MLTX Moonlake Immunotherapeutics - 10-K
0001821586-26-000002Year-over-year tone shift - average net-tone change across Risk Factors and MD&A vs the prior 10-K. This filing is 0.14pp more bullish than last year's.
Why YoY instead of absolute: the LM lexicon has ~6.6× more negative words than positive (legal/risk-disclosure language is heavy on hedging), so every 10-K reads bearish on raw tone. Year-over-year change strips that bias and surfaces the actual shift in management's framing.
Tone shift by section
The two components the gauge averages: how Risk Factors and MD&A each shifted in net tone versus last year's 10-K. The headline above is their average, so a green needle over a soft section just means the other section carried it.
Sentence-level sentiment highlighting with category and subcategory filters is coming once the snippet-scoring pipeline lands. For now, dig into the actual section text on the Sections tab.
Language change vs prior 10-K
Risk Factors (Item 1A) - words with the biggest YoY frequency increase- default+7
- volatility+4
- adversely+3
- adverse+3
- escalating+3
- positive+7
- leadership+3
- able+2
- successfully+1
- effective+1
Risk Factors (Item 1A)
25,870 words
Item 1A. Risk Factors
You should carefully consider the risks described below, as well as general economic and business risks and the other information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The occurrence of any of the events or circumstances described below or other adverse events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition and could cause the trading price of our common stock to decline. Additional risks or uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also harm our business. Moreover, some of the factors, events and contingencies discussed below may have occurred in the past, but the disclosures below are not representations as to whether or not the factors, events or contingencies have occurred in the past and instead reflect our beliefs and opinions as to the factors, events, or contingencies that could materially and adversely affect us in the future.
Summary of Risk Factors
Investing in our common stock involves significant risks. You should carefully consider the risks described below before making a decision to invest in our common stock. If we are unable to successfully address these risks and challenges, our business, financial condition, results of operations, or prospects could be materially adversely affected. In such case, the trading price of our common stock would likely decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. Below is a summary of some of the risks we face.
• We are substantially dependent on the success of SLK, and our ongoing and anticipated clinical trials of SLK may not be successful.
• Our business relies on certain licensing rights from MHKDG and RCT that can be terminated in certain circumstances. If we breach those agreements, or if we are unable to satisfy our diligence obligations under which we license rights to SLK from MHKDG, we could lose the ability to develop and commercialize SLK.
• We have incurred losses since inception, and we expect to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future and may not be able to achieve or sustain profitability in the future. We have not generated any revenue from SLK and may never generate revenue or become profitable.
• We have a limited operating history and have no products approved for commercial sale.
• We have never successfully completed the regulatory approval process for any of our product candidates and we may be unable to do so for any product candidates we acquire or develop.
• The results of preclinical testing and early clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of our later clinical trials, and the results of our clinical trials may not satisfy the requirements of the FDA, EMA, or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities.
• Preclinical and clinical development involves a lengthy and expensive process with uncertain outcomes, and results of earlier studies and trials may not be predictive of future clinical trial results.
• Preliminary, interim data from our clinical trials that we announce or publish may change as more patient data become available and are subject to audit and verification procedures.
• We may find it difficult to enroll patients in our clinical trials. If we experience delays or difficulties in the enrollment of patients in clinical trials, our successful completion of clinical trials or receipt of marketing approvals could be delayed or prevented.
• We face substantial competition, which may result in others discovering, developing, licensing or commercializing products before or more successfully than we do.
• SLK may have a safety profile that could prevent regulatory approval, marketing approval or market acceptance, or limit its commercial potential.
• If we are unable to raise capital when needed, or on acceptable terms, we may be forced to delay, reduce and/or eliminate one or more of our development programs or future commercialization efforts, which would have a negative impact on our business, prospects, operating results, and financial condition.
• We currently rely on third parties to produce and process SLK. Our business could be adversely affected if the third-party manufacturers fail to provide us with sufficient quantities of SLK or fail to do so at acceptable quality levels or prices.
• Our ability to protect our patents and other proprietary rights is uncertain, exposing us to the possible loss of competitive advantage.
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• Geopolitical events and global economic conditions, such as public health crises, the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and in the Middle East, could seriously and adversely affect our preclinical studies and ongoing and anticipated clinical trials, business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Limited Operating History, Business, Financial Condition, and Results of Operations
We have a limited operating history and have no products approved for commercial sale.
We are a clinical-stage company with limited operating history. To become and remain profitable, we must develop and eventually commercialize a product or products with significant market potential. This will require us to be successful in a range of challenging activities, including establishing our business model and key third-party relationships with payors, completing preclinical studies and clinical trials of our product candidates, obtaining marketing approval for these product candidates, manufacturing, marketing, selling those products for which we may obtain marketing approval and satisfying any post-marketing requirements.
Additional capital may not be available in sufficient amounts or on reasonable terms, if at all. The current market environment for small and midcap biotechnology companies like MoonLake, and broader macroeconomic factors may preclude us from successfully raising additional capital. For example, escalating trade tensions, elevated interest rates and regulatory uncertainty have caused significant market volatility in recent months, and particularly in the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries, which such volatility can have an adverse effect on the ability to raise capital.
We have no products approved for commercial sale and, since our inception, we have been incurring significant operating losses, and expect to incur significant losses in the foreseeable future. As with any clinical development, we cannot be certain that our planned clinical trials will begin or be completed on time or at all. In addition, we have not yet demonstrated an ability to obtain marketing approvals, manufacture a commercial-scale product or arrange for a third-party to do so on our behalf, or conduct sales, marketing and distribution activities necessary for successful product commercialization. Our ability to generate revenue depends on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, our ability to:
• successfully complete our ongoing and planned non-clinical and clinical studies for SLK;
• timely file and gain acceptance of IND applications for our programs in order to commence planned clinical trials or future clinical trials;
• successfully enroll subjects in, and complete, our ongoing and planned clinical trials;
• obtain data related to SLK and generated prior to the License Agreement, but not transferred from MHKDG, which may delay our development and commercialization;
• initiate and successfully complete all safety and efficacy studies required to obtain U.S. and foreign regulatory approval for our product candidates, and additional clinical trials or other studies beyond those planned to support the approval and commercialization of SLK;
• successfully demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA, EMA, or similar foreign regulatory authorities the safety and efficacy and acceptable risk to benefit profile of SLK or any future SLK product candidates;
• successfully manage the prevalence, duration and severity of potential side effects or other safety issues experienced with our product candidates, if any;
• obtain the timely receipt of necessary marketing approvals from the FDA, EMA and similar foreign regulatory authorities;
• establish commercial manufacturing capabilities or make arrangements with third-party manufacturers for clinical supply and commercial manufacturing;
• obtain and maintain patent and trade secret protection or regulatory exclusivity for our product candidates;
• launch commercial sales of our products, if and when approved, whether alone or in collaboration with others;
• obtain and maintain acceptance of the products, if and when approved, by patients, the medical community and third-party payors;
• position our product conducts to effectively compete with other therapies;
• obtain and maintain healthcare coverage and adequate reimbursement for our products;
• enforce and defend intellectual property rights and claims; and
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• maintain a continued acceptable safety profile of SLK following approval.
Due to the uncertainties and risks associated with these activities, we are unable to accurately and precisely predict the timing and amount of revenues, the extent of any further losses or if or when we might achieve profitability. Consequently, any predictions you make about our future success or viability may not be as accurate as they could be if we had a longer operating history. We may never succeed in these activities and, even if we succeed in commercializing SLK, we may never generate revenue that is significant enough to achieve profitability. If we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis and we may continue to incur substantial research and development and other expenditures to develop and market additional product candidates. Our failure to become and remain profitable could decrease the value of our shares and impair our ability to raise capital, maintain our research and development efforts, expand our business or continue our operations. Further, we may encounter unexpected expenses, challenges and complications from known and unknown factors.
We have incurred losses since inception, and we expect to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future and may not be able to achieve or sustain profitability in the future. We have not generated any revenue from SLK and may never generate revenue or become profitable.
Investment in biopharmaceutical product development is a highly speculative undertaking and entails substantial upfront capital expenditures and risk that any product candidate will fail to demonstrate adequate efficacy or an acceptable safety profile, gain regulatory approval and become commercially viable. We have no products approved for commercial sale, we have not generated any revenue from product sales to date, and we continue to incur research and development and other expenses related to our ongoing operations. We do not expect to generate product revenue unless or until we successfully complete clinical development and obtain regulatory approval from the FDA, EMA and similar foreign regulatory authorities of, and then successfully commercialize, SLK in one or more indications. We may never succeed in these activities and, even if we do, may never generate revenues that are significant or large enough to achieve profitability. If we are unable to generate sufficient revenue through the sale of SLK, we may be unable to continue operations without additional funding.
We have incurred net losses in each period since we commenced operations in 2021. Our net losses were $230.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2025. We expect to continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future. Our failure to become profitable would decrease the value of our Company and could impair our ability to raise capital, maintain our research and development efforts, expand our business and/or continue our operations. A decline in the value of our Company could also cause you to lose all or part of your investment.
If we are unable to raise capital when needed, or on acceptable terms, we may be forced to delay, reduce and/or eliminate one or more of our development programs or future commercialization efforts, which would have a negative impact on our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition.
Developing biopharmaceutical products is a very long, time-consuming, expensive and uncertain process that takes years to complete. We expect our expenses to increase in connection with our ongoing activities, particularly as we conduct clinical trials of, and seek marketing approval from the FDA, EMA, and similar foreign regulatory authorities for, SLK. Even if SLK is approved for commercial sale, we anticipate incurring costs associated with sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution activities to launch SLK. Our expenses could increase beyond expectations if we are required by the FDA, EMA, or other regulatory agencies to perform preclinical studies or clinical trials in addition to those that we currently anticipate. Because the design and outcome of our planned and anticipated clinical trials are highly uncertain, we cannot reasonably estimate the actual amount of funding that will be necessary to successfully complete the development and commercialization of SLK. Our future capital requirements depend on many factors, including factors that are not within our control. Based on our current operating plan, we believe our existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term marketable securities, will be sufficient to fund our operations into the second half of 2027. This estimate is based on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could use our available capital resources sooner than we currently expect.
Other than the Loan and Security Agreement (as defined below), we do not have any committed external sources of funds and adequate additional financing may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. We may be required to seek additional funds sooner than planned through public or private equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations and licensing arrangements or other sources. Such financing may dilute our shareholders or the failure to obtain such financing may restrict
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our operating activities. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms may include liquidation or other preferences and anti-dilution protections that adversely affect your rights as a shareholder. Debt financing may result in the imposition of debt covenants, increased fixed payment obligations or other restrictions that may affect our business. If we raise additional funds through upfront payments or milestone payments pursuant to future collaborations with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to SLK, or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us. Our ability to raise additional capital may be adversely impacted by potential worsening global economic conditions and the recent disruptions to and volatility in the credit and financial markets in the United States and worldwide, including resulting from public health crises, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine or the conflicts in the Middle East. If our costs, in particular costs related to clinical development, manufacture and supply, were to become subject to significant inflationary pressures, it may adversely impact our business, operating results and financial condition. Our failure to raise capital as and when needed or on acceptable terms has in the past had, and in the future may have, a negative impact on our financial condition and our ability to pursue our business strategy, and we have in the past had to, and in the future may have to, delay, reduce the scope of, suspend or eliminate one or more of our research-stage programs, clinical trials or future commercialization efforts.
In our own required quarterly assessments, we may conclude that there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern, and future reports from our independent registered public accounting firm may also contain statements expressing substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. If we seek additional financing to fund our business activities in the future and there remains substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern, investors or other financing sources may be unwilling to provide additional funding on commercially reasonable terms or at all.
Our business relies on certain licensing rights from MHKDG and RCT that can be terminated in certain circumstances. If we breach those agreements, or if we are unable to satisfy our diligence obligations under which we license rights to SLK from MHKDG, we could lose the ability to develop and commercialize SLK.
Our ability to continue to develop and commercialize SLK is dependent on the use of certain intellectual property that is licensed to us by MHKDG and RCT. These licenses are granted pursuant to agreements setting forth certain terms and condition for maintaining such licenses. In the event that the terms and conditions are not met, the licenses are at risk of being revoked and the granting process may be terminated. Our primary license agreement is the License Agreement. See “ Business — The Merck Healthcare KGaA (Darmstadt, Germany) License Agreement ”.
On April 29, 2021, we entered into the License Agreement, a worldwide exclusive license agreement with MHKDG, for certain intellectual property covering SLK and to sublicense certain rights licensed to MHKDG to (i) develop and commercialize products containing SLK; and (ii) manufacture SLK using the underlying yeast strain Pichia pastoris. If there is any dispute between us and MHKDG regarding our rights under the License Agreement, including if we disagree with MHKDG’s comments to our development plan for SLK or if we are unable to make our milestone obligations, our ability to develop and commercialize SLK may be adversely affected. Any uncured, material breach by us under the License Agreement could result in our loss of exclusive rights to SLK and may lead to a complete termination of our product development efforts for SLK.
We also have diligence obligations under the License Agreement, including: (a) developing one licensed product in at least two indications; (b) launching and commercializing one product in seven major markets, including with pricing approval if required for commercialization, within 12 months of receiving regulatory approval in the respective market; (c) securing within six months of the effective date of the exclusive license a contract research facility; and (d) initiating two Phase 2 clinical trials for a product within 12 months of the effective date of the exclusive license, taking into account any regulatory requirements from the FDA, EMA or other regulatory authorities, of which we satisfied upon the initiation of our MIRA and ARGO trials. We have not yet demonstrated our ability to obtain regulatory approvals, manufacture a commercial scale product, or arrange for a third-party to do so on our behalf, or conduct sales and marketing activities necessary for successful commercialization. Due to the uncertainties and risks associated with these activities, we may not be successful in meeting these diligence obligations within the required timeframes, and may lose the ability to develop and commercialize SLK.
On May 12, 2023, we entered into an agreement with RCT and MHKDG, effective as of June 1, 2023, pursuant to which we were granted a royalty-bearing, nonexclusive, sublicensable right and license under RCT’s patents and know-how related to a manufacturing process using an underlying yeast strain, Pichia pastoris, to develop, manufacture, use, sell, offer for sale, and
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import and otherwise commercialize SLK on a world-wide basis, subject to certain restrictions. This agreement replaces our sublicense for similar rights under the License Agreement with MHKDG.
Due to the significant resources required for the development of SLK, we must prioritize the pursuit of treatments for certain indications. We may expend our limited resources to pursue a particular indication and fail to capitalize on indications that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.
We are developing therapies for patients with inflammatory skin and joint diseases with unmet needs. In particular, we are developing a portfolio of therapeutic indications for SLK, and are initially focused on the development of SLK in inflammatory diseases including HS, PsA, axSpA and PPP. In May 2022, we initiated our MIRA trial, and in June 2023, we announced positive top-line results from this trial. In May 2024, following positive end-of-Phase 2 interactions with the FDA and positive feedback from the EMA, we started enrollment in the Phase 3 VELA-1 and VELA-2 trials. In September 2025, we announced primary endpoint data from these trials. In November 2025, we were granted a Type B meeting with the FDA to discuss adequacy of the current clinical evidence package of SLK to support a BLA. In January 2026, we announced positive feedback from this interaction, confirming that we may establish substantial evidence of effectiveness without additional clinical trials in HS. In February 2026, we presented an interim analysis of the long-term data from the VELA trials, which will continue to week 52 followed by an open-label extension for up to two years. In December 2022, we initiated our ARGO trial, and in March 2024, we announced full 24-week data from the ARGO trial. In June 2024, we announced the successful outcome of our end-of-Phase 2 interactions with the FDA, as well as positive feedback from our interactions with the EMA, with both regulatory bodies supporting our proposed approach for advancing to Phase 3 with the IZAR program. In November 2024, we announced the screening of the first patients in the IZAR-1 and IZAR-2 trials. In February 2026, we announced completion of enrollment for the IZAR-1 trial.
Our decisions concerning the allocation of research, development, collaboration, management and financial resources toward particular indications may not lead to the development of any viable commercial product and may divert resources away from opportunities for other indications that later prove to have greater commercial potential or a greater likelihood of success. The primary endpoints for the Phase 2 trials for the therapeutic indications of HS and PsA were the therapeutic scores of the HiSCR and ACR, respectively. The primary endpoints of such trials were met and SLK demonstrated meaningful increases in such therapeutic scores. However, there is no guarantee that the results will be replicated in Phase 3 studies. For example, in the VELA-2 trial, a higher-than-expected placebo arm precluded the study from achieving statistical significance in the week 16 primary endpoint using composite strategy. In addition, although SLK achieved statistical significance for all primary and secondary endpoints in the VELA-1 trial, there is no guarantee that such results or results from other Phase 3 studies, like the IZAR-1 and IZAR-2 trials, will lead to market acceptance or commercial success of SLK, if approved. Even if SLK receives marketing approval, it may not achieve commercial success. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for SLK, we may relinquish valuable rights to SLK through future collaboration, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights. We may make incorrect determinations regarding the viability or market potential of SLK or misread trends in our industry.
We may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and stock price, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
We may be required to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in losses. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject. Accordingly, any shareholders could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them.
The only principal assets of our Company are cash and our interest in MoonLake AG, and accordingly we will depend on distributions from MoonLake AG to pay taxes and expenses.
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We are a holding company and have no material assets other than cash and our ownership of Class V shares in MoonLake AG and common shares in MoonLake AG. As such, we have no independent means of generating revenue or cash flow, besides interest income on cash held depository institutions, if any, and our ability to pay taxes and operating expenses or declare and pay dividends in the future, if any, will be dependent upon the financial results and cash flows of MoonLake AG and its subsidiaries, and distributions we receive from MoonLake AG. There can be no assurance that MoonLake AG and its subsidiaries will generate sufficient profits and/or cash flow to distribute funds to us, or that applicable laws and contractual restrictions, including negative covenants in any debt agreements of MoonLake AG or its subsidiaries, will permit such distributions.
Distributions by MoonLake AG to the Company are subject to a Swiss federal dividend withholding tax at the statutory rate of 35%, unless and to the extent that such distributions constitute a repayment of duly reported capital contributions. Under the current structure, we are not entitled to any relief from Swiss federal dividend withholding tax, such that MoonLake AG will be required to deduct the Swiss federal dividend withholding tax at the statutory rate of 35% and that such tax deduction will result in a final tax burden for the Company. If our place of management is relocated to Switzerland such withholding tax on distributions from MoonLake AG to us may be eliminated (although such relocation would result in Swiss withholding taxes applying on distributions from us to our shareholders; depending on the specific shareholder, such shareholder may be entitled to a full or partial relief or credit for such Swiss withholding tax). There can be no assurances that our place of management will be relocated or that such withholding tax will be reduced or eliminated.
If the market opportunities for our approved product candidates, if any, are smaller than we expect, it could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operation.
If the market opportunity for our products, if approved, is smaller than we expect, we may never become or remain profitable nor generate sufficient revenue growth to sustain our business even if we obtain significant market share for them. The potentially addressable patient population for our products may be limited or may not be amenable to treatment with our products, and new patients may become increasingly difficult to identify or access, which would adversely affect our results of operations and our business.
