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Table of Contents

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark one)

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

For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2023

OR

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

For the transition period from _________ to _________

Commission File Number 001-38128

CHECKPOINT THERAPEUTICS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware

 

47-2568632

(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

 

(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

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:

Title of each class

    

Trading Symbol(s)

    

Name of each exchange on which 
registered

Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share

 

CKPT

 

NASDAQ Capital Market

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.

Large Accelerated Filer

 

Accelerated Filer  

Non-accelerated Filer

 

Smaller Reporting Company

Emerging growth company

 

 

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

Indicate by check mark whether 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.

Class of Common Stock

    

Outstanding Shares as of May 12, 2023

Class A Common Stock, $0.0001 par value

 

700,000

Common Stock, $0.0001 par value

 

14,943,570

Table of Contents

CHECKPOINT THERAPEUTICS, INC.

Form 10-Q

For the Quarter Ended March 31, 2023

Table of Contents

 

 

Page
No.

PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

 

Item 1.

Unaudited Financial Statements

3

Condensed Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022

3

Condensed Statements of Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022

4

Condensed Statements of Stockholders’ (Deficit) Equity for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022

5

Condensed Statements of Cash Flows for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022

6

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

7

Item 2.

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of the Results of Operations

22

Item 3.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

26

Item 4.

Controls and Procedures

26

PART II. OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1.

Legal Proceedings

27

Item 1A.

Risk Factors

27

Item 2.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

57

Item 6.

Exhibits

58

Signatures

59

Table of Contents

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

We have incurred significant losses since our inception and anticipate that we will incur continued losses for the foreseeable future. We have not generated any sales revenue from our development stage products, and we do not know when, or if, we will generate any revenue from sales of an approved product.
Our short operating history makes it difficult to evaluate our business and prospects.
There is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern, which may hinder our ability to obtain future financing.
Our success is contingent upon raising additional capital for our development programs and commercialization efforts, which may fail. Even if successful, our future capital raising activities may dilute our current stockholders, restrict our operations, or require us to relinquish proprietary rights.
Our limited resources may cause us to fail to capitalize on programs or product candidates presenting commercial opportunity or high likelihood of success.
Weakness in the U.S. economy, including within our geographic footprint, has adversely affected us in the past and may adversely affect us in the future.

Risks Pertaining to our Business Strategy, Structure and Organization

Our future growth and success depend on our ability to successfully develop and commercialize our product candidates, which we have yet to do.
Our future growth depends on our acquiring or in-licensing products or product candidates and integrating such products into our business.

Risks Inherent in Drug Development and Commercialization

Because results of preclinical studies and early clinical trials are not necessarily predictive of future results, any product candidate we advance may not have favorable results in later clinical trials. Moreover, interim, “top-line,” and preliminary data from our clinical trials that we announce or publish may change, or the perceived product profile may be impacted, as more patient data or additional endpoints are analyzed.
We may not receive the required regulatory approvals for any of our product candidates on our projected timelines, if at all, which may result in increased costs and delay our ability to generate revenue.
If a product candidate demonstrates lack of efficacy or adverse side effects, we may need to abandon or limit the development of such product candidate.
We may not obtain the desired labeling claims or intended uses for product promotion, or favorable scheduling classifications, to successfully promote our products.
Even if a product candidate is approved, it may be subject to various post-marketing requirements, including studies or clinical trials, and increased regulatory scrutiny.
Our competitors have developed or may develop treatments for our products’ target indications, which could limit our product candidates’ commercial opportunity and profitability.
If our products are not broadly accepted by the healthcare community, the revenues from any such product will likely be limited.
Any successful products liability claim related to any of our current or future product candidates may cause us to incur substantial liability and limit the commercialization of such products.

Table of Contents

Risks Related to Reliance on Third Parties

We rely, and will rely in the future, on third-party contract research organizations and contract manufacturers for the conduct of our preclinical and clinical studies and trials, for the completion of commercial and pre-commercial manufacturing and, eventually, for commercialization. If such third parties fail to perform contractual obligations, meet deadlines, comply with applicable regulations, or if our relationships with such third parties are disrupted, our product candidates may be delayed, and our revenue potential may be limited.
We rely on clinical data and results obtained by third parties, which may prove inaccurate or unreliable.

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

We operate in a heavily regulated industry, and we cannot predict the impact that any future legislation or administrative or executive action may have on our operations.
We may be subject to anti-kickback, fraud and abuse, false claims, transparency, health information privacy and security and other healthcare laws and regulations, which could expose us to criminal sanctions, civil penalties, contractual damages, reputational harm, administrative burdens and diminished profits and future earnings.

Risks Pertaining to Intellectual Property and Potential Disputes with Licensors Thereof

If we are unable to maintain sufficient patent protection for our technology and products, our competitors could develop and commercialize products similar or identical to ours, impairing our ability to successfully commercialize potential products.
We or our licensors may be subject to costly and time-consuming litigation for infringement of third-party intellectual property rights or to enforce our or our licensors’ patents.
Any dispute with our licensors may affect our ability to develop or commercialize our product candidates.

Risks Relating to Our Platform and Data

Our business and operations would suffer in the event of computer system failures, cyber-attacks, or deficiencies in our or third parties’ cybersecurity.

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

Fortress controls a voting majority of our common stock and has the right to receive significant share grants annually, which will result in dilution of our other stockholders and could reduce the value of our common stock.
We have entered into certain agreements with Fortress and may have received better terms from unaffiliated third parties.

Risks Related to Conflicts of Interest

The Chairman of our Board of Directors is also the Executive Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of TG Therapeutics, Inc. (“TGTX”). We have entered a collaboration agreement and a sublicense agreement with TGTX, and as a result, certain conflicts of interest may arise.
We share certain directors with Fortress, which could create conflicts of interest between us and Fortress.

Table of Contents

Item 1. Financial Statements.

Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Condensed Balance Sheets

(in thousands, except share and per share amounts)

(Unaudited)

    

March 31, 2023

    

December 31, 2022

ASSETS

 

  

 

  

Current Assets:

 

  

 

  

Cash and cash equivalents

$

4,846

$

12,068

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

 

1,015

 

1,149

Other receivables - related party

 

35

 

73

Total current assets

 

5,896

 

13,290

Total Assets

$

5,896

$

13,290

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

 

 

  

Current Liabilities:

 

 

  

Accounts payable and accrued expenses

$

22,620

$

20,297

Accounts payable and accrued expenses - related party

 

1,851

 

1,306

Common stock warrant liabilities

3,604

11,170

Total current liabilities

 

28,075

 

32,773

Total Liabilities

 

28,075

 

32,773

Commitments and Contingencies (note 5)

 

 

  

Stockholders’ (Deficit) Equity

 

 

  

Common Stock ($0.0001 par value), 50,000,000 shares authorized as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022

 

 

  

Class A common shares, 700,000 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022

 

 

Common shares, 13,201,070 and 9,586,683 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively

 

1

 

1

Common stock issuable, 0 and 368,907 shares as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively

 

 

1,885

Additional paid-in capital

 

250,780

 

241,117

Accumulated deficit

 

(272,960)

 

(262,486)

Total Stockholders’ (Deficit) Equity

 

(22,179)

 

(19,483)

Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ (Deficit) Equity

$

5,896

$

13,290

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

3

Table of Contents

Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Condensed Statements of Operations

(in thousands, except share and per share amounts)

(Unaudited)

For the three months ended March 31, 

    

2023

    

2022

Revenue - related party

$

35

$

52

 

 

Operating expenses:

 

 

Research and development

 

15,826

 

14,670

General and administrative

 

2,292

 

2,243

Total operating expenses

 

18,118

 

16,913

Loss from operations

 

(18,083)

 

(16,861)

 

  

 

  

Other income:

 

  

 

  

Interest income

 

43

 

13

Gain on common stock warrant liabilities

7,566

Total other income

 

7,609

 

13

Net Loss

$

(10,474)

$

(16,848)

 

 

  

Loss per Share:

 

 

  

Basic and diluted net loss per common share outstanding

$

(0.89)

$

(1.98)

 

 

Basic and diluted weighted average number of common shares outstanding

 

11,749,139

 

8,504,989

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

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Condensed Statements of Stockholders’ (Deficit) Equity

(in thousands, except share amounts)

(Unaudited)

For the Three Months Ended March 31, 2023

  

    

  

    

    

  

    

Common

    

Additional

    

  

    

Total

Class A Common Shares

Common Shares

Stock

Paid-in

Accumulated

Stockholders’

    

Shares

    

Amount

    

Shares

    

Amount

    

Issuable

    

Capital

    

Deficit

    

(Deficit) Equity

Balances at December 31, 2022

 

700,000

 

$

9,586,683

 

$

1

 

$

1,885

 

$

241,117

$

(262,486)

 

$

(19,483)

Issuance of common shares, net of offering costs - Registered direct offering

 

 

 

1,180,000

 

 

 

6,653

 

 

6,653

Issuance of common shares - Founders Agreement

 

 

 

