several years. Dalbavancin (Dalvance) and ceftazidime-avibactam (Avycaz) for Allergan, ceftolozane-tazobactam (Zerbaxa) and tedizolid (Sivextro) for Merck, and oritavancin (Orbactiv) for The Medicines Company. None of these approvals are for CABP. Omadacycline (Paratek Pharmaceuticals) and lefamulin (Nabriva Therapeutics), and dalafloxcacin (Melinta) all are expected to be pursued as a possible treatment for ABSSSI and other indications. Ceftobiprole has
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been approved in Canada and is being developed in the U.S. for MRSA. Generic antibiotics are typically sold at lower prices than branded antibiotics and are generally preferred by managed care providers of health services.
If we are unable to demonstrate the advantages of solithromycin or fusidic acid over competing drugs and drug candidates, we will not be able to successfully commercialize solithromycin or fusidic acid and our results of operations will suffer.
Reimbursement may not be available for solithromycin, fusidic acid or any other product candidates that we develop, which could make it difficult for us to sell our products profitably.
Market acceptance and sales of solithromycin, fusidic acid or any other product candidates that we develop will depend on reimbursement policies and may be affected by health care reform measures. Government authorities and third-party payors, such as private health insurers and health maintenance organizations, decide which drugs they will pay for and establish reimbursement levels. We cannot be sure that reimbursement will be available for solithromycin, fusidic acid or any other product candidates that we develop. Also, we cannot be sure that the amount of reimbursement available, if any, will not reduce the demand for, or the price of, our products. If reimbursement is not available or is available only at limited levels, we may not be able to successfully commercialize solithromycin, fusidic acid or any other product candidates that we develop.
Specifically, in both the U.S. and some foreign jurisdictions, there have been a number of legislative and regulatory proposals to change the health care system in ways that could affect our ability to sell our products profitably. In the U.S., the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, also called the Medicare Modernization Act, or MMA, changed the way Medicare covers and pays for pharmaceutical products. The legislation expanded Medicare coverage for drug purchases by the elderly and introduced a new reimbursement methodology based on average sales prices for physician-administered drugs. In addition, this legislation provided authority for limiting the number of drugs that will be covered in any therapeutic class. As a result of this legislation and the expansion of federal coverage of drug products, we expect that there will be additional pressure to contain and reduce costs. These cost reduction initiatives and other provisions of this legislation could decrease the coverage and price that we receive for any approved products and could seriously harm our business. While the MMA applies only to drug benefits for Medicare beneficiaries, private payors often follow Medicare coverage policies and payment limitations in setting their own reimbursement rates, and any reduction in reimbursement that results from the MMA may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors. In March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act, or collectively, PPACA, became law in the U.S. The goal of PPACA is to reduce the cost of health care and substantially change the way health care is financed by both governmental and private insurers. While we cannot predict what ultimate impact on federal reimbursement policies this legislation will have in general or on our business specifically, the PPACA may result in downward pressure on pharmaceutical reimbursement, which could negatively affect market acceptance of solithromycin or fusidic acid or any future products. Members of the U.S. Congress and some state legislatures had sought to overturn at least portions of the legislation including those on the mandatory purchase of insurance. However, on June 28, 2012, the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of these provisions. Members of the U.S. Congress have since proposed a number of legislative initiatives, including repeal of all or portions of the PPACA. We cannot predict the outcome or impact of current proposals or whether new proposals will be made or adopted, when they may be adopted or what impact they may have on us if they are adopted.
The availability of numerous generic antibiotics at lower prices than branded antibiotics, such as solithromycin or fusidic acid if either were approved for commercial introduction, may also substantially reduce the likelihood of reimbursement for such products. We expect to experience pricing pressures in connection with the sale of solithromycin, fusidic acid and any other products that we develop, due to the trend toward managed health care, the increasing influence of health maintenance organizations and additional legislative proposals. If we fail to successfully secure and maintain reimbursement coverage for our products or are significantly delayed in doing so, we will have difficulty achieving market acceptance of our products and our business will be harmed.
If we are not successful in retaining or attracting as necessary highly qualified personnel, we may not be able to successfully implement our business strategy.
