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| EX-99.1 - PRESS RELEASE - ACHILLION PHARMACEUTICALS INC | dex991.htm |
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): June 20, 2011
Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Delaware | 001-33095 | 52-2113479 | ||
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation) |
(Commission File Number) |
(IRS Employer Identification No.) |
| 300 George Street New Haven, CT |
06511 | |||
| (Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) | |||
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (203) 624-7000
N/A
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
Check the appropriate box if the Form 8-K is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:
| ¨ | Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) |
| ¨ | Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12). |
| ¨ | Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14a-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) |
| ¨ | Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)). |
| Item 8.01. | Other Events |
All references in this Current Report on Form 8-K to “Achillion,” “the Company,” “we,” “us,” “our,” or similar references refer to Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., unless the context requires otherwise.
This Current Report on Form 8-K includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, which we refer to as the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which we refer to as the Exchange Act. For purposes of these statutes, any statement contained herein or in the documents we incorporate by reference in this prospectus supplement other than a statement of historical fact, may be a forward-looking statement. For example, we may, in some cases, use words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “would” or other words that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements.
Our actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including the factors set forth below under the heading “Updated Risk Factor Disclosure” and the following:
| • | our ability to obtain marketing approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) and similar foreign regulatory authorities; |
| • | our ability to complete the development of our drug candidates under the timelines we anticipate in current and future clinical trials; |
| • | our ability to obtain patent protection for our drug candidates and freedom to operate under third party intellectual property; |
| • | our ability to establish commercial manufacturing arrangements and to identify, enter into and maintain collaboration agreements with appropriate third-parties; |
| • | our ability to launch commercial sales of our drug candidates, whether alone or in collaboration with others; and |
| • | our ability to achieve profitability and raise the additional capital needed to achieve our business objectives. |
If one or more of these factors materialize, or if any underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results, performance or achievements may vary materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. You should consider these factors and the other cautionary statements made in this Current Report on Form 8-K or disclosed in our other Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, filings as being applicable to all related forward-looking statements wherever they appear in this Form 8-K or other SEC filings. While we may elect to update forward-looking statements wherever they appear in this prospectus supplement or the documents incorporated by reference, we do not assume, and specifically disclaim, any obligation to do so, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Proposed Public Offering
On June 20, 2011, the Company announced that it commenced an underwritten public offering of an aggregate of 9,000,000 shares of its common stock (the “Offering”). In connection with the Offering, the Company plans to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,350,000 shares of its common stock to cover overallotments, if any. The Offering is being made pursuant to a shelf registration statement that the Company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 3, 2011 and that became effective on April 25, 2011 (Registration No. 333-172594). BofA Merrill Lynch and Leerink Swann LLC are acting as joint book-running managers for the Offering. The Offering is subject to market conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the offering.
The Company’s press release dated June 20, 2011 announcing the Offering is filed as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report and is incorporated herein by reference.
Updated Business Disclosure
The Company is also filing this Current Report on Form 8-K for the purpose of updating disclosure regarding the Company’s business.
We are a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative treatments for infectious diseases. Within the anti-infective market, we are currently concentrating on the development of antivirals for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus, or HCV, and the development of antibacterials for the treatment of resistant bacterial infections. We are currently focusing our efforts on developing several drug candidates for the treatment of chronic HCV:
| • | ACH-1625, a protease inhibitor for the treatment of chronic HCV currently being tested in an on-going phase IIa clinical trial; |
| • | ACH-2684, a pangenotypic protease inhibitor for the treatment of chronic HCV infection currently in a phase I clinical trial; |
| • | NS5A inhibitors for the treatment of chronic HCV infection, including ACH-2928, currently being prepared to enter a phase I clinical trial, and several additional NS5A inhibitors currently in preclinical development. |
We have established our current drug candidate pipeline primarily through our internal discovery capabilities except for elvucitabine, our HIV drug candidate, which we in-licensed. Through these efforts we have identified and are developing the following drug candidates and programs:
| • | ACH-1625, a Protease Inhibitor for Chronic HCV Infection. We are developing ACH-1625, a protease inhibitor for the treatment of chronic HCV. We are currently conducting a phase IIa clinical trial in both the United States and Europe to assess the compound’s safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetic properties and efficacy in HCV-infected subjects. In preclinical studies, ACH-1625 demonstrated strong potency, liver partitioning and a good safety profile. In phase Ia and phase Ib clinical trials, ACH-1625 was demonstrated to be safe and well-tolerated at total daily doses ranging from 50mg to 2000mg. Further, ACH-1625 significantly reduced viral load in HCV patients by 3.40 log10 to 4.25 log10 at doses ranging from 200 to 600 mg twice daily and 400 and 600 mg once daily. Results from the first 28-day segment of the phase IIa trial demonstrated that 75-81% of patients receiving ACH-1625 in combination with pegylated interferon alfa-2a and ribavirin achieved rapid virologic response, or RVR, with a promising safety and tolerability profile. Viral load was reduced in HCV patients by 4.63 log10 to 4.96 log10 at doses ranging from 200 to 800 mg once daily. A second 12-week segment of this phase IIa trial is on-going. |
| • | ACH-2684, a High-Potency Protease Inhibitor for Chronic HCV Infection. We are developing ACH-2684 for the treatment of chronic HCV infection. In preclinical studies, ACH-2684 has demonstrated excellent potency in the picomolar range, as well as good pharmacokinetic and safety profiles. The potency and virology profiles of ACH-2684 demonstrate that it effectively suppresses |
| a broad range of natural variants of HCV, and may be effective in the prevention and treatment of emerging resistant variants. This compound also retains potent in vitro activity against all known HCV genotypes. The very high potency of ACH-2684 was achieved by designing the compound to optimize the way in which it binds with NS3 protease. In preclinical studies, ACH-2684 was effective in combination with other HCV inhibitors, and in vitro is synergistic with NS5B nucleoside polymerase inhibitors. We have initiated a phase I clinical trial for ACH-2684. |
| • | NS5A Inhibitors for Chronic HCV Infection. We are progressing selected NS5A inhibitors for the treatment of chronic HCV infection, including ACH-2928, a lead compound in our portfolio of NS5A inhibitors, as well as ACH-3080, ACH-3102 and ACH-3107, preclinical candidates with improved virology profiles in the replicon assay. In early preclinical studies, these compounds demonstrate excellent potency against HCV RNA replication, as well as good pharmacokinetic and safety profiles. These compounds are highly active and potent against HCV genotypes 1a and 1b, as well as across other genotypes. We believe their high potency, in the picomolar range, and their favorable pharmacokinetic properties, strongly suggest once-daily dosing. Importantly, NS5A inhibitors are highly effective in combination with NS3 protease inhibitors, NS5B polymerase inhibitors, interferon and ribavirin. We are currently preparing to begin a phase I clinical trial for ACH-2928. We will select an optimal NS5A inhibitor for clinical testing in a combination regimen based upon its virology and safety characteristics, and other business considerations. |
| • | Other drug candidates. We have also established a pipeline of other product candidates for which we have or are currently seeking appropriate collaborative partners, but to which we are not devoting significant resources at this time: ACH-702 and ACH-2881 for drug resistant bacterial infections, elvucitabine for HIV infection, and ACH-1095 for HCV infection for which Gilead Sciences, Inc. (“Gilead”) retains certain future development rights. |
Our Strategy
Our objective is to become a leading infectious disease-focused biopharmaceutical company. In order to achieve our objective, we intend to:
| • | Advance the Development of Our HCV Drug Candidates. We plan to: |
| • | complete phase IIa clinical testing of ACH-1625 in the next 12 months; |
| • | establish clinical proof-of-concept for ACH-2684 and ACH-2928 in the next 12 months; |
| • | advance one or more additional HCV NS5A inhibitors to clinical development in the next 12 months; and |
| • | initiate clinical testing of a proprietary combination regimen consisting of a protease inhibitor plus an NS5A inhibitor in 2012. |
| • | Accelerate Growth Through Selective Collaborations. We intend to establish strategic collaborations where we believe we can accelerate the development or maximize the value of our drug candidates by (i) accessing additional drug candidates that may be combinable with our drug candidates for the future treatment of chronic HCV infection, or (ii) utilizing the financial, clinical development, manufacturing and/or commercialization strengths of leading biotechnology, pharmaceutical companies or regional institutions. For example, in the past we have entered into collaborations with Gilead to develop and commercialize certain of our HCV compounds demonstrating a mechanism of action we call NS4A antagonism, and with GCA Therapeutics Ltd. to develop and commercialize elvucitabine in China. We continue to seek similar partnership arrangements for elvucitabine in other geographic locations, and are seeking appropriate development partners for ACH-702 for dermatologic and ophthalmic uses, and for ACH-2881 for |
| serious resistant bacterial infections. We have established a subcommittee of our Board to consider and evaluate business development, financing and other strategic transactions presented to us. We may also seek to accelerate program development through affiliations with governmental, educational or other not-for-profit funding sources. |
| • | Expand our Infectious Disease Portfolio. We intend to leverage our expertise in synthetic chemistry, virology and microbiology to quickly and efficiently discover and develop additional anti-infective compounds. Our research team has discovered multiple clinical candidates in multiple infectious disease programs. For example, in our HCV NS4A program we discovered both ACH-806, a discontinued drug candidate, and ACH-1095, its successor compound with a similar mechanism of action. In our HCV protease program, we discovered both ACH-1625 and ACH-2684. In our HCV NS5A program we discovered ACH-2928, as well as several preclinical stage compounds, and in our antibacterial program, we discovered ACH-702 and ACH-2881. |
Updated Risk Factor Disclosure
The Company is also filing this Current Report on Form 8-K for the purpose of updating its risk factor disclosures.
