CATALYST PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. - Quarter Report: 2020 September (Form 10-Q)
CATALYST PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
INDEX
PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1. |
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS |
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Item 2. |
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Item 3. |
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Item 4. |
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PART II. OTHER INFORMATION |
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Item 1. |
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Item 1A. |
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Item 2. |
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Item 3. |
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Item 4. |
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Item 5. |
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Item 6. |
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37 |
2
CATALYST PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
September 30, 2020 |
December 31, 2019 |
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(unaudited) |
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ASSETS |
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Current Assets: |
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Cash and cash equivalents |
$ | 117,105,973 | $ | 89,511,710 | ||||
Short-term investments |
10,002,749 | 5,007,050 | ||||||
Accounts receivable, net |
5,871,893 | 10,536,997 | ||||||
Inventory |
4,747,538 | 1,956,792 | ||||||
Prepaid expenses and other current assets |
5,614,052 | 4,351,074 | ||||||
Total current assets |
143,342,205 | 111,363,623 | ||||||
Deferred tax assets |
31,347,442 | — | ||||||
Operating lease right-of-use |
12,167 | 793,252 | ||||||
Property and equipment, net |
149,119 | 210,467 | ||||||
Deposits |
8,888 | 8,888 | ||||||
Total assets |
$ | 174,859,821 | $ | 112,376,230 | ||||
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY |
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Current Liabilities: |
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Accounts payable |
$ | 2,005,340 | $ | 4,117,447 | ||||
Accrued expenses and other liabilities |
16,226,609 | 19,981,295 | ||||||
Total current liabilities |
18,231,949 | 24,098,742 | ||||||
Operating lease liability, net of current portion |
— | 647,532 | ||||||
Total liabilities |
18,231,949 | 24,746,274 | ||||||
Commitments and contingencies |
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Stockholders’ equity: |
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Preferred stock, $0.001 par value, 5,000,000 shares authorized: none issued and outstanding at September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019 |
— | — | ||||||
Common stock, $0.001 par value, 200,000,000 and 150,000,000 shares authorized; 103,648,224 shares and 103,397,033 shares issued and outstanding at September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively |
103,648 | 103,397 | ||||||
Additional paid-in capital |
221,673,450 | 216,205,678 | ||||||
Accumulated deficit |
(65,142,755 | ) | (128,688,624 | ) | ||||
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) |
(6,471 | ) | 9,505 | |||||
156,627,872 |
87,629,956 |
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$ | 174,859,821 |
$ |
112,376,230 |
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
3
CATALYST PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)
(unaudited)
For the Three Months Ended September 30, |
For the Nine Months Ended September 30, |
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2020 |
2019 |
2020 |
2019 |
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Revenues: |
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t |
$ | 29,166,658 | $ | 30,897,444 | $ | 87,907,894 | $ | 72,183,782 | ||||||||
Revenues from collaborative arrangements |
150,000 | — | 150,000 | — | ||||||||||||
Total revenues |
29,316,658 | 30,897,444 | 88,057,894 | 72,183,782 | ||||||||||||
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Operating costs and expenses: |
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s |
3,878,760 | 4,387,461 | 12,169,499 | 10,360,874 | ||||||||||||
Research and development |
3,749,233 | 4,597,039 | 12,321,687 | 12,534,362 | ||||||||||||
Selling, general and administrative |
9,984,961 | 8,067,792 | 30,881,367 | 25,471,974 | ||||||||||||
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Total operating costs and expenses |
17,612,954 | 17,052,292 | 55,372,553 | 48,367,210 | ||||||||||||
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Operating income (loss) |
11,703,704 | 13,845,152 | 32,685,341 | 23,816,572 | ||||||||||||
Other income, net |
33,567 | 393,415 | 481,069 | 1,187,091 | ||||||||||||
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Net income (loss) before income taxes |
11,737,271 | 14,238,567 | 33,166,410 | 25,003,663 | ||||||||||||
Income tax provision (benefit) |
(31,602,596 | ) | 608,388 | (30,379,459 | ) | 1,058,039 | ||||||||||
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Net income (loss) |
$ | 43,339,867 | $ | 13,630,179 | $ | 63,545,869 | $ | 23,945,624 | ||||||||
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Net income (loss) per share: |
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Basic |
$ | 0.42 | $ | 0.13 | $ | 0.61 | $ | 0.23 | ||||||||
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Diluted |
$ | 0.41 | $ | 0.13 | $ | 0.60 | $ | 0.23 | ||||||||
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Weighted average shares outstanding: |
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Basic |
103,535,431 | 102,974,105 | 103,452,025 | 102,864,571 | ||||||||||||
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Diluted |
106,316,241 | 107,045,234 | 106,386,617 | 105,821,609 | ||||||||||||
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Net income (loss) |
$ | 43,339,867 | $ | 13,630,179 | $ | 63,545,869 | $ | 23,945,624 | ||||||||
Other comprehensive income (loss): |
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Unrealized gain (loss) on available-for-sale |
(5,280 | ) | (2,330 | ) | (15,976 | ) | 39,676 | |||||||||
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Comprehensive income (loss) |
$ | 43,334,587 | $ | 13,627,849 | $ | 63,529,893 | $ | 23,985,300 | ||||||||
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
4
CATALYST PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY (unaudited)
For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019
Preferred |
Common Stock |
Additional Paid-in |
Accumulated |
Accumulated Other Comprehensive |
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Stock |
Shares |
Amount |
Capital |
Deficit |
Gain (Loss) |
Total |
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Balance at December 31, 2019 |
$ | — | 103,397,033 | $ | 103,397 | $ | 216,205,678 | $ | (128,688,624 | ) | $ | 9,505 | $ | 87,629,956 | ||||||||||||||
Issuance of stock options for services |
— | — | — | 1,383,672 | — | — | 1,383,672 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Exercise of stock options for common stock |
— | 11,666 | 12 | 26,137 | — | — | 26,149 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Amortization of restricted stock for services |
— | — | — | 135,679 | — | — | 135,679 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Other comprehensive gain (loss) |
— | — | — | — | — | 74,246 | 74,246 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Net income (loss) |
— | — | — | — | 10,426,015 | — | 10,426,015 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Balance at March 31, 2020 |
— | 103,408,699 | 103,409 | 217,751,166 | (118,262,609 | ) | 83,751 | 99,675,717 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Issuance of stock options for services |
— | — | — | 1,627,105 | — | — | 1,627,105 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Exercise of stock options for common stock |
— | 13,333 | 13 | 36,188 | — | — | 36,201 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Amortization of restricted stock for services |
— | — | — | 167,357 | — | — | 167,357 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Other comprehensive gain (loss) |
— | — | — | — | — | (84,942 | ) | (84,942 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
Net income (loss) |
— | — | — | — | 9,779,987 | — | 9,779,987 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Balance at June 30, 2020 |
— | 103,422,032 | 103,422 | 219,581,816 | (108,482,622 | ) | (1,191 | ) | 111,201,425 | |||||||||||||||||||
Issuance of stock options for services |
— | — | — | 1,345,962 | — | — | 1,345,962 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Exercise of stock options for common stock |
— | 215,097 | 215 | 630,833 | — | — | 631,048 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Amortization of restricted stock for services |
— | — | — | 131,884 | — | — | 131,884 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Issuance of common stock upon vesting of restricted stock |
— | 11,095 | 11 | (17,045 | ) | — | — | (17,034 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
Other comprehensive gain (loss) |
— | — | — | — | — | (5,280 | ) | (5,280 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
Net income (loss) |
— | — | — | — | 43,339,867 | — | 43,339,867 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Balance at September 30, 2020 |
$ | — | 103,648,224 | $ | 103,648 | $ | 221,673,450 | $ | (65,142,755 | ) | $ | (6,471 | ) | $ | 156,627,872 | |||||||||||||
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Preferred |
Common Stock |
Additional Paid-in |
Accumulated |
Accumulated Other Comprehensive |
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Stock |
Shares |
Amount |
Capital |
Deficit |
Gain (Loss) |
Total |
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Balance at December 31, 2018 |
$ | — | 102,739,257 | $ | 102,739 | $ | 211,265,279 | $ | (160,563,961 | ) | $ | (20,248 | ) | $ | 50,783,809 | |||||||||||||
Issuance of stock options for services |
— | — | — | 933,411 | — | — | 933,411 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Exercise of stock options for common stock |
— | 65,000 | 65 | 89,285 | — | — | 89,350 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Other comprehensive gain (loss) |
— | — | — | — | — | 13,560 | 13,560 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Net income (loss) |
— | — | — | — | (644,503 | ) | — | (644,503 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
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Balance at March 31, 2019 |
— | 102,804,257 | 102,804 | 212,287,975 | (161,208,464 | ) | (6,688 | ) | 51,175,627 | |||||||||||||||||||
Issuance of stock options for services |
— | — | — | 924,996 | — | — | 924,996 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Exercise of stock options for common stock |
— | 125,000 | 125 | 192,425 | — | — | 192,550 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Other comprehensive gain (loss) |
— | — | — | — | — | 28,446 | 28,446 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Net income (loss) |
— | — | — | — | 10,959,948 | — | 10,959,948 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Balance at June 30, 2019 |
— | 102,929,257 | 102,929 | 213,405,396 | (150,248,516 | ) | 21,758 | 63,281,567 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Issuance of stock options for services |
— | — | — | 817,060 | — | — | 817,060 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Exercise of stock options for common stock |
— | 111,776 | 112 | 255,950 | — | — | 256,062 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Other comprehensive gain (loss) |
— | — | — | — | — | (2,330 | ) | (2,330 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
Net income (loss) |
— | — | — | — | 13,630,179 | — | 13,630,179 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Balance at September 30, 2019 |
$ | — | 103,041,033 | $ | 103,041 | $ | 214,478,406 | $ | (136,618,337 | ) | $ | 19,428 | $ | 77,982,538 | ||||||||||||||
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
5
CATALYST PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (unaudited)
For the Nine Months Ended September 30, |
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2020 |
2019 |
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Operating Activities: |
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Net income (loss) |
$ | 63,545,869 | $ | 23,945,624 | ||||
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities: |
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Depreciation |
72,746 | 26,718 | ||||||
Amortization of right-of-use |
781,085 | 181,301 | ||||||
Stock-based compensation |
4,791,659 | 2,675,467 | ||||||
Deferred taxes |
(31,347,442 | ) | — | |||||
Change in accrued interest and accretion of discount on investments |
(11,675 | ) | (185,536 | ) | ||||
(Increase) decrease in: |
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Accounts receivable, net |
4,665,104 | (10,095,352 | ) | |||||
Inventory |
(2,790,746 | ) | (543,789 | ) | ||||
Prepaid expenses and other current assets and deposits |
(1,262,978 | ) | (1,689,618 | ) | ||||
Increase (decrease) in: |
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Accounts payable |
(2,112,107 | ) | 1,809,662 | |||||
Accrued expenses and other liabilities |
(3,568,729 | ) | 6,400,279 | |||||
Operating lease liability |
(833,489 | ) | (204,724 | ) | ||||
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Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities |
31,929,297 | 22,320,032 | ||||||
Investing Activities: |
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Purchases of property and equipment |
(11,398 | ) | (19,370 | ) | ||||
Purchases of investments |
(10,000,000 | ) | (34,725,401 | ) | ||||
Proceeds from maturities and sales of investments |
5,000,000 | 40,310,595 | ||||||
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Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities |
(5,011,398 | ) | 5,565,824 | |||||
Financing Activities: |
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Payment of employee withholding tax related to stock-based compensation |
(17,034 | ) | — | |||||
Proceeds from exercise of stock options |
693,398 | 537,962 | ||||||
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Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities |
676,364 | 537,962 | ||||||
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Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents |
27,594,263 | 28,423,818 | ||||||
Cash and cash equivalents—beginning of period |
89,511,710 | 16,559,400 | ||||||
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Cash and cash equivalents—end of period |
$ | 117,105,973 | $ | 44,983,218 | ||||
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Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information: |
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Cash paid for income taxes |
$ | 2,195,000 | $ | — | ||||
Non-cash investing and financing activities: |
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Unrealized gain (loss) on available-for-sale |
$ | (15,976 | ) | $ | 39,676 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
6
CATALYST PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
NOTES TO UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
1. |
Organization and Description of Business. |
Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and subsidiary (collectively, the “Company”) is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapies for people with rare debilitating, chronic neuromuscular and neurological diseases, including Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome (LEMS), Anti-MuSK antibody positive myasthenia gravis (MuSK-MG), and Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 3.
