UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM
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ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
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DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K incorporates by reference certain information from the registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement for its 2023 annual meeting of shareholders, which the registrant intends to file pursuant to Regulation 14A with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than 120 days after the registrant’s fiscal year end of December 31, 2022. Except with respect to information specifically incorporated by reference in this Form 10-K, the Proxy Statement is not deemed to be filed as part of this Form 10-K.
Intellia Therapeutics, Inc.
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2022
Table of Contents
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Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure |
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Forward-looking Information
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). These statements may be identified by such forward-looking terminology as “may,” “should,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Our forward-looking statements are based on a series of expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections about our company, are not guarantees of future results or performance and involve substantial risks and uncertainty. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements. Our business and our forward-looking statements involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties inherent in our statements regarding:
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All of our express or implied forward-looking statements are as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K only. In each case, actual results may differ materially from such forward-looking information. We can give no assurance that such expectations or forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. An occurrence of or any material adverse change in one or more of the risk factors or risks and uncertainties referred to in this Annual Report on Form 10-K or included in our other public disclosures or our other periodic reports or other documents or filings filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. Except as required by law, we do not undertake or plan to update or revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in plans, assumptions, estimates or projections or other circumstances affecting such forward-looking statements occurring after the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, even if such results, changes or circumstances make it clear that any forward-looking information will not be realized. Any public statements or disclosures by us following this Annual Report on Form 10-K that modify or impact any of the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K will be deemed to modify or supersede such statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Summary of the Material Risks Associated with Our Business
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PART I
Item 1. Business
Overview
We are a leading clinical-stage genome editing company, focused on developing potentially curative therapeutics using CRISPR/Cas9-based technologies. CRISPR/Cas9, an acronym for Clustered, Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (“CRISPR”)/CRISPR associated 9 (“Cas9”), is a technology for genome editing, the process of altering selected sequences of genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (“DNA”). To fully realize the transformative potential of CRISPR/Cas9-based technologies, we are building a full-spectrum genome editing company, by leveraging our modular platform, to advance in vivo and ex vivo therapies for diseases with high unmet need by pursuing two primary approaches. For in vivo applications to address genetic diseases, we deploy CRISPR/Cas9 as the therapy that targets cells within the body. In parallel, we are developing ex vivo applications to address immuno-oncology and autoimmune diseases, where we use CRISPR/Cas9 as the tool to create the engineered cell therapy. Our deep scientific, technical and clinical development experience, along with our robust intellectual property (“IP”) portfolio, have enabled us to unlock broad therapeutic applications of CRISPR/Cas9 and related technologies to create new classes of genetic medicine.
Treating—and potentially curing—a broad range of severe diseases will require multiple gene editing approaches. With proprietary CRISPR/Cas9-based technology at the core of our platform, we continue to add new capabilities to expand our current solutions for addressing a multitude of life-threatening diseases. These additions include our proprietary base editor and DNA writing technology, as well as novel CRISPR enzymes, which provide us with the capabilities to achieve multiple editing strategies.
We continue to advance our platform’s modular solutions and research efforts on genome editing technologies as well as delivery and cell engineering capabilities to generate additional development candidates.
Our mission is to transform the lives of people with severe diseases by developing curative genome editing treatments. We believe we can deliver on our mission and provide long-term benefits for all of our stakeholders by focusing on four key elements:
Our lead in vivo candidates, NTLA-2001 for the treatment of transthyretin (“ATTR”) amyloidosis and NTLA-2002 for the treatment of hereditary angioedema (“HAE”), are the first CRISPR/Cas9-based therapy candidates to be administered systemically, via intravenous infusion, for precision editing of a gene in a target tissue in humans. In parallel, we are advancing multiple ex vivo programs, wholly owned and in collaboration with partners, for the treatment of immuno-oncology and autoimmune diseases.
CRISPR/Cas9 Technology
The Nobel Prize-winning CRISPR/Cas9 system developed by one of our scientific co-founders, Dr. Jennifer Doudna, and her collaborators, offers a revolutionary approach for therapeutic development due to its broad ability to precisely edit the genome. This system can be used to make three general types of edits: knockouts, repairs and insertions. Each of these editing strategies takes advantage of the Cas9 endonuclease, an enzyme which can be programmed to edit double-stranded DNA at specific locations using a ribonucleic acid (“RNA”) molecule, called a guide RNA (“gRNA”). The desired edits result from naturally-occurring biological mechanisms that effect particular types of genetic alterations. CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing has the potential to make permanent, precisely targeted changes in a patient’s chromosomes and repair the underlying genetic mutation, whereas more traditional gene therapy typically involves introducing a non-permanent copy of a gene into a patient’s cells.
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Strategy
Our strategy is to advance our full-spectrum genome editing company, focused on developing and commercializing curative CRISPR/Cas9-based therapeutics, by leveraging our modular platforms. Our approach to realizing the broad potential of genome editing includes:
Focusing on Indications that Enable Us to Fully Develop the Potential of the CRISPR/Cas9 System. To maximize our opportunity to rapidly develop clinically successful products, we have applied a risk-mitigated approach to selecting indications with significant unmet medical needs based on four primary criteria:
We believe these selection criteria position us to build a diversified pipeline, in which we are not reliant on any single delivery technology or editing approach for success. This approach has the potential to increase the probabilities of success in our initial indications, and generate insights that will accelerate the development of additional therapeutic products. Specifically, we believe we can apply the learnings from our current programs to inform our selection of additional indications and targets of interest.
Aggressively Pursuing In Vivo Liver Indications to Develop Therapeutics Rapidly with Our Proprietary Delivery System. For our in vivo indications, we select well-validated targets in diseases with significant unmet medical needs where there are predictive biomarkers, or measurable indicators of a biological condition or state, with strong disease correlation and where the CRISPR/Cas9 technology and our proprietary delivery tools can be applied towards developing novel therapeutics. Our current in vivo pipeline targets diseases of the liver, including ATTR amyloidosis, HAE and the liver manifestation of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (“AATD”) as a gene knockout approach to remove unwanted protein, all of which we believe we can address using our proprietary lipid nanoparticle (“LNP”) delivery system. In addition, we are developing therapeutic candidates that leverage our gene insertion platform to restore native protein for the treatment of the lung manifestation of AATD, hemophilia A, hemophilia B, and additional disease indications.
Actively Developing and Expanding Ex Vivo Therapeutic Programs. We are independently researching and developing proprietary engineered cell therapies to treat various cancers and autoimmune diseases. We are deploying our LNP-based cell engineering platform and allogeneic technology, a first-of-its-kind engineering solution designed to avoid both T cell and natural killer (“NK”) cell-mediated rejection, to advance a pipeline of wholly owned and partnered ex vivo programs. We are pursuing targeting modalities, such as T cell receptors (“TCRs”) and chimeric antigen receptors (“CARs”), with broad potential in multiple immuno-oncology and autoimmune indications.
Continuing to Leverage Strategic Partnerships to Accelerate Clinical Development. We view strategic partnerships as important drivers for accelerating the achievement of our goal of rapidly developing curative therapies. The potential application of the CRISPR/Cas9 system and derivative technologies is extremely broad, and we plan to continue to identify partners who can contribute meaningful resources and technical expertise to our programs and allow us to more rapidly bring scientific innovation to a broader patient population. Our ongoing partnership on in vivo programs for genetic diseases with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Regeneron”), a leader in genetics-driven drug discovery and development, and our collaborations with AvenCell Therapeutics, Inc. (“AvenCell”), a newly formed corporation with a world-leading clinical-stage universal chimeric antigen receptor T (“CAR-T”) cell platform; SparingVision SAS (“SparingVision”), a genomic medicine company developing vision saving treatments for ocular diseases; Kyverna Therapeutics, Inc. (“Kyverna”), a cell therapy company engineering a new class of therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases; and ONK Therapeutics, Ltd. (“ONK”), a cell therapy company engineering a new class of NK cell therapies to treat cancer, exemplify this strategy.
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Growing Our Leadership Position in the Field of Genome Editing. We are committed to broadening our capabilities to remain at the cutting edge of genome editing research. We will continue to invest internally in developing our platform capabilities, including innovative genome editing, delivery and cell engineering technologies to advance new therapeutic programs. We will also continue to explore accessing external technologies or opportunities to enhance our leadership position in developing innovative therapeutics.
Our Pipeline
The following table summarizes the status of our most advanced programs:
In Vivo Programs
Our selection criteria include identifying diseases that originate in the liver; have well-defined mutations that can be addressed by a knockout or insertion approach; have readily measurable therapeutic endpoints with observable clinical responses; and for which effective treatments are absent, limited or unduly burdensome. Our initial in vivo indications target genetic liver diseases, including our ATTR amyloidosis, HAE and AATD development programs. Our current efforts on in vivo delivery focus on the use of LNPs for delivery of the CRISPR/Cas9 complex to the liver.
Transthyretin (“ATTR”) Amyloidosis Program
Background
ATTR amyloidosis is a progressive and fatal disorder resulting from deposition of insoluble amyloid fibrils into multiple organs and tissues leading to systemic failure. Blood-borne transthyretin (“TTR”) protein is produced by hepatocytes and normally circulates as a soluble homotetramer that facilitates transport of vitamin A, via retinol binding protein, as well as the thyroid hormone, thyroxine. Mutations in the TTR gene lead to the production of TTR proteins that are destabilized in their tetramer form. These tetramers more readily dissociate into the monomeric form, and thence to an aggregative form that results in amyloid deposits in tissues. These deposits cause damage in those tissues, resulting in a disorder known as hereditary ATTR amyloidosis (“ATTRv”). Over 120 different genetic mutations are currently known to cause ATTRv.
Deposits of TTR amyloid in the heart, nerves and/or other tissues can lead to diverse disease manifestations, including two main hereditary forms – ATTRv with polyneuropathy (“ATTRv-PN”), and ATTRv with cardiomyopathy
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(“ATTRv-CM”). Typical onset of disease symptoms is during adulthood and can be fatal within two to 15 years. Estimates suggest that approximately 50,000 patients suffer from ATTRv worldwide.
In addition to the hereditary forms described above, ATTR amyloidosis can also develop spontaneously in the absence of any TTR gene mutation. This wild-type ATTR (“ATTRwt”) is increasingly being recognized as a significant and often undiagnosed cause of heart failure in the elderly and is the subject of active investigation. Recent estimates suggest that, globally, between 200,000 and 500,000 people may suffer from ATTRwt with cardiomyopathy (“ATTRwt-CM”).
Limitations of Current Treatment Options
Currently, there are three therapies for the treatment of ATTRv-PN approved in the United States (“U.S.”), and four approved in most major markets outside of the U.S. While these therapies have shown the potential to slow or halt the progression of neuropathic symptoms, and in some patients lead to an improvement in symptoms, their approved prescribing instructions require them to be administered chronically for the life of the patient in order to sustain benefit. Additionally, patient response to these therapies varies. While some patients may experience symptomatic improvement after being treated with these therapies, the disease continues to progress in many of the treated patients, which highlights the continued need for efficacious and potentially curative therapies. At present, there is only one therapy approved for ATTR-CM (including both ATTRv-CM and ATTRwt-CM) which has shown the ability to improve patient outcomes, though most patients still appear to have the progressive disease. As with the treatments for ATTRv-PN, chronic, lifetime dosing is required to sustain the therapeutic effects.
Our Approach
NTLA-2001 is the first investigational CRISPR-based therapy to be systemically delivered to edit genes inside the human body and has the potential to be the first single-dose treatment for ATTR amyloidosis. Delivered with our in vivo LNP technology, NTLA-2001 offers the possibility of halting and reversing the disease by driving a deep, consistent and potentially lifelong reduction in TTR protein after a single dose. Using this approach, we aim to address ATTR amyloidosis regardless of the disease manifestation. It has been clinically validated that a significant correlation between TTR protein reduction and therapeutic benefit exists. Additionally, these studies suggest that loss of TTR gene expression from the liver would be well-tolerated in adult humans. We believe our approach may improve patient outcomes by significantly and consistently reducing TTR protein levels after a single dose, as opposed to life-long, chronic therapy.
About the NTLA-2001 Clinical Program
Our global Phase 1 study is an open-label, two-part study of NTLA-2001 in adults with ATTR amyloidosis. The trial consists of two arms; one arm to evaluate NTLA-2001 for ATTR-CM and the other arm for ATTRv-PN.
For both the ATTR-CM and ATTRv-PN arms of the study, the primary objectives are to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of NTLA-2001. Patients receive a single dose of NTLA-2001 via intravenous administration. The study consists of a single-ascending dose phase in Part 1 and, following the identification of a recommended dose, an expansion phase in Part 2.
NTLA-2001 has received orphan drug designation for the treatment of ATTR amyloidosis by both the European Commission (“EC”) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”).
NTLA-2001 is the subject of a co-development and co-promotion (“Co/Co”) agreement directed to our first collaboration target with Regeneron, ATTR (the “ATTR Co/Co”), for which we are the clinical and commercial lead party and Regeneron is the participating party. Regeneron shares in approximately 25% of worldwide development costs and commercial profits for the ATTR program. For more information regarding our collaboration with Regeneron, see the section below entitled “Collaborations - Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.”
ATTR-CM Arm:
In November 2022, we presented positive interim results from the dose-escalation portion of the ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of NTLA-2001 at the American Heart Association (“AHA”) Scientific Sessions 2022. The interim data
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were from 12 adult patients with ATTR-CM with New York Heart Association (“NYHA”) Class I – III heart failure. The data presented were as of a data cut-off date of August 25, 2022. Single doses of 0.7 mg/kg and 1.0 mg/kg of NTLA-2001 were administered via intravenous infusion, and the change from baseline in serum TTR protein concentration was measured for each patient. These data showed deep and sustained mean serum TTR reductions of greater than 90% at the 0.7 mg/kg and 1.0 mg/kg doses at day 28. These deep reductions in serum TTR were sustained through the observation period, with patient follow-up ranging from four to six months. At both dose levels, NTLA-2001 was generally well tolerated. One patient in the 0.7 mg/kg dose NYHA Class III cohort experienced a Grade 3 infusion-related reaction, which resolved without clinical sequalae. No clinically significant laboratory abnormalities were observed at either dose level. These data support NTLA-2001’s potential as a one-time treatment to permanently inactivate the TTR gene and reduce the disease-causing protein in people with ATTR-CM.
In December 2022, the planned enrollment of the dose-expansion portion of the ATTR-CM arm was completed to support a U.S. Investigational New Drug (“IND”) submission for the pivotal study. We anticipate submitting an IND application in mid-2023 and initiating a global pivotal trial for ATTR-CM by year-end 2023, subject to regulatory feedback. We plan to present additional data from the ATTR-CM arm of the Phase 1 study in 2023, including longer-term safety and durability data as well as emerging clinical endpoints.
ATTRv-PN Arm:
In June 2022, we presented updated interim data from the dose-escalation portion of the ongoing Phase 1 study of NTLA-2001 at the European Association for the Study of the Liver (“EASL”) International Liver Congress 2022. Extended follow-up data from 15 ATTRv-PN patients showed that deep, dose-dependent reductions in serum TTR observed with prior readouts were sustained through the last measured timepoint of follow-up, reaching 12 months in 0.1 mg/kg and 0.3 mg/kg cohorts and six months in the 0.7 mg/kg and 1.0 mg/kg cohorts. Both 0.7 mg/kg and 1.0 mg/kg doses led to greater than 85% mean TTR reduction at day 28. The durability and persistence of effect continue to support NTLA-2001 as a potential one-time treatment to permanently inactivate the TTR gene and reduce the disease-causing protein.
In August 2022, we announced plans to add a second cohort to the dose-expansion portion of the polyneuropathy arm, which will evaluate a 55 mg dose, the fixed dose corresponding to 0.7 mg/kg. The decision to study a second dose was based on the following: (1) the emerging data from the dose-escalation portion of the cardiomyopathy arm showed similar serum TTR reduction at both the 0.7 mg/kg and 1.0 mg/kg doses, (2) the comparability of performance at the 0.7 mg/kg and 1.0 mg/kg dose in the dose-escalation portion of the polyneuropathy arm, which led to an 86% and 93% mean and 97% and 98% maximum TTR reduction at day 28, respectively, and (3) a significant elevation in liver enzymes, which normalized without medical intervention, observed at day 28 in a patient treated in the dose-expansion portion of the polyneuropathy arm at the 80 mg dose (the fixed dose corresponding to 1.0 mg/kg). While the adverse event is considered possibly related to study drug, this patient was asymptomatic, had no increase in bilirubin and the event was deemed nonserious by the investigator. In November 2022, we announced the initiation of patient dosing at the 55 mg dose in Part 2, the dose-expansion portion of the study.
During the first quarter of 2023, the planned enrollment of the dose-expansion portion of the ATTRv-PN arm in the Phase 1 study was completed to inform a pivotal study. We are preparing for a Phase 3 study, which will include discussions with regulatory authorities, and we plan to present additional clinical data from the ATTRv-PN arm of the Phase 1 study in 2023.
Hereditary Angioedema (“HAE”) Program
Background
HAE is a rare genetic disorder characterized by recurrent, painful and unpredictable episodes of severe swelling. The most common areas of the body to develop swelling are the limbs, face, intestinal tract and airway. Minor trauma or stress may trigger an attack but swelling often occurs without a known trigger. Episodes involving the intestinal tract cause severe abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. Swelling in the airway can restrict breathing and lead to life-threatening obstruction of the airway. The disease is caused by increased levels of bradykinin, a protein which leads to swelling. Most patients with HAE have a deficiency of C1 esterase inhibitor (“C1-INH”) protein, which normally prevents the overproduction of bradykinin that causes the recurring, debilitating and potentially fatal swelling attacks
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in people living with HAE. It is estimated that greater than 15,000 patients have been diagnosed with HAE in the U.S. and Europe.
Limitations of Current Treatment Options
Currently, there are multiple therapies approved to treat HAE, including acute and prophylactic approaches. Acute treatments are used to treat patients who are experiencing an attack. Prophylactic treatments are used to reduce the number of attacks that a patient may experience. Prophylactic treatments have proven to be effective in reducing the number of attacks for most patients, though some patients still experience breakthrough attacks and such treatment options require regular injections that can be associated with significant treatment burden and impact on quality of life.
Our Approach
Using our modular LNP delivery system, we aim to knock out the kallikrein B1 (“KLKB1”) gene in the liver with a single dose with the potential to permanently reduce total plasma kallikrein protein and activity and thereby ameliorate the frequency and intensity of HAE attacks. We expect our approach should eliminate the current, significant treatment burden for people living with HAE and minimize the risk of breakthrough attacks with extensive and continuous reduction in plasma kallikrein activity. We believe KLKB1 knockout to be safe, as humans with prekallikrein deficiency appear to have no known health effects. In addition, inhibition of kallikrein activity has proven to be clinically effective as a prophylactic treatment for HAE.
About the NTLA-2002 Clinical Program
Our multi-national Phase 1/2 study is evaluating the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of NTLA-2002 in adults with Type I or Type II HAE. This includes the measurement of kallikrein protein levels and activity as determined by HAE attack rate measures. The Phase 1 portion of the study is an open-label, single-ascending dose design used to identify up to two dose levels of NTLA-2002 that will be further evaluated in the randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 2 portion of the study. This Phase 1/2 study is intended to identify the dose of NTLA-2002 for use in future studies. NTLA-2002 has received orphan drug designation for the treatment of HAE by the FDA and the Innovation Passport from the United Kingdom (“U.K.”) Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”).
In September 2022, we announced positive interim results from an ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical study of NTLA-2002 in an oral presentation at the 2022 Bradykinin Symposium held in Berlin, Germany. The data presented were from the initial six adult patients with HAE in the dose-escalation study with a data cut-off date of July 27, 2022. Administration of single doses of NTLA-2002 led to dose-dependent reductions in plasma kallikrein with mean reductions of 65% and 92% in the three subjects for each of the 25 mg and 75 mg dose cohorts by week eight, respectively. In addition to plasma kallikrein levels, HAE attack rates are also being measured in the study, with the first analysis occurring at the end of the pre-specified 16-week primary observation period. A single dose of 25 mg of NTLA-2002 resulted in a mean reduction in HAE attacks of 91% through the 16-week observation period. Additionally, two of the three patients have not had a single HAE attack since treatment, and all three patients have been attack-free since week 10 (based on follow-up through weeks 24-32). Patients in the 75 mg cohort had not completed the primary 16-week observation period by the data cut-off date. At both dose levels NTLA-2002 was generally well-tolerated, and the majority of adverse events were mild in severity. The most frequent adverse events were infusion-related reactions, which were mostly Grade 1 and resolved within one day. No dose-limiting toxicities, no serious adverse events and no adverse events of Grade 3 or higher were observed. No clinically significant laboratory abnormalities were observed, including any significant elevation in liver enzymes.
In November 2022, we announced additional positive interim results from the ongoing first-in-human study of NTLA-2002 in an oral presentation at the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (“ACAAI”) 2022 Annual Scientific Meeting held in Louisville, Kentucky. The data presented were from 10 adult patients with HAE in the dose-escalation portion of the study with a data cut-off date of September 28, 2022. Administration of a single dose of NTLA-2002 led to mean plasma kallikrein reduction of 81% in the four subjects for the 50 mg dose cohort by day 22. Previously reported deep plasma kallikrein reductions achieved in the 25 mg and 75 mg dose cohorts were sustained through the observation period, which ranged from week 16 to week 32. Mean reduction in HAE attacks of 78% (week 1-16) and 89% (week 5-16) were observed in the 75 mg dose cohort. All patients treated in the 25 mg and
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75 mg dose cohorts, who completed the pre-specified 16-week observation period, remained attack-free through the data cut-off date (patient follow-up ranged from 2.3 to 10.6 months). Patients in the 50 mg cohort had not completed the primary 16-week observation period. At all three dose levels, NTLA-2002 was generally well-tolerated, and the majority of adverse events were mild in severity. The most frequent adverse events were infusion-related reactions, which were mostly Grade 1 and resolved within one day. No dose-limiting toxicities, no serious adverse events and no adverse events of Grade 3 or higher were observed. No clinically significant laboratory abnormalities were observed.
We selected two doses (25 mg and 50 mg) to further evaluate NTLA-2002 in the Phase 2 portion of the study.
In February 2023, we announced the initiation of patient screening in the Phase 2 portion of the Phase 1/2 study of NTLA-2002 in New Zealand. In addition, we announced that the Company recently submitted an IND application for NTLA-2002 to the U.S. FDA to support inclusion of U.S. sites in the Phase 2 portion of the study. We plan to present additional clinical data from the Phase 1 portion of the study in 2023, including safety, durability and attack-rate data across all cohorts.
Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (“AATD”) Program
Background
AATD is a genetic disorder that results in increased risk for lung and/or liver disease. Alpha-1 antitrypsin (“A1AT”), which is encoded by the SERPINA1 gene, is a serine protease inhibitor that is primarily produced in the liver and has a wide range of biological functions, one of which is to inhibit neutrophil elastase. Patients with AATD have genetic variants of A1AT which cause the enzyme to accumulate in the liver, reducing the amount of functioning A1AT in the bloodstream. This has two prominent potential downstream clinical manifestations. The first is an increased risk for progressive liver disease, resulting from an accumulation of mutant A1AT enzyme in the liver. The second, and more common, effect is enhanced risk for emphysema resulting from reduced inhibition of neutrophil elastase in the lungs. Both clinical manifestations are progressive and potentially fatal.
It is estimated that there are approximately 250,000 individuals globally and greater than 60,000 individuals in the U.S. with the ZZ genotype, the genotype most associated with AATD and the downstream clinical manifestations. There are another 1.25 million individuals globally estimated to have the SZ genotype, who are also at enhanced risk of developing AATD. While augmentation therapy is available for the treatment of AATD, the effect on pulmonary exacerbations and on the progression of emphysema in AATD has not been conclusively demonstrated in randomized, controlled clinical trials. Also, at present, there are no therapies that have been approved for the treatment of liver disease resulting from AATD.
Limitations of Current Treatment Options
There are multiple therapies approved by the FDA to treat patients with emphysema caused by hereditary AATD. All marketed therapies are alpha-1 proteinase inhibitors (alpha-1 antitrypsin) given through intravenous infusion, with the goal of augmenting naturally-occurring low levels of A1AT. To maintain benefit, current therapies are usually given weekly for the duration of a patient’s lifetime. Currently marketed therapies may slow the progression of disease and lung dysfunction, but there remains high unmet need for more effective, and less burdensome, therapies that can further slow, halt, or even reverse disease progression. Further, there are no pharmacological therapies for liver disease, and patients that develop end-stage liver disease are managed with liver transplants.
Our Approaches
NTLA-3001 for associated lung disease:
NTLA-3001 is a wholly owned, first-in-class CRISPR-mediated in vivo targeted gene insertion development candidate for the treatment of AATD-associated lung disease. It is designed to precisely insert a healthy copy of the SERPINA1 gene, which encodes the A1AT protein, with the potential to restore permanent expression of functional A1AT protein to therapeutic levels after a single dose. We reported preclinical data showing that insertion of a healthy form of the SERPINA1 gene led to normal human A1AT levels in non-human primates (“NHPs”), which were sustained through the duration of the 52-week study. Our approach seeks to improve patient outcomes, including eliminating the need
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for weekly intravenous infusions of A1AT augmentation therapy or lung transplant in severe cases. We are planning to submit an IND or IND-equivalent application for NTLA-3001 in the second half of 2023.
NTLA-2003 for associated liver disease:
NTLA-2003 is our wholly owned, in vivo knockout development candidate for the treatment of AATD-associated liver disease. It is designed to inactivate the SERPINA1 gene responsible for the production of abnormal A1AT protein in the liver. This approach aims to halt the progression of liver disease and eliminate the need for liver transplant in severe cases. We reported preclinical data showing that knockout of the endogenous cynomolgus SERPINA1 gene led to therapeutically relevant reductions of the disease-associated protein in NHPs, which were sustained for the duration of the study. We plan to complete the ongoing IND-enabling activities for NTLA-2003 by year-end 2023.
In Vivo Research Programs
We continue to work on various liver-focused programs, such as hemophilia A and hemophilia B, which we are co-developing with Regeneron, as well as other liver targets, which we are working on both independently and in partnership with Regeneron, that would leverage our capabilities to knockout, insert and make consecutive edits to the genome.
In September 2020, we presented data that showed the persistence of in vivo CRISPR/Cas9 edits in regenerated liver tissue, both knockout and insertion, and corresponding durability of effect following a partial hepatectomy (“PHx”) and liver regrowth in a murine model. Unlike traditional gene therapy, for which a significant loss (over 80%) in transgene expression was observed in the insertion PHx model, our targeted gene insertion approach yielded durable edits, with no significant loss in expression.
In the third quarter of 2021, we and Regeneron, the lead party for this program, nominated a Factor 9 (“F9”) gene insertion development candidate for our Hemophilia B (“Hem B”) program, leveraging our jointly developed targeted transgene insertion capabilities to insert F9. F9 is a gene that encodes Factor IX (“FIX”), a blood-clotting protein that is missing or defective in Hem B patients. In preclinical studies, we and Regeneron demonstrated the first CRISPR/Cas9-mediated targeted transgene insertion in the liver of NHPs using F9 as a model gene. Following a single dose of the hybrid LNP-adeno-associated virus (“AAV”) delivery system containing an F9 DNA template, we demonstrated that the circulating human FIX protein levels achieved in NHPs were at or above normal levels. The NHP data expands on our previous data showing durability of therapeutically relevant human FIX protein levels achieved in mice for over 12 months.
We are further investigating delivery strategies that target tissues outside of the liver. For example, we have presented preclinical data establishing proof-of-concept for non-viral genome editing of bone marrow and hematopoietic stem cells (“HSCs”) in mice. This represented our first demonstration of systemic in vivo genome editing in bone marrow using our proprietary non-viral delivery platform. We believe these results extend our modular in vivo capabilities to treat inherited blood disorders such as sickle cell disease. In addition, we are collaborating with SparingVision to develop novel genomic medicines utilizing CRISPR/Cas9 technology for the treatment of ocular diseases.
With the continued progression of our in vivo research programs, we nominated an additional development candidate for the treatment of an undisclosed prevalent disease in 2022.
Ex Vivo Programs
We are independently researching and developing proprietary engineered cell therapies to treat various oncological and other disease indications, for example TCR-engineered T cells and CAR-T cells for immuno-oncology applications and engineered regulatory T cells for autoimmune disorders. Our diverse product strategy includes multiple elements. In particular:
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Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
Background
Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is a lymphoma that arises typically from B lymphocytes and spreads through the lymphatic system, a component of the immune system. Hodgkin’s Lymphoma usually affects younger individuals, with a median age of diagnosis less than 40-years-old. In the U.S. alone, almost 9,000 individuals are diagnosed annually with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
Limitations of Current Treatment Options
Current treatments are associated with significant toxicity and require treatment cycles over the course of several months. Additionally, individuals that relapse after initial therapy and are not eligible for transplants typically have poorer prognoses, with little opportunity for a curative therapy.
Other CD30+ Lymphomas
Background
CD30+ lymphomas (other than Hodgkin’s Lymphoma) include various peripheral T-cell lymphomas (“PTCL”), cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (“CTCL”), and other T- and NK-cell lymphomas. These are a heterogeneous group of lymphomas that are typically diagnosed in patients over 60 years of age, and have 5-year overall survivals that typically range from 20 – 50%, but may be as high as 70 – 90% for select subtypes. It is estimated in the U.S. that there are over 3,000 individuals diagnosed with a CD30+ lymphoma every year.
Limitations of Current Treatment Options
Current treatment options mainly consist of chemotherapy regimens, which generally have poor outcomes. Additionally, given the heterogeneity of CD30+ lymphomas, clinically-validated treatment options across CD30+ lymphomas are limited.
Our Approach
NTLA-6001 is our wholly owned, allogeneic CAR-T development candidate targeting CD30 for the treatment of CD30-expressing hematologic cancers, including relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (“cHL”). NTLA-6001 is the first candidate developed using our proprietary allogeneic cell engineering platform. We are identifying collaboration opportunities to advance the development of NTLA-6001.
At the Keystone Symposium on May 1, 2022 and at the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy 29th Congress in October 2022, we presented preclinical data leading to the development of NTLA-6001. The data demonstrated that our proprietary allogeneic solution created T cells that not only avoid immune recognition by host CD4 and CD8 T cells, but also were protected from NK cell-mediated killing in in vitro and in vivo mouse models. Furthermore,
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allogeneic T cells engineered specifically with LNPs retained their viability, cell expansion, memory phenotype, cytotoxic and cytokine secretion characteristics.
Ex Vivo Research Programs
We are developing engineered cell therapies to treat a range of hematological and solid tumors. We are pursuing modalities, such as TCRs and CARs, with broad potential in multiple indications. We are advancing efforts for allogeneic therapies to move from liquid to solid tumors. Our researchers are developing and improving cell-engineering manufacturing and delivery processes that, we believe, may allow us to deliver T cell therapies with high levels of editing, robust levels of cell expansion, desirable memory phenotypes, improved function and no translocations above background levels.
Our proprietary T cell engineering process using LNPs to engineer cell therapies enables multiple, sequential gene edits. We have shared preclinical data demonstrating that our LNP-based engineering technology is a significant improvement over electroporation, the standard engineering process used to introduce proteins and nucleic acids into cells. The resulting T cells engineered with LNPs had improved cell properties and performance both in vitro and in vivo as compared to electroporation. The data support the ability of our platform to be used for a variety of targeting modalities, including CARs and TCRs, and to support both autologous and allogeneic T cell candidates. The LNP-based approach has been used in multiple ex vivo candidates in development by us and our collaborators.
In October 2022, at the European Society of Gene & Cell Therapy 29th Congress, we highlighted our proprietary allogeneic solution to create engineered T cells with high anti-tumor activity, which may be uniquely capable of persisting in the patient to maintain durable responses. Notably, a novel combination of gene edits, including knockout of human leukocyte antigen (“HLA”) Class II and HLA-A while retaining HLA-B and HLA-C proteins, yielded T cells capable of avoiding rejection by host T and NK cells in preclinical models. With our approach, we are able to pursue a simplified HLA matching strategy (only matching for HLA-B and HLA-C with homozygous donors for a 2/2 match) between healthy donor T cells and recipient patients, allowing for the development of an “off-the-shelf” therapy that addresses the majority of the patient population with only a small set of donors. Our allogeneic platform is being deployed for investigational TCR-T and CAR-T cell therapies.
Our genome editing capabilities include a novel, proprietary cytosine deaminase base editor technology. We have demonstrated the technology’s potential for enhanced cell engineering, with multiple simultaneous gene knockouts achieving >90% T cell editing efficiency and no detectable increase in translocation above background levels.
Novartis-Led Research Programs
In December 2019, the research term under our collaboration agreement with Novartis entered into in 2014 (the “2014 Novartis Agreement”) ended, although the 2014 Novartis Agreement remains in effect. Under the 2014 Novartis Agreement, Novartis has selected particular CAR-T cell, HSC and OSC targets for continued development. For more information regarding our collaboration with Novartis, see the section below entitled “Collaborations - Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Inc.”
Our Genome-Editing Platform
Our robust genome-editing platform forms the foundation of our full-spectrum therapeutic product pipeline based on CRISPR/Cas9 and derivative technologies. Our modular platform is based on our proprietary components that can serve both in vivo and ex vivo programs, as well as our delivery technologies that can be used in either program type. In addition to the components described below, we have developed robust, high volume (high throughput) capabilities centering around enabling strategic target identification and validation that we believe will provide us with a competitive advantage in creating successful therapeutic products.
We are committed to staying at the forefront of the genome editing revolution and will continue to advance our technology platform through a mix of both internal research and development and external opportunities in order to potentially serve more patients across a broad set of diseases. With proprietary CRISPR/Cas9-based technology at the core of our platform, we continue to add new capabilities to expand our current solutions for therapeutic application. These additions include our proprietary base editor, as well as novel CRISPR-derivative enzymes, which provide us with the capabilities to achieve multiple editing strategies. Consistent with our ambitions to build the broadest genome
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editing toolbox, in February 2022 we announced the acquisition of Rewrite Therapeutics, Inc. (“Rewrite”), a private biotechnology company focused on advancing novel DNA writing technologies. Rewrite has developed promising new tools for genome editing, including DNA writing via CRISPR/Cas9-guided polymerases. Rewrite also has developed an approach that could improve the efficiency of genome editing in non-dividing cell types, a key challenge for some existing editing platforms. Since the acquisition of Rewrite, we have implemented and expanded the platform leveraging Intellia's tool box and know-how, and demonstrated robust performance and versatility. These tools may allow for targeted corrections, insertions, deletions, and the full range of single-nucleotide changes, which could provide new ways to edit disease-causing genes and broaden the therapeutic potential for genomic medicines. We believe Rewrite’s technology could likely be delivered using our LNP technology and AAV vectors.
Informatics
We have built a high throughput, scalable data processing and analysis, or informatics, infrastructure to support various aspects of our platform, including gRNA selection and evaluation of on- and off-target editing in cells. Depending on the desired editing strategy, we use proprietary bioinformatics methods to design candidate guides and select those that we believe are both highly specific and have high cutting efficiency. As we grow our experimental data set, we continue to incorporate gRNA performance into our algorithms to improve their predictive power.
Guide RNA Qualification
As part of the process to identify gRNAs for potential development candidates, we screen numerous gRNAs for their ability to generate the required edit at the genomic site of interest, called on-target activity, as well as any potential propensity to generate unwanted events at other sites in the genome, also known as off-target activity. To evaluate on-target activity, we use high throughput sequencing methods to analyze the genomes of edited cells, allowing us to assess overall editing efficiency and to examine the nature of the editing events, such as specific insertions or deletions.
For gRNAs selected through our primary on-target screens, we perform a variety of analyses to look for possible off-target editing events, including bioinformatic evaluations and experimental methods. Part of our approach involves identifying candidates with no or few off-target sites based on experimental measurements of genome-wide DNA breaks, as well as targeted sequencing of such candidate sites to evaluate actual off-target editing events in relevant cell types. We continue to optimize our gRNA qualification capability over time by increasing our throughput, improving our off-target activity detection accuracy and increasing our bioinformatics predictive accuracy.
Guide RNA Format
CRISPR/Cas9 systems can function with gRNAs having a variety of modifications, such as changes to the gRNA sequence or chemical modifications of nucleotides. As part of our development of CRISPR/Cas9 therapeutics, we have engineered modified gRNAs to, for example, improve editing efficiency, specificity and stability inside cells, as well as to reduce the likelihood of an immune response. We believe our work in this area will allow us to develop the most appropriate gRNAs for therapeutic applications.
Nuclease
Our current preferred Cas9 protein is derived from a species of bacteria called S. pyogenes (“Spy”), which is the Cas9 used in the vast majority of published CRISPR/Cas9 literature to date. We are exploring other naturally occurring Cas9 proteins and nucleases from other bacteria, which may differ from Spy Cas9 in aspects such as specificity, size or mechanism of DNA recognition, binding and cutting. We are pursuing these alternative Cas9 forms and other nucleases through ongoing internal work, collaborations with our existing partners and scientific founders, and in-licensing opportunities. We also are investigating targeted modifications of Cas9 that can modulate DNA activity by mechanisms other than cleavage. We believe that different therapeutic applications may be best addressed using different forms of Cas9 or other nucleases, depending on the target cell or tissue of interest, the delivery method and the desired type of edit.
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Cas9 Edit Type
Knockout
The CRISPR/Cas9 system, by itself, primarily functions to cut DNA, while the resulting desired therapeutic editing events are performed by the cell, subsequent to the cut, as the cell seeks to rejoin the cut ends. One type of edit is caused by a DNA repair mechanism that is prone to losing or adding short lengths of DNA around the cut site. The resulting changes in the DNA impair the function of any encoded protein, causing a knockout edit. Using a combination of our informatics, gRNA qualification and format, and nuclease platform capabilities, we have developed an efficient process to identify gRNAs that create this kind of edit at high frequency while possessing high specificity for the on-target site and no substantial off-target effects.
Based on both NHP and rodent disease models, we have demonstrated the ability to knockout multiple targets in the liver, including TTR, KLKB1, SERPINA1, hydroxyacid oxidase 1 (“HAO1”) and lactate dehydrogenase A (“LDHA”). We believe these data demonstrate the modular nature of our proprietary LNP delivery system.
Gene Insertion
While knockout edits can be made using solely a Cas9 protein and gRNA, other kinds of editing, involving repair and insertion, additionally require a template DNA that contains a desired genomic sequence that may be inserted or used to correct a patient’s original sequence. For ex vivo applications, in addition to delivering a Cas9-gRNA complex to cleave the cellular DNA sequence at the desired location, the desired DNA template may be delivered by physical means such as LNP in combination with a Cas9-gRNA complex, or by other means such as viral vectors or chemical means. For in vivo applications, we have developed combination approaches for delivering the editing machinery by LNP, and the repair and insertion templates by AAV vectors. We are independently advancing our in vivo gene insertion platform for multiple genes of interest to treat a variety of diseases, such as AATD, and working closely with Regeneron to advance programs for the treatment of hemophilia A and hemophilia B. We have demonstrated in NHP and rodent preclinical models the ability to precisely insert a gene, including SERPINA1 and F9, to produce normal human levels of the missing protein.
Consecutive Editing
Consecutive editing is any combination of knockout and insertion strategies. At the 2021 European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy Annual Meeting, we reported the first demonstration of a consecutive in vivo gene insertion and knockout in an NHP model of AATD. The consecutive edits led to durable production of normal human A1AT protein levels and reduction of endogenous disease-associated protein in the ongoing NHP study.
In Vivo Delivery
We are focusing our initial in vivo applications in the liver, where we deliver the CRISPR/Cas9 therapy intravenously to patients using our proprietary LNP platform.
Our proprietary LNPs encapsulate the therapeutic cargo, providing it with stability, selective delivery, improved pharmacologic properties and controlled circulation time. Our therapeutic cargo is designed to degrade relatively quickly, resulting in transient expression of Cas9. We see multiple advantages of using LNPs as an in vivo delivery vehicle, particularly as optimized by us for delivery of the CRISPR/Cas9 system or its components. First, LNPs have been clinically validated as an effective delivery vehicle of therapeutic nucleic acids to the liver after intravenous administration. LNPs have shown to have favorable tolerability in humans, with toxicities being dose-dependent, monitorable and reversible. Additionally, LNPs are chemically well-defined and have a completely synthetic route of manufacture, which permits greater scalability, product quality and controls. LNPs are tunable, do not exhibit cargo size limitations and can co-formulate different nucleic acid components, such as messenger RNA and gRNAs. There is no pre-existing immunity to the LNP or limiting de novo immunity after dosing, allowing for repeat dosing as required by the therapeutic approach. We are currently advancing our programs using our proprietary LNP delivery system, which uses a set of biodegradable, well-tolerated lipids, based on lipids originally developed by Novartis and in-licensed by us for use with all genome editing technologies, including CRISPR/Cas9 products. To date, we have successfully demonstrated well-tolerated in vivo editing in various animal models, including in mouse, rat and NHP livers, with a single dose of systemically delivered LNPs. In addition, we have moved into early-stage human clinical
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trials using LNPs as the delivery mechanism. Based on interim data reported from the first-in-human study of NTLA-2001, we have also successfully demonstrated that LNP delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 is well-tolerated in humans.
We plan to continue to further improve on our LNP system to optimize delivery of a variety of CRISPR/Cas9 therapeutic components, including templates for repair and insertion edits. In parallel, we are exploring additional delivery vehicles, including synthetic particles and viral vectors. We also are developing delivery strategies that we believe will allow us to target other tissues.
Ex Vivo Delivery
Cellular therapies are based on the administration of engineered human cells that are modified to provide or restore necessary functions in the cells of patients, or to target and eliminate cells with harmful attributes, such as cancer cells. The cells to be modified ex vivo can come from the individual patient (autologous source) or from another individual (allogeneic source). The CRISPR/Cas9 system can be used to modify cells outside the body using clinically proven delivery methods, such as electroporation. We are exploring these standard methods in parallel with our own newly-developed proprietary LNP-based delivery methods, which may provide advantages such as increased delivery efficiency and cell viability.
Ex Vivo Allogeneic Platform
We have developed a proprietary allogeneic cell engineering platform to overcome one of the key challenges to current allogeneic approaches employed by others, which is host rejection of the adoptive cell therapy. In preclinical studies, our allogeneic technology demonstrated the ability to create T cells with high anti-tumor activity capable of avoiding host T and NK cells, and thereby persisting to maintain durable responses. Our proprietary approach leverages a novel combination of sequential edits, including knockout of HLA Class II and HLA-A while retaining HLA-B and HLA-C proteins. With our approach, we can pursue a simplified HLA matching strategy between healthy donor T cells and recipient patients, allowing for the development of an “off-the-shelf” therapy that addresses the majority of the patient population with only a small set of donors. Our allogeneic platform is being deployed for investigational TCR-T and CAR-T cell therapies.
Collaborations and Other Arrangements
To accelerate the development and commercialization of CRISPR/Cas9-based products in multiple therapeutic areas, we have formed, and intend to seek other opportunities to form, strategic alliances with collaborators who can augment our leadership in CRISPR/Cas9 therapeutic development.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Regeneron”)
In April 2016, we entered into a license and collaboration agreement with Regeneron (the “2016 Regeneron Agreement”). The 2016 Regeneron Agreement has two principal components: (i) a product development component under which the parties will research, develop and commercialize CRISPR/Cas-based therapeutic products primarily focused on genome editing in the liver; and (ii) a technology collaboration component, pursuant to which the parties will engage in research and development activities aimed at discovering and developing novel technologies and improvements to CRISPR/Cas technology to enhance our genome editing platform. We may also access the Regeneron Genetics Center and proprietary mouse models to be provided by Regeneron for a limited number of our liver programs. At the inception of the 2016 Regeneron Agreement, Regeneron selected the first of its 10 targets, ATTR, which is subject to the ATTR Co/Co.
