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YoY shift: Neutral
Year-over-year tone shift - average net-tone change across Risk Factors and MD&A vs the prior 10-K. This filing is 0.06pp 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.
Risk Factors
+0.02pp
Flat
Net-tone change vs last year's 10-K.
MD&A
+0.10pp
Flat
Net-tone change vs last year's 10-K.
Per-snippet highlights
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
Negative rising
No words rose this year.
Positive rising
regain+3
Risk Factors (Item 1A)
22,432 words
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Risks Related to Our Business, Financial Condition and Capital Requirements
There is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
The Company does not have revenue generating activities and is dependent on additional financing to fund operations. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. While we believe that we will be to raise the capital we need to continue our operations, there can be no assurances that we will be in these efforts or will be to our liquidity issues or eliminate our operating . If we are to obtain sufficient funding, we would need to significantly reduce our operating plans and some or all of our product development activities. Accordingly, our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations will be materially and affected, and we may be to continue as a going . If we seek additional financing to fund our business activities in the future and there remains substantial about our ability to continue as a going , investors or other financing sources may be to provide additional funding on commercially reasonable terms or at all.
MD&A (Item 7)
7,324 words
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Overview
Ensysce is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company developing innovative solutions for severe pain relief while reducing the fear of and the potential for opioid misuse, abuse and overdose. Our lead product candidate, PF614, is an extended release TAAP prodrug of oxycodone. TAAP modification of prescription drugs removed the ability to crush, chew or manipulate and inject to achieve the effect of the medication more quickly than by swallowing. MPAR ® adds a layer of overdose protection to each TAAP product.
Since our inception in 2003, we devoted substantially all of our efforts and financial resources to organizing and staffing our company, business planning, raising capital, discovering product candidates and securing related intellectual property rights and conducting research and development activities for our product candidates. We do not have any products approved for sale and we have not generated any revenue from product sales. We may never be to develop or commercialize a marketable product.
We are a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company with a limited operating history. We have incurred significant financial losses since our inception and anticipate that we will continue to incur significant financial losses for the foreseeable future.
We are a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company with a limited operating history. We have not yet demonstrated an ability to generate revenues, obtain regulatory approvals, engage in clinical development beyond Phase 1 trials, manufacture any product on a commercial scale or arrange for a third party to do so on our behalf or enter into licensing arrangements to commercialize a product, or conduct sales and marketing activities necessary for successful product commercialization.
We have no products approved for commercial sale and we have not generated any revenue from product sales to date, nor do we expect to generate any significant revenue from product sales for the next few years. We will continue to incur significant research and development and other expenses related to our product development, preclinical and clinical activities and ongoing operations. As a result, we are not profitable and have incurred losses in each period since our inception. Net losses and negative cash flows have had, and will continue to have, an adverse effect on our stockholders’ equity and working capital. Net losses and negative cash flows have had, and will continue to have, an adverse effect on our stockholders’ equity and working capital. We expect to continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future as we continue our research and development of, and seek regulatory approvals for, our product candidates.
If we continue to sufferlosses as we have since inception, investors may not receive any return on their investment and may lose their entire investment.
In addition, as a public company, we incur significant additional legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company as we:
meet the requirements and demands of being a public company;
expand our operational, financial and management systems and increase personnel to support our operations;
hire additional clinical, quality control, medical, scientific and other technical personnel to support our clinical operations;
advance our clinical-stage product candidate PF614 through clinical development;
advance our preclinical stage product candidates into clinical development;
seek regulatory approvals for any product candidates that successfully complete clinical trials;
undertake any pre-commercialization activities to establish sales, marketing and distribution capabilities for any product candidates for which we may receive regulatory approval in regions where we choose to commercialize our products on our own or jointly with third parties;
maintain, expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio; and
make milestone, royalty or other payments due under any future in-license or collaboration agreements.
Pharmaceutical product development entails substantial upfront capital expenditures and significant risk that any potential product candidate will fail to demonstrate adequate efficacy or an acceptable safety profile, gain regulatory approval, secure market access and reimbursement and become commercially viable. Therefore, any investment in us would be highly speculative. Our prospects are subject to the costs, uncertainties, delays and difficulties frequently encountered by companies in clinical development, especially clinical-stage pharmaceutical companies such as ours. Any predictions you make about our future success or viability may not be as accurate as they would otherwise be if we had a longer operating history or a history of successfully developing and commercializing pharmaceutical products. We will likely encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other known or unknown factors in achieving our business objectives.
Additionally, our expenses could increase beyond our expectations if we are required by the United States Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, or other regulatory authorities to perform clinical trials in addition to those that we currently expect to conduct, or if there are any delays in establishing appropriate manufacturing arrangements for or in completing our clinical trials or the development of any of our product candidates.
Our ability to generate revenue from any of our potential products is subject to our ability to obtain regulatory approval and fulfill numerous other requirements and we may never be successful in generating revenues or becoming profitable.
Our ability to become and remain profitable depends on our ability to generate revenue or execute other business development arrangements. We do not expect to generate significant revenue, if any, unless and until we are able to obtain regulatory approval for, and successfully commercialize the product candidates we are developing or may develop. Successful commercialization, to the extent it occurs, will require achievement of many key milestones, including demonstrating safety and efficacy in clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approval for these product candidates, manufacturing, marketing and selling, or entering into other agreements to commercialize, those products for which we may obtain regulatory approval, satisfying any post-marketing requirements and obtaining reimbursement for our products from private insurance or government payors. Because of the uncertainties and risks associated with these activities, we cannot accurately and precisely predict the timing and amount, if any, of revenues, the extent of any further losses or when we might achieveprofitability. We may never succeed in these activities and, even if we do, we may never generate revenues that are sufficient enough for us to achieveprofitability. Even if we do achieveprofitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis.
Our failure to become and remain profitable may depress the market price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital, expand our business, diversify our product offerings or continue our operations.
We require substantial additional funding. If we are unable to raise capital when needed, we could be forced to delay, reduce or terminate our product discovery and development programs or commercialization efforts.
We are a clinical stage pharmaceutical company that will need to raise additional capital to continue to operate as a going concern. Our quarterly operating results are likely to show continued losses in the future. Our operations have consumed substantial amounts of cash since inception. We expect to continue to spend substantial amounts to continue the clinical and preclinical development of our product candidates, including our planned Phase 2 program for nafamostat and planned clinical trials for PF614 and PF614-MPAR. We will need to raise additional capital to complete our currently planned clinical trials and any future clinical trials. Other unanticipated costs may arise during our development efforts. If we can obtain marketing approval for product candidates that we develop, we would require significant additional amounts of funding to launch and commercialize such product candidates. We cannot reasonably estimate the actual amounts necessary to successfully complete the development and commercialization of any product candidate we develop and we will require substantial additional funding to complete the development and commercialization of our product candidates.
Our future need for additional funding depends on many factors, including:
the scope, progress, results and costs of researching and developing our current product candidates, as well as other additional product candidates we may develop and pursue in the future, including the costs related to preclinical and clinical development of the product;
the timing of, and the costs involved in, obtaining marketing approvals for our product candidates and any other additional product candidates we may develop and pursue in the future;
the number of future product candidates that we may pursue and their development requirements;
subject to receipt of regulatory approval, the costs of commercialization activities for our product candidates, to the extent such costs are not the responsibility of any future collaborators, including the costs and timing of establishing product sales, marketing, distribution and manufacturing capabilities;
subject to receipt of regulatory approval, the amount of revenue, if any, received from commercial sales of our product candidates or any other additional product candidates we may develop and pursue in the future;
the extent to which we in-license or acquire rights to other products, product candidates or technologies;
our ability to establish collaboration arrangements for the development of our product candidates on favorable terms, if at all;
dependent on financing, our headcount growth and associated costs as we expand our research and development and establishes a commercial infrastructure;
the costs of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications, maintaining and protecting our intellectual property rights, including enforcing and defending intellectual property related claims; and
the costs of operating as a public company.
A change in the outcome of any of these or other factors with respect to the development of any of our product candidates could significantly change the costs and timing associated with the development of that product candidate, and many of these factors are outside of our control. Identifying potential product candidates and conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials is a time-consuming, expensive and uncertain process that takes years to complete, and we may never generate the necessary data or results required to obtain regulatory and marketing approval and achieve product sales. In addition, our product candidates, if approved, may not achieve commercial success. Accordingly, we will need to continue to rely on additional financing to achieve our business objectives. We cannot be certain that additional funding will be available on acceptable terms, or at all. Please see the risk factors under “ Risks Related to the Ownership of Common Stock and Financial Reporting .”
We believe that our existing cash and cash equivalents will enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements into the second quarter of 2026, while advancing our main product candidates such as, PF614 and PF614-MPAR and nafamostat through their respective next phases of clinical development. Our estimate may prove to be wrong, and we could use our available capital resources, if any, sooner than we currently expect. Further, changing circumstances, some of which may be beyond our control, could cause us to consume capital significantly faster than we currently anticipate, and we may need to seek additional funds sooner than planned. To the extent this occurs, it could impose significant dilution on our stockholders.
We may seek additional capital due to favorable market conditions or strategic considerations even if we believe we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans. Attempting to secure additional financing may divert our management from our day-to-day activities, which may adversely affect our ability to develop our product candidates. Our failure to raise capital as and when needed or on acceptable terms would have a negative impact on our financial condition and our ability to pursue our business strategy, and we may have to delay, reduce the scope of, suspend or eliminate one or more of our platforms, programs, planned clinical trials or future commercialization efforts.
Our business is highly dependent on the success of our product candidates. If we are unable to successfully complete clinical development, obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize one or more of our product candidates, or if we experience delays in doing so, our business will be materially harmed.
Our future success and ability to generate significant revenue from our product candidates, which we do not expect will occur for several years, is dependent on our ability to successfully develop, obtain regulatory approval for and commercialize one or more of our product candidates. A Phase 1b study of PF614 was completed mid-year 2022. Two Human Abuse Potential clinical studies were completed in 2023. An efficacy Phase 2 study of PF614 was completed in December 2023. A Phase 1 trial for PF614-MPAR was completed in May 2023 and a Phase 1b trial for PF614-MPAR was initiated in December 2024. A Phase 1 safety study of nafamostat was completed in 2020. All of our other product candidates are in earlier stages of development and will require substantial additional investment for manufacturing, preclinical testing, clinical development, regulatory review and approval in one or more jurisdictions. If any of our product candidates encounter safety or efficacy problems, development delays or regulatory issues or other problems, our development plans and business would be materially harmed.
We may not have the financial resources to continue development of our product candidates. Even if clinical trials are completed, we may experience other issues that may delay or prevent regulatory approval of, or our ability to commercialize, our product candidates, including:
inability to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities that our product candidates are safe and effective;
insufficiency of our financial and other resources to complete the necessary clinical trials and preclinical studies;
negative or inconclusive results from our clinical trials, preclinical studies or the clinical trials of others for product candidates that are similar to ours, leading to a decision or requirement to conduct additional clinical trials or preclinical studies or abandon a program;
product-related adverse events experienced by subjects in our clinical trials, including unexpected toxicity results, or by individuals using drugs or therapeutic biologics similar to our product candidates;
delays in submitting an Investigational New Drug application, or IND, or comparable foreign applications or delays or failure in obtaining the necessary approvals from regulators to commence a clinical trial or a suspension or termination, or hold, of a clinical trial once commenced;
conditions imposed by the FDA, the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, or comparable foreign regulatory authorities regarding the scope or design of our clinical trials;
poor effectiveness of our product candidates during clinical trials;
better than expected performance of control arms, such as placebo groups, which could lead to negative or inconclusive results from our clinical trials;
delays in enrolling subjects in clinical trials;
high drop-out rates of subjects from clinical trials;
inadequate supply or quality of product candidates or other materials necessary for the conduct of our clinical trials;
greater than anticipated clinical trial or manufacturing costs;
unfavorable FDA, EMA or comparable regulatory authority inspection and review of a clinical trial site;
failure of our third-party contractors or investigators to comply with regulatory requirements or the clinical trial protocol or otherwise meet their contractual obligations in a timely manner, or at all;
unfavorable FDA, EMA or comparable regulatory authority inspection and review of manufacturing facilities or inability of those facilities to maintain a compliance status acceptable to the FDA, EMA or comparable regulatory authorities;
delays and changes in regulatory requirements, policy and guidelines, including the imposition of additional regulatory oversight around clinical testing generally or with respect to our therapies in particular; or
varying interpretations of data by the FDA, EMA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities.
Our product candidates will require additional, time-consuming development efforts prior to commercial sale, including preclinical studies, clinical trials and approval by the FDA and applicable foreign regulatory authorities. All product candidates are prone to the risks of failure that are inherent in pharmaceutical product development, including the possibility that such product candidate will not be shown to be sufficiently safe and effective for approval by regulatory authorities. In addition, we cannot assure stockholders that any such products that are approved will be manufactured or produced economically, successfully commercialized or widely accepted in the marketplace or be more effective than other commercially available alternatives.
We depend heavily on the success of our lead product candidate PF614, which is currently in clinical trials. Our clinical trials of PF614 may not be successful. If we are unable to commercialize PF614 or experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be materially harmed.
We have invested a significant portion of our efforts and financial resources in the research and development of our lead product candidate, PF614 and we expect to continue to do so. Our ability to generate revenues from the sale of abuse-deterrent opioid products, which may not occur at a significant level for several years, will depend heavily on the successful development, regulatory approval and eventual commercialization of PF614.
We cannot commercialize product candidates in the United States without first obtaining regulatory approval for the product from the FDA; similarly, we cannot commercialize product candidates outside of the United States without obtaining regulatory approval from similar regulatory authorities outside of the United States. Even if PF614 or another product candidate were to successfully obtain approval from the FDA and non-U.S. regulatory authorities, any approval might contain significant limitations related to use restrictions for specified age groups, warnings, precautions or contraindications, or may be subject to burdensome post-approval study or risk management requirements. If we are unable to obtain regulatory approval for PF614 in one or more jurisdictions, or any approval contains significant limitations, we may not be able to obtain sufficient funding or generate sufficient revenue to continue the development, marketing and/or commercialization of PF614 or any other product candidate that we may discover, in-license, develop or acquire in the future. Furthermore, even if we obtain regulatory approval for PF614, we will still need to develop a commercial organization, or collaborate with third parties for the commercialization of PF614, establish commercially viable pricing and obtain approval for adequate reimbursement from third-party and government payors. If we or our commercialization collaborators are unable to successfully commercialize PF614, we may not be able to generate sufficient revenues to continue our business.
Due to the significant resources required for the development of our product pipeline, and depending on our ability to access capital, we must prioritize the development of certain product candidates over others. Moreover, we may fail to expend our limited resources on product candidates or indications that may have been more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.
We currently have three clinical-stage product candidates as well as certain other product candidates that are at various stages of preclinical development. We seek to maintain a process of prioritization and resource allocation to maintain an optimal balance between aggressively pursuing our more advanced clinical-stage product candidates, such as PF614 and PF614-MPAR, and ensuring the development of additional potential product candidates.
