DiaMedica Therapeutics Inc. - Quarter Report: 2020 June (Form 10-Q)

DiaMedica Therapeutics Inc.

FORM 10-Q

June 30, 2020

TABLE OF CONTENTS

_________________

This quarterly report on Form 10-Q contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that are subject to the safe harbor created by those sections. For more information, see “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

As used in this report, references to “DiaMedica,” the “Company,” “we,” “our” or “us,” unless the context otherwise requires, refer to DiaMedica Therapeutics Inc. and its subsidiaries, all of which are consolidated in DiaMedica’s condensed consolidated financial statements. References in this report to “common shares” mean our voting common shares, no par value per share.

We own various unregistered trademarks and service marks, including our corporate logo. Solely for convenience, the trademarks and trade names in this report are referred to without the ® and ™ symbols, but such references should not be construed as any indicator that the owner of such trademarks and trade names will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, their rights thereto. We do not intend the use or display of other companies’ trademarks and trade names to imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, any other companies.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements in this report that are not descriptions of historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could negatively affect our business, operating results, financial condition and share price. We have attempted to identify forward-looking statements by terminology including “anticipates,” “believes,” “can,” “continue,” “could,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “potential,” “predicts,” “should,” “will,” “would,” the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, and the use of future dates.

The forward-looking statements in this report include, among other things, statements about:

These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those described under “Part I. Item 1A. Risk Factors” in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 and “Part II. Item 1A. Risk Factors” in this report. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly-changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this report may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that the future results, levels of activity, performance or events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. Except as required by law, including the securities laws of the United States, we do not intend to update any forward-looking statements to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations.

PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION

DiaMedica Therapeutics Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(In thousands, except share amounts)

See accompanying notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements.

DiaMedica Therapeutics Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss

(In thousands, except share and per share amounts)

(Unaudited)

See accompanying notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements.

DiaMedica Therapeutics Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Shareholders’ Equity

For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2020 and 2019

(In thousands, except share and per share amounts)

(Unaudited) 

See accompanying notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements.

DiaMedica Therapeutics Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(In thousands)

(Unaudited)

See accompanying notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements.

DiaMedica Therapeutics Inc.
Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

ITEM 2.     MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations is based upon accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America and discusses the financial condition and results of operations for DiaMedica Therapeutics Inc. and its subsidiaries for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019.

This discussion should be read in conjunction with our condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this report and our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, which includes additional information about our critical accounting policies and practices and risk factors. The following discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve numerous risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from the forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties. See “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” for additional cautionary information.

Business Overview

We are a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company primarily focused on the development of novel recombinant, or synthetic, proteins. Our goal is to use our patented and licensed technologies to establish our company as a leader in the development and commercialization of therapeutic treatments from novel recombinant proteins. Our current focus is on chronic kidney disease (CKD) and acute ischemic stroke (AIS). We plan to advance DM199, our lead drug candidate, through required clinical trials to create shareholder value by establishing its clinical and commercial potential as a therapy for CKD and AIS.

DM199 is a recombinant form of human tissue kallikrein-1 (KLK1). KLK1 is a serine protease (protein), produced primarily in the kidneys, pancreas and salivary glands, which plays a critical role in the regulation of local blood flow and vasodilation (the widening of blood vessels which decreases blood pressure) in the body, as well as an important role in inflammation and oxidative stress (an imbalance between potentially damaging reactive oxygen species, or free radicals, and antioxidants in the body). We believe DM199 has the potential to treat a variety of diseases where healthy functioning requires sufficient activity of KLK1 and its system, the kallikrein-kinin system.