Our ability to compete in the highly competitive biotechnology and pharmaceuticals industries depends in large part on our ability to retain or attract as necessary highly qualified managerial, scientific, medical and sales and marketing personnel. This will be especially true in light of the significant reduction in our workforce that we undertook in late February 2017; the retention of the remaining employees may be difficult. While we have provided all of these remaining employees with retention bonuses, there can be no assurance that any of these employees will remain in our employment. Historically, in order to induce valuable employees to remain with us, we have provided stock options that vest over time. The retention bonuses we recently granted consist of stock options and restricted stock units. The value to employees of stock options and restricted stock units will be significantly affected by movements in our stock price that we cannot control and may at any time be insufficient to counteract more lucrative offers from other companies.
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Our executive and scientific team has expertise in many different aspects of drug discovery and development and in selling and marketing antibiotics in both the inpatient and outpatient markets. We conduct our operations at our facility in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, which is part of the Research Triangle consisting of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. This region is headquarters to other biopharmaceutical companies and many academic and research institutions and, as a result, at any given time there may be a shortage of experienced scientists and medical and sales and marketing personnel. Competition for skilled personnel in our area and elsewhere in the U.S. is very intense and competition for experienced scientists may limit our ability to hire and retain highly qualified personnel on acceptable terms or at all.
Despite our efforts to retain valuable employees, members of our management, scientific and medical teams may terminate their employment with us on short notice. We had a change in senior management in December 2016 and do not have a permanent Chief Executive Officer. We have only a short-term at-will employment agreement with our Acting Chief Executive Officer, David Zaccardelli, and we do not have employment agreements with David S. Moore, our President and Chief Commercial Officer, Mark W. Hahn, our Chief Financial Officer, David W. Oldach, our Chief Medical Officer, John D. Bluth, our Executive Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications, or any other employee. As a result, all employees are employed on an at-will basis, which means that any of these employees could leave our employment at any time, with or without notice, and may go to work for a competitor. Even though Dr. Zaccardelli has entered into an employment agreement with us, he could leave at any time. We do have change in control severance agreements with Mr. Moore, Mr. Hahn, Dr. Oldach, and Mr. Bluth, but any of these individuals could leave our employment at any time. While our agreements with Dr. Oldach and Messrs. Moore, Hahn and Bluth contain non-compete provisions, those provisions do not prevent any of these executives from leaving our employ. The loss of the services of any of our executive officers or other key employees could potentially harm our business, operating results or financial condition. Our success also depends on our ability to continue to attract, retain and motivate highly skilled scientific and medical personnel.
Other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies with which we compete for qualified personnel have greater financial and other resources, different risk profiles and longer histories than we do. They also may provide more diverse opportunities and better chances for career advancement. Some of these characteristics may be more appealing to high quality candidates than what we offer. If we are unable to continue to attract and retain high quality personnel, our ability to discover, develop and commercialize drug candidates will be limited.
Whether our current product candidates are successful or not, our future growth will depend on our ability to identify, develop, acquire or in-license products and if we do not successfully identify develop, acquire or in-license additional product candidates or integrate them into our operations, we may have limited growth opportunities.
An important part of our business strategy is to continue to develop a pipeline of product candidates by developing, acquiring or in-licensing products, businesses or technologies that we believe are a strategic fit with our focus developing anti-infectives to treat infectious diseases. However, these business activities may entail numerous operational and financial risks, including:
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inability to successfully identity new products candidates; |
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difficulty or inability to secure financing to fund development activities for such development, acquisition or in-licensed products or technologies; |
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incurrence of substantial debt or dilutive issuances of securities to pay for development, acquisition or in-licensing of new products; |
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disruption of our business and diversion of our management’s time and attention; |
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higher than expected development, acquisition or in-license and integration costs; |
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exposure to unknown liabilities; |
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difficulty and cost in combining the operations and personnel of any acquired businesses with our operations and personnel; |
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inability to retain key employees of any acquired businesses; |
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difficulty in managing multiple product development programs; and |
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inability to successfully develop new product candidates or clinical failure of new product candidates. |
We have limited resources to identify and execute the development, acquisition or in-licensing of products, businesses and technologies and integrate them into our current infrastructure. We may compete with larger pharmaceutical companies and other competitors in our efforts to establish new collaborations and in-licensing opportunities. These competitors likely will have access to greater financial resources than us and may have greater expertise in identifying and evaluating new opportunities. Moreover, we may
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devote resources to potential development, acquisitions or in-licensing opportunities that are never completed, or we may fail to realize the anticipated benefits of such efforts.
