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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-Q
| | | | | |
☒ | QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2023
OR
| | | | | |
☐ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from ________ to ________
Commission file number 001-40215
Instil Bio, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Delaware | | 83-2072195 | |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | |
| |
3963 Maple Avenue, Suite 350 Dallas, Texas | | | 75219 (Zip Code) | |
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) | | | |
(972) 499-3350
Registrant's telephone number, including area code
Not Applicable
(Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| | | | | | | | |
Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered |
Common Stock, $0.000001 par value per share | TIL | The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports); and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ |
Non-accelerated filer | ☒ | Smaller reporting company | ☒ |
| | Emerging growth company | ☒ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date:
| | | | | |
Class of Common Stock | Outstanding at |
130,079,097 shares of Common Stock, $0.000001 par value per share | May 9, 2023 |
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part I. Financial Information
Item 1. Financial Statements (Unaudited)
INSTIL BIO, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(in thousands, except share and per share amounts)
(Unaudited)
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| March 31, 2023 | | December 31, 2022 |
ASSETS | | | |
Current assets: | | | |
Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 27,350 | | | $ | 43,716 | |
Marketable securities | 195,845 | | | 217,204 | |
Prepaid expenses and other current assets | 9,307 | | | 8,458 | |
Assets held for sale | 7,619 | | | — | |
Total current assets | 240,121 | | | 269,378 | |
Property, plant and equipment, net | 180,010 | | | 196,880 | |
Operating lease right-of-use assets | 3,413 | | | 12,457 | |
Other long-term assets | 3,628 | | | 3,413 | |
Total assets | $ | 427,172 | | | $ | 482,128 | |
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | | | |
Current liabilities: | | | |
Accounts payable | $ | 1,349 | | | $ | 2,359 | |
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities | 25,217 | | | 30,069 | |
Contingent consideration, current portion | 123 | | | 360 | |
Total current liabilities | 26,689 | | | 32,788 | |
Contingent consideration, net of current portion | 7,884 | | | 7,882 | |
Operating lease liabilities, non-current | 4,184 | | | 5,171 | |
Loan payable | 77,065 | | | 72,350 | |
Other long-term liabilities | 196 | | | 332 | |
Total liabilities | 116,018 | | | 118,523 | |
Commitments and contingencies (Note 6) | | | |
Stockholders’ equity: | | | |
Preferred stock, par value $0.000001 per share; 10,000,000 shares authorized; zero shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2023, and December 31, 2022 | — | | | — | |
Common stock, par value $0.000001 per share; 300,000,000 shares authorized; 130,079,097 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2023, and December 31, 2022 | — | | | — | |
Additional paid-in capital | 793,522 | | | 788,992 | |
Accumulated other comprehensive loss | (406) | | | (493) | |
Accumulated deficit | (481,962) | | | (424,894) | |
Total stockholders’ equity | 311,154 | | | 363,605 | |
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity | $ | 427,172 | | | $ | 482,128 | |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.
INSTIL BIO, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS
(in thousands, except share and per share amounts)
(Unaudited)
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Three Months Ended March 31, |
| 2023 | | 2022 |
Operating expenses: | | | |
Research and development | $ | 20,670 | | | $ | 39,174 | |
General and administrative | 13,222 | | | 15,112 | |
Restructuring and impairment charges | 24,554 | | | — | |
Total operating expenses | 58,446 | | | 54,286 | |
Loss from operations | (58,446) | | | (54,286) | |
Interest income | 2,071 | | | 97 | |
Interest expense | (636) | | | — | |
Other expense, net | (57) | | | (416) | |
Loss before income tax expense | (57,068) | | | (54,605) | |
Income tax benefit | — | | | 488 | |
Net loss | (57,068) | | | (54,117) | |
Other comprehensive income (loss): | | | |
Foreign currency translation | (230) | | | (31) | |
Unrealized gain (loss) on available-for-sale securities, net | 317 | | | (323) | |
Net comprehensive loss | $ | (56,981) | | | $ | (54,471) | |
Net loss per share, basic and diluted | $ | (0.44) | | | $ | (0.42) | |
Weighted-average shares used in computing net loss per share, basic and diluted | 130,079,097 | | 129,119,462 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.
INSTIL BIO, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
(in thousands, except share and per share amounts)
(Unaudited)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Common Stock | | Additional Paid-in Capital | | Accumulated Other Comprehensive | | Accumulated Deficit | | Total Stockholders’ Equity |
| | Shares | | Amount | | | (Loss) Income | | |
Balance - December 31, 2022 | | 130,079,097 | | | $ | — | | | $ | 788,992 | | | $ | (493) | | | $ | (424,894) | | | $ | 363,605 | |
Stock-based compensation | | — | | | — | | | 4,530 | | | — | | | — | | | 4,530 | |
Net loss | | — | | | — | | | — | | | — | | | (57,068) | | | (57,068) | |
Other comprehensive income | | — | | | — | | | — | | | 87 | | | — | | | 87 | |
Balance - March 31, 2023 | | 130,079,097 | | | $ | — | | | $ | 793,522 | | | $ | (406) | | | $ | (481,962) | | | $ | 311,154 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Common Stock | | Additional Paid-in Capital | | Accumulated Other Comprehensive | | Accumulated Deficit | | Total Stockholders’ Equity |
| | Shares | | Amount | | | Loss | | |
Balance - December 31, 2021 | | 129,028,278 | | | $ | — | | | $ | 757,003 | | | $ | (87) | | | $ | (201,717) | | | $ | 555,199 | |
Shares of common stock issued in connection with incentive stock plan | | 189,638 | | | — | | | 338 | | | — | | | | | 338 | |
Stock-based compensation | | — | | | — | | | 7,493 | | | — | | | — | | | 7,493 | |
Net loss | | — | | | — | | | — | | | — | | | (54,117) | | | (54,117) | |
Other comprehensive loss | | — | | | — | | | — | | | (354) | | | — | | | (354) | |
Balance - March 31, 2022 | | 129,217,916 | | | $ | — | | | $ | 764,834 | | | $ | (441) | | | $ | (255,834) | | | $ | 508,559 | |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.
INSTIL BIO, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(in thousands)
(Unaudited)
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Three Months Ended March 31, |
| 2023 | | 2022 |
Cash flows from operating activities: | | | |
Net loss | $ | (57,068) | | | $ | (54,117) | |
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: | | | |
Stock-based compensation | 4,530 | | | 7,493 | |
Non-cash lease expense | 271 | | | 897 | |
Foreign exchange remeasurement gain | (373) | | | (454) | |
Impairment of fixed assets | 13,099 | | | — | |
Impairment of right-of-use assets | 7,804 | | | — | |
Change in fair value of contingent consideration | (236) | | | (346) | |
Depreciation and amortization | 1,776 | | | 899 | |
Accretion on invested securities | (1,320) | | | — | |
Non-cash interest expense | 624 | | | — | |
Loss on disposals of property and equipment | 45 | | | — | |
Other, net | — | | | 276 | |
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | | | |
Prepaid expenses and other current assets | (773) | | | (2,825) | |
Other long-term assets | 67 | | | (291) | |
Accounts payable | (980) | | | (3,199) | |
Operating lease liabilities | (446) | | | (456) | |
Accrued restructuring costs | (207) | | | — | |
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities | (1,475) | | | (2,928) | |
Net cash used in operating activities | (34,662) | | | (55,051) | |
Cash flows from investing activities: | | | |
Purchase of marketable securities | (82,005) | | | (252,398) | |
Maturities of marketable securities | 105,000 | | | 350,500 | |
Purchases of property, plant and equipment | (8,467) | | | (20,235) | |
Net cash provided by investing activities | 14,528 | | | 77,867 | |
Cash flows from financing activities: | | | |
Proceeds from exercise of stock options | — | | | 338 | |
Proceeds from note payable | 4,467 | | | — | |
Net cash provided by financing activities | 4,467 | | | 338 | |
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents | (15,667) | | | 23,154 | |
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash | (24) | | | 729 | |
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash—beginning of period | 43,716 | | | 38,090 | |
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash—end of period | $ | 28,025 | | | $ | 61,973 | |
| | | |
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information: | | | |
Cash paid for interest, net of amounts capitalized | $ | 1,479 | | | $ | — | |
| | | |
Supplemental disclosure of noncash information: | | | |
Purchases of property, plant and equipment in accounts payable and accrued expenses and other current liabilities | $ | 9,501 | | | $ | 10,406 | |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.
INSTIL BIO, INC.
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
(Unaudited)
1. Organization and Description of Business
Instil Bio, Inc. (the “Company” or “Instil Bio”) is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and was incorporated in the state of Delaware in August 2018. The Company is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing an innovative cell therapy pipeline of autologous tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (“TIL”) therapies for the treatment of patients with cancer. Principal operations commenced during the first quarter of 2019 when the Company in-licensed its foundational TIL technology.
In December 2022, the Company’s Board of Directors approved a restructuring plan (the "2022 Plan”) to implement a strategic prioritization of the Company’s preclinical and clinical development programs. As part of the restructuring plan, the Company’s ITIL-168 development program was discontinued and the Company prioritized the clinical development of its first CoStAR-TIL candidate, ITIL-306.
In January 2023, the Company’s Board of Directors approved an expansion of the 2022 Plan, and the Company expects to transition clinical manufacturing and trial operations of ITIL-306 to its operations in the United Kingdom (see Note 10 for more details).
2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as the audited annual consolidated financial statements and, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments, which include only normal recurring adjustments, necessary for the fair statement of the Company’s financial position as of March 31, 2023, the condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, the condensed consolidated statements of stockholders' equity for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, and the results of its cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022. The financial data and other information disclosed in these notes related to the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022 are also unaudited. The results for the three months ended March 31, 2023 are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for the year ending December 31, 2023, any other periods, or any future year period. The Company has evaluated subsequent events through the date the condensed consolidated financial statements were issued.
The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and the related notes thereto included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on March 31, 2023.
Segments
Operating segments are identified as components of an entity for which separate discrete financial information is available and that is regularly reviewed by the chief operating decision-maker in deciding how to allocate resources to an individual segment and in assessing performance. The Company has determined it operates in a single operating segment and has one operating segment.
Cash, Cash Equivalents, Restricted Cash and Marketable Securities
The Company considers all highly liquid investments purchased with original maturities of three months or less from the purchase date to be cash equivalents. Cash equivalents include amounts invested in money market accounts.
Restricted cash consists of a cash reserve which serves as collateral for the Company’s construction loan and is classified within other long-term assets on the condensed consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2023. The Company did not have restricted cash on the condensed consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2022.
The Company's short-term marketable securities have original maturities of less than a year at date of purchase. The Company classifies and accounts for marketable securities as available-for-sale securities, which are carried at their fair values based on the quoted market prices of the securities. Unrealized gains and losses are reported as accumulated other comprehensive income (loss). Realized gains and losses on available-for-sale securities are included in net loss in the period earned or incurred. As of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, marketable securities consisted of U.S. Treasury bills.
Short-term marketable securities are recorded at their estimated fair value. The Company periodically reviews whether its securities may be other-than-temporarily impaired, including whether or not (i) the Company has the intent to sell the security or (ii) it is more likely than not that the Company will be required to sell the security before its anticipated recovery. If one of these factors is met, the Company will record an impairment loss associated with its impaired investment. The impairment loss will be recorded as a write-down of investments in the condensed consolidated balance sheets and a realized loss within other expense in the condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss.
The following table provides a reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash reported within the condensed consolidated balance sheets that sum to the amounts shown in the condensed consolidated statements of cash flows (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| March 31, 2023 | | December 31, 2022 |
Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 27,350 | | | $ | 43,716 | |
Restricted cash | 675 | | | — | |
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash | $ | 28,025 | | | $ | 43,716 | |
Emerging Growth Company Status
The Company is an emerging growth company, as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”). Under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies can delay adopting new or revised accounting standards issued subsequent to the enactment of the JOBS Act until such time as those standards apply to private companies. The Company has elected to avail itself of this extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until the earlier of the date that it (i) is no longer an emerging growth company or (ii) affirmatively and irrevocably opts out of the extended transition period provided in the JOBS Act. As a result, these condensed consolidated financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with the new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
Assets Held for Sale
The Company classifies long-lived assets or disposal groups to be sold as held for sale in the period in which all of the following criteria are met: management, having the authority to approve the action, commits to a plan to
sell the asset or disposal group; the asset or disposal group is available for immediate sale in its present condition subject only to terms that are usual and customary for sales of such assets or disposal group; an active program to locate a buyer and other actions required to complete the plan to sell that assets has been initiated; the sale of the asset or disposal group is probable, and transfer of the asset or disposal group is expected to qualify for recognition as a completed sale within one year; the asset or disposal group is being actively marketed for sale at a price that is reasonable in relation to its current fair value; and actions required to complete the plan indicates that it is unlikely that significant changes to the plan will be made or the plan will be withdrawn.
The Company initially measures a long-lived asset or disposal group that is held for sale at the lower of its carrying value less any costs to sell. Fair value is estimated by the Company through evaluations of quoted market prices received for other comparable held for sale assets sold by the Company. Any loss resulting from this measurement is recognized in the period in which the held for sale criteria are met. Conversely, gains are not recognized on the sale of a long-lived asset or disposal group until the date of sale. The Company assesses the fair value of a long-lived asset or disposal group less any costs to sell each reporting period it remains classified as held for sale and reports any subsequent changes as an adjustment to the carrying value of the asset or disposal group, as long as the new carrying value does not exceed the carrying value of the asset at the time it was initially classified as held for sale. Upon determining that a long-lived asset or disposal group meets the criteria to be classified as held for sale, the Company ceases depreciation and reports long-lived assets in the line item assets held for sale in its condensed consolidated balance sheet. Refer to Notes 3 and 10.
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets
The Company reviews its long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable or that the useful life is shorter than originally estimated. Recoverability of assets is measured by comparing the carrying amount of an asset to future undiscounted net cash flows expected to be generated by the asset over its remaining useful life. If such assets are impaired, the impairment recognized is measured by the amount by which the carrying amount of the assets exceeds the fair value of the assets. If the useful life is shorter than originally estimated, the Company depreciates or amortizes the remaining carrying value over the revised shorter useful life. Assets to be disposed of by sale are reflected at the lower of their carrying amount or fair value less cost to sell. To date, the Company has recorded impairment losses on long-lived assets associated with a sustained decrease in the Company's stock price and the restructuring plan implemented on December 2, 2022 for a strategic prioritization of the Company's preclinical and clinical development programs. The Company recognized a non-cash impairment charge of $2.6 million during the first quarter of 2023 for leasehold improvements. The impairment charge was recorded in the condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss in the line item "restructuring and impairment charges." See Notes 6 and 10 for more information.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements Adopted
A variety of proposed or otherwise potential accounting standards are currently being studied by standard-setting organizations and certain regulatory agencies. Because of the tentative and preliminary nature of such proposed standards, we have not yet determined the effect, if any, that the implementation of such proposed standards would have on our condensed consolidated financial statements.
3. Balance Sheet Components
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net
Property, plant and equipment, net consist of the following (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| March 31, 2023 | | December 31, 2022 |
Land | $ | 31,243 | | | $ | 31,243 | |
Laboratory equipment | 8,759 | | | 19,050 | |
Buildings(1) | 32,778 | | | 32,778 | |
Office and computer equipment | 832 | | | 4,969 | |
Leasehold improvements | 1,366 | | | 4,340 | |
Manufacturing equipment | 2,044 | | | 8,803 | |
Vehicles | — | | | 64 | |
Construction work-in-progress | 108,250 | | | 104,117 | |
Total property, plant and equipment, gross | 185,272 | | | 205,364 | |
Less: accumulated depreciation | (5,262) | | | (8,484) | |
Total property, plant and equipment, net | $ | 180,010 | | | $ | 196,880 | |
(1) Relates to a building that was developed as part of the Company’s clinical manufacturing facility in Tarzana, California. The building was placed into service and ready for its intended use as of the end of the quarter ended June 30, 2022.
Depreciation expense was $1.8 million and $0.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
During the quarter ended March 31, 2023, the Company capitalized $1.1 million of interest related to qualifying expenditures for construction work-in-progress for its commercial manufacturing facility, which is not ready for its intended use.
