Item 1. Business.
Our Company
Annovis Bio, Inc. is a clinical stage,
drug platform company addressing neurodegeneration, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD)
and Alzheimer’s disease in Down syndrome (AD-DS). We have an ongoing Phase 2a proof-of-concept study in AD
patients and have planned to commence a second Phase 2a study in PD patients. We are developing our lead compound,
ANVS401, for chronic neurodegenerative diseases, such as AD, PD and AD-DS. In several studies, ANVS401 inhibited the
synthesis of neurotoxic proteins—APP/Aβ (APP), tau/phospho-tau (tau) and α-Synuclein (αSYN)—that
are the main cause of neurodegeneration. High levels of neurotoxic proteins lead to impaired axonal transport, which is
responsible for the communication between and within nerve cells. When that communication is impaired, the immune system is
activated and attacks the nerve cells, eventually killing them. We have shown in four
mildly cognitive impaired (MCI) patients that our lead compound, ANVS401, lowered the levels of neurotoxic proteins and
inflammatory factors. In preclinical studies, lower neurotoxic protein levels led to improved axonal transport, reduced
inflammation, lower nerve cell death and improved function.
The industry has encountered challenges
in targeting specifically one or the other neurotoxic protein, be it APP, tau or αSYN, indicating that targeting one neurotoxic
protein alone does not change the course of neurodegeneration. Our goal is to develop a disease modifying drug (DMD) for patients
with neurodegeneration by leveraging our clinical and animal evidence in inhibiting at least the three most relevant neurotoxic
proteins.
We believe that we are the only company
developing a clinical stage proof-of-concept drug for AD, PD and AD-DS that inhibits more than one neurotoxic protein and has a
mechanism of action designed to restore nerve cell axonal and synaptic activity. By improving axonal transport in the brain, we
expect to treat memory loss and dementia associated with AD and AD-DS as well as body and brain function in PD.
We believe that ANVS401 has the potential
to be the first drug to interfere with the underlying mechanism of neurodegeneration. ANVS401 is a small, once a day, orally administered,
brain penetrant inhibitor of neurotoxic proteins. The biological activity of ANVS401 has been evaluated in 19 animal studies conducted
in leading institutions such as the Karolinska Institute, Columbia University and Harvard University. 16 of the studies are published
and three are presently manuscripts in preparation. We also conducted three clinical trials with 125 humans including two safety
studies in 120 healthy volunteers and a proof-of-concept study in four MCI patients with Parexel, an international clinical research
organization. In these studies, we showed that ANVS401 was well tolerated and we saw promising clinical signals: in all four patients,
ANVS401 reduced the levels of APP, tau and αSYN (αSYN is an unpublished, not statistically significant observation)
and lowered inflammatory factors.
We are presently conducting a Phase 2a
study in AD patients in collaboration with the Alzheimer Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS) and plan to initiate a second Phase 2a
proof-of-concept study of ANVS401 in the first quarter of 2020 with 50 PD patients. The AD study being conducted by ADCS is expected
to enroll a total of 24 persons at three dose levels plus placebo in a double-blind, placebo-controlled fashion. To date, the study
has enrolled and treated 12 early to moderate AD patients. Under an agreement with UC San Diego, where ADCS is located, we have
contracted to provide study supplies at our cost. The agreement also contains standard indemnification and confidentiality provisions
and may be terminated by either party upon 30 days’ written notice. We have designed the two Phase 2a studies with
Parexel by applying our understanding of the underlying disease states in neurodegeneration and by measuring not just target, but
also pathway validation in the spinal fluid of these patients. This means that we are proposing to measure as many factors as possible
associated with the toxic cascade precipitated by impaired axonal transport. If we are able to show both target and pathway validation
in two patient populations, we believe that our opportunity for successful Phase 3 studies is better than if we merely demonstrated
target validation in one patient population.
We believe that AD and PD are two of the
largest medical needs of the aging U.S. population, and two potentially large markets, once a DMD has been developed and approved.
Therefore, we desire to demonstrate ANVS401’s efficacy in both indications. However, since AD studies are very large and
time and capital consuming, we plan to focus on an orphan population that is substantially similar to AD, but in a very controlled
and limited setting. We intend to focus on AD in the DS population, because in DS the APP gene is triplicated, leading to early
onset AD with similar pathology as sporadic AD. In our animal studies in DS mice, lowering their high levels of APP improved axonal
transport in the brain and increased memory and learning as described on page 89. In accordance with this animal data, we
expect that lowering levels of APP, tau and αSYN in DS human patients will lead to an improvement in their memory, cognition
and dementia. Conducting the study in AD-DS patients instead of AD patients will allow us to obtain human data for AD in an orphan
subpopulation much faster than in the regular AD population. Concomitantly, our goal is to also conduct a Phase 3 pivotal
study in early PD patients. By the end of 2024, we expect to have conducted two pivotal studies for ANVS401, one in AD-DS and one
in PD, and to have filed one or two new drug applications (NDA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Innovation
Pipeline
Our pipeline consists of: ANVS401 for chronic
neurodegeneration - including AD, its orphan indication AD-DS and PD; ANVS405 to treat acute neurodegeneration – including
traumatic brain injury (TBI) and stroke; and ANVS301 for advanced AD.
ANVS401
Our lead compound, ANVS401, is an orally
administered drug being developed for chronic indications such as AD, PD and AD-DS because in preclinical studies it improved axonal
transport in these diseases by inhibiting the overproduction of neurotoxic proteins that kill nerve cells. The compound was tested
in three Phase 1 clinical studies that showed it to be well tolerated. This safety data is applicable to the clinical development
of ANVS401 for AD, PD, AD-DS and other chronic neurodegenerative disorders.
ANVS405
For acute indications, we are developing
ANVS405, focused on protecting the brain after TBI and/or stroke. ANVS405 is the same compound as ANVS401 but it is given intravenously
in cases of acute head and brain trauma. ANVS405 was given to rats as an injectable after TBI to ensure that it would reach the
brain in less than 15 minutes rather than 1.5 hours. TBI rats that were treated with ANVS405 after the insult exhibited enhanced
memory and learning and lower microglia activation, a measure of inflammation. To date the program has been funded by a grant from
the US Army and we plan to seek additional grant funding to further the development of ANVS405 for acute indications of brain and
nerve trauma. We plan to conduct a follow-on study to evaluate the effect of ANVS405 administered to TBI rats at various intervals
post-injury to determine how long after a TBI we can effectively treat a patient. We would then seek further funding to conduct
the toxicology and pharmacokinetics (PK) studies in animals, file the initial new drug application (IND), conduct the safety
and PK studies in humans and continue with Phase 2 and Phase 3 efficacy studies.
ANVS301
We are developing our compound ANVS301 to
increase cognitive capability in later stages of AD and dementia. ANVS301 improved memory and learning in very old rats by lowering
the number of errors from six to three and shortening run times from approximately 75 to approximately 28 seconds. ANVS301 is in
a Phase 1 clinical trial that is being conducted and financed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The single ascending
dose study is nearly complete and we, in collaboration with the NIH, are preparing to move into the multiple ascending dose study.
When the single and multiple ascending dose safety studies are complete, we will review the data and decide whether to pursue the
indication of advanced AD.
Clinical Human Data
Three clinical studies have been conducted
with ANVS401. Clinical studies with single and repeated daily oral administration of ANVS401 tartrate showed ANVS401 to be well
tolerated up to doses of 80 mg once a day or 60 mg four times a day. A single dose of 160 mg was associated with an increased incidence
of nausea and vomiting so higher doses were not tested. ANVS401 is not an AChE inhibitor, but its N1 dimethyl metabolite
(10-20%) has some AChE inhibitor activity and may be responsible for these observations. The only consistent adverse events (AEs)
seen were dizziness/fainting and headaches. These effects were seen to varying degrees at all doses of ANVS401 and in the placebo
group. There were no serious AEs in any of the clinical studies.
The key findings from the three clinical
studies are highlighted below.
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Single ascending dose (SAD) in 72 healthy volunteers including placebo
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Drug determined to be well-tolerated, with no AEs at 80 mg with a maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of 160 mg
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Dose limiting toxicity was nausea
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Multiple ascending doses (MAD) in 48 healthy volunteers including placebo
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Drug determined to be well-tolerated with no AEs and no symptoms indicative of inhibition of either acetyl- or butyryl cholinesterase
at doses up to 240 mg/day (60 mg four times a day)
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Proof of Concept (POC) in four MCI patients
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Concentrations of ANVS401 in the brain, extrapolated from blood and CSF, were eight times higher than in plasma
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ANVS401 lowered CSF levels of neurotoxic proteins and inflammatory markers. See pages 94 and 95.
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In the four MCI patients, ANVS401 had a
half-life of five hours in plasma and more than 12 hours in CSF. The longer concentration and persistence of ANVS401 in the
brain suggest that much lower doses of drug administered once daily could achieve the desired pharmacodynamic effect. Tmax
was 1.3–1.6 hours post dose, independent of dose and comparable for both sexes in plasma and CSF. ANVS401 is stable,
orally available and enters the brain, therefore we are developing it as an oral drug candidate.
Summary of Safety in Humans
ANVS401’s pattern of AEs was similar
to that seen in typical studies in healthy volunteers, with an overall incidence of 33.3% among placebo-treated subjects and 35%
for all ANVS401 treatment groups combined. In the single ascending dose study, the group given the highest dose of 160 mg/day showed
31.7% AEs that were treatment-related. In the multiple ascending dose and in the POC study there was no dose response to the adverse
events. Most AEs were of short duration, mild or moderate in severity, resolved without medical intervention, and occurred in one
or a few subjects. Only two subjects experienced severe AEs, including symptoms associated with orthostatic hypotension (one placebo
and one ANVS401 20-mg subject).
Adverse events seen in the first human SAD study conducted
with ANVS401
Adverse events seen in the second and third human MAD and
POC studies conducted with ANVS401
POC in Humans
In the human POC study, four patients with
MCI were treated for 10 days with ANVS401 with a dose of 60 mg four times a day (240 mg/day), which we knew from our MAD study
to be a well-tolerated level. CSF and plasma were drawn over 12 hours on Day 0 before any administration of ANVS401 and on
Day 11 after the last administration of ANVS401. During each 12-hour period, a total of nine CSF samples were taken and levels
of ANVS401 and metabolites were measured in plasma and CSF at all time points.
ANVS401 pharmacokinetics (PK) in plasma
corresponded to what we had seen in the previous clinical safety studies: a half-life of five hours. In CSF, however, ANVS401 showed
a much longer half-life of over 12 hours. We conducted an identical experiment in rats, where it is possible to measure the
PK of ANVS401 in plasma, CSF and brain. By taking the human plasma/CSF and rat plasma/CSF/brain levels, we were able to extrapolate
to the human brain levels and calculate them to be eight times higher than plasma levels. This is consistent with the data we have
in mice, where in several studies, ANVS401 levels were found to be approximately six to eight times higher in brain than in plasma.
ANVS401’s extended presence in the
brain is matched by an extended effect, reducing levels of APP, tau and αSYN for the whole period tested (12 hours).
The extended effect of ANVS401 in the four human patients was consistent with the preclinical data in rodent brains.
The persistence of ANVS401 in the CSF and
brain and the extended pharmacodynamic effect observed make ANVS401 a good candidate for once a day dosing. Extrapolated brain
levels of ANVS401 at 60 mg four times a day were far in excess of levels we believe are required to down-regulate APP and αSYN.
The doses of ANVS401 needed to lower the levels of neurotoxic proteins are similar for the toxic proteins, suggesting similar dosing
in AD, PD and AD-DS. We further compared ANVS401 brain levels of mice that showed improved memory, learning and colonic motility
and calculated that the optimum brain levels measured were between 150 and 500 nM. Using three different extrapolation/comparison
calculations we calculated that a daily dose of 5mg to 60 mg should achieve potentially desired brain levels in humans.
ANVS401 pharmacodynamics was performed on
the same 18 CSF samples taken from each person as above. Since we had data for four patients with 18 time points each, it was possible
to conduct statistical analysis of the data using a repeated measure mixed model analysis of variance. The p-value represents the
probability that the difference between compared groups is due to chance rather than drug effect, and when that probability is
less than 5%, or p<0.05, the result is considered statistically significant. FDA evidentiary standards for drug approval require
that the trial design must permit a valid comparison with a control group to permit a quantitative assessment of the effect of
the drug, which may include demonstration of statistical significance.
CSF
Biomarkers Decrease After 10 Days of Oral ANVS401 in Four MCI Patients
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LAB 1
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LAB 2
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Human Biomarker
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CSF % of
Baseline
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p-Value
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CSF % of
Baseline
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p-Value
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sAPP α
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-59.9
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%
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0.0006
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-34.1
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%
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0.0661
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sAPP β
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-57.7
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%
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0.0001
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-34.0
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%
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0.0901
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Aβ42
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-51.4
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%
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0.0533
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-45.2
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%
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0.0995
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Tau
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-46.2
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%
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0.0020
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-74.1
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%
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0.0150
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p-Tau
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-61.0
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%
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0.0005
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αSYN
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-41.2
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%
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0.0910
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*
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*
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Represents unpublished results.
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MCI patients showed high levels of sAPP,
tau and αSYN in their CSF. They were treated for 10 days with ANVS401 and their CSF was analyzed for neurotoxic proteins.
In all four patients, the levels of neurotoxic proteins decreased. The percentages shown in the table were calculated using all
nine time points after treatment compared to all nine time points prior to treatment. Due to the variability in the CSF measurements
of sAPPα, sAPPβ, Aβ42 and tau, we had all samples analyzed by two different laboratories using different methodologies.
The same CSF samples were also analyzed
for inflammatory factors and microglia activation factors as well as a control factor. All patients reacted by lowering their levels
of inflammatory markers and not lowering the level of the control protein.
The statistical analysis again was performed
with a repeated measure mixed model analysis of variance. Three inflammatory markers were lowered to a statistically significant
level: Complement C3, MCP-1 and YKL-40. The fourth inflammatory marker, sCD14, showed a downward trend. We also measured Factor
FH, a complement regulatory protein involved in blood clotting, which served as our control factor. As we had expected, Factor
FH was not downregulated by ANVS401.
CSF
Inflammatory Markers after 10 days of oral ANVS401 in Four mci patients
Human Inflammatory Protein
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CSF % of
Baseline
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p-Value
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Complement C3
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-86.9
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%
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0.0007
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MCP-1
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-87.5
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%
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0.0007
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YKL40
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-72.7
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%
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0.0113
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sCD14
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-26.1
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%
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0.1159
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Factor FH
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23.7
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%
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0.4988
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MCI patients also showed high levels
of inflammatory factors and microglia activation factors in their CSF. ANVS401 statistically significantly lowered the levels of
three inflammatory markers in all four patients.
Comparison with Healthy
Volunteers
We then compared the levels found in four
healthy volunteers with the levels seen in the four MCI patients before and after 10 days of ANVS401 administration. The heathy
volunteers did not go through the entire study as did the MCI patients. They gave one CSF sample taken by lumbar puncture in the
morning and that sample was only used to measure sAPPα, sAPPβ and tau.
In order to make the comparison as accurate
as possible, we used a single measurement from the same time point in each of the mornings of Day 0 and Day 11 for each MCI patient
because this was similar to the timing for the healthy volunteers. In this very limited comparison, we were able to show that all
four patients experienced a decrease in sAPPα, sAPPβ and tau. These reductions brought the average levels of sAPPα,
sAPPβ and tau in the treated MCI patients close to the average levels we measured in healthy volunteers.
The tables above show the CSF levels
of sAPPα, sAPPβ and tau in the four MCI patients and the four healthy volunteers. The percentages in the bar diagrams
are derived from each of the tables, with red representing average of MCI patients at Day 0 before ANVS401 treatment; green representing
average of MCI patients at day 11 after 10 days of ANVS401 treatment; and blue representing average of untreated healthy volunteers.
The average of MCI patients at Day 0 was considered the base at 100%. We then calculated the averages of MCI patients at Day 11
and the healthy volunteers as a percentage of the base.
Preclinical Animal Studies
By inhibiting the overexpression of neurotoxic
proteins, ANVS401 improved or prevented the symptoms associated with chronic as well as acute neurodegeneration in several animal
models. The data most relevant to the present application are shown.
APP/PS1 tg Mouse Model of AD
ANVS401 improved spatial-working memory
as shown in a 2-day radial arm water maze test in this mouse AD model at a 25 mg/kg oral dose (p=0.0033, figure below-top)
and showed a dose response at 10 mg/kg oral dose. In the same study ANVS401 improved synaptic function and long-term potentiation
in hippocampal slices at both doses in a dose-dependent fashion (figure below-bottom). ANVS401 treatment did not affect wild-type
(WT) mice.
APP/PS1 AD tg mice were treated for one month
with ANVS401, before the behavioral evaluation. 2-day radial arm water maze test results are shown on the top, and electrophysiology
(extracellularly recorded field excitatory postsynaptic potentials – fEPSP) between Shaffer collateral and pyramidal
neurons from CA1 stratum radiatum is shown on the bottom.
Trisomic Mouse Model of AD-DS
DS trisomic mice display several abnormal
behaviors reminiscent of AD, including memory loss. They have elevated levels of APP that has been shown in mice to contribute
to deficient memory and learning, cognitive impairment as well as dementia. DS trisomic mice are used as a model for AD, because
they exhibit similar deficits as seen in AD. Thus, we considered whether ANVS401 could re-establish healthy behavior in these mice
like that seen in wild-type mice. We measured the rate of spontaneous alternations in a Y-maze and found that the alternation rate
is significantly lower in DS trisomic mice versus wild-type mice reflecting impaired working memory. While ANVS401 treatment increased
alternation rate in DS trisomic mice it had no obvious effects in wild-type mice. We also found an effect on the exploratory activity
reflected by the number of arm entries, again reflecting impaired working memory. All DS trisomic mice treated with ANVS401 displayed
improved working memory to a variable extent.
DS trisomic mice were tested for correct
alternations into a Y-maze and they made 38% less alternations (p=0.005), left above. At the same time, they made 63% more entries
into the maze (p=0.01), left, than wild-type mice. ANVS401 treatment improved working memory deficit in DS trisomic mice. Mobley
Laboratory, UCSD, manuscript in preparation.
SNCAA53T and SNCAA30P Mouse Models
of PD
We used these PD tg mice as models of early
gastrointestinal dysfunction, which is common in PD patients and precedes the onset of motor symptoms by many years to decades.
Untreated PD tg mice resemble pre-Parkinson’s patients, showing symptoms of constipation by three months of age. Here we
assessed the colonic motility by measuring the time required to expel a glass bead inserted into the colon at four and seven months
of age. ANVS401 statistically significantly (p=0.034 at four months and p=0.0001 at seven months) decreased the bead expulsion
time between ANVS401 treated and placebo treated mice; thus, it improved the colonic motility of PD tg mice (figure below). Furthermore,
even after we stopped treatment for nine weeks, the constipation was still reduced (data not shown). ANVS401 does not act
as a laxative, since, when given to two different control mice breeds that do not develop constipation (Snca+/+
and Snca-/-), it does not affect their gut motility.
SNCAA53T and SNCAA30P
mice (producing human mutant αSYN associated with familial PD) were treated intraperitoneally with vehicle or ANVS401 beginning
at six weeks up to seven months of age. ANVS401 prevented the impaired gut motility of the SNCAA53T and SNCAA30P
mice at 3 and 10 mg/kg. Older mice demonstrate a more severe phenotype that nonetheless responded to ANVS401.
TBI in Rats
TBI causes severe cognitive and neurological
impairment, which can incapacitate the patient, reduce quality of life, and increase the risk of morbidity and mortality. TBI is
known to increase the risk for neurodegenerative disorders such as AD and PD. Several studies have analyzed changes in the brain
after TBI and identified up-regulation of neurotoxic proteins, such as APP, tau, and αSYN.
Annovis received a $1.5 million grant
from the US Army to study the effect of ANVS405 in blunting the damage caused by TBI in rats. Our partnering PI, Dr. Marie-Francoise
Chesselet and her collaborator, Dr. David Hovda at UCLA have used different rat models to study the behavioral, biochemical,
and neuropathological consequences of TBI as well as to identify potential drug treatments.
In our study (manuscript in preparation),
rats were subjected to either fluid percussion injury (FPI) or sham operation to one side of the brain. Three different ANVS405
doses or saline were given intraperitoneally to rats subjected to FPI for four weeks, with the first dose administered one
hour post-injury. At the termination of the treatment, all the rats were first tested for their performance in the water maze,
and then they were sacrificed for brain staining of living cells and determination of microglia activation. As shown, 10 mg/kg
ANVS405 improved memory and learning as measured by water maze performance (figure below-left). Furthermore, sections of the brain
were stained with tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), wherein TH stains only live cells. The amounts of TH immunoreactivity in the whole
striatum of the brain slices were measured. The rats treated with all three doses of ANVS405 showed higher TH staining in the ipsilateral
area of the brain than the vehicle treated animals (figure below-right). Thus, ANVS405 protects the striatum following FPI in rats.
Effects of ANVS405 treatment on rats
subjected to FPI. Left: performance in a water maze-FPI-Vehicle* vs. FPI-10mg/kg ANVS405#; *p=0.035 by one-way ANOVA, Bonferroni
comparison. Right: TH immunoreactivity in the ipsilateral area of rats-FPI-Vehicle* vs. FPI-all ANVS405 doses#; #p<0.05 by one-way
ANOVA, Bonferroni comparison.
Because FPI can induce microglial activation,
we next checked whether ANVS405 would reverse this pathology. Microglial activation was assessed by quantitative measurement of
the diameter of IBA-1-positive cells (ionized calcium adaptor binding protein). Microglia with cell body diameters less than 5
µm had a resting morphology characterized by multiple ramified processes. Hyper-ramified microglia/partially activated microglia
had a mean cell body diameter of 5-6 μm. Fully activated amoeboid microglia had a mean cell body diameter of 7-14 μm. ANVS405
increases the number of resting microglia and reduces the number of activated microglia.
Effect of 10mg/kg ANVS405 on Microglial
Activation
Effect of treatment with 10mg/kg ANVS405
on microglial activation following FPI in rats.
Collectively, these data show ANVS401 and
ANVS405 reduced the toxic effects of neurotoxic proteins in vivo, in several animal models of both chronic and acute neurodegeneration.
Reproducible Results Across Species—Mouse, Rat,
Human
As mentioned, lowered levels of APP, tau
and αSYN have been shown in spinal fluid of humans treated with ANVS401 in the human POC study as well as in brains of mice
in AD tg mice, DS trisomic mice and PD tg mice and rats treated with ANVS405 in the TBI study.
Furthermore, reduced inflammation has been
shown in spinal fluid of four humans treated with ANVS401 in the human POC study and in brains of rats treated with ANVS405 in
the TBI study.
