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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM  10-Q

(Mark one)

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☒QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

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For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2022

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☐TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

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For the transition period from _________ to _________

Commission File Number 001-38128

CHECKPOINT THERAPEUTICS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

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95 Sawyer Road, Suite 110, Waltham, MA 02453

(Address of principal executive offices and zip code)

(781) 652-4500

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. YES   ☒     NO     ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). YES     ☒     NO     ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.     ☒

Indicate by check mark whether registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). YES     ☐    NO     ☒

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the registrant’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date.

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CHECKPOINT THERAPEUTICS, INC.

Form 10-Q

For the Quarter Ended March 31, 2022

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SUMMARY OF RISK FACTORS

Our business is subject to risks of which you should be aware before making an investment decision. The risks described below are a summary of the principal risks associated with an investment in us and are not the only risks we face. You should carefully consider these risk factors, the risk factors described in Item 1A, and the other reports and documents that we have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

Risks Related to our Finances and Capital Requirements

Risks Pertaining to our Business Strategy, Structure and Organization

Risks Inherent in Drug Development and Commercialization

Risks Related to Reliance on Third Parties

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Risks Relating to Legislation and Regulation Affecting the Biopharmaceutical and Other Industries

Risks Pertaining to Intellectual Property and Potential Disputes with Licensors Thereof

Risks Relating to Our Platform and Data

Risks Relating to Our Control by Fortress Biotech, Inc. (“Fortress”)

Risks Related to Conflicts of Interest

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Item 1. Financial Statements.

Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Condensed Balance Sheets

(in thousands, except share and per share amounts)

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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed financial statements.

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Condensed Statements of Operations

(in thousands, except share and per share amounts)

(Unaudited)

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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed financial statements.

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Condensed Statements of Stockholders’ Equity

(in thousands, except share amounts)

(Unaudited)

For the Three Months Ended March 31, 2022

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For the Three Months Ended March 31, 2021

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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed financial statements.

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Condensed Statements of Cash Flows

(in thousands)

(Unaudited)

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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed financial statements.

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

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Item 2. Financial Information.

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in the following discussion and throughout this report that are not historical in nature are “forward-looking statements.” You can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “intend,” “believe,” and similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Although we believe the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements are inherently subject to significant risks and uncertainties and we can give no assurances that our expectations will prove to be correct. Actual results could differ materially from those described in this report because of numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control. These factors include, without limitation, those described under Item 1A “Risk Factors.” Additionally, many of these risks and uncertainties are currently elevated by and may or will continue to be elevated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We undertake no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this report or to reflect actual outcomes.

Overview

We are a clinical-stage immunotherapy and targeted oncology company focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of novel treatments for patients with solid tumor cancers. We are evaluating our lead antibody product candidate, cosibelimab, an anti-programmed death-ligand 1 (“PD-L1”) antibody licensed from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (“Dana-Farber”), in an ongoing global, open-label, multicohort Phase 1 clinical trial in checkpoint therapy-naïve patients with selected recurrent or metastatic cancers, including ongoing cohorts in locally advanced and metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (“CSCC”) intended to support one or more applications for marketing approval. In addition, we are evaluating our lead small-molecule, targeted anti-cancer agent, olafertinib (formerly CK-101), a third-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (“EGFR”) inhibitor, as a potential new treatment for patients with EGFR mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer (“NSCLC”).

In January 2022, we announced topline results from a registration-enabling cohort of our multi-regional, Phase 1 clinical trial of cosibelimab in patients with metastatic CSCC. The cohort met its primary endpoint, with cosibelimab demonstrating a confirmed objective response rate (“ORR”) of 47.4% (95% CI: 36.0, 59.1) based on independent central review of 78 patients enrolled in the metastatic CSCC cohort using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1 (“RECIST 1.1”).

In December 2021, we announced the initiation of our CONTERNO study, a multi-regional, open-label, multi-center, randomized Phase 3 trial of cosibelimab in combination with pemetrexed and platinum chemotherapy for the first-line treatment of patients with NSCLC. The primary endpoint for the CONTERNO Phase 3 trial is overall survival (“OS”), and key secondary endpoints include progression-free survival (“PFS”), ORR and safety.

We have also entered into various collaboration agreements with TG Therapeutics, Inc. (“TGTX”), a related party, to develop and commercialize certain assets in connection with our licenses in the field of hematological malignancies, while we retain the right to develop and commercialize these assets in solid tumors.

To date, we have not received approval for the sale of any product candidate in any market and, therefore, have not generated any product sales from any product candidates. In addition, we have incurred substantial operating losses since our inception, and expect to continue to incur significant operating losses for the foreseeable future and may never become profitable. As of March 31, 2022, we have an accumulated deficit of $216.7 million.

We are a majority-controlled subsidiary of Fortress.

Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in Delaware on November 10, 2014 and commenced principal operations in March 2015. Our executive offices are located at 95 Sawyer Road, Suite 110, Waltham, MA 02453. Our telephone number is (781) 652-4500 and our email address is ir@checkpointtx.com.

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Critical Accounting Policies and Use of Estimates

Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based on our financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”). The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities in our financial statements. We evaluate our estimates and judgments on an ongoing basis, including, but not limited to, those related to research and development expenses, accrued research and development expenses and stock-based compensation. We base our estimates on historical experience, known trends and events and various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

For a discussion of our critical accounting estimates, see the MD&A in the 2021 Form 10-K. There were no material changes in our critical accounting estimates or accounting policies from December 31, 2021.