During the quarter ended March 31, 2023, the Company had $7.6 million in assets on the condensed consolidated balance sheet meeting the criteria of held for sale. These assets are recognized at the lower of cost or fair value less cost to sell using market approach. The fair value of these assets are classified as Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy due to a mix of unobservable inputs utilized such as independent research in the market as well as actual quotes from market participants. As a result, the Company recognized $10.5 million in impairment charges, which are recognized in the line item "restructuring and impairment charges" on the condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss. The remaining value of $7.6 million is recognized on the condensed consolidated balance sheet under the line item "assets held for sale."
Accrued Expenses and Other Current Liabilities
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities consist of the following (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| March 31, 2023 | | December 31, 2022 |
Accrued construction costs | $ | 9,548 | | | $ | 12,359 | |
Accrued compensation and benefits | 3,271 | | | 3,273 | |
Accrued operational expenses | 1,881 | | | 2,203 | |
Accrued restructuring costs | 5,228 | | | 5,434 | |
Accrued research, development and clinical trial expenses | 2,649 | | | 3,827 | |
Operating lease liabilities, current | 2,101 | | | 2,381 | |
Other current liabilities | 539 | | | 592 | |
Total accrued expenses and other current liabilities | $ | 25,217 | | | $ | 30,069 | |
4. Fair Value Measurement
The fair value of cash and cash equivalents approximates carrying value since cash and cash equivalents consist of short-term highly liquid investments with maturities of less than three months at the time of purchase. Cash and cash equivalents are quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets and are therefore classified as Level 1 assets. Money market funds are open-end mutual funds that invest in cash, government securities, and/or repurchase agreements that are collateralized fully. To the extent that these funds are valued based upon the reported net asset value, they are categorized in Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy.
Short-term marketable securities comprised U.S. Treasury bills that are classified within Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy are valued based on other observable inputs, including broker or dealer quotations, alternative pricing sources or U.S. Government Treasury yield of appropriate term.
The following tables provide information by level for assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring and nonrecurring basis:
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| As of March 31, 2023 |
| Level 1 | | Level 2 | | Level 3 | | Total |
| (In thousands) |
Financial Assets | | | | | | | |
Money market funds | $ | 21,772 | | | $ | — | | | $ | — | | | $ | 21,772 | |
U.S. Treasury bills | — | | | 195,845 | | | — | | | 195,845 | |
Derivative financial instrument | — | | | 1,833 | | | — | | | 1,833 | |
Assets held for sale | $ | — | | | $ | — | | | $ | 7,619 | | | $ | 7,619 | |
Total | $ | 21,772 | | | $ | 197,678 | | | $ | 7,619 | | | $ | 227,069 | |
Financial Liabilities | | | | | | | |
Contingent consideration | $ | — | | | $ | — | | | $ | 8,007 | | | $ | 8,007 | |
| | | | | | | |
| As of December 31, 2022 |
| Level 1 | | Level 2 | | Level 3 | | Total |
| (In thousands) |
Financial Assets | | | | | | | |
Money market funds | $ | 22,830 | | | $ | — | | | $ | — | | | $ | 22,830 | |
U.S. Treasury bills | — | | | 217,204 | | | — | | | 217,204 | |
Derivative financial instrument | — | | | 2,202 | | | — | | | 2,202 | |
Total | $ | 22,830 | | | $ | 219,406 | | | $ | — | | | $ | 242,236 | |
Financial Liabilities | | | | | | | |
Contingent consideration | $ | — | | | $ | — | | | $ | 8,242 | | | $ | 8,242 | |
There were no transfers in or out of Level 1, 2 and 3 measurements for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and the year ended December 31, 2022. As of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, there were no securities within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy. The derivative financial instrument above relates to the interest rate swap discussed in Note 6, and is included in other long-term assets in the condensed consolidated balance sheets.
As of March 31, 2023, the fair value of the Company's Loan (as defined in Note 6) was $61.1 million. The fair value was determined on the basis of its net present value and is considered Level 2 in the fair value hierarchy.
5. Financial Instruments
Marketable securities classified as available-for-sale on March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 consisted of the following (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| March 31, 2023 |
| Maturity | Amortized Cost | Unrealized Gains | Unrealized Losses | Fair Value |
U.S. Treasury bills | Less than one year | $ | 195,993 | | $ | — | | $ | (148) | | $ | 195,845 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| December 31, 2022 |
| Maturity | Amortized Cost | Unrealized Gains | Unrealized Losses | Fair Value |
U.S. Treasury bills | Less than one year | $ | 217,669 | | $ | — | | $ | (465) | | $ | 217,204 | |
As of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, all marketable securities had contractual maturities less than one year; marketable securities with maturities greater than one year are classified as current because management considers all marketable securities to be available for current operations. The Company does not intend to sell its marketable securities and it is not likely that the Company will be required to sell these securities before recovery of their amortized cost bases.
6. Commitments and Contingencies
Operating Lease Obligations
The Company currently leases office spaces and laboratory spaces located in Greater Los Angeles, California, Dallas, Texas, the United Kingdom and other parts of the United States. The Company's leased facilities have original lease terms ranging from 2 to 5 years that predominately require the Company to provide a security deposit, while certain leases provide the right for the Company to renew the lease upon the expiration of the initial lease term, and various leases have scheduled rent increases on an annual basis. The exercise of lease renewal options for the Company’s existing leases is at the Company’s sole discretion, and not included in the measurement of right-of-use ("ROU") asset or lease liability as they are not reasonably certain to be exercised. Certain leases provide free rent, or tenant improvement allowances, of which certain of these improvements have been classified as leasehold improvements and are being amortized over the shorter of the estimated useful life of the improvements or the remaining life of the lease, while other tenant improvements incurred by the Company revert to the landlord at the expiration of the lease and are not assets on the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheets.
Information related to the Company's operating ROU assets and related lease liability was as follows (in thousands, except for years and percentages).
The Company's lease costs consist of the following (in thousands):
| | | | | |
| Three Months Ended March 31, 2023 |
Operating lease cost | 1,209 |
Variable lease cost | 1,032 |
Total lease cost | $ | 2,241 |
The following table summarizes cash flow information related to the Company’s lease obligations (in thousands):
| | | | | |
| Three Months Ended March 31, 2023 |
Cash paid for operating lease liabilities | $ | 875 | |
The following table summarizes the Company’s lease assets and liabilities (in thousands):
| | | | | |
| As of March 31, 2023 |
Operating lease right-of-use assets | $ | 3,413 | |
Current operating lease liabilities | $ | 2,101 | |
Non-current operating lease liabilities | $ | 4,184 | |
The following table summarizes other supplemental information related to the Company’s lease obligations:
| | | | | |
| As of March 31, 2023 |
Weighted-average remaining lease term (in years) | 3.2 |
Weighted-average discount rate | 6.75 | % |
Future minimum lease payments under operating lease liabilities were (in thousands):
| | | | | |
| As of March 31, 2023 |
2023 (remaining nine months) | $ | 1,852 | |
2024 | 2,092 | |
2025 | 1,825 | |
2026 | 1,200 | |
Total future lease payments | 6,969 | |
Less: imputed interest | 684 | |
Total lease liability balance | 6,285 | |
Less: current portion of operating lease liabilities | 2,101 | |
Total operating lease liabilities, non-current | $ | 4,184 | |
Future minimum lease payments under noncancellable operating leases were (in thousands):
| | | | | |
| As of December 31, 2022 |
2023 | $ | 2,806 | |
2024 | 2,417 | |
2025 | 1,920 | |
2026 | 1,272 | |
Total | $ | 8,415 | |
During the quarter ended March 31, 2023, the Company entered into lease termination agreements for several office and laboratory spaces located in the United States as a part of its Plan (as defined below). As consideration for the terminations, the Company agreed to pay certain landlord's termination fees of approximately $0.4 million of which $0.2 million was paid as of March 31, 2023. The remaining liability of $0.2 million will be paid in the second
quarter of 2023 and is recorded in the line item "accrued expenses and other current liabilities" on the condensed consolidated balance sheet. A loss on termination of $0.5 million is recorded in the line item "restructuring and impairment charges" (see Note 10).
During the quarter ended March 31, 2023, the Company evaluated its remaining right-of-use assets for impairment, as the restructuring plan has resulted in a cessation of use for several locations. The Company determined these assets were impaired, and has recognized an impairment loss of $7.3 million, which is recorded in the line item "restructuring and impairment charges" in the condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss (see Note 10).
Construction Commitments
The Company’s contractual commitments for the development of its Tarzana facility are limited to unreimbursed spend by the general contractor and as such, as of March 31, 2023, and December 31, 2022, $1.9 million and $4.0 million, respectively, is contractually committed to the development of this project.
Legal Proceedings
From time to time, the Company may have certain contingent liabilities that arise in the ordinary course of its business activities. The Company accrues a liability for such matters when it is probable that future expenditures will be made and that such expenditures can be reasonably estimated. Significant judgment is required to determine both probability and the estimated amount. The Company does not expect that the resolution of these matters will have a material adverse effect on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
Debt
In June 2022, the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Complex Therapeutics Mezzanine LLC, and the Company's wholly-owned indirect subsidiary, Complex Therapeutics LLC, entered into a mortgage construction loan and mezzanine construction loan (together, the “Loan”) secured by its Tarzana, California land and building (the “Property”) which is partially complete. The initial principal amount of the Loan was $52.1 million, with additional future principal of up to $32.9 million to fund ongoing Property construction costs. The Loan principal is payable in July 2025, with the option to extend until July 2027. As of March 31, 2023, the outstanding principal amount under the Loan was $79.2 million and unamortized debt issuance costs were $2.2 million. The Loan is guaranteed by the Company and secured by the Property, and bears interest at one-month Secured Overnight Financing Rate, plus 5.25% per annum. The Company's weighted average interest rate during the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was approximately 7.8%. The Loan contains customary negative and affirmative covenants that include limitations on the ability of the Company to enter into significant contracts and incur additional debt. The Company is also required to maintain consolidated net worth and liquid assets of at least $85.0 million as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 as defined in the loan agreement. As of March 31, 2023, the Company was in compliance with the covenants of the Loan. The Company is also required to maintain certain insurance coverage on the Property. In connection with the Loan, the Company entered into an interest rate swap to effectively limit its maximum interest rate, as discussed in Note 4.
The net carrying amount of the liability component of the Loan was as follows (in thousands):
| | | | | |
| March 31, 2023 |
Principal amount | $ | 79,222 | |
Unamortized debt issuance cost | (2,157) | |
Net carrying amount | $ | 77,065 | |
The following table sets forth the interest expense recognized related to the Loan (in thousands):
| | | | | |
| Three Months Ended March 31, 2023 |
Contractual interest expense | $ | 387 | |
Amortization of debt issuance cost | 249 | |
Total interest expense related to the Loan | $ | 636 | |
Other Commitments
In the normal course of business, we enter into contracts and various purchase agreements commitments with third-party vendors for clinical research services, products and other services from third parties for operating purposes. These agreements generally provide for termination or cancellation, other than for costs already incurred. The Company also recorded $1.6 million related to one-time employee termination benefits and $2.0 million for contract termination as part of its Plan (see Note 10).
7. Equity
Common Stock
Each share of common stock has the right to one vote. The holders of common stock are also entitled to receive dividends whenever funds are legally available and if declared by the Board of Directors, subject to the prior rights of holders of all classes of stock outstanding having priority rights as to dividends. No cash dividends have been declared by the Board of Directors from inception.
As of March 31, 2023, the Company had outstanding 130,079,097 shares of common stock.
Preferred Stock Activity
The Company's current amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the Company to issue up to 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock at $0.000001 par value per share. The Board of Directors is authorized to provide for the issuance of the preferred stock in one or more series, and to fix the number of shares and to determine or alter for each such series, such voting powers, full or limited, or no voting powers, and such designation, preferences, and relative, participating, optional, or other rights and such qualifications, limitations, or restrictions thereof, as shall be stated and expressed in subsequent resolution or resolutions adopted by the board providing for the issuance of such shares. As of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, there were no shares of preferred stock issued nor outstanding.
8. Stock-Based Compensation
2021 Equity Incentive Plan
In March 2021, the Company adopted the 2021 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2021 Plan”), which became effective in connection with the initial public offering ("IPO"). The 2021 Plan was approved by the Company’s Board of Directors and stockholders in March 2021. The 2021 Plan is an equity incentive plan pursuant to which the Company may grant the following awards: (i) incentive stock options; (ii) nonstatutory stock options; (iii) stock appreciation rights; (iv) restricted stock awards; (v) restricted stock unit awards; (vi) performance awards; and (vii) other forms of stock awards to employees, directors, and consultants, including employees and consultants of the Company’s affiliates. The 2021 Plan is a successor to the Company's 2018 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2018 Plan”). Following the effectiveness of the 2021 Plan, no further grants may be made under the 2018 Plan; however, any outstanding equity awards granted under the 2018 Plan will continue to be governed by the terms of the 2018 Plan.
As of March 31, 2023, 6,091,454 shares of common stock remained available for issuance under the 2021 Plan. As of March 31, 2023, the total number of shares authorized for issuance under the 2021 Plan was 12,854,437 shares.
Compensation expense for share-based awards is recognized over the requisite service period. The fair value of stock option awards is estimated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, which involves using assumptions regarding price volatility, risk-free interest rate, expected dividends and projected employee stock option exercise behaviors.
The following table sets forth stock-based compensation included in the Company’s statement of operations and comprehensive loss (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Three Months Ended March 31, | |
| 2023 | | 2022 | |
Research and development expense | $ | 158 | | | $ | 3,229 | | |
General and administrative expense | 4,372 | | | 4,264 | | |
Total stock-based compensation expense | $ | 4,530 | | | $ | 7,493 | | |
As of March 31, 2023, there was $46.4 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested stock options granted under the 2018 Plan and 2021 Plan, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 2.1 years.
Employee Stock Purchase Plan
In March 2021, the Company adopted the Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “ESPP”), which became effective in connection with the IPO. The ESPP was adopted by the Company’s Board of Directors and stockholders in March 2021. The ESPP initially provides participating employees with the opportunity to purchase up to an aggregate of 1,237,000 shares of common stock. The Company has not yet commenced offerings to employees under the ESPP.
9. Net Loss Per Share
The following outstanding potentially dilutive shares have been excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share for the periods presented due to their anti-dilutive effect:
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| March 31, |
| 2023 | | 2022 |
Stock options to purchase common stock | 23,091,102 | | 23,396,618 |
10. Corporate Restructuring Plan
In December 2022 and January 2023, the Company’s Board of Directors approved the Plan to implement a strategic prioritization of the Company’s preclinical and clinical development programs. The Plan is designed to reduce costs and reallocate resources to focus on advancing the Company’s CoStimulatory Antigen Receptor (CoStAR) platform and other next-generation tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) technologies. As part of the Plan, the Company’s ITIL-168 development program was discontinued, and the Company reduced its U.S. workforce by approximately 60% and its UK workforce by approximately 40% as of March 31, 2023.
On January 30, 2023, the Company’s Board of Directors approved an expansion of its previously announced restructuring plan implementing a strategic prioritization of the Company’s preclinical and clinical development
programs. In connection with the expanded restructuring plan (the "2023 Plan”), the Company extended its previously announced U.S. reduction in force, resulting in a team of approximately 15 in the United States to lead global business operations. The reduction was substantially completed in April 2023. The 2023 Plan is designed to reduce operating expenses, which is expected to preserve financial resources and extend the Company’s cash runway beyond 2026. In connection with the 2023 Plan, the Company expects to transition clinical manufacturing and trial operations of ITIL-306 to its operations in the United Kingdom. In addition, the Company is evaluating opportunities for a potential sale or lease of its Tarzana, California manufacturing site, as well as subleases of other facilities currently under lease.
The 2022 Plan and the 2023 Plan are referred to collectively as the "Plan."
Restructuring and Impairment Charges
As a result of the Plan, in the quarter ended March 31, 2023, the Company recorded charges of approximately $24.6 million within the line item "restructuring and impairment charges" in the condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss.
