UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington D.C. 20549
FORM 10-Q
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QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
FOR THE QUARTERLY PERIOD ENDED JUNE 30, 2011
or
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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 033-80623
OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
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Delaware
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95-4343413 |
(State or Other Jurisdiction of
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(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) |
Incorporation or Organization) |
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1522 217 th Place SE, Suite 100, Bothell, Washington 98021
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)
(425) 686-1500
(Registrants telephone number, including area code)
Indicate by check 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 þ No o
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 and posted
pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter
period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes þ No o
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 definition of accelerated filer and
large accelerated filer in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
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Large accelerated filer o
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Accelerated filerþ
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Non-accelerated filer o
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Smaller reporting company o |
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(Do not check if a smaller reporting company) |
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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Exchange Act Rule
12b-2). Yes o No þ
Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuers classes of common stock, as of
the latest practicable date.
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Class
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Outstanding at August 1, 2011 |
Common Stock, $0.001 par value
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9,725,489 |
OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Index to Form 10-Q
2
PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION
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Item 1. |
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Consolidated Financial Statements |
OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Unaudited)
(In thousands of U.S. dollars)
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June 30, |
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December 31, |
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2011 |
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2010 |
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$ |
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$ |
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ASSETS |
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Current |
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Cash and cash equivalents[note 4] |
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20,876 |
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23,533 |
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Restricted cash |
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502 |
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502 |
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Short-term investments [note 4] |
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54,536 |
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61,574 |
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Amounts receivable |
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1,498 |
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1,224 |
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Prepaid expenses |
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1,397 |
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2,485 |
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Total current assets |
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78,809 |
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89,318 |
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Property and equipment, net |
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207 |
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87 |
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Other assets |
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509 |
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513 |
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Total assets |
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79,525 |
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89,918 |
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LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS EQUITY |
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Current |
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Accounts payable and accrued liabilities |
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1,643 |
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893 |
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Deferred Collaboration Revenue |
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10,000 |
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10,000 |
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Current portion of long-term obligations [note 6] |
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1,384 |
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1,314 |
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Warrant liability [note 4, note 5] |
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14,828 |
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15,269 |
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Total current liabilities |
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27,855 |
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27,476 |
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Deferred Collaboration Revenue, net of current |
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9,866 |
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11,622 |
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Long-term obligation, less current portion [note 6] |
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6,606 |
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6,695 |
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Total liabilities |
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44,327 |
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45,793 |
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Commitments and contingencies [note 7] |
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Shareholders equity: |
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Common shares [note 5]: |
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$0.001 par value 25,000,000 shares authorized and
9,718,251 issued and outstanding at June 30, 2011
and 9,693,591 issued and
outstanding at December 31, 2010 |
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10 |
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10 |
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Additional paid-in capital |
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108,224 |
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107,579 |
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Accumulated deficit |
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(75,644 |
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(66,069 |
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Accumulated other comprehensive income |
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2,608 |
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2,605 |
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Total shareholders equity |
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35,198 |
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44,125 |
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Total liabilities and shareholders equity |
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79,525 |
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89,918 |
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Subsequent events [note 9] |
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See accompanying notes.
3
OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Loss
(Unaudited)
(In thousands of U.S. dollars, except per share and share amounts)
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Three months |
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Six months |
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Ended June 30, |
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Ended June 30, |
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2011 |
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2010 |
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2011 |
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2010 |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
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COLLABORATION REVENUE |
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1,887 |
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1,701 |
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3,086 |
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6,401 |
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EXPENSES |
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Research and development |
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5,409 |
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3,079 |
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10,262 |
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9,459 |
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General and administrative |
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1,471 |
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1,475 |
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3,042 |
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2,825 |
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Total expenses |
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6,880 |
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4,554 |
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13,304 |
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12,284 |
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LOSS FROM OPERATIONS |
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4,993 |
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2,853 |
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10,218 |
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5,883 |
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OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE) |
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Interest income |
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63 |
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14 |
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119 |
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19 |
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Other |
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87 |
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(7 |
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83 |
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(26 |
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Gain (loss) on warrants [note 5] |
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(1,687 |
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441 |
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Total other income (expense) |
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(1,537 |
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7 |
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643 |
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(7 |
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Loss for the period before
income taxes |
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6,530 |
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2,846 |
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9,575 |
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5,890 |
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Income tax expense (recovery)
[note 3] |
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(3,000 |
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(3,000 |
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Net loss (income) |
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6,530 |
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(154 |
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9,575 |
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2,890 |
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Basic and diluted loss (income)
per common share |
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0.67 |
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(0.02 |
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0.99 |
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0.45 |
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Weighted average number of
common shares: |
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Basic |
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9,718,251 |
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6,400,081 |
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9,715,846 |
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6,366,861 |
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Diluted |
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9,718,251 |
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6,529,482 |
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9,715,846 |
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6,366,861 |
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See accompanying notes.
4
OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Unaudited)
(In thousands of U.S. dollars)
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Six months ended |
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June 30, |
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2011 |
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2010 |
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$ |
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$ |
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OPERATING ACTIVITIES |
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Loss for the period |
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9,575 |
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2,890 |
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Add items not involving cash |
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Depreciation and amortization |
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37 |
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26 |
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Stock-based compensation [note 5(c)] |
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554 |
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311 |
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Change in value of warrants [note 5]] |
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(440 |
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Changes in non-cash items |
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Amounts receivable |
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(274 |
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2,696 |
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Restricted cash |
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(502 |
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Prepaid expenses |
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1,091 |
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(1,619 |
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Accounts payable and accrued liabilities |
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750 |
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(12,786 |
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Lease obligation |
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(19 |
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(599 |
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Deferred collaboration revenue |
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(1,755 |
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(2,393 |
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Cash used in operating activities |
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(9,631 |
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(17,756 |
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FINANCING ACTIVITIES |
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Proceeds from issuance of common stock under stock option and
employee purchase plans |
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91 |
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521 |
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Cash provided by financing activities |
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91 |
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521 |
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INVESTING ACTIVITIES |
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Proceeds from sale of investments |
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51,259 |
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500 |
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Purchase of investments |
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(44,222 |
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(12,291 |
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Purchase of property and equipment |
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(68 |
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(27 |
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Cash provided by (used in) investing activities |
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6,969 |
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(11,818 |
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Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents |
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(86 |
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13 |
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Decrease in cash and cash equivalents during the period |
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2,657 |
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29,040 |
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Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of the period |
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23,533 |
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62,051 |
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Cash and cash equivalents, end of the period |
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20,876 |
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33,011 |
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Supplemental cash flow information |
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Property and equipment acquired under lease obligation |
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90 |
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See accompanying notes.
5
OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
(Unaudited)
1. NATURE OF BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION
OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (the Company or OncoGenex) is committed to the development and
commercialization of new therapies that address treatment resistance in cancer patients. The
Company was incorporated in the state of Delaware and, together with its subsidiaries, has a
facility in Bothell, Washington and an office in Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada).
The unaudited financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles in the United States for interim financial information and with the
instructions to Form 10-Q. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes
required to be presented for complete financial statements. The accompanying unaudited consolidated
financial statements reflect all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring items) which are,
in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the interim
periods presented. The accompanying consolidated Balance Sheet at December 31, 2010 has been
derived from the audited consolidated financial statements included in the Companys Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the year then ended. The consolidated financial statements and related disclosures
have been prepared with the assumption that users of the interim financial information have read or
have access to the audited consolidated financial statements for the preceding fiscal year.
Accordingly, these financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated
financial statements and the related notes thereto included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for
the year ended December 31, 2010 and filed with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) on March 10, 2011.
The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of OncoGenex and our wholly owned
subsidiary, OncoGenex Technologies Inc. (OncoGenex Technologies). All intercompany
balances and transactions have been eliminated.
2. ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Recently Adopted Accounting Policies
In April 2010, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, issued ASU No. 2010 17
Revenue Recognition Milestone Method (Topic 605): Milestone Method of Revenue Recognition. This
standard provides guidance on defining a milestone and determining when it may be appropriate to
apply the milestone method of revenue recognition for certain research and development
transactions. Under this new standard, a company can recognize as revenue consideration that is
contingent upon achievement of a milestone in the period in which it is achieved, only if the
milestone meets all criteria to be considered substantive. This standard was effective for us on a
prospective basis beginning in the quarter ended March 31, 2011. The adoption of this standard did
not have a significant impact on our financial position or results of operations.
In January 2010, the FASB issued amended guidance on fair value measurements and disclosures. The
new guidance requires additional disclosures regarding fair value measurements, amends disclosures
about post-retirement benefit plan assets, and provides clarification regarding the level of
disaggregation of fair value disclosures by investment class. This guidance is effective for
interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2009, except for certain Level 3
activity disclosure requirements that will be effective for reporting periods beginning after
December 15, 2010. Accordingly, we adopted this amendment in the quarter ended March 31, 2010,
while the additional Level 3 requirements were adopted
in the quarter ended March 31, 2011. The adoption of this standard did not have a significant
impact on our financial position or results of operations.
6
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In May 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-04, Fair Value Measurement. This ASU clarifies the
concepts related to highest and best use and valuation premise, blockage factors and other premiums
and discounts, the fair value measurement of financial instruments held in a portfolio and of those
instruments classified as a component of shareowners equity. The guidance includes enhanced
disclosure requirements about recurring Level 3 fair value measurements, the use of nonfinancial
assets, and the level in the fair value hierarchy of assets and liabilities not recorded at fair
value. The provisions of this ASU are effective prospectively for interim and annual periods
beginning on or after December 15, 2011. Early application is prohibited. We are currently
evaluating the impact of this new ASU.
In June 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-05, Comprehensive Income. This ASU intends to enhance
comparability and transparency of other comprehensive income components. The guidance provides an
option to present total comprehensive income, the components of net income and the components of
other comprehensive income in a single continuous statement or two separate but consecutive
statements. This ASU eliminates the option to present other comprehensive income components as part
of the statement of changes in shareowners equity. The provisions of this ASU will be applied
retrospectively for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2011. Early application
is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of this new ASU.
3. COLLABORATION AGREEMENT
On December 20, 2009, the Company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, OncoGenex Technologies,
entered into a Collaboration Agreement with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., or Teva, for the
development and global commercialization of custirsen (and related compounds), a pharmaceutical
compound designed to inhibit the production of clusterin, a protein we believe is associated with
cancer treatment resistance, or the Licensed Product. Under the Collaboration Agreement, Teva paid
the Company upfront payments in the aggregate amount of $50 million and has agreed to pay up to
$370 million upon the achievement of developmental and commercial milestones and royalties at
percentage rates ranging from the mid-teens to mid-twenties on net sales, depending on aggregate
annual net sales of the Licensed Product.
On the same date, the Company and Teva also entered into a stock purchase agreement, or Stock
Purchase Agreement, pursuant to which Teva made an additional $10 million equity investment in the
Company at a 20% premium to a thirty-day average closing price, resulting in the issuance of
267,531 of our common shares purchased at a price of $37.38 per share. The 20% share premium was
included as consideration for the custirsen license and has been included in collaboration revenue.
In connection with the Collaboration Agreement and pursuant to the terms of agreements between the
Company and Isis relating to custirsen, the Company paid Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or Isis, $10
million which was recorded as research and development expense in 2009. The Company also paid
approximately $333,333 to the University of British Columbia, or UBC, pursuant to the terms of
their license agreement relating to custirsen, which has been recorded as research and development
expense in 2009. Pursuant to the terms of the third-party agreements, the Company anticipates that
it would be required to pay third parties 31% of any milestone payments that are not based on a
percentage of net sales of the Licensed Product. Pursuant to the terms of third-party agreements,
the Company anticipates it will pay royalties to third-parties of 4.88% to 8.00% of net sales,
unless the Companys royalties are adjusted for competition from generic compounds, in which case
royalties to third parties will also be subject to adjustment on a country-by-country basis.
Certain third-party royalties are tiered based on the royalty rate received by the Company. Minimum
royalty rates payable by the Company assume certain third-party royalties are not paid
at the time that the Licensed Product is marketed due to the expiration of patents held by such
third parties. Maximum royalty rates assume all third-party royalty rates currently in effect
continue in effect at the time the Licensed Product is marketed.
7
Teva has the exclusive worldwide right and license to develop and commercialize products containing
custirsen and related compounds. The Company has an option to co-promote any Licensed Product in
the United States and Canada.
Teva is responsible for all costs relating to product commercialization including costs incurred in
relation to the Companys co-promotion option, except for start-up costs in advance of
commercialization.
Teva and the Company have developed a Clinical Development Plan under which three phase 3 clinical
trials will be initiated:
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The ongoing phase 3 clinical trial, referred to as the Synergy trial, or SYNERGY, to evaluate a survival benefit for
custirsen in combination with first-line docetaxel treatment in patients with castrate resistant prostate cancer, or CRPC.
Expected timing of results from the survival primary endpoint for the custirsen SYNERGY Phase 3 clinical trial remains
unchanged at Q4 2013. During discussions regarding the Prostate Cancer SATURN trial, or SATURN, Special Protocol
Assessment, or SPA, amendment, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, stated that an application supported primarily
by the results of SYNERGY alone would be acceptable for submission.
We expect to enroll at least 800 patients in SYNERGY.
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An ongoing phase 3 clinical trial, referred to as SATURN, to evaluate a durable pain palliation benefit for
custirsen in combination with docetaxel as second-line chemotherapy in approximately 300 patients with CRPC. We have
revised the custirsen SATURN Phase 3 trial protocol to expand the eligible patient population, and to align with the
recently approved chemotherapy, cabazitaxel. We are awaiting final, written FDA agreement on the SPA amendment that will
allow patients to receive either docetaxel re-treatment or cabazitaxel as second-line chemotherapy. Recruitment efforts
are ongoing to enroll more patients in the SATURN study, which has had few patients accrued due to restrictive enrollment
criteria regarding docetaxel retreatment and stable pain criteria. Expected timing of results for the pain palliation
primary endpoint is now projected to be Q4 2013 rather than Q2 2013.
|
|
|
|
A phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate a survival benefit for custirsen in combination with first-line chemotherapy in
patients with non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC. The initiation of the Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating custirsen
in patients with NSCLC has been delayed as we determine the optimal
chemotherapeutic combination based on safety considerations and the
current and evolving standard of care. We believe NSCLC is
a promising indication and remain committed to the advancement of custirsen in NSCLC.
|
Teva will be responsible for conducting any other studies and development work necessary to obtain
required regulatory approvals. The Company may assume some of these activities if assigned by the
joint steering committee. Teva will be responsible for all such costs. The joint steering committee
will oversee the development and regulatory approval of any Licensed Product. The Company may
terminate its participation in the joint steering committee at any time.
Funding responsibilities for the Clinical Development Plan will be allocated as follows:
|
|
|
The Company will be required to spend $30 million in direct and indirect development
costs, and |
|
|
|
Teva will fund all other expenses under the Clinical Development Plan. |
8
The Collaboration Agreement will remain in effect, on a country-by-country basis, until the
expiration of the obligation of Teva to pay royalties on sales of the Licensed Product in such
country (or earlier termination under its terms). After the completion of all three phase 3
clinical trials set forth in the Clinical Development Plan, or upon early termination due to a
material adverse change in the Companys patent rights related to custirsen or safety issues or
futility as defined in the Collaboration Agreement, Teva may
terminate the Collaboration Agreement at its sole discretion upon three months notice if notice is
given prior to regulatory approval of a Licensed Product and upon six months notice if notice is
given after such regulatory approval. If Teva terminates the Collaboration Agreement for any
reasons other than an adverse change in custirsen patent rights, safety issues or futility
determination as previously described, it will remain responsible for paying for any remaining
costs of all three phase 3 clinical trials, except for specified development expenses that are the
responsibility of the Company. Either party may terminate the Collaboration Agreement for an
uncured material breach by the other party or upon the bankruptcy of either party. If the
Collaboration Agreement is terminated by the Company for other than an uncured material breach by
Teva, the Company will pay Teva a royalty on sales of Licensed Products. The percentage rates of
such royalties (which are in the single digits) vary depending on whether termination occurs prior
to the first regulatory approval in the United States or a primary European Market or after one of
these approvals. These royalties would expire on a country-by-country basis on the earlier of ten
years after the first commercial sale of a Licensed Product or certain thresholds related to
generic competition.
In the event of a change of control of the Company, within 90 days of the change of control, Teva
may terminate the joint steering committee at its sole discretion, terminate the co-promotion
option at its sole discretion if not then exercised by the Company or if exercised but not yet
executed by the Company, or terminate the co-promotion option if in its commercially reasonable
opinion co-promotion with the Companys successor would be materially detrimental to Tevas
interests.
Upon entering into the Collaboration Agreement, the Company assessed whether withholdings taxes
were owed to the Israeli Tax Authority, or ITA, resulting from the Collaboration Agreement. It was
the Companys position that withholdings taxes were not owed, and a claim was issued to the ITA
accordingly. For accounting purposes, management concluded that the withholdings tax claim was an
uncertain tax position, and $3 million, which represented the potential withholdings tax
obligation, once received from Teva was initially recorded as restricted cash pending the ITA
review of our claim and a corresponding liability of $3 million was included in accounts payable
and accrued liabilities. In June 2010, the Company received approval from the ITA for our request
for a withholdings tax exemption on amounts received from Teva in relation to the Collaboration
Agreement. Following receipt of this approval from the ITA the $3 million was released to the
Company from escrow. Subsequently, the Company released the $3 million liability and recorded a $3
million income tax recovery in the second quarter of 2010.