Due to the significant resources required for the development of our product candidates, we must focus on specific diseases and disease pathways and decide which product candidates to pursue and advance and the amount of resources to allocate to each. Our decisions concerning the allocation of research, development, collaboration, management and financial resources toward particular product candidates or therapeutic areas may not lead to the development of any viable commercial products and may divert resources away from betteropportunities. If we make incorrect determinations regarding the viability or market potential of any of our product candidates or misinterpret trends in the pharmaceutical industry, in particular for opioid abuse and drug overdose, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. As a result, we may (i) fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities, (ii) be required to forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other product candidates or other diseases and disease pathways that may later prove to have greater commercial potential than those we choose to pursue, or (iii) relinquishvaluable rights to such product candidates through collaboration, licensing, or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been advantageous for us to invest additional resources to retain sole development and commercialization rights.
Our PF614 and PF614-MPAR product candidates may not be successful in limiting or impedingabuse, overdose or misuse or providing additional safety upon commercialization.
We are committing a substantial majority of our resources to the development of products utilizing our TAAP and MPAR ® . There can be no assurance that our products will perform as tested and limit or impede the actual abuse, overdose or misuse of such products or provide other benefits in commercial settings. Moreover, there can be no assurance that if our products are approved by the FDA, the post-approval epidemiological studies required by the FDA as a condition of any such approvals of the products will show a reduction in the consequences of abuse and misuse by patients for whom the applicable product is prescribed. The failure of our products to limit or impede actual abuse, overdose or misuse or provide other safety benefits in practice will have a material adverse impact on market acceptance for such products and on our financial condition and results of operations.
If we do not achieve our projected development and commercialization goals within the timeframes we expect, the development and commercialization of our product candidates may be delayed, and our business and results of operations may be harmed.
For planning purposes, we seek to estimate the timing of the accomplishment of various scientific, clinical, regulatory and other product development objectives. These milestones may include our expectations regarding the commencement or completion of scientific studies and clinical trials, the submission of regulatory filings, or commercialization objectives. From time to time, we may publicly announce the expected timing of some of these milestones, such as the completion of an ongoing clinical trial, the initiation of other clinical programs, receipt of marketing approval or a commercial launch of a product. The potential achievement of many of these milestones may be outside of our control. Each of these milestones is based on a variety of assumptions which, if not realized as expected, may cause the timing of such potential achievement of the respective milestones to vary considerably from our estimates, including:
our available capital resources or capital constraints we experience;
the rate of progress, costs and results of our clinical trials and research and development activities, including the extent of scheduling conflicts with participating clinicians and collaborators;
our ability to identify and enroll patients who meet clinical trial eligibility criteria;
our receipt of approvals by the FDA and other regulatory authorities and the timing thereof;
clinical outcomes;
other actions, decisions or rules issued by regulators;
our ability to access sufficient, reliable and affordable supplies of materials used in the manufacture of our product candidates;
the efforts of our collaborators with respect to the commercialization of our product candidates; and
the securing of, costs related to, and timing issues associated with, product manufacturing as well as sales and marketing activities.
If we fail to achieve any announced milestones in the timeframes we expect, the development and commercialization of our product candidates may be delayed, and our business and results of operations may be harmed and it could negatively impact our share price performance. Please see “ Business ” for more information.
Competitive products may reduce or eliminate commercial opportunity for our product candidates, if approved. If our competitors develop technologies or product candidates more rapidly than we do, or their technologies or product candidates are more effective or safer than any such technologies or product candidate of ours, our ability to develop and successfully commercialize our own technologies or product candidates may be adversely affected.
The clinical and commercial landscapes for the solution of opioid abuse and drug overdose are highly competitive and subject to rapid and significant technological change. We face competition with respect to our indications for our product candidates and will face competition with respect to any other product candidates that we may seek to develop or commercialize in the future, from major pharmaceutical companies, specialty pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies worldwide. There are several large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that currently market and sell drugs or are pursuing the development of product candidates for the treatment of the indications that we are pursuing. These companies include, but are not limited to, Purdue Pharma, LP, Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated. Potential competitors include companies developing novel non-opioid pain drug candidates such as pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions, government agencies and other public and private research organizations that conduct research, seek patent protection and establish collaborative arrangements for research, development, manufacturing and commercialization.
We believe that a significant number of product candidates are currently under development for the same indications that we are currently pursuing, and some or all may become commercially available in the future for the treatment of conditions for which we are trying or may try to develop product candidates. Our potential competitors include large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, specialty pharmaceutical and generic drug companies, academic institutions, government agencies and research institutions. See the section entitled “ Business — Competition ” for examples of the competition that our product candidates face.
Our competitors may have significantly greater financial resources, established presence in the market, expertise in research and development, manufacturing, preclinical and clinical testing, obtaining regulatory approvals and reimbursement and marketing approved products than us. Accordingly, our competitors may be more successful than we may be in obtaining regulatory approval for therapies and achieving widespread market acceptance. Our competitors’ products may be more effective, or more effectively marketed and sold, than any product candidate we may commercialize and may render our therapies obsolete or non-competitive before we can recover development and commercialization expenses. If any of our product candidates, including PF614, is approved, these product candidates could compete with a range of therapeutic treatments that are in development. In addition, our competitors may succeed in developing, acquiring or licensing technologies and products that are more effective or less costly than PF614, our other product candidates or any other product candidates that we may develop, which could render our product candidates obsolete and noncompetitive.
If we obtain approval for any of our product candidates, we may face competition based on many different factors, including the efficacy, safety and tolerability of our products, the ease with which our products can be administered, the timing and scope of regulatory approvals for these products, the availability and cost of manufacturing, marketing and sales capabilities, price, reimbursement coverage and patent position. Existing and future competing products could present superior treatment alternatives, including being more effective, safer, less expensive or marketed and sold more effectively than any products we may develop.
Competitive products may make any products we develop obsolete or noncompetitive before we are able to recover the expense of developing and commercializing our product candidates. Such competitors could also recruit our employees, which could negatively impact our level of expertise and our ability to execute our business plan.
In addition, our competitors may obtain patent protection, regulatory exclusivities or FDA approval and commercialize products more rapidly than we do, if we are successful at all, which may impact future approvals or sales of any of our product candidates that receive regulatory approval. If the FDA approves the commercial sale of PF614 or any other product candidate, we will also be competing with respect to marketing capabilities and manufacturing efficiency. We expect any such competition among products will be based on product efficacy and safety, the timing and scope of regulatory approvals, availability of supply, marketing and sales capabilities, product price, reimbursement coverage by government and private third-party payors, regulatory exclusivities and patent position. Our profitability and financial position will suffer if our product candidates receive regulatory approval but cannot compete effectively in the marketplace.
Mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries may result in even more resources being concentrated among a smaller number of our competitors. Smaller and other early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies. These third parties compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific and management personnel and establishing clinical trial sites, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs.
Our business could be harmed if we lose the services of our key personnel or if we are unable to hire additional highly qualified employees.
Our business depends upon our ability to attract and retain highly qualified personnel, including managerial, sales and technical personnel. We compete for key personnel with other companies, healthcare institutions, academic institutions, government entities and other organizations. Our ability to maintain and expand our business may be impaired if we are unable to retain our current key personnel or hire or retain other qualified personnel in the future.
We currently have eight full-time employees and two part-time employees. Our future success also depends on our ability to identify, attract, hire or engage, retain and motivate other well-qualified managerial, technical, clinical and regulatory personnel.
Competition for such individuals, particularly in the United States, is intense, and we may not be able to hire sufficient personnel to support our efforts. There can be no assurance that such professionals will be available in the market, or that we will be able to retain existing professionals or to meet or to continue to meet their compensation requirements. Furthermore, our cost base with respect to such compensation, which may include equity compensation, may increase significantly, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial results, including the potential for additional dilution to our stockholders. Failure to establish and maintain an effective management team and work force could adversely affect our ability to operate, grow and manage our business.
Our employees, independent contractors, principal investigators, consultants, commercial collaborators, service providers and other vendors may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
We are exposed to the risk that we and our CROs’ employees and contractors, including principal investigators, consultants, commercial collaborators, service providers and other vendors may engage in fraudulent or other illegal activity. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional, reckless and/or negligent conduct or other unauthorized activities that violate the laws and regulations of the FDA and other similar regulatory bodies, including those laws that require the reporting of true, complete and accurate information to such regulatory bodies; manufacturing standards; federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse and health regulatory laws and other similar foreign fraudulentmisconduct laws; or laws that require the true, complete and accurate reporting of financial information or data. Activities subject to these laws also involve the improper use or misrepresentation of information obtained during clinical trials, which could result in regulatory sanctions and seriousharm to our reputation. It is not always possible to identify and deter third-party misconduct, 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 be in compliance with such laws or regulations. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business and financial results, including the imposition of significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, monetary fines, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, and curtailment of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations
Some of our programs are partially supported by government grant awards, which may not be available to us in the future.
We have received funding under grant award programs funded by governmental agencies, such as the NIH and NIDA. To fund a portion of our future research and development programs, we may apply for additional grant funding from these or similar governmental agencies in the future. However, funding by these, and other, governmental agencies may be significantly reduced or eliminated in the future for several reasons. For example, some programs are subject to a yearly appropriations process in Congress. In addition, we may not receive full funding under current or future grants because of budgeting constraints of the agency administering the program or unsatisfactoryprogress on the study being funded. Therefore, we cannot provide any assurance that we will receive any future grant funding from any government agencies, or, if received, we will receive the full amount of the particular grant award. Any such reductions could delay the development of our product candidates and the introduction of new products.
Risks Related to Our Dependence on Third-Party Providers
We currently rely on, and expect to rely on in the future, third parties to conduct our clinical trials, and those third parties may not perform satisfactorily, including failing to meet deadlines for completing such trials, failing to satisfy legal or regulatory requirements or terminating the relationship.
We currently rely on, and expect to rely on in the future, third-party CROs to conduct research and development activities and our clinical trials for our product candidates. Agreements with these CROs might terminate for a variety of reasons, including for their failure to perform. Entry into alternative arrangements, if necessary, could significantly delay our product development activities.
Our reliance on these CROs for research and development activities and clinical trials will reduce our control over these activities but will not relieve us of any of our responsibilities. For example, we will remain responsible for ensuring that each of our clinical trials is conducted in accordance with the general investigational plan and protocols in the applicable IND. Moreover, the FDA requires compliance with standards, commonly referred to as good clinical practices, or GCPs, for conducting, recording and reporting the results of clinical trials to assure that data and reported results are credible and accurate and that the rights, integrity and confidentiality of trial participants are protected.
If these CROs do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, meet expected deadlines or conduct the clinical trials in accordance with regulatory requirements or our stated protocols, it could adversely affect the development of our product candidates and it could result in us not being able to obtain, or being delayed in obtaining, marketing approvals for our product candidates and it could adversely affect our efforts to successfully commercialize our product candidates.
We expect to be completely dependent on third parties to manufacture our product candidates, and our commercialization of our product candidates could be halted, delayed or made less profitable if those third parties fail to maintain a compliance status acceptable to the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities, fail to provide to us with sufficient quantities of our product candidates or fail to do so at acceptable quality levels or prices.
We do not currently have, nor do we plan to acquire, the capability or infrastructure to manufacture the ingredients in our product candidates for use in our clinical trials or for commercial product, if any. We have entered into an agreement with Purisys LLC (“Purisys”) for production of PF614 drug substance and a Manufacturing Agreement (the “Recro Agreement”) with Recro Gainesville LLC (“Recro”) now known as Societal CDMO, (“Societal”) for the production of PF614 capsules and other materials and services with respect to our clinical studies. In addition, we do not have the capability to encapsulate any of our product candidates as a finished product for commercial distribution. As a result, we expect to be obligated to rely on contract manufacturers, like Societal, if and when any of our product candidates are approved for commercialization. In the event that Societal is unable to perform its obligations under the Recro Agreement, we may be unable to replace the Recro Agreement on terms as favorable to us. We have not entered into an agreement with any contract manufacturers for commercial supply and may not be able to engage a contract manufacturer for commercial supply of any of our product candidates on favorable terms to us, or at all.
The processes used by our contract manufacturers to manufacture our product candidates must be approved by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities and the facilities at which the product candidates are manufactured must maintain a compliance status acceptable to the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities. FDA and foreign regulatory authorities will conduct inspections after we submit a new drug application, or NDA, to the FDA or its equivalent to other relevant regulatory authorities. We will not control the manufacturing process of, and will be completely dependent on, its contract manufacturing partners for compliance with cGMPs for manufacture of both active drug substances and finished products. These cGMP regulations cover all aspects of the manufacturing, testing, quality control and record keeping relating to our product candidates. If our contract manufacturers, including Societal, do not successfully manufacture material that conforms to our specifications and the strict regulatory requirements of the FDA or others, our product candidates may not be approved. If these facilities do not maintain a compliance status acceptable to the FDA, Drug Enforcement Agency, or DEA, or comparable regulatory authorities, we may need to find alternative manufacturing facilities, which would significantly impact our ability to develop, obtain regulatory approval for or market our product candidates, if approved.
Our contract manufacturers, including Purisys and Societal, will be subject to ongoing periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA, DEA and corresponding state and foreign agencies for compliance with cGMPs, security, recordkeeping and similar regulatory requirements. Although we will not have control over our contract manufacturers’ compliance with these regulations and standards, we are nonetheless responsible for assuring such compliance. Failure by any of our contract manufacturers to comply with applicable regulations could result in sanctions being imposed on us, including fines, injunctions, civil penalties, failure to grant approval to market any of our product candidates, delays, suspensions or withdrawals of approvals, operating restrictions and criminalprosecutions, any of which could significantly and adversely affect our business and results of operations. Failure by our contract manufacturers to comply with or maintain any of these standards could adversely affect our ability to develop, obtain regulatory approval for or market any of our product candidates.
If, for any reason, these third parties, including Societal, are unable or unwilling to perform, we may not be able to terminate our agreements with them, and we may not be able to locate alternative manufacturers or formulators or enter into favorable agreements with them and we cannot be certain that any such third parties will have the manufacturing capacity to meet future requirements. If these manufacturers or any alternate manufacturer of finished drug product experiences any significant difficulties in its respective manufacturing processes for our ingredients or finished products or should cease doing business with us, we could experience significant interruptions in the supply of any of our product candidates or may not be able to create a supply of our product candidates at all. Our inability to coordinate the efforts of our third-party manufacturing partners, or the lack of capacity available at our third-party manufacturing partners, could impair our ability to supply any of our product candidates at required levels. Because of the significant regulatory requirements that we would need to satisfy in order to qualify a new bulk or finished product manufacturer, if we face these or other difficulties with our current manufacturing partners, we could experience significant interruptions in the supply of any of our product candidates if we decide to transfer the manufacture of any of our product candidates to one or more alternative manufacturers in an effort to deal with the difficulties.
Any manufacturing problem or the loss of a contract manufacturer, including Societal, could be disruptive to our operations and delay development of our investigational products. Additionally, we rely on third parties to supply the raw materials needed to manufacture our potential products. Any reliance on suppliers may involve several risks, including a potential inability to obtain critical materials and reduced control over production costs, delivery schedules, reliability and quality. Any unanticipateddisruption to a future contract manufacturer caused by problems at suppliers could delay shipment of any of our investigational products and, if approved, product candidates.
