AIM ImmunoTech Inc. - Quarter Report: 2009 March (Form 10-Q)
UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON,
D.C. 20549
FORM
10-Q
Quarterly
Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)
of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
For the
Quarterly Period Ended March 31, 2009
Commission
File Number: 1-13441
HEMISPHERx
BIOPHARMA, INC.
(Exact
name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware
|
52-0845822
|
|
(State
or other jurisdiction of
|
(I.R.S.
Employer
|
|
incorporation
or organization)
|
Identification
No.)
|
1617 JFK
Boulevard, Suite 660, Philadelphia, PA 19103
(Address
of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
(215)
988-0080
(Registrant's
telephone number, including area code)
Not
Applicable
(Former
name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last
report)
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be
filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the
preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required
to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for
the past 90 days. x
Yes ¨ No
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an
accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting
company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated
filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange
Act. (Check one):
¨Large accelerated
filer
|
x Accelerated
filer
|
¨Non-accelerated
filer
|
¨ Smaller reporting
company
|
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule
12b-2 of the Exchange Act). ¨
Yes x No
84,621,416
shares of common stock were issued and outstanding as of May 7,
2009.
PART I - FINANCIAL
INFORMATION
ITEM
1: Financial Statements
HEMISPHERx
BIOPHARMA, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated
Balance Sheets
(in
thousands, except share and per share data)
December 31,
2008
|
March 31,
2009
|
|||||||
(Unaudited)
|
||||||||
ASSETS
|
||||||||
Current
assets:
|
||||||||
Cash
and cash equivalents
|
$ | 6,119 | $ | 3,621 | ||||
Short
term investments (Note 4)
|
- | 1,920 | ||||||
Inventories
|
864 | 864 | ||||||
Prepaid
expenses and other current assets
|
330 | 275 | ||||||
Total
current assets
|
7,313 | 6,680 | ||||||
Property
and equipment, net
|
4,877 | 4,794 | ||||||
Patent
and trademark rights, net
|
969 | 867 | ||||||
Investment
|
35 | 35 | ||||||
Other
assets
|
17 | 16 | ||||||
Total
assets
|
$ | 13,211 | $ | 12,392 | ||||
LIABILITIES
AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
|
||||||||
Current
liabilities:
|
||||||||
Accounts
payable
|
$ | 791 | $ | 979 | ||||
Accrued
expenses (Note 5)
|
876 | 1,468 | ||||||
Total
current liabilities
|
1,667 | 2,447 | ||||||
Commitments
and contingencies
|
||||||||
Stockholders’
equity (Note 6):
|
||||||||
Preferred
stock, par value $0.01 per share, authorized 5,000,000; issued and
outstanding; none
|
- | - | ||||||
Common
stock, par value $0.001 per share, authorized 200,000,000 shares; issued
and outstanding 78,750,995 and 81,842,103 respectively
|
79 | 82 | ||||||
Additional
paid-in capital
|
208,874 | 210,359 | ||||||
Accumulated
deficit
|
(197,409 | ) | (200,496 | ) | ||||
Total
stockholders’ equity
|
11,544 | 9,945 | ||||||
Total
liabilities and stockholders’ equity
|
$ | 13,211 | $ | 12,392 |
See
accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
2
HEMISPHERX
BIOPHARMA, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated
Statements of Operations
(in
thousands, except share and per share data)
(Unaudited)
Three months ended March
31,
|
||||||||
2008
|
2009
|
|||||||
Revenues:
|
||||||||
Sales
of product, net
|
$ | 173 | $ | - | ||||
Clinical
treatment programs
|
35 | 29 | ||||||
Total
revenues
|
208 | 29 | ||||||
Costs
and expenses:
|
||||||||
Production/cost
of goods sold
|
249 | 121 | ||||||
Research
and development
|
1,307 | 1,595 | ||||||
General
and administrative
|
1,897 | 1,166 | ||||||
Total
costs and expenses
|
3,453 | 2,882 | ||||||
Operating
loss
|
(3,245 | ) | (2,853 | ) | ||||
Interest
and other income
|
80 | 7 | ||||||
Financing
costs
|
- | (241 | ) | |||||
Net
loss
|
$ | (3,165 | ) | $ | (3,087 | ) | ||
Basic
and diluted loss per share (Note 2)
|
$ | (.04 | ) | $ | (.04 | ) | ||
Weighted
average shares outstanding, basic and diluted
|
73,865,138 | 79,836,247 |
See
accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
3
HEMISPHERx
BIOPHARMA, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated
Statements of Changes in Stockholders' Equity and Comprehensive
Loss
(in thousands except
share data)
(Unaudited)
Common
Stock
Shares
|
Common
Stock
$.001
Par
Value
|
Additional
Paid-In
Capital
|
Accumulated
Deficit
|
Total
Stockholders’
Equity
|
||||||||||||||||
Balance
at December 31, 2008
|
78,750,995 | $ | 79 | $ | 208,874 | $ | (197,409 | ) | $ | 11,544 | ||||||||||
Stock
issued for settlement of accounts payable
|
897,258 | 1 | 359 | - | 360 | |||||||||||||||
Private
placement, net of issuance costs
|
2,193,850 | 2 | 867 | - | 869 | |||||||||||||||
Equity
based compensation
|
- | - | 18 | - | 18 | |||||||||||||||
Standby
Finance-finance costs
|
- | - | 241 | - | 241 | |||||||||||||||
Net
comprehensive loss
|
- | - | - | (3,087 | ) | (3,087 | ) | |||||||||||||
Balance
at March 31, 2009
|
81,842,103 | $ | 82 | $ | 210,359 | $ | (200,496 | ) | $ | 9,945 |
See
accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
4
HEMISPHERx
BIOPHARMA, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated
Statements of Cash Flows
For
the Three Months Ended March 31, 2008 and 2009
(in
thousands)
(Unaudited)
2008
|
2009
|
|||||||
Cash
flows from operating activities:
|
||||||||
Net
loss
|
$ | (3,165 | ) | $ | (3,087 | ) | ||
Adjustments
to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating
activities:
|
||||||||
Depreciation
of property and equipment
|
84 | 90 | ||||||
Amortization
of patent and trademark rights, and royalty interest
|
42 | 119 | ||||||
Financing
cost related to Standby Financing
|
- | 241 | ||||||
Equity
based compensation
|
235 | 18 | ||||||
Increase
(decrease) in assets and liabilities:
|
||||||||
Inventories
|
(272 | ) | - | |||||
Accounts
and other receivables
|
26 | - | ||||||
Prepaid
expenses and other current assets
|
(28 | ) | 56 | |||||
Accounts
payable
|
15 | 547 | ||||||
Accrued
expenses
|
257 | 592 | ||||||
Net
cash used in operating activities
|
$ | (2,806 | ) | $ | (1,424 | ) | ||
Cash
flows from investing activities:
|
||||||||
Purchase
of property plant and equipment
|
$ | - | (6 | ) | ||||
Additions
to patent and trademark rights
|
- | (17 | ) | |||||
Maturity
of short term investments
|
1,979 | - | ||||||
Purchase
of short term investments
|
$ | (1,000 | ) | (1,920 | ) | |||
Net
cash provided by (used in) investing activities
|
$ | 979 | $ | (1,943 | ) |
5
HEMISPHERX
BIOPHARMA, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated
Statements of Cash Flows (Continued)
For
the Three Months Ended March 31, 2008 and 2009
(in thousands)
(Unaudited)
2008
|
2009
|
|||||||
Cash
flows from financing activities:
|
||||||||
Proceeds
from sale of stock, net of issuance costs
|
$ | - | $ | 869 | ||||
Net
cash provided by financing activities
|
$ | - | 869 | |||||
Net
decrease in cash and cash equivalents
|
(1,827 | ) | (2,498 | ) | ||||
Cash
and cash equivalents at beginning of period
|
11,471 | 6,119 | ||||||
Cash
and cash equivalents at end of period
|
$ | 9,644 | $ | 3,621 | ||||
Supplemental
disclosures of non-cash investing and financing cash flow
information:
|
||||||||
Issuance
of common stock for accounts payable and accrued expenses
|
$ | 111 | $ | 360 | ||||
Unrealized
gains on investments
|
$ | 17 | $ | - |
See
accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
6
HEMISPHERx
BIOPHARMA, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES
TO UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
NOTE
1: BASIS OF PRESENTATION
The consolidated financial statements
include the financial statements of Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. and its
wholly-owned subsidiaries. The Company has three domestic
subsidiaries BioPro Corp., BioAegean Corp. and Core Biotech Corp., all of which
are incorporated in Delaware and are dormant. The Company’s foreign
subsidiary, Hemispherx Biopharma Europe N.V./S.A., established in Belgium in
1998, has limited or no activity. All significant intercompany
balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
In the opinion of management, all
adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of such consolidated
financial statements have been included. Such adjustments consist of normal
recurring items. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of results for a
full year.
The interim consolidated financial
statements and notes thereto are presented as permitted by the Securities and
Exchange Commission (“SEC”), and do not contain certain information which will
be included in our annual consolidated financial statements and notes
thereto.
These consolidated financial statements
should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements
included in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2008, as filed with the SEC on March 16,
2009.
NOTE 2: NET LOSS PER
SHARE
Basic and
diluted net loss per share is computed using the weighted average number of
shares of common stock outstanding during the period. Equivalent common shares,
consisting of stock options and warrants including the Company’s convertible
debentures, which amounted to 16,837,947 and 35,737,069 shares, are excluded
from the calculation of diluted net loss per share for the three months ended
March 31, 2008 and 2009, respectively, since their effect is
antidilutive.
NOTE
3: EQUITY BASED COMPENSATION
The fair value of each option award is
estimated on the date of grant using a Black-Scholes option valuation
model. Expected volatility is based on the historical volatility of
the price of the Company’s stock. The risk-free interest rate is
based on U.S. Treasury issues with a term equal to the expected life of the
option. The Company uses historical data to estimate expected
dividend yield, expected life and forfeiture rates. The fair values
of the options granted, were estimated based on the following weighted average
assumptions:
Three
Months Ended March 31,
|
|||||
2008
|
2009
|
||||
Risk-free
interest rate
|
2.86%
– 3.74%
|
1.76%
|
|||
Expected
dividend yield
|
-
|
-
|
|||
Expected
lives
|
2.5
- 5.0 yrs
|
5.0
yrs.
|
|||
Expected
volatility
|
75.69
– 79.18%
|
86.78%
|
|||
Weighted
average grant date fair value of options and warrants
issued
|
$177,000
|
$7,800
|
7
Stock
option activity during the three months ended March 31, 2009, is as
follows:
Stock
option activity for employees:
Number
of
Options
|
Weighted
Average
Exercise
Price
|
Weighted
Average
Remaining
Contractual
Term
(Years)
|
Aggregate
Intrinsic
Value
|
|||||||||||||
Outstanding
December 31, 2007
|
4,626,089 | $ | 2.66 | 8.25 | - | |||||||||||
Options
granted
|
1,655,000 | 2.42 | 9.69 | - | ||||||||||||
Options
forfeited
|
(22,481 | ) | 2.13 | - | - | |||||||||||
Outstanding
December 31, 2008
|
6,258,608 | 2.60 | 7.92 | - | ||||||||||||
Options
forfeited
|
(17,264 | ) | 2.43 | 7.21 | - | |||||||||||
Outstanding
March 31, 2009
|
6,241,344 | 2.59 | 7.68 | - | ||||||||||||
Exercisable
March 31, 2009
|
6,161,158 | $ | 2.61 | 7.70 | - |
The
weighted-average grant-date fair value of options granted during the three
months ended March 31, 2008 and 2009 was $0.