Accounting Pronouncements

During the three-month period ended March 31, 2022, there were no new accounting pronouncements or updates to recently issued accounting pronouncements disclosed in the 2021 Form 10-K that are expected to materially affect the Company’s present or future financial statements.

Results of Operations

Comparison of the Three Months Ended March 31, 2022 and 2021

Revenue

For the three months ended March 31, 2022, revenue was approximately $52,000 compared to approximately $68,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2021, a decrease of approximately $16,000. The current and prior period revenue consisted of patent fees related to our collaborations with TGTX.

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses primarily consist of personnel related expenses, including salaries, benefits, travel, and other related expenses, stock-based compensation, payments made to third parties for license and milestone costs related to in-licensed products and technology, payments made to third party CROs for preclinical and clinical studies, investigative sites for clinical trials, consultants, the cost of acquiring and manufacturing clinical trial materials, costs associated with regulatory filings and patents, laboratory costs and other supplies.

For the three months ended March 31, 2022, research and development expenses were approximately $14.7 million, compared to $4.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021, an increase of $10.5 million. The current period research and development expenses primarily consisted of $9.3 million related to manufacturing costs as we continue our validation work for cosibelimab, $3.2 million related to clinical costs for our product candidates, $0.9 million related to salary expenses, and $0.2 million related to stock compensation expense. The prior period research and development expenses primarily consisted of $2.3 million related to clinical costs for our product candidates, $1.0 million related to manufacturing costs of our product candidates, $0.2 million related to salary expenses, and $0.2 million related to stock compensation expense.

We anticipate our research and development expenses to decrease for the remainder of 2022.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries and related expenses, including stock-based compensation, for executives and other administrative personnel, recruitment expenses, professional fees and other corporate expenses, including investor relations, legal activities, marketing and facilities-related expenses.

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For the three months ended March 31, 2022, general and administrative expenses were approximately $2.2 million, compared to $2.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021, a decrease of $0.2 million. The current period general and administrative expenses primarily consisted of stock compensation expense of $0.5 million, $0.5 million related to salary expenses, $0.3 million related to legal and accounting fees, $0.1 million related to investor relation fees, and $0.2 million related to our issuance of shares to Fortress pursuant to the Founders Agreement in connection with the sale of shares of our common stock. The prior period general and administrative expenses primarily consisted of stock compensation expense of $0.6 million, $0.3 million related to salary expenses, $0.3 million related to legal and accounting fees, $0.1 million related to investor relation fees and $0.6 million related to our issuance of shares to Fortress pursuant to the Founders Agreement in connection with the sale of shares of our common stock.

We anticipate our general and administrative expenses will remain relatively consistent for the remainder of 2022.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

We have incurred substantial operating losses since our inception and expect to continue to incur significant operating losses for the foreseeable future and may never become profitable. As of March 31, 2022, we had an accumulated deficit of $216.7 million.

Our major sources of cash have been proceeds from the sale of equity securities. We expect to use these proceeds primarily for general corporate purposes, which may include financing our growth, developing new or existing product candidates, and funding capital expenditures, acquisitions and investments. We currently anticipate that our cash and cash equivalent balances at March 31, 2022 are sufficient to fund our anticipated operating cash requirements for at least one year from the filing date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

Based on the Company’s current assessment, the Company does not expect any material impact on its long-term development timeline and its liquidity due to the worldwide spread of COVID-19. However, the Company is continuing to assess the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s operations, as well as on the Company’s clients, vendors, and business partners, and the actions implemented to combat the virus throughout the world.

Cash Flows for the Three Months Ended March 31, 2022 and 2021

Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities was approximately $19.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, compared to approximately $4.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021. The increase in net cash used in operating activities was primarily related to an increase in clinical and manufacturing costs related to cosibelimab in the current period.

Investing Activities

There were no investing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021.

Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities was $6.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, compared to $23.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021. Cash provided by financing activities was related to the net proceeds from the issuance of common stock as part of our At-the-Market Issuance Sales Agreement offerings.  The current period amount was partially offset by cash paid for taxes related to the net settlement of shares for employee stock vestings.

Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item.

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Item 4. Controls and Procedures

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

We maintain “disclosure controls and procedures,” as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in Securities and Exchange Commission rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

The design of any disclosure controls and procedures also is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions.

With respect to the quarter ended March 31, 2022, under the supervision and with the participation of our management, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operations of our disclosure controls and procedures. Based upon this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are effective. Management does not expect that our internal control over financial reporting will prevent or detect all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control systems are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, no evaluation of internal control over financial reporting can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, have been or will be detected.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting:

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) that occurred during the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2022 which have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

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Part II. Other Information

Item 1. Legal Proceedings.

We are not involved in any litigation that we believe could have a material adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations. There is no action, suit, proceeding, inquiry or investigation before or by any court, public board, government agency, self-regulatory organization or body pending or, to the knowledge of our executive officers, threatened against or affecting our company or our officers or directors in their capacities as such.

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Item 1A. Risk Factors

The following information sets forth risk factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements we have made in this report and those we may make from time to time. You should carefully consider the risks described below, in addition to the other information contained in this report and our other public filings, before making an investment decision. Our business, financial condition or results of operations could be harmed by any of these risks. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks not presently known to us or other factors not perceived by us to present significant risks to our business at this time also may impair our business operations.