We cannot guarantee that our future manufacturing and supply partners will be able to reduce the costs of commercial scale manufacturing of any of our product candidates over time. If the commercial-scale manufacturing costs of any of our product candidates are higher than expected, these costs may significantly impact our operating results. In order to reduce costs, we may need to develop and implement process improvements. However, in order to do so, we will need, from time to time, to notify or make submissions with regulatory authorities, and the improvements may be subject to approval by such regulatory authorities.
We cannot be sure that we will receive these necessary approvals or that these approvals will be granted in a timely fashion. We also cannot guarantee that we will be able to enhance and optimize output in our commercial manufacturing process. If we cannot enhance and optimize output, we may not be able to reduce our costs over time.
Factors that may inhibit our efforts to commercialize our product candidates on our own include:
our inability to recruit and retain effective sales and marketing personnel;
the inability of sales personnel to obtain access to or persuade physicians to prescribe any future products;
the lack of complementary products to be offered by sales personnel, which may put us at a competitive disadvantage relative to companies with more extensive product lines; and
unforeseen costs and expenses associated with creating an independent sales and marketing organization.
With respect to our existing and future product candidates, we may choose to collaborate with third parties that have direct sales forces and established distribution systems to serve as an alternative to our own sales force and distribution systems. Our future product revenue may be lower than if we directly marketed or sold our product candidates, if approved. In addition, any revenue we receive will depend in whole or in part upon the efforts of these third parties, which may not be successful and are generally not within our control. If we are not successful in commercializing any approved products, our future product revenue will suffer, and we may incur significant additional losses.
If we do not establish sales and marketing capabilities successfully, either on our own or in collaboration with third parties, we will not be successful in commercializing our product candidates.
Risks Related to Product Development, Regulatory Approval, Manufacturing and Commercialization
The regulatory approval processes of the FDA and comparable foreign authorities are lengthy, time-consuming and inherently unpredictable, and if we are ultimately unable to obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates, our business will be substantially harmed.
We are not permitted to commercialize, market, promote or sell any product candidate in the United States without obtaining regulatory approval from the FDA. Foreign regulatory authorities, such as the EMA, impose similar requirements. The time required to obtain approval by the FDA and comparable foreign authorities is inherently unpredictable, but typically takes many years following the commencement of clinical trials and depends upon numerous factors, including substantial discretion of the regulatory authorities. In addition, approval policies, regulations, or the type and amount of clinical data necessary to gain approval may change during a product candidate’s clinical development and may vary among jurisdictions. To date, we have not submitted an NDA to the FDA or similar drug approval submissions to comparable foreign regulatory authorities for our most advanced product candidate, PF614, or any other product candidate. We must complete additional preclinical studies and clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our product candidates in humans before we will be able to obtain these approvals.
Clinical testing is expensive, difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete and is inherently uncertain as to outcome. We cannot guarantee that any clinical trials will be conducted as planned or completed on schedule, if at all. The clinical development of our initial and potential additional product candidates is susceptible to the risk of failure inherent at any stage of development, including failure to demonstrate efficacy in a clinical trial or across a broad population of patients, the occurrence of adverse events that are severe or medically or commercially unacceptable, failure to comply with protocols or applicable regulatory requirements, and determination by the FDA or any comparable foreign regulatory authority that a product candidate may not continue development or is not approvable. It is possible that even if any of our product candidates has a beneficial effect, that effect will not be detected during clinical evaluation because of one or more of a variety of factors, including the size, duration, design, measurements, conduct or analysis of our clinical trials. Conversely, because of the same factors, our clinical trials may indicate an apparent positive effect of such product candidate that is greater than the actual positive effect, if any. Similarly, in our clinical trials, we may fail to detect toxicity of, or intolerability caused by, such product candidate, or mistakenly believe that our product candidates are toxic or not well tolerated when that is not in fact the case. Seriousadverse events, or SAEs, or other adverse effects, as well as tolerability issues, could hinder or prevent market acceptance of the product candidate at issue.
Our current and future product candidates could fail to receive regulatory approval for many reasons, including the following:
the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree as to the design or implementation of our clinical trials;
we may be unable to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities that a product candidate is safe and effective for our proposed indication;
the results of clinical trials may not meet the level of statistical significance required by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities for approval;
we may be unable to demonstrate that a product candidate’s clinical and other benefits outweigh its safety risks;
the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with our interpretation of data from clinical trials or preclinical studies;
the data collected from clinical trials of our product candidates may not be sufficient to support the submission of an NDA to the FDA or other submission or to obtain regulatory approval in the United States, the European Union or elsewhere;
the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may find deficiencies with the manufacturing processes of third-party manufacturers with which we contract for clinical and commercial supplies; and
the approval policies or regulations of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may significantly change in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval.
This lengthy approval process as well as the unpredictability of clinical trial results may result in us failing to obtain regulatory approval to market any product candidate we develop, which would substantially harm our business, results of operations and prospects. The FDA and other comparable foreign authorities have substantial discretion in the approval process and determining when or whether regulatory approval will be granted for any product candidate that we develop. Even if we believe the data collected from future clinical trials of our product candidates are promising, such data may not be sufficient to support approval by the FDA or any other regulatory authority.
In addition, even if we were to obtain approval, regulatory authorities may approve any of our product candidates for fewer or more limited indications than we request, may not approve the price we intend to charge for our products, may grant approval contingent on the performance of costly post-marketing clinical trials, or may approve a product candidate with labeling that does not include the claims necessary or desirable for the successful commercialization of that product candidate. Any of the foregoing scenarios could materially harm the commercial prospects for our product candidates.
The FDA may recommend scheduling with respect to any of our current or future product candidates. In such event, prior to a product launch, the DEA will need to determine the controlled substance schedule of the product, considering the recommendation of the FDA. The timing of the scheduling process is uncertain and may delay our ability to market any product candidate that we successfully developed and approved.
If our clinical trials fail to replicate positive results from earlier preclinical studies or clinical trials conducted by us or third parties, we may be unable to successfully develop, obtain regulatory approval for, or commercialize our product candidates.
The results observed from preclinical studies or early-stage clinical trials of our product candidates may not necessarily be predictive of the results of later-stage clinical trials that we conduct. Similarly, positive results from such preclinical studies or early-stage clinical trials may not be replicated in our subsequent preclinical studies or clinical trials. For example, preclinical studies showed that PF614 does not readily convert into oxycodone in the blood stream following direct injection, and the Phase 1 trial we have conducted with TAAP prodrug PF614 (“ prodrug ”: a medication or compound that, after administration, is metabolized, i.e., converted within the body into a pharmacologically active drug), demonstrated that, after oral administration, the corresponding opioid was measured in the subjects’ blood. Furthermore, our product candidates may not be able to demonstrate similar activity or adverse event profiles as other product candidates that we believe may have similar profiles.
There can be no assurance that any of our clinical trials will ultimately be successful or support further clinical development of any of our product candidates. There is a high failure rate for drugs proceeding through clinical trials. Many companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries have suffered significant setbacks in late-stage clinical trials after achievingpositive results in early-stage development, and we cannot be certain that we will not face similar setbacks. These setbacks have been caused by, among other things, preclinical findings made while clinical trials were underway or safety or efficacy observations made in preclinical studies and clinical trials, including previously unreportedadverse events.
Moreover, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses and many companies that believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials nonetheless failed to obtain FDA, EMA or comparable foreign regulatory authority approval.
The FDA, EMA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with our regulatory plan for our product candidates.
We hold INDs for PF614 and nafamostat and completed a Phase 1 trial for each product candidate. We have completed multiple human abuse potential and efficacy studies for PF614. We have applied for and received fast track designation for PF614. However, fast track designation does not guarantee a faster development or regulatory review or approval process and does not assure FDA approval. We have received feedback from the FDA on requirements to achieveabusedeterrent labeling claims for PF614. We have also received an IND for PF614-MPAR and have completed an initial Phase 1 study. We have been granted Breakthrough Therapy designation by the FDA for PF614-MPAR. For all INDs that we hold we have received feedback on required pre-clinical, manufacturing and clinical studies that will be required for an NDA.
Our clinical trial results may not support approval of our product candidates. The general approach for FDA approval of a new drug is dispositive data from two or more well-controlled Phase 3 clinical trials of the product candidate in the relevant patient population. Phase 3 clinical trials typically involve a large number of patients, have significant costs, and take years to complete. In addition, there is no assurance that the endpoints and trial designs that we intend to use for our planned clinical trials, including those that we have developed based on feedback from regulatory agencies or those that have been used for the approval of similar drugs, will be acceptable for future approvals.
Interim topline and preliminary data from our clinical trials that we announce or publish from time to time may change as more patient data become available and are subject to audit and verification procedures that could result in material changes in the final data.
From time to time, we may publish interim topline or preliminary data from our clinical trials. Interim data from clinical trials that we may complete are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data become available. Preliminary or topline data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the preliminary data we previously published. As a result, interim and preliminary data should be viewed with caution until the final data is available. Adverse differences between preliminary or interim data and final data could significantly harm our reputation and business prospects.
Even if we complete the necessary preclinical studies and clinical trials, the marketing approval process is expensive, time-consuming and uncertain and may prevent us from obtaining approvals for the commercialization of our product candidates.
Any product candidate we develop and the activities associated with such development and commercialization, including our design, testing, manufacture, safety, efficacy, recordkeeping, labeling, storage, approval, advertising, promotion, sale, and distribution, are subject to comprehensive regulation by the FDA and other regulatory authorities in the United States and by comparable authorities in other countries. Failure to obtain marketing approval for a product candidate will prevent us from commercializing the product candidate in a given jurisdiction. We have not received approval to market any product candidates from regulatory authorities in any jurisdiction and it is possible that none of the product candidates we are developing or may seek to develop in the future will ever obtain regulatory approval. Ensysce has no experience in submitting and supporting the applications necessary to gain marketing approvals and we expect to rely on third-party CROs or regulatory consultants to assist us in this process. Securing regulatory approval requires the submission of extensive preclinical and clinical data and supporting information to the various regulatory authorities for each therapeutic indication to establish the product candidate’s safety and efficacy. Securing regulatory approval also requires the submission of information about the product manufacturing process to, and inspection of manufacturing facilities by, the relevant regulatory authority. Any product candidates we develop 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 us from obtaining marketing approval or prevent or limit commercial use.
The process of obtaining marketing approvals, both in the United States and abroad, is expensive, may take many years if additional clinical trials are required, if approval is obtained at all, and can vary substantially based upon a variety of factors, including the type, complexity, and novelty of the product candidates involved. Changes in marketing approval policies during the development period, changes in or the enactment of additional statutes or regulations, or changes in regulatory review for each submitted product application, may cause delays in the approval or rejection of an application. The FDA and comparable authorities in other countries have substantial discretion in the approval process and may refuse to accept any application or may decide that our data is insufficient for approval and requires additional preclinical, clinical or other studies. In addition, varying interpretations of the data obtained from preclinical and clinical testing could delay, limit, or prevent marketing approval of a product candidate. Any marketing approval that we may ultimately obtain could be limited or subject to restrictions or post-approval commitments that render the approved product not commercially viable. For example, during the product approval process, the FDA will determine whether a REMS plan is necessary to assure the safe use of the product. All opioid analgesic products currently on the market in the United States are subject to a REMS. A REMS may be required to include various elements, such as a medication guide or patient package insert, a communication plan to educate health care providers of the risks, limitations on who may prescribe or dispense the drug or other measures that the FDA deems necessary to assure the safe use of the drug. In addition, the REMS plan must include a timetable to assess the strategy at eighteen months, three years and seven years after approval. We may be required to develop a REMS for the product, or participate in a REMS with other manufacturers, or to develop a similar strategy as required by a regulatory authority.
Even if approved, our contract manufacturers will need to obtain quota from DEA to manufacture sufficient quantities and maintain inventories of product to be commercially distributed.
If we experience delays in obtaining manufacturing approval or if we fail to obtain manufacturing approval of any product candidates we may develop, the commercial prospects for those product candidates may be harmed, and our ability to generate revenues will be materially impaired.
We may incur unexpected costs or experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the preclinical and clinical studies necessary for development and commercialization of our product candidates.
To obtain the requisite regulatory approvals to commercialize any of our product candidates, we must demonstrate through extensive preclinical studies and clinical trials that our product candidates are safe and effective in humans. We may experience delays in completing our clinical trials or preclinical studies and initiating or completing additional clinical trials or preclinical studies, including as a result of regulators not allowing or delay in allowing clinical trials to proceed under an IND, or not approving or delaying approval for any clinical trial grant or similar approval that we need to initiate a clinical trial. We may also experience numerous unforeseen events during our clinical trials that could delay or prevent our ability to receive marketing approval or commercialize the product candidates we develop, including:
regulators, or institutional review boards, or IRBs, or other reviewing bodies may not authorize us or our investigators to commence a clinical trial, or to conduct or continue a clinical trial at a prospective or specific trial site;
we may not reach agreement on acceptable terms with prospective CROs and clinical trial sites, the terms of which can be subject to extensive negotiation and may vary significantly among different CROs and trial sites;
we may experience challenges or delays in recruiting principal investigators or study sites to lead our clinical trials;
the number of subjects or patients required for clinical trials of our product candidates may be larger than we anticipate, enrollment in these clinical trials may be insufficient or slower than we anticipate, and the number of clinical trials being conducted at any given time may be high and result in fewer available patients for any given clinical trial, or patients may drop out of these clinical trials at a higher rate than we anticipate;
our third-party contractors, including those manufacturing our product candidates or conducting clinical trials on our behalf, may fail to comply with regulatory requirements or meet their contractual obligations to us in a timely manner, or at all;
we may have to amend clinical trial protocols submitted to regulatory authorities or conduct additional studies to reflect changes in regulatory requirements or guidance, which we may be required to resubmit to an IRB and regulatory authorities for re-examination;
regulators or other reviewing bodies may find deficiencies with or subsequently find fault with the manufacturing processes or facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we enter into agreement for clinical and commercial supplies, or the supply or quality of any product candidate or other materials necessary to conduct clinical trials of our product candidates may be insufficient, inadequate or not available at an acceptable cost, or we may experience interruptions in supply; and
the potential for approval policies or regulations of the FDA or the applicable foreign regulatory agencies to significantly change in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval.
Regulators or IRBs of the institutions in which clinical trials are being conducted may suspend, limit or terminate a clinical trial, or data monitoring committees may recommend that we 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 protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial site by the FDA or other regulatory authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold (such as the clinical hold placed on PF614-MPAR in January 2021), safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a drug, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions, or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial. Negative or inconclusive results from our clinical trials or preclinical studies could mandate repeated or additional clinical trials and, to the extent we choose to conduct clinical trials in other indications, could result in changes to or delays in clinical trials of our product candidates in such other indications. We do not know whether any clinical trials that we conduct will demonstrate adequate efficacy and safety to result in regulatory approval to market our product candidates for the indications that we are pursuing. If later-stage clinical trials do not produce favorable results, our ability to obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates will be adversely impacted.
Our failure to successfully initiate and complete clinical trials and to demonstrate the efficacy and safety necessary to obtain regulatory approval to market our product candidates would significantly harm its business. The development costs of our product candidates will also increase if we experience delays in testing or regulatory approvals and we may be required to obtain additional funds to complete clinical trials. We cannot assure stockholders that our clinical trials will begin as planned or be completed on schedule, if at all, or that we will not need to restructure or otherwise modify our trials after they have begun. Significant clinical trial delays could also shorten any periods during which we may have the exclusive right to commercialize our product candidates or allow our competitors to bring products to market before we do and impair our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates, which may harm our business and results of operations. In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, delays of clinical trials may ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of our product candidates.
