Risk Factors
Unresolved Staff Comments
Properties
Legal Proceedings
Mine Safety Disclosure
Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters And Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Selected Financial Data
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants On Accounting and Financial Disclosure
Controls and Procedures
Other Information
III
Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
Executive Compensation
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
Principal Accounting Fees and Services
Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules
Signatures
Audited Consolidated Financial Statements
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TRADEMARKS AND SERVICE MARKS
We own or have rights to trademarks and trademark applications for use in connection with the operation of our business, including, but not limited to, CASI and CASI PHARMACEUTICALS. All other trademarks appearing in this Annual Report on Form 10-K that are not identified as marks owned by CASI are the property of their respective owners.
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This report contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements also may be included in other statements that we make. All statements that are not descriptions of historical facts are forward-looking statements. These statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “believes,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “will,” “should,” or “anticipates” or similar terminology. These forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding the timing of our commercial launch of products, clinical trials, our cash position and future expenses, and our future revenues.
Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors, including: the risk that we may be unable to continue as a going concern as a result of our inability to raise sufficient capital for our operational needs; the possibility that we may be delisted from trading on The Nasdaq Capital Market if we fail to satisfy applicable continued listing standards, including compliance with the Nasdaq bid price rule ; the volatility in the market price of our common stock; the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on global markets and supply chains; the risk of substantial dilution of existing stockholders in future stock issuances; the difficulty of executing our business strategy on a global basis including China; our inability to enter into strategic partnerships for the development, commercialization, manufacturing and distribution of our proposed product candidates or future candidates; legal or regulatory developments in China that adversely affect our ability to operate in China, our of experience in manufacturing products and uncertainty about our resources and capabilities to do so on a clinical or commercial scale; risks relating to the commercialization, if any, of our products and proposed products (such as marketing, safety, regulatory, patent, product liability, supply, competition and other risks); our to predict when or if our product candidates will be approved for marketing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), European Medicines Agency (EMA), National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), or other regulatory authorities; our to enter into strategic partnerships for the development, commercialization, manufacturing and distribution of our proposed product candidates or future candidates; the risks relating to the need for additional capital and the uncertainty of securing additional funding on terms; the risks associated with our product candidates, and the risks associated with our other early-stage products under development; the risk that result in preclinical and clinical models are not necessarily indicative of clinical results; uncertainties relating to preclinical and clinical trials, including to the commencement of such trials; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights; our ability to design and implement a development plan for our ANDAs held by CASI Wuxi; the of in the clinical development of any of our products; and our dependence on third parties; the risks related to our dependence on Juventas to conduct the clinical development of CNCT19 and to partner with us to co-market CNCT19; risks related to our dependence on Juventas to ensure the patent protection and for CNCT19; risks relating to the commercialization, if any, of our proposed products (such as marketing, safety, regulatory, patent, product liability, supply, competition and other risks); risks relating to interests of our largest stockholders and our Chairman and CEO that differ from our other stockholders; and risks related to the development of a new manufacturing facility by CASI Wuxi. Such factors, among others, could have a material effect upon our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We caution investors that actual results or business conditions may differ materially from those projected or suggested in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors including, but not limited to, those described above and in Section IA, “Risk Factors” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 (this “Annual Report”) and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). We cannot assure you that we have identified all the factors that create uncertainties. Moreover, new risks emerge from time to time and it is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all risks on our business or the extent to which any risk, or combination of risks, may cause actual results to differ from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which only relate to events or information as of the date made. We undertake no obligation to publicly release the result of any revision of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Additional information about the factors and risks that could affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, are contained in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), which are available at www.sec.gov.
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PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS.
CASI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“CASI” or the “Company”, or “we” or “our” ) (Nasdaq: CASI) is a U.S. biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics and pharmaceutical products in China, the United States, and throughout the world. We were incorporated in 1991, and in 2012, with new leadership, we shifted our business strategy to China and has since built an infrastructure in China that includes sales and marketing, medical affairs, regulatory and clinical development and in the foreseeable future, manufacturing. We are focused on acquiring, developing and commercializing products that augment our hematology oncology therapeutic focus as well as other areas of unmet medical need. We are executing our plan to become a biopharmaceutical leader by launching medicines in the greater China market, leveraging our China-based regulatory, clinical and commercial competencies and our global drug development expertise. The majority of our operations are now located in China and are conducted primarily through two of our subsidiaries: (i) CASI Pharmaceuticals (China) Co., Ltd. (“CASI China”), which is wholly owned and is located in Beijing, China, and (ii) CASI Pharmaceuticals (Wuxi) Co., Ltd. (“CASI Wuxi”), which is located in Wuxi, China. Our Beijing office is primarily responsible for our day-to-day operations, and our commercial team of over 100 hematology/oncology sales and marketing specialists is based in China. CASI Wuxi is part of the long-term strategy to support our future clinical and commercial manufacturing needs, to manage our supply chain for certain products, and to develop a GMP manufacturing facility in China.
We launched our first commercial product, EVOMELA ® (Melphalan for Injection) in China in August 2019. In China, EVOMELA ® is approved for use as a conditioning treatment prior to stem cell transplantation and as a palliative treatment for patients with multiple myeloma. The other core hematology/oncology assets in our pipeline include:
CNCT19 is an autologous CD19 CAR-T investigative product (“CNCT19”) being developed by our partner Juventas Cell Therapy Ltd. (“Juventas”) for which we have exclusive World-Wide co-commercial and profit-sharing rights. CNCT19 is being developed as a potential treatment for patients with hematological malignancies which express CD19 including, B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (“B-ALL”) and B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (“B-NHL”). The CNCT19 Phase 1 studies in patients with B-ALL and B-NHL in China have been completed by Juventas, the Phase 2 B-ALL and B-NHL registration studies are both currently enrolling in China since the fourth quarter of 2020.
BI-1206 is an antibody which has a novel mode-of-action, blocking the inhibitory antibody checkpoint receptor FcγRIIB to unlock anti-cancer immunity and enhance the efficacy of antibody-based immunotherapy in both hematological malignancies and solid tumors for which we have licensed exclusive greater China rights from BioInvent International AB (“BioInvent”). BI-1206 is being investigated by BioInvent in a Phase 1/2 trial, in combination with anti-PD1 therapy Keytruda ® (pembrolizumab), in patients with solid tumors, and in a Phase 1/2a trial in combination with MabThera ® (rituximab) in patients with relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). BI-1206 has the potential to restore the activity of rituximab in patients with relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Clinical Trial Application (CTA) was approved by China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in December 2021. We are planning Phase 1 trials of BI-1206 as a single agent to evaluate the PK/safety profile and in combination with rituximab in patients with NHL (mantle cell lymphoma, marginal zone lymphoma, and follicular lymphoma) to assess safety and tolerability, select the Recommended Phase 2 Dose and assess early signs of clinical efficacy as part of our development program for BI-1206 in China. The studies are expected to start in the first half of 2022.
CB-5339 is a novel VCP/p97 inhibitor focused on valosin-containing protein (VCP)/p97 as a novel target in protein homeostasis, DNA damage response and other cellular stress pathways for therapeutic use in the treatment of patients with various malignancies. We entered into an exclusive license on March 21, 2021 with Cleave Therapeutics, Inc. (“Cleave”) for the development and commercialization of CB-5339 in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. CB-5339, an oral second-generation, small molecule VCP/p97 inhibitor, is being evaluated in a Phase 1 clinical trial in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). CB-5339 CTA application for the multiple myeloma indication is in preparation after receiving an acceptance letter for the CB-5339 IND package from the China Center of Drug Evaluation (“CDE”)
CID-103 is a full human IgG1 anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody recognizing a unique epitope that has demonstrated encouraging preclinical efficacy and safety profile compared to other anti-CD38 monoclonal antibodies for which we have exclusive global rights. CID-103 is being developed for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma. The Phase 1
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dose escalation and expansion study of CID-103, in patients with previously treated, relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma is ongoing in France and the UK.
We also have greater China rights to Octreotide (Long Acting Injectable), a standard of care for the treatment of acromegaly and for the control of symptoms associated with certain neuroendocrine tumors; and Thiotepa, a cytotoxic agent which has a long history of established use in the hematology/oncology setting, we have an exclusive China license and distribution rights to a novel formulation of thiotepa, which has multiple indications including use as a conditioning treatment for certain allogeneic haemopoietic stem cell transplants. However, due to the evolving standard of care environment, the rare and niche indication for these products, potential US regulatory action and our commitment to prioritize resources, we are currently evaluating our potential opportunities for these products. In addition, our assets include six FDA-approved ANDAs which we are evaluating due to generic drug pricing reforms by the Chinese government and its impact on the pricing and competitiveness of these products.
CASI has built a fully integrated, world class biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the successful development and commercialization of innovative and other therapeutic products. Our business development strategy is currently focused on acquiring additional targeted drugs and immuno-oncology therapeutics through licensing that will expand our hematology/oncology franchise. We use a market-oriented approach to identify pharmaceutical/biotechnology candidates that we believe to have the potential for gaining widespread market acceptance, either globally or in China, and for which development can be accelerated under our global drug development strategy. In many cases our business development strategy includes direct equity investments in the licensor company. We intend for our pipeline to reflect a diversified and risk-balanced set of assets that include (1) late-stage clinical drug candidates in-licensed for China or global regional rights, (2) proprietary or licensed innovative drug candidates, and (3) select high quality pharmaceuticals that fit our therapeutic focus. We have focused on US/EU approved product candidates, and product candidates with proven targets or product candidates that have reduced clinical risk with a greater emphasis on innovative therapeutics. Although oncology with a focus on hematological malignancies is our principal clinical and commercial target, we are about other therapeutic areas that can address unmet medical needs. We will continue to pursue building a robust pipeline of drug candidates for development and commercialization in China as our primary market, and if rights are available for the rest of the world.
We believe our China operations offer a significant market and growth potential due to the extraordinary increase in demand for high quality medicines coupled with regulatory reforms in China that facilitate the entry of new pharmaceutical products into the country. We will continue to in-license clinical-stage and late-stage drug candidates, and leverage our cross-border operations and expertise, and hope to be the partner of choice to provide access to the China market. We expect the implementation of our plans will include leveraging our resources and expertise in both the U.S. and China so that we can maximize regulatory, development and clinical strategies in both countries.
Our commercial product, EVOMELA ® , was originally licensed from Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Spectrum”) and we had a supply agreement with Spectrum to support our application for import drug registration and for commercialization purposes. Spectrum completed the sale of its portfolio of FDA-approved hematology/oncology products including EVOMELA ® to Acrotech Biopharma L.L.C. (“Acrotech”) on March 1, 2019. The original supply agreement with Spectrum was assumed by Acrotech; Spectrum agreed to continue with a short-term supply agreement for EVOMELA ® for the initial commercial product supply in connection with the launch, with the long-term supply assumed by Acrotech.
As part of the long-term strategy to support its future clinical and commercial manufacturing needs and to manage its supply chain for certain products, on December 26, 2018, the Company, together with Wuxi Jintou Huicun Investment Enterprise, a limited partnership organized under Chinese law (“Wuxi LP”) established CASI Pharmaceuticals (WUXI) Co., Ltd. (“CASI Wuxi”) to build and operate a GMP manufacturing facility in the Wuxi Huishan Economic Development Zone in Jiangsu Province, China.
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CORE PRODUCT AND CANDIDATES IN HEMATOLOGY/ONCOLOGY
EVOMELA ® (Melphalan for Injection) - Launched In China
EVOMELA ® (Melphalan for Injection) is an intravenous formulation of melphalan commercialized by Acrotech (formally by Spectrum) in the multiple myeloma treatment setting in the United States, of which we have exclusive greater China rights. The EVOMELA ® formulation avoids the use of propylene glycol, which is used as a co-solvent in other formulations of injectable melphalan. The use of Captisol in the EVOMELA ® formulation improves the melphalan stability when reconstituted, allowing for longer preparation and infusion times. In August 2019, CASI launched EVOMELA ® in China as its first commercial product. The NMPA required post-marketing study has completed and the clinical study report is being finalized for regulatory submission.
CNCT19 (CD19 CAR-T) .
In June 2019, the Company acquired worldwide license and commercialization rights to CNCT19 from Juventas, a China-based domestic company engaged in cell therapy. Juventas continues to be responsible for the clinical development and regulatory submission and maintenance of CNCT19 regulatory applications and CASI is responsible for the launch and commercial activities of CNCT19 under the direction of a joint steering committee. Subsequently, the worldwide license and commercialization rights to CNCT19 acquired in June 2019 were amended.
CNCT19 is an autologous CD19 CAR-T investigative product (CNCT19) being developed by our partner Juventas for which we have co-commercial and profit-sharing rights. CNCT19 targets CD19, a B-cell surface protein widely expressed during all phases of B-cell development and a validated target for B-cell driven hematological malignancies. CD19 targeted CAR constructs from several different institutions have demonstrated consistently high antitumor efficacy in children and adults with relapsed B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL).
CNCT19 is being developed as a potential treatment for patients with hematological malignancies which express CD19 including, B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (“B-ALL”) and B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (“B-NHL”). The CNCT19 Phase 1 studies in patients with B-ALL and B-NHL in China have been completed by Juventas, with the Phase 2 B-NHL and B-ALL registration studies both currently enrolling in China since the fourth quarter of 2020.
BI-1206 (anti-FcyRIIB antibody)
BI-1206 is an antibody which has a novel mode-of-action, blocking the inhibitory antibody checkpoint receptor FcγRIIB to unlock anti-cancer immunity and enhance the efficacy of antibody-based immunotherapy in both hematological malignancies and solid tumors for which we have licensed exclusive greater China rights. BI-1206 was added to our portfolio in October 2020 pursuant to a license agreement with our partner, BioInvent International AB (“BioInvent”). BI-1206 is being investigated by BioInvent in a Phase 1/2 trial, in combination with anti-PD1 therapy Keytruda ® (pembrolizumab), in patients with solid tumors, and in a Phase 1/2a trial in combination with MabThera ® (rituximab) in patients with relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). BI-1206 has the potential to restore the activity of rituximab in patients with relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Clinical Trial Application (CTA) was approved by China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in December 2021. The Company is planning Phase 1 trials of BI-1206 as a single agent to evaluate the PK/safety profile and in combination with rituximab in patients with NHL (mantle cell lymphoma, marginal zone lymphoma, and follicular lymphoma) to assess safety and tolerability, select the Recommended Phase 2 Dose and assess early signs of clinical efficacy as part of its development program for BI-1206 in China. The studies are expected to start in the first half of 2022.
CB- 5339 (VCP/p97inhibitor)
CB-5339 is a novel VCP/p97 inhibitor focused on valosin-containing protein (VCP)/p97 as a novel target in protein homeostasis, DNA damage response and other cellular stress pathways for therapeutic use in the treatment of patients with cancer. The Company entered into an exclusive license on March 21, 2021 with Cleave Therapeutics, Inc. (Cleave”) for the development and commercialization of CB-5339 in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. CB-5339, an oral second-generation, small molecule VCP/p97 inhibitor, is being evaluated in a Phase 1 clinical trial in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). CB-5339 CTA application for the multiple myeloma indication is in preparation after receiving an acceptance letter for the CB-5339 IND package from the China CDE.
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CID 103 (anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody)
CID-103 is a full human IgG1 anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody recognizing a unique epitope that has demonstrated encouraging preclinical efficacy and safety profile compared to other anti-CD38 monoclonal antibodies for which the Company has exclusive global rights. CID-103 is being developed for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma. The Phase 1 dose escalation and expansion study of CID-103, in patients with previously treated, relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma is ongoing in the UK and France.
OTHER MISCELLANEOUS ASSETS
The Company also has greater China rights to Octreotide LAI, a standard of care for the treatment of acromegaly and for the control of symptoms associated with certain neuroendocrine tumors, and Thiotepa, a cytotoxic agent which has a long history of established use in the hematology/oncology setting, the Company has an exclusive China license and distribution rights to a novel formulation of thiotepa, which has multiple indications including use as a conditioning treatment for certain allogeneic haemopoietic stem cell transplants. However, due to the evolving standard of care environment, the rare and niche indication for these products, potential US regulatory action and the Company’s commitment to prioritize resources, the Company is currently evaluating its options for these products. In addition, the Company’s assets include six FDA-approved ANDAs which the Company is evaluating due to generic drug pricing reforms by the Chinese government and its impact on the pricing and competitiveness of these products.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
CASI has built a fully integrated, world class biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the successful development and commercialization of innovative and other therapeutic products.
Our business development strategy is currently focused on acquiring additional targeted drugs and immuno-oncology therapeutics through licensing that will expand our hematology/oncology franchise. We use a market-oriented approach to identify pharmaceutical/biotechnology candidates that we believe to have the potential for gaining widespread market acceptance, either globally or in China, and for which development can be accelerated under our global drug development strategy. In many cases our business development strategy includes direct equity investments in the licensor company. We intend for our pipeline to reflect a diversified and risk-balanced set of assets that include (1) late-stage clinical drug candidates in-licensed for China or global regional rights, (2) proprietary or licensed innovative drug candidates, and (3) select high quality pharmaceuticals that fit our therapeutic focus. We have focused on US/EU approved product candidates, and product candidates with proven targets or product candidates that have reduced clinical risk with a greater emphasis on innovative therapeutics. Although oncology with a focus on hematological malignancies is our principal clinical and commercial target, we are opportunistic about other therapeutic areas that can address unmet medical needs. We will continue to pursue building a robust pipeline of drug candidates for development and commercialization in China as our primary market, and, if rights are available, for the rest of the world.
CASI PHARMACEUTICALS (CHINA) CO., LTD. (“CASI China”)
In August 2012, we established a wholly-owned China-based subsidiary CASI Pharmaceuticals (China) Co., Ltd.. (“CASI China”). CASI China is headquartered in Beijing, and in 2020, we established an office in Shanghai. CASI China’s staff currently consists of 168 full-time employees which includes our commercial team of over 100 hematology and oncology sales and marketing specialists based in China. Among its activities, our China operations oversee the Company’s sales and marketing of EVOMELA ® and the anticipated commercial activities of our pipeline products, technology transfer, local preclinical and clinical operation activities, as well as its NMPA regulatory activities. In addition, our Beijing operations include business development activities and executive management activities. Global management decisions are primarily being made out of CASI China where our executive team spends a significant amount of time. We expect our operations in China to continue to grow.
CASI PHARMACEUTICALS (WUXI) CO., LTD. (“CASI Wuxi”)
On December 26, 2018, the Company, together with Wuxi LP established CASI Wuxi to build and operate a GMP manufacturing facility in the Wuxi Huishan Economic Development Zone in Jiangsu Province, China. The Company controls CASI Wuxi through 80% voting and ownership rights. Accordingly, the financial statements of CASI Wuxi have been consolidated in the Company’s consolidated financial statements since its inception.