Even if SLK or other compounds we may develop are successful in clinical trials and receive regulatory approvals, we or our collaboration partners may not be able to successfully commercialize them.
The development and ongoing clinical trials for SLK and other compounds we may develop may not be successful and, even if they are, the resulting products may never be successfully developed into commercial products or gain market acceptance among physicians, patients, healthcare payors or the medical community. Even if we are successful in our clinical trials and in obtaining other regulatory approvals, our products may not reach or remain in the market for a number of reasons including ineffectiveness, harmful side effects, difficulty in scaling manufacturing, political and legislative changes, or competition from other existing or future alternatives. In addition, we currently have limited commercialization expertise, including sales, marketing or distribution capabilities. Advancing SLK through Phase 3 development and regulatory approval will require us to expand commercialization preparation activities and incur related expenses before we obtain final trial results and know whether the VELA-1, VELA-2, VELA-TEEN, IZAR-1 and IZAR-2 trials will support regulatory approval. If we are unable to adequately prepare the market for the potential future commercialization of SLK, we may not be able to generate product revenue once marketing authorization is obtained.
If we are unable or decide not to establish internal sales, marketing and distribution capabilities, we will pursue collaborative arrangements regarding the sales and marketing of our products, however, there can be no assurance that we will be able to establish or maintain such collaborative arrangements on commercially reasonable terms, or if we are able to do so, that they will have effective sales forces. Any revenue we receive will depend upon the efforts of such third parties, which may not be successful. We may have little or no control over the marketing and sales efforts of such third parties and our revenue from product sales may be lower than if we had commercialized our product candidates ourselves. We also face competition in our search for third parties to assist us with the sales and marketing efforts of our product candidates.
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The Loan and Security Agreement contains certain covenants that could adversely affect our operations and, if an event of default were to occur, we could be forced to repay any outstanding indebtedness sooner than planned and possibly at a time when we do not have sufficient capital to meet this obligation.
Pursuant to the loan and security agreement (the “Loan and Security Agreement”) we entered in March 2025 with Hercules Capital Inc. and certain of its affiliates, we have pledged substantially all of our assets, subject to customary exceptions. Additionally, the Loan and Security Agreement contains certain affirmative and negative covenants that could prevent us from taking certain actions without the consent of our lenders. These covenants may limit our flexibility in operating our business and our ability to take actions that might be advantageous to us and our shareholders. The Loan and Security Agreement also contains customary affirmative and negative covenants that, among other things, limit our ability, subject to certain exceptions, to incur indebtedness, grant liens, enter into a merger or consolidation, enter into transactions with affiliates, or sell all or a portion of our property, business or assets. The Loan and Security Agreement contains customary events of default. Upon the occurrence and continuation of an event of default, all amounts due under the Loan and Security Agreement become (in the case of an insolvency or bankruptcy event), or may become (in the case of all other events of default and at the option of Hercules Capital, Inc.), immediately due and payable. If an event of default under the Loan and Security Agreement should occur, we could be required to immediately repay any outstanding indebtedness. If we are unable to repay such debt, the lenders would be able to foreclose on the secured collateral, including our cash accounts, and take other remedies permitted under the Loan and Security Agreement. Even if we are able to repay any indebtedness on an event of default, the repayment of these sums may significantly reduce our working capital and impair our ability to operate as planned.
Risks Related to Product Development
We have never successfully completed the regulatory approval process for any of our product candidates and we may be unable to do so for any product candidates we acquire or develop.
We have not yet demonstrated our ability to successfully obtain regulatory approvals, manufacture a commercial scale product, or arrange for a third-party to do so on our behalf, or conduct sales and marketing activities necessary for successful commercialization. If we are required to conduct additional preclinical studies or clinical trials of SLK beyond those that we currently contemplate, if we are unable to successfully complete clinical trials of SLK or other testing, or if the results of these trials or tests are not positive or are only modestly positive or if there are safety concerns, we may:
• be delayed in obtaining regulatory approval from the FDA, EMA or other regulatory authorities for our product candidates;
• not obtain regulatory approval at all and lose our right and ability under our license from MHKDG to further develop and commercialize SLK;
• obtain regulatory approval for indications or patient populations that are not as broad as intended or desired;
• continue to be subject to post-marketing testing requirements from the FDA, EMA or other regulatory authorities; or
• experience having the product removed from the market after obtaining regulatory approval.
We are substantially dependent on the success of SLK, and our ongoing and anticipated clinical trials of SLK may not be successful.
Our future success is substantially dependent on our ability to successfully develop SLK for future marketing approval, and then successful commercialization. We are investing a majority of our efforts and financial resources into the research and development of SLK. In HS, we expect to complete the one-year VELA-1 and VELA-2 trials in the second quarter of 2026, and the six-month VELA-TEEN trial in mid-2026. We expect to submit a BLA for treatment of adult and adolescent patients in the second half of 2026, based on our MIRA, VELA-1, VELA-2 and VELA-TEEN clinical trials, with a potential commercial launch in the United States in the second half of 2027. In PsA, we expect primary endpoint readouts from our IZAR-1, IZAR-2 and P-OLARIS clinical trials in mid-2026, second half of 2026 and end of 2026, respectively, and expect to seek regulatory approval after completion of these studies through submission of a supplemental BLA. In PPP, we presented positive results from our LEDA clinical trial in November 2025, and announced receipt of Fast Track designation by the FDA in February 2026. We expect to initiate a Phase 3 clinical trial in the third quarter of 2026. In axSpA, we announced positive
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results from our S-OLARIS clinical trial in February 2026 and are currently evaluating the next steps to complete the clinical development of SLK in this indication.
SLK may require additional clinical development, evaluation of clinical, preclinical and manufacturing activities, marketing approval in multiple jurisdictions, substantial investment and significant marketing efforts before we generate any revenues from product sales. We are not permitted to market or promote SLK before we receive marketing approval from the FDA, EMA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities, and we may never receive such marketing approvals.
The success of SLK will depend on a variety of factors. We do not have complete control over many of these factors, including certain aspects of clinical development and the regulatory submission process, potential threats to our intellectual property rights and the manufacturing, marketing, distribution and sales efforts of any third parties with whom we choose to collaborate in the future. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that we will ever be able to generate revenue through the sale of SLK, even if approved. If we are not successful in commercializing SLK, or are significantly delayed in doing so, our business will be materially harmed.
We may find it difficult to enroll patients in our clinical trials. If we experience delays or difficulties in the enrollment of patients in clinical trials, our successful completion of clinical trials or receipt of marketing approvals could be delayed or prevented.
We may not be able to initiate or continue clinical trials for SLK if we are unable to locate and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients to participate in these trials. Patient enrollment may be affected by various factors, including if our competitors have ongoing clinical trials for product candidates that are under development for the same indications as SLK, and patients instead enroll in such clinical trials. Our inability to enroll a sufficient number of patients would result in significant delays in completing clinical trials or receipt of marketing approvals and increased development costs or may require us to abandon one or more clinical trials altogether.
The results of preclinical testing and early clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of our later clinical trials, and the results of our clinical trials may not satisfy the requirements of the FDA, EMA, or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities.
We will be required to demonstrate with substantial evidence through well-controlled clinical trials that SLK is safe and efficacious before we can seek marketing approvals for commercial sale. Demonstrations of efficacy or an acceptable safety profile in prior preclinical studies and earlier stage clinical trials of SLK does not mean that future clinical trials will yield the same results. For instance, we do not know whether SLK will perform in future clinical trials as SLK has performed in preclinical studies and prior clinical trials conducted by us, MHKDG, Avillion or Ablynx. SLK may fail to demonstrate in later-stage clinical trials sufficient safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of the FDA, EMA, and other comparable foreign regulatory authorities despite having progressed through preclinical studies and earlier stage clinical trials. Regulatory authorities may also limit the scope of later-stage trials until we have demonstrated satisfactory safety or efficacy results in preclinical studies or earlier-stage trials, which could prevent us from conducting the clinical trials we currently anticipate. There is no guarantee that the FDA, EMA, and other comparable foreign regulatory authorities will consider the data obtained from prior SLK trials sufficient to allow us to initiate our planned clinical trials within the timelines we anticipate, or at all. Even if we are able to initiate our planned clinical trials on schedule, there is no guarantee that we will be able to complete such trials on the timelines we anticipate or that such trials will produce positive results. Any limitation on our ability to conduct clinical trials could delay or prevent regulatory approval or limit the size of the patient population that can be treated by SLK, if approved.
Preclinical and clinical development involves a lengthy and expensive process with uncertain outcomes, and results of earlier studies and trials may not be predictive of future clinical trial results.
Before obtaining marketing approval from regulatory authorities for commercialization of SLK, we must complete clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of SLK in humans and in selected diseases. Our clinical trials may not be conducted as planned or completed on schedule, if at all, and a failure of one or more clinical trials can occur at any stage. The outcome of preclinical studies and prior clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of later clinical trials, and the outcome of preclinical studies and prior clinical trials for a product candidate for a particular indication may not be predictive
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of the success of preclinical studies and clinical trials for the same product candidate for a different indication. In HS, we expect to complete the one-year VELA-1 and VELA-2 trials in the second quarter of 2026, and the six-month VELA-TEEN trial in mid-2026, but we may not observe positive results from such trials. We expect to submit a BLA for treatment of adult and adolescent patients in the second half of 2026, based on our MIRA, VELA-1, VELA-2 and VELA-TEEN clinical trials, with a potential commercial launch in the United States in the second half of 2027. In PsA, we expect primary endpoint readouts from our IZAR-1, IZAR-2 and P-OLARIS clinical trials in mid-2026, second half of 2026 and end of 2026, respectively, and to seek regulatory approval after completion of these studies through submission of a supplemental BLA. In PPP, we presented positive results from our LEDA clinical trial in November 2025 and announced receipt of Fast Track designation by the FDA in February 2026. We expect to initiate a Phase 3 clinical trial in the third quarter of 2026, which may not yield a favorable outcome. In axSpA, we announced positive results from our S-OLARIS clinical trial in February 2026 and are currently evaluating the next steps to complete the clinical development of SLK in this indication. Unexpectedly favorable results of comparator arms in any trial could lead to unfavorable comparisons to SLK. Moreover, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses, and many companies that have believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials have nonetheless failed to obtain marketing approval of their product candidates.
We cannot guarantee that any clinical trials will be initiated or conducted as planned or completed on schedule, if at all. We also cannot be sure that submission of an IND or similar application will result in the FDA, EMA, or other regulatory authority, as applicable, allowing clinical trials to begin in a timely manner, if at all. Moreover, even if these trials begin, issues may arise that could cause regulatory authorities to suspend or terminate such clinical trials. Events that may prevent successful or timely initiation or completion of clinical trials include: inability to generate sufficient preclinical, toxicology or other in vivo or in vitro data to support the initiation or continuation of clinical trials; delays in reaching a consensus with regulatory authorities on study design or implementation of the clinical trials; delays or failure in obtaining regulatory authorization to commence a trial; delays in reaching agreement on acceptable terms with prospective contract research organizations (“CROs”) and clinical trial sites, the terms of which can be subject to extensive negotiation and may vary significantly among different CROs and clinical trial sites; delays in identifying, recruiting and training suitable clinical investigators; delays in obtaining required IRB approval at each clinical trial site; delays in manufacturing, testing, releasing, validating or importing/exporting sufficient stable quantities of SLK for use in clinical trials or the inability to do any of the foregoing; failure by our CROs, other third parties or us to adhere to clinical trial protocols; failure to perform in accordance with the FDA’s or any other regulatory authority’s GCPs or applicable regulatory guidelines in other countries; changes to the clinical trial protocols; clinical sites deviating from trial protocol or dropping out of a trial; changes in regulatory requirements and guidance that require amending or submitting new clinical protocols; selection of clinical endpoints that require prolonged periods of observation or analyses of resulting data; transfer of manufacturing processes to larger-scale facilities operated by a CMO and delays or failure by our CMOs or us to make any necessary changes to such manufacturing process; and third parties being unwilling or unable to satisfy their contractual obligations to us.
We could also encounter delays if a clinical trial is suspended or terminated by us, by the IRBs of the institutions in which such clinical trials are being conducted, by the Data Safety Monitoring Board, if any, for such clinical trial or by the FDA or other regulatory authorities. Such authorities may suspend or terminate a clinical trial due to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical trial protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial site by the FDA, EMA, or other regulatory authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from SLK, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial. If we are required to conduct additional clinical trials or other testing of SLK beyond those that we currently contemplate, if we are unable to successfully complete clinical trials of SLK, if the results of these trials are not positive or are only moderately positive or if there are safety concerns, our business and results of operations may be adversely affected and we may incur significant additional costs.
Preliminary, interim data from our clinical trials that we announce or publish may change as more patient data become available and are subject to audit and verification procedures.
From time to time, we may publicly disclose preliminary data from our preclinical studies and clinical trials, which are based on a preliminary analysis of then-available data, and the results and related findings and conclusions are subject to change following a more comprehensive review of the data. We might also make assumptions, estimations, calculations and
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conclusions as part of our analyses of these data without the opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate complete data. As a result, the preliminary results that we report may differ from future results of the same studies, or different conclusions or considerations may qualify such results, once additional data have been received and fully evaluated or subsequently made subject to audit and verification procedures.
From time to time, we may also disclose interim data from our preclinical studies and clinical trials. Interim data are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data become available or as patients from our clinical trials continue other treatments. Further, others, including regulatory agencies, may not accept or agree with our assumptions, estimates, calculations, conclusions or analyses or may interpret or weigh the importance of data differently, which could impact the value of the particular program, the approvability or commercialization of SLK and our company in general. In addition, the information we choose to publicly disclose regarding a particular preclinical study or clinical trial is based on what is typically extensive information, and you or others may not agree with what we determine is material or otherwise appropriate information to include in our disclosure. If the preliminary, or interim data that we report differ from actual results, or if others, including regulatory authorities, disagree with the conclusions reached, our ability to obtain approval for, and commercialize, SLK may be harmed, which could harm our business, operating results, prospects or financial condition.
We face substantial competition, which may result in others discovering, developing, licensing or commercializing products before or more successfully than we do.
We face substantial competition from major pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies worldwide. Many of our competitors have significantly greater financial, technical and human resources. Smaller and early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies. As a result, our competitors may discover, develop, license or commercialize products before or more successfully than we do.
In particular, pharmaceutical companies that develop and/or market products for the indications we are pursuing, including HS and PsA, are likely to represent substantial competition. These include companies developing and/or marketing IL-17A inhibitors (such as Novartis AG, Eli Lilly and Co, Zura Bio Ltd and LEO Pharma), IL-23 inhibitors (such as AbbVie, Janssen, Sun Pharmaceutical and Almirall), IL-12/23 inhibitors (including Janssen), TNF alpha inhibitors (such as AbbVie, Pfizer, Janssen and UCB), TYK2 inhibitors (such as Bristol Myers Squibb), JAK inhibitors (such as AbbVie, Incyte and Pfizer), IL1a/IL1b inhibitors (such as Abbvie and Avalo Therapeutics), OX40L inhibitors (such as Sanofi), and IRAK4 degraders (such as Kymera Therapeutics Inc). It also includes UCB as the development and commercializing company for bimekizumab, the only other IL-17A and IL-17F inhibitor beyond SLK that has received approval or is in late-stage clinical development of which we are aware. Other IL-17A and IL-17F inhibitors are in earlier development stages, including molecules being developed by Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc., Oruka Therapeutics, Inc. and Scinai Immunotherapeutics Ltd. While SLK represents a novel mechanism of action, all of the above mechanisms are also of potential therapeutic use in one or more other indications that we are or may be pursuing. If SLK does not offer sustainable advantages over competing products, we may otherwise not be able to successfully compete against current and future competitors.
Our competitors may obtain regulatory approval of their products more rapidly than we may or may obtain patent protection or other intellectual property rights that limit our ability to develop or commercialize SLK. Our competitors may also develop drugs that are more effective, more convenient, more widely used and less costly or have a better safety profile than SLK and these competitors may also be more successful than us in manufacturing and marketing their products.
Furthermore, we also face competition more broadly across the market for existing cost-effective and reimbursable inflammatory skin and joint disease treatments. SLK, if approved, may compete with these existing drug and other therapies but may not be competitive with them in price. We expect that if SLK is approved, it will be priced at a significant premium over generic, including branded generic, or biosimilar products. In particular, the availability of biosimilar products of adalimumab and in the future secukinumab may intensify competition. As a result, obtaining market acceptance of, and gaining significant share of the market for, SLK will pose challenges.
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SLK may have a safety profile that could prevent regulatory approval, marketing approval or market acceptance, or limit its commercial potential.
Patients in previous SLK trials have experienced adverse events, including oral Candida. If SLK is associated with undesirable side effects or has unexpected characteristics in preclinical studies or clinical trials when used alone or in combination with other approved products or INDs, we may need to interrupt, delay or abandon SLK’s development or limit development to more narrow uses or subpopulations in which such potential undesirable side effects or other characteristics may be less prevalent, less severe or more acceptable from a risk-benefit perspective. Treatment-related side effects could also affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled patients to complete the trial or result in potential product liability claims. Any of these occurrences may prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of SLK and may adversely affect our business, financial condition and prospects significantly. For details of the current understanding of the SLK safety profile, see the section entitled “Business”.
Additionally, after SLK may receive marketing approval, we or others may later identify undesirable side effects or adverse events caused by SLK. In such cases, regulatory authorities may suspend, limit or withdraw approvals of SLK or seek an injunction against its manufacture or distribution, require additional warnings on the label, including “boxed” warnings, or issue safety alerts, require press releases or other communications containing warnings or other safety information about SLK, require us to change the way SLK is administered or conduct additional clinical trials or post-approval studies, require us to create a REMS which could include a medication guide outlining the risks of such side effects for distribution to patients, impose fines, injunctions or criminal penalties. We could also be sued and held liable for harm caused to patients, and our reputation may suffer. Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of SLK, if approved, and could seriously harm our business.
Geopolitical events and global economic conditions, such as public health crises, the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and in the Middle East, could seriously and adversely affect our preclinical studies and ongoing and anticipated clinical trials, business, financial condition and results of operations.