Risks Related to Our Business
We depend on the success of our HCV drug candidates, which are still under development.
We have invested a significant portion of our efforts and financial resources in the development of our candidates for the treatment of chronic HCV infection, including our protease inhibitors, ACH-1625 and ACH-2684 and our NS5A inhibitors, ACH-2928 and related compounds. Our ability to generate revenues will depend heavily on the successful development and commercialization of these drug candidates. The development and commercial success of these drug candidates will depend on several factors, including the following:
| • | our ability to provide acceptable evidence of the safety and efficacy of these drug candidates in current and future clinical trials; |
| • | our ability to develop drug formulations that will deliver the appropriate drug exposures in longer term clinical trials; |
| • | our ability to obtain patent protection for our drug candidates and freedom to operate under third party intellectual property; |
| • | receipt of marketing approvals from the FDA and similar foreign regulatory authorities; |
| • | establishing commercial manufacturing arrangements with third-party manufacturers; |
| • | launching commercial sales of the drugs, whether alone or in collaboration with others; |
| • | acceptance of the drug in the medical community and with third-party payors; and |
| • | our ability to identify, enter into and maintain collaboration agreements with appropriate strategic partners for our compounds. |
We are currently conducting a phase IIa clinical trial for ACH-1625 and a phase I trial for ACH-2684. We submitted an IND application for ACH-2928 in April 2011 and are preparing to initiate clinical testing of ACH-2928. Positive results in preclinical studies of a drug candidate may not be predictive of similar results in human clinical trials, and promising results from early clinical trials of a drug candidate may not be replicated in later clinical trials. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries have suffered significant setbacks in late-stage clinical trials even after achieving promising results in early-stage development. Accordingly, the results from the preclinical studies of ACH-1625, ACH-2684 or ACH-2928 or the completed clinical trials for ACH-1625 may not be predictive of the results we may obtain in later stage trials.
We do not expect any of our drug candidates to be commercially available for at least several years, if at all.
We have a limited operating history and have incurred a cumulative loss since inception. If we do not generate significant revenues, we will not be profitable.
We have incurred significant losses since our inception in August 1998. As of March 31, 2011, our accumulated deficit was approximately $242.0 million. We have not generated any revenue from the sale of drug candidates to date. We expect that our annual operating losses will increase over the next several years as we expand our research, development and commercialization efforts.
To become profitable, we must successfully develop and obtain regulatory approval for our drug candidates and effectively manufacture, market and sell any drug candidates we develop. Accordingly, we may never generate significant revenues and, even if we do generate significant revenues, we may never achieve profitability.
Our market is subject to intense competition. If we are unable to compete effectively, our drug candidates may be rendered noncompetitive or obsolete.
We are engaged in segments of the pharmaceutical industry that are highly competitive and rapidly changing. Many large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic institutions, governmental agencies and other public and private research organizations are pursuing the development of novel drugs that target infectious diseases. We face, and expect to continue to face, intense and increasing competition as new products enter the market and advanced technologies become available. In addition to currently approved drugs, there are a significant number of drugs that are currently under development and may become available in the future for the treatment of chronic HCV. Additionally, there may be competitive drugs currently under development of which we are not aware. We would expect our drug candidates to compete with the following approved drugs and drug candidates currently under development:
If approved, our protease inhibitors, ACH-1625 and ACH-2684, and our NS5A inhibitors, ACH-2928 and related compounds, would compete with drugs currently approved for the treatment of HCV, i.e., the interferon-alpha-based products from Roche (Pegasys and Roferon-A) or Merck (Intron-A or Peg-Intron), the ribavirin based products from Merck (Rebetrol), Roche (Copegus) or generic versions sold by various companies, as well as recently-approved protease inhibitors teleprevir (Incivek) by Vertex and boceprevir (Vicetrelis) by Merck. In addition, our HCV compounds may compete with the interferon and ribavirin-based drugs currently in development such as Valeant’s ribavirin analog (Viramidine) and Human Genome Sciences’ Albuferon, and with other products in development in multiple classes including protease inhibitors, polymerase inhibitors (nucleoside and non-nucleoside), NS5A inhibitors, toll-like receptors and cyclophilin inhibitors are also under development for the treatment of HCV by companies such as Abbott, Anadys, Astra-Zeneca, Avila Therapeutics, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Enanta, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Human Genome Sciences, Idenix, Johnson & Johnson, Presidio, Medivir, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Pharmasset, Roche, Valeant and Vertex.
Many of our competitors have:
| • | significantly greater financial, technical and human resources than we have and may be better equipped to discover, develop, manufacture and commercialize drug candidates; |
| • | more extensive experience in preclinical testing and clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals and manufacturing and marketing pharmaceutical products; |
| • | drug candidates that have been approved or are in late-stage clinical development; and/or |
| • | collaborative arrangements in our target markets with leading companies and research institutions. |
Competitive products may render our products obsolete or noncompetitive before we can recover the expenses of developing and commercializing our drug candidates. Furthermore, the development of new
treatment methods and/or the widespread adoption or increased utilization of any vaccine for the diseases we are targeting could render our drug candidates noncompetitive, obsolete or uneconomical. If we successfully develop and obtain approval for our drug candidates, we will face competition based on the safety and effectiveness of our drug candidates, the timing of their entry into the market in relation to competitive products in development, the availability and cost of supply, marketing and sales capabilities, reimbursement coverage, price, patent position and other factors. If we successfully develop drug candidates but those drug candidates do not achieve and maintain market acceptance, our business will not be successful.
We will need substantial additional capital to fund our operations, including drug candidate development, manufacturing and commercialization. If we do not have or cannot raise additional capital when needed, we will be unable to develop and commercialize our drug candidates successfully, and our ability to operate as a going concern may be adversely affected.
We believe that our existing cash and cash equivalents and the anticipated net proceeds from this offering will be sufficient to support our current operating plan for at least the next 12 months. Our operating plan may change as a result of many factors, including:
| • | the costs involved in the clinical development, manufacturing and formulation of our protease inhibitors, ACH-1625 and ACH-2684, and our NS5A inhibitors, ACH-2928 and related compounds; |
| • | our ability to enter into corporate collaborations and the terms and success of these collaborations; |
| • | the costs involved in obtaining regulatory approvals for our drug candidates; |
| • | the scope, prioritization and number of programs we pursue; |
| • | the costs involved in preparing, filing, prosecuting, maintaining, enforcing and defending patent and other intellectual property claims; |
| • | our ability to raise incremental debt or equity capital, including any changes in the credit market that may impact our ability to obtain capital in the future; |
| • | our acquisition and development of new technologies and drug candidates; and |
| • | competing technological and market developments currently unknown to us. |
If our operating plan changes, we may need additional funds sooner than planned. Such additional financing may not be available when we need it or may not be available on terms that are favorable to us. In addition, we may seek additional capital due to favorable market conditions or strategic considerations, even if we believe we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans. If adequate funds are not available to us on a timely basis, or at all, we may be required to terminate or delay preclinical studies, clinical trials or other development activities for one or more of our drug candidates.