On November 28, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(
FDA)
granted approval of Firdapse®
for the treatment of adults with LEMS (ages 17 and above). On January 15, 2019, the Company launched its first product, Firdapse®
, in the United States for the treatment of adults with LEMS. On August 6, 2020, the Company announced that Canada’s national healthcare regulatory agency, Health Canada, has approved Firdapse
®
for the treatment of patients in Canada with LEMS. Since inception, the Company has devoted substantially all of its efforts to business planning, research and development, recruiting management and technical staff, acquiring operating assets, raising capital, and selling its product. The Company incurred operating losses in each period from inception, and started reporting operating income during the year ended December 31, 2019. The Company has been able to fund its cash needs to date through several public and private offerings of its securities and from revenues from product sales. See Note 11 (Stockholders’ Equity).
Capital Resources
While there can be no assurance, based on currently available information, the Company estimates that it has sufficient resources to support its operations for at least the next 12 months from the issuance date of this Form
10-Q.
The Company may raise required funds in the future through public or private equity offerings, debt financings, corporate collaborations, governmental research grants or other means. The Company may also seek to raise new capital to fund additional product development efforts, even if it has sufficient funds for its planned operations. Any sale by the Company of additional equity or convertible debt securities could result in dilution to the Company’s current stockholders. There can be no assurance that any required additional funding will be available to the Company at all or available on terms acceptable to the Company. Further, to the extent that the Company raises additional funds through collaborative arrangements, it may be necessary to relinquish some rights to the Company’s drug candidates or grant sublicenses on terms that are not favorable to the Company. If the Company is not able to secure additional funding when needed, the Company may have to delay, reduce the scope of, or eliminate one or more research and development programs, which could have an adverse effect on the Company’s business.
Risks and Uncertainties
There are many uncertainties regarding the novel coronavirus
(COVID-19)
pandemic, and the Company is closely monitoring the impact of the pandemic on all aspects of its business, including how the pandemic is impacting its patients, employees, suppliers, vendors, business partners, clinical trials, and distribution channels. The Company is unable to predict the impact that COVID-19
will have on its financial position and operating results in future periods due to numerous uncertainties. The Company will continue to assess the evolving impact of the COVID-19
pandemic and make adjustments to its operations as necessary.2. |
Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies. |
a. |
INTERIM FINANCIAL STATEMENTS. 10-Q was derived from the audited financial statements and does not include all disclosures required by U.S. GAAP. |
In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements of the Company contain all adjustments (consisting of only normal recurring adjustments) necessary to present fairly the financial position of the Company as of the dates and for the periods presented. Accordingly, these consolidated statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2019 included in the 2019 Annual Report on Form
10-K
filed by the Company with the SEC. The results of operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for any future period or for the full 2020 fiscal year.7
2. |
Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies (continued). |
b. |
PRINCIPLES OF CONSOLIDATION |
c. |
USE OF ESTIMATES. |
d. |
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS. |
e. |
INVESTMENTS |
The short-term bond funds and U.S. Treasuries held at September 30, 2020 are classified as securities. The short-term bond funds are classified as current assets, which reflects management’s intention to use the proceeds from the sale of these investments to fund the Company’s operations, as necessary. The Company classifies U.S. Treasuries with stated maturities of greater than three months and less than one year in short-term investments, U.S Treasuries with stated maturities greater than one year are classified as
available-for-sale
non-current
investments in its consolidated balance sheets. The Company records securities at fair value with unrealized gains and losses reported in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in stockholders’ equity. Realized gains and losses are included in other income, net and are derived using the specific identification method for determining the cost of securities sold. Interest income is recognized when earned and is included in other income, net in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss). The Company recognizes a charge when the declines in the fair value below the amortized cost basis of its securities are judged to be other-than-temporary. The Company considers various factors in determining whether to recognize an other-than-temporary charge, including whether the Company intends to sell the security or whether it is more likely than not that the Company would be required to sell the security before recovery of the amortized cost basis. The Company has not recorded any other-than-temporary impairment charges on its securities. See Note 3 (Investments).
available-for-sale
available-for-sale
available-for-sale
The Company previously owned a short-term bond fund that was classified as trading securities. Trading securities are recorded at fair value based on the closing market price of the security. For trading securities, the Company
recognized
realized gains and losses and unrealized gains and losses to earnings. At September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, there were no investments classified as trading securities, as the Company sold its interest in the short-term bond fund classified as trading
in 2019. There was no realized or unrealized gain (loss) on trading securities for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020. Realized losses on trading securities during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 were $0 and $4,980, respectively. Unrealized gain (loss) on trading securities was $0 and $89,405 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019
, respectively,
and is included in other income, net in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.
f. |
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE, NET. |
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2. |
Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies (continued). |
g. |
INVENTORY. first-in-first-out work-in-process ® on November 28, 2018 as the related costs were expected to be recoverable through the commercialization of the product. Costs incurred prior to the FDA approval of Firdapse® were recorded as research and development expenses in prior years’ consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss). If information becomes available that suggests that inventories may not be realizable, the Company may be required to expense a portion or all of the previously capitalized inventories. As of September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, inventory consisted mainly of work-in-process |
Products that have been approved by the FDA or other regulatory authorities, such as Firdapse
®
, are also used in clinical programs to assess the safety and efficacy of the products for usage in treating diseases that have not been approved by the FDA or other regulatory authorities. The form of Firdapse®
utilized for both commercial and clinical programs is identical and, as a result, the inventory has an “alternative future use” as defined in authoritative guidance. Raw materials associated with clinical development programs are included in inventory and charged to research and development expense when the product enters the research and development process and no longer can be used for commercial purposes and, therefore, does not have an “alternative future use”. The Company evaluates for potential excess inventory by analyzing current and future product demand relative to the remaining product shelf life. The Company builds demand forecasts by considering factors such as, but not limited to, overall market potential, market share, market acceptance, and patient usage.
h. |
PREPAID EXPENSES AND OTHER CURRENT ASSETS. pre-clinical studies, clinical trials and studies, regulatory affairs and consulting. Prepaid manufacturing consists of advances for the Company’s drug manufacturing activities. Such advances are recorded as expense as the related goods are received or the related services are performed. |
i. |
FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS. |
j. |
FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS. |
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2. |
Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies (continued). |
Level 1 inputs utilize quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the Company has the ability to access at the measurement date. Level 2 inputs are inputs other than quoted prices included in Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly. Level 2 inputs may include quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets, as well as inputs that are observable for the asset or liability (other than quoted prices), such as interest rates, foreign exchange rates, and yield curves that are observable at commonly quoted intervals. Level 3 inputs are unobservable inputs for the asset or liability, which are typically based on an entity’s own assumptions, as there is little, if any, related market activity. In instances where the determination of the fair value measurement is based on inputs from different levels of the fair value hierarchy, the level in the fair value hierarchy within which the entire fair value measurement falls is based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety. The Company’s assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires judgment, and considers factors specific to the asset or liability.
Fair Value Measurements at Reporting Date Using |
||||||||||||||||
Balances as of September 30, 2020 |
Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets/Liabilities (Level 1) |
Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) |
Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) |
|||||||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents: |
||||||||||||||||
Money market funds |
$ | 12,635,927 | $ | 12,635,927 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||||
U.S. Treasuries |
$ | 94,992,100 | $ | — | $ | 94,992,100 | $ | — | ||||||||
Short-term investments: |
||||||||||||||||
Short-term bond funds |
$ | 10,002,749 | $ | 10,002,749 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||||
Balances as of December 31, 2019 |
Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets/Liabilities (Level 1) |
Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) |
Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) |
|||||||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents: |
||||||||||||||||
Money market funds |
$ | 23,963,617 | $ | 23,963,617 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||||
U.S. Treasuries |
$ | 59,932,200 | $ | — | $ | 59,932,200 | $ | — | ||||||||
Short-term investments: |
||||||||||||||||
U.S. Treasuries |
$ | 5,007,050 | $ | — | $ | 5,007,050 | $ | — | ||||||||
k. |
OPERATING LEASES. right-of-use non-lease components, which are generally accounted for separately. |
l. |
REVENUE RECOGNITION. ® in November 2018. Subsequent to receiving FDA approval, the Company entered into an arrangement with one distributor (the “Customer”), who is the exclusive distributor of Firdapse® in the United States. The Customer subsequently resells Firdapse® to a small group of exclusive specialty pharmacies (“SPs”) whose dispensing activities for patients with specific payors may result in government-mandated or privately negotiated rebate obligations for the Company with respect to the purchase of Firdapse® . |
10
2. |
Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies (continued). |
To determine revenue recognition for arrangements that are within the scope of Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 606 – Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“Topic 606”), the Company performs the following five steps: (i) identify the contract(s) with a customer, (ii) identify the performance obligations in the contract, (iii) determine the transaction price, (iv) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract, and (v) recognize revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation. The Company only applies the five-step model to arrangements that meet the definition of a contract under Topic 606, including when it is probable that the Company will collect the consideration it is entitled to in exchange for the goods or services it transfers to the customer. At contract inception, once the contract is determined to be within the scope of Topic 606, the Company assesses the goods or services promised within each contract and determines those that are performance obligations and assesses whether each promised good or service is distinct. The Company then recognizes as revenue the amount of the transaction price that is allocated to the respective performance obligation when (or as) the performance obligation is satisfied. For a complete discussion of accounting for product revenue, see Product Revenue, Net below.
The Company also may generate revenues from payments received under a collaborative agreement. Collaborative agreement payments may include nonrefundable fees at the inception of the agreements, milestone and event-based payments for specific achievements designated in the collaborative agreements, and/or royalties on sales of products resulting from a collaborative arrangement. For a complete discussion of accounting for collaborative arrangements, see Revenues from Collaborative Arrangements below.
Product Revenue, Net:
®
to the Customer (its exclusive distributor) who subsequently resells Firdapse®
to both a small group of SPs who have exclusive contracts with the Company to distribute the Company’s products to patients and potentially to medical centers or hospitals on an emergency basis. In addition to the distribution agreement with its Customer, the Company enters into arrangements with health care providers and payors that provide for government-mandated and/or privately negotiated rebates, chargebacks, and discounts with respect to the purchase of the Company’s products.The Company recognizes revenue on product sales when the Customer obtains control of the Company’s product, which occurs at a point in time (upon delivery). Product revenue is recorded net of applicable reserves for variable consideration, including discounts and allowances. The Company’s payment terms range between 15 and 30 days.
Shipping and handling costs for product shipments occur prior to the customer obtaining control of the goods, and are recorded in cost of sales.
If taxes should be collected from the Customer relating to product sales and remitted to governmental authorities, they will be excluded from revenue. The Company expenses incremental costs of obtaining a contract when incurred, if the expected amortization period of the asset that the Company would have recognized is one year or less. However, no such costs were incurred during the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2020 and 2019.
During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, all of the Company’s sales were to its Customer.
Reserves for Variable Consideration:
These estimates take into consideration a range of possible outcomes which are probability-weighted in accordance with the expected value method in Topic 606 for relevant factors such as current contractual and statutory requirements, specific known market events and trends, industry data, and forecasted customer buying and payment patterns. Overall, these reserves reflect the Company’s best estimates of the amount of consideration to which it is entitled based on the terms of the respective underlying contracts.
11
2. |
Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies (continued). |
The amount of variable consideration which is included in the transaction price may be constrained, and is included in the net sales price only to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal in the amount of the cumulative revenue recognized under the contract will not occur in a future period. The Company’s analyses also contemplated application of the constraint in accordance with the guidance, under which it determined a material reversal of revenue would not occur in a future period for the estimates detailed below as of September 30, 2020 and, therefore, the transaction price was not reduced further during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019. Actual amounts of consideration ultimately received may differ from the Company’s estimates. If actual results in the future vary from the Company’s estimates, the Company will adjust these estimates, which would affect net product revenue and earnings in the period such variances become known.