On May 30, 2020, we entered into (i) amendment no. 1 (the “2020 Regeneron Amendment”) to the 2016 Regeneron Agreement, (ii) co-development and co-funding agreements for the treatment of hemophilia A and hemophilia B (the “Hemophilia Co/Co”) agreements and (iii) a stock purchase agreement. Our collaboration with Regeneron under the Hemophilia Co/Co agreements is described above in the section entitled “Our Pipeline – In Vivo Research Programs”. In addition, the 2020 Regeneron Amendment extended the collaboration under the 2016 Agreement until April 2024, at which point Regeneron has an option to renew for an additional two years. The 2020 Regeneron Amendment also grants Regeneron exclusive rights to develop products for five additional in vivo CRISPR/Cas-based therapeutic liver targets and non-exclusive rights to independently develop and commercialize up to 10 ex vivo gene edited products made using certain defined cell types. Refer to Note 9 to our consolidated financial statements of this
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Annual Report on Form 10-K for a detailed description of the terms related to the 2016 Regeneron Agreement and the 2020 Regeneron Amendment.
AvenCell Therapeutics, Inc. (“AvenCell”)
On July 30, 2021, we finalized a transaction in which we, Cellex Cell Professionals GmbH (“Cellex”) and funds managed by Blackstone Life Sciences Advisors L.L.C. (“BXLS”) established a new universal CAR-T cell therapy company, AvenCell, which included executing a license and collaboration agreement (the “LCA”), under which we are collaborating with AvenCell to develop at least seven allogeneic switchable, universal CAR-T cell products that combine our allogeneic technology with AvenCell’s switchable, universal CAR-T cell platforms, called the UniCAR and RevCAR technologies (the “Allo Collaboration”). In addition, we granted AvenCell a license to develop and commercialize genome edited UniCAR and RevCAR T cell therapies. Additionally, AvenCell will pay us to provide supply and manufacturing services for them, including supplying good manufacturing practice (“GMP”) CRISPR reagents to support the research and development of such UniCAR and RevCAR T cell products under the Allo Collaboration until the completion of the first Pivotal Trial (as defined in the LCA) of the first such product. In July 2021, we also entered into a co-development and co-funding agreement with AvenCell (the “AvenCell Co/Co”). In November 2022, we conducted a portfolio prioritization review of our ex vivo pipeline and decided to discontinue the AvenCell Co/Co, effectively turning over control of the program to AvenCell. We will also have one option to enter into an additional co-development and co-funding agreement from selected allogeneic universal CAR-T cell therapy products that the parties intend to develop under the Allo Collaboration for a payment of $30.0 million to AvenCell.
In exchange for the license, we received a 33.33% equity interest in AvenCell at the time of the initial closing. Refer to Notes 9 and 10 to our consolidated financial statements of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information related to the terms of the agreements between us and AvenCell.
SparingVision SAS (“SparingVision”)
In October 2021, we and SparingVision, a genomic medicine company developing vision saving treatments for ocular diseases, entered into a license and collaboration agreement (the “SparingVision LCA”), to develop novel genomic medicines utilizing CRISPR/Cas9 technology for the treatment of ocular diseases. We will grant SparingVision exclusive rights to our proprietary in vivo CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing technology for up to three ocular targets addressing diseases with significant unmet medical need. In addition, the parties will research and develop novel self-inactivating AAV vectors and LNP-based approaches to address delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing reagents to the retina. SparingVision will lead and fund the preclinical and clinical development for the genome editing product candidates pursued under the collaboration. We will also be eligible to receive certain research, development and commercial milestone cash payments (up to approximately $200 million per product) as well as royalties on potential future sales of products arising from the collaboration. We will have an option to obtain exclusive U.S. commercialization rights for product candidates arising from two of three collaboration targets.
Refer to Notes 9 and 10 to our consolidated financial statements of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information related to the terms of the agreement between us and SparingVision.
Kyverna Therapeutics, Inc. (“Kyverna”)
In December 2021, we entered into a licensing and collaboration agreement with Kyverna, a cell therapy company engineering a new class of therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, for the development of an allogeneic CD19 CAR-T cell therapy for the treatment of a variety of B cell-mediated autoimmune diseases. We granted Kyverna rights to our proprietary ex vivo CRISPR/Cas9-based allogeneic platform for the development of KYV-201, an allogeneic CD19 CAR-T cell investigational candidate for the treatment of select autoimmune diseases. This is a novel approach aimed at targeting CD19 for inflammatory diseases as compared to traditional oncology indications. Kyverna will lead and fund preclinical and clinical development for KYV-201 and we will be eligible to receive certain development and commercial milestone payments, as well as low-to-mid-single-digit royalties on potential future sales. We may also exercise an option to lead U.S. commercialization for KYV-201 under a co-development and co-commercialization agreement. If we choose to co-develop and co-commercialize KYV-201, we will pay an opt-in fee of $5.0 million and share in 50% of development costs and future net profit and/or loss arising from commercializing KYV-201 in the U.S. Kyverna retains all rights outside of the U.S., and we will receive low-to-mid-single-digit royalties on net sales generated outside of the U.S.
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Refer to Notes 9 and 10 to our consolidated financial statements of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information related to the terms of the agreement between us and Kyverna.
ONK Therapeutics, Ltd (“ONK”)
In February 2022, we announced a license, collaboration and option agreement with ONK for the development of engineered NK cell therapies for the treatment of cancer. The agreement grants ONK a non-exclusive license to our proprietary ex vivo CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing platform and our LNP-based delivery technologies for development of up to five allogeneic NK cell therapies. ONK will be responsible for preclinical and clinical development for the engineered NK cell therapies enabled by the agreement. We will be eligible to receive up to $184 million per product in development and commercial milestone payments, as well as up to mid-single-digit royalties on potential future sales. In addition, the agreement grants us options to co-develop and co-commercialize up to two products worldwide with rights to lead commercialization in the U.S. Refer to Notes 9 and 10 to our consolidated financial statements of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information related to the terms of the agreement between us and ONK.
Rewrite Therapeutics Inc. (“Rewrite”)
On February 2, 2022, we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger with, inter alia, Rewrite Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Rewrite Merger Agreement”). Under the Rewrite Merger Agreement, we agreed to pay Rewrite’s former stockholders and optionholders (the “Rewrite Holders”) (a) upfront consideration in an aggregate amount of approximately $45.0 million payable in cash, excluding customary purchase price adjustments, and (b) up to an additional $155.0 million in milestone payments, including $55.0 million upon the achievement of certain pre-specified research milestones and $100.0 million upon achievement of a certain regulatory approval milestone, payable through a mixture of $130.0 million in cash and $25.0 million in shares of common stock. In September 2022, Rewrite merged into Intellia, with Intellia as the surviving entity. In January 2023, a $25.0 million research milestone was achieved and, in February 2023, we paid the Rewrite Holders a mixture of cash and 567,045 shares of common stock in order to fulfill this obligation.
Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Inc. (“Novartis”)
In December 2014, we entered into the 2014 Novartis Agreement, primarily focused on the research of new ex vivo CRISPR/Cas9-edited therapies using CAR-T cells and HSCs. The agreement was amended in December 2018 to also include research on OSCs. In December 2019, per the terms of the 2014 Novartis Agreement, the research term ended, although the 2014 Novartis Agreement remains in effect, for which we will be eligible to receive milestone and royalty payments in the future. In June 2021, we entered into Amendment No. 3 (the “Amendment”) to the 2014 Novartis Agreement. In consideration for a one-time payment to Novartis of $10.0 million, the Amendment amended Novartis’ rights with respect to all of the CAR-T Therapeutic Targets (as defined in the 2014 Novartis Agreement) that Novartis selected under the 2014 Novartis Agreement, including making Novartis’ license non-exclusive for such CAR-T Therapeutic Targets and related amendments to Novartis’ diligence, reporting obligations and sublicensing rights. Since December 31, 2021, there have been no other material changes to the key terms of the 2014 Novartis Agreement as amended. In February 2023, Novartis opted to discontinue development of its autologous, CRISPR-edited ex vivo HSC program targeting fetal hemoglobin for the treatment of sickle cell disease that resulted from our research collaboration. For further information on the terms and conditions of these agreements, refer to Note 9 to our consolidated financial statements of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Potential Future Collaborations
We view strategic partnerships as important drivers for helping accelerate our goal of rapidly treating patients. The potential application of CRISPR/Cas9 is extremely broad, and we plan to continue to identify partners who can contribute meaningful resources and insights to our programs and allow us to more rapidly bring scientific innovation to a broader patient population.
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Intellectual Property
We believe we are well positioned in terms of our IP because we:
Our licensed patent portfolio encompasses foundational filings on the use of CRISPR/Cas9 systems for genome editing, improvement modifications of these CRISPR systems, LNP technologies, TCRs for specific targets, and cell expansion technology relevant to stem cell-based therapies. We access these patent estates from licensors, including Caribou, Novartis, OSR and others. We also actively apply for, maintain, and plan to defend and enforce, as needed, our internally developed and externally licensed patent rights. Furthermore, we continue to search for and evaluate opportunities to in-license IP relevant to our targeted therapeutic programs and platforms and to develop and acquire new IP in collaboration with third parties.
In addition to our in-licensed IP, our IP portfolio includes over 60 patent families filed since 2015 covering solely or jointly owned technologies that we have developed independently or through our collaborations with Novartis, Regeneron and OSR. The patent families claim inventions relating to CRISPR/Cas9 improvements, methods for delivering CRISPR/Cas9 complexes, methods of treating diseases using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, and methods for analyzing editing events, among others. Patents resulting from our internal portfolio, if issued, would expire no earlier than 2036.
We actively apply for, maintain, and plan to defend and enforce, as needed, our internally developed and externally licensed patent rights. Furthermore, we continue to search for and evaluate opportunities to in-license IP relevant to our targeted therapeutic programs and platforms and to develop and acquire new IP in collaboration with third parties.
Caribou Biosciences In-Licensed Intellectual Property (“Caribou”)
In July 2014, we entered into a license agreement with Caribou (the “Caribou License”), as subsequently amended and supplemented, for an exclusive, worldwide license for human therapeutic, prophylactic, and palliative uses, except for anti-fungal and anti-microbial uses, defined in the license agreement as our field of use, of any CRISPR/Cas9-related patents and applications owned, controlled or licensed by Caribou as well as companion diagnostics to our product or product candidates. The license agreement also included exclusive rights in our field of use to any CRISPR/Cas9-related IP developed by Caribou after July 16, 2014 and through a cut-off date of January 30, 2018. The agreement further includes a non-exclusive research license to conduct research and development on product candidates and products.
The licensed Caribou patent portfolio includes several U.S. and foreign patents and patent applications owned or licensed by Caribou. Through January 30, 2018, Caribou had filed over 50 patent applications in the U.S. and internationally, which relate to the CRISPR/Cas platform, including modified and improved CRISPR/Cas9 systems or components, and methods of use that are part of our license. In addition, the licensed Caribou patent portfolio includes an exclusive sublicense in our field of use to the Regents of the University of California (“UC”) and University of Vienna’s (“Vienna”) rights in U.S. and foreign patent and patent applications covering the CRISPR/Cas9 technology, which they co-own with Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier (collectively, the “UC/Vienna/Charpentier IP”). In July 2015, we exercised our option to include in the licensed Caribou patent portfolio the U.S. and foreign patent and patent applications owned or controlled by Pioneer Hi-Bred International (“Pioneer”) and its affiliates. We have the right to grant sublicenses to the licensed Caribou patent portfolio to third parties in our field of use. Caribou retains the right to practice the licensed IP in all other fields, including for its own specific therapeutic product candidates outside our field of use. The UC/Vienna/Charpentier IP and Pioneer IP, and our rights to the same, are further described below.
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We have agreed to pay 30.0% of Caribou’s patent prosecution, filing and maintenance costs for the IP included in the license agreement, which has amounted to a total of $8.8 million incurred through December 31, 2022. Any patents that grant or have granted from these applications will expire in or after 2034, assuming payment of necessary maintenance fees. We also granted Caribou an exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license, with the right to sublicense, to any CRISPR/Cas9 patents, patent applications and know-how in Caribou’s retained fields of use owned or developed by us between July 16, 2014 and January 30, 2018. Caribou, which is obligated to pay a portion of our patent filing, prosecution and maintenance costs for any such licensed IP, also has an option to sublicense any CRISPR/Cas9 IP in-licensed by us for uses and activities in its retained field of use.
The Caribou License terminates on the expiration of the last-to-expire patent right that is licensed to either party. We must use commercially reasonable and diligent efforts to research, develop, manufacture and commercialize at least one product covered by the licensed IP. Either party may terminate the agreement in the event of the other party’s uncured material breach, bankruptcy or insolvency-related events, or breach of its obligations with respect to the included in-licenses.
On October 17, 2018, we initiated an arbitration proceeding against Caribou asserting that Caribou violated the terms and conditions of the Caribou License, as well as other contractual and legal obligations to us. On September 26, 2019, we announced that the arbitration panel issued an interim award concluding that Caribou had violated the terms of the exclusive license granted to us pursuant to the Caribou License. But the arbitration panel declared that Caribou has an equitable “leaseback” to use certain IP exclusively licensed to us in an on-going Caribou CAR-T cell program, specifically the product candidate identified as CB-010. On June 16, 2021, we executed a Leaseback Agreement (“Leaseback”) with Caribou, which concluded the ongoing arbitration. Under the Leaseback, we received $1.0 million as an upfront payment and may receive future regulatory and sales milestones, and single-digit royalties payable by Caribou, based on the development and commercialization of CB-010. Caribou also will be responsible for any payments required in respect of our in-licensed IP.
The Regents of the University of California and the University of Vienna Intellectual Property
The UC/Vienna/Charpentier IP covers methods of use and compositions relating to engineered CRISPR/Cas9 systems for, among other things, cleaving or editing DNA and altering gene product expression in various organisms, including humans. The earliest claimed priority date for the patents in the UC/Vienna/Charpentier IP is May 25, 2012. As of December 31, 2022, this family includes over 50 issued patents in the U.S. and over 30 granted patents outside the U.S., including for example the U.K., Australia, China, Japan, Israel, Mexico and the approximately 40 countries that are members of the European Patent Convention. Applications continue to be prosecuted in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) and other patent agencies across the world. Patents issued from this family will expire in or after 2033, if successfully maintained.
In April 2013, Caribou entered into an exclusive, worldwide license in all fields, with the right to sublicense, for this patent family with UC/Vienna solely under UC/Vienna ownership rights. Caribou’s license remains in effect for the life of the last-to-expire patent or last-to-be-abandoned patent application licensed, whichever is later. Through our license agreement with Caribou, we have an exclusive sublicense to UC/Vienna’s interest in this foundational CRISPR/Cas9 patent family for use in human therapeutics, except for anti-fungal and anti-microbial uses as defined in the license agreement as our field of use. For therapeutic products covered by this license and their companion diagnostics, we will owe mid-single-digit royalties on net sales. In addition, we may be subject to milestone payments of $0.1 million upon the first filing of an IND application, a total of $0.5 million for Phase II and Phase III clinical trials, $0.5 million to $1.0 million for each of the first three approved new drug applications or biologics license applications in the U.S., and $0.2 million for each of the first three approved indications in Europe. Caribou has the right to terminate its agreement with UC/Vienna at any time or the agreement may be terminated by UC/Vienna due to an uncured material breach. We cannot guarantee that Caribou will maintain the UC/Vienna license for its full term. Should the license between Caribou and UC/Vienna be terminated for any reason, any compliant Caribou sublicenses as of the termination date will remain in effect and will be assigned to UC/Vienna in place of Caribou. Specifically, if we are in compliance with our obligations under our sublicense and Caribou and UC/Vienna terminate their agreement, UC/Vienna would replace Caribou as our licensor.
On April 13, 2015, UC/Vienna/Charpentier jointly filed a request with the USPTO asking that an interference be declared between a UC/Vienna/Charpentier patent application and certain patents issued to the Broad Institute,
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the President and Fellows of Harvard College (collectively, the “Broad Institute patent family” or the “Broad”), which claim aspects of CRISPR/Cas9 systems and methods to edit genes in eukaryotic cells, including human cells. An interference is an adversarial proceeding conducted by the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (the “PTAB”) to determine the initial inventor of a particular invention claimed in U.S. patents and patent applications owned by different parties. On January 11, 2016, the PTAB declared an interference involving one UC/Vienna/Charpentier application, 12 Broad issued patents and a Broad patent application. In the order declaring the interference, the PTAB designated UC/Vienna/Charpentier the “Senior Party” and the Broad the “Junior Party”. In March 2016, the PTAB re-declared the interference to add an additional U.S. patent application owned by the Broad. On February 15, 2017, the PTAB dismissed the proceeding finding that the parties’ respective patent claims involved in the interference were distinct such that they did not meet the legal requirement to proceed with the interference. Specifically, the PTAB concluded that the Broad’s claims were directed to the use of CRISPR/Cas9 only in eukaryotic cells and, thus were patently distinct from UC/Vienna/Charpentier’s claims, which were directed to the use of CRISPR/Cas9 in all settings. As a result of this proceeding’s dismissal, the PTAB did not make a decision regarding which party actually first invented the use of CRISPR/Cas9 systems and methods to edit genes in eukaryotic cells. After considering UC/Vienna/Charpentier’s appeal, on September 10, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the PTAB’s decision to terminate the interference proceeding. The time for UC/Vienna/Charpentier to ask for a rehearing by the Federal Circuit or permission from the U.S. Supreme Court to appeal has expired. Accordingly, the Federal Circuit returned the UC/Vienna/Charpentier patent application at issue in the terminated interference to the USPTO. On April 23, 2019, the USPTO issued to UC/Vienna/Charpentier the patent, which covers generally the use of the CRISPR/Cas9 technology using a single RNA guide in any setting, including cellular settings.
On June 25, 2019, the PTAB declared another interference between the UC/Vienna/Charpentier and the Broad, which specifically involves their respective eukaryotic patent families, to determine which research group first invented the use of the CRISPR/Cas9 technology in eukaryotic cells and, therefore, is entitled to the patents covering the invention. On August 26, 2019, the PTAB redeclared the interference to include additional UC/Vienna/Charpentier patent applications covering the invention that had also been found allowable by the USPTO. As of December 31, 2020, the interference involved 14 allowable patent applications from the UC/Vienna/Charpentier eukaryotic patent family and 13 patents and one patent application from the Broad Institute patent family. The PTAB held a hearing in this interference on February 4, 2022. On February 28, 2022, the PTAB issued a Decision of Priority and Judgment in the patent interference finding that the Broad patents and application have priority over the UC/Vienna/Charpentier involved applications with respect to the subject matter of the interference. On March 30, 2022, CVC filed a notice of appeal in the Broad Interference, and the Broad Institute has cross-appealed.
In addition, the PTAB has instituted and completed the motions phase in interferences between the same 14 allowable patent applications in the UC/Vienna/Charpentier portfolio, and certain patent rights owned by ToolGen, Inc. (“ToolGen”), and certain patent rights owned by Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC, a Merck KGaA subsidiary (“Sigma-Aldrich”). In both interferences, ToolGen and Sigma-Aldrich, respectively, purport that their patent rights cover the use of CRISPR/Cas9 for gene editing in eukaryotic cells. Both interferences are stayed pending a decision from the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in the Broad Interference. If either the Broad, ToolGen or Sigma-Aldrich were to succeed in their respective interference, the prevailing party or parties could seek to assert its issued patents against us based on our CRISPR/Cas9-based activities, including product commercialization. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation expense, would be a substantial diversion of management and other employee resources from our business and may impact our reputation. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us, we may have to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees for willful infringement, obtain one or more licenses from third parties, pay royalties or redesign our infringing products, which may not be feasible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure. In that event, we could be unable to further develop and commercialize our product candidates, which could harm our business significantly.
Pioneer Hi-Bred International (DuPont Company) Intellectual Property
Pioneer Hi-Bred International and its affiliates, including the DuPont Company, have licensed to Caribou on a worldwide basis, various patent families relating to CRISPR/Cas systems, components and methods of use generally and CRISPR/Cas9 specifically in certain fields, which include Intellia’s field of use under our license agreement with Caribou. In July 2015, we exercised our option under the license agreement with Caribou to sublicense these Pioneer patent families in our field of use. The license from Pioneer to Caribou will expire upon the expiration, abandonment or invalidation of the last patent or patent application licensed from Pioneer to Caribou.
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The licensed Pioneer portfolio includes a family of applications filed by Vilnius University that discloses the components of a CRISPR/Cas9 system required for gene editing in non-bacterial organisms. The USPTO has issued patents to Vilnius University with claims covering the in vitro assembly and use of a recombinant CRISPR/Cas9 complex to modify DNA. Patents obtained from this patent family will expire in or after 2033, assuming payment of necessary maintenance fees. We cannot ensure that these additional applications in this family will lead to issued claims that cover our products or activities.
Invention Management Agreement
On December 15, 2016, we entered into a Consent to Assignments, Licensing and Common Ownership and Invention Management Agreement (the “Invention Management Agreement”), with UC, Vienna, Dr. Charpentier, Caribou, CRISPR Therapeutics AG, ERS Genomics Ltd. and TRACR Hematology Ltd. Under the Invention Management Agreement, Dr. Charpentier retroactively consented to UC/Vienna’s CRISPR/Cas9 license to Caribou as well as Caribou’s sublicensing to Intellia certain of its rights to the UC/Vienna/Charpentier CRISPR/Cas9 IP, subject to the restrictions of our license from Caribou. Under the agreement, the parties commit to maintain and coordinate the prosecution, defense and enforcement of the CRISPR/Cas9 foundational patent portfolio worldwide, and each of the co-owners of the IP grants cross-consents to all existing and future licenses and sublicenses based on the rights of another co-owner. The Invention Management Agreement also includes retroactive approval by certain parties of certain prior assignments of interests in patent rights to other parties, and provides for, among other things, (i) good faith cooperation among the parties regarding patent maintenance, defense and prosecution, (ii) cost-sharing arrangements, and (iii) notice of and coordination in the event of third-party infringement of the subject patents. Unless earlier terminated by the parties, the Invention Management Agreement will continue in effect until the later of the last expiration date of the UC/Vienna/Charpentier patents underlying the CRISPR/Cas9 technology, or the date on which the last underlying patent application is abandoned.
Novartis In-Licensed Intellectual Property
The 2014 Novartis Agreement grants us worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free rights to a portfolio of 14 Novartis patent families containing granted patents and pending applications in the U.S. and internationally relating to LNP compositions, methods of use and modified nucleic acids. The license under the 2014 Novartis Agreement permits us to use the Novartis LNPs to develop therapeutic, prophylactic, and palliative CRISPR-based in vivo products. Under a December 2018 amendment to the 2014 Novartis Agreement, we obtained rights to use these LNPs both in vivo and ex vivo for any genome editing product. The licensed patents will expire by or after December 2030. The term of the license continues until the expiration of the last-to-expire patent right that is licensed to either party. If we attempt to challenge any of the patents in the licensed families, Novartis may terminate the license on a patent-by-patent basis. We cannot guarantee that our products or delivery methods will be covered by issued claims in these families.
Manufacturing
We have entered into certain manufacturing and supply arrangements with third-party suppliers to support production of our product candidates and their components. In addition, we have entered into a lease to build out a new manufacturing facility in Waltham, Massachusetts, which would support GMP manufacturing for preclinical through commercial supply. We plan to continue to rely on qualified third-party organizations and our own capabilities to produce or process bulk compounds, formulated compounds, viral vectors or engineered cells for IND-supporting activities and to supply materials for clinical trials. We expect that clinical and commercial quantities of any in vivo product or engineered cells that we may seek to develop will be manufactured in GMP compliant facilities and by processes that comply with FDA and other regulatory agency requirements. At the appropriate time in the product development process of each product candidate, we will determine whether to use our internal manufacturing capabilities and facilities or continue to rely on third parties to manufacture commercial quantities of such products that we may successfully develop.
Competition
The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are extremely competitive in the race to develop new products. While we believe we have significant competitive advantages with our industry-leading expertise in genome editing, clinical development expertise and dominant IP position, we currently face and will continue to face competition for our development programs from companies that use genome editing or gene therapy development platforms and from companies focused on more traditional therapeutic modalities such as small molecules and antibodies. The
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competition is likely to come from multiple sources, including large and specialty pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic research institutions, government agencies and public and private research institutions. Many of these competitors may have access to greater capital and resources than us. For any products that we may ultimately commercialize, not only will we compete with any existing therapies and those therapies currently in development, but we will also have to compete with new therapies that may become available in the future.
Competitors in our efforts to provide genetic therapies to patients can be grouped into at least three sets based on their product discovery platforms:
Our platform and product foci are on the development of therapies using CRISPR-based technologies. Genome editing companies focused on CRISPR-based technologies include: Beam Therapeutics Inc., Caribou Biosciences, Inc., CRISPR Therapeutics AG, Editas Medicine, Inc., Verve Therapeutics Inc. and ToolGen, Inc.
There are also companies developing therapies using additional gene-editing technologies, which include Allogene Therapeutics, Inc., bluebird bio, Inc., Cellectis S.A., Precision Biosciences, Inc., Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc., Homology Medicines, Inc., Poseida Therapeutics, Inc. and Prime Medicine, Inc.
We are also aware of companies developing therapies in various areas related to our specific research and development programs. For ex vivo, these companies include Allogene Therapeutics, Inc., Precision BioSciences, Inc., CRISPR Therapeutics AG and Cellectis S.A. For in vivo, these companies include Editas Medicine, Inc., CRISPR Therapeutics AG, Locus Biosciences, Inc., Excision Biotherapeutics, Inc. and Precision Biosciences, Inc.
Specific to our NTLA-2001 program, we are aware of other companies that are currently commercializing or developing products and therapies used to treat TTR amyloidosis, including Pfizer, Inc., Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., BridgeBio Pharma Inc. and Novo Nordisk A/S.
Specific to our NTLA-2002 program, we are aware of other companies that are currently commercializing or developing products used to treat HAE including Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Astria Therapeutics Inc., ADARx Therapeutics, Inc., BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc., BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc., Pharming Group N.V., and CSL Limited.
Our competitors will also include companies that are or will be developing other genome editing methods as well as small molecules, biologics, in vivo gene therapies, engineered cell therapies and nucleic acid-based therapies for the same indications that we are targeting with our CRISPR/Cas9-based therapeutics.
Government Regulation and Product Approval
As a biopharmaceutical company, we are subject to extensive legal and regulatory requirements. For example, we need approval from regulatory agencies for our clinical studies, development, manufacturing, distribution, exportation and importation, commercialization, marketing and reimbursement relating to our products and product candidates. Relevant regulatory authorities include, but are not limited to, the FDA, the European Medicines Agency (“EMA”), the Commission of the European Union, EU Member State agencies, such as Germany’s Federal Institute for Drugs and Medicinal Devices (“BfArM”), and other countries’ similar agencies, such as the MHRA, as well as agencies responsible for market access and pricing, such as the U.K. National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (“NICE”).
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We expect our future in vivo and ex vivo product candidates to be regulated as biologics. Biological products are subject to regulation under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic (“FD&C”) Act and the Public Health Service Act (“PHS Act”), and other federal, state, local and foreign statutes and regulations. Both the FD&C Act and the PHS Act and their corresponding regulations govern, among other things, the testing, manufacturing, safety, efficacy, labeling, packaging, storage, record keeping, distribution, reporting, advertising and other promotional practices involving drug and biological products. As is the case for all investigational products, before clinical testing of biological products in the U.S. may begin, we must submit an IND application to the FDA, which reviews the clinical protocol and other information, and the IND application must become effective before clinical trials may begin. Prior to initiating clinical trials in foreign countries, clinical trial applications (“CTAs”) or other equivalent applications, similar to IND applications, must be approved.
Biologic products must be approved by the FDA before they may be legally marketed in the U.S. and by the appropriate foreign regulatory agencies before they may be legally marketed in foreign countries. The process of obtaining regulatory approvals and the subsequent compliance with appropriate federal, state, local and foreign statutes and regulations require the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources and we may not be able to obtain the required regulatory approvals.
Within the FDA, the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (“CBER”) regulates biological products, including gene and cell therapies. CBER’s Office of Therapeutic Products (“OTP”) is responsible for oversight of gene therapy and related products, and the Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee (“CTGTAC”) advises CBER on its reviews. Human gene therapy products are defined as all products that mediate their effects by transcription or translation of transferred genetic material or by specifically altering host (human) genetic sequences. Some examples of gene therapy products include nucleic acids, genetically modified microorganisms (e.g., viruses, bacteria, fungi), engineered site-specific nucleases used for human genome editing, and ex vivo genetically modified human cells. FDA has published guidance documents related to, among other things, gene therapy products in general and their preclinical assessment, potency or other quality testing, and chemistry, manufacturing and control information in gene therapy IND applications, and long-term adverse event monitoring of clinical trial subjects; all of which are intended to facilitate industry’s development of these products. More recently and as part of the implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act, FDA has issued a number of guidances pertaining to regenerative medicine advanced therapies, which include cell therapy, therapeutic tissue engineering products, human cell and tissue products and combination products using any such therapies or products. Additionally, gene therapies, including genetically modified cells, that lead to a durable modification of cells or tissues may meet the definition of a regenerative medicine therapy. A number of guidances have been revised to reflect the growing knowledge and incorporation of newer technology, including certain considerations for genome editing. A small, but growing number of gene therapy products have been approved by regulatory agencies. In 2012, the EMA authorized the marketing of the first gene therapy product approved by regulatory authorities anywhere in the Western world. And in the U.S., in 2017, the FDA approved the first two cell-based, gene therapy products as well as a gene therapy product. Additional gene therapies have been approved in the U.S. since then.
U.S. Gene and Cell Therapy Products Development Process
The FDA approves biologics, including gene and cellular therapy products, through the Biologics License Application (“BLA”) process before they may be legally marketed in the U.S. This process generally involves the following:
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Before testing any drug or biological product candidate, including gene and cellular therapy product candidates, in humans, the product candidate is evaluated through preclinical testing. Preclinical tests, also referred to as nonclinical studies, include laboratory evaluations of product chemistry, toxicity and formulation, as well as animal studies to assess the potential safety and activity of the product candidate. The conduct of the preclinical tests must comply with applicable federal regulations and requirements, including GLP.
The clinical trial sponsor must submit the results of the preclinical tests, together with manufacturing information, analytical data, any available clinical data or literature, and a proposed clinical protocol, to the FDA as part of the IND. Some preclinical testing may continue even after the IND application is submitted. The IND application automatically becomes effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA, unless the FDA places the clinical trial on a clinical hold within that 30-day time period. In such a case, the clinical trial sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns before the clinical trial can begin. The FDA may also impose clinical holds on a biological product candidate at any time before or during clinical trials due to, among other reasons, safety concerns or non-compliance with regulatory requirements. If the FDA imposes a clinical hold, trials may not proceed without FDA authorization and then only under authorized terms. Accordingly, we cannot be sure that submission of an IND application will result in the FDA allowing clinical trials to begin, or that, once begun, issues will not arise that result in the suspension or termination of such trials.
Clinical trials involve the administration of the product candidate to healthy volunteers or patients under the supervision of qualified investigators, generally physicians not employed by or under the study sponsor’s control. Clinical trials are conducted under protocols detailing, among other things, the objectives of the clinical trial, dosing procedures, subject selection and exclusion criteria, and the parameters to be used to monitor subject safety, including stopping rules that assure a clinical trial will be stopped if certain adverse events should occur. Each protocol and its amendments must be submitted to the FDA as part of the IND. Clinical trials must be conducted and monitored in accordance with the FDA’s regulations comprising the GCP requirements, including the requirement that all research subjects provide informed consent. Further, each clinical trial must be reviewed and approved by an independent institutional review board (“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 study participants and considers such items as whether the risks to individuals participating in the clinical trials are minimized and are reasonable in relation to anticipated benefits. The IRB also approves the form and content of the informed consent that must be signed by each clinical trial subject or his or her legal representative and must monitor the clinical trial until completed.
In addition to the submission of an IND to the FDA before initiation of a clinical trial in the U.S., certain human clinical trials involving recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecules are subject to oversight of institutional biosafety committees, (“IBCs”), as set forth in the National Institutes for Health (“NIH”) Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules (“NIH Guidelines”). Under the NIH Guidelines, recombinant and synthetic nucleic acids are defined as: (i) molecules that are constructed by joining nucleic acid molecules and that can replicate in a living cell (i.e., recombinant nucleic acids); (ii) nucleic acid molecules that are chemically or by other means synthesized or amplified, including those that are chemically or otherwise modified but can base pair with naturally occurring nucleic acid molecules (i.e., synthetic nucleic acids); or (iii) molecules that result from the replication of those described in (i) or (ii). Specifically, under the NIH Guidelines, supervision of human gene transfer trials includes evaluation and assessment by an IBC, a local institutional committee that reviews
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and oversees research utilizing recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecules at that institution. The IBC assesses the safety of the research and identifies any potential risk to public health or the environment, and such review may result in some delay before initiation of a clinical trial. While the NIH Guidelines are not mandatory unless the research in question is being conducted at or sponsored by institutions receiving NIH funding of recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecule research, many companies and other institutions not otherwise subject to the NIH Guidelines voluntarily follow them.
Human clinical trials are typically conducted in three sequential phases that may overlap or be combined:
Post-approval clinical trials, sometimes referred to as Phase 4 clinical trials, may be conducted after initial marketing approval. These clinical trials are used to gain additional evidence about the treatment of patients in the intended therapeutic indication, particularly for long-term safety follow-up. The FDA typically advises that sponsors observe subjects for potential gene therapy-related delayed adverse events for up to a 15-year period, including a minimum of five years of annual examinations followed by ten years of annual queries, either in person or by questionnaire.
During all phases of clinical development, regulatory agencies require extensive monitoring and auditing of all clinical activities, clinical data, and clinical trial investigators. Annual progress reports detailing the status of the clinical trials must be submitted to the FDA. Written IND safety reports must be promptly submitted to the FDA and the investigators for serious and unexpected adverse events, any findings from other trials, tests in laboratory animals or in vitro testing that suggest a significant risk for human subjects, or any clinically important increase in the rate of a serious suspected adverse reaction over that listed in the protocol or investigator brochure. The sponsor must submit an IND safety report within 15 calendar days after the sponsor determines that the information qualifies for reporting. The sponsor also must notify the FDA of any unexpected fatal or life-threatening suspected adverse reaction within seven calendar days after the sponsor’s initial receipt of the information.
Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials may not be completed successfully within any specified period, if at all. The FDA or the sponsor or its data safety monitoring board may suspend a clinical trial at any time on various grounds, including a finding that the research subjects or patients are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk. Similarly, an IRB can suspend or terminate approval of a clinical trial at its institution if the clinical trial is not being conducted in accordance with the IRB’s requirements or if the product candidate has been associated with unexpected serious harm to patients.
There also are requirements governing the reporting of ongoing clinical trials and completed clinical trial results to public registries. Sponsors of certain clinical trials of FDA-regulated products, including biologics such as gene and cellular therapy products, are required to register and disclose certain clinical trial information to NIH. Information related to the product, patient population, phase of investigation, study sites and investigators, and other aspects of the clinical trial is then made publicly available as part of the registration at www.clinicaltrials.gov. Sponsors also are obligated to disclose the results of their clinical trials after completion. Disclosure of the results of these trials can be delayed until the new product or new indication being studied has been approved, up to a maximum of two years.
Human therapeutic products based on genome editing technology are a relatively new category of therapeutics. Because this is a relatively new and expanding area of novel therapeutic interventions, there can be no assurance as to the length of the study period, the number of patients the FDA will require to be enrolled in the trials in order to
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establish the safety, purity and potency for human gene editing therapeutics, or that the data generated in these trials will be acceptable to the FDA to support marketing approval.
Concurrent with clinical trials, companies usually complete additional animal trials and must also develop additional information about the physical characteristics of the product candidate, as well as finalize a process for manufacturing the product in commercial quantities in accordance with cGMP, and in certain cases, cGTP, requirements. To help reduce the risk of the introduction of adventitious agents with use of biological products, the PHS Act emphasizes the importance of manufacturing control for products whose attributes cannot be precisely defined. The manufacturing process must be capable of consistently producing quality batches of the product candidate and, among other things, the sponsor must develop methods for testing the identity, strength, quality, potency and purity of the final product to support a BLA. Additionally, appropriate packaging must be selected and tested, and stability studies must be conducted to demonstrate that the product candidate does not undergo unacceptable deterioration over its shelf life.
U.S. Review and Approval Processes
FDA approval of a BLA must be obtained before commercial marketing of the product. The BLA must include results of product development, laboratory and animal trials, human trials, information on the manufacture and composition of the product, proposed labeling and other relevant information. In addition, under the Pediatric Research Equity Act (“PREA”), a BLA or supplement to a BLA, for a product candidate with certain novel characteristics 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 is safe and effective. The Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act of 2012 (“FDASIA”) requires that a sponsor who is planning to submit a marketing application for a biological product that includes a new active ingredient, new indication, new dosage form, new dosing regimen or new route of administration submit an initial Pediatric Study Plan (“PSP”) within sixty days after an end-of-Phase 2 meeting or as may be agreed between the sponsor and FDA, unless exempt due to orphan drug designation. The initial PSP must include, among other things, an outline of the pediatric study or studies that the sponsor plans to conduct, including, to the extent practicable, study objectives and design, age groups, relevant endpoints and statistical approach, or a justification for not including such detailed information, and any request for a deferral of pediatric assessments or a full or partial waiver of the requirement to provide data from pediatric studies along with supporting information, along with any other information specified in FDA regulations. The FDA and the sponsor must reach agreement on the PSP. A sponsor can submit amendments to an agreed-upon initial PSP at any time if changes to the pediatric plan need to be considered based on data collected from nonclinical studies, early phase clinical trials, or other clinical development programs. 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 biological product for an indication for which orphan drug designation has been granted. The testing and approval processes require substantial time and effort and there can be no assurance that the FDA will accept the BLA for filing and, even if filed, that any approval will be granted on a timely basis, if at all.
Under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (“PDUFA”), as amended, each BLA must be accompanied by a user fee. The FDA adjusts the PDUFA user fees on an annual basis. Fee waivers or reductions are available in certain circumstances, including a waiver of the application fee for the first application filed by a small business. Additionally, no user fees are assessed on BLAs for products designated as orphan drugs, unless the product also includes a non-orphan indication.
Within 60 days following submission of the application, the FDA reviews the BLA to determine if it is substantially complete before the agency accepts it for filing. The FDA may refuse to file any BLA that it deems incomplete or not properly reviewable at the time of submission, including for failure to pay required fees, and may request additional information. In this event, the application must be resubmitted with the additional information. The resubmitted application also is subject to review before the FDA accepts it for filing. Once the submission is accepted for filing, the FDA begins an in-depth substantive review of the BLA. The FDA reviews the application to determine, among other things, whether the proposed product is safe and effective (or, in the case of biologics, to ensure safety, purity and potency), and whether the product is being manufactured in accordance with cGMP, and in certain cases, cGTP, requirements to ensure and preserve the product’s identity, safety, strength, quality, potency and purity. The FDA may refer applications for novel products or products that present difficult questions of safety or efficacy to an advisory committee, typically a panel that includes clinicians and other experts, for review, evaluation and a recommendation as to whether the application should be approved and under what conditions. The FDA is not bound by the
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recommendations of an advisory committee, but it considers such recommendations carefully when making decisions. During the FDA review and approval process, the FDA also will determine whether a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (“REMS”) is necessary to assure the safe use of the biological product candidate. If the FDA concludes a REMS is needed, the sponsor of the BLA must submit a proposed REMS; the FDA will not approve the application without a REMS, if required.
Before approving a BLA, the FDA will inspect the facilities at which the product is manufactured. The FDA will not approve the product unless it determines that the manufacturing processes and facilities are in compliance with cGMP and, if applicable, cGTP requirements are adequate to assure consistent production of the product within required specifications. Additionally, before approving a BLA, the FDA will typically inspect one or more clinical sites to assure that the clinical trials were conducted in compliance with IND study requirements and GCP requirements. To assure cGMP, cGTP and GCP compliance, an applicant must incur significant expenditure of time, money and effort in the areas of training, record keeping, production, and quality control.
Notwithstanding the submission of relevant data and information, the FDA may ultimately decide that the BLA does not satisfy its regulatory criteria for approval and deny approval. Data obtained from clinical trials are not always conclusive and the FDA may interpret data differently than we interpret the same data. If the agency decides not to approve the BLA in its present form, the FDA will issue a complete response letter that usually describes all of the specific deficiencies in the application identified by the FDA. Addressing the deficiencies identified may require significant development work, such as product reformulation or additional clinical trials. The complete response letter may include recommended actions that the applicant might take to place the application in a condition for approval. If a complete response letter is issued, the applicant may either resubmit the application, addressing all of the deficiencies identified in the letter, challenge the determination set forth in the letter by requesting a hearing or withdraw the application.
If a product receives regulatory approval, the approval may be significantly limited to specific diseases, dosages or patient subgroups or the indications for use may otherwise be limited, which could restrict the commercial value of the product. Further, the FDA may require that certain contraindications, warnings, precautions or adverse events be included in the product labeling. The FDA may impose restrictions and conditions on product distribution, prescribing, or dispensing in the form of a REMS, or otherwise limit the scope of any approval. In addition, the FDA may require post marketing clinical trials, sometimes referred to as Phase 4 clinical trials, designed to further assess a product’s safety and effectiveness, and testing and surveillance programs to monitor the safety of approved products that have been commercialized.
One of the performance goals agreed to by the FDA under the PDUFA VII (Fiscal Years 2023-2027) is to review 90% of BLAs in 10 months from the 60-day filing date, and 90% of priority BLAs in six months from the 60-day filing date, whereupon a review decision is to be made. The FDA does not always meet its PDUFA goal dates for standard and priority BLAs, and its review goals are subject to change with PDUFA reauthorization. The review process and the PDUFA goal date may be extended by three months if the FDA requests or the BLA sponsor otherwise provides additional information or clarification regarding information already provided in the submission, also known as a Major Amendment, within the last three months before the PDUFA goal date.
Orphan Drug Designation
The FDA may grant orphan drug designation to biological products, including cellular and gene therapy products, intended to treat a rare disease or condition that affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the U.S., or, if it affects more than 200,000 individuals in the U.S., when there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and marketing the product for this type of disease or condition will be recovered from sales in the U.S. Orphan drug designation must be requested before submission of BLA. After the FDA grants orphan drug designation, the identity of the therapeutic agent and its potential orphan use are disclosed publicly by the FDA. Orphan drug designation does not convey any advantage in or shorten the duration of the regulatory review and approval process.
In the U.S., orphan drug designation entitles a party to financial incentives such as opportunities for grant funding towards clinical trial costs, tax advantages and user-fee waivers. In addition, if a product receives the first FDA approval for the indication for which it has orphan designation, the product is entitled to orphan drug exclusivity, which means the FDA may not approve any other application to market the same drug for the same orphan indication
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for a period of seven years, except in limited circumstances, such as a showing of clinical superiority over the product with orphan exclusivity or where the manufacturer with orphan exclusivity is unable to assure sufficient quantities of the approved orphan designated product. Competitors, however, may receive approval of different products for the indication for which the orphan product has exclusivity or obtain approval for the same product but for a different indication for which the orphan product has exclusivity, which may permit off-label use for the orphan indication. Orphan product exclusivity also could block the approval of one of our products for seven years if a competitor obtains approval of the same drug or biological product as defined by the FDA for the same orphan indication or if our product candidate is determined to be contained within the competitor’s product for the same indication or disease. If a drug or biological product designated as an orphan product receives marketing approval for an indication broader than what is designated, it may not be entitled to orphan product exclusivity.
Expedited Development and Review Programs
In the U.S. and the EU, as well as in other countries, there are a number of programs to expedite development, review and approval of products for serious or life-threatening disease or condition that address an unmet medical need in the relevant regulatory jurisdiction. In the U.S., these FDA programs include Fast Track Designation, priority review, accelerated approval, Breakthrough Therapy designation and Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapies. Similar programs in the EU include accelerated assessment, conditional approval and PRIME, which stands for priority medicines.
The FDA’s Fast Track program intends to expedite or facilitate the process for reviewing new drug and biological products that meet certain criteria. Specifically, new biological products are eligible for Fast Track designation if they are intended to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical needs for the disease or condition. Fast Track designation applies to the combination of the product and the specific indication for which it is being studied. The sponsor of a new biologic, including gene and cellular therapy products, may request that the FDA designate the product as a Fast Track product at any time during the product’s clinical development, but ideally not later than the pre-BLA meeting. The FDA may consider for review sections of the marketing application for a Fast Track product on a rolling basis before the complete application is submitted, if the sponsor provides a schedule for the submission of the sections of the application, the FDA agrees to accept sections of the application and determines that the schedule is acceptable, and the sponsor pays any required user fees upon submission of the first section of the application.