As discussed, ANVS401 and ANVS405 have a
mechanism of action we believe to be unique that allows them to inhibit the over-translation of and reduce the levels of APP, tau
and αSYN, which play a central role in the pathogenesis of both AD and PD. That, in combination with our supporting data
showing results in AD, PD and AD-DS mouse models, and lowering of the toxic effects of neurotoxic proteins, leads us to believe
that ANVS401 is a promising drug for the treatment of both AD and PD. Therefore, our approach is innovative in that we do not have
a single therapeutic target for a single disease; instead, we have one drug that targets the conserved IRE element of the mRNAs
of multiple neurotoxic proteins, applicable to multiple diseases.
Markets
With a potential market for neurodegenerative
diseases estimated at more than $100 billion annually, most pharma companies have a program studying some aspect of nerve
and brain degeneration. None of these approaches have resulted in a drug that improves cognition. Some newer approaches target
tau, whose expression is more closely associated with cognitive decline. Similarly, for PD, several companies are trying to inhibit
αSYN. So far neither drugs attacking tau nor αSYN have been tested in Phase 3. Hence there is an enormous need
for a different disease-modifying strategy. There is more than one neurotoxic protein in the brain of AD and of PD patients, and
the same neurotoxic proteins are involved in the pathogenesis of AD and PD. In fact, a significant portion of AD patients’
brains display mixed PD pathology and vice versa. Therefore, just attacking one of these proteins may result in no or lower efficacy
than attacking them all. We are unaware of any other person or entity that is working on inhibiting more than one neurotoxic protein
and tackling more than one neurodegenerative disorder at the same time. To prove that this approach is possible, we want to study
the effects of ANVS401 on the levels of several neurotoxic proteins and other surrogate markers, in parallel, in AD and PD patients.
Within 18 to 24 months we believe we will have two Phase 2a studies, one in AD and one in PD patients.
Alzheimer’s Disease Associated with Down Syndrome—AD-DS
Market
DS or trisomy 21 is one of the most common
causes of intellectual disability and recent national prevalence estimates suggest that 13.65 per 10,000 live births are infants
with DS leading to 5,429, on average, annual DS births in the United States. Worldwide the occurrence of DS is about four to five
times that.
DS life expectancy has increased dramatically;
for children with DS born in 2010, median life expectancy is estimated to be 65 years. However, along with this longer lifespan
comes the prospect of a considerable increase in the risk of developing dementia associated with AD, with a prevalence of nearly
80% for those with DS who are older than 65 years. In comparison, non-DS individuals have a risk of 40 to 50% by the time
they are 90 years old.
Just like in sporadic AD there is a prodromal
or asymptomatic phase in DS when AD pathology progressively accumulates (30-40 years) but clinical signs of dementia may be
delayed by up to a decade. This provides a therapeutic window or an opportunity for prevention that is unique to adults with Down
syndrome. AD-DS is an orphan indication with similar symptoms to sporadic AD, but in a much younger population with accelerated
disease progression.
In the US AD-DS is an orphan indication,
because about 50,000 DS people have AD and about 120,000 are at risk to develop AD in the next 5 to 10 years.
In parallel with the age-dependent increased
risk for developing dementia virtually all adults with DS over the age of 40 years have sufficient plaques and tangles for
a neuropathologically based diagnosis of AD, because trisomy 21 leads to the overexpression of APP. Between the ages of 30 and
40 years, neuropathology rapidly accumulates until it reaches levels sufficient for a diagnosis of AD by 40 years and
there is an acceleration phase to disease development.
Alzheimer’s Disease Market
AD is a neurodegenerative disorder with
cognitive, functional, and behavioral alterations. AD is age related, and its incidence is increasing with the aging of the population.
It is estimated that currently 44 million victims of AD dementia exist in the world and by 2050, more than 100 million
people worldwide will be living with AD. Nearly eightfold as many people have preclinical AD as have symptomatic AD and are
at risk for progressing to manifest disease. DMTs that will prevent or delay the onset or slow the progression of AD are urgently
needed. A modest one-year delay in onset by 2020 would result in there being 9.2 million fewer cases in 2050. Similarly, medications
to effectively improve cognition or ameliorate neuropsychiatric symptoms of patients in the symptomatic phases of AD are needed
to improve memory and behavior.
Increase in Incidence of AD with the
Aging of the Population
AD is becoming increasingly common as the
global population ages and as the health system in developing countries gets better. We urgently need to identify drugs that prevent,
delay the onset, slow the progression, or improve the symptoms of AD.
Parkinson’s Disease Market
PD is also a progressive neurodegenerative
disorder with movement and non-movement symptoms, functional, behavioral and cognitive alterations. PD, like AD, is age related
and is becoming markedly more common with the aging of the world’s population. PD affects about 1% of the population over
the age of 60, while in individuals over the age of 85, this prevalence reaches 5%, highlighting the impact that advancing age
has on the risk of developing this condition.
PD affects about 10 million people
worldwide of which over one million are in the US. There are 60,000 new cases of PD diagnosed each year in the US. The incidence
is expected to double by 2040.
The National Parkinson’s Foundation
estimates that the economic burden of PD is at least $25 billion a year in the United States.
To date, there are no available treatments
capable of curing PD, with current therapies seeking only to ameliorate dopamine-related motor symptoms of the disease. No treatments
to date address non-motor symptoms. There is a clear and unmet medical need for new DMTs that can slow or prevent PD progression.
Mixed Pathologies Market
In addition to the unmet need of AD and
PD patients, approximately 50% of patients exhibit mixed pathologies, with some pathologies resembling AD and some resembling PD.
These patients’ needs are not addressed at all by the drugs presently in development for AD or PD, because these drugs target
only one or the other neurotoxic protein.
Dementia is increasingly being recognized
in cases of PD; such cases are termed PD dementia (PDD). The spread of fibrillar αSYN pathology from the brainstem to limbic
and neocortical structures seems to be the strongest neuropathological correlate of emerging dementia in PD. Up to 50% of patients
with PDD develop sufficient numbers of Aβ plaques and tau-containing neurofibrillary tangles for a secondary diagnosis of
Alzheimer’s disease, and these pathologies may act synergistically with αSYN pathology to confer a worse prognosis.
Another study looking at the incidence of
mixed pathologies diagnosed community-dwelling older persons. Those with dementia most often have multiple brain pathologies, which
greatly increases the odds of dementia. Specifically, in people with dementia, over 50% had multiple diagnoses (AD, PD/Lewy body
dementia, PDD or infarcts). After accounting for age, persons with multiple diagnoses were almost three times more likely to exhibit
dementia compared to those with one pathologic diagnosis.
A therapy that only addresses Aβ, tau
or αSYN won’t help people with mixed pathologies. Since ANVS401 inhibits more than one neurotoxic protein, it is possible
that by halting the cascade of toxic proteins, it might stop or slow AD, PD and mixed pathology diseases at all stages of development.
Approaches and Competition
Alzheimer’s Disease in Orphan Indications
There are two orphan indications that represent
AD: one is AD-DS and the other is early onset familial AD (EOFAD).
To date very little work has been done in
these indications. Roche/Genentech/AC Immune are conducting one study in EOFAD in a Colombian extended family and AC Immune is
working on a vaccine for AD-DS.
Anti-Aβ Antibody Phase 3 Study in Colombian EOFAD
In 2012, Genentech, a Roche company, initiated
the first-ever study of cognitively healthy individuals who are likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease due to their genetic
history. The landmark trial is the first to assess the potential of an investigational medicine to stop Alzheimer’s before
it starts. The study involves a humanized monoclonal antibody made by AC Immune, which is designed to bind to Aβ, the main
constituent of amyloid plaques in the brains of patients with AD. Aβ is proposed to be causative in the development of the
disease.
The prevention trial may provide the most
effective test to date of the amyloid hypothesis. Two groups of patients, totaling as many as 324 people, are involved in the study.
They live in Colombia, which is home to nearly 5,000 people who share the risk for a rare genetic mutation. This mutation, presenilin
1, causes early-onset AD in any individual who is a carrier.
Participants in the trial are 30 or older
and within 15 years of the age when their parent’s symptoms began. Typically, mild cognitive impairment due to AD begins
in these Colombian families around 45. The study is ongoing and moving slower than expected, so we do not know, when the data is
due.
Anti Aβ Vaccine Phase 1b Study for AD-DS
AC Immune has completed recruitment for
the high-dose cohort of the ACI-24 Phase 1b study for the treatment of AD-like characteristics in adults with DS. The first
low-dose and the second high-dose cohorts have been fully recruited in August 2017 and in July 2018 respectively, and
the primary outcome is expected in 2020. In addition to cognitive dysfunction beginning in childhood, individuals with DS are genetically
predisposed to develop Aβ-related cognitive decline at a much younger age and with much greater probability than the general
population.
AC Immune is expected to start the Phase 2
study with ACI-24 in DS patients with mild AD. The aim of this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study with an adaptive
design is to assess the safety, tolerability, immunogenicity, target engagement, biomarkers and clinical efficacy of ACI-24. The
trial will seek to confirm the positive trends on Aβ PET imaging and clinical measurement (CDR-SB°) of the previous Phase 1
safety study. The Phase 2 trial will be conducted in several European countries.
Alzheimer’s Disease Approaches
Drug development for AD has proven to be
very difficult. Five drugs are approved for the treatment of AD including four cholinesterase inhibitors (tacrine, donepezil, rivastigmine,
galantamine) and an N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist (memantine). No new treatments have been approved for AD since 2003.
Many failures in AD drug development have occurred, with both small molecules and immunotherapies failing to show a drug/placebo
difference or having unacceptable toxicity.
Clinicaltrials.gov is a public website that
lists all clinical trials conducted or recruiting. Among the DMTs in the pipeline as shown on clinicaltrials.gov, most addressed
amyloid targets. Since Aβ accumulates for years before the symptoms of AD are visible, some pharmaceutical companies are testing
their drugs earlier, including cognitively normal people or those who have genetic profiles that place them at high risk for developing
AD.
An increasing number of agents are directed
at tau-related targets. Neurofibrillary tangles are one of two major pathological hallmarks of AD. Correlation studies conducted
by Braak and Braak, demonstrating that neurofibrillary tangle burden more closely correlates with cognitive decline than amyloid
plaque load. Tau remains an important but largely untested target for disease modification in AD. The first anti-tau programs were
directed at reducing tau aggregation. The preliminary results of these studies were largely disappointing, and agents directed
against tau aggregation are being re-evaluated.
In summary, at present there are no disease-modifying
agents on the market. The first large effort to develop a DMD for AD has targeted Aβ42, but all Aβ42 approaches to date
have failed. A few companies are moving to fighting tau and a lot of companies have pulled out of AD research and are waiting to
see what approach might have a better outcome. Since the AD brain contains several neurotoxic proteins—amyloid precursor
protein and its toxic fragments Aβ42 and IC99, a well as tau and αSYN—a DMD drug needs to target more than just
one toxic protein to be efficacious. We believe that ANVS401 is the only drug that satisfies this criterion.
A concerning observation derived from a
review of the AD pipeline is the lack of agents targeting the moderate to advanced stages of AD. With over 15 million people
affected by AD dementia worldwide, there is an urgent need to develop more effective symptomatic treatments for moderate to advanced
stage disease. The paucity of agents directed at this population represents a significant weakness of the AD drug development pipeline.
Parkinson’s Disease Approaches
Levodopa (L-DOPA) was introduced for use
in treating PD more than 40 years ago and remains the mainstay of therapy for improving the symptoms of the disease. Unlike
dopamine, which cannot cross the blood—brain barrier, L-DOPA is effectively absorbed into the brain, where it metabolizes
into dopamine. It is typically administered five times a day and works well in controlling symptoms for one to five years.
Unfortunately, the effects of L-DOPA in any patient diminish with time.
There are several other drugs available
to treat PD, which also seek to modulate dopamine levels. Commonly prescribed dopamine agonists that directly activate dopamine
receptors include agents such as Mirapex (pramipexole/BI) and Requip (ropinirole/GlaxoSmithKline).
Combination drug therapy is common in PD.
For instance, the use of other drug classes such as the catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitors and the monoamine oxidase (MAO)
inhibitors allow patients to reduce L-DOPA dosing levels. Several MAO inhibitors are approved for PD therapy, including Zelapar
(selegiline/Valeant) and Azilect (rasagiline; Teva/Lundbeck).
In 2012, the market for PD drugs was about
$2.3 billion worldwide, despite high-volume generics. The most important current therapy for PD, L-DOPA, is prescribed as
a generic. While volume growth in the category is expected to remain healthy, dollar growth will likely remain relatively flat
as some of the category’s larger brands (Requip, Mirapex) contend with generic inroads. The size of the current market reflects
the absence of innovative branded therapies more than it does the medical need.
Disease-Modifying Compounds Targeting αSYN for the
Treatment of PD in Clinical Trials
So far, all products are at early stages
of clinical development and no products have yet shown efficacy in PD patients. Although several drugs have shown potential neuroprotective
ability in preclinical studies, demonstrating these effects in clinical studies remains a challenge. Beyond drug therapies, a few
cell and gene therapy approaches are also being explored. Progress across these newer technology platforms has been slow. A notable
failure in the cell therapy area was spheramine (Bayer/Titan), a cell therapy in which human retinal cells were injected into the
brain to directly produce L-DOPA in the brain, which did not meet its primary and secondary endpoints in a Phase 2b study
concluded in 2008.
More recently, neuroprotective development
efforts have switched to gene therapies. Targets in the gene therapy area include: neurturin, which is a naturally occurring protein
that is known to repair damaged and dying dopaminergic neurons; glutamic acid decarboxylase, which alleviates abnormal brain activity
associated with the motor deficits that characterize PD; and aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase, tyrosine hydroxylase and GTP
cyclohydrolase 1, which naturally control dopamine levels in the brain by reprogramming transduced cells to manufacture and secrete
dopamine.
Progress on this front has also been frustrating.
Ceregene’s CERE-120, which was an adeno-associated virus vector carrying the gene neurturin, failed in a recently reported
Phase 2 trial. Ceregene was recently acquired by Sangamo, which terminated the program.
Intellectual Property
We strive to protect and enhance the proprietary
technologies, inventions and improvements that we believe are important to our business, including seeking, maintaining and defending
patent rights, whether developed internally or licensed from third parties. Our policy is to seek to protect our proprietary position
by, among other methods, pursuing and obtaining patent protection in the United States and in jurisdictions outside of the United
States related to our proprietary technology, inventions, improvements, platforms and our product candidates that are important
to the development and implementation of our business.
As of March 23, 2020, our portfolio
of owned and licensed patents totaled 35 issued or pending patents consisting of eight issued U.S. patents, three pending U.S.
patent applications, 14 issued foreign patents and 10 pending foreign applications. These include three classes of licensed patents
co-owned by Horizon and the PHS with claims directed to a composition of matter, a method of inhibiting production of amyloid precursor
protein and a method of treating Alzheimer’s disease and dementia via the administration of ANVS401; a process for producing
phenserine and analogs thereof, including ANVS401; and a method of treating Down syndrome via the administration of (-) phenserine
or (+) phenserine (ANVS401) and combinations thereof. The world-wide exclusive license we have with Horizon comprises the
patents co-owned by Horizon and the PHS; the patents have expiration dates between 2022 and 2026.
Annovis has filed an additional three families
of patent applications to prolong the patent life of ANVS401. The pending patent applications were invented and filed by Annovis
and include claims directed to:
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a method of treating neurodegenerative diseases such as AD and PD;
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a method of treating and/or preventing acute brain and nerve injuries; and
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a method of prevention and treatment of disease states due to metal dis-homeostasis such as AD or PD as well as other acute
or chronic neurodegenerative diseases.
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The patents have expiration dates between
2031 and 2038. In August 2019, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Patent No. US 10,383,851, the first
of our Annovis patents from this family covering PD and associated diseases.
The patent portfolio licensed from Horizon
relating to our product candidate ANVS401 includes three patent families and more specifically claims:
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The first of these patent families relates to a composition of matter for ANVS401 tartrate, a method of inhibiting production
of amyloid precursor protein and a method of treating AD and dementia via the administration of ANVS401 and 257 analogs. This patent
family includes granted patents in the United States, Europe, Australia and Canada. We expect patents in this family to expire
in 2022.
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The second of these patent families relates to a process for producing the two enantiomers (−) phenserine and (+) phenserine =
ANVS401 from physostigmine compounds by hydrolysis to form an eseroline compound which is then condensed with an isocyanate. This
patent family includes granted patents in the United States, Europe, Canada and South Korea. We expect patents in this family to
expire in 2022.
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The third of these patent families relates to a method of treating DS via the administration of phenserine, (+) phenserine
(ANVS401) and combinations thereof. This patent family includes two granted patents in the United States. We expect patents in
this family to expire in 2025 and 2026.
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The patent and patent application portfolio
invented and filed by Annovis relating to ANVS401 and ANVS405 includes three patent families and more specifically claims:
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The first of these patent families relates to a method of reducing the amount of a neurotoxic protein in a human(s) by
administering a pharmaceutical composition which includes ANVS401 or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof in an amount which
is surprisingly less than previously reported and administered on a once a day basis. This patent family includes patent applications
pending in the United States, Europe and Canada. If granted, we expect patents in this family to expire in 2032 in non-U.S. jurisdictions
and in 2031 in the United States. This patent family covers AD and PD as well as Huntington’s disease, prion diseases, amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis, tauopathies and frontotemporal dementia. In August 2019, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Patent
No. US 10,383,851, the first of our Annovis patents from this family covering PD and associated diseases. We are filing
one or more continuation applications in order to capture further patentable subject matter in this application. While the issuance
of our new patent gives us some comfort that the patent life of ANVS401 may be prolonged to 2031, the fact that only a portion
of the application family claims has so far been allowed could result in very limited patent coverage and the constraint of our
development efforts to PD alone. It is further possible that we will fail to identify further patentable aspects of our research
and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection.
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The second of these patent families relates to a method of treating or preventing acute brain or nerve injury in humans in
need of such treatment, via the administration of an effective amount of ANVS405. The acute brain or nerve injury may be traumatic
brain injury, stroke, microinfarcts, post-operative cognitive decline resulting from anesthesia or surgery-induced inflammation,
or acute brain injury induced by brain ischemia, insufficient oxygen supply to the brain, anoxia or hypoxia, concussion, drowning,
whip lash, bicycle crashes, automobile accidents, shaken baby syndrome, falling, physical impact of the head, or acute angle-closure
glaucoma. This patent family includes patent applications pending in the United States, Australia, Canada, China, Europe, Hong
Kong and Japan. If granted, we expect patents in this family to expire in 2036.
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The third of these patent families relates to a method of restoring heavy metal homeostasis to a healthy human or restoring
heavy metal homeostasis in a sick human patient, comprising chronically administering ANVS401 in a therapeutically effective amount
to maintain heavy metal homeostasis in the healthy human patient or restore heavy metal homeostasis in the sick human patient.
The sick human patient may be, e.g., suffering from a neurodegenerative disease, such as AD or PD, or a cancerous disease
or condition, a cardiovascular disease, or a disease of a vital organ. This patent family further relates to the surprising fact
that ANVS401 may prevent, control, delay or slow the onset of such diseases by maintaining heavy metal homeostasis. Further, Annovis
has now recognized that while heavy metal dis-homeostasis is responsible for neurodegenerative disorders, such as AD, in other
conditions cells of the human patient can be stressed (e.g., have high heavy metal concentrations such as iron) and react
with cardiovascular diseases or conditions of vital organ failure. These diseases may be prevented, controlled, delayed or slowed
by the chronic administration of effective amounts of ANVS401 to maintain heavy metal homeostasis. This patent family includes
patent applications pending in the United States, Australia, Canada, China, Europe, Hong Kong, and Japan. If granted, we expect
patents in this family to expire in 2038.
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Individual patents extend for varying periods
depending on the date of filing of the patent application or the date of patent issuance and the legal term of patents in the countries
in which they are obtained. Generally, patents issued for regularly filed applications in the United States are granted a term
of 20 years from the earliest effective non-provisional filing date. In addition, in certain instances, a patent term can
be extended to recapture a portion of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, delay in issuing the patent as well as a
portion of the term effectively lost as a result of the FDA regulatory review period. However, as to the FDA component, the restoration
period cannot be longer than five years and the total patent term including the restoration period must not exceed 14 years
following FDA approval. The duration of foreign patents varies in accordance with provisions of applicable local law, but typically
is also 20 years from the earliest effective filing date. However, the actual protection afforded by a patent varies on a
product by product basis, from country to country and depends upon many factors, including the type of patent, the scope of its
coverage, the availability of regulatory-related extensions, the availability of legal remedies in a particular country and the
validity and enforceability of the patent.
Furthermore, we rely upon trade secrets
and know-how and continuing technological innovation to develop and maintain our competitive position. We seek to protect our proprietary
information, in part, using confidentiality agreements with our collaborators, employees and consultants and invention assignment
agreements with our employees. We also have confidentiality agreements or invention assignment agreements with our collaborators
and selected consultants. These agreements are designed to protect our proprietary information and, in the case of the invention
assignment agreements, to grant us ownership of technologies that are developed through a relationship with a third party. These
agreements may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any breach. In addition, our trade secrets may otherwise
become known or be independently discovered by competitors. To the extent that our collaborators, employees and consultants use
intellectual property owned by others in their work for us, disputes may arise as to the rights in related or resulting know-how
and inventions.
Our commercial success will also depend
in part on not infringing upon the proprietary rights of third parties. It is uncertain whether the issuance of any third-party
patent would require us to alter our development or commercial strategies, or our drugs or processes, obtain licenses or cease
certain activities. Our breach of any license agreements or failure to obtain a license to proprietary rights that we may require
to develop or commercialize our future drugs may have an adverse impact on us. If third parties have prepared and filed patent
applications prior to March 16, 2013 in the United States that also claim technology to which we have rights, we may have
to participate in interference proceedings in the USPTO, to determine priority of invention. For more information, please see “Risk
Factors—Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property.”
Future Development
ANVS401 may have utility in other neurodegenerative
diseases beyond AD and PD patients and protect nerve cells in all chronic and acute neurodegenerative disorders.
Material Agreements
In November 2008 we entered into an
exclusive world-wide agreement, as amended in November 2011 and May 2012, with a subsidiary of Horizon Therapeutics PLC
(Horizon), which is the successor to Raptor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and TorreyPines Therapeutics, Inc., for the rights
to ANVS401 and its analogs. We have a worldwide exclusive license to ANVS401 and its analogs, subject to standard reservation of
rights under federal law.