404,621

 

 

(1,885)

 

2,041

 

 

156

Stock-based compensation expense

 

 

 

996,950

 

 

 

969

 

 

969

Exercise of prefunded and common stock warrants

1,032,816

Net loss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(10,474)

 

(10,474)

Balances at March 31, 2023

 

700,000

 

$

13,201,070

 

$

1

 

$

 

$

250,780

$

(272,960)

 

$

(22,179)

For the Three Months Ended March 31, 2022

    

    

    

    

    

Common

    

Additional

    

    

    

Total

Class A Common Shares

Common Shares

Stock

Paid-in

Accumulated

Stockholders’

    

Shares

    

Amount

    

Shares

    

Amount

    

Issuable

    

Capital

    

Deficit

    

(Deficit) Equity

Balances at December 31, 2021

 

700,000

$

 

7,757,440

$

1

$

6,598

$

223,009

$

(199,862)

$

29,746

Issuance of common shares, net of offering costs - At-the-market offering

 

 

 

374,194

 

 

 

8,045

 

 

8,045

Issuance of common shares - Founders Agreement

 

 

 

221,496

 

 

(6,598)

 

6,794

 

 

196

Stock-based compensation expense

 

 

 

91,850

 

 

 

775

 

 

775

Net settlement of shares withheld for payment of employee taxes

(64,856)

(1,698)

(1,698)

Net loss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(16,848)

 

(16,848)

Balances at March 31, 2022

 

700,000

$

 

8,380,124

$

1

$

$

236,925

$

(216,710)

$

20,216

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)

For the three months ended March 31, 

    

2023

    

2022

Cash Flows from Operating Activities:

  

Net loss

$

(10,474)

$

(16,848)

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:

 

 

Stock-based compensation expense

 

969

 

775

Issuance of common shares - Founders Agreement

 

156

 

196

Gain on common stock warrant liabilities

(7,566)

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:

 

 

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

 

134

 

(402)

Other receivables - related party

 

38

 

(35)

Accounts payable and accrued expenses

 

2,167

 

(3,244)

Accounts payable and accrued expenses - related party

545

(48)

Net cash used in operating activities

 

(14,031)

 

(19,606)

Cash Flows from Financing Activities:

 

 

  

Proceeds from issuance of common shares - Registered direct offering

7,500

Payment of offering costs for the issuance of common shares - Registered direct offering

(691)

Proceeds from issuance of common shares - At-the-market offering

8,209

Payment of offering costs for the issuance of common shares - At-the-market offering

(164)

Net settlement of shares withheld for payment of employee taxes

(1,698)

Net cash provided by financing activities

 

6,809

 

6,347

Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents

 

(7,222)

 

(13,259)

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period

 

12,068

 

54,735

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period

$

4,846

$

41,476

Supplemental disclosure of noncash investing and financing activities:

 

 

Issuance of common shares - Founders Agreement

$

1,885

$

6,598

Issuance of common shares - Registered direct offering (offering costs incurred but not paid)

$

156

$

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

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Table of Contents

Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

Note 1 - Organization and Description of Business Operations

Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company” or “Checkpoint”) was incorporated in Delaware on November 10, 2014. Checkpoint is a clinical-stage immunotherapy and targeted oncology company focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of novel treatments for patients with solid tumor cancers. The Company may acquire rights to these technologies by licensing the rights or otherwise acquiring an ownership interest in the technologies, funding their research and development and eventually either out-licensing or bringing the technologies to market. The Company may also enter into collaboration agreements with third and related parties including sponsored research agreements to develop these technologies for liquid tumors while retaining the rights in solid tumors.

The Company is a majority-controlled subsidiary of Fortress Biotech, Inc. (“Fortress”).

The Company’s common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market and trades under the symbol “CKPT.”

December 2022 Reverse Stock Split

On November 3, 2022, the holders of a majority of the voting power of the capital stock of the Company executed a written consent approving a grant of discretionary authority to the board of directors of the Company (the “Board”) to, without further stockholder approval, (i) effect a 1:10 reverse stock split of the Company’s issued and outstanding common stock (the “Reverse Stock Split”), (ii) effect a related reduction in the number of the Company’s authorized shares by filing an amendment (the “Certificate Amendment”) to the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware, and (iii) effect an amendment to the Company’s Amended and Restated 2015 Incentive Plan to increase the number of shares issuable thereunder, after giving effect to the Reverse Stock Split, from 900,000 to 3,000,000 (the “Plan Amendment”). The written consent was signed by the holders of 10,914,552 shares of the Company’s common stock and 7,000,000 shares of the Company’s Class A Common Stock. Each share of common stock entitles the holder thereof to one vote on all matters submitted to stockholders and each share of Class A Common Stock has the voting power of 1.1 times a fraction, the numerator of which is the sum of the shares of outstanding common stock and the denominator of which is the number of shares of outstanding Class A Common Stock, or approximately 13.5 votes per share as of November 3, 2022. Accordingly, the holders of approximately 58% of the voting power of the Company’s capital stock as of November 3, 2022, signed the written consent approving the Reverse Stock Split, the Certificate Amendment, and the Plan Amendment. The Board also approved the Reverse Stock Split, the Certificate Amendment, and the Plan Amendment.

Pursuant to rules adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, a Schedule 14C information statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and sent or provided to the stockholders of the Company. The Reverse Stock Split will become effective no earlier than twenty (20) days from the mailing of the information statement to the common stockholders of record, and the Authorized Share Reduction will become effective once the Amendment is filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware.

All share and per share information has been retroactively adjusted to give effect to the Reverse Stock Split for all periods presented, unless otherwise indicated. Proportionate adjustments were made to the per share exercise price and/or the number of shares issuable upon the exercise or vesting of all stock options, restricted stock and warrants outstanding at December 6, 2022, which resulted in a proportional decrease in the number of shares of the Company’s common stock reserved for issuance upon exercise or vesting of such stock options, restricted stock and warrants, and, in the case of stock options and warrants, a proportional increase in the exercise price of all such stock options and warrants.

No fractional shares were issued in connection with the Reverse Stock Split and stockholders who would otherwise be entitled to a fraction of one share received a proportional cash payment.

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

Liquidity, Capital Resources and Going Concern

The Company has incurred substantial operating losses since its inception and expects to continue to incur significant operating losses for the foreseeable future and may never become profitable. As of March 31, 2023, the Company had an accumulated deficit of $273.0 million.

In February 2023, the Company closed on a registered direct offering (“February 2023 Registered Direct Offering”) for the issuance and sale of an aggregate of 1,180,000 shares of its common stock at a purchase price of $5.25 per share in a registered direct offering priced at-the-market under Nasdaq rules. In addition, the offering includes 248,572 shares of common stock in the form of pre-funded warrants at a price of $5.2499 (the “Pre-Funded Warrants”). In a concurrent private placement, Checkpoint issued and sold Series A warrants to purchase up to 1,428,572 shares of common stock and Series B warrants to purchase up to 1,428,572 shares of common stock (collectively, the “February 2023 Common Stock Warrants”). The Series A warrants are exercisable immediately upon issuance and will expire five years following the issuance date and have an exercise price of $5.00 per share and the Series B warrants are exercisable immediately upon issuance and will expire eighteen months following the issuance date and have an exercise price of $5.00 per share. The total gross proceeds from the offering were approximately $7.5 million with net proceeds of approximately $6.7 million after deducting approximately $0.8 million in commissions and other transaction costs.

In April 2023, the Company closed on a registered direct offering (“April 2023 Registered Direct Offering”) for the issuance and sale of an aggregate of 1,700,000 shares of its common stock at a purchase price of $3.60 per share of common stock in a registered direct offering priced at-the-market under Nasdaq rules. In a concurrent private placement, Checkpoint issued and sold Series A warrants to purchase up to 1,700,000 shares of common stock and Series B warrants to purchase up to 1,700,000 shares of common stock (collectively, the “April 2023 Common Stock Warrants”). The Series A warrants are exercisable immediately upon issuance and will expire five years following the issuance date and have an exercise price of $3.35 per share and the Series B warrants are exercisable immediately upon issuance and will expire eighteen months following the issuance date and have an exercise price of $3.35 per share. The total gross proceeds from the offering were approximately $6.1 million with net proceeds of approximately $5.5 million after deducting approximately $0.6 million in commissions and other transaction costs.

The Company expects to continue to use the proceeds from previous financing transactions primarily for general corporate purposes, which may include financing the Company’s growth, developing new or existing product candidates, and funding capital expenditures, acquisitions, and investments.

In accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 205-40, Going Concern, the Company evaluated whether there are conditions and events, considered in the aggregate, that raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that these financial statements are issued. This evaluation initially does not take into consideration the potential mitigating effect of management’s plans that have not been fully implemented as of the date the financial statements are issued. When substantial doubt exists under this methodology, management evaluates whether the mitigating effect of its plans sufficiently alleviates substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The mitigating effect of management’s plans, however, is only considered if both (1) it is probable that the plans will be effectively implemented within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued, and (2) it is probable that the plans, when implemented, will mitigate the relevant conditions or events that raise substantial doubt about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that these consolidated financial statements are issued. In performing its analysis, management excluded certain elements of its operating plan that cannot be considered probable. Under ASC 205-40, the future receipt of potential funding from future equity or debt issuances and other potential sources such as partnerships cannot be considered probable at this time because these plans are not entirely within the Company’s control nor have these plans been approved by the Board of Directors as of the date of these financial statements.

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

The Company believes, assuming no business or corporate development transactions are consummated, that its cash and cash equivalents are only sufficient to fund its operating expenses through the second quarter of 2023. Accordingly, the Company intends to continue its active discussions with third party pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to evaluate potential partnerships or other types of corporate development transactions, including strategic mergers. The Company’s expectation to generate operating losses and negative operating cash flows in the future and the need for additional funding to support its planned operations raise substantial doubt regarding the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of one year after the date that these financial statements are issued. Management’s plans to alleviate the conditions that raise substantial doubt include reduced 2023 spending, including projected savings through delaying the development timelines of certain programs, the pursuit of additional cash resources through public or private equity or debt financings, and potential partnerships or other corporate development transactions. Management has concluded that the likelihood that its plan to successfully obtain sufficient funding from one or more of these sources, or adequately reduce expenditures, while reasonably possible, is less than probable. Accordingly, the Company has concluded that substantial doubt exists about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least 12 months from the date of issuance of these financial statements. The Company’s estimate as to how long it expects its existing cash to be able to continue to fund its operations is based on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and it could use its available capital resources sooner than it currently expects. Further, changing circumstances, some of which may be beyond its control, could cause the Company to consume capital faster than it currently anticipates, and it may need to seek additional funds sooner than planned. The Company cannot be certain that additional funding will be available to it on acceptable terms, or at all.

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, which contemplates the realization of assets and satisfaction of liabilities in the ordinary course of business. The financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability and classification of recorded asset amounts or the amounts and classification of liabilities that might result from the outcome of the uncertainties described above.

Note 2 - Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited interim condensed financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X of the Exchange Act. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and notes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, the unaudited interim condensed financial statements reflect all adjustments, which include only normal recurring adjustments necessary for the fair statement of the balances and results for the periods presented. They may not include all of the information and notes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. Therefore, these condensed financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2022, which were included in the Company’s Form 10-K, and filed with the SEC on March 31, 2023. The results of operations for any interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the entire fiscal year or any other interim period.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents.

Other Receivables - Related Party

Other receivables consist of amounts due to the Company from TG Therapeutics, Inc. (“TGTX”), a related party, and are recorded at the invoiced amount.

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

Research and Development Costs

Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. Advance payments for goods and services that will be used in future research and development activities are expensed when the activity has been performed or when the goods have been received rather than when the payment is made. Upfront and milestone payments due to third parties that perform research and development services on the Company’s behalf will be expensed as services are rendered or when the milestone is achieved.

Research and development costs 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 contract research organizations 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, laboratory costs and other supplies.

In accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 730-10-25-1, Research and Development, costs incurred in obtaining technology licenses are charged to research and development expense if the technology licensed has not reached commercial feasibility and has no alternative future use. Such licenses purchased by the Company require substantial completion of research and development, regulatory and marketing approval efforts in order to reach commercial feasibility and have no alternative future use.

Annual Equity Fee

Under the Founders Agreement with Checkpoint dated March 17, 2015, and amended and restated in July 2016 and October 2017 (the “Founders Agreement”), Fortress is entitled to an annual equity fee on January 1 of each year equal to 2.5% of fully diluted outstanding equity of the Company, payable in Checkpoint common shares (“Annual Equity Fee”). The Annual Equity Fee was part of the consideration payable for formation of the Company, identification of certain assets, including the license contributed to Checkpoint by Fortress (see Note 4).

The Company records the Annual Equity Fee in connection with the Founders Agreement with Fortress as contingent consideration. Contingent consideration is recorded when probable and reasonably estimable. Due to the nature of the Company’s assets and stage of development, future share prices and shares outstanding cannot be estimated prior to the issuance of the Annual Equity Fee. Due to these uncertainties, the Company has concluded that it is unable to reasonably estimate the contingent consideration until shares are actually issued on January 1 of each year.

Pursuant to the Founders Agreement, the Company issued 368,907 shares of common stock to Fortress for the Annual Equity Fee, representing 2.5% of the fully diluted outstanding equity of Checkpoint on January 1, 2023. Because the number of outstanding shares issuable to Fortress was determinable on January 1, 2023 prior to the issuance of the December 31, 2022 financial statements, the Company recorded approximately $1.9 million in research and development expense and a credit to Common shares issuable - Founders Agreement during the year ended December 31, 2022.

Stock-Based Compensation Expenses

The Company expenses stock-based compensation over the requisite service period based on the estimated grant-date fair value of the awards and forfeiture rates. The Company accounts for forfeitures as they occur.

The Company estimates the fair value of stock option grants using the Black-Scholes Model. The assumptions used in calculating the fair value of stock-based awards represent management’s best estimates and involve inherent uncertainties and the application of management’s judgment. All stock-based compensation costs are recorded in general and administrative or research and development costs in the Condensed Statements of Operations based upon the underlying individual’s role at the Company.

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

Common Stock Warrant Liability

The Company has issued freestanding warrants to purchase shares of its common stock in connection with its financing activities and accounts for them in accordance with applicable accounting guidance as either liabilities or as equity instruments depending on the specific terms of the warrant agreements. Warrants classified as liabilities are remeasured each period they are outstanding. Any resulting gain or loss related to the change in the fair value of the warrant liability is recognized in gain (loss) on common stock warrant liabilities, a component of other income (loss), in the Condensed Statements of Operations.

The Company estimates the fair value of common stock warrant liabilities using the Black-Scholes Model. The assumptions used in calculating the fair value represent management’s best estimates and involve inherent uncertainties and the application of management’s judgment.

Fair Value Measurement

The Company follows the accounting guidance in ASC 820 for its fair value measurements of financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis. Under this accounting guidance, fair value is defined as an exit price, representing the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. As such, fair value is a market-based measurement that should be determined based on assumptions that market participants would use in pricing an asset or a liability.

The accounting guidance requires fair value measurements be classified and disclosed in one of the following three categories:

Level 1:

Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2:

Observable inputs other than Level 1 prices, for similar assets or liabilities that are directly or indirectly observable in the marketplace.

Level 3:

Unobservable inputs which are supported by little or no market activity and that are financial instruments whose values are determined using pricing models, discounted cash flow methodologies, or similar techniques, as well as instruments for which the determination of fair value requires significant judgment or estimation.

The fair value hierarchy also requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. Assets and liabilities measured at fair value are classified in their entirety based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement.

Certain of the Company’s financial instruments are not measured at fair value on a recurring basis but are recorded at amounts that approximate their fair value due to their liquid or short-term nature, such as accounts payable and accrued expenses.

Revenue from Contracts with Customers

The Company recognizes revenue under ASC 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers.” The core principle of the standard is that a company should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The following five steps are applied to achieve that core principle:

Step 1: Identify the contract with the customer.
Step 2: Identify the performance obligations in the contract.
Step 3: Determine the transaction price.
Step 4: Allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract.
Step 5: Recognize revenue when the company satisfies a performance obligation.

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

In order to identify the performance obligations in a contract with a customer, a company must assess the promised goods or services in the contract and identify each promised good or service that is distinct. A performance obligation meets ASC 606’s definition of a “distinct” good or service (or bundle of goods or services) if both of the following criteria are met:

the customer can benefit from the good or service either on its own or together with other resources that are readily available to the customer (i.e., the good or service is capable of being distinct); and
the entity’s promise to transfer the good or service to the customer is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract (i.e., the promise to transfer the good or service is distinct within the context of the contract).

If a good or service is not distinct, the good or service is combined with other promised goods or services until a bundle of goods or services is identified that is distinct.

The transaction price is the amount of consideration to which an entity expects to be entitled in exchange for transferring promised goods or services to a customer, excluding amounts collected on behalf of third parties (for example, some sales taxes). The consideration promised in a contract with a customer may include fixed amounts, variable amounts, or both. When determining the transaction price, an entity must consider the effects of all of the following:

variable consideration;
constraining estimates of variable consideration;
the existence of a significant financing component in the contract;
noncash consideration; and
consideration payable to a customer.

Variable consideration is included in the transaction price only to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal in the amount of cumulative revenue recognized will not occur when the uncertainty associated with the variable consideration is subsequently resolved.

The transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation on a relative standalone selling price basis. The transaction price allocated to each performance obligation is recognized when that performance obligation is satisfied, at a point in time or over time as appropriate.

Revenue for a sales-based or usage-based royalty promised in exchange for a license of intellectual property is recognized only when (or as) the later of the following events occurs:

a.the subsequent sale or usage occurs; and
b.the performance obligation to which some or all of the sales-based or usage-based royalty has been allocated has been satisfied (or partially satisfied).