Trade Discounts and Allowances:
®
to the Customer, these payments are classified in selling, general and administrative expenses in the Company’s consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income (loss). However, if the Company has determined such services received to date are not distinct from the Company’s sale of products to the Customer, these payments have been recorded as a reduction of revenue within the consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income (loss) through September 30, 2020 and 2019, as well as a reduction to accounts receivable, net on the consolidated balance sheets.Funded
Co-pay
Assistance Program:co-pay
assistance program intended to provide financial assistance to qualified commercially-insured patients. The calculation of the accrual for co-pay
assistance is based on an estimate of claims and the cost per claim that the Company expects to receive associated with Firdapse®
that has been recognized as revenue, but remains in the distribution channel at the end of each reporting period. These payments are considered payable to the Customer and the related reserve is recorded in the same period the related revenue is recognized, resulting in a reduction of product revenue and the establishment of a current liability which is included in accrued expenses and other current liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets.Product Returns:
Provider Chargebacks and Discounts:
Government Rebates:
Bridge and Patient Assistance Programs:
®
to uninsured patients who satisfy pre-established
criteria for either the Bridge Program or the Patient Assistance Program. Patients who meet the Bridge Program eligibility criteria and are transitioning from investigational product while they are waiting for a coveragedetermination,
12
2. |
Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies (continued). |
or later, for patients whose access is threatened by the complications arising from a change of insurer may receive a temporary supply of free Firdapse
®
while the Company is determining the patient’s third-party insurance, prescription drug benefit or other third-party coverage for Firdapse®
. The Patient Assistance Program provides free Firdapse®
for longer periods of time for those who are uninsured or functionally uninsured with respect to Firdapse®
because they are unable to obtain coverage from their payor despite having health insurance, to the extent allowed by applicable law. The Company does not recognize any revenue related to these free products and the associated costs are classified in selling, general and administrative expenses in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss). Revenues from Collaborative Arrangements:
®
(vigabatrin) tablets as well as the commercialization of Firdapse®
in Canada. Pursuant to the terms of these agreements, collaborators could be required to make various payments to the Company, including upfront license fees, milestone payments based on achievement of regulatory approvals, and royalties on sales of products resulting from the collaborative agreement. Nonrefundable upfront license fees are recognized upon receipt as persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, the price to the collaborator is fixed or determinable and collectability is reasonably assured. In the third quarter of 2020, an upfront fee was earned under the collaboration agreement for the commercialization of Firdapse
®
in Canada. The collaborative agreements provide for milestone payments upon achievement of development and regulatory events. The Company accounts for milestone payments in accordance with the provisions of Accounting Standards Update (ASU)
No. 2010-17,
Revenue Recognition – Milestone Method (“Milestone Method of Accounting”). The Company recognizes consideration that is contingent upon the achievement of a milestone in its entirety as revenue in the period in which the milestone is achieved only if the milestone is substantive in its entirety. A milestone is considered substantive when it meets all of the following criteria:1. The consideration is commensurate with either the entity’s performance to achieve the milestone or the enhancement of the value of the delivered item(s) as a result of a specific outcome resulting from the entity’s performance to achieve the milestone;
2. The consideration relates solely to past performance; and
3. The consideration is reasonable relative to all of the deliverables and payment terms within the arrangement.
A milestone is defined as an event (i) that can only be achieved based in whole or in part on either the entity’s performance or on the occurrence of a specific outcome resulting from the entity’s performance, (ii) for which there is substantive uncertainty at the date the arrangement is entered into that the event will be achieved, and (iii) that would result in additional payments being due to the vendor.
The Company believes that achievement of the milestones will be substantive and there will be no substantive uncertainty once the milestones are achieved. No milestones were achieved in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019.
In arrangements where the Company does not deem the collaborator to be a customer, payments to and from the collaborator are presented in the statement of operations based on the nature of the Company’s business operations, the nature of the arrangement, including the contractual terms, and the nature of the payments.
Under the arrangements, the Company will receive royalty reports 60 days after quarter end from one collaborator, and within nine days after quarter end from the other collaborator. Since the Company will receive royalty reports 60 days after quarter end, royalty revenue from sales of collaboration products by our collaborator will be recognized in the quarter following the quarter in which the corresponding sales occurred. In instances where royalty reports are received within nine days after quarter end, royalty revenue from sales of collaboration products by our collaborator will be recognized in the quarter in which the sales occurred. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, there was no royalty revenue from sales of the collaborative product.
Refer to Note 7 (Collaborative Arrangement), for further discussion on the Company’s collaborative arrangement.
m. |
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. |
13
2. |
Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies (continued). |
n. |
STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION. |
o. |
CONCENTRATION OF RISK. |
The Company sells its product in the United States through an exclusive distributor (its Customer) to specialty pharmacies. Therefore, its distributor and specialty pharmacies account for all of its trade receivables and net product revenues. The creditworthiness of its Customer is continuously monitored, and the Company has internal policies regarding customer credit limits. The Company estimates an allowance for expected credit loss primarily based on the credit worthiness of its Customer, historical payment patterns, aging of receivable balances and general economic conditions.
The Company currently has a single product with limited commercial sales experience, which makes it difficult to evaluate its current business, predict its future prospects and forecast financial performance and growth. The Company has invested a significant portion of its efforts and financial resources in the development and commercialization of the lead product, Firdapse
®
, and expects Firdapse®
to constitute virtually all of product revenue for the foreseeable future. The Company’s success depends on its ability to effectively commercialize Firdapse®
. The Company relies exclusively on third parties to formulate and manufacture Firdapse
®
and its drug candidates. The commercialization of Firdapse®
and any other drug candidates, if approved, could be stopped, delayed or made less profitable if those third parties fail to provide sufficient quantities of product or fail to do so at acceptable quality levels or prices. The Company does not intend to establish its own manufacturing facilities. The Company is using the same third-party contractors to manufacture, supply, store and distribute drug supplies for clinical trials and for the commercialization of Firdapse®
. If the Company is unable to continue its relationships with one or more of these third-party contractors, it could experience delays in the development or commercialization efforts as it locates and qualifies new manufacturers. The Company intends to rely on one or more third-party contractors to manufacture the commercial supply of its drugs. p. |
ROYALTIES. |
q. |
INCOME TAXES. |
The Company recognizes the financial statement benefit of a tax position only after determining that the relevant tax authority would more likely than not sustain the position following an audit. For tax positions meeting the
more-likely-than-not
threshold, the amount recognized in the financial statements is the largest benefit that has a greater than 50 percent likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement with the relevant tax authority. The Company is subject to income taxes in the U.S. federal jurisdiction and various state jurisdictions. Tax regulations within each jurisdiction are subject to the interpretation of the related tax laws and regulations and require significant judgment to apply. The Company is not subject to U.S. federal, state and local tax examinations by tax authorities for years before 2017
. If the Company were to subsequently record an unrecognized tax benefit, associated penalties and tax related interest expense would be reported as a component of income tax expense.On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law making several changes to the Internal Revenue Code. The changes include, but are not limited to: increasing the limitation on the amount of deductible interest expense, allowing companies to carryback certain net operating losses, and increasing the amount of net operating loss carryforwards that corporations can use to offset taxable income.
The tax law changes in the CARES Act did not have a material impact on the Company’s income tax provision.
14
2. |
Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies (continued). |
r. |
COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS). available-for-sale |
s. |
NET INCOME (LOSS) PER COMMON SHARE. |
Diluted net income (loss) per common share is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding, increased by the assumed conversion of other potentially dilutive securities during the period.
The following table reconciles basic and diluted weighted average common shares:
For the Three Months Ended September 30, |
For the Nine Months Ended September 30, |
|||||||||||||||
2020 |
2019 |
2020 |
2019 |
|||||||||||||
Basic weighted average common shares outstanding |
103,535,431 | 102,974,105 | 103,452,025 | 102,864,571 | ||||||||||||
Effect of dilutive securities |
2,780,810 | 4,071,129 | 2,934,592 | 2,957,038 | ||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
Dilutive weighted average common shares outstanding |
106,316,241 | 107,045,234 | 106,386,617 | 105,821,609 | ||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Outstanding common stock equivalents totaling approximately 5.4 million and 4.8 million, were excluded from the calculation of diluted net income (loss) per common share for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 as their effect would be anti-dilutive. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, approximately 0.4 million and 2.9 million shares of outstanding stock options were excluded from the calculation of diluted net income (loss) per common share as their effect would be anti-dilutive.
t. |
RECLASSIFICATIONS. |
u. |
RECENTLY ISSUED ACCOUNTING STANDARDS. 2018-18, Collaborative Arrangements (Topic 808), which amends ASC 808 to clarify when transactions between participants in a collaborative arrangement under ASC 808 are within the scope of the FASB’s new revenue standard, ASU 2014-09 (codified in ASC 606). The amendments require the application of ASC 606 existing guidance to determine the units of account that are distinct in a collaborative arrangement for purposes of identifying transactions with customers. If a unit of account within the collaborative arrangement is distinct and is with a customer, an entity shall apply the guidance in Topic 606 to that unit of account. In a transaction between collaborative participants, an entity is precluded by ASU 2018-18 from presenting a transaction together with “revenue from contracts with customers” unless the unit of account is within the scope of ASC 606 and the entity applies the guidance in ASC 606 to such unit of account. The Company adopted the new standard on January 1, 2020. The Company has a collaboration agreement with Endo Ventures Limited (Endo). See Note 7 (Collaborative Arrangement). However, these amendments did not have an impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements, as Endo does not meet the definition of a customer. |
In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU The standard amends the impairment model by requiring entities to use a forward-looking approach based on expected losses to estimate credit losses for most financial assets and certain other instruments that aren’t measured at fair value through net income. For debt securities, entities will be required to recognize an allowance for credit losses rather than a reduction in carrying value of the asset. Entities will no longer be permitted to consider the length of time that fair value has been less than amortized cost when evaluating when credit losses should be recognized. The Company adopted the new standard on January 1, 2020. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
No. 2016-13,
Financial Instruments — Credit Losses (Topic 326), Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments.
available-for-sale
15
2. |
Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies (continued). |
In August 2018, the The amendments in this update align the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a services contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain
FASB
issued ASU 2018-15,
Intangibles – Goodwill and Other –
Internal-Use
Software (Subtopic 350-40),
Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract.internal-use
software (and hosting arrangements that include an internal-use
software license). Accordingly, the amendments in this update require an entity in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract to follow the guidance in Subtopic 350-40
to determine which implementation costs to capitalize as an asset related to the service contract and which costs to expense. The Company adopted the new standard on January 1, 2020 and applied prospectively to all implementation costs incurred after the date of adoption. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements. 3. |
Investments. |
Available-for-sale
Estimated Fair Value |
Gross Unrealized Gains |
Gross Unrealized Losses |
Amortized Cost |
|||||||||||||
At September 30, 2020: |
||||||||||||||||
U.S. Treasuries – Cash equivalents |
$ | 94,992,100 | $ | — | $ | (1,195 | ) | $ | 94,993,295 | |||||||
Bond Funds – ST |
10,002,749 | — | (5,276 |
) |
10,008,025 | |||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
Total |
$ | 104,994,849 | $ | — | $ | (6,471 | ) | $ | 105,001,320 | |||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
At December 31, 2019 : |
||||||||||||||||
U.S. Treasuries – Cash equivalents |
$ | 59,932,200 | $ | 2,042 | $ | — | $ | 59,930,158 | ||||||||
U.S. Treasuries – ST |
5,007,050 | 7,463 | — | 4,999,587 | ||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
Total |
$ | 64,939,250 | $ | 9,505 | $ | — | $ | 64,929,745 | ||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
There were no realized gains or losses from securities for the three or nine months ended September 30, 2020 or 2019. The Company did not hold any securities in an unrealized position for more than 12 months as of September 30, 2020.
available-for-sale
The estimated fair values of securities at 30, 2020, by contractual maturity, are summarized as follows:
available-for-sale
September
September 30, 2020 |
||||
Due in one year or less |
$ | 104,994,849 | ||
|
|
4. |
Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets. |
Prepaid expenses and other current assets consist of the following:
September 30, 2020 |
December 31, 2019 |
|||||||
Prepaid manufacturing costs |
$ | 3,268,032 | $ | 1,526,013 | ||||
Prepaid insurance |
247,610 | 1,263,129 | ||||||
Prepaid subscription fees |
561,430 | 501,251 | ||||||
Prepaid research fees |
472,093 | 481,057 | ||||||
Prepaid commercialization expenses |
168,611 | 62,959 | ||||||
Due from collaborative arrangements |
306,678 | — | ||||||
Other |
589,598 | 516,665 | ||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Total prepaid expenses and other current assets |
$ | 5,614,052 | $ | 4,351,074 | ||||
|
|
|
|
16
5. |
Operating Leases. |
The Company has operating lease agreements for its corporate office. The leases include options to extend the leases for up to 1 year and options to terminate the lease within 1 year. There are no obligations under finance leases.
The Company entered into an agreement in May 2020 that amended its lease for its office facilities. Under the amended lease, the Company’s leased space will increase from approximately 7,800 square feet of space to approximately 10,700 square feet of space. The lessor is currently building this space. The lease is expected to commence in early 2021 when construction of the asset is completed and available for use. The lease disclosures for the three and nine months periods ended September 30, 2020 in these financial statements have been adjusted for the modification of the current lease.
