UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
| FORM | |||||||||||
| ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | |||||
For the fiscal year ended December 31 , 2021
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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:
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (301 ) 556-9900
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company," and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
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| Non-accelerated filer | ☐ | Smaller reporting company | ||||||||||||||||||
| Emerging growth company | ||||||||||||||||||||
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management's assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
As of June 30, 2021, the last business day of the registrant's most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the aggregate market value of the registrant's common stock held by non-affiliates based upon the closing price of such shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on such date was approximately $790.4 million.
As of February 15, 2022, 206,931,842 shares of common stock, no par value per share, were issued and outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE: Portions of the registrant's Definitive Proxy Statement for its 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders are incorporated by reference in Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K where indicated. Such proxy statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days of the registrant's fiscal year ended December 31, 2021.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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________________________
Intrexon®, Trans Ova Genetics®, ActoBiotics®, Progentus®, UltraCAR-T®, RheoSwitch®, UltraVector®, RTS®, UltraPorator®, and RheoSwitch Therapeutic System® are our and/or our affiliates' registered trademarks in the United States and GenVec™, Precigen™, AdenoVerse™, ActoBio Therapeutics™, AttSite™, and Precigen Therapeutics™ are our and/or our affiliates' common law trademarks in the United States. This Annual Report on Form 10-K, or Annual Report, and the information incorporated herein by reference contain references to trademarks, service marks, and trade names owned by us or other companies. Solely for convenience, trademarks, service marks, and trade names referred to in this Annual Report and the information incorporated herein, including logos, artwork, and other visual displays, may appear without the ® or ™ symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the rights of the applicable licensor to these trademarks, service marks, and trade names. We do not intend our use or display of other companies' trade names, service marks, or trademarks to imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, any other companies. Other trademarks, trade names, and service marks appearing in this Annual Report
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are the property of their respective owners. Unless the context requires otherwise, references in this Annual Report to "Precigen", "we", "us", and "our" refer to Precigen, Inc.
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this Annual Report, including statements regarding our strategy; future events, including their outcome or timing; future operations; future financial position; future revenue; projected costs; prospects; plans; objectives of management; and expected market growth, are forward-looking statements. The words "aim", "anticipate", "assume", "believe", "continue", "could", "due", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "plan", "positioned", "potential", "predict", "project", "seek", "should", "target", "will", "would", and the negatives of these terms or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These statements may relate to, among other things: (i) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our clinical trials, businesses, operating results, cash flows, and/or financial condition; (ii) the timeliness of regulatory approvals; (iii) our strategy and overall approach to our business model, our efforts to realign our business, and our ability to exercise more control and ownership over the development process and commercialization path; (iv) our ability to successfully enter new markets or develop additional product candidates, including the expected timing and results of investigational studies and preclinical and clinical trials, including any delays or potential delays as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, whether with our collaborators or independently; (v) our ability to consistently manufacture our product candidates on a timely basis or to establish agreements with third-party manufacturers; (vi) our ability to successfully enter into optimal strategic relationships with our subsidiaries and operating companies that we may form in the future; (vii) our ability to hold or generate significant operating capital, including through partnering, asset sales, and operating cost reductions; (viii) actual or anticipated variations in our operating results; (ix) actual or anticipated fluctuations in competitors' or collaborators' operating results or changes in their respective growth rates; (x) our cash position; (xi) market conditions in our industry; (xii) the volatility of our stock price; (xiii) the ability, and the ability of our collaborators, to protect our intellectual property and other proprietary rights and technologies; (xiv) our ability, and the ability of our collaborators, to adapt to changes in laws or regulations or policies, including federal, state, and local government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic; (xv) outcomes of pending and future litigation; (xvi) the rate and degree of market acceptance of any products developed by us, our subsidiaries, collaborations, or joint ventures, or JVs, and competition from existing technologies and products or new technologies and products that may emerge; (xvii) our ability to retain and recruit key personnel; (xviii) expectations related to the use of proceeds from public offerings and other financing efforts; (xix) estimates regarding expenses, future revenue, capital requirements, and needs for additional financing; and (xx) the effects, duration, and severity of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the actions we and others have taken or may take in response.
Forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions, and expectations of our future performance, and may also concern our expectations relating to our subsidiaries and other affiliates. We caution you that the foregoing list may not contain all of the forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report.
We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions, and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements we make. We have included important factors in the cautionary statements included in this Annual Report, particularly in "Summary of Risk Factors" set forth below and Item 1A, "Risk Factors," that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements that we make. Our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, mergers, dispositions, JVs, or investments that we may make.
You should read this Annual Report, the documents that we reference in this Annual Report, the audited consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto included in this Annual Report, the other reports we have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, and the documents that we have filed as exhibits to our filings with the SEC completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
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Summary of Risk Factors
We are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, including risks that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. The following summary of the principal factors that make an investment in our securities speculative or risky should not be relied upon as an exhaustive summary of the material risks facing us. You should read the following summary together with the more detailed description of the risks that we deem material described under "Risk Factors" in Item 1A of this Annual Report and the other information contained in this Annual Report before investing in our securities.
Risks Related to our Financial Position and Capital Needs
•We have a history of net losses, we may not achieve or maintain profitability, and we will need substantial additional capital in the future in order to fund our business.
•Servicing our debt may require a significant amount of cash, and we may not have sufficient cash flows from our business, or otherwise have available cash, to pay our substantial debts when due.
•Despite our current debt levels, we may still incur substantially more debt or take other actions that would intensify the risks discussed above.
•The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant volatility, uncertainty, and economic disruption that could have an adverse effect on our access to capital on favorable terms.
Risks Related to the Discovery and Development of our Product Candidates
•Our business is dependent on our ability to advance our current and future product candidates through clinical trials, obtain marketing approval, and ultimately commercialize them.
•The regulatory process of the United States Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, and comparable foreign authorities are lengthy, time-consuming, and inherently unpredictable, and we may be unable to obtain FDA approval of our product candidates. The denial or delay of any such approval would prevent or delay commercialization of our product candidates and adversely impact our potential to generate revenue, our business, and our results of operations.
•Clinical development involves a lengthy and expensive process with uncertain outcomes. We may incur additional costs and experience delays in developing and commercializing or be unable to develop or commercialize our current and future product candidates.
•As an organization, we have limited experience designing and implementing clinical trials and failure to adequately design a trial, conduct a trial in accordance with regulatory requirements, or enroll patients in clinical trials, could result in adverse effects, including but not limited to increased or unexpected costs and delayed timelines.
•Cell and gene therapies are novel, complex, and difficult to manufacture.
•Interim and preliminary results from our clinical trials that we announce or publish from time to time may change, which could result in material changes in the final data.
•Our product candidates may cause undesirable side effects or have other properties that could delay or halt their clinical development, limit their commercial potential, or result in significant negative consequences.
•Even if we complete the necessary clinical trials, we cannot predict when, or if, we will obtain regulatory approval to commercialize a product candidate and the approval may be for a narrower indication than we seek.
•We have chosen to prioritize certain of our product candidates and, as a result, may expend our limited resources on product candidates that do not yield a successful product, or fail to capitalize on opportunities that may be more profitable.
•The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could cause a disruption of the development of our product candidates and adversely impact our healthcare business.
•We may incur significant costs complying with environmental, health, and safety laws and regulations, and failure to comply with these laws and regulations could expose us to significant liabilities.
Risks Related to the Commercialization of Product Candidates and Other Legal Compliance Matters
•Even if a product candidate receives marketing approval, it may fail to achieve the degree of market acceptance necessary for commercial success.
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•Delays in obtaining regulatory approval of manufacturing processes and facilities or disruptions in manufacturing processes may delay or disrupt our commercialization efforts.
•Even if we receive marketing approval of a product candidate, we will be subject to ongoing regulatory obligations and continued regulatory review, which may result in significant additional expense. If we fail to comply or experience unanticipated problems with our products, we may be subject to administrative and judicial enforcement, and our approved products, if any, could be deemed misbranded or adulterated and prohibited from continued distribution.
•The successful commercialization of our product candidates will depend in part on the extent to which third-party payers provide coverage and adequate reimbursement levels.
•Our business may be adversely affected by current and potential future healthcare reforms.
Risks Related to our Business Operations and Strategy
•We rely on third parties to develop and commercialize some of our product candidates.
•We have previously entered into strategic collaborations, that we cannot operate solely for our benefit, and which we may fail to successfully manage, or from which disputes may arise.
•We may be sued for product liability.
•The livestock products of our operating subsidiaries are subject to disease outbreaks.
•Competitors and potential competitors may develop products and technologies that make ours obsolete or garner greater market share than ours.
•If we experience a significant breach of data security or disruption in our information systems, our business could be adversely affected.
•The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have disrupted, and will likely continue to disrupt, our business operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, cash flows, and financial position.
•We may pursue strategic acquisitions and investments that could have an adverse impact on our business.
Risks Related to our Intellectual Property
•Our ability to compete may decline if we do not adequately protect our proprietary technologies or intellectual property rights.
•Litigation or other proceedings or third-party claims of intellectual property infringement could require us to spend significant time and money and could prevent us from commercializing our technologies or impact our stock price.
•If we do not obtain additional protection under United States or foreign legislation by extending the patent terms and obtaining regulatory exclusivity for our technologies, our business may be materially harmed.
•Enforcing our intellectual property rights may be difficult and unpredictable, within the United States and elsewhere.
Risks Related to our Common Stock
•Our quarterly and annual operating results may fluctuate in the future. As a result, we may fail to meet or exceed the expectations of research analysts or investors, which could cause our stock price to decline.
•Our stock price is volatile, and purchasers of our common stock could incur substantial losses.
•We do not anticipate paying cash dividends, and accordingly, shareholders will have to rely on any stock appreciation for return on their investment.
•The issuance of our common stock pursuant to a share lending agreement, including sales of the shares that we lend, and other market activity related to the share lending agreement may lower the market price of our common stock.
•As of December 31, 2021, Randal J. Kirk controlled approximately 40 percent of our common stock and may be able to control or significantly influence shareholder votes and other corporate actions.
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PART I
Item 1. Business
Overview
We are a dedicated discovery and clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing the next generation of gene and cell therapies with the overall goal of improving outcomes for patients with significant unmet medical needs. We are leveraging our proprietary technology platforms to develop product candidates designed to target urgent and intractable diseases in our core therapeutic areas of immuno-oncology, autoimmune disorders, and infectious diseases. We have developed an extensive pipeline of therapies across multiple indications within these core focus areas.
We believe that our array of technology platforms uniquely positions us among other biotechnology companies to advance precision medicine. Precision medicine is the practice of therapeutic product development that takes into account specific genetic variations within populations impacted by a disease to design targeted therapies to improve outcomes for a disease or patient population. Our proprietary and complementary technology platforms provide a strong foundation to realize the core promise of precision medicine by supporting our efforts to construct powerful gene programs to drive efficacy, deliver these programs through viral, non-viral, and microbe-based approaches to drive lower costs, and control gene expression to drive safety. Our therapeutic platforms, including UltraCAR-T, AdenoVerse immunotherapy, and ActoBiotics, are designed to allow us to precisely control the level and physiological location of gene expression and modify biological molecules to control the function and output of living cells to treat underlying disease conditions.
We are actively advancing our lead clinical programs, including: PRGN-3005, PRGN-3006, and PRGN-3007, which are built on our UltraCAR-T platform; PRGN-2009 and PRGN-2012, which are based on our AdenoVerse immunotherapy platform; and AG019, which is built on our ActoBiotics platform. In addition, we have completed a Phase 1 study of INXN-4001, a non-viral triple-effector plasmid DNA, which is built on our UltraVector platform. We also have a robust pipeline of preclinical programs that we are pursuing in order to drive long-term value creation.
We have developed a proprietary electroporation device, UltraPorator, designed to further streamline and ensure the rapid and cost-effective manufacturing of UltraCAR-T therapies. UltraPorator has received FDA clearance for manufacturing UltraCAR-T cells in clinical trials, and since November 2020, we have been dosing patients with UltraCAR-T cells manufactured with UltraPorator in our clinical trials.
We exercise discipline in our portfolio management by systematically evaluating data from our preclinical programs in order to make rapid "go" and "no go" decisions. Through this process, we believe we can more effectively allocate resources to programs that we believe show the most promise and advance such programs to clinical trials.
To guide our decision-making and operations, we have adopted the following tenets, which form the core of our operating ideology:
•Financial Discipline. Responsibly allocate capital in an effort to ensure maximum value creation.
•Active Portfolio Management. Continuously evaluate our portfolio and strictly adhere to data-driven "go" and "no go" decisions to advance programs with the highest probability of success.
•Rapid Execution. Advance priority programs quickly to value inflection points.
•Strategic Partnerships. Seek strategic partnerships to maximize value generation.
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Our Strategy
Our strategy is to use our discovery and clinical development infrastructure to continue advancement of our clinical programs with the goal of improving outcomes for patients with significant unmet medical needs. The key elements of our strategy include:
•Advancing our lead clinical stage programs and seeking opportunities to maximize their value. We are actively advancing our lead programs that we believe have significant potential value. We intend to efficiently pursue these programs toward clinical proof-of-concept and commercialization, whether independently or with collaborators.
•Strategically pursuing our preclinical programs. We have a robust pipeline of preclinical programs that we are pursuing in order to drive long-term value creation. We exercise discipline in our portfolio management by systematically evaluating data from our preclinical programs in order to make rapid "go" and "no go" decisions. Through this process, we believe we can more effectively allocate resources to programs that we believe show the most promise and advance such programs to clinical trials.
•Leveraging our technology and therapeutic platforms across indications. Through the application of our suite of proprietary and complementary synthetic biology technologies, we believe we can create optimized biological processes and overcome the limitations of traditional techniques, leading to precision medicines that are manufactured more efficiently and cost-effectively with superior performance. We continually assess the application of these technologies across therapeutic areas to determine where we can develop and provide unique solutions to challenges facing existing therapies.
We have strategically focused our efforts on developing an innovative pipeline of therapies in immuno-oncology, infectious diseases, and autoimmune disorders based on our transformative UltraCAR-T, AdenoVerse immunotherapy, and ActoBiotics therapeutic platforms. A core focus of our research and development programs has been an effort to address the drawbacks associated with conventional cell and gene therapy manufacturing approaches. To this end, we are developing therapeutic candidates that reduce manufacturing risk by eliminating the need for centralized cell therapy manufacturing and have invested in internal manufacturing capabilities to de-risk our clinical production.
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Our Clinical Pipeline
Our Healthcare Business
Our healthcare business focuses on human therapeutics and developing research models and services for healthcare research applications. Our Biopharmaceuticals segment includes our wholly owned subsidiaries PGEN Therapeutics, Inc., or PGEN Therapeutics, and Precigen ActoBio, Inc., or ActoBio, and our majority ownership interest in Triple-Gene LLC, doing business as Precigen Triple-Gene, or Triple-Gene, as well as royalty interests in therapeutics and therapeutic platforms from companies not controlled by us. Exemplar Genetics, LLC, doing business as Precigen Exemplar, or Exemplar, is a wholly owned subsidiary which is focused on developing research models and services for healthcare research applications.
Biopharmaceuticals
PGEN Therapeutics
PGEN Therapeutics is a dedicated discovery and clinical stage biopharmaceutical company advancing the next generation of
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gene and cell therapies using precision technology to target urgent and intractable diseases in immuno-oncology, autoimmune disorders and infectious diseases. PGEN Therapeutics operates as an innovation engine, progressing a preclinical and clinical pipeline of well-differentiated therapies toward clinical proof-of-concept and commercialization.
PGEN Therapeutics' Technology Platforms
We leverage a diverse portfolio of proprietary technology platforms to accelerate research and development efforts to deliver the promise of precision medicine. Precigen's innovative technology platforms enable us to construct powerful, multigenic programs that we believe will drive efficacy, deliver multigenic constructs using viral and non-viral approaches that we believe will drive lower costs, and control expression of genes and performance of therapeutics in vivo for precise targeting of complex malignancies. The following discussion describes the technology platforms that we use for our approach to precision medicine.
We believe that the development of innovative biological products requires a deep understanding of the complexity of cellular processes and the construction of improved gene programs developed in conditions reflective of the natural environment. We accomplish the design of optimized gene programs for our therapeutic approaches via our UltraVector platform that incorporates advanced DNA construction technologies and computational models to design and assemble genetic components into complex gene expression programs. UltraVector-enabled matrices facilitate rapid identification of components that yield desired gene expression. Our library of characterized genetic components and associated functional characterization data enable construction of gene programs for optimized expression of multiple effector genes. Expression of our membrane-bound interleukin-15, or mbIL15, gene improves functional characteristics of certain immune cells, including T cells, by enhancing their potential for expansion and persistence.
We deliver gene programs via viral, non-viral, and microbe-based approaches, including Sleeping Beauty, AttSite recombinases, and gorilla adenoviral vectors, from our AdenoVerse library. Sleeping Beauty is a non-viral transposon/transposase system licensed from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center that stably reprograms immune cells by inserting specific DNA sequences into their genome. The Sleeping Beauty system has been shown to promote random integration in the genome without insertion bias, which contrasts with the predilection of other viral and non-viral methods such as lentiviral vectors and the PiggyBac transposon system for integration at transcriptionally active sites. We believe that our non-viral system may confer benefits including a reduction of the risk of genotoxicity. Precigen has made significant improvements to the Sleeping Beauty system by optimizing gene elements, genetic payload capacity, and efficiency of delivery, which provides a system tailored to our multigenic UltraCAR-T platform. Our AttSite recombinases, which break and rejoin DNA at specific sequences in a unidirectional, irreversible fashion to direct integration of a transgene into the host cell genome, allow for stable, site-specific gene integration. The UltraPorator system includes proprietary hardware and software solutions and potentially represents major advancements over current electroporation devices by significantly reducing the processing time and contamination risk. UltraPorator is designed for rapid and cost-effective manufacturing of UltraCAR-T therapies and has the potential to enable rapid manufacturing of a range of gene and cell therapies beyond UltraCAR-T.
Genetically engineered adenoviruses (a common group of viruses) called adenovectors that are designed to insert genes into cells are an important part of our technology platforms. Our AdenoVerse technology platform is composed of a library of engineered adenovector serotypes that yield greater tissue specificity and target selection as compared to known human Ad5 adenovectors. This includes our gorilla adenovectors, which provide a potential competitive advantage with their large payload capacity, ability for repeat administrations and generation of robust antigen-specific immune responses.
The final component of our approach to precision medicine is our ability to control gene expression and regulation using the
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RheoSwitch, kill switches, and tissue-specific promoters. The RheoSwitch Therapeutic System, our inducible gene switch system, we believe is the most clinically advanced gene switch system and provides quantitative dose-proportionate regulation of the amount and timing of target protein expression in response to an orally available activator ligand, veledimex. In addition, we have developed a suite of kill switches, which allow us to selectively eliminate cell therapies in vivo after their administration, to improve their safety profile. We are developing tissue-specific promoters to only induce gene expression locally in cells or tissues of therapeutic interest.
We have leveraged our proprietary and complementary technology platforms discussed above and our expertise in immunology to develop key therapeutic platforms, including UltraCAR-T and AdenoVerse, to address multiple pathways of complex disorders with significant unmet medical needs and to realize our core promise of precision medicine.
PGEN Therapeutics' Therapeutic Platforms
UltraCAR-T
Recent technological advances have revolutionized the field of immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer. Of the many immunotherapy approaches, chimeric antigen receptor T, or CAR-T, cell therapies in particular have shown remarkable responses in cancer patients with hematological malignancies. These therapies rely on the genetic modification of T cells to express chimeric antigen receptors and enable these modified T cells to bind to specific antigens on the patient's tumor cells and kill the tumor cells. Concerns remain, however, regarding complex and lengthy manufacturing processes and the safety profile of CAR-T cell therapies. Furthermore, current autologous and allogeneic CAR-T cell therapies face challenges in the treatment of solid tumors due to rapid exhaustion and limited in vivo persistence of CAR-T cells. Current approaches to CAR-T manufacturing require extensive ex vivo expansion following viral vector transduction to achieve clinically relevant cell numbers. We believe such an ex vivo expansion process can result in the exhaustion of CAR-T cells prior to their administration, limiting their potential for persistence in patients after administration. Furthermore, lengthy and complex manufacturing of current CAR-T approaches results in high manufacturing costs and long delays in providing the CAR-T treatment to cancer patients. Time is of the essence for advanced cancer patients and even modest delays in treatment can adversely affect outcomes.
Our UltraCAR-T platform is differentiated from the competition, and we believe it has the potential to address the shortcomings of current technologies and disrupt the CAR-T treatment landscape by increasing patient access through shortening manufacturing time from weeks to days, decreasing manufacturing-related costs, and improving outcomes. Recently we described the advancement of the UltraCAR-T platform to address the inhibitory tumor microenvironment by incorporating intrinsic checkpoint blockade without the need for complex and expensive gene editing techniques. The next generation of UltraCAR-T utilizes a single multicistronic transposon DNA and the well-established overnight, decentralized manufacturing process of UltraCAR-T.
We have introduced our vision for a new UltraCAR-T library approach, which is intended to transform the personalized cell therapy landscape for cancer patients. Our goal is to develop and validate a library of non-viral plasmids to target tumor-associated antigens. Enabled by what we believe to be design and manufacturing advantages of UltraCAR-T, coupled with the capabilities of the UltraPorator system, we are working to empower cancer centers to deliver personalized, autologous UltraCAR-T treatment with overnight manufacturing to any cancer patient. If our goal is realized, one or more non-viral plasmids could be selected based on the patient's cancer indication and biomarker profile from the library to build a personalized UltraCAR-T treatment. After initial treatment, this approach has the potential to allow for redosing of UltraCAR-T
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targeting the same or new tumor-associated antigens based on the treatment response and the changes in antigen expression of the patient's tumor.
The key advantages of UltraCAR-T versus the traditional CAR-T approaches include:
Advanced non-viral multigenic delivery system
We have optimized and advanced the Sleeping Beauty system using our UltraVector DNA construction platform to produce multigenic UltraCAR-T cells. As a result of this optimization, our UltraCAR-T cells are precision-engineered to produce a homogeneous cell product that simultaneously co-expresses antigen-specific CAR, kill switch, and mbIL15 genes in any genetically modified UltraCAR-T cell. We recently introduced the next generation UltraCAR-T platform that addresses the inhibitory tumor microenvironment by incorporating a novel mechanism for intrinsic downregulation of one or more checkpoint inhibitor, or CPI, genes. Our design achieves intrinsic CPI blockade without gene editing and is aimed at avoiding systemic toxicity and the high cost of combining CPI antibodies. The next generation UltraCAR-T cells simultaneously express CAR, mbIL15, and a kill switch, and incorporates intrinsic CPI blockade using a single multicistronic non-viral transposon. This design differentiates our UltraCAR-T platform from the approaches used by our competitors and, we believe, reduces the developmental risk as compared to those approaches because product homogeneity is a critical consideration for later stages of clinical development and subsequent commercialization. We utilize our protein engineering and immunology expertise to optimize antigen binding, hinge, and signaling domains of each CAR based on the target antigen expression profile and cancer indication. We have also included our proprietary kill switch technology in our UltraCAR-T cells to improve the safety profile.
Enhanced persistence and elimination of ex vivo expansion step due to expression of mbIL15
A key driver of improved UltraCAR-T cell performance is mbIL15. The expression of mbIL15 has been shown to enhance in vivo expansion of UltraCAR-T cells in the presence of tumor antigens and prevent T cell exhaustion to maintain a less differentiated, stem-cell like memory phenotype leading to longer persistence of UltraCAR-T cells. This yields an enduring anti-tumor response that has been shown to outlast conventional CAR-T cells in preclinical studies, which we believe is essential to successfully targeting solid tumors. This design allows us to eliminate the need for ex vivo expansion prior to administration, a requirement that is a major limitation of current CAR-T treatments.
Scalable, rapid, decentralized manufacturing process
Another key differentiator of the UltraCAR-T therapeutic platform is our rapid and decentralized proprietary manufacturing process, which allows us to manufacture UltraCAR-T cells overnight at a medical center's current good manufacturing practices, or cGMP, facility and reinfuse the patient the following day after gene transfer. This process improves upon current approaches to CAR-T manufacturing, which require extensive ex vivo expansion following viral vector transduction that we believe can result in the exhaustion of CAR-T cells prior to their administration, limiting their potential for persistence in patients. The decentralized nature of the manufacturing process allows us to scale beyond the confines of a dedicated facility. We are the first company to validate non-viral, rapid, decentralized manufacturing of CAR-T cells in the clinic by infusing patients one day after gene transfer at two different sites in our ongoing clinical trials. We have developed a proprietary electroporation device, UltraPorator, designed to further streamline and ensure the rapid and cost-effective manufacturing of UltraCAR-T therapies. The UltraPorator system, intended to be a viable scale-up and commercialization solution for decentralized UltraCAR-T manufacturing, includes proprietary hardware and software solutions and potentially represents major advancements over current electroporation devices by significantly reducing the processing time and contamination risk.
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The FDA has cleared UltraPorator as a manufacturing device for clinical trials of our UltraCAR-T investigational therapies.
We believe our UltraCAR-T manufacturing process will provide a significant potential competitive advantage in the timeline and cost required to manufacture and deliver CAR-T therapies to patients as compared to current treatment approaches that require large, centralized facilities to support manufacturing of a relatively small number of treatments. We believe development of rapid and successful overnight manufacturing of UltraCAR-T therapies at medical centers signifies a paradigm shift in CAR-T therapy by eliminating manufacturing and timing risks associated with conventional CAR-T therapies, and our intent is for it to take place directly in numerous treatment centers, which can improve the accessibility of our therapies for patients.
PGEN Therapeutics' most advanced programs based on the UltraCAR-T platform include PRGN-3005, which is in a Phase 1/1b clinical trial for patients with advanced ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer; PRGN-3006, which is in a Phase 1/1b clinical trial for patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes, or MDS, and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, or CMML; and PRGN-3007, based on the next generation UltraCAR-T, which has received FDA clearance to initiate a Phase 1/1b clinical trial for patients with advanced receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 1-positive, or ROR1, hematological and solid tumors.
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PRGN-3005
PRGN-3005 is a first-in-class, investigational autologous CAR-T therapy that utilizes our UltraCAR-T platform to simultaneously express a CAR targeting the unshed portion of the Mucin 16 antigen, or MUC16, mbIL15, and kill switch genes.
MUC16 is an extremely large, type I transmembrane cell surface glycoprotein that plays a key role in the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer by promoting an increase in cell proliferation, metastasis, resistance to chemotherapy and immune system evasion by cancer cells. MUC16 is overexpressed on more than 80 percent of ovarian tumors but has limited expression in healthy tissues, making it an attractive CAR-T target for ovarian cancer. Other cancers with known overexpression of MUC16 include pancreatic, breast, endometrial, lung, and bladder cancers. MUC16 undergoes proteolytic cleavage in the extracellular domain resulting in shedding of a large portion of extracellular domain, termed CA125, from the cell surface and leaving only a short, unshed extracellular domain tethered to the cell surface. Therapies that target the region of MUC16 that is shed from the cell surface may have limited effectiveness due to their binding to CA125 in circulation which is not associated with tumor cells. In order to eliminate binding to circulating CA125, we have designed our MUC16 CAR using an antigen binding domain that specifically binds the unshed portion of MUC16 and optimized its affinity to preferentially target PRGN-3005 to tumor cells.
PRGN-3005 is being evaluated for the treatment of advanced ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal cancers. Advanced ovarian cancer is often fatal, with Stage IV survival rates as low as 20 percent, and has limited treatment options. Patients with ovarian cancer represent a large population, with approximately 300,000 patients diagnosed worldwide annually, including 22,000 in the United States alone.
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In preclinical in vitro studies, PRGN-3005 UltraCAR-T cells have shown robust MUC16-specific cytotoxicity of ovarian cancer cell lines, a stem-cell like memory phenotype and significant improvement in their longevity even in the absence of exogenous cytokines as compared to conventional CAR-T cells. PRGN-3005 UltraCAR-T cells have shown significantly superior anti-tumor response in mouse models of ovarian cancer compared to mice treated with a saline solution or conventional MUC16 CAR-T cells lacking mbIL15 expression. Specifically, a single administration of PRGN-3005 one day after non-viral gene transfer showed significantly superior expansion and preferred memory phenotype of UltraCAR-T in vivo and significantly superior efficacy compared to traditional CAR-T resulting in all PRGN-3005 treated mice becoming tumor-free. Furthermore, rechallenging these tumor-free mice three months later with ovarian tumors for a second time (to simulate tumor relapse) led to the elimination of tumor burden without additional PRGN-3005 UltraCAR-T treatment. These data demonstrated the potential of UltraCAR-T cells to persist long-term in vivo, prevent CAR-T cell exhaustion, and mount a durable anti-tumor response with the ability to continue to respond upon tumor rechallenge.