We may seek additional financing through a combination of private and public equity offerings, debt financings and collaboration, strategic alliance and licensing arrangements. 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 may include adverse liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a stockholder. Since August 2008, we have issued an aggregate of 42,306,006 shares of our common stock in two private placements and one public offering as well as warrants to purchase an aggregate of 9,599,950 shares of our common stock, all of which remain outstanding. These financings substantially diluted our existing stockholders.
Stockholders will be further diluted if, and to the extent, any warrants are exercised. Debt financing, if available, may involve covenants that limit or restrict our ability to take specific actions such as incurring
additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends, or may involve immediate repayment of the debt under certain circumstances. If we raise additional funds through collaborations, strategic alliances and licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies or drug candidates, or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us.
If we are not able to attract and retain key management, scientific personnel and advisors, we may not successfully develop our drug candidates or achieve our other business objectives.
We depend upon our senior management and scientific staff for our business success. Key members of our senior team include Michael Kishbauch, our president and chief executive officer, and Dr. Milind Deshpande, our president of research and development and chief scientific officer. All of our employment agreements with our senior management employees are terminable without notice by the employee. The loss of the service of any of the key members of our senior management may significantly delay or prevent the achievement of drug development and other business objectives. Our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, consultants and advisors is critical to our success. We face intense competition for qualified individuals from numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, universities, governmental entities and other research institutions. We may be unable to attract and retain these individuals, and our failure to do so would adversely affect our business.
Our business has a substantial risk of product liability claims. If we are unable to obtain appropriate levels of insurance, a product liability claim could adversely affect our business.
Our business exposes us to significant potential product liability risks that are inherent in the development, manufacturing and sales and marketing of human therapeutic products. Although we do not currently commercialize any products, claims could be made against us based on the use of our drug candidates in clinical trials. Product liability claims could delay or prevent completion of our clinical development programs. We currently have clinical trial insurance in an amount equal to up to $10.0 million in the aggregate and will seek to obtain product liability insurance prior to the sales and marketing of any of our drug candidates. However, our insurance may not provide adequate coverage against potential liabilities. Furthermore, clinical trial and product liability insurance is becoming increasingly expensive. As a result, we may be unable to maintain current amounts of insurance coverage or obtain additional or sufficient insurance at a reasonable cost to protect against losses that could have a material adverse effect on us. If a claim is brought against us, we might be required to pay legal and other expenses to defend the claim, as well as uncovered damages awards resulting from a successful claim. Furthermore, whether or not we are ultimately successful in defending any such claims, we might be required to direct significant financial and managerial resources to such defense, and adverse publicity is likely to result.
Risks Related to the Development of Our Drug Candidates
All of our drug candidates are still in the early stages of development and remain subject to clinical testing and regulatory approval. If we are unable to successfully develop, test and commercialize our drug candidates, we will not be successful.
To date, we have not commercially marketed, distributed or sold any drug candidates. The success of our business depends primarily upon our ability to develop and commercialize our drug candidates successfully. Our drug candidates must satisfy rigorous standards of safety and efficacy before they can be approved for sale. To satisfy these standards, we must engage in expensive and lengthy testing and obtain regulatory approval of our drug candidates. Despite our efforts, our drug candidates may not:
| • | offer therapeutic or other improvement over existing, comparable drugs; |
| • | be proven safe and effective in clinical trials; |
| • | have the desired effects, or may include undesirable effects or may have other unexpected characteristics; |
| • | meet applicable regulatory standards; |
| • | be capable of being produced in commercial quantities at acceptable costs; or |
| • | be successfully commercialized. |
In addition, we may experience numerous unforeseen events during, or as a result of, preclinical testing and the clinical trial process that could delay or prevent our ability to receive regulatory approval or commercialize our drug candidates, including:
| • | regulators or Institutional Review Boards, or IRBs, may not authorize us to commence a clinical trial or conduct a clinical trial at a prospective trial site; |
| • | our preclinical tests or clinical trials for our drug candidates may produce negative or inconclusive results, and we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional preclinical testing or clinical trials, or we may abandon projects that we expect to be promising; |
| • | enrollment in our clinical trials may be slower than we currently anticipate or participants may drop out of our clinical trials at a higher rate than we currently anticipate, resulting in significant delays; |
| • | our third-party contractors may fail to comply with regulatory requirements or meet their contractual obligations to us in a timely manner; |
| • | we might have to suspend or terminate our clinical trials if the participants are exposed to unacceptable health risks; |
| • | IRBs or regulators, including the FDA, may require that we hold, suspend or terminate clinical research for various reasons, including noncompliance with regulatory requirements; |
| • | the FDA, in connection with future HCV development guidelines recently circulated for comment, may require us to carry out more extensive studies, evaluate different treatment combinations or complete comparative effectiveness studies, resulting in significant delays and/or increased costs; and |
| • | the supply or quality of our drug candidates or other materials necessary to conduct our clinical trials may be insufficient or inadequate. |
In addition, in the Phase IIa clinical study currently on-going, ACH-1625 is being studied in combination with the current standard of care. Recently approved therapies, including teleprevir (Incivek) and boceprivir (Victrelis) could, in time, result in a change to the standard of care which may require us to carry out more extensive studies, evaluate different treatment combinations or complete comparative effectiveness studies, resulting in significant delays and/or increased costs.
We, and a number of other companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, have suffered significant setbacks in later stage clinical trials even after achieving promising results in early-stage development.
If we are unable to obtain U.S. and/or foreign regulatory approval, we will be unable to commercialize our drug candidates.
Our drug candidates are subject to extensive governmental regulations relating to, among other things, research, testing, development, manufacturing, safety, efficacy, record keeping, labeling, marketing and distribution of drugs. Rigorous preclinical testing and clinical trials and an extensive regulatory approval process are required in the United States and in many foreign jurisdictions prior to the commercial sale of our drug candidates. Satisfaction of these and other regulatory requirements is costly, time consuming, uncertain and subject to unanticipated delays. It is possible that none of the drug candidates we are developing will obtain marketing approval. In connection with the clinical trials for ACH-1625, ACH-2684, ACH-2928, and any other drug candidate we may seek to develop in the future, we face risks that:
| • | the drug candidate may not prove to be efficacious; |
| • | the drug may not prove to be safe; |
| • | the results may not confirm the positive results from earlier preclinical studies or clinical trials; |
| • | the results may not meet the level of statistical significance required by the FDA or other regulatory agencies; and |
| • | the FDA or other regulatory agencies may require us to carry out additional studies. |
We have limited experience in conducting and managing the clinical trials necessary to obtain regulatory approvals, including approval by the FDA. The time required to complete clinical trials and for FDA and other countries’ regulatory review processes is uncertain and typically takes many years. Our analysis of data obtained from preclinical and clinical activities is subject to confirmation and interpretation by regulatory authorities, which could delay, limit or prevent regulatory approval. We may also encounter unanticipated delays or increased costs due to government regulation from future legislation or administrative action or changes in FDA policy during the period of product development, clinical trials and FDA regulatory review.
Any delay in obtaining or failure to obtain required approvals could materially adversely affect our ability to progress the development of a drug candidate and to generate revenues from that drug candidate. Any regulatory approval to market a product may be subject to limitations on the indicated uses for which we may market the product and affect reimbursement by third-party payors. These limitations may limit the size of the market for the product. We are also subject to numerous foreign regulatory requirements governing the conduct of clinical trials, manufacturing and marketing authorization, pricing and third-party reimbursement. The foreign regulatory approval process includes all of the risks associated with FDA approval described above as well as risks attributable to the satisfaction of foreign regulations. Approval by the FDA does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities outside the United States. Foreign jurisdictions may have different approval procedures than those required by the FDA and may impose additional testing requirements for our drug candidates.
If clinical trials for our drug candidates are prolonged or delayed, we may be unable to commercialize our drug candidates on a timely basis, which would require us to incur additional costs and delay our receipt of any product revenue.