Revenue for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 was $1.9 million, and $3.1 million which
consists of partial recognition of deferred collaboration revenue representing OncoGenexs
contribution to the custirsen phase 3 development plan under our Collaboration Agreement with Teva
and custirsen manufacturing costs incurred by OncoGenex in the year ended December 31, 2010 that
are reimbursable from Teva. At June 30, 2011, a remaining balance of $19.9 million of the up-front
payment was recorded in deferred collaboration revenue. There was $1.7 million and $6.4 million in
revenue recorded in the three and six months ended June 30, 2010 as a result of the Collaboration
Agreement with Teva.
4. FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
With the adoption of Accounting Standards Codification, or ASC, 820 Fair Value Measurements and
Disclosures, beginning January 1, 2008, assets and liabilities recorded at fair value in the
balance sheets are categorized based upon the level of judgment associated with the inputs used to
measure their fair value. For certain of the Companys financial instruments including cash and
cash equivalents, amounts receivable, and accounts payable the carrying values approximate fair
value due to their short-term nature.
9
ASC 820 specifies a hierarchy of valuation techniques based on whether the inputs to those
valuation techniques are observable or unobservable. In accordance with ASC 820, these inputs are
summarized in the three broad levels listed below:
|
|
|
Level 1 Quoted prices in active markets for identical securities; |
|
|
|
|
Level 2 Other significant observable inputs that are observable through
corroboration with market data (including quoted prices in active markets for similar
securities); and |
|
|
|
Level 3 Significant unobservable inputs that reflect managements best estimate of
what market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. |
As quoted prices in active markets are not readily available for certain financial instruments, the
Company obtains estimates for the fair value of financial instruments through third party pricing
service providers.
In determining the appropriate levels, the Company performed a detailed analysis of the assets and
liabilities that are subject to ASC 820.
The Company invests its excess cash in accordance with investment guidelines that limit the credit
exposure to any one financial institution other than securities issued by the U.S. Government. Our
securities are not collateralized and mature within one year.
A description of the valuation techniques applied to the Companys financial instruments measured
at fair value on a recurring basis follows.
Financial Instruments
Cash
Significant amounts of cash are held on deposit with a large well established Canadian financial
institution.
Government and Agency Securities
Government Securities U.S. and Canadian Government securities are valued using quoted
market prices. Valuation adjustments are not applied. Accordingly, U.S. and Canadian government
securities are categorized in Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy.
U.S. Agency Securities U.S. agency securities are comprised of two main categories
consisting of callable and non-callable agency-issued debt securities. Non-callable agency-issued
debt securities are generally valued using quoted market prices. Callable agency issued debt
securities are valued by benchmarking model-derived prices to quoted market prices and trade data
for identical or comparable securities. Actively traded non-callable agency issued debt securities
are categorized in Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy. Callable agency issued debt securities are
categorized in Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.
Corporate and Other Debt
Corporate Bonds and Commercial Paper The fair value of corporate bonds and commercial
paper is estimated using recently executed transactions, market price quotations (where
observable), bond spreads or credit default swap spreads adjusted for any basis difference between
cash and derivative instruments. The spread data used are for the same maturity as the bond. If the
spread data does not reference the issuer, then data that reference a comparable issuer are used.
When observable price quotations are not available, fair value is determined based on cash flow
models with yield curves, bond or single name credit default swap spreads and recovery rates based
on collateral values as significant inputs. Corporate bonds and commercial paper are generally
categorized in Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy; in instances where prices, spreads or any of
the other aforementioned key inputs are unobservable, they are categorized in Level 3 of the
hierarchy.
10
The following table presents information about our assets and liabilities that are measured at fair
value on a recurring basis, and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation techniques we
utilized to determine such fair value:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(in thousands) |
|
Level 1 |
|
|
Level 2 |
|
|
Level 3 |
|
|
2011 |
|
Assets |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash |
|
$ |
1,824 |
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
1,824 |
|
Money market securities |
|
$ |
7,830 |
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
7,830 |
|
Government securities |
|
$ |
6,000 |
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
6,000 |
|
Corporate bonds and commercial paper |
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
60,260 |
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
60,260 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
$ |
15,654 |
|
|
$ |
60,260 |
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
75,914 |
|
Liabilities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Warrants |
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
14,828 |
|
|
$ |
14,828 |
|
Marketable securities consist of the following:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gross |
|
|
Gross |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Amortized |
|
|
Unrealized |
|
|
Unrealized |
|
|
Estimated |
|
(in thousands) |
|
Cost |
|
|
Gain |
|
|
Loss |
|
|
Fair Value |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2011 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash |
|
$ |
1,824 |
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
1,824 |
|
Money market
securities |
|
$ |
7,329 |
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
7,329 |
|
Government securities |
|
$ |
5,998 |
|
|
$ |
2 |
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
6,000 |
|
Corporate bonds and
commercial paper |
|
$ |
5,715 |
|
|
$ |
9 |
|
|
$ |
(1 |
) |
|
$ |
5,723 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash and cash
equivalents |
|
$ |
20,866 |
|
|
$ |
11 |
|
|
$ |
(1 |
) |
|
$ |
20,876 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Money market
securities |
|
$ |
502 |
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
502 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Restricted cash |
|
$ |
502 |
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
502 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Corporate bonds and
commercial paper |
|
$ |
54,578 |
|
|
$ |
3 |
|
|
$ |
(45 |
) |
|
$ |
54,536 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Short-term
investments |
|
$ |
54,578 |
|
|
$ |
3 |
|
|
$ |
(45 |
) |
|
$ |
54,536 |
|
All securities included in cash, and cash equivalents have maturities of 90 days or less at the
time of purchase. All securities included in short-term investments have maturities of within one
year of the balance sheet date.
There were no significant realized or unrealized gains or losses on the sales of marketable
securities in the six months ended June 30, 2011 and no significant unrealized gains or losses are
included in accumulated other comprehensive income as at June 30, 2011. Realized gains and losses
are transferred out of accumulated other comprehensive income into interest income using the
specific identification method.
11
All of the marketable securities held as of June 30, 2011 had maturities of one year or less. The
Company only invests in A (or equivalent) rated securities with maturities of one year or less.
Given the quality of the investment portfolio, its short-term nature, and subsequent proceeds
collected on sale of securities that
reached maturity, the Company does not believe that there are any other than temporary impairments
related to its investments in marketable securities at June 30, 2011.
The Company has recorded a $14,828,000 warrant liability as of June 30, 2011. The Company
reassesses the fair value of the common stock warrants at each reporting date utilizing a
Black-Scholes pricing model. Inputs used in the pricing model include estimates of stock price
volatility, expected warrant life and risk-free interest rate. The computation of expected
volatility was based on the historical volatility of comparable companies from a representative
peer group selected based on industry and market capitalization. See note 5(d) in the Notes to
Financial Statements for further details on the inputs used in the Black-Scholes pricing model used
to recalculate the warrant liability.
The following table presents the changes in fair value of the Companys total Level 3 financial
liabilities for the six months ended June 30, 2011:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Liability at |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Remaining |
|
|
|
December 31, |
|
|
Gain (loss) on |
|
|
Liability at June |
|
(In thousands) |
|
2010 |
|
|
warrants |
|
|
30, 2011 |
|
Warrant liability |
|
$ |
15,269 |
|
|
$ |
441 |
|
|
$ |
14,828 |
|
5. COMMON STOCK
[a] Authorized
25,000,000 authorized common shares, par value of $0.001, and 5,000,000 preferred shares, par value
of $0.001.
[b] Issued and Outstanding Shares
During the six month period ended June 30, 2011 the Company issued 24,660 common shares upon
exercise of stock options (period ended June 30, 2010 117,643) to satisfy stock option
exercises.
[c] Stock options
2010 Performance Incentive Plan
At the 2011 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of the Company held on May 26, 2011, stockholders of the
Company approved an amendment to the Companys 2010 Performance Incentive Plan. As a result of this
amendment, the 2010 Plan was amended to provide for an increase in the total shares of common stock
available for issuance under the 2010 Plan from 450,000 to 1,050,000. As at June 30, 2011 the
Company has reserved, pursuant to various plans, 1,598,075 common shares for issuance upon exercise
of stock options by employees, directors, officers and consultants of the Company, of which 777,359
are reserved for options currently outstanding, and 820,716 are available for future option grants.
12
Stock Option Summary
Options vest in accordance with terms as determined by the board of directors of the Company, or
the Board, typically over four years for employee grants and one to three years for Board option
grants. The expiry date for each option is set by the Board, which is typically seven to ten years.
The exercise price of the options is determined by the Board but generally will be at least equal
to the fair value of the share at the grant date.
Stock option transactions and the number of stock options outstanding are summarized below:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Number
of |
|
|
Weighted |
|
|
|
Optioned |
|
|
Average |
|
|
|
Common |
|
|
Exercise |
|
|
|
Shares |
|
|
Price |
|
|
|
# |
|
|
$ |
|
Balance, December 31, 2010 |
|
|
744,913 |
|
|
|
8.73 |
|
Option grants |
|
|
75,900 |
|
|
|
17.03 |
|
Option expirations/cancellations |
|
|
(6,112 |
) |
|
|
13.86 |
|
Option exercises |
|
|
(24,660 |
) |
|
|
3.67 |
|
Option forfeitures |
|
|
(12,682 |
) |
|
|
12.66 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balance, June 30, 2011 |
|
|
777,359 |
|
|
|
9.59 |
|
The fair value of each stock award is estimated on the grant date using the Black-Scholes
option-pricing model based on the weighted-average assumptions noted in the following table:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Six months ended June 30, |
|
|
|
2011 |
|
|
2010 |
|
Risk-free interest rates |
|
|
2.39 |
% |
|
|
2.41 |
% |
Expected dividend yield |
|
|
0 |
% |
|
|
0 |
% |
Expected life |
|
6 years |
|
|
6 years |
|
Expected volatility |
|
|
75 |
% |
|
|
74 |
% |
The expected life was calculated based on the simplified method as permitted by the SECs Staff
Accounting Bulletin 110, Share-Based Payment. The computation of expected volatility was based on
the historical volatility of comparable companies from a representative peer group selected based
on industry and market capitalization. The Company considers the use of these methods of
calculating expected term and volatility appropriate because of the lack of sufficient historical
exercise data following the reverse takeover of Sonus. The risk-free interest rate was based on a
U.S. Treasury instrument whose term is consistent with the expected life of the stock options. In
addition to the assumptions above, as required under ASC 718, management made an estimate of
expected forfeitures and is recognizing compensation costs only for those equity awards expected to
vest.
13
The results for the periods set forth below included share-based compensation expense in the
following expense categories of the consolidated statements of loss:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Months |
|
|
Six Months |
|
|
|
Ended |
|
|
Ended |
|
|
|
June 30, |
|
|
June 30, |
|
(In thousands) |
|
2011 |
|
|
2010 |
|
|
2011 |
|
|
2010 |
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
Research and development |
|
|
122 |
|
|
|
74 |
|
|
|
243 |
|
|
|
142 |
|
General and administrative |
|
|
161 |
|
|
|
70 |
|
|
|
311 |
|
|
|
169 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total share-based compensation |
|
|
283 |
|
|
|
144 |
|
|
|
554 |
|
|
|
311 |
|
Options vest in accordance with terms as determined by the Board, typically over three or four
years for employee grants and over one or three years for Board of Director option grants. The
expiry date for each option is set by the Board with, which is typically seven to ten years.
As at June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010 the total unrecognized compensation expense related to
stock options granted is $3,176,000 and $2,962,000 respectively, which is expected to be recognized
into expense over a period of approximately four years.
As of June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010 a total of 2,364,660 and 2,332,214 options and warrants,
respectively, have not been included in the calculation of potential common shares as their effect
on diluted per share amounts would have been anti-dilutive.
[d] Stock Warrants
At June 30, 2011, there were exercisable warrants outstanding to purchase 1,587,301
shares of common stock at an exercise price of $20 per share, expiring in October 2015.
No warrants were exercised during the six months ended June 30, 2011 or six months ended
June 30, 2010.
The estimated fair value of warrants issued is reassessed at each balance sheet date
using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. The following assumptions were used to
value the warrants on the following balance sheet dates:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Six months ended June 30, |
|
|
|
2011 |
|
|
2010 |
|
Risk-free interest rates |
|
|
1.43 |
% |
|
|
|
|
Expected dividend yield |
|
|
0 |
% |
|
|
|
|
Expected life |
|
4.3 years |
|
|
|
|
|
Expected volatility |
|
|
76 |
% |
|
|
|
|
6. RESTRUCTURING ACTIVITIES
On August 21, 2008, Sonus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or Sonus, completed a transaction, or the
Arrangement, with OncoGenex Technologies whereby Sonus acquired all of the outstanding preferred
shares, common shares and convertible debentures of OncoGenex Technologies. Sonus then changed its
name to OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to the Arrangement, Sonus entered into a
non-cancellable lease arrangement for office space located in Bothell, Washington, which is
considered to be in excess of the Companys current requirements. The Company is currently in the
process of evaluating opportunities to exit or sublet portions of the leased space and recorded an
initial restructuring charge of $2,084,000 on August 21, 2008 as part of the purchase price
allocation. The liability is computed as the present value of the difference between the remaining
lease payments due less the estimate of net sublease income and expenses and has been accounted for
in accordance with the then effective EITF No. 95-3, Recognition of Liabilities in Connection with
a Purchase Business Combination. This represents the Companys best estimate of the liability.
Subsequent changes in the liability due to changes in estimates of sublease assumptions are
recognized as adjustments to restructuring charges.
14
In June 2009, the Company revised its sublease income assumptions used to estimate the excess lease
facility liability. These assumptions were subsequently revised again in December 2009 and
September
2010. These changes in estimate resulted in increases in the value of the excess lease liability of
$494,000, $3,457,000, and $4,038,000 and a corresponding expense recorded in June 2009, December
2009, and September 2010, respectively, to reflect these changes in estimate. The estimated value
of the liability remaining with respect to excess facilities was $7,467,000 as of December 31,
2010. In the six months ended June 30, 2011, with respect to excess facilities, $140,000 was
amortized into income resulting in a remaining liability of $7,327,000 at June 30, 2011.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Remaining |
|
|
Amortization |
|
|
Additional |
|
|
Remaining |
|
|
|
Liability at |
|
|
of excess |
|
|
Liability |
|
|
Liability |
|
(In thousands) |
|
December 31, 2010 |
|
|
lease facility |
|
|
Recorded |
|
|
at June 30, 2011 |
|
Current portion of
excess lease
facility |
|
$ |
1,303 |
|
|
$ |
(53 |
) |
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
1,356 |
|
Long-term portion
of excess lease
facility |
|
$ |
6,164 |
|
|
$ |
193 |
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
5,971 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
|
$ |
7,467 |
|
|
$ |
140 |
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
$ |
7,327 |
|
7. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.
Under the Collaboration Agreement, Teva made upfront payments in the aggregate amount of $50
million, may make up to $370 million in additional payments upon the achievement of developmental
and commercial milestones and may be required in the future to pay royalties at percentage rates
ranging from the mid-teens to mid-twenties on net sales. The Company is required to contribute $30
million in direct and indirect costs towards the Clinical Development Plan. As of June 30, 2011,
$10.1 million of these costs have been incurred by OncoGenex, resulting in a remaining funding
responsibility of $19.9 million which has been recorded under Current and Long-term Deferred
Collaboration Revenue as of June 30, 2011. Teva will fund all other expenses under the Clinical
Development Plan. See note 3 in the Notes to Financial Statements for further details on our
Collaboration Agreement with Teva.
Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. and University of British Columbia
To facilitate the execution and performance of the Collaboration Agreement with Teva, OncoGenex and
Isis agreed to amend the Isis License Agreement and the Company and UBC agreed to amend the UBC
License Agreement, in each case, effective December 19 and December 20, 2009, respectively.
The amendment to the Isis License Agreement provides, among other things, that if the Company is
the subject of a change of control with a third party, where the surviving company immediately
following such change of control has the right to develop and sell the product, then (i) a
milestone payment of $20 million will be due and payable to Isis 21 days following the first
commercial sale of the product in the United States; and (ii) unless such surviving entity had
previously sublicensed the product and a royalty rate payable to Isis by the Company has been
established, the applicable royalty rate payable to Isis will thereafter be the maximum amount
payable under the Isis License Agreement. Any non-royalty milestone amounts previously paid will be
credited toward the $20 million milestone if not already paid. As a result of the $10 million
milestone payment payable to Isis in relation to the Collaboration Agreement, the remaining amount
owing in the event of change of control discussed above is a maximum of $10 million. As the Company
has now licensed the product to Teva and established a royalty rate payable to Isis, no royalty
rate adjustments would apply if Teva acquires the Company and is the surviving company. If the $30
million in advanced reimbursement of development activities has not been spent by OncoGenex prior
to the third anniversary of the Collaboration Agreement between OncoGenex and Teva, OncoGenex will
pay Isis an amount equal to 30% of any un-spent portion less $3.5 million.