If we encounter difficulties enrolling patients in our clinical trials, our clinical development activities could be delayed or otherwise adversely affected.
The timely completion of clinical trials in accordance with our protocols depends on, among other things, our ability to enroll a sufficient number of patients who remain in the study until its conclusion.
We may experience difficulties in patient enrollment in our clinical trials for a variety of factors, including:
the patient eligibility criteria defined in the protocol;
the size of the patient population required for analysis of the trial’s primary endpoints;
the proximity of patients to study sites;
the design of the trial;
our ability to recruit clinical trial investigators with the appropriate competencies and experience;
competing clinical trials and clinicians’ and patients’ perceptions as to the potential advantages and risks of the product candidate being studied in relation to other available therapies, including any new drugs that may be approved for the indications that we are investigating;
our ability to obtain and maintain patient consents; and
the risk that patients enrolled in clinical trials will drop out of the trials before completion.
In addition, our clinical trials may compete with other clinical trials for product candidates that are in the same therapeutic areas as our product candidates, and this competition will reduce the number and types of patients available to us, because some patients who might have opted to enroll in our trials may instead opt to enroll in a trial being conducted by one of our competitors. Since the number of qualified clinical investigators is limited, we may conduct some of our clinical trials at the same clinical trial sites that some of our competitors use, which will reduce the number of patients who are available for our clinical trials in such clinical trial site. Furthermore, if significant adverse events or other side effects are observed in any of our clinical trials, we may have difficulty recruiting patients to our trials and patients may drop out of our trials.
Our inability to enroll enough patients for our clinical trials would result in significant delays or might require us to abandon one or more clinical trials or our development efforts altogether. Delays in patient enrollment may result in increased costs, negatively affect the timing or outcome of the planned clinical trials, delay the product candidate development and approval process and jeopardize our ability to seek and obtain the regulatory approval required to commence product sales and generate revenue, which could cause our value to decline and limit our ability to obtain additional financing if needed.
Fast Track designation by the FDA for PF614 for chronic pain may not lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process and does not assure FDA approval.
We have obtained Fast Track designation for PF614 for management of moderate to severe chronic pain when a continuous, around-the-clock analgesic is needed for an extended period. We believe that Fast Track designation will enable us to facilitate the development and expedite the review of PF614. Fast Track designation does not ensure that PF614 will receive marketing approval or that approval will be granted within any timeframe. As a result, we may not experience a faster development process, review or approval compared to conventional FDA procedures. In addition, the FDA may withdraw Fast Track designation if it believes that the designation is no longer supported by data from our clinical development program. Fast Track designation does not guarantee that an NDA will obtain priority review designation. If any of these events occur, it could require us to conduct more extensive clinical trials and go through more extensive FDA reviews, which could substantially increase expenses and delay the time for commercializing our products.
If the FDA does not conclude that certain of our product candidates satisfy the requirements for the Section 505(b)(2) regulatory approval pathway, or if the requirements for such product candidates under Section 505(b)(2) are not as we expect, the approval pathway for those product candidates will likely take significantly longer, cost significantly more and entail significantly greatercomplications and risks than anticipated, and in either case may not be successful.
We may seek FDA approval through the Section 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway for our product candidate PF614. Section 505(b)(2) of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, or FDC Act, permits the submission of an NDA where at least some of the information required for approval comes from studies that were not conducted by or for the applicant and for which the applicant has not obtained a right of reference. Section 505(b)(2), if applicable to us under the FDC Act, would allow an NDA we submit to FDA to rely in part on data in the public domain or on the FDA’s prior conclusions regarding the safety and effectiveness of an approved product, or listed drug, which could expedite the development program for our product candidates by potentially decreasing the amount of data that we would need to generate in order to obtain FDA approval. If the FDA does not agree that the 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway is appropriate or scientifically justified for PF614, we may need to conduct additional preclinical and clinical trials, provide additional data and information, and meet additional standards for regulatory approval. For example, the FDA may not agree that we have provided a scientific bridge, through comparative bioavailability data, to demonstrate that reliance on the prior findings of safety or efficacy for a listed drug is justified. If this were to occur, the time and financial resources required to obtain FDA approval for this product candidate, and complications and risks associated with this product candidate, would likely substantially increase. We could need to obtain additional funding, which could result in significant dilution to the ownership interests of our then existing stockholders to the extent we issue equity securities or convertible debt. We cannot assure you that we would be able to obtain such additional financing on terms acceptable to us, if at all. Moreover, the inability to pursue the Section 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway may result in new competitive products reaching the market more quickly than our product candidates, which would likely materially adversely impact of our competitive position and prospects. Even if we are allowed to pursue the Section 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway, we cannot assure our stockholders that our product candidates will receive the requisite approvals for commercialization.
In addition, notwithstanding the approval of a number of products by the FDA under Section 505(b)(2) over the last few years, certain brand-name pharmaceutical companies and others have objected to the FDA’s interpretation of Section 505(b)(2). If the FDA’s interpretation of Section 505(b)(2) is successfullychallenged, the FDA may change its 505(b)(2) policies and practices, which could delay or even prevent the FDA from approving any NDA that we submit under Section 505(b)(2). The pharmaceutical industry is highly competitive, and Section 505(b)(2) NDAs are subject to special requirements designed to protect the patent rights of sponsors of previously approved drugs that are referenced in a Section 505(b)(2) NDA. These requirements may give rise to patent litigation and mandatory delays in approval of our NDAs for up to 30 months or longer depending on the outcome of any litigation. It is not uncommon for a manufacturer of an approved product to file a citizen petition with the FDA seeking to delay approval of, or impose additional approval requirements for, pending competing products. If successful, such petitions can significantly delay, or even prevent, the approval of the new product. Even if the FDA ultimately denies such a petition, the FDA may substantially delay approval while it considers and responds to the petition. In addition, even if we are able to utilize the Section 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway, there is no guarantee this would ultimately lead to accelerated product development or earlier approval.
Moreover, even if our product candidates are approved under Section 505(b)(2), the approval may be subject to limitations on the indicated uses for which the products may be marketed or to other conditions of approval, or may contain requirements for costly post-marketing testing and surveillance to monitor the safety or efficacy of the products.
If we submit a 505(b)(2) application that references a third-party product, we may be subject to a patent infringement suit and the approval of our product may be delayed.
If we submit a 505(b)(2) application that relies in whole or in FDA’s findings for a listed drug, we will be required to certify to the FDA that either: (1) there is no patent information listed in the FDA’s publication Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations, which we refer to as the Orange Book, with respect to the listed drug; (2) the patents listed in the Orange Book have expired; (3) the listed patents have not expired, but will expire on a particular date and approval is sought after patent expiration; or (4) the listed patents are invalid or will not be infringed by the manufacture, use or sale of our product. A certification that our new drug will not infringe the Orange Book-listed patents for the applicable listed drug, or that such patents are invalid, is called a paragraph IV certification. If we submit a paragraph IV certification to the FDA, a notice of the paragraph IV certification must also be sent to the NDA holder once our 505(b)(2) application is filed by the FDA. The third party may then initiate a lawsuit to defend the patents identified in the notice. The filing of a patent infringement lawsuit within 45 days of receipt of the notice automatically prevents the FDA from approving our 505(b)(2) application until the earliest of 30 months or the date on which the patent expires, the lawsuit is settled, or the court reaches a decision in the infringement lawsuit in our favor. If the third party does not file a patent infringement lawsuit within the required 45-day period, our 505(b)(2) application will not be subject to the 30-month stay of FDA approval.
Changes in methods of product candidate manufacturing or formulation may result in additional costs or delay.
As product candidates proceed through preclinical studies to late-stage clinical trials towards potential approval and commercialization, it is common that various aspects of the development program, such as manufacturing methods and formulation, are altered along the way in an effort to optimize processes and results. Such changes carry the risk that they will not achieve these intended objectives. Any of these changes could cause our product candidates to perform differently and affect the results of planned clinical trials or other future clinical trials conducted with the materials manufactured using altered processes. Such changes may also require additional testing, FDA notification or FDA approval. This could delay or prevent completion of clinical trials, require conducting bridging clinical trials or repeating one or more clinical trials, increase clinical trial costs, delay or prevent approval of our product candidates and jeopardize our ability to commence sales and generate revenue.
Our product candidates may cause undesirable side effects or have other properties that could delay or prevent their regulatory approval, limit the commercial profile of an approved label, or result in significant negative consequences following regulatory approval, if obtained.
Undesirable side effects caused by any of our product candidates could cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials and could result in restrictive warnings or contraindication or the delay or denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities. In our planned and future clinical trials of our product candidates, we may observe a less favorable safety and tolerability profile than was observed in earlier-stage testing of these candidates.
Undesirable side effects have been observed in our product candidates to date. For example, in clinical trials of PF614, opioid side effects were observed. Many compounds that initially showed promise in clinical or earlier-stage testing are later found to cause undesirable or unexpected side effects that prevented further development of the compound. Results of future clinical trials of our product candidates could reveal a high and unacceptableseverity and prevalence of side effects or unexpected characteristics, despite a favorable tolerability profile observed in earlier-stage testing. If unacceptable side effects arise in the development of our product candidates, we, the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities, the IRBs, or independent ethics committees at the institutions in which its trials are conducted, could suspend, limit or terminate our clinical trials, or the independent safety monitoring committee could recommend that we suspend, limit or terminate our trials, or the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities could order us to cease clinical trials or deny approval of our product candidates for any or all targeted indications. Treatment-emergent side effects that are deemed to be drug-related could delay recruitment of clinical trial subjects or may cause subjects that enroll in our clinical trials to discontinue participation in our clinical trials. In addition, these side effects may not be appropriately recognized or managed by the treating medical staff. We may need to train medical personnel using our product candidates to understand the side effect profiles for our clinical trials and upon any commercialization of any of our product candidates. Inadequate training in recognizing or managing the potential side effects of our product candidates could result in harm to patients that are administered our product candidates. Any of these occurrences may adversely affect our business, financial condition and prospects significantly.
Moreover, clinical trials of our product candidates are conducted in carefully defined sets of patients who have agreed to enter into clinical trials. Consequently, it is possible that our clinical trials may indicate an apparent positive effect of a product candidate that is greater than the actual positive effect, if any, or alternatively fail to identify undesirable side effects.
FDA’s evolving standards for the approval of opioid products may delay or prevent approval of our product candidates.
FDA has identified addressing misuse and abuse of opioid drugs as one of its highest priorities. As part of its plan, the agency has established new standards for the development of prescription opioids with abuse-deterrent formulations and has published two sets of guidance. Since the publication of the second guidance in November 2017, FDA has not approved any new abuse–deterrent opioid drugs. If we are unable to meet FDA’s new and evolving standards for approving opioid products, we will not be able to market our products.
Product liability lawsuits against us or any of our future collaborators could divert our resources and attention, cause us to incur substantial liabilities and limit commercialization of our product candidates.
We are exposed to potential product liability and professional indemnity risks that are inherent in the research, development, manufacturing, marketing and use of pharmaceutical products. Currently, we have no products that have been approved for commercial sale; however, the use of our product candidates by us and any collaborators in clinical trials, and the sale of these product candidates, if approved, in the future, may expose us to liability claims. We face an inherent risk of product liability lawsuits related to the use of our product candidates in patients and will face an even greater risk if product candidates are approved by regulatory authorities and introduced commercially. Product liability claims may be brought against us by participants enrolled in our clinical trials, patients, health care providers, pharmaceutical companies, our collaborators or others using, administering or selling any of our future approved products. If we cannot successfullydefend ourselves against any such claims, we may incur substantial liabilities or be required to limit commercialization of our product candidates. Regardless of the merits or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:
decreased demand for any of our future approved products;
injury to our reputation;
withdrawal of clinical trial participants;
termination of clinical trial sites or entire trial programs;
significant litigation costs;
substantial monetary awards to, or costly settlements with, patients or other claimants;
product recalls or a change in the indications for which they may be used;
loss of revenue;
diversion of management and scientific resources from our business operations; and
the inability to commercialize our product candidates.
Although the clinical trial process is designed to identify and assess potential side effects, clinical development does not always fully characterize the safety and efficacy profile of a new medicine, and it is always possible that a drug, even after regulatory approval, may exhibit unforeseen side effects. If our product candidates were to cause adverse side effects during clinical trials or after approval, we may be exposed to substantial liabilities. Physicians and patients may not comply with any warnings that identify known potential adverse effects and patients who should not use our product candidates. If any of our product candidates are approved for commercial sale, we will be highly dependent upon consumer perceptions of us and the safety and quality of our products. We could be adversely affected if we are subject to negative publicity associated with illness or other adverse effects resulting from patients’ use or misuse of our products or any similar products distributed by other companies.
Although we maintain product liability insurance coverage consistent with industry norms, including clinical trial liability, this insurance may not fully cover potential liabilities that we may incur. The cost of any product liability litigation or other proceeding, even if resolved in our favor, could be substantial. We will need to increase our insurance coverage if we commercialize any product that receives regulatory approval. In addition, insurance coverage is becoming increasingly expensive. If we are unable to maintain sufficient insurance coverage at an acceptable cost or to otherwise protect against potential product liability claims, it could prevent or inhibit the development and commercial production and sale of our product candidates, which could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Oxycodone is a Schedule II controlled substance under the federal CSA, and any failure to comply with the CSA or its state equivalents would have a negative impact on our business.
Oxycodone, the ingredient in PF614, is classified as a Schedule II controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act, or CSA and regulations promulgated by the DEA. The law and regulations classify substances as Schedule I, II, III, IV or V controlled substances, with Schedule I controlled substances considered to present the highest risk of substance abuse and Schedule V controlled substances the lowest risk. Scheduled controlled substances are subject to DEA regulations relating to supply, procurement, manufacturing, storage, shipment, sale, use, distribution and physician prescription procedures. For example, Schedule II controlled substances are subject to various restrictions, including, but not limited to, mandatory written prescriptions and the prohibition of refills. In addition to federal scheduling, oxycodone is subject to state-controlled substance laws and regulations, and in some cases, with additional requirements than those imposed by federal law and regulations. Though state controlled substances laws often mirror federal law, because the states are separate jurisdictions, they may schedule products separately.
Entities must register annually with the DEA to manufacture, distribute, dispense, import, export and conduct research using controlled substances. In addition, the DEA requires entities handling controlled substances to maintain complete and accurate records and file reports, including reports related to thefts or losses of any controlled substances, and to obtain authorization to destroy any controlled substances. Registered entities also must follow specific labeling and packaging requirements. Facilities must maintain appropriate security measures to control againstdiversion of controlled substances. Security requirements vary by controlled substance schedule with the most stringent requirements applying to Schedule I and Schedule II controlled substances. Required security measures include background checks on employees and physical control of inventory through measures such as vaults and inventory reconciliations.