We may need to grow our organization if we make progress on the development of any of our product candidates, and we may experience difficulties in managing this growth, which could disrupt our operations.
As of February 28, 2017, we had 45 employees. As our development and commercialization plans and strategies progress and develop, we may need to expand our employee base for managerial, operational, financial and other resources, including sales and marketing resources in preparation for any commercial launch of a product. Future growth would impose significant added responsibilities on members of management, including the need to identify, recruit, maintain, motivate and integrate additional employees. Also, our management may need to divert a disproportionate amount of its attention away from their day-to-day activities and devote a substantial amount of time to managing these growth activities. We may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations which may result in weaknesses in our infrastructure, give rise to operational mistakes, loss of business opportunities, loss of employees and reduced productivity among remaining employees. Future growth could require significant capital expenditures and may divert financial resources from other projects, such as the development of additional product candidates. If our management is unable to effectively manage any future growth, our expenses may increase more than expected, our ability to generate and/or grow revenues could be reduced and we may not be able to implement our business strategy. Our future financial performance and our ability to commercialize solithromycin, fusidic acid and our other product candidates and compete effectively will depend, in part, on our ability to effectively manage any future growth in our organization.
Even if we obtain FDA approval of solithromycin, or any other product candidate, we may never obtain approval or commercialize our products outside of the U.S., which would limit our ability to realize their full market potential. If foreign approval is obtained, there are risks in conducting business in international markets.
In order to market solithromycin or any other products outside of the U.S., we must establish and comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements of other countries regarding safety and efficacy. Clinical trials conducted in one country may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other countries, and regulatory approval in one country does not mean that regulatory approval will be obtained in any other country. Approval procedures vary among countries and can involve additional product testing and validation and additional administrative review periods. Seeking foreign regulatory approvals could result in significant delays, difficulties and costs for us and require additional pre-clinical studies or clinical trials which would be costly and time consuming. Regulatory requirements can vary widely from country to country and could delay or prevent the introduction of our products in those countries. Satisfying these and other regulatory requirements is costly, time consuming, uncertain and subject to unanticipated delays.
In addition, our failure to obtain regulatory approval in the U.S. or any foreign country may delay or have negative effects on the process for regulatory approval in other countries. We do not know what impact if any the issuance of the CRL may have on our MAA filed with the EMA. We do not have any product candidates approved for sale in the U.S. or any foreign country and we do not have experience as a company in obtaining regulatory approval in international markets. If we fail to comply with regulatory requirements in a foreign country or to obtain and maintain required approvals, our potential market for solithromycin or other products will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential of our products will be harmed. We do not intend to commercialize fusidic acid outside the U.S. because of the widespread use of fusidic acid in Europe and Australia.
If approved for commercialization in a foreign country, we intend to enter into agreements with third parties to market solithromycin whenever it may be approved and wherever we have the right to market it. Consequently, we expect that we will be subject to additional risks related to entering into international business relationships, including:
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potentially reduced protection for intellectual property rights; |
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the potential for so-called parallel importing, which is what happens when a local seller, faced with high or higher local prices, opts to import goods from a foreign market (with low or lower prices) rather than buying them locally; |
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unexpected changes in tariffs, trade barriers and regulatory requirements; |
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economic weakness, including inflation, or political instability in particular foreign economies and markets; |
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compliance with laws for employees traveling abroad; |
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foreign taxes, including withholding of payroll taxes; |
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foreign currency fluctuations, which could result in increased operating expenses and reduced revenues; |
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workforce uncertainty in countries where labor unrest is more common than in the U.S.; |
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production shortages resulting from any events affecting API and/or finished drug product supply or manufacturing capabilities abroad; |
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business interruptions resulting from geo-political actions, including war and terrorism, or natural disasters including earthquakes, typhoons, floods and fires; and |
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failure to comply with Office of Foreign Asset Control rules and regulations and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. |
These and other risks may materially adversely affect our ability to attain or sustain revenue from international markets.