PRGN-3005 is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1/1b clinical trial. The Phase 1 portion of the study is a dual-arm, non-randomized, open-label clinical trial in patients with advanced, recurrent platinum-resistant ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer. Patients in this investigator-initiated Phase 1 dose escalation trial receive either intraperitoneal, or IP (Arm 1), or intravenous, or IV (Arm 2), administration of PRGN-3005 without prior lymphodepletion. The primary objectives of the Phase 1 trial are to assess the safety and maximum tolerated dose, or MTD, of PRGN-3005. For both routes of administration, PRGN-3005 will follow a 3+3 dose escalation pattern. We are conducting this trial in collaboration with The University of Washington and The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, leaders in immunotherapy and CAR-T treatments. We expect to enroll up to 71 patients total in this study.
In November 2021, the lead investigator of the PRGN-3005 clinical trial presented additional interim data from the IP arm of the Phase 1 trial at our 2021 R&D Virtual Event. Data from the patients treated in the IP arm showed a favorable safety profile, dose-dependent expansion and persistence in the peripheral blood, and clinical activity as evidenced by a decrease or stabilization of total target tumor burden at the first restaging in a majority of patients. In addition, the UltraPorator system has enabled us to deliver higher UltraCAR-T doses, and we believe that our consistent ability to successfully manufacture UltraCAR-T cells at a medical center confirms the validity of our rapid, decentralized approach to manufacturing.
In March 2021, we announced FDA clearance to initiate dosing in the IV arm of the Phase 1 dose escalation trial concurrently with the IP arm. In August 2021, we announced that the FDA has cleared enrollment of patients in Dose Level 3 in the IV arm without the need to follow 3+3 dose escalation through Dose Levels 1 and 2. In January 2022, we announced the completion of enrollment in the dose escalation phase of both IP and IV arms without lymphodepletion in the ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial. We have received FDA clearance to incorporate lymphodepletion at Dose Level 3 of the IV arm. We plan to evaluate lymphodepletion in the IV arm and plan to initiate a multicenter expansion phase of PRGN-3005. In addition, based on the favorable safety profile of PRGN-3005 to date, we plan to evaluate the potential for redosing in the clinical trial.
PRGN-3006
PRGN-3006 is a first-in-class, investigational autologous CAR-T therapy that utilizes our UltraCAR-T platform to express a CAR to target CD33, mbIL15 and a kill switch for better precision and control.
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CD33, also known as Siglec-3, is a single pass transmembrane glycoprotein and a member of the sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin super-family. CD33 is an attractive target for immunotherapy because it is over-expressed on AML blasts and leukemic stem cells, or LSCs, but is not expressed on normal blood stem cells, also known as hematopoietic stem cells. Approximately 85-90 percent of AML patients express CD33 on their tumor cells. In addition to broad expression on AML blasts, CD33 is expressed on LSCs underlying AML. LSCs are thought to be more resistant to chemotherapy treatment and to be capable of reinitiating the disease resulting in high relapse rates for AML. In healthy subjects, CD33 is primarily expressed on normal myeloid precursors, colony-forming cells, monocytes, and maturing granulocytes. Because CD33 is not expressed outside the hematopoietic system or on normal hematopoietic stem cells, it is an attractive target for treatment of AML.
AML is among the most common types of leukemia in adults with approximately 20,000 AML patients diagnosed in the United States annually. AML is a heterogeneous disease with 50-70 percent relapse rates and rapid progression. The prognosis for patients with AML is poor, with an average five-year survival rate of approximately 25 percent. More than 10,000 cases of higher-risk MDS are diagnosed annually in the United States. Due to the aggressive nature of AML progression, rapid availability of treatment is of even greater importance in this patient population, and our non-viral UltraCAR-T manufacturing process would represent a significant potential advantage over current approaches that require long lead times for manufacturing.
In preclinical studies, PRGN-3006 demonstrated robust expansion in the presence of CD33 antigen, lack of autonomous expansion in the absence of CD33 and prolonged persistence in the absence of exogenous cytokines. PRGN-3006 exhibited target-specific killing of CD33+ tumor cells as well as a significant release of inflammatory cytokines such as IFNγ, upon co-culture with AML tumor cells. PRGN-3006 cells were specifically eliminated by kill switch activator treatment, displaying functionality of the kill switch, which is intended to improve the safety profile of PRGN-3006. In vivo, a single administration of PRGN-3006 UltraCAR-T cells only one day after gene transfer effectively eliminated the tumor burden and significantly improved overall survival of tumor bearing mice compared to CAR-T cells lacking mbIL15 expression (conventional CAR-T) in an aggressive xenograft model of AML. PRGN-3006 demonstrated engraftment and significantly higher expansion and persistence in mice compared to conventional CAR-T cells, which lack mbIL15 expression.
PRGN-3006 is currently being evaluated in an investigator-initiated Phase 1/1b trial. The Phase 1 portion of this study is a dual-arm, non-randomized, dose-escalation clinical trial where PRGN-3006 is delivered via intravenous infusion. The patient population includes relapsed or refractory AML, or r/r AML, higher-risk MDS, and CMML. In the 3+3 dose escalation phase, patients are treated in one of the two arms: patients in Cohort 1, or No Lymphodepletion arm, receive UltraCAR-T cell infusion without prior lymphodepletion, and patients in Cohort 2, or Lymphodepletion arm, receive lymphodepleting chemotherapy prior to UltraCAR-T infusion. The primary objective of this trial is to assess the safety of PRGN-3006 and determine the MTD. The Phase 1 trial is being conducted in collaboration with Moffitt Cancer Center, a pioneer in CAR-T clinical development.
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In November 2021, the Principal Investigator of the PRGN-3006 clinical trial presented clinical progress and interim data from the ongoing Phase 1 trial at our 2021 R&D Virtual Event. In December 2021, the Principal Investigator presented additional interim data at the 63rd ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition. Data showed a favorable safety profile of PRGN-3006 administered in both the No Lymphodepletion and the Lymphodepletion cohorts. In addition, dose-dependent expansion and persistence of PRGN-3006 in peripheral blood and bone marrow was observed in both the No Lymphodepletion and the Lymphodepletion cohorts with higher peak expansion in the Lymphodepletion cohort compared to the No Lymphodepletion cohort. Furthermore, data showed encouraging clinical responses in the Lymphodepletion cohort.
In January 2022, we announced the completion of enrollment in the Phase 1 dose escalation trial in both the No Lymphodepletion and the Lymphodepletion cohorts. We plan to initiate a multicenter expansion phase of the study at Dose Level 3 with lymphodepletion. We plan to incorporate a repeat dosing regimen in the expansion phase. Furthermore, we anticipate publication of additional Phase 1/1b data in 2022. PRGN-3006 has been granted Orphan Drug designation for the treatment of AML by the FDA.
PRGN-3007
PRGN-3007 is a first-in-class, investigational autologous CAR-T therapy that utilizes the next generation UltraCAR-T platform to express a CAR to target ROR1, mbIL15, kill switch, and a novel mechanism for the intrinsic blockade of the programmed death 1, or PD-1, gene expression.
ROR1 is a type I orphan-receptor that is expressed during embryogenesis and by certain hematological and solid tumors but is undetectable on normal adult tissues. ROR1 in malignancies is aberrantly expressed in B-cell malignancies such as B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or B-ALL, diffuse large cell B-cell lymphoma, or DLBCL, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL, and mantle cell lymphoma, or MCL. Furthermore, upregulated expression has been detected in various solid tumors, including ovarian cancer, breast adenocarcinomas encompassing triple negative breast cancer, or TNBC, pancreatic cancer, Ewing's sarcoma and lung adenocarcinoma. The increased expression of ROR1 in hematological and solid tumor malignancies has been associated with tumor proliferation, metastasis and poor clinical outcomes.
The PD-1/programmed death ligand 1, or PD-L1, pathway plays a vital role in how tumor cells evade immune response. While the blockade of the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway has demonstrated considerable benefit for treating various cancers, the use of systemic CPI can lead to side effects associated with autoimmune response. The innovative design of PRGN-3007, where the
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blockade of PD-1 expression is intrinsic and localized to UltraCAR-T cells, is aimed at avoiding systemic toxicity and the high cost of CPI by eliminating the need for combination treatment.
In preclinical in vitro studies, PRGN-3007 showed significant reduction in PD-1 expression on UltraCAR-T cells compared to control ROR1 CAR-T cells lacking PD-1 blockade. The downregulation of PD-1 expression on PRGN-3007 resulted in enhanced ROR1-specific cytotoxicity and release of inflammatory cytokines upon co-culture with various ROR1-positive, or ROR1+, PD-L1+ hematological and solid tumor cells compared to Control ROR1 CAR-T, especially at low effector to target cell ratios. Single-cell cytokine proteomics showed that the downregulation of PD-1 expression on PRGN-3007 resulted in a significantly higher number of polyfunctional CAR-T cells compared to Control ROR1 CAR-T. Expression of mbIL15 on PRGN-3007 UltraCAR-T, with or without downregulation of PD-1 expression, resulted in robust expansion in presence of ROR1 antigen, lack of autonomous expansion in absence of ROR1, and durable persistence even in absence of exogenous cytokines in vitro. PRGN-3007 was selectively and effectively eliminated by the kill switch activator treatment demonstrating functionality of the kill switch, which is intended to improve the safety profile of PRGN-3007. In preclinical in vivo testing, a single administration of PRGN-3007, only one day after gene transfer, effectively reduced tumor burden and significantly improved overall survival of tumor bearing mice compared to Control ROR1 CAR-T in an aggressive xenograft model of mantle cell lymphoma. Blood analyses demonstrated sustained downregulation of PD-1 expression, rapid expansion, long-term persistence, and a predominant central memory phenotype of PRGN-3007 in tumor bearing mice.
In October 2021, we announced that FDA has cleared the investigational new drug, or IND, application to initiate the Phase 1/1b clinical trial of PRGN-3007 in advanced ROR1+ hematological and solid tumors. The Phase 1/1b clinical trial is an open-label study designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of PRGN-3007 in patients with advanced ROR1+ hematological (Arm 1) and solid (Arm 2) tumors. The target patient population for Arm 1 includes relapsed or refractory CLL, relapsed or refractory MCL, relapsed or refractory B-ALL, and relapsed or refractory DLBCL. The target patient population for Arm 2 includes locally advanced unresectable or metastatic histologically confirmed TNBC. The study will enroll in two parts: an initial 3+3 dose escalation in each arm followed by a dose expansion at the maximum tolerated dose. Arm 1 and Arm 2 will enroll in parallel. The Phase 1 trial will be conducted in collaboration with Moffitt Cancer Center, a pioneer in CAR-T clinical development. We plan to initiate dosing in the Phase 1 trial of PRGN-3007 in 2022.
"Off-the-shelf" AdenoVerse Immunotherapy
Our AdenoVerse immunotherapy platform utilizes a library of proprietary adenovectors for the efficient gene delivery of therapeutic effectors, immunomodulators, and vaccine antigens. We have established proprietary manufacturing cell lines and production methodologies from our AdenoVerse immunotherapy platform, which we believe are easily scalable for commercial supply. We believe that our proprietary gorilla adenovectors, part of the AdenoVerse technology, have superior performance characteristics as compared to current competition, including standard human adenovirus serotype 5, or Ad5, rare human adenovirus types and other non-human primate adenovirus types.
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The key advantages of AdenoVerse immunotherapy platform include:
Large genetic payload capacity
Our gorilla adenovectors have a larger genetic payload capacity than other viral vectors that currently dominate the gene therapy field, allowing us to engineer multigenic therapeutic candidates to treat complex diseases. Currently, we are able to engineer up to a 12kb genetic payload using our gorilla adenovectors, providing us with a significant advantage to express multiple genes in a controlled manner.
Repeat administration
Unlike most competing approaches, our gorilla adenovectors are suitable for repeat administration, which can lead to boosted antibody and T cell responses. This suitability for repeat administration stems from the very low to non-existent seroprevalence of and limited immunity to gorilla adenoviruses in the human population. For example, our gorilla adenovector variant GC46 has been shown to have a seroprevalence of less than 6 percent in the United States, with low seropositive titers. In comparison, the seroprevalence of Ad5 in the United States is estimated to be 58 percent, with most of seropositive individuals having high titers. This high Ad5 seroprevalence limits the effectiveness of Ad5-based adenovectors in clinical studies. The rare and weak pre-existing immunity against gorilla adenovectors may therefore provide an advantage in clinical applications as compared to existing competition.
Replication incompetence
Our gorilla adenovectors are engineered and manufactured using a process that ensures the production of replication incompetent adenoviral therapeutic candidates with no cytopathic or cytotoxic effect in normal human cells. This has been achieved by engineering deletions of two regions essential for replication of the adenoviral genome. The use of a proprietary complementing cell line provides the necessary genetic elements for manufacture of AdenoVerse immunotherapy candidates. We believe our AdenoVerse immunotherapy candidates have reduced regulatory and commercialization risk due to their design, which renders them incapable of replicating and therefore less susceptible to manufacturing failures. Furthermore, our gorilla adenovector manufacturing process has yielded therapeutic candidates at a very high titer and has reduced the complexity of manufacturing.
Durable antigen-specific immune response
Gorilla adenovectors have been shown in preclinical studies to generate high-level and durable antigen-specific neutralizing antibodies and effector T cell immune responses, as well as an ability to boost these antibody and T cell responses via repeat administration.
cGMP Manufacturing Facility
One of our central differentiating factors and competitive gene therapy advantages is our investment in internal cGMP manufacturing capabilities in Germantown, Maryland, with the aim to reduce a myriad of risks that can impact manufacturing of viral vectors. These include technology transfer risks when outsourcing to contract manufacturing organizations as well as process and timing risks. Our modular cGMP facility with a small footprint was designed with agility and control in mind, focusing on rapid manufacturing and the ability to scale production appropriately to meet early-stage clinical trial needs of gene therapy vectors, especially our AdenoVerse-based therapeutics. We are able to generate greater than 1,000 doses of early phase clinical trial material at this facility at an expedited timeline and reduced cost compared to contract manufacturing organizations. As a result, we feel we are in a position to be in control of meeting our gene therapy manufacturing needs for our
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early-phase clinical trials.
PGEN Therapeutics' most advanced programs based on the AdenoVerse immunotherapy platform include: (i) PRGN-2009, a first-in-class, investigational "off-the-shelf" immunotherapy utilizing the AdenoVerse platform, is designed to activate the immune system to recognize and target human papillomavirus-positive, or HPV+, solid tumors, which is in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial for patients with HPV-associated cancers in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, or NCI, pursuant to a cooperative research and development arrangement, or CRADA; and (ii) PRGN-2012, a first-in-class, investigational "off-the-shelf" AdenoVerse immunotherapy designed to elicit immune responses directed against cells infected with HPV type 6, or HPV6, or HPV type 11, or HPV11, which is in a Phase 1 trial in patients with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, or RRP.
PRGN-2009
PRGN-2009, a first-in-class, "off-the-shelf" investigational immunotherapy, is designed to activate the immune system to recognize and target HPV+ solid tumors. PRGN-2009 leverages our UltraVector and AdenoVerse platforms to optimize HPV type 16, or HPV16, and HPV type 18, or HPV18, antigen design for delivery via a proprietary gorilla adenovector with a large genetic payload capacity and the ability for repeat administrations. Guided by our bioinformatics analysis and in silico protein engineering, PRGN-2009 encodes for a novel, multi-epitope antigen design to target HPV16 and HPV18 infected cells and potentially differentiates from the competition. PRGN-2009 has been engineered using our AdenoVerse platform to be replication deficient in vivo.
HPV infections account for 5 percent of all cancers globally, and 690,000 new cancer cases are attributable to HPV infections per year. HPV infects the squamous cell carcinoma. Some cervical cancers come from HPV infection of gland cells in the cervix and are referred to as adenocarcinomas. HPV-related cancers include cervical, oropharyngeal, anal, penile, vaginal, and vulvar. Nearly 44,000 HPV-associated cancers occur in the United States each year. Of these, approximately 25,000 occur in women and 19,000 occur in men. HPV is considered responsible for more than 90 percent of anal and cervical cancers, about 70 percent of vaginal and vulvar cancers, and more than 60 percent of penile cancers. Recent studies indicate that about 70 percent of cancers of the oropharynx also may be related to HPV.
In preclinical studies, PRGN-2009 treatment induced strong HPV-specific immune response and effectively controlled solid tumors in a murine model of HPV+ head and neck cancer. In a humanized mouse model of HPV+ cancer, PRGN-2009 treatment led to an increase in CD8 and CD4 T cells in the tumor microenvironment and a reduction in the tumor. In a syngeneic mouse model of HPV+ cancer, repeated injections of PRGN-2009 monotherapy resulted in generation of high levels of HPV-specific T cells, and reduction in tumor burden. The combination of PRGN-2009 with bintrafusp alfa, or M7824, an investigational bifunctional fusion protein, further reduced tumor growth, increased HPV-specific T cells, and increased T-cell infiltration into the tumor microenvironment in vivo.
PRGN-2009 is in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial for patients with HPV-associated cancers in collaboration with NCI pursuant to a CRADA. The Phase 1 portion of the study was designed to follow 3+3 dose escalation to evaluate the safety of PRGN-2009 administered as a monotherapy, Arm A, to determine the recommended Phase 2 dose, or R2PD, followed by an evaluation of the safety of the combination of PRGN-2009 at the R2PD and M7824, Arm B. The Phase 1 study population includes patients with recurrent or metastatic HPV-associated cancers. PRGN-2009 is administered via sub cutaneous injection once every 2 weeks for three administrations and may be continued every 4 weeks for up to one year, as clinically appropriate. M7824 is administered on Day 1 and then every 2 weeks. The Phase 2 portion of the study is designed to evaluate PRGN-2009 as a monotherapy or in combination with M7824 as a neoadjuvant or induction therapy in patients with newly-diagnosed stage II/III HPV16-positive oropharyngeal cancer and patients with newly diagnosed operable stage II/III/IVA/IVB HPV+ sinonasal squamous cell cancer.
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In November 2021, one of the lead investigators of the PRGN-2009 clinical trial presented clinical progress and preliminary data from the Phase 1 trial at our 2021 R&D Virtual Event. In November 2021, the Principal Investigator of the PRGN-2009 clinical trial presented additional interim data at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, or SITC, 2021 Annual Meeting.
Phase 1 data showed a favorable safety profile of repeated PRGN-2009 administrations in both the monotherapy and the combination arms. In addition, there was not a significant neutralizing antibody response to gorilla adenovector post PRGN-2009 treatment, and there was not a significant increase in neutralizing antibody response over time with subsequent additional vaccinations in both the monotherapy and the combination arms. We believe that the lack of significant neutralizing antibody response highlights the ability to deliver repeated administrations of PRGN-2009, a major differentiation of our AdenoVerse immunotherapy platform. Phase 1 data showed encouraging clinical activity and patient case studies showed an increase in the HPV16 and/or HPV18-specific immune response after PRGN-2009 administration and an increase in the magnitude and breadth of immune response with respect to repeated administrations of PRGN-2009.
Enrollment in the Phase 1 monotherapy dose escalation arm is complete and enrollment in the Phase 1 combination arm is ongoing in patients with recurrent or metastatic HPV-associated cancers. In addition, enrollment in the monotherapy arm of the Phase 2 trial, which evaluates PRGN-2009 as a neoadjuvant therapy for newly diagnosed oropharyngeal or sinonasal squamous cell cancer (OPSCC) patients is ongoing. We expect to report additional Phase 1 data in 2022. We plan to seek FDA guidance on a rapid regulatory strategy for PRGN-2009 given the positive interim results and significant unmet patient need. We plan to initiate a Phase 2 study in advanced HPV-associated cancer indications in combination with an approved anti-PD-1 CPI.
PRGN-2012
PRGN-2012, a first-in-class, investigational "off-the-shelf" AdenoVerse immunotherapy for the treatment of RRP. PRGN-2012 is an innovative therapeutic vaccine with optimized antigen design that uses our gorilla adenovector technology, part of our proprietary AdenoVerse platform, to elicit immune responses directed against cells infected with HPV6 and HPV11. Gorilla adenovectors have numerous advantages, including the ability for repeat administration, the inability to replicate in vivo, which may improve safety, and the ability to deliver large payload capacity.
RRP is a rare, difficult-to-treat, and sometime fatal neoplastic disease of the respiratory tract caused by infection with HPV6 or HPV11. RRP is classified based on age of onset as juvenile or adult. Approximately 1,500 new cases of RRP are diagnosed each year in the United States. Juvenile-onset disease has an incidence of 4 per 100,000 and adult-onset RRP has an incidence of 2 to 3 per 100,000. There is no cure for RRP, and the current standard-of-care is repeated endoscopic debulking with ablation or excision of papillomatous lesions. Recurrence of papilloma after surgical removal is very common, and repeated procedures are required to debulk and monitor the disease, which exposes patients to anesthetic and surgical risks and emotional distress. Some patients require a tracheotomy and need a trach tube indefinitely to keep the breathing passage open. RRP morbidity and mortality results from the effects of papilloma mass on the vocal cords, trachea, and lungs, which may cause voice changes, stridor, airway occlusion, loss of lung volume, and/or post-obstructive pneumonia. Although rare, one to three percent of RRP cases can transform into invasive squamous cell carcinoma. In addition, more than 90 percent of genital warts are related to HPV6 and HPV11 infection.
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In preclinical models, PRGN-2012 has demonstrated strong HPV6 and HPV11-specific T-cell response in RRP patient samples in vitro.
PRGN-2012 is in a Phase 1 clinical trial for adult patients with RRP. The Phase 1 study is designed to follow 3+3 dose escalation of PRGN-2012 as an adjuvant immunotherapy following standard-of-care surgical removal of visible papillomatosis disease. Patients receive up to four injections of PRGN-2012. The primary objective of the study is to determine safety and tolerability and the recommended Phase 2 dose of PRGN-2012. The study is designed to enroll 3 to 6 subjects at each dose level, and to treat 12 patients at the MTD in the expansion cohort. PRGN-2012 is being developed in collaboration with the Center for Cancer Research at the NCI through a CRADA.
In November 2021, the Principal Investigator of the PRGN-2012 clinical trial presented preliminary data from the ongoing clinical trial at our 2021 R&D Virtual Event.
Phase 1 data reported showed a favorable safety profile of repeated PRGN-2012 administrations in RRP patients. In addition, the preliminary Phase 1 data from three RRP patient case studies demonstrated encouraging clinical activity of PRGN-2012 with reduction or elimination in the need for surgical interventions at the most recent follow-up after PRGN-2012 treatment compared to the recent history of surgical interventions for these patients before enrolling in the trial.
PRGN-2012 has been granted Orphan Drug designation for the treatment of RRP by the FDA.
Preclinical Programs
We have a robust pipeline of preclinical programs in our core therapeutic areas of immune-oncology, infectious diseases, and autoimmune disorders that we are pursuing in order to drive long-term value creation. Our pipeline includes a number of product candidates based on UltraCAR-T and "off-the-shelf" AdenoVerse immunotherapy therapeutic platforms. We expect to continue development of various preclinical programs to identify product candidates for evaluation in clinical trials.
We are evaluating multiple UltraCAR-T candidates for treatment of hematological and solid tumors in preclinical testing. We have reported our vision for a new UltraCAR-T library approach aimed at transforming the personalized cell therapy landscape for cancer patients. Our goal is to develop and validate a library of non-viral plasmids to target tumor-associated antigens using the UltraCAR-T platform.
We are developing PRGN-2013, a preclinical stage asset based on our "off-the-shelf" AdenoVerse immunotherapy platform, to treat chronic hepatitis B virus, or HBV, infection. HBV can cause serious health problems, including liver damage, cirrhosis, liver cancer, and death. Preclinical studies of PRGN-2013 showed that mice treated with PRGN-2013 saw (i) a more significant cytotoxic T-cell response against more HBV epitopes and (ii) decreased plasma levels of HBsAg, the key marker of chronic HBV infection in mice.
We also have a number of other potential product candidates in our preclinical pipeline and, consistent with our commitment to actively manage our portfolio programs, we exercise discipline in our portfolio management by systematically evaluating data from our preclinical programs in order to make rapid "go" and "no go" decisions. Through this process, we believe we can more effectively allocate resources to programs that we believe show the most promise and advance such programs to clinical trials.
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Precigen ActoBio
ActoBio is pioneering a proprietary class of microbe-based biopharmaceuticals that enable expression and local delivery of disease-modifying therapeutics. We refer to these microbe-based biopharmaceuticals as ActoBiotics.
Precigen ActoBio's Therapeutic Platforms
ActoBiotics
Our ActoBiotics platform is a unique delivery platform precisely tailored for specific disease modification with the potential for superior efficacy and safety. ActoBiotics combine the advantages of highly selective protein-based therapeutic agents with local delivery by the well-characterized and food-grade bacterium Lactococcus lactis, or L. lactis. ActoBiotics can be delivered orally in a capsule, through an oral rinse or in a topical solution. We believe ActoBiotics have the potential to provide superior safety and efficacy via the sustained release of appropriate quantities of select therapeutic agents as compared to injectable biologics, while reducing the side effects commonly attributed to systemic delivery and corresponding peaks in concentration. ActoBiotics work via genetically modified bacteria that deliver proteins and peptides at mucosal sites, rather than the insertion of one or more genes into a human cell by means of a virus or other delivery mechanism. By foregoing this insertion, ActoBiotics allow "gene therapy" without the need for cell transformation.
The key advantages of ActoBiotics include:
Food-grade bacterium with easy genetic manipulation
ActoBiotics combine the advantages of highly selective protein-based therapeutic agents with local delivery by the well-characterized and food-grade bacterium with L. lactis, which has a long history of safe use. ActoBiotics are generated by genetically modifying L. lactis via chromosomal integration through targeted double homologous recombination to express and release a variety of highly versatile biological moieties. Multiple therapeutic agents, such as proteins, peptides, and antibodies, can be incorporated into a single ActoBiotics therapeutic, enabling the simultaneous targeting of multiple pathways in one disease. The L. lactis host is also engineered for environmental containment, thus preventing the spread of bacteria outside the human body.
Cost-effective and scalable manufacturing
We have established an efficient and reliable cGMP manufacturing process for the production of ActoBiotics that we believe is easily scalable for commercial supply. The manufacturing process involves fermentation of genetically modified L. lactis to generate significant quantities of the therapeutic agent, followed by concentration and freeze-drying. The process does not require the costly purification required to produce conventional biologics.
Convenient delivery method
ActoBiotics can be delivered to the oral cavity through a mouthwash, intestinally via a capsule, or through a topical formula. Physiological dosing is low, and our ActoBiotics product candidates have been well-tolerated in preclinical and clinical studies. As compared to conventional biologics, we believe ActoBiotics have the potential to provide superior safety and efficacy via the sustained release of appropriate quantities of select therapeutic agents while reducing the side-effects commonly attributed to systemic delivery and corresponding peaks in concentration of conventional biologics.
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ActoBio's most advanced internal pipeline candidate, AG019, is a first-in-class disease modifying antigen-specific, investigational immunotherapy for the prevention, delay, or reversal of type 1 diabetes mellitus, or T1D. AG019 is an easy-to-take capsule formulation of ActoBiotics engineered to deliver the autoantigen human proinsulin, or hPINS, and the tolerance-enhancing cytokine human interleukin-10 to the mucosal lining of gastro-intestinal tissues in patients with T1D. We believe this design can reduce T1D pathology by reestablishing immunological tolerance to islet antigens via the production of regulatory T, or Treg, cells.
T1D represents a highly unmet medical need, with approximately 132,000 patients, most commonly children and young adults, diagnosed each year. In T1D, the immune system destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas, creating a blood glucose imbalance and numerous symptoms, including polyuria, polydipsia, polyphagia, weight loss, lassitude, nausea and blurred vision. The current treatment standard for T1D consists of exogenous insulin along with diet and lifestyle modification, but no disease-modifying treatment is available. We believe that AG019 has the potential to address the unmet medical need for disease modifying treatment in T1D.
Preclinical studies in mice have shown that AG019, in association with a short-term treatment with a low-dose anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody, induced stable reversion to normal blood sugar levels and reversed the disease in diabetic mice treated at an early stage. Furthermore, AG019 treatment induced accumulation and proliferation of PINS-specific FoxP3+ Treg cells in the pancreas and peripheral lymph nodes.
We have completed a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial of AG019 for the treatment of early-onset T1D. The Phase 1b open-label portion of the study evaluated the safety and tolerability of AG019 monotherapy administered as a single dose and repeated daily doses in adult and adolescent patients. The Phase 2a double-blind portion of the study investigated the safety and tolerability of AG019 in combination with teplizumab, or PRV-031.
In June 2021, one of the lead investigators of the AG019 clinical trial presented results from the primary analysis at the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS) 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting. In October 2021, one of the lead investigators of the AG019 clinical trial presented additional interim data at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) 57th Annual Meeting.