Risks Related to Our Finances and Capital Requirements

We have incurred significant losses since our inception and anticipate that we will incur continued losses for the foreseeable future. We may never achieve or maintain profitability.

We are an emerging growth company with a limited operating history. We have focused primarily on in-licensing and developing our product candidates, with the goal of supporting regulatory approval for these product candidates. We have incurred losses since our inception in November 2014 and have an accumulated deficit of $216.7 million as of March 31, 2022. We expect to continue to incur significant operating losses for the foreseeable future. We also do not anticipate that we will achieve profitability for a period of time after generating material revenues, if ever. If we are unable to generate revenues, we will not become profitable and may be unable to continue operations without continued funding. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with developing pharmaceutical products, we are unable to predict the timing or amount of increased expenses or when or if, we will be able to achieve profitability. Our net losses may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year. We anticipate that our expenses will increase substantially if:

Our ability to become profitable depends upon our ability to generate revenue. To date, we have not generated any revenue from the sale of our development stage products, and we do not know when, or if, we will generate any revenue. To obtain revenues from sales of our product candidates, we must succeed, either alone or with third parties, in developing, obtaining regulatory approval for, manufacturing and marketing products with commercial potential. Our ability to generate revenue depends on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, our ability to:

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Even 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 depress the value of our company and could impair our ability to raise capital, expand our business, maintain our research and development efforts, diversify our product offerings or even continue our operations. A decline in the value of our company could also cause you to lose all or part of your investment.

Our short operating history makes it difficult to evaluate our business and prospects.

We were incorporated in November 2014 and have only been conducting operations with respect to our product candidates since March 2015. Our operations to date have been limited to preclinical and clinical operations and the in-licensing of our product candidates. We have not yet demonstrated an ability to successfully complete clinical trials, obtain regulatory approvals, manufacture a commercial scale product, or arrange for a third party to do so on our behalf, or conduct sales and marketing activities necessary for successful product commercialization. Consequently, any predictions about our future performance may not be as accurate as they could be if we had a history of successfully developing and commercializing pharmaceutical products.

In addition, as a young business, we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other known and unknown factors. We will need to expand our capabilities to support increased clinical and manufacturing activities and future potential commercial activities. We may not be successful in adding such capabilities.

We expect our financial condition and operating results to continue to fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year due to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. Accordingly, you should not rely upon the results of any past quarterly period as an indication of future operating performance.

We will require substantial additional funding which may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. If we fail to raise the necessary additional capital, we may be unable to complete the development and commercialization of our product candidates, or continue our development programs.

Our operations have consumed substantial amounts of cash since inception. We expect to significantly increase our spending to advance the preclinical and clinical development of our product candidates and launch and commercialize any product candidates for which we may receive regulatory approval, including building our own commercial organizations to address certain markets. We will require additional capital for the further development and, if approved, commercialization of our product candidates, as well as to fund our other operating expenses and capital expenditures. We currently believe that our cash and cash equivalents balances are sufficient to fund our anticipated operating cash requirements for at least one year from the date of issuance of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

We cannot be certain that additional funding will be available on acceptable terms, or at all. 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 or, if approved, commercialization of one or more of our product candidates. We may also seek collaborators for one or more of our current or future product candidates at an earlier stage than otherwise would be desirable or on terms that are less favorable than might otherwise be available. Any of these events could significantly harm our business, financial condition and prospects.

Our future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including, but not limited to:

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Future capital requirements will also depend on the extent to which we acquire or invest in additional complementary businesses, products and technologies, but we currently have no commitments or agreements relating to any of these types of transactions.

In order to carry out our business plan and implement our strategy, we anticipate that we will need to obtain additional financing from time to time and may choose to raise additional funds through strategic collaborations, licensing arrangements, public or private equity or debt financing, bank lines of credit, asset sales, government grants, or other arrangements. We cannot be sure that any additional funding, if needed, will be available on terms favorable to us or at all. Furthermore, any additional equity or equity-related financing may be dilutive to our stockholders, and debt or equity financing, if available, may subject us to restrictive covenants and significant interest costs. If we obtain funding through a strategic collaboration or licensing arrangement, we may be required to relinquish our rights to certain of our product candidates or marketing territories.

Our inability to raise capital when needed would harm our business, financial condition and results of operations, and could cause our stock price to decline or require that we wind down our operations altogether.

Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our existing stockholders, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish proprietary rights.

Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial product revenue, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings, grants and license and development agreements in connection with any collaborations. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a stockholder. 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.

If we raise additional funds through collaborations, strategic alliances or marketing, distribution or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs 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 or debt 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.

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We are an “emerging growth company” and a “smaller reporting company,” and the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies and smaller reporting companies may make our common stock less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company” as that term is used in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (“JOBS Act”), and may remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of the initial public offering of our common stock, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our outstanding common stock that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three year period. For so long as we remain an emerging growth company, we are permitted and intend to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. These exemptions include:

Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, will adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which has opted into using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accountant standards used.