The license agreement requires us to pay
a minimum annual fee, milestone payments, royalties and a portion of any sublicense income we may receive. The minimum yearly fee
of $46,000 may be deferred until we raise $2 million in equity financing. We have been accruing the yearly fee. At December 31,
2019, we had accrued $506,000 which is included in accrued liabilities in our financial statements. Milestone payments are payable
upon the first attainment of the commencement of a Phase 2 efficacy study ($230,000); the commencement of a Phase 3 pivotal
study ($575,000); filing of an NDA for regulatory approval ($1,150,000); receipt of regulatory approval in the U.S. ($5,750,000);
and receipt of regulatory approval outside the U.S ($5,750,000). Royalties must be paid in an amount equal to 5.75% of net sales
of licensed products. Should we be required to obtain a license from a third party in order to sell a licensed product, we may
deduct 50% of the royalties on such licensed product paid to the third party, subject to certain minimums. In addition to the royalties,
we must pay the licensor 9.2% of all sublicense income attributable to licensed products.
The agreement also provides us a buy-out
option which we may exercise at any time. The option price is as follows: $500,000 if exercised prior to the commencement of the
first Phase 2 clinical trial; $1,000,000 if exercised on or after the commencement of the first Phase 2 clinical trial
and prior to the commencement of the first Phase 3 clinical trial; $5,000,000 if exercised on or after the commencement of
the first Phase 3 clinical trial and prior to the filing of a NDA with the FDA for the first licensed product; and $8,000,000
if exercised on or after the filing of an NDA for the first licensed product.
We have the right to terminate the agreement
at any time by giving 90 days advance notice subject to the payment of any amounts due under the agreement at that time. If
we do not terminate the agreement or exercise the buy-out option, the term of the agreement will continue until the expiration
of our obligation to make royalty payments. Such royalty payments continue for each product in each country until the later of
the expiration of the related patent or 10 years after the initial sale of the product in the respective country. The agreement
may also be terminated for cause by either party upon the breach of the material obligations of the other party or the bankruptcy
or liquidation of the other party.
Sales and Marketing
Once ANVS401 is approved for AD or PD, we
plan to enter into sales and marketing agreements with one or several pharmaceutical companies to sell to neurologists, geriatric
specialists and to primary care physicians.
Manufacturing
ANVS401 is a small molecule that is manufactured
using a 4-step patented process. We rely on third-party contractors for manufacturing clinical supplies and plan to do so for commercial
amounts also. Presently we are working with an overseas supplier for the manufacture of the cGMP API and with a local supplier
for the storage stability, encapsulating, blister packing, blinding and distribution of the capsules or pills to the clinical sites.
Government Regulation
The FDA and comparable regulatory authorities
in state and local jurisdictions and in other countries impose substantial and burdensome requirements upon companies involved
in the clinical development, manufacture, marketing and distribution of drugs, such as those we are developing. These agencies
and other federal, state and local entities regulate, among other things, the research and development, testing, manufacture, quality
control, safety, effectiveness, labeling, storage, record keeping, approval, advertising and promotion, distribution, post-approval
monitoring and reporting, sampling and export and import of our product candidates.
U.S. Government Regulation of Drug Products
In the United States, the FDA regulates
drugs under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) and its implementing regulations. The process of obtaining regulatory
approvals and the subsequent compliance with applicable federal, state, local and foreign statutes and regulations requires the
expenditure of substantial time and financial resources. Failure to comply with the applicable U.S. requirements at any time during
the product development process, approval process or after approval, may subject an applicant to a variety of administrative or
judicial sanctions, such as the FDA’s refusal to approve pending NDAs, withdrawal of an approval, imposition of a clinical
hold, issuance of warning letters, product recalls, product seizures, total or partial suspension of production or distribution,
injunctions, fines, refusals of government contracts, restitution, disgorgement or civil or criminal penalties.
The process required by the FDA before a
drug may be marketed in the United States generally involves the following:
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Completion of preclinical laboratory tests, animal studies and formulation studies in compliance with the FDA’s good
laboratory practice, or GLP, regulations.
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Submission to the FDA of an IND, which must become effective before human clinical trials may begin.
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Approval by an independent institutional review board, or IRB, at each clinical site before each trial may be initiated.
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Performance of adequate and well-controlled human clinical trials in accordance with good clinical practice, or GCP, requirements
to establish the safety and efficacy of the proposed drug product for each indication.
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Submission to the FDA of an NDA.
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Satisfactory completion of an FDA advisory committee review, if applicable.
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Satisfactory completion of an FDA inspection of the manufacturing facility or facilities at which the product is produced to
assess compliance with current good manufacturing practice, or cGMP, requirements and to assure that the facilities, methods and
controls are adequate to preserve the drug’s identity, strength, quality and purity.
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Satisfactory completion of FDA audits of clinical trial sites to assure compliance with GCPs and the integrity of the clinical
data.
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Payment of user fees and securing FDA approval of the NDA.
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Compliance with any post-approval requirements, including the potential requirement to implement a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation
Strategy, or REMS, and the potential requirement to conduct post-approval studies.
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Preclinical Studies
Preclinical studies include laboratory evaluation
of product chemistry, toxicity and formulation, as well as animal studies to assess potential safety and efficacy. An IND sponsor
must submit the results of the preclinical tests, together with manufacturing information, analytical data and any available clinical
data or literature, among other things, to the FDA as part of an IND. Some preclinical testing may continue even after the IND
is submitted. An IND automatically becomes effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA, unless before that time the FDA raises
concerns or questions related to one or more proposed clinical trials and places the clinical trial on a clinical hold. In such
a case, the IND sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns before the clinical trial can begin. As a result, submission
of an IND may not result in the FDA allowing clinical trials to initiate.
Clinical Trials
Clinical trials involve the administration
of the investigational new drug to human subjects under the supervision of qualified investigators in accordance with GCP requirements,
which include the requirement that all research subjects provide their informed consent in writing for their participation in any
clinical trial. Clinical trials are conducted under protocols detailing, among other things, the objectives of the trial, the parameters
to be used in monitoring safety, and the effectiveness criteria to be evaluated. A protocol for each clinical trial and any subsequent
protocol amendments must be submitted to the FDA as part of the IND. In addition, an IRB at each institution participating in the
clinical trial must review and approve the plan for any clinical trial before it initiates at that institution. Information about
certain clinical trials must be submitted within specific timeframes to the NIH for public dissemination on their www.clinicaltrials.gov
website.
Human clinical trials are typically conducted
in three sequential phases, which may overlap or be combined:
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Phase 1: The drug is initially introduced into healthy human subjects or patients with the target disease or condition
and tested for safety, dosage tolerance, absorption, metabolism, distribution, excretion and, if possible, to gain an early indication
of its effectiveness.
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Phase 2: The drug is administered to a limited patient population to identify possible adverse effects and safety risks,
to preliminarily evaluate the efficacy of the product for specific targeted diseases and to determine dosage tolerance and optimal
dosage.
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Phase 3: The drug is administered to an expanded patient population, generally at geographically dispersed clinical trial
sites, in well-controlled clinical trials to generate enough data to statistically evaluate the efficacy and safety of the product
for approval, to establish the overall risk-benefit profile of the product, and to provide adequate information for the labeling
of the product.
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Progress reports detailing the results of
the clinical trials must be submitted at least annually to the FDA and more frequently if serious adverse events occur. Phase 1,
Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials may not be completed successfully within any specified period, or at all. Furthermore, the
FDA or the sponsor may suspend or terminate a clinical trial at any time on various grounds, including a finding that the research
subjects are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk. Similarly, an IRB can suspend or terminate approval of a clinical trial
at its institution if the clinical trial is not being conducted in accordance with the IRB’s requirements or if the drug
has been associated with unexpected serious harm to patients.
Marketing Approval
Assuming successful completion of the required
clinical testing, the results of the preclinical and clinical studies, together with detailed information relating to the product’s
chemistry, manufacture, controls and proposed labeling, among other things, are submitted to the FDA as part of an NDA requesting
approval to market the product for one or more indications. In most cases, the submission of an NDA is subject to a substantial
application user fee. Under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, or PDUFA, guidelines that are currently in effect, the FDA has
a goal of ten months from the date of “filing” of a standard NDA, for a new molecular entity to review and act on the
submission. This review typically takes twelve months from the date the NDA is submitted to FDA because the FDA has approximately
two months to make a “filing” decision.
In addition, under the Pediatric Research
Equity Act of 2003, or PREA, as amended and reauthorized, certain NDAs or supplements to an NDA must contain data that are adequate
to assess the safety and effectiveness of the drug for the claimed indications in all relevant pediatric subpopulations, and to
support dosing and administration for each pediatric subpopulation for which the product is safe and effective. The FDA may, on
its own initiative or at the request of the applicant, grant deferrals for submission of some or all pediatric data until after
approval of the product for use in adults, or full or partial waivers from the pediatric data requirements. An Agreed Initial Pediatric
Study Plan requesting a waiver from the requirement to conduct clinical studies has been submitted to the FDA.
The FDA also may require submission of a
risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, or REMS, plan to ensure that the benefits of the drug outweigh its risks. The REMS plan
could include medication guides, physician communication plans, assessment plans, and/or elements to assure safe use, such as restricted
distribution methods, patient registries, or other risk minimization tools.
The FDA conducts a preliminary review of
all NDAs within the first 60 days after submission, before accepting them for filing, to determine whether they are sufficiently
complete to permit substantive review. The FDA may request additional information rather than accept an NDA for filing. In this
event, the application must be resubmitted with the additional information. The resubmitted application is also subject to review
before the FDA accepts it for filing. Once the submission is accepted for filing, the FDA begins an in-depth substantive review.
The FDA reviews an NDA to determine, among other things, whether the drug is safe and effective and whether the facility in which
it is manufactured, processed, packaged or held meets standards designed to assure the product’s continued safety, quality
and purity.
The FDA may refer an application for a novel
drug to an advisory committee. An advisory committee is a panel of independent experts, including clinicians and other scientific
experts, which reviews, evaluates and provides a recommendation as to whether the application should be approved and under what
conditions. The FDA is not bound by the recommendations of an advisory committee, but it considers such recommendations carefully
when making decisions.
Before approving an NDA, the FDA typically
will inspect the facility or facilities where the product is manufactured. The FDA will not approve an application unless it determines
that the manufacturing processes and facilities comply with cGMP requirements and are adequate to assure consistent production
of the product within required specifications. Additionally, before approving an NDA, the FDA may inspect one or more clinical
trial sites to assure compliance with GCP requirements.
After evaluating the NDA and all related
information, including the advisory committee recommendation, if any, and inspection reports regarding the manufacturing facilities
and clinical trial sites, the FDA may issue an approval letter, or, in some cases, a complete response letter. A complete response
letter generally contains a statement of specific conditions that must be met in order to secure final approval of the NDA and
may require additional clinical or preclinical testing for the FDA to reconsider the application. Even with submission of this
additional information, the FDA ultimately may decide that the application does not satisfy the regulatory criteria for approval.
If and when those conditions have been met to the FDA’s satisfaction, the FDA will typically issue an approval letter. An
approval letter authorizes commercial marketing of the drug with specific prescribing information for specific indications.
Even if the FDA approves a product, it may
limit the approved indications for use of the product, require that contraindications, warnings or precautions be included in the
product labeling, require that post-approval studies, including Phase 4 clinical trials, be conducted to further assess a
drug’s safety after approval, require testing and surveillance programs to monitor the product after commercialization, or
impose other conditions, including distribution and use restrictions or other risk management mechanisms under a REMS, which can
materially affect the potential market and profitability of the product. The FDA may prevent or limit further marketing of a product
based on the results of post-marketing studies or surveillance programs. After approval, some types of changes to the approved
product, such as adding new indications, manufacturing changes, and additional labeling claims, are subject to further testing
requirements and FDA review and approval.
Special FDA Expedited Review and Approval Programs
The FDA has various programs, including
fast track designation, accelerated approval, priority review, and breakthrough therapy designation, which are intended to expedite
or simplify the process for the development and FDA review of drugs that are intended for the treatment of serious or life-threatening
diseases or conditions and demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical needs. The purpose of these programs is to provide
important new drugs to patients earlier than under standard FDA review procedures.
To be eligible for a fast track designation,
the FDA must determine, based on the request of a sponsor, that a product is intended to treat a serious or life-threatening disease
or condition and demonstrates the potential to address an unmet medical need. The FDA will determine that a product will fill an
unmet medical need if it will provide a therapy where none exists or provide a therapy that may be potentially superior to existing
therapy based on efficacy or safety factors. The FDA may review sections of the NDA for a fast track product on a rolling basis
before the complete application is submitted, if the sponsor provides a schedule for the submission of the sections of the NDA,
the FDA agrees to accept sections of the NDA and determines that the schedule is acceptable, and the sponsor pays any required
user fees upon submission of the first section of the NDA.
The FDA may give a priority review designation
to drugs that offer major advances in treatment or provide a treatment where no adequate therapy exists. A priority review means
that the goal for the FDA to review an application is six months, rather than the standard review of ten months under current PDUFA
guidelines. Under the current PDUFA agreement, these six- and ten-month review periods are measured from the “filing”
date rather than the receipt date for NDAs for new molecular entities, which typically adds approximately two months to the timeline
for review and decision from the date of submission. Most products that are eligible for fast track designation are also likely
to be considered appropriate to receive a priority review.
In addition, products tested for their safety
and effectiveness in treating serious or life-threatening illnesses and that provide meaningful therapeutic benefit over existing
treatments may be eligible for accelerated approval and may be approved on the basis of adequate and well-controlled clinical trials
establishing that the drug product has an effect on a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit,
or on a clinical endpoint that can be measured earlier than irreversible morbidity or mortality (IMM) that is reasonably likely
to predict an effect on IMM or other clinical benefit, taking into account the severity, rarity or prevalence of the condition
and the availability or lack of alternative treatments. As a condition of approval, the FDA may require a sponsor of a drug receiving
accelerated approval to perform post-marketing studies to verify and describe the predicted effect on IMM or other clinical endpoint,
and the drug may be subject to accelerated withdrawal procedures.
Moreover, under the provisions of the Food
and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, or FDASIA, passed in July 2012, a sponsor can request designation of a
product candidate as a “breakthrough therapy.” A breakthrough therapy is defined as a drug that is intended, alone
or in combination with one or more other drugs, to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition, and preliminary clinical
evidence indicates that the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant
endpoints, such as substantial treatment effects observed early in clinical development. Drugs designated as breakthrough therapies
are also eligible for accelerated approval. The FDA must take certain actions, such as holding timely meetings and providing advice,
intended to expedite the development and review of an application for approval of a breakthrough therapy. At the completion of
our two Phase 2 trials, one in PD and one in AD, Annovis will petition the FDA to classify ANVS401 as a breakthrough therapy.
Even if a product qualifies for one or more
of these programs, the FDA may later decide that the product no longer meets the conditions for qualification or decide that the
time period for FDA review or approval will not be shortened. We may explore some of these opportunities for our product candidates
as appropriate.
Accelerated Approval Pathway
The FDA may grant accelerated approval to
a drug for a serious or life-threatening condition that provides meaningful therapeutic advantage to patients over existing treatments
based upon a determination that the drug influences a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit.
The FDA may also grant accelerated approval for such a condition when the product has an effect on an intermediate clinical endpoint
that can be measured earlier than an effect on IMM, and that is reasonably likely to predict an effect on IMM or other clinical
benefit, taking into account the severity, rarity or prevalence of the condition and the availability or lack of alternative treatments.
Drugs granted accelerated approval must meet the same statutory standards for safety and effectiveness as those granted traditional
approval.
For the purposes of accelerated approval,
a surrogate endpoint is a marker, such as a laboratory measurement, radiographic image, physical sign or other measure that is
thought to predict clinical benefit but is not itself a measure of clinical benefit. Surrogate endpoints can often be measured
more easily or more rapidly than clinical endpoints. An intermediate clinical endpoint is a measurement of a therapeutic effect
that is considered reasonably likely to predict the clinical benefit of a drug, such as an effect on IMM. The FDA has limited experience
with accelerated approvals based on intermediate clinical endpoints, but has indicated that such endpoints generally may support
accelerated approval where the therapeutic effect measured by the endpoint is not itself a clinical benefit and basis for traditional
approval, if there is a basis for concluding that the therapeutic effect is reasonably likely to predict the ultimate clinical
benefit of a drug.
The accelerated approval pathway is most
often used in settings in which the course of a disease is long, and an extended period is required to measure the intended clinical
benefit of a drug, even if the effect on the surrogate or intermediate clinical endpoint occurs rapidly. Thus, accelerated approval
has been used extensively in the development and approval of drugs for treatment of a variety of cancers in which the goal of therapy
is generally to improve survival or decrease morbidity and the duration of the typical disease course requires lengthy and sometimes
large trials to demonstrate a clinical or survival benefit.
The accelerated approval pathway is usually
contingent on a sponsor’s agreement to conduct, in a diligent manner, additional post-approval confirmatory studies to verify
and describe the drug’s clinical benefit. As a result, a drug candidate approved on this basis is subject to rigorous post-marketing
compliance requirements, including the completion of Phase 4 or post-approval clinical trials to confirm the effect on the
clinical endpoint. Failure to conduct required post-approval studies or confirm a clinical benefit during post-marketing studies,
would allow the FDA to withdraw the drug from the market on an expedited basis. All promotional materials for drug candidates approved
under accelerated regulations are subject to prior review by the FDA.
Orphan Drug Designation and Exclusivity
Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may designate
a drug product as an “orphan drug” if it is intended to treat a rare disease or condition (generally meaning that it
affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States, or more in cases in which there is no reasonable expectation that
the cost of developing and making a drug product available in the United States for treatment of the disease or condition will
be recovered from sales of the product). A company must request orphan product designation before submitting an NDA. If the request
is granted, the FDA will disclose the identity of the therapeutic agent and its potential use. Orphan product designation does
not convey any advantage in or shorten the duration of the regulatory review and approval process.
If a product with orphan status receives
the first FDA approval for the disease or condition for which it has such designation or for a select indication or use within
the rare disease or condition for which it was designated, the product generally will be receiving orphan product exclusivity.
Orphan product exclusivity means that the FDA may not approve any other applications for the same product for the same indication
for seven years, except in certain limited circumstances. If a drug or drug product designated as an orphan product ultimately
receives marketing approval for an indication broader than what was designated in its orphan product application, it may not be
entitled to exclusivity. Orphan exclusivity will not bar approval of another product under certain circumstances, including if
a subsequent product with the same active ingredient for the same indication is shown to be clinically superior to the approved
product on the basis of greater efficacy or safety, or providing a major contribution to patient care, or if the company with orphan
drug exclusivity is not able to meet market demand. Further, the FDA may approve more than one product for the same orphan indication
or disease if the products contain different active ingredients. Moreover, competitors may receive approval of different products
for the indication for which the orphan product has exclusivity or obtain approval for the same product but for a different indication
for which the orphan product has exclusivity.
Post-Approval Requirements
Drugs manufactured or distributed pursuant
to FDA approvals are subject to pervasive and continuing regulation by the FDA, including, among other things, requirements relating
to recordkeeping, periodic reporting, product sampling and distribution, advertising and promotion and reporting of adverse experiences
with the product. After approval, most changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications or other labeling claims
are subject to prior FDA review and approval. There are continuing, annual program user fee requirements for any marketed products.
The FDA may impose a number of post-approval
requirements as a condition of approval of an NDA. For example, the FDA may require post-marketing testing, including Phase 4
clinical trials, and surveillance to further assess and monitor the product’s safety and effectiveness after commercialization.
In addition, drug manufacturers and other
entities involved in the manufacture and distribution of approved drugs are required to register their establishments with the
FDA and state agencies and are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and these state agencies for compliance with
cGMP requirements. Changes to the manufacturing process are strictly regulated and often require prior FDA approval before being
implemented. FDA regulations also require investigation and correction of any deviations from cGMP requirements and impose reporting
and documentation requirements upon the sponsor and any third-party manufacturers that the sponsor may decide to use. Accordingly,
manufacturers must continue to expend time, money, and effort in the area of production and quality control to maintain cGMP compliance.
Once an approval of a drug or medical device
is granted, the FDA may withdraw the approval if compliance with regulatory requirements and standards is not maintained or if
problems occur after the product reaches the market. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with a product, including adverse
events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements,
may result in mandatory revisions to the approved labeling to add new safety information; imposition of post-market studies or
clinical trials to assess new safety risks; or imposition of distribution or other restrictions under a REMS program. Other potential
consequences include, among other things:
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Restrictions on the marketing or manufacturing of the product, complete withdrawal of the product from the market or product
recalls.
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Fines, warning letters or holds on post-approval clinical trials.
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Refusal of the FDA to approve pending NDAs or supplements to approved NDAs, or suspension or revocation of product approvals.
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Product seizure or detention, or refusal to permit the import or export of products.
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Injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.
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The FDA strictly regulates marketing, labeling,
advertising and promotion of products that are placed on the market. Drugs or devices may be promoted only for the approved indications
and in accordance with the provisions of the approved label. The FDA and other agencies actively enforce the laws and regulations
prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses, and a company that is found to have improperly promoted off-label uses may be subject
to significant liability.
U.S. Coverage and Reimbursement
Significant uncertainty exists as to the
coverage and reimbursement status of our lead product candidate, ANVS401, or any other for which we may seek regulatory approval.
Sales in the U.S. will depend in part on the availability of adequate financial coverage and reimbursement from third-party payors,
which include government health programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE and the Veterans Administration, as well as managed
care organizations and private health insurers. Prices at which we or our customers seek reimbursement for our product candidates
can be subject to challenge, reduction or denial by payors.
The process for determining whether a payor
will provide coverage for a product is typically separate from the process for setting the reimbursement rate that the payor will
pay for the product. Third-party payors may limit coverage to specific products on an approved list or formulary, which might not
include all the FDA-approved products for a particular indication. Also, third-party payors may refuse to include a branded drug
on their formularies or otherwise restrict patient access to a branded drug when a less costly generic equivalent or another alternative
is available. Medicare Part D, Medicare’s outpatient prescription drug benefit, contains protections to ensure coverage
and reimbursement for oral oncology products, and all Part D prescription drug plans are required to cover substantially all
oral anti-cancer agents. However, a payor’s decision to provide coverage for a product does not imply that an adequate reimbursement
rate will be available. Private payors often rely on the lead of the governmental payors in rendering coverage and reimbursement
determinations. Sales of ANVS401 or any other product candidates will therefore depend substantially on the extent to which the
costs of our products will be paid by third-party payors. Achieving favorable coverage and reimbursement from the Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and/or the Medicare Administrative Contractors is typically a significant gating issue
for successful introduction of a new product.
Third-party payors are increasingly challenging
the price and examining the medical necessity and cost-effectiveness of medical products and services, in addition to their safety
and efficacy. In order to obtain coverage and reimbursement for any product that might be approved for marketing, we may need to
conduct studies in order to demonstrate the medical necessity and cost-effectiveness of any products, which would be in addition
to the costs expended to obtain regulatory approvals. Third-party payors may not consider our product candidates to be medically
necessary or cost-effective compared to other available therapies, or the rebate percentages required to secure favorable coverage
may not yield an adequate margin over cost or may not enable us to maintain price levels sufficient to realize an appropriate return
on our investment in drug development.