As a result of global economic conditions, including new or increased tariffs imposed by the U.S. government and potential retaliatory measures by foreign governments and other barriers to trade, especially in light of recent executive orders made by the presidential administration, trade and other international disputes, inflation and fluctuating interest rates, slower growth or recession, tighter credit, volatility in financial markets, high unemployment, labor availability constraints, public health crises, significant natural disasters, including as a result of climate change, changes to fiscal and monetary policy or government budget dynamics, particularly in the pharmaceutical and biotech areas, political and military conflict, including the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and in the Middle East, we may in the future experience disruptions that could seriously harm our business. In addition, in September 2025, the United States announced the imposition of up to 100% tariffs on imported branded or patented pharmaceuticals, subject to certain exceptions. There remains substantial uncertainty as to when such tariffs may go into effect and whether such tariffs would apply to the importation of active pharmaceutical ingredients or bulk drug products that are intended for use in clinical trials and, more generally, about the duration of existing tariffs, tariff levels, implementation of announced tariffs, litigation challenging tariffs and whether additional tariffs or retaliatory actions may be imposed, modified or suspended. Other potential disruptions include but are not limited to: delays or difficulties in enrolling patients in, initiating or expanding our clinical trials, including delays or difficulties with clinical site initiation and recruiting clinical site investigators and clinical site staff; increased rates of patients withdrawing from our clinical trials following enrollment as a result of certain health conditions or being forced to quarantine; interruption of key clinical trial activities, such as clinical trial site data monitoring and efficacy, safety and translational data collection, processing and analyses, due to limitations on travel imposed; recommendations by federal, state or local governments, employers and others or interruptions of clinical trial subject visits, which may impact the collection and integrity of subject data and clinical trial endpoints; diversion of healthcare resources away from the conduct of clinical trials, including the diversion of hospitals serving as our clinical trial sites and hospital staff supporting the conduct of our clinical trials; delays or disruptions in preclinical experiments and IND-enabling studies due to restrictions of on-site staff and unforeseen circumstances at CROs and vendors; interruption or delays in the operations of the FDA, EMA, and comparable foreign regulatory authorities including delays in receiving approval from local regulatory authorities to initiate our planned clinical trials; interruption of, or delays in receiving, supplies of SLK from our CMOs due to staffing shortages, raw materials shortages, production slowdowns or stoppages and disruptions in delivery systems; and limitations on employee or other resources that would otherwise be focused on the conduct of our clinical trials and preclinical work, including because of
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sickness of employees or their families, the desire of employees to avoid travel or contact with large groups of people, an increased reliance on working from home, school closures or mass transit disruptions.
Geopolitical events and global economic conditions may also affect the ability of the FDA, EMA, and other regulatory authorities to perform routine functions. If such concerns prevent the FDA, EMA, or other regulatory authorities from conducting their regular inspections, reviews or other regulatory activities, it could significantly impact the ability of the FDA, EMA, or other regulatory authorities to timely review and process our regulatory submissions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Risks Related to Regulatory Process and Other Legal Compliance Matters
The regulatory approval processes of the FDA, EMA, and other comparable foreign regulatory authorities are complex, time-consuming and inherently unpredictable. If we are not able to obtain, or if there are delays in obtaining, required regulatory approvals for SLK, we may not be able to commercialize, or may be delayed in commercializing, SLK, and our ability to generate revenue will be materially impaired.
The process of obtaining regulatory approvals in the United States, the EU, and other jurisdictions is complex, expensive and typically takes many years following commencement of clinical trials, if approval is obtained at all, and can vary substantially based upon a variety of factors, including the type, complexity and novelty of the product candidates involved. We cannot commercialize SLK in the United States without first obtaining regulatory approval from the FDA. Similarly, we cannot commercialize SLK outside of the United States without obtaining regulatory approval from comparable foreign regulatory authorities. Before obtaining regulatory approvals for the commercial sale of SLK, we must demonstrate through complex and expensive preclinical studies and clinical trials that SLK is both safe and effective for each targeted indication. Securing regulatory approval also requires the submission of information about the drug manufacturing process to, and inspection of manufacturing facilities by, the relevant regulatory authorities. Further, SLK may not be effective, may be only moderately effective or may prove to have undesirable or unintended side effects, toxicities or other characteristics that may preclude our obtaining marketing approval. The FDA, EMA, and comparable foreign regulatory authorities have discretion in the approval process and may refuse to accept any application or may decide that our data are insufficient for approval and require additional preclinical, clinical or other data. SLK could be delayed in receiving, or fail to receive, regulatory approval for many reasons, including: the FDA, EMA, or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with the design or implementation of our clinical trials; we may be unable to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA, EMA, or comparable foreign regulatory authorities that SLK is safe and effective for its proposed indication; the results of clinical trials may not meet the level of statistical significance required by the FDA, EMA, or comparable foreign regulatory authorities for approval; serious and unexpected drug-related side effects may be experienced by participants in our clinical trials or by individuals using drugs similar to SLK; we may be unable to demonstrate that SLK’s clinical and other benefits outweigh its safety risks; the FDA, EMA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with our interpretation of data from preclinical studies or clinical trials; the data collected from clinical trials of SLK may not be acceptable or sufficient to support the submission of a BLA or other submission or to obtain regulatory approval in the United States or elsewhere, and we may be required to conduct additional clinical trials; the FDA, EMA, or the applicable foreign regulatory authority may disagree regarding the formulation, labeling and/or the specifications of SLK; the FDA, EMA, or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may fail to approve the manufacturing processes or facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we contract for clinical and commercial supplies; and the approval policies or regulations of the FDA, EMA, or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may significantly change in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval. Thus, the approval requirements for SLK are likely to vary by jurisdiction such that success in one jurisdiction is not necessarily predictive of success elsewhere. Further, the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities may undergo leadership changes, change their policies, issue additional regulations or revise existing regulations, or take other actions, which may impact our clinical development plans or prevent or delay approval of our product candidates under development on a timely basis. Such policy or regulatory changes could impose additional requirements upon us that could delay our ability to obtain approvals and increase the costs of compliance.
Of the large number of drugs in development, only a small percentage successfully complete the FDA, EMA, or foreign regulatory approval processes and are commercialized. The lengthy approval process as well as the unpredictability of future
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clinical trial results may result in our failing to obtain regulatory approval to market SLK, which would significantly harm our business, results of operations and prospects.
If we were to obtain approval, regulatory authorities may approve SLK for fewer or more limited indications than we request, including failing to approve the most commercially promising indications, may grant approval contingent on the performance of costly post-marketing clinical trials, or may approve SLK with a label that does not include the labeling claims necessary or desirable for the successful commercialization of SLK. If we are not able to obtain, or if there are delays in obtaining, required regulatory approvals for SLK, we may not be able to commercialize, or may be delayed in commercializing, SLK and our ability to generate revenue could be materially impaired.
We will be subject to extensive 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 SLK.
Any regulatory approvals that we may receive for SLK will require the submission of reports to regulatory authorities and surveillance to monitor the safety and efficacy of SLK, may contain significant limitations related to use restrictions for specified age groups, warnings, precautions or contraindications, and may include burdensome post-approval study or risk management requirements. In addition, if the FDA, EMA, or comparable foreign regulatory authorities approve SLK, SLK and the activities associated with its development and commercialization, including its design, testing, manufacture, safety, efficacy, recordkeeping, labeling, storage, approval, advertising, promotion, sale, distribution, import and export will be subject to comprehensive regulation by the FDA and other regulatory agencies in the United States and by the EMA in the EU and comparable foreign regulatory authorities. These requirements include submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration, as well as on-going compliance with cGMPs and GCPs for any clinical trials that we conduct following approval. In addition, manufacturers of drug products and their facilities are subject to continual review and periodic, unannounced inspections by the FDA, EMA, and other regulatory authorities for compliance with cGMPs.
If we or a regulatory authority discover previously unknown problems with SLK, such as adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or problems with the facilities where SLK is manufactured, a regulatory authority may impose restrictions on SLK, the manufacturing facility or us, including requiring recall or withdrawal of SLK from the market or suspension of manufacturing, restrictions on our ability to conduct clinical trials, including full or partial clinical holds on ongoing or planned trials, restrictions on the manufacturing process, warning or untitled letters, civil and criminal penalties, injunctions, product seizures, detentions or import bans, voluntary or mandatory publicity requirements and imposition of restrictions on operations, including costly new manufacturing requirements. The occurrence of any event or penalty described above may inhibit our ability to commercialize SLK and generate revenue and could require us to expend significant time and resources in response and could generate negative publicity.
The FDA’s, EMA’s and other regulatory comparable authorities’ policies may change and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit, delay, increase the cost or risks of obtaining regulatory approval of our product candidates, or change our continuing compliance obligations, including if as a result new or more costly or difficult to achieve clinical trial or manufacturing quality requirements are imposed. 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, which would adversely affect our business, prospects and ability to achieve or sustain profitability. We also cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative or executive action, either in the United States or abroad.
Disruptions at the FDA, the SEC and other government agencies and regulatory authorities caused by funding shortages or global health concerns could hinder their ability to hire and retain key leadership and other personnel, prevent new products and services from being developed or commercialized in a timely manner or otherwise prevent those agencies from performing normal business functions on which the operation of our business may rely, which could negatively impact our business.
The ability of the FDA to review regulatory filings and our ability to commence human clinical trials can be affected by a variety of factors, including government budget and funding levels, ability to hire and retain key personnel and accept the
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payment of user fees, and statutory, regulatory and policy changes, disruptions caused by government shutdowns and public health crises. There have been mass layoffs of federal government employees since the start of the presidential administration in January 2025, the full impact of which is unclear at this time. Average review times at the agency have fluctuated in recent years as a result. In addition, government funding of the SEC, and other government agencies on which our operations may rely, including those that fund research and development activities is subject to the political process, which is inherently fluid and unpredictable. Furthermore, the presidential administration has made and is expected to continue to make changes in the leadership of various U.S. federal regulatory agencies and changes to U.S. federal government policy that have led to, in some cases, legal challenges and uncertainty around the funding, functioning and policy priorities of the U.S. federal regulatory agencies, including the FDA.
Disruptions at the FDA and other agencies or comparable foreign regulatory authorities, may also slow the time necessary for the review and approval of applications for clinical trial or marketing authorization, which would adversely affect our business. For example, in recent years, including in 2018 and 2019, the U.S. government shut down several times and certain regulatory agencies, such as the FDA and the SEC, had to furlough critical employees and stop critical activities. Additionally, action by the new Trump Administration to limit federal agency budgets or personnel may result in reductions to the FDA’s budget, employees, and operations, which may lead to slower response times and longer review periods, potentially affecting our ability to progress development of our product candidates or obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates. If a prolonged government shutdown occurs, it could significantly impact the ability of the FDA to timely review and process our regulatory submissions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. Further, future government shutdowns could impact our ability to access the public markets and obtain necessary capital in order to properly capitalize and continue our operations.
We are unable to predict the extent to which the presidential administration may impose or seek to impose leadership or policy changes at the FDA or changes to rules and policies impacting our business and operations. For example, there can be no assurance that the FDA will implement or continue the plan it announced in December 2025 to change its default evidentiary requirement from two clinical trials to one clinical trial for new drug approvals. It is unclear how these executive actions or other potential actions by the federal government will impact the FDA or other regulatory authorities that oversee our business. Government proposals to reduce or eliminate budgetary deficits may include reduced allocations to the FDA and other related government agencies. These budgetary pressures may reduce the FDA’s ability to perform its responsibilities, which could result in delays in our clinical trial timelines. If a significant reduction in the FDA’s workforce occurs, the FDA’s budget is significantly reduced or a prolonged government shutdown occurs, it could significantly impact the ability of the FDA to timely review and process our regulatory submissions or take other actions critical to the development or manufacturing of our product candidates, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
If a prolonged government shutdown occurs, or if global health concerns prevent the FDA or other regulatory authorities from conducting their regular inspections, reviews, or other regulatory activities, it could significantly impact the ability of the FDA or other regulatory authorities to timely review and process our regulatory submissions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Due to unfavorable pricing regulations and/or third-party coverage and reimbursement policies, we may not be able to offer SLK at competitive prices which would seriously harm our business.
Our ability to successfully commercialize SLK also will depend in part on the extent to which reimbursement for SLK and related treatments will be available from government health administration authorities, private health insurers and other organizations. Government authorities and other third-party payors, such as private health insurers and health maintenance organizations, decide which medications they will pay for and establish reimbursement levels.
Failure to comply with the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses can result in, among other things, adverse publicity, warning letters, corrective advertising and potential civil and criminal penalties.
The FDA, EMA, and other regulatory agencies actively enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses. If SLK is approved and we are found to have improperly promoted off-label uses of SLK, we may become subject to significant liability. See the section titled “ Business — Government Regulation ”. If we cannot successfully manage the
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promotion of SLK, if approved, we could become subject to significant liability, which would materially adversely affect our business and financial condition.
Our employees, independent contractors, consultants, commercial collaborators, principal investigators, CROs, suppliers and vendors may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements.
We are exposed to the risk that our employees, independent contractors, consultants, commercial collaborators, principal investigators, CROs, suppliers and vendors acting for or on our behalf may engage in misconduct or other improper activities. We have adopted a code of conduct to more closely reflect our operations, but it is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct by these parties and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to comply with these laws or regulations.
Our business operations and current and future arrangements with investigators, healthcare professionals, consultants, third-party payors, patient organizations and customers will be subject to applicable healthcare regulatory laws, which could expose us to penalties.
Our business operations and current and future arrangements with investigators, healthcare professionals, consultants, third-party payors, patient organizations and customers may expose us to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations. These laws may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we conduct our operations, including how we research, market, sell and distribute SLK, if approved.
Ensuring that our internal operations and future business arrangements with third parties comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. Healthcare providers, physicians and third-party payors play a primary role in the recommendation and prescription of any product candidates for which we obtain regulatory approval. Our future arrangements with third-party payors may expose us to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations that may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we market, sell and distribute our product candidates for which we obtain regulatory approval. See the section titled “Business — Government Regulation” for a more detailed description of the laws that may affect our ability to operate.
The healthcare system is under significant financial pressure to reduce costs, which could reduce payment and reimbursement rates for drugs.
Throughout the world and particularly in the United States, the healthcare system is under significant financial pressure to reduce costs. The price of pharmaceuticals has been a topic of considerable public discussion that could lead to price controls or other price-limiting strategies by payors that have the effect of lowering payment and reimbursement rates for drugs or otherwise making the commercialization of pharmaceuticals less profitable. Many federal, state and foreign legislatures have considered, and adopted, healthcare policies intended to curb rising healthcare costs, such as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which, among other provisions, included several measures intended to lower the cost of prescription drugs and related healthcare reforms or the EU's Pharmaceutical Strategy of 2020. Cost-containment measures that we could face may include, among other measures: requirements for pharmaceutical companies to negotiate prescription drug prices with government healthcare programs; controls on government-funded reimbursement for drugs; new or increased requirements to pay prescription drug rebates to government healthcare programs, including if drug prices increase at a higher rate than inflation; controls on healthcare providers; challenges to or limits on the pricing of drugs, including pricing controls or limits or prohibitions on reimbursement for specific products through other means; requirements to try less expensive products or generics before a more expensive branded product; and public funding for cost effectiveness research, which may be used by government and private third-party payors to make coverage and payment decisions. Political, economic and regulatory developments may further complicate developments in healthcare systems and pharmaceutical drug pricing. These developments could, for example, impact our potential licensing agreements as commercial and collaborative partners may also consider the impact of these pressures on their licensing strategies.
Any new laws or regulations that have the effect of imposing additional costs or regulatory burden on pharmaceutical manufacturers, or otherwise negatively affect the industry, could adversely affect our ability to successfully commercialize
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our product candidates. The implementation of any price controls, caps on prescription drugs or price transparency requirements could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.
Pharmaceutical and biological product marketing is subject to substantial regulation in the United States and EU, and any failure by us or our future commercial and collaborative partners to comply with applicable statutes or regulations can adversely affect our business.
Any marketing activities associated with our product candidates, if approved for commercialization, will be subject to numerous federal, state and equivalent foreign laws governing the marketing and promotion of pharmaceutical and biological products. The FDA and EMA regulate post-approval promotional labeling and advertising in the United States and EU, respectively, to ensure that they conform to statutory and regulatory requirements. In addition to FDA and EMA restrictions, the marketing of prescription drugs is subject to laws and regulations prohibiting fraud and abuse under government healthcare programs. Similarly, many states have similar statutes or regulations that apply to items and services reimbursed under Medicaid and other state programs, and, in some states, such statutes or regulations apply regardless of the payor. In addition, government authorities may also seek to hold us responsible for any failure of our future commercialization or collaborative partners to comply with applicable statutes or regulations. If we, or our commercial or collaborative partners, fail to comply with applicable FDA or EMA regulations or other laws or regulations relating to the marketing of our product candidates, if approved for commercialization, we could be subject to criminal prosecution, civil penalties, seizure of products, injunctions and exclusion of our product candidates from reimbursement under government programs, as well as other regulatory or investigatory actions against our future product candidates, our commercial or collaborative partners or us.
If we fail to comply with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, we could become subject to fines or penalties or incur costs that could have a material adverse effect on the success of our business.
We and our external partners are subject to complex environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, including those governing laboratory procedures, the handling, use, storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous materials and wastes, and the rehabilitation of contaminated sites. Our operations, including those performed by our external partners, may involve the use of hazardous and flammable materials, including chemicals and biological and radioactive materials. In addition, we and/or our external partners may incur substantial costs in order to comply with current or future environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. These current or future laws and regulations may impair our research, development or commercialization efforts. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations also may result in substantial fines, penalties or other sanctions.
We are subject to laws and regulations related to privacy, data protection, information security and consumer protection across different markets where we conduct our business. Our actual or perceived failure to comply with such obligations could harm our business.
We are subject to laws and regulations related to, among other things, privacy, data protection, information security and consumer protection across different markets where we conduct our business. Such laws and regulations are constantly evolving and changing and are likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. Our actual or perceived failure to comply with such obligations could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial operations. Complying with these numerous, complex, and often changing regulations is expensive and difficult, and failure to comply with any data protection, privacy laws or data security laws or any security incident or breach involving the potential or actual misappropriation, loss or other unauthorized processing, use or disclosure of sensitive or confidential patient, consumer or other personal information, whether by us, one of our collaborators or another third-party, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations, including but not limited to investigation costs, material fines and penalties, compensatory, special, punitive, and statutory damages, litigation, consent orders regarding our privacy and security practices, requirements that we provide notices, credit monitoring services, and/or credit restoration services or other relevant services to impacted individuals, adverse actions against our licenses to do business, reputational damage and injunctive relief.
The collection and use of personal health data and other personal data in the EU is governed by the provisions of the GDPR, which became applicable in May 2018, and related data protection laws in individual EU member states. The GDPR imposes a number of strict obligations and restrictions on the ability to process (processing includes collecting, analyzing and
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transferring) personal data of individuals, including with respect to health data from clinical trials and adverse event reporting. The GDPR includes requirements relating to the legal basis of the processing (such as consent of the individuals to whom the personal data relates), the information provided to the individuals prior to processing their personal data, the personal data breaches which may have to be notified to national data protection authorities and data subjects, the measures to be taken when engaging processors, and the security and confidentiality of the personal data. EU member states may also impose additional requirements in relation to health, genetic and biometric data through their national legislation.