We are also a smaller reporting company, and we will remain a smaller reporting company until the fiscal year following the determination that our voting and non-voting common shares held by non-affiliates is more than $250 million measured on the last business day of our second fiscal quarter, or our annual revenues are more than $100 million during the most recently completed fiscal year and our voting and non-voting common shares held by non-affiliates is more than $700 million measured on the last business day of our second fiscal quarter. Similar to emerging growth companies, smaller reporting companies are able to provide simplified executive compensation disclosure, are exempt from the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404, and have certain other reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, being required to provide only two years of audited financial statements and not being required to provide selected financial data, supplemental financial information or risk factors.

We have elected to take advantage of certain of the reduced reporting obligations. We cannot predict whether investors will find our common stock less attractive if we rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be reduced or more volatile.

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We may expend our limited resources to pursue certain product candidates or indications and fail to capitalize on product candidates or indications that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.

Because we have limited financial and managerial resources, we focus on research programs and product candidates that we identify for specific indications. As a result, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other product candidates or for other indications that later prove to have greater commercial potential. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities. Our spending on current and future research and development programs and product candidates for specific indications may not yield any commercially viable products. If we do not accurately and/or effectively evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular product candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through collaboration, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to such product candidate.

Risks Related to our Business Strategy, Structure, and Organization

We currently have no drug products for sale and are dependent on the future success of our product candidates. We can give no assurances that any of our product candidates will receive regulatory approval or be successfully commercialized.

To date, we have invested a significant portion of our efforts and financial resources in the acquisition and development of our product candidates. As a development-stage company, we have limited experience and have not yet demonstrated an ability to successfully overcome many of the risks and uncertainties frequently encountered by companies in new and rapidly evolving fields, particularly in the biopharmaceutical area. Our future success is substantially dependent on our ability to successfully develop, obtain regulatory approval for, and then successfully commercialize such product candidates. Our product candidates are currently in preclinical development or in clinical trials. Our business depends entirely on the successful development and commercialization of our product candidates, which may never occur. We currently have no drug products for sale, currently generate no revenues from sales of any drug products and may never be able to develop or commercialize a marketable drug.

The successful development, and any commercialization of our technologies and any product candidates that may occur, would require us to successfully perform a variety of functions, including:

Each of these requirements will require substantial time, effort and financial resources.

We intend to use data from our ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of cosibelimab, conducted outside the United States, in checkpoint therapy-naïve patients with selected recurrent or metastatic cancers, including CSCC, to potentially support one or more U.S. BLAs and comparable applications for marketing approval outside the U.S. In January 2020, we announced that we had discussed with the FDA this strategy in CSCC. We believe, based on published FDA guidance documents, public statements of companies with comparable product candidates, and recent interactions with the FDA, that exclusively foreign clinical data from a single study may be acceptable to support marketing approval(s) under FDA regulations. If we prove to be incorrect, running additional studies in the U.S. will require substantial time, effort and financial resources or may not be possible at all.

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Our operations have been limited to organizing our company, acquiring, developing and securing our proprietary technologies and obtaining preclinical data or clinical data for various product candidates. These operations provide a limited basis for you to assess our ability to continue to identify product candidates, develop and commercialize product candidates in our portfolio and any product candidates we are able to identify and enter into successful collaborative arrangements with other companies in the future, as well as for you to assess the advisability of investing in our securities.

Each of our product candidates will require additional preclinical or clinical development, management of preclinical, clinical and manufacturing activities, regulatory approval in the jurisdictions in which we plan to market the product, obtaining manufacturing supply, building of a commercial organization, and significant marketing efforts before we generate any revenues from product sales, which may not occur. We are not permitted to market or promote any of our product candidates in the U.S. or any other jurisdiction before we receive regulatory approval from the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority, respectively, and we may never receive such regulatory approval for any of our product candidates.

Our future growth depends on our ability to identify and acquire or in-license products and successfully integrating such acquired or in-licensed products into our existing operations.

An important part of our business strategy is to continue to develop a pipeline of product candidates by acquiring or in-licensing products, businesses or technologies that we believe are a strategic fit with our focus on novel combinations of immuno-oncology antibodies and small molecule targeted anti-cancer agents. Future in-licenses or acquisitions, however, may entail numerous operational and financial risks, including:

We have limited resources to identify and execute the acquisition or in-licensing of third-party products, businesses and technologies and integrate them into our current infrastructure. In particular, we may compete with larger pharmaceutical companies and other competitors in our efforts to establish new collaborations and in-licensing opportunities. These competitors likely will have access to greater financial resources than us and may have greater expertise in identifying and evaluating new opportunities. Moreover, we may devote resources to potential acquisitions or in-licensing opportunities that are never completed, or we may fail to realize the anticipated benefits of such efforts.

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Risks Inherent in Drug Development and Commercialization

Results of preclinical studies and early clinical trials are not necessarily predictive of future results and, as a result, any product candidate we advance may not have favorable results in later clinical trials or receive regulatory approval. Moreover, interim, “top-line,” and preliminary data from clinical trials that we announce or publish may change, or the perceived product profile may be negatively impacted as more patient data or additional endpoints (including efficacy and safety) are analyzed.