The following table summarizes the restructuring and impairment charges by category for the Plan for the periods (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | |
| | Three Months Ended March 31, 2023 |
Asset impairment for goodwill and intangible assets | | $ | — | |
Asset impairment for leasehold improvements | | 2,644 | |
Asset impairment for other fixed assets | | — | |
One-time employee termination benefits | | 1,762 | |
Contract terminations | | 1,888 | |
Right-of-use asset impairment | | 7,806 | |
Impairment of long-lived assets held for sale | | 10,454 | |
Total restructuring and impairment charges | | $ | 24,554 | |
Restructuring Liability
The restructuring liability was recorded in the condensed consolidated balance sheets under “Accrued expenses and other current liabilities” and were measured at the amount expected amount to be paid or was paid. The following table shows the liability related to the Plan (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Employee Benefits | | Contract terminations | | Total |
Restructuring liability ending December 31, 2022 | | $ | 2,995 | | | $ | 2,439 | | | $ | 5,434 | |
Payments | | (2,970) | | | (893) | | | (3,863) | |
Adjustments | | — | | | 101 | | | 101 | |
2022 Plan accrued balance | | 25 | | | 1,647 | | | 1,672 | |
2023 Plan charges | | 1,573 | | | 1,983 | | | 3,556 | |
Restructuring liability balance as of March 31, 2023 | | $ | 1,598 | | | $ | 3,630 | | | $ | 5,228 | |
The Company currently estimates that it will incur additional charges of up to $4.0 million in connection with the Plan, consisting primarily of cash expenditures for retention bonus payments, contract terminations and related costs, excluding non-cash expenses related to vesting of share-based awards and any charges or costs associated with any potential sale of its facilities and asset impairments, if any. The Company may incur additional costs
associated with the 2023 Plan. The Company expects that the majority of the restructuring charges will be incurred by the end of 2023.
The charges that the Company expects to incur in connection with the 2023 Plan are estimates and subject to a number of assumptions, and actual results may differ materially. The foregoing estimated amounts do not include any non-cash charges associated with stock-based compensation.
Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and the audited financial statements and notes thereto as of and for the year ended December 31, 2022 and the related Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, both of which are contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on March 31, 2023. Unless the context requires otherwise, references in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q to “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Instil Bio, Inc. and our consolidated subsidiaries.
Forward-Looking Statements
The information in this discussion contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, which are subject to the “safe harbor” created by those sections. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning our strategy, future operations, our expectations regarding our clinical trials, future financial position, future revenues, projected costs, prospects, and plans and objectives of management. The words “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “projects,” “will,” “would” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements that we make. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the risks set forth in Part II, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in our other filings with the SEC. The forward-looking statements are applicable only as of the date on which they are made, and we do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
Overview
We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing an innovative cell therapy pipeline of autologous tumor infiltrating lymphocyte, or TIL, therapies for the treatment of patients with cancer. We have assembled an accomplished team with a successful track record in cell therapy innovation. We are developing a novel class of genetically engineered TIL therapies using our Co-Stimulatory Antigen Receptor, or CoStAR, platform. These modified CoStAR-TILs still rely on their native, patient-specific T cell receptors, or TCRs, to bind to tumor neoantigens, but have been enhanced to express novel CoStAR molecules, which bind to shared tumor-associated antigens and provide potent costimulation to T cells within the tumor microenvironment. We believe that the ability of CoStAR to augment the activation of TILs upon native TCR-mediated recognition of tumor neoantigens has the potential to bring TIL therapy to patients with cancer types that have been historically resistant to immunotherapy and increase the benefit from TIL therapy in patients with cancer types that have been historically sensitive to immunotherapy. In 2022, we submitted an investigational new drug application, or IND, for ITIL-306, our first CoStAR-TIL therapy, to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, and, following clearance, opened a Phase 1 dose escalation trial of ITIL-306 in non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC, ovarian, and renal cancers. In October 2022, we announced the successful dosing of the first patient with NSCLC in the ITIL-306 Phase 1 trial.
We were founded in August 2018. In February 2019, we entered into a license agreement with Immetacyte Ltd., or Immetacyte, pursuant to which we obtained a worldwide license to Immetacyte’s proprietary technology, know-how and intellectual property for the research, development, manufacture and commercialization of TIL therapies. Immetacyte had been manufacturing a TIL product under a compassionate use program since 2011.
In March 2020, we acquired 100% of the share capital of Immetacyte. We acquired Immetacyte primarily for this in process research and development (IPR&D), which is critical to achieve our objective of developing an innovative cell therapy pipeline of autologous TIL therapies for the treatment of patients with cancer, as well as the dedicated workforce of Immetacyte. Utilizing this IPR&D, we have designed and developed our initial CoStAR construct targeting folate receptor alpha and are advancing our first CoStAR-TIL product candidate, ITIL-306, for
the treatment of multiple solid tumors. We have initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial of ITIL-306 in the United States, and plan to initiate a Phase 1 clinical trial of ITIL-306 in the United Kingdom in 2023.
Since inception, we have had significant operating losses. Our net loss was $57.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023. As of March 31, 2023, we had an accumulated deficit of $482.0 million. As of March 31, 2023, we had cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and marketable securities of $223.9 million, which consists of $27.4 million in cash and cash equivalents, $0.7 million in restricted cash and $195.8 million in marketable securities. We expect to continue to incur net losses for the foreseeable future, and we expect our research and development expenses, general and administrative expenses, and capital expenditures will continue to increase.
Components of Operating Results
Operating Expenses
Research and Development
Research and development expenses account for a significant portion of our operating expenses. Research and development expenses consist primarily of research and development, manufacturing, monitoring and other services payments and, to a lesser extent, salaries, benefits and other personnel-related costs, including stock-based compensation, professional service fees, and facility and other related costs. In addition, research and development expense is presented net of reimbursements from reimbursable tax and expenditure credits and grants from the UK government. For the three months ended March 31, 2023 and March 31, 2022, we did not allocate our research and development expenses by program.
We expect our future research and development expenses to change in line with our prioritization of advancing our clinical development activities for ITIL-306, our CoStAR platform, and other next-generation TIL technologies, and changes in the size of our company. Our expenditures on future nonclinical and clinical development programs are subject to numerous uncertainties in timing and cost to completion. The duration, costs and timing of clinical trials and development of product candidates will depend on a variety of factors, including:
•the scope, rate of progress and expenses of clinical trials and other research and development activities, including the impacts of our voluntary pause in our clinical trials and the related investigation into our manufacturing processes;
•potential safety monitoring and other studies requested by regulatory agencies;
•significant and changing government regulation; and
•the timing and receipt of regulatory approvals, if any.
The process of conducting the necessary clinical research to obtain regulatory approval from the FDA, MHRA or other agency is costly and time consuming and the successful development of product candidates is highly uncertain. The risks and uncertainties associated with our research and development projects are discussed more fully in the section of this Quarterly Report titled “Risk Factors.” As a result of these risks and uncertainties, we are unable to determine with any degree of certainty the duration and completion costs of our research and development projects, or if, when or to what extent we will generate revenues from the commercialization and sale of any of our product candidates that obtain regulatory approval. We may never succeed in achieving regulatory approval for any of our product candidates.
General and Administrative
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of compensation and personnel-related expenses, including stock-based compensation, for our personnel in executive, finance and other administrative functions. General and administrative expenses also include professional fees paid for accounting, auditing, legal, tax and consulting services, insurance costs, recruiting costs, travel expenses, amortization and depreciation, and other general and administrative costs.
We expect our future general and administrative expenses to change in line with our prioritization of advancing our CoStAR platform and other next-generation TIL technologies, changes in the size of our company to support our research and development activities and operations generally, and the potential growth of our business. If any of our product candidates receive marketing approval, we expect to incur additional expenses related to commercialization activities.
Additionally, we expect to continue to incur expenses as a result of operating as a public company, including expenses related to compliance with the rules and regulations of the SEC, additional director and officer insurance expenses, and investor relations activities, as well as other administrative and professional services.
Restructuring and Impairment Charges
Restructuring and impairment charges consist primarily of asset impairment charges, contract terminations, severance and other employee-related costs. Restructuring and impairment charges are related to our strategic prioritization of the Company’s preclinical and clinical development programs. Our restructuring plan was designed to reduce costs and reallocate resources to focus on advancing our CoStAR platform and other next-generation TIL technologies. As part of the restructuring plan, our ITIL-168 development program was discontinued, we expect to transition clinical manufacturing and trial operations of ITIL-306 to the United Kingdom, and we reduced our U.S. workforce by approximately 60% and our UK workforce by approximately 40% as of March 31, 2023.
Interest Income
Interest income consists of interest income from funds held in our cash and cash equivalent accounts, and marketable securities.
Interest Expense
Interest expense consists of interest expense on our note payable and amortization of loan origination costs.
Other Expense, Net
Other expense, net consists primarily of derivative instrument fair value gains, foreign exchange remeasurement gains and other expenses and income.
Income Tax Provision
We are subject to income taxes in the United States and the foreign jurisdiction where we operate, the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom has statutory tax rates that differ from those in the United States. Accordingly, our effective tax rates will vary depending on the relative proportion of United Kingdom to United States income, the availability of research and development tax credits, changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities and changes in tax laws.
In assessing the realizability of deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which those temporary differences become deductible. Due to the uncertainty of the business in which we operate, projections of future profitability are difficult and past profitability is not necessarily indicative of future profitability. We maintain full valuation allowance against net deferred tax assets for the United States and the United Kingdom. The valuation allowance has been provided based on the positive and negative evidence relative to our company, including the existence of cumulative net operating losses, or NOLs, since the Company’s inception, and the inability to carryback these NOLs to prior periods. Furthermore, the Company determined that it is more likely than not that the benefit of these assets would not be realized in the foreseeable future. The timing and the reversal of the Company's valuation allowance will continue to be monitored.
Results of Operations
Comparison of the Three Months Ended March 31, 2023 and 2022
The following table summarizes our results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022 (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Three Months Ended March 31, | | Change |
| 2023 | | 2022 | | $ |
Operating expenses: | | | | | |
Research and development | $ | 20,670 | | | $ | 39,174 | | | $ | (18,504) | |
General and administrative | 13,222 | | | 15,112 | | | (1,890) | |
Restructuring and impairment charges | 24,554 | | | — | | | 24,554 | |
Total operating expenses | 58,446 | | | 54,286 | | | 4,160 | |
Loss from operations | (58,446) | | | (54,286) | | | (4,160) | |
Interest income | 2,071 | | | 97 | | | 1,974 | |
Interest expense | (636) | | | — | | | (636) | |
Other expense, net | (57) | | | (416) | | | 359 | |
Loss before income tax expense | (57,068) | | | (54,605) | | | (2,463) | |
Income tax benefit | — | | | 488 | | | (488) | |
Net loss | $ | (57,068) | | | $ | (54,117) | | | $ | (2,951) | |
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development expenses were $20.7 million and $39.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The decrease in research and development expenses during this period of $18.5 million was primarily due to:
•$11.7 million decrease in costs from reduced headcount, consisting primarily of a decrease of $8.3 million in wages and benefits, $3.1 million in stock-based compensation expense and $0.3 million for other employee-related expenses in relation to our research and development personnel;
•$5.7 million decrease in costs related to research and clinical development activities and our clinical trials resulting from our discontinuation of our ITIL-168 clinical manufacturing activities; and
•$1.1 million decrease in expenses related to facilities and overhead, depreciation and amortization, and other expenses due to strategic reductions made in these areas.
We anticipate our research and development expenses to decrease generally as a result of implementing significant workforce reductions, adapting to changes in our company's size, and transitioning our clinical manufacturing and trial operations of ITIL-306 to our facilities in the United Kingdom.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses were $13.2 million and $15.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The net decrease of $1.9 million was primarily due to:
•$1.0 million decrease in costs mainly due to a decrease in wages of $0.3 million, a decrease of travel and entertainment and recruiting expenses of $0.8 million, offset by an increase in stock based compensation expense of $0.1 million;
•$0.5 million decrease of consulting and professional services costs, mainly consisting of a decrease in costs of information technology consultants of $0.6 million, offset by an increase of business operations consultants of $0.1 million; and
•$0.4 million decrease in insurance expense and other office expenses.
We anticipate our general and administrative expenses to decrease generally as a result of implementing significant workforce reductions, adapting to changes in our company's size, and transitioning our operations to the United Kingdom. If any of our product candidates receive marketing approval, we expect to incur additional expenses related to commercialization activities.
Restructuring and Impairment Charges
Restructuring and impairment charges were approximately $24.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023. We did not incur any such charges in the three months ended March 31, 2022 The net increase of $24.6 million was primarily due to:
•$10.5 million in costs during the current reporting period, as a result of impairments of assets held for sale;
•$7.8 million in costs from impairments of right-of-use assets;
•$2.6 million in costs resulting from a leasehold improvement impairments;
•$1.8 million in costs consisting of severance payments and benefits continuation costs; and
•$1.9 million in costs consisting of termination of contracts.
Interest Income, Interest Expense and Other Expense, Net
Interest income, interest expense and other expense, net were $1.4 million of income and $0.3 million of expense for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The increase of $1.7 million was primarily due to:
•$2.0 million of interest income related to our investments;
•$0.8 million gain on foreign currency transactions, offset by
•$0.4 million loss from our derivative investment;
•$0.6 million of interest expense from our note payable, and
•$0.1 million of other losses.
Income Tax Benefit
Income tax benefit decreased from $0.5 million benefit for the three months ended March 31, 2022 to nil for the three months ended March 31, 2023. We maintain full valuation allowance on the net deferred tax assets for the United States and the United Kingdom as we have concluded that it is more likely than not that we will not realize our deferred tax assets.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Sources of Liquidity
Since our inception, we have not generated any revenue from product sales and we have incurred significant operating losses. We do not have any products that have achieved regulatory marketing approval and we do not expect to generate revenue from sales of any product candidates for several years, if ever.
As of March 31, 2023, we had cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and marketable securities of $223.9 million, which consists of $27.4 million in cash and cash equivalents, $0.7 million in restricted cash and $195.8 million in marketable securities. Cash in excess of immediate requirements is invested in accordance with our investment policy, primarily with a view to liquidity and capital preservation.
Prior to our initial public offering (“IPO”), we funded our operations primarily through the issuance and sale of convertible preferred stock. From our inception through March 2021, we raised net cash proceeds of $380.1 million from the issuance and sale of our convertible preferred stock.
In March 2021, we raised net proceeds of $339.0 million in our IPO, pursuant to which we sold an aggregate of 18,400,000 shares of common stock.
In June 2022, our wholly-owned subsidiary, Complex Therapeutics Mezzanine LLC, and our wholly-owned indirect subsidiary, Complex Therapeutics LLC, entered into a mortgage construction loan and mezzanine construction loan, or together, the Loan, secured by our Tarzana, California land and building, which is partially complete and expected to reach full completion in the second quarter of 2023. The initial principal amount of the Loan was $52.1 million, with additional future principal of up to $32.9 million to fund ongoing construction costs. As of March 31, 2023, the outstanding principal amount under the Loan was $79.2 million and unamortized debt issuance costs were $2.2 million.
Future Funding Requirements
Based on our current operating plan, we believe our existing cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and marketable securities will be sufficient to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements beyond 2026. We are also evaluating opportunities for a potential sale or lease of the Tarzana manufacturing site, as well as subleases of other facilities under lease, which would further extend our expected cash runway. We have based this estimate on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, we may not be successful in securing a sale or lease of the Tarzana facility on favorable terms, or at all and we could utilize our available capital resources sooner than we expect. We expect to continue to expend significant resources for the foreseeable future.
We use our cash to fund operations, primarily to fund our research and development expenditures and related personnel costs. We expect our expenses to continue to be significant as we invest in research and development activities, particularly as we advance our product candidates into later stages of development and conduct larger clinical trials, seek regulatory approvals for and commercialize any product candidates that successfully complete clinical trials, hire personnel and invest in and grow our business, expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio, and operate as a public company. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with research, development and commercialization of our product candidates, we are unable to estimate the exact timing and amount of our funding requirements. Our future operating expenditures will depend on many factors, including:
•the scope, rate of progress, costs and results of our clinical and preclinical development activities, the results of our discussions with the MHRA, the FDA and other regulatory agencies, and the related investigation into our manufacturing process;
•the number and characteristics of any additional product candidates we develop or acquire;
•the timing of, and the costs involved in, obtaining regulatory approvals for ITIL-306 or any future product candidates, and the number of trials required for regulatory approval;
•the cost of manufacturing ITIL-306 or any future product candidates, as well as any products we successfully commercialize;
•costs related to our manufacturing and other facilities;
•the cost of commercialization activities of our product candidates, if approved for sale, including marketing, sales and distribution costs;
•the timing, receipt and amount of sales of ITIL-306 or any future product candidates, if approved;
•the costs associated with constructing our new clinical and commercial manufacturing facility and building out lab space, as well as our ability to complete a sale or lease of our Tarzana, California facility, as well as subleases of other facilities under lease;
•the extent to which we acquire or in-license other companies’ product candidates and technologies;
•our ability to establish and maintain strategic collaborations, licensing or other arrangements and the financial terms of any such arrangements, including the timing and amount of any future milestone, royalty or other payments due under any such agreement;
•any product liability or other lawsuits;
•the expenses needed to attract, hire and retain skilled personnel;
•our investments in our operational, financial and management information systems;
•the costs associated with operating as a public company;
•the costs involved in preparing, filing, prosecuting, maintaining, defending and enforcing our intellectual property portfolio; and
•any delays or issues resulting from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic or adverse geopolitical and economic conditions.
In March 2020, we acquired 100% of the share capital of Immetacyte for total cash and non-cash consideration, including contingent consideration, of $15.4 million. In connection with the acquisition, we terminated the Immetacyte license agreement and associated payment obligations. The maximum consideration that remained unpaid at March 31, 2023, which payment is contingent on future events, was $13.3 million.
Until such time as we can generate significant revenue from sales of our product candidates, if ever, we expect to finance our operations through equity offerings, debt financings or other capital sources, which may include strategic collaborations or other arrangements with third parties. Additional funds may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If we raise additional funds by issuing equity or convertible debt securities, our stockholders will suffer dilution, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect the rights of our common shareholders. Debt financing, if available, may involve restrictive covenants limiting our flexibility in conducting future business activities, and, in the event of insolvency, debt holders would be repaid before holders of our equity securities receive any distribution of our corporate assets. If we raise funds through collaborations or other similar arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to technologies, future revenue streams, product candidates or research programs or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us and/or may reduce the value of our common stock. Our ability to raise additional funds may be adversely impacted by worsening global economic conditions and the recent disruptions to, and volatility in, the credit and financial markets in the United States and worldwide resulting from, among other things, inflation, rising interest rates, the war in Ukraine, current and potential future bank failures and the COVID-19 pandemic. If we fail to obtain necessary capital when needed on acceptable terms, or at all, it could force us to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development programs, commercialization efforts or other operations. See "Risk Factors."
We lease various operating spaces in the United States and the United Kingdom under non-cancelable operating lease arrangements that expire on various dates through 2026. These arrangements require us to pay certain operating expenses, such as taxes, repairs, and insurance and contain landlord or tenant incentives or allowances, renewal and escalation clauses. As of March 31, 2023, our future minimum lease payments under committed or non-cancelable lease agreements were $7.0 million.
Our contractual obligations and commitments primarily consist of amounts we will pay to the general contractor constructing and developing land and buildings in Tarzana, California, which we acquired in October 2020 for $37.6 million. We are in the process of developing this land, and our contractual commitments for this development project are limited to unreimbursed spend by the general contractor. As of March 31, 2023, $1.9 million was contractually committed to the development of this project.
In December 2022, the Company’s Board of Directors approved a restructuring plan to implement a strategic prioritization of the Company’s preclinical and clinical development programs. On January 30, 2023, the Company’s Board of Directors approved an expansion of its previously announced restructuring plan implementing a strategic prioritization of the Company’s preclinical and clinical development programs and transition of clinical manufacturing and trial operations of ITIL-306 to its operations in the United Kingdom.
During the three months ended March 31, 2023, the Company recorded aggregate restructuring and impairment charges of approximately $24.6 million related to contract termination, asset impairments, severance payments and other employee-related costs. The Company currently estimates that it will incur charges of up to $4.0 million in connection with the restructuring plan, consisting primarily of cash expenditures for severance
payments, retention bonus payments, contract terminations and related costs, as well as non-cash expenses related to vesting of share-based awards, excluding any charges or costs associated with any potential sale of its facilities and asset impairments. The Company expects that the majority of the restructuring charges will be substantially incurred by the end of 2023.
Cash Flows
The following table sets forth the significant sources and uses of cash for the periods set forth below (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Three Months Ended March 31, |
| 2023 | | 2022 |
Net cash provided by (used in): | | | |
Cash used in operating activities | $ | (34,662) | | | $ | (55,051) | |
Cash provided by investing activities | 14,528 | | | 77,867 | |
Cash provided by financing activities | 4,467 | | | 338 | |
Net (decrease) increase in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash | $ | (15,667) | | | $ | 23,154 | |
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Cash used in operating activities for the three months ended March 31, 2023 was $34.7 million, which consisted of the net loss of $57.1 million and a $3.8 million net change to our net operating assets and liabilities,
partially offset by $26.2 million in non-cash charges and other adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities. The net change in our operating assets and liabilities was primarily due to a decrease of $1.0 million in accounts payable, a decrease of $1.7 million in accrued expenses and other current liabilities, and an increase of $0.8 million in prepaid expenses and other current assets, an increase of $0.1 million in other long-term assets, and a decrease of $0.4 million on operating lease liabilities. The non-cash charges primarily consisted of stock-based compensation of $4.5 million, impairment of fixed assets of $13.1 million, impairment of right-of-use assets of $7.8 million, depreciation and amortization expense of $1.8 million, non-cash lease expense of $0.3 million, and non-cash interest expense of $0.6 million, offset by accretion on invested securities of $1.3 million, change in fair value of contingent consideration of $0.2 million and change in foreign exchange remeasurement of $0.4 million.
Cash used in operating activities for the three months ended March 31, 2022 was $55.1 million, which consisted of the net loss of $54.1 million, partially offset by $8.8 million in non-cash charges and other adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities and a $9.7 million net change to our net operating assets and liabilities. The non-cash charges primarily consisted of stock-based compensation of $7.5 million, and depreciation and amortization expense of $0.9 million. The net change in our operating assets and liabilities was primarily due to an increase of $3.2 million in accounts payable, partially offset by a decrease of $2.9 million in accrued expenses and other liabilities, an increase of $2.8 million in prepaid expenses and other current assets and an increase of $0.7 million in other long-term assets and operating lease liabilities.
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
Cash provided by investing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2023 was $14.5 million, of which $23.0 million was related to marketable securities, partially offset by $8.5 million used related to purchases of property.
Cash used in investing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2022 was $77.9 million, of which $98.1 million was related to marketable securities, offset by $20.2 million used related to purchases of property and equipment.
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Cash provided by financing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2023 was $4.5 million, which was primarily related to cash proceeds from our note payable of $4.5 million.
Cash provided by financing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2022 was $0.3 million, which was primarily related to cash proceeds from exercise of stock options.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
This management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our condensed consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of the condensed consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the condensed financial statements, as well as the reported expenses incurred during the reporting periods. Our estimates are based on our historical experience and on various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
For a description of critical accounting policies that require significant judgments and estimates during the preparation of our financial statements, refer to "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates" and Note 2 to our Consolidated Financial Statements contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022. There have been no significant changes to our critical accounting policies from those disclosed in our 2022 Annual Report.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Information regarding recent accounting pronouncements applicable to us is included in Note 2 to the condensed consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
Emerging Growth Company Status and Smaller Reporting Company Status
We are an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act. For so long as we remain an emerging growth company, we are permitted and intend to rely on certain exemptions from various public company reporting requirements, including not being required to have our internal control over financial reporting audited by our independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and any golden parachute payments not previously approved. Accordingly, the information contained herein may be different than the information you receive from other public companies in which you hold stock.
In addition, emerging growth companies can delay adopting new or revised accounting standards issued subsequent to the enactment of the JOBS Act until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We have elected to avail ourselves of this extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until the earlier of the date that we (i) are no longer an emerging growth company or (ii) affirmatively and irrevocably opt out of the extended transition period provided in the JOBS Act. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with the new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of (i) December 31, 2026, (ii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion, (iii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we are deemed to be a “large accelerated filer” as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act, which would occur if the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeded $700.0 million as of the
last business day of the second fiscal quarter of such year or (iv) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.
We are also a “smaller reporting company,” as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act. We may continue to be a smaller reporting company if either (i) the market value of our shares held by non-affiliates is less than $250.0 million or (ii) our annual revenue was less than $100.0 million during the most recently completed fiscal year and the market value of our shares held by non-affiliates is less than $700.0 million. If we are a smaller reporting company at the time we cease to be an emerging growth company, we may continue to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements that are available to smaller reporting companies. Specifically, as a smaller reporting company, we may choose to present only the two most recent fiscal years of audited financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and, similar to emerging growth companies, smaller reporting companies have reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation.
Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Interest Rate Risk
We had cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and marketable securities of $223.9 million, which consists of $27.4 million in cash and cash equivalents, $0.7 million in restricted cash and $195.8 million in marketable securities as of March 31, 2023. We generally hold our cash in interest-bearing money market accounts. We believe that historical fluctuations in interest rates have not had a material effect on our results of operations during the period presented.
Due to the low risk profile of our investments and debt, including our interest rate swap discussed in Note 6 to our condensed consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, a hypothetical one percentage point change in interest rates during the period presented would not have had a material impact on our financial statements included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report.
The Company does not believe that inflation or foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations have had a significant impact on its results of operations for any periods presents herein.
Item 4. Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act of 1934 as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report. Based upon that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that, as of March 31, 2023, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms and to provide reasonable assurance that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) that occurred during the period covered by this report that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting. We have not experienced any material impact on our internal control over financial reporting despite the fact that most of our
employees are continuing to work remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are continually monitoring and assessing the COVID-19 situation on our internal controls to minimize the impact on their design and operating effectiveness.
Inherent Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls
Our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, do not expect that our disclosure controls or our internal control over financial reporting will prevent all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, have been detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of a simple error or mistake. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people or by management override of the controls. The design of any system of controls is also based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions, over time, controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or the degree of compliance with policies or procedures may deteriorate. Because of the inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.
Part II. Other Information
Item 1. Legal Proceedings
From time to time, we may become involved in legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of our business. We are not currently subject to any material legal proceedings.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
RISK FACTORS
The following information sets forth risk factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements we have made in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and those we may make from time to time. You should carefully consider the risks described below, in addition to the other information contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and our other public filings. Our business, financial condition or results of operations could be harmed by any of these risks. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks not presently known to us or other factors not perceived by us to present significant risks to our business at this time also may impair our business operations.
Risks Associated with Our Business
Our business is subject to a number of risks of which you should be aware before making a decision to invest in our common stock. These risks are more fully described in this “Risk Factors” section, including the following:
•We have incurred significant losses since our inception. We expect to incur losses over the next several years and may never achieve or maintain profitability.
•We have a limited operating history and no history of commercializing products, which may make it difficult for an investor to evaluate the success of our business to date and to assess our future viability.
•We will need substantial additional funding to meet our financial obligations and to pursue our business objectives. If we are unable to raise capital when needed, we could be forced to delay further development of our technologies or product candidates or to curtail our planned operations and the pursuit of our growth strategy.
•All of our product candidates are currently in clinical and preclinical development. If we are unable to successfully develop, receive regulatory approval for and commercialize our product candidates for the indications we seek, or successfully develop any other product candidates, or experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be harmed.
•Because ITIL-306 and any future product candidates developed from our CoStAR platform represent novel approaches to the treatment of disease, there are many uncertainties regarding the development, market acceptance, third-party reimbursement coverage and commercial potential of our product candidates.
•The regulatory approval processes of the FDA, MHRA, EMA and comparable foreign authorities are lengthy, time consuming and inherently unpredictable. If we are not able to obtain required regulatory approval for our product candidates, our business will be substantially harmed.
•Success in preclinical studies or earlier clinical trials may not be indicative of results in future clinical trials. Our product candidates may not have favorable results in clinical trials, if any, or receive regulatory approval.
•Negative public opinion of TIL therapies, the dynamically evolving competitive landscape for our target indications or increased regulatory scrutiny of cell therapy using TILs may adversely impact the development of and commercial strategy for our product candidates, our plans for investing in manufacturing readiness for regulatory filings and the success of our current and future product candidates.
•As an organization, we are early in the process of conducting our first clinical trials, have no prior experience in conducting clinical trials, and may be unable to complete clinical trials for any product candidates we may develop, including ITIL-306.
•We may not be successful in our efforts to build a pipeline of additional product candidates.
•Cell therapies are complex and difficult to manufacture. We have experienced, and may in the future experience, manufacturing problems that result in delays in the development or commercialization of our product candidates or otherwise harm our business.
•The treatable populations for our product candidates may be smaller than we or third parties currently project, which may affect the addressable markets for our product candidates.
•We face significant competition from other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and from non-profit institutions, and our operating results will suffer if we fail to compete effectively.
•If we are unable to obtain or protect intellectual property rights related to any of our product candidates, we may not be able to compete effectively in our market.
•Third parties may initiate legal proceedings alleging that we are infringing their intellectual property rights, the outcome of which would be uncertain.
•We are subject to a variety of stringent and evolving U.S. and foreign laws, regulations, rules, contractual obligations, policies and other obligations related to data privacy and data security, and our actual or perceived failure to comply with them could lead to regulatory investigations or actions; litigation; fines and penalties; disruptions of our business operations; reputational harm; loss of revenue or profits and other adverse business consequences.
Risks Related to our Financial Position and Capital Needs
We have incurred significant losses since our inception. We expect to incur losses over the next several years and may never achieve or maintain profitability.
Since our inception, we have incurred significant net losses, and we expect to continue to incur significant expenses and operating losses for the foreseeable future. Our net losses were $57.1 million and $54.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. As of March 31, 2023, we had an accumulated deficit of $482.0 million. We have financed our operations with $719.0 million in net proceeds raised in our initial public offering and private placements of convertible preferred stock to date, as well as $4.5 million from our construction loan, as of March 31, 2023. We have no products approved for commercialization and have never generated any revenue from product sales.
All of our product candidates are still in clinical and preclinical testing. We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and operating losses over the next several years. We expect that it could be several years, if ever, before we have a commercialized product. Our net losses may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year. We anticipate that our expenses will continue to be significant as we:
•conduct our ongoing clinical trial of ITIL-306, as well as initiate and complete additional clinical trials of future product candidates or our lead product candidate in new indications;
•continue to advance the preclinical and clinical development of our lead product candidate and our preclinical and discovery programs, including in our CoStAR platform;
•seek regulatory approval for any product candidates that successfully complete clinical trials;
•continue to develop our product candidate pipeline;
•scale up our clinical and regulatory capabilities;
•manufacture current good manufacturing practices, or cGMP, material for clinical trials or potential commercial sales at our manufacturing facilities;
•establish and validate a commercial-scale cGMP manufacturing facility;
•establish a commercialization infrastructure and scale up internal and external manufacturing and distribution capabilities to commercialize any product candidates for which we may obtain regulatory approval;
•adapt our regulatory compliance efforts to incorporate requirements applicable to marketed products;
•maintain, expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio;
•hire additional clinical, manufacturing quality control, regulatory, manufacturing and scientific and administrative personnel;
•add operational, financial and management information systems and personnel, including personnel to support our product development and planned future commercialization efforts; and
•incur legal, accounting and other expenses in operating as a public company.
To date, we have not generated any revenue from product sales. To become and remain profitable, we must succeed in developing and eventually commercializing product candidates that generate significant revenue. This will require us to be successful in a range of challenging activities, including completing preclinical testing and clinical trials of our product candidates, obtaining regulatory approval, and manufacturing, marketing and selling any product candidates for which we may obtain regulatory approval, as well as discovering and developing additional product candidates. We are only in the preliminary stages of most of these activities and all of our product candidates are in clinical or preclinical development. We may never succeed in these activities and, even if we do, may never generate any revenue or revenue that is significant enough to achieve profitability.
Even if we achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. Our failure to become and remain profitable would depress the value of our company and could impair our ability to raise capital, expand our business, maintain our development efforts, obtain product approvals, diversify our offerings or continue our operations. A decline in the value of our company could also cause you to lose all or part of your investment.
We have a limited operating history and no history of commercializing products, which may make it difficult for an investor to evaluate the success of our business to date and to assess our future viability.