The primary endpoint of both the Phase 1b AG019 monotherapy and the Phase 2a AG019 combination therapy has been met. AG019 was well-tolerated when administered to adults and adolescents either as monotherapy or in combination with teplizumab. A single 8-week treatment cycle of oral AG019 as a monotherapy and in combination with teplizumab showed stabilization or increase of C-peptide levels during the first 6 months post treatment initiation in recent-onset T1D. In an independent analysis performed in a subset of adult and adolescent patients by the Immune Tolerance Network (ITN), a leading independent research group sponsored by the United States National Institutes of Health, AG019 monotherapy and combination therapy induced antigen-specific tolerance in conjunction with the reduction of disease-specific T cell responses. The extent of these antigen-specific immune modulatory effects in the combination therapy patients was similar to what was seen in AG019 monotherapy patients indicating that this effect may be attributed to the single 8-week treatment cycle of oral AG019.
We have completed the Phase 1b/2a clinical trial of AG019 and analysis of final results is ongoing. Based on the positive results from the trial we plan to initiate discussions with regulatory agencies for the design of a Phase 2/3 clinical trial of AG019 in T1D.
Precigen Triple-Gene
Triple-Gene is a clinical stage gene therapy company focused on developing advanced treatments for complex cardiovascular diseases. Triple-Gene's approach is to develop a holistic treatment for heart failure through improvements in angiogenesis, calcium homeostasis-associated cellular energetics, reductions in inflammatory signals, and the activation/recruitment of stem cells to support heart remodeling.
Triple-Gene's most advanced candidate, INXN-4001, a non-viral triple effector plasmid based on our UltraVector platform designed for constitutive expression of human S100A1, SDF-1a, and VEGF-165, is engineered to address multiple pathways of heart failure. Utilizing a single plasmid comprising all three genes, instead of each individual gene on separately delivered plasmids, INXN-4001 can control for delivery and ensure expression of the three genes in all transfected cells.
Heart failure represents a significant unmet medical need and a major economic burden worldwide. There are approximately 25 million heart failure patients worldwide, of whom 6 million are in the United States. Heart failure is the number one cause of hospitalization in patients aged 65 years and older, and 50 percent of heart failure patients die within five years after diagnosis. Heart failure is a complex and multifaceted disease most often resulting from the intersection of multiple genetic
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predispositions with negative environmental factors. Existing treatments improve quality of life in the short-term and offer some improvement in long-term survival at high cost and with associated complications. We believe that developing a holistic and clinically relevant treatment for heart failure will require improvements in numerous areas, including angiogenesis, calcium homeostasis-associated cellular energetics, reductions in inflammatory signals, and the activation or recruitment of stem cells to support heart remodeling.
Preclinical studies of INXN-4001 showed significant improvement in beat rate, contractile duration and contraction rate of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes in a dilated cardiomyopathy model to the levels demonstrated by control cells and did not result in increased cell death compared to controls. Coronary sinus delivery of INXN-4001 in a large animal ischemic heart failure model showed decreased left ventricular end systolic volume and increased absolute mean ejection fraction, which are indicators of myocardial function, as well as no increase in arrhythmias compared to controls.
A completed Phase 1 clinical trial of INXN-4001 was a first-in-human, open label study designed to evaluate the safety of retrograde coronary sinus infusion, or RCSI, of INXN-4001 in outpatient left ventricular assist device, or LVAD, recipients. Twelve stable patients with implanted LVAD for mechanical support of end stage heart failure were allocated into two cohorts of six subjects for infusion of the same amount of INXN-4001 (80mg) in either 40mL or 80mL via RCSI at a rate of 20mL per minute. The primary objectives of the Phase 1 study were to evaluate the safety of INXN-4001 infusion into the myocardium of LVAD patients and to demonstrate safety and feasibility of RCSI. Secondary endpoints included improvements in the six minute walk test, or 6MWT, duration and distance and quality of life, as assessed by Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire, or KCCQ, responses.
The Phase 1 trial met the primary endpoints to evaluate safety and feasibility for INXN-4001. The infusions of INXN-4001 were overall well tolerated, with no adverse events attributed to INXN-4001, whereas one serious adverse event was considered related to the infusion procedure. Furthermore, a preliminary assessment of the secondary endpoints showed improvement in the 6MWT and KCCQ score in a subset of patients.
Partnered Program
We have partnered with Castle Creek Biosciences, Inc., or Castle Creek, to advance product candidates D-Fi (debcoemagene autoficel), formerly designated FCX-007, for the treatment of recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, or RDEB, and FCX-013 for the treatment of localized scleroderma. In October 2020, Castle Creek announced the dosing of the first patient in the ongoing Phase 3 trial of D-Fi and the dosing of the first patient in the ongoing Phase 1/2 trial of FCX-013. The FDA has granted Orphan Drug designation to D-Fi for the treatment of Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa, which includes RDEB. In addition, D-Fi has been granted Rare Pediatric Disease designation, Fast Track designation, and Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy designation by the FDA for treatment of RDEB. The FDA has granted Orphan Drug designation to FCX-013 for the treatment of localized scleroderma. In addition, FCX-013 has been granted Rare Pediatric Disease designation and Fast Track designation for the treatment of moderate to severe localized scleroderma. Pursuant to the collaboration, we licensed our technology platforms to Castle Creek for use in certain specified fields, and in exchange, we received and were entitled to certain access fees, milestone payments, royalties, and sublicensing fees related to the development and commercialization of product candidates. In March 2020, we and Castle Creek terminated the original collaboration agreement by mutual agreement, with the parties agreeing that FCX-007 and FCX-013 would be treated as "Retained Products" under the terms of the original agreement. Castle Creek retains a license to continue to develop and commercialize the Retained Products within the field of use for so long as Castle Creek continues to pursue such development and commercialization, and we are also entitled to certain royalties with respect to the Retained Products. We were also required to perform certain drug product manufacturing activities related to the Retained Products.
Precigen Exemplar
Exemplar is committed to enabling the study of life-threatening human diseases through the development of MiniSwine Yucatan miniature pig research models and services, as well as enabling the production of cells and organs in its genetically engineered swine for regenerative medicine applications. Historically, researchers have lacked animal models that faithfully represent human diseases. As a result, a sizeable barrier has blocked progress in the discovery of human disease mechanisms; novel diagnostics, procedures, devices, prevention strategies and therapeutics; and the ability to predict in humans the efficacy of those next-generation procedures, devices, and therapeutics. Exemplar's MiniSwine models are genetically engineered to exhibit a wide variety of human disease states, which provides a more accurate platform to test the efficacy of new medications and devices.
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Competition: Healthcare Business
While we believe that our novel approach to developing the next generation of gene and cell therapies to target the most urgent and intractable challenges in immuno-oncology, autoimmune disorders, and infectious diseases provides us with competitive advantages, our industry is highly competitive and subject to rapid and significant technological change. Many of our competitors have significantly greater financial, technical, and human resource capabilities than we do, and certain of our competitors may also benefit from local government subsidies and other incentives that are not available to us. In addition, mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries may result in even more resources being concentrated among a smaller number of our competitors. As a result of the resources available to our competitors, our competitors may be able to develop competing and/or superior technologies and processes, and compete more aggressively and sustain that competition over a longer period of time than we can.
Product candidates that we successfully develop and commercialize will compete with a range of therapies that are currently approved and any new therapies that may become available in the future. Our ability to compete successfully will depend on our ability to develop proprietary technologies that can be used to produce products that reach the market in a timely manner and are technologically superior to and/or are less expensive than other products on the market. The availability of reimbursement from government and other third-party payers will also significantly affect the pricing and competitiveness of our products. Our competitors may also obtain FDA or other regulatory approval for their products more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours, which could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market. Key product features that would affect our ability to effectively compete with other therapeutics include the efficacy, safety and convenience of our products, as well as the availability of intellectual property protection.
Immuno-oncology
Our lead product candidates include PRGN-3005, PRGN-3006, and PRGN-3007, each of which are built on our UltraCAR-T platform, and PRGN-2009, which is based on our AdenoVerse immunotherapy platform. While we are employing a novel approach, there are a number of competitors pursuing CAR-T cell therapies for the treatment of cancer. We believe that, among others, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Tmunity Therapeutics, and Anixa Biosciences are developing CAR-T based treatments for ovarian cancer and TCR2 Therapeutics is developing TCR-T based treatment for ovarian cancer. We believe that Celyad, Mustang Bio, Kite, Amgen, Cellectis S.A., and Allogene Therapeutics are also using CAR-T technology to develop product candidates for the treatment of AML. We believe that Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lyell Immunopharma, and Oncternal Therapeutics are developing ROR1 CAR-T cells for treatment of ROR1-positive cancers. We believe that INOVIO Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Transgene SA, PDS Biotech, and Advaxis Immunotherapies are developing immunotherapies against HPV-associated cancers.
Bristol-Myers Squibb's product candidate, JCAR020, is a MUC16-IL-12 armored T-cell therapy being developed to treat ovarian cancer. Similar to our UltraCAR-T platform, this product candidate targets MUC16 on ovarian tumors. JCAR020 is engineered with "armored CAR" technology to co-express CAR and IL-12, a cytokine that can help overcome the inhibitory effects that the tumor micro-environment can have on T cell activity. Tmunity Therapeutics is developing Tm Tn-MUC 01 CAR-T for various solid tumors including ovarian cancer. This candidate targets TnMUC-1 antigen on tumor cells. Tmunity Therapeutics is also developing TmFRα01 CAR-T targeting folate receptor alpha for ovarian cancer. TCR2 Therapeutics' gavocabtagene autoleucel (gavo-cel, formerly TC-210) targets mesothelin and is based on TCR Fusion Construct T cells, or TRuC-T cells, technology and is manufactured using lentiviral transduction of autologous T cells. Anixa Biosciences is developing an autologous CAR-T treatment targeting follicle stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) for ovarian cancer. Regeneron and 2seventy bio are developing bbT4015, an engineered CAR T cell therapy targeting MUC16, which we believe is in preclinical development.
For the treatment of AML using cell therapies, we believe that Celyad, Mustang Bio, Kite, and Fate Therapeutics have product candidates in the most advanced clinical trials. Celyad's product candidate, CYAD-02, is an investigational NKG2D-based CAR-T with co-expression of a single shRNA targeting NKG2DL, MICA and MICB, that uses the OptimAb manufacturing process, which generates a higher frequency of less differentiated CAR-T cells. CYAD-02 is in clinical trials for r/r AML or MDS patients. Mustang Bio's product candidate, MB-102, is an investigational autologous CAR-T cell therapy that is produced by engineering patient T cells to recognize and eliminate CD123-expressing tumors. Fate is developing FT538, an investigational, universal, off-the-shelf NK cell cancer immunotherapy derived from a clonal maters iPSC line, which we believe is in a Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of AML. Kite is developing KITE-222, an investigational autologous T cell therapy engineered with a CAR that specifically targets CLL-1 for treatment of AML. Amgen is developing AMG 553, an FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3, or FLT3, CAR-T cell therapy utilizing autologous T cells genetically modified ex vivo to express a transmembrane CAR to target FLT3 protein on the surface of AML cells irrespective of FLT3 mutational status. Cellectis S.A. is also developing UCART123, an allogeneic anti-CD123 CAR-T cell therapy, which utilizes lentivector transduction followed
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by TALEN-mediated gene editing to eliminate expression of TCRαβ from donor T cells. Vor Biopharma is developing VOR33, an investigational hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) therapy with elimination of CD33 expression via gene-editing, in combination with MylotargTM, an anti-CD33 antibody drug conjugate (ADC). Vor Biopharma is also developing VCAR33, an autologous anti-CD33 CAR-T as a monotherapy and in combination with VOR33, both of which we believe are in preclinical development. Finally, Allogene Therapeutics' allogeneic CAR-T therapies ALLO-316 and ALLO-819, targeting FLT3 and CD70, respectively, which we believe are in preclinical development for AML, are manufactured using healthy donor T-cells that are engineered using lentiviral transduction to express CAR followed by gene editing to eliminate expression of TCR to reduce the potential of rejection of therapy by a patient's immune system.
Bristol-Myers Squibb is developing JCAR024, a ROR1 CAR-T cell product, which we believe is in a Phase 1 clinical trial for ROR1-positive solid and hematological malignancies. Lyell Immunopharma is developing LYL797, a ROR1-targeted CAR T-cell product, which we believe recently received FDA clearance to initiate Phase 1 clinical trial for patients with relapsed/refractory TNBC or non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC. Oncternal Therapeutics is developing ONCT-808, a ROR1 targeted autologous CAR-T cell therapy, which we believe is currently in preclinical development, initially as a potential treatment for hematologic malignancies.
In addition to our direct competitors that are using CAR-T therapies specifically for the treatment of ovarian cancer and AML, the CAR-T technology space has significant other competition including from multiple companies and their collaborators, such as Novartis and University of Pennsylvania, Kite and Gilead, Adaptimmune and GSK, Autolus Therapeutics, Poseida Therapeutics, and Bellicum Pharmaceuticals. We also face competition from non-cell based cancer treatments offered by other companies such as Amgen, AstraZeneca, Incyte, Merck, Abbvie, and Roche.
See "PGEN Therapeutics' Therapeutic Platforms" for a discussion of the features that we believe differentiate our UltraCAR-T treatments from our competitors.
For the treatment of HPV-associated cancers, we believe that INOVIO Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, BioNTech SE, PDS Biotechnology, and Transgene S.A. are developing immunotherapies that are in clinical testing. TG4001 is an investigational therapeutic cancer vaccine candidate using an attenuated and modified poxvirus, or MVA, as a vector expressing the HPV16 E6 and E7 proteins and interleukin-2. We believe TG4001 is in a clinical trial in combination with anti-PD-L1 antibody avelumab for recurrent HPV+ cancers. INOVIO's lead investigational candidate VGX-3100 is a plasmid DNA based vaccine designed to increase T cell immune responses against the E6 and E7 antigens of HPV16 and HPV18. VGX-3100 is in clinical trials for precancerous cervical dysplasia. We believe AstraZeneca's MEDI0457, an investigational DNA vacine designed by INOVIO, is in clinical trials for various HPV-associated cancers. MEDI0457 is a multi-component DNA vaccine that uses different DNA plasmids to express modified sequences for E6 and E7 antigens of HPV16 and HPV18 and immune activator interleukin-12, or IL-12. We believe BioNTech is developing BNT113, an investigational HPV16 E6/7 mRNA vaccine for a form of HPV+ Head and Neck cancer. We believe PDS Biotechnology is developing PDS-0101, an investigational HPV16 peptide vaccine for various HPV-associated cancers. Cellid is developing BVAC-C, which is based on CeliVax technology that uses patient-derived B cells and monocytes transfected with E6/E7 recombination gene of HPV16 and HPV18 and loaded with an adjuvant for HPV-associated cancers.
In addition to our direct competitors developing vaccines for treatment of HPV-associated cancers, various development-stage companies are involved in different vaccine and immunotherapy technologies, including Advaxis Immunotherapies, Bavarian Nordic, and Altimmune. We also face competition from non-vaccine based approaches being developed by companies such as Kite, Iovance, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Merck.
Infectious Diseases
Our lead product candidate is PRGN-2012, which is based on our AdenoVerse immunotherapy platform, for the treatment of RRP. While we believe our approach for PRGN-2012 is novel based on the design of antigen targeting HPV6 and HPV11 and use of our gorilla adenovector, we face competition in the treatment of RRP. We believe our main competitor in the field is INOVIO Pharmaceuticals with their investigational DNA vaccine INO-3107 targeting HPV6 and HPV11 antigens.
Autoimmune Disorders
We are also using our suite of proprietary and complementary synthetic biology technologies for the preclinical and clinical development of product candidates for the treatment of autoimmune disorders, including T1D. While we believe AG019 is the first disease-modifying treatment for T1D, there are a number of competitors pursuing immunotherapy product candidates to treat T1D. We believe that our primary competitors with respect to the development of immunotherapies for T1D are Provention Bio, Midatech Pharma, and MerciaPharma.
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Intellectual Property
We apply a multilayered approach for protecting intellectual property relating to the inventions we have developed internally, as well as those we have acquired from third parties, such as by assignment or by in-license. As we advance technologies, we evaluate and determine under the circumstances what type or types of intellectual property is appropriate for the technology, including patents, trademarks, know-how and trade secret protections. We seek patent protection in the United States and in other countries for our inventions, and we develop and protect our know-how and trade secrets relating to our platform technologies, as well as to our pipeline products including those of our subsidiaries and collaborators.
For instance, we pursue protection to switch technologies, gene delivery technologies, and genetic componentry related to our pipeline products. In addition, we seek patents covering specific collaborator's products.
We focus our intellectual property on aspects of our platforms and technologies that provide for the design and creation of cells, vectors and components for our pipeline and the pipelines of our collaborators, as well as technologies directed to improve delivery and expression of our pipeline products.
Our success depends, in part, upon our ability to obtain patents and maintain adequate protection for our intellectual property relating to our technologies and product pipeline. We have adopted a strategy of seeking patent protection in the United States and in other jurisdictions globally as we deem appropriate under the circumstances, with respect to certain of the technologies used in or relating to our technologies and product pipeline. For instance, where we believe appropriate, we have counterpart patents and patent applications in other jurisdictions, such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Europe, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Africa and Taiwan. In the future, we may file in these or additional jurisdictions as deemed appropriate for the protection of our technologies.
As of December 31, 2021, we owned or in-licensed at least 55 issued United States patents and 40 pending United States patent applications relating to various aspects of our platforms and technologies, and we have pursued counterpart patents and patent applications in other jurisdictions around the world, as we have deemed appropriate. We continue to actively develop our portfolio through the filing of new patent applications, provisional and continuations or divisionals relating to our advancing technologies, methods and products as we and our collaborators deem appropriate.
We work to maintain protection for our key technologies including: our various switch technologies, with a last to expire patent currently in 2038; our portfolio around various gene delivery technologies and their use, with a last to expire patent in 2040; and our portfolio around various genetic componentry such as specialized vectors containing these genetic componentry and their use, with a last to expire patent in 2042. Although we have no certainty that these patents will not be subject to challenge in the future, as of this filing, there are currently no material contested proceedings and/or third-party claims with respect to any of these patent portfolios.
Additionally, we complement our intellectual property portfolio with exclusive and non-exclusive patent licenses and options for licenses to third-party technologies.
We further solidify our intellectual property protection through a combination of trade secrets, know-how, confidentiality, nondisclosure and other contractual provisions, and security measures to protect our confidential and proprietary information related to each platform and collaborator program. We regularly assess and review the risks and benefits of protecting our developments through various aspects of intellectual property available to us.
Because we rely on trade secrets, know-how, and continuing technological advances to protect various aspects of our technology, we require our employees, consultants and scientific collaborators to execute confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with us to maintain the confidentiality of our trade secrets and proprietary information. Our confidentiality agreements generally provide that the employee, consultant or scientific collaborator will not disclose our confidential information to third parties. These agreements also provide that inventions conceived by the employee, consultant or scientific collaborator in the course of working for us will be our exclusive property. Additionally, our employees agree to take certain steps to facilitate our assertion of ownership over such intellectual property. These measures may not adequately protect our trade secrets or other proprietary information. If they do not adequately protect our rights, third parties could use our technologies, and we could lose any competitive advantage we may have. In addition, others may independently develop similar proprietary information or techniques or otherwise gain access to our trade secrets, which could impair any competitive advantage we may have.
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Regulatory Environment
With our diverse portfolio of proprietary technologies and novel therapeutic candidates, we are subject to significant and diverse regulations governing, among other things, research, operations and product approval. Regulatory compliance is critical to our ability to operate, our management of potential liabilities, and ultimately, our freedom to sell our products. Moreover, the products we are pursuing or are produced by us are subject to extensive regulation. We also rely on our collaborators' compliance with laws and regulations applicable to the products they produce. We do not independently monitor whether our collaborators comply with applicable laws and regulations. Please see the risk factor entitled "We rely on third parties, including through collaborations, to develop and commercialize some of our product candidates. Markets in which our collaborators are developing product candidates using our technologies are subject to extensive regulation, and we rely on our collaborators to comply with all applicable laws and regulations."
Environmental regulations affecting us and our collaborators
We and our collaborators are subject to various federal, state and local environmental laws, rules and regulations, including those relating to the discharge of materials into the air, water and ground; the generation, storage, handling, use, transportation and disposal of hazardous materials; and the health and safety of employees with respect to laboratory activities required for the development of products and technologies. These laws and regulations require us and our collaborators to obtain environmental permits and comply with numerous environmental restrictions. These laws and regulations also may require expensive pollution control equipment or operational changes to limit actual or potential impacts to the environment.
Our laboratory activities and those of our collaborators inherently involve the use of potentially hazardous materials, which are subject to health, safety and environmental regulations. We design our infrastructure, procedures, and equipment to meet our obligations under these regulations. We perform recurring internal and third-party audits and provide employees ongoing training and support, as required. All of our employees must comply with safety instructions and procedures, which are codified in our employment policies. Federal and state laws and regulations impose requirements on the production, importation, use, and disposal of chemicals and genetically-modified microorganisms which impact us and our collaborators. Our and our collaborators' processes may contain genetically engineered organisms which, when used in industrial processes, are considered new chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act program of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA. These laws and regulations would require us and our collaborators to obtain and comply with the EPA's Microbial Commercial Activity Notice process to operate. In the European Union, we and our collaborators may be subject to a chemical regulatory program known as REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical Substances). Under REACH, companies are required to register their products with the European Commission, and the registration process could result in significant costs or delay the manufacture or sale of products in the European Union.
Regulations affecting us and our collaborators
Human therapeutics regulation
Governmental authorities in the United States, at the federal, state and local level, and in other countries extensively regulate, among other things, the research, development, testing, manufacture, including any manufacturing changes, approval, packaging, storage, recordkeeping, labeling, advertising, promotion, distribution, sale, marketing, import and export of therapeutic products such as those being developed by us and our collaborators. The processes for obtaining regulatory approvals in the United States and in foreign countries, along with subsequent compliance with applicable statutes, regulations, and requirements imposed by regulatory agencies, require the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources.
In the United States, pharmaceuticals and biological products must receive approval from the FDA before being marketed. The FDA approves drug products other than biological products through its authority under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA, and implementing regulations. The FDA licenses biological products, or biologics, through its authority under the Public Health Service Act, or PHSA, and implementing regulations. The development processes for obtaining FDA approval for a non-biological drug product under the FDCA and for biologic licensure under the PHSA are generally similar but have product-related differences reflected in regulations and in FDA guidance documents.
United States pharmaceutical development process
The process required by the FDA before a pharmaceutical product candidate may be marketed generally involves the following:
•completion of preclinical laboratory tests and in vivo studies in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements, which may include the FDA's current Good Laboratory Practice regulations and the Animal Welfare Act;
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•submission to the FDA of an IND for human clinical testing, which must become effective before human clinical trials commence;
•performance of adequate and well-controlled human clinical trials according to the FDA's Good Clinical Practices, or GCP, regulations, and any additional requirements for the protection of human research subjects and their health information, to establish the safety and efficacy of the proposed product candidate for each intended use;
•preparation and submission to the FDA of an application for marketing approval that includes substantial evidence of safety, purity and potency for a biologic, or of safety and efficacy for a non-biologic drug, including from results of nonclinical testing and clinical trials;
•satisfactory completion of an FDA inspection of the manufacturing facility or facilities where the product candidate is produced to assess compliance with cGMP and that the methods and controls are adequate to assure the product candidate's identity, safety, strength, quality, potency and purity;
•potential FDA inspection of the nonclinical and clinical trial sites that generated the data in support of the application; and
•FDA review and approval of the application.
Preclinical testing
Before testing any product candidate in humans in the United States, a company must develop preclinical data, generally including laboratory evaluation of the product candidate's chemistry and formulation, as well as toxicological and pharmacological studies in animal species to assess safety and quality. Certain types of animal studies must be conducted in compliance with the FDA's Good Laboratory Practice regulations and the Animal Welfare Act, which is enforced by the Department of Agriculture.
IND application
A person or entity sponsoring clinical trials in the United States to evaluate a product candidate's safety and effectiveness must submit to the FDA, prior to commencing such trials, an IND application, which contains preclinical testing results and other data and information that allow the FDA to evaluate whether there is an adequate basis for testing the drug in humans. If the FDA does not object to the IND application within 30 days of submission, the clinical testing proposed in the IND may begin. Even after the IND has gone into effect and clinical testing has begun, the FDA may put clinical trials on "clinical hold," suspending or, in some cases, ending them because of safety concerns or for other reasons.
Human clinical trials under an IND
Clinical trials involve administering the product candidate to healthy volunteers or patients under the supervision of qualified investigators. Clinical trials must be conducted and monitored in accordance with the FDA's regulations, such as GCP requirements. Each clinical trial must also be conducted under a protocol that details, among other things, the study objectives, parameters for monitoring safety, and the efficacy criteria, if any, to be evaluated. The protocol is submitted to the FDA as part of the IND and reviewed by the agency. Further, each clinical trial must be reviewed and approved by an Institutional Review Board, or IRB, at or servicing each institution at which the clinical trial will be conducted. An IRB is charged with protecting the welfare and rights of trial participants and considers, among other things, whether the risks to individuals participating in the clinical trials are minimized and are reasonable in relation to anticipated benefits. The sponsor of a clinical trial, the investigators, and IRBs each must comply with requirements and restrictions that govern, among other things, obtaining informed consent from each study subject, complying with the protocol and investigational plan, adequately monitoring the clinical trial, and timely reporting adverse events. Clinical trials involving recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecules, such as DNA, conducted at institutions that receive any funding from the National Institutes of Health also must be reviewed by an institutional biosafety committee, an institutional committee that reviews and oversees basic and clinical research that utilizes recombinant DNA at that institution.
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The sponsor of a clinical trial or the sponsor's designated responsible party may be required to register certain information about the trial and disclose certain results on government or independent registry websites, such as clinicaltrials.gov.
Human clinical trials typically are conducted in three sequential phases that may overlap or be combined:
•Phase 1. The product candidate is introduced into a small number of healthy human subjects and tested for safety, dosage tolerance, absorption, metabolism, distribution, excretion and, if possible, to gain early understanding of its effectiveness. For some product candidates for severe or life-threatening diseases, especially when the product candidate may be too inherently toxic to ethically administer to healthy volunteers, the initial human testing is often conducted in patients with the targeted disease.
•Phase 2. The product candidate is administered and evaluated in a limited patient population to identify possible adverse effects and safety risks, to evaluate preliminary efficacy evidence for specific targeted diseases and to determine dosage tolerance, optimal dosage and dosing schedule.
•Phase 3. The product candidate is administered to an expanded patient population with the target disease or disorder, often at geographically dispersed clinical trial sites, in adequate and well-controlled clinical trials to generate sufficient data to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the non-biologic drug, or the safety, purity, and potency of the biologic. These clinical trials are intended to establish the overall risk/benefit profile of the product candidate and provide an adequate basis for product labeling.
Post-approval clinical trials, sometimes referred to as Phase 4 clinical trials, may be conducted, or may be required to be conducted, after initial approval to further assess the risk/benefit profile of the product and to gain additional experience from treatment of patients in the intended indication, including for long-term safety follow-up.
Additional regulation for gene therapy clinical trials
Additional standards apply to clinical trials involving gene therapy. The FDA has issued guidance documents regarding gene therapies, which relate to, among other things: preclinical assessments; chemistry, manufacturing and controls, or CMC, information that should be included in an IND application; the proper design of tests to measure product potency in support of an application; and long-term follow-up measures to observe delayed adverse effects in subjects exposed to investigational gene therapies when the risk of such effects is not low or when the gene therapy utilizes genome-editing technology, shows signs of persistence, has the potential for latency and reactivation, or genetically alters the human genome.
United States review and approval processes
The results of the preclinical tests and clinical trials, together with detailed information relating to the product's CMC and proposed labeling, among other things, are submitted to the FDA as part of an application requesting approval to market the product for one or more uses, or indications. When an application is submitted, the FDA makes an initial determination as to whether the application is sufficiently complete to be accepted for review. If the application is not, the FDA may refuse to accept the application for filing and request additional information. A refusal to file, which requires resubmission of the application with the requested additional information, delays review of the application. For gene therapies, selecting patients with applicable genetic defects is often a necessary condition to effective treatment and may require diagnostic devices that the FDA has cleared or approved prior to or contemporaneously with approval of the gene therapy.
Under the Pediatric Research Equity Act, or PREA, certain marketing applications generally must contain data to assess the safety and effectiveness of the product candidate for the claimed indications in all relevant pediatric subpopulations and to support dosing and administration for each pediatric subpopulation for which the product candidate is safe and effective. The FDA may grant deferrals for submission of data or full or partial waivers. Unless otherwise required by regulation, PREA does not apply to any product candidate for an indication for which orphan designation has been granted.