Unvested
stock option activity for employees:
Number
of
Options
|
Weighted
Average
Exercise
Price
|
Average
Remaining
Contractual
Term
(Years)
|
Aggregate
Intrinsic
Value
|
|||||||||||||
Outstanding
December 31, 2007
|
166,763 | $ | 1.59 | 7.18 | - | |||||||||||
Options
granted
|
- | - | - | - | ||||||||||||
Options
vested
|
(73,420 | ) | 1.68 | 8.58 | - | |||||||||||
Options
forfeited
|
(16,399 | ) | 2.00 | 6.18 | - | |||||||||||
Outstanding
December 31, 2008
|
76,944 | 1.41 | 3.89 | - | ||||||||||||
Prior
unvested
|
2,882 | 2.61 | 7.70 | - | ||||||||||||
Options
vested
|
- | - | - | - | ||||||||||||
Options
forfeited
|
- | - | - | - | ||||||||||||
Outstanding
March 31, 2009
|
79,826 | $ | 1.45 | 3.79 | - |
8
Stock
option activity for non-employees:
Number
of
Options
|
Weighted
Average
Exercise
Price
|
Weighted
Average
Remaining
Contractual
Term
(Years)
|
Aggregate
Intrinsic
Value
|
|||||||||||||
Outstanding
December 31, 2007
|
1,935,482 | $ | 2.43 | 8.05 | - | |||||||||||
Options
granted
|
482,000 | 2.02 | 6.72 | - | ||||||||||||
Options
forfeited
|
- | - | - | - | ||||||||||||
Outstanding
December 31, 2008
|
2,417,482 | 2.35 | 6.98 | - | ||||||||||||
Options
granted
|
20,000 | .72 | 10.00 | - | ||||||||||||
Options
forfeited
|
(66,300 | ) | 3.36 | 7.08 | - | |||||||||||
Outstanding
March 31, 2009
|
2,371,182 | $ | 2.31 | 6.75 | - | |||||||||||
Exercisable
March 31, 2009
|
2,344,515 | $ | 2.32 | 6.90 | - |
The
weighted-average grant-date fair value of options granted during the three
months ended March 31, 2008 and 2009 was approximately $177,000 and $7,800,
respectively.
Unvested
stock option activity for non-employees during the year:
Number
of
Options
|
Weighted
Average
Exercise
Price
|
Weighted
Average
Remaining
Contractual
Term
(Years)
|
Aggregate
Intrinsic
Value
|
|||||||||||||
Outstanding
December 31, 2007
|
40,000 | $ | 1.50 | 9.30 | - | |||||||||||
Options
granted
|
- | - | - | - | ||||||||||||
Options
vested
|
(13,333 | ) | (1.64 | ) | 6.91 | - | ||||||||||
Options
forfeited
|
- | - | - | - | ||||||||||||
Outstanding
December 31, 2008
|
26,667 | 1.43 | 9.00 | - | ||||||||||||
Options
granted
|
- | - | - | - | ||||||||||||
Options
vested
|
- | - | - | - | ||||||||||||
Options
forfeited
|
- | - | - | - | ||||||||||||
Outstanding
March 31, 2009
|
26,667 | $ | 1.43 | 8.75 | - |
The
impact on the Company’s results of operations of recording equity based
compensation for the three months ended March 31, 2008 and 2009 was to increase
general and administrative expenses by approximately $230,000 and $18,000
respectively. However, there was no impact on basic and fully diluted
earnings per share.
As of December 31, 2008 and March 31, 2009,
respectively, there was
$46,000 and $37,000
of unrecognized
equity based compensation cost related to
options granted under the Equity Incentive Plan.
9
Note
4: SHORT TERM INVESTMENTS
Securities
classified as available for sale consisted of:
March 31, 2009
|
|||||||||||||
Name Of Security
|
Cost
|
Market
Value
|
Unrealized
Loss
|
Maturity Date
|
|||||||||
GE
Capital-CD
|
$ | 250,000 | $ | 250,000 | - |
4/16/2009
|
|||||||
American
Express –CD
|
250,000 | 250,000 | - |
4/22/2009
|
|||||||||
American
Express – CD
|
250,000 | 250,000 | - |
4/22/2009
|
|||||||||
Morgan
Stanley – CD
|
250,000 | 250,000 | - |
4/23/2009
|
|||||||||
Goldman
Sachs Bank – CD
|
250,000 | 250,000 | - |
4/28/2009
|
|||||||||
Beal
Bank – CD
|
170,000 | 170,000 | - |
5/6/2009
|
|||||||||
Bank
of America – CD
|
250,000 | 250,000 | - |
7/28/2009
|
|||||||||
Midfirst
Bank – CD
|
250,000 | 250,000 | - |
7/28/2009
|
|||||||||
Total
|
$ | 1,920,000 | $ | 1,920,000 | $ | - |
No
investment securities were pledged to secure public funds at March 31,
2009.
Comprehensive
Income
The
Company reports comprehensive income, which includes net loss, as well as
certain other items, which result in a charge to equity during the
period.
Three months ended
March 31
(in thousands)
|
||||||||
2008
|
2009
|
|||||||
Unrealized
gains during the period
|
$ | 45 | $ | - | ||||
Realized
gains during the period
|
(21 | ) | - | |||||
Other
comprehensive income
|
$ | 24 | $ | - |
There are no income tax effects
allocated to comprehensive income as the Company has no tax liabilities due to
net operating losses.
NOTE
5: ACCRUED EXPENSES
Accrued
expenses at December 31, 2008 and March 31, 2009 consist of the
following:
(in thousands)
|
||||||||
December
31,
|
March
31,
|
|||||||
2008
|
2009
|
|||||||
Compensation
|
$ | 192 | $ | 960 | ||||
Professional
fees
|
497 | 288 | ||||||
Royalties
|
- | 30 | ||||||
Other
expenses
|
54 | 57 | ||||||
Other
liabilities
|
133 | 133 | ||||||
Total
|
$ | 876 | $ | 1,468 |
10
Accrued
expense related to Compensation increased approximately $768,000 due to the
Company’s implementation of the Employee Wages Or Hours Reduction Program on
January 1, 2009 (see “ITEM 2: Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations; Liquidity and Capital Resources; Employee
Wage Or Hours Reduction Program” for details on the Employee Wages Or Hours
Reduction Program). As a result of this Program, employees are
receiving “Incentive Rights” as a form of compensation for their election to
reduce wages that accrue monthly and will be awarded as Company stock six months
after they have been earned on a rolling basis.
NOTE
6: STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
On July
2, 2008, we entered into a $30 million Common Stock Purchase Agreement (the
"Purchase Agreement") with Fusion Capital Fund II, LLC (“Fusion Capital”, an
Illinois limited liability company. Concurrently with entering into
the Purchase Agreement, we entered into a registration rights agreement with
Fusion Capital. Under the registration rights agreement, we filed a
registration statement related to the transaction with the U.S. Securities &
Exchange Commission (“SEC”) covering the shares that have been issued or may be
issued to Fusion Capital under the common stock purchase
agreement. That registration statement was declared effective by the
SEC on August 12, 2008. As reported in the registration statement
related to the transaction, we have the right over a 25 month period from August
2008 to sell our shares of common stock to Fusion Capital from time to time in
amounts between $120,000 and $1 million depending on certain conditions as set
forth in the agreement, up to a maximum of $30 million. The purchase
price of the shares related to the $30.0 million of future funding will be based
on the prevailing market prices of the Company’s shares at the time of sales as
computed under the Purchase Agreement without any fixed discount, and the
Company will control the timing and amount of any sales of shares to Fusion
Capital. However, Fusion Capital
cannot
purchase any shares of our common stock pursuant to the Purchase
Agreement if the price of our common stock has three trading days with an
average value below $0.40 over the prior twelve trading days. For the
past three months, the price of our common stock has periodically closed below
$0.40, thereby adversely affecting our ability to consistently access the
Fusion Capital financing. The Purchase Agreement may be terminated by
us at any time at our discretion without any cost to us. There are no
negative covenants, restrictions on future funding, penalties or liquidated
damages in the agreement. In consideration for entering into the Purchase
Agreement, we issued to Fusion Capital 650,000 shares as a commitment
fee. Also, we will issue to Fusion Capital up to an additional
650,000 shares as a commitment fee pro rata as we receive up to the $30.0
million of future funding. During the three months ended March 31, 2009, Fusion
has purchased 2,193,850 shares for $869,000 under this Purchase
Agreement. As of March 31, 2009 Fusion Capital has
purchased total shares of 3,404,972 for $1,140,000 under this
agreement.
The
Company has been using the proceeds from this financing to fund operating
expenses and infrastructure growth including manufacturing, regulatory
compliance and market development with regards to the FDA approval process of
Ampligen®.
The
Equity Plan effective May 1, 2004, authorizes the grant of non-qualified and
incentive stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock and other
stock awards. A maximum of 8,000,000 shares of common stock is
reserved for potential issuance pursuant to awards under the Equity Plan of
2004. Unless sooner terminated, the Equity Plan of 2004 will continue
in effect for a period of 10 years from its effective date. As of
March 31, 2009, the Company effectively exhausted this plan and issued an
aggregate 7,898,355 shares, stock options and warrants to vendors, Board
Members, Directors and Consultants under the 2004 Equity Compensation
Plan. The shares had prices ranging from $0.35 to $0.89 based on the
NYSE Amex closing price. The stock options had various exercise
prices ranging from $1.30 to $6.00 and had terms of five to ten
years. The stock options vested over varying
periods.
11
The
Equity Incentive Plan of 2007, effective June 20, 2007, authorizes the grant of
non-qualified and incentive stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted
stock and other stock awards. A maximum of 8,000,000 shares of common
stock is reserved for potential issuance pursuant to awards under the Equity
Incentive Plan of 2007. Unless sooner terminated, the Equity
Incentive Plan of 2007 will continue in effect for a period of 10 years from its
effective date. As of March 31, 2009 the Company issued to vendors,
Board Members, Directors and Consultants, shares, stock options, warrants and
“Incentive Rights” under the Employee Wages or Hours Reduction Program (see
“ITEM 2: Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results
of Operations; Liquidity and Capital Resources; Employee Wage Or Hours Reduction
Program” for details on the Employee Wages Or Hours Reduction
Program). These securities consisted of an aggregate of 6,351,722
shares and shares issuable upon exercise/conversion of the foregoing
securities.
The
aggregate shares to vendors, Board Members, Directors and Consultants had prices
ranging from $0.32 to $0.80 based on the NYSE Amex closing price.
The
aggregate stock options had various exercise prices ranging from $0.72 to $2.20
and had terms of ten years. The Company utilized the Black-Scholes
Pricing Model to fair value the stock options which had been issued during the
three months ended March 31, 2009 and accordingly recorded approximately $7,800
as equity based compensation for these issuances during this
period. The stock options vested immediately upon grant.
The
aggregate Incentive Rights are rights for employees to receive Company shares
and had prices ranging from $0.13 to $0.25 based on the average daily closing
prices of the Company shares on the NYSE Amex. These Incentive Rights
are issued monthly in a format consistent with the Employee Wages or Hours
Reduction Program. An aggregate 1,536,777 of Incentive Rights have
been accumulated by employees as of March 31, 2009 with an approximate value of
$922,000 as equity based compensation.
The Company also recorded an additional
$9,700 during the three months ended March 31, 2009, in equity based
compensation which related to the vesting of stock options issued to employees
in 2007.
NOTE 7: RECENT ACCOUNTING
PRONOUNCEMENTS
The
Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) issued in 2007 Issue No. 07-5, "Determining
Whether an Instrument (or an Embedded Feature) is Indexed to an Entity's Own
Stock” provides guidance for determining whether an equity-linked financial
instrument (or embedded feature) is indexed to an entity's own
stock. Upon review by the Company, it is deemed that the application
of this issue has no impact on the financial statements.
The FASB
has issued FASB Staff Position FSP FAS 157-4 “Determining Fair Value When the
Volume and Level of Activity for Asset or Liability Have Significantly Decreased
and Identifying Transactions That Are Not Orderly.” FSP FAS
157-4 is applied prospectively and retrospective application is not permitted.
The FSP is effective for interim and annual periods ending after June 15, 2009,
with early adoption permitted for periods ending after March 15, 2009. The
Company does not expect this FSP to have any material effect on the Company’s
financial position or results of operations.