We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a limited operating history. We commenced operations in 2019, and our operations to date have been largely focused on organizing and staffing our company, business planning, raising capital, acquiring our technology and product candidates, acquiring our facilities in Tarzana, California, developing our manufacturing capabilities and developing our clinical and preclinical product candidates, including undertaking preclinical studies and conducting clinical trials. To date, we have not yet demonstrated our ability to successfully complete pivotal clinical trials, obtain regulatory approvals, manufacture a product on a commercial scale, or arrange for a third party to do so on our behalf, or conduct sales and marketing activities necessary for successful commercialization. Consequently, any predictions you make about our future success or viability may not be as accurate as they could be if we had a longer operating history or a history of successfully developing and commercializing products.
We may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other known or unknown factors in achieving our business objectives. For example, we recently implemented a strategic reprioritization of our preclinical and clinical development programs to reallocate resources to focus on advancing our CoStAR platform and other next-generation TIL technologies and discontinue our ITIL-168 development program. As part of this strategic restructuring plan, we reduced our U.S. workforce to a team of approximately 15 to lead global business operations and reduced our UK workforce to re-align our operating model. Furthermore, as part of the restructuring plan, we are transitioning our clinical manufacturing and trial operations of ITIL-306 to its operations in the United Kingdom. We may experience unforeseen delays or other challenges in effectuating this transition overseas, which could adversely impact our clinical trial plans, timelines and operations and, ultimately, our ability to develop product candidates for potential commercialization. We will need to develop commercial capabilities, and we may not be successful in doing so.
We will need substantial additional funding to meet our financial obligations and to pursue our business objectives. If we are unable to raise capital when needed, we could be forced to delay further development of our technologies or product candidates or curtail our planned operations and the pursuit of our growth strategy.
Our operations have consumed substantial amounts of cash since inception. Identifying and acquiring potential product candidates, conducting preclinical testing and clinical trials and developing manufacturing operations for
our product candidates is a time-consuming, expensive and uncertain process that takes years to complete, and we may never generate the necessary data or results required to obtain regulatory approval and achieve product sales. We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and operating losses over the next several years as we conduct clinical trials of our product candidates, initiate future clinical trials of our product candidates, advance our preclinical programs, build our manufacturing capabilities, seek marketing approval for any product candidates that successfully complete clinical trials and advance any of our other product candidates we may develop or otherwise acquire. In addition, our product candidates, if approved, may not achieve commercial success. Our revenue, if any, will be derived from sales of products that we do not expect to be commercially available for a number of years, if at all. If we obtain marketing approval for any product candidates that we develop or otherwise acquire, we expect to incur significant commercialization expenses related to product sales, marketing, distribution and manufacturing. We also expect to continue to incur significant expenses associated with operating as a public company. Accordingly, we will need to obtain substantial additional funding in order to continue our operations.
As of March 31, 2023, we had cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and marketable securities of $223.9 million, which consists of $27.4 million in cash and cash equivalents, $0.7 million in restricted cash and $195.8 million in marketable securities. We believe that our existing cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and marketable securities will be sufficient to fund our operating expenses and capital requirements beyond 2026. This estimate is based on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could use our available capital resources sooner than we expect. For instance, we may not achieve all the expected cost savings of our strategic restructuring plan, and we may expend more capital than expected in connection with the transition of our clinical manufacturing and trial operations of ITIL-306 to the United Kingdom. Changes may occur beyond our control that would cause us to consume our available capital before that time, including changes in and progress of our development activities, acquisitions of additional product candidates, and changes in regulation. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:
•the scope, progress, costs and results of discovery, preclinical development, laboratory testing and clinical trials for ITIL-306 and future product candidates;
•the extent to which we develop, in-license or acquire other product candidates and technologies in our product candidate pipeline;
•our ability to achieve efficiencies and expected cost reductions in connection with our recent strategic restructuring plan;
•the costs and timing of process development and manufacturing scale-up activities associated with our product candidates and other programs as we advance them through preclinical and clinical development;
•the number and development requirements of product candidates that we may pursue;
•our ability to complete a potential sale or lease of our Tarzana, California facility, as well as subleases of other facilities under lease;
•the costs, timing and outcome of regulatory review of our product candidates;
•our cost of human capital as we expand our research and development capabilities and establish a commercial infrastructure;
•the costs of establishing and maintaining our own commercial-scale cGMP manufacturing facility;
•the costs and timing of future commercialization activities, including product manufacturing, marketing, sales, and distribution, for any of our product candidates for which we receive marketing approval;
•the costs and timing of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications, maintaining and enforcing our intellectual property rights and defending any intellectual property-related claims;
•the revenue, if any, received from commercial sales of our product candidates for which we receive marketing approval; and
•the costs of operating as a public company.
We will require additional capital to achieve our business objectives. Additional funds may not be available on a timely basis, on favorable terms, or at all, and such funds, if raised, may not be sufficient to enable us to continue to implement our long-term business strategy. Further, our ability to raise additional capital may be adversely
impacted by worsening global economic conditions and the disruptions to and volatility in the credit and financial markets in the United States and worldwide resulting from global health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, rising inflation and interest rate increases, current and potential future bank failures and supply chain disruptions, among other geopolitical and macroeconomic factors. If we are unable to raise sufficient additional capital, we could be forced to delay further development of our technologies or product candidates or curtail our planned operations and the pursuit of our growth strategy.
Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our stockholders, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to technologies or product candidates.
Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial revenue, we may finance our cash needs through a combination of equity offerings, government or private party grants, debt financings or license and collaboration agreements. Other than our construction loans for the construction and development of our manufacturing facility in Tarzana, California, we do not currently have any other committed external source of funds. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a common stockholder. Debt financing and preferred equity financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends. For example, the agreements governing our construction loans contain certain affirmative and negative covenants, including maintaining a specified minimum net worth and amount of liquid assets, which could limit our operations.
If we raise additional funds through collaborations, strategic alliances or marketing, distribution or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may be required to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams or product candidates, grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us or commit to future payment streams. If we are unable to raise additional funds through equity or debt financings when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development or future commercialization efforts or grant rights to develop and market product candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves.
We have suffered and in the future could suffer additional losses due to impairment charges, including as a result of being unsuccessful in completing a sale or lease of our Tarzana, California manufacturing facility, or, if we are successful, the assets being sold for less than our carrying value.
To date, we have recorded impairment losses on long-lived assets associated with a sustained decrease in our stock price and the restructuring plan implemented in December 2022 for a strategic prioritization of our preclinical and clinical development programs. As a result of the restructuring plan, in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 we recorded aggregate restructuring and impairment charges of approximately $24.6 million related to contract termination, asset impairments, severance payments and other employee-related costs. This amount includes our Tarzana, California manufacturing facility that we identified and classified as held for sale, which is reflected at the lower of carrying value or fair value less costs to sell, which resulted in $10.5 million in impairment charges and a remaining value of $7.6 million being classified as assets held for sale. We also determined that right-of-use assets were impaired, as the restructuring plan has resulted in a cessation of use for several of our locations under lease, and we recognized an impairment loss of $7.3 million. We currently estimate that we will incur additional charges of up to $4.0 million in connection with the restructuring plan, although this estimated amount does not include any non-cash charges associated with stock-based compensation or any charges or costs associated with any potential sale of our Tarzana, California facility and asset impairments, if any. The charges that we currently estimate incurring in connection with the restructuring plan are estimates only and are subject to a number of assumptions, and actual results may differ materially, and we may incur additional costs associated with the restructuring plan.
We are evaluating opportunities for a potential sale or lease of our Tarzana, California manufacturing site, as well as subleases of other facilities currently under lease; however, we can provide no assurances that we will successfully sell or lease our Tarzana facility or enter into subleases of our other facilities, that we will do so in accordance with our expected timeline or that we will recover their carrying value. The process of pursuing the plan to sell, lease or sublease these facilities may be time consuming and disruptive to our business operations, and if we are unable to effectively manage the process, our businesses, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected and may result in additional non-cash impairment charges. Any potential transactions, and the related valuations, would be dependent upon various external factors beyond our control, including, among others, market conditions, industry trends, interest of third parties, and the availability of financing to potential buyer(s) on
reasonable terms. Such impairments or losses have in the past and could in the future materially affect our reported net earnings, business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows or stock price.
Risks Related to the Development of our Product Candidates
All of our product candidates are currently in clinical and preclinical development. If we are unable to successfully develop, receive regulatory approval for and commercialize our product candidates for the indications we seek, or successfully develop any other product candidates, or experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be harmed.
We currently have no products approved for commercial sale, and all of our product candidates are currently in clinical and preclinical development. As an organization, we are early in the process of conducting our first multi-center clinical trials with centralized manufacturing, have no prior experience in conducting any clinical trials, have limited experience in preparing, submitting and prosecuting regulatory filings and have not previously submitted a biologics license application, or BLA, for any product candidate. Each of our programs and product candidates will require additional preclinical and/or clinical development, regulatory approval, obtaining manufacturing supply, capacity and expertise, building a commercial organization or successfully outsourcing commercialization, substantial investment and significant marketing efforts before we generate any revenue from product sales. We do not have any products that are approved for commercial sale, and we may never be able to develop or commercialize marketable products.
Our ability to generate revenue from our product candidates, which we do not expect will occur for several years, if ever, will depend heavily on the successful development, regulatory approval and eventual commercialization of our product candidates. The success of ITIL-306 or any other product candidates that we develop or otherwise may acquire will depend on several factors, including:
•timely and successful completion of preclinical studies and clinical trials;
•effective INDs from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or the FDA, or comparable foreign applications that allow commencement of our planned clinical trials or future clinical trials for our product candidates;
•sufficiency of our financial and other resources to complete the necessary preclinical studies and clinical trials;
•successful enrollment and completion of clinical trials, including under the FDA’s current Good Clinical Practices, or GCPs, and current Good Laboratory Practices;
•successful development of, or making arrangements with third-party manufacturers for, our commercial manufacturing processes for any of our product candidates that receive regulatory approval;
•receipt of timely marketing approvals from applicable regulatory authorities;
•launching commercial sales of products, if approved, whether alone or in collaboration with others;
•acceptance of the benefits and use of our products, including method of administration, if approved, by patients, the medical community and third-party payors, for their approved indications;
•the prevalence and severity of adverse events experienced with ITIL-306 or any other product candidates;
•the availability, perceived advantages, cost, safety and efficacy of alternative therapies for any product candidate, and any indications for such product candidate, that we develop;
•our ability to produce ITIL-306 or any other product candidates we develop on a commercial scale;
•obtaining and maintaining patent, trademark and trade secret protection and regulatory exclusivity for our product candidates and otherwise protecting our rights in our intellectual property portfolio;
•maintaining compliance with regulatory requirements, including cGMPs, and complying effectively with other procedures;
•obtaining and maintaining third-party coverage and adequate reimbursement and patients’ willingness to pay out-of-pocket in the absence of such coverage and adequate reimbursement; and
•maintaining a continued acceptable safety, tolerability and efficacy profile of the products following approval.
If we are not successful with respect to one or more of these factors in a timely manner or at all, we could experience significant delays or an inability to successfully commercialize the product candidates we develop, which would materially harm our business. If we do not receive marketing approvals for any product candidate we develop, we may not be able to continue our operations. At any time, we may decide to discontinue the development of, or not to commercialize, a product candidate, such as our recent decision to discontinue our ITIL-168 development program. If we terminate a program in which we have invested significant resources, we will not receive any return on our investment and we will have missed the opportunity to allocate those resources to potentially more productive uses.
Because ITIL-306 and any future product candidates developed from our CoStAR platform, represent novel approaches to the treatment of disease, there are many uncertainties regarding the development, market acceptance, third-party reimbursement coverage and commercial potential of our product candidates.
Human immunotherapy products are a new category of therapeutics, and to date, no TIL therapies have been approved by the FDA, MHRA, EMA or other foreign regulatory authorities. Because this is a relatively new and expanding area of novel therapeutic interventions, there are many uncertainties related to development, marketing, reimbursement and the commercial potential for our product candidates. There can be no assurance as to the length of the trial period, the number of patients the FDA, MHRA, EMA or other regulatory authorities will require to be enrolled in the trials in order to establish the safety, efficacy, purity and potency of immunotherapy products or that the data generated in these trials will be acceptable to such authorities to support marketing approval. Regulatory authorities may take longer than usual to come to a decision on any BLA or other comparable application that we submit and may ultimately determine that there is not enough data, information, or experience with our product candidates to support an approval decision. Regulatory agencies may also require that we conduct additional post-marketing studies or implement risk management programs, such as Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies, or REMS, until more experience with our product candidates is obtained. Finally, after increased usage, we may find that our product candidates do not have the intended effect or have unanticipated side effects, potentially jeopardizing initial or continuing regulatory approval and commercial prospects.
The success of our business depends in part upon our ability to develop engineered TIL therapies using our CoStAR platform, in particular following our recent reprioritization of clinical programs. The CoStAR platform is novel and we have not completed a clinical trial of any product candidate developed using the CoStAR platform. The platform may fail to deliver TIL therapies that are effective in the treatment of cancer. Even if we are able to identify and develop TIL therapies using the CoStAR platform, we cannot assure that such product candidates will achieve marketing approval to safely and effectively treat cancer.
If we uncover any previously unknown risks related to our CoStAR platform, or if we experience unanticipated problems or delays in developing our CoStAR product candidates, we may be unable to achieve our strategy of building a pipeline of TIL therapies.
We may also find that the manufacture of our product candidates is more difficult than anticipated, resulting in an inability to produce a sufficient amount of our product candidates for our clinical trials or, if approved, commercial supply. For example, in October 2022 we paused enrollment in our then ongoing clinical trials to conduct manufacturing analysis and implement corrective and preventative actions.
There is no assurance that the approaches offered by our products will gain broad acceptance among doctors or patients or that governmental agencies or third-party medical insurers will be willing to provide reimbursement coverage for proposed product candidates. Since our current and future product candidates will represent novel approaches to treating various conditions, it may be difficult, in any event, to accurately estimate the potential revenues from these product candidates. Accordingly, we may spend significant capital trying to obtain approval for product candidates that have an uncertain commercial market. The market for any products that we successfully develop will also depend on the cost of the product. We do not yet have sufficient information to reliably estimate what it will cost to commercially manufacture our current product candidates, and the actual cost to manufacture these products could materially and adversely affect the commercial viability of these products. Our goal is to reduce the cost of manufacturing and providing our product candidates. However, unless we can reduce those costs to an
acceptable amount, we may never be able to develop a commercially viable product. If we do not successfully develop and commercialize products based upon our approach or find suitable and economical sources for materials used in the production of our products, we will not become profitable, which would materially and adversely affect the value of our common stock.
Our TIL therapies and our other therapies may be provided to patients in combination with other agents provided by third parties. The cost of such combination therapy may increase the overall cost of therapy and may result in issues regarding the allocation of reimbursements between our therapy and the other agents, all of which may affect our ability to obtain reimbursement coverage for the combination therapy from governmental or private third party medical insurers.
Preclinical studies and clinical trials are expensive, time-consuming, difficult to design and implement and involve an uncertain outcome. Further, we may encounter substantial delays in completing the development of our product candidates.
All of our product candidates are in clinical and preclinical development and their risk of failure is high. While we ultimately resumed our clinical trial of ITIL-306 after a voluntary pause following the observation of decreased rates of successful manufacturing of our former product candidate ITIL-168, there can be no assurance that we will not in the future observe decreased rates of successful manufacture of drug product for our product candidates or other manufacturing issues, which may lead to further delays or failure in the development of our product candidates, including ITIL-306, greater than expected expenses, or the redesign or restart of our clinical trials. The clinical trials and manufacturing of our product candidates are, and the manufacturing and marketing of our products, if approved, will be, subject to extensive and rigorous review and regulation by numerous government authorities in the United States and in other countries where we intend to test and market our product candidates. Before obtaining regulatory approvals for the commercial sale of any of our product candidates, we must demonstrate through lengthy, complex and expensive preclinical testing and clinical trials that our product candidates are both safe and effective for use in each target indication. In particular, because our product candidates are subject to regulation as biological products, we will need to demonstrate that they are safe, pure and potent for use in their target indications. Each product candidate must demonstrate an adequate risk versus benefit profile in its intended patient population and for its intended use.