On the basis of the marketing application and accompanying information, including the results of the inspection of the manufacturing facilities, the FDA may issue an approval letter or a complete response letter. An approval letter authorizes commercial marketing of the drug with specific prescribing information for specific indications. A complete response letter generally outlines the deficiencies in the submission and may require substantial additional testing or information for the FDA to reconsider the application. If those deficiencies have been addressed to the FDA's satisfaction in a resubmission of the application, the FDA may issue an approval letter.
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If a product candidate receives regulatory approval, the approval may be significantly limited to specific diseases and dosages or the indications for use may otherwise be limited. Further, the FDA may require that certain contraindications, warnings or precautions be included in the product labeling. The FDA may impose restrictions and conditions on product distribution, prescribing or dispensing in the form of a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, or REMS, or otherwise limit the scope of any approval. In addition, the FDA may require postmarketing clinical trials designed to further assess the risk/benefit profile of the product and to gain additional experience from treatment of patients in the intended indication, including for long-term safety follow-up.
Compliance with cGMP requirements
Drug and biologics manufacturers must comply with applicable cGMP regulations. Manufacturers and others involved in the manufacture and distribution of such products also must register their establishments with the FDA and certain state agencies. Both domestic and foreign manufacturing establishments must register and provide additional information to the FDA upon their initial participation in the manufacturing of drugs. Establishments may be subject to periodic, unannounced inspections by the FDA and other government authorities to ensure compliance with cGMP requirements and other laws. Discovery of problems may result in a government entity placing restrictions on a product, manufacturer or holder of an approved product application and may extend to requiring withdrawal of the product from the market.
Orphan Drug Designation in the United States
Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may grant orphan drug designation to drugs and biological products intended to treat a "rare disease or condition," which generally is a disease or condition that affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States. Orphan drug designation must be requested before submitting a marketing application or supplement seeking approval for the orphan indication. After the FDA grants orphan drug designation, the common identity of the therapeutic agent and its potential orphan use are publicly disclosed by the FDA.
Orphan drug designation does not—by itself—convey any advantage in, or shorten the duration of, the regulatory review and approval process. If a product that has an orphan drug designation subsequently receives the first FDA approval for that drug or biologic for the indication for which it has been designated, the product is entitled to an orphan exclusivity period in which the FDA may not approve any other applications to market the same drug or biologic for the same indication for seven years.
Exceptions to the seven-year exclusivity period may apply in limited circumstances, such as where the sponsor of a different version of the product is able to demonstrate that its product is clinically superior to the approved orphan drug product. This exclusivity does not prevent a competitor from obtaining approval to market a different product that treats the same disease or condition, or the same product to treat a different disease or condition. The FDA can revoke a product's orphan drug exclusivity under certain circumstances, including when the holder of the approved orphan drug application is unable to assure the availability of sufficient quantities of the drug to meet patient needs. Orphan exclusivity operates independently from other regulatory exclusivities and other protections against generic or biosimilar competition.
A sponsor of a product application that has received an orphan drug designation is also granted tax incentives for clinical research undertaken to support the application. In addition, the FDA may coordinate with the sponsor on research study design for an orphan drug and may exercise its discretion to grant marketing approval on the basis of more limited product safety and efficacy data than would ordinarily be required, based on the limited size of the applicable patient population. Orphan drug designation does not, however, change the legal standard required for a product candidate to obtain FDA approval.
Fast Track Designation
The FDA has a number of expedited review programs for drugs that are intended for the treatment of a serious or life-threatening condition. As one example, under the agency's Fast Track program, the sponsor of a new drug candidate may request the FDA to designate the product for a specific indication as a Fast Track product concurrent with or after the filing of the IND for the product candidate, if nonclinical and clinical data demonstrate the product's potential to address unmet medical needs and the product is intended to treat a serious condition. The FDA must determine if the product candidate qualifies for Fast Track designation within 60 days after receipt of the sponsor's request.
In addition to other benefits, such as the ability to have more frequent interactions with the FDA, the agency may initiate review of sections of a Fast Track product's marketing application before the application is complete. This rolling review is available if the applicant provides and the FDA approves a schedule for the submission of the remaining information and the applicant pays applicable user fees. However, the FDA's review period for a Fast Track application does not begin until the last section of the
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marketing application is submitted. In addition, the Fast Track designation may be withdrawn by the FDA if the agency believes that the designation is no longer supported by data emerging in the clinical trial process.
Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy Designation
The FDA may grant regenerative medicine advanced therapy, or RMAT, designation to regenerative medicine therapies, which may include cell therapies, human gene therapies, therapeutic tissue engineering products, and human cell and tissue products, if certain criteria are met. In particular, a drug may be eligible for RMAT designation if the drug is a regenerative medicine therapy as defined in Section 506(g)(8) of the FDCA; the drug is intended to treat, modify, reverse, or cure a serious or life-threatening disease or condition; and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the drug has the potential to address unmet medical needs for such disease and condition. The FDA must determine if the product candidate qualifies for RMAT designation within 60 days after receipt of the sponsor's request.
A grant of RMAT designation includes all of the benefits of Fast Track designation, intensive guidance on efficient drug development beginning as early as Phase 1, and organizational commitment involving senior managers. The RMAT designation may be withdrawn by the FDA if the agency believes that the designation is no longer supported by data emerging in the clinical trial process.
Post-approval requirements
Rigorous and extensive FDA regulation of drugs and biologics continues after approval, including requirements relating to recordkeeping, periodic reporting, product sampling and distribution, adverse experiences with the product, cGMP, and advertising and promotion. Changes to the product, manufacturing process, or facility often require prior FDA approval before being implemented and other types of changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications and additional labeling claims, are also subject to further FDA review and approval. Additionally, the FDA may require postmarketing studies or clinical trials, changes to a product's approved labeling, including the addition of new warnings and contraindications, or the implementation of other risk management measures, including distribution restrictions, if new safety information emerges. Failure to comply with the applicable requirements may result in administrative, judicial, civil or criminal actions and adverse publicity. These actions may include FDA's refusal to approve or delay in approving pending applications or supplemental applications, withdrawal of approval, clinical hold, suspension or termination of clinical trial, warning or untitled letters, product recalls, product seizures, total or partial suspension of production or distribution, injunctions, fines or other monetary penalties, refusals of government contracts, mandated corrective advertising or communications with healthcare providers, debarment, restitution, disgorgement of profits or other civil or criminal penalties.
Regulatory Exclusivity and Biosimilar Competition in the United States
In 2010, the federal Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act, or BPCIA, was enacted, creating a statutory pathway for licensure, or approval, of biological products that are biosimilar to, and possibly interchangeable with, reference biological products licensed under the Public Health Service Act.
Under the BPCIA, innovator manufacturers of original biological products are granted 12 years of marketing exclusivity after first licensure before biosimilar versions of such products can be licensed for marketing in the United States. This means that the FDA may not approve an application for a biosimilar product that references data in an innovator's Biologics License Application, or BLA, until 12 years after the date of approval of the reference biological product, with a potential six-month extension of exclusivity if certain pediatric studies are conducted and the results are reported to the FDA. A biosimilar application may be submitted four years after the date of licensure of the reference biological product, but the FDA cannot approve the application until the full exclusivity period has expired. This 12-year exclusivity period operates independently from other protections that may apply to biosimilar competitors, including patents that are held for those products. Additionally, the BPCIA establishes procedures by which the biosimilar applicant must provide information about its application and product to the reference product sponsor and by which information about potentially relevant patents may be shared and litigation over patents may proceed in advance of approval. The BPCIA also provides a period of exclusivity for the first biosimilar to be determined by the FDA to be interchangeable with the reference product.
Under the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act, which was subsequently made applicable to biological products by the BPCIA, the FDA may also issue a Written Request asking a sponsor to conduct pediatric studies related to a particular active moiety; if the sponsor agrees and meets certain requirements, the sponsor may be eligible to receive an additional six months of marketing exclusivity for its drug product containing such active moiety.
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Other regulatory exclusivity may be granted to drugs, including, but not limited to, three-year and five-year exclusivity granted to non-biologic drugs under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, also referred to as the Hatch-Waxman Amendments.
Depending upon the timing, duration, and specifics of FDA approval of a product candidate, some of a sponsor's United States patents may be eligible for limited patent term extension under the Hatch-Waxman Amendments. The Hatch-Waxman Amendments permit a patent restoration term of up to five years as compensation for patent term lost during product development and the FDA regulatory review process. However, patent term restoration cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the product's approval date. The United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, in consultation with the FDA, reviews and approves the application for any patent term extension or restoration. Only one patent applicable to an approved drug product is eligible for the extension and the application for the extension must be submitted prior to the expiration of the patent.
Foreign regulation of human therapeutics
In addition to regulations in the United States, our subsidiaries, such as PGEN Therapeutics and ActoBio, and our collaborators that are focused on the development of human therapeutic products will be subject to a variety of foreign regulations governing clinical trials and commercial sales and distribution of the products enabled by our technologies. Whether or not the developer obtains FDA approval for a product, they must obtain approval by the comparable regulatory authorities of foreign countries or economic areas, such as the European Union, before they may commence clinical trials or market products in those countries or areas. The approval process and requirements governing the conduct of clinical trials, product licensing, pricing and reimbursement vary greatly from place to place, and the time may be longer or shorter than that required for FDA approval.
Anti-Kickback, False Claims, and Other Marketing and Fraud and Abuse Laws
Healthcare providers, physicians and others will play a primary role in the recommendation and prescription of any products for which we obtain marketing approval. Our future arrangements with healthcare providers, patients and third-party payers will expose us to broadly applicable United States fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations that may constrain the business or financial arrangements and collaborative partners through which we market, sell and distribute any products for which we obtain marketing approval. Restrictions under applicable federal and state healthcare laws and regulations are discussed in the "Risk Factors" section below.
Privacy Laws
In the United States, we may be subject to data privacy and security laws and regulations by both the federal government and the states in which we conduct our business. The legislative and regulatory landscape for privacy and data protection continues to evolve, and there has been an increasing focus on privacy and data protection issues which may affect our business. Numerous federal and state laws and regulations, including state data breach notification laws, state health information and/or genetic privacy laws and federal and state consumer protection laws (e.g., Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, Act and the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA), govern the collection, use, disclosure, and protection of health-related and other personal information. Many of these laws differ from each other in significant ways and may not have the same effect, thus complicating compliance efforts. Compliance with these laws is difficult, constantly evolving, and time consuming. Federal regulators, state attorneys general, and plaintiffs' attorneys, including class action attorneys, have been and will likely continue to be active in this space.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, imposes requirements relating to the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information. We may obtain health information from third parties, such as research institutions, that are subject to privacy and security requirements under HIPAA. Although we are not directly subject to HIPAA other than with respect to providing certain employee benefits, we could potentially be subject to criminal penalties if we, our affiliates, or our agents knowingly obtain, use, or disclose individually identifiable health information maintained by a HIPAA-covered entity in a manner that is not authorized or permitted by HIPAA.
In addition, the CCPA became effective on January 1, 2020 and establishes certain requirements for data use and sharing transparency, and provides California residents certain rights concerning the use, disclosure, and retention of their personal data. The CCPA and its implementing regulations have already been amended multiple times since their enactment. Similarly, there are a number of legislative proposals in the United States, at both the federal and state level that could impose new obligations or limitations in areas affecting our business. These laws and regulations are evolving and subject to interpretation, and may impose limitations on our activities or otherwise adversely affect our business. The CCPA and evolving legislation may require us, among other things, to update our notices and develop new processes internally and with our partners.
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Healthcare Reform
In the United States and some foreign jurisdictions, there have been, and continue to be, a number of legislative and regulatory changes and proposed changes regarding the healthcare system that could, among other things, prevent or delay marketing approval of our product candidates, restrict or regulate post-approval activities, and affect our ability, or the ability of any collaborators, to profitably sell any products for which we, or they, obtain marketing approval. We expect that current laws, as well as other healthcare reform measures that may be adopted in the future, may result in more rigorous coverage criteria and in additional downward pressure on the price that we, or any collaborators, may receive for any approved products.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, or collectively, the Affordable Care Act, has substantially changed the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and commercial payers and significantly impacts the pharmaceutical industry. Certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act have been subject to judicial challenges, as well as efforts to repeal, replace, or otherwise modify them or to alter their interpretation or implementation. For example, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or Tax Act, enacted on December 22, 2017 eliminated the tax-based payment for individuals who fail to maintain minimum essential coverage under section 5000A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, commonly referred to as the "individual mandate," effective January 1, 2019. Additional legislative changes, regulatory changes, and judicial challenges related to the Affordable Care Act remain possible. It is unclear how the Affordable Care Act and its implementation, as well as efforts to repeal, replace, or otherwise modify, or invalidate, the Affordable Care Act, or portions thereof, will affect our business.
In addition, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the Affordable Care Act was enacted. For example, the Budget Control Act of 2011, as amended, among other things led to aggregate reductions in Medicare payments for all items and services, including prescription drugs and biologics, to service providers of, on average, 2 percent per fiscal year beginning April 1, 2013, and, due to subsequent legislation, continuing until 2030 (with the exception of a temporary suspension from May 1, 2020, through March 31, 2021) unless Congress takes additional action.
It is possible that the Affordable Care Act, as currently enacted or may be amended in the future, as well as other healthcare reform measures that may be adopted in the future, and their implementation may result in additional reductions in Medicare and other healthcare funding, more rigorous coverage criteria, and new payment methodologies and in additional downward pressure on coverage and payment and the price that we receive for any approved product. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from commercial payers. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability, or commercialize our products.
Transition to Our Core Healthcare Business Model
Historically, we developed technology platforms for application across a variety of diverse end markets, including health, food, energy, and the environment. In January 2020, we announced that we were increasing our focus on our healthcare opportunities, which reflected our most advanced platforms, and in connection therewith, we divested a number of our non-healthcare assets and changed our name to Precigen, Inc. These transactions included the sale of a number of our non-healthcare assets, or the TS Biotechnology Sale, to TS Biotechnology Holdings, LLC, or TS Biotechnology, an entity formed by Third Security, LLC, or Third Security. Randal J. Kirk, who is our Executive Chairman, serves as the Senior Managing Director and Chairman of Third Security and owns 100 percent of the equity interests of Third Security. In addition, in January 2020, in a separate transaction, we sold our interest in EnviroFlight, LLC, or EnviroFlight, to Darling Ingredients, Inc., or Darling.
As a result of market uncertainty driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and the state of the energy sector raising significant challenges for the strategic alternatives pursued by MBP Titan, LLC, or MBP Titan, our methane bioconversion business, beginning in the second quarter of 2020 and throughout the remainder of 2020, we suspended MBP Titan's operations, preserved certain of MBP Titan's intellectual property, terminated all of its personnel, and undertook steps to dispose of its other assets and obligations. The wind down of MBP Titan's activities was substantially complete by December 31, 2020, with the final disposition of certain property and equipment and the facility operating lease occurring in January 2021. This discontinuation of operations represented the continuation of a strategic shift that we commenced in early 2020 to becoming a primarily healthcare company advancing technologies and products that address complex healthcare challenges. After the wind down of MBP Titan, certain assets and contractual obligations which were originally related to MBP Titan continue to be managed at the Precigen corporate level. These remaining assets and contractual obligations include our equity interests in and collaboration agreements with Intrexon Energy Partners, LLC, or Intrexon Energy Partners, and Intrexon Energy Partners II, LLC, or Intrexon Energy Partners II, including the associated deferred revenue remaining under each collaboration agreement, as well as the associated intellectual property.
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See also "Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements - Note 3" appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report for additional discussion of our discontinued operations.
See "Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements - Note 4" appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report for a discussion of Intrexon Energy Partners and Intrexon Energy Partners II.
Our Non-Healthcare Business
At December 31, 2021, our only non-healthcare business is our established bovine genetics company, Trans Ova Genetics, L.C., or Trans Ova.
Trans Ova
Trans Ova is internationally recognized as a provider of industry-leading bovine reproductive technologies. Trans Ova offers bovine embryo transfer technologies, in addition to other advanced reproductive technologies, including in vitro fertilization, or IVF, sexed-semen, genetic preservation, and cloning. Through extensive research programs and applied science, Trans Ova has developed and implemented new technologies that, we believe, have helped to move the science of bovine genetic improvement forward. We are evaluating strategic alternatives to determine the optimal means to utilize these technology assets and Trans Ova's broad customer base and deep industry knowledge to maximize the value of the business for our shareholders, including a potential sale of the business, the development of collaborations with third parties, and other strategic opportunities.
As of December 31, 2021, Trans Ova had 213 production employees. Trans Ova's primary domestic production facilities, including approximately 360 acres of land, are located in Sioux Center, Iowa. The land and facilities are primarily used for our embryo transfer and IVF processes, as well as housing livestock used in such processes. As of December 31, 2021, Trans Ova also leased or owned regional production facilities and land in California, Maryland, Missouri, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin for these purposes.
Competition: Non-Healthcare Assets
Animal Genetics Market
We believe Trans Ova's focus on continuous research and use of applied science allows Trans Ova to develop and implement new technologies that will help move the science of bovine genetic improvement forward rapidly and differentiate it from its competitors. However, there are a number of companies that compete with Trans Ova, including traditional breeding companies and other companies that use advanced reproductive technologies. These competitors may be larger and have better funding than Trans Ova. In addition, Trans Ova's competitors may be companies that have a predominant focus on developing the newest technologies in animal breeding whereas Trans Ova is one part of our overall strategy. Finally, Trans Ova's competitors that operate using more traditional breeding techniques may enjoy greater market acceptance over Trans Ova, and other companies, that utilize genetic manipulation, semen sorting and cloning techniques.
COVID-19 Impact
COVID-19 has had and continues to have an extensive impact on the global health and economic environments. The health and safety of our employees is of the utmost importance. We have implemented safety measures in our facilities for the well-being of our employees and visitors. These measures have permitted us to continue to advance our programs, with the ultimate goal of benefiting patients.
Commencing in the second half of March 2020, our healthcare business began to experience delays to certain of our clinical trials as a result of COVID-19. For example, starting in March 2020, we temporarily suspended the last cohort of the Phase 1b/2a clinical trial for AG019 as a proactive measure to protect the welfare and safety of patients, caregivers, clinical site staff, our employees, and contractors. The temporary suspension of the AG019 trial was voluntary and was not related to any patient safety issues in the study. The voluntary suspension of the AG019 trial was lifted in June 2020, and recruitment in the study resumed. Additionally, from April to May 2020, enrollment of new patients in our PRGN-3005 Phase 1 trial was temporarily suspended due to a mandated hold on certain early and late-stage clinical trials at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle that was instituted in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recruitment resumed in the PRGN-3005 trial in May 2020. Although these suspensions did not result in significant overall delay, there is uncertainty regarding the duration and severity of the ongoing pandemic, and we could experience further delays of other pandemic-related events that may adversely impact our clinical as well as preclinical pipeline candidates in the future. Notwithstanding the foregoing, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, we may experience additional delays to our clinical trials, including related to enrollment, site closures,
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reduced availability of key personnel, or our ability to receive the necessary approvals from the FDA or other regulatory agencies to advance our programs.
We are also closely monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on other aspects of our business. While Trans Ova and Exemplar have not experienced any significant impacts as a result of COVID-19 at this time, we are unable to reliably quantify or estimate what the future impacts may be. In addition, we have taken certain steps with respect to our operations of MBP Titan as a result of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors. See "Transition to Our Core Healthcare Business Model" above.
Given the dynamic nature of these circumstances, the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our ongoing business, results of operations, and overall financial performance cannot be reasonably estimated at this time. For more information regarding the risks associated with COVID-19 and its impact on our business, see "Risk Factors - Risks Related to Our Business."
Reportable Segments
As of December 31, 2021, our reportable segments were (i) Biopharmaceuticals, (ii) Exemplar, and (iii) Trans Ova. These identified reportable segments met the quantitative thresholds to be reported separately for the year ended December 31, 2021. See "Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements - Note 18" appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report for a discussion of our reportable segments and Segment Adjusted EBITDA.
Research and Development
As of December 31, 2021, we had 137 employees supporting our research and development functions of our healthcare operations, including operational and facility activities. We incurred expenses of $50.1 million, $41.6 million and $66.7 million in 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively, on research and development activities for continuing operations. We anticipate that our research and development expenditures could increase as we advance our healthcare programs and platforms. As of December 31, 2021, our primary domestic research and development operations were located in laboratory facilities in Germantown, Maryland, and our primary international research and development operations were located in a laboratory facility in Ghent, Belgium.
Financial Information
Collaboration revenues, product revenues, service revenues and other revenues and operating loss for each of the last three fiscal years, along with assets as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, are set forth in the consolidated financial statements, which are included in Item 8 of this Annual Report. Financial information about geographic areas is set forth in "Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements - Note 18" appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report.
Human Capital Management
As of December 31, 2021, we had 191 employees in support of our healthcare operations, of which 137 support our research and development functions including operational and facility activities. Of these research and development employees, 59 have advanced degrees, of which 35 are PhDs. Our corporate employees provide support to all of our operating subsidiaries and are responsible for the execution of all corporate functions, including executive, operational, finance, information technology, legal, and corporate communications. In addition to our healthcare operations, Trans Ova employs 265 full-time employees and 55 part-time employees. None of our employees are represented by a collective bargaining agreement.
We structure our compensation packages to compete for the best scientific talent. Our compensation packages include a competitive base salary and bonus, the issuance of equity incentives, and health and wellness benefits, including a health insurance plan with a Platinum actuarial value.
We are proud of the fact that our domestic healthcare operations and corporate functions include 40 percent of employees in ethnic and racial minority groups and also the fact that 45 percent of the same population of employees are women.
Our 2021 employee development initiatives included employee training targeting specific areas of interest, executive and manager coaching, and performance management which encompass performance goals and competency evaluations. We maintained our safety protocols in response to the COVID-19 pandemic including increased cleaning protocols, employee preventative measures, and contract tracing. In August and September 2021, we instituted a mandatory vaccination policy for all employees of our healthcare operations based in the United States.
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Additional Information
Our website is www.precigen.com. The information on, or that can be accessed through, our website does not constitute part of, and is not deemed to be incorporated by reference into, this Annual Report. We post regulatory filings on this website as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. These filings include annual reports on Form 10-K; quarterly reports on Form 10-Q; current reports on Form 8-K; Section 16 reports on Forms 3, 4, and 5; and any amendments to those reports filed with or furnished to the SEC. We also post our press releases on our website. Access to these filings or any of our press releases on our website is available free of charge. Copies are also available, without charge, from Precigen Investor Relations, 20374 Seneca Meadows Parkway, Germantown, Maryland 20876. Reports filed with the SEC may be viewed at www.sec.gov.
In addition, our Corporate Governance Guidelines, Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, and charters for the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Governance Committee are available free of charge to shareholders and the public through the "Corporate Governance" section of our website. Printed copies of the foregoing are available to any shareholder upon written request to our Communications Department at the address set forth on the cover of this Annual Report or may be requested through our website, www.precigen.com.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this Annual Report, including our consolidated financial statements and the related notes appearing at the end of this Annual Report, before making your decision to invest in shares of our common stock. We cannot assure you that any of the events discussed in the risk factors below will not occur. These risks could have a material and adverse impact on our business, results of operations, financial condition, or prospects. If that were to happen, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
This Annual Report also contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including the risks faced by us described below and elsewhere in this Annual Report. See "Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" for information relating to these forward-looking statements.
Risks Related to our Financial Position and Capital Needs
We have a history of net losses, and we may not achieve or maintain profitability.
We have incurred net losses since our inception, including net losses attributable to Precigen of $92.2 million, $170.5 million, and $322.3 million in 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively. As of December 31, 2021, we had an accumulated deficit of $1.9 billion. We may incur losses and negative cash flow from operating activities for the foreseeable future. Historically, we have derived a significant portion of our revenues from collaborations and license agreements, but revenues of these types for existing collaborations will continue to decrease as we complete our transition to a discovery and clinical stage biopharmaceutical company. We no longer expect to receive reimbursement of costs incurred by us for new research and development services other than through existing collaborations or future strategic transactions, nor will we recognize deferred revenues associated with previously terminated collaborations. In addition, certain of our collaborations and license agreements provide for milestone payments, future royalties, and other forms of contingent consideration, the payment of which are uncertain as they are dependent on our collaborators' abilities and willingness to successfully develop and commercialize product candidates.
We anticipate that our expenses will increase substantially as we continue to advance the preclinical and clinical development of our existing product candidates and our research programs, and there is a significant risk that our product candidates will fail to demonstrate adequate efficacy or an acceptable safety profile, obtain regulatory approval, or become commercially viable. We expect a significant period of time could pass before commercialization of our various product candidates or before the achievement of contractual milestones and the realization of royalties on product candidates commercialized under our collaborations and revenues sufficient to achieve profitability. As a result, our expenses may exceed revenues for the foreseeable future, and we may not achieve profitability. If we fail to achieve profitability, or if the time required to achieve profitability is longer than we anticipate, we may not be able to continue our business. Even if we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis.
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We will need substantial additional capital in the future in order to fund our business.
Our operations have consumed substantial amounts of cash since our inception. We expect to continue to spend substantial amounts to continue the preclinical and clinical development of our current and future programs. We are and will continue to be dependent on public or private financings, new collaborations or licensing arrangements with strategic partners, or additional debt financing sources to fund continuing operations. We expect our future capital requirements will be substantial and will depend on many factors, including:
•progress in our research and development programs, as well as the magnitude of these programs;
•the timing of potential regulatory approval of products of our collaborations and operations;
•the timing, receipt, and amount of any payments received in connection with strategic transactions;
•the timing, receipt, and amount of sales and royalties, if any, from our product candidates;
•the timing and capital requirements to scale up our various product candidates and service offerings and customer acceptance thereof;
•our ability to maintain and establish additional collaborative arrangements and/or new strategic initiatives;
•the resources, time, and cost required for the preparation, filing, prosecution, maintenance, and enforcement of our intellectual property portfolio;
•strategic mergers and acquisitions, if any, including both the upfront acquisition cost as well as the cost to integrate, maintain, and expand the strategic target; and
•the costs associated with legal activities, including litigation, arising in the course of our business activities and our ability to prevail in any such legal disputes.
If future financings involve the issuance of equity securities, our existing shareholders would suffer further dilution. If we raise additional debt financing, we may be subject to restrictive covenants that limit our ability to conduct our business. We may not be able to raise sufficient additional funds on terms that are favorable to us, if at all. If we fail to raise sufficient funds and continue to incur losses, our ability to fund our operations, take advantage of strategic opportunities, develop product candidates or technologies, or otherwise respond to competitive pressures could be significantly limited. If this happens, we may be forced to delay or terminate research or development programs or the commercialization of product candidates resulting from our technologies, curtail or cease operations or obtain funds through strategic transactions or other collaborative and licensing arrangements that may require us to relinquish commercial rights, or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us. If adequate funds are not available, we will not be able to successfully execute our business plan or continue our business.
Servicing our debt may require a significant amount of cash, and we may not have sufficient cash flows from our business, or otherwise have available cash, to pay our substantial debt when due.
Our ability to make scheduled payments of the principal of, to pay interest on, or to refinance our indebtedness, including the 3.50 percent convertible senior notes due 2023, or Convertible Notes, depends on our future performance, which is subject to economic, financial, competitive and other factors beyond our control. Our business may not generate cash flows from operations in the future sufficient to service our debt and make necessary capital expenditures. If we are unable to generate such cash flows, we may be required to adopt one or more alternatives, such as selling assets, restructuring debt or obtaining additional equity capital on terms that may be onerous or highly dilutive. Our ability to refinance our indebtedness will depend on the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. We may not be able to engage in any of these activities or engage in these activities on desirable terms, which could result in a default on our debt obligations.
The Convertible Notes are our exclusive obligations and are not guaranteed by any of our operating subsidiaries. We believe that a substantial portion of our intrinsic value is represented by assets that are held by our subsidiaries. Accordingly, our ability to service our debt, including the Convertible Notes, depends on the results of operations of our subsidiaries and upon the ability of such subsidiaries to provide us with cash, whether in the form of dividends, loans, or otherwise, to pay amounts due on our obligations, including the Convertible Notes. Our subsidiaries are separate and distinct legal entities and have no obligation, contingent or otherwise, to make payments on the Convertible Notes or to make any funds available for that purpose. In addition, dividends, loans or other distributions to us from such subsidiaries may be subject to contractual and other restrictions and are subject to other business considerations.
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Despite our current debt levels, we may still incur substantially more debt or take other actions that would intensify the risks discussed above.
Despite our current consolidated debt levels, we and our subsidiaries may incur substantial additional debt in the future, subject to the restrictions contained in our debt instruments, some of which may be secured debt. We are not restricted under the terms of the indenture governing the Convertible Notes from incurring additional debt, securing existing or future debt, recapitalizing our debt or taking a number of other actions that are not limited by the terms of the indenture governing the Convertible Notes that could have the effect of diminishing our ability to make payments on the Convertible Notes when due.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant volatility, uncertainty, and economic disruption that could have an adverse effect on the Company's access to capital on favorable terms.