Our DM199 product candidate is in clinical development as follows:

REDUX Clinical Trial

In October 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted our Phase II clinical trial protocol for the treatment of CKD caused by rare or significant unmet diseases. The trial named REDUX, Latin for restore, is a multi-center, open-label investigation of approximately 90 participants with mild or moderate CKD (Stage II or III) and albuminuria, who are being enrolled in three cohorts (30 participants per cohort). The study is being conducted in the United States at 13 sites and is focused on participants with CKD: Cohort I is focused on non-diabetic, hypertensive African Americans with Stage II or III CKD. African Americans are at greater risk for CKD than Caucasians, and those African Americans who have the APOL1 gene mutation are at an even higher risk. The study is designed to capture the APOL1 gene mutation as an exploratory biomarker in this cohort. Cohort II is focused on participants with IgA Nephropathy (IgAN). Cohort III, which was added after completion of our recent public offering, is focused on participants with Type II diabetes mellitus with CKD, hypertension and albuminuria. The study will evaluate two dose levels of DM199 within each cohort. Study participants will receive DM199 by subcutaneous injection twice weekly for 95 days. The primary study endpoints include safety, tolerability, blood pressure, albuminuria and kidney function, which will be evaluated by changes from baseline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and albuminuria, as measured by the urinary albumin to creatinine ratio. Participant enrollment and dosing for this study commenced in December 2019.

As of August 5, 2020, we had enrolled 18 subjects, including 7 African American subjects into Cohort I and 11 subjects with IgAN into Cohort II of the REDUX study. Due to actions implemented to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, we continued to experience slower than expected enrollment in the REDUX clinical trial during the second quarter of 2020. We believe this is due to the reduction or suspension of activities at our clinical study sites as they address staff and patient safety concerns and patient concerns related to visiting clinical study sites in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. We anticipate that the COVID-19 pandemic will likely continue to adversely affect our ability to recruit or enroll subjects and we cannot provide any assurance as to when clinical sites will be able to resume enrollment at a normal rate or any guidance at this time as to when we will complete enrollment in the study. While results observed to date in the REDUX study indicate a safety profile consistent with past studies, there is insufficient data at this time to evaluate or comment upon efficacy.

ReMEDy Clinical Trial

Enrollment in the ReMEDy study began in February 2018 and concluded in October 2019. We enrolled 92 participants to assess DM199 in the treatment of participants who experienced an AIS. The study drug (DM199 or placebo) was administered as an intravenous (IV) infusion within 24 hours of stroke symptom onset, followed by subcutaneous injections later that day and once every 3 days for 21 days. The study was designed to measure safety and tolerability along with multiple tests designed to investigate DM199’s therapeutic potential including plasma-based biomarkers and standard functional stroke measures assessed at 90 days post-stroke. Standard functional stroke measurements include the Modified Rankin Scale, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, the Barthel Index and C-reactive protein, a measure of inflammation. Positive top-line results, including the achievement of primary safety and tolerability endpoints and no DM199-related serious adverse events, were announced on May 13, 2020. In addition, there was also a demonstrated therapeutic effect in participants that received tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) prior to enrollment but not in participants receiving mechanical thrombectomy prior to enrollment according to top-line phase II results.

From a strategic perspective, we continue to believe that strategic alternatives with respect to our DM199 product candidate, including licenses and business collaborations, with other regional and global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies can be important in advancing the clinical development of DM199. Therefore, as a matter of course and from time to time, we engage in discussions with third parties regarding these matters.

Financial Overview

We have not generated any revenues from product sales. Since our inception, we have financed our operations from public and private sales of equity, the exercise of warrants and stock options, interest income on funds available for investment and government grants. We have incurred losses in each year since our inception. Our net losses were $4.9 million and $5.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively. As of June 30, 2020, we had an accumulated deficit of $61.5 million. Substantially all of our operating losses resulted from expenses incurred in connection with the development of our DM199 product candidate, our primary research and development (R&D) activities, and general and administrative (G&A) support costs associated with our operations.

On August 10, 2020, we issued and sold an aggregate of 4,600,000 common shares in a public underwritten offering at a public offering price of $5.00 per share, receiving gross proceeds of $23.0 million and net proceeds of approximately $21.1 million, after deducting the underwriting discount and offering expenses. See Note 13 titled “Subsequent Event.”