15
In addition, we are required to pay to Isis 30% of all Non-Royalty Revenue we receive on custirsen
sales. Isis has disclosed in its SEC filings that it is entitled to receive 30% of the up to $370
million in milestone payments we may receive from Teva as part of the Collaboration Agreement;
however, we believe that certain of the milestone payments related to sales targets may qualify as
Royalty Revenue, and therefore be subject to the lesser payment obligations. No assurance can be
provided that we will be entitled to receive these milestone payments or, if we are, that the
applicable amount payable to Isis will be less than 30%.
Pursuant to license agreements the Company has with the UBC and Isis, the Company is obligated to
pay milestone payments of up to CAD $1.6 million and $7.75 million, respectively, upon the
achievement of specified product development milestones related to OGX-427 and OGX-225 and
royalties on future product sales. We paid Isis and UBC $750,000 and CAD $100,000, respectively, in
2010 upon the initiation of a phase 2 clinical trial of OGX-427 in patients with CRPC. We do not
anticipate making any royalty payments to Isis in 2011.
Unless otherwise terminated, the Isis agreements for custirsen and OGX-427 will continue for each
product until the later of 10 years after the date of the first commercial product sale, or the
expiration of the last to expire of any patents required to be licensed in order to use or sell the
product, unless OncoGenex Technologies abandons either custirsen or OGX-427 and Isis does not elect
to unilaterally continue development. The Isis agreement for OGX-225 will continue into perpetuity
unless OncoGenex Technologies abandons the product and Isis does not elect to unilaterally continue
development.
We are also obligated to pay to UBC certain patent costs and annual license maintenance fees for
the extent of the patent life of CAD $8,000 per year relating to custirsen, OGX-427 and OGX-225.
The UBC agreements have effective dates ranging from November 1, 2001 to April 5, 2005 and each
agreement expires upon the later of 20 years from its effective date or the expiry of the last
patent licensed thereunder, unless otherwise terminated.
Bayer HealthCare LLC
On August 7, 2008, Sonus completed an exclusive in-licensing agreement with Bayer HealthCare LLC,
or Bayer, for the right to develop, commercialize or sublicense a family of compounds known as
caspase activators presently in pre-clinical research. Under terms of the agreement, Sonus was
granted exclusive rights to develop two core compounds for all prophylactic and therapeutic uses in
humans. Additionally, Sonus was granted rights to all other non-core compounds covered under the
patents for use in oncology.
Under the terms of the agreement, Bayer received an upfront license fee of $450,000. OncoGenex will
make annual payments to Bayer on the anniversary date (Anniversary Payments), with an initial
payment of $100,000 paid in 2008. The payments increase by $25,000 each year until the initiation
of the first phase 3 clinical trial, at which point the Anniversary Payments reset to $100,000 each
year and increase by $25,000 until the Company achieves either the first New Drug Application, or
NDA, filing in the United States or the European Union. OncoGenex is obligated to pay royalties on
net future product sales in addition to aggregate milestone payments of up to $14,000,000 for
clinical development and regulatory milestones. No milestone payments are triggered prior to the
initiation of a phase 3 clinical trial. OncoGenex has the option to terminate this contract upon 60
days written notice to Bayer.
16
Lease Arrangements
The Company has an operating lease agreement for office space in Vancouver, Canada, which expires
in September 2014.
Future minimum annual lease payments under the Vancouver lease are as follows (in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CAD |
|
2011 |
|
$ |
53 |
|
2012 |
|
$ |
107 |
|
2013 |
|
$ |
107 |
|
2014 |
|
$ |
80 |
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
|
$ |
347 |
|
In November 2006, prior to the Arrangement , Sonus entered into a non-cancellable operating
lease agreement for office space in Bothell, Washington, expiring in 2017 (note 6). In connection
with the lease, Sonus was required to provide a cash security deposit of approximately $497,000,
which is included in Other Long Term Assets. In addition, a standby letter of credit was issued in
2010, and $502,000 was deposited in a restricted money market account as collateral. The Company is
currently in the process of evaluating opportunities to exit or sublet portions of the leased space
and has recorded a liability in the excess facilities lease charge of $7,327,000 as at June 30,
2011 (note 6).
If the Company is unable to exit or sublet portions of this leased space, the future minimum annual
lease payments are as follows (in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
2011 |
|
$ |
1,027 |
|
2012 |
|
$ |
2,117 |
|
2013 |
|
$ |
2,180 |
|
2014 |
|
$ |
2,246 |
|
2015 |
|
$ |
2,313 |
|
Remainder |
|
$ |
4,837 |
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
|
$ |
14,720 |
|
Consolidated rent expense relating to both the Vancouver, Canada and Bothell, Washington
offices for the periods ended June 30, 2011 and 2010 was $1,313,000 and $1,092,000 respectively.
Guarantees and Indemnifications
OncoGenex indemnifies its officers and directors for certain events or occurrences, subject to
certain limits, while the officer or director is or was serving at our request in such capacity.
The term of the indemnification period is equal to the officers or directors lifetime.
The maximum amount of potential future indemnification is unlimited; however, we have obtained
director and officer insurance that limits our exposure and may enable it to recover a portion of
any future amounts paid. We believe that the fair value of these indemnification obligations is
minimal. Accordingly, we have not recognized any liabilities relating to these obligations as of
June 30, 2011.
We have certain agreements with certain organizations with which we do business that contain
indemnification provisions pursuant to which we typically agree to indemnify the party against
certain types of third-party claims. We accrue for known indemnification issues when a loss is
probable and can be reasonably estimated. There were no accruals for or expenses related to
indemnification issues for any period presented.
17
8. COMPREHENSIVE LOSS
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Months |
|
|
Six Months |
|
|
|
Ended |
|
|
Ended |
|
|
|
June 30, |
|
|
June 30, |
|
(In thousands) |
|
2011 |
|
|
2010 |
|
|
2011 |
|
|
2010 |
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
Loss (income) for the period |
|
|
6,530 |
|
|
|
(154 |
) |
|
|
9,575 |
|
|
|
2,890 |
|
Unrealized gain on cash
equivalents and marketable
securities |
|
|
(14 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
(14 |
) |
|
|
|
|
Unrealized loss on cash
equivalents and short-term
investments |
|
|
46 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
46 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Comprehensive loss (income) |
|
|
6,562 |
|
|
|
(154 |
) |
|
|
9,607 |
|
|
|
2,890 |
|
9. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
The Company has performed an evaluation of events occurring subsequent to June 30, 2011. Based on
our evaluation, no material events have occurred requiring financial statement disclosure.
18
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Item 2. |
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Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations |
INFORMATION REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This document contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and
uncertainties. We caution readers that any forward-looking statement is not a guarantee of future
performance and that actual results could differ materially from those contained in the
forward-looking statement. These statements are based on current expectations of future events.
Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements about future financial and operating
results, plans, objectives, expectations and intentions, costs and expenses, interest rates,
outcome of contingencies, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, business
strategies, cost savings, objectives of management and other statements that are not historical
facts. You can find many of these statements by looking for words like believes, expects,
anticipates, estimates, may, should, will, could, plan, intend, or similar
expressions in this document or in documents incorporated by reference into this document . We
intend that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby.
Examples of these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to:
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progress and preliminary and future results of clinical trials conducted by us or our
collaborators; |
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anticipated regulatory filings, requirements and future clinical trials conducted by us
or our collaborators; |
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our anticipated future capital requirements and the terms of any capital financing
agreements; |
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timing and amount of future contractual payments, product revenue and operating
expenses; |
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market acceptance of our products and the estimated potential size of these markets;
and |
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our anticipated future capital requirements and the terms of any capital financing
agreements. |
These forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of our
management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. If underlying assumptions prove
inaccurate or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from
current expectations and projections. The following factors, among others, could cause actual
results to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements:
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uncertainty relating to the timing, feasibility and results of clinical trials; |
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dependence on Tevas ongoing commitment and ability to develop and commercialize
custirsen; |
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dependence on the development and commercialization of our product candidates,
particularly on custirsen; |
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the risk that research or previous clinical trial results may not be indicative of
results in humans or in future studies; |
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uncertainties regarding the safety and effectiveness of our product candidates and
technologies; |
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the timing, expense and uncertainty associated with the development and regulatory
approval process for our product candidates; |
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uncertainties regarding our future operating results, and the risk that our product
candidates will not obtain the requisite regulatory approvals to commercialize or that the
future sales of our product candidates may be less than expected or nil; |
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future capital requirements and uncertainty of obtaining additional funding through
debt or equity financings on terms acceptable to us; |
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acceptance of our products by the medical community; |
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the uncertainty associated with exiting or subleasing our excess office and laboratory
space; |
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our ability to build out our product candidate pipeline through product in-licensing,
acquisition activities, or otherwise; |
19
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changes in the treatment landscape, general competitive conditions within the drug
development and pharmaceutical industry and new developments or therapies that may not
work in combination with our product candidates; |
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the potential for product liability issues and related litigation; |
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our dependence on key employees; |
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proper management of our operations; |
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the potential inability to successfully protect and enforce our intellectual property
rights; |
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the reliance on third parties who license intellectual property rights to us to comply
with the terms of such agreements and to enforce, prosecute and defend such intellectual
property rights; |
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the reliance on third parties to manufacture and supply our product candidates; |
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the effect of current, pending or future legislation, regulations and legal actions in
the United States, Canada and elsewhere affecting the pharmaceutical and healthcare
industries; |
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volatility in the value of our common stock; and |
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general economic conditions. |
You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only
as of the date of this document or, in the case of documents referred to or incorporated by
reference, the date of those documents.
All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or any person acting
on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or
referred to in this section. We do not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions
to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this
document or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as may be required under
applicable U.S. securities law. If we do update one or more forward-looking statements, no
inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other
forward-looking statements.
MD&A Overview
In Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, we
explain the general financial condition and the results of operations for our Company, including:
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an overview of our business; |
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results of operations and why those results are different from the prior year; and |
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capital resources we currently have and possible sources of additional funding for
future capital requirements. |
Overview of the Company
OncoGenex is a biopharmaceutical company committed to the development and commercialization of new
cancer therapies that address treatment resistance in cancer patients. We have four product
candidates in our pipeline, custirsen, OGX-427, OGX-225, and CSP-9222, each of which has a distinct
mechanism of action and represents a unique opportunity for cancer drug development. Of the product
candidates in our pipeline, custirsen, and OGX-427 are clinical-stage assets.
Our product candidates custirsen, OGX-427 and OGX-225 focus on mechanisms for treating resistance
in cancer patients and are designed to address treatment resistance by blocking the production of
specific proteins that we believe promote survival of tumor cells and are over-produced in response
to a variety of cancer treatments. Our aim in targeting these particular proteins is to disable the
tumor cells adaptive defenses, thereby rendering the tumor cells more susceptible to attack with a
variety of cancer therapies, including chemotherapy. We believe this approach will increase
survival time and improve the quality of life for cancer patients. Product candidate CSP-9222 is
the lead compound from a family of caspase
activators that have been in-licensed from Bayer and demonstrate activation of programmed cell
death in pre-clinical models.
20
Product Candidate Custirsen
As discussed above, in December 2009, we announced our entry into the Collaboration Agreement with
Teva for the development and global commercialization of custirsen (and related compounds targeting
clusterin, excluding OGX-427 and OGX-225).
Teva and the Company have developed a Clinical Development Plan under which two phase 3 clinical
trials have been initiated and one additional phase 3 clinical trial is planned to be initiated:
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The ongoing phase 3 clinical trial, referred to as the Synergy trial, or SYNERGY, to evaluate a survival benefit for
custirsen in combination with first-line docetaxel treatment in patients with castrate resistant prostate cancer, or CRPC.
Expected timing of results from the survival primary endpoint for the custirsen SYNERGY Phase 3 clinical trial remains
unchanged at Q4 2013. During discussions regarding the Prostate Cancer SATURN trial, or SATURN, Special Protocol
Assessment, or SPA, amendment, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, stated that an application supported primarily
by the results of SYNERGY alone would be acceptable for submission.
We expect to enroll at least 800 patients in SYNERGY.
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An ongoing phase 3 clinical trial, referred to as SATURN, to evaluate a durable pain palliation benefit for
custirsen in combination with docetaxel as second-line chemotherapy in approximately 300 patients with CRPC. We have
revised the custirsen SATURN Phase 3 trial protocol to expand the eligible patient population, and to align with the
recently approved chemotherapy, cabazitaxel. We are awaiting final, written FDA agreement on the SPA amendment that will
allow patients to receive either docetaxel re-treatment or cabazitaxel as second-line chemotherapy. Recruitment efforts
are ongoing to enroll more patients in the SATURN study, which has had few patients accrued due to restrictive enrollment
criteria regarding docetaxel retreatment and stable pain criteria. Expected timing of results for the pain palliation
primary endpoint is now projected to be Q4 2013 rather than Q2 2013.
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A phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate a survival benefit for custirsen in combination with first-line chemotherapy in
patients with non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC. The initiation of the Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating custirsen
in patients with NSCLC has been delayed as we determine the optimal
chemotherapeutic combination based on safety considerations and the
current and evolving standard of care. We believe NSCLC is
a promising indication and remain committed to the advancement of custirsen in NSCLC.
|
For detailed information regarding our relationship with Teva and the Collaboration Agreement,
refer to the discussion under the heading BusinessLicense and Collaboration AgreementsTeva
Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. included in our 2010 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 10,
2011.
Custirsen received Fast Track designations from the FDA for the treatment of progressive metastatic
prostate cancer in combination with docetaxel for both first- and second-line docetaxel treatment.
The FDA has agreed on the design of two phase 3 registration trials, each in CRPC, via the special
protocol assessment, or SPA, process. OncoGenex has submitted to the FDA a revision to the approved
SPA for the SATURN trial. The proposed revision would permit participants to receive either
docetaxel re-treatment or cabazitaxel as chemotherapy in the clinical study. The study design would
otherwise remain unchanged and all patients would be randomized to receive custirsen or placebo in
conjunction with chemotherapy. In addition, the pain palliation endpoints remain unchanged. The
SYNERGY trial design investigates overall survival as the primary endpoint for custirsen in
combination with first-line chemotherapy, whereas the SATURN trial investigates pain palliation as
the primary endpoint for custirsen in combination with second-line chemotherapy.
We have also received written, scientific advice from the European Medicines Agency, or EMA,
on our development plan for custirsen for treating patients with CRPC in combination with
docetaxel, which advice corresponded with our development plan regarding the proposed pre-clinical
studies and both the
study designs and analyses for the phase 3 trials. In addition, the Committee for Medicinal
Products for Human Use, or CHMP, agreed that the intended safety database would enable a sufficient
qualified risk-benefit assessment for market approval.
21
Our phase 3 registration trials are designed to build on our phase 2 clinical trials, including:
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|
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A randomized phase 2 trial evaluating the benefit of combining custirsen with
first-line docetaxel, the final results of which were published in the September 20, 2010
issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Analyses indicating a survival benefit in
patients treated with custirsen in combination with first-line docetaxel compared to
docetaxel alone, the latter being the current standard of care for patients with advanced,
progressive metastatic prostate cancer requiring initial chemotherapy, are described in
our 2010 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 10, 2011 under the heading
BusinessOur Product CandidatesCustirsen Summary of Final Results of Custirsen Phase
2 Clinical Trial in Patients With CRPC Receiving Custirsen and Docetaxel as First-Line
Chemotherapy. Due to the results of the phase 2 trial, the SYNERGY trial will evaluate
the survival benefit of custirsen in patients treated with first-line chemotherapy. |
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|
Durable pain palliation, defined as pain palliation of 12 weeks or greater, which has
been observed in another phase 2 trial evaluating patients with metastatic CRPC who
progressed while receiving, or within six months of completing, first-line docetaxel
treatment. Of the patients on this trial who had pain or were on opioids for pain control
and were retreated with docetaxel as second-line treatment in combination with custirsen,
approximately 50% had durable pain palliation. This is favorable even when compared to the
35% pain responses of three weeks or greater observed in the phase 3 trial, which
supported the registration of docetaxel as first-line chemotherapy in patients with CRPC,
and when compared to the pain responses for cabazitaxel of 9.2% and for mitoxantrone of
7.7% observed in the Phase 3 TROPIC trial. As of August 13, 2010, the estimated median
over survival duration for the custirsen plus mitoxantrone arm was 11.5 months for the
custirsen plus docetaxel re-treatment arm, the median overall survival was estimated at
15.8 months for the 20 randomized patients and 12.8 months for the 45 combined patients
which included 25 additional patients with high serum clusterin levels at enrolment beyond
the 20 randomized patients. Due to the results of our phase 2 trial, the SATURN trial is
evaluating the durable pain palliation benefit of custirsen in patients treated with
cabazitaxel or docetaxel as second-line chemotherapy, pending FDA approval of the former.