U.S. Healthcare Fraud and Abuse Laws and Compliance Requirements
We are subject to various federal and state
laws targeting fraud and abuse in the healthcare industry. These laws may impact, among other things, our proposed sales and marketing
programs. In addition, we may be subject to patient privacy regulation by both the federal government and the states in which we
conduct our business. The laws that may affect our operations include:
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the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits, among other things, persons from soliciting, receiving, offering or paying
remuneration, directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, to induce or reward, or in return for, either the referral of an individual
for, or the purchase, order or recommendation of, an item or service reimbursable under a federal healthcare program, such as the
Medicare and Medicaid programs. The term “remuneration” has been broadly interpreted to include anything of value;
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federal false claims and civil monetary penalties laws, including the federal civil False Claims Act, which prohibits anyone
from, among other things, knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, for payment to federal programs (including Medicare
and Medicaid) claims for items or services that are false or fraudulent;
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provisions of HIPAA, which created new federal criminal statutes that prohibit, among other things, knowingly and willfully
executing a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program or making false statements in connection with the delivery of or payment
for healthcare benefits, items or services. In addition, HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and
Clinical Health Act and its implementing regulations, impose certain requirements relating to the privacy, security and transmission
of individually identifiable health information; and
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the federal Physician Payment Sunshine Act requirements, under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which require
manufacturers of certain drugs and biologics to track and report to CMS payments and other transfers of value they make to U.S.
physicians and teaching hospitals as well as physician ownership and investment interests in the manufacturer.
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Regulation Outside the United States
To the extent that any of our product candidates,
once approved, are sold in a foreign country, we may be subject to similar foreign laws and regulations, which may include, for
instance, applicable post-marketing requirements, including safety surveillance, anti-fraud and abuse laws and implementation of
corporate compliance programs and reporting of payments or other transfers of value to healthcare professionals.
To market our future products in the EEA
(which is comprised of the 28 Member States of the EU plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) and many other foreign jurisdictions,
we must obtain separate regulatory approvals. More concretely, in the EEA, medicinal products can only be commercialized after
obtaining a Marketing Authorization, or MA. There are two types of marketing authorizations:
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The Community MA, which is issued by the European Commission through the Centralized Procedure, based on the opinion of the
Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, and which is valid throughout the entire
territory of the EEA. The Centralized Procedure is mandatory for certain types of products, such as biotechnology medicinal products,
orphan medicinal products and medicinal products indicated for the treatment of AIDS, cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, diabetes,
auto-immune and viral diseases. The Centralized Procedure is optional for products containing a new active substance not yet authorized
in the EEA, or for products that constitute a significant therapeutic, scientific or technical innovation or which are in the interest
of public health in the EU; and
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National MAs, which are issued by the competent authorities of the Member States of the EEA and only cover their respective
territory, are available for products not falling within the mandatory scope of the Centralized Procedure. Where a product has
already been authorized for marketing in a Member State of the EEA, this National MA can be recognized in another Member State
through the Mutual Recognition Procedure. If the product has not received a National MA in any Member State at the time of application,
it can be approved simultaneously in various Member States through the Decentralized Procedure.
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Under the above described procedures, before
granting the MA, the EMA or the competent authorities of the Member States of the EEA assess the risk-benefit balance of the product
based on scientific criteria concerning its quality, safety and efficacy.
Data and Marketing Exclusivity
In the EEA, new products authorized for
marketing, or reference products, qualify for eight years of data exclusivity and an additional two years of market exclusivity
upon marketing authorization. The data exclusivity period prevents generic or biosimilar applicants from relying on the pre-clinical
and clinical trial data contained in the dossier of the reference product when applying for a generic or biosimilar marketing authorization
in the EU during a period of eight years from the date on which the reference product was first authorized in the EU. The market
exclusivity period prevents a successful generic or biosimilar applicant from commercializing its product in the EU until 10 years
have elapsed from the initial authorization of the reference product in the EU. The 10-year market exclusivity period can be extended
to a maximum of eleven years if, during the first eight years of those 10 years, the marketing authorization holder obtains
an authorization for one or more new therapeutic indications which, during the scientific evaluation prior to their authorization,
are held to bring a significant clinical benefit in comparison with existing therapies.
Orphan Drug Designation
In the EEA, a medicinal product can be designated
as an orphan drug if its sponsor can establish that the product is intended for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of a life-threatening
or chronically debilitating condition affecting not more than five in ten thousand persons in the EU when the application is made,
or that the product is intended for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of a life-threatening, seriously debilitating or serious
and chronic condition in the EU and that without incentives it is unlikely that the marketing of the drug in the EU would generate
sufficient return to justify the necessary investment in development. For either of these conditions, the applicant must demonstrate
that there exists no satisfactory method of diagnosis, prevention or treatment of the condition in question that has been authorized
in the EU or, if such method exists, the drug will be of significant benefit to those affected by that condition.
In the EEA, an application for designation
as an orphan product can be made any time prior to the filing of an application for approval to market the product. Marketing authorization
for an orphan drug leads to a ten-year period of market exclusivity. During this market exclusivity period, the EMA or the member
state competent authorities, cannot accept another application for a marketing authorization, or grant a marketing authorization,
for a similar medicinal product for the same indication. The period of market exclusivity is extended by two years for medicines
that have also complied with an agreed PIP.
This period may, however, be reduced to
six years if, at the end of the fifth year, it is established that the product no longer meets the criteria for orphan drug designation,
for example because the product is sufficiently profitable not to justify market exclusivity. Market exclusivity can be revoked
only in very selected cases, such as consent from the marketing authorization holder, inability to supply sufficient quantities
of the product, demonstration of “clinical superiority” by a similar medicinal product, or, after a review by the Committee
for Orphan Medicinal Products, requested by a member state in the fifth year of the marketing exclusivity period (if the designation
criteria are believed to no longer apply). Medicinal products designated as orphan drugs are eligible for incentives made available
by the EU and its Member States to support research into, and the development and availability of, orphan drugs.
Employees
As of March 23, 2020, we had two
employees. In addition to our employees, we contract with consultants and third parties for the conduct of certain clinical
development, accounting and administrative activities.
Corporate Information
We were incorporated in Delaware in 2008.
Our principal executive offices are located at 1055 Westlakes Drive, Suite 300, Berwyn, PA 19312 and our telephone number
is (610)727-3913. Our website address is www.annovisbio.com. The inclusion of our website address is, in each case, intended
to be an inactive textual reference only and not an active hyperlink to our website. The information contained in, or that can
be accessed through, our website is not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Risks Related to Our Financial Position and Need for Additional
Capital
We have incurred losses since inception and anticipate
that we will continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future. We are not currently profitable, and we may never achieve or
sustain profitability.
We are a clinical stage biopharmaceutical
company with a limited operating history and have incurred losses since our formation. We incurred net losses of $990,980 and $713,871
for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. As of December 31, 2019, we had an accumulated deficit
of $8,777,028. We have not commercialized any products and have never generated revenue from the commercialization of any product.
To date, we have devoted most of our financial resources to research and development, including our preclinical and clinical work,
and to intellectual property.
We expect to incur significant additional
operating losses for the next several years, at least, as we advance ANVS401 and any other product candidate through clinical development,
complete clinical trials, seek regulatory approval and commercialize the drug or any other product candidate, if approved. The
costs of advancing product candidates into each clinical phase tend to increase substantially over the duration of the clinical
development process. Therefore, the total costs to advance any of our product candidates to marketing approval in even a single
jurisdiction will be substantial. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with pharmaceutical product development,
we are unable to accurately predict the timing or amount of increased expenses or when, or if, we will be able to begin generating
revenue from the commercialization of any products or achieve or maintain profitability. Our expenses will also increase substantially
if and as we:
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commence our two Phase 3 trials in AD-DS and in early PD, or conduct clinical trials for any other product candidates;
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are required by the FDA to complete two Phase 3 trials to support an NDA for ANVS401 in AD-DS or in PD;
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establish a sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure to commercialize our drug, if approved, and for any other product
candidates for which we may obtain marketing approval;
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maintain, expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio;
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hire additional clinical, scientific and commercial personnel;
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add operational, financial and management information systems and personnel, including personnel to support our product development
and planned future commercialization efforts, as well as to support our transition to a public reporting company; and
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acquire or in-license or invent other product candidates or technologies.
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Furthermore, our ability to successfully
develop, commercialize and license any product candidates and generate product revenue is subject to substantial additional risks
and uncertainties, as described under “—Risks Related to Development, Clinical Testing, Manufacturing and Regulatory
Approval” and “—Risks Related to Commercialization.” As a result, we expect to continue to incur net losses
and negative cash flows for the foreseeable future. These net losses and negative cash flows have had, and will continue to have,
an adverse effect on our stockholders’ equity and working capital. The amount of our future net losses will depend, in part,
on the rate of future growth of our expenses and our ability to generate revenues. If we are unable to develop and commercialize
one or more product candidates, either alone or through collaborations, or if revenues from any product that receives marketing
approval are insufficient, we will not achieve profitability. Even if we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain
profitability or meet outside expectations for our profitability. If we are unable to achieve or sustain profitability or to meet
outside expectations for our profitability, the value of our common stock will be materially and adversely affected.
We will require additional capital to fund our operations,
and if we fail to obtain necessary financing, we may not be able to complete the development and commercialization of ANVS401.
Our operations have consumed substantial
amounts of cash since inception. We expect to continue to spend substantial amounts to advance the clinical development of ANVS401
and launch and commercialize ANVS401, if we receive regulatory approval. We will require additional capital for the further development
and potential commercialization of ANVS401 and may also need to raise additional funds sooner to pursue a more accelerated development
of ANVS401. If we are unable to raise capital when needed or on attractive terms, we could be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate
our research and development programs or any future commercialization efforts.
We believe that the net proceeds from our
initial public offering that we completed on January 31, 2020 (the “IPO”) will enable us to fund our operating
expenses and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 18 months. We have based this estimate on assumptions
that may prove to be wrong, and we could deploy our available capital resources sooner than we currently expect. Our future funding
requirements, both near and long-term, will depend on many factors, including, but not limited to the:
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initiation, progress, timing, costs and results of preclinical studies and clinical trials, including patient enrollment in
such trials, for ANVS401 or any other future product candidates;
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clinical development plans we establish for ANVS401 and any other future product candidates;
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obligation to make royalty and non-royalty sublicense receipt payments to third-party licensors, if any, under our licensing
agreements;
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number and characteristics of product candidates that we discover or in-license and develop;
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outcome, timing and cost of regulatory review by the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities, including the potential
for the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities to require that we perform more studies than those that we currently expect;
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costs of filing, prosecuting, defending and enforcing any patent claims and maintaining and enforcing other intellectual property
rights;
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effects of competing technological and market developments;
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costs and timing of the implementation of commercial-scale manufacturing activities; and
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costs and timing of establishing sales, marketing and distribution capabilities for any product candidates for which we may
receive regulatory approval.
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If we are unable to expand our operations
or otherwise capitalize on our business opportunities due to a lack of capital, our ability to become profitable will be compromised.
For the year ended December 31, 2018, we, as well
as our independent registered public accounting firm expressed substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
Our recurring losses from operations raised
substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. As a result, our independent registered public accounting firm
included an explanatory paragraph in its report on our financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018 with respect
to this uncertainty. We believe that the net proceeds from our IPO will be sufficient to fund our current operating plans through
at least the next 18 months. We have based these estimates, however, on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could
spend our available financial resources much faster than we currently expect and need to raise additional funds sooner than we
anticipate. If we are unable to raise capital when needed or on acceptable terms, we would be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate
our research and development programs and commercialization efforts.
Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our stockholders,
restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or product candidates.
Until such time, if ever, as we can generate
substantial revenue, we may finance our cash needs through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings, marketing and distribution
arrangements and other collaborations, strategic alliances and licensing arrangements or other sources. We do not currently have
any committed external source of funds. In addition, we may seek additional capital due to favorable market conditions or strategic
considerations, even if we believe that we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans.
To the extent that we raise additional capital
through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms of these securities
may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a common stockholder. Debt financing and preferred
equity financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific
actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends. If we raise additional funds through
collaborations, strategic alliances or marketing, distribution or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may be required
to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, intellectual property, future revenue streams or product candidates or grant
licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds through equity or debt financings
when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate product candidate development or future commercialization
efforts.
We have a limited operating history and no history of
commercializing pharmaceutical products, which may make it difficult to evaluate the prospects for our future viability.
We were established and began operations
in 2008. Our operations to date have been limited to financing and staffing our company, licensing product candidates, conducting
preclinical and clinical studies of ANVS401 for treatment of AD, PD and AD-DS and for understanding its mechanism of action and
its capability of stopping the toxic cascade that leads to nerve cell death. We have further tested ANVS401 in clinical trials
for safety and proof-of-concept. We have not yet demonstrated the ability to successfully complete a large-scale, pivotal clinical
trial, obtain marketing approval, manufacture a commercial scale product, arrange for a third party to do so on our behalf, or
conduct sales and marketing activities necessary for successful product commercialization. Consequently, predictions about our
future success or viability may not be as accurate as they could be if we had a history of successfully developing and commercializing
pharmaceutical products.
In addition, as a business with a limited
operating history, we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other known and unknown factors.
We will eventually need to transition from a company with a research focus to a company capable of supporting commercial activities.
We may not be successful in such a transition and, as a result, our business may be adversely affected.
As we continue to build our business, we
expect our financial condition and operating results may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year due to
a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. Accordingly, you should not rely upon the results of any particular
quarterly or annual period as indications of future operating performance.
Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards
to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations.
As of December 31, 2019, we had net
operating loss carryforwards, or NOLs, of $4,256,228 for federal income tax purposes, which may be available to offset our future
taxable income, if any, and begin to expire in various amounts in 2032. NOLs of $1,491,988 generated after December 31, 2017
are not subject to expiration but are limited to 80% of taxable income in future years for federal income tax purposes. In general,
under Section 382 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, a corporation that undergoes an “ownership
change” is subject to limitations on its ability to use its pre-change NOLs to offset future taxable income. Due to previous
ownership changes, our ability to use our NOLs could be limited by Section 382 of the Code. Future changes in our stock ownership,
some of which are outside of our control, could result in an ownership change under Section 382 of the Code. Furthermore,
our ability to use NOLs of companies that we may acquire in the future may be subject to limitations. For these reasons, we may
not be able to use a material portion of the NOLs, even if we attain profitability.
Risks Related to Development, Clinical Testing, Manufacturing
and Regulatory Approval
We are heavily dependent on the success of ANVS401, our
most advanced product candidate, which is still under clinical development, and if this drug does not receive regulatory approval
or is not successfully commercialized, our business may be harmed.
We do not have any products that have gained
regulatory approval. Currently, our lead clinical stage product candidate is ANVS401. As a result, our business is dependent on
our ability to successfully complete clinical development of, obtain regulatory approval for, and, if approved, successfully commercialize
ANVS401 in a timely manner. We cannot commercialize ANVS401 in the United States without first obtaining regulatory approval from
the FDA; similarly, we cannot commercialize ANVS401 outside of the United States without obtaining regulatory approval from comparable
foreign regulatory authorities. Before obtaining regulatory approvals for the commercial sale of ANVS401 for a target indication,
we must demonstrate with substantial evidence gathered in preclinical studies and clinical trials, generally including two adequate
and well-controlled clinical trials, and, with respect to approval in the United States, to the satisfaction of the FDA, that ANVS401
is safe and effective for use for that target indication and that the manufacturing facilities, processes and controls are adequate.
Even if ANVS401 were to successfully obtain approval from the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities, any approval might
contain significant limitations related to use restrictions for specified age groups, warnings, precautions or contraindications,
or may be subject to burdensome post-approval study or risk management requirements. If we are unable to obtain regulatory approval
for ANVS401 in one or more jurisdictions, or any approval contains significant limitations, we may not be able to obtain sufficient
funding or generate sufficient revenue to continue the development of any other product candidate that we may in-license, develop
or acquire in the future. Furthermore, even if we obtain regulatory approval for ANVS401, we will still need to develop a commercial
organization, establish commercially viable pricing and obtain approval for adequate reimbursement from third-party and government
payors. If we are unable to successfully commercialize ANVS401, we may not be able to earn sufficient revenue to continue our business
Disruptions associated with widespread
health emergencies could harm our ability to complete or could materially delay our clinical trials.
The
emergence of widespread health emergencies or pandemics, such as coronavirus disease (COVID-19), could lead to
quarantines, business shutdowns, labor shortages, disruptions to the healthcare system, and overall economic instability. If
the suppliers, CROs, hospitals, clinical trial sites, regulators, consultants and other third parties with whom we conduct
business were to experience shutdowns or other business disruptions, our ability to enroll patients and conduct our clinical
trials in the manner and on the timelines presently planned could be materially and negatively impacted. The clinical trial
sites participating in our Phase 2a trial in AD patients have temporarily suspended enrollment of new patients because of the
ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Although we currently believe our clinical trials will be completed on time, the extent to which
the COVID-19 pandemic could have a material impact on our clinical trials is dependent on the spread of the disease and
government and healthcare system responses to such spread, which are presently highly uncertain.
the Clinical trials are expensive, time-consuming
and difficult to design and implement, and involve an uncertain outcome.
Clinical testing is expensive and can take
many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. Failure can occur at any time during the clinical trial process.
Because the results of preclinical studies and early clinical trials are not necessarily predictive of future results, ANVS401
and our other compounds may not have favorable results in later preclinical and clinical studies or receive regulatory approval.
We may experience delays in initiating and completing any clinical trials that we intend to conduct, and we do not know whether
planned clinical trials, including our Phase 2a trial for PD will begin on time, need to be redesigned, enroll patients on
time or be completed on schedule, or at all. Clinical trials can be delayed for a variety of reasons, including delays related
to:
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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities disagreeing as to the design or implementation of our clinical studies;
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obtaining regulatory approval to commence a trial;
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reaching an agreement on acceptable terms with prospective contract research organizations (CROs), and clinical trial sites,
the terms of which can be subject to extensive negotiation and may vary significantly among different CROs and trial sites;
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obtaining Institutional Review Board, or IRB, approval at each site, or Independent Ethics Committee, or IEC, approval at sites
outside the United States;
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recruiting suitable patients to participate in a trial in a timely manner and in sufficient numbers;
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having patients complete a trial or return for post-treatment follow-up;
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imposition of a clinical hold by regulatory authorities, including as a result of unforeseen safety issues or side effects
or failure of trial sites to adhere to regulatory requirements or follow trial protocols;
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clinical sites deviating from trial protocol or dropping out of a trial;
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addressing patient safety concerns that arise during the course of a trial;
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adding a sufficient number of clinical trial sites; or
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manufacturing sufficient quantities of product candidate for use in clinical trials.
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We could also encounter delays if a clinical
trial is suspended or terminated by us, the IRBs or IECs of the institutions in which such trials are being conducted, the Data
Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), for such trial or the FDA or other regulatory authorities. Such authorities may impose such a suspension
or termination due to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements
or our clinical protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial site by the FDA or other regulatory authorities
resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit
from using a drug, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical
trial. Furthermore, we rely on CROs and clinical trial sites to ensure the proper and timely conduct of our clinical trials and,
while we have agreements governing their committed activities, we have limited influence over their actual performance, as described
in “—Risks Related to Our Dependence on Third Parties.”
The regulatory approval processes of the FDA and comparable
foreign authorities are lengthy, time consuming and inherently unpredictable, and if we are ultimately unable to obtain regulatory
approval for ANVS401 or any other product candidates, our business will be substantially harmed.
The time required to obtain approval by
the FDA and comparable foreign authorities is unpredictable but typically takes many years following the commencement of clinical
trials and depends upon numerous factors, including the substantial discretion of the regulatory authorities. In addition, approval
policies, regulations or the type and amount of clinical data necessary to gain approval may change during the course of a product
candidate’s clinical development and may vary among jurisdictions. We have not obtained regulatory approval for any product
candidate and it is possible that we will never obtain regulatory approval for ANVS401 or any other product candidate. We are not
permitted to market any of our product candidates in the United States until we receive regulatory approval of an NDA from the FDA.
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we may be unable to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities that a product
candidate is safe and effective for its proposed indication;
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serious and unexpected drug-related side effects experienced by participants in our clinical trials or by individuals using
drugs similar to our product candidates, or other products containing the active ingredient in our product candidates;
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negative or ambiguous results from our clinical trials or results that may not meet the level of statistical significance required
by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities for approval;
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we may be unable to demonstrate that a product candidate’s clinical and other benefits outweigh its safety risks;
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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with our interpretation of data from preclinical studies
or clinical trials;
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the data collected from clinical trials of our product candidates may not be acceptable or sufficient to support the submission
of an NDA or other submission or to obtain regulatory approval in the United States or elsewhere, and we may be required to conduct
additional clinical trials;
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the FDA or comparable foreign authorities may disagree regarding the formulation, labeling and/or the specifications of our
product candidates;
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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may fail to approve or find deficiencies with the manufacturing processes
or facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we contract for clinical and commercial supplies; and
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the approval policies or regulations of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may significantly change in a
manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval.
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Prior to obtaining approval to commercialize
a product candidate in the United States or abroad, we must demonstrate with substantial evidence from well-controlled clinical
trials, and to the satisfaction of the FDA or foreign regulatory agencies, that such product candidates are safe and effective
for their intended uses. Results from preclinical studies and clinical trials can be interpreted in different ways. Even if we
believe the preclinical or clinical data for our product candidates are promising, such data may not be sufficient to support approval
by the FDA and other regulatory authorities. For diseases like AD, PD and AD-DS, the FDA has stated that one single Phase 3
trial is adequate for approval, if it demonstrates robust and unquestionable efficacy. However, the circumstances under which a
single adequate and controlled study can be used as the sole basis of demonstrating efficacy of a drug are exceptional.
The FDA or any foreign regulatory bodies
can delay, limit or deny approval of our product candidates or require us to conduct additional preclinical or clinical testing
or abandon a program for many reasons, including:
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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with the design or implementation of our clinical trials;
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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with our safety interpretation of our drug;
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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with our efficacy interpretation of our drug;
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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may regard our CMC package as inadequate.
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Of the large number of drugs in development,
only a small percentage successfully complete the regulatory approval processes and are commercialized. This lengthy approval process,
as well as the unpredictability of future clinical trial results, may result in our failing to obtain regulatory approval to market
ANVS401 or another product candidate, which would significantly harm our business, results of operations and prospects.
In addition, the FDA or the applicable foreign
regulatory agency also may approve a product candidate for a more limited indication or patient population than we originally requested,
and the FDA or applicable foreign regulatory agency may approve a product candidate with a label that does not include the labeling
claims necessary or desirable for the successful commercialization of that product candidate. Any of the foregoing scenarios could
materially harm the commercial prospects for our product candidates.
We have concentrated our research and development efforts
on the treatment of AD and PD, diseases that have seen limited success in drug development. Further, ANVS401 is based on a new
approach to treating AD and PD, which makes it difficult to predict the time and cost of development and subsequent obtaining of
regulatory approval.
Efforts by biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical
companies in treating AD and PD have seen limited success in drug development, and there are no FDA-approved disease modifying
therapeutic options available for patients with AD and PD. We cannot be certain that our approach will lead to the development
of approvable or marketable products. The only drugs approved by the FDA to treat AD and PD to date address the disease’s
symptoms. No new treatments have been approved for AD since 2003. Since 2003, over 500 clinical studies have been completed and
no compound has shown efficacy. AD drug candidates have the highest failure rate of 100%, compared to 50% to 80% for all other
drug candidates. As a result, the FDA has a limited set of products to rely on in evaluating ANVS401. This could result in a longer
than expected regulatory review process, increased expected development costs or the delay or prevention of commercialization of
ANVS401 for the treatment of AD and PD.
Enrollment and retention of patients in clinical trials
is an expensive and time-consuming process and could be made more difficult or rendered impossible by multiple factors outside
our control.
The timely completion of clinical trials
in accordance with their protocols depends, among other things, on our ability to enroll a sufficient number of patients who remain
in the study until its conclusion. We may encounter delays in enrolling, or be unable to enroll, a sufficient number of patients
to complete any of our clinical trials, and even once enrolled, we may be unable to retain a sufficient number of patients to complete
any of our trials. Patient enrollment and retention in clinical trials depends on many factors, including:
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the patient eligibility criteria defined in the protocol;
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the size of the patient population required for analysis of the trial’s primary endpoints;
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the nature of the trial protocol;
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the existing body of safety and efficacy data with respect to the product candidate;
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the proximity of patients to clinical sites;
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our ability to recruit clinical trial investigators with the appropriate competencies and experience;
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clinicians’ and patients’ perceptions as to the potential advantages of the product candidate being studied in
relation to other available therapies, including any new drugs that may be approved for the indications we are investigating;
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competing clinical trials being conducted by other companies or institutions;
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our ability to maintain patient consents; and
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the risk that patients enrolled in clinical trials will drop out of the trials before completion.
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Results of preclinical studies, early clinical trials
or analyses may not be indicative of results obtained in later trials.
The results of preclinical studies, early
clinical trials or analyses of our product candidates may not be predictive of the results of later-stage clinical trials. Product
candidates in later stages of clinical trials may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy traits despite having progressed
through preclinical studies and initial clinical trials. A number of companies in the biopharmaceutical industry have suffered
significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials due to lack of efficacy or adverse safety profiles, notwithstanding promising
results in earlier trials. In addition, conclusions based on promising data from analyses of clinical results may be shown to be
incorrect when implemented in prospective clinical trials. Even if our clinical trials for ANVS401 are completed as planned, we
cannot be certain that their results will support the safety and efficacy sufficient to obtain regulatory approval.
Interim “top-line” and preliminary data from
our clinical trials that we announce or publish from time to time may change as more patient data become available and are subject
to audit and verification procedures that could result in material changes in the final data.
From time to time, we may publish interim
“top-line” or preliminary data from our clinical studies. Interim data from clinical trials that we may complete are
subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient
data become available. Preliminary or “top-line” data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that
may result in the final data being materially different from the preliminary data we previously published. As a result, interim
and preliminary data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available. Adverse differences between preliminary
or interim data and final data could significantly harm our business prospects.
Our product candidates may cause serious adverse events
or undesirable side effects, which may delay or prevent marketing approval, or, if approved, require them to be taken off the market,
require them to include safety warnings or otherwise limit their sales.
Serious adverse events or undesirable side
effects caused by ANVS401 or any other product candidates could cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt
clinical trials and could result in a more restrictive label or the delay or denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or other
comparable foreign authorities. Results of any clinical trial we conduct could reveal a high and unacceptable severity and prevalence
of side effects or unexpected characteristics. Patients treated with ANVS401 to date, at high doses have experienced adverse events
that include nausea and vomiting.
If unacceptable side effects arise in the
development of our product candidates, we, the FDA or the IRBs at the institutions in which our studies are conducted, or the DSMB,
if constituted for our clinical trials, could recommend a suspension or termination of our clinical trials, or the FDA or comparable
foreign regulatory authorities could order us to cease further development of or deny approval of a product candidate for any or
all targeted indications. In addition, drug-related side effects could affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled patients
to complete a trial or result in potential product liability claims. In addition, these side effects may not be appropriately recognized
or managed by the treating medical staff. We expect to have to train medical personnel using our product candidates to understand
the side effect profiles for our clinical trials and upon any commercialization of any of our product candidates. Inadequate training
in recognizing or managing the potential side effects of our product candidates could result in patient injury or death. Any of
these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition and prospects significantly.
Additionally, if one or more of our product
candidates receives marketing approval, and we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by such products, a number
of potentially significant negative consequences could result, including:
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regulatory authorities may withdraw approvals of such product;
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regulatory authorities may require additional warnings on the label, such as a “black box” warning or contraindication;
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additional restrictions may be imposed on the marketing of the particular product or the manufacturing processes for the product
or any component thereof;
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we may be required to implement a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, or REMS, or create a medication guide outlining
the risks of such side effects for distribution to patients;
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we could be sued and held liable for harm caused to patients;
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the product may become less competitive; and
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our reputation may suffer.
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Any of these events could prevent us from
achieving or maintaining market acceptance of a product candidate, if approved, and could significantly harm our business, results
of operations and prospects.
The market opportunities for ANVS401, if approved, may
be smaller than we anticipate.
We expect to initially seek approval for
ANVS401 for AD, PD and AD-DS in the US. Our estimates of market potential have been derived from a variety of sources, including
scientific literature, patient foundations and market research, and may prove to be incorrect. Even if we obtain significant market
share for any product candidate, if approved, if the potential target populations are small, we may never achieve profitability
without obtaining marketing approval for additional indications.
We have never obtained marketing approval for a product
candidate and we may be unable to obtain, or may be delayed in obtaining, marketing approval for any of our product candidates.
We have never obtained marketing approval
for a product candidate. It is possible that the FDA may refuse to accept for substantive review any NDAs that we submit for our
product candidates or may conclude after review of our data that our application is insufficient to obtain marketing approval of
our product candidates. If the FDA does not accept or approve our NDAs for our product candidates, it may require that we conduct
additional clinical, preclinical or manufacturing validation studies and submit that data before it will reconsider our applications.
Depending on the extent of these or any other FDA-required studies, approval of any NDA that we submit may be delayed or may require
us to expend more resources than we have available. It is also possible that additional studies, if performed and completed, may
not be considered sufficient by the FDA to approve our NDAs.
Any delay in obtaining, or an inability
to obtain, marketing approvals would prevent us from commercializing our product candidates, generating revenues and achieving
and sustaining profitability. If any of these outcomes occur, we may be forced to abandon our development efforts for our product
candidates, which could significantly harm our business.
Even if we obtain FDA approval for ANVS401 or any other
product candidate in the United States, we may never obtain approval for or commercialize ANVS401 or any other product candidate
in any other jurisdiction, which would limit our ability to realize their full market potential.
In order to market any products in any particular
jurisdiction, we must establish and comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements on a country-by-country basis regarding
safety and efficacy. Approval by the FDA in the United States does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries
or jurisdictions. However, the failure to obtain approval in one jurisdiction may negatively impact our ability to obtain approval
elsewhere. In addition, clinical trials conducted in one country may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other countries,
and regulatory approval in one country does not guarantee regulatory approval in any other country.
Approval processes vary among countries
and can involve additional product testing and validation and additional administrative review periods. Seeking foreign regulatory
approval could result in difficulties and increased costs for us and require additional preclinical studies or clinical trials
which could be costly and time consuming. Regulatory requirements can vary widely from country to country and could delay or prevent
the introduction of our products in those countries. We do not have any product candidates approved for sale in any jurisdiction,
including in international markets, and we do not have experience in obtaining regulatory approval in international markets. If
we fail to comply with regulatory requirements in international markets or to obtain and maintain required approvals, or if regulatory
approvals in international markets are delayed, our target market will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential
of any product we develop will be unrealized.
Even if we obtain regulatory approval for ANVS401 or any
product candidate, we will still face extensive and ongoing regulatory requirements and obligations and any product candidates,
if approved, may face future development and regulatory difficulties.
Any product candidate for which we obtain
marketing approval, along with the manufacturing processes, post-approval clinical data, labeling, packaging, distribution, adverse
event reporting, storage, recordkeeping, export, import, advertising and promotional activities for such product, among other things,
will be subject to extensive and ongoing requirements of and review by the FDA and other regulatory authorities. These requirements
include submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, establishment registration and drug listing requirements,
continued compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practice, or cGMP, requirements relating to manufacturing, quality control,
quality assurance and corresponding maintenance of records and documents, requirements regarding the distribution of samples to
physicians and recordkeeping and Good Clinical Practice, or GCP, requirements for any clinical trials that we conduct post-approval.
Even if marketing approval of a product
candidate is granted, the approval may be subject to limitations on the indicated uses for which the product candidate may be marketed
or to the conditions of approval, including a requirement to implement a REMS. If any of our product candidates receive marketing
approval, the accompanying label may limit the approved indicated use of the product candidate, which could limit sales of the
product candidate. The FDA may also impose requirements for costly post-marketing studies or clinical trials and surveillance to
monitor the safety or efficacy of a product. The FDA closely regulates the post-approval marketing and promotion of drugs to ensure
drugs are marketed only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved labeling. The FDA imposes
stringent restrictions on manufacturers’ communications regarding off-label use, and if we market our products for uses beyond
their approved indications, we may be subject to enforcement action for off-label marketing. Violations of the Federal Food, Drug,
and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA, relating to the promotion of prescription drugs may lead to FDA enforcement actions and investigations
alleging violations of federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws, as well as state consumer protection laws.
In addition, later discovery of previously
unknown adverse events or other problems with our products, manufacturers or manufacturing processes or failure to comply with
regulatory requirements, may yield various results, including:
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restrictions on manufacturing such products;
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restrictions on the labeling or marketing of products;
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restrictions on product distribution or use;
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requirements to conduct post-marketing studies or clinical trials;
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warning letters or untitled letters;
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withdrawal of the products from the market;
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refusal to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications that we submit;
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fines, restitution or disgorgement of profits or revenues;
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suspension or withdrawal of marketing approvals;
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refusal to permit the import or export of our products;
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injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.
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Further, the FDA’s policies may change,
and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit or delay regulatory approval of our product candidates.
If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we
are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any marketing approval that we may have obtained, which would adversely
affect our business, prospects and ability to achieve or sustain profitability.
We also cannot predict the likelihood, nature
or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative or executive action, either in the
United States or abroad. For example, certain policies of the current presidential administration may impact our business and industry.
Namely, the current presidential administration has taken several executive actions, including the issuance of a number of Executive
Orders, that could impose significant burdens on, or otherwise materially delay, the FDA’s ability to engage in routine regulatory
and oversight activities such as implementing statutes through rulemaking, issuance of guidance, and review and approval of marketing
applications. It is difficult to predict how these executive actions will be implemented, and the extent to which they will impact
the FDA’s ability to exercise its regulatory authority. If these executive actions impose constraints on FDA’s ability
to engage in oversight and implementation activities in the normal course, our business may be negatively impacted.
We may seek a Breakthrough Therapy designation for ANVS401
from the FDA at the end of the two Phase 2a studies in AD and PD, respectively. However, we might not receive such designation,
and even if we do, such designation may not lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process.
We may seek a Breakthrough Therapy designation
for ANVS401 or one or more of our other product candidates. A Breakthrough Therapy is defined as a drug that is intended, alone
or in combination with one or more other drugs, to treat a serious condition, and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that
the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints, such
as substantial treatment effects observed early in clinical development. For drugs that have been designated as breakthrough therapies,
interaction and communication between the FDA and the sponsor of the trial can help to identify the most efficient path for clinical
development while minimizing the number of patients placed in ineffective control regimens. Drugs designated as breakthrough therapies
by the FDA may also be eligible for priority review if supported by clinical data at the time the NDA is submitted to the FDA.
Designation as a Breakthrough Therapy is
within the discretion of the FDA. Accordingly, even if we believe that one of our product candidates meets the criteria for designation
as a Breakthrough Therapy, the FDA may disagree and instead determine not to make such designation. Even if we receive Breakthrough
Therapy designation, the receipt of such designation for a product candidate may not result in a faster development or regulatory
review or approval process compared to drugs considered for approval under conventional FDA procedures and does not assure ultimate
approval by the FDA. In addition, even if one or more of our product candidates qualify as breakthrough therapies, the FDA may
later decide that the product candidates no longer meet the conditions for qualification or decide that the time period for FDA
review or approval will not be shortened.
Potential product liability lawsuits against us could
cause us to incur substantial liabilities and limit commercialization of any products that we may develop.
The use of ANVS401 or any other product
candidates we may develop in clinical trials and the sale of any products for which we obtain marketing approval exposes us to
the risk of product liability claims. Product liability claims might be brought against us by patients, healthcare providers, pharmaceutical
companies or others selling or otherwise coming into contact with our products. On occasion, large judgments have been awarded
in class action lawsuits based on drugs that had unanticipated adverse effects. If we cannot successfully defend against product
liability claims, we could incur substantial liability and costs. In addition, regardless of merit or eventual outcome, product
liability claims may result in:
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impairment of our business reputation and significant negative media attention;
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withdrawal of participants from our clinical trials;
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significant costs to defend the litigation;
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distraction of management’s attention from our primary business;
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substantial monetary awards to patients or other claimants;
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inability to commercialize ANVS401 or any other product candidate;
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product recalls, withdrawals or labeling, marketing or promotional restrictions;
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decreased market demand for any product; and
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The product liability insurance coverage
we acquire in the future may not be sufficient to reimburse us for any expenses or losses we may suffer. In connection with our
Phase 1 clinical studies, we carried insurance for product liability claims in the United States. We intend to acquire insurance
coverage to include larger clinical studies, different countries and sale of commercial products; however, we may be unable to
obtain product liability insurance on commercially reasonable terms or in adequate amounts. A successful product liability claim,
or series of claims, brought against us could cause our share price to decline and, if judgments exceed our insurance coverage,
could adversely affect the results of our operations and business, including preventing or limiting the commercialization of any
product candidates we develop.
Risks Related to Commercialization
We face significant competition from other biotechnology
and pharmaceutical companies and our operating results will suffer if we fail to compete effectively.
The biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical
industries are highly competitive and subject to significant and rapid technological change. Our success is highly dependent on
our ability to acquire, develop, and obtain marketing approval for new products on a cost-effective basis and to market them successfully.
If ANVS401 is approved, we will face intense competition from a variety of businesses, including large, fully integrated pharmaceutical
companies, specialty pharmaceutical companies and biopharmaceutical companies in the United States and other jurisdictions. These
organizations may have significantly greater resources than we do and may conduct similar research; seek patent protection; and
establish collaborative arrangements for research, development, manufacturing and marketing of products that may compete with us.
Our competitors may, among other things:
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have significantly greater name recognition, financial, manufacturing, marketing, drug development, technical, and human resources
than we do, and future mergers and acquisitions in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries may result in even more resources
being concentrated in our competitors;
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develop and commercialize products that are safer, more effective, less expensive, more convenient, or easier to administer,
or have fewer or less severe effects;
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obtain quicker regulatory approval;
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implement more effective approaches to sales and marketing; or
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form more advantageous strategic alliances.
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Smaller and other early-stage companies
may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies.
These third parties compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific and management personnel; establishing clinical
trial sites and patient registration; and in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs. Our commercial
opportunity could be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop and commercialize products that are more effective, have
fewer or less severe side effects, or are more convenient or are less expensive than ANVS401. Our competitors may also obtain FDA
or other regulatory approval for their product candidates more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ANVS401, which could result
in our competitors establishing or strengthening their market position before we are able to enter the market.
The successful commercialization of ANVS401 and any other
product candidate we develop will depend in part on the extent to which governmental authorities and health insurers establish
adequate coverage, reimbursement levels, and pricing policies. Failure to obtain or maintain coverage and adequate reimbursement
for our product candidates, if approved, could limit our ability to market those products and decrease our ability to generate
revenue.
The availability and adequacy of coverage
and reimbursement by governmental healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, private health insurers and other third-party
payors are essential for most patients to be able to afford prescription medications such as ANVS401, if approved. Our ability
to achieve acceptable levels of coverage and reimbursement for products by governmental authorities, private health insurers and
other organizations will have an effect on our ability to successfully commercialize our drug and any other product candidates
we develop. Assuming we obtain coverage for our product candidates by a third-party payor, the resulting reimbursement payment
rates may not be adequate or may require co-payments that patients find unacceptably high. We cannot be sure that coverage and
reimbursement in the United States or elsewhere will be available for our product candidates or any product that we may develop,
and any reimbursement that may become available may be decreased or eliminated in the future.
Third-party payors increasingly are challenging
prices charged for pharmaceutical products and services, and many third-party payors may refuse to provide coverage and reimbursement
for particular drugs or biologics when an equivalent generic drug, biosimilar, or a less expensive therapy is available. It is
possible that a third-party payor may consider our product candidates as substitutable and offer to reimburse patients only for
the less expensive product. Even if we show improved efficacy or improved convenience of administration with our product candidates,
pricing of existing drugs may limit the amount we will be able to charge for our product candidates. These payors may deny or revoke
the reimbursement status of a given product or establish prices for new or existing marketed products at levels that are too low
to enable us to realize an appropriate return on our investment in our product candidates. If reimbursement is not available or
is available only at limited levels, we may not be able to successfully commercialize our product candidates and may not be able
to obtain a satisfactory financial return on our product candidates.
There is significant uncertainty related
to the insurance coverage and reimbursement of newly approved products. In the United States, third-party payors, including private
and governmental payors, such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs, play an important role in determining the extent to which
new drugs and biologics will be covered. The Medicare and Medicaid programs increasingly are used as models in the United States
for how private payors and other governmental payors develop their coverage and reimbursement policies for drugs and biologics.
Some third-party payors may require pre-approval of coverage for new or innovative devices or drug therapies before they will reimburse
healthcare providers who use such therapies. It is difficult to predict at this time what third-party payors will decide with respect
to the coverage and reimbursement for our product candidates.
No uniform policy for coverage and reimbursement
for products exists among third-party payors in the United States. Therefore, coverage and reimbursement for products can differ
significantly from payor to payor. As a result, the coverage determination process is often a time-consuming and costly process
that will require us to provide scientific and clinical support for the use of our product candidates to each payor separately,
with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be applied consistently or obtained in the first instance. Furthermore,
rules and regulations regarding reimbursement change frequently, in some cases at short notice, and we believe that changes
in these rules and regulations are likely.
We may also be subject to extensive governmental
price controls and other market regulations outside of the United States, and we believe the increasing emphasis on cost-containment
initiatives in other countries have and will continue to put pressure on the pricing and usage of medical products. In many countries,
the prices of medical products are subject to varying price control mechanisms as part of national health systems. Other countries
allow companies to fix their own prices for medical products but monitor and control company profits.
Additional foreign price controls or other
changes in pricing regulation could restrict the amount that we are able to charge for our product candidates. Accordingly, in
markets outside the United States, the reimbursement for our product candidates may be reduced compared with the United States
and may be insufficient to generate commercially reasonable revenue and profits.
Moreover, increasing efforts by governmental
and third-party payors in the United States to cap or reduce healthcare costs may cause such organizations to limit both coverage
and the level of reimbursement for newly approved products and, as a result, they may not cover or provide adequate payment for
our product candidates. We expect to experience pricing pressures in connection with the sale of our product candidates due to
the trend toward managed health care, the increasing influence of health maintenance organizations and additional legislative changes.
The downward pressure on healthcare costs in general, particularly prescription drugs and biologics and surgical procedures and
other treatments, has become intense. As a result, increasingly high barriers are being erected to the entry of new products.
Even if ANVS401 or any product candidate we develop receives
marketing approval, it may fail to achieve market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors or others in the medical
community necessary for commercial success.
If ANVS401 or any product candidate we develop
receives marketing approval, it may nonetheless fail to gain sufficient market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party
payors and others in the medical community. If it does not achieve an adequate level of acceptance, we may not generate significant
product revenues or become profitable. The degree of market acceptance of our product candidates, if approved, will depend on a
number of factors, including but not limited to:
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the efficacy and potential advantages compared to alternative treatments;
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effectiveness of sales and marketing efforts;
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the cost of treatment in relation to alternative treatments, including any similar generic treatments;
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our ability to offer our products for sale at competitive prices;
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the convenience and ease of administration compared to alternative treatments;
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the willingness of the target patient population to try new therapies and of physicians to prescribe these therapies;
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the strength of marketing and distribution support;
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the availability of third-party coverage and adequate reimbursement;
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the prevalence and severity of any side effects; and
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any restrictions on the use of our product together with other medications.
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Because we expect sales of our product candidates,
if approved, to generate substantially all of our revenues for the foreseeable future, the failure of our product candidates to
find market acceptance would harm our business and could require us to seek additional financing.
If we are unable to establish sales, marketing and distribution
capabilities either on our own or in collaboration with third parties, we may not be successful in commercializing ANVS401, if
approved.
We do not have any infrastructure for the
sales, marketing or distribution of ANVS401, and the cost of establishing and maintaining such an organization may exceed the cost-effectiveness
of doing so. In order to market and successfully commercialize our drug or any product candidate we develop, if approved, we must
build our sales, distribution, marketing, managerial and other non-technical capabilities or collaborate with third parties
to perform these services. We expect to build a focused sales, distribution and marketing infrastructure to market ANVS401, if
approved, in the United States and Europe. There are significant expenses and risks involved with establishing our own sales, marketing
and distribution capabilities, including our ability to hire, retain and appropriately incentivize qualified individuals, generate
sufficient sales leads, provide adequate training to sales and marketing personnel and effectively manage a geographically dispersed
sales and marketing team. Any failure or delay in the development of our internal sales, marketing and distribution capabilities
could delay any product launch, which would adversely impact the commercialization of that product. For example, if the commercial
launch of ANVS401 for which we recruit a sales force and establish marketing capabilities is delayed or does not occur for any
reason, we would have prematurely or unnecessarily incurred these commercialization expenses. This may be costly, and our investment
would be lost if we cannot retain or reposition our sales and marketing personnel.
Factors that may inhibit our efforts to
commercialize our product candidates on our own include:
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our inability to recruit, train and retain adequate numbers of effective sales and marketing personnel;
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the inability of sales personnel to obtain access to physicians or attain adequate numbers of physicians to prescribe our products;
and
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unforeseen costs and expenses associated with creating an independent sales and marketing organization.
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We do not anticipate having the resources
in the foreseeable future to allocate to the sales and marketing of our product candidates, if approved, in certain markets overseas.
Therefore, our future success will depend, in part, on our ability to enter into and maintain collaborative relationships for such
capabilities, the collaborator’s strategic interest in a product and such collaborator’s ability to successfully market
and sell the product. We intend to pursue collaborative arrangements regarding the sale and marketing of ANVS401, if approved,
for certain markets overseas; however, we cannot assure you that we will be able to establish or maintain such collaborative arrangements,
or if able to do so, that they will have effective sales forces. To the extent that we depend on third parties for marketing and
distribution, any revenues we receive will depend upon the efforts of such third parties, and there can be no assurance that such
efforts will be successful.
If we are unable to build our own sales
force or negotiate a collaborative relationship for the commercialization of ANVS401, we may be forced to delay the potential commercialization
of the drug or reduce the scope of our sales or marketing activities. If we need to increase our expenditures to fund commercialization
activities for ANVS401 we will need to obtain additional capital, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all.
We may also have to enter into collaborative arrangements for ANVS401 at an earlier stage than otherwise would be ideal and we
may be required to relinquish rights to it or otherwise agree to terms unfavorable to us. Any of these occurrences may have an
adverse effect on our business, operating results and prospects.
If we are unable to establish adequate sales,
marketing and distribution capabilities, either on our own or in collaboration with third parties, we will not be successful in
commercializing our product candidates and may never become profitable. We will be competing with many companies that currently
have extensive and well-funded marketing and sales operations. Without an internal team or the support of a third party to perform
marketing and sales functions, we may be unable to compete successfully against these more established companies.
A variety of risks associated with operating internationally
could materially adversely affect our business.
We currently have no international operations,
but our business strategy includes potentially expanding internationally if any of our product candidates receive regulatory approval.
Doing business internationally involves a number of risks, including but not limited to:
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multiple, conflicting and changing laws and regulations, such as privacy regulations, tax laws, export and import restrictions,
employment laws, regulatory requirements and other governmental approvals, permits and licenses;
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failure by us to obtain and maintain regulatory approvals for the use of our products in various countries;
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additional potentially relevant third-party patent rights;
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complexities and difficulties in obtaining protection and enforcing our intellectual property;
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difficulties in staffing and managing foreign operations;
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complexities associated with managing multiple payor reimbursement regimes, government payors or patient self-pay systems;
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limits in our ability to penetrate international markets;
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financial risks, such as longer payment cycles, difficulty collecting accounts receivable, the impact of local and regional
financial crises on demand and payment for our products and exposure to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations;
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natural disasters, political and economic instability, including wars, terrorism and political unrest, outbreak of disease,
boycotts, curtailment of trade and other business restrictions;
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certain expenses including, among others, expenses for travel, translation and insurance; and
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regulatory and compliance risks that relate to maintaining accurate information and control over sales and activities that
may fall within the purview of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, its books and records provisions, or its anti-bribery provisions.
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Any of these factors could significantly
harm any future international expansion and operations and, consequently, our results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Dependence on Third Parties
Our employees and independent contractors, including principal
investigators, CROs, consultants, vendors, and any third parties we may engage in connection with development and commercialization,
may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements, which
could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Our employees and independent contractors,
including principal investigators, consultants, vendors and any third parties we may engage in connection with development and
commercialization of our product candidates, could engage in misconduct, including intentional, reckless or negligent conduct or
unauthorized activities that violate: the laws and regulations of the FDA or other similar regulatory requirements of other authorities,
including those laws that require the reporting of true, complete and accurate information to such authorities; manufacturing standards;
data privacy, security, fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations; or laws that require the reporting of true,
complete and accurate financial information and data. Specifically, sales, marketing and business arrangements in the healthcare
industry are subject to extensive laws and regulations intended to prevent fraud, misconduct, kickbacks, self-dealing and other
abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion,
sales commission, customer incentive programs and other business arrangements. Activities subject to these laws could also involve
the improper use or misrepresentation of information obtained in the course of clinical trials, creation of fraudulent data in
preclinical studies or clinical trials or illegal misappropriation of drug product, which could result in regulatory sanctions
and cause serious harm to our reputation. It is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct by employees and other third
parties, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged
risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to comply
with such laws or regulations. Additionally, we are subject to the risk that a person or government could allege such fraud or
other misconduct, even if none occurred. If any such actions are instituted against us and we are not successful in defending ourselves
or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business and results of operations, including the
imposition of significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, monetary fines, disgorgements, possible exclusion
from participation in Medicare, Medicaid, other U.S. federal healthcare programs or healthcare programs in other jurisdictions,
individual imprisonment, other sanctions, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, and curtailment
of our operations.
We currently rely on third-party contract manufacturing
organization (CMOs), for the production of clinical supply of ANVS401 and intend to rely on CMOs for the production of commercial
supply of ANVS401, if approved. Our dependence on CMOs may impair the development and commercialization of the drug, which would
adversely impact our business and financial position.
We have limited personnel with experience
in manufacturing, and we do not own facilities for manufacturing. Instead, we rely on and expect to continue to rely on CMOs for
the supply of cGMP grade clinical trial materials and commercial quantities of ANVS401 and any product candidates we develop, if
approved. Reliance on CMOs may expose us to more risk than if we were to manufacture our product candidates ourselves. We intend
to have manufactured a sufficient clinical supply of ANVS401 drug substance to enable us to complete our clinical trials, and we
have also engaged a CMO to provide clinical and commercial supply of the drug product.
The facilities used to manufacture our product
candidates must be inspected by the FDA and comparable foreign authorities. While we provide oversight of manufacturing activities,
we do not and will not control the execution of manufacturing activities by, and are or will be essentially dependent on, our CMOs
for compliance with cGMP requirements for the manufacture of our product candidates. As a result, we are subject to the risk that
our product candidates may have manufacturing defects that we have limited ability to prevent. If a CMO cannot successfully manufacture
material that conforms to our specifications and the regulatory requirements, we will not be able to secure or maintain regulatory
approval for the use of our product candidates in clinical trials, or for commercial distribution of our product candidates, if
approved. In addition, we have limited control over the ability of our CMOs to maintain adequate quality control, quality assurance
and qualified personnel. If the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority finds deficiencies with or does not approve these
facilities for the manufacture of our product candidates or if it withdraws any such approval or finds deficiencies in the future,
we may need to find alternative manufacturing facilities, which would delay our development program and significantly impact our
ability to develop, obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize our product candidates, if approved. In addition, any failure
to achieve and maintain compliance with these laws, regulations and standards could subject us to the risk that we may have to
suspend the manufacture of our product candidates or that obtained approvals could be revoked. Furthermore, CMOs may breach existing
agreements they have with us because of factors beyond our control. They may also terminate or refuse to renew their agreement
at a time that is costly or otherwise inconvenient for us. If we were unable to find an adequate CMO or another acceptable solution
in time, our clinical trials could be delayed, or our commercial activities could be harmed.
We rely on and will continue to rely on
CMOs to purchase from third-party suppliers the raw materials necessary to produce our product candidates. We do not and will not
have control over the process or timing of the acquisition of these raw materials by our CMOs. Moreover, we currently do not have
any agreements for the production of these raw materials. Supplies of raw material could be interrupted from time to time and we
cannot be certain that alternative supplies could be obtained within a reasonable timeframe, at an acceptable cost, or at all.
In addition, a disruption in the supply of raw materials could delay the commercial launch of our product candidates, if approved,
or result in a shortage in supply, which would impair our ability to generate revenues from the sale of our product candidates.
Growth in the costs and expenses of raw materials may also impair our ability to cost effectively manufacture our product candidates.
There are a limited number of suppliers for the raw materials that we may use to manufacture our product candidates and we may
need to assess alternative suppliers to prevent a possible disruption of the manufacture of our product candidates.
Finding new CMOs or third-party suppliers
involves additional cost and requires our management’s time and focus. In addition, there is typically a transition period
when a new CMO commences work. Although we generally have not, and do not intend to, begin a clinical trial unless we believe we
have on hand, or will be able to obtain, a sufficient supply of our product candidates to complete the clinical trial, any significant
delay in the supply of our product candidates or the raw materials needed to produce our product candidates, could considerably
delay conducting our clinical trials and potential regulatory approval of our product candidates.
As part of their manufacture of our product
candidates, our CMOs and third-party suppliers are expected to comply with and respect the proprietary rights of others. If a CMO
or third-party supplier fails to acquire the proper licenses or otherwise infringes the proprietary rights of others in the course
of providing services to us, we may have to find alternative CMOs or third-party suppliers or defend against claims of infringement,
either of which would significantly impact our ability to develop, obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize our product
candidates, if approved.
We intend to rely on third parties to conduct, supervise
and monitor our clinical trials. If those third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, or if they perform
in an unsatisfactory manner, it may harm our business.
We rely, and will continue to rely, on CROs,
CRO-contracted vendors and clinical trial sites to ensure the proper and timely conduct of our clinical trials, including our two
Phase 2 trials of ANVS401. Our reliance on CROs for clinical development activities limits our control over these activities,
but we remain responsible for ensuring that each of our trials is conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol and legal,
regulatory and scientific standards.
We and our CROs will be required to comply
with the Good Laboratory Practice requirements for our preclinical studies and GCP requirements for our clinical trials, which
are regulations and guidelines enforced by the FDA and are also required by comparable foreign regulatory authorities. Regulatory
authorities enforce GCP requirements through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, principal investigators and clinical trial
sites. If we or our CROs fail to comply with GCP requirements, the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed
unreliable and the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may require us to perform additional clinical trials before
approving our marketing applications. We cannot assure you that upon inspection by a given regulatory authority, such regulatory
authority will determine that any of our clinical trials comply with GCP requirements. In addition, our clinical trials must be
conducted with product produced under cGMP requirements. Accordingly, if our CROs fail to comply with these requirements, we may
be required to repeat clinical trials, which would delay the regulatory approval process.
Our CROs are not our employees, and we do
not control whether or not they devote sufficient time and resources to our clinical trials. Our CROs may also have relationships
with other commercial entities, including our competitors, for whom they may also be conducting clinical trials, or other drug
development activities, which could harm our competitive position. We face the risk of potential unauthorized disclosure or misappropriation
of our intellectual property by CROs, which may reduce our trade secret protection and allow our potential competitors to access
and exploit our proprietary technology. If our CROs do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or obligations, fail
to meet expected deadlines, or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is compromised due to the failure to
adhere to our clinical protocols or regulatory requirements or for any other reason, our clinical trials may be extended, delayed
or terminated, and we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for, or successfully commercialize any product candidate that
we develop. As a result, our financial results and the commercial prospects for any product candidate that we develop would be
harmed, our costs could increase, and our ability to generate revenue could be delayed.
If our relationship with any CROs terminate,
we may not be able to enter into arrangements with alternative CROs or do so on commercially reasonable terms. Switching or adding
additional CROs involves substantial cost and requires management’s time and focus. In addition, there is a natural transition
period when a new CRO commences work. As a result, delays occur, which can materially impact our ability to meet our desired clinical
development timelines. Though we intend to carefully manage our relationships with our CROs, there can be no assurance that we
will not encounter challenges or delays in the future or that these delays or challenges will not have an adverse impact on our
business, financial condition and prospects.
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the number and type of our collaborations could adversely affect our attractiveness to future collaborators or acquirers; and
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the loss of, or a disruption in our relationship with, any one or more collaborators could harm our business.
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If any collaborations do not result in the
successful development and commercialization of products or if one of our collaborators terminates its agreement with us, we may
not receive any future research and development funding or milestone or royalty payments under such collaborations. If we do not
receive the funding we expect under these agreements, our continued development of our product candidates could be delayed, and
we may need additional resources to develop additional product candidates. All of the risks relating to product development, regulatory
approval and commercialization described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K also apply to the activities of any collaborators
and there can be no assurance that our collaborations will produce positive results or successful products on a timely basis or
at all.
In addition, subject to its contractual
obligations to us, if one of our collaborators is involved in a business combination or otherwise changes its business priorities,
the collaborator might deemphasize or terminate the development or commercialization of our product candidates. If a collaborator
terminates its agreement with us, we may find it more difficult to attract new collaborators and the perception of our business
and our stock price could be adversely affected.
We may in the future collaborate with additional
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for development and potential commercialization of therapeutic products. We face significant
competition in seeking appropriate collaborators. Our ability to reach a definitive agreement for a collaboration will depend,
among other things, upon our assessment of the collaborator’s resources and expertise, the terms and conditions of the proposed
collaboration and the proposed collaborator’s evaluation of a number of factors. If we are unable to reach agreements with
suitable collaborators on a timely basis, on acceptable terms, or at all, we may have to curtail the development of a product candidate,
reduce or delay its development program or one or more of our other development programs, delay its potential commercialization
or reduce the scope of any sales or marketing activities, or increase our expenditures and undertake development or commercialization
activities at our own expense. If we elect to fund and undertake development or commercialization activities on our own, we may
need to obtain additional expertise and additional capital, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If
we fail to enter into collaborations and do not have sufficient funds or expertise to undertake the necessary development and commercialization
activities, we may not be able to further develop our product candidates or bring them to market or continue to develop our programs,
and our business may be materially and adversely affected.
Risks Related to Healthcare Laws and Other Legal Compliance
Matters
Enacted and future healthcare legislation may increase
the difficulty and cost for us to obtain marketing approval of and commercialize our product candidates, if approved, and may affect
the prices we may set.
In the United States and other jurisdictions,
there have been, and we expect there will continue to be, a number of legislative and regulatory changes and proposed changes to
the healthcare system that could affect our future results of operations. In particular, there have been and continue to be a number
of initiatives at the U.S. federal and state levels that seek to reduce healthcare costs and improve the quality of healthcare.
For example, in March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation
Act, or collectively the ACA, was enacted, which substantially changed the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and
private insurers. Among the provisions of the ACA, those of greatest importance to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries
include the following:
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an annual, non-deductible fee payable by any entity that manufactures or imports certain branded prescription drugs and biologic
agents (other than those designated as orphan drugs), which is apportioned among these entities according to their market share
in certain government healthcare programs;
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a new Medicare Part D coverage gap discount program, in which manufacturers must agree to offer point-of-sale discounts
off negotiated prices of applicable brand drugs to eligible beneficiaries during their coverage gap period, as a condition for
the manufacturer’s outpatient drugs to be covered under Medicare Part D;
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new requirements to report certain financial arrangements with physicians and teaching hospitals, including reporting “transfers
of value” made or distributed to prescribers and other healthcare providers and reporting investment interests held by physicians
and their immediate family members;
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an increase in the statutory minimum rebates a manufacturer must pay under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program;
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a new methodology by which rebates owed by manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program are calculated for drugs and
biologics that are inhaled, infused, instilled, implanted, or injected;
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extension of a manufacturer’s Medicaid rebate liability to covered drugs dispensed to individuals who are enrolled in
Medicaid managed care organizations;
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expansion of eligibility criteria for Medicaid programs thereby potentially increasing a manufacturer’s Medicaid rebate
liability;
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a new Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to oversee, identify priorities in, and conduct comparative clinical effectiveness
research, along with funding for such research;
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establishment of a Center for Medicare Innovation at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, to test
innovative payment and service delivery models to lower Medicare and Medicaid spending, potentially including prescription drug
spending;
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expansion of the entities eligible for discounts under the Public Health Service program; and
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a licensure framework for follow on biologic products.
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Since its enactment, there have been judicial
and Congressional challenges to certain aspects of the ACA, and we expect there will be additional challenges and amendments to
the ACA in the future. The current presidential administration and Congress will likely continue to seek to modify, repeal, or
otherwise invalidate all, or certain provisions of, the ACA. This includes enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which, among
other things, removes penalties for not complying with the ACA’s individual mandate to carry health insurance. It is uncertain
the extent to which any such changes may impact our business or financial condition.
Other legislative changes have been proposed
and adopted in the United States since the ACA was enacted. For example, the Budget Control Act of 2011, resulted in aggregate
reductions of Medicare payments to providers of 2% per fiscal year. These reductions went into effect in April 2013 and, due
to subsequent legislative amendments to the statute, will remain in effect through 2027 unless additional action is taken by Congress.
In January 2013, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 was signed into law, which, among other things, further reduced
Medicare payments to several types of providers, including hospitals, imaging centers and cancer treatment centers, and increased
the statute of limitations period for the government to recover overpayments to providers from three to five years. Additionally,
the orphan drug tax credit was reduced as part of a broader tax reform. These new laws or any other similar laws introduced in
the future may result in additional reductions in Medicare and other health care funding, which could negatively affect our customers
and accordingly, our financial operations.
In addition, there has been increasing legislative
and enforcement interest in the United States with respect to specialty drug pricing practices. Specifically, there have been Congressional
inquiries and proposed federal and state legislation designed to bring more transparency to drug pricing, reduce the cost of prescription
drugs under Medicare, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs and reform government program reimbursement
methodologies for drugs. Moreover, payment methodologies may be subject to changes in healthcare legislation and regulatory initiatives.
We expect that additional U.S. federal healthcare reform measures will be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts
that the U.S. federal government will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand for our product
candidates or additional pricing pressures.
Individual states in the United States have
also become increasingly aggressive in passing legislation and implementing regulations designed to control pharmaceutical and
biological product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access
and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and, in some cases, designed to encourage importation from other countries
and bulk purchasing. Legally mandated price controls on payment amounts by third-party payors or other restrictions could harm
our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects. In addition, regional healthcare authorities and individual
hospitals are increasingly using bidding procedures to determine what pharmaceutical products and which suppliers will be included
in their prescription drug and other healthcare programs. This could reduce the ultimate demand for our product candidates or put
pressure on our product pricing.
In markets outside of the United States,
reimbursement and healthcare payment systems vary significantly by country, and many countries have instituted price ceilings on
specific products and therapies. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature, or extent of government regulation that may arise from
future legislation or administrative action in the United States or any other jurisdiction. If we or any third parties we may engage
are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we or such
third parties are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, our product candidates may lose any regulatory approval that may
have been obtained and we may not achieve or sustain profitability.
Our business operations and current and future relationships
with investigators, healthcare professionals, consultants, third-party payors, patient organizations, and customers will be subject
to applicable healthcare regulatory laws, which could expose us to penalties.
Our business operations and current and
future arrangements with investigators, healthcare professionals, consultants, third-party payors, patient organizations, and customers,
may expose us to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations. These laws may constrain the business
or financial arrangements and relationships through which we conduct our operations, including how we research, market, sell and
distribute our product candidates, if approved. Such laws include:
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the U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits, among other things, persons or entities from knowingly and willfully
soliciting, offering, receiving, or providing any remuneration (including any kickback, bribe, or certain rebate), directly or
indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind, to induce or reward, or in return for, either the referral of an individual
for, or the purchase, lease, order, or recommendation of, any good, facility, item, or service, for which payment may be made,
in whole or in part, under U.S. federal and state healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. A person or entity does not
need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation. The U.S.
federal Anti-Kickback Statute has been interpreted to apply to arrangements between pharmaceutical manufacturers on the one hand
and prescribers, purchasers and formulary managers on the other hand;
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the U.S. federal false claims and civil monetary penalties laws, including the civil False Claims Act, or FCA, which, among
other things, impose criminal and civil penalties, including through civil whistleblower or qui tam actions, against individuals
or entities for knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, to the U.S. federal government, claims for payment or approval
that are false or fraudulent, knowingly making, using or causing to be made or used, a false record or statement material to a
false or fraudulent claim, or from knowingly making a false statement to avoid, decrease or conceal an obligation to pay money
to the U.S. federal government. In addition, the government may assert that a claim including items and services resulting from
a violation of the U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the FCA. A claim
includes “any request or demand” for money or property presented to the federal government. In addition, manufacturers
can be held liable under the FCA even when they do not submit claims directly to government payors if they are deemed to “cause”
the submission of false or fraudulent claims;
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the U.S. federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, which imposes criminal and civil liability
for, among other things, knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit
program or obtain, by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, any of the money or property owned
by, or under the custody or control of, any healthcare benefit program, regardless of the payor (e.g., public or private)
and knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false statement, in
connection with the delivery of, or payment for, healthcare benefits, items or services. Similar to the U.S. federal Anti-Kickback
Statute, a person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to
have committed a violation;
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HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009, or HITECH, and their respective
implementing regulations, which impose, among other things, specified requirements relating to the privacy, security and transmission
of individually identifiable health information without appropriate authorization by covered entities subject to the rule, such
as health plans, healthcare clearinghouses and healthcare providers as well as their business associates that perform certain services
involving the use or disclosure of individually identifiable health information. HITECH also created new tiers of civil monetary
penalties, amended HIPAA to make civil and criminal penalties directly applicable to business associates and gave state attorneys
general new authority to file civil actions for damages or injunctions in federal courts to enforce the federal HIPAA laws and
seek attorneys’ fees and costs associated with pursuing federal civil actions;
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the FDCA, which prohibits, among other things, the adulteration or misbranding of drugs, biologics and medical devices;
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the U.S. federal legislation commonly referred to as the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, enacted as part of the ACA, and its
implementing regulations, which requires certain manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics, and medical supplies that are reimbursable
under Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program to report annually to the government information related
to certain payments and other transfers of value to physicians and teaching hospitals, as well as ownership and investment interests
held by the physicians described above and their immediate family members; and
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analogous U.S. state laws and regulations, including: state anti-kickback and false claims laws, which may apply to our business
practices, including but not limited to, research, distribution, sales, and marketing arrangements and claims involving healthcare
items or services reimbursed by any third-party payor, including private insurers; state laws that require pharmaceutical companies
to comply with the pharmaceutical industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated
by the U.S. federal government, or otherwise restrict payments that may be made to healthcare providers and other potential referral
sources; state laws and regulations that require drug manufacturers to file reports relating to pricing and marketing information,
which requires tracking gifts and other remuneration and items of value provided to healthcare professionals and entities; and
state laws governing the privacy and security of health information in certain circumstances, many of which differ from each other
in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts.
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Because of the breadth of these laws and
the narrowness of the statutory exceptions and regulatory safe harbors available under such laws, it is possible that some of our
business activities, including our consulting agreements and other relationships with physicians and other healthcare providers,
some of whom receive stock or stock options as compensation for their services, could be subject to challenge under one or more
of such laws. Ensuring that our current and future internal operations and business arrangements with third parties comply with
applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. It is possible that governmental authorities will conclude
that our business practices do not comply with current or future statutes, regulations, agency guidance or case law involving applicable
fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations.
If our operations are found to be in violation
of any of the laws described above or any other governmental laws and regulations that may apply to us, we may be subject to the
imposition of civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, disgorgement, monetary fines, possible exclusion from participation
in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs, individual imprisonment, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished
profits and future earnings, additional reporting requirements or oversight if we become subject to a corporate integrity agreement
or similar agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with these laws, and curtailment or restructuring of our operations,
any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations. If any of the physicians
or other providers or entities with whom we expect to do business are found to not be in compliance with applicable laws, they
may be subject to criminal, civil or administrative sanctions, including exclusions from government funded healthcare programs
and imprisonment, which could affect our ability to operate our business. Further, defending against any such actions can be costly,
time-consuming and may require significant personnel resources. Therefore, even if we are successful in defending against any such
actions that may be brought against us, our business may be impaired.
Any clinical trial programs we conduct or research collaborations
we enter into in the European Economic Area may subject us to the General Data Protection Regulation.
If we conduct clinical trial programs or
enter into research collaborations in the European Economic Area, we may be subject to the General Data Protection regulation,
or GDPR. The GDPR applies extraterritorially and implements stringent operational requirements for processors and controllers of
personal data, including, for example, high standards for obtaining consent from individuals to process their personal data, robust
disclosures to individuals, a comprehensive individual data rights regime, data export restrictions governing transfers of data
from the European Union, or EU, to other jurisdictions, short timelines for data breach notifications, limitations on retention
of information, increased requirements pertaining to health data, other special categories of personal data and coded data and
additional obligations if we contract third-party processors in connection with the processing of personal data. The GDPR provides
that EU member states may establish their own laws and regulations limiting the processing of personal data, including genetic,
biometric or health data, which could limit our ability to use and share personal data or could cause our costs to increase. If
our or our partners’ or service providers’ privacy or data security measures fail to comply with the GDPR requirements,
we may be subject to litigation, regulatory investigations, enforcement notices requiring us to change the way we use personal
data and/or fines of up to 20 million Euros or up to 4% of the total worldwide annual turnover of the preceding financial
year, whichever is higher, as well as compensation claims by affected individuals, negative publicity, reputational harm and a
potential loss of business and goodwill.
We are subject to environmental, health and safety laws
and regulations, and we may become exposed to liability and substantial expenses in connection with environmental compliance or
remediation activities.
Our operations, including our development,
testing and manufacturing activities, are subject to numerous environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. These laws
and regulations govern, among other things, the controlled use, handling, release and disposal of and the maintenance of a registry
for, hazardous materials and biological materials, such as chemical solvents, human cells, carcinogenic compounds, mutagenic compounds
and compounds that have a toxic effect on reproduction, laboratory procedures and exposure to blood-borne pathogens. If we fail
to comply with such laws and regulations, we could be subject to fines or other sanctions.
As with other companies engaged in activities
similar to ours, we face a risk of environmental liability inherent in our current and historical activities, including liability
relating to releases of or exposure to hazardous or biological materials. Environmental, health and safety laws and regulations
are becoming more stringent. We may be required to incur substantial expenses in connection with future environmental compliance
or remediation activities, in which case, the production efforts of our third-party manufacturers or our development efforts may
be interrupted or delayed.
Recent U.S. tax legislation may materially adversely affect
our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Recently-enacted U.S. tax legislation has
significantly changed the U.S. federal income taxation of U.S. corporations, including by reducing the U.S. corporate income tax
rate, limiting interest deductions, and revising the rules governing NOLs. Many of these changes are effective immediately,
without any transition periods or grandfathering for existing transactions. The legislation is unclear in many respects and could
be subject to potential amendments and technical corrections, as well as interpretations and implementing regulations by the Treasury
and Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS, any of which could lessen or increase certain adverse impacts of the legislation. In
addition, it is unclear how these U.S. federal income tax changes will affect state and local taxation, which often uses federal
taxable income as a starting point for computing state and local tax liabilities.
The reduction of the corporate tax rate
under the legislation may cause a reduction in the economic benefit of our NOLs and other deferred tax assets available to us.
Furthermore, under the legislation, although the treatment of tax losses generated before December 31, 2017 has generally
not changed, tax losses generated in calendar year 2018 and beyond will only be able to offset 80% of taxable income. This change
may require us to pay federal income taxes in future years despite generating a loss for federal income tax purposes in prior years.
While some of the changes made by the tax
legislation may adversely affect us in one or more reporting periods and prospectively, other changes may be beneficial on a going-forward
basis. We intend to work with our tax advisors and auditors to determine the full impact that the recent tax legislation as a whole
will have on us. We urge our investors to consult with their legal and tax advisors with respect to such legislation.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property
If we fail to comply with our obligations under our existing
intellectual property license, we risk losing the rights to the seminal composition of matter patent.
We rely upon patents and proprietary technology,
currently co-owned by a subsidiary of Horizon Therapeutics, PLC and the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) to develop ANVS401.
We have an exclusive worldwide license, subject to standard reservation of rights under federal law, to ANVS401 for its composition
of matter, its use in AD and dementia, its manufacture and its use in Down syndrome, which allows us to develop and commercialize
ANVS401 for those indications. The agreement allows us to either pay license fees and royalties on sales to develop and sell ANVS401
or to exercise an option to buy the rights out and own the rights to the compound outright. If we do not fulfill the terms of the
license, Horizon may offer these patents to other parties and we will lose the right to develop and commercialize ANVS401. If we
do not exercise our option to buy the rights out or our right to terminate the agreement, the term of the agreement will continue
until the expiration of our obligation to make royalty payments. Such royalty payments continue for each product in each country
until the later of the expiration of the related patent or 10 years after the initial sale of the product in the respective
country. The agreement may also be terminated for cause by either party upon the breach of the material obligations of the other
party or the bankruptcy or liquidation of the other party.
If we are unable to maintain patent protection for our
technology licensed from Horizon or if the scope of the patent protection obtained is not sufficiently broad, we may not be able
to compete effectively in our markets.
We rely upon a combination of patents, trade
secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect the intellectual property related to our drug development programs
and product candidates. Our success depends in large part on our ability to obtain, maintain and defend patent protection in the
United States and other countries with respect to ANVS401 and any future product candidates. The patent prosecution process is
expensive and time-consuming, and we may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a
reasonable cost or in a timely manner. The world-wide exclusive license we have with Horizon comprises the patents co-owned by
Horizon and the PHS. The patents have expiration dates between 2021 and 2026.
If we are unable to obtain additional patent protection
for the applications filed by Annovis to prolong the patent life of our compounds, we may not be able to continue development of
our compounds.
We seek to protect and prolong our proprietary
position by filing patent applications in the United States and abroad related to our development programs and product candidates.
If the patent applications we own with respect to our development programs and product candidates fail to issue, if their breadth
or strength of protection is threatened, or if they fail to provide meaningful exclusivity for ANVS401 or any future product candidate,
it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us to develop product candidates, and threaten our ability to commercialize
future product candidates. Any such outcome could have a materially adverse effect on our business and our company could cease
to exist.
Annovis has filed three families of patent
applications to prolong the patent life of ANVS401. Unless these applications are approved by the U.S. and international patent
offices, the patent life of using ANVS401 is limited. The first patent application family we filed, which would be expected to
expire in 2031, covers the use of ANVS401 at much lower doses and expands its use to the treatment of AD, PD and other neurodegenerative
disorders such as Huntington’s disease, prion diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, tauopathies and frontotemporal dementia,
based on our preclinical research. In August 2019, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Patent No. US 10,383,851,
the first of our Annovis patents from this family covering Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body diseases. The second patent
application family covers ANVS405’s use in acute brain and nerve trauma and would be expected to expire in 2036, before any
patent term adjustments or extensions. The third patent application family relates to the use of the mechanism of action of ANVS401
and ANVS405 to prevent and treat neurodegenerative diseases and would be expected to expire in 2038, before any patent term adjustments
or extensions.
While the issuance of our new patent gives
us some comfort that the patent life relating to methods of using ANVS401 may be prolonged to 2031, the fact that only a portion
of the family claims has so far been allowed could result in very limited patent coverage as the patent claims issued thus far
are limited to treating PD and Lewy body diseases. It is possible that we will fail to identify further patentable aspects of our
research and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection. The patent applications that we own may fail
to result in issued patents with claims that provide further coverage of ANVS401 or any other product candidate in the United States
or in other foreign countries.
Our patents may be challenged in courts or in patent offices
which could result in the invalidation, narrowing or unenforceability of our patents and our patent portfolio may not provide us
with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours.
There is no assurance that all the potentially
relevant prior art relating to our patents and patent applications has been found, which can invalidate a patent or prevent a patent
from issuing from a pending patent application. Even if patents do successfully issue and even if such patents further cover ANVS401
or any future product candidate, third parties may challenge their validity, enforceability or scope, which may result in such
patents being narrowed, invalidated, or held unenforceable. Any successful opposition to these patents or any other patents owned
by or licensed to us could deprive us of rights necessary for the successful commercialization of any product candidates that we
may develop. Further, if we encounter delays in regulatory approvals, the period during which we could market a product candidate
under patent protection could be reduced.
The patent position of biotechnology and
pharmaceutical companies generally is highly uncertain, involves complex legal and factual questions and has in recent years been
the subject of much litigation. In addition, the laws of foreign countries may not protect our rights to the same extent as the
laws of the United States. For example, European patent law restricts the patentability of methods of treatment of the human body
more than U.S. law does. However, in certain instances, the laws of the United States are more restrictive than those of foreign
countries. For example, a recent series of Supreme Court Cases has narrowed the types of subject matter considered eligible for
patenting. Accordingly, certain diagnostic methods are considered ineligible for patenting because they are directed to a “law
of nature.” Further, publications of discoveries in scientific literature often lag the actual discoveries, and patent applications
in the United States and other jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after filing, or in some cases not
at all. Therefore, we cannot know with certainty whether we were the first to make the inventions claimed in our owned or licensed
patents or pending patent applications, or that we were the first to file for patent protection of such inventions. As a result,
the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of our patent rights are highly uncertain. Our pending and future
patent applications may not result in patents being issued which protect our technology or products, in whole or in part, or which
effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive technologies and products. Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation
of the patent laws in the United States and other countries may diminish the value of our patents or narrow the scope of our patent
protection.
The issuance of a patent is not conclusive
as to its inventorship, scope, validity or enforceability, and our owned and licensed patents may be challenged in the courts or
patent offices in the United States and abroad. Such challenges may result in patent claims being narrowed, invalidated, held unenforceable,
in whole or in part, or reduced in term. Such a result could limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar
or identical technology and products. Moreover, patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States, the natural expiration of
a patent is generally 20 years after it is filed. While various extensions may be available, the life of a patent is limited.
Without patent protection for our current or future product candidates, we may be open to competition from generic versions of
such products. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates,
patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized. As a result, our owned
and licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar
or identical to ours.
We may become subject to third parties’ claims alleging
infringement of their patents and proprietary rights, or we may need to become involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents,
which could be costly, time consuming, delay or prevent the development and commercialization of our product candidates or put
our patents and other proprietary rights at risk.
Our commercial success depends, in part,
upon our ability to develop, manufacture, market and sell our product candidates without alleged or actual infringement, misappropriation
or other violation of the patents and proprietary rights of third parties. Litigation relating to infringement or misappropriation
of patent and other intellectual property rights in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries is common, including patent
infringement lawsuits, interferences, oppositions and reexamination proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or
USPTO, and corresponding foreign patent offices. The various markets in which we plan to operate are subject to frequent and extensive
litigation regarding patents and other intellectual property rights. In addition, many companies in intellectual property-dependent
industries, including the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, have employed intellectual property litigation as a means
to gain an advantage over their competitors. Numerous U.S., EU and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications, which
are owned by third parties, exist in the fields in which we are developing product candidates. Some claimants may have substantially
greater resources than we do and may be able to sustain the costs of complex intellectual property litigation to a greater degree
and for longer periods of time than we could. In addition, patent holding companies that focus solely on extracting royalties and
settlements by enforcing patent rights may target us. As the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries expand and more patents
are issued, the risk increases that our product candidates may be subject to claims of infringement of the intellectual property
rights of third parties.
We may be subject to third-party claims
including infringement, interference or derivation proceedings, post-grant review and inter partes review before the USPTO
or similar adversarial proceedings or litigation in other jurisdictions. Even if we believe third party infringement claims are
without merit, a court of competent jurisdiction could hold that these third-party patents are valid, enforceable and infringed,
and the holders of any such patents may be able to block our ability to commercialize the applicable product candidate unless we
obtained a license under the applicable patents, or until such patents expire or are finally determined to be invalid or unenforceable.
Proceedings challenging our patents or those that we license may also result in our patent claims being invalidated or narrowed
in scope. Similarly, if our patents or patent applications are challenged during interference or derivation proceedings, a court
may hold that a third-party is entitled to certain patent ownership rights instead of us. Further, if any third-party patents were
held by a court of competent jurisdiction to cover aspects of our compositions, formulations, methods of manufacture, or methods
of treatment, prevention or use, the holders of any such patents may be able to block our ability to develop and commercialize
the applicable product candidate unless we obtained a license or until such patent expires or is finally determined to be invalid
or unenforceable. In addition, defending such claims would cause us to incur substantial expenses and, if successful, could cause
us to pay substantial damages, if we are found to be infringing a third party’s patent rights. If we are found to have infringed
such rights willfully, the damages may be enhanced and may include attorneys’ fees. Further, if a patent infringement suit
is brought against us or our third-party service providers, our development, manufacturing or sales activities relating to the
product or product candidate that is the subject of the suit may be delayed or terminated. As a result of patent infringement claims,
or in order to avoid potential infringement claims, we may choose to seek, or be required to seek, a license from the third party,
which may require us to pay license fees or royalties or both. These licenses may not be available on acceptable terms, or at all.
Even if a license can be obtained on acceptable terms, the rights may be nonexclusive, which could give our competitors access
to the same intellectual property rights. If we are unable to enter into a license on acceptable terms, we could be prevented from
commercializing one or more of our product candidates, forced to modify such product candidates, or to cease some aspect of our
business operations, which could harm our business significantly. Modifying our product candidates to design around third-party
intellectual property rights may result in significant cost or delay to us and could prove to be technically infeasible. Any of
these events, even if we were ultimately to prevail, could require us to divert substantial financial and management resources
that we would otherwise be able to devote to our business. In addition, if the breadth or strength of protection provided the patents
and patent applications we own or in-license is threatened, it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us to license,
develop or commercialize current or future product candidates.
If we were to initiate legal proceedings
against a third party to enforce a patent covering one of our product candidates, the defendant could counterclaim that our patent
is invalid or unenforceable. In patent litigation in the United States and in Europe, defendant counterclaims alleging invalidity
or unenforceability are commonplace. Grounds for a validity challenge could be an alleged failure to meet any of several statutory
requirements, for example, lack of eligibility, lack of novelty, obviousness or non-enablement. Third parties might allege unenforceability
of our patents because someone connected with prosecution of the patent withheld relevant information, or made a misleading statement,
during prosecution. The outcome of proceedings involving assertions of invalidity and unenforceability during patent litigation
is unpredictable. With respect to the validity of patents, for example, we cannot be certain that there is no invalidating prior
art of which we and the patent examiner were unaware during prosecution. If a defendant were to prevail on a legal assertion of
invalidity or unenforceability, we would lose at least part, and perhaps all, of the patent protection on our product candidates.
Furthermore, our patents and other intellectual property rights also will not protect our technology if competitors design around
our protected technology without infringing on our patents or other intellectual property rights.
Furthermore, because of the substantial
amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential
information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation. There could also be public announcements of the
results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments. If securities analysts or investors view these announcements
in a negative light, the price of our common stock could be adversely affected.
Finally, even if resolved in our favor,
litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property claims may cause us to incur significant expenses and could
distract our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. In addition, there could be public announcements
of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments and if securities analysts or investors view these
announcements in a negative light, the price of our common stock could be adversely affected. Such litigation or proceedings could
substantially increase our operating losses and reduce our resources available for development activities. We may not have sufficient
financial or other resources to adequately conduct such litigation or proceedings. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain
the costs of such litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can because of their substantially greater financial resources.
Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could have an adverse effect
on our ability to compete in the marketplace.
We may not identify relevant third-party patents or may
incorrectly interpret the relevance, scope or expiration of a third-party patent, which might adversely affect our ability to develop,
manufacture and market our product candidates.
We cannot guarantee that any of our or our
licensors’ patent searches or analyses, including but not limited to the identification of relevant patents, the scope of
patent claims or the expiration of relevant patents, are complete or thorough, nor can we be certain that we have identified each
and every third-party patent and pending application in the United States, Europe and elsewhere that is relevant to or necessary
for the commercialization of our product candidates in any jurisdiction. For example, in the United States, applications filed
before November 29, 2000 and certain applications filed after that date that will not be filed outside the United States remain
confidential until patents issue. Patent applications in the United States, EU and elsewhere are published approximately 18 months
after the earliest filing for which priority is claimed, with such earliest filing date being commonly referred to as the priority
date. Therefore, patent applications covering our future product candidates, or their manufacture or use may currently be unpublished.
Additionally, pending patent applications that have been published can, subject to certain limitations, be later amended in a manner
that could cover our product candidates or the use of our product candidates. The scope of a patent claim is determined by an interpretation
of the law, the written disclosure in a patent and the patent’s prosecution history. Our interpretation of the relevance
or the scope of a patent or a pending application may be incorrect, which may negatively impact our ability to market our product
candidates. We may incorrectly determine that our product candidates are not covered by a third-party patent or may incorrectly
predict whether a third party’s pending application will issue with claims of relevant scope. Our determination of the expiration
date of any patent in the United States, the EU or elsewhere that we consider relevant may be incorrect, which may negatively impact
our ability to develop and market our product candidates. Our failure to identify and correctly interpret relevant patents may
negatively impact our ability to develop and market our product candidates.
From time to time we may identify patents
or applications in the same general area as our products and product candidates. We may determine these third-party patents are
irrelevant to our business based on various factors including our interpretation of the scope of the patent claims and our interpretation
of when the patent expires. If the patents are asserted against us, however, a court may disagree with our determinations. Further,
while we may determine that the scope of claims that will issue from a patent application does not present a risk, it is difficult
to accurately predict the scope of claims that will issue from a patent application, our determination may be incorrect, and the
issuing patent may be asserted against us. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to successfully settle or otherwise resolve
such infringement claims. If we fail in any such dispute, in addition to being forced to pay monetary damages, we may be temporarily
or permanently prohibited from commercializing our product candidates. We might, if possible, also be forced to redesign our product
candidates so that we no longer infringe on the third-party intellectual property rights. Any of these events, even if we were
ultimately to prevail, could require us to divert substantial financial and management resources that we would otherwise be able
to devote to our business.
Changes in patent laws or patent jurisprudence could diminish
the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our product candidates.
As is the case with other biopharmaceutical
and pharmaceutical companies, our success is heavily dependent on intellectual property, particularly patents. Obtaining and enforcing
patents in the biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical industries involve both technological complexity and legal complexity. Therefore,
obtaining and enforcing biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical patents is costly, time-consuming and inherently uncertain. In addition,
the America Invents Act (AIA) which was passed in September 2011, resulted in significant changes to the U.S. patent system.
An important change introduced by the AIA
is that, as of March 16, 2013, the United States transitioned to a “first-to-file” system for deciding which party
should be granted a patent when two or more patent applications are filed by different parties claiming the same invention. A third
party that files a patent application in the USPTO after that date but before us could therefore be awarded a patent covering
an invention of ours even if we made the invention before it was made by the third party. This will require us to be cognizant
going forward of the time from invention to filing of a patent application, but circumstances could prevent us from promptly filing
patent applications on our inventions.
Among some of the other changes introduced
by the AIA are changes that limit where a patentee may file a patent infringement suit and provide opportunities for third
parties to challenge any issued patent with the USPTO. This applies to all of our U.S. patents, even those issued before March 16,
2013. Because of a lower evidentiary standard in USPTO proceedings compared to the evidentiary standard in U.S. federal courts
necessary to invalidate a patent claim, a third party could potentially provide evidence in a USPTO proceeding sufficient for the
USPTO to hold a claim invalid even though the same evidence would be insufficient to invalidate the claim if first presented in
a district court action.
Accordingly, a third party may attempt to
use the USPTO procedures to invalidate our patent claims that would not have been invalidated if first challenged by the third
party as a defendant in a district court action. It is not clear what, if any, impact the AIA will have on the operation of our
business. However, the AIA and its implementation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our
or our licensors’ patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our or our licensors’ issued patents.
Additionally, the U.S. Supreme Court has
ruled on several patent cases in recent years either narrowing the scope of patent protection available in certain circumstances
or weakening the rights of patent owners in certain situations. In addition to increasing uncertainty with regard to our ability
to obtain patents in the future, this combination of events has created uncertainty with respect to the value of patents, once
obtained. Depending on decisions by Congress, the federal courts and the USPTO, the laws and regulations governing patents could
change in unpredictable ways that could weaken our ability to obtain new patents or to enforce our existing patents and patents
that we might obtain in the future. Similarly, the complexity and uncertainty of European patent laws has also increased in recent
years. In addition, the European patent system is relatively stringent in the type of amendments that are allowed during prosecution.
Complying with these laws and regulations could limit our ability to obtain new patents in the future that may be important for
our business.
Obtaining and maintaining our patent protection depends
on compliance with various procedural, document submission, fee payment and other requirements imposed by governmental patent agencies,
and our patent protection could be reduced or eliminated for non-compliance with these requirements.
Periodic maintenance and annuity fees on
any issued patent are due to be paid to the USPTO and European and other patent agencies over the lifetime of a patent. In addition,
the USPTO and European and other patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other
similar provisions during the patent application process. While an inadvertent failure to make payment of such fees or to comply
with such provisions can in many cases be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules,
there are situations in which such noncompliance will result in the abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, and
the partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. Non-compliance events that could result in abandonment
or lapse of a patent or patent application include failure to respond to official actions within prescribed time limits, non-payment
of fees and failure to properly legalize and submit formal documents within prescribed time limits. If we or our licensors fail
to maintain the patents and patent applications covering our product candidates or if we or our licensors otherwise allow our patents
or patent applications to be abandoned or lapse, our competitors might be able to enter the market, which would hurt our competitive
position and could impair our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates in any indication for which they are
approved.
We enjoy only limited geographical protection with respect
to certain patents and we may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world.
Filing, prosecuting and defending patents
covering our product candidates in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive. Competitors may use our
and our licensors’ technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop their own products
and, further, may export otherwise infringing products to territories where we and our licensors have patent protection, but enforcement
is not as strong as that in the United States or the EU. These products may compete with our product candidates, and our and our
licensors’ patents or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from competing.
In addition, we may decide to abandon national
and regional patent applications before grant. The grant proceeding of each national or regional patent is an independent proceeding
which may lead to situations in which applications might in some jurisdictions be refused by the relevant patent offices, while
granted by others. For example, unlike other countries, China has a heightened requirement for patentability, and specifically
requires a detailed description of medical uses of a claimed drug. Furthermore, generic drug manufacturers or other competitors
may challenge the scope, validity or enforceability of our or our licensors’ patents, requiring us or our licensors to engage
in complex, lengthy and costly litigation or other proceedings. Generic drug manufacturers may develop, seek approval for and launch
generic versions of our products. It is also quite common that depending on the country, the scope of patent protection may vary
for the same product candidate or technology.
The laws of some jurisdictions do not protect
intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws or rules and regulations in the United States and the EU, and
many companies have encountered significant difficulties in protecting and defending such rights in such jurisdictions. The legal
systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents, trade secrets
and other intellectual property protection, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents or marketing
of competing products in violation of our proprietary rights generally. Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in other jurisdictions,
whether or not successful, could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business,
could put our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and our patent applications at risk of not issuing,
and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate, and the damages
or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property
rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop
or license. Furthermore, while we intend to protect our intellectual property rights in our expected significant markets, we cannot
ensure that we will be able to initiate or maintain similar efforts in all jurisdictions in which we may wish to market our product
candidates. Accordingly, our efforts to protect our intellectual property rights in such countries may be inadequate, which may
have an adverse effect on our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates in all of our expected significant foreign
markets. If we or our licensors encounter difficulties in protecting, or are otherwise precluded from effectively protecting, the
intellectual property rights important for our business in such jurisdictions, the value of these rights may be diminished, and
we may face additional competition from others in those jurisdictions.
Some countries also have compulsory licensing
laws under which a patent owner may be compelled to grant licenses to third parties. In addition, some countries limit the enforceability
of patents against government agencies or government contractors. In these countries, the patent owner may have limited remedies,
which could materially diminish the value of such patent. If we or any of our licensors is forced to grant a license to third parties
with respect to any patents relevant to our business, our competitive position may be impaired.
If we do not obtain patent term extension in the United
States under the Hatch-Waxman Act and in foreign countries under similar legislation, thereby potentially extending the term of
marketing exclusivity for our product candidates, our business may be materially harmed.
Patents have a limited lifespan. In the
United States, if all maintenance fees are timely paid, the natural expiration of a patent is generally 20 years from its
earliest U.S. non-provisional filing date. Various extensions may be available, but the life of a patent, and the protection it
affords, is limited. Even if patents covering our product candidates are obtained, once the patent life has expired for a product,
we may be open to competition from competitive medications, including generic medications. Given the amount of time required for
the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before
or shortly after such candidates are commercialized. As a result, our owned and licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with
sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours.
Depending upon the timing, duration and
conditions of FDA marketing approval of our product candidates, we may be able to extend the term of a patent covering each product
candidate under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, referred to as the Hatch-Waxman Amendments
and similar legislation in the EU. The Hatch-Waxman Amendments permit a patent term extension of up to five years for a patent
covering an approved product as compensation for effective patent term lost during product development and the FDA regulatory review
process. The total patent term including the extension cannot exceed 14 years following regulatory approval. However, we may not
receive an extension if we fail to apply within applicable deadlines, fail to apply prior to expiration of relevant patents or
otherwise fail to satisfy applicable requirements. Moreover, the length of the extension could be less than we request. If we are
unable to obtain patent term extension or the term of any such extension is less than we request, the period during which we can
enforce our patent rights for that product will be shortened and our competitors may obtain approval to market competing products
sooner. As a result, our revenue from applicable products could be reduced, possibly materially.
Further, under certain circumstances, patent
terms covering our products or product candidates may be extended for time spent during the pendency of the patent application
in the USPTO (referred to as Patent Term Adjustment, or PTA). The laws and regulations underlying how the USPTO calculates the
PTA is subject to change and any such PTA granted by the USPTO could be challenged by a third-party. If we do not prevail under
such a challenge, the PTA may be reduced or eliminated, resulting in a shorter patent term, which may negatively impact our ability
to exclude competitors. Because PTA added to the term of patents covering pharmaceutical products has particular value, our business
may be adversely affected if the PTA is successfully challenged by a third party and our ability to exclude competitors is reduced
or eliminated.
Intellectual property rights do not address all potential
threats to our competitive advantage.
The degree of future protection afforded
by our intellectual property rights is uncertain because intellectual property rights have limitations, and may not adequately
protect our business, or permit us to maintain our competitive advantage. The following examples are illustrative:
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others may be able to make products that are similar to ANVS401 or our future product candidates but that are not covered by
the claims of the patents that we own or license from others;
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others may independently develop similar or alternative technologies or otherwise circumvent any of our technologies without
infringing our intellectual property rights;
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we or any of our collaborators might not have been the first to conceive and reduce to practice the inventions covered by the
patents or patent applications that we own, license or will own or license;
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we or any of our collaborators might not have been the first to file patent applications covering certain of the patents or
patent applications that we or they own or have obtained a license, or will own or will have obtained a license;
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it is possible that our pending patent applications will not lead to issued patents;
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issued patents that we own may not provide us with any competitive advantage, or may be held invalid or unenforceable, as a
result of legal challenges by our competitors;
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our competitors might conduct research and development activities in countries where we do not have patent rights, or in countries
where research and development safe harbor laws exist, and then use the information learned from such activities to develop competitive
products for sale in our major commercial markets;
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ownership of our patents or patent applications may be challenged by third parties; and
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the patents of third parties or pending or future applications of third parties, if issued, may have an adverse effect on our
business.
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Our reliance on third parties requires us to share our
trade secrets, which increases the possibility that our trade secrets will be misappropriated or disclosed, and confidentiality
agreements with employees and third parties may not adequately prevent disclosure of trade secrets and protect other proprietary
information.
We consider proprietary trade secrets or
confidential know-how and unpatented know-how to be important to our business. We may rely on trade secrets or confidential know-how
to protect our technology, especially where patent protection is believed by us to be of limited value. Because we expect to rely
on third parties to manufacture ANVS401 and any future product candidates, and we expect to collaborate with third parties on the
development of ANVS401 and any future product candidates, we must, at times, share trade secrets with them. We also conduct joint
research and development programs that may require us to share trade secrets under the terms of our research and development partnerships
or similar agreements. However, trade secrets or confidential know-how can be difficult to maintain as confidential.
To protect this type of information against
disclosure or appropriation by competitors, our policy is to require our employees, consultants, contractors and advisors to enter
into confidentiality agreements and, if applicable, material transfer agreements, consulting agreements or other similar agreements
with us prior to beginning research or disclosing proprietary information. These agreements typically limit the rights of the third
parties to use or disclose our confidential information, including our trade secrets. However, current or former employees, consultants,
contractors and advisers may unintentionally or willfully disclose our confidential information to competitors, and confidentiality
agreements may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. The need to
share trade secrets and other confidential information increases the risk that such trade secrets become known by our competitors,
are inadvertently incorporated into the technology of others, or are disclosed or used in violation of these agreements. Given
that our proprietary position is based, in part, on our know-how and trade secrets, a competitor’s discovery of our trade
secrets or other unauthorized use or disclosure would impair our competitive position and may have an adverse effect on our business
and results of operations. Enforcing a claim that a third party obtained illegally and is using trade secrets or confidential know-how
is expensive, time consuming and unpredictable. The enforceability of confidentiality agreements may vary from jurisdiction to
jurisdiction.
In addition, these agreements typically
restrict the ability of our advisors, employees, third-party contractors and consultants to publish data potentially relating to
our trade secrets, although our agreements may contain certain limited publication rights. Despite our efforts to protect our trade
secrets, our competitors may discover our trade secrets, either through breach of our agreements with third parties, independent
development or publication of information by any of our third-party collaborators. A competitor’s discovery of our trade
secrets would impair our competitive position and have an adverse impact on our business.
If our trademarks and trade names are not adequately protected,
then we may not be able to build name recognition in our markets of interest and our business may be adversely affected.
Our unregistered trademarks or trade names
may be challenged, infringed, circumvented or declared generic or determined to be infringing on other marks. We may not be able
to protect our rights to these trademarks and trade names, which we need to build name recognition among potential collaborators
or customers in our markets of interest. At times, competitors may adopt trade names or trademarks similar to ours, thereby impeding
our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to market confusion. In addition, there could be potential trade name
or trademark infringement claims brought by owners of other registered trademarks or trademarks that incorporate variations of
our unregistered trademarks or trade names. Over the long term, if we are unable to successfully register our trademarks and trade
names and establish name recognition based on our trademarks and trade names, then we may not be able to compete effectively, and
our business may be adversely affected. Our efforts to enforce or protect our proprietary rights related to trademarks, trade secrets,
domain names, copyrights or other intellectual property may be ineffective and could result in substantial costs and diversion
of resources and could adversely impact our financial condition or results of operations.
We may need to license certain intellectual property from
third parties, and such licenses may not be available or may not be available on commercially reasonable terms.
A third party may hold intellectual property,
including patent rights that are important or necessary to the development or commercialization of ANVS401 or our future product
candidates. It may be necessary for us to use the patented or proprietary technology of third parties to commercialize ANVS401
or our product candidates, in which case we would be required to obtain a license from these third parties. Such a license may
not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, which could materially harm our business. At this time, we are unaware
of any intellectual property that interferes with ours or is complementary and needed to commercialize ANVS401.
We may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants
or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information of their former employers or other third
parties.
We employ individuals who were previously
employed at other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies. Although we seek to protect our ownership of intellectual property
rights by ensuring that our agreements with our employees, collaborators and other third parties with whom we do business include
provisions requiring such parties to assign rights in inventions to us, we may be subject to claims that we or our employees, consultants
or independent contractors have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed confidential information of our employees’ former
employers or other third parties. We may also be subject to claims that former employers or other third parties have an ownership
interest in our patents. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. There is no guarantee of success in defending
these claims, and if we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual
property rights, such as exclusive ownership or right to use. Even if we are successful, litigation could result in substantial
cost and be a distraction to our management and other employees.
Our proprietary information may be lost, or we may suffer
security breaches.
In the ordinary course of our business,
we collect and store sensitive data, including intellectual property, clinical trial data, proprietary business information, personal
data and personally identifiable information of our clinical trial subjects and employees, in our data centers and on our networks.
The secure processing, maintenance and transmission of this information is critical to our operations. Despite our security measures,
our information technology and infrastructure may be vulnerable to attacks by hackers or breached due to employee error, malfeasance
or other disruptions. Although, to our knowledge, we have not experienced any such material security breach to date, any such breach
could compromise our networks and the information stored there could be accessed, publicly disclosed, lost or stolen. Any such
access, disclosure or other loss of information could result in legal claims or proceedings, liability under laws that protect
the privacy of personal information, significant regulatory penalties, disruption of our operations, damage to our reputation and
cause a loss of confidence in us and our ability to conduct clinical trials, which could adversely affect our reputation and delay
our clinical development of our product candidates.
Risks Related to Our Employees, Managing Our Growth and Our
Operations
Our future success depends on our ability to retain our
key personnel and to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel.
We are highly dependent on the development,
regulatory, commercialization and business development expertise of Maria L. Maccecchini, PhD, as well as the other principal members
of our management, scientific and clinical teams. Although we have employment agreements, offer letters or consulting agreements
with our executive officers, these agreements do not prevent them from terminating their services at any time.
If we lose one or more of our executive
officers or key employees, our ability to implement our business strategy successfully could be seriously harmed. Furthermore,
replacing executive officers and key employees may be difficult and may take an extended period of time because of the limited
number of individuals in our industry with the breadth of skills and experience required to successfully develop product candidates,
gain regulatory approval, and commercialize new products. Competition to hire from this limited pool is intense, and we may be
unable to hire, train, retain or motivate these additional key personnel on acceptable terms given the competition among numerous
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for similar personnel. We also experience competition for the hiring of scientific and
clinical personnel from universities and research institutions. In addition, we rely on consultants and advisors, including scientific
and clinical advisors, to assist us in formulating our research and development and commercialization strategy. Our consultants
and advisors may be engaged by entities other than us and may have commitments under consulting or advisory contracts with other
entities that may limit their availability to us. If we are unable to continue to attract and retain highly qualified personnel,
our ability to develop and commercialize product candidates will be limited.
We expect to expand our development, regulatory, and sales
and marketing capabilities, and as a result, we may encounter difficulties in managing our growth, which could disrupt our operations.
We expect to experience significant growth
in the number of our employees and the scope of our operations, particularly in the areas of development, regulatory affairs and
sales and marketing. To manage our anticipated future growth, we must continue to implement and improve our managerial, operational
and financial systems, expand our facilities or acquire new facilities and continue to recruit and train additional qualified personnel.
Due to our limited financial resources and the limited experience of our management team in managing a company with such anticipated
growth, we may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations or recruit and train additional qualified personnel.
The expansion of our operations may lead to significant costs and may divert our management and business development resources.
Any inability to manage growth could delay the execution of our business plans or disrupt our operations.
We may engage in acquisitions that could disrupt our business,
cause dilution to our stockholders or reduce our financial resources.
In the future, we may enter into transactions
to acquire other businesses, products or technologies. If we do identify suitable candidates, we may not be able to make such acquisitions
on favorable terms, or at all. Any acquisitions we make may not strengthen our competitive position, and these transactions may
be viewed negatively by customers or investors. We may decide to incur debt in connection with an acquisition or issue our common
stock or other equity securities to the stockholders of the acquired company, which would reduce the percentage ownership of our
existing stockholders. We could incur losses resulting from undiscovered liabilities of the acquired business that are not covered
by the indemnification we may obtain from the seller. In addition, we may not be able to successfully integrate the acquired personnel,
technologies and operations into our existing business in an effective, timely and nondisruptive manner. Acquisitions may also
divert management attention from day-to-day responsibilities, increase our expenses and reduce our cash available for operations
and other uses. We cannot predict the number, timing or size of future acquisitions or the effect that any such transactions might
have on our operating results.
Our business and operations would suffer in the event
of system failures.
Our computer systems, as well as those of
our CROs and other contractors and consultants, are vulnerable to damage from computer viruses, unauthorized access, natural disasters
(including hurricanes), terrorism, war and telecommunication and electrical failures. If such an event were to occur and cause
interruptions in our operations, it could result in a material disruption of our development programs. For example, the loss of
preclinical or clinical trial data from completed, ongoing or planned trials could result in delays in our regulatory approval
efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. To the extent that any disruption or security breach
were to result in a loss of or damage to our data or applications, or inappropriate disclosure of personal, confidential or proprietary
information, we could incur liability and the further development of ANVS401 or any other product candidate could be delayed.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
The market price of our common stock may be volatile and
fluctuate substantially, which could result in substantial losses for purchasers of our common stock.
The market price of our common stock is
highly volatile and may be subject to wide fluctuations in response to a variety of factors, including the following:
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any delay in the commencement, enrollment and ultimate completion of our Phase 2a trials of ANVS401;
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if we are required to conduct more than one Phase 3 trial in any one indication;
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any delay in submitting an NDA and any adverse development or perceived adverse development with respect to the FDA’s
review of that NDA;
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failure to successfully develop and commercialize ANVS401 or any future product candidate;
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inability to obtain additional funding;
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regulatory or legal developments in the United States and other countries applicable to ANVS401 or any other product candidate;
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adverse regulatory decisions;
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changes in the structure of healthcare payment systems;
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inability to obtain adequate product supply for ANVS401 or any other product candidate, or the inability to do so at acceptable
prices;
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introduction of new products, services or technologies by our competitors;
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failure to meet or exceed financial projections we provide to the public;
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failure to meet or exceed the estimates and projections of the investment community;
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changes in the market valuations of companies similar to ours;
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market conditions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors, and the issuance of new or changed securities analysts’
reports or recommendations;
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announcements of significant acquisitions, strategic collaborations, joint ventures or capital commitments by us or our competitors;
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significant lawsuits, including patent or shareholder litigation, and disputes or other developments relating to our proprietary
rights, including patents, litigation matters and our ability to obtain patent protection for our technologies;
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additions or departures of key scientific or management personnel;
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sales of our common stock by us or our shareholders in the future;
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trading volume of our common stock;
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general economic, industry and market conditions; and
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the other factors described in this “Risk Factors” section.
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In addition, the stock markets have experienced
extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many
companies. These fluctuations have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. Broad
market and industry factors, as well as general economic, political, regulatory and market conditions, may negatively affect the
market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. The market price of our common stock may decline,
and you may lose some or all of your investment.
We could be subject to securities class action litigation.
In the past, securities class action litigation
has often been brought against companies following a decline in the market price of their securities. This risk is especially relevant
for us because biotechnology companies have experienced significant share price volatility in recent years. If we face such litigation,
it could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could harm our business.
Our directors, executive officers and certain shareholders
own a significant percentage of our common stock and, if they choose to act together, will be able to exert significant control
over matters subject to shareholder approval.
Our directors, executive officers, and shareholders
affiliated with our directors and executive officers beneficially own approximately 39.7% of the voting power of our outstanding
common stock. Therefore, they have the ability to substantially influence us through their ownership position. For example, these
holders may be able to control elections of directors, amendments of our organizational documents, or approval of any merger, sale
of assets, or other major corporate transaction. The interests of these holders may not always coincide with our corporate interests
or the interests of other shareholders, and they may act in a manner with which you may not agree or that may not be in the best
interests of our other shareholders. So long as they continue to own a significant amount of our equity, these holders will be
able to strongly influence or effectively control our decisions.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research
or reports about our business, or if they issue an adverse or misleading opinion regarding our common stock, our stock price and
trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock
depends, in part, on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts may publish about us or our business. We do
not have any control over these analysts. If our financial performance fails to meet analyst estimates or one or more of the analysts
who cover us downgrade our common stock or change their opinion of our common stock, our share price would likely decline. If one
or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial
markets, which could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.
Because we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends
on our common stock in the foreseeable future, capital appreciation, if any, will be your sole source of gain.
We have never declared or paid any cash
dividends on our common stock. We currently anticipate that we will retain future earnings for the development, operation and expansion
of our business and do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. As a result, capital appreciation,
if any, of our common stock would be your sole source of gain on an investment in our common stock for the foreseeable future.
See “Dividend Policy” for additional information.
A significant portion of our total outstanding shares
is restricted from immediate resale but may be sold into the market in the near future, which could cause the market price of our
common stock to decline significantly, even if our business is doing well.
Sales of a substantial number of shares
of our common stock in the public market after our IPO, or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market
price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. Of our
issued and outstanding common stock, all of the shares sold in our IPO are freely transferable without restrictions or further
registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) except for any shares acquired by
our affiliates, as defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act. The remaining shares outstanding after our IPO are restricted
as a result of securities laws, lock-up agreements or other contractual restrictions that restrict transfers for 180 days,
or in the case of our directors and officers for 12 months, after the date of closing of the IPO.
We will incur increased costs as a result of operating
as a public company, and our management will be required to devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives and corporate
governance practices.
As a public company, and particularly after
we no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, we will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did
not incur previously. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or SOX, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the
listing requirements of NYSE American, and other applicable securities rules and regulations impose various requirements on
U.S. reporting public companies, including the establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls and
corporate governance practices. Our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance
initiatives. Moreover, these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some
activities more time-consuming and costly. For example, we expect that these rules and regulations may make it more expensive
for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, which in turn could make it more difficult for us to attract and retain
qualified senior management personnel or members for our board of directors. In addition, these rules and regulations are
often subject to varying interpretations, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance
is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher
costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. Pursuant to Section 404 of SOX, or Section 404,
we will be required to furnish a report by our senior management on our internal control over financial reporting.
While we remain an emerging growth company,
we will not be required to include an attestation report on internal control over financial reporting issued by our independent
registered public accounting firm. To prepare for eventual compliance with Section 404, once we no longer qualify as an emerging
growth company, we will be engaged in a process to document and evaluate our internal control over financial reporting, which is
both costly and challenging. In this regard, we will need to continue to dedicate internal resources, potentially engage outside
consultants and adopt a detailed work plan to assess and document the adequacy of internal control over financial reporting, continue
steps to improve control processes as appropriate, validate through testing that controls are functioning as documented and implement
a continuous reporting and improvement process for internal control over financial reporting. Despite our efforts, there is a risk
that we will not be able to conclude, within the prescribed timeframe or at all, that our internal control over financial reporting
is effective as required by Section 404. If we identify one or more material weaknesses, it could result in an adverse reaction
in the financial markets due to a loss of confidence in the reliability of our financial statements.
We are an “emerging growth company,” and the
reduced reporting requirements applicable to emerging growth companies may make our common stock less attractive to investors.
We are an “emerging growth company,”
as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, or JOBS Act. For as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company,
we may take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are
not emerging growth companies, including exemption from compliance with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404,
reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory
vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We will remain
an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary
of the closing of our IPO, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion or (c) in which
we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds
$700 million as of the end of our prior second fiscal quarter, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion
in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.
In addition, under the JOBS Act, emerging
growth companies can delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies.
We have irrevocably elected not to avail ourselves of this exemption from new or revised accounting standards and, therefore, we
will be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies.
We cannot predict if investors will find
our common stock less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive
as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our share price may be more volatile.
Provisions in our restated certificate of incorporation
and amended and restated bylaws and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of our company, which may be beneficial to our
stockholders, more difficult and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management.
Provisions in our restated certificate of
incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws that became effective upon the closing of our IPO may discourage, delay or prevent
a merger, acquisition or other change in control of our company that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions
in which our stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares. These provisions could also limit the price that
investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock, thereby depressing the market price of our common
stock. In addition, because our board of directors is responsible for appointing the members of our management team, 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. Among other things, these provisions include those establishing:
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Advance notice bylaw provisions for proposals from stockholders for presentation at annual meetings; and
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Forum selection bylaw provisions.
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Because we are incorporated in Delaware,
we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, which prohibits
a person who owns in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock from merging or combining with us for a period of three years
after the date of the transaction in which the person acquired in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock, unless the merger
or combination is approved in a prescribed manner.
Furthermore, our restated certificate of
incorporation that became effective upon the closing of our IPO specifies that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of
an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for most legal actions
involving actions brought against us by stockholders. We believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency
in the application of Delaware law by chancellors particularly experienced in resolving corporate disputes, efficient administration
of cases on a more expedited schedule relative to other forums and protection against the burdens of multi-forum litigation. However,
the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers. The enforceability of similar choice
of forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is
possible that, in connection with any applicable action brought against us, a court could find the choice of forum provisions contained
in our restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in such action.
Our bylaws designate the Court of Chancery of the State
of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders,
which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers
or employees.
Our bylaws provide that, unless we consent
in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for
certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders with respect to our company and our directors.
This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that the stockholder
believes is favorable for disputes with us or our directors, which may discourage meritorious claims from being asserted against
us and our directors. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our charter inapplicable to, or unenforceable in
respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving
such matters in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. We
adopted this provision because we believe it makes it less likely that we will be forced to incur the expense of defending duplicative
actions in multiple forums and less likely that plaintiffs’ attorneys will be able to employ such litigation to coerce us
into otherwise unjustified