The GDPR also imposes specific restrictions on the transfer of personal data to countries outside of the EEA that are not considered by the EU Commission to provide an adequate level of data protection. Appropriate safeguards are required to enable such transfers. Among the appropriate safeguards that can be used, the data exporter may use the SCCs, as updated in 2021. In this respect, when relying on SCCs, the data exporters are required to conduct a transfer risk assessment to verify if anything in the law and/or practices of the third country may impinge on the effectiveness of the SCCs in the context of the transfer at stake and, if so, to identify and adopt supplementary measures that are necessary to bring the level of protection of the data transferred to the EU standard of essential equivalence. Where no supplementary measure is suitable, the data exporter should avoid, suspend or terminate the transfer. With regard to the transfer of personal data from the EEA to the United States, on July 10, 2023, the European Commission adopted its adequacy decision for the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. On the basis of the new adequacy decision, personal data can flow from the EEA to United States companies participating in the framework. With regard to the transfer of data from the EU to the United Kingdom, on June 28, 2021, the EC adopted two adequacy decisions for the UK – one under the GDPR and the other for the Law Enforcement Directive. Personal data may now freely flow between the EEA and the UK since the UK is deemed to have an adequate data protection level for purposes of the EU regime. However, the adequacy decisions include a ‘sunset clause’ which entails that the decisions will automatically expire four years after their entry into force, unless renewed.
Failure to comply with the requirements of the GDPR and the related national data protection laws of the EU member states may result in significant monetary fines for noncompliance of up to €20 million or 4% of the annual global turnover of the noncompliant company, whichever is greater, other administrative penalties and a number of criminal offenses for organizations and, in certain cases, their directors and officers, as well as civil liability claims from individuals whose personal data was processed. Data protection authorities from the different EU member states may still implement certain variations, enforce the GDPR and national data protection laws differently, and introduce additional national regulations and guidelines, which adds to the complexity of processing personal data in the EU.
Furthermore, there are specific requirements relating to processing health data from clinical trials, including public disclosure obligations provided in the EU CTR, EMA disclosure initiatives and voluntary commitments by industry. Failing to comply with these obligations could lead to government enforcement actions and significant penalties against us, harm to our reputation, and adversely impact our business and operating results.
Additionally, following the UK’s withdrawal from the EEA, known as Brexit, companies also have to comply with the UK’s data protection laws (including the GDPR, as incorporated into UK national law), the latter regime having the ability to impose fines up to the greater of £17.5 million or 4% of global turnover. Furthermore, transfers from the UK to other countries are subject to UK international transfer rules, which broadly mirror the EU GDPR rules. Personal data may however freely flow from the UK to the EEA since the EEA is deemed to have an adequate data protection level for purposes of the UK regime. With regard to the transfer of personal data from the UK to the United States, from October 12, 2023, businesses in the UK can start to transfer personal data to US organizations certified to the “UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework” under the UK GDPR, without the need for further safeguards. On March 21, 2022, the international data transfer agreement (IDTA) and the international data transfer addendum to the EC’s standard contractual clauses for international data transfers (Addendum), and a document setting out transitional provisions came into force and replaced the old EU SCCs for purposes of the UK regime.
Furthermore, processing of personal data in Switzerland is governed by restrictive regulations, in particular the Federal Act on Data Protection (the “FDAP”), of September 25, 2020, as revised by the new FDAP, which came into force on the September 1, 2023. The FDAP is wide-ranging in scope and imposes numerous requirements on companies that process personal data, including requirements relating to processing health and other sensitive data, obtaining consent of the individuals to whom the personal data relates, providing information to individuals regarding data processing activities, implementing safeguards to protect the security and confidentiality of personal data and taking certain measures when
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engaging processors. Breaches of or non-compliance with applicable data protection regulations and professional secrecy obligations could result in fines, or, under certain circumstances, criminal sanctions.
The collection and use of personal health data and other personal data in the US is governed by various federal and state laws, including comprehensive state privacy laws (including CCPA), data breach notification laws, health privacy laws (such as HIPAA and state health privacy laws), federal and state consumer protection laws, and Section 5 of the FTC Act. Failure to comply with these laws can result in fines (including statutory damages for certain privacy laws), third-party liabilities, regulatory inquiries and enforcement, legal fees, and legal claims.
Finally, we cannot assure that our third-party service providers with access to our or our customers’, suppliers’, trial patients’ and employees’ personally identifiable, personal information, personal data, and other sensitive or confidential information will not breach contractual obligations imposed by us, or that they will not experience data security breaches or attempts thereof, which could have a corresponding effect on our business, including putting us in breach of our obligations under privacy laws and regulations and/or which could in turn adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition. We cannot assure that our contractual measures and our own privacy and security-related safeguards will protect us from the risks associated with the third-party processing, use, storage, and transmission of such information. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
We are subject to certain U.S. and foreign anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, export control, sanctions, and other trade laws and regulations. We can face serious consequences for violations.
Among other matters, U.S. and foreign anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, export control, sanctions, and other trade laws and regulations, prohibit companies and their employees, agents, clinical research organizations, legal counsel, accountants, consultants, contractors, and other partners from authorizing, promising, offering, providing, soliciting, or receiving directly or indirectly, corrupt or improper payments or anything else of value to or from recipients in the public or private sector. Violations of these laws can result in substantial criminal fines and civil penalties, imprisonment, the loss of trade privileges, debarment, tax reassessments, breach of contract and fraud litigation, reputational harm, and other consequences. We have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or government-affiliated hospitals, universities, and other organizations. We also expect our non-U.S. activities to increase in time. We engage third parties for clinical trials and to obtain necessary permits, licenses, patent registrations, and other regulatory approvals and we can be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of our personnel, agents, or partners, even if we do not explicitly authorize or have prior knowledge of such activities.
The Cayman Islands Economic Substance Act may affect our operations.
The Cayman Islands has recently enacted the International Tax Co-operation (Economic Substance) Act (As Revised) (the “Cayman Economic Substance Act”). The Cayman Economic Substance Act generally requires legal entities domiciled or registered in the Cayman Islands and carrying out specific “relevant activities” to have demonstrable substance in the Cayman Islands. The Cayman Economic Substance Act was introduced by the Cayman Islands to ensure that it meets its commitments to the EU, as well as its obligations under the OECD’s global Base Erosion and Profit Shifting initiatives. We are required to comply with the Cayman Economic Substance Act. As we are a Cayman Islands company, compliance obligations include filing annual notifications for the Company, which need to state whether the Company is carrying out any relevant activities and, if so, whether we have satisfied economic substance tests to the extent required under the Cayman Economic Substance Act. As it is a relatively new regime, it is anticipated that the Cayman Economic Substance Act will evolve and be subject to further clarification and amendments. We may need to allocate additional resources to keep updated with these developments, and may have to make changes to our operations in order to comply with all requirements under the Cayman Economic Substance Act. Failure to satisfy these requirements may subject us to penalties under the Cayman Economic Substance Act. The Cayman Islands Tax Information Authority shall impose a penalty of CI$10,000 (or US$12,500) on a relevant entity for failing to satisfy the economic substance test or CI$100,000 (or US$125,000) if it is not satisfied in the subsequent financial year after the initial notice of failure. Following failure after two consecutive years the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands may make an order requiring the relevant entity to take specified action to satisfy the economic substance test or ordering it that it is defunct or be struck off.
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Current and future legislation may increase the difficulty and cost for us, and any collaborators, to obtain marketing approval of and commercialize our drug candidates and affect the prices we, or they, may obtain.
Heightened governmental scrutiny over the manner in which manufacturers set prices for their marketed drug products has resulted in several recent Congressional inquiries and proposed and enacted federal and state legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to product pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for products. We expect that additional state and federal healthcare reform measures may be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare therapies, which could result in reduced demand for our drug candidate, if approved for commercial use, or additional pricing pressures. On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed into law the IRA, which, among other provisions, included several measures intended to lower the cost of prescription drugs and related healthcare reforms. We cannot be sure whether additional legislation or rulemaking related to the IRA will be issued or enacted, or what impact, if any, such changes will have on the profitability of any of our drug candidates, if approved for commercial use, in the future.
We may be subject to adverse legislative or regulatory tax changes that could negatively impact our financial condition.
The rules governing U.S. federal, state and local income taxation are constantly under review and modification by persons involved in the legislative process and by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and the U.S. Treasury Department. Changes to tax laws, including those with potential retroactive application, could adversely affect us or our shareholders. We regularly assess the potential impact of various tax reform proposals and modifications to existing tax treaties in jurisdictions where we have operations to understand their potential effect on our business and any assumptions we have made about our future taxable income. However, we cannot predict whether any specific proposals will be enacted, the terms of any such proposals or what effect, if any, such proposals would have on our financial conditions or our shareholders, if they were to be enacted.
For example, beginning in 2022, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated the previously available option to immediately deduct research and development expenditures and instead requires taxpayers to amortize them generally over five years for research activities conducted in the United States and over 15 years for research activities conducted outside the United States. On July 4, 2025, the U.S. Congress enacted the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which includes a provision restoring the immediate deductibility of domestic research and development expenditures. The impact of this newly enacted law on our tax position will depend on how the provision is implemented and interpreted by the IRS and other regulatory authorities. In addition, we have no assurance as to whether, when and how this provision may be subject to further amendment or repeal. Such changes, among others, may adversely affect our effective tax rate, results of operation and financial condition.
Risks Related to Employee Matters, Managing Our Growth and Other Risks Related to Our Business
We are dependent on our key personnel and anticipate hiring new key personnel. If we are not successful in attracting and retaining qualified personnel, we may not be able to successfully implement our business strategy.
Our ability to compete in the highly competitive biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries depends upon our ability to attract and retain qualified managerial, scientific and medical personnel. We are dependent on our managerial, scientific and medical personnel, including our Chief Executive Officer, our Chief Scientific Officer, and our Chief Financial Officer. If we do not succeed in attracting and retaining qualified personnel, it could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We could in the future have difficulty attracting and retaining experienced personnel and may be required to expend significant financial resources in our employee recruitment and retention efforts. Furthermore, we are dependent on our ability to attract, hire, relocate and retain qualified managerial, scientific and medical personnel from jurisdictions other than Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Portugal. Therefore, Swiss, British and Portuguese immigration requirements have a significant influence on our human resources planning. Immigration applications can take several months or more to be finalized. If we are unable to complete the requisite visa applications, either as a result of changing requirements or otherwise, our ability to successfully implement our business strategy could suffer, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. We intend to establish a presence in the United States in order to build the sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure to commercialize SLK. Certain of the locations that we are considering for such presence are headquarters to many other biopharmaceutical
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companies and many academic and research institutions. Competition for skilled personnel in such locations is intense and may limit our ability to hire and retain highly qualified personnel on acceptable terms or at all.
In order to successfully implement our plans and strategies, we will need to grow the size of our organization and we may experience difficulties in managing this growth.
We expect to experience significant growth in the number of our employees and the scope of our operations, particularly in the areas of medical affairs, marketing, sales, market access and pricing and, potentially, others. To manage our anticipated future growth, we must continue to implement and develop our managerial, operational and financial systems, expand our facilities and continue to recruit and train additional qualified personnel. Due to the limited experience of our management team in managing a company with such anticipated growth, we may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations or recruit and train additional qualified personnel.
A cybersecurity incident or failure in our information technology and storage systems or those of third parties upon whom we rely could significantly disrupt the operation of our business and adversely impact our financial condition.
Our ability to execute our business plan and maintain operations depends on the continued and uninterrupted performance of our information technology (“IT”) systems or those of third parties upon whom we rely. IT systems are vulnerable to risks and damages from a variety of sources, including telecommunications or network failures, malicious human acts, and natural disasters (such as a tornado, an earthquake, or a fire). Moreover, despite network security and back-up measures, some of our and our vendors’ servers are potentially vulnerable to physical or electronic break-ins, including cyber-attacks, computer viruses, and similar disruptive problems. The techniques used by criminal elements to attack computer systems are increasingly sophisticated, change frequently, and may originate from less regulated and remote areas of the world. In addition, the use of artificial intelligence by cybercriminals may increase the frequency and severity of cybersecurity attacks, including against us or the third parties on which we rely. As a result, we may not be able to address these techniques proactively or implement adequate preventative measures. If the IT systems are compromised, we could be subject to fines, damages, litigation, and enforcement actions, and we could lose trade secrets, the occurrence of which could harm our business. Despite precautionary measures designed to prevent unanticipated problems that could affect the IT systems, sustained or repeated system failures that interrupt our ability to generate and maintain data could adversely affect our ability to operate our business. In addition, the failure of our systems, maintenance problems, upgrading or transitioning to new platforms, or a cybersecurity incident could result in delays and reduce efficiency in our operations. Remediation of such problems could result in significant, unplanned capital investments.
Furthermore, parties in our supply chain may be operating from single sites, increasing their vulnerability to natural disasters or other sudden, unforeseen, and severe adverse events. If such an event were to affect our supply chain, it could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Our internal computer systems, or those of any of our CROs, manufacturers, other contractors or consultants or potential future collaborators, may fail or suffer security or data privacy breaches or other unauthorized or improper access to, use of, or destruction of our proprietary or confidential data, employee data or personal data, which could result in additional costs, loss of revenue, significant liabilities, harm to our brand and material disruption of our operations.
Despite the implementation of security measures in an effort to protect systems that store our information, given their size and complexity and the increasing amounts of information maintained on our internal information technology systems and those of our third-party CROs, other contractors (including sites performing our clinical trials) and consultants, these systems are potentially vulnerable to breakdown or other damage or interruption from service interruptions, system malfunction, natural disasters, terrorism, war and telecommunication and electrical failures, as well as security breaches from inadvertent or intentional actions by our employees, contractors, consultants, business partners and/or other third parties, or from ransomware and other cyber-attacks by malicious third parties, which may compromise our system infrastructure or lead to the loss, destruction, alteration or dissemination of, or damage to, our data. In addition, techniques used to obtain unauthorized access to networks in which data is stored or through which data is transmitted change frequently and generally are not recognized until launched against a target. As a result, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventative measures to prevent such an event. Further, cybersecurity breaches or other cybersecurity incidents may allow hackers access to our preclinical compounds, strategies, discoveries, trade secrets, and/or other confidential
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information. Additionally, sensitive data could be leaked, disclosed, or revealed as a result of or in connection with our employees’, personnel’s, vendors’ or partners’ use of generative AI technologies. To the extent that any disruption or cybersecurity incident were to result in a loss, destruction, unavailability, alteration or dissemination of, or damage to, our data or applications, or for it to be believed or reported that any of these occurred, we could incur liability, including under laws and regulations governing the protection of protected health information and other personal data, and reputational damage and the development and commercialization of SLK could be delayed. The risk of a cybersecurity incident or other informational technology disruption, particularly through cyber-attacks, has generally increased as the number, intensity and sophistication of attempted attacks and intrusions from around the world have increased.
Further, our insurance policies may not be adequate to compensate us for the potential losses arising from any such disruption in, or failure or security breach of, our systems or third-party systems where information important to our business operations or commercial development is stored. The successful assertion of one or more large claims against us that exceeds our available insurance coverage or results in changes to our insurance policies (including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements), could have an adverse effect on our business. In addition, we cannot be sure that any existing insurance coverage and coverage for errors and omissions will continue to be available on acceptable terms or that our insurers will not deny coverage as to any future claim.
Any failure or perceived failure by us or our employees, representatives, contractors, consultants, collaborators, or other third-party service providers to comply with our data privacy, security, protection, or confidentiality, or to respond to any data security incidents, breaches or other unauthorized access, acquisition, or disclosure of sensitive information (including, without limitation personal information), may result in additional cost and/or liability to us, including costs from governmental investigations, enforcement actions, regulatory fines, litigation, costs of doing business, or damage to our reputation. Any of these events could cause harm to our reputation, business, financial condition, or operational results.
Risks Related to Reliance on Third Parties
We currently rely, and plan to rely in the future, on third parties to conduct and support our preclinical studies and clinical trials. If these third parties do not properly and successfully carry out their contractual duties or meet expected deadlines, we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval of or commercialize SLK.
We have utilized and plan to continue to utilize and depend upon independent investigators and collaborators, such as medical institutions, CROs, CMOs and strategic partners, to conduct and support our preclinical studies and clinical trials under agreements with us. We will rely heavily on these third parties over the course of our preclinical studies and clinical trials, and we control only certain aspects of their activities. As a result, we will have less direct control over the conduct, timing and completion of these preclinical studies and clinical trials and the management of data developed through preclinical studies and clinical trials than would be the case if we were relying entirely upon our own staff. Nevertheless, we are responsible for ensuring that each of our studies and trials is conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol, legal, regulatory and scientific standards, and our reliance on these third parties does not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities. We and our third-party contractors and CROs are required to comply with GCP regulations, which are regulations and guidelines enforced by the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities for product candidates in clinical development. If we or any of these third parties fail to comply with applicable GCP regulations, the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable and the FDA, EMA, or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may require us to perform additional clinical trials before approving our marketing applications. We cannot assure you that upon inspection by a given regulatory authority, such regulatory authority will determine that any of our clinical trials comply with GCP regulations, even if responsibilities have been outlined in agreements with external partners, such as CROs. In addition, our clinical trials must be conducted with product produced under cGMP regulations. Our failure to comply with these regulations may require us to repeat clinical trials, which would delay the regulatory approval process. Moreover, our business may be implicated if any of these third parties violate federal or state fraud and abuse or false claims laws and regulations or healthcare privacy and security laws.
Any third parties conducting our clinical trials will not be our employees and, except for remedies available to us under our agreements with such third parties, we cannot control whether they devote sufficient time and resources to SLK. These third
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parties may also have relationships with other commercial entities, including our competitors, for whom they may also be conducting clinical trials or other product development activities, which could affect their performance on our behalf. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or obligations or meet expected deadlines, if they need to be replaced, or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is compromised due to the failure to adhere to our clinical protocols or regulatory requirements or for other reasons, our clinical trials may be extended, delayed or terminated and we may not be able to complete development of, obtain regulatory approval of or successfully commercialize SLK.
We currently rely on third parties to produce and process SLK. Our business could be adversely affected if the third-party manufacturers fail to provide us with sufficient quantities of SLK or fail to do so at acceptable quality levels or prices.
We do not currently own or operate any facility that may be used to produce SLK (including any drug substance or finished drug product) and must currently rely on CMOs to produce them for us. We have not yet caused SLK to be manufactured in a commercially validated and registered process and may not be able to do so.
We do not control the manufacturing process of, and are completely dependent on, our contract manufacturing partners for compliance with cGMP requirements and any other regulatory requirements of the FDA or other regulatory authorities for the manufacture of SLK. Beyond periodic audits, we have no control over the ability of our CMOs to maintain adequate quality control, quality assurance and qualified personnel. If the FDA, EMA, or a comparable foreign regulatory authority does not approve these facilities for the manufacture of SLK or if it withdraws any approval in the future, we may need to find alternative manufacturing facilities, which would require the incurrence of significant additional costs and materially and adversely affect our ability to develop, obtain regulatory approval for or market SLK, if approved. Similarly, our failure, or the failure of our CMOs, to comply with applicable regulations could result in sanctions being imposed on us, including fines, injunctions, civil penalties, delays, suspension or withdrawal of approvals, license revocation, seizures or recalls of SLK, operating restrictions and criminal prosecutions, any of which could significantly and adversely affect supplies of SLK and harm our business and results of operations.