Pharmaceutical development has inherent risks. The outcome of preclinical development testing and early clinical trials may not be predictive of the outcome 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 believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials nonetheless failed to obtain marketing approval of their product candidates. Once a product candidate has displayed sufficient preclinical data to warrant clinical investigation, we will be required to demonstrate, through adequate and well-controlled clinical trials, that our product candidates are effective and have a favorable benefit-risk profile for use in populations for the target indications before we can seek regulatory approvals for the product candidates’ commercial sale. Despite promising preclinical results, many drug candidates fail in the early stages of clinical development for safety and tolerability issues or for insufficient clinical activity. Accordingly, no assurance can be made that a safe and efficacious dose can be found for these drug candidates, or that they will ever enter into advanced clinical trials alone or in combination with other product candidates. Moreover, success in early clinical trials does not guarantee success in later clinical trials because, despite having progressed through initial clinical testing, product candidates in later-stage clinical trials may fail to demonstrate sufficient safety or efficacy. Companies frequently experience significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials, even after earlier clinical trials have shown promising results. There is an extremely high rate of failure of pharmaceutical candidates proceeding through clinical trials.

Individually reported clinical trial patient outcomes may not be representative of the entire population of treated patients in such studies. In addition, registration or larger scale Phase 3 studies, which are often conducted internationally, are inherently subject to increased operational risks compared to earlier stage studies, including the risk that the results could vary on a region to region or country to country basis, which could materially adversely affect the outcome of the study or the opinion of the validity of the study results by applicable regulatory agencies.

From time to time, we may publicly disclose top-line or preliminary data from our clinical trials, which is based on a preliminary analysis of then available data, and the results and related findings and conclusions are subject to change following a more comprehensive review of the data related to the particular study or trial. We also make assumptions, estimations, calculations and conclusions as part of our analyses of such data, and we may not have received or had the opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate all data from the particular study or trial, including all endpoints and safety data. As a result, top-line or preliminary 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. Top-line or preliminary data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the topline, interim, or preliminary data we previously published. When providing top-line results, we may disclose the primary endpoint of a study before all secondary endpoints have been fully analyzed. A positive primary endpoint does not translate to all, or any, secondary endpoints being met. As a result, top-line and preliminary data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available, including data from the full safety analysis and the final analysis of all endpoints.

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Further, from time to time, we may also disclose interim data from our preclinical studies and clinical trials. Interim data from clinical trials that we may complete 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. For example, many of the results reported in our early clinical trials rely on local investigator-assessed efficacy outcomes which may be subject to greater variability or subjectivity than results assessed in a blinded, independent, centrally reviewed manner, often required of final or later phase, adequate and well-controlled registration-directed clinical trials. If the results from our registration-directed trials are different from the results found in the earlier studies, we may need to terminate or revise our clinical development plan, which could extend the time for conducting our development program and could have a material adverse effect on our business. Also, time-to-event based endpoints such as duration of response and progression-free survival have the potential to change, sometimes drastically, with longer follow-up. In addition, as patients continue therapy, there can be no assurance that the final safety data from studies, once fully analyzed, will be consistent with prior safety data presented, will be differentiated from other similar agents in the same class, will support continued development, or will be favorable enough to support regulatory approvals for the indications studied.  Further, third parties, including regulatory agencies, may not accept or agree with our assumptions, estimates, calculations, conclusions or analyses, or may interpret or weigh the importance of data differently, which could impact the value of a program, the approvability or commercialization of a product candidate or product, or our company in general.  The information we choose to publicly disclose regarding a particular study or clinical trial is based on what is typically extensive information, and regulators or others may not agree with what we determine is material or otherwise appropriate information to include in our disclosure. If the interim, top-line or preliminary data that we report differ from final results, or if third parties, including regulatory authorities, disagree with the conclusions reached, our ability to obtain approval for, or successfully commercialize, our product candidates may be harmed, which could harm our business, operating results, prospects or financial condition.

Delays in clinical testing could result in increased costs to us and delay our ability to generate revenue.

Although we are planning for certain clinical trials relating to our product candidates, there can be no assurance that the FDA, or any comparable foreign regulatory authority, will accept our proposed trial designs. We may experience delays in our clinical trials and we do not know whether current or planned clinical trials will begin on time, need to be redesigned, enroll patients on time or be completed on schedule, if at all. Clinical trials can be delayed for a variety of reasons, including delays related to:

We could encounter delays if a clinical trial is suspended or terminated by us, by the IRBs or ethics committees of the institutions in which such trials are being conducted, by the Data Safety Monitoring Board for such trial or by the FDA or other regulatory authorities. Such authorities may impose 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, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a drug candidate, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial.

If we experience delays in the completion of, or termination of, any clinical trial of our product candidates, the commercial prospects of our product candidates will be harmed, and our ability to generate product revenues from any of these product candidates will be delayed, or such revenues may not be generated at all. In addition, any delays in completing our clinical trials will increase our costs, slow down our product candidate development and approval process and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenues. Any of these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition and prospects significantly. In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of our product candidates.

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Difficulties in the enrollment of patients in clinical trials may prevent or delay receipt of necessary regulatory approvals.

Patient enrollment, a significant factor in the timing of clinical trials, is affected by many factors including the size and nature of the patient population, the proximity of patients to clinical sites, the eligibility criteria for the trial, the design of the clinical trial, competing clinical trials and clinicians’ and patients’ perceptions as to the potential advantages of the drug being studied in relation to other available therapies, including any new drugs that may be approved for the indications we are investigating. Furthermore, we intend to rely on CROs and clinical trial sites to ensure the proper and timely conduct of our clinical trials and we intend to have agreements governing their committed activities, however, we will have limited influence over their actual performance.