Clinical trials are expensive and can take many years to complete, and their outcomes are inherently uncertain. We cannot guarantee that our ongoing and any future clinical trials will be conducted as planned or completed on schedule, if at all. Failure can occur at any time during the clinical trial process. Even if our ongoing and any future clinical trials are completed as planned, we cannot be certain that their results will support the safety and effectiveness of our product candidates for their targeted indications or support continued clinical development of such product candidates. Our ongoing and any future clinical trials may not be successful.
For example, in October 2022, we notified the FDA and other regulatory agencies that an unplanned review of the data for the initial patients that had been dosed with ITIL-168 in the DELTA-1 trial was conducted in order to review risk-benefit. This review was inconclusive because the response data were not mature. Subsequently, the Data Safety Monitoring Board’s prespecified review found no safety concerns. We voluntarily paused our clinical trials to conduct an end-to-end analysis of our manufacturing processes, and after an analysis of the potential scenarios to restart and complete a registration-enabling cohort in advanced melanoma in DELTA-1, we determined to discontinue our ITIL-168 clinical development program.
In addition, even if our clinical trials are successfully completed, we cannot guarantee that the FDA, MHRA, EMA or other foreign regulatory authorities will interpret the results as we do, and more trials could be required before we submit our product candidates for approval. Moreover, results acceptable to support approval in one jurisdiction may be deemed inadequate by another regulatory authority to support regulatory approval in that other jurisdiction. To the extent that the results of the trials are not satisfactory to the FDA, MHRA, EMA or other foreign regulatory authorities for support of a marketing application, we may be required to expend significant resources, which may not be available to us, to conduct additional trials in support of potential approval of our product candidates.
To date, we have not completed any clinical trials required for the approval of our product candidates. We may experience delays in conducting any clinical trials and we do not know whether our clinical trials will begin on time, need to be redesigned, recruit and enroll patients on time or be completed on schedule, or at all. Clinical trials can be delayed, suspended or terminated for a variety of reasons, including in connection with:
•inability to generate sufficient preclinical, toxicology, or other in vivo or in vitro data to support the initiation of clinical trials;
•delays in sufficiently developing, characterizing or controlling a manufacturing process suitable for advanced clinical trials, such as our recent voluntary pause in our clinical trials and the related investigation into our manufacturing processes;
•delays in developing suitable assays for screening patients for eligibility for trials with respect to certain product candidates;
•delays in reaching agreement with the FDA, MHRA, EMA or other regulatory authorities as to the design or implementation of our clinical trials;
•obtaining regulatory authorization to commence a clinical trial;
•reaching an agreement on acceptable terms with clinical trial sites or prospective contract research organizations, or CROs, the terms of which can be subject to extensive negotiation and may vary significantly among different clinical trial sites;
•obtaining institutional review board, or IRB, approval at each trial site;
•recruiting suitable patients to participate in a clinical trial;
•having patients complete a clinical trial or return for post-treatment follow-up;
•inspections of clinical trial sites or operations by applicable regulatory authorities, or the imposition of a clinical hold;
•clinical sites, CROs or other third parties deviating from trial protocol or dropping out of a trial;
•failure to perform in accordance with the applicable regulatory requirements, including FDA’s GCP requirements, or applicable regulatory requirements in other countries;
•addressing patient safety concerns that arise during the course of a trial, including occurrence of adverse events associated with the product candidate that are viewed to outweigh its potential benefits;
•adding a sufficient number of clinical trial sites;
•manufacturing sufficient quantities of product candidate for use in clinical trials; or
•suspensions or terminations by IRBs of the institutions at which such trials are being conducted, by the Data Safety Monitoring Board, or DSMB, for such trial or by the FDA or other regulatory authorities due to a number of factors, including those described above.
We may experience numerous unforeseen events during, or as a result of, clinical trials that could delay or prevent our ability to receive marketing approval or commercialize our product candidates or significantly increase the cost of such trials, including:
•we may experience changes in regulatory requirements or guidance, or receive feedback from regulatory authorities that requires us to modify the design of our clinical trials;
•clinical trials of our product candidates may produce negative or inconclusive results, and we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional clinical trials or abandon development programs;
•the number of patients required for clinical trials of our product candidates may be larger than we anticipate, enrollment in these clinical trials may be slower than we anticipate, or participants may drop out of these clinical trials at a higher rate than we anticipate;
•our third-party contractors may fail to comply with regulatory requirements or meet their contractual obligations to us in a timely manner, or at all;
•we or our investigators might have to suspend or terminate clinical trials of our product candidates for various reasons, including non-compliance with regulatory requirements, a finding that our product candidates have undesirable side effects or other unexpected characteristics, or a finding that the participants are being exposed to unacceptable health risks;
•the cost of clinical trials of our product candidates may be greater than we anticipate and we may not have funds to cover the costs;
•the supply or quality of our product candidates or other materials necessary to conduct clinical trials of our product candidates may be insufficient or inadequate;
•regulators may revise the requirements for approving our product candidates, or such requirements may not be as we anticipate; and
•any future collaborators that conduct clinical trials may face any of the above issues, and may conduct clinical trials in ways they view as advantageous to them but that are suboptimal for us.
If we are required to conduct additional clinical trials or other testing of our product candidates beyond those that we currently contemplate, if we are unable to successfully complete clinical trials of our product candidates or other testing, if the results of these trials or tests are not positive or are only modestly positive or if there are safety concerns, we may:
•incur unplanned costs;
•be delayed in obtaining marketing approval for our product candidates or not obtain marketing approval at all;
•obtain marketing approval in some countries and not in others;
•obtain marketing approval for indications or patient populations that are not as broad as intended or desired;
•obtain marketing approval with labeling that includes significant use or distribution restrictions or safety warnings, including boxed warnings or REMS.
•be subject to additional post-marketing testing requirements;
•be subject to changes in the way the product is administered; or
•have regulatory authorities withdraw or suspend their approval of the product or to impose restrictions on its distribution after obtaining marketing approval.
We could encounter delays if a clinical trial is suspended or terminated by us, by the IRBs of the institutions in which such trials are being conducted, by the DSMB for such trial or by the FDA or other regulatory authorities. Such authorities may impose such a suspension or termination due to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial site by the FDA or other regulatory authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a drug, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial.
All of our product candidates will require extensive clinical testing before we are prepared to submit a BLA or marketing authorization application, or MAA, for regulatory approval. We cannot predict with any certainty if or when we might complete the clinical development for our product candidates and submit a BLA or MAA for regulatory approval of any of our product candidates or whether any such BLA or MAA will be approved. We may also seek feedback from the FDA, MHRA, EMA or other regulatory authorities on our clinical development program, and such regulatory authorities may not provide such feedback on a timely basis, or such feedback may not be favorable, which could further delay our development programs.
We cannot predict with any certainty whether or when we might complete a given clinical trial. If we experience delays in the commencement or completion of our clinical trials, or if we terminate a clinical trial prior to completion, the commercial prospects of our product candidates could be harmed, and our ability to generate revenues from our product candidates may be delayed or lost. In addition, any delays in our clinical trials could increase our costs, slow down the development and approval process and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenues. Any of these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of our product candidates.
We may seek Fast Track designation for our product candidates, and we may be unsuccessful. Even if received, Fast Track designation may not actually lead to a faster review or approval process and does not increase the likelihood that our product candidates will receive marketing approval.
We may seek Fast Track designation for our product candidates, and we may be unsuccessful. If a drug or biologic is intended for the treatment of a serious or life-threatening condition and the product demonstrates the potential to address unmet medical needs for this condition, the sponsor may apply for FDA Fast Track designation for a particular indication. There is no assurance that the FDA will grant this status to any of our product candidates. If granted, Fast Track designation makes a product eligible for more frequent interactions with FDA to discuss the development plan and clinical trial design, as well as rolling review of the application, which means that the company can submit completed sections of its marketing application for review prior to completion of the entire submission. Marketing applications of product candidates with Fast Track designation may qualify for priority review under the policies and procedures offered by the FDA, but the Fast Track designation does not assure any such qualification or ultimate marketing approval by the FDA. The FDA has broad discretion whether or not to grant Fast Track designation, so even if we believe a particular product candidate is eligible for this designation, there can be no assurance that the FDA would decide to grant it. Even if we do receive Fast Track designation, we may not experience a faster development process, review or approval compared to conventional FDA procedures, and receiving a Fast Track designation does not provide any assurance of ultimate FDA approval. In addition, the FDA may withdraw Fast Track designation at any time if it believes that the designation is no longer supported by data from our clinical development program.
The regulatory approval processes of the FDA, MHRA, EMA and comparable foreign authorities are lengthy, time consuming and inherently unpredictable. If we are not able to obtain required regulatory approval for our product candidates, our business will be substantially harmed.
The time required to obtain approval or other marketing authorizations by the FDA, MHRA, EMA and comparable foreign authorities is unpredictable, and it typically takes many years following the commencement of clinical trials and depends upon numerous factors, including the substantial discretion of the regulatory authorities. In addition, approval policies, regulations, and the type and amount of clinical data necessary to gain approval may change during the course of a product candidate’s clinical development and may vary among jurisdictions. We have not obtained regulatory approval for any product candidate, and it is possible that we may never obtain regulatory approval for any product candidates we may seek to develop in the future. Neither we nor any current or future collaborator is permitted to market any drug product candidates in the United States until we receive regulatory approval of a BLA from the FDA, and we cannot market them in the European Union until we receive approval for a MAA from the EMA, or in other foreign countries until we receive the required regulatory approval in such other countries. To date, we have had only limited discussions with the FDA, MHRA and EMA regarding clinical development programs or regulatory approval for any product candidate within the United States, European Union and United Kingdom, respectively. In addition, we have had no discussions with other comparable foreign authorities regarding clinical development programs or regulatory approval for any product candidate outside of those jurisdictions.
Prior to obtaining approval to commercialize any drug product candidate in the United States or abroad, we must demonstrate with substantial evidence from well-controlled clinical trials, and to the satisfaction of the FDA, MHRA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory agencies, that such product candidates are safe, pure and effective for their intended uses. Results from preclinical studies and clinical trials can be interpreted in different ways. Even if we believe the preclinical or clinical data for our product candidates are promising, such data may not be sufficient to support approval by the FDA and other regulatory authorities. The FDA, MHRA, EMA or other regulatory agency may also require us to conduct additional preclinical studies or clinical trials for our product candidates either prior to or after approval, or it may object to elements of our clinical development programs.
Our product candidates could fail to receive regulatory approval for many reasons, including the following:
•the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with the design or implementation of our clinical trials;
•we may be unable to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities that a product candidate is safe and effective for its proposed indication;
•the results of clinical trials may not meet the level of statistical significance required by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities for approval;
•we may be unable to demonstrate that a product candidate’s clinical and other benefits outweigh its safety risks;
•the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may fail to approve the manufacturing processes or facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we contract for clinical and commercial supplies; and
•the approval policies or regulations of the FDA or comparable foreign authorities may significantly change in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval.
Of the large number of products in development, only a small percentage successfully complete the FDA or foreign regulatory approval processes and are commercialized. The lengthy approval and marketing authorization process as well as the unpredictability of future clinical trial results may result in our failing to obtain regulatory approval and marketing authorization to market our product candidates, which would significantly harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We have invested a significant portion of our time and financial resources in the development of our clinical and preclinical product candidates. Our business is dependent on our ability to successfully complete preclinical and clinical development of, obtain regulatory approval for, and, if approved, successfully commercialize ITIL-306 and any future product candidates in a timely manner.
Even if we eventually complete clinical testing and receive approval of a BLA or foreign marketing application for ITIL-306 or any future product candidates, the FDA, MHRA, EMA or the applicable foreign regulatory agency may grant approval or other marketing authorization contingent on the performance of costly additional clinical trials, including post-marketing clinical trials. The FDA, MHRA, EMA or the applicable foreign regulatory agency also may approve or authorize for marketing a product candidate for a more limited indication or patient population than we originally request, and the FDA, MHRA, EMA or applicable foreign regulatory agency may not approve or authorize the labeling that we believe is necessary or desirable for the successful commercialization of a product candidate. Any delay in obtaining, or inability to obtain, applicable regulatory approval or other marketing authorization would delay or prevent commercialization of that product candidate and would materially adversely impact our business and prospects.
In addition, the FDA, MHRA, EMA and other regulatory authorities may change their policies, issue additional regulations or revise existing regulations, or take other actions, which may prevent or delay approval of our future products under development on a timely basis. Such policy or regulatory changes could impose additional requirements upon us that could delay our ability to obtain approvals, increase the costs of compliance or restrict our ability to maintain any marketing authorizations we may have obtained.
Success in preclinical studies or earlier clinical trials may not be indicative of results in future clinical trials. Our product candidates may not have favorable results in later clinical trials, if any, or receive regulatory approval.
Success in preclinical testing and early clinical trials does not ensure that later clinical trials will generate the same results or otherwise provide adequate data to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of a product candidate. Preclinical tests and Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials are primarily designed to test safety, to study pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and to understand the side effects of product candidates at various doses and schedules. Success in preclinical or animal studies and early clinical trials does not ensure that later large-scale efficacy trials will be successful nor does it predict final results. For example, we may be unable to identify suitable animal disease models for our product candidates, which could delay or frustrate our ability to proceed into clinical trials or obtain marketing approval. Our product candidates may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy in clinical development despite having progressed through preclinical studies and initial clinical trials.
Many companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries have suffered significant setbacks in late-stage clinical trials even after achieving promising results in preclinical testing and earlier-stage clinical trials. Data obtained from preclinical and clinical activities are subject to varying interpretations, which may delay, limit or prevent regulatory approval. In addition, we may experience regulatory delays or rejections as a result of many factors, including changes in regulatory policy during the period of our product candidate development. Any such delays could negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Interim, “top-line” and preliminary results from our clinical trials that we announce or publish from time to time may change as more data become available and are subject to audit and verification procedures that could result in material changes in the final data.
From time to time, we may publish interim, top-line or preliminary results from our clinical trials. Interim results from clinical trials that we may complete are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data become available. Preliminary or top-line results also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the preliminary data we previously published. As a result, interim and preliminary data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available. Differences between preliminary, top-line or interim data and final data could significantly harm our business prospects and may cause the trading price of our common stock to fluctuate significantly. We also make assumptions, estimations, calculations and conclusions as part of our analyses of data, and we may not have received or had the opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate all data. As a result, the top-line results that we report may differ from future results of the same studies, or different conclusions or considerations may qualify such results, once additional data have been received and fully evaluated.
Further, others, including regulatory agencies may not accept or agree with our assumptions, estimates, calculations, conclusions or analyses or may interpret or weigh the importance of data differently, which could impact the value of the particular development program, the approvability or commercialization of the particular product candidate or product and our company in general. In addition, the information we choose to publicly disclose regarding a particular study or clinical trial is based on what is typically extensive information, and you or others may not agree with what we determine is the material or otherwise appropriate information to include in our disclosure. Any information we determine not to disclose may ultimately be deemed meaningful by you or others with respect to future decisions, conclusions, views, activities or otherwise regarding a particular product candidate or our business. If the interim, top-line or preliminary data that we report differ from actual results, or if others, including regulatory authorities, disagree with the conclusions reached, our ability to obtain approval for, and commercialize, product candidates may be harmed, which could significantly harm our business prospects.
Our preclinical studies and clinical trials may fail to demonstrate substantial evidence of the safety and efficacy of our product candidates, or serious adverse or unacceptable side effects may be identified during the development of our product candidates, which could prevent, delay or limit the scope of regulatory approval of our product candidates, limit their commercialization, increase our costs or necessitate the abandonment or limitation of the development of some of our product candidates.
To obtain the requisite regulatory approvals for the commercial sale of our product candidates, we must demonstrate through lengthy, complex and expensive preclinical testing and clinical trials that our product candidates are safe, pure and potent for use in each target indication. These trials are expensive and time consuming, and their outcomes are inherently uncertain. Failures can occur at any time during the development process. Preclinical studies and clinical trials often fail to demonstrate safety or efficacy of the product candidate studied for the target indication, and most product candidates that begin clinical trials are never approved.
We may fail to demonstrate with substantial evidence from adequate and well-controlled trials, and to the satisfaction of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities, that our product candidates are safe and potent for their intended uses.