We expect the SATURN trial will enroll patients who have previously responded to
first-line docetaxel therapy, but who subsequently experienced disease progression
involving prostate cancer-related pain despite opioid usage. |
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|
A phase 2 trial evaluating 81 patients with advanced NSCLC who received custirsen in
combination with gemcitabine and a platinum chemotherapy (cisplatin or carboplatin) as
first-line chemotherapy. The median overall survival was 14.1 months and 54% of patients
survived at least one year. Thirty percent of patients who received custirsen with
first-line chemotherapy survived at least two years. For comparison, published studies
using a platinum-based regimen plus gemcitabine as first-line chemotherapy for advanced
NSCLC reported median survivals of 8 to 11 months and one-year survival rates of 33% to
43%. Market approval for Avastin plus paclitaxel and carboplatin chemotherapy for NSCLC
was based on results showing a median survival of 12.3 months compared to 10.3 months for
patients treated with chemotherapy alone. Survival rates for Avastin plus chemotherapy
versus chemotherapy alone were reported as 51% versus 44% at one year and 23% versus 15%
at two years, respectively. The protocol for the custirsen phase 3 registration trial in
advanced, unresectable NSCLC has yet to be finalized. Recent non-clinical studies and
drug-to-drug interaction studies have given conflicting results regarding the effect of
custirsen on the enzymes which break down paclitaxe1, one of the chemotherapeutic agents
intended for use in this trial. Based on the above, both OncoGenex and Teva believe it is
unlikely that a Phase 3 trial will be initiated in 2011. |
22
Product Candidate OGX-427
OGX-427 is a product candidate that, in pre-clinical experiments, inhibits production of Hsp27, a
cell survival protein found at elevated levels in many human cancers, including prostate, lung,
breast, ovarian, bladder, renal, pancreatic, multiple myeloma and liver cancer. Many anti-cancer
therapies are known to further elevate Hsp27 levels. For example, Hsp27 levels increased four-fold
in prostate cancer patients after treatment with chemotherapy or hormone therapy. Increased levels
of Hsp27 in some human cancers are associated with metastases, poor prognosis and resistance to
radiation or chemotherapy.
OGX-427 has been evaluated in a phase 1 trial in patients with breast, prostate, ovarian, or NSCLC
who have failed potentially curative treatments or for which a curative treatment does not exist.
Final results of this phase 1 trial were presented during an oral presentation at the American
Society of Clinical Oncology, or ASCO, 2010 annual meeting. The phase 1 trial evaluated 36 patients
treated with OGX-427 as a single agent and 12 patients with OGX-427 in combination with docetaxel
who had failed up to six prior chemotherapy treatments. OGX-427 as a single agent administered
weekly was evaluated at doses from 200 mg up to 1000 mg in five cohorts of approximately six
patients in each cohort. Two further cohorts tested OGX-427 at the 800 and 1000 mg doses combined
with docetaxel. Patients could receive up to 10 21-day cycles.
OGX-427 was well tolerated both as a monotherapy and in combination with docetaxel. Most adverse
events were mild (grade 1 or 2) and mainly occurred during the three loading doses given over
nine days prior to weekly dosing. The majority of adverse events potentially related to OGX-427
consisted of grade 1 or 2 fever, chills, itching, or flushing (associated with the infusion of
OGX-427) and fatigue. Despite evaluating OGX-427 at very high doses, a maximum tolerated dose for
OGX-427 was not reached in this trial.
Of particular interest was the decrease at all doses and in all diseases evaluated in the trial for
both total CTCs, and CTCs which were positive for Hsp27, Hsp27(+) CTCs. Recent studies have shown
that the presence of CTCs in peripheral blood may be of prognostic significance for patients with
solid tumors, and patients with values of five tumor cells or less are generally considered to have
a more favorable prognosis.
When OGX-427 was used as monotherapy, 3 of 17 evaluable patients had a decrease in measurable
disease of 20% or greater. In this heavily pretreated patient population, two of four patients with
ovarian cancer had a decrease of 25% or greater in CA-125 (an ovarian tumor marker) and 3 of 15
patients with prostate cancer had a decrease of 30% or greater in PSA (a prostate tumor marker).
Hsp27+CTCs decreases were noted in 89% of evaluable patients and were observed at all dose levels
and all diseases evaluated. In 9 of 26 (31%) patients with ≥5 Hsp27+CTCs at baseline, Hsp27 + CTCs
had decreased to five tumor cells or less. In addition, serum Hsp27 protein levels were decreased
by 30% or greater over a period of at least six weeks in approximately 25% of patients at the 800
and 1000 mg doses.
When OGX-427 was combined with docetaxel, 5 of 10 patients had a decrease in measurable disease of
20% or greater. Five of nine patients with prostate cancer had a decrease of 30% or greater in PSA.
Again, decreases in both total CTCs and Hsp27(+) CTCs were observed. Hsp27+CTCs were decreased in
71% of evaluable patients. In four of seven patients with ≥5 Hsp+CTCs at baseline, Hsp+ CTCs had
decreased to five cells or less. Serum Hsp27 protein levels were decreased by 30% or greater over a
time period of at least six weeks in approximately 35% of patients.
An investigator-sponsored phase 1 clinical trial evaluating OGX-427 when administered directly into
the bladder in patients with bladder cancer was initiated in August 2009. The investigators are in
the process of accruing patients for this trial, in which they will enroll up to 36 patients. The
trial is designed to determine the safety and potential benefit of OGX-427 administered directly
into the bladder using a catheter, which is known as intravesical instillation. In addition, the
trial will measure the direct effect of OGX-427 on expression of Hsp27 in bladder tumor cells, as
well as determine the pharmacokinetics and
pharmacodynamics of OGX-427 when delivered by intravesical instillation. This
investigator-sponsored trial is funded by the National Cancer Institute of Canada.
23
In September 2010, we announced the initiation of a separate investigator-sponsored, randomized
phase 2 clinical trial evaluating OGX-427 when administered as a monotherapy to patients with CRPC.
The randomized, controlled phase 2 trial will enroll up to 72 patients who have minimally
symptomatic or asymptomatic advanced prostate cancer and who have not yet received chemotherapy,
and is designed to determine the potential benefit of OGX-427 by evaluating the number of patients
who are without disease progression at 12 weeks post-trial treatment with or without OGX-427. This
phase 2 trial will also measure the direct effect of OGX-427 on PSA levels, time to progression by
PSA or measurable disease, numbers of CTCs and other relevant secondary endpoints.
We expect to initiate a phase 2 clinical trial of OGX-427 in patients with metastatic bladder
cancer in the second half of 2011. The proposed trial design is a three-arm, randomized phase 2 in
combination with gemcitabine and cisplatin in the first-line metastatic setting. Each arm would
enroll approximately 60 patients and the trial would be initiated in sites throughout the United
States, Canada and Europe. This trial will complement the phase 2 clinical trial in prostate
cancer, and phase 1 clinical trial in superficial bladder cancer.
We are currently evaluating various alternatives, including partnering, which would allow us to
expand the OGX-427 development plan beyond the ongoing bladder cancer and CRPC trials and the
planned randomized phase 2 bladder cancer trial.
Product Candidates OGX-225 and CSP-9222
OGX-225, an inhibitor of insulin growth factor binding proteins 2 and 5, and CSP-9222 are in
pre-clinical development.
Collaboration Revenue
We recorded $3.1 million of collaboration revenue in connection with our Collaboration Agreement
with Teva in the six months ended June 30, 2011, as compared to $6.4 million in the six months
ended June 30, 2010. At June 30, 2011, an aggregate of $19.9 million of the upfront payment was
included in the balance sheet line items Current and Long-term Deferred Collaboration Revenue,
which we are recognizing as we perform our deliverables under the Collaboration Agreement.
Management currently expects this performance period to end in the fourth quarter of 2013. Further,
we are eligible to receive payments of up to $370 million upon the achievement of developmental and
commercial milestones. At present, we are unable to predict the timing or likelihood of such
milestone payments, although we do not expect to receive any milestone payments from Teva in the
year ending December 31, 2011. Moreover, Isis has disclosed in its Securities and Exchange
Commission, or SEC, filings that it is entitled to receive 30% of the up to $370 million in
milestone payments we may receive from Teva as part of the Collaboration Agreement. We disagree
with their assessment but believe there may be some lesser payment obligation. See note 3 in the
Notes to Financial Statements for further details on our collaboration with Teva.
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development, or R&D, expenses consist primarily of costs for milestone payments to
third parties, clinical trials, materials and supplies, facilities, personnel, including salaries
and benefits, regulatory activities, pre-clinical studies, and allocations of other R&D-related
costs. External R&D expenses include fees paid to universities, hospitals and other entities that
conduct certain R&D activities and that manufacture our product candidates for use in our clinical
trials. Currently, we manage our clinical trials through independent medical investigators at their
sites and at hospitals and expect this practice to continue.
24
Until July 2, 2008, custirsen was being co-developed with Isis and R&D expenses for custirsen were
shared 65% by us and 35% by Isis. On July 2, 2008, we and Isis amended the agreement to provide for
unilateral development of custirsen by us. In connection with the Collaboration Agreement and
pursuant to the terms of agreements between us and Isis relating to custirsen, we paid $10 million
to Isis in the first quarter of 2010, which was included in R&D expenses in 2009. We also paid
$333,333 to UBC in the first quarter of 2010 pursuant to the terms of the license agreement
relating to custirsen, which was also included in R&D expenses in 2009.
Under the Collaboration Agreement with Teva, we are required to spend $30 million towards
development of custirsen, which will include our personnel costs for certain development
activities. Teva will fund all other expenses incurred pursuant to the Clinical Development Plan.
Costs that we incurred totaling $3.5 million in 2009, $4.9 million in 2010, and $1.7 million in the
six months ended June 30, 2011 have been applied against our $30 million funding commitment,
resulting in a remaining funding commitment of $19.9 million at June, 2011. We expect aggregate
full-time equivalent reimbursement of between $1.5 and $2.5 million annually from 2011 to 2012,
which will be applied against our funding commitment, or reimbursed to us from Teva on a cash
basis. We currently expect that we will incur all remaining costs associated with the Clinical
Development Plan by the fourth quarter of 2013.
Several of our clinical trials have been supported by grant funding that was received directly by
the hospitals and/or clinical investigators conducting the clinical trials, thereby allowing us to
complete these clinical trials at a lower cost to us.
Since our drug candidates are in the early stages of development, we cannot estimate completion
dates for development activities or when we might receive material net cash inflows from our R&D
projects, if ever.
Our projects or intended R&D activities may be subject to change from time to time as we evaluate
our R&D priorities and available resources.
We expect our R&D expenses to increase in 2011 and into the future, likely significantly, as we
further expand development of custirsen, OGX-427 and our other programs. Our programs or
anticipated programs may be subject to change from time to time as we evaluate our R&D priorities
and available resources.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative, or G&A, expenses consist primarily of salaries and related costs for
our personnel in executive, business development, human resources, external communications, finance
and other administrative functions, as well as consulting costs, including market research and
business consulting, and intellectual property. Other costs include professional fees for legal and
auditing services, insurance and facility costs. We believe that G&A resources are sufficient to
carry on existing development activities. We anticipate that G&A expenses will increase in the
future as we continue to expand our operating activities.
Restructuring Activities
On August 21, 2008, Sonus entered into the Arrangement with OncoGenex Technologies whereby Sonus
acquired all of the outstanding preferred shares, common shares and convertible debentures of
OncoGenex Technologies. Sonus then changed its name to OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to the
Arrangement, Sonus entered into a non-cancellable lease arrangement for office space located in
Bothell, Washington, which is considered to be in excess of the Companys current requirements. The
Company is currently in the process of evaluating opportunities to exit or sublet portions of the
leased space and recorded an initial restructuring charge of $2,084,000 on August 21, 2008 as part
of the purchase price allocation. The liability is computed as the present value of the difference
between the remaining lease payments due less the estimate of net sublease income and expenses and
has been accounted for in accordance with the then
effective EITF No. 95-3, Recognition of Liabilities in Connection with a Purchase Business
Combination. This represents the Companys best estimate of the liability. Subsequent changes in
the liability due to changes in estimates of sublease assumptions are recognized as adjustments to
restructuring charges.
25
In June 2009, the Company revised its sublease income assumptions used to estimate the excess lease
facility liability. These assumptions were subsequently revised again in December 2009 and
September 2010. These changes in estimate resulted in increases in the value of the excess lease
liability of $494,000, $3,457,000, and $4,038,000 and a corresponding expense recorded in June
2009, December 2009, and September 2010, respectively, to reflect these changes in estimate. The
estimated value of the liability remaining with respect to excess facilities was $7,467,000 as of
December 31, 2010. In the six months ended June 30, 2011, with respect to excess facilities,
$140,000 was amortized into income resulting in a remaining liability of $7,327,000 at June 30,
2011.
Results of Operations
Three Months Ended June 30, 2011 Compared to the Three Months Ended June 30, 2010
Revenue
Revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2011 increased to $1.9 million, from $1.7 million for
the three months ended June 30, 2010. The increase in 2011 as compared to 2010 was due to increased
effort, and therefore higher revenue earned through our strategic collaboration with Teva.
Collaboration revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2011 includes recognition of $1.2 million
from the $30.0 million upfront payment, as well as $0.7 million earned through collaborative
research, which has been reimbursed to us on a cash basis. At June 30, 2011, $19.9 million of the
upfront payment received from Teva in December 2009 was included on our consolidated balance sheet
as Current and Long-term Deferred Collaboration Revenue, which we are recognizing as we perform our
deliverables under the Collaboration Agreement. Management currently expects this performance
period to end in the fourth quarter of 2013. See Note 3 of Notes to Consolidated Financial
Statements included elsewhere in this document for further details on our collaboration with Teva.
Research and Development Expenses
Our research and development expenses for our clinical development programs are as follows (in
thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three months ended |
|
|
|
June 30, |
|
|
|
2011 |
|
|
2010 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clinical development programs: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
custirsen |
|
$ |
1,718 |
|
|
$ |
1,573 |
|
OGX-427 |
|
$ |
1,357 |
|
|
$ |
209 |
|
Other research and development |
|
$ |
2,334 |
|
|
$ |
1,297 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total research and development expenses |
|
$ |
5,409 |
|
|
$ |
3,079 |
|
26
Costs for clinical development programs include external direct expenses such as patient treatment
costs, clinical trial site costs, clinical research organization costs and contract manufacturing
fees incurred for preclinical, clinical, manufacturing and regulatory activities associated with
preparing the compounds for submissions of NDAs or similar regulatory filings to the FDA, EMA or
other regulatory agencies outside the United States and Europe. Other research and development
includes indirect operating costs such as our
personnel and occupancy expenses associated with our clinical development programs and other
research and development costs associated with the development of our other product candidates. Our
internal resources, employees, and infrastructure are not directly tied to any individual research
project and are typically deployed across multiple projects. Through our clinical development
programs, we are developing each of our product candidates in parallel for multiple disease
indications. Due to the number of ongoing projects and our ability to utilize resources across
several projects, we do not record or maintain information regarding the indirect operating costs
incurred for our research and development programs on a program-specific basis. In addition, we
believe that allocating costs on the basis of time incurred by our employees does not accurately
reflect the actual costs of a project. The majority of our costs incurred prior to 2010 were
related to the development of custirsen.
R&D expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2011 increased to $5.4 million from $3.1 million
in the three months ended June 30, 2010. The increase in 2011 as compared to 2010 was due primarily
to higher clinical trial and manufacturing costs for OGX-427, higher employee expenses including
stock based compensation, and higher costs associated with the custirsen phase 3 clinical trials in
2011. Certain costs for the custirsen phase 3 clinical trials are applied against the
non-refundable upfront payments received from Teva in December 2009, while costs unassociated with
the SATURN trial, such as manufacturing costs and compensation for work performed by our employees
on the SYNERGY trial are reimbursable from Teva on a cash basis. We expect R&D expenses to increase
as we further develop our proprietary product candidates.
General and Administrative Expenses
G&A expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2011 were unchanged at $1.5 million. Higher
employee expenses, including stock-based compensation expenses incurred in the three months ended
June 30, 2011 were offset by lower legal fees, as compared to the same period in 2010.
Net Interest Income (Expense)
Interest income for the three months ended June 30, 2011 increased to $63,000 from $14,000 for the
three months ended June 30, 2011 due to higher balances of interest-bearing securities in 2011 as
compared to 2010.
Other Income (Expense)
Other income for the three months ended June 30, 2011 increased to $87,000 from $7,000 in expense
for the three months ended June 30, 2011. The income in the three months ended June 30, 2011
relates to foreign exchange gains, while the expense in the three months ended June 30, 2010
relates to foreign exchange losses offset by gains on the sales of equipment.
Gain (loss) on Warrants
We recorded a $1.7 million loss on revaluation of the warrants at June 30, 2011 which is included
on our consolidated statement of loss as gain (loss) on warrants. We revalue the warrants at each
balance sheet date to fair value. If unexercised, the warrants will expire in October 2015. There
was no comparable charge in 2010.