Our operations have consumed substantial amounts of cash since our inception. We expect to continue to spend substantial amounts to continue the preclinical and clinical development of our current and future programs. We are and will continue to be dependent on public or private financings, new collaborations or licensing arrangements with strategic partners, or additional debt financing sources to fund continuing operations. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the economy, our future access to capital on favorable terms may be materially impacted. We may not be able to raise sufficient additional funds on terms that are favorable to us, if at all. Given the rapid evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty surrounding it, its impact to our financial condition, including but not limited to, possible impairment, restructuring, and other changes, cannot be reliably quantified or estimated.
Risks Related to the Discovery and Development of our Product Candidates
Our business is dependent on our ability to advance our current and future product candidates through clinical trials, obtain marketing approval, and ultimately commercialize them.
We are early in our development efforts. We initiated our first clinical trial for our lead programs, PRGN-3005 in April 2019, PRGN-3006 in May 2019, PRGN-2009 in August 2020, AG019 in October 2018, and INXN-4001 in May 2018, and currently have a pipeline of preclinical programs. Our ability to generate product revenues, which we do not expect will occur for several years, if ever, will depend heavily on the successful development and eventual commercialization of some or all of these product candidates, and any future product candidates we develop, which may never occur. Our current and future product candidates will require additional preclinical or clinical development, management of clinical, preclinical and manufacturing activities, marketing approval in the United States and other jurisdictions, coverage from pricing and reimbursement authorities, sufficient cGMP manufacturing supply for both preclinical and clinical development and commercial production, building of a commercial organization and substantial investment, and significant marketing efforts before we generate any revenues from product sales.
The clinical and commercial success of our current and future product candidates will depend on several factors, including the following:
•sufficiency of our financial and other resources to complete the necessary preclinical studies and clinical trials;
•timely and successful completion of preclinical studies and clinical trials;
•acceptance of INDs for future product candidates;
•successful enrollment in and completion of clinical trials;
•data from our clinical program that supports an acceptable risk-benefit profile of our product candidates in the intended patient populations;
•our ability to consistently manufacture our product candidates on a timely basis or to establish agreements with third-party manufacturers that can do so;
•whether we are required by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities to conduct additional clinical trials or other studies beyond those planned or anticipated to support approval of our product candidates;
•acceptance of our proposed indications and the primary endpoint assessments evaluated in the clinical trials of our product candidates by the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities;
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•receipt and maintenance of timely marketing approvals from applicable regulatory authorities;
•the successful launch of commercial sales of our product candidates, if approved;
•the prevalence, duration and severity of potential side effects or other safety issues experienced with our product candidates, if approved;
•entry into collaborations to further the development of our product candidates;
•our ability to obtain and maintain patent and other intellectual property protection or regulatory exclusivity for our product candidates;
•acceptance of the benefits and uses of our product candidates, if approved, by patients, the medical community, and third-party payers;
•maintenance of a continued acceptable safety, tolerability and efficacy profile of the product candidates following approval;
•our compliance with any post-approval requirements imposed on our products, such as postmarketing studies, a REMS, or additional requirements that might limit the promotion, advertising, distribution or sales of our products or make the products cost prohibitive;
•our ability to compete effectively with other therapies; and
•our ability to obtain and maintain healthcare coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party payers.
These factors, many of which are beyond our control, could cause us to experience significant delays or an inability to obtain regulatory approvals or commercialize our current or future product candidates, and could otherwise materially harm our business. Successful completion of preclinical studies and clinical trials does not mean that any of our current or future product candidates will receive regulatory approval. Even if regulatory approvals are obtained, we could experience significant delays or an inability to successfully commercialize our current and any future product candidates, which would materially harm our business. If we are not able to generate sufficient revenue through the sale of any current or future product candidate, we may not be able to continue our business operations or achieve profitability.
The regulatory approval processes of the FDA and comparable foreign authorities are lengthy, time-consuming, and inherently unpredictable, and if we are ultimately unable to obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates, our business will be materially harmed.
The time required to obtain approval by the FDA and comparable foreign authorities is unpredictable but typically takes many years following the commencement of clinical trials and depends upon numerous factors, including the substantial discretion of the regulatory authorities. There can be no assurance that we will not experience problems or delays in developing new product candidates and that such problems or delays will not cause unanticipated costs, or that any such development problems can be solved. We also may experience unanticipated problems or delays in expanding our manufacturing capacity, which may delay or prevent the completion of clinical trials and the commercializing of product candidates on a timely or profitable basis, if at all. For example, we, a collaborator, or another group may uncover a previously unknown risk with any of our product candidates, which may prolong the period of observation required for obtaining regulatory approval, may necessitate additional clinical testing, or may otherwise result in a change in the requirements for approval of any of our product candidates.
In addition, the clinical trial requirements of the FDA, European Medicines Agency, or EMA, and other regulatory authorities and the criteria these regulators use when evaluating product candidates vary substantially according to the type, complexity, novelty, and intended use and market of such product candidates. The regulatory approval process for novel product candidates such as ours can be more expensive and take longer than for other, better known, or more extensively studied product candidates. Even if we are successful in developing product candidates, it is difficult to determine how long it will take or how much it will cost to obtain regulatory approvals in either the United States or jurisdictions outside the United States or how long it will take to commercialize these product candidates.
Regulatory requirements governing gene and cell therapy products have changed frequently and may continue to change in the future. For example, the FDA has established the Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies and the Division of Cellular and Gene Therapies within the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, or CBER, to consolidate the review of gene therapy
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and related products and has established the Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee to advise CBER in its marketing application review process.
We may be unable to obtain FDA approval of our product candidates under applicable regulatory requirements. The denial or delay of any such approval would prevent or delay commercialization of our product candidates and adversely impact our potential to generate revenue, our business, and our results of operations.
To gain approval to market our product candidates in the United States, we must provide the FDA with clinical data that adequately demonstrate the safety, purity, and potency, including efficacy, of the product candidate for the proposed indication or indications in a BLA submission. Product development is a long, expensive, and uncertain process, and delay or failure can occur at any stage of any of our clinical development programs.
The field of gene therapy is still early in development. The FDA first approved a gene therapy for use in humans in 2017, and to date has only approved a limited number. Clinical trials with gene therapies have encountered a multitude of significant technical problems in the past, including unintended integration with host DNA leading to serious adverse events, poor levels of protein expression, transient protein expression, viral overload, immune reactions to either viral capsids utilized to deliver DNA, DNA itself, proteins expressed or cells transfected with DNA. There can be no assurance that our development efforts will be timely or successful, that we or our collaborators will receive the regulatory approvals necessary to initiate clinical trials, where applicable, or that we will ever be able to successfully commercialize a product candidate enabled by our technologies. To the extent that we utilize viral constructs or other systems to deliver gene therapies and the same or similar delivery systems demonstrate unanticipated and/or unacceptable side effects in preclinical or clinical trials conducted by ourselves or others, we may be forced to, or elect to, discontinue development of such product candidates.
Additionally, we are pursuing the development and commercialization of adoptive cell therapies based on CAR T-cell therapies targeting a variety of cancer malignancies. Because this is a newer approach to cancer immunotherapy and cancer treatment generally, developing and commercializing such product candidates subjects us to a number of challenges, including:
•developing and deploying consistent and reliable processes for engineering a patient's T-cells ex vivo and infusing the engineered T-cells back into the patient;
•possibly conditioning patients with chemotherapy in conjunction with delivering each of the potential product candidates, which may increase the risk of adverse side effects of the potential products;
•educating medical personnel regarding the potential side effect profile of each of the potential products, such as the potential adverse side effects related to cytokine release;
•developing processes for the safe administration of these potential products, including long-term follow-up for all patients who receive the potential products;
•sourcing additional clinical and, if approved, commercial supplies for the materials used to manufacture and process the potential products;
•developing a manufacturing process and distribution network with a cost of goods that allows for an attractive return on investment;
•establishing sales and marketing capabilities after obtaining any regulatory approval required to gain market access and acceptance;
•developing therapies for types of cancers beyond those addressed by the current potential products;
•not infringing the intellectual property rights, in particular, the patent rights, of third parties, including competitors developing alternative CAR T-cell therapies; and
•avoiding any applicable regulatory barriers to market, such as data and marketing exclusivities held by third parties, including competitors with approved CAR T-cell therapies.
We cannot be sure that T-cell immunotherapy technologies that we may develop will yield satisfactory products that are safe and effective, scalable, or profitable.
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Clinical development involves a lengthy and expensive process with uncertain outcomes. We may incur additional costs and experience delays in developing and commercializing or be unable to develop or commercialize our current and future product candidates.
Clinical development involves a lengthy and expensive process with uncertain outcomes. Results from preclinical studies or previous clinical trials are not necessarily predictive of future clinical trial results, and interim results of a clinical trial are not necessarily indicative of final results. Our product candidates may fail to show the desired results in clinical development despite demonstrating positive results in preclinical studies or having successfully advanced through initial clinical trials.
There is a high failure rate for drugs and biologics proceeding through clinical trials and failure may occur at any stage due to a multitude of factors both within and outside our control. Many companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries have suffered significant setbacks in late-stage clinical trials even after achieving promising results in preclinical testing and earlier-stage clinical trials. Data obtained from preclinical and clinical activities are subject to varying interpretations, which may delay, limit, or prevent regulatory approval. In addition, we may experience regulatory delays or rejections as a result of many factors, including changes in regulatory policy during the period of product candidate development. Any such delays could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. If clinical trials result in negative or inconclusive results, we may decide, or regulators may require us, to discontinue trials of the product candidates or conduct additional clinical trials or preclinical studies.
As an organization, we have limited experience designing and implementing clinical trials and we have never conducted pivotal clinical trials. Failure to adequately design a trial, or incorrect assumptions about the design of the trial, could adversely affect our ability to initiate the trial, enroll patients, complete the trial, or obtain regulatory approval on the basis of the trial results, as well as lead to increased or unexpected costs and delayed timelines.
The design and implementation of clinical trials is a complex process. We have limited experience designing and implementing clinical trials, and we may not successfully or cost-effectively design and implement clinical trials that achieve our desired clinical endpoints efficiently, or at all. A clinical trial that is not well designed may delay or even prevent initiation of the trial, can lead to increased difficulty in enrolling patients, may make it more difficult to obtain regulatory approval for the product candidate on the basis of the study results, or, even if a product candidate is approved, could make it more difficult to commercialize the product successfully or obtain reimbursement from third-party payers. Additionally, a trial that is not well-designed could be inefficient or more expensive than it otherwise would have been, or we may incorrectly estimate the costs to implement the clinical trial, which could lead to a shortfall in funding.
We may find it difficult to enroll patients in clinical trials, which could delay or prevent us from proceeding with clinical trials.
Identifying and qualifying patients to participate in clinical trials of our product candidates is critical to success. The timing of clinical trials depends on the ability to recruit patients to participate as well as completion of required follow-up periods. If patients are unwilling to participate in our clinical studies for any number of reasons, such as because of negative publicity from adverse events related to the biotechnology or gene therapy fields, the timeline for recruiting patients, conducting clinical trials and obtaining regulatory approval may be delayed. Additionally, any shelter-in-place orders from local, state, or federal governments or clinical trial site policies resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic may impact our ability to enroll patients in clinical trials. These delays could result in increased costs, delays in advancing product candidates, or termination of the clinical trials altogether.
We may be required to suspend, repeat, or terminate our clinical trials if they are not conducted in accordance with regulatory requirements, or the trials are not well designed.
Clinical trials must be conducted in accordance with the FDA's current good clinical practices requirements or analogous requirements of applicable foreign regulatory authorities. Clinical trials are subject to oversight by the FDA, other foreign governmental agencies and IRBs, or ethical committees at the study sites where the clinical trials are conducted. In addition, clinical trials must be conducted with product candidates manufactured in accordance with applicable cGMP. Clinical trials may be suspended by the FDA, other foreign regulatory authorities, us, or by an IRB or ethics committee with respect to a particular clinical trial site, for various reasons, including:
•deficiencies in the conduct of the clinical trials, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or study protocols;
•deficiencies in the clinical trial operations or trial sites;
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•unforeseen adverse side effects or the emergence of undue risks to study subjects;
•deficiencies in the trial design necessary to demonstrate efficacy;
•the product candidate may not appear to offer benefits over current therapies; or
•the quality or stability of the product candidate may fall below acceptable standards.
If we experience delays in the completion of, or the termination of, any clinical trial of any of our product candidates, the commercial prospects of such product candidate will be harmed, and our ability to generate product revenues from such product candidate will be delayed. In addition, any delays in completing our clinical trials will increase our costs, slow down our product candidate development and approval process, and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenues. Any of these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, and prospects significantly. In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of our product candidates.
Cell and gene therapies are novel, complex, and difficult to manufacture.
The manufacturing processes that we use to produce our product candidates for human therapeutics are complex, novel and have not been validated for commercial use. Several factors could cause production interruptions, including equipment malfunctions, facility contamination, raw material shortages or contamination, natural disasters, disruption in utility services, human error, or disruptions in the operations of our suppliers. Our synthetic biology product candidates require processing steps that are more complex than those required for most chemical pharmaceuticals. Moreover, unlike chemical pharmaceuticals, the physical and chemical properties of a biologic often cannot be fully characterized. As a result, assays of the finished product may not be sufficient to ensure that the product will perform in the intended manner. Accordingly, it is necessary to employ multiple steps to control our manufacturing process to assure that the product candidate is made strictly and consistently in compliance with the process. Problems with the manufacturing process, even minor deviations from the normal process, could result in product defects or manufacturing failures that result in lot failures, product recalls, product liability claims, or insufficient inventory. We have developed our proprietary electroporation device, UltraPorator, to permit the rapid and cost-effective manufacturing of our UltraCAR-T therapies, but we may face challenges in the production and implementation of this device, which may, in turn, adversely impact the therapeutic candidates. We may encounter problems achieving adequate quantities and quality of clinical-grade materials that meet FDA, EMA, or other applicable standards or specifications with consistent and acceptable production yields and costs.
Interim and preliminary results from our clinical trials that we announce or publish from time to time may change as more patient data become available and are subject to audit, validation, and verification procedures that could result in material changes in the final data.
From time to time, we may publish interim data, including interim top-line results or preliminary results from our clinical trials. Interim data and results from our clinical trials are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data become available. Preliminary or top-line results also remain subject to audit, validation, and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the interim and preliminary data we previously published. As a result, interim and preliminary data may not be predictive of final results and should be viewed with caution until the final data are available. Differences between preliminary or interim data and final data could significantly harm our business prospects and may cause the trading price of our common stock to fluctuate significantly.
Our product candidates may cause undesirable side effects or have other properties that could halt their clinical development, delay or prevent their regulatory approval, limit their commercial potential, or result in significant negative consequences.
There have been several significant adverse side effects in gene therapy treatments in the past, including reported cases of leukemia and death seen in other trials. While new approaches have been developed to reduce these side effects, gene therapy and synthetic biology therapy in general is still a relatively new approach to disease treatment and additional adverse side effects could develop. There also is the potential risk of delayed adverse events following exposure to these product candidates due to persistent biological activity of the genetic material or other components of products used to carry the genetic material.
Other possible adverse side effects that could occur with treatment using cell and gene therapy products include an immunologic reaction early after administration that, while not necessarily adverse to the patient's health, could substantially
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limit the effectiveness of the treatment. In previous clinical trials involving adeno-associated virus, vectors for gene therapy, some subjects experienced the development of a T-cell response, whereby after the vector is within the target cell, the cellular immune response system triggers the removal of transduced cells by activated T-cells. If a similar effect occurs with our product candidates, we may decide or be required to halt or delay further clinical development of our product candidates.
Additionally, if any of our product candidates receive marketing approval, the FDA could require us to adopt a REMS to ensure that the benefits outweigh its risks, which may include, among other things, a medication guide outlining the risks of the product for distribution to patients, a communication plan to healthcare practitioners, and provider certification. Such requirements could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of our product candidates and could significantly harm our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations.
Even if we complete the necessary clinical trials, we cannot predict when, or if, we will obtain regulatory approval to commercialize a product candidate and the approval may be for a narrower indication than we seek.
We cannot commercialize a product candidate until the appropriate regulatory authorities have reviewed and approved the product candidate. Even where product candidates meet their endpoints in clinical trials, the clinical trial results may not support approval of our product candidates if they fail to demonstrate that our product candidates are both safe and effective for their intended uses. Similarly, the regulatory authorities may approve a product candidate for more limited indications than requested or they may impose significant limitations in the form of narrow indications, warnings or a REMS. These regulatory authorities may require precautions or contraindications with respect to conditions of use or they may grant approval subject to the performance of costly postmarketing clinical trials. In addition, regulatory authorities may not approve the labeling claims that are necessary or desirable for the successful commercialization of our product candidates. Any of the foregoing scenarios could materially harm the commercial prospects for our product candidates and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
We have chosen to prioritize development of certain of our product candidates. We may expend our limited resources on product candidates or indications that do not yield a successful product and fail to capitalize on other opportunities for which there may be a greater likelihood of success or may be more profitable.
Because we have limited resources, we are required to strategically prioritize our application of resources to particular development efforts. Any resources we expend on one or more of these efforts could be at the expense of other potentially profitable opportunities. If we focus our efforts and resources on one or more of these opportunities or markets and they do not lead to commercially viable products, our revenues, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could cause a disruption of the development of our product candidates, which could adversely impact our healthcare business.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ActoBio took the initiative to temporarily suspend the last remaining cohort of the Phase1b/2a trial for AG019 as a proactive measure to protect the welfare and safety of patients, caregivers, clinical site staff, and our employees and contractors. This voluntary suspension was lifted in June 2020, and the study is recruiting patients again. Further, from April to May 2020, enrollment of new patients in our PRGN-3005 Phase 1 trial was temporarily suspended due to a mandated hold on certain early and late-stage clinical trials at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle that was instituted in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, we may experience delays in the development of our product candidates, including as a result of declines in new patient enrollment for new and existing trials, ability to recruit and retain principal investigators and site staff who, as healthcare providers, may have heightened exposure to COVID-19 if an outbreak occurs in their geography, site closures, reduced availability of other key personnel, availability of supplies, or for other reasons that may be difficult to anticipate. For example, we received IND clearance earlier this year to initiate, and initiated, a Phase 1/2 trial to study PRGN-2009 in participants with HPV+ cancers, but our ability to complete such a trial may be delayed or impeded by any of the foregoing factors as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the FDA or other regulatory authorities may have their resources diverted to responding to, or otherwise may be disrupted by, the COVID-19 pandemic, which could result in delays of reviews, approvals, and communications with regulatory authorities related to our clinical trials and product candidates. As the focus of our business is on healthcare, disruptions to our clinical trials could result in increased costs, delays in advancing product candidates, or ultimately, termination of clinical trials altogether resulting in a material adverse impact to our overall business. Furthermore, a failure to achieve meaningful clinical trial results, or even progress toward those results, could have a material adverse effect on the value of our securities and our ability to secure needed additional capital.
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Risks Related to the Commercialization of Product Candidates and Other Legal Compliance Matters
Even if a current or future product candidate receives marketing approval, it may fail to achieve the degree of market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payers, and others in the medical community necessary for commercial success.
Ethical, social, and legal concerns about gene and cell therapies could result in additional regulations restricting or prohibiting our product candidates. Even with the requisite approvals from the FDA in the United States, the EMA in the European Union, and other regulatory authorities internationally, the commercial success of our product candidates will depend, in part, on their acceptance by physicians, patients, and healthcare payers as medically necessary, cost-effective, and safe. Public perception may be influenced by claims that gene and cell therapies are unsafe, and any product candidate that we commercialize may not gain acceptance by physicians, patients, healthcare payers, and others in the medical community. In particular, our success will depend upon appropriate physicians prescribing treatments that involve the use of our product candidates in lieu of, or in addition to, existing treatments they are already familiar with and for which greater clinical data may be available. If these products do not achieve an adequate level of acceptance, we may not generate significant product revenue to make the products profitable.
Delays in obtaining regulatory approval of manufacturing processes and facilities or disruptions in manufacturing processes may delay or disrupt our commercialization efforts.
Before we can begin to commercially manufacture our product candidates for human therapeutics, we must obtain regulatory approval from the FDA for the applicable manufacturing process and facility. This likely will require the manufacturing facility to pass a pre-approval inspection by the FDA. A manufacturing authorization must also be obtained from the appropriate European Union regulatory authorities.
In order to obtain FDA approval, we will need to ensure that all of the processes, methods, and equipment are compliant with cGMP and perform extensive audits of vendors, contract laboratories, and suppliers. If any of our vendors, contract laboratories or suppliers is found to be out of compliance with cGMP, we may experience delays or disruptions in manufacturing while we work with these third parties to remedy the violation(s) or while we work to identify suitable replacement vendors. The cGMP requirements govern, among other things, quality control of the manufacturing process, raw materials, containers/closures, buildings and facilities, equipment, storage and shipment, labeling, laboratory activities, data integrity, documentation policies and procedures, and returns. In complying with cGMP, we will be obligated to expend time, money, and effort in production, record keeping, and quality control to assure that the product meets applicable specifications and other requirements. If we fail to comply with these requirements, we would be subject to possible regulatory action that could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows, including the inability to sell any products that we may develop.
Even if we receive marketing approval of a product candidate, we will be subject to ongoing regulatory obligations and continued regulatory review, which may result in significant additional expense. If we fail to comply or experience unanticipated problems with our products, we may be subject to administrative and judicial enforcement, including monetary penalties, for non-compliance and our approved products, if any, could be deemed misbranded or adulterated and prohibited from continued distribution.
Even if we obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates, these candidates will be subject to ongoing regulatory requirements for manufacturing, labeling, packaging, storage, advertising, promotion, sampling, record-keeping, and submission of safety and other postmarket information. Regulatory approvals also may be subject to a REMS, limitations on the approved indicated uses for which the product may be marketed or to the conditions of approval, or contain requirements for potentially costly postmarketing testing, including Phase 4 clinical trials, and surveillance to monitor the quality, safety and efficacy of the product. For example, the holder of an approved BLA is obligated to monitor and report adverse events and any failure of a product to meet the specifications in the BLA. The FDA guidance advises that patients treated with some types of gene therapy undergo follow-up observations for potential adverse events for as long as 15 years. The holder of an approved BLA also must submit new or supplemental applications and obtain FDA approval for certain changes to the approved product, product labeling or manufacturing process. Advertising and promotional materials must comply with FDA rules and are subject to FDA review, in addition to other potentially applicable federal and state laws. Drug manufacturers are subject to ongoing periodic unannounced inspection by the FDA and other government agencies to ensure compliance with cGMP and other government regulations and corresponding foreign standards. We do not have control over third-party manufacturers' compliance with these regulations and standards, but we may ultimately be responsible for any of their failures.
If we fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements following approval of any of our product candidates, a regulatory authority may take a range of adverse actions, including, among other things, issuing a warning letter, imposing monetary penalties, restricting or suspending manufacturing, or causing us to withdraw the product from the market.
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In addition, the FDA's policies, and those of equivalent foreign regulatory agencies, may change and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit or delay regulatory approval of our product candidates. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature, or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action, either in the United States or abroad. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any marketing approval that we may have obtained and we may not achieve or sustain profitability, which would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Obtaining and maintaining marketing approval of our current and future product candidates in one jurisdiction does not mean that we will be successful in obtaining and maintaining marketing approval of our current and future product candidates in other jurisdictions.
Obtaining and maintaining marketing approval of our current and future product candidates in one jurisdiction does not guarantee that we will be able to obtain or maintain marketing approval in any other jurisdiction, while a failure or delay in obtaining marketing approval in one jurisdiction may have a negative effect on the marketing approval process in others. For example, even if the FDA grants marketing approval of a product candidate, comparable regulatory authorities in foreign jurisdictions must also approve the manufacturing, marketing, and promotion of the product candidate in those countries. Approval procedures vary among jurisdictions and can involve requirements and administrative review periods different from, and greater than, those in the United States, including additional preclinical studies or clinical trials conducted in one jurisdiction may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions. In many jurisdictions outside the United States, a product candidate must be approved for reimbursement before it can be approved for sale in that jurisdiction. In some cases, the price that we intend to charge for our products is also subject to approval.
We may also submit marketing applications in other countries. Regulatory authorities in jurisdictions outside of the United States have requirements for approval of product candidates with which we must comply prior to marketing in those jurisdictions. Obtaining foreign marketing approvals and compliance with foreign regulatory requirements could result in significant delays, difficulties and costs for us and could delay or prevent the introduction of our products in certain countries. If we fail to comply with the regulatory requirements in international markets or fail to receive applicable marketing approvals, our target market will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential of our product candidates will be harmed.
The successful commercialization of our product candidates will depend in part on the extent to which third-party payers, including governmental authorities and private health insurers, provide coverage and adequate reimbursement levels, as well as implement pricing policies favorable for our product candidates. Failure to obtain or maintain coverage and adequate reimbursement for our product candidates, if approved, could limit our ability to market those products and decrease our ability to generate revenue.
The availability of coverage and adequacy of reimbursement by third-party payers, including managed care plans, governmental healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid and private health insurers is essential for most patients to be able to afford medical services and pharmaceutical products such as our product candidates that receive FDA approval. Our ability to achieve acceptable levels of coverage and reimbursement for our product candidates or procedures using our product candidates by third-party payers will have an effect on our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates. Obtaining coverage and adequate reimbursement for our product candidates may be particularly difficult because of the higher prices often associated with drugs administered under the supervision of a physician. Separate reimbursement for the product itself or the treatment or procedure in which our product candidate is used may not be available. A decision by a third-party payer not to cover or not to separately reimburse for our product candidates or procedures using our product candidates could reduce physician utilization of our products once approved. Assuming there is coverage for our product candidates, or procedures using our product candidates by a third-party payer, the resulting reimbursement payment rates may not be adequate or may require co-payments that patients find unacceptably high. We cannot be sure that coverage and reimbursement in the United States, the European Union, or elsewhere will be available for our current or future product candidates, or for any procedures using such product candidates, and any reimbursement that may become available may not be adequate or may be decreased or eliminated in the future.
There is significant uncertainty related to the insurance coverage and reimbursement of newly-approved products. The Medicare and Medicaid programs are increasingly used as models in the United States for how private third-party payers and other governmental payers develop their coverage and reimbursement policies for drugs and biologics. Some third-party payers may require pre-approval of coverage for new or innovative devices or drug therapies before they will reimburse healthcare providers who use such therapies. We cannot predict at this time what third-party payers will decide with respect to the coverage and reimbursement for our product candidates.
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No uniform policy for coverage and reimbursement for products exist among third-party payers in the United States. Therefore, coverage and reimbursement for products can differ significantly from payer to payer. As a result, the coverage determination process is often a time-consuming and costly process that may require us to provide scientific and clinical support for the use of our product candidates to each payer separately, with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be applied consistently or obtained in the first instance. Furthermore, rules and regulations regarding reimbursement change frequently, in some cases on short notice, and we believe that changes in these rules and regulations are likely.
Moreover, increasing efforts by third-party payers in the United States and abroad to cap or reduce healthcare costs may cause such organizations to limit both coverage and the level of reimbursement for newly approved products and, as a result, they may not cover or provide adequate payment for our product candidates. We expect to experience pricing pressures in connection with the sale of our product candidates due to the trend toward managed healthcare, the increasing influence of health maintenance organizations and additional legislative changes. The downward pressure on healthcare costs in general, particularly prescription drugs and biologics and surgical procedures and other treatments, has become intense. As a result, increasingly high barriers are being erected to the entry of new products.
Our business may be adversely affected by current and potential future healthcare reforms.
In the United States, federal and state legislatures, health agencies and third-party payers continue to focus on containing the cost of health care. Legislative and regulatory proposals and enactments to reform health care insurance programs could significantly influence the manner in which our product candidates, if approved, are prescribed and purchased. For example, the Affordable Care Act has changed the way health care is paid for by both governmental and private insurers, including increased rebates owed by manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, annual fees and taxes on manufacturers of certain branded prescription drugs, the requirement that manufacturers participate in a discount program for certain outpatient drugs under Medicare Part D and the expansion of the number of hospitals eligible for discounts under Section 340B of the Public Health Service Act. In addition, the Tax Act eliminated the tax-based shared responsibility payment for individuals who fail to maintain minimum essential coverage under section 5000A of the Code, commonly referred to as the "individual mandate," effective January 1, 2019. Further, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, among other things, amended the Medicare statute to reduce the coverage gap in most Medicare drug plans, commonly known as the "donut hole," by raising the required manufacturer point-of-sale discount from 50 percent to 70 percent off the negotiated price effective as of January 1, 2019.