Our CMOs, who manufacture and distribute PF614 are required to be registered with DEA and relevant state authorities and comply with all security, recordkeeping and reporting requirements. Manufacturers and distributors are subject to routine inspections and audits by the DEA related to compliance with security, recordkeeping and reporting requirements. Failure to maintain the required registrations or to comply and follow these requirements can lead to significant civil and/or criminalpenalties and possibly even lead to a revocation of a DEA registration to manufacture or distribute such products.
Manufacturing of oxycodone is subject to annual quotas that limit the amount of API and dosage forms that can be produced in any given year; the failure of our CMOs to obtain the necessary manufacturing and/or procurement quota would have a negative impact on our business.
The CSA and DEA regulations establish an annual aggregate production quota for Schedule I and II controlled substances, including oxycodone and other narcotic drugs. In addition, each manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredient, or API or dosage forms must obtain an individual manufacturing or production quota that limits the amount of product that a company can produce and/or distribute each year. The DEA allocates manufacturing quota issued to companies so as to not exceed the aggregate quota established for a given year. Moreover, companies must demonstrate the need for procurement quota based on expected demand and sales of the controlled substance the DEA requires the submission of substantial evidence of expected legitimate medical and scientific need for the drug product before assigning its aggregate production quotas, or manufacturing and procurement quotas to manufacturers. The DEA has decreased the aggregate quota for certain narcotic drugs, including oxycodone from 2015 to 2024. Also, in October 2018, Congress passed the SUPPORT Act, updated in 2019, which requires the DEA to consider potential diversion in establishing quotas for narcotic drugs which could lead to continued decreases in quota available to API manufacturers and dosage form manufacturers of these substances.
In future years, we may need greater amounts of controlled substances that are subject to the DEA’s quota system to sustain our development program. We may also need significantly greater amounts to implement our commercialization plans if the FDA approves our proposed formulations. If any of our manufacturers of API or dosage forms are unable to obtain the necessary annual quota to meet the research and development or commercial demand for PF614, our business would be negatively impacted. Any delay or refusal by the DEA in establishing a quota, a reduction in quota, or a failure to increase quota over time could delay or stop the clinical development or commercial sale of some of our products or product candidates. This could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.
Risks Related to our Intellectual Property
If we are unable to obtain and maintain patent protection for our products candidates, or if the scope of the patent protection obtained is not sufficiently broad, our competitors could develop and commercialize product candidates that are similar or identical to our product candidates, and our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates may be adversely affected.
Our commercial success will depend, in part, on our ability to obtain and maintain patent protection in the United States and other countries with significant commercial markets with respect to our product candidates. We seek to protect our proprietary position by filing patent applications in the United States and abroad related to our product candidates that are important to our business, as appropriate. We cannot be certain that patents will be issued or granted with respect to applications that are currently pending or that we may apply for in the future with respect to one or more of our product candidates, or that issued or granted patents will not later be found to be invalid and/or unenforceable.
The patent prosecution process is expensive and time-consuming, and we may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our research and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection. Although we may enter into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties who have access to patentable aspects of our research and development output, such as our employees, distribution partners, consultants, advisors and other third parties, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose such output before a patent application is filed, thereby jeopardizing our ability to seek patent protection.
The patent position of 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, and even if issued, the patents may not meaningfully protect our product candidates, effectively prevent competitors and third parties from commercializing competitive products or otherwise provide us with any competitive advantage. Even if the patent applications that we own or licenses issue as patents, they may not issue in a form that will provide us with any meaningful protection, prevent competitors from competing with us or otherwise provide us with any competitive advantage. For product candidates for which we do not hold or do not obtain composition of matter patents, competitors who obtain the requisite regulatory approval can offer products with the same composition as our product candidate so long as the competitors do not infringe any method patents that we may hold. Method patents protect the product when used or sold for the specified method. However, this type of patent protection can be more difficult to enforce and does not limit a competitor from making and marketing a product that is identical to our product candidate that is either labeled or marketed for an indication that is outside of the patented method, or for which there is a substantial use in commerce outside the patented method. Our competitors or other third parties may be able to circumvent our patents by developing similar or alternative products in a non-infringing manner.
Changes in either the patent laws, implementing regulations or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States and other countries may also diminish the value of our patents or narrow the scope of our patent protection. The laws of foreign countries may not protect our rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, and many companies have encountered significant difficulties in protecting and defending such rights in foreign jurisdictions.
We cannot be certain that our patents and patent rights will be effective in protecting our product candidates and technologies. Failure to protect such assets may have a material adverse effect on our business, operations, financial condition and prospects.
We may face litigation from third parties claiming that our products or business infringe, misappropriate, or otherwise violate their intellectual property rights, or seeking to challenge the validity of our patents.
Our future success is also dependent in part on the strength of our intellectual property, trade secrets and know-how, which have been developed from years of research and development, and on our ability, and the ability of our future collaborators, to develop, manufacture, market and sell our product candidates, if approved, and use our proprietary technologies without alleged or actual infringement, misappropriation or other violation of the patents and other intellectual property rights of third parties.
We may be exposed to, or be threatened with, adversarial proceedings or additional future litigation by third parties regarding intellectual property rights with respect to our current and any future product candidates and technology, including interference or derivation proceedings, post grant review and inter partes review before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, or similar adversarial proceedings or litigation in other jurisdictions seeking to challenge the validity of our intellectual property rights, claiming that we have misappropriated the trade secrets of others, or claiming that our technologies, products or activities infringe the intellectual property rights of others.
There have been many lawsuits and other proceedings involving patent and other intellectual property rights in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, including patent infringement lawsuits, interferences, oppositions, post grant review, inter partes review and reexamination proceedings before the USPTO, and corresponding foreign patent offices. Numerous United States and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications, which are owned by third parties, exist in the fields in which we are developing product candidates. As the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries expand and more patents are issued, the risk increases that our product candidates may be subject to claims of infringement of the intellectual property rights of third parties.
We are aware of patents owned by third parties, including potential competitors, that are directed to compositions comprising a chemically modified opioid, such as oxycodone, which decreases the potential of the opioid to be abused or cause overdose and related methods of use. Third parties, including potential competitors, may assert infringementclaimsagainst us based on existing patents or patents that may be granted in the future including, perhaps, the aforementioned patents, regardless of their merit. There is a risk that third parties may choose to engage in litigation with us to enforce or to otherwise assert their patent rights against us.
Even if we believe such claims are without merit, a court of competent jurisdiction could hold that these third-party patents are valid, enforceable and infringed, and the holders of any such patents may be able to block our ability to commercialize such product candidate unless we obtain a license under the applicable patents, or until such patents expire or are finally determined to be invalid or unenforceable. Similarly, if any third-party patents were held by a court of competent jurisdiction to cover aspects of our compositions, formulations, or methods of treatment, prevention or use, the holders of any such patents may be able to block our ability to develop and commercialize the applicable product candidate unless we obtain a license or until such patent expires or is finally determined to be invalid or unenforceable. In either case, such a license may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. Even if we were able to obtain a license, it could be non-exclusive, thereby giving our competitors access to the same technologies licensed to us. Some claimants may have substantially greater resources than we do and may be able to sustain the costs of complex intellectual property litigation to a greater degree and for longer periods of time than we could. In addition, patent holding companies that focus solely on extracting royalties and settlements by enforcing patent rights may target us.
Furthermore, even in the absence of litigation, we may need to obtain licenses from third parties to advance our research or to enable the commercialization of our product candidates. We may fail to obtain any of these licenses at a reasonable cost or on reasonable terms, if at all. In such an event, we would be unable to further practice our technologies or develop and commercialize any of our product candidates at issue, which could harm our business and financial condition significantly.
Parties making claimsagainst us may obtain injunctive or other equitable relief, which could effectively block our ability to further develop and commercialize one or more of our product candidates, if approved. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation expense and would be a substantial diversion of management and employee time and resources from our business. Third parties making such claims may have the ability to dedicate substantially greater resources to these legal actions than us or our licensors or collaborators can. In the event of a successful claim of infringement, misappropriation or other violationagainst us, we may have to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees for willful infringement, pay royalties, redesign our infringing products or obtain one or more licenses from third parties, which may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure.
Patent litigation and other proceedings may also absorb significant management time. The cost to us of any patent litigation or other proceeding, even if resolved in our favor, could be substantial. During the course of any patent or other intellectual property litigation or other proceeding, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, rulings on motions, and other interim proceedings or developments and if securities analysts or investors regard these announcements as negative, the perceived value of our product candidates or intellectual property could be diminished. Accordingly, the market price of our common stock may decline. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our business, ability to compete in the marketplace, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
We may become involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents or other intellectual property, which could be expensive, time consuming and unsuccessful.
Competitors may infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate our patents, trademarks, copyrights or other intellectual property, or those of our licensors. To counter infringement, misappropriation, unauthorized use or other violations, we may be required to file legal claims, which can be expensive and time consuming and divert the time and attention of our management and scientific personnel.
There can be no assurances that we will be successful with respect to any litigation matters which may arise in the ordinary course of our business. Such a failure may have a material impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition in the future.
We may not be able to prevent, alone or with any future licensors, infringement, misappropriation or other violations of our intellectual property rights, particularly in countries where the laws may not protect those rights as fully as in the United States. Any claims we assert against perceived infringers could provoke these parties to assert counterclaimsagainst us alleging that we infringe their patents. In addition, in a patent infringement proceeding, there is a risk that a court will decide that a patent of ours is invalid or unenforceable, in whole or in part, and that we do not have the right to stop the other party from using the invention at issue. There is also a risk that, even if the validity of such patents is upheld, the court will construe the patent’s claims narrowly or decide that we do not have the right to stop the other party from using the invention at issue on the grounds that our patents do not cover the invention. An adverse outcome in a litigation or proceeding involving our patents could limit our ability to assert our patents against those parties or other competitors and may curtail or preclude our ability to exclude third parties from making and selling similar or competitive products. Any of these occurrences could adversely affect our competitive business position, business prospects and financial condition. Similarly, if we assert trademark infringementclaims, a court 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 this case, we could ultimately be forced to cease use of such trademarks.
In any infringement, misappropriation or other intellectual property litigation, any award of monetary damages we receive may not be commercially valuable. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during litigation. Moreover, there can be no assurance that we will have sufficient financial or other resources to file and pursue such infringementclaims, which typically last for years before they are concluded. Even if we ultimately prevail in such claims, the monetary cost of such litigation and the diversion of the attention of our management and scientific personnel could outweigh any benefit we receive as a result of the proceedings.
The expiration or loss of patent protection may adversely affect our future revenues and operating earnings.
We rely on patent, trademark, trade secret and other intellectual property protection in the discovery, development, manufacturing and sale of our product candidates. In particular, patent protection is important in the development and eventual commercialization of our product candidates. Patents covering our product candidates normally provide market exclusivity, which is important in order to improve the probability that our product candidates are able to become profitable.
Certain of our patents relating to PF614 will expire in 2030. In addition, certain of our patents relating to the use of nafamostat for treating respiratory diseases will expire in 2028. While we are seeking additional patent coverage which may protect the technology underlying these patents, there can be no assurances that such additional patent protection will be granted, or if granted, that these patents will not be infringed upon or otherwise held enforceable. Even if we are successful in obtaining a patent, patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States, the natural expiration of a utility patent is generally 20 years after it is filed. Various extensions may be available; however, the life of a patent, and the protection it affords, is limited. Without patent protection of our product candidates, we may be open to competition from generic versions of such methods and compositions.
If we do not obtain protection under the Hatch-Waxman Amendments by extending the patent term, our business may be harmed.
Our commercial success will largely depend on our ability to obtain and maintain patent and other intellectual property in the United States and other countries with respect to our product candidates. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting our product candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates begin to be commercialized. We expect to seek extensions of patent terms in the United States and, if available, in other countries where we are prosecuting patents.
Depending upon the timing, duration and specifics of FDA marketing approval of our product candidates, one or more of our United States patents may be eligible for limited patent term extension, or PTE, under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, referred to as the Hatch-Waxman Amendments. The Hatch-Waxman Amendments permit a patent restoration term of up to five years beyond the normal expiration of the patent as compensation for patent term lost during development and the FDA regulatory review process, which is limited to the approved indication (and potentially additional indications approved during the period of extension) covered by the patent. This extension is limited to only one patent that covers the approved product, the approved use of the product, or a method of manufacturing the product. If we are unable to extend the expiration date of our existing patents or obtain new patents with longer expiry dates, our competitors may be able to take advantage of our investment in development and clinical trials by referencing our clinical and preclinical data to obtain approval of competing products following our patent expiration and launch their product earlier than might otherwise be the case.
We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world, which could negatively impact our business.
Filing, prosecuting and defending patents covering our product candidates in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive, and our intellectual property rights in some countries outside the United States can be less extensive than those in the United States. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as federal and state laws in the United States. Further, licensing partners may not prosecute patents in certain jurisdictions in which we may obtain commercial rights, thereby precluding the possibility of later obtaining patent protection in these countries. Consequently, we may not be able to prevent third parties from practicing our inventions in all countries outside the United States, or from selling or importing products made using our inventions in and into the United States or other jurisdictions. Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop our own products and may also export infringing products to territories where we have patent protection, but enforcement is not as strong as that in the United States. These products may compete with our product candidates, and our patents or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from competing.
Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents, trade secrets and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to biotechnology products, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents or marketing of competing products in violation of our proprietary rights generally. Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions, whether or not successful, could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and our patent applications at risk of not issuing, and could provoke third parties to assert claimsagainst us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop or license. Furthermore, while we intend to protect our intellectual property rights in our expected significant markets, we cannot ensure that we will be able to initiate or maintain similar efforts in all jurisdictions in which we may wish to market our product candidates. Accordingly, our efforts to protect our intellectual property rights in such countries may be inadequate, which may have an adverse effect on our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates in all of our expected significant foreign markets.
Additionally, the requirements for patentability may differ in certain countries, particularly developing countries. For example, unlike other countries, China has a heightened requirement for patentability, and specifically requires a detailed description of medical uses of a claimed drug. In India, unlike the United States, there is no link between regulatory approval of a drug and our patent status. Furthermore, generic or biosimilar drug manufacturers or other competitors may challenge the scope, validity or enforceability of us or our licensors’ patents, requiring us or our licensees or any future licensors to engage in complex, lengthy and costlylitigation or other proceedings. In addition, certain countries in Europe and developing countries, including China and India, have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner may be compelled to grant licenses to third parties. In those countries, We and our licensees or any future licensors may have limited remedies if patents are infringed or if we or our licensees or any future licensors are compelled to grant a license to a third party, which could materially diminish the value of those patents. This could limit our potential revenue opportunities. Accordingly, we and our licensees’ or any future licensors’ efforts to enforce intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we own or license.
Our reliance on third parties requires us to share our trade secrets, which increases the possibility that a competitor will discover them or that our trade secrets will be misappropriated or disclosed and if we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, the value of our technology could be materially adversely affected and our business would be harmed.
In addition to seeking patents for some of our technology and products, we also rely on trade secrets, including unpatented know-how, technology and other proprietary information, in seeking to develop and maintain a competitive position. Because we expect to rely on third parties to manufacture our product candidates and we expect to collaborate with third parties on the development of our product candidates, we must, at times, share trade secrets with them. We seek to protect these trade secrets, in part, by entering into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties who have access to them, such as our employees, consultants, independent contractors, advisors, corporate collaborators, outside scientific collaborators, contract manufacturers, suppliers and other third parties. We also enter into confidentiality and invention or patent assignment agreements with employees and certain consultants. We also seek to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our data, trade secrets and know-how by maintaining physical security of our premises and physical and electronic security of our information technology systems. Monitoring unauthorized uses and disclosures is difficult, and we do not know whether the steps we have taken to protect our proprietary technologies will be effective.