In November 2019, CASI Wuxi entered into a fifty-year lease agreement for the right to use state-owned land in China for the construction of a GMP manufacturing facility. Pursuant to the agreement, CASI Wuxi has committed to invest land use right and
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property, plant and equipment of RMB1 billion (equivalent to $143 million) by August 2022. In April 2020, CASI Wuxi received RMB 15.9 million (equivalent to $2.2 million) from the Jiangsu Province Wuxi Huishan Economic Development Zone as government grant for this development project which was recorded as deferred income in April 2020. In November 2021, CASI Wuxi received an additional RMB 3.0 million (equivalent to $0.5 million) from the Jiangsu Province Wuxi Huishan Economic Development Zone as a government grant for this development project which was recorded as deferred income in November 2021.
In 2020, for the design and construction work of the land, CASI Wuxi entered into several contracts for RMB 76.1 million ($12.0 million) to complete the phase 1 project of CASI Wuxi's research and development production base, the project was the estimated to be completed in October 2023. In February 2022, CASI Wuxi has reached an alignment with the Wuxi local government that it will collaborate with Wuxi LP to co-develop the land continuously in the future, and the development plan will be extended, details regarding the plan are under negotiation.
Also in 2020, CASI Wuxi entered in to a lease agreement with local government for a manufactory building next to the leased land. Since then, the Company entered into a series of contracts for the remodeling and installation work of the building and warehouse, as well as purchase of equipments. The total contract amount entered into for this building is approximately RMB 92.9 million ($14.6 million).
RELATIONSHIPS RELATING TO PROGRAMS
EVOMELA ® (Melphalan Hydrochloride For Injection)
The Company has product rights and perpetual exclusive licenses from Acrotech Biopharma L.L.C. (“Acrotech”) to develop and commercialize its commercial product EVOMELA ® (Melphalan Hydrochloride For Injection) in the greater China region (which includes Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau). The exclusive licenses held by the Company were originally licensed from Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, and Spectrum completed the sale of its portfolio of FDA-approved hematology/oncology products including EVOMELA® to Acrotech on March 1, 2019. On December 3, 2018, the Company received NMPA’s approval for importation, marketing and sales in China and in August 2019 the Company launched EVOMELA ® in China. The NMPA required post-marketing study has completed and the clinical study report is being finalized for regulatory submission.
The Company has established relationships, coupled with supply agreements, to secure the necessary resources to supply the EVOMELA ® commercial drug product as well as any clinical trials materials required for our clinical development program. As an import drug product into China, we expect that the future supply of EVOMELA ® will continue to be met by our partner Acrotech and its contract manufacturers.
In March 2019, the Company entered into a three-year exclusive distribution agreement with China Resources Pharmaceutical Commercial Group International Trading Co., Ltd. (“CRPCGIT”) to appoint CRPCGIT on an exclusive basis as its distributor to distribute EVOMELA ® in the territory of the People’s Republic of China (excluding Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau), subject to certain terms and conditions. The Company’s internal marketing and sales team are responsible for commercial activities, including, for example, direct interaction with Key Opinion Leaders (KOL), physicians, hospital centers and the generation of sales. The agreement was renewed in March 2022 for another two years.
CNCT19 (CAR-T CD19)
In June 2019, the Company entered into a license agreement for exclusive worldwide license to commercialize an autologous anti-CD19 T-cell therapy product (CNCT19) from Juventas (the “Juventas license agreement”). Juventas is a privated China-based company engaged in cell therapy. Upon completion of the financing, our investment in Juventas represented a 16.327% equity interest on a fully diluted basis.
In September 2020, Juventas and its shareholders (including CASI Biopharmaceuticals (WUXI) Co., Ltd. ("CASI Biopharmaceuticals”), a majority indirectly-owned subsidiary of us) agreed to certain terms and conditions required by a new third-party investor to facilitate the Series B financing of Juventas, pursuant to which the Company agreed to amend and supplement the original licensing agreement (the "Supplementary Agreement") by agreeing to pay Juventas certain percentage of net profits generated from commercial sales of CNCT19 in addition to the royalty fee payment calculated as a percentage of net sales. The Supplementary Agreement also specifies a minimum annual target net profit to be distributed to Juventas and certain other terms and obligations. In return, the Company obtained additional equity interests in Juventas.
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Under the Supplementary Agreement, Juventas and the Company will jointly market CNCT19, including, but not limited to, establishing medical teams, developing medical strategies, conducting post-marketing clinical studies, establishing Standardized Cell Therapy Centers, establishing and training providers with respect to cell therapy, testing for cell therapy, and monitoring quality controls (cell collection and transfusion, etc.), and patient management (adverse reactions treatment, patients’ follow-up visits, and establishment of a database). The Company also will reimburse Juventas for a portion of Juventas’ marketing expenses as reviewed and approved by a joint commercial committee to be constituted. The Company will continue to be responsible for recruiting and establishing a sales team to commercialize CNCT19.
On October 26, 2021, Juventas completed its Series C financing. Upon the completion of Juventas Series C financing, the Company’s equity ownership in Juventas decreased to 12.01% on a fully diluted basis, with the total fair value of the equity interest amounted to RMB 206 million ($32.3 million).
BI-1206 ( anti-FcyRIIB antibody )
In October 2020, the Company entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with BioInvent International AB (“BioInvent”) for the development and commercialization of novel anti-FcγRIIB antibody, BI-1206, in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. BioInvent is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of first-in-class immune-modulatory antibodies for cancer immunotherapy. BI-1206 is being investigated in a Phase 1/2 trial, in combination with anti-PD1 therapy Keytruda ® (pembrolizumab), in patients with solid tumors, and in a Phase 1/2a trial in combination with MabThera ® (rituximab) in patients with relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Clinical Trial Application (CTA) was approved by NMPA in December 2021. The Company is planning Phase 1 trials of BI-1206 as a single agent to evaluate the PK/safety profile and in combination with rituximab in patients with NHL (mantle cell lymphoma, marginal zone lymphoma, and follicular lymphoma) to assess safety and tolerability, select the Recommended Phase 2 Dose and assess potential evidence of clinical efficacy as part of its development program for BI-1206 in China. The studies are expected to start in the first half of 2022.
Under the terms of the agreement, BioInvent and CASI will develop BI-1206 in both hematological malignancies and solid tumors, with CASI responsible for commercialization in China and associated markets. CASI made a $5.9 million upfront payment in November 2020 to BioInvent and will pay up to $83 million in development and commercial milestone payments plus tiered royalties in the high-single to mid-double-digit range on net sales of BI-1206.
In conjunction with its license agreement entered into with BioInvent, CASI made a SEK 53.8 million investment (equivalent to $6.3 million) in 1.2 million new shares of BioInvent, and 14,700,000 new warrants, each warrant with a right to subscribe for 0.04 new shares in BioInvent within a period of five years and at a subscription price of SEK 78.50 per share.
As an import drug product into China, we expect that future supply of BI-1206 will be met by our partner BioInvent and its contract manufacturers. For local development in China, we expect that our clinical materials and commercial inventory will be supplied by one or more contract manufacturers.
CB- 5339 (VCP/p97inhibitor)
In March 2021, the Company entered into an exclusive license with Cleave Therapeutics, Inc. (“Cleave”) for the development and commercialization of CB-5339, an oral novel VCP/p97 inhibitor, in both hematological malignancies and solid tumors, in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Cleave is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on valosin-containing protein (VCP)/p97 as a novel target in protein homeostasis, DNA damage response and other cellular stress pathways for therapeutic use in the treatment of patients with cancer.
CB-5339 is being evaluated by Cleave in a Phase 1 clinical trial in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Under the terms of the agreement, CASI is responsible for development and commercialization in China and associated markets. Cleave received a $5.5 million upfront payment and is eligible to receive up to $74 million in development and commercial milestone payments plus tiered royalties in the high-single to mid-double-digit range on net sales of CB-5339. In conjunction with the license agreement, CASI made a $5.5 million investment in Cleave through a convertible note.
As an import drug product into China, we expect that future supply of CB-5339 will be met by our partner Cleave and its contract manufacturers. For local development in China, we expect that our clinical materials and commercial inventory will be supplied by one or more contract manufacturers.
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CID-103 (anti-CD38 Monoclonal Antibody)
In April 2019, the Company entered into a license agreement with a newly established, privately held UK Company Black Belt Therapeutics Limited (“Black Belt”) for exclusive worldwide rights to CID-103, an investigational anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody (Mab) (formerly known as TSK011010). In conjunction with the license agreement, CASI invested 2 million euros in Black Belt.
The Company expects that its clinical materials and commercial inventory will be supplied by one or more contract manufacturers with whom the Company has contracted with. Under the terms of the agreement, CASI obtained global rights to CID-103 for an upfront payment of 5 million euros ($5.7 million) as well as certain milestone and royalty payments. In June 2021, the Company achieved the First-Patient-In (FPI) in the Phase 1 dose escalation and expansion study of CID-103, and made $750,000 milestone payment in June 2021 and €250,000 ($305,000) payment in August 2021 under the terms of the agreement.
Thiotepa
In August 2019, the Company entered into an Exclusive License and Distribution Agreement with Riemser Pharma GmbH (“Riemser”), pursuant to which we obtained exclusive distribution rights for Thiotepa in China. Under the agreement, Riemser will be responsible for manufacturing and supplying CASI with clinical trials materials and commercial drug product, and costs of clinical trials (if any) for the registration, product launch and commercialization of Thiotepa in China. In January 2020, Riemser was acquired by Esteve Healthcare, S.L. (“ESTEVE”), an international pharmaceutical company headquartered in Barcelona.
Octreotide LAI
In October 2019, the Company entered into an exclusive distribution agreement with Pharmathen Global BV ("Pharmathen") for the development and distribution of Octreotide LAI microsphere in China. Octreotide LAI formulations, which are approved in various European countries, are considered a standard of care for the treatment of acromegaly and the control of symptoms associated with certain neuroendocrine tumors. Octreotide LAI’s ANDA review is pending due to CDE’s sterilization requirement is different from European standard. CASI is now working with licensor Pharmathen to improve the sterilization process in order to meeting CDE’s requirement.
The terms of the agreement include an upfront payment of 1 million euros which was paid by the Company in 2019, and up to 2 million euros of additional milestone payments, of which 1.5 million euros ($1.7 million) was expensed in the year ended December 31, 2020 as acquired in-process research and development following Pharmathen’s achievement of certain milestones. CASI is responsible for the development, import drug registration, product approval and commercialization in China. CASI has a 10-year non-royalty exclusive distribution period after the product launch at agreed supply costs for the first three years.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
We generally seek patent protection for our technology and product candidates in the United States, Canada, China and other key markets. The patent position of biopharmaceutical companies generally is highly uncertain and involves complex legal and factual questions. Our success will depend, in part, on whether we can: (i) obtain patents to protect our own products; (ii) obtain licenses to use the technologies of third parties, which may be protected by patents; (iii) protect our trade secrets and know-how; and (iv) operate without infringing the intellectual property and proprietary rights of others.
With regards to our commercial drug EVOMELA ® licensed for greater China rights from our partner, we have acquired exclusive licenses to intellectual property to enable us to develop and continue to commercialize EVOMELA ® in China.
With regards to CNCT19, we have acquired an exclusive license to intellectual property from our partner Juventas to enable us to co-commercialize CNCT19 in China and well as the rest of the world. Juventas is responsible for prosecuting and maintaining the licensed intellectual property.
With regards to BI-1206, we have acquired an exclusive license to intellectual property and the know-how from our partner BioInvent to enable us to develop and commercialize BI-1206 in our greater China commercial markets. BioInvent is responsible for prosecuting and maintaining the licensed BioInvent intellectual property.
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With regards to CB-5339, we have acquired an exclusive license to intellectual property and the know-how from our partner Cleave to enable us to develop and commercialize CB-5339 in our greater China commercial markets. Cleave is responsible for prosecuting and maintaining the licensed Cleave intellectual property.
With regards to our in-licensed anti-CD38 antibody candidate CID-103, we have acquired an exclusive worldwide license to patents around CID-103 and other anti-CD38 antibodies, covering multiple pending applications worldwide, directed to the antibodies themselves and treatment methods using the antibodies. We have since filed additional applications, with current pending applications including U.S., Australia, Canada, China, Europe, India, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong. We intend to further expand our patent portfolio and in the submission stage of additional applications. The patent term for any patents granted from the earliest of these pending applications will expire in June 2038, assuming all annuities are paid and not considering any term extensions for regulatory approval that might be available.
With regards to our drug candidates Thiotepa and Octreotide LAI, we have acquired exclusive licenses to intellectual property and/or the know-how to enable us to develop and commercialize the drug candidates in the China market.
The Company holds certain intellectual property in connection with a proprietary aurora kinase inhibitor that we no longer devote resources to. Our intellectual property for this asset remains available for business development partnering.
We currently own a number of registered trademarks and pending trademark applications for CASI, including our corporate logo and product name in the United States, China and other jurisdictions, and we are seeking further trademark protection for CASI, including our corporate logo, product name, and other marks in jurisdictions where available and appropriate.
We review and assess our portfolio on a regular basis to secure protection and to align our intellectual property strategy with our overall business strategy.
GOVERNMENT REGULATION
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Our research, development, testing, manufacture, labeling, sale, marketing, advertising, and distribution of therapeutics in the United States, China and other countries are subject to extensive regulations by federal, state, local and foreign governmental authorities.
In the United States, the FDA regulates the development and commercialization of drugs and biologics. Drugs are subject to regulation under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), and biological products, in addition to being subject to certain provisions of the FFDCA, are regulated under the Public Health Service Act (PHSA). We believe that the FDA will regulate the products currently being developed by us or our collaborators as drugs or biologics. Both the FFDCA and PHSA and corresponding regulations govern, among other things, the testing, manufacturing, safety, efficacy, labeling, storage, recordkeeping, advertising and other promotion of biologics and drugs, as the case may be.
From time to time, legislation is drafted, introduced and passed in Congress that could significantly change the statutory provisions governing the approval, manufacturing and marketing of products regulated by the FDA. In addition to new legislation, FDA regulations and policies are often revised or reinterpreted by the agency in ways that may significantly affect our business and our product candidates or any future product candidates we may develop. It is impossible to predict whether further legislative or FDA regulation or policy changes will be enacted or implemented and what the impact of such changes, if any, may be.
Preparing drug and biologic candidates for regulatory approval is a costly and time-consuming process. Generally, a developer first must conduct preclinical studies in the laboratory and in animal model systems in accordance with applicable FDA requirements, including Good Laboratory Practice regulations, to gain preliminary information on an agent’s effectiveness and to identify any safety problems. The results of these studies, together with manufacturing information and analytical data as well as protocols and detailed descriptions for proposed clinical investigations, are submitted to FDA as a part of an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) for a drug or biologic, which must become effective before human clinical trials of an investigational drug can begin. An IND application will automatically become effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA, unless before that time the FDA raises concerns or questions about issues, such as the conduct of the clinical trials as outlined in the IND application, and places the clinical trial(s) on a clinical hold. In such a case, the IND application sponsor and the FDA must any outstanding FDA or before clinical trials can proceed. We cannot be certain that submission of an IND application will result in the FDA allowing clinical trials to begin.
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We or our collaborators must then conduct adequate and well-controlled clinical trials, in accordance with applicable IND regulations, Good Clinical Practices (“GCPs”), and other clinical-trial related regulations, to establish the safety and efficacy of the candidate for each proposed indication We or our collaborators will be required to select qualified investigators (usually physicians within medical institutions) to supervise the administration of the products, test or otherwise assess patient results, and collect and maintain patient data; monitor the investigations to ensure that they are conducted in accordance with applicable requirements, including the requirements set forth in the general investigational plan and protocols contained in the IND; and comply with applicable reporting and recordkeeping requirements. The study protocol and informed consent information for study subjects in clinical trials must also be approved by an institutional review board (“IRB”) for each institution where the trials will be conducted before the trial can begin, and each IRB must monitor the study until completion. Study subjects must provide informed consent and sign an informed consent form before participating in a clinical trial.
Clinical trials of drugs or biologics are normally done in three phases, although the phases may overlap or be combined. Phase 1 trials usually involve the initial introduction of the investigational candidate into humans to evaluate its short-term safety, dosage tolerance, metabolism, pharmacokinetics and pharmacologic actions, and, if possible, to gain an early indication of its effectiveness. Phase 2 trials normally involve trials in a limited patient population to evaluate dosage tolerance and appropriate dosage, identify possible adverse effects and safety risks, and evaluate preliminarily the efficacy of the candidate for specific target indications. Phase 3 trials are expanded clinical trials with larger numbers of patients which are intended to evaluate the overall benefit-risk relationship of the drug and to gather additional information for proper dosage and labeling of the drug. Phase 3 clinical trials may take several years to complete. Annual progress reports detailing the results of the clinical studies must be submitted to the FDA and IND safety reports must be submitted to the FDA and investigators within 15 calendar days for serious and unexpected adverse events, any findings from other studies, tests in laboratory animals or in vitro testing that suggest a significant risk for human subjects, or any clinically important increase in the rate of a reaction over that listed in the protocol or investigator brochure. We or our , the FDA, or an IRB (with respect to a particular study site) may or clinical trials at any time on various grounds, including a finding that the subjects or patients are being to an health risk.
Post-approval trials, sometimes referred to as Phase 4 clinical trials, may be conducted after receiving initial marketing approval. These trials are used to gain additional experience from the treatment of patients in the intended therapeutic indication and are commonly intended to generate additional safety data regarding use of the product in a clinical setting. In certain instances, the FDA may mandate the performance of Phase 4 clinical trials as a condition of approval of the product or, in certain circumstances, post-approval.
The FDA has various programs, including fast track designation, breakthrough therapy designation, priority review, accelerated approval, and, for regenerative medicine therapies, regenerative medicine advanced therapy designation, which are intended to expedite or simplify the process for the development, and FDA’s review, of drugs and biologics (e.g., granting approval on the basis of surrogate endpoints subject to post-approval trials). Generally, drugs or biologics that may be eligible for one or more of these programs are those intended to treat serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions, those with the potential to address unmet medical needs for those disease or conditions, and/or those that provide a meaningful benefit over existing treatments. Moreover, if a sponsor submits a marketing application for a product intended to treat certain rare pediatric or tropical diseases or for use as a medical countermeasure for a material threat, and that meets other eligibility criteria, upon approval such sponsor may be granted a priority review voucher that can be used for a subsequent application. Even if a product qualifies for one or more of these programs, the FDA may later decide that the product no longer meets the conditions for qualification or decide that the time period for FDA review or approval will not be shortened. Furthermore, these programs do not change the standards for approval and may not ultimately expedite the development or approval process.