Moreover, if any CMOs on which we will rely fail to manufacture quantities of SLK at quality levels necessary to meet regulatory requirements and at a scale sufficient to meet anticipated demand at a cost that allows us to achieve profitability, our business, financial condition and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. Our business could be similarly affected by business disruptions to our third-party providers with potential impacts on our future revenue and financial condition and our costs and expenses. Each of these risks could delay or prevent the completion of our clinical trials or the approval of SLK by the FDA, result in higher costs or adversely impact commercialization of SLK.
Moreover, we have not yet completed the development of the autoinjector device for SLK, which includes the conduct of pharmacokinetic and human factor studies, and may not be able to do.
We may, in the future, form or seek collaborations or strategic alliances or enter into licensing arrangements, and we may not realize the benefits of such collaborations, alliances or licensing arrangements.
We may, in the future, form or seek strategic alliances, create joint ventures or collaborations, or enter into licensing arrangements with third parties that we believe will complement or augment our development and commercialization efforts with respect to SLK and/or our Company more broadly. Any of these relationships may require us to increase our near and long-term expenditures, issue securities that dilute our existing shareholders or disrupt our management and business.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property
Our ability to protect our patents and other proprietary rights is uncertain, exposing us to the possible loss of competitive advantage.
We rely upon a combination of patents, trademarks, trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect the intellectual property related to SLK and our technologies and to prevent third parties from copying and surpassing our achievements, thus eroding our competitive position in our market. Our success depends in large part on our ability to obtain
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and maintain patent protection for SLK and its uses, components, formulations, methods of manufacturing and methods of treatment, as well as our ability to operate without infringing on or violating the proprietary rights of others. We own and have licensed rights to patent applications and pending patent applications, and expect to continue to file patent applications in the United States and abroad related to our novel discoveries and technologies that are important to our business.
The patent position of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies generally is highly uncertain, involves complex legal and factual questions and has in recent years been the subject of much litigation. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of our patent rights are highly uncertain. Our pending and future patent applications may not result in patents being issued which protect our technology or drug candidates or which effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive technologies and drug candidates. The patent examination process may require us or our licensors to narrow the scope of the claims of our or our licensors’ pending and future patent applications, which may limit the scope of patent protection that may be obtained. Accordingly, even if we or our licensors are able to obtain patents, the patents might be substantially narrower than anticipated. Thus, there is no assurance as to the degree and range of protections any of our patents, if issued, may afford us or whether patents will be issued. We cannot assure you that all of the potentially relevant prior art relating to our patents and patent applications has been found. If such prior art exists, it can invalidate a patent or prevent a patent application from being issued as a patent.
We enjoy only limited geographical protection with respect to certain patents and may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world.
We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world and the legal systems in certain countries may not favor enforcement or protection of patents, trade secrets and other intellectual property. Filing, prosecuting and defending patents on SLK worldwide would be prohibitively expensive and our intellectual property rights in some foreign jurisdictions can be less extensive than those in the United States. We have licensed patents in the most relevant countries but may not be able to obtain patents in all jurisdictions even if we apply for them. Our competitors may operate in countries where we do not have patent protection and can freely use our technologies and discoveries in such countries to the extent such technologies and discoveries are publicly known or disclosed in countries where we do have patent protection or pending patent applications. Our pending and future patent applications may not result in patents being issued. Any issued patents may not afford sufficient protection of SLK or its intended uses against competitors, nor can there be any assurance that the patents issued will not be infringed, designed around, invalidated by third parties, or effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive technologies, products or product candidates. Further, even if these patents are granted, they may be difficult to enforce.
In addition, many countries have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner may be compelled to grant licenses to third parties. Many countries also limit the enforceability of patents against government agencies or government contractors. In these countries, the patent owner may have limited remedies, which could materially diminish the value of such patent. If we or any of our licensors is forced to grant a license to third parties with respect to any patents relevant to our business, our competitive position may be impaired, and our business and financial condition may be adversely affected.
Obtaining and maintaining our patent protection depends on compliance with various procedural, document submission, fee payment and other requirements imposed by governmental patent agencies, and our patent protection could be reduced or eliminated if we fail to comply with these requirements.
Periodic maintenance and annuity fees on any issued patent are due to be paid to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) and foreign patent agencies over the lifetime of a patent. In addition, the USPTO and other foreign patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment, and other similar provisions during the patent application process. While an inadvertent failure to make payment of such fees or to comply with such provisions can in many cases be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules, there are situations in which such non-compliance will result in the abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, and the partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. Non-compliance events that could result in abandonment or lapse of a patent or patent application include failure to respond to official actions within prescribed time limits, and non-payment of fees and failure to properly legalize and submit formal documents within prescribed time limits. If we or our licensors fail to maintain the patents and patent applications covering our drug candidates or if we or our licensors otherwise allow our patents or patent applications to be abandoned or lapse, our competitors might be able to enter the market, which
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would hurt our competitive position and could impair our ability to successfully commercialize our drug candidates in any indication for which they are approved.
Issued patents covering one or more of our drug candidates could be found invalid or unenforceable.
Any issued patents that we may license or own covering SLK could be narrowed or found invalid or unenforceable if challenged in court or before administrative bodies in the United States or abroad, including the USPTO. Also, patent terms, including any extensions or adjustments that may or may not be available to us, may be inadequate to protect our competitive position with respect to SLK for an adequate amount of time, and we may be subject to claims challenging the inventorship, validity, enforceability of our patents and/or other intellectual property. Finally, changes in U.S. patent law, or laws in other countries, could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect SLK. Further, if we encounter delays in our clinical trials or delays in obtaining regulatory approval, the period of time during which we could market SLK under patent protection would be reduced. Thus, the patents that we own and license may not afford us any meaningful competitive advantage.
Moreover, we or our licensors may be subject to a third-party pre-issuance submission of prior art to the USPTO or become involved in opposition, derivation, revocation, reexamination, inter partes review, post-grant review or interference proceedings challenging our patent rights or the patent rights of others. An adverse determination in any such submission, proceeding or litigation could reduce the scope of, or invalidate, our patent rights, allow third parties to commercialize our technology or SLK and compete directly with us, without payment to us, or result in our inability to manufacture or commercialize drugs without infringing third-party patent rights. If the breadth or strength of protection provided by our patents and patent applications is threatened, regardless of the outcome, it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us to license, develop or commercialize SLK. In addition to seeking patents for some of our technology and SLK, we may also rely on trade secrets, including unpatented know-how, technology and other proprietary information, to maintain our competitive position. Any disclosure, either intentional or unintentional, by our employees, the employees of third parties with whom we share our facilities or third-party consultants and vendors that we engage to perform research, clinical trials or manufacturing activities, or misappropriation by third parties (such as through a cybersecurity breach) of our trade secrets or proprietary information could enable competitors to duplicate or surpass our technological achievements, thus eroding our competitive position in our market. In order to protect our proprietary technology and processes, we rely in part on confidentiality agreements with our collaborators, employees, consultants, outside scientific collaborators and sponsored researchers and other advisors. These agreements may not effectively prevent disclosure of confidential information and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. As our organization grows, so does the risk of unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. We may need to share our proprietary information, including trade secrets, with future business partners, collaborators, contractors and others located in countries at heightened risk of theft of trade secrets, including through direct intrusion by private parties or foreign actors and those affiliated with or controlled by state actors. In addition, while we undertake efforts to protect our trade secrets and other confidential information from disclosure, others may independently discover trade secrets and proprietary information, and in such cases, we may not be able to assert any trade secret rights against such party. Enforcing a claim that a party illegally obtained and is using our trade secrets is challenging and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, courts outside of the U.S. may be less willing to protect trade secrets. Costly and time-consuming litigation could be necessary to enforce and determine the scope of our proprietary rights and failure to obtain or maintain trade secret protection could adversely affect our competitive business position.
We may be subject to damages resulting from claims that we or our employees have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information of our competitors or are in breach of non-competition or non-solicitation agreements with our competitors.
As is common in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, we employ individuals and engage the services of consultants who previously worked for other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. Although no claims against us are currently pending, we may be subject to claims that these employees or we have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed trade secrets or other proprietary information of their former employers, or that our consultants have used or disclosed trade secrets or other proprietary information of their former or current clients. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel. Even if we are
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successful in defending against such claims, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property claims may cause us to incur significant expenses, and could distract our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments, and, if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the price of our Class A Ordinary Shares. This type of litigation or proceeding could substantially increase our operating losses and reduce our resources available for development activities. We may not have sufficient financial or other resources to adequately conduct such litigation or proceedings.
Some of our competitors may be able to absorb the costs of such litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other intellectual property related proceedings could adversely affect our ability to compete in the marketplace.
Patent terms may be inadequate to protect our competitive position with respect to SLK for an adequate amount of time.
Patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States, if all maintenance fees are timely paid, the natural expiration of a patent is generally 20 years from its earliest U.S. non-provisional filing date. Various extensions may be available, but the life of a patent, and the protection it affords, is limited. Even if patents covering SLK are obtained, once the patent life has expired, we may be subject to competition from competitive products, including generics or biosimilars. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized. As a result, our owned and licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours.
If we do not obtain patent term extension in the United States under the Hatch-Waxman Act and in foreign countries under similar legislation, thereby potentially extending the term of our marketing exclusivity for SLK, our business may be materially harmed.
In the United States, the patent term of a patent that covers an FDA-approved drug may be eligible for limited patent term extension, which permits patent term restoration as compensation for the patent term lost during the FDA regulatory review process. The Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, also known as the Hatch-Waxman Act, permits a patent term extension of up to five years beyond the expiration of the patent. The length of the patent term extension is related to the length of time the drug is under regulatory review. Patent extension cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the date of product approval, and only one patent applicable to an approved drug may be extended and only those claims covering the approved drug, a method for using it, or a method for manufacturing it may be extended. Similar provisions are available in the EU and certain other non-United States jurisdictions to extend the term of a patent that covers an approved drug. While, in the future, if and when SLK receives FDA approval, we expect to apply for patent term extensions on patents covering SLK, there is no guarantee that the applicable authorities will agree with our assessment of whether such extensions should be granted, and even if granted, the length of such extensions. We may not be granted patent term extension either in the United States or in any foreign country because of, for example, failing to exercise due diligence during the testing phase or regulatory review process, failing to apply within applicable deadlines, failing to apply prior to expiration of relevant patents or otherwise failing to satisfy applicable requirements. Moreover, the term of extension, as well as the scope of patent protection during any such extension, afforded by the governmental authority could be less than we request. If we are unable to obtain any patent term extension or the term of any such extension is less than we request, our competitors may obtain approval of competing products following the expiration of our patent rights, and our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially harmed.
It is possible that we will not succeed in obtaining patent term extension under the Hatch-Waxman Act for a U.S. patent covering SLK that we may identify even where that patent is eligible for patent term extension, or if we obtain such an extension, it may be for a shorter period than we had sought. Further, for our licensed patents, we may not have the right to control prosecution, including filing with the USPTO, a petition for patent term extension under the Hatch-Waxman Act. Thus, if one of our licensed patents is eligible for patent term extension under the Hatch-Waxman Act, we may not be able to control whether a petition to obtain a patent term extension is filed, or obtained, from the USPTO.
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Also, we may be unable to obtain patents covering SLK that contain one or more claims that satisfy the requirements for listing in the Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations (the “Orange Book”). Even if we submit a patent for listing in the Orange Book, the FDA may decline to list the patent, or a manufacturer of generic drugs may challenge the listing. If SLK is approved and a patent covering SLK is not listed in the Orange Book, a manufacturer of generic drugs would not have to provide advance notice to us of any abbreviated new drug application filed with the FDA to obtain permission to sell a generic version of SLK.
Changes to patent laws in the United States and other jurisdictions could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect SLK.
Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of patent laws in the United States, including patent reform legislation such as the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (the “Leahy-Smith Act”) could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our owned and in-licensed patent applications and the maintenance, enforcement or defense of our owned and in-licensed issued patents. The Leahy-Smith Act includes a number of significant changes to United States patent law. These changes include provisions that affect the way patent applications are prosecuted, redefine prior art, provide more efficient and cost-effective avenues for competitors to challenge the validity of patents, and enable third-party submission of prior art to the USPTO during patent prosecution and additional procedures to challenge the validity of a patent at USPTO-administered post-grant proceedings, including post-grant review, inter partes review, and derivation proceedings. Also, under the Leahy-Smith Act, the United States transitioned from a first-to-invent to a first-to-file system in which, assuming that the other statutory requirements for patentability are met, the first inventor to file a patent application will be entitled to the patent on an invention regardless of whether a third-party was the first to invent the claimed invention. Foreign counterparts to this law are also not uniform, and there is no worldwide policy governing the subject matter and scope of claims granted in a pharmaceutical or biotechnology patent. As such, the Leahy-Smith Act and its implementation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
In addition, the patent positions of companies in the development and commercialization of biologics and pharmaceuticals are particularly uncertain. Recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings have narrowed the scope of patent protection available in certain circumstances and altered the rights of patent owners in certain situations. This combination of events has created uncertainty with respect to the validity and enforceability of patents once obtained. Depending on future legislation by the U.S. Congress, decisions by the federal courts and the USPTO, the laws and regulations governing patents could change in unpredictable ways that could have a material adverse effect on our patent rights and our ability to protect, defend and enforce our patent rights in the future. Similarly, changes in the patent laws of other jurisdictions could adversely affect our ability to obtain and effectively enforce our patent rights, which would have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.
We may not identify relevant third-party patents or may incorrectly interpret the relevance, scope or expiration of a third-party patent, which might adversely affect our ability to develop and market SLK.
We cannot guarantee that any of our patent searches or analyses, including the identification of relevant patents, the scope of patent claims or the expiration of relevant patents, are complete or thorough, nor can we be certain that we have identified each and every third-party patent and pending application in the United States and abroad that is relevant to or necessary for the commercialization of SLK in any jurisdiction. The scope of a patent claim is determined by an interpretation of the law, the written disclosure in a patent and the patent’s prosecution history. Our interpretation of the relevance or the scope of a patent or a pending application may be incorrect. Our determination of the expiration date of any patent in the United States or abroad that we consider relevant may be incorrect. Our failure to identify and correctly interpret relevant patents may negatively impact our ability to develop and market SLK.
In addition, because some patent applications in the United States may be maintained in secrecy until the patents are issued, patent applications in the United States and many foreign jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after filing, and publications in the scientific literature often lag behind actual discoveries, we cannot be certain that others have not filed patent applications for technology covered by our issued patents or our pending applications, or that we were the first to invent the technology. Our competitors may have filed, and may in the future file, patent applications covering SLK or
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technology similar to ours. Any such patent application may have priority over our patent applications or patents, which could require us to obtain rights to issued patents covering such technologies.
We may be subject to claims challenging the inventorship of our patents and other intellectual property.
We generally enter into confidentiality and intellectual property assignment agreements with our employees, consultants, and contractors. These agreements generally provide that inventions conceived by the party in the course of rendering services to us will be our exclusive property. However, those agreements may not be honored and may not effectively assign intellectual property rights to us. Moreover, there may be some circumstances, where we are unable to negotiate for such ownership rights.
We may be subject to claims that former employees, collaborators or other third parties have an interest in our patents or other intellectual property as an inventor or co-inventor. The failure to name the proper inventors on a patent application can result in the patents issuing thereon being unenforceable. Inventorship disputes may arise from conflicting views regarding the contributions of different individuals named as inventors, the effects of foreign laws where foreign nationals are involved in the development of the subject matter of the patent, conflicting obligations of third parties involved in developing SLK or as a result of questions regarding co-ownership of potential joint inventions. Litigation may be necessary to resolve these and other claims challenging inventorship and/or ownership. Alternatively, or additionally, we may enter into agreements to clarify the scope of our rights in such intellectual property. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights, such as exclusive ownership of, or right to use, valuable intellectual property. Such an outcome could have a material adverse effect on our business. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.
We may be subject to patent infringement claims or may need to file claims to protect our intellectual property, which could result in substantial costs and liability and prevent us from commercializing SLK.
Because the intellectual property landscape in the biotechnology industry is rapidly evolving and is interdisciplinary, it is difficult to conclusively assess our freedom to operate without infringing on or violating third-party rights. If a third-party successfully brings a claim against us, we may be required to pay substantial damages, be forced to abandon SLK and/or seek a license from the patent holder. In addition, any intellectual property claims (e.g. patent infringement or trade secret theft) brought against us, whether or not successful, may cause us to incur significant legal expenses and divert the attention of our management and key personnel from other business concerns. We cannot be certain that patents owned or licensed by us will not be challenged by others in the course of litigation. Some of our competitors may be able to absorb the costs of complex intellectual property litigation more effectively than we can. In addition, any uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of any litigation could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise funds and on the market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares.
Competitors may infringe or otherwise violate our patents, trademarks, copyrights or other intellectual property. To counter infringement or other violations, we may be required to file claims, which can be expensive and time-consuming. Any such claims could provoke these parties to assert counterclaims against us, including claims alleging that we infringe their patents or other intellectual property rights. In addition, in a patent infringement proceeding, a court or administrative body may decide that one or more of the patents we assert is invalid or unenforceable, in whole or in part, construe the patent’s claims narrowly or refuse to prevent the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our patents do not cover the technology. Similarly, if we assert trademark infringement claims, a court or administrative body may determine that the marks we have asserted are invalid or unenforceable or that the party against whom we have asserted trademark infringement has superior rights to the marks in question. In such a case, we could ultimately be forced to cease use of such marks. In any intellectual property litigation, even if we are successful, any award of monetary damages or other remedy we receive may not be commercially valuable.
Further, we may be required to protect our patents through procedures created to challenge the validity of a patent at the USPTO. An adverse determination in any such submission or proceeding could reduce the scope or enforceability of, or invalidate, our patent rights, which could adversely affect our competitive position. Because of a lower evidentiary standard in USPTO proceedings compared to the evidentiary standard in United States federal courts necessary to invalidate a patent
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claim, a third-party could potentially provide evidence in a USPTO proceeding sufficient for the USPTO to hold a claim invalid even though the same evidence would be insufficient to invalidate the claim if first presented in a district court action.
In addition, if SLK is found to infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties, these third parties may assert infringement claims against our future licensees and other parties with whom we have business relationships and we may be required to indemnify those parties for any damages they suffer as a result of these claims, which may require us to initiate or defend protracted and costly litigation on behalf of licensees and other parties regardless of the merits of such claims. If any of these claims succeed, we may be forced to pay damages on behalf of those parties or may be required to obtain a license for SLK.
Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation or other legal proceedings relating to our intellectual property rights, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation or other proceedings.
We license patent rights from third-party owners and thus our rights to develop and commercialize our technology and product candidates are subject, in part, to the terms and conditions of licenses granted to us by others.