We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and continuing operating losses in 2020, up slightly from 2019. Our expenses will increase further if we progress to advanced stages of clinical development over the next several years. In the near term, we anticipate that our expenses will increase as we:

While we expect our rate of future negative cash flow per month will vary due to the timing of expenses incurred, we expect our current cash resources, including the approximately $21.1 million in net proceeds from our recent August 2020 public offering, to be sufficient to allow us to complete all three cohorts in our REDUX Phase II study in patients with CKD and to otherwise fund our anticipated operations through 2021. However, the amount and timing of future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including the timing and results of our ongoing development efforts, including enrollment in our clinical trials, the potential expansion of our current development programs, potential new development programs, related G&A support and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. We may require significant additional funds earlier than we currently expect and there is no assurance that we will not need or seek additional funding prior to such time. We may elect to raise additional funds even before we need them if market conditions for raising additional capital are favorable.

Overview of Expense Components

Research and Development Expenses

R&D expenses consist primarily of fees paid to external service providers such as contract research organizations; contractual obligations for clinical development including clinical sites, outsided nursing services and laboratory testing, and preclinical trials; development of manufacturing processes, costs for production runs of DM199; salaries, benefits, and share-based compensation and other personnel costs.

At this time, due to the risks inherent in the clinical development process and the early stage of our product development programs, we are unable to estimate with any certainty the costs we will incur in the continued development of DM199 or any of our preclinical development programs. We currently expect a delay in the timing of costs incurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but not a significant overall increase in costs. However, we continue to assess the effect of the pandemic on our REDUX trial by monitoring the spread of the COVID-19 virus and the actions implemented to combat the virus. We expect that our R&D expenses will increase in the future if we are successful in advancing DM199, or any of our preclinical programs, into advanced stages of clinical development. The process of conducting clinical trials necessary to obtain regulatory approval and manufacturing scale-up to support expanded development and potential future commercialization is costly and time consuming. Any failure by us or delay in completing clinical trials, manufacturing scale-up or in obtaining regulatory approvals could lead to increased R&D expenses and, in turn, have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

General and Administrative Expenses

G&A expenses consist primarily of salaries and related benefits, including share-based compensation related to our executive, finance, business development and support functions. Other G&A expenses include insurance, rent and utilities, travel expenses and professional fees for auditing, tax and legal services. We expect our G&A expenses will increase in the future as we expand our development and operating activities.

We have instituted a number of procedural changes related to protecting the health and safety of our employees in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the second quarter of 2020 our office was closed and we converted to telework for all employees and put all non-essential travel on hold. We have encouraged our employees to interact with each other and vendors through audio and video conferencing. Recently, as restrictions on businesses have relaxed, we have partially re-opened our office allowing, but not requiring, employees to return to the office two days per week, subject to additional distancing and cleaning requirements. We did not incur significant additional expenses during the second quarter of 2020 related to these changes, nor do we expect to incur significant additional expenses going forward. We expect to continue to restrict non-essential travel for the foreseeable future.

Other (Income) Expense

Other (income) expense consists primarily of governmental assistance – research incentives, interest income and foreign currency exchange gains and losses.

Results of Operations

Comparison of the Three and Six Months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019

The following table summarizes our unaudited results of operations for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019 (in thousands):

Research and Development Expenses

R&D expenses decreased to $1.6 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020, down from $1.9 million for the three months ended June 30, 2019, a decrease of $0.3 million. R&D expenses decreased to $3.0 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020, compared to $4.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019, a decrease of $1.5 million. The decrease for the six month comparison was primarily due to non-recurring costs of approximately $1.3 million incurred for a new production run of the DM199 drug substance during the six months ended June 30, 2019 and a net decrease in year-over-year clinical study costs. The decrease in clinical study costs was due to a combination of the decrease in costs incurred for the ReMEDy stroke study as it winds down and non-recurring costs of the Phase 1b CKD study which was started and completed in the prior year period. These decreases were partially offset by costs incurred for the REDUX Phase II CKD study initiated late in 2019 and increased non-cash share-based compensation costs.

General and Administrative Expenses

G&A expenses were $1.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020, up from $867,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2019. G&A expenses increased to $2.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020, up $0.4 million from $1.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019. The increase for the six-month comparison was primarily due to increased non-cash share-based compensation costs.