If clinical trials of a product candidate are completed successfully, the sponsor of the product may seek FDA marketing approval. If the product is classified as a new drug, an applicant must file a New Drug Application (NDA). For biological products, an applicant must file a Biologics License Application (BLA). In each case, FDA must approve the application before the product can be marketed commercially. NDAs and BLAs must include, among other things, detailed information about the product’s chemistry, manufacture, controls, and proposed labeling and the results of preclinical studies and clinical trials. To support marketing approval, the data submitted must be sufficient in quality and quantity to establish the safety and efficacy of a drug, and safety, purity, and potency of a biologic, to the satisfaction of the FDA. A user fee must be paid with the submission of an NDA or BLA (unless a fee waiver applies) in order to support the cost of agency review, which is currently almost $3 million. FDA usually will inspect the facility or the facilities at which the drug is manufactured and will not approve the product unless the manufacturing and production and testing facilities are in compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) regulations. In addition, FDA may also inspect clinical trial sites that generated data for the NDA or BLA as well as us or our collaborators as a clinical trial sponsor.
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The testing and approval processes require substantial time and effort, and there can be no assurance that FDA will accept the application for filing or that any approval will be obtained on a timely basis, if at all. Under the goals and policies agreed to by the FDA under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, the FDA has ten months from the 60 day filing date in which to complete its initial review of a standard application and respond to the applicant. However, the time required by the FDA to review and approve NDAs and BLAs is variable and, to a large extent, beyond our control. Notwithstanding the submission of relevant data, the FDA may ultimately decide that an NDA or BLA does not satisfy its regulatory criteria and deny the approval. In such instance, FDA will issue a Complete Response Letter, describing all the deficiencies that the FDA has identified in an application that must be satisfactorily addressed before it can be approved. A Complete Response Letter may require additional clinical data and/or an additional pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial(s), and/or other significant, expensive and time-consuming requirements related to clinical trials, preclinical studies or manufacturing. Further, even if such additional information is submitted, the FDA may ultimately decide that the application does not satisfy the criteria for approval. The FDA may also refer the application to an appropriate advisory committee, typically a panel of clinicians, for review, evaluation and a recommendation as to whether the application should be approved. The FDA is not bound by the recommendations of the advisory committee, but the Agency historically has tended to follow such recommendations. In addition, the FDA may condition marketing approval on the conduct of specific post-marketing studies to further evaluate safety and effectiveness or a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) that may include both special labeling and controls, known as Elements to Safe Use, on the distribution, prescribing, dispensing and use of a drug product. After approval is obtained, a marketed product is subject to continuing regulatory requirements and review relating to cGMP, event reporting, promotion and advertising, and other matters. The FDA strictly regulates labeling, advertising, promotion and other types of information on products that are placed on the market. Products may be promoted only for the approved indications and consistent with the provisions of the approved label. Discovery of previously unknown or to comply with the applicable regulatory requirements may result in restrictions on the marketing of a product, mandated labeling changes, or withdrawal of the product from the market, as well as possible civil or sanctions.
Drugs and biological products may be eligible to receive certain regulatory exclusivities upon approval. For example, a drug that constitutes a new chemical entity (i.e., an active moiety that has not been previously approved in another NDA) is entitled to five years of exclusivity during which FDA may not accept an ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA for filing referencing such chemical entity, unless a “Paragraph IV certification” is made in which case FDA may accept such applications four years after initial approval of the new chemical entity. In addition, three years of exclusivity can be awarded for applications (including supplements) containing the results of new clinical investigations (other than bioavailability studies) conducted by the applicant and essential to the FDA’s approval of new versions or conditions of use of previously approved drug products, such as new indications, delivery mechanisms, dosage forms, strengths, or other conditions of use. A reference biological product is granted twelve years of data exclusivity from the time of first licensure of the product, and the FDA will not accept an application for a biosimilar or interchangeable product based on the reference biological product until four years after the date of first licensure of the reference product. Moreover, a drug or biologic may receive orphan drug designation if intended to treat a rare disease or condition, which is generally a disease or condition that affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States, or more than 200,000 individuals in the United States and for which there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making the product available in the United States for this type of disease or condition will be recovered from sales of the product in the United States. If a product that has orphan designation subsequently receives the first FDA approval for the disease or condition for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to orphan drug , which restricts FDA from approving any other applications to market the same drug for the same indication for seven years from the date of such approval, except in limited circumstances, such as a showing of clinical superiority to the product with orphan by means of effectiveness, safety, by providing a major contribution to patient care, or in instances of an to drug supply.
FDA may approve generic drugs and biological products through abbreviated pathways. Generic drugs may be marketed upon approval of an ANDA, which contains information to show that the proposed product is identical in active ingredient, dosage form, strength, route of administration, labeling, quality, performance characteristics, and intended use, among other things, to a previously approved drug. Approval is generally supported by data from bioequivalence studies, rather than complete preclinical and clinical studies. Biological products that are biosimilar to or interchangeable with an FDA-licensed reference biological product are eligible for an abbreviated approval pathway. Although licensure of biosimilar or interchangeable products is generally expected to require less than the full complement of product-specific preclinical and clinical data required for reference products, the FDA has considerable discretion over the kind and amount of scientific evidence required to demonstrate biosimilarity and interchangeability. Under section 610 of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, entitled “Actions for Delays of Generic Drugs and Biological Products”, generic drug and biosimilar developers may sue brand manufacturers, or generic or biosimilar manufacturers, to obtain sufficient quantities of reference product necessary for approval of the developers’ generic or biosimilar product. If a generic drug or biosimilar developer is successful in its suit, the manufacturer would be required to provide sufficient quantities of product on commercially-reasonable, market-based terms and may be required to pay the developer’s reasonable attorney’s fees and costs as well as financial compensation under certain circumstances. While intended to facilitate the timely entry of lower-cost generic and biosimilar products,
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we cannot determine what effect this new private right of action may have on the development and approval of generic drug and biosimilar products at this time.
The Generic Drug Enforcement Act of 1992 establishes penalties for wrongdoing in connection with the development or submission of an application. In general, the FDA is authorized to temporarily or permanently bar companies and individuals, from submitting or assisting in the submission of applications to FDA, and to temporarily deny approval and suspend applications to market drugs under certain circumstances. FDA’s debarment authority has also been expanded to apply to certain import-related offenses. In addition to debarment, the FDA has numerous enforcement and disciplinary powers, including the authority to withdraw approval of an application or to approve an application under certain circumstances, to suspend the distribution of all drugs approved or developed in connection with certain wrongful conduct, and various civil and criminal penalties. The FDA may also withdraw product approval or take other corrective measures if, among other things, ongoing regulatory requirements are not met or if safety or efficacy are raised after the product reaches the market.
Manufacturers and other entities involved in the manufacturing and distribution of approved products are required to register their establishments with the FDA and certain state agencies, and are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and certain state agencies for compliance with cGMP and other laws. The cGMP requirements apply to all stages of the manufacturing process, including the production, processing, sterilization, packaging, labeling, storage and shipment of the product. Manufacturers must establish validated systems to ensure that products meet specifications and regulatory requirements, and test each product batch or lot prior to its release. We rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties for the production of clinical quantities of our product candidates and any future product candidates we may develop. Future FDA and state inspections may identify compliance issues at the facilities of our contract manufacturers that may disrupt production or distribution or may require substantial resources to correct.
Healthcare Regulation
Federal and state healthcare laws in the United States, including fraud and abuse and health information privacy and security laws, also apply to our business. If we fail to comply with those laws, we could face substantial penalties and our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects could be adversely affected. The laws that may affect our ability to operate include, but are not limited to: the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits, among other things, soliciting, receiving, offering or paying remuneration, directly or indirectly, to induce, or in return for, the purchase or recommendation of an item or service reimbursable under a federal healthcare program, such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs; and federal civil and criminal false claims laws and civil monetary penalty laws, which prohibit, among other things, individuals or entities from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, for payment from Medicare, Medicaid, or other third-party payers that are or . Additionally, we are subject to state law equivalents of each of the above federal laws, which may be broader in scope and apply regardless of whether the payer is a federal healthcare program, and many of which differ from each other in significant ways and may not have the same effect, further compliance efforts.
Numerous federal and state laws, including state security breach notification laws, state health information privacy laws and federal and state consumer protection laws, govern the collection, use and disclosure of personal information. Other countries also have, or are developing, laws governing the collection, use and transmission of personal information. In addition, most healthcare providers who are expected to prescribe our products and from whom we obtain patient health information, are subject to privacy and security requirements under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended by the Health Information Technology and Clinical Health Act (HIPAA). Although we are not directly subject to HIPAA, we could be subject to criminal penalties if we obtain and/or disclose individually identifiable health information from a HIPAA-covered entity, including healthcare providers, in a manner that is not authorized or permitted by HIPAA. The legislative and regulatory landscape for privacy and data protection continues to evolve, and there has been an increasing amount of focus on privacy and data protection issues with the potential to affect our business, including recently enacted laws in a majority of states requiring security breach notification. These laws could create liability for us or increase our cost of doing business.
In addition, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care Education Reconciliation Act (PPACA), created a federal requirement under the federal Open Payments program, that requires certain manufacturers to track and report to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, annually certain payments and other transfers of value provided to physicians and teaching hospitals made in the previous calendar year. In addition, there are also an increasing number of state laws that require manufacturers to make reports to states on pricing and marketing information. These laws may affect our sales, marketing, and other promotional activities by imposing administrative and compliance burdens on us. In addition, given the lack of clarity with respect to these laws and their implementation, our reporting actions could be subject to the penalty provisions of the pertinent state and federal authorities.
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For those marketed products which are covered in the United States by certain government healthcare programs (e.g., Medicare and Medicaid), we have various obligations, including government price reporting and rebate requirements, which generally require products be offered at substantial rebates/discounts to Medicaid and certain purchasers (including “covered entities” purchasing under the 340B Drug Discount Program). We are also required to discount such products to authorized users of the Federal Supply Schedule of the General Services Administration, under which additional laws and requirements apply. These programs require submission of pricing data and calculation of discounts and rebates pursuant to complex statutory formulas, as well as the entry into government procurement contracts governed by the Federal Acquisition Regulations, and the guidance governing such calculations is not always clear. Compliance with such requirements can require significant investment in personnel, systems and resources, but failure to properly calculate prices, or offer required discounts or rebates could subject us to substantial penalties.
National Medical Products Administration (NMPA, formerly the China Food and Drug Administration)
In the PRC, the NMPA is the authority under the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) that monitors and supervises the administration of pharmaceuticals products, medical appliances and equipment, and cosmetics. We are also subject to regulation and oversight by different levels of the Medical Products Administration and Administration of Market Regulation in China. For clinical-stage product candidates, our development activities in China can follow two purposes: (1) to obtain clinical data to support our global FDA-regulated trials as is the case for our proprietary ENMD 2076, and (2) to obtain clinical data to support local registration with the NMPA. For late-stage product candidates that we in-license for greater China rights, such as EVOMELA ® , which has been launched, CID-103, BI-1206 and CB-5339, our development activities in China are to secure clinical trial notification, and marketing approval from the Center of Drug Evaluation (CDE) under the NMPA by conducting import drug registration. The “Law of the PRC on the Administration of Pharmaceuticals,” as last amended on August 26, 2019 and effective as of December 1, 2019, provides the basic legal framework for the administration of the production and sale of pharmaceuticals in China and covers the manufacturing, distributing, packaging, pricing and advertising of pharmaceutical products in China.
We are also subject to other PRC laws and regulations that are applicable to pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors in general such as “Drug Registration Regulation (DRR)”, which was updated on January 22, 2020 and became effective on July 1, 2020.
The Marketing Authorization Holder System .
Pursuant to the amended Law of the PRC on the Administration of Pharmaceuticals, the Marketing Authorization Holder System, previously implemented in a few pilot regions in China, is now implemented nationwide. Companies and research and development institutions can be drug marketing authorization holders after they receive drug approvals. The drug marketing authorization holder are responsible for their products throughout the life cycle, including nonclinical studies, clinical trials, production and distribution, post-market studies, and the monitoring, reporting, and handling of adverse reactions in connection with pharmaceuticals in accordance with the amended law.
The marketing authorization holders may engage contract manufacturers for manufacturing, provided that the contract manufacturers are licensed pharmaceutical manufacturers, and may engage pharmaceutical distribution enterprises with a valid drug distribution license to sell their products. Upon receiving the marketing authorizations from the NMPA, a drug marketing authorization holder may transfer its drug marketing authorization and the transferee should have the capability of quality management, risk prevention and control, and liability compensation to ensure the safety, effectiveness and quality controllability of drugs, and fulfill the obligations of the drug marketing authorization holder.
Product Manufacturing
For the registration of locally manufactured drugs, the drug products need to be manufactured in China through either a self-owned facility or a contract manufacturing organization. The study drug to be used for clinical trials must be manufactured in compliance with NMPA Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) guidelines. A domestic manufacturer of pharmaceutical products and active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) must obtain the drug manufacturing license to produce pharmaceutical products and API for marketing in China. Pursuant to the newly amended Law of the PRC on the Administration of Pharmaceuticals, the GMP certification has been cancelled, but with its cancellation, drug manufacturing enterprises are still required to strictly comply with GMP requirements. GMP requirements include institution and staff qualifications, production premises and facilities, equipment, raw materials, hygiene conditions, production management, quality controls, product distributions, maintenance of records and manner of handling customer complaints and adverse reaction reports. The drug manufacturing license is valid for five years, and must be renewed at least six months before its expiration date.
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In addition, before commencing business, a pharmaceutical manufacturer must also obtain a business license from the Administration of Market Regulation at the local level.
Preclinical Research and Clinical Trials .
For an investigational new drug application, a clinical trial approval issued from CDE was historically required to conduct clinical trials. However, since July 24, 2018, the NMPA announced to adopt a negative notification system for clinical trial approvals. In particular, if the applicant does not receive negative comments within 60 days after the CDE accepts the clinical trial application, the applicant can proceed with the clinical trial immediately based on the protocol submitted without waiting to receive an explicit clinical trial approval. Chemical generics, on the other hand, only need to undergo bioequivalent studies upon a filing for record with the NMPA. In order to apply for a clinical trial application approval to support local registration in China, a pharmaceutical company is required to conduct a series of preclinical research including research on chemistry, pharmacology, toxicology and pharmacokinetics of pharmaceuticals. This preclinical research should be conducted in compliance with the relevant regulatory guidelines issued by the NMPA. In particular, safety evaluation research must be conducted in compliance with China’s Good Laboratory Practice.
After completion of preclinical studies and obtaining permission to conduct the clinical trial from the NMPA, clinical trials are generally conducted in three sequential phases that may overlap or be combined, known as Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3 clinical trials, and Phase 4 clinical trials may be conducted at the post-marketing surveillance stage, in compliance with China’s Good Clinical Practice (GCP):
Phase 1 – preliminary trial of clinical pharmacology and human safety evaluation studies. The primary objective is to observe the pharmacokinetics and the tolerance level of the human body to the new medicine as a basis for ascertaining the appropriate methods of dosage.
Phase 2 – preliminary exploration on the therapeutic efficacy. The purpose is to assess preliminarily the efficacy and safety of pharmaceutical products on patients with the target indication of the pharmaceutical products and to provide the basis for the design and dosage tests for Phase 3. The dosing and methodology of research in this phase generally adopts double-blind, random methods with limited sample sizes.
Phase 3 – confirm the therapeutic efficacy. The objective is to further verify the efficacy and safety of pharmaceutical products on patients within the target indication, to evaluate the benefits and risks and finally to provide sufficient experimentally proven evidence to support the registration application of the pharmaceutical products. In general, the trial should adopt double-blind random methods with sufficient sample sizes.
Phase 4 –assess therapeutic efficacy and adverse reactions post-approval. The purpose is, by conducting a new drug’s post-marketing study, to assess therapeutic efficacy and adverse reactions when the drug is widely used, to evaluate overall benefit-risk relationships of the drug when used among the general population or specific groups and to adjust the administration dose, among others.
In April 2020, the NMPA and the National Health Commission (NHC) released the amended GCP, which took effect on July 1, 2020. The amended GCP is harmonized with the ICH-GCP. Compared to the previous GCP, the amended GCP provides comprehensive and substantive requirements on the design and conduct of clinical trials in China. In particular, the amended GCP enhances the protection for study subjects and tightens the control over bio-samples collected under clinical trials.
Collecting and Using Patients’ Biospecimens and Derived Data .
Foreign-invested sponsors that collect and use patients’ biospecimens in clinical trials are required to file with the China Human Genetic Resources Administrative Office, or the HGRAO, under the Ministry of Science and Technology, or the MOST. In 2017, the MOST issued the Circular on Optimizing the Administrative Examination and Approval of Human Genetic Resources, which simplified the approval for collecting and using human genetic resources for the purpose of commercializing a drug or medical device in the PRC. In June 2019, the State Council of the PRC issued the Regulation on the Administration of PRC Human Genetic Resources (effective as of July 1, 2019), which formalized the approval requirements pertinent to research collaborations between Chinese and foreign-owned entities.
Pursuant to this new HGR Regulation, a new notification system (as opposed to the advance approval approach originally in place) was put in place for clinical trials using PRC patients’ biospecimens and data at clinical study sites without involving the export
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of such specimens outside of China. The notification filing must specify the type, quantity , volume size and usage of the biospecimens, among others, with the HGRAO is required before conducting such clinical trials. The collection and use of PRC patients’ biospecimens and data in international basic research collaboration are still subject to the approval of the HGRAO. The notification filing with the HGRAO also applies to access to clinical study data by foreign entities.
In October 2020, the Standing Committee of the NPC promulgated the PRC Biosecurity Law, which took effect on April 15, 2021. The PRC Biosecurity Law, the higher law to the HGR Regulation, reaffirms the regulatory requirements stipulated by the HGR Regulation while potentially increasing the administrative fines significantly in cases where foreign entities are alleged to have collected, preserved or exported Chinese human genetic resources.
Import Drug Registration or Multi Regional Clinical Trials .
NMPA regulations allow foreign drug developers to conduct import drug registration or multi regional clinical trials in China for a new drug as part of a global drug development program. An International Multicenter Clinical Trial (IMCT) Application needs to be filed with the CDE for conducting the clinical trials.