Possible adverse side effects that could occur with treatment with cell therapy products include thrombocytopenia, chills, anemia, pyrexia, febrile neutropenia, diarrhea, neutropenia, vomiting, hypotension, dyspnea, cytokine release syndrome and neurotoxicity. If our product candidates are associated with undesirable
effects in preclinical studies or clinical trials or have characteristics that are unexpected, we may decide or be required to perform additional preclinical studies or to halt or delay further clinical development of our product candidates or to limit their development to more narrow uses or subpopulations in which the undesirable side effects or other characteristics are less prevalent, less severe, or more acceptable from a risk-benefit perspective, which may limit the commercial expectations for the product candidate, if approved. These side effects may not be appropriately recognized or managed by the treating medical staff, as toxicities resulting from personalized cell therapy, as with our TIL product candidates, are not normally encountered in the general patient population and by medical personnel.
If any such adverse events occur, our clinical trials could be suspended or terminated. If we cannot demonstrate that any adverse events were not caused by the drug, the FDA, MHRA, EMA or foreign regulatory authorities could order us to cease further development of, or deny approval of, our product candidates for any or all targeted indications. Even if we are able to demonstrate that all future serious adverse events are not product-related, such occurrences could affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled patients to complete the trial. Moreover, if we elect, or are required, to not initiate, delay, suspend or terminate any future clinical trial of any of our product candidates, the commercial prospects of such product candidates may be harmed and our ability to generate product revenues from any of these product candidates may be delayed or eliminated. Any of these occurrences may harm our ability to develop other product candidates, and may harm our business, financial condition and prospects significantly.
If our product candidates are associated with side effects in clinical trials or have characteristics that are unexpected, we may need to abandon their development or limit development to more narrow uses in which the side effects or other characteristics are less prevalent, less severe or more acceptable from a risk-benefit perspective. The FDA or an IRB may also require that we suspend, discontinue, or limit our clinical trials based on safety information, or that we conduct additional animal or human studies regarding the safety and efficacy of our product candidates which we have not planned or anticipated. Such findings could further result in regulatory authorities failing to provide marketing authorization for our product candidates or limiting the scope of the approved indication, if approved. Many product candidates that initially showed promise in early stage testing have later been found to cause side effects that prevented further development of the product candidate.
Additionally, if one or more of our product candidates receives marketing approval, and we or others identify undesirable side effects caused by such products, a number of potentially significant negative consequences could result, including:
•regulatory authorities may suspend, withdraw or limit approvals of such product, or seek an injunction against its manufacture or distribution;
•regulatory authorities may require additional warnings on the label;
•we may be required to create a medication guide outlining the risks of such side effects for distribution to patients or other requirements subject to a REMS;
•we may be required to change the way a product is administered or conduct additional trials;
•we could be sued and held liable for harm caused to patients;
•we may decide to remove the product from the market;
•we may not be able to achieve or maintain third-party payor coverage and adequate reimbursement
•we may be subject to fines, injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties; and
•our reputation and physician or patient acceptance of our products may suffer.
There can be no assurance that we will resolve any issues related to any product-related adverse events to the satisfaction of the FDA or foreign regulatory agency in a timely manner or at all. Moreover, any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the particular product candidate, if approved, and could significantly harm our business, results of operations and prospects.
Negative public opinion of TIL therapies, the dynamically evolving competitive landscape for our target indications or increased regulatory scrutiny of cell therapy using TILs may adversely impact the development of and commercial strategy for our product candidates, our plans for investing in
manufacturing readiness for regulatory filings, and the success of our current and future product candidates.
The clinical and commercial success of our TIL therapies will depend in part on public acceptance of the use of cell therapy using TILs. Any adverse public attitudes about the use of TIL therapies may adversely impact our ability to enroll clinical trials. Moreover, our success will depend upon physicians prescribing, and their patients being willing to receive, treatments that involve the use of product candidates we may develop in lieu of, or in addition to, existing treatments with which they are already familiar and for which greater clinical data may be available.
More restrictive government regulations or negative public opinion would have a negative effect on our business or financial condition and may delay or impair the development and commercialization of our product candidates or demand for any products once approved. Adverse events in our or others’ clinical trials, even if not ultimately attributable to our product candidates, and the resulting publicity could result in increased governmental regulation, unfavorable public perception, potential regulatory delays in the testing or approval of our product candidates, stricter labeling requirements for those product candidates that are approved and a decrease in demand for any such product candidates, all of which would have a negative impact on our business and operations.
Further, increased government regulation or negative public opinion of TIL therapies, as well as increased competition in the development of treatments and therapeutics in the indications we are targeting or may target in the future, may force us to revise our business strategy for our product candidates, including our plans for making investments in our manufacturing capabilities necessary to prepare for required regulatory filings. We may be forced to significantly curtail or abandon our current strategy and may never be able to realize our current business strategy and commercialize our product candidates.
As an organization, we are early in the process of conducting our first clinical trials, have no prior experience in conducting clinical trials, and may be unable to complete clinical trials for any product candidates we may develop, including ITIL-306.
We are early in our development efforts for our product candidates, and will need to successfully complete our ongoing and planned clinical trials, including pivotal clinical trials, in order to obtain FDA approval to market any of our product candidates. Carrying out clinical trials and the submission of a successful BLA is a complicated process. As an organization, we are early in the process of conducting our first multi-center clinical trials with centralized manufacturing, have no prior experience in conducting any clinical trials, have limited experience in preparing regulatory submissions and have not previously submitted a BLA for any product candidate. We have only previously treated patients with our TIL product in a compassionate use program in the United Kingdom with a TIL product that was manufactured using a prior version of the ITIL-168 manufacturing process, and only recently dosed the first patient in our clinical trial for ITIL-306. In addition, we have had limited interactions with the FDA and cannot be certain how many additional clinical trials of our product candidates will be required or how such trials should be designed. We may also fail to receive clearance from the MHRA to initiate our planned ITIL-306 clinical trial in the United Kingdom in 2023. Consequently, we may be unable to successfully and efficiently execute and complete necessary clinical trials in a way that leads to submission of the applicable regulatory applications and approval of any product candidate. We may require more time and incur greater costs than our competitors and may not succeed in obtaining regulatory approvals of product candidates that we develop. Failure to commence or complete, or delays in, our planned clinical trials, could prevent us from or delay us in commercializing our product candidates.
We may experience delays or difficulties in the enrollment and/or retention of patients in clinical trials, which could delay or prevent our receipt of necessary regulatory approvals.
Successful and timely completion of clinical trials will require that we enroll a sufficient number of patients. Patient enrollment, a significant factor in the timing of clinical trials, is affected by many factors, including the size and nature of the patient population and competition for patients eligible for our clinical trials with competitors which may have ongoing clinical trials for product candidates that are under development to treat the same
indications as one or more of our product candidates, or approved products for the conditions for which we are developing our product candidates.
Trials may be subject to delays as a result of patient enrollment taking longer than anticipated or patient withdrawal. We may not be able to initiate or continue clinical trials for our product candidates if we are unable to locate and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients to participate in these trials as required by the FDA or foreign regulatory authorities. We cannot predict how successful we will be at enrolling subjects in future clinical trials. Subject enrollment is affected by other factors including:
•the severity and difficulty of diagnosing the disease under investigation
•the eligibility and exclusion criteria for the trial in question;
•the size of the patient population and process for identifying patients;
•our ability to recruit clinical trial investigators with the appropriate competencies and experience;
•the design of the trial protocol;
•the perceived risks and benefits of the product candidate in the trial, including relating to cell therapy approaches;
•the availability of competing commercially available therapies and other competing therapeutic candidates’ clinical trials for the disease or condition under investigation;
•the willingness of patients to be enrolled in our clinical trials;
•the efforts to facilitate timely enrollment in clinical trials;
•potential disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, including difficulties in initiating clinical sites, enrolling and retaining participants, diversion of healthcare resources away from clinical trials, travel or quarantine policies that may be implemented, and other factors;
•the patient referral practices of physicians;
•the ability to monitor patients adequately during and after treatment; and
•the proximity and availability of clinical trial sites for prospective patients.
Our inability to enroll a sufficient number of patients for clinical trials would result in significant delays and could require us to abandon one or more clinical trials altogether. Enrollment delays in these clinical trials may result in increased development costs for our product candidates, which would cause the value of our company to decline and limit our ability to obtain additional financing. Furthermore, we expect to rely on CROs and clinical trial sites to ensure the proper and timely conduct of our clinical trials and we will have limited influence over their performance.
Furthermore, even if we are able to enroll a sufficient number of patients for our clinical trials, we may have difficulty maintaining enrollment of such patients in our clinical trials.
We may seek orphan drug designation for some of our product candidates, and we may be unsuccessful, or may be unable to maintain the benefits associated with orphan drug designation, including the potential for market exclusivity, for product candidates for which we obtain orphan drug designation.
We may seek orphan drug designation for some or all of our product candidates in specific orphan indications in which there is a medically plausible basis for the use of these product candidates. Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may grant orphan drug designation to a drug or biologic intended to treat a rare disease or condition, defined as a patient population of fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States, or a patient population of 200,000 or more in the United States where there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making available the drug or biologic will be recovered from sales in the United States. Orphan drug designation must be requested before submitting a BLA. Although we may seek orphan drug designation for some or all of our product candidates, we may never receive such designations.
In the United States, orphan drug designation entitles a party to financial incentives such as tax advantages and user fee waivers. Opportunities for grant funding toward clinical trial costs may also be available for clinical trials of drugs or biologics for rare diseases, regardless of whether the drugs or biologics are designated for the orphan use.
In addition, if a drug or biologic with an orphan drug designation subsequently receives the first marketing approval for a particular active ingredient or principal molecular structural features for the indication for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to a seven year period of marketing exclusivity, which precludes the FDA from approving another marketing application for the same drug and indication for that time period, except in limited circumstances such as a showing of clinical superiority to the product with orphan drug exclusivity or if the FDA finds that the holder of the orphan drug exclusivity has not shown that it can ensure the availability of sufficient quantities of the orphan product to meet the needs of patients with the disease or condition for which the drug was designated. Even if we obtain orphan drug designation for a product candidate, we may not be the first to obtain marketing approval for any particular orphan indication due to the uncertainties associated with developing biological products. If we seek orphan drug designation, we may be unsuccessful in obtaining such orphan drug designation for our product candidates. Even if we obtain orphan drug exclusivity for any of our product candidates, we may be unable to maintain the benefits associated with orphan drug designation, or such orphan drug exclusivity may not effectively protect those product candidates from competition because different drugs can be approved for the same condition, and orphan drug exclusivity does not prevent the FDA from approving the same or a different drug in another indication. Even after an orphan drug is granted orphan drug exclusivity and approved, the FDA can subsequently approve a later application for the same drug for the same condition before the expiration of the seven-year exclusivity period if the FDA concludes that the later drug is clinically superior in that it is shown to be safer in a substantial portion of the target populations, more effective or makes a major contribution to patient care. In addition, a designated orphan drug may not receive orphan drug exclusivity if it is approved for a use that is broader than the indication for which it received orphan drug designation. Moreover, orphan-drug-exclusive marketing rights in the United States may be lost if the FDA later determines that the request for designation was materially defective or that we are unable to manufacture sufficient quantities of the product to meet the needs of patients with the rare disease or condition. Orphan drug designation neither shortens the development time or regulatory review time of a drug nor gives the drug any advantage in the regulatory review or approval process.
Breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA for any product candidate may not lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process, and it does not increase the likelihood that the product candidate will receive marketing approval.
We may, in the future, apply for breakthrough therapy designation, or the equivalent thereof in foreign jurisdictions (where available), for our product candidates. A breakthrough therapy is defined as a product candidate that is intended, alone or in combination with one or more other drugs, to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition, and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the product candidate may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints, such as substantial treatment effects observed early in clinical development. For product candidates that have been designated as breakthrough therapies, interaction and communication between the FDA and the sponsor of the trial can help to identify the most efficient path for clinical development while minimizing the number of patients placed in ineffective control regimens. Product candidates designated as breakthrough therapies by the FDA are also eligible for priority review if supported by clinical data at the time of the submission of the BLA.
Designation as a breakthrough therapy is within the discretion of the FDA. Accordingly, even if we believe that one of our product candidates meets the criteria for designation as a breakthrough therapy, the FDA may disagree and instead determine not to make such designation. In any event, the receipt of a breakthrough therapy designation for a product candidate may not result in a faster development process, review or approval compared to product candidates considered for approval under conventional FDA procedures and it would not assure ultimate approval by the FDA. In addition, even if one or more of our product candidates qualify as breakthrough therapies, the FDA may later decide that the product candidate no longer meets the conditions for qualification or it may decide that the time period for FDA review or approval will not be shortened.
We may expend our limited resources to pursue a particular product candidate or indication and fail to capitalize on product candidates or indications that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.
Because we have limited financial and management resources, we must focus on development programs and product candidates that we identify for specific indications. As such, we are currently primarily focused on the development of our CoStAR-TIL programs, including ITIL-306 for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer, and renal cell carcinoma. As a result, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other product candidates or for other indications for these product candidates that later prove to have greater commercial potential. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities. Our spending on current and future development programs and product candidates for specific indications may not yield any commercially viable products. For example, before prioritizing development of our CoStAR-TIL program, our strategy focused primarily on the development of ITIL-168 for the treatment of PD-1 inhibitor-relapsed or refractory advanced cutaneous melanoma, which we recently discontinued. Further, if we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular product candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through collaboration, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to such product candidate.
We plan to conduct and may in the future conduct additional clinical trials for our product candidates outside the United States, and the FDA and similar foreign regulatory authorities may not accept data from such trials conducted in locations outside of their jurisdiction.
We are currently pursuing a potential clinical trial in the United Kingdom, and we may choose to conduct other clinical trials outside the United States, including in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Europe or other foreign jurisdictions. The acceptance of trial data from clinical trials conducted outside the United States by the FDA may be subject to certain conditions or may not be accepted at all. In cases where data from clinical trials conducted outside the United States are intended to serve as the sole basis for marketing approval in the United States, the FDA will generally not approve the application on the basis of foreign data alone unless (i) the data are applicable to the U.S. population and U.S. medical practice; (ii) the trials were performed by clinical investigators of recognized competence and (iii) the data may be considered valid without the need for an on-site inspection by the FDA or, if the FDA considers such an inspection to be necessary, the FDA is able to validate the data through an on-site inspection or other appropriate means. Additionally, the FDA’s clinical trial requirements, including sufficient size of patient populations and statistical powering, must be met. Many foreign regulatory bodies have similar approval requirements. In addition, such foreign trials would be subject to the applicable local laws of the foreign jurisdictions where the trials are conducted. There can be no assurance that the FDA or any similar foreign regulatory authority will accept data from trials conducted outside of the United States or the applicable jurisdiction. If the FDA or any similar foreign regulatory authority does not accept such data, it would result in the need for additional trials, which would be costly and time-consuming and delay aspects of our business plan, and which may result in our product candidates not receiving approval or clearance for commercialization in the applicable jurisdiction.
We may not be successful in our efforts to build a pipeline of additional product candidates.
We may not be able to continue to identify and develop new product candidates in addition to our current pipeline. Even if we are successful in continuing to build our pipeline, the potential product candidates that we identify may not be suitable for clinical development. For example, product candidates may be shown to have harmful side effects or other characteristics that indicate that they are unlikely to be successfully developed, much less receive marketing approval and achieve market acceptance. If we do not successfully develop and commercialize product candidates based upon our approach, we will not be able to obtain product revenue in future periods, which likely would result in significant harm to our financial position and adversely affect our stock price.
If we do not achieve our projected development goals in the time frames we announce and expect, the commercialization of our products may be delayed.
From time to time, we may estimate the timing of the accomplishment of various scientific, clinical, regulatory, manufacturing and other product development goals, which we sometimes refer to as milestones. These milestones may include the commencement or completion of, and availability of data from, preclinical studies and clinical trials and the submission of regulatory filings. From time to time, we may publicly announce the expected timing of some of these milestones. All of these milestones are, and will be, based on a variety of assumptions. The
actual timing of these milestones can vary significantly compared to our estimates, in some cases for reasons beyond our control. We may experience numerous unforeseen events during, or as a result of our current clinical trials or any future clinical trials that we conduct, such as the recently observed decrease in rates of successful manufacturing of ITIL-168 that resulted in the decision to voluntarily pause our clinical trials and contributed in part to our decision to ultimately discontinue our ITIL-168 development program, that could delay or prevent our ability to receive marketing approval or commercialize our product candidates.