In the U.S., any product is eligible for priority review if it treats a serious condition and, if approved, would provide a significant improvement in safety or effectiveness of the treatment, prevention, or diagnosis of that condition. The FDA will attempt to direct additional resources to the evaluation of an application for a new drug or biological product designated for priority review in an effort to facilitate the review. Additionally, a product may be eligible for accelerated approval. Biological products studied for their safety and effectiveness in treating serious or life-threatening illnesses and that provide meaningful therapeutic benefit over existing treatments may be eligible for accelerated approval, which means that they may be approved on the basis of adequate and well-controlled clinical trials establishing that the product has an effect on a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict a clinical benefit, or on the basis of an effect on a clinical endpoint other than survival or irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical benefit, taking into account the severity, rarity or prevalence of the condition and the availability or lack of alternative treatments. As a condition of approval, the FDA may require that a sponsor of a product subject to accelerated approval perform adequate and well-controlled, post-marketing confirmatory clinical trials to confirm the effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical benefit. Under the Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act of 2022 (“FDORA”), the FDA is now permitted to require, as appropriate, that post-approval confirmatory trials be underway prior to approval or within a specific time period after accelerated approval is granted. Failure to conduct required post-approval studies with due diligence, or to confirm a clinical benefit during post-marketing studies, will allow the FDA to withdraw the drug from the market and, under FDORA, the FDA has increased authority for expedited procedures to withdraw approval of a product granted accelerated approval. In addition, the FDA generally requires, unless otherwise informed by the agency, pre-approval of promotional materials as a condition for accelerated approval, which could adversely impact the timing of the commercial launch of the product.
FDA's Breakthrough Therapy designation program is intended to expedite the development and review of products that treat serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions. A breakthrough therapy is defined as a drug or biological product that is intended, alone or in combination with one or more other drugs, to treat a serious or life-threatening
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disease or condition, and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints, such as substantial treatment effects observed early in clinical development. The designation includes all of the features of Fast Track designation, as well as more intensive FDA interaction and guidance. The Breakthrough Therapy designation is a distinct status from both accelerated approval and priority review, but these can also be granted to the same product candidate if the relevant criteria are met. The FDA must take certain actions, such as holding timely meetings and providing advice, intended to expedite the development and review of an application for approval of a breakthrough therapy. All requests for Breakthrough Therapy designation will be reviewed within 60 days of receipt, and FDA will either grant or deny the request.
Orphan designation, Fast Track designation, priority review, accelerated approval and Breakthrough Therapy designation do not change the standards for approval but may expedite the development or approval process. Where applicable, we plan to request Fast Track and Breakthrough Therapy designation for our product candidates. Even if we receive one or both of these designations for our product candidates, the FDA may later decide that our product candidates no longer meet the conditions for qualification. In addition, these designations may not provide us with a material commercial advantage.
Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapies (“RMAT”) Designation
As part of the 21st Century Cures Act, the FD&C Act was amended to facilitate an efficient development program for, and expedite review of regenerative advanced therapies, which include cell and gene therapies, therapeutic tissue engineering products, human cell and tissue products, and combination products using any such therapies or products. Gene therapies, including genetically modified cells, that lead to a durable modification of cells or tissues may meet the definition of a regenerative medicine therapy. This program is intended to facilitate efficient development and expedite review of regenerative medicine therapies, which are intended to treat, modify, reverse, or cure a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and qualify for RMAT designation. A drug sponsor may request that FDA designate a drug as a RMAT concurrently with or at any time after submission of an IND. FDA has 60 calendar days to determine whether the drug meets the criteria, including whether there is preliminary clinical evidence indicating that the drug has the potential to address unmet medical needs for a serious or life-threatening disease or condition. A BLA for a regenerative medicine therapy that has received RMAT designation may be eligible for priority review or accelerated approval through use of surrogate or intermediate endpoints reasonably likely to predict long-term clinical benefit, or reliance upon data obtained from a meaningful number of sites. Benefits of RMAT designation also include early interactions with FDA and, for those granted accelerated approval, post-approval requirements may be fulfilled through the submission of clinical evidence from clinical studies, patient registries, or other sources of real-world evidence, such as electronic health records; the collection of larger confirmatory data sets; or post-approval monitoring of all patients treated with such therapy prior to its approval. Like the FDA’s other expedited development programs, RMAT designation does not change the standards for approval but may expedite the development or approval process.
Post-Approval Requirements
Maintaining substantial compliance with applicable federal, state, and local statutes and regulations and, as applicable, their counterparts in other jurisdictions, requires the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources. Rigorous and extensive FDA regulation of biological products, including gene and cellular therapy products, continues after approval, particularly with respect to cGMP requirements. We will rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties for the production of clinical and commercial quantities of certain components of products that we may commercialize. Manufacturers of our products are required to comply with applicable requirements in the cGMP regulations, including quality control, quality assurance and maintenance of records and documentation. Other post-approval requirements applicable to biological products include reporting of cGMP deviations that may affect the identity, potency, purity and overall safety of a distributed product, record-keeping requirements, reporting of adverse effects, reporting updated safety and efficacy information, and complying with electronic record and signature requirements. After a BLA is approved, the product also may be subject to official lot release. As part of the manufacturing process, the manufacturer is required to perform certain tests on each lot of the product before it is released for distribution. If the product is subject to official release by the FDA, the manufacturer submits samples of each lot of product to the FDA together with a release protocol showing a summary of the history of manufacture of the lot and the results of all of the manufacturer’s tests performed on the lot. The FDA also may perform certain confirmatory tests on lots of some products, such as viral vaccines, before releasing the lots for distribution by the manufacturer. In addition, the FDA
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conducts laboratory research related to the regulatory standards on the safety, purity, potency, and effectiveness of biological products, including gene and cellular therapy products.
We also would have to comply with the FDA’s advertising and promotion requirements, such as those related to direct-to-consumer advertising, the prohibition on promoting products for uses or in patient populations that are not described in the product’s approved labeling (known as “off-label use”), industry-sponsored scientific and educational activities, and promotional activities involving the internet and social media platforms. Discovery of previously unknown problems or the failure to comply with the applicable regulatory requirements may result in restrictions on the labeling or marketing of a product, imposition of a REMS or post-market study requirement or withdrawal of the product from the market as well as possible civil or criminal sanctions. Failure to comply with the applicable U.S. requirements at any time during the product development process, approval process or after approval, may subject an applicant or manufacturer to administrative or judicial civil or criminal sanctions and adverse publicity. FDA sanctions could include refusal to approve pending applications, withdrawal of an approval, clinical hold, warning or untitled letters, product recalls, product seizures, total or partial suspension of production or distribution, injunctions, fines, refusals of government contracts, mandated corrective advertising or communications with doctors, debarment, restitution, disgorgement of profits, or civil or criminal penalties. Any agency or judicial enforcement action could have a material adverse effect on us.
Biological product manufacturers and other entities involved in the manufacture and distribution of approved biological products, including gene and cellular therapy products, in the U.S. are required to register their establishments with the FDA and certain other federal and state agencies, and are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and certain other federal and state agencies for compliance with cGMP, and in certain cases, cGTP, requirements and other laws. Accordingly, manufacturers must continue to expend time, money, and effort in the area of production and quality control to maintain cGMP compliance. Discovery of problems with a product after approval may result in restrictions on a product, manufacturer, or holder of an approved BLA, including withdrawal of the product from the market, as well as potential civil and criminal liability. In addition, changes to the manufacturing process or facility generally require prior FDA approval before being implemented and other types of changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications and additional labeling claims, are also subject to further FDA review and approval.
Biosimilars and Exclusivity
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (collectively, the “Affordable Care Act” or “ACA”), signed into law on March 23, 2010, includes a subtitle called the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 (“BPCIA”), which created an abbreviated approval pathway for biological products that are biosimilar to or interchangeable with an FDA-licensed reference biological product in the U.S. Biosimilarity, which requires that there be no clinically meaningful differences between the biological product and the reference product in terms of safety, purity and potency, can be shown through analytical studies, animal studies, and a clinical trial or trials. Interchangeability requires that a product is biosimilar to the reference product and the product must demonstrate that it can be expected to produce the same clinical results as the reference product and, for products administered multiple times, the biologic and the reference biologic may be switched after one has been previously administered without increasing safety risks or risks of diminished efficacy relative to exclusive use of the reference biologic. Starting in 2015, the FDA commenced licensing biosimilars under the BPCIA, and there are currently numerous biosimilars approved in the U.S. and Europe. The FDA has issued a number of draft and final guidance documents outlining an approach to review and approval of biosimilars and interchangeable biological products.
The BPCIA also contains various provisions regarding exclusivity for reference and interchangeable products and procedures for sharing and litigating patents covering the reference product. A reference biologic is granted 12 years of exclusivity from the time of first licensure of the reference product. The first biologic product submitted under the abbreviated approval pathway that is determined to be interchangeable with the reference product is eligible for a period of exclusivity against other biologics submitted under the abbreviated approval pathway during which time the FDA may not determine that another product is interchangeable with the same reference product for any condition of use. The FDA may approve multiple “first” interchangeable products so long as they are all approved on the same first day of marketing. This exclusivity period, which may be shared amongst multiple first interchangeable products, lasts for the lesser of (i) one year after the first commercial marketing, (ii) 18 months after approval if there is no legal
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challenge, (iii) 18 months after the resolution in the applicant’s favor of a lawsuit challenging the biologic’s patents if an application has been submitted, or (iv) 42 months after the application has been approved if a lawsuit is ongoing within the 42-month period. The BPCIA, however, is complex and only beginning to be interpreted and implemented by the FDA. In addition, proposed legislation has sought to reduce the 12-year reference product exclusivity period. Other aspects of the BPCIA, some of which may impact the BPCIA exclusivity provisions, have also been the subject of recent litigation. As a result, the ultimate impact, implementation, and meaning of the BPCIA is subject to significant uncertainty.
Additional Regulation
In addition to the foregoing, state and federal laws regarding environmental protection and hazardous substances, including the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Resource Conservancy and Recovery Act and the Toxic Substances Control Act, all affect our business. These and other laws govern our use, handling and disposal of various biological, chemical and radioactive substances used in, and wastes generated by, our operations. If our operations result in contamination of the environment or expose individuals to hazardous substances, we could be liable for damages and governmental fines. We believe that we are in material compliance with applicable environmental laws and that continued compliance therewith will not have a material adverse effect on our business. We cannot predict, however, how changes in these laws may affect our future operations.
Other Healthcare and Privacy Laws
In addition to FDA restrictions on marketing of biological products, other U.S. federal and state healthcare regulatory laws restrict business practices in the pharmaceutical industry, which include, but are not limited to, state and federal anti-kickback, false claims, data privacy and security, and physician payment transparency laws. The laws that may affect our ability to operate include:
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Because of the breadth of these laws and the limited statutory exceptions and safe harbors available, it is possible that some of our business activities could be subject to challenge under one or more of such laws.
In the event we decide to conduct clinical trials or enroll subjects in our future clinical trials, we may be subject to additional privacy restrictions. As of May 25, 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) regulates the collection, use, storage, disclosure, transfer or other processing of personal data, including personal health data, in the EU. The GDPR covers any business, regardless of its location, that provides goods or services to residents in the EU and, thus, could incorporate our activities in EU Member States. The GDPR imposes strict requirements on controllers and processors of personal data, including special protections for “sensitive information,” which includes health and genetic information of individuals residing in the EU, obtaining consent of the individuals to whom the personal data relates, providing information to individuals regarding data processing activities, implementing safeguards to protect the security and confidentiality of personal data, providing notification of data breaches, ensuring certain accountability measures are in place and taking certain measures when engaging third-party processors. GDPR grants individuals the opportunity to object to the processing of their personal information, allows them to request deletion of personal information in certain circumstances, and provides the individual with an express right to seek legal remedies in the event the individual believes his or her rights have been violated. Further, the GDPR imposes strict rules on the transfer of personal data out of the EU to regions that have not been deemed to offer “adequate” privacy protections, such as the U.S. currently. Failure to comply with the requirements of the GDPR and the related national data protection laws of the EU Member States, which may deviate slightly from the GDPR, may result in warning letters, mandatory audits and financial penalties, including fines of up to 4% of annual global revenues, or €20,000,000, whichever is greater. As a result of the implementation of the GDPR, we may be required to put in place additional mechanisms ensuring compliance with the new data protection rules, including as implemented by individual countries. In addition, further to the U.K.’s exit from the EU on January 31, 2020, the GDPR ceased to apply in the U.K. at the end of the transition period on December 31, 2020. However, as of January 1, 2021, the U.K.’s European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 incorporated the GDPR (as it existed on December 31, 2020 but subject to certain U.K. specific amendments) into U.K. law, referred to as the U.K. GDPR. The U.K. GDPR and the U.K. Data Protection Act 2018 set out the U.K.’s data protection regime, which is independent from but aligned to the EU’s data protection regime. Non-compliance with the U.K. GDPR may result in monetary penalties of up to £17.5 million or 4% of worldwide revenue, whichever is higher. Although the U.K. is regarded as a third country under the EU’s GDPR, the EC has now issued a decision recognizing the U.K. as providing adequate protection under the EU GDPR and, therefore, transfers of personal data originating in the EU to the U.K. remain unrestricted. Like the EU GDPR, the U.K. GDPR restricts personal data transfers outside the U.K. to countries not regarded by the U.K. as providing adequate protection. The U.K. government has confirmed that personal data transfers from the U.K. to the European Economic Area (“EEA”), which consists of the EU Member States, plus Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland remain free flowing.
In the U.S., there has been a flurry of legislative activity at the state level. California recently enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), which creates new individual privacy rights for California consumers (as defined in the law) and places increased privacy and security obligations on entities handling personal data of consumers or households. The CCPA will require covered companies to provide new disclosure to consumers about such companies’ data collection, use and sharing practices, provide such consumers new ways to opt-out of certain sales or transfers of personal information, and provide consumers with additional causes of action. The CCPA went into effect on January 1, 2020, and the California Attorney General could commence enforcement actions for violations beginning July 1, 2020. The California Attorney General’s CCPA regulations went into effect on August 14, 2020, and their application may further impact our business activities. The uncertainty surrounding the application of CCPA and its regulations exemplifies the vulnerability of our business to the evolving regulatory environment related to personal data and protected health information. Further, a California privacy law, the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”), was passed by voters on November 3, 2020 and entered into force on January 1, 2023. The CPRA substantially modifies the CCPA, including by expanding consumers’ rights with respect to certain sensitive personal information and by establishing a state agency vested with the authority to enforce the CCPA. The CPRA also creates additional obligations with respect to the processing of personal information, including regulating personal information collected about employees, applicants and retirees as well as that which is collected in a business to
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business capacity. We anticipate additional costs associated with CCPA compliance and we cannot yet fully determine the impact that the CCPA or other privacy laws, regulations and standards may have on our business. Additionally, some observers have noted that the CCPA and CPRA could mark the beginning of a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in the U.S., which could increase our potential liability and adversely affect our business. Already, in the U.S., we have witnessed significant developments at the state level. For example, on March 2, 2021, Virginia enacted the Consumer Data Protection Act (the “CDPA”) and, on July 8, 2021, Colorado’s governor signed the Colorado Privacy Act (“CPA”) into law. The CDPA and the CPA both became effective January 1, 2023. While the CDPA and CPA incorporate many similar concepts of the CCPA and CPRA, there are also several key differences in the scope, application, and enforcement of the law that will change the operational practices of regulated businesses.
If our operations are found to be in violation of any of such laws or any other governmental regulations that apply to us, we may be subject to penalties, including, without limitation, administrative, civil and criminal penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, the curtailment or restructuring of our operations, exclusion from participation in federal and state healthcare programs, individual imprisonment, and additional reporting obligations and oversight if we become subject to a corporate integrity agreement or other agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with this law, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our financial results.
To the extent that any of our product candidates, once approved, are sold in a foreign country, we may be subject to similar foreign laws and regulations, which may include, for instance, applicable post-marketing requirements, including safety surveillance, anti-fraud and abuse laws, and implementation of corporate compliance programs and reporting of payments or other transfers of value to healthcare professionals.
Regulation in the European Union
Clinical Trial Approval
In April 2014, the EU adopted the new Clinical Trials Regulation, (EU) No 536/2014, which replaced the current Clinical Trials Directive 2001/20/EC on 31 January 2022. The Clinical Trials Regulation is directly applicable in all EU Member States meaning no national implementing legislation in each EU Member State is required. The new Clinical Trials Regulation aims to simplify and streamline the approval of clinical trials in the EU. The main characteristics of the Regulation include: a streamlined application procedure via a single-entry point through the Clinical Trials Information System (“CTIS”); a single set of documents to be prepared and submitted for the application as well as simplified reporting procedures for clinical trial sponsors; and a harmonized procedure for the assessment of applications for clinical trials, which is divided in two parts (Part I contains scientific and medicinal product documentation and Part II contains the national and patient-level documentation). Part I is assessed by a coordinated review by the competent authorities of all EU Member States in which an application for authorization of a clinical trial has been submitted (Member States concerned) of a draft report prepared by a Reference Member State. Part II is assessed separately by each Member State concerned. Strict deadlines have been established for the assessment of clinical trial applications. The role of the relevant ethics committees in the assessment procedure will continue to be governed by the national law of the concerned EU Member State. However, overall related timelines will be defined by the Clinical Trials Regulation.
Marketing Authorization
In the EU, medicinal products, including advanced therapy medicinal products (“ATMP”s), are subject to extensive pre- and post-market regulation by regulatory authorities at both the EU and national levels. ATMPs comprise gene therapy products, somatic cell therapy products and tissue engineered products. We anticipate that our gene therapy development products would be regulated as ATMPs in the EU.
To obtain regulatory approval of a medicinal product in the EU, we must submit a marketing authorization application (“MAA”).
The centralized procedure provides for the grant of a single marketing authorization by the EC that is valid throughout the EU, and in the additional member states of the EEA (Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein). Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No. 726/2004, the centralized procedure is compulsory for specific products, including for medicines produced by certain biotechnological processes, products designated as orphan medicinal products, ATMPs, and products with
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a new active substance indicated for the treatment of certain diseases, including products for the treatment of cancer, HIV or AIDS, diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders, auto-immune and other immune dysfunctions and viral diseases. For those products for which the use of the centralized procedure is not mandatory, applicants may elect to use the centralized procedure where either the product contains a new active substance indicated for the treatment of other diseases, or where the applicant can show that the product constitutes a significant therapeutic, scientific or technical innovation or for which a centralized process is in the interest of patients at an EU level.
Specifically, the grant of marketing authorization in the EU for ATMPs is governed by Regulation (EC) No. 1394/2007 on ATMPs, read in combination with Directive 2001/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, commonly known as the Community code on medicinal products. Regulation (EC) No. 1394/2007 lays down specific rules concerning the authorization, supervision, and pharmacovigilance of gene therapy medicinal products, somatic cell therapy medicinal products, and tissue engineered products. Manufacturers of ATMPs must demonstrate the quality, safety, and efficacy of their products to the Committee for Advanced Therapies (“CAT”), at the EMA, which conducts a scientific assessment of the MAA and provides an opinion regarding the MAA for an ATMP. The EC grants or refuses marketing authorization in light of the opinion delivered by EMA.
The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (“CHMP”), established at the EMA, is responsible for issuing a final opinion on whether an ATMP meets the required quality, safety and efficacy requirements, and whether a product has a positive benefit/risk profile. Under the centralized procedure in the EU, the maximum timeframe for the evaluation of an MAA by the EMA is 210 days from receipt of a valid MAA, excluding clock stops when additional information or written or oral explanation is to be provided by the applicant in response to questions of the CHMP. Clock stops may extend the timeframe of evaluation of an MAA considerably beyond 210 days. Where the CHMP gives a positive opinion, it provides the opinion, together with supporting documentation, to the EC, who make the final decision to grant a marketing authorization, which is issued within 67 days of receipt of the EMA’s recommendation. Accelerated evaluation may be granted by the CHMP in exceptional cases, when a medicinal product is expected to be of major interest from the point of view of public health and, in particular, from the viewpoint of therapeutic innovation. If the CHMP accepts such a request, the time frame of 210 days for assessment will be reduced to 150 days (excluding clock stops), but it is possible that the CHMP may revert to the standard time limit for the centralized procedure if it determines that the application is no longer appropriate to conduct an accelerated assessment.
Data and Market Exclusivity
The EU also provides opportunities for market exclusivity. For example, in the EU, upon receiving marketing authorization, innovative medicinal products generally receive eight years of data exclusivity and an additional two years of market exclusivity. Data exclusivity prevents applicants for authorization of generics or biosimilars of these innovative products from referencing the innovator’s pre-clinical and clinical trial data contained in the dossier of the reference product when applying for a generic or biosimilar marketing authorization in the EU, during a period of eight years from the date on which the reference product was first authorized in the EU. During the additional two-year period of market exclusivity, a generic or biosimilar marketing authorization can be submitted, and the innovator’s data may be referenced, but no generic or biosimilar product can be marketed until the expiration of the market exclusivity period. The overall ten-year period will be extended to a maximum of 11 years if, during the first eight years of those ten years, the marketing authorization holder obtains an authorization for one or more new therapeutic indications which, during the scientific evaluation prior to their authorization, are held to bring a significant clinical benefit in comparison with existing therapies. However, there is no guarantee that a product will be considered by the EU’s regulatory authorities to be an innovative medicinal product, and products may therefore not qualify for data exclusivity. Even if a product is considered to be an innovative medicinal product so that the innovator gains the prescribed period of data exclusivity, another company nevertheless could also market another version of the product if such company obtained marketing authorization based on an MAA with a complete independent data package of pharmaceutical tests, pre-clinical tests and clinical trials.
Orphan Designation and Exclusivity
Products with an orphan designation in the EU will, upon the grant of a marketing authorization for an orphan product, receive ten years of market exclusivity, during which time no “similar medicinal product” for the same indication may be placed on the market. A “similar medicinal product” is defined as a medicinal product containing a similar active substance or substances as contained in an authorized orphan medicinal product, and which is intended for the same
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therapeutic indication. An orphan product can also obtain an additional two years of market exclusivity in the EU where an agreed Pediatric Investigation Plan (“PIP”) for pediatric studies has been complied with. No extension to any supplementary protection certificate (“SPC”) can be granted on the basis of pediatric studies for orphan indications.
The criteria for designating an “orphan medicinal product” in the EU are similar in principle to those in the U.S. Under Article 3 of Regulation (EC) 141/2000, a medicinal product may be designated as an orphan medicinal product if it is intended for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of (1) a life-threatening or chronically debilitating condition; (2) either (a) such condition affects no more than five in 10,000 persons in the EU when the application is made; or (b) it is unlikely that the product, without the benefits derived from orphan status, would generate sufficient return in the EU to justify the necessary investment in its development; and (3) there exists no satisfactory method of diagnosis, prevention or treatment of such condition authorized for marketing in the EU, or if such a method exists, the product will be of significant benefit to those affected by the condition, as defined in Regulation (EC) 847/2000. Orphan medicinal products are eligible for financial incentives such as reduction of fees or fee waivers and are, upon grant of a marketing authorization, entitled to ten years of market exclusivity for the approved therapeutic indication. The application for orphan designation must be submitted before the application for marketing authorization. The applicant will receive a fee reduction for the MAA if the orphan drug designation has been granted, but not if the designation is still pending at the time the marketing authorization is submitted. Orphan designation does not convey any advantage in, or shorten the duration of, the regulatory review and approval process.
The ten-year market exclusivity may be reduced to six years if, at the end of the fifth year, it is established that the product no longer meets the criteria for orphan designation, for example, if the product is sufficiently profitable not to justify maintenance of market exclusivity. Additionally, marketing authorization may be granted to a similar medicinal product for the same therapeutic indication at any time if:
Pediatric development
In the EU, companies developing a new medicinal product must agree upon a PIP with the EMA, and must conduct pediatric clinical trials in accordance with that PIP, unless a waiver applies, (e.g., because the relevant disease or condition occurs only in adults). This requirement also applies when a company wants to add a new indication, pharmaceutical form or route of administration for a medicine that is already authorized. The MAA for the product must include the results of pediatric clinical trials conducted in accordance with the PIP, unless a waiver applies, or a deferral has been granted, in which case the pediatric clinical trials must be completed at a later date. Products that are granted a marketing authorization on the basis of the pediatric clinical trials conducted in accordance with the PIP are eligible for a six month extension of the protection under a SPC provided an application for such extension is made at the same time as filing the SPC application for the product, or at any point up to two years before the SPC expires, even where the trial results are negative. This pediatric reward is subject to specific conditions and is not automatically available when data in compliance with the PIP are developed and submitted.
Post-approval controls
The holder of a marketing authorization must establish and maintain a pharmacovigilance system and appoint an individual qualified person for pharmacovigilance, who is responsible for oversight of that system. Key obligations include expedited reporting of suspected serious adverse reactions and submission of periodic safety update reports (“PSUR”s).
All new MAAs must include a risk management plan (“RMP”), describing the risk management system that the company will put in place and documenting measures to prevent or minimize the risks associated with the product. The regulatory authorities may also impose specific obligations as a condition of the marketing authorization. Such
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risk-minimization measures or post-authorization obligations may include additional safety monitoring, more frequent submission of PSURs, or the conduct of additional clinical trials or post-authorization safety studies. RMPs and PSURs are routinely available to third parties requesting access, subject to limited redactions.
The manufacturing of authorized medicinal products, for which a separate manufacturer’s license is mandatory, must also be conducted in strict compliance with the applicable EU laws, regulations and guidance, including Directive 2001/83/EC, Directive 2003/94/EC, Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 and the European Commission Guidelines for Good Manufacturing Practice. These requirements include compliance with EU cGMP standards when manufacturing medicinal products and active pharmaceutical ingredients, including the manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients outside of the EU with the intention to import the active pharmaceutical ingredients into the EU.
All advertising and promotional activities for the product must be consistent with the approved Summary of Product Characteristics and therefore all off-label promotion is prohibited. Direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicines is also prohibited in the EU. Although general requirements for advertising and promotion of medicinal products are established under EU directives, the details are governed by regulations in each EU Member State and can differ from one country to another.
The aforementioned EU rules are generally applicable in the EEA, which consists of the EU Member States, plus Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland.
For other countries outside of the EU, such as countries in Eastern Europe, Latin America or Asia, the requirements governing the conduct of clinical trials, product licensing, pricing and reimbursement vary from country to country. In all cases, again, the clinical trials must be conducted in accordance with GCP and the applicable regulatory requirements and the ethical principles that have their origin in the Declaration of Helsinki.
If we fail to comply with applicable foreign regulatory requirements, we may be subject to, among other things, fines, suspension of clinical trials, suspension or withdrawal of regulatory approvals, product recalls, seizure of products, operating restrictions and criminal prosecution.
Brexit and the Regulatory Framework in the United Kingdom
The U.K. formally left the EU on January 31, 2020. The EU and the U.K. have concluded a trade and cooperation agreement (“TCA”), which was provisionally applicable since January 1, 2021 and has been formally applicable since May 1, 2021. The TCA includes specific provisions concerning pharmaceuticals, which include the mutual recognition of GMP, inspections of manufacturing facilities for medicinal products and GMP documents issued, but does not foresee wholesale mutual recognition of U.K. and EU pharmaceutical regulations. At present, Great Britain has implemented EU legislation on the marketing, promotion and sale of medicinal products through the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 (as amended) (under the Northern Ireland Protocol, the EU regulatory framework will continue to apply in Northern Ireland). The regulatory regime in Great Britain therefore currently aligns with EU regulations in many ways, however it is possible that these regimes will diverge more significantly in the future now that Great Britain’s regulatory system is independent from the EU.
The MHRA in the U.K. established a new medicines approval pathway following Brexit, known as the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway (“ILAP”), which aims to accelerate the time to market and facilitate patient access to certain types of medicinal products in development which target a life-threatening or seriously debilitating condition, or where there is a significant patient or public health need. The first step in the ILAP is receipt of an Innovation Passport, which allows for enhanced engagement with the MHRA and its partner agencies. Once an Innovation Passport has been granted, the next step in the pathway is the preparation of a target development profile (“TDP”) document by the MHRA and the U.K.’s health technology assessment agencies. The TDP sets out the regulatory and development milestones, identifies potential issues and creates a roadmap to achieving early patient access in the U.K. The TDP also gives access to a toolkit where a number of tools can be selected as needed for a particular medicine or stage of development. These tools include rolling review of a marketing authorization application, whereby data can be submitted for review on a rolling basis as it becomes available.
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Other Government Regulation
In addition to the healthcare laws and regulations in the U.S. and EU discussed above, we may be subject to a variety of regulations in these and other jurisdictions governing, among other things, animal research, clinical studies, manufacture, marketing approval, and any commercial sales and distribution of biological products. Because biologically sourced raw materials are subject to unique contamination risks, their use may be restricted in some countries. In addition, in 2020 we were subject to evolving local and state regulations relating to the coronavirus disease-19 (“COVID-19”) pandemic. These regulations may continue to change, and we may be required to change our operations and business conduct in response to these changes.
Coverage and Reimbursement
Significant uncertainty exists as to the coverage and reimbursement status of any biological product for which we obtain regulatory approval. In the U.S. and markets in other countries, patients who are prescribed treatments for their conditions and providers performing the prescribed services generally rely on third-party payors to reimburse all or part of the associated healthcare costs. Patients are unlikely to use our products unless coverage is provided and reimbursement is adequate to cover a significant portion of the cost of our products. Sales of any products for which we receive regulatory approval for commercial sale will therefore depend, in part, on the availability of coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party payors. Third-party payors include government authorities, managed care providers, health maintenance organizations, private health insurers and other organizations. Coverage and reimbursement by a third-party payor may depend upon a number of factors, including the third-party payor’s determination that use of a product is:
In the U.S., no uniform policy of coverage and reimbursement for biological products, including gene and cellular therapy products, exists among third-party payors. As a result, obtaining coverage and reimbursement approval for such a product from a government or other third-party payor is a time-consuming and costly process that could require us to provide to each payor supporting scientific, clinical and cost-effectiveness data regarding the products’ clinical benefits and risks on a payor-by-payor basis, with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be obtained. Even if we obtain coverage for a given product, the resulting reimbursement payment rates might not be adequate for us to achieve or sustain profitability or may require co-payments that patients find unacceptably high. Additionally, third-party payors may not cover, or provide adequate reimbursement for, long-term follow-up evaluations required following the use of our gene-modifying products. Patients are unlikely to use, and health care providers may not prescribe, our product candidates unless coverage is provided, and reimbursement is adequate to cover a significant portion of the product’s cost to the patient. Because our product candidates may have a higher cost of goods than conventional therapies, and may require long-term follow up evaluations, the risk that coverage and reimbursement rates may be inadequate for us to achieve profitability may be greater. Moreover, increasing efforts by governmental and third-party payors in the U.S. and abroad to cap or reduce healthcare costs may cause such organizations to limit both coverage and the level of reimbursement for biological products and, as a result, they may not cover or provide adequate payment for our product candidates. In addition, we expect to experience pricing pressures in connection with the sale of any of our product candidates upon their approval due to the trend toward managed healthcare, the increasing influence of health maintenance organizations, cost containment initiatives and additional legislative changes. For these reasons, there is significant uncertainty related to coverage and reimbursement of our future products. It is difficult to predict at this time what third-party payors will decide with respect to the coverage and reimbursement for our product candidates.
Third‑party and government payors consistently seek to reduce reimbursements for medical products and services. Additionally, the containment of healthcare costs is a priority of federal and state governments, and the prices of drugs have been a focus in this effort. The U.S. government, state legislatures and foreign governments have shown significant interest in implementing cost‑containment programs, including price controls, restrictions on
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reimbursement and requirements for substitution of generic products. Adoption of price controls and cost‑containment measures, and adoption of more restrictive policies in jurisdictions with existing controls and measures, could further limit our net revenue and results. Decreases in third‑party reimbursement for our products or a decision by a third‑party payor to not cover our products could reduce physician usage of the products and have a material adverse effect on our sales, results of operations and financial condition.
Government payment for some of the costs of prescription drugs may increase demand for products for which we receive marketing approval. However, any negotiated prices for our products covered by a Part D prescription drug plan will likely be lower than the prices we might otherwise obtain. Moreover, while the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (“MMA”) applies only to drug benefits for Medicare beneficiaries, private payors often follow Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their own payment rates. Any reduction in payment that results from the MMA may result in a similar reduction in payments from non‑governmental payors.
It is likely that our product candidates, once approved, will have to be administered by a health care provider. Under currently applicable U.S. law, certain products not usually self-administered (including injectable drugs) may be eligible for coverage under Medicare Part B. As a condition of receiving Medicare Part B reimbursement, the manufacturer of the therapy is required to participate in other government healthcare programs, including the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program and the 340B Drug Pricing Program, both of which require the manufacturer to provide rebated pricing under certain conditions. For example, the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program requires pharmaceutical manufacturers to have a national rebate agreement with the federal government as a condition for states to receive federal matching funds for the manufacturer’s outpatient drugs furnished to Medicaid patients. Under the 340B Drug Pricing Program, the manufacturer must extend discounts to program eligible entities, which generally are federally funded clinics and hospitals that serve large numbers of low-income and uninsured patients.
In addition, in some foreign countries, the proposed pricing for a drug must be approved before it may be lawfully marketed. The requirements governing drug pricing vary widely from country to country. For example, the EU provides options for its Member States to restrict the range of medicinal products for which their national health insurance systems provide reimbursement and to control the prices of medicinal products for human use. A Member State may approve a specific price for the medicinal product, or it may instead adopt a system of direct or indirect controls on the profitability of the company placing the medicinal product on the market. There can be no assurance that any country that has price controls or reimbursement limitations for pharmaceutical products will allow favorable reimbursement and pricing arrangements for any of our products. Historically, products launched in the EU do not follow price structures of the U.S. and generally prices tend to be significantly lower.
Healthcare Reform
In the U.S. and some foreign jurisdictions, there have been, and likely will continue to be, a number of legislative and regulatory changes and proposed changes regarding the healthcare system directed at broadening the availability of healthcare, improving the quality of healthcare, and containing or lowering the cost of healthcare.
For example, in March 2010, the ACA was enacted in the U.S. The ACA includes measures that have significantly changed, and are expected to continue to significantly change, the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers. Among the provisions of the ACA of greatest importance to the pharmaceutical industry are that the ACA:
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Since its enactment, there have been numerous judicial, administrative, executive, and legislative challenges to certain aspects of the ACA and we expect there will be additional challenges and amendments to the ACA in the future. On June 17, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the most recent judicial challenge to the ACA brought by several states without specifically ruling on the constitutionality of the ACA. Prior to the Supreme Court's decision, President Biden issued an Executive Order to initiate a special enrollment period from February 15, 2021 through August 15, 2021 for purposes of obtaining health insurance coverage through the ACA marketplace. The Executive Order also instructed certain governmental agencies to review and reconsider their existing policies and rules that limit access to healthcare, including among others, reexamining Medicaid demonstration projects and waiver programs that include work requirements, and policies that create unnecessary barriers to obtaining access to health insurance coverage through Medicaid or the ACA. It is unclear how other healthcare reform measures of the Biden administrations or other efforts, if any, to challenge, repeal or replace the ACA, will impact our business.
Other legislative changes relevant to the healthcare system have been adopted in the U.S. since the ACA was enacted.
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Additionally, there have been a number of proposed regulatory actions and legislative recommendations aimed at lowering prescription drug prices. Specifically, there has been heightened governmental scrutiny over the manner in which manufacturers set prices for their marketed products, which has resulted in several U.S. Congressional inquiries and proposed and enacted federal and state legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, reduce the cost of prescription drugs under Medicare, and review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs.
We cannot predict what healthcare reform initiatives may be adopted in the future. Further federal, state and foreign legislative and regulatory developments are likely, and we expect ongoing initiatives to increase pressure on drug pricing. Such reforms could have an adverse effect on anticipated revenues from product candidates and may affect our overall financial condition and ability to develop product candidates.
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Human Capital
We believe the success of Intellia’s mission largely depends on our ability to attract and retain highly skilled employees. We believe programs that foster company engagement, diversity, equity and inclusion, growth and development while providing competitive compensation and benefits will attract a diverse population of employees who will bring innovative ideas and creative solutions that will enable the achievement of our goals. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have bolstered our efforts to support our employees in the management of work and personal responsibilities, with a focus on employee wellbeing.
Company Communications and Engagement. Many of our employees actively participate in our Cultural Ambassador program, fostering a grassroots approach to engagement with support and guidance from our executive leadership team. Our Cultural Ambassador programs focus on the following: diversity, equity and inclusion, continuous learning, wellness and sustainability, social events, community outreach, and Intellia values and engagement.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. As we continue to grow as an organization, we remain dedicated to championing a culture that celebrates diversity and fosters a collaboration inside the organization and in our community. In 2022, we expanded our DEI efforts with the launch of Employee Resource Groups (“ERGs”). ERGs are voluntary, employee-led groups focused on fostering a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with ONE Intellia. They are led and participated in by employees who share a characteristic, whether by identity or interest. The groups exist to provide support and help in personal or career development and to create a safe space where employees can bring their whole selves to the table. Coworkers are also invited to join the ERG to support their colleagues. In 2023, we are offering unconscious bias training to ensure that all employees share a common language and foundation on which to build. We are committed to continue our efforts to increase diversity throughout Intellia, particularly in leadership roles. Our team of Senior and Executive Vice Presidents is 50% female and 33% are ethnically diverse. Overall, as of February 17, 2023, our employee population consists of 56% women and 44% men.
Compensation and Benefits, Health and Wellness. We are committed to equitable pay, irrespective of gender, race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation, and conduct comprehensive pay-equity analyses on a semi-annual basis. We offer competitive benefits, including competitive salaries, excellent health insurance, and a 401(k) match. We are committed to pay equity, regardless of gender, race/ethnicity, or sexual orientation and conduct comprehensive pay equity analyses on a semi-annual basis. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have taken additional steps to support our employees in managing their work and personal responsibilities, with a focus on employee wellbeing.
Growth and Development. Investing in our employees’ personal and career growth is an important priority at Intellia. We aim to provide a wide range of on-the-job development opportunities, as well as in-person, virtual and off-site training seminars, and tools. Our goal is to ensure our employees have the skills they may need in the future. Of particular importance is fostering leadership with our quarterly “Development Day” series, which serves as a reminder for employees to check-in with themselves and their manager on their development goals. Additionally, we offer seminars and tools to our employees focused on career development within the organization. As part of these initiatives, we conduct an annual development program for our employees to work with their managers to set professional development goals and an action plan. We also have an internal mentorship program for our research and development employees, who can work with more senior employees to learn new skills.
Conduct and Ethics. We believe it is imperative that the board of directors and senior management strongly support a no-tolerance stance for workplace harassment, biases and unethical behavior. All employees, including senior management, are required to abide by, review and confirm compliance to the company’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics Policy and other internal policies that outline our high expectations.
Employees
As of February 17, 2023, we had 598 full-time employees, 471 of whom were primarily engaged in research and development activities and 181 of whom have an M.D. or Ph.D. degree.
Our Corporate Information
We were incorporated under the laws of the state of Delaware in May 2014 under the name AZRN, Inc. Our principal executive offices are located at 40 Erie Street, Suite 130, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139. Our telephone number is
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(857) 285-6200, and our website is located at www.intelliatx.com. References to our website are inactive textual references only and the content of our website should not be deemed incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Available Information
Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and any exhibits and amendments to these reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, are available free of charge on our website located at www.intelliatx.com as soon as reasonably practicable after they are filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).
The SEC maintains an Internet website that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding us and other issuers that file electronically with the SEC. The SEC’s Internet website address is http://www.sec.gov.
A copy of our Corporate Governance Guidelines, Code of Conduct and Business Ethics and the charters of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee are posted on our website, www.intelliatx.com, under “Investor Relations”.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. In evaluating us and our business, careful consideration should be given to the following risk factors, in addition to the other information set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 and in other documents that we file with the SEC. If any of the following risks and uncertainties actually occurs, our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. The risks described below are not intended to be exhaustive and are not the only risks facing us. New risk factors can emerge from time to time, and we cannot predict the impact that any factor or combination of factors may have on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Business
Risks Related to Preclinical and Clinical Development
CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology is not yet clinically validated for human therapeutic use. The approaches we are taking to discover and develop novel therapeutics using CRISPR/Cas9 systems are unproven and may never lead to marketable products. If we are unable to develop viable product candidates, achieve regulatory approval for any such product candidate or market and sell any product candidates, we may never achieve profitability.
We are focused on developing curative medicines utilizing CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology, including in vivo therapies and ex vivo engineered cell therapies. Although there have been significant advances in recent years in the fields of gene therapy and genome editing, in vivo CRISPR-based genome editing technologies are relatively new and their therapeutic utility is largely unproven. Our approach to developing therapies centers on using CRISPR/Cas9 technology to alter, introduce or remove genetic information in vivo to treat various disorders, or to engineer human cells ex vivo to create therapeutic cells that can be introduced into the human body to address the underlying disease.
Successful development of products by us will require solving a number of issues, including developing or obtaining technologies to safely deliver a therapeutic agent into target cells within the human body or engineer human cells while outside of the body such that the modified cells can have a therapeutic effect when delivered to the patient, optimizing the efficacy and specificity of such products, and ensuring and demonstrating the therapeutic selectivity, efficacy, potency, purity and safety of such products. There can be no assurance we will be successful in solving any or all of these issues. Indeed, no genome editing in vivo therapy or genome-edited engineered cell therapy has been approved in the United States (“U.S.”), European Union (“EU”) countries or other key jurisdictions. With regards to CRISPR/Cas9-based therapies specifically, we are in the initial phases of clinically testing our in vivo and ex vivo product candidates. Further, we are unaware of any clinical trials validating safety and efficacy that have been completed by any third parties. Accordingly, the potential to successfully obtain approval for any of our CRISPR/Cas9 product candidates remains unproven.
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Our future success also is highly dependent on the successful development of CRISPR-based genome editing technologies, cellular delivery methods and therapeutic applications for the indications on which we have focused our ongoing research and development efforts. We may decide to alter or abandon these programs as new data become available and we gain experience in developing CRISPR/Cas9-based therapeutics. We cannot be sure that our CRISPR/Cas9 efforts and technologies will yield satisfactory products that are safe and effective, sufficiently pure or potent, manufacturable, scalable or profitable in our selected indications or any other indication we pursue. We cannot guarantee that progress or success in developing any particular CRISPR/Cas9-based therapeutic product will translate to other CRISPR/Cas9-based products.
Public perception and related media coverage of potential therapy-related efficacy or safety issues, including adoption of new therapeutics or novel approaches to treatment, as well as ethical concerns related specifically to genome editing and CRISPR/Cas9, may adversely influence the willingness of subjects to participate in clinical trials, or if any therapeutic is approved, of physicians and patients to accept these novel and personalized treatments. Physicians, healthcare providers and third-party payors often are slow to adopt new products, technologies and treatment practices, particularly those that may also require additional upfront costs and training. Physicians may not be willing to undergo training to adopt these novel and potentially personalized therapies, may decide the particular therapy is too complex or potentially risky to adopt without appropriate training, and may choose not to administer the therapy. Further, due to health conditions, genetic profile or other reasons, certain patients may not be candidates for the therapies. In addition, responses by federal and state agencies, congressional committees and foreign governments to negative public perception, ethical concerns or financial considerations may result in new legislation, regulations, or medical standards that could limit our ability to develop or commercialize any product candidates, obtain or maintain regulatory approval or otherwise achieve profitability. New government requirements may be established that could delay or prevent regulatory approval of our product candidates under development. It is impossible to predict whether legislative changes will be enacted, regulations, policies or guidance changed, or interpretations by agencies or courts changed, or what the impact of such changes, if any, may be. Based on these and other factors, healthcare providers and payors may decide that the benefits of these new therapies do not or will not outweigh their costs.
Clinical development involves a lengthy and expensive process, with an uncertain outcome. We may incur additional costs or experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the development and commercialization of any product candidates.