In October, 2017, the NMPA released the Decision on Adjusting Items concerning the Administration of Imported Drug Registration, as well as current requirement in DRR, which includes the following key points:
Phase 1 IMCT is allowed to be conducted in China. The IMCT drug does not need to gain prior approval or have entered into either a Phase 2 or 3 clinical trial in a foreign country before the IMCT could be conducted in China, except for preventive biological products.
If the IMCT is conducted in China and the local recruitment of patients number allied with CDE, the application for drug marketing authorization can be submitted directly after the completion of the IMCT.
With respect to clinical trial and market authorization applications for imported innovative chemical drugs and therapeutic biological products, the marketing authorization in the country or region where the foreign drug manufacturer is located will not be required.
With respect to drug applications that have been accepted before the release of this Decision, importation permission can be granted if such applications request exemption of clinical trials for the imported drugs based on the data generated from IMCT and if relevant requirements under the Administrative Measures of the Drug Registration are met.
The NMPA Decision on IMCT and the application for imported new drugs has streamlined and accelerated the applications for imported new drugs.
In order to apply for an IMCT Application in China, a biopharmaceutical company is required to submit a comprehensive investigation new drug application package filed with foreign regulatory agency, i.e. the FDA in our case, in a format compliant with NMPA guidance.
After obtaining the IMCT permit from the CDE, clinical trials should be conducted in compliance with both the FDA/ICH and NMPA Good Clinical Practice guidelines.
Data derived from IMCT can be used for the marketing authorization applications with the NMPA. When using IMCT data to support marketing authorization applications in China, applicants shall submit completed global clinical trial report, statistical analysis report and database, along with relevant supporting data in accordance with the ICH-CTD (International Conference on Harmonization-Common Technical Document) content and format requirements; subgroup research results summary and comparative analysis shall also be conducted concurrently.
Marketing Authorization Application
After completion of the first 3 phases of clinical trials demonstrating the safety and effectiveness of a pharmaceutical in its targeted indication, a Marketing Authorization Application needs to be filled with the NMPA, which includes research data of chemistry, manufacturing and controls, pre-clinical studies and clinical trial report in order to register the new drug. For imported drugs, the New Drug Registration Application is also known as the Import Drug License Application.
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Once a marketing authorization is received, the product can be sold nationwide in China.
Pricing
The government regulates prices for pharmaceuticals (except for narcotic and Type 1 psychotropic drugs) mainly by establishing a price negotiation, consolidated procurement mechanism, and revising medical insurance reimbursement standards. The Chinese government has initiated several rounds of price negotiations with manufacturers of patented drugs, drugs with an exclusive source of supply, and oncology drugs since 2016. The average percentage of price reduction has been over 50%. Once the government agreed with the drug manufacturers on the supply prices, the drugs would be automatically listed in the National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL) and qualified for public hospital purchase.
Reimbursement
China is a single-payor market with near universal healthcare provided by the government. Over 95% of the population receives healthcare coverage at various levels of reimbursement. Commercial insurance is available but is minimally adopted, and is seen as a supplement above and beyond government reimbursement. To obtain government reimbursement for a drug, the government must agree to add it to the NRDL or the provincial reimbursement drug lists at a negotiated price (at times at a significant discount to prevailing market price). Prior to this time, the market is self-pay, where patients will be responsible for 100% of the launch price determined by the company. We believe the self-pay market in China is expanding, given the rise in personal income levels in the country. In December 2020, the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) and the PRC Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security released the National Drug Catalogue for Basic Medical Insurance, Work-Related Injury Insurance and Maternity Insurance, or the 2020 NRDL , and 119 new drugs were admitted to the 2020 NRDL. Previous updates to the NRDL occurred in 2019, 2017 and 2009. In addition, there were also NRDL price negotiations in 2018, 2019, and 2020. In 2020, the average price reduction of the 119 new drugs added to the 2020 NRDL is 50.64%. Admission to the NRDL depends on a number of factors, including on-market experience, scale of patient adoption, physician endorsement, cost effectiveness and budget impact. Provincial governments have some discretion to add additional drugs not listed in the NRDL to provincial reimbursement drug lists.
Medicines included in the NRDL are divided into two classes, Class A and Class B. Patients purchasing medicines included in the NRDL are entitled to reimbursement of the entire amount or a certain percentage of the purchase price. The percentage of reimbursement for Class B medicines differs from region to region in the PRC.
Hospital Listing
Government hospitals currently represent over 90% of the pharmaceutical market in China. In order for a new drug to be prescribed at a government hospital, it has to be listed in the hospital formulary. The process of entering into the formulary is commonly referred to as “hospital listing”, and typically requires a long lead time. These decisions are made on a hospital-by-hospital basis with timing that can range from every six months to every five years. Some hospitals also have temporary listing procedures that can accelerate timing. Private hospital and non-hospital pharmacies, which represent less than 10% of the drug market in China, do not require a formulary process to sell a drug.
Centralized Procurement and Tenders
Provincial and municipal government agencies will establish a provincial drug procurement agency to operate a mandatory collective tender process for purchases by government hospitals of a medicine included in provincial or local medicine procurement catalogs. The provincial or local medicine procurement catalogs are determined by the provincial drug procurement agency based on the National Essential Drugs List, the NRDL, local hospital formularies, etc. If a new drug has been included in a government hospital formulary, the NRDL or the provincial reimbursement drug list, the relevant hospitals must participate in collective tender processes for the purchase of such new drug. The centralized tender process is in principle conducted once every year in the relevant province or city in China. During the collective tender process, the provincial drug procurement agency will establish a committee consisting of recognized pharmaceutical experts. The committee will assess the bids submitted by the various participating pharmaceutical manufacturers, taking into consideration, among other things, the quality and price of the drug product and the service and reputation of the manufacturer. Only drug products that have been selected in the collective tender processes may be purchased by participating hospitals.
“4+7” Volume-based Drug Procurement and Tenders. In June 2018, the State Council decided to launch a new round of drug pricing and procurement reform. The reform policy aims to lower drug costs for patients, reduce transaction costs for enterprises, regulate
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drug use of hospitals, and improve the centralized drug procurement and pricing system. This reform is implemented mainly by the NHSA. The NHC supports the reform by introducing policy that encourages purchasing and prescribing of the selected drug. The NMPA is responsible for the quality assurance of the drugs submitted for tenders.
The national pilot scheme for centralized volume-based drug procurement and tenders under the reform was launched in November 2018. The selected drugs must pass the GQCE on quality and effectiveness.
The centralized volume-based procurement is open to all approved enterprises that manufacture drugs on the government-set procurement list in China. The NHSA organized four rounds of volume-based procurement and tenders to this date. On February 3, 2021, the results of the fourth round of the volume-based procurement and tender were announced. All of the 45 listed products were successfully qualified to enter into a supply agreement with the group procurement organization and the average price reduction was 52%.
COMPETITION
Competition in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries is intense and based significantly on scientific and technological factors, the availability of patent and other protection for technology and products, the ability and length of time required to obtain governmental approval for testing, manufacturing and marketing and the ability to commercialize products in a timely fashion. Moreover, the biopharmaceutical industry is characterized by rapidly evolving technology that could result in the technological obsolescence of any products that we develop.
We compete with many specialized biopharmaceutical firms, as well as a growing number of large pharmaceutical companies that are applying biotechnology to their operations. It is probable that the number of companies seeking to develop products and therapies for the treatment of unmet needs in oncology will increase. Many biopharmaceutical companies have focused their development efforts in the human therapeutics area, including oncology and inflammation, and many major pharmaceutical companies have developed or acquired internal biotechnology capabilities or made commercial arrangements with other biopharmaceutical companies. These companies, as well as academic institutions, governmental agencies and private research organizations, also compete with us in recruiting and retaining highly qualified scientific personnel and consultants.
The biopharmaceutical industry has undergone, and is expected to continue to undergo, rapid and significant technological change. Consolidation and competition are expected to intensify as technical advances in each field are achieved and become more widely known. In order to compete effectively, we will be required to continually expand our scientific expertise and technology, identify and retain capable personnel and pursue scientifically feasible and commercially viable opportunities.
Our competition will be determined in part by the potential indications for which our product candidates may be developed and ultimately approved by regulatory authorities. The relative speed with which we develop new products, complete clinical trials, obtain regulatory approvals, and complete the other requirements to get a pharmaceutical product on the market are critical factors in gaining a competitive advantage. We may rely on third parties to commercialize our products, and accordingly, the success of these products will depend in significant part on these third parties’ efforts and ability to compete in these markets. The success of any collaboration will depend in part upon our collaborative partners’ own competitive, marketing and strategic considerations, including the relative advantages of alternative products being developed and marketed by our collaborative partners and our competitors.
Many of our existing or potential competitors have substantially greater financial, technical and human resources than we do and may be better equipped to develop, manufacture and market products. In addition, many of these competitors have extensive experience in preclinical testing and human clinical trials and in obtaining regulatory approvals. The existence of competitive products, including products or treatments of which we are not aware, or products or treatments that may be developed in the future, may adversely affect the marketability of products that we may develop. Our competitors’ drugs may be more effective than any drug we may commercialize and may render our product candidates obsolete or non-competitive before we can recover the expenses of developing our product candidates.
EMPLOYEES
Our work force currently consists of 176 employees, all of which are full-time employees, the majority of whom are located in China. Certain of our activities, such as manufacturing and clinical trial operations, are outsourced at the present time. We may hire additional personnel, in addition to utilizing part-time or temporary consultants, on an as-needed basis. None of our employees are represented by a labor union, and we believe our relations with our employees are satisfactory.
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CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS
We were incorporated under Delaware law in 1991. In 2012, with new leadership, the Company shifted its business strategy to China and has since built an infrastructure in China that includes sales and marketing, medical affairs, regulatory and clinical development and in the foreseeable future, distribution and manufacturing. The majority of the Company’s operations are now located in China. Our offices are located at 9620 Medical Center Drive, Suite 300, Rockville, Maryland 20850, and our telephone number is (240) 864-2600. Our wholly-owned subsidiary, CASI China, is headquartered in Beijing, China and CASI Wuxi is headquartered in Wuxi, China. We conduct substantially all of our China commercial, regulatory and related operations through CASI China and our operations in Wuxi through CASI Wuxi. CASI China’s headquarters are located at 1701-1702, China Central Office Tower 1, No.81 Jianguo Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100025 China.
In 2020, we leased office space in Shanghai, China to accommodate our growing staff in that region. Our address in Shanghai is No. 2904, Shengbang International, North Sichuan Road, Hongkou District, Shanghai, China.
Management decisions are primarily being made out of CASI China where our executive team spends a substantial amount of time.
CHINA OPERATIONS
The majority of our operations are now located in China and are conducted primarily through two of our subsidiaries: (i) CASI Pharmaceuticals (China) Co., Ltd. (“CASI China”), a directly wholly owned subsidiary established in August 2012 and located in Beijing. CASI China is responsible for our day-to-day operations, development and commercialization of our product and (ii) CASI Pharmaceuticals (Wuxi) Co., Ltd. (“CASI Wuxi”), a directly wholly owned subsidiary established in November 2018 and located in Wuxi Huishan Economic Development Zone. CASI Wuxi was incorporated as the holding company for CASI’s R&D center, distribution center and manufacturing facilities. CASI Wuxi has a lease on industrial land, for 7.33 hectare. In December 2018, CASI Wuxi established a new subsidiary CASI Biopharmaceuticals as an investment platform for Chinese pharmaceutical asset acquisition or cooperation.
We have about 168 FTEs in China. Over 100 employees are dedicated to commercial operations, which mainly account for EVOMELA’s sales and marketing activities. The clinical and regulatory team has 18 FTEs, who oversee local preclinical and clinical operations, and NMPA regulatory activities. The Wuxi R&D and manufacturing center has 24 employees at the current stage, and the team size will expand according to the progress of the facility’s construction.
AVAILABLE INFORMATION
Through our website at www.casipharmaceuticals.com , we make available, free of charge, our filings with the SEC, including our annual proxy statements, annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments thereto, as soon as reasonably practicable after such reports are filed with or furnished to the SEC. Additionally, our board committee charters and code of ethics are available on our website. We intend to post to this website all amendments to the charters and code of ethics. Our filings are also available through the SEC via their website, http://www.sec.gov . The information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Annual Report”) and should not be considered a part of this report.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS.
This section includes the most significant factors that we believe may adversely affect our business and operations. Before making an investment decision, you should carefully consider the risks described below, and all other information contained or incorporated by reference in our filings with the SEC. We expect to update these Risk Factors from time to time in the periodic and current reports that we file with the SEC. Please refer to these subsequent reports for additional information relating to the risks associated with investing in our common stock. If any of such risks and uncertainties actually occurs, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be severely harmed. This could cause the trading price of our common stock to decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
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Risk Factors Summary
Risks Relating to our Financial Position and Need for Additional Capital
If we do not regain compliance with the Nasdaq bid price rule, our common stock would be delisted from the Nasdaq Capital Market, which would impair our ability to raise capital and the liquidity of our common stock could be adversely affected.
We have incurred significant operating losses since inception and anticipate that we will continue to incur operating losses for the foreseeable future and may never achieve or maintain profitability.
The success of CASI Wuxi is subject to uncertainty and may increase our losses, be difficult to accomplish, take longer than expected or require us to obtain additional financing.
The current capital and credit market conditions may adversely affect our access to capital, cost of capital, and ability to execute our business plan as scheduled.
We have limited revenue streams and we are uncertain whether additional funding will be available for our future capital needs and commitments. If we cannot raise additional funding, or access the capital markets, we may be unable to complete the development and commercialization of our products and product candidates.
Risks Relating to Our Business
If we are ultimately unable to obtain regulatory approval for our drug candidates, our business will be substantially harmed.
We are substantially dependent on the commercial success of EVOMELA™. Our medicine may fail to achieve and maintain the degree of market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors, and others in the medical community necessary for commercial success.
We currently rely on a single source for our supply of EVOMELA which has high risk of supply chain disruption.
Our business has been and may continue to be adversely affected by the current COVID-19 pandemic and could be impacted by future COVID-19 variants and other outbreaks of contagious diseases.
The existence of counterfeit pharmaceutical products in pharmaceutical markets may compromise our brand and reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business, operations and prospects.
We face significant competition from other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and our business will suffer if we fail to compete effectively.
We may need new collaborative partners to further develop and commercialize products, and if we enter into such arrangements, we may lose control over the development and approval process.
We may not have sufficient funds to acquire new product candidates or pay milestone payments.
We must show the safety and efficacy of our product candidates through clinical trials, the results of which are uncertain.
Compliance with ongoing post-marketing obligations for our approved products may uncover new safety information that could give rise to a product recall, updated warnings, or other regulatory actions that could have an adverse impact on our business.
Undesirable adverse events caused by our medicines and drug candidates could interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials, delay or prevent regulatory approval, limit the commercial profile of an approved label, or result in significant negative consequences following any regulatory approval.
Potential products may subject us to product liability for which insurance may not be available.
If we are unable to obtain both adequate coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party payers for our products before the competitor’s product launch our revenues and prospects for profitability will suffer.
Cyberse curity incidents could impair our ability to conduct business effectively.
Our business depends substantially on the continuing efforts of our senior management, key employees and qualified personnel, and our business operations may be adversely and negatively impacted if we lose their services.
Certain of our directors and officers may have business interests that may conflict with our interests and those of our stockholders.
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We or the third parties upon whom we rely on may be adversely affected by epidemic outbreaks, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes or other natural disasters, and our business continuity and disaster recovery plans may not adequately protect us from a serious disaster .
Risks Relating to Our Reliance on Third Parties
Independent clinical investigators and contract research organizations that we engage to conduct our clinical trials may not devote sufficient time or attention to our clinical trials or be able to repeat their past success.
We have no current manufacturing capacity and rely on limited suppliers for some of our products.
The design and manufacture of a manufacturing facility by CASI Wuxi may be delayed.
If we fail to maintain an effective distribution channel for our medicines, our business and sales could be adversely affected.
Risks Related to Extensive Government Regulation
All material aspects of the research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of pharmaceutical products are heavily regulated, and we may face difficulties in complying with or be unable to comply with such regulations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We are subject to certain U.S. healthcare laws, regulation and enforcement; our failure to comply with those laws could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
Current healthcare laws and regulations and future legislative or regulatory reforms to the healthcare system may affect our ability to sell our products profitably.
Our medicines and any future approved drug candidates will be subject to ongoing regulatory obligations and continued regulatory review, which may result in significant additional expense and we may be subject to penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or experience unanticipated problems with our medicines and drug candidates.
Risks Relating to Our Intellectual Property
We depend on patents and other proprietary rights, some of which are uncertain. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights our business and competitive position would be harmed.
Third parties may initiate legal proceedings alleging infringement of intellectual property rights, the outcome of which would be uncertain and could harm our business.
Although China recently adopted changes to its patent law to include patent term extension and an early resolution mechanism for pharmaceutical patent disputes starting in June 2021, key provisions of the law remain unclear and/or subject to implementing regulations. The absence of effective regulatory exclusivity for pharmaceutical products in China could further increase the risk of early generic or biosimilar competition with our medicines in China.
Risks Relating to Our Common Stock
The market price of our common stock may be highly volatile or may decline regardless of our operating performance.
Our largest stockholders, including our directors and executive officers and investment funds with which they are associated, hold a significant amount of our outstanding common stock and, if they acted together, could influence our management and affairs.
Our amended and restated bylaws provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for certain legal actions between us and our stockholders, which could increase costs to bring a claim, discourage claims or limit the ability of our stockholders to bring a claim in a judicial forum viewed by the stockholders as more favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees.
Risks Relating to Our Auditor
The audit report included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K is prepared by auditors who are not currently inspected by the PCAOB and, as such, our stockholders are deprived of the benefits of such inspection. In addition, various legislative and regulatory developments related to U.S.-listed China based companies due to lack of PCAOB inspection and other developments due to political tensions between the United States and China may have a material adverse impact on our listing and trading in the United States and the trading prices of our shares of common stock.
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We could be delisted if our auditors are unable to meet the PCAOB inspection requirements in time.
Risks Relating to Our Business Operations in China
We conduct a majority of our operations in China, which exposes us to risks associated with operating outside of the U.S. Changes in international trade and economic policy by the U.S. and Chinese governments could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations.
Governmental control of currency conversion and payments of RMB out of mainland China may limit our ability to utilize our cash balances effectively and affect the value of your investment.
Changes in China’s economic, political or social conditions or government policies could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations.
The Chinese government exerts substantial influence over the manner in which we must conduct our business activities.
We are subject to the Enterprise Income Tax Law, and we may therefore be subject to PRC income tax on our global income.