We may not be able to initiate or continue clinical trials for one or more of our product candidates if we are unable to locate and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients to participate in these trials as required by the FDA or similar regulatory authorities outside the United States. Some of our competitors have ongoing clinical trials for product candidates that treat the same indications that we are targeting for our product candidates, and patients who would otherwise be eligible for our clinical trials may instead enroll in clinical trials of our competitors’ product candidates. Available therapies for the indications we are pursuing can also affect enrollment in our clinical trials. Patient enrollment is affected by other factors including:

Our inability to enroll a sufficient number of patients for our clinical trials would result in significant delays and could require us to abandon one or more clinical trials altogether. Enrollment delays in our clinical trials may result in increased development costs for our product candidates or future product candidates, which would cause the value of our company to decline and limit our ability to obtain additional financing.

Russian military action in Europe has impacted foreign countries in which we have enrolled, or planned to enroll, patients in our clinical trials and could cause such clinical trials to be delayed or suspended.

In February 2022, Russia commenced a military invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s invasion and the ensuing response by Ukraine has disrupted our ability to conduct clinical trials in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. Although the route, length and impact of Russia’s military action is highly unpredictable, our previously active CONTERNO study sites in Russia, and planned sites in Ukraine and Belarus, may be permanently suspended or terminated. Alternative sites to fully and timely compensate for CONTERNO enrollment may not be available. We are evaluating our ability to expand the number of CONTERNO study sites in our planned Latin American, South African and AsiaPac countries, and also evaluating additional countries to conduct this clinical trial. We believe the impact on our cSCC development program is minimal, given no cSCC patients were enrolled in Russia or Belarus, enrollment was previously closed in Ukraine, and only 3 Ukrainian patients were active in the cSCC study at the time the conflict began. Furthermore, Russian military action may prevent the FDA from auditing our clinical sites in impacted countries upon review of our planned BLA for cosibelimab. Interruptions of our clinical trials, particularly of the CONTERNO study, may delay our clinical development and approvals for our product candidates, which could increase our costs and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenues.

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We may not receive regulatory approval for our product candidates, or their approval may be delayed, which would have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.

Our product candidates and the activities associated with their development and commercialization, including their design, testing, manufacture, safety, efficacy, recordkeeping, labeling, storage, approval, advertising, promotion, sale and distribution, are subject to comprehensive regulation by the FDA, by other regulatory agencies in the United States, by the European Medicines Agency and by comparable foreign regulatory authorities outside the United States. Failure to obtain marketing approval for one or more of our product candidates or any future product candidate will prevent us from commercializing the product candidate. We have not received approval to market any of our product candidates from regulatory authorities in any jurisdiction. We have only limited experience in filing and supporting the applications necessary to gain marketing approvals and expect to rely on third-party CROs and other third-party vendors to assist us in this process. Securing marketing approval requires the submission of extensive preclinical and clinical data and supporting information to regulatory authorities for each therapeutic indication to establish the product candidate’s safety and efficacy. Securing marketing approval also requires the submission of information about the product manufacturing process to, and inspection of manufacturing facilities by, regulatory authorities. One or more of our product candidates or any future product candidate may not be effective, may be only moderately effective or may prove to have undesirable or unintended side effects, toxicities or other characteristics that may preclude our obtaining marketing approval or prevent or limit commercial use. If any of our product candidates or any future product candidate receives marketing approval, the accompanying label may limit the approved use of our drug by severity of disease, patient group, or include contraindications, interactions, or warnings, which could limit sales of the product.

The process of obtaining marketing approval, both in the United States and abroad, is expensive, may take many years if approval is obtained at all, and can vary substantially based upon a variety of factors, including the type, complexity and novelty of the product candidates involved. Changes in marketing approval policies during the development period, changes in available therapies and standards of care, changes in or the enactment of additional statutes or regulations, or changes in regulatory review for each submitted product application, may cause delays in the approval or rejection of an application. Regulatory authorities have substantial discretion in the approval process and may refuse to accept any application or may decide that our study design, including the control arm used in our study, or data are insufficient for approval and require additional preclinical studies or clinical trials. In addition, varying interpretations of the data obtained from preclinical and clinical testing could delay, limit or prevent marketing approval of a product candidate. Any marketing approval we ultimately obtain may be limited or subject to restrictions or post-approval commitments that render the approved product not commercially viable.

Under the FDA’s accelerated approval regulations, which only apply to certain drug products, the FDA may grant marketing approval for a new drug product on the basis of adequate and well-controlled clinical trials establishing that the drug product has an effect on a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely, based on epidemiologic, therapeutic, pathophysiologic, or other evidence, to predict clinical benefit or on the basis of an effect on a clinical endpoint other than survival or irreversible morbidity. While we may undertake development programs for one or more of our product candidates that we believe, if successful, could support a submission for marketing approval under the accelerated approval regulations, we may ultimately fail to meet the criteria to do so, which may cause delays in the approval or rejection of an application.

If we experience delays in obtaining approval or if we fail to obtain approval of one or more of our product candidates or any future product candidate, the commercial prospects for our product candidates may be harmed and our ability to generate revenue will be materially impaired.