NOTE
8: SUBSEQUENT EVENT
On May 8,
2009, the Company entered into a letter agreement (the “Engagement Letter”) with
Rodman & Renshaw, LLC (“Rodman”) as placement agent, relating to a proposed
offering of the Company’s securities.
On May
10, 2009, the Company entered into Securities Purchase Agreements with two
institutional investors. Pursuant to the Securities Purchase Agreements, the
Company has agreed to issue to these investors in the aggregate: (a) 13,636,363
shares of Company common stock; (b) Series I warrants to purchase an additional
6,136,363 shares of Company common stock at an exercise price of $1.65 per share
(“Series I Warrants”); and (c) Series II warrants to purchase up to 3,000,000
shares of Company common stock at an exercise price of $1.10 per share (“Series
II Warrants,” and together with the Series I Warrants, the “Warrants”). The
Series I Warrants may be exercised at any time on or after the six month
anniversary of the closing date of the offering and for a five year period
thereafter. The Series II Warrants may be exercised at any time on or after the
date of delivery of the Series II Warrants and for a period of 45 days
thereafter.
Rodman,
as placement agent, acted on a best efforts basis for the offering and will
receive a placement fee equal to $825,000 as well as Series 1 Warrants to
purchase 750,000 shares of the Company’s common stock equal at an exercise price
of $1.38 per share. Rodman also is entitled to a fee equal to 5.5% of any Series
II Warrants that are exercised.
12
ITEM 2: Management's Discussion and Analysis
of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
Special
Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain
statements in this document constitute "forwarding-looking statements" within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and
Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1995 (collectively, the
"Reform Act"). Certain, but not necessarily all, of such forward-looking
statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as
"believes", "expects", "may", "will", "should", or "anticipates" or the negative
thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology, or by discussions
of strategy that involve risks and uncertainties. All statements other than
statements of historical fact, included in this report regarding our financial
position, business strategy and plans or objectives for future operations are
forward-looking statements. Without limiting the broader description of
forward-looking statements above, we specifically note that statements regarding
potential drugs, their potential therapeutic effect, the possibility of
obtaining regulatory approval, our ability to manufacture and sell any products,
market acceptance or our ability to earn a profit from sales or licenses of any
drugs or our ability to discover new drugs in the future are all forward-looking
in nature.
Such
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors, including but not limited to, the risk factors discussed below,
which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Hemispherx
and its subsidiaries to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements and other factors referenced in this report. We do not undertake and
specifically decline any obligation to publicly release the results of any
revisions which may be made to any forward-looking statement to reflect events
or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence
of anticipated or unanticipated events.
Overview
General
We are a
specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in the clinical development,
manufacture, marketing and distribution of new drug therapies based on natural
immune system enhancing technologies for the treatment of viral and immune based
chronic disorders. We were founded in the early 1970s doing contract
research for the National Institutes of Health. Since that time, we have
established a strong foundation of laboratory, pre-clinical and clinical data
with respect to the development of nucleic acids to enhance the natural
antiviral defense system of the human body and to aid the development of
therapeutic products for the treatment of certain chronic
diseases. We have three domestic subsidiaries BioPro Corp., BioAegean
Corp., and Core BioTech Corp., all of which are incorporated in Delaware and are
dormant. Our foreign subsidiary is Hemispherx Biopharma Europe
N.V./S.A. established in Belgium in 1998, which has limited or no
activity. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have
been eliminated in consolidation.
13
Our
current strategic focus is derived from four applications of our two core
pharmaceutical technology platforms Ampligen® and Alferon N
Injection®. The commercial focus for Ampligen® includes application
as a treatment for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (“CFS”) and as a vaccine enhancer
(adjuvant) for both therapeutic and preventative vaccine development. Alferon N
Injection® is an FDA approved product with an indication for refractory or
recurring genital warts. Alferon® LDO (Low Dose Oral) is an application
currently under early stage development targeting influenza and viral diseases
both as an adjuvant as well as a single entity anti-viral.
Ampligen®
is an experimental drug currently undergoing clinical development for the
treatment of CFS. In August 2004, we completed a Phase III clinical
trial (“AMP 516”) treating over 230 CFS patients with Ampligen® and are
presently in the registration process for a new drug application (“NDA”) with
the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”). Over its developmental
history, Ampligen® has received various designations, including Orphan Drug
Product Designation (FDA), Emergency (compassionate) Cost Recovery Sales
Authorization (FDA) and “promising” clinical outcome recognition based on the
evaluation of certain summary clinical reports (“AHRQ”, Agency Health Research
Quality). Ampligen represents the first drug in the class of RNA
(nucleic acid) molecules to apply for NDA review.
On July
7, 2008, the FDA accepted for review our NDA for Ampligen® to treat CFS,
originally submitted in October 2007. We are seeking marketing approval for the
first-ever treatment for CFS. At present, only supportive, symptom-based care is
available for CFS patients. The NDA for Ampligen®, whose chemical designation is
poly I : poly C12U, is also the first ever accepted for review by the FDA for
systemic use of a toll-like receptor therapy to treat any
condition. On February 18, 2009, we were notified by the FDA that the
originally scheduled Prescription Drug User Fee Act date of February 25, 2009
has been extended to May 25, 2009. According to the Pharmaceutical
Manufacturing Association, eight (8) completely new molecular entities (“NME”)
were approved by the FDA in year 2008.
The
Status of our initiative for Ampligen® as an adjuvant for preventative vaccine
development includes the pre-clinical studies in seasonal and pandemic influenza
for intranasal administration being conducted by Japan’s National Institute for
Infectious Diseases. A three year program targeting regulatory
approval for pandemic flu and seasonal flu in Japan has been funded by the
Japanese Ministry of Health. Parties to the research grant include
Hemispherx, the NIID and BIKEN (operational arm of the non-profit Foundation for
Microbial Disease of Osaka University). Our agreement with BIKEN is
part of a three party agreement to develop an effective influenza vaccine for
Japan and utilizes the resources of the National Institute of Infectious Disease
of Japan. We intend to conduct human studies in the US and Australia
to seek approval for seasonal and pandemic indications in the US and Europe for
intranasal administration. A phase II study for intramuscular
administration for seasonal flu was conducted in Australia through St. Vincent’s
Hospital Clinical Trials Centre. The clinical data from this trial is
currently being analyzed and the results are expected by mid-2009.
Based on
the results of published, peer reviewed pre-clinical studies and clinical
trials, we believe that Ampligen® may have broad-spectrum anti-viral and
anti-cancer properties. Over 1,000 patients have participated in the Ampligen®
clinical trials representing the administration of more than 90,000 doses of
this drug.
Alferon N
Injection® is the registered trademark for our injectable formulation of natural
alpha interferon, which is approved by the FDA for the treatment of genital
warts. Alferon N Injection® is also in clinical development for
treating West Nile Virus.
14
Commercial
sales of Alferon N Injection® were suspended in April 2008 as the current
expiration date of our finished goods inventory expired in March
2008. The FDA has declined to respond to our requests for an
extension of the expiration date, therefore we consider the request to be
denied. Since our testing of the product indicates that it is not
impaired and could be safely utilized, the finished goods inventory of 2,745
Alferon N Injection® 5ml vials may be used to produce approximately 11,000,000
sachets of Low Dose Oral Alferon (LDO) for future clinical trials.
Production
of Alferon N injection® from our Work-In-Progress (“WIP”) Inventory, which has
an approximate expiration date of 2012, has been put on hold at this time due to
the resources needed to prepare our New Brunswick facility for the FDA
preapproval inspection with respect to our Ampligen® NDA. Our
Ampligen® FDA preinspection had noted small discrepancies that have been addressed by us
and documented in a response to the regional FDA office in New Jersey on April
28, 2009. Work on the Alferon N Injection® is expected to
resume in mid-2009 under the condition that adequate funding is obtained, which
means that we may not have any Alferon N Injection® product commercially
available until 2010.
We own
and operate a 43,000 sq. ft. FDA approved facility in New Brunswick, NJ
primarily designed to produce Alferon N Injection®. In
2006, we completed the installation of a polymer production line to produce
Ampligen® raw materials on a more reliable and consistent basis.
We
outsource certain components of our research and development, manufacturing,
marketing and distribution while maintaining control over the entire process
through our quality assurance group and our clinical monitoring
group.
401(k)
Plan
In December 1995, we established a
defined contribution plan, effective January 1, 1995, entitled the Hemispherx
Biopharma employees 401(k) Plan and Trust Agreement. All of our full
time employees are eligible to participate in the 401(k) plan following one year
of employment. Subject to certain limitations imposed by federal tax laws,
participants are eligible to contribute up to 15% of their salary (including
bonuses and/or commissions) per annum. Through March 14, 2008, Participants'
contributions to the 401(K) plan were matched by Hemispherx at a rate determined
annually by the board of directors. Each participant immediately vests in his or
her deferred salary contributions, while our contributions will vest over one
year.
Effective
March 15, 2008, we ended our 100% matching of up to 6% of the 401(k)
contributions provided to the account for each eligible
participant. Our 401(k) Plan contribution cost for the twelve months
ended December 31, 2008 is $20,421 and it is required for payment prior to the
final filing of our 2008 Federal Corporate Tax filing that is projected for
September 2009. There have not been any additional matching costs by
us since March 15, 2008 and none is projected for calendar year
2009.
New Accounting
Pronouncements
Refer to
“NOTE 7: RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUCEMENTS” under Notes To Unaudited Condensed
Consolidated Financial Statements.
Disclosure About
Off-Balance Sheet
Arrangements
None.
15
Critical Accounting
Policies
There have been no material changes in
our critical accounting policies and estimates from those disclosed in Item 7 of
our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2008.
RESULTS
OF OPERATIONS
Three months ended March 31,
2009 versus three months ended March 31, 2008
Net loss
Our net loss of approximately
$3,087,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2009 was $78,000 or 2.5% lower
when compared to the same period in 2008. This decrease in loss was
primarily due to a combination of revenue and expense elements:
1)
|
Production/cost
of goods sold was approximately $121,000 and $249,000, respectively, for
the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008. This
represented a decrease of approximately $128,000 or 51% as compared to the
same period in 2008. These 2009 expenses primarily represent
the costs to maintain Alferon N Injection® and Ampligen® Inventory
including storage, stability testing and reporting costs. A
secondary reason for the decrease in cost of goods sold can be attributed
to the lack of Alferon N Injection® sales since April 1, 2008 and the
related impact on expenses.
|
2)
|
Research
and Development costs in the first three months of 2009 increased
approximately $288,000 as compared to the same period in
2008. The first three months of 2009’s Research and Development
costs include the book value write-off expense as an abandonment expense
of $100,000 for 21 patents that Management deemed no longer of value or
material to future operations. In addition for the quarter
ended March 31, 2009, $388,000 of non-cash labor expenses were attributed
to Research and Clinical employees participating in the Employee Wage Or
Hour Reduction Program (see “Liquidity and Capital Resources; Employee
Wage Or Hours Reduction Program” below for details on the Employee Wages
Or Hours Reduction Program). As an offset, Research and
development expenses during the first three months of 2009 did not include
an expense for $200,000 with the elimination of prior year’s NDA related
consulting costs.
|
3)
|
There
were no sales of Alferon N Injection® for the three months ended March 31,
2009, as finished goods inventory had reached its current product
expiration date of March 31, 2008. Sales of Alferon N
Injection® for the three months ended March 31, 2008, amounted to
approximately $173,000.
|
4)
|
General
and administrative expenses decreased approximately $731,000 during the
current quarter of 2009 as compared to the prior period of 2008 primarily
due to reduced legal fees of $362,000, stock compensation of $218,000,
accounting consultants and fees of $100,000 along with a saving $43,000 in
general. This decrease also reflected 2008 refunds paid to
customers for the return of expired Alferon® for $113,000. These
cost savings were somewhat offset by an increase of $105,000 of non-cash
labor expenses resulting from General and Administrative employees
participating in the Employee Wage Or Hour Reduction
Program.
|
16
5)
|
Interest
and other income decreased $73,000 for the three months ended March 31,
2009 as compared to the same period in 2008 due to less Cash available for
Short Term Investment in marketable securities in the current period as
compared to the prior period in
2008.
|
6)
|
In
the three months ended March 31, 2009 as compared to the same period in
2008, $241,000 non-cash financing costs in the form of Common Stock
Commitment Warrants were incurred as a result of the February 2009
implementation of the Standby Financing Agreement (see “Liquidity and
Capital Resources; Standby Financing Agreement” below for Agreement
details). No agreement of this type existed during the first
three months of 2008.
|
Net loss per share was $0.04 for the
current period versus $0.04 for the same period in 2008.