Our employees may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements and insider trading.
We are exposed to the risk of employee fraud or other misconduct. Misconduct by employees could include intentional failures to comply with FDA regulations, provide accurate information to the FDA, comply with federal and state health care fraud and abuse laws and regulations, report financial information or data accurately or disclose unauthorized activities to us. In particular, sales, marketing and business arrangements in the health care industry are subject to extensive laws and regulations intended to prevent fraud, misconduct, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, sales commission, customer incentive programs and other business arrangements. Employee misconduct could also involve the improper use of information obtained in the course of clinical trials, which could result in regulatory sanctions and serious harm to our reputation. We have adopted a Code of Conduct, but it is not always possible to identify and deter employee misconduct, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to be in compliance with these laws or regulations. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business, including the imposition of significant fines or other sanctions.
To raise additional funds to support our business operations, we may issue equity or debt securities. Debt securities could contain restrictive covenants that may adversely impact the operation of our business. The issuance of equity securities or convertible debt securities would result in dilution to our stockholders.
The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased fixed payment obligations and could also result in certain restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional debt, limitations on our ability to acquire, sell or license intellectual property rights and other operating restrictions that could adversely impact our ability to conduct our business. For example, in July 2015, we entered into a loan agreement for $20.0 million with Comerica Bank that contains restrictive covenants, including restrictions on our ability to incur additional debt, transfer or place a lien or security interest on our assets, including our intellectual property, merge with or acquire other companies, redeem any shares of our capital stock or pay cash dividends to our stockholders. Future debt securities or other financing arrangements could contain similar or more restrictive negative covenants than the Comerica Bank loan. In addition, the sale of equity securities or convertible debt securities would result in the issuance of additional shares of our capital stock, which would result in dilution to our stockholders.
Our limited operating history makes it difficult to evaluate our business and prospects.
We began operations in 2006. Our operations to date have been limited to financing and staffing our company, conducting product development activities for solithromycin and fusidic acid, engaging in commercial launch preparation activities for solithromycin, performing research and development with respect to our proprietary macrolide library. We have not yet demonstrated an ability as a company to obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize a product candidate. Consequently, the ability to predict our future performance may not be as accurate as it could be if we had a history of successfully developing and commercializing pharmaceutical products.
Government funding for any current or future development programs may be withheld, delayed or terminated for reasons beyond our control, or if we fail to carry out our contractual obligations or cease development of a product candidate.
We have an agreement with BARDA pursuant to which we are pursuing the evaluation and development of solithromycin for the treatment of bacterial infections in pediatric populations and infections caused by bioterror threat pathogens, specifically anthrax and tularemia. Funding for any government-sponsored or government-funded program is subject to withholding, delay or termination for reasons beyond our control. Further, funding could be reprioritized due to national or international developments. Epidemics, such as the recent crisis with Ebola, could cause government sponsors, including BARDA, to shift funding away from our program to address what the sponsor views as more pressing needs. BARDA also has the right to terminate its agreement with us at any time if the contracting officer determines that it is in the government’s interest to do so.
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In addition, if we fail to abide by our contractual obligations to any governmental entity, including BARDA, the entity generally would be able to terminate the agreement. Further, if we were to cease development of any product candidate for which we had a contract with a governmental entity, it would generally lead to the termination of such a contract, which could have adverse monetary implications for us, depending on the terms of the agreement. In the case of our agreement with BARDA, if we were to cease developing solithromycin, we would be in breach of the agreement and would lose the funding from BARDA and could, depending on the status of the work options at the time, could require us to pay our share of the one cost-sharing work option.
If we market any of our product candidates that receive approval in a manner that violates applicable health care laws, including laws prohibiting off-label promotion, disclosure laws or other similar laws, we may be subject to civil or criminal penalties.