All of our lead programs are still in the discovery, preclinical or early clinical stage. Our current and future product candidates will require preclinical and clinical activities and studies, regulatory review and approval in each jurisdiction in which we intend to market the products, substantial investment, establishing manufacturing capabilities, access to sufficient commercial manufacturing capacity and significant marketing efforts before we can generate any revenue from product sales. Before obtaining marketing approval from regulatory authorities for the sale of a product candidate, we must conduct extensive clinical trials to demonstrate the safety, purity, potency and efficacy of the product in humans. It is impossible to predict when or if any of our programs will prove effective and safe in humans or will receive regulatory approval. Preclinical and clinical testing is expensive, difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete and is uncertain as to outcome. We may be unable to establish clinical endpoints that regulatory authorities consider clinically meaningful, and a clinical trial can fail at any stage. The outcome of preclinical testing and early clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of later clinical trials, and interim results of a clinical trial do not necessarily predict final results. Moreover, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses, and many companies that have believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials have nonetheless failed to obtain approval of their products.
Successful completion of clinical trials is a prerequisite to submitting a Biologics License Application (“BLA”) to the FDA, and similar applications to comparable foreign regulatory authorities, for each product candidate and, consequently, the ultimate approval and commercial marketing of any product candidates. We do not know whether any of our clinical trials will begin or be completed on schedule, if at all. In addition, the regulatory requirements for later phase clinical trials, such as pivotal trials, are generally more stringent than earlier phase clinical trials, such as Phase 1 trials. We may not meet the requirements of regulatory authorities, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), for initiating later phase clinical trials for our product candidates, which could delay the development of our product candidates.
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Because these are new therapeutic approaches, discovering, developing, manufacturing and commercializing our product candidates may subject us to a number of challenges or delays in completing our preclinical studies and initiating or completing clinical trials. We also may experience numerous unforeseen events during, or as a result of, any current or future clinical trials that we conduct, which could delay or prevent our ability to receive marketing approval or commercialize our product candidates, including:
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In addition, disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may increase the likelihood that we encounter such difficulties or delays in initiating, enrolling, conducting or completing our ongoing and planned clinical trials. We could also encounter delays if a clinical trial is suspended or terminated by us, the IRBs of the institutions in which such trials are being conducted, the relevant ethics committee or the FDA or other relevant regulatory authorities, or if the Data Monitoring Committee (“DMC”) for such trial recommends such suspension or termination. Such authorities may impose or recommend such a suspension or termination due to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial site by the FDA or other regulatory authorities, resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold, manufacturing or quality control issues, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a product or treatment, failure to establish or achieve clinically meaningful trial endpoints, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial. 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. Further, the FDA or other regulatory authorities may disagree with our clinical trial design and our interpretation of data from clinical trials or may change the requirements for approval even after they have reviewed and commented on the design for our clinical trials.
Additionally, because our in vivo technology potentially involves genome editing across multiple cell and tissue types, we are subject to many of the challenges and risks that other genome editing therapeutics and gene therapies face, including:
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Further, because our ex vivo product candidates involve editing human cells and then delivering modified cells to patients, we are subject to many of the challenges and risks that engineered cell therapies face. For example, patients treated with engineered cell-based gene therapies may experience an allogeneic response leading to allograft rejection and potential local and systemic toxicities, which could be severe or life-threatening.
To date, human clinical trials utilizing either in vivo or ex vivo CRISPR-based therapeutics, including our clinical trials for NTLA-2001 for transthyretin (“ATTR”) amyloidosis and NTLA-2002 for hereditary angioedema (“HAE”), are still at an early stage. We have ongoing clinical trials in various countries for NTLA-2001 and NTLA-2002 for patients with ATTR amyloidosis and HAE, respectively. There is no certainty that the FDA or other similar agencies will continue to apply to all our CRISPR/Cas9 product candidates the same regulatory pathway and requirements it is applying to other in vivo therapies or ex vivo engineered therapeutics. In addition, if any product candidates encounter safety or efficacy problems, development delays, regulatory issues or other problems, our development plans and business could be significantly harmed. Further, competitors that are developing in vivo or ex vivo products with similar technology may experience problems with their product candidates or programs that could in turn cause us to identify problems with our product candidates and programs that would potentially harm our business.
We may experience manufacturing delays or other issues that prevent us from executing the clinical trials for NTLA-2001, NTLA-2002 or our other product candidates on the timeline we expect. Moreover, we cannot guarantee that the FDA, MHRA, the New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority (“MEDSAFE”), or other regulatory authorities will not change their requirements in the future or approve amendments to our INDs or equivalent regulatory filings, including for NTLA-2001, NTLA-2002 or our other product candidates on the timeline we expect.
Results, including data from our preclinical and clinical studies, are not necessarily predictive of our other ongoing and future preclinical and clinical studies, and they do not guarantee or indicate the likelihood of approval of any potential product candidate by the FDA or any other regulatory agency. If we cannot replicate positive results from any of our preclinical or clinical activities and studies, we may be unable to successfully develop, obtain regulatory approval for and commercialize any potential product candidate.
From time to time, we may disclose interim data from our clinical trials, such as the interim results of our ongoing Phase 1 study of NTLA-2001 or our ongoing Phase 1/2 study of NTLA-2002. Interim data from clinical trials that have not been completed 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 or as patients from our clinical trials continue other treatments for their disease. We also make assumptions, estimations, calculations and conclusions as part of our analyses of data, and we may not have received or had the opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate all data. As a result, results that we report may differ from future results of the same studies, or different conclusions or considerations may qualify such results, once additional data have been received and fully evaluated. Consequently, interim data should be viewed with caution until we make the final data and analysis available.
In addition, there is a high failure rate, as well as potential substantial and unanticipated delays, for product candidates progressing through preclinical and clinical studies. Even if we are able to successfully complete our ongoing and future preclinical and clinical activities and studies for any potential product candidate, we may not be able to replicate, or may have to engage in significant efforts and resource and time investments to replicate, any positive results from these or any other studies in any of our future preclinical and clinical trials, and they do not guarantee approval of any potential product candidate by the FDA or any other necessary regulatory authorities in a timely manner or at all. For more information regarding these risks, see also the remainder of this risk factor section.
Negative public opinion and increased regulatory scrutiny of CRISPR/Cas9 use, genome editing or gene therapy generally may damage public perception of the safety of any product candidates that we develop and adversely affect our ability to conduct our business or obtain regulatory approvals for such product candidates.
Gene therapy in general, and genome editing in particular, remain novel technologies, with only a limited number of gene therapy products approved to date in the U.S. and EU. Public perception may be influenced by claims that gene therapy or genome editing, including the use of CRISPR/Cas9, is unsafe or unethical, or carries an undue risk of side effects, such as improper modification of a gene sequence in a patient’s chromosome that could lead to cancer, and
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gene therapy or genome editing may not gain the acceptance of the public or the medical community. In particular, our success will depend upon physicians who specialize in the treatment of diseases targeted by our product candidates prescribing treatments that involve the use of our product candidates in lieu of, or in addition to, existing treatments with which they are more familiar and for which greater clinical data may be available. In addition, responses by the U.S., state or foreign governments to negative public perception or ethical concerns may result in new legislation or regulations that could limit our ability to develop or commercialize any product candidates, obtain or maintain regulatory approval or otherwise achieve profitability. More restrictive statutory regimes, government regulations or negative public opinion could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and prospects, and may delay or impair the development and commercialization of our product candidates or demand for any products we may develop. For example, certain gene therapy trials led to several well-publicized adverse events, including cases of leukemia and death. Serious adverse events, such as these, in our clinical trials, or other clinical trials involving gene therapy or genome editing products or our competitors’ products, even if not ultimately attributable to the relevant product candidates, and the resulting publicity could result in increased government regulation, unfavorable public perception, potential regulatory delays in the testing or approval of our product candidates, stricter labeling requirements for those product candidates that are approved and a decrease in demand for any such product candidate. In addition, the use of the technology by third parties in areas that are not being pursued by us, such as for targeting and editing of embryonic cells, could adversely impact public and governmental perceptions regarding the ethics and risks of the CRISPR/Cas9 technology and lead to social or legal changes that could limit our ability to apply the technology to develop human therapies addressing disease. For example, reports of the use of CRISPR/Cas9 in China and Russia to edit embryos in utero have generated and may continue to create negative public perception about the use of the technology in humans. Negative public and governmental perception of the technology, or additional governmental regulation of our technologies, could also adversely affect our stock price or our ability to enter into revenue generating collaborations or obtain additional funding from the public markets.
Risks Related to Competition
We face significant competition in an environment of rapid technological change. The possibility that our competitors may achieve regulatory approval before we do or develop therapies that are more advanced or effective than ours may harm our business and financial condition or our ability to successfully market or commercialize our product candidates.
The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are extremely competitive in the race to develop new products. While we believe we have significant competitive advantages with our industry-leading expertise in genome editing, clinical development expertise and dominant IP position, we currently face and will continue to face competition for our development programs from companies that use genome editing or gene therapy development platforms and from companies focused on more traditional therapeutic modalities such as small molecules and antibodies. The competition is likely to come from multiple sources, including large and specialty pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic research institutions, government agencies and public and private research institutions. Many of these competitors may have access to greater capital and resources than us. For any products that we may ultimately commercialize, not only will we compete with any existing therapies and those therapies currently in development, but we will also have to compete with new therapies that may become available in the future.
Competitors in our efforts to provide genetic therapies to patients can be grouped into at least three sets based on their product discovery platforms:
Our platform and product foci are on the development of therapies using CRISPR-based technologies. Genome editing companies focused on CRISPR-based technologies include: Beam Therapeutics Inc., Caribou Biosciences, Inc., CRISPR Therapeutics AG, Editas Medicine, Inc., ToolGen, Inc. and Verve Therapeutics Inc.
There are also companies developing therapies using additional genome editing technologies, which include Allogene Therapeutics, Inc., bluebird bio, Inc., Cellectis S.A., Homology Medicines, Inc., Poseida Therapeutics, Inc., Precision Biosciences, Inc., Prime Medicine, Inc. and Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc.
We are also aware of companies developing therapies in various areas related to our specific research and development programs. For ex vivo, these companies include Allogene Therapeutics, Inc., Cellectis S.A., CRISPR Therapeutics
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AG and Precision BioSciences, Inc. For in vivo, these companies include CRISPR Therapeutics AG, Editas Medicine, Inc., Excision Biotherapeutics, Inc., Locus Biosciences, Inc. and Precision Biosciences, Inc.
Specific to our NTLA-2001 program, we are aware of other companies that are currently commercializing or developing products and therapies used to treat ATTR amyloidosis, including Pfizer, Inc., Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., BridgeBio Pharma Inc. and Novo Nordisk A/S.
Specific to our NTLA-2002 program, we are aware of other companies that are currently commercializing or developing products used to treat HAE, including Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Astria Therapeutics Inc., ADARx Therapeutics, Inc., BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc., BioMarin Pharmaceuticals Inc., Pharming Group N.V. and CSL Limited.
Our competitors will also include companies that are or will be developing other genome editing methods as well as small molecules, biologics, in vivo gene therapies, engineered cell therapies and nucleic acid-based therapies for the same indications that we are targeting with our CRISPR/Cas9-based therapeutics.
Any advances in gene therapy, engineered cell therapies or genome editing technology made by a competitor may be used to develop therapies that could compete against any of our product candidates.
Many of these competitors have substantially greater research and development capabilities and financial, scientific, technical, intellectual property, manufacturing, marketing, distribution and other resources than we do, and we may not be able to successfully compete with them.
Even if we are successful in selecting and developing any product candidates, in order to compete successfully we may need to be first-to-market or demonstrate that our CRISPR/Cas9-based products are superior to therapies based on the same or different treatment methods. If we are not first-to-market or are unable to demonstrate such superiority, any products for which we are able to obtain approval may not be commercially successful. Furthermore, in certain jurisdictions, if a competitor has orphan drug status for a product and if our product candidate is determined to be contained within the scope of a competitor’s orphan drug exclusivity, then approval of our product for that indication or disease could potentially be blocked, for example, for up to seven years in the U.S. and 10 years in the EU.
We may never succeed in any or all of these activities and, even if we do, we may never generate revenues that are significant or large enough to achieve profitability. If we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. Our failure to become and remain profitable would decrease our value and could impair our ability to raise capital, maintain our research and development efforts, expand our business or continue our operations.
Risks Related to Manufacturing and Supply
In vivo genome editing products and ex vivo engineered cell therapies based on CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology are novel and may be complex and difficult to manufacture. We could experience manufacturing problems that result in delays in the development, approval or commercialization of our product candidates or otherwise harm our business.
The manufacturing process used to produce CRISPR/Cas9-based in vivo and engineered cell therapy product candidates may be complex, as they are novel and have not been validated for late phase clinical and commercial production and may require components that are difficult to obtain or manufacture at the necessary quantities and in accordance with regulatory requirements. Several factors could cause production interruptions, including equipment malfunctions; facility unavailability or contamination; raw material cost, shortages or contamination; natural disasters, such as the COVID-19 pandemic; disruption in utility services; human error; insufficient personnel; inability to meet legal or regulatory requirements; or disruptions in the operations of our suppliers.
Because our product candidates are regulated as biologics, their processing steps will be more complex than those of most small molecule drugs. Moreover, unlike small molecules, the physical and chemical properties of a complex product such as ours generally cannot be fully characterized. As a result, assays of the finished product or relevant components may not be sufficient to ensure that the product will perform in the intended manner. For this reason, we
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will employ multiple steps to control the manufacturing process to ensure that the process results in product candidates that meet their specifications, but complications at any one step could adversely impact our manufacturing of products. Further, we may encounter problems achieving adequate quantities and quality of clinical grade materials that meet the FDA or other relevant regulatory agency’s applicable standards or our specifications with consistent and acceptable production yields and costs. Manufacturing process irregularities, even minor deviations from the normal process, could result in product defects or manufacturing issues that cause lot failures, product recalls, product liability claims and litigation, insufficient inventory or production interruption. In addition, product manufacturing and supply could be delayed if the FDA and other regulatory authorities require us to submit lot samples, testing results and protocols, or if they require that we not distribute a lot until they authorize the product’s release.
Further, certain of our product candidates may require components that are unavailable or difficult to acquire or manufacture at the necessary scale and in compliance with regulatory requirements to support our clinical trials or, if approved, commercial efforts. We expect to continue to rely on third-party contract manufacturing organizations (“CMOs”) to manufacture these components and the final product candidates for the foreseeable future. We may not have full control of these CMOs and they may prioritize other customers or be unable to provide us with enough manufacturing capacity to meet our objectives. Further, we may rely on CMOs outside the U.S. for certain components of our product candidates, and may be subject to importation regulations that may affect our ability to manufacture or increase the cost of our product candidates.
We also may encounter problems hiring and retaining the experienced scientific, engineering, quality and manufacturing personnel needed to operate or supervise the necessary manufacturing processes, which could result in delays in production or difficulties in maintaining compliance with applicable regulatory requirements.
Any of these manufacturing and supply issues or delays could restrict our ability to meet clinical or market demand for our products, and be costly to us and otherwise harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Further, any problems in manufacturing processes or facilities could make us a less attractive collaborator for potential partners, including larger pharmaceutical companies and academic research institutions, which could limit our access to additional attractive development programs.
Risks Related to the Industry
Inconclusive results, lack of efficacy, adverse events or additional safety concerns in clinical trials that we or others conduct may impede the regulatory approval process or overall market acceptance of our product candidates.
Therapeutic applications of genome editing technologies, and CRISPR/Cas9 in particular, for both in vivo products and ex vivo products, are unproven and must undergo rigorous clinical trials and regulatory review before receiving marketing authorization. If the results of our clinical studies or those of any other third parties, including with respect to genome editing technology or engineered cell therapies, are inconclusive or fail to show efficacy or if such clinical trials give rise to safety concerns or adverse events, we may:
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Additionally, our product candidates could potentially cause other adverse events that have not yet been predicted and the potentially permanent nature of genome editing effects, including CRISPR/Cas9’s effects, on genes or novel cell therapies in the organs of the human body may make these adverse events irreversible. The inclusion of critically ill patients in our clinical studies or those of our competitors may result in deaths or other adverse medical events, including those due to other therapies or medications that such patients may be using. Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining regulatory approval or market acceptance of our product candidates and impair our ability to achieve profitability.
Research and development of biopharmaceutical products is inherently risky. We may not be successful in our efforts to use and enhance our genome editing technology to create a pipeline of product candidates, establish the necessary manufacturing capabilities, obtain regulatory approval and develop commercially successful products, or we may expend our limited resources on programs that do not yield a successful product candidate and fail to capitalize on potential product candidates or diseases that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success. If we fail to develop product candidates, our commercial opportunity, if any, will be limited.
We are at an early stage of development and our technology and approach has not yet led, and may never lead, to the approval or commercialization of any of our product candidates, including NTLA-2001 for ATTR amyloidosis or NTLA-2002 for HAE, or for other product candidates, including NTLA-2003 and NTLA-3001 for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (“AATD”) and NTLA-6001 for CD30+ lymphomas, being deemed appropriate for clinical development and ultimately approval by a regulatory agency. In addition, we are identifying collaboration opportunities to advance development of NTLA-6001. Even if we are successful in building our pipeline of product candidates, completing clinical development, establishing the necessary manufacturing processes and capabilities, obtaining regulatory approvals and commercializing product candidates will require substantial additional funding and are subject to the risks of failure inherent in therapeutic product development. Investment in biopharmaceutical product development involves significant risk that any potential product candidate will fail to demonstrate acceptable safety and efficacy profiles, gain regulatory approval, or become commercially viable.
We cannot provide any assurance that we will be able to successfully advance any of our product candidates, including NTLA-2001, NTLA-2002, NTLA-2003, NTLA-3001 or NTLA-6001, through the entire research and development process. Any of our other programs may show promise, yet fail to yield product candidates for clinical development or commercialization for many reasons. For more information regarding these risks, see the above risk factor section entitled “Risks Related to Preclinical and Clinical Development.”
Even if we obtain regulatory approval of any product candidates, such candidates may not gain market acceptance among physicians, patients, hospitals, third-party payors and others in the medical community.
The use of the CRISPR/Cas9 system to create genome editing-based therapies is a recent development and may not become broadly accepted by patients, healthcare providers, third-party payors and other stakeholders. A variety of factors will influence whether our product candidates are accepted in the market, including, for example:
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Even if our products achieve market acceptance, we may not be able to maintain that market acceptance over time if new products or technologies are introduced that are more favorably received than our products, are more cost effective or render our products obsolete. In addition, adverse publicity due to the ethical and social controversies surrounding the therapeutic in vivo use of CRISPR/Cas9, genome edited modified cells, or other therapeutics mediums, such as viral vectors that we may use in our clinical trials may limit market acceptance of our product candidates. If our product candidates are approved but fail to achieve market acceptance among physicians, patients, hospitals, third-party payors or others in the medical community, we will not be able to generate significant revenue. Our efforts to educate the healthcare providers, patients and third-party payors about our products may require significant resources and may never be successful.
Risks Related to Healthcare
Coverage and reimbursement may be limited or unavailable in certain market segments for our product candidates, if approved, which could make it difficult for us to sell any product candidates or therapies profitably.
The success of our product candidates, if approved, depends on the availability of adequate coverage and reimbursement from third-party payors, including government agencies, private health insurers and health maintenance organizations. There is significant uncertainty related to the insurance coverage and reimbursement of any newly approved product, but in particular novel genome editing and engineered cell products. All the therapeutic indications approved by the relevant authorities may not be covered or reimbursed. In addition, we cannot be sure that coverage and reimbursement will be available for, or accurately estimate the potential revenue from, our product candidates because they are novel treatments for diseases using a new technology and delivery approaches. For more information on coverage and reimbursement please see the section entitled “ Business – Government Regulation and Product Approval – Coverage and Reimbursement.”
In the U.S. and some other jurisdictions, patients generally rely on third-party payors to reimburse all or part of the costs associated with their treatment. Adequate coverage and reimbursement from governmental healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid in the U.S., and commercial payors are critical to new product acceptance.
Government authorities and other third-party payors, such as private health insurers and health maintenance organizations, decide which drugs and treatments they will cover and the amount of reimbursement. In the U.S., the principal decisions about reimbursement for new medicines are typically made by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. CMS decides whether and to what extent a new medicine will be covered and reimbursed under Medicare, and private payors often
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follow CMS’s coverage decisions. Other jurisdictions have agencies, such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in the U.K., that evaluate the use and cost-effectiveness of therapies, which impact the utilization and price of the medicine in such jurisdiction.
In the U.S., no uniform policy of coverage and reimbursement for products exists among third-party payors. As a result, obtaining coverage and reimbursement approval of a product from a third-party payor is a time-consuming and costly process that could require us to provide supporting scientific, clinical and cost-effectiveness data for the use of our products to each potential payor, with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be obtained from all or any of them. Even if we obtain coverage for a given product, the resulting reimbursement payment rates might be insufficient or may require co-payments that patients find unacceptably high, which may prevent us from achieving or sustaining profitability. Additionally, third-party payors may not cover, or provide adequate reimbursement for, long-term follow-up evaluations required following the use of our genome editing products.
In addition, each country in which we seek approval to market our product candidates has unique laws and market practices regulating coverage and reimbursement for human therapeutics. Market acceptance and sales of our products in each country will depend on our ability to meet each of these jurisdiction’s requirements for coverage and reimbursement. Further, changes to the country’s existing requirements may also affect our ability to commercialize our products in the future, or achieve profitability from their sale.
We may be subject, directly or indirectly, to federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws, false claims laws, physician payment transparency laws, health information privacy and security laws and anti-corruption laws. If we are unable to comply, or have not fully complied, with such laws or their relevant foreign counterparts, we could face substantial penalties.
The sale, distribution and marketing of human therapeutics and our relationship with healthcare providers are strictly regulated by laws in the U.S. and most other jurisdictions in which we intend to seek approval for our product candidates. In addition, the collection and use of Personally Identifiable Information, including Protected Health Information (“PHI”), is regulated by federal, state and foreign privacy, data security and data protection laws. Failure to comply with these laws could impair our ability to properly sell our product candidates in particular jurisdictions and subject us to liability from private and governmental entities. Addressing these diverse and sometimes contradictory requirements in myriad jurisdictions may necessitate that we expend significant resources on compliance efforts. Any failure to comply with these requirements may leave us exposed to possible enforcement actions and potential liability. For more information on these laws and regulations please see the section titled “Business – Government Regulation and Product Approval – Other Healthcare and Privacy Laws.”
The scope and enforcement of each of these laws is not always certain and is subject to legislative, judicial or prosecutorial changes. Further, because of the breadth of these laws, it is possible that some of our business activities could be subject to challenge under one or more of such laws. Indeed, U.S. federal and state enforcement bodies have increasingly scrutinized healthcare companies and providers interactions, which has led to a number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and settlements in the industry. Ensuring business arrangements comply with applicable laws, as well as responding to possible investigations by government authorities, can be time- and resource-consuming and can divert a company’s attention from its business.
The increasingly global nature of our business operations, including clinical development efforts, subjects us to domestic and foreign anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws and regulations, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) and the U.K. Bribery Act. These activities create the risk of unauthorized payments or offers of payments that are prohibited under the FCPA, the U.K. Bribery Act or similar laws. It is our policy to implement safeguards to discourage these practices by our employees and agents. However, these safeguards may ultimately prove ineffective, and our employees, consultants, and agents may engage in conduct for which we might be held responsible. Violations of the FCPA may result in severe criminal or civil sanctions, and we may be subject to other liabilities, which could negatively affect our business, operating results and financial condition.
Further, the U.S. federal and state government, as well as other jurisdictions, have myriad laws regulating the collection, storage, distribution and use of data of employees, patients, agents, and others. These different laws governing the privacy and security of health and other personal information often differ from each other in significant
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ways and may not have the same effective requirements, thus complicating efforts to comply with their respective provisions. For example:
The costs associated with ensuring compliance with these laws, including in particular European Data Protection Law, may be onerous and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Further, due to Brexit, we may have additional costs and operational challenges in complying with the U.K. GDPR and any
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other developments regulating the transfer of personal data between the U.K. and EU. We may also need to rely on multiple third parties to meet these legal requirements, which could result in additional liability for us if they do not comply.
Efforts to ensure that we comply with all applicable healthcare and data privacy laws and regulations, as well as other domestic and foreign legal requirements, will involve substantial costs. It is possible that governmental and enforcement authorities in the U.S. or outside the U.S. will conclude that our business practices do not comply with current or future legal requirements. If any noncompliance actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business, including the imposition of significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, disgorgement, monetary fines, individual imprisonment, exclusion from participation in federal healthcare programs (such as Medicare and Medicaid), contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, and curtailment or restructuring of our operations, as well as additional reporting obligations and oversight if we become subject to a corporate integrity agreement or similar agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with these laws, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations. Any action for violation of these laws, even if successfully defended, could result in significant legal expenses and divert management’s attention from the operation of the business. Prohibitions or restrictions on sales (including importation or exportation) or withdrawal of future marketed products could materially affect business in an adverse way.
Healthcare cost control initiatives, including healthcare legislative and regulatory reform measures, may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
The U.S. and many other jurisdictions have enacted or proposed legal changes affecting the healthcare system that could prevent or delay marketing approval of our product candidates, affect our ability to profitably sell our product candidates once approved, and restrict or regulate post-approval activities. Changes in the legal requirements, or their interpretation, could impact our business by compelling, for example, modification to: our manufacturing arrangements; product labeling; pricing and reimbursement arrangements; private or governmental insurance coverage; the sale practices for, or availability of, our products; or record-keeping activities. If any such changes were to be imposed, they could adversely affect the operation of our business. For more information on these laws and regulations please see the section entitled “ Business – Government Regulation and Product Approval – Healthcare Reform.”
Third-party payors, whether domestic or foreign, or governmental or commercial, are developing increasingly sophisticated methods of controlling healthcare costs. In the U.S. and certain other jurisdictions, there have been, and are expected to continue to be, a number of legislative and regulatory changes to the healthcare system that could impact our ability to sell our products profitably. In the U.S., however, significant uncertainty exists regarding the provision and financing of healthcare because the newly elected administration and federal legislators have publicly declared their intention to review and potentially significantly modify the current legal and regulatory framework for the healthcare system.
Current legislation at the U.S. federal and state levels seeks to reduce healthcare costs and improve the quality of healthcare. For example, the U.S. Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), enacted in March 2010, subjected biologic products to potential competition by lower-cost biosimilars; introduced a new methodology to calculate manufacturers’ rebates under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program for certain drugs, including infused or injected drugs; increased manufacturers’ minimum Medicaid rebates under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program; extended the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program to pharmaceutical prescriptions of individuals enrolled in Medicaid managed care organizations; imposed new annual fees and taxes for certain branded prescription drugs and biologic agents; created the Medicare Part D coverage gap discount program, in which manufacturers must agree to offer 70% point-of-sale discounts as of January 1, 2019, off negotiated prices on certain brand drugs to eligible beneficiaries during their coverage gap period, as a condition for the manufacturer’s outpatient drugs to be covered under Medicare Part D; and provided incentives to programs that increase the federal government’s comparative effectiveness research. Congress also could consider additional legislation to repeal, replace, or further modify elements of the ACA. Thus, the full impact of the ACA, or any law replacing elements of it, and the political uncertainty regarding any repeal and replacement on the ACA, on our business remains unclear.
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There have been, and likely will continue to be, legislative and regulatory proposals at the foreign, federal and state levels directed at broadening the availability of healthcare and containing or lowering the cost of healthcare. As indicated previously, significant uncertainty exists regarding the future scope and effect of current healthcare legislation and regulations because of recent changes in U.S. executive and legislative branches, and elected officials’ public declarations of their intention to significantly modify or repeal the current legislative framework. We cannot predict the initiatives that may be adopted in the future, any of which could limit or modify the amounts that foreign, federal and state governments as well as private payors, including patients, will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand for our product candidates or additional pricing pressures.
Risks Related to Data and Privacy
Our internal computer systems, or those of our collaborators or other contractors or consultants, may fail or suffer security breaches, which could result in a material disruption of our operations and development efforts.
We are increasingly dependent upon information technology systems, infrastructure, and data to operate our business. In the ordinary course of business, we collect, store, and transmit large amounts of confidential information (including but not limited to intellectual property, such as trade secrets, proprietary business information, and personal information). It is critical that we do so in a secure manner to maintain the confidentiality and integrity of such confidential information. We have also outsourced elements of our operations to third parties, and as a result we manage a number of third-party vendors who may or could have access to our confidential information. Our third-party collaborators, vendors and service providers (including our CMOs and CROs) also have access to large amounts of confidential information relating to our operations, including our research and development efforts. The size and complexity of our information technology systems, and those of third-party vendors, service providers and collaborators, and the large amounts of confidential information stored on those systems, make such systems potentially vulnerable to service interruptions or systems failures, or to security breaches from inadvertent or intentional actions by our employees, third-party vendors, service providers, collaborators, and/or business partners, or from cyber-attacks by malicious third parties.
In addition to such risks, the adoption of new technologies may also increase our exposure to cybersecurity breaches and failures. Further, having a significant portion of our workforce working from home for extended periods of time due to the COVID-19 pandemic puts us at greater risk of cybersecurity attacks. Cyber-attacks are increasing in their frequency, sophistication, and intensity, and have become increasingly difficult to detect. Cyber-attacks could include the deployment of harmful malware, denial-of-service attacks, social engineering, “phishing” scams, ransomware, network security breaches, and other means to affect service reliability and threaten the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information. Certain of our service providers have been subject to such attacks and our company or our service providers may be impacted by such attacks in the future. Significant disruptions of these information technology systems or security breaches could adversely affect our business operations and/or result in the loss, misappropriation, and/or unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of, or the prevention of access to, confidential information (including but not limited to trade secrets or other intellectual property, proprietary business information, and personal information), and could result in financial, legal, business, and reputational harm to us and would adversely affect our operations, including our discovery and research and development programs. For example, any such event that leads to unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of personal information, including personal information regarding our employees or current or future clinical trial participants, could harm our reputation, require us to comply with federal and/or state breach notification laws and foreign law equivalents (such as the GDPR or the U.K.’s Data Protection Act), and otherwise subject us to liability, including financial penalties and fines, under laws and regulations that protect the privacy and security of personal information. Also, the loss of preclinical or clinical trial data from completed or future preclinical or clinical trials, respectively, could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. To the extent that any disruption or security breach were to result in a loss of, or damage to, our data or applications, or inappropriate disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, we could incur liability, our competitive position could be harmed and the further development and commercialization of our product candidates could be delayed. Security breaches, insider threats and other inappropriate access can be difficult to detect, and any delay in identifying them may lead to increased harm of the type summarized and described above. While we have implemented security measures to protect our information technology systems and infrastructure, there is no assurance that such measures will prevent service interruptions or security breaches that could adversely affect our business.
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Interruptions in the availability of server systems or communications with internet or cloud-based services, or failure to maintain the security, confidentiality, accessibility or integrity of data stored on such systems, could harm our business.
We rely upon a variety of internet service providers, third-party web hosting facilities, cloud computing platform providers and software as a service (“SaaS”) vendors to support our business. Failure to maintain the security, confidentiality, accessibility or integrity of data stored on such systems could result in interruptions in our operations, damage our reputation in the market, increase our service costs, cause us to incur substantial costs, subject us to liability for damages and/or fines, and divert our resources from other tasks, any one of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. If our security measures or those of our third-party data center hosting facilities, cloud computing platform providers, SaaS vendors or third-party service partners, are breached, and unauthorized access is obtained to our data or our information technology systems, we may incur significant legal and financial exposure and liabilities.
We also do not have control over the operations of the facilities of our cloud service providers, SaaS vendors or our third-party web hosting providers, and they also may be vulnerable to damage or interruption from natural disasters, hardware or software outages, cybersecurity attacks, terrorist attacks and similar events or acts of misconduct. In addition, any changes in these providers’ service levels may adversely affect our ability to meet our requirements and operate our business.
Social media platforms present new risks and challenges to our business.
As social media continues to expand, it also presents us with new risks and challenges. Social media is increasingly being used to communicate information about us, our programs and the diseases our therapeutics are being developed to treat. Social media practices in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries are evolving, which creates uncertainty and risk of noncompliance with regulations applicable to our business. For example, patients may use social media platforms to comment on the effectiveness of, or adverse experiences with, a product or a product candidate, which could result in reporting obligations or other consequences. Further, the accidental or intentional disclosure of non-public information by our workforce or others through media channels could lead to information loss. In addition, there is a risk of inappropriate disclosure of sensitive information or negative or inaccurate posts or comments about us, our products, or our product candidates on any social media platform. The nature of social media prevents us from having real-time control over postings about us on social media. We may not be able to reverse damage to our reputation from negative publicity or adverse information posted on social media platforms or similar mediums. If any of these events were to occur or we otherwise fail to comply with applicable regulations, we could incur liability, face restrictive regulatory actions or incur other harm to our business including quick and irreversible damage to our reputation, brand image and goodwill.
Risks Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Business interruptions resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak or similar public health crises could delay or cause a disruption of the development of our product candidates and adversely impact our business.
Public health crises, such as pandemics or similar outbreaks, could adversely impact our business. The current COVID-19 pandemic has continuously evolved, and to date has led to the implementation of various responses, including government-imposed quarantines, travel restrictions and other public health safety measures, as well as reported adverse impacts on healthcare resources, facilities and providers, in Massachusetts, across the U.S. and in other countries. The U.S. government, as well as certain foreign governments, have imposed restrictions on travel to or from the U.S. and other jurisdictions, which may delay or prevent us from conducting our business in a timely and efficient manner. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our operations or those of our third-party partners will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, including the duration of the outbreak, the identification of new variants of the virus, additional or modified government actions, new information that will emerge concerning the severity and impact of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or address its impact in the short and long term, among others.
Additionally, completion of our clinical trials for NTLA-2001 for ATTR amyloidosis and NTLA-2002 for HAE, as well as timely completion of preclinical activities and initiation of planned clinical trials for other product candidates, such as NTLA-2003 and NTLA-3001 for AATD, is dependent upon the availability of, for example, preclinical and clinical trial sites, researchers and investigators, regulatory agency personnel, and materials, which may be adversely
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affected by global health matters, such as pandemics. We plan to conduct preclinical activities and clinical trials for our investigational drug product candidates in geographies that have been affected by COVID-19.
Further, in response to the pandemic and in accordance with direction from state and local government authorities, we restricted access to our facilities mostly to personnel and third parties who had to perform critical activities that needed to be completed on-site, limited the number of such personnel that were present at our facilities at any one time, and requested that personnel work remotely, as appropriate. In the event that there is a resurgence of the pandemic and governmental authorities were to further modify current restrictions, our employees conducting research and development or manufacturing activities may not be able to access our laboratory or manufacturing space, and our core activities may be significantly limited or curtailed, possibly for an extended period of time.
Risks Related to Commercialization
If, in the future, we are unable to establish sales, marketing and distribution capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to sell, market and distribute products based on our technologies, we may not be successful in commercializing our products if and when any product candidates or therapies are approved and we may not be able to generate any revenue.
We do not currently have a sales, marketing or distribution infrastructure and, as a company, have no experience in the sale, marketing or distribution of therapeutic products. To achieve commercial success for any approved product candidate for which we retain sales and marketing responsibilities, we must build our sales, marketing, managerial and other non-technical capabilities or make arrangements with third parties to perform these services. There are risks involved with both establishing our own sales and marketing capabilities and entering into arrangements with third parties to perform these services.
Factors that may inhibit our efforts to commercialize our product candidates include:
If we enter into arrangements with third parties to perform sales, marketing and distribution services, we would likely have lower product revenue or profitability than if we ourselves were to market and sell our product candidates. In addition, we may be unable to enter into sales and marketing arrangements with third parties, or into arrangements with terms that are favorable to us. We likely will have little control over such third parties and any of them may fail to devote the necessary resources and attention to sell and market our product candidates effectively. If we do not establish sales, marketing and distribution capabilities successfully, either on our own or through third parties, we may not be successful in commercializing our product candidates, and our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects will be materially adversely affected.
Risks Related to Our Financial Position and Need for Additional Capital
Risks Related to Past Financial Condition
We have never generated any revenue from product sales and our ability to generate revenue from product sales and become profitable depends significantly on our success in a number of areas.
We have no products approved for commercial sale, have not generated any revenue from product sales, and do not anticipate generating any revenue from product sales until we have received regulatory approval for the commercial
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sale of one of our product candidates. Our ability to generate revenue, and achieve and retain profitability, depends significantly on our success in many areas, including:
Even if one or more product candidates that we discover and develop are approved for commercial sale, we anticipate incurring significant costs associated with commercializing any approved product candidate and the timing of such costs may be out of our control. If we are not able to generate revenue from the sale of any approved products, we may never become profitable.
Our limited operating history may make difficult the evaluation of our business’s success to date and assessment of our future viability.
We are an early clinical-stage company. We were founded and commenced operations in mid-2014. All of our product candidates are still in the preclinical development or early clinical stage. We have not yet demonstrated our ability to successfully complete any clinical trials, including large-scale, pivotal clinical trials, obtain marketing approvals, manufacture clinical and commercial scale therapeutics, or arrange for a third-party to do so on our behalf, or conduct sales and marketing activities necessary for successful commercialization. Our ability to generate product revenue or profits, which we do not expect will occur for many years, if ever, will depend heavily on the successful development and eventual commercialization of our product candidates, which may never occur. We may never be able to develop or commercialize a marketable product.
Each of our programs may require additional discovery research and then preclinical and clinical development, regulatory approval in multiple jurisdictions, obtaining manufacturing supply, capacity and expertise, building of a commercial organization, substantial investment and significant marketing efforts before we generate any revenue from product sales. In addition, our product candidates must be approved for marketing by the FDA, or certain other foreign regulatory agencies, before we may commercialize any product.
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Our limited operating history, particularly in light of the rapidly evolving genome editing field, may make it difficult to evaluate our current business and predict our future performance. Our relatively short history as an operating company makes any assessment of our future success or viability subject to significant uncertainty. We will encounter risks and difficulties frequently experienced by very early-stage companies in rapidly evolving fields. If we do not address these risks successfully, our business will suffer.
We have incurred net losses in each period since our inception, anticipate that we will continue to incur net losses in the future and may never achieve profitability.
We are not profitable and have incurred losses in each period since our inception. Our net loss was $113.4 million for the three months ended December 31, 2022. As of December 31, 2022, we had an accumulated deficit of $1,177.2 million. We expect these losses to increase as we continue to incur significant research and development and other expenses related to our ongoing operations, seek regulatory approvals for our future product candidates, scale-up manufacturing capabilities, maintain, expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio and hire additional personnel to support the development of our product candidates and to enhance our operational, financial and information management systems. Although we believe that our cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities will enable us to fund our operating and capital expenditure requirements at least through the next twenty four months, we cannot predict the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on future results of operations and financial condition due to a variety of factors, including the health of our employees, the ability of suppliers to continue to operate and deliver, the ability of Intellia to maintain operations, continued access to transportation resources, any further government and/or public actions taken in response to the pandemic and ultimately the length of the pandemic. We expect to finance our operations through a combination of collaboration revenue, equity or debt financings or other sources, which may include collaborations with third parties. Given the impact of COVID-19 on the U.S. and global financial markets, as well as additional factors such as inflation and rising interest rates, we may be unable to access further equity or debt financing when needed.
A critical aspect of our strategy is to invest significantly in our technology to improve the efficacy and safety of potential product candidates that we discover. Even if we succeed in discovering, developing and ultimately commercializing one or more of these product candidates, we will continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future relating to our substantial research and development expenditures to develop our technologies. We may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other unknown factors that may adversely affect our business, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The size of our future net losses will depend, in part, on the rate of future growth of our expenses and our ability to generate revenue. Our prior losses and expected future losses have had and will continue to have an adverse effect on our stockholders’ equity and working capital. Further, the net losses we incur may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year, such that a period-to-period comparison of our results of operations may not be a good indication of our future performance.
Risks Related to Future Financial Condition
We may need to raise substantial additional funding to fund our operations. If we fail to obtain additional financing, we may be unable to complete the development and commercialization of any product candidates.
Our operations have required substantial amounts of cash since inception, and we expect to spend substantial amounts of our financial resources on our discovery programs going forward and future development efforts. Before obtaining marketing approval from regulatory authorities for the sale of any product candidate, we must complete preclinical development, manufacture (or have manufactured) product candidates and components, and then conduct extensive clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of any of our future product candidates in humans. Because preclinical and clinical testing is expensive and can take many years to complete, we may require additional funding to complete these undertakings. Further, if we are able to identify product candidates that are eventually approved, we will require significant additional amounts in order to launch and commercialize our product candidates. For the foreseeable future, we expect to continue to rely on additional financing to achieve our business objectives. Our future capital requirements will depend on and could increase significantly as a result of many factors, including the scope, progress, results and costs of drug discovery, preclinical development, laboratory testing and clinical trials for our current or future product candidates, including additional expenses attributable to adjusting our development plans (including any supply related matters).
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We will require additional capital for the further development and commercialization of any product candidates and may need to raise additional funds sooner if we choose to expand more rapidly than we presently anticipate or due to other unanticipated factors. Disruptions in the financial markets in general and, more recently, due to the COVID-19 pandemic have made equity and debt financing more difficult to obtain, and may have a material adverse effect on our ability to meet our fundraising needs.
We cannot be certain that additional funding will be available on acceptable terms, or at all. We have no committed source of additional capital and if we are unable to raise additional capital in sufficient amounts or on terms acceptable to us, we may have to significantly delay, scale back or discontinue the development, manufacture or commercialization of our product candidates or other research and development initiatives. Our collaboration and license agreements may also be terminated if we are unable to meet the payment or other obligations under the agreements. We could be required to seek collaborators for product candidates at an earlier stage than otherwise would be desirable or on terms that are less favorable than might otherwise be available or relinquish or license on unfavorable terms our rights to product candidates in markets where we otherwise would seek to pursue development or commercialization ourselves.
Any of the above events could significantly harm our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations and cause the price of our common stock to decline.
Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our stockholders and restrict our operations.
We will need additional capital in the future to continue our planned operations. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, the ownership interest of our existing stockholders may be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect the rights of our common stockholders. In addition, the impact on the economic and financial markets of the COVID-19 pandemic has depressed the valuation of public companies, which could require selling equity at lower prices to ensure appropriate capitalization. Debt financing and preferred equity financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends.
Unfavorable national or global economic conditions or political developments could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Our results of operations could be adversely affected by general conditions in the national or global economy and financial markets. For example, governmental statements, actions or policies, political unrest and global financial crises can cause extreme volatility and disruptions in the capital and credit markets. A severe or prolonged economic downturn, political unrest or additional global financial crises, including those resulting from the current COVID-19 pandemic, could result in a variety of risks to our business, including weakened demand for our products, if approved, or our ability to raise additional capital when needed on acceptable terms, if at all. A weak or declining economy could also strain our suppliers, possibly resulting in supply disruption. Any of the foregoing could harm our business and we cannot anticipate all of the ways in which the current economic climate, further political developments and financial market conditions could adversely impact our business.
Inadequate funding for, or change of priorities or disruptions at, the FDA and other government agencies in or outside the U.S. could hinder their ability to hire, retain, or deploy key leadership and other personnel, prevent new products and services from being developed or commercialized in a timely manner or otherwise prevent those agencies from performing normal business functions on which the operation of our business may rely, which could negatively impact our business.
The ability of the FDA and other similar regulatory agencies to review and approve new products can be affected by a variety of factors, including government budget and funding levels, ability to hire and retain key personnel and authorization to accept the payment of user fees, reallocation of resources to address unique or new healthcare issues (such as the COVID-19 pandemic), and statutory, regulatory, and policy changes. For example, the FDA’s average review times at the agency have fluctuated in recent years as a result of these factors in the U.S. In addition, government funding of other government agencies on which our operations may rely, including those that fund research and development activities, is subject to the political process, which is inherently fluid and unpredictable.
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Disruptions at the FDA and other similar agencies may also slow the time necessary for new product applications to be reviewed and/or approved by necessary government agencies, which would adversely affect our business. For example, over the last several years, including beginning on December 22, 2018, the U.S. government has shut down several times and certain regulatory agencies, such as the FDA and the SEC, have had to furlough critical FDA, SEC and other government employees and stop critical activities.