Revenues
Revenues
for the three months ended March 31, 2009 were $29,000 compared to revenues of
$208,000 for the same period in 2008. There were no revenues related
to the sale of Alferon N Injection® for this period in 2009 versus $173,000 in
2008. Revenues from our Ampligen® cost recovery program were down
$6,000 for a total of $29,000 in 2009 for the quarter as fewer patients are
participating in the program. Commercial sales of Alferon N
Injection® were halted in April 2008 as the current expiration date of our
Finished Goods Inventory expired in March 2008. As a result, we have
no Alferon N Injection® product to commercially sell and all revenue was
generated from Ampligen® cost recovery clinical treatment programs.
Major
efforts of the New Brunswick manufacturing staff were redirected throughout year
2008 and to date in 2009 to the task of preparing our plant for FDA pre and post
approval inspections in connection with the Ampligen® NDA review
process.
Work on
the Alferon N Injection® is expected to resume in mid-2009, under the condition
that adequate funding is obtained, which means that we may not have any Alferon
N Injection® product commercially available until 2010.
Production costs/cost of
goods sold
Production/cost
of goods sold was approximately $121,000 and $249,000, respectively, for the
three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008. This represented a
decrease of approximately $128,000 or 51% as compared to the same period in
2008. The 2009 expenses primarily represent the costs to maintain
Alferon N Injection® and Ampligen® Inventory including storage, stability
testing and reporting costs. A secondary reason for the decrease in
cost of goods sold for 2009 can be attributed to the lack of Alferon N
Injection® sales since April 1, 2008 and its impact on costs of goods sold for
the three months ended March 31, 2008.
17
Research and development
costs
Overall
research and development costs for the three months ended March 31, 2009 were
$1,595,000 as compared to $1,307,000 for the same period a year ago reflecting
an increase of $288,000 or 22%. The first three months of 2009’s
Research and Development costs include the book value write-off expense of 21
patents that Management deemed no longer of value or material to future
operations as an abandonment expense along with non-cash labor expenses which
were attributed to Research and Clinical employees participating in the Employee
Wage Or Hour Reduction Program (see “Liquidity and Capital Resources; Employee
Wage Or Hours Reduction Program” below). As an offset, Research and
development expenses during the first three months of 2009 did not include prior
year’s NDA related consulting costs.
During
2008 and to date in 2009, we spent considerable time and effort preparing for
the preapproval inspection by the FDA for manufacturing of Ampligen® product and
its raw materials, polynucleotides Poly I and Poly C12U. A
satisfactory recommendation from the FDA Office of Compliance based upon an
acceptable preapproval inspection is required prior to approval of the
product. The preapproval inspection determines compliance with
current Good Manufacturing Practices (“cGMPs”) as well as a product specific
evaluation concerning the manufacturing process of product. The
inspection includes many aspects of the cGMP requirements, such as manufacturing
process validation, equipment qualification, analytical method validation,
facility cleaning, quality systems, documentation system and part 11
compliance.
The New
Jersey District Office of the FDA conducted an inspection of the New Brunswick,
New Jersey facility in late January and early February 2009. A
one-page Form FDA 483 was issued citing a need to reperform four method
validations to generate data in the New Brunswick Laboratories. These
validations had been performed at another site also owned and operated by us
prior to transferring the equipment to New Brunswick. The validations
have been completed and the reports were forward to the FDA on April 28, 2009
for review.
The FDA
conducted a field inspection at Hollister-Stier Laboratories in Spokane,
Washington in mid-2008. The Ampligen® final fill operations are
performed under contract with Hollister-Stier. The inspection
resulted in a FDA Form 483 with two observations dealing with reviews and
validations of process variability. We continue to work with
Hollister-Stier to finalize specific actions to address the FDA Form 483 issues
and Hollister-Stier has submitted a specific action plan to the Seattle,
Washington office of the FDA.
On
September 19, 2008, we executed an agreement with Lovelace Respiratory Research
Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico to perform certain animal toxic studies in
support of our Ampligen® NDA. These studies were requested by the FDA
and will be done in collaboration with the resources of the New Brunswick
facility. We expect these studies to be complete in mid-
2009.
We are
also engaged in ongoing, experimental studies assessing the efficacy of
Ampligen®, Alferon N Injection®, and Alferon® LDO against influenza viruses as a
single adjuvant agent antiviral with Japan’s National Institute of Infectious
disease, Biken (the non-profit operational arm of the Foundation for Microbial
Diseases of Osaka University) and St. Vincent’s Hospital in Darlinghurst,
Australia. As a result of focusing our limited resources on the
Australian and Japanese studies, no further experiments have been undertaken by
the Defence R&D Canada with respect to their independent study assessing the
efficacy of Ampligen® against Influenza viruses as a single agent
antiviral.
18
The Biken
arrangement was concluded in December 2007 and basically consists of Biken
purchasing Ampligen® for use in conducting further animal studies of intranasal
prototype vaccines containing antigens from influenza sub-types H1N1, H3N2 and B
progressing to human studies with all programs supported by the Japanese Health
Ministry. Under the terms of the non—exclusive licensing arrangement,
we will receive royalties as well as income for all Ampligen® used in the
ongoing experimental work and any subsequent marketing of Ampligen® as an
immuno-enhancer for flu vaccines delivered intranasally in Japan. To
date, only two or three pharmaceutical companies worldwide have achieved
regulatory authorizations to sell intranasally (“IN”) administered influenza
vaccines versus many companies receiving approval for intramuscular vaccine
delivery routes. Safety has been paramount in developing effective
treatments. However, animal studies to date indicate Ampligen®, an
experimental drug, may be safely administered intranasally. Clinical
studies (in other disorders) have built a database of more than 90,000
injections of Ampligen® when given parenterally (intravenous, or “IV”). In June
2008, Biken notified us they were accelerating their program and were shipped
additional Ampligen® supplies for various preclinical vaccine studies and
research projects that remain in progress. A secondary goal of the
trial is to evaluate whether antibodies stimulated by the vaccine/Ampligen®
combination also provide protection against H5N1, the avian influenza
virus. Since 2003, the World Health Organization (“WHO”) has
confirmed 407 cases and attributed 254 human deaths worldwide to
H5N1. Investigators from Japan’s Institute of Infectious Disease have
conducted studies in animals that suggest that Ampligen® can stimulate a
sufficiently broad immune response to provide cross-protection against a range
of virus genetic types, including H5N1 and derivative clades. Japan’s
Council for Science & Technology Policy (“CSTP”), a cabinet level position,
has recently awarded funds from Japan’s CSTP to advance research with influenza
vaccines utilizing Ampligen. The Principal Investigator of this
advanced study, Dr.Hideki Hasegawa, plans to undertake clinical studies in 2009
and 2010. Dr. Hasegawa’s research focuses on mucosal immunity and the
inherent advantages of a vigorous immune response to respiratory
pathogens.
We
received notice of an Annual Report (April 2008-March 2009) prepared by a
Director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (“NIID”) to the
governing organization of the Japanese Ministry of Health (“MHLW”) reporting a
series of successful preclinical studies in new pandemic vaccines which rely
critically on Ampligen® (Poly I : Poly C12U) an experimental therapeutic for
efficacy. The efficacy was demonstrated both within the airways
themselves as well as systemically. As a result, the program is
expected to be accelerated into human volunteers promptly under supervision of
NIID staff. The project is officially titled “Clinical Application of
the Influenza Virus Vaccine in the Intranasal Dosage Form for Mucosal
Administration”.
Concurrently,
our collaborative partner in Japan, Biken Corporation, reported the successful
completion of a series of animal/preclinical tests on Ampligen®, an experimental
therapeutic, necessary to support a new product registration in
Japan. Successful studies in animal models, including the monkey
studies conducted to date under auspices of the Japanese NIID, do not
necessarily predict human safety and efficacy of any investigational product
including Ampligen®.
The
recent emergence of a new H1N1 Swine Flu strain with high associated mortality
in Mexico provides additional significance to the Japanese
studies. The original studies by Dr. Hasegawa and his colleagues that
provided the basis for the expanded preclinical trials demonstrated cross-clade
protection against H5N1 isolates following vaccination with a seasonal influenza
vaccine (J Infect Dis.196:1313-1320, 2007).
19
The
clinical trial in Australia is using Ampligen® in combination with seasonal flu
vaccine. This
open-label study (Phase IIa) utilizing Ampligen® (Poly I: Poly C12U) as a
potential immune-enhancer was conducted in Australia with thirty-eight subjects
age 60 or greater with the standard trivalent seasonal influenza
vaccines. Ampligen® was administered
subcutaneously. Elderly subjects typically have reduced immune
responses relative to younger populations. The combinational
treatment was generally well-tolerated. Serologic studies to evaluate
the magnitude and spectrum of immune response are pending and are expected by
mid-2009; however, only certain labs are qualified to conduct these tests and
during the course of the clinical testing, one of these testing labs changed
ownership.
Collaboration
studies in non-human primates conducted by ViroClinics in the Netherlands
suggest a potential role for Alferon® LDO as another novel therapeutic approach
to viral pandemics. Meetings with prospective partners are underway
with respect to conducting clinical trials using Alferon® LDO to treat and/or
prevent seasonal influenza in the Pacific Rim countries. Alferon® LDO
is now poised for clinical trials against seasonal influenza epidemics; meetings
with prospective partners are ongoing to conduct clinical trials in the Pacific
Rim countries and elsewhere. The opportunity for Alferon® LDO is
reinforced by new reports of severe side effects secondary to Tamiflu®, the
present standard of care, by both the FDA and Japanese health
authorities. Also, Tamiflu® resistant strains of flu virus are now
raising serious concerns on a world-wide basis.
General and Administrative
Expenses
General and Administrative (“G&A”)
expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008 were approximately
$1,166,000 and $1,897,000, respectively, reflecting a decrease of $731,000 or
39%. This decrease relates primarily to a reduction in all areas of
expenses due to the implementation of our cash conservation and cost reduction
program implemented in January 2009. Accordingly, savings were
obtained in legal and accounting fees, stock compensation expense and
controllable expenses for the three months ended March 31,
2009. However, these expense reductions were partially offset by an
increase of non-cash labor costs resulting from General and Administrative
employees participating in the Employee Wage Or Hour Reduction
Program.
Interest and Other
Income
Interest and other income for the three
months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008 was $7,000 and $80,000, respectively,
representing a decrease of $73,000 or 91%. The decrease in interest
and other income during the current period was mainly due to $5,541,000 less in
cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments were held at the end of the
current quarter as compared to that of the prior year’s first
quarter.
Interest Expense and
Financing Costs
We had no interest expense or non-cash
financing costs for the three months ended March 31 2008. While there
was no interest expense incurred, on February 1, 2009 we entered into a Standby
Financing Agreement that produced finance costs of Common Stock Commitment
Warrants for the three months ended March 31, 2009. For detailed
information on this agreement, refer to “Standby Financing Agreement”
below.
20
Liquidity and Capital
Resources
Cash used
in operating activities for the three months ended March 31, 2009 was $1,424,000
compared to $2,806,000 for the same period in 2008 a reduction of $1,382,000 or
49%. This reduction reflects lower expenditures primarily related to
Management’s cash conservation program that included reducing controllable
expenses and utilizing our common stock where possible as payment to Board
Members, employees, consultants and vendors. Cash provided (used) by
investing activities during the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008
totaled ($1,943,000) and $979,000, respectively, primarily due to the 2009
purchase and 2008 maturity of short term investments. We had proceeds
from financing activities of $869,000 and $-0- during the three months ended
March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively. As of March 31, 2009, we had
approximately $5,541,000 in cash, cash equivalents
and short-term investments, or a decrease of approximately $578,000 from
December 31, 2008.