27
Six Months Ended June 30, 2011 Compared to the Six Months Ended June 30, 2010
Revenue
Revenue for the six months ended June 30, 2011 decreased to $3.1 million, from $6.4 million for the
six months ended June 30, 2010. The decrease in 2011 as compared to 2010 was due to lower
reimbursement revenue earned through our strategic collaboration with Teva resulting from
manufacturing costs now
being paid directly by Teva. Collaboration revenue for the six months ended June 30, 2011 includes
recognition of $1.8 million from the $30.0 million upfront payment, as well as $1.3 million earned
through collaborative research, which has been reimbursed to us on a cash basis. At June 30, 2011,
$19.9 million of the upfront payment received from Teva in December 2009 was included on our
consolidated balance sheet as Current and Long-term Deferred Collaboration Revenue, which we are
recognizing as we perform our deliverables under the Collaboration Agreement. Management currently
expects this performance period to end in the fourth quarter of 2013. See Note 3 of Notes to
Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this document for further details on our
collaboration with Teva.
Research and Development Expenses
Our research and development expenses for our clinical development programs are as follows (in
thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Six months ended |
|
|
|
June 30, |
|
|
|
2011 |
|
|
2010 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clinical development programs: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
custirsen |
|
$ |
2,727 |
|
|
$ |
6,276 |
|
OGX-427 |
|
$ |
3,604 |
|
|
$ |
440 |
|
Other research and development |
|
$ |
3,931 |
|
|
$ |
2,743 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total research and development expenses |
|
$ |
10,262 |
|
|
$ |
9,459 |
|
R&D expenses for the six months ended June 30, 2011 increased to $10.3 million from $9.5 million in
the six months ended June 30, 2010. The increase in 2011 as compared to 2010 was due primarily to
higher OGX-427 clinical trial and manufacturing costs, higher employee expenses, including stock
based compensation, offset by lower custirsen manufacturing costs, as these costs are now being
paid directly by Teva. Certain costs for the custirsen phase 3 clinical trials are applied against
the non-refundable upfront payments received from Teva in December 2009, while costs unassociated
with the SATURN trial, such as manufacturing costs and compensation for work performed by our
employees on the SYNERGY trial, are reimbursable from Teva on a cash basis. We expect R&D expenses
to increase as we further develop our proprietary product candidates.
General and Administrative Expenses
G&A expenses for the six months ended June 30, 2011 increased to $3.1 million from $2.8 million for
the six months ended June 30, 2010. The increase in 2011 was due primarily to higher employee
expenses, including stock-based compensation expenses, offset by lower severance related charges
and legal fees.
Net Interest Income (Expense)
Interest income for the six months ended June 30, 2011 increased to $119,000 from $19,000 for the
six months ended June 30, 2011 due to higher balances of interest-bearing securities in 2011 as
compared to 2010.
28
Other Income (Expense)
Other income for the six months ended June 30, 2011 decreased to $83,000 from $26,000 in expense in
the six months ended June 30, 2010. The income in the three months ended June 30, 2011 relates to
foreign exchange gains, while the expense in the three months ended June 30, 2010 relates to
foreign exchange losses offset by gains on the sales of equipment.
Gain (loss) on Warrants
We recorded a $0.4 million gain on revaluation of the warrants at June 30, 2011 which is included
on our consolidated statement of loss as gain (loss) on warrants. We revalue the warrants at each
balance sheet date to fair value. If unexercised, the warrants will expire in October 2015. There
was no comparable charge in 2010.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
We have incurred an accumulated deficit of $75.6 million through June 30, 2011, and we expect to
incur substantial and increasing additional losses in the future as we expand our R&D activities
and other operations, as more fully described below. We have not generated any revenue from product
sales to date, and we do not expect to generate product sales revenue for several years, if ever.
In the six months ended June 30, 2011, we generated $3.1 million in collaboration revenue from the
Collaboration Agreement with Teva.
All of our operations to date have been funded through the sale of our equity securities, and
payments received from Teva. As of June 30, 2011, our cash, cash equivalents, and short-term
investments decreased to $75.4 million in the aggregate from $85.1 million as of December 31, 2010.
As of June 30, 2011, we do not have any borrowing or credit facilities. Based on our current
expectations, we believe our capital resources at June 30, 2011 will be sufficient to fund our
currently planned operations into 2014. Our currently planned operations are set forth below under
the heading Operating Capital and Capital Expenditure Requirements.
Cash Flows
Cash Used in Operations
For the six months ended June 30, 2011, net cash used in operating activities decreased to $9.6
million, from $17.8 million in cash used in operations in the six months ended June 30, 2010. The
decrease in cash used in operations is primarily attributable to payments made to Isis and UBC in
the first quarter of 2010 resulting from the Collaboration Agreement with Teva and lower custirsen
manufacturing costs, as these costs are now being paid directly by Teva, offset by higher OGX-427
clinical and manufacturing costs in 2011.
Cash Provided by Financing Activities
For the six months ended June 30, 2011, net cash provided by financing activities decreased to $91
thousand from $521 thousand in the six months ended June 30, 2010. All net cash provided by
financing activities in the six months ended June 30, 2011 and June 30, 2010 was the result of
proceeds from the issuance of common shares on stock option exercises.
Cash Used/Provided by Investing Activities
Net cash provided by investing activities for the six months ended June 30, 2011 increased to $7.0
million from $11.8 million in cash used in investment activities the six months ended June 30,
2010. Net cash used in or provided by investing activities in the six months ended June 30, 2011
and June 30, 2010 were due to transactions involving marketable securities in the normal course of
business.
29
Operating Capital and Capital Expenditure Requirements
We believe that our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments will be sufficient to fund
our currently planned operations into mid-2014, including:
|
|
|
completing the SATURN trial, a phase 3 clinical trial that is evaluating a durable pain
palliation benefit for custirsen in combination with second-line chemotherapy in patients
with CRPC; |
|
|
|
completing the SYNERGY trial, a phase 3 clinical trial that is evaluating a survival
benefit for custirsen in combination with docetaxel as first-line chemotherapy patients
with CRPC; |
|
|
|
completing an investigator-sponsored phase 2 clinical trial evaluating OGX-427
treatment in patients with prostate cancer; |
|
|
|
completing a phase 2 clinical trial evaluating OGX-427 in combination with standard
first-line chemotherapy in approximately 180 patients with metastatic bladder cancer; and |
|
|
|
completing an investigator-sponsored phase 1 clinical trial evaluating OGX-427
treatment in patients with superficial bladder cancer. |
As of June 30, 2011, we have a remaining commitment to fund $19.9 million towards the three phase 3
trials of custirsen, while Teva is required to fund all additional expenses under the clinical
development plan. The final results from the phase 3 trials may be released at a date that is
beyond the period for which we currently project we have available cash resources. In addition, if
we desire to conduct development activities with respect to our other product candidates beyond
those development activities mentioned in the list above, we will require additional funding to
support such operations. If we need to extend our cash availability, or to conduct any such
currently unplanned development activities, we would seek such necessary funding through the
licensing or sale of certain of our product candidates, by executing a partnership or collaboration
agreement, or through private or public offerings of our equity or debt.
Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:
|
|
|
timing, costs and results of clinical trials, preclinical development and regulatory
approvals; |
|
|
|
success of custirsen and achieving milestones and royalties; |
|
|
|
maintaining our relationship with Teva and Tevas ongoing level of focus and efforts to
develop custirsen; |
|
|
|
timing, costs and results of drug discovery and R&D; |
|
|
|
entering into new collaborative or product license agreements for products in our
pipeline; |
|
|
|
our ability to obtain additional funding through a partnership or collaboration
agreement with a third party or licenses of certain of our product candidates, or through
private or public offerings of our equity or debt; and |
|
|
|
costs related to obtaining, defending and enforcing patents. |
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
We do not have any off-balance sheet financing arrangements at June 30, 2011.
30
Inflation
We do not believe that inflation has had a material impact on our business and operating results
during the periods presented.
Contingencies and Commitments
We previously disclosed certain contractual obligations and contingencies and commitments relevant
to the Company within the financial statements and Management Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December
31, 2010, as filed with the SEC on March 10, 2011. There have been no significant changes to our
Contractual Obligations table in Part II, Item 7, Managements Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations of our 2010 Form 10-K. For more
information regarding our current contingencies and commitments, see note 7 to the financial
statements included above, which is incorporated by reference herein.
Material Changes in Financial Condition
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
June 30, |
|
|
December 31, |
|
(In thousands) |
|
2011 |
|
|
2010 |
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total assets |
|
|
79,525 |
|
|
|
89,918 |
|
Total liabilities |
|
|
44,327 |
|
|
|
45,793 |
|
Shareholders equity |
|
|
35,198 |
|
|
|
44,125 |
|
The decrease in assets from December 31, 2010 primarily relates to decreased cash, cash equivalents
and marketable securities as these assets have been used to fund operations. The decrease in
liabilities from December 31, 2010 relates predominantly to the revaluation of the warrant
liability, amortization of restructuring-related liabilities, and the recognition of deferred
collaboration revenue.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP requires management to make
estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts and related disclosures. We have discussed
those estimates that we believe are critical and require the use of complex judgment in their
application in our 2010 Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 10, 2011. Since the date of our 2010
Form 10-K, there have been no material changes to our critical accounting policies or the
methodologies or assumptions we apply under them.
New Accounting Standards
See Note 2, Accounting Policies, of the consolidated financial statements for information related
to the adoption of new accounting standards in 2011, none of which had a material impact on our
financial statements, and the future adoption of recently issued accounting standards, which we do
not expect to have a material impact on our financial statements.
31
|
|
|
Item 3. |
|
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk |
Interest Rate Risk
Interest rate risk is the risk that the fair values and future cash flows of financial instruments
will fluctuate because of the changes in market interest rates. We invest our cash in a variety of
financial instruments, primarily in short-term bank deposits, money market funds, and domestic and
foreign commercial paper and government securities. These investments are denominated in U.S.
dollars, and our exposure to interest rate changes is monitored. We have very limited interest rate
risk due to the few assets or liabilities subject to fluctuations in interest rates. Our
investment portfolio includes only marketable securities with active secondary or resale markets to
help ensure portfolio liquidity. Due to the nature of our highly liquid marketable securities, a
change in interest rates would not materially change the fair market value.
Foreign Currency Exchange Risk
We are exposed to risks associated with foreign currency transactions on certain contracts and
payroll expenses related to our Canadian subsidiary, OncoGenex Technologies, denominated in
Canadian dollars and we have not hedged these amounts. As our unhedged foreign currency
transactions fluctuate, our earnings might be negatively affected. Accordingly, changes in the
value of the U.S. dollar relative to the Canadian dollar might have an adverse effect on our
reported results of operations and financial condition, and fluctuations in exchange rates might
harm our reported results and accounts from period to period. We have estimated the effect on our
reported results of operations of a hypothetical increase of 10 percent in the exchange rate of the
Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar to be $100,000 for the quarterly period ended June 30,
2011.
|
|
|
Item 4. |
|
Controls and Procedures |
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that material
information required to be disclosed in our periodic reports filed or submitted under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, is recorded, processed,
summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SECs rules and forms. Our
disclosure controls and procedures are also designed to ensure that information required to be
disclosed in the reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act are accumulated and communicated
to our management, including its principal executive officer and principal financial officer as
appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
During the quarter ended June 30, 2011, we carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and
with the participation of our management, including the principal executive officer and the
principal financial officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure
controls and procedures, as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act. Based
upon that evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded
that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective, as of the end of the period covered by
this report.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
We have not made any changes to our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule
13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the quarter ended June 30, 2011 that have
materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over
financial reporting.
32
PART II. OTHER INFORMATION
Risks Related to Our Business
Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully the
risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information contained in
this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, before deciding to invest in our common stock. If any of the
following risks materialize, our business, financial condition, results of operation and future
prospects will likely be materially and adversely affected. In that event, the market price of our
common stock could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Related to Our Business
We have a limited operating history, have incurred losses since inception and anticipate that we
will continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future. We have never had any products available
for commercial sale and we may never achieve or sustain profitability.
We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a limited operating history. We are not
profitable and have incurred losses in each year since our inception. We have never had any
products available for commercial sale and we have not generated any revenue from product sales nor
do we anticipate that we will generate revenue from product sales in the foreseeable future. Our
only revenue to date has been collaboration revenue under our Collaboration Agreement with Teva. We
have not yet submitted any products for approval by regulatory authorities and we continue to incur
research and development and general and administrative expenses related to our operations. We
expect to continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future, and we expect these losses to
increase as we continue our research activities and conduct development of, and seek regulatory
approvals for, our product candidates, and prepare for and begin to commercialize any approved
products. If our product candidates fail in clinical trials or do not gain regulatory approval, or
if our product candidates do not achieve market acceptance, we may never become profitable. Even if
we achieve profitability in the future, we may not be able to sustain profitability in subsequent
periods.
Our clinical trials may be suspended or terminated at any time, including by the FDA, other
regulatory authorities, the Institutional Review Board overseeing the clinical trial at issue, by a
clinical trial site or investigator, by Teva in the case of custirsen, or by us. Any failure or
significant delay in completing clinical trials for our product candidates could materially harm
our financial results and the commercial prospects for our product candidates.
We do not know whether any of our currently planned clinical trials for custirsen or OGX-427 will
proceed or be completed on schedule, if at all, or, with respect to our other product candidates,
whether we will be able to initiate any future pre-clinical studies or clinical trials, as
applicable, beyond those currently planned. The completion or commencement of future pre-clinical
studies or clinical trials could be substantially delayed or prevented by several factors,
including:
|
|
|
limited number of, and competition for, suitable patients with the particular types of
cancer required for enrollment in our clinical trials; |
|
|
|
limited number of, and competition for, suitable sites to conduct clinical trials; |
|
|
|
decrease in Tevas level of focus and efforts to develop custirsen; |
|
|
|
introduction of new product candidates to the market in therapeutic areas similar to
those that we are developing our product candidates; |
|
|
|
|
concurrent evaluation of new investigational product candidates in therapeutic areas
similar to those that we are developing our product candidates; |
33
|
|
|
delay or failure to obtain the FDAs or non-U.S. regulatory agencies approval or
agreement to commence a clinical trial, including our phase 3 or registration clinical
trials or amendment of those trials under an SPA; |
|
|
|
delay or failure to obtain required future additional funding, when needed, through
private or public offerings of our equity securities, debt financings, or the execution of
a licensing, partnership or collaboration agreement with a third party for any of our
product candidates; |
|
|
|
delay or failure to obtain sufficient manufacturing supply of custirsen; |
|
|
|
delay or failure to obtain sufficient supplies of the product candidate for our
clinical trials; |
|
|
|
delay or failure to reach agreement on acceptable clinical trial agreement terms or
clinical trial protocols with prospective sites or investigators; and |
|
|
|
delay or failure to obtain the approval of the Institutional Review Board to conduct a
clinical trial at a prospective site. |
The completion of our clinical trials currently in progress could also be substantially delayed or
prevented by several factors, including:
|
|
|
slower than expected rates of patient recruitment and enrollment; |
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failure of patients to complete the clinical trial; |
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unforeseen safety issues; |
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lack of efficacy evidenced during clinical trials; |
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termination of our clinical trials by one or more clinical trial sites or
investigators; |
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inability or unwillingness of patients or medical investigators to follow clinical
trial protocols; |
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inability to monitor patients adequately during or after treatment; |
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introduction of competitive products that may impede our ability to retain patients in
clinical trials; |
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delay or failure to obtain sufficient manufacturing supply of custirsen; and |
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delay or failure to obtain future additional funding through private or public
offerings of our equity securities, debt financings, or the execution of a licensing,
partnership or collaboration agreement with a third party for any of our product
candidates in the event of material unforeseen costs relating to our clinical trials
currently in progress. |
For example, the SATURN trial has had few patients accrued due to the restrictions regarding
docetaxel re-treatment and stable pain criteria on entry. We have submitted a proposed revision to
the approved SPA for the SATURN trial to the FDA, which would expand the treatment population by
including patients who progressed during 1st- line docetaxel treatment, who currently cannot
participate in this trial under the existing SPA. However, we have no assurance that the proposed
revisions to the SPA protocol will address the recruitment challenges.
Our clinical trials may be suspended or terminated at any time by the FDA, other regulatory
authorities, the Institutional Review Board overseeing the clinical trial at issue, any of our
clinical trial sites with respect to that site, or us. Any failure or significant delay in
completing clinical trials for our product candidates could materially harm our financial results
and the commercial prospects for our product candidates. We are highly dependent on the success of
our lead product candidate, custirsen, and we cannot give any assurance that custirsen, or any of
our other product candidates, will receive regulatory approval or will be successfully
commercialized.
Custirsen has been evaluated in five phase 2 clinical trials, the results of which were previously
disclosed. If competitive products developed by third parties show significant benefit in the
cancer indications in which we are developing our product candidates, any planned supportive or
primary registration trials may be delayed, altered or not initiated and custirsen may never
receive regulatory approval. In order to market custirsen, we and Teva must, among other things,
conduct additional clinical trials, including phase 3 or registration clinical trials, to
demonstrate safety and efficacy. We have initiated two registration trials with custirsen in CRPC.
A third registration trial in NSCLC is also planned. OGX-427 has been evaluated in
humans, although we have very limited safety data and have not yet established efficacy in humans.