In addition, even if we were to obtain approval, regulatory authorities may approve any of our product candidates or any future product candidate for fewer or more limited indications than we request, may not approve the price we intend to charge for our products, may grant approval contingent on the performance of costly post-marketing studies, including clinical trials, or may approve a product candidate with a label that does not include the labeling claims necessary or desirable for the successful commercialization of that product candidate. The regulatory authority may also require the label to contain warnings, contraindications, or precautions that limit the commercialization of that product. Any of these scenarios could compromise the commercial prospects for one or more of our product candidates or any future product candidate.

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If serious adverse or unacceptable side effects are identified during the development of one or more of our product candidates or any future product candidate, we may need to abandon or limit our development of some of our product candidates.

If one or more of our product candidates or any future product candidate are associated with undesirable side effects or adverse events in clinical trials or have characteristics that are unexpected, we may need to abandon their development or limit development to more narrow uses or subpopulations in which the adverse events, undesirable side effects or other characteristics are less prevalent, less severe or more acceptable from a risk-benefit perspective. In our industry, many compounds that initially showed promise in early-stage testing have later been found to cause serious adverse events that prevented further development of the compound. In the event that our clinical trials reveal a high or unacceptable severity and prevalence of adverse events, our trials could be suspended or terminated and the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities could order us to cease further development or deny approval of one or more of our product candidates or any future product candidate for any or all targeted indications. The FDA could also issue a letter requesting additional data or information prior to making a final decision regarding whether to approve a product candidate. The number of requests for additional data or information issued by the FDA in recent years has increased and resulted in substantial delays in the approval of several new drugs. Adverse events or undesirable side effects caused by one or more of our product candidates or any future product candidate could also result in the inclusion of unfavorable information in our product labeling, denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or other regulatory authorities for any or all targeted indications, and in turn prevent us from commercializing and generating revenues from the sale of that product candidate. Adverse events or drug-related side effects could affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled patients to complete the trial and could result in potential product liability claims.

Additionally, if one or more of our product candidates or any future product candidate receives marketing approval and we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by this product, a number of potentially significant negative consequences could result, including:

Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of any of our product candidates or any future product candidate or could substantially increase our commercialization costs and expenses, which in turn could delay or prevent us from generating significant revenues, or any revenues, from its sale.

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Public concern regarding the safety of drug products could delay or limit our ability to obtain regulatory approval, result in the inclusion of unfavorable information in our labeling, or require us to undertake other activities that may entail additional costs.

In light of widely publicized events concerning the safety risk of certain drug products, the FDA, members of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, medical professionals and the general public have raised concerns about potential drug safety issues. These events have resulted in the withdrawal of drug products, revisions to drug labeling that further limit use of the drug products and the establishment of risk management programs. The Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (“FDAAA”), grants significant expanded authority to the FDA, much of which is aimed at improving the safety of drug products before and after approval. In particular, the new law authorizes the FDA to, among other things, require post-approval studies and clinical trials, mandate changes to drug labeling to reflect new safety information and require risk evaluation and mitigation strategies for certain drugs, including certain currently approved drugs. It also significantly expands the federal government’s clinical trial registry and results databank, which we expect will result in significantly increased government oversight of clinical trials. Under the FDAAA, companies that violate these and other provisions of the new law are subject to substantial civil monetary penalties, among other regulatory, civil and criminal penalties. The increased attention to drug safety issues may result in a more cautious approach by the FDA in its review of data from our clinical trials. Data from clinical trials may receive greater scrutiny, particularly with respect to safety, which may make the FDA or other regulatory authorities more likely to require additional preclinical studies or clinical trials. If the FDA requires us to conduct additional preclinical studies or clinical trials prior to approving any of our product candidates, our ability to obtain approval of this product candidate will be delayed. If the FDA requires us to provide additional clinical or preclinical data following the approval of any of our product candidates, the indications for which this product candidate is approved may be limited or there may be specific warnings or limitations on dosing, and our efforts to commercialize our product candidates may be otherwise adversely impacted.

Even if one or more of our product candidates receives regulatory approval, it and any other products we may market will remain subject to substantial regulatory scrutiny.

If one or more of our product candidates that we may license or acquire is approved, the approved product candidate will be subject to ongoing requirements and review by the FDA and other regulatory authorities. These requirements include labeling, packaging, storage, advertising, promotion, record-keeping and submission of safety and other post-market information and reports, registration and listing requirements, cGMP requirements relating to manufacturing, quality control, quality assurance and corresponding maintenance of records and documents, requirements regarding the distribution of samples to physicians and recordkeeping of the drug, and requirements regarding company presentations and interactions with health care professionals.

The FDA, or other regulatory authorities, may also impose requirements for costly post-marketing studies or clinical trials and surveillance to monitor the safety or efficacy of the product. The FDA and other applicable regulatory authorities closely regulate the post-approval marketing and promotion of drugs to ensure drugs are marketed only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved labeling. The FDA and other applicable regulatory authorities impose stringent restrictions on manufacturers’ communications regarding off-label use and if we do not market our products for only their approved indications, we may be subject to enforcement action for off-label marketing. Violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act relating to the promotion of prescription drugs may lead to investigations, civil claims, and/or criminal charges alleging violations of federal and state health care fraud and abuse laws, as well as state consumer protection laws.