Incremental contract costs are expensed when incurred when the amortization period of the asset that would have been recognized is one year or less; otherwise, incremental contract costs are recognized as an asset and amortized over time as services are provided to a customer.

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

Income Taxes

The Company records income taxes using the asset and liability method. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax effects attributable to temporary differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective income tax bases, and operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. The Company establishes a valuation allowance if management believes it is more likely than not that the deferred tax assets will not be recovered based on an evaluation of objective verifiable evidence. For tax positions that are more likely than not to be sustained upon audit, the Company recognizes the largest amount with a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized. The Company does not recognize any portion of the benefit for tax positions that are not more likely than not to be sustained upon audit. As of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, the Company determined, based upon available evidence, that it is more likely than not that the net deferred tax asset will not be realized and, accordingly, has provided a full valuation allowance against its net deferred tax asset.

Net Loss per Share

Net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted net loss per share does not reflect the effect of shares of common stock to be issued upon the exercise of stock options and warrants, as their inclusion would be anti-dilutive. The following table summarizes potentially dilutive securities outstanding at March 31, 2023 and 2022 that were excluded from the computation of diluted net loss per share, as they would be anti-dilutive:

March 31, 

    

2023

    

2022

Warrants (Note 6)

 

6,516,211

1,249

Stock options (Note 6)

 

27,000

27,000

Unvested restricted stock (Note 6)

1,251,072

344,656

Unvested restricted stock units (Note 6)

 

619,884

Total

 

8,414,167

372,905

Comprehensive Loss

The Company has no components of comprehensive loss other than net loss. Thus, comprehensive loss is the same as net loss for the periods presented.

Significant Accounting Policies

There have been no material changes in the Company’s significant accounting policies to those previously disclosed in the 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

During the three-month period ended March 31, 2023, there were no new accounting pronouncements or updates to recently issued accounting pronouncements as disclosed in the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 that affect the Company’s present or future results of operations, overall financial condition, liquidity or disclosures.

Note 3 – License Agreements

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

In March 2015, the Company entered into an exclusive license agreement with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (“Dana Farber”) to develop a portfolio of fully human immuno-oncology targeted antibodies. Dana-Farber is eligible to receive payments of up to an aggregate of approximately $21.5 million for each licensed product upon the Company’s successful achievement of certain clinical development, regulatory and first commercial sale milestones. In addition, Dana-Farber is eligible to receive up to an aggregate of $60.0 million upon the Company’s successful achievement of certain sales milestones based on aggregate net sales, in addition to royalty payments based

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

on a tiered low to mid-single digit percentage of net sales. Dana-Farber also receives an annual license maintenance fee of $50,000, which is creditable against future milestone payments or royalties. The portfolio of antibodies licensed from Dana-Farber include antibodies targeting PD-L1, GITR and CAIX.

In connection with the license agreement with Dana-Farber, the Company entered into a collaboration agreement with TGTX, which was amended and restated in June 2019, to develop and commercialize the anti-PD-L1 and anti-GITR antibody research programs in the field of hematological malignancies, while the Company retains the right to develop and commercialize these antibodies in solid tumors. Michael Weiss, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Checkpoint and Fortress’ Executive Vice Chairman, Strategic Development, is also the Executive Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer and a stockholder of TGTX. The Company is eligible to receive substantive potential milestone payments for the anti-PD-L1 program of up to an aggregate of approximately $27.6 million upon TGTX’s successful achievement of certain clinical development, regulatory and first commercial sale milestones. This is comprised of up to approximately $8.4 million upon TGTX’s successful completion of clinical development milestones, and up to approximately $19.2 million upon regulatory filings and first commercial sales in specified territories. The Company is also eligible to receive substantive potential milestone payments for the anti-GITR antibody program of up to an aggregate of approximately $21.5 million upon TGTX’s successful achievement of certain clinical development, regulatory and first commercial sale milestones. This is comprised of up to approximately $7.0 million upon TGTX’s successful completion of clinical development milestones, and up to approximately $14.5 million upon first commercial sales in specified territories. In addition, the Company is eligible to receive up to an aggregate of $60.0 million upon TGTX’s successful achievement of certain sales milestones based on aggregate net sales for both programs, in addition to royalty payments based on a tiered low double-digit percentage of net sales. The Company also receives an annual license maintenance fee, which is creditable against future milestone payments or royalties. TGTX also pays the Company for its out-of-pocket costs of material used by TGTX for their development activities. For the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company recognized approximately $29,000 and $31,000, respectively, in revenue related to the collaboration agreement in the Condensed Statements of Operations.

Adimab, LLC

In October 2015, Fortress entered into a collaboration agreement with Adimab, LLC (“Adimab”) to discover and optimize antibodies using their proprietary core technology platform. Under this agreement, Adimab optimized cosibelimab, the Company’s anti-PD-L1 antibody which it originally licensed from Dana-Farber. In January 2019, Fortress transferred the rights to the optimized antibody to the Company, and Checkpoint entered into a collaboration agreement directly with Adimab on the same day. Under the terms of the agreement, Adimab is eligible to receive payments from the Company of up to an aggregate of approximately $2.5 million upon various filings for regulatory approvals to commercialize the product. In addition, Adimab is eligible to receive royalty payments based on a tiered low single digit percentage of net sales.

In February 2023 the Company expensed a non-refundable milestone payment of $2.2 million to research and development expenses upon the United States Food and Drug Administration’s filing acceptance of the Company’s Biologics License Application (“BLA”) for cosibelimab in metastatic or locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.

NeuPharma, Inc.

In March 2015, Fortress entered into an exclusive license agreement with NeuPharma, Inc. (“NeuPharma”) to develop and commercialize novel irreversible, 3rd generation EGFR inhibitors, including olafertinib, on a worldwide basis other than certain Asian countries. On the same date, Fortress assigned all of its right and interest in the EGFR inhibitors to the Company. NeuPharma is eligible to receive payments of up to an aggregate of approximately $39.0 million upon the Company’s successful achievement of certain clinical development and regulatory milestones in up to three indications, of which $22.5 million are due upon various regulatory approvals to commercialize the products. In addition, NeuPharma is eligible to receive payments of up to an aggregate of $40.0 million upon the Company’s successful achievement of certain sales milestones based on aggregate net sales, in addition to royalty payments based on a tiered mid to high-single digit percentage of net sales.

Jubilant Biosys Limited

In May 2016, the Company entered into a license agreement with Jubilant Biosys Limited (“Jubilant”), whereby the Company obtained an exclusive, worldwide license to Jubilant’s family of patents covering compounds that inhibit BET proteins such as BRD4, including

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

CK-103. Jubilant is eligible to receive payments up to an aggregate of approximately $88.4 million upon the Company’s successful achievement of certain clinical development and regulatory milestones, of which $59.5 million are due upon various regulatory approvals to commercialize the products. In addition, Jubilant is eligible to receive payments up to an aggregate of $89.3 million upon the Company’s successful achievement of certain sales milestones based on aggregate net sales, in addition to royalty payments based on a tiered low to mid-single digit percentage of net sales.

In connection with the license agreement with Jubilant, the Company entered into a sublicense agreement with TGTX, a related party, to develop and commercialize the compounds licensed in the field of hematological malignancies, while the Company retains the right to develop and commercialize these compounds in the field of solid tumors. The Company is eligible to receive substantive potential milestone payments up to an aggregate of approximately $87.4 million upon TGTX’s successful achievement of clinical development and regulatory milestones. This is comprised of up to approximately $25.5 million upon TGTX’s successful completion of three clinical development milestones for two licensed products, and up to approximately $61.9 million upon the achievement of five regulatory approvals and first commercial sales in specified territories for two licensed products. In addition, the Company is eligible to receive potential milestone payments up to an aggregate of $89.3 million upon TGTX’s successful achievement of certain sales milestones based on aggregate net sales by TGTX, for two licensed products, in addition to royalty payments based on a mid-single digit percentage of net sales by TGTX. TGTX also pays the Company 50% of Investigational New Drug enabling costs and patent expenses. For the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company recognized approximately $6,000 and $21,000, respectively, in revenue related to the sublicense agreement in the Condensed Statements of Operations.

The collaborations with TGTX each contain single material performance obligations under Topic 606, which is the granting of a license that is functional intellectual property. The Company’s performance obligation was satisfied at the point in time when TGTX had the ability to use and benefit from the right to use the intellectual property. The performance obligations of the original agreements were satisfied prior to the adoption of Topic 606. The performance obligation of the amendment to the collaboration agreement was satisfied in June 2019.