China regulations relating to investments in offshore companies by China residents may subject our China-resident stockholders, beneficial owners or our China subsidiaries to liability or penalties, limit our ability to inject capital into our China subsidiaries or limit our China subsidiaries’ ability to increase their registered capital or distribute profits to us.
We may be subject to fines and legal sanctions by SAFE or other China government authorities if we or our employees who are China citizens fail to comply with regulations relating to employee stock options granted by companies listed on exchanges outside of China to China citizens .
General Risk Factors
We may engage in strategic, commercial and other corporate transactions that could negatively affect our financial condition and prospects.
If securities or industry analysts publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price could decline.
Subsequent resales of shares of our common stock in the public market may cause the price of our common stock to fall.
Issuances of additional shares of our common stock may cause substantial dilution of existing stockholders.
Risks Relating to our Financial Position and Need for Additional Capital
If we do not regain compliance with the Nasdaq bid price rule, our common stock would be delisted from the Nasdaq Capital Market, which would impair our ability to raise capital and the liquidity of our common stock could be adversely affected.
Our listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market is contingent upon meeting all the continued listing requirements of the Nasdaq Capital Market.
On December 30, 2021, CASI received a deficiency letter from the Listing Qualifications Department (the “Staff”) of the Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”) notifying CASI that, for the previous 30 consecutive business days, the bid price of CASI’s common stock had closed below the minimum $1.00 per share requirement for continued inclusion on the Nasdaq Capital Market pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) (the “Bid Price Rule”).
The Nasdaq deficiency letter has no immediate effect on the listing of CASI’s common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market.
In accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A) (the “Compliance Period Rule”), CASI has been provided an initial period of 180 calendar days, or until June 28, 2022 (the “Compliance Date”), to regain compliance with the Bid Price Rule. If, at any time before the Compliance Date, the bid price for CASI’s common stock closes at $1.00 or more per share for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days, as required under the Compliance Period Rule, the Staff will provide written notification to CASI that it complies with the Bid Price Rule, unless the Staff exercises its discretion to extend this 10-day period pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(H).
If CASI does not regain compliance with the Bid Price Rule by the Compliance Date, CASI may be eligible for an additional 180 calendar day compliance period (the “Second Compliance Period”). To qualify, CASI would need to meet the continued listing requirement for the market value of publicly held shares and all other initial listing standards of the Nasdaq Capital Market, with the exception of the Bid Price Rule, and provide written notice to the Staff of its intention to cure the deficiency during the Second Compliance Period by effecting a reverse stock split, if necessary.
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However, if CASI does not regain compliance with the Bid Price Rule by the Compliance Date and it appears to the Staff that CASI will not be able to regain compliance with the Bid Price Rule during the Second Compliance Period, or CASI is otherwise not eligible for the Second Compliance Period, then Nasdaq will provide notice to CASI that CASI’s common stock will be subject to delisting. At that time, CASI may appeal the Staff’s delisting determination to a Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel (the “Panel”). CASI expects that its common stock would remain listed pending the Panel’s decision. There can be no assurance that, if CASI does appeal the Staff’s delisting determination to the Panel, such appeal would be successful.
CASI intends to actively monitor the closing bid price of its common stock between now and the Compliance Date and will consider available options, including a reverse stock split. In order to make available the option of a reverse stock split, CASI may submit a reverse stock split proposal to its stockholders at a special meeting of stockholders or its next annual meeting of stockholders. However, there can be no assurance that the reverse stock split will be approved or that CASI will be able to regain compliance with the Bid Price Rule. If our common stock is delisted from the Nasdaq Capital Market, our ability to raise capital in the future may be limited. Delisting could also result in less liquidity for our stockholders and a lower stock price.
If our common stock is delisted by Nasdaq, our common stock may be eligible to trade on the OTC Bulletin Board or another over-the-counter market. Any such alternative would likely result in it being more difficult for us to raise additional capital through the public or private sale of equity securities and for investors to dispose of, or obtain accurate quotations as to the market value of, our common stock. In addition, there can be no assurance that our common stock would be eligible for trading on any such alternative exchange or markets.
We have incurred significant operating losses since inception and anticipate that we will continue to incur operating losses for the foreseeable future and may never achieve or maintain profitability.
To date, we have been engaged primarily in research and development activities. Previously, we have not derived significant revenues from operations; however, in the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we had EVOMELA ® sales totaling $30.0 million and $15.0 million, respectively.
We have experienced losses in each year since inception. Through December 31, 2021, we had an accumulated deficit of $605.6 million. We expect that we will seek to raise capital to continue our operations and, although we have been successfully funded to date through the sales of our equity securities, our capital-raising efforts may not produce the funding needed to sustain our operations. If we are unable to obtain additional funding for operations, we may not be able to continue operations as proposed, requiring us to modify our business plan, curtail various aspects of our operations or cease operations. In any such event, investors may lose a portion or all of their investment.
We expect that our ongoing preclinical, clinical, marketing and corporate activities will result in operating losses for the foreseeable future. In addition, to the extent we rely on others to develop and commercialize our products, our ability to achieve profitability will depend upon the success of these other parties. To support our research and development of certain product candidates, we may seek and rely on cooperative agreements from governmental and other organizations as a source of support. If a cooperative agreement were to be reduced to any substantial extent, it may impair our ability to continue our research and development efforts. To become and remain profitable, we must successfully commercialize one or more product candidates with significant market potential. This will require us to be successful in a range of challenging activities, including completing clinical trials of our product candidates, developing commercial scale manufacturing processes, obtaining marketing approval, manufacturing, marketing and selling any current and future product candidates for which we may obtain marketing approval, and any post-marketing requirements. We may never in any or all of these activities and, even if we do, we may never generate sufficient revenue to .
The success of CASI Wuxi is subject to uncertainty and may increase our losses, be difficult to accomplish, take longer than expected or require us to obtain additional financing.
We intend to invest $80 million in CASI Pharmaceuticals (Wuxi) Co., Ltd., that is building a manufacturing facility in the Wuxi Huishan Economic Development Zone in Jiangsu Province, China. Since the construction began, we have incurred capital expenditures of $12.1 million. CASI Wuxi will also operate the facility upon completion. As of December 31, 2021, we have invested $31 million in cash, transferred selected ANDAs valued at $30 million and will invest an additional $19 million in cash in the future. The Company’s total investment is intended to account for 80% of the equity of the CASI Wuxi. CASI Wuxi may not achieve the expected goal as the planned manufacturing facility will not be entirely within our control. It can take years to build and establish a new manufacturing facility.
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Once built, the new facility might fail validation or not meet regulatory standards for a commercial manufacturing facility. In addition, we may not obtain or retain the requisite legal permits to manufacture in China, and costs or operational limitations may be imposed in connection with obtaining and complying with such permits. Our ability to establish and operate a manufacturing facility in China may be adversely affected by changes in Chinese laws and regulations such as those related to, among other things, taxation, import and export tariffs, environmental regulations, land use rights, intellectual property, employee benefits and other matters. The success of CASI Wuxi also relies on our ability to make additional payments in the future, which is uncertain. Our plan may require us to obtain additional debt or equity financing, resulting in additional debt obligations, increased interest expense or dilution of equity ownership. If we are unable to establish a new manufacturing facility, purchase equipment, hire adequate personnel to support our manufacturing efforts or implement necessary process improvements, we may be unable to produce commercial materials or meet demand, if any should develop, for our product candidates. Any one of the factors cited above, or a combination of them, could result in costs, which could materially and affect our business and planned operations and earnings in China.
The current capital and credit market conditions may adversely affect our access to capital, cost of capital, and ability to execute our business plan as scheduled.
Access to capital markets is critical to our ability to operate. Traditionally, we have funded our operations by raising capital in the equity markets. Declines and uncertainties in these markets over the past few years have restricted raising new capital in amounts sufficient to conduct our current operations and have affected our ability to continue to expand or fund additional development efforts. We require significant capital for research and development for our product candidates, clinical trials, and marketing activities. Our inability to access the capital markets on favorable terms because of our low stock price, or upon our delisting from the Nasdaq Capital Market if we fail to satisfy a listing requirement, could affect our ability to execute our business plan as scheduled. Moreover, we rely and intend to rely on third parties, including our clinical research organizations, third party manufacturers, and certain other important vendors and consultants. As a result of the current volatile and unpredictable global economic situation, there may be a or in the performance of our third-party contractors and suppliers. If such third parties are to their contractual commitments to us in a timely manner, our business could be affected.
We have limited revenue streams and we are uncertain whether additional funding will be available for our future capital needs and commitments. If we cannot raise additional funding, or access the capital markets, we may be unable to complete the development and commercialization of our products and product candidates.
We will require substantial funds in addition to our existing working capital to develop and commercialize our products and product candidates and to otherwise meet our business objectives. We have never generated sufficient revenue during any period since our inception to cover our expenses and have spent, and expect to continue to spend, substantial funds to continue our clinical development programs and commercialization of our products and product candidates. Any one of the following factors, among others, could cause us to require additional funds or otherwise cause our cash requirements in the future to increase materially:
progress of our clinical trials or correlative studies;
results of clinical trials;
changes in or terminations of our relationships with strategic partners;
changes in the focus, direction, or costs of our research and development programs;
competitive and technological advances;
establishment and expansion of marketing and sales capabilities;
manufacturing;
the regulatory approval process; or
product launch and distribution.
At December 31, 2021, we had cash and cash equivalents of $38.7 million. We may continue to seek additional capital through public or private financing or collaborative agreements in 2021 and beyond. Our operations require significant amounts of cash. We may be required to seek additional capital for the future growth and development of our business. We can give no assurance as to the availability of such additional capital or, if available, whether it would be on terms acceptable to us. If we are not successful in obtaining sufficient capital because we are unable to access the capital markets on favorable terms, it could reduce our research and development efforts and materially adversely affect our future growth, results of operations and financial results. There can be no assurance that we would be able to obtain any required financing on a timely basis or at all.
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Risks Relating to Our Business
If we are ultimately unable to obtain regulatory approval for our drug candidates, our business will be substantially harmed
The time required to obtain approval by FDA and NMPA is unpredictable and typically takes many years following the commencement of preclinical studies and clinical trials and depends on numerous factors, including the substantial discretion of the regulatory authorities.
Our drug candidates could be delayed or fail to receive regulatory approval for many reasons, including:
failure to begin or complete clinical trials due to disagreements with regulatory authorities;
delays in subject enrollment or interruptions in clinical trial supplies or investigational product;
failure to demonstrate that a drug candidate is safe and effective or that a biologic candidate is safe, pure, and potent for its proposed indication;
failure of clinical trial results to meet the level of statistical significance required for approval;
reporting or data integrity issues related to our clinical trials;
disagreement with our interpretation of data from preclinical studies or clinical trials;
changes in approval policies or regulations that render our preclinical and clinical data insufficient for approval or require us to amend our clinical trial protocols;
regulatory requests for additional analyses, reports, data, nonclinical studies and clinical trials, or questions regarding interpretations of data and results and the emergence of new information regarding our drug or biologic candidates or other products;
failure to satisfy regulatory conditions regarding endpoints, patient population, available therapies and other requirements for our clinical trials in order to support marketing approval on an accelerated basis or at all;
our failure to conduct a clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical trial protocols; and
clinical sites, investigators or other participants in our clinical trials deviating from a trial protocol, failing to conduct the trial in accordance with regulatory requirements, or dropping out of a trial.
The FDA, NMPA or a comparable regulatory authority may require more information, including additional preclinical, chemistry, manufacturing and controls, and/or clinical data, to support approval, which may delay or prevent approval and our commercialization plans, or we may decide to abandon the development program.
Changes in regulatory requirements and guidance may also occur, and we may need to amend clinical trial protocols submitted to applicable regulatory authorities to reflect these changes. Amendments may require us to resubmit clinical trial protocols to IRBs or ethics committees for re-examination, which may impact the costs, timing or successful completion of a clinical trial.
If we experience delays in the completion of, or the termination of, a clinical trial of any of our product candidates, the commercial prospects of that candidate may be harmed, and our ability to generate product sales revenues from any of those candidates may be delayed. In addition, any delays in completing our clinical trials will increase our costs, slow down our candidate development and approval process, and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate related revenues for that candidate. 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.
Our success in commercializing these drugs and biologics may be inhibited by a number of factors, including:
our inability to obtain/maintain regulatory approvals;
our inability to recruit, train and retain adequate numbers of effective sales and marketing personnel;
the inability of sales personnel to obtain access to or educate physicians on the benefits of our products;
our lack of experience in manufacturing drugs for commercial sales;
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our or our partners’ inability to secure widespread acceptance of our products from physicians, healthcare payors, patients and the medical community;
our ability to win tenders through the collective tender processes in which we decide to participate;
the lack of complementary products to be offered by sales personnel, which may put us at a competitive disadvantage relative to companies with more extensive product lines;
unforeseen costs and expenses associated with creating an independent sales and marketing organization;
generic and biosimilar competition; and
regulatory exclusivities or patents held by competitors that may inhibit our products’ entry to the market.
If we decide to rely on third parties to manufacture, sell, market and distribute our products and product candidates, we may not be successful in entering into arrangements with such third parties or may be unable to do so on terms that are favorable to us. In addition, our product revenues and our profitability, if any, may be lower if we rely on third parties for these functions than if we were to market, sell and distribute any products that we develop ourselves. We likely will have little control over such third parties, and any of them may fail to devote the necessary resources and attention to sell and market our products effectively. If we do not establish sales, marketing and distribution capabilities successfully, either on our own or in collaboration with third parties, we will not be successful in commercializing our product candidates, which would adversely affect our business and financial condition.
We are substantially dependent on the commercial success of EVOMELA™. Our medicine may fail to achieve and maintain the degree of market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors, and others in the medical community necessary for commercial success.
The success of our business is substantially dependent on our ability to successfully commercialize EVOMELA. On December 3, 2018, we received the NMPA approval for importation, marketing and sales in China for EVOMELA ® , and on August 12, 2019, we announced the commercial launch of EVOMELA ® in China. We will continue to spend our time, resources and efforts on the commercialization of EVOMELA ® in China.
Reimbursement and hospital listing may be the most critical market access factors for our commercialization success in China. The NRDL is updating on annual basis via a negotiation mechanism. Although participating the NRDL pricing negotiation is voluntarily, it usually results significant price discount. The Company has no intention to list EVOMELA ® in the NRDL any time before a direct competitor’s compound commercially launch, therefore, our market will be limited given only a small portion of the Chinese population would be able to afford EVOMELA ® through self-pay.
The government owned hospitals in China usually restrict the drug use outside the hospital formulary. Therefore, been listed in hospital formulary is critical. In order to list in the hospital formulary, the Company must participate the provincial level tendering process. Wining the tendering does not guarantee the hospital listing. If we were unable to quickly add EVOMELA ® to hospitals’ formulary, doctors and patients will have limited access to EVOMELA ® through hospital pharmacies, the demand for EVOMELA ® , and the revenues from EVOMELA ® will be materially and adversely affected. On the other hand, patients are able to purchase EVOMELA with the prescription from the physician from pharmacies the product is not available in the hospital, however, the hospitals do not encourage such activities.
We currently rely on a single source for our supply of EVOMELA which has high risk of supply chain disruption
We currently rely on a single source for our supply of EVOMELA ® . Early in the COVID-19 pandemic we experienced a disruption to our supply chain for EVOMELA ® , we have experienced minimal supply disruptions in 2021. However, if suppliers refuse or are unable to provide products for any reason (including the occurrence of an event like the COVID-19 pandemic that makes delivery impractical), we would have to work with Acrotech to negotiate an agreement with a substitute supplier, which would likely interrupt further manufacturing of EVOMELA ® , cause delays or increase our costs.
Our business has been and may continue to be adversely affected by the current COVID-19 pandemic and could be impacted by future COVID-19 variants and other outbreaks of contagious diseases
The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected, and may continue to adversely affect, the economies and financial markets of many countries, which may result in a period of regional, national, and global economic slowdown or regional, national, or global recessions that could affect our ability to continue to commercialize and expand distribution of EVOMELA ® (Melphalan For Injection) or other drugs in our existing product pipeline. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic we experienced a disruption to our supply chain for EVOMELA®, we have experienced no supply disruption in 2021; however, there can be no assurance that restrictions will not be
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imposed again. In addition, economic and other uncertainties may adversely affect other parties’ willingness to negotiate and execute product licenses and thus hamper our ability to in-license clinical-stage and late-stage drug candidates in China or elsewhere.
Clinical trials, whether planned or ongoing, may be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our partner, Juventas, experienced some delay in the start of the CNCT19 clinical trials due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has also impacted our targeted start time of our CID-103 trial due to the lock-down of many medical facilities in Europe. Study procedures (particularly any procedures that may be deemed non-essential), site initiation, participant recruitment and enrollment, participant dosing, shipment of our product candidates, distribution of clinical trial materials, study monitoring, site inspections and data analysis may be paused or delayed due to changes in hospital or research institution policies, federal, state or local regulations, prioritization of hospital and other medical resources toward COVID-19 efforts, or other reasons related to the pandemic. In addition, there could be a potential effect of COVID-19 on the operations of the health regulatory authorities, which could result in delays of reviews and approvals, including with respect to our product candidates. Any prolongation or de-prioritization of our clinical trials or delay in regulatory review resulting from such disruptions could materially affect the development and study of our product candidates.
The existence of counterfeit pharmaceutical products in pharmaceutical markets may compromise our brand and reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business, operations and prospects.
Counterfeit products, including counterfeit pharmaceutical products, are a significant problem, particularly in China. Counterfeit pharmaceuticals are products sold or used for research under the same or similar names, or similar mechanism of action or product class, but which are sold without proper licenses or approvals. Such products may be used for indications or purposes that are not recommended or approved or for which there is no data or inadequate data with regard to safety or efficacy. Such products divert sales from genuine products, often are of lower cost, often are of lower quality (having different ingredients or formulations, for example), and have the potential to damage the reputation for quality and effectiveness of the genuine product. If counterfeit pharmaceuticals illegally sold or used for research result in adverse events or side effects to consumers, we may be associated with any negative publicity resulting from such . Consumers may buy pharmaceuticals that are in direct competition with our pharmaceuticals, which could have an impact on our revenues, business and results of operations. In addition, the use of products could be used in non-clinical or clinical studies, or could otherwise produce side effects or events that may be attributed to our products as well, which could cause us or regulatory authorities to , or clinical trials and could result in the or of regulatory approval by the FDA or other regulatory authorities and potential product liability . With respect to China, although the government has recently been increasingly active in policing pharmaceuticals, there is not yet an pharmaceutical regulation control and enforcement system in China. As a result, we may not be to prevent third parties from selling or to sell our products in China. The proliferation of pharmaceuticals has grown in recent years and may continue to grow in the future. The existence of and any increase in the sales and production of pharmaceuticals, or the technological capabilities of , could impact our revenues, brand reputation, business and results of operations.