We have
been using the proceeds from Fusion Capital’s equity financing to fund operating
expense and infrastructure growth including manufacturing, regulatory compliance
and market development costs related to the FDA approval process for
Ampligen®. During the first quarter of 2009, we were able to raise
$869,000 in equity financing (see “Equity Financing” below). We entered into securities
purchase agreements to sell stock and warrants for an aggregate of $15,000,000
(the “Placement”) and we anticipate that it will close within the next few days
(see “Part II, Item 5. “Other Information”). If and when this
transaction closes, we do not anticipate needing additional funding within the
near future. However, if the Placement does not close, based on our
estimate of cash flow demands from the first four months of 2009, along with our
receipt of $960,000 of equity funding from Fusion Capital during April 2009, we
anticipate that our existing funds should be sufficient to meet our operating
cash requirements into the third calendar quarter of 2010.
Equity
Financing
For
information on the Purchase Agreement with Fusion Capital, please refer to “NOTE
5: STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY” under Notes To Unaudited Condensed Consolidated
Financial Statements in Item 1 above.
Because
of our long-term capital requirements, we may seek to access the public equity
market whenever conditions are favorable, even if we do not have an immediate
need for additional capital at that time. In this regard we also have
previously registered $50,000,000 worth of our securities in a universal shelf
registration statement including the securities
to be issued in the Placement. We are unable to estimate the amount,
timing or nature of future sales of outstanding common stock or instruments
convertible into or exercisable for our common stock. Any additional
funding may result in significant dilution and could involve the issuance of
securities with rights, which are senior to those of existing
stockholders. We may also need additional funding earlier than
anticipated, and our cash requirements, in general, may vary materially from
those now planned, for reasons including, but not limited to, changes in our
research and development programs, clinical trials, competitive and
technological advances, the regulatory processes, including the commercializing
of Ampligen® products.
There can be no assurances that we will
raise adequate funds from these or other sources should the Placement not close,
which may have a material adverse effect on our ability to develop our
products. Also, we have the ability to curtail discretionary
spending, including some research and development activities, if required to
conserve cash.
21
Standby Financing
Agreement
In February 2009,
we entered into a Standby Financing Agreement pursuant to which certain
individuals (“Individuals”), consisting of Dr. Carter and Thomas Equels, agreed to loan us up to an aggregate
of $1,000,000 in funds should we be unable to
obtain additional
financing, if needed. Under the Standby Financing Agreement,
we will use our best efforts in 2009 to obtain one or more additional
financing agreements on such terms as our Board deems to be reasonable and
appropriate in order to maintain our operations. If at any time after
December 1, 2009 and prior to June 30, 2010 a majority of our independent
Directors deems that in the event a financing of at least $2.5 Million has not
been obtained and additional funds are needed to maintain our operations, we
will send a written notice to each of the Individuals informing them of the
total amount of additional funds required and the specific amount that will be
required from each Individual. Within fifteen calendar days after
receipt of the notice, the Individuals will be required to pay us their
respective amount. We will then issue to them one year 15% senior
secured notes for their respective amounts (the “Notes”). Interest
will be paid monthly in our Common Stock. Repayment of the principal
and interest under the Notes will be secured by all of our assets. We
will not, without the consent of the Individuals, (i) incur any new debt senior
or pari passu to the Notes or (ii) encumber or grant a security interest in any
assets. Upon 20 business days written notice, we may prepay the Notes
in cash at any time at 105% of the then outstanding principal amount of the
Notes, plus any accrued but unpaid interest.
For
agreeing to be obligated to loan us money, each Individual received 10 year
warrants (the “Commitment Warrants”) to purchase our common stock at the rate of
$50,000 worth in warrants per $100,000 committed. The exercise price
of these warrants is $0.51 (125% of the market closing price of our Common Stock
on the date that Agreement was executed. These warrants vested
immediately. If and when we notify the Individuals that we are
consummating the Standby Financing, upon each Individual’s payment of his
committed amount, he will receive additional 10 year warrants to purchase our
Common Stock at the rate of $50,000 worth in warrants per $100,000 paid. The
exercise price of the warrants will be the closing market price of our Common
Stock on the day we receive the funds from the Individuals. These
warrants will vest immediately. While any portion of the Notes are
outstanding, Individuals will have weighted average anti-dilution rights with
regard to the exercise price of all warrants issued pursuant hereto except that
these rights will not apply if the securities are issued to employees, Board
members, corporate and scientific advisors, select vendors, pursuant to our
current agreement with Fusion Capital Fund II, LLC or part of a corporate or
strategic alliance.
Employee Wage Or Hours
Reduction Program
In an
effort to conserve our cash, the Employee Wage Or Hours Reduction Program (the
“Program”) was ratified by the Board effective January 1, 2009. In a
mandatory program that is estimated to be in effect for up to six months,
compensation of all active full-time employees as of January 1, 2009
(“Participants”) were reduced through a reduction in their wages for which they
would be eligible to receive shares of our common stock (“Stock”) six months
after the shares were earned. While all employees were also offered
the option to reduce their work hours with a proportional decease in wages, none
elected this alternative.
On a
semi-monthly basis, Participants receive rights to Stock (“Incentive Rights”)
that cannot be traded. Six months after the date the Incentive Rights
are awarded, we will undertake a process to have Incentive Rights converted into
Stock and issued to each Participant on a monthly basis. We will
establish and maintain a record for the number of Incentive Rights awarded to
each Participant. At the end of each semi-monthly period, we will
determine the number of Incentive Rights by converting the proportionate
incentive award to the value of the Stock by utilizing the closing price of the
Stock on the NYSE Amex based on the average daily closing price for the
period.
22
The Plan
is being administered for full-time employees as follows:
o
|
Employees
earning $90,000 or less per year elected a wage reduction of 10% per annum
and are receiving an incentive of two times the value in
Stock;
|
o
|
Employees
earning $90,001 to $200,000 per year elected a wage reduction of 25% per
annum are receiving an incentive of two times the value in
Stock;
|
o
|
Employees
earning over $200,000 per year elected a wage reduction of 50% per annum
and are receiving an incentive of three times the value in
Stock;
|
o
|
Any
employee could elect a 50% per annum wage reduction for which would allow
them to be eligible for an incentive award of three times the value of
Stock.
|
Prior to
the Stock being issued, we will establish a trading account with an independent
brokerage firm for each Participant. Incentive Rights will constitute
income to the Participants and be subject to payroll taxes upon Stock
issuance. At a brokerage firm selected by us, we will bear all
expenses related to selling the Stock (i.e.; broker fees, transaction costs,
commissions, etc.) for payroll withholding taxes
purposes. Thereafter, for each Participant during the period that
they remain an active employee, we will continue to bear such costs from this
designated brokerage firm for the maintenance of this account and all expenses
related to selling our Stock. Participants leaving us or voluntarily
separating from the Plan will receive the Stock earned upon the six month
conversion of their Incentive Rights. The Plan benefits for
individuals that are no longer Participants will become fixed and we will not
continue to bear such costs from the designated brokerage firm for the
maintenance of an account nor any expenses related to selling the Stock except
for the initial costs associated to the selling of Stock for payroll withholding
taxes purposes.
ITEM
3: Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
We had
approximately $5,541,000 in cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments
at March 31, 2009. To the extent that our cash and cash equivalents and short
term investments exceed our near term funding needs, we generally invest the
excess cash in three to twelve month interest bearing financial instruments. We
employ established conservative policies and procedures to manage any risks with
respect to investment exposure.
Our
financial instruments that are exposed to concentrations of credit risk consist
primarily of cash and cash equivalents. We place our cash and cash equivalents
with what management believes to be high credit quality
institutions. At times such investments may be in excess of the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) insurance limit.
We have
not entered into, and do not expect to enter into, financial instruments for
trading or hedging purposes.
Item
4: Controls and Procedures
Our Chairman of the Board
(serving as the principal executive officer) and the Chief Financial Officer
performed an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and
procedures, which have been designed to permit us to effectively identify
and timely disclose important information. In designing and
evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, Management recognized that
any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can
provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives,
and Management is required to apply its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit
relationship of possible controls and procedures. Based on that
evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded
that the controls and procedures were effective as of March 31, 2009 to ensure
that material information was accumulated and communicated to our Management,
including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as
appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required
disclosure.
23
During
the quarter ended March 31, 2009, we have made no change in our internal
controls over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is
reasonably likely to
materially affect, our internal controls over financial
reporting.
Part
II – OTHER INFORMATION
Item
1. Legal Proceedings
In December 2008, Lovells LP filed a
complaint against us in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of
Pennsylvania seeking 151,330 pounds sterling for legal fees allegedly due to
Lovells LP by us. We have filed an answer to this complaint and we
are defending against this claim as well as considering possible settlement
offers. Accordingly, we have recorded a loss contingency of as a
result of the matter for the period ended March 31, 2009.
Our
litigation in the Court of Common Pleas of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
against Manuel P. Asensio for defamation and disparagement has been settled and
disposed of.
Please
see our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 for
previously reported legal proceedings.
ITEM
1A. Risk Factors.
The
following cautionary statements identify important factors that could cause our
actual result to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking
statements made in this Form 10-Q. Among the key factors that have a
direct bearing on our results of operations are:
Risks
Associated With Our Business
No
assurance of successful product development.
Ampligen®
and related products. The development of Ampligen® and
our other related products is subject to a number of significant
risks. Ampligen® may
be found to be ineffective or to have adverse side effects, fail to receive
necessary regulatory clearances, be difficult to manufacture on a commercial
scale, be uneconomical to market or be precluded from commercialization by
proprietary right of third parties. Our products are in various
stages of clinical and pre-clinical development and, require further clinical
studies and appropriate regulatory approval processes before any such products
can be marketed. We do not know when, if ever, Ampligen® or
our other products will be generally available for commercial sale for any
indication. Generally, only a small percentage of potential
therapeutic products are eventually approved by the FDA for commercial
sale. Please see the next risk factor.
24
Alferon N
Injection®. Although Alferon N Injection® is approved for marketing in the
United States for the intra-lesional treatment of refractory or recurring
external genital warts in patients 18 years of age or older, to date it has not
been approved for other indications. We face many of the risks
discussed above, with regard to developing this product for use to treat other
ailments.
Our
drug and related technologies are investigational and subject to regulatory
approval. If we are unable to obtain regulatory approval, our
operations will be significantly adversely affected.
All of
our drugs and associated technologies, other than Alferon N Injection®, are
investigational and must receive prior regulatory approval by appropriate
regulatory authorities for general use and are currently legally available only
through clinical trials with specified disorders. At present, Alferon
N Injection® is only approved for the intra-lesional treatment of refractory or
recurring external genital warts in patients 18 years of age or
older. Use of Alferon N Injection® for other indications will require
regulatory approval.
Our
products, including Ampligen®, are subject to extensive regulation by numerous
governmental authorities in the U.S. and other countries, including, but not
limited to, the FDA in the U.S., the Health Protection Branch (“HPB”) of Canada,
and the Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (“EMEA”) in
Europe. Obtaining regulatory approvals is a rigorous and lengthy
process and requires the expenditure of substantial resources. In
order to obtain final regulatory approval of a new drug, we must demonstrate to
the satisfaction of the regulatory agency that the product is safe and effective
for its intended uses and that we are capable of manufacturing the product to
the applicable regulatory standards. We require regulatory approval
in order to market Ampligen® or any other proposed product and receive product
revenues or royalties. We cannot assure you that Ampligen® will
ultimately be demonstrated to be safe or efficacious. In addition,
while Ampligen® is authorized for use in clinical trials including a cost
recovery program in the United States and Europe, we cannot assure you that
additional clinical trial approvals will be authorized in the United States or
in other countries, in a timely fashion or at all, or that we will complete
these clinical trials.