Since our inception, we have sought to contract with manufacturers to supply commercial quantities of pharmaceutical formulations and products. As a result, we have disclosed, under confidentiality agreements, various aspects of our technology with potential manufacturers and suppliers. We believe that these disclosures, while necessary for our business, may have resulted and may result in the attempt by potential manufacturers and suppliers to improperly assert ownership claims to our technology in an attempt to gain an advantage in negotiating manufacturing and supplier rights.
We cannot guarantee that our trade secrets and other proprietary and confidential information will not be disclosed or that competitors will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets. Any party with whom we have executed such an agreement may breach that agreement and disclose our proprietary information, including our trade secrets, and we may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for such breaches. Enforcing a claim that a party illegallydisclosed or misappropriated a trade secret is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, some courts both within and outside the United States may be less willing or unwilling to protect trade secrets. Further, if any of our trade secrets were to be lawfully obtained or independently developed by a competitor, we would have no right to prevent such third party, or those to whom they communicate such technology or information, from using that technology or information to compete with us. If any of our trade secrets were to be disclosed to or independently developed by a competitor, our business and competitive position could be harmed.
Trade secrets and know-how can be difficult to protect as trade secrets and know-how will over time be disseminated within the industry through independent development, the publication of journal articles, and the movement of personnel skilled in the art from company to company or academic to industry scientific positions. If we fail to prevent material disclosure of the know-how, trade secrets and other intellectual property related to our technologies to third parties, we will not be able to establish or maintain a competitive advantage in our market, which could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. Even if we are able to adequately protect our trade secrets and proprietary information, our trade secrets could otherwise become known or could be independently discovered by our competitors. For example, we are aware that certain of our former employees founded Elysium Therapeutics, which appears to be developing orally administered abusedeterrent opioids. Additionally, competitors could purchase our products and attempt to replicate some or all of the competitive advantages we derive from our development efforts, design around our protected technology or develop their own competitive technologies that fall outside of our intellectual property rights. If any of our trade secrets were to be lawfully obtained or independently developed by a competitor, in the absence of patent protection, we would have no right to prevent them, or those to whom they communicate, from using that technology or information to compete with us.
We may not be able to prevent misappropriation of our intellectual property, trade secrets or confidential information, particularly in countries where the laws may not protect those rights as fully as in the United States. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation.
Intellectual property rights do not necessarily address all potential threats to our business.
Once granted, patents may remain open to opposition, interference, re-examination, post-grant review, inter partes review, nullification or derivation action in court or before patent offices or similar proceedings for a given period after allowance or grant, during which time third parties can raise objectionsagainst such grant. In the course of such proceedings, which may continue for a protracted period of time, the patent owner may be compelled to limit the scope of the allowed or granted claims thus attacked or may lose the allowed or granted claims altogether. In addition, the degree of future protection afforded by our intellectual property rights is uncertain because even granted intellectual property rights have limitations and may not adequately protect our business. The following examples are illustrative:
others may be able to make formulations that are similar to our product candidates or other formulations but that are not covered by the claims of our patent rights;
the patents of third parties may have an adverse effect on our business;
we or any future strategic partners might not have been the first to conceive or reduce to practice the inventions covered by the issued patent or pending patent application that we own;
we or any future strategic partners might not have been the first to file patent applications covering certain of our inventions;
others may independently develop similar or alternative technologies or duplicate any of our technologies without infringing our intellectual property rights;
it is possible that our pending patent applications will not lead to issued patents;
issued patents that we may own or that we exclusively license in the future may not provide us with any competitive advantage, or may be held invalid or unenforceable, as a result of legal challenges by our competitors;
our competitors might conduct research and development activities in countries where we do not have patent rights and then use the information learned from such activities to develop competitive products for sale in our major commercial markets;
third parties performing manufacturing or testing for us using our product candidates or technologies could use the intellectual property of others without obtaining a proper license;
we may not develop 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 have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
The validity, scope and enforceability of any patents listed in the Orange Book that cover our product candidates can be challenged by third parties.
If one of our product candidates is approved by the FDA, one or more third parties may challenge the current patents, or patents that may issue in the future, within our portfolio which could result in the invalidation of, or render unenforceable, some or all of the relevant patent claims or a finding of non-infringement. For example, if a third party submits an application under Section 505(b)(2) or an abbreviated new drug application, or ANDA, for a generic drug containing any of our product candidates, and relies in whole or in part on studies conducted by or for us, the third party will be required to certify to the FDA that either: (1) there is no patent information listed in the Orange Book with respect to our NDA for the applicable approved drug candidate; (2) the patents listed in the Orange Book have expired; (3) the listed patents have not expired, but will expire on a particular date and approval is sought after patent expiration; or (4) the listed patents are invalid or will not be infringed by the manufacture, use or sale of the third party’s generic drug. A certification that the new drug will not infringe the Orange Book-listed patents for the applicable approved drug candidate, or that such patents are invalid, is called a paragraph IV certification. If the third party submits a paragraph IV certification to the FDA, a notice of the paragraph IV certification must also be sent to us once the third party’s ANDA is accepted for filing by the FDA. We may then initiate a lawsuit to defend the patents identified in the notice. The filing of a patent infringement lawsuit within 45 days of receipt of the notice automatically prevents the FDA from approving the third party’s ANDA until the earliest of 30 months or the date on which the patent expires, the lawsuit is settled, or the court reaches a decision in the infringement lawsuit in favor of the third party. If we do not file a patent infringement lawsuit within the required 45-day period, the third party’s ANDA will not be subject to the 30-month stay of FDA approval.
Moreover, a third party may challenge the current patents, or patents that may be issued in the future, within our portfolio which could result in the invalidation of some or all the patents that might otherwise be eligible for listing in the Orange Book for one of our products. If a third party successfullychallenges all of the patents that might otherwise be eligible for listing in the Orange Book for one of our products, we will not be entitled to the 30-month stay of FDA approval upon the filing of an ANDA for a generic drug containing any of our product candidates, and relies in whole or in part on studies conducted by or for us. Litigation or other proceedings to enforce or defend intellectual property rights are often very complex in nature, may be very expensive and time-consuming, may divert our management’s attention from our core business, and may result in unfavorable results that could limit our ability to prevent third parties from competing with our product candidates.
Cyber-attacks or other failures in our telecommunications or information technology systems, or those of our collaborators, CROs, third-party logistics providers, distributors or other contractors or consultants, could result in information theft, data corruption and significant disruption of our business operations.
We, our collaborators, CROs, third-party logistics providers, distributors and other contractors and consultants utilize information technology, or IT, systems and networks to process, transmit and store electronic information in connection with our business activities. As use of digital technologies has increased, cyber incidents, including third parties gaining access to employee accounts using stolen or inferred credentials, computer malware, viruses, spamming, phishing attacks or other means, and deliberate attacks and attempts to gainunauthorized access to computer systems and networks, have increased in frequency and sophistication. These threats pose a risk to the security of us, our collaborators’, CROs’, third-party logistics providers’, distributors’ and other contractors’ and consultants’ systems and networks, and the confidentiality, availability and integrity of our data. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in preventing cyber-attacks or successfully mitigating their effects. Similarly, there can be no assurance that our collaborators, CROs, third-party logistics providers, distributors and other contractors and consultants will be successful in protecting our clinical and other data that is stored on their systems. Like other companies, we have on occasion experienced, and will continue to experience, threats to our data and systems, including malicious codes and viruses, phishing, business email compromise attacks or other cyber-attacks. Any cyber-attack, data breach or destruction or loss of data could result in a violation of applicable United States and international privacy, data protection and other laws and subject us to litigation and governmental investigations and proceedings by federal, state and local regulatory entities in the United States and by international regulatory entities, resulting in exposure to material civil and/or criminal liability. Further, our general liability insurance and corporate risk program may not cover all potential claims to which we are exposed and may not be adequate to indemnify us for all liability that may be imposed, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and prospects. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from completed or ongoing clinical trials for any of our product candidates could result in delays in our development and regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. In addition, we may suffer reputational harm or face litigation or adverse regulatory action as a result of cyber-attacks or other data security breaches and may incur significant additional expense to implement further data protection measures.
Risks Related to the Ownership of Common Stock and Financial Reporting
Raising additional capital has caused, and may in the future cause, dilution to our stockholders, adversely affect the market price of our common stock, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or product candidates.
Our expenses have increased in connection with our planned operations. Unless and until we can generate a substantial amount of revenue from our product candidates, we expect to finance our future cash needs through public or private equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations, licensing arrangements or other sources, or any combination of the foregoing. In addition, we may seek additional capital due to favorable market conditions or strategic considerations, even if we believe that we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans.
To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of common stock, convertible securities or other equity securities as we have done in the past, our stockholders’ ownership interest has been, and may in the future be, diluted. In addition, debt financing, if available, may result in fixed payment obligations and may involve agreements that include restrictive covenants that limit our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures, creating liens, redeeming stock or declaring dividends, that could adversely impact our ability to conduct our business. In addition, securing financing could require a substantial amount of time and attention from our management and may divert a disproportionate amount of their attention away from day-to-day activities, which may adversely affect our management’s ability to oversee the development of our product candidates.
In addition, we may sell securities in the public or private equity markets if and when conditions are favorable, or at prices per share below the current market price of our common stock, even if we do not have an immediate need for additional capital at that time. Sales of substantial amounts of shares of our common stock, or the perception that such sales could occur, could adversely affect the prevailing market price of our shares and our ability to raise capital. We may issue additional shares of common stock in future financing transactions or as incentive compensation for our executive management and other key personnel, consultants and advisors. Moreover, sales of substantial amounts of shares in the public market, or the perception that such sales could occur, may adversely affect the prevailing market price of our common stock and make it more difficult for us to raise additional capital.
Debt financing and preferred equity financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making acquisitions, engaging in acquisition, merger or collaboration transactions, selling or licensing our assets, making capital expenditures, redeeming our stock, making certain investments, declaring dividends or encumbering our assets to secure future indebtedness. Such restrictions could adversely impact our ability to conduct our operations and execute our business plan. Certain warrants we have issued contain such restrictions including a pledge of substantially all of our tangible and intangible assets, including our intellectual property.
If we raise additional funds through upfront payments or milestone payments pursuant to strategic collaborations, strategic alliances or marketing, distribution or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquishvaluable rights to our technologies or intellectual property, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds through equity or debt financings when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development or future commercialization efforts or grant rights to develop and market product candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves.
If we are unable to regain and maintain compliance with the listing standards of Nasdaq, our common stock could be delisted and may become subject to “penny stock” rules, which could have a material adverse effect on the liquidity of our common stock, the ability of investors to sell their shares and our ability to raise funding.
On November 14, 2024, we received notice from Nasdaq stating that we had demonstrated compliance with the $2.5 million stockholders’ equity requirement set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(1) as of September 30, 2024. On December 20, 2024, we received notice from Nasdaq that we had regained compliance with the bid price requirement set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2). As of September 30, 2025, we were not in compliance with that stockholders’ equity requirement but on November 14, 2025, we raised additional capital and our stockholders’ equity then exceeded the requirement. On February 25, 2026, we received notice from Nasdaq that we are no longer in compliance with the bid price requirement because the price of our common stock has remained below $1.00 for more than 30 consecutive business days. We have until August 24, 2026, and possibly longer, to regain compliance with the bid price requirement. There can be no assurance that we will be able to regain and/or maintain compliance with such Nasdaq Listing Rules and our common stock could be delisted.
The de-listing of our common stock on Nasdaq could have a material adverse effect on us, including on our ability to raise capital through alternative financing sources on terms acceptable to us, or at all, and may result in the potential loss of confidence by investors, suppliers, customers and employees and fewer business development opportunities. Upon any delisting, our common stock could become subject to the regulations of the SEC relating to the market for penny stocks. Penny stocks are securities with a price of less than $5.00 per share unless (i) the securities are traded on a “recognized” national exchange or (ii) the issuer has net tangible assets less than $2,000,000 (if the issuer has been in continuous operation for at least three years) or $5,000,000 (if in continuous operation for less than three years), or with average annual revenues of less than $6,000,000 for the last three years.
The procedures applicable to penny stocks requires a broker-dealer to (i) obtain from the investor information concerning his financial situation, investment experience and investment objectives; (ii) reasonably determine, based on that information, that transactions in penny stocks are suitable for the investor and that the investor has sufficient knowledge and experience as to be reasonably capable of evaluating the risks of penny stock transactions; (iii) provide the investor with a written statement setting forth the basis on which the broker-dealer made the determination in (ii) above; and (iv) receive a signed and dated copy of such statement from the investor, confirming that it accurately reflects the investor’s financial situation, investment experience and investment objectives. The regulations applicable to penny stocks may severely affect the market liquidity for our common stock and could limit the ability of stockholders to sell their common stock in the secondary market.
We are a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to “smaller reporting companies,” this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are a “ smaller reporting company ” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (i) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates is greater than or equal to $250 million as of the end of that fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter, and (ii) our annual revenues are greater than or equal to $100 million during the last completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
Our internal controls over financial reporting may not meet all of the standards contemplated by Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and failure to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could impair our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations and have a material adverse effect on our business.
Our management has significant requirements for enhanced financial reporting and internal controls as a public company. The process of designing and implementing effective internal controls is a continuous effort that will require us to anticipate and react to changes in our business and the economic and regulatory environments and to expend significant resources to maintain a system of internal controls that is adequate to satisfy our reporting obligations as a public company. If we are unable to maintain appropriate internal financial reporting controls and procedures, it could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations on a timely basis or result in material misstatements in our consolidated financial statements, which could harm our operating results. In addition, we are required, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, to furnish a report by management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. This assessment needs to include disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting. The rules governing the standards that must be met for our management to assess our internal control over financial reporting are complex and require significant documentation, testing, and possible remediation.
Matters impacting our internal controls may cause us to be unable to report our financial information on a timely basis and thereby subject us to adverse regulatory consequences, including sanctions by the SEC, or violations of applicable stock exchange listing rules, which may result in a breach of the covenants under existing or future financing arrangements. There also could be a negative reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of investor confidence in us and the reliability of our financial statements. This could materially adversely affect us and lead to a decline in the market price of our common stock.
The amount of our future losses is uncertain and our quarterly and annual operating results may fluctuate significantly or fall below the expectations of investors or securities analysts, each of which may cause our stock price to fluctuate or decline.
Our quarterly and annual operating results may fluctuate significantly in the future due to a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control and may be difficult to predict, including the following:
the timing and success or failure of clinical trials for our product candidates or competing product candidates, or any other change in the competitive landscape of our industry,
our ability to successfully recruit and retain subjects for clinical trials, and any delays caused by difficulties in such efforts;
the risk/benefit profile, cost and reimbursement policies with respect to our product candidates, if approved, and existing and potential future therapeutics that compete with our product candidates;
our ability to obtain marketing approval for our product candidates and the timing and scope of any such approvals we may receive;
the timing and cost of, and level of investment in, research and development activities relating to our product candidates, which may change from time to time;
the cost of manufacturing our product candidates, which may vary depending on the quantity of production and the terms of our agreements with manufacturers;
our ability to attract, hire and retain qualified personnel;
expenditures that we will or may incur to develop additional product candidates;
the level of demand for our product candidates should they receive approval, which may vary significantly;
the changing and volatile U.S. and global economic environments; and
future accounting pronouncements or changes in our accounting policies.