The components of lease expense were as follows:
For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2020 |
For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020 |
|||||||
Operating lease cost |
$ | 61,111 | $ | 200,624 |
Supplemental cash flow information related to leases was as follows:
September 30, 2020 |
||||
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities: |
||||
Operating cash flows |
$ | 253,024 | ||
Right-of-use |
||||
Operating leases |
$ | 37,528 |
Supplemental balance sheet information related to leases was as follows:
September 30, 2020 |
||||
Operating lease right-of-use |
$ | 12,167 | ||
Other current liabilities |
$ | 114,563 | ||
Operating lease liabilities, net of current portion |
— | |||
Total operating lease liabilities |
$ | 114,563 | ||
Weighted average remaining lease term |
0.3 years | |||
Weighted average discount rate |
3.68 | % |
Remaining payments of lease liabilities as of September 30, 2020 were as follows:
2020 (remaining three months) |
$ | 86,582 | ||
2021 |
28,860 | |||
2022 |
— | |||
Total lease payments |
115,442 | |||
Less imputed interest |
(879 | ) | ||
Total |
$ | 114,563 | ||
17
6. |
Accrued Expenses and Other Liabilities. |
Accrued expenses and other liabilities consist of the following:
September 30, 2020 |
December 31, 2019 |
|||||||
Accrued preclinical and clinical trial expenses |
$ | 643,578 | $ | 1,183,513 | ||||
Accrued professional fees |
1,923,164 | 1,241,526 | ||||||
Accrued compensation and benefits |
2,877,077 | 3,064,645 | ||||||
Accrued license fees |
7,840,955 | 8,751,991 | ||||||
Accrued purchases |
1,332,190 | 1,313,310 | ||||||
Accrued contributions |
— | 1,535,000 | ||||||
Operating lease liability |
114,563 | 300,518 | ||||||
Accrued variable consideration |
859,399 | 884,764 | ||||||
Accrued income tax |
566,075 | 1,533,696 | ||||||
Other |
69,608 | 172,332 | ||||||
Current accrued expenses and other liabilities |
16,226,609 | 19,981,295 | ||||||
Lease liability—non-current |
— | 647,532 | ||||||
Non-current accrued expenses and other liabilities |
— | 647,532 | ||||||
Total accrued expenses and other liabilities |
$ | 16,226,609 | $ | 20,628,827 | ||||
7. |
Collaborative Arrangements. |
In December 2018, the Company entered into a collaboration and license agreement (Collaboration) with Endo, for the further development and commercialization of generic Sabril
®
(vigabatrin) tablets through Endo’s U.S. Generic Pharmaceuticals segment, doing business as Par Pharmaceutical. Under the Collaboration, Endo assumes all development, manufacturing, clinical, regulatory, sales and marketing costs under the collaboration, while the Company is responsible for exercising commercially reasonable efforts to develop, or cause the development of, a final finished, stable dosage form of generic Sabril
®
tablets. Under the terms of the Collaboration, the Company has received an
up-front
payment, and will receive a milestone payment, and a sharing of defined net profits upon commercialization from Endo consisting of a mid-double-digit
percent of net sales of generic Sabril®
. The Company has also agreed to a sharing of certain development expenses. Unless terminated earlier in accordance with its terms, the collaboration continues in effect until the date that is ten years following the commercial launch of the product.The collaborative agreement provides for a $2.0 million milestone payment on the commercial launch of the product by Par. As of September 30, 2020 and 2019, no milestone payments have been earned.
There were no revenues from collaborative arrangement
with
Endo
for the three or nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019. Total expenses incurred, net, in connection with the collaborative agreement
with Endo
for three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 were approximately $0 and $4,200, respectively. Total expenses incurred, net, in connection with the collaborative agreement
with
Endo
for three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 were approximately $32,000 and $70,000, respectively. These expenses have been included in research and development expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.
In August 2020, the Company entered into a collaboration and license agreement with KYE Pharmaceuticals Inc (KYE), for the commercialization of Firdapse
®
in Canada. Under the agreement, KYE assumes all selling and marketing costs under the collaboration, while the Company is responsible for supply of Firdapse
®
based on the collaboration partner’s purchase orders. Under the terms of the agreement, the Company has earned an
up-front
payment, will receive milestone payments, and a sharing of defined net profits upon commercialization from KYE consisting of a mid-double-digit
percent of net sales of Firdapse®
. The Company has also agreed to a sharing of certain development expenses. Unless terminated earlier in accordance with its terms, the collaboration continues in effect until the date that is ten years following the commercial launch of the product in Canada. 18
7. |
Collaborative Arrangement s (continued). |
As of September 30, 2020, a $150,000 upfront fee was recognized in connection with the collaborative agreement with KYE. Total expenses incurred, net, in connection with the collaborative agreement with KYE for three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 were approximately $161,000. These expenses have been included in selling, general and administrative expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.
The collaborative agreement provides for event-based payments subject to achievement of specified development, regulatory and sales-based milestones. As of September 30, 2020, no milestone payments have been earned.
8. |
Commitments and Contingencies. |
In 2018, the Company became aware that certain patents granted to
Northwestern
University (which patents have been licensed by Northwestern to a third party) for a new GABA aminotransferase inhibitor were developed from CPP-115,
which had previously been licensed to the Company by Northwestern. As a result, on October 26, 2018, the Company terminated the license agreement for CPP-115
and commenced an arbitration proceeding against Northwestern seeking damages for alleged breaches of the license agreement. Shortly thereafter, Northwestern filed counterclaims against the Company in the arbitration action seeking damages for alleged breaches by the Company of the license agreement. On May 21, 2019, the Company entered into a settlement agreement with Northwestern that resolved all pending disputes between the parties with no admission of liability by either party, released all claims of liability or wrongdoing between the Company and Northwestern, and dismissed the pending arbitration. Under the settlement agreement, the Company received a $100,000 payment on May 21, 2019, which is reported as income in other income, net in the consolidated statement of operations. The Company is also entitled to receive certain contingent compensation that will be reported when and if received.In May 2019, the FDA approved an NDA for Jacobus Pharmaceuticals (“Jacobus”) for Ruzurgi
®
, their version of amifampridine (3,4-DAP),
for the treatment of pediatric LEMS patients (ages 6 to under 17). The Company believes that Jacobus is offering Ruzurgi®
at a lower price than the Company is offering Firdapse®
. In addition, while the NDA for Ruzurgi®
only covers pediatric patients, the Company believes Ruzurgi®
is being prescribed off label to adult LEMS patients. If Jacobus is able to successfully sell Ruzurgi®
off-label
to adult LEMS patients, it could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition and results of operations. The Company believes that the FDA’s approval of Ruzurgi
®
violated its statutory rights and was in multiple other respects arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law. As a result, in June 2019 the Company filed suit against the FDA and several related parties challenging this approval and related drug labeling. The Company’s complaint, which was filed in the federal district court for the Southern District of Florida, alleged that the FDA’s approval of Ruzurgi®
violated multiple provisions of FDA regulations regarding labeling, resulting in misbranding in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA); violated its statutory rights to Orphan Drug Exclusivity and New Chemical Entity Exclusivity under the FDCA; and was in multiple other respects arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. Among other remedies, the suit sought an order vacating the FDA’s approval of Ruzurgi®
. Jacobus intervened in the case and each party filed a cross motion for summary judgement. On July 30, 2020, the Magistrate Judge considering the Company’s lawsuit against the FDA filed a Report and Recommendation in which she recommended to the District Judge handling the case that she grant the FDA’s and Jacobus’ motions for summary judgement and deny the Company’s motion for summary judgement. On September 29, 2020, the District Judge adopted the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge, granted the FDA’s and Jacobus’s motions for summary judgement, and dismissed the Company’s case. The Company has appealed the decision to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. There can be no assurance as to the outcome of this lawsuit.
On August 10, 2020, Health Canada issued a Notice of Compliance (NOC) to Medunik for Ruzurgi
®
for the treatment of LEMS. The Company has since initiated a legal proceeding in Canada seeking judicial review of Health Canada’s decision to issue the NOC for Ruzurgi®
as incorrect and unreasonable under Canadian law. Data protection, per Health Canada regulations, is supposed to prevent Health Canada from issuing a NOC to a drug that directly or indirectly references an innovative drug’s data, for eight years from the date of the innovative drug’s approval. The Ruzurgi®
Product Monograph clearly references pivotal nonclinical carcinogenicity and reproductive toxicity data for amifampridine phosphate developed by Catalyst. As such, the Company believes that our data was relied upon to establish the nonclinical safety profile of Ruzurgi®
needed to meet the standards of the Canadian Food and Drugs Act. There can be no assurance of the results of this proceeding. Additionally, from time to time the Company may become involved in legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business. Except as set forth above, the Company believes that there is no other litigation pending at this time that could have, individually or in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on its results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.
19
9. |
Agreements. |
a. |
LICENSE AGREEMENT WITH BIOMARIN (FIRDAPSE ® ) ® . Under the license agreement, the Company pays: (i) royalties to the licensor for seven years from the first commercial sale of Firdapse® equal to 7% of net sales (as defined in the license agreement) in North America for any calendar year for sales up to $100 million, and 10% of net sales in North America in any calendar year in excess of $100 million; and (ii) royalties to the third-party licensor of the rights sublicensed to the Company for seven years from the first commercial sale of Firdapse® equal to 7% of net sales (as defined in the license agreement between BioMarin and the third-party licensor) in any calendar year. |
On May 29, 2019, the Company entered into an amendment to its license agreement for Firdapse
®
. Under the amendment, the Company has expanded its commercial territory for Firdapse®
, which originally was comprised of North America, to include Japan. Additionally, the Company has an option to further expand its territory under the license agreement to include most of Asia, as well as Central and South America, upon the achievement of certain milestones in Japan. Under the amendment, the Company will pay royalties on net sales in Japan of a similar percentage to the royalties that the Company is currently paying under its original license agreement for North America. During January 2020, the Company was advised that BioMarin has transferred certain rights under the license agreement to SERB S.A.
b. |
AGREEMENTS FOR DRUG MANUFACTURING, DEVELOPMENT, PRECLINICAL AND CLINICAL STUDIES. |
10. |
Income Taxes. |
The Company is subject to income taxes in the U.S. federal jurisdiction and various states jurisdictions. Tax regulations within each jurisdiction are subject to the interpretation of the related tax laws and regulations and require significant judgment to apply. The Company is not subject to U.S. federal, state and local tax examinations by tax authorities for any years before
2017
. If the Company were to subsequently record an unrecognized tax benefit, associated penalties and tax related interest expense would be reported as a component of income tax expense. The Company has evaluated the positive and negative e
v
idence bearing upon the realizability of its deferred tax assets. As of September 30, 2020, the Company determined that there is sufficient positive evidence to conclude that it is more likely than not that additional deferred taxes of approximately $31.3 million are realizable. The Company, therefore, reduced the valuation allowance accordingly. As of December 31, 2019, the Company provided a full valuation allowance for deferred tax assets including NOL and tax credit carryovers. 11. |
Stockholders’ Equity. |
Preferred Stock
The Company has 5,000,000 shares of authorized preferred stock, $0.001 par value per share, at September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019. No shares of preferred stock were outstanding at September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019.
Common Stock
On August 20, 2020, the Company’s stockholders approved an increase in the Company’s authorized common stock par value $0.001 per share, from 150,000,000
shares to
200,000,000 shares. At September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, 103,648,224 and 103,397,033 shares, respectively, of common stock were issued and outstanding. Each holder of common stock is entitled to one vote of each share of common stock held of record on all matters on which stockholders generally are entitled to vote. 2020 Shelf Registration Statement
On July 23, 2020, the Company filed a shelf registration statement with the SEC to sell up to $200 million of common stock, preferred stock, warrants to purchase common stock, debt securities and units consisting of one or more of such securities (the “2020 Shelf Registration Statement”). The 2020 Shelf Registration Statement (file no.
333-240052)
was declared effective by the SEC on July 31, 2020. As of the date of this report, no offerings have been completed under the Company’s 2020 Shelf Registration Statement.20
12. |
Stock Compensation. |
For the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, the Company recorded stock-based compensation expense as follows:
Three months ended September 30, |
Nine months ended September 30, |
|||||||||||||||
2020 |
2019 |
2020 |
2019 |
|||||||||||||
Research and development |
$ | 399,247 | $ | 242,867 | $ | 1,238,521 | $ | 803,800 | ||||||||
Selling, general and administrative |
1,078,599 | 574,193 | 3,553,138 | 1,871,667 | ||||||||||||
Total stock-based compensation |
$ | 1,477,846 | $ | 817,060 | $ | 4,791,659 | $ | 2,675,467 | ||||||||
Stock Options
As of September 30, 2020, there were outstanding stock options to purchase 11,790,335 shares of common stock, of which stock options to purchase 6,833,809 shares of common stock were exercisable as of September 30, 2020.