If a prolonged government shutdown occurs (or if the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt or prevent regular inspections, reviews, or other regulatory activities conducted by regulatory agencies) in the U.S. or other jurisdictions where we plan to conduct our clinical trials, manufacturing, or other operations, it could significantly impact the ability of the relevant agency, such as the FDA, to timely review and process our regulatory submissions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Risks Related to Our Reliance on Third Parties
Risks Related to Our Reliance on Collaboration Partners
Our technological advancements and any potential for revenue may be derived in part from our collaborations, including, for example, with Regeneron and AvenCell, and if the collaboration or co-development agreements related to a material collaboration were to be terminated or materially altered in an adverse manner, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects would be harmed.
We rely on strategic collaborations to advance our technology and co-develop products that we plan to co-commercialize. If our collaboration partner in a material collaboration fails to develop, obtain regulatory approval for or ultimately commercialize any product candidate from the development programs governed by the respective collaboration agreements, including, e.g., a co-development or co-commercialization agreement, or breaches or terminates our collaboration with it, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be harmed. In addition, any material alteration, in an adverse manner, of any material collaboration agreement, or dispute or litigation proceedings we may have related to a material collaboration in the future could delay development programs, create uncertainty as to ownership of or access to intellectual property rights, distract management from other business activities and generate substantial expense.
As described within the “Collaborations and Other Arrangements” section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we have entered into co-development and co-promotion (“Co/Co”) arrangements with Regeneron and AvenCell Therapeutics, Inc. (“AvenCell”). Either Regeneron or AvenCell may change its strategic focus or pursue alternative technologies in a manner that results in reduced, delayed or no revenue to us under these arrangements. For example, Regeneron has a variety of marketed products and product candidates either by itself or with other companies, including some of our competitors. In addition, the corporate objectives of our collaborators, such as Regeneron or AvenCell, may not be consistent with our best interests. Regeneron or AvenCell may change its position regarding its participation and funding of our joint activities, which may impact our ability to successfully pursue those programs.
Our existing and future collaborations will be important to our business. If we are unable to maintain any of these collaborations, or if these collaborations are not successful, our business could be adversely affected.
We have limited capabilities for product development and do not yet have any capability for sales, marketing or distribution. Accordingly, we have entered, and plan to enter, into collaborations with other companies, including our therapeutic-focused collaboration agreements with Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Inc. (“Novartis”) and Regeneron, that we believe can provide such capabilities. These current and future therapeutic-focused collaborations could provide us with important technologies and/or funding for our programs and technology. Our existing and future therapeutic collaborations may have a number of risks, including that collaborators:
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If our therapeutic collaborations do not result in the successful discovery, development and commercialization of products or if a collaborator terminates its agreement with us, we may not receive any future research funding or milestone or royalty payments under the collaboration. All of the risks relating to product discovery, development, regulatory approval and commercialization summarized and described in this report also apply to the activities of our therapeutic collaborators.
Additionally, if one of our collaborators terminates its agreement with us, we may find it more difficult to attract new collaborators and our perception in the business and financial communities could be adversely affected.
As part of our business strategy, we may pursue acquisitions or licenses of assets or acquisitions of businesses, or disposition of assets or technologies. For example, in February 2022, we announced the acquisition of Rewrite Therapeutics, Inc. (“Rewrite”) in order to add additional capabilities to our growing platform. We also may pursue strategic alliances and joint ventures that leverage our core technology and industry experience. If we decide to collaborate with other companies to discover, develop and commercialize therapeutic products, we face significant competition in seeking appropriate collaborators because, for example, third parties have comparable rights to the CRISPR/Cas9 system or similar genome editing technologies. In addition, we have limited experience with acquiring, disposing of or licensing assets or forming strategic alliances and joint ventures. Our ability to reach a definitive agreement for a collaboration will depend, among other things, upon our assessment of the collaborator’s resources and expertise, the terms and conditions of the proposed collaboration and the proposed collaborator’s evaluation of a number of factors. If we are unable to reach agreements with suitable collaborators on a timely basis, on acceptable
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terms, or at all, we may have to curtail, delay or abandon discovery efforts or development programs, and the development, manufacture or commercialization of a product candidate, or increase our expenditures and undertake these activities at our own expense. If we elect to fund and undertake discovery, development, manufacturing or commercialization activities on our own, we may need to obtain additional expertise and additional capital, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If we fail to enter into collaborations and do not have sufficient funds or expertise to undertake the necessary discovery, development, manufacturing and commercialization activities, we may not be able to further develop our product candidates, manufacture the product candidates, bring them to market or continue to develop our technology and our business may be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, we may not identify or complete these transactions in a timely manner, on a cost-effective basis, or at all, and we may not realize the anticipated benefits of any acquisition, license, strategic alliance or joint venture.
Risks Related to AvenCell
We launched a new company, AvenCell, alongside Cellex Cell Professionals GmbH and Blackstone Life Sciences Advisors L.L.C. We are exposed to risks associated with the launch of the new company and may not realize the advantages we expect from it.
In July 2021, we launched AvenCell alongside Cellex Cell Professionals GmbH (“Cellex”) and Blackstone Life Sciences Advisors L.L.C. (“BXLS”). AvenCell acquired GEMoaB GmbH (“GEMoaB”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Cellex. AvenCell combines GEMoaB’s clinical-stage universal CAR-T program and platforms with our allogeneic universal cell engineering platform, which we licensed to AvenCell pursuant to a license and collaboration agreement with AvenCell (the “AvenCell License”). Under the AvenCell License, we will collaborate with AvenCell to develop at least seven allogeneic universal CAR-T cell therapies. AvenCell may not be successful in the timeframe we expect, or at all. In addition, if AvenCell fails to develop, obtain regulatory approval for or ultimately commercialize any product candidate from its development programs, including those governed by the respective AvenCell License, or breaches or terminates such agreements, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be harmed.
Additionally, we, BXLS, and Cellex (together with certain related entities) each have equal ownership of AvenCell and, therefore, share control over portions of the operations of AvenCell. Because of our minority ownership in AvenCell, we have a lesser degree of control over its business operations than our own, thereby potentially increasing the financial, legal, operational and compliance risks Intellia may face in the future. In addition, we may be dependent on controlling shareholders or management of AvenCell who may have business interests, strategies or goals that are inconsistent with ours. These risks include the possibility that AvenCell, BXLS or Cellex has economic or business interests or goals that are or become inconsistent with our economic or business interests or goals; is in a position to take action contrary to our instructions, requests, policies or objectives; subjects us to unexpected liabilities or risks; takes actions that reduce our return on investment; acts in a manner that compromises our key licensed rights, or important IP or other rights that we own or license; or takes actions that harm our reputation or restrict our ability to run our business. Furthermore, as a result of our ownership in AvenCell, we are required to include AvenCell’s financial information in our consolidated financial results. This could subject us to increased risk in accurately representing and incorporating AvenCell’s financial statements into our own, which could result in delayed filings with the SEC and the finding of a material or significant weakness, among others. This could result in harmful consequences to our business, including an adverse reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of confidence in the reliability of our consolidated financial statements.
Risks Related to Our Reliance on Other Third Parties
We currently rely, and expect to continue to rely in part on, third parties to manufacture our clinical product supplies, and we intend to rely on third parties for at least a portion of the manufacturing process of our product candidates, if approved. Our business could be harmed if the third parties fail to provide us with sufficient quantities of product inputs or fail to do so at acceptable quality levels or prices or fail to meet legal and regulatory requirements.
We are in the early stages of establishing our own manufacturing facility to provide preclinical, clinical and commercial supply of our product candidates and must rely on outside vendors, such as CMOs, to manufacture supplies and process our product candidates. We have only recently begun to manufacture and process product candidate components on a clinical scale and may not be able to successfully complete or continue to do so. We will
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make changes to optimize the manufacturing process, and cannot be sure that even minor changes in the process will result in therapies that are safe, pure and potent.
Any facility that we may have in the future and the facilities used by our CMOs to manufacture our product candidates must be inspected and approved by, as applicable, the FDA or other foreign regulatory agencies after we apply for approval or marketing authorization. For the foreseeable future, we will be dependent on our CMO partners to properly manufacture adequate supply of our product candidates and components in a timely manner and in accordance with our specification. We also will depend on these entities for compliance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements for manufacture of our product candidates, including current good manufacturing practice (“cGMP”), and in certain cases, current good tissue practice (“cGTP”), requirements. If we or our CMOs cannot successfully manufacture material that conforms to our specifications and the strict relevant regulatory requirements, we and our CMOs will not be able to secure or maintain regulatory approval for our respective manufacturing facilities. In addition, we have no control over the ability of our CMOs to maintain adequate quality control, quality assurance and qualified personnel, particularly as we increase the scale of our manufactured material. If the FDA or relevant foreign regulatory authority does not approve these facilities for the manufacture of our product candidates or if it withdraws any such approval, we may need to find alternative manufacturing facilities, which would significantly impact our ability to develop, obtain regulatory approval for or market our product candidates.
If any CMO with whom we contract fails to perform its obligations, we may be forced to manufacture the materials ourselves, for which we may not have the capabilities or resources, or enter into an agreement with a different CMO, which we may not be able to do on reasonable terms, if at all. In such scenario, our clinical trials supply could be delayed significantly as we establish alternative supply sources. In some cases, the technical skills required to manufacture our product candidates may be unique to the original CMO and we may have difficulty transferring such skills to a back-up or alternate supplier, or we may be unable to transfer such skills at all. In addition, if we are required to change CMOs for any reason, we will be required to verify that the new CMO maintains facilities and procedures that comply with quality standards and with all applicable regulations. We will also need to verify, such as through a comparability study, that any new manufacturing process will produce our product candidate according to the specifications previously submitted to the FDA or another regulatory authority. The delays associated with the verification of a new CMO could negatively affect our ability to develop product candidates or commercialize our products in a timely manner. In addition, changes in manufacturers often involve changes in manufacturing procedures and processes, which could require that we conduct bridging studies between our prior clinical supply used in our clinical trials and that of any new manufacturer. We may be unsuccessful in demonstrating the comparability of clinical supplies which could require the conduct of additional clinical trials.
Events such as the COVID-19 pandemic could adversely impact the ability of our vendors, including CMOs, to manufacture supplies, process and deliver our product candidates, or to otherwise meet our requirements or those of the applicable regulatory agencies. For example, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, three vaccines for COVID-19 have been granted Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA, and two of those later received marketing approval. Additional vaccines may be authorized or approved in the future. The resultant demand for vaccines and potential for manufacturing facilities and materials to be commandeered under the Defense Production Act of 1950, or equivalent foreign legislation, may make it more difficult to obtain materials or manufacturing capacity for the products needed for our clinical trials, which could lead to delays in these trials. Additionally, these events could also impact the regulatory agencies’ ability to inspect and approve our vendors, including CMOs, within our currently expected timeframe.
We currently rely, and expect to continue to rely on, third parties to conduct our preclinical studies and clinical trials. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or meet expected deadlines or comply with legal and regulatory requirements, we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval of or commercialize any potential product candidates.
We currently depend, and expect to continue to depend, upon third parties, including independent investigators, to conduct our clinical trials under agreements with universities, medical institutions, CROs, strategic partners and others. We expect to have to negotiate budgets and contracts with CROs, trial sites and other service and goods providers, which may result in delays to our development timelines and increased costs.
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We currently rely, and expect to continue to rely heavily on third parties over the course of our preclinical studies and clinical trials, and, as a result, will have limited control over the clinical investigators and other service providers, and limited visibility into their day-to-day activities, including with respect to their compliance with the approved clinical protocol and other legal, regulatory and scientific standards. Nevertheless, we are responsible for ensuring that each of our studies is conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol and legal, regulatory and scientific standards, and our reliance on third parties does not relieve us of our legal responsibilities. We and these third parties are required to comply with good clinical practice (“GCP”), which are regulations and guidelines enforced by the FDA, EMA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities for product candidates in clinical development. Regulatory authorities enforce these GCP requirements through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, clinical investigators and trial sites. If we or any of these third parties fail to comply with applicable GCP requirements, the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable and the relevant regulatory authorities may require us to suspend or terminate these trials or perform additional preclinical studies or clinical trials before approving our marketing applications. We cannot be certain that, upon inspection, such regulatory authorities will determine that any of our clinical trials comply with the GCP requirements. In addition, our clinical trials must be conducted with product produced under cGMP, and in certain cases, cGTP, requirements and may require a large number of test patients.
Our or these third parties’ failure to comply with these requirements or to recruit a sufficient number of patients may require us to delay, suspend, repeat or terminate clinical trials, which would delay the regulatory approval process. Moreover, our business may be implicated if any of these third parties violates applicable federal, state or local, as well as foreign, laws and regulations, such as the fraud and abuse or false claims laws and regulations or privacy and security laws. In jurisdictions such as the U.K. and EU, penalties for violations of privacy laws and other regulations can be financially significant. Further, if any of our CROs, clinical investigators or others involved in our clinical trials fail to comply with such laws and regulations, we could be held responsible for its actions or omissions and be negatively impacted. In the event of non-compliance with European Data Protection Law, we could be subject to substantial fines and other penalties, including fines of up to 10,000,000 Euros or up to 2% of our total worldwide annual turnover for certain comparatively minor offenses, or up to 20,000,000 Euros or up to 4% of our total worldwide annual turnover for more serious offenses.
Any third parties conducting our current or future clinical trials will not be our employees and, except for remedies that may be available to us under our agreements with such third parties, we cannot control whether they devote sufficient time and resources to our ongoing preclinical, clinical, and nonclinical programs. These third parties may also have relationships with other commercial entities, including our competitors, for whom they may also be conducting clinical trials or other product development activities, which could affect their performance on our behalf. If these third parties fail to meet their contractual obligations, legal requirements or expected deadlines, need to be replaced, or generate inaccurate or substandard clinical data by failing to adhere to our clinical protocols or regulatory requirements or for other reasons, our clinical trials may be extended, delayed or terminated and we may not be able to complete development of, obtain regulatory approval of or successfully commercialize our product candidates. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic or similar events, and responsive governmental actions, could divert healthcare resources, including necessary materials and clinical trial personnel, away from our clinical trial sites to focus on pandemic concerns. As a result, our financial results and the commercial prospects for our product candidates would be harmed, our costs could increase and our ability to generate revenue could be delayed.
A resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic (or a similar event) and measures taken in response by U.S. or other governments may have a significant impact on our CROs, clinical sites and other service and goods providers, which may affect our ability to initiate and complete preclinical studies and clinical trials.
If any of our relationships with these third-party CROs, clinical sites or other third parties terminate, we may not be able to enter into arrangements with alternative CROs, clinical sites or other third parties or to do so on commercially reasonable terms. Switching or adding additional CROs, clinical sites or other providers involves additional cost and requires management time and focus. In addition, the transition to a new CRO may result in delays, which can materially impact our ability to meet our desired clinical development timelines. Though we carefully manage our relationships with these parties, there can be no assurance that we will not encounter similar challenges or delays in the future or that these delays or challenges will not have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and prospects.
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Risks Related to Employee Matters and Managing Our Growth
Risks Related to Hiring and Retention
We expect to expand our research, development, manufacturing, clinical and regulatory capabilities, and, as a result, we may encounter difficulties in hiring capable personnel and otherwise managing our growth, which could disrupt our operations.
We expect growth in the number of our employees and the scope of our operations, including the areas of technology research, product development and manufacturing, clinical, regulatory and quality affairs and, if any product candidates receive marketing approval, sales, marketing and distribution. To manage our anticipated growth, we must continue to implement and improve our managerial, operational and financial systems, expand our facilities, and recruit and train additional qualified personnel. Due to our limited financial resources, the significant competition for employees in our market and industry, and the limited experience of our management team in managing a company with such anticipated growth, we may not be able to recruit and train additional qualified personnel or otherwise effectively manage the expansion of our operations, which may lead to significant costs and divert our management and business resources. Any inability to manage growth could delay or disrupt the execution of our business and operational plans.
Our future success depends on our ability to retain key executives and to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel.
We are highly dependent on the research and development, clinical, legal, financial and business development expertise of John M. Leonard, M.D., our President and Chief Executive Officer, Glenn Goddard, our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, David Lebwohl, our Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, James Basta, our Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Laura Sepp-Lorenzino, our Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, Eliana Clark, our Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer and Derek Hicks, our Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer, as well as the other principal members of our management, scientific and clinical teams. Although we have entered into employment arrangements with our executive officers, each of them may terminate their employment with us at any time. We do not maintain “key person” insurance for any of our executives or other employees.
Recruiting and retaining qualified scientific, clinical, manufacturing and sales and marketing personnel will also be important for our success. The loss of the services of our executive officers or other key employees could impede the achievement of our research, development and commercialization objectives, and seriously harm our ability to successfully implement our business strategy. Furthermore, replacing executive officers and key employees may be difficult and may take an extended period of time because of the limited number of individuals in our industry with the breadth of skills and experience required to successfully develop, gain regulatory approval of and commercialize products using our technology. Competition to hire from this limited pool is intense, and we may be unable to hire, train, retain or motivate these key personnel on acceptable terms given the competition among numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, universities and research institutions for similar personnel. The market for qualified personnel in the biotechnology space generally, and genome editing and gene therapy fields in particular, in and around the Cambridge, Massachusetts area is especially competitive. In addition, we rely on consultants and advisors, including scientific and clinical advisors, to assist us in formulating our research and development and commercialization strategies. Our consultants and advisors may be employed by employers other than us and may have commitments under consulting or advisory contracts with other entities that may limit their availability to us. Further, some of the qualified personnel that we hire and recruit are not U.S. citizens, and there is uncertainty with regard to their future employment status due to the current U.S. administration’s announced intention of modifying the legal framework for non-U.S. citizens to be employed in the U.S. Finally, events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and government restrictions and directives, including immigration policy changes, could adversely impact our ability to recruit, retain or replace key employees necessary to achieve our objectives and strategic imperatives, If we are unable to continue to attract and retain high quality personnel, our ability to pursue our growth strategy will be limited.
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Risks Related to Government Regulation
Risks Related to Obtaining Regulatory Approval
While the regulatory framework for approval of gene therapy including genome editing products exists, the limited precedent for genome-edited products makes the regulatory approval process potentially more unpredictable and we may experience significant delays in the clinical development and regulatory approval, if any, of our product candidates.
The research, testing, manufacturing, labeling, approval, selling, import, export, marketing and distribution of drug products, including genome editing therapeutics and engineered cell therapies, are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA in the U.S. and other regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions. For example, we are not permitted to market any drug or biological product, including in vivo products or engineered cell therapies, until we receive regulatory approval from the relevant regulatory agency, such as the FDA in the U.S. or EMA in the EU. We expect the novel nature of our product candidates to create challenges or raise questions from regulatory agencies in obtaining regulatory approval. For example, in the U.S., the FDA has approved neither any in vivo gene editing-based therapeutic nor any nuclease edited cell therapy for human therapeutic use. The FDA may also require a panel of experts, referred to as an Advisory Committee, to deliberate on the adequacy of the safety and efficacy data to support approval. The Advisory Committee’s opinion, although not binding, may significantly impact our ability to obtain approval of our product candidates. Moreover, while we are not aware of any specific genetic or biomarker tests for which regulatory approval would be necessary to advance any of our product candidates to clinical trials or commercialization, regulatory agencies could require the development and approval of such tests. Accordingly, the regulatory approval pathway for such product candidates may be uncertain, complex, expensive and lengthy, as well as different in each jurisdiction, and approval may not be obtained in any, some or all jurisdictions.
Other non-regulatory entities may impact the regulatory agencies and ethics committees’ evaluation and approval decision regarding our product candidates. For example, in December 2018, the World Health Organization (“WHO”) established the Expert Advisory Committee on Developing Global Standards for Governance and Oversight of Human Genome Editing. While the standards are expected to focus primarily on germline modifications, the guidelines could impact somatic cell editing research programs, such as ours. In March 2019, the WHO Expert Advisory Committee recommended initiating the first phase of a new global registry (the “Registry”) to track research on human genome editing. Accepting this recommendation, the WHO announced plans in August 2019 for an initial phase of the registry using the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform. This phase will include worldwide registries for both somatic cell editing and germline editing clinical trials. Although registration of these clinical trials in the WHO’s Registry currently is voluntary, failure to register could impact the evaluation by the regulators and ethics committees. In July 2021, the WHO Expert Advisory Committee issued recommendations and a governance framework for human genome editing research intended for the international, regional, national and institutional level. For example, the WHO recommended that: clinical trials using somatic human genome editing technologies be reviewed and approved by the appropriate research ethics committee before inclusion in its Registry; basic and preclinical gene editing research also be included in a registry; somatic or germline human genome editing research should only take place in jurisdictions with domestic policy and oversight mechanisms; and relevant patent holders help ensure equitable access to human genome editing interventions. We cannot predict the impact of the WHO’s current and future recommendations, or any policies or actions that ethics committees or regulatory agencies may take in response to such recommendations, on our research, clinical and business plans and results.
Patient enrollment is a significant factor in the timing of clinical trials and is affected by many factors, including willingness of physicians to use an experimental therapy, the availability of existing treatments, the trial’s geographic locations and the number of patients in each geographic location. In addition, our ability to enroll and dose patients may be delayed by the regulatory authority as well as, the IRB or another ethics committee (whether local or national). For example, as set forth in the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules (“NIH Guidelines”), gene therapy clinical trials are also subject to review and oversight by an institutional biosafety committee (“IBC”), a local institutional committee that reviews and oversees research utilizing recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecules at that institution. Before a clinical trial can begin at any institution, that institution’s IRB and its IBC assesses the safety of the research and identifies any potential risk to public health or the environment. While the NIH Guidelines are not mandatory unless the research in question is being conducted at or sponsored by institutions receiving NIH funding of recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecule research, many companies and other institutions not otherwise subject to the NIH Guidelines voluntarily
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follow them. Further, a clinical trial may be suspended or terminated by us, the relevant IRBs or ethics committees of the trial, or the FDA or other regulatory authorities, or upon a recommendation of the trial’s DMC, due to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a product candidate, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial. If we experience termination of, or delays in the completion of, any clinical trial of product candidates, the commercial prospects for our product candidates will be harmed, and our ability to generate product revenue will be impaired. In addition, any delays in completing any clinical trials will increase our costs, slow down our product development and approval process and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenue.
We have received orphan drug designation for NTLA-2001 and NTLA-2002 and may in the future seek orphan drug designation for some of our other product candidates, but we may be unable to obtain such designations or to maintain the benefits associated with orphan drug status, including market exclusivity, which may cause our revenue, if any, to be reduced.
Regulatory authorities in some jurisdictions, including the U.S. and Europe, may in response to a request from the sponsor designate products for relatively small patient populations as orphan drugs. Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may grant orphan drug designation to a product intended to treat a rare disease or condition, defined as a disease or condition with a patient population of fewer than 200,000 in the U.S., or a patient population of 200,000 or more in the U.S. when there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making available the product in the U.S. will be recovered from sales in the U.S. for that product. Orphan drug designation must be requested before submitting a BLA. In the U.S., orphan drug designation entitles a party to financial incentives such as opportunities for grant funding towards clinical trial costs, tax advantages and user-fee waivers. After the FDA grants orphan drug designation, the generic identity of the product and its potential orphan use are disclosed publicly by the FDA. In the EU, a medicinal product may be designated as orphan if (1) it is intended for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of a life-threatening or chronically debilitating condition; (2) either (a) such condition affects no more than five in 10,000 persons in the EU when the application is made, or (b) it is unlikely that the product, without the benefits derived from orphan status, would generate sufficient return in the EU to justify the necessary investment in its development; and (3) there exists no satisfactory method of diagnosis, prevention or treatment of such condition authorized for marketing in the EU, or if such a method exists, the product will be of significant benefit to those affected by the condition. Orphan drug designation does not convey any advantage in, or shorten the duration of, the regulatory review and approval process.
Generally, if a product with an orphan drug designation subsequently receives the first marketing approval for the indication for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to a period of marketing exclusivity, which precludes the approval of another marketing application for the same drug for the same indication for that time period. The applicable period is seven years in the U.S. and ten years in the EU. Orphan drug exclusivity may be lost if the FDA or the EMA determines that the request for designation was materially defective or if the manufacturer is unable to assure sufficient quantity of the drug to meet the needs of patients with the rare disease or condition. In addition, the FDA can subsequently approve a marketing application for the same drug, or a product with the same active moiety, for treatment of the same disease or condition if it concludes that the later drug is clinically superior in that it is shown to be safer, more effective or makes a major contribution to patient care. Similarly, the EMA may grant a marketing authorization to a similar medicinal product for the same indication as an authorized orphan product at any time if it is established that the second product, although similar, is safer, more effective or otherwise clinically superior to the authorized product. The FDA and EMA also can approve a different drug for the same orphan indication, or the same drug for a different indication, during the orphan exclusivity period.
We have received orphan drug designation for NTLA-2001 for the treatment of ATTR amyloidosis and NTLA-2002 for HAE. We may seek orphan drug designation for some of our other product candidates in orphan indications in which there is a medically plausible basis for the use of these product candidates. Even where we obtain orphan drug designation, exclusive marketing rights in the U.S. may be limited if we seek approval for an indication broader than the orphan designated indication and may be lost if the FDA later determines that the request for designation was materially defective or if the manufacturer is unable to assure sufficient quantities of the product to meet the needs of patients with the rare disease or condition. In addition, although we intend to seek orphan drug designation for other product candidates, we may never receive such designations.
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The FDA may reevaluate the Orphan Drug Act and its regulations and policies. We do not know if, when, or how the FDA may change the orphan drug regulations and policies in the future, and it is uncertain how any changes might affect our business. Depending on what changes the FDA may make to its orphan drug regulations and policies, our business could be adversely impacted.
Obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval of our product candidates in one jurisdiction does not mean that we will be successful in obtaining regulatory approval of product candidates in other jurisdictions.
Obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval of our product candidates in one jurisdiction does not guarantee that we will be able to obtain or maintain regulatory approval in any other jurisdiction, but a failure or delay in obtaining regulatory approval in one jurisdiction may have a negative effect on the regulatory approval process in others. For example, even if the FDA approves a product candidate, comparable regulatory authorities in foreign jurisdictions must also authorize the marketing and sale of the product candidate in those countries. Approval procedures vary among jurisdictions and can involve requirements and review periods different from those in the U.S., including additional preclinical studies or clinical trials as clinical studies conducted in one jurisdiction may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions. In many jurisdictions outside the U.S., a product candidate must be approved for reimbursement before it can be sold in that jurisdiction. In some cases, the price that we are allowed to charge for our products is also subject to approval or to other legal restrictions.
Obtaining foreign regulatory approvals and compliance with foreign regulatory requirements could result in significant delays, difficulties and costs for us and could delay or prevent the introduction of our products in certain countries. If we fail to comply with the relevant regulatory requirements or to receive applicable marketing approvals, our target markets will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential of our product candidates will be harmed.
Risks Related to Ongoing Regulatory Obligations
Even if we receive regulatory approval of any product candidates or therapies, we will be subject to ongoing regulatory obligations and continued regulatory review, which may result in significant additional expense and we may be subject to penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or experience unanticipated problems with our product candidates.
If any of our product candidates are approved, they may be subject to ongoing regulatory requirements for manufacturing, labeling, packaging, distribution, storage, advertising, promotion, sampling, record-keeping, and submission of safety and efficacy data, and other post-market information and potential obligations (such as post-marketing studies), including both federal and state requirements in the U.S. and requirements of comparable foreign regulatory authorities. In addition, we will be subject to continued compliance with cGMP and GCP, and in certain cases, cGTP, requirements for any clinical trials that we conduct post-approval.
Manufacturers and manufacturers’ facilities are required to comply with extensive FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authority requirements, as applicable, including ensuring that quality control and manufacturing procedures conform to cGMP and, in certain cases, cGTP requirements, and applicable product tracking and tracing requirements. As such, we and our CMOs will be subject to continual review and inspections to assess compliance with cGMP and adherence to commitments made in any BLA, other marketing applications, and previous responses to inspection observations. Accordingly, we and others with whom we work must continue to expend time, money, and effort in all areas of regulatory compliance, including manufacturing, production and quality control.
Any regulatory approvals that we receive for our product candidates may be subject to 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 post-marketing testing, including Phase IV clinical trials and surveillance to monitor the safety and efficacy of the product candidate. For example, the FDA or other regulatory agency may also require a REMS or similar program as a condition of approval of our product candidates, which could entail requirements for long-term patient follow-up, a medication guide, physician communication plans or additional elements to ensure safe use, such as restricted distribution methods, patient registries and other risk minimization tools. In addition, if the FDA or a comparable foreign regulatory authority approves our product candidates, we will have to comply with their respective legal or regulatory requirements including submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports and registration.
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The FDA or other regulatory agencies may seek to impose consent decrees, withdraw approval or prohibit the export or import of a product if compliance with regulatory requirements and standards is not maintained or if problems occur after the product reaches the market. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with our product candidates, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with our third-party manufacturers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in revisions to the approved labeling to add new safety information; imposition of post-market studies or clinical studies to assess new safety risks; or imposition of distribution restrictions or other restrictions under a REMS program. Other potential consequences include, among other things:
The FDA strictly regulates marketing, labeling, advertising, and promotion of products that are placed on the U.S. market, and the relevant foreign regulatory agencies do the same in their respective jurisdictions. The FDA and other agencies actively enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses and a company that is found to have improperly promoted off-label uses may be subject to significant liability.
The FDA’s policies may change and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit or delay regulatory approval of our product candidates. If we or our collaborators are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we or our collaborators are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we or our collaborators may lose any marketing approval that we or our collaborators may have obtained, which would adversely affect our business, prospects and ability to achieve or sustain profitability.
Our employees, independent contractors, clinical investigators, CMOs, CROs, consultants, commercial partners and vendors may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We are exposed to the risk of non-compliance, fraud, misconduct or other illegal activity by our employees, independent contractors, clinical investigators, CMOs, CROs, consultants, commercial partners and vendors. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional, reckless and/or negligent conduct that fails to: comply with federal and state laws and those of other applicable jurisdictions; provide true, complete and accurate information to the FDA and other similar foreign regulatory bodies; comply with manufacturing standards; comply with federal and state data privacy, security, fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations in the U.S. and similar foreign privacy or fraudulent misconduct laws; or report financial information or data accurately; or disclose unauthorized activities to us. If we obtain FDA approval of any of our product candidates and begin commercializing those products in the U.S., our potential exposure under such laws will increase significantly, and our costs associated with compliance with such laws are also likely to increase. These laws may impact, among other things, our current activities with clinical investigators and research patients, as well as proposed and future sales, marketing and education programs. In particular, the promotion, sales and marketing of healthcare products and services, as well as certain business arrangements in the healthcare industry, are subject to extensive laws and regulations intended to prevent fraud, misconduct, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, including promotion and marketing of off-label uses of our products, structuring and commission(s), certain customer incentive programs and other business arrangements generally. Activities subject to these laws also involve the improper use of information obtained in the course of clinical trials or creating fraudulent data in our preclinical studies or clinical trials, which could result in regulatory sanctions and cause serious harm to our reputation. It is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct by employees and other third parties, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be
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effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to comply with these laws or regulations. Additionally, we are subject to the risk that a person or government could allege such fraud or other misconduct, even if none occurred. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business, including the imposition of significant fines or other sanctions.
The exit of the United Kingdom from the EU may result in an increased regulatory burden of conducting business in Europe.
The U.K.’s withdrawal from the EU, or Brexit, became effective on January 31, 2020. EU laws, including pharmaceutical laws, continued to apply in the U.K. during a transitional period, which ended on December 31, 2020. On December 24, 2020, the U.K. and EU signed an EU-U.K. Trade and Cooperation Agreement (“TCA”), which became provisionally applicable on January 1, 2021 and has been formally applicable since May 1, 2021. The TCA includes specific provisions concerning pharmaceuticals, which include the mutual recognition of cGMP, inspections of manufacturing facilities for medicinal products and cGMP documents issued, but does not foresee wholesale mutual recognition of U.K. and EU pharmaceutical regulations. At present, Great Britain has implemented EU legislation on the marketing, promotion and sale of medicinal products through the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 (as amended) (under the Northern Ireland Protocol, the EU regulatory framework will continue to apply in Northern Ireland). The regulatory regime in Great Britain therefore currently aligns in the most part with EU regulations, however it is possible that these regimes will diverge in the future now that Great Britain’s regulatory system is independent from the EU and the TCA does not provide for mutual recognition of U.K. and EU pharmaceutical legislation.
For instance, the new Clinical Trials Regulation which became effective in the EU on January 31, 2022 and provides for a streamlined clinical trial application and assessment procedure covering multiple EU Member States has not been implemented into U.K. law, and a separate application will need to be submitted for clinical trial authorization in the U.K. In addition, Great Britain is no longer covered by the centralized procedure for obtaining EEA-wide marketing authorizations from the EMA for medicinal products and a separate process for authorization of drug products is required in Great Britain. Until December 31, 2023, the U.K.’s MHRA may rely on a decision taken by the European Commission on the approval of a new marketing authorization in the centralized procedure, in order to more quickly grant a new Great Britain marketing authorization, however a separate application will still be required. Any delay in obtaining, or an inability to obtain, any regulatory approvals, as a result of Brexit or otherwise, would delay or prevent us from commercializing our current or future product candidates in the U.K. and could restrict our ability to generate revenue from that market.
Failure to comply with health and data protection laws and regulations could lead to 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.
We and any potential collaborators, clinical investigators, CMOs, CROs, consultants or vendors may be subject to federal, state, and foreign data protection laws and regulations (i.e., laws and regulations that address privacy and data security). In the U.S., 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 (e.g., Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act), 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. In addition, we may obtain health information from third parties (including research institutions from which we obtain clinical trial data) that are subject to privacy and security requirements under HIPAA, as amended by HITECH, or by comparable laws in other jurisdictions. Depending on the facts and circumstances, we could be subject to civil, criminal, and administrative penalties if we knowingly obtain, use, or disclose individually identifiable health information maintained by a covered entity in a manner that is not authorized or permitted by laws or regulations.
Compliance with U.S., both state and federal, and international 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 to comply with these laws and regulations could result in government enforcement actions (which could include civil, criminal and administrative penalties), private
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litigation, and/or adverse publicity and could negatively affect our operating results and business. Moreover, clinical trial subjects, employees and other individuals about whom we or our potential collaborators obtain personal information, as well as the providers who share this information with us, may limit our ability to collect, 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 and could result in adverse publicity that could harm our business.
If we fail to comply with environmental, health and safety, and laboratory animal welfare laws and regulations, we could become subject to fines or penalties or incur costs that could harm our business.
We are subject to numerous federal, state and local environmental, health and safety, and laboratory animal welfare laws and regulations. These legal requirements include those governing laboratory procedures and the handling, use, storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous materials and wastes as well as those which regulate the care and use of animals in research. Our operations will involve research using research animals and the use of hazardous and flammable materials, including chemicals and biological materials. Our operations also may produce hazardous waste products. We generally anticipate contracting with third parties for the disposal of these materials and waste. We will not be able to eliminate the risk of contamination or injury from these materials. In the event of contamination or injury resulting from any use by us of hazardous materials, we could be held liable for any resulting damages, and any liability could exceed our resources. We also could incur significant costs associated with civil or criminal fines and penalties for failure to comply with such 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 maintain insurance for environmental liability or toxic tort claims that may be asserted against us in connection with our storage or disposal of biological, hazardous or radioactive materials.
In addition, we may incur substantial costs in order to comply with current or future environmental, health and safety, and laboratory animal welfare laws and regulations. These current or future laws and regulations may impair our research, development or production efforts. Our failure to comply with these laws and regulations also may result in substantial fines, penalties or other sanctions.
Failure to comply with labor and employment laws and regulations could subject us to legal liability and costs, including fines or penalties, as well as reputational damage that could harm our business.
We are subject to numerous federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the recruiting, hiring, compensation and treatment of employees and contractors. These laws and regulations cover financial compensation (including wage and hour standards), benefits (including insurance and 401K plans), discrimination, workplace safety and health, benefits, and workers’ compensation.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts also has laws that expand on federal laws or create additional rights for employees or obligations for employers. For example, on July 1, 2018, the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act went into effect, which added protections employers must comply with regarding pay equity for “comparable work”. There is currently uncertainty regarding the exact scope of these new legal limits and such uncertainty may remain for the foreseeable future. We may face increased employment and legal costs to ensure we are complying with this law. In addition, on October 1, 2018, a new Massachusetts non-compete law went into effect, placing additional restrictions on employers seeking to enter into non-competition agreements with employees. This law may negatively impact our ability to prevent employees from working with direct or indirect competitors in the future and may affect our ability to retain key talent in a competitive market.
Our failure to comply with these and other related laws could expose us to civil and, in some cases, criminal liability, including fines and penalties. Further, government or employee claims that we have violated any of these laws, even if ultimately disproven, could result in increased expense and management distraction, as well as have an adverse reputational impact on us.
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Risks Related to Intellectual Property
Risks Related to Third-Party and Licensed Intellectual Property
Third-party claims of intellectual property infringement against us, our licensors or our collaborators may prevent or delay our product discovery and development efforts.
Our commercial success depends in part on our avoiding infringement of the valid patents and proprietary rights of third parties.
Numerous U.S. and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications owned by third parties exist in the fields in which we are developing our product candidates and in areas potentially related to components and methods we use or may use in our research and development efforts. As industry, government, academia and other biotechnology and pharmaceutical research expands and more patents are issued, the risk increases that our product candidates may give rise to claims of infringement of the patent rights of others. Our development candidates are complex and may include multiple components such as Cas9 protein or messenger ribonucleic acid (“mRNA”) encoding Cas9 protein, guide ribonucleic acids (“gRNAs”), targeting molecules, or formulation components such as lipids. We cannot guarantee that any of these components of our technology, processes, future product candidates or the use of such product candidates do not infringe third-party patents. It is also possible that we have failed to identify relevant third-party patents or applications. Because patent rights are granted jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction, our freedom to practice certain technologies, including our ability to research, develop and commercialize our product candidates, may differ by country.
Third parties may assert that we infringe their patents or that we are otherwise employing their proprietary technology without authorization, and may sue us. There may be third-party patents of which we are currently unaware with claims to compositions, formulations, methods of manufacture or methods of use or treatment that cover product candidates we discover and develop. Because patent applications can take many years to issue, there may be currently pending patent applications that may later result in issued patents that our product candidates may infringe. In addition, third parties may obtain patents in the future and claim that use of our technologies or the manufacture, use or sale of our product candidates infringes these patents. If any such third-party patents were held by a court of competent jurisdiction to cover our technologies or product candidates, the holders of any such patents may be able to block our ability to commercialize the applicable product candidate unless we obtain a license under the applicable patents, or until such patents expire or are finally determined to be held invalid or unenforceable. Such a license may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Even if we were able to obtain a license, it could be non-exclusive, thereby giving our competitors access to the same technologies licensed to us. We could be forced, including by court order, to cease commercializing, manufacturing or importing the infringing technology or product. 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. A finding of infringement could prevent us from commercializing one or more of our product candidates, force us to redesign our infringing products or force us to cease some or all of our business operations, any of which could materially harm our business and could prevent us from further developing and commercializing our proposed future product candidates thereby causing us significant harm. Claims that we have misappropriated the confidential information or trade secrets of third parties could have a similar negative impact on our business. If we are unable to obtain a necessary license to a third-party patent on commercially reasonable terms, our ability to commercialize our product candidates may be impaired or delayed, which could in turn significantly harm our business.
Third parties may seek to claim intellectual property rights that encompass or overlap with intellectual property that we own or license from them or others. Legal proceedings may be initiated to determine the scope and ownership of these rights, and could result in our loss of rights, including injunctions or other equitable relief that could effectively block our ability to further develop and commercialize our product candidates. For example, through the Caribou License, we sublicense the rights of the Regents of the University of California and the University of Vienna (collectively, “UC/Vienna”) to a worldwide patent portfolio that covers methods of use and compositions relating to engineered CRISPR/Cas9 systems for, among other things, cleaving or editing DNA and altering gene product expression in various organisms, including eukaryotic cells. We sublicense the UC/Vienna rights to this portfolio for human therapeutic, prophylactic and palliative uses, including companion diagnostics, except for anti-fungal and anti-microbial uses. This patent portfolio to-date includes, for example, multiple granted, allowed, and/or allowable patent applications in the U.S., as well as granted patents from the European Patent Office, the United Kingdom’s Intellectual
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Property Office, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office, Australia’s Intellectual Property agency and China’s Intellectual Property Office, among others. Because UC/Vienna co-own this portfolio with Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier (from whom we do not have sublicense rights), we refer to this co-owned worldwide patent portfolio as the “UC/Vienna/Charpentier patent family.” UC/Vienna could challenge Caribou’s rights under their license agreement, including Caribou’s right to sublicense its rights to others, such as Intellia, and on what terms such a sublicense would be granted, each of which could adversely impact our rights under our license agreement with Caribou.
On June 16, 2021, we executed a leaseback agreement with Caribou, which settled the arbitration with Caribou. Under the leaseback agreement, in exchange for an upfront payment, potential future regulatory and sales milestones, and single-digit royalties payable by Caribou to us, we have agreed to leaseback or sublicense certain CRISPR/Cas9 IP, including our chemical gRNA modification technology and foundational CRISPR/Cas9 IP, to Caribou so that it can develop and commercialize CB-010. Caribou also will be responsible for any payments required in respect of our in-licensed IP, such as the foundational CRISPR/Cas9 IP. Under the leaseback agreement, Caribou will be able to compete with us (or our licensees) in the development of CAR-T cell human therapeutics directed at CD19, which could adversely affect our business.
Third parties could assert that UC/Vienna/Charpentier do not have rights to the CRISPR/Cas9 technology, including inventorship and ownership rights to currently issued or allowable patents, or that any rights owned by UC/Vienna/Charpentier are limited. If such third parties were found to have rights to the CRISPR/Cas9 technology, we could be required to obtain rights from such parties or cease our development and commercialization efforts. For example, under our sublicense from Caribou, we have rights to patent applications owned by UC/Vienna/Charpentier covering certain aspects of CRISPR/Cas9 systems to edit genes in eukaryotic cells, including human cells (collectively, the “UC/Vienna/Charpentier eukaryotic patent family”). The Broad Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Rockefeller University (collectively, the “Broad Institute”) co-own patents and patent applications that also claim CRISPR/Cas9 systems to edit genes in eukaryotic cells (collectively, the “Broad Institute patent family”). Because the respective owners of various UC/Vienna/Charpentier patent applications and the Broad Institute patent family both allege owning intellectual property claiming overlapping aspects of CRISPR/Cas9 systems and methods to edit genes in eukaryotic cells, including human cells, our ability to market and sell CRISPR/Cas9-based human therapeutics may be adversely impacted depending on the scope and actual ownership over the inventions claimed in the competing patent portfolios. On June 25, 2019, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) declared an interference between the UC/Vienna/Charpentier eukaryotic patent family and the Broad Institute patent family to determine which research group first invented the use of the CRISPR/Cas9 technology in eukaryotic cells and, therefore, is entitled to the patents covering the invention. The interference involved 14 allowable patent applications from the UC/Vienna/Charpentier eukaryotic patent family and 13 patents and one patent application from the Broad Institute patent family. On February 28, 2022, the PTAB issued a Decision of Priority and Judgment in the interference finding that the Broad Institute patent family has priority over the UC/Vienna/Charpentier patent family with respect to the subject matter of the interference. An appeal and cross-appeal from the interference are pending at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit as Case Nos. 22-1594 and 22-1653.
On December 14, 2020, the PTAB declared an additional interference between the same 14 allowable patent applications in the UC/Vienna/Charpentier patent family, and one patent application owned by ToolGen, Inc. And, on June 21, 2021, the PTAB declared another interference between the same 14 allowable patent applications in the UC/Vienna/Charpentier patent family and one patent application owned by Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC (a subsidiary of Merck KGaA). Because the patent applications involved in these interferences also purport to cover the use of CRISPR/Cas9 for gene editing in eukaryotic cells, the PTAB seeks to determine between the various groups which one invented first and is entitled to the resulting patents. A decision on motions issued in the ToolGen interference on September 28, 2022, and the priority phase of that interference was suspended until a mandate concludes the Federal Circuit appeal and cross-appeal in the UC/Vienna/Charpentier interference with the Broad Institute. The Sigma-Aldrich interference is in its motions phase, and an order scheduling oral argument issued on October 24, 2022. If either the Broad Institute, ToolGen or Sigma-Aldrich were to succeed in their respective interference, the prevailing party or parties could seek to assert its issued patents against us based on our CRISPR/Cas9-based activities, including commercialization.