Any regulatory approval of drug products is limited to those specific diseases and indications for which a product is deemed to be safe and effective by the FDA. In addition to the FDA approval required for new formulations, any new indication for an approved product also requires FDA approval. While physicians may choose to prescribe drugs for uses that are not described in the product’s labeling and for uses that differ from those tested in clinical studies and approved by the regulatory authorities, our ability to promote the products is limited to those indications that are specifically approved by the FDA. Regulatory authorities in the United States generally do not regulate the behavior of physicians in their choice of treatments, and such off-label uses by healthcare professionals are common. Regulatory authorities do, however, restrict communications by pharmaceutical companies on the subject of off-label use. If we are not able to obtain FDA approval for any desired future indications for solithromycin, fusidic acid or any other product candidates that may be approved, our ability to market and sell such products will be limited and our business may be adversely affected.
In addition, in recent years, several states and localities have enacted legislation requiring pharmaceutical companies to establish marketing compliance programs, file periodic reports with the state or make periodic public disclosures on sales, marketing, pricing, clinical trials, health care provider payments and other activities. Additionally, the federal government has enacted the Physician Payment Sunshine Act which requires pharmaceutical manufacturers to report annually to the Secretary of Health and Human Services payments or other transfers of value made by that entity to physicians and teaching hospitals. If any of our product candidates are approved, we will be required to report certain information with respect to such payments. We also expect to have to comply with similar reporting obligations in foreign countries. We will need to expend significant efforts to establish, maintain and enhance such reporting systems and processes in order to comply with these regulations. Failure to comply with the reporting requirements would result in significant civil monetary penalties. The Affordable Care Act also includes various provisions designed to strengthen significantly fraud and abuse enforcement, such as increased funding for enforcement efforts and the lowering of the intent requirement of the federal anti-kickback statute and criminal health care fraud statute such that a person or entity no longer needs to have actual knowledge of this statute or specific intent to violate it.
Risks Related to Our Industry
We are subject to extensive and costly government regulation.
Antibiotics, including those we are developing and plan to develop in the future, are subject to extensive and rigorous domestic government regulation including regulation by the FDA, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, other divisions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Justice, state and local governments and their respective foreign equivalents. The FDA regulates the research, development, pre-clinical and clinical testing, manufacture, safety, effectiveness, record keeping, reporting, labeling, storage, approval, advertising, promotion, sale, distribution, import and export of pharmaceutical products. If any products we develop are tested or marketed abroad, they will also be subject to extensive regulation by foreign governments, whether or not we have obtained FDA approval for a given product and its uses. Such foreign regulation may be equally or more demanding than corresponding U.S. regulation. Government regulation substantially increases the cost and risk of researching, developing, manufacturing and selling products. Our failure to comply with these regulations could result in significant fines or the inability of our product candidates to obtain and maintain regulatory approval, which would have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Even if we obtain regulatory approval for solithromycin, fusidic acid or any of our future product candidates, we will still face extensive regulatory requirements and our products may face future development and regulatory difficulties.
Even if regulatory approval in the U.S. is obtained, the FDA may still 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. For example, the labeling ultimately approved for solithromycin will include, and for fusidic acid may include, restrictions on use. Solithromycin, fusidic acid or any of our other product candidates will also be subject to ongoing FDA requirements governing the labeling, packaging, storage, distribution, safety surveillance, advertising, promotion, record keeping and reporting of safety and other post-market information. The holder of an approved NDA is subject to obligations to monitor and report adverse events and instances
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of the failure of a product to meet the specifications in the NDA. Application holders must submit new or supplemental applications and obtain FDA approval for certain changes to the approved product, product labeling or manufacturing process. Application holders must also submit advertising and other promotional material to the FDA and report on ongoing clinical trials. Legal requirements have also been enacted to require disclosure of clinical trial results on publicly available databases.
In addition, manufacturers of drug products and their facilities are subject to continual review and periodic inspections by the FDA and other regulatory authorities for compliance with cGMP regulations. If we or a regulatory agency discovers previously unknown problems with a product, such as adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or problems with the facility where the product is manufactured, a regulatory agency may impose restrictions on that product, the manufacturing facility or us, including requiring recall or withdrawal of the product from the market or suspension of manufacturing, requiring new warnings or other labeling changes to limit use of the drug, requiring that we conduct additional clinical trials, imposing new monitoring requirements, or requiring that we establish risk evaluation and mitigation strategies, or REMS. Advertising and promotional materials must comply with FDA rules in addition to other potentially applicable federal and state laws. The distribution of product samples to physicians must comply with the requirements of the Prescription Drug Marketing Act. Sales, marketing and scientific/educational grant programs must comply with the anti-fraud and abuse provisions of the Social Security Act, the False Claims Act and similar state laws, each as amended. Pricing and rebate programs must comply with the Medicaid rebate requirements of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 and the Veteran’s Health Care Act of 1992, each as amended. If products are made available to authorized users of the Federal Supply Schedule of the General Services Administration, additional laws and requirements apply. All of these activities are also potentially subject to federal and state consumer protection and unfair competition laws. If we or our third party collaborators fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, a regulatory agency may:
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conduct an investigation into our practices and any alleged violation of law; |
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issue warning letters or untitled letters asserting that we are in violation of the law; |
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seek an injunction or impose civil or criminal penalties or monetary fines; |
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suspend or withdraw regulatory approval; |
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suspend any ongoing clinical trials; |
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refuse to approve pending applications or supplements to applications filed by us; |
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suspend or impose restrictions on operations, including costly new manufacturing requirements; |
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seize or detain products, refuse to permit the import or export of products, or require us to initiate a product recall; or |
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refuse to allow us to enter into supply contracts, including government contracts. |
The occurrence of any event or penalty described above may force us to expend significant amounts of time and money and may significantly inhibit our ability to bring to market or continue to market our products and generate revenues. Similar regulations apply in foreign jurisdictions.
Product liability lawsuits could divert our resources, result in substantial liabilities and reduce the commercial potential of our products.
We face an inherent risk of product liability as a result of the clinical testing of our product candidates despite obtaining appropriate informed consents from our clinical trial participants, and will face an even greater risk if we commercialize solithromycin or fusidic acid in the U.S. or other additional jurisdictions or if we engage in the clinical testing of new product candidates or commercialize any additional products. For example, we may be sued if any product we develop allegedly causes injury or is found to be otherwise unsuitable during clinical testing, manufacturing, marketing or sale. Any such product liability claims may include allegations of defects in manufacturing, defects in design, a failure to warn of dangers inherent in the product, negligence, strict liability or a breach of warranties. Claims could also be asserted under state consumer protection acts. The liver toxicity issues raised by the FDA in its CRL for our NDAs for solithromycin for the treatment of CABP and the label warning, if solithromycin is approved, may heighten the risk of lawsuits if injuries appear to be caused by solithromycin. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against product liability claims, we may incur substantial liabilities or be required to limit commercialization of our product candidates. Even successful defense would require significant financial and management resources. Regardless of the merits or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:
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decreased demand for our products or product candidates that we may develop; |
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loss of revenue; |
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injury to our reputation; |
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withdrawal of clinical trial participants; |
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initiation of investigations by regulators; |
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costs to defend the related litigation; |
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a diversion of management’s time and our resources; |
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substantial monetary awards to trial participants or patients; |
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product recalls, withdrawals or labeling, marketing or promotional restrictions; |
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exhaustion of any available insurance and our capital resources; |
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the inability to commercialize our products or product candidates; and |
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a decline in our stock price. |
Although we maintain general liability insurance of up to $2.0 million in the aggregate and clinical trial liability insurance of $10.0 million in the aggregate for each of solithromycin and fusidic acid, this insurance may not fully cover potential liabilities. The cost of any product liability litigation or other proceeding, even if resolved in our favor, could be substantial. In addition, inability to obtain or maintain sufficient insurance coverage at an acceptable cost or to otherwise protect against potential product liability claims could prevent or inhibit the development and commercial production and sale of our products, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
If we use hazardous and biological materials in a manner that causes injury or violates applicable law, we may be liable for damages.
Our research and development activities involve the controlled use of potentially hazardous substances, including chemical, biological and radioactive materials and viruses. In addition, our operations produce hazardous waste products. Federal, state and local laws and regulations in the U.S. govern the use, manufacture, storage, handling and disposal of hazardous materials. We may incur significant additional costs to comply with applicable laws in the future. We also cannot predict the impact on our business of new or amended environmental laws or regulations, or any changes in the way existing and future laws and regulations are interpreted or enforced. Also, even if we are in compliance with applicable laws, we cannot completely eliminate the risk of contamination or injury resulting from hazardous materials, and we may incur liability as a result of any such contamination or injury. In the event of an accident, we could be held liable for damages or penalized with fines, and the liability could exceed our resources, and we do not carry liability insurance covering the use of hazardous materials. If we fail to comply with applicable requirements, we could incur substantial costs, including civil or criminal fines and penalties, clean-up costs, or capital expenditures for control equipment or operational changes necessary to achieve or maintain compliance. Compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations is expensive, and current or future environmental regulations may impair our research, development and production efforts, which adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Risks Related to our Intellectual Property
Our ability to pursue the development and commercialization of solithromycin depends upon the continuation of our licenses from Optimer and The Scripps Research Institute.
Our agreement with Optimer (now owned by Merck) provides us with a worldwide exclusive license to develop and sell solithromycin outside of ASEAN countries. We are obligated to use our diligent efforts to develop and commercialize products licensed from Optimer. We have other obligations to Optimer under the license related to progress reporting, payment terms and confidentiality. If we do not continue to use diligent efforts to develop and commercialize solithromycin, if we are unable to make the required milestone and royalty payments under the agreement or if we otherwise materially breach the agreement, our rights to develop and commercialize solithromycin would terminate and revert to Optimer. In addition, either we or Optimer may terminate the agreement upon the uncured material breach of the agreement or upon the other party’s bankruptcy. If our agreement with Optimer is terminated by Optimer, we would lose our rights to develop and commercialize solithromycin, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Our agreement with The Scripps Research Institute, or TSRI, provides us with a license to make, use, sell, and import products for human or animal therapeutic use that use or incorporate one or more macrolides as an active pharmaceutical ingredient and is covered by certain patent rights owned by TSRI claiming technology related to copper-catalyzed ligation of azides and acetylenes, with exclusive rights as to the People’s Republic of China (excluding Hong Kong), South Korea and Australia, and non-exclusive rights in all other countries worldwide, except the member-nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (which are not
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included in the license with TSRI). We are obligated to use commercially reasonable efforts to develop and obtain regulatory approvals to market and sell one or more licensed products. TSRI may terminate the agreement due to our insolvency, our conviction for a felony relating to the development, manufacture, use, marketing, distribution or sale of a licensed product, or upon an uncured breach of the agreement by us, including failure to make any required payment. If our agreement with TSRI is terminated by TSRI, we could lose our rights to synthesize and/or manufacture solithromycin under the licensed TSRI technology, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Another party could develop a fusidic acid product and achieve FDA regulatory exclusivity in the U.S. before we do, potentially preventing our ability to commercialize fusidic acid.
We will rely partly on FDA regulatory exclusivity to protect our proprietary rights for fusidic acid, our fusidic acid product, in the U.S. fusidic acid has been approved and sold for several decades in Europe and countries outside the U.S., but it has never been approved in the U.S. We believe this was due to the lack of regulatory exclusivity that was available for the molecule until the passage of Public Law 110-379 on October 8, 2008, which allowed old antibiotics such as fusidic acid to obtain five-year new chemical entity, or NCE, exclusivity upon NDA approval. This exclusivity will be granted to the first fusidic acid product that receives NDA approval. During the exclusivity period, for a minimum of four years the FDA will not accept an application filed by a third party that relies on any data contained in the approved NDA. Although we are not aware of another party currently developing fusidic acid for use in the U.S. for any indication, if another party were to do so and obtain NDA approval before we do, we would not be able to obtain approval for Fusidic acid for any disease until after any period of regulatory exclusivity if our NDA relies on data contained in the previously approved NDA. In that event, we may not be able to commercialize fusidic acid, which would harm our ability to generate revenue and achieve profitability.