During the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2020, the Company granted seven-year term options to purchase an aggregate of 10,000 and 1,005,000 shares, respectively, of the Company’s common stock to employees and directors. The Company recorded stock-based compensation related to stock options totaling $1,345,962 and $4,356,739, respectively, during the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2020. During the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2020, respectively, 348,163 and 1,542,992 options vested.
During the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2019, the Company granted seven-year term options to purchase an aggregate of 172,500 and 484,500 shares, respectively, of the Company’s common stock to employees. The Company recorded stock-based compensation related to stock options totaling $817,060 and $2,675,467, respectively, during the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2019. During the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2019, respectively, 74,998 and 1,365,827 options vested.
During the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2020, options to purchase 215,097 shares and 240,096 shares, respectively, of the Company’s common stock were exercised, with proceeds of $631,048 and $693,398 respectively, to the Company.
During the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2019, options to purchase 108,332 shares and 298,332 shares, respectively, of the Company’s common stock were exercised, with proceeds of $256,062 and $537,962 respectively, to the Company. During both the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2019, options to purchase 6,666 shares of the Company’s common stock were exercised on a “cashless” basis , resulting in the issuance of an aggregate of
3,444
shares of the Company’s common stock. As of September 30, 2020, there was approximately $7.8 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to
non-vested
stock option awards granted under the 2014 and 2018 Stock Incentive Plans. The cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of approximately 2.1 years.Restricted Stock Units
The Company granted zero and 30,000 restricted stock units during the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2020, respectively. There were no restricted stock units granted during the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2019. During the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2020, the Company recorded
non-cash
stock-based compensation expense related to restricted stock units totaling $131,884 and $434,920, respectively. No stock-based compensation related to restricted stock units was recorded during the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2019.As of September 30, 2020, there was approximately $1.2 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to
non-vested
restricted stock units granted under the 2018 Stock Incentive Plan. The cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of approximately 2.2 years.21
13. |
Subsequent Events. |
On October 6, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Patent 10,793,893 (the ‘893 patent). The ’893 patent is exclusively licensed to the Company and covers certain methods for treating disease using amifampridine drug products, including Catalyst’s Firdapse
®
product, in patients who are slow metabolizers of amifampridine. On October 19, 2020, the Company announced that it has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for New Jersey against Jacobus, and a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against PantherRx Rare LLC (PantherRx) for infringement of the ’893 patent. The lawsuit arises from Jacobus’ and PantherRx’s sales and marketing of Ruzurgi
®
(amifampridine, 10 mg). The lawsuit alleges that the Ruzurgi®
product infringes the ‘893 patent when administered in accordance with its product labeling. The lawsuit seeks damages and injunctive relief to prevent further marketing of Ruzurgi®
in violation of the ‘893 patent. There can be no assurance as to the outcome of this matter.
22
ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Introduction
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (MD&A) is intended to provide an understanding of our financial condition, changes in financial condition and results of operations. The discussion and analysis is organized as follows:
• | Overview. |
• | Basis of Presentation. |
• | Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates. |
• | Results of Operations. |
• | Liquidity and Capital Resources. off-balance sheet arrangements and our outstanding commitments, if any. |
• | Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements. |
OVERVIEW
We are a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapies for people with rare, debilitating, chronic neuromuscular and neurological diseases. We are dedicated to making a meaningful impact on the lives of those suffering from rare diseases, and we believe in putting patients first in everything we do.
Impact of the
COVID-19
pandemic on our business The COVID-19 pandemic
has resulted, and is expected to continue to result, in significant economic disruption, and has adversely affected and will likely continue to adversely affect our business. We are actively monitoring the situation and are taking those actions that may be required by federal, state or local authorities or that we determine are in the best interests of our patients, investigators, employees and stockholders. While we are unable to determine or predict with certainty the nature, duration or scope of the overall impact that the COVID-19 pandemic
will have on our business and business prospects and our financial condition in the future, we believe that it is important to share where our company stands today, how our response to COVID-19 is
progressing, and how our operations and financial condition may change as the fight against COVID-19 progresses.
In March 2020, in light of worsening conditions as a result of the pandemic, we implemented a number of safety related initiatives among our employees, including a travel ban and a work from home policy for all employees. This included our customer-facing employees, who began working remotely and utilizing telephone and, although we cannot determine with certainty, we are hopeful that over time the impact of this aspect of
and web-based
technologies to provide support to patients and their healthcare providers. We believe that because many healthcare providers have delayed seeing patients other than those affected by COVID-19, we
believe that this has delayed the diagnosis of new LEMS patients and their initiating therapy, which has slowed our efforts to locate new patients who could benefit from our therapy. However, as of the date of this report, we believe that some healthcare providers are beginning to again see patients and sales representatives face-to-face,
the COVID-19
pandemic on our business will lessen.Our Firdapse supply chain remains robust and thus far we have observed no disruptions in the production of Firdapse study.
®
®
. We reiterate that we are committed to providing patients with the ability to obtain an uninterrupted supply of Firdapse®
, and we believe that we have an adequate supply of Firdapse®
to address patients’ needs through at least June 2021. Further, we are advised by our U.S. manufacturing partners that they have implemented contingency plans to remain in operation. We are committed to meeting our “patients” needs for Firdapse®
and believe that our supply chain will continue to remain solid and uninterrupted through the COVID-19
outbreak and beyond. Further, the COVID-19
pandemic delayed our closing out of trial sites and data-collection from our MuSK-MG
study, which delayed our ability to report on the top-line
results from this trial until August 2020. It has also delayed completion of our SMA Type 3 proof-of-concept
23
Firdapse
®
In October 2012, we licensed the North American rights to Firdapse
®
, a proprietary form of amifampridine phosphate, or chemically known as 3,4-diaminopyridine phosphate.
When we acquired the rights to the product, it had already been granted orphan drug designation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of patients with LEMS, a rare and sometimes fatal autoimmune disease characterized by muscle weakness. Additionally, in August 2013, we were granted “breakthrough therapy designation” by the FDA for Firdapse®
for the treatment of LEMS. Further, the FDA has granted Orphan Drug Designation for Firdapse®
for the treatment of Myasthenia Gravis (MG).On November 28, 2018, we received approval from the FDA for Firdapse
®
10 mg tablets for the treatment of adults LEMS patients (ages 17 and above). In January 2019, we launched Firdapse®
in the United States, selling through a field force experienced in neurologic, central nervous system or rare disease products consisting at the time of approximately 20 field personnel, including sales (Regional Account Managers), patient assistance and insurance navigation support (Patient Access Liaisons), and payor reimbursement (National Account Managers) personnel. We also have a field-based force of six medical science liaisons who are helping educate the medical communities and patients about LEMS and about our ongoing clinical trial activities evaluating Firdapse®
for other ultra-orphan, neuromuscular diseases. Finally, we are working with several rare disease advocacy organizations (including Global Genes, the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD), and the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America) to help increase awareness and level of support for patients living with LEMS, Anti-MuSK antibody positive myasthenia gravis, or MuSK-MG,
and Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 3, and to provide education for the physicians who treat these rare diseases and the patients they treat.In early 2020, we expanded our field sales group by almost one hundred percent and contracted with a rare-disease experienced inside sales agency. Through this recent expansion of our sales team, we hope to expand our sales efforts beyond the neuromuscular specialists who regularly treat LEMS patients to reach the roughly 9,000 neurology and neuromuscular healthcare providers that may be treating an adult LEMS patient who can benefit from Firdapse
®
. We are also making available at no-cost
a LEMS voltage gated calcium channel (VGCC) antibody testing program (using a commercially available test approved by the FDA) for use by physicians who suspect that one of their patients may have LEMS and wish to reach a definitive diagnosis.Because of
the COVID-19
pandemic, in March 2020 we implemented a number of safety related initiatives among our employees, including a travel ban and a work from home policy for all employees. This included our customer-facing employees, who are working remotely and utilizing telephone and web-based
technologies to provide support to patients and their healthcare providers. We are also continuing to expand our digital and social media activities in order to introduce our product to potential patients and their healthcare providers. While we are seeing some healthcare providers who are beginning to again see patients and sales representatives face to face (and we hope that trend will continue), the COVID-19
pandemic has definitely limited our ability to locate new patients who might benefit from our drug and slowed our efforts to increase our sales from prior periods.We are supporting the distribution of Firdapse
®
through “Catalyst Pathways™
”, our personalized treatment support program. “Catalyst Pathways™
” is a single source for personalized treatment support, education and guidance through the challenging dosing and titration regimen to an effective therapeutic dose. It also includes distributing the drug through a very small group of exclusive specialty pharmacies (primarily AnovoRx), which is consistent with the way that most pharmaceutical products for ultra-orphan diseases are distributed and dispensed to patients. We believe that by using specialty pharmacies in this way, the difficult task of navigating the health care system is far better for the patient needing treatment for their rare disease and the health care community in general. In order to help adult LEMS patients afford their medication, we, like other pharmaceutical companies which are marketing drugs for ultra-orphan conditions, have developed an array of financial assistance programs that are available to reduce to not more than $10.00 per month is available for all LEMS patients prescribed Firdapse
patient co-pays
and deductibles to a nominal affordable amount. For eligible patients with commercial coverage, a co-pay
assistance program designed to keep out-of-pocket costs
®
. We are also donating, and committing to continue to donate, money to qualified, independent charitable foundations dedicated to providing assistance to any U.S. LEMS patients in financial need. Subject to compliance with regulatory requirements, our goal is that no LEMS patient is ever denied access to Firdapse®
for financial reasons.In May 2019, the FDA approved a New Drug Application (NDA) for Ruzurgi
®
, another version of amifampridine (3,4-DAP),
for the treatment of pediatric LEMS patients (ages 6 to under 17). Based on publicly available information, we believe that Jacobus Pharmaceuticals is offering Ruzurgi®
at a cost for a patient taking a daily dose of 60 mg per day of approximately $175,200 annually and a cost for a patient taking a daily dose of 100 mg of approximately $292,000 annually. Both prices are lower than the list price for an equivalent amount of Firdapse®
. In addition, while the NDA for Ruzurgi®
only covers pediatric patients, we believe that Ruzurgi®
is regularly being prescribed off label to adult LEMS patients.We believe that under applicable law, Jacobus is not permitted to market its amifampridine product to adult LEMS patients in the United States, and we are continuing to aggressively take all steps available to us to protect Firdapse’s to adult LEMS patients, and if Jacobus is able to successfully sell Ruzurgi
®
exclusivity under the Orphan Drug Act. There can be no assurance, however, that we will be able to stop the off-label
prescribing of Ruzurgi®
®
off-label to
additional adult LEMS patients, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.24
We also believe that the FDA’s approval of Ruzurgi
®
violated our statutory rights and was in multiple other respects arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law. As a result, in June 2019 we filed suit against the FDA and several related parties challenging this approval and related drug labeling. Our complaint, which was filed in the federal district court for the Southern District of Florida, alleged that the FDA’s approval of Ruzurgi®
violated multiple provisions of FDA regulations regarding labeling, resulting in misbranding in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA); violated our statutory rights to Orphan Drug Exclusivity and New Chemical Entity Exclusivity under the FDCA; and was in multiple other respects arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. Among other remedies, the suit sought an order setting aside the FDA’s approval of Ruzurgi®
. On July 30, 2020, the Magistrate Judge considering our lawsuit against the FDA filed a Report and Recommendation in which she recommended to the District Judge handling the case that she grant the FDA’s and Jacobus’ motions for summary judgement and deny our motion for summary judgement. On September 29, 2020, the District Judge adopted the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge, granted the FDA’s and Jacobus’ motions for summary judgment, and dismissed our case.
We believe that the District Judge’s decision is incorrect as a matter of law and contrary to the plain language of the Orphan Drug Act. We believe that if the District Judge’s decision to grant summary judgement is correct on the law, it means that the FDA has the authority to effectively eliminate the benefits of exclusivity under the Orphan Drug Act, which we believe will chill the incentive for drug companies like ourselves to spend the millions of dollars necessary to develop an orphan drug. As a result, we have appealed the decision to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. There can be no assurance of the result of such proceeding.
On August 10, 2020, we announced the
top-line results
from our Phase 3 clinical trial (MSK-002)
evaluating Firdapse®
for the treatment of adults with MuSK-MG.