We are a party to certain licenses, including with our licensor with MHKDG, that provide us rights to intellectual property that are necessary or useful for SLK and its respective components, formulations, methods of manufacturing and methods of treatment. These license agreements require us to satisfy certain obligations and, if these agreements are terminated (e.g., as a result of our failure to satisfy such obligations), our technology and our business could be adversely affected.
We may also enter into additional licenses to third-party intellectual property in the future; however, we may not be able to obtain such licenses on economically feasible terms or other reasonable terms and conditions, or at all. Additionally, we may not have the right to control the preparation, filing, prosecution, maintenance, enforcement, and defense of patents and patent applications covering the technology that we license from third parties. In those instances, we cannot be certain that these patents and patent applications will be prepared, filed, prosecuted, maintained, enforced, and defended in a manner consistent with the best interests of our business. If our licensors fail to prosecute, maintain, enforce, and defend such patents, or lose rights to those patents or patent applications, the rights we have licensed may be reduced or eliminated, and our right to develop and commercialize any of our products that are subject of such licensed rights could be adversely affected.
If we, or our licensors, are not able to obtain and maintain patent protection for any products that we develop and for our technology, or if the scope of the patent protection obtained is not sufficiently broad, our competitors could develop and commercialize products and technology similar or substantially identical to ours, which could adversely affect our competitive business position and harm our business prospects. Even if patents are issued in respect of these patent applications, we or our licensors may determine not to pursue litigation against other companies that are infringing these patents, or may not be able to pursue such litigation at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner.
Our license from MHKDG may be subject to retained rights.
MHKDG retains certain rights under its license agreement with us, including the right to use the underlying technology for noncommercial academic and research use, to publish general scientific findings from research related to the technology, and to make customary scientific and scholarly disclosures of information relating to the technology. It is difficult to monitor whether MHKDG limits its use of the technology to these uses, and we could incur substantial expenses to enforce our rights to our licensed technology in the event of misuse.
We may not be able to effectively secure first-tier technologies when competing against other companies or investors.
Our future success may require that we acquire patent rights and know-how to new or complimentary technologies. However, we compete with a substantial number of other companies that may also compete for technologies we desire. In addition, many venture capital firms and other institutional investors, as well as other biotechnology companies, invest in companies seeking to commercialize various types of emerging technologies. Many of these companies have greater financial, scientific and commercial resources than us. Therefore, we may not be able to secure the technologies we desire. Furthermore, should any commercial undertaking by us prove to be successful, there can be no assurance competitors with greater financial resources will not offer competitive products and/or technologies.
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Numerous factors may limit any potential competitive advantage provided by our intellectual property rights.
The degree of future protection afforded by our intellectual property rights, whether owned or in-licensed, is uncertain because intellectual property rights have limitations, and may not adequately protect our business, provide a barrier to entry against our competitors or potential competitors, or permit us to maintain our competitive advantage. Moreover, if a third-party has intellectual property rights that cover the practice of our technology, we may not be able to fully exercise or extract value from our intellectual property rights. The factors that may limit any potential competitive advantage provided by our intellectual property rights include:
• pending patent applications that we own or license may not lead to issued patents;
• patents, should they issue, that we own or license, may not provide us with any competitive advantages, or may be challenged and held invalid or unenforceable;
• others may be able to develop and/or practice technology that is similar to our technology or aspects of our technology but that is not covered by the claims of any of our owned or in-licensed patents, should any such patents issue;
• third parties may compete with us in jurisdictions where we do not pursue and obtain patent protection;
• we (or our licensors) might not have been the first to make the inventions covered by a pending patent application that we own or license;
• we (or our licensors) might not have been the first to file patent applications covering a particular invention;
• others may independently develop similar or alternative technologies without infringing our intellectual property rights;
• we may not be able to obtain and/or maintain necessary licenses on reasonable terms or at all;
• we may develop patents that could expire prior to or shortly after commencing commercialization of a product;
• third parties may assert an ownership interest in our intellectual property and, if successful, such disputes may preclude us from exercising exclusive rights, or any rights at all, over that intellectual property;
• we may not be able to maintain the confidentiality of our trade secrets or other proprietary information;
• we may not develop or in-license additional proprietary technologies that are patentable; and
• the patents of others may have an adverse effect on our business.
Should any of these events occur, they could significantly harm our business and results of operation.
If approved, our product candidates that are regulated as biologics may face competition from biosimilars approved through an abbreviated regulatory pathway.
The Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 (the “BPCIA”), was enacted as part of the ACA to establish an abbreviated pathway for the approval of biosimilar and interchangeable biological products. The regulatory pathway establishes legal authority for the FDA to review and approve biosimilar biologics, including the possible designation of a biosimilar as “interchangeable” based on its similarity to an approved biologic. Under the BPCIA, a reference biological product is granted 12 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. In addition, the approval of a biosimilar product may not be made effective by the FDA until 12 years from the date on which the reference product was first licensed. During this 12-year period of exclusivity, another company may still develop and receive approval of a competing biologic, so long as their BLA does not reply on the reference product, sponsor’s data or submit the application as a biosimilar application. The law is complex and is still being interpreted and implemented by the FDA. As a result, its ultimate impact, implementation, and meaning are subject to uncertainty, and any new policies or processes adopted by the FDA could have a material adverse effect on the future commercial prospects for our biological products.
We believe that SLK approved in the United States as a biological product under a BLA should qualify for the 12-year period of exclusivity. However, there is a risk that this exclusivity could be shortened due to congressional action or otherwise, or that the FDA will not consider the subject product candidates to be reference products for competing products, potentially creating the opportunity for biosimilar competition sooner than anticipated. Moreover, the extent to which a biosimilar, once approved, will be substituted for any one of the reference products in a way that is similar to traditional generic substitution for non-biological products is not yet clear, and will depend on a number of marketplace and regulatory factors that are still
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developing. The approval of a biosimilar of our product candidates could have a material adverse impact on our business due to increased competition and pricing pressure.
Risks Related to Our Class A Ordinary Shares
The price of our shares has been, and may continue to be volatile, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
The trading price of our Class A Ordinary Shares has been and may continue to be highly volatile and is subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control, including the factors discussed in this “Risk Factors” section and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The realization of any of these factors has had and may continue to have an adverse impact on the market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares. For example, escalating trade tensions, elevated interest rates and regulatory uncertainty have caused significant market volatility in recent months, and particularly in the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries.
In addition, the stock market in general, and the market for biotechnology companies in particular, have experienced price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of these companies. Class action securities litigation, if instituted, could result in substantial costs and diversion of management attention and resources, which could significantly harm our profitability and reputation. In addition, broad market and industry factors may negatively affect the market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares, regardless of our actual operating performance. The market price for our Class A Ordinary Shares may be influenced by many factors, including:
• the success of competitive products or technologies;
• results of clinical trials of our product candidates or those of our competitors;
• regulatory or legal developments in the United States and other countries;
• developments or disputes concerning patent applications, issued patents or other proprietary rights;
• the recruitment or departure of key personnel;
• the level of expenses related to any of our programs and product candidates or preclinical and clinical development programs;
• the results of our efforts to discover, develop, acquire or in-license additional product candidates or products;
• actual or anticipated changes in estimates as to financial results, development timelines or recommendations by securities analysts;
• variations in our financial results or those of companies that are perceived to be similar to us;
• market conditions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors;
• significant market volatility in recent months, particularly in the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries, caused by escalating trade tensions, elevated interest rates and regulatory uncertainty;
• general economic, industry and market conditions; and
• the other factors described in this “Risk Factors” section.
If our share price is volatile, we may be subject to securities litigation, which is expensive and could divert management attention.
Securities class action litigation has often been instituted against companies following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities. Such class action lawsuits have been initiated against us, and we may become subject to additional securities class action lawsuits in the future. Additional information on such class action lawsuits is discussed in Item 3 “Legal Proceedings”. This type of litigation, if instituted, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which would materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operation.
Sales of our Class A Ordinary Shares, or the perception that such sales may occur, may cause the market price of the Class A Ordinary Shares to decline significantly, even if our business is doing well.
Sales, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares. As restrictions on resale end and registration statements (filed to provide for the resale of such shares from time to time) are available for use, the sale or possibility of sale of these shares could have the
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effect of increasing the volatility in our share price or the market price of the Class A Ordinary Shares could decline if the holders of currently restricted shares sell them or are perceived by the market as intending to sell them.
Our principal shareholders and management own a significant percentage of our stock and are able to exert significant influence over matters subject to shareholder approval.
As of December 31, 2025, our executive officers, directors, holders of 5% or more of our capital stock and their respective affiliates beneficially own a significant portion of our outstanding voting common stock. These shareholders, acting together, may be able to impact matters requiring shareholder approval. They may be able to impact elections of directors, amendments of our organizational documents or approval of any merger, sale of assets or other major corporate transaction. This may prevent or discourage unsolicited acquisition proposals or offers for our capital stock that you may feel are in your best interest as one of our shareholders. The interests of this group of shareholders may not always coincide with your interests or the interests of other shareholders and they may act in a manner that advances their best interests and not necessarily those of other shareholders, including seeking a premium value for their shares, and might affect the prevailing market price for our Class A Ordinary Shares.
Anti-takeover provisions in our organizational documents could delay or prevent a change of control.
Certain provisions of our Memorandum and Articles of Association (the “Memorandum”) and Cayman Islands Law may have an anti-takeover effect and may delay, defer or prevent a merger, acquisition, tender offer, takeover attempt or other change of control transaction that a shareholder might consider in its best interest, including those attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares held by our members.
These provisions provide for, among other things:
• establishing a classified Board of Directors;
• allowing the Board of Directors to issue one or more series of preference shares;
• establishing advance notice for nominations of directors by members and for members to include matters to be considered at general meetings;
• eliminating the ability of members to fill vacancies on the Board of Directors;
• establishing advance notice requirements for nominations for election to the Board of Directors or for proposing matters that can be acted upon by at our annual general meetings;
• permitting the Board of Directors to establish the number of directors;
• eliminating the ability of members to call general meetings or act by written consent;
• requiring a special resolution to amend the Memorandum; and
• limit the jurisdictions in which certain shareholder litigation may be brought.
These anti-takeover provisions could make it more difficult for a third-party to acquire our Company, even if the third-party’s offer may be considered beneficial by many of our shareholders. As a result, our shareholders may be limited in their ability to obtain a premium for their shares. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for you and other shareholders to elect directors of your choosing and to cause us to take other corporate actions you desire.
Our indemnification obligations to our officers and directors may result in a significant cost to us and hurt the interests of our shareholders.
Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against willful default, willful neglect, actual fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. The Memorandum provides for indemnification of our officers and directors to the maximum extent permitted by law, including for any liability incurred in their capacities as such, except through their own actual fraud, willful default or willful neglect. We purchased a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors. We have entered into indemnification agreements with each of our directors and executive officers that obligate us to indemnify, hold harmless, exonerate, and to advance
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expenses as incurred, to the fullest extent permitted under applicable law, from damage arising from the fact that such person is or was an officer or director of our Company or its subsidiaries.
Our indemnification obligations may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
Because we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our capital stock in the foreseeable future, capital appreciation, if any, will be your sole source of gain.
We have never declared or paid cash dividends on its capital stock. We currently intend to retain all of our future earnings, if any, to finance the growth and development of our business. In addition, the terms of any future debt agreements may preclude us from paying dividends. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our Class A Ordinary Shares will be your sole source of gain for the foreseeable future.
Future issuances of debt securities and equity securities may adversely affect our Company, including the market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares and may be dilutive to existing shareholders.
There is no assurance that we will not incur debt or issue equity ranking senior to the Class A Ordinary Shares. Those securities will generally have priority upon liquidation. Such securities also may be governed by an indenture or other instrument containing covenants restricting its operating flexibility. Additionally, any convertible or exchangeable securities that we issue in the future may have rights, preferences and privileges more favorable than those of Class A Ordinary Shares. Separately, additional financing may not be available on favorable terms, or at all. Because our decision to issue debt or equity in the future will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing, nature or success of our future capital raising efforts. As a result, future capital raising efforts may reduce the market price of Class A Ordinary Shares and be dilutive to existing shareholders.
General Risk Factors
We may become a foreign private issuer within the meaning of the rules under the Exchange Act, and as such we would be exempt from certain provisions applicable to U.S. domestic public companies.
We may become a “foreign private issuer” as defined in Rule 3b-4 promulgated under the Exchange Act. If we do become a foreign private issuer, we would be exempt from certain rules and regulations in the United States that are applicable to U.S. domestic issuers, including:
• the rules under the Exchange Act requiring the filing with the SEC of quarterly reports on Form 10-Q or current report on Form 8-K;
• the section of the Exchange Act regulating the solicitation of proxies, consents or authorizations in respect of a security registered under the Exchange Act;
• the section of the Exchange Act requiring directors, officers and 10% holders to file public reporting of their stock ownership and trading activities and imposing liability on insiders who profit from trades made in a short period of time; and
• the selective disclosure rules under Regulation FD restricting issuers from selectively disclosing material nonpublic information.
Accordingly, the information we would be required to file with or furnish to the SEC as a foreign private issuer is less extensive and less frequent as compared to the information required to be filed with the SEC by U.S. domestic issuers.
In addition, if we become a foreign private issuer whose securities are listed on Nasdaq, we would be permitted to, and may elect to, follow certain home country corporate governance practices in lieu of the requirements of the Nasdaq Rules pursuant
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to Nasdaq Rule 5615(a)(3). Certain corporate governance practices in the Cayman Islands, which is our home country, may differ significantly from the Nasdaq corporate governance listing standards applicable to U.S. domestic issuers and may afford our shareholders less protection than they otherwise would enjoy under the Nasdaq corporate governance listing standards applicable to U.S. domestic issuers. We would be required to disclose any significant ways in which our corporate governance practices differ from those followed by U.S. domestic issuers under Nasdaq corporate governance listing standards in an annual report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC or on our website.
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MD&A (Item 7)
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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our financial statements and the related notes and other financial information included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion and analysis contain forward-looking statements based upon our current plans and expectations that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, such as statements regarding our plans, objectives, expectations, intentions and beliefs. Our actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated as a result of various factors, including those set forth under the section titled “Risk Factors” and included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. You should carefully read the sections titled “Note on Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” to gain an understanding of the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results described below.
A discussion regarding our results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to December 31, 2023 can be found under Part II - Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on February 26, 2025.
Overview
We are a clinical stage biotechnology company advancing therapies to address significant unmet needs in inflammatory skin and joint diseases. We are currently a single asset company focused on the development of Sonelokimab ( “ SLK ”) , a novel tri-specific IL-17A and IL-17F inhibiting Nanobody, that we exclusively licensed from Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, an affiliate of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany (“MHKDG”) and that has the potential, based on response levels seen in clinical trials, to drive disease modification in dermatology and rheumatology patients.
SLK is a proprietary Nanobody that was discovered by Ablynx N.V., Belgium, a Sanofi company (“Ablynx”), and previously studied by MHKDG and Avillion LLP (“Avillion”) under a 2017 co-development agreement. The terms “Nanobody” and “Nanobodies” used herewith are registered trademarks of Ablynx. Nanobodies are able to bind selectively to a specific antigen with high affinity. Nanobodies have a fraction of the molecular weight compared to traditional antibodies. They offer a number of potential advantages over traditional monoclonal antibodies, including the potential to create multivalent molecules with enhanced ability to penetrate inflamed tissue, especially when containing an additional albumin binding domain such as SLK, an easier manufacturing process and a higher thermostability.
We currently develop SLK in inflammatory diseases in dermatology and rheumatology where the pathophysiology is known to be driven by IL-17A and IL-17F. This group of diseases comprises our current target diseases, hidradenitis suppurativa (“HS”), psoriatic arthritis (“PsA”), axial spondyloarthritis (“axSpA”), palmoplantar pustulosis (“PPP”), and several other inflammatory conditions, including psoriasis (“PsO”). Our current target diseases affect millions of people worldwide, and we believe there is a need for improved treatment options. We believe that SLK has a differentiated mechanism of action and that its purposefully designed molecular characteristics, including its small size and its albumin binding site, facilitate deep tissue penetration in the skin and joints. We envision SLK as a key therapeutic alternative in our initial target indications and potentially in multiple other IL-17 driven inflammatory conditions.
HS Trials and Plans for Commercial Launch
In May 2022, we initiated a Phase 2b trial of SLK in patients with moderate-to-severe HS (the MIRA trial (M1095-HS-201)), and in June 2023, we announced positive top-line results from this trial, which met its primary endpoint of Hidradenitis Suppurativa Clinical Response (“HiSCR”) 75 with 43% of patients treated with SLK 120mg achieving such response at week 12. In October 2023, we announced positive 24-week top-line results showing that the maintenance treatment with SLK led to further improvements in HiSCR75 response rates and other clinically relevant outcomes in patients with moderate-to-severe HS. In February 2024, we announced the successful outcome of our end-of-Phase 2 interactions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), as well as positive feedback from our interactions with the E.U. European Medicines Agency (“EMA”), with both regulatory bodies supporting our proposed
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approach for advancing our Phase 3 program of SLK in HS. In May 2024, we announced the screening of the first patients in the Phase 3 VELA-1 (M1095-HS-301) and VELA-2 trials (M1095-HS-302). In April 2025, we announced completion of enrollment of the VELA program and presented baseline characteristics of enrolled patients. In September 2025, we announced primary endpoint data from the VELA-1 and VELA-2 clinical trials. In the combined VELA program, patients treated with SLK experienced a clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvement across all primary and key secondary endpoints using both pre-specified strategies (p<0.001). In VELA-1, SLK achieved statistical significance for all primary and key secondary endpoints using both pre-specified strategies (HiSCR75, delta to placebo of 17%, p<0.001). 34% of patients treated with SLK 120mg achieved a HiSCR75 response at the week 16 primary endpoint. In VELA-2, response rates associated with SLK were similar to those observed in VELA-1 (HiSCR75 response of 34%), but a higher-than-expected placebo arm precluded the study from achieving statistical significance in the week 16 primary endpoint using the composite strategy (HiSCR75, delta to placebo of 9%, p=0.053). Impact on HS lesions, including draining tunnels, was matched by improvements in all key Patient Reported Outcomes (“PROs”), such as quality-of-life and pain scores, that are meaningful for HS patients and their treating physicians. The safety profile of SLK was consistent with previously reported studies with no new safety signals observed. This included the absence of new signals in key events of interest with IL-17A and F therapies such as Suicidal Ideation and Behavior, hepatic events, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (“IBD”) and non-infectious diarrhea, Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events (“MACE”), and Eczema and Dermatitis. In February 2026, we presented an interim analysis of the long-term data from the VELA trials, which indicated that monthly maintenance treatment with SLK can lead to further improvements in clinically relevant outcomes in patients with moderate-to-severe HS, including an as-observed HiSCR75 response rate of 69% in VELA-1 (n=104) and 67% in VELA 2 (n=123) after 52 weeks of treatment with SLK 120mg. The VELA trials are expected to continue to week 52, followed by an open-label extension for up to two years (the VELA-OLE trial (M1095-HS-303)). We expect the full one-year data of VELA-1 and VELA-2 to become available in the second quarter of 2026. In parallel, we are conducting a Phase 3 trial of SLK in adolescent patients with HS (the VELA-TEEN trial (M1095-HS-304)), which we initiated in January 2025. In February 2026, we presented an interim analysis of the VELA-TEEN clinical trial which showed that 67% of patients achieved a HiSCR75 response at week 16 (n=21). We expect to complete the VELA-TEEN clinical trial in mid-2026.