We filed
an NDA with the FDA for treatment of CFS on October 10, 2007. On
December 5, 2007 we received a Refuse To File (“RTF”) letter from the FDA as our
NDA filing was deemed “not substantially complete”. We responded to
the FDA’s concerns by filing amendments to our NDA on April 25,
2008. These amendments should allow the FDA reviewers to better
evaluate independently the statistical efficacy/safety conclusions of our NDA
for the use of Ampligen® in treating CFS. On July 7, 2008 the FDA
accepted our NDA filing for review. However, there are no assurances
that upon review of the NDA that it will be approved by the FDA. On
February 18, 2009, we were notified by the FDA that the originally scheduled
Prescription Drug User Fee Act date of February 25, 2009 has been extended to
May 25, 2009. Additionally, we are in discussions with
representatives of the Japanese government regarding potential emergency
purchases of Ampligen® for use in a pharmaceutical “stockpile” for a possible
influenza pandemic.
If
Ampligen® or one of our other products does not receive regulatory approval in
the U.S. or elsewhere, such as Japan, our operations most likely will be
materially adversely affected.
25
We
may continue to incur substantial losses and our future profitability is
uncertain.
We began
operations in 1966 and last reported net profit from 1985 through
1987. Since 1987, we have incurred substantial operating losses, as
we pursued our clinical trial effort to get our experimental drug, Ampligen®,
approved. As of March 31, 2009, our accumulated deficit was
approximately $200,496,000. We have not yet generated significant
revenues from our products and may incur substantial and increased losses in the
future. We cannot assure that we will ever achieve significant
revenues from product sales or become profitable. We require, and will continue
to require, the commitment of substantial resources to develop our
products. We cannot assure that our product development efforts will
be successfully completed or that required regulatory approvals will be obtained
or that any products will be manufactured and marketed successfully, or be
profitable.
We
may require additional financing which may not be available.
The
development of our products will require the commitment of substantial resources
to conduct the time-consuming research, preclinical development, and clinical
trials that are necessary to bring pharmaceutical products to market. As of
March 31, 2009, we had approximately $5,541,000 in cash and cash
equivalents and short-term investments along with our receipt of $960,000 of
equity funding from Fusion Capital Fund II, LLC during April
2009. Given the harsh economic conditions, we have reviewed every
aspect of our operations for cost and spending reductions to assure our long
term survival while maintaining the resources necessary to achieve our primary
objectives of obtaining NDA approval of Ampligen® and securing a strategic
partner. Based on these actions, we anticipate, but cannot assure,
that these funds will be sufficient to meet our operating cash
requirements into the third calendar quarter of 2010.
We have
entered into securities purchase agreements to sell stock and warrants for an
aggregate of $15,000,000 (the “Placement”) and we anticipate that it will close
within the next few days (see “Part II, Item 5. “Other
Information”). If and when this transaction closes, we do not
anticipate needing additional funding within the near
future. However, if it does not close, we have in place two potential
sources of financing: 1) a Common Stock Purchase Agreement (the "Purchase
Agreement") with Fusion Capital Fund II, LLC (“Fusion Capital”) pursuant to
which we have the right to sell shares of our Common Stock to Fusion Capital
(see “Part I -
Financial Information”, “Item 2. Management's Discussion and
Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations; Liquidity and Capital
Resources; Equity Financing”); and 2) a Standby Financing Agreement with certain
of our executives, directors and strategic consultants (see “Part I - Financial
Information”, “Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations; Liquidity and Capital Resources;
Standby Financing Agreement”). However, Fusion Capital cannot
purchase any shares of our common stock pursuant to
the Purchase Agreement if the price of our common stock has three trading days
with an average value below $0.40 over the prior twelve trading
days. While the current market price is in excess of $0.40 per share,
during the past few months, the price of our common stock periodically has been
below $0.40, thereby
adversely affecting our ability to utilize the Fusion Capital equity
financing.
Assuming
no material financing from the sale of securities to Fusion Capital, financing
under the Standby Financing Agreement is not sufficient and if we are unable to
commercialize and sell Ampligen® and/or recommence and increase sales of Alferon
N Injection® or our other products, we will need to secure other sources of
funding through additional equity or debt financing or other sources in order to
satisfy our working capital needs and/or complete the necessary clinical trials
and the regulatory approval processes including the commercializing of Ampligen®
products. In this regard we previously registered $50,000,000 worth
of our securities in a universal shelf registration statement, including the
securities to be issued in the Placement. We are unable to estimate
the amount, timing or nature of future sales of outstanding common stock or
instruments convertible into or exercisable for our common
stock. Should the Placement not close, there can be no assurances
that we will raise adequate funds which may have a material adverse effect on
our ability to develop our products or continue our
operations.
26
Our Alferon N Injection® Commercial
Sales have halted due to lack of finished goods inventory.
Our
finished goods inventory of Alferon N Injection® reached it’s expiration date in
March 2008. As a result, we have no product to commercially sell at
this time. The FDA has declined to respond to our requests for an
extension of the expiration date, therefore we consider the request to be
denied. Since our testing of the product indicates that it is not
impaired and could be safely utilized, the finished goods inventory of 2,745
Alferon N Injection® 5ml vials may be used to produce approximately 11,000,000
sachets of Low Dose Oral Alferon (LDO) for future clinical trials.
Production
of Alferon N Injection® from our work-in-progress inventory, which has an
approximate expiration date of 2012, has been put on hold at this time due to
the resources needed to prepare our New Brunswick facility for the FDA
preapproval inspection with respect to our Ampligen® NDA. Work on the
Alferon N Injection® is expected to resume in mid-2009, under the condition that
adequate funding is obtained, which means that we may not have any Alferon N
Injection® product commercially available until 2010. However, if
there is a significant absence of the product from the market place, no
assurance can be given that sales will return to prior levels.
Although preliminary in vitro
testing indicates that Ampligen® enhances the effectiveness of different drug
combinations on avian influenza, preliminary testing in the laboratory is not
necessarily predictive of successful results in clinical testing or human
treatment.
Ampligen®
continues to undergo pre-clinical testing for possible treatment of avian
flu. Although preliminary in vitro testing indicates that Ampligen®
enhances the effectiveness of different drug combinations on avian flu,
preliminary testing in the laboratory is not necessarily predictive of
successful results in clinical testing or human treatment. No
assurance can be given that similar results will be observed in clinical
trials. Use of Ampligen® in the treatment of avian flu requires prior
regulatory approval. Only the FDA can determine whether a drug is
safe, effective or promising for treating a specific application. As
discussed in the prior risk factor, obtaining regulatory approvals is a rigorous
and lengthy process.
In
addition, Ampligen® is currently being tested on strains of influenza
virus. There are a number of strains and strains
mutate. No assurance can be given that Ampligen® will be effective on
any strains that might infect humans.
27
We
may not be profitable unless we can protect our patents and/or receive approval
for additional pending patents.
We need
to preserve and acquire enforceable patents covering the use of Ampligen® for a
particular disease in order to obtain exclusive rights for the commercial sale
of Ampligen® for such disease. We obtained all rights to Alferon N
Injection®, and we plan to preserve and acquire enforceable patents covering its
use for existing and potentially new diseases. Our success depends,
in large part, on our ability to preserve and obtain patent protection for our
products and to obtain and preserve our trade secrets and
expertise. Certain of our know-how and technology is not patentable,
particularly the procedures for the manufacture of our experimental drug,
Ampligen®, which is carried out according to standard operating procedure
manuals. We also have been issued patents on the use of Ampligen® in
combination with certain other drugs for the treatment of chronic Hepatitis B
virus, chronic Hepatitis C virus, and a patent which affords protection on the
use of Ampligen® in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. We have
not yet been issued any patents in the United States for the use of
AmpligenÒ as a sole
treatment for any of the cancers, which we have sought to
target. With regard to Alferon N Injection®, we have acquired from
ISI its patents for natural alpha interferon produced from human peripheral
blood leukocytes and its production process and we have filed a patent
application for the use of Alferon® LDO in treating viral diseases including
avian influenza. We cannot assure that our competitors will not seek and obtain
patents regarding the use of similar products in combination with various other
agents, for a particular target indication prior to our doing
such. If we cannot protect our patents covering the use of our
products for a particular disease, or obtain additional patents, we may not be
able to successfully market our products.
The
patent position of biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms is highly uncertain
and involves complex legal and factual questions.
To date,
no consistent policy has emerged regarding the breadth of protection afforded by
pharmaceutical and biotechnology patents. There can be no assurance
that new patent applications relating to our products or technology will result
in patents being issued or that, if issued, such patents will afford meaningful
protection against competitors with similar technology. It is
generally anticipated that there may be significant litigation in the industry
regarding patent and intellectual property rights. Such litigation could require
substantial resources from us and we may not have the financial resources
necessary to enforce the patent rights that we hold. No assurance can
be made that our patents will provide competitive advantages for our products or
will not be successfully challenged by competitors. No assurance can
be given that patents do not exist or could not be filed which would have a
materially adverse effect on our ability to develop or market our products or to
obtain or maintain any competitive position that we may achieve with respect to
our products. Our patents also may not prevent others from developing
competitive products using related technology.
There
can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain necessary licenses if we
cannot enforce patent rights we may hold. In addition, the failure of
third parties from whom we currently license certain proprietary information or
from whom we may be required to obtain such licenses in the future, to
adequately enforce their rights to such proprietary information, could adversely
affect the value of such licenses to us.
If we
cannot enforce the patent rights we currently hold we may be required to obtain
licenses from others to develop, manufacture or market our
products. There can be no assurance that we would be able to obtain
any such licenses on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. We
currently license certain proprietary information from third parties, some of
which may have been developed with government grants under circumstances where
the government maintained certain rights with respect to the proprietary
information developed. No assurances can be given that such third
parties will adequately enforce any rights they may have or that the rights, if
any, retained by the government will not adversely affect the value of our
license.
28
There is
no guarantee that our trade secrets will not be disclosed or known by our
competitors.
To
protect our rights, we require certain employees and consultants to enter into
confidentiality agreements with us. There can be no assurance that
these agreements will not be breached, that we would have adequate and
enforceable remedies for any breach, or that any trade secrets of ours will not
otherwise become known or be independently developed by
competitors.
We
have limited marketing and sales capability. If we are unable to
obtain additional distributors and our current and future distributors do not
market our products successfully, we may not generate significant revenues or
become profitable.
We have
limited marketing and sales capability. We are dependent upon
existing and, possibly future, marketing agreements and third party distribution
agreements for our products in order to generate significant revenues and become
profitable. As a result, any revenues received by us will be
dependent in large part on the efforts of third parties, and there is no
assurance that these efforts will be successful.
Our
commercialization strategy for Ampligen®-CFS may include licensing/co-marketing
agreements utilizing the resources and capacities of a strategic
partner(s). We are currently seeking worldwide marketing partner(s),
with the goal of having a relationship in place before approval is
obtained. In parallel to partnering discussions, appropriate
pre-marketing activities will be undertaken. We intend to control
manufacturing of Ampligen on a world-wide basis.
We cannot
assure that our US or foreign marketing strategy will be successful or that we
will be able to establish future marketing or third party distribution
agreements on terms acceptable to us, or that the cost of establishing these
arrangements will not exceed any product revenues. Our inability to
establish viable marketing and sales capabilities would most likely have a
materially adverse effect on us.
There
are no long-term agreements with suppliers of required materials. If we are
unable to obtain the required raw materials, we may be required to scale back
our operations or stop manufacturing Alferon N Injection® and/or
Ampligen®.
A number
of essential materials are used in the production of Alferon N Injection®,
including human white blood cells. We do not have long-term
agreements for the supply of any of such materials. There can be no
assurance we can enter into long-term supply agreements covering essential
materials on commercially reasonable terms, if at all.
There are
a limited number of manufacturers in the United States available to provide the
polymers for use in manufacturing Ampligen®. At present, we do not
have any agreements with third parties for the supply of any of these
polymers. We have established relevant manufacturing operations
within our New Brunswick, New Jersey facility for the production of Ampligen®
polymers from raw materials in order to obtain polymers on a more consistent
manufacturing basis.