Our trial was a multi-site, international (United States, Italy and Serbia), double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial being conducted under a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) with the FDA. The trial enrolled more than 60 MuSK antibody positive patients. It also enrolled more than 10 generalized myasthenia gravis patients who were assessed with the same clinical endpoints. However, achieving statistical significance in this subgroup of patients was not required. Details of this trial are available on www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03304054).Unfortunately, the
MSK-002
trial did not achieve statistical significance on the primary endpoint, which was the eight-item Myasthenia Gravis Activities of Daily Living (MG-ADL)
total score change from baseline to day 10, in this randomized withdrawal trial with a score of (p=0.2196). The secondary endpoint, Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis (QMG) scale also did not achieve statistical significance (p=0.3736). QMG is a thirteen-item evaluation of ocular, facial, bulbar, gross motor, axial, and respiratory weaknesses. Firdapse®
was safe and well tolerated during the MSK-002
trial and demonstrated a safety profile similar to that seen for Firdapse®
used for the treatment LEMS. We are continuing to provide Firdapse®
to trial subjects who have requested that they continue to receive study medication and we are in the process of meeting with our neuromuscular advisors in order to determine our path forward for this indication. We also plan to make the results of this study available in a future scientific forum.We have completed study evaluating Firdapse
a proof-of-concept clinical
®
as a symptomatic treatment for ambulatory patients with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 3. The study was conducted at trial sites in Italy and Serbia. Details of this trial are available on www.clinicaltrials.gov
(NCT03781479).
We expect to report top-line results
from this study before the end of 2020.We are also conducting studies evaluating Firdapse
®
as a treatment for Kennedy’s Disease and Hereditary Neuropathy with liability to Pressure Palsies (HNPP). There can be no assurance that our study evaluating Firdapse
®
for the treatment of SMA Type 3, or any trials we may undertake or support in the future to evaluate Firdapse®
for the treatment of other rare neuromuscular diseases, will be successful. Further, there can be no assurance that we will ever be granted the right to commercialize Firdapse®
for MuSK-MG,
SMA Type 3, or any other additional indications.We are currently in the early stages of developing a long-acting formulation of amifampridine. Although there can be no assurance, we currently anticipate that initial formulation candidates and their drug release and absorption properties will be determined before the end of 2020. There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully develop a long-acting formulation of Firdapse
®
, that any such formulation will be approved for marketing, or that any such formulation will be commercially viable. Our NDS filing for Firdapse
®
for the symptomatic treatment of LEMS was approved by Health Canada on July 31, 2020. In August 2020, we entered into a license agreement with KYE Pharmaceuticals, pursuant to which we licensed the Canadian rights for Firdapse®
for the treatment of LEMS to KYE. Pursuant to the license agreement, KYE is obligated to pay us an up-front
payment based on approval and product supply, data protection milestones based on achievements of sales and regulatory milestones, and a sharing of defined net sales upon commercialization.25
On August 10, 2020, Health Canada issued a Notice of Compliance (NOC) to Medunik for Ruzurgi
®
for the treatment of LEMS. We have since initiated a legal proceeding in Canada seeking judicial review of Health Canada’s decision to issue the NOC for Ruzurgi®
as incorrect and unreasonable under Canadian law. Data protection, per Health Canada regulations, is supposed to prevent Health Canada from issuing a NOC to a drug that directly or indirectly references an innovative drug’s data, for eight years from the date of the innovative drug’s approval. The Ruzurgi®
Product Monograph clearly references pivotal nonclinical carcinogenicity and reproductive toxicity data for amifampridine phosphate developed by us. As such, we believe that our data was relied upon to establish the nonclinical safety profile of Ruzurgi®
needed to meet the standards of the Canadian Food and Drugs Act. There can be no assurance of the results of this proceeding. In May 2019, we entered into an amendment to our license agreement for Firdapse
®
. Under the amendment, we have expanded our commercial territory for Firdapse®
, which originally was comprised of North America, to include Japan. Additionally, we have an option to further expand our territory under the license agreement to include most of Asia, as well as Central and South America, upon the achievement of certain milestones in Japan. Under the amendment, we will pay royalties on net sales in Japan of a similar percentage to the royalties that we are currently paying under our original license agreement for North America. We recently met with Japanese regulatory authorities and believe that we have reached an agreement with them as to the scope of the clinical trial that we will be required to undertake in Japan before we will be permitted to submit an application to the Japanese regulatory authorities to seek to commercialize Firdapse
®
for the treatment of LEMS in Japan. We also intend to apply for orphan drug designation in Japan for the symptomatic treatment of LEMS. There can be no assurance that we will successfully obtain the right to commercialize Firdapse®
in Japan or obtain orphan drug designation. All of our patent rights for Firdapse
®
are derived from our license agreement. In August 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued U.S. Patent No. 10,793,893 (the ’893 patent) to our licensor and thereby to us. The patent is directed to the use of suitable doses of amifampridine to treat patients, regardless of the therapeutic indication, that are slow metabolizers of amifampridine. Any drug product containing amifampridine with a label that states the patented dosing regimens and doses in the Dosing and Administration section prior to April 7, 2034, the expiration date of the patent, could possibly infringe this patent. Generic drug product labels would necessarily have to do this, and we intend to take all appropriate actions to protect our intellectual property. In that regard, on October 19, 2020, we announced that we have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for New Jersey against Jacobus and a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against the specialty pharmacy marketing Ruzurgi in violation of our patent rights.
®
, PantherRx Rare LLC (PantherRx), for infringement of the ‘893 Patent. The lawsuit arises from Jacobus’ and PantherRx’s sales and marketing of Ruzurgi®
(amifampridine, 10 mg). The lawsuit alleges that the Ruzurgi®
product infringes the ‘893 patent when administered in accordance with its product labeling. The lawsuit seeks damages and injunctive relief to prevent further marketing of Ruzurgi®
There can be no assurance that we do not or will not infringe on patents held by third parties or that third parties in the future, will not claim that we have infringed on their patents. In the event that our products or technologies infringe or violate the patent or other proprietary rights of third parties, there is a possibility we may be prevented from pursuing product development, manufacturing or commercialization of our products that utilize such technologies until the underlying patent dispute is resolved. For example, there may be patents or patent applications held by others that contain claims that our products or operations might be determined to infringe or that may be broader than we believe them to be. Given the complexities and uncertainties of patent laws, there can be no assurance as to the impact that future patent claims against us may have on our business, financial condition, results of operations, or prospects.
Generic Sabril
®
In December 2018, we entered into a definitive agreement with Endo International plc’s subsidiary, Endo Ventures Limited (“Endo”), for the further development and commercialization of generic Sabril tablets through Endo’s United States Generic Pharmaceuticals segment, Par Pharmaceutical. Pursuant to the agreement, in December 2018, we received
®
an up-front
payment of $500,000. We will be entitled to receive a milestone payment of $2.0 million on the commercial launch of the product. Further, we will receive a sharing of defined net profits upon commercialization and we are obligated to share the costs of certain development expenses.There can be no assurance that our collaboration with Endo for the development of generic Sabril (vigabatrin) tablets will be successful and that if an abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) is approved for vigabatrin tablets in the future, that it will be profitable to us.
®
Capital Resources
At September 30, 2020, we had cash and investments of approximately $127.1 million. Based on our current financial condition and forecasts of available cash, we believe that we have sufficient funds to support our operations for at least the next 12 months from the date of this Form or will continue to be profitable and cash flow positive. Further, there can be no assurance that if we need additional funding in the future, whether such funding will be available to us. See “Liquidity and Capital Resources” below for further information on our liquidity and cash flow.
10-Q.
There can be no assurance that we will continue to be successful in commercializing Firdapse®
26
Basis of Presentation
Revenues.
At September 30, 2020 we continued to generate revenues from product sales of Firdapse
®
in the U.S. We expect these revenues to fluctuate in future periods based on our sales of Firdapse®
. Although we received approval from Health Canada on July 31, 2020, for Firdapse®
for the symptomatic treatment of LEMS, as of September 30, 2020, the Company has not launched Firdapse®
in Canada. At September 30, 2020 and September 30, 2019, we did not generate revenues under our collaborative agreement with Endo. We expect our revenues from the Endo collaborative agreement to fluctuate in future periods based on our collaborator’s ability to meet various regulatory milestones set forth in such agreement. At September 30, 2020, we generated revenues of $150,000 from up-front
fees earned under a collaborative agreement with KYE. We expect our revenue from the KYE collaborative agreement to fluctuate in future periods based on our collaborator’s ability to market and sell Firdapse®
in Canada.Cost of Sales.
Cost of sales consists of third-party manufacturing costs, freight, royalties, and indirect overhead costs associated with sales of Firdapse. Cost of sales may also include period costs related to certain inventory manufacturing services, inventory adjustments charges, unabsorbed manufacturing and overhead costs, and manufacturing variances. Prior to FDA approval in November 2018, the cost of manufacturing Firdapse
®
®
was expensed, including our build-up
of anticipated launch product. This has caused cost of sales to appear artificially low as we consumed product manufactured and in process prior to approval, and will continue to do so until we deplete such product and additional product is manufactured and distributed.Research and Development Expenses.
Our research and development expenses consist of costs incurred for company-sponsored research and development activities, as well as support for investigator-sponsored research. The major components of research and development costs include preclinical study costs, clinical manufacturing costs, clinical study and trial expenses, insurance coverage for clinical trials, consulting, and other third-party costs, salaries and employee benefits, stock-based compensation expense, supplies and materials, and allocations of various overhead costs related to our product development efforts. To date, all of our research and development resources have been devoted to the development of Firdapse
®
, CPP-109
(our version of vigabatrin), and formerly CPP-115,
and we currently expect that our future development costs will be attributable principally to the continued development of Firdapse®
.Our cost accruals for clinical studies and trials are based on estimates of the services received and efforts expended pursuant to contracts with numerous clinical study and trial sites and clinical research organizations (CROs). In the normal course of our business we contract with third parties to perform various clinical study and trial activities in the
on-going
development of potential products. The financial terms of these agreements are subject to negotiation and vary from contract to contract and may result in uneven payment flows. Payments under the contracts depend on factors such as the achievement of certain events or milestones, the successful enrollment of patients, the allocation of responsibilities among the parties to the agreement, and the completion of portions of the clinical study or trial or similar conditions. The objective of our accrual policy is to match the recording of expenses in our consolidated financial statements to the actual services received and efforts expended. As such, expense accruals related to preclinical and clinical studies or trials are recognized based on our estimate of the degree of completion of the event or events specified in the specific study or trial contract. We monitor service provider activities to the extent possible; however, if we underestimate activity levels associated with various studies or trials at a given point in time, we could be required to record significant additional research and development expenses in future periods. Preclinical and clinical study and trial activities require significant up-front
expenditures. We anticipate paying significant portions of a study or trial’s cost before they begin, and incurring additional expenditures as the study or trial progresses and reaches certain milestones.Selling, General and Administrative Expenses.
During 2019, we actively committed funds to developing our commercialization program for Firdapse
®
and we have continued to incur commercialization expenses, including sales, marketing, patient services, patient advocacy and other commercialization related expenses, as we have continued our sales program for Firdapse®
. Our general and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries and personnel expenses for accounting, corporate, compliance, and administrative functions. Other costs include administrative facility costs, regulatory fees, insurance, and professional fees for legal, information technology, accounting, and consulting services.
27
Stock-Based Compensation.
We recognize expense for the fair value of all stock-based awards to employees, directors, and consultants in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (U.S. GAAP). For stock options, we use the Black-Scholes option valuation model in calculating the fair value of the awards.
Income Taxes.
Our effective income tax rate is the ratio of income tax expense (benefit) over our income (loss) before income taxes.
In the third quarter of 2020, we determined that there is sufficient positive evidence to conclude that it is more likely than not that our additional deferred taxes of approximately $31.3 million are realizable. As a result, we reduced the valuation allowance accordingly.
Recently Issued Accounting Standards.
For discussion of recently issued accounting standards, please see Note 2, “Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies,” in the interim consolidated financial statements included in this report.