We face significant competition from other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and our business will suffer if we fail to compete effectively.
If competitors were to develop superior drug candidates, our products could be rendered noncompetitive or obsolete, resulting in a material adverse effect to our business. Developments in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are expected to continue at a rapid pace. Success depends upon achieving and maintaining a competitive position in the development of products and technologies. Competition from other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies can be intense. Many competitors have substantially greater research and development capabilities, marketing, financial and managerial resources and experience in the industry.
In the generic products market, we face competition from other generic pharmaceutical companies, which may impact our selling price and revenues from such products. The FDA approval process often results in the FDA granting final approval to a number of ANDAs for a given product at the time a patent for a corresponding brand product or other market exclusivity expires. This may force us to face immediate competition when we seek to introduce a generic product into the market. If competition from other generic pharmaceutical companies intensifies, revenues may decline.
The availability of our competitors’ products could limit the demand, and the price we are able to charge, for product candidates we develop. We will not achieve our business plan if the acceptance of our products is inhibited by price competition or reimbursement issues or if physicians switch to other new drug products or choose to reserve our product candidates for use in limited circumstances. The inability to compete with existing or subsequently introduced drug products would have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and prospects.
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We may need new collaborative partners to further develop and commercialize products, and if we enter into such arrangements, we may lose control over the development and approval process.
We may develop and commercialize our product candidates both with and without corporate alliances and partners. Nonetheless, we intend to explore opportunities for new corporate alliances and partners to help us develop, commercialize and market our product candidates. We may grant to our partners certain rights to commercialize any products developed under these agreements, and we may rely on our partners to conduct research and development efforts and clinical trials on, obtain regulatory approvals for, and manufacture and market any products licensed to them. Each individual partner will seek to control the amount and timing of resources devoted to these activities generally. We anticipate obtaining revenues from our strategic partners under such relationships in the form of research and development payments and payments upon achievement of certain milestones. Since we generally expect to obtain a royalty for sales or a percentage of profits of products licensed to third parties, our revenues may be less than if we retained all commercialization rights and marketed products directly. In addition, there is a risk that our corporate partners will pursue alternative technologies or develop competitive products as a means for developing treatments for the diseases targeted by our product candidates.
We may not be successful in establishing any collaborative arrangements. Even if we do establish such collaborations, we may not successfully commercialize any products under or derive any revenues from these arrangements. There is a risk that we will be unable to manage simultaneous collaborations, if any, successfully. With respect to existing and potential future strategic alliances and collaborative arrangements, we will depend on the expertise and dedication of sufficient resources by these outside parties to develop, manufacture, or market products. If a strategic alliance or collaborative partner fails to develop or commercialize a product to which it has rights, we may not recognize any revenues on that particular product.
We may not have sufficient funds to acquire new product candidates or pay milestone payments.
Our growth strategy relies on our in-license of new product candidates from third parties. Our pipeline will be dependent upon the availability of suitable acquisition candidates at favorable prices and upon advantageous terms and conditions. Even if such opportunities are present, we may not be able to successfully identify appropriate acquisition candidates. Moreover, other companies, many of which may have substantially greater financial resources are competing with us for the right to acquire such product candidates.
If a product candidate is identified, the third parties with whom we seek to cooperate may not select us as a potential partner or we may not be able to enter into arrangements on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Furthermore, the negotiation and completion of collaborative and license arrangements could cause significant diversion of management’s time and resources and potential disruption of our ongoing business.
We must show the safety and efficacy of our product candidates through clinical trials, the results of which are uncertain.
Before obtaining regulatory approvals for the commercial sale of our products, we must demonstrate, through preclinical studies (animal testing) and clinical trials (human testing), that our proposed products are safe and effective for use in each target indication. Testing of our product candidates will be required, and failure can occur at any stage of testing. Clinical trials may not demonstrate sufficient safety and efficacy to obtain the required regulatory approvals or result in marketable products. The failure to adequately demonstrate the safety and efficacy of a product under development could delay or prevent regulatory approval of the potential product.
Clinical trials for the product candidates we are developing may be delayed by many factors, including that potential patients for testing are limited in number. The failure of any clinical trials to meet applicable regulatory standards could cause such trials to be delayed or terminated, which could further delay the commercialization of any of our product candidates. Newly emerging safety risks observed in animal or human studies also can result in delays of ongoing or proposed clinical trials. Any such delays will increase our product development costs. If such delays are significant, they could negatively affect our financial results and the commercial prospects for our products.
Compliance with ongoing post-marketing obligations for our approved products may uncover new safety information that could give rise to a product recall, updated warnings, or other regulatory actions that could have an adverse impact on our business.
After the FDA approves a drug or biologic for marketing, the product’s sponsor must comply with several post-marketing obligations that continue until the product is discontinued. These post-marketing obligations include the reporting of adverse events to the agency within specified timeframes, the submission of product-specific annual reports that include changes in the distribution, manufacturing, and labeling information, and notification when a drug product is found to have significant deviations from its approved manufacturing specifications (among others). Our ongoing compliance with these types of mandatory reporting requirements could result in additional requests for information from the FDA and, depending on the scope of a potential product issue that the FDA may decide to pursue, potentially also result in a request from the agency to conduct a product recall or to strengthen warnings and/or revise
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other label information about the product. FDA may also require or request the withdrawal of the product from the market. Any of these post-marketing regulatory actions could materially affect our sales and, therefore, have the potential to adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Undesirable adverse events caused by our medicines and drug candidates could interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials, delay or prevent regulatory approval, limit the commercial profile of an approved label, or result in significant negative consequences following any regulatory approval
Undesirable adverse events ("AEs") caused by our medicines and drug candidates could cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials and could result in a more restrictive label or the delay or denial of regulatory approval, or could result in limitations or withdrawal following approvals. If the conduct or results of our trials or patient experience following approval reveal a high and unacceptable severity or prevalence of AEs, our trials could be suspended or terminated and regulatory authorities could order us to cease further development of, or deny approval of, our drug candidates or require us to cease commercialization following approval.
As is typical in the development of pharmaceutical products, drug-related AEs and serious AEs ("SAEs") have been reported in our clinical trials. Some of these events have led to patient deaths. Drug-related AEs or SAEs could affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled subjects to complete the trial and could result in product liability claims. Any of these occurrences may harm our reputation, business, financial condition and prospects significantly. In our periodic and current reports filed with the SEC and our press releases and scientific and medical presentations released from time to time we disclose clinical results for our drug candidates, including the occurrence of AEs and SAEs.
Potential products may subject us to product liability for which insurance may not be available.
The use of our potential products in clinical trials and the marketing of any pharmaceutical products may expose us to product liability claims. We have obtained a level of liability insurance coverage that we believe is adequate in scope and coverage for our current stage of development. However, our present insurance coverage may not be adequate to protect us from liabilities we might incur. In addition, our existing coverage will not be adequate as we further develop products and, in the future, adequate insurance coverage and indemnification by collaborative partners may not be available in sufficient amounts or at a reasonable cost. If a product liability claim or series of claims are brought against us for uninsured liabilities, or in excess of our insurance coverage, the payment of such liabilities could have a negative effect on our business and financial condition.
If we are unable to obtain both adequate coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party payers for our products before the competitor’s product launch our revenues and prospects for profitability will suffer.
Successful commercialization of our products is highly dependent on the extent to which coverage and reimbursement is, and will be, available from third-party payers, including governmental payers and private health insurers. Patients may not be capable of paying for our products themselves and may rely on third-party payers to pay for, or subsidize, the costs of their medications, among other medical costs. If third-party payers do not provide coverage or reimbursement for our products, our revenues and prospects for profitability will suffer. In addition, even if third-party payers provide some coverage or reimbursement for our products, the availability of such coverage or reimbursement for prescription drugs under private health insurance and managed care plans often varies based on the type of contract or plan purchased.
Cybersecurity incidents could impair our ability to conduct business effectively.
Cybersecurity incidents against us or against a third party that has authorized access to our data or networks, failure of our disaster recovery systems, or consequential employee error, could have an adverse effect on our ability to communicate or conduct business, negatively impacting our operations and financial condition. This adverse effect can become particularly acute if those events affect our electronic data processing, transmission, storage, and retrieval systems, or impact the availability, integrity, or confidentiality of our data.
We depend heavily upon computer systems to perform necessary business functions. Our computer systems, networks, and data, like those of other companies, could be subject to cyberattacks and unauthorized access, use, alteration, or destruction. If one or more of these events occurs, it could potentially jeopardize the confidential, proprietary, and other information processed, stored in, and transmitted through our computer systems and networks. Such an attack could cause interruptions or malfunctions in our operations, which could result in financial losses, litigation, regulatory penalties, reputational damage, and increased costs associated with mitigation of damages and remediation. Third parties with which we do business may also be sources of cybersecurity or other technological risk.
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The use of quarantines and social distancing restrictions to reduce the spread of COVID-19, including employees who have transitioned to working remotely, may present additional cybersecurity risks to us. Policies of extended periods of remote working, whether by us or third parties with which we do business with, could strain technology resources, introduce operational risks and otherwise heighten the risks described above.
Our business depends substantially on the continuing efforts of our senior management, key employees and qualified personnel, and our business operations may be adversely and negatively impacted if we lose their services.
Our future success depends substantially on the continued efforts of our senior management team and key employees. Our employees play key roles in the areas of product development, marketing, sales, and general and administrative functions. Competition for qualified staff or other key employees in the biopharmaceutical industry in China is intense, particularly for individuals with multinational experience. If one or more of our members of senior management or key employees are unable or unwilling to continue their services with us, we might not be able to replace them easily, at an acceptable cost or in a timely manner, if at all.
Many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater resources than we have and some of these companies may offer more lucrative compensation packages. If any of our key personnel joins a competitor or forms a competing company, we may lose customers, know-how and key professionals and staff members. Even if we enter into employment agreements and non-compete agreements with our employees, certain provisions under these agreements may be deemed invalid or unenforceable under PRC laws. Our continued ability to compete effectively depends on our ability to attract new employees and to retain and motivate our existing employees. Since the demand and competition for talent is intense in our industry, we may need to offer higher compensation and other benefits in order to attract and retain key personnel in the future, which could increase our compensation expenses. If we do not succeed in attracting additional highly skilled personnel or retaining or motivating our existing personnel, we may be unable to grow effectively.
Certain of our directors and officers may have business interests that may conflict with our interests and those of our stockholders.
Certain of our directors and officers have relationships with venture capital or similar funds that invest in life sciences companies that may compete with us. James Huang, a director, is the founding partner of Panacea Venture, a global venture fund focusing on investments in innovative and transformative early and growth stage healthcare and life science companies. Dr. Quan Zhou, another director, previously served as the president of IDG Technology Venture Investment Inc. and has been the managing member of IDG Technology Venture Investments, LP and its successor fund since 2000 and the director of various IDG-Accel China funds since 2005.
Our Chairman and CEO, Dr. Wei-Wu He, is the founder and managing partner of Emerging Technology Partners, LLC (“ETP”), a life science focused venture fund, and its related investing entities. Through funds affiliated with ETP, Dr. He is a founder and significant shareholder of Juventas and currently serves as chairman of Juventas’ board of directors. Mr. Huang, through Panacea Venture, also is an investor in Juventas. In addition, we have an equity investment in Juventas.
Although we require that all transactions with Juventas must be approved by a committee of independent directors, our commercial license, loan to, and other transactions with Juventas could create conflicts of interests for Dr. He or Mr. Huang. Even though we are an investor in Juventas, Dr. He and Mr. Huang may have different business and personal interests than our other stockholders. In particular, Dr. He, as a founder of Juventas, has a direct interest in the financial success of Juventas that may encourage him to support strategies to further the financial success of Juventas that could potentially adversely impact us. To the extent we fail to appropriately deal with any such conflicts of interests, it could negatively impact our reputation and ability to raise additional funds and the willingness of counterparties to do business with us, all of which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
We or the third parties upon whom we rely on may be adversely affected by epidemic outbreaks, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes or other natural disasters, and our business continuity and disaster recovery plans may not adequately protect us from a serious disaster.
We have offices in Rockville, Maryland, and a wholly owned subsidiary in Beijing, China through which substantially all of our operations are conducted. We also rely and intend to rely on third parties, including our clinical research organizations, third party manufacturers, and certain other important vendors and consultants in China and in United States. The occurrence of one or more epidemic outbreaks such as Ebola, Zika, SARS-CoV, COVID-19 or measles, natural disasters, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, floods, hail storms and earthquakes, unusual weather conditions, terrorist attacks or disruptive political events in regions where we operate our business could adversely affect the operations of the third parties we rely on and our business, results of operations, financial condition and our prospects.
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If an epidemic outbreak, natural disaster, power outage or other event occurred that prevented us or the third parties we rely on from using all or a significant portion of our or their offices, damaged critical infrastructure or disrupted operations, it may be difficult, or in certain cases, impossible for us to continue our business for a substantial period of time. The disaster recovery and business continuity plan we have in place currently are limited and are unlikely to prove adequate in the event of a serious disaster or similar event. We may incur substantial expenses as a result of the limited nature of our disaster recovery and business continuity plans, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Risks Relating to Our Reliance on Third Parties
Independent clinical investigators and contract research organizations that we engage to conduct our clinical trials may not devote sufficient time or attention to our clinical trials or be able to repeat their past success.
We depend on independent clinical investigators and contract research organizations (“CROs”) to assist in the conduct of our clinical trials under their agreements with us. The investigators are not our employees, and we cannot control the amount or timing of resources that they devote to our programs. If independent investigators fail to devote sufficient time and resources to our drug development programs, or if their performance is substandard or deviates from regulatory requirements, GCPs, or the protocol, it could delay the approval of our FDA applications and our introduction of new products. The CROs we contract with to assist with the execution of our clinical trials play a significant role in the conduct of the trials and the subsequent collection and analysis of data. Failure of the CROs to meet their obligations, as well as any failure of us or our collaborators to effectively monitor and audit our CROs and clinical trials, could adversely affect clinical development of our products.
We have no current manufacturing capacity and rely on limited suppliers for some of our products.
We plan to operate a manufacturing facility in the Wuxi Huishan Economic Development Zone in Jiangsu Province, China. We do not currently have the capacity to manufacture products and we have limited experience in these activities. The manufacturing processes for the pipeline we are developing have not yet been tested at commercial levels, and it may not be possible to manufacture these materials in a cost-effective manner. If we elect to perform these functions, we will be required to either develop these capacities, or contract with others to perform some or all of these tasks. We may be dependent to a significant extent on corporate partners, licensees, or other entities for manufacturing of our products. If we engage directly in manufacturing, we will require substantial additional funds and personnel and will be required to comply with extensive regulations. We may be unable to develop or contract for these capacities when required to do so in connection with our business.
We depend on our third-party manufacturers to perform their obligations effectively and on a timely basis. These third parties may not meet their obligations and any such non-performance may delay clinical development or submission of products for regulatory approval, or otherwise impair our competitive position. Any significant problem experienced by one of our suppliers could result in a delay or interruption in the supply of materials to us until such supplier resolves the problem or an alternative source of supply is located. Any delay or interruption would likely lead to a delay or interruption of manufacturing operations, which could negatively affect our operations. Although we have identified alternative suppliers for our product candidates, we have not entered into contractual or other arrangements with them. If we needed to use an alternate supplier for any product, we would experience delays while we negotiated an agreement with them for the manufacture of such product. In addition, we may be to negotiate manufacturing terms with a new supplier as as the terms we have with our current suppliers.
Problems with any manufacturing processes, including deviations from cGMP, could result in product defects, which could require us to delay shipment of products or recall products previously shipped, as well as regulatory action. In addition, any prolonged interruption in the operations of the manufacturing facilities of one of our sole-source suppliers could result in the cancellation of shipments. A number of factors could cause interruptions, including equipment malfunctions or failures, or damage to a facility due to natural disasters or otherwise. We expect our future manufacturing processes to be, highly complex and subject to a lengthy regulatory approval process. Alternative qualified production capacity may not be available on a timely basis or at all. Difficulties or in our manufacturing could increase our costs and our reputation.
The manufacture of pharmaceutical products can be an expensive, time consuming, and complex process. Manufacturers often encounter difficulties in scaling-up production of new products, including quality control and assurance and shortages of personnel. Delays in formulation and scale-up to commercial quantities could result in additional expense and delays in our clinical trials, regulatory submissions, and commercialization.
Failure of manufacturing facilities producing our product candidates to maintain regulatory approval could delay or otherwise hinder our ability to market our product candidates. Any manufacturer of our product candidates will be subject to applicable cGMP prescribed by the FDA or other rules and regulations prescribed by the NMPA and other foreign regulatory authorities. We and any of
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our collaborators may be unable to enter into or maintain relationships either domestically or abroad with manufacturers whose facilities and procedures comply or will continue to comply with cGMP and who are able to produce our products in accordance with applicable regulatory standards. Failure by a manufacturer of our products to comply with cGMP could result in significant time delays or our inability to obtain marketing approval or, should we have market approval, for such approval to continue. Changes in our manufacturers could require new product testing and facility compliance inspections. In the U.S., failure to comply with cGMP or other applicable legal requirements can lead to federal seizure of violated products, injunctive actions brought by the federal government, inability to export product, and potential criminal and civil liability on the part of a company and its officers and employees.
The design and manufacture of a manufacturing facility by CASI Wuxi may be delayed.
Together with our partner, Wuxi Jintou Huicun Investment Enterprise, a limited partnership organized under Chinese law, we established CASI Wuxi, to build and operate a GMP manufacturing facility in the Wuxi Huishan Economic Development Zone in Jiangsu Province, China. Under the terms of our agreement, we have agreed to invest $80 million in CASI Wuxi. As of December 31, 2021, we have invested $31 million in cash and transferred selected ANDAs valued at $30 million to CASI Wuxi . We are required to invest an additional $19 million in cash for the following two years. We have an 80% interest in CASI Wuxi and our partner has a 20% interest.
In November 2019, CASI Wuxi entered into a lease agreement for the right to use state-owned land in China for the construction of a manufacturing facility. Pursuant to this agreement, CASI Wuxi has committed to invest in land use rights and property, plant and equipment of RMB1 billion (equivalent to US $143 million) by August 2022. The lease agreement also specifies dates by which certain milestones must be met, including a construction start date in August 2020. Construction of the manufacturing facility began in the fourth quarter of 2020. In February 2022, we have reached an alignment with the Wuxi local government that we will collaborate with Wuxi LP to co-develop the land continuously in the future, and the development plan will be extended, details regarding the plan are under negotiation.