Total Other (Income) Expense

Total other income decreased to $243,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2020, down from $280,000 for the prior year period. Total other income decreased to $231,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2020, compared to $458,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2019. The decrease for the six-month comparison is primarily related to reduced R&D incentives associated with decreased ReMEDy stroke study costs during the six months ended June 30, 2019, partially offset by reduced foreign currency transaction losses.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

The following tables summarize our liquidity and capital resources as of June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, and our sources and uses of cash for each of the six month periods ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, and is intended to supplement the more detailed discussion that follows (in thousands):

Working Capital

We had cash and cash equivalents of $5.0 million, marketable securities of $6.8 million, current liabilities of $1.2 million and working capital of $11.2 million as of June 30, 2020, compared to $3.9 million in cash and cash equivalents, marketable securities of $4.0 million, $1.3 million in current liabilities and $7.5 million in working capital as of December 31, 2019. The increases in our combined cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities and in our working capital are due primarily to our February 2020 public offering of common shares.

Cash Flows

Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities for the six months ended June 30, 2020 was $3.8 million compared to $6.0 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019. This decrease relates primarily to the decrease in the net loss, partially offset by the effects of the changes in operating assets and liabilities.

Investing Activities

Investing activities consist primarily of purchases of marketable securities and property and equipment during the respective periods. Net cash used in investing activities was $2.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020 compared to $7.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019. This decrease was due to a combination of a decline in the purchase of and an increase in the maturities of marketable securities during the current year period.

Financing Activities

Financing activities consist primarily of net proceeds from the sale of common shares in the current year period. Net cash provided by financing activities was $7.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020 compared to $72,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2019. This increase was due to our February 2020 public offering of common shares.

On February 13, 2020, we issued and sold an aggregate of 2,125,000 common shares in a public, underwritten offering at a public offering price of $4.00 per share, resulting in net proceeds to us of approximately $7.7 million, after deducting the underwriting discount and offering expenses.

Capital Requirements

Since our inception, we have incurred losses while advancing the development of our product candidates. We have not generated any revenues from product sales and do not expect to do so for a number of years. We do not know when, or if, we will be able to license and/or market and sell our DM199 product candidate or any future product candidates. We expect the development work required to obtain regulatory approval may take at least an additional three to five years. We will likely continue to incur substantial operating losses until such time as any future product sales, royalty payments, licensing fees and/or milestone payments are sufficient to generate revenues to fund our continuing operations. We expect our operating losses to continue in the near term and increase if we progress to advanced stages of clinical development and we seek regulatory approval for our DM199 product candidate. However, with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic slowing the enrollment in our REDUX trial we expect our operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2020 to be comparable to or slightly less than our operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2019. In the long-term, subject to obtaining regulatory approval of our DM199 product candidate or any other future product candidates, we expect to incur significant commercialization expenses for product sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution.

We currently expect a delay in the timing of costs incurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but not a significant overall increase in costs. However, we continue to assess the effect of the pandemic on our REDUX trial by monitoring the spread of the COVID-19 virus and the actions implemented to combat the virus.

Accordingly, despite the completion of our recent public offerings, we expect we will need substantial additional capital to further our R&D activities, planned clinical trials, regulatory activities and otherwise develop our product candidate, DM199, or any future product candidates, to a point where they may be commercially sold. While we are striving to achieve these plans, there is no assurance that these and other strategies will be achieved or that additional funding will be obtained on favorable terms or at all. While we expect our rate of future negative cash flow per month will vary due to the timing of expenses incurred, we expect our current cash resources, including the approximately $21.1 million in net proceeds from our recent August 2020 public offering, to be sufficient to allow us to complete all three cohorts in our REDUX Phase II study in patients with CKD and to otherwise fund our anticipated operations through 2021. However, the amount and timing of future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including the timing and results of our ongoing development efforts, including enrollment in our clinical trials, the potential expansion of our current development programs, potential new development programs, and related G&A support. We may require significant additional funds earlier than we currently expect and there is no assurance that we will not need or seek additional funding prior to such time. We may elect to raise additional funds even before we need them if market conditions for raising additional capital are favorable.