The cumulative effects of these factors could result in large fluctuations and unpredictability in our quarterly and annual operating results. As a result, comparing our operating results on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful. This variability and unpredictability could also result in our failing to meet the expectations of industry or financial analysts or investors for any period. If our operating results or revenue fall below the expectations of analysts or investors or below any forecasts we may provide to the market, or if the forecasts we provide to the market are below the expectations of analysts or investors, the price of our common stock could decline substantially. Such a stock price decline could occur even when we have met any previously publicly stated guidance we may provide, if any.
Warrants for shares of our common stock, if exercised, will increase the number of shares eligible for future resale in the public market and result in dilution to our stockholders.
We have issued a significant amount of warrants to purchase shares of our common stock in connection with various financing transactions. To the extent these warrants are exercised, additional shares of our common stock will be issued, which will result in dilution to the holders of shares of our common stock and increase the number of shares of common stock eligible for resale in the public market. Sales of substantial numbers of such shares of common stock in the public market or the fact that such warrants may be exercised could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
Our issuance of additional capital stock in connection with financings, acquisitions, investments and our 2021 Omnibus Incentive Plan will dilute all other stockholders.
We expect to issue additional capital stock in the future that will result in dilution to all other stockholders. We have granted equity awards to employees, directors, and consultants under our 2021 Omnibus Incentive Plan and plan to do so in the future. We may also raise capital through equity financings in the future. As part of our business strategy, we may acquire or make investments in complementary companies, products, or technologies and issue equity securities to pay for any such acquisition or investment. Any such issuances of additional capital stock may cause stockholders to experience significant dilution of their ownership interests and the per share value of our common stock to decline.
able
Our lead product candidate, PF614, is in Phase 3 clinical development, PF614-MPAR is in Phase 1b clinical development and nafamostat is proceeding towards Phase 1 clinical development. Our other product candidates and our research initiatives are in preclinical or earlier stages of development. Our ability to generate revenue from product sales sufficient to achieveprofitability will depend heavily on the successful development and eventual commercialization of one or more of our product candidates. We have not yet successfully completed any pivotal clinical trials, nor have we obtained any regulatory approvals, manufactured a commercial-scale drug, or conducted sales and marketing activities.
We have incurred significant operating losses since inception and we expect to continue to incur net losses for the foreseeable future. We expect that our expenses and capital requirements will increase substantially in connection with our ongoing development activities, particularly if and as we:
continue preclinical studies and continues existing and initiates new clinical trials for PF614, PF614-MPAR and nafamostat, our lead product candidates being tested for chronic pain and infectious disease;
advance the development of our product candidate pipeline of other product candidates, including through business development efforts to invest in or in-license other technologies or product candidates;
maintain, expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio;
hire additional clinical, quality control, medical, scientific and other technical personnel to support our clinical operations;
seek regulatory approval for any product candidates that successfully complete clinical trials;
undertake any pre-commercialization activities to establish sales, marketing and distribution capabilities for any product candidates for which we may receive regulatory approval;
expand our infrastructure and facilities to accommodate our growing employee base; and
add operational, financial and management information systems and personnel, including personnel to support our research and development programs, any future commercialization efforts and our transition to operating as a public company.
We have incurred and expect to continue to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company, including significant legal, accounting, insurance, investor relations and other expenses. We may never become profitable.
We require substantial additional funding to support our continuing operations and pursue our growth strategy. Until we can generate significant revenue from product sales, if ever, we expect to finance our operations through a combination of private and public equity offerings, debt financings or other capital sources, which may include collaborations with other companies or other strategic transactions. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of private or public equity or convertible debt securities, existing ownership interests will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect the rights of our equity holders.
Debt financing and equity financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, issuing additional equity, making acquisitions or capital expenditures or declaring dividends. If we raise additional funds through collaborations or other strategic transactions with third parties, we may have to relinquishvaluable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or drug candidates, or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. We may be unable to raise additional funds or enter into such other agreements or arrangements when needed on favorable terms, or at all. If we fail to raise capital or enter into such agreements as and when needed, we may have to significantly delay, scale back or discontinue the development and commercialization of one or more of our product candidates or delay our pursuit of potential in-licenses or acquisitions.
Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with product development, we are unable to predict the timing or amount of increased expenses or when or if we will be able to achieve or maintain profitability. Even if we are able to generate product sales, we may not become profitable. If we fail to become profitable or are unable to sustain profitability on a continuing basis, we may be unable to continue our operations at planned levels and be forced to reduce or terminate our operations.
We have generated limited revenues and have incurred significant operating losses since our inception and expect to continue to incur operating losses for the foreseeable future. These factors raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our future viability is dependent on our ability to raise additional capital to finance our operations. Without raising additional capital through a future offering, we believe that current cash on hand is sufficient to fund operations into the second quarter of 2026. We based this estimate on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could exhaust our available capital resources sooner than we expect. See “— Liquidity and Capital Resources .” Our future viability beyond the twelve months is dependent on our ability to raise additional capital to finance our operations.
We expect to incur substantial expenses in the foreseeable future for the development and potential commercialization of our product candidates and ongoing internal research and development programs. At this time, we cannot reasonably estimate the nature, timing or aggregate amount of costs for our development, potential commercialization, and internal research and development programs. However, in order to complete our current and future preclinical studies and clinical trials, and to complete the process of obtaining regulatory approval for our product candidates, as well as to build the sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure that we believe will be necessary to commercialize our product candidates, if approved, we may require substantial additional funding in the future.
Series B Preferred Stock Financing
On November 13, 2025, we entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with an institutional investor (the “Purchaser”) providing for (i) a registered direct offering and (ii) a concurrent private placement (collectively, the “Offerings”). The registered direct offering closed on November 14, 2025.
In the registered direct offering, the Company issued 1,513 shares of Series B Preferred Stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Preferred Stock”), convertible into 665,922 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Common Stock”, the “Underlying Shares”). The Preferred Stock has a stated value of $1,100 per share, was sold at $1,000 per share, and is convertible into Common Stock at a conversion price of $2.50 per share, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments. The Preferred Stock and the Underlying Shares were issued pursuant to an effective registration statement on Form S-3.
In the concurrent private placement, the Company issued 2,487 unregistered shares of Preferred Stock convertible into up to 1,094,078 shares of Common Stock, subject to adjustment, as well as warrants (the “Warrants”) to purchase up to 880,000 shares of Common Stock, subject to adjustment. The Warrants have an exercise price of $2.50 per share, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments, are exercisable beginning six months after issuance, and expire on the fifth anniversary of the later of (i) the effectiveness of a resale registration statement covering the Warrants and (ii) receipt of required stockholder approval (“Stockholder Approval”).
The Company evaluated the terms of the Series B Preferred Stock for embedded features that may require bifurcation as derivative instruments under ASC 815. Certain features were identified that met the definition of a derivative. However, the Company concluded that the fair value of such features was not material to the financial statements and accordingly did not recognize them as separate derivative liabilities. The Company will continue to reassess this conclusion at each reporting period.
2025 April Warrant Inducement
In April 2025, we entered into an Inducement Letter with certain warrant holders for the exercise of certain outstanding warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 630,376 share of our common stock, par value $0.0001 per share. The warrants were issued in March 2025 with an exercise price of $3.24 share. The shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of such outstanding warrants are registered pursuant to an effective register statement on Form S-3.
In consideration for the immediate exercise of the warrants for cash and the payment of an additional $0.125 per new unregistered warrant (an additional $157,594 included in our gross proceeds), pursuant to the Inducement Agreement, we agreed to issue and sell unregistered warrants to purchase shares of common stock. The new warrants (the “ Common Warrants ”) are exercisable for an aggregate of up to 1,260,752 shares of common stock. The Common Warrants have an exercise price of $1.90 per share and are immediately exercisable for shares of common stock. One half of the Common Warrants will expire after eighteen (18) months and the other half will expire after five (5) years. Our gross proceeds from the exercise of the warrants and payment for Common Warrants was approximately $2.2 million, prior to deducting placement agent fees and estimated offering expenses.
We utilized a placement agent for the 2025 April Warrant Inducement and incurred approximately $0.3 million in legal fees and other closing costs. Additionally, we issued to the placement agent as compensation unregistered warrants to purchase up to 44,126 shares of common stock, equal to 7.0% of the aggregate number of shares of Common Stock (or warrants) placed in the transaction. The placement agent warrants expire on April 24, 2030, and have an exercise price of $4.05 per share of common stock. The closing of the offering occurred on April 24, 2025.
2025 Registered Direct Offering and 2025 March Warrant Offering
In March 2025, we entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement with certain institutional investors, pursuant to which we agreed to issue and sell in a registered direct offering, (i) an aggregate of 239,594 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share at an offering price of $3.49 per share, (ii) pre-funded warrants to purchase up to 75,594 shares of common stock, at a price per pre-funded warrant equal to $3.4899, the price per share less $0.0001, for gross proceeds of approximately $1.1 million before the deduction of placement agent fees and offering expenses. The pre-funded warrants were fully exercised as of March 31, 2025, and the related common shares were issued in April 2025.
In a concurrent private placement, pursuant to the terms of the SPA, we also agreed to issue and sell unregistered warrants to purchase up to 315,188 shares of Common Stock (the “ Series A-5 Warrants ”), and Series A-6 warrants to purchase up to 315,188 shares of Common Stock (the “ Series A-6 Warrants ”), to purchase up to an aggregate 630,376 shares of Common Stock. The warrants have an exercise price of $3.24 per share and are exercisable immediately. The Series A-5 Warrants will expire eighteen (18) months after issuance and the Series A-6 Warrants will expire five (5) years after issuance. The warrants contain customary anti-dilution adjustments to the exercise price, including for share splits, share dividends, rights offering and pro rata distributions.
We agreed to pay the placement agent a cash fee equal to 7% of the aggregate gross proceeds of the offerings or $77,000. We also agreed to pay the placement agent $65,950 for expenses. We also issued to the placement agent warrants to purchase up to 22,063 shares of common stock. These warrants have an exercise price equal to $4.3625 per share and are exercisable for five years.
2024 Registered Direct Offering and 2024 August Warrant Inducement
In August 2024, we entered into a definitive Securities Purchase Agreement with certain institutional investors, pursuant to which we agreed to issue and sell in a registered direct offering, (i) an aggregate of 166,054 shares of our common stock, par value $0.0001 per share at an offering price of $7.05 per share, (ii) pre-funded warrants to purchase up to 70,827 shares of Common Stock, at a price per pre-funded warrant equal to $7.0485, the price per share less $0.0001, for gross proceeds of approximately $1.7 million before the deduction of placement agent fees and offering expenses. The pre-funded warrants were subsequently exercised in full.
We also entered into an inducement agreement with certain warrant holders for the exercise of certain outstanding warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 480,234 shares of our common stock originally issued in February 2024, having an exercise price of $15.90 per share, at a reduced exercise price of $7.05 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $3.4 million before the deduction of placement agent fees and offering expenses. We also agreed to amend certain existing warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 133,334 shares of common stock that were previously issued in November 2023 and have an exercise price of $23.5125 per share such that the amended warrants will have a reduced exercise price of $7.05 per share effective upon the closing of the offering and will be exercisable from the date on which stockholder approval is received with respect to the issuance of the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants.
In a concurrent private placement, pursuant to the terms of the inducement agreement and Securities Purchase Agreement, we also agreed to issue and sell unregistered warrants to purchase up to 1,863,706 shares of common stock. The warrants have an exercise price of $7.05 per share and are exercisable from the date on which stockholder approval is received with respect to the issuance of the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants. One half of the warrants will expire eighteen months after they are exercisable and the other half will expire five years after they are exercisable. The warrants contain customary anti-dilution adjustments to the exercise price, including for share splits, share dividends, rights offering and pro rata distributions.
We agreed to pay the placement agent a cash fee equal to 7% of the aggregate gross proceeds of the offerings or $354,000. We also agreed to pay the placement agent $100,950 for expenses. We also issued to the placement agent warrants to purchase up to 50,200 shares of common stock. These warrants have an exercise price equal to $8.8125 per share and are exercisable for five years from the commencement of sales in the Offerings.
2024 February Warrant Inducement
In February 2024, we entered into an Inducement Letter with certain holders of existing warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 240,120 shares of our common stock issued to the holders in connection with the 2023 May Offering. Pursuant to the Inducement Letter, the holders agreed to exercise for cash their existing warrants to purchase an aggregate of 240,120 shares of Common Stock at a reduced exercise price of $19.65 per share in consideration of our agreement to issue new unregistered Series A Warrants to purchase up to 240,120 shares of Common Stock and new unregistered Series B Warrants to purchase up to 240,120 shares of Common Stock. The Series A Warrants have an exercise price of $15.90 per share and have a term equal to eighteen months from the date of issuance. The Series B Warrants have an exercise price of $15.90 per share and will expire on May 12, 2028. The gross proceeds to us from the exercise of the warrants were approximately $4.7 million, prior to deducting placement agent fees and estimated offering expenses.
In connection with the execution of the Inducement Letter, we entered into a waiver related to the 2023 Notes’ SPA it had entered into as of October 23, 2023. The SPA contained restrictions on our ability to undertake certain transactions, which included entering into the Inducement Letter. The Waiver permitted us to enter into the Inducement Letter but required repayment of the remaining $0.5 million of investor held notes issued under the SPA with a premium of $0.5 million following closing of the inducement transaction.
We utilized an exclusive placement agent for the 2024 Warrant Inducement and incurred approximately $0.3 million in legal fees and other closing costs. Additionally, we issued to the placement agent as compensation unregistered warrants to purchase up to 16,811 shares of Common Stock, equal to 7.0% of the aggregate number of shares of Common Stock (or warrants) placed in the transaction. The placement agent warrants expire on May 12, 2028, and have an exercise price of $24.5625 per share of Common Stock (equal to 125% of the reduced exercise price per Existing Warrant).
Components of Our Operating Results
Revenue
We have generated limited revenue since our inception and we do not expect to generate any revenue from the sale of products in the near future, if at all. If our development efforts are successful and we commercialize our products, or if we enter into collaboration or license agreements with third parties, we may generate revenue in the future from product sales, as well as upfront, milestone and royalty payments from such collaboration or license agreements, or a combination thereof.
We have received funding under federal grants from the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) through the National Institute on Drug Abuse (“NIDA”). In September 2018 and August 2024, we were awarded a research and development grant related to the development of our MPAR® overdose prevention technology (the “MPAR Grant”). In September 2019, we were awarded a second research and development grant related to the development of our TAAP/MPAR® abusedeterrent technology for Opioid Use Disorder (“OUD”) (the “OUD Grant”). Grant funds are awarded annually through a Notice of Award which contains certain terms and conditions including, but not limited to, complying with the grant program legislation, regulation and policy requirements, complying with conditions on expenditures of funds with respect to other applicable statutory requirements such as the federal appropriations acts, periodic reporting requirements, and budget requirements.