In addition, later discovery of previously unknown adverse events or other problems with our products, manufacturers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may yield various results, including:

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The FDA’s policies, or the policies of other applicable regulatory authorities, may change and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit or delay regulatory approval of our product candidates, or negatively affect those products for which we may have already received regulatory approval, if any. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may be subject to the various actions listed above, including losing any marketing approval that we may have obtained.

Regulatory approval by the FDA, or any similar regulatory authorities outside the United States, is limited to those specific indications and conditions for which clinical safety and efficacy have been demonstrated.

Any regulatory approval is limited to those specific diseases and indications for which a product is deemed to be safe and effective by the FDA, or other similar regulatory authorities outside the United States. In addition to the regulatory approval required for new drug products, new formulations or indications for an approved product also require regulatory approval. If we are not able to obtain regulatory approval for any desired future indications for our products, our ability to effectively market and sell our products may be prevented or reduced, and our business may be adversely affected.

While physicians may choose to prescribe drugs for uses that are not described in the product’s labeling and for uses that differ from those tested in clinical studies and approved by the regulatory authorities, our ability to promote products is limited to those indications that are specifically approved by the FDA, or similar regulatory authorities outside the United States. These “off-label” uses are common across medical specialties and may constitute an appropriate treatment for some patients in certain circumstances. Regulatory authorities in the U.S. generally do not regulate the behavior of physicians in their choice of treatments. Regulatory authorities do, however, restrict promotion by pharmaceutical companies on the subject of off-label use. If our promotional activities fail to comply with these regulations or guidelines, we may be subject to warnings from, or enforcement action by, these authorities. In addition, our failure to follow FDA, or any applicable foreign regulatory authority, rules and guidelines relating to promotion and advertising may cause the FDA, or such applicable foreign regulatory authority, to suspend or withdraw an approved product from the market, require a recall or institute fines or penalties, or could result in disgorgement of money, operating restrictions, injunctions or criminal prosecution, any of which could harm our business.

We will need to obtain FDA approval of any proposed product brand names, and any failure or delay associated with such approval may adversely impact our business.

A pharmaceutical product cannot be marketed in the U.S. or other countries until we have completed a rigorous and extensive regulatory review process, including approval of a brand name. Any brand names we intend to use for our product candidates will require approval from the FDA regardless of whether we have secured a formal trademark registration from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). The FDA typically conducts a review of proposed product brand names, including an evaluation of the potential for confusion with other product names. The FDA may also object to a product brand name if it believes the name inappropriately implies medical claims. If the FDA objects to any of our proposed product brand names, we may be required to adopt an alternative brand name for our product candidates. If we adopt an alternative brand name, we would lose the benefit of our existing trademark applications for such product candidate and may be required to expend significant additional resources in an effort to identify a suitable product brand name that would qualify under applicable trademark laws, not infringe the existing rights of third parties and be acceptable to the FDA. We may be unable to build a successful brand identity for a new trademark in a timely manner or at all, which would limit our ability to commercialize our product candidates.

If our competitors develop treatments for any of our product candidates’ target indications and those competitor products are approved more quickly, marketed more successfully or demonstrated to be more effective, the commercial opportunity for our product candidate will be reduced or eliminated.

The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are subject to rapid and intense technological change. We face, and will continue to face, competition in the development and marketing of our product candidates from academic institutions, government agencies, research institutions and biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. There can be no assurance that developments by others will not render one or more of our product candidates obsolete or noncompetitive. Furthermore, new developments, including the development of other drug technologies and methods of preventing the incidence of disease, occur in the pharmaceutical industry at a rapid pace. These developments may render one or more of our product candidates obsolete or noncompetitive.

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Competitors may seek to develop alternative formulations that do not directly infringe on our in-licensed patent rights. The commercial opportunity for one or more of our product candidates could be significantly harmed if competitors are able to develop alternative formulations outside the scope of our in-licensed patents. Compared to us, many of our potential competitors have substantially greater:

As a result of these factors, our competitors may obtain regulatory approval of their products more rapidly than we are able to or may obtain patent protection or other intellectual property rights that limit our ability to develop or commercialize one or more of our product candidates. Our competitors may also develop drugs that are more effective, safe, useful and less costly than ours and may be more successful than us in manufacturing and marketing their products. Smaller or early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies. We will also face competition from these third parties in establishing clinical trial sites, in patient registration for clinical trials, and in identifying and in-licensing new product candidates.

Further, generic therapies are typically sold at lower prices than branded therapies and are generally preferred by hospital formularies and managed care providers of health services. We anticipate that, if approved, our product candidates will face increasing competition in the form of generic versions of branded products of competitors, including those that have lost or will lose their patent exclusivity. In the future, we may face additional competition from a generic form of our own candidates when the patents covering them begin to expire, or earlier if the patents are successfully challenged. If we are unable to demonstrate to physicians and payers that the key differentiating features of our product candidates translate to overall clinical benefit or lower cost of care, we may not be able to compete with generic alternatives.

If any of our product candidates are successfully developed but do not achieve broad market acceptance among physicians, patients, healthcare payors and the medical community, the revenues that any such product candidates generate from sales will be limited.

Even if our product candidates receive regulatory approval, they may not gain market acceptance among physicians, patients, healthcare payors and the medical community. Coverage and reimbursement of our product candidates by third-party payors, including government payors, generally would also be necessary for commercial success. The degree of market acceptance of any approved products would depend on a number of factors, including, but not necessarily limited to: