An investment in our common stock involves significant risk. You should carefully consider the information described in the following risk factors, together with the other information appearing elsewhere in this report, before making an investment decision regarding our common stock. While the risk factors set forth below update and supplement the risk factors set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 (2015 Annual Report), you should review our 2015 Annual Report, including the section under the caption “Item 1A. Risk Factors,” together with the other information appearing elsewhere in this report, before making an investment decision regarding our common stock. If any of the risks described below or in our 2015 Annual Report actually occur, our business, financial conditions, results of operation and future growth prospects would likely be materially and adversely affected. In these circumstances, the market price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or a part of your investment in our common stock. Moreover, the risks described below and in our 2015 Annual Report are not the only ones that we face. Additional risks not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also affect our business, operating results, prospects or financial condition. You should carefully consider these risk factors, together with all of the other information included in this Form 10-Q as well as our other publicly available filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Risks Relating to Development, Commercialization and Regulatory Approval of our Products and Technology
ZFP Therapeutics have undergone limited testing in humans and our ZFP Therapeutics may fail safety studies in clinical trials.
We have an ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial (SB-728-1101, Cohort 3*) of our ZFP Therapeutic, SB-728-T, for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. We also have an open Phase 1/2 clinical trial of our ZFP Therapeutic for HIV in HSPCs (SB-728mR-HSPC) and expect to initiate Phase 1/2 clinical trials of our IVPRP approach in several indications including hemophilia B, MPS I, and MPS II. Preliminary data demonstrate that treatment of HIV-infected subjects with SB-728-T has been well-tolerated. In addition, data from Phase 1 and several Phase 2 clinical trials of our ZFP Therapeutic, SB-509, for diabetic neuropathy and ALS demonstrated that the drug was well tolerated in these studies. However, if one of our ZFP Therapeutic or gene therapy programs fails one of its safety studies, it could reduce our ability to attract new investors and corporate partners.
All of these studies are designed primarily to evaluate the safety and tolerability of our therapeutic approach. Our clinical studies are a highly visible test of our ZFP Therapeutics and gene therapies and our investors assess the value of our technology primarily based on the continued progress of ZFP Therapeutic and gene therapy products into and through clinical trials. If clinical trials of our ZFP Therapeutic and gene therapy products were halted due to safety concerns, this would negatively affect our operations and the value of shares in our common stock.
Our progress in early Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials may not be indicative of long-term efficacy in late stage clinical trials.
The results in early phases of clinical testing are based upon limited numbers of patients and a limited follow-up period. Typically, our Phase 1 clinical trials for indications of safety enroll less than 15 patients. Our Phase 2 and late-stage clinical trials generally enroll a larger number of patients. Accordingly, any positive data obtained in early Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials may not be indicative of long-term efficacy in late-stage clinical trials.
Over the past several years we have presented data from early stage clinical trials from our program to develop SB-728-T for the treatment of HIV/AIDS which is now in Phase 2 clinical testing. Data from the Company’s Phase 1 study (SB-728-902, Cohorts 1-3) demonstrated a long-term decrease in the peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) HIV reservoir using a sensitive test for integrated HIV DNA in nine of nine subjects over a 36 month period (median decrease 0.9 logs). In addition, in this and several other studies we have observed long-term increases in CD4 counts in treated subjects. We have presented data that demonstrates an increase in engraftment of modified T-cells after pre-infusion regimen of Cytoxan. In several subjects we have also observed significant reductions in viral load in SB-728 treated subjects during a treatment interruption from antiretroviral therapy which have lasted for prolonged periods. However, there is no guarantee that these and other future studies of SB-728-T in later stage trials involving larger patient groups may produce positive or similar results as those obtained in earlier trials.
A number of companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries have suffered significant setbacks in late stage clinical trials even after achieving promising results in earlier stage clinical trials. If a larger population of patients does not experience
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positive results, or if these results are not reproducible, our products may not receive approval from the FDA. Failure to confirm favorable results from earlier trials by demonst
rating the safety and effectiveness of our ZFP Therapeutic and gene therapy products in late stage clinical trials with larger patient populations could have a material adverse effect on our business that would cause our stock price to decline significantl
y.
Our potential therapeutic products are subject to a lengthy and uncertain regulatory process, and we may encounter unanticipated toxicity or adverse events or fail to demonstrate efficacy, causing us to delay, suspend or terminate the development of a ZFP Therapeutic or gene therapy program which will prevent us from commercializing those products.
The FDA must approve any human therapeutic product before it can be marketed in the United States. The process for receiving regulatory approval is long and uncertain, and a potential product may not withstand the rigors of testing under the regulatory approval processes.
Before commencing clinical trials in humans, we must submit an IND application to the FDA. The FDA has 30 days to comment on the application, and if the agency has no comments, we or our commercial partner may begin clinical trials. While we have stated our intention to file additional IND applications in the future, this is only a statement of intent, and we may not be able to do so because the associated product candidates may not meet the necessary preclinical requirements. In addition, there can be no assurance that, once filed, an IND application will result in the actual initiation of clinical trials or that we will be able to meet our targeted timeline for the initiation of clinical trials. Clinical trials are subject to oversight by institutional review boards and the FDA. In addition, our proposed clinical studies may require review from the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC), which is the advisory board to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), focusing on clinical trials involving gene transfer.
Clinical trials:
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must be conducted in conformance with the FDA’s good clinical practices, within the guidelines of the International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) and other applicable regulations;
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must meet requirements for Institutional Review Board (IRB) oversight;
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must follow Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) and NIH RAC guidelines where applicable;
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must meet requirements for informed consent;
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are subject to continuing FDA oversight;
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may require oversight by a Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB);
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may require large numbers of test subjects; and
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may be suspended by a commercial partner, the FDA, or us at any time if it is believed that the subjects participating in these trials are being exposed to unacceptable health risks or if the FDA finds deficiencies in the IND application or the conduct of these trials.
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If we are not able to obtain the necessary regulatory approval to commercialize our products of if such approval is delayed or suspended, it would have an adverse effect on our business operations and trading price of our common stock
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While we have stated our goal is to file IND applications for several ZFP Therapeutic and gene therapy pro
grams in the future, we may encounter difficulties that may delay, suspend or scale back our efforts.
In the future we intend to file new IND applications for our ZFP Therapeutic programs. The preparation and submission of IND applications requires us to conduct rigorous and time-consuming preclinical testing, studies, and documentation relating to, among other things, the toxicity, safety, manufacturing, chemistry and clinical protocol of new ZFP Therapeutic and gene therapy products. We may experience unforeseen difficulties that could delay or otherwise prevent us from executing this strategy successfully. For example, we may encounter problems in the manufacturing of our ZFP Therapeutic and gene therapy products and fail to demonstrate consistency in the formulation of the drug. Our preclinical tests may produce negative or inconclusive results, which may lead us to decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional preclinical testing. If we cannot obtain positive results in preclinical testing, we may decide to abandon the projects altogether. In addition, our ability to complete and file certain IND applications depends on the support of our partners and the timely performance of their obligations under relevant collaboration agreements. If our partners are not able to perform such obligations or if they choose to slow down or delay the progress, we may not be able to prepare and file the intended IND applications on a timely basis or at all. Furthermore, the filing of several IND applications involves significant cost and labor, and we may not have sufficient resources and personnel to complete the filing of all intended IND applications, which may force us to scale back the number of IND applications or forego potential IND applications that we believe are promising. Any delay, suspension or reduction of our efforts to pursue our preclinical and IND strategy could have a material adverse effect on our business and cause our stock price to decline.
We may not be able to find acceptable patients or may experience delays in enrolling patients for our clinical trials.
We may experience difficulties or delays in recruiting and enrolling a sufficient number of patients to participate in our clinical trials due to a variety of reasons, including competition from other clinical trial programs for the same indication, failure of patients to meet our enrollment criteria and premature withdrawals of patients prior to the completion of clinical trials. The FDA and institutional review boards may also require large numbers of patients, and the FDA may require that we repeat a clinical trial. Any delay resulting from our failure to enroll a sufficient number of patients on a timely basis may have a material adverse effect on our business.
As we cannot predict whether or when we will obtain regulatory approval to commercialize our product candidates, we cannot predict the timing of any future revenue from these product candidates.
We cannot commercialize any of our ZFP Therapeutics or gene therapies to generate revenue until the appropriate regulatory authorities have reviewed and approved the applications for the product candidates. We cannot ensure that the regulatory agencies will complete their review processes in a timely manner or that we will obtain regulatory approval for any product candidate that we or our collaborators develop. Satisfaction of regulatory requirements typically takes many years, is dependent upon the type, complexity and novelty of the product and requires the expenditure of substantial resources. Regulatory approval processes outside the United States include all of the risks associated with the FDA approval process. In addition, we may experience delays or rejections based upon additional government regulation from future legislation or administrative action or changes in FDA policy during the period of product development, clinical trials and FDA regulatory review.
We have limited experience in conducting clinical trials.
Our most advanced clinical programs are ongoing Phase 2 trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a ZFP Therapeutic for HIV/AIDS. For potential marketing application approval, additional clinical testing will be required, which involves significantly greater resources, commitments and expertise. Therefore, we may be required to scale up our operations and enter into collaborative relationships with pharmaceutical companies that could assume responsibility for late-stage development and commercialization.
We have limited experience in conducting advanced clinical trials and may not possess the necessary resources and expertise to complete such trials, and we may need to seek partnerships or collaboration with third parties to advance these trials. We have entered into a collaborative agreement with Biogen to provide funding and assistance in the development of certain ZFP Therapeutics through the clinical trial process. Under the agreement with Biogen, we are responsible for all research and development through the first human clinical trial for the treatment of beta-thalassemia and both parties are responsible for research and development through the submission of IND for ZFP Therapeutics to treat sickle cell disease (SCD). However, there is no guarantee that we will be able to enter into future collaborative relationships with third parties that can provide us with the funding and expertise for later stage trials.
Regulatory approval, if granted, will be limited to specific uses or geographic areas, which could limit our ability to generate revenues.
Regulatory approval will be limited to the indicated use for which we can market a product. Further, once regulatory approval for a product is obtained, the product and its manufacturer are subject to continual review. Discovery of previously unknown problems
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with a product or manufacturer may result in restrictions on the product, manufacturer, and manufacturing facility, including withdrawal of the product from the market. In Japan and Europe, regulatory agenc
ies also set or approve prices.
Even if regulatory clearance of a product is granted, this clearance is limited to those specific states and conditions for which the product is useful, as demonstrated through clinical trials. We cannot ensure that any ZFP Therapeutic or gene therapy product developed by us, alone or with others, will prove to be safe and effective in clinical trials and will meet all of the applicable regulatory requirements needed to receive marketing clearance in a given country.
Outside the United States, our ability to market a product is contingent upon receiving a marketing authorization from appropriate regulatory authorities; therefore we cannot predict whether or when we would be permitted to commercialize our product outside the United States. These foreign regulatory approval processes include all of the risks associated with FDA clearance described above.
Commercialization of our technologies will depend, in part, on strategic partnering with other companies. If we are not able to find partners in the future or if our partners do not diligently pursue product development efforts, we may not be able to develop our technologies or products, which could slow our growth and decrease the value of our stock.
We expect to rely, to some extent, on our strategic partners to provide funding in support of our research and to perform independent research and preclinical and clinical testing. Our technology is broad-based, and we do not currently possess the resources necessary to fully develop and commercialize potential products that may result from our technologies or the resources or capabilities to complete the lengthy marketing approval processes that may be required for the products. Therefore, we plan to rely on strategic partnerships to help us develop and commercialize ZFP Therapeutic or gene therapy products. If we are unable to find partners or if the partners we find, such as Shire and Biogen, are unable or unwilling to advance our programs, or if they do not diligently pursue product approval, this may slow our progress and adversely affect our ability to generate revenues. In addition, our partners may sublicense or abandon development programs or we may have disagreements or disputes with our partners, which would cause associated product development to slow or cease. In addition, the business or operations of our partners may change significantly through restructuring, acquisition or other strategic transactions or decisions that may negatively impact their ability to advance our programs. There can be no assurance that we will be able to establish further strategic collaborations for ZFP Therapeutic or gene therapy product developments. We may require significant time to secure collaborations or partners because we need to effectively market the benefits of our technology to these future collaborators and partners, which may direct the attention and resources of our research and development personnel and management away from our primary business operations. Further, each collaboration or partnering arrangement will involve the negotiation of terms that may be unique to each collaborator or partner. These business development efforts may not result in a collaboration or partnership.
The loss of partnering agreements may delay or terminate the potential development or commercialization of products we may derive from our technologies, but it may also delay or terminate our ability to test ZFP Therapeutic or gene therapy candidates for specific genes. If any partner fails to conduct the collaborative activities successfully or in a timely manner, the preclinical or clinical development or commercialization of the affected product candidates or research programs could be delayed or terminated.
Under typical partnering agreements, we would expect to receive revenue for the research and development of a ZFP Therapeutic or gene therapy product based on achievement of specific milestones, as well as royalties based on a percentage of sales of the commercialized products. Achieving these milestones will depend, in part, on the efforts of our partner as well as our own. If we, or any partner, fail to meet specific milestones, then the partnership may be terminated, which could reduce our revenues. For more information on risks relating to our third party collaborative agreements, see “Risks Relating to our Collaborative Relationships.”
We may be unable to license gene transfer technologies that we may need to commercialize our ZFP technology.
In order to regulate or modify a gene in a cell, the ZFP must be efficiently delivered to the cell. We have licensed certain gene transfer technologies for our ZFP in research including AAV and mRNA technology. We are evaluating these systems and other technologies that may need to be used in the delivery of ZFP into cells for
in vitro
and
in vivo
applications, including ZFP Therapeutics. However, we may not be able to license the gene transfer technologies required to develop and commercialize our ZFP Therapeutics. We have not developed our own gene transfer technologies, and we rely on our ability to enter into license agreements to provide us with rights to the necessary gene transfer technology. Our approach has been to license appropriate technology as required. The inability to obtain a license to use gene transfer technologies with entities which own such technology on reasonable commercial terms, if at all, could delay or prevent the preclinical evaluation, drug development collaborations, clinical testing, and/or commercialization of our therapeutic product candidates.
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Our gene regulation and genome editing technology is relatively new, and if we are unable to use this technology in all our intended applications, it would limit our revenue opportunities.
Our technology involves a relatively new approach to gene regulation and genome editing. Although we have generated ZFPs for thousands of gene sequences, we have not created ZFPs for all gene sequences and may not be able do so, which could limit the usefulness of our technology. In addition, while we have demonstrated the function of engineered ZFNs and ZFP TFs in mammalian cells, yeast, insects, plants and animals, we have not yet demonstrated clinical efficacy of this technology in a controlled clinical trial in humans, and the failure to do so could restrict our ability to develop commercially viable products. If we, and our collaborators or strategic partners, are unable to extend our results to new commercially important genes, experimental animal models, and human clinical studies, we may be unable to use our technology in all its intended applications.
The expected value and utility of our ZFNs and ZFP TFs is in part based on our belief that the targeted editing of genes or specific regulation of gene expression may enable us to develop a new therapeutic approach as well as to help scientists better understand the role of genes in disease, and to aid their efforts in drug discovery and development. We also believe that ZFP-mediated targeted genome editing and gene regulation will have utility in agricultural applications. There is only a limited understanding of the role of specific genes in all these fields. Life sciences companies have developed or commercialized only a few products in any of these fields based on results from genomic research or the ability to regulate gene expression. We, our collaborators or our strategic partners, may not be able to use our technology to identify and validate drug targets or to develop commercial products in the intended markets.
Effective delivery of ZFNs and ZFP TFs into the appropriate target cells and tissues is critical to the success of the therapeutic applications of our ZFP technology. In order to have a meaningful therapeutic effect, the ZFP Therapeutic must be delivered to sufficient numbers of cells in the targeted tissue. The ZFN or ZFP TF must be present in that tissue for sufficient time to effect either modification of a therapeutically relevant gene or regulation of its expression. In our current clinical and preclinical programs, we administer our ZFP Therapeutics as a nucleic acid that encodes the ZFN or ZFP TF. We use different formulations to deliver the ZFP Therapeutic depending on the required duration of expression, the targeted tissue and the indication that we intend to treat. However, there can be no assurances that we will be able to effectively deliver our ZFNs and ZFP TFs to produce a beneficial therapeutic effect.
We are conducting proprietary research to discover ZFP Therapeutic and gene therapy product candidates. These programs increase our financial risk of product failure, may significantly increase our research expenditures, and may involve conflicts with future collaborators and strategic partners.
Our proprietary research programs consist of research that is funded solely by us or by grant funding and in which we retain exclusive rights to therapeutic products generated by such research. This is in contrast to certain of our research programs that may be funded by corporate partners in which we may share rights to any resulting products. Conducting proprietary research programs may not generate corresponding revenue and may create conflicts with our collaborators or strategic partners over rights to our intellectual property with respect to our proprietary research activities. Any conflict with our collaborators or strategic partners could reduce our ability to enter into future collaborations or partnering agreements and negatively impact our relationship with existing collaborators and partners that could reduce our revenue and delay or terminate our product development. As we continue to focus our strategy on proprietary research and therapeutic development, we expect to experience greater business risks, expend significantly greater funds and require substantial commitments of time from our management and staff.
Even if our technology proves to be effective, it still may not lead to commercially viable products.
Even if our collaborators or strategic partners are successful in using our ZFP technology in drug discovery, protein production, therapeutic development or plant agriculture, they may not be able to commercialize the resulting products or may decide to use other methods competitive with our technology. To date, no company has received marketing approval or has developed or commercialized any therapeutic or agricultural products based on our technology. Should our technology fail to provide safe, effective, useful or commercially viable approaches to the discovery and development of these products, this would significantly limit our business and future growth and would adversely affect our value.
Even if our product development efforts are successful and even if the requisite regulatory approvals are obtained, our ZFP Therapeutics or gene therapies may not gain market acceptance among physicians, patients, healthcare payers and the medical community.
A number of additional factors may limit the market acceptance of our ZFP Therapeutic or gene therapy products including the following:
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rate of adoption by healthcare practitioners;
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rate of a product’s acceptance by the target population;
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timing of market entry relative to competitive products;
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availability of alternative therapies;
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price of our product relative to alternative therapies;
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availability of third-party reimbursement;
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extent of marketing efforts by us and third-party distributors or agents retained by us; and
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side-effects or unfavorable publicity concerning our products or similar products.
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Therefore, even after we have obtained the required regulatory approval for our ZFP Therapeutic or gene therapy products, we may not be able to commercialize these products successfully if we cannot achieve an adequate level of market acceptance.
We currently rely on third parties to conduct some or all aspects of manufacturing of our ZFP Therapeutic and gene therapy product candidates for preclinical and clinical development.
If one of our third-party manufacturers fails to perform adequately or fulfill our needs, we may be required to incur significant costs and devote significant efforts, to find new suppliers or manufacturers.
We currently have limited experience in, and we do not own facilities for, clinical-scale manufacturing of our product candidates and we rely upon third-party contract manufacturing organizations to manufacture and supply drug product for our preclinical and clinical studies. The manufacture of pharmaceutical products in compliance with the FDA’s current good manufacturing practices (cGMP), requires significant expertise and capital investment, including the development of advanced manufacturing techniques and process controls. Manufacturers of pharmaceutical products often encounter difficulties in production, including difficulties with production costs and yields, quality control, including stability of the product candidate and quality assurance testing, shortages of qualified personnel, as well as compliance with strictly enforced cGMP requirements, other federal and state regulatory requirements and foreign regulations. If our manufacturers were to encounter any of these difficulties or otherwise fail to comply with their obligations to us or under applicable regulations, our ability to provide study drugs in our clinical studies would be jeopardized. Any delay or interruption in the supply of clinical study materials could delay the completion of our clinical studies, increase the costs associated with maintaining our clinical study programs and, depending upon the period of delay, require us to commence new studies at significant additional expense or terminate the studies completely.
All manufacturers of our product candidates must comply with cGMP requirements enforced by the FDA through its facilities inspection program. These requirements include, among other things, quality control, quality assurance and the maintenance of records and documentation. Manufacturers of our product candidates may be unable to comply with these cGMP requirements and with other FDA, state and foreign regulatory requirements. The FDA or similar foreign regulatory agencies may also implement new standards at any time, or change their interpretation and enforcement of existing standards for manufacture, packaging or testing of products. We have little control over our manufacturers’ compliance with these regulations and standards. A failure to comply with these requirements may result in fines and civil penalties, suspension of production, suspension or delay in product approval, product seizure or recall or withdrawal of product approval. If the safety of any product supplied is compromised due to our manufacturers’ failure to adhere to applicable laws or for other reasons, we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for or successfully commercialize our products and we may be held liable for any injuries sustained as a result. Any of these factors could cause a delay of clinical studies, regulatory submissions, approvals or commercialization of our product candidates, entail higher costs or impair our reputation.
Our current agreements with our suppliers do not provide for the entire supply of the drug product necessary for all anticipated clinical studies or for full scale commercialization. If we and our suppliers cannot agree to the terms and conditions for them to provide the drug product necessary for our clinical and commercial supply needs, we may not be able to manufacture the product candidate until a qualified alternative supplier is identified, which could also delay the development of, and impair our ability to commercialize, our product candidates.
The number of third-party suppliers with the necessary manufacturing and regulatory expertise and facilities is limited, and it could be expensive and take a significant amount of time to arrange for alternative suppliers, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. New suppliers of any product candidate would be required to qualify under applicable regulatory requirements and would need to have sufficient rights under applicable intellectual property laws to the method of manufacturing the product candidate. Obtaining the necessary FDA approvals or other qualifications under applicable regulatory requirements and ensuring non-infringement of third-party intellectual property rights could result in a significant interruption of supply and could require the new manufacturer to bear significant additional costs which may be passed on to us.
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We do not currently have the infrastructure or capability to manufacture, market and sel
l therapeutic products on a commercial scale.
In order for us to commercialize our therapeutic products directly, we would need to develop, or obtain through outsourcing arrangements, the capability to manufacture, market and sell our products on a commercial scale. Currently, we do not have the ability nor the financial resources to establish the infrastructure and organizations needed to execute these functions, including such infrastructure needed for the commercialization of any product from our HIV/AIDS program, which can be complex and costly. If we are unable to establish adequate manufacturing, sales, marketing and distribution capabilities, we will not be able to directly commercialize our therapeutics products, which would limit our future growth.
Risks Relating to our Industry
If our competitors develop, acquire, or market technologies or products that are more effective than ours, this would reduce or eliminate our commercial opportunity.
Any products that we or our collaborators or strategic partners develop by using our ZFP technology platform will enter into highly competitive markets. Even if we are able to generate ZFP Therapeutics that are safe and effective for their intended use, competing technologies may prove to be more effective or less expensive, which, to the extent these competing technologies achieve market acceptance, will limit our revenue opportunities. In some cases, competing technologies have proven to be effective and less expensive. Competing technologies may include other methods of regulating gene expression or modifying genes. ZFNs and ZFP TFs have broad application in the life sciences industry and compete with a broad array of new technologies and approaches being applied to genetic research by many companies. Competing proprietary technologies with our product development focus include but are not limited to:
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siRNA and microRNA approaches, exon skipping;
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TALE proteins, meganucleases, and MegaTALs
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For our Non-Therapeutic Applications:
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For protein production:
gene amplification, CRISPR/Cas technology, TALE technology, insulator technology, and mini-chromosomes;
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For target validation:
antisense, siRNA, TALE technology and CRISPR/Cas technology;
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For plant agriculture:
recombination approaches, mutagenesis approaches, TALE technology, CRISPR/Cas technology, mini-chromosomes; and
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For transgenic animals:
somatic nuclear transfer, embryonic stem cell, TALE, CRISPR/Cas technology and transposase technologies.
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In addition to possessing competing technologies, our competitors include pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with:
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substantially greater capital resources than ours;
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larger research and development staffs and facilities than ours; and
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greater experience in product development and in obtaining regulatory approvals and patent protection.
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These organizations also compete with us to:
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attract qualified personnel;
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attract parties for acquisitions, joint ventures or other collaborations; and
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license the proprietary technologies of academic and research institutions that are competitive with our technology, which may preclude us from pursuing similar opportunities.
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Accordingly, our competitors may succeed in obtaining patent protection or commercializing products before us. In addition, any products that we develop may compete with existing products or services that are well established in the marketplace.
Adverse public perception in the field of gene therapy and genome editing may negatively impact regulatory approval of, or demand for, our potential products.
Our potential therapeutic products are delivered to patients as gene-based drugs, or gene therapy. The clinical and commercial success of our potential products will depend in part on public acceptance of the use of gene therapy and genome editing for the prevention or treatment of human diseases. Public attitudes may be influenced by claims that gene therapy or genome editing is unsafe, and, consequently, our products may not gain the acceptance of the public or the medical community. Negative public reaction to gene therapy or genome editing in general could result in greater government regulation and stricter labeling requirements of gene based products, including any of our products, and could cause a decrease in the demand for any products we may develop.
Laws or public sentiment may limit the production of genetically modified agricultural products, and these laws could reduce our partner’s ability to sell such products.
Genetically modified products are currently subject to public debate and heightened regulatory scrutiny, either of which could prevent or delay production of agricultural products. We have a research license and commercial option agreement with DAS through which we provide DAS with access to our proprietary ZFP technology and the exclusive right to use our ZFP technology to modify the genomes or alter the nucleic acid or protein expression of plant cells, plants or plant cell cultures. The field-testing, production and marketing of genetically modified plants and plant products are subject to federal, state, local and foreign governmental regulation. Regulatory agencies administering existing or future regulations or legislation may not allow production and marketing of our genetically modified products in a timely manner or under technically or commercially feasible conditions. In addition, regulatory action or private litigation could result in expenses, delays or other impediments to our product development programs or the commercialization of resulting products.
The FDA currently applies the same regulatory standards to foods developed through genetic engineering as those applied to foods developed through traditional plant breeding. Genetically engineered food products, however, will be subject to pre-market review if these products raise safety questions or are deemed to be food additives. Governmental authorities could also, for social or other purposes, limit the use of genetically modified products created with our gene regulation technology.
Even if the regulatory approval for genetically modified products developed under our agreement with DAS was obtained, our success will also depend on public acceptance of the use of genetically modified products including drugs, plants, and plant products. Claims that genetically modified products are unsafe for consumption or pose a danger to the environment may influence public attitudes. Our genetically modified products may not gain public acceptance. The subject of genetically modified organisms has received negative publicity in the United States and particularly in Europe, and such publicity has aroused public debate. The adverse publicity in Europe could lead to greater regulation and trade restrictions on imports of genetically altered products. Similar adverse public reaction or sentiment in the United States to genetic research and its resulting products could result in greater domestic regulation and could decrease the demand for our technology and products.
Risks Relating to our Finances
We have incurred significant operating losses since inception and anticipate that we will incur continued losses for the foreseeable future.
We have generated operating losses since we began operations in 1995. Our net losses for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 were $40.7 million, $26.4 million and $26.6 million, respectively. The extent of our future losses and the timing of profitability are uncertain, and we expect to incur losses for the foreseeable future. We have been engaged in developing our ZFP technology since inception, which has and will continue to require significant research and development expenditures. To date, we have generated our funding from issuance of equity securities, revenues derived from collaboration agreements, other strategic partnerships in non-therapeutic applications of our technology, federal government research grants and grants awarded by research foundations. As of September 30, 2016, we had an accumulated deficit of $431.3 million. Since our IPO in 2000, we have generated
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an aggregate of approximately $331.4 million in gross proceeds from the sale of our equity securities. We expect to continue to
incur additional operating losses for the next several years as we continue to advance our ZFP Therapeutic and gene therapy product candidates. If the time required to generate significant product revenues and achieve profitability is longer than we curren
tly anticipate or if we are unable to generate liquidity through equity financing or other sources of funding, we may be forced to curtail or suspend our operations.
On an ongoing basis, management evaluates its estimates related to the recognition of revenue from upfront license payments from our collaborators and strategic partners. These estimates are based on various factors that could affect the recognition of revenue.
We may be unable to raise additional capital, which would harm our ability to develop our technology and products.
We have incurred significant operating losses and negative operating cash flows since inception and have not achieved profitability. We expect capital outlays and operating expenditures to increase over the next several years as we expand our infrastructure and research and ZFP Therapeutic and gene therapy product development activities. While we believe our financial resources will be adequate to sustain our current operations at least through 2017, we may need to seek additional sources of capital through equity or debt financing. In addition, as we focus our efforts on proprietary human therapeutics, we will need to seek FDA approval of potential products, a process that could cost in excess of hundreds of millions of dollars per product. Furthermore, we may experience difficulties in accessing the capital market due to external factors beyond our control such as volatility in the equity markets for emerging biotechnology companies and general economic and market conditions both in the United States and abroad. We cannot be certain that we will be able to obtain financing on terms acceptable to us, or at all. Our failure to obtain adequate and timely funding will materially adversely affect our business and our ability to develop our technology and ZFP Therapeutic and gene therapy products. Furthermore, any sales of additional equity securities may result in dilutions to our stockholders and any debt financing may include business and financial covenants that restricts our operations.
We are at the development phase of operations and may not succeed or become profitable.
We began operations in 1995 and are in the early phases of ZFP Therapeutic and gene therapy product development, and we have incurred significant losses since inception. To date, our revenues have been generated from collaboration agreements, other collaborations in non-therapeutic applications of our technology, federal government research grants and grants awarded by research foundations. Our focus on higher-value therapeutic product development and related collaboration requires us to incur substantial expenses associated with product development. In addition, the preclinical or clinical failure of any single product may have a significant effect on the actual or perceived value of our stock. Our business is subject to all of the risks inherent in the development of a new technology, which includes the need to:
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attract and retain qualified scientific and technical staff and management, particularly scientific staff with expertise to develop our early-stage technology into therapeutic products;
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obtain sufficient capital to support the expense of developing our technology platform and developing, testing and commercializing products;
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develop a market for our products; and
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successfully transition from a company with a research focus to a company capable of supporting commercial activities.
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Risks Relating to our Relationships with Collaborators and Strategic Partners
If conflicts arise between us and our collaborators or strategic partners, these parties may act in their self-interest, which may limit our ability to implement our strategies.
If conflicts arise between our corporate or academic collaborators or strategic partners and us, the other party may act in its self-interest, which may limit our ability to implement our strategies. Some of our academic collaborators and strategic partners are conducting multiple product development efforts within each area that is the subject of the collaboration with us. Our collaborators or strategic partners, however, may develop, either alone or with others, products in related fields that are competitive with the products or potential products that are the subject of these collaborations. Competing products, either developed by the collaborators or strategic partners or to which the collaborators or strategic partners have rights, may result in the withdrawal of partner support for our product candidates.
Some of our collaborators or strategic partners could also become our competitors in the future. Our collaborators or strategic partners could develop competing products, preclude us from entering into collaborations with their competitors, fail to obtain timely regulatory approvals, terminate their agreements with us prematurely, or fail to devote sufficient resources to the development and commercialization of products. Any of these developments could harm our product development efforts.
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Our collaborators and strategic partners may control aspects of our clinical trials, which could result in delays and other obstacles in the commercialization of our proposed p
roducts.
We depend on third party collaborators and strategic partners to design and conduct our clinical trials for some of our therapeutic programs. As a result, we may not be able to conduct these programs in the manner or on the time schedule we currently contemplate, which may negatively impact our business operations. In addition, if any of these collaborators or strategic partners withdraws support for our programs or proposed products or otherwise impair their development; our business could be negatively affected.
We have a collaborative agreement with Shire, pursuant to which we are engaging in a joint program with Shire to research, develop and commercialize human therapeutics and diagnostics for Huntington’s disease and other monogenic diseases based on our ZFP technology. Under this agreement, we will provide certain target feasibility activities and upon Shire’s request, certain research activities under a research plan, agreed upon by both companies. Shire is responsible for clinical development and commercialization of products generated from the research program from and after the acceptance of an IND or CTA for the product.
In addition, we have a collaborative agreement with Biogen for the clinical development and commercialization of therapeutics based on our ZFP technology for hemoglobinopathies, including beta-thalassemia and SCD. Under the agreement, we are responsible for all discovery, research and development activities through the first human clinical trial for the first ZFP Therapeutic developed for the treatment of beta-thalassemia. In the SCD program, both parties are responsible for research and development activities through the submission of an IND.
Under our agreement with Biogen, they have control and broad discretion over all or certain aspects of the clinical development and commercialization of any product developed under the agreement, and we will have little, if any, influence on how these programs will be conducted. Our lack of control over the clinical development in our agreement with Biogen could cause delays or other difficulties in the development and commercialization of our product candidates, which may prevent us from completing the intended IND filings in a timely fashion and receiving any milestone, royalty payments and other benefits under the agreement. In addition, under their respective agreement(s), Biogen and Shire have certain rights to terminate the agreements by providing us with advance notices, therefore, the actual milestone payments that we may receive under these agreements may be lower than the full amounts stated above.
Our collaborators or strategic partners may decide to adopt alternative technologies or may be unable to develop commercially viable products with our technology, which would negatively impact our revenues and our strategy to develop these products.
Our collaborators or strategic partners may adopt alternative technologies, which could decrease the marketability of ZFP technology. Additionally, because many of our collaborators or strategic partners are likely to be working on more than one development project, they could choose to shift their resources to projects other than those they are working on with us. If they do so, this would delay our ability to test our technology and would delay or terminate the development of potential products based on our ZFP technology. Further, our collaborators and strategic partners may elect not to develop products arising out of our collaborative and strategic partnering arrangements or to devote sufficient resources to the development, manufacturing, marketing or sale of these products. In September 2015, we amended our agreement with Shire pursuant to which Shire will no longer continue the clinical development of our ZFP Therapeutics for hemophilia A and B. As a result, we intend to develop these programs either ourselves or seek the support of other partners or collaborators. We may not have sufficient resources and expertise to develop these programs by ourselves, and we may not be able to identify a suitable partner or negotiate a favorable collaboration agreement to allow us to continue the development of these programs. If any of these events occur, we may not be able to develop our technologies or commercialize our products.
If we do not successfully commercialize ZFP-based research reagents, ZFP-modified cell lines for commercial protein production, or ZFP-engineered transgenic animals under our license agreement with Sigma-Aldrich Corporation or ZFP-based agricultural products with Dow AgroSciences, or if Sigma-Aldrich Corporation or Dow AgroSciences terminates our agreements, our ability to generate revenue under these license agreements may be limited.
In July 2007 we entered into a license agreement with Sigma to collaborate in the application and development of ZFP-based products for use in the laboratory research reagents markets. The agreement provides Sigma with access to our ZFP technology and the exclusive right to use our ZFP technology to develop and commercialize products for use as research reagents and to offer services in related research fields. Under the agreement, Sigma has exclusive rights to develop and distribute ZFP-modified cell lines for commercial production of protein pharmaceuticals and, certain ZFP-engineered transgenic animals for commercial applications. In addition, under our license agreement with DAS relating to plant agriculture, DAS has the exclusive right to develop agricultural products using our ZFP technology in plant cells, plants or plant cell cultures. Both Sigma and DAS have the right to sublicense our technology in their respective areas. In addition to upfront payments, we may also receive additional license fees, shared sublicensing
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revenues, royalty payments and milestone payments depending on the success of the development and commercialization of the licensed pro
ducts and services covered under both agreements. The commercial milestones and royalties are typically based upon net sales of licensed products.
We cannot be certain that we or our collaboration partners will succeed in the development of commercially viable products in these fields of use, and there is no guarantee that we or our collaboration partners will achieve the milestones set forth in the respective license agreements. To the extent we or our collaboration partners do not succeed in developing and commercializing products or if we or our collaboration partners fail to achieve such milestones, our revenues and benefits under the license agreements will be limited. In addition, the respective license agreements may be terminated by Sigma and DAS at any time by providing us with a 90-day notice. In the event Sigma or DAS decides to terminate the license agreements, our ability to generate revenue under such license agreements will cease.
Our collaborations with outside scientists may be subject to change, which could limit our access to their expertise.
We work with scientific advisors and collaborators at academic research institutions. These scientists are not our employees and may have other commitments that would limit their availability to us. Although our scientific advisors generally agree not to do competing work, if a conflict of interest between their work for us and their work for another entity arises, we may lose their services. Although our scientific advisors and academic collaborators sign agreements not to disclose our confidential information, it is possible that some of our valuable proprietary knowledge may become publicly known through them, which may cause competitive harm to our business.
Risks Relating to our Intellectual Property and Business Operation
Because it is difficult and costly to protect our proprietary rights, and third parties may have filed patent applications that are similar to ours, we cannot guarantee the proprietary protection of our technologies and products.
Our commercial success will depend in part on obtaining patent protection of our technology and successfully defending any of our patents that may be challenged. The patent positions of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies can be highly uncertain and can involve complex legal and factual questions. No consistent policy regarding the breadth of claims allowed in biotechnology patents has emerged to date. Accordingly, we cannot predict the breadth of claims allowed in patents we own or license that a third party may receive.
We are a party to various license agreements that give us rights under specified patents and patent applications. Our current licenses, as our future licenses frequently will, contain performance obligations. If we fail to meet those obligations, the licenses could be terminated. If we are unable to continue to license these technologies on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, we may be forced to delay or terminate aspects of our product development and research activities.
With respect to our present and any future sublicenses, since our rights derive from those granted to our sublicensor, we are subject to the risk that our sublicensor may fail to perform its obligations under the master license or fail to inform us of useful improvements in, or additions to, the underlying intellectual property owned by the original licensor.
We are unable to exercise the same degree of control over intellectual property that we license from third parties as we exercise over our internally developed intellectual property. We do not control the prosecution of certain of the patent applications that we license from third parties; therefore, the patent applications may not be prosecuted as we desire or in a timely manner.
The degree of future protection for our proprietary rights is uncertain, and we cannot ensure that:
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we or our licensors were the first to make the inventions covered by each of our pending patent applications;
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we or our licensors were the first to file patent applications for these inventions;
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the patents of others will not have an adverse effect on our ability to do business;
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others will not independently develop similar or alternative technologies or reverse engineer any of our products, processes or technologies;
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any of our pending patent applications will result in issued patents;
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any patents issued or licensed to us or our collaborators or strategic partners will provide a basis for commercially viable products or will provide us with any competitive advantages;
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any patents issued or licensed to us will not be challenged and invalidated by third parties; or
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we will develop additional products, processes or technologies that are patentable.
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Others have filed and in the future are likely to file patent applications that are similar to ours. We are aware that there are academic groups and other companies that are attempting to develop technology that is based on the use of zinc finger, TALE, CRISPR/Cas and other DNA-binding proteins, and that these groups and companies have filed patent applications. Several patents have been issued, although we have no current plans to use the associated inventions. If these or other patents issue, it is possible that the holder of any patent or patents granted on these applications may bring an infringement action against our collaborators, strategic partners, or us claiming damages and seeking to enjoin commercial activities relating to the affected products and processes. The costs of litigating the claim could be substantial. Moreover, we cannot predict whether we, our collaborators, or strategic partners would prevail in any actions. In addition, if the relevant patent claims were upheld as valid and enforceable and our products or processes were found to infringe the patent or patents, we could be prevented from making, using, or selling the relevant product or process unless we could obtain a license or were able to design around the patent claims. We can give no assurance that such a license would be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, or that we would be able to successfully design around the relevant patent claims. There may be significant litigation in the genomics industry regarding patent and other intellectual property rights, which could subject us to litigation. If we become involved in litigation, it could consume a substantial portion of our managerial and financial resources.
We rely on trade secrets to protect technology where we believe patent protection is not appropriate or obtainable. Trade secrets, however, are difficult to protect. While we require employees, academic collaborators and consultants to enter into confidentiality agreements, we may not be able to adequately protect our trade secrets or other proprietary information or enforce these confidentiality agreements.
Our collaborators, strategic partners, and scientific advisors have rights to publish data and information in which we may have rights. If we cannot maintain the confidentiality of our technology and other confidential information in connection with our collaborations and strategic partnerships, then we may not be able to receive patent protection or protect our proprietary information.
If we use biological and hazardous materials in a manner that causes injury or violates laws, we may be liable for damages.
Our research and development activities involve the controlled use of potentially harmful biological materials as well as hazardous materials, chemicals, and various radioactive compounds typically employed in molecular and cellular biology. We routinely use cells in culture and gene delivery vectors, and we employ small amounts of radioisotopes in trace experiments. Although we maintain up-to-date licensing and training programs, we cannot completely eliminate the risk of accidental contamination or injury from the use, storage, handling, or disposal of these materials. In the event of contamination or injury, we could be held liable for damages that result, and any liability could exceed our resources. We currently carry insurance covering certain claims arising from our use of these materials. However, if we are unable to maintain our insurance coverage at a reasonable cost and with adequate coverage, our insurance may not cover any liability that may arise. We are subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations governing the use, storage, handling, and disposal of these materials and specified waste products. To date, we have not experienced significant costs in complying with regulations regarding the use of these materials.
Failure to attract, retain, and motivate skilled personnel and cultivate key academic collaborations will delay our product development programs and our research and development efforts.
Our success depends on our continued ability to attract, retain, and motivate highly qualified management and scientific personnel and our ability to develop and maintain important relationships with leading research and academic institutions and scientists. Competition for skilled and qualified personnel and academic and other research collaborations is intense. If we lose the services of personnel with the necessary skills, including the members of our senior management team, it could significantly impede the achievement of our research and development objectives. If we fail to negotiate additional acceptable collaborations with academic and other research institutions and scientists, or if our existing collaborations are unsuccessful, our ZFP Therapeutic and gene therapy development programs may be delayed or may not succeed.
Risks Relating to our Common Stock and Corporate Organization
Our stock price has been volatile and may continue to be volatile, which could result in substantial losses for investors.
During the three months ended September 30, 2016, the closing price of our common stock, as reported by the NASDAQ Global Select Market, ranged from a low of $4.13 to high of $6.84. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, our common stock price fluctuated, ranging from a low of $5.56 to a high of $18.54. Volatility in our common stock could cause stockholders to incur substantial losses. An active public market for our common stock may not be sustained, and the market price of our common
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stock may c
ontinue to be highly volatile. The market price of our common stock has fluctuated significantly in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control, including but not limited to the following:
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announcements by us or collaborators providing updates on the progress or development status of ZFP Therapeutics and our gene therapy products;
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data from clinical trials;
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initiation or termination of clinical trials;
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changes in market valuations of similar companies;
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overall market and economic conditions, including the equity markets for emerging biotechnology companies;
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deviations in our results of operations from the guidance given by us;
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announcements by us or our competitors of new or enhanced products, technologies or services or significant contracts, acquisitions, strategic relationships, joint ventures or capital commitments;
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announcement of changes in business and operations by our collaborators and partners, or changes in our existing collaboration agreements;
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regulatory developments;
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changes, by one or more of Sangamo’s security analysts, in recommendations, ratings or coverage of our stock.
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additions or departures of key personnel;
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future sales of our common stock or other securities by us, management or directors, liquidation of institutional funds that comprised large holdings of our stock; and
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decreases in our cash balances;
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Our stock price is also influenced by public perception of gene therapy and government regulation of potential products.
Reports of serious adverse events in a retroviral gene transfer trial for infants with X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (X-linked SCID) in France and subsequent FDA actions putting related trials on hold in the United States had a significant negative impact on the public perception and stock price of certain companies involved in gene therapy. Stock prices of these companies declined whether or not the specific company was involved with retroviral gene transfer for the treatment of infants with X-linked SCID, or whether the specific company’s clinical trials were placed on hold in connection with these events. Other potential adverse events in the field of gene therapy may occur in the future that could result in greater governmental regulation of our potential products and potential regulatory delays relating to the testing or approval of our potential products. These external events may have a negative impact on public perception of our business, which could cause our stock price to decline.
Anti-takeover provisions in our certificate of incorporation and Delaware law could make an acquisition of the Company more difficult and could prevent attempts by our stockholders to remove or replace current management.
Anti-takeover provisions of Delaware law and in our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws may discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company, even if a change in control would be beneficial to our stockholders. In addition, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors. In particular, under our certificate of incorporation our board of directors may issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock with rights and privileges that might be senior to our common stock, without the consent of the holders of the common stock. Moreover, without any further vote or action on the part of the stockholders, the board of directors would have the authority to determine the price, rights, preferences, privileges, and restrictions of the preferred stock. This preferred stock, if it is ever issued, may have preference over, and harm the rights of, the holders of common stock. Although the issuance of this preferred stock would provide us with flexibility in connection with possible acquisitions and other corporate purposes, this issuance may make it more difficult for a third party to acquire a majority of our outstanding voting stock.
Similarly, our authorized but unissued common stock is available for future issuance without stockholder approval.
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In addition, our bylaws:
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state that stockholders may not act by written consent but only at a stockholders’ meeting;
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establish advance notice requirements for nominations for election to the board of directors or proposing matters that can be acted upon at stockholders’ meetings; and
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prohibit stockholders from calling a special meeting of stockholders.
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We are also subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which provides, subject to certain exceptions, that if a person acquires 15% of our voting stock, the person is an “interested stockholder” and may not engage in “business combinations” with us for a period of three years from the time the person acquired 15% or more or our voting stock. The application of Section 203 may, in some circumstances, deter or prevent a change in control of our company even when such change may be beneficial to our stockholders.
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