The undertaking of building and establishing a new manufacturing facility can take years. Once completed, the new facility might fail validation or not meet regulatory standards for a commercial manufacturing facility. In addition, the facility may not obtain or retain the requisite legal permits to manufacture in China, and costs or operational limitations may be imposed in connection with obtaining and complying with such permits. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that CASI Wuxi will meet the expenditure requirements and other deadlines set forth in the lease agreement.
The success of CASI Wuxi also relies on our ability to make additional payments in the future, which is uncertain. Our plan may require us to obtain additional debt or equity financing, resulting in additional debt obligations, increased interest expense or dilution of equity ownership.
The timing of the development and investment plans for a manufacturing facility are subject to further discussions with the government. We may seek to renegotiate the terms of our investment in CASI Wuxi, as well as the terms of the various agreements to which CASI Wuxi is a party. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain more favorable terms.
If we fail to maintain an effective distribution channel for our medicines, our business and sales could be adversely affected
We rely on third-party distributors to distribute our approved medicines. Our ability to maintain and grow our business will depend on our ability to maintain an effective distribution channel that ensures the timely delivery of our medicines. However, we have relatively limited control over our distributors, who may fail to distribute our drugs in the manner we contemplate. If price controls or other factors substantially reduce the margins our distributors can obtain through the resale of our medicines to hospitals, medical institutions and sub-distributors, they may terminate their relationship with us. While we believe alternative distributors are readily available, there is a risk that, if the distribution of our medicines is interrupted, our sales volumes and business prospects could be adversely affected.
Risks Related to Extensive Government Regulation
All material aspects of the research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of pharmaceutical products are heavily regulated, and we may face difficulties in complying with or be unable to comply with such regulations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business
All jurisdictions in which we conduct or intend to conduct our pharmaceutical-industry activities regulate these activities in great depth and detail. We are currently focusing our activities in the major markets of the United States, China and Europe. These geopolitical areas all strictly regulate the pharmaceutical industry, and in doing so they employ broadly similar regulatory strategies,
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including regulation of product development and approval, manufacturing, and marketing, sales and distribution of products. However, there are differences in the regulatory regimes-some minor, some significant-that make for a more complex and costly regulatory compliance burden for a company like ours that plans to operate in each of these regions.
The process of obtaining regulatory approvals and compliance with appropriate laws and regulations require the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources. Failure to comply with the applicable requirements at any time during the product development process, approval process, or after approval, may subject us to administrative or judicial sanctions. These sanctions could include a regulator’s refusal to approve pending applications, withdrawal of an approval, license revocation, a clinical hold, voluntary or mandatory product recalls, product seizures, total or partial suspension of production or distribution, injunctions, fines, refusals of government contracts, restitution, disgorgement, or civil or criminal penalties. The failure to comply with these regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We are subject to certain U.S. healthcare laws, regulation and enforcement; our failure to comply with those laws could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
We are subject to certain U.S. healthcare laws and regulations and enforcement by the federal government and the states in which we conduct our business. The laws that may affect our ability to operate include, without limitation:
the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”), which governs our business activities, including our marketing practices, educational programs, pricing policies, and relationships with healthcare providers or other entities. The AKS prohibits, among other things, persons and entities from knowingly and willfully soliciting, receiving, offering or paying remuneration, directly or indirectly, in exchange for or to induce either the referral of an individual for, or the purchase, order or recommendation of, any good or service for which payment may be made under federal healthcare programs such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Remuneration has been broadly interpreted to include anything of value, including for example, gifts, discounts, coupons, the furnishing of supplies or equipment, credit arrangements, payments of cash, waivers of payments, ownership interests and providing anything at less than its fair market value. This statute has been broadly interpreted to apply to manufacturer arrangements with prescribers, purchasers and formulary managers, among others;
the FFDCA, and its regulations which prohibit, among other things, the introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of any food, drug, device, biologic, or cosmetic that is adulterated or misbranded;
the PHSA, which prohibits, among other things, the introduction into interstate commerce of biological product unless a biologics license is in effect for that product;
federal civil and criminal false claims laws and civil monetary penalty laws, which prohibit, among other things, individuals or entities from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, claims for payment from Medicare, Medicaid, or other third-party payers that are false or fraudulent, or making a false statement to avoid, decrease or conceal an obligation to pay money to the federal government;
federal criminal laws that prohibit executing a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program or making false statements relating to healthcare matters;
HIPAA and its implementing regulations, which impose certain requirements relating to the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information;
state law equivalents of each of the above federal laws, such as anti-kickback and false claims laws, which may apply to items or services reimbursed by any third-party payer, including commercial insurers, and state laws governing the privacy and security of health information in certain circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and may not have the same effect, thus complicating compliance efforts;
federal and state consumer protection and unfair competition laws, which broadly regulate marketplace activities and activities that potentially harm consumers;
federal and state government price reporting laws that require us to calculate and report complex pricing metrics to government programs, where such reported prices may be used in the calculation of reimbursement and/or discounts on our marketed drugs (participation in these programs and compliance with the applicable requirements may subject us to potentially significant discounts on our products, increased infrastructure costs, and could potentially affect our ability to offer certain marketplace discounts); and
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federal and state financial transparency laws, which generally require certain types of expenditures in the U.S. to be tracked and reported (compliance with such requirements may require investment in infrastructure to ensure that tracking is performed properly, and some of these laws result in the public disclosure of various types of payments and relationships with healthcare providers and healthcare entities, which could potentially have a negative effect on our business and/or increase enforcement scrutiny of our activities).
In addition, certain marketing practices, including off-label promotion, may also violate certain federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws, FDA rules and regulations, as well as false claims laws. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of the laws described above or any other governmental regulations that apply to us, we, or our officers or employees, may be subject to penalties, including administrative civil and criminal penalties, damages, fines, withdrawal of regulatory approval, the curtailment or restructuring of our operations, the exclusion from participation in federal and state healthcare programs and imprisonment, any of which could adversely affect our ability to sell our products or operate our business and also affect our financial results.
Current healthcare laws and regulations and future legislative or regulatory reforms to the healthcare system may affect our ability to sell our products profitably.
The U.S. and some foreign jurisdictions are considering or have enacted a number of legislative and regulatory proposals to change the healthcare system in ways that could affect our ability to sell our products profitably. Among policy makers and payers in the U.S. and elsewhere, there is significant interest in promoting changes in healthcare systems with the stated goals of containing healthcare costs, improving quality and/or expanding access. In the U.S., the pharmaceutical industry has been a particular focus of these efforts and has been significantly affected by major legislative initiatives.
We expect that healthcare reform measures, including the potential repeal and replacement of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”), that may be adopted in the future, may have a significant impact on our business. Most recently, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts was enacted, which, among other things, removed penalties for not complying with the individual mandate to carry health insurance. Additionally, all or a portion of PPACA and related subsequent legislation may be modified, repealed or otherwise invalidated through judicial challenge, which could result in lower numbers of insured individuals, reduced coverage for insured individuals and adversely affect our business. If PPACA is repealed or replaced, it is unclear how the replacement statute may impact our business. If PPACA is not repealed or replaced, it will continue to impose requirements on our business.
Moreover, certain politicians have announced intentions to propose initiatives to regulate the prices of pharmaceutical products. We cannot know what form any such legislation may take or the market’s perception of how such legislation would affect us. Any reduction in reimbursement from government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability, or commercialize our current products and/or those for which we may receive regulatory approval in the future.
Our medicines and any future approved drug candidates will be subject to ongoing regulatory obligations and continued regulatory review, which may result in significant additional expense and we may be subject to penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or experience unanticipated problems with our medicines and drug candidates.
Our medicines and any additional drug candidates that are approved will be subject to ongoing regulatory requirements for manufacturing, labeling, packaging, storage, advertising, promotion, sampling, record-keeping, conduct of post-marketing studies, and submission of safety, efficacy, and other post-marketing information, including both federal and state requirements in China, the US and other regions. As such, we and our collaborators will be subject to ongoing review and periodic inspections to assess compliance with applicable post-approval regulations. Additionally, to the extent we want to make certain changes to the approved medicines, product labeling, or manufacturing processes, we will need to submit new applications or supplements to regulatory authorities for approval.
Manufacturers and manufacturers’ facilities are required to comply with extensive FDA, NMPA and comparable regulatory authority requirements, ensuring that quality control and manufacturing procedures conform to GMP regulations. As such, we and our contract manufacturers are and will be subject to continual review and inspections to assess compliance with GMP and adherence to commitments made in any NDA or BLA, other marketing application, and previous responses to any inspection observations. Accordingly, we and others with whom we work must continue to expend time, money and effort in all areas of regulatory compliance, including manufacturing, production and quality control. The failure to comply with these requirements could have a material adverse effect on our business.
The regulatory approvals for our medicine and any approvals that we receive for our drug candidates are and may be subject to limitations on the approved indicated uses for which the medicine may be marketed or to the conditions of approval, which could adversely affect the drug’s commercial potential or contain requirements for potentially costly post-marketing testing and surveillance
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to monitor the safety and efficacy of the drug or drug candidate. The FDA, NMPA, EMA or comparable regulatory authorities may also require a REMS program or comparable program as a condition of approval of our drug candidates or following approval. In addition, if the FDA, NMPA, EMA or a comparable regulatory authority approves our drug candidates, we will have to comply with requirements including, for example, submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, establishment registration, as well as continued compliance with GMP and good clinical practice (“GCP”) for any clinical trials that we conduct post-approval.
The FDA, NMPA, EMA or comparable regulatory authorities may seek to impose a consent decree or withdraw marketing approval if compliance with regulatory requirements is not maintained or if problems occur after the drug reaches the market. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with our medicines or drug candidates or with our drug’s manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in revisions to the approved labeling to add new safety information; imposition of post-market studies or clinical studies to assess new safety risks; or imposition of distribution restrictions or other restrictions under a REMS program. Other potential consequences include, among other things:
restrictions on the marketing or manufacturing of our medicines, withdrawal of the product from the market, or voluntary or mandatory product recalls;
fines, untitled or warning letters, or holds on clinical trials;
refusal by the FDA, NMPA, EMA or comparable regulatory authorities to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications filed by us or suspension or revocation of license approvals or withdrawal of approvals;
product seizure or detention, or refusal to permit the import or export of our medicines and drug candidates; and
injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.
The FDA, NMPA, EMA and other regulatory authorities strictly regulate the marketing, labeling, advertising and promotion of products that are placed on the market. Drugs may be promoted only for their approved indications and for use in accordance with the provisions of the approved label. The FDA, NMPA, EMA and other regulatory authorities actively enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses, and a company that is found to have improperly promoted off-label uses may be subject to significant liability. The policies of the FDA, NMPA, EMA and of other regulatory authorities may change and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit or delay regulatory approval of our drug candidates. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action, either in the United States or abroad, particularly in China, where the regulatory environment is constantly evolving. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any regulatory approval that we may have obtained and we may not or sustain .
In addition, if we obtain accelerated approval or conditional approval of any of our drug candidates, as we have done with the initial approval of EVOMELA ® in China we will be required to conduct a confirmatory study (also called Post Marketing Study “PMS”) to verify the predicted clinical benefit and may also be required to conduct post-marketing safety studies. Other comparable regulatory authorities may have similar requirements. The results from the confirmatory study may not support the clinical benefit, which could result in the approval being withdrawn. While operating under accelerated approval, we will be subject to certain restrictions that we would not be subject to upon receiving regular approval.
Risks Relating to Our Intellectual Property
We depend on patents and other proprietary rights, some of which are uncertain. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights our business and competitive position would be harmed.
We have in-licensed rights to a variety of product candidates. Our success, competitive position and future revenues with respect to these product candidates will depend, in part, on our ability to protect our intellectual property. We will be able to protect our proprietary rights from unauthorized use by third parties only to the extent that our proprietary rights are covered by valid and enforceable patents or are effectively maintained as trade secrets. We attempt to protect our proprietary position by maintaining trade secrets and by filing U.S. and foreign patent applications related to our in-licensed technology, inventions and improvements that are important to the development of our business. Our failure to do so may adversely affect our business and competitive position.
The patent positions of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies can be highly uncertain and involve complex legal and factual questions for which important legal principles remain unresolved. We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world. No consistent policy regarding the breadth of claims allowed in pharmaceutical patents has emerged to date in the U.S. or in many jurisdictions outside of the U.S. Changes in either the patent laws or interpretations of patent laws in the U.S. and other countries may diminish the value of our intellectual property and therefore we cannot predict with certainty whether any patent
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applications that we have filed or that we may file in the future will be approved, will cover our products or product candidates or that any resulting patents will be enforced. In addition, third parties may challenge, seek to invalidate, limit the scope of or circumvent any of our patents, once they are issued. Thus, any patents that we own or license from third parties or CASI Wuxi or development partners may not provide any protection against competitors. Any patent applications that we have filed or that we may file in the future, or those we may license from third parties or CASI Wuxi or development partners, may not result in patents being issued. Moreover, disputes between our licensing or joint development partners and us may arise over license scope, or ownership, assignment, inventorship and/or rights to use or commercialize patent or other proprietary rights, which may adversely impact our ability to obtain and protect our proprietary technology and products. Also, patent rights may not provide us with adequate proprietary protection or competitive advantages against competitors with similar technologies or products.
Third parties may initiate legal proceedings alleging infringement of intellectual property rights, the outcome of which would be uncertain and could harm our business
Third parties may assert patent or other intellectual property infringement claims against us or our licensors arising from the manufacture, use and sale of our current or future product candidates in China or in any other jurisdictions we ultimately commercialize in. The validity of our current or future patents or patent applications or those of our licensors may be challenged in litigation, interference or derivation proceedings, opposition, post grant review, inter parts review, or other similar enforcement and revocation proceedings, provoked by third parties or brought by us, may be necessary to determine the validity of our patents or patent applications or those of our licensors. Our patents could be found invalid, unenforceable, or their scope significantly reduced.
An unfavorable outcome could require us to cease using the related technology or to attempt to license rights to it from the prevailing party. Our business could be harmed if the prevailing party does not offer us a license on commercially reasonable terms. Our defense of litigation or interference proceedings may fail and, even if successful, may result in substantial costs and distract our management and other employees. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us, we may have to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees for willful infringement, pay royalties, redesign our infringing products or obtain one or more licenses from third parties, which may be or require substantial time and monetary expenditure.
Although China recently adopted changes to its patent law to include patent term extension and an early resolution mechanism for pharmaceutical patent disputes starting in June 2021, key provisions of the law remain unclear and/or subject to implementing regulations. The absence of effective regulatory exclusivity for pharmaceutical products in China could further increase the risk of early generic or biosimilar competition with our medicines in China.
In China, laws on patent term extension, patent linkage, and data exclusivity (referred to as regulatory data protection) are still developing. Therefore, a lower-cost generic drug can emerge onto the market much more quickly. Chinese regulators have set forth a framework for integrating patent linkage and data exclusivity into the Chinese regulatory regime, as well as for establishing a pilot program for patent term extension. The Economic and Trade Agreement Between the United States of America and the People's Republic of China announced in January 2020 (the "Trade Agreement") also provides for a mechanism for early resolution of patent disputes and patent term extension systems. To be implemented, this framework will require adoption of legislation and regulations. In October 2020, China adopted amendments to its Patent Law (the “Amended PRC Patent Law”), which will become effective on June 1, 2021. The Amended PRC Patent Law contains both patent term extension and a mechanism for early resolution of patent disputes, which may be comparable to patent linkage in the United States. However, the provisions for patent term extension and an early resolution mechanism are unclear and/or remain subject to the approval of implementing regulations that are still in draft form or have not yet been proposed, leading to uncertainty about their scope and implementation.
Until the relevant implementing regulations for patent term extension and an early resolution mechanism in the Amended PRC Patent Law are implemented, and until data exclusivity is adopted and implemented, we may be subject to earlier generic competition.
Risks Relating to Our Common Stock
The market price of our common stock may be highly volatile or may decline regardless of our operating performance.
The volatile price of our stock makes it difficult for investors to predict the value of their investments, to sell shares at a profit at any given time, or to plan purchases and sales in advance. Our common stock price has fluctuated from year-to-year and quarter-to-quarter and will likely continue to be volatile. During 2021, our stock price ranged from $0.77 to $3.63. We expect that the trading price of our common stock is likely to be highly volatile in response to a variety of factors that are beyond our control, such as:
our ability to maintain regulatory approval for EVOMELA ® and obtain regulatory approval for our other product candidates;
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issues in importation, marketing and sales of EVOMELA ® ;
the success of CASI Wuxi to build and operate a manufacturing facility in China;
the clinical development of CNCT19, BI-1206 and CID-103;
publicity regarding actual or potential clinical test results relating to products under development by our competitors or us;
initiating, completing or analyzing, or a delay or failure in initiating, completing or analyzing, preclinical or clinical trials or animal trials or the design or results of these trials for products in development;
the entry into, or termination of, key agreements, including key commercial partner agreements;
the initiation of, material developments in, or conclusion of litigation to enforce or defend any of our intellectual property rights or defend against the intellectual property rights of others;
achievement or rejection of regulatory approvals for products in development by our competitors or us;
announcements of technological innovations or new commercial products by our competitors or us;
developments concerning our collaborations and supply chain;
regulatory developments in the United States and foreign countries;
economic or other crises and other external factors;
COVID-19 pandemic, especially as a result of investor concerns and uncertainty related to the impact of the outbreak on the economics of countries worldwide;
the loss of key employees;
period-to-period fluctuations in our revenues and other results of operations;
changes in financial estimates by securities analysts; or
publicity or activity involving possible future acquisitions, strategic investments, partnerships or alliances.
We will not be able to control many of these factors, and we believe that period-to-period comparisons of our financial results will not necessarily be indicative of our future performance. The valuations of many biotechnology companies without consistent product revenues and earnings are extraordinarily high based on conventional valuation standards, such as price to earnings and price to sales ratios. These trading prices and valuations may not be sustained. In the future, our operating results in a particular period may not meet the expectations of any securities analysts whose attention we may attract, or those of our investors, which may result in a decline in the market price of our common stock. Any negative change in the public’s perception of the prospects of biotechnology companies could depress our stock price regardless of our results of operations. These factors may materially and adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
Our largest stockholders, including our directors and executive officers and investment funds with which they are associated, hold a significant amount of our outstanding common stock and, if they acted together, could influence our management and affairs.