29
If we are
unable to obtain or manufacture the required polymers, we may be required to
scale back our operations or stop manufacturing. The costs and availability of
products and materials we need for the production of Ampligen® and the
commercial production of Alferon N Injection® and other products which we may
commercially produce are subject to fluctuation depending on a variety of
factors beyond our control, including competitive factors, changes in
technology, and FDA and other governmental regulations and there can be no
assurance that we will be able to obtain such products and materials on terms
acceptable to us or at all.
There
is no assurance that successful manufacture of a drug on a limited scale basis
for investigational use will lead to a successful transition to commercial,
large-scale production.
Small
changes in methods of manufacturing, including commercial scale-up, may affect
the chemical structure of Ampligen® and other RNA drugs, as well as their safety
and efficacy, and can, among other things, require new clinical studies and
affect orphan drug status, particularly, market exclusivity rights, if any,
under the Orphan Drug Act. The transition from limited production of
pre-clinical and clinical research quantities to production of commercial
quantities of our products will involve distinct management and technical
challenges and will require additional management and technical personnel and
capital to the extent such manufacturing is not handled by third
parties. There can be no assurance that our manufacturing will be
successful or that any given product will be determined to be safe and
effective, capable of being manufactured economically in commercial quantities
or successfully marketed.
We
have limited manufacturing experience.
Ampligen®
has been only produced to date in limited quantities for use in our clinical
trials and we are dependent upon a third party supplier for substantially all of
the production process. The failure to continue these arrangements or
to achieve other such arrangements on satisfactory terms could have a material
adverse affect on us. Also to be successful, our products must be
manufactured in commercial quantities in compliance with regulatory requirements
and at acceptable costs. To the extent we are involved in the
production process, our current facilities are not adequate for the production
of our proposed products for large-scale commercialization, and we currently do
not have adequate personnel to conduct commercial-scale
manufacturing. We intend to utilize third-party facilities if and
when the need arises or, if we are unable to do so, to build or acquire
commercial-scale manufacturing facilities. We will need to comply
with regulatory requirements for such facilities, including those of the FDA
pertaining to current Good Manufacturing Practices (“cGMP”) regulations. There
can be no assurance that such facilities can be used, built, or acquired on
commercially acceptable terms, or that such facilities, if used, built, or
acquired, will be adequate for our long-term needs. Please refer to
the Risk Factor “Our Alferon N Injection® commercial sales have halted
due to lack of finished goods inventory”.
We
may not be profitable unless we can produce Ampligen® or other products in
commercial quantities at costs acceptable to us.
We have
never produced Ampligen® or any other products in large commercial
quantities. We must manufacture our products in compliance with
regulatory requirements in large commercial quantities and at acceptable costs
in order for us to be profitable. We intend to utilize third-party
manufacturers and/or facilities if and when the need arises or, if we are unable
to do so, to build or acquire commercial-scale manufacturing
facilities. If we cannot manufacture commercial quantities of
Ampligen® or enter into third party agreements for its manufacture at costs
acceptable to us, our operations will be significantly
affected. Also, each production lot of Alferon N Injection® is
subject to FDA review and approval prior to releasing the lots to be
sold. This review and approval process could take considerable time,
which would delay our having product in inventory to sell.
30
Rapid
technological change may render our products obsolete or
non-competitive.
The
pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries are subject to rapid and substantial
technological change. Technological competition from pharmaceutical and
biotechnology companies, universities, governmental entities and others
diversifying into the field is intense and is expected to
increase. Most of these entities have significantly greater research
and development capabilities than us, as well as substantial marketing,
financial and managerial resources, and represent significant competition for
us. There can be no assurance that developments by others will not
render our products or technologies obsolete or noncompetitive or that we will
be able to keep pace with technological developments.
Our
products may be subject to substantial competition.
Ampligen®. Competitors
may be developing technologies that are, or in the future may be, the basis for
competitive products. Some of these potential products may have an
entirely different approach or means of accomplishing similar therapeutic
effects to products being developed by us. These competing products
may be more effective and less costly than our products. In addition,
conventional drug therapy, surgery and other more familiar treatments may offer
competition to our products. Furthermore, many of our competitors
have significantly greater experience than us in pre-clinical testing and human
clinical trials of pharmaceutical products and in obtaining FDA, HPB and other
regulatory approvals of products. Accordingly, our competitors may
succeed in obtaining FDA, HPB or other regulatory product approvals more rapidly
than us. There are no drugs approved for commercial sale with respect
to treating ME/CFS in the United States. The dominant competitors
with drugs to treat disease indications in which we plan to address include
Gilead Pharmaceutical, Pfizer, Bristol-Myers, Abbott Labs, GlaxoSmithKline,
Merck and Schering-Plough Corp. These potential competitors are among
the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, are well known to the public
and the medical community, and have substantially greater financial resources,
product development, and manufacturing and marketing capabilities than we
have. Although we believe our principal advantage is the unique
mechanism of action of Ampligen® on the immune system, we cannot assure that we
will be able to compete.
ALFERON N
Injection®. Our competitors are among the largest pharmaceutical
companies in the world, are well known to the public and the medical community,
and have substantially greater financial resources, product development, and
manufacturing and marketing capabilities than we have. Alferon N
Injection® currently competes with Schering-Plough’s injectable recombinant
alpha interferon product (INTRON® A) for the treatment of genital warts. 3M
Pharmaceuticals also offer competition from its immune-response modifier,
Aldara®, a self-administered topical cream, for the treatment of external
genital and perianal warts. In addition, Medigene® has FDA approval
for a self-administered ointment, VeregenTM, which is indicated for the topical
treatment of external genital and perianal warts. Alferon N
Injection® also competes with surgical, chemical, and other methods of treating
genital warts. We cannot assess the impact products developed by our
competitors, or advances in other methods of the treatment of genital warts,
will have on the commercial viability of Alferon N Injection®. If and
when we obtain additional approvals of uses of this product, we expect to
compete primarily on the basis of product performance. Our
competitors have developed or may develop products (containing either alpha or
beta interferon or other therapeutic compounds) or other treatment modalities
for those uses. There can be no assurance that, if we are able to
obtain regulatory approval of Alferon N Injection® for the treatment of new
indications, we will be able to achieve any significant penetration into those
markets. In addition, because certain competitive products are not
dependent on a source of human blood cells, such products may be able to be
produced in greater volume and at a lower cost than Alferon N
Injection®. Currently, our wholesale price on a per unit basis of
Alferon N Injection® is higher than that of the competitive recombinant alpha
and beta interferon products.
31
General. Other
companies may succeed in developing products earlier than we do, obtaining
approvals for such products from the FDA more rapidly than we do, or developing
products that are more effective than those we may develop. While we
will attempt to expand our technological capabilities in order to remain
competitive, there can be no assurance that research and development by others
or other medical advances will not render our technology or products obsolete or
non-competitive or result in treatments or cures superior to any therapy we
develop.
Possible
side effects from the use of Ampligen® or Alferon N Injection® could adversely
affect potential revenues and physician/patient acceptability of our
product.
Ampligen®. We
believe that Ampligen® has been generally well tolerated with a low incidence of
clinical toxicity, particularly given the severely debilitating or life
threatening diseases that have been treated. A mild flushing reaction
has been observed in approximately 15-20% of patients treated in our various
studies. This reaction is occasionally accompanied by a rapid heart
beat, a tightness of the chest, urticaria (swelling of the skin), anxiety,
shortness of breath, subjective reports of “feeling hot”, sweating and
nausea. The reaction is usually infusion-rate related and can
generally be controlled by reducing the rate of infusion. Other
adverse side effects include liver enzyme level elevations, diarrhea, itching,
asthma, low blood pressure, photophobia, rash, transient visual disturbances,
slow or irregular heart rate, decreases in platelets and white blood cell
counts, anemia, dizziness, confusion, elevation of kidney function tests,
occasional temporary hair loss and various flu-like symptoms, including fever,
chills, fatigue, muscular aches, joint pains, headaches, nausea and
vomiting. These flu-like side effects typically subside within
several months. One or more of the potential side effects might deter
usage of Ampligen® in certain clinical situations and therefore, could adversely
affect potential revenues and physician/patient acceptability of our
product.
Alferon N
Injection®. At present, Alferon N Injection® is only approved for the
intra-lesional (within the lesion) treatment of refractory or recurring external
genital warts in adults. In clinical trials conducted for the
treatment of genital warts with Alferon N Injection®, patients did not
experience serious side effects; however, there can be no assurance that
unexpected or unacceptable side effects will not be found in the future for this
use or other potential uses of Alferon N Injection® which could threaten or
limit such product’s usefulness.
32
We
may be subject to product liability claims from the use of Ampligen®, Alferon N
Injection®, or other of our products which could negatively affect our future
operations. We have discontinued product liability
insurance.
We face
an inherent business risk of exposure to product liability claims in the event
that the use of Ampligen® or other of our products results in adverse
effects. This liability might result from claims made directly by
patients, hospitals, clinics or other consumers, or by pharmaceutical companies
or others manufacturing these products on our behalf. Our future
operations may be negatively affected from the litigation costs, settlement
expenses and lost product sales inherent to these claims. While we
will continue to attempt to take appropriate precautions, we cannot assure that
we will avoid significant product liability exposure.
On
November 28, 2008, we suspended product liability insurance for Alferon® N and
Ampligen® until we receive regulatory clearance for Ampligen®. We now
require third parties to indemnify us in conjunction with all overseas emergency
sales of Ampligen® and Alferon® LDO. We concluded that years of
successfully addressing the limited number of product liability claims filed
against Ampligen® and Alferon® LDO, combined with the mandatory patient waivers
completed as an element of clinical trials and lack of any commercial sales
since April 2008, that discontinuing the liability insurance was an acceptable
risk given our financial condition and need to conserve cash.
Currently,
without product liability coverage for Ampligen®, Alferon N Injection® and
Alferon® LDO, a claim against the products could have a materially adverse
effect on our business and financial condition.
The
loss of services of key personnel including Dr. William A. Carter could hurt our
chances for success.
Our
success is dependent on the continued efforts of our staff, especially certain
doctors and researchers along with the continued efforts of Dr. William A.
Carter because of his position as a pioneer in the field of nucleic acid drugs,
his being the co-inventor of Ampligen®, and his knowledge of our overall
activities, including patents and clinical trials. As a result of our
implementation of the Employee Wage Or Hours Reduction Program, our staff has
agreed to take a portion of their compensation in shares of our Common
Stock. While we believe that our employees are dedicated to us and
while we have incentivised them to remain with us through the establishment of a
Goal Achievement Incentive Program for the implementation of a Strategic
Partnering Agreement and Bonus Pool that would award them money in the event
that the FDA approves our NDA for Ampligen®, we cannot assure that they will
remain with us. For information on the Goal Achievement Incentive
Program and the Bonus Pool, please see our Form 10-K for the year ended December
31, 2008; “Item 11. Executive Compensation; Compensation Discussion and
Analysis; Elements of Executive Compensation; Other
Compensation.” The loss of the services of personnel key to our
operations or Dr. Carter could have a material adverse effect on our operations
and chances for success. As a cash conservation measure, we have
elected to discontinue the Key Man life insurance in the amount of $2,000,000 on
the life of Dr. Carter until we receive regulatory clearance for
Ampligen®. An employment agreement continues to exist with Dr. Carter
that, as amended, runs until December 31, 2010. However, Dr. Carter
has the right to terminate his employment upon not less than 30 days prior
written notice. The loss of Dr. Carter or other personnel or the
failure to recruit additional personnel as needed could have a materially
adverse effect on our ability to achieve our objectives.
33
Uncertainty
of health care reimbursement for our products.
Our
ability to successfully commercialize our products will depend, in part, on the
extent to which reimbursement for the cost of such products and related
treatment will be available from government health administration authorities,
private health coverage insurers and other organizations. Significant
uncertainty exists as to the reimbursement status of newly approved health care
products, and from time to time legislation is proposed, which, if adopted,
could further restrict the prices charged by and/or amounts reimbursable to
manufacturers of pharmaceutical products. We cannot predict what, if
any, legislation will ultimately be adopted or the impact of such legislation on
us. There can be no assurance that third party insurance companies
will allow us to charge and receive payments for products sufficient to realize
an appropriate return on our investment in product development.