Significant developments that may adversely affect pricing in the United States include proposed drug pricing and Medicare reforms by Congress and regulatory changes to Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D, additional changes to the Affordable Care Act under the Biden Administration and trends in the practices of managed care groups and institutional and governmental purchasers, including consolidation of our customers. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act ("CARES Act"), which was signed into law in March 2020 and is designed to provide financial support and resources to individuals and businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, suspended the 2 percent Medicare sequester from May 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020, and extended the sequester by one year, through 2030.
The pharmaceutical industry faces uncertainty regarding the continuation of Medicare's current drug pricing methodology. For example, on November 27, 2020 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS"), published an Interim Final Rule ("IFR") that would have imposed a mandatory Most Favored Nation ("MFN") pricing model on the fifty single-source drugs and biologics (including biosimilars) with the highest annual Medicare Part B spending for seven years, beginning January 1, 2021. The MFN model would have ultimately based payment for each of the fifty drugs on the lowest-available, gross domestic product ("GDP")-adjusted drug price available in any Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development country that meets minimum GDP requirements. Pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry organizations as well as several patient support groups filed litigation to enjoin implementation of the IFR. On December 28, 2020, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California imposed a nationwide preliminary injunction on implementation of the IFR pending CMS's completion of regulatory notice-and-comment rulemaking by CMS. On December 29, 2021, CMS published a final rule that rescinded the IFR, effective February 28, 2022, to address the procedural issues acknowledged in the preliminary injunction. Although the IFR as published will not go into effect, CMS could propose future pharmaceutical pricing changes similar to the IFR, albeit with the required notice and opportunity for stakeholders to participate in the regulatory process.
On November 19, 2021, the United States House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act, which includes several provisions aimed at lowering prescription drug costs and reducing spending by the federal government and private payers by, among other things, allowing the United States federal government to negotiate prices for certain high-cost drugs covered under Medicare, imposing rebates on manufacturers of single-source drugs and biologics covered by Medicare Part B and nearly all drugs covered under Part D, if drug prices increase faster than the rate of inflation, based on the Consumer Price Index for All
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Urban Consumers ("CPI-U"). We are actively monitoring legislative developments to understand the likelihood of enactment and how such legislation would impact our business and operations, if enacted.
There is also significant economic pressure on state budgets that may result in states increasingly seeking to achieve budget savings through mechanisms that limit coverage or payment for certain drugs. In recent years, some states have considered legislation and ballot initiatives that would control the prices of drugs, including laws to allow importation of pharmaceutical products from lower cost jurisdictions outside the United States and laws intended to impose price controls on state drug purchases. State Medicaid programs are increasingly requesting manufacturers to pay supplemental rebates and requiring prior authorization by the state program for use of any drug for which supplemental rebates are not being paid. Government efforts to reduce Medicaid expenses may lead to increased use of managed care organizations by Medicaid programs. This may result in managed care organizations influencing prescription decisions for a larger segment of the population and a corresponding constraint on prices and reimbursement for our product candidates, if approved. In addition, under the Affordable Care Act, as states implement their health care marketplaces or operate under the federal exchange, the impact on drug manufacturers will depend in part on the formulary and benefit design decisions made by insurance sponsors or plans participating in these programs.
We cannot predict the likelihood, nature, or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action in the United States. It is possible that we may need to provide discounts or rebates to such plans in order to maintain favorable formulary access for our future product candidates, if approved, which could have an adverse impact on our sales and results of operations. In addition, if we or any third parties we may engage are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we or such third parties are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, our product candidates may lose any regulatory approval that may have been obtained.
Our relationships with customers, third-party payers, and others may be subject to applicable anti-kickback, fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations, which could expose us to criminal sanctions, civil penalties, contractual damages, reputational harm, administrative burdens and diminished profits and future earnings.
Healthcare providers, physicians, and third-party payers will play a primary role in the recommendation and prescription of any product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval. Our arrangements with third-party payers and customers may expose us to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations that may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we market, sell and distribute any products for which we obtain marketing approval. Restrictions under applicable federal and state healthcare laws and regulations, include, but are not limited to, the following:
•the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits persons from, among other things, knowingly and willfully soliciting, offering, receiving or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, to induce or reward, or in return for, the referral of an individual for the furnishing or arranging for the furnishing, or the purchase, lease or order, or arranging for or recommending the purchase, lease or order, of any good or service for which payment may be made under a federal healthcare program such as Medicare and Medicaid;
•the federal civil False Claims Act, which imposes liability, including through civil whistleblower or qui tam actions, against individuals or entities for knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, claims for payment of governmental funds that are false or fraudulent, making a false statement material to an obligation to pay money to the federal government, or knowingly concealing or knowingly and improperly avoiding, decreasing, or concealing an obligation to pay money to the federal government;
•HIPAA's fraud provisions, which impose criminal liability for knowingly and willfully executing a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program, knowingly and willfully embezzling or stealing from a healthcare benefit program, willfully obstructing a criminal investigation of a health care offense, or knowingly and willfully making false statements relating to healthcare matters;
•the federal Physician Payment Sunshine Act, being implemented as the Open Payments Program, which requires manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics, and medical supplies for which payment is available under Medicare, Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (with certain exceptions) to report annually to CMS information related to direct or indirect payments and other transfers of value to physicians and teaching hospitals, as well as ownership and investment interests held in the company by physicians and their immediate family members. Beginning in 2022, applicable manufacturers also will be required to report information regarding payments and transfers of value provided to physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified nurse anesthetists, and certified nurse-midwives; and
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•analogous state and foreign laws and regulations, such as state anti-kickback and false claims laws, which may apply to items or services reimbursed by non-governmental third-party payers, including private insurers; state and foreign laws that require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the pharmaceutical industry's voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government or otherwise restrict payments that may be made to healthcare providers in those jurisdictions; state and foreign laws that require drug manufacturers to report information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians and other healthcare providers or marketing expenditures; some states also prohibit certain marketing-related activities including the provision of gifts, meals, or other items to certain health care providers, and others restrict the ability of manufacturers to offer co-pay support to patients for certain prescription drugs; other states and cities require identification or licensing of sales representatives; and state and foreign laws that govern the privacy and security of health information in certain circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts.
Efforts to ensure that our business arrangements with third parties will comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. Although compliance programs can help mitigate the risk of investigations and prosecution for violations of these laws, the risks cannot be eliminated entirely. It is possible that governmental authorities will conclude that our business practices may not comply with current or future statutes, regulations, or case law interpreting applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of these laws or any other governmental regulations that may apply to us, we may be subject to significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, imprisonment, exclusion from government funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations.
Defending against actions or investigations for violations of these laws and regulations, even if ultimately successful, will incur significant legal expenses and divert management's attention from the operation of our business.
Failure to comply with current or future federal, state and foreign laws and regulations and industry standards relating to privacy and data protection laws could lead to governmental enforcement actions (which could include civil or criminal penalties), private litigation, and/or adverse publicity and could negatively affect our operating results and business.
We or our collaborators may be subject to federal, state and foreign data privacy and security laws and regulations. In the United States, numerous federal and state laws and regulations, including federal health information privacy laws, state data breach notification laws, state health information privacy laws, and federal and state consumer protection laws, that govern the collection, use, disclosure, and protection of health-related and other personal information could apply to our operations or the operations of our collaborators. Many state legislatures have adopted legislation that regulates how businesses operate online, including measures relating to privacy, data security and data breaches. Laws in all 50 states require businesses to provide notice to customers whose personally identifiable information has been disclosed as a result of a data breach. The laws are not consistent, and compliance in the event of a widespread data breach is costly. Furthermore, California recently enacted the CCPA, which became effective on January 1, 2020. The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for data breaches. Additionally, the California Privacy Rights Act, or the CPRA, was approved by California voters in the election of November 3, 2020. The CPRA, which will take effect in most material respects on January 1, 2023, modifies the CCPA significantly, potentially resulting in further uncertainty and requiring us to incur additional costs and expenses in an effort to comply.
Foreign data protection laws, including the European Union, or EU, General Data Protection Regulation, or the GDPR, may also apply to health-related and other personal information obtained outside of the United States. The GDPR introduced new data protection requirements in the EU, as well as potential fines for noncompliant companies of up to the greater of €20 million or 4 percent of annual global revenue. Among other requirements, the GDPR regulates transfers of personal data subject to the GDPR to third countries that have not been found to provide adequate protection to such personal data, including the United States, and the efficacy and longevity of current transfer mechanisms between the EU and the United States remains uncertain. For example, in 2016, the EU and United States agreed to a transfer framework for data transferred from the EU to the United States, called the Privacy Shield, but the Privacy Shield was invalidated in July 2020 by the Court of Justice of the European Union. Further, the vote in the United Kingdom in favor of exiting the EU, referred to as Brexit, has created uncertainty with regard to data protection regulation in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom has transposed the GDPR into domestic law with a United Kingdom version of the GDPR that took effect in January 2021, which could expose us to two parallel regimes, each of which potentially authorizes similar fines and other potentially divergent enforcement actions for violations.. The European Commission has adopted an adequacy decision in favor of the United Kingdom, enabling data transfers from the European Economic Area to the United Kingdom without additional safeguards. However, the United Kingdom adequacy decision will automatically expire in June 2025 unless the European Commission re-assesses and renews or extends that decision.
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Compliance with United States and foreign data protection laws and regulations could require us to take on more onerous obligations in our contracts; restrict our ability to collect, use, and disclose data; or in some cases, impact our ability to operate in certain jurisdictions. Failure by us or our collaborators to comply with United States and foreign data protection laws and regulations could result in government enforcement actions (which could include civil or criminal penalties), private litigation and/or adverse publicity and could negatively affect our operating results and business. Moreover, clinical trial subjects about whom we or our potential collaborators obtain information, as well as the providers who share this information with us, may contractually limit our ability to use and disclose the information. Claims that we have violated individuals' privacy rights, failed to comply with data protection laws, or breached our contractual obligations, even if we are not found liable, could be expensive and time consuming to defend, could result in adverse publicity, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
We may incur significant costs complying with environmental, health, and safety laws and regulations, and failure to comply with these laws and regulations could expose us to significant liabilities.
We use hazardous chemicals and radioactive and biological materials in our business, including in Trans Ova, and are subject to a variety of federal, state, local and international laws and regulations governing, among other matters, the use, generation, manufacture, transportation, storage, handling, disposal of, and human exposure to these materials both in the United States and overseas, including regulation by governmental regulatory agencies, such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the EPA. We have incurred, and will continue to incur, capital and operating expenditures and other costs in the ordinary course of our business in complying with these laws and regulations. Although we maintain workers' compensation insurance to cover us for costs and expenses we may incur due to injuries to our employees resulting from the use of hazardous materials, this insurance may not provide adequate coverage against potential liabilities. We do not maintain insurance for environmental liability or toxic tort claims that may be asserted against us in connection with our storage or disposal of biological or hazardous materials.
We are subject to certain United States and foreign anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, export control, sanctions and other trade laws and regulations. We can face serious consequences for violations.
Among other matters, United States and foreign anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, export control, sanctions and other trade laws and regulations prohibit companies and their employees, agents, clinical research organizations, legal counsel, accountants, consultants, contractors and other partners from authorizing, promising, offering, providing, soliciting, or receiving directly or indirectly, corrupt or improper payments or anything else of value to or from recipients in the public or private sector.
Our business is heavily regulated and therefore involves significant interaction with public officials. We have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or government-affiliated hospitals, universities and other organizations. We also expect our non-United States activities to increase in time. Additionally, in many other countries, the healthcare providers who prescribe pharmaceuticals are employed by their government, and the purchasers of pharmaceuticals are government entities; therefore, our dealings with these prescribers and purchasers are subject to regulation under the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, or FCPA. We plan to engage third parties for clinical trials and/or to obtain necessary permits, licenses, patent registrations, and other regulatory approvals and we can be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of our personnel, agents, or partners, even if we do not explicitly authorize or have prior knowledge of such activities. In particular, our operations will be subject to FCPA, which prohibits, among other things, United States companies and their employees and agents from authorizing, promising, offering, or providing, directly or indirectly, corrupt or improper payments or anything else of value to foreign government officials, employees of public international organizations and foreign government-owned or affiliated entities, candidates for foreign political office, and foreign political parties or officials thereof. Recently, the SEC and Department of Justice have increased their FCPA enforcement activities with respect to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. There is no certainty that all of our employees, agents, suppliers, manufacturers, contractors, or collaborators, or those of our affiliates, will comply with all applicable laws and regulations, particularly given the high level of complexity of these laws.
Violations of these laws and regulations could result in fines, criminal sanctions, including imprisonment, against us, our officers, or our employees, the closing down of facilities, including those of our suppliers and manufacturers, requirements to obtain export licenses, cessation of business activities in sanctioned countries, implementation of compliance programs, debarment, reputational harm, prohibitions on the conduct of our business, and other consequences. Any such violations could also result in prohibitions on our ability to offer our product candidates in one or more countries as well as difficulties in manufacturing or continuing to develop our product candidates, and could materially damage our reputation, our brand, our ability to attract and retain employees and our business, prospects, operating results, and financial condition.
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Risks Related to our Business Operations and Strategy
Our efforts to realign our business and divest assets may not be successful and could increase our capital requirements, increase our costs, or otherwise harm our operating results and financial condition.
Our business strategy has evolved, and continues to evolve, toward relationships and structures that provide us with more control and ownership over the development process and commercialization path. This approach entails risks in implementation and operations and there is no guarantee that it will be successful. Furthermore, our focus on a healthcare-oriented business strategy will require additional capital beyond what we have available, and we may incur costs associated with the implementation and execution of our changing business strategy. In addition, as we perform our annual impairment tests, we will evaluate the impact of changes in our business strategy and, as a result, may incur impairment charges and write-offs and other related expenses, any of which, if material, could harm our operating results and financial condition. Market changes and changes in judgments, assumptions, and estimates that we have made in assessing the fair value of goodwill could cause us to consider some portion or all of certain assets to become impaired, which could adversely impact our financial condition.
In January 2020, we announced and completed a sale of the majority of our non-healthcare assets to TS Biotechnology. We simultaneously announced that Intrexon EF Holdings, Inc., our wholly owned subsidiary, sold its 50 percent membership interest in EnviroFlight. As a result of market uncertainty driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and the state of the energy sector raising significant challenges for the strategic alternatives pursued by MBP Titan, beginning in the second quarter of 2020 and throughout the remainder of 2020, we suspended MBP Titan's operations, preserved MBP Titan's intellectual property, terminated all of its personnel, and undertook steps to dispose of its assets and obligations. We cannot provide any assurances that these recent, or any future, divestitures will achieve the business goals we expect. In addition, any future divestiture activities may present financial and operational risks, including the (1) diversion of management attention from existing core businesses, (2) the challenges associated with separating personnel and financial and other systems, including impaired employee relations, and (3) inefficiencies or increased costs, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Finally, as we continue our efforts to focus our business and generate additional capital, we may be willing to enter into transactions involving one or more of our remaining operating segments and reporting units for which we record impairment charges related to the write off of goodwill and intangible assets.
We rely on third parties, including through collaborations, to develop and commercialize some of our product candidates. Markets in which our collaborators are developing product candidates using our technologies are subject to extensive regulation, and we rely on our collaborators to comply with all applicable laws and regulations.
We have entered, and may in the future enter into collaboration arrangements to develop product candidates enabled by our technologies. There can be no guarantee that we can successfully manage these relationships. If our collaborators are not able to successfully develop the product candidates enabled by our technologies, none of these enabled product candidates will become commercially available, and we will receive no back-end payments under these arrangements. Some of our existing collaborators do not themselves have the resources necessary to commercialize product candidates, and they in turn will need to rely on additional sources of financing or third-party collaborations. We may be asked to, or choose to, invest additional funds in these collaborators so that they can execute on their business plans. If we fail to invest such additional funds, the collaborator may not have sufficient capital to continue operations. In addition, we typically have limited or no control over the amount or timing of resources that any collaborator is able or willing to devote to developing product candidates or collaborative efforts. Any of our collaborators may fail to perform its obligations. Our collaborators may breach or terminate their agreements with us or otherwise fail to conduct their collaborative activities successfully and in a timely manner.
Our technologies are used in product candidates that are subject to extensive regulation by governmental authorities. We depend on our collaborators to comply with these laws and regulations with respect to product candidates they produce using our technologies, and we do not independently monitor whether our collaborators comply with applicable laws and regulations. If our collaborators fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations, we are subject to substantial financial and operating risks because, in addition to our own compliance, we also depend on our collaborators to produce the end products enabled by our technologies for sale.
We have previously entered into strategic collaborations, which we may fail to successfully manage, or from which disputes may arise.
We have previously entered into strategic collaborations to develop products enabled by our technologies. There can be no guarantee that we can successfully manage these relationships, as they involve complex interests and our interests and our collaborators' interests may diverge, including as we transition away from, or terminate, strategic collaborations. In some cases, our strategic collaborations have resulted in disagreements and disputes with our current and former collaborators, including the Harvest Intrexon Enterprise Fund I, LP, or Harvest, the investors of Intrexon Energy Partners, and the investors of Intrexon
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Energy Partners II, regarding the relative rights, obligations, and revenues of us and our collaboration partners. In addition, we remain susceptible to future additional disagreements and disputes with any of our current or future collaborators. Disagreements and disputes may result in litigation, unfavorable settlements or concessions by us, or management distraction, that could harm our business operations.
If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud. As a result, shareholders could lose confidence in our financial and other public reporting, which would harm our business and the trading price of our common stock.
Effective internal controls over financial reporting are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and, together with adequate disclosure controls and procedures, are designed to prevent fraud. Any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation, could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. In addition, any testing by us conducted in connection with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or any subsequent testing by our independent registered public accounting firm, may reveal deficiencies in our internal controls over financial reporting that are deemed to be material weaknesses or that may require prospective or retroactive changes to our financial statements or identify other areas for further attention or improvement. Inferior internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock.
A portion of our business is conducted by JVs that we cannot operate solely for our benefit.
In JVs, we share ownership and management of a company with one or more parties who may not have the same goals, strategies, priorities, or resources as we do and may compete with us outside the JV. JVs are intended to be operated for the benefit of all JV partners, rather than for our exclusive benefit. Operating a business as a JV often requires additional organizational formalities as well as time-consuming procedures for sharing information and making decisions. In JVs we are required to foster our relationships with our JV partners as well as promote the overall success of the JV, and if a JV partner changes or relationships deteriorate, our success in the JV may be materially adversely affected. The benefits from a successful JV are shared among the JV partners, so we do not receive all the benefits from our successful JVs. Moreover, as a partial owner of a JV, we are exposed to potential risks and liabilities that we do not face when we enter into collaboration with an independent third party.
We may be sued for product liability.
We face an inherent risk of product liability exposure related to the testing of our product candidates in human trials and may face greater risk if we commercialize any products that we develop. Product liability claims may be brought against us by subjects enrolled in our trials, patients, healthcare providers or others using, administering, or selling our products.
Additionally, each of our collaborations requires the collaborator to indemnify us for liability related to products produced pursuant to the collaboration and to obtain insurance coverage related to product liability in amounts considered standard for the industry. We believe that these industry-standard coverage amounts range from $10 million to $40 million in the aggregate. Even so, we may be named in product liability suits relating to products that are produced by our collaborators using our technologies. These claims could be brought by various parties, including other companies who purchase products from us or our collaborators or by the end users of the products.
We cannot guarantee that our collaborators will not breach the indemnity and insurance coverage provisions of the collaboration. Further, insurance coverage is expensive and may be difficult to obtain, and may not be available to us or to our collaborators in the future on acceptable terms, or at all. We cannot assure you that we or our collaborators will have adequate insurance coverage against potential claims. In addition, although we currently maintain product liability insurance for our technologies in amounts we believe to be commercially reasonable. If the coverage limits of these insurance policies are not adequate, a claim brought against us, whether covered by insurance or not, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows or even cause us to go out of business.
Regardless of the merits or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:
•reduced resources of our management to pursue our business strategy;
•decreased demand for products enabled by our technologies;
•injury to our or our collaborators' reputations and significant negative media attention;
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•withdrawal of clinical trial participants;
•initiation of investigations by regulators;
•product recalls, withdrawals or labeling, marketing or promotional restrictions;
•significant costs to defend resulting litigation;
•substantial monetary awards to trial participants or patients;
•loss of revenue; and
•the inability to commercialize any products using our technologies.
The livestock products of our operating subsidiaries are subject to disease outbreaks that can increase the cost of production and/or reduce production harvests, and the loss of existing livestock would result in the loss of commercial technology.
Several of the products of our operating subsidiaries, including Trans Ova and Exemplar, are subject to periodic outbreaks of a variety of diseases. Although these companies take measures to protect their stock, there can be no assurance that a disease will not damage or destroy existing livestock. The economic impact of disease to our subsidiaries' production systems can be significant, as farmers must incur the cost of preventive measures, such as vaccines and antibiotics, and then if infected, the cost of lost or reduced production.
The markets in which we are developing candidate products using our technologies are highly competitive. Competitors and potential competitors may develop products and technologies that make ours obsolete or garner greater market share than ours.
While we believe that our novel approach to developing the next generation of gene and cell therapies to target the most urgent and intractable challenges in immuno-oncology, autoimmune disorders, and infectious diseases provides us with competitive advantages, our industry is highly competitive and subject to rapid and significant technological change. Many of our competitors have significantly greater financial, technical, and human resource capabilities than we do, and certain of our competitors may also benefit from local government subsidies and other incentives that are not available to us. In addition, mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries may result in even more resources being concentrated among a smaller number of our competitors. As a result of the resources available to our competitors, our competitors may be able to develop competing and/or superior technologies and processes, and compete more aggressively and sustain that competition over a longer period of time than we can. The availability of reimbursement from government and other third-party payers will also significantly affect the pricing and competitiveness of our products. Our competitors may also obtain FDA or other regulatory approval for their products more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours, which could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market.
Our lead product candidates include PRGN-3005 for the treatment of ovarian cancer and PRGN-3006 for the treatment of AML, which are built on our UltraCAR-T platform, and PRGN-2009, which is based on our AdenoVerse platform. While we are employing a novel approach, there are a number of competitors pursuing CAR-T cell therapies for the treatment of cancer. We believe that, among others, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Tmunity Therapeutics, and Anixa Biosciences are developing CAR-T based treatments for ovarian cancer and TCR2 Therapeutics is developing TCR-T based treatment for ovarian cancer. We believe that Celyad, Mustang Bio, Kite, Amgen, Cellectis S.A., and Allogene Therapeutics are also using CAR-T technology to develop product candidates for the treatment of AML. The CAR-T technology space also has significant other competition including from multiple companies and their collaborators, such as Novartis and University of Pennsylvania, Kite and Gilead, Adaptimmune and GSK, Autolus Therapeutics, Poseida Therapeutics, and Bellicum Pharmaceuticals. We also face competition from non-cell based cancer treatments offered by other companies such as Amgen, AstraZeneca, Incyte, Merck, Abbvie, and Roche.
In the area of infectious diseases, our lead product candidate is PRGN-2012, which is based on our AdenoVerse immunotherapy platform, for the treatment of RRP. We believe there are competitors in this area, including INOVIO Pharmaceuticals with their investigational DNA vaccine INO-3107 targeting HPV6 and HPV11 antigens.
We are also using our suite of proprietary and complementary technologies for the preclinical and clinical development of product candidates for the treatment of autoimmune disorders, including T1D. We believe that our primary competitors with respect to the development of immunotherapies for T1D are Provention Bio, Midatech Pharma, and MerciaPharma.
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There are a number of companies that compete with our subsidiary Trans Ova, including traditional breeding companies and other companies that use advanced reproductive technologies. These competitors may be larger and have better funding than Trans Ova. Trans Ova's competitors may also be companies that have a predominant focus on developing the newest technologies in animal breeding whereas Trans Ova is one part to our overall strategy. Trans Ova's competitors that operate using more traditional breeding techniques may enjoy greater market acceptance over Trans Ova, and other companies, that utilize genetic manipulation, semen sorting and cloning techniques.
Our ability to compete successfully will depend on our ability to develop proprietary technologies that can be used to produce products that reach the market in a timely manner and are technologically superior to and/or are less expensive than other products on the market. As more companies develop new intellectual property in our markets, a competitor could acquire patent or other rights that may limit products using our technologies, which could lead to litigation. To the extent that any of our competitors are more successful with respect to any key competitive factor or we are forced to reduce, or are unable to raise, the price of any products enabled by our technologies in order to remain competitive, our operating results and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.
If we lose key personnel, including key management personnel, or are unable to attract and retain additional personnel, it could delay our product development programs, harm our research and development efforts, and we may be unable to continue to commercialize our product candidates.
Our business involves complex operations and requires a management team and employee workforce that is knowledgeable in the many areas in which we operate. The loss of any key members of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer, Helen Sabzevari Ph.D., or the failure to attract or retain other key employees who possess the requisite expertise for the conduct of our business, could prevent us from developing and commercializing our product candidates for our target markets and entering into collaborations or licensing arrangements to execute on our business strategy.
In addition, the loss of any key scientific staff, or the failure to attract or retain other key scientific employees, could prevent us from developing our technologies for our target markets or from further developing and commercializing our products and services offerings to execute on our business strategy. We may not be able to attract or retain qualified employees in the future due to the intense competition for qualified personnel among biotechnology, synthetic biology and other technology-based businesses, or due to the unavailability of personnel with the qualifications or experience necessary for our business. If we are not able to attract and retain the necessary personnel to accomplish our business objectives, we may experience staffing constraints that will adversely affect our ability to support our internal research and development programs or meet other demands.
We have had a number of executive officers depart from our Company over the last several years, and we continually evaluate our leadership structure. Our past or future leadership changes could lead to strategic and operational challenges and uncertainties, distractions of management from other key initiatives, inefficiencies or increased costs, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
We depend on sophisticated information technology and infrastructure.
We rely on various information systems to manage our operations. These systems are complex and include software that is internally developed, software licensed from third parties, and hardware purchased from third parties. These products may contain internal errors or defects, particularly when first introduced or when new versions or enhancements are released. Failure of these systems could have an adverse effect on our business, which in turn may materially adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.
If we experience a significant breach of data security or disruption in our information systems, our business could be adversely affected.
We rely on various information systems to manage our operations and to store information, including sensitive data such as confidential business information and personally identifiable information. These systems have been and continue to be vulnerable to interruption or malfunction, including due to events beyond our control, and to unauthorized access, computer hackers, ransomware, viruses, and other security problems. Failure of these systems or any significant breach of our data security could have an adverse effect on our business and may materially adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.
Data security breaches could result in loss or misuse of information, which could, in turn, result in potential regulatory actions or litigation, including material claims for damages, compelled compliance with breach notification laws, interruption to our
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operations, damage to our reputation or could otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results. Companies throughout our industry have been increasingly subject to a wide variety of security incidents, cyber-attacks and other attempts to gain unauthorized access to networks or sensitive information. While we have implemented and continue to implement cybersecurity safeguards and procedures, these safeguards have been vulnerable to attack. As cyber threats continue to evolve, we may be required to expend additional resources to enhance our cybersecurity measures or to investigate or remediate any vulnerabilities or breaches.
Although we maintain insurance to protect ourselves in the event of a breach or disruption of certain of our information systems, we cannot ensure that the coverage is adequate to compensate for any damages that may be incurred.
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have disrupted, and will likely continue to disrupt, our business operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, cash flows, and financial position.
We are closely monitoring the impacts of COVID-19 on all aspects of our business. The operations of our businesses may continue to be adversely impacted by COVID-19, including, for example, if we are unable to secure necessary supplies, including personal protection equipment for our employees. We also rely on third parties for various aspects of our business, including developing some of our product candidates. These third parties may experience similar disruptions or negative impacts to their businesses due to COVID-19, which may result in additional delays or otherwise adversely impact our operations.
Trans Ova, our established bovine genetics company, has not been significantly impacted by disruptions from COVID-19 to date. However, ongoing disruptions from COVID-19 and its cascading effects could mean that the business may be materially adversely affected in the future, including by a decrease in sales or overall demand for our products, the inability of our customers to pay for our services and products, similar negative effects on our suppliers, and disruptions to the global supply chain generally. There have already been a number of initial reports regarding such disruptions to the beef and dairy industry as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which impact both Trans Ova's potential customers and its sources of certain resources, such as lab, professional service or animal health supplies. While Exemplar, our subsidiary that develops MiniSwine models to enable the study of life-threatening diseases, has not been significantly impacted by disruptions from COVID-19 to date, it could face similar types of challenges, including its customers delaying or refusing shipments because of delays in their research and development operations similar to, or more severe than, the challenges and risks we face with our operations.
In addition to the potential impacts to our operations, we have initiated several precautions to mitigate the spread of the illness across our businesses, which may impact our ability to carry out our business as usual, including additional sanitation and cleaning procedures in our laboratories and other facilities, instituting remote working when possible, and implementing social distancing and staggered worktime requirements for our employees that must work on-site. The increase in remote working may also result in elevated susceptibility to cyber security risks. We have incurred additional costs as a result of these measures and will likely continue to do so as a result of these and any future measures necessary to ensure the safety of our employees and the continuity of our operations. These measures could also lead to reduced efficiency in our operations.