Additional clinical trials will be required for OGX-427 to establish the safety and efficacy of
this product candidate. Neither OGX-225 nor CSP-9222 has been tested in humans. Our pre-clinical
testing of these product candidates may not be successful and we may not be able to clinically
evaluate them. Our clinical development programs for our product candidates may not receive
regulatory approval either if such product candidates fail to demonstrate that they are safe and
effective in clinical trials and consequently fail to obtain necessary approvals from the FDA, or
similar non-U.S. regulatory agencies, or if we have inadequate financial or other resources to
advance these product candidates through the clinical trial process. Any failure to obtain
regulatory approval of custirsen or our other product candidates could have a material and adverse
effect on our business.
34
We depend on our collaborative relationship with Teva to further develop and commercialize
custirsen, and if our relationship is not successful or is terminated, we may not be able to
effectively develop and/or commercialize custirsen, which would have a material adverse effect on
our business.
We depend on Teva to collaborate with us to develop and globally commercialize custirsen.
Furthermore, under the Collaboration Agreement, we and Teva must agree on any changes to the
Clinical Development Plan for custirsen. As a result of our dependence on Teva, the eventual
success or commercial viability of custirsen is largely beyond our control. The financial returns
to us, if any, under the Collaboration Agreement depend in large part on the achievement of
development and commercialization milestones, plus a share of any revenue from sales. Therefore,
our success, and any associated financial returns to us and our investors, will depend in large
part on Tevas performance under the Collaboration Agreement. We are subject to a number of
additional specific risks associated with our dependence on our collaborative relationship with
Teva, including:
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adverse decisions by Teva or the Joint Steering Committee regarding the development and
commercialization of custirsen; |
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possible disagreements as to the timing, nature and extent of our development plans,
including clinical trials or regulatory approval strategy; |
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loss of significant rights if we fail to meet our obligations under the Collaboration
Agreement; |
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our limited control over clinical trials of custirsen; |
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changes in key management personnel at Teva that are members of the Joint Steering
Committee; and |
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possible disagreements with Teva regarding the Collaboration Agreement, sharing of
costs for clinical trials or ownership of proprietary rights. |
If we and Teva are unable to reach an agreement under the Clinical Development Plan, or if either
we or Teva fail to perform our respective obligations or effectively manage our relationship, any
clinical trial, regulatory approval or development progress could be significantly delayed or
halted, could result in costly or time-consuming litigation or arbitration and could have a
material adverse effect on our business.
Decisions by Teva to either reduce or eliminate its participation in the oncology field, to
emphasize other competitive agents currently in its portfolio, or to add additional competitive
agents to its portfolio could result in a decision to terminate the Collaboration Agreement, in
which event, among other things, we may be responsible for paying any remaining costs of all three
phase 3 clinical trials. Any such termination could adversely affect the timing and extent of our
development and commercialization activities, which could cause significant delays and funding
shortfalls for those activities and seriously harm our business.
Clinical trials may not demonstrate a clinical benefit of our product candidates.
Positive results from pre-clinical studies and early clinical trials, including those results from
the custirsen clinical trials conducted to date, should not be relied on as evidence that
later-stage or large-scale clinical trials will succeed. We will be required to demonstrate with
substantial evidence through well-controlled clinical trials that our product candidates are safe
and effective for use in a diverse population before we
can seek regulatory approvals for their commercial sale. Success in early clinical trials does not
mean that future clinical trials will be successful because product candidates in later-stage
clinical trials may fail to demonstrate sufficient safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of the
FDA and other non-U.S. regulatory authorities despite having progressed through initial clinical
trials.
35
Even after the completion of our planned phase 3 clinical trials, the FDA or other non-U.S.
regulatory authorities may disagree with our clinical trial design and our interpretation of data,
and may require us to conduct additional clinical trials to demonstrate the efficacy of our product
candidates.
If our competitors develop and market products that are more effective, safer or less expensive
than our future product candidates, our clinical trials and commercial opportunities will be
negatively affected.
The life sciences industry is highly competitive, and we face significant competition from many
pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that are researching and marketing
products designed to address cancer indications for which we are currently developing products or
for which we may develop products in the future. We are aware of several other companies which are
developing therapeutics that seek to promote tumor cell death by inhibiting proteins believed to
promote cell survival. For example, cabazitaxel and abiraterone were recently approved by the FDA
for the treatment of patients with CRPC. Any products we may develop in the future are also likely
to face competition from other drugs and therapies. Many of our competitors have significantly
greater financial, manufacturing, marketing and drug development resources than we do. Large
pharmaceutical companies, in particular, have extensive experience in clinical testing and in
obtaining regulatory approvals for drugs. These companies also have significantly greater research
and marketing capabilities than we do. In addition, many universities and private and public
research institutes are, or may become, active in cancer research, which products may directly
compete with ours. If our competitors market products that are more effective, safer or less
expensive than our future product candidates, if any, or that reach the market sooner than our
future product candidates, if any, we may not achieve commercial success.
We rely, in part, on third parties to conduct clinical trials for our product candidates and plan
to rely on third parties to conduct future clinical trials. If these third parties do not
successfully carry out their contractual duties or meet expected deadlines, we may be unable to
obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize our current and future product candidates.
To implement our product development strategies, we rely on third parties, such as collaborators,
contract research organizations, medical institutions, clinical investigators and contract
laboratories, to conduct clinical trials of our product candidates. In particular, we will have
limited control over the two custirsen phase 3 trials over which Teva will have primary oversight.
Although we rely on third parties to conduct our clinical trials, we are responsible for ensuring
that each of our clinical trials is conducted in accordance with our investigational plan and
protocol. Moreover, the FDA and non-U.S. regulatory authorities require us to comply with
regulations and standards, commonly referred to as Good Clinical Practices, or GCPs, for
conducting, monitoring, recording and reporting the results of clinical trials to ensure that the
data and results are scientifically credible and accurate and that the clinical trial subjects are
adequately informed of the potential risks of participating in clinical trials. Our reliance on
third parties does not relieve us of these responsibilities and requirements. If the third parties
conducting our clinical trials do not perform their contractual duties or obligations, do not meet
expected deadlines or need to be replaced, or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they
obtain is compromised due to the failure to adhere to GCPs or for any other reason, we may need to
enter into new arrangements with alternative third parties and our clinical trials may be extended,
delayed or terminated. In addition, a failure by such third parties to perform their obligations in
compliance with GCPs may cause our clinical trials to fail to meet regulatory requirements, which
may require us to repeat our clinical trials.
36
We rely on third parties to manufacture and supply our product candidates.
We do not own or operate manufacturing facilities, and we depend on third-party contract
manufacturers for production of our product candidates. We lack the resources and the capability to
manufacture any of our product candidates ourselves. To date, our product candidates have been
manufactured in limited quantities for pre-clinical studies and clinical trials. All API for
custirsen has been manufactured for us by Isis or Avecia Biotechnology Inc., and all drug product
has been manufactured for us by Formatech, Inc., Pyramid Laboratories, Inc. and Laureate
Biopharmaceutical Services, Inc., in each case pursuant to a purchase order or short-term contract
that has been fulfilled. Avecia Biotechnology Inc. is our contract manufacturer for additional
quantities of custirsen to complete our phase 3 clinical trials.
All API for OGX-427 for IND-enabling toxicology studies and initial clinical trials has been
manufactured for us by Avecia Biotechnology Inc. and all drug product has been manufactured for us
by Laureate Biopharmaceutical Services, Inc., in each case pursuant to a purchase order or
short-term contract which has been fulfilled.
If, in the future, one of our product candidates is approved for commercial sale, we, or a
pharmaceutical partner that has licensed such product candidate, will need to manufacture that
product candidate in commercial quantities. We cannot provide assurance that the third-party
manufacturers with which we have contracted in the past will have sufficient capacity to satisfy
our future manufacturing needs, that we will be able to negotiate additional purchases of API or
drug product from these or alternative manufacturers on terms favorable to us, if at all, or that a
pharmaceutical partner that has licensed such product candidate will have sufficient capacity or
expertise to satisfy future needs.
Third-party manufacturers may fail to perform under their contractual obligations, or may fail to
deliver the required commercial quantities of bulk API or finished drug product on a timely basis
and at commercially reasonable prices. We have experienced manufacturing quality issues resulting
in an unusable lot of product candidate. Any performance failure on the part of our contract
manufacturers could delay clinical development or regulatory approval of our product candidates or
commercialization of our future product candidates, depriving us of potential product revenue and
resulting in additional losses. If we are required to identify and qualify an alternate
manufacturer, we may be forced to delay or suspend our clinical trials, regulatory submissions,
required approvals or commercialization of our product candidates, which may cause us to incur
higher costs and could prevent us from commercializing our product candidates successfully. If we
are unable to find one or more replacement manufacturers capable of production at a reasonably
favorable cost, in adequate volumes, of adequate quality, and on a timely basis, we would likely be
unable to meet demand for our product candidates and our clinical trials could be delayed or we
could lose potential revenue. Our ability to replace an existing API manufacturer may be difficult
because the number of potential manufacturers is limited to approximately five manufacturers, and
the FDA must inspect any replacement manufacturer and review information related to product
produced at the manufacturer before they can begin manufacturing our product candidates. It may be
difficult or impossible for us to identify and engage a replacement manufacturer on acceptable
terms in a timely manner, if at all. We expect to continue to depend on third-party contract
manufacturers for the foreseeable future.
Our product candidates require precise, high-quality manufacturing. Any of our contract
manufacturers will be subject to ongoing periodic unannounced inspection by the FDA and non-U.S.
regulatory authorities to ensure strict compliance with cGMP, and other applicable government
regulations and corresponding standards. If our contract manufacturers fail to achieve and maintain
high manufacturing standards in compliance with cGMP regulations, we may experience manufacturing
errors resulting in patient injury or death, product recalls or withdrawals, delays or
interruptions of production or failures in product testing or delivery, delay or prevention of
filing or approval of marketing applications for our product candidates, cost overruns or other
problems that could seriously affect our business.
Significant manufacturing scale-up may require additional validation studies, which the FDA must
review and approve. Additionally, any third-party manufacturers we retain to manufacture our
product candidates
on a commercial scale must pass an FDA pre-approval inspection for conformance to cGMP regulations
before we can obtain approval of our product candidates. If we are unable to successfully increase
the manufacturing capacity for a product candidate in conformance with cGMP regulations, the
regulatory approval or commercial launch of any related products may be delayed or there may be a
shortage in supply.
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If new therapies become broadly used, we may need to conduct clinical trials of our product
candidates in combination with these new therapies to demonstrate safety and efficacy of the
combination. Additional trials will delay the development of our product candidates and increase
our costs. The failure of certain of our product candidates to work in combination with these new
therapies would have an adverse effect on our business.
Our intention is to combine certain of our product candidates with therapies that are broadly used
by clinicians and considered highly effective. As new therapies are developed, we will need to
assess these therapies to determine whether to conduct clinical trials of our product candidates in
combination with them to demonstrate safety and efficacy of the combination. If we determine that
it is appropriate to conduct additional clinical trials of our product candidates in combination
with these new therapies, the development of our product candidates will be delayed and our costs
will be increased. If these clinical trials generate safety concerns or lack of efficacy, our
business would be adversely affected.
If our product candidates are approved in combination with a specific therapy that is broadly used
and that therapy is displaced by another product, the market for our product candidate may
decrease.
Our product candidates may cause undesirable and potentially serious side effects during clinical
trials that could delay or prevent their regulatory approval or commercialization.
Custirsen was administered to 294 patients with various types of cancer in phase 1 and phase 2
clinical trials. Some patients experienced various adverse events, the majority of which are
associated with other treatments in the protocol and the disease. The majority of adverse events
were mild and the most common adverse events associated with custirsen consisted of flu-like
symptoms. The most common serious adverse events associated with custirsen were neutropenia,
vomiting, dehydration, pyrexia, pleural effusion and difficulty breathing (also known as
dyspnea), which occurred in greater than 2% of patients.
OGX-427 was administered to 59 patients with various types of cancer in a phase 1 clinical trial.
Enrollment is complete in five cohorts with dose-escalation of OGX-427 as monotherapy and in two
cohorts in which docetaxel was administered in combination with OGX-427. There was only one
dose-limiting toxicity; thus, the maximum tolerated dose was not reached. Of the 46 patients
presented at the ASCO 2010 annual meeting, the majority of the adverse events were infusion
reactions, which were documented in 72% of patients and increased in incidence with increasing
dose. The majority (93%) were grade 1 or 2. Grade 3/4 laboratory events, which occurred in
decreasing frequency, were lymphopenia, prolonged PTT, neutropenia, hyponatremia, anemia, elevated
creatinine and thrombocytopenia. During monotherapy and when OGX-427 was administered as
combination therapy, there was evidence of decreases in tumor markers (CA-125 and PSA), decreases
in Hsp27+ circulating tumor cells, and reduction of serum Hsp27 protein levels.
Since patients in our clinical trials have advanced stages of cancer, we expect that additional
adverse events, including serious adverse events, will occur.
Undesirable side effects caused by any of our product candidates could cause us or regulatory
authorities to interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials and could result in the denial of
regulatory approval by the FDA or non-U.S. regulatory authorities for any or all targeted
indications. This, in turn, could prevent us from commercializing our product candidates and
generating revenue from their sale. In addition, if our product candidates receive marketing
approval and we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by the product:
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Teva may elect to terminate the ongoing clinical trials and cease development of
custirsen; |
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regulatory authorities may withdraw their approval of the product; |
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we may be required to recall the product, change the way the product is administered,
conduct additional clinical trials or change the labeling of the product; |
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a product may become less competitive and product sales may decrease; and |
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our reputation may suffer. |
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Any one or a combination of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market
acceptance of the affected product or could substantially increase the costs and expenses of
commercializing the product, which in turn could delay or prevent us from generating significant
revenue from the sale of the product. Recent events have raised questions about the safety of
marketed drugs and may result in increased cautiousness by the FDA in reviewing new drugs based on
safety, efficacy or other regulatory considerations and may result in significant delays in
obtaining regulatory approvals, additional clinical trials being required, or more stringent
product labeling requirements. Any delay in obtaining, or the inability to obtain, applicable
regulatory approvals would prevent us from commercializing our product candidates.
Because we depend on financing from third parties for our operations, our business may fail if such
financing becomes unavailable or is not available on commercially reasonable terms.
To date, we have financed our operations primarily through the sale of our equity securities and
from the upfront payment we received pursuant to the Collaboration Agreement with Teva. We believe
that our existing capital resources and interest on such resources, including the financing we
completed in October 2010, will be sufficient to meet our current operating requirements into 2014.
If, however, the Collaboration Agreement with Teva were to terminate or if Teva fails to fulfill
its obligations under the Collaboration Agreement, or if the trials proceed slower than expected or
are initiated later than expected, or if we change our development plans, acquire rights to new
product candidates or cannot find third-party collaborators for our other product candidates, we
may need additional capital sooner than we expect. Our future capital requirements will depend on
many factors, including, without limitation:
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maintaining our partnership with Teva and Tevas ongoing commitment to develop
custirsen in a timely manner; |
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whether we experience delays in our pre-clinical and clinical development programs, or
slower-than-anticipated product development; |
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the scope and results of our pre-clinical studies and clinical trials; |
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whether opportunities to acquire additional product candidates arise and the costs of
acquiring and developing those product candidates; |
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whether we are able to enter into additional third-party collaborative partnerships to
develop and/or commercialize any of our other product candidates on terms that are
acceptable to us; |
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the timing and requirements of, and the costs involved in, conducting studies required
to obtain regulatory approvals for our product candidates from the FDA and comparable
foreign regulatory agencies; |
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the availability of third parties to perform the key development tasks for our product
candidates, including conducting pre-clinical studies and clinical trials and
manufacturing our product candidates to be tested in those studies and trials and the
associated costs of those services; and |
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the costs involved in preparing, filing, prosecuting, maintaining, defending the
validity of and enforcing patent claims and other costs related to patent rights and other
intellectual property rights, including litigation costs and the results of such
litigation. |
If we are unable to raise funds on acceptable terms when it becomes necessary to do so, we may not
be able to continue developing our product candidates, acquire or develop additional product
candidates or respond to competitive pressures or unanticipated requirements. For these reasons,
any inability to raise additional funds when we require it could have a material adverse effect on
our business.
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Even if we or Teva receive regulatory approval to market our product candidates, the market may not
be receptive to our products.
Even if our product candidates obtain regulatory approval, they may not gain market acceptance
among physicians, patients, healthcare payors and/or the medical community. We believe that the
degree of market acceptance will depend on a number of factors, including:
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timing of market introduction of competitive products; |
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safety and efficacy of our products; |
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prevalence and severity of any side effects; |
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potential advantages or disadvantages over alternative treatments; |
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strength of marketing and distribution support; |
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price of our products, both in absolute terms and relative to alternative treatments;
and |
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availability of coverage and reimbursement from government and other third-party
payors. |
If our future product candidates fail to achieve market acceptance, we may not be able to generate
significant revenue or achieve or sustain profitability.
Although we have entered into a Collaboration Agreement with Teva for custirsen, we have not yet
partnered with third-party collaborators with respect to any of our other product candidates, and
we cannot control whether we will be able to do so on favorable terms, if at all.