We cannot predict whether we will encounter problems with any of our completed, ongoing or planned clinical trials that will cause us or regulatory authorities to delay, suspend or terminate clinical trials, or delay the analysis of data from our completed or ongoing clinical trials. Any of the following could delay the clinical development of our drug candidates:
| • | ongoing discussions with the FDA or comparable foreign authorities regarding the scope or design of our clinical trials; |
| • | delays in receiving, or the inability to obtain, required approvals from institutional review boards or other reviewing entities at clinical sites selected for participation in our clinical trials; |
| • | delays in enrolling volunteers and patients into clinical trials; |
| • | a lower than anticipated retention rate of volunteers and patients in clinical trials; |
| • | delays in gathering and interpreting clinical data; |
| • | the need to repeat clinical trials as a result of inconclusive or negative results or unforeseen complications in testing; |
| • | the requirement by the FDA, in connection with future HCV development guidelines recently circulated for comment, to carry out additional studies; |
| • | delays in completing formulation development of our drug candidates, or delays in planning and executing the bridging studies required to use the new formulations in subsequent clinical trials; |
| • | inadequate supply or deficient quality of drug candidate materials or other materials necessary to conduct our clinical trials; |
| • | unfavorable FDA inspection and review of a clinical trial site or records of any clinical or preclinical investigation; |
| • | serious and unexpected drug-related side effects experienced by participants in our clinical trials; or |
| • | the placement by the FDA of a clinical hold on a trial. |
Our ability to enroll patients in our clinical trials in sufficient numbers and on a timely basis will be subject to a number of factors, including the size of the patient population, the nature of the protocol, the proximity of patients to clinical sites, the availability of effective treatments for the relevant disease and the eligibility criteria for the clinical trial. Delays in patient enrollment may result in increased costs and longer development times. We currently face competition for subjects to enroll in our ACH-1625 and ACH-2684 clinical trials and may have to expand the number of sites at which the trials are conducted. If we are not successful in doing so, the planned timing for release of data from these trials may not be achieved. In addition, subjects may drop out of our clinical trials, and thereby impair the validity or statistical significance of the trials.
We, the FDA or other applicable regulatory authorities may suspend clinical trials of a drug candidate at any time if we or they believe the subjects or patients participating in such clinical trials are being exposed to unacceptable health risks or for other reasons. For example, as we advance ACH-1625 into longer term clinical trials in Phase IIa, we have established predetermined stopping rules, as well as a Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) in order to monitor and ensure patient safety. The FDA has also required us to perform data analysis between patient cohorts in our phase I clinical trials of ACH-2684 and ACH-2928. Any interruption of these clinical trials, whether as a result of one of our drug candidates, of co-administration of the standard of care, or of administrative review delays on the part of the FDA, could cause delays in our drug development.
We cannot predict whether any of our drug candidates will encounter problems during clinical trials which will cause us or regulatory authorities to delay or suspend these trials, or which will delay the analysis of data from these trials. In addition, it is impossible to predict whether legislative changes will be enacted, or whether FDA regulations, guidance or interpretations will be changed, or what the impact of such changes, if any, may be. If we experience any such problems, we may not have the financial resources to continue development of the drug candidate that is affected or the development of any of our other drug candidates.
In addition, we, along with our collaborators or subcontractors, may not employ, in any capacity, persons who have been debarred under the FDA’s Application Integrity Policy. Employment of such a debarred person (even if inadvertently) may result in delays in the FDA’s review or approval of our products, or the rejection of data developed with the involvement of such persons.
Even if we obtain regulatory approvals, our drug candidates will be subject to ongoing regulatory review. If we fail to comply with continuing U.S. and applicable foreign regulations, we could lose those approvals, and our business would be seriously harmed.
Even if we receive regulatory approval of any drugs we are developing or may develop, we will be subject to continuing regulatory review, including the review of clinical results which are reported after our drug candidates become commercially available approved drugs. As greater numbers of patients use a drug following its approval, side effects and other problems may be observed after approval that were not seen or anticipated during pre-approval clinical trials. In addition, the manufacturer, and the manufacturing facilities we use to make any approved drugs, will also be subject to periodic review and inspection by the FDA. The subsequent discovery of previously unknown problems with the drug, manufacturer or facility may result in restrictions on the drug, manufacturer or facility, including withdrawal of the drug from the market. If we fail to comply with applicable continuing regulatory requirements, we may be subject to fines, suspension or withdrawal of regulatory approval, product recalls and seizures, operating restrictions and criminal prosecutions.
Our product promotion and advertising is also subject to regulatory requirements and continuing regulatory review. In particular, the marketing claims we will be permitted to make in labeling or advertising regarding our marketed products will be limited by the terms and conditions of the FDA-approved labeling. We must submit copies of our advertisements and promotional labeling to the FDA at the time of initial publication or dissemination. If the FDA believes these materials or statements promote our products for unapproved indications, or with unsubstantiated claims, or if we fail to provide appropriate safety-related information, the FDA could allege that our promotional activities misbrand our products. Specifically, the FDA could issue a warning letter, which may demand, among other things, that we cease such promotional activities and issue corrective advertisements and labeling. The FDA also could take enforcement action including seizure of allegedly misbranded product, injunction or criminal prosecution against us and our officers or employees. If we repeatedly or deliberately fail to submit such advertisements and labeling to the agency, the FDA could withdraw our approvals. Moreover, the Department of Justice can bring civil or criminal actions against companies that promote drugs or biologics for unapproved uses, based on the False Claims Act and other federal laws governing reimbursement for such products under the Medicare, Medicaid and other federally supported healthcare programs. Monetary penalties in such cases have often been substantial, and civil penalties can include costly mandatory compliance programs and exclusion from federal healthcare programs.
If we do not comply with laws regulating the protection of the environment and health and human safety, our business could be adversely affected.
Our research and development efforts involve the controlled use of hazardous materials, chemicals and various radioactive compounds. Although we believe that our safety procedures for the use, manufacture, storage, handling and disposing of these materials comply with the standards prescribed by federal, state and local laws and regulations, the risk of accidental contamination or injury from these materials cannot be eliminated. If an accident occurs, we could be held liable for resulting damages, which could be substantial. We are also subject to numerous environmental, health and workplace safety laws and regulations, including those governing laboratory procedures, exposure to blood-borne pathogens and the handling of biohazardous materials.
Additional federal, state and local laws and regulations affecting our operations may be adopted in the future. Although we maintain workers’ compensation insurance to cover us for costs we may incur due to injuries to our employees resulting from the use of these materials, this insurance may not provide adequate coverage against potential liabilities. In addition, though we have environmental liability insurance, such coverage may not provide for all related losses. We may incur substantial costs to comply with, and substantial fines or penalties, if we violate any of these laws or regulations.
Risks Related to Our Dependence on Third Parties
We may not be able to execute our business strategy if we are unable to enter into alliances with other companies that can provide capabilities and funds for the development and commercialization of our drug candidates. If we are unsuccessful in forming or maintaining these alliances on favorable terms, our business may not succeed.
We have entered into arrangements with Gilead for the development and commercialization of certain of our HCV compounds involving NS4A antagonism, and with GCA Therapeutics, Ltd., or GCAT, for the development and commercialization of elvucitabine in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. We may enter into additional license arrangements in the future. We also may enter into alliances with major biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies to jointly develop other specific drug candidates and to jointly commercialize them if they are approved. In such alliances, we would expect our biotechnology or pharmaceutical collaborators to provide substantial funding, as well as significant capabilities in clinical development, regulatory affairs, marketing and sales. We may not be successful in entering into any such alliances on favorable terms, if at all. Even if we do succeed in securing such alliances, we may not be able to maintain them if, for example, development or approval of a drug candidate is delayed or sales of an approved drug are disappointing. Furthermore, any delay in entering into collaboration agreements could delay the development and commercialization of our drug candidates and reduce their competitiveness even if they reach the market. Any such delay related to our collaborations could adversely affect our business. At this time, we do not plan to clinically advance elvucitabine or our antibacterial drug candidates, ACH-702 and ACH-2881, independently.
We rely on third parties to conduct our clinical trials, and those third parties may not perform satisfactorily, including failing to meet established deadlines for the completion of such trials.
We do not have the ability to independently conduct clinical trials for our drug candidates, and we rely on third parties such as contract research organizations, medical institutions and clinical investigators to enroll qualified patients and conduct our clinical trials. Our reliance on these third parties for clinical development activities reduces our control over these activities. These third-party contractors may not complete activities on schedule, or may not conduct our clinical trials in accordance with regulatory requirements or our trial design. To date, we believe our contract research organizations and other similar entities with which we are working have performed well. However, if these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or meet expected deadlines, we may be required to replace them. Although we believe that there are a number of other third-party contractors we could engage to continue these activities, it may result in a delay of the affected trial. Accordingly, our efforts to obtain regulatory approvals for and commercialize our drug candidates may be delayed.