Several of our subsidiaries are leanly staffed and rely on key personnel to manage operations. The loss of our key scientific staff, personnel, or other key employees, as a result of illness or otherwise, could negatively impact our business and operations, particularly if we are unable to adequately find or train replacements. Certain of our subsidiaries, such as Trans Ova and Exemplar, that operate in industries in which remote working is not possible may be particularly at risk.
Given the dynamic nature of these circumstances, the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our ongoing business, results of operations, and overall financial performance cannot be reasonably estimated at this time, and it could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, cash flows, and financial position, including resulting in impairments to goodwill and long-lived assets and additional credit losses.
We have international operations and assets and may have additional international operations and assets in the future. Our international operations and assets may be subject to various economic, social, and governmental risks.
Our international operations and any future international operations may expose us to risks that could negatively impact our future results. Our operations may not develop in the same way or at the same rate as might be expected in a country with an economy similar to the United States. The additional risks that we may be exposed to in these cases include, but are not limited to:
•tariffs and trade barriers;
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•currency fluctuations, which could decrease our revenues or increase our costs in United States dollars;
•regulations related to customs and import/export matters;
•tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws;
•limited access to qualified staff;
•inadequate infrastructure;
•cultural and language differences;
•inadequate banking systems;
•different and/or more stringent environmental laws and regulations;
•restrictions on the repatriation of profits or payment of dividends;
•disease outbreaks, environmental catastrophes, crime, strikes, riots, civil disturbances, terrorist attacks or wars;
•nationalization or expropriation of property;
•law enforcement authorities and courts that are weak or inexperienced in commercial matters; and
•deterioration of political relations among countries.
Additionally, we are exposed to risks associated with changes in foreign currency exchange rates. We present our consolidated financial statements in United States dollars. Our international subsidiaries have assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than the United States dollar. Future expenses and revenues of our international subsidiaries are expected to be denominated in currencies other than in United States dollars. Therefore, movements in exchange rates to translate from foreign currencies may have an impact on our reported results of operations, financial position, and cash flows.
We may pursue strategic acquisitions and investments that could have an adverse impact on our business if they are unsuccessful.
We have made acquisitions in the past and, if appropriate opportunities become available, we may acquire additional businesses, assets, technologies, or products to enhance our business in the future. In connection with any future acquisitions, we could:
•issue additional equity securities, which would dilute our current shareholders;
•incur substantial debt to fund the acquisitions; or
•assume significant liabilities.
Although we conduct due diligence reviews of our acquisition targets, such processes may fail to reveal significant liabilities. Acquisitions involve numerous risks, including:
•problems integrating the purchased operations, facilities, technologies, or products;
•unanticipated costs and other liabilities;
•the potential disruption of our ongoing business and diversion of management resources;
•adverse effects on existing business relationships with current and/or prospective collaborators, customers and/or suppliers;
•unanticipated expenses related to the acquired operations;
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•risks associated with entering markets in which we have no or limited prior experience;
•potential unknown liabilities associated with the acquired business and technology;
•potential liabilities related to litigation involving the acquired companies;
•potential periodic impairment of goodwill and intangible assets acquired; and
•potential loss of key employees or potential inability to retain, integrate, and motivate key personnel.
We cannot be certain that any acquisition will be successful or that we will realize the anticipated benefits of the acquisition. In particular, we may not be able to realize the strategic and operational benefits and objectives we had anticipated.
Acquisitions also may require us to record goodwill and non-amortizable intangible assets that will be subject to impairment testing on a regular basis and potential periodic impairment charges, incur amortization expenses related to certain intangible assets, and incur large and immediate write-offs and restructuring and other related expenses, all of which could harm our operating results and financial condition. In addition, we may acquire companies that have insufficient internal financial controls, which could impair our ability to integrate the acquired company and adversely impact our financial reporting. If we fail in our integration efforts with respect to any of our acquisitions and are unable to efficiently operate as a combined organization, our business, and financial condition may be adversely affected.
Trans Ova operates in an industry that is not a part of our core business and may require additional resources and capital.
Although Trans Ova has achieved profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis and may be required to divert capital and resources away from our core healthcare business. Alternatively, we may refrain from diverting the capital and resources required to further develop Trans Ova in order to focus on our core healthcare business. The failure of our subsidiaries, including Trans Ova, to remain profitable may decrease the value of our company and could impair our ability to raise capital, maintain our research and development efforts, expand our business, or continue our operations.
We may not have the ability to raise the funds necessary to settle conversions of the Convertible Notes in cash or to repurchase the Convertible Notes upon a fundamental change, and our future debt may contain limitations on our ability to pay cash upon conversion or repurchase of the Convertible Notes.
Holders of Convertible Notes have the right to require us to repurchase their Convertible Notes upon the occurrence of a fundamental change at a fundamental change repurchase price equal to 100 percent of the principal amount of the Convertible Notes to be repurchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any. In addition, upon conversion of the Convertible Notes, unless we elect to deliver solely shares of our common stock to settle such conversion (other than paying cash in lieu of delivering any fractional share), we will be required to make cash payments in respect of the Convertible Notes being converted. However, we may not have enough available cash or be able to obtain financing at the time we are required to make repurchases of Convertible Notes surrendered therefor or Convertible Notes being converted. In addition, our ability to repurchase the Convertible Notes or to pay cash upon conversions of the Convertible Notes may be limited by law, by regulatory authority or by agreements governing our future indebtedness. Our failure to repurchase Convertible Notes at a time when the repurchase is required by the indenture or to pay any cash payable on future conversions of the Convertible Notes as required by the indenture would constitute a default under the indenture. A default under the indenture or the fundamental change itself could also lead to a default under agreements governing our future indebtedness. If the repayment of the related indebtedness were to be accelerated after any applicable notice or grace periods, we may not have sufficient funds to repay the indebtedness and repurchase the Convertible Notes or make cash payments upon conversions thereof.
The conditional conversion feature of the Convertible Notes, if triggered, may adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.
In the event the conditional conversion feature of the Convertible Notes is triggered, holders of Convertible Notes will be entitled to convert the Convertible Notes at any time during specified periods at their option. If one or more holders elect to convert their Convertible Notes, unless we elect to satisfy our conversion obligation by delivering solely shares of our common stock (other than paying cash in lieu of delivering any fractional share), we would be required to settle a portion or all of our conversion obligation through the payment of cash, which could adversely affect our liquidity. In addition, even if holders do not elect to convert their Convertible Notes, we could be required under applicable accounting rules to reclassify all or a portion of the outstanding principal of the Convertible Notes as a current rather than long-term liability, which would result in a
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material reduction of our net working capital.
The accounting for convertible debt securities that may be settled in cash, such as the Convertible Notes, could have a material effect on our reported financial results.
In May 2008, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, issued FASB Staff Position No. APB 14-1, Accounting for Convertible Debt Instruments That May Be Settled in Cash Upon Conversion (Including Partial Cash Settlement), which has subsequently been codified as Accounting Standards Codification, or ASC, Subtopic 470-20, Debt with Conversion and Other Options, or ASC 470-20. Under ASC 470-20, an entity must separately account for the liability and equity components of the convertible debt instruments (such as the Convertible Notes) that may be settled entirely or partially in cash upon conversion in a manner that reflects the issuer's economic interest cost. The effect of ASC 470-20 on the accounting for the Convertible Notes is that the equity component is required to be included in the additional paid-in capital section of shareholders' equity on our consolidated balance sheet, and the value of the equity component would be treated as original issue discount for purposes of accounting for the debt component of the Convertible Notes. As a result, we record a greater amount of noncash interest expense in current periods presented as a result of the amortization of the discounted carrying value of the Convertible Notes to their face amount over the term of the Convertible Notes. We report lower net income in our financial results because ASC 470-20 requires interest to include both the current period's amortization of the debt discount and the instrument's coupon interest, which could adversely affect our reported or future financial results, the trading price of our common stock and the trading price of the Convertible Notes.
In addition, under certain circumstances, convertible debt instruments (such as the Convertible Notes) that may be settled entirely or partly in cash are currently accounted for utilizing the treasury stock method, the effect of which is that the shares issuable upon conversion of the Convertible Notes are not included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share except to the extent that the conversion value of the Convertible Notes exceeds their principal amount. Under the treasury stock method, for diluted earnings per share purposes, the transaction is accounted for as if the number of shares of common stock that would be necessary to settle such excess, if we elected to settle such excess in shares, are issued.
In August 2020, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2020-06, Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity's Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40)—Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity's Own Equity, which will require us to use the "if-converted" method when calculating diluted earnings per share for convertible instruments. As the treasury stock method will no longer be permitted beginning in our fiscal year 2022, our diluted earnings per share could be adversely affected. Additionally, we cannot be sure whether other changes may be made to the current accounting standards related to the Convertible Notes, or otherwise, that could have an adverse impact on our financial statements.
Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.
As of December 31, 2021, we had net operating loss carryforwards of approximately $856.4 million for United States federal income tax purposes available to offset future taxable income, including $603.7 million generated after 2017, United States capital loss carryforwards of $212.5 million, and United States federal and state research and development tax credits of $11.1 million, prior to consideration of annual limitations that may be imposed under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or Section 382. Net operating loss carryforwards generated prior to 2018 begin to expire in 2022, and capital loss carryforwards will expire if unutilized beginning in 2024. As a result of our past issuances of stock, as well as due to prior mergers and acquisitions, certain of our net operating losses have been subject to limitations pursuant to Section 382. As of December 31, 2021, we had utilized all net operating losses subject to Section 382 limitations, other than those losses inherited via acquisitions. As of December 31, 2021, approximately $42.1 million of domestic net operating losses were acquired via acquisition and are limited based on the value of the target at the time of the transaction. Future changes in stock ownership may also trigger an ownership change and, consequently, a Section 382 limitation. As of December 31, 2021, our direct foreign subsidiaries included in continuing operations had foreign loss carryforwards of approximately $75.7 million, most of which do not expire.
Risks Related to our Intellectual Property
Our ability to compete may decline if we do not adequately protect our proprietary technologies or if we lose some of our intellectual property rights through costly litigation or administrative proceedings.
Our success depends in part on our ability to obtain patents and maintain adequate protection of our intellectual property in the United States and abroad for our suite of technologies and product candidates. We have adopted a strategy of seeking patent protection in the United States and abroad with respect to certain of the technologies used in or relating to our technologies and
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product pipeline. We have also in-licensed rights to additional patents and pending patent applications in the United States and abroad. We intend to continue to apply for patents relating to our technologies, methods, and products as we deem appropriate.
For instance, we pursue protection to switch technologies, gene delivery technologies, and genetic componentry related to our pipeline products. In addition, we seek patents covering specific collaborator's products. We have also filed patents and patent applications in other jurisdictions, such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Europe, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Africa and Taiwan. In the future we may file in these or additional jurisdictions as deemed appropriate for the protection of our technologies.
The enforceability of patents, as well as the actual patent term and expiration thereof, involves complex legal and factual questions and, therefore, the extent of enforceability cannot be guaranteed. Issued patents and patents issuing from pending applications may be challenged, invalidated, or circumvented. Moreover, the United States Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, enacted in September 2011, brought significant changes to the United States patent system, which include a change to a "first to file" system from a "first to invent" system and changes to the procedures for challenging issued patents and disputing patent applications during the examination process, among other things. These changes could increase the costs and uncertainties surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our patent rights. Additional uncertainty may result from legal precedent handed down by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and United States Supreme Court as they determine legal issues concerning the scope and construction of patent claims and inconsistent interpretation of patent laws by the lower courts. Accordingly, we cannot ensure that any of our pending patent applications will result in issued patents, or even if issued, predict the breadth of the claims upheld in our and other companies' patents. Given that the degree of future protection for our proprietary rights is uncertain, we cannot ensure that we were the first to invent the inventions covered by our pending patent applications; we were the first to file patent applications for these inventions; the patents we have obtained, particularly certain patents claiming nucleic acids, proteins, or methods, are valid and enforceable; and the proprietary technologies we develop will be patentable.
In addition, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain and use our products or technology. Monitoring unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult, and we cannot be certain that the steps we have taken will prevent unauthorized use of our technologies, particularly in certain foreign countries where the local laws may not protect our proprietary rights as fully as in the United States. Moreover, third parties could practice our inventions in territories where we do not have patent protection. Such third parties may then try to import into the United States or other territories products, or information leading to potentially competing products, made using our inventions in countries where we do not have patent protection for those inventions. If competitors are able to use our technologies, our ability to compete effectively could be harmed. Moreover, others may independently develop and obtain patents for technologies that are similar to or superior to our technologies. If that happens, we may need to license these technologies, and we may not be able to obtain licenses on reasonable terms, if at all, which could harm our business.
We also rely on trade secrets to protect our technologies, especially in cases when we believe patent protection is not appropriate or obtainable. However, trade secrets are difficult to protect. While we require our employees, academic collaborators, collaborators, consultants and other contractors to enter into confidentiality agreements, we may not be able to adequately protect our trade secrets or other proprietary or licensed information. If we cannot maintain the confidentiality of our proprietary and licensed technologies and other confidential information, our ability, and that of our licensors, to receive patent protection and our ability to protect valuable information owned or licensed by us may be imperiled. Enforcing a claim that a third-party entity illegally obtained and is using any of our trade secrets is expensive and time consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. Moreover, our competitors may independently develop equivalent knowledge, methods, and know-how.
Litigation or other proceedings or third-party claims of intellectual property infringement could require us to spend significant time and money and could prevent us from commercializing our technologies or impact our stock price.
Our commercial success also depends in part on not infringing patents and proprietary rights of third parties and not breaching any licenses or other agreements that we have entered into with regard to our technologies, products, and business. We cannot ensure that patents have not been issued to third parties that could block our or our collaborators' ability to obtain patents or to operate as we would like. There may be patents in some countries that, if valid, may block our ability to make, use or sell our products in those countries, or import our products into those countries, if we are unsuccessful in circumventing or acquiring the rights to these patents. There also may be claims in patent applications filed in some countries that, if granted and valid, also may block our ability to commercialize products or processes in these countries if we are unable to circumvent or license them.
The biotechnology industry is characterized by frequent and extensive litigation regarding patents and other intellectual property rights. Many companies have employed intellectual property litigation as a way to gain a competitive advantage. Our involvement in litigation, interferences, opposition proceedings or other intellectual property proceedings inside and outside of
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the United States, to defend our intellectual property rights or as a result of alleged infringement of the rights of others, may divert management's time from focusing on business operations and could cause us to spend significant amounts of money. Some of our competitors may have significantly greater resources and, therefore, they are likely to be better able to sustain the cost of complex patent or intellectual property litigation than we could. The uncertainties associated with litigation could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our business or to enter into additional collaborations with others. Furthermore, any potential intellectual property litigation also could force us or our collaborators to do one or more of the following:
•stop selling, incorporating or using products that use the intellectual property at issue;
•obtain from the third party asserting its intellectual property rights a license to sell or use the relevant technology, which license may not be available on reasonable terms, if at all; or
•redesign those products or processes that use any allegedly infringing technology, or relocate the operations relating to the allegedly infringing technology to another jurisdiction, which may result in significant cost or delay to us, or that could be technically infeasible.
The patent landscape in the field of biotechnology is particularly complex. We are aware of United States and foreign patents and pending patent applications of third parties that cover various aspects of cell and gene biology including patents that some may view as covering aspects of our technologies. In addition, there may be patents and patent applications in the field of which we are not aware. In many cases, the technologies we develop are early-stage technologies, and we are just beginning the process of designing and developing products using these technologies. Although we will seek to avoid pursuing the development of products that may infringe any patent claims that we believe to be valid and enforceable, we and our collaborators may fail to do so. Moreover, given the breadth and number of claims in patents and pending patent applications in the field of synthetic biology and the complexities and uncertainties associated with them, third parties may allege that we are infringing upon patent claims even if we do not believe such claims to be valid and enforceable.
Except for claims we believe will not be material to our financial results, no third party has asserted a claim of infringement against us. Others may hold proprietary rights that could prevent products using our technologies from being marketed. Any patent-related legal action against persons who license our technologies or us claiming damages and seeking to enjoin commercial activities relating to products using our technologies or our processes could subject us to potential liability for damages and require our licensee or us to obtain a license to continue to manufacture or market such products or any future product candidates that use our technologies. We cannot predict whether we or our licensor would prevail in any such actions or that any license required under any of these patents would be made available on commercially acceptable terms, if at all. Even if we were able to obtain a license, it could be non-exclusive, thereby giving our competitors and other third parties access to the same technologies licensed to us, and it could require us to make substantial licensing and royalty payments. In addition, we cannot be sure that any such products or any future product candidates or processes could be redesigned to avoid infringement, if necessary. Accordingly, an adverse determination in a judicial or administrative proceeding, or the failure to obtain necessary licenses, could prevent us or our licensees from developing and commercializing products using our technologies, which could harm our business, financial condition, and operating results. In addition, we could be found liable for monetary damages, including treble damages and attorneys' fees, if we are found to have willfully infringed a patent or other intellectual property right.
If any of our competitors have filed patent applications or obtained patents that claim inventions also claimed by us, we may have to participate in interference proceedings declared by the USPTO to determine priority of invention and, thus, the right to the patents for these inventions in the United States. These proceedings could result in substantial cost to us even if the outcome is favorable. Even if successful, an interference may result in loss of certain of our important claims.
Any litigation or proceedings could divert our management's time and efforts. Even unsuccessful claims could result in significant legal fees and other expenses, diversion of management's time, and disruption in our business. Uncertainties resulting from initiation and continuation of any patent or related litigation could harm our ability to compete. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions, or other interim proceedings or developments, and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the price of our common stock.
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Obtaining and maintaining our patent protection depends on compliance with various procedural, document submission, fee payment, and other requirements imposed by governmental patent agencies, and our patent protection could be reduced or eliminated for non-compliance with these requirements.
The USPTO and various foreign governmental patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment, and other provisions during the patent process. Given the size of our intellectual property portfolio, compliance with these provisions involves significant time and expense. There are situations in which noncompliance can result in abandonment or lapse of a patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. In such an event, competitors might be able to enter the market earlier than would otherwise have been the case.
If we do not obtain additional protection under the Hatch-Waxman Amendments, other United States legislation, and similar foreign legislation by extending the patent terms and obtaining regulatory exclusivity for our technologies, our business may be materially harmed.
Depending upon the timing, duration, and specifics of FDA marketing approval of products using our technologies, one or more of the United States patents we own or license may be eligible for limited patent term restoration under the Hatch-Waxman Amendments. The Hatch-Waxman Amendments permit a patent restoration term of up to five years as compensation for patent term lost during product development and the FDA regulatory review process. A patent term extension cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the date of product approval, only one patent may be extended, and only those claims covering the approved drug, a method for using it, or a method for manufacturing it may be extended. However, we may not be granted an extension because of, for example, failing to apply within applicable deadlines, failing to apply prior to expiration of relevant patents or otherwise failing to satisfy applicable requirements. Moreover, the applicable time period or the scope of patent protection afforded could be less than we request. If we are unable to obtain patent term extension or restoration or the term of any such extension is less than we request, our competitors may obtain approval of competing products following our patent expiration, and our ability to generate revenues could be materially adversely affected.
Some of our products may not have patent protection and, as a result, potential competitors face fewer barriers in introducing competing products. We may rely on trade secrets and other unpatented proprietary information to protect our commercial position with respect to such products, which we may be unable to do. In some instances, we may also rely on regulatory exclusivity, including orphan drug exclusivity, to protect our products from competition. Some of our or our collaborators' products may be subject to the BPCIA, which may provide those products exclusivity that prevents approval of a biosimilar product that references the data in one of our BLAs in the United States for 12 years after approval. However, the BPCIA and other regulatory exclusivity frameworks may evolve over time based on statutory changes, FDA issuance of new regulations, and judicial decisions. In addition, the BPCIA exclusivity period does not prevent another company from independently developing a product that is highly similar to an approved product, generating all the data necessary for a full BLA and seeking approval.
If we fail to comply with our obligations in the agreements under which we license intellectual property rights from third parties or otherwise experience disruptions to our business relationships with our licensors, we could lose license rights that are important to our business.
We have entered into license agreements with third parties and may need to obtain additional licenses from our existing licensors and others to advance our research or allow commercialization of product candidates we may develop. It is possible that we may be unable to obtain any additional licenses at a reasonable cost or on reasonable terms, if at all. Disputes may arise regarding intellectual property subject to a licensing agreement, including:
•the scope of rights granted under the license agreement and other interpretation-related issues;
•the extent to which our technology and processes infringe on intellectual property of the licensor that is not subject to the licensing agreement;
•our diligence obligations under the license agreement and what activities satisfy those diligence obligations;
•the inventorship and ownership of inventions and know-how resulting from the joint creation or use of intellectual property by our licensors and us and our partners; and
•the priority of invention of patented technology.
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In addition, the agreements under which we currently license intellectual property or technology from third parties are complex, and certain provisions in such agreements may be susceptible to multiple interpretations. The resolution of any contract interpretation disagreement that may arise could narrow what we believe to be the scope of our rights to the relevant intellectual property or technology, or increase what we believe to be our financial or other obligations under the relevant agreement. Moreover, if disputes over intellectual property that we have licensed prevent or impair our ability to maintain our current licensing arrangements on commercially acceptable terms, we may be unable to successfully develop and commercialize the affected product candidates.
Enforcing our intellectual property rights may be difficult and unpredictable.
If we were to initiate legal proceedings against a third party to enforce a patent claiming one of our technologies, the defendant could counterclaim that our patent is invalid and/or unenforceable or assert that the patent does not cover its manufacturing processes, manufacturing components or products. Proving patent infringement may be difficult, especially where it is possible to manufacture a product by multiple processes. Furthermore, in patent litigation in the United States, defendant counterclaims alleging both invalidity and unenforceability are commonplace. Although we believe that we have conducted our patent prosecution in accordance with the duty of candor and in good faith, the outcome following legal assertions of invalidity and unenforceability during patent litigation is unpredictable. With respect to the validity of our patent rights, we cannot be certain, for example, that there is no invalidating prior art, of which we and the patent examiner were unaware during prosecution. If a defendant were to prevail on a legal assertion of invalidity and/or unenforceability, we would not be able to exclude others from practicing the inventions claimed therein. Such a loss of patent protection could have a material adverse impact on our business. Even if our patent rights are found to be valid and enforceable, patent claims that survive litigation may not cover commercially valuable products or prevent competitors from importing or marketing products similar to our own, or using manufacturing processes or manufacturing components similar to those used to produce the products using our technologies.
Although we believe we have obtained assignments of patent rights from all inventors, if an inventor did not adequately assign their patent rights to us, a third party could obtain a license to the patent from such inventor. This could preclude us from enforcing the patent against such third party.
We may not be able to enforce our intellectual property rights throughout the world.
The laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in certain foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to synthetic biology. This could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents or misappropriation of our other intellectual property rights. Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business. Accordingly, our efforts to protect our intellectual property rights in such countries may be inadequate.
If our technologies or products using our technologies are stolen, misappropriated, or reverse engineered, others could use the technologies to produce competing technologies or products.
Third parties, including our collaborators, contract manufacturers, contractors and others involved in our business, often have access to our technologies. If our technologies, or products using our technologies, were stolen, misappropriated, or reverse engineered, they could be used by other parties that may be able to reproduce our technologies or products using our technologies, for their own commercial gain. If this were to occur, it would be difficult for us to challenge this type of use, especially in countries with limited intellectual property protection.
Confidentiality agreements with employees and others may not adequately prevent disclosures of trade secrets and other proprietary information.
We have taken measures to protect our trade secrets and proprietary information, but these measures may not be effective. We require our new employees and consultants to execute confidentiality agreements upon the commencement of an employment or consulting arrangement with us. These agreements generally require that all confidential information developed by the individual or made known to the individual by us during the course of the individual's relationship with us be kept confidential and not disclosed to third parties. These agreements also generally provide that inventions conceived by the individual in the course of rendering services to us shall be our exclusive property. We cannot guarantee that we have entered into such agreements with each party that may have or have had access to our trade secrets or proprietary technology and processes. Despite these efforts, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose our proprietary information, including our
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trade secrets, and we may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for such breaches. Our proprietary information may be disclosed, third parties could reverse engineer our technologies or products using our technologies, and others may independently develop substantially equivalent proprietary information and techniques or otherwise gain access to our trade secrets. Costly and time-consuming litigation could be necessary to enforce and determine the scope of our proprietary rights, and failure to obtain or maintain trade secret protection could adversely affect our competitive business position.
Risks Related to our Common Stock
Our quarterly and annual operating results may fluctuate in the future. As a result, we may fail to meet or exceed the expectations of research analysts or investors, which could cause our stock price to decline.
Our financial condition and operating results have varied significantly in the past and may continue to fluctuate from quarter to quarter and year to year in the future due to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. Factors relating to our business that may contribute to these fluctuations include the following factors, as well as other factors described elsewhere in this Annual Report:
•our ability to achieve or maintain profitability;
•the outcomes of our research programs, clinical trials, or other product development and approval processes;
•our ability to develop and successfully commercialize our products;
•the timing, receipt, and amount of any payments received in connection with upfront, milestone, and sale and royalty payments, if any;
•our ability to successfully scale up production of our commercial products and customer acceptance thereof;
•our ability to enter into strategic transactions;
•our ability to develop and maintain our technologies;
•our ability to manage our growth;
•risks associated with the international aspects of our business;
•our ability to accurately report our financial results in a timely manner;
•our dependence on, and the need to attract and retain, key management, and other personnel;
•our ability to obtain, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights;
•our ability to prevent the theft or misappropriation of our intellectual property, know-how or technologies;
•the costs associated with legal activities, including litigation, arising in the course of our business activities and our ability to prevail in any such legal disputes;
•potential advantages that our competitors and potential competitors may have in securing funding or developing competing technologies or products;
•our ability to obtain additional capital that may be necessary to expand our business;
•business interruptions such as power outages and other natural disasters;
•our ability to integrate any businesses or technologies we may acquire with our business;
•negative public opinion and increased regulatory scrutiny of gene and cell therapies;
•the impact of new accounting pronouncements on our current and future operating results;
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•our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards to offset future taxable income; and
•the results of our consolidated subsidiaries.
Due to the various factors mentioned above, and others, the results of any prior quarterly or annual periods should not be relied upon as indications of our future operating performance.
Our stock price is volatile, and purchasers of our common stock could incur substantial losses.
Our stock price has been, and is likely to continue to be, volatile. The market price of our common stock could fluctuate significantly for many reasons, including in response to the risks described in this "Risk Factors" section, or for reasons unrelated to our operations, such as reports by media or industry analysts, investor perceptions or negative announcements by our collaborators regarding their own performance, as well as industry conditions and general financial, economic and political instability. From January 1, 2020 through February 15, 2022, our common stock has traded as high as $11.10 per share and as low as $1.26 per share. The stock market in general, as well as the market for biopharmaceutical companies in particular, has experienced extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. The market price of our common stock may be influenced by many factors, including, among others:
•announcements of acquisitions, collaborations, financings, divestitures, or other transactions by us;
•public concern as to the safety of our products;
•termination or delay of a development program;
•the recruitment or departure of key personnel; and
•the other factors described in this "Risk Factors" section.
In addition, we believe there has been and may continue to be substantial off-market transactions in derivatives of our stock, including short selling activity or related similar activities, which are beyond our control and which may be beyond the full control of the SEC and Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority, or FINRA. While SEC and FINRA rules prohibit some forms of short selling and other activities that may result in stock price manipulation, such activity may nonetheless occur without detection or enforcement. Significant short selling or other types of market manipulation could cause our stock trading price to decline, to become more volatile, or both.
Additionally, we have historically, and may from time to time in the future, own equity interests in our collaborators. Owning equity in our collaborators increases our exposure to the risks of our collaborators' businesses beyond the products of those collaborations. Any equity ownership in our collaborators exposes us to volatility and the potential for negative returns. We may have restrictions on resale and/or limited markets to sell our equity ownership. If our equity position is a minority position, we are exposed to further risk as we will not be able to exert control over the companies in which we hold securities.
We do not anticipate paying cash dividends, and accordingly, shareholders will have to rely on any stock appreciation for return on their investment.
We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock. We do not anticipate paying cash dividends in the future and intend to retain all of our future earnings, if any, to finance the operations, development, and growth of our business. As a result, appreciation of the price of our common stock, which may never occur, will provide a return to shareholders. Investors seeking cash dividends should not invest in our common stock. We have twice distributed equity securities of affiliated entities to our shareholders as a special stock dividend, most recently in 2017, but it is possible that we may never declare a special dividend again, and shareholders should not rely upon potential future special dividends as a source of return on their investment.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports, or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research or reports about our business, our share price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our shares of common stock depends, in part, on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. If securities or industry analysts do not continue to cover us, the trading price for our shares of common stock may be negatively impacted. If one or more of the analysts who covers us downgrades our shares of common stock, changes their opinion of our shares or publishes inaccurate or
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unfavorable research about our business, our share price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our shares of common stock could decrease and we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our share price and trading volume to decline.