There
are risks of liabilities associated with handling and disposing of hazardous
materials.
Our
business involves the controlled use of hazardous materials, carcinogenic
chemicals, flammable solvents and various radioactive compounds. Although we
believe that our safety procedures for handling and disposing of such materials
comply in all material respects with the standards prescribed by applicable
regulations, the risk of accidental contamination or injury from these materials
cannot be completely eliminated. In the event of such an accident or
the failure to comply with applicable regulations, we could be held liable for
any damages that result, and any such liability could be
significant. We do not maintain insurance coverage against such
liabilities.
Risks
Associated With an Investment in Our Common Stock
The
market price of our stock may be adversely affected by market
volatility.
The
market price of our common stock has been and is likely to be
volatile. This is especially true given the current significant
instability in the financial markets. In addition to general
economic, political and market conditions, the price and trading volume of our
stock could fluctuate widely in response to many factors,
including:
·
|
announcements
of the results of clinical trials by us or our
competitors;
|
·
|
adverse
reactions to products;
|
·
|
governmental
approvals, delays in expected governmental approvals or withdrawals
of any prior governmental approvals or public or regulatory
agency concerns regarding the safety or effectiveness of our
products;
|
·
|
changes
in U.S. or foreign regulatory policy during the period of product
development;
|
·
|
developments
in patent or other proprietary rights, including any third party
challenges of our intellectual property
rights;
|
·
|
announcements
of technological innovations by us or our
competitors;
|
·
|
announcements
of new products or new contracts by us or our
competitors;
|
·
|
actual
or anticipated variations in our operating results due to the level of
development expenses and other
factors;
|
·
|
changes
in financial estimates by securities analysts and whether our earnings
meet or exceed the
estimates;
|
·
|
conditions
and trends in the pharmaceutical and other
industries;
|
·
|
new
accounting standards;
|
·
|
overall
investment market fluctuation;
and
|
·
|
occurrence
of any of the risks described in these "Risk
Factors."
|
34
Our
common stock is listed for quotation on the NYSE Amex. For the 15-month period
ended March 31, 2009, the price of our common stock has ranged from $0.25 to
$1.20 per share. We expect the price of our common stock to remain
volatile. The average daily trading volume of our common stock varies
significantly. Our relatively low average volume and low average
number of transactions per day may affect the ability of our stockholders to
sell their shares in the public market at prevailing prices and a more active
market may never develop.
In the
past, following periods of volatility in the market price of the securities of
companies in our industry, securities class action litigation has often been
instituted against companies in our industry. If we face securities
litigation in the future, even if without merit or unsuccessful, it would result
in substantial costs and a diversion of management attention and resources,
which would negatively impact our business.
Our
stock price may be adversely affected if a significant amount of shares are sold
in the public market.
We
anticipate selling 13,636,363 shares pursuant to the Placement along
with warrants to purchase an additional 9,136,363 shares. In
connection with entering into the Purchase Agreement with Fusion in August 2008,
we registered 21,300,000 shares in the aggregate, consisting of 20,000,000
shares which we may sell to Fusion and 1,300,000 shares we have issued or may
issue to Fusion as a commitment fee. As of March 31, 2009, we have
sold an aggregate of 3,404,972 shares to Fusion under the Purchase Agreement for
gross proceeds of approximately $1,140,000, leaving 17,895,029
shares. The number of shares ultimately offered for sale by Fusion
Capital is dependent upon the number of shares purchased by Fusion Capital under
the agreement. The purchase price for the common stock to be sold to
Fusion Capital pursuant to the Purchase Agreement will fluctuate based on the
price of our common stock. Under the rules of the NYSE Amex, we may
not issue more than 14,823,651 shares (19.99% of our outstanding shares as of
July 2, 2008, the date of the purchase agreement) without first obtaining the
approval of stockholders. In November 2008, we received stockholder
approval to issue the additional 6,476,349 shares. It is anticipated
that shares registered could be sold over a period of up to 16 months after the
date hereof. Depending upon market conditions at the time, a sale of
shares by Fusion at any given time could cause the trading price of our common
stock to decline. Fusion Capital may ultimately purchase all, some or
none of the remaining 17,895,029 shares available but not yet
issued. After it has acquired such shares, it may sell all, some or
none of such shares. Therefore, sales to Fusion Capital by us under
the Purchase Agreement may result in substantial dilution to the interests of
other holders of our common stock. The sale of a substantial number
of shares of our common stock by Fusion Capital, or anticipation of such sales,
could make it more difficult for us to sell equity or equity-related securities
in the future at a time and at a price that we might otherwise wish to effect
sales. However, we have the right to control the timing and amount of
any sales of our shares to Fusion Capital and the agreement may be terminated by
us at any time at our discretion without any cost to us.
In
addition to shares and warrant shares to be issued in the Placement and the
shares registered for Fusion Capital, we have previously registered 135% of
1,920,256 shares issuable upon exercise of warrants related to our former
convertible debentures and 14,442,294 shares issuable upon exercise of certain
other warrants. To the extent the exercise price of the warrants is
less than the market price of the common stock, the holders of the warrants are
likely to exercise them and sell the underlying shares of common stock and to
the extent that the conversion price and exercise price of these securities are
adjusted pursuant to anti-dilution protection, the securities could be
exercisable or convertible for even more shares of common stock. We
also may issue shares to be used to meet our capital requirements or use shares
to compensate employees, consultants and/or directors. In this regard
we previously registered $50,000,000 worth of our securities in a universal
shelf registration statement, none of which has been designated or
issued. We are unable to estimate the amount, timing or nature of
future sales of outstanding common stock or instruments convertible into or
exercisable for our common stock.
35
Sales of
substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market could cause the
market price for our common stock to decrease. Furthermore, a decline
in the price of our common stock would likely impede our ability to raise
capital through the issuance of additional shares of common stock or other
equity securities.
Provisions
of our Certificate of Incorporation and Delaware law could defer a change of our
management which could discourage or delay offers to acquire
us.
Provisions
of our Certificate of Incorporation and Delaware law may make it more difficult
for someone to acquire control of us or for our stockholders to remove existing
management, and might discourage a third party from offering to acquire us, even
if a change in control or in management would be beneficial to our
stockholders. For example, our Certificate of Incorporation allows us
to issue shares of preferred stock without any vote or further action by our
stockholders. Our Board of Directors has the authority to fix and
determine the relative rights and preferences of preferred stock. Our
Board of Directors also has the authority to issue preferred stock without
further stockholder approval. As a result, our Board of Directors
could authorize the issuance of a series of preferred stock that would grant to
holders the preferred right to our assets upon liquidation, the right to receive
dividend payments before dividends are distributed to the holders of common
stock and the right to the redemption of the shares, together with a premium,
prior to the redemption of our common stock. In this regard, in
November 2002, we adopted a stockholder rights plan and, under the Plan, our
Board of Directors declared a dividend distribution of one Right for each
outstanding share of Common Stock to stockholders of record at the close of
business on November 29, 2002. Each Right initially entitles holders
to buy one unit of preferred stock for $30.00. The Rights generally
are not transferable apart from the common stock and will not be exercisable
unless and until a person or group acquires or commences a tender or exchange
offer to acquire, beneficial ownership of 15% or more of our common
stock. However for Dr. Carter, our Chief Executive Officer, who
already beneficially owns 8.1% of our common stock, the Plan’s threshold will be
20%, instead of 15%. The Rights will expire on November 19, 2012, and
may be redeemed prior thereto at $.01 per Right under certain
circumstances.
Because
the risk factors referred to above could cause actual results or outcomes to
differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by
us, you should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking
statements. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of
the date on which it is made and we undertake no obligation to update any
forward-looking statement or statements to reflect events or circumstances after
the date on which such statement is made or reflect the occurrence of
unanticipated events. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is
not possible for us to predict which will arise. In addition, we
cannot assess the impact of each factor on our business or the extent to which
any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ
materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Our research
in clinical efforts may continue for the next several years and we may continue
to incur losses due to clinical costs incurred in the development of Ampligen®
for commercial application. Possible losses may fluctuate from quarter to
quarter as a result of differences in the timing of significant expenses
incurred and receipt of licensing fees and/or cost recovery treatment
revenue.
36
ITEM 2: Unregistered
Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
During the quarter ended March 31,
2009, we issued an aggregate of 709,758 shares for services
performed.
All of
the foregoing transactions were conducted pursuant to the exemption from
registration provided by Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of
1933.
We did
not repurchase any of our securities during the quarter ended March 31,
2009.
See also,
Item 5 below
ITEM
3: Defaults upon Senior Securities
None.
ITEM
4: Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security
Holders
None.
ITEM
5: Other Information
On May 8, 2009, we
entered into a letter agreement (the “Engagement Letter”) with Rodman &
Renshaw, LLC (“Rodman”) as placement agent, relating to a proposed offering
of our securities. A copy of the Engagement Letter is attached hereto as Exhibit
1.1.
On May
10, 2009, we entered into Securities Purchase Agreements with two institutional
investors. Pursuant to the Securities Purchase Agreements, we
have agreed to issue to these investors in the aggregate: (a) 13,636,363 shares
of our common stock; (b) Series I warrants to purchase an additional 6,136,363
shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $1.65 per share (“Series I
Warrants”); and (c) Series II warrants to purchase up to 3,000,000 shares of our
common stock at an exercise price of $1.10 per share (“Series II Warrants,” and
together with the Series I Warrants, the “Warrants”). The Series I
Warrants may be exercised at any time on or after the six month anniversary of
the closing date of the offering and for a five year period
thereafter. The Series II Warrants may be exercised at any time on or
after the date of delivery of the Series II Warrants and for a period of 45 days
thereafter.
Rodman,
as placement agent, acted on a best efforts basis for the offering and will
receive a placement fee equal to $825,000 as well as Series 1 Warrants to
purchase 750,000 shares of our common stock equal at an exercise price of $1.38
per share. Rodman also is entitled to a fee equal to 5.5% of any
Series II Warrants that are exercised.
37
We are
making the offering and sale of the above shares and Warrants pursuant to a
shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (Registration No. 333-151696)
declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 27, 2008,
and a base prospectus dated as of the same date, as supplemented by a prospectus
supplement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May
12, 2009.
The
descriptions of terms and conditions of the Engagement Letter, Securities
Purchase Agreements and Warrants set forth herein do not purport to be complete
and are qualified in their entirety by the full text of the Engagement Letter,
which is attached hereto as Exhibit 1.1 and incorporated herein by reference,
the form of Securities Purchase Agreement, which is attached hereto as Exhibit
10.1 and incorporated herein by reference, and the forms of the Warrants, which
are attached hereto as Exhibit 4.1 and Exhibit 4.2 and incorporated by reference
herein.
A copy of
the press release making the announcement of the offering is filed herewith as
Exhibit 99.1 and are incorporated by reference herein.
ITEM
6: Exhibits
(a)
|
Exhibits
|
1.1
|
Engagement
Letter between the Company and Rodman & Renshaw,
LLC.
|
4.1
|
Form
of Series I common stock purchase warrant.
|
4.1
|
Form
of Series II common stock purchase warrant.
|
10.1
|
Form
of Securities Purchase Agreement entered into on May 10,
2009.
|
31.1
|
Certification
pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 from the
Company's Chief Executive Officer
|
31.2
|
Certification
pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 from the
Company's Chief Financial Officer
|
32.1
|
Certification
pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 from the
Company's Chief Executive Officer
|
32.2
|
Certification
pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 from the
Company's Chief Financial
Officer
|
38
SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant
has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned
thereunto duly authorized.
HEMISPHERx
BIOPHARMA, INC.
|
|
/S/
William A. Carter
|
|
William
A. Carter, M.D.
|
|
Chief
Executive Officer
|
|
&
President
|
/S/
Charles T. Bernhardt
|
|
Charles
T. Bernhardt
|
|
Chief
Financial Officer
|
Date: May
11, 2009
39