Since our inception, we have financed our operations from public and private sales of equity, the exercise of warrants and stock options, interest income on funds available for investment and government incentive grants, and we expect to continue this practice for the foreseeable future. We do not have any existing credit facilities under which we could borrow funds. We may seek to raise additional funds through various sources, such as equity or debt financings, or through strategic collaborations and license agreements. We can give no assurances that we will be able to secure additional sources of funds to support our operations, or if such funds are available to us, that such additional financing will be sufficient to meet our needs or on terms acceptable to us. This is particularly true if our clinical data is not positive or economic and market conditions deteriorate.

To the extent we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, the ownership interests of our shareholders will be diluted. Debt financing, if available, may involve agreements that include conversion discounts or covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends. If we raise additional funds through government or other third-party funding, marketing and distribution arrangements or other collaborations, or strategic alliances or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. The availability of financing will be affected by our clinical data and other results of scientific and clinical research; the ability to attain regulatory approvals; market acceptance of our product candidates; the state of the capital markets generally with particular reference to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical companies; the status of strategic alliance agreements; and other relevant commercial considerations.

If adequate funding is not available when needed, we may be required to scale back our operations by taking actions that may include, among other things, reducing use of outside professional service providers, reducing the number of our employees or employee compensation, or implementing other cost reduction strategies; significantly modify or delay the development of our DM199 product candidate; license to third parties the rights to commercialize our DM199 product candidate for CKD, AIS or other indications that we would otherwise seek to pursue, or otherwise relinquish significant rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us; and/or divest assets or cease operations through a merger, sale, or liquidation of our company.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We have no off-balance sheet arrangements (as defined by applicable SEC regulations) that could have a current material effect or that are reasonably likely to have a current or future material effect on our financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources.

Critical Accounting Policies and 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—Critical Accounting Policies,” included in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019.

ITEM 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

As a smaller reporting company, we are not required to provide disclosure pursuant to this item.

ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

We maintain disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act)) that are designed to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Our management evaluated, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered in this report. Based on that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of the end of such period to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Despite most employees working remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the three months ended June 30, 2020 that has materially affected or is reasonably likely to materially affect our internal control over financial reporting.

In March 2013, we entered into a clinical research agreement with PRA Netherlands to perform a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, single-dose and multiple-dose study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and proof of concept of DM199 in healthy subjects and in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. In one arm of this study, we enrolled 36 patients with Type 2 diabetes who were treated with two subcutaneous dose levels of DM199 over a 28-day period. This study achieved its primary endpoint and demonstrated that DM199 was well-tolerated. The secondary endpoints for this study, however, were not met. The secondary efficacy endpoints were confounded due to what we believe were significant execution errors caused by protocol deviations occurring at the clinical trial site that were unable to be reconciled. To date, we have been unable to obtain the complete study records from PRA Netherlands and generate a final study report. On November 14, 2017, we initiated litigation with PRA Netherlands in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, to compel them to comply with the terms of the clinical research agreement, including providing full study records and to recover damages. After PRA Netherlands objected to personal jurisdiction and venue, on August 24, 2018, we re-filed our complaint against both PRA Netherlands and its U.S. parent, PRA Health Sciences, Inc. (“PRA USA” and collectively with PRA Netherlands, PRA), in the United States District Court, District of Delaware. PRA again objected to the venue and personal jurisdiction. The complaint alleges, among other things, that PRA failed to conduct the study in accordance with the study protocol and with generally accepted standards for conducting such clinical trials and that PRA further refused to provide us with all data, records and documentation, and/or access thereto, related to the study in accordance with the clinical trial study agreement. The complaint seeks to compel PRA to comply with the terms of the clinical trial study agreement, including providing full study records and to recover damages. On November 19, 2018, PRA Netherlands and PRA USA filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit. On February 20, 2019, we filed a motion seeking to transfer the Delaware action to the United States District Court, District of Minnesota. PRA Netherlands and PRA USA filed an opposition to our motion. No decision on this motion has yet been rendered.

From time to time, we may be subject to other various ongoing or threatened legal actions and proceedings, including those that arise in the ordinary course of business, which may include employment matters and breach of contract disputes. Such matters are subject to many uncertainties and to outcomes that are not predictable with assurance and that may not be known for extended periods of time. Other than the PRA matter noted above, we are not currently engaged in or aware of any threatened legal actions.