Our business strategy relies in part on potentially partnering successful product candidates with
larger companies to complement our internal development and commercialization efforts. While we
have successfully entered into a Collaboration Agreement with Teva with respect to custirsen, it
may be difficult for us to find third parties that are willing to enter into a collaboration on
acceptable economic terms, if at all, with respect to our other product candidates. We also will be
competing with many other companies as we seek partners for our other product candidates and may
not be able to compete successfully against those companies. If we are not able to enter into
collaboration arrangements for our other product candidates, we would be required to undertake and
fund further development, clinical trials, manufacturing and commercialization activities solely at
our own expense and risk. If we are unable to finance and/or successfully execute those expensive
activities, our business could be materially and adversely affected, and we may be forced to
discontinue clinical development of these product candidates.
If we were to be successfully sued related to our products or operations, we could face substantial
liabilities that may exceed our resources.
We may be held liable if any of our products or operations cause injury or death or are found
otherwise unsuitable during product testing, manufacturing, marketing or sale. These risks are
inherent in the development of pharmaceutical products. We currently maintain Commercial General
and Umbrella Liability policies with combined limits of $10 million per occurrence and in the
aggregate, in addition to a $10 million per claim and annual aggregate product liability insurance
policy related to our clinical trials consistent with industry standards. When necessary for our
products, we intend to obtain additional product liability insurance. Insurance coverage may be
prohibitively expensive, may not fully cover potential liabilities or may not be available in the
future. Inability to obtain sufficient insurance coverage at an acceptable cost or otherwise to
protect against potential product liability claims could prevent or inhibit the commercialization
of our products. If we were to be sued for any injury caused by or associated with our products or
operations, the litigation could consume substantial time and attention of our management, and the
resulting liability could exceed our total assets.
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If we fail to acquire and develop products or product candidates at all or on commercially
reasonable terms, we may be unable to grow our business.
We currently do not have internal discovery capabilities and depend on pharmaceutical and
biotechnology companies and other researchers to sell or license products or product candidates to
us. To date, three of our product candidates have been derived from technologies discovered by the
Vancouver Prostate Centre and licensed to us by UBC, and one candidate has been in-licensed from
Bayer. We intend to continue to rely on the Vancouver Prostate Centre, UBC and other research
institutions and other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies as sources of product candidates.
We cannot guarantee that the Vancouver Prostate Centre or UBC will continue to develop new product
candidate opportunities, that we will continue to have access to such opportunities or that we will
be able to purchase or license these product candidates on commercially reasonable terms, if at
all. If we are unable to purchase or license new product candidates from the Vancouver Prostate
Centre or UBC, we will be required to identify alternative sources of product candidates.
The success of our product pipeline strategy depends on our ability to identify, select and acquire
pharmaceutical product candidates. Proposing, negotiating and implementing an economically viable
product acquisition or license is a lengthy and complex process. We compete for partnering
arrangements and license agreements with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and academic
research institutions. Our competitors may have stronger relationships with third parties with whom
we are interested in collaborating and/or may have more established histories of developing and
commercializing products. As a result, our competitors may have a competitive advantage in entering
into partnering arrangements with such third parties. In addition, even if we find promising
product candidates, and generate interest in a partnering or strategic arrangement to acquire such
product candidates, we may not be able to acquire rights to additional product candidates or
approved products on terms that we find acceptable, if at all. If we fail to acquire and develop
product candidates from others, we may be unable to grow our business.
We expect that any product candidate that we acquire rights to will require additional development
efforts prior to commercial sale, including extensive clinical evaluation and approval by the FDA
and non-U.S. regulatory authorities. All product candidates are subject to the risks of failure
inherent in pharmaceutical product development, including the possibility that the product
candidate will not be shown to be sufficiently safe and effective for approval by regulatory
authorities. Even if the product candidates are approved, we can make no assurance that we would be
capable of economically producing the product or that the product would be commercially successful.
We will need to retain additional personnel and expand our other resources in order to promote
custirsen in the event we exercise our co-promotion option and develop our other product
candidates. If we fail to effectively expand our operations, including attracting and retaining key
management and scientific personnel, we may be unable to successfully develop or commercialize our
product candidates and our business may be materially adversely affected.
We will need to expand and effectively manage our managerial, operational, financial, development
and other resources in order to successfully pursue our research, development and commercialization
efforts for our existing and future product candidates. Our success depends on our continued
ability to attract, retain and motivate highly qualified personnel, such as management,
pre-clinical and clinical personnel, including our executive officers Michelle Burris, Scott
Cormack, and Cindy Jacobs. In addition, although we have entered into employment agreements with
each of Ms. Burris, Mr. Cormack, and Dr. Jacobs, such agreements permit the executive to terminate
his or her employment with us at any time, subject to providing us with advance written notice.
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Should custirsen receive marketing approval in the United States and Canada, or should we exercise
our co-promotion option, which is unlikely without sufficient funds, we would need to hire a
substantial number of specialized personnel, including field-based medical affairs representatives.
In turn, we would need to
increase our administrative headcount to support such expanded development and commercialization
operations with respect to our product candidates. Our ability to attract and retain qualified
personnel in the future is subject to intense competition for qualified personnel among
biotechnology, pharmaceutical and other businesses and our current financial position. The loss of
the services of any of our senior management could delay or prevent the development and
commercialization of our product candidates, or have other adverse effects on our business for an
indefinite term. In particular, if we lose any members of our current senior management team, we
may not be able to find suitable replacements in a timely fashion, if at all and our business may
be harmed as a result. If any of such events were to occur, among other things, we may not be able
to comply with our contractual obligations to Teva under our Collaboration Agreement or advance our
product candidates, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We have scientific and clinical advisors who assist us in formulating our development and clinical
strategies. These advisors are not our employees and may have commitments to, or consulting or
advisory contracts with, other entities that may limit their availability to us. In addition, our
advisors may have arrangements with other companies to assist those companies in developing
products or technologies that may compete with ours.
We may encounter difficulties in managing our expected growth and in expanding our operations
successfully.
As we advance our product candidates custirsen, OGX-427, OGX-225, and CSP-9222 through development
and clinical trials, we will need to develop or expand our development, regulatory, manufacturing,
marketing and sales capabilities or contract with third parties to provide these capabilities for
us. Maintaining additional relationships and managing our future growth will impose significant
added responsibilities on members of our management. We must be able to manage our development
efforts effectively, manage our clinical trials effectively, hire, train and integrate additional
management, development, administrative and sales and marketing personnel, improve our managerial,
development, operational and finance systems, and expand our facilities, all of which may impose a
strain on our administrative and operational infrastructure.
Under the Collaboration Agreement, Teva is responsible for the commercialization costs associated
with custirsen; however, if we were to exercise our co-promotion option, which we do not anticipate
having sufficient funds to do, we would need to expand our marketing and sales capabilities. In
addition, as we have primary responsibility for the oversight of the second-line trial in CRPC, we
must be able to manage our development responsibilities effectively, which may impose a strain on
our administrative and operational infrastructure.
Furthermore, we may acquire additional businesses, products or product candidates that complement
or augment our existing business. Integrating any newly acquired business, product or product
candidate could be expensive and time-consuming. We may not be able to integrate any acquired
business, product or product candidate successfully or operate any acquired business profitably.
Our future financial performance will depend, in part, on our ability to manage any future growth
effectively and our ability to integrate any acquired businesses. We may not be able to accomplish
these tasks, which failure could prevent us from successfully growing our business.
We may be adversely affected if our controls over external financial reporting fail or are
circumvented.
We regularly review and update our internal controls, disclosure controls and procedures, and
corporate governance policies. In addition, we are required under the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 to
report annually on our internal control over financial reporting. If it were to be determined that
our internal control over financial reporting is not effective, such shortcoming could have an
adverse effect on our business and financial results and the price of our common stock could be
negatively affected. This reporting requirement could also make it more difficult or more costly
for us to obtain certain types of insurance, including director and officer liability
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insurance,
and we may be forced to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. Any system of
internal controls, however well designed and operated, is based in part on certain assumptions and
can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurances that the objectives of the system are met.
Any failure or circumvention of the controls and procedures or failure to comply with regulation
concerning control and procedures could have a material effect on our business, results of
operation and financial condition. Any of these events could result in an adverse reaction in the
financial marketplace due to a loss of investor confidence in the reliability of our financial
statements, which ultimately could negatively affect the market price of our shares, increase the
volatility of our stock price and adversely affect our ability to raise additional funding. The
effect of these events could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified
persons to serve on our Board and our board committees and as executive officers.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property
Our proprietary rights may not adequately protect our technologies and product candidates.
Our commercial success will depend on our ability to obtain patents and/or regulatory exclusivity
and maintain adequate protection for our technologies and product candidates in the United States
and other countries. We will be able to protect our proprietary rights from unauthorized use by
third parties only to the extent that our proprietary technologies and future product candidates
are covered by valid and enforceable patents or are effectively maintained as trade secrets.
We and our collaborators, including Teva, intend to apply for additional patents covering both our
technologies and product candidates, as we deem appropriate. We or our collaborators may, however,
fail to apply for patents on important technologies or product candidates in a timely fashion, if
at all. Our existing patents and any future patents we or our collaborators obtain may not be
sufficiently broad to prevent others from practicing our technologies or from developing competing
products and technologies. In addition, we do not always control the patent prosecution of subject
matter that we license from others. Accordingly, we are sometimes unable to exercise a significant
degree of control over such intellectual property as we would over our own. Moreover, the patent
positions of biopharmaceutical companies are highly uncertain and involve complex legal and factual
questions for which important legal principles remain unresolved. As a result, the validity and
enforceability of our patents cannot be predicted with certainty. In addition, we cannot guarantee
that:
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we or our licensors were the first to make the inventions covered by each of our issued
patents and pending patent applications; |
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we or our licensors were the first to file patent applications for these inventions; |
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others will not independently develop similar or alternative technologies or duplicate
any of our technologies; |
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any of our or our licensors pending patent applications will result in issued patents; |
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any of our or our licensors patents will be valid or enforceable; |
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any patents issued to us or our licensors and collaboration partners will provide us
with any competitive advantages, or will not be challenged by third parties; and |
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we will develop additional proprietary technologies that are patentable, or the patents
of others will not have an adverse effect on our business. |
The actual protection afforded by a patent varies on a product-by-product basis, from country to
country and depends on many factors, including the type of patent, the scope of its coverage, the
availability of regulatory related extensions, the availability of legal remedies in a particular
country and the validity and enforceability of the patents. Our ability or the ability of our
collaborators to maintain and solidify our proprietary position for our product candidates will
depend on our success in obtaining effective claims and enforcing those claims once granted. Our
issued patents and those that may issue in the future, or those licensed to us or our
collaborators, may be challenged, invalidated, unenforceable or circumvented, and the rights
granted under any issued patents may not provide us with proprietary protection or competitive
advantages against competitors with similar products. Due to the extensive amount of time required
for the
development, testing and regulatory review of a potential product, it is possible that, before any
of our product candidates can be commercialized, any related patent may expire or remain in force
for only a short period following commercialization, thereby reducing any advantage of the patent.
43
We and our collaborators, including Teva, also rely on trade secrets to protect some of our
technology, especially where it is believed that patent protection is appropriate or obtainable.
However, trade secrets are difficult to maintain. While we use reasonable efforts to protect our
trade secrets, our or our collaboration partners employees, consultants, contractors or scientific
and other advisors may unintentionally or willfully disclose our proprietary information to
competitors. Enforcement of claims that a third party has illegally obtained and is using trade
secrets is expensive, time consuming and uncertain. In addition, non-U.S. courts are sometimes less
willing than U.S. courts to protect trade secrets. If our competitors independently develop
equivalent knowledge, methods and know-how, we would not be able to assert our trade secrets
against them and our business could be harmed.
We and our collaborators, including Teva, may not be able to protect our intellectual property
rights throughout the world.
Filing, prosecuting and defending patents on all of our product candidates and products, when and
if we have any, in every jurisdiction would be prohibitively expensive. Competitors may use our
technologies in jurisdictions where we or our licensors have not obtained patent protection to
develop their own products. These products may compete with our products, when and if we have any,
and may not be covered by any of our or our licensors patent claims or other intellectual property
rights.
The laws of some non-U.S. countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent
as the laws of the United States, and many companies have encountered significant problems in
protecting and defending such rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain
countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents and
other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to biotechnology and/or
pharmaceuticals, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents.
Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial cost
and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business.
The intellectual property protection for our product candidates depends on third parties.
With respect to custirsen, OGX-427 and OGX-225, we have exclusively licensed from UBC certain
issued patents and pending patent applications covering the respective antisense sequences
underlying these product candidates and their commercialization and use and we have licensed from
Isis certain issued patents and pending patent applications directed to product compositions and
chemical modifications used in product candidates for commercialization, use and the manufacturing
thereof, as well as some alternative antisense sequences. We have also received a sublicense from
Isis under certain third-party patent portfolios directed to such modifications. We have entered
into an exclusive in-licensing agreement with Bayer for development of caspase activators that are
presently being evaluated in pre-clinical studies.
The patents and pending patent applications underlying our licenses do not cover all potential
product candidates, modifications and uses. In the case of patents and patent applications licensed
from Isis, we do not have and have not had any control over the filing, prosecution or enforcement
of these patents or patent applications. In the case of patents and patent applications licensed
from Bayer, we did not have any control over the filing of the patents and patent applications
before the effective date of the Bayer license, and have had control over the filing and
prosecution of these patents and patent applications after the effective date of the Bayer license.
Under certain circumstances, we also have the right to enforce patents and patent applications
licensed from Bayer. We cannot be certain that such prosecution efforts have been or will be
conducted in compliance with applicable laws and regulations or will result in valid and
enforceable patents. We also cannot be assured that our licensors or their respective licensing
partners will agree to enforce any such patent rights at our request or devote sufficient efforts
to attain a desirable result. Any failure by our licensors or any of their respective licensing
partners to properly protect the intellectual
property rights relating to our product candidates could have a material adverse effect on our
financial condition and results of operation.
44
We may become involved in disputes with Teva or potential future collaborators over intellectual
property ownership, and publications by our research collaborators and scientific advisors could
impair our ability to obtain patent protection or protect our proprietary information, which, in
either case, could have a significant effect on our business.
Inventions discovered under research, material transfer or other such collaborative agreements,
including our Collaboration Agreement with Teva, may become jointly owned by us and the other party
to such agreements in some cases and the exclusive property of either party in other cases. Under
some circumstances, it may be difficult to determine who owns a particular invention, or whether it
is jointly owned, and disputes could arise regarding ownership of those inventions. These disputes
could be costly and time consuming and an unfavorable outcome could have a significant adverse
effect on our business if we were not able to protect or license rights to these inventions. In
addition, our research collaborators and scientific advisors generally have contractual rights to
publish our data and other proprietary information, subject to our prior review. Publications by
our research collaborators and scientific advisors containing such information, either with our
permission or in contravention of the terms of their agreements with us, may impair our ability to
obtain patent protection or protect our proprietary information, which could significantly harm our
business.
The patent protection for our product candidates or products may expire before we are able to
maximize their commercial value, which may subject us to increased competition and reduce or
eliminate our opportunity to generate product revenue.
The patents for our product candidates have varying expiration dates and, when these patents
expire, we may be subject to increased competition and we may not be able to recover our
development costs. For example, certain of the U.S. patents directed to custirsen and its use that
have been licensed from UBC are scheduled to expire in 2020 and 2021. In some of the larger
economic territories, such as the United States and Europe, patent term extension/restoration may
be available to compensate for time taken during aspects of the product candidates regulatory
review. We cannot, however, be certain that an extension will be granted or, if granted, what the
applicable time period or the scope of patent protection afforded during any extended period will
be. In addition, even though some regulatory agencies may provide some other exclusivity for a
product candidate under its own laws and regulations, we may not be able to qualify the product
candidate or obtain the exclusive time period.
If we are unable to obtain patent term extension/restoration or some other exclusivity, we could be
subject to increased competition and our opportunity to establish or maintain product revenue could
be substantially reduced or eliminated. Furthermore, we may not have sufficient time to recover our
development costs prior to the expiration of our U.S. and non-U.S. patents.
We may incur substantial costs as a result of litigation or other proceedings relating to patent
and other intellectual property rights and we may be unable to protect our rights to, or use of,
our technology.
If we choose to go to court to stop someone else from using the inventions claimed in our patents
or our licensed patents, that individual or company has the right to ask the court to rule that
these patents are invalid and/or should not be enforced against that third party. These lawsuits
are expensive and would consume time and other resources even if we were successful in stopping the
infringement of these patents. In addition, there is a risk that the court will decide that these
patents are invalid or unenforceable and that we do not have the right to stop the other party from
using the inventions. There is also the risk that, even if the validity or unenforceability of
these patents is upheld, the court will refuse to stop the other party on the grounds that such
other partys activities do not infringe our rights.
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If we wish to use the technology or compound claimed in issued and unexpired patents owned by
others, we will need to obtain a license from the owner, enter into litigation to challenge the
validity or enforceability of the patents or incur the risk of litigation in the event that the
owner asserts that we infringed its patents. The failure to obtain a license to technology or the
failure to challenge an issued patent that we may require to discover, develop or commercialize our
product candidates may have a material adverse effect on us.