The milestone payments are based on successful achievement of clinical development, regulatory, and sales milestones. Because these payments are contingent on the occurrence of a future event, they represent variable consideration and are constrained and included in the transaction price only when it is probable that a significant reversal in the amount of cumulative revenue recognized will not occur. The sales-based royalty payments are recognized as revenue when the subsequent sales occur. The Company also receives variable consideration for certain research and development, out-of-pocket material costs, and patent maintenance related activities. These amounts are dependent upon the Company’s actual expenditures under the collaborations and are constrained and included in the transaction price only when it is probable that a significant reversal in the amount of cumulative revenue recognized will not occur. As this revenue relates to an already satisfied performance obligation, it is recognized approximately when the amounts become due. For the three months ended March 31, 2023, the Company did not receive any milestone or royalty payments.

Note 4 – Related Party Agreements

Founders Agreement and Management Services Agreement with Fortress

Effective March 17, 2015, the Company entered into a Founders Agreement with Fortress, which was amended in July 2016 and October 2017. The Founders Agreement provides, that in exchange for the time and capital expended in the formation of Checkpoint and the identification of specific assets the acquisition of which resulted in the formation of a viable emerging growth life science company, the Company assumed $2.8 million in debt that Fortress accumulated under a promissory note through National Securities Corporation for expenses and costs of forming Checkpoint. Further, the Company shall: (i) issue annually to Fortress, on January 1 of each year, shares of common stock equal to two and one-half percent (2.5%) of the fully diluted outstanding equity of Checkpoint at the time of issuance; (ii) pay an equity fee in shares of common stock, payable within five (5) business days of the closing of any equity or debt financing for Checkpoint or any of its respective subsidiaries that occurs after the effective date of the Founders Agreement and ending on the date when Fortress no longer has majority voting control in Checkpoint’s voting equity, equal to two and one-half percent (2.5%) of the gross amount of any such equity or debt financing; and (iii) pay a cash fee equal to four and one half percent (4.5%) of Checkpoint’s annual net sales, payable on an annual basis, within ninety (90) days of the end of each calendar year. In the event of a change in control (as it is defined in the Founders Agreement), Checkpoint will pay a one-time change in control fee equal to five times (5x) the product of (i) monthly net sales for the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the change in control and (ii) four and one-half percent (4.5%). The

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

Founders Agreement has a term of fifteen years, after which it automatically renews for one-year periods unless Fortress gives the Company notice of termination. The Founders Agreement will also automatically terminate upon a change of control.

Effective March 17, 2015, the Company entered into a Management Services Agreement (the “MSA”) with Fortress. Pursuant to the terms of the MSA, for a period of five (5) years, Fortress will render advisory and consulting services to the Company. Services provided under the MSA may include, without limitation, (i) advice and assistance concerning any and all aspects of Checkpoint’s operations, clinical trials, financial planning and strategic transactions and financings and (ii) conducting relations on behalf of the Company with accountants, attorneys, financial advisors and other professionals (collectively, the “Services”). The Company is obligated to utilize clinical research services, medical education, communication and marketing services and investor relations/public relation services of companies or individuals designated by Fortress, provided those services are offered at market prices. However, the Company is not obligated to take or act upon any advice rendered from Fortress and Fortress shall not be liable for any of the Company’s actions or inactions based upon their advice. Fortress and its affiliates, including all members of its Board of Directors, have been contractually exempt from fiduciary duties to the Company relating to corporate opportunities. In consideration for the Services, the Company will pay Fortress an annual consulting fee of $0.5 million (the “Annual Consulting Fee”), payable in advance in equal quarterly installments on the first business day of each calendar quarter in each year, provided, however, that such Annual Consulting Fee shall be increased to $1.0 million for each calendar year in which the Company has net assets in excess of $100 million at the beginning of the calendar year. The MSA shall be automatically extended for additional five-year periods unless Fortress or the Company provides notice to the other party of its desire not to automatically extend the term. For the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company recognized $125,000, respectively, in expense on its Condensed Statements of Operations related to the MSA.

Caribe BioAdvisors, LLC

In December 2016, the Company entered into an advisory agreement effective January 1, 2017 with Caribe BioAdvisors, LLC (“Caribe”), owned by Michael Weiss, to provide the advisory services of Mr. Weiss as Chairman of the Board. Pursuant to the agreement, Caribe will be paid an annual cash fee of $60,000, in addition to any and all annual equity incentive grants paid to members of the board. For the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company recognized approximately $27,000 in expense in its Condensed Statements of Operations related to the advisory agreement, including approximately $12,000 in expense related to annual equity incentive grants.

Note 5 – Commitments and Contingencies

Leases

The Company is not a party to any leases for office space or equipment.

License Agreements

The Company has undertaken to make contingent milestone payments to the licensors of its portfolio of product candidates. In addition, the Company would pay royalties to such licensors based on a percentage of net sales of each product candidate following regulatory marketing approval (See Note 3).

Litigation

The Company recognizes a liability for a contingency when it is probable that liability has been incurred and when the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. When a range of probable loss can be estimated, the Company accrues the most likely amount of such loss, and if such amount is not determinable, then the Company accrues the minimum of the range of probable loss. As of March 31, 2023, and December 31, 2022, there was no litigation against the Company.

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

Note 6 – Stockholders’ Equity

Common Stock

On November 3, 2022, the holders of a majority of the voting power of the common stock of the Company executed a written consent approving a change in the number of the Company’s authorized shares from 13,500,000 to 50,000,000, with a par value of $0.0001 per share, by filing a Certificate Amendment to the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware. 700,000 shares were designated as “Class A common stock.” The amendment was filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on December 5, 2022 with an effective date of December 6, 2022.

As of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, there were 700,000 shares of Class A common stock held by Fortress. The holders of common stock are entitled to one vote per share of common stock held. The Class A common stockholders are entitled to a number of votes per share equal to 1.1 times a fraction, the numerator of which is the sum of the shares of outstanding common stock and the denominator of which is the number of shares of Class A common stock. Accordingly, the holder of shares of Class A common stock will be able to control or significantly influence all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors and the approval of mergers or other business combination transactions. Each share of Class A common stock is convertible, at the option of the holder thereof, into one (1) fully paid and non-assessable share of common stock subject to adjustment for stock splits and combinations.

In November 2020, the Company filed a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (the “November 2020 Form S-3”), which was declared effective in December 2020 (File No. 333-251005). Under the November 2020 Form S-3, the Company may sell up to a total of $100 million of its securities. In connection with the November 2020 Form S-3, the Company entered into an ATM with Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc. and H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC (each an “Agent” and collectively, the “Agents”) relating to the sale of shares of common stock. Under the ATM, the Company pays the Agents a commission rate of up to 3.0% of the gross proceeds from the sale of any shares of common stock.

Pursuant to the Founders Agreement, the Company issued 368,907 shares of common stock to Fortress for the Annual Equity Fee, representing 2.5% of the fully diluted outstanding equity of Checkpoint on January 1, 2023 (see Notes 2 and 4).

In February 2023, the Company closed on a registered direct offering for the issuance and sale of an aggregate of 1,180,000 shares of its common stock at a purchase price of $5.25 per share of common stock in a registered direct offering priced at-the-market under Nasdaq rules. In addition, the offering includes 248,572 shares of common stock in the form of Pre-Funded Warrants at a price of $5.2499. In a concurrent private placement, Checkpoint issued and sold Series A warrants to purchase up to 1,428,572 shares of common stock and Series B warrants to purchase up to 1,428,572 shares of common stock. The Series A warrants are exercisable immediately upon issuance and will expire five years following the issuance date and have an exercise price of $5.00 per share and the Series B warrants are exercisable immediately upon issuance and will expire eighteen months following the issuance date and have an exercise price of $5.00 per share. Net proceeds from the February 2023 Registered Direct Offering were $6.7 million after deducting commissions and other transactions. The 1,180,000 shares of common stock and 248,572 shares of common stock in the form of prefunded warrants were registered for sale under the November 2020 Form S-3. The February 2023 Common Stock Warrants met the criteria for equity classification.

In February 2023, the Pre-Funded Warrants from the February 2023 Registered Direct Offering were fully exercised. In March 2023, the Company filed a registration statement on Form S-3 to register the February 2023 Common Stock Warrants, which was declared effective May 5, 2023.

Pursuant to the Founders Agreement, the Company issued to Fortress 2.5% of the aggregate number of shares of common stock issued in the February 2023 Registered Direct Offering noted above. Accordingly, the Company issued 35,714 shares of common stock to Fortress and recorded expense of approximately $156,000 related to this grant, which is included in general and administrative expenses in the Company’s Condensed Statements of Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2023.

As of March 31, 2023, approximately $14.8 million of securities remain available for sale under the November 2020 Form S-3.

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

In March 2023, the Company filed a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (the “March 2023 Form S-3”), which was declared effective May 5, 2023 (File No. 333-270843). Under the March 2023 Form S-3, the Company may sell up to a total of $150 million of its securities.

The Company may offer the securities under the Form S-3’s from time to time in response to market conditions or other circumstances if it believes such a plan of financing is in the best interests of its stockholders.