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In addition, other third parties, such as Vilnius University, and Harvard University, filed patent applications claiming CRISPR/Cas9-related inventions around or within a year after the first patent application filed in the UC/Vienna/Charpentier patent family and allege (or may allege) that they invented one or more of the inventions claimed by UC/Vienna/Charpentier before UC/Vienna/Charpentier. If the USPTO deems the scope of the claims of one or more of these parties to sufficiently overlap with the allowable claims from the applicable patent applications in the UC/Vienna/Charpentier patent family, the USPTO could declare other interference proceedings to determine the actual inventor of such claims. If these third parties were to prevail in their inventorship claims or obtain patent claims that cover our product candidates or related activities through these various legal proceedings, then we could be prevented from utilizing the intellectual property we have licensed from Caribou, as well as from developing and commercializing all or some of our products candidates unless we can obtain rights to the third parties’ intellectual property, or avoid or invalidate it.
Further, these third parties, and others, have also filed patent applications and obtained patents covering aspects of the CRISPR/Cas9 technology in other key jurisdictions, including the EU members, the U.K., China and Japan. If these patents are deemed valid and cover our product candidates or related activities, we could be prevented from developing and commercializing all or some of our product candidates unless we license the relevant intellectual property or avoid it.
Defense of any potential infringement claims, regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation expense, would be a substantial diversion of management and other employee resources from our business and may impact our reputation. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us, we may have to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees for willful infringement, obtain one or more licenses from third parties, pay royalties or redesign our infringing products, which may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure. In that event, we could be unable to further develop and commercialize our product candidates, which could harm our business significantly.
We depend on intellectual property licensed from third parties and termination or modification of any of these licenses could result in the loss of significant rights, which would harm our business.
We are dependent on patents, know-how and proprietary technology, both our own and licensed from others, including Caribou, Novartis and Ospedale San Raffaele (“OSR”). Any termination of these licenses, loss by our licensors of the rights they receive from others, diminution of our rights or those of our licensors, or a finding that such intellectual property lacks legal effect, could result in the loss of significant rights and could harm our ability to commercialize any product candidates. For example, UC/Vienna could challenge Caribou’s rights under their agreement, including Caribou’s right to sublicense its rights to others, such as Intellia, and on what terms such a sublicense would be granted, each of which could adversely impact our rights under our agreement with Caribou. Similarly, Caribou or other licensors, or other third parties from which we derive rights, could challenge the scope of our licensed rights or fields under our license agreement, which could adversely impact our exclusive rights to use CRISPR/Cas9 technology in our human therapeutics field.
Disputes have and may arise between us and our licensors, our licensors and their licensors, or us and third parties that co-own intellectual property with our licensors or their licensors, regarding intellectual property subject to a license agreement, including those relating to:
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If disputes over intellectual property that we have licensed prevent or impair our ability to maintain our current licensing arrangements on acceptable terms, or are insufficient to provide us the necessary rights to use the intellectual property, we may be unable to successfully develop and commercialize the affected product candidates. If we or any such licensors fail to adequately protect this intellectual property, our ability to commercialize our products could suffer.
We depend, in part, on our licensors to file, prosecute, maintain, defend and enforce patents and patent applications that are material to our business.
Patents relating to our product candidates are controlled by certain of our licensors or their respective licensors. Each of our licensors or their licensors generally has rights to file, prosecute, maintain and defend the patents we have licensed from such licensor. If these licensors or any future licensees and in some cases, co-owners from which we do not yet have licenses, having rights to file, prosecute, maintain, and defend our patent rights fail to adequately conduct these activities for patents or patent applications covering any of our product candidates, our ability to develop and commercialize those product candidates may be adversely affected and we may not be able to prevent competitors from making, using or selling competing products. We cannot be certain that such activities by our licensors or their respective licensors have been or will be conducted in compliance with applicable laws and regulations or in our best interests, or will result in valid and enforceable patents or other intellectual property rights. Pursuant to the terms of the license agreements with our licensors, the licensors may have the right to control enforcement of our licensed patents or defense of any claims asserting the invalidity of these patents and, even if we are permitted to pursue such enforcement or defense, we cannot ensure the cooperation of our licensors or, in some cases, other necessary parties, such as the co-owners of the intellectual property from which we have not yet obtained a license. We cannot be certain that our licensors or their licensors, and in some cases, their respective co-owners, will allocate sufficient resources or prioritize their or our enforcement of such patents or defense of such claims to protect our interests in the licensed patents. For example, with respect to our sublicensed rights from Caribou to UC/Vienna/Charpentier intellectual property, UC retained the right to control the prosecution, enforcement and defense of this intellectual property in its license agreement with Caribou and, pursuant to an Invention Management Agreement, shares these responsibilities with CRISPR Therapeutics AG and, under certain circumstances, ERS Genomics, Ltd., as the designated managers of the intellectual property. For these reasons, UC may be unable or unwilling to prosecute certain patent claims that would be best for our product candidates, or enforce its patent rights against infringers of the UC/Vienna/Charpentier patent family.
Even if we are not a party to legal actions or other disputes involving our licensed intellectual property, an adverse outcome could harm our business because it might prevent us from continuing to license intellectual property that we may need to operate our business. In addition, even when we have the right to control patent prosecution of licensed patents and patent applications, enforcement of licensed patents, or defense of claims asserting the invalidity of those patents, we may still be adversely affected or prejudiced by actions or inactions of our licensors and their counsel that took place prior to or after our assuming control.
We may not be successful in obtaining or maintaining necessary rights to product components and processes or other technology for our product development pipeline.
The growth of our business will likely depend in part on our ability to acquire or in-license additional proprietary rights. For example, our programs may involve additional product candidates, delivery systems or technologies that may require the use of additional proprietary rights held by third parties, including competitors. Our ultimate product candidates may also require specific modifications or formulations to work effectively and efficiently. These modifications or formulations may be covered by intellectual property rights held by others, including competitors.
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We may be unable to acquire or in-license any relevant third-party intellectual property rights that we identify as necessary or important to our business operations.
Additionally, we sometimes collaborate with academic institutions to accelerate our preclinical research or development under written agreements with these institutions. Typically, these institutions provide us with an option to negotiate a license to any of the institution’s rights in technology resulting from the collaboration. Regardless of such option, we may be unable to negotiate a license within the specified timeframe or under terms that are acceptable to us. If we are unable to do so, the institution may offer the intellectual property rights to other parties, potentially blocking our ability to pursue our program.
The licensing and acquisition of third-party intellectual property rights is a competitive practice and companies that may be more established, or have greater resources than we do, may also be pursuing strategies to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights that we may consider necessary or attractive in order to commercialize our product candidates. More established companies may have a competitive advantage over us due to their larger size and cash resources or greater clinical development and commercialization capabilities. There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully complete such negotiations and ultimately acquire the rights to the intellectual property surrounding the additional product candidates that we may seek to acquire.
If we are unable to successfully obtain rights to valid third-party intellectual property or to maintain the existing intellectual property rights we have, we may have to abandon development of such program and our business and financial condition could suffer.
We may be required to pay certain milestones and royalties under our license agreements with third-party licensors.
Under our current and future license agreements and other technology agreements, we may be required to pay milestones and royalties based on our revenues, including sales revenues of our products, utilizing the technologies acquired, licensed or sublicensed from third parties, including Caribou, OSR and Rewrite, and these milestones and royalty payments could adversely affect our ability to research, develop and obtain approval of product candidates, as well as the overall profitability for us of any products that we may seek to commercialize. In order to maintain our intellectual property rights under these agreements, we will need to meet certain specified milestones, subject to certain cure provisions, in the development of our product candidates. Further, our counterparties, including our licensors (or their licensors) or licensees, may dispute the terms, including amounts, that we are required to pay under the respective agreements. If these claims were to result in a material increase in the amounts that we are required to pay to our counterparties, including licensors or their licensors, or in a claim of breach of the applicable agreement, our ability to research, develop and obtain approval of product candidates, or to commercialize products, could be significantly impaired.
In addition, these agreements contain diligence milestones and we may not be successful in meeting all of the milestones in the future on a timely basis or at all. We will need to outsource and rely on third parties for many aspects of the clinical development, sales and marketing of our products covered under our license agreements and other technology agreements. Delay or failure by these third parties could adversely affect the continuation of these agreements with their counterparties, including our licensors or their licensors.
Risks Related to Patents and Trademarks
We could be unsuccessful in obtaining or maintaining adequate patent protection for one or more of our products or product candidates, or asserting and defending our intellectual property rights that protect our products and technologies.
We anticipate that we will file additional patent applications both in the U.S. and in other countries, as appropriate. However, we cannot predict:
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Composition of matter patents for biological and pharmaceutical products are generally considered to be the strongest form of intellectual property protection for those types of products, as such patents provide protection without regard to any method of use. We cannot be certain, however, that any claims in our pending or future patent applications covering the composition of matter of our product candidates will be considered patentable by the USPTO or by patent offices in foreign countries, or that the claims in any of our ultimately issued patents will be considered valid and enforceable by courts in the U.S. or foreign countries. Method of use patents protect the use of a product for the specified method, for example a method of treating a certain indication using a product. This type of patent does not prevent a competitor from making and marketing a product that is identical to our product for an indication that is outside the scope of the patented method. Moreover, even if competitors do not actively promote their product for our targeted indications, physicians may prescribe these products “off-label” for those uses that are covered by our method of use patents. Although off-label prescriptions may infringe or contribute to the infringement of method of use patents, the practice is common and such infringement is difficult to prevent or prosecute.
The strength of patents in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical field can be uncertain, and evaluating the scope of such patents involves complex legal and scientific analyses. The patent applications that we own or in-license may fail to result in issued patents with claims that cover any product candidates or uses thereof in the U.S. or in other foreign countries.
Further, the patent prosecution process is expensive and time-consuming, and we may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost, in a timely manner, or in all jurisdictions. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our research and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection. Moreover, in some circumstances, we do not have the right to control the preparation, filing and prosecution of patent applications, or to maintain the patents, covering technology that we license from third parties. We may also require the cooperation of our licensors or other necessary parties, such as the co-owners of the intellectual property from which we have not yet obtained a license, in order to enforce the licensed patent rights, and such cooperation may not be provided. Therefore, these patents and applications may not be prosecuted and enforced in a manner consistent with the best interests of our business.
The laws of foreign countries may not protect our rights to the same extent as the laws of the U.S. and we may fail to seek or obtain patent protection in all major markets. For example, European patent law restricts the patentability of methods of treatment of the human body more than U.S. law does. Publications of discoveries in the scientific literature often lag behind the actual discoveries, and patent applications in the U.S. and other jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after filing, or in some cases not at all. Therefore, we will be unable to know with certainty whether we were the first to make any inventions claimed in any patents or patent applications, or that we were the first to file for patent protection of such inventions, nor can we know whether those from whom we license patents were the first to make the inventions claimed or were the first to file.
The issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its inventorship, scope, validity or enforceability, and our owned and licensed patents may be challenged in the courts or patent offices in the U.S. and abroad. There is a substantial amount of litigation as well as administrative proceedings for challenging patents, including interference, derivation, reexamination, and other post-grant proceedings before the USPTO and oppositions and other comparable proceedings in foreign jurisdictions, involving patents and other intellectual property rights in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, and we expect this to be true for the CRISPR/Cas9 space as well. Indeed, a number of third parties have filed oppositions challenging the validity, and seeking the revocation, of several CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing patents granted to UC/Vienna/Charpentier by the European Patent Office (“EPO”). To date, UC/Vienna/Charpentier have successfully defended before the EPO’s opposition division the validity of their first European patent, which covers compositions comprising Cas9 and single gRNA molecules, as well as methods of
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editing DNA in vitro or ex vivo using Cas9 and single gRNAs. The opponents to this patent have appealed the decision of the EPO’s opposition division. If UC/Vienna/Charpentier fail in defending the validity of its first European patent, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights, such as the right to exclude others from using such intellectual property. Such an outcome could have a material adverse effect on our business in Europe. Similarly, third parties are opposing the other patents issued by the EPO to UC/Vienna/Charpentier, including their second European patent that was recently revoked by the EPO’s opposition division, a decision that UC/Vienna/Charpentier have appealed. Although the claims of these other patents are more limited in scope compared to the first European patent, the inability to defend their respective validity could result in loss of valuable rights. In addition, since the passage of the America Invents Act in 2013, U.S. law also provides for other procedures to challenge patents, including inter partes reviews and post-grant reviews, that add uncertainty to the possibility of challenge to our developed or licensed patents and patent applications in the future. Furthermore, for U.S. applications in which all claims are entitled to a priority date before March 16, 2013, an interference proceeding can be provoked by a third-party or instituted by the USPTO to determine who was the first to invent any of the subject matter covered by the patent claims of our applications. See the above risk factor titled “Third-party claims of intellectual property infringement against us, our licensors or our collaborators may prevent or delay our product discovery and development efforts.”
Such challenges may result in loss of exclusivity or freedom to operate or in patent claims being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable, in whole or in part, which could limit our ability to practice the invention or stop others from using or commercializing similar or identical technology and products, or limit the duration of the patent protection of our technology and products. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized. As a result, our owned and licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours.
Furthermore, even if they are unchallenged, our patents and patent applications may not adequately protect our intellectual property or prevent others from designing their products to avoid being covered by our claims. If the breadth or strength of protection provided by the patent applications we hold is threatened, this could dissuade companies from collaborating with us to develop, and could threaten our ability to commercialize, product candidates. Further, if we encounter delays in our clinical trials, the period of time during which we could market product candidates under patent protection would be reduced. Because patent applications in the U.S. and most other countries are confidential for a period of time after filing, we cannot be certain that we were the first to file any patent application related to our product candidates.
Our pending and future patent applications or the patent applications that we obtain rights to through in-licensing arrangements may not result in patents being issued which protect our technology or future product candidates, in whole or in part, or which effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive technologies and products. Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the U.S. and other countries may diminish the value of our patents or narrow the scope of our patent protection.
Litigation or other administrative proceedings challenging our intellectual property, including interferences, derivation, reexamination, inter partes reviews and post-grant reviews, may result in a decision adverse to our interests and, even if we are successful, may result in substantial costs and distract our management and other employees. Furthermore, there could be public announcement of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments in any proceeding challenging the issuance, scope, validity and enforceability of our developed or licensed intellectual property. 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.
Any of these potential negative developments could impact the scope, validity, enforceability or commercial value of our patent rights and, as a result, have material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects.
We may be subject to claims challenging the inventorship of our patents and other intellectual property.
We may in the future be subject to claims that former employees, collaborators or other third parties have an interest in our patents or other intellectual property as an inventor or co-inventor or other claims challenging the inventorship of our patents or ownership of our intellectual property (including patents and intellectual property that we in-license).
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For example, the UC/Vienna/Charpentier patent family that is covered by our license agreement with Caribou is co-owned by UC/Vienna and Dr. Charpentier, and our sublicense rights are derived from the first two co-owners and not from Dr. Charpentier. Therefore, our rights to these patents are not exclusive and third parties, including competitors, may have access to intellectual property that is important to our business. In addition, we may have inventorship disputes arise from conflicting obligations of collaborators, consultants or others who are involved in developing our technology and product candidates. Litigation or other legal proceedings may be necessary to defend against these and other claims challenging inventorship. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights, such as exclusive ownership of, or right to use, valuable intellectual property. Such an outcome could have a material adverse effect on our business. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.
We have limited foreign intellectual property rights and may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world.
We have limited intellectual property rights outside the U.S. Filing, prosecuting, maintaining and defending patents on product candidates in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive, and our intellectual property rights in some countries outside the U.S. can have a different scope and strength than do those in the U.S. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries, such as China, Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as federal and state laws in the U.S. Consequently, we may not be able to prevent third parties from practicing our inventions in all countries outside the U.S., or from selling or importing products made using our inventions in and into the U.S. or other jurisdictions. Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop their own products and further, may export otherwise infringing products to territories where we have patent protection, but enforcement rights are not as strong as those in the U.S. These products may compete with our products and our patents or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or adequate to prevent them from competing. In addition, in jurisdictions outside the U.S., a license may not be enforceable unless all the owners of the intellectual property agree or consent to the license. Further, patients may choose to travel to countries in which we do not have intellectual property rights or which do not enforce these rights to obtain the products or treatment from competitors in such countries.
Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries, such as China, Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, do not favor the enforcement of patents, trade secrets and other intellectual property, particularly those relating to biopharmaceutical products, which could make it difficult in those jurisdictions for us to stop the infringement or misappropriation of our patents or other intellectual property rights, or the marketing of competing products in violation of our proprietary rights. Proceedings to enforce our patent and other intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business. Furthermore, such proceedings could put our patents at risk of being invalidated, held unenforceable, or interpreted narrowly, could put our patent applications at risk of not issuing, and could provoke third parties to assert claims of infringement or misappropriation against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop or license.
We may be involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents, the patents of our licensors or our licenses, which could be expensive, time-consuming, and unsuccessful.
Competitors may infringe our patents or the patents of our licensors. To cease such infringement or unauthorized use, we may be required to file patent infringement claims, which can be expensive and time-consuming. In addition, in an infringement proceeding or a declaratory judgment action against us, a court may decide that one or more of our patents is not valid or is unenforceable, or may refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our patents do not cover the technology in question. An adverse result in any litigation or defense proceeding could put one or more of our patents at risk of being invalidated, held unenforceable or interpreted narrowly and could put our patent applications at risk of not issuing. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation expense and would be a substantial diversion of employee resources from our business.
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Interference or derivation proceedings provoked by third parties or brought by the USPTO may be necessary to determine the priority of inventions with respect to, or the correct inventorship of, our patents or patent applications or those of our licensors. An unfavorable outcome could result in a loss of our current patent rights and could require us to cease using the related technology or to attempt to license rights to it from the prevailing party. Our business could be harmed if the prevailing party does not offer us a license on commercially reasonable terms. Litigation, interference or derivation proceedings may result in a decision adverse to our interests and, even if we are successful, may result in substantial costs and distract our management and other employees.
Further, if a party to our licenses, either a licensee or licensor, were to breach or challenge our rights under the relevant license agreement (or if one of our licensor’s own licensors were to challenge our licensor’s rights), we may have to initiate or participate in a legal proceeding to enforce our rights. Any such legal proceeding could be expensive and time-consuming. In addition, if a court or other tribunal were to rule against us, we could lose key intellectual property and financial rights. Pursuing or defending against these legal claims, regardless of merits, would involve substantial legal expense and would be a substantial diversion of employee resources from our business. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation or contractual litigation there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation or proceeding. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments. 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.
Issued patents covering our product candidates could be found invalid or unenforceable if challenged in court or before the USPTO or comparable foreign authority.
If we or one of our licensing partners initiate legal proceedings against a third-party to enforce a patent covering one of our product candidates, the defendant could counterclaim that the patent covering our product candidate is invalid or unenforceable. In patent litigation in the U.S., defendant counterclaims alleging invalidity or unenforceability are commonplace, and there are numerous grounds upon which a third-party can assert invalidity or unenforceability of a patent. Third parties may also raise similar claims before administrative bodies in the U.S. or other jurisdictions, even outside the context of litigation. Such mechanisms include re-examination, inter partes review, post-grant review and equivalent proceedings in foreign jurisdictions, such as opposition or derivation proceedings. Such proceedings could result in revocation or amendment to our patents in such a way that they no longer cover and protect our product candidates. The outcome following legal assertions of invalidity and unenforceability is unpredictable. With respect to the validity of our patents, for example, we cannot be certain that there is no invalidating prior art of which we, our patent counsel, and the patent examiner were unaware during prosecution. If a defendant were to prevail on a legal assertion of invalidity, unpatentability and/or unenforceability, we would lose at least part, and perhaps all, of the patent protection on our product candidates. For example, as highlighted in the above risk factor entitled “We could be unsuccessful in obtaining or maintaining adequate patent protection for one or more of our products or product candidates, or asserting and defending our intellectual property rights that protect our products and technologies”, various third parties have filed challenges to the validity of UC/Vienna/Charpentier’s European patents, which cover compositions comprising Cas9 and gRNA molecules, as well as methods of editing DNA in vitro or ex vivo using Cas9 and gRNAs. If UC/Vienna/Charpentier fail in defending the validity of these patents, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights, such as the exclusive right to use such intellectual property. Such an outcome could have a material adverse effect on our business in Europe.
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.
Periodic maintenance fees on any issued patent are due to be paid to the USPTO and foreign patent agencies in several stages over the lifetime of the patent. The USPTO and various foreign governmental patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other similar provisions during the patent application process. Although an inadvertent lapse can in many cases be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules, there are situations in which noncompliance can result in abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. Noncompliance events that could result in abandonment or lapse of a patent or patent application include failure to respond to official actions within prescribed time limits, non-payment of fees, and failure to properly legalize
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and submit formal documents. In any such event, our competitors might be able to enter the market, which would have a material adverse effect on our business.
If our trademarks and trade names are not adequately protected, then we may not be able to build name recognition in our markets of interest and our business may be adversely affected.
If our trademarks and trade names are not adequately protected, then we may not be able to build name recognition in our markets of interest and our business may be adversely affected. Our unregistered trademarks or trade names may be challenged, infringed, circumvented or declared generic or determined to be infringing on other marks. We may not be able to protect our rights to these trademarks and trade names, which we need to build name recognition among potential partners or future, potential customers in our markets of interest. At times, competitors may adopt trade names or trademarks similar to ours, thereby impeding our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to market confusion. In addition, there could be potential trade name or trademark infringement claims brought by owners of other registered trademarks or trademarks that incorporate variations of our unregistered trademarks or trade names. Over the long term, if we are unable to successfully register our trademarks and trade names and establish name recognition based on our trademarks and trade names, then we may not be able to compete effectively and our business may be adversely affected. Our efforts to enforce or protect our proprietary rights related to trademarks, trade secrets, domain names, copyrights or other intellectual property may be ineffective and could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could adversely impact our financial condition or results of operations.
Risks Related to Confidentiality
Confidentiality agreements with employees and third parties may not prevent unauthorized disclosure of trade secrets and other proprietary information.
In addition to the protection afforded by patents, we seek to rely on trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect our proprietary and confidential information. We also utilize proprietary processes for which it would be difficult to enforce patents. In addition, other elements of our product discovery and development processes involve proprietary know-how, information, or technology that is not covered by patents. Trade secrets, however, may be difficult to protect. We seek to protect our proprietary processes, in part, by entering into confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, outside scientific advisors, contractors, and collaborators, and we also rely on federal and state laws requiring our directors, employees, contractors and collaborators to protect our proprietary information. Although we use reasonable efforts to protect our trade secrets, our employees, consultants, outside scientific advisors, contractors, and collaborators might intentionally or inadvertently disclose our trade secret information to competitors. In addition, competitors may otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or independently develop substantially equivalent information and techniques. Furthermore, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent or in the same manner as the laws of the U.S. As a result, we may encounter significant problems in protecting and defending our intellectual property both in the U.S. and abroad. If we are unable to prevent unauthorized material disclosure of our intellectual property to third parties, or misappropriation of our intellectual property by third parties, we may not be able to establish or maintain a competitive advantage in our market, which could materially adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition. Our trade secrets and other confidential information of ours may also be exposed through cybersecurity attacks, ransomware attacks, and other hacking attempts directed at our information technology systems and those of our employees, consultants, outside scientific advisors, contractors, vendors and collaborators. For more information, please see the risk factor section entitled “Risks Related to Data and Privacy.”
We may be subject to claims that our employees, directors, consultants, or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information of third parties.
We have received confidential and proprietary information from third parties. In addition, we employ individuals who were previously employed at other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies as well as academic research institutions. We may be subject to claims that we or our employees, directors, consultants, or independent contractors have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed confidential information of these third parties or our employees’ former employers. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims, which could result in money damages or a judicial order prohibiting the use of certain intellectual property. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial cost and be a distraction to our management and employees.
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Risks Related to Our Common Stock
Risks Related to Investment in Securities
An active trading market for our common stock may not be sustained.
If an active market for our common stock does not continue, it may be difficult for our stockholders to sell their shares without depressing the market price for the shares or sell their shares at or above the prices at which they acquired their shares or sell their shares at the time they would like to sell. Any inactive trading market for our common stock may also impair our ability to raise capital to continue to fund our operations by selling shares and may impair our ability to acquire other companies or technologies by using our shares as consideration.
The price of our common stock historically has been volatile, which may affect the price at which you could sell any shares of our common stock.
The market price for our common stock historically has been highly volatile and could continue to be subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors. This volatility may affect the price at which you could sell the shares of our common stock, and the sale of substantial amounts of our common stock could adversely affect the price of our common stock. Our stock price is likely to continue to be volatile and subject to significant price and volume fluctuations in response to market and other factors, including:
In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic affected the volatility of the trading prices for our common stock and other biopharmaceutical companies. The extent to which the outbreak may impact our business, preclinical studies and ongoing and planned clinical trials will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, such as the emergence of new variants of the disease, the ability of governments to vaccinate their populations and that existing vaccines can treat any new variants effectively, the ultimate containment of the disease, the modification or lifting of travel restrictions and other actions implemented to contain the outbreak or address its impact, such as social distancing and quarantines or lock-downs in the U.S. and other countries, business closures or business disruptions, and the ultimate effectiveness of other actions taken in the U.S. and other countries
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to contain and address the disease. A resurgence or other negative developments relating to the pandemic may require us to again restrict access to our offices and laboratories, or to pause or suspend preclinical research and our clinical trial; and, further, may disrupt our manufacturing and supply chain or those of our third-party suppliers and manufacturers.
Companies trading in the stock market in general, and in The Nasdaq Global Market in particular, have also experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of these companies. Broad market and industry factors may negatively affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market, securities class-action litigation has often been instituted against companies. Such litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research, or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research, about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock will depend, in part, on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. Securities and industry analysts may not publish an adequate amount of research on us, which may negatively impact the trading price for our stock. In addition, if one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our stock or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price would likely decline. Further, if our operating results fail to meet the forecasts of analysts, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our stock could decrease, which might cause our stock price and trading volume to decline.
Because we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our capital stock in the foreseeable future, capital appreciation, if any, will be your sole source of gain.
We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock. We currently intend to retain all of our future earnings, if any, to finance the growth and development of our business. In addition, the terms of any future debt agreements may preclude us from paying dividends. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be your sole source of gain for the foreseeable future.
Risk Related to Ownership Generally
Our principal stockholders and management own a significant percentage of our stock and, if they choose to act together, will be able to control or exercise significant influence over matters subject to stockholder approval.
As of December 31, 2022, our executive officers, directors, 5% or greater stockholders and their affiliates beneficially owned approximately 30.5% of our outstanding voting stock. These stockholders may have the ability to influence us through their ownership positions. These stockholders may be able to determine all matters requiring stockholder approval. For example, these stockholders, acting together, may be able to control elections of directors or approval of any merger, sale of assets or other major corporate transaction. This may prevent or discourage unsolicited acquisition proposals or offers for our common stock that you may believe are in your best interest as one of our stockholders.
We have broad discretion over the use of our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, and may not use them effectively.
Our management has broad discretion to use our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities to fund our operations and could spend these funds in ways that do not improve our results of operations or enhance the value of our common stock. The failure by our management to apply these funds effectively could result in financial losses that could have a material adverse effect on our business, cause the price of our common stock to decline and delay the development of our product candidates. Pending our use to fund operations, we may invest our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities in a manner that does not produce income or that loses value.
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We incur significant costs as a result of operating as a public company, and our management is required to devote substantial time to compliance initiatives and corporate governance practices.
As a public company, and particularly since we are no longer an “emerging growth company” under applicable SEC regulations, we incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the listing requirements of the Nasdaq Global Market and other applicable securities rules and regulations impose various requirements on public companies, including establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls and corporate governance practices. Our management and other personnel devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives.
Pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Section 404”), we are required to furnish a report by our management on our internal control over financial reporting, including an attestation report on internal control over financial reporting issued by our independent registered public accounting firm. We conduct a process each year to document and evaluate our internal control over financial reporting, which is both costly and challenging. In this regard, we dedicate internal resources, engage outside consultants and adopt a detailed work plan to assess and document the adequacy of internal control over financial reporting, continue steps to improve control processes as appropriate, validate through testing that controls are functioning as documented and implement a continuous reporting and improvement process for internal control over financial reporting. Despite our efforts, there is a risk that neither we nor our independent registered public accounting firm will be able to conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is effective as required by Section 404. This could result in an adverse reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of confidence in the reliability of our consolidated financial statements.
Risks Related to Future Financial Condition
Future sales and issuances of our common stock or rights to purchase common stock, including pursuant to our equity incentive plans, could result in additional dilution of the percentage ownership of stockholders and could cause our stock price to fall.
We will need additional capital in the future to continue our planned operations in addition to the proceeds we received from our initial public offering (“IPO”) in May 2016 and follow-on public offerings in November 2017, June 2020, December 2020, and July 2021. To the extent we raise additional capital by issuing equity securities, our stockholders may experience substantial dilution. We may sell common stock, convertible securities or other equity securities in one or more transactions at prices and in a manner we determine from time to time. If we sell common stock, convertible securities or other equity securities in more than one transaction, investors may be materially diluted by subsequent sales. These sales may also result in material dilution to our existing stockholders, and new investors could gain rights superior to our existing stockholders.
On August 23, 2019, we filed a Registration Statement on Form S-3, as amended (the “2019 Shelf”) with the SEC, which was declared effective on September 12, 2019 (File No. 333-233448) in relation to the registration of common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants and units of any combination thereof. We also simultaneously entered into an Open Market Sale Agreement (the “2019 Sale Agreement”) with the Sales Agent, to provide for the offering, issuance and sale of up to an aggregate amount of $150.0 million of our common stock from time to time in “at-the-market” offerings under the 2019 Shelf and subject to the limitations thereof. We paid to the Sales Agent cash commissions of 3.0% of the gross proceeds of sales of common stock under the 2019 Sale Agreement. Through December 31, 2022, we issued 3,778,889 shares of our common stock at an average price of $37.80 per share in accordance with the 2019 Sale Agreement for aggregate net proceeds of $138.0 million, after payment of cash commissions to the Sales Agent and approximately $0.5 million related to legal, accounting and other fees in connection with the sales. As of September 30, 2022, the 2019 Sale Agreement had expired. In June 2020, we issued 6,301,370 shares of our common stock, including the exercise in full by the underwriters of their option to purchase an additional 821,917 shares, at the public offering price of $18.25 per share pursuant to the 2019 Shelf for aggregate cash consideration of $107.7 million, after payment of commissions and fees and approximately $0.4 million related to legal, accounting and other fees in connection with the sales. In June 2020 we also issued 925,218 shares of our common stock to Regeneron in a private placement for an aggregate cash consideration of $30.0 million, or $32.42 per share, representing a 100% premium over the volume-weighted average trading price of the Company’s common stock during the 30-day period prior to the closing. On November 30, 2020, we filed a Registration Statement on Form S-3ASR (the “Universal Shelf”) with the SEC, which was automatically declared effective upon filing (File No. 333-251022) in relation to the registration of common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants and units of any
89
combination thereof. In December 2020, we issued 5,513,699 shares of our common stock, including the exercise in full by the underwriters of their option to purchase an additional 719,178 shares, at the public offering price of $36.50 per share pursuant to the Universal Shelf for aggregate cash consideration of $188.9 million, after deducting the underwriting discount, commissions and offering expenses. In July 2021, we issued 4,758,620 shares of our common stock, including the exercise in full by the underwriters of their option to purchase an additional 620,689 shares, at the public offering price of $145.00 per share pursuant to the Universal Shelf for aggregate cash consideration of approximately $648.3 million, after deducting the underwriting discount, commissions and estimated offering expenses. In March 2022, we entered into an Open Market Sale Agreement (the “2022 Sale Agreement”) with the Sales Agent, to provide for the offering, issuance and sale of up to an aggregate amount of $400.0 million of our common stock from time to time in “at-the-market” offerings under the Universal Shelf and subject to the limitations thereof. We will pay to the Sales Agent cash commissions of 3.0% of the gross proceeds of sales of common stock under the 2022 Sale Agreement. Through December 31, 2022, we issued 3,395,339 shares of our common stock at an average price of $57.43 per share in accordance with the 2022 Sale Agreement for aggregate net proceeds of $189.0 million, after payment of cash commissions to the Sales Agent and approximately $0.1 million related to legal, accounting and other fees in connection with the sales. In addition, sales of a substantial number of shares of our outstanding 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. Persons who were our stockholders prior to our IPO continue to hold a substantial number of shares of our common stock that many of them are now able to sell in the public market. Significant portions of these shares are held by a relatively small number of stockholders. Sales by our stockholders of a substantial number of shares, or the expectation that such sales may occur, could significantly reduce the market price of our common stock.
Risks Related to our Charter and Bylaws
Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of us difficult, limit attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management and adversely affect our stock price.
Provisions of our certificate of incorporation and by-laws may delay or discourage transactions involving an actual or potential change in our control or change in our management, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares, or transactions that our stockholders might otherwise deem to be in their best interests. Therefore, these provisions could adversely affect the price of our stock. Among other things, the certificate of incorporation and by-laws:
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In addition, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which generally prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in any of a broad range of business combinations with any “interested” stockholder for a period of three years following the date on which the stockholder became an “interested” stockholder.
Our certificate of incorporation and by-laws designate certain courts as the sole and exclusive forums for certain disputes between us and our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.
Our certificate of incorporation and by-laws provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the sole and exclusive forum for any state law claims for any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf alleging state law claims, any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty, any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, our certificate of incorporation or our by-laws, any action to interpret, apply, enforce, or determine the validity of our certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine (the “Delaware Forum Provision”). The Delaware Forum Provision does not apply to claims arising under the Exchange Act or the Securities Act. Our by-laws further provide that the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts will be the sole and exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act (the “Federal Forum Provision”). We have chosen the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts as the exclusive forum for such Securities Act causes of action because our principal executive offices are located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Our by-laws provide that any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any shares of our common stock is deemed to have notice of and consented to the foregoing Delaware Forum Provision and the Federal Forum Provision.
The Delaware Forum Provision and the Federal Forum Provision may impose additional litigation costs on stockholders in pursuing the claims identified above, particularly if the stockholders do not reside in or near the State of Delaware or the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Additionally, the Delaware Forum Provision and the Federal Forum Provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find the Delaware Forum Provision and the Federal Forum Provision to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business and financial condition. The Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts may also reach different judgments or results than would other courts, including courts where a stockholder considering an action may be located or would otherwise choose to bring the action, and such judgments may be more or less favorable to us than our stockholders.
Risks Related to Tax Matters
Changes in tax law may adversely affect our business and financial condition.
The laws and rules dealing with U.S. federal, state and local income taxation are routinely being reviewed and modified by governmental bodies, officials and regulatory agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Treasury Department. Since we were founded in 2014, many such changes have been made and changes are likely to continue to occur in the future. We cannot predict whether, when, in what form, or with what effective dates, tax laws, regulations and rulings may be enacted, promulgated or issued, that could result in an increase in our or our stockholders’ tax liability.
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Our ability to use our net operating loss (“NOL”) carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.
We have incurred substantial losses during our history and do not expect to become profitable in the near future, and we may never achieve profitability. To the extent that we continue to generate taxable losses, unused losses will carry forward to offset future taxable income, if any, until such unused losses expire. As of December 31, 2022, we had federal and state NOLs of $852.1 million and $797.8 million, respectively, some of which begin to expire in 2034. Federal and certain state NOLs generated in taxable years ending after December 31, 2017 are not subject to expiration. As of December 31, 2022, we had federal and state research and development and other credit carryforwards of approximately $63.4 million and $48.0 million, which begin to expire in 2034 and 2029, respectively. Under Sections 382 and 383 of the Code, if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” generally defined as a greater than 50 percentage point change (by value) in its equity ownership by certain stockholders over a three-year period, the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change NOLs, and other pre-change tax attributes (such as research and development tax credits) to offset its post-change income or taxes may be limited. During 2022, we completed an assessment of the available net operating loss carryforwards and other tax attributes under Section 382. This analysis is not expected to result in a material limitation to our other tax attributes. We may experience ownership changes in the future. As a result, if we earn net taxable income, our ability to use our pre-change NOLs and research and development tax credits to offset such taxable income and income tax, respectively, could be subject to limitations. Similar provisions of state tax law may also apply. As a result, even if we attain profitability, we may be unable to use a material portion of our NOLs and other tax attributes.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Item 2. Properties
Our headquarters are located at 40 Erie Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where we occupy approximately 65,000 square feet of office and laboratory space. We have a ten-year lease agreement expiring in September 2026, with an option to extend the term of the lease for an additional three years. In addition, we lease approximately 15,200 square feet of office and laboratory space at 130 Brookline Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which expires in 2031. In March 2020, we entered into an agreement to lease approximately 39,000 square feet of office and laboratory space at 281 Albany Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts with an initial term of ten years and an option to extend the lease for two successive five-year terms. In July 2021, we entered into an agreement to lease approximately 14,000 square feet of office space at 17 Tudor Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts with an initial term of five years and an option to extend the lease for one three-year term. In January 2022, we entered into an agreement to lease approximately 38,000 square feet of office and laboratory space at 730 Main Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts with an initial term of ten years and an option to extend the lease for one five-year term. In February 2022, we entered into an agreement to lease approximately 140,000 square feet of office, general laboratory and manufacturing space at 840 Winter Street, Waltham Massachusetts, which will provide us with the ability to manufacture products in a good manufacturing practice (“GMP”) compliant facility. This lease is expected to commence in 2024 with an initial term of twelve years and an option to extend the lease for two five-year terms. In June 2022, we entered into an agreement to lease approximately 62,000 square feet of office and laboratory space at 640 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, Massachusetts with a term of five years, ending in August 2027.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
In the ordinary course of business, we are from time to time involved in lawsuits, claims, investigations, proceedings, and threats of litigation related to intellectual property (“IP”), commercial arrangements and other matters. The outcome of any such legal proceedings, regardless of the merits, is inherently uncertain. In addition, litigation and related matters are costly and may divert the attention of our management and other resources that would otherwise be engaged in other activities. If we were unable to prevail in any such legal proceedings, our business, results of operations, liquidity and financial condition could be adversely affected.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
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PART II
Item 5. Market for the Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Our common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “NTLA”.
As of February 17, 2023, the number of holders of record of our common stock was 19. The actual number of holders of our common stock is greater than this number of record holders, and includes stockholders who are beneficial owners, but whose shares are held in street name by brokers or held by other nominees. This holders of record number also does not include stockholders whose shares may be held in trust by other entities.
Dividends
We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock. We intend to retain all of our future earnings, if any, to finance the growth and development of our business. We do not intend to pay cash dividends to our stockholders in the foreseeable future.
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Stock Performance Graph
The following graph shows a comparison from May 6, 2016, the first date that shares of our common stock were publicly traded, through December 31, 2022, of the cumulative total return on an assumed investment of $100.00 in cash in our common stock, the Nasdaq Composite Index and the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index for the same period. Such returns are based on historical results and are not intended to suggest future performance. Data for the Nasdaq Composite Index and the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index assume reinvestment of dividends.
The performance graph in this Item 5 is not deemed to be “soliciting material” or to be “filed” with the Securities and Exchange Commission for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or otherwise subject to the liabilities under that Section, and shall not be deemed incorporated by reference into any of our filings under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, except to the extent we specifically incorporate it by reference into such a filing.
Equity Compensation Plans
The information required by Item 5 of Form 10-K regarding equity compensation plans is incorporated herein by reference to Item 12 of Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
We did not purchase any of our registered equity securities during the period covered by this Annual Report.
Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
None.
Item 6. [Reserved].
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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Our management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based upon our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, which have been prepared by us in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) and with Regulation S-X, promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. This discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with these consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis or set forth elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including information with respect to our plans and strategy for our business, includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. As a result of many factors, including those factors set forth in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, our actual results could differ materially from the results described in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in the following discussion and analysis.
Information pertaining to fiscal year 2020 was included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 on pages 101 through 109 under Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Position and Results of Operations,” which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 24, 2022.
Management Overview
Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. (“we,” “us,” “our,” “Intellia,” or the “Company”) is a leading clinical-stage genome editing company, focused on developing potentially curative therapeutics using CRISPR/Cas9-based technologies. CRISPR/Cas9, an acronym for Clustered, Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (“CRISPR”)/CRISPR associated 9 (“Cas9”), is a technology for genome editing, the process of altering selected sequences of genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (“DNA”). To fully realize the transformative potential of CRISPR/Cas9-based technologies, we are building a full-spectrum genome editing company, by leveraging our modular platform, to advance in vivo and ex vivo therapies for diseases with high unmet need by pursuing two primary approaches. For in vivo applications to address genetic diseases, we deploy CRISPR/Cas9 as the therapy that targets cells within the body. In parallel, we are developing ex vivo applications to address immuno-oncology and autoimmune diseases, where we use CRISPR/Cas9 as the tool to create the engineered cell therapy. Our deep scientific, technical and clinical development experience, along with our robust intellectual property (“IP”) portfolio, have enabled us to unlock broad therapeutic applications of CRISPR/Cas9 and related technologies to create new classes of genetic medicine. For more information regarding our business, mission and pipeline, see above sections in Part I entitled “Overview”, “Strategy” and “Our Pipeline”.
Financial Overview
Collaboration Revenue
Our revenue consists of collaboration revenue, including amounts recognized related to upfront technology access payments for licenses, technology access fees, research materials shipped, research funding and milestone payments earned under our collaboration and license agreements.
Research and Development
Research and development costs consist of expenses incurred in performing research and development activities, such as compensation and benefits, which includes equity-based compensation, for full-time research and development employees, allocated facility-related expenses, overhead expenses, license and milestone fees, contract research, development and manufacturing services, clinical trial costs and other related costs.
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General and Administrative
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of compensation and benefits, including equity-based compensation, for our executive, finance, legal, human resources, business development and support functions. Also included in general and administrative expenses are allocated facility-related costs not otherwise included in research and development expenses, travel expenses and professional fees for auditing, tax and legal services, including IP-related legal services, and other consulting fees and expenses.
Other (Expense) Income, Net
Other (expense) income consists of interest income earned on our cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash equivalents and marketable securities, loss from equity method investment and change in fair value of contingent consideration.
Results of Operations
The following discussion of the financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the accompanying consolidated financial statements and the related footnotes thereto.
Comparison of Years Ended December 31, 2022 and 2021
The following table summarizes our results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 (in thousands):
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
|
Period-to- |
|
||||||
|
|
2022 |
|
|
2021 |
|
|
Period Change |
|
|||
Collaboration revenue |
|
$ |
52,121 |
|
|
$ |
33,053 |
|
|
$ |
19,068 |
|
Operating expenses: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Research and development |
|
|
419,979 |
|
|
|
229,807 |
|
|
|
190,172 |
|
General and administrative |
|
|
90,306 |
|
|
|
71,096 |
|
|
|
19,210 |
|
Total operating expenses |
|
|
510,285 |
|
|
|
300,903 |
|
|
|
209,382 |
|
Operating loss |
|
|
(458,164 |
) |
|
|
(267,850 |
) |
|
|
(190,314 |
) |
Other (expense) income, net: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Interest income |
|
|
8,542 |
|
|
|
1,283 |
|
|
|
7,259 |
|
Loss from equity method investment |
|
|
(11,079 |
) |
|
|
(1,325 |
) |
|
|
(9,754 |
) |
Change in fair value of contingent consideration |
|
|
(13,485 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(13,485 |
) |
Total other (expense) income, net |
|
|
(16,022 |
) |
|
|
(42 |
) |
|
|
(15,980 |
) |
Net loss |
|
$ |
(474,186 |
) |
|
$ |
(267,892 |
) |
|
$ |
(206,294 |
) |
Collaboration Revenue
Collaboration revenue increased by $19.1 million to $52.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to $33.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase in collaboration revenue during the year ended December 31, 2022 is primarily due to revenue from our joint venture with AvenCell Therapeutics, Inc. (“AvenCell”) and revenue from our license and collaboration agreement with Kyverna Therapeutics, Inc. (“Kyverna”). Refer to Note 9 to our consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details.
Research and Development
Research and development expenses increased by $190.2 million to $420.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to $229.8 million during the year ended December 31, 2021.
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The following table summarizes our research and development expenses for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, together with the changes in those items in dollars (in thousands) and the respective percentages of change.
|
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
|
Period-to- |
|
|
Percent |
|
|||||||
|
|
|
2022 |
|
|
2021 |
|
|
Period Change |
|
|
Change |
|
||||
External development expenses by program: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
NTLA-2001 |
|
|
$ |
37,849 |
|
|
$ |
24,350 |
|
|
$ |
13,499 |
|
|
|
55 |
% |
NTLA-2002 |
|
|
|
11,611 |
|
|
|
7,375 |
|
|
|
4,236 |
|
|
|
57 |
% |
NTLA-5001 |
|
|
|
17,827 |
|
|
|
22,157 |
|
|
|
(4,330 |
) |
|
|
-20 |
% |
Unallocated research and development expenses: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Employee-related expenses |
|
|
|
112,975 |
|
|
|
70,798 |
|
|
|
42,177 |
|
|
|
60 |
% |
Research materials and contracted services |
|
|
|
86,296 |
|
|
|
49,796 |
|
|
|
36,500 |
|
|
|
73 |
% |
In-process research and development |
|
|
|
55,990 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
55,990 |
|
|
|
- |
|
Facility-related expenses |
|
|
|
37,618 |
|
|
|
26,873 |
|
|
|
10,745 |
|
|
|
40 |
% |
Stock-based compensation |
|
|
|
56,279 |
|
|
|
26,712 |
|
|
|
29,567 |
|
|
|
111 |
% |
Other |
|
|
|
3,534 |
|
|
|
1,746 |
|
|
|
1,788 |
|
|
|
102 |
% |
Total research and development expenses |
|
|
$ |
419,979 |
|
|
$ |
229,807 |
|
|
$ |
190,172 |
|
|
|
83 |
% |
The increase in research and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 was primarily attributable to:
During 2023, we expect research and development expenses to increase as we continue to grow our development team, initiate global pivotal trials for NTLA-2001 and NTLA-2002, progress our NTLA-3001 and NTLA-2003 programs and nominate new development candidates.
General and Administrative
General and administrative expenses increased by $19.2 million to $90.3 million during the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $71.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2021. This increase was primarily related to an increase in employee-related expenses, including stock-based compensation of $14.8 million.
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Other (Expense) Income, Net
The increase in other (expense) income of $16.0 million is primarily related to an increase in the fair value of our contingent consideration liability of $13.5 million and an increase in our share of AvenCell's losses of $9.8 million, offset in part by a $7.3 million increase in interest income.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Since our inception through December 31, 2022, we have raised an aggregate of $2,395.2 million to fund our operations through our collaboration agreements, our initial public offering and concurrent private placements, follow-on public offerings, at-the-market offerings and the sale of convertible preferred stock.
As of December 31, 2022, we had $1,262.0 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities.
We are eligible to earn a significant amount of milestone payments and royalties, in each case, on a per-product basis under our collaborations with Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Inc. (“Novartis”), SparingVision SAS (“SparingVision”) and ONK Therapeutics, Ltd. (“ONK”), on a per-target basis under our collaboration with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Regeneron”) and upon achievement of certain events under our collaboration with Kyverna. Our ability to earn these milestone payments and the timing of achieving these milestones is dependent upon the outcome of our research and development activities and is uncertain at this time. Our rights to payments under our collaboration agreements are our only committed external source of funds.
Follow-on Offering
In December 2022, we closed an underwritten public offering of 7,532,751 shares of common stock, including the exercise in full of the underwriters’ option to purchase an additional 982,532 shares of common stock, at the public offering price of $45.80 per share, for aggregate net proceeds of $337.9 million, after deducting the underwriting discount, commissions and approximately $0.3 million related to legal, accounting and other fees in connection with the sales.
At-the-Market Offering Programs
In August 2019, we entered into an Open Market Sale Agreement (the “2019 Sale Agreement”) with Jefferies LLC (“Jefferies”), under which Jefferies was able to offer and sell, from time to time in “at-the-market” offerings, shares of our common stock having aggregate gross proceeds of up to $150.0 million. We agreed to pay to Jefferies cash commissions of 3.0% of the gross proceeds of sales of common stock under the 2019 Sale Agreement. During the first quarter of 2022, we issued 579,788 shares of our common stock in a series of sales at an average price of $69.43 per share in accordance with the 2019 Sale Agreement, for aggregate net proceeds of $38.9 million after payment of cash commissions to Jefferies and approximately $0.2 million related to legal, accounting and other fees in connection with the sales. The 2019 Sale Agreement expired in the third quarter of 2022.
In March 2022, we entered into an Open Market Sale Agreement (the “2022 Sale Agreement”) with Jefferies, under which Jefferies is able to offer and sell, from time to time in “at-the-market” offerings, shares of our common stock having aggregate gross proceeds of up to $400.0 million. We agreed to pay to Jefferies cash commissions of 3.0% of the gross proceeds of sales of common stock under the 2022 Sale Agreement.
During the year ended December 31, 2022, we issued 3,395,339 shares of our common stock in a series of sales at an average price of $57.43 per share in accordance with the 2022 Sale Agreement, for aggregate net proceeds of $189.0 million after payment of cash commissions to Jefferies and approximately $0.1 million related to legal, accounting and other fees in connection with the sales. As of December 31, 2022, $205.0 million in shares of common stock remain eligible for sale under the 2022 Sale Agreement.
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Funding Requirements
Our primary uses of capital are, and we expect will continue to be, research and development research materials and contracted services, clinical trial costs, compensation and related expenses, laboratory and office facilities, research supplies, legal and regulatory expenses, patent prosecution filing and maintenance costs for our licensed IP, milestone and royalty payments and general overhead costs. During 2023, we expect our expenses to increase compared to prior periods in connection with our ongoing activities as we continue to grow our research and development team, develop our clinical programs and advance additional programs into clinical development.
Because our lead programs are still in the early clinical stage and the outcome of these efforts is uncertain, we cannot estimate the actual amounts necessary to successfully complete the development and commercialization of any future product candidates or whether, or when, we may achieve profitability. Until such time as we can generate substantial product revenues, if ever, we expect to finance our ongoing cash needs through equity financings and collaboration arrangements. We receive cost reimbursements from Regeneron for the ATTR and hemophilia programs. Additionally, we are eligible to earn milestone payments and royalties, in each case, on a per-product basis under our collaborations with Novartis, SparingVision and ONK, on a per-target basis under our collaboration with Regeneron, and upon achievement of certain events with Kyverna, subject to the provisions of our agreements with each of them. Except for these sources of funding, we will not have any committed external source of liquidity. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the future sale of equity, the ownership interest of our stockholders will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect the rights of our existing stockholders. If we raise additional funds through collaboration arrangements in the future, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams or product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds through equity financings when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development or future commercialization efforts or grant rights to develop and market product candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves.
Outlook
Based on our research and development plans and our expectations related to the progress of our programs, we expect that our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of December 31, 2022, as well as research and cost reimbursement funding from our collaboration agreements will enable us to fund our ongoing operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements beyond the next 24 months, excluding any potential milestone payments or extension fees that could be earned and distributed under our collaboration agreements or any strategic use of capital not currently in the base case planning assumptions. We have based this estimate on current assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could use our capital resources sooner than we expect.
Our ability to generate revenue and achieve profitability depends significantly on our success in many areas, including: developing our delivery technologies and our CRISPR/Cas9 technology platform; selecting appropriate product candidates to develop; completing research and preclinical and clinical development of selected product candidates; obtaining regulatory approvals and marketing authorizations for product candidates for which we complete clinical trials; developing a sustainable and scalable manufacturing process for product candidates; launching and commercializing product candidates for which we obtain regulatory approvals and marketing authorizations, either directly or with a collaborator or distributor; obtaining market acceptance of our product candidates; addressing any competing technological and market developments; negotiating favorable terms in any collaboration, licensing, or other arrangements into which we may enter; maintaining good relationships with our collaborators and licensors; maintaining, protecting, and expanding our portfolio of IP rights, including patents, trade secrets, and know-how; and attracting, hiring, and retaining qualified personnel.
Cash Flows
The following is a summary of cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021:
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
|
|||||
|
|
2022 |
|
|
2021 |
|
|
||
|
|
(In millions) |
|||||||
Net cash used in operating activities |
|
$ |
(333.3 |
) |
|
$ |
(225.0 |
) |
|
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities |
|
|
160.3 |
|
|
|
(550.8 |
) |
|
Net cash provided by financing activities |
|
|
583.0 |
|
|
|
736.7 |
|
|
99
Net cash used in operating activities
Net cash used in operating activities of $333.3 million during the year ended December 31, 2022 primarily reflects the increased spend in our research and development activities, offset by the receipt of $10.7 million in payments from our collaboration partners during that period. Net cash used in operating activities of $225.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2021 primarily reflects increased spend in our research and development activities offset by the receipt of $6.7 million in payments from our collaboration partners during that period.
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities
During the year ended December 31, 2022, our investing activities provided net cash of $160.3 million primarily due to $647.6 million in marketable securities maturing, offset in part by $429.0 million of marketable securities purchased, $44.8 million in net cash for the acquisition of Rewrite, and $13.6 million in cash for the purchase of property and equipment. During the year ended December 31, 2021, our investing activities used net cash of $550.8 million. The increase in the year ended December 31, 2021 is primarily due to marketable securities activity during the period, as $1,020.6 million in marketable securities were purchased and $485.6 million in marketable securities matured, as well as the use of $12.8 million in cash for the purchase of property and equipment and $3.0 million for an investment in Kyverna.
Net cash provided by financing activities
Net cash provided by financing activities of $583.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2022 is primarily due to the receipt of $337.9 million in net proceeds from a follow-on offering of our common stock, $227.9 million in net proceeds from at-the-market offerings, $14.5 million in cash received from the exercise of stock options and $2.6 million in cash received from the issuance of shares through our employee stock purchase plan. Net cash provided by financing activities of $736.7 million during the year ended December 31, 2021 is primarily due to the receipt of $648.3 million in net proceeds from a follow-on offering of our common stock, $45.3 million in net proceeds from at-the-market offerings, $41.1 million in cash received from the exercise of stock options and $2.0 million in cash received from the issuance of shares through our employee stock purchase plan.
Contractual and Other Obligations
We have entered into arrangements that contractually obligate us to make payments that will affect our liquidity and cash flows in future periods.
Property Leases - Commenced
As of December 31, 2022, our contractual commitments for leases were $170.4 million, which will be paid over the term of such leases. For additional information on our leases and timing of future payments refer to Note 12 of the consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Property Leases – Not Yet Commenced
In February 2022, we entered into a lease agreement for office, general laboratory and good manufacturing practice (“GMP”) manufacturing space at 840 Winter Street in Waltham, Massachusetts, which is described in further detail in Note 12 of the consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In connection therewith, we have committed to making at least $146.0 million in rental payments over a lease term of 144 months estimated to begin in 2024.
Other Obligations
We enter into contracts in the normal course of business with various third parties for clinical trials, preclinical research studies, supply manufacturing and other services and products for operating purposes. As of December 31, 2022, we have $8.0 million of commitments that are legally enforceable and due within one year.
We do not include any potential future pass-through milestone payments or royalty payments we may be required to make under our existing license agreements or the merger agreement related to our acquisition of Rewrite due to the uncertainty of the occurrence of the events requiring payment under those agreements. These payments are not reflected in the disclosures above. In January 2023, a research milestone related to Rewrite was achieved and settled (see Note 11).
100
Critical Accounting Policies and Use of Estimates
Our management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is based upon our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates, judgments and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the balance sheets and the reported amounts of collaboration revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances at the time such estimates are made. Actual results and outcomes may differ materially from our estimates, judgments and assumptions. We periodically review our estimates in light of changes in circumstances, facts and experience. The effects of material revisions in estimates are reflected in the consolidated financial statements prospectively from the date of the change in estimate. Refer to Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for our significant accounting policies related to our critical accounting estimates.
We define our critical accounting policies as those accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. that require the most significant estimates and judgments about matters that are uncertain and are likely to have a material impact on our financial condition and results of operations as well as the specific manner in which we apply those principles. We believe the critical accounting policies used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements which require significant estimates and judgments are as follows:
Revenue Recognition
We recognize revenue in accordance with Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) and its related amendments (collectively known as Accounting Standard Codification (“ASC”) 606 (“ASC 606”).
At inception, we determine whether contracts are within the scope of ASC 606 or other topics. For contracts that are determined to be within the scope of ASC 606, revenue is recognized when a customer obtains control of promised goods or services. The amount of revenue recognized reflects the consideration to which we expect to be entitled to receive in exchange for these goods and services. To achieve this core principle, we apply the following five steps: (i) identify the contract with the customer; (ii) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price; (iv) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognize revenue when or as we satisfy a performance obligation. We only apply the five-step model to contracts when we determine that collection of substantially all consideration for goods and services that are transferred is probable based on the customer’s intent and ability to pay the promised consideration.
As of December 31, 2022, our only revenue recognized is related to collaboration agreements with third parties which are either within the scope of ASC 606, under which we license certain rights to our product candidates to third parties, or within the scope of ASC 808, Collaborative Arrangements (“ASC 808”) if it involves a joint operating activity pursuant to which we are an active participant and are exposed to significant risks and rewards with respect to the arrangement. As discussed in further detail in Note 9 to our consolidated financial statements of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we enter into out-licensing agreements which are within the scope of ASC 606, under which we license certain rights to our product candidates to third parties and may provide services related to the research and development of the product candidates. The terms of these arrangements typically include consideration payable to us of one or more of the following: nonrefundable, upfront fees; development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments; research and development funding payments; and royalties on the net sales of licensed products. Additionally, the terms of certain arrangements may include an equity interest in the other company. Consideration received from each of these payments results in collaboration revenues, except for revenues from royalties on the net sales of licensed products, which are classified as royalty revenues. For arrangements within the scope of ASC 808, the terms of these arrangements typically include payments received or made under the cost sharing provisions which are recognized as a component of collaboration revenues in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss.
In determining the accounting for each contract, the significant areas of management judgment or estimation include determining the transaction price, identifying the distinct performance obligations within a contract, determining the standalone selling prices for distinct performance obligations when more than one distinct performance obligation is
101
identified within a contract and determining the revenue recognition pattern for each performance obligation that best reflects the timing of when we transfer control of goods and services to the customer. If the consideration received in exchange for entering into a contract is in the form of noncash consideration, we are required to estimate the fair value of the noncash consideration received. If our estimates of the noncash consideration received are not appropriate it could impact the total amount of revenue recognized for the contract. Furthermore, many of our performance obligations, whether distinct or combined, do not have readily available standalone selling prices and therefore we are required to make judgments and estimates regarding the standalone selling prices when relevant. To the extent the estimates are not appropriate in the circumstances, it could impact the timing of our revenue recognition. We evaluate the measure of progress each reporting period and if estimates related to the measure of progress change, related revenue recognition is adjusted accordingly.
Accrued Research and Development Expenses
As part of the process of preparing our financial statements, we are required to estimate our accrued expenses. This process involves reviewing open contracts and purchase orders, communicating with our personnel to identify services that have been performed on our behalf and estimating the level of service performed and the associated cost incurred for the service when we have not yet been invoiced or otherwise notified of the actual cost. The majority of our service providers invoice us monthly in arrears for services performed or when contractual milestones are met. We make estimates of our accrued expenses as of each balance sheet date in our financial statements based on facts and circumstances known to us at that time. Examples of estimated accrued research and development expenses include fees paid to vendors in connection with clinical research organizations (“CROs”) in connection with clinical studies, vendors in connection with preclinical development activities and vendors related to development, manufacturing and distribution of clinical trial materials.
We base our expenses related to preclinical studies on our estimates of the services received and efforts expended pursuant to contracts with multiple CROs that conduct and manage clinical studies on our behalf. The financial terms of these agreements are subject to negotiation, vary from contract to contract and may result in uneven payment flows. There may be instances in which payments made to our vendors will exceed the level of services provided and result in a prepayment of the expense.
Contingent Consideration Liability
As discussed in Notes 2, 4 and 11 to our consolidated financial statements of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, during the year ended December 31, 2022, we entered into the Rewrite Merger Agreement. Under the Rewrite Merger Agreement, the Rewrite Holders are eligible to receive a $25.0 million research milestone payment, payable in a combination of cash and our common stock. We account for contingent consideration identified in an asset acquisition that is settled in shares of common stock under ASC 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity (“ASC 480”), which results in us applying judgment in estimating the fair value of the liability at the end of each reporting period. We engaged an independent valuation specialist to determine the fair value of the contingent consideration liability (see Note 4 to our consolidated financial statements for specifics related to the valuation model and inputs utilized). The estimated probability of achievement is a highly sensitive input into the model. A 10% decrease in the probability of achievement, keeping all other variables the same, yields a 10% decrease in the earnout liability.
Equity-Based Compensation
We measure employee equity-based compensation based on the grant date fair value of the equity awards using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. Equity-based compensation expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period of the awards and is adjusted for pre-vesting forfeitures in the period in which the forfeitures occur. For equity awards that have a performance condition, we recognize stock-based compensation expense using the accelerated attribution method, based on our assessment of the probability that the performance condition will be achieved. Our stock price is a key input that will drive the grant date fair value of the equity awards.
We classify equity-based compensation expense in our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss in the same manner in which the award recipient’s salary and related costs are classified or in which the award recipient’s service payments are classified.
102
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Please read Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15, “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements,” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a description of recent accounting pronouncements applicable to our business.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
The market risk inherent in our financial instruments and in our financial position represents the potential loss arising from adverse changes in interest rates. As of December 31, 2022, we had cash equivalents, restricted cash equivalents and marketable securities of $1,273.0 million consisting of interest-bearing money market accounts, reverse repurchase agreements, corporate and financial institution debt securities, U.S. Treasury and other government securities and asset-backed securities. Our primary exposure to market risk is interest rate sensitivity, which is affected by changes in the general level of U.S. interest rates, particularly because our investments are primarily in marketable securities. Due to the short-term duration of our investment portfolios and the low risk profile of our investments, we do not believe an immediate change of 100 basis points, or one percentage point, would have a material effect on the fair market value of our investment portfolio. Declines in interest rates, however, would reduce future investment income.
We do not have any foreign currency or derivative financial instruments. Inflation generally affects us by increasing our cost of labor, preclinical and clinical trial costs. We do not believe that inflation had a material effect on our results of operations during the year ended December 31, 2022.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
The information required by this item is presented at the end of this report beginning on page F-1.
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
The Company has established disclosure controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports that the Company files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms and is accumulated and communicated to management, including the principal executive officer (our Chief Executive Officer) and principal financial officer (our Chief Financial Officer), to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Our management, under the supervision and with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Management recognizes that any disclosure controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives. Our disclosure controls and procedures have been designed to provide reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives. Based on such evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective at the reasonable assurance level as of December 31, 2022.
Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Internal control over financial reporting is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) promulgated under the Exchange Act as a process designed by, or under the supervision of, the company’s principal executive and principal financial officers and effected by the company’s board of directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable
103
assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and includes those policies and procedures that:
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Therefore, even those systems determined to be effective can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to financial statement preparation and presentation. Projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Our management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022. In making this assessment, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013 framework) (“COSO”). Based on its assessment, management believes that, as of December 31, 2022, our internal control over financial reporting is effective based on those criteria.
Deloitte & Touche LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm, has issued an attestation report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, which is included below.
Changes in Internal Controls over Financial Reporting
No change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) occurred during the three months ended December 31, 2022 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
104
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the stockholders and the Board of Directors of Intellia Therapeutics, Inc.
Opinion on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
We have audited the internal control over financial reporting of Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. and subsidiary (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2022, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by COSO.
We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2022, of the Company and our report dated February 23, 2023, expressed an unqualified opinion on those financial statements.
Basis for Opinion
The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Definition and Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
/s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
February 23, 2023
105
Item 9B. Other Information
None.
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections
Not applicable.
106
PART III
Certain information required by Part III is omitted from this Annual Report on Form 10-K and is incorporated by reference from our definitive proxy statement to be filed with the SEC with respect to our 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which we expect to file with the SEC no later than May 1, 2023.
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
Information regarding our directors, including the audit committee and audit committee financial experts, and executive officers and compliance with Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act will be included in our 2023 Proxy Statement and is incorporated herein by reference.
We have adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics for all of our directors, officers and employees as required by Nasdaq governance rules and as defined by applicable SEC rules. Stockholders may locate a copy of our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics on our website at www.intelliatx.com or request a copy without charge from:
Intellia Therapeutics, Inc.
Attention: Investor Relations
40 Erie Street, Suite 130
Cambridge, MA 02139
We will post to our website any amendments to the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, and any waivers that are required to be disclosed by the rules of either the SEC or Nasdaq.
Item 11. Executive Compensation
The information required by this item regarding executive compensation will be included in our definitive proxy statement to be filed with the SEC with respect to our 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
The information required by this item regarding security ownership of certain beneficial owners and management and securities authorized for issuance under equity compensation plans will be included in our definitive proxy statement to be filed with the SEC with respect to our 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and is incorporated herein by reference.
The information required by this item regarding certain relationships and related transactions and director independence will be included in our definitive proxy statement to be filed with the SEC with respect to our 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services
Information about aggregate fees billed to us by our independent principal accountant, Deloitte & Touche LLP (PCAOB ID No. 34), located in Boston, Massachusetts, will be presented in our definitive proxy statement to be filed with the SEC with respect to our 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders under the caption “Audit Committee Matters — Principal Accounting Firm Fees” and is incorporated herein by reference.
107
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID No.34)
Consolidated Balance Sheets
Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
Item 16. Form 10-K Summary
The Company has elected not to include summary information.
108
INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
Page |
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID No. |
F-2 |
F-4 |
|
Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss |
F-5 |
F-6 |
|
F-7 |
|
F-8 |
|
|
|
F-1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the stockholders and the Board of Directors of Intellia Therapeutics, Inc.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. and subsidiary (the "Company") as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows, for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2022, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the "financial statements"). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2022, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated February 23, 2023, expressed an unqualified opinion on the Company's internal control over financial reporting.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Critical Audit Matter
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current-period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.
Rewrite Asset Acquisition - Contingent Consideration Liability – Refer to Notes 2, 4, and 11 to the financial statements
Critical Audit Matter Description
In February 2022, the Company completed the acquisition of Rewrite Therapeutics, Inc. (“Rewrite”) and the transaction was accounted for as an asset acquisition.
Pursuant to the terms of the agreement to acquire Rewrite (the “Rewrite Merger Agreement”), the Company may be required to make a payment to the previous stockholders and option holders of Rewrite in the form of the Company’s common stock based on the achievement of a research milestone. As this milestone is payable in the
F-2
Company’s common stock, the contingent consideration qualifies as a liability under ASC 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity. As of the acquisition date and as of December 31, 2022, the Company recorded an estimated liability for the acquisition-related contingent consideration at its fair value. The Company estimated the fair value using unobservable inputs by applying a probability-based valuation model.
The key assumptions management used in the valuation model are the probability and estimated timing of achieving the research milestone. These assumptions are not observable in the market and therefore represent Level 3 measurements within the fair value hierarchy.
Given that the fair value of the Rewrite contingent consideration liability is estimated based on unobservable inputs and is sensitive to changes in the probability and timing of milestone achievement, auditing the key assumptions required a high degree of auditor judgment and additional audit procedures, including the need to involve our fair value specialists.
How the Critical Audit Matter Was Addressed in the Audit
Our principal audit procedures related to the Rewrite contingent consideration liability included the following, among others:
/s/
February 23, 2023
We have served as the Company's auditor since 2015.
F-3
INTELLIA THERAPEUTICS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(Amounts in thousands except share and per share data)
|
|
December 31, |
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|
December 31, |
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ASSETS |
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Current Assets: |
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Cash and cash equivalents |
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$ |
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$ |
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Marketable securities |
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Accounts receivable ($ |
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Prepaid expenses and other current assets |
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Total current assets |
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Marketable securities - noncurrent |
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Property and equipment, net |
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Operating lease right-of-use assets |
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Equity method investment |
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Investments and other assets |
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Total Assets |
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$ |
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|
$ |
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LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY |
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Current Liabilities: |
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Accounts payable |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Accrued expenses ($ |
|
|
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Current portion of operating lease liability |
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Current portion of deferred revenue ($ |
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Total current liabilities |
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Deferred revenue, net of current portion ($ |
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Long-term operating lease liability |
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Contingent consideration liability |
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Stockholders’ Equity: |
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||
Common stock, $ |
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|
|
|
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||
Additional paid-in capital |
|
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Accumulated other comprehensive loss |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Accumulated deficit |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Total stockholders’ equity |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
See notes to consolidated financial statements.
F-4
INTELLIA THERAPEUTICS, INC. |
|
|||||||||||
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS |
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(Amounts in thousands except per share data) |
|
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Year Ended December 31, |
|
|||||||||
|
|
2022 |
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|
2021 |
|
|
2020 |
|
|||
Collaboration (1) |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|||
Operating expenses: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Research and development |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
General and administrative |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Total operating expenses |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Operating loss |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Other (expense) income, net: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Interest income |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Loss from equity method investment |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
Change in fair value of contingent consideration |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Total other (expense) income, net |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
Net loss |
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
( |
) |
Net loss per share, basic and diluted |
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
( |
) |
Weighted average shares outstanding, basic and diluted |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Other comprehensive loss: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Unrealized loss on marketable securities |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Other comprehensive loss from equity method investment |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
Comprehensive loss |
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
( |
) |
(1) Including the following revenue from related party (see Notes 9 and 16): |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
See notes to consolidated financial statements.
F-5
INTELLIA THERAPEUTICS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
(Amounts in thousands, except share data)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Additional |
|
|
Accumulated |
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
|
||||||
|
|
Common |
|
|
Paid-In |
|
|
Comprehensive |
|
|
Accumulated |
|
|
Stockholders’ |
|
|||||||||
|
|
Shares |
|
|
Amount |
|
|
Capital |
|
|
Income (Loss) |
|
|
Deficit |
|
|
Equity |
|
||||||
Balance at December 31, 2019 |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|||||
Issuance of common stock through follow-on offerings, |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
||||
Issuance of common stock to Regeneron |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|||
Issuance of common stock through at-the-market offerings, net |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|||
Exercise of stock options |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|||
Vesting of restricted stock units |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
Issuance of shares under employee stock purchase plan |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|||
Equity-based compensation |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
||
Other comprehensive loss - unrealized loss on marketable securities |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
( |
) |
Net loss |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Balance at December 31, 2020 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|||||
Issuance of common stock through follow-on offerings, |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|||
Issuance of common stock through at-the-market offerings, net |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|||
Exercise of stock options |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|||
Vesting of restricted stock units |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
Issuance of shares under employee stock purchase plan |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|||
Equity-based compensation |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
||
Other comprehensive loss - unrealized loss on marketable securities |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
( |
) |
Other comprehensive loss - equity method investment |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
( |
) |
Net loss |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Balance at December 31, 2021 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
||||
Issuance of common stock through follow-on offerings, |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
||||
Issuance of common stock through at-the-market offerings, net |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
||||
Issuance of common stock through at-the-market offerings, net |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|||
Exercise of stock options |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|||
Vesting of restricted stock units |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
Issuance of shares under employee stock purchase plan |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|||
Equity-based compensation |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
||
Other comprehensive loss - unrealized loss on marketable securities |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
( |
) |
Other comprehensive loss - equity method investment |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
( |
) |
Net loss |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Balance at December 31, 2022 |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
F-6
INTELLIA THERAPEUTICS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(Amounts in thousands)
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
|||||||||
|
|
2022 |
|
|
2021 |
|
|
2020 |
|
|||
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Net loss |
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
( |
) |
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Depreciation and amortization |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
(Gain) loss on disposal of property and equipment |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Equity-based compensation |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Amortization of investment premiums |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Loss from equity method investment |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Deferral of equity method investment intra-entity profit on sales |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Change in fair value of contingent consideration |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
In-process research and development charge |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Accounts receivable |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Prepaid expenses and other current assets |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Operating lease right-of-use assets |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Other assets |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Accounts payable |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Accrued expenses |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Deferred revenue |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
Operating lease liabilities |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Net cash used in operating activities |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Purchases of property and equipment |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Purchases of marketable securities |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Maturities of marketable securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Acquired in-process research and development, net of cash acquired of $ |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Investment in Kyverna Therapeutics, Inc. |
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
||
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities |
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
|
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Proceeds from issuance of common stock through follow-on |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Proceeds from issuance of common stock through at-the-market |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Proceeds from issuance of common stock to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Proceeds from options exercised |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Issuance of shares through employee stock purchase plan |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Net cash provided by financing activities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash |
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
||
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash equivalents, beginning of period |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash equivalents, end of period |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Reconciliation of cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash equivalents to consolidated balance sheet: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Cash and cash equivalents |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|||
Restricted cash equivalents, included in investments and other assets |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Total cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash equivalents |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURES OF CASH FLOW INFORMATION: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Purchases of property and equipment unpaid at period end |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|||
Right-of-use assets acquired under operating leases |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Contingent consideration liability assumed in asset acquisition |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Non-cash trade-in of property and equipment |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Non-cash contribution of intellectual property to AvenCell Therapeutics, Inc. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Non-cash contribution of intellectual property to SparingVision SAS |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Non-cash contribution of intellectual property to Kyverna Therapeutics, Inc. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
See notes to consolidated financial statements. |
|
F-7
INTELLIA THERAPEUTICS, INC.
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. (“Intellia” or the “Company”) is a leading clinical-stage genome editing company focused on developing potentially curative therapies using CRISPR/Cas9-based technologies. CRISPR/Cas9, an acronym for Clustered, Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (“CRISPR”)/CRISPR associated 9 (“Cas9”), is a technology for genome editing, the process of altering selected sequences of genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (“DNA”). To fully realize the transformative potential of CRISPR/Cas9-based technologies, Intellia is building a full-spectrum genome editing company, by leveraging its modular platform, to advance in vivo and ex vivo therapies for diseases with high unmet need by pursuing two primary approaches. For in vivo applications to address genetic diseases, the Company deploys CRISPR/Cas9 as the therapy that targets cells within the body. In parallel, the Company is developing ex vivo applications to address immuno-oncology and autoimmune diseases, where we use CRISPR/Cas9 as the tool to create the engineered cell therapy. The Company's deep scientific, technical and clinical development experience, along with its robust intellectual property (“IP”) portfolio, have enabled it to unlock broad therapeutic applications of CRISPR/Cas9 and related technologies to create new classes of genetic medicine.
The Company was founded and commenced active operations in mid-2014. The Company will require substantial additional capital to fund its research and development. The Company is subject to risks and uncertainties common to early-stage companies in the biotechnology industry, including, but not limited to, development by competitors of more advanced or effective therapies, dependence on key executives, protection of and dependence on proprietary technology, compliance with government regulations and ability to secure additional capital to fund operations. Programs currently in development or moving into development will require significant additional research and development efforts, including preclinical and clinical testing and regulatory approval prior to commercialization. These efforts require significant amounts of additional capital, adequate personnel and infrastructure and extensive compliance-reporting capabilities. Even if the Company’s product development efforts are successful, it is uncertain when, if ever, the Company will realize significant revenue from product sales.
Liquidity
Since its inception through December 31, 2022, the Company has raised an aggregate of $
Basis of Presentation
The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. and its wholly owned, controlled subsidiary, Intellia Securities Corp. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Comprehensive loss is comprised of net loss and gain/loss on marketable securities and equity method investments.
On February 2, 2022, the Company entered into an agreement to acquire Rewrite Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Rewrite”). On the effective date of the agreement, Rewrite became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. In September 2022, Rewrite merged into Intellia, with Intellia the surviving entity.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) requires management to make estimates, judgments and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Significant estimates in these consolidated financial statements have been made in connection with the calculation of revenues, research and development expenses, valuation of equity and fair value method investments, contingent consideration and equity-based compensation expense. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience and various other assumptions that management believes to be reasonable under the circumstances at the time such estimates are made. Actual results could differ from those estimates. The Company periodically reviews its estimates in light of changes in circumstances, facts and experience. The extent of the impact of the coronavirus disease 19 (“COVID-19”) pandemic on the Company’s operational and financial performance will depend on certain developments, including the length and severity of this pandemic, as well as its effect on the Company's employees, collaborators and vendors, all of which are uncertain and cannot be predicted. The Company cannot reasonably estimate the extent to which the disruption may materially impact its consolidated results of operations or financial position.
F-8
The effects of material revisions in estimates are reflected in the consolidated financial statements prospectively from the date of the change in estimate.
Fair Value Measurements
The Company’s financial instruments include cash equivalents, marketable securities, accounts receivable, non-marketable securities, accounts payable, accrued expenses and a contingent consideration liability. Certain of the Company’s financial assets, including cash equivalents and marketable securities, have been initially valued at the transaction price, and subsequently revalued at the end of each reporting period, utilizing third-party pricing services or other observable market data. The pricing services utilize industry standard valuation models and observable market inputs to determine value.
Refer to Note 4 for further information regarding the Company’s fair value measurements.
Other financial instruments, including accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses, are carried at cost, which approximate fair value due to the short duration and term to maturity.
Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all highly liquid investments with maturities of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. As of December 31, 2022, cash equivalents consisted of interest-bearing money market accounts and reverse repurchase agreements. As of December 31, 2021, cash equivalents consisted of interest-bearing money market accounts.
Restricted Cash Equivalents
The Company has restricted cash equivalents made up of money market funds held in collateral accounts that are restricted to secure letters of credit in accordance with certain of its leases. As of December 31, 2022, these restricted cash equivalents amounted to $
Marketable Securities
The Company’s marketable securities are accounted for as available-for-sale and recorded at fair value with the related unrealized gains and losses included in accumulated other comprehensive (loss)/income, a component of stockholders’ equity.
The Company reviews its investment portfolio to identify and evaluate investments that have an indication of possible other-than-temporary impairment. Factors considered in determining whether a loss is other-than-temporary include the length of time and extent to which fair value has been less than the cost basis, the financial condition and near-term prospects of the investee, and the Company’s intent and ability to hold the investment for a period of time sufficient to allow for any anticipated recovery in market value.
Refer to Note 3 for further information regarding the Company’s marketable securities.
Asset Acquisitions
At the time of acquisition, the Company determines if a transaction should be accounted for as a business combination or acquisition of assets. The Company measures and recognizes asset acquisitions that are not deemed to be business combinations based on the cost to acquire the assets, which includes transaction costs, and the consideration is allocated to the items acquired based on a relative fair value methodology. Goodwill is not recognized in asset acquisitions. In an asset acquisition, the cost allocated to acquire in-process research and development with no alternative future use is charged to research and development expense at the acquisition date.
Non-Marketable Equity Securities
The Company also invests in equity securities of companies whose securities are not publicly traded and where fair value is not readily available. These investments are accounted for using the measurement alternative at cost minus impairment adjusted for changes in observable prices. The Company monitors these investments to evaluate whether any increase or decline in their value has occurred, based on the implied value of recent company financings and general market conditions, or if the investment has a readily determinable fair value. These investments are included in “Investments and other assets” in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. Refer to Note 10 for further information regarding the Company’s investments in non-marketable equity securities.
F-9
Concentrations of Credit Risk
The Company’s cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities may potentially be subject to concentrations of credit risk. The Company generally maintains balances in various accounts in excess of federally insured limits with financial institutions that management believes to be of high credit quality.
Accounts receivable represents amounts due from collaboration partners and joint ventures. The Company monitors economic conditions to identify facts or circumstances that may indicate that any of its accounts receivable are at risk of collection. As of December 31, 2022, the Company’s accounts receivable were related to its collaborations with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Regeneron”), AvenCell Therapeutics, Inc. (“AvenCell”), SparingVision SAS (“SparingVision”) and ONK Therapeutics, Ltd. (“ONK”). As of December 31, 2021, the Company’s accounts receivable were related to its collaborations with Regeneron and AvenCell.
Property and Equipment
The Company records property and equipment at cost and recognizes depreciation and amortization using the straight-line method over the following estimated useful lives of the respective assets:
Asset Category |
|
Useful Life |
Laboratory equipment |
|
|
Office furniture and equipment |
|
|
Computer software |
|
|
Computer equipment |
|
|
Leasehold improvements |
|
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets
The Company tests long-lived assets to be held and used, including property and equipment, for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of assets or asset groups may not be fully recoverable. Factors that the Company considers in deciding when to perform an impairment review include significant underperformance of the business in relation to expectations, significant negative industry or economic trends and significant changes or planned changes in the use of the assets.
Contingent Consideration
The Company accounts for contingent consideration identified in an asset acquisition, that is payable in cash and does not meet the definition of a derivative under Accounting Standard Codification (“ASC”) 815, Derivatives and Hedging, when the contingency is resolved and the consideration is paid or becomes payable.
The Company accounts for contingent consideration identified in an asset acquisition that is settled in shares of common stock under ASC 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity (“ASC 480”). The contingent consideration liability will be recorded at fair value at the end of each reporting period with changes in estimated fair values recorded in other (expense) income in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss.
The estimated fair value of the contingent consideration liability related to the acquisition of Rewrite (see Notes 4 and 11) is determined based on a probability adjusted discounted cash flow model that includes significant estimates and assumptions pertaining to research and development. Significant changes in any of the probabilities of success or in the probabilities as to the periods in which the milestone would be achieved would result in a significantly higher or lower fair value measurement. The Company will continue to adjust the liability for changes in fair value until the obligation is settled or the research is abandoned.
F-10
Income Taxes
The Company accounts for income taxes using the asset and liability method, which requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences attributable to differences between carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax reporting purposes and for operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. Changes in deferred tax assets and liabilities are recorded in the provision for income taxes.
The Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply in the years in which these temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. A valuation allowance is recorded to reduce deferred tax assets if it is determined that it is more likely than not that all or a portion of the deferred tax asset will not be realized. The Company considers many factors when assessing the likelihood of future realization of deferred tax assets, including recent earnings results, expectations of future taxable income, carryforward periods available and other relevant factors. The Company records changes in the required valuation allowance in the period that the determination is made.
Revenue Recognition
The Company recognizes revenue in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) and its related amendments (collectively known as “ASC 606”).
At inception, the Company determines whether contracts are within the scope of ASC 606 or other topics. For contracts that are determined to be within the scope of ASC 606, revenue is recognized when a customer obtains control of promised goods or services. The amount of revenue recognized reflects the consideration to which the Company expects to be entitled to receive in exchange for these goods and services. To achieve this core principle, the Company applies the following five steps: (i) identify the contract with the customer; (ii) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price; (iv) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognize revenue when or as the Company satisfies a performance obligation. The Company only applies the five-step model to contracts when the Company determines that collection of substantially all consideration for goods and services that are transferred is probable based on the customer’s intent and ability to pay the promised consideration.
Performance obligations promised in a contract are identified based on the goods and services that will be transferred to the customer that are both capable of being distinct and are distinct in the context of the contract. To the extent a contract includes multiple promised goods and services, the Company applies judgment to determine whether promised goods and services are both capable of being distinct and distinct in the context of the contract. If these criteria are not met, the promised goods and services are accounted for as a combined performance obligation.
The transaction price is determined based on the consideration to which the Company will be entitled in exchange for transferring goods and services to the customer. To the extent the transaction price includes variable consideration, the Company estimates the amount of variable consideration that should be included in the transaction price utilizing either the expected value method or the most likely amount method, depending on the nature of the variable consideration. Variable consideration is included in the transaction price if, in the Company’s judgment, it is probable that a significant future reversal of cumulative revenue under the contract will not occur. Any estimates, including the effect of the constraint on variable consideration, are evaluated at each reporting period for any changes. Determining the transaction price requires significant judgment, which is discussed in further detail for each of the Company’s collaboration agreements in Note 9. In addition, none of the Company’s contracts as of December 31, 2022 or 2021 contained a significant financing component.
If the contract contains a single performance obligation, the entire transaction price is allocated to the single performance obligation. Contracts that contain multiple performance obligations require an allocation of the transaction price to each performance obligation on a relative standalone selling price basis unless the transaction price is variable and meets the criteria to be allocated entirely to a performance obligation or to a distinct service that forms part of a single performance obligation. The consideration to be received is allocated among the separate performance obligations based on relative standalone selling prices. The Company typically determines standalone selling prices using an adjusted market assessment approach model.
F-11
The Company satisfies performance obligations either over time or at a point in time. Revenue is recognized over time if either (i) the customer simultaneously receives and consumes the benefits provided by the entity’s performance, (ii) the entity’s performance creates or enhances an asset that the customer controls as the asset is created or enhanced, or (iii) the entity’s performance does not create an asset with an alternative use to the entity and the entity has an enforceable right to payment for performance completed to date. If the entity does not satisfy a performance obligation over time, the related performance obligation is satisfied at a point in time by transferring the control of a promised good or service to a customer. The Company evaluates the measure of progress each reporting period and, if necessary, adjusts the measure of performance and related revenue recognition.
As of December 31, 2022, the Company’s only revenue recognized is related to collaboration agreements with third parties which are either within the scope of ASC 606, under which the Company licenses certain rights to its product candidates to third parties, or within the scope of ASC 808, Collaborative Arrangements (“ASC 808”) if it involves a joint operating activity pursuant to which the Company is an active participant and is exposed to significant risks and rewards with respect to the arrangement. For the collaboration arrangements under the scope of ASC 606, as discussed in further detail in Note 9, the terms of these arrangements typically include payment to the Company of one or more of the following: nonrefundable, upfront fees; development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments; research and development funding payments; and royalties on the net sales of licensed products. Additionally, the terms of certain arrangements may include an equity interest in the other company. Each of these payments results in collaboration revenues, except for revenues from royalties on the net sales of licensed products, which are classified as royalty revenues. For arrangements within the scope of ASC 808, the terms of these arrangements typically include payments received or made under the cost sharing provisions which are recognized as a component of revenues in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss.
Licenses of intellectual property: If the license to the Company’s IP is determined to be distinct from the other performance obligations identified in the arrangement, the Company recognizes revenues from consideration allocated to the license when the license is transferred to the customer and the customer is able to use and benefit from the licenses. For licenses that are combined with other promises, the Company utilizes judgment to assess the nature of the combined performance obligation to determine whether the combined performance obligation is satisfied over time or at a point in time and, if over time, the appropriate method of measuring progress for purposes of recognizing revenue.
Milestone payments: At the inception of each arrangement that includes development milestone payments, the Company evaluates the probability of reaching the milestones and estimates the amount to be included in the transaction price using the most likely amount method. If it is probable that a significant revenue reversal would not occur in the future, the associated milestone value is included in the transaction price. Milestone payments that are not within the control of the Company or the licensee, such as regulatory approvals, are not considered probable of being achieved until those approvals are received and therefore revenue recognized is constrained as management is unable to assert that a reversal of revenue would not be probable. The transaction price is then allocated to each performance obligation on a relative standalone selling price basis, for which the Company recognizes revenue as or when the performance obligations under the contract are satisfied. At the end of each subsequent reporting period, the Company re-evaluates the probability of achievement of such development milestones and any related constraint and, if necessary, adjusts its estimate of the overall transaction price. Any such adjustments are recorded on a cumulative catch-up basis, which would affect collaboration revenues and earnings in the period of adjustment.
Royalties: For arrangements that include sales-based royalties, including milestone payments based on levels of sales, if the license is deemed to be the predominant item to which the royalties relate, the Company recognizes revenue at the later of (i) when the related sales occur, or (ii) when the performance obligation to which some or all of the royalty has been allocated has been satisfied (or partially satisfied). To date, the Company has not recognized any royalty revenue resulting from any of its collaboration agreements.
The Company receives payments from its customers based on billing schedules or upon the achievement of milestones established in each contract. The Company’s contract liabilities consist of deferred revenue. Upfront payments and fees are recorded as deferred revenue upon receipt or when due and may require deferral of revenue recognition to a future period until the Company satisfies its obligations under these arrangements.