In November 2025, we were granted a Type B meeting with the FDA to discuss adequacy of the current clinical evidence package of SLK in HS to support a Biologics License Application (“BLA”) and in January 2026, we announced positive feedback from this interaction, confirming that we may establish substantial evidence of effectiveness (“SEE”) without additional clinical trials in HS. The FDA specifically advised to include the results of the MIRA trial together with the results of the VELA trials in the submission to establish SEE. Based on the positive feedback, we expect to submit a BLA for SLK in adult and adolescent HS in the second half of 2026. Subject to FDA approval, we expect a first commercial launch in the United States in the second half of 2027.
PsA Trials
In December 2022, we initiated a Phase 2b trial in patients with active PsA (the ARGO trial (M1095-PSA-201)), and in November 2023, we announced positive top-line results from this trial, which met its primary endpoint of American College of Rheumatology (“ACR”) 50 with 46% of patients on 60mg SLK achieving such response at week 12. In March 2024, we announced positive 24-week data from the ARGO trial in PsA showing that continued treatment with SLK led to significant improvements across all key outcomes. In June 2024, we announced the successful outcome of our end-of-Phase 2 interactions with the FDA, as well as positive feedback from our interactions with the EMA, with both regulatory bodies supporting our proposed approach for advancing our Phase 3 program of SLK in PsA. In November 2024, we announced the screening of the first patients in the IZAR-1 trial (M1095-PSA-301) and IZAR-2 trial (M1095-PSA-302). In February 2026, we announced completion of enrollment for the IZAR-1 trial. We expect a readout of the primary and key secondary endpoints of the IZAR-1 clinical trial in mid-2026 and of the IZAR-2 clinical trial in the second half of 2026. In addition, in January 2025, we initiated another Phase 2 clinical trial of SLK in patients with PsA where we are applying novel imaging techniques (the P-OLARIS trial (M1095-snSpA-202)). We expect results of the P-OLARIS trial to become available at the end of 2026.
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PPP Trials
In November 2024, we initiated a Phase 2 trial in patients with PPP (the LEDA trial (M1095-PPP-201)) and in November 2025, we presented positive results of this trial, suggesting that SLK could provide clinically meaningful improvements in patients with PPP. Patients treated with SLK achieved a mean percent change from baseline in the Palmoplantar Pustular Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (“PPPASI”) of 64% at week 16, and 39% of patients achieved a ≥75% reduction in the PPPASI (“PPPASI75”). In February 2026, we announced that we received Fast Track designation from the FDA for SLK in moderate-to-severe PPP. We expect to commence a Phase 3 clinical trial in PPP in the third quarter of 2026.
axSpA Trials
In February 2025, we initiated a Phase 2 trial in patients with axSpA (the S-OLARIS trial (M1095-axSpA-202)) and in February 2026, we presented positive results of this trial, suggesting that SLK could provide clinically meaningful improvements in patients with axSpA. Of the patients (n=26) treated with SLK, 81% achieved an Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society 40 (“ASAS40”) response at week 12, showing at least 40% improvement and an absolute improvement of ≥2 units on a numerical rating scale (0 to 10) from baseline in at least three of the four key domains (Patient Global Assessment (“PGA”) of disease activity, total back pain, physical function, inflammation). More than 80% of patients have achieved a “clinically important improvement” as per ASDAS-CRP score by week 12, confirming the strong result in this clinically relevant endpoint.
PET and MRI imaging data collected as part of the clinical trial confirm a significant reduction in inflammation in the deep tissue of the spine and sacroiliac joint affected by axSpA in a pooled analysis comparing baseline to week 12. Additional objective biomarker and tissue analyses conducted as part of the clinical trial reinforce rapid and sustained effect of the treatment with SLK in axSpA patients. The safety profile of SLK in the S-OLARIS trial was consistent with previous trials with no new safety signals detected.
Additional Trials for Other Indications
SLK was also studied in a Phase 2b trial in PsO patients where it showed a significant improvement in the primary end point as compared with placebo and for which results were presented in peer-reviewed scientific publications and conferences. In addition, Phase 1 single ascending and multiple ascending dosing trials were previously completed.
Financial summary
We do not have any product candidates approved for commercial sale, and we have not generated any revenue from product sales. Our ability to generate revenue sufficient to achieve profitability will depend on the successful development and eventual commercialization of SLK in one or more indications, which we expect to take a number of years. We expect to continue to incur substantial expenses and operating losses for at least the next two years as we continue the development of SLK and prepare for commercial launches. We expect that operating losses will fluctuate notably from year to year depending on the timing of our planned clinical development programs, efforts to achieve regulatory approval, and planned marketing and sales expenditures leading up to a commercial launch.
As of December 31, 2025, we had $334.5 million in cash and cash equivalents. Based on our current operating plans and the Loan and Security Agreement (as defined below), we believe that our existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term marketable securities, together amounting to $394.0 million, will be sufficient to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements into the second half of 2027.
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Financial Operations Overview
Revenue
To date, we have not generated any revenue from product sales. If our development efforts for SLK are successful and result in regulatory approval or new license agreements with third parties, we may generate revenue in the future from product sales or milestone payments. However, there can be no assurance as to when we will generate such revenue, if at all.
Operating Expenses
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development expenses consist primarily of costs incurred for our research activities, including third-party license fees and efforts relating to the development of SLK. We expense research and development costs as incurred, which include:
• employee-related expenses, including salaries, bonuses, benefits, share-based compensation, and other related costs for those employees involved in research and development efforts;
• external research and development expenses incurred under agreements with Clinical Research Organizations (“CROs”) as well as consultants that conduct our research program and development services;
• costs incurred under collaboration agreements;
• costs related to manufacturing material for our research program, clinical studies, and pre-launch inventory;
• costs related to compliance with regulatory requirements; and
• facilities, depreciation and other allocated expenses, which include direct and allocated expenses for rent, utilities and insurance.
We estimate research and clinical trial expenses based on the services performed pursuant to contracts with research institutions, CROs, and Clinical Manufacturing Organizations (“CMOs”) that conduct and manage research studies and clinical trials on our behalf based on actual time and expenses incurred by them or probable achievement of milestone events that are associated with contractually agreed milestone payments.
We account for advance payments for goods and services that will be used in future research and development activities as expenses when the services have been performed or when the goods have been received rather than when the payment is made.
We do not allocate employee costs, facilities costs, including depreciation, or other indirect costs to specific programs because these costs are deployed across multiple programs and, as such, are not separately classified. We use internal resources primarily for managing our research program, clinical development, and manufacturing activities.
The successful development of SLK is highly uncertain. We expect to incur considerable research and development expenses for the foreseeable future as we continue the development and manufacturing partnerships for SLK, conduct research activities and potentially expand our pipeline by pursuing additional indications for SLK or including new product candidates in our portfolio. We cannot determine with certainty the timing of initiation, the duration, or the completion costs of current or future research studies and clinical trials of SLK due to the inherently unpredictable nature of research activities and clinical development. Clinical development timelines, the probability of success and the development costs can differ materially from expectations. We anticipate that we will make determinations as to which indications to pursue and how much funding to direct to each indication on an ongoing basis in response to the results of ongoing and future research studies and clinical trials, regulatory developments, and our ongoing assessments as to each indication’s commercial potential.
Any changes in the outcome of any of these variables with respect to the development of SLK could mean a notable change in the costs and timing associated with its development. We may never succeed in achieving regulatory approval for SLK. We may obtain unexpected results from our clinical trials. We may elect to discontinue, delay or modify
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clinical trials or focus on other product candidates. For example, if the FDA, the EMA, or another regulatory authority were to delay our planned start of clinical trials or require us to conduct clinical trials or other testing beyond those that we currently expect or if we experience delays in enrollment in any of our planned clinical trials, we could be required to expend additional financial resources and time on the completion of SLK’s clinical development.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expense (“G&A”) consists primarily of employee related costs, including salaries, bonuses, benefits, share-based compensation and other related costs for our executive and administrative functions. G&A expense also includes professional services, including legal, accounting and audit services and other consulting fees, as well as facility costs not otherwise included in research and development expenses, insurance and other general administrative expenses.
Based on our strategy, there are a number of factors that we expect will impact the level of research and development expenses, G&A expenses, and capital expenditures incurred by the business.
These factors include:
• Completing the development of SLK in our current focus indications, HS, PsA, axSpA and PPP — We expect to incur considerable research and development expenses, and G&A expenses as we: (i) conduct clinical trials for SLK including the ongoing Phase 3 clinical trials in HS, PsA and adolescent HS, the ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial in PsA, and potential future Phase 3 clinical trials in PPP and axSpA; (ii) attract, hire and retain additional clinical, scientific, quality control, and administrative personnel; and (iii) add clinical, operational, financial and management information systems and personnel.
• Strengthening the differentiation elements for future SLK patients — In parallel with our clinical trials, we expect to incur additional research expenditures as we conduct non-clinical research to continue refining our understanding of SLK/Nanobody biology and the potential impact in our selected therapeutic indications.
• Preparing for commercialization of SLK — We have started preparing the BLA to seek approval of SLK in the United States in HS and adolescent HS. We expect to incur research and development expense, and G&A expenses in this process, as we make milestone and commercial payments under the In-License Agreement, dated April 29, 2021, by and between MoonLake AG and MHKDG (the "In-License Agreement") (based on regulatory filing acceptances, first commercial sales, and aggregate annual net sales) and as we establish a sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure to commercialize SLK including establishing a presence in the United States. We expect to submit the BLA in the second half of 2026 after completion of the VELA program, and, subject to FDA approval, we expect a commercial launch in the United States in the second half of 2027.
• Building our manufacturing capabilities — We do not own or operate manufacturing facilities, and currently have no plans to establish any. We partner with third-party CMOs for both drug substance and finished drug product. We obtain our supplies from these manufacturers based on purchase orders. Therefore, we expect to incur research and development costs for the purchase of our supplies on an as needed basis to conduct our clinical trials. We have executed technology transfers for drug substance and drug product to commercial scale CMOs, and we have successfully manufactured Process Performance Qualification batches, but we may pursue additional technology transfers and process improvements. This is designed to allow us to scale up while SLK is in clinical development and advance potential commercial requirements. The improvement of our manufacturing capabilities will be important in driving efficiency, maintaining high standards of quality control, and ensuring that investigators, physicians, and patients have adequate access to our product candidates, if approved. We began stock-piling drug substance as pre-launch inventory during the third quarter of 2025 and expect to continue doing so in 2026.
• Deepening our intellectual property portfolio to support our Nanobody technology and product candidates — We expect to continue to incur additional research and development expenditures as we continue extending our global intellectual property portfolio consisting of patents and patent applications, trade secrets, trademarks, and know-how to protect the product candidates developed from our Nanobody technology. We
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plan to expand our intellectual property portfolio as we continue to advance and develop existing product candidates.
• Broadening our portfolio — We believe that there are other indications beyond HS, PsA, axSpA and PPP where SLK has the potential to represent a differentiated therapeutic alternative and we may initiate clinical trials of SLK in such other indications. In addition, to further enhance our overall potential and provide increased optionality, we may supplement our current strategy with the in-licensing or acquisition of additional product candidates for clinical development (beyond SLK), rather than discovering such candidates ourselves, which would lead to additional research and development expenses, G&A expenses, and capital expenditures.
• Granting share-based compensation awards and vesting of existing plans — We expect to continue to grant awards to selected employees, directors and non-employees pursuant to the MoonLake Immunotherapeutics 2022 Equity Incentive Plan. Further, we expect to continue to incur share-based compensation charges in connection with the above-mentioned plan and the vesting of awards made under MoonLake AG’s Employee Share Participation Plan.
We also expect to incur additional IT, legal, accounting, leasing, and other expenses as we continue to grow our business. Our net losses may fluctuate significantly from quarter-to-quarter and year-to-year, depending on the timing of our clinical trials and our expenditures on other research and development activities.
We expect our existing cash and cash equivalents to be sufficient to advance the development of SLK in multiple indications, including the above-mentioned clinical trials in HS, PsA, adolescent HS, PPP and axSpA, and to submit a BLA for SLK. Clinical development involves a lengthy and expensive process with uncertain outcomes and is subject to risks described in Item 1A. Risk Factors, including that our non-clinical studies or clinical trials may not be conducted as planned or completed on schedule and may not satisfy the requirements of the FDA, EMA, or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities. If we are required to conduct additional preclinical studies or clinical trials of SLK beyond those that we currently contemplate, if we are delayed or unable to successfully complete clinical trials of SLK or other testing, or if the results of these trials or tests are not positive or are only modestly positive or if there are safety concerns, we may require additional funding. Moreover, we will require additional capital to commercialize SLK and to discover, develop, obtain regulatory approval and commercialize any future product candidates, as applicable. We expect to finance future cash needs through public or private equity, additional debt, or product collaborations. Additional capital may not be available in sufficient amounts or on reasonable terms, if at all. The current market environment for small biotechnology companies, like us, and broader macroeconomic factors may preclude us from successfully raising additional capital.
If we do not raise additional capital, we may not be able to expand our operations or otherwise capitalize on our business opportunities, our business and financial condition will be negatively impacted and we may need to: significantly delay, scale back or discontinue research and discovery efforts and the development or commercialization of SLK or any other product candidates or cease operations altogether; seek strategic alliances for research and development programs when we otherwise would not, or at an earlier stage than we would otherwise desire or on terms less favorable than might otherwise be available; or relinquish, or license on unfavorable terms, our rights to technologies or SLK or any other product candidates that we otherwise would seek to develop or commercialize ourselves.
Foreign Currency
Our functional currency is the U.S. dollar. Balances and transactions denominated in foreign currencies are converted as follows: monetary assets and liabilities are translated using exchange rates in effect at the balance sheet dates and non-monetary assets and liabilities are translated at historical exchange rates. Income and expenses are translated at the daily exchange rate on the respective transaction date.
Gains or losses from foreign currency transactions are included in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss in “Other income, net”. We recognized a net foreign currency transaction gain of $599 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2025, a net foreign currency transaction loss of $42 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2024, and a net foreign currency transaction gain of $151 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2023.
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Results of Operations
Comparison of the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024
(in thousands, except percentages)
Year Ended December 31, 2025
Year Ended December 31, 2024
Change
Change %
Operating expenses
Research and development
General and administrative
Total operating expenses
Operating loss
Interest expense
Other income, net
Loss before income tax
Income tax expense
Net loss
Net unrealized gain (loss) on marketable securities and short-term investments
Actuarial gain (loss) on employee benefit plans
Other comprehensive income (loss)
Comprehensive loss
Research and Development
Research and development expenses were $202.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to $112.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. The increase of $90.1 million, or 79.9%, is primarily related to an increase of $54.5 million in expenses pertaining to clinical development trials with CROs, including the Phase 3 VELA program in HS and the Phase 3 IZAR program in PsA, as well as the additional trials in adolescent HS (the VELA-TEEN trial), PPP (the LEDA trial), axSpA (the S-OLARIS trial) and PsA (the P-OLARIS trial), an increase of $21.6 million in manufacturing, supply and logistics expenses through CMOs, which is primarily related to the production of stockpiled pre-launch inventory, and increases of $5.5 million and $4.7 million in personnel-related costs and consulting expenses, respectively, to support our research and development efforts.
General and Administrative
General and administrative expenses were $42.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to $30.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. The increase of $11.7 million, or 38.4%, is primarily related to an increase of $7.0 million in personnel-related costs, an increase of $3.2 million in expenses for advisory and professional services, both to support organizational growth, an increase of $1.4 million in legal expenses to support the Loan and
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Security Agreement, and an increase of $0.7 million in market research expenses. These increases were partially offset by a decrease of $0.7 million for insurance expenses.
Interest Expense
Interest expense was $7.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to $nil for the year ended December 31, 2024. The interest expense during the current period is related to recognized interest on the Loan and Security Agreement.
Other Income, Net
Other income, net was $22.4 million for year ended December 31, 2025, compared to $22.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. The increase of $0.2 million, or 1.1%, is primarily related to an increase of $0.6 million in net currency gains, partially offset by a decrease of $0.5 million in realized interest on cash held in banks and cash investments in short-term marketable debt securities.
Income Tax Expense
Income tax expense was $0.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to $0.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. The expense for each period is related to corporate income tax of our subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and Portugal.
Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)
Other comprehensive loss was $4.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to other comprehensive income of $2.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. The decrease in other comprehensive income of $7.1 million, or (272.5)%, is primarily related to the reclassification of unrealized gains from investments in short-term marketable debt securities recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income to other income, net during the year ended December 31, 2025.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
We have no products approved for commercial sale, have not generated any revenue from product sales, and cannot guarantee when or if we will generate any revenue from product sales.
We expect our expenses and capital requirements to remain consistent with our current spending levels as we continue to:
• contract with third parties, including CROs and CMOs, to support the clinical trials of SLK, including trials in HS, PsA, adolescent HS, PPP and axSpA, and to produce pre-launch inventory;
• conduct other research and development activities related to SLK;
• prepare for regulatory filing and commercialization of SLK;
• attract, hire and retain additional management, scientific and administrative personnel;
• maintain, protect and expand our intellectual property portfolio, including patents, trade secrets and know how;
• implement operational, financial and management information systems; and
• operate as a public company.
For the year ended December 31, 2025, we incurred a loss of $230.3 million, which includes non-cash items such as share-based compensation expense of $12.9 million, and cash outflow from operations of $196.0 million. As of December 31, 2025, we had a total of $394.0 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term marketable securities. Based on our current operating plans and the Loan and Security Agreement, we believe our available cash, cash
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PART II
equivalents, and short-term marketable securities will be sufficient to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements into the second half of 2027.
We expect to incur notable expenses and operating losses for at least the next two years, assuming we continue the clinical development of, and seek regulatory approval for, our product candidate under an in-licensing agreement. It is expected that operating losses will fluctuate significantly from year to year due to the timing of clinical development programs, efforts to achieve regulatory approval, and sales and marketing efforts. We may require additional funding to bring our product candidate to market and support our continuing operations. In addition, with a change in the presidential administration in 2025, there has been an economic policy shift towards increasing tariffs, which in turn has led and could lead to further retaliatory tariffs. These may have the potential to impact expenses as well as our ability to, if ever, generate revenue or maintain profitability. Until such time that we can generate significant revenue from product sales or other sources, if ever, we expect to finance our operations through the sale of equity, debt financings, or other capital sources, which may include income from collaborations, strategic partnerships, or marketing, distribution, licensing or other strategic arrangements with third parties, or from grants. If we are unable to acquire additional capital or resources, we will be required to modify our operational plans to fund our operating expense requirements. Refer to “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Limited Operating History, Business, Financial Condition, and Results of Operations” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details related to the risk of raising additional capital to fund our operations.