The issuance of our common stock pursuant to a share lending agreement, including sales of the shares that we lend, and other market activity related to the share lending agreement may lower the market price of our common stock.
In connection with our offering of the Convertible Notes in July 2018, we entered into a share lending agreement with J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (that we refer to when acting in this capacity as the "share borrower"), the underwriter for our offering, pursuant to which we agreed to lend up to 7,479,431 shares of our common stock to the share borrower.
We were informed by the share borrower that it or one of its affiliates intended to use the short position created by the share loan and the concurrent short sales of the borrowed shares to facilitate transactions by which investors in the Convertible Notes, or the Convertible Notes Investors, hedge their investments through short sales or privately negotiated derivatives transactions.
The existence of the share lending agreement in connection with the offering of the borrowed shares, the short sales of our common stock effected in connection with the sale of the Convertible Notes and the related derivatives transactions, or any unwind of such short sales or derivatives transactions, could cause the market price of our common stock to be lower over the term of the share lending agreement than it would have been had we not entered into that agreement, due to the effect of the increase in the number of outstanding shares of our common stock or otherwise. For example, in connection with any cash settlement of any such derivative transaction, the share borrower or its affiliates may purchase shares of our common stock and the Convertible Notes Investors may sell shares of our common stock, which could temporarily increase, temporarily delay a decline in, or temporarily decrease, the market price of our common stock. The market price of our common stock could be further negatively affected by these or other short sales of our common stock, including other sales by the Convertible Notes Investors hedging their investment therein.
Adjustments by the Convertible Notes Investors of their hedging positions in our common stock and the expectation thereof may have a negative effect on the market price of our common stock.
The borrowed shares are used by the Convertible Notes Investors to establish hedged positions with respect to our common stock through short sale transactions or privately negotiated derivative transactions. The number of borrowed shares may be more or less than the number of shares that will be needed in such hedging transactions. Any buying or selling of shares of our common stock by those Convertible Notes Investors to adjust their hedging positions may affect the market price of our common stock.
In addition, the existence of the Convertible Notes may also encourage short selling by market participants because the conversion of the Convertible Notes could depress our common stock price. The price of our common stock could be affected by possible sales of our common stock by the Convertible Notes Investors who view the Convertible Notes as a more attractive means of equity participation in us and by hedging or arbitrage trading activity that we expect to occur involving our common stock. This hedging or arbitrage trading activity could, in turn, affect the market price of the Convertible Notes.
Changes in the accounting guidelines relating to the borrowed shares or our inability to classify the borrowed shares as equity could impact our reported earnings per share and potentially our common stock price.
Because the borrowed shares (or identical shares) must be returned to us when the share lending agreement terminates pursuant to its terms (or earlier in certain circumstances), we believe that under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, or U.S. GAAP, as presently in effect, assuming the borrowed shares issued pursuant to the share lending agreement are classified as equity under U.S. GAAP, the borrowed shares will not be considered outstanding for the purpose of computing and reporting our earnings per share. If accounting guidelines were to change in the future or we are unable to classify the borrowed shares issued pursuant to the share lending agreement as equity, we may be required to treat the borrowed shares as outstanding for purposes of computing earnings per share, our reported earnings per share would be impacted and our common stock price could decrease, possibly significantly.
As of December 31, 2021, Randal J. Kirk controlled approximately 40 percent of our common stock. If our executive officers and directors choose to act together, they may be able to significantly influence our management and operations, acting in their own best interests and not necessarily those of other shareholders.
We have historically been controlled, managed, and principally funded by Randal J. Kirk, our Executive Chairman, and affiliates of Mr. Kirk, including Third Security. As of December 31, 2021, Mr. Kirk and shareholders affiliated with him
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beneficially owned approximately 40 percent of our voting stock, and our executive officers and directors, as a group, owned approximately 43 percent of our voting common stock. Mr. Kirk may be able to control or significantly influence all matters requiring approval by our shareholders, including the election of directors and the approval of mergers or other business combination transactions, and he may be able to exert significant influence on other corporate actions as a result of his role as our Executive Chairman and status as a significant shareholder. Further, our executive officers and directors, acting together as shareholders, would be able to significantly influence all matters requiring approval by our shareholders, including the election of directors and the approval of mergers or other business combination transactions, as well as our management and affairs. The interests of this group of shareholders may not always coincide with the interests of other shareholders, and they may act in a manner that advances their best interests and not necessarily those of other shareholders. This concentration of ownership control may:
•delay, defer, or prevent a change in control;
•entrench our management and/or the board of directors; or
•impede a merger, consolidation, takeover, or other business combination involving us that other shareholders may desire.
We have engaged in transactions with companies in which Randal J. Kirk, our Executive Chairman, and his affiliates have an interest.
We have engaged in a variety of transactions, including collaborations and our sale of our non-healthcare assets to TS Biotechnology, with companies in which Mr. Kirk and affiliates of Mr. Kirk have a direct or indirect interest. See "Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements - Notes 1, 3, 4, 5, 13, 14, and 17" appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report for a discussion of such transactions. Mr. Kirk serves as the Senior Managing Director and Chairman of Third Security and owns 100 percent of the equity interests of Third Security. We believe that each of these transactions was on terms no less favorable to us than terms we could have obtained from unaffiliated third parties, and each of these transactions was approved by at least a majority of the disinterested members of the audit committee of our board of directors. Furthermore, as we execute on these transactions going forward, a conflict may arise between our interests and those of Mr. Kirk and his affiliates.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market could occur at any time. This could cause the market price of our common stock to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market could occur at any time. These sales, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares of common stock intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of our common stock. If Mr. Kirk or any of his affiliates were to sell a substantial portion of the shares they hold, it could cause our stock price to decline.
In addition, as of December 31, 2021, there were 12,260,187 shares subject to outstanding options that will become eligible for sale in the public market to the extent permitted by any applicable vesting requirements, lock-up agreements and Rules 144 and 701 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. As of December 31, 2021, there were 468,481 Restricted Stock Units, or RSUs, outstanding. Shares issuable upon the exercise of such options and upon vesting of the RSUs can be freely sold in the public market upon issuance and once vested. Additionally, as of December 31, 2021, we had 5,813,233 of shares available for grant under the 2013 Omnibus Incentive Plan and 1,974,662 shares available for grant under the 2019 Incentive Plan for Non-Employee Service Providers.
Our articles of incorporation authorize us to issue preferred stock with terms that are preferential to those of our common stock.
Our articles of incorporation authorize us to issue, without the approval of our shareholders, one or more classes or series of preferred stock having such designations, preferences, limitations and relative rights, including preferences over our common stock respecting dividends and distributions, as our board of directors may determine. For example, in connection with the formation of a Preferred Stock Equity Facility, which was subsequently terminated in June 2018, we filed an amendment to our articles of incorporation to set the designations of our Series A Preferred Stock. Effective February 1, 2020, the Series A Preferred Stock designations was terminated. In the future, we may enter into similar facilities or issue preferred stock that has greater rights, preferences, and privileges than our common stock.
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We are subject to anti-takeover provisions in our articles of incorporation and bylaws and under Virginia law that could delay or prevent an acquisition of our Company, even if the acquisition would be beneficial to our shareholders.
Certain provisions of Virginia law, the commonwealth in which we are incorporated, and our articles of incorporation and bylaws could hamper a third party's acquisition of us, or discourage a third party from attempting to acquire control of us. These provisions:
•include a provision allowing our board of directors to issue preferred stock with rights senior to those of the common stock without any vote or action by the holders of our common stock. The issuance of preferred stock could adversely affect the rights and powers, including voting rights, of the holders of common stock;
•establish advance notice requirements for nominations for election to the board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted on at shareholder meetings;
•provide for the inability of shareholders to convene a shareholders' meeting without the support of shareholders owning together 25 percent of our common stock;
•provide for the application of Virginia law prohibiting us from entering into a business combination with the beneficial owner of 10 percent or more of our outstanding voting stock for a period of three years after the 10 percent or greater owner first reached that level of stock ownership, unless we meet certain criteria;
•allow the authorized number of our directors to be changed only by resolution of our board of directors;
•limit the manner in which shareholders can remove directors from the board;
•require that shareholder actions must be effected at a duly called shareholder meeting and prohibit actions by our shareholders by written consent; and
•limit who may call a special meeting of shareholders.
These provisions also could limit the price that certain investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock. In addition, these provisions make it more difficult for our shareholders, should they choose to do so, to remove our board of directors or management.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
Not applicable.
Item 2. Properties
We establish the geographic locations of our research and development operations based on proximity to the relevant market expertise and access to available talent pools. The following table shows information about our primary lab operations used in our healthcare operations as of December 31, 2021:
| Location | Square Footage | |||||||
| Germantown, Maryland (Biopharmaceuticals segment) | 61,048 | |||||||
| Ghent, Belgium (Biopharmaceuticals segment) | 14,198 | |||||||
Our primary domestic production facilities, for our Trans Ova segment, are located in Sioux Center, Iowa, and include approximately 275,000 square feet of production and office facilities and approximately 360 acres of land. The land and production facilities are primarily used for embryo transfer and IVF processes, as well as housing livestock used in such processes. We also lease or own regional production facilities and land in California, Maryland, Missouri, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin for these purposes.
Our primary domestic production and lab facilities, for our Exemplar segment, are located in Flandreau, South Dakota, and Johnson County, Iowa, and include approximately 66,000 square feet of production, lab, and office facilities.
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Our primary administrative offices are in Germantown, Maryland, and Blacksburg, Virginia. See also "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Contractual Obligations and Commitments" appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
In the course of our business, we are involved in litigation and legal matters, including governmental investigations. Such matters are subject to many uncertainties and outcomes are not predictable with assurance. We accrue liabilities for such matters when it is probable that future expenditures will be made and such expenditures can be reasonably estimated. As of December 31, 2021, we do not believe that any such matters, individually or in the aggregate, will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
See "Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements - Note 16" appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report for further discussion of ongoing legal matters.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
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PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Market Information and Holders of Record
Our common stock trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, or Nasdaq, under the symbol "PGEN".
As of February 15, 2022, we had 327 holders of record of our common stock. The actual number of shareholders is greater than this number of record holders and includes shareholders who are beneficial owners but whose shares are held in street name by brokers and other nominees. This number of holders of record also does not include shareholders whose shares may be held in trust by other entities.
Dividends
We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our capital stock. We currently intend to retain earnings, if any, to finance the growth and development of our business and do not expect to pay any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future.
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
Information about our equity compensation plans is incorporated herein by reference to Item 12 of Part III of this Annual Report.
Stock Performance Graph
This performance graph shall not be deemed "soliciting material" or to be "filed" with the SEC for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or otherwise subject to the liabilities under that Section, and shall not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing of Precigen, Inc. under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act.
The following graph shows a comparison from December 31, 2016 through December 31, 2021 of the cumulative total return for our common stock; the Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Index, or the S&P 500 Index; and the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index. The graph assumes that $100 was invested at the market close on December 31, 2016 in the common stock of Precigen, Inc., the S&P 500 Index, and the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index, and data for the S&P 500 Index and the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index assumes reinvestments of dividends. The stock price performance of the following graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.
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| Company / Index | Base Period 12/31/2016 | 3/31/2017 | 6/30/2017 | 9/30/2017 | 12/31/2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Precigen, Inc. | $ | 100.00 | $ | 82.35 | $ | 100.10 | $ | 78.99 | $ | 47.87 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| S&P 500 Index | 100.00 | 105.53 | 108.24 | 112.53 | 119.42 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nasdaq Biotechnology Index | 100.00 | 110.70 | 117.06 | 125.98 | 121.06 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Company / Index | 3/31/2018 | 6/30/2018 | 9/30/2018 | 12/31/2018 | 3/31/2019 | 6/30/2019 | 9/30/2019 | 12/31/2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Precigen, Inc. | $ | 63.70 | $ | 57.92 | $ | 71.55 | $ | 27.17 | $ | 21.86 | $ | 31.83 | $ | 23.77 | $ | 22.77 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S&P 500 Index | 117.96 | 121.42 | 130.16 | 111.97 | 126.60 | 131.40 | 132.96 | 144.31 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nasdaq Biotechnology Index | 120.98 | 124.55 | 138.33 | 109.77 | 126.67 | 123.63 | 112.80 | 136.56 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Company / Index | 3/31/2020 | 6/30/2020 | 9/30/2020 | 12/31/2020 | 3/31/2021 | 6/30/2021 | 9/30/2021 | 12/31/2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Precigen, Inc. | $ | 14.13 | $ | 20.73 | $ | 14.54 | $ | 42.38 | $ | 28.63 | $ | 27.09 | $ | 20.73 | $ | 15.42 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S&P 500 Index | 115.44 | 138.48 | 150.21 | 167.77 | 177.45 | 191.95 | 192.40 | 212.89 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nasdaq Biotechnology Index | 122.34 | 154.99 | 153.52 | 171.64 | 170.41 | 185.66 | 183.40 | 170.55 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities and Use of Proceeds from Registered Securities
(a) Sales of Unregistered Securities
None.
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(b) Use of Proceeds
None.
(c) Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
None.
Item 6. [Reserved]
Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is provided to enhance the understanding of, and should be read in conjunction with, Part I, Item 1, "Business" and Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data." For information on risks and uncertainties related to our business that may make past performance not indicative of future results, or cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements, see "Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements," and Part I, Item 1A, "Risk Factors."
Financial overview
We have incurred significant losses since our inception. We anticipate that we may continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future, and we may never achieve or maintain profitability. Our historical collaboration and licensing revenues were generated under a business model from which we have transitioned, and we do not expect to expend significant resources servicing our historical collaborations in the future. We may enter into strategic transactions for individual platforms or programs in the future from which we may generate new collaboration and licensing revenues. We continue to generate product and service revenues through our Trans Ova and Exemplar subsidiaries, and in 2021 and 2020, both of these subsidiaries generated positive Segment Adjusted EBITDA. Products currently in our clinical pipeline will require regulatory approval and/or commercial scale-up before they may commence significant product sales and operating profits.
As we continue our efforts to focus our business and generate additional capital, we may be willing to enter into transactions involving one or more of our operating segments and reporting units for which we have goodwill and intangible assets. These efforts could result in us identifying impairment indicators or recording impairment charges in future periods. In addition, market changes and changes in judgments, assumptions, and estimates that we have made in assessing the fair value of goodwill could cause us to consider some portion or all of certain assets to become impaired.
Sources of revenue
Historically, we have derived our collaboration and licensing revenues through agreements with counterparties for the development and commercialization of products enabled by our technologies. Generally, the terms of these collaborations provide that we receive some or all of the following: (i) technology access fees upon signing; (ii) reimbursements of costs incurred by us for our research and development and/or manufacturing efforts related to specific applications provided for in the collaboration; (iii) milestone payments upon the achievement of specified development, regulatory and commercial activities; and (iv) royalties on sales of products arising from the collaboration.
Our technology access fees and milestone payments may be in the form of cash or securities of the collaborator. Our collaborations contain multiple arrangements, and we typically defer revenues from the technology access fees and milestone payments received and recognize such revenues in the future over the anticipated performance period. We are also entitled to sublicensing revenues in those situations where our collaborators choose to license our technologies to other parties.
As we continue to shift our focus on our healthcare business, we have and may continue to mutually terminate collaboration agreements or repurchase rights to the exclusive fields from collaborators, relieving us of any further performance obligations under the agreement. Upon such circumstances or when we determine no further performance obligations are required of us under an agreement, we may recognize any remaining deferred revenue as either collaboration revenue or as a reduction of operating expense, depending on the circumstances. See "Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements - Note 5" appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report for a discussion of changes to our significant collaborations.
We generate product and service revenues primarily through sales of products or services that are created from technologies developed or owned by us. Our primary current revenues arise from Trans Ova and include sales of advanced reproductive technologies, including our bovine embryo transfer and IVF processes and from genetic preservation and sexed semen
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processes, and applications of such processes to other livestock, as well as sales of livestock and embryos produced using these processes and used in production. Exemplar also generates product and service revenues through the development and sale of genetically engineered miniature swine models. We recognize revenue when control of the promised product is transferred to the customer or when the promised service is completed.
In future periods, in connection with our focus on healthcare, our revenues will primarily depend on our ability to advance and create our own programs and the extent to which we bring products enabled by our technologies to market. Other than for collaboration revenues recognized upon cancellation or modification of an existing collaboration or for revenues generated pursuant to future strategic transactions for any of our existing platforms or programs, we expect our collaboration revenues will continue to decrease in the near term. Our revenues will also depend upon our ability to maintain or improve the volume and pricing of Trans Ova's and Exemplar's current product and service offerings and to develop and scale up production of new offerings from the various technologies of our subsidiaries. As we focus on our healthcare business, we anticipate that our expenses will increase substantially if, and as, we continue to advance the preclinical and clinical development of our existing product candidates and our research programs. We expect a significant period of time could pass before commercialization of our various product candidates or before the achievement of contractual milestones and the realization of royalties on product candidates commercialized under our collaborations and revenues sufficient to achieve profitability. Accordingly, there can be no assurance as to the timing, magnitude, and predictability of revenues to which we might be entitled.
Cost of products and services
Cost of products and services includes primarily labor and related costs, drugs and supplies used primarily in Trans Ova's embryo transfer and IVF processes, livestock and feed used in production, and facility charges, including rent and depreciation. Fluctuations in the price of livestock and feed have not had a significant impact on our operating margins and no derivative financial instruments are used to mitigate the price risk.
Research and development expenses
We recognize research and development expenses as they are incurred. Our research and development expenses consist primarily of:
•salaries and benefits, including stock-based compensation expense, for personnel in research and development functions;
•fees paid to consultants and contract research organizations who perform research on our behalf and under our direction;
•costs related to laboratory supplies used in our research and development efforts and acquiring, developing, and manufacturing preclinical study and clinical trial materials;
•costs related to certain in-licensed technology rights or reacquired in-process research and development;
•amortization of patents and related technologies acquired in mergers and acquisitions; and
•facility-related expenses, which include direct depreciation costs and unallocated expenses for rent and maintenance of facilities and other operating costs.
Our research and development expenses are generally incurred by our reportable segments and primarily relate to either costs incurred to expand or otherwise improve our technologies or the costs incurred to develop our own products and services. Our Biopharmaceuticals segment is progressing preclinical and clinical programs that target urgent and intractable diseases in our core therapeutics areas of immuno-oncology, autoimmune disorders and infectious diseases, including PRGN-3005, PRGN-3006, PRGN-3007, PRGN-2009, PRGN-2012, and AG019. Exemplar's research and development activities relate to new and improved pig research models. Trans Ova's research and development activities support new and improved product and service offerings for its customers. The following table summarizes our research and development expenses incurred by
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reportable segment and reconciles those expenses to research and development expenses on the consolidated statements of operations for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019.
| Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||||||||||||
| (In thousands) | |||||||||||||||||
| Biopharmaceuticals | $ | 47,644 | $ | 38,992 | $ | 46,833 | |||||||||||
| Exemplar | 289 | 611 | 894 | ||||||||||||||
| Trans Ova | 2,222 | 2,228 | 2,037 | ||||||||||||||
| Total research and development expenses from reportable segments | 50,155 | 41,831 | 49,764 | ||||||||||||||
| Other research and development expenses, including from other operating segments | — | (171) | 17,672 | ||||||||||||||
| Eliminations | (14) | (16) | (770) | ||||||||||||||
| Total consolidated research and development expenses | $ | 50,141 | $ | 41,644 | $ | 66,666 | |||||||||||
The amount of research and development expenses may be impacted by, among other things, the number and nature of our own proprietary programs, and the number and size of programs we may support on behalf of collaboration agreements. We expect that our research and development expenses will increase as we continue to develop our own proprietary programs, including progression of these programs into preclinical and clinical stages. We believe these increases will likely include increased costs paid to consultants and contract research organizations, and increased costs related to laboratory supplies.
Research and development expenses may also increase as a result of in-licensing of technologies or ongoing research and development operations that we might assume through mergers and acquisitions.
Selling, general and administrative expenses
Selling, general and administrative, or SG&A, expenses consist primarily of salaries and related costs, including stock-based compensation expense, for employees in executive, operational, finance, information technology, legal, and corporate communications functions. Other significant SG&A expenses include rent and utilities, insurance, accounting, and legal services (including the cost of settling any claims and lawsuits), and expenses associated with obtaining and maintaining our intellectual property.
SG&A expenses may fluctuate in the future depending on the scaling of our corporate functions required to support our corporate initiatives and the outcomes of legal claims and assessments against us.
Other income (expense), net
We historically held equity securities and preferred stock of private and publicly traded companies, including investments received and/or purchased from certain collaborators. These equity securities and preferred stock were recorded at fair value at each reporting date. Unrealized appreciation (depreciation) resulting from fair value adjustments were reported as other income (expense) in the consolidated statements of operations. In January 2020, as part of the TS Biotechnology Sale, we sold our remaining equity securities and investment in preferred stock, and therefore, no future gains (losses) will be incurred.
Interest expense is expected to decrease in future periods upon the adoption of a new accounting standard effective January 1, 2022, which simplifies the accounting for the Convertible Notes as described in "Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements - Note 2" appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report.
Interest income consists of interest earned on our cash and cash equivalents and short-term and long-term investments and may fluctuate based on amounts invested and current interest rates. Dividend income historically consisted of the monthly preferred stock dividends received from our investments in preferred stock, all of which have been liquidated as of December 31, 2020.
Equity in net income (loss) of affiliates
Equity in net income or loss of affiliates is our pro-rata share of our equity method investments' operating results, adjusted for accretion of basis difference. We account for investments in our JVs using the equity method of accounting since we have the ability to exercise significant influence, but not control, over the operating activities of these entities. We previously accounted for our investments in start-up entities backed by Harvest using the equity method of accounting. In December 2020, we
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entered into an agreement with Harvest to resolve matters related to the parties' contractual and equity relationships and our remaining equity interests in start-up entities backed by Harvest were terminated.
Segment performance
We use Segment Adjusted EBITDA as our primary measure of segment performance. We define Segment Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) before (i) interest expense, (ii) income tax expense or benefit, (iii) depreciation and amortization, (iv) stock-based compensation expense, (v) loss on settlement agreements where noncash consideration is paid, (vi) adjustments for accrued bonuses paid in equity awards, (vii) gain or loss on disposals of assets, (viii) loss on impairment of goodwill and other noncurrent assets, (ix) equity in net loss of affiliates, and (x) recognition of previously deferred revenue associated with upfront and milestone payments as well as cash outflows from capital expenditures and investments in affiliates, but includes proceeds from the sale of assets in the period sold. Corporate expenses are not allocated to the segments and are managed at a consolidated level. See "Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements - Note 18" appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report for further discussion of Segment Adjusted EBITDA.
Results of operations
Comparison of the year ended December 31, 2021 to the year ended December 31, 2020
The following table summarizes our results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, together with the changes in those items in dollars and as a percentage:
| Year Ended December 31, | Dollar Change | Percent Change | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| (In thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenues | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Collaboration and licensing revenues (1) | $ | 506 | $ | 21,208 | $ | (20,702) | (97.6) | % | |||||||||||||||
| Product revenues | 27,295 | 24,349 | 2,946 | 12.1 | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| Service revenues | 75,570 | 56,899 | 18,671 | 32.8 | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| Other revenues | 502 | 722 | (220) | (30.5) | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| Total revenues | 103,873 | 103,178 | 695 | 0.7 | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| Operating expenses | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cost of products | 24,864 | 28,550 | (3,686) | (12.9) | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| Cost of services | 33,521 | 26,963 | 6,558 | 24.3 | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| Research and development | 50,141 | 41,644 | 8,497 | 20.4 | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| Selling, general and administrative | 74,122 | 91,704 | (17,582) | (19.2) | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| Impairment of goodwill | — | — | — | N/A | |||||||||||||||||||
| Impairment of other noncurrent assets | 543 | 920 | (377) | (41.0) | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| Total operating expenses | 183,191 | 189,781 | (6,590) | (3.5) | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| Operating loss | (79,318) | (86,603) | 7,285 | (8.4) | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| Total other expense, net | (17,604) | (16,114) | (1,490) | 9.2 | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| Equity in loss of affiliates | (3) | (1,138) | 1,135 | (99.7) | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| Loss from continuing operations before income taxes | (96,925) | (103,855) | 6,930 | (6.7) | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| Income tax benefit | 160 | 82 | 78 | 95.1 | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| Loss from continuing operations | (96,765) | (103,773) | 7,008 | (6.8) | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of income tax benefit (2) | 4,599 | (66,748) | 71,347 | 106.9 | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss attributable to Precigen | $ | (92,166) | $ | (170,521) | $ | 78,355 | (46.0) | % | |||||||||||||||
(1)Including $0 and $3,053 from related parties for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
(2)See "Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements - Note 3" appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report.
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Collaboration and licensing revenues
The following table shows the collaboration and licensing revenue recognized for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, together with the changes in those items.
| Year Ended December 31, | Dollar Change | ||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2020 | ||||||||||||||||
| (In thousands) | |||||||||||||||||
| Alaunos Therapeutics, Inc. (formerly ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc.) | $ | 100 | $ | 200 | $ | (100) | |||||||||||
| Oragenics, Inc. | — | 3,053 | (3,053) | ||||||||||||||
| Castle Creek Biosciences, Inc. | 388 | 17,810 | (17,422) | ||||||||||||||
| Other | 18 | 145 | (127) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 506 | $ | 21,208 | $ | (20,702) | |||||||||||
Collaboration and licensing revenues decreased $20.7 million, or 98 percent, from the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily due to the accelerated recognition of previously deferred revenue in the prior period upon the mutual terminations of collaborations with Castle Creek and Oragenics, Inc., or Oragenics, in 2020.
Product revenues and gross margin
Product revenues increased $2.9 million, or 12 percent, over the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase in product revenue was primarily due to higher customer demand for animals as a result of stronger beef and dairy industries in the current year. Gross margin on products improved in the current period as a result of the increased revenues, increased focus on selling higher margin products, and operational efficiencies that have been gained through reductions in workforce and improved inventory management.
Service revenues and gross margin
Service revenues increased $18.7 million, or 33 percent, over the year ended December 31, 2020. Trans Ova's revenues and gross margins thereon improved primarily due to an increase in services performed as a result of higher customer demand as the beef and dairy industries have been stronger in the current year and a change in pricing structure with certain customers. Additionally, Exemplar's service revenues and gross margins thereon improved in the current period due to an increase in services performed resulting from a higher demand from existing and new customers as well as a combination of price increases and a change in pricing structure with certain customers.
Research and development expenses
Research and development expenses increased $8.5 million, or 20 percent, over the year ended December 31, 2020. Contract research organization costs and lab supplies increased $6.7 million with the advancement of our clinical and preclinical programs.
Selling, general and administrative expenses
SG&A expenses decreased $17.6 million, or 19 percent, from the year ended December 31, 2020. Salaries, benefits, and other personnel costs decreased $4.9 million in 2021 primarily due to (i) a reduced headcount as we scaled down our corporate functions to support our more streamlined organization and (ii) reduced stock compensation costs for previously granted awards that became fully vested in early 2021. There was a reduction of $13.9 million for the nonrecurring settlements with Harvest and the SEC in the prior period (see "Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements - Notes 16 and 17" appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report). This was partially offset by an increase in professional fees of $1.1 million, primarily due to an increase in legal fees associated with certain litigation matters.
Impairment of other noncurrent assets
Impairment losses for the year ended December 31, 2021 of $0.5 million arose primarily from an impairment of the right-of-use asset at one of the Company's leased facilities. Impairment losses for the year ended December 31, 2020 of $0.9 million were due to the impairment of the right-of-use assets for certain of our leased facilities.
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Total other expense, net
Total other expense, net, which primarily includes interest expense, increased $1.5 million, or 9 percent, over the year ended December 31, 2020. Interest income earned on our short-term investments decreased in 2021 due to lower interest rates. Additionally, interest expense increased associated with our Convertible Notes issued in July 2018 due to the noncash amortization of the related debt discount and debt issuance costs.
Segment performance
The following table summarizes Segment Adjusted EBITDA, which is our primary measure of segment performance, for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, for each of our reportable segments, as well as unallocated corporate costs.
| Year Ended December 31, | Dollar Change | Percent Change | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| (In thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Segment Adjusted EBITDA: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Biopharmaceuticals | $ | (45,754) | $ | (35,378) | $ | (10,376) | (29.3) | % | |||||||||||||||
| Exemplar | 6,898 | 4,004 | 2,894 | 72.3 | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| Trans Ova | |||||||||||||||||||||||