A small number of our stockholders, including our directors and executive officers and investment funds with which they are associated, hold a significant amount of our outstanding common stock. In addition, our executive officers and directors and investment funds with which they are associated could determine to make additional purchases of common stock, to the extent permitted by law. In the future, our executive officers and directors also could be issued shares of common stock as determined by the Compensation Committee and the Board in connection with current or future equity incentive plans.
These stockholders, if they acted together, could significantly influence the vote on all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors and the approval of mergers or other business combination transactions. We cannot assure you that our largest stockholders will not seek to influence our business and affairs in a manner that is contrary to the interests of our other stockholders. In addition, the significant concentration of ownership in our common stock may adversely affect the trading price for our common stock because investors often perceive disadvantages in owning stock in companies with significant stockholders.
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Our amended and restated bylaws provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for certain legal actions between us and our stockholders, which could increase costs to bring a claim, discourage claims or limit the ability of our stockholders to bring a claim in a judicial forum viewed by the stockholders as more favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees.
Our amended and restated bylaws, effective September 10, 2020, provide that unless CASI consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for any (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of CASI, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee of CASI to CASI or CASI’s stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim arising under any provision of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, CASI’s certificate of incorporation or CASI’s Amended and Restated By-Laws or (iv) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine. The choice of forum provision may increase costs to bring a claim, discourage claims or limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits us or our directors, officers and other employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, CASI may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions. In addition, unless CASI consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the forum for the resolution of any asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933.
Risks Relating to Our Auditor
The audit report included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are prepared by auditors who are not currently inspected by the PCAOB and, as such, our stockholders are deprived of the benefits of such inspection. In addition, various legislative and regulatory developments related to U.S.-listed China based companies due to lack of PCAOB inspection and other developments due to political tensions between the United States and China may have a material adverse impact on our listing and trading in the United States and the trading prices of our shares of common stock.
Our auditor, the independent registered public accounting firm that issued the audit report included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, as an auditor of companies that are traded publicly in the United States and a firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”), is subject to laws in the United States pursuant to which the PCAOB conducts regular inspections to assess its compliance with applicable professional standards. Our auditor is located in, and organized under the laws of, the PRC, which is a jurisdiction where the PCAOB has been unable to conduct inspections without the approval of the Chinese authorities.
On April 21, 2020, the SEC and the PCAOB released a joint statement highlighting the risks associated with investing in companies based in or having substantial operations in emerging markets including China. The joint statement emphasized the risks associated with lack of access for the PCAOB to inspect auditors and audit work papers in China and higher risks of fraud in emerging markets.
On May 18, 2020, Nasdaq filed three proposals with the SEC to (i) apply a minimum offering size requirement for companies primarily operating in a “Restrictive Market,” (ii) adopt a new requirement relating to the qualification of management or the board of directors for Restrictive Market companies, and (iii) apply additional and more stringent criteria to an applicant or listed company based on the qualifications of the company’s auditor.
On December 18, 2020, the President signed the “Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act” (the “HFCAA”) into law. This legislation requires certain issuers of securities to establish that they are not owned or controlled by a foreign government. Specifically, an issuer must make this certification if the PCAOB is unable to audit specified reports because the issuer has retained a foreign public accounting firm not subject to inspection by the PCAOB. Furthermore, if the PCAOB is unable to inspect the issuer's public accounting firm for three consecutive years, the issuer's securities are banned from trading on a national exchange or through other methods.
On March 24, 2021, the SEC adopted interim final rules relating to the implementation of certain disclosure and documentation requirements of the HFCA Act. We will be required to comply with these rules if the SEC identifies us as having a “non-inspection” year under a process to be subsequently established by the SEC. On December 2, 2021, the SEC adopted final amendments to its rules implementing the HFCA Act (the “Final Amendments”). The Final Amendments finalize the interim final rules adopted in March with two major modifications. First, the Final Amendments clarify how the requirements apply to variable interest entities. Second, the Final Amendments include requirements to disclose information, including the auditor name and location, the percentage of shares of the issuer owned by governmental entities, whether governmental entities in the applicable foreign jurisdiction with respect to the auditor has a controlling financial interest with respect to the issuer, the name of each official of the Chinese Communist Party who is a member
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of the board of the issuer, and whether the articles of incorporation of the issuer contains any charter of the Chinese Communist Party. The Final Amendments also establish procedures the SEC will follow in identifying issuers and prohibiting trading by certain issuers under the HFCA Act.
On June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (the “AHFCA Act”), which if enacted into law would amend the HFCA Act and require the SEC to prohibit an issuer’s securities from trading on any U.S. stock exchanges if its auditor is not subject to PCAOB inspections for two consecutive years instead of three.
On November 5, 2021, the SEC approved the PCAOB’s Rule 6100, Board Determinations Under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act. Rule 6100 will establish a framework for the PCAOB’s determinations under the HFCA Act that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms located in a foreign jurisdiction because of a position taken by an authority in that jurisdiction. On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB issued a report to notify the SEC its determinations that it is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in Mainland China and identifies the registered public accounting firms in Mainland China that are subject to such determinations. Our auditor is identified by the PCAOB and is subject to the determination.
The lack of access to the PCAOB inspection in China prevents the PCAOB from fully evaluating audits and quality control procedures of the auditors based in China. As a result, investors may be deprived of the benefits of such PCAOB inspections. The inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of auditors in China makes it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of these accounting firm’s audit procedures or quality control procedures as compared to auditors outside of China that are subject to the PCAOB inspections, which could cause investors and potential investors in our common stock to lose confidence in our audit procedures and reported financial information and the quality of our financial statements .
We could be delisted if our auditors are unable to meet the PCAOB inspection requirements in time.
The HFCAA requires the SEC to prohibit securities of any foreign companies from being listed on U.S. securities exchanges or traded “over-the-counter” if a company retains a foreign accounting firm that cannot be inspected by the PCAOB for three consecutive years, beginning in 2021. The AHFCAA would shorten this period to two consecutive years, also beginning in 2021. Our independent registered public accounting firm is located in and organized under the laws of the PRC, a jurisdiction where the PCAOB is currently unable to conduct inspections without the approval of the Chinese authorities, and therefore our auditors are not currently inspected by the PCAOB. As such, the requirements under the HFCAA will apply to us beginning in 2022, and we will be subject to the related reporting requirements in 2023 and (as discussed below) the trading restrictions would apply to us in 2024.
The enactment of the HFCAA, the AHFCAA and any additional rulemaking efforts to increase U.S. regulatory access to audit information in China could cause investor uncertainty for affected SEC registrants, including us, and the market price of our shares of common stock could be materially adversely affected. Additionally, whether the PCAOB will be able to conduct inspections of our auditors in the next three years, or at all, is subject to substantial uncertainty and depends on a number of factors out of our control. If we are unable to meet the PCAOB inspection requirement in time, we could be delisted from the Nasdaq Capital Market and our shares of common stock will not be permitted for trading "over-the-counter" market. Such a delisting would substantially impair your ability to sell or purchase our shares of common stock when you wish to do so, and the risk and uncertainty associated with delisting would have a negative impact on the price of our shares. Also, such a delisting would significantly affect our ability to raise capital on terms acceptable to us, or at all, which would have a material impact on our business, financial condition and prospects.
Risks Relating to Our Business Operations in China
We conduct a majority of our operations in China, which exposes us to risks associated with operating outside of the U.S. Changes in international trade and economic policy by the U.S. and Chinese governments could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations.
We have operations and conduct business in China, and we plan to continue to expand these operations. Therefore, we are subject to risks related to operating in foreign countries, which include complex foreign laws or regulatory requirements or unexpected changes to those laws or requirements; other laws and regulatory requirements to which our business activities abroad are subject, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; changes in the political or economic condition of a specific country or region; fluctuations in the value of foreign currency versus the U.S. dollar; our ability to deploy overseas funds in an efficient manner; tariffs, trade protection measures, import or export licensing requirements, trade embargoes, and sanctions (including those administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury), and other trade barriers; difficulties in attracting and retaining qualified personnel; and cultural differences in the conduct of business. There is currently significant uncertainty about the future relationship between the U.S. and various other countries, including China, with respect to trade policies, treaties, government regulations and tariffs.
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Any of the foregoing could harm our business and we cannot anticipate all of the ways in which the current political climate could adversely impact our business.
Governmental control of currency conversion and payments of RMB out of mainland China may limit our ability to utilize our cash balances effectively and affect the value of your investment.
Our China subsidiaries have cash and cash equivalents of 122.9 million China Renminbi (“RMB”), valued at $19.3 million in U.S. dollars as of December 31, 2021. On a consolidated basis this balance accounts for 50% of our total cash and cash equivalents. The Chinese government imposes controls on the convertibility of RMB into foreign currencies and, in certain cases, the remittance of RMB out of mainland China. Control on payments out of mainland China may restrict the ability of our China subsidiaries to remit RMB to us. Approval from China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (“SAFE”) and the People’s Bank of China (“PBOC”) may be required where RMB are to be converted into foreign currencies, including U.S. dollars, and approval from SAFE and the PBOC or their branches may be required where RMB are to be remitted out of mainland China. Specifically, under the existing restrictions, without prior approval from SAFE and the PBOC, the cash balance of our China subsidiaries is not available to us for activities outside of China, including the support of our in-licensing efforts. Furthermore, because repatriation of funds requires the prior approval of SAFE and the PBOC, such repatriation could be delayed, restricted or limited.
Changes in China’s economic, political or social conditions or government policies could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations.
Chinese society and the Chinese economy continue to undergo significant change. Adverse changes in the political and economic policies of the Chinese government could have a material adverse effect on the overall economic growth of China, which could adversely affect our ability to conduct business in China. The Chinese government continues to adjust economic policies to promote economic growth. Some of these measures benefit the overall Chinese economy but may also have a negative effect on us. For example, our financial condition and results of operations in China may be adversely affected by government control over capital investments or changes in tax regulations. As the Chinese pharmaceutical industry grows and evolves, the Chinese government may also implement measures to change the structure of foreign investment in this industry. We are unable to predict the frequency and scope of such policy changes, any of which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity, access to capital and its ability to conduct business in China. Any failure on our part to comply with changing government regulations and policies could result in the of our ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates in China.
The Chinese government exerts substantial influence over the manner in which we must conduct our business activities.
The China government has exercised and continues to exercise substantial control over virtually every sector of the Chinese economy through regulation and state ownership. Our ability to operate in China may be harmed by changes in its laws and regulations, including those relating to taxation, import and export tariffs, environmental regulations, land use rights, property, healthcare regulations, and other matters. We believe that our operations in China are in material compliance with all applicable legal and regulatory requirements. However, the central or local governments of the jurisdictions in which we operate may impose new, stricter regulations or interpretations of existing regulations that would require additional expenditures and efforts on our part to ensure our compliance with such regulations or interpretations.
Accordingly, government actions in the future, including any decision not to continue to support recent economic reforms and to return to a more centrally planned economy or regional or local variations in the implementation of economic policies, could have a significant effect on economic conditions in China or particular regions thereof and could require us to divest ourselves of any interest we then hold in Chinese properties, subsidiaries, or joint ventures.
We are subject to the Enterprise Income Tax Law, and we may therefore be subject to PRC income tax on our global income.
Under the PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementing rules, both of which came into effect on January 1, 2008, enterprises established under the laws of jurisdictions outside of China with “de facto management bodies” located in China may be considered PRC tax resident enterprises for tax purposes and may be subject to the PRC enterprise income tax at the rate of 25% on their global income. “De facto management body” refers to a managing body that exercises substantive and overall management and control over the production and business, personnel, accounting books and assets of an enterprise. The State Administration of Taxation issued the Notice Regarding the Determination of Chinese-Controlled Offshore-Incorporated Enterprises as PRC Tax Resident Enterprises on the basis of de facto management bodies, or Circular 82, on April 22, 2009. Circular 82 provides certain specific criteria for determining whether the “de facto management body” of a Chinese-controlled offshore-incorporated enterprise is located in China.
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Although Circular 82 only applies to offshore enterprises controlled by PRC enterprises, not those controlled by foreign enterprises or individuals, the determining criteria set forth in Circular 82 may reflect the State Administration of Taxation’s general position on how the “de facto management body” test should be applied in determining the tax resident status of offshore enterprises, regardless of whether they are controlled by PRC enterprises. If we were to be considered a PRC resident enterprise, we would be subject to PRC enterprise income tax at the rate of 25% on our global income. In such case, our profitability and cash flow may be materially reduced as a result of our global income being taxed under the Enterprise Income Tax Law. Although we believe that none of our entities outside of China should be considered a PRC resident enterprise for PRC tax purposes. the tax resident status of an enterprise is subject to determination by the PRC tax authorities and uncertainties remain with respect to the interpretation of the term “de facto management body.”
China regulations relating to investments in offshore companies by China residents may subject our China-resident stockholders, beneficial owners or our China subsidiaries to liability or penalties, limit our ability to inject capital into our China subsidiaries or limit our China subsidiaries’ ability to increase their registered capital or distribute profits to us.
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE, promulgated the Circular on Relevant Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Control on Domestic Residents’ Offshore Investment and Financing and Roundtrip Investment through Special Purpose Vehicles, or SAFE Circular 37, on July 4, 2014, which replaced the former circular commonly known as “SAFE Circular 75” promulgated by SAFE on October 21, 2005. SAFE Circular 37 requires China residents to register with local branches of SAFE in connection with their direct establishment or indirect control of an offshore entity, for the purpose of overseas investment and financing, with such China residents’ legally owned assets or equity interests in domestic enterprises or offshore assets or interests, referred to in SAFE Circular 37 as a “special purpose vehicle.” SAFE Circular 37 further requires amendment to the registration in the event of any significant changes with respect to the special purpose vehicle, such as increase or decrease of capital contributed by China individuals, share transfer or exchange, merger, division or other material event. In the event that a China shareholder holding interests in a special purpose vehicle fails to fulfill the required SAFE registration, the China subsidiaries of that special purpose vehicle may be prohibited from making profit distributions to the offshore parent and from carrying out subsequent cross-border foreign exchange activities, and the special purpose vehicle may be restricted in its ability to contribute additional capital into its China subsidiary. Moreover, failure to comply with the various SAFE registration requirements described above could result in liability under China law for of foreign exchange controls. According to the Notice on Further Simplifying and Policies for the Foreign Exchange Administration of Direct Investment released on February 13, 2015 by SAFE, local banks will examine and handle foreign exchange registration for overseas direct investment, including the initial foreign exchange registration and amendment registration, under SAFE Circular 37 from June 1, 2015.
According to SAFE Circular 37, our stockholders or beneficial owners, who are China residents, are subject to SAFE Circular 37 or other foreign exchange administrative regulations in respect of their investment in our company. We may not be aware of the identities of all of our stockholders or beneficial owners who are China residents, and we do not know whether they are aware of SAFE Circular 37. We do not have control over our stockholders or beneficial owners and there can be no assurance that all of our China-resident stockholders or beneficial owners will comply with SAFE Circular 37 and subsequent implementation rules, and there is no assurance that the registration under SAFE Circular 37 and any amendment will be completed in a timely manner, or will be completed at all. The failure of our stockholders or beneficial owners who are China residents to register or amend their foreign exchange registrations in a timely manner pursuant to SAFE Circular 37 and subsequent implementation rules, or the failure of future stockholders or beneficial owners who are China residents to comply with the registration procedures set forth in SAFE Circular 37 and subsequent implementation rules, may subject such stockholders or owners or our China subsidiaries to and legal sanctions. to register or comply with relevant requirements may also limit our ability to contribute additional capital to our China subsidiaries and limit our China subsidiaries’ ability to distribute dividends to us. Because a majority of our operating activities take place in and our strategic focus is on China, any such would have a material effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may be subject to fines and legal sanctions by SAFE or other China government authorities if we or our employees who are China citizens fail to comply with regulations relating to employee stock options granted by companies listed on exchanges outside of China to China citizens.
On February 15, 2012, SAFE promulgated the Circular on Relevant Issues Concerning the Foreign Exchange Administration for Domestic Individuals’ Participating in the Share Incentive Plans of Overseas-Listed Companies, or SAFE Circular 7, replacing earlier rules promulgated in 2007. Under SAFE Circular 7, China resident individuals who participate in a share incentive plan of a company that is listed on an overseas exchange are required to register with SAFE and complete certain other procedures. All participants to a plan need to retain a China agent through Chinese subsidiaries of the overseas listed company to handle foreign exchange
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registration, account opening, funds transfer and remittance and other related matters. An overseas agent should also be designated to handle matters in connection with the exercise or sale of share awards and proceeds transferring for the share incentive plan participants. We believe that our share incentive plans for our China resident employees are in compliance with SAFE Circular 7; however, any failure to comply with these or similar regulations in the future may subject us or our Chinese employees to fines and legal sanctions imposed by SAFE or other government authorities and may prevent us from further granting options under our share incentive plans to our employees. Such events could adversely affect our business operations.
General Risk Factors
We may engage in strategic, commercial and other corporate transactions that could negatively affect our financial condition and prospects.
We may consider strategic, commercial, and other corporate transactions as opportunities present themselves. There are risks associated with such activities. These risks include, among others, incorrectly assessing the quality of a prospective strategic partner, encountering greater than anticipated costs in integration, being unable to profitably deploy assets acquired in the transaction, such as drug candidates, possible dilution to our stockholders, and the loss of key employees due to changes in management. Further, strategic transactions may place additional constraints on our resources by diverting the attention of our management from our business operations. To the extent we issue securities in connection with additional transactions, these transactions and related issuances may have a dilutive effect on existing shareholders. Our financial condition and prospects after an acquisition depend in part on our ability to successfully integrate the operations of the acquired business or technologies. We may be unable to integrate operations successfully or to expected cost savings. Any cost savings which are realized may be offset by in revenues or other charges to earnings.
If securities or industry analysts publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price could decline.
The trading market for our common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. If one or more of the analysts who may cover us downgrade our common stock or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our common stock price would likely decline.
Subsequent resales of shares of our common stock in the public market may cause the market price of our common stock to fall.
The market value of our common stock could decline as a result of sales by investors from time to time, or perceptions that such sales may occur, of a substantial amount of the shares of common stock held by them.
Issuances of additional shares of our common stock may cause substantial dilution of existing stockholders.
We may issue additional shares of common stock or other securities that are convertible into or exercisable for common stock in connection with future acquisitions, future sales of our securities for capital raising purposes, future strategic relationships, or for other business purposes. The future issuance of any additional shares of our common stock may create downward pressure on the trading price of our common stock. There can be no assurance that we will not be required to issue additional shares, warrants or other convertible securities in the future in conjunction with any capital raising efforts, including at a price (or exercise prices) below the price at which shares of our common stock are then traded.