Term Loan Facility
In March 2025, we entered into a loan and security agreement (the “Loan and Security Agreement”) with Hercules Capital, Inc. (“Hercules”) and certain of its affiliates (collectively with Hercules, the “Lenders”) for an aggregate principal amount of $500.0 million, of which $300.0 million was fully committed subject to achievement of milestones (the “Credit Facility”). An initial tranche of $75.0 million (the “Tranche 1 Loan”) was funded under the Loan and Security Agreement on March 31, 2025. In addition to the Tranche 1 Loan, the Credit Facility provides for additional tranches as follows:
a. Subject to our announcement that the VELA-1 and VELA-2 Phase 3 studies of SLK in adult patients with moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa each achieved their protocol-specified primary endpoint with SLK having demonstrated an acceptable safety profile (the “Tranche 2 Milestone”), a second tranche with additional term loans in an aggregate principal amount of up to $125.0 million, available on the Tranche 2 Milestone achievement date through the earlier of (i) 30 days following such date and (ii) December 31, 2025,
b. Subject to our announcement that the IZAR-1 and IZAR-2 Phase 3 studies of SLK in patients with active psoriatic arthritis each achieved their protocol-specified primary endpoint with SLK having demonstrated an acceptable safety profile (the “Tranche 3 Milestone”), a third tranche with additional term loans in an aggregate principal amount of up to $50.0 million, available on the Tranche 3 Milestone achievement date through the earlier of (i) 60 days following such date and (ii) September 15, 2026,
c. Subject to our achievement of the Tranche 2 Milestone and Tranche 3 Milestone and the FDA’s acceptance of the Company’s submission of a BLA for SLK (collectively, the “Tranche 4 Milestone”), a fourth tranche with additional term loans in an aggregate principal amount of up to $50.0 million, available on the Tranche 4 Milestone achievement date through the earlier of (i) 60 days following such date and (ii) March 15, 2027, and
d. Subject to approval by the Lenders in their discretion, a fifth tranche of additional term loans in an aggregate principal amount of up to $200.0 million.
On September 28, 2025, we announced the primary endpoint results of the VELA-1 and VELA-2 Phase 3 studies. While VELA-1 met the primary endpoint, a higher-than-expected placebo response at week 16 precluded VELA-2 from meeting the pre-specified primary endpoint and, as a result, we did not achieve the Tranche 2 and Tranche 4 Milestones, reducing the committed amount under the Loan and Security agreement by $175.0 million. As of December 31, 2025, we had $250.0 million of remaining undrawn tranches, representing the aggregate principle amount available to be drawn under the Credit Facility.
MOONLAKE IMMUNOTHERAPEUTICS
FORM 10-K FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2025
PART II
The Credit Facility matures on April 1, 2030 (the “Maturity Date”) and bears interest at an annual rate equal to the greater of (i) prime rate as reported in The Wall Street Journal plus 1.45% and (ii) 8.45% with the initial interest rate equal to 8.95%. As of December 31, 2025, the Credit Facility bears interest at 8.45%. This rate is subject to a 0.25% reduction upon achievement of the FDA’s approval of a BLA for SLK. Certain additional commitment and undrawn amount fees are also payable in connection with the Credit Facility.
The Credit Facility does not provide for scheduled amortization payments during the term. All principal will be due on the Maturity Date. We may, at our option at any time, prepay all loans under the Credit Facility by paying the principal balance, plus accrued and unpaid interest, subject to (i) a prepayment premium equal to a range of 2.0% to 0.0% and (ii) an end of term charge equal to a range of 6.95% to 4.25%, each based on when the prepayment occurs. If the Credit Facility is repaid in full as a result of a change of control of the Company, the prepayment premium shall be waived.
The Loan and Security Agreement allows for us to satisfy a portion of the cash interest payments by capitalizing such interest payments as payment-in-kind (“PIK”). No PIK interest relating to the term loan has been recorded and included in the consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2025.
All obligations under the Loan and Security Agreement will be secured on a first-priority basis, subject to certain exceptions, by security interests in substantially all of our assets and our material subsidiaries, including our intellectual property, and will be guaranteed by our material subsidiaries, including foreign subsidiaries, subject to certain exceptions.
The Loan and Security Agreement contains customary covenants, such as financial covenants and certain events of default after which loans under the Credit Facility may be due and payable immediately. We were in compliance with all covenants as of December 31, 2025.
On February 20, 2026 (the “Amendment Date”), we executed a first amendment to the Loan and Security Agreement (the “Amendment”), pursuant to which the parties agreed to, among other things, revise available tranches, milestone dates, and financial covenants, resulting in $25.0 million drawn as a second tranche upon execution of the Amendment, and up to $400.0 million remaining available as future tranches.
We are permitted to use the proceeds of the Credit Facility for working capital and general corporate purposes of the Company and our subsidiaries.
Equity Offerings
At-the-Market Offerings
On May 11, 2023, we entered into a Sales Agreement (the “May 2023 Sales Agreement”) with Leerink Partners LLC (formerly known as SVB Securities LLC) (“Leerink Partners”), through which we could issue and sell up to $200.0 million of our Class A Ordinary Shares (the “May 2023 ATM Shares”), through Leerink Partners as sales agent. The May 2023 ATM Shares to be sold under the May 2023 Sales Agreement, if any, would be issued and sold pursuant to our shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-271546), which was declared effective by the SEC on May 9, 2023, and a prospectus supplement thereto filed with the SEC on May 11, 2023.
On June 27, 2023, we reduced the maximum aggregate offering amount of our Class A Ordinary Shares that could be issued and sold under the May 2023 Sales Agreement to $0 and no longer intend to sell Class A Ordinary Shares under the May 2023 Sales Agreement unless we file a further prospectus supplement indicating an amount of shares proposed to be sold.
On August 31, 2023, we entered into a Sales Agreement with Leerink Partners (the “August 2023 Sales Agreement” and together with the May 2023 Sales Agreement, the “Sales Agreements”), through which we could issue and sell up
MOONLAKE IMMUNOTHERAPEUTICS
FORM 10-K FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2025
PART II
to $350.0 million of our Class A Ordinary Shares (the “August 2023 ATM Shares”), through Leerink Partners as sales agent. The August 2023 ATM Shares to be sold under the August 2023 Sales Agreement, if any, would be issued and sold pursuant to our shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-274286), which was declared effective by the SEC on September 11, 2023, and a prospectus supplement thereto filed with the SEC on August 31, 2023. As of December 31, 2025, there was $265.0 million remaining for future sales under the August 2023 ATM Sales Agreement.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, we sold 914,828 Class A Ordinary Shares through the Sales Agreements for net proceeds of $52.5 million after deducting sales agent's commissions and transaction costs. For the three months and year ended December 31, 2025, there were no sales under the August 2023 Sales Agreement.
Public Offering of Class A Ordinary Shares
On June 27, 2023, we entered into an underwriting agreement with Leerink Partners and Guggenheim Securities LLC as the representatives of the underwriters named therein to issue and sell 8,000,000 Class A Ordinary Shares at a public offering price of $50.00 per share (the “2023 Offering”). In addition, we granted the underwriters an option for a period of 30 days to purchase up to an additional 1,200,000 Class A Ordinary Shares at the public offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions (the “Option”), and such Option was exercised in full by the underwriters.
The 2023 Offering closed on June 30, 2023, and net proceeds, including proceeds from the exercise in full by the underwriters of the Option, were $436.7 million, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and the offering expenses in the amount of $23.3 million.
Following the completion of the 2023 Offering, we opted to direct a substantial portion of the net proceeds to MoonLake Immunotherapeutics AG, a Swiss stock corporation (Aktiengesellschaft) registered with the commercial register of the Canton of Zug, Switzerland under the number CHE-433.093.536 (“MoonLake AG”). This was executed as a two-step process: (i) we acquired the remaining 22,756 common shares in MoonLake AG (“MoonLake AG Common Shares”) held in treasury through a share purchase and assignment agreement formally executed on July 09, 2023 ($38.9 million) and (ii) additional funds were contributed to MoonLake AG’s capital reserves through a cash contribution agreement formally executed on July 10, 2023 ($275 million). A stamp duty tax of $2.8 million was levied on the aforementioned capital contribution which we have classified as cash flows from financing activities in order to correctly mirror the underlying nature of the transaction.
On March 8, 2024, we executed a similar transaction as a two-step process: (i) we acquired 501 MoonLake AG Common Shares held in treasury through a share purchase and assignment agreement ($0.8 million) and (ii) we contributed an additional $150.0 million of funds to MoonLake AG's capital reserves through a cash contribution. A stamp duty tax of $1.5 million, net of refund received, was levied on the capital contribution which we have classified as cash flows from financing activities in order to correctly mirror the underlying nature of the transaction. The aforementioned increase in treasury shares occurred during the three months ended March 31, 2024 as a result of an employee termination entitling MoonLake AG to repurchase such employee's unvested shares (501 MoonLake AG Common Shares and 16,853 Class C Ordinary Shares) previously awarded as part of a share-based compensation program. Since the shares were subsequently sold to MoonLake, the corresponding Class C Ordinary Shares were canceled.
On November 5, 2025 , we entered into an underwriting agreement with Leerink Partners as the underwriter, to issue and sell 7,142,857 Class A Ordinary Shares at a public offering price of $10.50 per share (the “2025 Offering”). The 2025 Offering closed on November 6, 2025, and net proceeds from the 2025 Offering were $ 72.4 million, after deducting the underwriting discounts, commissions, and offering expenses in the amount o f $2.6 million.
Cash Flows
The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods indicated.
MOONLAKE IMMUNOTHERAPEUTICS
FORM 10-K FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2025
PART II
(in thousands)
Year Ended December 31, 2025
Year Ended December 31, 2024
Change
Change %
Net cash used in operating activities
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities
Net cash provided by financing activities
Effect of movements in exchange rates on cash held
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
We did not generate any cash inflows from our operating activities. Our cash flows from operating activities are significantly influenced by our use of cash for operating expenses and working capital requirements, and we have historically experienced negative cash flows from operating activities as we invested in clinical research and related development.
Net cash used in operating activities was $196.0 million and $116.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. The increase of net cash used in operating activities of $79.4 million was primarily driven by the increase in net loss of $109.1 million, a decrease in cash from changes in accrued expenses and other current liabilities of $2.6 million and an increase in cash paid for changes in other non-current assets of $0.6 million. The increase in cash used was partially offset by a decrease in cash paid for changes in prepaid expenses of $13.5 million and an increase in cash from changes in trade and other payables of $13.4 million.
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
During the year ended December 31, 2025, net cash provided by investing activities was $203.0 million, consisting predominantly of $468.4 million in proceeds received from maturities of short-term marketable debt securities, partially offset by $265.4 million related to the purchase of short-term marketable debt securities. During the year ended December 31, 2024, net cash used in investing activities was $205.6 million, consisting predominantly of $350.3 million related to the purchase of short-term marketable debt securities, partially offset by $145.2 million in proceeds received from maturities of short-term marketable debt securities with original maturities longer than three months.
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
During the year ended December 31, 2025, net cash provided by financing activities was $146.0 million consisting primarily of $73.0 million in net proceeds from the Loan and Security Agreement and $72.4 million in net proceeds from the shares sold under the 2025 Offering. During the year ended December 31, 2024, net cash provided by financing activities was $51.3 million consisting primarily of $52.5 million in net proceeds from the shares sold under the August 2023 Sales Agreement.
Contractual Obligations and Commitments
The following summarizes our significant contractual obligations and other obligations as of December 31, 2025, which we generally expect to satisfy with cash on hand and the maturity of short-term marketable debt securities:
MOONLAKE IMMUNOTHERAPEUTICS
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PART II
(in thousands)
Total
Less than 1
year
Years
More than
5 years
Purchase obligations (1)
Lease commitments (2)
Long-term debt obligations (3)
Total contractual obligations
(1) Purchase obligations refer to an agreement to purchase goods or services that is enforceable and legally binding on the Company that specifies all significant terms. The figures presented primarily relate to contractual commitments towards contract manufacturing and contract research organizations.
(2) We have committed ourselves to five leases, with terms that commenced on November 1, 2021, October 9, 2023, October 13, 2023, January 15, 2024, and September 8, 2024. These future lease commitments relate to the office leases for our headquarters in Zug, Switzerland, Cambridge, United Kingdom, and Porto, Portugal, and reflect minimum payments due.
(3) We have committed ourselves to a long-term debt obligation, with a term that commenced on March 31, 2025. This debt obligation relates to the Loan and Security Agreement and reflects the expected payments due, including principal repayment, interest payments, and an end of loan term charge.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP requires us to make judgments, estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, expenses and related disclosures. We continually evaluate these judgments, estimates and assumptions based on the most recently available information, our own historical experience and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Since the use of estimates is an integral component of the financial reporting process, actual results could differ from our expectations as a result of changes in estimates.
An accounting policy is considered critical if it requires an accounting estimate to be made based on assumptions about matters that are highly uncertain at the time such an estimate is made, and if different accounting estimates that reasonably could have been used, or changes in the accounting estimates that are reasonably likely to occur periodically, could materially impact the financial statements. Accordingly, these are the policies we believe are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Acquisitions
We evaluate acquisitions of assets and other similar transactions to assess whether or not the transaction should be accounted for as a business combination or asset acquisition by first assessing whether substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets acquired is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or group of similar identifiable assets. The In-License Agreement for the SLK program has been accounted for as an asset purchase on the basis that there were no tangible assets acquired or liabilities assumed by us under the In-License Agreement and substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets acquired related to the in-process research and development expenditure (“IPR&D”) of SLK. IPR&D represents incomplete technologies we acquire, which at the time of acquisition, are still under development and have no alternative future use.
Share-Based Compensation
We measure all share-based awards granted to employees, directors and non-employees based on the fair value on the date of grant and recognize compensation expense of those awards over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period of the respective award. Forfeitures are accounted for as they occur. We grant share options and restricted share awards that are subject to either service or performance-based vesting conditions.
MOONLAKE IMMUNOTHERAPEUTICS
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PART II
We classify share-based compensation expense in our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss in the same manner in which the award recipient’s payroll costs are classified or in which the award recipient’s service payments are classified.
All awards granted under our various share-based compensation plans are classified as equity-settled share-based arrangements and depending on the relevant equity plan, are settled with shares of MoonLake or MoonLake AG, as applicable.
Prior to the completion of the transactions (the “Business Combination”) contemplated by that certain Business Combination Agreement, dated October 4, 2021 (the “Business Combination Agreement”), by and among the Company (formerly Helix Acquisition Corp. (“Helix”)), MoonLake AG, the existing equityholders of MoonLake AG set forth on the signature pages to the Business Combination Agreement and the equityholders of MoonLake AG that executed joinders to the Business Combination Agreement (collectively, the “ML Parties”), Helix Holdings LLC, a Cayman Islands limited liability company and the sponsor of Helix, and the representative of the ML Parties, given that there had been no public market for MoonLake AG Common Shares, the estimated fair value of MoonLake AG Common Shares was determined by reference to separate market-based transactions involving the sale of its shares to two third-party investors that were not considered related parties to us or MHKDG.
Subsequent to the closing of the Business Combination, the fair value of each MoonLake AG Common Share granted is determined based on the closing price of MoonLake's Class A Ordinary Shares as reported by Nasdaq on the date of grant and multiplied by 33.638698.
The fair value of each option grant is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model, which requires inputs based on certain subjective assumptions, including the expected share price volatility, the expected term of the award, the risk-free interest rate, and expected dividends.
We estimate our expected share price volatility based on the historical volatility of publicly traded peer companies and expect to continue to do so until such time as we have adequate historical data regarding the volatility of our own traded share price. The expected term of options granted has been determined based on the expected period that share-based awards are expected to be outstanding. The risk-free interest rate is determined by reference to the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant of the award for time periods approximately equal to the expected term of the award. Expected dividend yield is based on the fact that we have never paid cash dividends on MoonLake AG Common Shares and do not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.
Recoverability of Deferred Tax Assets
In assessing the recoverability of our deferred tax assets, we considered whether it was more likely than not that some or all of our deferred tax assets will be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which those temporary differences become deductible. We considered the scheduled reversal of deferred tax liabilities, the seven-year expiry of tax losses carried forward under Swiss tax legislation, projected future taxable income (including the risks associated with the completion of the development and obtaining regulatory approvals to commercialize the product), and tax planning strategies in making this assessment. Based on the weight of all evidence, we determined that it is not more likely than not that the net deferred tax assets will be realized. A valuation allowance has been recorded against the full amount of the deferred tax assets.
Research and Development Contract Costs and Accruals
As part of the process of preparing our financial statements, we are required to estimate our accrued research and development expenses. This process involves reviewing open contracts and purchase orders, communicating with our applicable personnel to identify services that have been performed on our behalf and estimating the level of service performed and the associated costs incurred for the service when we have not yet been invoiced or otherwise notified of actual costs. The majority of our service providers invoice us in arrears for services performed, on a pre-determined
MOONLAKE IMMUNOTHERAPEUTICS
FORM 10-K FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2025
PART II
schedule or when contractual milestones are met; however, some require advance payments. We make estimates of our accrued expenses as of each balance sheet date in the consolidated financial statements based on facts and circumstances known to us at that time. We periodically confirm the accuracy of the estimates with the service providers and make adjustments if necessary. Examples of estimated accrued research and development expenses include fees paid to:
• vendors, including research laboratories, in connection with preclinical development activities;
• CROs and investigative sites in connection with preclinical studies and clinical trials; and
• CMOs in connection with drug substance and drug product formulation of preclinical studies, clinical trial materials, and pre-launch inventory.
We base our expenses related to preclinical studies and clinical trials on our estimates of the services received and efforts expended pursuant to quotes and contracts with multiple research institutions and CROs that supply, conduct and manage preclinical studies and clinical trials on our behalf. The financial terms of these agreements are subject to negotiation, vary from contract to contract, and may result in uneven payment flows. There may be instances in which payments made to our vendors will exceed the level of services provided and result in a prepayment of the expense. Payments under some of these contracts depend on factors such as the successful enrollment of patients and the completion of clinical trial milestones. In accruing service fees, we estimate the time period over which services will be performed and the level of effort to be expended in each period. If the actual timing of the performance of services or the level of effort varies from the estimate, we adjust the accrual or the prepaid expense accordingly. Although we do not expect our estimates to be materially different from amounts actually incurred, our understanding of the status and timing of services performed relative to the actual status and timing of services performed may vary and may result in reporting amounts that are too high or too low in any particular period.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
Refer to Note 2 — Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies to the consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Form 10-K for more information about recent accounting pronouncements, the timing of their adoption, and our assessment to the extent it has been made, of their potential impact on our financial condition, our results of operations, and cash flows.
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- Ticker
- MLTX
- CIK
0001821586- Form Type
- 10-K
- Accession Number
0001821586-26-000002- Filed
- Feb 25, 2026
- Period
- Dec 31, 2025 (Q4 25)
- Industry
- Pharmaceutical Preparations
External resources
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