Our business and operations may be adversely affected by the effects of disease outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics, including the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Our business and operations may be adversely affected by the effects of disease outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Disease outbreaks may result in travel and other restrictions in order to reduce the spread of the disease, including public health directives and orders in the United States and the European Union, remote work policies or other restrictions on the conduct of business operations, which may negatively impact productivity and disrupt our ongoing research and development activities and our clinical programs and timelines, the magnitude of which will depend, in part, on the length and severity of the restrictions and other limitations on our ability to conduct our business in the ordinary course. Further, such orders also may impact the availability or cost of materials, which would disrupt our supply chain and manufacturing efforts and could affect our ability to conduct ongoing and planned clinical trials and preparatory activities.
Although our clinical trials have not been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic to date, we may experience related disruptions as a result of disease outbreaks, epidemics or pandemics in the future that could severely impact our clinical trials, including:
•delays, difficulties or a suspension in clinical site initiation, including difficulties in recruiting clinical site investigators and clinical site staff;
•interruptions in our ability to manufacture and deliver drug supply for trials;
•diversion of healthcare resources away from the conduct of clinical trials, including the diversion of hospitals serving as our clinical trial sites and hospital staff supporting the conduct of our clinical trials;
•changes in local regulations as part of a disease outbreak response that may require us to change the ways in which our clinical trials are conducted, which may result in unexpected costs, or to discontinue the clinical trials altogether;
•interruption of key clinical trial activities, such as clinical trial site monitoring, and the ability or willingness of subjects to travel to trial sites due to limitations on travel imposed or recommended by federal or state governments, employers and others;
•limitations in employee resources that would otherwise be focused on the conduct of our clinical trials, including because of sickness of employees or their families or the desire of employees to avoid contact with large groups of people;
•delays in necessary interactions with local regulators, ethics committees and other important agencies and contractors due to limitations in employee resources or forced furlough of government employees; and
•refusal of the FDA, MHRA, EMA or other regulatory agency to accept data from clinical trials in these affected geographies.
The potential economic impact brought by, and the duration of, any disease outbreak, endemic or pandemic may be difficult to assess or predict. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant disruption of global financial markets, and disease outbreaks, including the COVID-19 pandemic, could in the future reduce our ability to access capital, which could negatively affect our liquidity. In addition, a recession or market correction resulting from a disease outbreak or otherwise could materially affect our business and the value of our common stock.
Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, and the extent to which COVID-19 may impact our business, results of operations and financial position will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, such as the emergence, infectiousness and severity of new variants, travel
restrictions, quarantines and social distancing in the United States and other countries, business closures or business disruptions, global supply challenges, and the effectiveness of actions in the United States and other countries to contain and treat the disease. New health epidemics or pandemics may emerge that result in similar or more severe disruptions to our business. To the extent the new effects of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, or any future disease outbreak, epidemic or pandemic, adversely affects our business and results of operations, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks and uncertainties described in this “Risk Factors” section.
The market opportunities for any current or future product candidate we develop, if approved, may be limited to those patients who are ineligible for established therapies or for whom prior therapies have failed, and may be small.
Any revenue we are able to generate in the future from product sales will be dependent, in part, upon the size of the market in the United States and any other jurisdiction for which we gain regulatory approval and have commercial rights. If the markets or patient subsets that we are targeting are not as significant as we estimate, we may not generate significant revenues from sales of such products, even if approved.
Cancer therapies are sometimes characterized as first-line, second-line or third-line, and the FDA often approves new therapies initially only for third-line use. When cancer is detected early enough, first-line therapy, usually chemotherapy, immunotherapy, hormone therapy, surgery, radiation therapy or a combination of these, is sometimes adequate to cure the cancer or prolong life without a cure. Second- and third-line therapies are administered to patients when prior therapy is not effective. We may initially seek approval for ITIL-306 and any other product candidates we develop as a therapy for patients who have received one or more prior treatments. If we do so, for those products that prove to be sufficiently beneficial, if any, we would expect to seek approval potentially as a first-line therapy, but there is no guarantee that any product candidate we develop, even if approved, would be approved for first-line therapy, and, prior to any such approvals, we may have to conduct additional clinical trials.
The number of patients who have the types of cancer we are targeting may turn out to be lower than expected. Additionally, the potentially addressable patient population for our current or future product candidates may be limited, if and when approved. Further, even if any of our product candidates are approved by the FDA or comparable foreign regulators, their approved indications may be limited to a subset of the indications that we targeted. Even if we obtain significant market share for any product candidate, if and when approved, if the potential target populations are small, we may never achieve profitability without obtaining marketing approval for additional indications, including to be used as first- or second-line therapy.
We may develop ITIL-306 and future product candidates for use in combination with other therapies or third-party product candidates, which exposes us to additional regulatory risks.
We may develop ITIL-306 and future product candidates for use in combination with one or more currently approved cancer therapies. Even if any product candidate we develop were to receive marketing approval or be commercialized for use in combination with other existing therapies, we would continue to be subject to the risk that the FDA, MHRA, EMA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities could revoke approval of the therapy used in combination with our product candidate or that safety, efficacy, manufacturing or supply issues could arise with these existing therapies. This could result in our own products being removed from the market or being less successful commercially. Combination therapies are commonly used for the treatment of cancer, and we would be subject to similar risks if we develop any of our product candidates for use in combination with other drugs or for indications other than cancer.
We may also evaluate ITIL-306 or any future product candidate in combination with one or more other third party product candidates that have not yet been approved for marketing by the FDA, MHRA, EMA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities. If so, we will not be able to market and sell ITIL-306 or any product candidate we develop in combination with any such unapproved cancer therapies that do not ultimately obtain marketing approval.
If the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities do not approve these other biological products or revoke their approval of, or if safety, efficacy, manufacturing or supply issues arise with, the biologics we choose to
evaluate in combination with ITIL-306 or any product candidate we develop, we may be unable to obtain approval of or market any such product candidate.
The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union may have a negative effect on global economic conditions, financial markets and our business.
Following the result of a referendum in 2016, the United Kingdom left the European Union on January 31, 2020, commonly referred to as Brexit. Pursuant to the formal withdrawal arrangements agreed to by the United Kingdom and the European Union, as of January 1, 2021, the United Kingdom is no longer subject to the transition period, or the Transition Period, during which European Union rules continued to apply. A trade and cooperation agreement, or the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, that outlines the post-Transition Period trading relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union was agreed to in December 2020 and formally entered into force on May 1, 2021.
Our operations are concentrated in our manufacturing facilities and research labs located in Manchester, United Kingdom. Further, since a significant proportion of the regulatory framework in the United Kingdom that is applicable to our business and our product candidates is derived from European Union directives and regulations, Brexit has had, and will continue to have, a material impact on the regulatory regime with respect to the importation, approval and commercialization of our product candidates in the United Kingdom or the European Union. For example, Great Britain is no longer covered by the centralized procedures for obtaining EU-wide marketing authorizations from the EMA, and a separate marketing authorization will be required to market our product candidates in Great Britain. Any delay in obtaining, or an inability to obtain, any marketing approvals, as a result of Brexit or otherwise, would delay or prevent us from commercializing our product candidates in the United Kingdom and limit our ability to generate revenue and achieve and sustain profitability. While the Trade and Cooperation Agreement provides for the tariff-free trade of medicinal products between the United Kingdom and the European Union, there are additional non-tariff costs to such trade that did not exist prior to the end of the Transition Period and frequent delays in the transit of goods between the United Kingdom and the European Union. Further, should the United Kingdom diverge from the European Union from a regulatory perspective in relation to medicinal products, tariffs could be put into place in the future, and we may incur expenses in establishing a manufacturing facility in the European Union in order to circumvent such hurdles or incur significant additional expenses to operate our business, which could significantly and materially harm or delay our ability to generate revenues or achieve profitability of our business. Any further changes in international trade, tariff and import/export regulations as a result of Brexit or otherwise may impose unexpected duty costs or other non-tariff barriers on us. These developments, or the perception that any of them could occur, may significantly reduce global trade and, in particular, trade between the impacted nations and the United Kingdom. It is also possible that Brexit may negatively affect our ability to attract and retain employees, particularly those from the European Union.
Risks Related to the Manufacturing of our Product Candidates
Cell therapies are complex and difficult to manufacture. We have experienced, and may in the future experience, manufacturing problems that result in delays in the development or commercialization of our product candidates or otherwise harm our business.
The manufacture of cell therapy products is technically complex and necessitates substantial expertise and capital investment. Production difficulties caused by unforeseen events may delay the availability of material for our clinical studies.
The manufacturers of pharmaceutical products must comply with strictly enforced cGMP requirements, state and federal regulations, as well as foreign requirements when applicable. Any failure of us or our contract manufacturing organizations to adhere to or document compliance to such regulatory requirements could lead to a delay or interruption in the availability of our program materials for clinical trials or enforcement action from the FDA, MHRA, EMA or foreign regulatory authorities. If we or our manufacturers were to fail to comply with the requirements of the FDA, MHRA, EMA or other regulatory authority, it could result in sanctions being imposed on us, including clinical holds, fines, injunctions, civil penalties, delays, suspension or withdrawal of approvals, license revocation, seizures or recalls of product candidates or products, operating restrictions and criminal prosecutions, any of which could significantly and adversely affect supplies of our product candidates. Our potential future
dependence upon others for the manufacture of our product candidates may also adversely affect our future profit margins and our ability to commercialize any product candidates that receive regulatory approval on a timely and competitive basis.
Biological products are inherently difficult to manufacture. Our program materials are manufactured using technically complex processes requiring specialized equipment and facilities, highly specific raw materials, cells, and reagents, and other production constraints. Our production process requires a number of highly specific raw materials, cells and reagents with limited suppliers. Even though we aim to have backup supplies of raw materials, cells and reagents whenever possible, we cannot be certain they will be sufficient if our primary sources are unavailable. A shortage of a critical raw material, cell line, or reagent, or a technical issue during manufacturing may lead to delays in clinical development or commercialization plans. Any changes in the manufacturing of components of the raw materials we use could result in unanticipated or unfavorable effects in our manufacturing processes, resulting in delays.
Delays or failures in the manufacture of cell therapies (whether by us, any collaborator or our third party contract manufacturers) can result in a patient being unable to receive their cell therapy or a requirement to re-manufacture which itself then causes delays in manufacture for other patients. Any delay or failure or inability to manufacture on a timely basis can adversely affect a patient’s outcomes and delay the timelines for our clinical trials. Such delays or failure or inability to manufacture can result from:
•a failure in the manufacturing process itself, for example by an error in manufacturing process (whether by us or our third party CMO), equipment or reagent failure, failure in any step of the manufacturing process, failure to maintain a cGMP environment or failure in quality systems applicable to manufacture, sterility failures, contamination during process;
•product loss or failure due to logistical issues associated with the collection of a patient’s tumor or other samples, shipping that material to analytical laboratories, and shipping the final product back to the location using cold chain distribution where it will be administered to the patient, manufacturing issues associated with the differences in patient starting materials, inconsistency in cell growth and variability in product characteristics;
•a lack of reliability or reproducibility in the manufacturing process itself leading to variability in end manufacture of cell therapy, which may lead to regulatory authorities placing a hold on a clinical trial or requesting further information on the process which could in turn result in delays to the clinical trials;
•variations in patient starting material or apheresis product resulting in less product than expected or product that is not viable, or that cannot be used to successfully manufacture a cell therapy;
•product loss or failure due to logistical issues including issues associated with the differences between patients’ white blood cells or characteristics, interruptions to process, contamination, failure to supply patient apheresis material within required timescales (for example, as a result of an import or export hold-up) or supplier error;
•inability to obtain viral vector manufacturing slots from CMOs or to have enough manufacturing slots to manufacture cell therapies for patients as and when those patients require manufacture;
•inability to procure starting materials or to manufacture starting materials;
•loss of or close-down of any manufacturing facility used in the manufacture of our cell therapies, or the inability to find alternative manufacturing capability in a timely fashion;
•loss or contamination of patient starting material, requiring the starting material to be obtained again from the patient or the manufacturing process to be re-started; and
•a requirement to modify or make changes to any manufacturing process, which may also require comparability testing that delays our ability to make the required modifications or perform any required comparability testing in a timely fashion, require further regulatory approval or require successful tech transfer to CMOs to continue manufacturing.
Manufacturing problems may result in a delay in the timelines for our clinical trials. For example, in October 2022 we voluntarily paused enrollment in our clinical trials for ITIL-168 following a decrease in the rate of successful manufacturing of ITIL-168, resulting in the inability to dose some patients, and also voluntarily paused
enrollment in our Phase 1 trial of ITIL-306, although no manufacturing failures were observed in this trial. We have since resumed our clinical trial for ITIL-306, and while we informed all applicable regulatory agencies of our voluntary pause and no regulatory agency, including the FDA, has issued a clinical hold on any of our clinical trials to date, there can be no assurance that we will not be subject to a clinical hold in the future. We completed an end-to-end analysis of our manufacturing processes and have taken corrective actions to improve the rate of manufacturing success, but there can be no assurance that these actions will be effective or that we will not experience other manufacturing issues in the future.
The manufacture of our product candidates is complex and we may encounter difficulties in production, particularly with respect to process development or scaling-out of our manufacturing capabilities. If we encounter such difficulties, our ability to provide supply of our product candidates for clinical trials or any approved products could be delayed or stopped.
All entities involved in the preparation of therapeutics for clinical trials or commercial sale, including our existing contract manufacturers for components our product candidates, are subject to extensive regulation. Components of a finished therapeutic product approved for commercial sale or used in late-stage clinical trials in the European Union must be manufactured in accordance with cGMP. These regulations govern manufacturing processes and procedures (including record keeping) and the implementation and operation of quality systems to control and assure the quality of investigational products and products approved for sale. Poor control of production processes can lead to the introduction of adventitious agents or other contaminants, or to inadvertent changes in the properties or stability of our product candidates that may not be detectable in final product testing. We or our contract manufacturers must supply all necessary documentation in support of a BLA or MAA on a timely basis. Our facilities and quality systems and the facilities and quality systems of some or all of our third-party contractors must pass a pre-approval inspection for compliance with the applicable regulations as a condition of regulatory approval of our product candidates or any of our other potential products. In addition, the regulatory authorities may, at any time, audit or inspect a manufacturing facility involved with the preparation of our product candidates or our other potential products or the associated quality systems for compliance with the regulations applicable to the activities being conducted, and they could put a hold on one or more of our clinical trials if the facilities of our contract development and manufacturing organizations do not pass such audit or inspections. If these facilities do not pass a pre-approval plant inspection, FDA approval of the products will not be granted.
The regulatory authorities also may, at any time following approval of a product for sale, inspect or audit our manufacturing facilities or those of our third-party contractors. If any such inspection or audit identifies a failure to comply with applicable regulations or if a violation of our product specifications or applicable regulations occurs independent of such an inspection or audit, we or the relevant regulatory authority may require remedial measures that may be costly and/or time-consuming for us or a third party to implement and that may include the temporary or permanent suspension of a clinical trial or commercial sales or the temporary or permanent closure of a facility. Any such remedial measures imposed upon us or third parties with whom we contract could harm our business. If we or any of our third-party manufacturers fail to maintain regulatory compliance, the FDA can impose regulatory sanctions including, among other things, refusal to approve a pending application for a new drug product or biologic product, or revocation of a pre-existing approval. As a result, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be harmed. Additionally, if supply from one approved manufacturer is interrupted, there could be a significant disruption in commercial supply. An alternative manufacturer would need to be qualified through a BLA and/or MAA supplement which could result in further delay. The regulatory agencies may also require additional studies if a new manufacturer is relied upon for commercial production. Switching manufacturers may involve substantial costs and is likely to result in a delay in our desired clinical and commercial timelines.
These factors could cause the delay of clinical trials, regulatory submissions, required approvals or commercialization of our product candidates, cause us to incur higher costs and prevent us from commercializing our products successfully, if approved. Furthermore, if our suppliers fail to meet contractual requirements, and we are unable to secure one or more replacement suppliers capable of production at a substantially equivalent cost, our clinical trials may be delayed or we could lose potential revenue.
We may utilize third parties if needed to manufacture our product candidates. Therefore, we are subject to the risk that such third parties may not perform satisfactorily.