Non-GAAP
Financial Measures. We prepare our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto which accompany this report in accordance with U.S. GAAP. To supplement our financial results presented on a U.S. GAAP basis, we may use
non-GAAP
financial measures in our reports filed with the Commission and/or our communications with investors. Non-GAAP
measures are provided as additional information and not as an alternative to our consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with GAAP. Our non-GAAP
financial measures are intended to enhance an overall understanding of our current financial performance. We believe that the non-GAAP
financial measures we present provide investors and prospective investors with an alternative method for assessing our operating results in a manner that we believe is focused on the performance of ongoing operations and provide a more consistent basis for comparison between periods.The
non-GAAP
financial measure that we present excludes from the calculation of net income the non-cash
expense associated with stock-based compensation. Further, we often report non-GAAP
net income (loss) per share, which is calculated by dividing non-GAAP
net income (loss) by the weighted average common shares outstanding.Any
non-GAAP
financial measures that we report should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable U.S. GAAP accounting, and investors should read them in conjunction with our financial statements and notes thereto prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Finally, the non-GAAP
measures of net income (loss) we may use may be different from, and not directly comparable to, similarly titled measures used by other companies.Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make judgments, estimates, and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements, as well as the reported revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. For a full discussion of our accounting policies, please refer to Note 2 on the Financial Statements included in our 2019 Annual Report on Form of our 2019 Annual Report on Form
10-K
filed with the SEC. Our most critical accounting policies and estimates include: revenue recognition, leases, accounting for research and development expenses, stock-based compensation, measurement of fair value, income taxes, and reserves. We continually evaluate our judgments, estimates and assumptions. We base our estimates on the terms of underlying agreements, our expected course of development, historical experience and other factors that we believe are reasonable based on the circumstances, the results of which form our management’s basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates. There have been no material changes to our critical accounting policies and estimates from the information provided in Part II, Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
10-K.
Results of Operations
Revenues
For the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2020, we recognized approximately $29.2 million and $87.9 million, respectively, in net revenue from product sales from Firdapse
®
in the U.S. compared to approximately $30.9 million and $72.2 million for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2019. We recognized $150,000 in revenues from our collaborative arrangements for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2020. We had no revenues from our collaborative arrangement for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2019. 28
Cost of Sales.
Cost of sales was approximately $3.9 million and $12.2 million for the three and nine-months ended September 30, 2020 compared to approximately $4.4 million and $10.4 million for the three and nine-months ended September 30, 2019. Cost of sales consists principally of royalty payments which are based on net revenue as defined in the applicable license agreement. Further, cost of sales may be artificially low until we fully utilize product manufactured that was recorded as expense prior to FDA approval of Firdapse
®
. Research and Development Expenses
Research and development expenses for the three-month periods ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 were approximately $3.7 million and $4.6 million, respectively, and represented approximately 21% and 27% of total operating costs and expenses, respectively. Research and development expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 were as follows:
Three months ended September 30, |
Change |
|||||||||||||||
2020 |
2019 |
$ |
% |
|||||||||||||
Research and development expenses |
$ | 3,349,986 | $ | 4,354,172 | (1,004,186 | ) | (23.1 | ) | ||||||||
Employee stock-based compensation |
399,247 | 242,867 | 156,380 | 64.4 | ||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
Total research and development expenses |
$ | 3,749,233 | $ | 4,597,039 | (847,806 | ) | (18.4 | ) | ||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Research and development expenses for the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 were approximately $12.3 million and $12.5 million, respectively, and represented approximately 22% and 26% of total operating costs and expenses for the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Research and development expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 were as follows:
Nine months ended September 30, |
Change |
|||||||||||||||
2020 |
2019 |
$ |
% |
|||||||||||||
Research and development expenses |
$ | 11,083,166 | $ | 11,730,562 | (647,396 | ) | (5.5 | ) | ||||||||
Employee stock-based compensation |
1,238,521 | 803,800 | 434,721 | 54.1 | ||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
Total research and development expenses |
$ | 12,321,687 | $ | 12,534,362 | (212,675 | ) | (1.7 | ) | ||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, research and development expenses decreased approximately $0.8 million and $0.2 million, respectively, compared to the same periods in 2019, primarily attributable to the following:
• | decreases in medical and regulatory affairs and quality assurance expenses and expenses from our ongoing clinical trials evaluating Firdapse ® for the treatment of MuSK-MG as we close out that trial, and our proof-of-concept ® for the treatment of SMA Type 3; and |
• | increases in employee stock-based compensation which is non-cash and relates to the expense of stock options awards to certain employees and stock option awards due to headcount increases. |
We expect that research and development expenses will continue to be substantial in 2020 and into 2021 as we continue our clinical program evaluating Firdapse trial for SMA Type 3, continue our Expanded Access Program, take steps to develop a long-acting formulation of Firdapse
®
for the treatment of MuSK-MG,
continue our proof-of-concept
®
, continue our regulatory path to seek approval of Firdapse®
in Japan and evaluate Firdapse®
as a treatment for other neuromuscular diseases.29
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses.
Selling, general and administrative expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 were approximately $10.0 million and $8.1 million, respectively, and represented 57% and 47% of total operating costs and expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Selling, general and administrative expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 were as follows:
Three months ended September 30, |
Change |
|||||||||||||||
2020 |
2019 |
$ |
% |
|||||||||||||
Selling |
$ | 5,578,521 | $ | 4,670,568 | 907,953 | 19.4 | ||||||||||
General and administrative |
3,327,841 | 2,823,031 | 504,810 | 17.9 | ||||||||||||
Employee stock-based compensation |
1,078,599 | 574,193 | 504,406 | 87.8 | ||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
Total selling, general and administrative expenses |
$ | 9,984,961 | $ | 8,067,792 | 1,917,169 | 23.8 | ||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Selling, general and administrative expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 were approximately $30.9 million and $25.5 million, respectively, and represented 56% and 53% of total operating costs and expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Selling, general and administrative expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 were as follows:
Nine months ended September 30, |
Change |
|||||||||||||||
2020 |
2019 |
$ |
% |
|||||||||||||
Selling |
$ | 17,004,447 | $ | 14,655,613 | 2,348,834 | 16.0 | ||||||||||
General and administrative |
10,323,782 | 8,944,694 | 1,379,088 | 15.4 | ||||||||||||
Employee stock-based compensation |
3,553,138 | 1,871,667 | 1,681,471 | 89.8 | ||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
Total selling, general and administrative expenses |
$ | 30,881,367 | $ | 25,471,974 | 5,409,393 | 21.2 | ||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, selling, general and administrative expenses increased approximately $1.9 million and $5.4 million, respectively, compared to the same periods in 2019, primarily attributable to the following:
• | increases in selling (commercialization) expenses, which consist primarily of the costs of our expansion of the sales force and the cost of contracting with a rare-disease experience inside sales agency; |
• | increases in general and administrative expenses, which are primarily due to the expansion of our operations and headcount to support our ongoing efforts to expand our net revenues from sales of Firdapse ® ; and |
• | increases in employee stock-based compensation which is non-cash and relates to the expense of stock option awards to certain employees and directors and stock option awards due to headcount increases. |
We expect that selling, general and administrative expenses will be substantial in future periods as we continue our efforts to sell Firdapse
®
and take steps that we hope will help us expand our business. Stock-Based Compensation
Total stock-based compensation for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2020 were $1.5 million and $4.8 million, respectively, and for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2019 were $0.8 million and $2.7 million, respectively. In the first nine months of 2020, grants were principally of stock options relating to 2019
year-end
bonus awards and grants to new employees. In the first nine months of 2019, most of the option grants were to new employees hired in connection with the launch of Firdapse®
.Other Income, Net
We reported other income, net in all periods relating to our investment of funds received from offerings of our securities and product sales. For the three and nine-months ended September 30, 2019, other income, net included $100,000 received as part of the settlement agreement between us and Northwestern. Excluding the settlement income, the decrease in other income, net of approximately $606,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 when compared to the same period in 2019 is primarily due to lower yields on investments, despite higher invested balances. Other income, net, generally consists of interest income, dividend income and unrealized and realized gain (loss) on trading securities.
30
Income Taxes
We incurred net operating losses since inception through the three-month period ended March 31, 2019. Our effective income tax rate was 2.79% and 4.18% for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Differences in the effective tax and the statutory federal income tax rate of 21% are driven by state income taxes and anticipated annual permanent differences, including orphan drug credit expense limitations and other items.
We had no uncertain tax positions as of September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019.
As of December 31, 2019, our deferred tax assets were primarily the result of US NOL and tax credit carryforwards and a full valuation was recorded against our gross deferred tax asset balance. For the quarter ending September 30, 2020 we recorded a net valuation release of $31.3 million ($0.30 per basic share and $0.29 per diluted share) on the basis of management’s determination that it is more likely than not that the amount of its deferred tax assets will be realized.
Net Income (Loss).
Our net income was approximately $43.3 million and $63.5 million, respectively, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 ($0.42 and $0.61, respectively, per basic share and $0.41 and $0.60, respectively, per diluted share) as compared to net income of approximately $13.6 million and $23.9 million, respectively, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 ($0.13 and $0.23, respectively, per basic and diluted share).
Non-GAAP
Net Income. Our
non-GAAP
net income, which excludes for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 an approximately $1.5 million and $4.8 million, respectively, expense associated with non-cash
stock-based compensation was approximately $44.8 million and $68.3 million ($0.43 and $0.66, respectively, per basic share and $0.42 and $0.64, respectively, per diluted share). Our non-GAAP
net income for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 was approximately $14.4 million and $26.6 million, respectively ($0.14 and $0.26, respectively, per basic share and $0.13 and $0.25, respectively, per diluted share) which excludes non-cash
stock-based compensation of approximately $0.8 million and $2.7 million, respectively.Liquidity and Capital Resources
Since our inception, we have financed our operations primarily through multiple public and private offering of our securities and, since January 2019, from revenues from product sales of Firdapse
®
. At September 30, 2020, we had cash and cash equivalents and investments aggregating approximately $127.1 million and working capital of approximately $125.1 million. At December 31, 2019, we had cash and cash equivalents and investments aggregating approximately $94.5 million and working capital of approximately $87.3 million. At September 30, 2020, substantially all of our cash and cash equivalents were deposited with one financial institution, and such balances were in excess of federally insured limits. Further, as of such date, substantially all such funds were invested in money market accounts and U.S. Treasuries. We incurred operating losses through the quarter ended March 31, 2019 and reported operating income for the first time during the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2019. We expect to continue to spend substantial dollars on our current and future drug development programs.
Based on forecasts of available cash, we believe that we have sufficient resources to support our currently anticipated operations for at least the next 12 months from the date of this report. There can be no assurance that we will remain profitable and cash-flow positive or that we will be able to obtain any additional funding that we may require in the future.
In the future, we may require additional working capital to support our operations depending on our future success with Firdapse
®
sales and whether our results continue to be profitable and cash flow positive. There can be no assurance as to the amount of any such funding that will be required for these purposes or whether any such funding will be available to us when it is required. In that regard, our future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including:
• | the scope, rate of progress and cost of our clinical trials and other product development activities; |
• | future clinical trial results; |
• | the terms and timing of any collaborative, licensing and other arrangements that we may establish; |
• | the cost and timing of regulatory approvals; |
• | the cost and delays in product development as a result of any changes in regulatory oversight applicable to our products; |
• | the level of revenues that we report from sales of Firdapse ® ; |
31
• | the effect of competition and market developments; |
• | the cost of filing and potentially prosecuting, defending and enforcing any patent claims and other intellectual property rights; and |
• | the extent to which we acquire or invest in other products. |
We may raise additional funds if required in the future through public or private equity offerings, debt financings, corporate collaborations or other means. We also may seek governmental grants for a portion of the required funding for our clinical trials and preclinical trials. We may further seek to raise capital to fund additional product development efforts or product acquisitions, even if we have sufficient funds for our planned operations. Any sale by us of additional equity or convertible debt securities could result in dilution to our stockholders. There can be no assurance that any such required additional funding will be available to us at all or available on terms acceptable to us. Further, to the extent that we raise additional funds through collaborative arrangements, it may be necessary to relinquish some rights to our technologies or grant sublicenses on terms that are not favorable to us. If we are not able to secure additional funding when needed, we may have to delay, reduce the scope of or eliminate one or more research and development programs, which could have an adverse effect on our business.
On July 23, 2020, we filed a shelf registration statement with the SEC to sell up to $200 million of common stock, preferred stock, warrants to purchase common stock, debt securities and units consisting of one or more of such securities (the “2020 Shelf Registration Statement”). The 2020 Shelf Registration Statement (file no.