We currently depend on third-party manufacturers to produce our preclinical and clinical drug supplies and intend to rely upon third-party manufacturers to produce commercial supplies of any approved drug candidates. We also depend on third parties to assist us in developing appropriate formulations of our drug candidates. If, in the future, we manufacture any of our drug candidates, we will be required to incur significant costs and devote significant efforts to establish and maintain these capabilities.
We rely upon third parties to produce material for preclinical and clinical testing purposes and intend to continue to do so in the future. We also depend on third parties to assist us in developing appropriate formulations of our drug candidates. We also expect to rely upon third parties to produce materials required for the commercial production of our drug candidates if we succeed in obtaining necessary regulatory approvals. If we are unable to arrange for third-party manufacturing, or to do so on commercially reasonable terms, we may not be able to complete development of our drug candidates or market them. Further, if third parties are not successful in formulation development of our drug candidates, our development timelines may be delayed. Reliance on third-party manufacturers entails risks to which we would not be subject if we manufactured drug candidates ourselves, including reliance on the third party for regulatory compliance and quality assurance, the
possibility of breach of the manufacturing agreement by the third party because of factors beyond our control and the possibility of termination or nonrenewal of the agreement by the third party, based on its own business priorities, at a time that is costly or damaging to us. In addition, the FDA and other regulatory authorities require that our drug candidates be manufactured according to current good manufacturing practice regulations. Any failure by us or our third-party manufacturers to comply with current good manufacturing practices and/or our failure to scale up our manufacturing processes could lead to a delay in, or failure to obtain, regulatory approval of any of our drug candidates. In addition, such failure could be the basis for action by the FDA to withdraw approvals for drug candidates previously granted to us and for other regulatory action.
To date, our third-party formulators and manufacturers have met our formulation and manufacturing requirements, but we cannot be assured that they will continue to do so. Any performance failure on the part of our existing or future formulators or manufacturers could delay clinical development or regulatory approval of our drug candidates or commercialization of any approved products. If for some reason our current contractors cannot perform as agreed, we may be required to replace them. Although we believe that there are a number of potential replacements given our formulation and manufacturing processes are not contractor specific, we may incur added costs and delays in identifying and qualifying any such replacements. Furthermore, although we generally do not begin a clinical trial unless we believe we have a sufficient supply of a drug candidate to complete the trial, any significant delay in the supply of a drug candidate for an ongoing trial due to the need to replace a third-party manufacturer could delay completion of the trial.
We may in the future elect to manufacture certain of our drug candidates in our own manufacturing facilities. If we do so, we will require substantial additional funds and need to recruit qualified personnel in order to build or lease and operate any manufacturing facilities.
Risks Related to Commercialization of Our Drug Candidates
If we are unable to establish sales and marketing capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to market and sell our drug candidates, we may not generate product revenue.
We have no commercial products, and we do not currently have an organization for the sales and marketing of pharmaceutical products. In order to successfully commercialize any drugs that may be approved in the future by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities, we must build our sales and marketing capabilities or make arrangements with third parties to perform these services. For certain drug candidates in selected indications where we believe that an approved product could be commercialized by a specialty North American sales force that calls on a limited but focused group of physicians, we intend to commercialize these products ourselves. However, in therapeutic indications that require a large sales force selling to a large and diverse prescribing population and for markets outside of North America, we plan to enter into arrangements with other companies for commercialization. For example, we have entered into an agreement with Gilead for the development and commercialization of certain of our HCV candidates involving NS4A antagonism. If we are unable to establish adequate sales, marketing and distribution capabilities, whether independently or with third parties, we may not be able to generate product revenue and may not become profitable.
The development of directly acting antivirals (DAAs) to treat HCV, and the potential changes in market dynamics that may result from their introduction for HCV therapy, may present additional risks beyond those inherent in drug development.
We are developing multiple DAA compounds, in two distinct classes, for treatment of chronic HCV infection. Other companies are also developing DAAs in these classes, as well as other classes. The current standard of care for HCV infection includes immunomodulatory therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin.
The development plans for our compounds include treatment regimens with our inhibitors in combination with the current standard of care (pegylated interferon and ribavirin), our inhibitors with the current
standard of care plus another DAA, or our inhibitors with one or more DAAs without concomitant interferon or ribavirin therapy. These development programs carry all the risks inherent in drug development activities, including the risk that they will fail to show efficacy or acceptable safety. In addition, these development programs may also be subject to additional regulatory, commercial and manufacturing risks that may be additional to the risks inherent in drug development activities.
Regulatory guidelines for approval of DAA drugs for the treatment of chronic HCV infection are evolving in the United States, Europe, and other countries. We anticipate that regulatory guidelines and regulatory agency responses to our and our competitors’ development programs will continue to change, resulting in the risk that our activities may not meet unanticipated new standards or requirements, which could lead to delay, additional expense, or potential failure of development activities.
Furthermore, even if we or our competitors successfully develop DAAs whose use improves the current standard of care, current HCV-treating physicians, HCV patients, healthcare payers, and others may not readily accept or pay for such improvements or new treatments. Two DAAs developed by our competitors, teleprevir (Incivek) by Vertex and boceprevir (Victrelis) by Merck, were recently approved by the FDA. We cannot currently predict with any certainty the impact of the commercial launch of these compounds on the HCV market.
In addition, because development of DAAs for HCV infection is an emerging field, the delay or failure of a competitor attempting to develop therapeutics that could have been combined with our product candidates or that are perceived to be similar to our product candidates could have a significant adverse effect on the commercial or regulatory environment for our product candidates or on the price of our stock. Other companies developing DAAs have more advanced development programs than we do. Their success or failure to successfully conclude clinical development and obtain marketing approval could have a material adverse effect on our development and commercialization plans and activities.
If physicians and patients do not accept our future drugs, we may be unable to generate significant revenue, if any.
Even if ACH-1625, ACH-2684, ACH-2928, or any other drug candidates we may develop or acquire in the future obtain regulatory approval, they may not gain market acceptance among physicians, health care payors, patients and the medical community. Factors that we believe could materially affect market acceptance of our product candidates include:
| • | the timing of market introduction of competitive drugs, including teleprevir (Incivek) by Vertex and boceprevir (Victrelis) by Merck, which were recently approved by the FDA; |
| • | the demonstrated clinical safety and efficacy of our product candidates compared to other drugs; |
| • | the cost-effectiveness of our product candidates; |
| • | the availability of reimbursement from managed care plans, the government and other third-party payors; |
| • | the convenience and ease of administration of our product candidates; |
| • | the existence, prevalence and severity of adverse side effects; |
| • | other potential advantages of alternative treatment methods; and |
| • | the effectiveness of marketing and distribution support. |
If our approved drugs fail to achieve market acceptance, we would not be able to generate significant revenue.
If we are unable to meet the operational, legal and financial challenges that we encounter with international partnerships, we may not be able to grow our business.
We entered into an agreement with GCAT which grants GCAT, through its Chinese joint venture with Tianjing Institute of Pharmaceutical Research, the right to clinically develop and commercialize elvucitabine in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Conducting business in China exposes us to a variety of risks and uncertainties that are unique to China. The economy of China has been transitioning from a planned economy to a market-oriented economy. Although in recent years the Chinese government has implemented measures emphasizing the utilization of market forces for economic reform, the reduction of state ownership of productive assets and the establishment of sound corporate governance in business enterprises, a substantial portion of productive assets in China is still owned by the Chinese government. In addition, the Chinese government continues to play a significant role in regulating industrial development. It also exercises significant control over China’s economic growth through the allocation of resources, controlling payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies. Efforts by the Chinese government to slow the pace of growth of the Chinese economy could result in interruptions of our development and commercialization efforts in China. In addition, the Chinese legal system is a civil law system based on written statutes. Unlike common law systems, it is a system in which decided legal cases have little precedential value. In 1979, the Chinese government began to promulgate a comprehensive system of laws and regulations governing economic matters in general. Accordingly, we cannot predict the effect of future developments in the Chinese legal system, including the promulgation of new laws, changes to existing laws or the interpretation or enforcement thereof, or the preemption of local regulations by national laws. Our development and commercialization efforts in China could be materially harmed by any changes in the political, legal or economic climate in China or the inability to enforce applicable Chinese laws and regulations. If such commercialization efforts in China are materially harmed, our collaboration partner may not be able to develop and commercialize elvucitabine in China and our elvucitabine business may not grow.
If third-party payors do not adequately reimburse patients for any of our drug candidates that are approved for marketing, they might not be purchased or used, and our revenues and profits will not develop or increase.
Our revenues and profits will depend significantly upon the availability of adequate reimbursement for the use of any approved drug candidates from governmental and other third-party payors, both in the United States and in foreign markets. Reimbursement by a third party may depend upon a number of factors, including the third-party payor’s determination that use of a product is:
| • | a covered benefit under its health plan; |
| • | safe, effective and medically necessary; |
| • | appropriate for the specific patient; |
| • | cost effective; and |
| • | neither experimental nor investigational. |
Obtaining reimbursement approval for a product from each third-party and government payor is a time-consuming and costly process that could require us to provide supporting scientific, clinical and cost-effectiveness data for the use of any approved drugs to each payor. We may not be able to provide data sufficient to gain acceptance with respect to reimbursement. There also exists substantial uncertainty concerning third-party
reimbursement for the use of any drug candidate incorporating new technology, and even if determined eligible, coverage may be more limited than the purposes for which the drug is approved by the FDA. Moreover, eligibility for coverage does not imply that any drug will be reimbursed in all cases or at a rate that allows us to make a profit or even cover our costs. Interim payments for new products, if applicable, may also be insufficient to cover our costs and may not be made permanent. Reimbursement rates may vary according to the use of the drug and the clinical setting in which it is used, may be based on payments allowed for lower-cost products that are already reimbursed, may be incorporated into existing payments for other products or services, and may reflect budgetary constraints and/or imperfections in Medicare or Medicaid data used to calculate these rates. Net prices for products may be reduced by mandatory discounts or rebates required by government health care programs or by any future relaxation of laws that restrict imports of certain medical products from countries where they may be sold at lower prices than in the United States.
In the United States, at both the federal and state levels, the government regularly proposes legislation to reform health care and its cost, and such proposals have received increasing political attention. Congress recently passed legislation to reform the U.S. health care system by expanding health insurance coverage, reducing health care costs and making other changes. While health care reform may increase the number of patients who have insurance coverage for the use of any approved drug candidate, it may also include changes that adversely affect reimbursement for approved drug candidates. In addition, there has been, and we expect that there will continue to be, federal and state proposals to constrain expenditures for medical products and services, which may affect payments for any of our approved products. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services frequently change product descriptors, coverage policies, product and service codes, payment methodologies and reimbursement values. Third-party payors often follow Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their own reimbursement rates and may have sufficient market power to demand significant price reductions. As a result of actions by these third-party payors, the health care industry is experiencing a trend toward containing or reducing costs through various means, including lowering reimbursement rates, limiting therapeutic class coverage and negotiating reduced payment schedules with service providers for drug products.
Our inability to promptly obtain coverage and profitable reimbursement rates from government-funded and private payors for any approved products could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and our overall financial condition.
Healthcare reform measures, if implemented, could hinder or prevent our commercial success.
There have been, and likely will continue to be, legislative and regulatory proposals at the federal and state levels directed at broadening the availability of healthcare and containing or lowering the cost of healthcare. We cannot predict the initiatives that may be adopted in the future. The continuing efforts of the government, insurance companies, managed care organizations and other payors of healthcare services to contain or reduce costs of healthcare may adversely affect:
| • | the demand for any drug products for which we may obtain regulatory approval; |
| • | our ability to set a price that we believe is fair for our products; |
| • | our ability to generate revenues and achieve or maintain profitability; |
| • | the ability of government agencies to continue to pay for such care; |
| • | the level of taxes that we are required to pay; and |
| • | the availability of capital. |
Risks Related to Patents and Licenses
If our patent position does not adequately protect our drug candidates, others could compete against us more directly, which would harm our business.
We own or hold exclusive licenses to several issued patents U.S. and pending U.S. provisional and non-provisional patent applications, as well as pending PCT applications and associated non-US patents and patent applications. Our success depends in large part on our ability to obtain and maintain patent protection both in the United States and in other countries for our drug candidates. Our ability to protect our drug candidates from unauthorized or infringing use by third parties depends in substantial part on our ability to obtain and maintain valid and enforceable patents. Due to evolving legal standards relating to the patentability, validity and enforceability of patents covering pharmaceutical inventions and the scope of claims made under these patents, our ability to maintain, obtain and enforce patents is uncertain and involves complex legal and factual questions. Accordingly, rights under any issued patents may not provide us with sufficient protection for our drug candidates or provide sufficient protection to afford us a commercial advantage against competitive products or processes. We cannot guarantee that any patents will issue from any pending or future patent applications owned by or licensed to us.
Even if patents have issued or will issue, we cannot guarantee that the claims of these patents are or will be valid or enforceable or will provide us with any significant protection against competitive products or otherwise be commercially valuable to us. Patent applications in the United States are maintained in confidence for up to 18 months after their filing. In some cases, however, patent applications remain confidential in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which we refer to as the U.S. Patent Office, for the entire time prior to issuance as a U.S. patent. Similarly, publication of discoveries in the scientific or patent literature often lag behind actual discoveries. Consequently, we cannot be certain that we or our licensors or co-owners were the first to invent, or the first to file patent applications on, our drug candidates or their use as anti-infective drugs. In the event that a third party has also filed a U.S. patent application relating to our drug candidates or a similar invention, we may have to participate in interference proceedings declared by the U.S. Patent Office to determine priority of invention in the United States. The costs of these proceedings could be substantial and it is possible that our efforts would be unsuccessful, resulting in a loss of our U.S. patent position. Furthermore, we may not have identified all U.S. and foreign patents or published applications that affect our business either by blocking our ability to commercialize our drugs or by covering similar technologies that affect our drug market.
The HCV inhibitor space is particularly crowded in terms of intellectual property, and we are aware that certain competitors such as Merck, Vertex, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Gilead Sciences and Bristol-Myers Squibb, have disclosed compounds that may be prior art to our patent applications and prevent issuance or alter the scope of any claims that we may pursue related to our drug candidates. For example, with regard to ACH-2928, we are aware that this compound and closely related inhibitors have been disclosed in published patent applications and ultimately could be deemed to constitute prior art. These competitive activities may substantially impact our ability to obtain patent protection on our lead drug candidates and/or to commercialize such drug candidates in the absence of patent rights from one or more third parties.
The claims of the issued patents that are licensed to us, and the claims of any patents which may issue in the future and be owned by or licensed to us, may not confer on us significant commercial protection against competing products. Additionally, our patents may be challenged by third parties, resulting in the patent being deemed invalid, unenforceable or narrowed in scope, or the third party may circumvent any such issued patents. Also, our pending patent applications may not issue, and we may not receive any additional patents. Our patents might not contain claims that are sufficiently broad to prevent others from utilizing our technologies. For instance, the issued patents relating to our drug candidates may be limited to a particular molecule. Consequently, our competitors may independently develop competing products that do not infringe our patents or other intellectual property. To the extent a competitor can develop similar products using a different molecule, our patents may not prevent others from directly competing with us.
The laws of some foreign jurisdictions do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as in the United States and many companies have encountered significant difficulties in protecting and defending such rights in foreign jurisdictions. If we encounter such difficulties in protecting or are otherwise precluded from effectively protecting our intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions, our business prospects could be substantially harmed.
Because of the extensive time required for development, testing and regulatory review of a potential product, it is possible that, before any of our drug candidates can be commercialized, any related patent may expire or remain in force for only a short period following commercialization of our drug candidates, thereby reducing any advantages of the patent. To the extent our drug candidates based on that technology are not commercialized significantly ahead of the date of any applicable patent, or to the extent we have no other patent protection on such product candidates, those drug candidates would not be protected by patents, and we would then rely solely on other forms of exclusivity, such as regulatory exclusivity provided by the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act or trade secret protection.
We license patent rights from third-party owners. If such owners do not properly maintain or enforce the patents underlying such licenses, our competitive position and business prospects will be harmed.
We are party to a number of licenses that give us rights to third-party intellectual property that is necessary or useful for our business. In particular, we have obtained a sublicense from Vion Pharmaceuticals and a license from Emory University with respect to elvucitabine. We may enter into additional licenses for third-party intellectual property in the future. Our success will depend in part on the ability of our licensors to obtain, maintain and enforce patent protection for their intellectual property, in particular, those patents to which we have secured exclusive rights. Our licensors may not successfully prosecute the patent applications to which we are licensed. Even if patents issue in respect of these patent applications, our licensors may fail to maintain these patents, may determine not to pursue litigation against other companies that are infringing these patents, or may pursue such litigation less aggressively than we would. In addition, our licensors may terminate their agreements with us in the event we breach the applicable license agreement and fail to cure the breach within a specified period of time. Without protection for the intellectual property we license, other companies might be able to offer substantially identical products for sale, which could adversely affect our competitive business position and harm our business prospects.
Because our research and development of drug candidates incorporates compounds and other information that is the intellectual property of third parties, we depend on continued access to such intellectual property to conduct and complete our preclinical and clinical research and commercialize the drug candidates that result from this research. Some of our existing licenses impose, and we expect that future licenses would impose, numerous obligations on us. For example, under our existing and future license agreements, we may be required to pay minimum annual royalty amounts and/or payments upon the achievement of specified milestones. We may also be required to reimburse patent costs incurred by the licensor, or we may be obligated to pay additional royalties, at specified rates, based on net sales of our product candidates that incorporate the licensed intellectual property rights. We may also be obligated under some of these agreements to pay a percentage of any future sublicensing revenues that we may receive. Future license agreements may also include payment obligations such as milestone payments or minimum expenditures for research and development. In addition to our payment obligations under our current licenses, we are required to comply with reporting, insurance and indemnification requirements under the agreements. We expect that any future licenses would contain similar requirements.
If we fail to comply with these obligations or otherwise breach a license agreement, the licensor may have the right to terminate the license in whole, terminate the exclusive nature of the license or bring a claim against us for damages. Any such termination or claim could prevent or impede our ability to market any drug that is covered by the licensed intellectual property. Even if we contest any such termination or claim and are ultimately successful, our financial results and stock price could suffer. In addition, upon any termination of a
license agreement, we may be required to grant to the licensor a license to any related intellectual property that we developed. For example, the Licensors have the right to terminate our license of the intellectual property covered by its licenses to us under certain circumstances, including our failure to make payments to the Licensor when due and our uncured breach of any other terms of the licenses. If access to such intellectual property is terminated, or becomes more expensive as a result of renegotiation of any of our existing license agreements, our ability to continue development of our product candidates or the successful commercialization of our drug candidates could be severely compromised and our business could be adversely affected.
In addition, under the Bayh-Dole Act, the federal government has certain rights to the technology licensed to us from Emory University.
If we infringe or are alleged to infringe intellectual property rights of third parties, our business could be harmed.
Our research, development and commercialization activities, including any drug candidates resulting from these activities, may infringe or be claimed to infringe patents or other proprietary rights owned by third parties and to which we do not hold licenses or other rights. There may be applications that have been filed but not published that, if issued, could be asserted against us. We are aware that certain third parties, including BMS, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline plc and Enanta Pharmaceuticals Inc. (“Enanta”), have applications that are broadly directed to HCV inhibitors. Certain of these third parties, in particular Gilead and Enanta, have patent applications with pending claims that, if issued, could be construed to encompass our drug candidate, ACH-2928. These third parties could bring claims against us that would cause us to incur substantial expenses and, if successful against us, could cause us to pay substantial damages. Further, if a patent infringement suit were brought against us, we could be forced to stop or delay research, development, manufacturing or sales of the drug or drug candidate that is the subject of the suit.
As a result of intellectual property infringement claims, or in order to avoid potential claims, we may choose or be required to seek a license from the third party. These licenses may not be available on acceptable terms, or at all. Even if we are able to obtain a license, the license would likely obligate us to pay license fees or royalties or both, and the rights granted to us might be nonexclusive, which could result in our competitors gaining access to the same intellectual property. Ultimately, we could be prevented from commercializing a product, or be forced to cease some aspect of our business operations, if, as a result of actual or threatened patent infringement claims, we are unable to enter into licenses on acceptable terms. All of the issues described above could also affect our potential collaborators to the extent we have any collaborations then in place, which would also affect the success of the collaboration and therefore us.
There has been substantial litigation and other proceedings regarding patent and other intellectual property rights in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. In addition to infringement claims against us, we may become a party to other patent litigation and other proceedings, including interference proceedings declared by the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office and opposition proceedings in the European Patent Office, regarding intellectual property rights with respect to our product candidates and technology. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our ability to compete in the marketplace.
Litigation regarding patents, patent applications and other proprietary rights may be expensive and time consuming. If we are involved in such litigation, it could cause delays in bringing drug candidates to market and harm our ability to operate.
Our success will depend in part on our ability to operate without infringing the proprietary rights of third parties. Although we are not currently aware of any litigation or other proceedings or third-party claims of intellectual property infringement related to our drug candidates, the pharmaceutical industry is characterized by extensive litigation regarding patents and other intellectual property rights. Other parties may obtain patents in the future and allege that the use of our technologies infringes these patent claims or that we are employing their proprietary technology without authorization. Likewise, third parties may challenge or infringe upon our existing
or future patents. Under our license agreements with Vion Pharmaceuticals we have the right, but not an obligation, to bring actions against an infringing third party. If we do not bring an action within a specified number of days, the licensor may bring an action against the infringing party. Pursuant to our license agreement with Emory University and our research collaboration and license agreement with Gilead Sciences, Emory and Gilead have the primary right, but not an obligation, to bring actions against an infringing third party. However, if Gilead or Emory elects not to bring an action, we may bring an action against the infringing party.
Proceedings involving our patents or patent applications or those of others could result in adverse decisions regarding:
| • | the patentability of our inventions relating to our drug candidates; and/or |
| • | the enforceability, validity or scope of protection offered by our patents relating to our drug candidates. |
Even if we are successful in these proceedings, we may incur substantial costs and divert management time and attention in pursuing these proceedings, which could have a material adverse effect on us. If we are unable to avoid infringing the patent rights of others, we may be required to seek a license, defend an infringement action or challenge the validity of the patents in court. Patent litigation is costly and time consuming. We may not have sufficient resources to bring these actions to a successful conclusion. In addition, if we do not obtain a license, develop or obtain non-infringing technology, fail to defend an infringement action successfully or have infringed patents declared invalid, we may:
| • | incur substantial monetary damages; |
| • | encounter significant delays in bringing our drug candidates to market; and/or |
| • | be precluded from participating in the manufacture, use or sale of our drug candidates or methods of treatment requiring licenses. |
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. In addition, during the course of this kind of litigation, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments. If investors perceive these results to be negative, the market price for our common stock could be significantly harmed.
Because of the relative weakness of the Chinese legal system in general, and the intellectual property rights in particular, we may not be able to enforce intellectual property rights in China.
The legal regime protecting intellectual property rights in China is weak. Because the Chinese legal system in general, and the intellectual property regime in particular, are relatively weak, it is often difficult to create and enforce intellectual property rights in China. Accordingly, we may not be able to effectively protect our intellectual property rights in China under the GCAT agreement.
We rely on our ability to stop others from competing by enforcing our patents, however some jurisdictions may require us to grant licenses to third parties. Such compulsory licenses could be extended to include some of our product candidates, which may limit our potential revenue opportunities.
Many foreign countries, including certain countries in Europe, have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner may be compelled to grant licenses to third parties. In addition, most countries limit the enforceability of patents against government agencies or government contractors. In these countries, the patent owner may be limited to monetary relief and may be unable to enjoin infringement, which could materially
diminish the value of the patent. Compulsory licensing of life-saving products is also becoming increasingly popular in developing countries, either through direct legislation or international initiatives. Such compulsory licenses could be extended to include some of our product candidates, which may limit our potential revenue opportunities.
The rights we rely upon to protect our unpatented trade secrets may be inadequate.
We rely on unpatented trade secrets, know-how and technology, which are difficult to protect, especially in the pharmaceutical industry, where much of the information about a product must be made public during the regulatory approval process. We seek to protect trade secrets, in part, by entering into confidentiality agreements with employees, consultants and others. These parties may breach or terminate these agreements, or may refuse to enter into such agreements with us, and we may not have adequate remedies for such breaches. Furthermore, these agreements may not provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets or other proprietary information or result in the effective assignment to us of intellectual property, and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure of confidential information or other breaches of the agreements. Despite our efforts to protect our trade secrets, we or our collaboration partners, board members, employees, consultants, contractors or scientific and other advisors may unintentionally or willfully disclose our proprietary information to competitors.
If we fail to maintain trade secret protection, our competitive position may be adversely affected. Competitors may also independently discover our trade secrets. Enforcement of claims that a third party has illegally obtained and is using trade secrets is expensive, time consuming and uncertain. If our competitors independently develop equivalent knowledge, methods and know-how, we would not be able to assert our trade secrets against them and our business could be harmed.
Confidentiality agreements with employees and others may not adequately prevent disclosure of trade secrets and other proprietary information and may not adequately protect our intellectual property.
We rely on trade secrets to protect our technology, especially where we do not believe patent protection is appropriate or obtainable. However, trade secrets are difficult to protect. In order to protect our proprietary technology and processes, we also rely in part on confidentiality and intellectual property assignment agreements with our corporate partners, employees, consultants, outside scientific collaborators and sponsored researchers and other advisors. These agreements may not effectively prevent disclosure of confidential information nor result in the effective assignment to us of intellectual property, and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized disclosure of confidential information or other breaches of the agreements. In addition, others may independently discover our trade secrets and proprietary information, and in such case we could not assert any trade secret rights against such party. Enforcing a claim that a party illegally obtained and is using our trade secrets is difficult, expensive and time consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, courts outside the United States may be less willing to protect trade secrets. Costly and time-consuming litigation could be necessary to seek to enforce and determine the scope of our proprietary rights, and failure to obtain or maintain trade secret protection could adversely affect our competitive business position.
Risks Relating to Our Securities
We may be required to dilute our existing stockholders further in connection with capital raising activities. Additionally, the market price of our common stock may fall due to the increased number of shares available in the public market.
In connection with capital raising activities, we may be required to dilute our existing stockholders substantially. For example, in August 2010, we issued an aggregate of 19,775,101 shares of our common stock, plus common stock warrants to purchase a total of 6,921,286 additional shares of common stock in a private placement. In January and February 2010, we issued an aggregate of 11,816,250 shares of our common stock in
an underwritten offering. Additionally, in August 2008, we issued 10,714,655 shares of our common stock, plus common stock warrants to purchase a total of 2,678,664 additional shares of common stock in a private placement. Stockholders will be further diluted if, and to the extent, any investors exercise their warrants. The issuance of these shares and warrants resulted in substantial dilution to stockholders who held our common stock prior to the issuance. All of the shares of common stock we issued, as well as those shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, are freely tradable pursuant to registration statements filed with the SEC that were declared effective by the SEC on September 30, 2010, October 16, 2009 and October 30, 2008, making such shares available for immediate resale in the public market.
In addition, amounts remain available for the future issuance of common stock, preferred stock and/or warrants that we may issue from time to time under the shelf registration statement on Form S-3 of which this prospectus supplement is a part. If we issue additional securities pursuant to this shelf registration statement, these securities would be available for immediate resale in the public market.
The market price of our common stock could fall due to an increase in the number of shares available for sale in the public market.
Our executive officers, directors and principal stockholders own a large percentage of our voting common stock and could limit our stockholders’ influence on corporate decisions or could delay or prevent a change in corporate control.
As of June 17, 2011, our directors, executive officers and current holders of more than 5% of our outstanding common stock, together with their affiliates and related persons, beneficially own, in the aggregate, approximately 71% of our outstanding common stock. As a result, these stockholders, if acting together, have the ability to determine the outcome of all matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election and removal of directors and any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets and other extraordinary transactions. The interests of this group of stockholders may not always coincide with our corporate interests or the interest of other stockholders, and they may act in a manner with which you may not agree or that may not be in the best interests of other stockholders. This concentration of ownership may have the effect of:
| • | delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of our company; |
| • | entrenching our management and/or board; |
| • | impeding a merger, consolidation, takeover or other business combination involving our company; or |
| • | discouraging a potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our company. |
Our stock price is likely to be volatile, and the market price of our common stock may decline in value in the future.
The market price of our common stock has fluctuated in the past and is likely to fluctuate in the future. During the period from January 1, 2007 to June 17, 2011, our stock price has ranged from a low of $0.68 to a high of $19.61. Market prices for securities of early stage pharmaceutical, biotechnology and other life sciences companies have historically been particularly volatile. Some of the factors that may cause the market price of our common stock to fluctuate include:
| • | the results of our planned clinical trials of our protease inhibitors, ACH-1625 and ACH-2684 and our NS5A inhibitors, ACH-2928 and related compounds; |
| • | the entry into, modification of, or termination of key agreements, or any new collaboration agreement we may enter; |
| • | the results of regulatory reviews relating to the approval of our drug candidates; |
| • | our failure to obtain patent protection for any of our drug candidates or the issuance of third party patents that cover our drug candidates; |
| • | the initiation of, material developments in, or conclusion of litigation to enforce or defend any of our intellectual property rights; |
| • | failure of any of our drug candidates, if approved, to achieve commercial success; |
| • | general and industry-specific economic conditions that may affect our research and development expenditures; |
| • | the results of clinical trials conducted by others on drugs that would compete with our drug candidates; |
| • | the launch of drugs by others that would compete with our drug candidates; |
| • | the failure or discontinuation of any of our research programs; |
| • | issues in manufacturing our drug candidates or any approved products; |
| • | the introduction of technological innovations or new commercial products by us or our competitors; |
| • | changes in estimates or recommendations by securities analysts, if any, who cover our common stock; |
| • | future sales of our common stock; |
| • | changes in the structure of health care payment systems; |
| • | period-to-period fluctuations in our financial results; and |
| • | low trading volume of our common stock. |
In addition, if we fail to reach an important research, development or commercialization milestone or result by a publicly expected deadline, even if by only a small margin, there could be significant impact on the market price of our common stock. Additionally, as we approach the announcement of important clinical data or other significant information and as we announce such results and information, we expect the price of our common stock to be particularly volatile, and negative results would have a substantial negative impact on the price of our common stock.
The stock markets in general have experienced substantial volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of individual companies. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect the trading price of our common stock.
In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, stockholders have often instituted class action securities litigation against those companies. Such litigation, if instituted, could result in substantial costs and diversion of management attention and resources, which could significantly harm our business operations and reputation.
Unstable market and economic conditions may have serious adverse consequences on our business.
Our general business strategy may be adversely affected by the recent economic downturn and volatile business environment and continued unpredictable and unstable market conditions. If the current equity and credit markets deteriorate further, or do not improve, it may make any necessary debt or equity financing more difficult, more costly, and more dilutive. Failure to secure any necessary financing in a timely manner and on
favorable terms could have a material adverse effect on our growth strategy, financial performance and stock price and could require us to delay or abandon clinical development plans. In addition, there is a risk that one or more of our current service providers, manufacturers and other partners may not survive these difficult economic times, which would directly affect our ability to attain our operating goals on schedule and on budget.
Our management is required to devote substantial time and incur additional expense to comply with public company regulations. Our failure to comply with such regulations could subject us to public investigations, fines, enforcement actions and other sanctions by regulatory agencies and authorities and, as a result, our stock price could decline in value.
As a public company, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the related rules and regulations of the SEC, as well as the rules of the NASDAQ Global Market, have required us to implement additional corporate governance practices and adhere to a variety of reporting requirements and complex accounting rules. Compliance with these public company obligations places significant additional demands on our limited number of finance and accounting staff and on our financial, accounting and information systems.
In particular, as a public company, our management is required to conduct an annual evaluation of our internal controls over financial reporting and include a report of management on our internal controls in our annual reports on Form 10-K. If we are unable to continue to conclude that we have effective internal controls over financial reporting or, if our independent auditors are unable to provide us with an attestation and an unqualified report as to the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting, investors could lose confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, which could result in a decrease in the value of our common stock.
We do not anticipate paying cash dividends, and accordingly stockholders must rely on stock appreciation for any return on their investment in us.
We anticipate that we will retain our earnings, if any, for future growth and therefore do not anticipate paying cash dividends in the future. As a result, only appreciation of the price of our common stock will provide a return to stockholders.
| Item 9.01. | Financial Statements and Exhibits |
(d) Exhibits
See Exhibit Index attached hereto.
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
Date: June 20, 2011
| ACHILLION PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. | ||
| By: | /s/ Mary Kay Fenton | |
| Mary Kay Fenton | ||
| Chief Financial Officer | ||
EXHIBIT INDEX
| Exhibit No. |
Description | |
| 99.1 | Press Release of the Company dated June 20, 2011. | |