Although this Item 1A is inapplicable to us as a smaller reporting company, we hereby disclose the following additional and revised risk factors, which were also updated in a Current Report on Form 8-K as filed with the SEC on August 5, 2020:

The recent and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could significantly disrupt our clinical trials and, therefore, our receipt of necessary regulatory approvals could be delayed or prevented.

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a severe effect on the clinical trials of many drug candidates. Some trials have been merely delayed, while others have been cancelled. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic may impact our ongoing and planned clinical trials will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, such as the duration and geographic reach of the outbreak, the severity of COVID-19, and the effectiveness of actions to contain and treat COVID-19. To date, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant delays in the enrollment of participants. The continued spread of COVID-19 could cause us to experience additional disruptions that could severely impact our business and clinical trials, including:

As a result, the expected timeline for data readouts of our clinical trials and certain regulatory filings may be negatively impacted, which would adversely affect our ability to initiate required phase III studies, obtain regulatory approval for and to commercialize our product candidates, increase our operating expenses and have a material adverse effect on our financial results.

We have conducted and may in the future conduct clinical trials for our product candidate outside the United States, and the FDA may not accept data from such trials.

We have conducted and may in the future conduct clinical trials for our product candidate outside the United States.  For example, we conducted our ReMEDy Phase II clinical trial in Australia.  Although the FDA may accept data from clinical trials conducted outside the United States, acceptance of such study data by the FDA is subject to certain conditions, and there can be no assurance that the FDA will accept data from the clinical trial we conducted in Australia or clinical trials we may conduct outside the United States in the future.  For example, the clinical trial must be conducted in accordance with good clinical practices (GCP) requirements, and the FDA must be able to validate the data from the clinical trial through an onsite inspection if it deems such inspection necessary.  In addition, when studies are conducted only at sites outside the United States, the FDA generally does not provide advance comment on the clinical protocols for the studies, and therefore there is an additional potential risk that the FDA could determine that the study design or protocol for a non-U.S. clinical trial was inadequate, which would likely require us to conduct additional clinical trials.

If the FDA does not accept data from the clinical trial we conducted in Australia, it would likely result in the need for additional clinical trials, which would be costly and time-consuming and delay aspects of our business plan, including the development and commercial launch of our DM199 product candidate. In addition, the conduct of clinical trials outside the United States also exposes us to additional risks, including risks associated with the following:

ITEM 2.     UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS

Recent Sales of Unregistered Equity Securities

We did not sell any unregistered equity securities of our company during the quarter ended June 30, 2020.

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Company

We did not purchase any common shares or other equity securities of our company during the quarter ended June 30, 2020.

Use of Proceeds from Initial Public Offering

On December 11, 2018, the SEC declared effective our registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-228313), as amended, filed in connection with our initial public offering in the United States. Pursuant to the registration statement, we issued and sold an aggregate of 4,100,000 common shares in the initial public offering at a price to the public of $4.00 per share. As a result of the offering, we received gross proceeds of approximately $16.4 million, resulting in net proceeds to us of approximately $14.7 million, after deduction of underwriters’ discounts and commissions and offering expenses. None of the expenses associated with the initial public offering were paid to directors, officers, persons owning ten percent or more of any class of equity securities, or to their associates, or to our affiliates. Craig-Hallum Capital Group LLC acted as the sole managing underwriter for the offering.

As of June 30, 2020, we have used approximately $12.9 million of the proceeds from our initial public offering to fund clinical development of DM199, to conduct research activities and for working capital and general corporate purposes. No payments were made by us to directors, officers or persons owning ten percent or more of our common shares or to their associates, or to our affiliates, other than payments in the ordinary course of business to officers for salaries and bonuses and to non-employee directors as compensation for board and board committee service. There has been no material change in the planned use of proceeds from our initial public offering from that described in the final prospectus, dated December 6, 2018, filed with the SEC on December 10, 2018 pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

None.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

The following exhibits are being filed or furnished with this quarterly report on Form 10-Q:

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.