333-240052)
was declared effective by the SEC on July 31, 2020. As of the date of this report, no offerings have been completed under the 2020 Shelf Registration Statement.Cash Flows.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $31,929,297 and $22,320,032, respectively, for the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2020 and 2019. During the nine months ended September 30, 2020 net cash provided by operating activities was primarily attributable to our net income of $63,545,869, a decrease of $4,665,104 in accounts receivable, net, and $5,633,815 of
non-cash
expenses. This was partially offset by increases of $2,790,746 in inventory, $1,262,978 in prepaid expenses and other current assets and deposits and decreases of $31,347,442 in deferred taxes, $2,112,107 in accounts payable, $3,568,729 in accrued expenses and other liabilities and $833,489 in operating lease liability. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, net cash provided by operating activities was primarily attributable to our net income of $23,945,624, increases of $1,809,662 in accounts payable, $6,400,279 in accrued expenses and other liabilities, and of $2,697,950 of non-cash
expenses. This was partially offset by increases of $10,095,352 in accounts receivable, net, $543,789 in inventory, and $1,689,618 in prepaid expenses and other current assets and deposits and a decrease of $204,724 in operating lease liability.Net cash used in investing activities was $5,011,398, for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2020, consisting mostly of purchases of short-term investments, partially offset by proceeds from maturities of investments. Net cash provided by investing activities was $5,565,824 for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2019, consisting primarily of proceeds from sales and maturities of investments of $40,310,595, partially offset by purchases of investments of $34,725,401.
Net cash provided by financing activities during the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 was $676,364 and $537,962, respectively, mostly consisting of proceeds from the exercise of options to purchase common stock.
Contractual Obligations and Arrangements.
We have entered into the following contractual arrangements:
• | Payments under our license agreement ® equal to 7% of net sales (as defined in the license agreement) in North America for any calendar year for sales up to $100 million, and 10% of net sales in North America in any calendar year in excess of $100 million; and (ii) royalties to the third-party licensor of the rights sublicensed to us for seven years from the first commercial sale of Firdapse® equal to 7% of net sales (as defined in the license agreement between BioMarin and the third-party licensor) in any calendar year. For the three and nine-months ended September 30, 2020, we recognized approximately $3.9 million and $11.8 million, respectively, of royalties, which is included in cost of sales in the accompanying consolidated statement of operations. |
• | Purchase commitments |
• | Employment agreements |
32
• | Lease for office space |
Off-Balance
Sheet Arrangements. We currently have no debt or finance leases. We have operating leases for our office facilities. We do not have any
off-balance
sheet arrangements as such term is defined in rules promulgated by the SEC.Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This Current Report on Form
10-Q
contains “forward-looking statements”, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, plans or objectives for future operations and anticipated results of operations. For this purpose, any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, “believes”, “anticipates”, “proposes”, “plans”, “expects”, “intends”, “may”, and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or other achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in the section entitled “Item 1A – Risk Factors” in our 2019 Annual Report on Form 10-K.
The continued successful commercialization of Firdapse
®
and the development of additional indications for Firdapse®
is highly uncertain. Factors that will affect our success include the uncertainty of: • | The impact of the recent outbreak of a novel strain of coronavirus on our business or on the economy generally; |
• | Whether we will be able to continue to successfully market Firdapse ® while maintaining full compliance with applicable federal and state laws, rules and regulations; |
• | Whether our estimates of the size of the market for Firdapse ® for the treatment of Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome (“LEMS”) will turn out to be accurate; |
• | Whether we will be able to locate LEMS patients who are undiagnosed or are misdiagnosed with other diseases; |
• | Whether patients will discontinue from the use of our drug at rates that are higher than historically experienced or are higher than we project; |
• | If the average daily dose taken by patients changes over time, it could affect our results of operations; |
• | Whether Firdapse ® patients can be successfully titrated to stable therapy; |
• | Whether we can continue to market Firdapse ® on a profitable and cash flow positive basis; |
• | Whether any revenue guidance that we provide to the public market will turn out to be accurate; |
• | Whether payors will continue to reimburse for our product at the price that we charge for the product; |
• | The ability of our third-party suppliers and contract manufacturers to maintain compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP); |
• | The ability of our distributor and the specialty pharmacies that distribute our product to maintain compliance with applicable law; |
• | Our ability to maintain compliance with applicable rules relating to our patient assistance programs and our contributions to 501(c)(3) organizations that support LEMS patients; |
• | The scope of our intellectual property and the outcome of any future challenges or opposition to our intellectual property, and, conversely, whether any third-party intellectual property presents unanticipated obstacles for Firdapse ® ; |
• | Whether our lawsuits against Jacobus and the specialty pharmacy distributing its product for patent infringement will be successful; |
• | The effect on our business and future results of operations arising from the approval by the FDA of Ruzurgi ® for the treatment of pediatric LEMS patients (ages 6 to under 17); |
• | Whether our suit against the United States FDA seeking to vacate the FDA’s approval of Ruzurgi ® will ultimately be successful; |
• | Whether we can continue to compete successfully if the approval of Ruzurgi ® is not overturned and Ruzurgi® continues to be prescribed for off-label use by adult LEMS patients; |
33
• | Whether, because of the lower price of Ruzurgi ® , payors will require that patients try off-label Ruzurgi® first before they approve Firdapse® as a treatment for adult LEMS patients; |
• | The impact on Firdapse ® of adverse changes in potential reimbursement and coverage policies from government and private payors such as Medicare, Medicaid, insurance companies, health maintenance organizations and other plan administrators, or the impact of pricing pressures enacted by industry organization, the federal government or the government of any state, including as a result of increased scrutiny over pharmaceutical pricing or otherwise; |
• | The impact on our business and results of operations of public statements by politicians and a vocal group of LEMS patients and doctors who object to our pricing of Firdapse ® ; |
• | Changes in the healthcare industry and the effect of political pressure from and actions by President Trump, Congress and/or medical professionals seeking to reduce prescription drug costs; |
• | The state of the economy generally and its impact on our business; |
• | Changes to the healthcare industry occasioned by any future repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act, in laws relating to the pricing of drug products, or changes in the healthcare industry generally; |
• | The scope, rate of progress and expense of our clinical trials and studies, pre-clinical studies, proof-of-concept |
• | Our ability to complete our trials and studies on a timely basis and within the budgets we establish for such trials and studies; |
• | Whether the recent coronavirus outbreak will further affect the timing of our currently ongoing clinical trials; |
• | Whether the trial that we are currently undertaking to evaluate Firdapse ® for the treatment of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 3, or any other trials that we may undertake in the future, will be successful; |
• | Whether Firdapse ® will ever be approved for the treatment of MuSK-MG, SMA Type 3, or any other neuromuscular disease; |
• | Whether we can successfully commercialize Firdapse ® in Canada on a profitable basis; |
• | Whether our suit to overturn the approval of Ruzurgi ® in Canada will be successful; |
• | The impact on sales of Firdapse ® in the United States if an amifampridine product is purchased in Canada for use in the United States; |
• | Whether we will be able to successfully complete the clinical trial in Japan that will be required to seek approval to commercialize Firdapse ® in Japan; |
• | Whether we will be able to obtain approval to commercialize Firdapse ® in Japan; |
• | Whether we can successfully develop, obtain approval of and successfully market a long-acting version of Firdapse ® ; |
• | Whether our efforts to grow our business beyond Firdapse ® through acquisitions of companies or in-licensing of product opportunities in the neuromuscular or neurology therapeutic areas will be successful; |
• | Whether we will have sufficient capital to finance any such acquisitions; |
• | Whether our version of generic vigabatrin tablets will ever be approved by the FDA; |
• | Even if our version of vigabatrin tablets is approved for commercialization, whether Endo Ventures/Par Pharmaceutical (our collaborator in this venture) will be successful in marketing the product; and |
• | Whether we will earn milestone payments on the first commercial sale of vigabatrin tablets and royalties on sales of generic vigabatrin tablets. |
Our current plans and objectives are based on assumptions relating to the commercialization of Firdapse
®
and the development of additional indications for Firdapse®
. Although we believe that our assumptions are reasonable, any of our assumptions could prove inaccurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking statements we have made herein, which reflect our views only as of the date of this report, you should not place undue reliance upon such statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. ITEM 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURE ABOUT MARKET RISK
Market risk represents the risk of changes in the value of market risk-sensitive instruments caused by fluctuations in interest rates, foreign exchange rates and commodity prices. Changes in these factors could cause fluctuations in our results of operations and cash flows.
34
Our exposure to interest rate risk is currently confined to our cash and short-term investments that are from time to time invested in highly liquid money market funds, U.S. Treasuries and short-term bond funds. The primary objective of our investment activities is to preserve our capital to fund operations. We also seek to maximize income from our investments without assuming significant risk. We do not use derivative financial instruments in our investment portfolio. Our cash and investments policy emphasizes liquidity and preservation of principal over other portfolio considerations.
ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
a. |
We have carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Based on such evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer have concluded that as of September 30, 2020, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective to ensure that the information required to be disclosed by us in the reports filed or submitted by us under the Exchange Act, was recorded, processed, summarized or reported within the time periods specified in the rules and regulations of the SEC, and include controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in such reports was accumulated and communicated to management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures. |
b. |
During the three months ended September 30, 2020, there were no changes in our internal controls or in other factors that could have a material effect, or are reasonably likely to have a material effect, on our internal control over financial reporting. |
PART II. OTHER INFORMATION
ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Litigation over approval of Ruzurgi
®
in the United States We believe that the FDA’s approval of Ruzurgi
®
violated our statutory rights and was in multiple other respects arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law. As a result, in June 2019 we filed suit against the FDA and several related parties challenging this approval and related drug labeling. Our complaint, which was filed in the federal district court for the Southern District of Florida, alleged that the FDA’s approval of Ruzurgi®
violated multiple provisions of FDA regulations regarding labeling, resulting in misbranding in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA); violated our statutory rights to Orphan Drug Exclusivity and New Chemical Entity Exclusivity under the FDCA; and was in multiple other respects arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. Among other remedies, the suit sought an order vacating the FDA’s approval of Ruzurgi®
. On July 30, 2020, the Magistrate Judge considering our lawsuit against the FDA filed a Report and Recommendation in which she recommended to the District Judge handling the case that she grant the FDA’s and Jacobus’ motions for summary judgement and deny our motion for summary judgement. On September 29, 2020, the District Judge handling the Company’s lawsuit against the FDA adopted the previously reported Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge, granted summary judgement in favor of the FDA and Jacobus, and dismissed the Company’s case. The Company has appealed the result to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. There can be no assurance as to the outcome of this lawsuit.
Litigation over approval of Ruzurgi in Canada
On August 10, 2020, Health Canada issued a Notice of Compliance (NOC) to Medunik for Ruzurgi
®
for the treatment of LEMS. The Ruzurgi®
Product Monograph clearly references pivotal nonclinical carcinogenicity and reproductive toxicity data for amifampridine phosphate developed by us. As such, we believe that our data was relied upon to establish the nonclinical safety profile of Ruzurgi®
needed to meet the standards of the Canadian Food and Drugs Act. As a result, we have initiated a legal proceeding in Canada seeking judicial review of Health Canada’s decision to issue the NOC for Ruzurgi®
as incorrect and unreasonable under Canadian law. Data protection, per Health Canada regulations, is supposed to prevent Health Canada from issuing a NOC to a drug that directly or indirectly references an innovative drug’s data, for eight years from the date of the innovative drug’s approval. There can be no assurance of the results of this proceeding. Patent Litigation
On October 19, 2020, we announced that we have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for New Jersey against Jacobus, and a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against PantherRx Rare LLC (PantherRx) for infringement of our patent for Firdapse
®
(the ’893 patent. The lawsuit arises from Jacobus’ and PantherRx’s sales and marketing of Ruzurgi®
(amifampridine, 10 mg). The lawsuit alleges that the Ruzurgi®
product infringes the ‘893 patent when administered in accordance with its product labeling. The lawsuit seeks damages and injunctive relief to prevent further marketing of Ruzurgi®
in violation of the ‘893 patent. There can be no assurance as to the outcome of this matter. 35
Other Litigation
From time to time we may become involved in legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business. Other than as set forth above, we believe that there is no litigation pending at this time that could have, individually or in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
There are many factors that affect our business, our financial condition, and the results of our operations. In addition to the information set forth in this quarterly report, you should carefully read and consider “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in Part I, and “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, of our 2019 Annual Report on Form
10-K
filed with the SEC, which contain a description of significant factors that might cause our actual results of operations in future periods to differ materially from those currently expected or desired.ITEM 2. UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS
None
ITEM 3. DEFAULTS UPON SENIOR SECURITIES
None
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
Not applicable
ITEM 5. OTHER INFORMATION
None
ITEM 6. EXHIBITS
31.1 |
||
31.2 |
||
32.1 |
||
32.2 |
||
101.INS |
Inline XBRL Instance Document – the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document. | |
101.SCH |
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document | |
101.CAL |
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document | |
101.DEF |
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document | |
101.LAB |
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document | |
101.PRE |
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document | |
104 |
The cover page for the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2020, has been formatted in Inline XBRL. |
36
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | ||
By: | /s/ Alicia Grande | |
Alicia Grande | ||
Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer |
Date: November 9, 2020
37