SEC Document
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-Q
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ý | QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the quarterly period ended: March 31, 2016
OR
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¨ | 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 001-12465
CTI BIOPHARMA CORP.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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Washington | | 91-1533912 |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
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3101 Western Avenue, Suite 600 | | |
Seattle, Washington | | 98121 |
(Address of principal executive offices) | | (Zip Code) |
(206) 282-7100
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
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 ý 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 (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ý No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
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Large accelerated filer | | ¨ | | Accelerated filer | | ý |
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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 ý
Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date:
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Class | | Outstanding at May 3, 2016 |
Common Stock, no par value | | 282,930,067 |
CTI BIOPHARMA CORP.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION | | |
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ITEM 1: Financial Statements | | |
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Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets at March 31, 2016 (unaudited) and December 31, 2015 | | |
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Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations – Three Months Ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 (unaudited) | | |
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Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss – Three Months Ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 (unaudited) | | |
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Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows – Three Months Ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 (unaudited) | | |
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Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited) | | |
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ITEM 2: Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations | | |
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ITEM 3: Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk | | |
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ITEM 4: Controls and Procedures | | |
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PART II - OTHER INFORMATION | | |
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ITEM 1: Legal Proceedings | | |
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ITEM 1A: Risk Factors | | |
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ITEM 2: Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds | | |
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ITEM 3: Defaults Upon Senior Securities | | |
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ITEM 4: Mine Safety Disclosures | | |
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ITEM 5: Other Information | | |
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ITEM 6: Exhibits | | |
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Signatures | | |
PART I – FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1. Financial Statements.
CTI BIOPHARMA CORP.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(In thousands, except share amounts)
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| March 31, 2016 | | December 31, 2015 |
| (unaudited) | | |
ASSETS | | | |
Current assets: | | | |
Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 104,641 |
| | $ | 128,182 |
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Accounts receivable, net | 666 |
| | 282 |
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Inventory, net | 2,911 |
| | 2,845 |
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Prepaid expenses and other current assets | 5,724 |
| | 3,666 |
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Total current assets | 113,942 |
| | 134,975 |
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Property and equipment, net | 3,617 |
| | 3,718 |
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Other assets | 5,882 |
| | 5,504 |
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Total assets | $ | 123,441 |
| | $ | 144,197 |
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LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY | |
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Current liabilities: | |
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Accounts payable | $ | 17,712 |
| | $ | 10,584 |
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Accrued expenses | 18,954 |
| | 22,133 |
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Current portion of deferred revenue | 646 |
| | 578 |
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Current portion of long-term debt | 7,285 |
| | 37,371 |
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Other current liabilities | 1,757 |
| | 1,743 |
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Total current liabilities | 46,354 |
| | 72,409 |
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Deferred revenue, less current portion | 933 |
| | 1,110 |
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Long-term debt, less current portion | 17,314 |
| | 19,124 |
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Other liabilities | 4,097 |
| | 4,141 |
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Total liabilities | 68,698 |
| | 96,784 |
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Commitments and contingencies |
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Shareholders' equity: | |
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Common stock, no par value: | |
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Authorized shares - 315,000,000 | |
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Issued and outstanding shares - 280,346,792 and 280,461,097 at March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively | 2,161,013 |
| | 2,157,300 |
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Accumulated other comprehensive loss | (6,325 | ) | | (6,952 | ) |
Accumulated deficit | (2,095,005 | ) | | (2,098,317 | ) |
Total CTI shareholders' equity | 59,683 |
| | 52,031 |
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Noncontrolling interest | (4,940 | ) | | (4,618 | ) |
Total shareholders' equity | 54,743 |
| | 47,413 |
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Total liabilities and shareholders' equity | $ | 123,441 |
| | $ | 144,197 |
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See accompanying notes.
CTI BIOPHARMA CORP.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(In thousands, except per share amounts)
(unaudited)
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| Three Months Ended March 31, |
| 2016 | | 2015 |
Revenues: | | | |
Product sales, net | $ | 1,223 |
| | $ | 805 |
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License and contract revenue | 35,252 |
| | 1,923 |
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Total revenues | 36,475 |
| | 2,728 |
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Operating costs and expenses: | |
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Cost of product sold | 190 |
| | 190 |
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Research and development | 20,846 |
| | 17,471 |
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Selling, general and administrative | 11,312 |
| | 12,297 |
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Other operating expense | — |
| | 253 |
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Total operating costs and expenses | 32,348 |
| | 30,211 |
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Income (loss) from operations | 4,127 |
| | (27,483 | ) |
Non-operating income (expense): | |
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Interest expense | (714 | ) | | (494 | ) |
Amortization of debt discount and issuance costs | (101 | ) | | (180 | ) |
Foreign exchange gain (loss) | 198 |
| | (728 | ) |
Other non-operating expense | (519 | ) | | — |
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Total non-operating expense, net | (1,136 | ) | | (1,402 | ) |
Net income (loss) before noncontrolling interest | 2,991 |
| | (28,885 | ) |
Noncontrolling interest | 321 |
| | 288 |
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Net income (loss) | $ | 3,312 |
| | $ | (28,597 | ) |
Net income (loss) per common share: | |
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Basic | $ | 0.01 |
| | $ | (0.16 | ) |
Diluted | $ | 0.01 |
| | $ | (0.16 | ) |
Shares used in calculation of earnings (loss) per common share: | | | |
Basic | 277,930 |
| | 173,936 |
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Diluted | 278,156 |
| | 173,936 |
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See accompanying notes.
CTI BIOPHARMA CORP.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)
(In thousands)
(unaudited)
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| Three Months Ended March 31, |
| 2016 | | 2015 |
Net income (loss) before noncontrolling interest | $ | 2,991 |
| | $ | (28,885 | ) |
Other comprehensive income (loss): | | | |
Foreign currency translation adjustments | (1,363 | ) | | 2,247 |
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Unrealized foreign exchange gain (loss) on intercompany balance | 1,470 |
| | (2,754 | ) |
Other-than-temporary impairment on available-for-sale securities | 519 |
| | — |
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Net unrealized income on securities available-for-sale | 1 |
| | 5 |
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Other comprehensive income (loss) | 627 |
| | (502 | ) |
Comprehensive income (loss) | 3,618 |
| | (29,387 | ) |
Comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling interest | 321 |
| | 288 |
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Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to CTI | $ | 3,939 |
| | $ | (29,099 | ) |
See accompanying notes.
CTI BIOPHARMA CORP.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(In thousands)
(unaudited)
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| Three Months Ended March 31, |
| 2016 | | 2015 |
Operating activities | | | |
Net income (loss) | $ | 2,991 |
| | $ | (28,885 | ) |
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash used in operating activities: | |
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Baxalta milestone revenue | (32,000 | ) | | — |
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Share-based compensation expense | 3,826 |
| | 4,336 |
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Depreciation and amortization | 232 |
| | 261 |
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Provision for bad debt | 321 |
| | — |
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Other-than-temporary impairment on available-for-sale securities | 519 |
| | — |
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Noncash interest expense | 101 |
| | 180 |
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Other | (106 | ) | | (93 | ) |
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | |
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Accounts receivable | (679 | ) | | 537 |
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Inventory | 68 |
| | 125 |
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Prepaid expenses and other current assets | (2,004 | ) | | (939 | ) |
Other assets | (76 | ) | | 1,219 |
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Accounts payable | 7,120 |
| | 4,331 |
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Accrued expenses | (3,265 | ) | | (4,861 | ) |
Deferred revenue | (108 | ) | | (214 | ) |
Total adjustments | (26,051 | ) | | 4,882 |
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Net cash used in operating activities | (23,060 | ) | | (24,003 | ) |
Investing activities | |
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Purchases of property and equipment | (29 | ) | | (24 | ) |
Net cash used in investing activities | (29 | ) | | (24 | ) |
Financing activities | | | |
Repayment of Hercules debt | — |
| | (2,297 | ) |
Payment of tax withholding obligations related to stock compensation | (113 | ) | | (527 | ) |
Other | (136 | ) | | (213 | ) |
Net cash used in financing activities | (249 | ) | | (3,037 | ) |
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Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents | (203 | ) | | 526 |
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Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents | (23,541 | ) | | (26,538 | ) |
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period | 128,182 |
| | 70,933 |
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Cash and cash equivalents at end of period | $ | 104,641 |
| | $ | 44,395 |
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Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information | | | |
Cash paid during the period for interest | $ | 2,472 |
| | $ | 524 |
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Cash paid during the period for taxes | $ | — |
| | $ | — |
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Supplemental disclosure of noncash financing and investing activities | | | |
Baxalta milestone advance - earned in lieu of repayment | $ | (32,000 | ) | | $ | — |
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See accompanying notes.
CTI BIOPHARMA CORP.
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(unaudited)
1. Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
CTI BioPharma Corp., together with its wholly-owned subsidiaries, also referred to collectively in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q as “we,” “us,” “our,” the “Company” and “CTI”, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of novel targeted therapies covering a spectrum of blood-related cancers that offer a unique benefit to patients and health care providers. Our goal is to build a profitable company by generating income from products we develop and commercialize, either alone or with partners. We are currently concentrating our efforts on treatments that target blood-related cancers where there is an unmet medical need. In particular, we are primarily focused on commercializing PIXUVRI in select countries in the European Union, or the E.U., for multiply relapsed or refractory aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or NHL, and evaluating pacritinib for the treatment of adult patients with myelofibrosis.
We operate in a highly regulated and competitive environment. The manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical products require approval from, and are subject to, ongoing oversight by the Food and Drug Administration, or the FDA, in the United States, or the U.S., the European Medicines Agency, or the EMA, in the E.U. and comparable agencies in other countries. Obtaining approval for a new therapeutic product is never certain, may take many years and may involve expenditure of substantial resources.
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying unaudited financial information of CTI as of and for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 has been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. for interim financial information and with the instructions to Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. In the opinion of management, such financial information includes all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) considered necessary for a fair presentation of our financial position at such date and the operating results and cash flows for such periods. Operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2016 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the entire year or for any other subsequent interim period.
Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles have been omitted pursuant to the rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC. These unaudited financial statements and related notes should be read in conjunction with our audited annual financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2015 included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 17, 2016.
The condensed consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2015 has been derived from the audited financial statements at that date, but does not include all of the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. for complete financial statements.
Principles of Consolidation
The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of CTI and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, which include Systems Medicine LLC and CTI Life Sciences Limited, or CTILS. We also retain ownership of our branch, CTI BioPharma Corp.– Sede Secondaria, or CTI (Europe); however, we ceased operations related to this branch in September 2009.
As of March 31, 2016, we also had a 60% interest in our majority-owned subsidiary, Aequus Biopharma, Inc., or Aequus. The remaining interest in Aequus not held by CTI is reported as noncontrolling interest in the consolidated financial statements.
All intercompany transactions and balances are eliminated in consolidation.
Accounts Receivable
Our accounts receivable balance includes trade receivables related to PIXUVRI sales. We estimate an allowance for doubtful accounts based upon the age of outstanding receivables and our historical experience of collections, which includes
adjustments for risk of loss for specific customer accounts. We periodically review the estimation process and make changes to our assumptions as necessary. When it is deemed probable that a customer account is uncollectible, the account balance is written off against the existing allowance. We also consider the customers’ country of origin to determine if an allowance is required. We continue to monitor economic conditions, including the volatility associated with international economies, the sovereign debt crisis in certain European countries and associated impacts on the financial markets and our business.
As of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, our accounts receivable did not include any balance from a customer in a country that has exhibited financial stress that would have had a material impact on our financial results. We recorded no allowance for doubtful accounts as of March 31, 2016 and as of December 31, 2015.
Liquidity
The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that we will continue as a going concern, which contemplates realization of assets and the satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business for the twelve-month period following the date of these consolidated financial statements. We will need to continue to conduct research, development, testing and regulatory compliance activities with respect to our compounds and ensure the procurement of manufacturing and drug supply services, the costs of which, together with projected general and administrative expenses, is expected to result in operating losses for the foreseeable future. We have incurred a net operating loss every year since our formation. As of March 31, 2016, we had an accumulated deficit of $2.1 billion, and we expect to continue to incur net losses.
Our available cash and cash equivalents were $104.6 million as of March 31, 2016. We believe that our present financial resources, together with milestone payments projected to be received under certain contractual agreements and our ability to control costs, will be sufficient to fund our operations at least through the next twelve months from the date these financial statements were issued.
We may need to acquire additional funds in order to develop our business. We may seek to raise such capital through public or private equity financings, partnerships, collaborations, joint ventures, disposition of assets, debt financings or restructurings, bank borrowings or other sources of financing. Furthermore, we have a limited number of authorized shares of common stock available for issuance and additional funding may not be available on favorable terms or at all. If additional funds are raised by issuing equity securities, substantial dilution to existing shareholders may result. If we fail to obtain additional capital when needed, our ability to operate as a going concern will be harmed, and we may be required to delay, scale back or eliminate some or all of our research and development programs, reduce our selling, general and administrative expenses, be unable to attract and retain highly qualified personnel, be unable to obtain and maintain contracts necessary to continue our operations and at affordable rates with competitive terms, refrain from making our contractually required payments when due (including debt payments) and/or may be forced to cease operations, liquidate our assets and possibly seek bankruptcy protection.
Value Added Tax Receivable
Our European operations are subject to a value added tax, or VAT, which is usually applied to all goods and services purchased and sold throughout Europe. The VAT receivable was approximately $4.9 million and $4.7 million as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, of which $4.4 million and $4.2 million was included in other assets and $0.5 million and $0.5 million was included in prepaid expenses and other current assets as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively. The collection period of VAT receivable for our European operations ranges from approximately three months to five years. For our Italian VAT receivable, the collection period is approximately three to five years. As of March 31, 2016, the VAT receivable related to operations in Italy is approximately $4.5 million. We review our VAT receivable balance for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying amount might not be recoverable.
Inventory
We carry inventory at the lower of cost or market. The cost of finished goods and work in process is determined using the standard-cost method, which approximates actual cost based on a first-in, first-out method. Inventory includes the cost of materials, third-party contract manufacturing and overhead costs, quality control costs and shipping costs from the manufacturers to the final distribution warehouse associated with the distribution of PIXUVRI. Production costs for our other product candidates continue to be charged to research and development expense as incurred prior to regulatory approval or until our estimate for regulatory approval becomes probable. We review our inventories on a quarterly basis for impairment and reserves are established when necessary. Estimates of excess inventory consider our projected sales of the product and the remaining shelf lives of product. In the event we identify excess, obsolete or unsalable inventory, the value is written down to
the net realizable value. Based on assessment of shelf lives and net realizable value of the product, a $1.3 million reserve for excess, obsolete or unsalable inventory was recorded as of each of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015.
Revenue Recognition
We currently have conditional marketing authorization for PIXUVRI in the E.U. Revenue is recognized when there is persuasive evidence of the existence of an agreement, delivery has occurred, prices are fixed or determinable, and collectability is assured. Where the revenue recognition criteria are not met, we defer the recognition of revenue by recording deferred revenue until such time that all criteria under the provision are met.
Product sales
We primarily sell PIXUVRI through a limited number of wholesale distributors. We generally record product sales upon receipt of the product by the health care providers and certain distributors at which time title and risk of loss pass. Product sales are recorded net of distributor discounts, estimated government-mandated rebates, trade discounts, and estimated product returns. Reserves are established for these deductions and actual amounts incurred are offset against the applicable reserves. We reflect these reserves as either a reduction in the related account receivable or as an accrued liability depending on the nature of the sales deduction. These estimates are periodically reviewed and adjusted as necessary.
Milestone payments
Milestone payments under the collaboration agreement are generally aggregated into three categories for reporting purposes: (i) development milestones, (ii) regulatory milestones, and (iii) sales milestones. Development milestones are typically payable when a product candidate initiates or advances into different clinical trial phases. Regulatory milestones are typically payable upon submission for marketing approval with the FDA, or with the regulatory authorities of other countries, or on receipt of actual marketing approvals for the compound or for additional indications. Sales milestones are typically payable when annual sales reach certain levels.
At the inception of each agreement that includes milestone payments, we evaluate whether each milestone is substantive and at risk to both parties on the basis of the contingent nature of the milestone. This evaluation includes an assessment of whether (a) the consideration is commensurate with either (1) the entity's performance to achieve the milestone, or (2) the enhancement of the value of the delivered item(s) as a result of a specific outcome resulting from the entity's performance to achieve the milestone, (b) the consideration relates solely to past performance and (c) the consideration is reasonable relative to all of the deliverables and payment terms within the arrangement. We evaluate factors such as the scientific, regulatory, commercial and other risks that must be overcome to achieve the respective milestone, the level of effort and investment required to achieve the respective milestone and whether the milestone consideration is reasonable relative to all deliverables and payment terms in the arrangement in making this assessment. Non-refundable development and regulatory milestones that are expected to be achieved as a result of our efforts during the period of substantial involvement are considered substantive and are recognized as revenue upon the achievement of the milestone, assuming all other revenue recognition criteria are met.
Reimbursement Arrangements and Collaborative Arrangements
We follow ASC 605-25, Revenue Recognition – Multiple-Element Arrangements and ASC 808, Collaborative Arrangements, if applicable, to determine the accounting of reimbursement arrangements under our collaborative research and development and commercialization agreements.
Cost of Product Sold
Cost of product sold includes third-party manufacturing costs, shipping costs, contractual royalties and other costs of PIXUVRI product sold. Cost of product sold also includes allowances for excess inventory that may expire and become unsalable.
Foreign Currency Translation and Transaction Gains and Losses
We record foreign currency translation adjustments and transaction gains and losses in accordance with ASC 830, Foreign Currency Matters. For our operations that have a functional currency other than the U.S. dollar, gains and losses resulting from the translation of the functional currency into U.S. dollars for financial statement presentation are not included in determining net loss, but are accumulated in the cumulative foreign currency translation adjustment account as a separate component of shareholders’ equity (deficit), except for intercompany transactions that are of a short-term nature with entities
that are consolidated, combined or accounted for by the equity method in our consolidated financial statements. We and our subsidiaries also have transactions in foreign currencies other than the functional currency. We record transaction gains and losses in our consolidated statements of operations related to the recurring measurement and settlement of such transactions.
The intercompany balance due from CTILS is considered to be of a long-term nature. A favorable unrealized foreign exchange gain of $1.5 million and unfavorable unrealized foreign exchange loss of $2.8 million was recorded in cumulative foreign currency translation adjustment account for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. As of March 31, 2016, the intercompany balance due from CTILS was €27.3 million (or $31.1 million upon conversion from euros as of March 31, 2016). As of December 31, 2015, the intercompany balance due from CTILS was €27.2 million (or $29.5 million upon conversion from euros as of December 31, 2015).
Net Income (Loss) Per Share
Basic net income (loss) per share is calculated based on the net income (loss) attributable to common shareholders divided by the weighted average number of shares outstanding for the period excluding any dilutive effects of options, warrants, unvested share awards and convertible securities. Diluted net income (loss) per common share assumes the conversion of all dilutive convertible securities, such as convertible debt and convertible preferred stock using the if-converted method, and assumes the exercise or vesting of other dilutive securities, such as options, warrants and restricted stock using the treasury stock method.
Recently Adopted Accounting Standards
In November 2015, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or the FASB, issued new guidance on the balance sheet classification of deferred taxes. To simplify presentation, the new guidance requires that all deferred tax assets and liabilities, along with any related valuation allowance, be classified as noncurrent on the balance sheet. The accounting standard is effective for annual reporting periods (including interim reporting periods within those periods) beginning after December 15, 2016. Early adoption is permitted. The adoption of this guidance did not have an impact on our consolidated financial statements.