The Company also considers the nature and contractual terms of an arrangement and assesses whether the arrangement involves a joint operating activity pursuant to which the Company is an active participant and is exposed to significant risks and rewards with respect to the arrangement. If the Company is an active participant and is exposed to the significant risks and rewards with respect to the arrangement, the Company accounts for the arrangement under ASC 808. Based on this consideration, the Company accounts for its co-development and co-promotion (“Co/Co”) agreements with Regeneron and AvenCell under ASC 808. Because ASC 808 does not
F-12
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. Research and development costs consist of expenses incurred in performing research and development activities, such as salaries, equity-based compensation and benefits of employees, allocated facility-related expenses, overhead expenses, license, sublicense and milestone fees, contract research, clinical trial costs, development and manufacturing services, and other related costs.
Equity-Based Compensation
The Company measures employee equity-based compensation based on the grant date fair value of the equity awards using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. Equity-based compensation expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period of the awards and is adjusted for pre-vesting forfeitures in the period in which the forfeitures occur. For equity awards that have a performance condition, the Company recognizes stock-based compensation expense using the accelerated attribution method, based on its assessment of the probability that the performance condition will be achieved.
(Loss) Earnings per Share
Segment Information
Variable Interest Entity
Equity Method of Accounting
In circumstances where the Company has the ability to exercise significant influence, but not control, over the operating and financial policies of an entity in which the Company has a common stock or in-substance common stock investment, the Company utilizes the equity method of accounting for recording related investment activity. In assessing whether the Company exercises significant influence, the Company considers the nature and magnitude of the investment, the voting and protective rights the Company holds, any
F-13
participation in the governance of the other entity and other relevant factors such as the presence of a collaborative or other business relationship.
Under the equity method of accounting, the Company’s investments are initially recorded at cost on the consolidated balance sheets. Upon recording an equity method investment, the Company evaluates whether there are basis differences between the carrying value and fair value of the Company’s proportionate share of the investee’s underlying net assets. Typically, the Company amortizes basis differences identified on a straight-line basis over the underlying assets’ estimated useful lives when calculating the attributable earnings or losses, excluding the basis differences attributable to in-process research and development (“IPR&D”) that has no alternative future use. If the Company is unable to attribute all of the basis difference to specific assets or liabilities of the investee, the residual excess of the cost of the investment over the proportional fair value of the investee’s assets and liabilities is considered to be Equity Method Goodwill and is recognized within the equity investment balance, which is tracked separately within the Company’s memo accounts. The Company subsequently records in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss its share of income or loss of the other entity within other income/expense. If the share of losses exceeds the carrying value of the Company’s investment, the Company will suspend recognizing additional losses and will continue to do so unless it commits to providing additional funding; however, if there are intra-entity profits this can cause the investment balance to go negative.
The Company evaluates its equity method investments for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstance indicate that the carrying amounts of such investments may be impaired and considers qualitative and quantitative factors including the investee's financial metrics, product and commercial outlook and cash usage. If a decline in the value of an equity method investment is determined to be other than temporary, a loss is recorded in earnings in the current period and the investment is written down to fair value.
At December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company accounted for its investment in AvenCell under the equity method of accounting and no impairment charges were recognized during the years ended December 31, 2022 or 2021. Refer to Note 10 for further details.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
There were no accounting pronouncements adopted by the Company in 2022 other than as noted above.
The following table summarizes the Company’s available-for-sale marketable securities as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 at net book value:
|
|
December 31, 2022 |
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
Amortized |
|
|
Gross Unrealized |
|
|
Gross Unrealized |
|
|
Estimated Fair |
|
||||
|
|
(In thousands) |
|
|||||||||||||
Marketable securities: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
U.S. Treasury and other government securities |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|||
Financial institution debt securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|||
Corporate debt securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|||
Other asset-backed securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|||
Total |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
December 31, 2021 |
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
Amortized |
|
|
Gross Unrealized |
|
|
Gross Unrealized |
|
|
Estimated Fair |
|
||||
|
|
(In thousands) |
|
|||||||||||||
Marketable securities: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
U.S. Treasury and other government securities |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|||
Financial institution debt securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|||
Corporate debt securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|||
Other asset-backed securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|||
Total |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
The amortized cost of available-for-sale securities is adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts to maturity. At December 31, 2022 and 2021, the balance in the Company’s accumulated other comprehensive (loss)/income was composed of activity related to the Company’s available-for-sale marketable securities and equity method investment. There were
F-14
The Company's available-for-sale securities that are classified as short-term marketable securities in the consolidated balance sheet mature within one year or less as of the balance sheet date. Available-for-sale securities that are classified as noncurrent in the consolidated balance sheet are those that mature after
The Company classifies fair value-based measurements using a three-level hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value. This hierarchy requires entities to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. The three levels of inputs used to measure fair value are as follows: Level 1, quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities; Level 2, observable inputs other than quoted market prices included in Level 1, such as quoted market prices for markets that are not active or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data; and Level 3, unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities, including certain pricing models, discounted cash flow methodologies and similar techniques that use significant unobservable inputs.
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company’s financial assets recognized at fair value on a recurring basis consisted of the following:
|
|
Fair Value as of December 31, 2022 |
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
Total |
|
|
Level 1 |
|
|
Level 2 |
|
|
Level 3 |
|
||||
|
|
(In thousands) |
|
|||||||||||||
Cash equivalents and restricted cash equivalents |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
- |
|
|
$ |
- |
|
||
Marketable securities: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
U.S. Treasury and other government securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|||
Financial institution debt securities |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
||
Corporate debt securities |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
||
Other asset-backed securities |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
||
Total marketable securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|||
Total |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
- |
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
Fair Value as of December 31, 2021 |
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
Total |
|
|
Level 1 |
|
|
Level 2 |
|
|
Level 3 |
|
||||
|
|
(In thousands) |
|
|||||||||||||
Cash equivalents and restricted cash equivalents |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
- |
|
|
$ |
- |
|
||
Marketable securities: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
U.S. Treasury and other government securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|||
Financial institution debt securities |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
||
Corporate debt securities |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
||
Other asset-backed securities |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
||
Total marketable securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|||
Total |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
- |
|
Certain of the Company’s financial assets, including cash equivalents, restricted cash equivalents and marketable securities, have been initially valued at the transaction price, and subsequently revalued at the end of each reporting period, utilizing third-party pricing services or other observable market data. The pricing services utilize industry standard valuation models and observable market inputs to determine value. After completing its validation procedures, the Company did not adjust or override any fair value measurements provided by the pricing services as of December 31, 2022 or 2021.
Other financial instruments, including accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued expense, are carried at cost, which approximates fair value due to the short duration and term to maturity.
The Company's investment in AvenCell was initially recorded at fair value, determined according to Level 3 inputs in the fair value hierarchy described above. Refer to Note 10 for further details.
The Company's investment in SparingVision was initially recorded at fair value, determined according to Level 3 inputs in the fair value hierarchy described above. The Company's investment in Kyverna Therapeutics, Inc. (“Kyverna”) was initially recorded at cost, which is representative of fair value. Refer to Note 10 for further details. The SparingVision and Kyverna investments (the “investments”) are included in “Investments and other assets” on the consolidated balance sheets. These investments are accounted for using the measurement alternative at cost minus impairment adjusted for changes in observable prices. There were no changes in observable prices of these investments as of December 31, 2022 or 2021.
F-15
As discussed further in Note 11, under the Rewrite Merger Agreement, the Rewrite Holders are eligible to receive a $
The following table reconciles the change in fair value of the contingent consideration liability based on the level 3 inputs listed below (in thousands):
|
For the year ended December 31, 2022 |
|
|
Balance at February 2, 2022 (at inception) |
$ |
|
|
Change in fair value |
|
|
|
Balance at December 31, 2022 |
$ |
|
|
As of inception (February 2, 2022) |
As of December 31, 2022 |
Discount rate |
||
Probability of achievement |
||
Projected year of achievement |
Property and equipment, net consisted of the following:
|
|
December 31, |
|
|||||
|
|
2022 |
|
|
2021 |
|
||
|
|
(In thousands) |
|
|||||
Laboratory equipment |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Office furniture and equipment |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Computer equipment |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Leasehold improvements |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Computer software |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Total property and equipment |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Property and equipment, net |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
Depreciation and amortization expense was $
Accrued expenses consisted of the following:
|
|
December 31, |
|
|||||
|
|
2022 |
|
|
2021 |
|
||
|
|
(In thousands) |
|
|||||
Accrued research and development |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Employee compensation and benefits |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Accrued legal and professional expenses |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Accrued other |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Total accrued expenses |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
The Company did not record net income tax benefits for the operating losses incurred during the periods presented due to the uncertainty of realizing a tax benefit from those losses. Accordingly, any benefit recorded related to these deferred tax assets was offset by a valuation allowance reflecting management’s conclusion that realization of those assets was not more likely than not.
F-16
A reconciliation of the federal statutory income tax rate and the Company’s effective income tax rate is as follows:
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
|||||||||
|
|
2022 |
|
|
2021 |
|
|
2020 |
|
|||
Federal statutory income tax rate |
|
|
( |
)% |
|
|
( |
)% |
|
|
( |
)% |
State income taxes |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Research and development tax credits |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Stock-based compensation |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
162m |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
In-process research and development |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Change in valuation allowance |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Effective income tax rate |
|
|
% |
|
|
% |
|
|
% |
The Company’s net deferred tax assets (liabilities) consisted of the following:
|
|
December 31, |
|
|||||
|
|
2022 |
|
|
2021 |
|
||
|
|
(in thousands) |
|
|||||
Deferred tax assets: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Intangibles, including acquired in-process |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Capitalized start-up costs |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Net operating loss carryforwards |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Research and development credit carryforwards |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Operating lease liability |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Deferred revenue |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Equity-based compensation |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Accruals and allowances |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Prepaid rent |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Equity investment adjustments |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Gross deferred tax assets |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Deferred tax asset valuation allowance |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Total deferred tax assets |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Deferred tax liabilities: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Fixed assets |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Operating lease right-of-use assets |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Total deferred tax liabilities |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Net deferred tax asset (liability) |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company had federal net operating loss carryforwards of $
Approximately $
On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, (the “CARES Act”) was enacted in the U.S. The CARES Act temporarily removes the
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company also had state net operating loss carryforwards of $797.
F-17
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company had federal tax credit carryforwards of approximately $
The Company evaluated the expected realizability of its net deferred tax assets and determined that there was significant negative evidence due to its net operating loss position and insufficient positive evidence to support the realizability of these net deferred tax assets. The Company concluded it is more likely than not that its net deferred tax assets would not be realized in the future; therefore, the Company has provided a full valuation allowance against its net deferred tax asset balance as of December 31, 2022 and 2021. The valuation allowance increased by $
Ownership changes may limit the amount of net operating loss carryforwards or research and development tax credit carryforwards that can be utilized to offset future taxable income or tax liability. In general, an ownership change, as defined by Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), results from transactions increasing the ownership of certain shareholders or public groups in the stock of a corporation by more than 50% over a three-year period. If the Company has experienced a change of control, utilization of the net operating loss carryforwards or research and development tax credit carryforwards would be subject to an annual limitation under Section 382 and 383 of the Code. Any limitation may result in expiration of a portion of the net operating loss carryforwards or research and development tax credit carryforwards before utilization. During 2022, the Company completed an assessment of the available net operating loss carryforwards and other tax attributes under Section 382. The analysis is not expected to result in a material limitation to the Company’s tax attributes and the results of this analysis are reflected herein.
As of December 31, 2022, the Company had
Litigation
During the year ended December 31, 2022, there have been no material changes to any outstanding litigation, nor is the Company a party to any new litigation.
License Agreements
The Company is party to license agreements, which include contingent payments. These payments will become payable if and when certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones are achieved. As of December 31, 2022, the satisfaction and timing of the contingent payments is uncertain and not reasonably estimable.
To accelerate the development and commercialization of CRISPR-based products in multiple therapeutic areas, the Company has formed, and intends to seek other opportunities to form, strategic alliances with collaborators who can augment its leadership in CRISPR therapeutic development. As of December 31, 2022, the Company’s accounts receivable were related to its collaborations with Regeneron, AvenCell, SparingVision and ONK and the Company's contract liabilities were related to its collaborations with Regeneron, AvenCell, SparingVision and Kyverna. As of December 31, 2021, the Company’s accounts receivable were related to its collaborations with Regeneron and AvenCell and the Company's contract liabilities were related to its collaborations with Regeneron, AvenCell, SparingVision and Kyverna.
F-18
The following table presents changes in the Company’s accounts receivable and contract liabilities during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 (in thousands):
|
|
Balance at |
|
|
Additions |
|
|
Deductions |
|
|
Balance at End |
|
||||
Year Ended December 31, 2022 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Accounts receivable |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|||
Contract liabilities - deferred revenue |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
- |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
Balance at |
|
|
Additions |
|
|
Deductions |
|
|
Balance at End |
|
||||
Year Ended December 31, 2021 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Accounts receivable |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|||
Contract liabilities - deferred revenue |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
During the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, the Company recognized the following revenues as a result of changes in the contract liability balance (in thousands):
Revenue recognized in the period from: |
|
Year Ended |
|
|
Year Ended |
|
|
Year Ended |
|
|||
Amounts included in the contract liability at the beginning of the period |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
Costs to obtain and fulfill a contract
The Company did not incur any expenses to obtain collaboration agreements and costs to fulfill those contracts do not generate or enhance resources of the Company. As such,
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
In April 2016, the Company entered into a license and collaboration agreement with Regeneron (the “2016 Regeneron Agreement”). The 2016 Regeneron Agreement has two principal components: i) a product development component under which the parties will research, develop and commercialize CRISPR/Cas-based therapeutic products primarily focused on genome editing in the liver, and ii) a technology collaboration component, pursuant to which the Company and Regeneron will engage in research-related activities aimed at discovering and developing novel technologies and improvements to CRISPR/Cas technology to enhance the Company’s genome editing platform. Under this agreement, the Company also may access the Regeneron Genetics Center and proprietary mouse models to be provided by Regeneron for a limited number of the Company’s liver programs. At the inception of the 2016 Regeneron Agreement, Regeneron selected the first of its 10 targets, transthyretin (“ATTR”) amyloidosis, which is subject to a co-development and co-promotion agreement between the Company and Regeneron (the “ATTR Co/Co”).
On May 30, 2020, the Company entered into (i) amendment no. 1 (the “2020 Regeneron Amendment”) to the 2016 Regeneron Agreement, (ii) co-development and co-funding agreements for the treatment of hemophilia A and hemophilia B (the “Hemophilia Co/Co”) agreements and (iii) a stock purchase agreement. The collaboration expansion builds upon the jointly developed targeted transgene insertion capabilities designed to durably restore missing therapeutic protein, and to overcome the limitations of traditional gene therapy. The collaboration was extended until April 2024, at which point Regeneron has an option to renew for an additional two years. The 2020 Regeneron Amendment also grants Regeneron exclusive rights to develop products for five additional in vivo CRISPR/Cas-based therapeutic liver targets and non-exclusive rights to independently develop and commercialize up to 10 ex vivo gene edited products made using certain defined cell types.
Since December 31, 2021, there have been no material changes to the key terms of the 2016 Regeneron Agreement and the 2020 Regeneron Amendment (the “Amended Agreements”). For further information on the terms and conditions of these agreements, please see the notes to the consolidated financial statements included in the Company’s Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2021.
Revenue Recognition: Collaboration Revenue. Through December 31, 2022, excluding amounts allocated to Regeneron’s purchase of the Company’s common stock, the Company recorded $
F-19
from Regeneron pursuant to the ATTR Co/Co agreement. These revenues are offset in part by contra-revenue related to the Hemophilia Co/Co agreements amounting to $
As of December 31, 2022, there was approximately $
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company had accounts receivable of $
AvenCell Therapeutics, Inc.
On July 30, 2021 (the “Effective Date”), the Company entered into two agreements with AvenCell, a privately held chimeric antigen receptor T (“CAR-T”) cell therapy company formed on that date in a joint venture between the Company, Cellex Cell Professionals GmbH (“Cellex”) and funds managed by Blackstone Life Sciences Advisors L.L.C. (“BXLS”): (i) a license and collaboration agreement (the “AvenCell LCA”), under which the Company will collaborate to develop allogeneic universal CAR-T cell therapies and which granted AvenCell a license to develop and commercialize genome edited universal CAR-T cell therapies (limited to its use with their switchable, universal CAR-T cell UniCAR and RevCAR platforms); and (ii) a co-development and co-funding agreement (the “AvenCell Co/Co”), under which the Company will co-develop and co-commercialize allogeneic universal CAR-T cell products for an immuno-oncology indication.
Since December 31, 2021, there have been no material changes to the key terms of the AvenCell LCA and AvenCell Co/Co agreements. In November 2022, the Company decided to re-prioritize its ex vivo programs and terminated the AvenCell Co/Co, effectively turning over control of the program to AvenCell. The Company will also have one option to enter into an additional co-development and co-funding agreement for a payment of $
Revenue Recognition – Collaboration Revenue. The Company recognized $
As of December 31, 2022, there was approximately $
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company had $
SparingVision SAS
In October 2021, the Company and SparingVision, a genomic medicine company developing vision saving treatments for ocular diseases, entered into a license and collaboration agreement (the “SparingVision LCA”) to develop novel genomic medicines utilizing CRISPR/Cas9 technology for the treatment of ocular diseases.
Since December 31, 2021, there have been no material changes to the key terms of the SparingVision LCA agreement. For further information on the terms and conditions of these agreements, please see the notes to the consolidated financial statements included in the Company's Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2021.
Revenue Recognition: Collaboration Revenue. The Company recognized $
F-20
Kyverna Therapeutics, Inc.
In December 2021, the Company and Kyverna, a cell therapy company engineering a new class of therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, entered into a licensing and collaboration agreement (the “Kyverna LCA”), for the development of an allogeneic CD19 CAR-T cell therapy for the treatment of a variety of B cell-mediated autoimmune diseases.
Since December 31, 2021, there have been no material changes to the key terms of the Kyverna LCA agreement. For further information on the terms and conditions of this agreement, please see the notes to the consolidated financial statements included in the Company's Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2021.
Revenue Recognition: Collaboration Revenue. The Company recognized $
ONK Therapeutics, Ltd.
On February 12, 2022 the Company entered into a license, collaboration and option agreement with ONK (the “ONK LCA”), an innovative company dedicated to developing optimally engineered natural killer (“NK”) cell therapies to cure patients with cancer.
Scope: The agreement grants ONK a non-exclusive license to the Company's proprietary ex vivo CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing platform and its Lipid Nanoparticle (“LNP”)-based delivery technologies for development of up to five allogeneic NK cell therapy products, which license is exclusive with respect to certain guide ribonucleic acids (“gRNAs”).
Responsibilities in the earlier stage of the license and collaboration agreement (the “evaluation program”) will be shared between the two parties, with each party bearing their own cost burden. Upon completion of the evaluation program, ONK will identify up to five allogeneic targets for further development under a development program. Once these allogeneic targets have been selected by ONK, any further development costs incurred by the Company are eligible for reimbursement. ONK will be responsible for preclinical and clinical development for the engineered NK cell therapies enabled by the agreement.
Financial Terms: The Company will be eligible to receive up to $
Governance: The parties formed a joint steering committee, which is responsible for monitoring and managing the collaboration prior to program completion.
ONK LCA – Accounting Analysis: The Company determined that the accounting for the ONK LCA is within the scope of ASC 606. The Company identified one combined performance obligation related to the license, evaluation and development programs. The LCA did not include an exchange of upfront consideration between the parties. As the ONK LCA progresses, the Company will incur certain expenses. Expenses incurred under the evaluation program will be accounted for under ASC 730, Research and Development. Reimbursements under the development programs represent variable constrained consideration, whereas the Company is acting as the principal, and revenue will be recognized as expenses are incurred. Milestone payments and royalties are constrained consideration and will be recorded as revenue upon achievement.
Revenue Recognition: Collaboration Revenue. The Company recognized $
Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Inc.
In December 2014, the Company entered into a strategic collaboration agreement with Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Inc. (“Novartis”) (the “2014 Novartis Agreement”), primarily focused on the research of new ex vivo CRISPR/Cas9-edited therapies using CAR-T cells and hematopoietic stem cells (“HSCs”). The agreement was amended in December 2018 (the “Novartis Amendment”) to also include research on ocular stem cells (“OSCs”). In December 2019, per the terms of the 2014 Novartis Agreement, the research term ended, although the 2014 Novartis Agreement remains in effect, for which the Company will be eligible to receive milestone and royalty payments in the future. In June 2021, the Company entered into Amendment No. 3 (the “Amendment”) to the 2014 Novartis Agreement. The Amendment amends Novartis’ rights with respect to all of the CAR-T Therapeutic Targets (as defined in the 2014
F-21
Novartis Agreement) that Novartis selected under the 2014 Novartis Agreement, including (a) making Novartis’ license non-exclusive for such CAR-T Therapeutic Targets, (b) removing Novartis’ diligence and related reporting obligations for such CAR-T Therapeutic Targets, and (c) refining the scope of Novartis’ sublicense rights for such CAR-T Therapeutic Targets. The Company made a one-time payment to Novartis of $10.0 million within 30 days after the effective date of the Amendment, which was recorded as research and development expense in the consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss for the year ended December 31, 2021. Since December 31, 2021, there have been no material changes to the key terms of the 2014 Novartis Agreement and the Novartis Amendments. For further information on the terms and conditions of these agreements, please see the notes to the consolidated financial statements included in the Company’s Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2021.
Revenue Recognition – Milestone: No milestones under the 2014 Novartis Agreement and the Novartis Amendments were achieved during the year ended December 31, 2022. In September 2021, a milestone related to a CRISPR/Cas9-based engineered cell therapy for the treatment of sickle cell disease was reached and, as a result, the Company recognized $
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company had
AvenCell Therapeutics, Inc.
On July 30, 2021, the Company finalized a transaction in which the Company, Cellex and BXLS established AvenCell, a joint venture and privately held company. In exchange for contributing an exclusive license to the joint venture, the Company entered into a Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement with AvenCell for a
The Company has significant influence over, but does not control, AvenCell through its noncontrolling representation on AvenCell’s Board of Directors and the Company’s equity interest in AvenCell. The Company has determined that the preferred stock it owns is in-substance common stock. The Company is not the primary beneficiary as it does not have the power to direct the activities of AvenCell that most significantly impact AvenCell’s economic performance. Accordingly, the Company does not consolidate the financial statements of AvenCell and accounts for its investment using the equity method of accounting.
As of the closing date, the fair value of the Company’s investment in AvenCell was $
The Company recorded the initial investment in AvenCell of $
At December 31, 2022, the maximum exposure to loss is limited to the Company’s equity investment in the joint venture.
F-22
SparingVision SAS
In connection with the SparingVision LCA (See Note 9), the Company received
Kyverna Therapeutics, Inc.
In connection with the Kyverna LCA (See Note 9), the Company received
11. Rewrite Acquisition
On February 2, 2022, the Company entered into an agreement to acquire Rewrite (the “Rewrite Merger Agreement”). Under the Rewrite Merger Agreement, the Company paid Rewrite’s former stockholders and optionholders (the “Rewrite Holders”) upfront consideration in an aggregate amount of $
In addition, the Rewrite Holders are eligible to receive up to an additional $
The Company determined that the research milestone settled in the Company’s common stock is classified as a contingent consideration liability under ASC 480 and, therefore, the Company recorded a liability for this milestone payment as of the Rewrite Merger Agreement Date at its fair value of $
F-23
The transaction price was determined and allocated as follows (in thousands):
Transaction Price |
|
|
|
Upfront cash consideration |
$ |
|
|
Research contingent consideration liabilities |
|
|
|
Transaction costs |
|
|
|
Total transaction price |
$ |
|
|
Transaction Price Allocated |
|
|
|
In-process research and development |
$ |
|
|
Cash acquired |
|
|
|
Other current assets acquired |
|
|
|
Other liabilities assumed |
|
( |
) |
Total transaction price |
$ |
|
F-24
Throughout the term of its leases, the Company is responsible for paying certain costs and expenses, in addition to the rent, as specified in the lease, including a proportionate share of applicable taxes, operating expenses and utilities. The variable portion of these costs are expensed as incurred and are disclosed as variable lease costs.
The following table contains a summary of the lease costs recognized under ASC 842 and other information pertaining to the Company’s operating leases for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021:
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
|||||
|
|
2022 |
|
|
2021 |
|
||
|
|
(In thousands) |
|
|||||
Lease cost |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Operating lease cost |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Short-term lease cost |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Variable lease cost |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Total lease cost |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
|||||
|
|
2022 |
|
|
2021 |
|
||
|
|
(In thousands) |
|
|||||
Other information |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Operating cash flows used for operating leases |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Operating lease liabilities arising from obtaining right-of-use |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
As Of December 31, |
|
|||||
|
|
2022 |
|
|
2021 |
|
||
Lease term and discount rate |
|
|
|
|||||
Weighted average remaining lease term |
|
|
|
|
||||
Weighted average discount rate |
|
|
|
|
F-25
The table below reconciles the undiscounted cash flows for each of the next five years and total of the remaining years to the operating lease liabilities recorded in the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2022:
Future Operating Lease Payments |
|
|||
Year Ending December 31, |
|
(in thousands) |
|
|
2023 |
|
$ |
|
|
2024 |
|
|
|
|
2025 |
|
|
|
|
2026 |
|
|
|
|
2027 |
|
|
|
|
Thereafter |
|
|
|
|
Total lease payments |
|
$ |
|
|
Less: imputed interest |
|
|
( |
) |
Total operating lease liabilities at December 31, 2022 |
|
$ |
|
Equity-based compensation expense is classified in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss as follows:
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
|||||||||
|
|
2022 |
|
|
2021 |
|
|
2020 |
|
|||
|
|
(In thousands) |
|
|||||||||
Research and development |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|||
General and administrative |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Total |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
Amended and Restated 2015 Stock Option and Incentive Plan
In April 2016, the Company adopted the Amended and Restated 2015 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (the “2015 Plan”). The 2015 Plan provides for the grant of incentive stock options, non-qualified stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock awards (“RSAs”), restricted stock units (“RSUs”) and other stock-based awards. Recipients of incentive stock options and non-qualified stock options are eligible to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price equal to the fair value of such stock on the grant date.
Effective July 1, 2022, the Company adopted a retirement policy for equity awards granted to all employees other than the Company’s CEO (the “Policy”) and in December 2022, the Policy was amended to include the Company's CEO (the “Amended Policy”) upon approval by the Company's board of directors. No other changes were made to the Policy in the amendment. The Amended Policy applies to all equity awards granted after the date of adoption to employees who meet certain retirement eligibility criteria set forth in the Amended Policy (the “Retirees”). Pursuant to the terms of the Amended Policy, upon a Retiree’s eligible retirement: (i) all stock options held by the Retiree will continue to vest following the Retiree’s retirement date according to the original vesting schedule of the option until fully vested and all vested stock options held by such Retiree will remain exercisable until the earlier of the five-year anniversary of the Retiree’s retirement date or the original expiration date of the option, (ii) all unvested time-based RSUs held by the Retiree will vest in full on the Retiree’s retirement date and (iii) all unvested performance-based awards held by the Retiree will remain outstanding following the Retiree’s retirement date and the Retiree will remain eligible to earn a pro-rated portion of such performance-based awards at the end of the performance period based on actual performance during the performance period.
As of December 31, 2022, there were
F-26
Restricted Stock Units
RSUs are measured at fair value based on the quoted price of the Company’s common stock.
The following table summarizes the Company’s RSU activity for the year ended December 31, 2022:
|
|
Number of |
|
|
Weighted |
|
||
Unvested restricted stock units as of December 31, 2021 |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
||
Granted |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Vested |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
Cancelled |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
Unvested restricted stock units as of December 31, 2022 |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
In March 2022, the Company granted
Also in March 2022,
The Company also granted
The weighted-average grant date fair value of RSUs granted for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 was $
As of December 31, 2022, there was $
Stock Options
The weighted average grant date fair value of options, estimated as of the grant date using the Black-Scholes option pricing model, was $
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
|||||||||
|
|
2022 |
|
|
2021 |
|
|
2020 |
|
|||
Risk-free interest rate |
|
|
% |
|
|
% |
|
|
% |
|||
Expected life of options |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
Expected volatility of underlying stock |
|
|
% |
|
|
% |
|
|
% |
|||
Expected dividend yield |
|
|
% |
|
|
% |
|
|
% |
Risk-free Interest Rate. The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant with maturities approximately equal to the option’s expected term.
Expected Dividend Yield. The expected dividend yield assumption is based on the fact that the Company has never paid cash dividends and has no present intention to pay cash dividends.
F-27
Expected Volatility. The expected volatility was derived from a blend of the Company’s historical volatility and an average of the historical stock volatilities of several peer companies within the Company’s industry, both over a period equivalent to the expected term of the stock option grants.
Expected Term. The expected term represents the period that stock option awards are expected to be outstanding. For option grants that are considered to be “plain vanilla,” the Company determines the expected term using the simplified method. The simplified method deems the term to be the average of the time-to-vesting and the contractual life of the options. The Company uses the simplified method because it does not have sufficient historical option exercise data to provide a reasonable basis upon which to estimate the expected term.
The Company uses the market closing price of its common stock as reported on the Nasdaq Global Select Market to determine the fair value of the shares of common stock underlying stock options.
|
|
Number of |
|
|
Weighted |
|
|
Weighted |
|
|
Aggregate |
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(In years) |
|
|
(In thousands) |
|
||||
Outstanding at December 31, 2021 |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Granted |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Exercised |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Forfeited |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Outstanding at December 31, 2022 |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
||||
Exercisable at December 31, 2022 |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
As of December 31, 2022, there was $
2016 Employee Stock Purchase Plan
In May 2016, the Company adopted the 2016 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “2016 Plan”).
As of December 31, 2022, there were
During the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, the Company issued
The fair value of the awards issued under the 2016 Plan to employees was estimated at the beginning of the offering period using a Black-Scholes option-pricing model with the following assumptions:
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
|||||||||
|
|
2022 |
|
|
2021 |
|
|
2020 |
|
|||
Risk-free interest rate |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
Expected term (in years) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
Expected volatility of underlying stock |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
Expected dividend yield |
|
|
% |
|
|
% |
|
|
% |
F-28
Basic and diluted loss per share was calculated as follows:
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
|||||||||
|
|
2022 |
|
|
2021 |
|
|
2020 |
|
|||
|
|
(In thousands) |
|
|||||||||
Net loss |
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
( |
) |
Weighted average shares outstanding, basic |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Net loss per share, basic and diluted |
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
( |
) |
The following common stock equivalents were excluded from the calculation of diluted loss per share in 2022, 2021 and 2020 because their inclusion would have been anti-dilutive:
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
|||||||||
|
|
2022 |
|
|
2021 |
|
|
2020 |
|
|||
|
|
(In thousands) |
|
|||||||||
Unvested restricted stock |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Stock options |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Follow-on Offerings
On June 1, 2020, the Company entered into an underwriting agreement related to a public offering of
On December 1, 2020, the Company entered into an underwriting agreement related to a public offering of
On June 29, 2021, the Company entered into an underwriting agreement related to a public offering of
In November 2022, the Company entered into an underwriting agreement related to a public offering of
At-the-Market Offering Programs
In August 2019, the Company entered into an Open Market Sale Agreement (the “2019 Sale Agreement”) with Jefferies LLC (“Jefferies”), under which Jefferies was able to offer and sell, from time to time in “at-the-market” offerings, common stock having aggregate gross proceeds of up to $
During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company issued
F-29
commissions to Jefferies and approximately $
In March 2022, the Company entered into an Open Market Sale Agreement (the “2022 Sale Agreement”) with Jefferies, under which Jefferies will be able to offer and sell, from time to time in “at-the-market” offerings, common stock having aggregate gross proceeds of up to $
During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company issued
Shares Issued in Private Placement to Regeneron
As described in Note 9 above, in May 2020 the Company entered into an amendment to its collaboration agreement with Regeneron that was entered into in April 2016. Simultaneously, the Company and Regeneron entered into the 2020 Stock Purchase Agreement, under which the Company sold to Regeneron
In the ordinary course of business, the Company may purchase materials or supplies from entities that are associated with a party that meets the criteria of a related party of the Company. These transactions are reviewed quarterly and to date have not been material to the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
The Company and AvenCell are parties to the AvenCell LCA and AvenCell Co/Co, as described in Note 9. The Company’s relationship with AvenCell is considered to be as a related party due to the Company’s
In 2015, the Company established the Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. 401(k) Plan (the “401(k) Plan”) for its employees, which is designed to be qualified under Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code. Eligible employees are permitted to contribute to the 401(k) Plan within statutory and 401(k) Plan limits. The Company makes matching contributions of
F-30
EXHIBIT INDEX
Exhibit No. |
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Exhibit Index |
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3.1 |
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Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Registrant (1) |
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3.2 |
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3.3 |
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Amendment to the Second Amended and Restated By-laws of the Registrant (11) |
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4.1 |
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10.1# |
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10.2# |
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10.3 |
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10.4 |
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10.5 |
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10.6# |
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10.7 |
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10.8 |
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10.9# |
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10.10 |
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10.11 |
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10.12 |
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10.13 |
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10.14 |
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10.15# |
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10.16 |
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10.17# |
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10.18 |
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10.19 |
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10.20 |
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F-31
10.21# |
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Fifth Amended and Restated Non-Employee Director Compensation Policy (4) |
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10.22 |
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10.23 |
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10.24 |
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10.25 |
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10.26 |
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10.27 |
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10.28 |
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10.29 |
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10.30#* |
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Amended and Restated Retirement Policy for Equity Awards, effective December 6, 2022 |
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21.1* |
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23.1* |
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Consent of Deloitte & Touche LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm |
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31.1* |
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31.2* |
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32.1 |
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101.INS* |
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Inline XBRL Instance Document. |
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101.SCH* |
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Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document. |
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101.CAL* |
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Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document. |
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101.DEF* |
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Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document. |
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101.LAB* |
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Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document. |
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101.PRE* |
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Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document. |
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104* |
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Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as inline XBRL with applicable taxonomy extension information contained in Exhibits 101*) |
Portions of this exhibit (indicated by asterisks) have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(b)(10) of Regulation S-K.
* Filed herewith.
# Indicates a management contract or any compensatory plan, contract or arrangement
F-32
F-33
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
INTELLIA THERAPEUTICS, INC. |
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By: |
/s/ John M. Leonard |
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John M. Leonard, M.D. |
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President and Chief Executive Officer |
Dated: February 23, 2023
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed by the following persons on behalf of the registrant in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Name |
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Title |
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Date |
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/s/ John M. Leonard |
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President, Chief Executive Officer and Director |
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February 23, 2023 |
John M. Leonard, M.D. |
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(Principal Executive Officer) |
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/s/ Glenn Goddard |
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Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer |
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February 23, 2023 |
Glenn Goddard |
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(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
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/s/ Muna Bhanji |
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Director |
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February 23, 2023 |
Muna Bhanji |
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/s/ Fred Cohen |
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Director |
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February 23, 2023 |
Fred Cohen, M.D. |
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/s/ John Crowley |
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Director |
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February 23, 2023 |
John Crowley |
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/s/ Caroline Dorsa |
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Director |
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February 23, 2023 |
Caroline Dorsa |
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/s/ Jean François Formela |
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Director |
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February 23, 2023 |
Jean François Formela, M.D. |
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/s/ Jesse Goodman |
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Director |
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February 23, 2023 |
Jesse Goodman, M.D. |
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/s/ Georgia Keresty |
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Director |
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February 23, 2023 |
Georgia Keresty |
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/s/ Frank Verwiel |
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Director |
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February 23, 2023 |
Frank Verwiel, M.D. |
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F-34
Exhibit 10.30
INTELLIA THERAPEUTICS, INC.
AMENDED AND RESTATED RETIREMENT POLICY FOR EQUITY AWARDS
The Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. (“Intellia” or the “Company”) Amended and Restated Retirement Policy for Equity Awards (the “Policy”) is intended to retain employees to achieve corporate objectives which align with the interests of stockholders and to also encourage employees to provide adequate notice of transition prior to retirement from the Company.
This Policy applies to all equity awards, including, without limitation, Options and RSUs (each defined below) granted to employees after the initial effective date of this Policy (“Eligible Equity Awards”).
“Award Agreement” means a written agreement entered into between the Company and an employee or other documentation issued by the Company to such employee, in either case setting forth the terms of an equity award.
“Committee” means the Compensation and Talent Development Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company.
“Final Exercise Date” means the final date on which a Retiree may exercise any stock options.
“Notice Date” means the date on which a Notice-Eligible Employee provides written notice of the employee’s intent to retire to the Company’s Chief Human Resources Officer (or subsequent executive leading the human resources function) and the executive officer of the Company responsible for Notice-Eligible Employee’s department as of the Notice Date. The Notice Date is the first day of the Notice Period.
“Notice-Eligible Employee” means an employee that has reached the age of 60 (sixty) and has worked as a regular full-time employee continuously at the Company for at least 5 (five) years.
“Notice Period” means the one (1) year following the Notice Date. During the Notice Period, the employee shall not be eligible to receive any additional equity awards from the Company.
“Options” means options to purchase Shares granted by the Company.
“Performance-Based Awards” means any Eligible Equity Award that is subject to performance-based vesting (whether or not also subject to vesting based on continued service) and for which achievement of the performance metrics has not been determined as of the Retirement Date.
“Plan” means the Company’s 2015 Amended and Restated Stock Option and Incentive Plan and any other successor equity plan of the Company.
“Retiree” means any employee that has reached such employee’s Retirement Date and has retired from the Company.
“Retirement Agreement” means the agreement in a form acceptable to the Company that an employee must sign for the benefit of the Company in order to receive any benefits outlined in Paragraph 4 contained herein. The Retirement Agreement shall include, without limitation, a general release of claims in favor of the Company and related persons and entities, confidentiality, return of property, and, if requested by the Company, non-competition and non-solicitation restrictions that apply for up to 2 (two) years following the Retirement Date.
“Retirement Date” means the one-year anniversary of the employee’s Notice Date. An employee must remain employed in good standing with the Company through the Retirement Date in order to receive any benefits outlined in Paragraph 4 contained herein.
“RSUs” means restricted stock units granted by the Company.
“Share” means a share of common stock of the Company.
“Time-Based Award(s)” means any Eligible Equity Award that is subject to vesting solely based on continued service through a certain date. For avoidance of doubt, an Eligible Equity Award that is subject to vesting based on the achievement of one or more performance metrics as well as continued service will not constitute a “Time-Based Award” unless achievement of the performance metrics applicable to such Eligible Equity Award has been determined as of the Retirement Date.
Unvested Stock Options. Following the Retirement Date, all unvested Time-Based Awards in the form of Options shall continue to vest according to the vesting schedule contained in the applicable Award Agreement(s) until fully vested. Such awards have a Final Exercise Date of the earlier of the 5 (five) year anniversary of the Retirement Date or the original expiration date of the Option, as described in the applicable Award Agreement.
Vested Stock Options. A Retiree’s Final Exercise Date for all Options which have vested on or before the Retirement Date shall be the earlier of the 5 (five) year anniversary of the Retirement Date or the original expiration date of the Option, as described in the applicable Award Agreement.
Restricted Stock Unit Awards. On the Retirement Date, 100% of all unvested Time-Based Awards in the form of RSUs shall vest immediately.
Performance-Based Equity. All unvested Performance-Based Awards held by a Retiree shall remain outstanding following the Retirement Date and the Retiree shall remain eligible to earn a pro-rated portion of such Performance-Based Awards at the end of the performance period applicable to the Performance-Based Award based upon achievement of the applicable performance metrics in accordance with the terms of the applicable Award Agreement and Plan (notwithstanding that the Retiree is no longer employed by, or providing services to, the Company). Pro-ration shall be determined by dividing the number of days that the Retiree was employed by the Company during the performance period applicable to the Performance-Based Award by the total number of days in such performance period.
In the event that the Retiree breaches the terms of the Retirement Agreement, on the date of such breach, (i) vesting of all unvested Time-Based Awards held by the Retiree that remain outstanding shall immediately cease, (ii) the Retiree shall forfeit the unvested portion of all Performance-Based Awards held by the Retiree that remain outstanding, (iii) the Retiree shall be required to return the Shares underlying Eligible Equity Awards held by the Retiree for which vesting was accelerated or permitted to continue in accordance with this Policy or, if the Retiree no longer holds such Shares, repay the Company the value of such shares (the “Repayment”) and (iv) all Options held by the Retiree shall immediately terminate and the Retiree shall have no further ability to exercise any such Options. For purposes of the foregoing, the Repayment shall be determined by multiplying the Fair Market Value (as defined in the applicable Plan) of a Share on the date of vesting by the number of Shares that vested on such date.
In the event a Retiree dies while receiving benefits according to this Policy, any treatment of equity shall be governed by the applicable Plan and the applicable Award Agreement.
If there is a Sale Event (as defined in the applicable Plan) following an employee’s Retirement Date, any equity treatment will be governed by the terms of such Sale Event.
In the event of a conflict between the terms and conditions of this Policy and the terms and conditions of any Award Agreement or the applicable Plan, the terms and conditions of this Policy shall control (and the conflicting terms and conditions of the Award Agreement and the applicable Plan shall be disregarded).
All equity awards governed by this Policy are intended to be exempt from Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), to the greatest extent possible and to otherwise comply with Section 409A of the Code. This Policy shall be interpreted in accordance with such intent. The Company makes no representation or warranty and shall have no liability to any Notice Eligible Employee, Retiree or any other person with respect to any penalties or taxes under Section 409A of the Code that are, or may be, imposed with respect to any equity award.
The Committee has delegated administration of this Policy to the Chief Executive Officer for all employees under the level of Senior Vice President, and retains administration of this Policy as it relates to employees at the level of Senior Vice President and above.
The Committee has the sole discretion to amend or terminate this Policy at any time.
Adopted by the Board of Directors and made effective as of July 1, 2022.
Amended and Restated by the Board of Directors and made effective as of December 6, 2022.
Exhibit 21.1
Subsidiaries of the Registrant
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Entity |
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State of Incorporation of Organization |
Intellia Securities Corp. |
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Massachusetts |
EXHIBIT 23.1
CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
We consent to the incorporation by reference in Registration Statement No. 333-251022 on Form S-3 and Registration Statement Nos. 333-211200, 333-218511, 333-229900, 333-236714, 333-253562 and 333-262997 on Form S-8 of our reports dated February 23, 2023, relating to the financial statements of Intellia Therapeutics, Inc., and the effectiveness of Intellia Therapeutics, Inc.’s internal control over financial reporting appearing in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022.
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/s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP
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Boston, Massachusetts |
February 23, 2023 |
Exhibit 31.1
CERTIFICATION OF PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER PURSUANT TO
RULE 13a-14(a) / RULE 15d-14(a) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934, AS AMENDED
I, John M. Leonard, M.D., certify that:
1. I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K of Intellia Therapeutics, Inc.;
2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
4. The registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:
(a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
(b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
(c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and
(d) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and
5. The registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
(a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
(b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.
Date: February 23, 2023
/s/ John M. Leonard |
John M. Leonard, M.D. President and Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) |
Exhibit 31.2
CERTIFICATION OF PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL OFFICER PURSUANT TO
RULE 13a-14(a) / RULE 15d-14(a) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934, AS AMENDED
I, Glenn Goddard, certify that:
1. I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K of Intellia Therapeutics, Inc.;
2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
4. The registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:
(a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
(b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
(c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and
(d) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and
5. The registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
(a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
(b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.
Date: February 23, 2023
/s/Glenn Goddard |
Glenn Goddard Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
Exhibit 32.1
CERTIFICATIONS OF CEO AND CFO PURSUANT TO 18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350,
AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
In connection with this Annual Report on Form 10-K of Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”) for the period ended December 31, 2022, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof (the “Report”), each of the undersigned, John M. Leonard, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) of the Company, and Glenn Goddard, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) of the Company, hereby certifies, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. (section) 1350, as adopted pursuant to (section) 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that to the best of his knowledge:
(1) The Report fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and
(2) The information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company.
Dated: February 23, 2023
/s/ John M. Leonard |
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John M. Leonard, M.D. President and Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) |
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/s/ Glenn Goddard |
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Glenn Goddard Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
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