Operating Expenses
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development expenses consist primarily of costs incurred for research activities, including drug discovery efforts and the development of our product candidates. We expense research and development costs as incurred, which include:
expenses incurred to conduct the necessary preclinical studies and clinical trials required to obtain regulatory approval;
expenses incurred under agreements with CROs that are primarily engaged in the oversight and conduct of our drug discovery efforts and preclinical studies, clinical trials and CMOs that are primarily engaged to provide preclinical and clinical drug substance and product for our research and development programs;
other costs related to acquiring and manufacturing materials in connection with our drug discovery efforts and preclinical studies and clinical trial materials, including manufacturing validation batches, as well as investigative sites and consultants that conduct our clinical trials, preclinical studies and other scientific development services;
payments made in cash or equity securities under third-party licensing, acquisition and option agreements;
employee-related expenses, including salaries and benefits, travel and stock-based compensation expense for employees engaged in research and development functions;
costs related to compliance with regulatory requirements; and
allocated facilities-related costs, depreciation and other expenses, which include rent and utilities.
We recognize external development costs as incurred. Any advance payments that we make for goods or services to be received in the future for use in research and development activities are recorded as prepaid expenses. Such amounts are expensed as the related goods are delivered or the related services are performed, or until it is no longer expected that the goods will be delivered or the services rendered. We estimate and accrue for the value of goods and services received from CROs and other third parties each reporting period based on an evaluation of the progress to completion of specific tasks using information provided to us by our service providers. This process involves reviewing open contracts and purchase orders, communicating with our personnel to identify services that have been performed on our behalf and estimating the level of service performed and the associated cost incurred for the service when we have not yet been invoiced or otherwise notified of actual costs.
We do not track our research and development expenses on a program-by-program basis. Our direct external research and development expenses consist primarily of external costs, such as fees paid to outside consultants, CROs, CMOs and research laboratories in connection with our preclinical development, process development, manufacturing and clinical development activities. We do not allocate employee costs, costs associated with our discovery efforts, laboratory supplies, and facilities, 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 to conduct our research and development as well as to manage our preclinical development, process development, manufacturing and clinical development activities. These employees work across multiple programs and, therefore, we do not track our costs by program and cannot state precisely the total costs incurred for each of our clinical and preclinical programs on a project-by-project basis.
Research and development activities are central to our business model. Product candidates in later stages of clinical development generally have higher development costs than those in earlier stages of clinical development, primarily due to the increased size and duration of later-stage clinical trials. As a result, we expect that our research and development expenses will remain elevated as we continue our existing, and commence additional, planned clinical trials for PF614, PF614-MPAR® and nafamostat, as well as conduct other preclinical and clinical development, including submitting regulatory filings for our other product candidates, subject to our ability to obtain financing. We also expect our related personnel costs to increase and, as a result, we expect our research and development expenses, including costs associated with stock-based compensation, to remain elevated. In addition, we may incur additional expenses related to milestone and royalty payments payable to third parties with whom we may enter into license, acquisition and option agreements to acquire the rights to future product candidates.
At this time, we cannot reasonably estimate or know the nature, timing and costs of the efforts that will be necessary to complete the preclinical and clinical development of any of our product candidates or when, if ever, material net cash inflows may commence from any of our product candidates. The successful development and commercialization of our product candidates are highly uncertain. This uncertainty is due to the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with product development and commercialization, including the uncertainty of the following:
the scope, progress, outcome and costs of our preclinical development activities, clinical trials and other research and development activities;
establishing an appropriate safety and efficacy profile with investigational new drug (“ IND ”) enabling studies;
successful patient enrollment in and the initiation and completion of clinical trials;
the timing, receipt and terms of any marketing approvals from applicable regulatory authorities including the FDA and non-U.S. regulators;
the extent of any required post-marketing approval commitments to applicable regulatory authorities;
establishing clinical and commercial manufacturing capabilities or making arrangements with third-party manufacturers in order to ensure that we or our third-party manufacturers are able to make product successfully;
development and timely delivery of clinical-grade and commercial-grade drug formulations that can be used in our clinical trials and for commercial launch;
obtaining, maintaining, defending and enforcing patent claims and other intellectual property rights;
significant and changing government regulation;
launching commercial sales of our product candidates, if and when approved, whether alone or in collaboration with others; and
maintaining a continued acceptable safety profile of our product candidates following approval, if any, of our product candidates.
Any changes in the outcome of any of these variables with respect to the development of our product candidates in preclinical and clinical development could mean a significant change in the costs and timing associated with the development of these product candidates. For example, if the FDA 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 significant delays in enrollment in any of our planned clinical trials, we could be required to expend significant additional financial resources and time on the completion of clinical development of that product candidate.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of employee-related expenses, including salaries and related benefits, travel and stock-based compensation for personnel in executive, business development, finance, human resources, legal, information technology, and administrative functions. General and administrative expenses also include direct and allocated facility-related costs as well as insurance costs and professional fees for legal, patent, consulting, investor and public relations, accounting and audit services. We expense general and administrative costs as incurred.
We anticipate that our general and administrative expenses will increase in the future as we increase our headcount to support the continued development of our product candidates, subject to our ability to obtain financing. We also anticipate that we will continue to incur significant accounting, audit, legal, regulatory, compliance and director and officer insurance costs as well as investor and public relations expenses. Additionally, if and when we believe a regulatory approval of a product candidate appears likely, we anticipate an increase in payroll and other employee-related expenses as a result of our preparation for commercial operations, especially as it relates to the sales and marketing of that product candidate.
Other Income (Expense)
Change in fair value of liability classified warrants
We use a Black-Scholes option pricing model to estimate the fair value of the warrants. Changes in the fair value of the warrants are recognized through earnings for each reporting period.
Interest Expense
Interest expense consists of interest accrued on our financed directors’ and officers’ insurance, and interest from the 2023 Notes based on the stated interest rate. In addition, the 2023 Notes reflects amortization of the debt discount from the original issuance and a discount associated with the warrant issuances and amortization of the associated debt issuance costs that are all recorded as interest expense.
Provision for Income Taxes
We have not recorded any significant amounts related to income tax expense, we have not recognized any reserves related to uncertain tax positions, nor have we recorded any income tax benefits for the majority of our net losses we have incurred to date or for our research and development tax credits.
We account for income taxes using the asset and liability method, which requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in the financial statements or our tax returns. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on difference between the financial statement carrying amounts and tax bases of existing assets and liabilities and for loss and credit carryforwards, which are measured using the enacted tax rates and laws in effect in the years in which the differences are expected to reverse. The realization of our deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income, the amount and timing of which are uncertain. Valuation allowances are provided, if, based upon the weight of available evidence, it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. As of December 31, 2025 and 2024, we continue to maintain a full valuation allowance against all of our deferred tax assets based on our evaluation of all available evidence.
We file income tax returns in the United States federal tax jurisdiction and state jurisdictions and may become subject to income tax audit and adjustments by related tax authorities. Our tax return period for United States federal income taxes for the tax years since 2022 remain open to examination under the statute of limitations by the Internal Revenue Service and state jurisdictions. We record reserves for potential tax payments to various tax authorities related to uncertain tax positions, if any. The nature of uncertain tax positions is subject to significant judgment by management and subject to change, which may be substantial. These reserves are based on a determination of whether and how much a tax benefit taken by us in our tax filings or whether our position is more likely than not to be realized following the resolution of any potential contingencies related to the tax benefit. We develop our assessment of uncertain tax positions, and the associated cumulative probabilities, using internal expertise and assistance from third-party experts. As additional information becomes available, estimates are revised and refined. Differences between estimates and final settlement may occur resulting in additional tax expense. Potential interest and penalties associated with such uncertain tax positions is recorded as a component of our provision for income taxes. To date, no amounts are being presented as an uncertain tax position.
The following table summarizes our results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024:
Results of Operations
Comparison of the Years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024
Year Ended December 31,
Change
Federal grants
Operating expenses:
Research and development
General and administrative
Total operating expenses
Loss from operations
Other income (expense):
Change in fair value of liability classified warrants
Interest expense
Other income and expense, net
Total other income (expenses), net
Net loss
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests
Deemed dividend related to warrants down round provision
Net loss attributable to common stockholders
Federal Grants
Revenue from federal grants totaled $5.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to $5.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, respectively. The $0.1 million difference is due to the timing of research activities eligible for funding under the OUD and MPAR grants. A decrease of $2.1 million in funding under the OUD grant that ended in August 2024 was offset by an increase of $2.0 million in funding under the MPAR grant which began in September 2024.
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development expenses were $10.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to $7.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, respectively, representing a increase of $3.2 million. The increase was primarily the result of external research and development costs related to increased clinical and pre-clinical programs for PF614 and PF614-MPAR. We expect future research and development expenses to increase once we begin the Phase 3 clinical trial for PF614, with such timing dependent upon our ability to raise capital sufficient to fund these expenses.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses were $4.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to $4.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 respectively, representing an increase of $0.2 million. We expect future general and administrative expenses to approximate current levels.
Other Income and Expense
Other income and expense for the year ended December 31, 2025, consisted primarily of interest income from cash and cash equivalents. Other income and expense for the year ended December 31, 2024, consisted primarily of interest expense associated with the amortization of the original issue discount and the debt issuance costs associated with the 2023 Notes.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Sources of Liquidity and Capital
As of December 31, 2025, we had $4.3 million of cash and cash equivalents. Since inception, we have generated limited revenues and have incurred significant operating losses and negative cash flows from our operations, and we anticipate that we will continue to incur losses for at least the foreseeable future. We have not yet commercialized any of our product candidates and we do not expect to generate revenue from sales of any product candidates for several years, if at all.
We have funded our operations to date primarily with proceeds from the sale of common equity, funding under federal research grants and borrowings under convertible promissory notes. To fund future operations, we will need to raise additional capital. The amount and timing of future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including the timing and results of our ongoing research and development efforts and related general and administrative support. We anticipate that we will fund our operations through public or private equity or debt financings or other sources, such as potential collaboration agreements. We cannot make assurances that anticipated additional financing will be available to us on favorable terms, if at all.
The remaining cash funding under the MPAR federal research grant totaled $7.4 million at December 31, 2025 and is expected to be utilized by May 31, 2027. Pursuant to the terms and conditions, we are required to submit progress reports to NIDA on an annual basis and a final research performance progress report within 120 days of the performance period end date.
Going Concern
We have generated limited revenues and have incurred significant operating losses since our inception. We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and operating losses for the foreseeable future. Without capital raised through financing transactions, existing cash resources are sufficient to allow us to fund current planned operations into the second quarter of 2026, which raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
For additional information on risks associated with our substantial capital requirements, please read the section titled “ Risk Factors ” included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024
The following table summarizes our cash flows for each of the periods presented:
Year Ended December 31,
Net cash used in operating activities
Net cash used in investing activities
Net cash provided by financing activities
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents
Operating Activities
During the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, we used cash in operating activities of $7.8 million and $7.5 million, respectively. The increase primarily result from the timing of vendor invoicing and payments.
Financing Activities
During the year ended December 31, 2025, net cash provided by financing activities was $8.7 million, primarily consisting of net proceeds from Series B Preferred stock financing, warrant inducements, a public offering of common stock and warrant exercises. During the year ended December 31, 2024, net cash provided by financing activities was $9.9 million, primarily consisting of net proceeds from the August 2024 public offering, warrant exercises and warrant inducements, net of transaction costs, less repayment of convertible notes of million and financed insurance premiums.
Funding Requirements
Our primary use of cash is to fund operating expenses, primarily related to our research and development activities. Cash used to fund operating expenses is impacted by the timing of when we pay these expenses, as reflected in the change in our outstanding accounts payable, accrued expenses and prepaid expenses.
We expect our expenses, excluding non-cash expenses to recognize the fair value of warrants and convertible notes, to remain elevated in connection with our ongoing activities, particularly as we advance the preclinical activities and clinical trials of our product candidates. In addition, upon the completion of the Merger, we have incurred, and will continue to incur, additional costs associated with operating as a public company, including significant legal, accounting, insurance, investor relations and other expenses. The timing and amount of our operating expenditures will depend largely on our ability to:
advance preclinical development of our early-stage programs and clinical trials of our product candidates;
manufacture, or have manufactured on our behalf, our preclinical and clinical drug material and develop processes for late state and commercial manufacturing;
seek regulatory approvals for any product candidates that successfully complete clinical trials;
establish a sales, marketing, medical affairs and distribution infrastructure to commercialize any product candidates for which we may obtain marketing approval and intend to commercialize on our own;
hire additional clinical, quality control and scientific personnel;
expand our operational, financial and management systems and increase personnel, including personnel to support our clinical development, manufacturing and commercialization efforts and our operations as a public company;
obtain, maintain, expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio;
manage the costs of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications, maintaining and protecting our intellectual property rights, including enforcing and defending intellectual property related claims; and
manage the costs of operating as a public company.
Commitments
Our commitments as of December 31, 2025 included an estimated $18.7 million related to open purchase orders and contractual obligations that occurred in the ordinary course of business, including commitments with contract research organizations for multi-year pre-clinical and clinical research studies. Although open purchase orders are considered enforceable and legally binding, the terms generally allow us the option to cancel, reschedule, and adjust requirements based on our business needs prior to the delivery of goods or the performance of services.
Working Capital
Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with research, development and commercialization of biologic product candidates, we are unable to estimate the exact amount of our working capital requirements. Our future funding requirements will depend on and could increase significantly as a result of many factors, including:
the scope, progress, results and costs of researching and developing our product candidates, and conducting preclinical and clinical trials;
the costs, timing and outcome of regulatory review of our product candidates;
the costs, timing and ability to manufacture our product candidates to supply our clinical and preclinical development efforts and our clinical trials;
the costs of future activities, including product sales, medical affairs, marketing, manufacturing and distribution, for any of our product candidates for which we receive marketing approval;
the costs of manufacturing commercial-grade product and necessary inventory to support commercial launch;
the ability to receive additional non-dilutive funding, including grants from organizations and foundations;
the revenue, if any, received from commercial sale of our products, should any of our product candidates receive marketing approval;
the costs of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications, obtaining, maintaining, expanding and enforcing our intellectual property rights and defending intellectual property-related claims;
our ability to establish and maintain collaborations on favorable terms, if at all; and
the extent to which we acquire or in-license other product candidates and technologies.
Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Judgments and Estimates
Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, costs and expenses. We base our estimates on historical experience, known trends and events and various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. Our actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
While our significant accounting policies are described in more detail in Note 3 to our audited consolidated financial statements, we believe that the following accounting policy is the most critical to the judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements.
Accrued Research and Development Expenses
As part of the process of preparing our consolidated 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 cost incurred for the service when it has not yet been invoiced or otherwise notified of actual costs. Many of our service providers invoice us in arrears for services performed, on a pre-determined 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 adjust 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 and clinical trial materials.
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 period.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
We do not have during the periods presented, and do not currently have, any off-balance sheet arrangements, as defined in the rules and regulations of the SEC.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
A description of recently issued accounting pronouncements that may potentially impact our financial position and results of operations is disclosed in Note 3 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Smaller Reporting Company Status
We are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (i) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (ii) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30.