Equity Incentive Plan

The Company has in effect the Amended and Restated 2015 Incentive Plan (“2015 Incentive Plan”). The 2015 Incentive Plan was adopted in March 2015 by our stockholders. Under the 2015 Incentive Plan, the compensation committee of the Company’s board of directors is authorized to grant stock-based awards to directors, officers, employees and consultants. An amendment to the 2015 Incentive Plan was approved by holders of a majority of the voting power of the common stock of the Company in December 2022 to increase the shares available for issuance to 3,000,000 shares. The plan expires 10 years from the effective date of the amendment and limits the term of each option to no more than 10 years from the date of grant.

As of March 31, 2023, 706,964 shares are available for issuance under the 2015 Incentive Plan.

Restricted Stock Awards

Certain employees, directors and consultants have been awarded restricted stock. The restricted stock vesting consists of milestone and time-based vesting. The following table summarizes restricted stock award activity for the three months ended March 31, 2023:

Weighted Average

Number of

Grant Date Fair

    

Shares

    

Value  

Non-vested at December 31, 2022

378,897

$

26.15

Granted

958,800

2.25

Forfeited

(4,350)

26.29

Vested

(82,275)

26.73

Non-vested at March 31, 2023

1,251,072

$

7.79

As of March 31, 2023, there was $4.0 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested restricted stock, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.1 years. This amount does not include, as of March 31, 2023, 203,133 shares of restricted stock outstanding which are performance-based and vest upon achievement of certain corporate milestones. The expense for time-based vesting awards is recognized over the vesting period of the award. Stock-based compensation for milestone awards will be measured and recorded if and when it is probable that the milestone will be achieved.

Restricted Stock Units

The following table summarizes restricted stock units activity for the three months ended March 31, 2023:

    

    

Weighted Average

Number of

Grant Date Fair

Shares

Value

Non-vested at December 31, 2022

 

85,000

$

10.50

Granted

 

577,384

 

2.25

Vested

(42,500)

10.50

Non-vested at March 31, 2023

 

619,884

$

2.82

As of March 31, 2023, all restricted stock units outstanding are performance-based and vest upon achievement of certain corporate milestones. The expense for milestone awards will be measured and recorded if and when it is probable that the milestone will be achieved.

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

Stock Options

The following table summarizes stock option award activity for the three months ended March 31, 2023:

Weighted Average 

Remaining

Weighted Average 

 Contractual Life

    

Stock Options 

    

Exercise Price

    

(in years)

Outstanding as of December 31, 2022

27,000

$

31.35

6.44

Outstanding as of March 31, 2023

27,000

$

31.35

6.19

Vested and exercisable as of March 31, 2023

17,500

$

23.88

6.63

Upon the exercise of stock options, the Company will issue new shares of its common stock.

Warrants

A summary of warrant activities for the three months ended March 31, 2023 is presented below:

Weighted Average 

Remaining

Weighted Average 

Contractual Life

    

Warrants 

    

Exercise Price 

    

(in years)

Outstanding as of December 31, 2022

4,357,597

$

3.37

3.26

Granted

3,191,430

4.65

Exercised

(1,032,816)

Outstanding as of March 31, 2023

6,516,211

$

4.53

3.01

Upon the exercise of warrants, the Company will issue new shares of its common stock.

Stock-Based Compensation

The following table summarizes stock-based compensation expense for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022 ($ in thousands):

For the three months ended March 31, 

    

2023

    

2022

Research and development

$

390

$

247

General and administrative

 

579

 

528

Total stock-based compensation expense

$

969

$

775

Note 7 – Common Stock Warrant Liabilities

On December 16, 2022, the Company closed on an offering for the sale of shares of its common stock and pre-funded warrants as part of a registered direct offering. The common stock and the pre-funded warrants were sold together with common stock warrants. The Company also issued the placement agent warrants to purchase shares (collectively, the “December 2022 Common Stock Warrants and Placement Agent Warrants”).

The Company accounts for warrants as either equity-classified or liability-classified instruments based on an assessment of the warrant’s specific terms and applicable authoritative guidance in ASC 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity and ASC 815-40, Derivatives and Hedging - Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity. For warrants that meet all of the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded as a component of additional paid-in capital at the time of issuance. For warrants that do not meet all the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded at their initial fair value on the date of issuance, and each balance sheet date thereafter.

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

The Company deemed the December 2022 Common Stock Warrants and Placement Agent Warrants to be classified as liabilities on the balance sheet as they contain terms for redemption of the underlying security that are outside its control. The December 2022 Common Warrants and Placement Agent Warrants were recorded at the time of closing at a fair value, determined by using the Black-Scholes Model. As the total fair value of the common stock warrant liability exceeded the total proceeds, no proceeds were allocated to the common stock and pre-funded warrants issued as part of the transaction. The Company revalued the December 2022 Common Stock Warrants and Placement Agent Warrants at December 31, 2022, resulting in a fair value of $11.2 million.

The Company revalued the December 2022 Common Stock Warrants and Placement Agent Warrants at March 31, 2023 using the Black-Scholes Model. This resulted in a decrease in common stock warrant liability of $7.6 million, with an offsetting gain recorded to gain on common stock warrant liabilities in the Condensed Statements of Operations.

Common Stock Warrant liabilities at December 31, 2022

    

$

11,170

Change in fair value of Common Stock Warrant liabilities

(7,566)

Common Stock Warrant liabilities at March 31, 2023

$

3,604

The Company used the Black-Scholes Model for determining the estimated fair value of the common stock warrant liabilities. A summary of the weighted average (in aggregate) significant unobservable inputs used in measuring the warrant liability is determined using Level 3 inputs as follows:

    

March 31,

December 31,

 

Series A Warrants

2023

2022

 

Exercise price

$

4.08

$

4.08

Volatility

 

93.4

%  

 

89.4

%

Expected life

 

4.7

 

5.0

Risk-free rate

 

3.6

%  

 

4.0

%

Dividend yield

 

 

    

March 31,

December 31,

 

Series B Warrants

2023

2022

 

Exercise price

$

4.08

$

4.08

Volatility

 

100.0

%  

 

82.4

%

Expected life

 

1.2

 

1.5

Risk-free rate

 

4.6

%  

 

4.7

%

Dividend yield

 

 

    

March 31,

December 31,

 

Placement Agent Warrants

2023

2022

 

Exercise price

$

5.41

$

5.41

Volatility

 

93.4

%  

 

89.4

%

Expected life

 

4.7

 

5.0

Risk-free rate

 

3.6

%  

 

4.0

%

Dividend yield

 

 

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Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

Note 8 - Accounts Payable and Accrued Expenses

At March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, accounts payable and accrued expenses consisted of the following ($ in thousands):

March 31, 

December 31, 

    

2023

    

2022

Accounts payable

$

14,140

$

11,535

Accrued compensation

1,568

 

1,195

Research and development

 

6,593

 

7,289

Other

 

319

 

278

Total accounts payable and accrued expenses

$

22,620

$

20,297

Note 9 – Subsequent Events

In April 2023, the Company closed on the April 2023 Registered Direct Offering for the issuance and sale of an aggregate of 1,700,000 shares of its common stock at a purchase price of $3.60 per share of common stock in a registered direct offering priced at-the-market under Nasdaq rules. In a concurrent private placement, Checkpoint issued and sold Series A warrants to purchase up to 1,700,000 shares of common stock and Series B warrants to purchase up to 1,700,000 shares of common stock. The Series A warrants are exercisable immediately upon issuance and will expire five years following the issuance date and have an exercise price of $3.35 per share and the Series B warrants are exercisable immediately upon issuance and will expire eighteen months following the issuance date and have an exercise price of $3.35 per share. The total gross proceeds from the offering were approximately $6.1 million with net proceeds of approximately $5.5 million after deducting approximately $0.6 million in commissions and other transaction costs.

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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.” 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. Based on top-line and interim results in metastatic and locally advanced CSCC, respectively, we submitted a Biologics License Application (“BLA”) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for these indications in January 2023, which application is filed and under review with a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (“PDUFA”) goal date of January 3, 2024. In addition, we are evaluating our lead small-molecule, targeted anti-cancer agent, olafertinib, 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 June 2022, we announced interim results from a registration-enabling cohort of our multi-regional, Phase 1 clinical trial of cosibelimab in patients with locally advanced CSCC that are not candidates for curative surgery or radiation. Cosibelimab demonstrated a confirmed objective response rate (“ORR”) of 54.8% (95% CI: 36.0, 72.7) based on independent central review of 31 patients enrolled in the cohort using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1 (“RECIST 1.1”).

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 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 RECIST 1.1.

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, 2023, we have an accumulated deficit of $273.0 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 2022 Form 10-K. There were no material changes in our critical accounting estimates or accounting policies from December 31, 2022.

Accounting Pronouncements

During the three-month period ended March 31, 2023, there were no new accounting pronouncements or updates to recently issued accounting pronouncements disclosed in the 2022 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, 2023 and 2022

Revenue

For the three months ended March 31, 2023, revenue was approximately $35,000 compared to approximately $52,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2022, a decrease of approximately $17,000. 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, 2023, research and development expenses were approximately $15.8 million, compared to $14.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, an increase of $1.1 million. The current period research and development expenses primarily consisted of $5.7 million related to manufacturing costs for cosibelimab for commercial manufacturing preparation and inventory build, $3.4 million related to regulatory expenses, including $3.2 million for the PDUFA fee to the FDA for the BLA filing for cosibelimab, $2.3 million in license fees due upon the FDA filing acceptance of Biologics License Application for cosibelimab, $2.1 million related to clinical costs for cosibelimab, $1.3 million related to salary expenses, and $0.4 million related to stock compensation expense. The prior period research and development expenses primarily consisted of $3.2 million related to clinical costs for our product candidates, $9.3 million related to manufacturing costs for validation work for cosibelimab, $0.5 million related to regulatory expenses, $0.9 million related to salary expenses, and $0.2 million related to stock compensation expense.

We anticipate our research and development expenses will remain relatively consistent for the remainder of 2023.

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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.

For the three months ended March 31, 2023, general and administrative expenses were approximately $2.3 million, compared to $2.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, an increase of $0.1 million. The current period general and administrative expenses primarily consisted of stock compensation expense of $0.6 million, $0.4 million related to salary expenses, $0.5 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 $0.5 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.

We anticipate our general and administrative expenses to increase for the remainder of 2023 due primarily to pre-commercial initiatives to support a potential commercial launch for cosibelimab in the first half of 2024.

Interest Income

For the three months ended March 31, 2023, interest income was approximately $43,000 compared to approximately $13,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2022, an increase of approximately $30,000. The increase was due to higher interest rates earned on our cash deposits.

Gain on Common Stock Warrant Liabilities

For the three months ended March 31, 2023, the gain on common stock warrant liabilities was approximately $7.6 million. The gain on common stock warrant liabilities is comprised of the fair value remeasurement of the common stock warrant liabilities on March 31, 2023 associated with the registered direct offering we completed in December 2022. We account for warrants as either equity-classified or liability-classified instruments based on an assessment of the warrant’s specific terms and applicable authoritative guidance in ASC 480 and ASC 815. The assessment considers whether the warrants are freestanding financial instruments pursuant to ASC 480, meet the definition of a liability pursuant to ASC 480, and whether the warrants meet all of the requirements for equity classification under ASC 815, including whether the warrants are indexed to the Company’s own common stock, among other conditions for equity classification. This assessment, which requires the use of professional judgment, is conducted at the time of warrant issuance and as of each subsequent quarterly period end date while the warrants are outstanding. There was no comparable expense for the three months ended March 31, 2022.

For issued or modified warrants that meet all of the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded as a component of additional paid-in capital at the time of issuance. For issued or modified warrants that do not meet all the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded as liabilities at their initial fair value on the date of issuance, and each balance sheet date thereafter. Changes in the estimated fair value of the warrants are recognized as a non-cash gain or loss on the Condensed Statements of Operations. The fair value of the warrants was estimated using a Black-Scholes Model (see Note 7).

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, 2023, we had an accumulated deficit of $273.0 million.

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In February 2023, we closed on a registered direct offering for the issuance and sale of an aggregate of 1,428,572 shares of our common stock at a purchase price of $5.25 per share in a registered direct offering priced at-the-market under Nasdaq rules. In addition, in a concurrent private placement, we issued and sold Series A warrants to purchase up to 1,428,572 shares of common stock and Series B warrants to purchase up to 1,428,572 shares of common stock. The Series A warrants are exercisable immediately upon issuance and will expire five years following the issuance date and have an exercise price of $5.00 per share and the Series B warrants are exercisable immediately upon issuance and will expire eighteen months following the issuance date and have an exercise price of $5.00 per share. The total gross proceeds from the offering were approximately $7.5 million with net proceeds of approximately $6.7 million after deducting approximately $0.8 million in commissions and other transaction costs.

In April 2023, we closed on a registered direct offering for the issuance and sale of an aggregate of 1,700,000 shares of our common stock at a purchase price of $3.60 per share in a registered direct offering priced at-the-market under Nasdaq rules. In a concurrent private placement, we issued and sold Series A warrants to purchase up to 1,700,000 shares of common stock and Series B warrants to purchase up to 1,700,000 shares of common stock. The Series A warrants are exercisable immediately upon issuance and will expire five years following the issuance date and have an exercise price of $3.35 per share and the Series B warrants are exercisable immediately upon issuance and will expire eighteen months following the issuance date and have an exercise price of $3.35 per share. The total gross proceeds from the offering were approximately $6.1 million with net proceeds of approximately $5.5 million after deducting approximately $0.6 million in commissions and other transaction costs.

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 believe, assuming no business or corporate development transactions are consummated, that our cash and cash equivalents are only sufficient to fund our operating expenses through the second quarter of 2023. We will need to secure additional funds through equity or debt offerings, or other potential sources such as partnerships to fully develop and commercialize, if approved, our product candidates. Accordingly, we intend to continue our active discussions with third party pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to evaluate potential partnerships or other types of corporate development transactions, including strategic mergers. Our estimate as to how long we expect our existing cash to be able to continue to fund our operations is based on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could use our available capital resources sooner than we currently expect. Further, changing circumstances, some of which may be beyond our control, could cause us to consume capital faster than we currently anticipate, and we may need to seek additional funds sooner than planned. We cannot be certain that additional funding will be available on acceptable terms, or at all. These factors individually and collectively raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

Cash Flows for the Three Months Ended March 31, 2023 and 2022

Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities was approximately $14.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023, compared to approximately $19.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022. The decrease in net cash used in operating activities was primarily related to changes in accounts payable and accrued expenses in the current period compared to the prior period.

Investing Activities

There were no investing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022.

Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities was $6.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023, compared to $6.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022. Cash provided by financing activities in the current period was related to the net proceeds from the issuance of common shares as part of our registered direct offering. The prior period amount was related to the net proceeds from the issuance of common shares as part of our At-the-Market Issuance Sales Agreement offerings, partially offset by cash paid for taxes related to the net settlement of shares for employee stock vestings.

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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.

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, 2023, 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, 2023 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.

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 $273.0 million as of March 31, 2023. 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:

one or more of our product candidates are submitted for marketing approval, as is the case with cosibelimab, or are approved for commercial sale, due to our need to establish the necessary commercial infrastructure to launch this product candidate without substantial delays, including manufacturing to build pre-commercial inventory, hiring sales and marketing personnel and contracting with third parties for warehousing, distribution, cash collection and related commercial activities;
we are required by the FDA or foreign regulatory authorities, to perform studies in addition to those currently expected;
we initiate one or more clinical trials to pursue additional indications for our product candidates, or if there are any delays in completing our clinical trials or the development of any of our product candidates;
we execute other collaborative, licensing or similar arrangements and the timing of payments we may make or receive under these arrangements;
there are variations in the level of expenses related to our current and future development programs;
there are any product liability or intellectual property infringement lawsuits in which we may become involved;
there are any regulatory developments affecting product candidates of our competitors; and
one or more of our product candidates receives regulatory approval.

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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:

obtain regulatory approval for one or more of our product candidates, or any future product candidate that we may license or acquire;
manufacture commercial quantities of one or more of our product candidates or any future product candidate, if approved, at acceptable cost levels; and
develop a commercial organization and the supporting infrastructure required to successfully market and sell one or more of our product candidates or any future product candidate, if approved.

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, and resulting regulatory approval request submissions, of our product candidates and launch and commercialize any product candidates for which we may receive regulatory approval, including building a commercial organization 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 believe, assuming no business or corporate development transactions are consummated, that our cash and cash equivalents are only sufficient to fund our operating expenses through the second quarter of 2023. Accordingly, we intend to continue our active discussions with third party pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to evaluate potential partnerships or other types of corporate development transactions, including strategic mergers.

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.

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

the timing, design and conduct of, and results from, preclinical studies and clinical trials for our product candidates;
the timing and process of regulatory approval reviews and potential delays in our efforts to seek regulatory approval for our product candidates, and any costs associated with such delays;
the costs of establishing a commercial organization to sell, market and distribute our product candidates;
the rate of progress and costs of our efforts to prepare for the submission of an NDA or BLA for any of our product candidates or any product candidates that we may in-license or acquire in the future, and the potential that we may need to conduct additional clinical trials to support applications for regulatory approval;
the costs of filing, prosecuting, defending and enforcing any patent claims and other intellectual property rights associated with our product candidates, including any such costs we may be required to expend if our licensors are unwilling or unable to do so;
the cost and timing of securing sufficient supplies of our product candidates from our third-party manufacturers for clinical trials and in preparation for commercialization;
the effect of competing technological and market developments;
the terms and timing of any collaborative, licensing, co-promotion or other arrangements that we may establish;
if one or more of our product candidates are approved, the potential that we may be required to file a lawsuit to defend our patent rights or regulatory exclusivities from challenges by companies seeking to market generic versions of one or more of our product candidates; and
the success of the commercialization of one or more of our product candidates, if approved.

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 are also engaging in discussions with third party pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to evaluate potential partnerships or other types of corporate development transactions, including a strategic merger. We cannot be sure that any additional funding, if needed, partnership or any other type of corporate development transaction, will be available on terms favorable to us or at all. Furthermore, any additional equity or equity-related financing, or equity that may be issued or sold in a corporate development transaction, 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, merger, 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.

There is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern, which may hinder our ability to obtain future financing.

Our unaudited condensed financial statements as of March 31, 2023 have been prepared under the assumption that we will continue as a going concern for the next twelve months. As of March 31, 2023, we had cash and cash equivalents of $4.8 million and an accumulated deficit of $273.0 million. We do not believe that our cash and cash equivalents are sufficient for the next twelve months. As a result of our financial condition and other factors described herein, there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our ability to continue as a going concern will depend on our ability to obtain additional funding, as to which no assurances can be given. We continue to analyze various alternatives, including potentially obtaining debt or equity financings or other arrangements. Our future success depends on our ability to raise capital. We cannot be certain that raising additional capital, whether through selling additional debt or equity securities or obtaining a line of credit or other loan, will be available to us or, if available, will be on terms acceptable to us. If we issue additional securities to raise funds, these securities may have rights, preferences, or privileges senior to those of our common stock, and our current shareholders may experience dilution. If we are unable to obtain funds when needed or on acceptable terms, we may be required to curtail our current development programs, cut operating costs, forego future development and other opportunities or even terminate our operations. Additionally, we intend to continue our active discussions with third party

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pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to evaluate potential partnerships or other types of corporate development transactions, including strategic mergers.

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, mergers, 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.

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:

being permitted to provide only two years of our audited financial statements, in addition to any required unaudited interim financial statements, with correspondingly reduced “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” disclosure in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q;
not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements in the assessment of our internal control over financial reporting;
not being required to comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements;
disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation; and
exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.

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.

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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.

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.

Weakness in the U.S. economy, including within our geographic footprint, has adversely affected us in the past and may adversely affect us in the future.

We have been, and will continue to be, impacted by general business and economic conditions in the United States. These conditions include short-term and long-term interest rates, inflation, money supply, political issues, war, legislative and regulatory changes, fluctuations in both debt and equity capital markets, broad trends in industry and finance, unemployment and the strength of the U.S. economy and the local economies in which we operate, all of which are beyond our control.

Worldwide financial markets have recently experienced periods of extraordinary disruption and volatility, which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia/Ukraine conflict, resulting in heightened credit risk, reduced valuation of investments, decreased economic activity, heightened risk of cyberattacks, and inflation. Moreover, many companies have experienced reduced liquidity and uncertainty as to their ability to raise capital during such periods of market disruption and volatility. In the event that these conditions recur or result in a prolonged economic downturn, our results of operations, financial position and/or liquidity could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, as a result of recent financial and political events, we may face increased regulation.

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.

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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:

developing our technology platform;
identifying, developing, formulating, manufacturing and commercializing product candidates;
entering into and maintaining successful licensing and other arrangements with product development partners;
achieving clinical endpoints to support preparation of approval applications;
participating in regulatory approval processes, including ultimately gaining approval to market a drug product, which may not occur;
obtaining sufficient quantities of our product candidates from our third-party manufacturers to meet clinical trial needs and, if approved, to meet commercial demand at launch and thereafter;
establishing and maintaining agreements with wholesalers, distributors and group purchasing organizations on commercially reasonable terms;
conducting sales and marketing activities including hiring, training, deploying and supporting a sales force and creating market demand for our product candidates through our own marketing and sales activities, and any other arrangements to promote our product candidates that we may establish;
maintaining patent protection and regulatory exclusivity for our product candidates; and
obtaining market acceptance for our product candidates.

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 initial discussions with the FDA to execute this strategy in CSCC. Based on top-line and interim results in metastatic and locally advanced CSCC, respectively, we submitted a BLA to the U.S. FDA for these indications in January 2023, which application is filed and under review with a PDUFA goal date of January 3, 2024. Similarly, we intend to use data from our licensor’s ongoing Phase 3 clinical trial of olafertinib (formerly CK-101), conducted only in China, in patients with EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC, to potentially support a U.S. NDA and comparable applications for marketing approval outside the U.S. We believe, based on published FDA guidance documents, public statements of companies with comparable product candidates, and past 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.

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.

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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:

exposure to unknown liabilities;
disruption of our business and diversion of our management’s time and attention to develop acquired products or technologies;
difficulty or inability to secure financing to fund development activities for such acquired or in-licensed technologies in the current economic environment;
incurrence of substantial debt or dilutive issuances of securities to pay for acquisitions;
higher than expected acquisition and integration costs;
increased amortization expenses;
difficulty and cost in combining the operations and personnel of any acquired businesses with our operations and personnel;
impairment of relationships with key suppliers or customers of any acquired businesses due to changes in management and ownership; and
inability to retain key employees of any acquired businesses.

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.

Risks Inherent in Drug Development and Commercialization

Because results of preclinical studies and early clinical trials are not necessarily predictive of future results, 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 our 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 have believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials have 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 with a favorable benefit-risk profile for use in populations for their target indications before we can seek regulatory approvals for their commercial sale. Many drug candidates fail in the early stages of clinical development for safety and tolerability issues or for insufficient clinical activity, despite promising preclinical results. Accordingly, no assurance can be made that a safe and effective dose can be found for these compounds 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 mean that later clinical trials will be successful because product candidates in later-stage clinical trials may fail to demonstrate sufficient safety or efficacy despite having progressed through initial clinical testing. 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 outcomes of patients treated in clinical trials may not be representative of the entire population of treated patients in such studies. In addition, registration trials 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.

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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 top-line, 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.

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 on therapy, there can be no assurance given 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, others, 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 the particular program, the approvability or commercialization of the particular product candidate or product and 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 others, 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 conducting and 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:

obtaining regulatory approval to commence a trial;
reaching agreement on acceptable terms with prospective contract research organizations (“CROs”), and clinical trial sites, the terms of which can be subject to extensive negotiation and may vary significantly among different CROs and trial sites;
obtaining institutional review board (“IRB”), or ethics committee, as applicable, approval at each site;
recruiting a sufficient number of suitable patients to participate in a trial;
clinical sites deviating from trial protocol or dropping out of a trial;
having patients complete a trial or return for post-treatment follow-up;
developing and validating companion diagnostics on a timely basis, if required;
obtaining resolution for any clinical holds that arise from the FDA or any comparable foreign regulatory authority;
adding new clinical trial sites; or
availability of raw materials or manufacturing sufficient quantities of product candidate for use in clinical trials.

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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 monitoring 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.

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:

the severity of the disease under investigation;
the eligibility criteria for the study in question;
the perceived risks and benefits of the product candidate under study;
the efforts to facilitate timely enrollment in clinical trials;
the patient referral practices of physicians;
the number of clinical trials sponsored by other companies for the same patient population;
the ability to monitor patients adequately during and after treatment; and
the proximity and availability of clinical trial sites for prospective patients.

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.

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Russian military action in Europe may impact foreign countries in which we enrolled patients in our clinical trials.

In February 2022, Russia commenced a military invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s invasion and the ensuing response by Ukraine may prevent the FDA from auditing our five clinical sites that enrolled a total of 17 patients in these countries upon review of our BLA for cosibelimab. If we are delayed or not able to obtain regulatory approval, our business may be adversely affected.

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:

regulatory authorities may require the addition of unfavorable labeling statements, including specific warnings, black box warnings, adverse reactions, precautions, and/or contraindications;
regulatory authorities may suspend or withdraw their approval of the product, and/or require it to be removed from the market;
we may be required to change the way the product is administered, conduct additional clinical trials or change the labeling of the product; or
our reputation may suffer.

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.

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.

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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:

restrictions on such products, operations, manufacturers or manufacturing processes;
restrictions on the labeling or marketing of a product;
restrictions on product distribution or use;
requirements to conduct post-marketing studies or clinical trials;
warning letters, untitled letters, import alerts, and/or inspection observations;
withdrawal of the products from the market;
refusal to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications that we submit;
recall of products;
fines, restitution or disgorgement of profits;
suspension or withdrawal of marketing or regulatory approvals;
suspension of any ongoing clinical trials;
refusal to permit the import or export of our products;
product seizure; or
injunctions, consent decrees, and/or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.

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 indications for use 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 new or additional indications for use for an already 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.

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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 practice of medicine or 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.

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:

capital resources;
development resources, including personnel and technology;
clinical trial experience;
regulatory experience;
expertise in prosecution of intellectual property rights; and
manufacturing, distribution and sales and marketing experience.

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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:

the efficacy and safety as demonstrated in clinical trials;
the timing of market introduction of such product candidates as well as competitive products;
the clinical indications for which the drug is approved;
acceptance by physicians, major operators of hospitals and clinics and patients of the product as a safe and effective treatment;
the potential and perceived advantages of product candidates over alternative treatments;