In April 2015, the FASB issued a new accounting standard which changes the presentation of debt issuance costs in financial statements. Under the new standard, an entity presents such costs in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the related debt liability rather than as an asset. Amortization of the costs is reported as interest expense. The accounting standard is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2015 and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2016. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
Recently Issued Accounting Standards
In May 2014, the FASB, issued a new financial accounting standard which outlines a single comprehensive model for entities to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers and supersedes current revenue recognition guidance. The accounting standard is effective for annual reporting periods (including interim reporting periods within those periods) beginning after December 15, 2017. Early adoption is permitted as of annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim reporting periods within that reporting period. We are currently evaluating the impact of this accounting standard on our consolidated financial statements.
In August 2014, the FASB issued a new accounting standard which requires management to evaluate whether there is substantial doubt about an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern for each annual and interim reporting period and to provide related footnote disclosures in certain circumstances. The accounting standard is effective for annual reporting periods (including interim reporting periods within those periods) beginning after December 15, 2016. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of this accounting standard on our consolidated financial statements.
In July 2015, FASB issued a new accounting guidance on simplifying the measurement of inventory which requires that inventory within the scope of the guidance be measured at the lower of cost and net realizable value. Prior to the issuance of the standard, inventory was measured at the lower of cost or market (where market was defined as replacement cost, with a ceiling of net realizable value and floor of net realizable value less a normal profit margin). The accounting guidance is effective for annual reporting periods (including interim periods within those periods) beginning after December 15, 2016. Early adoption is permitted. The adoption of this standard is not expected to have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.
In January 2016, the FASB issued a new accounting standard on recognition and measurement of financial assets and financial liabilities. The accounting standard primarily affects the accounting for equity investments, financial liabilities under
the fair value option, and the presentation and disclosure requirements for financial instruments. In addition, it includes a clarification related to the valuation allowance assessment when recognizing deferred tax assets resulting from unrealized losses on available-for-sale debt securities. The accounting guidance is effective for annual reporting periods (including interim periods within those periods) beginning after December 15, 2017. Early adoption is permitted for the provision to record fair value changes for financial liabilities under the fair value option resulting from instrument-specific credit risk in other comprehensive income. The adoption of this standard is not expected to have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.
In February 2016, the FASB issued a new accounting guidance on accounting for leases which requires the lessees to recognize virtually all of their leases on the balance sheet (other than leases that meet the definition of a short-term lease). The accounting guidance is effective for annual reporting periods (including interim periods within those periods) beginning after December 15, 2018. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of this accounting standard on our consolidated financial statements.
In March 2016, the FASB issued a new accounting guidance for employee share-based payments accounting. The accounting standard primarily affects the accounting for forfeitures, minimum statutory tax withholding requirements, and income tax effects related to share-based payments at settlement (or expiration). The accounting guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017 and interim periods within annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of this accounting standard on our consolidated financial statements.
Reclassifications
Certain prior year items have been reclassified to conform to current year presentation.
2. Earnings (Loss) Per Share
The numerator for both basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share, or EPS, is net income (loss). The denominator for basic EPS (referred to as basic shares) is the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period, whereas the denominator for diluted EPS (referred to as diluted shares) also takes into account the dilutive effect of outstanding stock options and restricted stock awards using the treasury stock method. Basic and diluted shares for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 were as follows (in thousands):
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| | | | | |
| Three Months Ended March 31, |
| 2016 | | 2015 |
Basic shares | 277,930 |
| | 173,936 |
|
Effect of dilutive securities | 226 |
| | — |
|
Diluted shares | 278,156 |
| | 173,936 |
|
The effect of dilutive securities included unexercised stock options and unvested restricted stock. Equity awards, warrants, and unvested share rights aggregating 23.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 were excluded from the calculation of diluted EPS because they were anti-dilutive. Equity awards, warrants, and unvested share rights aggregating 14.5 million shares for the three months ended March 31, 2015, prior to the application of the treasury stock method, were excluded from the calculation of diluted EPS because they were anti-dilutive.
3. Inventory
The components of PIXUVRI inventory consisted of the following as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015 (in thousands):
|
| | | | | | | |
| March 31, 2016 | | December 31, 2015 |
Finished goods | $ | 946 |
| | $ | 724 |
|
Work-in-process | 3,291 |
| | 3,386 |
|
Inventory, gross | 4,237 |
| | 4,110 |
|
Reserve for expiring inventory | (1,326 | ) | | (1,265 | ) |
Inventory, net | $ | 2,911 |
| | $ | 2,845 |
|
4. Milestone Payments
Baxalta
In June 2015, we entered into the First Amendment, or the Pacritinib License Amendment, to the Development, Commercialization and License Agreement, or the Original Pacritinib License Agreement, dated as of November 14, 2013, with Baxter International Inc., or Baxter. Baxalta Incorporated and its affiliates, or Baxalta, have been assigned Baxter’s rights and obligations under the Original Pacritinib License Agreement. Pursuant to the Pacritinib License Amendment, two milestone payments in the aggregate amount of $32.0 million from Baxalta to us were accelerated from the schedule contemplated by the Original Pacritinib License Agreement relating to the following: the $12.0 million milestone payment payable in connection with the regulatory submission of the Marketing Authorization Application, or the MAA, to the EMA with respect to pacritinib, or the MAA Milestone, and the $20.0 million development milestone payment payable in connection with the first treatment dosing of the 300th patient enrolled per the protocol in PERSIST-2, or the PERSIST-2 Milestone. Under the Pacritinib License Amendment, each of the two milestone advances were bearing interest at an annual rate of 9% until the earlier of the date of the first occurrence of the respective milestone or the date that the respective advance plus accrued interest is repaid in full. In the first quarter of 2016, we recorded $32.0 million in License and contract revenue.
5. Legal Proceedings
The Italian Tax Authority, or the ITA, issued notices of assessment to CTI (Europe) based on the ITA’s audit of CTI (Europe)’s VAT returns for the years 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007, or, collectively, the VAT Assessments. The ITA audits concluded that CTI (Europe) did not collect and remit VAT on certain invoices issued to non-Italian clients for services performed by CTI (Europe). We believe that the services invoiced were non-VAT taxable consultancy services and that the VAT returns are correct as originally filed. We are defending ourselves against the assessments both on procedural grounds and on the merits of the case, although we can make no assurances regarding the ultimate outcomes of these cases. As of December 31, 2012, we reversed the entire reserve we had previously recorded relating to the VAT Assessments after having received favorable Provincial Tax Court rulings. In January 2013, our then remaining deposit for the VAT Assessments was refunded to us. The current status of the legal proceedings surrounding each respective VAT year return at issue is as follows:
2003. In June 2013, the Regional Tax Court issued decision no. 119/50/13 in regards to the 2003 VAT assessment, which accepted the appeal of the ITA and reversed the previous decision of the Provincial Tax Court. In January 2014, we were notified that the ITA requested partial payment of the 2003 VAT assessment in the amount of €0.4 million (or $0.6 million), which we paid in March 2014. We believe that the decision of the Regional Tax Court did not carefully take into account our arguments and the documentation we filed, and in January 2014, we appealed such decision to the Italian Supreme Court both on procedural grounds and on the merits of the case.
2005, 2006 and 2007. The ITA has appealed to the Italian Supreme Court the decisions of the respective appellate Regional Tax Court, which ruled in our favor, with respect to each of the 2005, 2006 and 2007 VAT returns.
If the final decisions of the Italian Supreme Court for the VAT Assessments are unfavorable to us, we may incur up to $10.7 million in losses for the VAT amount assessed including penalties, interest and fees upon conversion from euros as of March 31, 2016.
On February 10, 2016 and February 12, 2016, class action lawsuits entitled Ahrens v. CTI Biopharma Corp. et al, Case No. 1:16-cv-01044 and McGlothlin v. CTI Biopharma Corp. et al, Case No. C16-216, respectively, were filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, respectively, on behalf of shareholders that purchased or acquired the Company’s securities pursuant to our September 24, 2015 public offering and/or shareholders who otherwise acquired our stock between March 4, 2014 and February 9, 2016, inclusive. The complaints assert claims against the Company and certain of our current and former directors and officers for violations of the federal securities laws under Sections 11 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, and Sections 10 and 20 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, Plaintiffs’ Securities Act claims allege that the Company’s Registration Statement and Prospectus for the September 24, 2015 public offering contained materially false and misleading statements and failed to disclose certain material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations and prospects, including with respect to the clinical trials and prospects for pacritinib. Plaintiffs’ Exchange Act claims allege that the Company’s public disclosures were knowingly or recklessly false and misleading or omitted material adverse facts, again with a primary focus on the clinical trials and prospects for pacritinib. The lawsuits seek damages in an unspecified amount. We believe that the allegations contained in the complaints are without merit and intend to vigorously defend ourselves against all claims asserted therein. A reasonable estimate of the amount of any
possible loss or range of loss cannot be made at this time and, as such, we have not recorded an accrual for any possible loss.
On March 14, 2016, a Company shareholder filed a derivative lawsuit on behalf of the Company seeking damages for alleged harm to the Company caused by certain current and former officers and directors. The suit, Wei v. James A. Bianco, et al, 16-2-05818-3, was filed in King County Superior Court, Washington, and names as individual defendants James A. Bianco, Louis A. Bianco, Jack W. Singer, Bruce J. Seeley, John H. Bauer, Phillip M. Nudelman, Reed V. Tuckson, Karen Ignagni, Richard L. Love, Mary O. Mundinger and Frederick W. Telling. Consistent with the requirements of a derivative action, the Company is named as a nominal defendant against which no monetary relief is sought. The complaint alleges four claims: (1) breach of fiduciary duty; (2) abuse of control; (3) gross mismanagement; and (4) unjust enrichment (receiving compensation that was unjust in light of the alleged conduct). Each is based on the assertion that the Company made materially false and misleading statements and omitted material information from its disclosures about pacritinib and its safety. Plaintiff did not make a pre-suit demand on the current Board to investigate whether to pursue claims against officers or directors, instead claiming demand is excused because the named defendants lack independence, are not disinterested because they lack impartiality, received and want to continue to receive their compensation, have longstanding personal and business relationships, and cannot evaluate a demand since they are facing personal liability. Plaintiff has requested the court to award the Company the damages allegedly sustained as a result of the conduct and to direct the Company and the individual defendants to reform and improve the Company’s corporate governance to avoid future damages. We understand that the individuals named as defendants believe the allegations contained in the complaint lack merit and plan to vigorously defend themselves against all claims asserted therein. A reasonable estimate of the amount of any possible loss or range of loss cannot be made at this time and, as such, we have not recorded an accrual for any possible loss.
We are also in the process of providing documents in response to a subpoena received from the SEC in January 2016. The SEC's subpoena requests, among other things; internal and external communications related to pacritinib Phase 3 trials, including communications with the independent data monitoring committee, or IDMC, for pacritinib's Phase 3 trials, our steering committee, our board of directors, our audit committee, representatives of Baxter and Baxalta, and the Food and Drug Administration, and other documents related to pacritinib. We believe that the SEC is seeking to determine whether there have been possible violations of the antifraud and certain other provisions of the federal securities laws related to the Company's disclosures concerning, among other things, the clinical test results of pacritinib. The SEC Staff's letter sent with the subpoena stated that the investigation is a fact-finding inquiry, and the investigation and subpoena do not mean that the SEC has concluded that we or anyone else has violated any law. We are cooperating with this investigation.
In addition to the items discussed above, we are from time to time subject to legal proceedings and claims arising in the ordinary course of business.
6. Share-based Compensation Expense
The following table summarizes share-based compensation expense for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, which was allocated as follows (in thousands):
|
| | | | | | | |
| Three Months Ended March 31, |
| 2016 | | 2015 |
Research and development | $ | 786 |
| | $ | 990 |
|
Selling, general and administrative | 3,040 |
| | 3,346 |
|
Total share-based compensation expense | $ | 3,826 |
| | $ | 4,336 |
|
For the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, we incurred share-based compensation expense due to the following types of awards (in thousands):
|
| | | | | | | |
| Three Months Ended March 31, |
| 2016 | | 2015 |
Performance rights | $ | 360 |
| | $ | 418 |
|
Restricted stock | 2,071 |
| | 3,372 |
|
Options | 1,395 |
| | 546 |
|
Total share-based compensation expense | $ | 3,826 |
| | $ | 4,336 |
|
7. Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)
Total accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) consisted of the following (in thousands):
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Net Unrealized Gain (Loss) and Impairment on Available-For- Sale Securities | | Foreign Currency Translation Adjustments | | Unrealized Foreign Exchange Gain (Loss) on Intercompany Balance | | Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss |
December 31, 2015 | $ | (518 | ) | | $ | (3,849 | ) | | $ | (2,585 | ) | | $ | (6,952 | ) |
Current period other comprehensive income (loss) | 520 |
| | (1,363 | ) | | 1,470 |
| | 627 |
|
March 31, 2016 | $ | 2 |
| | $ | (5,212 | ) | | $ | (1,115 | ) | | $ | (6,325 | ) |
During the three months ended March 31, 2016, we recognized other-than-temporary impairment on our investment in available-for-sale securities of $0.5 million in our statements of operations. The value of available-for-sale securities of $21,000 was included in Prepaid expenses and other current assets as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015.
8. Leases
Our deferred rent balance was $3.9 million as of March 31, 2016, of which $0.5 million was included in other current liabilities and $3.4 million was included in other liabilities. As of December 31, 2015, our deferred rent balance was $4.0 million, of which $0.5 million was included in other current liabilities and $3.5 million was included in other liabilities.
Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q may contain, in addition to historical information, “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and should be read in conjunction with the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and the related Notes included in Part I, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. When used in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, terms such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “continue,” “could,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “potential,” “predicts,” “should,” or “will” or the negative of those terms or other comparable terms are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Such statements, which include statements concerning sufficiency of cash resources and other projections, product manufacturing and sales, research and development expenses, selling, general and administrative expenses, financings and additional losses. These statements are based on assumptions about many important factors and information currently available to us to the extent that we have thus far had an opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate such information in light of all surrounding facts, circumstances, recommendations and analyses. Additionally, these statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those discussed below and elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2015, or the 2015 Form 10-K, particularly in “Factors Affecting Our Business, Financial Condition, Operating Results and Prospects,” that could cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ significantly from those projected. Although we believe that expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. We will not update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q to conform these statements to actual results or changes in our expectations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
OVERVIEW
We are a biopharmaceutical company focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of novel targeted therapies covering a spectrum of blood-related cancers that offer a unique benefit to patients and health care providers. Our goal is to build a profitable company by generating income from products we develop and commercialize, either alone or with partners. We are currently concentrating our efforts on treatments that target blood-related cancers where there is an unmet medical need. In particular, we are primarily focused on commercializing PIXUVRI in select countries in the European Union, or the E.U., for multiply relapsed or refractory aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or NHL, and evaluating pacritinib for the treatment of adult patients with myelofibrosis.
PIXUVRI
PIXUVRI is a novel aza-anthracenedione with unique structural and physiochemical properties. In May 2012, the European Commission granted conditional marketing authorization in the E.U. for PIXUVRI as a monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with multiply relapsed or refractory aggressive B-cell NHL. PIXUVRI is the first approved treatment in the E.U. for patients with multiply relapsed or refractory aggressive B-cell NHL who have failed two or three prior lines of therapy. As a part of the conditional marketing authorization, we are required to conduct a post-authorization trial, which we refer to as PIX306, comparing PIXUVRI and rituximab with gemcitabine and rituximab in the setting of aggressive B-cell NHL. Although we do not have and are not currently pursuing regulatory approval of PIXUVRI in the United States, or the U.S., we may reevaluate a possible submission strategy in the U.S. based on the data generated from the PIX306 study. Pursuant to our conditional marketing authorization in the E.U., we are required to submit the requisite clinical study report for PIX306 by November 2016. We plan to request an extension of such deadline.
In September 2014, we entered into an exclusive license and collaboration agreement, or the Servier Agreement, with Les Laboratoires Servier and Institut de Recherches Internationales Servier, or collectively, Servier, with respect to the development and commercialization of PIXUVRI. Under the Servier Agreement, we retain full commercialization rights to PIXUVRI in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Norway, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, or the U.K., and the U.S., while Servier has exclusive rights to commercialize PIXUVRI in all other countries. PIXUVRI is currently available in Austria, Denmark, England/Wales, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Turkey. Within the CTI Territory, PIXUVRI is reimbursed in England/Wales and Germany. For additional information on our collaboration with Servier, please see the discussion in Part I, Item 2, “License Agreements and Milestone Activities - Servier.”
Pacritinib
Our lead development candidate, pacritinib, is an investigational oral kinase inhibitor with specificity for JAK2, FLT3, IRAK1 and CSF1R. The JAK family of enzymes is a central component in signal transduction pathways, which are critical to normal blood cell growth and development, as well as inflammatory cytokine expression and immune responses. Mutations in these kinases have been shown to be directly related to the development of a variety of blood-related cancers, including myeloproliferative neoplasms, leukemia and lymphoma. In addition to myelofibrosis, the kinase profile of pacritinib suggests its potential therapeutic utility in conditions such as acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, or CMML, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL, due to its inhibition of c-fms, IRAK1, JAK2 and FLT3. We believe pacritinib has the potential to be delivered as a single agent or in combination therapy regimens.
In August 2014, pacritinib was granted Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or the FDA, for the treatment of intermediate and high risk myelofibrosis, including, but not limited, to patients with disease-related thrombocytopenia, patients experiencing treatment-emergent thrombocytopenia on other JAK2 therapy or patients who are intolerant of, or whose symptoms are sub-optimally managed on, other JAK2 therapy. The FDA’s Fast Track process is designed to facilitate the development and expedite the review of drugs to treat serious conditions and fill an unmet medical need.
In collaboration with Baxalta Incorporated and its affiliates, or Baxalta, pursuant to our worldwide license agreement to develop and commercialize pacritinib, we are pursuing a comprehensive approach to advancing pacritinib for adult patients with myelofibrosis by conducting two Phase 3 clinical trials: one in a broad set of patients without limitations on blood platelet counts, the PERSIST-1 trial; and the other in patients with low platelet counts, the PERSIST-2 trial.
In May 2015, we announced the final results from PERSIST-1, our pivotal Phase 3 trial of pacritinib in patients with myelofibrosis, without exclusion for low platelet counts.
In December 2015, primarily based on the results of the PERSIST-1 trial, we submitted a NDA, to the FDA, for pacritinib requesting U.S. marketing approval of pacritinib for the treatment of patients with intermediate and high-risk myelofibrosis with low platelet counts of less than 50,000 per microliter (<50,000/µL) for whom there are no approved therapies.
The PERSIST-2 trial is a randomized (2:1), open-label, multi-center registration-directed Phase 3 trial evaluating pacritinib compared to best available therapy, including the approved JAK inhibitor dosed according to product label, for patients with myelofibrosis whose platelet counts are less than or equal to 100,000 per microliter (≤100,000/µL). Patients are being randomized to receive 200 mg pacritinib twice daily, 400 mg pacritinib once daily or best available therapy. In October 2013, we reached an agreement with the FDA on a Special Protocol Assessment, or SPA, for the PERSIST-2 trial regarding the planned design, endpoints and statistical analysis approach of the trial. The SPA is a written agreement between us and the FDA
regarding the design, endpoints and planned statistical analysis approach of the trial to be used in support of a NDA submission. Under the SPA, the agreed upon co-primary endpoints are the percentage of patients achieving a 35 percent or greater reduction in spleen volume measured by MRI or CT scan from baseline to week 24 of treatment and the percentage of patients achieving a TSS reduction of 50 percent or greater using eight key symptoms as measured by the modified MPN-SAF TSS 2.0 diary from baseline to week 24. The design of PERSIST-1 and PERSIST-2 allows for patients on the BAT arm to crossover and receive treatment with pacritinib if their disease progresses or after they achieve the 24-week measurement endpoint. Although crossover design of clinical trials may confound evaluation of survival, such designs are frequently used in cancer studies, and the FDA has approved multiple oncology drugs that utilized crossover design in Phase 3 trials.
In February 2015, we received a recommendation from the IDMC in place at the time to terminate the PERSIST-1 trial and hold enrollment of new patients in the PERSIST-2 trial. The IDMC’s recommendation was based on non-statistically significant safety concerns, including mortality, in patients on pacritinib, particularly those who crossover after 24 weeks, which crossover potentially confounds evaluation of survival. The IDMC agreed that the recommendation would be only preliminary until we were unblinded to and could review the primary and secondary endpoint data as well as safety results from the PERSIST-1 trial. The PERSIST IDMC charter explicitly reserved the final decision regarding whether to implement the recommendations with us. The IDMC recommendation was reviewed with the PERSIST Steering Committee, comprised of external experts and the study’s principal investigators. The PERSIST Steering Committee disagreed with the IDMC’s recommendation and expressed the view that the studies should continue as planned. We also asked an independent clinician and a statistician experienced in oversight of clinical trial safety to evaluate the safety profile of pacritinib in the PERSIST-1 trial. Neither was told of the recommendation reached by either the IDMC or the Steering Committee. Both experts agreed with the Steering Committee that the studies could continue. Given the opinions of the external experts and the Steering Committee, the firm that assembled the IDMC and assisted it in its duties hired a second external independent statistician to review the IDMC’s analyses and recommendation. The second statistician also disagreed with the IDMC recommendation and concurred that the studies need not be terminated or enrollment held. The IDMC made its recommendation final in June 2015, at which time we provided to the FDA the information reviewed by the IDMC, as well as the IDMC’s meeting minutes, the written opinion of the Steering Committee co-chairs, the external experts, and the second independent statistician. In July 2015, we requested a meeting with the FDA to confirm whether the FDA agreed with our decision to continue the studies. The FDA assigned the request to a type C meeting and responded in writing to us. The FDA did not mandate any modifications to the studies or place pacritinib on clinical hold at that time, but indicated that it had not yet reviewed the data and noted the difficulty in attempting to draw meaningful conclusions from non-significant results, and that the crossover designs may confound the analysis of survival. We determined that no modifications to the ongoing trials were required. Because we had concerns about the original IDMC’s impartiality, we decided to discharge it, and through an independent firm specializing in IDMCs, retained a new IDMC. The newly constituted IDMC met on several occasions, including following the FDA decision to place the pacritinib program on full clinical hold. Its recommendation was to continue PERSIST-2 as planned.
On February 8, 2016, the FDA notified us that a full clinical hold has been placed on pacritinib clinical studies. A full clinical hold is a suspension of the clinical work requested under the investigational new drug, or an IND, application. Under the full clinical hold, all patients currently on pacritinib must discontinue pacritinib immediately and no patients can be enrolled or start pacritinib as initial or crossover treatment. In its written notification, the FDA cited the reasons for the full clinical hold were that it noted interim overall survival results from the PERSIST-2 Phase 3 trial showing a detrimental effect on survival consistent with the results from PERSIST-1. The deaths in PERSIST-2 in pacritinib-treated patients include intracranial hemorrhage, cardiac failure and cardiac arrest. In connection with the full clinical hold, the FDA has recommended that we conduct Phase 1 dose exploration studies of pacritinib in patients with myelofibrosis, submit final study reports and datasets for PERSIST-1 and PERSIST-2, provide certain notifications, revise relevant statements in the related Investigator’s Brochure and informed consent documents and make certain modifications to protocols. In addition, the FDA recommended that we request a meeting prior to submitting a response to full clinical hold. As a result of the full clinical hold of pacritinib, we have withdrawn the NDA until such time that we have reviewed the safety and efficacy data from PERSIST-2 and decide next steps. The Company is in the process of responding to the full clinical hold by working through the FDA’s recommendations prior to requesting a meeting with them.
In February 2016, we completed patient enrollment in the PERSIST-2 Phase 3 clinical trial of pacritinib for the treatment of patients with myelofibrosis. PERSIST-2 is evaluating pacritinib for patients with myelofibrosis whose platelet counts are less than or equal to 100,000 per microliter (≤100,000/µL). Under the full clinical hold, all patients participating in the PERSIST-2 clinical trial discontinued pacritinib treatment. Although not all patients enrolled reached the 24-week endpoint prior to the full clinical hold on pacritinib, approximately two thirds of the enrolled patients reached or exceeded the 24-week endpoint evaluation. Therefore, these patients will contribute to the evaluation of the study endpoints. Based on the assumptions of the design, we believe there is sufficient power to reach statistical significance of the primary objectives. Top-line results from the PERSIST-2 Phase 3 trial of pacritinib are expected in the third quarter of 2016.
In March 2016, the FDA expressed interest in allowing patients who were receiving benefit from pacritinib treatment at the time the clinical hold was imposed to submit requests to the FDA to resume pacritinib treatment under a Single Patient IND (SPI) program on a case-by-case basis. The Company is working with investigators in submitting SPI requests to the FDA. Separately, the FDA has informed clinical investigators that emergency requests may be submitted to the FDA for individual patient Expanded Access to pacritinib. Expanded Access, sometimes called “compassionate use,” is the use outside of a clinical trial of an investigational medical product. Pacritinib does not have regulatory approval and is not commercially available. At the time the pacritinib IND was placed on full clinical hold, there were 131 patients from the PERSIST-1 trial and 187 patients from the PERSIST-2 trial who were receiving pacritinib therapy, as well as 98 patients on various investigator-sponsored trials, or ISTs.
Under the Pacritinib License Agreement (defined below), we share joint commercialization rights to pacritinib with Baxalta in the U.S., while Baxalta has exclusive commercialization rights for all indications outside the U.S. For additional information relating to the Pacritinib License Agreement, see Part I, Item 2, “License Agreements and Milestone Activities - Baxalta”.
Other Pipeline Candidates
Our earlier stage product candidate, tosedostat, is a novel oral, once-daily aminopeptidase inhibitor that has demonstrated significant responses in patients with AML. It is currently being evaluated in several Phase 2 cooperative group-sponsored trials and ISTs. These trials are evaluating tosedostat in combination with hypomethylating agents in AML and MDS, which are cancers of the blood and bone marrow. We anticipate data from these signal-finding trials may be used to determine an appropriate design for a Phase 3 trial.
Although our efforts are focused on developing and commercializing treatments that target blood-related cancers, we continue to evaluate our pipeline candidate paclitaxel poliglumex, or Opaxio™, which targets solid tumors. We are evaluating this candidate through cooperative group sponsored trials and ISTs, such as the ongoing maintenance therapy trial in patients with ovarian cancer.
Financial Summary
Our revenues are generated from a combination of PIXUVRI sales and collaboration and license agreements. Collaboration revenues reflect the earned amount of upfront payments and milestone payments under our product collaborations. Total revenues were $36.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016, compared to $2.7 million for the same period in 2015. Our income from operations for the three months ended March 31, 2016 was $4.1 million compared to a loss of $27.5 million during the same period in 2015. Our results of operations may vary substantially from year to year and from quarter to quarter and, as a result, you should not rely on them as being indicative of our future performance.
In June 2015, we entered into the Pacritinib License Amendment (defined below) with Baxalta. Pursuant to the Pacritinib License Amendment, two potential milestone payments in the aggregate amount of $32.0 million from Baxalta to us were accelerated from the schedule contemplated by the Original Pacritinib License Agreement (defined below) relating to the following: the $20.0 million development milestone payment payable in connection with the first treatment dosing of the 300th patient enrolled per the protocol in PERSIST-2, or the PERSIST-2 Milestone, and the $12.0 million milestone payment payable in connection with the regulatory submission of the Marketing Authorization Application, or the MAA, to the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, with respect to pacritinib, or the MAA Milestone. In the first quarter of 2016, we recorded $32.0 million in License and contract revenue.
As of March 31, 2016, we had cash and cash equivalents of $104.6 million.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015
Product sales, net. Product sales, net from PIXUVRI were $1.2 million and $0.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. We primarily sell PIXUVRI through a limited number of wholesale distributors. Servier is responsible for distribution of PIXUVRI in the respective countries in its territory. We generally record product sales upon receipt of the product by the health care provider or distributor at which time title and risk of loss pass.
Product sales are recorded net of distributor discounts, estimated government-mandated discounts and rebates, trade discounts and estimated product returns. The increase in net product sales of $0.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared to the same period in 2015 was primarily related to the pricing and volume variances between the periods presented.
Any expansion of our commercial operations in the E.U. (including with regard to sales of PIXUVRI) may increase our exposure to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. Any future revenues are dependent on market acceptance of PIXUVRI, the reimbursement decisions made by governmental authorities in each country where PIXUVRI is available for sale and other factors.
Gross sales is defined as our contracted reimbursement price in each country. Gross sales from PIXUVRI were $1.2 million and $0.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.
Product sales, net includes a provision for discounts, rebates and other for current period sales. There was no material activity related to such discounts and rebates during the periods presented and no material balances recorded as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015.
The provision for product returns relates to a limited right of return or replacement that we offer to certain customers. There was no material activity related to the product returns during the periods presented and no material balances recorded as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015.
During the periods presented, there were no material payments and credits applied towards provision for discounts, rebates and other for current or prior period sales.
License and Contract Revenues
License and contract revenues are summarized as follows (in thousands):
|
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Three Months Ended March 31, |
| | | | 2016 | | 2015 |
Baxalta | | Milestone and license revenue | | $ | 32,000 |
| | $ | — |
|
| | Development services revenue | | 2,876 |
| | 188 |
|
| | Total Baxalta revenue | | 34,876 |
| | 188 |
|
| | | | | | |
Servier | | Milestone and license revenue | | — |
| | 1,702 |
|
| | Development services revenue | | 376 |
| | 26 |
|
| | Royalty revenue | | — |
| | 7 |
|
| | Total Servier revenue | | 376 |
| | 1,735 |
|
| | | | | | |
Total license and contract revenue | | $ | 35,252 |
| | $ | 1,923 |
|
Baxalta
The license and contract revenue under the Pacritinib License Agreement for each of the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 includes $0.2 million of development services revenue recognized from the upfront payment we received in connection with the Pacritinib License Agreement in 2013. The remaining deferred revenue balance was $0.7 million and $1.0 million as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively.
During the three months ended March 31, 2016, we recorded $2.7 million of development services revenue relating to the reimbursement of development costs from Baxalta for a portion reimbursable to us under the terms of the Pacritnib License Agreement. The reimbursement receivable of $2.7 million was included in Prepaid expenses and other current assets as of March 31, 2016. There was no such revenue recorded during the three months ended March 31, 2015.
For additional information relating to the Pacritinib License Agreement, see Part I, Item 2, “License Agreements and Milestone Activities - Baxalta”.
Servier
In February 2015, we received a €1.5 million milestone payment (or $1.7 million using the currency exchange rate as of the date we received the funds) under the Servier Agreement relating to the attainment of reimbursement approval for PIXUVRI in Spain. There were no such milestone payments received during the three months ended March 31, 2016.
In February 2016, we entered into an agreement with one of Servier's affiliates whereby CTI is to conduct the pharmacokinetic sub-study on behalf of Servier in conjunction with our ongoing clinical trial, PIX-306. $0.4 million of expense reimbursements receivable in relation to this study was included in development services revenue above.
The remaining deferred revenue balance relating to development services allocated from the upfront payment we received in connection with the Servier Agreement was $0.8 million and $0.7 million as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively.
For additional information on our collaboration with Servier, see Part I, Item 2, “License Agreements and Milestone Activities - Servier”.
Operating costs and expenses
Cost of product sold. Cost of product sold is related to sales of PIXUVRI. Cost of product sold was $0.2 million for each of the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015. While there were no material changes in overall cost for product sold between the periods presented, there were fluctuations in the quantity of inventory sold as well as the variances in the per-unit cost as discussed below.
We began capitalizing costs related to the production of PIXUVRI in February 2012 upon receiving a positive opinion for conditional marketing authorization by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, or the CHMP, which is a committee of the EMA. While we tracked the quantities of individual PIXUVRI product lots, we did not track manufacturing costs prior to capitalization, and therefore, the manufacturing cost of PIXUVRI produced prior to capitalization is not reasonably determinable. Most of this reduced-cost inventory is expected to be available for us to use commercially; however, as of March 31, 2016, we had a reserve balance of $1.3 million relating to existing inventory expected to be unsalable. The timing of the sales of such reduced-cost inventory and its impact on gross margin is dependent on the level of PIXUVRI sales as well as our ability to utilize this inventory prior to its expiration date. We expect that our cost of product sold as a percentage of product sales may increase in future periods as PIXUVRI product manufactured and expensed prior to capitalization is sold; however, such future cost trend will ultimately depend on several factors in the near term, including, but not limited to, the consumption rate and availability of reduced cost inventory, the effect of expiring inventory and applicable manufacturing pricing structures (which will depend, in part, on the particular drug substance manufacturers we select).
Research and development expenses. Our research and development expenses for compounds under development and preclinical development were as follows (in thousands):
|
| | | | | | | | |
| | Three Months Ended March 31, |
| | 2016 | | 2015 |
Compounds: | | | | |
PIXUVRI | | $ | 3,503 |
| | $ | 4,176 |
|
Pacritinib | | 11,625 |
| | 7,881 |
|
Opaxio | | 26 |
| | 22 |
|
Tosedostat | | 377 |
| | 33 |
|
Operating expenses | | 4,932 |
| | 5,026 |
|
Research and preclinical development | | 383 |
| | 333 |
|
Total research and development expenses | | $ | 20,846 |
| | $ | 17,471 |
|
Costs for our compounds include external direct expenses such as principal investigator fees, charges from clinical research organizations, or CROs, and contract manufacturing fees incurred for preclinical, clinical, manufacturing and regulatory activities associated with preparing the compounds for submissions of NDAs or similar regulatory filings to the FDA, the EMA or other regulatory agencies outside the U.S. and Europe, as well as upfront license fees for acquired technology. Subsequent to receiving a positive opinion for conditional approval of PIXUVRI in the E.U. from the EMA’s CHMP, costs associated with commercial batch production, quality control, stability testing, and certain other manufacturing
costs of PIXUVRI were capitalized as inventory. Operating expenses include our personnel and an allocation of occupancy, depreciation and amortization expenses associated with developing these compounds. Research and preclinical development costs primarily include costs associated with external laboratory services associated with the compound licensed to and under development by Aequus Biopharma, Inc. We are not able to capture the total cost of each compound because we do not allocate operating expenses to our compounds. External direct costs incurred by us as of March 31, 2016 were $111.9 million for PIXUVRI (excluding costs prior to our 2004 merger with Novuspharma S.p.A, formerly a public pharmaceutical company located in Italy), $94.6 million for pacritinib (excluding costs for pacritinib prior to our acquisition of certain assets from S*BIO Pte Ltd., or S*BIO, in May 2012 and $29.1 million of in-process research and development expenses associated with the acquisition of certain assets from S*BIO), $227.9 million for Opaxio and $12.7 million for tosedostat (excluding costs for tosedostat prior to our co-development and license agreement with Chroma Therapeutics Limited, or Chroma, in 2011 and $21.9 million of in-process research and development expenses associated with the acquisition of certain assets from Chroma). External direct costs incurred by us as of March 31, 2016 were $9.6 million for brostallicin. We did not expend material resources on brostallicin during the periods presented.
Research and development expenses increased to $20.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared to $17.5 million for the same period in 2015. The increase of $3.3 million was primarily attributed to our continuing development of pacritinib for myelofibrosis, including our PERSIST-1 and PERSIST-2 Phase 3 clinical trials, and additional costs resulting from the full clinical hold that has been placed by the FDA on pacritinib clinical studies.
Regulatory agencies, including the FDA and EMA, regulate many aspects of a product candidate’s life cycle, including research and development and preclinical and clinical testing. We will need to commit significant time and resources to develop our current and any future product candidates. Our product candidates pacritinib, tosedostat and Opaxio are currently in clinical development, and our product PIXUVRI, which is currently being commercialized in parts of Europe, is undergoing a post-authorization trial. Many drugs in human clinical trials fail to demonstrate the desired safety and efficacy characteristics. We are unable to provide the nature, timing and estimated costs of the efforts necessary to complete the development of pacritinib, tosedostat and Opaxio, and to complete the post-authorization PIX306 trial of PIXUVRI, because, among other reasons, we cannot predict with any certainty the pace of patient enrollment of our clinical trials, which is a function of many factors, including the availability and proximity of patients with the relevant condition and the availability of the compounds for use in the applicable trials. We rely on third parties to conduct clinical trials, which may result in delays or failure to complete trials if the third parties fail to perform or meet applicable standards. Even after a clinical trial is enrolled, preclinical and clinical data can be interpreted in different ways, which could delay, limit or preclude regulatory approval and advancement of this compound through the development process. We or regulatory authorities may suspend clinical trials at any time on the basis that the participants are being exposed to unacceptable health risks. For example, on February 8, 2016, the FDA placed a full clinical hold on pacritinib. Even if our drugs progress successfully through initial human testing in clinical trials, they may fail in later stages of development. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical industry, including us, have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials, even after reporting promising results in earlier trials. For these reasons, among others, we cannot estimate the date on which clinical development of our product candidates will be completed, if ever, or when we will generate material net cash inflows from PIXUVRI or be able to begin commercializing pacritinib, tosedostat or Opaxio to generate material net cash inflows. In order to generate revenue from these compounds, our product candidates need to be developed to a stage that will enable us to commercialize, sell or license related marketing rights to third parties.
We also enter into collaboration agreements for the development and commercialization of our product candidates. We cannot control the amount and timing of resources our collaborators devote to product candidates, which may also result in delays in the development or marketing of products. Because of these risks and uncertainties, we cannot accurately predict when or whether we will successfully complete the development of our product candidates or the ultimate product development cost.
The risks and uncertainties associated with completing development on schedule and the consequences to operations, financial position and liquidity if the project is not timely completed are discussed in more detail in our risk factors, which can be found in Part II, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
Selling, general and administrative expenses. Selling, general and administrative expenses were $11.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 as compared to $12.3 million for the same period in 2015. This decrease was
primarily due to a $1.6 million decrease in consulting and other professional services costs and a $0.7 million decrease in personnel costs. These decreases were offset primarily by a $1.0 million increase in advertising and promotional costs and a $0.3 million increase in legal fees.
Other operating expense. Other operating expense for the three months ended March 31, 2015 represent payment made to Novartis International Pharmaceutical Ltd., or Novartis, as a result of the milestone payments we received in February 2015
under the Servier Agreement relating to the attainment of reimbursement approval for PIXUVRI in Spain. We made no such payment for the same period in 2016. Certain payments are required under the Novartis Termination Agreement (defined below). See Part I, Item 2 "License Agreements and Milestone Activities - Novartis" for further details.
Non-operating income and expenses
Interest expense. Interest expense for the three months ended March 31, 2016 increased by $0.2 million from the same period in 2015 primarily due to the additional principal on our senior secured term loan drawn in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Amortization of debt discount and issuance costs. Amortization of debt discount and issuance costs for the three months ended March 31, 2016 was related to our senior secured term loan and the Baxalta milestone advances whereas the amount for the same periods in 2015 was related to our senior secured term loan.
Foreign exchange loss. The foreign exchange gain for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and the foreign exchange loss for the three months ended March 31, 2015 were due to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, primarily related to operations in our European branches and subsidiaries denominated in foreign currencies.
Other non-operating expense. Other non-operating expense of $0.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 represents the other-than-temporary impairment loss recognized on our investment in equity securities.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Overview
Cash and cash equivalents. As of March 31, 2016, we had $104.6 million in cash and cash equivalents.
Net cash used in operating activities. Net cash used in operating activities decreased to $23.1 million during the three months ended March 31, 2016 as compared to the $24.0 million for the same period in 2015.
Net cash used in investing activities. Net cash used in investing activities increased to $29,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared to $24,000 for the same period in 2015 due to an increase in purchases of property and equipment.
Net cash used in financing activities. Net cash used in financing activities decreased to $0.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared to $3.0 million for the same period in 2015. The decrease in net cash used in financing activities was primarily due to the repayments made under our senior secured term loan agreement. In June 2015, we amended our senior secured term loan agreement and we are not required to make principal payments until April 1, 2016 - refer to the Part II, Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 8. Long-term Debt" in our 2015 Form 10-K for further details.
Capital Resources
We have prepared our condensed consolidated financial statements assuming that we will continue as a going concern, which contemplates realization of assets and the satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. We believe that our present financial resources, together with milestone payments projected to be received under certain contractual agreements and our ability to control costs, will be sufficient to fund our operations at least through the next twelve months from the date these financial statements were issued. However, we have incurred net losses since inception and expect to generate losses for the next few years primarily due to research and development costs for PIXUVRI, pacritinib, Opaxio and tosedostat. We have historically funded our operations through equity financings, borrowings and funds obtained under product collaborations, any or all of which may not be available to us in the future. As of March 31, 2016, our available cash and cash equivalents were $104.6 million. We had an outstanding principal balance under our senior secured term loan agreement of $25.0 million.
Financial resource forecasts are subject to change as a result of a variety of risks and uncertainties. Changes in manufacturing, developments in and expenses associated with our clinical trials and the other factors identified under “Capital Requirements” below may consume capital resources earlier than planned. Additionally, we may not receive the anticipated milestone payments or achieve projected net sales from PIXUVRI. Due to these and other factors, the foregoing forecast for the period for which we will have sufficient resources to fund our operations may fail.
Capital Requirements
We will need to continue to conduct research, development, testing and regulatory compliance activities with respect to our compounds and ensure the procurement of manufacturing and drug supply services, the costs of which, together with projected general and administrative expenses, is expected to result in operating losses for the foreseeable future. We have incurred a net operating loss every year since our formation. As of March 31, 2016, we had an accumulated deficit of $2.1 billion, and we expect to continue to incur net losses.
We will need to continue to conduct research, development, testing and regulatory compliance activities with respect to our compounds and ensure the procurement of manufacturing and drug supply services, the costs of which, together with projected general and administrative expenses, is expected to result in operating losses for the foreseeable future. We will need to raise additional funds to operate our business. We may seek to raise such capital through public or private equity financings, partnerships, collaborations, joint ventures, disposition of assets, debt financings or restructurings, bank borrowings or other sources of financing. However, we have a limited number of authorized shares of common stock available for issuance and additional funding may not be available on favorable terms or at all. If additional funds are raised by issuing equity securities, substantial dilution to existing shareholders may result. If we fail to obtain additional capital when needed, our ability to operate as a going concern will be harmed, and we may be required to delay, scale back or eliminate some or all of our research and development programs, reduce our selling, general and administrative expenses, be unable to attract and retain highly qualified personnel, be unable to obtain and maintain contracts necessary to continue our operations and at affordable rates with competitive terms, refrain from making our contractually required payments when due (including debt payments) and/or may be forced to cease operations, liquidate our assets and possibly seek bankruptcy protection.
Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:
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• | changes in manufacturing; |
| |
• | developments in and expenses associated with our clinical trials and other research and development activities; |
| |
• | acquisitions of compounds or other assets; |
| |
• | ability to generate sales of PIXUVRI and any expansion of our sales and marketing organization for PIXUVRI; |
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• | regulatory approval developments; |
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• | ability to execute appropriate collaborations for development and commercialization activities; |
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• | ability to reach milestones triggering payments under certain of our contractual arrangements; |
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• | litigation and other disputes; |
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• | competitive market developments; and |
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• | other unplanned business developments. |
As of March 31, 2016, our contractual purchase obligations as disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 increased by approximately $3.0 million which payments are due over the next twelve months, primarily in relation to our contract field force and medical affairs personnel in Europe. Further, we and Baxalta continue to negotiate terms of a manufacturing agreement which we intend to enter pursuant to the Pacritinib License Agreement. Upon finalizing our manufacturing agreement, we expect that Baxalta will incur related costs under the agreement, and we expect Baxalta to reimburse us or pay directly to the third party contract manufacturing organization for the manufactured product in the amount of approximately $10.8 million and thereby reduce our contractual purchase commitments.
LICENSE AGREEMENTS AND MILESTONE ACTIVITIES
Servier
In September 2014, we entered into the Servier Agreement pursuant to which we granted Servier an exclusive and sublicensable (subject to certain conditions) royalty-bearing license with respect to the development and commercialization of PIXUVRI for use in pharmaceutical products outside of the CTI Territory (defined below). We retained rights to PIXUVRI in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Norway, Sweden, Turkey, the U.K. and the U.S., or collectively, the CTI Territory.
We received an upfront payment in October 2014 of €14.0 million (or $17.8 million using the currency exchange rate as of the date we received the funds in October 2014). In addition, subject to the achievement of certain conditions, the Servier Agreement provides for us to potentially receive milestone payments thereunder in the aggregate amount of up to €89.0 million, which is comprised of the following: up to €49.0 million in potential clinical and regulatory milestone payments (of which €9.5 million is payable upon occurrence of certain enrollment events in connection with the PIX306 study for PIXUVRI); and up to €40.0 million in potential sales-based milestone payments. Of these potential milestone payments, we have received a €1.5 million (or $1.7 million upon conversion from euros as of the date we received the funds) milestone payment relating to the attainment of reimbursement approval for PIXUVRI in Spain. In addition, for a number of years following the first commercial sale of a product containing PIXUVRI in the respective country, regardless of patent expiration or expiration of regulatory exclusivity rights, we are eligible to receive tiered royalty payments ranging from a low-double digit
percentage up to a percentage in the mid-twenties based on net sales of PIXUVRI products, subject to certain reductions of up to mid-double digit percentages under certain circumstances.
Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, (i) certain development costs incurred pursuant to a development plan and (ii) certain marketing costs incurred pursuant to a marketing plan will be shared equally by the parties, subject to a maximum dollar obligation of each party.
The Servier Agreement will expire on a country-by-country basis upon the expiration of the royalty terms in the countries outside of the CTI Territory, at which time all licenses granted to Servier would become perpetual and royalty-free. Each party may terminate the Servier Agreement in the event of an uncured repudiatory breach (as defined under English law) of the other party’s obligations. Servier may also terminate the Servier Agreement without cause on a country-by-country basis upon written notice to us within a specified time period or upon written notice within a certain period of days in the event of (i) certain safety or public health issues involving PIXUVRI or (ii) cessation of certain marketing authorizations. In the event of a termination prior to the expiration date, rights granted to Servier will terminate, subject to certain exceptions.
Baxalta
In November 2013, we entered into a Development, Commercialization and License Agreement, dated as of November 14, 2013, between Baxter International Inc., or Baxter, and the Company, for the development and commercialization of pacritinib for use in oncology and potentially additional therapeutic areas, or the Original Pacritinib License Agreement. The Original Pacritinib License Agreement, the rights and obligations to which Baxter has assigned to Baxalta, was amended by a first amendment thereto, or the Pacritinib License Amendment, effective June 8, 2015. The Original Pacritinib License Agreement, as amended by the Pacritinib License Amendment, is referred to herein as the “Pacritinib License Agreement”. Under the Pacritinib License Agreement, Baxalta has an exclusive, worldwide (subject to co-promotion rights discussed below), royalty-bearing, non-transferable license (which is sub-licensable under certain circumstances) relating to pacritinib. Licensed products under the Pacritinib License Agreement consist of products in which pacritinib is an ingredient.
We received an upfront payment of $60 million under the Pacritinib License Agreement, which included a $30 million investment in our equity. The Pacritinib License Agreement also provides for us to receive potential additional payments of up to $302 million upon the successful achievement of certain development and commercialization milestones, comprised of $112 million of potential clinical, regulatory and commercial launch milestone payments, and potential additional sales milestone payments of up to $190 million. As of March 31, 2016, we have received milestone payments of $52 million.
In June 2015, we entered into the Pacritinib License Amendment. Pursuant to the Pacritinib License Amendment, two potential milestone payments in the aggregate amount of $32.0 million from Baxalta to us were accelerated from the schedule contemplated by the original Pacritinib License Agreement relating to the PERSIST-2 Milestone, and the MAA Milestone. Such advances bear interest at an annual rate of 9% percent until the earlier of (i) the date of first occurrence of the respective milestone and (ii) the date that the respective advance plus accrued interest is repaid in full. In the first quarter of 2016, we recorded $32.0 million in License and contract revenue.
Outside the U.S., we are eligible to receive tiered high single digit to mid-teen percentage royalty payments based on net sales for myelofibrosis, and higher double-digit royalties for other indications, subject to reduction by up to 50 percent if (i) Baxalta is required to obtain third party royalty-bearing licenses to fulfill its obligations under the Pacritinib License Agreement and (ii) in any jurisdiction where there is no longer either regulatory exclusivity or patent protection.
The Pacritinib License Agreement will expire when Baxalta has no further obligation to pay royalties to us in any jurisdiction, at which time the licenses granted to Baxalta will become perpetual and royalty-free. We or Baxalta may terminate the Pacritinib License Agreement prior to its expiration in certain circumstances. Following the one-year anniversary of receipt of regulatory approval in certain countries, we may terminate the Pacritinib License Agreement as to one or more such countries if Baxalta has not undertaken requisite regulatory or commercialization efforts in the applicable country and certain other conditions are met. Baxalta may terminate the Pacritinib License Agreement earlier than its expiration in certain circumstances including (i) in the event development costs for myelofibrosis for the period commencing January 1, 2014 are reasonably projected to exceed a specified threshold of $125 million, (ii) as to some or all countries in the event of commercial failure of the licensed product or (iii) without cause following the one-year anniversary of the effective date of the Pacritinib License Agreement, provided that such termination will have a lead-in period of six months before it becomes effective. Additionally, either party may terminate the Pacritinib License Agreement prior to its expiration in events of force majeure, or the other party’s uncured material breach or insolvency. In the event of a termination prior to the expiration date, rights in pacritinib will revert to us.
University of Vermont
We entered into an agreement with the University of Vermont, or UVM, in March 1995, as amended, or the UVM Agreement, which grants us an exclusive sublicensable license for the rights to PIXUVRI. Pursuant to the UVM Agreement, we acquired the rights to make, have made, sell and use PIXUVRI, and we are obligated to make royalty payments to UVM ranging from low single digits to mid-single digits as a percentage of net sales. The higher royalty rate is payable for net sales in countries where specified UVM licensed patents exist, or where we have obtained orphan drug protection, until such UVM patents or such protection no longer exists. For a period of ten years after first commercialization of PIXUVRI, the lower royalty rate is payable for net sales in such countries after expiration of the designated UVM patents or loss of orphan drug protection, and in all other countries without such specified UVM patents or orphan drug protection. Unless otherwise terminated, the term of the UVM Agreement continues for the life of the licensed patents in those countries in which a licensed patent exists, and continues for ten years after the first sale of PIXUVRI in those countries where no such patents exist. We may terminate the UVM Agreement, on a country-by-country basis or on a patent-by-patent basis, at any time upon advance written notice. UVM may terminate the UVM Agreement upon advance written notice in the event royalty payments are not made. In addition, either party may terminate the UVM Agreement in the event of an uncured material breach of the UVM Agreement by the other party or in the event of bankruptcy of the other party.
S*BIO
We acquired the compounds SB1518 (which is referred to as “pacritinib”) and SB1578, which inhibit JAK2 and FLT3, from S*BIO, in May 2012. Under our agreement with S*BIO, we are required to make milestone payments to S*BIO up to an aggregate amount of $132.5 million if certain U.S., E.U. and Japanese regulatory approvals are obtained or if certain worldwide net sales thresholds are met in connection with any pharmaceutical product containing or comprising any compound that we acquired from S*BIO for use for specific diseases, infections or other conditions. At our election, we may pay up to 50 percent of any milestone payments to S*BIO through the issuance of shares of our common stock or shares of our preferred stock convertible into our common stock. In addition, S*BIO will also be entitled to receive royalty payments from us at incremental rates in the low single-digits based on certain worldwide net sales thresholds on a product-by-product and country-by-country basis.
Vernalis
We entered into an amended and restated exclusive license agreement with Vernalis (R&D) Limited, or Vernalis, in October 2014 or the Vernalis License Agreement, for the exclusive worldwide right to use certain patents and other intellectual property rights to develop, market and commercialize tosedostat and certain other compounds. Under the Vernalis License Agreement, we have agreed to make tiered royalty payments of no more than a high single digit percentage of net sales of products containing licensed compounds, with such obligation to continue on a country-by-country basis for the longer of ten years following commercial launch or the expiry of relevant patent claims.
The Vernalis License Agreement will terminate when the royalty obligations expire, although the parties have early termination rights under certain circumstances, including the following: (i) we have the right to terminate, with three months’ notice, upon the belief that the continued development of tosedostat or any of the other licensed compounds is not commercially viable; (ii) Vernalis has the right to terminate in the event of our uncured failure to pay sums due; and (iii) either party has the right to terminate in event of the other party’s uncured material breach or insolvency.
Gynecologic Oncology Group
We entered into an agreement with the Gynecologic Oncology Group, now part of NRG Oncology, in March 2004, as amended, related to the GOG-0212 trial of Opaxio it is conducting in patients with ovarian cancer. Pursuant to the terms of such agreement, we paid an aggregate of $1.2 million in milestone payments during 2014 based on certain enrollment milestones achieved. We may be required to pay up to an additional $1.0 million upon the attainment of certain other milestones, of which $0.5 million has been recorded in accrued expenses as of March 31, 2016.
PG-TXL
In November 1998, we entered into an agreement with PG-TXL, as amended in February 2006, which grants us an exclusive worldwide license for the rights to Opaxio and to all potential uses of PG-TXL’s polymer technology, or the PG-TXL Agreement. Pursuant to the PG-TXL Agreement, we acquired the rights to research, develop, manufacture, market and sell anti-cancer drugs developed using this polymer technology. Pursuant to the PG-TXL Agreement, we are obligated to make payments to PG-TXL upon the achievement of certain development and regulatory milestones of up to $14.4 million. The
timing of the remaining milestone payments under the PG-TXL Agreement is based on trial commencements and completions for compounds protected by PG-TXL license rights, and regulatory and marketing approval of those compounds by the FDA and the EMA. Additionally, we are required to make royalty payments to PG-TXL based on net sales. Our royalty obligations range from low to mid-single digits as a percentage of net sales. Unless otherwise terminated, the term of the PG-TXL Agreement continues until no royalties are payable to PG-TXL. We may terminate the PG-TXL Agreement (i) upon advance written notice to PG-TXL in the event issues regarding the safety of the products licensed pursuant to the PG-TXL Agreement arise during development or clinical data obtained reveal a materially adverse tolerability profile for the licensed product in humans, or (ii) for any reason upon advance written notice. In addition, either party may terminate the PG-TXL Agreement (a) upon advance written notice in the event certain license fee payments are not made; (b) in the event of an uncured material breach of the respective material obligations and conditions of the PG-TXL Agreement; or (c) in the event of liquidation or bankruptcy of a party.
Novartis
In January 2014, we entered into a Termination Agreement, or the Novartis Termination Agreement, with Novartis, to reacquire the rights to PIXUVRI and Opaxio previously granted to Novartis under our agreement entered into in September 2006, as amended, or the Original Novartis Agreement. Pursuant to the Novartis Termination Agreement, the Original Novartis Agreement was terminated in its entirety, except for certain customary provisions, including those pertaining to confidentiality and indemnification, which survive termination.
Under the Novartis Termination Agreement, we agreed not to transfer, license, sublicense or otherwise grant rights with respect to intellectual property of PIXUVRI and Opaxio unless the recipient thereof agrees to be bound by the terms of the Novartis Termination Agreement. We also agreed to provide potential payments to Novartis, including a percentage ranging from the low double-digits to the mid-teens, of any consideration received by us or our affiliates in connection with any transfer, license, sublicense or other grant of rights with respect to intellectual property of PIXUVRI or Opaxio, respectively; provided that such payments will not exceed certain prescribed ceilings in the low single digit millions. Novartis is entitled to receive potential payments of up to $16.6 million upon the successful achievement of certain sales milestones of PIXUVRI and Opaxio. We are also obligated to pay to Novartis tiered low single digit percentage royalty payments for the first several hundred million in annual net sales, and ten percent royalty payments thereafter based on annual net sales of each of PIXUVRI and Opaxio, subject to reduction in the event generic drugs are introduced and sold by a third party, causing the sale of PIXUVRI or Opaxio to fall by a percentage in the high double-digits. To the extent we are required to pay royalties on net sales of Opaxio pursuant to the PG-TXL Agreement, we may credit a percentage of the amount of such royalties paid to those payable to Novartis, subject to certain exceptions. Royalty payments for both PIXUVRI and Opaxio are subject to certain minimum floor percentages in the low single digits.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.
In June 2005, we entered into an acquisition agreement with Cephalon, Inc., or Cephalon, pursuant to which we divested of the compound, TRISENOX. Cephalon was subsequently acquired by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., or Teva. Under this agreement, we have the right to receive up to $100 million in payments upon achievement by Teva of specified sales and development milestones related to TRISENOX. To date, we have received $30.0 million of such potential milestone payments as a result of having achieved certain sales milestones.
Other Agreements
We have several agreements with contract research organizations, third party manufacturers and distributors that have durations of greater than one year for the development and distribution of certain of our compounds.
CRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES
We make certain judgments and use certain estimates and assumptions when applying accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. in the preparation of our condensed consolidated financial statements. We evaluate our estimates and judgments on an on-going basis and base our estimates on historical experience and on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Our experience and assumptions form the basis for our judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may vary materially from what we anticipate and different assumptions or estimates about the future could change our reported results. There have been no material changes to our critical accounting estimates discussed in our 2015 Form 10-K. For a discussion of our critical accounting estimates, please see Part II, Item 7, "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" of our 2015 Form 10-K.
Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk.
Foreign Exchange Market Risk
We are exposed to risks associated with the translation of euro-denominated financial results and accounts into U.S. dollars for financial reporting purposes. The carrying value of the assets and liabilities held in our European branches and subsidiaries will be affected by fluctuations in the value of the U.S. dollar as compared to the euro. In addition, certain of our contractual arrangements, such as the Servier Agreement, denote monetary amounts in foreign currencies, and consequently, the ultimate financial impact to us from a U.S. dollar perspective is subject to significant uncertainty. Any expansion of our commercial operations in Europe (including with regard to sales of PIXUVRI) may increase our exposure to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. Changes in the value of the U.S. dollar as compared to applicable foreign currencies (in particular, the euro) might have an adverse effect on our reported results of operations and financial condition. As the net positions of our unhedged foreign currency transactions fluctuate, our earnings might be negatively affected. In addition, the reported carrying value of our euro denominated assets and liabilities held in our European branches and subsidiaries will be affected by fluctuations in the value of the U.S. dollar compared to the euro. As of March 31, 2016, we had a net asset balance, excluding intercompany payables and receivables, in our European branches and subsidiaries denominated in euros. If the euro were to weaken 20 percent against the dollar, our net asset balance would decrease by approximately $1.6 million as of this date.
Interest Rate Risk
Our senior secured term loan bears interest at variable rates. Based on the outstanding principal balance under such loan at March 31, 2016 of $25.0 million, a hypothetical increase of 1.0 percent in interest rates would result in additional interest expense of $0.2 million over the next twelve months. For a detailed discussion of our senior secured term loan, including a discussion of the applicable interest rate, refer to the Part II, Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 8. Long-term Debt" in our 2015 Form 10-K.
Item 4. Controls and Procedures.
(a) Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in reports filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, our management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives.
Our management, under the supervision and with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President, Finance and Administration, or EVP of Finance, has evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures, as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Based upon that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and EVP of Finance have concluded that, as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective.
(b) Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There have been no changes to our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the first fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2016 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
PART II – OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1. Legal Proceedings
In April 2009, December 2009 and June 2010, the Italian Tax Authority, or the ITA, issued notices of assessment to CTI BioPharma Corp.– Sede Secondaria, or CTI (Europe), based on the ITA’s audit of CTI (Europe)’s value added tax, or VAT, returns for the years 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007, or, collectively, the VAT Assessments. The ITA audits concluded that CTI (Europe) did not collect and remit VAT on certain invoices issued to non-Italian clients for services performed by CTI (Europe). The assessments, including interest and penalties, for the years 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007 are €0.5 million, €5.5 million, €2.5 million and €0.8 million, respectively. We believe that the services invoiced were non-VAT taxable consultancy services and that the VAT returns are correct as originally filed. We are defending ourselves against the assessments both on procedural grounds and on the merits of the case, although we can make no assurances regarding the ultimate outcome of these cases. If the final decision of the Italian Supreme Court is unfavorable to us, or if, in the interim, the ITA were to make a demand for payment and we were to be unsuccessful in suspending collection efforts, we may be requested to pay the ITA an amount up to €9.4 million, or approximately $10.7 million converted using the currency exchange rate as of March 31, 2016, plus collection fees, notification expenses and additional interest for the period lapsed between the date in which the assessments were issued and the date of effective payment. In January 2013, our then remaining deposit for the VAT Assessments was refunded to us.
Following is a summary of the status of the legal proceedings surrounding each respective VAT year return at issue:
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• | 2003 VAT. In September 2011, the Provincial Tax Court issued decision no. 229/3/2011, which (i) fully accepted the merits of our appeal, (ii) declared that no penalties can be imposed against us and (iii) found the ITA liable to pay us €10,000, as partial refund of the legal expenses we incurred for our appeal. In October 2012, the ITA appealed this decision. In June 2013, the Regional Tax Court issued decision no. 119/50/13, which accepted the appeal of the ITA and reversed the previous decision of the Provincial Tax Court. In January 2014, we appealed such decision to the Italian Supreme Court both on procedural grounds and on the merits of the case. In March 2014, we paid a deposit in respect of the 2003 VAT matter of €0.4 million, or approximately $0.6 million upon conversion from euros as of the date of payment following the ITA’s request for such payment. |
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• | 2005 VAT. In January 2011, the Provincial Tax Court issued decision No. 4/2010 which (i) partially accepted our appeal and declared that no penalties can be imposed against us, (ii) confirmed the right of the ITA to reassess the VAT (plus interest) in relation to the transactions identified in the 2005 notice of assessment and (iii) repealed the suspension of the notice of deposit payment. We, as well as the ITA, appealed to the higher court against the decision. In October 2012, the Regional Tax Court issued a decision no. 127/31/2012, which (i) fully accepted the merits of our appeal and (ii) confirmed that no penalties can be imposed against us. In April 2013, the ITA appealed the decision to the Italian Supreme Court. |
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• | 2006 VAT. In October 2011, the Provincial Tax Court issued decision no. 276/21/2011 (jointly with the 2007 VAT case) in which it (i) fully accepted the merits of our appeal, (ii) declared that no penalties can be imposed against us and (iii) found that for the 2006 and 2007 VAT cases the ITA was liable to pay us €10,000 as partial refund of the legal expenses incurred for the appeal. In December 2011, the ITA appealed this decision to the Regional Tax Court. On April 16, 2013, the Regional Tax Court issued decision no. 57/35/13 (jointly with the 2007 VAT case) in which it fully rejected the merits of the ITA’s appeal, declared that no penalties can be imposed against us and found the ITA liable to pay us €12,000, as partial refund of the legal expenses we incurred for this appeal. The ITA appealed such decision to the Italian Supreme Court in November 2013. |
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• | 2007 VAT. In October 2011, the Provincial Tax Court issued decision no. 276/21/2011 (jointly with the 2006 VAT case described above) in which the Provincial Tax Court (i) fully accepted the merits of our appeal, (ii) declared that no penalties can be imposed against us, and (iii) found that for 2006 and 2007 VAT cases the ITA was liable to pay us €10,000 as partial refund of the legal expenses incurred for the appeal. In December 2011, the ITA appealed this decision to the Regional Tax Court. On April 16, 2013, the Regional Tax Court issued decision no. 57/35/13 (jointly with the 2006 VAT case) in which it fully rejected the merits of the ITA’s appeal, declared that no penalties can be imposed against us and found the ITA liable to pay us €12,000 as partial refund of the legal expenses we incurred for this appeal. The ITA appealed such decision to the Italian Supreme Court in November 2013. |
On February 10, 2016 and February 12, 2016, class action lawsuits entitled Ahrens v. CTI Biopharma Corp. et al, Case No. 1:16-cv-01044 and McGlothlin v. CTI Biopharma Corp. et al, Case No. C16-216, respectively, were filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, respectively, on behalf of shareholders that purchased or acquired the Company’s securities pursuant to our September 24, 2015 public offering and/or shareholders who otherwise acquired our stock between March 4, 2014 and
February 9, 2016, inclusive. The complaints assert claims against the Company and certain of our current and former directors and officers for violations of the federal securities laws under Sections 11 and 15 of the Securities Act, and Sections 10 and 20 of the Exchange Act. Plaintiffs’ Securities Act claims allege that the Company’s Registration Statement and Prospectus for the September 24, 2015 public offering contained materially false and misleading statements and failed to disclose certain material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations and prospects, including with respect to the clinical trials and prospects for pacritinib. Plaintiffs’ Exchange Act claims allege that the Company’s public disclosures were knowingly or recklessly false and misleading or omitted material adverse facts, again with a primary focus on the clinical trials and prospects for pacritinib. The lawsuits seek damages in an unspecified amount. We believe that the allegations contained in the complaints are without merit and intend to vigorously defend ourselves against all claims asserted therein. A reasonable estimate of the amount of any possible loss or range of loss cannot be made at this time and, as such, we have not recorded an accrual for any possible loss.
On March 14, 2016, a Company shareholder filed a derivative lawsuit on behalf of the Company seeking damages for alleged harm to the Company caused by certain current and former officers and directors. The suit, Wei v. James A. Bianco, et al, 16-2-05818-3, was filed in King County Superior Court, Washington and names as individual defendants James A. Bianco, Louis A. Bianco, Jack W. Singer, Bruce J. Seeley, John H. Bauer, Phillip M. Nudelman, Reed V. Tuckson, Karen Ignagni, Richard L. Love, Mary O. Mundinger and Frederick W. Telling. Consistent with the requirements of a derivative action, the Company is named as a nominal defendant against which no monetary relief is sought. The complaint alleges four claims: (1) breach of fiduciary duty; (2) abuse of control; (3) gross mismanagement; and (4) unjust enrichment (receiving compensation that was unjust in light of the alleged conduct). Each is based on the assertion that the Company made materially false and misleading statements and omitted material information from its disclosures about pacritinib and its safety. Plaintiff did not make a pre-suit demand on the current Board to investigate whether to pursue claims against officers or directors, instead claiming demand is excused because the named defendants lack independence, are not disinterested because they lack impartiality, received and want to continue to receive their compensation, have longstanding personal and business relationships, and cannot evaluate a demand since they are facing personal liability. Plaintiff has requested the court to award the Company the damages allegedly sustained as a result of the conduct and to direct the Company and the individual defendants to reform and improve the Company’s corporate governance to avoid future damages. We understand that the individuals named as defendants believe the allegations contained in the complaint lack merit and plan to vigorously defend themselves against all claims asserted therein. A reasonable estimate of the amount of any possible loss or range of loss cannot be made at this time and, as such, we have not recorded an accrual for any possible loss.
We are also in the process of providing documents in response to a subpoena received from the SEC in January 2016. The SEC's subpoena requests, among other things; internal and external communications related to pacritinib Phase 3 trials, including communications with the independent data monitoring committee, or IDMC, for pacritinib's Phase 3 trials, our steering committee, our board of directors, our audit committee, representatives of Baxter and Baxalta, and the Food and Drug Administration, and other documents related to pacritinib. We believe that the SEC is seeking to determine whether there have been possible violations of the antifraud and certain other provisions of the federal securities laws related to the Company's disclosures concerning, among other things, the clinical test results of pacritinib. The SEC Staff's letter sent with the subpoena stated that the investigation is a fact-finding inquiry, and the investigation and subpoena do not mean that the SEC has concluded that we or anyone else has violated any law. We are cooperating with this investigation.
In addition to the items discussed above, we are from time to time subject to legal proceedings and claims arising in the ordinary course of business.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The occurrence of any of the risks described below and elsewhere in this document, including the risk that our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, liquidity, operating results or prospects and the trading price of our securities. Additional risks and uncertainties that we do not presently know or that we currently deem immaterial may also harm our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects and the trading price of our securities.
Factors Affecting Our Business, Financial Condition, Operating Results and Prospects
We expect that we will need to raise additional funds to develop our business, but additional funds may not be available on acceptable terms, or at all. Any inability to raise required capital when needed could harm our liquidity, financial condition, business, operating results and prospects.
We have substantial operating expenses associated with the development of our compounds and the commercialization of PIXUVRI, and we have significant contractual payment obligations. Our available cash and cash equivalents were $104.6 million as of March 31, 2016. We believe that our present financial resources, together with milestone payments projected to be received under certain of our contractual agreements and our ability to control costs, will be sufficient to fund our operations at least through the next twelve months from the date these financial statements were issued. Cash forecasts and capital requirements are subject to change as a result of a variety of risks and uncertainties. Changes in manufacturing, developments in and expenses associated with our clinical trials and other research and development activities, acquisitions of compounds or other assets, our ability to generate projected sales of PIXUVRI, any expansion of our sales and marketing organization for PIXUVRI, regulatory approval developments, ability to consummate appropriate collaborations for development and commercialization activities, ability to reach milestones triggering payments under applicable contractual arrangements, receive the associated payments, litigation and other disputes, competitive market developments and other unplanned expenses or business developments may consume capital resources earlier than planned. Due to these and other factors, any forecast for the period for which we will have sufficient resources to fund our operations, as well as any other operational or business projection we have disclosed, or may, from time to time, disclose, may fail.
As of March 31, 2016, we had an outstanding principal balance under our senior secured term loan agreement of $25.0 million. We were required to make monthly interest-only payments in respect thereof in the approximate amount of $0.2 million until March 31, 2016. Following March 31, 2016, we are required to make monthly interest plus principal payments through December 1, 2018 in the approximate amount of $0.8 million, with the final principal payment of approximately $3.3 million on December 1, 2018. In addition, we are required to pay a $1.3 million fee on October 1, 2016, subject to certain conditions. These borrowings are secured by a first priority security interest on substantially all of our personal property except our intellectual property and subject to certain other exceptions. In addition, the senior secured term loan agreement requires us to comply with restrictive covenants, including those that limit our operating flexibility and ability to borrow additional funds. A failure to make a required loan payment or an uncured covenant breach could lead to an event of default, and in such case, all amounts then outstanding may become due and payable immediately.
We may need to acquire additional funds in order to develop our business. We may seek to raise such capital through public or private equity financings, partnerships, collaborations, joint ventures, disposition of assets, debt financings or restructurings, bank borrowings or other sources of financing. However, our ability to do so is subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, constraints and consequences, including, but not limited to, the following:
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• | our ability to raise capital through the issuance of additional shares of our common stock or convertible securities is restricted by the limited number of our residual authorized shares, the potential difficulty of obtaining shareholder approval to increase authorized shares and the restrictive covenants under our senior secured term loan agreement; |
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• | issuance of equity-based securities will dilute the proportionate ownership of existing shareholders; |
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• | our ability to obtain further funds from any potential loan arrangements is limited by our existing senior secured term loan agreement; |
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• | certain financing arrangements may require us to relinquish rights to various assets and/or impose more restrictive terms than any of our existing or past arrangements; and |
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• | we may be required to meet additional regulatory requirements, and we may be subject to certain contractual limitations, which may increase our costs and harm our ability to obtain funding. |
For these and other reasons, additional funding may not be available on favorable terms or at all. If we fail to obtain additional capital when needed, we may be required to delay, scale back or eliminate some or all of our research and development programs, reduce our selling, general and administrative expenses, be unable to attract and retain highly qualified personnel, refrain from making our contractually required payments when due (including debt payments) and/or be forced to cease operations, liquidate our assets and possibly seek bankruptcy protection. Any of these consequences could harm our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects.
We may not be able to maintain our listings on The NASDAQ Capital Market and the Mercato Telematico Azionario, or MTA, in Italy, or trading on these exchanges may otherwise be halted or suspended, which may make it more difficult for investors to sell shares of our common stock and consequently may negatively impact the price of our common stock.
On March 22, 2016, we received a notification from The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC, or NASDAQ, indicating that we would be delisted if we do not regain compliance with the minimum $1.00 per share closing bid price of our common stock required for continued listing of our common stock on The NASDAQ Capital Market under NASDAQ Listing Rule 5550(a)(2).
This notification has no immediate effect on the listing of or the ability to trade our common stock. NASDAQ Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A) provides us with a grace period of 180 calendar days, or until September 19, 2016, to regain compliance with the minimum closing bid price requirement. We will achieve compliance if the closing bid price of our common stock is $1.00 per share or more for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days before September 19, 2016. If we do not regain compliance within this grace period, we may be eligible for an additional grace period of 180 calendar days if we meet the continued listing requirement for market value of publicly held shares and all other initial listing standards for The NASDAQ Capital Market, with the exception of the bid price requirement, and provide NASDAQ with written notice of our intention to cure the deficiency within the second grace period.
We cannot guarantee that we will be able to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement before September 19, 2016. We cannot guarantee that we will meet the criteria required to receive an additional grace period of 180 calendar days, or that NASDAQ will grant us such additional grace period. If our board of directors exercises its discretion to approve a reverse stock split to seek to regain compliance with the NASDAQ listing requirements and increase the per share trading price of our common stock, the announcement of the reverse stock split could adversely affect the trading price per share even if we ultimately regain compliance.
If our common stock ceases to be listed for trading on The NASDAQ Capital Market for failure to regain compliance with the minimum $1.00 per share closing bid price requirement or for any other reason, it may harm our stock price, increase the volatility of our stock price, decrease the level of trading activity and make it more difficult for investors to buy or sell shares of our common stock. Our failure to maintain a listing on The NASDAQ Capital Market may constitute an event of default under our senior secured term loan and any future indebtedness, which would accelerate the maturity date of such debt or trigger other obligations. In addition, certain institutional investors that are not permitted to own securities of non-listed companies may be required to sell their shares adversely affecting the market price of our common stock. If we are not listed on The NASDAQ Capital Market or if our public float falls below $75 million, we will be limited in our ability to file new shelf registration statements on SEC Form S-3 and/or to fully use one or more registration statements on SEC Form S-3. We have relied significantly on shelf registration statements on SEC Form S-3 for most of our financings in recent years, so any such limitations may harm our ability to raise the capital we need. Delisting from The NASDAQ Capital Market could also affect our ability to maintain our listing or trading on the MTA in Italy. Trading in our common stock has been halted or suspended on both The NASDAQ Capital Market and MTA in the past and may also be halted or suspended in the future due to market or trading conditions at the discretion of The NASDAQ Stock Market, CONSOB or the Borsa Italiana (which ensures the development of the managed markets in Italy). Any halt or suspension in the trading in our common stock may negatively impact the market price of our common stock.
We have in the past received and may in the future receive audit reports with an explanatory paragraph on our
consolidated financial statements.
Our independent registered public accounting firm included an explanatory paragraph in its reports on our consolidated financial statements for each of the years ended December 31, 2007 through December 31, 2011 and for the year ended December 31, 2014 regarding their substantial doubt as to our ability to continue as a going concern. Although our independent registered public accounting firm removed this going concern explanatory paragraph in its report on our December 31, 2015 consolidated financial statements, we expect to continue to need to raise additional financing to fund our operations and satisfy obligations as they become due. The inclusion of a going concern explanatory paragraph in future years may negatively impact the trading price of our common stock and make it more difficult, time consuming or expensive to obtain necessary financing, and we cannot guarantee that we will not receive such an explanatory paragraph in the future.
We expect to continue to incur net losses, and we may never achieve profitability.
We were incorporated in 1991 and have incurred a net operating loss every year since our formation. As of March 31, 2016, we had an accumulated deficit of $2.1 billion, and we expect to continue to incur net losses. As part of our business plan, we will need to continue to conduct research, development, testing and regulatory compliance activities with respect to our compounds and ensure the procurement of manufacturing and drug supply services, the costs of which, together with projected general and administrative expenses, is expected to result in operating losses for the foreseeable future. There can be no assurances that we will ever achieve profitability.
If our development and commercialization collaborations are not successful, or if we are unable to enter into additional collaborations, we may not be able to effectively develop and/or commercialize our compounds, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Our business is heavily dependent on the success of our development and commercialization collaborations. In particular, under the Servier Agreement and the Pacritinib License Agreement, we rely heavily on the respective entities, to collaborate with us to develop and commercialize PIXUVRI and pacritinib, respectively. As a result of our dependence on our relationships with Servier and Baxalta, the success or commercial viability of PIXUVRI and pacritinib is, to a certain extent, beyond our control. We are subject to a number of specific risks associated with our dependence on our collaborative relationship with Servier and Baxalta, including the following: possible disagreements as to the timing, nature and extent of development plans for the respective compound, including clinical trials or regulatory approval strategy; changes in their respective personnel who are key to the collaboration efforts; any changes in their respective business strategies adverse to our interests, whether in connection with a change of control or otherwise; possible disagreements regarding ownership of proprietary rights; the ability to meet our financial and other contractual obligations under the respective agreements; and the possibility that Servier or Baxalta could elect to terminate their respective agreements with us pursuant to “at-will” termination clauses or breach their respective agreements with us. Furthermore, the contingent financial returns under our collaborations with Servier and Baxalta depend in large part on the achievement of development and commercialization milestones and the ability to generate applicable product sales to trigger royalty payments. Therefore, our success, and any associated future financial returns to us and our investors, will depend in large part on the performance of each of Servier and Baxalta. If our existing collaborations fail, or if we do not successfully enter into additional collaborations when needed, we may be unable to further develop and commercialize the applicable compounds, generate revenues to sustain or grow our business or achieve profitability, which would harm our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects.
If we are unable to address any recommendations or requirements of the FDA under the clinical hold for pacritinib to the satisfaction of the FDA on a timely basis or at all, we could be delayed or prevented from further studying pacritinib or seeking its commercialization.
On February 8, 2016, the FDA notified us that a full clinical hold had been placed on pacritinib and we subsequently withdrew our NDA for pacritinib until we determine next steps. A full clinical hold is a suspension of the clinical work requested under an investigational new drug application. Under the full clinical hold, all patients currently on pacritinib were required to discontinue pacritinib, and we are not permitted to enroll any new patients or start pacritinib as initial or crossover treatment. In its written notification, the FDA noted interim overall survival results from PERSIST-2 showing a detrimental effect on survival consistent with the results from PERSIST-1, and that deaths in PERSIST-2 in pacritinib-treated patients include intracranial hemorrhage, cardiac failure and cardiac arrest. The recommendations include conducting Phase 1 dose exploration studies of pacritinib in patients with myelofibrosis, submitting final study reports and datasets for PERSIST-1 and PERSIST-2, providing certain notifications, revising relevant statements in the related Investigator’s Brochure and informed consent documents and making certain modifications to protocols. In addition, the FDA recommended that we request a meeting prior to submitting a response to full clinical hold. All clinical investigators worldwide have been delivered a notice of the full clinical hold.
We plan to review the safety and efficacy data from the PERSIST-2 Phase 3 clinical trial and decide next steps, including addressing the FDA’s recommendations. The FDA may not necessarily deem any information we provide or response we make sufficient to lift the full clinical hold on pacritinib or reduce it to a partial clinical hold. Additionally, the FDA may expand its information request or require us to pursue new clinical safety trials with changes to, among other things, protocol, study design or sample size before the FDA will consider modifying of lifting the clinical hold, if at all. Complying with any such requests or making any such changes may be time-consuming, expensive and delay or prevent our ability to continue to study pacritinib. The FDA is also conducting a site inspection, the results of which when they become available could result in additional requirements. If we are unable to address the FDA’s recommendations and requests in a manner satisfactory to the FDA, in a timely manner, or at all, we could be delayed from seeking commercialization of pacritinib, which would prevent us from receiving future milestone or royalty payments, and otherwise significantly harm our business.
Compounds that appear promising in research and development may fail to reach later stages of development for a number of reasons, including, among others, that clinical trials may take longer to complete than expected or may not be completed at all, and top-line or preliminary clinical trial data reports may ultimately differ from actual results once existing data are more fully evaluated.
Successful development of anti-cancer and other pharmaceutical products is highly uncertain, and obtaining regulatory approval to market drugs to treat cancer is expensive, difficult and speculative. Compounds that appear promising in research and development may fail to reach later stages of development for several reasons, including, but not limited to:
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• | delay or failure in obtaining necessary U.S. and international regulatory approvals, or the imposition of a partial or full regulatory hold on a clinical trial; |
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• | difficulties in formulating a compound, scaling the manufacturing process, timely attaining process validation for particular drug products and obtaining manufacturing approval; |
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• | pricing or reimbursement issues or other factors that may make the product uneconomical to commercialize; |
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• | production problems, such as the inability to obtain raw materials or supplies satisfying acceptable standards for the manufacture of our products, equipment obsolescence, malfunctions or failures, product quality/contamination problems or changes in regulations requiring manufacturing modifications; |
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• | inefficient cost structure of a compound compared to alternative treatments; |
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• | obstacles resulting from proprietary rights held by others with respect to a compound, such as patent rights; |
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• | lower than anticipated rates of patient enrollment as a result of factors, such as the number of patients with the relevant conditions, the proximity of patients to clinical testing centers, eligibility criteria for tests and competition with other clinical testing programs; |
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• | preclinical or clinical testing requiring significantly more time than expected, resources or expertise than originally expected and inadequate financing, which could cause clinical trials to be delayed or terminated; |
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• | failure of clinical testing to show potential products to be safe and efficacious, and failure to demonstrate desired safety and efficacy characteristics in human clinical trials; |
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• | suspension of a clinical trial at any time by us, an applicable collaboration partner or a regulatory authority on the basis that the participants are being exposed to unacceptable health risks or for other reasons; |
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• | delays in reaching or failing to reach agreement on acceptable terms with prospective CROs, and trial sites; and |
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• | failure of third parties, such as CROs, academic institutions, collaborators, cooperative groups and/or investigator sponsors, to conduct, oversee and monitor clinical trials and results. |
In addition, from time to time we report top-line data for clinical trials. Such data are based on a preliminary analysis of then-available efficacy and safety data, and such findings and conclusions are subject to change following a more comprehensive review of the data related to the particular study or trial. Top-line or preliminary data are based on important assumptions, estimations, calculations and information then available to us to the extent we have had, at the time of such reporting, an opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate such information in light of all surrounding facts, circumstances, recommendations and analyses. As a result, top-line results may differ from future results, or different conclusions or considerations may qualify such results once existing data have been more fully evaluated. In addition, third parties, including regulatory agencies, may not accept or agree with our assumptions, estimations, calculations or analyses or may interpret or weigh the importance of data differently, which could impact the value of the particular program, the approvability or commercialization of the particular compound and our business in general.
If the development of our compounds is delayed or fails, or if top-line or preliminary clinical trial data reported differ from actual results, our development costs may increase and the ability to commercialize our compounds may be harmed, which could harm our business, financial condition, operating results or prospects.
We or our collaboration partners may not obtain or maintain the regulatory approvals required to develop or commercialize some or all of our compounds.
We are subject to rigorous and extensive regulation by the FDA in the U.S. and by comparable agencies in other jurisdictions, including the EMA in the E.U. Some of our other product candidates are currently in research or development and, other than conditional marketing authorization for PIXUVRI in the E.U., we have not received marketing approval for our compounds. Our products may not be marketed in the U.S. until they have been approved by the FDA and may not be marketed
in other jurisdictions until they have received approval from the appropriate foreign regulatory agencies. Each product candidate requires significant research, development and preclinical testing and extensive clinical investigation before submission of any regulatory application for marketing approval. Obtaining regulatory approval requires substantial time, effort and financial resources, and we may not be able to obtain approval of any of our products on a timely basis, or at all. For instance, on February 8, 2016, the FDA placed pacritinib on full clinical hold and we subsequently withdrew our NDA for pacritinib until we determine next steps. The number, size, design and focus of preclinical and clinical trials that will be required for approval by the FDA, the EMA or any other foreign regulatory agency varies depending on the compound, the disease or condition that the compound is designed to address and the regulations applicable to any particular compound. Preclinical and clinical data can be interpreted in different ways, which could delay, limit or preclude regulatory approval. The FDA, the EMA and other foreign regulatory agencies can delay, limit or deny approval of a compound for many reasons, including, but not limited to:
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• | a compound may not be shown to be safe or effective; |
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• | the clinical and other benefits of a compound may not outweigh its safety risks; |
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• | clinical trial results may be negative or inconclusive, or adverse medical events may occur during a clinical trial; |
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• | the results of clinical trials may not meet the level of statistical significance required by regulatory agencies for approval; |
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• | such regulatory agencies may interpret data from pre-clinical and clinical trials in different ways than we do; |
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• | such regulatory agencies may not approve the manufacturing process of a compound or determine that a third party contract manufacturers manufactures a compound in accordance with current good manufacturing practices, or cGMPs; |
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• | a compound may fail to comply with regulatory requirements; or |
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• | such regulatory agencies might change their approval policies or adopt new regulations. |
If our compounds are not approved at all or quickly enough to provide net revenues to defray our operating expenses, our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects could be harmed.
In the event that we seek and the FDA does not grant accelerated approval or priority review for a drug candidate, we would experience a longer time to commercialization in the U.S., if commercialized at all, our development costs may increase and our competitive position may be harmed.
We were seeking accelerated approval and requested Priority Review of our NDA for pacritinib. However, on February 8, 2016, the FDA notified us that a full clinical hold had been placed on pacritinib and we subsequently withdrew our NDA for pacritinib until we determine next steps.
We may in the future decide to seek accelerated approval pathway for our compounds. The FDA may grant accelerated approval to a product designed to treat a serious or life-threatening condition that provides meaningful therapeutic benefit over available therapies upon a determination that the product has an effect on a surrogate endpoint or intermediate clinical endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit. A surrogate endpoint under an accelerated approval pathway may be used in cases in which the advantage of a new drug over available therapy may not be a direct therapeutic advantage, but is a clinically important improvement from a patient and public health perspective. There can be no assurance that the FDA will agree that any endpoint we suggest with respect to any of our drug candidates is an appropriate surrogate endpoint. Furthermore, there can be no assurance that any application will be accepted or that approval will be granted. Even if a product candidate is granted accelerated approval, such accelerated approval is contingent on the sponsor’s agreement to conduct one or more post-approval confirmatory trials. Such confirmatory trial(s) must be completed with due diligence and, in some cases, the FDA may require that the trial(s) be designed and/or initiated prior to approval. Moreover, the FDA may withdraw approval of a product candidate or indication approved under the accelerated approval pathway for a variety of reasons, including if the trial(s) required to verify the predicted clinical benefit of a product candidate fail to verify such benefit or do not demonstrate sufficient clinical benefit to justify the risks associated with the drug, or if the sponsor fails to conduct any required post-approval trial(s) with due diligence.
In the event of priority review, the FDA has a goal to (but is not required to) take action on an application within a total of eight months (rather than a goal of twelve months for a standard review). The FDA grants priority review only if it determines that a product treats a serious condition and, if approved, would provide a significant improvement in safety or effectiveness when compared to a standard application. The FDA has broad discretion whether to grant priority review, and, while the FDA
has granted priority review to other oncology product candidates, our drug candidates may not receive similar designation. Moreover, receiving priority review from the FDA does not guarantee completion of review or approval within the targeted eight-month cycle or thereafter.
A failure to obtain accelerated approval or priority review would result in a longer time to commercialization of the applicable compound in the U.S., if commercialized at all, could increase the cost of development and could harm our competitive position in the marketplace.
Even if our compounds are successful in clinical trials and receive regulatory approvals, we or our collaboration partners may not be able to successfully commercialize them.
The development and ongoing clinical trials for our compounds may not be successful and, even if they are, the resulting products may never be successfully developed into commercial products. Even if we are successful in our clinical trials and in obtaining other regulatory approvals, the respective products may not reach or remain in the market for a number of reasons including:
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• | they may be found ineffective or cause harmful side effects; |
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• | they may be difficult to manufacture on a scale necessary for commercialization; |
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• | they may experience excessive product loss due to contamination, equipment failure, inadequate transportation or storage, improper installation or operation of equipment, vendor or operator error, inconsistency in yields or variability in product characteristics; |
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• | they may be uneconomical to produce; |
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• | we may fail to obtain reimbursement approvals or pricing that is cost effective for patients as compared to other available forms of treatment or that covers the cost of production and other expenses; |
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• | they may not compete effectively with existing or future alternatives; |
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• | we may be unable to develop commercial operations and to sell marketing rights; |
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• | they may fail to achieve market acceptance; or |
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• | we may be precluded from commercialization of a product due to proprietary rights of third parties. |
In particular, with respect to the commercialization of PIXUVRI and any future potential commercialization of pacritinib, we will be heavily dependent on our collaboration partners, Servier and Baxalta, respectively. The failure of Servier or Baxalta (or any other applicable collaboration partner) to fulfill its respective commercialization obligations with respect to a compound, or the occurrence of any of the events in the list above, could adversely affect the commercialization of our products. If we fail to commercialize products or if our future products do not achieve significant market acceptance, we will not likely generate significant revenues or become profitable.
The pharmaceutical business is subject to increasing government price controls and other restrictions on pricing, reimbursement and access to drugs, which could adversely affect our future revenues and profitability.
To the extent our products are developed, commercialized and successfully introduced to market, they may not be considered cost-effective and third party or government reimbursement might not be available or sufficient. Globally, governmental and other third party payors are becoming increasingly aggressive in attempting to contain health care costs by strictly controlling, directly or indirectly, pricing and reimbursement and, in some cases, limiting or denying coverage altogether on the basis of a variety of justifications, and we expect pressures on pricing and reimbursement from both governments and private payors inside and outside the U.S. to continue. In the U.S., we are subject to substantial pricing, reimbursement and access pressures from state Medicaid programs, private insurance programs and pharmacy benefit managers, and implementation of U.S. health care reform legislation is increasing these pricing pressures. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act instituted comprehensive health care reform, which includes provisions that, among other things, reduce and/or limit Medicare reimbursement, require all individuals to have health insurance (with limited exceptions) and impose new and/or increased taxes. In almost all European markets, pricing and choice of prescription pharmaceuticals are subject to governmental control. Therefore, the price of our products and their reimbursement in Europe is and will be determined by national regulatory authorities. Reimbursement decisions from one or more of the European markets may impact reimbursement decisions in other European markets. A variety of factors are considered in making reimbursement decisions, including whether there is sufficient evidence to show that treatment with the product is more effective than current treatments, that the product represents good value for money for the health service it provides and that treatment with the product works at
least as well as currently available treatments. The continuing efforts of government and insurance companies, health maintenance organizations and other payors of health care costs to contain or reduce costs of health care may affect our future revenues and profitability or those of our potential customers, suppliers and collaborative partners, as well as the availability of capital.
We may never be able to generate significant product revenues from the sale of PIXUVRI.
We anticipate that, for at least the next several years, our ability to generate revenues and become profitable will depend, in part, on our ability and that of our collaborator, Servier, to successfully commercialize our only currently marketed product, PIXUVRI. PIXUVRI is not approved for marketing in the U.S., is presently available only in a limited number of countries and is reimbursed in even fewer countries.
In addition, the successful commercialization of PIXUVRI depends heavily on the ability to obtain and maintain favorable reimbursement rates for users of PIXUVRI, as well as on various additional factors, including, without limitation, the ability to:
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• | obtain an annual renewal of our conditional marketing authorization for PIXUVRI; |
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• | increase demand for and sales of PIXUVRI and obtain greater acceptance of PIXUVRI by physicians and patients; |
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• | establish and maintain agreements with wholesalers and distributors on reasonable terms; |
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• | maintain, and where necessary, enter into additional, commercial manufacturing arrangements with third parties, cost-effectively manufacture necessary quantities and secure distribution, managerial and other capabilities; and |
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• | further develop and maintain a commercial organization to market PIXUVRI. |
If we are unable to successfully commercialize PIXUVRI as planned, our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects could be harmed.
Post-approval or authorization regulatory reviews and obligations often result in significant expense and marketing limitations, and any failure to satisfy such ongoing obligations, including, in particular, our post-authorization commitment trial for PIXUVRI, could negatively affect our business, financial condition, operating results or prospects.
Even if a product receives regulatory approval or authorization, as applicable, we are and will continue to be subject to numerous regulations and statutes regulating the manner of obtaining reimbursement for and selling the product, including limitations on the indicated uses for which a product may be marketed. Approved or authorized products, including PIXUVRI, are subject to extensive manufacturing, labeling, packaging, adverse event reporting, storage, advertising, promotion and record-keeping regulations. These requirements include submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports. In addition, such products are subject to ongoing maintenance of product registration and continued compliance with cGMPs, good clinical practices, or GCPs, and good laboratory practices, or GLPs. Further, distribution of products must be conducted in accordance with good distribution practices, or GDPs. The distribution process and facilities of our third party distributors are subject to, and our wholesale distribution authorization by the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency subjects us to, continuing regulation by applicable regulatory authorities with respect to the distribution and storage of products. Regulatory authorities may also impose new restrictions on continued product marketing or may require the withdrawal of a product from the market if adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency are discovered following approval. In addition, regulatory agencies may impose post-approval/post-authorization clinical trials, such as our ongoing PIX306 trial of PIXUVRI required by the EMA. We cannot predict the outcome of PIX306 or whether we will be able to complete the associated requirements in a timely manner. If we are unable to submit the requisite PIX306 clinical study report by the due date in November 2016 and are unable to obtain an extension of such deadline, or if we are otherwise unable to satisfy all applicable requirements, our conditional marketing authorization for PIXUVRI may be revoked.
Any other failure to comply with applicable regulations could result in warning or untitled letters, product recalls, interruption of manufacturing and commercial supply processes, withdrawal or seizure of products, suspension of an applicable wholesale distribution authorization and/or distribution of products, operating restrictions, injunctions, suspension of licenses, revocation of the applicable product’s approval or authorization, other administrative or judicial sanctions (including civil penalties and/or criminal prosecution) and/or unanticipated related expenditure to resolve shortcomings, which could negatively affect our business, financial condition, operating results or prospects.
We may be unable to obtain a quorum for meetings of our shareholders or obtain requisite shareholder approval and, consequently, be unable to take certain corporate actions, including financing activities.
Failure to meet the requisite quorum or obtain requisite shareholder approval can prevent us from raising capital through equity financing or otherwise taking certain actions that may be in our best interest and that of our shareholders. We have experienced such difficulties in the past.
We are required under the NASDAQ Marketplace Rules to obtain shareholder approval for any issuance of additional equity securities that would comprise more than 20 percent of the total shares of our common stock outstanding before the issuance of such securities sold at a discount to the greater of book or market value in an offering that is not deemed to be a “public offering” by the NASDAQ Marketplace Rules, as well as under certain other circumstances. We have in the past and may in the future issue additional equity securities that would comprise more than 20 percent of the total shares of our common stock outstanding in order to fund our operations. However, we might not be successful in obtaining the required shareholder approval for any future issuance that requires shareholder approval pursuant to applicable rules and regulations, particularly in light of difficulties we have had in the past in obtaining a quorum and obtaining the requisite vote. If we are unable to obtain financing or our financing options are limited due to shareholder approval difficulties, such failure may harm our ability to continue operations.
Additionally, a portion of our common shares are held by Italian institutions and, under Italian laws and regulations, it is difficult to communicate with the beneficial holders of those shares to obtain votes. In recent years, certain depository banks in Italy holding shares of our common stock have facilitated book-entry transfers of their share positions at Monte Titoli, S.p.A., the Italian central clearing agency, to their U.S. correspondent bank, who would then transfer the shares to an account of the Italian bank at a U.S. broker-dealer that is an affiliate of that bank. Certain of the banks we contacted to facilitate these arrangements agreed to make the share transfers pursuant to these arrangements as of the record date of the shareholder meeting, subject to the relevant beneficial owner being given notice before such record date and taking no action to direct the voting of such shares. Obtaining a quorum and necessary shareholder approvals at shareholder meetings may depend in part upon the willingness of the Italian depository banks to continue participating in the custody transfer arrangements, and we cannot be assured that those banks that have participated in the past will continue to do so in the future.
As a result of the foregoing or for other reasons, we may be unable to obtain a quorum at annual or special meetings of shareholders. Even if we are able to obtain a quorum at our shareholder meetings, we may not obtain enough votes to approve matters to be resolved upon at those meetings. Any failure to obtain a quorum or the requisite vote on a proposal in question could harm us.
We are subject to Italian regulatory requirements, which limit our ability to issue additional shares of our common stock, could result in administrative and other challenges and additional expenses and/or could limit our ability to undertake other business initiatives.
Because our common stock is traded on the MTA in Italy, we are required to also comply with the rules and regulations of the Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa , or CONSOB, and the Borsa Italiana S.p.A., or Borsa Italiana, which regulate companies listed on Italy’s public markets. Compliance with Italian regulatory requirements may delay additional issuances of our common stock or other business initiatives. Under Italian law, we must publish a registration document, securities note and summary (which jointly compose a prospectus) that have to be approved by CONSOB prior to issuing common stock that is equal to or exceeds, in any twelve-month period, 10 percent of the number of shares of our common stock outstanding at the beginning of that period, subject to certain exceptions. If we are unable to obtain and maintain a registration document, securities note or summary to cover general financing efforts under Italian law, we may be required to raise money using alternative forms of securities. For example, we have issued convertible preferred stock in numerous prior offerings and may in the future issue convertible securities; the common stock resulting from the conversion of such securities, subject to current provisions of European Directive No. 71/2003 and according to the current interpretations of the Committee of European Securities Regulators, is not subject to the 10 percent limitation imposed by E.U. and Italian law. However, this exception to the prospectus requirement could change or cease to be available as a result of changes in regulations, interpretive positions, and policies or otherwise. Any such change may increase compliance costs or limit our ability to issue securities. Compliance with these regulations and responding to periodic information requests from Borsa Italiana and CONSOB requires us to devote additional time and resources to regulatory compliance matters and to incur additional expenses of engaging additional outside counsel, accountants and other professional advisors. Actual or alleged failure to comply with Italian regulators can also subject us to regulatory investigations and fines or other sanctions from time to time. For more information on a current investigation, see Part II, Item 1, "Legal Proceedings".
Any of such regulatory requirements of CONSOB and the Borsa Italiana could result in administrative and other challenges and additional expenses, limit our ability to undertake other business initiatives and negatively affect our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects.
We will incur a variety of costs for, and may never realize the anticipated benefits of, acquisitions, collaborations or other strategic transactions.
We evaluate and undertake acquisitions, collaborations and other strategic transactions from time to time. The process of negotiating these transactions, as well as integrating any acquisitions and implementing any strategic alliances, may result in operating difficulties and expenditures. In addition, these transactions may require significant management attention that would otherwise be available for ongoing development of our business, whether or not any such transaction is ever consummated. These undertakings could also result in potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities, the incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities and/or amortization expenses related to intangible assets, and we may never realize the anticipated benefits. In addition, following the consummation of a transaction, our results of operations and the market price of our common stock may be affected by factors different from those that affected our results of operations and the market price of our common stock prior to such acquisition. Any of the foregoing consequences resulting from transactions of the type described above could harm our business, financial condition, operating results or prospects.
We may be subject to fines, penalties, injunctions and other sanctions if we are deemed to be promoting the use of our products for non-FDA-approved, or off-label, uses.
Our business and future growth depend on the development, ultimate sale and use of products that are subject to FDA, EMA and or other regulatory agencies regulation, clearance and approval. Under the U.S. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and other laws, we are prohibited from promoting our products for off-label uses. This means that in the U.S., we may not make claims about the safety or effectiveness of our products and may not proactively discuss or provide information on the use of our products, except as allowed by the FDA.
Government investigations concerning the promotion of off-label uses and related issues are typically expensive, disruptive and burdensome, generate negative publicity and may result in fines or payments of settlement awards. For example, in April 2007, we paid a civil penalty of $10.6 million and entered into a settlement agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington arising out of their investigation into certain of our prior marketing practices relating to TRISENOX, which was divested to Cephalon in July 2005. As part of that settlement agreement and in connection with the acquisition of Zevalin, we also entered into a corporate integrity agreement with the Office of the Inspector General, Health and Human Services, which required us to establish a compliance committee and compliance program and adopt a formal code of conduct. If our promotional activities are found to be in violation of applicable law or if we agree to a settlement in connection with an enforcement action, we would likely face significant fines and penalties and would likely be required to substantially change our sales, promotion, grant and educational activities.
A failure to comply with the numerous laws and regulations that govern our business, including those related to cross-border conduct, health care fraud and abuse, anti-corruption and false claims and the protection of health information, could result in substantial penalties and prosecution.
We are subject to risks associated with doing business outside of the U.S., which exposes us to complex foreign and U.S. regulations. For example, we are subject to regulations imposed by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or the FCPA, the U.K. Bribery Act 2010 and other anti-corruption laws. These laws generally prohibit U.S. companies and their intermediaries from offering, promising, authorizing or making improper payments to foreign government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. The SEC and U.S. Department of Justice have increased their enforcement activities with respect to the FCPA. Internal control policies and procedures and employee training and compliance programs that we have implemented to deter prohibited practices may not be effective in prohibiting our employees, contractors or agents from violating or circumventing our policies and the law.
In addition, we are subject to various state and federal fraud and abuse laws, including, without limitation, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and federal False Claims Act. There are similar laws in other countries. These laws may impact, among other things, the sales, marketing and education programs for our products. The federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits persons from knowingly and willingly soliciting, offering, receiving or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, in exchange for or to induce either the referral of an individual, or the furnishing or arranging for a good or service, for which payment may be made under a federal health care program. The federal False Claims Act prohibits persons from knowingly filing, or causing to be filed, a false claim to, or the knowing use of false statements to obtain payment from the federal government. Suits filed under the False Claims Act can be brought by any individual on behalf of the government and such individuals, commonly known as “whistleblowers,” may share in any amounts paid by the entity to the government in fines or settlement. Many states have also adopted laws similar to the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act.
We may also be subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act and their respective implementing regulations, or HIPAA, which established uniform standards for certain “covered entities” (health care providers, health plans and health care clearinghouses) governing the conduct of certain electronic health care transactions and protecting the security and privacy of protected health information. Among other things, HIPAA’s privacy and security standards are directly applicable to “business associates” - independent contractors or agents of covered entities that create, receive, maintain or transmit protected health information in connection with providing a service for or on behalf of a covered entity. In addition to possible civil and criminal penalties for violations, state attorneys general are authorized to file civil actions for damages or injunctions in federal courts to enforce HIPAA and seek attorney’s fees and costs associated with pursuing federal civil actions. In addition, state laws govern the privacy and security of health information in certain circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and may not have the same effect, thus complicating compliance efforts.
We are unable to predict whether we could be subject to actions under any of the foregoing or similar laws and regulations, or the impact of such actions. If we were to be found to be in violation of applicable laws or regulations, we may be subject to penalties, including civil and criminal penalties, damages, fines, exclusion from government health care reimbursement programs and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
We are dependent on third party service providers for a number of critical operational activities including, in particular, for the manufacture, testing and distribution of our compounds and associated supply chain operations, as well as for clinical trial activities. Any failure or delay in these undertakings by third parties could harm our business.
Our business is dependent on the performance by third parties of their responsibilities under contractual relationships. In particular, we rely heavily on third parties for the manufacture and testing of our compounds. We do not have internal analytical laboratory or manufacturing facilities to allow the testing or production of compounds in compliance with GLP and cGMP. As a result, we rely on third parties to supply us in a timely manner with manufactured products/product candidates. We may not be able to adequately manage and oversee the manufacturers we choose, they may not perform as agreed or they may terminate their agreements with us. In particular, we depend on third party manufacturers to conduct their operations in compliance with GLP and cGMP or similar standards imposed by the U.S. and/or applicable foreign regulatory authorities, including the FDA and EMA. Any of these regulatory authorities may take action against a contract manufacturer who violates GLP and cGMP. Failure of our manufacturers to comply with FDA, EMA or other applicable regulations may cause us to curtail or stop the manufacture of such products until we obtain regulatory compliance.
We may not be able to obtain sufficient quantities of our compounds if we are unable to secure manufacturers when needed, or if our designated manufacturers do not have the capacity or otherwise fail to manufacture compounds according to our schedule and specifications or fail to comply with cGMP regulations. In particular, in connection with the transition of the manufacturing of PIXUVRI and pacritinib drug supply to successor vendors, respectively, we could face logistical, scaling or other challenges that may adversely affect supply. Furthermore, in order to ultimately obtain and maintain applicable regulatory approvals, any manufacturers we utilize are required to consistently produce the respective compounds in commercial quantities and of specified quality or execute fill-finish services on a repeated basis and document their ability to do so, which is referred to as process validation. In order to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of a compound, the applicable regulatory authority must consider the result of the applicable process validation to be satisfactory and must otherwise approve of the manufacturing process. Even if our compound manufacturing processes obtain regulatory approval and sufficient supply is available to complete clinical trials necessary for regulatory approval, there are no guarantees we will be able to supply the quantities necessary to effect a commercial launch of the applicable drug, or once launched, to satisfy ongoing demand. Any compound shortage could also impair our ability to deliver contractually required supply quantities to applicable collaborators, as well as to complete any additional planned clinical trials.
We also rely on third party service providers for certain warehousing, transportation, sales, order processing, distribution and cash collection services. With regard to the distribution of our compounds, we depend on third party distributors to act in accordance with GDP, and the distribution process and facilities are subject to continuing regulation by applicable regulatory authorities with respect to the distribution and storage of products.
In addition, we depend on medical institutions and CROs (together with their respective agents) to conduct clinical trials and associated activities in compliance with GCP and in accordance with our timelines, expectations and requirements. To the extent any such third parties are delayed in achieving or fail to meet our clinical trial enrollment expectations, fail to conduct our trials in accordance with GCP or study protocol or otherwise take actions outside of our control or without our consent, our business may be harmed. Furthermore, we conduct clinical trials in foreign countries, subjecting us to additional risks and
challenges, including, in particular, as a result of the engagement of foreign medical institutions and foreign CROs, who may be less experienced with regard to regulatory matters applicable to us and may have different standards of medical care.
With regard to certain of the foregoing clinical trial operations and stages in the manufacturing and distribution chain of our compounds, we rely on single vendors. In particular, our current business structure contemplates, at least in the foreseeable future, use of a single commercial supplier for PIXUVRI drug substance. In addition, in the event pacritinib is approved, we are initially preparing to have only one commercial supplier for pacritinib. Although our collaborator, Baxalta, intends to qualify an additional manufacturer of pacritinib, the process for obtaining approval of a manufacturer can be lengthy. The use of single vendors for core operational activities, such as clinical trial operations, manufacturing and distribution, and the resulting lack of diversification, expose us to the risk of a material interruption in service related to these single, outside vendors. As a result, our exposure to this concentration risk could harm our business.
Although we monitor the compliance of our third party service providers performing the aforementioned services, we cannot be certain that such service providers will consistently comply with applicable regulatory requirements or that they will otherwise timely satisfy their obligations to us. Any such failure and/or any failure by us to monitor their services and to plan for and manage our short and long term requirements underlying such services could result in shortage of the compound, delays in or cessation of clinical trials, failure to obtain or revocation of product approvals or authorizations, product recalls, withdrawal or seizure of products, suspension of an applicable wholesale distribution authorization and/or distribution of products, operating restrictions, injunctions, suspension of licenses, other administrative or judicial sanctions (including civil penalties and/or criminal prosecution) and/or unanticipated related expenditures to resolve shortcomings. Such consequences could have a significant impact on our business, financial condition, operating results or prospects.
If we are unable to recruit, retain, integrate and motivate senior management, other key personnel and directors, or if such persons are unable to perform effectively, our business could suffer.
Our future success depends, in part, on our ability to continue to attract and retain senior management, other key personnel and directors to enable the execution of our business plan and to identify and pursue new opportunities. Additionally, our productivity and the quality of our operations are dependent on our ability to integrate and train our new personnel quickly and effectively.
Directors and management of publicly traded corporations are increasingly concerned with the extent of their personal exposure to lawsuits and shareholder claims, as well as governmental, creditor and other claims that may be made against them. Due to these and other reasons, such persons are also becoming increasingly concerned with the availability of directors and officers liability insurance to pay on a timely basis the costs incurred in defending such claims. We currently carry directors and officers liability insurance. However, directors and officers liability insurance is expensive and can be difficult to obtain. If we are unable to continue to provide directors and officers sufficient liability insurance at affordable rates or at all, or if directors and officers perceive our ability to do so in the future to be limited, it may become increasingly more difficult to attract and retain management and qualified directors to serve on our Board of Directors.
The loss of the services of senior management, other key personnel or directors and/or the inability to timely attract or integrate such persons could significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our development and strategic objectives and may adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
We face direct and intense competition from our competitors in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, and we may not compete successfully against them.
Competition in the oncology market is intense and is accentuated by the rapid pace of technological and product development. We anticipate that we will face increased competition in the future as new companies enter the market. Our competitors in the U.S. and elsewhere are numerous and include, among others, major multinational pharmaceutical companies, specialized biotechnology companies and universities and other research institutions. Specifically:
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• | In Europe, PIXUVRI faces competition from existing treatments for adults with multiply relapsed or refractory aggressive B-cell NHL. For example, patients are currently being treated with ibrutinib, idelalisib, lenolidimide, bendamustine, oxaliplatin and gemcitabine, although these particular agents do not have regulatory approval in Europe for the foregoing indication. If we were to pursue bringing PIXUVRI to market in the U.S. (which is not currently part of our near-term plan), PIXUVRI would face similar competition. |
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• | If we are successful in bringing pacritinib to market, pacritinib will face competition from the currently approved JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor, Jakafi®. |
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• | If we are successful in bringing tosedostat to market, we will face competition from currently marketed products, such as cytarabine, Dacogen®, Vidaza®, Clolar®, Revlimid® and Thalomid®. |
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• | If we are successful in bringing Opaxio to market, we will face competition from other taxanes, epothilones, and other cytotoxic agents, which inhibit cancer cells by a mechanism similar to taxanes, or similar products such as paclitaxel and generic forms of paclitaxel, docetaxel, Tarceva®, Avastin ®, Alimta® and Abraxane ®. |
In addition to the specific competitive factors discussed above, new anti-cancer drugs that may be under development or developed and marketed in the future could compete with our various compounds.
Many of our competitors, particularly multinational pharmaceutical companies, either alone or together with their collaborators, have substantially greater financial and technical resources and substantially larger development and marketing teams than us, as well as significantly greater experience than we do in developing, commercializing, manufacturing, marketing and selling products. As a result, products of our competitors might come to market sooner or might prove to be more effective, less expensive, have fewer side effects or be easier to administer than ours. In any such case, sales of PIXUVRI or any potential future product would likely suffer and we might never recoup the significant investments we have made and will continue to make to develop and market these compounds.
If any of our license agreements for intellectual property underlying our compounds are terminated, we may lose the right to develop or market that product.
We have acquired or licensed intellectual property from third parties, including patent applications and patents relating to intellectual property for PIXUVRI, pacritinib and tosedostat. We have also licensed the intellectual property for our drug delivery technology relating to Opaxio, which uses polymers that are linked to drugs known as polymer-drug conjugates. Some of our product development programs depend on our ability to maintain rights under these arrangements. Each licensor has the power to terminate its agreement with us if we fail to meet our obligations under these licenses. We may not be able to meet our obligations under these licenses. If we default under any license agreement, we may lose our right to market and sell any products based on the licensed technology and may be forced to cease operations, liquidate our assets and possibly seek bankruptcy protection. Bankruptcy may result in the termination of agreements pursuant to which we license certain intellectual property rights.
If we are unable to in-license or acquire additional product candidates, our future product portfolio and potential profitability could be harmed.
One component of our business strategy is the in-licensing and acquisition of drug compounds developed by other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies or academic research laboratories. PIXUVRI, pacritinib, tosedostat and Opaxio have all been in-licensed or acquired from third parties. Competition for new promising compounds and commercial products can be intense. If we are not able to identify future in-licensing or acquisition opportunities and enter into arrangements on acceptable terms, our future product portfolio and potential profitability could be harmed.
We hold rights under numerous patents that we have acquired or licensed or that protect inventions originating from our research and development, and the expiration of any of these patents may allow our competitors to copy the inventions that are currently protected.
We dedicate significant resources to protecting our intellectual property, which is important to our business. We have filed numerous patent applications in the U.S. and various other countries seeking protection of inventions originating from our research and development, and we have also obtained rights to various patents and patent applications under licenses with third parties and through acquisitions. Patents have been issued on many of these applications. We have pending patent applications or issued patents in the U.S. and foreign countries directed to PIXUVRI, pacritinib, tosedostat, Opaxio and other product candidates. However, the lives of these patents are limited. Patents for the individual products extend for varying periods according to the date of the patent filing or grant and the legal term of patents in the various countries where patent protection is obtained.
Our PIXUVRI-directed patents currently in force in Europe began to expire in late March 2015 and will continue to expire through a portion of 2023. Some of these European patents are also subject to Supplementary Protection Certificates such that the extended patents will expire from 2020 to 2027. Although we are seeking to obtain a Supplementary Protection Certificate for one other PIXUVRI-directed patent in Europe that could extend through 2027, there can be no guarantee that such extension will be granted. In the United States, our PIXUVRI-directed U.S. patent will expire in 2024. Our PIXUVRI-directed patents outside of Europe and the U.S. began to expire in 2015 and will continue to expire through 2023.
Our U.S. and various foreign pacritinib-directed patents expire from 2026 through 2030. Our U.S. and various foreign tosedostat-directed patents expire from 2017 to 2018. Our U.S. and various foreign Opaxio-directed patents primarily expire from 2017 through 2019.
In the absence of a patent, we would, to the extent possible, need to rely on unpatented technology, know-how and confidential information. Ultimately, the lack or expiration at any given time of a patent to protect our compounds may allow our competitors to copy the underlying inventions and better compete with us.
If we fail to adequately protect our intellectual property, our competitive position and the potential for long-term success could be harmed.
Development and protection of our intellectual property are critical to our business. If we do not adequately protect our intellectual property, competitors may be able to practice our technologies. Our success depends in part on our ability to:
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• | obtain and maintain patent protection for our products or processes both in the U.S. and other countries; |
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• | protect trade secrets; and |
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• | prevent others from infringing on our proprietary rights. |
The patent position of pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms, including ours, generally is highly uncertain and involves complex legal and factual questions. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has not established a consistent policy regarding the breadth of claims that it will allow in biotechnology patents. If it allows broad claims, the number and cost of patent interference proceedings in the U.S. and the risk of infringement litigation may increase. If it allows narrow claims, the risk of infringement may decrease, but the value of our rights under our patents, licenses and patent applications may also decrease. Patent applications in which we have rights may never issue as patents, and the claims of any issued patents may not afford meaningful protection for our technologies or products. In addition, patents issued to us or our licensors may be challenged and subsequently narrowed, invalidated or circumvented. Litigation, interference proceedings or other governmental proceedings that we may become involved in with respect to our proprietary technologies or the proprietary technology of others could result in substantial cost to us.
We also rely upon trade secrets, proprietary know-how and continuing technological innovation to remain competitive. Third parties may independently develop such know-how or otherwise obtain access to our technology. While we require our employees, consultants and corporate partners with access to proprietary information to enter into confidentiality agreements, these agreements may not be honored.
Patent litigation is widespread in the biotechnology industry, and any patent litigation could harm our business.
Costly litigation might be necessary to protect a patent position or to determine the scope and validity of third party proprietary rights, and we may not have the required resources to pursue any such litigation or to protect our patent rights. Any adverse outcome in litigation with respect to the infringement or validity of any patents owned by third parties could subject us to significant liabilities to third parties, require disputed rights to be licensed from third parties or require us to cease using a product or technology. With respect to our in-licensed patents, if we attempt to initiate a patent infringement suit against an alleged infringer, it is possible that our applicable licensor will not participate in or assist us with the suit and as a result we may not be able to effectively enforce the applicable patents against the alleged infringers.
We may be unable to obtain or protect our intellectual property rights and we may be liable for infringing upon the intellectual property rights of others, which may cause us to engage in costly litigation and, if unsuccessful, could cause us to pay substantial damages and prohibit us from selling our products.
At times, we may monitor patent filings for patents that might be relevant to some of our products and product candidates in an effort to guide the design and development of our products to avoid infringement, but may not have conducted an exhaustive search. We may not be able to successfully challenge the validity of third party patents and could be required to pay substantial damages, possibly including treble damages, for past infringement and attorneys’ fees if it is ultimately determined that our products infringe such patents. Further, we may be prohibited from selling our products before we obtain a license, which, if available at all, may require us to pay substantial royalties.
Moreover, third parties may challenge the patents that have been issued or licensed to us. We do not believe that PIXUVRI, pacritinib or any of the other compounds we are currently developing infringe upon the rights of any third parties
nor are they materially infringed upon by third parties; however, there can be no assurance that our technology will not be found in the future to infringe upon the rights of others or be infringed upon by others. In such a case, others may assert infringement claims against us, and should we be found to infringe upon their patents, or otherwise impermissibly utilize their intellectual property, we might be forced to pay damages, potentially including treble damages, if we are found to have willfully infringed on such parties’ patent rights. In addition to any damages we might have to pay, we may be required to obtain licenses from the holders of this intellectual property, enter into royalty agreements or redesign our compounds so as not to utilize this intellectual property, each of which may prove to be uneconomical or otherwise impossible. Conversely, we may not always be able to successfully pursue our claims against others that infringe upon our technology and the technology exclusively licensed from any third parties. Thus, the proprietary nature of our technology or technology licensed by us may not provide adequate protection against competitors.
Even if infringement claims against us are without merit, or if we challenge the validity of issued patents, lawsuits take significant time, may, even if resolved in our favor, be expensive and divert management attention from other business concerns. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of any litigation could limit our ability to continue our operations.
The illegal distribution and sale by third parties of counterfeit versions of a product or stolen product could have a negative impact on our reputation and business.
Third parties might illegally distribute and sell counterfeit or unfit versions of a product that do not meet our rigorous manufacturing and testing standards. A patient who receives a counterfeit or unfit product may be at risk for a number of dangerous health consequences. Our reputation and business could suffer harm as a result of counterfeit or unfit product sold under our brand name. In addition, thefts of inventory at warehouses, plants or while in-transit, which are not properly stored and which are sold through unauthorized channels, could adversely impact patient safety, our reputation and our business.
We may owe additional amounts for VAT related to our operations in Europe.
Our European operations are subject to the VAT which is usually applied to all goods and services purchased and sold throughout Europe. The VAT receivable was $4.9 million and $4.7 million as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively. On April 14, 2009, December 21, 2009 and June 25, 2010, the ITA issued notices of assessment to CTI (Europe) based on the ITA’s audit of CTI (Europe)’s VAT returns for the years 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007. The ITA audits concluded that CTI (Europe) did not collect and remit VAT on certain invoices issued to non-Italian clients for services performed by CTI (Europe). The assessments, including interest and penalties, for the years 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007 are €0.5 million, €5.5 million, €2.5 million and €0.8 million, respectively. While we are defending ourselves against the assessments both on procedural grounds and on the merits of the case, there can be no assurances that we will be successful in such defense. Further information pertaining to these cases can be found in Part II, Item 1, "Legal Proceedings", and is incorporated by reference herein. If the final decision of the Italian Supreme Court is unfavorable to us, or if, in the interim, the ITA were to make a demand for payment and we were to be unsuccessful in suspending collection efforts, we may be requested to pay to the ITA an amount up to €9.4 million (or approximately $10.7 million upon conversion from euros as of March 31, 2016) plus collection fees, notification expenses and additional interest for the period lapsed between the date in which the assessments were issued and the date of effective payment.
We are currently subject to certain regulatory and legal proceedings, and may in the future be subject to additional proceedings and/or allegations of wrong-doing, which could harm our financial condition and operating results.
We are currently, and may in the future be, subject to regulatory matters and legal claims, including possible securities, derivative, consumer protection and other types of proceedings pursued by individuals, entities or regulatory bodies. As described in Part II, Item 1, "Legal Proceedings", we are currently engaged in certain pending legal proceedings, including the purported class action lawsuits filed against us and certain of our current and former directors and officers in February 2016 and the derivative lawsuit filed against us in March 2016. In addition, we are in the process of supplying documents in response to a subpoena from the SEC in connection with an investigation into potential federal securities law violations as described in Part II, Item 1, Legal Proceedings. Litigation is subject to inherent uncertainties, and we have had and may in the future have unfavorable rulings and settlements. Adverse outcomes may result in significant monetary damages or injunctive relief against us. It is possible that our financial condition and operating results could be harmed in any period in which the effect of an unfavorable final outcome becomes probable and reasonably estimable, and if an unfavorable ruling were to occur in any of the legal proceedings we are or may be subject to, our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects could be harmed. The ultimate outcome of litigation and other claims is subject to inherent uncertainties, and our view of these matters may change in the future.
We cannot predict with certainty the eventual outcome of pending litigation. In addition, negative publicity resulting from any allegations of wrong-doing could harm our business, regardless of whether the allegations are valid or whether there is a finding of liability. Furthermore, we may have to incur substantial time and expense in connection with such lawsuits and management’s attention and resources could be diverted from operating our business as we respond to the litigation. Our insurance is subject to high deductibles and there is no guarantee that the insurance will cover any specific claim that we currently face or may face in the future, or that it will be adequate to cover all potential liabilities and damages. In the event of negative publicity resulting from allegations of wrong-doing and/or an adverse outcome under any currently pending or future lawsuit, our business could be materially harmed.
Our net operating losses may not be available to reduce future income tax liability.
We have substantial tax loss carryforwards for U.S. federal income tax purposes, but our ability to use such carryforwards to offset future income or tax liability is limited under section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, as a result of prior changes in the stock ownership of the Company. Moreover, future changes in the ownership of our stock, including those resulting from issuance of shares of our common stock upon exercise of outstanding warrants, may further limit our ability to use our net operating losses.
Due to the fact that we have European branches and subsidiaries conducting operations, together with the fact that we are party to certain contractual arrangements denoting monetary amounts in foreign currencies, we are subject to risk regarding currency exchange rate fluctuations.
We are exposed to risks associated with the translation of euro-denominated financial results and accounts into U.S. dollars for financial reporting purposes. The carrying value of the assets and liabilities, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses, in our European branches and subsidiaries will be affected by fluctuations in the value of the U.S. dollar as compared to the euro. Any expansion of our commercial operations in Europe (including with regard to sales of PIXUVRI) may increase our exposure to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. In addition, certain of our contractual arrangements, such as the Servier Agreement, denote monetary amounts in foreign currencies, and consequently, the ultimate financial impact to us from a U.S. dollar perspective is subject to significant uncertainty. Changes in the value of the U.S. dollar as compared to foreign currencies (in particular, the euro) might have an adverse effect on our reported operating results and financial condition.
We may be unable to obtain the raw materials necessary to produce a particular product or product candidate.
We may not be able to purchase the materials necessary to produce a particular product or product candidate in adequate volume and quality. For example, paclitaxel, a material used to produce Opaxio, is derived from certain varieties of yew trees and the supply of paclitaxel is controlled by a limited number of companies. If any raw material required to produce a product or product candidate is insufficient in quantity or quality, if a supplier fails to deliver in a timely fashion or at all or if these relationships terminate, we may not be able to qualify and obtain a sufficient supply from alternate sources on acceptable terms, or at all.
Because there is a risk of product liability associated with our compounds, we face potential difficulties in obtaining insurance, and if product liability lawsuits were to be successfully brought against us, our business may be harmed.
Our business exposes us to potential product liability risks inherent in the testing, manufacturing, marketing and sale of human pharmaceutical products. In particular, as a result of the commercialization of PIXUVRI, our risk with respect to potential product liability has increased. If our insurance covering a compound is not maintained on acceptable terms or at all, we might not have adequate coverage against potential liabilities. Our inability to obtain sufficient insurance coverage at an acceptable cost or otherwise to protect against potential product liability claims could prevent or limit the commercialization of any products we develop. A successful product liability claim could also exceed our insurance coverage and could harm our financial condition and operating results.
We may be subject to claims relating to improper handling, storage or disposal of hazardous materials.
Our research and development activities involve the controlled use of hazardous materials, chemicals and various radioactive compounds. We are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations, both internationally and domestically, governing the use, manufacture, storage, handlings, treatment, transportation and disposal of such materials and certain waste products and employee safety and health matters. Although we believe that our safety procedures for handling and disposing of such materials comply with applicable law and regulations, the risk of accidental contamination or injury from these materials cannot be eliminated completely. In the event of such an accident, we could be held liable for any damages that result and any
such liability not covered by insurance could exceed our resources. Compliance with environmental, safety and health laws and regulations may be expensive, and current or future environmental regulations may impair our research, development or production efforts.
We depend on sophisticated information technology systems to operate our business and a cyber-attack or other breach of these systems could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We rely on information technology systems to process, transmit and store electronic information in our day-to-day operations. The size and complexity of our information technology systems makes them vulnerable to a cyber-attack, malicious intrusion, breakdown, destruction, loss of data privacy or other significant disruption. Any such successful attacks could result in the theft of intellectual property or other misappropriation of assets, or otherwise compromise our confidential or proprietary information and disrupt our operations. Cyber-attacks are becoming more sophisticated and frequent. We have invested in our systems and the protection of our data to reduce the risk of an intrusion or interruption, and we monitor our systems on an ongoing basis for any current or potential threats. There can be no assurance that these measures and efforts will prevent future interruptions or breakdowns. If we fail to maintain or protect our information technology systems and data integrity effectively or fail to anticipate, plan for or manage significant disruptions to these systems, we could have difficulty preventing, detecting and controlling fraud, have disputes with customers, physicians and other health care professionals, have regulatory sanctions or penalties imposed, have increases in operating expenses, incur expenses or lose revenues or suffer other adverse consequences, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, prospects and cash flows.
Risks Related To the Securities Markets
Shares of our common stock are subordinate to existing and any future indebtedness and to any preferred stock we may issue.
Shares of our common stock rank junior to our existing indebtedness, including under our senior secured term loan agreement and any future indebtedness we may incur, as well as to all creditor claims and other non-equity claims against us and our assets available to satisfy claims on us, including claims in a bankruptcy or similar proceeding. Our senior secured term loan agreement restricts, and any future indebtedness and preferred stock may restrict, payment of dividends on our common stock. Shares of our common stock will also rank junior to any shares of our preferred stock that we may issue in the future.
Additionally, unlike indebtedness, where principal and interest customarily are payable on specified due dates, in the case of our common stock, (i) dividends are payable only when and if declared by our Board of Directors or a duly authorized committee of our Board of Directors and (ii) as a corporation, we are restricted to making dividend payments and redemption payments out of legally available assets. We have never paid a dividend on our common stock and have no current intention to pay dividends in the future. Furthermore, our common stock places no restrictions on our business or operations or on our ability to incur indebtedness or engage in any transactions, subject only to the voting rights available to our shareholders generally.
The market price of shares of our common stock is extremely volatile, which may affect our ability to raise capital in the future and may subject the value of your investment in our securities to sudden decreases.
The market price for securities of biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including ours, historically has been highly volatile, and the market from time to time has experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that are unrelated to the operating performance of such companies. For example, during the 12-month period ended May 3, 2016, our stock price has ranged from a low of $0.25 to a high of $2.46. Fluctuations in the market price or liquidity of our common stock may harm the value of your investment in our common stock.
Factors that may have an impact, which, depending on the circumstances, could be significant, on the market price and marketability of our securities include:
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• | announcements by us or others of results of clinical trials and regulatory actions, such as the imposition of a clinical trial hold; |
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• | announcements by us or others of serious adverse events that have occurred during administration of our products to patients; |
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• | announcements by us or others relating to our ongoing development and commercialization activities; |
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• | halting or suspension of trading in our common stock on The NASDAQ Capital Market or on the MTA; |
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• | announcements of technological innovations or new commercial therapeutic products by us, our collaborative partners or our present or potential competitors; |
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• | our issuance of debt or equity securities, which we expect to pursue to generate additional funds to operate our business, or any perception from time to time that we will issue such securities; |
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• | our quarterly operating results; |
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• | liquidity, cash position or financing needs; |
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• | developments or disputes concerning patent or other proprietary rights; |
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• | developments in relationships with collaborative partners; |
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• | acquisitions or divestitures; |
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• | our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of our compounds; |
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• | litigation and government proceedings; |
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• | adverse legislation, including changes in governmental regulation; |
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• | third party reimbursement policies; |
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• | changes in securities analysts’ recommendations; |
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• | short selling of our securities; |
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• | changes in health care policies and practices; |
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• | a failure to achieve previously announced goals and objectives as or when projected; and |
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• | general economic and market conditions. |
Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents, in our shareholder rights agreement, or rights plan, under Washington law and in other applicable instruments could make removal of incumbent management or an acquisition of us, which may be beneficial to our shareholders, more difficult.
Provisions of our articles of incorporation and bylaws may have the effect of deterring or delaying attempts by our shareholders to remove or replace management, to commence proxy contests or to effect changes in control. These provisions include:
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• | elimination of cumulative voting in the election of directors; |
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• | procedures for advance notification of shareholder nominations and proposals; |
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• | the ability of our Board of Directors to amend our bylaws without shareholder approval; and |
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• | the ability of our Board of Directors to issue shares of preferred stock without shareholder approval upon the terms and conditions and with the rights, privileges and preferences as our Board of Directors may determine. |
Pursuant to our rights plan, an acquisition of 20 percent or more of our common stock by a person or group, subject to certain exceptions, could result in the exercisability of the preferred stock purchase right accompanying each share of our common stock (except those held by a 20 percent shareholder, which become null and void), thereby entitling the holder to receive upon exercise, in lieu of a number of units of preferred stock, that number of shares of our common stock having a market value of two times the exercise price of the right. The existence of our rights plan could have the effect of delaying, deterring or preventing a third party from making an acquisition proposal for us and may inhibit a change in control that some, or a majority, of our shareholders might believe to be in their best interest or that could give our shareholders the opportunity to realize a premium over the then-prevailing market prices for their shares.
In addition, as a Washington corporation, we are subject to Washington’s anti-takeover statute, which imposes restrictions on some transactions between a corporation and certain significant shareholders. Other existing provisions applicable to us that could have an anti-takeover effect include our executive employment agreements and certain provisions of our outstanding equity-based compensatory awards that allow for acceleration of vesting in the event of a change in control.
The foregoing provisions, alone or together, could have the effect of deterring or delaying changes in incumbent management, proxy contests or changes in control.
Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
Stock Repurchases in the First Quarter
The following table sets forth information with respect to purchases of our common stock during the three months ended March 31, 2016:
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Period | Total Number of Shares Purchased (1) | | Average Price Paid per Share | | Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs | | Maximum Number of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs |
January 1 - January 31, 2016 | 8,064 |
| | $ | 1.15 |
| | — |
| | — |
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February 1 - February 29, 2016 | 13,526 |
| | $ | 0.55 |
| | — |
| | — |
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March 1 - March 31, 2016 | 176,715 |
| | $ | 0.55 |
| | — |
| | — |
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Total | 198,305 |
| | $ | 0.57 |
| | — |
| | — |
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_________________________
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(1) | Represents purchases of shares in connection with satisfying tax withholding obligations on the vesting of restricted stock awards to employees granted under our 2007 Equity Incentive Plan. |
Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities
None.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
Item 5. Other Information
None.
Item 6. Exhibits |
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Exhibit Number | | Exhibit Description | | Location |
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3.1 | | Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation. | | Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on March 23, 2015. |
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3.2 | | Articles of Amendment to Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation, dated October 29, 2015 (Series N Preferred Stock). | | Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on October 30, 2015. |
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3.3 | | Articles of Amendment to Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation, dated October 29, 2015 (Series N-1 Preferred Stock). | | Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on October 30, 2015. |
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3.4 | | Articles of Amendment to Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation, dated December 8, 2015 (Series N-2 Preferred Stock). | | Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on December 9, 2015. |
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3.5 | | Articles of Amendment to Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation, dated April 29, 2016. | | Filed herewith. |
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3.6 | | Amended and Restated Bylaws. | | Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on December 3, 2015. |
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4.1 | | Shareholder Rights Agreement, dated December 28, 2009, between the Registrant and Computershare Trust Company, N.A. | | Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form 8-A, filed on December 28, 2009. |
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4.2 | | First Amendment to Shareholder Rights Agreement, dated as of August 31, 2012, between the Registrant and Computershare Trust Company, N.A., as Rights Agent. | | Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on September 4, 2012. |
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4.3 | | Second Amendment to Shareholder Rights Agreement, dated as of December 6, 2012, between the Registrant and Computershare Trust Company, N.A., as Rights Agent. | | Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on December 7, 2012. |
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4.4 | | Third Amendment to Shareholder Rights Agreement, dated as of December 1, 2015, between the Registrant and Computershare Trust Company, N.A., as Rights Agent. | | Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on December 1, 2015. |
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4.5 | | Specimen Common Stock Certificate. | | Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.3 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-200452), filed on November 21, 2014. |
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4.6 | | Form of Common Stock Purchase Warrant, dated May 3, 2011 (expiry date on May 4, 2016). | | Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on May 2, 2011. |
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4.7 | | Form of Common Stock Purchase Warrant, dated July 5, 2011. | | Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on July 6, 2011. |
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4.8 | | Form of Common Stock Purchase Warrant, dated December 13, 2011. | | Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on December 14, 2011. |
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Exhibit Number | | Exhibit Description | | Location |
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4.9 | | Warrant Agreement, dated June 9, 2015, by and between Registrant and Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. | | Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on June 10, 2015. |
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10.1* | | CTI BioPharma Corp. Amended and Restated 2015 Equity Incentive Plan, effective as of April 29, 2016. | | Incorporated by reference to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on April 29, 2016.
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31.1 | | Certification of Principal Executive Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. | | Filed herewith. |
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31.2 | | Certification of Principal Financial Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. | | Filed herewith. |
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32 | | Certification of Principal Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. | | Furnished herewith. |
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101. INS | | XBRL Instance | | Filed herewith. |
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101. SCH | | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema | | Filed herewith. |
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101. CAL | | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation | | Filed herewith. |
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101. DEF | | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition | | Filed herewith. |
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101. LAB | | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Labels | | Filed herewith. |
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101. PRE | | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation | | Filed herewith. |
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* | Indicates a management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement. |
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized:
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| | CTI BIOPHARMA CORP. |
| | (Registrant) |
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Dated: May 10, 2016 | | By: | | /s/ James A. Bianco, M.D. |
| | | | James A. Bianco, M.D. |
| | | | President and Chief Executive Officer |
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Dated: May 10, 2016 | | By: | | /s/ Louis A. Bianco |
| | | | Louis A. Bianco |
| | | | Executive Vice President, |
| | | | Finance and Administration |