If a third party asserts that we infringed its patents or other proprietary rights, we could face a
number of risks that could seriously harm our results of operations, financial condition and
competitive position, including:
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patent infringement and other intellectual property claims, which would be costly and
time consuming to defend, whether or not the claims have merit, and which could delay the
regulatory approval process and divert managements attention from our business; |
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substantial damages for past infringement, which we may have to pay if a court
determines that our product candidates or technologies infringe a competitors patent or
other proprietary rights; |
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a court prohibiting us from selling or licensing our technologies or future drugs
unless the third party licenses its patents or other proprietary rights to us on
commercially reasonable terms, which it is not required to do; and |
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if a license is available from a third party, we may have to pay substantial royalties
or lump-sum payments or grant cross licenses to our patents or other proprietary rights to
obtain that license. |
The biotechnology industry has produced a proliferation of patents, and it is not always clear to
industry participants, including us, which patents cover various types of products or methods of
use. The coverage of patents is subject to interpretation by the courts, and the interpretation is
not always uniform. If we are sued for patent infringement, we would need to demonstrate that our
product candidates or methods of use either do not infringe the patent claims of the relevant
patent, and/or that the patent claims are invalid, and/or that the patent is unenforceable and we
may not be able to do this. Proving invalidity, in particular, is difficult since it requires a
showing of clear and convincing evidence to overcome the presumption of validity enjoyed by issued
patents.
U.S. patent laws as well as the laws of some foreign jurisdictions provide for provisional rights
in published patent applications beginning on the date of publication, including the right to
obtain reasonable royalties, if a patent subsequently issues and certain other conditions are met.
Because some patent applications in the United States may be maintained in secrecy until the
patents are issued, because patent applications in the United States and many foreign jurisdictions
are typically not published until 18 months after filing, and because publications in the
scientific literature often lag behind actual discoveries, we cannot be certain that others have
not filed patent applications for technology covered by our licensors issued patents or our
pending applications or our licensors pending applications, or that we or our licensors were the
first to invent the technology.
Patent applications filed by third parties that cover technology similar to ours may have priority
over our or our licensors patent applications and could further require us to obtain rights to
issued patents covering such technologies. If another party files a U.S. patent application on an
invention similar to ours, we may elect to participate in or be drawn into an interference
proceeding declared by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to determine priority of invention in
the United States. The costs of these proceedings could be substantial, and it is possible that
such efforts would be unsuccessful, resulting in a loss of our U.S. patent position with respect to
such inventions. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of complex patent
litigation more effectively than we can because they have substantially greater resources. In
addition, any uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of any litigation could
have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our
operations. We cannot predict whether third parties will assert these claims against us or against
the licensors of technology licensed to us, or whether those claims will harm our business. If we
are forced to defend
against these claims, whether they are with or without any merit and whether they are resolved in
favor of or against us or our licensors, we may face costly litigation and diversion of
managements attention and resources. As a result of these disputes, we may have to develop costly
non-infringing technology, or enter into licensing agreements. These agreements, if necessary, may
be unavailable on terms acceptable to us, if at all, which could seriously harm our business or
financial condition.
46
If we breach any of the agreements under which we license rights to our product candidates or
technology from third parties, we could lose license rights that are important to our business.
Certain of our license agreements may not provide an adequate remedy for a breach by the licensor.
We license the development and commercialization rights for most of our product candidates,
including custirsen, OGX-427, OGX-225 and CSP-9222, and we expect to enter into similar licenses in
the future. Under such licenses, we are subject to various obligations such as sublicensing,
royalty and milestone payments, annual maintenance fees, limits on sublicensing, insurance
obligations and the obligation to use commercially reasonable best efforts to develop and exploit
the licensed technology. If we fail to comply with any of these obligations or otherwise breach
these agreements, our licensors may have the right to terminate the license in whole or in part or
to terminate the exclusive nature of the license. Loss of any of these licenses or the exclusivity
rights provided by the licenses could harm our financial condition and results of operations. In
addition, certain of our license agreements with UBC eliminate our ability to obtain money damages
in respect of certain claims against UBC.
Under the terms of our Collaboration Agreement with Teva, we are required to use commercially
reasonable efforts to maintain and not to breach in any material manner certain of our third-party
license agreements relating to custirsen. If we breach any of these agreements in a material
manner, we would be in breach of the Collaboration Agreement, which would allow Teva to terminate
the Collaboration Agreement.
We may be subject to damages resulting from claims that we, or our employees or consultants, have
wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of third parties.
Many of our employees were previously employed, and certain of our consultants are currently
employed, at universities or biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies, including our competitors
or potential competitors. Although we have not received any claim to date, we may be subject to
claims that these employees or consultants or we have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed
trade secrets or other proprietary information of these current or former employers. Litigation may
be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending such claims, in addition to
paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel. We may be
subject to claims that employees of our partners or licensors of technology licensed by us have
inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed trade secrets or other proprietary information of
their former employers. We may become involved in litigation to defend against these claims. If we
fail in defending such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable
intellectual property rights or personnel.
Risks Related to our Common Stock and Other Securities
The price for our common stock is volatile.
The market prices for our common stock and that of emerging growth companies generally have
historically been highly volatile. Future announcements concerning us or our competitors may have a
significant effect on the market price of our common stock. The stock markets also experience
significant price and volume fluctuation unrelated to the operating performance of particular
companies. These market fluctuations may also adversely affect the market price of our common
stock.
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An increase in the market price of our common stock, which is uncertain and unpredictable, may be
the sole source of gain from an investment in our common stock. An investment in our common stock
may not
be appropriate for investors who require dividend income. We have never declared or paid cash
dividends on our capital stock and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our capital stock
in the foreseeable future. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future
earnings to fund the development and growth of our business. As a result, capital appreciation, if
any, of our common stock will be the sole source of gain for stockholders for the foreseeable
future. Accordingly, an investment in our common stock may not be appropriate for investors who
require dividend income.
If we raise additional financing, the terms of such transactions may cause dilution to existing
stockholders or contain terms that are not favorable to us.
To date, our sources of cash have been limited primarily to proceeds from the private or public
placement of our securities and proceeds from the Collaboration Agreement with Teva. In the future,
we may seek to raise additional financing through private placements or public offerings of our
equity or debt securities. We cannot be certain that additional funding will be available on
acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that we raise additional financing by issuing equity
securities, our stockholders may experience significant dilution. Any debt financing, if available,
may involve restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional
indebtedness, limitations on our ability to acquire or license intellectual property rights and
other operating restrictions that could adversely affect our ability to conduct our business.
We are at risk of securities class action litigation.
In the past, securities class action litigation has often been brought against a company following
a decline in the market price of its securities. This risk is especially relevant for us because
our stock price and those of other biotechnology and biopharmaceutical companies have experienced
significant stock price volatility in recent years. If we face such litigation, it could result in
substantial costs and a diversion of managements attention and resources, which could harm our
business.
Anti-takeover provisions in our stockholder rights plan, our charter documents and under Delaware
law could make a third-party acquisition of us difficult.
We have a stockholder rights plan that may have the effect of discouraging unsolicited takeover
proposals. Specifically, the rights issued under the stockholder rights plan could cause
significant dilution to a person or group that attempts to acquire us on terms not approved in
advance by our Board. In addition, our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions
that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their
best interests. These provisions include the ability of our Board to designate the terms of and
issue new series of preferred stock and the ability of our Board to amend our bylaws without
stockholder approval. In addition, as a Delaware corporation, we are subject to Section 203 of the
Delaware General Corporation Law, which generally prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in
any business combination with any interested stockholder for a period of three years following the
date that the stockholder became an interested stockholder, unless certain specific requirements
are met as set forth in Section 203. Collectively, these provisions could make a third-party
acquisition of us difficult or could discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment
of a premium over prevailing market prices for our common stock.
Risks Related to Our Industry
The regulatory approval process is expensive, time consuming and uncertain and may prevent us from
obtaining approvals for the commercialization of some or all of our product candidates.
The research, testing, manufacturing, labeling, approval, selling, marketing and distribution of
drug products are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA and non-U.S. regulatory authorities,
which regulations differ from country to country. We are not permitted to market our product
candidates in the United States until we receive approval of a NDA from the FDA. We have not
submitted an application for or received marketing approval for any of our product candidates.
Obtaining approval of an NDA can be a
lengthy, expensive and uncertain process. In addition, failure to comply with FDA, non-U.S.
regulatory authorities or other applicable United States and non-U.S. regulatory requirements may,
either before or after product approval, if any, subject us to administrative or judicially imposed
sanctions, including:
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restrictions on the products, manufacturers or manufacturing process; |
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civil and criminal penalties; |
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suspension or withdrawal of regulatory approvals; |
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product seizures, detentions or import bans; |
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voluntary or mandatory product recalls and publicity requirements; |
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total or partial suspension of production; |
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imposition of restrictions on operations, including costly new manufacturing
requirements; and |
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refusal to approve pending NDAs or supplements to approved NDAs. |
Regulatory approval of an NDA or NDA supplement is not guaranteed, and the approval process is
expensive and may take several years. The FDA also has substantial discretion in the drug approval
process. Despite the time and expense exerted, failure can occur at any stage, and we could
encounter problems that could cause us to abandon clinical trials or to repeat or perform
additional pre-clinical studies and clinical trials. The number of pre-clinical studies and
clinical trials that will be required for FDA approval varies depending on the drug candidate, the
disease or condition that the drug candidate is designed to address, and the regulations applicable
to any particular drug candidate. The FDA can delay, limit or deny approval of a drug candidate for
many reasons, including:
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a drug candidate may not be deemed safe or effective; |
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the FDA may not find the data from pre-clinical studies and clinical trials sufficient; |
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the FDA might not approve our third-party manufacturers processes or facilities; |
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the FDA may change its approval policies or adopt new regulations; and |
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third-party products may enter the market and change approval requirements. |
Even if we obtain regulatory approvals for our product candidates, the terms of approvals and
ongoing regulation of our product candidates may limit how we manufacture and market our product
candidates, which could materially affect our ability to generate revenue.
If any of our product candidates are approved, the approved product and its manufacturer will be
subject to continual review. Any regulatory approval that we receive for a product candidate is
likely to be subject to limitations on the indicated uses for which the end product may be
marketed, or include requirements for potentially costly post-approval follow-up clinical trials.
In addition, if the FDA and/or non-U.S. regulatory authorities approve any of our product
candidates, the labeling, packaging, adverse event reporting, storage, advertising and promotion
for the end product will be subject to extensive regulatory requirements. We and the manufacturers
of our products, when and if we have any, will also be required to comply with cGMP regulations,
which include requirements relating to quality control and quality assurance, as well as the
corresponding maintenance of records and documentation. Further, regulatory agencies must approve
these manufacturing facilities before they can be used to manufacture our products, when and if we
have any, and these facilities are subject to ongoing regulatory inspection. If we fail to comply
with the regulatory requirements of the FDA and other non-U.S. regulatory authorities, or if
previously unknown problems with our products, when and if we have any, manufacturers or
manufacturing processes are discovered, we could be subject to administrative or judicially imposed
sanctions, including:
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restrictions on the products, manufacturers or manufacturing process; |
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civil or criminal penalties or fines; |
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product seizures, detentions or import bans;
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voluntary or mandatory product recalls and publicity requirements; |
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suspension or withdrawal of regulatory approvals; |
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total or partial suspension of production; |
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imposition of restrictions on operations, including costly new manufacturing
requirements; and |
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refusal to approve pending NDAs or supplements to approved NDAs. |
In addition, the FDA and non-U.S. regulatory authorities may change their policies and additional
regulations may be enacted that could prevent or delay regulatory approval of our product
candidates. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may
arise from future legislation or administrative action, either in the United States, Canada or
abroad. If we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we would likely not be permitted to
market our future product candidates and we may not achieve or sustain profitability.
There is a high risk that our drug development activities will not result in commercial products.
Our product candidates are in various stages of development and are prone to the risks of failure
inherent in drug development. We will need to complete significant additional clinical trials
before we can demonstrate that our product candidates are safe and effective to the satisfaction of
the FDA and non-U.S. regulatory authorities. Clinical trials are expensive and uncertain processes
that take years to complete. Failure can occur at any stage of the process, and successful early
clinical trials do not ensure that later clinical trials will be successful. Product candidates in
later-stage clinical trials may fail to show desired efficacy and safety traits despite having
progressed through initial clinical trials. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical industry
have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials, even after obtaining promising
results in earlier clinical trials. In addition, a clinical trial may prove successful with respect
to a secondary objective, but fail to demonstrate clinically significant benefits with respect to a
primary objective. Failure to satisfy a primary objective in a phase 3 clinical trial (registration
trial) would generally mean that a product candidate would not receive regulatory approval.
If government and third-party payors fail to provide coverage and adequate reimbursement rates for
our product candidates, our revenue and potential for profitability will be reduced.
In the United States and elsewhere, our product revenue will depend principally on the
reimbursement rates established by third-party payors, including government health administration
authorities, managed-care providers, public health insurers, private health insurers and other
organizations. These third-party payors are increasingly challenging the price, and examining the
cost-effectiveness, of medical products and services. In addition, significant uncertainty exists
as to the reimbursement status, if any, of newly approved drugs, pharmaceutical products or product
indications. We may need to conduct post-marketing clinical trials in order to demonstrate the
cost-effectiveness of our products, if any. Such clinical trials may require us to commit a
significant amount of management time and financial and other resources. If reimbursement of such
product is unavailable or limited in scope or amount or if pricing is set at unsatisfactory levels,
our revenue could be reduced.
In some countries other than the United States, particularly the countries of the European Union
and Canada, the pricing of prescription pharmaceuticals is subject to governmental control. In
these countries, obtaining pricing approval from governmental authorities can take six to 12 months
or longer after the receipt of regulatory marketing approval of a product for an indication. To
obtain reimbursement or pricing approval in some countries, we may be required to conduct a
clinical trial that compares the cost-effectiveness of one of our product candidates to other
available therapies. If reimbursement of such product candidate is unavailable or limited in scope
or amount or if pricing is set at unsatisfactory levels, our revenue could be reduced.
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Domestic and foreign governments continue to propose and pass legislation designed to reduce the
cost of healthcare, including drugs. In the United States, there have been, and we expect that
there will continue to be, federal and state proposals to implement similar governmental control.
In addition, increasing emphasis
on managed care in the United States will continue to put pressure on the pricing of pharmaceutical
products. For example, the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003
reforms the way Medicare will cover and reimburse pharmaceutical products. The legislation expands
Medicare coverage for drug purchases by the elderly and eventually will introduce a new
reimbursement methodology based on average sales prices for certain drugs. In addition, the new
legislation provides authority for limiting the number of outpatient drugs that will be covered in
any therapeutic class. As a result of the new legislation and the expansion of federal coverage of
drug products, we expect that there will be additional pressure to contain and reduce costs. The
Medicaid program and state healthcare laws and regulations may also be modified to change the scope
of covered products and/or reimbursement methodology. Cost control initiatives could decrease the
established reimbursement rates that we receive for any products in the future, which would limit
our revenue and profitability. Legislation and regulations affecting the pricing of pharmaceutical
products, including custirsen, may change at any time, which could further limit or eliminate
reimbursement rates for custirsen or other product candidates.
Failure to obtain regulatory approval outside of the United States and Canada would prevent us or
Teva from marketing our product candidates abroad.
We intend to market certain of our existing and future product candidates outside of the United
States and Canada. In order to market our existing and future product candidates in the European
Union and many other non-North American markets, we must obtain separate regulatory approvals. We
have had limited interactions with non-North American regulatory authorities. Approval procedures
vary among countries and can involve additional testing, and the time required to obtain approval
may differ from that required to obtain FDA approval. Approval by the FDA or other regulatory
authorities does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries, and approval by
one or more non-North American regulatory authorities does not ensure approval by regulatory
authorities in other countries or by the FDA. The non-North American regulatory approval process
may include all of the risks associated with obtaining FDA approval. We may not obtain non-North
American regulatory approvals on a timely basis, if at all. We may not be able to file for
non-North American regulatory approvals and may not receive necessary approvals to commercialize
our existing and future product candidates in any market.
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Exhibit |
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Description |
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31.1 |
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Certification of President and Chief Executive Officer
pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or 15d-14(a) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 |
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31.2 |
|
|
Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Rule
13a-14(a) or 15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
32.1 |
|
|
Certification of President and Chief Executive Officer
pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to
Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
32.2 |
|
|
Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to 18
U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 |
51
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused
this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
|
|
|
|
|
|
ONCOGENEX PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
|
|
Date: August 4, 2011 |
By: |
/s/ Michelle Burris
|
|
|
|
Michelle Burris |
|
|
|
Chief Financial Officer
(Principal Financial Officer) |
|
|
52
|
|
|
|
|
Exhibit |
|
|
Number |
|
Description |
|
|
|
|
|
|
31.1 |
|
|
Certification of President and Chief Executive Officer
pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or 15d-14(a) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
31.2 |
|
|
Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Rule
13a-14(a) or 15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
32.1 |
|
|
Certification of President and Chief Executive Officer
pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to
Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
32.2 |
|
|
Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to 18
U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 |
53